Neverland

Last week I house-sat for my mom who drove to Maryland with her boyfriend. They are back now and seem to have had a good time. I also found out that my little sister is pregnant, and I'm about a fifth of the way through a baby blanket already. Yesterday, I went to the Harmony School (where I work) Extravaganza and flew on the trapeze. It was terrifying, but decently fun. I'm getting ready to head to French Lick with my dad for the better part of next week. I was originally thinking I wouldn't gamble, but then I started thinking about how I usually just blow my quarters at the arcade, and at least with gambling there's a chance I'll get some of them back. I still haven't decided, but I'll have fun there either way. My grandparents rent a villa for a week every year, and my dad and I will have it to ourselves for the second half of the week. That should be fun, I haven't seen my Daddy in a while. After I get back from there, I have a few days to cram in hours at work before I'm off to camp for two weeks for my one summer class. I can't wait! The place where we are staying is Beautiful, the food is great, there's a clothing-optional pond, and after the first week of class, the teachers are throwing a kegger with a band and everything. Best. Class. Ever. After that, I'll be working for the rest of the summer. My computer may actually be fixed (thank you Miss Kixie), but I think I kinda like living without one, so I'm only gonna use it to type on.. and maybe read some webcomics. <:) One more thing. If anyone wants to hang out before I leave, Jason is on his way to Florida with his family and I'll be all lonely by myself without him. Give me a yell.

Finals week sucked, as usual. If you want to hear me rant about why I should leave school and never come back, give me a yell and I'll gladly vent. But for now I shall bypass that in favor of good news. My car should be fixed tomorrow, which means starting next week I can resume my weekly trips to the lake to watch the sunrise, and I won't have to bum rides from Jason and my mom anymore. Joy! It also looks like I won't even have to buy new tires. The wheels that are supposed to go on my car already have good tires on them. Which of course means that I can possibly get myself a new computer sooner than I thought. I'm not entirely sure I want one, since there is very little I do on here that I can justify, but I'll probably get one anyway. Maybe I just won't get the internet. Also, for those of you who don't know, I'll be getting my very own place come July. I'm very excited about this, but I may get lonely, so you'll all have to come visit me. And to reitterate, if anyone wants to get up and watch the sun rise with me next week, you're more than welcome, just try to give me a day or two of advance warning so I can figure out where to pick you up, and when I need to wake up. One more thing: Happy Summer Break, Everyone!

So, my computer is broken. It fails to recognize that I have a keyboard, so I can't type. This may very well be fixable, but as my computer is not very good anyway (I bought it for $10 four years ago), I am using this as an excuse to get another one. And I found a place where I can get a laptop for only $150, so I am all over that. Only, I have to wait until they get more in. So until then, I have to borrow Jason's computer. He's not very happy about this because I log him out of everything. So today I cleaned the bathroom and took out our like five bags of trash as a thank you. Also, it just needed doing. I cleaned a lot of stuff today, but haven't really started on my room yet. I'm resolved to clean it, but I'm saving it for last. I had another point.... Oh, so I'm not exactly caught up on all of y'all's lives. If anybody desperately needs to tell me something, pretty much the only option is calling me.

Another thing. I need suggestions. How, exactly, would one, hypothetically, go about flirting with one's swimming instructor? I cast this spell a while back (not such a big while, now that I think about it), that basically set out criteria for the type of guy I'm looking for. And so far, nothing about this guy goes against anything I wrote, and he's really nice. Part of me is thinking, "You're just getting your hopes up, you do this all the time. Stop." And part of me is wanting to be positive in case this actually works out. I don't know which to do. Well, I don't know which of the two would be most prudent. I know what I'll do. I'll continue being all girly and thinking about him until that fails to be an option, cause it's fun, even if nothing comes of it. I really like having crushes... But anyway. Practical advice would be appreciated. I guess I'll check the comments on Jason's Friends Page, that way I won't have to log him off. *sigh*

Baked bean jelly bellies = a bad idea. Taste like bacon covered in maple syrup, only bad cause they're squishy and for dessert.

Roasted garlic jelly bellies = an infinitely worse idea. Taste like nasty, and I usually like garlic. Also, it disturbs me that the garlic bin was emptier than any other in the store.

I am going to start driving out to the lake to watch the sun rise every Monday morning. If anyone would like to come with, I can comfortably fit probably 6 people in my car besidse me. If you'd be interested, give me a yell and I'll save you a spot. Right now, so you know, dawn is at about 7:45, so we'd be leaving town at about 7 AM. Feel free to bring coffee, tea, good music, or whatever else you need to start your day and your week off right. I will come pick you up. My cell, for those of you who don't have it: 812.360.5174. I'm really looking forward to this.

Actually linking the video appears to be too much for my computer to handle, so here's a link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YitJqJbOq9k

Natalie Imbruglia + MIME

A few things.
1. I have had my car for 2 weeks now, and it has eaten $110 worth of gas. Holy shit. This should go down a bit in the future, now that I've learned not to flood the engine before I start it each time. (doh!)

2. I went to pick up the boys today to go get food, got out onto the street and noticed that my car felt kinda shakey. So I pulled it back into the complex, parked at the first spot I could find and hopped out to take a look at things. Sure enough, my front left tire was completely flat. I'd been driving on the wheel. So now I need to either fix that, or buy new tires. But first I have to either find/borrow/buy a jack and put on my spare tire, which I think is impossible, or get my car towed to a tire place. Changing it myself is probably impossible because my brother-in-law put IROC wheels on the thing, with every intention of taking them back before selling it to me, but then he couldn't get them off. And if he can't get them off, I'm sure I can't. Something about the aluminum melding with the steel. Tire guys should be able to do it, he said, but he couldn't. This means more days of missing class to fix my goddamn car. Poopsicles.

Ok, so when I bought my car (from my brother-in-law), he told me that I would need to get the exhaust checked out and that one tail-light was busted, that I would need new tires in a few months, I would need an oil change, and either (my mom and I have debated) that it had a new battery, or would need a new battery. These things were added to my to-do list, but not with any urgency.
So last night, me and Jason decide we want some tacos and we take my car to taco bell. After eating said tacos, we attempt to leave. The car tries to start, but nothing, it won't turn over. I have a bit more than a quarter tank of gas, which apparently is too little for so old a car, and when I try to start it, the "battery," "oil," "fasten seatbelts," and oh, some other light that I can't remember all come on. Great. We've both managed to leave our cell phones at home. Even better. So I try to start it for at least 15 minutes, to no avail. I wander over to the gas station next door and purchase a gas can and 2 gallons of gas, and then attempt to put it in my car's butt (where the gas-hole is). I fail miserably, covering my coat and feet in gas. Jason does better, we get the gas in the car. Still nothing. We go back into taco bell, and borrow a cell phone from a very nice girl who works there. I wake up my brother-in-law and demand, almost in tears, to know just how old the batter was (I was the one that argued that it was old). He made some guilty noises and some suggestions that sounded stupid (wiggle the wires, make sure it's in park). We do them anyway. Still nothing. Refusing to give up and walk home, I keep at it for probably another 10 minutes and she finally turns over. We leap into the car and try to take off, with my trunk open but whatever. As soon as we're out in 3rd street, she stalls and doesn't want to start again. A guy pulls up and offers to jump us (well, the car, not us, that would be entirely inappropriate) but we're not for sure that it's just the battery, so we decline. Then some other nice people run out into the street and offer to help us push my monster car somewhere that's not the middle of the road. We take them up on this and heave the thing toward the K-mart parking lot. Huge steel car + no power steering = not fun, but oh well. We roll the beast to a stop, shouting thanks. We finally do get my trunk closed, but the piece of the frame by the broken tail-light falls off. We're trying to figure out where to walk and who to call for a ride, when we try the damn thing one more time. It kicks on again, and we figure the closer to home we can get, the better. She actually does get us all the way there. Yay! Our apartment still smells like gas, but we made it and that's all that matters. So today, I try her again and after minimal whining, she starts up and I head to a service station to get the battery checked. The guy tells me that what happened last night was probably caused by the cold, but also that my battery's not doing so well. He hooks it up to a machine, and where it's supposed to be at 13 (don't ask me what this measures), it's just under 12, and when he pretend starts it, it drops below 8 when it's not supposed to go under 10. So I don't know if it was dying, or if it was just crap to begin with or what, but so he puts a new one in and changes my oil. $100, gone. Then I go to Midas (the one on 3rd and 46, which is awesome and I reccommend it greatly). They take a look at my exhaust, and tell me that I need a new muffler, but they have a delima. The pipes that are connected to my muffler may or may not be good anymore. So if they cut the muffler off, they may not be able to attach the new one. The pipes would need to be ordered, and wouldn't get there until Thursday. So I tell him to go ahead and cut off my muffler, and see how my pipes are. If they're bad, I'll drive around noisy until they can order the new ones, but cross my fingers the old ones are ok. So he does, and the old pipes are good for another year at least. Hurray! $100 spent, but also $100 saved for the pipes. I am finally ready to take my car home, but when I go to start it, nothing. I'm all panicked again, thinking 'why won't she start NOW?' when I realize that she's just so much quieter with the new muffler, and really she started just fine. I miss her growl, but am glad she's fixed. Now I need to get my lights fixed (the reverse lights and the indoor light also don't work), and I need a spare key, but that'll do me for a while, I hope. Holy cow, this sucks. And now, thanks for listening to me vent, I'm off to the hardware store. Wish me luck.

Meet Carlotta, she's my very first car ever. And she's delicous. I could easily and fairly comfortably fit 12 people in this car. (6 in the trunk, but still, decently comfortable.) She's a monster.

( More Pics )
And me, being very happy.

Best bedhead ever!

Seriously, if you can do better, I wanna see pictures.

Truely terrifying and wonderful hairs.

Also, I apologize for the quality of these pictures, they were taken with my cell phone.

Olive: I'd like to dedicate this dance to my Grampa, who taught me these moves.
Announcer guy: And where is your grampa right now?
Olive: In the trunk of our car.

Also, on a only vaguely related note, I'm Getting A Car! This will be my first, for those of you who don't know, and let me tell ya, she's a sexy beast. 1979 Impala wagon, which is, and I quote, "baby shit green with a matching interior." A whale. I'm thrilled. $800 soon to be well-spent.

P.S.-If anyone has a car radio that they don't need and also that they could install for me, let me know.

On the Existance of God
On the face of it, this seems patently absurd. The modern foward-facing pirate uses reason and logic, and isn't about to accept the existence of a diety without any proof.
Ah! But if there was a god, that might be exactly how he wants it. He might want to be able to move amongst his creations incognito. To do this, he's need to choose an occupation that enabled him to travel around easily, something like a door-to-door salesman, or a hobo, or even a pirate. He wouldn't want to show off his all-encompassing knowledge, so he's probably deliberately get stuff wrong, like, for example, if he was being asked to explain what various nautical terms meant. Also, bear in mind that in all the paintings you see of God he has a great big beard. Anyhow, I've already said too much.

On Life in General
Life is like a big shanty. Everything will be fine so long as everyone sings in harmony. But if someone plays a duff note on the accordion or tries to break-dance at a sensitive bit, then there will be all sorts of trouble, mark my words.

(c) Gideon Defoe, from The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists

So, I'm literally scheduled for 81 hours at work this week. If anyone is wondering why I'm never online, or answer my phone, it's because I live at Hobby Lobby now. I have new shoes, to help my poor feets, and a locker full of easy mac, but that doesn't make this suck any less. Hobby Lobby is stupid. Inventory is stupid(er). I don't even have time to shower. And I'm not entirely sure I'm getting paid overtime. I assumed I was, but I never actually asked. I'm thinking I should. Jason, I'm sorry. I wanted to clean the place up before you came home, but I don't think I'll be able to. Poop on the world.

My kitty, Ringo, knocked over my Christmas tree just a while ago. I was mad because there were ornaments and pine tree water all over and most of the lights fell off. So I whomped him pretty good and pushed him away when he tried to investigate me cleaning up. I left the lights as they were, strewn about the living room, and only put the ornaments (none broken, thankfully) in one of the tins I keep them in, as it's 4 freaking 30 in the AM and I didn't want to re-construct my tree right then. Only, then I couldn't find my kitty. I looked everywhere, twice. I was starting to think such crazy things as that he wasn't a real kitty and had disappeared for real when I was mean to him. But then I found him, hidden behind my dresses in my closet. He wouldn't come out, or let me pet him. Lucky for me, he's easy to bribe and all it took was a snack to coax him out, but I feel awful. Am I the most horrible cat-mom ever? My poor kitty, I whomped him! Not a hard whomp, he's not hurt at all, but he was sufficiently scared of me for a while. I want someone to whomp me. But I promise, here and now, that I will never whomp any animal smaller than me ever again. (I only put the disclaimer in because boys are usually bigger than me and occasionally need a good whomping... I'm also having boy problems at the moment.) Merry freaking Christmas. I promise I'll be happier tomorrow.

The rules:

* List 11 things you want to say to 11 different people.

* Don't say who they pertain to.

* Feel free to comment, but don't confirm or answer anything.

* Never discuss it again.

1. thank you, you did a wonderful job
2. of my two favorite people in the world, you're the one I may be half in love with
3. I can't wait to meet you, I love you already
4. I still have the message saved when you didn't call me by my name, it made me cry
5. you are my hero, but I hope that when I'm your age, I'm not alone like you
6. I love you, but after what we went through, I'll always be guarded around you
7. no matter how different we are, or how little we talk, I'll always be here for you and know you feel the same
8. you are my constant comfort, I never want to go a night without you in my arms
9. sorry for the mess, I'm glad you love me despite it
1o. gross, I did not need to hear that
11. I can only hope that I'm strong enough to get to know you in the future, because I'm really not right now

I don't mind if anyone tries to guess at who's who. If you get them all right (damn near impossible), I'll tell you that you did. If you are one of them and get it right, I'll tell you that too.

Also, sorry for making so many posts so close together...

Usually just one tree, though occasionally more can be nice. Every place I've ever lived I've had a tree, at least one. If you know me really well, I've probably showed my spot to you, though you wouldn't recognise it for what it was. But the point isn't to be found, not usually. It's often someplace where I can hide easily in plain sight. It makes me feel separate from all the people who walk under me without noticing I'm there. It's a wonderful feeling, like I'm part of the wind and the trees and not the population that is usually the cause of my pain. The trees comfort me like no human has been able to. I've done this for as long as I can remember. I'll be doing it all my life.

I still haven't finished the first book even, and I'm in love with this series. These are the first books I've ever read that require food. I'm planning meals around when I'll be reading. I wake up craving hunks of bread and cheese and beef. So I'm in the process of making sourdough bread, and my fridge is full of longhorn cheese, which I picked based on maunetjeret's recomendations. I'm also going to re-work one my dad's stew recipies so I only get meat that tastes like stew. It's gonna be awesome, I can't wait. Only a day or two more and the starter will be ready. In the mean time, I'll have 4 loaves of sourdough bread and couldn't possibly eat them all, so if you're still in town and would like one, give me a yell. Other than that, don't expect a lot of interaction from me, as I'll be reading for a very long time.