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May 28, 2004

5/28/04

So, the Jenna thing ended up being a total bust. The day we went, it poured. Unfortunately the event was being held outside, so everyone ran into the restaurant and none of the servers seemed to know what was going on. We sat there for a half an hour waiting to be waited on or something, but it never happened and we didn't see Jenna anywhere. The dogs didn't even get to hang out with anyone since it was raining. That was a poorly organized fundraiser event. Poor doggies.

We're leaving tomorrow for the cruise. Actually, we're going to Nate's parents tomorrow and then leaving Sunday. We're planning on going on a historical pub tour in Halifax and probably just a walking tour or something in St. John. It should be chilly there, but that's cool. Haha, get it... cool.

When we come back, it's going to be a whirlwind of excitement. This comes out a few days after we come back:

I'm excited. Also, I think the new Harry Potter movie comes out the day we return. We also have to get our lease signed for our new apartment and start getting stuff ready to be transferred.

Today I woke up with a sort throat, was sweaty, and generally felt like crap. If it had been some other time, I probably would have called off work, but since I won't be there all next week and had a lot of stuff to wrap up today, I had to go. I still feel kind of sick, but slightly better. Nate has had a hacking cough for like 3 weeks. I guess we're dying.

We went bowling tonight with Bill and Steve. I won the first round because I rock and lost the second round because I had tired arm syndrome. Bowling rocks. I forgot to take my ball though. D'oh! It's like the one piece of sporting equipment that I own and I only get to utilize it like two times a year and I forgot it! I'm an ass.

I bought two new books recently... Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser and Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. The last book I read was Food Politics by Marion Nestle and it was really interesting. Like it says on the back, it is recommended to anyone who eats food. Feel free to borrow it! I have been on a big reading kick lately... I hadn't read books for pleasure since like high school prior to this past year. Reading is fun, especially when it isn't school related. However, it takes me like 3 months to finish a book because I just read it on the bus on the way to and from class or at lunch time.

Nothing else much exciting to report. I'll have lots of Canada pics and stories to report when I get back next Friday. Toodley poo.

May 21, 2004

5/21/04

Even more great news... Kim just told me that Jenna Morasca is going to be bartending at the Penn Brewery tonight from 5:30 - 8:30 to do a fundraiser for Animal Friends. I'm so there! Kim is going too... she has the buff from Jenna's season, so she is definitely asking her to sign it. My buff is from the Thailand season and I figured she would be offended if I brought that RAG along. I hear there's also going to be dogs there that you can adopt! So maybe I'll bring 1, 2, or 6 home.

May 20, 2004

5/20/04

Great news, you can now keep track of everything I eat everyday here.

May 18, 2004

5/18/04

I hit my head on a cupboard and now I am fairly certain that my brain is hemorrhaging. Don't they say that you're not supposed to go to sleep if you think you have a concussion? Too bad... I'm heading home and taking a 32 second nap before class. This is my last update ever, I guess.

May 17, 2004

5/17/04

I'm bored so here is a list of everything I have eaten for the last 3.5 days (that I can remember):

* Multi Grain Cheerios with soy milk
* Vegetable pizza pocket
* Angel food cake
* 3 bean pasta
* Soy Boy ravioli
* Vegetable crisps
* Popcorn
* Bread
* Apple juice
* Water
* "Looza" fruit juice
* Veggie Delite and Baked Lays from Subway
* Pizza
* Celery
* Mixed nuts

I think that's about it. That doesn't seem like too much. Some of it I ate more than once.

Oh yeah. Yesterday I went to a micro brew focus group thing at the Church Brew Works. Someone from Katz is doing a marketing project for them and they had people come in and sample the beers and discuss micro brews. It was pretty fun, even though I have sampled all of the Church Brew Works's beer before. I got free pizza and a 20 dollar gift certificate. Sweet.

I have a quiz tonight and tomorrow! Oh my!

May 14, 2004

5/14/04

Upon reading another online journal, I've decided to list stupid things that I did as a child. Nate is out of town visiting friends this weekend so I have no one to harass or ask to sniff my farts. So, deal with it.

My mom used to have this (ugly) knick knack thing in our livingroom with a fake bird inside a little plastic case and some cheesy fake bird scene. It was sitting on something like a pile of bird seed. Anyways, the top of the plastic case came off and I would often take it off to play with it. One day, I accidentally knocked it over and all the bird seed came out. I don't know if I picked it up or left it there or picked it up half assedly, but my mom found out and I remember her specifically telling me that I should tell her if I did it or not because "the truth would set me free." Well, I didn't tell her and I didn't get in trouble either. Guess I pulled one over on her!

I used to frequently forget my keys at home when I was in elementary school / junior high. It is kind of odd because all the times I recall being locked out of the house after coming home from school, I don't remember my sister being around. She was only 2 grades ahead of me, so she shouldn't have been gone for college during those times, but maybe she was out rough housing or something. I have no idea. We have this structure built behind the garage at our house that we call the "club house" but that is really just a shed that my dad built that now houses the lawnmower and other various things that no one ever uses. It once actually was a clubhouse of sorts, but that didn't last for long. ANYWAYS, we used to have one of those stupid chairs that you could unfold and make into a crappy little mattress thing. After I got tired of it, we stuck it in the "club house" to hang out on. It was neglected for years and probably was full of bugs and had crusty leaves and crap all over it, but one time I came home from school in the winter and *shock* didn't have my keys. My grandma, who sometimes had a spare key before my mom revoked it (I think) wasn't home, so I couldn't even go to her house to hang out. I guess the clubhouse was unlocked, so I went and there and hung out on the nasty chair for 2 or so hours until my mom got home from work. That was fun. It was freezing and dirty in there. I felt like a true hobo.

There was another key forgetting incident when I was in 7th grade. I remember it vividly. I was sitting in Earth Science class and there was some announcement over the speaker to my class to send someone down to the office. It was kind of muffled and no one could understand, so my teacher sent some random dude down to the office to find out what the announcement was. It turns out I had forgotten my keys and my mom or someone found them (I don't know) and gave them to my grandma, who drove down to the school to drop them off for me. The funny part is that my mom conveniently attached a GIANT KEYCHAIN with a pink heart and my name on it. This thing was at least like 5x3 inches. Pretty big. So the guy that went down to the office retrieved my key for me. I was embarrassed about the stupid keychain.

Yet another key incident. I'd like to mention that around the time I was in 10th grade, I started wearing my key on a chain around my neck. The true latch key kid. Maybe it was dorky, but it was seriously a necessity. Anyways. My friends dropped me off at my house one time after playing softball and no one was home (surprise! I'm starting to think I was neglected as a child), and I said, no problem, I can get in through the basement window. There was a basement window I had gotten into one other time when I had forgotten my key. It was one of those little windows with the hinges on the top. It had been unlocked and I just kind of pushed it with my foot to open it and then I slid in. Yeah, it was pretty dirty and dusty, but at least I was in. Anyways, this time I decided to do the same thing but apparently someone had decided to lock said window, possibly after they saw that it had been used as an entryway recently. I squatted down on the ground and kicked it with my foot. Oops! It was lock and the window broke. Not even enough for me to slide in around the broken glass. What a pile of crap.

Now, this isn't stupid about me, but stupid about my sister. One day when I was in third grade, I apparently came home with a chunk of hair cut out from the back of my head. I didn't notice, and frankly, I didn't even really care. My mom noticed though and immediately suspected one of the little bastards that sat behind me in class. She called my teacher (she knew everyone's number because I think she was a teacher back then) and asked who sat behind me in class. I don't remember who it was, but it would be funny if the kid got in trouble. Several days later apparently my sister admitted to cutting the chunk of hair. I don't know how she did it or why I didn't notice. Funny.

When I was in kindergarten, this stupid kid named Jeff thought he was my friend. He so wasn't. He lived down the street from me and always wanted to come swim in our pool. He would walk past the house when we were swimming and ask if he could come over. Being the stupid jerky kids that we were, my sister and I would say, sure, and then get out of the pool and go hide in the house. Or, if I was by myself and I saw him walking by, I would try to hold my breath and hide under the water until he was gone. Gosh! I could have died. Moving right along. One day in kindergarten as we were walking along the silver line in the flooring to another classroom, Jeff dropped his box of crayons and they scattered all over the floor. Dumbass! He yelled, "Julllieee! Help me!" I didn't help him though because I hated him. I kept walking and left him to pick up his crayons by himself.

And finally, when I was in like 4th grade, we were playing "Bash Ball" in gym class. Bash ball was like baseball, except you used a giant styrofoam bat and hit a blow up ball, similar to the kind you buy in the big bin at K-Mart. A homerun in bashball was if you hit the big green curtain separating the gym from cafeteria. The ball was pitched to me and I tightened my grip. I swung and score! The ball hit this girl right in the head. The girl I hit had some sort of condition and had no hair, so she was obviously already a target to be made fun of by jerky elementary school kids. I didn't like her though because she drove me insane and I didn't care that I hit her. That's right! I DIDN'T CARE.

Ok, so that last one wasn't so good. I must say that nothing compares to the time I was playing, "I Spy a Whitey" with my sister in the car. We were stopped at a stop light and looking for whiteys (whiteys were white cars... we had a score sheet to see who could get the most). The cars in the next lane started moving so she naturally assumed that our lane was moving too. She let her foot off the brake and drifted into this dude's crappy Ford Fiesta or something in front of us. The guy unncecessarily flipped out and I don't really know what happened after that. Maybe the white car game was supposed to be a secret, but I think it has been enough years to reveal the truth. Because as we all know... THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!

May 12, 2004

5/12/04

Oh man. Nate got a hilarious catalog in the mail yesterday. It came addressed to him or "Current Resident." Sneaky of him to have it addressed that way! Here are some of my favorite items from International Male.

First, check out the "Body Shaping" underwear:

Next, we have the ever so important side view of the swimming trunks:


Tell me you wouldn't run for it if you saw that guy at the beach!!!

Oops! I think someone accidentally grabbed his Mom's shirt from the laundry basket.

Rico. Suave.

May 09, 2004

5/9/04

Hello snappy doodles. This was an action packed weekend. Let me recap.

Friday I was off work, so I spent the day renewing my passport, dropping off school stuff, and lunching it up at Subway. Nate and I went to see the Suicide Machines later that night and it was fun.

Saturday, I got a hair cut. I got a lot cut off, so no more medium length hair for me. So annoying. It isn't short like it used to be, but it is definitely short. Long hair is for boneheads. I feel liberated and not annoyed like I have been everyday for the last few months with my hair. After that, I got a new tattoo. Woo-ee. I got this on my upper back.

I wasn't excited about the pain, because my last tattoo hurt like a bitch. But this one turned out to not hurt as much and it only lasted 15 minutes and then it was done. Sweet! Tattoos for everyone. I'll post a real picture of it after it is healed. Now Nate and I are tied with 3 each for tattoos. I think he should get this next:

I spent the rest of Saturday doing homework and laying about. Today we went up to my mom's shack and took the little doggie for a walk. It was way hot out, so the walk didn't last very long. Now, here I am again back at Chateau Awesome where I am taking a break from some more homework to write this little ditty. I want to go to the grocery store so I can buy stuff to make pasta salad. I have to go wheel Nate out the door on his computer chair and into the car. Maybe he won't notice. Oh yeah, something funny happened today, sort of. I knew that I would never be able to style my hair like the hair girl did it yesterday because I am completely incompetent in that department. Yeah, it's way easy for her to make it look cool because she can stand behind me with two hands and see what she is doing. Meanwhile, I am trying to imitate what she did and I just get all tangled up in the hair dryer and knock stuff over. I hate that they make it look so easy. Anyways, after getting pissed and effectively making it look like I had a major mullet, I yelled for Nate to come in and cut some of my hair. He did so, unwillingly, but he did a nice job. I have this huge pet peeve of having straight short hair on my neck when my hair is short. It has to be cut really short for me to be happy. I remember one time in like 11th grade, I had a friend trim off this annoying part of my hair in a parking lot before going into the mall because I was so annoyed with it. Anyways, back to the story. So Nate was snipping away and we hear a knock at the door. Someone is coming to see the apartment. Uh ok. I stood there not knowing what to do and Nate went out to greet them. He then grabbed the broom to sweep the bathroom floor up from my hair and the guy showing the apartment was like, oh no you don't have to do that. Nate pointed out that he had been cutting my hair. The woman being shown the apartment said, "He was CUTTING your HAIR?" dumbfoundedly. I guess she didn't see Nate as the stylist type. Heheh. Ok, so I guess it wasn't that funny, but it was kind of amusing to me. That's what the bastards get for not calling before they come over!

May 06, 2004

5/6/04

What's up! Nate and I put a security deposit on an apartment yesterday. Here is where we are living as of July. It's pretty rockin'. Kim lives there too. I don't know if she already posted that link on her website, but I don't care because this is MY website. Oh yeah, and maybe she wanted to keep it a secret where she lives. If so, please disregard this entry up until now.

Our new shack is pretty sweet... the building has non-quarter laundry (rockin'), valet parking, storage areas, a place to send out mail (!!!), and they will sign for packages for you. Oh yeah, there is a free fitness room too and a cool roof that you can hang out on. The apartment itself has at least 7 closets (sweet) including 2 in the bedroom (1 for me, and 1... for me). It has a dishwasher, but I'm not sure if it has a disposal. No A/C. No biggie. There is a dining room area which we haven't decided if it will actually be a dining room or the "video game room" yet and a large pantry area in the kitchen. It's pretty darn nice. I am happy and excited to move.

I have tomorrow off! Thankfully. I have big plans, though. I'm going to go to Katz and drop off some stuff, and uh, I guess that's it. I will probably do some homework. We are going to see the Suicide Machines tomorrow night. Hoorah! I'm getting my hair cut on Saturday and I need a good picture of a nice 'do. I have to find one ASAP.

Survivor finale Sunday! What am I going to do then? Boo hiss for shows ending. I guess tonight is the Friends finale or something. Friends shmiends. I watched last week's episode for 5 minutes last night, and it was so contrived and lame that I had to turn it off. CBS has some rockin' Wednesday night comedies. Who knew? Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, and Yes, Dear. I think it's Yes Dear. All good stuff.

Everyone is insane today. I have a quiz every week in Econ. What's up with that? It's momma's day this weekend. So everyone give yo' big momma a kiss.

May 01, 2004

5/1/04

Today we looked at 14 million apartments. It was kind of funny because we actually only had one appointment scheduled today.

The first place we saw was at the corner of 5th and Shady. When I called to make the appointment, I actually thought the place I was going to see was the place across the street that we had driven by a few days earlier. Woops. The place we did end up seeing was pretty crappy. The woman showing us the place was unorganized and unable to unlock doors in under a minute. It smelled like a cat. We asked if any of their apartments had dishwashers; she said that it would be "no problem" to put one in for us. Sure. At that point I kind of knew it was a done deal - we wouldn't be living there. I don't trust landlords that make empty promises like that, and the place was crap anyways.

After we came home, I decided to call a bunch of places that we had the numbers written down for. I ended up calling the real place I had wanted to see in the first place, and the lady said we could come over right then and see it. Sweet! So we did. The place was very nice - in fact the whole complex was really nice. No dishwasher again. I'm starting to think there are no dishwashers left in Pittsburgh. Nate actually knew the guy that was living in the apartment at the time. Small world, eh?

We started driving home after that one and saw an open house for another apartment complex just down the street. So we stopped. The manager had cookies in her office (sweet!) and showed us an empty apartment - note that it wouldn't necessarily be the one that we would be renting. Yeah. When people show you "model" apartments, that's usually a big warning sign. We humored her though. The place was ok, but not as big as we wanted. Apparently the management company had just taken over another one, and if you signed the lease today, you got a $400 discount on the security deposit and no matter what, you got a free color TV or DVD burner! Kind of weird, but maybe that's how they were trying to drum up new business. We asked if they had any bigger apartments. She said they did in Squirrel Hill and that she could show them to us a few hours later. Sweet.

So, we went and saw the fabled Squirrel Hill apartments. Hrmph. They were on a narrow street with on-street parking that looks like it would be a total nightmare. Good thing I don't drive. Now these apartments... ugh. They weren't TERRIBLE especially considering they were for the same price as their other one bedroom apartments and were probably 2x the size, but still. They all had warped wooden floors and kitchen appliances that seriously looked like they were the first stoves ever made. The places weren't even clean... they were empty, but the bathtubs and sinks looked like they had never been cleaned ever. The sinks in the bathrooms were like held up with 2 skinny metal poles that looked like if I stubbed my toe on them, they would fall over. Most of the outlets were 2-pronged only, which means we couldn't hook up any computers or power strips or anything with a 3 prong plug. I think if someone had gone into the apartments and totally scoured everything in bleach and replaced all the appliances and flooring, then they'd be cool. The hallways smelled like food and smoke, though, and the one apartment's kitchen cabinets were covered in a few centimeters of grease and grime and I felt like I wanted to puke after touching them. Nate might think I am overreacting to the grunginess of these apartments, but I think it is pretty clear that we won't be living there either.

Anyways, we have this Excel spreadsheet that we fill out after we go see an apartment and we rate all the important stuff to us. So far I think the leader is the Royal Gardens building on 5th avenue. We have another appointment this Friday to see more Franklin West apartments. I really like their apartments and I know they are a good company, but the apartments we saw from them before had kitchens too small for even a Barbie doll. Other than that, they were really clean and nice. We have an appointment to see this other place tomorrow. I found out after I made the appointment that it is the rental company in Pittsburgh that has fluorescent signs on all their buildings with giant smiley faces that say "Now Leasing." I actually said a few weeks ago that I would never rent from them just because they used smiley faces on their signs. It seems kind of unprofessional for a rental company. Who do they think they are, anyways, Wal-Mart? Oh, and Nate is pretty set on living in the building that Kim lives in if they have an apartment we like. Someone I work with actually lives where Kim lives too, and she said she really likes it. I just want to live in a building that is clean and managed by a reputable company. A dishwasher apparently is the deciding factor for Nate.

I'm sure this entry was totally uninteresting to people who don't care about looking for apartments. But if you are looking for one in the Shadyside area right now and want to know what the crap apartments were that we saw today, feel free to email me so I can tell you to avoid them!


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