And In the Darkness Bind Them

First day of classes. Yeah, my one class today kicked ass. Yeah, if this is any kind of indicitive thing about grad school (to be pronounced "grad school like they say "where'd you learn that? drug school?" in Super Troopers from now on) then I shall be quite content. It's a whole new world from undergrad already, where not only are you expected to do a shitload of work, but you're also required to participate actively and intelligently in all discussions, otherwise how would a three-hour class consisting of only six people and a professor survive the entire time...but it's really cool.

So, tomorrow's my other class, and it'll be completely diffferent, as it's ten times the size of this one and we have a group project to do, etc. Should still be cool, I hope. We shall, heh heh heh...see. I've heard really good and really bad stuff about it, no medium

Also, our fucktard downstairs neighbors have introduced themselves to the fucktard diagonally downstairs from us who's always yelling into his celly on the patio and they've of course hit it out of the park....JD claims to have overheard them going "yeah and that one blond girl you invited over yesterday, DUUUDE" and I'm not surprised. The two towers of retardation are uniting

Also, if my name were Jenny or Ashleigh I would start checking the mail in 2-3 business days from right now

Also, in a trip to the post office this afternoon I re-discovered this tea shop that's the tastiest stuff in the world. I want you guys to come visit just to try it. I had strawberry iced tea with milk today, mmmm-mmmm.

What else. I have a buttload of reading to do from now on. Like, imagine a huge shitpile. Now triple that

Jd pooped himself all day today.

Skippy Lou The Perky Rabbit

If my name was Ashleigh or Jenny I would be anxiously checking the mail in the next week for belated birthday presents that are a clear example of Liz's Inability to Manage Money. Enjoy, ya'll. I have homework to do tonight so I can't yakk for long. Yeah, class starts tomorrow and I have homework today. What a way to kick things off.

So all weekend I've been plagued with this intense, irrational fear that I don't want to do this after all. I'm thinking it will go away once I settle into things, and jesus christ I haven't even had a class yet. But there's something intimidating about grad level courses, nothing I can't handle, so it's not that it'll be difficult that's bugging me, I think it's a really deep unsure-if-I really-want-this feeling. Don't worry, I'll probably squelch it promptly, but it's been throwing me for a loop.

I don't really know what it is. Everything here's cool. It's just such a huge undertaking. Fuck it, nevermind.

I had a dream this morning that I was in my old house in Newburgh, upstairs, frantically packing books from the shelves by the bathroom into boxes because I was supposed to be moving that day and hadn't done anything. As I was doing this, the intercom on the wall started talking, and it was picking up a weird radio station but it was my dad's voice. I could tell it was him but I couldn't understand what he was saying, so I ran to the top of the stairs and sure enough, his upper body was materializing in the air. He looked healthier than I can ever remember him being, and younger and fatter, but it was definitely him. And I ran over and hugged him and yelled "daddy" or something and then the dream gets fuzzy and I'm sure here he told me all the secrets of the meaning of life....and then Jenny was there and I told her I'd seen him and she didn't believe me so I pulled her over to the top of the stairs, right where we sat the night he died and watched him get wheeled out of the house on a stretcher, and as we stared down at the front door a pair of feet and legs materialized, and we freaked out, knowing it was him, and that is all of the dream I remember. I Include the morbid details because they were things that occurred to me specifically in the dream, while I was dreaming. Oh, and at the beginning of the dream I was looking at one specific book that my aunt (you won't be the first dr. davis in the family) had given me, and she'd pasted a tiny photo of my dad in full concert pianist attire to the inside cover, and had written something to the effect of: since you won't have to move again until you're 35, it's not too bad



Today I feel a lot better about my life choices. I wonder what that means.

Probably it means that I am PMSing and things are making me crazy. Some of us, however, would like to believe something better.

These Were Days When My Heart Was Volcanic

Yeah, shut up. When I DO post regularly no one cares. When I don't do it for a week, I get shit on from all directions.

So, lots to talk about

Orientation was this week, I'll just jump right in and say IT WAS AWESOME...rather, it was WAAAAAAY cooler than I'd ever let myself hope it could be, and even the Dreaded Teaching Assistant Training (two solid days and I don't even TA this year) was almost fun. The incoming psych (PSB from here on out, OK?) class is 13 people, all of whom are decently cool and everyone's friendly and the TA training was with all of SE and that's like 50 something incoming people, and a LOT of them are really cool. I'm thrilled, I can't explain how fucking different it is from IU and the people are different but much nicer and I don't know if it's just graduate school and that's the way it is now, or if everyone just happens to be cool, but I was blown away.

Icebreaker games were FUN. Yeah, and we sure as hell did a lot of them. I still don't think I ever want to teach, I think I'll suck balls at it, but now I know what to expect and what it entails. Sucked that I was still pretty stuffy and sniffly all through it, but whatev

Also I had SE orientation and PSB orientation, all of which was good. I'll be taking two classes per quarter until the end of the 2nd year or so, and that's fucking fabulous. I'm looking forward to stuff starting on Monday and to having class two days a week, to being busy all the time, to doing research and maybe busting my ass to write up a grant or something, who knows. I can't believe it's almost October.

Stace, I zonked out last night and thusly didn't call you back. If you read this in the next few hours you can call me, but I think it's late there...I'll call you tomorrow

There's more, but I can never remember it once I've let this go for so long...and that's bad but I'm not feeling like really typing. I hope you guys are all doing great....JD has the cop thing TOMORROW, as last Saturday's bureaucratic red tape prevented him from having it then....wish him luck, and I'll be around if anyone wants to chat. Unless I'm reading my homework for Monday, prowling around campus, or at the gym place thing.

Yeah. And I just got home from Disneyland, hooo-ray.

GOULET

Octember 35th, 2008

Hey, Happy Birthday Ashleigh!!! Have a good time doing whatever you're planning on doing today.

I have a terrible head cold thing that is preventing me from breathing properly. I think it might be allergies but unfortunately I threw out all the allergy medicine I had when we moved (mostly it was expired) and don't have anything to take. I thought cutting up an onion would help but it just made me cry, so now I'm sniffling even more. Also, I've had a headache for the last few days. I'm blaming this on us having an awesome bed but as of yet, no awesome pillows to go with it, as they're extremely late in getting here.

So, not to sound like I'm whining, but I don't feel good, and there's nothing worse than feeling sick when it's gorgeous outside. Also, JD and I have to go back to the DMV again today and finish (hopefully) everything up for good. Jesus. My driver's license picture is the most unfortunate thing...I smiled all big and fake until he counted to 3 but then immediately relaxed my face, and THEN the flash went off, so it's me looking like a monster with my mouth agape. Sigh.

my head is completely full of snot, I am convinced.

I'm starting to mentally think through all the things I'm going to have to do this semester, and coursework aside, it's daunting. But it's all really important. I'm nervous about everything. I'm nervous about classes, about projects, about TA training, about meeting people, about JD's cop thing tomorrow, about money, about my ability to be successful at this...when I'm lazy and bored (as I have been for the entire summer now) I get really second-guess-y.

Anyway. I have some catching up with email to do tonight, and I'm sure I'll talk to some of you soon.

Who You Been Fucking? Travis?

Hahahahaha. For those of you who haven't yet cracked and spent your last few cents on the 3rd season Mr. Show dvds, it's time to get cracking. Funnnnnny. fuuuuuh huh nny.

So, I'm in a nutrition coma right now, as JD and I just gorged ourselves on nearly two pounds of fruits and veggies. Ok, all the materialism and rich people and traffic aside, I couldn't be more delighted to find that ALL fruit is tastier than anything you've even imagined. And oranges, in particular, (we're in orange county, go figure) are scrumtrillescent. Also good: strawberries, kiwi, peaches, bananas, insert your favorite fruit here. and the best part? It's CHEAP as shit to buy produce, and exotic fucking produce, and shitpiles of it....and the spinach is never dirty or shitty looking, and they sell ten pound bags of Basmati rice for six bucks....jesus, I couldn't care less if I never buy anything processed again.

I think they basically have some kind of deal with the state that makes healthy food cheap and junk food more expensive, so the beaches are prettier. Ha, ok so that's JD's theory.

But shit, guys. It's the most delicious produce I've ever tasted. And fucking smoothies, mmmmm.

So I'm getting STILL more familiar with the area, and Huntington Beach has become another reason for you guys to want to come visit. Plus, it's way closer than I thought based on the map. Hahahahahahaha, too many beaches to pick from.

Also, I can't say enough good and bad things about the shopping here. Good in most things, bad in that I think the richies are on to us not having any money. Sigh. I have big plans for shopping once we have money.

Speaking of reasons we don't have any, the bed is fabulous, the best thing ever. The pillows still aren't here, which annoys me, but I would expect they'll come tomorrow.

We tried to go to the DMV again, but this time they told us we needed birth documents, which of course are in Indiana, so we'll have to get them tomorrow and then go wait in line all day Tuesday. And I have to come up with a five minute speech, basically, for the TA training thing next week. Any suggestions?

Ok, so. I'm going to go watch the Sopranos and then Sex and the City and then possibly go jogging, as this is the safest area in the country and everything is fabulously well-lit.

Love and smooches!

All The Shyness That Is Criminally Vulgar

So Passions was playing some pretty hardcore old school music today, including that Garbage song on the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack and a remix of that weird Love Spit Love song that probably only Jenny remembers to set the mood for Teresa slutting all over Fox, what a clever girl she is

Got a smog check today, and the bed came. And that's my plans for the evening.


"Sweet Dreams" (by Eurythmics)
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused


Which 80's Song Fits You?
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That Dog Won't Hunt

Hey Guys

You'll all be relieved to know that we did NOT, in fact, die this weekend at Disneyland, where we happened to be, but weren't on, Big Thunder Mtn. when it derailed and hurt/killed a bunch of people. Needless to say my mom somehow heard about it and immediately assumed JD had been killed, while that's not exactly funny it's not UN funny.

In other news, nothing.

I've updated some of my links/some of my blogging settings, hope you enjoy. Also, there are some new pics posted, not on Liz's miserably failed Photo Blog, but on my Yahoo photos page....because they're digital I had to delete practically everything else from the page, so have fun with those. I'm going to have to find a better way to do photos on here. Without, of course, upgrading to something that costs money.

It's weird being so much earlier than you guys.

Yeah.

Like You Was Just Another Shorty That I Put the Naughty On

So, more lists? Good idea.

Guys, I don't know how well it came across in that posty, but I like it A LOT here. Jesus.

Some interesting things have happened.
I woke up this morning with another fucking tension headache pounding against the side of my head and was so frustrated by the thing that I cracked, called Tempur-pedic, and (teehee) ordered a bed. JD threw a parade. Luckily, my credit is SO stellar that we don't have to do shit until the three month grace period is up, by which time we'll be "rolling in the dough" unless, god shield, something prevents that from happening.

So add that to the list of giant (Giant-o Baby) purchases that are sneaking away with chunks of my credit line as we spin our wheels for another few weeks waiting for the stipend and the job to kick in.

I did all sorts of adult things last night with the internet (not adult like porn), like opened a checking account (have you guys ever heard of bank of america?) and changed all my billing addresses and checked the dmv website to learn, to my dismay, that we need to have our vehicles SMOG certified before we think about registering them here, which is going to be a super see duper pain in the ass

Oh Celeste, I read your blog, you're always more than welcome to visit, anytime....and that goes for everyone....it doesn't have to be a spring break thing, you can come on a fricking weekend if you want....I only have CLASS Monday and Tuesday (though the responsibilities of a grad student are vastly extensive) so probably if you come visit even during the week we'll be able to shop it up like mad.

Speaking of shopping it up like mad, I did more online research and found a couple of malls within driving distance (meaning ten minutes from here). This may be hard to believe, but there aren't so many visible "malls" here, there are all these Hugemongous Shopping Centers that are mostly outdoors and ungodly nice, but I can't find stores like AE and Old Navy. Which, until I have enough money to shop exclusively at Banana Republic and Jimmy Choo, are my bread and butter. So I found these two malls, the first one we went to sucked balls, the other one (which is much closer) is the fucking Nicest Mall I've Ever Seen. There are stores of designer/brand names I didn't even realize had stores. No, Old Navy wasn't in there. My mind is still reeling from the niceness of it, and from the hilarity of me walking around in a dirty tee shirt with a big cartoon lobster waving at you that says New Orleans. Hahahahaha. Anyway, guys, it's a fabulous mall. And right by the Ikea store, hahahahah.

Good lord I can hear the materialisticness seeping in. Oh wait this is pure self-indulgent boredom for the next couple weeks and after that my life belongs to research. Fuck it, I can be all doe-eyed and lame about this. Also there is a Sanrio store with a new Hamburger character called Dokidoki Yummychums, which sent me into fits of giggles.

So then we were there forever and then found YET ANOTHER huge shopping plaza with cool stuff, and I can't wait for you guys to come see this. Ash and Stace, you will have no problem finding jobs here. Stace, I swear to god, rich people eat nothing but pastries.

I got cold tonight walking around outside. Cold. It's fucking September.

I'm getting ready to have something structured to do. It's nice to have nothing but buckets of time to dick around and go to Disneyland every day (you guys think I'm kidding?) and play phone tag with my sister and pick out furniture and wish I had money to clothes-shop and find my way around but I've had basically nothing to do all summer and it's wearing thin.

I'm so excited that we're getting a bed. I'm so excited all the time. This place kicks so much ass, and while I miss you guys like crazy, I don't feel any further away than I did when I lived in Bloomington and you all didn't. And I have yet to get crazy or homesick, which is good. I'm extremely freaked about money, but since we're holding our breath until that goes away, there's not much I can do. Just keep racking up the credit debt and hoping I can pay it off quickly.

However, all things considered, it wasn't that bad, and utilities are reasonable and this place is so nice I'd pay more for it....and it's not like I can ever be bored.

So anyway.

Tomorrow we're going to Disney again. But the California Adventure part, not the Disneyland part. Until we decide to switch. Goddamn, this is too much fun. You guys should all seriously move here. It's the fucking happiest place on earth.

COME VISIT

Smoochies!

He's Asleep on Stupid and Passed out on Dumb

Hey guys. Just got the fucking internet back in black today, or I would've been posting every five seconds as usual

There's too much, I'll have to do a list and I'll probably have to do it over a couple of days. I'll try to be chronological

*We made it fine, thanks. The apt. is unfuckingbelieveable and in a good way, and the area is spe-c-tacular

*The U-Haul that JD's dad ordered wasn't the one we got. They gave us a bigger one than we wanted/needed and it was a total piece of shit. SO, since we drove from Eville to the middle of fucking Colorado without stopping, we quickly discovered that it was a piece of shit. No dash lights, eventually no turn signals, 3 miles to the gallon, ten feet too long, the smog pump quit, the e-brake motor fell off (FELL OFF) and then when something started smoking we had to stop and have the U-Haul guy come out and get us. We then had to back-track to Grand Junction (Stacey pointed out that all of you who played Oregon Trail will know where that is) and SWITCHED TRUCKS (that's right, we had to move all our shit from one truck to the other, OURSELVES) because the smog pump was attached to something like the brakes that we couldn't go on without. BULLLLLLLLLLSHIT

*Also, we'd already driven the fucker through the Rocky mountains (and I must make a side note here to Mike and Keith....we missed like 99% of them when we went skiiing, you go over a couple more hills and it's fucking unreal how vast those things are, and how high and rocky....hahahah....I kept thinking how silly we were for not driving clear through them, and also I kept being like "wow, this would have sucked to happen upon in a fucking covered wagon" but it was awesome as shit and the air was so nice and clear and breathable....sheesh)

*So, that U-Haul stuff was sucktastic, but the trip itself wasn't bad. I like driving, there was usually pretty stuff to look at (once we got to the mountains, that is), and we went through Las Vegas. Actually, we stayed there the second night but got there super late thanks to our U-Haul fiasco, and didn't really get to do anything cool. I definitely like it though, and the tack is nice and classy. Hope that doesn't eat itself. We should go there.

*Uhm....so we got here and signed the lease and moved the stuff in and HOLY CHICKENS this place is nice. Like, nice. If you guys haven't checked out that new Fox show "The OC" you should ASAP, because it gives a gritty hardball look into what the lifestyle here is like. Also, it's funny. Also, it usually focuses on Newport Beach and that's down the road and the place where JD will likely be a cop. So look for him to be an extra.

*I'm formulating some sweeping stereotypes about Rich People that are still in the works, but look for an outpouring of those in the near future. For now, the most notable thing is that Everyone here has Money, and Everyone here Wanted their Kids. I really like it. Also, Everyone here is Nicer than Anything You Could Imagine. And they seem genuine. I am not going to fit in.

*So, we've been exploring the area and have found lots of KILLER SHOPPING, as if my sister needed a better reason than gorgeous, unending, unhumid 70 degree weather with a breeze and the beach every day to come visit...some of you may be as excited as I was to find the Ikea store that will soon fill our entire apartment down the road, or if you want clothing god knows you can find it a few exits down the 405.

*I like the driving culture. JD and I very nearly got killed last night by a LADDER that fell off the top of the car in front of us last night, but right as it was about to collide with the front of the car it turned sharply and was gone....that incident aside, I rather like the traffic, the 60mph roads in the residential areas, the $2.25/gal gas....oh wait not that last bit, but the freeways are fun to drive on, not QUITE as scary as I expected (but we're not THAT close to LA, are we) but like driving on 465 in Indy with eight lanes all going 75 and gridlocked usually. But you get places fast and it's fun.

*So the ocean is approximately three minutes from here. Also, the sun is always shining and I haven't been hot yet. Also, we found Disneyland

*So we got Annual Passes to Disneyland once we realized it was the best idea since we'll go eight thousand times in the next two weeks, and we were going to go today but the cable guy took forever and they close at 8. Poo. But, they have an INdiana Jones RIDE there instead of a Stunt Spectacular, and it is my new favorite ride ever. It is super fucking fun.

*I made JD get a haircut the other day. hahahahaha.

*We keep going to the DMV but since there's been lines around the building OUTSIDE every time, we're not official California residents yet.

*OK, I'm tired of blogging. I'll start on the extrememly belated and much-owed emailing tonight. I shall send out a nice mass email with contact info plus whatever else I feel like typing. And you all have my celly number. Calllllll me, I am bored. Oh an Jenny I'll try calling you back tonight....I keep forgetting the fucking time change and wanting to call you at 2am

YEAH, SO. Start hunting for fucking plane tickets, believe you me you wanna come visit.