Vacation

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October 29th, 2006 ~ Sunday

4:09 p.m.

One Of My Favorite Places

I have a thing for Barnes and Noble. I love that place! They have books, movies/tv shows, music, and coffee. It's basically everything that I need to sustain me in life. All I need is George, and I could hole out there for a good amount of time.

Because it has been so dry recently, I finally made myself go out and buy an external humidifier not only for George, but for me as well. The first and annual pangs of sickness have been poking me, and to appease my sore throat, I shelled out the $25 for a humidifer. And it's shaped like a penguin =D You know you're jealous. Anyways, my place went from a sad 30% humidity level to a comfortable 55%. Both George and I are happy clams now.

On another note, I bought Blue October's album, Foiled. I haven't listened to it yet, but I have high hopes. I also bought the first season of Everwood. Don't judge. I have a strange affection for this show. I think it's because the main character, Ephram, is a prodigal piano player who disconnects and then reconnects with his music. I find that inspiring, despite the lameness =D After I watch certain episodes, it inspires me to go practice. Hey, we all need something.

I bought trick-or-treat candy, too. Every year I buy candy, and every year nobody comes. But since I'm in a different residence this year, just in case, I thought I'd buy some candy. There are a lot of kids around, so I might have visitors. I'm still sad that I can't go see the NY Philharmonic on Halloween (since the $35 tickets are sold out, and as much as I love the NY Phil, I'm not paying $75 to go see them this time). Oh well. Maybe KMozart will broadcast it. Still. Not the same. Seeing a great orchestra live is the 2nd best way to see an orchestra. The first best is still being a part of the orchestra. Then you're really surrounded by music.

Okay, I'm going to go back to cleaning my place and working on elementary grades. Wish me luck.

October 27th, 2006 ~ Friday

9:19 a.m.

And I am Negligent

I meant to write earlier, really. But for whatever reason, I come home with all these stories to tell...but then I'd rather go to sleep. Go figure.

Today was a pleasant day for me, aside from the fact that I left both my tuner and my ipod at Vista Verde. I hope they are there on Monday morning. Everybody seemed to be in a good mood, and that, in turn, kept me cheerful. And everybody was, for the most part, focused and thinking and receptive. All good stuff.

I practiced today. Only for an hour and a half, but I try to stop at 9:00 so my neighbors don't get annoyed with me. The problem is, I never feel like practicing until late at night. When in college, I'd practice in the morning and afternoon, and then I'd go back to the music department at around 9 or 10:00 at night and practice until midnight (when the building closed). Can't do that anymore.

So can I just say... I love Yo-Yo Ma. I'm serious. I want to hang out with Yo-Yo Ma. He seems like such a nice fellow, and so positive! When I'm around positive people it rubs off on me :D And when I'm around negative mean people, that rubs off on me, too.

I can't remember what else. Oh. I had to re-pierce my ears this week. I found out that my 3rd holes in both ears had partially closed, so I had to make a decision. 1.) Let the holes grow in completely. 2.) Get them re-pierced somewhere. 3.) Re-pierce them myself, since they were only 1/2 - 1/4 closed up.

I went with option #3, which I do not recommend by any means. But I own rubbing alcohol and was able to sanitize everything, and I was careful and remain careful. My ears are rather achey as a result, though. Achy? Yes, achy. No E.

Otherwise...I need to get a humidifier tomorrow. George is trying to cope with the dry weather. He's a tough little guy. Still, I'd like to make him as comfortable as possible. The humidity is around 27% everyone. Your instruments do NOT like it that dry. They like 50 - 65% ish. Keep your instruments in their cases if possible. Don't take them outside. If you have a worm, use it. If you have a humidifier, use it (just don't aim it AT or ONTO your instrument).

All right. I'm going to go look at more youtube cello videos :D

October 11th, 2006 ~ Wednesday

12:34 a.m.

I Want One...

As a child...and as adult, my mother would never let me go grocery shopping with her. I have a habit, even now, of...when with other people and shopping...wanting everything I see. It never happens when I'm shopping alone, but when with others I revert back to that child who couldn't actually get anything I wanted. No sugar cereals, no junk food, no cookies, no chips. Ironically, my parents were very strict about health. Being a child, I would see something (like Cheez Its) and run over and go, "Oh! I want that!"

And so it continues.

I want a puppy.

I've been perusing some websites, and....some of these puppies are so cute that it makes me ache. Exhibit A: Daisy. Exhibit B: No name but friendly looking! Exhibit C: The cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Now, keep in mind, I'm not one to fawn over small animals or babies. That's just not my style. But that last puppy...oh my goodness. XD Come on. I'm not made of stone here.

Realistically, I'm not sure if I can have a puppy. They require maintenance, and I'm allergic to fur, and I'm not at home a lot, and blah blah blah blah blah. But one day, maybe. I was the first Maruko to pierce my ears. I was the first Maruko to paint my walls a color besides white or beige. I am the pioneer! So maybe I will be the first Maruko to get a real pet! (I don't count goldfish, unless they are fancy goldfish with a tank and everything)

Other than that...I got food poisoning yesterday. That was fun. And...I've kept the green! I didn't realize it's been over a week, but I actually like it and am going to keep it. Hooray! I've been creating new artwork for my new Vista Verde room (NO MORE BATCAVE, HUZZAH!) and I've been catching up on sleep. I'm going to really miss sleeping like a normal person once going back to school. I will, of course, make every attempt to sleep properly, but...well...we'll see. I'd have to go to sleep at 7:45pm =D

Oh, did you know that google bought youtube?? Go figure.

October 3rd, 2006 ~ Tuesday

7:47 p.m.

My Foe, My Nemesis

I am a generally nice and kind person. I get along with most everybody, and in my life only 2 people have hated me. One was a girl named Kristin in kindergarten, who became livid with me when I giggled during an earthquake drill. What can I say, I was excited and felt a little silly crouching under the desk with a bunch of other people. I found it amusing. She was very offended. The other...I can't remember why she hated me. We were in 6th grade...all I remember is that the feeling was mutual. And then, during my senior year of high school, she wrote this fake message in my yearbook (I have no idea how she got my yearbook) about how I should keep in touch. I have not kept in touch.

But I can now say that I have an official nemesis. One who goes out of their way to thwart me at every turn. Devious, deceptive, sneaky, and a big liar, my nemesis is officially....GREEN PAINT!!

Now I know what you're thinking: How can you have a nemesis that's...paint?!

You have no idea.

First of all, I thought it would be lovely to finish painting my place by finishing up my kitchen in a lovely shade of green. I went to Home Depot and got a gallon of Sweet Midori. I wanted something bright and cheerful. When the person opened the can of paint I thought, wow...that's kind of bright. Always willing to give a paint a chance, I took it home and painted a small test patch on my kitchen wall.

And it was fluorescent.

I'm talking neon, burn your retinas out kind of fluorescent. Green Paint, you've won this round.

I went back to Home Depot that night, and they kindly retinted my paint to a darker Limeade (mmmm....limeade). When I took it home I put it on the wall and, while less fluorescent than Sweet Midori, it was definitely still neon. Green Paint, was beginning to annoy me.

So, for the third time that night, I went BACK to Home Depot and settled on Caterpillar. Caterpillars are a nice color, right? I put it on the wall, and to my relief, it was not fluorescent. It was cheerful and bright.

Upon waking up the next morning, something had happened. My Caterpillar paint had turned into the color of Astroturf. Yeah. GREEN. I decided to wait and see if I liked the Astroturf green. After 2 days it was official. No. I could not live with Astroturf green. Green Paint sat on my walls, laughing at me.

I then decided to go with a darker more muted tone of green. I dipped my finger in the Caterpillar paint and made a streak on my arm as a frame of reference (which, of course, the Home Depot people noticed). Back at Home Depot, I bought a quart of Thyme and a quart of....some other color. They were slightly different colors that I thought would make a nice texture on my walls. I was a little bit concerned about the colors being too dark until I put patches on the wall.

And they were surprisingly light and the color of mud.

NOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Alas, green paint had gotten me again!!!

Today I went BACK to Home Depot. I had a streak of Caterpillar on my arm, then a streak of Thyme (which I actually liked in the daylight), and a streak of the third color. I stood by the paint samples, comparing them to my arm. I finally decided on a VERY dark green. Forget it, I thought, I give up! I just want a respectable green that won't bum me out!! That's all I ask!

Let me explain something. By this point, all the Home Depot paint people knew who I was. And there are 5 paint people at Home Depot. And I ran into 3 of them today, all of whom teased me for trying so many green colors and were amused by my colorful green arm. One, while helping another customer and walking by me shouted, "I knew you'd be back!" Great. I'm infamous. Another said he knew that my original green had been too bright. Thanks!

Jose, the guy who helped me, retinted my Caterpillar paint to the new dark green (and I, of course, dipped my finger in the paint and added it to my green mural on my arm). The people next to me, who were also waiting for THEIR paint, laughed at me and wished me luck with the green paint. I returned home, put some paint on the walls, and realized...

The green was really dark. Green Paint. Never to be trusted.

In the end, I mixed the dark green with the muddy green, and came up with a nice combo. I then sponge painted the Thyme on top. I think I like it, but I can't be trusted any more. I'm hiding in my bedroom. Hiding from the Green Paint.

And now I'm exhausted. There's paint all over me. All of my kitchen stuff is in my living room. I have to clean the countertops (since I stood on them to paint) and my refrigerator (because I sat on top of it to paint). I have to clean my living room and put everything back. I have to clean everything, because halfway through painting I got hungry and had to stop to cook a calzone. Except...all my cooking stuff was in my living room. So I cooked in my living room. And now my living room has flour and cheese all over it.

I'm tired. And exhausted. Alas, Green Paint. may have gotten the best of me....

to be continued......................