42

Got called in to work today to cover for someone. Checked the work schedule. Not a single weekend free. Dammit. Same old pain in the ass customers. No offense, but I half expect black people to be loud when they tell me their orders. I don't read lips very well. Or do I? None the less, my day was spent asking "what" several times. This one mother got mad at her daughter for speaking like a mouse when she was telling me her order. During our busy hours, I was working the register. I called a customer that I was helping at the time a douche bag while getting his change, but he didn't hear me. During one of our dead hours in the beginning of my shift, I drew a Harry Potter puppet pal with a countdown to Half-Blood Prince. Alex came in to get some ice cream, and she asked me if I drew that. She told me that she plans on seeing it at the midnight release as well. Diamond told us that she's planning on doing that as well. It'll be a Cold Stone party. I told them that I'm dressing up against my will, and Alex said that she may dress up. but isn't sure yet. I got a bag of Bertie Botts jellybeans earlier, and I'm actually afraid to eat them. I'm waiting until the movie to open them. I also got that HP cotton candy gum that turns your mouth blue. That'll be awesome.

Now for some random pictures:

Appetizing.



New Moon on 32





Shalom Bitches



Bath time

41

"Pffft...fat people! Seriously!"~Tommy

I hung out with Tommy today. It was a much needed hang out, I haven't seen him or really did anything with him in so long. Before I met up with him, I stopped by work to change my tax status and pick up tips. All is settled with my tax forms, and Uncle Sam won't be screwing me during tax season next year. We were supposed to go to Annapolis Mall, but like every poor college student, he was almost out of gas and couldn't afford to pay. Plus it didn't help that he "misplaced" his gas card. We kept it really local and drove up the road to Arundel Mills instead. We made a single round, and stopped in the Disney store. I noticed that they had some more of those boxes I bought a while back, so I got one for my mom. This time they were only $4.12. Crap. Oh well. The lady who rung me up was the hiring manager. She recognized my name on the ID, and told me that she still has my application on file. She said that the reason why I haven't heard back yet, was because they needed clearance on whether or not I'm Disney material during the interviews. Apparently I am, so she is going to put me through the final round of interviews. She explained that their store is highly interested in hiring me, but I still have to go through the application process. She was also afraid that I had taken another job offer. Here's hoping and praying that I get this job. We stopped in Hot Topic and I marveled at all of the latest Harry Potter merch. They brought back the Bertie Botts jelly beans, droobles: the cotton candy that turns into gum and turns your mouth blue, and blood pops. Tommy and I found some Power Rangers clothing on sale, a hoodie caught our eyes. It was on sale for $21, but I wasn't willing to spend that much. He wasn't either. He did find a Power Rangers belt buckle on sale for $8, so he got that. I found a cute purple hat with a puff ball. I didn't notice until later that it was a Paramore hat. The singer wore it in the "Decode" video. It looks like this, only the color was tweaked with a camera lens:



I love it! The next stop was Five Below for any potential junk contraband (there was none), and Auntie Anne's to use our coupons for free pretzels. We walked into the movie theater very casually, hiding our outside food as much as possible. Luckily our uncle was there, and doesn't give a damn, so we got in easily. We watched Transformers II, it was awesome! During the previews I got to see the New Moon trailer. I recognized the music when the Summit Entertainment logo showed up. Tommy told me, "no, you're wrong! it's not what you think." Until the red truck appeared, then he just said, "oh...nevermind." We talked quietly about how he and Josh agree that Twilight is overrated, just like the Harry Potter franchise. I turned and looked at him and said, "Josh!? Mr. ZOMG-YOU-HAVE-TO-WATCH-AND-READ-HARRY-POTTER-OR-THERE-IS-NO-MEANING-TO-YOUR-EXISTENCE Josh?" He said that he didn't know, and shrugged. Josh is only contributing to its overratedness, because home boy is going to the midnight premiere, just like I am.

As soon as the opening scenes of Transformers started, Tommy and I simultaneously grabbed out pretzel bags. He looked over at me and then himself, and made the comment, "Pfft..fat people. Seriously!" I couldn't stop laughing. The movie was hilarious, but definitely had a low blow to the Afro American community. It also enlightened me as to how the Air and Space museum is DC really looks like. Of all the times I've been down there, and I've gone quite a lot, I never knew there was a flight pad and a hanger behind the building. In fact, I wasn't aware that there was a desert behind the Smithsonian! Wow! Way to go, Michael Bay.

On my drive home I realized two things; my mom wanted more than one box, and there was a full moon. It was orange and amazing. I pulled my car over on the side of the highway, waited for some cars to pass, got out and started taking pictures. I only took a few so I could get out of there quickly. I'm sure people thought I was insane. Anything for art, well ALMOST anything.

When I got home I played with Maxx for a while. I waited up for mom to come home, and I tried to leave Maxx downstairs as I went to go to bed. My mom notified me of Maxx's current post at the stairs; staring up and waiting to be invited up. He kept crying at the bottom of the stairs, and I gave him. He ran up the steps and went straight into my room. He knows his apartment B. Now all is well and he is perfectly content in his bed. With that in mind, I should be getting to bed.

40

I just watched the Michael Jackson memorial. I haven't cried this much since hearing about my last grandma's passing, or my other grandma's funeral. It was so painful to watch, but it's also a constant reminder to live your life to the fullest. I'm glad that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee stated that the house of representatives finally recognized Michael Jackson as a phenomenal humanitarian, and that they're lobbying to give him that title in congress.

Paris' statement broke my heart at the very end. I didn't anticipate any of the children to speak publicly. I was kind of hoping that someone would perform "Man in the Mirror", but oh well. It was also nice to see how the "This is It" concert would've been played off with a few of the tribute performances. I tried to record the entire thing, but the tape stopped during Brooke Shields' speech. So crap.I'm recording the highlights of the event, and I'm pretty sure that someone will show it again. At least I hope so. Normally I would think that Rev. Al Sharpton's speeches are way over the top, but I have to admit that his speech during the service was very moving.

One thing I've heard over and over was that some of the choice personalities didn't expect MJ to physically be there. I don't know if it was the previous news broadcast following the motorcade from Forest Glen, but I kind of knew he would be there. I don't think it would've been the same without him physically there.

Another aspect that would be greatly appreciated by everyone was the statements made by the family, saying that "maybe they'll leave you alone now." I couldn't have agreed more.

39

Official owner of a new book (what else is new?!), BANANAGRAMS!!!, and a yoga mat ^_^

I just took the yoga mat on a test run, it's amazing!

38

I would like to rid the world of idiots and morons, one customer at a time.

Idiot #1:

The store was loud and crowded when he came up to tell us what he wanted; a kiddie ice cream. When he gets to the register, he starts arguing with Paul Scanlan about the size of the ice cream or something. I think it was a matter of "being over charged". After a good 5 minutes of arguing, Paul Hofford comes out and asks what the problem is. They continue on and on with the arguing, so Paul just gave the guy a coupon for a free ice cream next time. I asked Megan what the deal was, and she said that they guy ordered a kiddie ice cream, which is what he was handed. He claims that it was a regular small size, and the person who gave it to him messed up on the order. Paul Scanlan explained that it is too loud in the store, and we as cashiers don't always know what the other coworkers make. So yes it's a lack of communication, but that's because there are too many customers to deal with and we can't always cater to one. So when you come up to the register and we ask you what you ordered, and you just show us the cup and say, "this," then what the hell do you expect us to do? Another reason there's a lack of communication is that you as the customer don't speak loud enough! Stop whispering like you're in the library and speak up! There's really no reason for you to get frustrated when we keep asking you "what did you want? What?"

Idiot #2:

This family comes in and I handle the mom. She tells me what she wanted, a mix of cake batter and vanilla jello pudding with pecans, whipped cream, banana, and hot fudge from the pump. See, I'm that good that I still remember the order how many hours later. She apparently told me that she wanted the hot fudge on top, but this is another situation where the blenders are being used, and there are so many people talking around me that I can't hear a damn thing she's saying. Oh, not to mention she's one of those people who speak as though they're in a library. I mixed the hot fudge in, and she stops me midway and says that she wanted it on top. She sounded as quiet as a mouse, that I didn't hear her request. I apologized and she told me to leave it as is. I muttered under my breath, "why does it matter, the hot fudge and ice cream will look like this anyways!" I put it in a waffle bowl like she asked, and when she reached the register, she asked Megan to transfer the ice cream in a different waffle bowl. I asked Megan what the problem was with the waffle bowl, and she said, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was a perfectly good waffle bowl, I don't know what the problem is. I think she was complaining about the ice cream melting over, or something. *scoffs*" Um..that's why you start to eat the ice cream. This way it will prevent any more run off on the sides, 'kay?

Idiot #3:

She and her madre came up to the register with a couple of orders. They were the people who would always reply, "this," when I asked what they got. I asked the girl several times what they were exactly, and every time she would answer all I heard was "mfffflllmmmmlleeee". Yeah. Cool. Again the blenders are going off, and they keep muffling their orders to me. I finally turned to my coworkers and said, "I can't hear nor understand a damn thing they're saying, so what did they get?!" Deanna was the one who handled them, so she told me what they were. Oi.

Idiot #4:

Person at Mama Lucia's. All of us were starving, and even though there's that new rule about no more food runs, Paul really doesn't give a damn. A couple of us put our money together and we ordered a large half regular cheese, half white pizza. I told the person on the phone my name. Alex said that she'll go pick it up when it's ready. When she got there, she told them my name, and the guy insisted that there's no order for me. She told him that was impossible, and told him what pizza we got. He found the pizza and said that it was for someone named, "Michelle". Michelle!? Alex confirmed that it was our pizza, and the guy refused to give it to her, because "it may have been a coincidence, and that pizza could be for someone else named Michelle." I don't know how this was settled, because I was dealing with the growing line. Long story short, she got our pizza. It took us another half hour before we could actually eat. Hofford put me on register during the final hour. Someone from CalTor came in, and Paul said that he'll handle that person on the register. I quickly ran back and started scarfing down pizza. At one point we were able to sit/stand around the back and eat, but it got crazy again. I was back on register, and every now and again I quickly ran back and took bits of my pizza while customers were still standing around. Hofford laughed at me and shook his head. I told him that I was hungry, and I wasn't about to waste any opportunity.

Just as we locked the door, this Hispanic family came and we signaled that we are closed. They started to walk away, but their 4 year old continued to stand at the door and stared at us. We all felt bad, and a few of us kept telling Hofford that we should let them in, because of the little boy's pathetic face. He said that he wasn't going to let them in, rightfully we're closed. Just when he started to reconsider, they were already gone. That little boy's face was so hard to turn away. It's that look of disappointment when you were little that would break anyone's heart.

Crazy night.

37

Explosions in the sky.

That's what I saw coming home from work. Oh yeah, and Happy 4th of July.

Work was a nightmare. Brad's pain in the ass friends came in, and began holding up the line. In classic Brad mode, he dipped out from the back and hung out with his friends in the front. A statement was circulating throughout the store that the cameras weren't being watched by John and Diana tonight, so Brad almost left work completely. He kept handing his friends free ice cream; bastard is one of the people who ruined the free ice cream policy for us! There were moments when it was busy in the store, and moments when it was dead. It balanced out. I feel like we made a decent amount in tips this evening. All of us tried fighting for closing duties, Brad and I got lobby. Normally lobby is the first one done. Normally. Tonight was a situation where I was doing all of the work, and Brad was fucking around in the back. He's a nice guy and all, but a HORRIBLE worker. I pretty much did all of the lobby list, except for a few things I told Brad to do. Even then, he did a half ass job. He did remove the cover for the dipping chocolate to be washed, he didn't wipe down the back cabinets. He didn't help me restock all the cups, lids, straws, etc. He didn't help me clean and stack the tables and chairs. At one point I had to lock them; I've never done this before. Paul came out and gave me a hand. I asked him if Brad knew how to any of this stuff, because I didn't think it was fair that I was doing all the work. He told me that it's not that big of a deal, and not to worry. I'm sure he'll write all of this down in the manager's journal that is mandatory to fill in. I'm sure John and Diana would have seen the cameras when we least expected it, or they'll see it tomorrow. No wonder why Brad was so close to being fired. They should've went ahead and given him the axe.

At the end of the list, there were three things left; wipe the back counter, take out the front trash as well as the backroom trash and cardboard, and take it to the dumpster (from experience, all that trash isn't easy to move and dump), and sweep the freezer and wipe it down. Paul decided that we weren't going to do the freezer, so it was trash and back counter. I told Paul to make Brad take the trash, because I did all the work tonight and I think it's his turn to do something.

I understand that no one really wanted to be there tonight, but we're all stuck at work. Yes, we all had plans to hang out and do something with friends, but none the less we're at work. Standing around and doing nothing won't change the fact that you're still at work. Whatever, I covered my ass. I have to look forward to this again tomorrow night. Yay.

36

I was having a little too much fun shopping with mom yesterday, and I came across this little package:



um...eew. Nothing else could describe that.

Today she thought that it would be a great idea to wake me up at 7:30 AM (!!!!!) to go to church. She said that it's a holy obligation to go every first Sunday of the month; it's considered "Good Friday". Of all these years that I have been a Catholic, I have never heard of that. I turned on my laptop to attempt to get myself awake, but I lay back down on my bed. My uncle messaged me before i left facebook, asking if I got his email about the 4th of July plans to go to Kings Dominion. I flatly told him that I am working on the 4th. He asked if my parents were free, and I said that they were working as well. Besides, the wouldn't go without me. I wasn't trying to make that sound like a "I'm a brat, they can't leave without me" tone, I mean they seriously wouldn't go without me. Their reasoning is, "what are we going to do there?" He said "All work, no play...aye." I didn't know what else to say to him, so I typed an obligatory laugh. He then replied, "Some things may seem funny, but they're not"; something along the lines of that. I don't know what that means, or what he was trying to say, or where he was getting at. At that point I turned off my laptop and went back to sleep for another half hour. I succumbed to dragging my ass out of bed when my mom kept doing something on my forehead. She told me that she would take me shopping afterwords. I was hoping that there wouldn't be a mass; does that make me a bad person? Sorry God! Alas there was mass, and I wasn't too thrilled to be awake at such an early hour. The mass was short, there was a new priest. At the end there was breakfast, so that sort of made up for my being sleep deprived. She drove to church, so the only stipulation afterwords was that I drive to Rockville, since she still can't manage to maneuver around 355. She bought me hot chocolate at McDonald's, because she was so curious to try one of their new coffees. We both agreed that Starbucks is better; my hot chocolate was weak, while her mocha tasted way too much like regular coffee.

We get to Old Navy and I go pretty much go nuts in that store. I had to remind myself that I shouldn't really go crazy on the clothes, considering the generous amount that I had donated last month. Upon browsing I came across these aluminum water bottles. I found a big one that had that skull and cross bones on in. It was black and it reminded me so much of how I would always draw that on my water bottles so no one else would drink it. I decided that I really didn't need such a big water bottle, so I looked through the smaller ones. I found a few that were meh looking, so I picked up one with hearts on it. I walked over to the sale section, and found another small water bottle; it's a sky blue with flowers, clouds, butterflies, multicolor sky, and the best part *wait for it* AN OWL! It's such a cute looking owl, I don't know why I've had such a discreet owl obsession for years! It was the last one, so I was thrilled about that. I also found those air freshener things with the reeds. They were also on clearance, so I grabbed one. My room is currently circulating the sweet aroma of island lime.

After Old Navy, we stopped in this new Filipino store across the street from MC. The owner was telling us about how she wants to open a cafe, as stated on the store sign, but is still waiting for the permit to come through. She straight up said that she doesn't know how to cook. Damn lady, if you don't know how to cook then how are you going to open a cafe? I have to admit that she did have a few more items that the other stores didn't have; there were fans from the Philippines, the traditional dress shirts that men would wear to formal occasions, coffee mugs from the Philippines (the touristy kinds), and figurines. She even sold these straw purses that everyone uses back in the Philippines; they were simple but pretty. Up front she was selling the dessert egg rolls that I'm "famous" for in my family and friends. I was hesitant to buy one, after her whole spiel about not knowing how to cook. Another customer came in and asked her about them. She had missed the story, so the lady told her her price. I was in one of the aisles when she said "I sell them 3 for $2.50". Uh huh....before I move on, I have to explain this. I've been on a covert opt mission to find out how much those dessert egg rolls are being sold in the area Filipino shops and restaurants. I haven't gone back to the Pampanguena restaurant yet to check how much they sell them for again. I'm trying to work up a deal with this other store to sell mine, but it's hard to estimate how much I would need a day. I would talk about this with my parents, especially when it came to pricing. The ones she sold were the same size that I would make them, and I thought the price was ridiculous. I would always remind my parents that we can't charge an arm and a leg, because they're small. The price she was selling for three small egg rolls could practically pay for another pack of egg roll wrappers. The ingredients aren't even expensive. My mom told me that this is the typical Filipino shop owner; they jack up the price and give you VERY small proportions. This other lady came in and gave the shop owner a business card; she's from Williamsburg, VA, but has experience working in restaurants and cafes. Basically she wants a chef position. I feel like I should go back and ask her if she's willing to hire me.

I came home, had a late lunch, and went to my room and had a really long nap. I didn't wake up until how late. I feel like I need to prep myself, because work is going to be insane tomorrow. I should really say later today, because it's technically the 4th. I find it strange that we celebrate the independence on the 4th, when historically it really happened on the 3rd. To get into the festive spirit, I should watch Independence Day. Nothing screams patriotism like aliens blowing up your planet. Brittany finally put up her "professional" pictures of her wedding. I sat there nit-picking for a good half hour about the errors of her pictures. I haven't even taken photography, but I wasn't too thrilled about her wedding photos. There were a few that were supposed to be pictures of the couple and each family; the photographer clearly didn't take multiples for security, because the one of Brittany's family wasn't great. They didn't look prepared for the picture, and her little brother's eyes were closed. There was another one where the entire picture was black and white, but Brit and her husband made a heart with both their hands combine while kissing. Instead of making the heart the focal point in color, there is an entire bar of color going vertically where the heart is made. Instead of making the color option a small circular, the person made it large. A few of the black and whites were washed out with the flash; the person didn't contrast the colors well before and after converting in to "gray scale". There was one of Brittany facing the camera, and there was a random arm holding a purse coming out from her chest. Another picture of the bridesmaids before the wedding was off center and crooked. This other picture of Brittany standing next to a open patio door (re-enacting an Audrey Hepburn photo) made her face WAY too dark. The only black and white with a color focal point that the photographer got right was the one of the wedding rings. The rest of the pictures consist of strange angles, weird faces, and more questionable editing and lighting, and how much they paid for the pictures. If you think that was critical, just wait until I take photography in the fall. Then I'll have much more to say.

About two hours ago, I finished looking through my Mirko Ilic book, and I got inspired to make a coloring book based on dissidence. I also got inspired when I saw a same sex marriage pamphlet at church. I feel like everyone should have a right to be married. They way I see it, everyone has just as much of a right to be miserable as the next. People don't realize that this is this century's civil rights movement. Hello, Afro American rights? Women's rights? I'll just stand back and continue to be inspired by stupidity. I'll also add on to my coloring book to make it "The Big *Coloring* Book of Dissidence" © ™ Giselle Palma 2009.