Swine Flu

I'm sick. I've caught the swine flu. I'm achy, my throat hurts, I'm freezing cold in Leahy (even though its been hotter than hell in here) and I'm just all around sick. Clearly, it is swine flu. It has nothing to do with the end of the semester and the fact that I haven't gotten a really good night's sleep in two weeks. With my luck, I will now be the first confirmed case of swine flu in the DC Metro area. Great. I always wanted to be in the news. Not!
Despite feeling like crap, I'm in Leahy and have been here for over three hours. I'm working on my annotated bibliography for my research presentation for tomorrow. Although Walt O'Donnel and another guy from my class are both sitting by me and they dont really have any idea what we're supposed to do for this presentation. Walt is making his paper outline, the other kid already wrote his paper (overachiever!) and I'm doing the bibliography. But I'm not too concerned about whether or not I get all of my sources written about. I'n fact, I think tomorrow before class I may work on an outline so that I'm not sitting there for five minutes talking about the different depositions of people who argue about where the Captain was standing and who he was talking to when the order to fire was given. Its really not that interesting.
On a side note, Brian Neimic just walked into Leahy and started giving cookies to everyone! That's friggin awesome!
Ok, I'm getting back to work because I need a decent night's sleep to fight off this deadly virus.

ps: for those who dont appreciate my sarcasm and exageration, I don't have swinne flu. I've probably just got a bad cold

SARs part deux

We're in day four of the heat wave and I'm beginning to get used to/enjoy it. Warm weather is always better than cold. I sat outside today and read through my history documents for my research presentation that I have to give on Wednesday. I think I'm looking at a long night tomorrow and all afternoon on Wednesday. Fun! Well, 2.5 hours sitting in the sun both paid off and had its consequences. The good news is I've got my first flip-clop tan of the summer. The bad news is that I'm now sunburned on my legs and arms. Really. Not cool.
Top this off with the Swine Flu pandemic. There have now been confirmed cases in New Jersey and the largest outbreak in the country (about half the cases) have been at one high school in Queens. Fantastic. I've got the immune system of an AIDs patient!!! Don't you people get this!! I just had a terrible coughing fit. Clearly i'm infected. The first confirmed case in DC. My coughing has nothing to do with the soda I was drinking moments before.
Ok, I need to get back to making my annotated bibliography. I actually hate making these things but somehow I got it in my head that it would help me be able to give my presentation on my research. So I'm making one. And I've got a looooong way to go.

Heat Wave

Right now (and for the past two days) the DC-Philly coridore is the hottest place in the country. Hotter than Miami, Las Vegas, California, Texas, everywhere. The average temperature has been between 87 and 92. It's hot. And it is definitely a welcome change from the rain and misery that had taken up residence in the district since the day before my birthday.
Friday we went to Loriol Plaza to get dinner and drinks. Unfortunately we went at an ungodly early hour and caught the happy hour, postt-work crew. It also meant we were done eating by like 9:30 and that we were home by midnight. In all, while the margaritas were good, the night was a bit of a bust.
Yesterday we lounged around and did nothing. I helped set up for the APO banquet in the afternoon and then showered so that pre-gaming could be done before the event started. We got there a little after 7 and immediately bought our tickets for the cash bar. I'm pretty sure Fr. Andy thinks I'm an alcoholic because he knew we had some drinks before hand, saw Andy and me walk over to the bar as soon as the bartender showed up and then (when he was deciding whether or not to have a drink) I tried to convince him that he should. Maybe not the best idea. Oh well. After the banquet, Marian and I went to Times and met up with John, who was there for his friend's 21st birthday. We closed the bar down at 3:00. It was good times (no pun intended).
Today was, quite possibly, hotter than yesterday. It was ungodly. Erin Kilroy and I went and got smoothies at PG Plaza and they were fantastic. then I came back and procrastinated before goign to the APO meeting at 5:30, where we had nominations for next year's exec board. It was interesting and pretty predictable, which led to no drama (no fun!). Although, I think the drama that unfolded at the banquet with certain alums was more than enough.
So I may have a new opening on the job front. I'm still not giving up on hte departments and agencies (they'll be getting phone calls tomorrow) but there could be another opportunity. I was checking the CUA Career Services' website today and they had some jobs listed for the summer. One was as an office assistant in the Physics Department. I hate physics but I can suck it up for a summer, because it pays $13/hour and is 9-5 everyday. That's pretty sweet money. I emailed the contact person today and attached my resume. Basically it was like "hi, i'm not a physics major, but i can file and type. will you hire me?" Maybe it will work out. Fingers crossed on something presenting itself soon because I know if I go home in two weeks and dont have any potential things, then I'm not getting back down here. I'll be commuting into NYC everyday and that is not something I want to do, at all.
Ok, I'm in Leahy procrastinating working on my media paper and then beginning my history research that is due on Wednesday. I need to get to work.

Midnight McFlurries

Another late night. I didn't get to bed until 3:30 last night and was actually in Leahy for a good amount of time because Megan and Stacie were there working on the philosophy papers. I was about ready to have a nervous breakdown about it because I had no clue what I was even supposed to be writing about.
Around midnight I had an epiphany as to what the paper was supposed to be about and, suddenly it all made sense. The three of us then decided that we were hungry and we really wanted McDonalds. So we took a drive to the McDonalds, which is like 15 minutes from campus. It was a project because the first intercom didnt work but it didn''t say it wasn't working and it was lit up like it was fine. The working intercom was around the corner. So the three of us, like fucking idiots, sat there for like 7 minutes waiting for someone to come take our order. We finally realized what dumb asses we are and got our orders before heading back to school and buckling down for another 2 hours of writing.
Tonight I think I'm heading back to Leahy to finish up my philosophy paper. Its due tomorrow morning. After that class, I can relax, call all the places I've applies to for jobs, give a tour and shower to go out. Because tomorrow night we're going to Loriol Plaza for margaritas and then I think we will be going out to other places.
Ok, I'm giving myself until 9 to relax and rest because I'm exhausted and freezing cold (I think I'm getting sick). Then it's off to Leahy. To write a philosophy paper. On Aristotle and Rousseau.
Fantastic. I've got 2 giant redbull to get me through it all.

The Berlin Wall

If anyone ever needs to know anything about the Berlin Wall or Ronald Reagan's famous "tear down this wall" speech, I'm your person. After the past 2 and a half days, I'm pretty sure I could tell you anything there is to know about that topic. I thought it would be interesting and whatnot, especially since I'm a Reagan fan (really, who isnt?) but I was sorely mistaken. If I never write/type the guy's name again, I'd die happy. The same goes for the Brandenburg Gate. Really, I think the US should have just nuked the shit out of Moscow in the 50's and just been done with it. I mean, they didn't even have toilet paper. There is no way they would have been able to detect a nuclear weapon. Damn communists.
At least the paper is done. I just have to proof it, which will only take me a few minutes. Right now, I'm moving on to my philosophy essay which is due on Friday. Prove why Rousseau disagrees with Aristotle's claim that all men have a natural desire for knowledge. Joy. I think tonight is going to be mainly the research end of it and tomorrow will be the bulk of the writing. I'm just kind of burnt out tonight from writing all day. God I hate the end of the semester. On top of the paper I finished today and the philosophy paper due Friday, I have the following:
-3 pages on the film "Capturing the Friedmans"
-10-15 pages on how the Boston Massacre was the cause of the American Revolution
-8 pages of analysis on documents pertaining to a 17th century murder trial in New England
-3 pages on the film "this film is not yet rated"
-and a media paper of undetermined length on an undetermined topic
FML

On top of all this, on Friday afternoon I have to call all the different agencies that I applied to and folow up with them. Find out when or if I will be hearing from them. Hopefully that will help to give me a better perspective on where things stand. If it doesn't sound to promising after that, then Saturday and Sunday are going to be spent looking up temp agencies to register with and maybe checking out some places in Georgetown or Dupont to get a job.
Perhaps a good note though, I've decided I'm going to do Jumpstart in the fall. I have 2 days off and need to do something with my time, other than try and get a part time on-campus gig and write my thesis. Plus, if you do Jumpstart and apply for Teach for America, you are automatically pushed through to the second round of interviews. And there are only two rounds. So it definitely can't hurt my chances if I'm participating in that program while applying to T4A. Its areally good reume builder too. And, I mean, lets not forget that it actually does help young, disadvantaged kids who don't necessarily have the strongest role models in their lives. Its a win-win all around.

Sleep Deprivation

The final weeks of the semester are hell. I hate them. Really, I do. I have 7 papers to write in the next 2 weeks. Approximately 60 pages (and that's a conservative estimate). I haven't gotten to bed before 2:30 in the past few days and I have a feeling that this pattern is going to continue until classes are over and the finals have been taken. I'm going to start living on Redbull pretty soon. I've already started resorting to it. But I'll elaborate more on that later. Right now, its 2:55 and I'm going to go to bed so that I can catch 5 hours of sleep, get up and go to philosophy and then come back and continue writing. ALL. DAY.

It really will be a miracle if I survive the next 2 weeks.

It Got a Little Crazy Last Night

It has been an interesting weekend. Thursday I went to the baseball game with Erin. The Nationals won, which was nice considering they hadn't won a game yet this year. The terrible downside of the night though? I tripped on the steps at the stadium and fell (I'm such a fucking klutz). At the time, I had a beer in one hand and a hot dog in the other, so I couldn't even brace myself for the fall. I just completely wiped out. My blackberry, which was in my pocket, was totally cracked. I now have a huge series of cracks on the screen. But at least the beer and hot dog were saved. I have insurance on my phone. I didn't have insurance on the $12.50 I had just spent on my beer and hot dog. I would have just been shit out of luck. So I look at it as an acceptable loss. I'll get a new phone and all will be good. After the game, Erin and I went to Brooks' for a drink. We ran into Alec, who was there with two of his friends from the Basilica choir. We ended up drinking with them for a while and one of Alec's friends bought us all a round of rum and coke's.
Friday was Odyssey Day. And it was very hot. I gave tours for three straight hours and got a little sunburned. Which was nice. I need to get some kind of tan going. I'm way too pale. I've decided that I'm spending the month of May laying in the sun in my backyard. I refuse to come back here in June and be pale. That is, if I do come back here. Although, I don't really have a job at home. Other than the liquor store. So I'd be no worse off hanging out here than hanging out at home. Minus the money it would cost to live here. But we'll ignore that fact for now. That's my new philosophy.
On Friday night, Erin, Erin and I went to Irish Times. It was good. Erin's bf showed up after the baseball game, slightly trashed. So he was kind of funny. And we met this guy from CUA Law who looked exactly like Green Bean. It was really weird. He was nice, but just the fact that he looked like Green Bean was kind of creepy and strange. Overall, it was a good night though. Not too epic, but still pretty fun.
Yesterday I helped Erin move some of her bulky stuff since she's moving into our trailer for the final 3 weeks of school. It's crazy. Then I had to go to the APO Girl Scouts on Campus Day event. But none of the kids showed up. So it was just the brothers all sitting around doing arts and crafts and talking. It wasn't terrible because we turned it into a de-facto fellowship event but it was kind of a bust as a service project. The afternoon was spent relaxing and doing absolutely nothing. It was glorious.
Last night, Erin and I went back to Irish Times. It was all Catholic people. I mean, you could barely move the place was so crowded. The rugby team was having their formal in the downstairs area from 8-11, with an open bar. That meant that by the time we got there at 10:45, they were all trashed. I mean, there was a freshman sitting outside waiting for an ambulance to show up so that he could have his stomach pumped. After that, all the underage kids fled because they were afraid they would get re-carded. There was a girl from the formal sitting on her bf's lap outside, passed out. When he got her up to move her, she started projectile vomiting all over the place. Half hour later, we're standing outside talking to 2 kids from school who we know, and two Times workers start dragging this guy outside (and he was putting up a hell of a fight). Next second, half the rugby team is outside trying to calm this guy down. Well, I guess they didnt do a very good job, because the next thing you know, he's been wrestled to the ground by 4 workers and another junior is up against a car with his hands behind his back. I don't get why the junior was arrested though. I had seen him and he was calm and fine. When the cops showed up, they handcuffed him and then stood there and talked to him for like 5 minutes. He never seemed to freak out of anything. So I don't get it. Well, the drunk guy ended up getting carried into a squad car by four cops. So that was the rugby team. I don't think they'll be invited back.
About fifteen minutes after we got there, I ran into my friend Kevin, who is on the rugby team. He's from Bayonne, I went to high school with his sister, I graduated with his girfriend Alyssa and he's bff's with my cousin Nick, who lives down the block from me. He tell me that Alyssa is actually there because she came down for the dance. So I spent the next half hour catching up with her and talking about everything that's been going on with the people we went to school with. After talking with Alyssa, Erin went home because she was tired and not drinking. I ended up going downstairs where rugby had been having their party, but at that point it was open to everyone and there were tons of people. I ran into Kenny and this kid Connor, who is in my history class. We hung out at the downstairs bar and talked for a while. Then we ended up going upstairs to the regular bar and getting some more drinks. The next thing I know, Kenny said he had to go to the bathroom or something. But then he's by the front door, with a bloody nose, trying to get a towel. And in the next instant, he was gone. Like, he'd left. Very weird. So it was like 1:30 at that point and I went home not long after that. T'was an epic night.
So that was my crazy weekend. Now this afternoon I have to help Erin move the rest of her stuff and then write two small papers for history and media. That way I can spend the rest of my week working on my politics and philosophy papers, which will not be fun.

Sam Adams

My boring junior seminar class finally payed off today. When I got into politics, our prof asked us which historical figure was the most important leading up to the signing to the Declaration. I raised my hand and asked if he meant in the political or public opinion arena. He said either one and I told him I thought Sam Adams was the most important. The prof looked at me for a second with a surprised look on his face and then said "well I thought I was going to get to play cat and mouse for a while but you hit it right on the head. Sam Adams. And why is he the most important?" Then I got to go into a whole thing about the Sons of Liberty and the Committee of Correspondence. He ended up relating it to the Boston Tea Party and the Tea protests yesterday. But ohh yea, I had some major brownie points by the end of that tangent. Then later on in the class I got into a debate with Brendan about the representative democracy that the United States is founded on and I'm pretty sure the prof supported my argument. It was one of those times when the prof looks at you and is like "Go back at him. I think you're completely right."
In history, I'm pretty sure I frazzled my professor. After he left Caldwell to sprint back to Cardinal Hall to get papers that he thought he left there (but still couldn't find) I asked him how the weight of our graded prjoects would change since our second paper is now optional extra credit. He said everythign would still count for the same percentage but then I asked him what would happen to the 15% that was supposed to be for the second paper. He like a deer in the headlights and was like "well, I'll try and figure that out and let you know." Then I asked him if we were going to get back our first papers at some point and he was like "yea, at some point. eventually the t.a. will give them back." Ok. Great. But hey, I filled my class participation credit for the semester in that class today. Instead of a lecture we had a discussion on these douments about a rebellion that we were supposed to have read. Well, I didn't read them and I don't even have them. Although, I did comment on all of them and raise valid concerns about their credibility. Basically I kicked ass in class today.
It's beautiful out today and Erin and I are going to go see the Nats-Phillies game tonight. Tomorrow is Odyssey Day. Hell on campus. I hate Odyesy Day. I would really like to appologize to all the poor college students my parents and I tortured while looking at schools. But its ok, bceause Erin and I are spending the weekend at Irish Times!! And Saturday night, the rugby team is having some kind of end of the year thing there. Three guesses as to who is on the rugby team. Haha. It's going to be a good weekend.

Hell

My media screenings are supposed to run from 5:10 to 7:00 on Tuesday nights. That's two hours for us to watch our social change documentary. More than enough time to watch tons of movies. Today, the screening ran from 5:10 to 7:40. We got out 40 minutes late!!! What. The. Fuck. Why couldn't the prof pick any one of the countless movies that are under 2 hours in length. The best part is, she told us it would run a little bit over 2 hours, but only a few minutes. That's fine. I'm thinking like 10 minutes. It was probably exactly two hours and it wouldn't be a problem. But 40 minutes? That's redic.
The next two weeks are going to be complete hell. Tonight I have to write a 5 page history paper on a book that I'm reading as I go. Tomorrow, I have class from 10-11, a tour at 12:30, class from 3-5, an ambassador meeting at 5 and I'm working the blood drive from 6-7. Then I have to come back to the room, eat dinner and write a 6 page media paper. Apparently on Thursday, APO is holding game night in our trailer. I was never informed of this. Carolyn just assumed she could use our place and that really pisses me off. Why doesn't she hold game night in her Mill apartment? So I need to clean for everyone to come over. Friday is Odyssey day. I'm working for about 4 hours after my morning class gets out. I will be going out that night. Without a doubt. Then Saturday, I have Kids on Campus Day for APO, all day. Great! That will be fun. Sunday will be spent wither in the Library or Leahy, doing copious amounts of work.
Next week, I have a media paper due on Tuesday, a politics paper due Thursday and a philosophy paper due on Friday. I also have an optional history paper to replace a grade that I nee to do. Then the APO banquet on Saturday night. That brings us to the final week of classes an then finals week.
God, for as long as the semester has dragged on (and believe me, it has dragged) it also went by kind of fast. Although, with finals week approaching, it brings up the summer and I'm still kind of anxious about that. I don't have any plans set in stone yet and it's making me kind of nervous. But I'm trying to remain relaxed and not obsess about it too much. Though, I'm not entirely sure I'm doing a good job of not-obsessing. I really am trying though.
On a complete side note, Liz has finally realized the need for us to move to Britain and meet British guys. Yay! But I'm still completely jealous that she went to Serbia and has now met a British guy that may or may not be crashing on her couch for the next month. I'm the one who loves all things Britain! Oh the injustices of the world! Haha.
Ok, time to get back to work on this paper. I have over a page, which is good. Only 2-3 more to go.

p.s. my cousin just announced via facebook that she's having another baby. those 2 move fast considering they had a just baby in may.

p.p.s. the Giants 2009 season schedule has been announced. looks like we'll have to be the road warriors again.

Woke Up This Morning, Got Myself a Gun

I'm sitting in my room and, quite suddenly, I just heard the first notes of "Paper Planes" start playing. After looking around confused for a minute (since I don't have anything on in my room) I realized my sister is listening to music across the hall in the computer room. Great song!
Well yesterday, while drinking and gambling like a degenerate, I won $30! Wooo! I consider that a success. I started the day with $20 and ended with $50. All of it was won while playing "Sopranos" themed slot machines. They were the new video slots with the screens on top and a big display on top of the group of machines. About every ten minutes they opening credits of the show would play. It would scroll across the top display and the screen on each machine. I heard that opening song about a hundred times yesterday. Hence the title of the post.
This morning we got up at the ass crack of dawn to drive home so that we could shower and go to afternoon lunch with my sister and grandmother. It was facinating. My grandmother told me that I was just like my Uncle Richie. Greeeeeat. That's what I've always aspired to in life and now I can die happy. My work here is done. If you couldn't tell by the blatent sarcasm, my uncle is pretty much retarded and my g-ma just thinks he is the greatest thing to ever grace the planet. He's slightly moronic and married to this crazy lady who is like 20 years older than him and just completely dumb. I mean, really dumb. You look at her, and you can just tell there is not a whole lot going on up there in that mind. She recently and Whinnie the Pooh Bear and Gang tattooed on her leg. She's like 50 something. That should be explination enough. So, my g-ma telling me I'm just like my uncle... it just mad my day.
Tomorrow I have to head back to school. Hopefully my car has been all checked out and fixed. We dropped it off at the garage on Thurday and told the guys to look at it and take care of whatever was wrong. My dad hasn't talked to them since then, but he's going to go pick it up in the morning. I'm hoping they gave me a new battery. It may have run ok on Wednesday when I drove home, but I'm concerned it will keep dying if I bring it back to school. I'm sure the guys at Harrington's took care of it though. That's the garage that was used as the model for the one that is owned by Tom Cruise's friend and gets blown up at the beginning of "War of the Worlds". It's about a half a block away from my house and my dad went to grammar school with one of the owners.
Most likely, it would be a good idea to unpack the suitcase full of winter clothes that I brought home so that I could pack up the few things I need to bring back to school with me. Eh ::shrugs:: I'll do that in the morning before leaving.

p.s. last night I had this really random dream that my dad got called up out of inactive duty in the army and that he was being deployed to Iraq. It was a really upsetting dream. And completely random because he's been out of the army since May 2001 (convenient timing considering what happened three months later)

B-I-N-G-O

It's pouring rain out. And we're in, practically, the middle of nowhere. Foxwoods is really nice and it reminds me a lot of the hotels in Vegas, but it's on an Indian reservation in the middle of the woods. It's a little strange.
Yesterday my mom got up at around 6 in the morning so she could shower, eat breakfast and go play bingo. The game starts at 10:30, but you need to be there at 8:30 when the doors open so that you can get your boards, find a seat and get set up. The game itself runs from 10:30 until 3 in the afternoon. Four and a half hours!!!!! It's insane. My dad and I took our time getting ready and went to the casino around 2 to walk around, play some slots and wait for her to finish. We walked around for a while, went to eat and then had to get on line because my mom wanted us to play bingo with her that afternoon/night. So we went.
Well, bingo may be a cheap way to gamble (it costs about $50 to play all the games for about 5 hours) but it is like a marathon and way too much for me. The chairs are uncomfortable, the people are waaaay too crazy and into it and, on top of everything else, I felt like I was at an AARP convention. Not everyone was old, but the majority of the people were. Plus, I didn't wi anything. Everytime I got close to winning something, some obnoxious person in the back would holler "bingo" and the entire room would groan and move on to the next board.
After bingo got out at around 11 (we'd been there since about 5:30) we played some slots and had a couple drinks. I found British themed slot machines!!!! I mean, it must be fate. All the signs are pointing accross the Atlantic. Haha.
So this morning my mom got up again at 6 so that she could get ready for bingo. She asked if my dad or I wanted to go with her. Hell no! It was fun, but 6 hours is a bit too long for me. We're going to meet up with her later and then I think she wants to take a drive to Mohegan Sun, which is like 15 minutes away. Apparently, some old lady in bingo yesterday told her that it is a nicer casino and much bigger. So we're going to go check it out and probably eat there. Sounds like a better plan than another marathon bingo night. It would round out the vacation at 16 hours of bingo for my mom and 12 for my dad and me. Thats about 10 hours too much for me.
I should probably go take a shower so that I can get ready. Then I can spend the day drinking and gambling like a degenerate.

Jumper Cables

To say it has been an interesting couple of days is a bit of an understatement. It's been frustrating, annoying, exhausting and... normal.
Monday night, after writing a media paper and watching 24, Erin came over so we could study for our history quiz. After our pathetic performances on the last one, we figured it would be a good idea to really study and make sure we had everything worked out. After studying for a bit, I wanted to take a trip to the C-store and, since it was bitter cold out, I suggested driving down to the Pryz. Plus, we were both lazy and it was like 11 and we were tired. So we go out to my car and it won't turn on. The battery is dead and, after checking, I knew I hadn't left the lights on when I drove it on Saturday. Not a big deal, I'll go get Kenny and Chris and I'm sure they can jump my car for me, right?
Well, we get the boys and they push my car out of its spot so Kenny can get his car close enough. We try jumping it a couple times and it wont work. Just my luck. So they push my car back into its spot and Kenny suggests that I call DPS and have them come jump it because it may have just been that my jumper cables were bad. Erin and I decided to go back inside and study for a little while longer and then she went back to her room, I went to the C-store, came back and called public safety. Thirty cold minutes later, during which I had to sit out at my car because God knows they can't come knock on my trailer door, they show up and start my car. All is well.
Tuesday, on my way to my first class, I walk past where my car is parked and decided I would try and start it just to make sure it was still ok. It wasn't. Completely dead once again. Now I know there is something wrong with it. I called my dad when I got out of class and he said he'd bring it to get a new battery when I was home for Easter. Class comes and goes. My history quiz was waaaay easier than we thought. "Define and give the significance of indentured servitude and Bacon's rebellion". "Identify on a map: Jamestown, East New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania". Really? Whatever, I'm not going to complain. After my very boring media screening, I packed up all of my stuff that I didn't need and was going to bring home nad called DPS to come re-jump my car. They did and I decided to drive it around for 15 or 20 minutes so that it could get a charge in it. When I got back to Curley, I let it run while I put my stuff in and called the Chris and Kenny to carry out my mini-fridge for me. They really are very helpful guys.
This morning, I was expeecting hte car to be dead again but it wasn't, which was nice. I got on the road around 11:30 and was home between 3 and 3:30. Some asshole from PA completely cut me off when we were getting stopped in traffic just after the Gothels Bridge in Staten Island. I was about two sseconds away from slamming into him. My sister had a softball game so I went and watched that. They won, she struck out three times, but apparently she hit a double before I got there. Came home and let her drive to play practice (because she has her permit now)... it was terrifying. I mean, not really terrifying but really kinda scary because she just got her permit a few weeks ago and she drove about 20 mph hour on a road where you're supposed to do 40.
We went and got pizza at the Starting Point tonight. See my previous post to learn about my feelings on good, Jersey style pizza. And I love the Starting Point. It's the Cheers bar of Bayonne. My parents and I met two friends of theirs and we all got pizza and wings and had some drinks. I was relaxing and pretty quiet because its a Wednesday night.
Tomorrow, my parents and I are going away to Foxwoods for the weekend. Its their birthday present to me. We're going to go up there, relax and gamble. I think it will be a good time. My mom wants me to play bingo with her. I don't get her obsession with playing bingo but its her favorite thing to do when we go to Vegas. Maybe its really fun, I don't know. I'm sure I'll write some kind of post over the next few days and update about how the Foxwoods thing is going. I'm sure it will be a couple of days that are full of stories.

Sectionals: Declassified

It has been one hell of a whirlwind weekend. I was up for two days with about 3 collective hours of sleep. Finally got to bed late last night and have awoken sick. Hopefully I've got what Molly had and not what Marian has. That would just suck so completely. I'm going to try and do justice to a recap of the whole weekend because Friday was good and yesterday was very, very interesting (but not for the reasons we thought). Let me begin...
Friday it poured all morning and there wasn't a chance in hell I was getting up to trek through that to go to philosophy class. So I stayed in bed. It cleared up by the afternoon and I had to give a tour, which was fine. I got to relax and do nothing while Molly ran around getting ready for the fellowship because I had an excused absence. That night I met my cousin Brian and his wife Holly for dinner in Chinatown. We went to this brickoven pizza place called Matchbox and it was surprisingly good. Very good, in fact. I haven't really found a good pizza place down here (I'm very much a purist when it comes to my pizza) but this was good. We waited over an hour for a table, which just meant that we sat at the bar and drank. That long of a wait is reassuring though. All those people wouldn't be there if it sucked. So dinner was fun. They're moving to North Carolina and Brian thinks he can get me a summer job. That would be fantastic. I have to send him my resume this afternoon.
I get back to campus around 10:30/11 and Chris had texted me to say they were having a party in Steve's trailer and I should stop by. So I did. It was a very strange party. Steve, Chris, Nick, Ed and his whole crew, and then a bunch of random people who don't go to school here. I stayed for a little over an hour to be fashionable and not rude. Then I peaced. It was getting late anyway and I had to be in the Pryz by 7 the next morning. I was ready to just go to bed. But! I get back to my trailer and Erin texted me to stay that her and Erin Kilroy were on their way back from Adam's Morgan and going to Brooks, did I want to joing them? Well, I ended up going to Brooks. Which would have been fine, but Chrissy was there. I have nothing against her. I never did. But the second we walked in she gives me a nasty look and you can tell she wants to start talking about me to anyone who will listen. In the end, I got home around 2:30 and didn't get to bed until 3. Just over three hours later, I was rudely awoken by Molly throwing my door open because we needed to get up and get ready to be at the Pryz by 7. Grrrrr!

This brings me into the story of Espionage: Sectionals Declassified. What a day! We get there at 6:56 and the info desk worker won't let us in until exactly 7. Really? Whatever. So we get in, everyone else starts showing up and David and I are assigned to go sit at the metro and give directions to anyone who looked lost. A very exciting assignment, let me tell you. After that I had some time off before I was scheduled to work at the info desk. I ended up sitting on the third floor of the Pryz with Afifeh, talking about random stuff. Mark and Patrick came over and we ended up on a conversation about the post-conference party at last year's sectionals. It was awesome because, at first, Patrick was like "no I don't think I was there. I don't rememb-- oooooooo". It all just kind of dawned on him, which was hysterical. I worked the info desk and ended up getting into politics discussions with a bunch of the pledges. For the most part, they all seem pretty normal and cool. The day proceeded on with me running around doing minor things and just trying to make sure Molly wasn't freaking the hell out. This was done by staying out of her way and just helping her out whenever she stressed.
Now we get to the business meeting. I could write a whole post just on the drama that unfolded in the Hannan 108 auditorium. And believe me, there will be a long email that goes into great detail about what went down and why we think it did. Basically, the abridged version (for the sake of time) is that we have this business meeting with everyone from our section who is at the conference. Every school elects 2 voting delegates and the rest of the people just sit in the back and watch and, at times, may be invited to ask questions or offer opinions. At the meeting we vote on where the next year's sectionals will be (its at UMBC, who are a newly chartered chapter and have no idea what they're getting into) and we choose our new section chair for the year. Traditionally, people serve two terms as section chair. So this year we were going to nominate and elect Mark to his second year. Everyone knows this is what is going to happen and we're expecting this part to last about 5 minutes. Then all the non-voting delegates can leave and I needed to shower before the banquet. Well, for reasons that I won't get into, Zeta Phi (aka Howard U) decided to throw a metaphorical hissy fit and nominate some random person from section staff, who went to their school, to run against Mark for section chair! Are you kidding me!?!?! Then G-town thought it was open hunting season and decided to nominate Patrick, who is their section rep. He declined because he's Mark's best friend and he's not going to run against him. So then the two nominees had to answer questions from the voting delegates (and non-voting people can't say anything). Howard goes on to ask questions about embracing ethnicity and all this other shit. Now Zeta Mu (cua) is sitting there silently freaking out and plotting ways to kill Zeta Phi. Poor Molly had to leave the room before the vote because she would have been inconsolable if Mark didn't get reelceted. I mean, he's like family to her and that may have been the thing that drove her away from the organization. Well, Mark won, which was good. But it set the tone for the banquet.
All things considered, the banquet went very well. We gave Molly the Chapter DSK, which she was very surprised about. Mark gave Molly, Marian and Beth gift certificates to a spa as a thank you for the work they put into planning the conference and because they are "three girls who have no idea how to relax". Then we did Roll Call. No one in our chapter had time to plan a roll call so we put Alyssa and the pledges in charge of it. They got up to do their thing and the rest of the chapter was a little concerned because none of them had ever even seen a roll call before. Well, can I just say, they gave the greatest roll call I think I have ever seen. They may have beaten the boys from Alaska, Fairbanks at Nationals. It was absolutely hysterical. Luckily, I had decided to record it, simply because it was our chapter and the pledges. You can all go watch it on facebook. It's great.
Once everything wound down around 11:30 (and it was insinuated by section staff that we drink excessively, which we do) Molly and I had a few people back to our trailer to hang out. And by a few I mean Andee, Chris and Steve. It was just the whole "its over we can sit and do nothing" mentality. Molly went to bed around 12:45 because she had to get up this morning to go up to NYC. But I was still up and they all stayed until 3. We were just up talking and laughing about the conference, random people and a whole bunch of stuff. For the second night in a row, I didn't get to bed until 3 in the morning. That ok, I had a good time. This morning I woke up sick though.

So that was my epic weekend. It was pretty intense and very interesting. Overall, I think everything went very well and almost flawlessly, minus the business meeting. I just realized this is an insanely long post and it has taken me over an hour to write (although I was also uploading videos and checking my mail). I gotta go take Sudafed

Can I Take Your Order?

My dad just called me in this high strung, worked up panic about how I haven't heard from any of the jobs I applied to. So clearly, I need to go on monster.com, check the newspaper classifieds and apply for every waitress job in the district. Otherwise I will have to come home for the summer and look for a job there. I was like "Whoa, bud. Calm down. I think I have until the middle of April before I need to start worrying." He thinks I need to be panic stricken this very instant. Even though two of the jobs I applied to only had their deadlines last week. Give them time to file all of the applications before you start thinking no one is willing to hire me. Honestly, the confidence he has in me is amazing.
Well, that's my story. Conference starts tomorrow night and Molly has threatened to send me hourly, countdown text messages. Please dont!!! I may be forced to file a restraining order at that point. We have a meeting tonight to stuff envelopes and folders. Should be tons of fun. Really, I cant hardly contain my excitement. Who cares that the series finale of ER is tonight at 9? I'd much rather stuff folders in the Pryz. It doesn't matter that the show has been on for fifteen years and tonight is the last episode EVER! My dedication and love for APO are much more important. Especially when we are in such a state of crisis. The conference is only 24 hours away!!!! People, we are at def-com 10!!! It is time to start panicing!!!!!
::the entire preceding paragraph was dripping with sarcasm::

April Showers

The rain sucks! I mean, I really hate it. Not cool at all. With the exception of yesterday and Sunday, the weather has really been pretty miserable for about a week now. And it's going to stay like this until Saturday. It's so miserable and depressing after a while. I mean, after prolonged exposure to shitty weather, you begin to just have no desire to do stuff. Wow. Ok, that's really morbid and suicidal-sounding. I just meant that it becomes like a rainy weekend day when you lay around and watch movies. Except its like that everyday. Not to mention that the warmer, damper weather is really screwing with my shoulder. It's been killing me for days now. I keep feeling like I'm about to dislocate it or something. That'll be great when it eventually does happen.
I think I'm suffering from early onset senioritis. I have absolutely no desire to do any work. Although, I guess it could be the weather. It seems a little early still to be that ready for the semester to be over. We still have over a month left. On the other hand, I did see a poster in the Pryz today advertising Luaupoluza. That is scary. It means the semester really is almost over and, while it has seemed to drag on forever, it;s actually another year that's gone by pretty fast. This time next year, we really will be suffering from senioritis. A little over a month left to go and, hopefully, some definite plans for the future. Or at least an idea of where we want to try and end up. I'd be happy with an idea.