The Last Drink

Today I finished my undergraduate classes and am one step closer to graduation in two weeks. It's been a long four years trying to finish a degree in science and then at the last minute changing my mind and completing a major in a year in a half. When I was asked during a scholarship interview at the end of high school where I would see myself in five years I gave them what I felt they wanted to hear. I told them that I would be similar to the person I was then, but with an advanced degree in physics. In high school I bought into my fabricated life and even believed that my life would be exactly as I planned it. I never imagined the situations that I have experienced and put myself through over the past four years. I never planned on sleeping in train stations, running with the homeless, ROTC, meeting my most consistent and dearest friend at a minimum wage barista job, teaching girls to play ice hockey, or spending summer nights playing drunken baseball behind a train station.

Tonight I spent the evening with friends from jobs past and more present. It was small gathering to celebrate the end of classes and a chance to let lose before finals next week. Most of my work friends came out to drink and have an evening remembering the good times and trying to forget the thankless job many of us shared in a low grade Italian restaurant on the Main Line. I spent a good deal of the night catching up with E and discussing the different directions ours lives have taken since working together two years ago. Even the Hebro stopped by and though he has been totally awesome it's getting harder and harder to see him and know that I'll be leaving him behind in two weeks. Eventually after all the chatter and a few beers my contacts kicked in and I had to leave. Instead of being the dutiful friend and coworker by saying a heartfelt goodbye to everyone, I snuck out of the bar in typical Sidney fashion. It's hard to say goodbye to the motley crew that has been a makeshift family and close-knit group of friends down here in Philadelphia and sometimes I find it to just slip away like I wasn't there in the first place at all.

Led Zeppelin - Going to California

It's the colors you have, no need to be sad. It really ain't that bad.

Honestly is there anything more cooler than Mill Murray not giving a fuck while steals a bike with a pair of bolt cutters? I really don't think so. Mill Murray just oozes je ne sais quois and a suaveness that only Mr. Murray seems capable of pulling off. I mean really how many of us can just hijack a bicycle and just walk away with the bike of our shoulder, not even caring if we were to get caught with it. It really is just such a baller picture. I almost wish that I could feel cool enough to do something like that or just not give a fuck to walk away with a bike. Unfortunately I have a stress issue when it comes to police authority and recently found two gray hairs on my head.

At 22 it feels a little early to be growing gray hair, but with a father who began shedding his hair line at 24 and a mother who has been dyeing to hide her own hair issues at an even younger age it's not exactly a surprise. Add in all of the compounded stress of the last four years and logically I should be nearly white on top by now. Graduation should be a time of joy a celebration, I remember watching my cousin finish her course load a few years ago and walk across the stage at her own December graduation. She was excited and energetic and proud of the work she had put in over the years. I don't feel any of that. I don't even want to go pick up my cap and gown from the bookstore. Fortunately I'm not alone. My friend Andi has yet to pick up her own cap and gown and my dear friend Slolly just wants to go home now and not look back. We have no desire to sit under the big white tent next to City Ave and listen for our names to be called out. I just want to go home and go to sleep for the next few weeks.

I had a language teacher in high school who stressed the importance of being more than just a drone who was defined by what they did for work. I remember sitting in a hotel common area in Greece with her and a few other people talking about life and getting better acquainted. I had one of the local stray dogs in my lap (completely unaware of the risks of ticks at the time) and I remember listening to my teacher tell us that too many people are defined by the jobs they do and not by the things they enjoy to do. I remember having a hard time separating the differences between the two ideas. Last week marked the third anniversary of my language teacher's passing and with graduation looming only weeks away I am starting to understand more of what she meant and how I've change since having her as a teacher. In college I put myself in situations I never would have imagined for myself and met all sorts of different people. When I left high school, I left with a bad taste in my mouth and with very few people I felt connected to. When I leave Philadelphia next month I will be leaving behind a whole slew of people from different backgrounds that I never would have had the pleasure of knowing if I hadn't come to college, including my best friend.

I'm moving home when I graduate with no job perspectives and no real life goal other than to just adjust to a new lifestyle and acclimate back into small town life. This time though I'm not leaving with a bad taste in my mouth or on bad terms with people as I had back in 2008. I'm ready to leave the city and return home because I'm not the same person I was when I left.

Just listen.

It's been a great week for Hebrew Friend support and Hawktastic wins! Tonight we defeated Drexel and I will be honest that I had a hard time staying focused. It was a close game with Drexel tight on the Hawks' tail until the very end. My favorite little man Carl Jones had a late start, but it was C. J. who really owned the game with some amazing defense tonight. In celebration I've decided to dedicate this post to music. Win a game, get some music.

Adele - Rumour Has It

Adele, I love you and Lord knows Yonni loves you too. Obsessed with her sophomore album, 21, It's hard to believe that someone as young as she has experienced so many emotions and can sing so poignantly about them. Rumour Has It is the latest track that I have become obsessed with. 

Foster the People - Don't Stop

Everyone knows about Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks and if you've seen the latest Nissan car commercials then you've heard Don't Stop as well. Everything about this song, the energy, the rhythm, and the lyrics are incredible. 

Fun - We Are Young

Fun's We Are Young featuring Janelle Monae has been blowing up the airwaves in Philadelphia and whenever it comes on the radio I roll down my windows and belt it out even at 8:30am, stares from strangers be damned! I can not wait to see this band live and I am eagerly awaiting their arrival in Philadelphia. 

Peter, Bjorn, and John - Second Chance

Everyone loves Peter, Bjorn, and John and everyone loves 2 Broke Girls. What do these two awesome thing shave in common? Second Chance. The band's song has become the theme song of CBS's new show and I think I heard it on the radio for a beer commercial. I love it, even more than I love Young Folks and I love that song a lot. 

Jimkata - When the Day Comes

If you haven't heard of Jimkata you haven't been listening close enough. It's okay though, I wasn't listening that well either until an acquaintance of mine introduced me to them a few months ago. I later found out that my friend Ryan went to high school with them and I have since been hooked. I listen to them in the car, on my ipod, and when I'm writing (they're playing right now). I get to see them in December at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia and I've heard twitterings that they'll be in Vermont sometime in February (definitely worth the eight hour drive). I told Lance about them and now I need to give him some of their music to pass onto Charlie so that he'll book them at the Matterhorn in Stowe, VT. What's better than beer, sushi, and Jimkata?

P.S. you can download two of their albums at www.jimkata.com

You need something witty? That's too bad.

I think to date this is the longest I have gone without posting. Of course at the rate that I get distracted by not so shiny objects it probably won't be the longest I will go either. It's been a busy past few weeks with not registering, catching up with the school work that got left in the dust, and of course work: work study and Buca included. To fill in those brief gaps of time in between one thing and the next I've been able to fit in a pint of beer, and hour of sleep, and repeat the process. I've been putting off writing and reading any blog posts because I've been so depressed and uninspired with my life, but really I should have been writing all along. Regularly posts would have made me examine my life's recent event and given me a chance to reflect on them instead of bottling them up and hiding under the two down comforters I keep on my bed in my lonely, lonely apartment.

So to get back on track here is what I've been doing to keep my mind off things:

I recently snowed a few weeks ago. I forgot to through this up a few posts back, but better late than never. I ended up spending the evening with my Hebrew Friend drinking gin and watching movies. I also got to break out my new winter boots from L.L. Bean (they have since been put back in the closet) which were super warm and soft. Best birthday gift this year. 

I made acorn squash for the first time in my apartment. I was a little lost since I've started eating squash in recent years. I put a lump of butter and some maple syrup in the middle and let the whole thing bake for about an hour. I wasn't planning on squash but Ellie got stuck in the city and I had to go rescue her and on the way home I saw the squash and got inspired. The other day I saw a squash recipe on Mr. Kate with rosemary that I want to try out next. 

The men's home opener was Monday and it wasn't even a real home opener, just a scrimmage. We won! I know shocking. It was a great time though, I played my saxophone for the first time in a year; I was impressed with the fact that I could still play it without any major problems. Go me!

As a part of being in the band we get free food. I'm not a huge fan of hotdog (who is really?) but for some reason I really wanted one. I got luck too, someone on the track team must not have been paying attention when they wrapped the yum yums because I got a two for one deal. 

Yesterday when it was dreary and dull I decided to build myself a bear cave by putting thick blankets over the window and curling under the bed sheets. I drank a glass of white wine at 2pm and it sent me into anxiety so my Hebrew Friend had to talk off of a ledge. On the bright side the not so thick blankets made me some very nice poor man's stained glass. 

This was my version of chicken Florentine. I didn't use cheese and just used the food that I happened to have in my refridge/cabinet. What you see is crushed tomatoes and some seasoned spinach on top of some chicken with some whole wheat French bread. You can see the brown with blue flower plates underneath. Those were the original plates that my parents had back in the 80s. They've been become rare collectables after giving birth to me. 

A happy photo. Except for the fact that I have a huge forehead. Do they do forehead reduction surgery? IDK?

Ps. I remembered this week that I'm a viking and apparently related to the Wannamakers of Philadelphia? WTF bitches???

You look so beautiful, I forgot how bad your personality is.

And so it's begun. Birthday Week. I like my birthday, I really do. I don't mind getting older, in fact I'm finally glad that I won't have to say that I'm 21 anymore. There's something about being 21 that rubs off the second after you've turned that age that makes it uncool to actually admit that you're 21. So now that I am going to be 22 I'm glad that I will be able to admit my age again. This week I have a lot of stuff planned for myself and with friends. The week began with the arrival of my birthday gift from my mom. She bought me a beautiful pair of snow boots from L.L. Bean. I had wanted the boots for Christmas last year, but they were sold out so she got me them for my birthday this year instead.

Totally awesome, right?

I spent last night with Anna catching up and eating Ikea mashed potatoes. Who knew frozen Swedish potatoes could be so good? I didn't. I brought knitting over and unfortunately I didn't get around to it, but I was wearing my Ray-Ban look-a-like eyeglasses and have decided that in ten years when I finally get around to having kids, I am going to be a hot dorky mom. We watched the new How I Met Your Mother and the premier episode of Ashton Kutcher on Two and a Half Men. I still don't know who Barney is marrying and I don't think I'm going to continue watching Ashton Kutcher's television antics. I did learn that for $12 I can get basic cable and by basic I mean basically no channels, but still five or six is better than nothing and while I won't get FX or sports I will be able to watch Sunday football (and hopefully win something) and all of the shows I am addicted to on The CW.

I have class tonight, but tomorrow my friends in AU are throwing me a party... with cake! It's also board game night so I will be able to break open my new Boggle game that I picked up this weekend. God, I really am a dork. After that I have field hockey practice, maybe, and then ice hockey in the morning. Thursday I am going to dinner with my best girls. We're going to Zahav down in the city. Marg and I have been dying to go for the past two years and now we finally have the chance and we're jumping on it. It's their Restaurant Week menu, but I read they have Goldstar and ever since Hebrew Friend came back from the Holy Land raving about, I've wanted to try some.

Friday night I have to work, but then after we're all going to a bar in Ardmore to celebrate me! Everyone's invited to come, the more the merrier. I love my friends, I love beer, and I love Cricket Circuit so I'm excited for that, plus last Friday I made money so hopefully I get a repeat night. I've taken Saturday off, who wants to work on their birthday if they don't have to? Not me. It's going to be a low key day culminating in what I'm hoping will be a wonderful dinner with some people who are very dear to me.

Yes it is a jam packed week, but I love my birthday or at least the thought of it. It's rare that I ever fully get to enjoy my birthday. Either friends let me down or I eat too much sugar and have a meltdown (think grade school). Right now I feel fine and worry free, but give me a few days and the birthday anxiousness will kick in and I will be crying in my cake about how it's only eight years until I'm thirty or that this might be my last Philadelphia birthday with my Philadelphia friends for awhile. Oh the joys of turning older.

Looks familiar.

Phreezing in Philadelphia.

It's Friday and the week is ending somewhere in the 65 degrees range. It was somewhere in the 90s on Monday. I'm pretty sure that yesterday the weather froze over in the short time I was in class because when I went in I was comfortable in a skirt and tank top and when I came out I was trying to fit my entire body into my book bag to keep warm. I ended up getting fro yo later, but that's a whole other topic on choices I make with my life. Anyways this cold weather shift means the advent of fall and fall means a whole lot of goodies. Usually I consider my birthday to be the end of summer and the beginning of fall, but hey I can start today if I want to.

With the new season comes a few things that I am looking forward to.

1. Fall sports! Everyone knows that Stowe Loves Sports, just look at the green and white umbrellas lined up along the fields. I fortunately took that love with me to Philadelphia where I am currently playing field hockey and ice hockey as much as possible. So much fun. Unfortunately (or fortunately if I were an insomniac) I found out that I have field hockey practice from 10pm to midnight and 5am ice hockey practice on Thursdays. There is a strong possibility of me not making it to December.

2. Candy Corn Pumpkins! I love candy corn and more specifically the pumpkins that come in the fall mix or if you hunt hard enough in their own individual bags. I love the pumpkins to the point where whenever I go to Target I pick up a bag and leave it around places I frequent so that there is also a tasty treat when I'm least expecting it (my car). I also need to pick up Boggle the next time I'm target too.

3. Knitting! Yes I am a knitting dork and no I can't make you a sweater, yet. I love knitting but have found that I only really like doing it when the weather turns colder. Sitting under a pile of yarn in the heat is just no fun. I recently found out that one of my good friends is a closet knitter and she also happens to be one of my neighbors. I'm a little sad though that Cynthia! and I will no longer be able to knit/crochet in the Borders break room anymore :(

Apparently Gene Simmons knits too.

4. Sweaters! I love sweaters and summer/fall/winter/spring I make it work whenever I can. I have definitely been the girl in the 90 degree heat wearing a sweater because I thought it was cool. I recently discovered that my mother has been hoarding a few cool selection underneath her really really ugly Christmas ones and the next time I am there I will be claiming them. My Hebrew Friend has also discovered the joys of J. Crew and their beautiful sweaters for men. The next time I go to the outlets I am taking him along.

5. Apples! Apple picking, apple cider, apple pie are all awesome reasons to look forwards to fall. I can't wait to get a minute to go apple picking and make up new apple creations. I just need to find the recipe for the apple cranberry crisp that is served every Thanksgiving and I will be in business.

You can do anything for thirty seconds.

Yes Tony you can do anything for thirty seconds, or at least that's what I keep telling myself when I do the P90X Plyometric workout. I had a great workout the other day getting through a lot of the harder jumps and twists that I usually struggle with. There are  some that I have to make modifications to so that I can get through them, but for the most part I have it done. I felt so good about getting through the plyometric workout afterwards and I'm finally breaking down some of my fitness walls. Yesterday was another great workout too. I did the yoga one and I am definitely starting to feel my body open up and gain the flexibility that it once had. I bought a yoga block this weekend, but I found that I only needed it for one or two poses this time. I also had another amazing breakthrough yesterday with yoga. I HELD CRANE/CROW FOR SEVEN SECONDS!!! I don't what you call the pose, I did it and it was so cool. It took a minute for me to find my balance, but I was able to get up on my hands and arms and once I got up there I got so excited I fell out of it. And while I'm still not up to the time limits of my Hebrew Friend it's still an impressive accomplishment considering that I couldn't do it at all the last time I tried it. I think having a successful arms and shoulders workout the day before helped build my confidence in my arms.

Moving on...my parents are in town. They spent the weekend moving my sister into her dorm and then they have been making the rounds around Pennsylvania. Yesterday we had lunch together in Manayunk. Lance had never really been over there and so we walked around a bit and I showed him the canal and part of the bike path that I take to Norristown. The river is still really high and you could see where water got into places. Some restaurants and stores are still airing out their stock. We settled on a small place called Le Bus. Le Bus is affiliated with the Le Bus bakery out in King of Prussia which is product that is becoming popular in the restaurants in Stowe. Lance got excited so we went there and it was actually quite good. Chem Anna had told me about it so I was eager to give it a try. It did not disappoint. I have a cup of gazpacho with avocado and an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. My mom had a salmon burger that came with the most delicious mustard sauce (I ate half of it) and Lance had a pear salad. It was a good lunch. My parents and I got a chance to catch up and while I told my stories my mother got red and tipsy off of two bottles of Corona and spent the ride home saying everything she saw out loud and with strong enunciations. Well done mom.

Le Bus, Manayunk, Philadelphia

I'm just going to come out and say it, you were kind of a prostitute.

I'm finally sleepy tonight at a fairly early hour (early for me) too. As soon as I finish this post I am turning and sleeping in in the morning. Tomorrow was supposed to be the start of classes, but with the storm damage classes have been delayed until Tuesday, yay! So in the meantime I am going to write about the things that make me happy. Just a little something to think about in spite of all of the ickiness outside. So here are five things that make me happy, in no particular order:

1. Seneca apple chips. I love these things, especially the granny smith kind. They're better than the puffed apples that the Amish women make because they are crispier and tart. I love them better than potato chip or corn chips or pretty much any other kind of chip. I always get real excited when I see them in the supermarket and end up buying more than one bag.

2. Greeting cards. I love greeting cards so much. I try to find any occasion to give them out to my friends. I just think that there's still something so poetic about cards, especially the ones that I hand make. One of my friends has her birthday on Valentine's Day and every year I give her a mess of birthday and Valentine's cards as a part of her gift. Greeting cards, well really cards in general, are a great way to brighten up a person's day.

3. My bed. My bed is awesome! It's a full (a little small) with a cast iron bed frame that has been painted antique white. Right now I have cream flannel sheets and six pillows and two comforters. It's great when the air is cold because I will snuggle down underneath the blankets and pillows where it's all soft and fluffy and fall asleep for hours. So much wonderful sleep.

4. Snow days. We don't see as many snow days in Philadelphia as I did up in Vermont, but the ones down here are pretty epic. Last winter we had a couple of good ones where the city was completely crippled by the weather, but everything was all white and sparkly. It was so pretty outside and the best part is that school was canceled. Unfortunately it's hard to find someone to go for walks or make a mess in the snow with me.

5. Matt & Kim. Matt & Kim is the most epic music duo ever. One of my most favorite concerts at the First Unitarian was a Matt & Kim show. My ipod has a smart list dedicated to them and whenever I'm feeling a bit blue or lethargic I put on some Matt & Kim and dance around. They have helped get me up and down between Philadelphia and Vermont when I'm driving late at night. I share them with everyone I meet and everyone loves them too.

Yanti Parazi

It's not true, but maybe if you say it real fast it might be. This weekend is the weekend of all weekends: the last weekend of summer and Irene. It's true, summer is over and I am sad to see it go. I have spent many a lovely day on the beach or with friends and many a night out drinking at the bars. Lucky for be I jumped back on the exercise train early enough that I have not only avoided a beer gut (gross),  but I have also lost some weight (go me!) I am looking forward to fall though. I recently received an email from school notifying me that I have somehow achieved enough credits to have senior status and that I must remember to fill out my intent to graduate form as soon as possible. Let's be real though, I WILL forget.This weekend is also the weekend that hurricane Irene is supposed to ravage the east coast. My mother has already contacted me about leaving Philadelphia and I have already politely declined invitations from relatives to journey further into the state to get away from the storm. If I didn't have to work and the fact that there is an entire state in front of mine to protect me from the watery typhoon I would have gladly accepted. I like LC every now and again. Lucky for me Mary Ann and Lance will be visiting in a few weeks and we can hang out in the LCs then.

I really find it funny that the National Weather Service named a hurricane Irene in the first place. Irene is Greek for peace. I know this because Ms. Knapp's middle name was Irene and during "Ms. Knapp tells a fact" time she told us about how she used to hate her middle name until she learned that it was Greek and meant peace. Kind of like how I used to hate my middle name. I'm not a cookie people! Anyways I'm not worried about weather, because after all it's just weather. It comes and it goes and if there's any damage left in it's wake you clean it up and move on. I'm just worried about parking my car too close to a tree or the power going out for too long and spoiling all of the food that I don't have in in my fridge. If I'm lucky work will be closed and school will be canceled on Monday. I can only wish.

Looks ειρηνικό from space, right?

I had an excellent girls night last night. I went over to a friend's house with Marg and we had dinner and watched a movie and just got caught up on our lives since we had last seen each other. All three of us have been friends since freshman year when we lived in the hotel together and even though there have been times when we have been less close or completely separated by distance, we still try to carve out some time to spend together and be a part of each other's lives.

We watched Something Borrowed last night. It was cute movie about going for it and not letting people get in the way of doing what is right and what you want. It also about making up for missed opportunities. The best part was John Krasinski though. Everyone else love Colin Egglesfield and he Tommy Hilfiger looks and Connecticut waspy-ness, but since I've always been partial to Jim I had to side with John. Overall I liked the movie (I'm a sucker for romantic crap like that), but I am on the fence about reading the book, hopefully it was better than the movie.

Now since it is the weekend and I never get around to blogging after a night of work and drinking, I will leave you with this little gem:

Awesome, I know. Until Monday my fellow school chums. 

They let me go early! I won 'Most Cooperative Inmate' four months running

Right now I am on the road. I'm probably in New York, but at the rate that I get up in the mornings there's still a strong chance that I'm only in Vermont still. Plus if I stopped to visit my mother in Berlin then yeah, I'm still in Vermont. It's been a good trip so far, here's hoping I make it home without a ticket or a flat tire.

I got my new license yesterday. Since I won't be home in September when my license expires and I needed to update my pictured, I ventured into the DMV. The DMV in Vermont may be small, but it is still the same as anywhere else: a big joke. I had to wait in line to get a ticket to wait in another line. I did meet a nice guy while I was waiting for my turn. He lives in a small town and works in the woods. If I had been home for the summer I would have considered asking for his number, but I'm also trying to move away from that type of guy no matter how nice and charming there are. I'm not going to settle for just good looks and a good body. I want more and I will wait impatiently until I meet that person. But anyways I now have a grownup license! Woot!

I look the same, but now I'm horizontal! Haha.

Yesterday at the book store I found the greatest thing ever. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the children's book Pat the Bunny. It's a cute peach colored book about a bunny and textures that the child can feel while they read the book. At the book store I saw a parody of it called, Pat the Zombie. As a lover of all things zombie, instantly I was thrilled and sent a picture of the book to my friend who is writing a zombie survival guide. (Yonni my 22nd birthday is in almost a month and I would love a first draft :) JK take your time and don't rush your art). If anyone finds any other cool zombie things please send them to me.

It needs brains! Zombie bunny brains!

By the time you've finished this I have hopefully made it to I-87 and am cruising my way on down to the Thruway. What an evil evil road the Thruway is. Almost as bad as the expressway in rush hour. Goodbye empty Vermont highway, hello six lane traffic. It's been fun but Philadelphia needs me.

True fact: This is what a Vermont interstate highway looks like and there are only two of them. 

P.S. Please think good thoughts for my Hebrew Friend. He hasn't been feeling very well lately.

Oh it is Penncock! Oh wait no, it's Pennock.

I just got back from a evening adventure with Chem Anna. We do this sort of thing periodically where we will drive around Montgomery and Delaware counties. Her family are all from Havertown so she has a couple of different places that she likes to go when we're out and about. This time we ventured out in a torrential downpour that turned into a inland hurricane. I didn't even realize what the weather was like until I was outside meeting Anna. Thank God I didn't wear one of my usual white shirts, I went with my Where the Wild Things Are one with Max on the front. We started out just driving along Montgomery and only got as far as Suburban Square before the fear of Baby Honda being swept away forced us into the Trader Joe's parking lot. After a dirty look from the lady in SUV next to us we bolted into the store. I got nearly completely drenched and then froze inside the store. I wouldn't walk down any of the refrigerated aisles until I had dried up. It was an excellent first part to our adeventuring. We loaded up on a snack in Baby Honda until the ran let up and then we traveled down Montgomery until we got to Ardmore where Anna decided to take a family tour. We got a bit lost until we hit Havertown and by then we were ready for round two which usually means Wawa. We've been to just about every Wawa on the right side of Township so for once we ventured down the left which mean Route 3 for us. After passing three or four Cuddy's we found a new Wawa and bought bananas. And sandwiches from the Hoagiefest menu. By then we decided that we were full and made our way back to home down City Ave. When we passed school we saw Dr. A. so I texted him and then he called us back and told us to be safe in Upper Darby. Hahaha Dr. A.'s the best!

I haven't posted in awhile and my mom noticed. She even called me and told me that she was worried about me because I haven't written about my recent goings on. Very thoughtful mother I have. Anyways I haven't written because my router died sometime this weekend while I was at work and I didn't know about it until I got home from work last night. I had to borrow a friend's internet to get some schoolwork done and then after work today I stopped at Radio Shack and picked up a nifty N band router that happened to be on sale and also a nice new power strip that expands to fit every single one of my power cords that I have on that particular side of my apartment. I'm glad I purchased it too because it looks like my old one had shorted out in certain places because electronics that I thought had broke awhile ago are now working once I plugged them into my new groovy power strip.

I also haven't posted because I've been away this past week and the internet up in the Great North can be kind of finagley sometimes and I just didn't have it in me to put up a fight while on vacation. But while I was up there I learned about Ashley Whippet. If you are like me and born after the early 80s you're wondering what the hell is an Ashley Whippet? Ashley Whippet was a whippet dog, a small version of a greyhound dog and this particular one was an ace frisbee player that began his career performing for students on the Ohio State University campus as they walked to classes. He really gained his fame as a mascot at Dodger Stadium and making appearances on Johnny Carson. One time the dog even performed the pre-game show for Super Bowl XII. Today there is an agility competition named in honor of Ashley Whippet. Now normally I don't care about frisbee dogs, but Ashley's owner happens to be a friend of my parents back in Vermont and he told me all about his famous Whippet one night at the Matterhorn, which happens to be the best place for sushi in Stowe and the only bar I actually go to when I'm in town. Best place ever, I even purchased one of their awesome shirts, well actually it was given to me because I'm a Purnell and let's face it, it doesn't get much better than that in town.

Martin feels pregnant.

Crazy weekend. I'm not even sure how I managed to fit everything in that I did or that I even made it to Monday, but it happened and now it's Monday. After Thursday's adventures in eating which led to a very slow Friday morning breakfast at Yonni's with Cynthia! It was Israeli themed, very delightful assortment of foods especially the vegetable salad. Anyways after work I had double work and then went out. My night was extremely slow and I only pulled about $60 and was going to go home when Yonni asked if I wanted to go out with him and some of his friends. He caught me at just the right moment going out the door because I was all set to go home and take a shower and just go to bed, but instead I dug my other set of work clothes and drove out to meet them. While I was routing around in my car I had a nice conversation about how I'm from Vermont with our sous chef T. I don't actually know what T's real name is because it's just what everyone calls him. I should also start carrying around eyeliner with me because I didn't have a lot of makeup on at work and no one else had any with them before I left for the bar. It happened again Saturday night too when I went out again. Friday was a good night: Yonni did karaoke to Lady Gaga. I also got a chance to meet a couple of his friends. Very nice people, I particularly enjoyed his friend's girlfriend. She had a lovely personality and was incredibly funny. She also introduced Yon to Jerseylicious. He already does his own version of GTL, maybe a little Hebrew with a Jersey accent now.

Saturday I woke up early and drove out to Lancaster to see my mom who was down visiting my grandfather. It was a nice visit. We went out to breakfast at some kitschy country place. The food was good but it had a very religiously oppressed feeling to it, but you get that feeling anyways when you're in Lancaster County. There was a book rack with books for sale to keep waiting guests entertained. My two personal favorites were 52 Lies Heard in Church Every Sunday and The Big Book of Church Jokes.

There were a couple other Amish romance stories but I had to stop to eat. After breakfast we drove out to Palmyra to get Lebanon bologna for my dad. Lance only likes a very specific hard, extra dry bologna that comes in a cloth sack from a small specialty meat store with a German name where he grew up. Every time my mom goes without him she picks up the wrong one and there are only two to choose from. This time we made sure to call Lance before purchasing. She also kept picking things up and offering to buy them for me and my friends. I personally don't care for shoefly pie but if Yonni or Marg do I can give them directions to the place. After Palmyra was Lititz. Lititz is a smaller quainter version of Hershey that always smells of a better tasting chocolate due to the small factory that melts and molds chocolate almost every day of the week. We had lunch at a really charming cafe where the waitresses are dressed up as Victorian newsboys. The food was really really good and I may even drive back to visit again even though I've had more than my fair share of small yuppy towns. After lunch my mom had a strong desire to get her eyebrows waxed so she took me to get my nails done and then we did a little shopping. I've developed an obsession with the Lacie collection from Victoria's Secret and I've been trying to collect something in every color available, except for the ones with glitter. The still look a little tacky for me. I came home afterwards and then went over to Yonni's for more Israeli food.It was a nice time with Yonni, Cynthia! and Harry. Later I did the Cricket circuit with him and his sister. I didn't drink much, but when we left I got really really warm almost to the point that I thought I was going to pass out on his kitchen floor. I don't know what's going on but that's the second time that that's happened to me this summer and I'm starting to think that it's hormones from my birth control. I'm not thrilled if that's the case because the other forms out there don't look very appealing to me unless I've had three kids or want to gain three hundred pounds. I eventually fell asleep though and woke up Sunday feeling well rested and a little paranoid that I was getting sick. Summer colds are no fun.

Work was super slow Sunday morning. I made about fifty bucks for lunch and then got cut. I would have been made but there were absolutely no reservations on the books and with eleven servers on I thought it would be fair to let someone else try and make some money. I'm really excited that we have one of our old bartenders back. He's crazy but he does good bar business. After work I was maybe going to see a  movie but then when my plans got postponed I passed out. I wasn't even aware that I was tired until I laid down and then was completely shocked to wake up around 10:30pm. I only nap like that when I'm sick and my body needs extra rest so I think that I just needed some extra rest time to kick whatever I had going on. I only woke up too because I had a billion texts from my mom, Yonni and Neil. My mom just had to tell me she made it home before she went to bed and Neil wanted me to go to the bar with him and some people from work. If I hadn't already been in bed I would have considered it, but I told him that we would go out tomorrow night and play quizzo and have Ryan serve us kitchen messups. Sasha can come too! Yonni texted to tell me to blog and how he's really into Jerseylicious. I was going to write after that but then when I laid my head down again I didn't wake up until this morning.  I really needed the sleep I guess because I feel completely fine today and ready for running after work and maybe a showing of X-Men. I also need to get contact with Marg and see if she wants to go to Zavah before I head up to Vermont this weekend.

Swallowing makes my tummy hurt.

Hebrew Friend beat me to it, but yesterday I went to the beach with some friends. I wasn't even thinking beach trip when he called me Tuesday and asked what time we should leave by. And when he said that he wanted to drive and that there were a few extra people coming I wasn't even thinking about where we would be going. I was just excited that there would be more than just myself this time. While I am all for alone time on the beach it is nice to have others around to talk to and go swimming with. I was also thinking that we would be going somewhere other than the state park since Yonni's a big fan of the southern beaches as well as the state park. I guess he's found his spot though because he asked for the park pass and knew exactly where to go down at the far end. It was a really nice selection of people who were with me too. There was my Hebrew Friend of course, but also Erin a girl I used to work with and Dev a lady that went to school with Yonni. I hadn't seen Erin at all since I left my job at the bookstore so it was nice catching up with her and I had only spoke a few words past hello with Dev when I first met her so it was excellent to get to know her as well.

Leaving Philadelphia it was extremely hot so we had the air conditioning on in the car for the ride down, but when we got out onto the beach we found it to be rather chilly and windy. The water was excellent with big waves and much warmer than it had been, but a few hours in I was huddled under two towels trying to keep as warm as possible. I swear it was going to storm, but then the sun came out and warmed us all up. Some even got a bit sunburned. It was nice to have so many people in the group because it gave us more things to do with each other. Yon brought a Frisbee as always though the wind made it hard to throw well at some points and Dev brought an excellent card game called Five Crowns. It was a bit like gin rummy and poker all mixed together but with a double deck of cards. The cards were really beautifully illustrated and reminded me of characters from an ancient Babylonian royal family or something you would have seen on one of the crusades. I even got a chance to read a little from Lolita and write in my log book. I showed the book to Yonni, but it's not finished and there isn't a whole lot about him in it. I need to start writing his stories down too so that he has a place in the archives. I want to finish the log book by the beginning of next summer so I need to be more diligant about writing in it.

After about six hours of beach time, my uncle invited us over for dinner and a chance to use a real toilet. Everyone agreed to some food before the trip home and I warned them that he likes to talk a lot. It seemed like a good time was had by all, Dev was really wonderful with my uncle, I think he liked her the best. It was a quick visit because we were all tired and wanted to get home. By the time we were back at Yonni's house I could barely keep my eyes open. I helped him clean up our beach mess as best as I could before I had to get back to my apartment and crash. It was wonderful to be tired from the sun and swimming because I soon fell soundly asleep and didn't even get a chance to read my Hebrew Friend's beach review until I woke up this morning. It has really been a wonderful summer so far. Vermont in a couple of weeks.

It seems like all Jersey people do is hump and punch each other.

So I know last post that I would have this great story about me and Cynthia! driving to Newark to pick up our Hebrew Friend from the airport, alas!, this did not happen. Hebrew Friend has decided to stay in Israel another week and spend more time with his family. Funny, because he wasn't all too excited to go in the first place, but once he got there he's been very happy. Just goes to show what getting out of the city does for you. Anyways now I'm going to pick him up next weekend and Cynthia! will be at the beach so I'm traveling alone through the dark and dangerous streets of Newark until I pick up the Hebrew Hammer. I took the day off from work so I should just capture him and bring him down to Cynthia! or drop him at the Philadelphia exit and head to the beach myself. Just kidding Yon I'll take you home, but I really may just go to the beach afterwards. And to risk sounding too much like a teenage girl, Yonni I miss you and I'm excited to see you whenever you decide to come back from the Holy Land. Marg I miss you too. Your tiny apartment and I miss you in the city. Please come back from Maryland soon!

In this heat infested city I have come to the conclusion that I am more suited for a life at the beach. I'm just not sure when or where yet. With less than a year left here I have begun to face the grim reality of having to pack up everything in my apartment and move somewhere. I'm just struggling with the "where" bit. Right now my sister has a sweet gig at a beach resort in Florida and as I am no stranger to the service industry I am seriously beginning to consider something like that for a season or two.  

Thursday was my last class! The exam was annoying and long, but now it's over and as long as I passed the course I really don't care anymore. The school is getting rid of the course in the spring and it's just a requirement for graduation that I won't need for anything else in life. Seriously it really is one of those classes that no one needs unless you're a history major. But hey! It's over and done with and I can focus on my nonfiction class and my world lit class that starts next week. Very excited for these two classes.

I am having the best weekend ever so far. I was supposed to go to Manayunk for a friend's birthday, but I ended up having to close at work and by the time I got out of there and would have gone home to shower and change everyone would have been much more drunk that they already were and I didn't want to have to spend the next two hours playing catch up. Instead I went out with some of my friends from work. We went to this play that has a late night happy hour and the best curly fries ever. We all got properly soused and then spent the last hour or two sobering up and eating curly fries and chatting. I smoked a cigarette and fully remembered why I stopped smoking. Worst tasting mouth ever. I also did tequila shots with Lauren and one of Neil's friends. I haven't had tequila since the worst Tequila Sunrise ever incident that involved a clothing free bartender and orange juice. It's now why I don't drink orange juice with alcohol. Anyways...Neil's friend was very nice and extremely cute so now I need to meet up with him again. Poor Neil, I'm systematically going through his friends this summer. But he's good with it so so am I.

I'm ending this with the video "Hello" by Martin Solveig. I love the video because it reminds me of Luke Wilson's character, Richie, from The Royal Tenenbaums. Richie is the epitome of the late '70s tennis player who has a John McEnroe-esque meltdown and leaves professional tennis to move back home. It is an excellent Wes Anderson film.

Two of two.

MATT AND KIM ARE COMING BACK TO PHILADELPHIA AND I AM GOING TO GO SEE THEM!!! Matt and Kim are playing at The Troc at the end of May and my friend Jon and I are going even if I have to drag him there. He's the only other person that I know that loves them almost as much as me so he's coming. You can't go to their shows alone, it's just not fun.

So this one was supposed to go up a while ago and then again last night as a complimentary piece to the first one but then I never got around to it.

I'm watching Julie & Julia right now (for the third time) and I have to admit that I kind of forgot how amazing this movie is. I absolutely hate Julie Powell for being a giant cheating whore in real life, but I really love what she did with her cooking blog. I also adore Julia Child ever since I used to watch her cooking show on PBS with my Dad. When I was little that's all we did, watch Julia Child and The Frugal Gourmet while Samantha napped.

Anyways I love this movie because of the dual stories that it portrays. In one you're watching a woman come from nothing and become a world-wide phenomenon. She has the most amazing marriage and life and her journey through the food world is simple inspirational. She also shares an extreme love of Valentine's day with me. I love the dinner that she hold where everyone wears large red hearts on their chests and when her husband Paul stands up to say beautiful words about her, she flutters her red heart for him. So romantic. She also sends out cute Valentine's postcards of Paul and her to all their friends. 

"You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. You can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That's such a comfort."

The other story follows a woman who literally has to her rock bottom in her life before she can pick herself up and be satisfied with her life, all while cooking a year's worth of Julia Child recipes. She is not the best character, but she is a human one with flaws that we all have and she is relatable to most people. I did love her apartment ad if she could make it work in her tiny tiny kitchen I can do it in mine. 

"You can never have too much butter."

The thing I love most about this movie is the relationships that the characters have with each other. For me the most relatable is Julie and her mother. The conversation about Julie's blog in the beginning and the talk about regimins and AA and Julie's mother takes something and goes in a totally opposite direction and misses the point; I can't tell you how many times I have conversations like that with my own mother. It's a wonder I still bother to tell her about the goings-on in my life. I deeply, deeply adore Julia and Paul's marriage. It is so filled with love and care. They perfectly compliment each other. It is really rare to see that sort of love and happiness and outside of this movie the only other marriage that comes close is Lance and Mary Ann. I really love/hate the Powell's marriage as well. The fact that Eric stuck through the Julie/Julia Project and Julie's infidelity is really cool. I love that when they fight, he fights back and stands up for themselves. Too many people are willing to be walked all over because they are too afraid to mess things up. People also put others up on pedestals and people can't handle it. We all do it and when we finally crack we don't always stand up for ourselves. Props to Eric for reminding Julie that he wasn't a saint. I love Chris Messina's portrayal of Eric. He is the man I want. Dark hair and nicely shaped and an excellent sense of humor. Lobster killer qu-est que c'est! He also has a cool job as an editor at an archaeological magazine. I need to meet someone like that and go get some beer and crab legs with them. It's the relationships that make this movie.

If you haven't seen it yet, rent it soon.

"These damn things are as hot as a stiff cock!"

I was reminded of something funny this weekend. My friend Ianni celebrated a milestone birthday and got very very inebriated. Reminded me of a time in high school after we had gotten back from Greece. I was sitting on a bench outside of Sloane's and everything was spinning. Ianni sat down next to me and started talking about Greece and graduation when all of the sudden I ralphed all over the side of the bench. Ianni was stunned and so were Katherine and Josh who were fighting in the car in front of us. Funny how things worked out with us. Two of them in Vermont, one in the army and engaged to be married and me in Philadelphia already planning the move to Portland.

Steak 'n Shake on Friday

Argh I wish I were a pirate out at sea instead of a student in Philadelphia. I've been working all morning since I came back from the first half of my American Lit. midterm and then I fell asleep. I just woke up a little while ago and I am starved. I have absolutely no food in the apartment unless you count soy sauce and a few slice of American cheese. I'm going to go out and get something, but I'm not sure what I want to commit to. I have a feeling that it's going to be a very late night and since I have BOMF in the morning I'm almost tempted to get something take a nap for a couple of hours and then eat again and work until it's time to go running. Decisions, decisions.

I'll update this post later.

The lines at Acme were atrocious. They only had the self-serve checkout lines running and I didn't want to wait in line so I walked laps around the store until the lines shortened up. I didn't get much just some stuff to tide me over for the next couple  of days. Im trying to get as much of the perishable food out of the fridge before I go away. I'm almost there. Hopefully the rest of my family won't be expecting anything from me in terms of food when they get in Friday morning.

I still have laundry to do and some homework to finish and now that I've eaten a little I feel much better. I just need to take a shower and clean off the futon and open it up to put all the stuff I need to pack on it. I have to pack light and I'm limiting my clothing to only the barest of necessities. I also want to be packed before I head out to work on Thursday. I have an ugly habit of packing ten seconds before I go anywhere. When I left for college my freshman year I packed my room up three hours before Lance wanted to leave for the city. What a nightmare!

Anyways, sometime on Friday I will finally be able to get to Steak 'n Shake. The greatest fast food chain ever to come out of the Bible Belt. The place makes the world's best milk shakes in just about any flavor and combination. Someone in the car always gets a strawberry banana shake, I prefer something with chocolate, but their banana flavor is simply amazing. Yonni's never heard of the place and most people out of the south haven't unless you've driven through. Yonni doesn't drive to Florida so I'm going to have to tell him about it when I get back from the Keys.

Three days until takeoff, four days until the beach.

Okay last words of the night. I've decided to follow the Andy Botwin sleeping method. Three pillows, one for my head, one between my legs, and one to cuddle with. Makes for some very comfortable sleeping.

Two in one night.

It's very late, but I can't sleep. I was up late last night and then slept in so my sleep pattern has gotten off again or it could be the bottle and a half of various wines that I consumed between 5pm and 9pm. Either way I am very much awake right now and I have a small throbbing pain in the middle of my head right behind my nose. I feel exhausted and my body is lethargic, but when I close my eyes sleep does not come. Not even the white noise of Murder, She Wrote can help me.

The restlessness that I'm suffering from had made me think about my bed and the pillow top mattress that I am laying on.  My parents replaced my mattress a few years ago. I was very against getting anything new as I was very attached to the ancient mattress that had been with me since The Red Brick Apartments. My mother did her best to convince me that a new bed would be a good thing for me, but the first new I could barely take it. The mattress was much to soft compared to the old stiff one that my back was used to. I tossed and turned all night. My mother had to rub my back to keep me calm and get me to fall asleep. Now I love my mattress. When I moved to Philadelphia I had to beg my parents to just bring down the one in my room so that I wouldn't have to buy a new one and readjust all over again. Of course whenever I go home to visit my parents I have to pay the price my sleeping on the refugee bed and often I end up spending the week on their couch.

When I have people in my bed I end up letting their preferences dictate where I sleep. With Marg I was always on the left. Of course it was because she only uses the right side when she's awake so the only way I could fit in with her to watch Summer Heights High in the hotel was to stretch out on the left and move closed to the foot of the bed so her husband pillow wouldn't jab me in the back. With The Physicist it always depended on whose bed we were in. If it was his then I most often slept on the right. In my bed I was on the left. I never really got that since in my own bed I most often start out in the right before ending up in the center under the netting. For some reason he always positioned himself on the right by the light letting him dictate whether the lights were on or off. In the summer this came in handy for me. During the summer when the sun comes up early I would wake up earlier than The Physicist and could read in bed while he still slept. I created a nice Nancy and Andy situation with the pillows so that I could move around and be comfortable without disturbing him and read for a few hours in sunny silence.  Yonni is the most polite person you could ever want to sit in your bed. He always seems to be aware of personal space and knows that I prefer the right. Even when he's all alone writing or reading something on my computer, he stays mostly to the left and when I sit down next to him he always makes sure that there is enough room. 

Sink or swim?

You know you've somehow hit a new low in your life when your mother is sending you some random emails about the dangers of stress eating and weight management. Of course it could be just because we're about to go on vacation and she doesn't want to be embarrassed by how I look in a bathing suit or the fact that I'm living paycheck to paycheck and she's figured that I'm not eat properly. I'm going to say that it's a bit of both, my mother is a complex woman like that.

I've been awake now for a little more than 12 hours. Around 11:00am I was already so exhausted from being practice and getting over being sick that I wanted to kill something. I had to settle with trampling some grass on Claver Lawn. About as satisfying as you would think. Practice was good today, except for the whole ralphing thing, but that didn't hit until near the end so overall not a terribly big deal. Plus Brian was concerned and that's always nice. We actually had a scrimmage and practiced lines and tried to get as close to actual gameplay as possible. The team is going to a tournament in Maryland this weekend and they need to know what they're doing before they go. I can't be with them, I have to serve coffee to Mainliners all weekend. The only lame thing about practice was that Therese brought along some kid who ended up being more of a hindrance than a help. I think she wanted someone to help run drills in case we didn't have most of our coaches this morning.

I think Marg wants to go out tonight. I'll go out with her but I'm getting one ginger ale have a little girl chat and then I'm back to the apartment to write a quick paper. I need to get that and some creative writing done for tomorrow. Slowly I'm falling behind and this weekend is my very last chance to get caught up before it's too late. So either expect very little from me this weekend or a lot because I'll be procrastinating as much as possible. 

Jumping around.

Grrr I have so much energy right now it's unbelievable. It's like when I listen to a hockey mix before a skating competition, that's how crazy my energy level is right now. And it really has me wanting to go skating right now. I called down to Penn yesterday so skating is definitely on for Tuesday morning. How many people in Philadelphia actually skate? Instead of skating right now I'm trying to channel my energy into writing something but I'm getting distracted by watching music videos on youtube and whenever I find one that I really like I start singing (poorly) and get up on my bed and dance around (really glad I didn't bring a guy home or that I have a roommate right now). It's good fun and I should do it more often. These are some of my favorites of the evening:

Moneygrabber by Fitz & The Tantrums. OMG I LOVE THIS SONG. And the video too. There is just something awesome about a skinny white guy singing soul rock in a blue and red themed silhouette video that makes me want to get up and jump on my bed. 

Shake Me Down by Cage the Elephant. Great song, creepy video. Though I will admit that I cry at the end. At first I reminds me of the pedophile shelter that Elizabeth Smart was kept in, but once you get through the video things start to make sense and after watching it two or three times, it's actually pretty cool.

A Silent Film's You Will Leave a Mark. Yonni Bananas was the first one to show me the video since I no longer have access to MTV at two in the morning. Love this song. 

Impossible by Anberlin. Lame video but really great song. 

Tighten Up by The Black Keys. It's funny that this group has been around for ten years and are only now hitting it big. What a fickle business the music industry is. The best part of this video is the little in the ray ban glasses singing with the deep adult voice. Awesome. It's also a throwback to Thursday mornings driving to Penn in 802. 

MY FAVORITE MUSICAL MEMORY IN A LONG TIME. Matt & Kim's Daylight. The Bacardi commercial is one of my favorites but seeing this band with Ginger Dan is one of my favorite memories in my entire life. Damn you cherry popsicle!

So this is cool.

February has certainly been my writing month. I think I'm trying to get it all in before I decide to go on hiatus. Usually happens in the summer months when I get super busy with work. Last summer I sat in front of a computer screen inputing course numbers into a spread sheet all day. By the time I was finished I couldn't write even if I had wanted to. This summer I may just power through, especially if I end up with a job that keeps be away from a computer. I should just go home and work for a landscaping company or a gardening service. If I did that I could waitress at the Hob Knob a few nights a week and spend the rest of the time on the boat. By then Kate and Batman will have had their mocha baby and I can play with it in the kitchen when the dining room is slow. I'm super excited for this kid to be born and I can stop having sympathy food cravings when I work with Kate. Though let's face it, I have the tastebuds of a pregnant woman all of the time. I'll probably end up with a normal palet when I pop my own out. Shames. Of course I would have to share the boat with Samantha, but we all know who Lance's favorite is. Get your boating license bitch.

Right now I am slated to spend the summer in Philadelphia agian. Hopefully my last. I have to take Western Civ II before it goes extinct and maybe a theorlogy or English class. Maybe both. I haven't decided if I want to go after a theology minor yet, but if I do I have to start it this summer. It only means three more religion courses above a certain level which is no problem, I just need to make sure I have enough room with my new major requirements. I do enjoy the summer in the city. It is much more warmer and sunnier than in Vermont and now that I have Twila I can make the trip out to Sea Side and Toms River. A weekend in the park sounds nice with all of the cold weather I have been experiencing in Philadelphia. Of course it's nothing like Vermont right now. I swear Lance is counting down to the seconds when we can leave for the Keys.

I had hockey this morning and Norberg was there. Love Norberg. Apparently so does every other female on campus. I mentioned my love of him in my Sophomore Seminar class and the professor said that the department had been hoping that the Norberg craze had died down. Apparently she hasn't been seeing the long line of girls that are outside of his office during every single one of his office hours. Anyways hockey has been improving. The girls have gotten the hang of skating and holding their sticks. Puck handling has been improving for everyone. Captain has been trying to get the girls to go to an open hockey time at the Skatium and if it's during a night when I'm not at Borders or if I can go afterwards, I'll join them. I also want to get in some freestyle time before Penn closes for the season. Their website and the skate board at the rink say conflicting things so I'm going to have to call down there when I get a chance. Hopefully it's the website that's right because I can only go Tuesday mornings before classes.