Twas the night before Vegas...
And all through my pad,
Not a woman is stirring
Prolly cuz I smell bad.
My bags are all packed,
By the window with thought
I'll even bring cream,
for that VD I've got.
I'm about to lie down,
Upon mah futon
With visions of women gasping,
At the size of my schlong.
But then I wake up,
To deal with what's real
Only if I get women drunk,
Will I have sex appeal.
But there's a magical place,
Where you can pay for a "service"
But I can't make that transaction,
I'd be way too nervous.
Thank God for Vegas,
Where a man can be loved
By a strange woman's mouth,
Or a hand that is gloved.
Good thing I've got Ken,
He'll get me some whores
Paying money for anal?
I've done this before. *cough*Albion*cough*
Ahh... two single guys,
In a city of Sin
Don't bet on us scoring,
And I promise you'll win.
All this talk about sex,
That's not like us, you know
Most of our time together,
Will be spent playing Halo.
Holy crap! Look at the clock!
My flight leaves today!
Happy Spring Break to all,
And to all a good lay!
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Groundhog Day
I'm currently watching Groundhog Day on one of mah HBOs. It brings up an interesting mental exercise... if you had an eternity of one days... what would you do? Keep in mind, it's only one day and, in the movie, he's stuck in the town where he started (so as much fun as it would be to fly to Italy... try to steer clear of that). I'd totally learn the guitar, and the bass, and the drums... I'd be my own band. I'd read... I'd read everything I can get my hands on (and in Chicago... that's a LOT). I think one day I'd go on a killing spree, too. How much fun would that be? I'd learn languages... Italian, Spanish, French. I'd learn how to dance... all kinds of dance. I'd learn how to cook... I mean REALLY cook. I'd fuck with the people around me... just generally go pretty nuts, perfect my "acting" skills. I would certainly make sure to call YOU and tell you to go fuck yourself... just because I've always wanted to. I'd quit work a time or two... in the most dramatic ways possible. I'd really like to defecate in the ice cream. Heehee... okay, fine, I've already done that. Ooo and I'd totally hit on you, you sexy sexy beast. My new year's resolution IS to seduce everyone who has ever lived... and that includes you (I think).
I'm currently watching Groundhog Day on one of mah HBOs. It brings up an interesting mental exercise... if you had an eternity of one days... what would you do? Keep in mind, it's only one day and, in the movie, he's stuck in the town where he started (so as much fun as it would be to fly to Italy... try to steer clear of that). I'd totally learn the guitar, and the bass, and the drums... I'd be my own band. I'd read... I'd read everything I can get my hands on (and in Chicago... that's a LOT). I think one day I'd go on a killing spree, too. How much fun would that be? I'd learn languages... Italian, Spanish, French. I'd learn how to dance... all kinds of dance. I'd learn how to cook... I mean REALLY cook. I'd fuck with the people around me... just generally go pretty nuts, perfect my "acting" skills. I would certainly make sure to call YOU and tell you to go fuck yourself... just because I've always wanted to. I'd quit work a time or two... in the most dramatic ways possible. I'd really like to defecate in the ice cream. Heehee... okay, fine, I've already done that. Ooo and I'd totally hit on you, you sexy sexy beast. My new year's resolution IS to seduce everyone who has ever lived... and that includes you (I think).
Monday, March 29, 2004
I'm Joey?
This is probably only because I really like to eat and I really like girls. >Shakes head< my two downfalls... maybe two things wouldn't be downfalls, but rather pitfalls. >shakes head< my two pitfalls
I'm Joey Tribbiani from Friends!
Take the Friends Quiz here.
created by
stomps.
This is probably only because I really like to eat and I really like girls. >Shakes head< my two downfalls... maybe two things wouldn't be downfalls, but rather pitfalls. >shakes head< my two pitfalls
I'm Joey Tribbiani from Friends!
Take the Friends Quiz here.
created by
stomps.
Stupid Cold Pizza "Hook Up" list.
Ann Arbor Michigan the number 8 Best place to "hook up"
F--k Ann Arbor!
Detroit was the fourth worst place to "hook up".
Chicago didn't make either list... neither did Las Vegas (sorry Ken). And, surprisingly enough, Albion didn't make the worst list. Perhaps because it was below the radar as there's nothing to do there... or because there are Euphonics concerts every year to get the ladies in the mood.
Ann Arbor Michigan the number 8 Best place to "hook up"
F--k Ann Arbor!
Detroit was the fourth worst place to "hook up".
Chicago didn't make either list... neither did Las Vegas (sorry Ken). And, surprisingly enough, Albion didn't make the worst list. Perhaps because it was below the radar as there's nothing to do there... or because there are Euphonics concerts every year to get the ladies in the mood.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Grandma Steeno's 90th Birthday Party plus CrazyJohn takes the 'L' and the Metra... all in one day!
Let's talk my weekend, shall we? Good... cuz I know you're not doing anything. Saturday morning, I drove from Chicago to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin... only being slowed in traffic in Chicago for about 40 minutes while going roughly 8 miles. Remember that Rant a while ago about being in traffic and wanting to see something... just something that's the reason behind the traffic? Okay... well there was definitely a reason behind this traffic. When I got to the front on the jam... there were three of those construction trucks with the arrows (you know the ones) taking up the left two lanes... and there was a crappy looking car in between the trucks... and that's IT. There were three trucks and a car... and that's IT! The trucks weren't even DOING anything... they were just driving in the left two lanes... causing a traffic jam. It's like Chicago is purposefully creating traffic! Son of a bitch!
Anyway... when I got to Fond du Lac, my dad and sister met me at the hotel. They were happy to see me and I, oddly enough, was happy to see them. I basically had enough time to park my car before being magically whisked away to the Hardgrove's house. For those of you who haven't been following this story from the beginning, Kathy Hardgrove is my father's little sister... hence Mr. Mike Hardgrove married into the family. The Hardgroves are my godparents... and live in the same town as my grandma, so they take care of her. I've also had the feeling that my Uncle Mike not only thinks I'm spoiled (and have been spoiled my whole life), but he also thinks that I've corrupted both of his sons since we were all younger. >sigh< So I always feel judged by them... fun, huh?
Anyway... Grandma, my Uncle Dan and Aunt Nancy, their daughter Tanya, her husband Dwayne, their daughter, my Uncle Jim and Aunt CeCe, their son Michael, and the Hardgroves and their daughter Beth, and son Ben (complete with fiancee) were all there. >phew< Holy bunch of people, Batman! Too bad I don't like people, huh? Right... so... we had a quick lunch and then my immediate family and I went shopping. I only have two pairs of shorts and I'm on my way to Vegas this week... so I had to get new shorts (hooray for new shorts! Hooray for Ken! Stupid Ken >Shakes fist... is then confused by how that mood swing just occurred<)
After shorts were purchased, we got ready to go out for Grandma's birthday dinner. Now Fond du Lac, Wisconsin is not a bustling metropolis like, say, Big Rapids or Albion... but there ARE 46,000 people in Fond du Lac. You would THINK that there could be a better place to go for Grandma's birthday than the Sunset Supper Club. But, apparently, you'd be wrong. This brings me to another interesting part of the day... everyone seemed to be "fussing" over Grandma so much that no one was actually talking to her. I saw her a couple times sitting by herself or right next to a few people, but still not talking to anyone. There were a couple of times I slide over to talk to her, or I sat down across from her to talk... but I wasn't spending all of my time on her, either. I mean, the whole day was like that... it made me really sad.
So, whatever, there's a group of 17 of us and we're trying to get a room at this "Supper club" and they can't reserve us a room because there's a bigger group coming in... and they want us to eat and get out (basically) because we're not a big enough group to fuss over and we're taking up valuable floorspace. I don't know... but they didn't treat us very well. If you want a funny mental picture (than you're name's probably Laura) and have I got the one for you: It was taking forever for us to get seated... so my Grandmother, complete with her cane, went up to the hostess to complain. Heeheehee... I didn't see her shaking the cane at anyone, but it's my guess that she might've.
So... stupid meal, went back to Hardgroves, said goodbye... went to hotel, said goodnight. Ta da for Saturday!
Sunday...
I had to say goodbye to my family... again. Gah! This always happens and it always happens too quickly. I want to get sick of them and be happy to leave. But, alas, such was not the case. I had to jet, though, as I was supposed to be meeting Dave to head to Aurora, IL to meet Keith. It was a huge time-crunching ordeal... as Keith and Dave kept calling me from the road to see if I was going to make it back in time to catch the Metra out there to Aurora. Anyway... so I drive real fast (not REAL fast... but fast) to Chicago... jump out of my car, walk swiftly to the L stop (Sedgwick and North... you know the one... the Brown line)... take the brown from Sedgwick to Quincy, meet Dave, walk three blocks to Union Station, find the ticket counter, get tickets, find the train and board the train... all in the matter of about 60 minutes. This was no small feat, as I've never >gasp< taken the L before. But I just did what everyone else was doing: I asked for change from strangers. No... that's not what I did... I just followed my nose.
Whatever (I can never get a straight answer out of myself... it's so frustrating!)... the Metra ride was about an hour. Then Keith picked us up and we went to his house. He's got a cute little pad (in a transitional state, of course) and he showed us around. He. Is. Awesome. At. The. Guitar. AWESOME. He played Dave and I a couple songs he had been working on and they were great. Keith is tres awesome. So we just hung out during the afternoon and tried to write skits and songs and figure out whether we're going to use our creative genus for good or evil. And that was pretty much my Sunday. I'm always busy... >sigh<... always busy.
Let's talk my weekend, shall we? Good... cuz I know you're not doing anything. Saturday morning, I drove from Chicago to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin... only being slowed in traffic in Chicago for about 40 minutes while going roughly 8 miles. Remember that Rant a while ago about being in traffic and wanting to see something... just something that's the reason behind the traffic? Okay... well there was definitely a reason behind this traffic. When I got to the front on the jam... there were three of those construction trucks with the arrows (you know the ones) taking up the left two lanes... and there was a crappy looking car in between the trucks... and that's IT. There were three trucks and a car... and that's IT! The trucks weren't even DOING anything... they were just driving in the left two lanes... causing a traffic jam. It's like Chicago is purposefully creating traffic! Son of a bitch!
Anyway... when I got to Fond du Lac, my dad and sister met me at the hotel. They were happy to see me and I, oddly enough, was happy to see them. I basically had enough time to park my car before being magically whisked away to the Hardgrove's house. For those of you who haven't been following this story from the beginning, Kathy Hardgrove is my father's little sister... hence Mr. Mike Hardgrove married into the family. The Hardgroves are my godparents... and live in the same town as my grandma, so they take care of her. I've also had the feeling that my Uncle Mike not only thinks I'm spoiled (and have been spoiled my whole life), but he also thinks that I've corrupted both of his sons since we were all younger. >sigh< So I always feel judged by them... fun, huh?
Anyway... Grandma, my Uncle Dan and Aunt Nancy, their daughter Tanya, her husband Dwayne, their daughter, my Uncle Jim and Aunt CeCe, their son Michael, and the Hardgroves and their daughter Beth, and son Ben (complete with fiancee) were all there. >phew< Holy bunch of people, Batman! Too bad I don't like people, huh? Right... so... we had a quick lunch and then my immediate family and I went shopping. I only have two pairs of shorts and I'm on my way to Vegas this week... so I had to get new shorts (hooray for new shorts! Hooray for Ken! Stupid Ken >Shakes fist... is then confused by how that mood swing just occurred<)
After shorts were purchased, we got ready to go out for Grandma's birthday dinner. Now Fond du Lac, Wisconsin is not a bustling metropolis like, say, Big Rapids or Albion... but there ARE 46,000 people in Fond du Lac. You would THINK that there could be a better place to go for Grandma's birthday than the Sunset Supper Club. But, apparently, you'd be wrong. This brings me to another interesting part of the day... everyone seemed to be "fussing" over Grandma so much that no one was actually talking to her. I saw her a couple times sitting by herself or right next to a few people, but still not talking to anyone. There were a couple of times I slide over to talk to her, or I sat down across from her to talk... but I wasn't spending all of my time on her, either. I mean, the whole day was like that... it made me really sad.
So, whatever, there's a group of 17 of us and we're trying to get a room at this "Supper club" and they can't reserve us a room because there's a bigger group coming in... and they want us to eat and get out (basically) because we're not a big enough group to fuss over and we're taking up valuable floorspace. I don't know... but they didn't treat us very well. If you want a funny mental picture (than you're name's probably Laura) and have I got the one for you: It was taking forever for us to get seated... so my Grandmother, complete with her cane, went up to the hostess to complain. Heeheehee... I didn't see her shaking the cane at anyone, but it's my guess that she might've.
So... stupid meal, went back to Hardgroves, said goodbye... went to hotel, said goodnight. Ta da for Saturday!
Sunday...
I had to say goodbye to my family... again. Gah! This always happens and it always happens too quickly. I want to get sick of them and be happy to leave. But, alas, such was not the case. I had to jet, though, as I was supposed to be meeting Dave to head to Aurora, IL to meet Keith. It was a huge time-crunching ordeal... as Keith and Dave kept calling me from the road to see if I was going to make it back in time to catch the Metra out there to Aurora. Anyway... so I drive real fast (not REAL fast... but fast) to Chicago... jump out of my car, walk swiftly to the L stop (Sedgwick and North... you know the one... the Brown line)... take the brown from Sedgwick to Quincy, meet Dave, walk three blocks to Union Station, find the ticket counter, get tickets, find the train and board the train... all in the matter of about 60 minutes. This was no small feat, as I've never >gasp< taken the L before. But I just did what everyone else was doing: I asked for change from strangers. No... that's not what I did... I just followed my nose.
Whatever (I can never get a straight answer out of myself... it's so frustrating!)... the Metra ride was about an hour. Then Keith picked us up and we went to his house. He's got a cute little pad (in a transitional state, of course) and he showed us around. He. Is. Awesome. At. The. Guitar. AWESOME. He played Dave and I a couple songs he had been working on and they were great. Keith is tres awesome. So we just hung out during the afternoon and tried to write skits and songs and figure out whether we're going to use our creative genus for good or evil. And that was pretty much my Sunday. I'm always busy... >sigh<... always busy.
Friday, March 26, 2004
What the random phonecall from hotties?
I just got off the phone with Katie Aumann and Miss Chelsey Wagemaker. Don't tell Chelsey Wagemaker, but I've got the hugest crush on Chelsey Wagemaker.
Anyway... in the poopy timing category, Katie and Miss Chelsey Wagemaker wondered if I was going to be around tomorrow. Alas... tomorrow is Grandma Steeno's 90th birthday party. What a fantastic woman she is... and only the mysterious allure of Miss Chelsey Wagemaker could make me second guess my trip to Wisconsin. Mmm... forbidden love. I mean... "mmm... forbidden love". Shit.
I just got off the phone with Katie Aumann and Miss Chelsey Wagemaker. Don't tell Chelsey Wagemaker, but I've got the hugest crush on Chelsey Wagemaker.
Anyway... in the poopy timing category, Katie and Miss Chelsey Wagemaker wondered if I was going to be around tomorrow. Alas... tomorrow is Grandma Steeno's 90th birthday party. What a fantastic woman she is... and only the mysterious allure of Miss Chelsey Wagemaker could make me second guess my trip to Wisconsin. Mmm... forbidden love. I mean... "mmm... forbidden love". Shit.
Laundry Room? What the f--k?
So I had three loads of laundry to do today and I went upstairs to do them (my apartment's laundry room is upstairs)... and my 9 story apartment building has seven washers and seven dryers. Is there something wrong with that picture? I mean... there isn't even enough washers and dryers for each floor to have one at any one time. In addition, how often does one person just use one washer or dryer when there are multiple units? (Hint: never)
So I went up there with one of my loads of laundry, and one woman was using four (4) washers. Um... ok... that leaves three for me to do all three of mine at the same time, right? Yeah... I put one load in and went down to get the second... by the time I came back, some woman was using the other two. (Are you bored with this story yet? Why are you still reading this?) And I was all "um... are you going to use both of those?" as she had like half a laundry hamper full and she was all "oh I thought you were using that" >points< "one". Well... no shit lady... but do you see me with another whole laundry basket full of dirty smelly man clothes?
And then there were clothes still in the dryer... and they had been there since I started my laundry, so I figured the person forgot about them or something. Anyway, I had to move one of the loads in the dryer... and there were, um, some pretty sexy bras and some thongs in there. I... well... I really wanted to know whose clothes they were... and that made me feel like a dirty dirty man. It was weird. And then, as people were coming into the laundry room, or on the elevator, I felt compelled to confess... "It was ME! I moved the clothes! I DID IT!" I felt like they were judging me... so I had to kill them all. Kill them ALL!
Whatever... so I only did two loads of laundry (I HATE doing laundry! HATE!!!) and it took forever. And I want my clothes to smell all good afterwards, like a spring garden or morning mist... but they just end up smelling like not-shit.
So I had three loads of laundry to do today and I went upstairs to do them (my apartment's laundry room is upstairs)... and my 9 story apartment building has seven washers and seven dryers. Is there something wrong with that picture? I mean... there isn't even enough washers and dryers for each floor to have one at any one time. In addition, how often does one person just use one washer or dryer when there are multiple units? (Hint: never)
So I went up there with one of my loads of laundry, and one woman was using four (4) washers. Um... ok... that leaves three for me to do all three of mine at the same time, right? Yeah... I put one load in and went down to get the second... by the time I came back, some woman was using the other two. (Are you bored with this story yet? Why are you still reading this?) And I was all "um... are you going to use both of those?" as she had like half a laundry hamper full and she was all "oh I thought you were using that" >points< "one". Well... no shit lady... but do you see me with another whole laundry basket full of dirty smelly man clothes?
And then there were clothes still in the dryer... and they had been there since I started my laundry, so I figured the person forgot about them or something. Anyway, I had to move one of the loads in the dryer... and there were, um, some pretty sexy bras and some thongs in there. I... well... I really wanted to know whose clothes they were... and that made me feel like a dirty dirty man. It was weird. And then, as people were coming into the laundry room, or on the elevator, I felt compelled to confess... "It was ME! I moved the clothes! I DID IT!" I felt like they were judging me... so I had to kill them all. Kill them ALL!
Whatever... so I only did two loads of laundry (I HATE doing laundry! HATE!!!) and it took forever. And I want my clothes to smell all good afterwards, like a spring garden or morning mist... but they just end up smelling like not-shit.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Father and Son Reunited
Out of nowhere... I got a call from Nick yesterday. I couldn't be as excited about it as I should have been... and let me tell you a little bit why. It all started Wednesday morning... when I went into work to take care of a few things. Greg (Gary) was already there, making waffle bowls and taking care of things he couldn't take care of the previous evening. On Wednesday morning... I go through the thoroughly enjoyable and always important Inventory check. I started my weekly hour-long weighing of shit and we soon realized that the person who was scheduled to work during the day (Cherise) was NOT going to come in. Greg and I looked at each other... hmm... he was scheduled to work in the evening... and I hate customers (read: people), so I sure as hell wasn't going to work.
Well... on Wednesdays, I also have to take care of receiving the inventory that I ordered the day before... so I had to stay anyway. Greg called Aaron to cover his shift... but Aaron couldn't show up until like three. So Greg and I were able to take care of customers and the store from open until Aaron showed up. Then Greg took a break for 2 hours... and I eventually took a break for two hours, but I had to come in at 6 because someone we had scheduled to work that night couldn't come in (sound familiar?).
There Greg and I were, at about 7... Aaron had left and he (Greg, not Aaron... try to keep up!) and I had been working since open... And Elizabeth (who was on call) finally called us and asked if we wanted her to come in. Um... yes... I don't want to have to serve these damn people. She came in sometime later (I have no idea when... probably 7:30 or 8) and we all served customers like a big happy family. And then the waters came. We have two drains up front (one by each stone) and three drains in the back. Four of the five started overflowing... um... what? Hmm... Greg and I tried to figure out why they all filled with water and we concluded that they have some kind of interconnecting pipe system between the four drains (makes sense)... and that the furthest back drain (near the "three compartment sink") must be where the clog was. So I started plunging that drain... and plunging... and the "water" started shooting back up at me. I put the water in quotation marks because I really don't know what was in the water. But I've got a guess...
Andrea showed up after I had successfully plunged the drains back into working order. She called a plumber and ordered us (Greg, Elizabeth, and I) pizza. Then the drains started overflowing again... this time seemed worse, even though we had turned all the water off. It was weird. But I had fun sweeping the "water" off the floor.... and Elizabeth, Greg, and I eventually started sliding on all the water. We were able to slide from the stone to the back room... it's impressive, trust me!
Elizabeth couldn't stay all that long after close... so Greg and I finished ALL the cleaning of EVERYTHING. He and I were there until 1 AM... meaning about twelve hours of work (minus those two hours we each took for stupid things like eating... or a nap).
That was why I wasn't as excited as I should have been when Nick called me (sorry son). But once it hit me... I was WAY happy. So I picked he and Carrie up and brought them to my place. (By the way... in typical "Albion spends money when they want to" fashion, they're staying at the Hilton. Nice) Anyway... we went to Gino's Pizza East and ordered a deep dish pizza. It wasn't as good as Lou Malnati's... but it was still pretty good. Then I took them to my Coldstone and got them some ice cream... I just basically tried to enjoy my time with my son. Of all the timing of all the visits I've had since I got here, his was best... It was wonderful to see him (shit... and Carrie's totally hot, too... heehee, takes after his old man. We sure can pick em.... rawrr). I miss him so much :(
Take care son.
Out of nowhere... I got a call from Nick yesterday. I couldn't be as excited about it as I should have been... and let me tell you a little bit why. It all started Wednesday morning... when I went into work to take care of a few things. Greg (Gary) was already there, making waffle bowls and taking care of things he couldn't take care of the previous evening. On Wednesday morning... I go through the thoroughly enjoyable and always important Inventory check. I started my weekly hour-long weighing of shit and we soon realized that the person who was scheduled to work during the day (Cherise) was NOT going to come in. Greg and I looked at each other... hmm... he was scheduled to work in the evening... and I hate customers (read: people), so I sure as hell wasn't going to work.
Well... on Wednesdays, I also have to take care of receiving the inventory that I ordered the day before... so I had to stay anyway. Greg called Aaron to cover his shift... but Aaron couldn't show up until like three. So Greg and I were able to take care of customers and the store from open until Aaron showed up. Then Greg took a break for 2 hours... and I eventually took a break for two hours, but I had to come in at 6 because someone we had scheduled to work that night couldn't come in (sound familiar?).
There Greg and I were, at about 7... Aaron had left and he (Greg, not Aaron... try to keep up!) and I had been working since open... And Elizabeth (who was on call) finally called us and asked if we wanted her to come in. Um... yes... I don't want to have to serve these damn people. She came in sometime later (I have no idea when... probably 7:30 or 8) and we all served customers like a big happy family. And then the waters came. We have two drains up front (one by each stone) and three drains in the back. Four of the five started overflowing... um... what? Hmm... Greg and I tried to figure out why they all filled with water and we concluded that they have some kind of interconnecting pipe system between the four drains (makes sense)... and that the furthest back drain (near the "three compartment sink") must be where the clog was. So I started plunging that drain... and plunging... and the "water" started shooting back up at me. I put the water in quotation marks because I really don't know what was in the water. But I've got a guess...
Andrea showed up after I had successfully plunged the drains back into working order. She called a plumber and ordered us (Greg, Elizabeth, and I) pizza. Then the drains started overflowing again... this time seemed worse, even though we had turned all the water off. It was weird. But I had fun sweeping the "water" off the floor.... and Elizabeth, Greg, and I eventually started sliding on all the water. We were able to slide from the stone to the back room... it's impressive, trust me!
Elizabeth couldn't stay all that long after close... so Greg and I finished ALL the cleaning of EVERYTHING. He and I were there until 1 AM... meaning about twelve hours of work (minus those two hours we each took for stupid things like eating... or a nap).
That was why I wasn't as excited as I should have been when Nick called me (sorry son). But once it hit me... I was WAY happy. So I picked he and Carrie up and brought them to my place. (By the way... in typical "Albion spends money when they want to" fashion, they're staying at the Hilton. Nice) Anyway... we went to Gino's Pizza East and ordered a deep dish pizza. It wasn't as good as Lou Malnati's... but it was still pretty good. Then I took them to my Coldstone and got them some ice cream... I just basically tried to enjoy my time with my son. Of all the timing of all the visits I've had since I got here, his was best... It was wonderful to see him (shit... and Carrie's totally hot, too... heehee, takes after his old man. We sure can pick em.... rawrr). I miss him so much :(
Take care son.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Fun from last night
Last night we had a substitute teacher in my writing class: Dennis O'Toole. He can't be much older than I am, maybe 25, but he was very good. He was as enthusiastic as my old instructor Rob... but, unlike Rob, Dennis actually had funny ideas as to how to make the scenes better. My scene still sucked ass (I'm not exaggerating... it was rough)... but I didn't feel as bad as if my current instructor, Joe, was there.
I stopped by Coldstone after class because I saw Andrea and Greg there (and Elizabeth >shakes fist<). Andrea had me look at the schedule to see if there were any holes... and she was like trying to figure out what was "different" about me. "you got your hair cut?" and I was like... "what?" as my hair still looks stupid and Koppel-ish. "I've never seen you this happy" she said.... and I've been thinking about that. I don't know if she's ever seen me after class. Hmm... what does THAT say about what I enjoy and what I don't?
After we left, I hinted that I wouldn't mind a ride to the airport (because I'm subtle like that)... and Andrea might actually drive me to O'Hare! How cool is that? That means that I can bring my knife set to the airport with me... wait... no, no it doesn't. She's gotta check to make sure her dad (the big boss man) doesn't need the car... and that's it! Sweetness!
Ooo! Ken guess what. Guess damn you! There's a Billy Goat Tavern in O'Hare's Terminal 1! Isn't that sweet? So I'm totally going to eat there before I get on the plane and have to brave the airline food. (And I'll probably go to Cinnabon too just because Cinnabon is totally kick ass) Ooo! And there's a Sunglasses Hut... that'll come in handy! And five Starbucks in the one terminal... that's just gross. Go back to your trendy coffee houses, hippies! It's like the whole world is psychotic coffee drinkers... except for me. I'm psychotic other things :)
Last night we had a substitute teacher in my writing class: Dennis O'Toole. He can't be much older than I am, maybe 25, but he was very good. He was as enthusiastic as my old instructor Rob... but, unlike Rob, Dennis actually had funny ideas as to how to make the scenes better. My scene still sucked ass (I'm not exaggerating... it was rough)... but I didn't feel as bad as if my current instructor, Joe, was there.
I stopped by Coldstone after class because I saw Andrea and Greg there (and Elizabeth >shakes fist<). Andrea had me look at the schedule to see if there were any holes... and she was like trying to figure out what was "different" about me. "you got your hair cut?" and I was like... "what?" as my hair still looks stupid and Koppel-ish. "I've never seen you this happy" she said.... and I've been thinking about that. I don't know if she's ever seen me after class. Hmm... what does THAT say about what I enjoy and what I don't?
After we left, I hinted that I wouldn't mind a ride to the airport (because I'm subtle like that)... and Andrea might actually drive me to O'Hare! How cool is that? That means that I can bring my knife set to the airport with me... wait... no, no it doesn't. She's gotta check to make sure her dad (the big boss man) doesn't need the car... and that's it! Sweetness!
Ooo! Ken guess what. Guess damn you! There's a Billy Goat Tavern in O'Hare's Terminal 1! Isn't that sweet? So I'm totally going to eat there before I get on the plane and have to brave the airline food. (And I'll probably go to Cinnabon too just because Cinnabon is totally kick ass) Ooo! And there's a Sunglasses Hut... that'll come in handy! And five Starbucks in the one terminal... that's just gross. Go back to your trendy coffee houses, hippies! It's like the whole world is psychotic coffee drinkers... except for me. I'm psychotic other things :)
Monday, March 22, 2004
Mike's Shameless Plug!
I can't believe Bohne would use this blog to shamelessly plug the Euphonics Concert on April 13th at 8:30 PM in the Kellogg Center Stack. I mean... what does he think this blog is? A place to shamelessly plug concerts, like the Euphonics Concert April 13th @ 8:30 PM in the Stack?
What kind of person would I be if I just allowed anyone to shamelessly plug things like the Euphonics Concert on April 13th @ 8:30 PM in the KC Stack? My blog would be inundated with people's shameless plugs (like the Euphonics Concert on April 13th @ 8:30 PM in the Stack at Albion College)... and my blog would become a weapon of evil instead of an instrument for good.
NO! I'll never succumb to the bright lights and pretty colors of shamelessly plugging things like a Euphonics Concert April 13th at 8:30 PM in the Stack. Never.
I can't believe Bohne would use this blog to shamelessly plug the Euphonics Concert on April 13th at 8:30 PM in the Kellogg Center Stack. I mean... what does he think this blog is? A place to shamelessly plug concerts, like the Euphonics Concert April 13th @ 8:30 PM in the Stack?
What kind of person would I be if I just allowed anyone to shamelessly plug things like the Euphonics Concert on April 13th @ 8:30 PM in the KC Stack? My blog would be inundated with people's shameless plugs (like the Euphonics Concert on April 13th @ 8:30 PM in the Stack at Albion College)... and my blog would become a weapon of evil instead of an instrument for good.
NO! I'll never succumb to the bright lights and pretty colors of shamelessly plugging things like a Euphonics Concert April 13th at 8:30 PM in the Stack. Never.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
What Women Want...
Here I am... watching What Women Want (a movie that I've already seen... set in CHICAGO!). I enjoy it... it's a fun movie. But it's even a better concept... what man doesn't want the power to hear women's thoughts. I mean... women don't seem to have straight-forward wants. They have emotional needs... and what man understands those? Emotions? It took twenty-some years of my life for me to realize that I had more than three of them (anger, joy, pain).
What the hell, ladies? What do you ever think about? I know you're thinking... women are always thinking about something. Always... all the time, you're thinking about five or six different (and complex) things. And all this thinking is why you get so drunk. You drink to forget... that's what you do when you get drunk (sometimes you don't, but let's face it... that's what you're doing most of the time). That's such a tragedy, in my opinion. Without my thoughts... I'd be nothing. I'd be nothing more than this sexy sexy shell of a human being.
But, that's easy for me to say as it's honestly easier for men to stop thinking. The threads of thoughts going through a man's mind include, and are limited to: sex, food, sports, cars, and money. And, if you think about it, we only like sports because we want to be good at sports to have sex with women... so take sports off the list. You can also take cars off the list too... as that's about the sex with women too. And money... that's just to get food and sex. Don't you wish you were a man? It basically all boils down to food and sex. Boy... the life of a man is tough.
>sigh< I hate men. Oh the irony.
Here I am... watching What Women Want (a movie that I've already seen... set in CHICAGO!). I enjoy it... it's a fun movie. But it's even a better concept... what man doesn't want the power to hear women's thoughts. I mean... women don't seem to have straight-forward wants. They have emotional needs... and what man understands those? Emotions? It took twenty-some years of my life for me to realize that I had more than three of them (anger, joy, pain).
What the hell, ladies? What do you ever think about? I know you're thinking... women are always thinking about something. Always... all the time, you're thinking about five or six different (and complex) things. And all this thinking is why you get so drunk. You drink to forget... that's what you do when you get drunk (sometimes you don't, but let's face it... that's what you're doing most of the time). That's such a tragedy, in my opinion. Without my thoughts... I'd be nothing. I'd be nothing more than this sexy sexy shell of a human being.
But, that's easy for me to say as it's honestly easier for men to stop thinking. The threads of thoughts going through a man's mind include, and are limited to: sex, food, sports, cars, and money. And, if you think about it, we only like sports because we want to be good at sports to have sex with women... so take sports off the list. You can also take cars off the list too... as that's about the sex with women too. And money... that's just to get food and sex. Don't you wish you were a man? It basically all boils down to food and sex. Boy... the life of a man is tough.
>sigh< I hate men. Oh the irony.
CrazyJohn the Manager? I hate decisions
Yesterday morning I got a call from Andrea. She seemed upset about something, so I asked her what was wrong. She jumped into saying that she knows that I'm upset with my current monetary compensation, but that the only way she can think to fully compensate me the way I "deserve" is to offer me the position as manager of the Wells Street store. On a temporary basis, I would be the manager of Wells... to be replaced when other stores (we secured a location on North Ave, near Milwaukee) open and are operating. The timetable she gave me on the phone was 6 months to a year. This she referred to as "temporary." Right... In 6 months to a year, I could be in muthaf--kin South Dakota. Or taking classes at UNLV. Or somewhere in Canada.
The problem with me NOT taking this job, is that I effectively make myself obsolete. I mean, if I'm not manager, then they hire someone to be manager and I'm no longer doing anything at the Wells Street store NOR am I of any use to secure or open new stores. So... what good am I if I'm not managing a store or helping with new ones? I have no idea what I'd do.
BUT, having said that, I can't imagine doing what I did that one week (when I managed the store) for half a year to a year! I would totally burn out... and I'd have no energy to spend on my Second City pursuits. And I'm getting so close to being to a place where I can get some return on my SC "investment"... to a place where I'll actually be back on stage. somewhere i belong.
i haven't been on stage in such a long time... if only the people in Chicago could see me on stage... i wonder if i'll still be as good as i was
Yesterday morning I got a call from Andrea. She seemed upset about something, so I asked her what was wrong. She jumped into saying that she knows that I'm upset with my current monetary compensation, but that the only way she can think to fully compensate me the way I "deserve" is to offer me the position as manager of the Wells Street store. On a temporary basis, I would be the manager of Wells... to be replaced when other stores (we secured a location on North Ave, near Milwaukee) open and are operating. The timetable she gave me on the phone was 6 months to a year. This she referred to as "temporary." Right... In 6 months to a year, I could be in muthaf--kin South Dakota. Or taking classes at UNLV. Or somewhere in Canada.
The problem with me NOT taking this job, is that I effectively make myself obsolete. I mean, if I'm not manager, then they hire someone to be manager and I'm no longer doing anything at the Wells Street store NOR am I of any use to secure or open new stores. So... what good am I if I'm not managing a store or helping with new ones? I have no idea what I'd do.
BUT, having said that, I can't imagine doing what I did that one week (when I managed the store) for half a year to a year! I would totally burn out... and I'd have no energy to spend on my Second City pursuits. And I'm getting so close to being to a place where I can get some return on my SC "investment"... to a place where I'll actually be back on stage. somewhere i belong.
i haven't been on stage in such a long time... if only the people in Chicago could see me on stage... i wonder if i'll still be as good as i was
Friday, March 19, 2004
Sign up, bitch
Guess what the Albion College Union Board Event is on April 17th.
Go on... guess.
Okay... that's the dumbest thing ever. I'll just have to tell you. The answer is: Chicago Trip. That's right... "A whole day in the windy city." Well... I know a few people who should sign up for that (you bastards), and I'll make sure I've got the time off to show you around (or to follow you around and ask you for money... just like everyone else in this city).
Guess what the Albion College Union Board Event is on April 17th.
Go on... guess.
Okay... that's the dumbest thing ever. I'll just have to tell you. The answer is: Chicago Trip. That's right... "A whole day in the windy city." Well... I know a few people who should sign up for that (you bastards), and I'll make sure I've got the time off to show you around (or to follow you around and ask you for money... just like everyone else in this city).
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Story time
Let me tell you a story... Right after Laura and I started dating, I was invited to the annual Kraly pig roast. If any of you remember, this was a big deal to me... because the pig roast was a big deal to Laura. It wasn't a big deal to her in a "make sure everything's perfect" kind of way... it was a big deal in a "you'll be meeting a lot of really important-to-me people" way. So I was a bit worried about this roast... not only because it was important to Laura and she was important to me, but also because Laura's dad is scary. He likes to shoot things with guns... things like deer, fowl, and people who try to touch his daughter. And, at the time, I was trying very hard to touch his daughter (gross!... I know!... but still, gross!). Anyway... I was nervous about spending time with Laura's dad... and I was VERY nervous about meeting Laura's dad's mom. I mean, if the mom of the dad doesn't like you... then the dad has TWO reasons to shoot and kill you and make it look like an accident.
Anyway... I met Grandma Kraly that day... and we talked for a bit, and she was interested in what I had to say. She listened... she cared... I felt comfortable. By the next time we saw each other (Kyle's graduation party, a month or so later) she was my safety net... saving me from having to meet all sorts of new people. I already felt at ease around her... safe... at home.
Laura's grandma, the incomparable Mrs. Kraly, passed away today. It didn't take much for her to touch my life, I can't imagine how many more lives she touched. What a wonderful woman.
My thoughts and prayers are with Laura, her father, and her family tonight. God bless them.
Just to make Miss Laura Jeannine feel better: Wouldn't the name "Draco Steeno" be way cool? You know it would! Maybe I'll name my second son Draco. I need five sons for a basketball team (it would be a very short team... Shut up!)... although I only need two sons for Wimbleton Doubles Champions. Whatever... don't you worry about my sons' athletic futures... just know that Draco Steeno is a way cool name :)
Let me tell you a story... Right after Laura and I started dating, I was invited to the annual Kraly pig roast. If any of you remember, this was a big deal to me... because the pig roast was a big deal to Laura. It wasn't a big deal to her in a "make sure everything's perfect" kind of way... it was a big deal in a "you'll be meeting a lot of really important-to-me people" way. So I was a bit worried about this roast... not only because it was important to Laura and she was important to me, but also because Laura's dad is scary. He likes to shoot things with guns... things like deer, fowl, and people who try to touch his daughter. And, at the time, I was trying very hard to touch his daughter (gross!... I know!... but still, gross!). Anyway... I was nervous about spending time with Laura's dad... and I was VERY nervous about meeting Laura's dad's mom. I mean, if the mom of the dad doesn't like you... then the dad has TWO reasons to shoot and kill you and make it look like an accident.
Anyway... I met Grandma Kraly that day... and we talked for a bit, and she was interested in what I had to say. She listened... she cared... I felt comfortable. By the next time we saw each other (Kyle's graduation party, a month or so later) she was my safety net... saving me from having to meet all sorts of new people. I already felt at ease around her... safe... at home.
Laura's grandma, the incomparable Mrs. Kraly, passed away today. It didn't take much for her to touch my life, I can't imagine how many more lives she touched. What a wonderful woman.
My thoughts and prayers are with Laura, her father, and her family tonight. God bless them.
Just to make Miss Laura Jeannine feel better: Wouldn't the name "Draco Steeno" be way cool? You know it would! Maybe I'll name my second son Draco. I need five sons for a basketball team (it would be a very short team... Shut up!)... although I only need two sons for Wimbleton Doubles Champions. Whatever... don't you worry about my sons' athletic futures... just know that Draco Steeno is a way cool name :)
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Happy Saint Patrick's Day... how about a cake? >grumble<
Today was a day in which I should have been celebrating my Irish heritage (by getting very very drunk [that's sarcasm]). But, instead, Coldstone thought it would be a good idea for me to spend my day learning how to make the "new" cakes. Oh fun! The training was in Arlington Heights, so I had to leave my apartment at 7:30. And, yes, the 28 or 30 miles from Chicago to Arlington Heights took me from 7:30 to 8:45 to drive. I knew it was going to take me that long... but that didn't make it any less sucky.
The cake training started at 9 AM, and since I was early I was able to meet other franchisees. I met Diane from Buffalo Grove, Alberto and Alberto Jr of UIC, Steve from somewhere, and Dima of the 21 West Ontario store. Why do you care? Because these are all owners or managers of stores in the Chicago area. Why do you care? Because now I have a connection with half a dozen Coldstones in the Chicago area. Why do you care? GOD! Give me a break!
Anyway... the day started with the cutting of the actual cake that we use inside the cakes (that sentence made no sense... but, then again, it did >raises eyebrow<). We then assembled each cake... which is two layers of ice cream and two layers of the aforementioned cake. A lot less ice cream going into these cakes... just so you know (because I know that you still care). It was about this time that Andrea and I decided that we would be so disgustingly "in" to teamwork that we would make all the other owners envious (this sounded like a good idea to us because we were both really tired [I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 or 4 and I was up at 6:30]). So we assembled the cakes together in a disgustingly team-oriented fashion. At one point, she and I even pretended to be communicating non-verbally across the room when, in fact, we had no idea what we were saying. AND Andrea told me to put our "crest" on something, and it even took me a second to realize that she was kidding. Did I mention I was an idiot?
Anyway... from the cake assembly, we moved to making the candy-toppers. There's now candy on top of the cakes... and it's irritatingly lengthy to make them... and we did. Fun. Besides, the cakes take an hour in the blast after they're assembled before they can be decorated. Whatever! By this time... everyone was lusting after the candy (because it was lunchtime), so we wisely broke for lunch (before the product was devoured!).
Andrea and I went to Noodles & Company... which seemed to be a Mongolian Barbeque minus all the self-assembly and cool fire. Which means it's basically you telling them what you want and them making it. What do you call that? Um... a restaurant? Yeah... that's it. Anyway... I got this Japanese Pan Noodle dish on Josh's recommendation (he's an Area Developer... and one of the cake training dudes). It had kind of a spicy sauce and it was good. I ate the whole thing with chopsticks! CHOPSTICKS! I actually told Andrea that I might have to cheat and use a fork because I wasn't very fast with the chopsticks (and we only had half an hour for lunch)... but I did it all by myself! Hooray for me! Take THAT f--king chopsticks!
I also called California to wish a Happy Birthday to Susan. I don't call her nearly enough (which means I never call). But we had a nice (and quick... stupid cake training) conversation... and eventually I learn where she lives so I can give her this card.
So we went back into the factory and learned all about Ganache (pronounced: Ganache). Ganache is basically a chocolate coating for the cakes... effectively "dipping" a cake. So each of us had to ganache a cake and I was pretty nervous when it was my turn... but I went for it... and Josh was actually (mildly) impressed. Andrea seemed very critical of her own cake... it was weird... it was almost like she was unsure of herself. She said stuff that I would've said in high school (about how much I suck), which was a side of her I've never seen. Anyway... I described her cake as "sunset over Tahiti"... and everyone laughed.
Then we had to actually frost a cake. I've never done this before... I've frosted cakes in pans before, but I've never frosted a round cake (especially not with 10 other people watching). But, after frosting the sides, I said "Can you believe this is my first time frosting a cake?" and Josh was, again, (mildly) impressed.
Then the being impressed stopped... as we decorated the cakes. Good Lord is the piping tough! Holy crap... how can people write with frosting? Isn't that against the natural laws of physics and gravity (hint: no)? Well I sucked the big one at the actual decoration of the cakes... probably because I was trying to do it left handed (as that's what felt natural) and I write right handed. Why didn't I switch hands, you ask? Were you there to tell me that? NO! You were sitting at your computer, reading a stupid blog. Oh... wait... that's now. Whoops >shrugs<.
To kind of digress... we have "mystery shoppers" who come into Coldstone and order something and give us a score, right? Ok... so we recently had a mystery shopper and Andrea learned our score was lower than we'd like. She went nuts. Nuts! After we had finished all the cake stuff, the Coldstone dude who was there from corperate (his name was Randy... you don't need to know this for the test) showed us the mystery shopper's report. Basically, we got marked down on sanitation for crappy reasons (there were sticky tables on a Saturday night... that's a surprise >shakes head<)... and it was easy for me to shrug the report off because it was stupid. But Andrea was still going nuts. Nuts!
Well... being the good bitch that I am, I asked if she wanted me to get her some coffee or a bagel or something. There was a Starbucks nearby (big surprise), so we headed over there to (basically) let her vent. I'm not a big Starbucks person... so I tried the caramel apple cider. It came highly recommended by Amy, who said it tasted like a liquid caramel apple. And, guess what... it did! Too bad I spilled some on my shirt, like a big loser-pants. A big loser-shirt.... right.
The drive back from Arlington Heights took FOREVER! I must've left Arlington Heights around 5 or 5:30... and I didn't get back to my apartment until after 7. Yeah... nothing like "working" for eleven and a half hours on a day that I'm supposed to be celebrating. Oh well... next year.
I did have a nice chat with my parents. I'm going up to Wisconsin for my grandma's 90th birthday a week from this Saturday. I think my whole family will be there... plus some cousins and other miscellanious people. We'll see.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone... and may Saint Patrick chase the snakes out of your own personal Emerald Isle.
Today was a day in which I should have been celebrating my Irish heritage (by getting very very drunk [that's sarcasm]). But, instead, Coldstone thought it would be a good idea for me to spend my day learning how to make the "new" cakes. Oh fun! The training was in Arlington Heights, so I had to leave my apartment at 7:30. And, yes, the 28 or 30 miles from Chicago to Arlington Heights took me from 7:30 to 8:45 to drive. I knew it was going to take me that long... but that didn't make it any less sucky.
The cake training started at 9 AM, and since I was early I was able to meet other franchisees. I met Diane from Buffalo Grove, Alberto and Alberto Jr of UIC, Steve from somewhere, and Dima of the 21 West Ontario store. Why do you care? Because these are all owners or managers of stores in the Chicago area. Why do you care? Because now I have a connection with half a dozen Coldstones in the Chicago area. Why do you care? GOD! Give me a break!
Anyway... the day started with the cutting of the actual cake that we use inside the cakes (that sentence made no sense... but, then again, it did >raises eyebrow<). We then assembled each cake... which is two layers of ice cream and two layers of the aforementioned cake. A lot less ice cream going into these cakes... just so you know (because I know that you still care). It was about this time that Andrea and I decided that we would be so disgustingly "in" to teamwork that we would make all the other owners envious (this sounded like a good idea to us because we were both really tired [I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 or 4 and I was up at 6:30]). So we assembled the cakes together in a disgustingly team-oriented fashion. At one point, she and I even pretended to be communicating non-verbally across the room when, in fact, we had no idea what we were saying. AND Andrea told me to put our "crest" on something, and it even took me a second to realize that she was kidding. Did I mention I was an idiot?
Anyway... from the cake assembly, we moved to making the candy-toppers. There's now candy on top of the cakes... and it's irritatingly lengthy to make them... and we did. Fun. Besides, the cakes take an hour in the blast after they're assembled before they can be decorated. Whatever! By this time... everyone was lusting after the candy (because it was lunchtime), so we wisely broke for lunch (before the product was devoured!).
Andrea and I went to Noodles & Company... which seemed to be a Mongolian Barbeque minus all the self-assembly and cool fire. Which means it's basically you telling them what you want and them making it. What do you call that? Um... a restaurant? Yeah... that's it. Anyway... I got this Japanese Pan Noodle dish on Josh's recommendation (he's an Area Developer... and one of the cake training dudes). It had kind of a spicy sauce and it was good. I ate the whole thing with chopsticks! CHOPSTICKS! I actually told Andrea that I might have to cheat and use a fork because I wasn't very fast with the chopsticks (and we only had half an hour for lunch)... but I did it all by myself! Hooray for me! Take THAT f--king chopsticks!
I also called California to wish a Happy Birthday to Susan. I don't call her nearly enough (which means I never call). But we had a nice (and quick... stupid cake training) conversation... and eventually I learn where she lives so I can give her this card.
So we went back into the factory and learned all about Ganache (pronounced: Ganache). Ganache is basically a chocolate coating for the cakes... effectively "dipping" a cake. So each of us had to ganache a cake and I was pretty nervous when it was my turn... but I went for it... and Josh was actually (mildly) impressed. Andrea seemed very critical of her own cake... it was weird... it was almost like she was unsure of herself. She said stuff that I would've said in high school (about how much I suck), which was a side of her I've never seen. Anyway... I described her cake as "sunset over Tahiti"... and everyone laughed.
Then we had to actually frost a cake. I've never done this before... I've frosted cakes in pans before, but I've never frosted a round cake (especially not with 10 other people watching). But, after frosting the sides, I said "Can you believe this is my first time frosting a cake?" and Josh was, again, (mildly) impressed.
Then the being impressed stopped... as we decorated the cakes. Good Lord is the piping tough! Holy crap... how can people write with frosting? Isn't that against the natural laws of physics and gravity (hint: no)? Well I sucked the big one at the actual decoration of the cakes... probably because I was trying to do it left handed (as that's what felt natural) and I write right handed. Why didn't I switch hands, you ask? Were you there to tell me that? NO! You were sitting at your computer, reading a stupid blog. Oh... wait... that's now. Whoops >shrugs<.
To kind of digress... we have "mystery shoppers" who come into Coldstone and order something and give us a score, right? Ok... so we recently had a mystery shopper and Andrea learned our score was lower than we'd like. She went nuts. Nuts! After we had finished all the cake stuff, the Coldstone dude who was there from corperate (his name was Randy... you don't need to know this for the test) showed us the mystery shopper's report. Basically, we got marked down on sanitation for crappy reasons (there were sticky tables on a Saturday night... that's a surprise >shakes head<)... and it was easy for me to shrug the report off because it was stupid. But Andrea was still going nuts. Nuts!
Well... being the good bitch that I am, I asked if she wanted me to get her some coffee or a bagel or something. There was a Starbucks nearby (big surprise), so we headed over there to (basically) let her vent. I'm not a big Starbucks person... so I tried the caramel apple cider. It came highly recommended by Amy, who said it tasted like a liquid caramel apple. And, guess what... it did! Too bad I spilled some on my shirt, like a big loser-pants. A big loser-shirt.... right.
The drive back from Arlington Heights took FOREVER! I must've left Arlington Heights around 5 or 5:30... and I didn't get back to my apartment until after 7. Yeah... nothing like "working" for eleven and a half hours on a day that I'm supposed to be celebrating. Oh well... next year.
I did have a nice chat with my parents. I'm going up to Wisconsin for my grandma's 90th birthday a week from this Saturday. I think my whole family will be there... plus some cousins and other miscellanious people. We'll see.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone... and may Saint Patrick chase the snakes out of your own personal Emerald Isle.
"Because I'm Irish" and other stupid reasons
Yes... St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow (or today if I post this later)... and, yes, I think it's a great holiday because I'm Irish... but I'm sick of people bastardizing this holiday. I mean... if you need an excuse to get drunk, how about trying "today is Wednesday" or something else equally lame. It's nice to celebrate Irish traditions and history (and Susan's Birthday! Yay!)... and, yes, beer is part of Irish history and tradition... but, come on... who believes that everyone is really celebrating Ireland on St. Patrick's Day? No no... this is just another stupid excuse for people to get drunk, honestly. And I think this one hurts, personally, the most... as it would be like people just using an American holiday, like July 4th, to get drunk. Wait... >scratches chin<
And we move on. Basically, I had someone ask me for St. Patty's day off with the reason stated as, I quote: "Because I'm Irish." Well... shit... look at my face! Look at my HUGE head! I guess I get the day off too! NO! F--king work! Shut your mouth and go to work, you stupid whore!
And we move on. I had a good Improv class tonight. My instructor is good... she's good... and class went well. Tim and I did a scene were I wanted him to buy me a diamond necklace... and I surprisingly got him to do it for me REALLY quickly. We clicked... it was good.
I have to wake up early tomorrow (read: today) to go learn how to make f--king ice cream cakes. G'night... and Happy St. Patrick's Day :) (don't just get drunk, you stupid consumer whores).
Yes... St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow (or today if I post this later)... and, yes, I think it's a great holiday because I'm Irish... but I'm sick of people bastardizing this holiday. I mean... if you need an excuse to get drunk, how about trying "today is Wednesday" or something else equally lame. It's nice to celebrate Irish traditions and history (and Susan's Birthday! Yay!)... and, yes, beer is part of Irish history and tradition... but, come on... who believes that everyone is really celebrating Ireland on St. Patrick's Day? No no... this is just another stupid excuse for people to get drunk, honestly. And I think this one hurts, personally, the most... as it would be like people just using an American holiday, like July 4th, to get drunk. Wait... >scratches chin<
And we move on. Basically, I had someone ask me for St. Patty's day off with the reason stated as, I quote: "Because I'm Irish." Well... shit... look at my face! Look at my HUGE head! I guess I get the day off too! NO! F--king work! Shut your mouth and go to work, you stupid whore!
And we move on. I had a good Improv class tonight. My instructor is good... she's good... and class went well. Tim and I did a scene were I wanted him to buy me a diamond necklace... and I surprisingly got him to do it for me REALLY quickly. We clicked... it was good.
I have to wake up early tomorrow (read: today) to go learn how to make f--king ice cream cakes. G'night... and Happy St. Patrick's Day :) (don't just get drunk, you stupid consumer whores).
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
THAT is snow!
What the crap? It's currently snowing outside... there's at least an inch or two on my car (no accumulation on the streets, though). I thought the snow was over... how weird is this? Is anyone else getting snow? Anyone? Vegas? No... it's not snowing anywhere else on the planet besides right here.
Well... this should make things interesting at work. My guess is that no one (read: only psychopaths) will want ice cream on a day where we went from spring-like weather and almost 40 degrees yesterday (I think it was raining at one point) to snow.
Aww... all the birds are totally confused >pout<. They're like "So... do we fly back south or what?" Stupid wildlife.
In other news, I learned that my boy Adam (from SC and work) has a bit of a crush on Elizabeth >sigh<. I told him to go for it... but that I had already tried and it didn't go so well. Well... Adam and I are basically the same guy... same body type, same sense of humor... he's more laid back whilst I'm more anal... but we're roughly the same dude. Good luck to him.
In still other news, Emily (the High School chick from work) has a MAJOR crush on me. This is especially weird for me, as she apparently has a new boyfriend. >shakes head< I never thought I'd be old enough to think that women were too young for me (THAT and the pedaphilia). >sigh< The worst part is that she reminds me of Amie.
Women are ridiculous... remember that, men.
What the crap? It's currently snowing outside... there's at least an inch or two on my car (no accumulation on the streets, though). I thought the snow was over... how weird is this? Is anyone else getting snow? Anyone? Vegas? No... it's not snowing anywhere else on the planet besides right here.
Well... this should make things interesting at work. My guess is that no one (read: only psychopaths) will want ice cream on a day where we went from spring-like weather and almost 40 degrees yesterday (I think it was raining at one point) to snow.
Aww... all the birds are totally confused >pout<. They're like "So... do we fly back south or what?" Stupid wildlife.
In other news, I learned that my boy Adam (from SC and work) has a bit of a crush on Elizabeth >sigh<. I told him to go for it... but that I had already tried and it didn't go so well. Well... Adam and I are basically the same guy... same body type, same sense of humor... he's more laid back whilst I'm more anal... but we're roughly the same dude. Good luck to him.
In still other news, Emily (the High School chick from work) has a MAJOR crush on me. This is especially weird for me, as she apparently has a new boyfriend. >shakes head< I never thought I'd be old enough to think that women were too young for me (THAT and the pedaphilia). >sigh< The worst part is that she reminds me of Amie.
Women are ridiculous... remember that, men.
My anger is released in weird ways
Ever see that "House of Beer" Sam Adams commercial? Where the chick's talking about how there's 170 different kinds of beer and she'll come back when they're ready... but before she can go, the dude's all "I'll have a Sam Adams" and she's all impressed?
Well... if you haven't seen it, I just explained the whole commercial.
There are ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY different kinds of beer from ALL OVER THE WORLD, and this chick is impressed that the dude's buying a crappy domestic? A crap crap crappy domestic. Only in a commercial, would this impress an attractive blonde. And I'd like to ask our resident attractive blonde, Chelsea, if she would be impressed by some dude buying a domestic beer. If so, you should see me buy domestic beer.
Ever see that "House of Beer" Sam Adams commercial? Where the chick's talking about how there's 170 different kinds of beer and she'll come back when they're ready... but before she can go, the dude's all "I'll have a Sam Adams" and she's all impressed?
Well... if you haven't seen it, I just explained the whole commercial.
There are ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY different kinds of beer from ALL OVER THE WORLD, and this chick is impressed that the dude's buying a crappy domestic? A crap crap crappy domestic. Only in a commercial, would this impress an attractive blonde. And I'd like to ask our resident attractive blonde, Chelsea, if she would be impressed by some dude buying a domestic beer. If so, you should see me buy domestic beer.
Monday, March 15, 2004
A "kick in the nuts"
Yeah... that's what my writing instructor said about reading our "blackout" scenes. He called it a kick in the nuts... and it was. Six of us showed up tonight (all men)... and we all read our 10 blackouts... and it was literally a kick in the nuts. Nothing was funny... nothing was good... nothing. We all felt bad for each other... we were all humbled... it hurt. It hurt.
Yeah... that's what my writing instructor said about reading our "blackout" scenes. He called it a kick in the nuts... and it was. Six of us showed up tonight (all men)... and we all read our 10 blackouts... and it was literally a kick in the nuts. Nothing was funny... nothing was good... nothing. We all felt bad for each other... we were all humbled... it hurt. It hurt.
NCAA Tournament... what does the Crazy One think?
New names? I wonder where they're playing? (That's sarcasm): Yeah... Wow... Um... I'm excited about the East Rutherford region. That sounds so lame. >sigh< At least the Phoenix region sounds cool?
Kentucky as the number one #1: Kentucky (apparently) really came on at the end of the season... as they are the highest rated team in the tourney. I find this odd, as I've got Georgia Tech or Gonzaga giving them a rough time in that St. Louis region. I'm not even sure Kentucky is going to get out of their own region, but I guess they're the best team in the country? >shrug<
Wisconsin... underrated!: Wisconsin just won the Big Ten tourney BIG TIME over Illinois, and Illinois is a 5 seed and Wisconsin a 6. What's up with that? Well... Wisconsin had the selection committee make it up to them in that Wisconsin's playing the first two games in Milwaukee. Speaking of which...
'Home' games: Like I mentioned, Wisconsin basically has a couple home games in that "East Rutherford" region. Also lookout for Cincinnati in Columbus, Duke in Raleigh, Air Force and BYU in Denver, and watch out (really) for Kansas who is playing in Kansas City and then would go to St. Louis if they keep winning. Yes... I understand that both those cities are in Missouri, but they're basically the same state (take THAT Kansas!).
Western Michigan... congrats to Nate!: Western's in the big dance as MAC Champs. And, surprisingly enough, I have them beating Vanderbilt. I don't think Vanderbilt is all that good... and I think Western will be more focused in this game than they've ever been before. And, besides, I'm going to be rooting for Western... so they've got a shot.
Watch out for #6s: Like I mentioned before, Wisconsin is a #6 and they've just come off of creaming Illinois in the Big Ten Tourney AND they're basically playing two home games. Watch out for them to make some noise in the dance. ALSO watch out for UNC, the #6 seed in Atlanta. North Carolina may very well be playing against Duke for the chance to be in the Final Four.
Watch out for #3s: I honestly think the best team in the East Rutherford region is Pitt, the #3 seed. And they might not even beat Wisconsin (in Wisconsin), which would be kind of a shame... because they might be the best team in the country. Also watch out for Georgia Tech, the #3 in the St. Louis region. I think they have a chance of getting out of St. Louis and to the Final Four.
Big Snubs... Michigan and Notre Dame: Yeah... only three teams made it into the tourney from the Big Ten, this year. If there were four teams, Michigan would be the fourth. If they had beaten Illinois in the Big Ten tourney... they probably could've made it into the dance (maybe). And Notre Dame had a really good season this year (for Notre Dame). They beat UConn, Syracuse, and played Pitt and Kentucky well... and all those teams are in the tournament.
My Final Four: Kentucky, Pitt (if they get past Wisconsin), Duke, and UConn (with Okafor healthy... not without him).
New names? I wonder where they're playing? (That's sarcasm): Yeah... Wow... Um... I'm excited about the East Rutherford region. That sounds so lame. >sigh< At least the Phoenix region sounds cool?
Kentucky as the number one #1: Kentucky (apparently) really came on at the end of the season... as they are the highest rated team in the tourney. I find this odd, as I've got Georgia Tech or Gonzaga giving them a rough time in that St. Louis region. I'm not even sure Kentucky is going to get out of their own region, but I guess they're the best team in the country? >shrug<
Wisconsin... underrated!: Wisconsin just won the Big Ten tourney BIG TIME over Illinois, and Illinois is a 5 seed and Wisconsin a 6. What's up with that? Well... Wisconsin had the selection committee make it up to them in that Wisconsin's playing the first two games in Milwaukee. Speaking of which...
'Home' games: Like I mentioned, Wisconsin basically has a couple home games in that "East Rutherford" region. Also lookout for Cincinnati in Columbus, Duke in Raleigh, Air Force and BYU in Denver, and watch out (really) for Kansas who is playing in Kansas City and then would go to St. Louis if they keep winning. Yes... I understand that both those cities are in Missouri, but they're basically the same state (take THAT Kansas!).
Western Michigan... congrats to Nate!: Western's in the big dance as MAC Champs. And, surprisingly enough, I have them beating Vanderbilt. I don't think Vanderbilt is all that good... and I think Western will be more focused in this game than they've ever been before. And, besides, I'm going to be rooting for Western... so they've got a shot.
Watch out for #6s: Like I mentioned before, Wisconsin is a #6 and they've just come off of creaming Illinois in the Big Ten Tourney AND they're basically playing two home games. Watch out for them to make some noise in the dance. ALSO watch out for UNC, the #6 seed in Atlanta. North Carolina may very well be playing against Duke for the chance to be in the Final Four.
Watch out for #3s: I honestly think the best team in the East Rutherford region is Pitt, the #3 seed. And they might not even beat Wisconsin (in Wisconsin), which would be kind of a shame... because they might be the best team in the country. Also watch out for Georgia Tech, the #3 in the St. Louis region. I think they have a chance of getting out of St. Louis and to the Final Four.
Big Snubs... Michigan and Notre Dame: Yeah... only three teams made it into the tourney from the Big Ten, this year. If there were four teams, Michigan would be the fourth. If they had beaten Illinois in the Big Ten tourney... they probably could've made it into the dance (maybe). And Notre Dame had a really good season this year (for Notre Dame). They beat UConn, Syracuse, and played Pitt and Kentucky well... and all those teams are in the tournament.
My Final Four: Kentucky, Pitt (if they get past Wisconsin), Duke, and UConn (with Okafor healthy... not without him).
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Too bad the Mighty Wind is the only thing blowing tonight
I finally saw "A Might Wind" tonight. It was clever... but I found myself watching it more to see how they crafted the improv of the movie. Could I tell what was written? Not really. Could I tell what was the actor's choice? Sometime, yeah actually. Could I tell what was ad libbed on the particular take? Sometimes I could, yeah. It was more interesting than funny... and I hope I haven't ruined those movies for myself (BTW... I watch "Curb Your Enthusiasm" the same way).
And I see that Comedy Central is bringing back Banzai! I remember watching Banzai movie Fridays on some channel... and I was always dead on the stupid stunts and games. I'm an excellent guesser. It's a funny show.
In addition to all the things I said I would have if I was rich... I would have the complete Tom Hanks DVD collection. (I'm actually working on it... but that bastard keeps making movies) Ooo... and I'd have Chelsea Sadler living in my pool house. Or, she'd be my nurse... or my french maid. Or my pizza delivery... um... girl. Or my cabana girl. Or my pool girl. Or my plumber. Any of these possibilities for a porno plot will be what will happen, just so everyone knows.
(What a hottie)
Anyway... now that I've got myself worked up... I'm going to bed. I've been tired for about half a week... Abby was worried (when she called tonight... asking if I wanted to hang out at some Irish punk band show thing [but I said I was too tired, which is true]) that I might have mono or something. I doubt it. I'm just really tired... all the time.
Plus... Emily from work just called at 11. She was wondering if she could call in sick tomorrow. I tried not to sigh too loudly and I rolled my eyes. How much does that drive me nuts? Just f--king show up for work... like it's your job. Fun... and I'm out!
I finally saw "A Might Wind" tonight. It was clever... but I found myself watching it more to see how they crafted the improv of the movie. Could I tell what was written? Not really. Could I tell what was the actor's choice? Sometime, yeah actually. Could I tell what was ad libbed on the particular take? Sometimes I could, yeah. It was more interesting than funny... and I hope I haven't ruined those movies for myself (BTW... I watch "Curb Your Enthusiasm" the same way).
And I see that Comedy Central is bringing back Banzai! I remember watching Banzai movie Fridays on some channel... and I was always dead on the stupid stunts and games. I'm an excellent guesser. It's a funny show.
In addition to all the things I said I would have if I was rich... I would have the complete Tom Hanks DVD collection. (I'm actually working on it... but that bastard keeps making movies) Ooo... and I'd have Chelsea Sadler living in my pool house. Or, she'd be my nurse... or my french maid. Or my pizza delivery... um... girl. Or my cabana girl. Or my pool girl. Or my plumber. Any of these possibilities for a porno plot will be what will happen, just so everyone knows.
(What a hottie)
Anyway... now that I've got myself worked up... I'm going to bed. I've been tired for about half a week... Abby was worried (when she called tonight... asking if I wanted to hang out at some Irish punk band show thing [but I said I was too tired, which is true]) that I might have mono or something. I doubt it. I'm just really tired... all the time.
Plus... Emily from work just called at 11. She was wondering if she could call in sick tomorrow. I tried not to sigh too loudly and I rolled my eyes. How much does that drive me nuts? Just f--king show up for work... like it's your job. Fun... and I'm out!
I Keep Adding Stuff!!!
Well... my newest addition to the blog is a Site Meter. It's located at the very bottom of my blog. I think that I'll give the 100th person something special (which I haven't figured out yet). It probably won't be as special as the 100th comment... but it'll still be from me (which will make it awesome!).
Last night I was watching Army of Darkness, one of those cult classic/weird films... and I finally got one of the references. Before Ash can pick up the Necronomicon, he has to say "magic words." Those magic words are: Klaatu Barada Nikto. What's the significance? Well... Klaatu Barada Nikto are the words that Helen is supposed to tell Gort in the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Hooray for that!
Saturday's always a day to catch up. My day actually started with a call from Sarah... who was in Chicago at the airport. [Sorry I wasn't more awake... I had set my alarm for 10 and instead of hitting snooze (like I thought I did) I turned it off. So you actually saved me from sleeping most of the afternoon.] I also had Ken walk me through the site meter setup... AND caught up with Miss Amber Buck for a bit.
I'm looking forward to trying to finish my writing assignment (due Monday) tonight. I need to write 10 'blackouts' and one 'extended blackout'. I've got one 'runner' written already (which is a set of three blackouts) and a couple other blackouts... I'm roughly halfway done. >sigh< but I'm really tired. I need a nap.
Well... my newest addition to the blog is a Site Meter. It's located at the very bottom of my blog. I think that I'll give the 100th person something special (which I haven't figured out yet). It probably won't be as special as the 100th comment... but it'll still be from me (which will make it awesome!).
Last night I was watching Army of Darkness, one of those cult classic/weird films... and I finally got one of the references. Before Ash can pick up the Necronomicon, he has to say "magic words." Those magic words are: Klaatu Barada Nikto. What's the significance? Well... Klaatu Barada Nikto are the words that Helen is supposed to tell Gort in the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Hooray for that!
Saturday's always a day to catch up. My day actually started with a call from Sarah... who was in Chicago at the airport. [Sorry I wasn't more awake... I had set my alarm for 10 and instead of hitting snooze (like I thought I did) I turned it off. So you actually saved me from sleeping most of the afternoon.] I also had Ken walk me through the site meter setup... AND caught up with Miss Amber Buck for a bit.
I'm looking forward to trying to finish my writing assignment (due Monday) tonight. I need to write 10 'blackouts' and one 'extended blackout'. I've got one 'runner' written already (which is a set of three blackouts) and a couple other blackouts... I'm roughly halfway done. >sigh< but I'm really tired. I need a nap.
OK.... I was just watching Animal Planet... and there's a horned lizard that squirts blood out of it's eye to ward off preditors. Yeah... they had video of the blood squirting out of its eye... over and over again. The voiceover said that the lizard can repeat this "trick" 20 times. It... was... gross. GROSS!!! >puke<
Friday, March 12, 2004
If I was rich
Ken talked a little about what he would do if he was rich... so here's a short (yeah... right) list of what I would do if I was rich :)
House - I want to build my own house... somewhere in a rural area. I want a large plot of land... maybe with my own little lake (like Brandon's house). Yeah, I would want a pool too, but, since I'm rich... I'm thinking an indoor pool with hot tub. I would also want a pool house/writing house a la Kenneth Branagh in "How to Kill You Neighbor's Dog". And I wouldn't mind a tennis court or two... and a big field to teach my kids (if I have kids) how to play football and soccer. I also want a huge master bathroom... with a jaccuzi and a skylight... and I want it to face the east (so I can see the early moonrise). I also want a deck that faces west (to watch the sunset). And I want a BIG kitchen... with the range on an island with a sink and a large space to make food and cut stuff. And I want the oven to be on a wall... surrounded by cabinets... I want it basically to look like a cooking show kitchen. Ooo! And I want secret rooms... and passages. Just because, ever since I saw the movie "Clue" when I was younger, I've always wanted secret passages and rooms. Yeah... I've basically spent a lot of time thinking about my house when I get older.
Cars - I'd keep my Grand Am because I love it so... but I'd have a really crappy manual transmission car (so I could learn how) and then I'd buy a super fly manual sports car (I've always wanted a Dodge Viper). And I wouldn't mind something for hauling stuff... like a truck or something.
Entourage - I think I'm going to hire people who fancy themselves "struggling" actors. I already know TONS of them. So I'd hire them to just do their thing... and maybe act in stuff that I write, or in stuff with me. Plus... I'd buy Ken out of the Air Force... and he'd live on my compound... and we'd shoot stuff. Maybe even actually shoot stuff... I wouldn't mind a paintball course in the woods near my house (did I mention that I wanted woods near my house? Well... I do).
Clothes - Yeah... I guess I would look a lot like me still. But I promised Abby that I would let her design me suits if I'm ever rich or famous. We've got some pretty sweet ideas for a gold suit with black and white as the other colors.... by "we" I mean "she"... but it's cool. So I would let Abby make me some stuff... and I'd have a lot more suits (because suits are just so damn cool). I think I'd look good in a pinstripped suit.
"Rocks" - I don't mind necklaces... I guess they're "neck chains" if you're a guy... but I don't mind them. I wouldn't mind something Irish or Celtic or Catholic around my neck. I don't really do rings though... or watches. I like ties... and ugly Hawaiian shirts. I think I would start a new trend with ugly, bright Hawaiian shirts and straight, unugly ties. (remember when I did it @ Euphonics practice? There are pictures!)
Other Stuff - I'm a geek... so I would want a couple sweet desktop computers and a few laptops... and I would set up a wireless network in my house and be really REALLY nerdy. I would have a room that was like a movie theatre, so I could watch movies in a sweet room (and have friends over, of course). I'd have a room just for (again, dorky) video games... as I plan on still doing that when I'm older. And I wouldn't mind a comfortable room for watching sports in groups... with a big leather wrap-around couch... and a coffee table (I LOVE coffee tables!).
Ken talked a little about what he would do if he was rich... so here's a short (yeah... right) list of what I would do if I was rich :)
House - I want to build my own house... somewhere in a rural area. I want a large plot of land... maybe with my own little lake (like Brandon's house). Yeah, I would want a pool too, but, since I'm rich... I'm thinking an indoor pool with hot tub. I would also want a pool house/writing house a la Kenneth Branagh in "How to Kill You Neighbor's Dog". And I wouldn't mind a tennis court or two... and a big field to teach my kids (if I have kids) how to play football and soccer. I also want a huge master bathroom... with a jaccuzi and a skylight... and I want it to face the east (so I can see the early moonrise). I also want a deck that faces west (to watch the sunset). And I want a BIG kitchen... with the range on an island with a sink and a large space to make food and cut stuff. And I want the oven to be on a wall... surrounded by cabinets... I want it basically to look like a cooking show kitchen. Ooo! And I want secret rooms... and passages. Just because, ever since I saw the movie "Clue" when I was younger, I've always wanted secret passages and rooms. Yeah... I've basically spent a lot of time thinking about my house when I get older.
Cars - I'd keep my Grand Am because I love it so... but I'd have a really crappy manual transmission car (so I could learn how) and then I'd buy a super fly manual sports car (I've always wanted a Dodge Viper). And I wouldn't mind something for hauling stuff... like a truck or something.
Entourage - I think I'm going to hire people who fancy themselves "struggling" actors. I already know TONS of them. So I'd hire them to just do their thing... and maybe act in stuff that I write, or in stuff with me. Plus... I'd buy Ken out of the Air Force... and he'd live on my compound... and we'd shoot stuff. Maybe even actually shoot stuff... I wouldn't mind a paintball course in the woods near my house (did I mention that I wanted woods near my house? Well... I do).
Clothes - Yeah... I guess I would look a lot like me still. But I promised Abby that I would let her design me suits if I'm ever rich or famous. We've got some pretty sweet ideas for a gold suit with black and white as the other colors.... by "we" I mean "she"... but it's cool. So I would let Abby make me some stuff... and I'd have a lot more suits (because suits are just so damn cool). I think I'd look good in a pinstripped suit.
"Rocks" - I don't mind necklaces... I guess they're "neck chains" if you're a guy... but I don't mind them. I wouldn't mind something Irish or Celtic or Catholic around my neck. I don't really do rings though... or watches. I like ties... and ugly Hawaiian shirts. I think I would start a new trend with ugly, bright Hawaiian shirts and straight, unugly ties. (remember when I did it @ Euphonics practice? There are pictures!)
Other Stuff - I'm a geek... so I would want a couple sweet desktop computers and a few laptops... and I would set up a wireless network in my house and be really REALLY nerdy. I would have a room that was like a movie theatre, so I could watch movies in a sweet room (and have friends over, of course). I'd have a room just for (again, dorky) video games... as I plan on still doing that when I'm older. And I wouldn't mind a comfortable room for watching sports in groups... with a big leather wrap-around couch... and a coffee table (I LOVE coffee tables!).
Wow... didn't know I offended the "great" Kevin Smith >sticks out tongue<
Wow... ok... sorry to offend all the Kevin Smith fans... but let's look at something, shall we? Let's look at who is in this movie:
Male Lead - "Ollie Trinke" = Ben Affleck
Female Lead - "Maya" = Liv Tyler
Who I can only assume to be another important female role - "Gertrude Steiney' = Jennifer Lopez
Please... PLEASE don't try to tell me that you're excited about a cast that includes those three people. Who would make a better male lead? How about PR Exec #1 or #2 from the same movie? Who would make a better female lead? How about Smith's wife (who is also in this movie)?
Granted... one of the casting directors (Avy Kaufman) was responsible for the casting of "Scotland, Pa" among other good movies... so Avy cannot be shot. But the other person, Diane Heery, probably can be shot.
And, far be it from me to disrespect Kevin Smith. I LOVE his movies... but, let's face it, 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' wasn't good. I would even go so far as to call it "bad". I only liked it (mildly) because it was a Star Wars spoof and because it contained interesting characters... but interesting characters that were interesting LONG before that movie. If you were to take "Jay and Silent Bob" by itself... you wouldn't find it interesting... the characters are weak and rely on you knowing them from other Kevin Smith films AND the plot of "Jay and Silent Bob" is strained.
So... fine... if you want to blindly head to a theatre and see a Kevin Smith film... go for it. "Jersey Girl" is the one I'm going to skip, unless I can see it for free (by going to the Bohme... oh... wait... I'm too old and useless to get in free. Maybe it'll be on HBO sometime before I move).
GOD... you're all so cute! Can I keep you?
Wow... ok... sorry to offend all the Kevin Smith fans... but let's look at something, shall we? Let's look at who is in this movie:
Male Lead - "Ollie Trinke" = Ben Affleck
Female Lead - "Maya" = Liv Tyler
Who I can only assume to be another important female role - "Gertrude Steiney' = Jennifer Lopez
Please... PLEASE don't try to tell me that you're excited about a cast that includes those three people. Who would make a better male lead? How about PR Exec #1 or #2 from the same movie? Who would make a better female lead? How about Smith's wife (who is also in this movie)?
Granted... one of the casting directors (Avy Kaufman) was responsible for the casting of "Scotland, Pa" among other good movies... so Avy cannot be shot. But the other person, Diane Heery, probably can be shot.
And, far be it from me to disrespect Kevin Smith. I LOVE his movies... but, let's face it, 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' wasn't good. I would even go so far as to call it "bad". I only liked it (mildly) because it was a Star Wars spoof and because it contained interesting characters... but interesting characters that were interesting LONG before that movie. If you were to take "Jay and Silent Bob" by itself... you wouldn't find it interesting... the characters are weak and rely on you knowing them from other Kevin Smith films AND the plot of "Jay and Silent Bob" is strained.
So... fine... if you want to blindly head to a theatre and see a Kevin Smith film... go for it. "Jersey Girl" is the one I'm going to skip, unless I can see it for free (by going to the Bohme... oh... wait... I'm too old and useless to get in free. Maybe it'll be on HBO sometime before I move).
GOD... you're all so cute! Can I keep you?
Bertuzzi out for rest of season/playoffs
Now to bore people who don't care about sports... CrazyJohn speaks out on the Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incident. For those of you in a cave (or who have better things to do than watch sports all day), let me quickly recap: Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi punched Colorado's Steve Moore from behind in retaliation for a hit Moore put on Markus Naslund the last time the two teams played each other. But it wasn't just a punch... Bertuzzi's punch seemed to knock Moore unconscious as he limply fell to the ice. But it wasn't just a knock out... Bertuzzi took Moore's head (now limp from the punch) and slammed it into the ice [as he fell on Moore]. And, apparently this wasn't even enough... as Bertuzzi continued to strike Moore in the head after they both landed on the ice. What I just described was not (I repeat... WAS NOT) biased in any way... a quick viewing of the incident will clearly show that my explanation are the actual events as they happened.
Having said all that... it should be noted that Mr. Steve Moore plays for the Colorado Avalanche... a team that I hate more than any other team in professional sports currently (with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [although they just got rid of Keyshawn] and the New York Yankees running second and third). So I might be biased against Colorado... if anything.
But here is what happened to Mr. Steve Moore: He has a broken vertebrae in his neck. He isn't paralyzed... but it will be a while before he's playing hockey again, certainly. Bertuzzi commented on the incident last night... saying he "never meant to hurt" Steve Moore. Do you remember how I described the incident? Is there any possible way that Todd Bertuzzi could be telling the truth by saying he never meant to hurt Moore? No... no there's not. He lied... he DID mean to injure Moore. Maybe he's sorry that he broke Moore's neck... but he MEANT to hurt him.
Bertuzzi has been suspended for the rest of the regular season AND the entire post season. Plus he has to petition to be reinstated into the NHL next season. Is this fair? Um... I suppose so, yes. But I do feel (as Tony Kornheiser feels) that Bertuzzi should have to be out as long as Moore's out. That seems fair... but it won't happen. It might even be dangerous to set a precedent that suspensions will be "an eye for an eye." Think about it... you could have your worst player instigating a fight with the other team's best player and then have your guy fake an injury. Then the good player has to sit out... and you could keep saying "oh... our guy's not ready yet". Granted, this seems to be a special circumstance... but it's important to set a structured rule about the punishment for this kind of "crime". Let's hope the time off will make Bertuzzi less of a bitch.
P.S. I saw a trailer for "Jersey Girl" which is a movie with Ben Afflack and Liv Tyler. Rest assured, the acting in this movie will be Oscar caliber. Right. What a pile of shit... whoever cast this movie should be shot.
P.P.S. I see that John Lynch is going to be released by Tampa Bay. Maybe SOMEONE shouldn't have rooted for Tampa in the Super Bowl last year (I'm not naming names... but her name is "Heartless Traitor"). Well... crap... if he doesn't end up in Indy (which is a possibility), I wouldn't mind him on the Packers. With Sharper and Lynch... we'd have a pretty sweet secondary. Too bad we can't afford it. Oh well... maybe the windy city can.
Now to bore people who don't care about sports... CrazyJohn speaks out on the Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incident. For those of you in a cave (or who have better things to do than watch sports all day), let me quickly recap: Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi punched Colorado's Steve Moore from behind in retaliation for a hit Moore put on Markus Naslund the last time the two teams played each other. But it wasn't just a punch... Bertuzzi's punch seemed to knock Moore unconscious as he limply fell to the ice. But it wasn't just a knock out... Bertuzzi took Moore's head (now limp from the punch) and slammed it into the ice [as he fell on Moore]. And, apparently this wasn't even enough... as Bertuzzi continued to strike Moore in the head after they both landed on the ice. What I just described was not (I repeat... WAS NOT) biased in any way... a quick viewing of the incident will clearly show that my explanation are the actual events as they happened.
Having said all that... it should be noted that Mr. Steve Moore plays for the Colorado Avalanche... a team that I hate more than any other team in professional sports currently (with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [although they just got rid of Keyshawn] and the New York Yankees running second and third). So I might be biased against Colorado... if anything.
But here is what happened to Mr. Steve Moore: He has a broken vertebrae in his neck. He isn't paralyzed... but it will be a while before he's playing hockey again, certainly. Bertuzzi commented on the incident last night... saying he "never meant to hurt" Steve Moore. Do you remember how I described the incident? Is there any possible way that Todd Bertuzzi could be telling the truth by saying he never meant to hurt Moore? No... no there's not. He lied... he DID mean to injure Moore. Maybe he's sorry that he broke Moore's neck... but he MEANT to hurt him.
Bertuzzi has been suspended for the rest of the regular season AND the entire post season. Plus he has to petition to be reinstated into the NHL next season. Is this fair? Um... I suppose so, yes. But I do feel (as Tony Kornheiser feels) that Bertuzzi should have to be out as long as Moore's out. That seems fair... but it won't happen. It might even be dangerous to set a precedent that suspensions will be "an eye for an eye." Think about it... you could have your worst player instigating a fight with the other team's best player and then have your guy fake an injury. Then the good player has to sit out... and you could keep saying "oh... our guy's not ready yet". Granted, this seems to be a special circumstance... but it's important to set a structured rule about the punishment for this kind of "crime". Let's hope the time off will make Bertuzzi less of a bitch.
P.S. I saw a trailer for "Jersey Girl" which is a movie with Ben Afflack and Liv Tyler. Rest assured, the acting in this movie will be Oscar caliber. Right. What a pile of shit... whoever cast this movie should be shot.
P.P.S. I see that John Lynch is going to be released by Tampa Bay. Maybe SOMEONE shouldn't have rooted for Tampa in the Super Bowl last year (I'm not naming names... but her name is "Heartless Traitor"). Well... crap... if he doesn't end up in Indy (which is a possibility), I wouldn't mind him on the Packers. With Sharper and Lynch... we'd have a pretty sweet secondary. Too bad we can't afford it. Oh well... maybe the windy city can.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
HAPPY 3-11!!!
March 11th is a fun day, because it's the day of my band. Do the Beatles have a day? Yes... yes they do... but I don't know it, because they are a poop band. take THAT :)
Kidding aside, 311 always does something special for their fans on March 11th. On one of the DVDs I have (yeah... I have a DVD, shut up!) they spent most of March 11 in New Orleans signing autographs before a concert that night. Would your Metallicas or your Simple Plans or other bands do that? No... because no one would want their autograph. But, even if they did want autographs... I can't imagine a lot of "big" bands sitting down for an entire afternoon and signing autographs and spending actual time with the fans.
I just checked the website... and 311 will play for 3 Hours and 11 Minutes tonight. Yeah... I would totally watch a 3 hour concert if it was them... and I'd be totally sweaty and gross when it was done, because they make me dance and jump and sing and be happy. (How many things can I say that about?)
March 11th is a fun day, because it's the day of my band. Do the Beatles have a day? Yes... yes they do... but I don't know it, because they are a poop band. take THAT :)
Kidding aside, 311 always does something special for their fans on March 11th. On one of the DVDs I have (yeah... I have a DVD, shut up!) they spent most of March 11 in New Orleans signing autographs before a concert that night. Would your Metallicas or your Simple Plans or other bands do that? No... because no one would want their autograph. But, even if they did want autographs... I can't imagine a lot of "big" bands sitting down for an entire afternoon and signing autographs and spending actual time with the fans.
I just checked the website... and 311 will play for 3 Hours and 11 Minutes tonight. Yeah... I would totally watch a 3 hour concert if it was them... and I'd be totally sweaty and gross when it was done, because they make me dance and jump and sing and be happy. (How many things can I say that about?)
"You're gonna mess it up!", "YOU're gonna mess it up!", "But it's my CD >CRASH/CRACKLE<"
Tuesday morning when I was making Ice cream all day (too bad you weren't here, Ken... I would've given you some ice cream. I could've given you ice cream right out of the machine... it tastes different, it's all smooth and not so frozen.)... anyway, yeah, Tuesday when I was making ice cream, I was playing the Euphonics CD in the store. It was before the store was open... and I could listen to whatever I want... really really loudly. Isn't that neat? It's like being free to do whatever you want... like being in America. Um... right. So back to my story, I was playing the Euphonics CD in the store and Andrea came in to do some work. I left the CD on until it finished, and then I turned on the radio... I didn't really want to bother Andrea, and I didn't know if she was cool with the CD. And, about two minutes after I turned the radio on, Andrea came into the back and said "Is this your CD?" and I was all "no" and she was all "Oh... would you mind putting it back on? I was waiting for 'Let it be'." I was taken aback... I mean... she really liked it. And when Seth came in, she showed him the back of the CD and Seth was all "John, you're on this?" and I said "Yeah... I'm doing the >ticka ticka tiss< right now." Cool, huh? Maybe I'll even be able to play the CD while the store is open sometimes, as it's no more or less offensive than anything else we play in the store.
So... today I went into the store early to >sigh< do inventory. My job is fantastically fun. And I trained Charise on making ice cream, and I helped put away our Sysco (inventory) order... and all that loot took until about 4:30. When I got back to my place, I was ready for a night of nothing... I'm tired (still). And, at nine I got a call from Coldstone (Greg, actually... the store didn't call me, it doesn't know my number). They only had two people working and, apparently, a line out the door... and they needed someone to just come in and restock things... so would I make some calls? Um... sure... keep in mind, it's 9 PM and the store closes at 10... so the people I call need to be able to get there in less than 15 minutes to be any help for the rest of the night. That means Moody students, me, or Andrea. Moody's TWO WEEK spring break starts Friday, so a lot of the students are already gone... so I called Jonathan (who's still around)... and his line was busy. Then I called Andrea and told her what was up... but she really wasn't "in a place where she could do anything about it". So I had to get out of my pjs (yeah... it was only nine, but I was already pretty much ready for bed) and into my Coldstone stuff... and then walked to work to help out. Stupid job.
Then... after I had helped for a little over an hour, I left and it was raining out. But not a cool rain... a crappy just-barely-raining-enough-to-get-into-your-eye kind of rain.
And that's really all I've got for now. I'm tired, still... and I'm looking to see my sis in KZoo next week, hopefully Thursday/Friday. We'll see. I never seem to see Andrea long enough to ask her for time off (or I feel weird asking for time off... or something).
But I've got friends coming this weekend... so I'm good. I even stole them an ice cream cake (which I can't eat... but they can!) for when they come. I'm thoughtful! HOORAY!
Speaking of thoughts... a certain special young lady is in my thoughts. Hope you don't have a reason to worry (like I keep telling you that you don't), and I look forward to you having to say that I was right (again) and that everything was ok. >smile< Take care.
Tuesday morning when I was making Ice cream all day (too bad you weren't here, Ken... I would've given you some ice cream. I could've given you ice cream right out of the machine... it tastes different, it's all smooth and not so frozen.)... anyway, yeah, Tuesday when I was making ice cream, I was playing the Euphonics CD in the store. It was before the store was open... and I could listen to whatever I want... really really loudly. Isn't that neat? It's like being free to do whatever you want... like being in America. Um... right. So back to my story, I was playing the Euphonics CD in the store and Andrea came in to do some work. I left the CD on until it finished, and then I turned on the radio... I didn't really want to bother Andrea, and I didn't know if she was cool with the CD. And, about two minutes after I turned the radio on, Andrea came into the back and said "Is this your CD?" and I was all "no" and she was all "Oh... would you mind putting it back on? I was waiting for 'Let it be'." I was taken aback... I mean... she really liked it. And when Seth came in, she showed him the back of the CD and Seth was all "John, you're on this?" and I said "Yeah... I'm doing the >ticka ticka tiss< right now." Cool, huh? Maybe I'll even be able to play the CD while the store is open sometimes, as it's no more or less offensive than anything else we play in the store.
So... today I went into the store early to >sigh< do inventory. My job is fantastically fun. And I trained Charise on making ice cream, and I helped put away our Sysco (inventory) order... and all that loot took until about 4:30. When I got back to my place, I was ready for a night of nothing... I'm tired (still). And, at nine I got a call from Coldstone (Greg, actually... the store didn't call me, it doesn't know my number). They only had two people working and, apparently, a line out the door... and they needed someone to just come in and restock things... so would I make some calls? Um... sure... keep in mind, it's 9 PM and the store closes at 10... so the people I call need to be able to get there in less than 15 minutes to be any help for the rest of the night. That means Moody students, me, or Andrea. Moody's TWO WEEK spring break starts Friday, so a lot of the students are already gone... so I called Jonathan (who's still around)... and his line was busy. Then I called Andrea and told her what was up... but she really wasn't "in a place where she could do anything about it". So I had to get out of my pjs (yeah... it was only nine, but I was already pretty much ready for bed) and into my Coldstone stuff... and then walked to work to help out. Stupid job.
Then... after I had helped for a little over an hour, I left and it was raining out. But not a cool rain... a crappy just-barely-raining-enough-to-get-into-your-eye kind of rain.
And that's really all I've got for now. I'm tired, still... and I'm looking to see my sis in KZoo next week, hopefully Thursday/Friday. We'll see. I never seem to see Andrea long enough to ask her for time off (or I feel weird asking for time off... or something).
But I've got friends coming this weekend... so I'm good. I even stole them an ice cream cake (which I can't eat... but they can!) for when they come. I'm thoughtful! HOORAY!
Speaking of thoughts... a certain special young lady is in my thoughts. Hope you don't have a reason to worry (like I keep telling you that you don't), and I look forward to you having to say that I was right (again) and that everything was ok. >smile< Take care.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Ten "Onion-Style" Headlines!
Hey... here's a list of 10 'Onion-style' headlines that I wrote last night in my writing class. I would've published this earlier... but I was tired. Leave me alone! (or leave me a comment! How cool has this been so far!?? SO COOL!) Anyway... here's my list of headlines... I thought it was funny.
1. Irony finally formally defined when leader of Boy Scouts comes out of closet
2. Tourists say "Fuck Florida... we're going to Mars"
3. Johnny Depp's new movie "Small, Independent, and Weird Film" opens this weekend
4. Ice Cream cures fever of old woman
5. Prison box of cigarettes says "I feel like the bitch"
6. Little League World Series pitcher excited about voting for first time
7. Roommate exclaims "We've run out of eggs!"
8. Smurfs use cheetoes to beat Vanity to death
9. New study shows M&Ms do melt in hand
10. Customer shocked by low price of Denny's Grand Slam breakfast
Yeah... I came up with that list in about 15 minutes... which I'm really proud of. Leave me alone... it's good for the amount of time in which I had to do it!
Hey... here's a list of 10 'Onion-style' headlines that I wrote last night in my writing class. I would've published this earlier... but I was tired. Leave me alone! (or leave me a comment! How cool has this been so far!?? SO COOL!) Anyway... here's my list of headlines... I thought it was funny.
1. Irony finally formally defined when leader of Boy Scouts comes out of closet
2. Tourists say "Fuck Florida... we're going to Mars"
3. Johnny Depp's new movie "Small, Independent, and Weird Film" opens this weekend
4. Ice Cream cures fever of old woman
5. Prison box of cigarettes says "I feel like the bitch"
6. Little League World Series pitcher excited about voting for first time
7. Roommate exclaims "We've run out of eggs!"
8. Smurfs use cheetoes to beat Vanity to death
9. New study shows M&Ms do melt in hand
10. Customer shocked by low price of Denny's Grand Slam breakfast
Yeah... I came up with that list in about 15 minutes... which I'm really proud of. Leave me alone... it's good for the amount of time in which I had to do it!
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Feder Wins!
Congratulations to Amy Feder for being the first person to leave a comment on my blog. You win the official CrazyJohn "smack on the ass." I hope you enjoy it. Maybe the 100th person will get the official CrazyJohn "night of heavy petting." We'll see.
I'm going to be making ice cream all day. How much do you wish you were me? hmm? I bet you really do... as that's WAY cool >rolls eyes<
Congratulations to Amy Feder for being the first person to leave a comment on my blog. You win the official CrazyJohn "smack on the ass." I hope you enjoy it. Maybe the 100th person will get the official CrazyJohn "night of heavy petting." We'll see.
I'm going to be making ice cream all day. How much do you wish you were me? hmm? I bet you really do... as that's WAY cool >rolls eyes<
What the sleep?
So my day consisted of: Waking up at 9, eating breakfast, being tired, going back to sleep. Waking up at 12:30, eating lunch, being tired, going back to sleep. Waking up at 4:30, eating dinner, going to class and then heading to the store for some ice cream tomfoolery. Yeah... I literally slept the entire day. And, here it is, 2 AM and I'm tired again (still). I don't know what was up with today... but I just couldn't do anything.
My writing class went pretty well tonight. My instructor this term is Joe Janes... he's a member of the core writing faculty at the Second City Training Center... and we even spent the first 20 minutes or half hour talking to him about how our other instructors had taught us. They're apparently looking into changing some of the curriculum and Joe wondered how we felt about the previous terms' assignments. The class was pretty small (no surprise), and I think that I might have a really good chance to make a name for myself in that class this semester (unless I suck).
After class, I went into work to see how things were going and Andrea was there (which is weird for her to be in the store on a Monday night at close). Apparently we were SO out of ice cream that they wanted her to come in and make some more. Well poo... I'm not going to let the manager stay while I leave... so I stuck around to help. Jonathan, Elizabeth >sigh<, and Andrew (he's new) closed while Andrea and I made ice cream and ran around and did other stupid things. Then all the 'cuds' (a new derogatory term I'm trying out... we'll see) left and it was just Andrea and I and the ice cream. So... we talked... and she said that the store was going to cover my parking ticket for me which is INCREDIBLE and well appreciated (especially since my credit card bill is $1,300 this month. No joke... thirteen hundred dollars. What can I say? Hookers are expensive! No... seriously... I have my two classes ($440 right there), my tickets to Vegas, my Gamecube and all related items, my three pairs of new shoes, AND groceries and things all on this one bill. Way to space it out... dumbass). So Wow... that's $100 of stupidity that I don't have to pay for... for which I don't have to pay. Right.
Well... here's the kicker... I've got to go in tomorrow morning around 10 and finish making the ice cream. Neat, huh? Yeah... so I'm going to get to bed (again). Hope everyone else actually DID something with their Monday... as I did absolutely nothing. Have a nice night :)
PS My thoughts are with two special Karens tonight. May God give you both the strength you need. I'm thinking about you :)
So my day consisted of: Waking up at 9, eating breakfast, being tired, going back to sleep. Waking up at 12:30, eating lunch, being tired, going back to sleep. Waking up at 4:30, eating dinner, going to class and then heading to the store for some ice cream tomfoolery. Yeah... I literally slept the entire day. And, here it is, 2 AM and I'm tired again (still). I don't know what was up with today... but I just couldn't do anything.
My writing class went pretty well tonight. My instructor this term is Joe Janes... he's a member of the core writing faculty at the Second City Training Center... and we even spent the first 20 minutes or half hour talking to him about how our other instructors had taught us. They're apparently looking into changing some of the curriculum and Joe wondered how we felt about the previous terms' assignments. The class was pretty small (no surprise), and I think that I might have a really good chance to make a name for myself in that class this semester (unless I suck).
After class, I went into work to see how things were going and Andrea was there (which is weird for her to be in the store on a Monday night at close). Apparently we were SO out of ice cream that they wanted her to come in and make some more. Well poo... I'm not going to let the manager stay while I leave... so I stuck around to help. Jonathan, Elizabeth >sigh<, and Andrew (he's new) closed while Andrea and I made ice cream and ran around and did other stupid things. Then all the 'cuds' (a new derogatory term I'm trying out... we'll see) left and it was just Andrea and I and the ice cream. So... we talked... and she said that the store was going to cover my parking ticket for me which is INCREDIBLE and well appreciated (especially since my credit card bill is $1,300 this month. No joke... thirteen hundred dollars. What can I say? Hookers are expensive! No... seriously... I have my two classes ($440 right there), my tickets to Vegas, my Gamecube and all related items, my three pairs of new shoes, AND groceries and things all on this one bill. Way to space it out... dumbass). So Wow... that's $100 of stupidity that I don't have to pay for... for which I don't have to pay. Right.
Well... here's the kicker... I've got to go in tomorrow morning around 10 and finish making the ice cream. Neat, huh? Yeah... so I'm going to get to bed (again). Hope everyone else actually DID something with their Monday... as I did absolutely nothing. Have a nice night :)
PS My thoughts are with two special Karens tonight. May God give you both the strength you need. I'm thinking about you :)
Monday, March 08, 2004
Look what I just added!!!
I was checking out some different sites on the Blogger website, and there was this dude whose blog is something like "Catholic and a Packer fan" or something like that... so OF COURSE I'm going to check his site out. And, on this dude's blog was a place to make comments and I was like "wah wha?!" because we all know that, historically, the only thing to bitch about blogs is the lack of the comment section. Well... this dude was apparently using Haloscan as a commenting engine. Now... we've got a series of odd coincidences... the dude's a Catholic Packer fan (who also likes Notre Dame AND his name is John) AND the name of the website is HALOscan, and we all know how much I like my Halo... so I thought I'd check it out. Haloscan claims to be a free service... I didn't have to give them a credit card number or anything... just my name and an email address. So... there you go, kiddies. Now all the trash I've been talking on my blog can be answered by you, the mindless masses. Don't you feel empowered?
In other news... I woke up at my normal time (9 am), did my normal morning routine, and about 11:30 I just got so tired that I decided to lay down (lie down? Lai down?). And I started shivering and shaking and I couldn't get warm... it took me at least a half an hour to feel warm again... and, anyone who knows me knows how warm I can be (to the point where drunk Katie tries to strip me [sorry Katie, but it happened]). It's just really weird. Stuff like that is what makes living by myself in the city so scary... because what happens if there's a problem? I mean... what if I were to pass out or something... who would even know? How long would it be before someone figured out I was in trouble and got me help? >Shrugs< Not like college.
Anypoopers... I hope you all enjoy the new comment section to my blog. I saw that Ken added a site meter to his blog recently... I'm toying with that too, but that would only be fun for me. Or we could make it a contest to see how fast I can get to 500 or 1000 visiters... and the 1000 visiter gets a free dinner with me (see how this is just a cheap ploy to get dates? Of course you don't).
Hope everyone has a great Monday... and stay warm (as I'm having trouble with it).
I was checking out some different sites on the Blogger website, and there was this dude whose blog is something like "Catholic and a Packer fan" or something like that... so OF COURSE I'm going to check his site out. And, on this dude's blog was a place to make comments and I was like "wah wha?!" because we all know that, historically, the only thing to bitch about blogs is the lack of the comment section. Well... this dude was apparently using Haloscan as a commenting engine. Now... we've got a series of odd coincidences... the dude's a Catholic Packer fan (who also likes Notre Dame AND his name is John) AND the name of the website is HALOscan, and we all know how much I like my Halo... so I thought I'd check it out. Haloscan claims to be a free service... I didn't have to give them a credit card number or anything... just my name and an email address. So... there you go, kiddies. Now all the trash I've been talking on my blog can be answered by you, the mindless masses. Don't you feel empowered?
In other news... I woke up at my normal time (9 am), did my normal morning routine, and about 11:30 I just got so tired that I decided to lay down (lie down? Lai down?). And I started shivering and shaking and I couldn't get warm... it took me at least a half an hour to feel warm again... and, anyone who knows me knows how warm I can be (to the point where drunk Katie tries to strip me [sorry Katie, but it happened]). It's just really weird. Stuff like that is what makes living by myself in the city so scary... because what happens if there's a problem? I mean... what if I were to pass out or something... who would even know? How long would it be before someone figured out I was in trouble and got me help? >Shrugs< Not like college.
Anypoopers... I hope you all enjoy the new comment section to my blog. I saw that Ken added a site meter to his blog recently... I'm toying with that too, but that would only be fun for me. Or we could make it a contest to see how fast I can get to 500 or 1000 visiters... and the 1000 visiter gets a free dinner with me (see how this is just a cheap ploy to get dates? Of course you don't).
Hope everyone has a great Monday... and stay warm (as I'm having trouble with it).
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Level C shows... and why Ray Park is the greatest man to ever live
I went to see the Training Center Level C shows this morning. For $1 American, I was able to see three different classes. The first group and the last group were good... and it made me nervous (wondering if we'll be that good). The middle group (which coincidentally was taught by the same teacher who taught my class this term) was terrible. TERRIBLE. And that made me nervous too, wondering if we're going to be that bad. We've only got two and a half months... >gasp<.
Jim and I went to see "Starsky and Hutch" today... and it was quite good. I almost called Bohne right after the movie because we thought he would really like it. Go see the movie, Bohne. "Do it. Do it."
And I finally watched Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever, as it was on HBO tonight. The only redeeming part of that movie is the fight between Lucy Liu and Ray Park. That was almost worth all the time wasted on the stupid stupid plot. Almost.
Yeah... so I'm really really tired... I've been tired all day (all weekend, actually) and I'm probably going to call it a night early tonight. Hope everyone had a good weekend and that the Albianians are having a great spring break. I didn't hear where the choir was going on tour... but I hope it was someplace fun and memorable.
By the way, Chappelle's Show is SO funny... and it always reminds me of Nick. If I was still in Albion, we'd watch it together. >Smile< Yeah... we'd even tape that shit and watch it again and again. "That's my purse! Crackah!"
I went to see the Training Center Level C shows this morning. For $1 American, I was able to see three different classes. The first group and the last group were good... and it made me nervous (wondering if we'll be that good). The middle group (which coincidentally was taught by the same teacher who taught my class this term) was terrible. TERRIBLE. And that made me nervous too, wondering if we're going to be that bad. We've only got two and a half months... >gasp<.
Jim and I went to see "Starsky and Hutch" today... and it was quite good. I almost called Bohne right after the movie because we thought he would really like it. Go see the movie, Bohne. "Do it. Do it."
And I finally watched Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever, as it was on HBO tonight. The only redeeming part of that movie is the fight between Lucy Liu and Ray Park. That was almost worth all the time wasted on the stupid stupid plot. Almost.
Yeah... so I'm really really tired... I've been tired all day (all weekend, actually) and I'm probably going to call it a night early tonight. Hope everyone had a good weekend and that the Albianians are having a great spring break. I didn't hear where the choir was going on tour... but I hope it was someplace fun and memorable.
By the way, Chappelle's Show is SO funny... and it always reminds me of Nick. If I was still in Albion, we'd watch it together. >Smile< Yeah... we'd even tape that shit and watch it again and again. "That's my purse! Crackah!"
Abby's 21st Birthday Pre-Party
Ok... so I gave myself today off... just because I could. So I spent today playing Metroid and watching TV... for the most part. There was a brief intermission half-way through the day so that I could talk to my folks (who I haven't talked to in a while). I talked to them for a good/long time... both parents wanted to check up and see about my plans for the next few weeks AND to nail down a time when they could visit me. It'll probably be Easter weekend, after my BIG trip to Vegas :)
Speaking of which... Ken called. We were talking (like we do) when I got a call from Abby (from work) on my call waiting. I thought to myself "Self... I wonder if there's a problem at the store. what do you think?" And I didn't reply. Not because I'm not talking to myself, because I can forgive me for sleeping with someone else, BUT because I took her call instead. Low and behold there was no emergency at the store... she actually invited me to a party at her house tonight: her 21st birthday is Tuesday! And I was like "when and where?" but I didn't commit. Then I got back on with Ken and we finished our conversation and I asked him what he thought. "Go for it, dude" (or something to that effect) was his reply.
By the way... what's up with girls from work inviting me to parties all of a sudden? Two invites in two days? I mean... is there some kind of six month waiting period in a city before you can be invited to a "gathering"? You tell me... since you're so smart! Yeah... that's what I thought!
So I went >shrug<. When I got there, there were people playing poker at a table and some more people in the back having snacks. I introduced myself NOT because Abby was a bad hostess (which is not the case) BUT because her parents came in shortly after I did. Yeah... her parents. Um... what? I think that some of the people at the party thought that I had brought them. What a great first impression! Yeah... so I introduced myself to everyone (kind of)... and made my way to where I feel most comfortable: the kitchen.
Whilst in the kitchen, one of the people there (Matt? I think) asked me if I ever played Temco Bowl... and I was like "yeah... that was a great game" to which he said "You wanna play? I've never been defeated. Never lost". Now... for those of you who aren't men (that would make you women), this is the kind of guy who I like to refer to as a "cock." This is the HIGHLY competitive guy who ONLY competes with other guys. This kind of guy ticks me off... so in my head I'm thinking "I'm going to kick your ass", but I'm also thinking "I would REALLY like to make some friends", but I say out loud "Sure... I don't mind losing," which is the only way to handle a competitive cock.
So we play Tecmo Bowl for the Nintendo... he's Chicago (hometown boy) and I'm New York (LT, baby!). And we both score in the first quarter... so that ends in a 7-7 tie. And then I (probably literally) outsmart him the rest of the game... and I end up kicking his ass 24-7. Yeah... that's right... this guy who says that he never loses, lost to me 24-7. I bascially ripped him a new asshole. So... hooray for me, right? Well... (I love it when I do that) his friend (Kyle... one of two that I met tonight) said that he'd challenge winner, so he did. He was Chicago (hometown boy) and I was... New York. We play... his defense is better, his offense is worse. I beat him... 20-7. Wow! Two in a row! I'm not making any friends this way! So I'm outta here, right? Right? Well... their friend Andrew challenges me. He was Chicago (hometown boy) and I... f--k it, you know I was New York... I was on a roll, what do you want from me??? Anyway... his defense is better still and his offense is pretty good too... and there was honestly a section of the game where the ball was on my twenty or so and we went back and forth exchanging possessions (real men don't kick field goals). I eventually beat him, like 13-6. So THAT was it... I had had enough. And by enough, I mean one beer... so I didn't want to try to play anymore. But Nate and Matt would have been proud because I OWNED at Tecmo Bowl. OWNED!
For a while I was in the kitchen... watching the interaction between all the people that Abby knows (mostly men... ok... there were about 75% guys). Abby asked me if I was ok... did I want another beer? Um... sure... okay... maybe it'll "help". So I'm quasi-entering into conversations... but mostly just watching... then Abby asks if I'd like to do a birthday shot? Um... ok... Carl(?) says it's cool, that I'm "good guy" (which was the phrase used a couple times tonight... I'm not sure I know what that means). Guess who else did a birthday shot? Abby's dad. That's right. So my first ever shot >tear< was Wild Turkey (yeah... I know) with Abby, some people I didn't know yet, and Abby's dad. THAT'S one for Trivial Pursuit.
Sidenote on shots: If I want something expensive that tastes terrible, is supposed to just be swallowed, burns going down, AND makes me feel a little dizzy... I'll drink Nyquil, okay? Nuff said.
But, as stupid as shots are, I was somehow in "the club". I spent a while, actually, talking with Abby's parents after that (it was the dizzyness from the two beers and the shot AND the talking to the parents that made me figure I should stop). Then the parents left... the music got louder, we got louder, and I was 'festive' enough to actually talk to people... and were some pretty cool people there. I talked with an OBVIOUSLY Irish guy named Flynn (looked a little like Hopple, which is weird), and he was cool. And the Andrew I played Nintendo with gets some of the guys there together and they all play soccer. They're actually playing tomorrow, but I'm going to see the Level C show at 11:30 AM and that's EXACTLY when they're going to be playing up in the Lincoln Park area... so poop on the timing. But I've been trying to play soccer for SO LONG and it'll be AWESOME to play again. Awesome.
The night progressed... and I got pretty tired... and so I left. But it was nice... it reminded me of college, except with more drinking. And more parental supervision (weird). And Abby's sister is hot... but young. What the hell? Why can't there be someone who's hot who was born before 1984? Hmm...? Anyone? Yeah... I don't get it either.
But what I need to get is some rest... I'm tired. Hope everyone is sleeping well tonight... you all deserve a good night's sleep. G'night :)
Ok... so I gave myself today off... just because I could. So I spent today playing Metroid and watching TV... for the most part. There was a brief intermission half-way through the day so that I could talk to my folks (who I haven't talked to in a while). I talked to them for a good/long time... both parents wanted to check up and see about my plans for the next few weeks AND to nail down a time when they could visit me. It'll probably be Easter weekend, after my BIG trip to Vegas :)
Speaking of which... Ken called. We were talking (like we do) when I got a call from Abby (from work) on my call waiting. I thought to myself "Self... I wonder if there's a problem at the store. what do you think?" And I didn't reply. Not because I'm not talking to myself, because I can forgive me for sleeping with someone else, BUT because I took her call instead. Low and behold there was no emergency at the store... she actually invited me to a party at her house tonight: her 21st birthday is Tuesday! And I was like "when and where?" but I didn't commit. Then I got back on with Ken and we finished our conversation and I asked him what he thought. "Go for it, dude" (or something to that effect) was his reply.
By the way... what's up with girls from work inviting me to parties all of a sudden? Two invites in two days? I mean... is there some kind of six month waiting period in a city before you can be invited to a "gathering"? You tell me... since you're so smart! Yeah... that's what I thought!
So I went >shrug<. When I got there, there were people playing poker at a table and some more people in the back having snacks. I introduced myself NOT because Abby was a bad hostess (which is not the case) BUT because her parents came in shortly after I did. Yeah... her parents. Um... what? I think that some of the people at the party thought that I had brought them. What a great first impression! Yeah... so I introduced myself to everyone (kind of)... and made my way to where I feel most comfortable: the kitchen.
Whilst in the kitchen, one of the people there (Matt? I think) asked me if I ever played Temco Bowl... and I was like "yeah... that was a great game" to which he said "You wanna play? I've never been defeated. Never lost". Now... for those of you who aren't men (that would make you women), this is the kind of guy who I like to refer to as a "cock." This is the HIGHLY competitive guy who ONLY competes with other guys. This kind of guy ticks me off... so in my head I'm thinking "I'm going to kick your ass", but I'm also thinking "I would REALLY like to make some friends", but I say out loud "Sure... I don't mind losing," which is the only way to handle a competitive cock.
So we play Tecmo Bowl for the Nintendo... he's Chicago (hometown boy) and I'm New York (LT, baby!). And we both score in the first quarter... so that ends in a 7-7 tie. And then I (probably literally) outsmart him the rest of the game... and I end up kicking his ass 24-7. Yeah... that's right... this guy who says that he never loses, lost to me 24-7. I bascially ripped him a new asshole. So... hooray for me, right? Well... (I love it when I do that) his friend (Kyle... one of two that I met tonight) said that he'd challenge winner, so he did. He was Chicago (hometown boy) and I was... New York. We play... his defense is better, his offense is worse. I beat him... 20-7. Wow! Two in a row! I'm not making any friends this way! So I'm outta here, right? Right? Well... their friend Andrew challenges me. He was Chicago (hometown boy) and I... f--k it, you know I was New York... I was on a roll, what do you want from me??? Anyway... his defense is better still and his offense is pretty good too... and there was honestly a section of the game where the ball was on my twenty or so and we went back and forth exchanging possessions (real men don't kick field goals). I eventually beat him, like 13-6. So THAT was it... I had had enough. And by enough, I mean one beer... so I didn't want to try to play anymore. But Nate and Matt would have been proud because I OWNED at Tecmo Bowl. OWNED!
For a while I was in the kitchen... watching the interaction between all the people that Abby knows (mostly men... ok... there were about 75% guys). Abby asked me if I was ok... did I want another beer? Um... sure... okay... maybe it'll "help". So I'm quasi-entering into conversations... but mostly just watching... then Abby asks if I'd like to do a birthday shot? Um... ok... Carl(?) says it's cool, that I'm "good guy" (which was the phrase used a couple times tonight... I'm not sure I know what that means). Guess who else did a birthday shot? Abby's dad. That's right. So my first ever shot >tear< was Wild Turkey (yeah... I know) with Abby, some people I didn't know yet, and Abby's dad. THAT'S one for Trivial Pursuit.
Sidenote on shots: If I want something expensive that tastes terrible, is supposed to just be swallowed, burns going down, AND makes me feel a little dizzy... I'll drink Nyquil, okay? Nuff said.
But, as stupid as shots are, I was somehow in "the club". I spent a while, actually, talking with Abby's parents after that (it was the dizzyness from the two beers and the shot AND the talking to the parents that made me figure I should stop). Then the parents left... the music got louder, we got louder, and I was 'festive' enough to actually talk to people... and were some pretty cool people there. I talked with an OBVIOUSLY Irish guy named Flynn (looked a little like Hopple, which is weird), and he was cool. And the Andrew I played Nintendo with gets some of the guys there together and they all play soccer. They're actually playing tomorrow, but I'm going to see the Level C show at 11:30 AM and that's EXACTLY when they're going to be playing up in the Lincoln Park area... so poop on the timing. But I've been trying to play soccer for SO LONG and it'll be AWESOME to play again. Awesome.
The night progressed... and I got pretty tired... and so I left. But it was nice... it reminded me of college, except with more drinking. And more parental supervision (weird). And Abby's sister is hot... but young. What the hell? Why can't there be someone who's hot who was born before 1984? Hmm...? Anyone? Yeah... I don't get it either.
But what I need to get is some rest... I'm tired. Hope everyone is sleeping well tonight... you all deserve a good night's sleep. G'night :)
Saturday, March 06, 2004
From the "God loves irony" category...
Today I got my largest single paycheck since I started working at Coldstone. After my 64.75 hours as "manager" I received a whopping $450. I should be dancing in the streets tonight, right? FINALLY get "paid" for all my hardwork and all the crap I went through as manager. Well... funny how life works sometimes, isn't it? As I went into the store, after having driven to get office supplies (one of my many 'important' tasks), I left my car out front with the flashers on in a "loading/tow" zone. I couldn't have been in the store more than six minutes when I see someone checking out my license plate. "No... no, no, no, no, no" was all I said as I went outside to investigate.
"Sorry, I already got ya" was all the cop said to me. I literally dropped to my knees in the street... I couldn't believe it... I was unloading three wall-hanging shelf units, pens, and tape, putting the rest of the money back in the registers, and putting tape in the tape dispenser when I saw the cop... that's really all I did. And he "got" me. Here's the kicker... the "loading/tow" zone is in front of a fire hydrant... so I received a $100 fine for "parking" within 15 feet of the hydrant. I put parking in quotes because I was doing little more than unloading. What a kick in the nuts! I mean... I fully understand the monetary severity of the fire hydrant ticket: If there's a fire, we can't have the hydrant blocked by a car. BUT, I was able to go outside and see that he was giving me a ticket... I could have very well moved the car if there was something like, say, a fire... complete with fire engines, screaming people, and lots of smoke and fire. This would have caught my attention, as did someone who was simply looking at my plates. I don't understand why he couldn't have just asked me to move.... given me a warning. Or at least listened to what I had to say when I came out of the store... he didn't even give me a chance to explain. What a fucking asshole... seriously.
I told Andrea about it, and she told me not to pay the ticket... that something could be worked out, as the 'normal' police officers who patrol our area know us (they come into the store) and have told us that unloading in that area isn't a problem. The dude who gave me a ticket has never been in the store... I've never seen him before.
Whatever.
Jim came over and we hung out most of the evening. I also received a call from Emily (the high school chick with whom I work)... she has this situation with her hours and, long story short, was screwed out of 10 hours of work somehow. I've been doing my best to get it taken care of... and it finally was today, but she wanted to call to find out what had been resolved. I thought that was it... but she >giggle< asked me to come to a party tonight (at 10). I told her that I was entertaining (Jim, which I was)... but that it was nice of her to offer. I could just see me, going to a high school party... being "that guy". >sighs... shakes head< She's got a big crush on me... and I'm flattered, really, but I don't understand. I talked about it earlier, but I was completely indifferent to her and that's when she started liking me... and that's when I realized how stupid women really are. Sorry ladies... perhaps many of you have grown out of it... but I'll never understand that phase of your life (that you all seem to go through) where you're attracted to men who treat you like shit. Idiots!
And I bet you just found that attractive. I know... I've still got it. :)
Today I got my largest single paycheck since I started working at Coldstone. After my 64.75 hours as "manager" I received a whopping $450. I should be dancing in the streets tonight, right? FINALLY get "paid" for all my hardwork and all the crap I went through as manager. Well... funny how life works sometimes, isn't it? As I went into the store, after having driven to get office supplies (one of my many 'important' tasks), I left my car out front with the flashers on in a "loading/tow" zone. I couldn't have been in the store more than six minutes when I see someone checking out my license plate. "No... no, no, no, no, no" was all I said as I went outside to investigate.
"Sorry, I already got ya" was all the cop said to me. I literally dropped to my knees in the street... I couldn't believe it... I was unloading three wall-hanging shelf units, pens, and tape, putting the rest of the money back in the registers, and putting tape in the tape dispenser when I saw the cop... that's really all I did. And he "got" me. Here's the kicker... the "loading/tow" zone is in front of a fire hydrant... so I received a $100 fine for "parking" within 15 feet of the hydrant. I put parking in quotes because I was doing little more than unloading. What a kick in the nuts! I mean... I fully understand the monetary severity of the fire hydrant ticket: If there's a fire, we can't have the hydrant blocked by a car. BUT, I was able to go outside and see that he was giving me a ticket... I could have very well moved the car if there was something like, say, a fire... complete with fire engines, screaming people, and lots of smoke and fire. This would have caught my attention, as did someone who was simply looking at my plates. I don't understand why he couldn't have just asked me to move.... given me a warning. Or at least listened to what I had to say when I came out of the store... he didn't even give me a chance to explain. What a fucking asshole... seriously.
I told Andrea about it, and she told me not to pay the ticket... that something could be worked out, as the 'normal' police officers who patrol our area know us (they come into the store) and have told us that unloading in that area isn't a problem. The dude who gave me a ticket has never been in the store... I've never seen him before.
Whatever.
Jim came over and we hung out most of the evening. I also received a call from Emily (the high school chick with whom I work)... she has this situation with her hours and, long story short, was screwed out of 10 hours of work somehow. I've been doing my best to get it taken care of... and it finally was today, but she wanted to call to find out what had been resolved. I thought that was it... but she >giggle< asked me to come to a party tonight (at 10). I told her that I was entertaining (Jim, which I was)... but that it was nice of her to offer. I could just see me, going to a high school party... being "that guy". >sighs... shakes head< She's got a big crush on me... and I'm flattered, really, but I don't understand. I talked about it earlier, but I was completely indifferent to her and that's when she started liking me... and that's when I realized how stupid women really are. Sorry ladies... perhaps many of you have grown out of it... but I'll never understand that phase of your life (that you all seem to go through) where you're attracted to men who treat you like shit. Idiots!
And I bet you just found that attractive. I know... I've still got it. :)
Friday, March 05, 2004
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Today, on a very special Rantings: CrazyJohn speaks on the "gay marriage debate", plus he gives up all hope that a woman could ACTUALLY like him
Right... so... I saw Elizabeth >sigh< for the first time since the "date" tonight... and it could have gone better. She avoided eye contact on her way in... and didn't make eye contact for a while. Yeah... so... even if she had fun Monday night, I've somehow made her uncomfortable at work... and I just don't think she's interested in me. Which is... >sigh< which is fine. My sister's right... it's just too hard to date someone you work with... with whom you work. Right.
Anyway... have any of you seen the episode of the X-Files where they think that dude is controlling the weather but really it's Victoria Jackson and she makes it hail heart-shaped hail when she's upset. Remember? Anyway... it was raining when I started walking from work, after seeing Elizabeth >sigh<. And, the more I thought about how crappy it went, the harder it rained. It was weird. Let's talk about something else...
I actually got into the gay marriage debate at work... it was about 6 o'clock, slow, and there were four of us: Abby, Dima, Elizabeth >sigh< and me. Dima represented (fairly accurately) the Moody Bible Institute position... Abby represented the liberal who for some reason still has trouble being liberal on this one issue... Elizabeth >sigh< represented perhaps a liberal conservative or a conservative liberal who is for gay marriages... and I was, well, I was me. Dima gave the "God made Adam and Eve" argument... which is so near-sighted and ignorant that it's honestly not even worth anyone's time or serious consideration. Abby expressed (irrational) fears of a societal breakdown if the family unit is allowed to include same-sex partners... offering the token "next they'll want to adopt children," to which I responded "And why not? There are SO MANY children who need a home, why shouldn't they be given one?" And, honestly, it's insanely pompous for us as a society to make gay couples run through all this bullshit to get children when there are some pretty terrible and hellish people who are allowed to have kids, only because they do it "the old fashioned way." I mean, we have no screening process for all those inbred people from where I'm from... but they still have children (and LOTS of them). Do the children want homes? Yes. Do these people have homes? Yes. What's the problem here? Is the problem the totally STUPID but highly PREVAILANT thought that all gay men are pedaphiles? I mean, seriously! You know that's what some people are thinking... and I don't know where it came from. I guess it's that a lot of pedaphiles (i'll say Males) enjoy young men... thereby giving the apparence that all pedaphiles are gay and, therefore, all gay men are pedaphiles. That makes sense, if you're stupid, which is roughly 93% of the people in this country.
One of the reasons I bring this debate to my blog, is that a dear friend of mine thought that the best solution is to abolish all marriage and simply replace it was a government recognized union. This way, the churchs can still have their marriages... and the government can institute unions that would benefit all couples. This is nice... and kind of the solution I ended up coming up with in the store... but probably not the "best". Getting rid of the "marriage" tag won't work... if you try to move forward with this issue by demolishing the established paradigm... there will be FAR TOO much resistance. The BEST way is for the government to recognize that there IS a seperation of church and state... and that government recognized "marriage" doesn't have to be church recognized "marriage." But doesn't it make sense to keep the label the same? I mean... If you were to lobby the idea of completely getting rid of all marriages, even if it was for the good of a "gay union", I would be against it. I like marriage... I like the concept of marriage... I guess I'm a traditionalist in some ways. But I feel it will be easier for our society to move forward on the issue if we're not trying to destroy the past. I don't see why the government can't have criteria that says "this is a marriage"... even if the churches can't. >shrug< that's all I have to say about that.
And CostCo is the most magical place on earth. Take THAT Disney! :P
Right... so... I saw Elizabeth >sigh< for the first time since the "date" tonight... and it could have gone better. She avoided eye contact on her way in... and didn't make eye contact for a while. Yeah... so... even if she had fun Monday night, I've somehow made her uncomfortable at work... and I just don't think she's interested in me. Which is... >sigh< which is fine. My sister's right... it's just too hard to date someone you work with... with whom you work. Right.
Anyway... have any of you seen the episode of the X-Files where they think that dude is controlling the weather but really it's Victoria Jackson and she makes it hail heart-shaped hail when she's upset. Remember? Anyway... it was raining when I started walking from work, after seeing Elizabeth >sigh<. And, the more I thought about how crappy it went, the harder it rained. It was weird. Let's talk about something else...
I actually got into the gay marriage debate at work... it was about 6 o'clock, slow, and there were four of us: Abby, Dima, Elizabeth >sigh< and me. Dima represented (fairly accurately) the Moody Bible Institute position... Abby represented the liberal who for some reason still has trouble being liberal on this one issue... Elizabeth >sigh< represented perhaps a liberal conservative or a conservative liberal who is for gay marriages... and I was, well, I was me. Dima gave the "God made Adam and Eve" argument... which is so near-sighted and ignorant that it's honestly not even worth anyone's time or serious consideration. Abby expressed (irrational) fears of a societal breakdown if the family unit is allowed to include same-sex partners... offering the token "next they'll want to adopt children," to which I responded "And why not? There are SO MANY children who need a home, why shouldn't they be given one?" And, honestly, it's insanely pompous for us as a society to make gay couples run through all this bullshit to get children when there are some pretty terrible and hellish people who are allowed to have kids, only because they do it "the old fashioned way." I mean, we have no screening process for all those inbred people from where I'm from... but they still have children (and LOTS of them). Do the children want homes? Yes. Do these people have homes? Yes. What's the problem here? Is the problem the totally STUPID but highly PREVAILANT thought that all gay men are pedaphiles? I mean, seriously! You know that's what some people are thinking... and I don't know where it came from. I guess it's that a lot of pedaphiles (i'll say Males) enjoy young men... thereby giving the apparence that all pedaphiles are gay and, therefore, all gay men are pedaphiles. That makes sense, if you're stupid, which is roughly 93% of the people in this country.
One of the reasons I bring this debate to my blog, is that a dear friend of mine thought that the best solution is to abolish all marriage and simply replace it was a government recognized union. This way, the churchs can still have their marriages... and the government can institute unions that would benefit all couples. This is nice... and kind of the solution I ended up coming up with in the store... but probably not the "best". Getting rid of the "marriage" tag won't work... if you try to move forward with this issue by demolishing the established paradigm... there will be FAR TOO much resistance. The BEST way is for the government to recognize that there IS a seperation of church and state... and that government recognized "marriage" doesn't have to be church recognized "marriage." But doesn't it make sense to keep the label the same? I mean... If you were to lobby the idea of completely getting rid of all marriages, even if it was for the good of a "gay union", I would be against it. I like marriage... I like the concept of marriage... I guess I'm a traditionalist in some ways. But I feel it will be easier for our society to move forward on the issue if we're not trying to destroy the past. I don't see why the government can't have criteria that says "this is a marriage"... even if the churches can't. >shrug< that's all I have to say about that.
And CostCo is the most magical place on earth. Take THAT Disney! :P
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Way to spend almost $300 on myself
Yeah... so I bought myself a Gamecube today. Yep, even got three games: Metroid, Mario Kart, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron. I went ALL out. I said to myself "here's a present for not killing anyone last week" and that's what I did. So there.
I started the day getting my hair cut and >gasp< shaving most of my sideburns off. Yeah... I know! I was looking at the pictures I have on my wall... and every one of them has me with huge ass sideburns. So it was time to make a change, I figured. So I went to that Supercuts place... and, again, I got the Prussian woman I like to call Eva. And she didn't talk the whole time she cut it... but this time I was ready for it. It's kind of weird to have someone cut your hair who is just silent and focused. I use the word "focused" because the word "rushed" doesn't sound safe.
Anyway... so the new hair and I went to Piper's Alley tonight to meet with a few people from my Improv class. Dave, Adam, Adam, Keith, and I met at 5 and we started talking about getting together regularly to not only do improv, but to write scenes to be performed on The Second City's third stage (Donny's Skybox Theatre), and to film scripted and improved scenes, AND to have a website devoted just to our group's stuff. Pretty ambitious, huh? Well... we didn't set a time-table, so it's not like we've got to do everything tomorrow (because that would be a busy busy day). But it was good that we started talking about stuff. We actually waited until 7 for Amy to show up... and one of the Adam's had already left... so it was again just five of us. I don't know if the Adam that left is really going to be into it... he seems to be resisting the "ensomble" mentality. We'll see.
That was pretty much all I had to say about today. I'm already pretty good at Mario Kart: Double Dash. I know a few people who can attest to how DAMN good I am at the n64 version (even if I can't throw snowball, I can still TOTALLY kick your ass in Mario Kart). So... anyone who isn't too weak to challenge me... bring it :) And by bring it, I mean drive your white ass from Michigan over here so I can resoundedly kick it all the way back from whence it came.
THE END
PS I love the way Irish people talk. Ok... Irish women. Ok... red-headed Irish women.
Yeah... so I bought myself a Gamecube today. Yep, even got three games: Metroid, Mario Kart, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron. I went ALL out. I said to myself "here's a present for not killing anyone last week" and that's what I did. So there.
I started the day getting my hair cut and >gasp< shaving most of my sideburns off. Yeah... I know! I was looking at the pictures I have on my wall... and every one of them has me with huge ass sideburns. So it was time to make a change, I figured. So I went to that Supercuts place... and, again, I got the Prussian woman I like to call Eva. And she didn't talk the whole time she cut it... but this time I was ready for it. It's kind of weird to have someone cut your hair who is just silent and focused. I use the word "focused" because the word "rushed" doesn't sound safe.
Anyway... so the new hair and I went to Piper's Alley tonight to meet with a few people from my Improv class. Dave, Adam, Adam, Keith, and I met at 5 and we started talking about getting together regularly to not only do improv, but to write scenes to be performed on The Second City's third stage (Donny's Skybox Theatre), and to film scripted and improved scenes, AND to have a website devoted just to our group's stuff. Pretty ambitious, huh? Well... we didn't set a time-table, so it's not like we've got to do everything tomorrow (because that would be a busy busy day). But it was good that we started talking about stuff. We actually waited until 7 for Amy to show up... and one of the Adam's had already left... so it was again just five of us. I don't know if the Adam that left is really going to be into it... he seems to be resisting the "ensomble" mentality. We'll see.
That was pretty much all I had to say about today. I'm already pretty good at Mario Kart: Double Dash. I know a few people who can attest to how DAMN good I am at the n64 version (even if I can't throw snowball, I can still TOTALLY kick your ass in Mario Kart). So... anyone who isn't too weak to challenge me... bring it :) And by bring it, I mean drive your white ass from Michigan over here so I can resoundedly kick it all the way back from whence it came.
THE END
PS I love the way Irish people talk. Ok... Irish women. Ok... red-headed Irish women.
Monday, March 01, 2004
So... that could have gone worse
Elizabeth >blush< and I had dinner tonight, and it was pretty good. I mean... there was definately an awkward sense of "is this a date... what is this?", at least on my part... she had a long sleeve t-shirt and fleece vest on. Is that date clothing? Or is that going out to get pizza with someone who you're friends with? Who knows? Anyway... we talked and the conversation was fluid and engaging. It probably didn't help that the waitress was "hitting" on me the whole time. It's okay... as she was a forty-something black woman... and we all know that I'm only interested in women born in 1984. Right... so... she REALLY likes the Packers, and she's interested in other sports, and she's got two brothers: Zack and Zeke (REALLY went far to name the boys). We... um... had a nice conversation... and even if she's not 'interested' in me, we'll still probably hang out cuz she's way cool. And, when she talks, she reminds me of my dad... because she talks all from WisCANsin (thanks for reminding me, Court).
Right... so I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind words of encouragement. AND I need to ask how long I'm supposed to wait before I call her again. I mean... I'm going to be busy the next couple of days, but if I don't call soon... she's going to have to work this weekend and then I'll just be... um... not calling her, I guess is what I'm looking for. She's way cute... and she sees the big city as a series of opportunities... whereas I see it as scary and something that I don't like. That kind of perspective is something that I'm missing... that I've been missing since the last time someone like that was in my life. I really like people who are that positive about things... they seem to balance me out.
And that's all I have to say about that.
And now I'm watching Yu-Gi-Oh! What a craptacular show this is!!!
Elizabeth >blush< and I had dinner tonight, and it was pretty good. I mean... there was definately an awkward sense of "is this a date... what is this?", at least on my part... she had a long sleeve t-shirt and fleece vest on. Is that date clothing? Or is that going out to get pizza with someone who you're friends with? Who knows? Anyway... we talked and the conversation was fluid and engaging. It probably didn't help that the waitress was "hitting" on me the whole time. It's okay... as she was a forty-something black woman... and we all know that I'm only interested in women born in 1984. Right... so... she REALLY likes the Packers, and she's interested in other sports, and she's got two brothers: Zack and Zeke (REALLY went far to name the boys). We... um... had a nice conversation... and even if she's not 'interested' in me, we'll still probably hang out cuz she's way cool. And, when she talks, she reminds me of my dad... because she talks all from WisCANsin (thanks for reminding me, Court).
Right... so I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind words of encouragement. AND I need to ask how long I'm supposed to wait before I call her again. I mean... I'm going to be busy the next couple of days, but if I don't call soon... she's going to have to work this weekend and then I'll just be... um... not calling her, I guess is what I'm looking for. She's way cute... and she sees the big city as a series of opportunities... whereas I see it as scary and something that I don't like. That kind of perspective is something that I'm missing... that I've been missing since the last time someone like that was in my life. I really like people who are that positive about things... they seem to balance me out.
And that's all I have to say about that.
And now I'm watching Yu-Gi-Oh! What a craptacular show this is!!!
What the surprise day off???
Andrea just called... she told me not to worry about coming in or doing anything for the store until Wednesday. I was so confused that I was like "um... ah... hmm?" I didn't know what to say... so I told her that I was going to have to be there tomorrow to do the Sysco ordering (yeah... that showed her!)... but I guess I'm just not going to worry about anything today.
So what am I going to do? I'm going to take a motherf--king nap, as I was up until almost 4 last night (I couldn't help it... I had a friend in need). Besides... I have to rest up for my... for... um... dinner. >blush<
Andrea just called... she told me not to worry about coming in or doing anything for the store until Wednesday. I was so confused that I was like "um... ah... hmm?" I didn't know what to say... so I told her that I was going to have to be there tomorrow to do the Sysco ordering (yeah... that showed her!)... but I guess I'm just not going to worry about anything today.
So what am I going to do? I'm going to take a motherf--king nap, as I was up until almost 4 last night (I couldn't help it... I had a friend in need). Besides... I have to rest up for my... for... um... dinner. >blush<
Sidenote number two: I JUST purchased tickets to fly to Vegas at the end of March! What a week! I need a vacation.... so I said "fuck it... I'm going to Vegas... muthafucka!"
Ah ha ha haaaa.... the ice cream has made me mad! MAD I tell you!
>awkward silence< Anyway... I'm going to Vegas to spend a whole week with Kenny. Pretty kickass sweet, huh? We're going to shoot the living shit out of things, cuz "THAT'S the Chicago way" >said by Sean Connery in The Untouchables<.
G'night.
Ah ha ha haaaa.... the ice cream has made me mad! MAD I tell you!
>awkward silence< Anyway... I'm going to Vegas to spend a whole week with Kenny. Pretty kickass sweet, huh? We're going to shoot the living shit out of things, cuz "THAT'S the Chicago way" >said by Sean Connery in The Untouchables<.
G'night.
CrazyJohn on the 13 hour day... and running out of half the flavors of ice cream. If we were Baskin Robbins, we would have only have fifteen and a half flavors left!
First of all... let me say that I woke up at 8 AM this morning because my back hurt and it woke me up. And I was honestly too nervous about telling the owner that I hadn't ordered enough inventory this week to go back to bed. I half anticipated getting fired today... to be honest. Jim Johnson comes from the Chicago Stock Exchange... and he's running the store like he ran his firm... and there's no way he would have tolerated a mistake like the loss of inventory in an inventory-based corporation before.
Anyway... so we only got about fifteen minutes into the "meeting" when Mr. Johnson thought the best course of action would be to try to get more "mix" rather than talking about anything. So we both made some calls... what a crazy world we live in... anyway, we made some calls and Chris, the area manager, said that he'd be able to get us four cases of mix... which would be enough for us to make two pans of 8 different flavors. FANTASTIC! So I started making ice cream (Cheesecake) because we had one "bladder" left. So I'm makin' the Cheesecake... and Chris comes in, with only three cases. Three is still better than none, so I thank him BIG TIME (take that as grossly as you'd like to).
Ok... lots of sweet cream mix, and some chocolate mix... and away I go, right? Well... kind of. Cherise was the only one working... and we had a line out the door pretty much as soon as we opened. For those of you who don't know, it was almost 60 degrees and sunny in Chicago today. Yeah, you read right... Sixty degrees. What a great day for Ice Cream!!!
Anyway... so Cherise is working HARD... and then Emily came at one... and Mr. Johnson thought I should find a third person, so I called everyone. I mean EVERYONE! But, oddly enough, when you hire a bunch of people from a Bible Institute, they don't take the Sabbath very lightly. Yeah... hard to find a strict Christian on a Sunday. We Catholics don't understand... but, then again, we're all destined to Hell.
So no one could come in for the afternoon, but I did call Elizabeth >blush< and she could work at night. "Great," I thought, "that's four for tonight, but still no one for the afternoon... I guess I'll go back to my place and change." And, oddly enough, that's what I did. I got a random call from Jim while in Jim Johnson's car (he drove me back to my place to change)... Hi Jim!
I changed in like two minutes (honestly) and got back to the car so fast that Jim (Johnson not Shilander... try to keep up) said "Wow... quick change." And I said "I've been in a lot of plays." And, let's face it... anyone who can go from black sweater/black jeans to a fencing outfit in a minute and a half is a 'quick change.' Eat it, Amy Lewis! You and your "John can change his entire outfit in twenty seconds"... you make me puke! And I really really miss you.
>sniffle... wipes eyes< anyway... Jim drives me back to the store and I keep pluggin' away at the ice cream. Cherise and Emily periodically come back to the back where I'm making the ice cream and vent their frustrations... and I let them, and I try to cheer them up, make them laugh, or at least thank them for their hard work.
Time passes... the line is still out the door. No one extra is coming in... i'm messing around trying to make the ice cream as soon as I can so it can be blasted for four hours (at least)... and I DID call Dmitry and left a message asking him if he wanted to come in as soon as he could. And he showed up around 4... So NOW I've got three people working. Fantastic!
The line's still out the door. We're out of things... like brownies, spoons, waffle anythings... the ice cream isn't going to be ready in time... and we're going to run out in front. I've been stressing all day... what I needed was... ABBY! Hooray for Abby... she showed up at 5. And, at that point, I had four people working out front. That's PLENTY. Sure the line's still out the door, but for one full hour I'll have someone who can: 1) Run to the store to buy bananas; 2) make brownies; 3) check the lobby; 4) Do everything else that I can't do and the people working the stones can't do.
Wow... what a great 60 minutes that was! My sister even called me out of the blue to see if I was ok. I basically only had time to tell her that, no I wasn't, and thank her for thinking about me. She and my mom were thinking about me... wondering how I was doing. I wondered if the anurism I was having could be seen from space.
Anyway then Cherise and Emily left... but Elizabeth >blush< showed up. Ok... we're one person short... if only Jenn would actually show up (even though she gave her 'two weeks' earlier this week), things might work out. Except for the ice cream... we're running low, the stuff isn't ready. I make a decision to call Andrea and ask her what the proticall is as far as closing the store down when there's no inventory. She's not there... I leave what one might refer to as a "panicked" message. Ok... Andrea isn't going to help... the line's out the door and we're one person short (even though we don't have the ice cream to serve the customers even if we DID have all the people)... I'm all alone, trying to make decisions and figure things out. And I did something I haven't done in a long long time:
I prayed. I got on one knee and bowed my head to the three compartment sink. I said... "please... I'm not strong enough to do this... send someone to help me... I need one more person."
And what happened? Jenn called in to say that she was with her roommate who was "in the emergancy room." Ok... I'm sorry... but this was JUST her LAME ASS excuse to not come into work (or so I thought). She gave her two weeks... and now she's going to flake out and just not show up to work. I was so MAD... I... I didn't know what to do... If she hadn't have quit, I would have fired her on the spot. I don't even care that I don't have that power... I would've told Andrea the situation, and she would've agreed.
What did I do? I help Dima (Dmitry), Elizabeth >blush<, and Abby... that was the only thing I could think of. I started refilling cups, and spoons, and spades, and making sure they were ok and they didn't need a break or anything to drink or anything. I took care of the three employees who were ACTUALLY doing the work. That's all I could think of. Then Andrea called... she got my message and she was going to come in. When she got there at about seven thirty, she gave me a pat on the back (literally) and asked if I was ok... i explained the situation and she started talking to me like I was insane or suicidal... just giving me the tone of voice that's overly soothing, like I could snap and kill them all. So I told her I didn't appreciate that tone of voice, or at least I tried to... no coherant thought actually came from my lips... and I just stopped trying to say whatever it was that I was trying to say and I said "I haven't eaten all day, and I'm tired, and I'm cranky, and I'm sorry." This is when she ordered (you're damn right she ordered) me to go get some food... and I ran to Subway and saw mah-main man who owns the place.
OK... so I'm going to quickly digress... but there's a dude who owns the Subway right next to Coldstone, and he's ALWAYS there. ALWAYS. If it's open, he's working. And, since I've picked up so many hours at Coldstone, I tend to see him a lot. We have taken out the trash at the same time at least twice... I go in Subway all the time when I'm working at can't get back to my place... so we know each other... it's cool.
Anyway... i get a sub, go back, and Andrea's brother (Jeremy... one of many Johnson boys) is with her and she's got him doing dishes for me. She and he were actually hanging out when I called her (a reason for me to feel bad)... but we all talked and she and her brother finally convinced me that there was nothing more I could do. There wasn't anything I could do... and, for some reason, that made me feel better.
They left... and Abby told me that this kind of inventory thing happened in the other store she worked at all the time. During the summer, she said, it would happen once or twice a week. AND... Abby said that she was having fun. THAT made me feel better.
Jenn called again... she said she's going to pick up her stuff sometime next week... and she really doesn't plan on working. See? I set it up so that you'd think I was mad at someone when I shouldn't have been. But, in fact, I was rightfully mad at her... and am trying to think of a way to make her suffer. Heehee.... no... but what she did was unfair to the rest of the employees.
Speaking of which, after that I went and served customers while Dima and Elizabeth >blush< finally got their breaks. And, you know what? The customers didn't seem to mind all that much that we were out of stuff. There were two reactions: 1) "This is ALL the ice cream that you have? >sigh... rolls eyes< Ok... I'll take a >whatever we had left<"; 2) "Okay... well... which of these flavors is your favorite?" or "How about I try >insert their favorite creation< with the >name of different ice cream< instead?" OR "I'll try a >insert something they've never had before<". It was AMAZING! We were out of everything... and people still bought the ice cream. That's right, folks. People were ACTUALLY eating the Butter Peacan and the Yogurts and the flavors no one gets even though they're good like Banana, White Chocolate, and Cheesecake. So... even though, by the end of the night, we had run out of White Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Yogurt, Sweet Cream, Strawberry, French Vanilla, Cake Batter, Coffee, AND Mint... no one seemed all that upset.
What did I learn? A) Mother Fucking sheep! Just keep following, you mindless shits! and B) Maybe God, or the Lord, or the Almighty, or whoever you pray to didn't send someone to help, He/She sort of did. The help came in the form of the customers' attitude, the attitudes of the employees, help from Andrea when I felt overwhelmed... So could this be the work of a divine power? Or is it simply the work of a complicated social structure wherein the best interest of the society is not to stress over luxery items like ice cream, but to (overall) treat them as such, and the best interest of the workplace is to aid other coworkers to form a cohesive and united front? You decide. goodnight...
Quick sidenote for those of you scoring at home... I FINALLY got up the courage to ask Elizabeth >blush< out. We're going to Lou Malnati's for pizza tomorrow (Monday) night. I'm excited and nervous... I'll let you know how it goes. Ken thinks I'm cute... this does not help me with the ladies, as Ken has a penis. That is true... I've heard of it's measurement... in one of the worst games of truth or dare ever played.
First of all... let me say that I woke up at 8 AM this morning because my back hurt and it woke me up. And I was honestly too nervous about telling the owner that I hadn't ordered enough inventory this week to go back to bed. I half anticipated getting fired today... to be honest. Jim Johnson comes from the Chicago Stock Exchange... and he's running the store like he ran his firm... and there's no way he would have tolerated a mistake like the loss of inventory in an inventory-based corporation before.
Anyway... so we only got about fifteen minutes into the "meeting" when Mr. Johnson thought the best course of action would be to try to get more "mix" rather than talking about anything. So we both made some calls... what a crazy world we live in... anyway, we made some calls and Chris, the area manager, said that he'd be able to get us four cases of mix... which would be enough for us to make two pans of 8 different flavors. FANTASTIC! So I started making ice cream (Cheesecake) because we had one "bladder" left. So I'm makin' the Cheesecake... and Chris comes in, with only three cases. Three is still better than none, so I thank him BIG TIME (take that as grossly as you'd like to).
Ok... lots of sweet cream mix, and some chocolate mix... and away I go, right? Well... kind of. Cherise was the only one working... and we had a line out the door pretty much as soon as we opened. For those of you who don't know, it was almost 60 degrees and sunny in Chicago today. Yeah, you read right... Sixty degrees. What a great day for Ice Cream!!!
Anyway... so Cherise is working HARD... and then Emily came at one... and Mr. Johnson thought I should find a third person, so I called everyone. I mean EVERYONE! But, oddly enough, when you hire a bunch of people from a Bible Institute, they don't take the Sabbath very lightly. Yeah... hard to find a strict Christian on a Sunday. We Catholics don't understand... but, then again, we're all destined to Hell.
So no one could come in for the afternoon, but I did call Elizabeth >blush< and she could work at night. "Great," I thought, "that's four for tonight, but still no one for the afternoon... I guess I'll go back to my place and change." And, oddly enough, that's what I did. I got a random call from Jim while in Jim Johnson's car (he drove me back to my place to change)... Hi Jim!
I changed in like two minutes (honestly) and got back to the car so fast that Jim (Johnson not Shilander... try to keep up) said "Wow... quick change." And I said "I've been in a lot of plays." And, let's face it... anyone who can go from black sweater/black jeans to a fencing outfit in a minute and a half is a 'quick change.' Eat it, Amy Lewis! You and your "John can change his entire outfit in twenty seconds"... you make me puke! And I really really miss you.
>sniffle... wipes eyes< anyway... Jim drives me back to the store and I keep pluggin' away at the ice cream. Cherise and Emily periodically come back to the back where I'm making the ice cream and vent their frustrations... and I let them, and I try to cheer them up, make them laugh, or at least thank them for their hard work.
Time passes... the line is still out the door. No one extra is coming in... i'm messing around trying to make the ice cream as soon as I can so it can be blasted for four hours (at least)... and I DID call Dmitry and left a message asking him if he wanted to come in as soon as he could. And he showed up around 4... So NOW I've got three people working. Fantastic!
The line's still out the door. We're out of things... like brownies, spoons, waffle anythings... the ice cream isn't going to be ready in time... and we're going to run out in front. I've been stressing all day... what I needed was... ABBY! Hooray for Abby... she showed up at 5. And, at that point, I had four people working out front. That's PLENTY. Sure the line's still out the door, but for one full hour I'll have someone who can: 1) Run to the store to buy bananas; 2) make brownies; 3) check the lobby; 4) Do everything else that I can't do and the people working the stones can't do.
Wow... what a great 60 minutes that was! My sister even called me out of the blue to see if I was ok. I basically only had time to tell her that, no I wasn't, and thank her for thinking about me. She and my mom were thinking about me... wondering how I was doing. I wondered if the anurism I was having could be seen from space.
Anyway then Cherise and Emily left... but Elizabeth >blush< showed up. Ok... we're one person short... if only Jenn would actually show up (even though she gave her 'two weeks' earlier this week), things might work out. Except for the ice cream... we're running low, the stuff isn't ready. I make a decision to call Andrea and ask her what the proticall is as far as closing the store down when there's no inventory. She's not there... I leave what one might refer to as a "panicked" message. Ok... Andrea isn't going to help... the line's out the door and we're one person short (even though we don't have the ice cream to serve the customers even if we DID have all the people)... I'm all alone, trying to make decisions and figure things out. And I did something I haven't done in a long long time:
I prayed. I got on one knee and bowed my head to the three compartment sink. I said... "please... I'm not strong enough to do this... send someone to help me... I need one more person."
And what happened? Jenn called in to say that she was with her roommate who was "in the emergancy room." Ok... I'm sorry... but this was JUST her LAME ASS excuse to not come into work (or so I thought). She gave her two weeks... and now she's going to flake out and just not show up to work. I was so MAD... I... I didn't know what to do... If she hadn't have quit, I would have fired her on the spot. I don't even care that I don't have that power... I would've told Andrea the situation, and she would've agreed.
What did I do? I help Dima (Dmitry), Elizabeth >blush<, and Abby... that was the only thing I could think of. I started refilling cups, and spoons, and spades, and making sure they were ok and they didn't need a break or anything to drink or anything. I took care of the three employees who were ACTUALLY doing the work. That's all I could think of. Then Andrea called... she got my message and she was going to come in. When she got there at about seven thirty, she gave me a pat on the back (literally) and asked if I was ok... i explained the situation and she started talking to me like I was insane or suicidal... just giving me the tone of voice that's overly soothing, like I could snap and kill them all. So I told her I didn't appreciate that tone of voice, or at least I tried to... no coherant thought actually came from my lips... and I just stopped trying to say whatever it was that I was trying to say and I said "I haven't eaten all day, and I'm tired, and I'm cranky, and I'm sorry." This is when she ordered (you're damn right she ordered) me to go get some food... and I ran to Subway and saw mah-main man who owns the place.
OK... so I'm going to quickly digress... but there's a dude who owns the Subway right next to Coldstone, and he's ALWAYS there. ALWAYS. If it's open, he's working. And, since I've picked up so many hours at Coldstone, I tend to see him a lot. We have taken out the trash at the same time at least twice... I go in Subway all the time when I'm working at can't get back to my place... so we know each other... it's cool.
Anyway... i get a sub, go back, and Andrea's brother (Jeremy... one of many Johnson boys) is with her and she's got him doing dishes for me. She and he were actually hanging out when I called her (a reason for me to feel bad)... but we all talked and she and her brother finally convinced me that there was nothing more I could do. There wasn't anything I could do... and, for some reason, that made me feel better.
They left... and Abby told me that this kind of inventory thing happened in the other store she worked at all the time. During the summer, she said, it would happen once or twice a week. AND... Abby said that she was having fun. THAT made me feel better.
Jenn called again... she said she's going to pick up her stuff sometime next week... and she really doesn't plan on working. See? I set it up so that you'd think I was mad at someone when I shouldn't have been. But, in fact, I was rightfully mad at her... and am trying to think of a way to make her suffer. Heehee.... no... but what she did was unfair to the rest of the employees.
Speaking of which, after that I went and served customers while Dima and Elizabeth >blush< finally got their breaks. And, you know what? The customers didn't seem to mind all that much that we were out of stuff. There were two reactions: 1) "This is ALL the ice cream that you have? >sigh... rolls eyes< Ok... I'll take a >whatever we had left<"; 2) "Okay... well... which of these flavors is your favorite?" or "How about I try >insert their favorite creation< with the >name of different ice cream< instead?" OR "I'll try a >insert something they've never had before<". It was AMAZING! We were out of everything... and people still bought the ice cream. That's right, folks. People were ACTUALLY eating the Butter Peacan and the Yogurts and the flavors no one gets even though they're good like Banana, White Chocolate, and Cheesecake. So... even though, by the end of the night, we had run out of White Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Yogurt, Sweet Cream, Strawberry, French Vanilla, Cake Batter, Coffee, AND Mint... no one seemed all that upset.
What did I learn? A) Mother Fucking sheep! Just keep following, you mindless shits! and B) Maybe God, or the Lord, or the Almighty, or whoever you pray to didn't send someone to help, He/She sort of did. The help came in the form of the customers' attitude, the attitudes of the employees, help from Andrea when I felt overwhelmed... So could this be the work of a divine power? Or is it simply the work of a complicated social structure wherein the best interest of the society is not to stress over luxery items like ice cream, but to (overall) treat them as such, and the best interest of the workplace is to aid other coworkers to form a cohesive and united front? You decide. goodnight...
Quick sidenote for those of you scoring at home... I FINALLY got up the courage to ask Elizabeth >blush< out. We're going to Lou Malnati's for pizza tomorrow (Monday) night. I'm excited and nervous... I'll let you know how it goes. Ken thinks I'm cute... this does not help me with the ladies, as Ken has a penis. That is true... I've heard of it's measurement... in one of the worst games of truth or dare ever played.
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