Christmas

Ohmigod.

So, for the entire week before Christmas, my semester had ended. So I was knitting from dawn til dusk. By Wednesday, I was really nervous & had caffeine pills & Tylenol (for my aching fingers) close by & didn't sleep Wednesday night or Thursday night. Friday night, my mother told me to sleep because the sleep deprivation was effecting me badly. A big duh, I know . . . but being sleep deprived, it didn't occur to me. So I slept Friday night Saturday night knitting during the day. Now this was all on the afghan & I still had one more fluffy scarf (all the ladies got fluffy scarves) & for 5 guys I had wanted to knit plain scarves. Hell no. I gave my mother money & sent her to get Scott a cigar, Smitty a memory card, Sean a book, & Brian a leather card-case (that he had once pointed out & proclaimed it to be an ideal gift). There. The guys were done. But I finished the afghan Sunday night (mind you, we were leaving early in the morning on Monday for NJ) so my mother & i stayed up until 4:30 in the morning; I with my knitting needles, she with rolls & rolls of wrapping paper, bags of bows & rolls of ribbon. Then we woke up at 6, showered, packed, & I knitted until Brian arrived to drive us up. Vikki's was about half a foot shorter than everyone else's, but she was opening her gifts that day & wouldn't be there for Christmas, so I told her that everyone else was getting the same thing she was, varying only in colour & so she should open it in the car before we got there. It was the truth. I did NOT lie. But no one knew she got ripped off. And she only got relatively ripped off.

The afghan turned out far larger than the pattern called for. The pattern wanted it to be somewhere around 4 by 6. It turned out to be 8'3" by 5'7". Woops.

However, it was well paid off with Scott & Santina’s reaction. It was intense. There was tearing of the eyes, I kid you not. The whole gift opening process stopped & there were hugs & some of the most enthusiastic displays of gratitude I’ve ever been blessed with. She started to fold it back into the box & stopped & said, “Wait a minute, this isn’t going back into the box” & went & draped it lovingly over a chair in the living room. After that, every time someone else came into the house, she took them into the living room to brag on the afghan. And by the way, she's wearing her scarf in the picture below. :)

The rest of the morning was lovely. My mother got Brian a light saber & herself a light saber so they could fight with them when he opened it. These things are amazing. They have a sound effect to power up, power down, “idle,” “hum” (when you swing it) & the best damn one, CLASH. They SOUND like light sabers. TOO COOL! They were $120 a piece, but when you buy two, their only $100 a piece & my mother had credit card reward gift cards . . . 2 $80 cards . . . so she spent $40 on two light sabers. Which are probably going to be worth A LOT someday. They’re losing the rights to make them so fast that it would probably be impractical to get the three year warranty because they won’t be able to replace them. But we KNEW that Brian would be right on top of things when he saw the shape of the box. So we labeled them as from Sybil & Mitch to my mother & I. Then when I was given Brian’s light saber, I took off the top label & there was a label underneath it that said to Brian from Angela. And I went, “Um . . . this says To: Brian . . . here, dude.” & he freaked. It was awesome.

I made out like a bandit. I got 4 mugs to add to my collection. A Chorus Line mug, a Chicago mug, a Spamalot tankard, & a Curtains mug (which I already had, but too bad, I’m keeping them both, & like them both, & I love that I can tell the difference between the one I bought & the one I got as a gift.)

AND among many other things, I got KILLER RABBIT SLIPPERS!!!!!! To quote Scott, There are bunny slippers . . . & then there are bunny slippers & THOSE are bunny slippers.

Then the rest of the visit was fiddling with toys, watching movies received as gifts & playing on the Wii (not a gift, but a popular choice of passing time nonetheless). If you’re not familiar with the Wii, basically, the controller is a ‘wand’ with a sensor on it. It’s wireless & you use it as whatever you are using in the game you are playing. If you’re playing tennis, it’s a tennis racket & you swing it & your little person swings their racket. I did a LOT of playing & we got a lot of videos, which I'll post someday, I assume. Man, I am SORE. It's a whole lot of exercise. And my mother & I fell in love with it, so she's been trying to track one down & is just getting laughed at. The demand is apparently beating the supply & there are waiting lists that go on for months.

Anyway, Brian & I were playing tennis & there's a split screen so you stand a bit off to the side, but you subconsciously want to be where your person it, so you inch inward in front of the screen. Brian & I got to close & & swung his 'tennis racket' right into my left arm. REALLY hard. The next morning, I had a wii controller - shaped bruise on my arm which was actually really pretty. It looked REALLY bad, but didn't hurt too much.

And now I'm off to my father's. Then Sunday morning, we're headed back up to NJ for New Year's!! Yay!

My artwork at its slack-assed-est

Artwork for my father's beer label this year . . . he recruited me a couple days ago . . .

"I'm a little relieved."
"Why?"
"Well, I thought it would be something worse."
"Worse than the total agony of being in love?"
" . . . no, no, you're right . . . total agony"
-Love Actually


"I'd like to think that despite all this, we can be friends"
"Sure. If you ever get a soul. Or if I get a lobotomy."
-Profit

Christmas Candy

Yesterday was candy day. A tradition of My mother, Brian & I. It's been growing every year. The original idea was lightbulb lollipops. Brian would make the lollipops, wrap them in different colour foil & stick them in a little Styrofoam tree that he keeps on his desk at work. Lights on the tree . . . that you can eat . . .

So, when you melt the chocolate for the lollipops, you usually have some left over . . . & so you make some other miscellaneous candies . . . well . . . it's grown a little & while the day still revolves around the stages of the lollipop batches, the other inventory has grown considerably.

So, here's MY first batch of lollipops, even though Brian was making them from the beginning of the operation - but his "batch" is five . . . mine is a dozen. He has a different mold . . . And there I sit with mass amounts of red ornaments, peanut clusters, dark chocolate marshmallow clusters, & everyone's favourite (though I don't know why, they're my least favourite) Peanut butter flavoured chocolate covered marshmallow clusters.

And my first batch of lollipops is solid . . . I usually use dark chocolate, but I think I used milk chocolate this year . . . if I did, it was purely because it was convenient . . . probably already melted or something. The other batch (which is green instead of red) is filled with caramel. Yummm :)
This is the really annoying part of the evening. Wrapping. We take those flimsy little squares of coloured foil & wrap them around the candies that aren't in cups. Those are the light bulbs & what we've got here . . . gold nuggets & . . . red . . . um . . . nuggets. The gold is almond clusters in dark chocolate & the red is almond clusters in milk chocolate. Brian's actually working . . . it looks like I'm either done or procrastinating by adjusting cups . . . but I think I'm done.
Okay. This just had to happen. my mother is hanging around with a camera - so there had to be a pose. I was headed to go get lollipops out of the freezer & she goes, "go snuggle" so we got a cute little picture of Brian & I - exhausted as hell & trying not to show it.
We took a break & watched the Muppets Christmas Carol - another part of the tradition. And it has almost become part of the tradition that I look up for my favourite bits, but mainly sit & detail ornaments & wrap lightbulbs on Brian's sword case/coffee table.
Candy candy candy candy candy candy candy candycandycandycandy CANDYCANDCANDY!!!!
I love this shot . . . look at that. Candy as far as the eye can see . . . Those two enormous creatures on the white tray are yet another part of the tradition. Turtles are just too hard to make - for other people . . . so we make them just for the three of us. Those are mine & my mother's. They are special turtles though . . . instead of just milk chocolate, peanuts, & caramel, there are layers . . . the first is milk chocolate, then the peanuts & caramel, then white chocolate, topped with a sprinkle of Cocoa Krispies. I've still got some work to do today, but I've already got three boxes ready to go out to friends & family.

Final Final

I had my final final today. And thus, my final class. And thus, my final day. Until next semester. Which starts on January 28th. Damn. THAT'S a Christmas vacation.

All my finals went rather well. I tested the patience of my Script Analysis teacher . . . there was a question asking why shows like How I Learned to Drive & Largo Desolato had a non-linear plot-flow. When we were going over LD, we had a class activity where we designed a roller coaster based on the plot movement of each scene. In the exam question I said that in both plays the characters were in confusing & frustrating times in their lives & the jumping chronology took the audience along for the ride & in parentheses had: (See what I did there? The vague reference to a class activity? Nice, huh? Well, back to my exam . . .) So . . . we'll see if he smacks me . . . although I find that Iif I actually get laughter, I get away with it, & looking back over it, I chuckled at myself even though I made it up & knew it was there. So I think I have a good chance. Also, you'd be amazed how much having a male teacher minimizes the probability that he'll have PMS when he's grading papers.

Today I had my acting final. After that, we all went to lunch & we took a lot of odd pictures. Then I went to the University store to get a 9 x 12 sketch pad, pencils, colour pencils, & an eraser. I figured that would be enough to get me through a super simple draft of what my father wanted me to draw. He wanted me to make him a label for his home made beer this year. And insisted that it be no larger that 8 x 10 so he could shrink it well. The design is two scorpions facing away from each other with their tails making a heart. I'll post pictures when I get some drafts done.

Then I went to play pool/ No one would play with me - everyone was either gone already, packing, or working. So I went & played by myself. I've kind of upgraded from "I suck" to "I'm okay" & thought it would waste time quite nicely until my ride came at 5:30, but after a few hours, my shoulder got so sore that it was no use practicing - cause I wasn't gonna get any better in that condition. So . . . here. Then back to my book, which by the way is "Cell." I finished "The Doctor's Wife" which is wonderful & have moved onto "Cell" which is a Stephen King book . . . & I got a few chapters in & wondered what happened . . . I used to like Stephen King . . . & his style was driving me nuts . . . I hadn't read him in so long, I wondered if I'd grown beyond him . . . but after a few more chapters, it got good. So give him a chance - anyone who's read 20 pages & given him up. Give him a chance. "Cell" is REALLY good (once you get into it) & made me cry the other day. That's pretty rare. People would tease me about getting so into books I didn't hear them calling me or making faces when I read, but I rarely cry. Of course now I'm in college . . . so rather than getting teased, they walked in, asked me if I was okay, & then when I told them why I was upset - they sympathized. They know what it's like for that to happen in a book. (Being very careful around spoilers :) )

And Saturday we are to make masses of candy. Yay! Christmas candy! Tradition.

Clash of the Crushes

Here's the character list.
Me - Has a crush on Will. Knows Lindsay has a crush on Eric.
Lindsay - Has a crush on Eric. Knows I have a crush on Will
Eric - Has tonsillitis right now . . . LOVES to make people laugh.
Will - Sweet, funny, wonderful.
Irene - Knows I have a crush on Will, doesn't know Lindsay has a crush on Eric.

I get my lunch & sit at the table. Lindsay & Eric join me after a while. While I was sitting, they were up & about gathering food from the buffet style of the dining hall. Eric is rude, but only to be funny. In fact, if he were being kind to someone, I'd be worried about him. It's all in the name of laughter. He has called Lindsay fat in some way or another & she has taken it personally.

Eric sits with his tray, a banana, a bowl of apple jacks, tea, & cranberry juice. After a while, he stops eating & has only the banana peel, minimal apple jacks left, & all of his tea & apple juice. He complains about his tonsillitis & takes his tea bag & starts dipping it in his bowl of milk & apple jacks. Lindsay scolds him, insisting that he makes it so damn hard for her to be mad. I look up at the stairs for no reason & Will happens to be heading into the dining hall. He sees me looking at him & joins our table. He & I become dissolved in conversation & Eric is amusing Lindsay with more antics I didn't bother to notice.

Irene calls Will & has him meet her at the entrance of the dining hall because she's lost her One Card. He goes & pays for her to come in & they go get food. Eric begins an opera involving the tea bag & the banana peel who are having some sort of dispute. Hilarity ensues. Lindsay is laughing, frustrated that she cannot display her anger with Eric, I give myself a headache laughing so hard, & Will & Irene return wondering what's going on & soon join the laughter. Eric goes back & forth with a high pitch for the tea bag & a low bellow for the banana peel, eventually dunking the tea bag into the cranberry juice - the vat of blood - & proclaims the end of Act 1.

After about a minute of conversation, Eric, recuperated & ready for Act 2 starts up again. Less funny now, there is the occasional burst of laughter, but the concept is now stale. By the end, everything - including the wrapper the tea bag came in - is in the bowl & Eric's tray is coated in milk. We all take a moment to breath & let the stitches in our sides heal & Eric starts singing with the music being piped into the dining hall. He doesn't know the words, so he's being random & gets one final burst of uncontrolled laughter when he sings, "And then you eat a cup" & sinks his teeth into the Styrofoam cup that held his tea which is now milling about with the apple jacks, milk, tea bag, tea bag wrapper, & the banana peel in Eric's bowl.

So for twenty minutes, Eric has not interacted with any of the people around him. He didn't break that fourth wall of his little opera. Real conversations started to take place & Lindsay was given the opportunity to sulk. Eric & Will chat, Irene has gone off somewhere to get food or ice cream or something. Will notices that Lindsay is sulking & I am kind of staring off, bored.

Will: I think the ladies are bored.
Eric: (Turning to us) Okay, ladies, why don't you go get busy & kill yourselves.
Will: You're an asshole.
Eric: (Finally noticing Lindsay's irritation) Wait, are you okay?
Lindsay: (As unconvincingly as possible) I'm fine. (Looking at me) I'm ready when you are.
Me: Okay . . .

(I had to go with Lindsay to her room & print out a paper)

Lindsay: (Getting up angrily) I'm gonna go now & make a phone call, you can meet me.
Me: (Not wanting to leave Will with whom I get little time, but not wanting to separate with Lindsay) Well . . . I'll go with you now . . . if you're leaving now.
Will: Stay here.
Me: (Grinning) I have to go print a paper
Will: Stay. Stay, stay, stay. Stay. STAY.
Me: (REALLY wanting to) I have to go!
Will: Stay
Me: Stop
Will: Stay
Me: (Pointedly) I'll see you tomorrow.

Crushes get irritating, but when you get to just hang out with the guy they get fun. Poor Lindsay was experiencing the side effect where he said something & she took it harder than she would have taken it from anyone else. She didn't want to be around him, & wanted to leave. Even if I didn't need to print out a paper, I probably would have left with her to talk & make sure she was okay. And so I dragged myself away from my crush who was being incredibly sweet & actually asking me not to go - something I fight not to do every time he leaves ME.

Of course, I told him that today I didn't have anything until 3:00, but I'd get dropped off in the morning & to come meet me in the CFA. He said he would & that's why this post is so damned detailed. Cause I'm killing time til he GETS HERE. I emphasized that I'd be here at 7am, not because I thought he'd show at 7, but maybe he'll show at 11:30 instead of 2. You know? Cause I've got nothing to do but sit here. And type. So yeah.

Brian's Car

So today was an event . . .

In the morning, we drove up to PA to pick up Vikki, had lunch at a Cheeburger, Cheeburger right by the state line, headed back down to MD, went shopping at Borders for a good long time, went to Brian's apartment to decorate, & then took Vikki back to PA.

The very first trip & the very last trip (the two 2-hour chunks during which Vikki was not in the car - she can be very distracting, driving or not) I drove. Brian's car. Brian's tiny little scion. Oh my God. This car is unbelievable. I've been driving in my mother's car the whole time I've been learnign how to drive. I'm comfortable in it. Well, too bad. Because her car cost $1 (literally, which is another story) & was probably driven by Methuselah when he turned 20. It is a hunk-o-junk. Don't get me wrong, I love it, I'm used to it, attached to it. It's the size of a yacht, but I can see the hood. And the trunk. I have reference points. The reference points on Brian's car are the brightness of your headlights/tailights on the object you're trying to avoid.

So the trips were interesting because of the massive difference on how the cars are built & how they operate. Brian's car can turn on a dime. My mother's can turn on a circus tent. Also, Brian's car actually slows down when you step on the brake. There are some interesting pressure games in my mother's car, but Brian's is VERY responsive. So it was a bit of a rough ride while I got used to that. :)

Finals this week!

Monday - Regular classes
Tuesday - 3:00 - 5:00 Philosophy Exam
Wednesday - No classes for me! Study day!
Thursday - 12:30 - 2:30 Script Analysis Exam
Friday - 10:15 - 12:15 Acting Exam . . . 12:15 Lunch with chums. The end of the semester. Celebration ensues, I go home smiling, lose myself in a flurry of knitting, & go back to the stricter phase of the diet to abuptly lose as much more weight as I can before I go back at the end of January for my next semester (which, lemme tell you, has a VERY interesting schedule, but I got psych!!!)

People PAY money for this!!!!

Sharper Image sells a "voice activated smart shopper"

You recite your grocery list to it & it prints it out. Recognizes & sorts items. $150

For two bucks, buy a pad of paper & a pencil. Write down your damn list. If you can afford a ridiculous luxury like this, you don't need a list, you've got a personal shopper.

College . . . Go figure.

Stepped into a bathroom stall to find an open box of pregnancy tests . . . now what kind of result would leave them so absent minded as to forget the rest of their tests?

I'm kinda dumb.

Calm

Half an hour before class, I reached the thrilling end to my novel, in which it had been snowing for the last few chapters. I closed the book, contented with the ending & looked outside to see a blanket of snow blurring the view of the campus.

And I am inside in the warmth, with no work staring me in the face & the end of the semester nearing with the gift of a month & a half of vacation.

So, I did something incredibly stupid today . . .

Seen that episode of The Big Bang Theory where one of the geeky guys who thinks he can't get a date with the hot chick just asks her? And then she says yes? And then she asks who all is coming & in a panic, he tells her that 3 of his friends are? And then makes an excuse for his three absent friends once the 'date' comes around? Well, if you haven't, I basically told you everything you need to know to appreciate my pathetic story.

I did it backwards.

I have a crush on this guy & everyone's going, "Go for it!" But I've never gone for anything & have never been in a relationship. So I don't know what the hell to do to go for it. i don't even really know what "it" is! So I tug in the back of his jacket & as he turns around I tell him that I'm staying late today, wanna go have dinner after your dance class with me . . . . . (& nervousness took over) & Lindsay? Sure. So then I invite Eric. Cause I'm still nervous. & I wind up hanging out with two other friends & THEY wind up coming to dinner too! AND one of them is his EX!!!! AND her FATHER shows up & winds up coming with us too! And once we got to the table, we've got me, Will, Lindsay, Eric, Irene, Abby, Abby's father, & some random girl whose name I never got . . . but she knew who I was . . .

AND THEN Will had to leave after like 20 minutes to go train a friend . . .

Snow

The weather was on & predicting snow. My mother hates snow. So, as she walks by me with Niles sitting on my shoulder, she cries dramatically, "Don't snow on me!!!!!" & on cue, Niles does a big shake & a cloud of bird dander goes wafting toward my mother.

I love my bird. I love all the animals here. And their weird relationships.

An odd sort of harmony . . .

A walking medical wreck.

First of all, I’m an idiot. Most of my issues can be dealt with or avoided by simply having half a brain in my head. But, y’all know how it goes . . . we only use 30% of our brains, & unfortunately, the part of my brain that would say, “you idiot, you just have to take care of yourself” is the dormant part. And everything is flaring up at once.

Let’s start from the bottom & work my way up.

My Toes.

It’s been a month since I stood on one foot for hours in those wretched heels that I wore for Halloween, & while the numbness in three of my toes has gone, they still feel funny. And I wonder if I should worry . . .

The Balls of My Feet.

Those wretched heels? I wore them Friday. Must’ve slipped my mind that I’d be walking a mile up to TC to see the show. The balls of my feet are now bruised. But I deserve that.

My Right Ankle.

For about a week & a half, my right ankle has been considerably weak. Sometimes after I’ve been off it for a while, I’ll go to stand up & it just won’t support me. Although, I don’t blame it . . . I’ve been on crutches so many times I’ve lost count. Tendons, ligaments, sprains, you name it, my ankles have been through it. Except a broken bone. Fracture once, but no break . . .

My Left Knee.

This is what prompted this post. All my issues piled up & it makes for a good rant & a display of an impressive list of injuries, but this one is the only one that really worries me. In my unprofessional opinion, it’s probably tendonitis – which I’ve hand in my arm, but not in my knee before, so I don’t really know what it would feel like specifically, but it seems to be acting the same way – which includes not hurting ALL THE TIME . . . just occasional flare-ups when I really use the joint. Tendonitis heals in 9 months. And I noticed it during the summer . . . that’s when the treadmill started gathering dust because if I walked for more that 20 minutes, I’d be sore in my knee for days. So hopefully, I’ll be good as new at the end of next semester.

My Left Arm.

I have a ganglion cyst in my left wrist that I’ve learned to live with . . . but there’s also a little bit of pooling of fluids on the other side of my wrist – which sometimes makes an unpleasant squishing sound when I knit. Oh & also, my arm clicks when I knit. If I twist it, it just clicks. Doesn’t hurt . . . just weirds people out. Every now & then I worry a little, but I really don’t like going to the doctor. Frankly, I’m tired of asking, “What’s wrong now?” & my threshold for pain is usually such that I don’t have to go to the doctor unless it has something to do with one of my issues that make me pass out all the time.

My Neck.

Here’s another idiot pain. I’ve been sleeping on the couch. I forget why I started, but I got used to it. I’m a creature of habit & compulsion, so I’m going on four moths now & it’s getting to me physically. I just have to go back up into my room.

My Nose.

I have the sniffles. :(

My Head.
Headaches. Bad ones. Not migraines . . . those are actually only triggered by my father to the best of my knowledge, but they still hurt. Ow. Luckily, I'm in college . . . there aren't any rules against carrying Tylenol around.

Fortinbras Project

In my Intro to Theatre design class, we are each to design a set & two costumes for the play Fortinbras. To the left is my finished model in 1/4 inch scale. So the figure standing in the middle of the set is an inch & a half high. The scene I chose is scene 4 . . . . where Ophelia's ghost shows up & kicks out Frortinbras's chicks & has sex with him. The scene takes place in the bedchamber.





The idea of the bed being up on platforms was to make the two girls who came in look more comical when they climbed into the bed. Fortinbras & Horatio climb the steps created by the downstage side of the platforms & sit on the bed. On the upstage side, there are no steps & there is no space to step on next to the bed, so the girls have to climb from the stage level onto the bed. Funny. If done properly . . . but my actors are 1 1/2 inches high, & seem to be largely under my control, so no worries. :)



That prayer bench was hell to make. I can make a bed & a chair & a couch, & maybe a desk, but I had no idea what I was doing when I made that . . . & it was not at all stable, so it's glued to the wall. The doors are inset about a quarter of an inch. And I threw in a couple more wall sconces. After a few drafts of the tapestry, I decided to just make it nondescript.






Umm . . . by the way . . . those bricks in the wall . . . each individually drawn . . . no photocopy tricks.