So there I was... surrounded by the chill of the early morning on the coldest day in Florida in 10 years. (No, I'm not sure about that, but it was FREAKIN cold.) Anyway, so I'm making my coffee and my yummy toaster waffles in this freezing weather. My coffee was started and finished first because let's be honest, toaster waffles take 2 minutes tops. I'm minding my own business stirring this delicious creamer (Italian creme if you are so interested) waiting for the pop of the toaster.
waiting... take a sip....
waiting... take a sip....
waiting... take a *POP* "Omigod"
Yup, spilled coffee all over my face, almost burned my eyebrows off.. its a good thing my eyes are lighting quick in closing or my friends, I could be blinded. That would not only suck because now I'm blind, but I'm blind and it's self-inflicted, no wait, I'm blind, it's self-inflicted AND it was a freak hot coffee accident. There is no way to live down that story. Like ever.
Just in case you were wondering, yes, that woke me up and no longer felt cold due to the adrenalin rush the popping of the waffle sent through my body.
Anyway, which brings me to the topic of startling myself. Everyone knows I hate getting scared. I find practical jokes, not funny - even mean. I find scary movies unsettling, and yes, my subconscious still works against me (I get nightmares). I've dealt with this, so I oft wonder (yes, I said oft, instead of often because I'm changing my vocabulary... it'll catch on, watch - mayhaps did)... so I oft wonder if I should blame my parents for this fear of fearing things... Going on, I hate getting scared because I can scare myself just fine without pyrotechnics, digital mastery of any kind, and masks. Some things are worse when you know they are coming.
Let me explain:
First story: (THIS IS A SPOILER FOR A REALLY OLD MOVIE) So I was watching a movie on USA at a friend's house, called Deep Blue Sea where this shark has the brain of a smart person, no not really a horror movie hence why I was watching it, anyway, there is this scene where Samuel L. Jackson does this whole Braveheart speech moment... you know, where there should be a slow clapper in the background. I'm kinda like, "ok, I get it, let's get this fucking fish"... not, one second later, the SHARK FLIES OUT OF THE WATER AND SWALLOWS SAMUEL L. JACKSON WHOLE! It scared the bejezzus out of me! So much so, I screamed, jumped, and somehow turned the TV off in one movement. Wrecked the movie for everyone else because they were watching it too, but they were laughing at me because I scared them more than the actual scene... whatever.
Second story: I like to read. Books don't usually scare me. I can get into a book and see it in my head like a movie. I love it when it happens because the hours just pass by and its so much more intense. So I'll sit there reading something awesome like Harry Potter fighting with wands, running down the endless hallway, oh no, and there's Bellatrix... WATCH OUT SIRIUS! *RRRRRIIIIINNNGGGG* I jump, 5 feet because my phone rings. I might as well been jinxed because now I'm pretty sure I have to change my underwear.
This isn't even the normal stuff that scares me. When I'm driving and I see flashing lights out of nowhere, my heart goes into my stomach, I swerve for no reason in particular, then I realize there was a bump in the road behind me and the lights weren't even flashing. OR if it's nighttime and I forget I have dogs around me and one of them barks because of the TV and I go flying off the couch.... yeah that sucks and I get irrationally mad at the dog that was warning me from an alien invasion.
The worst though, I must admit has been something I have been afraid of since childhood. It's stupid, but I still have to have someone else do it for my fear is so intense.
Yes, people... popping open a cinnamon buns can.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Never ever shake a baby...
So there I was... surrounded by 17 three years olds... Ok, I can handle a LOT of things, usually these same children... but not today. Today these children were taken over by the devil and I needed a priest. First, three of the angel children I usually have decided to get an attitude and repeatedly said "I want my mommy", "..but I'm COLD", and "AHHHHHH", not in that order but just as annoying... THEN my usual "misfits" decide to go the extra mile and start hitting people, throwing jackets and mulch for the fun of it... I couldn't get control of these kids without an electric collar. Luckily, I did get help (yes, other people realized how overwhelmed I was) and 4 kids were taken out. I'm ok with that.
My problem is:
1) My experience level with this many small people (at that age).
2) My ways of "solving" an issue
Ok, I don't yell if I can help it. I don't think yelling solves much except to tell this kid, "This is my limit... please keep pushing." I am better at not reacting than reacting. Trust me, when a kid becomes super dramatic, they hate people like me.
KID: "I WANT THAT TOY!!!!"
Me: "Well, someone else is playing with it"
KID: "BUT I WANT IT!!!"
Me: "I hear you but its not an option"
KID: "I WANT IT!!"
Me: "I hear you but its not an option"
(that refrain might be repeated a dozen times or so)
Then-
KID: "I WANT MY MOMMY"
Me: "I do too, she'll be here later, I promise"
Kid: ".....oh....k...."
That's how it usually happens anyway. I just don't want to yell and my distracting tactics are muddled in my brain so I can't think on my feet like I used to (thanks Alcohol, you're a great help, next time kill the brain cells that remember "diarrhea incident"). On days like this I totally remember why I don't have kids. Though in all fairness, I can spank my kids if I need to (although that is not my main punishment).
Anyway, it like threatening them is the only way to get my way, "no more housekeeping for you if you continue", "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to hold on to your sticker until you decide to behave again", "I think you'll have to sit by me or go inside the 2 year old room and sit with the babies" - all effective but I don't feel comfortable doing it.
I mean, I like to give choices:
a) come sit down with me
b) go sit down inside away from your friends
Stubborn dirty hands
A) Wash your hands and eat snack
B) I'll wait to until you have clean hands to give you snack
Kids fighting over toys
a) Do you want to go to time out?
b) Do you want me to put the toy in time out?
I feel like if they have more control over their destiny they are more likely to comply (which I know to be true for lots of children), HOWEVER, I find myself wanting to say stupid things like, "Oh, I'm sorry you cannot play with my toys", or "No dinosaurs FOR YOU!", or "I control the stickers, you control your behavior" (They are three and while the first two they'll understand, I feel like they will mimic these mean things to other children and then the whole, "You're not my friend," "you can't come to my birthday party" begins.
Of course, I always fall back to, "oh, if we are not friends, we cannot play" then all of a sudden, Jesus is resurrected and all is fine again. Truly, the mind of a three year old is awesome, I just wish I could squash it sometimes...
So today, I went back to the mantra that I have learned that keeps me peaceful and reminds me of how precious these children really are:
"Never EVER shake a baby"
My problem is:
1) My experience level with this many small people (at that age).
2) My ways of "solving" an issue
Ok, I don't yell if I can help it. I don't think yelling solves much except to tell this kid, "This is my limit... please keep pushing." I am better at not reacting than reacting. Trust me, when a kid becomes super dramatic, they hate people like me.
KID: "I WANT THAT TOY!!!!"
Me: "Well, someone else is playing with it"
KID: "BUT I WANT IT!!!"
Me: "I hear you but its not an option"
KID: "I WANT IT!!"
Me: "I hear you but its not an option"
(that refrain might be repeated a dozen times or so)
Then-
KID: "I WANT MY MOMMY"
Me: "I do too, she'll be here later, I promise"
Kid: ".....oh....k...."
That's how it usually happens anyway. I just don't want to yell and my distracting tactics are muddled in my brain so I can't think on my feet like I used to (thanks Alcohol, you're a great help, next time kill the brain cells that remember "diarrhea incident"). On days like this I totally remember why I don't have kids. Though in all fairness, I can spank my kids if I need to (although that is not my main punishment).
Anyway, it like threatening them is the only way to get my way, "no more housekeeping for you if you continue", "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to hold on to your sticker until you decide to behave again", "I think you'll have to sit by me or go inside the 2 year old room and sit with the babies" - all effective but I don't feel comfortable doing it.
I mean, I like to give choices:
a) come sit down with me
b) go sit down inside away from your friends
Stubborn dirty hands
A) Wash your hands and eat snack
B) I'll wait to until you have clean hands to give you snack
Kids fighting over toys
a) Do you want to go to time out?
b) Do you want me to put the toy in time out?
I feel like if they have more control over their destiny they are more likely to comply (which I know to be true for lots of children), HOWEVER, I find myself wanting to say stupid things like, "Oh, I'm sorry you cannot play with my toys", or "No dinosaurs FOR YOU!", or "I control the stickers, you control your behavior" (They are three and while the first two they'll understand, I feel like they will mimic these mean things to other children and then the whole, "You're not my friend," "you can't come to my birthday party" begins.
Of course, I always fall back to, "oh, if we are not friends, we cannot play" then all of a sudden, Jesus is resurrected and all is fine again. Truly, the mind of a three year old is awesome, I just wish I could squash it sometimes...
So today, I went back to the mantra that I have learned that keeps me peaceful and reminds me of how precious these children really are:
"Never EVER shake a baby"
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Beginning in the childcare business
So I was sitting there surrounded.... by little kids in cots. Naptime, one of the blessed things about being three... Anyway, I usually sit next to the children that move around and wiggle and calm them down. An adult sitting next to them will usually do it. Well, this one little boy was wiggling so much I sat down by him, covered him with a blanket and started rubbing his back. He became a small turtle and covered his head, but he stopped moving.
A few minutes go by and I hear this little "ow". I look at him and he opens the blanket with something on his thumb. It looked like it was skin pulled from an old sunburn. She shows it to me, and I take it off his thumb and examine this skin/scab looking thing... I'm examining it, wondering how I didn't notice the scab before... I'm like, "are you ok?"
He looks at me with these huge brown eyes that were slightly watered and goes:
"it came out of my nose"
Thanks kid real nice.
Another funny little thing happened this week... See, sometimes when you work with three year olds, you get the drama queens. Boys and girls... Yes men, once you got hurt you became a flaming crying sack of baby criers.... Which is ok. My response is usually, "Do we need to stop playing and go to the hospital?" Amazingly enough, only one kid was like, "yes", so I said, "ok, we need to go inside and call your mom"
"umm... I'm ok now"
I'm a big believer that moms should be more scary than hospitals.
Anyway, so there was this little girl who pulled a nail off and it took a little bit of skin off the top. I get it, it hurts and it sucks. She began saying that it hurt and started crying. So I washed it and asked if she was ok... of coure she isn't, it's red so OF COURSE she's dying by loss of blood. She keeps screaming that it hurts... After about 2 minutes (trust me, that's a long time when a child is screaming), I was like, ok, I think you are fine.
She assured me she still wasn't.
WELL, we were getting ready for lunchtime (then nap time) so I sat her down and continued getting everyone else ready. We were saying blessing while this girl was yelling and then she noticed we were praying.
Did she stop?
No, she's three.
She joined in... screaming the blessing. "...THANK HIM FOR OUR BREAD... AAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN"
You know, as much as I couldn't believe that she was screaming the prayer, I was impressed with the need to conform. Good for her, however, after she ate, she realized she could continue and started yelling again. Then finally, one of the other workers looked at her and said, would a band-aid make the pain go away? OF COURSE
Why did I not think of it? I have no idea, call it lack of sleep or my experience with people with psychosomatic symptoms... Band-aids solve all problems.
Three year olds are so wily.... but still it gets me thinking...
I wonder if a Band-aid would work on Lindsey Lohan?
A few minutes go by and I hear this little "ow". I look at him and he opens the blanket with something on his thumb. It looked like it was skin pulled from an old sunburn. She shows it to me, and I take it off his thumb and examine this skin/scab looking thing... I'm examining it, wondering how I didn't notice the scab before... I'm like, "are you ok?"
He looks at me with these huge brown eyes that were slightly watered and goes:
"it came out of my nose"
Thanks kid real nice.
Another funny little thing happened this week... See, sometimes when you work with three year olds, you get the drama queens. Boys and girls... Yes men, once you got hurt you became a flaming crying sack of baby criers.... Which is ok. My response is usually, "Do we need to stop playing and go to the hospital?" Amazingly enough, only one kid was like, "yes", so I said, "ok, we need to go inside and call your mom"
"umm... I'm ok now"
I'm a big believer that moms should be more scary than hospitals.
Anyway, so there was this little girl who pulled a nail off and it took a little bit of skin off the top. I get it, it hurts and it sucks. She began saying that it hurt and started crying. So I washed it and asked if she was ok... of coure she isn't, it's red so OF COURSE she's dying by loss of blood. She keeps screaming that it hurts... After about 2 minutes (trust me, that's a long time when a child is screaming), I was like, ok, I think you are fine.
She assured me she still wasn't.
WELL, we were getting ready for lunchtime (then nap time) so I sat her down and continued getting everyone else ready. We were saying blessing while this girl was yelling and then she noticed we were praying.
Did she stop?
No, she's three.
She joined in... screaming the blessing. "...THANK HIM FOR OUR BREAD... AAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN"
You know, as much as I couldn't believe that she was screaming the prayer, I was impressed with the need to conform. Good for her, however, after she ate, she realized she could continue and started yelling again. Then finally, one of the other workers looked at her and said, would a band-aid make the pain go away? OF COURSE
Why did I not think of it? I have no idea, call it lack of sleep or my experience with people with psychosomatic symptoms... Band-aids solve all problems.
Three year olds are so wily.... but still it gets me thinking...
I wonder if a Band-aid would work on Lindsey Lohan?
Friday, December 10, 2010
Throw back 10
Journal 10 - not much people
Jul 16, 2007
Aight - nothing going on.
But to let my readers know what is going on with me, I'll think of something.
I will be heading to Paris in late July. The Tour de France should be finishing up. My roomies are excited about that... but truthfully, a bunch of guys riding bikes working on testicular cancer doesn't exactly seem my kind of fun but y'know I'm open to the experience. (not testicular cancer, the watching the guys riding bikes part, just in case clarification was needed.)
OH! In case you didn't know about the "house rules" one more was created this weekend. They are as follows:
1. You don't bake a grilled cheese.
2. We don't rape old women.
3. Fuck urine.
Ok, now. These rules are golden and they should be followed by everyone. I shall explain how they came a-boat (canadians people - laugh). We were drinking one night (surprise surprise), and my roommate Nikesha wanted to play the card games so instead of grilling the grilled cheese she started to bake it. Well, Michael - my other roommated - flipped. He said it was unamerican to do such a thing and he proceeded to make another sandwich, stopping the entire game because of such a blasphemy. It was awesome. Anyway, rule 1 created and written down.
Rule two. Now to be honest, I cannot remember how this rule came about specifically, but I do remember that I was reading a story about an assault on this grandmother... and describing how sick a person has to be to do something like that and said, "he's rapping old women, " (really, like raping young women is ok..?) well, that's not what I meant but my roommates made it a rule just the same.
Rule three - happened this weekend and a marine party. Ok, so we were again, imbibing in some spirits... and there were peanuts on the bar. Me with my account of useful knowlege in these situations stated, "did you know more people eat those peanuts than wash their hands? There is urine all over those." My roommates again, were surprised and Michael and Patrick stated, "Rule 3 - we don't do urine" Then me being me stated, "Yeah, fuck urine" and rule 3 was voted on and born.
I just remembered, kind of shamefully because they were great seats - but I saw Lion King. CRITIC CORNER: It was pretty - odd, eccentric, but sadly the story line seemed lacking. I would still recommend it for the experience because it was cool as hell - but once is enough. Wicked is still WICKED AWESOME!
Finally, the best thing happened to me twice. I saw TWO norfolk terriers!! YES TWO - one was the first time I went to the Marine house. I about took the guy down but he looked like a freakin' body gard for the puppy... I don't blame him though. Those things are $2000 a dog. If that puppy knew how much I would love it, it would've broken free - i just know it. The second was an actual puppy (with a long tail which is not like the breed) but it was still adorable as hell. I stopped the guy so I could pet it and show it my love... Just as good as WILL RIKER! My life is complete, well almost - I need one - NO, they need me. Oh! the humanity!
I'm almost done in Londontown. See ya'll soon.... well in Aug.
Jul 16, 2007
Aight - nothing going on.
But to let my readers know what is going on with me, I'll think of something.
I will be heading to Paris in late July. The Tour de France should be finishing up. My roomies are excited about that... but truthfully, a bunch of guys riding bikes working on testicular cancer doesn't exactly seem my kind of fun but y'know I'm open to the experience. (not testicular cancer, the watching the guys riding bikes part, just in case clarification was needed.)
OH! In case you didn't know about the "house rules" one more was created this weekend. They are as follows:
1. You don't bake a grilled cheese.
2. We don't rape old women.
3. Fuck urine.
Ok, now. These rules are golden and they should be followed by everyone. I shall explain how they came a-boat (canadians people - laugh). We were drinking one night (surprise surprise), and my roommate Nikesha wanted to play the card games so instead of grilling the grilled cheese she started to bake it. Well, Michael - my other roommated - flipped. He said it was unamerican to do such a thing and he proceeded to make another sandwich, stopping the entire game because of such a blasphemy. It was awesome. Anyway, rule 1 created and written down.
Rule two. Now to be honest, I cannot remember how this rule came about specifically, but I do remember that I was reading a story about an assault on this grandmother... and describing how sick a person has to be to do something like that and said, "he's rapping old women, " (really, like raping young women is ok..?) well, that's not what I meant but my roommates made it a rule just the same.
Rule three - happened this weekend and a marine party. Ok, so we were again, imbibing in some spirits... and there were peanuts on the bar. Me with my account of useful knowlege in these situations stated, "did you know more people eat those peanuts than wash their hands? There is urine all over those." My roommates again, were surprised and Michael and Patrick stated, "Rule 3 - we don't do urine" Then me being me stated, "Yeah, fuck urine" and rule 3 was voted on and born.
I just remembered, kind of shamefully because they were great seats - but I saw Lion King. CRITIC CORNER: It was pretty - odd, eccentric, but sadly the story line seemed lacking. I would still recommend it for the experience because it was cool as hell - but once is enough. Wicked is still WICKED AWESOME!
Finally, the best thing happened to me twice. I saw TWO norfolk terriers!! YES TWO - one was the first time I went to the Marine house. I about took the guy down but he looked like a freakin' body gard for the puppy... I don't blame him though. Those things are $2000 a dog. If that puppy knew how much I would love it, it would've broken free - i just know it. The second was an actual puppy (with a long tail which is not like the breed) but it was still adorable as hell. I stopped the guy so I could pet it and show it my love... Just as good as WILL RIKER! My life is complete, well almost - I need one - NO, they need me. Oh! the humanity!
I'm almost done in Londontown. See ya'll soon.... well in Aug.
Throw back 9
Jul 9, 2007
Journal 9, the birthday
Current mood: sick
K ya'll. I know you expected me to go freaking crazy on my 25th... well, I got SICK! I mean throat hurting sick not puking like I should be sick. Let me start from the beginning...
I worked on my birthday. Not so bad... actually, I had a good day. My co-workers got me a card and these obnoxious yellow flowers that were larger than if I made my arms into a circle. I have never gotten such perfect flowers that suited my personality before. They even got me a chocolate cake - again awesome. Then I went to the Texas Embassy, a tex mex place- because of the margaritas, not the food. Food sucks. So anyway, on my way there, I had these obnoxious flowers, I was sweating hard core in the tube and taking so much space with these flowers. Well, I got off the tube station and have no idea where I am supposed to be heading. I call my roomie Michael from this massively populated area. I mean, people were just chillin in this square... for no reason (Piccadilly Circus, if any of you know where that is) and he doesn't know where I am, then it hits me, "I'm surrounded by Londonites, why don't I ask a complete stranger..." Well, I did. They were tourists. damn. Then this guys asks me how much I want for my flowers, and I told them they weren't for sale because they were my birthday flowers. Then all these people started wishing me happy birthday - this guy (tattoos, piercings, tank top and YES people a MULLET) offered me something sketch out of a big 'ol juice bottle. As tempted as I was, I had to refuse and instead asked for directions. Thankfully, they were right and I arrived right in front of the Texas embassy.... BUT WAIT! What was this, the damn tour de france is in London? They are peddling right in front of the texas embassy? ....They are blocking my way of getting MY birthday margaritas!!!!!! Fuck the bicyclers... Btw, doesn't even start till the 7th... WHY ARE THERE BARRACADES PREVENTING ME FROM GETTING TO THE ALCOHOL!?!?! Well, I start asking the police man how I was going to get across, he kept blowing me off, and then I started to get impatient... so i kept asking and asking, then finally he opens the barracades, and apparently they had a make shift walkway, they just needed people to get out of the way...
Sheepishly I make my way across the street to Michael and my margaritas... all these people were supposed to meet me there, did they? no! Only the true blue roomies... which is ok though. I was happily tipsy and i got hit on by a canadian waiter, from Ontario. I think we got him in trouble... which leads me to the second part of my night.
I went out with a bunch of marines... I preface this with the story of how we met.
I called Post one. Out of nowhere, I just felt the need. Well, and I told my roommates I'd see what they were up to for the 4th of July. Here's the conversation:
"Post one" - "hi, this is going to be a weird request so hear me out."
"ok" - "ok, my name is athena, I'm go to FSU and I'm currently going to school here." - "ok" - "ok, and my parents work at the embassy in bucharest, and i know you guys usually do something for the 4th of july..." - "yes" - "ok, I know you have to do that ambassador thing, but usually the marines go out afterwards and party" -"yes" - "well, I was wondering if my roommates and I could party with you..." "ummm... hold on"
Dead silence *athena thoughts* These guys think I am completely crazy...
"hello" -uh, different guy -"hi" - "what was your question again?" I repeat myself. "ok, there is a guy that always goes out, let me give you his number" (Background - get her number, don't just give my number out!) - "how about i give you my number..." "heard that did you?" "yeah..."
Anyway, we got together and got drunk, the turtle appeared... good times.
Ok, so we end up going out with the marines on my birthday. Long story short, we were there past curfew, who ever was in charge told me to stand down when i introduced myself... who fucking does that? anyway, so they probably got in trouble but i haven't talk to them, because I got sick on Sat. morning...
Which brings me to the guy smoking crack in the telephone booth... never seen anyone do that before... i wanted to scare him by attacking the phone booth, but Maegan (my sick partner) wisely told me not to mess with the guy with crack...
ok, so far that's it. I'll let you know how this cold goes.
love you.
Journal 9, the birthday
Current mood: sick
K ya'll. I know you expected me to go freaking crazy on my 25th... well, I got SICK! I mean throat hurting sick not puking like I should be sick. Let me start from the beginning...
I worked on my birthday. Not so bad... actually, I had a good day. My co-workers got me a card and these obnoxious yellow flowers that were larger than if I made my arms into a circle. I have never gotten such perfect flowers that suited my personality before. They even got me a chocolate cake - again awesome. Then I went to the Texas Embassy, a tex mex place- because of the margaritas, not the food. Food sucks. So anyway, on my way there, I had these obnoxious flowers, I was sweating hard core in the tube and taking so much space with these flowers. Well, I got off the tube station and have no idea where I am supposed to be heading. I call my roomie Michael from this massively populated area. I mean, people were just chillin in this square... for no reason (Piccadilly Circus, if any of you know where that is) and he doesn't know where I am, then it hits me, "I'm surrounded by Londonites, why don't I ask a complete stranger..." Well, I did. They were tourists. damn. Then this guys asks me how much I want for my flowers, and I told them they weren't for sale because they were my birthday flowers. Then all these people started wishing me happy birthday - this guy (tattoos, piercings, tank top and YES people a MULLET) offered me something sketch out of a big 'ol juice bottle. As tempted as I was, I had to refuse and instead asked for directions. Thankfully, they were right and I arrived right in front of the Texas embassy.... BUT WAIT! What was this, the damn tour de france is in London? They are peddling right in front of the texas embassy? ....They are blocking my way of getting MY birthday margaritas!!!!!! Fuck the bicyclers... Btw, doesn't even start till the 7th... WHY ARE THERE BARRACADES PREVENTING ME FROM GETTING TO THE ALCOHOL!?!?! Well, I start asking the police man how I was going to get across, he kept blowing me off, and then I started to get impatient... so i kept asking and asking, then finally he opens the barracades, and apparently they had a make shift walkway, they just needed people to get out of the way...
Sheepishly I make my way across the street to Michael and my margaritas... all these people were supposed to meet me there, did they? no! Only the true blue roomies... which is ok though. I was happily tipsy and i got hit on by a canadian waiter, from Ontario. I think we got him in trouble... which leads me to the second part of my night.
I went out with a bunch of marines... I preface this with the story of how we met.
I called Post one. Out of nowhere, I just felt the need. Well, and I told my roommates I'd see what they were up to for the 4th of July. Here's the conversation:
"Post one" - "hi, this is going to be a weird request so hear me out."
"ok" - "ok, my name is athena, I'm go to FSU and I'm currently going to school here." - "ok" - "ok, and my parents work at the embassy in bucharest, and i know you guys usually do something for the 4th of july..." - "yes" - "ok, I know you have to do that ambassador thing, but usually the marines go out afterwards and party" -"yes" - "well, I was wondering if my roommates and I could party with you..." "ummm... hold on"
Dead silence *athena thoughts* These guys think I am completely crazy...
"hello" -uh, different guy -"hi" - "what was your question again?" I repeat myself. "ok, there is a guy that always goes out, let me give you his number" (Background - get her number, don't just give my number out!) - "how about i give you my number..." "heard that did you?" "yeah..."
Anyway, we got together and got drunk, the turtle appeared... good times.
Ok, so we end up going out with the marines on my birthday. Long story short, we were there past curfew, who ever was in charge told me to stand down when i introduced myself... who fucking does that? anyway, so they probably got in trouble but i haven't talk to them, because I got sick on Sat. morning...
Which brings me to the guy smoking crack in the telephone booth... never seen anyone do that before... i wanted to scare him by attacking the phone booth, but Maegan (my sick partner) wisely told me not to mess with the guy with crack...
ok, so far that's it. I'll let you know how this cold goes.
love you.
Throw back 8
Jul 2, 2007
Journal 8 - aren't you lucky?
Current mood: hungry
Ok guys, so this weekend involved a few things. Honestly though, the only cool thing worth mentioning was the gay pride party going on down the street from where I live.
People were crazy. Gays were everywhere. It was kinda awesome. I do have a question, which I pondered and asked about, and still wonder the relevance. Why do the S&M people come out? It isn't synonmyous with being gay... I mean it is with being weird but not so much gay. Also, the Transvesitites were out in abundance, really ladies - it's terrible how they know how to do makeup better than I do. AND WAIT!! I saw a bunch of lesbians, but I don't quite understand the need to look male just because you like females... I was looking for some hot lesbians because, let's face it, everyone wants to see a hot chick kiss another hot chick, and well... disappointment is where I landed. I did see some chicks going at in on the street but I threw up in my mouth a little. And I don't think I've ever been asked so many times if I was a lesbian. When I told people I was straight, they seemed kinda relieved - the gay guys I was with told me lesbians usually stick to themselves, which I found to be true. They had their own section of SoHo and rarely exited that area. Weird. Oh and apparently most lesbians are bitchy... can't say I had any experience with that.
I hung out with my friend Robert who has some amazing friends (not to mention loaded) and apparently hung out with the stylist that does Marylin Manson's ex wife's make up and hair (her name is like Diter or something) and a pop star from the '80s. Yeah, don't really know him, but his song entered at No. 5 in Britain when it came out. By the way, HUGE guy - like muscle huge. Oh and I got to ride in his Jag.
So I had an experience to say the least. Not so much funny as it is thought provoking. I was exhausted though by the end of it all, i found the gays draining. They have more energy than a two year old on crack.
Love you.
Journal 8 - aren't you lucky?
Current mood: hungry
Ok guys, so this weekend involved a few things. Honestly though, the only cool thing worth mentioning was the gay pride party going on down the street from where I live.
People were crazy. Gays were everywhere. It was kinda awesome. I do have a question, which I pondered and asked about, and still wonder the relevance. Why do the S&M people come out? It isn't synonmyous with being gay... I mean it is with being weird but not so much gay. Also, the Transvesitites were out in abundance, really ladies - it's terrible how they know how to do makeup better than I do. AND WAIT!! I saw a bunch of lesbians, but I don't quite understand the need to look male just because you like females... I was looking for some hot lesbians because, let's face it, everyone wants to see a hot chick kiss another hot chick, and well... disappointment is where I landed. I did see some chicks going at in on the street but I threw up in my mouth a little. And I don't think I've ever been asked so many times if I was a lesbian. When I told people I was straight, they seemed kinda relieved - the gay guys I was with told me lesbians usually stick to themselves, which I found to be true. They had their own section of SoHo and rarely exited that area. Weird. Oh and apparently most lesbians are bitchy... can't say I had any experience with that.
I hung out with my friend Robert who has some amazing friends (not to mention loaded) and apparently hung out with the stylist that does Marylin Manson's ex wife's make up and hair (her name is like Diter or something) and a pop star from the '80s. Yeah, don't really know him, but his song entered at No. 5 in Britain when it came out. By the way, HUGE guy - like muscle huge. Oh and I got to ride in his Jag.
So I had an experience to say the least. Not so much funny as it is thought provoking. I was exhausted though by the end of it all, i found the gays draining. They have more energy than a two year old on crack.
Love you.
Throw back 6.5 and 7
• Jun 13, 2007
This is not really a journal entry...
Current mood: contemplative
Dear all,
I write this letter with disgust. Something happened yesterday that I just could not believe so I must tell all of you.
I cried at work.
I can hear the gasps from here. I was a baby and cried, balled - really. What was so horrible that I needed to cry like a angry hungry baby... was there an emergency? did I deal with a difficult client? did someone die? umm... no. I cried because I was "overwhelmed" with paperwork. Me. cried. over paperwork. Not only did co workers see, my boss came to FIND me... humiliation and disgust came over me so quickly I'm suprised I didn't grow wings and fly away. I can't believe it - and now, neither can you. This will be a moment in my life, I will be ashamed to remember. The reason I'm telling you... because if I can't laugh about it later, I'm not over it.
Well, let's just say I went to trampoline class and jumped my frustration away. Go me! I threw some dirt on it and continued on my way.
That was my bad day. :) glad that shit's over.
• Jun 27, 2007
Journal 7?
Current mood: contemplative
Ok, people. I know it's been awhile... here's why.
My roommate was sick. I didn't sleep for three days. You guys all know how grouchy I get when I don't sleep... oh it was bad. I handled it well though, all my roommates have all their limbs and heads. Good for me. Then I slept all weekend. Then I partied all week, then slept all weekend...
One of those Sundays I went to Camden to shop. I went a bit crazy. I bought this weird shirt with holes in it, boots (of course, i miss mine bad enough), and something else. I in my haste to run as fast as possible away from Tally-ho, I didn't bring my freakin going out clothes... WHAT WAS I THINKING? I'm a Tatum dammit. Oh the shame. Well apparently that is also the Goth part of time... It was interesting... OH and I bought a corsette... like a real one, that LACES... Problem is - no pants. I can't be perfect.
Last weekend, also went to a popular pub... trust me guys, a pub is a pub... what the hell is the difference. I did meet some interesting fellows by the bathroom. At first, I thought they were tripping, because they asked me if I've seen an owl in the bathroom... but then we got to talking and they were just shitfaced. Lots of fun, but I left them at the bar. In fact guys, because I was talking to them BY the bathroom, my friends thought I was missing and went looking for me IN the bathroom but somehow missed me standing outside of it. They sent out a search party and got the Bartender involved. It was a full scale rescue mission - then I popped up and ruined everything. They were like forming plans and shit, and here I am "hey guys, who're we looking for?"
The other times were mainly playing cards at the house and enjoying Sainsbury whiskey (which would be like Winn-Dixie whiskey if you can imagine it). Gotta love my standards.
I also changed my flight, I am going to Romania for the month of August. I will be in Orlando the 21st... then Tally and then I don't know where. I have no idea what's going to happen. Yes, Athena has NO plan. In my desperate attempt for sanity, I called Ariel... You know it's bad when I need Ariel to bring me back to the sane world (hahahahahah!! iloveyou). Well, I must give credit where it is due - she talked me down from the blubbering idiot I was to the semi-blubbering idiot I became. She also brought me to some conclusions that didn't occur to me with my fairly amazing brain capacity. Which was, "why am I worried about what happens AFTER London?" She said "Enjoy the moment" or something else Buddah-like and all of a sudden I was Bill and Ted when they finally get that they don't have to be losers - this epiphany came over me and this sudden peace settled over me. (Yes, like the movies when the music changes.)Then in her infinite wisdom, she continued, "Athena, life is not limitless, think about what you want to accomplish before you die... like 3 major things that YOU - YOU ALONE - want to do." I was dumbfounded. Can you believe I have never really thought about it like that... Well, I posed this question to many people and hear are some of the answers:
1. Swim with Sharks/ snorkle at the great barrier reef (I think there was some indecision)
2. African Safari (actually this one was mentioned more than once)
3. To have sex with everyone I've ever wanted to have sex with.... (this one is a more obvious answer so I had to narrow it down to - before you die, not knowing you are going to die soon, like if you had cancer and they were going to operate in 6 months and your chances of living are 50-50, you don't want to then die of the Hiv - that would be depressing)
4. Box a kangaroo - yes, this was an actual answer, and I laughed my ass off.
5. Get something published
6. Live in the Amazon
7. To live long enough to see my children become successful (this I will say was a good one, but it was decided that saying stereotypical depressing things like, i want a career and a family was bogus because you have to eat, and eventually most people will create spawn. This actual answer was different because your kids might not be so successful, they might end up in jail, in which case, you don't want to live that long, get it? good.)
8. Create a legacy - also a good one
9. To change someone's name (as in last name, as in getting married) - like that is EVER going to happen to me...
I'd like to know everyone's three things. I think it'll be interesting - not to mention - i don't know what mine are... I do have one - Learn to surf.
Any ideas guys? I'll probably post something and ask the millions out there. In the mean time, I'm brainstorming... too bad it's like running the mile with no legs. We'll see. Love you guys.
This is not really a journal entry...
Current mood: contemplative
Dear all,
I write this letter with disgust. Something happened yesterday that I just could not believe so I must tell all of you.
I cried at work.
I can hear the gasps from here. I was a baby and cried, balled - really. What was so horrible that I needed to cry like a angry hungry baby... was there an emergency? did I deal with a difficult client? did someone die? umm... no. I cried because I was "overwhelmed" with paperwork. Me. cried. over paperwork. Not only did co workers see, my boss came to FIND me... humiliation and disgust came over me so quickly I'm suprised I didn't grow wings and fly away. I can't believe it - and now, neither can you. This will be a moment in my life, I will be ashamed to remember. The reason I'm telling you... because if I can't laugh about it later, I'm not over it.
Well, let's just say I went to trampoline class and jumped my frustration away. Go me! I threw some dirt on it and continued on my way.
That was my bad day. :) glad that shit's over.
• Jun 27, 2007
Journal 7?
Current mood: contemplative
Ok, people. I know it's been awhile... here's why.
My roommate was sick. I didn't sleep for three days. You guys all know how grouchy I get when I don't sleep... oh it was bad. I handled it well though, all my roommates have all their limbs and heads. Good for me. Then I slept all weekend. Then I partied all week, then slept all weekend...
One of those Sundays I went to Camden to shop. I went a bit crazy. I bought this weird shirt with holes in it, boots (of course, i miss mine bad enough), and something else. I in my haste to run as fast as possible away from Tally-ho, I didn't bring my freakin going out clothes... WHAT WAS I THINKING? I'm a Tatum dammit. Oh the shame. Well apparently that is also the Goth part of time... It was interesting... OH and I bought a corsette... like a real one, that LACES... Problem is - no pants. I can't be perfect.
Last weekend, also went to a popular pub... trust me guys, a pub is a pub... what the hell is the difference. I did meet some interesting fellows by the bathroom. At first, I thought they were tripping, because they asked me if I've seen an owl in the bathroom... but then we got to talking and they were just shitfaced. Lots of fun, but I left them at the bar. In fact guys, because I was talking to them BY the bathroom, my friends thought I was missing and went looking for me IN the bathroom but somehow missed me standing outside of it. They sent out a search party and got the Bartender involved. It was a full scale rescue mission - then I popped up and ruined everything. They were like forming plans and shit, and here I am "hey guys, who're we looking for?"
The other times were mainly playing cards at the house and enjoying Sainsbury whiskey (which would be like Winn-Dixie whiskey if you can imagine it). Gotta love my standards.
I also changed my flight, I am going to Romania for the month of August. I will be in Orlando the 21st... then Tally and then I don't know where. I have no idea what's going to happen. Yes, Athena has NO plan. In my desperate attempt for sanity, I called Ariel... You know it's bad when I need Ariel to bring me back to the sane world (hahahahahah!! iloveyou). Well, I must give credit where it is due - she talked me down from the blubbering idiot I was to the semi-blubbering idiot I became. She also brought me to some conclusions that didn't occur to me with my fairly amazing brain capacity. Which was, "why am I worried about what happens AFTER London?" She said "Enjoy the moment" or something else Buddah-like and all of a sudden I was Bill and Ted when they finally get that they don't have to be losers - this epiphany came over me and this sudden peace settled over me. (Yes, like the movies when the music changes.)Then in her infinite wisdom, she continued, "Athena, life is not limitless, think about what you want to accomplish before you die... like 3 major things that YOU - YOU ALONE - want to do." I was dumbfounded. Can you believe I have never really thought about it like that... Well, I posed this question to many people and hear are some of the answers:
1. Swim with Sharks/ snorkle at the great barrier reef (I think there was some indecision)
2. African Safari (actually this one was mentioned more than once)
3. To have sex with everyone I've ever wanted to have sex with.... (this one is a more obvious answer so I had to narrow it down to - before you die, not knowing you are going to die soon, like if you had cancer and they were going to operate in 6 months and your chances of living are 50-50, you don't want to then die of the Hiv - that would be depressing)
4. Box a kangaroo - yes, this was an actual answer, and I laughed my ass off.
5. Get something published
6. Live in the Amazon
7. To live long enough to see my children become successful (this I will say was a good one, but it was decided that saying stereotypical depressing things like, i want a career and a family was bogus because you have to eat, and eventually most people will create spawn. This actual answer was different because your kids might not be so successful, they might end up in jail, in which case, you don't want to live that long, get it? good.)
8. Create a legacy - also a good one
9. To change someone's name (as in last name, as in getting married) - like that is EVER going to happen to me...
I'd like to know everyone's three things. I think it'll be interesting - not to mention - i don't know what mine are... I do have one - Learn to surf.
Any ideas guys? I'll probably post something and ask the millions out there. In the mean time, I'm brainstorming... too bad it's like running the mile with no legs. We'll see. Love you guys.
Throw back 6
• Jun 10, 2007
Journal 6
Current mood: satisfied
Ok people - so drunk girl came out in abundance this week. I know many of you think, why is drinking the big thing? Well, because I don't really do it. My normal day is boring and I would hate to bore my audience with my lack of antics. I will say, during this whole time, my calves hurt because I worked them out on Tuesday then Trampolined for 2 hours. Oh - good story. Then after the class we went out with the instructor and people from my class and had a few bottles of wine. Didn't go home till they kicked us out, which luckily was around 1. *Bad idea, work SUCKED the next day.
The next day it was a normal wed. The day was cool and long and I was sleeping on the couch. BAM! I wake up four hours later. There are people in my house that I have never met before and they are all going out. In my sleepy haze, they somehow convinced me this was a GLORIOUS idea... so of course, I go. Well, the problem wasn't the place, or the dance floor, or the people... the problem was it was the cheapest drinking I've had since I've been here. Jack Daniels was flowing into my mouth like Sally Struthers eating donuts. Not only that, oh no, when I get home - sleep somehow didn't seem like a good idea. Instead staying up with my roommates til 5 in the morning somehow did. Oh wait, then I just HAD to call Pat and talk to him till 6 A.M. and I had to work that day. Well, luckily I was working late that day so I came in at 12 instead. I still hated myself. I hopefully have learned THAT lesson but for some reason, you would've thought the day before lesson would have appeared in my brain... my shoulder angels - "we're both leading you down the path that rocks!" I don't have a good one apparently.
Anyway, Friday comes along. We went out. Usually we choose Saturday but I guess it was meant to be. We went to this place called the Royal Crown. The cheerleader in me was begging to get out. People, I did backhandsprings on the streets of London, drunk as crap. Not only did I do that, I convinced, a bunch of British people that Tallahassee is the place to be.... yeah, Tallahassee. what was I thinking? For some reason, I told them "hey American ladies will throw themselves at your feet because of your accents and you can drink all the top shelf you want for $10 on Fridays." Which means they would HAVE to go as soon as they get home. I seriously had them pondering how much it would be to get there... So if you guys meet some nice blokes in Tallyho and they are confused because the night life is only big 4 nights a week and girls really won't be throwing themselves at them - tell them I send my regards.
Going on, well, at one point I ran out of money. I only brought £10 which is $20 and it's expensive so no more drinks for me. Little did I know I had an untapped resource (hahahaha, funny guys get your mind out of the gutter). No, not that. My roommates were talking about me flipping all over the place so guys started offering to buy me drinks if I did some flips. So I did. And Jack and me reunited. I only got one drink, but it was one too many. See, because I got home - again I had to call my pat. Patrick, unaware of my shenannigans, asked me to call him back in 5 minutes. Oh, I said yes, but my body, my body was telling me no. My roommate Patrick (different guy) asked me how to wash his dress shirts. I told him where to find the tag if it wasn't on the back of the neck. He went in his room grabbed his shirt, looked at the tag and came in to tell me he found it and *WHOOSH* I was out lpased out on the couch. Yes, I passed out in less than a minute. Rare, but amazing. I woke up at 10:30 the next morning and was like, "CRAP! I have to call PAT!" At five his time, I wasn't so surprised he didn't pick up.
The rest of my day was spent chillin. We even watched Waterboy and this weird movie Magnolia... Tom Cruise was crazy in it... his best role ever... I wonder why... Sunday came, I went to the gym, did laundry, had free pizza. I say it was a good day. OH and those that have been reading this journal like its your bible - I found some wax and relieved myself of this hair problem. Finally, I feel like I've been cleansed of some unholy demon that was taking over my body - the demon - Hair-magnanimous. Ok too far? not too funny? ah well. I couldn't find a cute way to insert "el Chupacabara" with the word hair.
That is my social life. If you want details about my work, I can give it but most of it is administration and depressing stories so... I'd rather keep it light. Hope this will give you an Athena fix for another week. I love you. Keep the comments coming. I like knowing I'm not just putting this into space for no reason.
Journal 6
Current mood: satisfied
Ok people - so drunk girl came out in abundance this week. I know many of you think, why is drinking the big thing? Well, because I don't really do it. My normal day is boring and I would hate to bore my audience with my lack of antics. I will say, during this whole time, my calves hurt because I worked them out on Tuesday then Trampolined for 2 hours. Oh - good story. Then after the class we went out with the instructor and people from my class and had a few bottles of wine. Didn't go home till they kicked us out, which luckily was around 1. *Bad idea, work SUCKED the next day.
The next day it was a normal wed. The day was cool and long and I was sleeping on the couch. BAM! I wake up four hours later. There are people in my house that I have never met before and they are all going out. In my sleepy haze, they somehow convinced me this was a GLORIOUS idea... so of course, I go. Well, the problem wasn't the place, or the dance floor, or the people... the problem was it was the cheapest drinking I've had since I've been here. Jack Daniels was flowing into my mouth like Sally Struthers eating donuts. Not only that, oh no, when I get home - sleep somehow didn't seem like a good idea. Instead staying up with my roommates til 5 in the morning somehow did. Oh wait, then I just HAD to call Pat and talk to him till 6 A.M. and I had to work that day. Well, luckily I was working late that day so I came in at 12 instead. I still hated myself. I hopefully have learned THAT lesson but for some reason, you would've thought the day before lesson would have appeared in my brain... my shoulder angels - "we're both leading you down the path that rocks!" I don't have a good one apparently.
Anyway, Friday comes along. We went out. Usually we choose Saturday but I guess it was meant to be. We went to this place called the Royal Crown. The cheerleader in me was begging to get out. People, I did backhandsprings on the streets of London, drunk as crap. Not only did I do that, I convinced, a bunch of British people that Tallahassee is the place to be.... yeah, Tallahassee. what was I thinking? For some reason, I told them "hey American ladies will throw themselves at your feet because of your accents and you can drink all the top shelf you want for $10 on Fridays." Which means they would HAVE to go as soon as they get home. I seriously had them pondering how much it would be to get there... So if you guys meet some nice blokes in Tallyho and they are confused because the night life is only big 4 nights a week and girls really won't be throwing themselves at them - tell them I send my regards.
Going on, well, at one point I ran out of money. I only brought £10 which is $20 and it's expensive so no more drinks for me. Little did I know I had an untapped resource (hahahaha, funny guys get your mind out of the gutter). No, not that. My roommates were talking about me flipping all over the place so guys started offering to buy me drinks if I did some flips. So I did. And Jack and me reunited. I only got one drink, but it was one too many. See, because I got home - again I had to call my pat. Patrick, unaware of my shenannigans, asked me to call him back in 5 minutes. Oh, I said yes, but my body, my body was telling me no. My roommate Patrick (different guy) asked me how to wash his dress shirts. I told him where to find the tag if it wasn't on the back of the neck. He went in his room grabbed his shirt, looked at the tag and came in to tell me he found it and *WHOOSH* I was out lpased out on the couch. Yes, I passed out in less than a minute. Rare, but amazing. I woke up at 10:30 the next morning and was like, "CRAP! I have to call PAT!" At five his time, I wasn't so surprised he didn't pick up.
The rest of my day was spent chillin. We even watched Waterboy and this weird movie Magnolia... Tom Cruise was crazy in it... his best role ever... I wonder why... Sunday came, I went to the gym, did laundry, had free pizza. I say it was a good day. OH and those that have been reading this journal like its your bible - I found some wax and relieved myself of this hair problem. Finally, I feel like I've been cleansed of some unholy demon that was taking over my body - the demon - Hair-magnanimous. Ok too far? not too funny? ah well. I couldn't find a cute way to insert "el Chupacabara" with the word hair.
That is my social life. If you want details about my work, I can give it but most of it is administration and depressing stories so... I'd rather keep it light. Hope this will give you an Athena fix for another week. I love you. Keep the comments coming. I like knowing I'm not just putting this into space for no reason.
Throw back 5
• Jun 3, 2007
Journal 5
Current mood: chipper
Ok people, sad to say - not much going on this time around.
Pathetic has reached an all time low this weekend with two things.
1) I stayed in and went to bed early on a Friday night. Yes, I am getting old.
2) My spelling has started to go. I like skip letters or something... I HATE bad spellers and now God is on to me.
I will say that I did go out Sat. night after a day of laundry. I met some UF people, and one UCF person. They were nice. There wasn't much of a rivalry... how can there be when you are a million miles away and football season is over. It was good stuff. We ended up going to this place O'neil's in Chinatown. Yes, I said "O'neil's in Chinatown." Crazy brits. It was three stories and kinda cool looking. I went home early though because my roommate had to work Sunday and I was kinda tired anyway. The strangest thing came over me though. I NEEDED subway. The way you need to take a shower after you've been working out. It was almost like my life depended on it. I got a footlong thinking I could save some for lunch. That didn't happen. I ATE the whole thing. I couldn't stop myself. I called Pat and told him to call me on my home phone and went to bed. Someone called later and freaked the hell out of my roommates because no one could figure it out.
*Side note: Last week, at 3 am, a random guy called a couple of times and wanted to talk to my roommate Nikesha. When my other roommate told him that she was sleeping, the caller INSISTED that he wake her up. So being the nice guy he is, he went and woke up her. She went downstairs and talked to the guy. He ended up just whispering "You have six days to live" and then hung up. In retrospect, it sounds dumb and stupid, but in a haze after waking everyone up, it freaked us out a bit. Who does that? Regardless it didn't come true because it's the sixth day and she's happily still alive.
Going on, we had a picnic at Regents Park today. I brought veggies - they were yummy. Check out facebook if you want to see the pictures. There was some tree-hugging-hippie-festival going on. Save the earth or something... Just kidding, it was like this "be organic" thing. Cool thing was, easy access to bathrooms, bad thing was, no toilet paper. I mean COME ON HIPPIES! I don't need to go that natural. Slightly annoying. Oh and a slightly funny thing happened to my roomie Kathryn, who is the most accident prone person ever. She's sweet, just shit happens to her. Anyway, so we were walking and this bulldog (cute) was carrying a stick bigger than him. I was surprised it fit in his mouth. So the bulldog was there and everyone saw him, except Kathryn so of course the dog ran the stick right into her leg. I felt bad but it was kinda funny. I guess it wasn't that funny, I'm re reading this and no laughter bubbled up. Damn. Oh well.
That was my short weekend. I didn't go anywhere during the week or have anything happen to me that is worth mentioning. OH!!! Two things - 1) found some wax... oh yes, the hair will grow and I will rip it out with relish. Now I have to play the hairy Theeny game again. It's ok, I always win - except that once where I had no control and my mom didn't know about my waxing excitement. 2) I found a 99p store. SWEET!! My cheap ass can go and find toilet paper and paper towels and not have to give my first born for them. I guess my goal for this week is to make a British friend. Let's see how that works out for me... also, I'm looking up jobs so if you guys hear of anything that I might find interesting - let a girl know. Love you guys.
Journal 5
Current mood: chipper
Ok people, sad to say - not much going on this time around.
Pathetic has reached an all time low this weekend with two things.
1) I stayed in and went to bed early on a Friday night. Yes, I am getting old.
2) My spelling has started to go. I like skip letters or something... I HATE bad spellers and now God is on to me.
I will say that I did go out Sat. night after a day of laundry. I met some UF people, and one UCF person. They were nice. There wasn't much of a rivalry... how can there be when you are a million miles away and football season is over. It was good stuff. We ended up going to this place O'neil's in Chinatown. Yes, I said "O'neil's in Chinatown." Crazy brits. It was three stories and kinda cool looking. I went home early though because my roommate had to work Sunday and I was kinda tired anyway. The strangest thing came over me though. I NEEDED subway. The way you need to take a shower after you've been working out. It was almost like my life depended on it. I got a footlong thinking I could save some for lunch. That didn't happen. I ATE the whole thing. I couldn't stop myself. I called Pat and told him to call me on my home phone and went to bed. Someone called later and freaked the hell out of my roommates because no one could figure it out.
*Side note: Last week, at 3 am, a random guy called a couple of times and wanted to talk to my roommate Nikesha. When my other roommate told him that she was sleeping, the caller INSISTED that he wake her up. So being the nice guy he is, he went and woke up her. She went downstairs and talked to the guy. He ended up just whispering "You have six days to live" and then hung up. In retrospect, it sounds dumb and stupid, but in a haze after waking everyone up, it freaked us out a bit. Who does that? Regardless it didn't come true because it's the sixth day and she's happily still alive.
Going on, we had a picnic at Regents Park today. I brought veggies - they were yummy. Check out facebook if you want to see the pictures. There was some tree-hugging-hippie-festival going on. Save the earth or something... Just kidding, it was like this "be organic" thing. Cool thing was, easy access to bathrooms, bad thing was, no toilet paper. I mean COME ON HIPPIES! I don't need to go that natural. Slightly annoying. Oh and a slightly funny thing happened to my roomie Kathryn, who is the most accident prone person ever. She's sweet, just shit happens to her. Anyway, so we were walking and this bulldog (cute) was carrying a stick bigger than him. I was surprised it fit in his mouth. So the bulldog was there and everyone saw him, except Kathryn so of course the dog ran the stick right into her leg. I felt bad but it was kinda funny. I guess it wasn't that funny, I'm re reading this and no laughter bubbled up. Damn. Oh well.
That was my short weekend. I didn't go anywhere during the week or have anything happen to me that is worth mentioning. OH!!! Two things - 1) found some wax... oh yes, the hair will grow and I will rip it out with relish. Now I have to play the hairy Theeny game again. It's ok, I always win - except that once where I had no control and my mom didn't know about my waxing excitement. 2) I found a 99p store. SWEET!! My cheap ass can go and find toilet paper and paper towels and not have to give my first born for them. I guess my goal for this week is to make a British friend. Let's see how that works out for me... also, I'm looking up jobs so if you guys hear of anything that I might find interesting - let a girl know. Love you guys.
Throw back 3 and 4
• May 20, 2007
Journal entry - san
Current mood: excited
Alright, here goes:
Things are AWESOME! I'm homesick, but that's nothing new. My job is pretty cool but I'm depressing my roommates with facts and figures such as: Every week two women die because of domestic violence in London - More women died at the hands of their husbands during the Vietnam war, that American soldiers during the same time. (American women, and that's not including those that died at the hands of their boyfriends.) So, my roommates think I'm dreary, like the weather here. I haven't been working out, but I have been cooking!! Yes, edible food. I know all of you are proud of me. I'm growing up and saving China. OH!! and I ordered a Jack and Coke (on my own, my choice) because any other drink in the damn country is weak as all hell. I know the Southern boys would be giving me high fives right now.
I work all week. The people are cool, I'm doing tons of admin work, but I like it. I even like filing because I know where everything is. The problem comes with answering the phones because I'm supposed to be empathetic and I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing on the line.... I am amazed at the system here, it really is extremely well done. People are massively nice, and I'd like to say that I'm a busy little bee and work. The only thing is, no one really cracks jokes so it's kinda killing my mojo a bit. Everyone is friendly but I need a joker and I think I'm in the wrong environment for that.... and everyone says "literally." I hate it because they use the word wrong. "It's lilterally five seconds away" No, it's not, 1-2-3-4-5. It's not here. grrr....
Enough about work, I went to Buckingham palace. Too many people there, we were there at the changing of the guards and I swear everyone thought the queen was going to come out and wave. It was so chaotic. So instead, we went to one of the royal parks. It was really pretty - until we saw a guy peeing on a tree! I was like, "dude, and they say Americans have no respect, that guy is probably from this country" We couldn't stop watching him, it was horrible but fascinating at the same time... My roommate Maegan wanted to take a picture but he finished up to fast... dammit. I also saw a homeless guy sleeping facedown in the grass... I wanted to be him. He was asleep on royal property, probably shitfaced, under a shaded tree at noon. Cool guy.
Ok ok, so I'm getting to the good part - I SAW WICKED!!!! (high pitch annoying squeal entering here) AAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!! It was more titilating than I thought it was going to be and I thought it was going to be phenominal. Hullo, it was WICKED AWESOME!!! It explained EVERYTHING - the cowardly lion, the tin man, the scarecrow... why everyone hated her, why she was considered evil, how her sister was evil... (I guessed that part, but it was still good). Be jealous people because i'm jealous of myself. I'm telling you, SO worth the money, I'd see it again and again and again. And again. :) I was on cloud 9 the whole night and never wanted to come down. I have picture of my roommies and I going but I haven't connected them to computer yet... but I have them. Y'know, not that it means much to you.
I'm heading off to the British Museum now so I have to get going. I wonder what experiences I'll have there. Anyway, Let me know if you want me to write about anything specific... otherwise, I'm keeping it this way. Coming soon: Athena's return back from Romania
Love you guys - me.
• May 30, 2007
Journal patru, I don't know how to spell it
Serves me right for trying to speak Romanian...
Ok, back from home. This is how it went:
I woke up at the but crack of dawn to get on a plane to visit the 'rents in RO. I get to see Germany for the first time - as I fly over it - btw, looks like all other countries from 2.5 miles up. Aw well, so, as I'm sitting there, I decide that the guy next to me is funny, so I start talking to him, or he talks to me, I wasn't sure. Anyway, he and his skater friend (I found out later) are playing Rummy. Yes, I finally learned to play a card game that doesn't involve drinking of any kind. The cards were first class, soft porn all the way. I think the guy next to me, Dominic, was slightly embarrassed at first but I was too focused on trying to win a game I really didn't notice them after the first few minutes. Oh ironic that my first British friend is one I met on the way to Germany. Go figure. He is a photographer for the skater guy... Anyway, after a bit of a chat, we parted ways - I gave him my number so we could "catch a pint." Eww... beer.
So I get there, Dad and Mom are both there and they both didn't notice me until I was in their face. Mom was half asleep and Dad was playing on his phone... Well, fun times just the same. I think we went to Arcade that night (with Yonie and Mike) and it was good. I got the couch, which wasn't a big deal because I sleep there anyway, even if I have a bed. All my roomies, here and in Tally know this. Something about a couch and keeping people from sitting on it.
Ok, so the next day was Friday!! I'm-getting-waxed-day!! I've been waiting for months!! Well not for months but long enough so that I am thoroughly disgusted in myself. I am so excited I'm jumping up and down to find out Mom didn't make a reservation (though I did ask her to a week before hand) and we couldn't get one at my normal place. You know me, I'm like, Let's DO this! Mom, the maid - Adrianna, Mike and I went on a mission to find a salon. Let's just say after 4 we gave up. No, it didn't happen. I even started looking for do-it-yourself wax because I do that at home... NONE. No wax, no freakin wax anywhere. So I'm hairy, disappointed and hungry. BAD combo. So Mom took Mike and I to Pizza Hut. It was yummy, though I was still disappointed and hairy. So the first thing I did when I got home was violate my rule of waxing-only when I'm that hairy and used, yes, a razor... and a sucky razor at that. Oh! the humanity!!!! You know it's bad when you feel shame when you are in the shower by yourself apologizing to your legs, pits and vajayjay for their disappointment.
Well, we had stopped by the Embassy, and who do we see? Charlie! He saved us from the boredom of the night. We went out that night to B52's. The music was good and Yon, Mike and I got tipsy. Then we went to Planters, where I'm sure that's when I headed down the path that rocks.
The next day, Yon and I were still giddy... which turned quickly into feeling like crap, but we faked it because Dad repeatedly reminded us of the trip to Bran and Peles Castle. Nicki drove and we all layed down. Not really, though I tried.
We stopped by little stores so mom could buy animal skins with furs on them "they had to be spotted." We first visited Bran, where Mike, Yon and I stood at the base doing the "Captain" pose. (Refer to myspace picture.) Also, I saw a metal penis, I did not put that on myspace but I can send it to you if you would like. Yeah, what it has to do with a Bran Castle, I still haven't figured out.
On to Peles, where I took tons of pictures of a building, which I never do because I never think they are interesting but DUDE, Kings are crazy about the shit in their house. I mean, there was a staircase made for looks, a hookah room (which was awesome), a table and chair made out of the "iron" of wood that took THREE generation of woodmaker men (yes, carpenters) to complete... Not to mention the 4,000 pieces of war gear this guy owned. I think he was compensating but that's just me... Crazy awesome... well, the most Wicked thing that happened to me in my whole life was I GOT SCRATCHED BY A LION! YES, A REAL LION!! Ok, so she was 7 months old - she still was bigger than me and had a vicious set of teeth. I went to pet her and she tried to kill me!!!! No, I'm lying, I think she was playing but dammit, she ALMOST broke skin... hahahaha... Yon and Mike pet her too... they can tell you their versions.
Anyway, we went out with Charlie again that night. This time to a bar, and then to a salsa club I think. I drank more than I should of, let's just leave it at that shall we? I had a great time, but I think everyone knows I had a great time. It reminded me of crazy nights at Stetsons but not getting kicked out. Good times. Yeah, again I met more British people there than I have here.
Sunday was a real chill day. I slept till about noon and hung out with Mom and Dad. I watch the BEST show in the WORLD - firefly. I kept telling Mike he was "SO LUCKY HE WAS GOING TO HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE!!" and he was. Yon felt like crap the entire day, then she had cramps. See, that's what happens when you hang out with Satan, I keep telling her he's bad news... I also talked to Dad a little about what I'm going to do... if you guys have any ideas, I'm all ears. I don't have a freakin plan yet... grrr...
Ok, then I got up at 4 AM and got on a plan and somehow 8 hours later arrived in London at 11:30. I just went back to bed. Oh and somehow I read three romance novels in all that time. Gotta love Mom giving me my crack. I'm back in the swing of things... Hopefully, we're going to see that play Equunox or something- y'know the one with Harry Potter getting naked. I don't know much about it, but hey if Potter gets naked - I'm there. Till the next shennanigans occur -
Love you,
me
Journal entry - san
Current mood: excited
Alright, here goes:
Things are AWESOME! I'm homesick, but that's nothing new. My job is pretty cool but I'm depressing my roommates with facts and figures such as: Every week two women die because of domestic violence in London - More women died at the hands of their husbands during the Vietnam war, that American soldiers during the same time. (American women, and that's not including those that died at the hands of their boyfriends.) So, my roommates think I'm dreary, like the weather here. I haven't been working out, but I have been cooking!! Yes, edible food. I know all of you are proud of me. I'm growing up and saving China. OH!! and I ordered a Jack and Coke (on my own, my choice) because any other drink in the damn country is weak as all hell. I know the Southern boys would be giving me high fives right now.
I work all week. The people are cool, I'm doing tons of admin work, but I like it. I even like filing because I know where everything is. The problem comes with answering the phones because I'm supposed to be empathetic and I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing on the line.... I am amazed at the system here, it really is extremely well done. People are massively nice, and I'd like to say that I'm a busy little bee and work. The only thing is, no one really cracks jokes so it's kinda killing my mojo a bit. Everyone is friendly but I need a joker and I think I'm in the wrong environment for that.... and everyone says "literally." I hate it because they use the word wrong. "It's lilterally five seconds away" No, it's not, 1-2-3-4-5. It's not here. grrr....
Enough about work, I went to Buckingham palace. Too many people there, we were there at the changing of the guards and I swear everyone thought the queen was going to come out and wave. It was so chaotic. So instead, we went to one of the royal parks. It was really pretty - until we saw a guy peeing on a tree! I was like, "dude, and they say Americans have no respect, that guy is probably from this country" We couldn't stop watching him, it was horrible but fascinating at the same time... My roommate Maegan wanted to take a picture but he finished up to fast... dammit. I also saw a homeless guy sleeping facedown in the grass... I wanted to be him. He was asleep on royal property, probably shitfaced, under a shaded tree at noon. Cool guy.
Ok ok, so I'm getting to the good part - I SAW WICKED!!!! (high pitch annoying squeal entering here) AAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!! It was more titilating than I thought it was going to be and I thought it was going to be phenominal. Hullo, it was WICKED AWESOME!!! It explained EVERYTHING - the cowardly lion, the tin man, the scarecrow... why everyone hated her, why she was considered evil, how her sister was evil... (I guessed that part, but it was still good). Be jealous people because i'm jealous of myself. I'm telling you, SO worth the money, I'd see it again and again and again. And again. :) I was on cloud 9 the whole night and never wanted to come down. I have picture of my roommies and I going but I haven't connected them to computer yet... but I have them. Y'know, not that it means much to you.
I'm heading off to the British Museum now so I have to get going. I wonder what experiences I'll have there. Anyway, Let me know if you want me to write about anything specific... otherwise, I'm keeping it this way. Coming soon: Athena's return back from Romania
Love you guys - me.
• May 30, 2007
Journal patru, I don't know how to spell it
Serves me right for trying to speak Romanian...
Ok, back from home. This is how it went:
I woke up at the but crack of dawn to get on a plane to visit the 'rents in RO. I get to see Germany for the first time - as I fly over it - btw, looks like all other countries from 2.5 miles up. Aw well, so, as I'm sitting there, I decide that the guy next to me is funny, so I start talking to him, or he talks to me, I wasn't sure. Anyway, he and his skater friend (I found out later) are playing Rummy. Yes, I finally learned to play a card game that doesn't involve drinking of any kind. The cards were first class, soft porn all the way. I think the guy next to me, Dominic, was slightly embarrassed at first but I was too focused on trying to win a game I really didn't notice them after the first few minutes. Oh ironic that my first British friend is one I met on the way to Germany. Go figure. He is a photographer for the skater guy... Anyway, after a bit of a chat, we parted ways - I gave him my number so we could "catch a pint." Eww... beer.
So I get there, Dad and Mom are both there and they both didn't notice me until I was in their face. Mom was half asleep and Dad was playing on his phone... Well, fun times just the same. I think we went to Arcade that night (with Yonie and Mike) and it was good. I got the couch, which wasn't a big deal because I sleep there anyway, even if I have a bed. All my roomies, here and in Tally know this. Something about a couch and keeping people from sitting on it.
Ok, so the next day was Friday!! I'm-getting-waxed-day!! I've been waiting for months!! Well not for months but long enough so that I am thoroughly disgusted in myself. I am so excited I'm jumping up and down to find out Mom didn't make a reservation (though I did ask her to a week before hand) and we couldn't get one at my normal place. You know me, I'm like, Let's DO this! Mom, the maid - Adrianna, Mike and I went on a mission to find a salon. Let's just say after 4 we gave up. No, it didn't happen. I even started looking for do-it-yourself wax because I do that at home... NONE. No wax, no freakin wax anywhere. So I'm hairy, disappointed and hungry. BAD combo. So Mom took Mike and I to Pizza Hut. It was yummy, though I was still disappointed and hairy. So the first thing I did when I got home was violate my rule of waxing-only when I'm that hairy and used, yes, a razor... and a sucky razor at that. Oh! the humanity!!!! You know it's bad when you feel shame when you are in the shower by yourself apologizing to your legs, pits and vajayjay for their disappointment.
Well, we had stopped by the Embassy, and who do we see? Charlie! He saved us from the boredom of the night. We went out that night to B52's. The music was good and Yon, Mike and I got tipsy. Then we went to Planters, where I'm sure that's when I headed down the path that rocks.
The next day, Yon and I were still giddy... which turned quickly into feeling like crap, but we faked it because Dad repeatedly reminded us of the trip to Bran and Peles Castle. Nicki drove and we all layed down. Not really, though I tried.
We stopped by little stores so mom could buy animal skins with furs on them "they had to be spotted." We first visited Bran, where Mike, Yon and I stood at the base doing the "Captain" pose. (Refer to myspace picture.) Also, I saw a metal penis, I did not put that on myspace but I can send it to you if you would like. Yeah, what it has to do with a Bran Castle, I still haven't figured out.
On to Peles, where I took tons of pictures of a building, which I never do because I never think they are interesting but DUDE, Kings are crazy about the shit in their house. I mean, there was a staircase made for looks, a hookah room (which was awesome), a table and chair made out of the "iron" of wood that took THREE generation of woodmaker men (yes, carpenters) to complete... Not to mention the 4,000 pieces of war gear this guy owned. I think he was compensating but that's just me... Crazy awesome... well, the most Wicked thing that happened to me in my whole life was I GOT SCRATCHED BY A LION! YES, A REAL LION!! Ok, so she was 7 months old - she still was bigger than me and had a vicious set of teeth. I went to pet her and she tried to kill me!!!! No, I'm lying, I think she was playing but dammit, she ALMOST broke skin... hahahaha... Yon and Mike pet her too... they can tell you their versions.
Anyway, we went out with Charlie again that night. This time to a bar, and then to a salsa club I think. I drank more than I should of, let's just leave it at that shall we? I had a great time, but I think everyone knows I had a great time. It reminded me of crazy nights at Stetsons but not getting kicked out. Good times. Yeah, again I met more British people there than I have here.
Sunday was a real chill day. I slept till about noon and hung out with Mom and Dad. I watch the BEST show in the WORLD - firefly. I kept telling Mike he was "SO LUCKY HE WAS GOING TO HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE!!" and he was. Yon felt like crap the entire day, then she had cramps. See, that's what happens when you hang out with Satan, I keep telling her he's bad news... I also talked to Dad a little about what I'm going to do... if you guys have any ideas, I'm all ears. I don't have a freakin plan yet... grrr...
Ok, then I got up at 4 AM and got on a plan and somehow 8 hours later arrived in London at 11:30. I just went back to bed. Oh and somehow I read three romance novels in all that time. Gotta love Mom giving me my crack. I'm back in the swing of things... Hopefully, we're going to see that play Equunox or something- y'know the one with Harry Potter getting naked. I don't know much about it, but hey if Potter gets naked - I'm there. Till the next shennanigans occur -
Love you,
me
Throw back - 1 and 2
Here is a series of letters i wrote when i was in London. So for those of you who have read it, just let it go. For those of you who haven't, enjoy.
May 3, 2007
Got here alive and well, Journal 1
Current mood: sleepy
Ok my friends. I'm here in London. Safe. I'm tired. I'm not even hungry.... I have a headache though. I have two roommates. It's weird sharing a room, OH MY GOD! My poor bathroom is so small, I feel like it has a inferiority complex. It's so sad.I have no idea how I'm going to shave my legs in there.... It's cooler than I thought it would be and I packed way too much stuff for this trip. I couldn't help myself though. I really do think I'll wear it all. I miss you guys, I hope you are doing well. I feel like I need to pick up a British Accent already. Ah well, maybe after my nap (that they tell you not to do....). You know what I say, WHAT-ever. The bed is calling out to me.
Love you guys,
Athena
May 6, 2007
Journal entry 2
Here's the scoop. 3 days in London. I found that its expensive. I went a club and it was £10 to get in, that's like $20. I miss my Stetson's already. Here are three things that I'm happy about:
1. Milk doesn't taste bad
2. I can understand everyone
3. The accents are hot
It's busy. I haven't been touring much. I want to start working. I came here to do that. I know it's London so it's supposed to be this whole experience but I've been to other countries and partied. I want to work dammit. I have this graduation thing I want to do.
I did see Les Miserables, it was awesome. It was a small theater which I found I liked better. People here are really friendly. Walking is the best way to get anywhere. I like it, I just need more flat shoes. People trip all the time on the freaking sidewalk. Someone should really do something about that... :) what else? what else? The people here don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo... So the Americans did. Gotta love my people. It was fun. I did a walking tour around my block. It was nice. We have some cool things around here. We are like almost in the theater district. (It's considered the "posh" side of town.) The gay district is close-by as is the strip joints. Crazy isn't it? It is a lot like New York suprisingly. It's busy.
Strangely, I miss ol' Tally. I guess I got used to the slower lifestyle. Well, that's it for now.
Whoosh....
May 3, 2007
Got here alive and well, Journal 1
Current mood: sleepy
Ok my friends. I'm here in London. Safe. I'm tired. I'm not even hungry.... I have a headache though. I have two roommates. It's weird sharing a room, OH MY GOD! My poor bathroom is so small, I feel like it has a inferiority complex. It's so sad.I have no idea how I'm going to shave my legs in there.... It's cooler than I thought it would be and I packed way too much stuff for this trip. I couldn't help myself though. I really do think I'll wear it all. I miss you guys, I hope you are doing well. I feel like I need to pick up a British Accent already. Ah well, maybe after my nap (that they tell you not to do....). You know what I say, WHAT-ever. The bed is calling out to me.
Love you guys,
Athena
May 6, 2007
Journal entry 2
Here's the scoop. 3 days in London. I found that its expensive. I went a club and it was £10 to get in, that's like $20. I miss my Stetson's already. Here are three things that I'm happy about:
1. Milk doesn't taste bad
2. I can understand everyone
3. The accents are hot
It's busy. I haven't been touring much. I want to start working. I came here to do that. I know it's London so it's supposed to be this whole experience but I've been to other countries and partied. I want to work dammit. I have this graduation thing I want to do.
I did see Les Miserables, it was awesome. It was a small theater which I found I liked better. People here are really friendly. Walking is the best way to get anywhere. I like it, I just need more flat shoes. People trip all the time on the freaking sidewalk. Someone should really do something about that... :) what else? what else? The people here don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo... So the Americans did. Gotta love my people. It was fun. I did a walking tour around my block. It was nice. We have some cool things around here. We are like almost in the theater district. (It's considered the "posh" side of town.) The gay district is close-by as is the strip joints. Crazy isn't it? It is a lot like New York suprisingly. It's busy.
Strangely, I miss ol' Tally. I guess I got used to the slower lifestyle. Well, that's it for now.
Whoosh....
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