Spring Awakening

I walked out of my classroom today and was just hit by sunshine and the warm air. Immediately I was transported back in time to Spring Term. The taste of hop skip fresh on my tongue. I felt the ball in my hand and got ready to throw for Buckets. It felt magical. But then I was brought back to reality and to the present day. It was just a warm winter's day in Central California and the after school program was about to begin any minute.

How fabulous.

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is pleasure taken from observing the misery of another. Philosopher and sociologist Theodor Adorno defined schadenfreude as “largely unanticipated delight in the suffering of another which is cognized as trivial and/or appropriate.

Before dinner this evening I got a little taste of something even tastier than my grilled cheese and tomato soup. Caitie on the phone with a friend. Let me tell you how delicious this was. She was just talking about how miserable she is. I mean I felt generally the same things all Fall. She was just talking about how she does not connect with anyone here and that she is really trying (I think here she meant lying) and was being very polite to everyone. When I walked into the kitchen (where her room is now) she was talking about how she did not like confrontation (meaning her passive aggressive behavior). She said that she is very sick of Nick (things we have heard before) and that she had a lot of friends back in the city and was busy with lots of stuff to do and now that living in California she has the exact opposite. She also told her friend that there was no one really interested in art here and that most people have bad taste in music (My friend Jackie that likes emo punk music) or are only interested in television (Moi and our other room mate Nick that spends all his time in front of the television).

I just got the biggest kick out of her misery. I was eating it up. It was just so fab. But when I went to the kitchen to clean my dishes, she was talking about she might have found a room to rent near her school and might be moving. Which is the only bad news for me.

I am not sure where I would go? I would not be able to stay in my apt. I would not be able to make rent at all. It would suck. So that could be worrisome for me. But also she lies. So who knows if this could even be possible. I guess that the her happiness at my misfortune would be that she is doing what I have been advised by everyone I know. To find another living arrangement.

Food glorious food

Things I am craving today:

1. Hot dogs (I want them from both Coney Island as well as Portillos)
2. Anything from Portillos really
3. Pizza
4. BBQ
5. Oh god some sesame chicken would be so fab right now with Crab Rangoon. Yee-uh!
6. A tamale would be so bomb
7. A Margarita on the rocks

Wouldn't that meal be the most fabulous experience ever? I die.

Abre Los Ojos

"Hey man I left some soap in the mop bucket so you can mop the hallway."

Thanks room mate Nick, but I will do my weekly chores on my own time schedule. Maybe I would feel more compelled to keep the apartment clean if it did not always smell like cat urine/shit. Or if the agreement to not smoke in the apartment was upheld. I have never lived in a house wherein people are allowed to smoke but it is awful let me tell you.

Onto more pleasant things. This weekend was pretty fun. I met Scott Doughty and Elise Polgaze in San Francisco at the Asian Art Museum. We got to see this cool exhibit on Afghanistan before it closed. It was way cool. I mean I did not do much study of Asian art but it was still pretty neato.

Saturday the AmeriCorps crew went to sing karaoke at a pizzeria in Monterey. It was fun. Had a lot to drink and sang Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benetar. I mean it wasn't as good as the scene from 13 Going on 30, but for all intents and purposes, it was a good show.

Work tomorrow. No thank you.

All Things Go/I Have a Dream

So this weekend was bananas amazing. Friday there was just so much fabulousness all around. Reunions with friends that I have not seen in like a year and half, what a beautiful thing. I loved it. The wedding on Saturday was just too much fun. I think that I like that people are heading into that marrying part of their life because that is just a perfect excuse for all of my friends to get together and just act like a bunch of crazy people. So in conclusion it was fab to be back in Chicago with all of the people I love. Sad news that I have no current trips in my Travelocity profile. Boo.

Yesterday. Inauguration Day. Holy Cow. What a ride. It took me back to Black History Month in second grade when Mrs. Johnson taught us the important lesson of tolerance. The first day the blue eyed students got special privileges while the brown eyed students got less than the blue eyed. The next day the roles were reversed. It didn't make sense? Why did I get special treatment just because of my eye color one day and the next day it was all taken away? And today in 2009 we have an African American president. Lets keep the train rollin. I think that it's important to continue that lesson that Mrs. Johnson bestowed upon myself and my classmates. I wonder somedays how I could possibly impart the same knowledge on the rest of the world? I am going to continue to meditate on that fact but in the meantime- Yes, we can.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

So many things to talk about. And I am so exhausted. We'll talk later, k?

you know you love me.

Under Pressure

So today I went to the eye doctor and purchased a new pair of glasses. I would share them with you, but alas my digital camera currently resides in the pocket of my winter jacket that is in a closet in my parent's house in Illinois. They are nice and I do like them, but I find myself not being as smitten as I immediately was with those Versace glasses. I am happy though and am pretty excited about being able to see clearly. While at the eye doctor he informed me that my blood pressure is up. Not too high but he did mention which leads me to think about my current life situation. I never had high blood pressure in Illinois. But somehow after living in California for 5 months my blood pressure has gone up. I think it is because my stress level has been quite high. I mean just the daily grind and my current situation here makes me feel quite stressed. Or maybe it is because I am SICK. Working with kids was brilliant idea let me tell you. I just hope that I get better before the wedding next weekend.

Liar, Liar

First off can I please stop watching the Real Housewives of Orange County? It is such a black hole for me. I tried to see Slumdog Millionaire today but was late for it because Monterey is the craziest place to drive in. I got lost and then could not find parking. It was an ordeal and then I remembered I had said I would hang out with a friend of mine (which did not happen) so I decided to go home.

So the other day my room mate Caitie and I had a discussion about her current situation. She has moved out of our garage into what is considered the breakfast nook of our apt. She and my other room mate Nick, apparently have ended their relationship due to the fact that Caitie found some notes that Nick was writing to his ex-girlfriend about how he was excited for Caitie to leave for NYC and that he wanted his ex to come visit him. So they supposedly ended things and were both going to try to make a go of it with their respective exes (Caitie met up with an ex in NYC and is going to think about moving to NOLA to be with him).

So these are the facts that I have and I realize of course that A) Caitie lies. She is a liar. She has been caught in lies and so everything she says needs to be taken with a grain of salt. So it should come as no surprise that Caitie and Nick continue to spend time alone in his room with the door shut laughing and what not. I am pretty positive that she has also been spending the night in his bed too. I have yet to hear them in more compromising situations, but it seems to me that the situation that Caitie presented, one wherein she was tired of Nick and wished to spend more time outside of the world that they had created one of which they spend their time only with one another. I am exhausted with the BS. Like I just cannot spend any more energy on these two. It is taking a toll on me. I am over it. I just need to be out of this place. Travelocity told me that there are 10 days til my trip to Chicago. I cannot wait.

Oprah's Favorite Things

So my last night in Chicago was to say the least interesting. After eating at The Counter wherein I ate quite a delicious burger made of my own design (burger, avocado, fried egg, grilled onions, and a caramelized onion sauce). YUM! Afterward we journeyed to the House of Hookah for some convo and hookah. At the end of the evening Hassan, Warren, Sarah, and Myself ventured to a party in Logan Square. The party was for Margaret Rogers bday. I mean I was not friends with any of the people at this party when we went to Knox. I felt super weird and very out of place. I dunno I felt like we all recognized one another and I did have a couple people come up and say, "Brian, right?" or "You went to Knox.." It was very strange and I spent the majority of the time with Sarah in the corner. Because really I did not know what to do with myself at a party with Brooks and Matt Holland. It was a trip for sure.

Oh my goodness what a trip I had back to Chicago. It was a really great time.
Some of my favorite things included:
1. Eating delicious food.
2. New Year's Eve
3. Spending the Holidays with the fam
4. Chicago
5. New Years Eve spent with friends and Justice.
6. New additions to the quote book.

So yeah. I cannot really express how great my break was. I really could not have come back to California and been happier than I have been in a very long time. I am really going to give it a go this year though. I need to e really happy in 2009. It just has to happen. Any suggestions on how to make this happen? I bought a bottle of wine and some sushi for the new episode of Gossip Girl tonight. I think that is a start.