Smith Winter Weekend, etc.

I determined at the beginning of this semester that nothing could stop me from missing the annual Poof-Derby showdown during what is one of my favorite weekends of the year, every year: Smith Winter Weekend. And, thankfully, nothing did. I flew back to Smith last Wednesday on a red-eye (my favorite - no joke) and was greeted at the airport by the lovely Casey Shevin on Thursday morning. My stay was much too short and went by much too fast, but I had a great time. I will admit, I was a little apprehensive about whether I'd feel welcome/comfortable at Smith and singing with Poofs having been absent this semester, but I quickly fell back into the swing of things, and I really had a fabulous time. Even Jeff Goodman and a couple of his debaucherous friends swooped by King House for our cocktail party on Friday night. And let's just say that that evening ended with some unmentionable folks running around COMPLETELY naked at about 3 in the morning. And no, I was not one of them. And although he suggested the idea in the first place, Jeff was not one of them either. I took lots and lots of pictures, though, which can be found on my Facebook profile. (Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the naked people being naked.)

In other news, I conveniently found out that I was readmitted to Smith for the spring semester while I was still at school. Although I was trying not to fret about it too much, it is a bit of a relief not to have to worry about what my plans are for next semester. The only issue is housing, which I'll know more about as the time draws nearer. Hopefully I'll get back into King House; otherwise, I'll live off-campus for a semester, which wouldn't be all that bad. LMcCarth and I even discussed the possibility of shacking it up together in the instance that neither of us can get back into our house. In any case, I'm sure everything will work out.

Also, I really love the holiday season. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a sucker for every last bit of it: the Christmas lights, decorations everywhere, festive storefronts...even the music!

Okay, I'm at work, so I should stop dilly-dallying. I thought I had more to say. Maybe it'll come to me later...

Don't tell my mom...

But I made her this really awesome collage of her poodles as part of her Christmas present. I'm gonna frame it and everything!


Also, the reason Elvis's eyes look so cracked out (bottom right) is because he has some eye disease or something. My parents have actually taken him to a pet neurologist!!! I didn't even know such a person existed!

Also, I already started writing a longer post all about Smith Winter Weekend, etc. Expect it up in the next day or so. Woooord.

Ewww!

The world's ugliest dog, Sam, died this past Friday. I didn't think it was possible for a dog to be so ugly, but you should probably brace yourselves for this one: RIP Sam.

In other news, a teenager with serious peanut allergies recently died after kissing her boyfriend who had just eaten a peanut butter sandwich. WTF?!?! #r jkfl;& Read about it here.

I know this is a poor excuse for a blog entry, but I've been busy. It seems I'm always saying that a serious update is in order. I really mean it, though.

Smith College in less than 48 hours! Woohooooo!

(Also, David Wolf is entirely responsible for the content of this post. He is one of the great inspirations in my life.)

Toothpaste for Dinner can sometimes be hit or miss. Most of the time, though, it's hit, like this:

More later.

The Used Levi's Store...

Friday I had the pleasure of hanging out with Sameer, who I hadn't seen in about 23 years. Since we were short on time, we decided to spend it very wisely by hitting up The Used Levi's Store (also known as Vintage Victim, Denim Blue, and Billy Jean). Pretty much everyone from California who is reading this will understand me when I say that it's a really fantastic place and that it's owner, Billy, is a really fantastic person. In any case, Sameer and I spent over an hour there - an hour in which we all impersonated various members of Boyz II Men, downloaded Boyz II Men ringtones, talked about people we've encountered who have acted rather inappropriately in public places, and celebrated Billy's birthday. Sameer was nice enough to document all of this on his digital camera:

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Billy, which he found a little embarassing.

Billy and this other chick who works at his store

Best picture ever!

Sameer and me in his car. I love him. We are, after all, married.

Amazing!

Jealous?

#1. I just bought the new David Blaine DVD for $4.53 on eBay, and it's NEW!

#2. I talked to one of the members of Boyz II Men, Michael, on the phone yesterday at work for over an hour! He was calling in to verify that a gift certificate he purchased had been picked up by his personal assistant, and you probably don't believe me, but that's okay because I know that I talked to him for a really long time and that he knows about the Smiffenpoofs now and how they cover a Boyz II Men song, "Thank You," and he wants to hear it and even suggested we open for a Boyz II Men concert in the future, giving me his DIRECT PERSONAL NUMBER so that I can call him to "work out the details." And even though it was really weird being on the phone with one of the members from Boyz II Men at work - especially because he just kept calling me "baby" and "beautiful" - the fact of the matter is that this dude is gonna go back and tell all the other dudes in Boyz II Men about the Poofs' cover of "Thank You," and that's pretty cool.

Beat that for "Best Stories of the Day," suckas. I double-dog dare you.

Stupid bitches...

After the NBA instated a new dress code effective November 1st (read the article here), Marcus Camby of the Denver Nuggets complained like a little baby that he didn't think it was fair unless the NBA plans on giving players an allowance for P. Diddy-approved apparel. What a fucking joke! This man makes about $10 million a year, and he thinks the NBA should give him pocket change to buy a blazer!

PS.

Did I mention that I'm totally obsessed with David Blaine now? Fuck, man, he is so amazing. My plan is to purchse his DVD immediately after getting paid next week.

Drum roll, please...

Mmmk, so here goes... Life is good, she really is. Classes are boring, but I go to them because I have to. I sent in my application for readmission to Smith a few weeks ago and heard back from the Registrar's Office today. In order for my application to be considered by the Administrative Board, I first have to schedule an interview with my Class Dean, and I also have to get cleared through Health Services since I was forced to use several medical drops at the end of the semester when things fell apart. I suppose that's a bit annoying, but I also understand that they don't want too many crazies running around Smith all at once.

Work is also fabulous. I've been putting in about 35 hours per week, and I got a raise before this last pay period, which was nice. My bosses continue to be fun, fun ladies, and one of them recently suggested that, the next time we go out for a Massage Envy office get-together, we keep it to the front desk staff so that way we can actually get drunk without having to be too overwhelmed by all the massage therapists, too. Hahaaa! There are a couple new gals (Jen and Jess) working at the front desk, too, and they are truly delightful. Jen and I sometimes refer to ourselves as Jen-squared, which you probably won't find terribly amusing, and that's okay.

The weather has been whack. It's been in the 80s some days (gasp!) and quite cool at night. I miss New England weather for sure. This evening while hanging out with the one, the only Megan Breen, we discussed how saddening it can be when one must experience the onset of the holiday season knowing that it will be absent of any "seasonal" weather. We also spoke at great length about how delicious frozen yogurt is and made a weekly date to enjoy Golden Spoon together for the rest of the semester, which is now half-way over (well, one week shy of being half-way over...).

My first eight-week long course ends next week, and the following week I have two more eight-week long courses that will be starting up on top of the two 16-week long courses I am concurrently enrolled in. Each of my classes is worth three credit hours, which is lame as balls because Smith will only accept my coursework at face value (meaning I will earn a mere 15 credits for what should be 20 credits worth of work). My concern here is that I am attempting to re-enter Smith one credit shy of the 96 credits required for entry into the senior year, but if Smith is going to hold me back one more semester over a single credit, then fuck it. I'll have to resort to Plan B, which is to find a solid internship in Boston for the spring semester. I've already begun a thorough search, and my plan is to apply to a few so that I can have that option readily available should that be the course I need to take.

In other news, I can't explain to you how joyous it is to sleep with my cat, Sonjia, each and every night. It is truly one of the highlights of being home.

Something that is slightly less enjoyable (at times) about being home is my brother. For example, he locked me in the garage the other night for 15 minutes when I went outside to do laundry. Granted, I did a little provoking on my end, but it was mildly obnoxious since I didn't have my keys (he had them), and because there was noone else home (the fam was in Kentucky hanging out with the grandkids, who I would give anything to hang out with - especially that Max, he's a real trouble-maker in true Jen Paul fashion).

But now I'm just getting carried away, and my brother (not the one who locked me in the garage) said he can't read this because it's too long, so I should probably cease and desist. Pretty soon I might start compiling a list of things I want for Christmas on here, though, even though I get quite upset at my family if they try to buy me anything for my birthday/holidays. It's not even November, though, and I'm already thinking about everything that I want. This could be problematic...

Ummm...

This is really cute. Touching, even. Thanks Alexandra Weiss, Angela Serratore, and any others who spearheaded this campaign. You are adorable. (You'll need to be a Facebook member to access that link, but I trust that most of you are anyway.)

I know, I know, I really need to update. I will try to in a little bit, but right now I'm on the phone with the IRS trying to get a confirmation of my non-filing status for this past tax year, yadda yadda yadda.

Mmmkbye.

Here we go...

I know I haven't updated in forever, and right now I am actually on my way to class, so I can't really write too much in this post. I just wanted to say that a) I will update in great detail (well, not too much detail...) in the VERY NEAR FUTURE, and b) my new favorite website is www.taylorgifts.com. Check it. Particularly this item, which is INCREDIBLE. Agreed?

Michelle and Me

This past weekend I hung out with Michelle Sassounian, and it was absolutely lovely. We vowed to see each other at minimum once a week until I go back to Smith...or else. Here are some picture highlights from our rendezvous:

Michelle and I found the AIM guy just standing in the middle of the street. We almost hit him!

Best friends forever since birth. Sandcastle Estates, what?

Talking on the telephone...

I hadn't seen Sureel since, oh, highschool graduation! (How ridiculous is that?) It was super good to catch up with him, and I'm hoping to see him for some Halloween fun.

Me, Sureel, Michelle, and Sharon

Wow...

I really miss Smith College/New England tonight...errr...this morning. This includes but is not limited to: Angela, Alex, Jen, Allison, Casey, watching "The OC" by the fireplace in King House, late night gab sessions in the hallway, 5-5-5, cookie dough, maybe a few illicit substances every now and then, communal bathrooms, my futon, La Veracruzana, On the Border, trips to Target at Hampshire/Holyoke Mall, Nini's, Matt, Boston, Jeff, the prospect of going to Ikea in New Haven to make fun of Angela's absurd Swedish meatballs fetish, the prospect of seeing Alex Lipschultz and the rest of the BU crew, the prospect of visiting Sunil in his swank apartment in NYC, etc. etc. etc.

Spring semester cannot come soon enough...

Cats in Sinks!

This guy named Seb linked me to this really fantastic website called Cats in Sinks. You should probably check it out.

Special

I just received the following message on MySpace:

hey your pretty want to talk on aim?

from this individual named Al:

What's the verdict? Should I give him my screenname? (!!!)

Gerardo in Pain

While looking for a picture of someone with lots of stomach tumors (more on that later), I came across a rather pleasant surprise.

CHECK IT OUT

I really hope your audio is functioning, wherever you're listening to this, because it makes the webpage all the more special.

And the reason I was looking for a picture of a person with lots of stomach tumors (you know, the kind that make a person's belly look unusually lopsided and lumpy) is because there are two such people in my Psychology course on Human Sexuality. I was trying to explain the tumor phenomenon to Alex because she wasn't being able to picture it, but I couldn't find anything on Google images to my liking. I will tell you that both men in my psychology class appear not only to have large tumors in their bellies, but they also appear to be homeless and in their mid-forties to fifties. Both of them. How does this happen? Two homeless men in a class on Human Sexuality? AND, I'll have you know that, upon asking students to define what sexuality meant to them and hearing from a fair amount of students, Homeless Man #2 rose his hand unassumingly and said, "What about bestiality?" in the creepiest voice ever!

f dja;lf lf jka;lf jkas;df asdfj;adlf jdasl;f

WTF? How gross is that?

Ugh, I'm too repulsed (and alternately a bit amused) to continue on with this post. More later on how awesome I feel to be taking classes with a bunch of 17-year-olds (and a couple tumor-ridden homeless men).

Haha, this is funny...

According to The Princeton Review, this is what students apparently have to say about Smith College:

If people who "use the word 'hegemony' in everyday conversation" and who cherish "freedom from the oppressive hetero-normative patriarchy "—or even know what that means—sound like your kind of folks, you may be a Smith woman. Smithies are "typically politically active, love to learn, and champion about four different causes. They are quirky and dorky but love to go out and have a good time. And they want to save the world." The crusading can occasionally be overbearing—"Smith students can be vicious when defending their own beliefs and ideas and attacking those who disagree with them," warns one woman, but overall students regard one another as "caring" and "supportive." Like hometown Northampton, "Smith is a very gay friendly environment"—students report that there are "a lot of lesbians" on campus, and "quite a few 'boys.'" Straight undergrads think "it's important to stress how easy it is to meet guys. Many hetero women are scared to come here because they believe the stereotype about Smith being solely a haven for man-hating lesbians. It really is not true."

I think my favorite part is when they refer to the fact that there are quite a few "boys" at Smith and that it's not "soley a haven for man-hating lesbians." Beat. Phew! I really thought I was in trouble there for a second!

"You seen a cat with a knife around here?"

Life has been eventful lately. In fact, that is somewhat of an understatement. With the arrival and all-too-soon departure of my lovely Smith ladies, there was gallivanting aplenty. So here's for a brief but thorough run-down of my life's happenings of late:

• Justin Yu came down from San Francisco for a little face-time with the friends (and his family, I presume). As per the usual, he wasn't here nearly long enough, but for the time that he was here, we had a blast. I still maintain that he is one of the funniest people I have ever known. One of the highlights of his visit? A boisterous game of Pit* played with Angela, Jen, Alex, Allison, and I at Matt's house last weekend.
• I saw Junebug this past Wednesday. It was such an unexpected gem. And I don't mean that in the sense that it measures up to some of my favorite films of all time, but it was definitely an incredible feat for a first-time feature length. The acting (particularly Amy Adams and Scott Wilson) was extremely solid, and while there were many elements in the film that could have been interpreted as ultra cliche/premeditated or glitzy (Ahem, think Garden State...), they didn't come off that way at all - not even in the least. Few directors can walk that fine line, I think, and that's what was so impressive to me about the film. Definitely check it out.
• Matthew Boese bought me a guitar for my birthday. It was totally unexpected but also one of the most beautiful, thoughtful gifts I've ever received. With my new Fender Stratocaster guitar in hand, there is no excuse (except perhaps lack of motivation) for me not to jump on this making music/having fun bandwagon. I'm pretty sure Matt had that in mind, so the gift was a bajillion times more meaningful, knowing that it came from someone who genuinely wants me to further explore my creativity/passion in that regard - no holds barred. It's gonna take some work, but I'm looking forward to putting in the effort to start making it happen.
• Last night I had what was possibly the worst nightmare of all my life. Or at least it was one of the more urgent and realistic-seeming dreams I've had since I can remember. It involved my teeth falling out (that most common of nightmares), which I've never had before, in the setting of Larry David's house from Curb Your Enthusiasm, coupled with lots of danger, me being EXTREMELY frantic, and a bunch of people who couldn't have cared less. It doesn't sound all that bad now, but that's partly because I don't remember it all and also because I don't want to scare you.
• Today at work, I got a very special phone call. The gentleman I spoke to uttered not a word of English. In fact, he pretty much just asked me if we offered "sexo," which is sex in Spanish. Now...I've gotten some pretty silly inquiries since working at Massage Envy, but this one tops the list for being the least roundabout. Cheers to that.
• I saw Forty-Year-Old Virgin tonight with Matt, Jeff, Dan, and Katy. It was hiiiiilarious. Now I've really gotta see Freaks and Geeks since it was written by the same dude.
• After missing 5 out of 6 class meetings for both my summer school courses at UC Irvine, I think it's time I get serious about going to class...perhaps even today in about 7.5 hours.
• Jeff leaves on Tuesday. Matt leaves on Friday. Angela leaves next week. Ugh...what's a girl to do?

So, I think that's it. Well, that and this lady who is a frequent client at Massage Envy (a lady with whom I'm on a first name basis) slammed into my car sort of gently as I was leaving work yesterday. My door is a bit banged up, but at least the car still drives. Insurance never covers private parking lot mishaps, so I'll probably have to pay for at least half of it, but it could be so much worse. I really wanted a new car door anyway... (Joke.)

K, goodnight. Peas, love, and harmony. <3>*Pit is pretty much one of the best games ever.

Hahaaa!

Check out this gay picture of me that somehow made it up onto the Club Bang website from our trip there this past Saturday night.


Seriously, how'd I get to be so gay?

When I was young, I caught a glimpse...

Lots to say, not enough energy to say it. Plus, it is too sad. My friends have come and gone - everyone except for Alex, who is still in LA, enjoying her last moments in CA with Angela, while I am theoretically supposed to be studying for class...

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I have posted over 100 pictures on my SmugMug page capturing the extravagance of the past few days. You can brownse almost all of them by clicking here. (A few of them remain on my computer only to be seen by those individuals who star in them because they are really just that inappropriate/scandalous. Oh, well.)

On a final note, our entire trip can be summed up by that magical Mariah Carey song, "I'll Be There," which Allison dedicated to Jen, Angela, Alex, and me on the radio yesterday when she actually got on air with Michelle of KOST 103.5 "Love Songs on the Coast." (Think west-coast version of Delilah.) We sat around in Angela's kitchen for 3 hours last night while Allison put our hair in "piggies" just so we wouldn't miss the heartfelt radio dedication. It was pretty special in the way that very few things in life are.

I promise to fill you in on the past week or so of my life (including that momentous day that marked the 22nd year of my life) very, very soon. In the meantime, do enjoy the pictures. They are pretty silly.

Allison, Jen, Alex, and Angela: your hearts are forever mine. I looove you and miiiss you and regret only that we didn't have more time to spend with each other. You ladies are fine - I'll dance in the Hip Hop Room with all y'all any day, any time. Looooove!

Yesssss!

Today I got my second paycheck from Massage Envy. It is the largest paycheck I have ever received. No, not large as in the area that the check itself takes up, but large in the sense that the dollar amount was fairly nice. Then, of course, I had to pay my credit card bill and get gas... and I have to save up in anticipation of some very special people coming into town!!! Check this out: Alex Weiss is all lined up to arrive in CA on the 13th, then Jen Maurer decides she wants to join in the fun, too, so she's coming in on the 11th, and then Allison Kaylor finally got her act in gear and bought her ticket, so she's coming out on the 13th, too. So that's not one, not two, but three Smithees coming to HB/LA in less than a week! Let me tell you how I feel about that one:

AMAAAAAZING!

Ummm, so besides that, I have nothing terribly exciting to report. Except I did go to the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa last night, which is apparently something of a hipster hang-out in this neck of the woods. The venue itself was quite lovely, I think I may even frequent it again! Too bad the band we went to see, Frausdots, was extremely disappointing live. Oh, well!

Okay, so that's it. Really and truly. I'll have more to say when I'm not so tired. I just got home from work, and...you know...that thing can be sort of tiring. Not tiring as in bored, but tiring as in it makes your body feel sleepy. Yeah. Sleeping is good. Final note:

ALEX, ALLISON, and JEN...OH, MY!

Haha, "Oh, My" is the name of a sex shop in Northampton. Casey Shevin and I were supposed to go there this semester, but we didn't. Cause she's a flake. (Psych! She's not a flake, she's my penpal!!!)

Oh, and one more thing - it's important to note that my co-host for the entertainment and enjoyment of the abovementioned ladies is Angela Serratore. Sometimes she puts obscenely large pictures in the comments section on peoples' MySpace profiles, but she's a fairly decent person aside from that. So decent, in fact, that I ventured to the valley on Wednesday to spend a joyous day with her. And how!

I've had that Usher song in my head all day...

Yes, I know it has been a while, and I also know that I haven't been good about posting in general ever since I got a job. I'm sorry (but not really). Life has actually been quite good. With the help of my new psychologist, a very pleasant job, and less downtime, things are really moving along quite nicely for me. Aside from the occassional anxiousness related to the question of how I'll get on without Smith, I've been feeling pretty positive lately, and living at home is sort of nice (for a change). At work they gave me a key within the first week, and they treat me like a champ. As silly as it sounds, it feels great knowing that I have a productive influence at my job and that I'm appreciated for my work. My bosses, Jodi and Carol, are seriously two of the raddest ladies I've ever met, and all the other receptionists and massage therapists that work in the office keep life interesting and fun.

Aside from work, I've sort of been trying to get out and about as best I can. It's hard to be proactive about leaving the house or not taking that nap, but I'm working on it. A few highlights/thoughts:

• I saw March of the Penguins with Dan and Matt, and I have an entirely new appreciation for penguins. Seriously, see it, and you'll be amazed. Penguins endure so much!
• I also saw I Am a Sex Addict, a Caveh Zahedi film, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Caveh was there for a Q&A session, and the movie was extremely entertaining. The Pacific Design Center is also a fascinating place that I hope to frequent more often.
• My younger brother turned 18 this past Thursday. That was pretty exciting. He is rad, and tomorrow I think we might just go out to lunch.
• Today Matt and I ate at a fairly new BBQ restaurant downtown HB. The food was great, and walking around downtown, I felt lucky to live so close to the ocean.
• Alexandra Weiss (and *hopefully* Allison Kaylor) arrive in southern California a week from this coming Saturday. That is cause for commotion!!!
• I turn 22 next Tuesday. This makes me laugh because people think I'm 19 (or 16) all the time. Also, it's funny because another year makes me realize how long ago the 80s really were.
• Tomorrow, I plan on venturing to that place they call the valley to visit one Angela Serratore. It's been too long...

I think that's about it for now. Comment away, and I promise not to wait so long before I write again!

PS. I love Target!

Pictures

I posted pictures from my mini-vacation to La Jolla. I haven't added captions yet, but I imagine I will at some point in the near future. If you do find yourself perusing them, please take the time to stop and appreciate the pictures of my delectable avocado. Few things bring me such joy...

I know...

I'm a jerk. I haven't posted in over a week. I've been working a whole lot. Plus, I went to La Jolla for a few days in there and enjoyed a nice family vacation, so I couldn't even access a computer to update. I have pictures from La Jolla, job chat, "Alex is coming to California!" chat, and other business, but I'm pretty tired since I worked today, so I might just have to let all of that wait until tomorrow probably. I hope that's okay with you.

Oh, and I watched In Good Company tonight and, while I realize most excellent films leave you with more questions than answers and cause you to feel even less certain about yourself and life than before you watched them, I really just wanted this one to end on the happiest of notes (which would clearly involve To-fur-however-you-spell-it Grace and Scarlett Johansson getting back together in the end). What a bummer.

Also, I am *obsessed* with Molly Sim's outfit on the cover of the new Lucky magazine. I am going to get it if it's the last effing thing I do for myself ever. Check it out:


The dress is so simple yet elegant, and the blazer is the most smashing color and flattering fit in the entire universe. It would only cost $635 for the two pieces. Perhaps I should start a fund for the outfit online...you know, people could support me via online donations, personal checks, money orders, etc. I honestly couldn't think of a better way for anyone to spend his/her/? money...

One last thing: I got an e-mail about a potential gig for Poofs in early September and I sort of wanted to crawl in a hole at the thought of not being an active Poof for at least another 6 months. Shucks...

Kitten!

My dad got a new kitten out of the blue. Apparently, he and Bob were working on the apartments in Montebello today when one of the tenants showed them this adorable kitten he was keeping in a bird cage. (A bird cage? WTF?) My dad immediately blurted out that he'd take the cat if the man needed to get her off his hands. Unfortunately, someone else was already coming by to pick the cat up. After a little while, though, the tenant came back out and told my dad that the other person wasn't interested in the cat anymore and thus, my dad got a new kitten! AND SHES FUCKING ADORABLE! Hit up my online photo album to see pictures of the yet unnamed kitten!

Also, the 4th was a lot of fun. I've sort of known for a couple years that it's one of my favorite holidays, but now I'm certain of it. The day started off with Matt, Dan, and I riding our bikes around the parade. (FYI: Huntington Beach boasts the largest 4th of July parade west of the Mississippi. Beat that, bitches!) After running into a bajillion-and-a-half people that I knew, we headed to the grocery store to get food, etc. for the BBQ at Matt's house. Many, many wonderful people came over to Matt's house (including Megan Breen!), and we cooked steaks and ate Otter Pops and cookie dough and milkshakes and chips and watermelon and carrots and King's Hawaiian Rolls. We played Bocce (a first for me, and boy, was it fun!) and Jenga, lit some fireworks in front of Matt's house, and generally just putzed around and had a good time.

Around 8:30, Ali, Dan, and I got on our bikes and rode to the pier to see the Huntington Beach fireworks display. This year is the second year they've shot the fireworks off the pier, but this year was exponentially better than last year. They shut down Pacific Coast Highway from a little beyond Main Street all the way down to 22nd street (which is the street my neighborhood runs into), so it was rad because we virtually got to ride all the way from my house to the pier in the middle of the street along the ocean for something like 22 blocks. It was so gorgeous out, and we could see the fireworks as we were riding, and they reflected off the water and something like 400,000 people were estimated to be there, so it was this very beautiful, communal, surreal experience for me. I love fireworks!

After the fireworks, we went over to Konrad's house to ride around on his boat in the harbor. It only lasted a half-hour or so, but it was an extremely fun time. Every time I see the houses in the harbor, my jaw drops. They are generally very swank with price tags to match.

When we finished boating at Konrad's, we went back to Matt's to hang out a bit longer. I fell asleep on the couch while everyone was still talking because I was so exhausted, but it was honestly one of the best days of the summer. It was really awesome for Dan to join us for it all since it's his first time in California on the 4th. I hope he enjoyed himself and that he got a true taste of a Huntington Beach 4th of July experience. It's seriously the best holiday here.

I still haven't decided on a desk. I sort of just want an entirely new room. Is that too much to ask? Oh, and I got a job!!! I'm going to be working between part- and full-time at a new massage clinic opening up by South Coast Plaza called Massage Envy. It's a pretty dope place, and the co-owner almost went to Smith, so she was stoked about the fact that I go there. The grand opening is this Friday, and the facilities are really nice, so I'm excited to see the emergence of what I think will be an extremely successful massage concept in Orange County. I'm really not trying to give you a sales pitch here; it's just the infomercial host in me coming out. ;)

So yes, I train tomorrow from 9-5 and could begin working this weekend! We also have our timeshare in La Jolla from this Friday to next Friday, so hopefully I'll have the chance to go for at least part of the time. My mom promised to take me to Seaworld if I do (La Jolla is an hour-and-a-half away from my house)! I LOVE SEAWORLD!

Which do you prefer?

I am looking into getting a new desk. Help me decide between two very strong possibilities (please):

Possibility #1

Possibility #2

It is now 4am, which means it's ripe time for me to go to bed! 4th of July festivities begin in 5 hours...yikes! Pictures and updates will soon follow (obviously).

Also, I've been working my ass off non-stop to add a bajillion new features to the Poofs website, including a secure online donation form, an opt-in mailing list, a scrolling marquee on the opening page, and a totally re-vamped photo gallery. Check it out, you guy.

Talk to you soooooooooon!

A Follow-Up

So, after the last post, I e-mailed X-Man back and said:

Are you looking for a babysitter for your 12- and 14-year-olds? Andwhere are you located in Orange County?

Two days later, I received a response from him:

Hi Jennifer-

There was a party going on Thursday night and I think we got your email mixed up with another Jennifer. Sorry.

If you are still interested in the assistant position I will call (or [name of wife]) tomorrow. Once again, sorry for the mixup.

Interesting, no?

HOLY SHIT!!!

Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Check this out, bitches! This is out of control! I made a post on Craig's List, offering my services as a babysitter/tutor/personal assistant/college counselor. I got a few responses almost immediately, including the following from a husband who needs someone to look after his 12- and 14-year-olds and perhaps travel with his family between their two homes in Orange County and Vegas on occasion. Sounds totally harmless, right? Check this shit out:

Original e-mail from X-Man:

My wife and I have tried three assistants since our main girl of 3 years moved in May but none have worked out. [Name of assistant] had spoiled us. We are interviewing again this week. You sound perfect. We have houses in Orange County and Las Vegas so there is some travel. Two kids, low maintenance, 12 and 14. Send resume and picture immediately!

Second e-mail from X-Man:

[Name of wife] is leaving for her new job in Las Vegas Saturday so we’re seeing as many assistant applicants as possible. How many hours per week?

Sounds pretty standard, yes? So, I respond with a little more information about myself, and I attach a resume and picture because, even though I'm not wild about employers who ask for you to submit a picture, there are definitely some who do, so it's nothing be alarmed about.

Now, the third e-mail from X-Man brings the twist:

How open minded are you? We live a rather wild lifestyle.

Enter intrigue. Wild lifestyle? What kind of wild? I mean, I would say that my family leads a pretty wild lifestyle, so I'm trying not to think anything of it. Nonetheless, I need to be cautious about the way I respond to his e-mail. I don't want to sound narrowminded, but I also don't want to open myself up to something...dangerous? [Gasp!] So, I reply with the following:

Haha...I mean, I'm pretty open-minded. I'm not sure what you have in mind, but I imagine I could probably handle it. My mom has 4 poodles, and if you ask me, that's about as wild as it gets. :)

Cute. Clever. I'm okay with my answer, but now I'm eagerly awaiting his response, as he was quick to respond to my other e-mail.

Fourth and most recent e-mail from X-Man:

Really. [Name of wife] is just a nympho and I guess I am too. She does a lot of entertaining.

Whaaaaat? WTF? This is not at all what I was expecting!!! I mean, I certainly entertained the notion that this man's wife, moving out to Vegas and all, could potentially be a showgirl. But the fact that he responded so forwardly is just really fucking weird! The strangest part is that I don't think he's trying to proposition me or anything; he seems legitimately interested in finding a babysitter.

So now what? Do I respond back and say, "Is this a babysitting job?" Do I tell him that I don't mind because...I'm a nympho, too? (That was a joke.) Or, do I just ignore it altogether? I mean, tell me this isn't really fucking bizarre!

WHAT THE FUUUUUCK?

Funny

See what it's all about.

Also, what is this, and why did I randomly find it on the stairs in my house? Noone seems to know who this woman is, and what's especially curious is that the picture appears to have been torn out of a photo album since it's attached to a picture of my grandfather on the back side.

Also, I'm getting extremely sick and tired of my hair. I sort of want to change it up, but I'm afraid to do anything terribly drastic. Suggestions?

Oh, Shit!

How could I forget to mention the fact that last night, whilst playing Pit at M. Boese's house, we fucking jammed to Yanni - Live at the Acropolis. Haha, bitches! You are so jealous! I am not joking when I say that I plan on swiping that album from my mom's CD collection so I can play it in my car. ALL THE TIME.

Matin and I have also devised a plan to represent Yanni (both in his manhood and infancy) on the Facebook and MySpace respectively. I'll let you know of our progress in that arena. Maybe I'll even "friend you." Errr, maybe Yanni will friend you! Haha, yes!

Oh, and motherfucking Average Joe premieres tonight. The piss is already dribbling down my legs because I'm that excited.

Wow, I pretty much have the foulest mouth of anyone I know... Apologies go out.

In Good Company

Today has been mildly productive. In the same vein as Angela Serratore, I shall now break my day's activities up into pros and cons:

• Didn't go for a bike ride this morning as originally planned (-)
• Made eggs and toast for brunch instead (+)
• Dropped off/picked up my prescription at Savon (+)
• Made an unsuccessful trip to Staples to find a new computer desk (-)
• Picked up my paycheck from Nordstrom (+)
• Deposited my paycheck at OCTFCU and signed up to get a Student Visa card (++)
• Didn't get my car washed as I had hoped to do (-)
• Went to Toober's for dinner with Matt (+)
• Got a migraine (-)
• Took some Excedrine Migraine and slept off my headache (+)
• Went to GAY with Matt, Rishi, Jeff, Matin, and Ali (+)
• Played Pit (a card game) and watched Mr. Show with abovementioned people plus Kevin at Matt's house (+)

Overall, that's +9 and -4, which brings me to a whopping +5 for the day. Take that, Angela Serratore!

I am now trying to decide if I want to go to my first class for summer school tomorrow, which actually starts in 7.5 hours. The question is whether or not to take this first class during the first summer session at UCI because I am most certainly going to take two classes during second session. I won't lose money by not going because I will just apply it to one of the later classes I'm going to enroll in. The class starts at 9am, which is pretty rough as far as I can see right now. Ahhh, choices, choices...

Good KNIGHT!

I was supposed to be in bed 2 hours ago...

My only reason for posting was really just to share a few silly pictures with you. The past 24 hours or so have been pretty uneventful; although, I did go to Ikea and Target with my mom today - two events worth writing home about if you ask me. Matt and I also ate dinner tonight at a fairly new Mexican restaurant downtown, where I saw Miss Lea Mannone (one of my middle/high school buds) for the first time since we graduated probably. It's crazy running into people all the time, but it inevitably happens to me almost every single day. (Is it like that everywhere?)

Also, I have decided that one of my all-time favorite episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm has got to be "The Grand Opening" - last episode of the third season. Go watch it right now because it's pretty much the funniest thing ever.

Also, I hate that I have to come up with "clever" captions for pictures when I post them in my weblog via this silly program called Hello. I already spent an arm and a leg tonight trying to upload pictures and/or link to their direct URLs in my Smugmug photo album, but neither proved any easier than just using this stupid program. This probably makes no sense to you, but I assure you it's frustrating. Moving on...

Tomorrow I hope to go on a long bike ride. I also hope to lose about 5 pounds; however, I'm doubtful that such a thing is possible in the course of a day. Boy, wouldn't that be swell?

Off I go.

G'nite!

Aha, yes...

"My waiting for the bus pose..." - M. Boese

Hmmm...

The man behind the name badge (AKA my father)

I came out to my car to find the following name badge on my rearview mirror.

What a champ (the brother)...

Me and my digital camera carrying case

M. Boese

Stop, Drop, and Roll!

It makes me sad when best friends aren't best friends anymore...

I was just looking through a bunch of pictures (namely Poofs pictures) from my sophomore year at Smith, and the pictures from Middlebury/Senior Banquet/Senior Week made me miss all the good times I've had with certain people who no longer seem interested in my friendship. It's weird to think back on those seemingly invincible connections, having little or no idea how they dissolved so abruptly. I can't even begin to comprehend what the fuck happened to me this past semester. It feels like someone just pulled the rug right out from underneath me, and I haven't been able to get my shit back together since then. Even when I try to focus on individual losses, I can't make sense of anything. I just remember being in an extremely bad place and then realizing that some of my closest allies were nowhere to be found. Honestly, I'm in such a ridiculous mood right now. I should probably delete all of this right now, but I'm feeling so fucking absurd, and I hadn't updated this in a while, so I figured I'd write about it unintelligibly.

I went to a new psychologist on Wednesday. I already have a homework assignment: to write a letter to my dad. I don't have to give him the letter, of course, but I'm supposed to write it as if I were going to. I'm extremely hopeful that, if nothing else, being home for the rest of the year will allow me the time and space to be fully committed to these weekly sessions...which is mildly ironic since being home, I'm sure, will contribute a great deal to my waning mental health...but, no matter how fiercely I try to deny it, getting back into therapy has been a long time coming, and as painful and prolonged as this entire process is going to be, I need it. I just hate the prospect of having to "catch up" a new psychologist on my entire back story, but waiting could only make it harder in the end, so I'm trying my best to come to terms with the fact that I'm making the best possible choice ever by doing this right now.

I hate not being employed, and I hate feeling so fucking lonely and unproductive all the time. It's not as if I don't have friends around; there are plenty of people to play with, and I do my fair share of that, but life has generally just felt very unengaging lately. I feel as if I'm just going through the motions without much thought or effort, and that is really the worst feeling ever.

But everything comes back to me feeling totally helpless and clueless as to why this past semester had to be THE SEMESTER to change the course of the rest of my life - from not graduating on time to having to live at home again (ugh...) to being forced (quite literally) to address several issues I had conveniently filed away for "safe keeping." I really just want to cry right now, but I don't even think I could pinch the tears out of my eyes at this point. I did cry after leaving the psychologist's office on Wednesday - briefly, for about 2 minutes, maybe - and that is the last time I cried in at least 2 months. Isn't that absurd? All of this is absurd, and I'm certain I shouldn't be writing about this in some fucking weblog...but if not here, where?

Meh...I'm tired in more ways than one. I did my "Pilates for Dummies" workout DVD tonight as well as some light weight training. Here's to gaining 10 pounds since, like, April. How much does that fucking suck? Seriously, it's totally going to be gone by mid-July. Totally. I just have to stop eating sugar. Cutting down on my salt intake probably wouldn't hurt either. Yes...

I am trying to enroll in two more classes for the summer - Statistics and Intro. to Psych. I've decided to fulfill the psychology major at Smith according to the new requirements now, which is why I have to go back and take Intro. to Psych. I hope I get into both classes even though I don't really feel like taking summer school (or doing much of anything). I need to busy myself, though, otherwise I am not going to survive the summer. I also need money so that I can visit Mr. Amin in Vancouver as well as some pretty ladies in the NY area.

Ummm...okay...enough. You've probably stopped reading by this point, but if you haven't, congratulations: you're a trooper. Goodnight.

Too Many Zeros

Too tired. Too many headaches. Too unemployed. Too lonely. Too few hours in the day. Too many upsets. Too broke. Too self-deprecating. Too far away from the Smithies I love. Too many poodles. Too much junk food. Too little productivity. Too bored. Too motivationless to do anything about it.

I got out of the shower over 2 hours ago. Why haven't I left the house yet?

The Daily Double

Bullet points regarding the past 24 hours or so:

• Nordstrom has informed me that they overhired for my department - as such, I have been given 0 hours for the next pay period. I have to talk to my manager's manager so they can figure out what they're going to do with me. The better question is what I'm going to do with them. Yes, I am upset about this.
• An American Apparel is opening up in Huntington Beach. Perhaps they will hire me. Working at American Apparel would be so swank compared to Nordstrom; although, the people/philosophy behind Nordstrom are pretty impressive.
• I went to UCLA last night to celebrate the completion of Michelle's third year of college. We went to Acapulco for dinner, hit up a bar next-door (which had the WORST SERVICE EVER) and caught the tail-end of the "Undie Run" in Westwood, an event during which UCLA students run around in their undergarments in protestation of finals. Frankly, after my experiences at Smith College, I was a bit disappointed by the whole event. Needless to say, there are pictures illustrating the evening's happenings in my online photo album. Hit it up, the link's on the right side of this page.
• There was an earthquake today, which puts us at 3 or 4 in California in the last week alone. Cause for concern? Maybe.
• Today Jeff Goodman and I went to Toober's and Sport Chalet. We entered a contest to win this radical pair of new in-line skates that they don't even carry in the store! We also spent a great deal of time discussing how amazing sleeping bags are as well as how awful it is when people so desire to reconstruct their private parts. Haha! Private parts!
• Angela and I missed another meeting today. This made me very sad. I draw hope from the fact that we will most definitely be seeing each other very soon.
• I talked to Alex Weiss today. Of this I was extremely happy. I REALLY hope she comes to California soon (and Allison, too)!
• I consumed an entire package of Extra Winterfresh gum (15 sticks) in less than an hour. That was about 2 hours ago.
• Father's Day is soon. I must resolve myself to finding clever gifts for my clever fathers. Make that #1 on my to-do list tomorrow. (Maybe #2, since I need to inquire about applying to work at American Apparel and figure out what the deal is at Nordstrom.)
• One of my dog's ('scuse me, one of my mother's dogs) ate my underwear tonight. I'm not even joking. Imagine a pair of backless underwear with half the crotch area remaining and you'd have a pretty good idea of what they look like. This puts us at 4 pairs of eaten underwear in 3 weeks. This is becoming somewhat of a problem.
• My cats are so much cuter than yours.

Okay, so long, fare well. It's 12:41, and I might just hit the sack now.

What I meant was...

So, just to clear things up (since many of you seem extremely concerned now about ever being late to meet me), I have no problem with people who are late. I am late sometimes! I was merely saying that it is wonderful when people call to tell you they're running a few minutes behind. I would never demand that everyone be on time everywhere - that's pretty near impossible. I really wasn't even directing this at anyone except maybe a certain person who doesn't even read this anyway. I love you all very much and hope you realize that I will not gut you like a fish if you are ever late to meet me. Likewise, I hope you will not gut me like a fish if I am late to meet you. Thank you.

Water, etc.

Between drinking Propel and water, I've consumed at least 6 glasses of water today. That's probably as close as I've ever gotten to drinking the prescribed eight 8 oz. servings of water per day outside of when I used to drink entire gallons of water as an athlete. Aside from the fact that I have a small bladder, I see no other downsides to this latest development. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Also, remember how I posted a long while ago about the urgent need for Pillsbury et al to begin marketing single-serving-sized packages of cookie dough? Yeah, well, I can't even believe I forgot to tell you when I saw them, but I did! At Ralph's when I was with Matin, Matt, and Jeff Goodman. (Jeff's extra special, so I refer to him by first and last name.) I just about pissed in my pants when I saw what I TOTALLY PREDICTED! Itty, bitty packages of cookie dough - enough to make 8 whole cookies. Incredible. As a side note, it was also incredible how, during this particular grocery store visit, this lady handing out sausage samples reached out towards the whole lot of us and asked us a bit confusedly if we'd all like a sample of a tequila sunrise. Now, this might not sound hilarious to you, but it was especially hilarious to us since we had to laugh with the woman awkwardly and then allow her to correct herself (which was extremely painful to watch, as she stuttered for a good 30 seconds to get out what she originally intended to say). Talk about a Freudian slip...

I have nothing else to report today except for that fact that I saw Ashley Luth (and several other people whom I hadn't seen in a long, long while) last night. It was her 21st birthday, so Megan, Matt, Jeff, and I picked up a gigantic Snoopy birthday card at Hallmark (which Megan originally claimed was too expensive for her kind even though she was the only one among us with a real job as a high school teacher) and went on our merry way to meet up with Ashley and her other birthday party guests at El Ranchito downtown HB. We headed to Longboard's shortly thereafter and then hit up Cold Stone on our way to Ashley's house. I'll have you know that I didn't eat Cold Stone last night and that I also passed up an opportunity to eat a donut today as well as some New York-style pizza (I opted for something healthier - Life cereal and lemon yogurt). This is all very good and well because I am resolving to cut out the better part of the excessive amount of sugar I consume on a daily basis. I did this last summer and lost weight as a result of it, which just goes to show you how much effing sugar I ingest regularly. Ice cream and candy are the hard hitters, but I'm gonna try it again.

Also, it's funny how I promise to write two or three bullet points all the time and then end up writing a novel.

To end, I would just like to say that I'm really disappointed this whole blonde thing with Lindsey Lohan wasn't a day-long phase. People spend their entire lives trying to achieve a natural redheaded look, and this little lady has the audacity to dye her beautiful ruby locks blonde because she wants to be a towhead? Such a shame...

We'll Take You to the Limit

A few days ago I turned in a job application at a store near my house. The woman working asked me if I was 18 years old to make sure I was legally eligible to take on a job. Do I really look younger than 18?

Because a week ago, I bought a lottery ticket for my dad, and the gentleman behind the counter looked at me with a smirk on his face and said, "Are you sure you're 18?" He proceded to check my ID.

Am I sure I'm 18? Yes, sir, I'm sure that I'm 18. In fact, I'm sure that I'll be 22 in, like, two months. Ugh...not that I'm totally concerned with looking my age, but I'd certainly like to think that people don't pin me as a high school student anymore. I'd REALLY like to think I've come a long way since then; although, it's hard to feel like I've been going anywhere, really, since being home.

I'm usually not a pessimistic person - realistic and mildly cynical at times? Yes. But not pessimistic. Lately, that is all I have been, though. Nothing seems exciting, engaging, challenging... I've barely enjoyed the beautiful weather since being home, and we are talking extremely beautiful weather here - perfectly blue skies, in the low to mid 70s, with a cool breeze coming off the water, which just sparkles this time of year.

We've been thinking about starting up a soccer league. You know, we'd have a set time every week where we'd meet up at a park and kick the hell out of the soccer ball and each other. I think it would be extremely awesome if everyone could make the commitment. It would help get my juices flowing, too.

Speaking of which, I need to start working out again. I've felt so lethargic and unproductive since being home. I've put a lot of thought into it, and I've decided that jump-roping is where I'm going to spend my time and energy to that end. I need a new jump rope, but that's the only thing stopping me. I should hit up Sports Chalet tomorrow.

Matt and I watched The Passenger tonight. I was shocked we found it so quickly. We were convinced we'd have to go to a decent video store in Long Beach to find it, but Jungle Video actually had the Antonioni version we were looking for. I'd tell you about it, but it's still sinking in.

To bed now. Tomorrow will see me taking my dad to the VA Hospital and hopefully purchasing a jump rope along the way. I need to stop eating so much damn sugar. I'm going to be diabetic very soon, I'm sure. Either that or I'll fall over dead from excessive salt consumption.

Where does the time go?

Heart!

Seriously, I am in love with Michelle Sassounian. I have known her longer than anyone else on the planet (aside from my immediate family, that is), and this brings me much joy. Daily. I just got done reading an entry from her Myspace blog, and now I have the warm-fuzzies and a very legitimate reason to smile (something I've struggled to do since being home). Michelle's words:

"one of the things i miss most, however, truly speaking, is the way my daily life included jen. walking/driving to class at 7 am. me running late. talking about our dreams the night before. making fun of each other. copying each others homework. complaining. watching passions at noontime and wishing we were theresa. staying over at each others houses when our own were getting kind of out of hand. coming in without knocking. ordering big new yorker pizza. (so good by the way). drinking diet coke with crushed ice (jen's freezer had a crushed ice option!!). wasting hours upon hours of time together.

really with this girl we always pick up directly where we left off, which is so great. too often i feel completely divorced from people upon reuinting, but with jen its not that way at all. spring break was fantastic, especially when she passed out on the ground in front of the door."

I don't really have much else to say except for "Wow!" After writing an entry the other day that detailed how distant I feel from so many people I once considered my best friends, Michelle reaffirmed the fact that she really and truly is one of my best friends in the whole fucking universe - something that will never change whether we're near or far away from each other. If you are still with me here, I think you should really take this to heart and realize that everyone needs a Michelle Sassounian. She is the best girl ever.

Angela Serratore is also pretty cool. She and I just saw Bloc Party at the El Rey. I had never been there before, but I quite enjoyed it as a venue and hope to frequent it more often. The show was good, but Angela and I agreed that, while each band member was trying extremely hard to do his best, they have a while to go before they sound totally in sync with one another. Nevertheless, it was a good show, and I do love my Bloc Party.

I also love Sunil Amin because, when I asked him how much he benched at the gym today, he said (in a very Napolean-esque voice), "Uhhh...like, a lot, okay?" Seriously, he CRACKS ME UP. If you knew him, this would probably be much more comical.

Anyway, in addition to seeing Michelle and Angela this evening, I also saw Keri Phillips (who Michelle and I walked to and from middle and high school with every day for four years straight), and Sameer Khan, the most beautiful man alive. I do enjoy hours spent with wonderful people, and Keri and Sameer are among them. We all ate at Chili's in Westwood, where some dude and his gf were macking like whoa in front of the restaurant AND where our waitress fucking sucked! She was literally the WORST WAITRESS EVER. No Alex Weiss, that's for sure...

Tomorrow I'm going to Sugar Shack in the AM with some pretty awesome people. For those of you who don't know, Sugar Shack is a local favorite for every meal (but especially breakfast). You know, family run and all that jazz. On Main Street, so you can hear the waves crashing against the sand and such.

It's nice to live on the coast. I doubt I could do it any other way. G'nite.

Sprinkles!

Last night I had a very Curb Your Enthusiasm moment at Great American Yogurt (which we locals lovingly refer to as "GAY"). GAY is a self-serve frozen yogurt joint, and it is run by some friendly Indian people who occasionally get very upset when people make a mess of their topping bar. So there I was, adding a last layer of peanut butter frozen yogurt to my creation (imagine my styrofoam cup perfectly leveled off with an extra hit of frozen yogurt in a lovely swirly cone-shape design on top), when I decided the peanut butter frozen yogurt couldn't go without rainbow sprinkles. I walked myself over to the topping bar and lifted the lid to the rainbow sprinkles. Now, I had to situate my cup very carefully over the topping bin because otherwise I would've spilled rainbow sprinkles all over the place since the last bit of frozen yogurt was unshielded. I scooped up quite the lot of rainbow sprinkles and tipped my cup over to sprinkle away when - all of a sudden - my beautiful fucking peanut butter frozen yogurt swirly cone-shape design on top just fell off into the sprinkle bin. Literally just fell off in one lump!

At this point, I felt very much like Larry David, finding myself in quite the mess even though I really hadn't done anything wrong. I imagined the Indian man would scold me and demand that I leave his frozen yogurt shop while all the other customers just shook their heads in shame, so I carefully stood in front of the topping bar, trying to hide the fact that I had just dropped a huge lump of frozen yogurt into his precious rainbow sprinkles bin. And if that wasn't obvious enough, Matt began laughing hysterically the second he noticed what had happened. I waited for other people to join me at the topping bar so it would look like I hadn't done it, hurried to the register to pay, and dashed out of there without ever looking back.

Needless to say, it was HILARIOUS, but I really did feel like Larry David - so childish, so misunderstood. I'm still convinced people are going to find out about it and forever call me "the girl who ruined rainbow sprinkles for everyone."

And that's really all I've got. Oh, and Radiohead's "Climbing Up the Walls" is a sexy fucking song, my brother, Justin, is the best kid ever, and I am seeing Bloc Party with Angela and Michelle at the El Rey tonight. Jealous? You should be.

The Little Things

So last night I went to a Wine-BQ in honor of Eugene's TV show, Popcorn Zen. Eugene is funny, and it was good to see him. It was also good to see several other people whom I had not seen in months (e.g. Kelli Kedis and Vince Vu). This Wine-BQ taught me at least one thing, though, and that is that it is hard to come back home from being away at school without feeling somewhat out-of-the-loop. I already knew that, and I also know that that feeling tends to fade eventually, but never quite completely. While having a conversation with Alex Lipschultz online two nights ago, we discussed that phenomenon of coming home and feeling somewhat disconnected from people you once considered your best friends. It's something I reflect on quite a bit, especially in the larger sense that feeling disconnected from people is just about the loneliest prospect ever. It's something I fear probably more than I should, but I imagine that many people are preoccupied with that train-of-thought as well.

Anyway, on a ligher note, Alex and I also talked about teleporting the other night, and I thought I'd share a bit of that with you:

AJL 45 (12:45:30 AM): I wish I could teleport
yeah laugh it up (12:45:35 AM): hahaha
AJL 45 (12:45:36 AM): that would be incredible, right?
yeah laugh it up (12:45:42 AM): so incredible, in fact
AJL 45 (12:45:53 AM): you could sleep late
AJL 45 (12:45:59 AM): not have to worry about walking or driving to places
AJL 45 (12:46:07 AM): visit europe
AJL 45 (12:46:10 AM): ...or mars
AJL 45 (12:46:15 AM): that would be pretty sweet, right?
yeah laugh it up (12:47:00 AM): yeah, and i could visit everyone on the east coast whenever i wanted this fall
yeah laugh it up (12:47:06 AM): without having to waste time
AJL 45 (12:47:08 AM): yeah, which would be awesome
yeah laugh it up (12:47:16 AM): or money, assuming teleporting would be free
AJL 45 (12:47:16 AM): or you could just show up at Anna's for lunch
yeah laugh it up (12:47:21 AM): haha, yes!!!
AJL 45 (12:47:25 AM): yeah, it would definitely be free

Happy thoughts like that really get me going. Sometimes they are the only things that get me going. And lately, I haven't felt too much like I've been going. Being home is nice, but it makes me feel terribly unproductive. I got the job at Nordstrom, but I don't really want to take it because it just seems boring as fuck. I want to do something challenging and exciting, but I can't really, or at least I've resolved myself to thinking that I can't. The problem is that there are so many things that I want to do and yet I have no idea how to go about doing them, and I'm scared to take a shot in the dark and try. Realizing that I have nothing exciting to write about in this weblog only makes me feel worse about how little I'm doing with myself right now, and I know I've been home less than two weeks, but the future doesn't seem all that much brighter. I do have Bloc Party with Angela on Saturday to look forward to, though. It's the little things, always the little things...

The Raven!

I forgot to include the bit about how Raven has this badass sign up on the door to her room. She made it herself!

Trent Reznor is Effing Hot

Today I received the following message (entitled "long drives down pch") on Myspace:

"rockin out to a basement on the hill would be divine. the only way to make it better is with some cornbread and mac and cheese at boston market."

At first I thought the message was from my dear friend Greg Poppe, but it turned out to be from another Greg whom I have never met or even heard of. Then later today, Eugene called me and made mention of the fact that we needed to go to Boston Market together, but I didn't have his number in my phone, so I thought it was this Greg character for about 2.5 seconds. It was weird.

Last night, Angela and I saw NIN in San Diego. For me, the experience was more or less a dream come true since I'm pretty much obsessed with NIN. The Dresden Dolls opened, and they were lame as balls. In fact, the only half-decent song they played was a NIN cover. Fortunately, Trent and his posse came out in a very timely manner and played over an hour-and-a-half-long set that is still blowing my mind. When I thought it couldn't get any better, it did. And they played songs from almost (if not) every album, including some of my all-time favorites. The lighting effects were also out of control, and Trent Reznor's energy and stage presence exceeded my greatest expectations. As a side note, Trent was also looking particularly attractive. Apparently, when he's not into drugs, which he isn't anymore, he's pretty keen on protein smoothies and working out (but not in a gross sense). The people at the show were also "pretty special," as Angela would say. Lots of dominatrix outfits, some cracked-out fairy types, and people making out and licking excessive amounts of sweat off each other (which probably only describes the people directly in front of Angela and me because we obviously just get lucky when we go to shows together). The only downside to the whole evening was the shitty venue it was in. But I suppose I can't complain about seeing NIN in a smaller venue setting with general admission seating.

Moral of the story? Our trip was a huge success, and it also led to an important discovery: it is impossible for Angela and me to go through a fast food restaurant drive-thru without experiencing something extremely weird (namely from the person taking our order). On one occasion, when it was taking us a long time to order, the drive-thru attendant began snoring and "woke up" reluctantly when we finally decided what to eat. Another time, this Wendy's employee made a big to-do about how they were out of milk, and last night, this dude at Taco Bell was a cross between that annoying guy in Office Space who says, "Get a room, you two...hehehehehe!" and a bored kid who livens things up via overly-animated announcements on a PA system. Yeah...

Hmmm...that was probably really unfunny in the telling. Sorry.

Anyway, I'm beginning to realize that I really do post entries that are way too long. Thus, I will try to bring this to a close. A few last points:

• As we were exiting the freeway today to take Angela home, we saw this kid (roughly 13) selling cherries right before the stoplight at the end of the offramp (this is a frequent scene in southern California). To this, Matt exclaimed, "Hey, roll down your window, Jen, and tell him you'll pay him five dollars if he lets you touch his wee-wee."
• Angela's sister, Raven, is pretty amazing. I already knew this, but seeing her yesterday at Angela's mom's house reaffirmed this fact. She even bought me a book entitled Bad Cats, which pictures cats looking less-than-stellar with hilarious captions underneath each one.
• Tonight, it will be Mexican food and Zoolander, a nice combination, I think.
• I saw Rishi Shah last night. That made me happy.
• Tommorow I find out if I got the job at Nordstrom. Ugh, job-hunting is pretty much the worst thing ever nowadays. And it seems that whatever I do will be less-than-thrilling.

Hasta la pasta!

Photographs

From now on, I'll post photos at http://jenpaul.smugmug.com/. If I post new albums, I'll link to them in my entries, but the pictures I had on my Typepad space are all on smugmug now. I think you can also save pictures to your computer with smugmug, so save away if your heart so desires.

Today was pretty uneventful. I ate at the 17th Street Deli with Matt, Jeff, and Matin, and then I got Starburst for my mom at the grocery store since she needed something to chew on whilst dissertation-writing. Aside from that, we had a family dinner at the new California Pizza Kitchen in Huntington Center. The service was slow, but fortunately I had a tasty strawberry margarita to sip on before our meal came. I hung out with Justin a bit after dinner, and I have spent the past several hours working on my new weblog and transferring photos to my new photo space. Booorrring.

Okay. I'm too tired to write anything else. I was supposed to be in bed, like, two hours ago. I have an interview in the morning at Nordstrom. Not ideal, but at this point I just need a job, and since I've applied to at least a couple dozen jobs, this has been the only promising lead yet. We'll see how it goes.

R.I.P. Typepad

So, I decided I didn't want to have to pay for my Typepad weblog hosting anymore. Thus, I have reverted to Blogger, which I joined my first year of college. I used it twice and then forgot about it completely. From now on, though, this is where you'll want to be for all the latest and greatest. I'll miss my beloved Typepad.

I also took the time to copy-paste all of my old posts into this weblog in case you ever want to re-visit them. I still have to insert pictures in a few of them, but that'll happen soon enough.

David Hasselhoff

So, I was reading US Weekly yesterday, when I came across this profound statement by David Hasselhoff:

"I'm proud of shows like Baywatch and Knight Rider because it's about saving lives, not taking lives. I think [the entertainment industry] is responsible for a lot of world peace."

Needless to say, I have since included the quote in my Facebook profile, and I feel even more substantiated in my secret admiration of Mr. Hasselhoff.

Psych!

I just thought it was funny and thought you might agree.

Yesterday I applied for a dozen jobs or so (for about the fourth day in a row), and I'm getting to that point where it seems that finding summer employment will be totally unsuccessful. I really do have hope, but it's frustrating nonetheless. And since I have about twenty-some dollars in my bank account and a piggy bank to my name, it seems ripe time to have a steady income again. Suh-weet.

Last night I watched Curb Your Enthusiasm with Matt. We watched 4 episodes from the first season, and they were funny as all get-out. I'ma keep watching them this summer because they make me laugh.

In addition to watching Curb Your Enthusiasm last night, my mom decided she would indulge Matt and me in a little story time. This more or less consisted of her telling us about the duck she had as a child, which she appropriately named, "Quack Quack." Apparently, the duck, Quack Quack, would wake up at 5am every morning to walk my grandfather two miles to where he met up with his fellow Lockheed employees to drive to work. Then he would walk back to my mother's house (which was essentially a tin tent with an outhouse on 5 acres of fig orchards) and wake her up around 6am. The story pretty much ended there, and it made my night.

Today I have already applied for a few jobs, and I intend to apply for a few more even. I am also going to take my father to the grocery store, so he can wheel himself up and down the aisles and get re-stocked for the next little while. After that, I have to help Bob paint my mom's new office downstairs in the house. I'm pretty excited about that. Not!

(And I keep thinking about my lovely Smith ladies...)

I Need a Job

I added captions to the photos in the Coast to Coast photo album. Except they didn't show up in order. I'm pissed (!) because I numbered them 1-37, and they should've uploaded in the correct order. So a few of the captions that rely on each other might not necessarily be adjacent, but I'm sure you'll figure it out.

But now that I'm here, I suppose I should talk about what's been happening in Huntington Beach since I arrived on Saturday... Things have been sort of uneventful actually, namely because I've been spending a lot of time trying to get my room back in shape. Saturday we unloaded most of my car (it's still not finished, though), and I unpacked a few of the boxes I'd shipped home, but that's about it. I went to bed around 10, I think, and woke up Sunday morning pretty early. Since being home, I've actually been going to bed around 10 or 11 every night, which has been a very welcome change. It means I'm getting up at 7 or 8 in the morning, which seems totally outrageous, but it's been really nice to have more time to do shit during the day.

Sunday I worked on my room some more, and I went to Target (woohoo!) to pick up a new lamp for my room and a storage cart. I quickly put them to use. Sunday night my dad came over for dinner. We had chinese food. (Well, everyone except for me...I had Del Taco quesidillas instead.) After dinner, I putzed around on Craig's List, etc., looking for a job for the summer, which is always harder to do than it should be. Oh, well.

Monday was a bit more exciting. I met up with Bob and my brother Justin at Chipotle (which I still maintain is effing gross) for lunch. I had a bowl of black beans with tortillas on the side, which Justin laughed at since it wasn't much of a meal. (Well, maybe if he hadn't picked Chipotle for lunch, I could've enjoyed my meal! Jerk!) It was really good to see Justin, who has grown another inch or two since I last saw him and who is raking in all these crazy awards at Edison High School for being awesome. I'm proud of him, and I am really beginning my mission of encouraging him to go to school out of state. Some time in the summer or fall, Bob's gonna send us out to the east coast so Justin can check out some schools. I'm pretty happy to be a part of the whole process, and I imagine Justin thinks it's cool to have a big sister who's "been there, done that" to guide him along the way. (I'm pretty awesome, what can I say? Psych!)

Anyway, after lunch with Justin, I met up with Greg Poppe to go to South Coast Plaza and walk around. We talked about the Secret Service, made fun of a ridiculously tall men, who we named Ivar, and laughed at the absurdity of certain people/characteristics of good ol' Surf City, HB. We were also supposed to go to Ikea, but time didn't permit us to since I had a date with my mom. She and I ate at The Lazy Dog Cafe, which is always delicious, and had a nice talk. Despite how much she frustrates me at times, she truly is amazing. It's hard to cut her slack, but she really is taking on an incredible amount of work and stress, and now that she's getting into the heat of her dissertation, things will probably only become more challenging.

After dinner, Matt and I watched Risky Business, which I had never seen before. A scene or two was cut out because the DVD was totally effed up, but even missing those scenes, Matt and I were convinced that it's a weird movie. Seriously, it's so weird! The clothes and music were unbelievable, though, and made it worth the pain and heartache of missed scenes.

Yesterday I went to lunch with Matt and Greg at the 17th Street Deli, which is seriously the best place ever. I had turkey, avocado (and they heap it on), lettuce, and cheese on squaw bread (which is what I always have), and it was heaven. Maybe I'll go there again today... Yeah!

And this brings me to the point in the day when I went over to my dad's to watch American Idol. Hahahahaha! I won't even comment on that since most of you, I imagine, don't watch it (and neither do I). It was funny, though, and the fact that it's the #1 show on television amuses me somewhat.

Anyway, I have to go to Golden West College today to register for a fucking statistics class, and I have to stop at the bank and a few other places. Tonight I'm going to the Senior MUN Banquet to see my students, who are now graduating. I had them when they were freshmen in high school, and now they are seniors. I cannot tell you how much that puts time into perspective for me. Where the eff did it go? Seriously, it boggles my mind that it's 2005 and that 2006 is when everyone in my class is graduating from college. Oh, wait, too bad I'm not. Ugh!

Okay. So this entry was boring. I promise to bring back funny links and funny stories hopefully in the next entry. Thanks for reading anyway. I just wanted to bring you up to speed on the whos and whats of Jen Paul as of late so we can all be on the same page now.

Nine Inch Nails in San Diego on Monday with Ms. Angela Serratore. Seriously can't wait.

Pictures, etc.

I posted 37 pictures from our road trip extravaganza. I will add comments to them as soon as I'm home again tonight, but I have to jet on over to my dad's place to watch the final episode of American Idol. Yeah, yeah...I don't know how he convinced me to share in this viewing experience, but he did, and now the time has come for me to drag myself over there. But not before I pick up Taco Bell on my way. My dad's still in a wheelchair for 4 more weeks, so he's pretty much incapable of going out except to wheel around downtown HB. The least I can do is bring him Taco Bell, right? Especially since it's the BEST FAST FOOD RESTAURANT EVER. Well, that and In N Out, which I have yet to go to since being home! Gah!

Anyway, off I go. Enjoy the pictures. I thought I had more, but I guess Matt and I were so busy with the video camera that we ended up with fewer still shots than we thought.

Also, one last thing before I go, I AM SO EFFING TIRED OF ALL THESE FRECKLES APPEARING ON MY FACE. I don't even stay out in the sun; in fact, I avoid it at all cost. I mean, it's pretty to look at, and I enjoy being in it as long as I'm in the shade, but WTF? Why all the freckles? Pretty soon my face is gonna be one giant freckle, and that would be the sickest thing ever. Well, almost as sick as Topeka, KS.

Okay, peace out, playa. I'll catch up with you later tonight on the weblog. Word.

Lo Siento

I'm sorry I didn't post the second I got home, which was yesterday circa 4pm. After driving cross-country 6 days and 3,434 miles, I was and still am extremely exhausted. The fantastic news is that Bob, Matt, and I made it home safely. What's incredible is that we didn't bicker or fight the entire duration of the road trip. I suppose it's because Bob is one of the most agreeable people ever, but it was still a very pleasant surprise.

I will tell you that Topeka, KS, is pretty much the worst fucking place ever. If I learned one thing on our trip, it was that. We drove from Chicago through St. Louis and on to Kansas City and decided to go a little way beyond that, which landed us in Topeka, the capital city, mind you, of Kansas. Now, aren't capital cities supposed to be...ummm...nice? I mean, up until now, I had thought that for the most part. Topeka was seriously the pits, though. (Ewww, did I just say "the pits"?) When we got into Topeka around 9:15pm, we were all starving, so we drove around to find some place to grab a bite to eat. Too bad Topeka consists of a Walgreen's (which was closed) and a fucking luggage store. Plus a gas station or two and three hotels - two of which are Ramada Inns. Guess where we stayed. Yep, we crashed at a Ramada Inn but not before grabbing a drink at the hotel's bar, which was the only place open in all of Topeka. There we encountered the most cracked-out bartender on the face of the planet. As Bob said, "We knew something had to be wrong with her when she kept calling me 'Honey'." Oh, that Bob is one character. I really can't imagine a better person to travel across the country with now that all is said and done. He's done the trip a dozen times (at least) himself, and he's just a good sport in general and a really interesting person to talk to. When we were in Kentucky, visiting Bob's family, he found some of his old high school yearbooks; looking through them clearly provided us endless entertainment. As did Bob's youngest grandson, Max. Max is 3, and he is a troublemaker for sure, which is why Matt and I immediately fell in love with him. The last time I saw him was a couple years ago, when he was just a baby, and since babies are gross, I wasn't able to enjoy his company until this time around. And believe you me, I did.

Hmmm...what else to say...? You see, the problem I fear is that so many of the funny, curious things that happened on the trip will sound totally uninteresting in the translation. For example, at one point during our time in Kentucky, Bob called Max a Mad Man. To this, Max vehemently replied, "Not Mad Man, Mad Max!" See, that sounds totally stupid, right? After reading that, you almost certainly thought, "Guess you had to be there." Sheesh. Perhaps once I upload pictures from the trip for your viewing pleasure (and I promise to do that in the next day or so) that will help jog my memory and get the story-telling juices flowing. (OMG, what is my problem. I never say, "get the juices flowing" let alone "get the story-telling juices flowing." It's been a long day...)

Okay, I think that is it. For now at least. I'm going to bed at a pitiful 10:25pm. I did wake up at 6:30 this morning, though, and I also have to take my dad to the VA Hospital tomorrow in the LBC so he can have his cast removed and maybe, finally get out of his effing wheelchair. Poor guy. Then I'm hoping to do some work on finding a summer job, which could very well extend into the fall (the job, that is, not the job search). Man, about that. I've been home less than 36 hours, and I'm already realizing how painful this is going to be. It doesn't have to be at all, but there are just certain people (namely my mom, who is actually quite wonderful when she's not being totally impossible) who put a damper on things every now and then that make living at home totally unbearable. Meh, it'll work out. Hopefully...

Lastly, I would just like to announce for the billionth time that I miss Allison and Angela and Alex and Camaren and Casey and Poofs so much. I wish we could all just live in a giant mansion together for the rest of our lives. That would pretty much be the best thing ever.
Seriously. Bed. Time. Now. Nitey nite, ladies and gents and anyone who doesn't identify with the former or the latter. ;)

PS. Don't tell my mom that I said she can be pretty difficult at times. She already knows that, but I doubt she'd be thrilled about me publishing it on the information highway. (Information highway?!?!)

PPS. Something that dawned on me while we were driving through Pennsylvania is the following: What the fuck is a practical joke? How is a joke practical? And why don't people ever talk about impractical jokes? It's not all that important, I suppose, but it's mildly bothersome, no? Hit me up with your thoughts about this if you have any. Okay, pace.

On the Road

So I have about 4 minutes to write something in here real quickly. I didn't think I'd get a chance to see a computer until I got home, but we have free internet connection in our hotel room, so now I can tell you a little bit about what's been going on the past couple of days.

Sunday morning we started our trek across the US. Matt and I picked Bob up at the airport in Hartford, CT, early Sunday morning and drove through CT, NY, PA, WV, OH and then landed in Fort Wright, KY, where Bob's son, Brian, lives with his wife and their three kids, Jacob (7), Luke (5), and Max (3). By the end of the day, we'd driven over 800 miles! (Yikes!) We stayed there Sunday night and putzed around Bob's old stomping ground all Monday, visiting his brother and several of Bob's nieces and nephews. One of them owns a little country store on the way to Bob's farm, so we stopped there for lunch on Monday. The best part of the day was all the picture-taking we did, though. We stopped at several awesome locations and got all ADULT.-like with the camera. I promise this will all make sense when I post the pictures, but I'll have to wait to do that until I get home. Anyway, Kentucky really is beautiful with its rolling hills and bountiful greenery this time of year. Seeing Bob's family was also extremely fun, particularly all the time we got to spend with his grandkids, who are really and truly amazing.

Tuesday we left around 11 and shot up northwest to Chicago to spend the evening/night. I am actually writing from just outside of Chicago in our hotel room in Highland Park, a nice suburb filled with many affluent people and their ridiculously nice houses. Last night one of our friends from BU, Alex, met up with us for dinner. We ate an excellent Italian meal in downtown Highland Park and drove around the surrounding area afterward to take in some of the most incredible homes I've ever seen in my life. The houses in some of these northern suburbs of Chicago are truly amazing. Since Chicago is more or less the architecture mecca of the country, you can imagine how interesting and unique these homes are - not to mention how fucking huge they are, too. Michael Jordan lives around here, as do the people who occupy the home that that beloved movie of mine, Home Alone, takes place in. This morning we are stopping there on our way out to take a few pictures. I will probably enlarge them upon returning home and consider them amongst my most precious treasures. Because I'm awesome like that.

Anyway, after we drove around the area for a while, we stopped at a cafe in Evanston (near Northwestern) that could only have been founded by a Smith alum. The cafe is called Kafein, and the restrooms are what make it. There's a women's restroom, with the following sign: Women! Then, there are two men's restrooms: Men! and Men? Obviously, every male that walks into Kafein who needs to use the bathroom will head for the men's restroom with the Men! sign. Much to his dismay, though, he will find that the door is actually a trick door. He will then be forced to bow his head in shame and give in to the tomfoolery of it all by using the restroom for Men? Funny, funny.

Okay. So I am being told that I need to wrap up before we hit the road again. We're making it to Kansas City today, Dever tomorrow, Salt Lake on Friday, and home (hopefully) on Saturday. If we're too tired to drive all the way home on Saturday, though, there's always Sin City to grant us reprieve.

More elaboration later and lots of pictures, too. I just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing all right - fantastically well, in fact. Bob, Matt, and I are having a ball so much so that I think I might start living out of my car in true Jewel fashion.

Psych!

PS. Hit up one of my older posts entitled "Post-Script" to read Allison's extremely entertaining comment regarding my receipt-eating habit.

Here We Go

Senior Week traditions at Smith College are many: Ivy Day, Illumination, bountiful alumnae reunions, and of course, Commencement itself. They remind me why I am so lucky to call myself a Smithie. Seriously. I promise to elaborate on that later, but our Poofs' gigs this evening alone make it all worth my while. Singing for Smithies (and Poofs, no less!) from the classes of 1930, 1935, and 1980 was incredible. Smith alums are the heartiest ladies ever, and they truly bring a smile to my face.

This post is more or less two-fold: 1) I'm sorry I didn't update as promised. Things have been extremely busy with getting ready for the road trip on top of all the singing and bullshit errands I've had to run. Deal with it, though. 2) Now I can't update for another week or so because I'm signing off tomorrow until Saturday at the earliest. That's right, Bob, Matt, and I start our road trip promptly tomorrow morning at 9. I can't bank on having computer access throughout our travels, and chances are I'll be too busy exploring to tell you about it. Between Matt's video camera and all of our digital/film cameras, though, I'm certain I'll have plenty of things to show and tell you upon arrival in 92648 (Huntington Beach, CA).

I really am sorry, but I trust that Alex's and Angela's weblogs will suffice for the time being (should you know either of them). Otherwise, just hit up www.toothpastefordinner.com or http://www.nataliedee.com.

Do you ever talk about the future in the past?

Loveyoumissyoummmkbyebye. <3