the lightweight gets nervous So drinking is a really big thing with the lifeguards at the hook. I came back late Friday night, to find another lifeguard, Dan, completely drunk on Red Bull and Vodka. I said, "how ya doin?" Dan replied with, "True, True." and then walked out the door. haha. There are three permanent kegs of beer in the lifeguard barracks, the building where I live. Theres also a keg of beer for employees on Sundays after work. All the lifeguards just sit around on the beach and socialize until the keg is done. I personally can't drink. One cup of Coors Light and I'm finished. I can't drive for probably another 4 hours, my face gets flush with the wretched Asian redness, and my head starts swimming in a pool of alcohol-induced delirium. It's kinda sad. Apparently theres a drink-off between the west side and the east side of the barracks later this year. I'm on the west, and I'll surely be the downfall of my team.... sorry Bob. I got stuck with the worst days off... Tuesday and Wednesday. At least they're consecutive. I'll be volunteering for the squad on Wednesday days from now til the end of summer. I love riding the ambulance much more than guarding... no sunburns, no constant scanning of water, and drastically less sketchy nudies.
Here's the money shot:  gunnison is for lovers Where am I working? From what I've heard so far from the other lifeguards... Sandy Hook is the strangest Park in Jersey. It used to be a military base, and the army planted poison ivy there a century ago as a defense against invasion. Now there's so much poison ivy, it holds the place together and can't be removed. Wonderful. It's one of the few Jersey beaches where you can bring an open container of alcohol. So the people are guaranteed to be pleasant. There are three beaches: Main Beach, North Beach, and Gunnison Beach. Gunnison is the nude beach... but you don't want to go there (trust me). The lifeguards even have a special signal for "no screwing" when they work at Gunnison. I'm officially done with training, and I start as a real guard on Saturday. Just in time for the first weekend of summer, and the wonderful throngs of people. Last night's Air show was fabulous... although, I thought it was slightly overdone with the frenchies wearing capes and the excessive flashing of lazer lights into people's eyes. "Playground Love" in acoustic definitely made the show. fatty can't run Ok, so maybe this lifeguard job is just a bit harder than it looks. The first day on the job, they made us do a few sit-ups (100) and slow push-ups (70), and then ran us around like dogs for a few miles until we jumped in the water and swam around a buoy 200 yards off the shore... twice. After a bit of classroom time, and a few practice saves in the ocean, we did the whole exercize routine all over again. All 14 of the rookies get to repeat this schedule daily for the next week. I'm constantly sore, burned, tired, hungry, and lonely. The other guards who live with me are cool, but a lot of them already know each other and drink like fish. I fit into neither of those categories. I also got a sore throat from inhaling the brownish-green Jersey ocean water during a swim... no fun. Man, I can't until Thursday. Not only is Friday my day off, but I'm going to the Air concert in New York. Please spare fatty. Oh yeah, Crystal and Elissa want to say that they found jobs, and are no longer the unemployed fatty/lesbian duo. government-issue uber Pretty standard Jersey day with the right dose of friends and adventure. Drove down to Bayhead on the shore to visit the lonely dog-keeper Ben with friends. On the way, I stopped at Sandy Hook to get my housing assignment, so I can move in Sunday night for early Monday morning work. (boo employment). It seems that most of my friends need to get jobs this summer for money, and find it hard to find them. I dunno, but I think it's pretty easy to get a simple job if you have a specific direction... it just requires a bit of drive and a lot of phone calls. Open the yellow pages and start dialing. (crime scene cleanup? cool!) I like jobs for the experience and the adventure. I definitely don't need the money. I got my NuCare job after a bit of digging, and this lifeguard job kinda fell into my lap after a sucky physical test. I'm pretty sure that I can get a higher-paying job elsewhere, but I feel the need for some excitement while I'm still a kid. I'm glad I'm not an intern at some god-awful bank... I'll have the rest of my life to look forward to that. Map of The Hook (for the jersey unsaavy) I'm looking forward to moving in Sunday night... sprucing up the room, putting nice sheets on my government-issue bed, and filling my government-issue drawers with prized possessions. (all the furniture in my room has a little barcode sticker that says "US Government, Department of the Interior") There's no phone line, so I'll be without my internet lifeline on a weekly basis. There'll definitely be withdrawl. Father's day is tomorrow, a very sad day for me. This will be the first Father's day where I am fatherless. I left a message for my dad who has disappeared into the outer boroughs of New York. I want to visit him and give him a token of my existence. I want to make sure that he's okay, and I want to tell him that I'm doing well and good with my life. I want to eat noodles with him in Flushing, talk about the family, his coping... my coping. Then I'll smoke a pack to dull the pain on the two-hour drive home. On a lighter note, I ventured to the Sunset Diner in the asscrack of Jersey at 3am today with Crystal, to meet with a displaced Jeff and Nick. It was cats and dogs earlier today, and Route 22 was flooded... certain spots were 2 or 3 feet deep in water. Scary to say the least. A western omelet sanwich and medium cigarettes do the trick in calming tense nerves. I witnessed sunrise returning home. uber returns to the garden state Tuesday was spent on the shockingly clean beach and boardwalk of Santa Cruz. I also went on long drives in the minivan, Half Moon Bay is beautiful, and the windy mountain roads quenched my obsession for redwoods. I'm also amazed at the large quantity of ice cream I ate on this trip. A sundae at Ghiradelli, vanilla in warm waffle cone at Santa Cruz, oreo frozen yogurt on El Camino, and Ben & Jerry's monkey wrench at Haight.  Wednesday was my last day, so we did the cliche touristy things. Drove down the madly curvy and hilly Lombard street(yay, minivan). Walked across the Golden Gate. Chris was sick that day, but he still came... what a nice boy. In return for his hospitality, I'm coaching him in the one of my unique skills. That night, I had dinner in Palo Alto with an old friend. The flight home was a bit frustrating. There was supposed to be a 40 minute layover in St Louis where I switched planes. Instead it was delayed for 4 hours, and I got home at 5am, not 1am. Nice. I spent most of the 4 hours sitting in the terminal and feeling sick. I find that people staring is a fun activity, making up their life stories as they walked by. I arrived at Newark with West Coast motion sickness.
Here are some pics de Cali.
My jobby job in Sandy Hook starts Monday. My body isn't prepared for vigorous physical activity, I wanna go back to Cali and live the life. Chill with Tim and Chris, Listen to indie rock, eat ice cream, and smoke American Spirits. On the other hand, exercise would do me some good. el camino real
My uncle let me drive his impeccably clean minivan yesterday. I visited the grotesquely pretty Stanford, and took a mini roadtrip down El Camino -- a major street that runs through Silicon Valley. I picked up Chris at Palo Alto and saw the bay at night. The park was closed, but we walked into it anyway. It was pitch black and reeked of marshy bay. After about 15 minutes, we saw headlights and bolted for the exit, being scared of capture. When the lights caught up to us, we ducked into the bushes, and the car drove right by. It turned out to be a chevy camaro decked with glossy rims. We darted into the minivan and left anyway. Then we drove around giant corporate campuses.. Google, Lycos. Hella cool.
Today, Tim, Chris, Tim's friend, and I went vintage shopping at Haight-Ashbury, had damn fine coffee in North Beach, looked at books at City Lights Bookstore, crab at Fisherman's Wharf, and ate a sundae at Ghiradelli. There's a tiny street named after Kerouac in North Beach... really cool. I'm reading On the Road right now, very relavant to this trip. I don't feel as cool as Sal Paradise though... then again, I'm not a sexy WWII-veteran-turned-beat-person. Hella uncool.
I was wrong, Tim drives a Toyota... with skill, I might add. I hope the traffic isn't too bad to Santa Cruz tomorrow. I can't wait to lay my eyes on the Pacific, and watch the sun sink into the water. Hella cool.
Embarcadero
Stepping out of San Francisco Airport, I just missed the shuttle to the train station, so I took a cab. When I got into the cab, and told the driver to take me to Millbrae Station, he started cackling and talking about the futility of his life. "10,000 people in this airport, and everybody wants to go to Millbrae! This is all I do with my life!" He said this as we drove past tall hilly ridges, low-hanging clouds, and transplanted palm trees, on a cool and sunny day. California is excessively beautiful, and the air is excessively clear. The sun shines real bright, and everyone is very polite. The cabbie has no reason to hate life.
My aunt and uncle are very traditional Chinese parents, very scary. They keep the house insanely, impeccably clean. Their English isn't that good, so I'm forced to talk slowly, sometimes using their 13 year-old son as an interpreter. I'm scared of them, especially when I came back from hanging out at 3am last night.
Within an hour of arriving at my host family's place, Tim picked me up and showed me his bohemian hangouts. Chris joined us, and we went downtown to the Fillmore to see Mogwai. Psycho post-rock instrumentals, I am now deaf. We went to Mel's drive-in and then Tim gave me the dollar tour from the passenger seat of his Nissan. Golden Gate Bridge, Embarcadero, Fishermans wharf, Pier 39. It's all a big blur at 1am (thats 4am EST folks).
Everybody wish Tim a happy birthday today. the layover
Five days in Bethany, Nine friends, two cars, one duck, and eight huge mosquito bites. Delaware was fun, once we got there, people fulfilled certain interesting roles. Andrew - the bartender, Nick - the driver, Crystal - the princess (fatty), Rachel - the sluggish, Tatiana - the greeter, Laura - the bad drunk, Anne - the runner, Elissa - the lesbian, and Will - the housewife. The mix was interesting, and everyone got in a little trouble.
There was one time when a few of us went skinny-dipping in the black of night in the ocean. We all got pissed when Nick stole our clothes, and left us stark on the beach. The speeding ticket he got the next day for gunning 95 is proper karma.
Tatiana, the insane Ukranian, beat me in a rhyming board game. She also made me laugh uncontrollably during a game of cards. She is one of very few people who can throw me into unstoppable fits of laughter.
Bethany was fun, I wish it were a bit more mellow, and things were a bit more tidy. I got a nice tan, and several annoying-as-hell bug bites. I also rekindled a lost friendship, and gave my liver a healthy workout.
I'm home for a 12 hours layover, and then I leave for sunny San Francisco, California tomorrow morning at 8:30. Five days there to visit two of my college friends and act like an Asian tourist. I'm totally stoked. beverages for bethany
Buying liquor used to be so incredibly nerve-racking. Last summer, I would tremble at the thought of using my homemade drivers license. I made an effort to dress old and act mature whenever I went to buy... so the guy behind the counter won't see me for the child I really am. I hated it. One day last summer, after a party, my friend used up some of her parents' alcohol, and she had to replace it before they found out. I remember driving to every liquor store I knew to find the specific bottles. I nearly had an aneuryism from the stress.
I bought liquor for the beach house today. There's one store two towns away that treats me nice, and I loaded up there. I know the people who work there, and they don't hassle me. Even though I know I'm safe, I still get a little nervous at the register... scratching my nose, looking at my feet, constantly reaching into my pockets. Very smooth, Will.
To the beach tomorrow. Bethany Beach in Delaware... a repeat of last year with the same group of friends. Who knew Delaware had beaches? shocking lividity
Torrential downpour today, one death. I'm on duty for 24 hours, from 7am this morning to 7am tomorrow. Halfway done, and we've already had 5 car accidents... 3 happened this morning in a span of 5 minutes, one major in the afternoon (Mercedez vs. BMW). We also had a cainine vs postman, anaphylaxis at Tiffany's, and a suicide. The suicide was sad, very sad. 50 year-old man OD'ed on medication, died on his side on the floor, rigor mortis set in, he was cold and he had "lividity"... thats when the blood pools to the bottom of the body. jeez. My first death, I shed a tear.
I hope it gets warm next week, I'm going to Delaware on Monday for sun and fun with friends. It's about time I took a vacation. backup badge #68 responding direct
A call shook me up this morning. A worker fell 30 feet off the roof of a house and onto a ladder. When I came to the scene, he was lying on the ground... bloddy all over his thigh and head. Conscious and alert, he spoke only Spanish. We brought him to the hospital in decent shape for a man who fell off a roof. In these trauma calls, I wish I could do more, I wish I had more experience... I want to be a crack at saving lives.
Short Hills is a very rich suburban haven. Here, there are many seemingly odd calls that recur often. This is my second Spanish-speaking worker falling off the roof, I've had three drunk drivers who hit telephone poles, and the countless women who over-exert themselves at the mall. This town is sick. hace viento, hace sol
I love extreme weather. As a kid, I embraced thunderstorms, staring out the window at clouds, waiting for the awesome flashes. In 4th grade, lightning struck my neighbor's house, and it caught on fire. It was so loud, so awesome. I loved running around in the rain on warm summer days. Every inch of me would be soaked, from my hair down to my socks.
The downpour yesterday reminded me of my childhood. When I started to drive into the city, it was sunny and clear. Once I got out of the tunnel, the rain beat so heavily on my car that I couldn't see out the windshield. Awesome. I had to stick my head out and feel it myself. I'm such a nut.
It's a gorgeous day today, a bit windy. Blake and I lunched at the local deli. We sat outside, and tried to pin our food to the table. Our napkins didn't feel like staying, neither did the plastic chair next to me. I almost lost my goofy fishing hat if it hadn't been for a valiant deli employee. Thanks, deli man. Princess Speaks
I saw this and I said I want one too, and as usually happens, I got one too. I am not fat! That's all. Well no not really all. Might I add Cat lends so much to the atmosphere of the Garden State. I'm so glad she came to visit me otherwise I would be soooooo bored. Oh my god! Don't see Pearl Harbor, unless you bring earplugs or a book to read or another movie to watch or someone to make out with. Shotgun! Places that don't accept credit cards suck. A lot. I mean, like, really, a lot. I return to Princeton tomorrow to go give food to old drunk people. Yay Princeton! I'm gonna go now. Bye Bye. I'm leaving because this is boring.
[uber: catalina and crystal are crazy girls] nicotine dream
Everytime I try it, I feel groggy, tired, and antsy. Vermin are creeping under my skin. Blood pools at my fingertips. I teethe anything thats publicly acceptable: my lips, my hat, and especially my knuckles. Quitting smoking is tough. The family trip to Maine forced me into a non-smoking facade for a weekend. "I've come this far, why not just quit?", I asked myself. I realize now why I haven't quit before. Smoking created this need in my body, quenchable only by nicotine. Cutting out smoking is like telling a thirsty man not to drink. I'm stuck in a desert without a canteen.
I don't recommend Pearl Harbor. Max, Crystal, and Catalina from Arizona all equally hated it. Big dollar movies with love stories set in wartime have to be written very well to work. The English Patient kicked ass, Pearl Harbor did not. coffee table, 4lb lobster, and bean's
It's solid wrought iron... hand-crafted by the finest people in Maine, custom made, painted black, 54-by-54 inches, the best coffeetable ever. We drove 8 hours in horrible traffic and cutting rain to this coffeetable mecca, an overnight stay in Portland, and a jump to the tiny tiny farming town of Durham. Enduring my mom's strict constructionist view of mapquest, and my brother's house music, we made it to the world headquarters of "Custom Tables of Maine." It actually is a man named Joe working out of a backyard-shed-turned-machine-shop. The table was waiting. We went to put the table in the trunk... it wouldn't fit. doh.
Coffeetables are not supposed to be square, no matter how cool it may sound. They should always be rectangular, this is a rule of nature. There's just something unnatural with a square coffeetable. Obviously my mom was not aware of this axiom. Joe shortened the table 6 inches, and it fit happily.
The rest of the trip was spent at the LL Bean outlet. The locals call it "Bean's" and it seems to be the center of life. (it's open 24 hours, whoa!) We also ate lobster, cause that's how us tourists know Maine, their lobsters. We went to the first seafood place we saw and mom ordered the biggest lobster they had in the tank. They gave us a 4lb monster. Everyone stared at us as we ate this gigantic freak of lobster. Are all parents this embarassing? "Pack your bags kids! We're goin' to Maine!"
Yes, Maine for a Coffee Table. Nothin like a good old family roadtrip. One night in Portland, ME, and returning with Uber-Coffee Table in tow. It better fit in the car. grinnin' like clint
The West Coast, wow, sounds soo cool. Theres even a video store in my town called "West Coast Video." I've only seen the west coast through the movies. Dirty Harry chasing that serial killer down the streets of San Francisco, jumping his Chevy over hilly streets, past trolleys, with his cool, rugged west coast grin. Since I've made two really good friends out in this new world, I decided that I should go.
I have it all set up. I'll crash at my uncle's place in San Jose for a week in June, hopefully he'll trust me with his car. I would use it to cruise the streets like Clint Eastwood. I'm looking for someone to come with me. Rachel expressed interest... it's pending parental approval. I would visit Tim and Chris, Stanford, and all those cliche touristy spots. I'd have to visit before Carmen Sandiego or her henchmen got to them first, that bitch, always stealin' Alcatraz.
All I need now is a rugged West Coast grin. comatose
I was wildly awoken this morning to the sound of the EMT pager. A backup tone is given to any EMT in town when the duty crew is occupied. When I got to the house, I found the patient lying in bed, comatose. Her pulse was racing, pupils unresponsive and constricted, not good... her father said she had MS, was depressed, and overdosed on a narcotic. Some calls are just so grim and sad, I wish there were more I could do.
I'm on call from 7pm to 7am tomorrow, wish me luck.
some assembly required
The drive back from New Hampshire was decent, driving always calms the nerves and horribly atrophies the legs. We made a stopover in Hartford to see Todd and his hood, and discovered that the Merrit Parkway in CT is built personally by God. I came home to the family yelling.
Ikea furniture is cool and sleek looking... but what they don't show in the catalog is Mom yelling her face off at your younger brothers to put together an 8-foot tall bookshelf that turns out to be too high for the ceiling and needs to be taken apart put in the car and exchanged at Ikea for a shorter one. Thats the ugly side of Ikea.
Today, I went to Sandy Hook to fill out paperwork for my job. I also had to get a physical in a small clinic in Atlantic Highlands, NJ. The Jersey shore is like stuck in the 60's... the small family clinic was actually the doctor's house. While the doc was checking me up, he mentioned that the dimple under my sternum is normal, and I have a perfect blood pressure of 120/80. He also asked me if I smoked, and before I could say anything, he said, "of course you don't." Haha, of course. green keed
Dartmouth is such a funny school. Matt and I came here yesterday to see Skip for Green Key weekend, kinda like Penn's Spring Fling, only except more trees and less people. Last night, we went out to frat row... I've never seen so much beer pong in my life. The first thing we did once we got to a house was down some of Milwaukee's Best. Skip coyly stated, "If this is Milwaukee's best, I'd hate to see what their worst is like."
Frats here seem to be the only way of life, Hanover has a dire shortage of established places to sit around and socialize. Skip loves it here, I dunno if I would.
Today, we went to AD, the infamous "Animal House." It's what you'd expect out of the Animal House. Floors covered in beer, dirt, vomit, and urine residue, and drunken brothers playing pong. I could definitely see Jon Belushi living here. They had a band outside, and Dartmouths covered the lawn with their beverage of choice. The air is clean, people are nice, and the beer flows like wine... It's a happy place.
nocturnal surrealism I like being nocturnal. Being awake while most people are asleep is a big advantage... no traffic, no lines, no hassle. The world is your oyster, places are open 24 hours just for people like you. However, there are moments when things are just surreal. For instance, theres one building in the art park that was covered in graffiti on Sunday night when I ventured there with Matt. Then, when I returned on Monday, the graffiti was gone... vanished.
Its also very surreal being in the New York City all night, hanging with friends, wandering around dark and empty streets. Then, it suddenly gets bright at around 5:30 and commuters flood the city. Suits start pouring out of subway stations, cars jam the intersections. The world comes alive and this is your bedtime. Good morning world. Good night Will.
sandy hooker and my date with Ikea I got the job! I'm definitely going to lifeguard at Sandy Hook this summer. I talked to my boss today, and the job seems to be really awesome. I start June 18th. Theres a week of training (which includes rigorous exercize... boooo) and I can get a room in the lifeguard barracks for about $80 a month. I'm really stoked. It seems really cool and everything, but I do tend to romanticize my jobs before I start working there. NuCare wasn't too fun and exciting, hopefully Sandy Hook will be different. I had a Date With Ikea today (pavement song). Ikea is such a nice place. Cheap furniture, eating at the restaurant while watching jets land at Newark Airport... and the meatballs, oh the meatballs! Ikea meatballs taste so good, I dunno why (maybe it's just my latent homosexuality). Great with lingonberries. Really cool place, I should go more often... just for the meatballs. emack attack! Mother's Day, such a made up holiday, yet celebrated by everyone. Someone mentioned that Manhattan traffic was worst during Mother's Day... ha. My brothers and I celebrated today by going to Emack & Bolio's (an ice cream shop) and buying mom the Emack Attack. 25 scoops and unlimited toppings worth of pure bellyaching goodness. My relationship with my brothers is interesting... I drove with them to Emack's, they wore their house clothes... t-shirts with holes and old gym shorts. I ordered the obscene dish, and when the girl behind the counter asked for toppings, Andrew barged in and was adamant on getting a little of everything. ick. We took this bucket of ice cream home (leaving a $50 deposit for the bucket), and promptly devoured half of it with mom having about a teaspoon's worth. Nothing says Mother's Day better than being a fatass. Tonight, I showed Matt the reservation and the art park, we took cool pics of sculptures and stuff. Matt thinks he looks fat, I think I look like a druggie... decide for yourself. and so begins the summer Waking from an 8 hour nap at 2am on Saturday, I pack my stuff, say my goodbyes, and depart Penn for my 4-month-long summer break. Happy, Home. We celebrate mothers day with my dad's parents and siblings at noon in a Chinese restaurant called "The Golden Monkey" in Flushing. Its so sad. Mom and Dad got divorced 9 months ago, and my dad still hasn't told his parents that they got separated. I guess he's too embarassed, I feel bad for him. During the lunch we put up the facade that everything's fine, when nothing is. Only my Mom, Dad, and me are aware of this... my little brothers are really oblivious. My mom treated my dad so coldly during the lunch, monopolizing the conversation, ignoring the side talks I have with my dad. I haven't seen him since January... Queens is very far away. I found my cell phone! Wedged under my bed at Penn, so cool. Now I have my dad'd number, and everyone else I programmed in there. Will is now 100% mobile. Went to a high school ska show today, saw my friend Sam play the drums. Per request, Rach and I shaved his head during his drum solo. I held his head, while Rach used an electric razor. Really funny. Hardcore Sam is going to MIT next year... pure genius. fin Let's blow this popsicle stand. bittersweet as hell Folks here are moving out. I'm gonna leave sometime after my OPIM exam which is tomorrow. Things are so odd here, everything's bittersweet as hell. People are so excited to return home, see old friends, be with mom and dad, but they don't seem to realize that this is the end of something. Things will never be the same. Lesbiandorm will expire, Dean won't be my roomate, Tim, Chris, and Scott won't be as accessible as three flights of stairs, Erin, Kari, and Ryan will no longer be my 2nd floor smoking buddies. Next year, the quad will be inhabited with a new legion of freshman, with new personalities, having experiences completely unique from ours, it's sad. On a happier note, I found something. I cleaned out my refrigerator, to return it to the fridge rental people. While thawing out the freezer, I found something wedged in the ice... It's been there the entire year, face down. A button that says "Proud Penn Parent." Yes! This will now be a new addition to Uber's summer wardrobe, along with the goofy fishing hat. "wow, your trees are so round" I got the window pane of my car fixed. Soth Philly's American Autoglass is da bomb. It took them about an hour for them to fix my car, so I spent it wandering their lot. Mountains of cracked windshields, broken-off rusted car doors, rear-view mirrors... amazing. I bought a coke from their vending machine, big mistake. I thought it tasted funny, but I brushed it off. Out of bordem, I ripped off the label to read the sweepstakes information... the contest ended November 1999. Sick!
Mary came home with me last night. The first thing she said as we drove up the turnpike was "Wow, your trees are so round!" Crazy Seattle girl. Of course I had to take her to a Jersey diner and the mall. You haven't experienced true Jersey unless you've been to either. We went to New York: Barnard, NYU, Cafe Lalo, and South Street Seaport. So much fun.  <We're back at Penn. My last exam is Friday, then its over, all over. (sob) holey volvo! I agreed to help my friend Erin move her stuff from the Quad to her new apartment on 38th and Baltimore. She went with me to get my car on 43rd and Chestnut, and what did we see? A hole in the back-door glass of the Volvo! Ayyyy. Glass shards are scattered everywhere and the door is unlocked. I picked up the nearest blue phone to get the police, and after waiting 5 minutes for the dispatcher, I told him my situation. A cop came, and we looked around the car for anything missing. The guy left everything, almost. He took my EMT bag. The one I got for free from the first aid squad... full of bandages, ice packs, and gauze. Sketchy. The cop wrote up a report and left, and Erin and I go to the quad to clean up the car. Jamie's dustbuster came in quite handy, now the only glass shards in the backseat are the invisible ones. Hopefully, I'll get the window fixed by tomorrow. Last night was hellish. Here was my schedule: [6pm to 3am] english essay, [3am to noon] corporate ethics take-home final, [noon to 4pm] study for chem lab final, [4pm - 6pm] chem lab final. Now I'm scott free (at least til Friday)! I'm planning on going home for tomorrow night, Mary is coming too, she wants to see mi casa. I'm happy. a steamy lesbian first friday
Last night, was Philadelphia's First Friday. On the first friday of every month, all the avant garde art galleries in old city open to the public. They serve free wine and cheese, and the artists are there to comment on their work. I went with Mary and Nicole (the infamous lesbian duo), really fun. It was hot and the girls got sweaty, I'm gonna miss the girls sooo much over the summer.
   
We went to a Central American restaurant with horrible service. The waiter was really busy and really stressed. He yelled at the busboys in Spanish and darted around the room like ferret on speed. My dish was pretty overcooked, so I sent it back. I never send back food, I'm always too sqeamish, but it was just unedible. I expected to get punched in the face, but the waiter was nice about it, phew. I saw Cibo Matto with Joanne, those japanese girls are so cute. Peaches and Gonzalez opened for them... Canadian sexual vulgarity... very funny, very disturbing. My favorite line is: Are you lickin' it, or are you chicken shit! good morning SUNSHINE Shunning bio, I went with Tim to see Badly Drawn Boy at the TLA. Such a funny concert, they played for 3 hours, the lead singer posed as an arrogant American rockstar... crazy Brits. Their best songs are: Another pearl, Pissing in the wind, and Disillusion. Coming back from the concert, we couldn't park at the Sheraton cause my monthly pass expired. So we circled around West Philly for a space. After about an hour, we asked a safety ambassador for help. She pointed to a spot on 43rd and Chestnut. We parked there, and as we got out of the car, she yelled, "I hope you have a club!" and then started cackling. Somehow I don't feel 100% about leaving Volvo there. I spent the rest of the night in Houston Hall, studying for my crackhead biology final, and I returned to my room at 8am, exhausted, groggy, and delirious. Mary walked by, refreshed from her good night's rest... I screamed, "Good morning SUNSHINE!!!" Sleeping at night is so conformist. waterballoon karma reading day #2 - accomplishments: read 5 chapters on plants I have an orgasm everytime I read about plant hormones, I love it so much. Especially Auxin, sooo sexy. [note: uber has gone insane, somebody help!] As a study break, I decided to throw a water balloon from Scott's 3rd floor room on an unsuspecting quad pedestrian. This won't just be a random act... It'll be calculated, someone whom I've been resenting all year... somebody who deserved it. I sat at my perch, with Tim at my side, looking for such a victim. Frat boys were pimped out to go to their formals... I wanted to hit this cocky guy in a black suit, but Tim restrained me. "Remember your goal, Will!" After half-an-hour, I realized that I dont really dislike anyone here... and then Tony walked by, good enough. I chucked it at his feet, he jumped, and the balloon splattered making a huge ring of wetness. I really didn't get Tony very wet, but it was funny nonetheless.
Later, in my room, I filled another balloon and was jostling it around. Todd was on my computer printing a study guide, and Tony strolled in. amores perros reading day #1 - accomplishments: nothing I went to Stouffer today. I figure that since I'm going to leave in a few weeks, and theres no waffle iron at home, I'd better take advantage of Stouffer's waffle iron status. I opened the iron, poured the batter in, closed it, and let it sit there for a few minutes. So much work, but I figure it's worth it, for such waffley goodness. When I opened it up (being careful not to burn myself like last time), there was no waffle! Just crusty goo, stuck to the top and bottom of the iron. Ono! Stouffer attendants swarmed me and properly scolded me: "How CAN you forget to grease it?! Do you know how long its gonna take to clean?! Why do you want a waffle anyway, its lunchtime?!" Aaaaaah, I'm sooooory! Today I saw "Amores Perros", like a Mexican story about love and dogs to the style of Pulp Fiction... excellent. I journeyed to the roof of the Quad for the first time today. I went with Dean and friends. I'm kicking myself for not knowing about it earlier. It is definitely the most dope place on campus. Brian was drunk and pissed off the side, really funny. baywatch, jersey style I passed the test! The swimming wasn't hard at all, the running cut it a bit close. I did the 1.5 miles at 11:40, under 12 minutes! I'm really stoked now, hopefully they'll hire me. I heard to live down there, in one of the Sandy Hook houses was $25 a week. A week! Oh, the possibilities. At the test, I met a cool 29 year-old guy named Paul, who was a guard last year. Having some lifeguard friends would be totally cool. Yesterday, I got my car headlight fixed. It went out for seemingly no reason. When the mechanic opened the hood, he said the bulb came loose and melted the bezel that held the light. Bezel? I didn't know such a word existed. He fastened the light with duct tape, and said I'd need a new bezel. Stupid bezels. Last night, I found that Air is going on tour. Playing at the Hammerstein June 21st. I'm totally, completely stoked. Air is completely awesome, so mellow, distinctively french, they play an excellent theme to life. I also discovered the lounge-stylings of Nicola Conte last night. "Bossa per due" is very nice. the five-o As Kitty and I returned to our car in order to leave Yale, we spotted a white slip on the windshield. uhoh. I remember the time when I could count all the tickets I got on one hand. I've gotten so many now, its impossible to remember. The parking ticket wasn't that much, 10 bucks... I still feel slighted because I put 8 dollars into the meter. My mom is really getting on my nerves, constantly feeding me and asking me questions. I'm a bit resentful of going home. I've been here every other week... I'd like to have a life of my own too. Coming home can also be comforting, I guess. My mom likes my company, even moreso now because of my dad leaving. My lifeguard test is tomorrow morning at 6am in Elizabeth. I've made a concious effort to smoke less this weekend than usual. Hopefully, I won't pass out. working new haven So I'm at Yale. Last night, I picked up Kitty and drove up to New Haven to make it just before Rachel's birthday ended. Rach really liked my present, a retro yellow and brass ashtray. It took two days to polish... I'm very glad she liked. It's probably not good to buy your friends implements of smoking, it just eggs them on. Rachel bought me a vintage lighter in January, so I dont feel so bad. While Kitty was over at my house, she was heavily accosted by my mom. She saw Kitty wrapping my gift for Rachel and asked her what it was. Kitty said, "uhh.. it's a paperweight." My mom was like, "Its an ashtray! Do you smoke? Does Rachel smoke?!" So funny. My mom also asked Kit if I was gay, and inquired about girls I'm interested in. Mother is starting to concern me. I had a headache last night, and being with a hopped up Kitty is not the best way to get rid of it. I also stayed up til 8am working with my partners on the OPIM project. Woe is me. rittenhouse running Today, I ran down to the Rittenhouse section. The rowhouses there are so incredibly nice, I'd love to live there someday. I'd hang a cool flag out front, plant some flowers (or herbs) by the curb, and sit on my stoop all day, watching Philadelphia run by me. I stopped at this small antique store and looked at some old photographs. There was one of a 12 year-old kid on the Atlantic City boardwalk, in the 1930's. Growing up in the 30's must've been such a trip, thats when cars looked cool, and everything was much more personal. I ran back and stopped by Lehman Quad, met my management folks, and we shot waterguns at each other. fun. cold. Joanne = evil. redesign! v2.0 Lookie guys, a site makeover! Dean took the picture of the rusty gate you see at the top and bottom, he's a real talented guy... Kudos, Mr. Bordeaux. Maybe I should look into getting a camera, and taking pictures. They probably won't be as cool, unless it was an accident of monumental proportions. This week is the last week of class... a roadtrip to New Haven is possible anyday now. I must reap the benefits of sniffing vinegar all day somehow, and theres no better way than seeing Rach's reaction when I hand her my b-day present. I listened to Popken's radio show today on radio1190.org. A very mellow voice, fit for some sort of Jazz NPR station, and playing hardcore electronica. Lovely contrast. Good job, Pop. Photo by Crystal Jiang
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