Sunday, January 25, 2009

History, unplugged

I went to a history lesson on Tuesday, January 20, 2o09. It was AMAZING. There are no words to describe how awesome it was to be there. I went with 2 other members of the mafia, Amethyst and Mary Jane. We stayed with my law school big sister. Anyway, enough background, on to the good stuff.

We arrived late Monday night, and hurried to get ourselves in bed after eating round pizza in a square box. We set our cell phones to go off at 3:45 a.m. Thankfully, when it went off, our hostess told us that 4:30 may be too early to get there, since the gates weren't opening until 9:00 a.m. So, we re-set the alarm for 6:00. Well, we turn on the television when we get up at 6, and what do we see? People wandering about on the National Mall. Crap! So we shift into turbo gear and haul arse out of the apartment. On the way to the Metro, we stop at Rite Aid and get various provisions for the journey. Now, statisticians had used the number of people predicted to show up, and the ratio of port-a-potties to people was 1:300. that's right. 300 people for every 1 port-a-pottie. Yikes. So, there were no liquids bought for pheebee, outside of one shot of 5 hour energy drink. Mary Jane and Amethyst both bought some V8 and Powerbars. I stuck with the yummy trail mix that my mommy packed me. Our hostess was the big spender with bagel and juice.

So, we jumped on the Metro at approximately 7:00 a.m. Any self-respecting eL rider would've been unimpressed with the crowd on the Metro. Those not from NYC or the Chi really found the Metro completely crowded and claustrophobic. Those used to it were cracking jokes about levitation. We also nominated ourselves in charge of getting people off when it came town. (Loudly proclaiming "COMING OFF!!!") We were thanked with shoving of gratitude. Upon arrival to the Federal Center station, we separated from our hostess because she had a ticket. We followed the herd to the nearest open spot on 14th & Independence. It took about an hour and a half to get there. (It was .9 miles away -- I just google mapped it). We arrived at our ultimate spot with a good angle on a monitor around 10:15 or 10:30. On the way there, we purchased hand-warmers (and were promptly ripped off too). Amethyst was especially hurt by this because she bought a pack of handwarmers and toewarmers and left them back home.

The crowd was peaceful, and friendly. To keep warm we started doing -- in a group with perfect strangers -- calisthenics, tae-bo, and (my favorite), the cha-cha slide. As the crowd started to swell, and people were getting colder, there were people who would get agitated. Immediately, someone would step in and remind the agitator that today was not the day. We were here for history. We all froze together, watching Mr. Obama take the oath of office. Of course, there were people around with no home training (including a guy who stood on his folding lawn chair). Mary Jane got pushed off the curb by a really big guy who lost his spot. But, we endured to see his hand on the Bible. For me, the most powerful momentn was when all 2 million people, at the direction of the preacher giving the invocation, said the Lord's Prayer in their own native tongue, at the same time. 2 million people saying one prayer was incredible. Plain and simple.

And then it was time to go. We all turned to the back, moved a couple yards, and then stopped and stood. Something, somewhere, was blocking. So, a guy who had climbed a tree to watch, started telling us that we all needed to move right. Hilariously, people started yelling "right! move right! RIGHT! MOVE RIGHT!" You could hear it as the rumor started moving through the crowd. Incidentally, during this process, someone muttered "as his first presidential order of business, I want Obama to get us all out of here." We all giggled around him. I told him that this wasn't Malcolm X. He couldn't just put his hand up and point. (If you haven't seen the movie with Denzel, then you should go rent it so you can get that joke).

Anyway, 2.5 hours later, we finally got on a train. We were all whiny and grouchy, but it was totally worth it. We stopped at a restaurant near the Metro station, and ran up our bill ordering coffee and Baileys (2 each -- we were really cold!). We also discovered the joys of putting the still hot hand warmer under our bra straps and in our waist bands. Ahhhh, warmth. We then headed back to our hostess' apartment (she still had to work at a reception held by the Congresswoman she works for). And then we watched the inauguration on t.v. HA!

All in all, I WAS THERE!

Clash of the Titans

Ok, so before I left for a lesson in history, I was supposed to see the titan. We made plans on Thursday to see each other on Friday. On Friday, he called me on his way to the gym, as usual. He'd gotten off of work early, so I asked him if he was still planning to be ready at 8:30, or if he would be earlier. His response? "Oh, actually, I was planning to watch the Bulls game with D, and so I was thinking about closer to 10:00, 10:30." To which I said, jigga-what?

Let's review the circumstances here. He hadn't seen me in a week. I was going to be out of town for a week. This is the beginning of basketball season. This was a Bulls game against the Cavs. And he's a CELTICS fan. So, basically, I got blown off to watch a non-important, soon-to-be-repeated basketball game with your boy that you see all the time?! Oh h--- naw!

Needless to say, I was really ticked. So, I ignore his text (notice he didn't' call at 830, he texted). Then I ignore his text that came through at 10:30 -- presumably after the game. He finally calls about 15 minutes later, and is all in a tizzy because it's not like me to ignore his text messages. So I tell him I was far too angry to answer his text messages for the aforementioned reasons. So he starts playing the victim, which only serves to make me more angry. He says that D was going through some things, and having problems, and needed a friend, and he was just being a good friend, but he guesses that he "was being punished for being a good friend". So I say, you didn't tell me ANY of this before. All I was told was that he was going to watch a stupid basketball game. Had I known, I may have been more flexible. His response? That he didn't know how bad it was until he got there. This, of course, only served to prove my point that he was only going to watch a basketball game that had no importance.

*Sigh*. He's making it so hard to keep him on the island. I really want to. When he's around, he's an exceptionally nice guy and fun to be around. But I don't know how much longer I can handle his laziness. I keep telling people that I'm not sure it's fair of me to vote him off the island without giving him an opportunity to remedy the situation. And I figure he isn't used to girls wanting more from him than looking pretty and showing up. But, I've always been one to say that it doesn't say Coach on my jacket. I'm pretty sure it still doesn't, but I did just buy a new coat. Maybe it's there...?

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Rear Wheel No-Drive

As we all know, I love my car. But, word to the wise, if you live in the snow-belt, don't buy a car in the middle of the summer. (Although I didn't go in completely naive. I asked around about driving a rear-wheel drive car in snow, and was assured that while it's a hassle, rear-wheel drive has come a long way and therefore shouldn't be an issue. HA! Jokes on me).

Yesterday, after hounding my parking landlord (not to be confused with the owner of my condo) he finally did some shoveling. Yeah, you read that right. He actually used a shovel, as opposed to a snowblower. At any rate, I knew my car wouldn't move before the snow in the lot was removed. After he was done, I hopped in my car to go to the grocery store.

And then, my car got stuck in the alley. Awesome. So I wander into my building to get a shovel, and the maintenance guy is standing there. I tell him -- in passing -- that my car was stuck AGAIN. This is the same guy that pushed me out along with a neighbor last time. He offered to come outside and have a look. And then he pushed me out (alone this time). As it turns out, he had a Camaro back in the day, and got rid of it after 3 years because it kept getting stuck, even after having sandbags and such in the car.

Anyway, I was kind of concerned that I wouldn't be able to get back into my parking spot, but there was an impending blizzard and I needed to go to the grocery store. So off I went. I also stopped at Target and enjoyed it immensely. (It's a shame this isn't a shopping post, because I did some visual damage at Target!).

When it came time to get back into my spot, I started praying before I even got to the unplowed alley. And....I got stuck. AGAIN. Fantastic. Even though I'd just purchased a gift card for the maintenance guy in the building, I really REALLY didn't want to impose on him again. Instead, I went to the business on the other side of the fence from my parking spot -- where my parking sticker had been kept. I asked, pleaded really, if someone could please please help me move my car from the middle of the alley. The guy at the front desk cheerfully agreed to help, telling me how the very same thing had happened to him. As he's pushing, a neighbor of mine (totally separate from the two that helped me before Christmas) was driving up, and offered to give me a push. She also offered a story about how she used to have the same problems with her old car, despite having sandbags and the like in her car. She also mentioned that she used to carry kitty litter in her car for traction (I may have to try that). Now, we've got 2 people pushing on my car as its wheels spin 'round and 'round like a top. A third neighbor is walking through the alley and notices all of the huffing and puffing going on. He walks over and says, "hey, need some help?" Proceeds to put his cigarette in his mouth and PUUUUUUUUUUUSH! And voila! I'm in my spot.

Moral of the story? My next car will be a heavy, front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive car. I say now. As much as I love my car that I'm thinking of getting another one when it's time to upgrade.

I seriously think I need to do something for my guardian angels, although I don't know which units the other 2 live in. I was thinking cookies. But then, on the other hand, I was thinking that maybe I should be sensitive to folks' new year's resolutions. At any rate, suggestions anyone?

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Time, redefined

My mother likes to quote my 8th grade history table when referring to me. Evidently during a parent-teacher conference Mr. Hoffman told my mother that I seemed overly busy. (Which was totally true. Dance, viola, piano, cheerleading -if memory serves). But, he said, "if you want something done, ask the overly busy person." I fully buy into this theory. I find that the more I have to do, the more efficient I am.

Which brings me to my current blissfully and temporarily unemployed state. I can get one thing per day done. Seriously! I am completely incapable of doing anything productive these days. Something about having nothing to do turns me into a lazy bum. Normally, I feel quite bad about this. These days? Not an ounce of guilt. The only thing I'm not a big fan about is that I find no where to go during my final week of vacation. I'd like to go somewhere tropical and warm. Too bad I gots me no one to go with.

Maybe that should be my project for tomorrow. Find somewhere tropical and warm to go to, and someone to go with. :)

Monday, January 05, 2009

What women want

Frankly, I don't know what women want. But I know what I want. At least I think I do. One thing I know I want -- in a man, that is -- I want a southern man's gentility with a northern man's modern ideals. Basically, I want a man that wants to take care of me, but doesn't feel like he HAS to.

What brought this on, you ask? Well, allow me to explain. The young titan and I have been dating since before Thanksgiving. And for those of you keeping track, you know that is an exceptionally long time, given my track record. But, it appears we've run into a few things that are starting to bother me. First, he almost never pays for anything. Ever. So far, he's paid for the first date (kind of). I offered to pay for the one beverage that I had, but I didn't have cash and it'd have to go on my card. His response? Not "I got it." No, his response was "it's not worth it to ask her to split it for $7. I'll get this one, and you can get the next." Arrgh? But, I hate to be a golddigger, and he's pretty, so we press on.

Second, I asked him if he would help push my car out if it got stuck (as it notoriously does in the winter.) He said he would, and even commented that it would be a good workout. Well, when I called to ask for his assistance, he whined that he was in traffic and wouldn't be able to get to my apartment in time. Ok, seriously? Seriously?! Arrgh!

And third -- and most recent -- I asked him if he would lift my old television out of my cabinet (because I bought myself a bomb tv). He said he would, enthusiastically. I called on Saturday to ask him if he'd do it Sunday before my little shindig. He hemmed and hawed, and said that he wasn't sure if he could do it because he had a basketball game. So I said, can't you stop before the game? Given that he had 2 hours between when I got out of church and when he wanted to be at the court. And lifting my tv out would take all of what? 35 seconds. And yet, he couldn't do that. Moreover, I didn't hear hide nor tail from this dude all day on Sunday. Arrgh, again!

Someone may be getting voted off the island soon.