Crappy times.

Hi kids. Sorry for the lack of posting. You know the story.

Things have been a tad sucky lately.

Last week I was on the phone with my mom while at my friend Bil's house. As we were talking, I asked how my grandfather (my mom's dad) had been. I knew that he'd been having some heart troubles since late October. Things aren't looking so hot for him right now. All but one of his arteries are seriously clogged. He has two options, the last I knew. He could either continue on with his heart medication and he'd have a year or two left. Or, he could try getting open heart surgery. If he survives that, which is only a 50/50 chance, he'd have five or six more years. We also don't know right now whether the surgery would be paid for. He wants the surgery, because if he survives, he has plenty of time. If not, he doesn't suffer. I was in a separate room from everyone else at the time. As my mom was talking, I started to cry, but I was keeping pretty good control. Soon, I just started sobbing. I couldn't help it. I love my Grampa; he's an extraordinary man. I understand that he's in his mid eighties, and has led a great life, but I'm just not ready for him to go so suddenly. I just want my Grampa.

Oh fuck damnit all, Chris lost his keys. I'm already pretty overwhelmed, I don't want to deal with much more. I technically have a paper I should be writing. So on and so forth.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, I accidentally left my keys and flash drive in a computer in a computer lab on campus. (Not the main one.) I realized this during the evening. I go to the lab, it's locked. The next day, I go in there, and all that's left are my keys. No freaking flash drive. This flash drive has all of my writing from high school on it, and I really hate to think of what's happened to it. I'd almost rather not have my keys but have the flash drive. I'd gladly pay for my dorm and mail keys. I could get another set of house keys. But I can't get back four years of writing, plus additional stuff done outside of writing and high school. I've cried about it, been furious about it, and now I'm just left to my pitiful sulking.

(Chris found his keys, the lucky ass.)

I think today I lost my favorite purple fuzzy hat. I want to say it was a Chanukah gift. I think I lost it after French or Sociology. Checked by the rooms, nothing to be found. I can only hope that someone picked it up for me, or that I left it in the office that I hang out in. It's pretty much the warmest hat I own, also the one with the most character. Bil said it's the one I was wearing when we met. I just want it back. My head's cold, and I'm already sad.

I auditioned for the next 20 Cent Fiction show. We're doing "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead". I failed epically. I haven't auditioned for a real show in a WHILE. I was really nervous, I stuttered, and I lost my place in the monologue. Looking back, I don't even think I was that professional. I can only hope that some kind of good word was put in for me. I doubt it, though.

Going upstairs and crying quietly to myself sounds nice right now, but as per usual, I have to push on. I have a paper to bullshit through.

Happy Chanukah.

More later,
~*The Pie

The internet still thinks I'm ugly.

This isn't me whining. I've made my peace. I just wanted to showcase a few more instances.

I'm sorry if you find the content of some of these links disturbing and/or offending. This is not my work.

A drawing, a photoshop, and a whole bunch of posts (old).

So, the saga continues.

In my personal life, things are still going fine. Chris and I have been together for two years and five months. I'm nearing the end of my first semester in college. I'm working on scheduling my classes for next semester. Work is still entertaining.

I'm just never around.

More later,
~*The Pie

I went home.

Howdy kids! How's it goin'? Enjoying the weather? The weather was freakin' CRAPPY all day.

Nick and I went to CT today. We got out of the car at my house, and it looked even darker and gloomier than usual. It was great to see my dogger! I ♥ my dog. I missed her like crazy. She's just as stupid as ever. I picked up some stuff at my house, like another pillow, a bottom to one of my bathing suits, et cetera. My mom gave me a little gargoyle dude, for some reason. And $20. I proceeded to blow the money on a tub of honey shisha (flavored tobacco for a hookah), and Chinese food for Nick and me.

Nick got the lease to the apartment he's moving into in Connecticut in January. I'm pretty happy for him. We went out for the Chinese with a couple of his friends.

We made our way back home. We were listening to a Bruins game, and apparently one of their really good players is hella injured. I'm checking his condition as we speak. OK, he's in the hospital, and he has a concussion and broken nose. Thank God. The man is 22 years old. The way they were talking about him on the radio, it sounded like he was gonna be paralyzed somehow. I hope his recovery goes well.

I gave Chris and Dan another $20 so they could get coals for the hookah. They're out there now getting 'em.

Chris is planning on getting "The Orange Box", a boxed set of three amazing computer games. There's Half Life 2 (correct me on this, if I need to be, I'm not sure if that's the official, whole title), Team Fortress 2 which I REALLY wanna play, and of course, the amazing Portal. Portal is ridiculously cool and incredible. The concept is fresh, the graphics are pretty good, the game has a sense of humor. It's just a tad too short, from what I'm told. I don't see myself playing it, but I do enjoy watching it. Team Fortress 2 is an online war game thing, but it's very cartoony. The trailers, character profiles, which I can't seem to find now, are amazing and want to make me play.

I'mma play 2D Flash Portal and eat some pie. The guys took the wrong exit, ha ha.

IF YOU'RE IN THE AREA, COME SEE ROCKY HORROR AT UMASS DARTMOUTH ON OCT. 31st THROUGH NOV. 3!!! $7 GENERAL ADMISSION!

More later,
~*The Pie

A quick one (before she's away).

I don't know what a Johari window is. Just... try it.

http://kevan.org/johari?name=deathslushie This is to add to it.

http://kevan.org/johari?view=deathslushie This is to view it.

I finally got my huge check. =) Huzzah!

I bought Cooking Mama for the DS, and it is awesome.

I'm busy every night it seems, but I've really been enjoying it. =D

However, I miss my online friends like whoa. I always have something to do or somewhere to be that takes me away from them. =/

Ah well. I still love everyone.

More later,
~*The Pie

The crap I've dealt with in from 1-2.

Howdy kids! How's it rollin'? Spiffy.

I just went through a whole ton of crap. ><;

As you read in my last entry, I work in the conference office here on campus. It's where I am right now! (No phone calls, so hey, free time.) Anyway, it's a job. I'm gettin' paid, sucka. So last Friday, I knew my first paycheck would be issued. I went down there on Friday, and sure enough, bam, paycheck. But something was off about it.

I came here the week before classes started to do paid training. I believe I had to fill out paperwork to get a stipend. I was told I was going to receive a heinously nice amount of money. (As a gentlewoman, I shall not mention how much.) I was anticipating this money pretty hard, 'cause there are things I want to buy. Need to buy. Sneakers, bathing suit, Cooking Mama for the DS, and I owe Chris some money. So y'know, I need the check.

Well, Friday I went down to the place where I pick up my check, and I get one. I open it, and it is for surprisingly less than what I expected. Where the hell is my stipend? I wanted to get into contact with a coworker of mine, but it slipped my mind.

I asked that coworker today, and she told me that she had gotten hers at the place where we were supposed to pick them up. I thought, "I went to get my check on 4:30 on Friday, maybe the kid who got my check overlooked my other one." My boss let me go over to the place where we get our checks, and it wasn't there. I went to the payroll office, and they said it was either sent to my house or sent to my dorm.

My mom called me Sunday night to check in. She told me what mail I had. Nothing for me from UMass. The check must be in my mailbox.

For some time I've been trying to open up my mailbox with my dorm key. No one ever told me I was supposed to have a mail key. I never received one when I checked in. My roommate has hers. I went back to my dorm and asked my roommate if she could get me into mine, and she told me about the mail key.

I went downstairs to the RA's office. No RAs. I went to the RD's office. The RD was in a meeting, but told me that he doesn't deal with mail anyway. Great!

On my way back to work (oh yeah, I was clocked in this whole time.), I called my mom to double check. On the main road to my office, maybe 2/3 of the way there, I realize I don't have my freaking UMass Pass. That thing gets me into my building, and food in the residents cafeteria. I need it. I started walking back to my dorm. I called my roomie, and asked her if she saw it on my desk. She said no, so I asked if she could let me in. I looked for it on the way back, didn't see it. I go to the mail counter in the lobby, 'cause in the past I've set it down there. Not there. I go to the dorm, not there. I go back out, and the desk attendant was like, "Hey, having trouble?" I explained the check and the key to her, and then the UMass Pass thing. She had my pass. I dropped it, so they gave it to her. Thank God.

This all happened over the span of an hour, and when I got back to my office, I was jittery and shot. I got a phone call, but nothing in my voice gave me away. Then the captain of the police force on campus came in and started teasing me. He is a large man. He was very close to me, and was asking me why I was cowering. Hello? I'm not in the right mindset, and he's huge. He's the kind of guy who doesn't let men give women any crap, though. He said, "When a man starts getting close to you, take care of business" or something like that. Gahhhh.

The rest of my time has been fine, and I'm being shooed out.

More later,
~*The Pie

College life.

Howdy kids! I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. I have been all kinds of ridiculously busy with starting school and work.

The week before classes started, I had work training. Two days with campus services, and three days with my office, the conference office. The campus was very quiet and pleasant. The kids that were there were there because they were international, on sports teams, or there for the leadership symposium that my friend was running. Very, very quiet. That's how I generally like things.

My job in the conference office is pretty alright. Take phone calls, book rooms, make copies, and when the time comes, file things. I don't mind that too hard. My only problem is that my hearing somewhat sucks, so when people call, I occasionally have to have them repeat things, and they get irritated. I'm also forgetful. I need to write the following on a sticky for myself,

Full Name
Organization
How many people/what room
Time
Special requests
Number

I always forget one of those, and I feel like such a jerk for it. It takes away from my performance, and I can't stand it.

I work Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-4. I sit at the front desk in the office, usually reading stuff on Something Awful. *shrug*

A week ago I went to see Jimmy Buffett with my buddy Paul and some of his friends. It was a unique experience. There were a few firsts and hopefully lasts that night, but I won't go into detail. Hopefully, someday, looking back, I'll write it off as a learning experience.

Man, Ben Folds is good music to be wistful to.

Anyway.

I'm taking five classes. Biology, English, French, Sociology, and Psychology. None of my professors have outright impressed me, but I don't hate any of them. Four out of five know what they're talking about. But the one that doesn't seem to know what she's doing makes me dread for the class. Eh, I dread for that class anyway. =/

My homework's manageable for the moment. I can't complain. A lot of reading, mostly, but it's interesting.

For the last three nights in a row, I've been smoking from the hookah, and it's been crazy. Very enjoyable. We have raspberry, cola, and spearmint flavored shishas. (Shisha is flavored tobacco, not a cannabinoid. It's completely legal, fun, and delicious.)

That's pretty much everything for now.

More later,
~*The Pie

The Aquabats!

They put on another friggin' amazing concert. They never fail, I swear. They're always energetic and fun.

But, even better, I wore my Bat Pie costume. (I'll uh, link it or something when I'm on the lappy.) Once I was in full costume and in the Avalon, I was getting handshakes and high fives. I was AWESOME, my friends. Hopefully, with ever person I made hand contact with, it will spread the love and caring that Bat Pie promotes. [/smarm] Truly though, I felt important and respected as someone awesome, not just myself. It was amazing.

Even more amazing was where I was during The Aquabats' set! Our group sneakity sneaked its way to the front but on the right (stage left). I stood on some stairs the whole time, but was in perfect view of the band 'cept Ricky Fitness. (Given. Drum kit in the way.) But! Best of all, I could make clear eye contact with Jimmy the Robot, and oh how I did. We made plenty of eye contact during the show. He was making happy little comments throughout the show, too. Friggin' amazing.

To top it all, though, Andie (Chris' younger sister) and I tooooootally shook hands with Jimmy! *fangasm* (Andie and I are pretty sure it was him, at least. Too small to be Crash, no mustache.) Seriously, after the show, there was some kind of exchange that I forgot, but he passed by us and shook our hands. I think he liked my costume. :D Most people did. I just wish I could've spread my word more. Ish. Brief encounters, what can I do.

I kinda wish I could send The Aquabats! an e-mail saying that Bat Pie thanks them, and to buy Chris Partida (the guy working the merch table) many, many beers for putting up with people after the show. I said to my Chris, "I love concerts, everyone's a big family!" and this guy said, "And I'm the angry stepfather." I couldn't help but laugh. This guy deserves a beer or some show of gratitude. I wish I had more time to just like, hug this guy or something.

I'm on a mission to be nicer to working folk. They appreciate it more when they deal with friendly, compliant customers.

After, five of us, myself included, went to Uno's. (My first time there.) It was good! The hostess recognized that we just went to see The Aquabats! and said she wished she could have gone. Totally unexpected! She also said that her boyfriend would be pissed that he missed it. Well, after dinner, we passed by her. She said she talked to her boyfriend, and he said he was disappointed that I wasn't wearing a purple suit under my cape. I apologized. :P

Dinner was good. Beer battered onion rings, some of Chris' crab 'n shrimp fondue, some potato, some nacho, and some "deep-dish" ice cream. (A cookie baked in a deep-dish pan topped with a scoop of ice cream. Holy crap.)

I have more stories about before getting there, but I wanna go upstairs, watch some "Futurama", play Big Brain Academy, and unwind.

All in all, tonight was an astounding night.

More later,
~*Pie

Torturously sick.

I feel like I'm on the verge of throwing up. My stomach is really acting up. My back is sore. I really want to go back to sleep, and get some good rest for the rest of the day, but it sounds like a distant dream. I sat in front of the toilet, and I felt a little better, though nothing happened. I move away from it, I instantly feel ill. OH MAN. I just remembered Chris has nausea tabs on top of his fridge. Lemme look.

La famille keeps a bunch of medicines up on top of their fridge, and I remember his mom telling me that they would be up there for future reference. Holy crap, I don't know if I've ever felt more relieved about that. Urf, the box says to take two tablets. I'm gonna see how one feels. They're cherry and slightly disgusting, but this is far from the worst I could be doing about it.

I wished I had known about these tablets a long time ago. I have so many nausea problems with my stomach. :( It's probably part of why I'm so thin. I've been better in recent years, but you can still feel my ribs too easily. (But now we can't see them!)

Got distracted. I'm feeling a little better.

I'm going to see The Aquabats! tonight. :) Glee!

More later,
~*Pie

Home.

Yesterday I left my house for the last time. (Well, OK, not really, but the last time that it's where I live. Ya dig?) I'm in Massachusetts for good. :) I move into my dorm on Sunday. Strangely, no one's told me ANYTHING about moving in, and I'm hella worried. I need to look into this for myself. No one's telling me things. :(

The last couple of days were spent packing and taking care of some last minute stuff. I got a state ID (non-driver) and checking account. I got a fish vase, some gravel, and a fake plant. (I'm getting a male Betta fish and naming him Orbit.) I got a pair of boots for the eventual rain and snow. They're extremely comfy.

Packing sucks. I've forgotten so many things. Nail clippers, my manners book, Chris' George Carlin book, prom pictures (for Chris and me), my digital camera, my video camera, my razer, all kinds of miscellaneous crap. I packed my contacts, I'll need the fluid. I don't remember whether I packed my college journal into my backpack. I need more pencils and pens. (That's on me, I guess.) Just enough to bug me. So I have to call my mom and have her look into some of this stuff. So much of what I packed was clothing. I never really considered myself being bad about having too much clothing, but oh my God! I think I filled four boxes. T-shirts, blouses, tank tops, night shirts, shorts, jeans, skirts, socks, underwear, robes, etc. I just remembered I forgot to pack my underwear, bras, and a swimsuit. Cripes. Jeez, when I call my mom, I'm going to have to look back here. (Note to self: Simpsons book.)

My brother sent me off right. I spent a few hours with his friends. My friends here welcomed me right. Hookah! We smoked kiwi and mint chocolate. I think I might have smoked more of the mint chocolate. (NTS: Shower puff) Last night, I was literally laying on the floor, smoking by myself from the hookah. Chris and our friend Derek went outside, Alex and Kevin were on the computer or something. We all ended up watching Brad Neely cartoons on www.superdeluxe.com. Seriously, check them out. They are REALLY funny. I'd say, though, don't watch it if you're under 13. There is a lot of swearing and inappropriate stuff. (See: Bible History #1.)

Tomorrow night, a bunch of us are going to see The Aquabats! I'm so excited. It's my second time seeing them. I'm going in costume, as Bat Pie. I can't stress it enough, I'm really excited. It's going to rock. (NTS: Tooth brush and flosser, pinstripe jacket, ties) Oh no, I'm stuck writing in a different color. Crap. Sorry kids.

I gotta go wake up Chris anyway.

More later,
~*Pie

Good news and bad news.

Howdy! Aren't you just amazed that I'm updating my blog again so soon? I am.

Well, that's because I have news! I'll give you the bad news first.

I'm ill! I don't have a fever, and I'm not vomiting, so that's cool. Still, I'm on an antibiotic and today's just been uncomfortable. I'm hella capable, I just don't want to be on my laptop. So I've been on my dad's computer a little. Playing Puzzle Pirates helps take my mind off of the pain. Also, of course, I've been checking my facebook almost religiously. Anyway, I'll be feeling fine by the end of the week. :)

Now for the good news!

I got my real housing information! I'm in a cool residence hall. There are balconies, and they might be open! And my roommate and I might have one! I think that would be pretty awesome. I also got information about who my roommate is. She doesn't have a facebook, and I don't know what her e-mail is! Thankfully they include her phone number. I'm guessing it's her house number. Ah well. So I think I'll give her a call tomorrow, if I can. We need to talk about like, who's bringin' what, and whether she snores, stuff like that. I'm wondering when she'll get the information about me, though. Hm. I also feel bad that she'll have to call long distance to talk to me. So I'll probably call her. I'm excited. :)

I'm going camping this weekend. My mom and I are going out to the campsite on Saturday, and coming back Sunday. I get to sleep in the van! :D Seriously, there's no way in hell I'm sleeping in a hot little camper with my two parents snoring all ding-damned night. So I'll sleep in my dad's van, and listen to music to fall asleep. I've done it before, and aside from the fact that it's hella cramped, I'll be fine.

Wow, I let this go for a while. Whoops.

Well then.

More later,
~*Pie