Random Musings...
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Bleh! Do smokers realize how much they smell? I sit at this desk and people swoop in to ask me questions, and the smokers just bring in a wave of dirty, ashy smell with them. Yuck! I have to hold my breath and hope they leave quickly. I notice it so much in this job! I'd hate to be all smelly like that all the time and have everything in my house smell the same way. I think that alone would make me want to quit!
Posted at 1:44 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Excellent. I've received two of my three recommendation letters for that job I'm applying for. Just one more and my transcript, and I'm ready to send it off! I'd be ELATED if I got this job!!
*dancing the crossed fingers dance*
Posted at 1:40 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
My mom and I had a very significant talk on Saturday. It was very emotional. It was good, though. I don't want to really get into it, but I feel burdened and unburdened by it all at the same time. It's strange, but I guess I'm happy about it. I'm grown up and seeing my mom in a new light.
Posted at 10:15 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Well, Sheila pointed out that one is able to Google a certain Jennifer. We found out a lot interesting things about her, including that she is currently a Spanish and Italian teacher in Charlotte. Funny, you'd think that I, her Puerto Rican roommate of three years, would know if she spoke a lick of Spanish or not. What she really wanted to be was an English teacher, but I guess there were no openings for that in Charlotte. Heaven forbid she look for a job elsewhere, away from her precious psychotic demon.
It's amazing how years later thinking of her still makes me want to scream.
Posted at 9:07 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Here's a good article on Dave's new CD Some Devil. The quote that makes me laugh, though, is "Extremists in the Dave Matthews Band's possessive flock regard Devil as a diabolical wedge that could permanently separate the singer from the group he has fronted for a dozen years." I want to know who these possessive extremists are, because I had no idea there were crazier people than me.
Posted at 8:59 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Monday, September 29, 2003
There is a new job I have my eyes set on over at Santa Fe Community College. It is a big step up because it is not a secretarial type position, but rather an actual administrative/professional position. I'm crossing my fingers for it big time. The application deadline is Oct. 6.
*crossing fingers big time*
Posted at 1:41 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Maybe I'm a hypochondriac. Once again I am feeling like I am beginning to get sick. Haven't I had a day like this every week for the past three weeks? I don't get it. I swear I'm about to develop a fever. I'm weird.
Posted at 11:41 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Alright, so I got hooked on a new reality show. Everyone needs to check out the Joe Schmo Show on Spike TV. I only saw it for the first time yesterday. They were running a marathon of it, and I pretty much caught myself up. Now I can't wait until tomorrow at 9pm to see what happens next!!
If you don't know, the premise is that it is a fake reality TV show that everyone is in on except for one guy, Matt (aka Joe Schmo). It is a whole elaborate setup that they are supposedly taping a show called Lap of Luxury, but all the other "contestants" are actors and there are a bunch of producers and writers that determine all these storylines and subject this poor guy to the most bizarre situations.
To give you an excellent example, they had a talent show one night to figure out who was exempt from being voted off that week (like Survivor). Each of them had the most bizarre talents!! One woman reenacted a traumatic experience from her past with puppets. Another woman covered herself in paint and threw herself onto a canvas to "create art." The funniest was this one guy (the stereotypical gay guy) who tried this awful, awful magic show that just kept going horribly wrong. He ended up running off the stage crying when nothing would work for him! The camera kept showing poor Matt's horrified face at all the spectacle.
This is TV genius!! I love it!
Posted at 9:20 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Friday, September 26, 2003
I'm heading down to Orlando this weekend because it's my dad's birthday. I'm very proud of my gifts to him this year. One is a CD of Yo-Yo Ma playing Brazilian music, which my dad likes. The other is a big coffeetable-type book made of my dad's high school. His high school is historic and so beautiful. It looks like a college campus! So yeah, that's what I got him. I'm happy with myself.
And I'm happy because I'm going to listen to Dave's new CD all the way down to Orlando, my first uninterrupted listen!
Posted at 3:29 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Last night I was watching CNN, and I saw they were going to do a thing on Dave. So, they showed a little footage of the CP show, and I guess their segue into talking about the album was, "Dave showed off some of his new songs from his solo album last night in Central Park..." and I was like "NO HE DIDN'T!!" Andrew asks me, "So, you know more than CNN now?" Yes, in fact, when it comes to Dave, I will always know more than CNN.
Posted at 9:15 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Ok, not sure why my previous link to the pictures of the Atlanta concert didn't work. Try it this way: Go to http://photos.yahoo.com/rosablah and click on the folder that says Atlanta.
Posted at 9:05 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Thursday, September 25, 2003
I am desperately craving a cupcake right now.
Posted at 4:20 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
The New York Times's review of DMB's performance last night in Central Park:
Party Music, for the Downhearted
By JON PARELES
Published: September 25, 2003
The Dave Matthews Band's contradictions were easily large enough to fill the Great Lawn of Central Park when it performed there last night. Mr. Matthews is used to audiences like the more than 85,000 people who danced and sang along with most of his songs, bouncing to the intricate, light-fingered vamps that drive the songs like happy clockwork.
The band has been selling out stadiums for years, despite the fact that its handmade, largely acoustic songs are an anomaly in a pop era filled with programmed, electronically assisted acts. But his unlikely success is only one of Mr. Matthews's incongruities.
He greeted the audience with "Don't Drink the Water," a song about a breakup and a leavetaking. Later, he exulted at being in the center of the city, then sang the jazzy "When the World Ends," envisioning buildings falling down. And he ended the concert with "Stay (Wasting Time)." His lyrics detail boundless fears and insecurities, in songs like "Grey Street," "So Much to Say" and "What You Are," yet he leads a band that's as confident and musically ambitious as could be. The character at the center of his songs — a regular guy beset by routine and desperate for love — may identify with wallflowers, but the band dispenses party music.
It was an ideal soundtrack for a breezy New York City night. Mr. Matthews's songs and band are a nimble fusion that seems to hold bits from all sorts of cultures and styles: jazz, funk, folk, reggae, Latin, rock, angular minimalism, bouncy country. Boyd Tinsley's violin can sound like a Celtic fiddle or a lead guitar; Leroi Moore, on saxophones and flute, could honk deep soul-band riffs or waft jazz lines. Stefan Lessard on bass and Carter Beauford on drums shared crisp, meticulously subdivided rhythms with Mr. Matthews picking precise guitar syncopations. Butch Taylor on keyboards deepened the funk when Mr. Matthews started strumming choppy James Brown-style chords, and had his own jazzy interlude midset.
How far the Dave Matthews Band stands from typical rock became clear when the guitarist and singer Warren Haynes, from the Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule, joined the band to sing Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer." The band easily handled the song's steady trudge, and it bolstered the crescendos of Mr. Haynes's climbing, keening guitar solo. But the airborne elegance of the band's own songs was abandoned, and the dancers in the crowd took a break.
The concert was broadcast live on the Web by its sponsor, AOL, and was a casual rebuke to the current panic over the Internet in the music business. Mr. Matthews has a large, well-organized, technically savvy base of fans online. His band's reputation was spread by file-sharing and allowing fans to record concerts, and he could be certain that his Central Park performance would be copied and passed around. But for all the troubles he sang about, he didn't seem worried that free access to his music would wreck his career.
Posted at 10:24 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Posted at 8:55 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Wow! If you want a more detailed account of my trip to Atlanta from another perspective, check out http://www.dmbksiezna.blogspot.com/ It's so flattering too! *blushing* Man, it really was such a wonderful time!
Posted at 12:42 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Ok, this song called Baby got me in tears last night. It's so beautiful. It sounds like a lullaby, and it goes:
Baby, it's alright
Stop your crying
Now
Nothing is here to stay
Everything has to begin and end
A ship in a bottle won't sail
All we can do is dream that the wind will blow us across the water
A ship in a bottle set sail
Baby, it's alright
Stop your crying, now
There was a weakling man
Who dreamed he was strong as a hurricane
A ship in a bottle set sail
He took a deep breath and blew across the world
He watched everything crumble
Woke up a weakling again
Some might tell you there's no hope in hand
Just because they feel hopeless
But you don't have to be a thing like that
You be a ship in a bottle set sail
Baby, it's alright
Stop your crying, now
It's alright
So stop your crying, now
Be a ship in a bottle set sail
It's amazing.
Posted at 9:09 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Ok, nevermind. I found a stupid review in the New York Times, but I will discard it just because.
Posted at 8:46 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
So Dave Matthews's solo CD came out yesterday. It was sitting in my mailbox all nice and perfect for me when I got home yesterday (what amazing timing from the pre-ordering people and the postal service!). Can I say that this is amazing?? Seriously. I was worried and perhaps even a bit skeptical as to what Dave could do without the support of such a talented band. After all, isn't the quirkiness of the unique instrumental arrangements what made Dave Matthews Band stand out in the first place? Well, Dave has proved he is a true artist in his own right. I never want him to leave the band, but it is oh so very wonderful to see that he is an amazing musician on his own and remember why I'm obsessed with him in the first place.
I'm not kidding, this album is amazing. I have been searching through reviews and I have yet to find a negative one. If you find one, let me know, because I'm curious to see if any real music critic can think it is anything short of remarkable.
Go buy the thing. It's called Some Devil. Do it.
Posted at 8:41 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Just as I was totally bitching about my job to my internet buddies, I hear a guy in the hallway ask, "Is there a Rosalie Preston here?" I look, and it's a flower delivery guy. I am very confused since I never receive flowers. Nothing even special is going on that anyone would want to give me flowers for! I open up the envelope, and it reads:
Dear Rosalie,
Thank you very much for always being there and always willing to give a helping hand.
Sincerely,
(A Grad Student)
Um. Wow.
Posted at 3:55 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Monday, September 22, 2003
So the rundown of my weekend...
Andrew and I got into Atlanta around 2pm. I called everyone's cell phones to see how things were going since we were all supposed to meet up between 2pm and 3pm. On girl was already there, two would be there in a few minutes, and then the group driving in from the Tennessee concert the night before, well, they were still in Tennessee!! That kind of put a damper on our mass tailgating plans. Most of us decided to head over and get some sort of start to the festivities. It was difficult to meet up with everyone once everyone had arrived to the show, but we made it! They were wonderful!! Keep in mind, I talk to these people online almost every day all day while I'm at work. It was so wonderful to meet them in person!
I got extremely drunk, but everyone likes drunk Rosalie, and this group was no exception. Most people were drunk, but the king of all drunks was Andrew! I'm glad he let go of his inhibitions! He actually got along WONDERFULLY with the group!
The band opened with Don't Drink the Water, which is Bobby's favorite song. I gave him a call on the cell and he heard the entire song! And then, at my 9th show of begging for this song, I FINALLY got GRANNY! I was even wearing my Granny shirt, so it was perfect! Crush was great, Cry Freedom was great, but the best performance of the night was Jimi Thing! Dave did this incredible scat at the end that drove the crowd nuts!! The energy was sky high for the end of the show with Ants Marching leading into Stay. Oh we were dancing out asses off! "Make you wanna STAY!" S
It was such a good time! I can't even explain how good a time I had! We all agree that we need to plan more concert meetups because we had an amazing time! I'm so glad my internet freaks are not freaks! They are as wonderful as I imagined them to be!
Posted at 1:13 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Here I am, back from Atlanta! WOW!! WOW WOW WOW! I had a blast!! All my Dave Matthews internet weirdos are SOOO COOL!!
Here are the pics!
I'll give a more indepth description tomorrow when I have more time at work...heh heh. :)
Posted at 6:08 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Friday, September 19, 2003
Posted at 3:03 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Someone please make these last 2 hours and 15 minutes go faster!! I want to get this weekend started!!
Posted at 2:35 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Ooooh! I am so excited about tomorrow. I would love to hear some of these songs:
#41...
why won't you ever be glad
it melts into wonder
i came in praying for you
why won't you run
in the rain and play
let the tears splash all over you
Best of What's Around...
if you hold on tight
to what you think is your thing
you may find you're missing all the rest
she run up into the light surprised
her arms are open
her mind's eye is
seeing things from a
clearer side than most can dream
on a better road i feel
so you could say she's safe
whatever tears at her
whatever holds her down
and if nothing can be done
she'll make the best of what's around
Bartender...
oh and if i die before my time
oh sweet sister of mine please don't regret me if I go
bartender please, fill my glass for me
with the wine you gave jesus that set him free after three days in the ground
Dancing Nancies...
sing and dance i'llplay for you tonight
the thrill of it all
dark clouds may hang on me sometimes
but i'll work it out then i
look up at the sky
my mouth is open wide, lick and taste
what's the use in worrying, what's the use in hurrying
turn, turn we almost become dizzy
falling out of a world of lies
could i have been dancing nancy
could i have been anyone other than me?
Crush...
crazy, i'm thinking, just as long as you're around,
and here i'll be dancing on the ground
am i right-side-up or upside-down?
to each other we'll be facing, my love, my love
we'll beat back the pain we've found
you know, i mean to tell you all the things i've been thinking deep inside
my friend,
each moment, the more i love you
Granny...
so here we are all of us stand around
we're leaning heavy on each other
but still we worry what is it lies behind
staring eyes of on another
love i come to you you turn me up turn me down
silly baby i love you so it tears me up inside
love i come to you my tears they fall like rain
you tell me baby your heart into a thousand pieces dashed
Grey Street...
there's an emptiness inside her
and she'd do anything to fill it in
and though it's red blood bleeding from her now
it's more like cold blue ice in her heart
she feels like kicking out all the windows
and setting fire to this life
she could change everything about her using colors bold and bright
but all the colors mix together to grey
and it breaks her heart
Warehouse...
shut up i'm thinking
i had a clue now it's gone forever
sitting over these bones
you can read in whatever you're needing to
keep all your sights on
the big bad black cat that's
changing colors
it's not the colors that matter
but that they'll all fade away
this i admit
seems so full
hard to believe an end to it
warehouse is bare
nothing at all inside of it
walls and halls have disappeared
Mmmm, even just one of these tomorrow! Dave Matthews is a lyrical genius!
Posted at 10:02 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
How I wish I didn't have to be at work today!! Tomorrow is the long-awaited Dave concert!! I am going to meet most of my Dave geeks in person for the first time! They are coming from far and wide (New Jersey, Minnesota, Ontario to name a few) Am I crazy for doing this??
Most of them are already on the road (several of them are making a pit stop in Nashville for tonight's concert), so that leaves me alone at work with no one to chat with! That means that I might actually have to *gasp* work. At least I have a doctor's appointment in an hour to help break the monotony. (How sad is it that I'm thinking this way!)
This tme tomorrow, I'll be on the road to Atlanta! I can't wait!!
Posted at 9:09 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Thursday, September 18, 2003
It is so beautiful outside! I decided to walk over to the brand spankin' new UF Bookstore. I'm wearing my long flowy blue dress, and walking along with the nice cool breeze with the warm sun and clear blue skies made me feel so good! I suddenly remembered how when I was a kid I used to swear that I would be able to fly one of these days. I felt for a moment that if I just stuck my arms out and lifted up onto my toes I could float up over campus above all the cell phones, bikes, and crowds. Such a nice feeling.
So the bookstore is very cool, but I didn't see any books in it. Just Gators stuff as far as the eye can see. I'm sure they're on a different floor or whatever. I was just privately amused that all I could see was an endless horizon of orange and blue at the BOOKstore. I bought a disposable camera for my trip this weekend and finally bought myself a little Gator sticker for my car.
Posted at 11:40 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
The day after tomorrow, I'll be chilling in Atlanta with a whole bunch of other Dave freaks!! Woohoo!
Posted at 10:31 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
I felt so sick yesterday! Sore throat and super tired. I went home from work early and just slept the whole day until Andrew got home. I slept through all night last night, and then slept through my alarm this morning! I feel better health-wise, but still soooooo sleepy. I can barely keep my eyes open! Bleh.
Posted at 8:36 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Ok, for some reason I know Lane will enjoy this.
I just heard the term Donkey Cough for the first time. It refers to when you suddenly burst into laughter, but a loud, deep cough comes out instead. That's the donkey cough.
I just about donkey coughed when I heard it called that!
Posted at 2:17 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
I just read this in the paper: "A car traveling on Interstate 77 just north of Charlotte, N.C., was hit by a flying speedboat at 2:20 a.m. on Aug. 21; the boat was dashing across adjacent Lake Norman, became airborne, clipped the car, and landed in the median, but the only casualties were the boaters." This was undoubtedly at the Davidson College exit. Very interesting! Never thought of this possibility!
Posted at 9:43 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Monday, September 15, 2003
Gosh, I love football. I really do. I'm so excited that I'm going to watch yet another game tonight. Three days in a row of good football. I love it.
Unfortunately, due to the Dave concert, I need to miss the UF vs. Tennessee game we had tix for and possibly miss the Bills vs. Miami game, which is a huge deal to Bills fan (will be the biggest predictor of how strong their team is) Maybe the game will be on the radio during our drive back.
I'm amazed how much into football I get. Yesterday I decided to watch the last minutes of the Tampa Bay vs. Carolina game. That was an INCREDIBLE ending!! Tampa was down 9-2 then scored a miracle touchdown with 0.0 seconds left on the clock. The game is tied up 9-9, when they try for the extra point. Carolina's only hope is to block the extra point....AND THEY DO! This was apparently the THIRD blocked Tampa kick of the game!! The game goes into overtime!! Carolina scored first with a beautiful, unblocked field goal, winning 12-9. Amazing. I love this kind of stuff. Love it.
Posted at 4:47 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
I had a lovely weekend. Andrew's parents came in and we did some fixing up of the patio, cooked out on the grill for the first time, and mostly relaxed on Saturday. On Sunday, we drove out to Jacksonville for the Jaguars vs. Bills game. It was great! It was such a blast, even though it is probably the hottest I have been in my whole life! I'm so surprised no one passed out from heat exhaustion! I drank one 32 oz. bottle of water, but was still needing more, so I bought one of those huge 1.5 L bottles and went through the entire thing in an hour and didn't have to leave for the bathroom once during the game! It was HOT. But...tons of fun. And the Bills won, so that made it even better.
Fortunately for me, the hurricane has turned northward and will not affect me here in Florida nor will it affect my plans to see Dave this weekend. HOWEVER, I am extremely concerned because I bought tickets from this girl in Michigan and sent her the check already, etc. She Fed Exed them to me, but since no one is home during the day, I kept receiving notices on my door. I finally was able to get to the post office while it was still open, only to find out that they send the stuff back to the sender if it is not picked up within a few days! This was about a week and a half ago. I have sent the girl two emails and haven't heard back from her! I hope she is not on vacation or something!! I am begging her to overnight the tickets to my work address so I can be sure they will be received. I hope she gets my email soon!
Posted at 9:21 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Friday, September 12, 2003
Wow. Johnny Cash AND John Ritter die in the same day! So sad.
I also heard that yesterday was John Ritter's daughter's 5th birthday. It sucks enough to have your birthday be Sept. 11, but to also have you dad die that day? I would hate my birthday forever.
NPR played some Cash songs this morning. Made me tear up a bit since I was only recently developing a good appreciation for him. Very sad.
Posted at 9:50 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Thursday, September 11, 2003
How great that I run into this article after writing what I just wrote! I love it!
And on an unrelated note...I'm frightened, but I must admit the first thing on my mind is that the Dave show in Atlanta is on Saturday. This might totally ruin it after months and months of counting down the days!
Posted at 9:28 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
So, it's September 11.
Two years ago, I was only about three weeks into my new job at Naylor. I actually liked the job at the time! I got in at 8:30am. Before I was fully settled for my day of phone calls, I overheard a guy a few cubicles over say something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I perked up and listened. They were talking about a small plane crashing into its side. My first thought was that some idiot wanted a high-profile suicide, because how could you possibly not see those huge buildings coming? I called Andrew who was still sleeping. I told him to turn on the news and let me know what was going on. There was silence for a while. Then he told me that there was a lot of smoke and no one seemed to know exactly what was going on. Then, "Oh my God! Another plane! It's huge!" At this point, more and more people in the office were receiving calls and placing calls, everyone grasping for information. Finally, I heard about a TV being turned to the news in the conference room, so I decided to go check it out for myself.
It was numbing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I ran back to the phone and called my dad at work. I told him about it, and it was obvious he hadn't heard. His response was a slightly curious, "Oh yeah?" He turned on the TV in his office, and became a little more serious.
I kept picturing this gorgeous picture of all of my cousins and me at the Statue of Liberty. All nine of us are lined up in order of height with the Manhattan skyline behind us on a beautifully clear day with the towers soaring prominently behind us. This picture is on our mantle at home and is at my grandparents' house and all of my cousins' homes.
"Dad, I think they're going to have to knock them down. How can they fix holes that big?" "Oh, they can fix that," he said, "but boy, that looks bad. I wonder how those people are getting down all those flights of stairs?" And then it hit me. I was so shocked and impressed by the fact that it was the World Trade Center, something that I always searched for in the sky whenever I went to NYC, or even just connecting in the airport. I hadn't even begun to think of all of the people inside!
I went back to the TV and continued to watch the horrible images. There was a pretty large crowd. Then, our managers came in and told us all to get back on the phones and SELL SELL SELL. We shuffled back to our desks. I reluctantly made a few phone calls and was, of course, told off by some very promising clients. "Don't you know what's going on?? How dare you call at a time like this!!" Apparently, the thought of losing too many clients scared the managers, because then they told us to lay off the phones and catch up on our paperwork instead.
I couldn't resist the urge to go back to the TV. I did, and heard about the Pentagon...and the plane in Pennsylvania. I wondered what else was going to happen. What's next? Then, I saw the first tower collapse. I screamed as did several other people in the room. More and more people piled in as news of the collapse spread throughout the floor, and about 75% of the company was there to watch the second collapse. I was in horror and could not help but cry. One of the girls I was becoming friends with was throwing up in the bathroom. A couple of people started panicking because they had family in New York, and then it occured to me...Sheila worked just blocks away from the towers!
I met Andrew for lunch. We just went for Burger King. We were very numb. "Honey, there must be 1000 people dead right now," I said. "No," he said, "I heard that most of the people made it out. I think just the people on the floors that were hit by the planes were hurt. It's probably a few hundred, though. It's horrible." We had no idea how far off we were!
I actually came back to work for some reason, probably just because I had only been there a few weeks. I was surprised to hear that our 1:00 meeting was still on. It started off with the manager leading the meeting saying, "I don't understand all these people who say they can't work and are watching the TV. It's just depressing. There's nothing we can do about it, so let's go on with the meeting." She then continues on with the meeting. It was as if she was talking about a car accident that happened outside the office or something, not something like our country being under attack and thousands of people dying and the sky falling down on us and World War III about to begin. I realized there at that moment that I could not stay at this job. They were more concerned about what this would do to their sales, even as the towers burned. I began looking for a job the next week, but because everything was chaos, I was not able to find anything until that January.
I felt numb for the rest of the day and did a little bit of crying. I finally got an email from Sheila saying she was ok, but saw the whole thing with her own eyes. She told me of her building shaking with each explosion and collapse. She talked about the people she saw running the streets below her office completely covered in grey ash. I wondered how much of that ash were people's bones.
My husband tore me away from the TV that night and told me to stop watching. "We'll find out more tomorrow. The sun will come up, and we'll find out then."
So, 9/11 changed my life. I was thousands of miles away, I don't know anyone who died, but it changed my life anyway. Not just because I remember it and it was sad, but it made me look at myself and what I wanted for myself. Being in that office showed me that I was not meant for that kind of environment. Most people were bummed that they couldn't make any sales that day. The managers were annoyed and trying to figure out the plan of action for the rest of the day, trying to turn off the TV so that we could go back to our desks. The ones like me, well, I felt we were almost trapped in there. We wanted to leave. I wanted to spend the rest of my day with Andrew just holding him and feeling grateful, but I could not. I regret that I didn't have the courage to walk out that day. It drove home that what is important in life for me is not what is important to others. I could care less about sales in a moment like that. I wanted to call everyone I loved.
Well, I could go on and on. I keep writing more and deleting it. It's been two years. The effects of 9/11 on my little mind are etched forever, regardless of whether or not I remember images of the towers burning and crumbling. It meant more to me. My heart goes out to all those more directly affected.
Posted at 8:56 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Any Trinity folk remember my car pool kid? I was walking around the Union and saw a guy who looked like an older version of him. I was amused until I stopped, took a deep breath and did the math. My 6th grader carpool kid is, indeed, old enough to be in college now.
God, I'm old.
Posted at 2:55 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
The bad part about eating tons of delicious food is that it makes you sooooooooooooo sleepy afterward. Trying to stay awake....
Posted at 2:46 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Mmm...I'm off to have Thai food with Becca in a little bit. Yummy.
Posted at 11:22 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
So I'm on Friendster since I had several people trying to get me on it. I would think that the fun part would be to try to search for random people to see if they are on and what is on their profiles. I found a few hits, but I can't figure out how to look at them without officially adding them as a "Friend." Plus, some names have multiple hits, so how am I supposed to figure out which, if any, is the real person I'm looking for?
I do find it amusing, though, when I add someone as a friend and it says something like, "Lane is now your friend." I have to laugh when I see that. What has she thought of me for the past 12 years then??
Posted at 8:56 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Great story! Ha ha! I always wondered if something like that would ever work!
Posted at 4:20 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Jared, as in Subway Jared, is going to be in the building next to mine at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Should I go see him? How often does an opportunity like this come up?? I don't understand why Ari Fleischer's visit on Thursday is getting more publicity than this.
Posted at 3:40 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Yesterday I was astouded by the power the television had over me. I was flipping channels and came across one of those sleazy entertainment shows like Entertainment Tonight or Extra or whatever. I got sucked in. Before every commerical break, they'd promise me the most exciting story and gossip. Oooh, it all sounded so delicious and interesting. Then, back from the commercial break, they'd talk about each thing for maybe 30 seconds and provide no information. And yet, three commerical breaks in a row, I continued to fall for it. I lay there listlessly on the couch and finally begged Andrew to save me from the trashy vortex, "Help Andrew! This sucks, but I can't leave it." "Change the channel," he said from the comfort of the dining room just out of reach from J.Lo and Jessica Simpson's evil grip. "I can't! I need to know how Cameron Diaz broke her nose!" "Do it and do it now. You can do it!" he cheered. Finally, I did. I still don't know how she broke her nose.
Posted at 1:51 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
I love Andrew. Just wanted to say it. Sometimes I look at him, and I get all tingly inside. I've known him since I was 19, and I love that that still happens. I just love him. That's all. I'm glad I never let him get away.
Posted at 9:26 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Monday, September 08, 2003
I just went to Amazon to order three new CDs, the new John Mayer, the new Seal, and the new Yo-Yo Ma. What a strange, strange combo. Add that to the fact that I have not purchased a non-Dave Matthews CD for myself in well over a year. I decided to hold off on the Seal one until I heard a song or two, though. But for now, Yo-Yo Ma and John Mayer are headed my way.
Also, Yo-Yo Ma is playing here in Gainesville in November. I want tickets very badly. The cheap seats are $40, though! Wow! It's expensive. I might just have to go anyway. I love him.
Posted at 2:46 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
I had a nice weekend. Saturday morning, I took a pilates class. I loved it, but it was tough! I am still sore. I am, however, sore in good places. My shoulders, which are too wimpy, my abs which I need to re-flatten. I wish my butt was a bit more sore, though. I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I am actually in the *gasp* average weight range now, which means I need to start doing the things normal people do like exercising and watching what I eat. I am pretty happy, though, because weighing what I should weigh makes for less fainting, less hair loss, among other unpleasant maladies. Plus, I think I might actually look better. Everyone is commenting on how I've gained weight, but it's for the better. The downside is I need new pants. Nothing fits anymore. I doubt I will ever be a size 2 again.
Saturday night I saw the Gators/Miami game. Oh man. I knew going in we were probably going to lose, but I was not prepared to lose the way we did!! When Miami scored a touchdown on the very first play of the game, I figured that I was in for a long painful night. Then, we blossomed. By the beginning of the third quarter, we were leading them 33-10! I was already thinking about what our rank was going to be (surely in the Top 10!!), when all of a sudden, our defense seemed to vanish. Miami came back from a 23 point deficit to win the game! Unbelivable. Such a rollercoaster. I was screaming! Oh well. I'm not as heartbroken as others because I actually like the Hurricanes. They were the team I grew up watching since my dad went there. They are always my favorites, but when they play the Gators, I need to root for the team that pays my bills!
Posted at 11:55 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Friday, September 05, 2003
Whew! Finally finished the Spring 2004 Course Schedule!!
Next week is going to be smooth sailing. Done with my crunch time for now.
And I have less than an hour to go until the weekend!
Posted at 4:09 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Apparently there is a big Tropical Storm heading this way and it's going to dump a foot of water on us. Fun. I think it's supposed to get a name soon.
Posted at 8:37 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Thursday, September 04, 2003
In the shower this morning, I started thinking about all these random people I have met throughout my 24 years. You know, the ones that just kind of make guest appearances. I still remember them years later, even though I knew them for a short time and I have no way of finding out where they are now. I made a list in my head of "Whatever Happened to..." akin to the VH1 specials of One-Hit Wonders. Here are some of the people I thought of...
Whatever happened to Jesica? She was this girl in my pre-Kindergarten class in Puerto Rico who wore stinky, stinky perfume every day. What 4 year old wears perfume everyday? I remember every time she was about to walk by me, I would hold my breath. I still remember exactly what she smelled like. I hardly remember anything from that pre-Kinder class, but the memory of her smell is vivid.
Whatever happened to Todd? He was my first crush. He was this cute little blond boy with a bowl cut I used to chase around the playground in Kindergarten. I would run after him, begging him to kiss me, and he would run away screaming. Would I have kissed him had I caught him? How different would my life be if my first kiss had been at the age of 5 rather than the age of 17?
Whatever happened to Gloria? In first grade, she fell on the basketball court and to me it looked like she had split her head open. I had never seen so much blood in my life!! Her forehead was all covered in blood. I couldn't get the image out of my head that entire week. When she came back to school, I always looked at her as the girl who split her head open. I always wondered how it would be to go through life as a girl whose head was split open. When we got our yearbook a few weeks later, I drew a line down her forehead.
Whatever happened to Emilia? She was this very strange girl who befriended me in second grade. She asked me to go into the bathroom with her to show me hers if I'd show her mine. I was stunned by the proposition, but complied nonetheless. She pulled up her skirt and dropped her panties. I flashed mine really quick and we could not stop giggling. She invited me to her house once and showed me a board game her dad had invented about geography. I thought that was amazing to meet someone who actually invented a board game!! She also told me that her grandmother met Santa Claus.
Whatever happened to Bob Espy? The first day of third grade, he was wearing a blue sweatsuit. We all sat in a circle on the floor and took turns sitting in the center and introducing ourselves. As he sat down in the middle during his turn, he says, "My name is Bob Espy" and immediately let out a very loud fart. I remember I was sitting right behind him, so I couldn't see his face, but I did see him reach his hand around to cover his butt. We all immediately started laughing. It took the pressure off of me since I was to go right after him. I just thought to myself, "As long as I don't fart, I will be just fine."
Whatever happened to Scott Bakay? I remember he used to wear a Space Camp shirt. In third grade, he told me that he had a crush on me. Having just moved from Puerto Rico that year, I was still unfamiliar with this usage of the word "crush." I was terrified. I thought he was saying he wanted to crush me, as in beat me up. "WHY??" I begged. He just shrugged. I ran and told one of my other friends, and she told me that he was trying to tell me that he liked me. An overwhelming relief came over me. I went back to him and asked him if this is what he meant. He nodded, and I said, "Oh good!" and left. I don't recall ever speaking to him again after that.
Whatever happened to David Martinez? In fourth grade, he used to tease me. Every time he'd see me, he'd say, "Your omni is showing!! Your omni is showing!!" I was so confused. Finally, I got fed up one day and asked him what on earth an omni was. He told me it was my peepee. WHAT?? What did he mean my omni was showing?? Finally, I told my parents about this habit of his. My parents immediately called the teacher, and an appointment was set up for us to meet with David to discuss how it was inappropriate for him to say such things. My mom, my teacher, him, and I were there, but his parents did not show up. I still remember how terrified he looked.
Whatever happened to Shoeb Malik? The three shortest people in the sixth grade were Jennifer Lorentz, Shoeb, and I. He was this tiny Arab kid who always got in trouble. I remember one day during P.E. he decided to moon all of the girls. That earned him a hefty detention. I secretly thought it was cool at the time, though, because it was my first time seeing non-family boy parts.
Whatever happened to Claudine Brown? Whenever I want to feel guilty and beat myself up in my head, all I have to do is think back to Claudine. The big joke was that she had green hair and had food caught in her braces. I played along, though I never noticed the green hue others saw (though she could have used better dental hygiene). I was terrible to Claudine, and so was everyone else. We always made fun of her to her face. She invited all of us to her birthday in seventh grade anyway. I remember Elaine Green came up with a terrific plan on her birthday to pretend we were going to play an egg toss in the backyard. So, we each grabbed an egg, and on the count of three, we all threw the eggs on her! I still remember that image so vividly. All eight or ten of us conspired to throw eggs on her at her house on her birthday. Her mom had a big lecture for all of us. I felt so terrible about it, but was afraid to let on.
So, whatever happened to Elaine Green? I was awed by her and terrified by her at once. Her father was British and her mom was Hungarian. She had the best accent. She was a bit crazy, however. She came up with that egg scheme along with a couple of other clever/evil ideas. I remember she used to call up her mom and cuss her out on the phone in front of all of us and laugh after hanging up. I always wanted to go along with her, but was always afraid, because it was almost always so wrong. She ended up leaving school because us preppies were all a little too lame for her. A year later, we found a picture of her in the Orlando Sentinel with green hair.
Whatever happened to Tommy Peters? He was an odd kid. Very odd. He was rather large and certainly goofy. I remember one day during lunch, he randomly started rolling around campus. I mean, really, really rolling. I still remember him spinning around and around on his side along the grass. We were laughing and rooting him on. For a while after that, we'd beg him to roll for us again. He always resisted, but eventually he complied once. Sometimes I wonder if he was actually a funny guy. If he hadn't been so aloof, I might have liked to try to become friends with him.
Whatever happened to Will Fortune? If Shoeb was my first time seeing boy parts, Will was my first time seeing man parts. Davidson had a night when all the freshmen frat pledges had to run through the girls' houses. Will Fortune was the first one to walk in that night. There is a photo of me looking straight down to his lower parts with my arms up in the air, mouth hanging open wide. He worked at the library the same hours I did. I always saw him as "my first" though he doesn't know it!
Whatever happened to Jonathan Letzring? We were set up on a date my freshman year, and always had a strange relationship after that. He was a very tall, attractive red head. We were "just friends" the whole time with a lot of underlying sexual tension. He lived in Clearwater, so over the summer, he decided to drive to Orlando to take me out to clubs. I put on the sexiest outfit I owned. He came to pick me up at my dad's hotel, and all the ladies who worked up in the office were quite impressed with my date. We were "just friends" the entire date as well. After all, I was supposedly dating Will White at the time. Ten minutes after Will dumped me my first night back from Winter Break, there was a knock on my door. I opened it, and there was Jonathan with about a dozen oranges in his arms that he brought from one Floridian to another. When he saw that I was crying, several oranges fell from his arms and he had to go chase them down the hall. I told him how Will dumped me, etc., and he was wonderfully understanding. Several weeks later, I went to a party. Jonathan showed up nice and drunk. He finally confessed all his feeling for me as he had me nearly pinned to the wall. He began kissing my neck, which was startling, but also felt really nice. I was guessing this was to be the start of something between us. Over his shoulder, though, I could see a certain Andrew Preston, watching the whole display. I broke off for a bit, and tried to just talk to Jonathan. Andrew used this opportunity to talk to me as well. Jonathan gave him a death stare. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. His being nearly a foot taller than Andrew won out, and Andrew backed off. Jonathan continued to kiss me and asked to walk me home. I knew what this meant, and was unsure. Fortunately, the decision was lifted off my shoulders, and some older girls swooped in said that they would walk me home. I was annoyed with them, but was partly glad. Jonathan did not take things so well. He was very hurt that I did not stand up to these girls and accused me of not trusting him. I tried to apologize to him. However, Andrew made his moves and eclipsed Jonathan. I soon forgot about him. But now when I think back to him, I always feel guilty about having broken his heart.
So whatever happened to these people? Does Jesica still wear bad perfume? Who was the girl Todd finally kissed back? Does Gloria have any scars? How did Emilia find out Santa Claus doesn't exist? Does Bob Espy ever recount his fart story? Has Scott Bakay ever get up the guts to let a girl know of his feelings again? Has David Martinez sexually harrassed anyone since me? Is Shoeb still short? Does Claudine have good friends now? How strange has Elaine gotten? Does Tommy Peters have a fabulous sense of humor? Who was Will Fortune's first? How is Jonathan?
Posted at 10:04 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
I need to win the lotto. I need to win the lotto so that I can quit working. After winning the lotto and quitting my job, I will be lazy for about six months or so. Then, I will get pregnant. I want a baby.
What is wrong with me?
Posted at 4:26 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
I had sent out my resume and all that to a job over at Santa Fe Community College several weeks ago for a position that looked really cool. I was later informed that the position had been "restructured" so I figured I should be thankful they decided it earlier rather than after I would have been hired. Well, I checked again, and the position was just posted again yesterday. Umm...do I reapply??
Posted at 3:45 PM
Comments...
Permalink
......
I'm getting a facial today! That makes me happy.
Other than that, I'm sleepy. Very sleepy. Let's see how I manage today.
Posted at 8:18 AM
Comments...
Permalink
......
