Poopsgiving

Sometimes the comfort of being at home is the same thing that makes it so intolerable. This entire town, the paths I take to people's houses, the smells in my mother's house, street signs, everything is dripping with memories and associations that I just would rather wipe out than be reminded of.

I guess I'm in an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind kind of mood but honestly- I've felt this way about this town for years. This trip is just magnified because of recent developments and the fact that after you graduate from college you grow up like 20X.

Debbie downer, huh?

Here are things I am thankful for:

Conan on at 12:00!! TV is magic.
haircuts
Peewee Herman on a Roomba! (Conan)
my mom's new appreciation for alcohol
my mom being happy
living in the mountains
really good friends (even though they are everywhere I'm not, with a couple exceptions)
being loved even though I am awful
not being allergic to any foods
not being sick
the potential for getting a dog
health, life, food, shelter, privledge, opportunity, the future

visitors, thanksgiving, ringtones

I've finally really started to calm down after the move, the new job, etc. I know this because I've started making themed playlists again. In college I made playlists of songs about mountains, songs with clapping in them, stuff like that. Now I'm working on a playlist related to public transportation (or travel in general) and a playlist with songs that include something about Washington in them. When they fill themselves out I'll be sure to report my findings.

So since my last post I've had several visitors. I hope that my life in Washington always has this many visitors, every weekend someone new comes up for one reason or another! RW came up a while ago for a little and we combed Georgetown for things that were remotely affordable (ha!)

My boyfriend was up to visit for the past week- I had to work for a lot of it though which was disappointing and also disturbing. I've never had to ditch someone for entire days like that. I've always been able to move my schedule around. It was nice anyway, we ate lots of good food and explored some great stuff. Unbeknownst to us, there was a Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that we happened to stumble upon. That worked out really nicely since my boyfriend is a big fan of Ansel Adams (consequently I am becoming more appreciative, too). There is also a nice folk art section in the American Art Museum, I'm just waiting for the day when our beloved South Carolina Chicken Man (Ernest Lee) gets some of his chickens in there. When I bought a couple chickens from him in October he (Ernest) talked to me for a long time about when he lived in DC and how bad the crime is. Apparently he used to work not far from my apartment!

I was introduced to Tryst (near Dupont Circle/Adams Morgan) by some college friends and I am a fan. Although the place was PACKED when we went, once you do find a seat you understand why no one wants to leave. It's a coffee shop / bar that is super mellow with cozy couches and free internet.

I also decided that I officially have a new favorite food. Panang Curry. You can get it in most Thai restaurants. It is AWESOME if you like the sweet/hot combination, kind of nutty, creamy, mmm so good.

So I flew home for Thanksgiving and I've been hanging out with my mom. It's nice spending time with her. Sometimes when I come home though, I get really really stressed out about nothing at all. Stress just pulses through me and I don't want to hang out with anyone and I don't want to listen to my mom talk and I am mean. It feels like I just need to get out or I want to get out of Columbia, even though I don't because I just got here. I have problems. A lot of my Thanksgiving felt like that. Some breaks aren't like that at all.

So I've been busy making my own ringtones- I usually just sample songs (usually the beginning of songs) on Wavepad and then transfer them to the phone. so far the best songs for ringtones are:

Crayons - Caribou (this has been G's ringtone for a long time, it is seriously the best)
Cemetery - Architecture in Helsinki
Spring 2008 - Architecture in Helsinki
Ready to Die - Andrew WK (only the very beginning of this one)

If you have any ideas for a good ringtone please comment!!!!!

taco extravaganza, cops in Russia, computer sadness

So a couple nights ago the boyfriend and I were watching some late night TV when we came across COPS in Russia. This is kind of like regular COPS except that the cops in Russia are police officers terrorizing the people of Moscow in 1989. So weird. It's not even on imdb.

I got a job offer. I'm not going to take it, though. I don't think it would cut the mustard, especially in the college-loan-payback department. Moving to Chicago to sort recyclables would be cool, for about a week. The people with the organization are really nice though, especially the guy I talked to. He said he'd keep me in mind for future positions. Sheesh. I'm still waiting on a lot of other jobs. I have another interview tomorrow with a job that could be really cool- so things are not completely stagnant. I'm supposed to hear back about a job by the end of this week, too.

Last night the boyfriend (who hates being referred to as "the boyfriend"- I guess I can say "my boyfriend" now) and I went to The Whig, an underground (literally) bar in Columbia, SC. They have $.50 tacos every Tuesday night so we try to go every now and then. Last night we were the last people to order tacos so they gave us ALL the tacos that they had made so that they wouldn't be throwing them away. Taco extravaganza! The Whig is the only bar I've been to in Columbia that I really feel ok going to. All my other experiences usually have involved that nasty sorority girl look-over and frat boy check-out. Ugh, that shit makes me feel like such a fish out of water. I'm so unaccustomed to it having lived in Asheville for the past four years that when I am confronted with it I feel really uncomfortable. My boyfriend was saying that someone referred to The Whig as "that bar where all the guys with beards go." Sure enough, thank God for The Whig.

Yesterday I spent at least 2-3 hours trying to hook up my computer to my mom's cable internet. I have tried everything on my own, re-setting configurations, fiddling with the modem and the ethernet cord, all that crap. I called Time Warner and a girl there walked me through some stuff and proceeded to tell me that the problem was with the configuration (NO DUH) and that it was outside of her troubleshooting area and that I would have to call Dell. So I call Dell and talk to a couple people in India. One nice man walked me through a lot of different things, none of which worked. He then concluded that the problem was either with my ISP (Time Warner) or I just needed to backup all my crap and re-install Windows. Um... is this really that big of a deal? Can anyone out there please help me? It's getting so ridiculous! My computer could connect to all the different connections I had at school. So frustrating.