35

Only 3% of the world.

34

A day of boredom. I found a four leaf clover while walking Maxx. Then I came home and did this the rest of the day.


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33

Final. Flora's going away present. Now I have to find a frame.

32

Today was such a somber day. I dropped my mom off to work this morning, came back home, turned on my stereo to try to fall back asleep to, but all the talk was about Michael's death. I fell in and out of sleep, and I feel like I sort of woke up at the most awkward part. I remember hearing the DJ say, "Now we leave you with the song that launched Michael Jackson's solo career." The song was "Ben". I admit that I started crying when the song went on; it was that much of an emotional song. I feel like anyone would be bummed out just listening to that song.

I remember I had the news on when they started broadcasting that Michael Jackson was rushed to the hospital. My dad came home and said that he might be dead. Sure enough an hour later he was pronounced dead. My dad started crying, he was such a huge MJ fan since the beginning. Before I went to bed last night, I went to the basement and raided my dad's record collection. I know he had an original of "Thriller" and "We are the World". I left "We are the World" down with his collection, but "Thriller" is now sitting in my personal collection, hehehehe.

I woke up super late as always and realized that I should've bought a newspaper. I pulled the same move after the election, and searched all of Gaithersburg and Rockville for the latest papers declaring Obama's win. I don't know why I didn't think twice to stop at the gas station to pick up a paper. I went around 1:45 pm, and of course the gas station was fresh out. I went to work and ran in to John walking in as well. We talked about how bummed we both were about MJ, and how it's still surreal. Everyone started talking about it as soon as we walked in. Either Sandra or Amy said this; it was the very same thing I told Billy a few hours before, "A part of our childhood went with him". Now that I think about it, he was the very first musician I can honestly say I remember listening to besides my grandma's lullabies, old cultural songs, and '40s swing music. I remember freaking out with my cousins when his music video would show on TV, and we attempt to dance and sing along. We talked about the possible theories from the skin alterations to mental stability. I heard somewhere that he altered his nose many times, because every time he looked in the mirror he saw his father. The one thing we all agreed upon was that he was still a child in his head. The Peter Pan complex really took the best of him.

Work was a nightmare none the less. For a good two hours, it was busy. The line was almost out the door, some people were a royal pain in the ass. This guy I had to serve ordered two big tubs of two different signatures. Thankfully he was cool after I finished, and tipped $5. This one lady who always comes every Friday with her million kids was there; she was only with two of her daughters this time. This other group of middle school girls and someone's mom (maybe) came in, and they all had online coupons. I looked at the backs of the coupons and they looked sketchy. I told everyone else to look, and they all agreed and showed it to John. It was legit, but it was suspicious as to where and how this woman obtained all these online coupons. She had a stack in her purse left after she was done with the group.

The time was passed laughing and joking. During one song we had to sing, Jonathan screwed up and restarted the entire song. We all stopped and looked at him. I just yelled "FAIL" when he asked what happened. Another highlight was that Stephanie was there again, and I had a chance to talk to her when it was slow. Another couple of customers came in, so I couldn't chat anymore. Closing became more interesting. Jonathan had a big bottle of Malibu pineapple rum, and made himself a daiquiri before we had to ring our stuff up and bring the dishes back. I thought it was hilarious. John saw it and started making fun of Jonathan, saying stuff like, "When other companies call to ask about your work ethic, I'll just tell him that he likes to drink of on the job during the last 45 minutes. Yeah, when it was busy he was a great worker, but he likes to drink on the job!" John is seriously the coolest boss I've ever had, besides Dawn. He just continued to laugh at Malloy and his bottle of liquor. Alex is underage, but flipped when she saw the liquor. Some of the daiquiri started leaking over the side of Malloy's cup, and she kept offering to lick it off. I'm so exhausted and my feet are killing me. I have to work on Sunday, and the next two weekends after. I didn't realize what I got myself in to. I'm covering for someone on Sunday. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have anymore hours after the weekend of July 12. Maybe the possible NorCal trip won't be a problem after all. I should notify them just in case.

31

RIP Michael Jackson.

30

I have a serious headache right now. I just painted something with a ton of nail polish, and the fumes are getting to me.

Today was a bit crazy. I took my mom to her doctors appointment to get her some meds; that cold she contracted from me and my dad got worse with her. Now she's on three different meds for the rest of the week. I spent a good part of my afternoon chasing Maxx around my room to my parents' room; he kept sliding under their bed, and every time I went to another corner to grab him, he would go to the opposite corner and slide under again. I had to take a break from laughing so hard. I continued to work on Daniela's Harry Potter scarf. I still have a little more to do, but it's almost finished.

Can I just say how much I hate Spencer Pratt? Him and his flesh colored beard. Honestly? If I were to miraculous see him cross the street while I'm in my car, I wouldn't give it a second thought to make him blend in with the pavement. I watched the finale of that "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here" show, and I would love it if someone shot him in the face. No one knew who you were a few years ago, no one will no who you are within the next year. He's just another one of those so called bad ass types who are all hype for the cameras, but can't hold their own.

I just got a couple of texts from Daniela about 45 minutes ago, and she was wondering if I would like to go to Artomatic tomorrow. I told her that I had no money, meaning I have no money for anything. I thought she would get it. She text me back saying that it's free; yeah, I know that. But how do we plan on getting there? Let's see, survey says metro. What did I just say? All together now, "I...HAVE...NO...MONEY!" She text me again asking that I don't have money even to go to the Dutch Market for breakfast. Headache now increases. I AM BROKE! I have no money for metro fair, what makes you think that money will magically appear for breakfast at Dutch market? I would love it if money just magically appeared out of thin air, but that's not how life is.

I just got the biggest-no, two biggest disappointments today. First off I was researching air fare, and the cheapest I found was starting $329 per person. Even then that was the wrong airport. The next one I found was $400 something- one way, per person. I told my dad that it'll be best if I just stay back, and he go to NorCal. He told me even then, he doesn't think he'll be able to go, because the air fare alone is too much. My grandpa's going to want to do a lot of activities, buy a lot of things; cigarettes mainly. Plus there's the rental car, gas, my cousin...We're looking at $2000 minimum for the trip. Plus I don't think I'm going to have enough time to put in my leave for a week's trip. Blah. Plus there's the issue of Maxx. I don't really trust any of my family members to watch him, and I'm sure that the Petsmart pet hotel in expensive.
Second disappointment of the day; I finally found two places that still sell professional 35 mm film cameras that are brand new, not to mention cheap! I was so happy, until my dad broke the news; Kodak will no longer produce film. CRAP! I don't know what my photography professor is going to do. I would have loved to work in the dark room, and learn the old techniques, but if there's no more film, then what's the point? I'm going to have to wait until classes start to find out what the deal is. Yay.

The only good thing about today is that Megan's mom found a frog shaped cookie cutter, and brought one home. We have this plan to make "chocolate frogs" out of brownies for the Half-Blood Prince premiere. I found actual HP chocolate frogs at Borders when I went to buy Paradise Lost, but I'm not spending $3.95 for something the size of shot glass that has been flattened, and includes a wizard card. I started drawing some of my own, and we're going to give some to our friends, and possibly some of the kids who are attending. The issue of how I'm going to make multiple copies of the cards is tba.

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29

Oh my God! Two people I know just got lucky today; my only reader and my dad. They both would have been on the metro that just collided about an hour ago. I don't understand how this could have happened. Everyone keeps asking if the trains were single tracking, and all the metro officials say "no". It looks like they were single tracking, otherwise how could this have happened? I hope everyone else on the train is alright, I know one person died. Whoever was operating the red line needs to be evaluated and fired. My dad was off today, so he escaped that. He called his work, asking for his boss, but his boss was out. The guys in the shop can't believe this, either.

28

I had such an eventful weekend. First thing's first; HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! There, I said it. Let's backtrack a tad..

Saturday night:

I decided to meet up with everyone for the bon fire idea. The plan was to meet up in front of Pelican Pete's and arrange a carpool by 10:30 pm. Yeah. In the grand scheme of things, we didn't arrange anything until 11:30, and by then we didn't leave until 12:10 am. Jake and Juhi were the last to arrive. I found it really interesting that he decided to make an appearance. I feel like it was more on Juhi's part that made him show up. I ran up to her and gave her a huge hug. I pulled her to the side and asked her about her status as of late. Sam told me right before they arrived that Juhi's violin is at her parent's house, and he's letting her use one of his other ones. She told me that yes, her parents are holding her violin hostage. She went back home to get it; she found it, but her brother was home. He took it from her and said, "you're not taking this!" She quit her job at H-Mart and found another job at a Korean deli on E. Gude. The only problem is that she doesn't have a mode of transportation. I noticed all the stuff in the backseat of Jake's car, and I asked if that was hers. She said it was a mixture of her stuff and Jake's. They were staying at David's brother's house for a while, but he kicked them out a few hours before the meet up. They're were going to crash at David's for the night, but today they went "house hunting". I hope they had luck. I told her that if I had space to offer, I would. She told me that she knows, and thanked me for it. I just got extra worried for her. Thing's aren't panning out, and she only has 2 more months until school. She can't borrow Sam's violin forever. I feel like this relationship is more trouble than it's worth. She's homeless with no job, and a sketch boyfriend. I would really think about this if I were her.

We trek to Poolesville and get there around 1:00 AM. It was dark! I got so paranoid when we pulled into the parking lot. We had to hike through mud and puddles to find out that our camp spot was already occupado. There was a guy still awake with a bunch of kids, and he was cool enough to let us chill. We had some ready logs, so we added that to his already roaring fire. The beer was broken out, and we offered some to the guy. He said that he doesn't drink beer, but broke out a bottle of Jack hahaha. He was your average redneck guy, but was so awesome! He told us his life story, as well as the kids' life stories. He's been through so much emotional drama; his brother dying, divorce, taking in his brother's kids as his own. He's a really good guy. We walked down this trail that lead to the C & O Canal. There was a fallen tree that we all climbed and sat on. It was so peaceful, I loved it. I really wish we could've stayed until dawn to see the sunrise. It would've made a great picture. Some of us went back to the fire, and we talked with the guy and his kids for a little. Two other guys came out and bitched us out for keeping them up. We weren't being loud, but whatever. I think they didn't like the idea of other people coming in on "their" site. The cool guy told us that there were kids sleeping in the other tents, but they were KO, so it was no problem if we hung out. Whatever, we took that as a "we should go" sign. We cleared out, and thank the guy once again for the hospitality. We told him that we planned to have a jam session by the fire, before those two crashers bitched us out. We decided that it was in the best interest of everyone to hike back to the cars and jam there. The cool guy told us to play loud, so he can hear us from the camp site. We made sure to oblige ;) A few people were already buzzed, so they decided to be obnoxiously loud as we were leaving. I started laughing and said, "I don't care how many times I fall in the mud, I'm running!" I was certain those guys would come out and chase us. We hung out for another half hour, before we decided to leave. I told everyone that I wasn't planning on staying no later that 2:30 am. Jess and Daniela walked back towards the trail entrance and hung out for a while. I kept calling them to get their stuff as we were packing, but they didn't listen. I got fed up and started driving. I told everyone that I wasn't messing around when I said I was trying to leave. It pisses me off that Jess is ALWAYS late to functions that are literally 5 minutes away from her house. When you're 40 seconds away from me, you better move your ass! The ride home was silent; all of us were beat, and we just let the Devotchka cd play with the windows rolled down.

Sunday

I had a rough start this morning. I didn't get to bed until 4:00 am, and I tried to finish watching "Up". I got to the part where the introduce the Alpha, Beta, and Delta dogs. I can't stop cracking up at Alpha's voice, especially when he yells out, "SQUIRREL!!!" I went to church and suffered some hardcore ADD. Ran some errands, went to Costco and had lunch with my parents. We came back and I took care of Maxx, and cleaned my mom's car due to the muddy tracks from the previous night's events. I decided to clean Groucho Marx as well, since the dash was getting dusty. The time wasn't on my side, because we were going to Tommy's belated bday party/Father's day get together. I still had to cook a Filipino dessert, and the party started at 4:00 pm. When I finished the cars, it was 3:30 pm. It took a good 35 minutes to cook and another 5 for me to change. I made my dad drive to the party, because I was so tired. When we got there, everyone yelled, "OH SHIT! LOOK!" It's been months since we've really seen everyone. It was a good time. I was supposed to cover someone's shift tonight, but Nathalie already got someone to do it. I'm glad I didn't work. Brent was there with Angel, and I missed them. Josh came after work. The whole time all the girls played with eachother's hair, and Jay's friend was doing hers. She asked Angel if she had any rubber bands in her bag, and she told Jay to search. Brent asked her if she's sure she wants to do that, and Angel said, "what? they're all grown!" She was referring to the condoms in her purse. She didn't think so a few years back, when Jay and I found that small Hello Kitty container filled with flavored condoms HAHAHA! This time Jay found the mother load; it was a shiny, pink, slick...vibrator. I was reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and I decided to look up. Jay was examening the object in her hand, when Angel flipped shit. Just as she put it back in her purse, Jay's mom had walked into the basement. That was PERFECT timing! We all joke and call it "Angel's mascara". We told Jay that she should've turned it on HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The whole night was spent, "Hey Angel, I think you need some more mascara," and, "where did you put your mascara," and, "why does she need a boyfriend, when she has her mascara" HAHAHAHA!!!! Brent joined in much later on facebook, and said that she normally likes her mascara tinted. LMAO!!! Hayzeus! Josh and I were dying with jokes. Inside joke of the year, better yet, our lives. Josh said that we'll be old and senile, and just say, "hahaha, mascara" and bust out laughing. I think we really got lucky on account of Zoe witnessing the whole thing. She doesn't ask questions, we don't have to worry about her mentioning this to the parents. I filmed the cousins playing Wii boxing, looking retarded with their hand movements. Adrienne had her worst fruit salad experience ever. There was cheese or something in the fruit salad, and apparently it didn't taste right. I didn't bother eating it, because I had some stomache problems a few years back. We talked about how this was the first time all of us were together in months. It was good times, I miss them all. Tommy also had a surprise for me:
It's the Philippine flag in the design of those hats that ghetto guys always get. Tommy wore that during the night of the Pacquiao/Hatton fight, and my dad told Tommy to get me one. As soon as he brought it out before we did his cake, everyone was asking him for their hats. He told them flat out that this hat didn't come free, so if they want one they need to pay. I love the hat, I didn't take it off since it was handed to me. I think he got it fitted to his head size, which would explain why it's so big on me. I still love it! Coolest hat in my possesion.

There was some talks about going to California in August. My grandpa wants to see my dad so badly, so he promised that he would make the trip. Tommy was originally going alone, but he can't rent a car. I told my dad that I could join them, cook my grandpa his favorites. He thought that I would be in school, and said that it wouldn't work. The time frame they want to go would be three weeks before school starts, so it's perfect. The only thing I have to worry about is work. I may need to request time off, or just put in my two weeks again. We need to hurry up on the details so I can act fast. I can't wait to go, it's going to be great to see how deserted NorCal is.

27

Jesus Christ. I thought I've seen some bad cakes on the cake wrecks blog, but this is the mother load. Observe exhibit a:

You better believe that I emailed cake wrecks with this picture! It looks like it was a practice cake for a very inexperienced cake decorator. Better yet, it looks like every goth twi-hard's fantasy cake. It's not exactly the best quality photo, but it's hard to get a good picture with one of the so called bakers/decorators lingering within your periphery. I know I shouldn't expect much from the Wal-Mart bakery, but if you expect people to buy this, at least make it a little more apealing. This cake may very well have turned me off of cake for life.

I knew we were walking into a terror zone the moment I saw those happy father's day mini cakes with the terrible color schemes. There was one that wasn't even frosted evenly. Then there were trays of cupcakes that were obvioulsy dumped around; the cakes itself were tilted in the tray and the icing smeared. The cakes with sprinkles only had sprinkles on one side of the cake, or maybe 5 tops. The ice cream cakes in the freezer were no better. They looked like they've been sitting out in the sun for an hour, and then quickly placed back in the freezer. An M&M Carvel cake had some mad freezer burn on it. The entire cake section looked so revolting. Joyce picked up a red velvet cake that looked like it was about to crumble apart. Now that i think about it, the red "powder" on the sides looked like crusty old cake that they reused to sprinkle along the sides.

Speaking of sprinkling, there was another cake that was "decorated" with purple sugar crystals and possibly some gray concoction. It looked like one of those sand things; you fill the plastic container with colored sand. Only when you shake it up it looks gray. That's what the cake looked like. Yummy. There were maybe one or two cakes that actually looked presentable, but I have a sneaking suspiction that someone from Wal-Mart didn't decorate it.

26

Today was a huge trek down memory lane. I found my old high school yearbook from my senior year, and reread the into and outro that I have read many times before. Basically it talked about our high school career as if it were our own personal movie; everyone else were supporting actors. I remember my first day, I was scared shitless and was thinking of ways to convince my parents to homeschool me. I remember this was the time my dad taught me how to fight, because I came home crying one day after all this harassment. I remember my many transitions, how I tried to go goth for a week and all my girls that I grew up with told me that I would fail at being goth. We all had that hollywood stereotype that goths don't smile or laugh, and I couldn't hold a straight face to save my life. I opted for punk instead, hahaha! I took out my old memory box, and went through all the things that made high school(mainly parts of my junior and senior years) and part of my college life. I read through old inside jokes; "suicide is the new gay!", reading about old journals that we used instead of passing countless notes. I remember thinking to myself 5 years ago, that the next time I go through this, I would think about all the people who made my life hell and mentally destroy them. How wrong was I? Looking back, I remembered all the good times that I had. All the trouble my friends and I would purposely get ourselves into, and STILL managed to get out of detention or ISS. Albeit the second half of junior year, going into senior year was known as "the year of drama", I feel like that prepped me for the drama that would be known as MC. The most amazing part of all, I made it through high school unscathed...much to my surprise. As much as I hated high school and some of the people in it, I'm glad to have gone through the experience that I did. It definitely toughened me up.

While putting away the yearbook and memory box, I came across my old photo album featuring photos of the "Strong Enough to Break" premiere at UMD with commentary. To my only reader (that I'm aware of)...WE HAVE TO SWEAR THAT CERTAIN FRIENDS WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER SEE THESE PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY! I started reading through some of the things we wrote, and my mouth dropped! It's hilarious, but I'm sure it would be mortifying if they saw this. HAHAHAHA! After the commentary by the fabulous authors, there are pictures that make us look high. Damn flash! For some reason there's a lot of commentary involving Ike and lesbians hahahahaha!

Now I have gone through this one album of memories, this just gives me a headache thinking about how many more pictures that I need to print. *Sigh* It'll be a great way to laugh. I have to remember to finish the yearbook, and give David his own section for all of the gay poses he has done over the years. My book, my rules man! I still have to do the cutest couples section, as request of Jose. This is turning into a middle school yearbook, but this will be another great thing to look back on down the road.

complaint of the day

Why aren't there any GOOD book review blogs or sites?! You would think there would be a list of some that are witty and sarcastic, at the same time sincere. The internet is useless!

25

Another eventful day. I woke up this morning and called Whole Foods. The manager told me to give it a few days, and check my profile on their site to see if I got the job or not. After that I gave Maxx a bath. He no longer smells like pee or his pee bed, but kiwi and berries. After that I had breakfast and then checked up on my mom. She literally has what I was having. She came home from work feeling like hell, and now she's sick too. I made her some tea, and she had some soup. Now she's feeling a whole lot better. After that I did some laundry, and threw in Maxx's pee bed, harness, and all of his toys in the washer.

/end excitement.

Update time

In regards to my rant about baby makers yesterday, I have another thing to add. People that I went to high school with are all engaged or married or what not. With that being said, congratulations to Tram and Andrew on their engagement. I've known Tram since the 3rd grade, and it's so weird that she will be the second in the group to be married. Vania was the first, and sadly I couldn't make it to her wedding or be the photographer since I was leaving for Guam that day. But wow! This is surreal. With all this wedding talk, my dad and I were watching Hitch a while ago, and when the credits came on; the dance scene at the wedding, my dad was already making plans to dance like this:



AT MY WEDDING! Not just during any random part of the wedding, but during the father-daughter dance. You want to know the sad part? He WILL do it, and then my uncles will join in, and I will most likely join my dad after the music starts hahahaha! Then I can see my MC friends joining in on this, since we dance like this on a daily basis, ESPECIALLY during concert time, behind the curtains and backstage.

This is so weird, but again, congratulations to the future Mr. and Mrs. Iwamaye.

24:59:32 (and counting)

Today was full of excitement. I went and bought...*wait for it* a portfolio!
I'm not talking about those huge portfolios that artists cart around, I'm talking about a binder looking portfolio. As I was job hunting yesterday, the Trader Joes in downtown Silver Spring needs a sign artist. They pay $12-$14 hr starting, and they request to see your work. I'm really paranoid about dragging my actual portfolio around, especially in downtown Silver Spring. Now I need to take a ton of pictures of my work, go to Target and get them printed. Ugh...they need to be 8 1/2" x 11". I'm afraid to see how much that will cost.

I ran into Peter the first time I went to Plaza today, and I asked if they were hiring. He said that his store wasn't, but maybe the one in Bethesda or Silver Spring is. I have to try Bethesda. Or Towson. Towson would be good, seeing as how I'm just 5 minutes up the street after class. I went to check up on some more applications, and a couple of the other places I applied to are, guess what? Not hiring! *sighs* This guy at Whole Foods told me to check up tomorrow, because their hiring manager will be in. Hopefully she'll hire me. I applied to some other stores within Congressional plaza. I applied to the Hallmark and Children's Place. I just need to find another job ASAP.

So in a few hours, it'll be Tommy's birthday. I can't believe he's turning 19. Soon he'll be 21. He has this huge plan that he wants to do his 21st in Vegas, like I did. It'll be fun, but I can imagine how crazy he'll go, especially at the tables. He blew out all of his money within the first hour when we took him to Charlestown. I'm going to keep tradition going, and greet him at the butt crack of dawn. It was actually Josh who did that to me one year. He was getting up at 5:00 AM to get ready for school, and called me. He knew that I didn't have class until a little later, but none the less it still woke me up. I got him back by calling him at 4:00 AM last year, and greeted him happy birthday as I was taking my dad to the metro. He couldn't stop laughing at the very early wake up call. Although this had nothing to do with Tommy what so ever, this is our family. Once someone does something, everyone's in on it. Happy Birthday, Masa! My dad will be giving him a 4:00 AM wake up call hahahahaha!

23

I must've not gotten the memo, but apparently pregnancy is the new black. I was never one to really follow trends that much, so no thanks. Almost every girl I went to high school with is getting pregnant, or already has kids. Newsflash, we're only 23 years old! Sooner or later, most likely sooner, they're going to realize that they miss the freedom of hanging out with friends when they have a screaming, stinkin' bundle of fury to take care of. Don't get me wrong, I would like to have kids, just not right now.

I'm killing time while I'm waiting to go to my mom's work. She told me about how her two coworkers (husband and wife) are in a rough financial spot. They can't pay for their mortgage, and they're asking for help. They have two children and can't afford food. She would talk to the husband during their lunch break, and would always ask why he doesn't eat. He claims that he's doing water therapy, but she soon found out the reason why. She says that the husband lost a ton of weight, as well as his teeth. They can't afford health insurance, and they desperately need it. People at work aren't so kind them, and my mom was appalled. She came home and told me about them, and proceeded to cook a big batch of noodles for them. Plus she and my dad went shopping and bought them some snacks for the kids while I was at work. It's nice to see a little of me is rubbing off on my parents.

I'm doing my daily dose of "let's mess with Maxx' head" right now. I keep saying that the birds, the deer, smooshy, foxes, etc, are going to get his food. Now he's eating and running to the window to be on the look out. It's so weird to know that my dad is on Facebook now. Of course I should know, I'm the one who created it for him. I went through my friends list to see if there are any family members/family friends he would want. Plus we did a search to find his old high school friends. Thank God he didn't ask to add me; at least he respects my privacy enough not to want to keep tabs on my on facebook. Again, I'm 23 years old. I asked him if he wanted my aunt(his sister) and her common law husband on his list and he said, "NO! I don't know those people!" HAHAHAHA! I don't really see my dad using this often. I have a sneaking suspicion that my family is going to keep tabs on my for my dad. Whatever...little do they know that I have the password.

I need to get out of here. I'm so bored out of my mind. I've seen Josh's pics from OC with his friends; he had a really great time. I saw the pic of the well stocked fridge...corona's and miller light?! eew....I saw some crack drinks in there and bacardi. I take that he had a really good time down there. I don't see how people can spend more than a day or two there. It's so boring, especially if you don't have a car! It's not like there's much to see down there in the first place. Why do I have that Grease song stuck in my head now? "Summer lovin' had me a bla-ast!" Ugh...I think I'm going to watch Mean Girls again.

"Don't have sex. Because you will get pregnant, and die! Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up....just don't do, promise?"

22

Today was a pain in my puwit. So I woke up feeling so much better after I had taken two more tylenol's before going to bed. I get the shower, and I'm about to get ready to go to church. Jonathan from work calls me, and I assume that someone needs a shift cover. It turns out that John had put me on schedule and failed to tell me. The worst part, I was an hour late to work! Yeah! I was supposed to work from 11-3 pm. He told me no worries, because John must've put me on schedule and failed to call me. I told him that the last time I checked the schedule, I wasn't working on Sunday. Basically I had to haul ass to work all pissed off. I had a few pain in the ass customers, but no biggie. This one lady could've sworn that I was overcharging her, so she kept asking me to double check the price. For one thing, she looks like she could afford a Louis, let alone a $4.30 cup of ice cream. Secondly, if the price is too much, then don't come here. We had a few people tip us "to not sing"; those customers are always the best ;) This one insane woman who wouldn't shut up tip us twice, we didn't have to sing. She started talking about strip clubs, because of all the singles in the jar.

During the slow period, my employees talked about the employee situation. They talked about a few creepy guys who work there, thankfully I haven't had the pleasure to work with them. They talked about a few people who almost got fired, Brad was one of them. I honestly wouldn't be surprised. He's fun to work with, but all he does is sit in the corner and text. He texts more than any other person I know. He's the reason why the new cell phone rule is in order. I also found out that Newnan was fired. PRAISE JESUS! It sucks that he got fired, but he didn't do shit. He was always slow, and used sarcasm as if it were the english language. Sandra and Jonathan told me how the whole firing came down; someone was there when Diana did it. She called Newnan on the phone, and basically told him not to come in. Whoever it was couldn't hang around to hear the rest, because of customers. As soon as they came into the backroom, Diana just said, "okay...he's fired." Everyone was speculating whether or not Newnan told his mom yet. It's been how long since he was fired, even if he didn't tell her I'm sure she would've gotten the hint.

Now I'm still congested. I've been chugging orange juice like crazy. I hate this.

21

It's official. I'm sick. I have that weird feeling in the back of my mouth; the last time I had that feeling was on Guam, and I suspect that I accidentally ingested meat. I don't know where this feeling is coming from, but last time I got sick. I have this mega cold that decided to take over when my immune system wasn't watching. Thanks, immune system. You guys can suck it! My eyes are all red and puffy, and I have the sniffles. I've been sneezing non stop for the past hour. To kill time as this stupid cold passes (which better be soon), I've been tormenting Jamie. He's had the Outkast song, "Hey Ya", stuck in his head for literally a week. I started singing that stupid lambchops song. His friend Dan added "My Humps". He has declared his hatred for the both of us. To retaliate, I added the "1..2..3..4.."
If you don't know what that is, it's part of the "Hey Ya" song. In the beginning, the singer counts off, then starts. Muahahaha!

I went shopping with my mom, and I have to say that I can never work at a Ross. There were so many kids running around, I almost hit them with my cart. There were too many people crowding the aisles; you turn around and you bump into someone. The entire store's a mess. Hell no! If I were one of the employees, I would announce that I will not be held responsible for running your child over, because you decided to be neglectful. Is it bad to say that it's mainly the hispanics who do that? Well, it's the truth! Watch your damn children! I got a pair of wayfarers, plain black ballet flats, a purse, and a blouse dress thing. I have a pair of tights at home, so I have a new ensemble. I wore my wayfarers around the house, and sat still on the couch for a while. Maxx came up to me and jumped on my leg. I then jumped out of the couch, screaming. Maxx bolted across the living room, and into the kitchen HAHAHAHA!!! I then took my glasses and did this:
He proceeded to hide his head under the couch. I think he hates me for this hahahaha!

beinte

So my dad scared me this morning after his meeting with the lawyers to settle our financial issues. He told me that basically we would have to sell two cars, and the house HAS to be put up as collateral. I looked at him and yelled, "WHAT!?!?!?!" I sat back on my bed and started to look around my room. My dad started telling me more about the meeting, and I broke down crying. He started to ask me why I was crying, and I just looked at him. He started laughing and said that he was joking. He reminded me that he made sure that the house would be a secure thing, because we can make mortgage payments. I wanted to smack him for that! I asked him if the thing about the cars is true, and he said "no. As far as the lawyer and I are concerned, we don't have to get rid of anything." We proceeded to talk about how our family is nowhere to be found when we started asking around for help, yet they were so quick to run to us when we were able to help them. Thanks, guys. I'll be SURE to remember you later! The other day my dad and I talked about who were the primary financial beneficaries of the entire family where there were crisis'; my grandma's funeral for example. He and Tommy's mom were the only ones who were able to take care of the expenses, while everyone was so quick to talk about inheritance. There was a lot of jewelery that was meant to be split up equally amongst the grand kids, but my dad has a sneaking suspicion that Tommy's mom is saving it all for Zoe. I told him that it's no really fair to give all of it to her, when she didn't even know our grandmother. Secondly, it was meant to be distributed amongst everyone, not just one person! Typical family, always playing favorites, but deny it when they're confronted! He told me that there was a custom made black ring in the pile that was supposed to be given to me by my grandmother. She had it made for my dad when we all went to the Philippines in '99. He doesn't have the heart to tell that to Tommy's mom. I told him that they can do whatever; she gave me jade earrings, necklace and two rings that were made in the Philippines, and a crystal jewlery case for one of my birthdays. I have my share and the memories. She's done so much for me that no amount of jewelery can replace it. It's funny, my grandma and I have the same mentallity. We did believe it saving money, but at the same time we also believed in spending it. She would always tell me, "What's the point? If you like, go get it! You can't eat your money, and you surely can't take it with you when you're gone!" I was never one to allow greed to take over. I feel like that's another trait I have inherited from her. What's the use of envy; once you have the object or whatever it is you're covetting, what are you going to do with it now? I know my grandma is completely appalled with the way things are going in this family. They need to take their own advice; age ain't nothing but a number! Just because you're in your 40's and 50's, doesn't mean that you rule the world. To us you're still the 4-5 year olds that you would tell us about, always fighting and always getting into trouble.

Today was day two of my return to Cold Stone. Diana was managing today, so that meant tormenting the co-owner and being on our feet at all times. She was awesome and bought us pizza. There were so many notes everywhere about the new rules, I felt like I was in Tommy's house a few years back. We talked about a lot of the new rules, the free ice cream deal being one of them. So it was true, a lot of people were taking advantage of the free ice cream policy, and the winter months really killed us in sales. John couldn't let all that money walk out the door once we had all clocked out. He didn't want to take away our ice cream privileges, so he gave us 50% off. That now includes sodas and cakes as well. That means if I feel the need ot buy a $30 or $50 cake, I can get it half off! I think this applies to the cupcakes as well. Those are $12 cupcakes. Hmmm....
While the crew and I were enjoying our pizza, a mad rush came in to the store. From 8:00 to 10:03 PM, we were swamped! Every time I thought I could go back and finish my pizza and earl grey latte (that tea is amazing!), more customers would come in. There were a few pain in the ass people; one girl made a love it order and put it in a dipped waffle cone. The customer asked if there were any regular cones, and my coworker explained the options. She said that she wanted her ice cream in the dipped waffle. As soon as my coworker handed it to her, she decided that it wasn't what she wanted, and she was forced to throw it away. This other guy was trying to pay with a gift card, and I don't understand what he was trying to argue about. I heard bits and pieces of the argument; something about a quarter or a $1.05...I don't know. Then there were the many customers that I got who wouldn't speak loud enough when the store was clearly loud. I had to ask them several times what they wanted. People, I can only read lips to a certain extent! Freakin speak up! Then there are the other customers who say they want their order in the waffle size. I have to explain to them about 10 times that we don't go by scoops, you have to chose one of the three sizes infront of you to putin the waffle. They continue to argue that they just want it in the waffle. Jesus Christ! The only two highlights of the day was that this guy had all of his kids tip us one by one, it was $4 right there. We only had to sing twice. Diana told us that earlier this morning this customer brought her elderly parents. They've never been to a Cold Stone, and don't know how we operate. They tried pretty much everything, and asked a lot of questions. Whoever was handling them was being really cool, so as soon as they finished and paid, their daughter came back and thanked the staff for being extra nice to her parents. Then she tipped us *drumroll* $10!!!! HELLS YEAH! After the nightmare that was our closing shift was over, we still had a few problem customers. We had locked the doors, and there were still people trying to get it. Yeah, we locked the doors for a reason. I was resuming my post in the backroom, so I thought it was another repeat of the white trash hicks from Damascus. They were a couple of our last customers, and they needed the bathroom. Seriously, you couldn't have gone before we closed? I finally got a black work shirt before I left. Hallelujiah! No more of the ugly white shirt that looks so disgusting. Tonight was brutal. By the time I had gotten back to my pizza, we were cleaning up and it was already cold and yuck. The good news is that I have all of next week off. I need to go back in tomorrow and change my request to get a day off. I accidentally put in July 17, but I really meant the 15. The girls and I made plans to go to the midnight premiere of HP, and I accidentally put the wrong date in. Crap! Oh well, tomorrow. That way I can get my tips for tonight hahaha!

In other HP news, I have finished my Cho (Ravenclaw) scarf. My hands hurt. I'm still trying to finish up the HP (Gryffindor) scarf. I tried to work on it some more as soon as I got home, but my hands started cramping up. Thank God no one else has requested for me to make anymore scarves. I think I would have to murder them with my knitting needle if they did. With that last note, I'm going to kill time by knitting the HP scarf, and "waking up" to rush down to CS later and change the date on the request note.

nineteen

DC adventures, now featuring my parents! I almost died of shock when they both said that they wanted to hang out in DC for the day. My feet hurt, I'm exhausted. I've been chugging water like the world's supply is going to end. I haven't fallen asleep on the metro since the inauguration. SO let me document my trip in a few pictures and some commentary.

Das White House. Let me just say how stoked I was to find this place. I saw it from the distance while I was walking through the Washington monument area. I saw the Elipse, but I got to get up close and photograph the south lawn.Official White House squirrel. He didn't wish to comment and requested that no pictures be taken. I told him not to run away from me. He did. Bastard.



Washington monument stage. This stage will forever have a place in my collection of memories. The year that Latin band was getting really big at school, we got a gig to play here along side the MC Jazz improve group.

The Elipse. It just screams all kinds of awesome. The WWII Memorial. Herrr ees da Pilipines! Let me just say how froud I am of my pipoles and my pamily who hab pought in dis warrr. (to get a better understanding of the Filipino FOB English, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFBBMweWwys)

The wall. Nothing really to say.

Fat ass squirrel. I have to say that DC squirrels don't really give a damn about who's sneaking up on them. My mom was paranoid about me getting closer, she said that the squirrel would jump on me.

6x3

What a day. The interview with the Disney store went really well, I hope to be getting a call back. They pay $7.25 starting, so it's not too bad. It'll be close to Towson if I want to remain there during the school year. I'm still praying to hear back from Whole Foods. After the interview, Adrienne and I walked over to Muvico to visit our uncle. We talked for a little bit, and asked us what movie we wanted to see. I feel bad that he's always getting us in like that. We ended up watching Angels and Demons. We missed 20 minutes of it I think. The parts we missed, I had already seen online. I didn't have the patience to actually wait for the movie to load on my laptop. I have to say that Angels and Demons made me love Ewan McGreggor even more. Adrienne kept cracking all these Star Wars jokes throughoutthe movie; such as the classic line, "YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!" I didn't finish the book, so I didn't see that twist coming at the end. I could've sworn that particular priest was a sure choice to be the next pope. I was really amazed at what the story reveals about the Vatican. I knew about their archives and what they contained, but I didn't know they had a vast library containing the sketchbooks of Bernini, Michelangelo, Signorelli, etc. I really want to see this now, but like the story, it'll be next to impossible to get clearance. I knew the back story about the construction of St. Peter's square and the basillica; how it was built over the old Vatican, over the spot where St. Peter was martyred. How I know all this? From taking art history II. Yup! I've studied the construction, and the alter above the crypt containing the bones of St. Peter and the former Pontifs. I briefly got to see Michelangelo's ceiling in the movie. It was exciting to see some of the sculpture and paintings that I've studied in class. The most amazing one, besides St. Peter's, was St. Theresa in ecstasy. The scene in the movie itself was disturbing, but to see it on the big screen was cool! I would like to see it in person, some day.

After the movie I went to hang out with my only reader of this blog, lol! Al took us and Faye to cold stone, where I got to hear Malloy make an ass of himself trying to sing a new song that no one knew. We stood outside while Al told us stories about bitches, motherfuckers, and sons of bitches that come in to his work HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Seventeen

Battle of the "Single Ladies"

Justin Timberlake

VERSUS

Sixteen

Put up or shut up. Better yet, how about you just shut up.

Fifteen

I've had an interesting weekend. First my internet dies out on my during the storm Thursday night. Friday morning Tommy's mom calls me asking if I had received the email she just sent. I told her that I don't have internet, and she told me that she planned a surprise birthday party for my dad the next night. I had to be there with my family by 7:00 pm. I tell my mom, who in turn tells my dad that we need to go to their house the next night to see our family who's visiting from NYC. It turns out that he was called into work, so that just killed the plan. Seriously, would they like to tell me in advanced, rather than plan something the night before and EXPECT me to be there. Jeeze! About an hour later Adrienne's dad called me asking if I could take pictures of a confirmation being held that night. He said that all the photographers he called backed out, and he'll make sure I'm taken care of. Convieniently there was another bad rainstorm that night, so I was stuck in front of the Olney theater for a good 40 minutes. I was late to meet up with her dad, but I forgot that I had to go through inspection to get through the base. The guy was really cool and let me through when I said that I'm the photographer for the confirmation. I took a lot of great pictures, and I was paid $60. After the confirmation, Adrienne and I went to the 24 hour Walmart on 174 and hung out for a good couple of hours.

Saturday:

I tell my family the night before that we can't make it to their party, because my dad was called into work. None of them believed us, so it's not my problem. My mom and I went shopping when she came home from work.

Sunday:

Celebrated my dad's birthday. He's now 51 years old. We went shopping for a dryer again. It'll be in tomorrow! Yes!!!

Monday:

Hung out with Adrienne and went job hunting. We hung out at Panera first and got some ice cream after. We filled each other in on what the family has to say about us behind out backs. Basically someone in my extended family is spreading the rumor that I'M the reason why my parents are broke! I have a basic idea of who is spreading this rumor; these two people are two to talk! One doesn't have shit to her name, yet she can talk smack but can't take it. The other has a sorry excuse for a husband. Adrienne's dad then went on to saying that I don't deserve to be at Towson. His argument was that Towson is a serious school. Adrienne argued that I'm a serious student. He says that he doesn't think photography is a real major and real career choice, therefore I'm just a waste of space. He also says that I'm milking my mom and dad for their money, and it's why they're broke. I should be on my own already. First of all my parents don't want me to move out. Secondly, they told me to concentrate on school, rather than work. Learn the facts before you accuse! It's funny that he says that when he calls me in a panic for a photography job. Hmm...to counter his argument, being a secretary in the air force isn't a real job, but he doesn't see me verbally abusing him every chance I get. Adrienne proceeded to tell both her parents that they are the last two people who should be giving life lessons. She tells me that the family says, "the reason why (I) don't show my face around family functions anymore is that I know I did something wrong and don't want to hear their lectures." No, I don't show my face around, because I'm sick of their hypocritical criticisms and I'm tired of the negativity! I don't need any more negativity in my life. They are seriously the last people to be giving criticisms when they know their lives have gone to shit. Really. They are so fake, yet they can talk a lot about you behind your back. They act so tough, why can't they say it to my face?! Better yet, don't ask me for favors if you don't think my career choice is real! They did the same thing to Brandon and now they're kissing his ass. I told Adrienne that I'm not appologizing for who I am or what I am. They don't support me, they're not putting me through school. I don't own them shit! I've excommunicated myself from the family, and frankly I'm happier this way. It sucks that I won't be able to see my cousins as often, but it's a price I'm willing to pay.

Angel made an appearance on Saturday, and Josh's dad made a snide comment about how she's only there for the food. What, is she not supposed to eat? Isn't that what you do at a party? I'm so tired of this family. I've burned my bridges a long time ago. I've always been the black sheep, what else is new? I just hope they realize that they better not come to me for anything. I tolda Adrienne about how her parents and the family said that she deserved every misfortune she got up until now. My dad was the only one to stick up for her. He said that if anyone abused me in any way, he would've kicked their ass so hard that they would be in a wheelchair. Everyone kept telling him that it's not worth it, what's done is done. He got pissed at everyone, especially her parents for letting this happen. It's like saying rape is okay.

Amongst our bitching breaks, we did a good round around Arundel Mills. I put out a bunch of applications, and landed an interview for the Disney store on Friday with Adrienne. The manager said that they only have 5 people on staff, and they need more for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I may not have a life on the weekends, but at least I have a job *hopefully* After the mall closed, we hung out in Toys R Us for the fifteen minutes that they were open. I saw the bike that I wanted, but it's $190. Boo! We drove back to Cold Stone and sat outside talking for a good two hours. After that we moved it back to Ft. Meade and sat in her car talking. I learned something new about my girl cousins. I knew three of them werent virgins, but it turns out that my golden child cousin isn't one, either. I freaked out in the car, exclaiming, "WAIT! SO I'M THE ONLY VIRGIN!" I feel so proud of myself! I've always been one to be different from the rest. I told her it's by choice, I don't want to be some guy's on nighter, or his go to girl when he feels the need. All the girls, except one, have been tools. I wasn't meant to be a tool.

Tuesday:

Drive around submitting more applications. CRAP!!! I just realized that I forgot to check up on my Shoppers application. I went to deal with MC again, and got the same bitchy councilor. What are the odds? She tells me that I was supposed to get permission to take this class, or take a specific class that was to be assigned. That's not what I was told before I left. I'm so done with MC. I go around getting more applications. I submitted a good 4 today. I go back to CS and ask John to put me back on schedule. His genius mind hired too many people, so now there's a full house. I put myself on the call list, so I got a shift this Saturday. I work from 3-7 pm. Whole Foods in Rockville is hiring for part time only, but their start at $10-15 an hour. Hell yes! I hope I get that job! I applied at Petsmart, I have to apply at Old Navy. I'm pretty much set right now.