Blog of Eternal Stench

Oh, baby!

2006-04-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

Hey! Check it out! My sister had a baby and the baby's name is Miriam! I want to buy lots of things for her! I can't wait to fly home in two weeks! Here is a picture of the happy family!

When I showed the picture to my coworker, Lana, she said, "Which is the baby?" meaning which gender, but I thought she meant which of the three people in the picture is a baby, and I laughed because I thought she was joking.

These are things I'd like to buy for the baby:

Soft stuffed animal
Boston shirt
Beth suggested bibs because babies drool and puke a lot, so I think that's a good idea
Some beer for Lisa, because it's been so long without beer.
Cow costume, because Steve has a cow costume he wears for Halloween, and it would be cute to have Dad and daughter cow costumes.
Pretty much all of H&M's baby section

Any other suggestions?

Egg hunt!

2006-04-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

Last Easter, Rachael and I secretly hid candy-filled plastic eggs all over our friends' apartment and then waited for them to notice one of the eggs and begin to look for more. However, they didn't notice any of the eggs! Impatiently, I surreptitiously called their house phone, hoping that they would notice the plastic egg we had hidden next to the phone. But when I called, Ben ran to the further phone instead of the one with the egg hidden by it! I couldn't believe it. Finally we had to tell them that we had hidden the eggs, and to Rachael's and my shock and dismay, our friends DID NOT CARE at all and we had to pretty much force them to search for the eggs! I think this year, I will ask Ben and the others to hide the candy-filled eggs so that Rachael and I can have fun finding them.

Kali is coming to visit this week because she's interviewing for some jobs! I hope she gets the job of her dreams and can live in Boston permanently!

What a state we're in, part deux!

2006-02-23T16:02:00.000-05:00

Sunday night was the night of the President's Day party! We wanted to watch 1776, but that was not available, so we watched my little brother's school play about the constitutional convention instead! My brother played George Washington! It was great! We also played a giant game of Taboo! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

This one was taken at the fancy Beacon Hill party we went to:

This is Bethany, Ben and Sammy at that same party:

Here are Sammy, Rachael and Ben at the President's day party. Sammy is dressed as Chester A. Arthur: the college years. Rachael has a tiny stovepipe hat on her head, and Ben is just your average statesman. Sammy just finished microwaving those peeps and Rachael didn't like the look of them. She is saying, "they look like barf!"

Here we are dressed up for President's Day! Andrea gave me that vest, and I was really glad to be able to use it! Rachael T made the buckles for my shoes. Jeremy has a faux-hawk for some reason.

Here is a really bad picture of Andrea and a good picture of Sammy and Jeremy! Andrea normally looks very nice!

What a state we're in!

2006-02-22T10:43:00.000-05:00

This morning I had an eye exam because I'm working with lasers and they want to check on my eyes in case I damage them. Now I can't see anything, and my pupils are gigantic, and it's a really sunny day outside. I was covering my eyes because my sunglasses were not shading enough, and I came really close to running into lots of things. Boston has too many people and poles. They should have planned the placement of the optometrist's office better. Also, right next door to the ophthalmological building, there's another eye-related building with a big glass eyeball outside, so even though I knew the address of my eye doctor, I passed it and walked into the building with the big glass eyeball outside. The lady at the front desk knew what had happened immediately; I bet that kind of thing happens a lot.

Anyway, while I was waiting for the eye doctor, I suddenly remembered something from when I was younger: one of my first times at the optometrist, the doctor said that he could figure out what I had eaten for breakfast that morning. Up until this morning, I thought that it was a secret eye doctor trick. Well, I hadn't really thought much about it until this morning, really. Anyway, I wanted to ask Tracy, since she's an ophthalmologist, but I decided to ask the eye doctor instead:

Me: Oh, have you heard of this before? When I was little, my eye doctor knew what I had for breakfast without me telling him.
Doctor: Ah, that's a good trick.
Me: Oooh, there's a trick??
Doctor: No, he probably just guessed.

Apparently it was just a trick to make me distracted or something, but it seriously worked. And I bet my eyes were open really wide too, because I was completely awe-struck at the time.

Last Sunday we had a President's day party and I have some pictures to show you, but I forgot to upload them, so you'll have to wait!

Yay snow!

2006-02-12T17:44:00.000-05:00

There was a lot of snow today! Click the picture to see more!

We love Barack!

2006-02-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

Rachael made some Barack Obama shirts!

Saturday in the park!

2006-01-22T10:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday in the robotics lab, we got the turret to move according to where the camera was pointing and the shooter design worked, sort of, so we celebrated by kicking and hitting a mostly deflated soccer ball around for about an hour.

Then Sammy and I met at Back Bay station and we walked to a restaurant to spend the gift certificate he got from Mom. Our waiter was in training (after he told us that, Sammy and I both looked at each other and said, "great"). Then a family with a baby came and sat near us, and Sammy and I looked at each other and said, "great" when we noticed the baby. Then we ate tons and tons of food!

After dinner, we spent a lot of time in Barnes & Noble and then we went home and watched Remember the Titans because Rachael had it on. I hadn't seen it before; I had thought it was just a generic football movie. All I had seen of it before is the trailer where they were all singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" together.

Then I played World of Warcraft and my normal server was full, so I went to an RP server, hoping to hear some crazy talking, but nobody was doing anything cool. I did make a druid and named it Artoo, because I used to think that druids and droids were the same thing. No one got my little joke, but I laughed anyway.

Bogspot

2006-01-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

Down the hall, there was a big meeting that left free sandwiches for everyone. While I was loading my plate, a woman was standing there talking about how much bacteria there must be on these sandwiches. I guess she was hinting that I should not be eating the sandwiches, but she wasn't directly talking to me. Besides, the sandwiches were probably not sitting out very long. If I start feeling sick, I won't go running to her.

Back from Wisconsin!

2006-01-09T12:02:00.000-05:00

Wellll, I'm back from my trip to Wisconsin, which was a truly magnificent time! And then I start my job and robotics! Click on the picture below to see more pictures!

2005-12-09T15:01:00.000-05:00

There is a wicked blizzard/thunderstorm going on right now! I've never seen such a thing!

I am NOT a loser!

2005-12-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

I just left a message for my sister, talking about what I've been up to lately, and at the end, I said, "if you wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights" (which is one of the lines in this song) and then hung up and laughed and laughed.

Today we had our senior luncheon. It was pretty fun, and at some point, this website will have a whole bunch of pictures from the capstone presentations. Hooray!

Almost done!

2005-12-05T13:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I almost had perfect attendance for my final semester at Northeastern, but today I have a dizzy flu so I stayed home. So I have perfect attendance just up until the last week of classes.

Last Thursday we presented our capstone project and it went really well. We didn't win anything, but I'm happy it's done! Now we just need to write the 20-30 page report! And I just have one more big paper, and one more homework assignment, and one more final exam and then I'm done! I can't possibly wait!

I'm so excited to go home to Wisconsin! It's been a long time, and I like it there and I miss my family! I had a dream last night that I went to the family christmas party (which was being held outside V. Richards in Brookfield for some reason), and I forgot to get a gift for my person, and I forgot to wear nice clothes, and everyone else was really "dressed to the nines," and I was really worried. Luckily, Kim gave me nice clothes to wear, and the person I was supposed to give a gift to wasn't even there! Perfect!

Some Harry Potter freaks

2005-11-22T16:30:00.000-05:00

My sister is going to have a baby girl, so I've been thinking of names. Lisa and Steve mainly think my names are too "old-sounding." Some of my favorites are Pearl and Georgia. Here is a message I left for her today:

Me: I've been doing some thinking, and I have a great suggestion for your baby. How about Hermione?

While I was tutoring today, Lisa left a message saying this:

Lisa: Thanks for the suggestion, but we're pretty set on either Ginny Weasley or Professor McGonagall.

I really hope they name their baby Professor McGonagall. How amazing that would be!

Speaking of Harry Potter, I saw the latest movie, and it was great! Well, it was great for me because I already knew what was going to happen the whole time, but I imagine it was really tough for those who hadn't read the book several times. Also, there were tons of things that got cut out, which is understandable because the book was hundreds of pages long, but there are things I would have liked to see.

Be cool, babies!

2005-11-16T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today, I took my last midterm as an undergraduate Northeastern student! Weird!

...and that's pretty much it!

I see color bars

2005-10-31T14:36:00.000-05:00

Wow! It's so beautiful out today that even my impending GRE's of doom aren't getting me too nervous yet!

Friday night we had our halloween party! We realized too late that "safari" is not the best theme. It was a great theme for an invitation, though: check out Sammy's handiwork! And also, Rexford ended up in a shark costume! He looked menacing, to say the least!

Saturday it was snowing! I know, right? I was planning on staying in all day (especially after my late night Friday night), but I ended up going out shopping in it. It was actually pretty fun, though, because Sammy and I listened to music together while we were walking, and Hall & Oates were playing, and Hall & Oates is kind of the musical equivalent of this nice sunny day. I was pretty happy. Plus I bought new pants for the first time in months! And they're good sturdy corduroys; perfect for winter!

The monster mash!

2005-10-25T12:55:00.000-04:00

After seeing this picture, we're trying to think of some good Halloween costumes for Rexford. We tried making a shark fin for him, but we made the fin too big, and he looked more like a sailboat. We'll have to think of something really great for him.

I've been tutoring a lot more lately, and it's pretty fun! I have started to tutor a guy named Dave who is severely sight-impaired, and that has been a real challenge, because I'm tutoring in Electronics, which is a very visual subject. Dave is also about 45 years old, too. It's kind of a strange situation, but he's a really nice guy and I really admire him for attempting an education in a field that would be a real challenge even for a person with full eyesight.

My early session of tutoring was cancelled, so I got to sleep in a little, but I ended up laying in bed watching the storm outside. I think we're having what's called a "Nor'easter." It's really windy and cold and raining. It was nice to sit and watch it, but now I must trek out!

Burger Cop!

2005-10-10T00:59:00.000-04:00

I would just like to say this: I am the WORST at not laughing when someone gets hurt. Unless it's a truly horrendous accident or there is a lot of blood everywhere, I cannot stop myself from a little giggle when someone suffers a minor injury. For example, a couple of years ago, my mom was walking across the room and snagged her little toe on the coffee table. I'm sure it hurt like hell, and I wouldn't have laughed about that, but when she hurt herself, she yelled, "son of a biscuit!" and I couldn't help myself--I laughed a lot. I tried to keep as quiet as I could, so she wouldn't hear me, but it was no use. She became furious that I would laugh at her for getting hurt; I wanted to tell her that I was laughing because she said "son of a biscuit" and not because she was injured, but I was laughing too hard to utter a word.

Just a few minutes ago, Sammy somehow hit his head on the door frame. I was thinking about the logistics of how his head banged into the frame of the door and I started laughing a little, and he got mad too. Man, he and my mom are made for each other!

The Hunt for Red October

2005-10-01T17:05:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure there's a gas leak in here. Rachael and Sammy are both sleeping soundly. What losers!

Last Saturday we threw a surprise party for Rachael Sansom, and it was the greatest time ever! Sammy bought some cap guns to shoot off when she went in, but he forgot about them when she actually did go through the door. The girls all took her out for dessert at Finale, so they didn't have a birthday cake for her; instead, Ben just rigged a cup with 24 candles (one for good luck) and she blew out the birthday cup.

Sammy's birthday gift to Rachael was this moustache:

I've mainly been spending my days studying, watching TV, tutoring, and rabble-rousing. I am shocked that it's October already, but I'm getting excited for Halloween. I have to start thinking of possible costume ideas!

It's almost October!

2005-09-24T09:40:00.000-04:00

We went to the screening of the movie Thumbsucker, which I liked, and we also made a new friend while standing in line! We swapped phone numbers with our new friend Leilani. So now we have to start doing fun things to make our new friend like us.
I had my first tutoring session! I tutored three guys in Electronics, but these three students were really good and they already had a lot of the homework done so tutoring was a breeze! Before the session, I asked the lady in charge what I should do, because I was a little nervous, and she said that I should take some time to get to know them. So here's what happened:

Me: So, where are you all from?
Them: [telling me where they're from]
Me: Well, I'm supposed to take some time to get to know you all, but I think we're pretty much best friends by now, so we can probably start talking about Electronics.

We finally fulfilled our destinies and went to the bar around the corner called The Midway Cafe. They say it's different every night, but last night was amazing! The main event last night was something called Nerd Nite! First, a woman talked about hidden bat diversity in the paleotropics, where she showed strangely cute pictures of bats and talked about the frequency of their tone used in echolocation and the size of their forearms and some funny interesting things that one wouldn't expect to hear when going to a bar. Then a guy did a bunch of awesome physics tricks! It was pretty much the best night of my life!
Today is Rachael's birthday! We're going to go to Finale to celebrate her almost-golden birthday! It will be the best time of our lives!

I wish I were a Sim

2005-09-20T12:52:00.000-04:00

My roommate Rachael is really bad at loading the dishwasher. She always puts the plates where the bowls are supposed to go and the bowls where the plates are supposed to go, and she puts the tall glasses where the short glasses are supposed to go, and she doesn't allow room for more dishes later, so the dishwasher can't hold as many dishes. I wonder if she grew up using a dishwasher. She must not have. I thought I was just being really anal retentive, but Sammy agrees with me about Rachael's lack of dishwasher-loading prowess. However, he, unlike me, didn't take the time to rearrange the whole thing.

Tonight we're going to a free screening of a movie called Thumbsucker! I have no idea what it's about, but I hope it's delightful!

Confrontational + email = possible oxymoron?

2005-09-19T17:37:00.000-04:00

The other day I left my bike at the train station overnight, and it rained that night. My bike was underneath an overhang, but it still got wet enough to make the chain a little rusty. When I rode it this morning, the bike decided to get back at me by launching a shard of acorn at my eyeball. Then, the bike rack was completely full at the station, and I had to squish in to lock it and I got dirt all over my shirt. That darned bike.

ALSO, I had to write a really confrontational email! I called someone "delirious" and said that [the robotics team] would prefer not to be associated with her. That was the most confrontational I've been in a while, and it was somewhat exhilerating, but mostly I was just shaky and sweaty.

A reading from the book of Emily

2005-09-15T23:57:00.000-04:00

I asked Professor Silevitch, my old electromagnetics professor, if he would write a recommendation letter for me so I can start my job as a tutor. He told me to write the letter and he would "massage" it if he felt like it. First I was delighted, but now I'm just not sure...what do I say? It feels weird to write out all these nice things about myself. I think I'm just going to copy down some of the psalms or something, but I'll substitute my own name wherever it says God, or Jesus or whatever. For example, I can write something like:

Emily is my shepherd. I shall not want.

The heavens declare the glory of Emily; and the firmament sheweth her handywork.

Emily so loved the world, that she gave her only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in her should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That reminds me, remember how people used to hold up signs that said "John 3:16" at sports events? Does anyone do that anymore?

woe

2005-09-11T02:04:00.000-04:00

I'll never have drunk posts like Jeejeen has drunk posts because I am too obsessed with perfect spelling and grammar. 'Tis a shame! Hers are fun to decode. Sorry, readers!

Llama guys

2005-09-06T23:00:00.000-04:00

I laughed myself silly while watching this: http://www.mega64.com/. The paperboy video is the best.

Also, go here for two scenes from my weekend: 1 (gross) and 2 (hilarious)

Where did the summer go?

2005-09-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

Arg, what am ah doin'? It's sad that the summer is over! No white after labor day! And tomorrow school starts, and I need a job or some way to pay the rent, such as selling all of my belongings. That's cool, right?

And now I unveil the pictures from my weekend on Lake Ontario. Now all I need is a trip to Lake Huron and I'll have been to all the Great Lakes!

So this is what it sounds like

2005-08-27T00:15:00.000-04:00

Hey, I'm in the middle of my second set of family visits, so I'm a dead dove right now, but here are some pictures of the first leg!

Here they are!

2005-08-16T11:26:00.000-04:00

Whenever I get sick of studying for an exam, I take a moment to calculate what percentage I need to get on the exam in order to pass the class. I think I can get a B in the class if I get a 70% on the exam. I think I know 70% of the material. Also, we are allowed to use our notes, and I will take this opportunity to let you all know that I take pretty good notes.

I wish this exam had been earlier than 1 pm, because I don't like spending my entire morning either studying or doing stupid little things to distract myself from studying (like, oh, I don't know, taking a picture of my notes and posting it on my blog...)

and your little dog, too

2005-08-16T09:21:00.000-04:00

Hey, guess who's going to be an aunt?!? It's me! My sister is pregnant! Lisa and Steve agreed that they would only tell one person each before they each told their families. I thought that I was Lisa's person, since she called me on Thursday to tell me, but apparently, Steve told too many people, so Lisa decided to tell me too. Lisa's person was her new sister, Jamie. I asked Lisa if she were getting married again, who would she choose as her maid/matron of honor, and she said me, but who knows these days? This is all a joke of course. It's probably best that she chose Jamie as her person, because Jamie is a mom already, whereas when Lisa told me she's pregnant, I asked her if she's going to keep it! Maybe I should start keeping count of how many people call me "Auntie Em." So far it's 1.

Also, my mom saw March of the Penguins, and she said it made her want to airlift fish to the penguins. I laughed at that.

Yay, some lovely ladies are coming to visit me on Thursday! I've already planned out an itinerary that includes a Jamaica Plain exploration day! Huzzah!!

It's August!

2005-08-07T13:19:00.000-04:00

Sammy and I ate breakfast on the back porch this morning, and we brought Rexford out to bask in the sun as well! When I went inside to start working on my capstone stuff, I left the door open for Sammy. So anyway, I was on my computer researching extinction cross-sections, and I heard a strange breathing noise. I turned around, and there was a giant bloodhound walking toward me! It was Duke, the first floor tenants' dog. He must have walked up the stairs and come into our apartment. I started petting him a little, but then he shook his head and got saliva all over me, so I led him out of our apartment. He was pretty nice. I like hearing him bark sometimes.

Sammy is playing "Resident Evil" on his nintendo gamecube while singing that "Hey there lonely girl" song. Just now, he said, "man, this place is TEEMING with zombies!" I think this game is pretty scary. I'm glad it's not dark outside.

And, let's seeeee...yesterday I spent the morning and much of the afternoon in the computer lab doing the capstone presentation (which we'll be presenting on Friday, yikes) so when we quit at 4 pm, I was determined to spend the rest of daylight playing frisbee, shod in flipflops, on a field covered in goose droppings. And hooray! I did that! And then later, Rachael made a delicious meal from her homeland of Santa Fe, New Mexico! The dish is called Frito Pie and it's made of fritos and lots of cheese and hot hot chili (it can be made with red and/or green chili; Rachael used the green chili that her brother brought from Santa Fe) and beans and onions and tomatoes and deliciousness. It was spicier than my life, but I still loved it. I think I'd like to have a Milwaukee meal night, but my favorite thing, frozen custard, is not obtainable here. Maybe I could learn to make it. Otherwise, maybe we could have some bratwurst and beer and cheese. What are some other foods from Wisconsin? I wish I had some friends from a place where they eat poutine because I want to try it. Andrea is from Maine and she is French Canadian, so maybe she could make it. We could have poutine and Moxie! Perfect!

The circle of strife

2005-07-31T00:43:00.000-04:00

Oh hey, what's up!? We are going to a flea market tomorrow and I should go to bed, but I rode my bike past a peeing guy tonight and I interrupted his stream, and then he chatted with me for several minutes! I felt a little weird!

On Friday, Rachael and I went out to see if we could buy a lizard, but we backed out on the lizard buying after walking around the pet store for a good hour, all the while being followed around by a curly-haired guy with B.O.! And it WASN'T Sammy! For once! But really, we seriously considered getting a green anole lizard, and naming it Cannoli, but we didn't feel like paying for the supplies, or the crickets or mealworms, and besides, mealworms and crickets are pretty gross. Then we VERY briefly considered a bird, but then we remembered that birds aren't that great. Rachael and Sammy really wanted to buy a fish to put in Rexford's tank, but it would take about 10 seconds before Rexford would eat the poor fish, and I just couldn't handle seeing that.

Hey, check out some of Kali's pictures of her experience in Boston here!

Law & Order Party!

2005-07-26T23:23:00.000-04:00

Hey, check out the pictures from our Law & Order party! We had fun!

2005-07-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

My roommates and I signed up for Netflix! Now I just sit and wait until the copy of Teen Witch floats through that door. Rachael's first choice for Netflix is Jason X. I ask you.

I also wanted to say

2005-07-14T13:29:00.000-04:00

If I had a cat, I would take a lot of pictures of it and I would play a game with you all called "Yawning or Roaring?" where you had to look at a picture of the cat either yawning or roaring and guess which one the cat is doing. I guess cats yawn more than they roar. I'd go to the zoo next door and take pictures of the lions roaring, but they're so depressed that they probably don't do anything but yawn.

Still have no raisin to live.

2005-07-14T13:20:00.000-04:00

The summertime is no time to sit inside and type out lame entries on a lame blog! I'm going to find a place to go swimming!

Also, if you want to watch a video of Rexford diving into his tank from the ledge above his tank, comment and I'll email it to you! It's hilarious!

Check out my pictures from Wisconsin!

2005-07-06T20:59:00.000-04:00

It was a crazy weekend, and a real tour-de-force for Sammy!

2005-06-29T17:28:00.000-04:00

I started classes, hooray! And this weekend I will be going to Wisconsin! School started on Tuesday, and Rachael and her cousin Shana moved in, and we had a delicious meal of tacos last night. Our dinner music was a mix of awesome 90's music, including songs such as "Wonderwall" by Oasis and "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies.

Woah, woah, woah: did I already say anything about the party I attended last weekend? I haven't written an entry in a while, so probably not. It was a going-away party for Rachael's coworker, Chelsea, whose boyfriend is Swedish and he works at Atari and the Boston office was closing, so he either had to move to New York to work there, or go all the way back to Sweden. Anyway, the party was fun and everyone dressed nicely, and Rachael and I both wore nice white dresses, and it was reeeally hot outside, and there were homemade swedish meatballs. But the most amazing part is that Henrik, the Swedish meatball himself, made a toast in which he sang "Strangers in the Night" to Chelsea, and then he PROPOSED to her in front of everyone! I had never seen anything like that in real life. What fun! Then everyone got drunk!

My photos from our trip!

2005-06-23T09:48:00.000-04:00

Now I need the pictures from Rachael's camera!

A snippet of Sammy's mealtime conversation about/with our turtle

2005-06-22T15:45:00.000-04:00

Oh, he's got a little flap of dead skin on his head, it's like a bonnet! Look at him! He's a hunter! He's an animal! Ahh! Oh, he's really good at hunting. Crap. [kiss kiss] Rex! He's getting pulled towards it! His foot touched it and he hated it. He can't get up there. I don't think he likes going in the stream. Will you put him on top of the turtle dock? He can't get up there. I want him up there. He didn't want it. Rexford, just go up there. He's upside down, he loves it! I helped him. Aw, he got back in the water. He's a good turtle. Do you think Rexford will eat all the food off the filter?

I'm back!

2005-06-22T08:07:00.000-04:00

I'm finally back to the land of varying food choices! The trip with Rachael was great, but I'm oh so glad to be home. I will miss the dancing in the ocean, of course, and swimming in the pool was fun, and I really love that we acted like we were roughly 12 throughout the entire trip. And we went snorkeling! I will post pictures very very soon! I'm on more vacation until next Monday, when school starts!

Some pictures (all of Sammy)!

2005-06-15T13:03:00.000-04:00

Here is Sammy pretending to get us into a car crash!

Here is Sammy peering through the kitchen window thingy at Rexford!

Here is Sammy moving some shoes!

Here is Sammy looking at our awesome landlord's awesome artwork!

Spring break, woo!

2005-06-15T12:30:00.000-04:00

Even though I'm a bit miffed after talking to Sammy, who was uncharacteristically being a jerk after characteristically being a freak about talking to strangers on the phone, I still am feeling great, because! TODAY IS MY LAST DAY OF WORK AND TOMORROW I'M GOING TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC! But while we're talking about work, why the hell is Mr. Cubicle Next To Me, Whose Cell Phone Ring Sounds Like The Theme Song To A Science Show For Kids calling me Leslie? I don't mind so much, because he is a contractor, so he doesn't come in very regularly, but still. This reminds me of the time we were all in Washington, DC at Ben's house, and the phone rang. For some reason, I answered the phone, and the caller was asking for Ben's mom, Leslie, but I misheard him and responded with a loud and confused, "There's no WESLEY here!" and I continued to mishear him several times, and then Ben figured out that it was his dad calling for his mom, and I felt like a huge dork. Which I am. Also, I'm pretty sure Ben's dad thought I was drunk. Which I wasn't. But I will be soon enough!

SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!

He calls the jacks Kevin Sorbo!

2005-06-06T14:18:00.000-04:00

I've been spending an increased amount of time at work in Secret Hiding Spaces. I have two: one of them is the handicapped restroom (there are no handicapped employees here, so I don't feel bad occupying this place), which is its own little room, but there is really only one place to sit down in there (I don't like sitting on toilets while clothed because I'm afraid I'll pee a little), and there are no windows, so it's not my preferred Secret Hiding Space. My primary SHS is an abandoned stairwell that is not used much by anyone since the Giant Layoffs diminished the workforce and the still-employed employees are on the other side of the building. Anyway, this stairwell has a window with a nice view of the Blue Hills, and a windowsill that I can sit on, so it's pretty nice; however, it's not quite as private as the handicapped restroom. So usually I spend my time in the handicapped restroom doing things like plucking my eyebrows and other weird grooming things that I don't want to be caught doing, and I make non-private phone calls in the abandoned stairwell.

Sometimes I wish I were a smoker so I could take smoking breaks all the time. Jean used to take "fresh air breaks" at the hospital while all the smokers went outside to smoke. I think non-smokers shouldn't be punished by having to work while smokers are outside in the sunshine. If I didn't already take so many breaks (see previous paragraph), I would definitely take this up with the management:

He calls the jacks knaves!

2005-06-06T12:25:00.000-04:00

This weekend should have been more filled with cleaning and sorting, but it was so sunny and hot that Sammy and I had to alternate between having fun outside, exploring the neighborhood, and sitting around inside, eating ice cream and watching old episodes of Sex and the City. This week should be cooler and less sunny, so I think I'll be more inclined to clean and sort. Once the place is more put together, I'll take some pictures and post them.

Friday night was fun, though; Rachael came over and Sammy made delicious curry for us, and we all loved it and then we read the Boston magazine article about my robotics team. I like it.

One unexpected joy of living with Sammy: he dances and sings all the time, which makes me laugh and laugh. Especially the dancing.

One unexpected non-joy of my new apartment: the oven is reeeeeeeeeeeeally old, and we couldn't figure out how to turn it on so we could make cupcakes. I mean, it's reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally old. I will post a picture of that. You will sympathize.

Aye! One unexpected triple-strength-non-joy of working here: the guy in the neighboring cubicle has a jaunty cellphone ring, and he is apparently at lunch right now, because his jaunty (and LOUD) ring is going off and off and off. NOT loving this!

So I says to Mabel, I says,

2005-05-31T11:14:00.000-04:00

This weekend consisted muchly of packing and moving and unpacking and arranging. We like our new apartment and can't wait to put it together. I still have loads of things at my old apartment that I need to get, and I wish we had already gotten all of this stuff, because now I'm too sore to lift another box.

Still, hooray for our new place!

Also, why am I still coughy and sniffly? Not fun! Do I suddenly have allergies to something? No me gusta!

Work stories

2005-05-26T14:32:00.000-04:00

There is easily enough room in each aisle for 2 normally sized American males. So it confounds me that, every time I encounter a coworker in the aisle, he feels the need to flatten himself against the wall when I pass. Maybe there's something I don't know about myself? I would say I'm smaller than the average american male. Maybe it's because I'm a girl and they don't want to be accused of harrassment or something. Maybe it's because they're not accustomed to seeing girls around the office, since I'm now one of roughly four females here. Either way, it's weird, though.

Oh, also, I just got a hilarious email from a guy I had asked to do something for me this morning. The subject line was: "I didn't forget you!" He talked about how he got side-tracked and hadn't got around to my task yet, and then said:

I remembered you said you will be out tomorrow .... so, I will have another Email for you by very early Tuesday ... with everything I promised and more!
Ok?
How exciting!
FPGA are soooooooo much fun!

Kevin

This guy is pretty funny. He's covered in gold jewelry and he has a LOT of candy in his cubicle. He also drinks coffee that appears to be about 70 parts cream, 1 part coffee. I can't wait to see what the "more" will be in Tuesday's email. I hope it's candy!

My sinister plan

2005-05-26T11:45:00.000-04:00

I want to start smoking so I can quit, and then keep track of what I would be spending on cigarettes each day if I were smoking, and then use that money to buy an IBM ThinkPad. Also, if I started smoking, I could get paid to do lots of medical studies, because they're always looking for smokers who are looking to quit to try out their new medications.

I guess I could just pretend I just quit smoking and keep track of what I would be spending on cigarettes if I were ever a smoker. I don't even know how much cigarettes cost.

Of course, I am graduating soon. Maybe my parents will give me a kick-ass gift of lots of cigarettes. Then I can start smoking and follow through with the rest of my plan. It's perfect!

Right now, Lisa is driving to Colorado with her friends, and Sammy is driving to Boston all alone in his car (his Pappy and Step-Mammy are in their truck, which is full of Sammy's furniture). Sammy's called me about infinity times so far today. He's pretty bored. I told him to rent an audiobook from the library, but I don't think he did. Maybe there is something good on NPR that he can listen to. I've never had to drive so far by myself. What should he do? My dad drives long distances by himself. I'll ask him what he does to pass the time.

What homework?

2005-05-25T10:09:00.000-04:00

Oh, Rachael is the sweetest lass there ever was. She saw my drawing of my messy, not packed room and offered to help me pack up things. So last night, we ate some egg rolls and then got to work while listening to hits from the 90's, such as "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies! She packed all of my books and knick-knacks, and she took down all of the wall items, and she wrote funny things on the boxes, and then we made waffles and watched Law & Order: SVU! Well, you know what they say: the world is a vampire!

Yesterday I was drawing a mermaid in the artpad and one of the grownups that work here walked by and saw it. I was embarrassed. Later, I had an extreme coughing fit and nearly died, and then stumbled to the restroom to freshen up. There's a little health-room type of bed in the ladies' bathroom, and I was sitting on it, wiping my red, teary eyes, and a lady walked in. She must have thought I was crazy.

This week's weather is EXTREMELY miserable. My landlord described it as "weather for doing laundry." I have no idea what he meant by that. I've been told that a Nor'easter is here, and will be here until Sunday. I am not loving this. Last night I woke up several times due to wind and rain, and I NEVER wake up during the night. It's also been the 3rd coldest May in HISTORY!!!!!!!!! I even had to wear my winter jacket, which depresses me to no end.

From Jeejeen!

2005-05-20T12:52:00.000-04:00

Click here to view my beautiful artwork! It's the story of a girl who has lots of clothes and junk, but no time to clean up anything or pack up her clothes and junk so she can move next Friday. Aiee!

Short people got no reason to live

2005-05-18T10:27:00.000-04:00

Hello my darling angels,

It is my duty to inform you of an amazing event happening this weekend. It's something called "Beantown Blitz." Let me direct you to a post I made in a LiveJournal Community. Otherwise, here's the info:

Beantown Blitz, FIRST robotics competition!
Saturday, May 21st, 2005 (all day!)
Matthews Arena, Northeastern University
FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

So if you're in Boston and looking for something to do this Saturday, consider dropping by! It will be a hoooot!

PS: My mom reads this now, so let's cut back on the sweary words! Just kidding about this; one of her main ways of making Lisa and me laugh is by swearing, because she's so little and cute that swear words coming from her just sound kind of silly. She's not even five feet tall! WHAT A FREAK!!!!!!!

My Achey Spring Breaky Heart

2005-05-13T14:18:00.000-04:00

My throat is sore and I feel a slight head cold coming on, so I think my weekend plans will involve a lot of lounging and sipping tea and reading, as opposed to what I'd previously planned, which is ...oh wait, that's exactly what I had previously planned to do this weekend. Oops!

Well, actually, I was thinking about going to an estate sale run by my favorite antiquey store, Cobwebs, but I'm pretty sure it will be raining tomorrow, so there's a chance the estate sale will be postponed or cancelled. I might secretly be glad it's raining all weekend, because then I have an excuse for my lounginess. Although I'll more than make up for it in the weekends to come: the weekend after this is Beantown Blitz, which I will describe in a later entry, and a team mentors party at Don's, the next weekend will be the weekend Sammy and I move into our new apartment with the help of Sammy's parents, the weekend after that will be our first weekend in the apartment and will surely entail some hard work on our part, and the weekend after that (I think?) Rachael and I will be in Puerto Plata, like the Girls Gone Wild we are. If by Girls Gone Wild, I mean Girls Who Like Playing Skip-Bo and Singing Disney Songs. Of course I mean that.

I'd blame parents, except he hasn't got 'em

2005-05-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

What is going on with me? I have a recurring theme where, at work, I plan all the things I will do once I get out of work, such as start packing (I'm moving in a couple of weeks!!!), get some groceries, do laundry, etc. However, instead of doing those things, I bike home and lounge in bed reading or something and decide I'm sleepy and take a nap, then maybe eat something and play on the internet, and then watch a couple of episodes of Law & Order: SVU and then go to sleep. I'm such a loaf!

Last weekend, we tried to convince Ben to play some songs, and for some reason he didn't want to. Finally he said that if we sang something, he would play something. So Rachael and Liz and I sang the Little Mermaid song about thing-a-ma-bobs and the Aladdin song where the lady says, "still I think he's rathah tasty" and I think we might have sung another Disney song, but I forgot. Then Ben sang his song and we all sang along and he forgot some words but we recalled them because we love his song. And then the other Ben sang his song, and I liked that a lot too. That song had something about him wishing he could die so his friends could laugh together like they used to. Rachael can't wrap her mind around the other Ben.

And now I'm listening to the Katamari Damacy Soundtrack and I love it. Right now there's a song on called Cherry Blossom Color Season that's sung by children and it's really cute.

Why is tongue spelled so strangely?

I'm four on the floor 'cause I'm a TONKA TRUCK

2005-05-09T15:14:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful weekend full of volleyball and the outdoors and food and beer and friends! We stayed in Aaron's parents' mansion and were pampered to no end!

Click on the picture of Rachael to look at the set of pictures from our weekend in the Constitution State!

Since I'm feeling a mite cranky right now, I will list the only negatives from the trip:

All 10 of us were to sleep in one large room (the attic playroom, which was big!). This was totally great, and I was glad we were situated out of the way of the family, except on Saturday night when several of the 10 were drunk and campfiery and: SNORING. Ben described it as a lumbermill, I think. I was dying inside. Finally, I took my blanket and eyemask and slept on the couch in the living room (which was actually really comfy, and there was a nice constant hum from the minifridge in the minibar). Shortly after I found my new sleeping arrangements, Ben and Rachael came downstairs with their air mattress and things and joined me in the living room. Very nice.
My arms are SO SORE right now from playing volleyball. This was totally unexpected, actually, and I'm in a lot of pain!
It was my brilliant idea to play Scategories, which is mostly a really fun game, but in actuality, it almost always causes serious arguments between Rachael and me. This time, there were two small arguments, both regarding my choices for List 3. The letter was P, and two of the categories were Farm Animals and Colors. I listed a pheasant as a farm animal (most people agreed with me that there are pheasant farms and this one was acceptable) and for my Color, I chose Pantone #292. I was actually really proud of my answer, but almost everyone said that it wasn't acceptable. I know it is, though.
Now I have to be at work!

Overall, the trip was great and I loved everything and I'm happy!

2005-05-06T13:09:00.000-04:00

Someone is eating the most fragrant Doritos in world history. It's like I'm snorting "Nacho Cheesier." I feel like ralphing.

In related news, someone else is making a loud noise. It sounds like he's dropping pennies from a height of five feet into a large glass container. Not my favorite thing.

The best laid plans of mice

2005-05-06T09:41:00.000-04:00

So, after deliberating for about thirty seconds, Rachael and I have decided to go the route of beaches and daquiris instead of culture and ...not beaches. We are going to the Dominican Republic! On one of those all-inclusive deals! We are dorks! We're going to wake up every morning, yell, "SPRINNNNNG BREAAKKK!!!!!!" and then play on the beach forever. Shut up, we love it! We went to the STA office at school last night and looked at all the packages and had the agent look up about ten million things and then we found the one for us, and Rachael yelled out, "LETTTT'S DOOO ITTT!!!" really loudly and excitedly, and then the agent and everyone else in the place (all three people!) were completely silent and I laughed a lot.

Tonight my friends and I (minus Nicki and Andrea, sadly, since they're going to the Grand Canyon for a geology trip) are going to Connecticut for a weekend of lots of food and maybe a bonfire or something at Aaron's family's house. I'm not the hugest fan of Connecticut, I'll admit, but Aaron's dad is a chiropractor and they have a pool and it's for Aaron's birthday. Do you hate me yet? I do. Baby, I can change!

And follow this link to a picture of an awesome beeee!!!!!

A quick story

2005-05-04T16:08:00.000-04:00

One time, Rachael and Bethany were skipping happily down the street, arm in arm, and a motorcyclist saw them, stopped his bike and yelled, "Hey! The LOSER HOUSE is THAT WAY!" and pointed in the other direction. They laughed and laughed. I try to say that line to people as often as possible, but it doesn't fit in very many situations.

Hooray trip!

2005-05-04T12:12:00.000-04:00

Hey people, help me! Rachael and I will be taking a vacation in mid-June and we need a place to go! I'm thinking somewhere in Canada, like Montreal or Prince Edward Island. I've never been to Canada and I need to go! Tell us what to do!

I've got the golden ticket!

2005-05-03T10:48:00.000-04:00

Oh my heavens! I have received confirmation that I have indeed found a new apartment for me and Rachael and Sammy to share! My new bushy-browed landlord called me up this morning to tell me that my credit check was a success! Peter (who is an artist and has painted the building a nice color and has put his artwork up in the entryway, and it makes me happy) and Joyce (I don't know as much about her, but she seemed pleasant) are the co-landlords, actually, and they will be living beneath us on the second floor of a triple-decker building. They seemed really nice. When I went to look at the apartment, we talked for a long time about cows (Peter had a really sweet cow painting) and we talked even longer about bees, because there was a wounded carpenter bee in the porch area. I took a picture of the bee and will post it later. I know you're anxious to see it.

Anyway, I'm truly relieved to have ended my quest for an apartment. I like looking at apartments a lot, but it's stressful to have to search craiglist and make appointments to see apartments and make the decision for three people when I'm the only one in Boston at the moment. So hopefully Sammy and Rachael won't hate the apartment. The beauty of this lease, though, is that's it's on a month-to-month basis, which is awesome. So if they do hate it, or if we find something better, we can just switch over to another place! Hosannah in the highest!

Hurray for 79 Brookley Rd!

2005-04-27T16:08:00.000-04:00

Hey, click on the image below to look at pictures from my robotics competition! Huzzah!

And here is the quote of the day, from my dear, sweet, sister:

I don't necessarily hate people, I just hate when they do the following within earshot/arms reach: talk, walk, run, whistle, breathe loudly through their nose, chew loudly, and in general, exist. Just kidding. I guess I'm just not a fan of being touched by strangers. I'm also naturally very nosy, so it drives me nuts when people talk near me, because I can't stop listening to them. It's especially annoying when they talk just quiet enough so I can't understand them, but I can still hear them. That's the worst.

They say you are what you eat; I haven't changed a bit!

2005-04-26T09:47:00.000-04:00

Today we're talking about cannibalism! Nicki checked out about a dozen books about cannibalism. She wrote a paper about self-cannibalism. She told me that anorexia is even sort of a form of self-cannibalism, because when you don't eat, your body eats itself. Awesome! Now I want to read books about self-cannibalism. What? It sounds righteous.

So, I'm back at work and lovin' it. If by "lovin' it", I mean "not lovin' it, and wishin' I were in classes again." Of course, that's what I mean. Work is fine, but I miss my peers. I also miss being outside in the sun during the afternoons.

Yesterday I received an email from a fact-checker at the Boston Magazine, which will be publishing an article about my robot team. The fact-checker, Rebecca, asked me a bunch of questions regarding accuracy of quotes and stuff. She asked if I recalled seeing certain people and teams and other items at the competition, but she also asked me the following:

You told Kevin that the competition was kind of like
a G-rated version of Mardi Gras except with pins
instead of beads—and mostly guys. Then, after
pondering that, you sort of changed your mind, and
said it wasn’t really like Mardi Gras after all! Does
that sound right? Do you remember that interchange?

Now I can't wait to read this article. I can't believe the journalist, Kevin, wrote this down. At least he didn't include the part where I was talking about some of the high schoolers on the team who were from the inner city, saying that at least they were "doing robotics instead of ...chicks."

Rubbin' sticks and stones together

2005-04-25T14:47:00.000-04:00

Hello! I just got back from my trip to The South and I have some stories and pictures, but I am busy (!) at work and cannot do so! Soon I will! Just you wait, 'Enry 'Iggins!

The H is O

2005-04-15T10:19:00.000-04:00

This morning, I left my cubicle to get some tea, and I was in a kind of daze, and the John R. Kelly (Hah! R. Kelly! Really!) who practically wears a kilt and tam-o-whatever to work, (he's that Irish) and who works in another area of the office, came running up to this area's coffee kiosk and asked me if he could please borrow a coffee filter. I, in my own world, said something like, "sure, go ahead, they're not my coffee filters," and proceeded to fill my mug. He took a filter and ran off. And then just now, I was picking up a document at the printer, and R. Kelly, carrying a load of coffee filters, jigged by me. He called over his shoulder, "See? I'm replacing the coffee filters at YOUR coffee maker." I must have had the most bizarre look on my face, but luckily, since he was on the move, he didn't look back to see me with WTF all over my face. It was pretty weird, though, wasn't it?

Oh man, I just noticed that my favorite long-sleeved shirt ever, the one I wear All The Time, is beginning to literally fall apart at the seams. I'm sure that has to do with:

Me wearing it All The Time
Having purchased the shirt from H&M

And now I should get back to work, since I'm leaving early today to catch a flight to The South. Weeeeeeee!

The "I Had a Dream" Speech

2005-04-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

I just wrote this email to Nicki, and I thought I would share it with everyone.

Hi Nicki,

I just wanted to email you to tell you about my dream last night! It was freaky! You, Andrea, and I were going to be on Conan O'Brien for some reason (I think his original guest cancelled and I think Andrea got us on there with her unbelievable connections) but we were all covered in mud, so we had to quickly clean up, but we all had to pee first. You had this new way of peeing, which included standing up next to the toilet, bending over and putting your hands in the toilet water, and then I guess you had a really high-pressure urethra, because from that bending over position, you were able to make it to the toilet just by spraying it out. However, your urethra was so strong that it was pushing your pee all the way past the toilet into the next stall, which is where I was peeing, and I was doing it the normal way, and your pee was getting all over me. I was pretty mad. I yelled at you, I think, and I screamed, "You're peeing on my face!!!!!!!!"

I wonder if this was caused by

The story about your nannying charge who peed on his face
The story about Steve peeing on his face when he was little
Your ability to be peeing within a second of walking in the bathroom, which I was always amazed by
The fact that I kind of had to pee a little when I fell asleep
Got any other ideas?

Anyway, you're still peeing normally, right?

Love,
Emily

PS: Do you like my signature? Sammy snuck into my email account and made it after I snuck into his email address and made his signature, "The world is a vampire."

--
Exit light, enter night, take my hand, we're off to never never land!

Pish

2005-04-08T17:41:00.000-04:00

Hey, deutschbags, thanks for all of your help regarding this camera situation. If by help, I mean complete silence. Luckily, my boss just received a digital camera (the Canon SD300, for those of you still reading this webrag), and this solidified the matter for me. I checked out his shiny gadget and then ran to newegg and bought the Canon SD200, which is good enough for me but still almost as awesome as my boss's camera. I caaaaaaaaaaan't wait.

And I don't mean periods

2005-04-08T09:43:00.000-04:00

What do you think, here? Maybe someday my taciturn readers will speak up and tell me what I want to hear. I need help! I want to purchase a camera (this camera, to be specific) and I am not sure when I should buy it. If I buy it now, I can use it in Atlanta, and then I can pay for it before my big expenses come at the end of May, when I will be buying lots of things and paying for a new apartment and everything. If I put it off, maybe I'll forget I want it and then I won't have to spend the money. I know it sounds weird, but I do it a lot. Also, if I buy the camera now, I will have to forego the Friday Mai Tai lunches with my colleagues that I so enjoy.

I've decided to read less Harry Potter and more NOT Harry Potter, so I went to the library and checked out a few women's studies books. Did I tell you already about the time I was on the (HORRIBLE) B Line train, which is HORRIBLE, but I had a pleasant experience being squished next to a lady who noticed I was reading The Handmaid's Tale and recommended a lot of other books, such as:

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Pretty much anything by Jane Austen or any Brontë
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

I checked out the last two on the list, and I've just started reading Wide Sargasso Sea. It's the story of Bertha Mason, who was the lady in the attic from Jane Eyre. I can't wait to be well informed on lady topics, as I'm sure to be after reading these two books.

mmm yogurt with ginger granolaaaa

2005-04-04T09:55:00.000-04:00

Yah! I'm going to the opera tomorrow night! How exciting! I'm going straight from work, so I need to wear something halfway between dressy and "business casual." I hope my eyes don't get plucked out by ravens!

In other news, not much of note has been happening. I slept in quite a bit this weekend, but I stayed up late too. I went to the midnight showing of The Animation Show at the Coolidge Corner theatre; it was the best thing ever.

Google Gulp

2005-04-01T11:12:00.000-05:00

I love this!

Google Gulp

Mary Mack

2005-03-31T10:01:00.000-05:00

Huzzah! I'm going in for a haircut tomorrow evening, and I'm thinking about lopping it. I'm so sick of having long hair. Yes, I will cut a lot off. Any suggestions for a particular style? I need your help! I don't want it to be as short as it once was; maybe chin-level? I want to be able to put it behind my ears.

Oh, and in case you were holding your breath for this: my bike was waiting patiently, in one piece, for me when I returned for it.

In other news, I'm sick of working! I can't wait to be back in school. My brain is atrophying. I've been doing logic puzzles, but I don't think they're helping! I do love logic puzzles, though. And the internet is full of them!

I'm worried about my bike.

2005-03-30T10:37:00.000-05:00

Sammy is in Scotland right now. I'm pretty sure he's having a great time; I checked the itinerary for his Model UN conference, and he may be engaging in some bitchin' afterhours activities, like a pub crawl and a ceilidh, whatever that is. I think I would like to be in Scotland, too, even though Boston is very nice today. I rode my bike this morning, but only to the Green St. Station about 90 seconds away, because I was running really late. I hate parking my bike at the Green St. Station, because I am always pretty convinced it's going to be defiled in some way. It's not the greatest place to park one's bike. There's one bike there that used to be a full bike with a baby seat (that had a "copilot" sticker on it), but it's been reduced, piece by piece, to a bare bike frame. The baby seat was the first thing to go.

Speaking of biking, my Easter Sunday consisted of a glorious bike ride with my friends. We were a real bike gang! It was me, Rachael, Ben, Erich, and Erich's roommate Zach. We went to Spike's Junkyard Dogs, which is an amazing hot dog place in Allston, and then we went to a bookstore that had millions of unorganized books and records and a bookshelf full of videotapes. Rachael bought A League of Their Own and Son in Law. They also had Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe's War and D3: The Mighty Ducks. This bookstore was great, and it had two lovely cats, but the cats were making Rachael die, so we moved on to Brookline Booksmith, which is another great bookstore.

After the bike ride, I met Nicki in Jamaica Plain near my home and I gave her a birthday present, even though her birthday is not until June 19th. The birthday present was too exciting to hold out on, though; I found a fantastic book about clipper ships at Cobwebs, the antiques store on Centre St, and I had to get it for Nicki. The book had a lot of pictures, and I inscribed it with the following message: "To my little 'Sea Witch:' Here is some Clipperature! Hah! Love, Emily." I even inlcluded the "Hah!"

Nicki and I then rode the bus to her and Rachael's apartment, and that night, Nicki, Rachael, Andrea and I all ate french toast and fruit and watched A League of Their Own.

I also received something great in the mail! It was a poster of L'Amour de Pierrot. I'm guessing it's from Sammy, because I talked to him about it after seeing it in a really nice book I got from Rachael. Anyway, I was pleased to see it, since I had forgotten how much I wanted it a few months ago. He's pretty nice, that Sammy.

Or am I just a page in your history book

2005-03-25T09:31:00.000-05:00

Ohh, I laughed and laughed when I saw this headline:

Paula Abdul: Caught in a hit-and-run?

Hooray I have an income

2005-03-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

I just bought a satin sleep mask and a Leatherman SuperTool from Amazon. Now they have no idea what to recommend.

Just for fun, here is a list of things I've purchased from Amazon in the past 6 months:

Satin Sleep Mask
Leatherman SuperTool 200
Arrested Development Season One DVD (for Sammy for our 2-year anniversary)
The Sims 2 University Expansion pack
Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits
Louise Rennison's Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
The Best of OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)
Tilly and the Wall: Wild Like Children
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass, etc)
Loudon Wainwright III: History

I haven't received the two top items yet, but all the others were great buys! The only possible exception is Tilly and the Wall, which I bought because I liked the song called "Nights of the Living Dead." The rest of the album did not live up to my expectations, but they seem like nice people, so I don't mind paying for the whole thing. And maybe if I listen to it more it will grow on me. I also liked the song "You and I Misbehavin'"

They sing like canaries in the Phillipines

2005-03-22T11:38:00.000-05:00

If you're wondering what is up with the title of this entry, just ask the guy outside my cubicle what it's all about. He said it to another guy, and I was sure it was some kind of code phrase, but the other guy was just as confused as I am. I actually really got a kick out of his response, which was an aghast "whaaaat????" Unfortunately, they were walking as they continued the conversation, and I missed the explanation of the phrase, if there was one.

The other day, I was purchasing a plane ticket for my July 4th weekend trip to MKE, and I made a mistake online, so I had to call and change it. The woman helping me asked for my confirmation code, which had an F and some V's in it, and she had a few letters wrong, so I said, "F as in Fox," and was saying "V as in..." but the only V words I could think of were vagina, vasectomy and vivisection, so finally I just gushed, flustered, "I can't think of any V words!" Luckily, my helper assisted me by saying "...as in Victor?"

Rachael and Ben and I went to the huge St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston, which was really great, and there were lots of bagpipes and kilts and daggers, and then suddenly we saw a horde of Storm Troopers and Royal Guards. At first, I only saw the royal guards and did not recognize them, because it was so out of context. I thought it was some kind of supremicist cult or something, and I wondered if this parade was going to turn ugly. I was pleased to find that they were just a bunch of Star Wars freaks!

And yesterday, I saw something unbelievably amazing! You know how buses have the little screen on the back right corner that displays the route number? Well, I saw a bus whose little screen was displaying not a number, but the letters "ICE T" !! I'm guessing the driver was a huge Law & Order: SVU fan, as am I. I should have boarded that bus.

You're the permanent one.

2005-03-16T09:47:00.000-05:00

Nicki and Andrea and I had a sleepover party this weekend! It consisted mainly of eating Twizzlers, playing Trivial Pursuit, and taking pictures of our own eyeballs. My eye shots were mostly hilariously bad, because I was in the most light. I was also the only one without brown eyes, but I don't think that mattered much. Anyway, here are some pictures. (It should be noted that my shirt has two glittery kittens on it--Sammy got it for me for my birthday).

...someday I'll make the pictures look nice in the template. Sorry it looks terrible right now.

Also, I finally brought Rexford back home! He had obviously enjoyed his stay in Cleveland Circle, and the cats at Frank & Jess's apartment were clearly in love with him, but Rexford is an aquatic turtle; it would never work out. Soon, I will post pictures of Rex and you will love this.

I'm no Nanook

2005-03-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

Ugh. I just looked outside the window and saw that it was snowing, and I actually felt a pang of nausea. It's kind of like when you make a delicious sweet potato dish, but you make wayyyyy too much of it so you have to eat the leftovers every day for a week, and the dish goes quickly from delicious to completely disgusting and for the next year, whenever you think about sweet potatoes, you kind of gag a little.

Anyway, the snow does not make me happy.

cannot find a quotable lyric.

2005-03-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've been spending much of my evening jamming to some '95 Oasis tunes; that's cool, right? I'm really having a great time here.

Also, I went to the library at school today to check out some books. During my trip, I encountered four people I knew, and all of the conversations went something like this:

Other person: So, you're on co-op right now?
Me: Yes.
OP: So, what are you doing in the library?
Me: I'm just checking out some books.
OP: But...you're not in classes. Why are you checking out books?

Seriously, is it really that bizarre that I read books for leisure? What the deuce?

I'd rather die

2005-03-08T11:20:00.000-05:00

Ug. I feel sick and really dizzy. I want to go home.

Okay, fine. I either want to go home or to H&M to purchase clothing. I haven't gone shopping in "a coon's age," as they say. The funniest part about the last sentence is that I had to google colloquialisms + age to find the correct saying. So what do we say? Should I go leave work? If so, should I make a stop at H&M before going home? Please help me!

Love,
Emily

March 8th

2005-03-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

handgrab
Originally uploaded by pizzaface78.

A case of the what-whats ?

2005-03-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

Ahh, the joy of arriving late to work and sneaking out early. Whatever, man, I feel like poo. Also, Creepy Sociopathic Idahoan asked me about the tea I've been drinking all day, which I attributed to my fight against a terrible impending sickness. Then he Creepily suggested I "be careful not to get sick, because [he's] getting sick and people might wonder." I remained stony-faced, but inside was more What? People might wonder how it's possible that two co-workers who barely talk could both be sick at the same time? He's totally weird. And he wears alligator-skin boots and acts like all of the rape suspects on Law & Order: SVU. You know the ones who act so meek and Ice-T is like, "I don't think he could hurt a fly" but Benson is like, "Dude, trust me on this one" and then it turns out that he acts meek but is consumed by rage, and the rage controls him? I try to avoid him.

And the guy in a cubicle near me who is the worst ever at keeping a silent workplace, and who talks like a kindergarten teacher to adults and children alike, keeps playing a soundclip that sounds like a small monkey listening to the part in "She Blinded Me With Science" where the guy yells "SCIENCE!" You know what I mean.

From the desk of Robot Queen/Safety Star

2005-03-07T10:33:00.000-05:00

My weekend was full of robot competition in Manchester, and now I have a serious cold and sore throat combo that isn't making me happy. In other words, I'm in the depths of despair.

One hilarious thing that happened at the robot competition is that one of the priorities for this year's competition was safety, so people ran around telling everyone to wear safety goggles and tape the cords to the ground and everything. We had gotten a few safety citations for random things, so my team was kind of disdainful toward the safety officials. At one point, we were working on our robot's arm and the hook was out in the aisle. I thought it would make my teammates laugh if I went totally overboard and made a big sign to put on the hook. On the sign, I wrote, "WATCH YOUR FACE!" My teammates did laugh, and shortly thereafter, a safety official came up, saw the sign, and asked who created the sign. I fessed up, prompting the safety official to award me a SAFETY STAR OF THE DAY nomination! Hohoo! This was wholly unexpected! I got a goodie bag and my picture was taken and put up on a poster and everything. The picture can be found here, and keep in mind that I spent the whole weekend sleep-deprived and indoors and frankly, I look like death warmed over. And I'm wearing safety goggles on my head. I wanted to wear them in the picture, but the photographer said there would be too much of a glare.

Also, look in Boston Magazine in the coming months for an article about our team. We were followed by a journalist who turned out to be totally hilarious. Apparently, most of his stories have either been about losing teams or middle schoolers.

Oh, also, we lost most of our matches and got knocked over and our robot is not as great as we had originally thought. 'Tis a shame!

My virtual model

2005-03-02T12:06:00.000-05:00

Hey, this is pretty fun. You can make a virtual model of yourself here and then shop online and virtually try on the clothes. It's not really that accurate, and there are only a few online stores that support the virtual model, but it's pretty fun. It makes me want to play the Sims 2 and make a version of myself. I think I'll do that sometime soon. Too bad I'll be in the throes of robot competition tomorrow through Sunday. Actually, that will be very fun and I will probably post pictures next week.

Lorem Ypsilanti

2005-03-01T09:53:00.000-05:00

You know, I used to kind of like snow. As recently as mid-January I even was excited about snow. Maybe it was the 8 billion inches of snow that have fallen in the past two months, or maybe it's that I have to walk 0.5 miles in aforementioned snow each morning (because the path is not plowed until the afternoon) that has created an irrepressible snow antipathy within me. A half of a mile is not that much, I know, but when there is a foot of snow on the ground and you are going to work so you're not wearing your galoshes, that half a mile can make the difference between a happy commute and a commute in which you miss the commuter train by mere seconds and consider just hopping on the departing train, but being mind-read and yelled at by the conductor, and then having to wait in the cold for the next train, which isn't until 30 minutes later. My feet are cold.

My sister and I rescued a dog named A.J. but Lisa did not want to call the owners for some reason. I was really confused about her sudden shyness. She finally called the number on the tag, and the owner came and got him. Afterwards, my mom asked me about a hundred times if we put the dog in Lisa's car. This story was much better in my memory. Also, I am typing about two words per minute. I think I'm distracted. I'm trying to listen for my boss, because I need to flag him down to ask him if it's cool if I don't show up on Thursday or Friday. He walks so fast, and I only see him about three times a week anyway. I hear him much more often than I see him. He talks so loud and laughs a lot and bangs the tables in meeting rooms. He's very jovial and high-energy. I find it pleasant, but I can see how others would not love this. He sports a mean Boston accent and pronounces his name "Ritchid Ahht."

Cat Town's Tribute to Jerry Orbach

2005-02-28T18:10:00.000-05:00

Check this out, Cat Town lovers! Marvelous!

Here I go again on my own!

2005-02-28T15:46:00.000-05:00

I spent this whole weekend wishing I were in bed. Sammy was visiting, and he made fun of me and pushed me in the snow. When I yelled at him for pushing me in the snow, he told me that he was just so excited to see snow. I don't believe him. He's seen snow before. Anyway, he also brought me candy and he fixed my computer, so everything is fine by us. And now I can spend all of my days playing the Sims 2!

We went to the fancy restaurant called Ten Tables and we had fancy Syrah wine and mushroomy delicious pasta and creme brulee even, but maybe we were worried that we were becoming grownups, so we played a fun game while we were waiting for our food. The game consisted of one person mouthing the name of a country and the other person guessing which country was being mouthed. It was a good way to pass the time, and to completely look like idiots. Paupau New Guinea was a difficult one.

Right now, my knowledge of this blogspot thing is quite limited, but I look forward to truly learning it soon.

2005-02-28T13:03:00.000-05:00

Meow-moirs of a geisha!