OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH GOD OH GOD, the CEO of Pier 1 is coming to visit all the stores in California.  So sometime next week he'll be taking a tour of my little workplace.  "Oh, no!  That's horrible Gina!  How will you ever get the store in an acceptable condition?" is probably what you are thinking, but alas, those petty worries are not on my mind.  Rather, I am freaking excited about this because our CEO happens to stray from the typical image most hold.  He is British, has very pale skin that matches his hair, round blue eyes, and the most creepy/uncomfortable smile I could ever imagine.  The videos he films for our training and occasional meetings make me squeal with delight; watching him awkwardly stare at the camera and speak in breathy British tones just really lifts my spirits.  I so hope I'm working when he's there.  Or better yet, that I'm off and come in pretending to be a customer, then really talk up the store and it's employees (a sales lead named Gina to be exact).  This could be good.  This could be REALLY good.

So it's Sunday, August 23, 2009. 
There's a lot going on in my life at the moment I suppose, but nothing too tumultuous or even bad. 
I just got back from a loooong trip to New York and am very happy to be home.  It was a cool place, but there's only so much you can take of not being able to see the sky or undomesticated nature. 
Among my favorite things were CENTRAL PARK, The Met, our weekend trip to stay with Susan's loaded cousin in Pennsylvania, visiting The Mutter Museum in Philly, all the really hot guys/really plain girls, sweet-talkers, Times Square, the NBC store, Broadway (just the street--I didn't get to see a show), and our experience at Grimaldi's.  It was a very memorable time, if nothing else. 
I went back to work exactly 24 hours after arriving home, which upset me at the time, but also made me feel productive.  Kellie, the former assistant manager, has finally parted ways with Store 1163 and our newly-hired ASM is almost fully trained.  Everyone loves her--she seems very fun, yet professional.  I'm excited to meet her and scope her out. 
The cd player at work is broken so I've been able to listen to my ipod when I'm there.  I made a sweet playlist that includes things like Beirut, the BeeGees, Arcade Fire, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, Joe Cocker, Regina Spektor, Rilo Kiley, Journey, Bon Jovi, Devendra Banhart, Carla Bruni, etc.  Very upbeat, eclectic, wordly sound, but also some little indies to make me happy.  It really lifts my mood to be able to listen to what I want; I've been so much more productive and natural when speaking with customers, it's ridiculous.  Sadly the replacement cd player comes in on Tuesday so this blissful period is to be shortly lived.
I need a haircut.  Maybe a nice one.  I've never had a haircut that cost more than $20 before.  I mean, my hair's so thin it probably wouldn't even make a difference if I spent more money on it, but hey.  It's more or less the experience that you pay for, right?
I need to pay the extra $400 tuition.  And buy books (about $300-$400).  And buy a parking permit ($150-$200?).  And start prostituting myself so that I can afford all these expenses.
I think school starts in a week.
I should go to the gym, but I feel like sleeping or loafing.
I want to go on a date with a nice guy who is exactly what I'm looking for.
I need to eat something REAL.  Like a nice meal with pasta and meat and bread and an light salad and a good wine and a small, pretty dessert.
La la la la la la la.

I leave for New York on Tuesday.  That's just one day of planning/prepping/packing/getting things in order.  I'msofreakingexcitedoooohmygodi'msooofreakingexcited.
Here are some of the things Susan and I plan on doing or seeing:

• Idlewild Books


• Craft (Tom Collichio's restaurant)


• Muji--a Japanese store reminiscent of Ikea


• The Met


• Natural History Museum


• CENTRAL PARK


• Cielo Night Club


• Grimaldi's pizza


• Chinatown


• Woodlawn Cemetery--final resting place of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Herman Melville, Woolworth, Macy, Duke Ellington, Pulitzer, etc.


• NY Cheesecake


• Improv at the Upright Citizen's Brigade theater


• Bryant Park


• Bergdorf Goodman


• NY Public Library


• Rockefeller Center


• Apollo Theater/Harlem


• See a play on Broadway


• Ellis Island


• Empire State Building


• The Daily Show OR Colbert Report


• Shakespeare in the Park


• Times Square (at night)


• Laguardia Place


• Meet PC or Sebastian 


• A restaurant that Katy went to where a man named Chicken Little played weird songs on the piano and sang
  

Alright.  We're going to be a little busy, but it's okay because it's freaking New York City and I'm going to have the time of my life.  Oooh God, it's going to be so beautiful.  I hope everything lives up to my expectations.  It should though, right?  How can NYC disappoint? 
I still have so much NYC prep that I need to do like transfer funds, deposit a check, get a new memory card for my camera, do laundry, pack, find cute clothes to wear out at night, etc. 
I'm seriously FREAKIIING OUT! sifjsidjfsihglzugakrntlsekjndv,mxdfblxkd;hjagsz.kdvn cx;gjszik.

Wish me luck and safe travels.
The End.

OH, and if anyone has suggestions on good, epic music to inspire me while in the Big Apple, I am dying for suggestions.  Thanks a bunch, chaps.

Hello everyone.  I have a situation.

My cousin just got engaged to her army boyfriend two or three weeks ago; in order for them to get married before he is stationed in North Carolina, they have planned their wedding for September 26.  They are rather poor and do not have much time to plan this, so I thought I'd throw them a bone and try to aid where I can.  In short, I have decided to help find her a decent, cheap photographer. 
I figured I could ask here and see if any of you know anyone who would be interested?  You're all artsy, I'm sure you have friends who would be into this kind of thing.

Okay.  Merci.

Sometimes my poor posture really hits me. 
Like I'll be sitting here, waiting for a website to load, and realize all of a sudden that my nose is an inch away from the space bar.  I feel like Mr. Burns or Gollum.  No good characters are hunchbacked, you know.  The only sympathetic one that I know of is Quasimodo, and it's only because he's slightly retarded.

But here I am, waiting for Brian and my dad to fall asleep so I can join Danny in his now nightly movie viewings.  We rented Memento and Adaptation. and am hoping to watch the latter of the two this evening.  I've only seen it once, and it's definitely the kind of movie that needs to be seen at least five times to fully comprehend.  SO.  I thought I'd write.  Hm.



I got coffee with a guy I went to high school with the other night.  It's almost creepy how much we have in common.  We like the same music, tv and movies; both want Vonnegut words tattooed on us; we even have the same favorite parts in "Forgot About Dre" and "A Milli."   He's interesting, funny, quick, smart, a good listener, gorgeous, all that, but sadly he goes to school in Santa Cruz.  And (technically) he has a girlfriend.  Way to never take an interest in boys that stay in San Diego, Gina.  GOD, he's just so perfect.



I finally wrote something the other day.  It's not the best I've ever written, but it's also not the worst.  I like some of the images I came up with and all that.  It's technically about death, but not in some sort of melodramatic sense of it.  I mean, I guess you'd just have to read it.  I'm just happy to finally have created something NEW and FRESH and EXCITING.



Ron asked me to be the "resident writer" of his production company's website.  "Okay," I said.  It's very flattering, but I think it will be difficult to manage as I am on the other side of the country as he is.  Way to find someone who wants to work with you that doesn't live in San Diego, Gina.



I got lunch with Olin yesterday.  It was difficult for me to decide whether or not I should actually see him, as it has been two months since our last encounter, but he had my favorite Bukowski book so it was necessary.  It was okay.  We got along well, had some nice laughs, caught up on things.  He was heading to a funeral for his pastor's son that evening; can anyone ever catch a break? 




It's hot.

And I'm going to New York in just about a week.

And I'm not ready to go.

It's going to be expensive.

And I haven't planned anything for it.

And I'm stressing out about flying alone.

Because this morning

on CNN

there was a story about a plane

that encountered really

really real

ly bad turbulence

and 26 people were

injured. then there's the

whole Air France thing. I

don't want to die in violent fear

especially if it involves plummeting

thousands of feet

to the ground, my head smashing

like a watermelon

onto my little dinner tray,

my shins compacting

like two bloody spyglasses,

my elbows shattering on the

armrests.  

I can't call it off now,
though. 

Oh, God.  Why does my imagination

have to be so limber?

I had a really weird dream last night.
I was walking through a mall in LA and there was a JC Penney that I wanted to look in.  As if that's not weird enough, the door looked really intense, like the vanishing cabinet from HP.  I walked through the doors nonetheless and it turns out that I was in the Star Wars themed portion of the store; it was a dark room with a ghostly glow and fog spilling everywhere.  I saw Darth Vader creeping around suspiciously behind a display and so I thought my best bet would be to make a run for it.  The second I started running, he sprang up and began chasing me.  I wove my way through the empty displays and finally found an exit.  Then my dream changed and I was on a gondola of sorts (the ski lift kind) that ran through the  mall.  It felt shaky and I kept thinking I was going to fall. 
There's a whole second portion that I can't even begin to accurately describe, so I won't.

I leave for vacation in five or so hours and I just want to get a move on it.  Usually when we vacation, we go somewhere very northern and it takes a whole day to drive it.  We've always left at the crack of dawn, which I really, really enjoy because it's so beautiful that early in the morning.  Leaving at two p.m. isn't the same as leaving at 4:30 a.m.  But I'm still very excited about this trip.  It should be quite the relaxing getaway.  I'm happy about the weeklong break from television and internet. 

La la la, what else...
I suppose I'll respond to the prompt.  My favorite teacher of all time would have to be...Mr. Baldwin for AP English Lit senior year.  He was an older man with a reputation of being tough and extraordinarily mean; my sister witnessed him make a boy cry.  He wore glasses over his twinkling eyes, had a big belly, a full white beard, and white hair crowning his head.  Think Santa Claus minus the jolliness and good will to all.  All that aside, I got him the year he decided to reform his abundant anger and become more of a pacifist, meaning he decided to stop throwing chairs out the door when someone asked a stupid question.  When I wrote "Irving tried to convey how chance factors into people's lives" Baldwin would write "Irving doesn't TRY to convey anything.  He conveys it, it's your fault if you can't understand what he's saying."  When discussing Blake or Wordsworth and a student was saying that just because she thought a poem had a different meaning than Baldwin did doesn't mean hers was wrong, he responded with "No.  Poems don't mean whatever you want them to, whoever said they're up to interpretation is WRONG.  It was written with an intention and a theme like any other work, it's your fault if you're too stupid to figure it out."  Ah, what a brilliant man.
He also used to tell us stories of his extraordinary life.  Like how he made Adidas popular in San Diego, how he wrote television shows, how he played minor league baseball.  Someone in my class kept a list of all the things he either did or said he did.
Our homecoming theme senior year was Greek themed.  For our float, Baldwin happily consented to playing the role of Zeus.  I say it fit him just fine.

HAPPY HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE RELEASE DAY!!!

Janine, Annie, and I will be going to the midnight showing at Grossmont center.  Perhaps we'll see you there? 
Oh my God, I've been waiting for this day for a little over a year.  It's going to be great.
I'll leave you with some great quotes from HP to meditate on:

Harry Potter
"He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though...keep up with news...check if I'm happy..."
--to The Dursleys on Sirius Black

"Why were you lurking under our window?"
"Yes -- yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our windows, boy?"
"Listening to the news," said Harry in a resigned voice.
His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.
"Listening to the news! Again?"
"Well, it changes every day, you see," said Harry

Ron Weasley
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

"I've got two Neptunes here," said Harry after a while, frowning down on his parchment, "that can't be right, can it?"
"Aaaah," said Ron, imitating Professor Trelawney's mysical whisper, "when two Neptunes appear in the sky, it is a sure sign that a midget in glasses is being born, Harry..."


Dumbledore
"Don't be silly, Dawlish. I'm sure you are an excellent Auror, I seem to remember you achieved  Outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s, but if you attempt to — er — 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."

"To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

"Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself."

"You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."

"I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you."

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”




So good, so good.

So I'm curled up in my comfortable maxi dress on my bed, importing 2001 into my iTunes, in something of a painkiller daze.  "Fuck You" is kind of a fun song.  "I just want to fuck bad bitches, all them nights I never had bitches, now I'm all up in that ass bitches."  God, I love the man.  Sometimes you just need to listen to some classic, hard, gangsta rap to get confident and proud again.  Dr. Dre wouldn't let a little earache get him down.  A little pain ain't nothin to a thug.  Speaking of thugs, that reminds me of my most favorite line from Weeds: "Thug means never having to say you're sorry."  And that's a fact.
Ibuprofen took some pain away last night and I watched Big Love in peace.  I took two tablets at 10 and was comfortable enough to fall asleep at 11:15.  Sadly, the effect wore off quickly after and I awoke at 12:45 in terrible pain.  I couldn't fall asleep again, so I decided to go downstairs and watch some more of my show.  I got through three more episodes, then put on the tv to see if perhaps horrible programming like The Nanny or a country music anthology informercial would rock me to sleep.  No such luck.  I was awake until four, went to bed until five, woke up in pain again, went online for an hour or so, went to bed at six and finally rose for good at eight-thirty.  It was the worst night's sleep ever.  But it's okay because I had Big Love to keep me company.  It's a REALLY good show, if anyone's interested in picking up a new tv show.  Good acting, clever dramatic scenarios, interesting look at polygamy.  So ch-ch-ch-check it out.
I need to buy a new iPod.  I guess I could do that today.  I have nothing else to do.
There's a rattlesnake in my backyard at the moment.  Brian was cleaning up his toys and he reached over to grab a ball and saw the snake right next to his hand.  It was eating a rat that it killed.  Gross, but I guess that's what happens when you live in a canyon.  You can't expect nature to just take place away from you.  I offered to take care of it, because right now I am physically the weakest link.  I was volunteering to act out Survival of the Fittest, in other words.  I thought it would be rude not to offer at least.  I'm pretty sure it's still hiding in out the shed that houses our pool pump.  I have to hand it to him, that was a nice strategic move.  There's no way we can get to him without him getting to us first.  Bravo, snake, bravo.
I register for classes on Friday and I have to say, I'm excited for the new semester.  I plan on taking a required history class with Janine, and then four english courses.  They all sound fun too.  This is my wish list:
American History Post-Civil War
Greek Mythology and Legend
English 308W
American Literature 1960-present
Kill Will: Shakespeare in Lit and Film
Fun fun, yes?  I'm particularly excited for the Greek mythology class.  I've always been highly interested in the subject and cannot wait to become acquainted with all of it.
I go on my family vacation a week from today.  We are traveling up the CA coast, from Santa Barbara to San Francisco.  Melissa is going to get dinner with the family when we're up there; it'll feel nice providing her first real meal since she left San Diego.  I'm just excited to have a week sans technology.  It's such a peaceful feeling.  I'm going to buy Steinbeck's follow up novel to Cannery Row , Sweet Thursday.  I mean, what better to read when in Monterrey than a book centered in Monterrey?
Okay.  I'm done I guess. 
The End.

My left ear is full of water and has been throbbing for the past three hours. 
I will kill myself if it doesn't stop soon.
I took two Ibuprofen at 2:30.
Didn't change a thing.
I need something wonderful, like vicodin.
I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.
Anyone out there know a good cure?
If so, LET ME KNOW.
Oh my God, I'm never going swimming again.

I've decided how I want to make a living:
Write personalized children's books.  Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, pedophiles will come to me with information about the child the book is being written for.  Height, weight, favorite toys, favorite activities, the child's favorite genre of books, etc.  I will then take this information and write/illustrate a book with that described child as the protagonist.  Imagine how cool that would be to receive a book where you're the hero.  And they'd all be beautiful and fun and sweet.  Ahh, I can see it now. 
I wonder if I've experienced every possible human emotion.  How many could there be?  I wonder if the feeling you get when you hear "you may now kiss the bride" in your own wedding should count as happiness or something different on it's own?  How about the feeling that comes along with "SURPRISE!" at a party planned for you versus "you're getting a raise."  They're both positive surprises, but does the context change the emotion? 
Today two of my coworkers told me that I am original.  And one did not hear the other say it--they were completely removed instances from each other.  I never see myself in this light, but I suppose I am.  How I LOVE to receive that compliment. 
I have four day weekend and nothing to do.  I'm doing something with Brian tomorrow, at the request of my mother.  I'm thinking of getting sandwiches and picnicking with him in Seaport Village.  Walk around the shops, maybe fly a kite, who knows.  Either that or go to the Ruben H. Fleet or the beach.  Or bowling.  How is it that I can always come up with fun things to do with Brian and yet, when I'm trying to make plans with friends, nothing ever comes to mind.  Huh.  Anyway, if anyone out there in the vast network of webtape has any ideas on how I can occupy my time this weekend be sure to send them my way.  Or better yet, if anyone out there would like to grace me with their presence this weekend let me know.  I haven't seen you children in months and I have no friends. 
Okay.  Maybe that's it.  Fin.