April

The weekend was fantastic! Friday we went to lunch at Cafe Bianco on 75th St which was inexpensive, decent food, and convenient. Then it was late so we didn't go to The Met and walked around Central Park instead since it had stopped raining. Then we went down to Periyali on 20th St. It was so good!!! Great service (the waiter gave us a complimentary glass of dessert wine), delicious food (I split the white beans in garlic sauce with Kristen and then had the salmon with spinich and feta in filo dough), fabulous wine (Santorini OIA 1999)... Then we rushed up to Times Sqaure for "Kiss Me Kate" (Les Mis didn't have good seats so this was the one Rebecca and Kristen chose instead). They liked it, but I was highly disappointed. I loved the 2 gansters, the woman who played Bianca did a good job with "Always True to You...", and those were the only redeeming qualities. They added all the songs normally cut like "From this Moment On" and didn't cut any of the verses from any of the songs. It dragged. The choreography wasn't anything special. They used every traditional step and used them in every number. The man playing Petruchio was an understudy and was okay at best- he got stronger in the second act. He had no chemistry with the woman playing Katherine. Oh well, I won't see it again. Then we went to the Pig n' Whistle near me (it was packed but they let us sit at a table) for a few drinks before retiring for the night.

Saturday we woke up and went to Ess-a-Bagel. Wow!! Yum!! Then they went to Rebecca's brother's apartment (where they stayed Thursday night) since they left something there, and I went home for a few minutes. We met at Rockefeller Plaza since we were meeting a friend of Kristen's (Susan) at the food court there. I knew where it was but didn't know exactly where it was. I wandered around in the rain looking for this huge tourist attraction for a good 15 minutes and still couldn't find it. I felt ridiculous. Finally I found Cosi, where I knew we were eating lunch. But we were supposed to meet at the food court and Cosi wasn't in the food court. I asked one of the people working at Cosi where the food court was and they told me to go out the back door and down the first set of stairs. I did that and a security guard came running after me. He yelled at me, asking how I got in there and where I was going. I told him that a guy at Cosi told me to go this way, and the guard said that it was in the building across the street. So I finally found NBC and knew it should be around there. Fortunately, the door was open, unlike most doors I had tried thus far. I asked a guy where the food court was and he led me there. I was 25 minutes late but Rebecca and Kristen were 15 minutes late, so I didn't feel as bad. We had lunch at Cosi (I actually didn't eat since I was still full from breakfast) and then said goodbye Susan and walked up 5th Ave for a few blocks. My feet were killing me and Rebecca had injured her knee the night before, so we caught the bus the rest of the way up to The Met. We walked around the museum seeing the exhibits Kristen was interested in since she had never been there before (she had never been to New York before). I was in too much pain to enjoy it. I wanted to see the Blake and Vemeer exhibits but only made it to the Vemeer. It was too crowded and I got pushed around a lot. I will have to go back soon to see the Blake exhibit (it will be there through the middle of June so I have time). Then we caught the bus down to the Village for dinner with with Rebecca's brother (Jonathan) and his roommate (David). We went to Cafe Asean (I think that's what it's called- I'm trying hard to remember names of places and people) on 10th St. between 6th Ave and Greenwich, which was wonderful. We had extremely good luck with our meals this weekend. Then they went to Smalls for some good jazz and I went across the street to Greenwich Brewing Company (I think that's what it's called) to watch the Maryland game. I sat next to some somewhat interesting people. We talked about the game, Albuquerque (since one guy went to school there), and other random things. It was much fun (even though Maryland lost- hey, only by 11 points). I got very drunk (don't know why, I only had 3 drinks and had a big meal right before). I was supposed to meet Rebecca and Kristen at 10:30 in Soho. The game wasn't over until around 10:30 and I didn't leave the bar until 10:50 (and I'm always ontime, what was going on with me this weekend?). I ran to Washington Square Park (being drunk, my feet didn't hurt anymore) and then realised it was too far to continue on foot so I caught a cab the rest of the way (although I had to get out a few blocks early since the street was blocked for some reason). I got there at 11:15. They were worried. I had another drink there while we were waiting for Rebecca's friend, Liat. She was running later than I was. The party was in the back and by the time she got there, everyone she knew had left. She was tired so we just shared a cab home.

This morning we went back to Ess-a-Bagel. Then we went to the Empire State Building. I had never been there and was actually looking forward to it. Well, we got there and the guy selling tickets said that there was no view and was not letting anyone up (it was pretty foggy). So we went back down to Soho so Kristen could see more of that area (she bought some CDs, we looked around an art gallery...). We walked up to the Village (man, were my feet REALLY killing me now) and had a bite to eat at this tiny place that had soup, crepes, etc. Another great eating establishment!! I'll definitely have to return. I took a menu (they didn't have business cards) so I could remember the name- Cafe La Fontaine. I love finding cute, out-of-the-way places like that. Rebecca and I each had a crepe with strawberries and Kristen had escargot and a crepe with swiss, ham, and asparagus. Then we walked up to 14th St. and caught the 6 train home. I walked them to their car, so I could get the record player, and said goodbye. The record player wasn't heavy, but the last two blocks were tough. I pinched a nerve in my arm (as I always do when carrying things for a long time).

Now I'm home and exhausted!!! My feet still hurt, my arm numb, my neck and back ache... and I don't get to rest tomorrow. In the morning, I'm meeting Marcell for breakfast (she called this morning). Then I need to find a place to take my computer to see if someone can fix the network card issue (I still have a piece of the network wire stuck inside and I couldn't get it out). Then I need to go to the bank and go food shopping. Then Tuesday I have the Math workshop, maybe English if there's time, and then need to head over to the Community Board meeting. We're getting our Urban Affairs papers back finally, and I won't be there. Oh well, I'll get it Thursday. Wednesday night I'm seeing 42nd St (can't wait to see Michael Cumsty). Thursday is school. Friday I leave for Savannah where I will be walking all day, every day. At least it will be warm enough there to wear my sandals (which don't hurt my feet at all). Hopefully it won't be raining.

Kristen and I hit it off immediately. She's a chemist from Canada who moved to Boston 2 or 3 years ago. She knows a lot about wine, other countries, and has great taste in movies. I enjoyed talking to her and hope to see her the next time I'm in Boston (right now I'm planning on going up in about a month). And I told her she's welcome back here anytime. She really enjoyed New York.

Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with myself. My eyes are too tired to focus on pages of a book, I don't want to watch a movie without sound, and I can't get online. I could go to Kinkos, but I don't think I could walk anymore today. I think I will try to read for a little while and hopefully be tired enough to fall asleep early.

Ah yes, I'm now back in the land of Daylight Savings. I forgot how to deal with that. I really have many, many clocks (VCR, microwave, coffee maker, cable box, computer, alarm clock, watch...). At least the cable box and computer are smart and can figure out that they need to set themselves an hour forward. I still want to figure out why parts of Indiana don't do Daylight Savings. I understand that each state could decide what they wanted to do, but why is Indiana allowed to decide by County (I'm assuming that's how it's done)? I guess because it was for farming reasons, but other midwestern states had the same farming issues. If anyone reading this knows the answer, please let me know.

Too tired to write complete sentences. Dream last night- Matt looking through my things, he found out I stole his lighter a while ago and was upset, then I was in a show, my costume was out in the car, made Harvey get it for me since I had to do make-up and the show started in 20 minutes, Harvey giving a speech and thanking George for making it all possible (yuck)... Earlier in dream- it was Thanksgiving and I was taking a shower, I was also taking care of Abby... then Matt and Brie were there (for Thanksgiving, I guess), that's how it led into Matt looking through my things.

VERY, VERY tired! Didn't want to get up. I knew I wouldn't. I should have seen if Marcell wanted to get together tomorrow. Too late now. I'm starting to wake up, slowly. If I'm still tired when I get back (doubtful), I'll lie down then. Wish I could sleep late tomorrow. I could sleep late Wednesday. I might not be so tired by then though.

I have "Just a Giggalo" in my head. I have absolutely NO IDEA why. I hope it goes away soon. Yesterday, when walking to the Empire State Building, I kept repeating that wonderful, irritating phrase from "Being John Malcovich"- "Little Johnny Malcopee, little Johnny Malcopee, little Johnny Malcopee..." How annoying that was. I guess it had the rhythm of my walk. I hope it doesn't happen all the time now that I figured that out.

Okay, now I just choreographed a little dance to part of "Just a Giggalo". I'd better get going and stop all this creativity. I'm too tired for this.

3:30 PM
Breakfast was okay. We went to a coffee shop on 6th Ave. She was very interested in my work- she was jealous. I really don't have much else to say about it other than it was something different to do.

Then I went to RCS Computers to see if they could fix my network card issue. They couldn't and so I bought a new one. Now everything is working and happy.

Soon I should go food shopping and to the bank.

Yesterday was April Fools Day and the first day of Daylight Savings. I'm surprised I didn't hear of anyone doing anything with that. In fact, I didn't hear of any April Fools pranks. I always wish I could come up with one but never do. Maybe next year.

BASEBALL!!!!!

Paula just called to let me know the dates for viewing in London will be June 4th and 5th. Now I can make travel plans (like call Neil to see if he can go to Amsterdam a few days before).

I got Matt & Brie's wedding invitation today (strange that I had the dream about them last night). It's on June 23rd so I won't be able to go :( since that's the weekend of the auction, but hopefully I can go visit them soon (maybe January when it's nice and warm there?).

I didn't make it to the food store today so I ran out a little while ago to buy some frozen yogurt and cider. The guy at the cash register asked if I wanted a spoon. I said no. Then he asked if I wanted a napkin. I said no. Then, pointing to each item, he said, "straw, knife, fork?" I said, pointing to each item, "camera, film, cash register?" He thought that was so funny; he laughed for a while and then offered me a half price discount the next time I come in and purchase cider. I love little human interactions like that.

I called Neil about Amsterdam and it looks like it will work out. I started looking into air fares and hotels and will call him tomorrow to work out the details. We'll go for a few days before we need to be in London. Then I'll probably stay in London for a few days after lot viewing before coming home. I also still want to go somewhere in July since I have so many American miles. Maybe Vancouver?

Too busy for sites and news stories of the day.

Today I looked at lodging for Amsterdam. So far I haven't found anything but I emailed a few hotels about participating in the Entertainment half price deal (Maxine's a member- I used to be a member, but found I didn't stay enough places that offered it to be worth it). I also am still looking into somewhere else to travel in July. I'm 85% sure I'm going to do a Trafalgar tour of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. If anyone knows bad things about this company, please let me know soon.

Tonight I went to English for 25 minutes (so I could be there when she called role, plus I was at school anyway for the Math workshop). She had our papers but wouldn't hand them back until the end of class, since she's learned it's wise to do it that way, so I didn't get mine back. So Thursday I get that back and my Urban Affairs paper back.

Then I went to the Community Board meeting for the Upper West Side. Fortunately, it wasn't that long. I did enjoy it, but I would have enjoyed it more if the guy in front of me didn't keep talking to the guy next to me and trying to talk to me. He was really obnoxious. The board and people attending were extremely liberal so some of their issues and comments were getting on my nerves. If you have a substantial point, that's fine, but some of these things were completely over the top- like yelling and screaming about the posters put up on the antique lamp posts that peeled off a little paint. Calm down, there are more important things to worry about. For my paper, one of the things we're supposed to do is pick one issue and write how we feel about it. I know they want a serious issue, but if they didn't, I'd write about the posters on the lamp posts.

Tomorrow I need to get work organised, pay bills, and go to the bank. I would go food shopping, but I'm going out of town on Friday and won't be back until the following Sunday, so I'm not going to bother doing that now. Then tomorrow night is 42nd St. Ticketmaster never mailed my tickets (I sort of knew they wouldn't get around to it) so they said the ticket would be at the box office. I sure hope it is.

Thursday I need to read the first 12 chapters of "Pride and Prejudice" (my least favourite book of the semester), go to school, and then do laundry so I can pack for my trip.

Friday I leave! I doubt I'll have time to update my journal, so I'll just do that on the 15th when I get back.

I'm listening to Tori Amos' version of "Losing My Religion". It doesn't even sound like the same song that Michael Stipe wrote.

I'm getting my travel arrangements set up today. So far I have a flight to London and a hotel in Amsterdam. Okay, after a friendly conversation with the British Airways guy (I couldn't enter my US address on their web site to book the flight), I now have a flight from London to Amsterdam. This is so exciting. It always feels more real after you give someone a credit card number and know that there are no refunds.

Today I also paid my bills, organised most of my work, and ordered lunch (I'm too busy to go out and get anything). I love delivery! It's way too convenient. And Blockheads is so cheap! A lunch special is $6.00 and includes a HUGE burito, chips, and a drink. I've been living on Japanese so I thought it was time for something different.

Tonight I'll stop by the bank on my way to "42nd St.". I can't wait to see this show!! Then I'll come home and organise more stuff and try to find out what's going on in Savannah this weekend. I hope at least one theatre is doing something- that would be fun. If not, there are plenty of jazz clubs, piano bars, and other music clubs to check out. I hope I feel safe enough walking around there. If not, I'll have a car.

Now I just have to send out some long overdue emails and then I'll feel almost completely on top of things.

Okay, I made the appointment for Monday at 8:30. Now I just hope Eytan doesn't mind getting to Towson that early since I won't be renting a car. I'm sure he'll be okay with it- it's not that much earlier than he usually gets there. Although, he usually gets there at 9:30 since he goes to the gym in the morning, but I'm assuming he won't be doing that during auction days. Wish I could ask him but he's in Paris right now (I think). Still wish he would have traveled with me instead of Terry and Dena, but oh well.

Now I'm going to Liberty Travel to ask them questions about the Trafalgar tour, go to the bank, and then it's time for me to go and meet those dancing feet on "42nd St."!

WOW!!! "42nd Street" was simply amazing! And I don't even like this show so much. Everyone from the chorus girl in the back row to Michael Cumpsty was perfect! And this was only the first preview! I loved the lighting, the sets (classy and glitzy), and of course Mr. Cumpsty! He really is incredible to watch and what a fun role he plays in this one- quite a change from "Copenhagen". He really knows how to make his presence onstage, how to use beats properly, and speak his lines in exactly the right tone. He's not a singer, but he got by just fine, in my opinion. Now I'm high and doubt I'll get to sleep any time soon.

Oh today is the one year anniversary of starting this journal. I'll have to read the first entry to see where I was in life 365 days ago.

One more comment on "42 St.", I would love to see Emily Skinner play Peggy Sawyer. She has a much better voice than Kate Levering, but can she tap? Or maybe Kate is perfect since she's playing a chorus girl just starting out and shouldn't have an amazing voice quite yet. Oh, but she can sure tap! I used to think I was fairly good at tap but not after seeing this show. Wow!

I got my English paper back today (B) and my Urban Affairs paper (A). I'm happy with those. I left early from Urban Affairs since it was taught by one of the TA's today (a bleeding-heart liberal) and all we were doing, after discussing the articles, was watching a transportation video. I would have liked to have watched it, but since I have a hundred things to do before I leave tomorrow morning, I thought I should get home.

I booked the trip to Spain/Portugal/Morocco! I'm really looking forward to that. I'll have a lot to do to get ready for that though- like get a bigger suitcase to start.

In my year of keeping this online journal, I have written 290 entries (not including multiple entries on the same day). I thought it would have been more. It's hard to keep it up when traveling. The only month I wrote every day was September, although several months I wrote almost every day.

I heard from Andy today. Nice to hear from him again.

I wrote an Epinion on "42 Street" last night. I've never written one on a show so quickly after seeing it. Usually I need time for it to sink in. Guess I was too excited about it, and the words flowed freely.

Now I must pack.

I'm all packed and ready to go. Feeling very sluggish this morning. I really need to learn to go to bed before 4:00 AM. I don't think I've done that in over a month. When I get up at 9:00 or 10:00 it's fine, but when I have to get up at 7:00...

I never heard back from Dana so I need to call her when I get to Savannah. Why are people so unreliable?

It looks like I'm going to have nice weather in Savannah. I hope my clothes aren't too warm. I'm so terrible at the clothes thing- wearing the appropriate thing for weather, occasion... I was so much better in Phoenix where no one ever dressed up but it was okay to dress up and it was almost always the same temperature.

My CD Player is playing two Blacksburg songs in a row- Tull's "Beside Myself" and a Better Than Ezra song (don't know the name, but it's #11). Why is it trying to put me in a Virginia mood? At least it's getting Dave Matthew's "Say Goodbye" out of my head. I've been waking up singing that every morning for the past week or two.

I'm back!

I wrote a few days while on my trip but unfortunately lost one of the papers I wrote on, so I'll try to remember as much as I can now.

I got to Savannah on Friday afternoon, and after a long wait at the Alamo ticket counter (since the express machine wasn't working), I got to the Hilton. I was pretty tired, so I just rested that night. I had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel (yuck) and watched a few movies in my room.

The next day I walked around beautiful, historic Savannah. It was A LOT warmer than I thought it would be, so I went out and bought a pair of lighter pants at The Gap. They don't fit, but they worked well enough. I sat in the squares enjoying the scenery and the highlight of the day was finding a woman selling snowballs in one of the squares! I had a refreshing lime snowball which was perfect on such a hot and humid day! Then I did the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil tour. Even though the tour guide sucked and the people on the tour were irritating, it was still interesting to see all the places I saw in the movie and learn more about the people. (I bought the book in Little Rock and started reading it. So far, it's much better than the movie.) All I could think about during the tour though, was if the people on this tour are like the people on the tour to Spain, I hope I can deal with it. I'm assuming the selection of people will be a little better and there will be more of them so the odds are better. If not, I'll enjoy everything myself and ignore the people around me.

After the Midnight tour, I went back to the hotel to get ready to go see "My Fair Lady". It was horrible! I wrote a lot about it after the performance but that was on the paper I lost. All I remember now is that not one of the actors had a believable British accent. That ruins the whole point of the show! Some could sing and not act, some could act and not sing, most were horrible in all areas. I almost left during intermission but didn't know what else to do, so I stayed. Then I went to the coffee shop conveniently across the street from the hotel. I hadn't had anything to eat since dinner the night before and I still wasn't hungry so I just got an iced tea. I have a bad habit of never being hungry when I'm in a new city and want to try out their cuisine. So I sat outside the coffee shop listening to boring art students. Their conversation never got any better so I left and went down the street to Sixpense Pub hoping I would find a seat on a Saturday night. I didn't have to worry, there were only 3 people there. Two British guys were sitting next to me and it was a pleasure to hear the accent as it was meant to be (after seeing "My Fair Lady"). I talked to them for a while and then they left. As they were leaving, a woman came in by herself. I started talking to her and it turned out she was waiting for some friends. Her friends got there soon after. I was going to leave but I got in a conversation with one of her friends and he convinced me to join them at another bar down the street. Oh, his name was Chuck, the woman Beth, and the other friend I don't remember his name (something like Keith or Leif, but not exactly). We hung out until the bartender kicked us out around 3:00 AM. Beth and the other guy left and I was stuck with Chuck. I don't know what was wrong with me, I wasn't really drunk, but I started kissing him in one of the squares. We hung out until about 4:00 AM when he walked me back to my hotel. I was happy to get rid of him. He reminded me of Jim Pfleger a little bit. And that guy, Jed, I met in San Francisco when I was staying with Corey. Why do I attract this type of person?

The next day I walked along the river and the City Market area. I went to the Maritime Museum- I was more interested in the artifacts than the actual ships. Beth worked at the Oyster Bar and she told me to go there, sit at the bar, and talk to bartender, Chris. I did that Sunday night. He was a nice guy, but he didn't talk much. I don't remember what I did later that night. I know I went back to the hotel after the Oyster Bar but don't remember if I went out again after that.

Monday I went to Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House for lunch (recommendation from Paula). I waited in line for an hour (I'm REALLY not good at waiting in lines by myself- I'm so impatient). Finally, I got to sit at a table. It was a family style lunch, where everyone sits at big tables together and passes around all the food while asking questions about where everyone's from. No one asked me much of anything so I just ate my buttery, southern food and left. I wouldn't do that again. Then I had to check out of the Hilton since when I originally made reservations, I was going to leave Monday and they were booked up when I checked for Monday and Tuesday. So I went to the Hyatt on the river. What a good move! I like that area much better. After I checked in, I did some work and then walked along the river. I had a few drinks at Wet Willie's and then went to Stogies- a cigar bar I read about that had several different ports. I wrote a lot while sitting at the bar. Most of it isn't in complete sentences since I was lazy. Here's what I wrote:
Last night- dream about Sudbrook, starting rehearsals for a dance concert with Rich Keiser (or might have been Paul Freundel) directed by Sue Freundel, went to Churchill's Pub a few minutes ago, met Australian guy (good company for a few drinks), I've paid for very few drinks since I've been here, now at Stogie's, still not hungry, loud/cheap/ignorant/southern woman next to me- I think she's leaving soon- I HOPE she's leaving soon, macho bachelor at the bar as well- cool, but he won't give me the time of day cause I'm a woman, annoying woman is leaving! gotta go home to hubby- oops, she can't stop talking -she's sitting back down now, GOOD port!!, new bartender on the scene- looks kind of interesting- he's going upstairs now, everyone here either works here or is friends with the people working here, good tunes playin' in here- swingy, bluesy, jazz- now I need a cigar to go with the music!, cool bartender back- I like a man in glasses, the other bartender keeps looking over at me- I'm sure he's wondering what I'm writing, two guys in here drinking Miller Lite- why come here for that?, cool bartender now sitting and talking to the other girl at the bar, southern women can get annoying!, why is this man wasting his time with her? I'm losing respect for him, other bartender finally asked me what I'm writing, "Babbling on paper," says I, funny cool guy just gained some more respect from me- another guy was talking about calling "the wind channel" (is that like the weather channel?) anyway- cool funny guy shot back, "What is that? 1-800-BLOW-ME?" Clever. I love that it's still light at 7:00 PM! This bartender, the quietest of the bunch, is now intriguing me, probably since I'm intriguing him, he wants to read what I'm writing and I told him it's not that interesting, he said, "Yes it is." I said, "It only seems interesting because you can't read it. Trust me, it's not." I feel like I'm back to my old high school self- not eating, not sleeping, going toi random place after random place, talking to strangers, kissing strangers, writing endlessly... it's kinda fun! Mr. Testosterone is loud and annoying now, the woman, not getting enough attention, is making stupid female comments, with a large percentage of women like this- it's no wonder men have much a bad opinion of women, I have the same opinion much of the time, I have to stop writing for a little bit- not much paper left, the conversation is turning to gossip- I HATE gossip, I hope they change the subject soon but I doubt they will, maybe I'll leave soon, go to dinner and come back later...

The rest of what I wrote is more random comments from the rest of the trip- I'll just write about it in past tense now rather than copy the dribble.

Anyway, go to dinner and then back to Stogies- that's exactly what I did. I went to dinner right next to Stogies- The Sapphire Grill. What a wonderful place- laid back, good food, good tunes (the manager showed me the list of discs in the CD player. The bartender, Jen, was from Buffalo and just moved there a few months ago. She was really sweet. She told me to meet them at Stogies after 11:00 when she gets off. So in between, I went to Faces, a gay dive bar on a dark street. There were very few people in there, all men. Three people came in right after (a gay guy and a straight couple). The gay guy started talking to me (I think his name might have been Dave?). He was from Gaithersburg (small world) and loved John Waters movies. We had a great, short conversation! Then I went back to Stogies. I sat at the bar and an annoying guy (Charles?) started talking to me. I listened for a while and also talked to Chad (the quiet bartender from earlier). Then I saw Jen so I went to sit with her and her friends. One guy, who reminded me of Brie's friend, Trevor (probably because he was drunk and on coke), started talking to me. We had a decent conversation for a while. Another guy Kevin, who was at the Sapphire Grill and was one of the guys drinking Miller Lite at Stogies earlier, was absolutely obnoxious. He was actually one of the guys Chad and the others were gossiping about earlier. It turned out he was Jen's boyfriend. I hope she doesn't get hurt, she's a real sweetheart. There were problems upstairs (people puking and fighting), so they closed the bar around 2:00. I went back to the hotel since I dind't want to get caught up in the drama and eventually fell asleep. I liked Chad. He's a level headed, fun guy.

Tuesday I did the riverboat tour. That was completely not worth it. The narrator barely talked and when he did, the passengers were talking so loud, I couldn't even hear him.

The night before I had an interesting dream. I was in a computer lab taking an English class (or working on a paper or something). Daniel was there making puns in a typical Daniel way. I don't think I've ever had a dream about Daniel. I should drop him a line soon.

Oh, business. Yeah, there was some of that amidst the partying in Savannah. I talked to the CEO of an art company about web site technology and strategy. I also talked to a salesman for heavy machinery to see if an online presence would benefit the company.

Tuesday night I decided to take it easy since I had been out late every other night and I had a long drive ahead of me the next day.

I love Savannah! It had the partying atmosphere of New Orleans, the charm of the Old South, and the historic value of Boston. It's beautiful, the people are real characters, and it's easy to get around. I hope to go back someday soon! I met many, many people but two stand out in my mind as interesting Savannah characters. The woman who owned the Hospitality Tours (where I got my ticket for the Midnight tour) was a typical southern belle- beautiful, gentle, hospitable, and talkative. Then I saw a man in one of the squres in a wheelchair. He had about 20 pigeons on and around him. I thought it was disgusting (I hate pigeons) but he had a big smile on his face for entire time I watched him. He reminded me of the guy in "Midnight...", who talked about poisoning the water, with the flies all around him.

I drove from Savannah to Chatanooga straight through. I got there early so I drove around the curvy, fun roads of the rural part of the area. That was fun! Then I got to Dana's and we chatted until Jason came home. This is the first time either of them have lived somewhere besides Baltimore so they had lots to say about that. They talked about Chatanooga's history, present, and the differences between the south and the north. It was interesting to learn about this city- I knew nothing about it before. We had Chinese for dinner, walked around the river in the downtown area, and then went home.

The next day I had another long drive from Chatanooga to Little Rock. I didn't bring enough music to listen to and the radio stations were terrible. I heard a few songs from the 80's that I hadn't heard since they came out which was fun, but other than that, I dind't like anything I heard. So I sang a lot which was a little difficult with the sore throat from allergies. I forgot what allergies were- I didn't have any in the desert and of course none in the city. It still wasn't as bad as what I used to deal with- that's a good thing.

I had this thought at some point recently- while other people my age were into teeny-bopper bands and teen idols, I was obsessed with the older girls at Sudbrook and the dancers in the Maryland Ballet Company. So I went through a typical teeny-bopper phase, only my obsessions were a little different than normal. I wasn't the only one though- Jennifer Dale was more obsessed with the Maryland Ballet people than I was.

I stopped in Memphis on the way to Little Rock since I've never been there. I walked around the river area and had a drink on Beale Street. That was it. That was enough. At least now I can say I've been there.

Little Rock is horrible! It was ugly, had rude people, and TRAFFIC ALL DAY LONG! I felt like I was back in Phoenix. It was pouring the entire time too which made it even more delightful. I didn't do much while I was there. The highlight was seeing "Show Boat" at a dinner theatre. I didn't have high hopes but it was actually pretty good. I still don't like the show, but this production was good. I watched a program on PBS on medical students which was pretty interesting. Other than that, I worked a little on my Census paper and Math packet and read some of "Midnight...".

I had a weird dream in Little Rock and I wrote it down on April 13.
In New York, staying with Bill & George, took a cab with Bill, George, and Eytan up to 5th Ave and 59th (don't know why), then we were all having dinner in a banquet room (Harvey was there), I went downstairs to get my bags and when I came back they all found out someone had died so we couldn't celebrate whatever we were there to celebrate, I went outside and George followed, he told me some story about how one Christmas, his mother and uncle taught him a lesson of what it meant to be cold- he tried to show me then, I know he wanted me to feel sorry for him, but I just couldn't, back in the banquet room, Lisa and George were sitting at the table flirting, I thought to myself- "I thought she hated him", then suddenly George, Lisa, and I were in London, then Eytan was there too, George and Eytan were acting like good buddies and Eytan was ignoring me, they were doing some sort of prank- taking offall their clothes in a museum just as a tour group comes in, I was getting irritated so Eytan told me I should go to the group that throws people off trains, I didn't want to but he made me and once the group finds out about you- there's no getting away, it was actually a group of people that makes someone stand before an audience and convince them that they shouldn't be thrown onto the tracks when a train is coming. Then they need one person from the audience to stand up for them and then they vote. Well, I was scared I wouldn't have anyone stand up for me, I told Eytan and he said that it was all an act- they don't really do it, then I said- "What if I really want to get thrown?" He told me to ask the group, I did and they said no- they wouldn't do it, then I was at a ski resort in Manhattan just outside of London (this dream is making less and less sense), one guy had a broken foot, George had something wrong with him, and my knee was bothering me, no one cared about my knee since it wasn't a huge injury, they sent me to the office to sit alone, I was getting bored so I went back to the Tube stop where Eytan and Lisa were, then George showed up and we all got on the train, I was sitting in between Eytan and George, now they were flirting with each other, trying to hug each other through me as if I wasn't in the way, I was wondering what was going on, then I woke up.

Now I'm home and in the middle of 50 things. Work, email, my paper, finishing "Pride and Prejudice", going through the mail, waiting for the RCN guy to show up since my phone isn't working, waiting for someone from Ethan Allan to show up to remeasure something for Paula, and cleaning up the apartment.

Today I have to run a few errands. Tomorrow is school and then I'll come home and dye my hair. Wednesday I want to try to see "Music Man" (or something else if there aren't tickets available). Thursday is school. Friday I leave for Baltimore. I'm really not home very much. I really want to enjoy things here but it seems that, until the middle of June, I won't be around much. Two weeks after I get back from Baltimore, I'll be in Boston for a long weekend. Then two weeks after that, I'll be in London and Amsterdam. Then I'll be home for a month. Then I'll be in Spain/Portugal/Morocco for 2 weeks. Then I'll be home for 3 weeks. Then I'll be in Baltimore/DC/Virginia. I AIMed Josh and Chandra last night. Josh talked me into going down to Wolftrap to see Yes in August. So I'll get to see Yes AND Tull in the same week! I should call Matt soon to see if he can get me a ticket to the Red Bank Tull show.

Okay, I can't type anymore. My fingers are tired and I still have to finish sending email and typing a paper.

One more thing- last night I had an interesting dream that I barely remember now. I was driving a lot. Some girl was taking me on a journey and wouldn't tell me the details. I kept telling her that my knee hurt and couldn't keep up but she didn't care. Then I was walking in some room in the lobby of a hotel and some man was watching the White Sox game- I seemed interested in that. That's all I remember. I remember it being fun and suspenseful and I wish I could remember it.

I also need to call to get a birth certificate since the thing I gave with my passport application wasn't good enough. I would call them but my cell phone isn't charged and I don't have my home phone working yet. I'll call them Wednesday. Fortunately, I have some time (I think). If you say that your flight is soon, they process your application faster, right? Hope it's fast enough.

After all these people leave, I have to go to Staples for some white out and then I'll swing by the Rite-Aid for some hair dye. At least Staples is open until 7:00. Who knows when these people will be finished here.

I'm feeling a little stressed with all this stuff going on. I'll probably feel a lot better after I finish my paper and go through my mail. At least I finished "Pride and Prejudice". Something else I have to do before Friday- make sure I have enough Spring business clothes for Baltimore. I think I can come up with something- just want to make sure. And while I'm out today, I'll go make a deposit before I forget or run out of time.

Okay, so here's activities for today:
- mail
- bank, Staples, Rite-Aid
- paper
Tomorrow:
- school
- dye hair
Wednesday:
- call about birth certificate
- organise clothes
- go see a show
Thursday:
- school stuff
- work stuff
- go to school
- purchase train ticket
- pack
And Friday morning I get to leave nice and early- oh fun!

And stuff I need to take care of in the near future:
- get suitcase
- get pictures for the white walls which is REALLY bothering me these days
- research destination cities (London, Amsterdam, etc.)
- buy trash can (although I really don't know where else to look)
- use Pier One and Barnes and Noble gift certificates
- get sound on the TV fixed
and I'm sure there's a ton of other stuff that I'm just not remembering off the top of my head. At least I feel a bit more organised now. I don't know why I had to do that here though.

Oh, last night I met my neighbour, Debbie. She's a typical, loud, single, New Yorker. But very nice. I asked if I could have her paper when she was finished with it and she took out the Style and Real Estate sections and gave it to me right then. Good thing I don't want a friendly neighbour relationship since she's looking for a new place and will move as soon as her lease is up.

Today was fairly productive. This morning I dyed my hair and until I wash it a few times, it'll look nice. It's a darker red than I previously had and I like it- especially against the black jacket I wore today. Then I went to school and printed out my paper before going to Math workshop. The lesson I had to do today was on a video and then a written test rather than on the computer like everything else had been previously. It sucked! The video showed things I understood but the test had strange things on it so I did poorly. I handed it in to be graded and had to leave since I can't continue until it's graded. I know I'll have to repeat the lesson since I did so badly (that is, if this works like the computerised tests) so I'll have to do it all again on Thursday. And I don't know how I'll do any better since the questions on the test are not like the examples on the video. I should have written them down and asked Eytan how to do them. Maybe I can remember what they looked like. Then English... I HATE that woman. She really needs to have a syllabus. Today she wrote on the board that we would have a surprise quiz next Tuesday. Big surprise. Anyway, I decided to tell her I would not be there Tuesday and could I make arrangements to take it another time. She asked why I would not be there and I told her I had to work. She said, "No comment, we'll talk about it later." EXCUSE ME?!?!?!?!? What does that mean? She's pissed at me and I'm pissed at her. I'm trying to decide if I should go talk to her before class Thursday to show that I care and I'm trying to be accomodating, but if I get pissed and have words with her, I won't want to go to class and I can't miss another class. I could wait until after class. She's so senile, she might forget I told her I wouldn't be there and I could just not show up. But I'll bet she has a selective memory and she'll remember that I told her I wouldn't be there. I really hate her. This is ridiculous. I think I'll just go talk to her before class Thursday. Urban Affairs was nice. I turned in my paper and that felt so great. It's an average paper and it's not long enough but at least I finished something. The class today was about local government which I found very interesting. A week from Thursday we'll do a walking tour of downtown. I'm really looking forward to that. 90% of us have a class right before Urban Affairs so all of us will be late getting down there. We won't have much daylight for this. Hopefully it won't be raining. I don't know how 100 people are all going on a walking tour, but this class has been dwindling recently so I'm sure not many people will be on the walking tour.

Just talked to Jon. We'll be getting together probably Sunday or possibly Saturday night if I want to go out to some place on Charles St. with a bunch of couples (sounds okay with me, even better if Eytan comes too). Friday night I'll be getting together with Brian. Should be a busy weekend/week professionally and socially. It's nice to have a social life when I'm out of town since I don't have one here. I'd like to work on that but can't since I seem to be out of town all too often.

dream tidbits- in the dream had a dream about a fire and the next day a fire happened, dancing with Dana as encouraged by Kim, playing with some couple's baby in a mini-van, Kristin (Rebecca's friend) was also staying where I was- she kept trying to offer me pot, I was sick and didn't want to go to dinner with everyone (Rebecca, Kristin, etc.) so I wanted to stay home (where I was staying) but didn't want to be the only one there with the arsonist running around so I was going to go to dinner but Kristin wanted to stay with me. That's all I remember.

Napster is playing all my unusual songs today- Daphne Rubin-Vega doing "Fame", the German version of "Out Tonight" from "Rent"...

I was planning on sleeping in this morning but that obnoxious child down the hall was screaming up the top of her lungs again and her father? was yelling back so that took care of my nice sleeping plans. So I slept 4 hours last night (this morning).

Today I need to get my birth certificate and then I'm heading over to TKTS to see if I can get a "Music Man" ticket for tonight. If not, I'll see something else instead. Maybe "Invention of Love"?

If I drove the way I walk through Times Square after a show, I would be pulled over and possibly arrested. I CAN'T STAND these slow people meandering through Times Square. I was awesome navigating my way through them tonight! I walked 10 blocks in a little more than 5 minutes.

I had dinner at O'Lunney's before the show. I was sitting next to someone who's in "Invention on Love". It could have been Robert Sean Leonard for all I know- I'm SO bad at recognising people. Now I have to go see it and see if I can remember who I was sitting next to. Hope I can see it soon.

Today started out okay (even though I woke up a little late) and got worse from there and ended up slightly better. Around 12:30, I was sitting practically naked and I hear the ket turning in the lock. I thought it was next door but then I saw my door handle moving. I screamed, "Wait!" and asked who it was. It was Harvey and the doorman bringing up his things. I thought they were coming tomorrow. guess they changed their plans and didn't tell me. I ran to get dressed. Then I went to school for the stupid Math workshop. I knew I failed the last test and since it was written and graded by a person rather than done on the computer, I didn't know what that meant. I got the test back, went over the wrong answers with a tutor (which involved me doing the problems and the tutor saying, "That's right."), then the woman in charge gave me a practice sheet and told me to do it and the next day I came back I should re-take the test. So I had nothing to do until 5:00 when I was going to talk to my English teacher. I decided to go talk to an advisor since I had been meaning to do that for a while. I need to figure out which of my transfer credits they will accept. The advisor told me I had to see each department head of the classes the transcript said "See Department". I couldn't believe I actually had to go see 10 different people, but that's exactly the case. Then there was the foreign language issue. I told her I had 4 years of high school language and the school catalogue said that made you exempt. She said I needed to bring a copy of my high school transript to the Romance Language Department and they would decide whether or not I was exempt. I said that the school has a copy of my high school transript. She said, "No they don't". I said that I had to give them a copy when I applied. She told me that that doesn't count- they just needed it for proof that I graduated high school and that they probably have thrown it away already. I've been to 4 colleges and they have all kept my records that I have given them. Then I decided I would go to one department today to at least start on getting my credits transfered. I started with History since the history class that I want to transfer is a standard class- US History 1870-present. I wanted validation. I figured the guy in the History department would also think it crazy that they admissions office couldn't see that it was a standard class and should have automatically given me the credits. They did for Computer Science, Public Speaking, and a few others, why couldn't they for the History class? So I went up to the History Department and the man was very abrupt. "Give us a copy of your transcript and a copy of the course descriptions and we'll give you an answer one way or the other in a few days." Oh boy, this is going to take longer than I thought. I HATE this school! So then I went down to the Oasis (where you get some things done- anything administrative that isn't taken care of at admissions, the bursars, advising, or the welcome centre. I needed to give them a change of address (another thing I've been meaning to do for a while). That went well- no snags! Then I was stubborn and went to the admissions office to see if they had a copy of my high school transcript. They did but they couldn't release it to me without written permission of whoever wanted it. So I went to the Language department (and of course I had to go back and forth between the buildings, up and down the stairs and escalators, and up and down the EXTREMELY slow elevators to do all this). I told the first woman I found what I needed and she couldn't believe it. While I'm asking her to help me, two other women got involved mentioning a slew of names- people I should talk to. Then they called over another woman. She told me I needed to take the placement exam. I told her I was exempt with my high school credits and she said in a calm voice, "Just take the placement exam. The next one is May 7th." The first woman took pity on me and told another woman just to type a quick letter. She was the slowest typist and had no idea how to use Word. I wanted to offer to do it for her. It was 4:40 and I needed to go back to the admissions office downstairs in the other building, come back to the language department, and then go downstairs to talk to my English teacher. Well, the woman finally handed me the letter. I took it to admissions and they gave me a copy of my high school transcript. I asked her if she could give me 10 copies of my Hunter transcript (so I can take it to the 10 departments), but she could only give me one (I really didn't expect her to give me all 10- good thing I didn't have any more credits in other departments). It was then 4:50, so I just put away the transcript and told myself I could deal with it next week when I get back or possibly the week after if there's no time when I get back Thursday. I ran up to the English department, but the English teacher had already left her office. So I just went downstairs and waited for class. I looked at my high school transcript and realised that I took French 2 in both 9th and 10th grades (because the School for the Arts is set up that they only offered French 3 in the morning and since I had my art in the morning, I couldn't take French 3 so they put me in 2). I hope the language department ignores that fact. I did go through French 4 so maybe that's what they'll see. Somehow I think I'm out of luck though. They go by RULES and it looks like since I took French 2 twice, I'll have to take language (or the placement exam, which I'm sure I won't pass). I'm thinking seriously about changing the information on my transcript (I now understand why they don't want to release it to students). On the bottom of the transcript, there's little marks next to which subjects you took which years. If I just put a little checkmark next to 10th grade language, I might be okay. As long as they see French 4 in 12th grade and checkmarks next to every year, I might be okay. I'll make a few copies and try a few things and see what will work.

After all this crap, I'm hot, tired, and thirsty. I went to English trying to stay in as pleasant a mood as possible since I wanted to stay on her good side through class so I could talk to her about the quiz after class. During the class, I raised my hand 3 times (no one ever raises their hands, she just calls on us at random) and she also asked who had finished the book and I was the only one with a raised hand. So I think I got back on her good side (she's so senile though, who knows what goes on in her mind?). After class I said, "I still need to talk to you about the quiz, since I'm not going to be there Tuesday because I have to work." She said, "Well, I can't give it to you ahead of time. I'll have to give you a different one or the same one when you get back, and it will probably be take home." I just looked at her with a somewhat puzzled expression (why was she acting calm about this?). She said, "Don't worry, it's not a problem." Okay, either she's senile and moody or I got on her good side by answering questions today. Hopefully her mood will stay like that when I get back on Thursday.

Urban Affairs- Since I actually remembered an article that I thought was worth talking about, I raised my hand when Joel asked if anyone had an article to discuss. I told him and he said he didn't read it. He said there were two he didn't read. I wanted to say something like what they always say to us. Something like, "There will be a question on it on the final," or "It's not difficult to read an article," but I couldn't think of anything quick enough. The rest of class was okay. Then I went up after class to ask about the walking tour since I won't be there Tuesday. He didn't understand why I needed to know right then and after a few minutes he caught on. He said, looking a little sheepish, "Oh I get it, I'm a little slow today." So he told me to email him on Tuesday. So now I'm thinking if I can write anything else besides my question. Something like, "Gee, maybe if I can't make the walking tour, you and I could do a private walking tour some other time?" Of course I would never say that, but it would be nice.

Now I'm wired! Paula said I could take a later train and just type as many lots as I can whatever time I get in and type as many as I can over the weekend. She said she could finish the rest. The deadline isn't until the beginning of May or something. So that gives me a little more time in the morning to get organised. I'm going to organise work tonight, clothes and other stuff to bring tomorrow morning, and I'll go through my mail on the train (I got a lot of mail this week). Now the question is, what can I do to get a little more tired? After this crappy day with burocracy, I got a good response from the English teacher and I got to talk to Joel and that woke me up, I guess. Oh well, I'll get tired eventually and go to sleep eventually. Then the alarm will go off and I won't want to get up. But eventually I'll drag myself out of bed, take a shower and start packing. That's what always happens and tomorrow won't be any different.

Okay, I've typed enough for one night. Fortunately, I was hyper enough to type all that nonsense. Unfortunately, the typing made me slightly more hyper.

The train ride down was uneventful. I got to Towson around 3:30 and found out that most of the work was caught up, so they didn't really need me. You mean I could have slept in Friday and came down later or even came down today? Oh well. I checked into the hotel and then walked over to Bill Bateman's and read a packet on Public Spaces for Urban Affairs. It was an interesting study on what makes public spaces work in urban areas. Some of it was humourous, when it was discussing how people choose where to sit in a plaza. Then I went back to the hotel and waited to hear from Brian (he was going to get to the hotel around 8:30. At 9:15, he called and said he was on his way. I met him at Borders at 10:00 and Rebecca met us there too. We chatted there for a while and then headed across the street to Angels Grotto. I really love that dive. Bartenders who do there job and mind their own business, great jukebox... So we caught up on each others lives while enjoying a few beverages and then Rebecca went home and Brian and I headed over to Cluck-U. The thermo-nuclear sauce is HOT!!! Yum! Then Brian dropped me off at the hotel, and I went to sleep fairly quickly since there wasn't anything on TV and I had nothing to read so I was getting bored. Good thing I was pretty tired or I would have tossed and turned for hours.

This morning I walked over to the office (it was hot and carrying a suitcase all over Towson looking for a place that had iced tea was NOT fun). Soon I should see about getting a cab and heading down to Eytan's. Supposedly we're doing something today- hopefully getting a chance to catch up (I want to hear about his trip and to tell him about mine, etc.).

Happy birthday, Rebecca Gelfand! I wonder where she is these days? I can't believe I even remember her birthday.

Yesterday felt like a waste of a day. I got to Eytan's around noon and had lunch with him at his apartment. Then we went down to Fells Point, went to a juice bar, walked around for a few minutes, and came back to his apartment. He took a two hour nap and I goofed around online.

Then we went to dinner at The Thai Restaurant (hadn't been back in that neighbourhood in a long time- maybe since I lived there in '94, besides seeing a movie at the Senator a few times). After dinner we went to see "Bridget Jones Diary". I didn't have high hopes but that movie wound up effecting me for some reason. It helped that I just read "Pride and Prejudice", I guess. Also, last night I wanted a Darcy of my own. The movie made me feel miserable and deliriously happy at the same time. It wasn't that well done, but it had some wonderful humourous moments (I love British humour)After the movie, Eytan wanted to go to sleep and I needed to take my weird state of mind elsewhere. So, I walked over to the Brewers Art alone and hung out there for a little while. When I got there, it was packed. I managed to find a seat at the bar and while I was sitting there, I saw an interesting man standing alone looking pensive. I caught his eye and he smiled. Then the next time I looked up, he was walking away. I'm sure he was there with friends, but I liked my fanstasy better. He was a loner like me, there to have a few drinks, he was utterly intelligent, and we were to have a nice long conversation over a few drinks. Well, that never happened, so I just went back to Eytan's. I saw a couple walking back to their car, so I asked if I could walk with them since I HATE walking around that area alone. I made it back with no problems.

Today I went to the office with Eytan and worked for a little while before Jon came to meet me. Neil was there. Maxine brough Abby! It was SO FUN to see her again. I hope I don't have to wait too long to see her again, but I have a feeling it will be a little while (at least a few months). Eytan got to meet Abby. His response, "She was cute". Then Jon got there. Eytan, Jon and I went to lunch at Pizzeria Uno's. Then Eytan went back to work and Jon and I went to see "Freddy Got Fingered". It was the only movie neither of us really wanted to see but would see since it was playing at the convenient location. It was much funnier than both of us thought it would be. The scene where he was playing the electronic keyboard with ten strings attached to his fingers with sausages attached to the strings, so that when he raised and lowered his hands on the keyboard, the sausages moved (I'm doing a terrible job of describing this), was so random, it was funny. I had tears in my eyes at the end of the scene!

Then Eytan and I left the office. He went to the gym and I went to Dougherty's Pub. It was a beautiful stimulating (intellectually) experience. I was sitting there, listening to Edit Piaf, drinking a cider, reading an article on fencing in Baltimore. Then I started talking William, the guy next to me. He worked for the correctional facility in Jessup. We talked about Baltimore's revitalisation, drug crime, the difference between the north and the south, Otis' elevator breaks, skyscrapers, baseball... What a wonderful, intelligent man. Now I'm back at Eytan's. He'll be going to bed soon (after he hears back from his new love-interest, Jeff) and I have no idea what I'll do. I guess I could read, but my eyes are tired. Maybe I'll try to go to bed too... Tomorrow will be a LONG day.

Tomorrow's going to be hell. After the body shop, I have my eye appointment. Then I have to walk over to the office (over a mile in the heat in my winter suit- geez, I sound like my grandfather). Then there's the nice long auction day. Somewhere in there, I need to figure out my plans...

Okay, time to go toss and turn a little while...

Today was HOT! We woke up at 5:45 and went to pick up his parents' car and take his car to the shop. Then he dropped me off at my eye appointment. I need a new prescription, but everything else is fine. Then I didn't realise the exact distance between the eye appointment and the office. It was MUCH LONGER than I thought. It was a 50 minute walk (although I was walking slowly since I can't walk well in these boots and it was really hot). I got to the office around 9:30 and was hot, thirsty, and exhausted.

The auction was fine. Went much quicker than I thought it would. It averaged over 200 lots an hour.

Then Eytan and I came back here, took showers, and now are going to Al Pacinos for dinner. I was in the shower and thought that sounded like where I wanted to go. He came out and asked me where I wanted to go and I told him. He said, "That's exactly where I wanted to go. I was thinking in the shower how I wanted to go to Al Pacino's tonight." Well, great minds think alike.

As for tomorrow, since the auction should be over by 6:30 or 7:00, I will just take a cab back to Eytan's. Now I just have to hope that a cab actually shows up. They have a habit of NOT showing up for me. I have terrible luck with cabs. I have terrible luck with a lot of things.

The office will be even hotter tomorrow. And no A/C, of course. That would be too good.

John pissed me off today right as we were leaving. He is not even involved with the auction, that's why what he said REALLY bothered me! I was the only one standing around who was a phone bidder when he said this. He said, "The people at the phone table better clean up after themselves. It will all be there tomorrow." I said, "There's only 2 cups sitting over there." He said, "Yes, but they will be there for you to deal with tomorrow." I said, "It's not even my stuff, why do I get blamed for it?" He said, "I'm just saying that you always leave your dirty dishes lying around and you need to start cleaning up after yourself..." Then I left before I smacked him. I'm so sick of him getting involved where he's NOT NEEDED!!!!! Why can't he mind his own business? Every thing he accuses me of, I'm not guilty of. Why does he do this? It's me and Neil. Everyone else he leaves alone. Why us? Why does he feel he can talk down to us and no one else? Oh well, I'm too tired to be pissed right now.

I wish I could write about the interesting news someone told me today, but it's a secret and even though I know there's NO chance that the people involved will read this, I still can't bring myself to write it. It involves a company going to a meeting that's a complete waste of their time. The guy wasting their time is wasting it on purpose. I love that!

George was in a good mood today. He kept making small talk all day... "What did you do yesterday? Your hair looks good today..." Why was he doing this? He never does the small talk thing? Why is he so moody? He's not obviously moody, but his actions show moodiness.

Anyway, Eytan is anxious to go, so I'll stop here.

Tuesday was interesting. The day started out normal enough. Got to the office, got to hear Lisa bitch about the mess on the phone table that she had to clean up (this is getting REALLY irritating), phone bid most of the day, had John irritating me most of the day...

Then I waited a while for a cab. The driver finally got there and said that there wasn't a 601 Washington Ave. I told him there was and also told him the dispatch woman told me to wait on the Penthouse side of the building. He said, "Oh, so you're not the problem. I thought you were the problem. But really dispatch was the problem." Gee, thanks buddy. Then I asked if he knew where the Brewers Art was on Charles St. He said yes. On the way, he stopped for 10 minutes to get 2 gallons of gas (he did stop the meter). Then he asked me which way to go- on Charles or St. Paul. Then at St. Paul and 33rd, he pulled over and said, "Here". I told him it was much further down but he didn't understand. I decided to call information and get the address. I got the address and he said that he already had the address from dispatch. WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME THAT, and better question, IF HE HAD THE ADDRESS WHY DIDN'T HE KNOW HOW TO GET THERE? So he asked someone on the street where 1106 N. Charles St. was. Well, gee, even I knew that. If you're at 33rd St. and want to get down to the 1100 block, you go south for 22 blocks. That's what I told him. He didn't believe me. He continued asking the people on the street while looking at a map. Finally he started driving again and started speaking the addresses he saw out loud while still reading the map. Then he found 1100 and I told him to turn right to Charles St. (good thing I did know where I was going). He got to Charles and wanted to turn left. No, you idiot, you have to go to 1106 N. Charles, plus it's one way, you couldn't turn left even if you wanted to. So he turned right and kept driving. I told him that we were here, and to pull over. He didn't want to. I finally said, "I'm going to get out of the cab right here and not pay you if you don't pull over right now." He did it. I gave him the amount of what the fare should have been.

Got to the Brewers Art around 7:30 (I could have gotten there at 6:00 if everything had gone smoothly). This guy, Eric, sat down to talk to me, and we talked for a while- sports, jobs, family... Then we went to the Owl Bar across the street in the Belvedere. He wasn't all that interesting and was actually pretty bland, but at least it was someone to talk to. Then he asked if I wanted to go hang out at his house in Harford County (gee, maybe I could run into Eytan and get a ride back with him). I had very little interest in going to his house, but for some reason I still can't figure out, I went. I didn't want to get back to Eytan's at that hour alone, it was something to do... I don't know. So we hung out for a while playing pool and stuff. I told him I needed to get back to Eytan's before 7:30 in the morning and he didn't say no, but it didn't sound like a definite thing either. I figured I could call a cab and take it to Towson if I had to. I fell asleep at 3:00 and woke up at 5:00, confused. I figured out where I was after a few minutes and once I knew I was safe, my thoughts turned to my physical sickness. I was still slightly drunk, tired, and my stomach was bothering me (I had quite a few drinks and nothing to eat- stupid me). Anyway, Eric heard me get up, so he got up too and told me he could be ready in a few minutes. I guess he was giving me a ride. He was actually quite a gentleman, boring as hell, but a gentleman. We left around 5:30 and I got to Eytan's, still feeling sick, at 6:30. I thanked him for the ride and left.

Okay, so I had the kind of night I hadn't had since high school. Why? Absolutely no reason. And I don't want to dwell on it. I barely remember much anyway and it wasn't interesting, or fun, or any other adjective that would make it worth remembering.

Yesterday I never quite snapped back to my usual energetic self. I was able to function for work but I was dragging all day. The auction was over by 4:00 and Eytan and I left the office by 6:00.

Last night was quiet. We had dinner here and then went to sleep. I wanted to stay up and get a few things done, but if I did that, I would wake up and not get to sleep for a while. So I got in bed at 8:30 and fell asleep probably no later than 10:00.

The gas station across from Eytan's apartment was rapidly changing prices. Monday night it was $1.56. Tuesday morning it was $1.59. Tuesday evening it was $1.62. It hasn't changed since.

Glad to be going home. Today will be a long day though. I get back at 12:15 and hopefully will get home at 1:00. Then I need to refresh my memory of some "Pride and Pejudice" stuff, go over the Math problems for the test, and see if Joel or John have emailed me the details of the walking tour yet (I emailed Joel yesterday morning and John this morning). Then I'll go to Math workshop, see my English Professor before class since I don't have time after class to talk because of the walking tour (if it is still today, that is), and then if John or Joel haven't gotten back to me, I'll go up to the Urban Planning office and see if anyone there knows anything. I hope I can figure it out some way- it would be a shame to miss it.

Tomorrow I was planning on getting the school transcript stuff started but I have a feeling I'll be too tired. That can wait until Monday...

Oh, I mailed the money order for the birth certificate so I should be getting that by the end of the week (or beginning of next week, hopefully). Then I just have to hope that the passport office can get it to me in time. I have a bad feeling that I won't get it in time and I won't be able to go to London and Amsterdam. Well, Eytan could always take my place...

Got to the train station this morning and it said my train was delayed, so I got a ticket for the Metroliner that was leaving 5 minutes after I got there and took that instead. I needed to get back.

I got home around 1:00, organised a few things and headed to school. Took the Math workshop test (I hope I passed it this time; I think I did), went to my English professor's office but she wasn't there, went up to the Urban Planning office to see if they knew anythinh about the walking tour- one nice guy called John and left a message and when I came back an hour later he told me the news (no walking tour today), went to English- boring (found out I get to write a paper instead of take a quiz and she'll grade it tougher), and then went to Urban Affairs (interesting class). The walking tour is now extra credit and will be on 3 different days (we can pick one). I'm going to go on Monday night. I'm actually looking forward to that.

Now I'm home and trying to catch up on all the work and email I haven't done anything about since I've been away.

I'm 99% sure I'll be going to Hong Kong in June. I'll fly from London to Hong Kong and then back to London before coming back here. Guess I won't be going to the Dave Matthews concert with Eytan on June 9th. I'm REALLY excited about this trip (sorry Neil). The hard part will be resting up after I get back. Brian and Rebecca are coing up for the weekend of the 15th. I get back the 14th. Then the auction is around the 20th. Well, we'll all be tired. So I get to be in 6 countries in 2 months. And all but one I've never been to. I'll get to fill up my new passport quickly. I did get my birth certificate when I got home today so I'll mail it to the Passport office tomorrow and hope for the best.

Tomorrow I'll research travel arrangements, go through the mail, work, and possibly go see a play at night (something about physics and the atomic bomb- sounds intriguing). Saturday I want to go to a Psychology Convention at Hunter. It's all day so I'll just show up and see what's going on. I figured it would be a good idea to see what it's all about and possibly meet some people. After all, it is my major and one day soon I should actually get to take some psychology classes (if the plurlism and diversity requirements don't take up the next 3 years)... Sunday I need to write my English paper, read The Times, and start some research for my Urban Affairs paper on the Community Board.

I was thinking about neighbourhoods and the way they change over time. I decided that Owings Mills, MD had the quickest decine I've ever seen. It was an up and coming neighbourhood in the later 80's and early 90's. It's hayday was in the mid 90's. By the late 90's, it started to decline, and now it's not a place you really want to be. I just found out that Sak's is no longer at the mall. It's now a JC Penny. I thought a good title for an article on this subject could be, "From Sak's to JC Penny, the Decline of Owings Mills".

There is so much going on this weekend- theatre, walking tours, psychology convention... I'm determined to do something fun. I'm leaning towards going to see "Louis Slotin Sonata" (the physics play) tonight if there are tickets available, tomorrow go to the Psychology Convention, and Sunday do the walking tour down by City Hall about the conflicts between the colonists and the patriots of Revolutionary New York. In between all that I'll work, do the English paper, and do research for the Community Board paper. This afternoon I will mail my birth certificate to the passport people and go food shopping.

I was really tired last night but I guess I slept enough the night before since I went to bed at 1:00 but got up at 6:45 wide awake.

During the walk back, 4 people stopped to say hello to me and one man offered me his arm to escort me, I guess. I don't know why. This has never happened to me in New York. One man was standing outside of "Music Man", one was the doorman at the hotel (or is it a restaurant?) next to "Music Man", and three were just people walking down the street. And 2 people stopped me to ask directions. In fact, not a day goes by these days where someone doesn't stop to ask me where something is located. I guess it's tourist season. But every month is tourist season here. Yes, but there are more of them now. Oh boy, time to really get good at the "dodge the tourist" walk/dance.

I hit my knee on the coffee table today which seems to have effected it more than it should have. It's killing me now. I can't walk up or down stairs, walking more than a few steps hurts, actually, and even just sitting hurts. Maybe I shouldn't do the walking tour Sunday. Well, hopefully it will be better by then.

Oh, I finished the consulting job for the wine company. I kept meaning to ask Harvey some questions to get his input, but never remembered. Now it's too late. It doesn't matter though; I think I did a good job of getting them on the right track.

dream- Daniel was driving me to Paula and Harvey's house (it was a strange way to go, but it worked). On the way, we passed a snowball stand that also sold ice cream and sprinkles. I wanted a lime snowball with sprinkles. I knew that wouldn't work very well, but I didn't really care. I never got the snowball though since we got back in the car and drove to some other part of the dream. He wasn't a good driver (in real life, he just learned how to drive a few months ago) but I told him he was doing a good job (even though he was doing some bizarre turning- reverse over a hill so he could turn right, or something like that). Then I was in the car with Eric, the guy I met in Baltimore the other night. That's all I remember, as usual. I really wish I could remember all of the dream more often. I think I only remember most of the dream about once a month, or probably less.

I woke up early again. I set the alarm for 9:00, went to bed at 2:00 or 3:00, and woke up at 8:00.

I was going to leave for the Psychology convention, but I got caught up doing stuff here. I'll probably leave in an hour or so. Then after that, I'll go food shopping on the way back here. Tonight, I need to call Marcell, call Rebecca, write the English paper, and do research for the Urban Affairs paper.

I think my knee feels better this morning. But that could just be because it's morning, so it's been resting all night and hasn't had to do much walking yet.

I went to the Psychology convention. It was okay. I went to three of the lectures. The first one was fairly interesting- animal consciousness (the man was trying to show us that you need to see facts, not just believe what the narrator of the video tells you or just take the scientists word for it). The next one was a psychotherapist telling us about a life-changing experience one of his patients had when he made him do some relaxation techniques and he became his dead father as he talked to his dead father or something like that. I really can't believe that stuff. The last one was about applying to grad schools in the New York area. This girl handed us some graphs and then spent 3 minutes explaining the self-explanatory graphs, telling us how difficult it was to be accepted into grad schools and then left. It was a little depressing. Only 15% of applicants got accepted in all the New York schools last year. That was the largest percentage in the past 20 years. I looked at the posters that were up in the hallway. There was one interesting one on background music as something that improves your memory. Unfortunately, they said that the data was inconclusive. I also ate some of the crappy buffet lunch in hopes I would meet some people. I didn't meet a single person.

Then I went food shopping. While walking back, I realised just how happy I am living here (something that's hard to realise when you're out of town every other second). I was walking down 3rd Ave. on a windy but beautiful spring morning after food shopping, and didn't need to carry the groceries back with me, knowing that they would be at my apartment shortly. I can see good theatre any day of the week. The walking tours season is starting up. I saw an advertisement for The Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park last night announcing a production of "The Seagull", with an interesting cast of: John Goodman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney, Kevin Kline, Debra Monk, Larry Pine, Natalie Portman, Stephen Spinella, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken. Should be interesting. It seems that there are film festivals almost every weekend (I should start going to some of those). The same walk made every day always offers something different to look at... I really do love it here.

I get to go to Christie's space auction May 9th to do some research on prices. Can't wait!

Tonight I wrote about half of my English paper (before I became brain-dead- too much information absorbed into my brain this weekend so far) and then read some more of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". I really love this book. I really love Savannah. Usually when I see a movie before I read the book, I see the actors in my head as I'm reading. This book isn't like that. Probably because of the book tour I went on when I was there. The guide gave enough information on the actual people so I have that in my head instead. It's also fun reading the names of places I've been.

Tomorrow is the walking tour and then "The Play About the Baby".

I woke up singing that Matchbox 20 song- the one that's on the radio these days with lyrics like, "Everyone here keeps thinking about somebody else" (or something like that), now I'm I'm singing "Up Up and Away". That's way too irritating for a Sunday morning, and I have no clue how that got in my head.

Last night's dream- was in my old apartment in Phoenix, was leaving and had to sign up for the moving out cleaning thing (whatever that is), I was trying to get a discount (from $75 to $60) so I showed her my student ID, it was my Hunter ID which had completely faded except for the picture, we were arguing about that, then I was driving to the front of the complex which had a school cafeteria that I found out had a snack bar which was open 24 hours a day, I told her that I wish someone had told me that when I was living there, that's all I remember.

First was the walking tour of Revolutionary New York. It was 2 hours and the guide took us all over Lower Manhattan. She was knowledgable and enthusiastic which was a pleasure. Two highlights: seeing the filming of "Kate and Leopold", which made us detour the tour but was neat to see what that street would have looked like in the 1890's, and secondly, the little tidbit of information about someone finding the diary of one of George Washington's officers when renovating the Frauncis Tavern, which I hope someone does something with (besides throw it out like someone almost did).

After the tour, I went to Xando/Cosi up in Union Square, read a Hong Kong guide book at Barnes and Noble, had trouble finding a bite to eat (Starbucks didn't have anything I wanted, nor did Barnes and Noble, Au Bon Pain's line was too long, and I couldn't find anything quickly at The Food Emporium. I was running out of time, so I just headed over to the theatre.

"The Play About the Baby" was wonderful. Edward Albee is an absolute genius. I didn't care too much for David Burtka, who played The Boy, but everyone else was fantastic! The audience was extremely appreciative, although it was hard not to be. So many of the lines, scenes, expressions were hilarious, we all laughed heartily many, MANY times. I just realised that I need to come up with some more positive adjectives. Wonderful, fantastic, terrific... those are getting boring.

I'm having some issues with the Hong Kong part of the trip. The best way to get a cheap fare (without having heard back from Howard who is supposed to be looking into cheap flights), is to leave later. That would mean no layover in London plus arriving back here later. Between those two things, it'll be hard having to go straight into auction mode when I get back. I'll have to talk to Neil about it tomorrow.

Tomorrow, besides work and finishing the English paper and researching an Upper West Side issue for the Urban Affairs paper, I need to call to see if my shoes are ready, call someone to see about fixing my TV, go through the mail, and possibly look for luggage (my suitcase is starting to seriously rip apart).

Tuesday I'm going to go down to The New School to talk to someone about their classes to see if I should take some there. They have some really intiguing classes that I would love to take, but will only do that if they will transfer to Hunter. I want to go there first to see how it works if you just take a class or two plus I just want to see what that school is like in person. Then I can talk to Hunter to see if they will accept the credits. Of course, I don't know who I can talk to there. There only seems to be one academic advisor (I don't believe that though) and she is NO HELP! If I can't find someone else to talk to, I don't know what I'll do. I'll worry about that later. Then I go to school. I'm going to ask Tara, the girl in my English class, if she wants to do something Tuesday night (she mentioned last week about getting together). If not, I might check out The Vine Bar on 51st (I read about it today and intrigued me).

Wednesday I need to go look for some clothes. I want to check out Housing Works and then head over to Century 21. I might also go see a show Wednesday night. I could get a ticket at the World Trade Center since I'll be down at Century 21. That sounds like a good idea. And before Century 21, I'll go to Housing Works, drop off some clothes I don't wear anymore, and hopefully find something I can wear.

Wow! The last day of April. It really needs to start getting warmer here. It's warmish, but the sun isn't strong enough and it's way too windy.

Weird dream last night- was fixing Maxine's computer in a hotel, I left for a minute and housekeeping disconnected the computer and ruined everything I had done, I was scared she would do the same to mine so I ran in my room and took my computer with me, then I was sitting at a table reserved for panel members, I realised I was on some kind of panel, someone said we were broadcasting live, I said, "Live from New York...", John DeStefanis thought that was funny... for a kid and then proceeded to pretend it was a Saturday Night Live sketch, I was playing President Bush and he was the reporter, he started asking me about my foreign policy and I didn't know what to say (or at least what to say to try to make it funny), that's all I remember.

Since I wrote my English paper last night, I feel better about getting everything done today. I've already done some work. Now I just need to make a few phone calls, go through the mail, and figure out the Urban Affairs paper stuff. Oh yeah, that was in my dream too, I was supposed to look at the minutes from the Community Board's meeting the month before I went to see if there were any important issues there (I really do need to do that, and if there are no issues, I need to research one and talk to Joel or John about it). Well, it was Tuesday and I was in class and I hadn't looked at the minutes yet and they were at home. I was standing in line, waiting to talk to Joel and realised I didn't know what I was going to tell him.

Okay, time to go call Neil and see what's going on with the Hong Kong part of the trip.

Then I finally got a hold of a TV repair place. Since labour isn't covered under warrantee after 90 days, I'll have to pay $75 for labour. That sucks, but oh well. So hopefully they're coming here Thursday morning. I did get lucky on that. She went to check her schedule and put me on hold before I could tell her that I won't be home certain hours or certain days. She came back and said that she had Thursday between 10-1. That's a perfect time for me. Now I just have to hope that they will show up on time.

I called about my shoes and they said that their computer systems were backing up and I'd have to call back in an hour. Every time I call that place, they tell me I have to call back for some reason. Every time I go there, it's empty and no one is working. Oh well. I've waited 2 months, I can wait another hour.

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