December

So let's see... right before I went to meet Jim on Thursday, Eytan informed me he was going to be staying with George the rest of his time up here. Supposedly we had a fight that I didn't know about until he mentioned what happened. Apparently, I made it sound like I didn't want him staying with me, so without talking to me about it, he got his stuff and went to stay with George even after I practically begged him not to leave. Whatever.

I met up with Jim and we went down to Ground Zero. I was having eyesight issues, it was dark, and it was foggy so I didn't know if we were heading in the right direction or not. Jim could see just fine and let me know we were indeed heading in the right direction. I eventually saw a little bit and felt a little uncomfortable, but I don't think I saw enough for it to really register. As soon as I saw the structure, I turned away. We didn't stay very long at all. We walked down the street to grab a drink at some place across from the Strand and then we left to meet up with John at the Omni where they were staying. We were late so I turned on my cell phone so I could call the restaurant and change the reservation time, and I had a voice mail message waiting. It was Eytan. He wanted to talk more about the situation. We didn't talk very long and I don't know what it accomplished, but hopefully it made him feel better. He was acting strange since he got up here on Tuesday and his mood didn't seem to change the rest of his time here. I probably should talk to him more about this situation, but maybe I should wait a while. Right now I'd rather just not talk to him for a bit. I'm irriated with the way he acted and I keep thinking about all the other times we haven't gotten along. In a way, I'd rather not have him in my life right now, but I also realise that we've had some good times and would like to continue having them. So maybe I'll talk to him when I'm down there for Christmas or maybe I'll wait until after the new year.

Anyway, it was fun seeing John again. I don't think we ever really hung out before. He's such a fun guy! After a drink at the Omni, we went to Cafe Cielo for dinner. Paul Shaeffer was there again, but I didn't talk to him this time. After dinner, we went back to the Omni and had a drink. Then John went to bed since he had to get up EARLY for a 6:00 AM flight and Jim and I walked around and eventually wound up at Fitzpatrick's for another drink. My feet were killing me by the end of the night from wearing my boots for too long!

Friday was a LONG day and the only remarkable thing that happened was that thanks to HIPTIX I got 2 free tickets to the reading of "The Dresser" at the American Airlines Theatre (it's tonight- so I'll be skipping classes).

Saturday finished up earlier than I thought it would, so I called Allyson Howard to see if she wanted to meet me for a quick drink somewhere. It was convenient since she was already in midtown doing some shopping and I had to be over there later that evening for "Les Mis". So I met her for a drink at Don't Tell Mama (first place I could think of quickly). It was interesting catching up with her. She's doing really well for herself- in the PhD program for Molecular Biology. We talked about general things- economy, theatre, chains vs. independent stores, California girls... She mentioned Catashaw (the name of her cat) and it sounded very familiar. This is the same cat I remember her having the last time I saw her. It was weird hearing a name I haven't heard for a very long time. Catashaw is 14 years old, so I guess I saw her last around 14 years ago.

After we said goodbye, I went over to the Imperial Theatre to meet Kristin and Vanessa. "Les Mis" was fair. First of all, why are the majority of the latecomers the ones with the good seats? Between 8:00 and 8:20, there were 10-15 people who got seated in the first 11 rows. That bothered me. Anyway, Ivan Rutherford (Valjean) was excellent, Shuler Hensley (Javert) was okay, and everyone else seemed tired. Perhaps they've been in those roles for too long. And the show was too technically perfect for me. It didn't feel like I was watching a live show. But the story still gets me. I actually had tears running down my face at the end when Valjean is dying (that's only because it gets me thinking about my own father dying, which I think about way too much). So I really could have just listened to the cast recording or watched the PBS special or something and saved the $85. And it was so crowded in that theatre! I almost felt like I was at a rock concert. At the end of Act I, I ran to the bathroom and actually made it before the huge crowd got there (there were only 11 people who made it before me- not bad for being in the 12th row orchestra and having to run up a flight of stairs to the restroom). On the way out, I could barely get back to the stairs. I had to go out the other way and down the other stairs and across the back of the orchestra. That took most of the rest of intermission.

After the show, we went to O'Grady's (the other few places we tried were packed- what did you expect for a Saturday night in Times Square?). On the way, we ran into Robert Sean Leonard walking home (or wherever he was going). Paula read some magazine recently and learned that he has had a girlfriend for the past 5 years- a professor at Columbia. I respect him even more now- dating a woman with a brain! So hanging out with Kristin was fun and Vanessa was nice but not as intellectual as Kristin and I almost always prefer intellectual conversation. So we talked about education, careers, Christmas, International politics, actors/movies... Very nice time!

Had some transportation issues on the way home. First I waited 30 minutes for a bus that never came. I saw a few going west but none of them came back the other way. So I got a cab. There was so much traffic heading east though, that I just got out a few blocks from my apartment and walked the rest of the way home. I think my knee started bothering me Saturday night.

The Israeli Prime Minister was staying at the Four Seasons, so there was a ton of traffic, streets blocked off, and security everywhere. Friday morning, there was so much traffic noise out my window!!!

When I checked my voice mail on Saturday, I had a message from Tammy (a distant relative that Sylvia told me about). She was inviting me to a party at a Soho art gallery (she was having a showing of her drawings). Well, I've always wanted to go to one of these swanky things, but it was on Sunday. No way would I have the energy to get there (and I doubt I had the clothes to wear). I need to call her back and thank her for inviting me and see if she wants to get together another time.

Saturday, I also found out that Eytan went with George to Shellys. That bothered me! I know I couldn't have gone with them, but it still bothered me since I wanted to go there with him. I told him when he was up here in October that we should go when he was next up here. I thought about seeing if he wanted to go on Sunday night after work. He left Sunday afternoon with George. So I don't think I even want to go to Shellys now. I've never been there, but I have bad memories associated with it. I was going to go with Paula and Harvey, but Harvey got pissed at me and we left the restaurant before we even sat down and now this thing about Eytan going with George... Oh well.

Data entry is so mindless, it gives me time to think about other things. Well, when I was entering at the Four Seasons on Sunday, there was a loud rumbling above us (we were in the basement). For a second I thought that the building was bombed- a sure sign I haven't been sleeping enough.

So I got an email from Meital this morning seeing if I could meet them on Wednesday night instead of Thursday since Alix could make it on Wednesday. So I'll be heading over to the Upper West Side after class on Wednesday- not very convenient, but I don't mind. I hope Alix is pleasant. Meital said she wasn't keen on getting together. I hope it was her decision to go and not Meital talking her into it. Either way, it should be an interesting evening.

So yesterday also finished up earlier than I thought it would. I left even earlier since I was almost completely not functioning anymore. I guess after 13 nights of less than 4 hours sleep, my body had enough. So I went home and watched football while dozing on and off. Oh, since Eytan left, I had Neil and Maxine stay here the last 2 nights and save the money on the hotel. So they went out to dinner on Sunday evening while I dozed on and off and then I was going to meet them at Serendipity since they didn't get to go on Thanksgiving weekeend. Well, I was still half asleep and passed on going. They got back here around 9:00 and I woke up around then. I couldn't get back to sleep until around 1:00, but slept until 8:30. I felt okay when I woke up, but as they day went on, I felt worse and worse. I think I might have a fever. I don't feel any symptoms- I just feel achy. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep tonight, and feel back to normal tomorrow. I had a lot to do today but barely did any of it.

Tomorrow I will make car reservations for Christmas (I tried today and had no luck), send out Christmas cards, call Tammy to thank her for the galley invite, pay bills, do some work, mail back "Summer of 42" ticket for a refund since I got a message that they cancelled the matinee I had a ticket for (and I'll think about another date I can go see the show and hope the discount code will still be good), copy the notes a guy in my Anthropology class gave me from the other day, and figure out dates for other shows I want to see before the end of the year.

Now I need to get ready to go see "The Dresser" with Paula! I just took some medicine, and I'm starting to feel less achy!

Hope this entry made sense- most of it was written with my mind in a foggy haze.

I decided I had a 24 hour stomach virus. I got around 10 hours of sleep last night and today I feel fine!

Got an email from Neil this morning- Abby took her first baby steps! Can't wait to see her in a few weeks (if I can ever figure out where I can get a better car rental deal- I'm getting frustrated).

Now I need to pay my bills and then I'm going to put on some Christmas music, have a little egg nog (not too much since my stomach just got back to normal) and get my Christmas cards ready to send out.

So now even though I still have several things I need to get done, I'm going to put them off until Thursday and watch a movie this evening. I'm exhausted (I'm not still sick, just tired with the usual female monthly issues) and don't feel like doing anything else productive today.

I decided I'll have to skip the Broadway tree lighting since it's on the last day of my classes and I can't miss that. Oh well, maybe next year. Paula, Harvey, Neil, and Maxine went to see the Rockefeller tree on Sunday and said it was nice and patriotic- perhaps I'll make it over that way sometime before the end of the holiday season.

Tomorrow after class, I'm meeting Meital, Rebeka, and Alix at the French Roast on the Upper West Side. I'm looking forward to that. And then this weekend I have to write my music report. And also on the school subject, the weekend after is studying-for-finals weekend. Fun. At least the semester is almost over. Then when I get home after New Years, I have to get back to the what-do-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-up question? I hate the idea of those "Dummies" books, but Eytan told me about a career "Dummies" book he has that I took a quick look at and it seems like it will be really helpful- not only do they list many careers I've never heard of, but they list websites to find out more information about them. Guess I'll be spending several hours at Barnes and Noble. Perhaps I can even do that when I have some free time in Maryland (although something tells me my time there will fly by- with the holidays and the work and the socialising).

So what's up with this weather? I thought the seasons went Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter- not Spring, Summer, Fall, Spring. It's not doing much for the Christmas spirit, but I'm not complaining. It's so nice to be able to still be wearing my sandals in December and not be in Phoenix!! It's gonna be hard going to the boots full time soon.

Yesterday started off as an irritating day. Everything was taking longer than it should and things weren't where they were supposed to be. When I went to Delmanico's (deli) to get more egg nog, they were out of it. And I went at noon, so it was EXTREMELY crowded with the business lunch crowd. People were getting irritated at being packed in like sardines (I cannot think about sardines without thinking about "Noises Off") and yelling at each other. So my trip there was a waste except for returning a bottle for a $1- my irritation was not worth a dollar though.

I got my Anthropology midterm back. I got an A!! Now I'm not as worried about the final. He decided to make it all multiple choice (50 questions), so even if I get several wrong, I should still get a B for the semester (I hope). Obtaining the midterm wasn't easy though. The instructor told us they were located on the 7th floor of the west building. He said to take the elevator to the 7th floor, turn right, go down a sqiggly hallway and we'll see a table and some boxes and they will be in the box marked Lozny/Weir. Well, I certainly didn't have time to go after class, so I told Jeffrey (the guy I've been friendly with most of the semester) that I was going right away. He decided that was a good idea and went with me. We walked down two flights to the 3rd floor and walked across the connector bridge to the west building. Then we took the escalator to the 7th floor and walked to the elevators. Then we walked down a short hallway and came to a dead end. We walked the other way and came to some classrooms. We covered every inch of that floor. We decided to go up to another floor to see if another department could direct us to the anthropology department and maybe they would know where our midterms are. We walked up to the 8th floor and that was a strange floor- no rooms, just hallways, everything painted mauve- it was scary. We walked up to the 9th floor and didn't find anyone to help us. We walked back down to the 7th floor to see if there were any tables or boxes on the way to the east building (there's a connector on that floor to the east building)- I was NOT leaving that building without my midterm. There was a woman wheeling audio equipment near the elevator. Jeffrey decided she might know so he asked her. She told us to go in the lecture hall and use the phone to dial the operator and ask them. I knew where the lecture hall was since that's where I had the urban affairs class last semester. We got to the phone, dialed zero and no one answered- big surprise. Jeffrey decided we should go up to the history department on the 14th floor since that was a social science and maybe they would know something. We went up there and found the classics department first. She told us that the anthropology department was on the 7th floor of the NORTH building. Bastard- he specifically told us the west building. So we went back down the elevator to the 3rd floor, walked across to the north building (where we came from) and took the elevator up to the 7th floor. We turned left out of the elevator like he told us to and walked down a hallway. Then there were two directions we could go. I went left and Jeffrey went straight. Neither of us had any luck. I decided we should go back to the elevators and go the other way. We did and we found a door that said anthropology department. The hours were until 5:00. We got there at 6:00. We kept walking and turned down another hallway. Behold- there was a table! It had papers on it! We looked through them and didn't find ours. Then I looked to the left of that table and there was another table with two cardboard boxes on them! Bingo!! It only took 45 minutes. So our lovely instructor not only told us the wrong building but told us the wrong way out of the elevator. Moron. Oh well, at least I got an A. If I spent 45 minutes looking for a paper on which I got a C, I'd be pissed.

So after class I went up to French Roast to meet Meital, Rebeka, and Alix. And what fun that was!! Seriously, I don't remember the last time I had so much fun! I love reminicing, and after we got through the "interview" part of the evening (what do you do? where do you live?...) all we did was talk about the past and about the information we had on other people from our past (Tracey is still living in Randallstown and married to a cop, Rebeka's brother, Ari, is living in New York and recently graduated with a degree in Psychology, Jennifer is living with her parents, still dating George, and working at GBMC doing something non-medical related, and Megan is in LA acting- she's done bit parts in several movies and TV shows and has a good agent- good for her!). Alix is awesome! She developed quite a personality! She's funny, quirky, and has an AMAZING memory. So not only could we talk about old times, I got reminded of several things I forgot about and even one thing I didn't even remember. She remembered what I ate on our vacation to Hilton Head 10 years ago, she remembered trying on my pointe shoes with several pairs of socks and singing, "Roll, roll, roll to death..." (some silly song we made up) while watching a Romeo and Juliet ballet. My goodness, she seriously impressed me! And I got to hear the names of 2 more cats that I hadn't thought about in YEARS- Tut and Thai, Alix's Siamese cats that are now 13. Meital is still really sweet. She was very interested to know that I'm still in touch with Kris Kahn- she had quite a crush on him when she was a kid. And Rebeka is very trendy. I basically recognised Meital, I definitely recognised Alix, but Rebeka I would not have recognised. She's working at a company that does conventions for the motion picture industry and gets to travel to Vegas and Hong Kong and stuff for the conventions. She's very trendy. But I was really impressed with Alix. She's cute, funny, smart, and fun. And still modest. She's trying to do the acting thing while waiting tables at an Upper West Side vegetarian restaurant. She doesn't have the attitude of most New york actresses which is wonderful, but she does have the actress presence and that certain way of talking- but not the tone (if that makes any sense). But when she's talking about animals, she turns into her old self (the person I knew from my youth) and becomes more naive and talks with total animation and love. She still really loves animals! I wonder if the acting thing doesn't work out if she would still consider becoming a vet. So I know Meital said that she wasn't too keen on getting together, but I wouldn't have known it by her actions last night. She was completely energetic and fun. Meital mentioned all getting together in January and at first I was wondering why she wanted to wait that long, and then I realised that it wasn't long at all. That's the next time we'd all be in New York. Alix is going on a cruise next week, Meital is going to Israel for 2 weeks at the end of this month, and I'll be in Maryland until after New Years. So we talked about getting together after the holidays. Can't wait!

At least I remembered to get a picture of us before we left. I meant to take pictures when John and Jim were here and should have gotten a picture of Allyson and taken a picture of Kristin and Venessa. I guess I've gotten out of the habit of taking pictures. I need to do better.

On the bus ride home, I was thinking about how that evening reminded me a bit of Sex and the City (minus the sex talk)- 4 single women living in New York getting together to fill each other in on our lives and discuss gossip of other people we have in common. Very fun.

I was tired when I got to the French Roast, so I had to make a decision to either stay tired and get some sleep or to have some caffeine and maybe not get to sleep right away. I had two glasses of iced tea (yum). So I tried to go to sleep around 1:00 and had no luck. I got up and decided to watch TV. I looked to see what was on and discovered the Sex and the City with Craig Bierko was on! I never saw this one and had been meaning to rent the tape with that one on it. So I was very excited that it was on!! He played a jazz enthusiast with ADD. I wonder if Susan Stroman saw this episode and that's why she wanted Mr. Bierko in "Thou Shalt Not"? Or maybe the jazz/beat thing is part of his personality and that's why he got cast in both SATC and TSN? I don't know. It was a fun episode though. I got back in bed around 4:00 and didn't fall asleep until almost 6:00. I set my alarm for 10:00 but hit the snooze button for an hour before I got out of bed.

"Music Man" is closing Dec 30- wish I could go- there are actually tickets available- but I'll be in Maryland- oh well. Should I go one more time before it closes? No, I think I've seen it enough. I wonder what will be next for Rebecca Luker? And Ruth Gottschall? And Robert Sean Leonard?

Yesterday I started organising my time in Maryland. I should have time to do everything I want/have to- work, holiday celebrations, see some people, read some career books, take some drives...

Before I leave, I want to try to get down to Spring Street Studio to see Tammy's drawings. Maybe I can even find a time to see her before next year.

About a week ago, Jon emailed me that Michelle has a cousin who just moved to New York and ask if I wanted to get together with him (I assume he asked me since this guy doesn't know many people here). I told Jon to give him my email address. Well, I heard from this guy (Brian- why does everyone have the same names?) the other day. He seems pretty average (boring), but he likes basketball so this could be someone who would go to Knicks games with me! I've always wanted to go to a Knicks game. I'm not a Knicks fan (I don't even like them much), but going to games at the Garden look like fun.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to see "Off Broadway Highlights". I don't know much about this other than that it has highlights of several Off-Broadway shows (can't remember which ones right now). I have no idea how it's done though. Guess I'll find out. This is perfect since I've been kind of interested in a few of these but not interested enough to make the effort to go see them (even though most of them I can see for free). There are several other shows I could go see for free tonight, tomorrow night, and Saturday, but I think resting and working on my music report (since it's due next Wednesday) is more important. I was going to work on my music report today but my brain is too fuzzy from this cold. That's really just an excuse to procrastinate, but it's a good one, I think. I just can't get myself to do something if I know I have time later. I've tried to trick myself into thinking I don't have any other time to work on things, but I'm not easily fooled. Maybe I could try to get myself to do some of it tomorrow though. It won't be hard. I just have to start. Starting is always the hardest part. Second hardest part is ending things.

So tonight perhaps I'll veg on the couch and watch a movie. Hope there's something good on. If not, there are several theatre related videos I taped a while ago but haven't watched yet ("Putting it Together" and this year's Broadway on Broadway). I'm really not in the mood to watch those tonight though. So I'm back to, hopefully there will be a good movie on TV. Of course I could rent a video... Yeah, if there's nothing good on, I'll call up my lovely local video store and ask them to bring me something good. I love that my store delivers. I don't see how it's worth it for them, but if they enjoy it, I'm certainly not going to argue.

Damn- I just saw that this week's Broadway Chatterbox is John Cullum. Oh well, it's good I didn't know earlier since I would have gone and it's better for me to stay home and rest. I've been good today. This afternoon I went over to Wolf's and had chicken matzah ball soup and orange juice. I love how my favourite matzah ball soup is within walking distance of my apartment.

Hmm- I had a lot to say today.

Paula was telling me yesterday that she read about the act of celebrating Christmas. When it was first invented, the reason was to give people feelings of nostalgia for something they never had. Well, it worked on me! I think it's interesting that 200+ years later, I'm feeling what was originally intended to feel on that day. I have other thoughts on this topic but can't seem to put them into words.

I think Pearl Harbor will be remembered more this year than any other recent year.

I want to try to see if I can get Kim's phone number and see if she'll be around when I'm in Maryland. I was trying to think about the last time I saw her and really can't remember. I know I ran into her at Fresh Fields when she was working there and I think that was about 5 years ago (of course, I say everything was either a year ago, 5 years ago, or 10 years ago no matter when they actually happened), but I only saw her then for a few minutes. The last time I actually spent time with her, I have no idea.

I'm getting technology consulting jobs again! It's nice to know the tech world isn't completely tapped out of monetary funds. I did one quick job earlier this week and now I'll be working on another short term project. I'd better start reading up on the latest tech news again. I kind of lost touch with it after September 11- I couldn't get interested and I didn't have any reason to pay attention. Something else to do over the weekend.

"Cecil B. Demented" was on TV last night. I had been meaning to watch this for a while and was not disappointed. It certainly wasn't his best work, in my opinion, but it was still a fun movie. And Alicia Witt is cute even as a white trash porn star. And it's always fun to see people and places I know in a movie. What it didn't do was make me look forward to being in the Baltimore area later this month. I can appreciate the city for what it was in its hayday and I can appreciate John Waters' Baltimore (sure, there is the trashy-in-a-good-way side of Baltimore, but it's not as easy to find as John Waters' movies makes it look like), but actually being there and putting up with the ignorant people and finding all your favourite places are closed and dealing with the stupid drivers and just having everyday activities go wrong because of ineffiency... This is the Baltimore I know and I DON'T like it. Usually Eytan makes Baltimore easier to deal with. He and I can go out to the few decent restaurants and he has good luck with everyday activities so being with him makes those go more smoothly... but I don't know if I'll be seeing Eytan while I'm there. Whenever I have a certain feeling about someone and then I don't see them for a little while, that feeling grows. Well, I left off not very happy with Eytan. There is no reason for me to be less happy with him as time goes on, but this is what will happen. Right now I'm more upset with him than I was when he left last week, and by the time I'm down there, I'll probably be downright mad at him. I should probably talk to him now before my feelings grow anymore, but I really don't want to do it over the phone. He could call me though. He never does anymore. Oh well, things will work out. We've had our problems before and we always go back to the way things were. I know he's having problems with his father. I wonder if that's contributing to the way he's been acting. Never mind, I can't think about this anymore today. Perhaps I'll just try to see him when I'm down there.

Now I'm off to go see some Off-Broadway highlights and maybe do some food shopping before returning home (that's what I should do, but I probably won't).

So the Off-Broadway highlights thing was okay. I enjoyed the video of "De La Guarda" that they showed (of course they couldn't perform in the little theatre we were in. I should go see it sometime) and the "Puppetry of the Penis" is truly amazing. It's amazing what those two men can do with their peni (is that the plural or is it just the boring penises? I like peni better). It's penis oragami- they did the Effel Tower, the Loch Ness Monster, and hamburgers. Bizarre.

But why do large men always sit next to me in theatres? Yesterday I had two huge men on either side of me who took up half of my seat.

There are good car deals out there- just not in NYC. I got stubborn and checked out the Avis in College Park and it's $500 less than the one in Manhattan for a two week rental. So, I guess I'll be taking the train to New Carollton and see if Neil or Maxine can pick me up there and take me to Avis. And I can take a cab from there back to the train station on the way home. The only thing I don't like about that is trying to get all my stuff into one suitcase so I can drag it through the travel process rather than just throwing everything in the trunk of a car. But to save $500, I'll manage.

Sheraton just sent me a card that says, "Come to New York!"- they're offering special rates at their hotels here. Um, I guess they don't check their addresses before sending mailings. This is stupid. Why waste money sending specific city hotel deals to people who live in that city? All you have to do is print out your database list excluding people in a particular city. Not difficult, not time consuming.

So I've had this sort-of-cold thing going on for a few days. I'm actually semi-enjoying it. I'm not really sick- it's just that my brain is foggy, nose runny, and my eyes are burning. It gives me a chance to relax- I'm not very good at relaxing normally. This is very peaceful- I almost wish I had a fever so I could really relax. Fortunately, my deadlines aren't until Monday so I have a little more time to be peaceful. I was reading my entry from this time last year and I had an sort-of-cold then too. If I'm going to get sick, it's usually around Christmas. I guess this is just a busy time of year and I can't fight off illness. Fortunately, except for this past year, my illnesses are never that bad and many years I don't get sick at all.

I hope I can work on my music report today though. As soon as I'm finished this entry, I really should start working on it.

And since I don't have much else to say, I guess I'll be working on my music report now.

So Eytan called me last night when I was on the phone. When I called him back, he was on the way to a friend's house. He was hoping to talk to me while he ate his dinner at the Silk Road- he said if I had talked to him right when he called, I could have talked to him for 15 minutes. Gee, thanks. I wasn't going to get into everything for his 2 minute drive to Frank's, so he said he would just call today. He called today and we talked a little about when he was up here. He didn't think he was acting strange, said he was mad at me for some comments I made (I guess he's more sensative than he used to be since I've comments like the ones he was refering to before and he never cared), told me he and Jeff broke up, and that was it. He was talking to me on his ride to Rockville and had to end the conversation when he got on the Capital Beltway so he could concentrate on the driving directions since he doesn't know that area. So much for a real phone call, so much for talking about the possibility of getting together when I'm down there in a few weeks. I think he's still acting strange, but maybe he doesn't know he is or know why he is. So maybe I will see him when I'm down there or maybe I won't. I'll let him get in touch with me if he wants to; otherwise we'll just have a little hiatis.

Rebecca called me last night to ask if she could call me today when she would be snowed in. Wow! Snowed in! I want to be snowed in! Of course, being snowed in in Manhattan is different than being snowed in in most other places. I don't have to shovel a driveway or sidewalk, I don't have to dig my car out and scrape ice off the windshield... Being snowed in here really isn't like being snowed in at all. But it would be nice to have a big snowstorm this winter (as long as I don't have to travel anywhere during that time). I wonder if they really got that much snow up there last night. Guess I'll find out later today. Although I think if she was really snowed in, she would have called by now.

Paula and Harvey are going to London next week! I'm so jealous! I'm making them go do things I would want to do- see "Noises Off", have a drink at Lab Bar... If I can't go do those things myself, at least I can hear about their experiences doing those things.

So it will be Miami and Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. That's pretty much what I figured after Tennessee lost to LSU yesterday. I'm sort of rooting for Miami just so there aren't tons of arguements about who should be #1. Being one of the few who like the BCS, I can't claim not wanting Nebraska in the Rose Bowl for the same reasons most people will come up with. But using the BCS rankings, Colorado was only .05 points behind Nebraska- that's so close. Still, close doesn't count (except in horseshoes, as Harvey used to say) and Nebraska does seem to deserve to be there (won 11 in a row, although the win against Oklahoma wasn't that impressive). I have a feeling Miami will win though.

I've written half of my music report. It's already over 2 pages long and I haven't even written about the second concert yet. It's only supposed to be 2 pages. I've NEVER had this problem- writing more than you're supposed to write. I guess I could try to trim it down a little after I'm finished. I just don't know how to make it any shorter. I feel like I barely wrote about the first concert but somehow it's more than 2 pages. Oh well, we'll see what happens. I should finish writing it as soon as I'm finished this entry.

I need to start figuring out what to pack for my trip and how to pack it all in my little suitcase. I guess I don't need to pack that many clothes since I can conveniently do laundry at Neil and Maxine's house and I can always drop by a dry cleaners at some point.

Not doing too well with this weeks' football picks so far. Oh well, everyone is entitled to a bad week now and then.

Rebecca didn't call until after midnight. I don't know what she did all day that she didn't call until after midnight instead of in the afternoon like she had mentioned the night before, but I did learn that she got 3 inches of snow. I miss seeing snow. When I was sitting around on Thanksgiving, I remembered last Thanksgiving when we went to Utah the day after. I wanted to do that again. I wanted to be in cute Park City with snow and coffee houses and private clubs and lodges with fireplaces... It would be nice to see snow, but I hope I don't see it in Baltimore. I don't want to drive in the snow with those Baltimorons.

I've traveled to a lot of places. I remember little things about almost all the places I've been, but I remember my trip to Utah more than anywhere else. I have vivid memories of being there- riding in the hotel shuttle into town talking to the driver who used to live in New York, hanging out at Bad Ass Coffee Shop, walking down Main Street with Neil and Maxine (who, of course, wanted to stop in every store), watching the Virginia Tech game at the Stein Ericsson Lodge while drinking white wine, hanging out at an Irish Pub watching Monday Night Football while talking to some guy from the south, walking around the area around the lodge early in the morning... That was such a peaceful time! I have no strong interest in going back there, but maybe I could do a winter lodge trip somewhere else with someone soon (maybe in Vermont?).

I called Steve and Lori last night to get Kim's phone number, and Lori answered the phone. When I told her I'd be in Maryland at the end of the month, she invited me to their party on the 29th. She said it would be a small event this year- only about 25 people. Small? Well, she said they have a large house that's perfect for entertaining, so they usually have a big shindig with about 80 people. So this year is small. I'd rather be there with 80 people so I don't have to talk to anyone for any great length of time, but I suppose it will be fine anyway. I'll be the only one there who isn't part of a couple though, so that will be uncomfortable. I have no interest in being part of a couple right now, but at these types of parties, it would make things a little easier. And of course that will be one of the top 3 questions for me to answer for the evening (are you dating anyone)- along with what are you doing now and how is it living in New York.

So I called Kim and talked to her for a little while. I still don't remember exactly when I last saw her, but it was probably sometime in '95. We made tentative plans for the 23rd or 24th, although I'm hoping the 23rd will work for her since I like my Christmas Eve tradition of doing Christmas related things during the day and then taking a long drive before going to church in the evening.

I never finished my music report, but I'm not worried. I can finish it up tonight or tomorrow.

I also emailed Daniel last night to tell him I'll be in his neighbourhood on Christmas and to see if I could stop by. I heard back from him right away and said he will be home. How convenient. Paula's friend, Molly, is having a Christmas party and told Paula that if I'm around, I should join them. She lives right down the street from Daniel in Bethesda. So it seems like I will have a pleasant Christmas after all.

I also IMed Jeff last night to see if it's still okay for me to stay at his mother's house with him around New Years. He said it was fine. It will be nice not having to drive back and forth to College Park for a few days and REALLY nice not to have to drive back there late at night on New Years Eve. And it will be nice having a quiet, laid-back New Years with Jeff (and whoever else we wind up joining).

So this morning I did not have a connection to the Internet, so I called the lovely RCN. Today I got to talk to Star- the friendly support person that helped me out. She was super friendly, told me the truth (not just what I wanted to hear), and got my connection back up! I've still had some drop outs on and off today, but they haven't been for too long. It's still frustrating though. Maybe once they upgrade my building (who knows when that will be? The guys who came here a few months ago to fix my problem said it would be a few weeks. This morning Star said she had no idea when it would be. There are a lot of buildings with MANY floors and only a few people working on it), I'll have fewer problems.

I'm going to continue with my relaxing evening and watch a movie. "Quills" is on tonight. I loved it when I saw it in the theatre but don't remember it vividly, so it will be nice to watch again.

Okay this candles and relaxing music thing was okay for a minute, but I'm just not in a relaxing mood. I'm trying, but trying just makes it worse. Maybe I should just drink some more egg nog before I give up and put the lights back on and turn this hippy-shit music off.

I got an email from Andy today with Christmas wishes. They were very sweet but didn't make me feel as good as sweet wishes usually make me feel. Don't know why.

Oh, I finished my music report this afternoon. It's 2 pages too long, but she'll just have to deal with that. I don't want to edit anything out. I like it the way it is. I can't believe I actually wrote something that's too long- that's a first!

Okay, this egg nog is strong! I think I'm feeling slightly more relaxed. But once again, I wish I could be in Utah. What did that trip do to me? I don't remember it having such a big impact on me when I was there. It's effecting me much more now. Neil or Maxine, do you have these feelings about Utah, or is it just me?

Never mind- I'm still not relaxed sitting here and don't have anything else to write, so it's time to go back to the real world...

So once again, I wanted to go do something. First I thought again about going to Divine bar, then I thought about Serendipity (I don't know why I'd want to go there though), and then I decided I didn't want to go out at all since I couldn't think of a perfect (or close to perfect) place quick enough. I'm still sort of thinking about going somewhere, but I don't know where. I probably won't go anywhere though. I'm just getting over my almost-cold and I have to get up early tomorrow so I should stay home and rest. But something about sitting in a lounge-type bar or coffee house reading a book or something just sounds appealing. Hmm... maybe a hotel bar? Nah, too late. I don't feel like getting home at 1:00, I want to be in bed by 1:00 so I can fall asleep before 3:00. Maybe if I'm in the mood tomorrow night, I'll go somewhere after class. For tonight, I'll just finish up some work and try to get to sleep. Okay, now I feel content staying home. I'm not at all tired right now though, and it's the kind of not tired where I'll feel like that for at least a few hours. I hope I can fall asleep before 3:00. I'm back in my I-don't-need-too-much-sleep mode. Last night I didn't fall asleep until around 5:00.

I tried to get a little early studying in this afternoon. I went up to DT-UT and read a few chapters of my music book. I'm going to have to study a lot for this final- it's A LOT of information. I normally wouldn't be worried, but I didn't do super well on the midterm and the final will be similar to that but with A LOT more information. We have about 10-12 pieces we have to know really well. She said for some of the questions, she will play a bit of a piece and we'll have to identify everything about it (composer, title, era, style, texture...). We'll also have to know all the styles and their dates and historical events going on during each period, many composers biographies, every detail of all the different forms, different genres... It's A LOT of stuff. And she's such a bitch! Today, a woman left the class a few minutes early. After she walked out the door, the teacher said sort of under her breath but loud enough for us all to hear, "Sure, you want to leave the class. Leave whenever you like." Then she forgot to the bring the review sheets, so she put the information up on the board for us to copy. Not a big deal. But she did this 10 minutes before class started and then started class without giving the people arriving on time (not early) a chance to copy it all down. So 2-3 people stayed after class to copy it down. On my way out I heard a woman in her 50's tell the teacher she did not get a chance to type the paper so she turned it in handwritten. The bitch said, "All you people wait until the last minute. You get here late and miss your chance to copy the review off the board. Take some responsibility. This is college, not high school." Whoa, what the hell happened to you today to act like this? I mean, she's always this nasty, but today was especially bad. If I were that woman, I would have yelled back. How dare she talk to someone like that? This was a grown woman, not an 18 year old. In fact, I don't think there are any 18 year olds in the class. Over half the class looks over 30. It's like she's treating us how she expects us to be. Those people copying the information off the board at the end of class weren't late- they got there on time and just write slowly and didn't have time to finish copying. The woman who handwrote the paper isn't an irresponsible child- she's a grown woman who probably had a lot on her plate and just didn't have the time to type her paper. Calm down lady. I'm so glad I only have to see her one more time. Of course, she'll probably be the nastiest ever- this is the final. She was a complete bitch for the midterm- "You have to sit in perfectly straight rows. Eyes on your own paper. If I see your eyes anywhere but your test, you will be thrown out of this room!"- and then she proceeded to tell us for 10 minutes how to take a multiple choice test. I was pissed at her for treating us like 8 year olds and scared that my eyes would look up for a second and she would throw me out of the room. Yes, the final will be loads of fun.

And the anthropology final won't be a piece of cake either. He put the terms he wanted us to know on the board today. They took up two and a half pages (and this is just from when he started teaching, which was 11 classes ago- or something like that). I barely remember learning about some of the things he had up there. And he spent a lot of time talking about Afghanistan since he used to live in Pakistan and spent a lot of time in Afghanistan as well. Of course none of that stuff he talked about is in the book, and I really could never follow what he was saying. He would put 5-8 pages of notes on the board and then talk non-stop. We couldn't write furiously AND listen to him at the same time. So I figured the notes were more important. Oh well, maybe I'll be able to answer many of those questions because I follow current events well enough or maybe some of what he said sunk in even though I wasn't never understood his ramblings. And of course we have no idea what his tests are like since he's never given us assignments or tests. But I'm not as worried about this one. I have an A- and an A going into the final, and it seems like the terminology for this class is more clear-cut than the music class. Music is subjective and takes a trained ear to hear some of the things she will be asking us. Anthropology is a lot more facts that anything else. Of course there is a lot of study, but it's memorisation of facts, not memorising musical pieces and trying to figure out how to answer things the way she sees them, regardless of how we see them.

Tomorrow I'm going to try the clothes shopping thing.

Oh, and I'm a theatre major with a psychology minor. I went to the theatre department to see what I would be allowed to choose for my minor and what math I would need. I can take Math 100 (which doesn't have a prerequisite, which means I don't have to finish that damn workshop- just wish I didn't spend so many unpleasant days in that place) and I can pick whatever I want for a minor. The department advisor was- gasp- nice! I couldn't believe it. I didn't know who to go see, and by the time I got there, her office hours were almost over. There were 4 people in front of me about about 3 behind me. When I was the third person in line, I heard her say to the girl in the office, "My office hours are until 3:00, it's now 3:15, but since you're here and I'm here, I'll help you." Well, there were still two other girls besides that one in front of me. Still, when I got to her office, she told me it was 3:30 and her office hours were over at 3:00, but she didn't say I had to leave. I think she even saw the guy behind me. What a kind woman. She was friendly, gave me straight answers (and answers that I liked, which was nice), and I decided to have her fill out the form so I could be a theatre major. I thanked her for her time (I think it's always good to praise kindness) and took the form to the registrar for them to file.

I know it's silly to be a theatre major after stopping the school thing several years ago because I was a theatre major and didn't know what I'd do with a degree in theatre, but it feels different this time. Plus, the psychology minor will be good if I do somehow find a graduate psychology programme that works with my career goals. Graduate programmes in psychology don't usually care if the person doesn't have an undergraduate degree in psychology, they just want someone with the research goals that match with the professors at the school to which the person is applying. It helps to have some sort of social science background though, hense the minor in psychology choice. Many people graduate from college and don't wind up in a career related to their major. Those people seem to either work for the government in a position where only a college degree is needed (doesn't matter what the degree is in), get some other job with on the job training and might get paid a little extra because they have a college degree, or they go to grad school. Well, I guess I should have done that when I was first in school, but too late now. I didn't know. Plus, I hated school with a passion (even more than I hate it now), and couldn't even get myself to classes (although I probably wouldn't go much now either if attendence wasn't required). I may not like everything I've done with my life (who does?), but I've done some very interesting things I never would have done if I had continued going to school full time for a theatre degree and waiting tables (of course I have to tell myself that so I don't feel completely miserable, but perhaps it's sort of true).

So I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but at least I can graduate college with the least amount of effort. Maybe I'll work for the government. Maybe I'll find some theatre related job where the pay is actually more than $20,000/year. Maybe I'll stick it out in the business/tech world. Maybe I'll find a graduate school where I can pursue psychology MY way. Who knows? At least I'll have the stupid piece of paper saying I'm fit to be a member of this society.

It just makes me so mad that this is what you need to be a proper member of society- 30 credits in your major (and most BA dgrees you only need 24) and 90 credits in stuff you don't want or need. And it makes me mad that once I spend a ridiculous amount of years and money obtaining this piece of paper, I can't even do anything with it. The whole point of my going back to school was to get a degree in something that after the Masters degree, I could make a decent living. It may be 7 years later, but I still feel that getting a degree in theatre is a waste of time and money. Perhaps that's not completely true (you can't get a masters without a bachelors degree, so I might as well get a bachelors in something), but it still feels like a waste to me.

Oh, I can't think about this any more tonight. I'll just go in circles. Now that I'm an official theatre major, that, for some reason, gives me more incentive to finish this thing and just graduate already. Speaking of graduating, I was looking to see how many credits I have left, and if I keep going the way I'm going, take summer classes, and am able to get every class I need when I need it (a BIG if there- this school just does not offer all classes needed as often as they should)- I should be able to graduate by the summer, or more likely fall, of 2004.

The trickiest part of being a theatre major will be working on 3 productions during my time there. Shows take up A LOT of your life! Hopefully most of the hours can be flexible (it should be if I'm not acting- although, maybe I could actually try to audition for one of them- if it looks like an interesting show). Okay, enough of this.

And I thought I didn't have much to say today.

Tonight I'm going to see "The Complete Works of Shakespeare". I wanted to see it when it first started and don't really have a huge desire to go see it now (but I'm going since it's free), but hopefully I'll be glad I went.

First, I enjoyed a nice drink(s) at Xando while reading the Village Voice (they didn't particularly like "Othello" with Liev Schreiber). Then I walked through the Union Square holiday market and managed to find some stocking stuffers (can't say what though since most of them are for people who read this- but let me just say I'm going to have a hard time stuffing a PT Cruiser into a stocking- have I said too much?).

The show was great! I'm so glad I made myself go! These guys are hilarious and was sorry to see such an empty house. If you're in New York, quick, go see "The Complete Works of Shakespeare" before it closes. It's well worth it!! I was hoping to get picked for Ophelia in the audience participation part like I did in the Heritage Players production, but sadly, I did not. It would be fun to tell people I played Ophelia in an Off-Broadway production.

So last night I had this dream:
I was on the Titanic in the present day. As we pushed back from the dock, it was moving SUPER FAST! I remember being a little nervous since I didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time it sailed. The next thing I remember, I was on a plane about to collide with another plane. The flight attendant seemed surprised, but the pilot acted like it wasn't a big deal. Then we were flying very low to the ground. I thought we'd go back to normal altitude, but we didn't. We were flying over the trees and through the telephone wires by the sides of the roads. Then I realised it was Harvey flying the plane and I was the only one on it. He brought the plane down and was driving it on the roads. It was hard to tell where we were exactly, since there were no signs with the name of the town and all the businesses around were chains, like Exxons and McDonalds. He wanted to stop and get a bite to eat and then continue to Florida the next morning. When he said we were going to Florida, I thought we might be in Maryland since it felt like we got through maybe a quarter of the trip already (I guess I thought we started in New York). He wanted to stop at a Best Western since they had a big parking lot and that would be a good to use as a runway- he then asked me if Best Western was a chain and I said, of course it was. Then for some reason I decided we were near Maryland so I suggested Martin's airport (I figured we would get in trouble if we brought a commercial jet to BWI), but Harvey said their runways were too small. I didn't understand how a Best Western parking lot would be better, but I didn't say anytihng. We found a familiar looking Middle Eastern restaurant and went in. We kept walking through curtains trying to find someone who worked there and would seat us. We then realised this place wasn't familiar- we probably weren't even near Maryland. A friendly waitress sat us and for some reason, seeing her made me think we were in North Carolina. The place was actually a coffee shop with no Middle Eastern food. I don't know if we went in the wrong place or if the place we thought it was, randomly turned into something else. Anyway, Harvey ate and left me alone with the waitress. She wondered why I wasn't eating, and I told her I wasn't hungry. Actually, I just didn't want any of the greasy food. Then I found a place to sleep for the night. I think Eytan was around (but it wasn't exactly Eytan- I don't know who it was) and said I could stay where he was staying. It was Terry and Dena's place, except Dena wasn't there. For some reason I insisted I stay in Terry's room rather than the couch and no one seemed to think this was a stupid idea. We both fell asleep instantly (I was exhausted from the day's adventures), and when I woke up (in the dream), it was dark, Terry was gone, and I was confused about where I was. When I remembered where I was, I didn't understand why I was there and why I was in Terry's bed. Then I woke up for real. Very strange dream.

I got to take another Zogby poll tonight. This one asked some very stupid questions (there are stupid questions- whoever said there weren't is lying). For instance, Which of the following high ranking U.S. government positions do you think Santa Claus would be most qualified to hold? President, Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Transportation, Other/Not Sure. Or how about this one, What kind of music would you say Santa Claus enjoys the most during the off-season? Classical, Vintage Jazz, Vintage Rock, R&B, Easy Listening, Pop, New Age, Other/Not Sure. They also wanted to know what kind of clothes we thought Santa wears when not wearing his red suit, what kind of vehicle he drives during his time off, and several other ridiculous questions. Zogby is known for their political polls. They did ask some questions about politics on this one, but what were they thinking with the Santa thing?

Tonight is a cozy-stay-at-home night. I plan to study for my music final and maybe watch a movie.

It's official- Abby is legally Neil and Maxine's daughter! Congratulations guys!

I've been in nocturnal mode the past few nights (go to bed late, wake up late). I remembered my dream when I first woke up this morning, but I went back to sleep and didn't remember anything when I woke up again.

I don't have much to say today (for real this time). The only thing on my mind is how relaxed and cozy I feel on this cold-ish winter day. I know I should get some more studying done, but not right now- perhaps I'll do that later tonight. I also want to watch a movie since I didn't manage to do that last night (I don't know what happened to the time). And I want to call Neil and Maxine's since they're having a dinner tonight, and I couldn't make it down there (well, I could have, but it would have involved too much traveling- especially since I'll be going down there next week- and interrupted studying for finals time).

I'm getting nervous about my music final. I've been studying for 3 days and I don't feel anymore prepared than I did before I began to study. The information we need to know is all so similar (the difference between a Baroque Concerto and a Classical Concerto) or it's subjective that I feel the multiple choice questions will just be a process of guessing which answer she's looking for and hoping you guessed correctly. I just feel like I'm really prepared, but I'll get the test, look at the questions, know all the information, but still not know which answer to choose. It's so frustrating. If I had to talk about the classical styles, the forms, the different composers, I'd be able to tell you everything I've learned about them. But to answer the multiple choice questions... I'm just hoping to get a B, and then I should get a B for the semester (unless she really hated my paper, which she shouldn't, but who knows what this woman will wind up thinking and doing). Right now I'm just hoping to listen to these pieces enough to recognise them when played and to know everything possible about them (Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" is a 20th century impressionist work, Berlioz's "Fantastic Symphony" is an example of early romantic program music using an idee fixe...).

I had emailed Tom Leighton (of the Marijuana Reform Party) about his friend Kevin (the cute guy who teaches American Government). I was thinking about taking that class in the Spring and wanted to know if he knew either of the professors teaching it so I could figure out for which class to try to register. He finally wrote back this afternoon with Kevin's phone number. I don't particularly want to call him today (I have to register tomorrow), so maybe I'll wait and take that class some other time. At least I have his phone number.

Not much else to say today. I never seem to have much to say on the weekends.

Okay then, back to studying...

I've gotten a little more prepared for the rest of the week and my trip. I made a schedule (in my head only) for the week and got my CDs packed up for my trip (I found all my Christmas CDs!).

Tomorrow I will study, register for the Spring semester and take my music final. Tuesday I will work, study for my anthropology final, get tickets for "Oklahoma" and "Sweet Smell of Success", and then go see the Rockefeller and Broadway Christmas trees. Wednesday I will study some more for my anthropology final, go to Ann Taylor Loft to use my coupon and go to Pier One to use my gift certificate that Jay and Sherry got me last Christmas (I tried to use it earlier this year but didn't find anything I really liked enough to buy), and then take my anthropology final. Thursday I will work and pack. Friday I will leave and drive to Towson to wrap Christmas presents and then grab a drink or something with Eytan while waiting for rush hour to be over (or mostly over). Saturday I will go to Catonsville to get a stocking stuffer for Neil and then hang out in Ellicott City. Sunday I will hopefully see Kim. Monday I will go to church. Tuesday I will spend Christmas day at Neil and Maxine's and Maxine's mother's and then go to Molly's party in Bethesda and stop by to see Daniel after. Then the days until New Years I will work, read career books, and go see Jay and Sherry (to give Jay his Christmas present since they won't be going to Abby's birthday party which is when I was going to give it to him). January 28 I will visit Sylvia. January 29th is Steve and Lori's dinner party. Then New Years Eve I'll spend with Jeff. New Years Day I plan on watching the Gator Bowl (probably will watch it with Eytan and maybe Jeff). January 2nd is Abby's birthday party (and the Orange Bowl) and January 3rd I go home (and will try to find somewhere other than the Pig n' Whistle to watch the Rose Bowl since I don't think I'm ready to go back there after my stupid moment on Thansgiving). Note to self: Never do anything stupid at your neighbourhood bar since it's not that easy to find another neighbourhood bar (save the stupidity for out-of-the-way bars).

I don't know how much time I'll have to write journal entries when I'm in Maryland and have no idea when I'll be able to upload the things I do write. Hopefully I'll have some time the week in between Christmas and New Years.

Jon and Michelle had a baby boy- Steven Andrew. Guess I'll meet him in a few weeks.

I still feel unprepared for my music final. I'll try to cram as much as I can an hour before I leave and that's the best I can do. Maybe I'll even leave a little early and bring my notebook with me so I can look at it until the very last minute. That seems to be the best possible thing I can do. I know a lot, but what I know will not be enough. For most of the questions, there will be at least two similar answers. The only good thing is that after tonight, I won't have to deal with this nasty woman anymore.

Paula and Harvey left for London last night!

Am I the only person that gets more tired after showering? I took a shower about an hour ago and am getting more and more tired by the minute (I really need to stick to showering at night). Not good. I have a lot to do today and have to be alert for my final. Guess it will be a Starbucks afternoon (I want to go get Lisa and Bev a gift certificate for Christmas from there anyway).

So yesterday I managed to register for classes and got all my first choices! Miracle! So I'll be taking Intro to Theatre (doesn't count for my major but is a prerequiste to all other theatre courses) on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, and History of Jazz (a diversity requirement) and American Government (an elective that hopefully will be interesting) on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I still can't believe none of those courses at the times I wanted were closed already!!!

I think I did fine on the music final (I managed to cram a lot in yesterday afternoon). I either got a B+ or an A- and I got an A on my concert report (I'm so happy she had them for us), so if she's nice, she'll give me an A for the semester even though I got a B+ on the midterm.

So last night I was really tired around 10:00. I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up on sleep AND wake up at a normal hour. I tossed and turned for a while and finally gave up and got out of bed a little after 11:30. Then I was up until 7:00 but barely did anything productive. I was going to go out for breakfast and study for my anthropology final, but it was pouring and I was tired so I closed my eyes and fell asleep on the couch. I woke up at 8:00 to sirens (that lasted for 15 continuous minutes- I have no idea what was going on), but I went back to sleep. Then the doorman called me at 9:45 to tell me I had a Fed-Ex package. I told him I would get it later and went back to sleep until 12:30. I'm so bad.

I had STRANGE dreams while sleeping on the couch! First I was at an audition and Andy was there. I was one of the first people there, but they kept skipping me and had other people audition. About an hour into it, I had to ask Andy what song I was doing because I forgot. Then I heard a woman do "Aint Misbehavin" and remembered that's what I was going to do. I thought about doing something else, but before I could come up with anything I got distracted. Maria was there. I went to talk to her for a bit and Joe walked in. He had dyed his beard brown and looked ridiculous. He was hoping that would get him a role, but when he walked in and saw about 3 other men all with their beards dyed the same horrid brown, he turned around and walked out. Maria and I were talking about that when Heather showed up. She looked as gorgeous as ever. Then the dream jumped to somewhere else. Sarah Ross (from elementary school) was there. I introduced her to Leah (since in my dream they didn't know each other) and they hit it off instantly. Then I was talking to someone and Robb walked in (yes, this dream had someone from almost every theatre company I worked with in it). He looked much younger than I remembered him and I looked at his driver's license. It said he was born in 1975 which I guess is why he looked younger (although even if he was born that year, he shouldn't have looked as young as he did). Then Rick Trader showed up and said that he loved his driver's license picture. I looked at it and he looked like a young version of Fred (from Heritage Players' "Oklahoma"). I thought he looked about 12 in the picture and was wondering how he could have gotten a license when he was that young. Then the dream jumped to an elevator of the apartment building I was living in. A young woman walked in and pushed one of the three top floor buttons (they had names rather than numbers). She told me that's where she was having her wedding and I told her to tell me all about it since I'd never been up to any of those floors. Then I was talking to Paula about the $200,000 some client of hers gave her in cash. Neil was there counting it. Some of the bills were $10,000 bills. Then Neil and I were watching the Padres and some other team play on TV and Rick/Fred was still there and talking to me about the game while Neil went to get some milk to go with his chocolate cake. Then I woke up. No wonder I was so tired when I woke up- I was busy in my dreams.

So I got an email from Epinions telling me I was still an Editor. Why? I haven't done much with the site since September 11. Oh well, I certainly don't mind. That site has changed so much. At least I was able to be a part of it in its hayday. Just wish I took advantage of that hayday more than I did.

So today I went over to Times Square to get tickets for "Sweet Smell of Success" and "Oklahoma" (both for the end of February). But first I went to Heartland Brewery so I could try their egg nog that I read about and study for my final. They were having a private party- figures. So that's when I went to get the tickets. I decided to go over to the other Heartland Brewery location by Radio City (since I wanted to see the Christmas tree over there anyway), but I was tired of walking so I just went to Edison Cafe and did a little studying there. Then I walked over to the other Heartland Brewery and while they did not have a private party, they also did not have egg nog (my server said it went bad so they just took it off the menu). I stayed anyway and had a few drinks and did a little more studying. Then I got to go home during rush hour. As for the Christmas Trees I was going to see... I forgot to go look at the Broadway tree when I was over there (it was daylight anyway so I couldn't have seen it lit up) and, I know this sounds silly but, I couldn't find the Rockefeller tree. How could I miss that gigantic tree that was so huge, it damaged a garage when being delivered to NYC? I don't know, but I refused to ask anyone where it was. I just went home. Not a big deal. I've enjoyed the Christmas-y things I've seen all around the city and in a few days, I'll get to see Christmas in Maryland.

I don't know much yet for my anthropology final, but I'm not worried. Most of the material is pretty obvious, and I'll just have to memorise a few terms and how they apply to the different cultures we've talked about. I'll look over the material a little more tonight and then cram tomorrow afternoon.

And in between cramming at DT-UT and cramming at school, I'll go to Ann Taylor to use my coupon and Pier One to use my gift certificate.

Oh I forgot, yesterday was the first day it was really cold. Most of the time I was fine with it, but when the wind blew my hair in my face and I couldn't see anything and the back of my neck was cold since the hair was in my face rather than keeping my neck warm- I thought having a scarf again might be useful (but that was only for a few moments of the day). Am I getting a fondness for cold weather in my old age? It certainly would be convenient.

And I decided I'm not exactly surprised that I didn't find the Rockefeller tree last night. I've had problems with the Rockefeller Center area before- trying to find stuff and taking forever to find it. Even with my incredible sense of direction, some areas just confuse me- like Washington DC and 5th to 7th Ave/48th to 51St. (yes, one is a big city and one is a few blocks- makes no sense, really, for me to have such trouble with a few blocks- especially since no one else seems to have this problem).

I knew the Ann Taylor Loft was around 85th but couldn't remember exactly, so I went to their website to check. They said the closest one was on 75th. So I took the bus up to 75th, but at 64th, the bus broke down. I transfered to another bus for the last 11 blocks. Well, it was not on 75th. I walked to 77th and then gave up. But the Pier One was on 85th, so I just kept walking (was getting tired of lugging around the heavy bag with my books though- I really need to get one of those casual-briefcase-with-strap-things). I got to 85th and the Pier One was not there. But there was an Ann Taylor Loft. See, I thought it was around there- never trust a corporate website. I went in but didn't find anything. Then I asked someone on the street where the Pier One was and she said it was past 86th. She was right, it was at 87th. I walked in but it was crowded, smelled disgusting (scented candles), and I didn't find anything quickly- so I left quickly. I walked over to DT-UT and tried to get a comfortable couch in the back. One of the guys working there said the section was closed, but a few minutes later I saw 3 women sitting back there. Oh well- I could deal with sitting in the front and getting the cold blast of air every time someone opened the door. That place has a good vibe, is very comfortable, and is a good place to hang out or work or study, but their food and drinks are less than desirable (they don't even have iced tea that doesn't come out of a soda fountain). Today I had a dry muffin and a bitter iced mocha.

Around 1:00, I couldn't study anymore so I was going to go home for a bit before the final. As I was waiting for the bus, I decided to go to Counsel Thrift Store which I walked in once before briefly but forgot to go back to later. I tried on two things (a cool velvet jacket and pants), but neither of them fit. Then I decided to take the bus down to 68th and try that Ann Taylor Loft (I was at 85th). The bus was CROWDED! I was shoved somewhere in the middle and couldn't really see where we were at any point. After what felt like a while, I saw that we were at a two-way street. I figured we were at 72nd, so I got off at the stop after that. Well, I was wrong- we were only at 79th. So I had gotten off at 76th. Ugh- more walking with my heavy bag. Fortunately, I did find something at this location- a black suit, black tank top, socks, and a hair clip. That means that I don't have to go to Target the Friday before Christmas since 2 of the 5 things I just got (socks and hair clip). I still need a few more pairs of socks and underwear, but I can get those at the Sears in Hunt Valley a few days after Christmas (I'm assuming it won't be crowded then since no one really shops there- or at least that mall used to be quite empty- it even earned the name Death Valley Mall).

So after my success, it was 3:00- too late to go home and too early for the final. I decided to go to school anyway and get a yoghurt smoothie from the second floor snack area. Well, they were closed. So I decided to go sell my anthropology book since I was finished studying. They wouldn't take it- a new edition was coming out so they didn't need the old one. This seems to be the way of life these days. All my classes seem to use books that have a new edition coming out the semester after I use it. I guess I'll try to sell it to another bookstore sometime early next year.

Now I'm on the ground floor lobby area- it's quiet and seats were available (much more comfortable than the loud, obnoxious cafeteria).

I just decided to make a list of meaningful things I've done in the past 10 years. It seemed like a good end of the year activity and it helped me validate my life a little, which I really needed to do after deciding to go through with the theatre degree idea. My list has 25 things- some general, some specific. AND... many of those things were in the past few years- not in the early 90's like I had been predicting. That makes it even better!

Wow, I just had the urge to go ice skating. Maybe Jeff would like to go to Northwest Ice Rink with me sometime between Christmas and New Years. I'll probably have trouble getting skates to fit me, but it's worth killing my feet for a couple hours (I think). I remember that place being disgustingly dirty and filled with Pikesvillians (the worst type of Baltimoron), but that's okay. It could be fun with Jeff!

I feel much more relaxed now that my finals are finished. I still have a lot to do before I leave (which gives me tonight and tomorrow), but it'll all get done. Tonight my plan is to clean up the apartment and get some work done. Tomorrow I will organise some more work, figure out some financial stuff, make sure I have everything organised for work in Maryland, mail Christmas tips for the people who work in this building (I guess that's an okay way to do that- I can't wait until I see every one of them and I don't want to hand them money anyway- I don't like most of them), mail a Christmas card to Matt & Brie since it got sent back to me because I had the wrong address on it (hopefully she'll email me with her correct address before Friday morning- if not, I can bring it with me and mail it from Maryland), and pack.

I'm definitely feeling of better cheer than I was this morning! That's a good thing! I'm tired of being cranky. Actually when I think about it, I think this past year I've had a lot less cranky days than normal. I don't know if it's living in New York and having more around me to keep my mind busy or I've had better luck in general or I'm not around as many incompetent people as I have been in years past (another reason I love New York) or if I'm just not remembering all the cranky days I've had. If the latter is the case, who cares? At least I remember this year (minus some major and minor things out of my control) as being a good one.

The end of the year makes listmakers like me happy. I love thinking of things in terms of lists. Here are some of my year lists that I've made throughout the year:
Number of shows I've seen: 66
Number of movies I've seen: 119 (although it's possible I might see one or two more before the end of the year)
Number of books I've read: 34 (including plays and guide books- not including plays and guidebooks: 18) and I'll probably finish one or two more books before the end of the year
Number of concerts I went to: 14
Number of trips I took: 13
Number of cities I was in: 25
Number of countries I was in: 8
Number of people from my past I re-connected with: 14
See, 2001 was a good year!

I've had strange songs in my head today. I woke up singing Fiona Apple's "Criminal" (maybe because I emailed Brie last night and she did that song at karaoke once?) and later on I had the percussion intro to the "Music Man" finale (not exactly a hummable melody) in my head.

So I had this idea...
I hate the fact that so many people who know me but not really well find that the only thing to ask me when they run into me once in a while is how school is going. I hate the fact that I'm still working on my undergradutate degree and I really get tired of the fact that this is the only thing some people think they can ask me about. I guess it's a subject that they understand, unlike most aspects of my life which they probably not only wouldn't understand but don't know those things are a part of my life (theatre, computers...). Most of these people are distant family members and friends of Paula and Harvey. Then there are the strangers. Strangers' favourite question is, "So what grade are you in?" or "Are you in college?". I know I look young and I love looking young, but I get sick of talking about school. I really dispise school. I know that's a strong word and I actually think what I really hate is the fact that I don't have a degree yet. I know I just took a different route than most people and normally I'm fine with that. I like my life and a lot of the things I've done, but it's hard when 99% of people think there is a certain path for life and I don't follow that path. I get tired of defending my way of life. I get tired of school being the only thing people want to ask me about- that and whether or not I'm married yet or at least whether or not am dating someone seriously. Oh, so here's my idea...
Since I look so young anyway, I thought I'd just start telling people I'm much younger than I am. Actresses do it all the time. They are 22 for years and then suddenly they're 40 (although they're really 50). So why can't I do that? I've fudged my age before with mild success. I can't suddenly turn 19, but I can do it gradually. When someone I haven't seen for a while asked how old I am now, I can reply that I'm 23. They don't know me well enough to realise that I'm lying and am really older than 23. Then in a few years when they ask me again, I can tell them I'm 23. People don't really listen. They won't remember that I told them the same age several years before. So if I do this gradually, in a few years I can be an age where my lifestyle is widely accepted by proper society. Among my friends I can be myself, but among strangers and distant "friends" and relatives, I can pretend to be what they think is proper. That seems easier than defending myself, explaining that I just look really young but in fact I am much older than I look, and the fact that I am unmarried and still working on an undergraduate degree is a good thing- that is exactly where I should be in that stage of my life.
The only problem with this idea is that it will be tiring. I will have to remember what I've told each person each time and try to continue with my story. I will have to lie, which I am NOT very good at and if I'm around someone who knows me well, they will wonder what I am trying to do. Not only that, but they could blow my cover. I can't put my friends through that. I can't put myself through that. It was a nice idea though.

So instead I will just have to figure out not to get so irritated with people and the fact that school is the only thing these small-minded people know to talk about and also I will need to learn to accept the fact that I am still trying to get an undergraduate degree (which is even harder now since I'm getting a degree in something that I will almost definitely never use- which is fine when you're 22 but not when you're at an age when you should be more established in life). So I guess I can practise on the 29th when I'm surrounded by distant relatives and other people I haven't seen in... I don't know how long... maybe 12-15 years? When they ask me how school is going, what will I tell them? Maybe I'll come up with something on my long drive tomorrow. Well, that would be nice but I'm sure no epiphany will come. I will not figure out what to tell these people. I will get just as irritated. Hopefully there will be some good wine or something to make me a little more mellow.

But speaking of my long drive, I should try to start getting tired. I need to wake up around 7:00 and it would be nice to get to sleep before 4:00, unlike this morning when I went to sleep around 5:00.

I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to write anything before Christmas, so if not... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

But first a comment about Radiohead's "Street Spirit Fade Out"... WOW! I still really love this song. It makes me miss playing guitar. I used to love to play this one. I have Terry to thank for that. I remember being over his apartment when he was learning this one. He was having trouble with it for some reason so I thought I'd give it a try (on his left handed guitar which should be more comfortable for me, being left handed myself, but since I learned on a right handed guitar, I got used to that and playing a left handed guitar is difficult for me). Anyway, I figured it out right away and it sounded great. That was especially nice since Terry and I always created stupid little competitions with each other, so being able to play this on a left handed guitar when he could not made me very happy. Score 1 for me! How silly of me to remember that. Anyway, I love this song.

And now to find something to drink.

Got an email from Jeff last night- he said ice skating (or maybe roller skating) sounds like fun. Roller skating- I remember that. All skate, reverse, couples skate, nasty snack bar, cheesy lighting... Yeah, that sounds like fun too- not as cold as ice skating either.

Hey, someone desribed my problem with tourists perfectly. This is from Negative Capability:
"The streets, sidewalks, stairways and other areas are designed to help people move very quickly. Behave as if you�re a car and every path and sidewalk were a highway and you�ll realize that you need to either: a) keep moving so as not to impede the flow of traffic or b) move all the way to the side if you must stop. You wouldn�t think of stopping in the middle of a highway to consult your map, would you? Of course not! You�d quickly pull to the side, stop, and soak it in. If you keep this in mind, you�ll be fine. I can�t tell you how often I�m walking down the street and some dipshit with a laminated map stops dead in front of me for no apparent reason, as if the whole world was there to entertain him! In addition, here in NYC, we stay to the right if we�re not going to move, and leave the left lane free, so if you�re on an escalator and slow, stay to the right."
Thank you sir, for explaining the obvious (or what should be obvious) in laymen's terms- any idiot should be able to understand this concept the way you explain it.

Hey cool- the Diarist.net Clix thing recently reset (I think it does that about once a week) and for some reason people have been clicking on my site a lot in the past few hours. I'm actually in the top 10 (#6 at the time of this entry)!!! I know it won't last long, but I don't think I've ever been in the top 10 before. This is mildly exciting!

Okay, gotta run...

I got to Towson around 12:30, went to Target to get a few things, and even though it's about a mile from there to the office, it took me about 20 minutes- BALTIMORONS DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!!!! I didn't stay long in Towson since I got there so early and decided it would be better to drive down to College Park in the afternoon rather than evening. I talked to Mike for a few minutes, Eytan for a few minutes, and George for a few minutes (no one else was there besides Bill, and he doesn't exactly love to talk to me). George seemed back to his regular self. It was fun sparring with him again. So there was traffic on 95 heading down to College Park, but there shouldn't have been. There weren't a lot of cars, just stupid drivers doing stupid things and causing little backups here and there. Once I got around the stupid drivers, there wasn't any traffic until I came upon another stupid driver.

I got to College Park around 3:00 and decided to go to Santa Fe (the restaurant, not the city- the city would have been too long of a drive) and have a drink while waiting for Neil to get home. I think Santa Fe is the only not completely disgusting place in College Park. I really don't like it, but it's better than most of the other ones. Plus, with the students gone, it makes it even better.

Friday evening, I hung out with Neil, Maxine, and Abby and then later Maxine and I went to the English Tea House. Now that place isn't bad. It doesn't have much atmosphere, it's small, and the prices are to high- but it has nice menu items, a wide variety of tea, they have computers that aren't too expensive by the hour, and the place isn't loud. Too bad they are closed from the 24th through January 2nd.

Saturday I went to the Candy Box in Catonsville to get some stocking stuffers and some fruit slices for me. Then I went down to Ellicott City. I think Main Street has changed a little and not for the better. I still like it, but it's not quite the same. Neil asked me to try to find a coffee gift basket for his friend Laurie, but I couldn't find anything in Ellicott City (the coffee house on Main Street only had a huge one and the bakery down the street only had tea baskets. So I went to the coffee place in Laurel (on Main Street). Their window said, "Come make your own gift basket,"- that sounded hopeful. I told the woman I wanted to make a gift basket and she said I could pick out the items but the man in charge couldn't get to it until Monday. Too late for me. So I went back to College Park and decided to go to the English Tea House. I doubted they had coffee baskets, but I am a stubborn person. They didn't have gift baskets.

That night I went to the Corner Grill. I thought I was going to Bentley's since I've never been there and wanted to give it a try while the students were gone, but I went in the wrong door. I didn't realise there was another bar right next to it. While I was there, I met Amit, a man from India working on his PhD in Geology. It was nice to have an intelligent conversation at a bar in College Park (probably the only chance I'll have to do that). We mostly talked about politics, travel, and culture.

Sunday I went back to the tea house. They had the radio on, and the station was playing a folksy-guitar version of the overture from the Nutcracker. That version continued onto the next piece from the score, and I decided that was cue to leave. I don't need to hear the enitre Nutcracker- too depressing. That afternoon, I went to Kim and Marty's. So I got to meet Marty. He was very quiet- I don't think I formed an opinion of him, but he was very nice. Kim and I caught up on the past 5 or so years of our lives. They wanted to get some firewood from her father's, so I went with them. They moved a few years ago to a huge house in Stevenson. So, I got to see Steve and Lori briefly. I don't remember the last time I saw them either. Then we went back to Kim and Marty's house (which was a gorgeous house in Owings Mills) and had a Moroccan dinner of chicken and cous-cous.

Sunday night I went back to the Corner Grill (still thought it was Bentley's) to meet Amit. We talked some more about culture and authors and stuff and then he got annoying- talking about girlfriends and sex and stuff. I didn't stay long (maybe an hour or two).

What did I do Monday? I don't think I did much. I hung out with Neil and Abby for some of the day. We went to take a little walk to the lake but didn't spend much time there. Then I went to Applebees (yuck) for a quick bite to eat. I didn't know College Park got an Applebees. Wow- now there are 4 restaurant/bars in College Park!

Before church I took a little ride listening to Christmas music to get in the Christmas spirit. I think I was more in the Christmas spirit in October than I was Monday night. I met Neil, Maxine, and Abby at a Methodist church in Silver Spring. The service was short- a few carols, a brief play of the story of the birth of Christ, and a VERY short sermon. I think it lasted 40 minutes. It would have been nice to light candles and sing a few more carols. Oh well.

Tuesday morning Maxine's mother and sister came over here for breakfast. Then wen opened some presents. Of course Abby was more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes than her presents (other than to eat them). I got sweats (I finally have something to sleep in, or at least wear around the apartment, when I have people over), gloves (one less thing to buy tomorrow), and a Curious George stuff animal that giggles when you press its hand. And for stocking stuffers I got a couple of ornaments and some kitchen stuff (hmmm... is Santa trying to tell me to cook more often?).

Then I had a lazy afternoon, watching some TV and taking a little ride to get some air and enjoy some music (and I just couldn't sit around doing nothing anymore- I'm not good at that, especially at someone else's house).

That evening we went over Maxine's mother's house for dinner and to open some more presents. Paula and Harvey stopped by for a few minutes on their way to Bethesda. I didn't go to Molly's since she changed her party to just a dinner with Paula and Harvey and it was at 5:00 (when Maxine's mother was having dinner). If Molly had a party instead, I could have stopped by later for a little bit- oh well. This way I didn't get to see Daniel either. I need to email him and explain. I meant to do that last night but forgot. He won't mind. So Paula and Harvey got me a CD player for the shower (don't know where that idea came from), which I will use for my bedroom instead. Showers in my apartment aren't exactly comfortable or long, so music in the shower seems kind of pointless. They also got me a "On this Day in History" (maybe I'll include them in my journal entries if they're not too long) calendar and a book on New York City architecture (this one is so detailed- it goes block by block, mentioning almost everything). And from Maxine's mother and sister, I got a travel tea press. Maybe I can get organised enough and make some tea to take with me to classes (if the professors I have this semester don't insist on the no food or drink in the classroom thing). It would be nice to have something to drink during classes to help me stay alert.

Of course I've been getting up early since I've been here. One morning Maxine woke me up. This morning Sammy woke me up (he was barking for 10 straight minutes). Fortunately, I'm not too tired. And of course this gives me more of a day to work with. This morning I dropped off some dry cleaning which will be ready by 5:00 PM today. I almost wish I brought down more clothes to be dry cleaned. This place is SO CHEAP- $1.75/item!!!

Soon I will go to Barnes and Noble in Bowie and read career books- pondering the question, "What do I want to be when I grow up?"- maybe I'll actually come up with a realistic answer that is possible for me to do and will have a salary higher than $20,000. I was going to meet Neil for lunch today, but he's swamped at work. Perhaps tomorrow.

Friday I will go up to Baltimore to see Sylvia in the morning and then stop by the office in the afternoon for a little bit. According to Mike, they're having a Christmas lunch that day, but no one else seems to know about it or thinks it's another day or says that it's not going to happen. We'll see. Then I'll swing by Hunt Valley to get some underwear and stuff at Sears or JC Penny or something. And hopefully I can stay with Jeff that night and the following nights through New Years Eve. I should call him today.

Oh, and Jon called me the other day to find out if I was mad at him. I was completely surprised! He said that Paula told Eytan to call him and tell him that I was upset because he didn't tell me they had the baby. Huh? Who decided I was upset? I talked to Eytan since I couldn't get in touch with Paula. Eytan wouldn't say anything other then to ask Paula. So I finally got in touch with Paula and she didn't know what I was talking about. I love communication problems. So I called Eytan again and asked what he thought Paula told him. He said that she wanted him to call Jon and tell him I was upset about not finding out about the baby from him. Where did the communication lines break down? I still have no idea. Paula is sure she never said anything like that and Eytan is sure she did. So I'll just have to figure out how to smooth things over with Jon. I screw up my life just fine on my own- I don't need other people to help screw it up for me. It's not that big a deal- it could have been a lot worse. It's just that I finally have a civil relationship with Jon and Michele and I don't want to go backwards.

And I'm having communication problems with Paula and Harvey again for a change. Paula told me to call her on Monday to find out the details about Molly's party (or what I thought was still a party at the time). She said she would be in the office for a few hours and otherwise would be home. I called all day at all the possible numbers I have for them and never got through. Their home phone with the answering machine didn't have the answering machine on. Finally at night I started to get a little irritated. I called Eytan just in case he knew where to reach them- he did not. Then Neil started to get worried. He told me to call their neighbours. I called information, got their number, and fortunately, they were home. They said they would walk over to their house and knock on the door. If they were home, she would tell them to call me, if not she would call me back- I gave her Neil's number. After 20 minutes, Neil got more worried. He told me to call the neighbour back. I did and she said that Harvey should have called me by now. I called him and he was sleeping. He acted surprised that I was calling and asked if I had gotten his message (he left it on my cell phone a few minutes earlier). I had my phone turned off since I thought he would be calling me at Neil's since he knew that's where I was. He was irritated that I was calling and just told me the reason I hadn't gotten through was because they turned the phones off in the afternoon and forgot to turn them back on. Then he hung up. Paula was sleeping. So I never got to ask about Molly's. So I tried early in the morning the next day. I called and Harvey answered the phone. He said they were having coffee and to call back in 20 minutes. I called back in 30 minutes and he was irritated. He said I was supposed to call back in 20 minutes. I told him I waited an extra 10 minutes just to be sure. He said it was only 17 minutes since I had called. This was getting ridiculous to me- not only did I know it had been much longer, he was arguing over (in his opinion) 3 minutes!!! I just hung up and called about an hour later, hoping they would be home.

Okay, and on that fine note, I'm off to figure out how to get to the Barnes and Noble in Bowie.

On the 27th, I went back to Bowie Town Center to go to Hecht's since I saw a commercial that they were having a sale on bras and underwear (buy 2, get 2 free). So I managed to be there without any acts of violence or even any minor irritations. AND I also managed to find a bathrobe (something I've always wanted) that fit, wasn't pink or baby blue (it's grey), and is comfortable. I also read some more books at Barnes and Noble (it was empty on the 27th).

Then I met Neil for lunch in Silver Spring at the Parkway Deli (I think that's what it was called). It was actually a really good deli- reminded me of home!

After lunch, I went to the grocery store to pick up some milk for Neil. Since that was the only thing I was getting, I probably should have gone to 7-11 or something. But I wasn't thinking. He asked if I could go to the grocery store and so that's where I went. I went to the Shoppers in College Park (hey, College Park finally has a grocery store- people without cars can go food shopping a little more easily). I got there about 3:00- afternoon on a workday, kids are on break from school- should NOT have been crowded. Well, it wasn't really crowded, but it took me about 30 minutes to get the milk and get out of the store. There were 4 lanes open and they all had about 4-5 people in line with about 15-30 items. I went in the "express" lane and watched the excruciatingly slow check-out woman scan the items and eventually bag the items. It was painful.

That evening I set up Delphine's (Maxine's sister) digital camera. It's a NICE Olympus 16MB camera with lots of cool features like the ability to record audio, LCD display, and tons of different settings. Maxine had taken some pictures of Abby on Christmas, so we got to look at them (very cute).

Then on the 28th, I got to wake up really early. I had been waking up early all the other mornings in Maryland as well, but Friday morning was super early. I wanted to get up around 6:00 or 6:30, but I guess because I was nervous about not waking up on time, I woke up around 4:00. I went back to sleep for until 5:00 and then stayed up until 6:00. At least I had plenty of time to get to Sylvia's before rush hour started.

So the visit with Sylvia wasn't too bad. We talked for a few minutes and then went over to drop some stuff off for Libby and teach her how to use her phone (she's legally blind). I can't remember the last time I saw Libby. Sylvia has no patience for her- not just because she can't do things the way she used to, but because she never approved of her lifestyle (like she doesn't approve of most people's lifestyles). For me, seeing Libby was fine. It bought me some time that wasn't completely filled with Sylvia talking non-stop about people I don't even know. After we left Libby's, we picked up Matt and went to Dunkin Donuts for lunch. Lunch? Yes, this is their daily routine- bagels and cream cheese and coffee at Dunkin Donuts.

I left their apartment around 11:30 and went to the Mt. Washington Tavern for a drink. If I had to spend my Friday seeing Sylvia AND seeing people at the Towson office, I deserved a glass of wine in between.

Being in Towson wasn't too bad. Mike got me an Ansel Adams calendar for Christmas. I spent a little bit of time redesigning the website, but haven't quite finished. There's something about it I don't quite like. I'm hoping to tweak it today. I just felt that Friday wasn't very productive. I spent 3 hours with Sylvia, 2 hours working on the website, and then suddenly it was time to go meet Jeff. I didn't even have a minute to check me email (fortunately, I checked it this morning and didn't have too many important things going on). I wanted to get my pictures developed and forgot (took them in this morning and will go get them as soon as I finish up here). Oh well, I'll get back to my usual productivity and typical lifestyle when I get home. I just hate feeling like I'm wasting time when I don't want to be wasting time.

Friday evening, I had dinner with Jeff at his mother's. Stanley (his mother's boyfriend) was there. I love seeing Stanley- he's so calm and rational (those qualities are usually lacking in that house).

After dinner, Jeff and I went down to watch the Texas/Washington game at his friend John's house in Columbia. John and Carolee (his wife) went to school at UT like Jeff, but Jeff met John working for McKinsey. Carolee was sick, so I didn't get much of an impression from her, but John was fun to hang out with. He talked about business and economics like he had written books on the subjects, had strong opinions on college football, and was very inquisitive. He came up with some tough trivia questions too (example- which 4 college teams have a mascot that's different from their nickname?). And he was just generally interesting to listen to and have conversations with (yes, I'm ending too many sentences with prepositional phrases). The game was over around midnight (Texas won 47-43) and Jeff and I went back to his mother's house.

I think I fell asleep around 3:30 and woke up at 8:00. I could have slept in, but I'm glad I woke up early since I have more time for productivity today (all the stuff I didn't do yesterday). I dropped off my film, checked my email, and am now writing this entry. Soon I will finish up some web design and then call Steve & Lori to get directions to their house. Then I will go pick up my pictures and go to Beltway Liquor to pick up a few things (cheaper than in New York and there's a larger selection- this place is the size of a supermarket).

I'm a little irritated that Steve & Lori's dinner isn't until 8:00. I was hoping it would be around 6:00 and I could leave by 9:00 at the latest. I was hoping to meet up with Jeff later on. Guess not. So now I won't get back to Jeff's mother's until around midnight. Oh well.

I have trouble typing new journal entries on a computer that isn't in my home. I have no idea what I'm writing about here and if it makes any sense and if it's even everything I wanted to say (usually I forget half the things I wanted to mention when I'm not typing at home). So I'm sure these past two entries are boring and don't have a natural flow to them. I'm looking forward to going home.

The party at Steve and Lori's on Saturday night was interesting. I got to see some people I haven't seen in at least 10 years. Mark and Joan were there. I didn't recognise Mark by looking at him at all, but I did recognise his voice. Joan I recognised right away- she looked the exact same- amazing! Sid (Kim's uncle) also looked the same. He's 85 years old and looks incredible! He's still as sharp as a tack too! The time there went quickly. I got there around 8:00 and figured I would leave around 10:00 or 10:30. I didn't leave until midnight. I really did not mean to leave that late but I wasn't paying attention to the time. Jeff had said he would be home in the early evening, so I didn't want to get home really late in case I would wake up his mother. Fortunately, Jeff didn't get home until 5 minutes before I did, so Debbie was still up and talking to him in the kitchen when I walked in.

Sunday morning I ran out to the food store to get a little plant for Brian and Rebecca. I didn't know if people were bringing housewarming gifts or not, so I figured something small like a plant would be a good thing to bring. It's good I've been waking up early. I always seem to have a reason to do things early in the morning.

Before going to Brian and Rebecca's Jeff and I went to visit Michelle Bar-av- another person I got to see from my past (probably saw her last at least 5 years ago). Since the last time I saw her, she has been married, divorced, re-married, and had 2 kids (one is 2� and the other a few months). Her current husband is not someone I would have pictured her marrying. He seems very young and conventional, but is also nice and laid back and responsible. Anyway, it was good to see her again. While we were there, Jon stopped by and so did another friend of Michelle's, Nicole. I liked Nicole- very funny and extremely intelligent. Michelle wanted to set her up with Jeff (she always seems to find someone for him every time he's in Baltimore). They didn't spend much time together, but perhaps they can talk to each other more once he's back in Minneapolis. She might be a little overpowering for Jeff, but I liked her instantly and would love to see him with someone like that.

After we left Michelle's, we went to Brian and Rebecca's. There, I got to see more people I haven't seen in at least 5 years. I saw Jack (Jon's roommate in college) and his wife Ilene. They have a daughter who is 14 months and another one due in April. I also saw Dave Starr- Brian's friend from college who used to play guitar in some local clubs and coffee houses. Also there was Mike Tracton (sp?), another friend of Brian's from college and Jeff Washington, a friend of Brian's from law school. This month has definitely been the month of seeing people from my past. I stayed a few hours at the party and then took a drive (something I haven't managed to do yet). I drove through Ellicott City into Baltimore and drove across to Canton. Then I stopped there and read a book on how to move from an urban area to a rural area while having coffee and a bagel at the One World Cafe (not as good as the One World Cafe in Federal Hill). Then I continued driving around East Baltimore and eventually made it back toward Towson. I love that I can drive in areas I've never been in and never get lost. There was a "stop here on red" sign in East Baltimore. Stupidly, the sign was on a hill so you couldn't see if the light was red until you went down the hill, and therefore, would be past the "stop here on red" sign. Typical Baltimore.

Later that evening, I went to see the Hamden Miracle on 34th Street (the residents of 34th St. in Hamden go all out with the Christmas lights- stringing them across the street, having cool displays on their lawns...). It's tacky but worth seeing once (or in my case, twice- I saw it for the first time in '95).

And even later that evening, I met Eytan at his parents house. It was good seeing his parents again. His father always has such interesting things to say. Last night he talked about September 11, the economy, spirituality, and the difference between joy and pleasure. And he's finding new hobbies. Now, not only is he writing poetry, he's doing some sculpture. He made 3 busts that were at home and said he's working on another bust of his hero, Albert Einstein.

Today, Jeff and I are going to see "Lord of the Rings" and then probably go over Jon and Michele's tonight for a quiet New Years Eve. Eytan said he might go over there too since he doesn't want to go to the Hippo with his friend Frank. He wants to do something more exciting than sit around Jon's on New Years but doesn't want to do the Hippo thing either. I don't blame him.

Tomorrow Eytan and I will find somewhere to watch the Gator Bowl. Virginia Tech is favoured by 2�- I have a bad feeling though that Florida State will come out on top. We'll see...

I probably won't have time to write any more entries (or at least upload any entries) until I get home on the 3rd (and probably won't write anything until the 4th). So HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!!

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