Monday, September 24, 2007

Upstaged

A while ago I did a tribute to sinkholes. Another website did it better.

Um, so does the title of that webpage indicate anything about my personality? Because in Peru, I definitely got backlash from the other students for expressing an interest in experiencing a natural disaster. It's not wrong to hope for an earthquake. It's wrong to hope people die in that earthquake.

Flashback provided by "Ragoo"

Hello world! I would like to sit back for a moment, relax, and reminisce about Bumbershoot this year. Namely, the Kings of Leon show. And just how very much those Southern boys rocked. Imagine, kicking back, sipping on your iced Starbucks drink of choice, sun warm and beating down on your bare arms, throbbing rock music surrounding you. Some man wails on about his "pistols of fire" and you think to yourself, ahh, this could go on forever. Time is endless in front of you, the day began long ago and will end many, many hours from now after several unexpected turns of events. You, of course, don't know this. Instead, you are simply content to revel in the moment.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

I don't work tomorrow!

Tonight I watched Lindsay Lohan's shitshow of a movie, Georgia Rule. The other kids got to drink every time she made their heads hurt, but I didn't. Stupid meds. By the end of the two hour movie I'd had a low and constant ache in the back of my skull for one hour and forty-five minutes. The current theory is they let LL run around and do her crazy psycho thing with the other actors, filmed it, and hoped for a plot. Oh, and told everyone to call her by a different name to make her even more unstable.

Listening to Ryan Adams tonight. I downloaded his music, oh, a year ago? And then never listened to the cd until tonight. "Come Pick Me Up" is an amazing track. Here are some choice lyrics: "Take me out. Fuck me up. Steal my records. Screw all my friends, They're all full of shit." Nothing extremely deep, but boy, that harmonica in the background really wails. (Does Ryan Adams play his own harmonica? I don't know, nor am I too concerned about it.) I really do love that Emmy Lou Harris is a female vocal on a bunch of the tracks.

....

Have I mentioned that I've unintentionally been listening to country lately? I stole some of my dad's old cds and stuck them on my laptop. Van Morrison, Beatles, Bob Dylan, all the greats that I grew up on and didn't appreciate. And then there were a bunch of Emmy Lou Harris cds that I didn't recognize, but decided to give them a shot. That woman broke my heart in two songs.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Some days the IKEA smell is stronger than others.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Excellent!

I've been googling information about my sickness. I can't find the names of the two amoebae, but I have two. One is bad. I have two. Anyway, I can't find their names (getting repetitive enough for you yet?) but I did look up the drug I'm taking to get rid of them. And you know what??

It causes cancer!!

The doctors didn't tell me this.

"Metronidazole is listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a potential human carcinogen. Although some of the testing methods have been questioned, it has been shown to cause cancer in experimental animals.[4] Nevertheless, it appears to have a fairly low potential for cancer risk and under most circumstances the benefits of treatment outweighs the risk." -- Wiki

So it's not really something I need to be fretting over, but it's another side effect to an already long list. Metallic taste (which I'm definitely getting), numbness, liver problems. And I can't touch a drop of alcohol, not even Listerine, else I'll be puking instantly.

Brent keeps offering me beer. It's getting irritating.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Nostalgia

I built a cushion fort today. It looks pretty badass, actually. You have to crawl under a chair to get into it, and it has a "ceiling" made of colorful blankets and afghans. Unfortunately I'm not a 50 lb child any more, so I almost knocked it down when I climbed inside. It's perfect for kicking back and sipping beers and reading by headlamp light, though.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Warning: This is Gross

It takes my body exactly 24 hours to "digest" a microwave chicken pot pie. I know because I could recognize the ingredients.

It's been six years since I last babysat. Six years since I last got up-close-and-personal with poop. I've decided that these past couple days' experiences have now pushed back my baby-making urges. I have absolutely no desire to see any more poop, mine or anybody else's, for a very, very long time.

I went to the Metropolitan Market again. Today was an adventure in more cane sugar sweetened beverages. I'm drinking a Sioux City Sarsaparilla right now - Wikipedia says that the only difference between Sarsaparilla and Root Beer is "a little bit more of a creamy taste ... and a hint of vanilla." It's quite delicious. Later tonight I'll crack open a Boylan Bottleworks Creme Soda - I expect good things, although the internet says their root beer is the best.

Growing Dreds

My hair's getting long. I haven't had long hair since junior high, so I don't remember much of what it was like. Now, I'm starting to realize that my hair is not at all the same as it used to be.

Take, for example, how often I need to wash it. I like washing my hair every day. But if I do, it gets frizzy and under-nourished. I still take showers (come on, ew) but I have to wait to use the shampoo and conditioner combo for every other day, maybe even every third.

But what really bothers me is my cow lick. I've always hated it, always tried to cover it up. But apparently my hair doesn't like being told to go somewhere else. I've spent the last two hours on this couch, reading or using the internet with one hand, and playing with my scalp with the other hand. If I move the roots of my hair in different directions, it hurts. Not really badly, but it's like poking a bruise. Not exactly pleasant, but interesting all the same.

Tomorrow I'll wash it and see if it goes away.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Update from Fedtown

Roll out of bed around 7 am to be sick. Go back to sleep. Get up fo' reals when landlord comes in to fix the dishwasher. Sick again. Get on the phone and call some local doctors. None are taking new patients. Call up mom. Says I should come home and see the usual doctor. I agree. Take a shower, sick again. Stop at the McDonald's in Marysville to be sick. Get home. Sick again. Will be going to talk to someone with extensive medical knowledge and hopefully an instant cure in an hour.

On a plus note, the too-small brown corduroys I left at the apartment 2 months ago fit again.

I really don't mind having an intestinal bug that makes me shed pounds at an alarming rate. What I do mind is that I can't go on bike rides, walks, hikes, or any sort of out-of-house excursion without being sure that I can find some privacy at a moment's notice.

Totally unrelated topic. I went to the Metropolitan Market just a little bit ago, looking for some natural cane sugar soda (Brent got me interested.) One - Jones Soda is making cane sugar soda now, which I imagine is excellent except they didn't have any of the flavors I typically like. But, I found this stuff called GuS - Grown-Up Soda. It's very lightly flavored (lightly carbonated, too, so it doesn't make me all burpy). The flavors are pretty interesting too - I've had the cranberry lime so far, and bought a few other flavors because they were on sale. I've already looked online, and the soda's only sold in Metropolitan Markets in Washington. So boo, Community Co-op. You'd better have some damn good organic drinks to make up for your lack of carrying GuS.

What a Waste

I was feeling especially lackluster around 5 this evening when I called up an old friend. My pre-phone call plan was to entice him over with Pabst, then keep him over for as long as humanly possible because oh, God, I cannot stand this empty apartment much longer. Unfortunately his cousin was having a BBQ this evening and (how lame is this?) I just couldn't coax myself into the biking mood. So I cracked a few Kokanees by myself and started a game of Zelda. I got up to the boss of the second forest temple when I realized, shit, I've wasted the whole night drinking beer and playing video games by myself! Tomorrow I'll have to go to the mall so I can feel feminine again.

I might also have to set up an Internet account, because hacking neighbor's unsecure wireless is mean. And unreliable.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Bay City Creamery

If one looks off to the right of this post, you'll see the archive system. Look how many posts I've made in 2007! Especially compared to previous years! I noticed that last time I wrote something. With that in mind, I'm going to try to pick up the pace for these last 3.5 months of the year.

I've moved in and unpacked and settled down, minus a few really irritating things. I left my plants at home, and my full-length mirror, and my PS2(aka DVD player). Also, the bank is being irritating and won't make the funds for my room&board check available until the 14th. I'm living off beer and bread, paid for with Brent's gas money, waiting for my work to call me back and give me hours so I can feel at least marginally comfortable with spending money. The car is officially off limits until the 14th, which means my bike? It's getting some love.

After BRAG and a few half-hearted attempts to commute by bike to the Community Center (which fell through the window the same day I started working at 5 am), Rot Roja got left behind in the garage. Since arriving back in the 'Ham, I've picked up an air pump and regular pedals and given her a small tune-up, so she simply flies down these streets and purrs encouragement while climbing hills. My bike and I, we have a wonderful relationship. Until she gets her next flat.

I'm trying to spend the whole day downtown. I'm on a quest for two posters: a GIANT map of Bellingham to stretch over my bed, with which I will plan my daily routes to various locales, and a Renaissance-esque voluptuous woman with filmy see-through clothing to put in the living room (like the one my former roommate had.)

You'll be pleased to know that I am using the Internet for more constructive purposes than usual. Since returning from Peru, I've been sick. A lot. In ways that are really gross and I've actually lost quite a bit of weight, but still, it needs to end. So it's finally come to this. I've got to find a doctor in Bellingham, preferably one without cold fingers and a penchant for taking my temperature the old-fashioned way. I think I'm going to look up a dentist while I'm at it.

Final bit of news before I go buy more coffee (and maybe a sandwich)! Irene called this morning, it's official, we're going to Mardi Gras! She's flying me down on a Saturday, I'll be there for the Official Day of Mardi Gras (according to the City of New Orleans website), spend Wednesday being hungover, and fly home early Thursday morning. Four days of class for an extra-long weekend with Irene in the South? Hell, even if I miss all my midterms for this, it's worth it.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Bikes and Boxes

Yesterday was a hectic and partially horrible day. I woke up hungover and extremely tired, only to find that my brother had locked his keys in his car. I drove him back to Federal Way for the spare key, picking up a speeding ticket along the way. Greasy Jack in the Box woke me up a bit - a croissant breakfast sandwich truly is the ultimate hangover food. Drove back to Redmond, then back to Federal Way again. Spent the day huddled on the couch with my fancy-pants brand-new laptop, which is black and shiny and fabulous. I scraped up my foot during the barn party, and it's been red and angry and still-bleeding even up til now.
Anyway, all of this added up to my decision to skip town tomorrow. The van's already loaded up - and boy, do I have a lot of junk! - and Brent and I will be driving off around 10 am.
Now for bike talk. Brent's buying himself a road bike! So I'll have another bike buddy in the 'Ham. His "new" bike is a craigslist baby, and I'm quite excited to go look at it. Naturally, though, I now want to go buy up some new equipment for my Rot Roja - fenders and flat pedals, which together hopefully won't be more than $50. The idea is that with these last two pieces I'll be able to use the Rot Roja for all commuting activities. Until the snow starts. I know I've spent a ridiculous amount of money on the bike, but I'm finally reaching a point with it where I can't think of anything else to add. Now, all I need to think about is the ride!