syntax

o hai

i did my spring cleaning this weekend. i have only 4 rooms in my apt - how did i accumulate the contents of 10 giant garbage bags in 1 year? i'm also tossing some old books, hoping that if i leave them on the sidewalk someone will claim them. my friend told me that out in the suburbs in PA, you have to hire a junk guy to come to your property and take what he wants from your garbage. like you have to pay him. i am mystified o.O. one time i left a decrepit bed frame outside and it was gone in 2 minutes.

saw indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull with J and my sis. it was enjoyable. i thought it was uneven. i'd put it on par with temple of doom, which i consider the least of the trilogy but not a bad movie overall. the new one definitely feels like an indiana jones movie.

remember this game?

unfortunately i started playing it again whenever i get bored with reading, which happens incessantly. i have it as a ROM on my comp. it's very addictive. i forgot that the early NES games could be very difficult. thankfully there's a feature that lets you enter passwords to start where you left off. i hear pit is a char in the new smash bros game. very cool.

i'm so glad it's a long weekend. it's so nice lying in bed, mocking the alarm clock as it ticks past the weekday wakeup time. i think i'll make myself some tea and start writing something i've been meaning to do for quite some time.

bah

A POISON TREE - blake

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
and he knew that it was mine, --

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

i'm on a psycho holiday

Spring rain
leaking through the roof
dripping from the wasps' nest :(

this past weekend i went to an import auto show out in carlisle, PA (near harrisburg - shockingly the PA state capital). a lot of saab people i know go every year and i was convinced to make it out there for this one. it was a 3+ hr drive. i left late friday night and to my horror discovered that, no matter what time you try to leave NYC on a friday, no matter what route you take, there will be miles of godforsaken traffic.

i saved the expletives for the trip back on sunday and when i was out of the holland tunnel, realized that the rain and fog were out in full force. blinding sheets of rain pummeling one's windshield in the day are terrible, but at night exponentially worse. i took it easy. many others, scarily, did not. the endless ambulances and police cars and flipped SUVs by the side of the expressway proved not to be deterrence enough.

slept at a super 8 motel that night. i remembered the rooms to be a little nicer, but last time i had stayed in one was about 15 years ago. odd curly hairs were plastered to the bathtub walls, i noticed as i stepped in for a shower.

the next day, the rain had subsided and i checked out the show. there were tons of saabs, audis, volvos. numerous subarus, citroens, a used ferrari going for $440,000, some odd 3-wheeled vehicles, and apparently the highlight of the show were the kit cars. all the cars that looked like very expensive exotics were actually fieros and VWs with fiberglass tacked on. it seems like kit cars are very popular. i wasn't that thrilled, honestly, but they were all well done. as i eyed the VW beetle porsches, i remembered the one time my father and i decided to build a miniature mercedes model car and the trauma associated with that endeavor. i told myself never to attempt building a real car.

the saabs had a people's choice award competition. we each received ballots and put which entries should win for each model. my car got 3rd place out of the non-aero 9-5s. i was quite surprised esp as i had done a halfassed job at cleaning my car saturday morning. i had taken it to my neighborhood autowash friday morning (while it was raining outside - the people at the carwash gave me funny looks and i had the only car there). but the ride out that day had considerably dirtied everything up. i hadn't brought any cleaning supplies so i had to extend the purposes of windex. suffice it to say, i was pleasantly surprised to receive an award.

the best part of the show was the food. central penn saab grilled like every meat imaginable and for dinner we had a pig roast. unfortunately someone tossed the pig head b/c we were going to have one of the saab guys run through the audi lot wearing the head and screaming.

people camped out in tents and giant winnebagos. i thought i could sleep in my car. when i put my seats down and lay there in my sleeping bag, as the rain beat down on the roof, i realized that something wasn't right, probably from my cold sweats and chattering teeth despite feeling like a furnace. immediately, without even thinking, i fumbled around for a plastic bag. as i thrashed in throes of agony, it dawned on me that the cause of my malaise was most likely the sour cream dip i had enjoyed despite it being left out in the sun all day. and then, with one especially wretched stomach cramp, i knew that whatever solace i needed could not be found at a port-o-potty or a public restroom with bathroom attendants creeping about. so i fled in a panic at midnight, luckily found a room at a local motel despite most of them being booked for the show, and all i will say is that i pity the maid, since i discovered far too late that the toilet couldn't flush properly and there was a lot of yakking left to be done. while eye-level with the porcelain god, i noticed that the prior customer had suffered a similar fate, signs of which the maid hadn't bothered to clean up, so some of my guilt toward her dissipated in disgust.

i woke up feeling vastly refreshed, put on the news, and learned that, despite the constant patter i was hearing, it was cloudy in carlisle but would rain later on in the day. i opened the blinds and saw the downpour. after i checked out, i drove to the local wal mart and picked up a bottle of 2x max pepto bismol. the cashier chirped, "my goodness! are you ok?" i chugged that pink sludge like it was the fountain of youth and returned to the show for the last day of festivities. i didn't think anyone would still be there, but there were people huddled under a tent containing an engine and several immaculate heritage saabs. as the cold wind and rain whipped my legs, i decided it was time to call it a day.

overall, despite the food poisoning, i had a great time. lots of fun people. i'm going to try to make it out next year and, just in case, have a hotel booked. this week it's back to the grind. school is all over but my exam review begins on tuesday. it's every night - M-F - until the end of july. i can't wait! but it's the last leg of 4 years spent and you gotta do what you have to. almost done :)

def leper

1 final left!!! estate planning is kicking my ass. i stubbed my big toe days ago and totally smashed it open. since it's too cold out to wear open toed shoes, i've had to wear sneakers and high heels and my toe isn't healing :( it's pretty gross. i don't want to be a leper.

blitz

bye-bye little buddy

au lait!

i like the new ralph lauren collection, excluding all the faux-polo uniforms. the women's collection is made up of sexy victorian men's clothing. sadly no monocles to match in the accessories shop. *update - there is model monocle madness in the "lookbook" (katia #4 - see video).