Livejournal

I decided I like Livejournal better. Because it's informal and I don't feel obligated to entertain people with it. And I know how to alter the look of it without crazy HTML. The end!

Livejournal instead.

All My Excuses

Next on the agenda, getting out to do some shit. Once again I am wasting my time away in the dorm rather than taking advantage of this whole big city that I have at my disposal. But I've got a good excuse this time, really. It's too humid for me to venture outside without immediately feeling like I was salvaged from the bottom of the ocean and from beneath from skanky seaweed covered treasure chest (which is really the analogy for New York, skanky, seaweed-covered, yet still a treasure chest.) AND - the free $20 Metrocard Kenny gave me is now a free $0 Metrocard, so that inhibits my travel even moreso. (Note to Kenny if you're reading this, please snake me another Metrocard!)

So I feel pretty guilty for not calling people or making plans, I really need to do that. Class has gotten in the way a little bit, and homework as well, even more of an obstacle, my inherent lazyness. My Dramatic and Visual Writing prof. wants us to go out and see some kind of art at least once a week. Now I'm taking this seriously enough to consider it an assignment, but it seemed like a good suggestion either way. I feel pathetic that when people ask me what I've been doing in New York, for fun or otherwise, my answer is usually "not much." Realistically, I better start getting out for my own enjoyment, because pretty soon, Sight and Sound Film will be kicking my ass all over the place, so now is the time to go to museums, and zoos, and just explore basically. Exploring is my favorite option because it's free, for the most part, and that's another one of my excuses: I have no income and am living the life of a poor college student. Feel free to donate to the "Buy-Alison-a-Life Fund," operators are standing by. And to be fair, I have been job-searching very actively, so actively it's borderline desperate. Alright, it's desperate. It's a step in the right direction at least.

This entry had pretty much no direction or point or anything silly like that. It's pretty much my way of explaining and perhaps apologizing for my absence (that is, if you missed me at all.) So, I'll try not to be so scarce.

Tit-le?

Ah city livin'.

Today I prevailed in the ancient art of egg saladry when I made lunch WITHOUT an egg slicer. I used good old-fashioned elbow grease and ingenuity to make some of the most delicious sandwiches that were eaten this week by anyone, anywhere. More delicious than any sandwich containing a Granny Smith apple, that's for sure. Oh Granny Smith, when will you learn? Your tart and delicious fruit belongs in pies and strudels, not between roasted turkey and cheddar cheese.

Following here will be the list of movies I mean to see in the next two months. Of course, I won't see hardly any of them. Why? Because movie tickets cost $9, and that's WITH the discount. I can see very clearly why fewer Americans are going to the movies, and I don't blame them. Sure, it may end with the ironic demise of the very industry I mean to become a part of, but hey, nine goddamn dollars?! It is ridiculous. So anyway, here is the list of movies I most likely can't afford to see, but it's good to have goals, right? So what if they're not "ambitious" or "credible"... psh...

Already OUT
- Pretty Persuasion
- The Baxter

Sept. 16th '05
- Thumbsucker
- Corpse Bride
- Everything is Illuminated
- Shopgirl

Dec. 2nd '05
-Aeon Flux

Dec. 9th '05
- Chronicles of Narnia
Who wants to hang out at the movies on September 16th?

19 Means I'm Almost Dead...

The weekend ended officially when Kenny and Chris got on the bus to go back to New York. It was a pretty good weekend. We had adventures. On Saturday, we went to the NATIONAL AQUARIUM in BALTIMORE!!! to see the fishes 'cuz they're so delicious. Unfortunately, the Aquarium is run by fascists and wouldn't let ME (specifically) in until 4:30pm. If that pane of glass hadn't been there, I would've socked that old bitch right in her wrinkly stupid whoreface. So we spent 2.5 hours waiting to get into the Aquarium, and I had originally planned to use those 2.5 hours to go to Fells Point after the Inner Harbor. Otakon was happening at the Baltimore Convention Center while we were in the city, so we got to witness one of the biggest geek gatherings on the East Coast (and I say 'geek' in the most affectionate way possibe.) It was pretty rad. We also ate some awesome Asian food at a place called Blu Bambu, wandered around Barnes and Noble, and sweated a lot. Then after all that, Kenny and I were scheduled to see the Aquabats at the Ottobar. The show sold out the night before so we were unable to secure a ticket for Chris, so we dropped him off at the Charles Theater to see a movie and fend for himself.



The A-Bats were freakin' awesome, my #2 concert of all time right after The Hives. The Phenomenauts opened for The Aquabats and were equally awesome. I wish I hadn't been stuck behind that stupid pole.

So after the show we went on a manhunt for Chris because he had wandered away from the theater against my strong suggestion to stay the hell out of Baltimore at night, because it is very sketchy. After many minutes of confused driving due to one-way streets and roadwork, we recovered Chris in front of Otakon where he had been stalking out the nerds. Then we went home and went to sleep.

Then it was my birthday. Before the "gathering" my Dad took us on a magical journey through time!! We went back into Kingsville and found a tribe of people living like "The Village" by M. Night Shyamalan... except they were eating store-bought hamburgers and rolls, which they told us to ignore. So we busted up in there and started touching all their plants and messing with their shit, and it was all very educational. Afterwards at my house, family came over, Mariokart was played, much fun was had. And so ends the magical birthday/Aquabats weekend in Baltimore/Perry Hall.

John Waters, motherfucker

I just finished watching the director's cut DVD of Cry-Baby which I bought last week. Let me just say, it's one of my favorites. Everytime Johnny Depp says "Alison" I just pretend he's talking to me, and oh god, I should stop there. (Hot!) Alright we all know Johnny Depp is freakin' hot, but to be even, I will say that Traci Lords was also extremely hot (even from a heterosexual female perspective. I want to be her. Except for the porn stuff.) I watched the little featurette called "It Came From Baltimore" and it renewed my love for B-More. I decided, next summer, I am going to write Mr. Waters a letter and see if I can get a job being his personal assistant, or lawn-mower, or porn-buyer, or something. I love the man. He and his films makes me proud to be from Baltimore; he makes me feel all special inside. I think very few other cities (excluding L.A. and New York) have wacky and famous filmmakers making their hometowns more awesome than they were to begin with. Can you think of any filmmakers that you directly link to, say, Richmond, VA? Or how about some town in North Dakota? (yeah you can't think of one either! Because it doesn't friggin' matter!) I know a lot of people think his movies are trash or schlock, but call it what you want! I think the man is a genius! And word is, Cry-Baby is in the works to become a Broadway musical like Hairspray. I will be there because I ain't no goddamn square!

Alright, so maybe I'm from the suburbs. But that's not my fault. If I had my way in 1990, I would've wanted to stay in the city, but certain parents of mine decided that suburban living would be better for a family. Technically, I was born there, so I'm calling it home, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, you bitch. And I'm gonna find John Waters too. It'll be like that Finding Bobby Fischer movie. Except, no chess, and John Waters isn't like 11 years old... Ok, so it won't be anything like that damn Bobby Fischer movie. Fuck him anyway.

Now let the pink lawn flamingo shopping spree begin!

The Foot in the Ass of Friendship

Freshmen year at NYU was awesome. So awesome that I would've been happy to stay a freshman forever, despite the occasional (okay, sometimes frequent) roommate woes and other snags along the way. They were minute in the end. It's gonna be hard to top 04-05, but I'm gonna do my best. One of my favorite things about last year was being able to knock on someone's door when I was bored, even if I was in my pajamas and it was 1 am. Ah, good times. It's gonna be sad and maybe a little lonely living farther than "down-the-hall" from my closest friends, but I will make the commute as necessary (but probably not in my pajamas).

This year, I want to take better advantage of the city, even if that means doing touristy stuff (or more importantly, even if that means getting up off of my ass, which is really the biggest obstacle in the way of fun/progress.) And I'm going to mark my words! Right here and now! I must take advantage of New York, and I must take advantage before we are all turned into frozen corpses beneath the harsh snows and tundra-like conditions of winter in the city (see picture). And when the apocolypse does happen this year, there WILL be snowball fights and snow angels, goddammit! While I'm making school-year resolutions, here's some other stuff I've been meaning to do:
1) Stop being really shy and awkward. Okay, I told myself I was gonna do that LAST SUMMER before freshmen year. I've improved, I guess, but I need to do better. I'm so socially anxious I' make myself uncomfortable. This time I mean it though! I am gonna talk to random people, smile, laugh, and just generally lighten up and meet people. Even if I make an ass of myself (it's inevitable) it doesn't really matter, because life is too short. Etc, etc, blah blah... For example, at the time this picture was taken, I had known Patches for probably 2-3 days. It was initially a bizarre moment, then fun, and now we are the best of friends*. In the above picture, I had known Chris for about a week and he already had his foot halfway up my ass. Basically, I want to have enough confidence to put my foot on the ass of someone I barely know.
2) Get some style. I wanna stop looking like I fell out of a trash can and stumbled into class. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I am sorely lacking in the fashion department. Not that that's really important at all, but it would make me feel purdy. (This is the quick superficial road to confidence, but I'll take what I can get.)
3) Have fun. I do this already, but I wanna do more of it and stop letting money get in the way. And that whole, "but I'll look like a dumbass!" complex. I don't care anymore! Looking like a dumbass is the new black.
4) Eat more fiber and calcium. This is totally unrelated to the other stuff, but apparently these are crucial parts of a healthy diet, and I'm aiming for one of those this year, too.

Revision: Numbers 2 and 3 are conflicting, so I will do either as the opportunity arises.

Now that I've totally abused my picture-posting ability, I think I have nothing else to say. Nothing else that might warrant a visual, anyway. But back to the topic of this year... I'm going to make time to keep up with friends and do fun/stupid/crazy stuff. Because if I don't, I will turn into a miserable old hermit lady (well, not old right away) that cries and moans about how it sucks being stuck in an 11-person apartment all the time. So I won't let myself be stuck! Bring on sophomore year! And hopefully more carnival nights at Palladium, free movie premieres, and other chocolate-covered goodness.

*friends who scream at and choke each other, and get into fist fights in the hallway.

Pizza Angst

As a driver of pizzas, I am going to use this space and time to educate all readers on pizza etiquette. Actually, not so much etiquette as "how to not annoy your driver". I will follow with a list of things that annoy the piss out of me when I'm taking food people's houses.

1) When I ring the doorbell/knock, whoever is inside the house yells, "Who is it?!"
Okay dumbass, you're the one who ordered the pizza. Who do you think it is? Many times I am tempted to say, "International terrorists," "Your Mom," or "It's the motherfuckin' cops." Regardless of the answer, you're gonna have to get up off your fat ass and open the door anyway, so let's not beat around the bush.
2) When I knock/ring the doorbell several times, and am forced to stand outside in the blistering heat/pouring rain waiting for some doofus to claim their food.
You called us, we told you WHEN we'd be there, and yet you are still able to totally inconveinence me. Time = money, and you're throwing mine away like a newborn on prom night. Sometimes I have to resort to calling them with my cell phone because they are completely oblivious. If houses still had mail slots, I would just stuff the pizzas thru them and leave. Even if I didn't get the money, it would be worth it to make such a heinous, uncleanable mess in someone's mail slot.
3) People who don't tip.
This is self-explanatory. It's especially irritating now more than ever because a gallon of gas costs more than a gallon of chocolate milk, and I'd rather be drinking chocolate milk than spending money on gas. A lot of times, at the end of the night, I'm just covering costs (and NOT drinking chocolate milk). Oh yeah, and if you don't tip, we totally remember who you are. We've got your address and phone number too. So next time, you might get a bonus topping of boogers on your Meat Lover Pizza (TM). And you won't be able to see them because EVERYTHING on the Meat Lover Pizza (TM) looks like boogers.

So these are the 3 number one annoyances of driving. Among the minor issues are: fat guys answering the door in just their undies, houses with no freakin' numbers on them, getting tipped in coins only, being asked to "come around back" or find some other mysterious hidden entrance, delivering during storms/when traffic lights are OUT, people who drive like maniacs, and people who want to pay with their credit cards, but can never seem to find them.
SO in closing, please respect your delivery-people (unless they're delivering Chinese food) because we save you the trouble of driving to whatever food establishment that is most likely within a 3 mile radius of your house. And let me tell you, that's a lot of trouble. Who knows what could happen during that drive! You might kill a pedestrian, get struck by lightning, or just burst into flames altogether. That is the brave risk that we drivers take upon ourselves to ensure you receive quality food and service. Within 45 minutes.

Numero Uno

Okay so this is the first one of these things I am writing. I mostly only got one of these after seeing that Patches posted video onto his, so I thought this might be an effective way to put video online. If not, I can still do pictures, and that's cool too. Since I don't really have any videos or pictures prepared right now, I will start off with some "text"...

Last night Dan and I made caramel apples. Weeeooooo.... We cooked the caramel too long, so when I tried to eat one of the apple today it was like a power struggle between the candy and my teeth, with my teeth narrowly claiming the victory. It was rock hard and sticky. It took me about half an hour to consume the entire thing.

This is the skateboard I got for my birthday (early) and I <3 it. I haven't had the time to skate lately because I've been working and going to weddings and working on super secret projects.... and it's also been about 100 degrees outside every day. Such temperatures are not conducive to outdoor existence. And when it hasn't been scorching, it's been storming. Fun, but bad for skateboarding.