are we there yet?

alright, so i suppose i should write a post that's not about steff visiting, not because i don't like them or writing about them, prob because most people don't like reading them... ah well, so here i am, 4 days away from moving up to school... and i can't wait!! I have a good lot of my stuff packed up and in the car, though this trip will be mainly to go up and drop shit off, since i have to be back at home on sunday, but on sunday i drive back up and to stick, :-D ... and then the next day (monday) steff moves in, so yay!... so basically, i have one shift at work tonight and then one for lunch on friday with packing in between, and i'm set... and i am so very set to go... not like i hate it here, but i love college... it's going to be a good year...

found while going through my xanga

Your Leo Drinking Style

You love to drink and dance -- you're likely a fabulous dancer. You're usually pretty a good drinker as well, losing your commanding dignity and turning kittenish. Of course, you're quite aware you're darling -- Leos will be Leos, after all. You generally know your limit, probably because you loathe losing self-control. When you get over-refreshed, flirting will ensue -- and perhaps not with the person what brought you. But you are not the type to break rules even when drunk, so others try to ignore your naughty behavior. You'll just make up for it with a sheepish (and hung over) apology the next day.

Your Signature Cocktails

Leos like flashy drinks, be they complicated tropical concoctions festooned with umbrellas, like a Bahama mama or the more common strawberry daiquiri or mai tai. Indeed, you often have a taste for the fruity -- try a screwdriver, or add an extra cherry to the next Manhattan. Your sense of drama lends itself to a kir royale, of course.

Your Celebrity Drinking Buddies

Edward Norton, Bill Clinton, Madonna, Debra Messing, Martha Stewart, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christian Slater, and Fred Durst.

What's Your Alcohoroscope?

no title needed... it's that good

sorry about the title... i dunno, it sounded good... but i have nothing else cleverer, sorry to disappoint... but in many ways it is appropriate... laying with steff on the couch watching random shit on tv was just so good, i'm not even going to try to label it...

so, after a week of silence while she was in spain, steff crashed back into my life :-D ... and she decided that we shouldn't wait till college to see each other again, so she made the trek out to see me on monday... we just putzed about watching 'the sting,' one of my favorite movies and she and my mom swaped pictures of europe while i played with syd (who understandably was trying to sleep through it) :-P ... then it was out to dinner with my parents in harrisburg... i don't know which is worse, going to dinner with you sig other and your parents, or theirs... when you are with theirs you only know your side, like you don't know what they are thinking and that ignorance is almost a blessing, but at the same time you don't know what they are thinking and that's a curse... lol, with your parents, you know what they are thinking (for the most part) and you don't want them being annoying or rude or something... well, whatever, i don't think it went too badly, steff didn't pass out from too much stress :-P ... but, then we went out to get a movie, *the* movie... lol, well, *the* movie for steff: "arachnophobia!" i know she enjoyed it, she just doesn't want to admit it, lol... afterwards, we did our seemingly usual thing of watching the late night shows (see afore mentioned comment about watching them) i love you, steff :-* ... got to bed around 430, it was easy to get to bed with such happy thoughts on my mind :-) woke up and went over to steff's room to pay her back for the wake up kiss she gave me, but alas... she was awake, but received a kiss nonetheless... it always seems when she visits there time limits, which gets me annoyed, and why i can't wait for school... so i can be with her whenever for however long... well, relatively... but yea, i had to go to work and she had to get back to get her hair done... 10 days...

Trying not to use the word amazing, damn! Too late :-p

So, Steff came back on Sunday and the next day I went to visit her! While, I had seen her just the week before in NYC it was obviously good to see her again. Pretty much as soon as I got there, she dragged me down to the basement to show off my competition (her new Mac) for her love and affection and watch some Arrested Development. And when we both got hungry we headed out to dinner at this Italian/pizza place and walked around a deserted shopping village (it was all Steff's fault, GOSH!). Suddenly, we had to return home to research the beaks of octopuses (or, octopi, your preference). When it was discovered that they do in fact have beaks and are poisonous, more Arrested Development was watched. However, these episodes seemed very familiar, as if I had just watched them a few hours ago. Then, it was time for the great Dead Poets challenge! Which, I think I basically won, but I guess technically lost. And, how could I not when Steff puts her hair up and lays down with that neck of hers right in front of me? Well, it was time for bed then. I woke up 4 hours later with her coming into my room and giving me a peck on the cheek. I'd never been woken by a kiss before, it was great and needs to happen more often. :-) Steff and I lounged around for awhile in bed and then watched the greatness that is The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. We did this to avoid the heat before we headed out to New Hope, but that plan failed. It was still so fucking hot when we were walking through. Ugh. So it was back to her house for showers (separate, :-P) then out to dinner with her parents. Then it was time for goodbyes :-( She's already leaving me again to go to Europe!! But, really, I hope she has a lot of fun in Spain. Europe in general kicks ass! So yay for Steff. Just another countdown for me...

NYC was amazing!

Alright, so that's the second time I've said something was amazing in my titles. But I believe it was warranted both times. Well, alright, admittedly waking up at 5 after not being able to fall asleep the night before kind of sucked. Scratch the 'kind of;' it sucked. But, as Steff does a lot already, she made me feel so much better after something really sucky. But after she and Kyla found me in the station, we went to this "Gudt Food" place (it makes me chuckle) and got some beignets (I think I'm spelling it correctly, "ben-YAY," by the way). Take it from me: you don't want to suck up confectioners sugar. Then we went to FAO Schwartz, where a new member of the Brick family was adopted. Fao was then put right to work as an attempt at convincing the Central Park Zoo that Kyla was under 12. Perhaps, if she started sucking her thumb... Though, she's probably still too tall. But yes, the zoo was a good time too. My favorite is still the red panda completely passed out in the tree, that's the way to go. Forget it being a dog's life; it's totally a red panda's life. Back to the subway! This time to the MoMA, where we quickly took in some art (to look cultured, of course). Then we totally threw that aside as we went to Times Square and Bubba-Gump! MoMA to Greenbo, only in New York. I whooped ass on the trivia that our waiter decided to give us, except for the last question, which I think was pretty cheap. How long did Forrest run for? Yea, I was close. I said 3 years. The actual answer? 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours. ARG! Ah well. More Forrest trivia? (Leave your answers in a comment, and don't cheat!... though this is going to get me like no comments, whatever)

Which three presidents did Forrest meet?

What did he say to each of them?

What was the best thing about being wounded according to Forrest?

What was Bubba's full name?

What was Forrest's son watching on TV when he met him?

Anways, I think those were about all the questions he could come up with. Well, from Times Square, unfortunately, it was back to Penn Station. A good day to say the least, I already can't wait to see her again.

Clerks 2 was amazing!

Well, I think that's about all I can say on that subject since I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone else who is planning on seeing it. Though, I will say this, it's as crude as the rest of his movies and a lot of the time that you'll laugh is just because you can't believe that he went there. Once again, Mer was my savior going to see it with me. I believe we both had a delightful time, especially her, who cracked up everytime that Elias came on screen.

Alright, this now leaves me with nothing to write about. That is, aside from the New York trip tomorrow, but I already wrote about it and there's only so much one can write about such a thing. I kinda also want to bitch about Freedomland and Flightplan (the other P.O.S. movie I was forced to watch by my friends from home), but again, there's only so much you can write about such a thing and only so much people would be willing to read before they, themselves, start bitching.

I've decided, if I ever do become a journalist, I want to be just like Thomas Friedman. If you even just read what he writes on the subject of the current situation in the Middle East, you'll wonder 'why in the hell can't smart guys like this be leading our country.' Maybe because he is clever enough to stay as far as he can away from elected office? Or, are his ideas just not that great and don't apply in real life? I'm hoping it's the first, cause he does seem to make a great deal of sense, at least to me.

So, what's it going to be today?

So, day 2 of this writing exercise thing. Surprisingly, I'm actually going to try using some proper punctuation. Normally, I don't like to since it slows down my typing and train of thought. However, I figure sooner or later I will have to figure out how to write proper sentences and keep that line of thought streaming. Ah well. My fingers are already aching to just plop out a "...," but I got to hang in there. Arg! No more "gotta's" either.

My friends from home have the worst taste in movies. Last night the one who works at Blockbuster, Laurel, rented a few, and among them, Freedomland. I had seen the trailers for it a long time ago, and even my poor memory told me that I didn't want to see it. But, it stars both Samuel L. Jackson ("Snakes on a motherfuckin' plane") and Julianne Moore. I am a fan of both so, tragically, I did not argue the selection as much as a should have. The movie featured Moore going into extended druggie monologues, meaning she would stutter and meander from coherent thought. Perhaps this is how druggies actually talk, but for a movie you can have the camera on someone for 10 minutes straight. One of the first things you should learn as a director is that the audience has a severely short attention span. Otherwise, the story was rather weird, trying to work racial overtones into this murder story. And, even when the murder was solved it was rather melodramatic. Certain strong characters introduced at the beginning, like Moore's violent policeman brother, were forgotten at the end. But the movie was rated "good" by those viewing it, though Mer and I were praying for it's ending.

The whole time I was calling for Clerks, rented at the request of Mer and myself. Unfortunately, we started it severly late so it was at least 1:30 by the time I called Steff back (she called during Freedomland and actually noted something in my voice to suggest that I was supremely irritated with that movie). Though I wish I could have left in the middle of Clerks, considering how many times I'd seen it, I felt an obligation to watch it with them since I had been the main voice calling for its viewing. When the credits rolled on Clerks, it was rated "bad" and "I didn't even like it the first time I saw it." Mer, who is the savior of my sanity with my friends, said that it was "good, but not amazing" (after I proclaimed it as such) and is now planning on seeing Clerks 2 with me tonight!

Meanwhile, the TV room in our house has been turned upside down and sideways as we are getting ready to paint in there. And, actually, my presence is requested down there to start joining in on the painting fun.

exercising

so apparently, my mother being the writing expert that she is, says that if i'm actually going to be a journalism major i need to start writing more, like daily and not just when the mood strikes me... so i figured, since i haven't posted here in a while i could start off by writing something here... though i guess to be properly 'exercising' i should be using proper grammar and such, but i figure i'll just ease into that, and plus who uses proper grammar on a blog?? that's what i thought...

so lately, my life has just been going to work, however work is still really only hardly part of my day since my shifts are so short and such, and my mom is getting all cranky as a result, arg... i can't wait to be back at school... but yea, work and counting down days... every now and then something fun comes along like mini golf last night, and might i add i think i get better each time i play, so you watch out when you challenge me to putt-putt... but another sure-to-be-fun thing is coming up on monday! yea... in case you can figure out with the countdown on the side there, monday would be the trip up to nyc... i should probably order my train tickets soon, but those damn new hope people... dragging their feet :-p ... but i'm probably planning on getting up there like at 1013 (that's when the site says the train will be there, btw... that train leaves h-burg at 630... ewwww)... and hanging out with the coolest girl ever... oh, and those other people... lol, but no, i'm looking forward to seeing britt a lot too, since she and i have been talking so much these past weeks, and other than that, i don't know who is going... lol... but yea, the last train leaves nyc at 630 (also ewwww), but i'm predicting an amazing day...

mon is going to be living in nittany crossing next year!! and i got my football tickets yesterday!! next year is going to be the shit, i can't wait... 3 good guys to live with, 1 amazing girl, and my bro living pretty close nearby... who could not love a situation like that?... i'm actually kinda looking forward to some of my classes next semester too... like i have the newswriting course, acting, a poli sci class with a prof i like a lot, and two other journalism classes, the only one that's going to blow is the GHA gen ed course: food facts and fads or whatever... blah...

alright, i think that's it for today, let's see what i can come up with to write about tomorrow...

When in the course of human events...

On a day of missiles (aka the fireworks of Independence Day), I think it might be a good idea to think about a few in particular. Today North Korea launched three missiles, one capable of reaching this country. Am I the only one noting the inconsistency of this country's response to, the now famous acronym, WMDs? Weapons of mass destruction were the reasoning behind our invasion of Iraq. And while I’m not calling for similar action to be taken against North Korea, it is puzzling that we aren’t doing more to stop this country that is clearly bent on our destruction. I don’t think it can be reasonably argued that North Korea doesn’t have nuclear capabilities, out of date though they may be. Such talk was always countered with the point that they have no way to deliver these bombs to our soil. Well, they are doing their damnedest to get them here. Back to Iraq, why was our administration ramming proof of WMDs down our throats almost to the point of lying to us and aren’t doing the same about North Korea? I hate jumping back to the worn out liberal excuse, but it must have been oil. And, while I support the troops 100%, especially being from a military family myself, it hurts me deeply to think that they are dying over there to get a few people that little bit richer. Of course, now the reason we are there is for the poor Iraqis, to give them a taste of this wonderful thing we call democracy. Why them? Did they luck out and win the ‘democracy installation package’ at the White House raffle? Not that I’m anti-democracy, it’s just the question of how we see this as our greatest mission while in Africa millions die from a variety of preventable things: AIDS, Malaria, and genocide. But I digress, returning to North Korea; understandably we don’t want to go over the top in taking action against them for fear of having China rear its ugly head. But that seems to be another trend these days, to tip toe and put off to a later date any conflicts with China. For your consideration: North Korea, copyright infringements, human rights and Taiwan. Now wouldn’t it make at least a little sense to tell China what’s what on the issue that’s closest to our national security?

Another notable missile today: the space shuttle Discovery. It is getting close to the time when the shuttle needs to be retired. I agree with those that say we need to keep it operational long enough to build the space station. But after that it’s just getting too iffy. Granted, the Columbia disaster might have just been a freak thing (considering how it never occurred beforehand). But when ‘foam’ is becoming the new four-letter word and with engineers seemingly unsure as far as what to do about it, it tells me that it is time to come up with a new way of getting into space. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one who believes money should be spent here, perhaps even more than what is spent now and Mars should be our next big goal. NASA should regain that almost magical aurora that it once possessed when it possessed generations before with its wondrous feats.

So, those were some of my thoughts today as I sat and watched the news on our day off. Sorry if it’s not all well thought out, but I just felt I’d rant a bit and offer some of my insight on some of these topics. Otherwise, I hope you all had a great 4th of July! Happy birthday, America!

Oh, and I also found this rather interesting: America: Freedom To Fascism

Your punk rock band name is The Tired Lava Lamp

the title is the only good part of a quiz i took... and yea, i don't really have much to post, but figured i should since i haven't for awhile... Indy was good fun, spent some quality time with the family and chilled at the race, which was also exciting... huge crash in the first turn, kinda got a bit boring afterwards with so few cars still in the thing (9 of a field of 22 finished)... saw superman returns which was entertaining, and fast and the furious 3 which was not...

i also talked to steff on the phone every night, since i didn't have reliable internet and she left for the beach (for a whole fucking month :-( )... a warning: i'm suspecting future posts are going to have a lot to do with me bitching about missing her... but hopefully this whole nyc visit thing goes down!

otherwise i hope everyone else is doing well and that you all have a good 4th of july!!

WTF is necking??

this is going to be a quick post...

i'm literally in the middle of packing right now, so this is going to be super fast...

as you can guess, i was super happy that steff came yesterday, plans were just shot all to hell yesterday though... but i think it ended up nicely, we all (me, steff, and friends) went out to dinner and then came back to my house for a quick movie, and when i say quick i mean two hours since crash was picked... lol... everyone left around like 1130, well... not everyone left, steff was still there :-D ... we watched leno and conan and all that (some of them twice ;-) )... my parents don't really ever give any indication of what they think of a girlfriend, but i think they found steff to be quite nice (as does anyone who meets her)... we said our goodbyes, and i once again had to give her directions for how to get on the highway... :-p ... but yea, i'll miss that girl this month... sigh...

ah well, i'll be back on monday...

OHHHHH!!! YEA!

You Are Rum

You're the life of the party, and a total flirt You are also pretty picky about what you drink Only the finest labels and best mixed cocktails will do Except if you're dieting - then it's Diet Coke and Bicardi all the way

What Alcoholic Drink Are You?

what a wonderful day...

so you'd almost have to be in a cave with osama to not know i was excited for today... so, after stressing me out for a bit, she finally showed up (after apparently getting lost looking for a red house with yellow shutters, and not the other way around)... almost immediately, we went out for lunch, since i was hungry having not eaten breakfast... so we went out to isaac's, not the one i went to, since i already spend enough time with those people, but another one to give her a look into my hell... after a conversation involving chocolate, mostly, we came back home (passing the library, where, i have les mis overdue from still *arg*)... we watched three episodes of arrested development which she hadn't seen before, then five episodes of coupling which she has seen... then suddenly it was 6 o'clock :-( ... she wanted to leave by 7 so that she could see in daylight where she was going, so, i got my chef's hat out and whipped up some dinner (ravioli :-P) and we ate out in the warm sunroom, though the view was nice as the sun was getting low (note: no afternoon thunderstorms as predicted, fucking retared weather people)... dinner was followed by some yummy ice cream... then it was time to say goodbye :*( ...

though, i think syd scored more points with steff today, i can't wait for her to come back (my mom wants to meet her)... my empty arms will ache till she is in them again...

and yes, you are SOOOO "0 for 3," scary to think that it might be why i like you... :-P

:-(

so, steff just left...

*is sad*

*and can't wait for the fall when she can stay overnight*

Oh, life, what am i going to do with you?

Alright, so a good majority of this is going to be a me bitching about shit post, so bear with me... (haha... or bare with me, that would be interesting though)...

So, i woke up this morning, not to the sound of my alarm clock but just randomly (it's becoming my super power i'm afraid), i had already done it once that morning at 745, but this time as i looked at my clock it was flashing 12:00 at me, arg! the power had gone out at some point... so i get up look at my computer... son of a bitch it's 1030... and gaim has signed me off and is not letting me back on, nor is my e-mail working... so i go downstairs and check on the computer there, yea... it's internet is working why isn't mine... at this point syd decides she needs to go out, so i take her, just as the mailman is dropping off the mail... she pees then pulls on the leash in his direction, so i thought she just wanted to go over there, so i pull her back inside, and go upstairs to restart my computer... come back down to see a pile of poop by the door... thanks, syd... she didn't want to see the mailman she wanted to take a dump... so i clean that up, and i'm wondering where my sister, karen, is... see the note on the kitchen table "I fed syd the first part of her morning food so you need to give her more... i'll be back late tomorrow night." ah, that's right, she's in pittsburgh... so i go to the fridge to get out some of her food (she's on rice and ground beef since she was puking last week) go to heat it up... but the microwave is flashing at me too!! (power outtage again)... so i don't know how to reset the clock to heat it up, so i just give her some of her normal food... which of course she still has yet to eat... so all durning this i was praying that i was on at 1130, not 11... cause at this point it must have been like 1045... so i run up to take a shower, skipping breakfast (no time, but i still smelled like sunscreen)... put syd in her cage and get to work... around, 1115... which was fine cause i was on at 1130... but work sucked hardcore too... we got pummelled, we are one of those restaurants that has you take your check up to the front, and i'm the person who has to both take care of those checks and seat people... and there comes a point in the day where these two duties collide... normally managable, but today since we were so busy, it was like hell... plus we were running out of room in certain sections... and the waitresses were so busy i had to clear tables to sit people... so i was doing three things at the same time now! while trying to keep a rotation so the waitresses get the same number of tables! if one can avoid it, one should never try to tame chaos, but that's exactly what i was attempting... so yea... normally i would have eaten at work, but since i had to come back to the dog, i didn't soooo... i wanna pass out about now...

**actutally just ate at this point**

so, yea... i'm done bitching for this post... now for the good stuff ;-) yesterday, dorney was awesome, maybe not the weather so much (you can read jo's blog about that)... but it was great, more than great to hang out with those people, one in particular ;-) (yea... it was phil not gonna lie :-P) **steff, stop reading here** while she'll accuse me of checking her friends out, steff looked amazing herself (sooooo much leg, lol) and i don't know what the other bathing suit looked like but this one was muy hot... without a doubt the prettiest girl there (no offense to the other girls there) plus she's super cuddly! **steff, you can start reading again** but as if i wasn't excited enough for thursday... oi, i just have to live through potentially another day like today, but i'm absolutely sure it will be more than worth it :-D

sounds about right... whatever a dosha is

Your Dosha is Kapha

Calm and grounded, you are not prone to mood swings or anger. However, once you do get angry, it takes a lot to cool you down. You tend to think a little slower than most people, but your logic is astounding. Overall, you very loyal and trustworthy. You're not scared of being who you really are. With friends: You enjoy their company, but often listen more than talk In love: You crave connection and affection. It's hard for you to be single. To achieve more balance: Exercise vigorously (especially in the sun) and let go of attachments.

What's Your Dosha?

miss brick also rocks my socks...

with a name like brick it's gotta be good, right?

so yea... work, these days my main job is to avoid pissing off waitresses... oi, these women must build up bitchiness and wait to lash out at someone... but they don't even really lash out... they just give you nasty looks, and yes i know i've fucked up... but i just started doing this a few days ago!! oi...

meanwhile, i need to get a tan for dorney... my arms are a nice shade, the rest of me... not so much, speaking of which... anyone know any tips on how to mack it at a theme park?? ;-) i am very much looking forward to this week being over and going up there!

as far as world cup... good stuff, especially with england winning! poland and croatia need to pick it up (we aren't even going to talk about the US)... croatia pretty much tied with brazil aside from that one goal at the end of the first half... oh man!... oh well, they should get second in the group i think... poland needs to crush those german bastards tomorrow...

mini coopers rock my socks...

yea... so lack of anything better for a title... so, an update on my previous post, i'm only going back to isaac's since ups wants people who can work for a year, so i can't do that... kinda sucks cause i don't get to make that extra money, but at the same time i was relieved since that job was pretty super shitty... so back to isaac's with me... i'm now hosting so, it's fewer hours but severely easier...

so my sister's graduation was last night... it was super long (500+ kids)... the class's salutatorian is going to penn state (and something of a friend of mine), gave a great speech and afterwards i invited him to party with us sometime... also wanted me to become famous enough to give a commencement speech, since i think we all know that i won't be doing one because of my grades...

yea...

I'M SUCH A WUSS!!!


*smacks head into wall*

when it rains, it pours

the thunderstorm has killed our cable thus preventing the viewing of the end of game 7 and the spelling bee... and yet it hasn't killed our cable... i dunno what's going on, but as long as i have at least one form of entertainment i'm not going to complain...

yesterday, i gave up in my job search mainly to appease my mother and e-mailed my manager... she however was not appeased and had me apply to ups, i got a crpytic message at the end of the online application process leading me to believe that they didn't want me... but lo and behold, they called me this evening to have me tour the facilities... this was after several rounds of e-mails with my manager discussing my work there... maybe i can work two jobs... we'll see, depends on what shift i get at ups (if they take me of course)... we shall see...

meanwhile... i'm looking for my first trip to new hope this weekend... should be, ummm... interesting...

so, apparently i shouldn't demand comments anymore

so this past weekend i visited mer in the 'burgh (people still have trouble with this concept, *sigh*)... it was def a good time... i took the train out (my dad was convinced this was the best way to do it, and when he gets like that it's best not to argue with him)... took me 5 hours and was actually rather pleasant, that is if i don't think that i could be in london in those same 5 hours... mer and laurel picked me up from the station (laurel had driven out that day, and actually got stuck in a little traffic)... that night we went to a place called fuel and something (i can't remember) for dinner and then chilled in mer's ghetto apartment as we decided what we wanted to do that night... laurel didn't want to go out, the dvd player wasn't working and so we decided we would just sit tight and go to bed... the next day i woke at 12 to find the girls chatting in the kitchen... i was talked into going to a place called cafe lulu's for breakfast/lunch, only when we showed up did i figure out that this was a chinese place (not such a big fan of chinese), i had some fried rice... then it was into the car to go shopping... bah... though i'll give them credit they really only stopped in at express and the gap... so it wasn't too bad... we spent the next 3 hours seeing the davinci code... which wasn't too terribly bad... (could have been done better in my opinion)... then dinner at tgi fridays (an exclusively pittsburgh expirience, i know)... back to mer's apartment for some chilling and uno and duckhunt and a raspberry flavored beverage that i haven't had since school ;-) woke at 1130 the next day, packed up, had a lovely breakfast prepared by mer and then it was off to the train station for the trip home... which was more comfortable, but much longer, since once we crossed the susquehanna the train went at like 3 mph, for what reason, i know not... a good weekend overall... i thank mer and laurel!!...

- Silliness -

** NOTICE!! By reading this you are under obligation to post a comment!**

I know it might sound bitchy or whatever, but I like the feedback. Please don't say "Wow, really good" or "This sucks." If you think something, tell me but also say why! I don't care if you are a complete stranger, it might be even better cause you won't be afraid to hurt my feelings. Don't worry if you don't have a blogger account, you can post anonymously (but you can also choose to leave your name in the post so I know you left it). With that: enjoy!

***

Aw, man. How long is it going to keep raining like this?

The nice button up shirt that he had picked out especially for today had soaked through and was now starting to cling to his back. It wasn’t anything special, like the man wearing it. It was a good shirt, slick with vertical blue and white stripes, didn’t fit too tight. Wearing it made him feel comfortable.

“Ketchup, relish, and the mustard on the side.”

Damnit! Remember when they used to make these things purely out of meat and not this fake vitamin-healthy shit?

“Oh, and some coffee.”

This early, he needed the extra kick that caffeine offered. He knew he would regret it later when he tried to sleep.

He smirked: “Keep the change.”

The joke was that he always paid with exact change. He knew what he was going to buy, what it cost and kept the appropriate amount of money on hand. For any unexpected purchases, as rare as they were, a handful of bits of metal, seemingly worthless aside from the likeness of long dead men etched into their sides, were always within easy reach.

One of these uncommon purchases was being used, in vain, to block the drenching rain. With a name like The Oceanside Informer, he found himself picturing clear waters, feeling soft sand and a cool breeze, sipping on some bizarre drink with the cliché, tacky and rather delightful mini umbrella.

If only this image was something even remotely close to being true, then he wouldn’t be walking down this crowded street on this dark early morning munching on God-knows-what-anymore with his shirt clinging to his back and a newspaper held above his head.

Why was Denver such a shithole this time of year? It had been raining for three – no, four days straight now.

The thing was disintegrating in his hands and his shoulder was sore from holding it over his head. The newspaper hit the other undesired items in the trashcan with a satisfying THWACK! There would be a copy sitting on his desk when he got to his office; hopefully it would be a bit drier than his last one.

Now entirely exposed to the elements, he furrowed his eyebrows to keep the rain out of his eyes. He hated having to do this since it made him look angry; not the look he wanted to give off as he glanced at the ladies passing him on the sidewalk.

Perhaps a nice friendly smile to counter the menacing eyebrows?

It came out as more of a smirk and from the look on their faces he decided instead to study the various cracks and lines in the sidewalk that lead to his office. By altering his pace he could avoid stepping on any of the divisions between the slabs of concrete. The boredom of having walked this stretch for what seemed like his whole life found him doing this often.

The Boss had a client today, didn’t he?

The side alley was dark and gloomy, smelled strange too. Walking back here to the side entrance always made him feel uncomfortable, but his directions were clear: the Boss hated interruptions while he had potential buyers.

The business of selling humans was nothing new in town. It required a degree of skill on the part of the seller. Part of the talent is in the creation of a trusting relationship between the buyer and seller. This was, after all, a dangerous business to be in and if there was no trust there was no business. This atmosphere was destroyed when he barged into a meeting between his Boss and a huge buyer. The Boss had been furious. From then on he was not allowed to go through the front door on days when the boss was with clients.

While he hated this kind of treatment, one never talked back to the Boss. He took shit from no one. He could recall that once a politician from the surrounding islands thought that he should get a special “government discount.” He had unknowingly insulted the Boss when arguing for said discount. The loss of his earlobe made him see reason and accept the Boss’s terms.

The Boss had taught him, amongst other things, how to handle hotshot clients. Things like handling the money and finances were easily learned though quite boring. The more interesting lessons always dealt with the power aspects of this business. With the Boss as his mentor, he had learned all the elements of this business, even taking part in some of them himself.

Reaching for his keys his mind wandered… families being separated, a mother clinging desperately to her child… struggling just to have her own flesh and blood for a few moments longer… pleading, crying, screaming, begging and begging and begging… her resistance to the man holding her back… scratching, clawing any bit of him that presented itself as a target… the THUD! of his fist meeting her face causing her to crumple to the floor… the temporary pain in his hand was quickly forgotten as the ecstasy of power flooded his mind… the competing sounds of the child’s sobbing next to its mother and the laughter of the men who found humor in their evil task.

The smirk was back. A chuckle escaped the back of his throat and out through his mouth. It grew to an uncontrolled laugh then slowly subsided. He stopped.

But the laughter didn’t.

“Who’s there? What do you want?”

More laughter.

His breathing was becoming staggered and his eyes were scanning every inch of the dark rainy alley for the source of the carrying on. It yielded no answers. It was dark and soggy. There were dumpsters filled with all sorts of things, most of them unpleasant. The heavy raindrops hammered off their metal forms. Something in the sound was making him feel so vulnerable, like he was six years old again, in an alley such as this.

“Your worst nightmare. Justice.”

“Wha- What?” What the hell was this guy talking about? “What the hell are you talking about?”

Whoever he was, this chump had him by the throat in the blink of an eye. CRACK! He fell to the ground, splashing in a puddle, his nose broken. His assailant stood above him, staring at him. Staring through him. He could see, even through the rain, the anger, the fire burning in his eyes. His adversary squatted down next to him, offered him a soaking handkerchief to clean up some of his blood, then reached into his pocket for something. He couldn’t see what it was with his eyes full of stars, but next he felt a prick in his shoulder, and the world slipping away…

Who are you? Do you know who you are messing with?

so... what have i been doing for the last few days?

well... not all that much worth mentioning... just a lot of sleeping and putzing... the sleeping part is getting really bad though... like i've seen the crack of dawn these past 3 days... not good... so the alarm clock got busted out last night, and my wake up time will now be noon to start me getting tired earlier so i go to bed earlier... or that's the plan anyways...

yesterday i mowed the lawn and today i mulched a bit... i'll mulch some more tomorrow... i'm nearly done with the second season of er, and that's the last season the library has so that addiction will die off shortly... which is good, cause then i might do more productive things in my spare time like writing (i know i've posted about writing in like all of these posts, and you are all like stfu and just write... so maybe i will :-p)...

in the meantime, i've been reading 2001: a space odyssey and now i suppose i should watch the movie again and see if it makes anymore sense, i imagine it will... but it's interesting how the book was written after the movie... perhaps just to explain that incredibly odd movie

we don't need no stinkin' titles...

i really need to work on my sleep schedule... these days i go to bed at like 4 and get up at like 2... not the best thing in the world, i know... i partially blame it on my addiction to er and my wanting to talk to friends online... like for most of the evening i talk to jordan and whoever else is on, she stays up till like 12ish or 1ish, and then steff shows up, lol... mainly cause i miss her when she gets on earlier in the evening... so she stays on for another hour and goes to be at around 2ish... and so i'm like, oi i really wanna watch er, cause it's soooo good... so i do, then it's 3ish... then i'm like i need to read before in order to get to bed, so i do... and it turns out to be 4ish... yea...

i'm thinking this will change when i get a job, and speaking of which i went out and applied to kohl's and the caddyshack today... we'll see where that goes, and if it doesn't i'll give up and go back to isaac's...

i tell you, i love the girls from home... i played risk (which i always own at) with mlee, vicki, and miller last night (i owned once again, sorry mlee)... it was good fun, aside from some of the drama and indecisivness that ensued (but that's to be expected with girls :-P)...

tonight i'm giving joe a ride to hershey where he's playing at a coffee shop out there, i'm surprised no one else is going, for all the time before he starts maybe i'll take a book or my story to work on, since with all this spare time you'd think i'd work on it more, but i guess not (slacker)...

too much laundry and free time...

so these days i really don't do much, but according to steff there is always something to write about... i'm still hooked on the first season of er, sooooo gooooood... mmm... i'm totally buying it so everyone can witness this next year... this also reminds me that i'm going to miss the currently reading/watching thing on xanga... bah...

this past weekend i went to the burgh to visit my nana and pap-pap for mother's day... it amounted to about 6 hours in the car... but what bothered me the most about this was that when i told people that i was going to the burgh they didn't understand, they thought i meant harrisburg or something... i'd like to point out that pittsburgh has an H at the end of it, making it different from any other burg... not to be an ass, but the city just won its 5th super bowl and it demands respect, bitches!!

with all the spare time i have, i should really get back to writing, you would think the compliments i've gotten would motivate me... i dunno, my writing style kinda sucks on it, i have no idea where it is going so it takes me for forever to get the next bit of the story done... and plus there are things like er and talking to people online to distract me, and i should probably be working on cleaning my room and such... someday i may finish...

giving blogger a go...

so i suppose i'm jumping off the xanga ship and trying out the whole blogger thing... hardly anyone is on xanga anymore (must have been a high school thing with most of my friends) and most people i know these days are either here or on livejournal (i like blogger better), though blogger is *smidge* more complicated than xanga i suppose i'll put up with it, for now...

things i think i'll miss about xanga: smilies! where they hell are they here????, clicking one button and seeing all the posts i normally check, that, however was only for xangas so the fact that there weren't so many to check after a while kinda doesn't make that so useful, kudos and such! they were fun even if there was no point to them... customizeability, even though the templates here are nifty, i still liked being able to change my own colors and such... oh well

not like i post on these things all that much regardless of where it is, but yea... i'm here so, yea...

Boxes still fill my room...

so... yea, is it sad that i kinda like mowing the lawn? i mean aside from the fact that i sweat quite a bit and it is hard work... it's sort of meditative... you keep going round and round with music in your ears... plus you get out the sun for a bit and whatever you drink afterwards always tastes really good... so yea... i mowed the lawn today, first time of many, maybe my thoughts on it will change by the end of the summer... but whatev...

i watched the first two shows of er (borrowed the first season from the library), such a good show... but yea, then i got together with joe, shaffer, mon and allie to go to see dc united play the city islanders at cv... (still waiting for other non-penn staters to come home)... it was a good game, nice to see some soccer (football, :-P) and chill... i got out of the house today which was nice... now i just have to start being productive, probably by getting rid of some of these boxes... oi...