Excitement

This week has been by far much better emotionally. Monday was crappy, but not as crappy as the past two weeks, so I'm recovering nicely. After all, it was only four months. I'm now realizing somethings that are helping.
Besdies my new shoes (!) there are a few things I'm excited about:

1. Pioneering!!!!!! I've been looking forward to this for about two years, and now it's going to happen. I turned in my application and I was a little discouraged because you have to apply for it and I don't have too much self-esteem... I was talking with my car group yesterday about it. They were all very supportive and Deborah Clasky has been nothing but excited for three weeks. This morning I went to take breakfast to the pioneer school and I met a sister that I think may become my best friend. She's barely a year older than me and we have tons in common. (Truthfully, I went because it was rumored there were young brothers there and I was scoping them out. Not hopeful for those three.) A sister in my hall is going this time and I told her that I turned in my application and she yelled "THAT'S WONDERFUL!" So, needless to say, their excitement is getting me pshyced.
2. School. I've finally decided what I want to do and mom said that she can pull some strings for a job when I finish. Seeing as how I'm going to a tech school, all I have to do is finish the classes I've got (4) and then there's only one more! That means I could meet my goal and gradute before I'm 19. That makes me happy.
3. I'm getting a car! Wouldn't that make you excited?
4. The Bourne Ultimatum. End of story.

Topic for discussion #87

Yes, I should be working but this is seriously the first time I've been in the office and acutally been able to stay in here for a little while without suffocating. The upstairs AC went on the fritz Friday I believe, and the guy fit us in today. It's absolutely freezing up here. Now 70 degrees isn't "freezing," but when I had gotten used to dealing with the upstairs being 87 degrees, I had to switch to pants and a sweatshirt until I get used to it again. Of course, the downstairs hasn't quit the whole time, so at least you could go downstairs to breath and it chilled off nicely Friday and Sunday evenings after the rain, so it wasn't unbearable- at least for me. Dad and I were the only ones that slept upstairs though. (My parents' room is on the first floor. He switched with Mehsha.) So, before I get to work, I'm going to blog about something that I've wanted to blog about for almost a week now.

I believe I was getting my daily dose of CNNHLN Wednesday when they ran this story about an Ohio woman who was upset about what it said on the side of her Starbucks cup. I assume most of you have seen the whole story or heard part of it, but she's a real idiot. To stop drinking Starbucks just because of a silly little quote is stupid. The quote that upset this woman read:

Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for
strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well
be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves
for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the
catastrophes we need to endure.

It's attributed to Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario. I think almost eveyone that reads this has had a cup of Starbucks coffee with one of these sayings on the side. In fact, P. June actually blogged about one that she got a while ago. This woman is all upset because of the atheistic opinions expressed on the side of the cup. She's quoted as saying:

As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that. I
don't think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee.

For pete's sake! If you just want a cup of coffee, buy the beans and brew it at home! And P.S.- woman there are plenty of independent coffee companies that just have plain white cups and their emblem printed on the side of the cup jacket, a la Jittery Joes (but of course, those are just an Athens thing). Just incase you haven't noticed, you're doing exactally what the purpose of those quotes on the side of the cups are supposed to do: spark discussion. It was funny because on CNNHLN they showed a clip of the PR person for Starbucks saying that the cup has done it's job, sparked discussion. Tricia Moriarty, the PR person, said that they are not the opinions of the Starbucks company. Hell-O! How could they be the opinions? They've had so many comments that are on boths sides of the issues (religious, political, etc), that's just whacked to accuse them of supporting this opinion. The Ohio offended woman (Stu Pid-Idiot) said that she wasn't going to buy Starbucks anymore. It won't stop me, and I definitely don't agree with this guy's comments, even though I know I'm paying more for all the fancy stuff written on the side of the cup, but sometimes you just gotta have a cup of Starbucks and nothing seems to compare. Yeah, they're really hurting if they lose $4 a day from one coffee drinker. I think Poly will more than make up for what she's not going to be drinking anymore.

OK, just had to rant and rave for a moment. Been holding that in. Back to work.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55564
http://www.wlwt.com/family/13274910/detail.html
http://www.daytondailynews.com/r/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/06/ddn050607cup.html

Confusion and the 3rd degree

Today was confusion day. Even the Cheat has been out of it. Right now, I was supposed to be at my Oliveparents'. Well, plans changed and I'm still at home. Tomorrow, I have to be at my Oliveparents because I have a concert that I'm going to. Not quite sure how I'm getting there. I'm feeling odd about this trip. It's been about two months since I've made a trip to Atlanta. Now, it's not that I'm not looking forward to going. Far from it. I've got an awesome day lined up for tomorrow. A fresh full helping of Tori and the Posse in the morning, a drive to Stone Mountain, and I'll top off the day by blowing out my ear drums by Arcade Fire. What could be more exciting? Then Friday, my craving for Thai rice will be fulfilled! Followed by some shopping (I need new black heels and flats) still with Eas, and ended with some of the best Turkish food ever to grace A'retta. I can't wait. Not sure how I'm getting home after my soiree with my ATL gang, but that doesn't matter to me right now. I just know there's no way that I'm skipping out on any of it. Meeting and grocery shopping Wednesday. Saturday/Thursday, I'll fit in a book study. Meeting Sunday. Home next Monday. I'll be with my Oliveparents'. Thing is, I know I haven't been in a while, but I'm having some mixed feelings about this visit. When I was packing last night, I just wasn't into it, and that's not like me. Part of it is, I don't want to leave Andy, which is pretty stupid because 1.) I'm not breaking up with him, 2.) it's natural to miss him, and 3.)we've been apart for a week before. Something about this trip though seems like I'm betraying him. Lately, it's felt like I am living two lives in two different places. There's the one out here and the one there. Somehow, I have to merge them without feeling...poser? wannabe? fake? High school drama. *sigh* I asked for it.

This story has high popularity rankings right now in the real world, so here's exposing it to the blog world. Last Sunday I went to my lost aunt's house and watched Buffy and Howdy Doody while she and her mom worked in the front yard and her dad, Andy, and Biscuit worked in the backyard putting together a playset for the kids. The orgininal plans has been rescheduled from a previous Sunday, so I was unsure if my invitation still stood since I played a less important role in the outworking of the plans. After the meeting, I found out that i was still invited and I asked mom pronto. She asked if the boys were still going to be there. It was right before that time of the month for me, so my temper was shorter than usual. I said, "I don't know," just as my "whatever" answer. Mom says, "You know they're still going over there. You just lied to me." So I was still granted permission to go, but when I got home, my punishment was issued. My keys were going to be taken away from me for a week. I served my time, since I knew it wasn't for that one time. (I with held information from teh previous month and slid by with a talking to and they were a lot worse than just a dsgruntled whatever answer.) It wasn't too bad, and I think it put a cramp more in mom's life than mine because Mehsha and I did things. Still, I served my time and received my keys today. Jeepie and I went to get the oil changed. Better than nothing. I do love driving.

Friday, I went to go see a movie. I was half watching the previews, but still couldn't help but notice how many sequels and "thirds" are coming out this summer. Some, I can't wait to see. Others, I'll go see for necessity's sake. Then there are the ones and you can't imagine who even thought to resurrect the original concept- much less a third time!
I do want to see:

• Spiderman 3- I liked the first two and I'm sure I won't be disappointed in this one, except it looks gawd-awful long.
• The Bourne Ultimatum- Oh how long I've waited! All the elements that an action movie needs, plus Matt Damon. I can't wait to see how they top the chase scene from Supremacy.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End- Finally the second one will make sense! This one you can't resist.

Not too keen on, but will probably see anyway:

• Shrek the Third- Just because of sequel law, and the fact that I'll probably have to take the kids I babysit
• Ocean's Thirteen- didn't really love the "Twelfth" one, but Andy wants to, so I'll probably see it with his family

WHY????????????:

• Rush Hour 3- How old is Jackie Chan? Like 60, right? Come on. You can watch the first two on tbs all the time, why waste your money to see the same movie just in a different setting?
• Resident Evil 3- OK, I didn't see the first two (obviously), so understandably, I wouldn't want to see a third.

Plain ol' sequels:

• Evan Almighty- Now, Steve Carell is awesome. This will probably be very funny. I'll most likely see this one.
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer- I'm not into comic book movies. Just Spidey. Didn't see the first one, so same theory goes for this one as resident evil.

All I have to say is I'm going to see a lot more than five movies this year.

While we're on the subject...

So the other two did posts about their addictions. I figure I better follow suit. First, though, a small update. I actually just got back from South Carolina yesterday. Surprise. It was only a suggestion on Tuesday, but by the time dad got Thursday off of work, I was having to frantically pack and move my piano lesson so that I could still have it. This was not a trip I wanted to take. Yes, I love my grandmother and I love seeing her. I even like the beach, but this trip wouldn't even meet the dislike category. All I could do was sleep, eat chocolate, and get incredibly carsick- all three are signs of something to come, which still hasn't arrived. It was just a sickening trip all around. I was so ready to come home.

My recent addiction involves television. I don't watch much of it in the first place, and even less of movies and such. I just don't have time for it. In recent quests to wake my brain up from this hibernation, I decided to start watching some television that might be considered more educational. Most of the time, I'm enjoying some mind sludge on vh1 or Mtv, with very little variation except for the office (if I'm home on a Thursday) and Beauty and the Geek on Wednesday nights, followed by some MythBusters occasionally. News has never been of interest to me. I preferred to be quite ignorant and if something stayed on the news long enough or was important enough, I'd hear about it eventually from dad or somebody. After I got home from that incident where I was without keys for about two hours (and obviously a mind for much longer), I decided I'd look into CNN for the sake of rejuvenating my brain. To start with, I tried the traditional CNN. That bored me in all of five minutes, so I went to CNN Headline News (abbreviated CNNHLN). For some reason, that channel grabbed me. It was perfect for me because you get all the top headlines in 30 minutes to an hour. Usually, I'm distracted while watching TV anyway, so this works well for me because if I have to go do something, I can still catch the latest guy who is claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole's baby or the next idiotic way to get yourself put in jail in the 30 minutes coming. It's slightly shameful that those topics make the Headline News, but it has to be entertaining and I think that's what drew me in; though it's that very reason that turns people off to news channels anyway. In my mind, there is no other way for me to get the news. And to think, I was always the first one to grab the remote and change it at Poly's if it was on CNNHLN...now it's basically the only channel I watch.

If I Only Had a Brain...

I'm completely exhausted right now. Today ended leaving me satisfied and happified, only after quite an ordeal. I just finished watching Pride and Prejudice (2005). I haven't read the book or completely seen any of the other adaptations, but I love love love this one.

On to the stupidest part of my day. Right now, I'm staying with my greenparents- after concert etiquette- and Papa was too ill to go to the meeting, and so I decided that I wanted to go to Easel's meeting. I got out of bed at 10 AM and proceeded to take my time going about Sunday morning rituals. I left Eas a voice message and a txt telling her to call me back. At almost 12 PM, she called me and said she would love for me to come to her meeting, especially since her parents had gone to East Griffin to give a talk and her brother would not have been able to sit with her. Quickly and excitedly, I got dressed and was ready to go. I should've noticed that I was more absent-minded than usual when I had made about 30 mental notes to get something to eat before I left and then proceeded to leave without getting even a nutri-grain bar. Directions from the Northridge exit in hand, I left the house and drove for my first time on 285. (Sunday morning was probably the best time for a first.) I made it there in a timely fashion and was 5 minutes early for her 1 PM meeting. Eas wasn't there when I got there and made it just in time for the song. We picked seats and enjoyed ourselves throughout the talk,(which DOES NOT mean that we chatted through the whole thing). Eas has problems with her blood sugar and she mentioned that she felt it was getting low and she had to go out to her car and get some crackers. This was about 30 minutes before the meeting ended. My tummy was rumbling too, so I picked up my purse to get some mints. In the process, I noticed that the pocket on my purse for my keys was very empty. They weren't in the big part either. All I could hope was that they were in the parking lot somewhere. I hurriedly went to go see and Eas joined me as I met her in the lobby on my way out. I got to jeepie to find all the doors and trunk locked, but I didn't see the keys. So I wandered around to the passenger seat and saw the keys... in the ignition. "Shart" was the only word that came to mind. I went back in feeling very distracted, but it didn't much matter because the brother went through probably 15 paragraphs in 30 minutes and I wouldn't have gotten much out of it anyway. At the immediate end of the meeting, I called my parents. The first phone call contained a VERY upset mom and dad, not only because I had locked the keys in the car, but because I had gone to Sandy Springs by myself. Once again, I lag in communication... or selective hearing. I'm gonna call it plain ol' absent-mindedness on my part- seriously. Dad decided that he would drive to come unlock the door. I didn't want him to have to drive 3 hours round trip just to unlock a car because I knew I would get hell once he got there, but to a less severe degree because he would have had lots of time to cool off. When they got to the house (dad was away giving a talk as well and they were at hospitality), dad called me and I told him to wait and see what a locksmith costs and that there was a brother in the congregation that thought he could do it. He was much cooler by that time and said calmly, to give him a call later. The young brother tried, and if I had automatic locks, I think it would have made it so much easier for every one that tried. He suggested to go to Pepboys and see if someone had a slim jim and could get into the car, since it was going to cost $55, plus labor for a locksmith. That didn't fly, so Eas, who stayed with me the whole time, in the cold, without a coat (I knew I picked a good friend 12 years ago), took me to Pepboys. OK, I think this was the most uncomfortable part of the ordeal. Two young girls in a Pepboys, in their skirts, looking quite lost in the first place. After standing around for about 15 minutes waiting for the head mechanic, the young lady at the desk said she'd get someone for us. Promptly, she did- thank goodness. We discussed it with the fellow and he said that it would be $40. I had that in my wallet and was throughly willing to pay it since he was very confident and had the tools in his hand to do the job. He followed us back to the Kingdom Hall and for about 30 minutes, tried the manual lock with a long metal stick. First, he tried the driver's side. Then we got out a mirror to help him see and not just have the two of us trying to help him out. From there, he switched to the passenger side with the long metal stick. He quickly abandoned that tool for the slim jim and within about 10 minutes, he had the door wide open. I was so happy I could've hugged him, but instead, I paid him extra, which he was probably much happier with. It's so frustrating to be so close and not to be able to get in! He was getting flustered too and seemed to be just as happy as Eas and I were to see the car open. The most embarassing part of it is... I just locked myself out of the car on Wednesday. The good thing about Wednesday was that the trunk was open and I just crawled in and unlocked the doors from that point. For about a month now, I've been very airy inbetween the ears. I've even restricted my tv watching to basically CNN and Discovery channel (and I've found I really like them both), but I'm not sure whats wrong. It was SO good to see that door open wide. The paint was coming off my nails and my hands were so chapped they were purple and my nose was a hot pink, but it still doesn't matter. I hopped in and blasted the stereo and the heat. Elated, I called my mom and dad, who were happy to hear that I was safe and had gotten into the car. Dad said he was sorry it cost me so much, and offered to reimberse me. I told him that there was no reason for him too because I was the one that locked the keys in the car and it was not as hefty a fee as him driving there or calling a locksmith. From that point, Eas and I hurried off since Poly had been waiting for us at the Starbucks down the road for about half and hour and both of them had plans for the Superbowl. Coffee never tasted so delicious. I couldn't have been happier- and probably haven't been that (this) happy in a long time. Contentment abounded. I was so exhausted- to the point where I completely relaxed and could've sat there and chatted the night away, and the obviously gay baristas were happy to have us gabbing gals to keep them company (Poly had left).

I learned that I should look into getting one of those retractable name badge holders for my keys and keep it attached to me at all times. See, the Jeep even beeps when you leave your keys in the ignition, so I'm at a complete loss so as to how I left them there so I must need something else to help me keep track of them. Also, it's pretty hard to break into a Jeep Wrangler, as simple and manually as they are built. Finally, echoing my "pretty good year" post- I picked a great friend, who stood in the cold for nearly two hours, drove me to Pepboys and stood with me, though she was very uncomfortable, and dealt with her friend who is evidently losing it mentally and still, she went and got coffee with me after the whole ordeal. Though we've been through trials before, there's nothing else that proves to me that we're stuck with "with super glue around the world and the alfalfa sprout" than this past week. One thing that's stable and there are so many more reasons than the few she manifested today that make her terrific, despite the fact that I get annoyed with her a little more than with my other friends. End of story, it means so much to me.

Mindless TV

I'm forever getting on to Poly about his mindless TV, whether it's Deal or No Deal or Parental Control (but that one's pretty good, I must admit. I'm a sucker for MTV reality). This time, I've found my junk reality TV. It's called Beauty and the Geek. I slightly remember when they first started advertising this show on the WB and thinking it was a bunch of crap. I think most reality shows are a bunch of crap. A few weeks ago, Mehsha was down sick and missed the Sunday meeting. When we came home, she was veging watching Beauty and the Geek. I got sucked in. That quickly. All of five minutes had passed since I walked into the house and I was hooked on the show.

The concept is pretty basic. Eight "beauties" are paired off with eight "geeks" and they are supposed to benefit from the experience. Most of them say they do. I don't know how sincere the first couple that gets eliminated can say that, but I know the last two couples have definitely learned something. Each episode, there are two challenges. One for the guys to learn more about etiquette and dating, girls in general. The girls' challenge is supposed to help them learn more over all. The winner of the girls' challenge protects herself and her partner from the elimination round and the winner of the guys' challenge does the same. Each group gets to pick who they want to go to the elimination round. In the elimination round, the girls are tested on the things that they were supposed to learn and study for their challenge and the guys are tested on things that they did for their challenge. Overall, it sounds fairly boring with me just explaining it, but when you put the ditziest and prettiest girls in with the brainiest and dorkiest guys, it makes for quite the entertaining show. There are tons of funny quirks that accompany a reality TV show, like the fact that after the guys walk out and present themselves to the girls, a girl must pick the guy and then they have to pick a bedroom. The weird thing about the bedrooms is, some of them have two twin beds and some of them have a queen bed. That makes for some interesting points in the show. (Not like that. Shame, shame...) Of course, there's the unavoidable reality show drama, etc. Typically, you have to shoot me in the head, tie me to the chair, and sit me right up at the TV to get me to watch reality shows, but this one is so much fun and I really like to watch it.

At this point, MTV is playing reruns of the show daily. They play two episodes at 5 PM and 6 PM. Now, the CW (UPN and the WB meshed together) is embarking on the third season Wednesday, January 3rd at 8 PM. I've finally found some Wednesday night TV, and it's quite hilarious. Check it out.

Digital (Cable) Get Down

I'm so lonely! Both my best friends leave me on the exact same week! I haven't gotten a txt in...a little over 24 hours. Thing about that is, it's perfect since I'm already about 150 texts over my prepaid limit. Translation: They better stay outta town or my bill is going to be a heckuva lot more than last month. My bill last month was somewhere around $20 over what it should have been. Plus, I'm having to pay for the "over" charges this time. Texting is just so convenient! I can carry on a conversation that I really don't have time to sit and have over the phone. Dad asked me if I could learn to live without texting. Umm...NO! I'd rather pay for the ones I go over with. It's also perfect for them to be gone as well because I've got to get things done! Last Monday and Tuesday, although I got a French lesson done, (All of French is done now. YAY!) I didn't retain as much of that lesson because I was on and off the phone and texting with Easel. I've got Precal to do and a "real job" that starts today. I love texting though. End of story.

Friday morning service was hilarious. Slushie cup symphonies with Biscuit Hayes and String-bean Andy. I think we just about drove my service mom (whom I'll call Deborah Clasky) crazy, but it was her fault that she didn't have enough gas to do the driving territory. It was TOO HOT to do anything but on Friday though. There were fights with the car door and getting "shot at" for looking in the pit. It's crazy to think I didn't place anything! There's been talk around here of moving back close to Poly's side of town, (Ick. Poly's not ick; his side of town is.) but it's the backwoods, redneck moments like these that make me never want to leave again. Who knows what the other O.C. will be like in 10 years though? This post was supposed to be about our digital cable, but look what happened there. Honest though, I'm getting to it. In fact, lets do that now.

Digital Cable. A blessing from the technology industry. I was the only one that knew how to work the whole shebang, and I wasn't even here for the briefing of how to use the set up. Leave it to my dad, the king of spontaneity, to get digital cable and not tell the family. This is the man that gets up one Saturday morning in February and decides that the family needs to go to the beach and loads up the car for the weekend and goes to Panama City. He's also the one that whenever we are in Florida, he says he knows some short cut and we drive for 3 hours looking for something and then the highway just ends. I've seen lots of Florida being with my dad. Anyway, Mehsha and I went to a get together after service Saturday. Mom went to run errands. We all didn't get back til around 5 PM, and Mehsha immediately starts screaming. There was much excitement. There are a zillion channels now. Dad stayed home because the cable guy was coming. This morning I spent like an hour watching VH1 classic. All they were playing were videos from the 80s. Cindy Lauper, The Motels, The Clash...it was glorious. I was surprising myself when I knew most of the words to the majority of the videos. Then there's MTV Hits. All videos. All the time. The way MTV used to be. Digital cable is wonderful, except there are now FIVE clickers to keep up with. Two are currently M.I.A. And of course there's Nicktoons 1 and 2. Guess what they show on Nicktoons? Just guess. REN AND STIMPY! Seriously, at three years old, this was my favorite TV show. I would watch Sesame Street and Mister Rogers in the morning. Then when dad got home at night, we would watch Ren and Stimpy together. I can't wait for it to come on again. That's why I loved the Angry Beavers. It reminded me so much of Ren and Stimpy. I'm such a cartoon junkie, but that's P. June's brother's fault. Digital cable's going to be the death of my imagination. Kiss it good-bye now.

Chocolate covered commercial

Two days in a row! I hope this pleases one specific reader that says that once a week isn't enough to fufill the needs of my blog. I did forget how much I loved this thing. It's quite the affair we have going on here. I was thinking about posting something deep, but since both H'n'B and Poly beat me to posting and they both did deep stuff, I'm going for the other angle. Brain sludge...scrumptious brain sludge.

Now, I don't know if everyone knows, but I'm allergic to chocolate (among 30,000 other things- but not air [AirSupply either] or TooL). I was craving some of Edy's Double Fudge Brownie ice cream. This is THE best chocolate ice cream that has ever graced this earth. It puts Haagen-Dazs to shame, and believe me, I'm not picky when it comes to ice cream. (I am allergic to just plain 'ol ice cream though- milk products, but not lactose intolerant. That's different.) This ice cream though, I crave it occasionally, usually just every two months, but I only get it about every four since I'm SO VERY allergic to this ice cream. Last night, I had my first helping of the fresh carton (and I'm not one for small helpings, especially now that I've got my appetite back). Of course, I started having an allerigc reaction almost immediately because I haven't had chocolate in a few months. A chocolate ice cream reaction is a little interesting since I start sneezing from the chocolate, have an asthma attack if the ice cream is too cold and I eat it too fast, plus itchy arms. It irritates my excema, but that may be oversharing-I'll take my chances. What would really be oversharing is if I told you exactly what's in chocolate that I'm allergic to. It's not always an immediate reaction, but it was this time because there wasn't already some previous reaction to chocolate in my system. It usually takes about a week to get an allergen like chocolate (others like chocolate: cheese, milk, ice cream in general, etc.) out of my system, but it has been well over a week like I said. Here's the coincidence part. I'm sitting down to watch shark week with my mishpocha (but heavens no! not on the white couch), and a commercial comes on while I'm eating my very chocolatey ice cream and it's a confusing one. Confusing as in you have no clue what might be about when it starts and you're left kinda stunned at the end and all you can say is, "Ooookaaayyyy..." afterwards. A lot like the feeling after you see one of Sprite's new ad campaign commercials and if you haven't seen one, well, you're missing out on a very weird experience. This wasn't a Sprite one. This was for the new LG "Chocolate" phone. It was talking about how it's a V-cast phone and it's got a picture/video camera. Then it says, "It's sweet," or something to the "sweet" extent. Not quite sure why they called it "chocolate," but I bet someone thought of the ad campaign first. In an article I read, it said that they are already available in Korea and are being marketed as a Valentine's Day gift. I can see that. (Boyfriend goes up to girlfriend, "I got you some chocolate for Valentine's." Girlfriend: "Oh..." since she got chocolate the year before, but it soon changes to surprise to see her new phone.) They're going to make a fortune with that since most of us are slaves to advertising. I know there are a few commercials that have made me go out and buy the product, i.e.- Barbie in Swan Lake or Flinstone Gummie vitamins. There was one phrase that the commercial used and it was, "Carry chocolate in your pocket." Perfect, they've created a "chocolate" that won't melt from body heat. In a weird way, that appeals to me. I would never switch to Verizon since I'm far too happy with Cingular. I only need two more people to switch to Cingular and I don't think I'd use any minutes at all, just tons of text messages. (I used close to 500 last month and I'm already too close to that this month. Thank goodness two of my txters are going out of town.) But being able to say, "Hey I've got unmelted chocolate in my pocket," really sounds like something I'd like to tell people. Everyone hates the M&Ms (which I haven't been able to eat for years because they are manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts and on the same equipment...I don't know how I survive at Poly's house, but I have less allergies there than at my house *cough*the Cheat*cough*) after they have melted in the bag and then you have all that dye on your hands and you have to eat them fast. That makes them unenjoyable. Unmelted "chocolate" cell phone. Yummy. Today, Contessa and Mehsha watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Of course, I joined in while I should have been doing French. More delicious chocolate. Augustus Gloop. That would be me if I was a German boy. Eating all of that chocolate and mistaking a golden ticket for nuget, but I'm allergic to nuget too. Oh well.

Again with the movies at the High?

Yes, again. It's probably not the last movie either. I can't stay away from them. Nor from this blog, but it all has to do with the fact that I'm procrastinating getting things done...like French, even though it's late to do it and I'm currently engrossed with the New P's right now. Really, I'm doing this because I want a time filler, thus a multitude of posting has occurred this past week. Plus I've been tired and the compy is right there when I walk in the door at home and that chair is so inviting. Except right now, I'm not at home again for like the fourth time this summer already and it's only June, nor will this be the last time either.

But as I was saying, another movie at the High. I've seen an Indian documentary, a samurai movie, and now this one. It was thoroughly interesting. It's called Stolen. I was debating on whether or not to stay for this movie today, last night after the family get together. Auntie finally just said to stay and since I had already packed everything I would need for a stay, I wasn't going to let all that effort of packing go to waste. (Except I forgot my cell phone charger...again. And I'm Jewish so you heck as ain't gonna get me to spend $30 on a charger for my phone. That money goes to the MP3 player fund [though I probably won't save long enough to get this particular one]. Cingular gets you on your accessories, but their service is great.) ANYWAYS, so this movie was about art theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It's divided into five or six parts and is mostly about how they try and retrieve the art and how they are run around in circles since organized crime is highly involved. There is a little bit of story going on with this main investigator, Harold Smith, and his interactions with other art and antique investigators and thieves. This old man is a heckuva lot stronger than I am. He tells you about how he got skin cancer in the documentary and it's horrible. He's battled skin cancer for 50 years and has a prosthetic nose and has lost an eye. It's kind of disturbing at first, but this was very entertaining for the brain...to me at least, and I'm easily occupied with things that would bore others to death and I love paintings. In the documentary, they mentioned how Isabella's mansion became the museum and since it was built as a house, it doesn't have really good modern security system making it easier to work in. Also that these security guards that they hire are insanely underpaid and are guarding a multi-million dollar collection of art. Harold mentioned after one of the former security guards that they interviewed left his office that he had come from Ohio, never had a job before, and they pay him minimum wage to watch millions of dollars worth of art. Honestly, I give people too much credit as far as having common sense goes, and this is one of those situations where you think they would at least work a little harder to treat these employees better. If you get a chance to see it on a rainy Sunday, do so. I found in very informative and some of the people involved in this business are characters and really entertaining. Don't kill yourself to see it though, since it could be considered slow moving and monotonous to most.

Afterwards, we were joined by Aunt #2 at El Nopal near where she lives. It was some of the best Mexican food I've had in MONTHS! I was dying for some spicy salsa, salty tortilla chips, and a kick butt chicken burrito. El Nopal provided all three. If you are ever with anyone that wants to go to El Nopal, do kill yourself to go, especially if you like Mexican food. Where I moved, there's just not enough Mexicans to glut the construction worker market and as a result, none of them get to start restaurants and cook me delicious food. There isn't a single Mexican restaurant in Athens. No joke. But there are like 5 Thai eateries, 6 or 7 cafe type places, 4 Italian, and don't ask me to count the bars. It's funny. We only have two Mexican chains and they both pretty much blow, though I do like On the Border, but stumble upon any Italian restaurant and you are sure to get some of the best Italian food your senses have ever come across.

"John and Jane" Flashback

This is going to be short, since I'm so very tired. I've been babysitting at least once a week for Contessa. Although she is about 8 years old and isn't hard to deal with, she's very active. There are no problems with that, except she likes to ride bikes for like 3 hours and, being an asthmatic, I can usually only go for about two until I need a break. I think she would ride all day if I would let her. Her dad isn't as watchful as I am. The whole thing is, I would let her ride for forever if I didn't know how much it would break her dad's heart if she wasn't there when he got home. See, it would break any parent's heart, but his especially because Contessa's mom, his wife of almost 15 years, passed away in November and I don't think he's over it yet, although he likes to talk about it like he can handle it. So she tires me out plus, I went out in service on Wednesday and today (for my school friends that's when I go from door to door and place magazines...basically. Y'all know it's more complicated than that but back to what I was saying...) And I physically can't go to sleep before 11 PM for some weird reason, and if I do, then I wake up around 2:30 AM and will not fall asleep again until around 5 AM. My friend Easel Weasel Beezit, whom I'll just call Eas, got back from a trip to Baltimore Monday and talked to me (I didn't get to say much) until after 12 PM on Tuesday, after I was already exhausted.

Now for the point of this post. It was definitely Wednesday when I picked up the phone. It was from MBNA and I know mom was having some issues with them lately so I picked it up when I normally would not have. Immediately, I was greeted with a warm hello with a thick Hindi accent. Most of my readers remember John and Jane. How could you forget Naomi, with her "totally natural" blonde look? And the guy who pleged his life to Amway? Not going into that. H'n'B did a great job of describing the premise of the movie way back when we went...when was that...May? Whenever it was, it resurfaced in my mind when I heard this girl's voice. I told her my mom wasn't available and she said she was glad she had caught me. Lord, I've been caught. How do I say no to this poor soul in the call center? I let her give her spheil about how I could lower my intrest rates and such and all she needed to do was check my address. I verified that what she had was correct and then she asked for my name. Well, then I told her the honest truth that I was too young for a credit card. (I'm not, but that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) She then says, "Oh well, I'll try back for (my mom) later then." And she was so nice. I hated to turn her down, but what can I do with a credit card except get into debt? I don't have a regular income, so it's more than pointless. After I got off the phone, all I could do was think about how they're pushed to fufill a certain quota and all that. The worst part about it is I know I won't answer the phone again when MBNA shows up on the caller ID.

"Hook," line, and exams

It wasn't until this past week that I realized that there were people out there reading my blog. Nice people. People I like. And then there's this other one that screamed in ALL CAPS at me this morning to update. She's not in the nice category...I'm kidding horse n.buggy, and I hope this INSANELY boring and banal post will appease your want for updates.

So this I would have to call my first official post back in the other O.C. because the last one is going to be a monthly thing and the other two were at my Greenparent's house, since I was evicted for that week. Last week, Marry Me went camping with far off family at the lake. I babysat for 24 hours. Had a demonstration on the meeting. Nothing has been going on worth posting about. Drama with Jammies is over. (But I feel it appropriate to give him a nickname since he'll probably be making frequent appearances.) We can be civilized friends now that he has a "girlfriend," which hasn't been confirmed but he's going down to West Palm next week and then she's coming back the week after that. The "she" is also brining another girl with her that Jammies would like for me to set up with one of my friends. Still don't know if I feel comfortable doing that. I wanted to be friends with him from the beginning, and now I can since I don't have to worry about the creepiness of a guy 9 years my senior wanting to get to know me for other reasons. And I wasn't dreaming this up. Everyone was saying something about it. Now, after 6 months, it's all over...thank goodness. Convention hopped on Sunday, which was a milestone in its own right. See, I haven't had my license for long. June 21st makes two months and I have an insanely over protective mother, but I understand her plea since there are some horrible drivers out there (i.e.- my aunts). Mom got flustered and told dad to make the decision and my dad, who doesn't give a flying flip what I do, just tells me to gas up the Jeep, leave by 7:30, and make a few phone calls home to mom. The trip is an a little less than an hour each way and mom hasn't even let me go much further than 20 minutes, much less drive on a highway type road without her. My sister, Marry Me, and I left on time and had a smashing day and visited with awesome people. When we got home, we found out we could have gone to dinner with our brothers, but it was too late and all I did was come home and sleep for 14/15 hours, since I hadn't had but 3 hours of sleep since Friday night. It was best that we didn't go to dinner because if I had hit the couch at their house, I would have been there for 14/15 hours... asleep. This week has been full of studying for exams. I take some today and some tomorrow. There's nothing I would rather NOT being doing more right now. Procrastination is what I do best, so I'm watching Hook (best Peter Pan movie in my opinion) with Marry Me and Contessa, listening to Johnathan Rice (who is in close running to making it to next month's Affie's Music Wednesday), and updating bloggie. Today's exam is Brit Lit, so it's not like I need to study. Plus the exam is open book, but I might as well go look over it just to be sure.

Firstpost and The Office

Well...first post ever. How epic. I used to (it's still there, but remains un-updated) have a xanga, but this seems like it would suit me better than that site did. I wanted to be a blogger so badly and put this account to use, especially now that I know more than one person that participates in this. As of this moment, I'm very elated to have my first blog. I might as well go ahead and explain the blog name, which will probably change (since I found out that you can) as I pursue blogging as a summer hobby. Shmear as an alluding to my Jewish heritage, which isn't because I'm only 1/4 Jewish and don't practice at all, but that is the way "smear" should be pronounced. "The other O.C." is what my sister (who will get a nickname later since her current one isn't the best, but it may stick) and I have begun to call our home county. When abbreviated, our county is "The O.C." Affable Olive is a different story, explained here.

Since this is my first post, I suppose I better make it about something great, or better than great. Right now, at 11:15 (I have a little less than an hour if I want this to make it before June 2nd), the greatest thing is "The Office" on NBC. I'll link it forever later, but here's one for now. I've never had a job, but this is what I want my job to be like...or at least have this much fun at work. This show reminds me not only of Arrested Development (as well as Seinfeld), but bears a striking resemblance to my former AP classes. Jim Halpert, who is already my favorite and is going to be the main reason for staying home from my prior engagement that happens every Thursday night, is absolutely the best. He's the kind of person I would see as being my own best friend and selfishly hogging him. From the four episodes I watched tonight ("The Fire," "Halloween," "The Client," and "performance Review"), I could tell Jim would be a person that I would get along with splendidly. Dwight Schrute strikes me as a better adjusted Napoleon Dynamite. He is always asking for it, in my opinion. Poor thing, and it's so hilarious. Then there's Pam Beesly. Although Jim is my favorite, Pam is wonderful as well. She would be my best friend too. That would be a definitely since Pam and Jim have something between the two of them (though I've found that's not acknowledged til later) and I'm going to be best friends with both of them. Ryan ("The Temp.") is great, but the boss, Michael Scott, makes the work place everything it needs to be to make it one of my favorite places to be on Thursday nights now. I highly suggest this show to all of my friends (yes, the one or two of you that bother to traipse over here) and those that stumble upon the blog.

Ah...first post and I just realized I could have written this whole thing in Webdings and then no one would ever come back, despite the amusement it would give me to publish it.