January

So...
On the 31st, Jeff, Eytan, and I had lunch at Cluck-U before Jeff and I headed to White Marsh to see "Lord of the Rings". The movie was perfect!!!!! I couldn't have done it better myself (except I wouldn't have used the "Titanic"-like music during the touching parts). I can't wait till "The Two Towers"!!!!

That night Jeff and I went over Jon and Michelle's and had a nice and quiet (although a bit dull) New Years Eve. We watched some of the Peach Bowl (UNC/Auburn), watched some of the Wizards/Nets game (are the other Wizards allowed to shoot or do they have to give the ball to Jordan no matter where they are and no matter where he is on the court?), and watched some Sex and the City. Jeff's friends John and Carolee (with whom we watched the Texas/Washington game) came over around 11:40 and we played Taboo. It wasn't as fun as when I played a few New Years Eves ago with the Is What It Is crowd. The game is really more fun when you know the people you're playing with really well. We did the girls against the guys and us girls didn't know each other at all so it was really hard. Guys won 22-19 (I think). We didn't play very long.

So I got to meet Steven (Jon and Michelle's 2 week old baby). He had a cold and an ear infection. I held him while Michelle took a nap for a few hours and he started to sound a little better, but the poor guy can't breathe very well.

On New Years Day, I picked up Eytan and went downtown, on his suggestion, to a sports bar. Well, it was closed as were all the other bars nearby. We walked down to the Harbor and tried to go to the Cheesecake Factory. They were packed and there were screaming children in the bar area with parents who looked like they would let them scream for a while, so we went to Unos instead to watch the Gator Bowl. The TV was on a different channel so I asked the bartender if he could change it. He started to do that and then got yelled at by his manager. The manager said the TV could only be on sports or news. It was 12:25 and the game started at 12:30, so the bartender told us he would try to change it at 12:30. That manager was really nasty! But we were able to watch the game there. What a sad game it was. Tech was really sloppy and Florida State's offensive line is just too incredible.

After the game, I went over Jon and Michelle's to help her with a website she wanted to make for Steven (mostly pictures). Her dad was over setting up the software for his new state-of-the-art digital camera. Michelle said he was having trouble and wanted me to go up and help him. I asked what I could do, but he ignored me. I tried again and still did not get a response. I eventually said I would be downstairs if he needed anything. I asked Jon what that was all about and he said that the man does not ask for help- plus he's a hardware expert so especially wouldn't ask for help with a computer-related matter. When he finally came back downstairs, he acknowledged my presence, and when I asked him about his job, he became very animated and started talking to me like we were old friends. I really did not like him even though I only talked to him for a few minutes. It did make me realise that maybe that's why Michelle is the way she is. Anyway, I spent a few minutes setting up a site for her and showing her how to do the rest of it herself. She invited me to stay for dinner, but I was tired of being social, so I left and went back to Neil and Maxine's.

Yesterday morning, Neil, Maxine, Abby, and I went to IHOP for Abby's birthday breakfast. I don't know if IHOP has gone downhill or if it was just the College Park location, but the food was really nasty. And the service was pretty bad, but that's pretty much expected these days.

Last night was Abby's birthday party. Jay and Sherry didn't come- big surprise. It was a weeknight, they had to work, they had to take care of the dog, Jay would try to come if Sherry could get a ride home (even though she has her own car and they could have driven to work separately that one day)... They had tons of excuses. But there were plenty of other people there. Their friend, Laurie, came with her kids, Barry and his family came, Maxine's cousin from Richmond came up and brought 2 of her nephews... It was a good time. Abby seemed a little overwhelmed at first, but eventually had a terrific time playing with her 14 month old cousin (who looks like he will be ready for the NFL in a few years).

After the party, I watched the first half of the Orange Bowl. I was impressed with Maryland for that half and figured Florida would dominate the second half. I decided to go read and try to get to sleep early instead of watch the rest of the game.

Sammy's barking woke me up at 6:00, so I got an early start this morning. I left around 8:30 and was back in my apartment by 12:30. There were VERY FEW cars on the road until the middle of the Turnpike and even then it wasn't too bad. There was virtually no traffic in Manhattan and after I dropped off the car, I got a cab right away and was home in a jiffy! Now I'm in the comfort of my own home and am very happy about that!

As for New Years resolutions, I have a different system than most people (although I didn't do too well with my system last year). I make monthly resolutions and if I don't stick to it, I have to continue it the next month. So I guess I do have a yearly resolution- to stick to my monthly resolutions. Maybe I'll annouce each month's resolution in my journal and then at the end of the month annouce if I accomplished it or not. That might make me more likely to stick to my goals. This month I have probably the most popular resolution: to be more consistent with my excercise routine.

Other things I want to accomplish by the end of the month: find some damn artwork for the walls (I really should have accomplished this by now) and find information for the 10 or so careers I found in the "Cool Careers for Dummies" book.

And now I must start on going through my mail and getting stuff re-organised (work, finances, laundry...) and then watch the Rose Bowl.

It really is more comfortable writing this in my apartment, rather than in someone else's home. I guess I feel more comfortable in my apartment in general.

There's still 2 hours before the game. I'm tired of being productive though. Think I'll veg on the couch for a while instead. And tonight after the game, I want to finish reading "Naked Pictures of Famous People"- I love Jon Stewart!!!

Oh, and before I forget... I recently learned that I once went out with a reporter for CNN and Fox News (didn't know you could work for both). I met him when he was a reporter for a Baltimore news station. He was Jon's neighbour- that's how I met him. We went to a Ravens game when they were still playing at Memorial Stadium. I forgot all about him until Jon mentioned that his former meighbour, Bill, was working for CNN.

Today has been a productive day so far. I worked, went through all the mail and paid my bills, and worked out. And it's only 4:00. I still have the whole night ahead of me. Although I don't really have much that I need to do. Maybe I'll watch a movie or finish reading "The Original Michael Frayn".

I doesn't feel like Friday. Being out of town, having New Years on a weekday, and the fact that I don't have a very good sense of time anyway really has me confused about what day/week/month/year it is. I talked to Paula briefly today. This was our conversation:
Paula: This is the last day you can reach me at the office.
Me: It is?
Paula: Yes, we'll be coming up to New York on Monday.
Me: You are?
Paula: Yes, and today is Friday.
Me: It is?
She seemed to think me being calendarly challenged was amusing.

So after we got the days of the week in order, we talked about doing something on Wednesday evening. She wants to see a movie but I don't think there are any movies out right now that we would both like. Maybe there's an upbeat show she would enjoy (like "The Complete Works of Shakespeare" or something).

The reason she needs to see something upbeat is because she will be seeing Marcell in the hospital earlier that day and will need to be cheered up. Marcell was just diagnosted with breast cancer and has to spend the night in the hospital on Wednesday. I'm going to call her later tonight to see if I can do anything for her. I'm sure she'll say no, but I'll try to insist.

I don't want to end this entry on a depressing note, so what else can I mention? Um... I don't know... Oh, Michael Frayn will be on Theatre Talk tonight! So now I'll definitely finish my Michael Frayn book tonight and make it Michael Frayn night.

I got a roll of film developed today. Some great pictures of Abby at Christmas and her birthday, Jeff, Brian, Eytan, Michelle Bar-av, Jon, Michelle, and baby Steven, Jeff's friends John and Carloee...

Rebecca is one of the most thoughtful people, with an incredible memory, I know. Several months ago, I stayed at her apartment and told her I thought her sheets were the most comfortable sheets on which I had ever slept. Today she called me from the store to ask which colour sheets I prefered- white, lavendar, or light blue. Wow! I had forgotten she said she would look for those sheets for me.

So now Paula and Harvey are going to wait until Tuesday to come up. It's supposed to snow tomorrow so Harvey will just drive to his appointment in Wilkes-Barre from home rather than from here. Then they will come up her on Tuesday and leave on Friday. So they'll still be here Wednesday night. I think Paula and I will go see "Gosford Park". Then Thursday night, Harvey and I have tickets for "Phantom". Then Friday night I'm going to see "Summer of 42". I'm a little irritated that I already bought a ticket for it, since I could have gone to see it for free last Thursday or tomorrow. Oh well.

I went to that little "art gallery" down the street from me to try to find something for my bare walls. No success once again. I still am determined to find stuff by the end of the month. Also by the end of the month, I will have a trash can for my bedroom since I could never find one that will fit under the sink in the bathroom or in the kitchen. I've gotten used to just throwing things in plastic bags, but a little trash can for my bedroom could be useful. Maybe they'll have one at Pier One and I can finally use that gift certificate I got from Jay and Sherry last Christmas (hopefully it's still good).

Tonight I'm going to finish reading "The Original Michael Frayn" and then start on "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" which Neil lent me. Soon I will no longer be in the 1% of the population that has not read this book. I just hope it doesn't make me want to read the other 3 and anxiously await the 5th one. I don't want to take the time to read all of them.

Last night while waiting for the Michael Frayn interview on Theatre Talk, I updated the list of shows I saw in 2002 and continued the list of movies I saw in 2001. The interview was okay, but I was hoping to learn more. I did learn that Richard Easton doesn't let other people say much while he's in an interview. He was on with Edward Hibbert and Mr. Easton barely let Mr. Hibbert say anything. Mr. Hibbert did wait patiently though. I could totally relate. I usually get overlooked on group interviews too.

I was planning on reading books tonight, but I got caught up online reading journals and other stuff. Oh well, maybe I'll read books tomorrow in between watching the snow fall and watching the new episode of Sex and the City.

So last night I had a dream that Nicole Franchini stole my rental car with all my stuff in it. I tried to see if her sister, Andi, knew where she went but she did not. I eventually wound up going to where I thought her apartment was. It was a small neighbourhood either in Baltimore or DC (I think it kept changing in my dream) with very narrow streets. I remember driving there but don't know what I was driving since she had my car. There was more to it than that, but it started fading as soon as woke up.

So where's the snow? I just went outside in my winter coat, and I was hot. I was relieved when the wind picked up a little. Oh well, winter is just starting, there's time for snow storms...

Success! I bought pictures for all but one of the walls in my apartment. The last wall I want to try to blow up the cool picture I took in Arizona and also blow up a picture Harvey took either of the Thames or a lake in Annecy. So for the other walls, I have a variety of things- 8x10 pictures of actors (The Rat Pack, Vincent Price, Patrick McGoohan, and Humphrey Bogart) for the hallway, Stonehenge at night for over the couch, a lightning storm to go on the wall next to the couch, Fenway for the wall next to the door, and Big Ben & Parliament at night for my bedroom. Even with framing and shipping, it's less than I thought it would be. I'm happy! Soon my walls will no longer be: bare, boring, mental institution-type walls.

Tomorrow or Tuesday, I think I will try to go see "Waking Life". Now I need to tidy up the apartment before reading and watching TV.

I feel so relaxed these past few days. I never thought school really takes up that much of my life, but I guess it does since that's the only thing missing from my life right now. Ugh- and I'm taking 3 classes this coming semester...

Oh, did I mention that I got an A- in Anthropology (a miracle) and an A in Music (another miracle)? I'm happy.

And the family with the screaming children down the hall are back... Lovely.

Okay, time to get tidy...

Maxine called for some tech support with her digital camera tonight, and I realised it's very difficult to help when you don't have the software in front of you and you only really looked at it briefly. Sorry Maxine- wish I could be there to help in person.

Well, I thought the Sex and the City episode wasn't that exciting. The It Factor was okay- I'd watch it again if I remember to do so. The problem is (if it continues with the same schedule), is that the first show (they have 2 back-to-back) is on during Sex and the City. Of course both shows will probably repeat several times throughout the week... Whatever- it's not important.

So I woke up nice and early and have plenty of time to get things done today. Of course I really don't have much to do. I'm waiting to hear back from an employer about my next project, but other than that... I do need to go food shopping. Maybe I should run and do that now before the blizzard starts. Hey, at least they're still predicting an accumulation of 1 inch. Oh boy!

Go Florida State!!!! I enjoy few things more than watching Duke lose!!!!! Wish I had watched the end of that game. Now if Maryland can do the same thing, it'll be a good year in ACC-land.

Today's project is going to be re-organising my CD player. I had planned on changing the music seasonally, but that never happened. So I guess it'll be a yearly project. Currently, the CDs are in chronological order. I'm not going to bother doing that this time since I usually put it on random and I just don't really see the point (plus it's time consuming). So I'll just pick out 200 CDs (actually it will be less since I'll keep a lot of what's currently in there) and programme the player with the titles. Fun!

My knee is hurting me for the first time in a long time. And my legs are a bit sore too. Guess I should do some knee excercises when I work out.

Paula and Harvey are coming up tomorrow. Since Harvey will be here from about 11:30-5:00 making phone calls with his loud voice and taking over the apartment, I'll try to get a lot done in the morning and then go see "Waking Life", stop by Footlights to see if they ever got "Reefer Madness" back in stock (and is still in stock), go to The Strand and pick up some cool inexpensive books, and then if there's time- swing by the new socks & stuff store that recently opened near me (well, it either recently opened or I've just never noticed it- I'm pretty sure it just opened). Then tomorrow evening is an MRP meeting.

Wednesday morning, Larry is supposed to come by here for a meeting, but I'll believe it when I see it. I have a feeling he won't show up. And Wednesday night, hopefully Paula and I will get to see a movie.

Then the phone rang and woke me up. It was Lisa calling for Paula. I love that my phone almost only rings when they are staying here. They don't even have to be here yet and they get phone calls.

So in a few minutes I will leave for my afternoon in the Village (movie, book store, music store), and then I will head back uptown for the MRP meeting.

Besides the music being really loud, it�s not a bad place to be right now. There are only two other people sitting around me, and they�re not right next to me. Plus, it�s two single women reading- not a couple or a group of people talking. So there are no distractions here which is pleasant (not that I need to be concentrating on anything). At Kinkos I will need some concentration (which is the reason I left my apartment), but usually everyone there is working quietly. My main problem will be if the work station is being used. That�s happened a few times to me.

Anyway, yesterday was nice. First I went to The Strand and bought a book on musicals and one about Winston Churchill. Then I still had time before the movie, so I found the bagel place I used to go to all the time when I lived down there. They used to have the best cinnamon bagels. Not cinnamon raisin, just cinnamon. Well, they no longer had those. So I just got a plain bagel and it tasted like onion I guess since they don't keep their bagels in the same section every day. Yuck. Well, I won't go back there again. After trying to eat half of the bagel, I went to see "Waking Life" which was good, but not as engaging as I thought it would be. I stopped by Footlight after the movie, but of course they did not have "Reefer Madness". I might as well just order it from Amazon- I�m getting tired of waiting. What I�d really like though, is for the New York cast to record their version. I should take Kevin up on his offer to swing by my place and sing "Lonely Pew" for me. I wonder if he can sing it as well as Kristin Bell did. Anyway, I still had some time to kill before the meeting, so I went to Xando/Cosi for a short amount of time and finished reading "The Original Michael Frayn". Then I still had a little bit of time, so I went to a bar and had a drink. I liked where I went and of course don�t remember the name. I know it was on 3rd @ 13th St. so at least I can get back to it. It had nice ambiance, the bartender was nice, and it wasn�t packed (at least it wasn�t packed at 6:00).

The MRP meeting was good. I volunteered to research head shops in New York and compile a list. I love researching! The best part about the meeting was that Kevin (the cute guy who taught American Government at Hunter last semester whom I met at Tom�s briefly) was there! He immediately recognised me and let me know that he got my email from Tom asking about government classes. I still find him semi-attractive. All of at the meeting are going to write to our representatives to see if they will support the medicinal marijuana resolution that we�re (I�m not really comfortable saying �we�, but for the purpose of this entry, it�s easier) working on. We went around the table telling Tom our representatives (or if we didn�t know- we�d tell him our district) and Kevin didn�t know which district he was in. Tom told him that he thought he was in the same district as I was and that we should get together to decide what to do (send a joint letter or write individually). So we had to exchange email addresses. How convenient. Of course I got home and learned that he is, in fact, not in my district, but I can still write and tell him that. And maybe add in something else so we can keep the email thing going. And then maybe� who knows? He probably has a girlfriend or something. But I�d still love to get together with him. I need more intelligent people in my life! He�s just finishing a PhD in Political Science and I�d love to know what he�s planning on doing now. Guess I�ll be asking him that in my email. Anyway, Kevin definitely made the meeting more enjoyable.

This afternoon, I�m going to see "Forbidden Broadway". I�ve actually never seen any of them and always wanted to do so. I�ve seen them offer free tickets from time to time so I�ve been waiting for one of those times that I could take advantage of that. Well, today is the day.

Marcell has surgery today, and Paula is going to the hospital to be with her. If anyone reading this is the praying type, please pray for her. She is trying to be strong and they caught it early, so there is good reason to hope she will come out completely healthy. The recovery times vary from person to person, so who knows how she long her recovery will be. One of her brothers will be here through Friday and then they other brother will come up Friday and stay through Sunday. After that, she will be alone so I will do all I can. She told me to call her on Monday to see how she�s doing and what she needs. At least she is allowing me to help. I figured she would blow me off, telling me she�s fine.

So the heat isn�t working in my bedroom. I was turning on the heat in the living room a little higher so it would drift into my bedroom until someone would come and fix it. Well, with Paula and Harvey here, I need to sleep with my door closed so the heat from the living room couldn�t get to my room. My point is that it�s freezing in there now. Coming out of the shower was not a pleasant thing. Hopefully someone will come and fix it today. Harvey kept turning off the heat too, so I couldn�t even warm up in the living room after a shower. Paula was cold too. I think if it�s two against one, the heat should have been turned on just a little bit. If Harvey was that hot, he should have worn lighter clothes. And I was not being irrational about the heat. I�m usually really hot in that apartment. In fact, before I came back last week, I hadn�t used my heat since last winter. And I was really fine with keeping the heat on low in the living room. I thought Harvey turning it to cold air was a little extreme.

Another minor annoyance was my voice mail issue. I know Harvey takes over my phone when he�s here. I�ve come to accept that. I don�t really get any calls anyway so even though he could use his mobile phone instead, it�s not like he�s invading my privacy by answering my home phone, giving his people my number, or checking my voice mail (since all the messages will be for him). Well, I wasn�t around yesterday when he had to check the voice mail and he forgot how to check it. Rather than call me on my mobile phone to ask me how, he tried various things. In the process, RCN decided there was fraudulent use of my voice mail and temporarily blocked it. All I had to do was change my passcode, but I liked my passcode and didn�t want to change it. I bet if I change it back to the original one later today or tomorrow or something, it won�t stop me.

Now two marketing men are sitting next to me. Is marketing the most common job in the US or do I just seem to run into all of them? Whenever I�m on a plane, probably 7 out of 10 of the people I sit next to are in marketing. Whenever I overhear conversations (like I am now), they are discussing marketing. And these people are all very similar- confident, good looking, clean-cut, talks excessively, thinks they�re smarter than they really are� The majority of the people in the world are not extremely intelligent. If there are so many people in marketing, obviously you don�t have to be intelligent to get the job (just aggressive and have the ability to sell). I don�t think I�ve ever liked anyone in marketing (at least not knowingly), but for some strange reason, I find it intriguing to listen to them for small amounts of time.

Anyway, time to go to Kinkos for about an hour before I go to the show. Hopefully I�ll be able to get a lot done tomorrow. Harvey will be going to visit someone all day, so I should have the apartment to myself. Then tomorrow night, Harvey and I will get to see "Phantom". I hope he gets back in time. I guess the only reason he wouldn�t is if there is an extreme amount of traffic. If for some reason he�s a little late, he can be one of those people who gets seated after the show begins and irritates the hell out of me. And if for some reason he�s a lot late, he can catch the second half or just not get to see the show. He should be on time though. I hope he is! He�s waited 13+ years to see this show.

Okay, I just changed my mind. I�m not going to Kinkos. I don�t feel like shutting down and re-starting the computer only to shut it down an hour later. And I don�t feel like lugging it to the theatre. I�ll just bring it home now and either try to do a little work before leaving for the theatre or just say "screw work, it can be done late tonight after Paula and Harvey go to bed" and read for an hour or something.

I had a few minutes before the show started, so I walked along 42nd St. I read a review posted outside the Soul Food Cafe and it listed important information:
Smoking- at lounge only
Reservations- recommended
Attire- New York Casual
I love how they differenciate between "casual" and "New York casual". I don't know if the restaurant-going crowd here knows rest-of-the-world-casual.

So "Forbidden Broadway" was cute. The performers were talented and many of the parodies I hadn't heard already, which was nice. I felt a twinge of sadness as they parodied "Music Man". I still wish I could have seen the last performance. The house was half full, and the audience that was there wasn't very vocal. They applauded appreciatively, but no more than they had to.

As I was riding home on the bus, I had several thoughts:
- I realised that Christmas was over and soon, there will be no more Christmas lights up anywhere.
- I finally noticed that it's getting darker later. Yesterday was very grey and dark, yet I could still tell that sunset had not yet happened as I was on the bus around 4:15.
- I noticed that I have a weird habit of getting excited when I see an area that was under construction no longer under construction. I guess I enjoy seeing progress.

So Paula called around 7:30 to tell me that Marcell's surgery went fine, but they won't know if it was a complete success until they get the test results in about 4 days. She asked if I could call to tell Neil and ask him to call Jay. Well, I called Neil and he said that he was not on speaking terms with Jay, so I called him. I told him about Marcell and then he thanked me for calling and was ready to end the conversation. No "how are things", "how was your time in Maryland", "sorry I didn't get a change to see you"... Oh well, I guess I don't really want to have much to do with him anymore either. I did enjoy the one year we were in each other's lives regularly and at least I have those memories- driving up from Virginia to spend the weekend keeping him company since none of his friends were around and he was lonely, hanging out at a cigar bar in Rockville watching the Maryland game, having him call me several times a week for hours of conversation about his divorce...

I just read about this book, "Dating Big Bird". The main character, Ellen, wants a child and is obsessed with her niece, Pickle. I found that odd since I used to have two dolls named Pickle and Ellen.

I had a neat dream last night and I wish I remembered more of it. This is what I do remember:
Harvey was in charge of some event. Three or four of us were supposed to call people and do something. I was the first one to have to make a call, and I called my guy and sang to him ("Total Eclipse of the Heart"). I think Harvey was playing the piano as accompaniment. George and Linda were watching me and either making fun of me or trying to distract me (I couldn't tell which). That's all I remember.

Go Terps!! Great game last night against North Carolina. Of course NC doesn't have a great team this year, but still. I haven't watched much college basketball yet this year. I think I'll go to a pub and watch the Maryland/Georgia Tech game on Sunday.

If Paula gets back before 5:00, we're going to do dinner at Artisinal. Yum!

So tonight is "Phantom"! I hope Harvey can make it to the theatre in time. I guess if he's really late, he can just drive straight to the theatre. Then I'd get a ride home after the show. That would feel really weird- to get a ride from a point in Manhattan to another point in Manhattan in a vehicle that was not yellow and had a meter.

Paula and Harvey will not be leaving until Saturday. Harvey didn't finish with one of his clients yesterday so he has to go back tomorrow. Then they might be coming back on Sunday night and staying through Tuesday. It seems a little ridiculous to drive home on Saturday and come back the next day, but it's their life, not mine. At least I'd have one day with the place to myself. For some reason, whenever they're here, I notice it more than when other people are here. They seem to take over the place much more than other people do. Although, Harvey might just do a day trip on Monday if he thinks he'll have enough time that way.

So Paula and I went to Artisinal for dinner and Harvey was able to finish his appointment and not get caught in too much traffic to meet us there later. I really love their cheese selection and still can't believe that they offer every wine by the glass.

"Phantom" was wonderful! We were sitting close enough to see detailed facial expressions and to catch little things done by the chorus, etc. For a big show like this, especially one I've seen before, sitting close helped make it more interesting for me. And I still wish I could go back in time and explore the Paris undergroud world. Harvey loved the show! I'm so glad he was finally able to see it. He thanked me for forcing him to go since he would never have done it on his own (obviously- it's been running for how many years?).

After the show, I went to Fitzpatrick's down the street for a drink since I was wired (maybe from the coffee I had before the show since I was tired). I watched the end of the Duke/Georgia Tech game. I think the only college basketball I've watched this year involved Duke. They're ALWAYS on ESPN. Anyway, they beat Georgia Tech by over 20 points. I hope Maryland can do the same thing on Sunday.

Tonight I'm going to see "Summer of 42". I was looking forward to it more when I first heard it would be playing here. Now I'm not too excited about it. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. It would be nice if the rain stopped before I have to go down there (13th St.)- it's supposed to stop this afternoon.

I might run over to Bloomies in an hour or two. I don't know why I bother- I've never really found anything there that I like and is affordable. But maybe I'll get lucky this time. If I do find something, I can add it to my "Spend My Regards to Broadway" receipts pile and see if I can come up with a total of over $500 so I can get a pair of free Broadway tickets. Our dinner at Artisinal last night helped add to the total.

Tomorrow, for some reason, I decided to try the Kramer Reality Tour- the real Kramer, on which the Seinfeld character was based, leads the tour. I've been able to go for free (normal price is $37.50) for several weeks but never thought I'd really do it. Why do I want to spend my Saturday afternoon with a bunch of tourists? I still don't know why I'm doing this. I also can't imagine it being a large group of people- how many tourists currently in New York know about it and will take a chunk of their Saturday-afternoon-shopping-at-chain-stores-opportunity to do this? Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Hey, I think the sun is coming out!!! Happy!!

The Kramer Tour was better than I expected. He gave a talk on the background of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld and a bit of information about the other people involved in the TV show. Then we went on a tour with Kramer pointing out places mentioned in the show and gave even more information about Larry David and even showed a video of an episode of him on an old cable show on the Lifetime Network from '84 that Richard Belzer hosted. The tourists weren't irritating as the two old ladies from the Upper West Side. On the bus, every few minutes they would announce important landmarks in their lives. It was very distracting when they were doing this while Kramer was talking. Then when we passed 85th St., one of the ladies asked if she could be let off near Zabars on the way back. Then the other lady asked if she could be dropped off at 91st St. on the way back. This isn't a public bus, ladies. Oh well, Kramer was nice and did it. So we went up to Tom's Restaurant where everyone got out for a photo op (I stayed on the bus). Heading back downtown, we stopped at the Soup Kitchen so people could get some soup. I decided to leave the tour here- why should I go back down to 42nd St. when I was closer to home there? Anyway, I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it, but I am glad I went.

While I was in the area, I went over to the Visitor's Center to see if I could find out any more information on the "Spend My Regards to Broadway" promotion (specifically, which restaurants, stores, etc. counted for the promotion). Well, now I've seen three different stories- all restaurants the Visitor's Center promotes, a select few places, and any restaurant, store, attraction, and theatre. I'm close to the goal if I use receipts from any location so hopefully that's the correct situation. I think it will depend on which person collects my receipts. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a nice person. When I went there today, there was a long line out the door for this promotion. I hope by the time I give them my receipts, there are still tickets left. Before heading home, I had a quick bite to eat at the Red Eye Grill.

Now I'm pretty tired and don't know what to do with the rest of my evening. I had to take my contacts out since my right eye was hurting (probably left the contacts in too long), so now I have my glasses on. I can't really see with my glasses, so reading isn't an option tonight. There aren't any movies I want to watch on TV and I don't really feel like renting any. I could watch something I already have here... Yeah, I guess I could watch the Broadway on Broadway which I taped and never watched...

I was just checking the Visitor's Center's site to see how late they are open tomorrow and found that they finally put some information about their promotion. They FAQ had exactly what I needed- they encourage you to spend money at their member's places, but it's not limited to those places. So tomorrow I will watch the Maryland game somewhere around Times Square, and then I will take my receipts to the Visitor's Center before they close at 5:00. And hopefully I'll get over to Times Square with enough time before the game to swing by the American Airlines Theatre to get a ticket for "An Almost Unholy Picture".

Well, I got my ticket for "An Almost Unholy Picture" and then managed to get free tickets to "Chicago" for January 24. I was trying to decide between that (which I haven't seen but am not too excited about the current cast) and "Urinetown" (which I've seen a few times and love), so I chose the show that had the better seats. Now I have to see who wants to go with me.

There was no line at the Visitor's Center unlike yesterday (when there was a line out the door), so I finished up earlier than I thought I would. I decided to just go home and watch the Maryland game. I really wanted to watch the game at a bar, but I also really wanted to be home too. I guess I made the right decision.

So far it's an okay game. Juan Dixon is really amazing- offensively and defensively. Currently at the half, Maryland is up by 13.

The Packers/49ers game seems like an interesting one. They are currently tied at 15 with 10 minutes left in the 4th. And of course later this afternoon, I'm cheering on the Dolphins (sorry Neil, but I really don't like the Ravens). And I'm happy that the Raiders won their game yesterday (hate the Jets).

I think this evening I'll start reading "Harry Potter" before watching Sex and the City.

I forgot to mention yesterday, when I went to the American Airlines Theatre to get a ticket for "An Almost Unholy Picture", a woman was walking out and asked me if I was in the show (it was "The Women"'s final performance yesterday). Flattering, but if I was in the show, why would I be walking in through the lobby? Ever hear of a stage door, lady?

So it looks like Meital will be going with me to "Chicago" on the 24th. That will be fun!

So I heard again from Michelle's (Jon's wife) cousin. I forgot about him. He still wants to get together at some point. I guess it was silly to try to make plans right around the holidays. So maybe we'll get together this week (although I can't do anything until Thursday since I might be at Marcell's tonight, tomorrow night I'm seeing "The Shape of Things" and Wednesday night I'm seeing "Monster").

So far, I don't like this season of Sex and the City.

Well, you got lucky yesterday, Ravens- let's see if your playoff streak continues like last year (I hope it doesn't).

Now I'm going to call Marcell to see if she wants some company or if I can do anything for her.

I made tonight trivia show night. I watched Jeopardy, Beat the Geeks (which was rather stupid), and Who Wants to be a Millionaire (it was Olympic Atheletes Night which didn't thrill me too much, but I watched anyway). Last night I watched the end of The Weakest Link. They had guest stars from Seinfeld on- the only one I remembered was the Soup Nazi. I really was never a die-hard Seinfeld fan. I guess I'm not a die-hard anything fan. I watch TV if I have nothing else to do or if the mood just strikes me.

Tonight is "The Shape of Things". Think I'll have dinner at Xando/Cosi next door to the theatre before the show. I really do love that place.

There's a small possibility that I'll be going to Boston and Nashua, NH this weekend. Paula and Harvey are going up there and I've always wanted to see what Nashua was like. So I thought if they'll be driving up there, they could stop in New York on the way and pick me up. Or maybe they'll be staying here the night before and we could all go up together. Then I would need to rent a car on Saturday so I can drive around Nashua since I'm not allowed to drive Harvey and Paula's car. So I'd spend Friday night in Boston, Saturday day in Nashua and then go back to Boston on Saturday night and get a ride back to New York with Paula and Harvey on Sunday. I'm assuming I could stay with Rebecca in Boston. If not, maybe I could stay with Kristin. But this trip might not happen. It sounds like a bit of a hassle and not really worth it. I don't know- I'll figure it out later.

I was just reading some old journal entries and remembered how sick I was then. Not this year! I'm completely healthy and am very thankful. I really am lucky that I hardly ever get sick and when I do, it's usually just a little cold that only lasts a few days. But because I am always healthy, I never go to the doctor. This is bad. I really should go just to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong. I don't even have a doctor. I think the last time I went to a doctor was in '99 and that was only for my stomach problem. The last physical I had was some time in '98, I think. My February resolution will be to find a doctor and make an appointment- that way, I might actually get to go by March.

The show was wonderful again!!! I just love it! Frederick Weller's character really reminds me of two people I know (knew)- Terry's friend, Josh, and Jeff's friend, John (the guy I met over Christmas/New Years). He really does a great job with the role. He has all the facial expressions, tones, gestures... I wonder if Mr. Weller has any of these qualities and they come out in the character or if he's just really good at portraying this type. I still really wish there was a scene between his character and Rachel Weisz's character. And I still don't think they need the last scene. As I was walking out, I heard a woman in the lobby say the same thing (smart woman). I just read that they are making a movie of "The Shape of Things" with this cast. Can't wait to see what they do with that.

My hair was not behaving yesterday, so I clipped it up with the clip I recently got in my stocking stuffer. It looked really good! I'll have to do that more often.

In yesterday's mail, I got a card from Hilton offering me deals in New York. This is the second hotel chain to do this (the first being Sheraton). Why do they send people deals for the city in which they are living?

So two nights ago I had no caffeine and no food energy, yet I was awake until very late. Last night I had lots of caffeine and was tired around 1:00 AM. And I don't think the weather has much to do with how cold or hot I feel. Sure, when it's hot, it's hot, but when it's chilly and windy, I'm not necessarily cold, and when it's mild, I can be freezing. I don't understand me.

I definitely want to take advantage of the London for Free offer from British Airways. For $200- I can fly round trip to London and get two free hotel nights! So I'm thinking about a long weekend at the end of March. Of course it's based on double occupancy, so I'll either have to find someone to go with or call them and see how much it would be with single occupancy.

Tonight I'm going to see "Monster". And since it's in Union Square, I figured I could take advantage of being down there and stop by ABC Carpet to look for a bookshelf. I've been needing another bookshelf for a while and have been procrastinating. Today seems like the pefect day for bookshelf shopping. Now I just hope I can find something I like and can afford at ABC Carpet. If not, I guess I can order a do-it-yourself bookshelf online and deal with the hassle of putting it together. After my successful shopping trip (might as well think positive), I'll go to Los Dos Molinos for dinner before the show. I've been wanting to check out their New York location for a while now. I hope they have corn tortillas like they do at their location in Phoenix.

Tomorrow night I think I'm meeting Michelle's cousin, Brian, at Mo's for some NTN Trivia and margaritas.

Oh, I heard from Daniel. He and Naomi are getting married next January! Wow! I can't picture this at all. Of course, I barely know Naomi and I've never seen them together, but still... With the Navy and medical school, Daniel leads an unpredictable life with not much time for non-work related stuff. That will surely effect their relationship. Well, Naomi is a smart girl- she knows what she's getting into.

I have a funny feeling the Orioles won't have another disastrous year (as long as Angelos doesn't make any extremely stupid moves- I know that's asking a lot).

So I don't know why Paula thought I would be able to find a bookshelf at ABC Carpet. They had a few things that could have been used as a bookshelf, but they were all around $1,000. So, I'll have to find that site where I bought those other bookshelves and get another one. I'll have to put it together, but maybe I can convince someone to help me.

I went to Los Dos Molinos and it's perfect! It has great food like the one in Phoenix but a better atmosphere since it's New York. The owner was talking to two guys at the bar and they asked him if he owned the one in Phoenix. He said that his family owned it, and I told him I used to go there when I lived in Phoenix. He said, "I thought so because of what you ordered,"- I only ordered soft corn tortillas and a side of beans. I guess no one does that in New York. The two guys at the bar bought me a margarita and before I had time to argue, they went to go sit at a table. So I had a free margarita and didn't even have to talk to them (although one of them seemed interesting). Those margaritas are GOOD!!! They put 3 shots of tequilla in each. Since the first one was free, I ordered another one. I talked to the owner a while- he's originally from France.

I still had a little bit of time before the show, so I stopped by Xando/Cosi for a drink. By the time I got to the theatre, I had to pee. But I didn't realise that until I sat down and I got there just before 8:00, so I had to wait until intermission to run to the bathroom. That kind of distracted me through the first act. So, "Monster" was okay, I guess. I really don't have much of an opinion about it. The acting was average, the script was average, and the costumes were average. The lighting was cool though. And the sound effects were clever. During the scene when Frankenstein's brother was being drowned, there was a guy on the aisle near the "wings" (tucked away so most people couldn't see him) splashing his hand in a bowl of water. He was right next to me, so I got a little wet. I thought that added to my experience of the performance.

So Paula and Harvey are coming up here tomorrow. I don't mind too much. They won't be here too long and it'll be on a weekend so I won't have as much work to do while Harvey's here talking on the phone for hours at a time. I'm going to take them to Los Dos Molinos for dinner. They (mainly Paula) loved the one in Phoenix and is excited about trying the one here. I told her the margaritas are excellent so she's excited about that too.

She told me that she went looking for new office space today. That place in Towson is really lousy. I can't believe they stayed that long (of course, it's no fun to move huge offices). So she thinks the one in Timonium might work out. It's in an upscale-looking building, the price is reasonable, and within walking distance of a Post Office. Sounds good. I hope it works. Timonium isn't as action-packed as Towson, but I guess that's okay- the nice glass building will make up for the suburban/business park setting. Paula made a funny- she said she should put an MBI logo sideways on the glass building... like Enron.

So Marcell got her results yesterday and it's good news! There is still some tiny thing that the doctor would like to remove, but it isn't necessary. The important thing is that she's cancer free!

In a few hours, I'm going to meet Brian at Mo's for some trivia and the Maryland game. He even mentioned wanting to watch it. That's something I'm not used to- having plans with someone who actually wants to take time in the evening to watch a basketball game. Usually I either have to force the person involved to watch it with me or go watch it by myself. So I'm definitely looking forward to this evening- trivia and sports- two of my favourite things. And if this guy and I have nothing in common and we don't manage to have some sort of conversation- there's trivia and basketball to make the evening enjoyable. Well, at least I hope the basketball is enjoyable. Somehow I doubt it'll be a perfect evening- I think Duke will win by quite a lot. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and Maryland will have a good game and keep a nice 2-6 point gap through most of it.

Oh, last night was not a good night for me in the sleeping department. My stomach was bothering me since I had a lot to drink and very little to eat. I was tired around midnight, so I tried to go to sleep. I tossed and turned for a while and eventually fell asleep. But then I kept waking up in the middle of the night. I probably did that around 10-15 times and feeling like I had never fallen asleep. Not fun. I will drink tonight, but I will also eat more food than I did last night.

Last night was okay. I met up with Brian, had dinner at Mo's, and then went to the Back Page up on 83rd to watch the Maryland game. They really played a great first half and half of the second half before they lost it. This is very typical of Maryland. This is why they are a good team and not a great team. Maybe they'll get revenge when Duke comes to Cole Field House later this year. I doubt it though- Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer are just better than Steve Blake (he's such an odd looking guy- looks like he belongs at North Carolina) and Juan Dixon. Dixon didn't even get the ball last night. I think he scored like 6 points the entire game.

I didn't listen to myself last night and had quite a lot to drink and not enough to eat. So I had another bad night of sleep, although not as bad as the night before. I'll do better tonight.

Harvey and Paula came up today. Of course Harvey spent the first hour driving me crazy (changing his plans every two seconds). Tonight we're going to Los Dos Molinos. As far as I know, they're leaving tomorrow.

There's a small possibility that I'll need to pick up some stuff here and drop it off in Baltimore on Monday. I don't understand why the guy can't ship it. It seems like no one wants to ship anything anymore- and I've noticed this before the whole antrax thing. I wouldn't mind doing it though. It'll be fun to have a few hours in the car (well, more than a few if I drive back here Monday night, but I'll probably spend the night in a hotel and leave early Tuesday morning).

I just got an occular migraine. I probably should stop typing since the monitor is getting white and swirly.

Lovely. I'm not going to Los Dos Molinos tonight. Paula and Harvey and I got in one of our famous fights. I didn't start off in the best of moods today, so that didn't help. Around 5:00, Harvey came in with one of his business associates without any warning. I did not appreciate this man walking in my living room while I'm trying to work the couch looking pretty lousy. I was sitting on the couch trying to work while Paula was sitting on top of me reading (not a very comfortable situation to begin with). Then this man walks in. Between my original not-so-great mood, Paula sitting on top of me while I'm trying to work, my occular migraine and this man in my living room, I was not ready to go to dinner and be in good spirits. Then Paula started yelling and Harvey started echoing her (one of my favourite things- hearing Harvey repeat everything she says, as if he really doesn't have an original thought left in his head). I can't live my life very well when they are here. When other people stay here, it's not a big deal- I barely notice them here. But not Paula and Harvey. They are constantly making their presense known; either by screaming on the phone or reading on top of me, or slamming doors, or breaking things... Something that might help would be to get a cable modem for my bedroom and work in there when they come up. At least they wouldn't be on top of me then when I'm trying to work. Actually, now that I'm looking at the wires, they might even reach in my bedroom. I think I'll go try that now. But first I'll order deilvery- I hate going out to eat by myself on Friday nights and I don't really have anything to eat here.

I ordered Cheese Tortellini in a cream sauce for dinner. Unhealthy food- it puts most people in a good mood, so I thought I'd try it too even though it doesn't usually do much for me. In fact, sometimes it puts me in a worse mood since I know I shouldn't be eating it. But I'll try not to think about that and enjoy it. I usually eat healthy; eating fattening food once in a while isn't too bad.

This is actually really comfortable- typing in bed. I could get used to this!!

The sauce for the pasta I had last night was light and at the bottom of the dish, so it wasn't as fattening as it could have been. It wasn't bad, actually. I'll have to order from Focaccia Fiorentina again.

So Paula and Harvey left early this morning so they could get back before the snow. Snow- I hope it makes it up here this time. I have a feeling though it will either change to rain or leave the area before it gets to Manhattan.

Typing in my bed isn't really as comfortable as I thought it was last night. It's not bad, but I should move back into the living room and only do this when people are staying here.

I just set up the little CD player I got for Christmas. It's nice being able to listen to music in my bedroom and it fits perfectly on the window sill.

Today I need to straighten up the apartment. I've been doing a good job of keeping it tidy, but there are several things that I just haven't found a place for yet. I'll do that today.

I won't be going to Baltimore on Monday. Oh well.

I knew I forgot to mention something yesterday! I booked my trip to London. I'll be leaving March 27 and returning on March 31. Can't wait! It's wasn't as good of a deal as it would have been if I could leave earlier and have a travel companion, but it's still a good deal. The hotel is in a great location, very inexpensive for London, and I get $100 off (instead of 2 free nights since that's the penalty for being a solo traveler). The airfare is only $300 (including the ridiculous tax). I made sure to get a flight that gets into London at 6:30 AM so I'd have a full day even after going through customs and getting to the hotel, and on the way back, my flight doesn't leave until around 6:00 PM, so I'll have the entire morning and afternoon in London. And I'm thinking of doing a day trip somewhere on either Friday or Saturday.

I got a good start on organising the apartment today. Now I need to order a unit for my CDs and once that gets here, figure out how to move the empty bookshelf into the bedroom. I'll probably have to get someone to help me so I don't scratch up the floor.

Now I'm going to watch some more football and then read some more of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". I just started it last night- I'm about 100 pages into it and it's just getting good.

I can't believe it's already January 19. January is almost over, February is a short month, and then comes my birthday. Geez, I feel like I just had a birthday a few months ago. And since I did this last year, I might as well do it again. If anyone wants to get me any books or CDs for my birthday, here's my wish list.

Thank goodness the Steelers found a way to get past those stupid Ravens. I was worried there for a while. They kept trying the same stupid plays over and over and not getting anywhere. Between that and a few interceptions, I really thought Baltimorons were going to have another reason to cheer. Jeff called during the game to get some computer purchasing advise, and we watched some of the 2nd quarter together. It was nice hearing someone else get upset when the Ravens intercepted and ran the ball for way too many yards.

So I need to come up with an alternative to food shopping in Manhattan "grocery" stores. I had another bad-luck-food-shopping day today. On the way there, the bus came right away and it was empty. I got to the store, and they didn't have a few things I wanted. So I bought some random stuff- like bread (which I never buy) and perogies and went to go wait for the bus. It took a while for it to come, and it was the same bus # I had on the way down so I didn't get the free transfer. I could have waited for another bus, but the bags were getting heavy, and I didn't want to put them down on the wet/dirty ground. The bus was PACKED!! I got a seat after a few stops, which was nice, but there were 5 girls from Long Island (or somewhere like that) standing and sitting around me who were driving me crazy. All they were talking about was shopping and how good it was to be in the city. Then when I tried to get off the bus at my stop, no one would let me off. I almost didn't make it. I'm normally good at shoving my way through people, but with 3 heavy bags, it was difficult. So I made it home, but that trip wasn't worth it. Maybe I should take the train down to Brooklyn or something and do my shopping there. Or maybe I should get non-perishable items when I'm in some other city and can take a lot of stuff back in a car. What do other people who live in my area do? Maybe I should stand outside apartment buildings in the area and conduct a little poll.

So I'm enjoying "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". I was reading for a while last night, and while I wasn't tired, I just wanted to look at the clock to see what time it was. It was 2:00 AM. What happened to midnight and 1:00 AM? I wasn't reading that whole time. I don't know where the time goes. So since it was 2:00 and I didn't want to be up all night, I put the book away and tried to fall asleep.

So much for a nice snow storm yesterday. I watched the weather channel and they kept insisting that we would get 3-6 inches. There was a guy standing near Columbus Circle showing us the slush on the sides of the roads. Oh boy, slush! On my block, we didn't even have slush. I thought I saw some white stuff on part of the sidewalk from my window, but when I went out, I realised that was just the salt they put out. Otherwise, the streets and sidewalks are just wet. Maybe we can get a nice snow storm in February (preferably on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday so I can miss a day of classes- that's always a good thing).

Don't have much to say. I'm really tired today for some reason.

I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" last night. I think I'll have to read the next ones as well. I'll probably go to the library tomorrow and check out the next one.

So now it looks like I may be taking a little trip to Connecticut on Wednesday to run an errand (get collateral from someone). Then on Friday it looks like I might be going to Baltimore to drop off some stuff. I hope at least one of them happens- I'd love a little road trip (as long as it's not raining or sleeting the entire time).

I was so into "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" last night, that I forgot to watch Sex and the City. Guess I'll watch that tonight.

I figured out why I don't like Sex and the City that much this season. 90% of the show is about Carrie and Aidan, and I don't like Aidan. I also don't see the chemistry between Carrie and Aidan. Well, he supposedly moved out, so maybe that means he won't be the focus of the next few episodes.

I remember bits of 2 dreams last night. The first one I was dying my hair purple with Manic Panic but ran out of hot water when I was trying to wash it out (like when I was dying my hair at Neil and Maxine's house during Christmas and ran out of hot water and had to finish rinsing at her mother's house a few blocks away). I finally found somewhere to finish washing the dye out, but it was in my hair, I think, for almost an hour. Of course, even though it was in my hair for a long time, the colour didn't take. All it did was make my hair dark with a slight purple tint which you could only see in bright light. See, my dreams are realistic. My hair was really short in the dream. I liked it that short. I'd cut my hair short if I could get it to look good without blow drying it, since I've never figured out how to blow dry my hair (I do everything right- just can't get it to look good).

Anyway, the second dream involved a dance performance at Sudbrook. Jen, Alix, Tracey, Rebecca, and either Michi or Meital (couldn't tell which) were there. The performance wasn't going well at all. Laura Dolid kept yelling at us in the middle of the performance. I couldn't change costumes quick enough even though Paula and Jen were trying to help me. I also couldn't dance well at all. I don't know if the dream was in present time or past, but I was dancing like it was present time. I had no flexibility, couldn't turn, and couldn't keep up with the others. Not a good dream.

I really wish I could get my flexibility back without hurting my knee. I've been trying to work on it, but then my knee starts hurting, so I stop. Maybe if I sat correctly more often, it wouldn't bother me as much. I try to sit correctly, but when I'm not paying attention, I go back to sitting comfortably.

So instead of buying a unit for my CDs, I've put them on the bottom of the entertainment centre. The fit perfectly, and now I have an extra bookshelf in my living room. I still could one day put a bookshelf in my bedroom, but for now I don't need to. I won't be living here indefinitely (unfortunately), so there's no sense in buying more furniture than I need. In a few minutes, I'll go arrange my books.

Tonight, I'm going to see "An Almost Unholy Picutre". I hope Kevin Bacon is better onstage than he is in movies. I doubt it, but one can hope. Hopefully the other aspects of the performance will be great and Mr. Bacon's performance won't matter as much.

I won't be going to Connecticut tomorrow but might go on Friday. That means I won't be driving down to Baltimore on Friday. That little excursion has been put on hold for now.

I'm not looking forward to classes starting next week. Well, I'm interested to see what the classes are like, but I'm not looking forward to the amount of time they will take up. It's been great having time for other things this month. Janaury has been a great month on all accounts- work-wise, socially, personally...

I don't know if anyone lives above me or not, but there sure is a lot of banging noise up there the past couple days. Maybe they're doing some work so someone can move in. Or maybe someone just moved in, and they're doing some work themselves. I hope it's not a permanent noise- it's rather obnoxious.

Brie gave me some tips on making my room quieter. She said rugs absorb noise, so I might be looking for a 8x10 rug, and she said heavy curtains lined with a specific material will keep out noise as well. I might look for curtains, but that's a lot of effort- looking for them and putting them up. I might just get a rug because it would be nice to have a little rug and it might help block out the noise a little bit. Also, I've been in this place for over a year and put up the noise without too much bother, and like I said earlier, I won't be living here indefinitely so I don't want to keep adding to the apartment.

In a few hours, I'll go to the library to get "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and then go somewhere near the American Airlines Theatre to start reading it.

Last night I started reading "There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled : The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure". I've only read about 70 pages, but so far I really only like Bill Bryson and Nigel Barley. There are 27 stories- 21 by men and 6 by women. Fine with me- so far, I don't like the women writers. The men write about unusual things with humour and the women write about breakups, diets, and Disney World. And I really do love the way Bill Bryson writes. I shouldn't read another travel book right after this one (it really makes me want to pick up and go anywhere, and I can't do that right now), but maybe right before I leave for London, I'll read a Bill Bryson book. I still haven't read "In a Sunburned Country", "Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe" and "A Walk in the Woods" and I never finished reading "Notes from a Small Island".

And while I'm on the subject of traveling, Paula and Harvey are probably going to Hong Kong again soon.

I also continued organising the rest of my apartment. I'll get it almost perfect either tonight or by tomorrow afternoon. That's my goal, anyway.

"An Almost Holy Picture" wasn't too great. It would have been better as a story-telling than a one man show. Kevin Bacon was about as average as he is in movies. Oh well, the story must have had some kind of affect on me since my dream borrowed some aspects of it. In the play, the man's daughter has a rare disease where she is covered with thick, curly hair. He said he imagined her one day trying to burn it all off. He loved his daughter deeply and always wanted to protect her. In my dream, I was in the downstairs bathroom in Harvey and Paula's house, and I had something on my face that kept catching on fire. I kept splashing water on it from the sink but it kept reigniting. I didn't know what to do. I screamed, "Help, Daddy!" and then woke up singing the part of "It's a Pig" from "By Jeeves" that goes something like, "Help! It's a pig, Daddy help! It's a pig. There's a pig loose around my bedroom." Very odd.

After I came home, I was slightly tired, or at least I didn't feel like doing any more organising. Then Rebecca called and invited me up to Boston for the weekend for her birthday. As we talked about all the plans she had, I got more energy. So after we hung up, I was able to finish doing everything with the apartment that I had planned on saving for today. Yea!

The birthday plans involve Saturday brunch at her house (she wants to use her Belgian Waffle iron), then snow tubing at Amesbury Sports Park, and then dinner at Monica's in the North End. Rebecca decided she wanted risotto cooked in a vegetarian broth and started calling restaurants to see if any of them had that. Finally she talked to the chef/owner at Monica's and he said he would make it for her. I'm excited and not excited at the same time about going snow tubing. I like the idea of an activity which I have never done, but not thrilled with being freezing, wet, and wearing boots that don't fit me. I'll take motrin or something to get rid of the pain and I hope that will also kill the irritation I will have with my feet being cooped up in shoes where they can't move even a milimeter. I just hope I can control my anger if my feet are absolutely miserable. I hate the way I get with feet issues.

It seems that whenever I wake up with some energy, it all goes away by early afternoon. Or maybe it's that whenever I'm trying to get a lot done in a shorter amount of time than I originally had, I get suddenly get tired. Or maybe it's just a coincidence that it's happened twice recently. I don't know. All I know is that I got very tired around noon today. I went out to DT-UT (don't know why I went there- they have horrible coffee) for some caffeine and read this week's Time Out. As soon as I got there, they were having kiddie storytime. So I got to read around tons of wiggly kids running around the place. I should have left and gone somewhere else, but I was too tired to think of anywhere else to go.

Then I came home and was exhausted again. I read a little more of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (oh, I got it at the library yesterday and started reading it at Cafe Edison before the show last night) and almost fell asleep. I forced myself to get up but still was having trouble doing any of the 50 things I needed to do (or even make a list of what I need to get done before I leave for Boston and what can get done after).

Then Kim just called me to tell me she's coming up to New York for a few days and wanted to know if I had time to see her. Well gee, I guess I can take even more of my limited amount of time. Sure I can. Talking to her woke me up and now I'm ready to make that list. I even started remembering things that I had forgotten about- things that can wait, which is even better.

So now I will go make my list and then I will try to get to sleep early (although, I know I'll be awake enough not to fall asleep but tired enough to not be able to do anything productive) and hopefully wake up early and get stuff done. In the morning, I want to go out and see if I can find snow boots- the ones that go over shoes. A few minutes ago, I had the thought that maybe I can wear those boots without the shoes underneath (just a few pairs of socks). Then my feet might be happier on Saturday.

This morning, I found out that I did not need to go up to Connecticut, so I thought taking the train to Boston would be the best idea. Then later this evening, I found out going up to Connecticut might still be a possibility (and of course those plans could change again a few more times), so driving up to Boston might be the best thing. The Acela train (which does cost too much but gets there much more quickly than a regular train and that makes me happy) costs only slightly less than a car. If I do some food shopping, the price difference of the food there versus the food here will pretty much make up the difference of the rental car versus the Acela. Plus, I'll have my music and can sing and can leave when I want to... Of course, I can't read "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" a while driving, but that's okay. I just hope that if I drive, there isn't any freezing rain in the forcast.

So after hopefully buying boots tomorrow, I will work for as long as I can before I go meet Kim. Then I will meet Meital (and possibly a friend of hers from college who just let her know that she's coming up to New York) at Cafe Edison for a quick bite before going to see "Chicago".

And this is something a little weird. Last night during intermission, I was reading the Stagebill. My eyes caught an ad for Jekyll & Hyde (the restaurant, not the show) and I felt a slight prickly feeling on the top of my head- as if someone walked behind me and lightly brushed my hair. Then it went away. I looked back at the ad and felt the feeling again. I thought the following question, "Should I go there?" and the prickly feeling grew stronger. First I thought it was because I was seeing a show with religious themes. Then I thought I was being silly and creating the prickly feeling myself. Then I got a little nervous. I thought the following question, "Should I go to Jekyll & Hyde tomorrow?" The prickly feeling grew strong once again. Then I thought, "It would be more convenient to go there on Thursday before meeting Meital. Is this okay?" The prickly feeling became stronger than it had been during my last question. Then the lights dimmed and I forgot about the feeling.

As I was lying in bed last night, the prickly feeling came back. I asked, "Is this about me going to Jekyll & Hyde?" The prickly feeling stayed for a little while. I got a little nervous. I didn't like this prickly feeling when I was alone in my apartment. I felt like someone was watching me. Then I wondered if it was an angel watching me. I've never believed in angels. I've never disbelieved in angels either. I don't believe or disbelieve anything until I see proof of something. I'm not a religious person and I've never thought much about trusting things on faith. I don't even know if I have faith at all. Then I thought, "What if this 'thing' is from some sort of afterlife and it was coming for me? Was this my night to die? It was a really creepy feeling. I was scared to go to sleep. I wanted to call people to say goodbye just in case, but it was the middle of the night. Then I wasn't scared. If this was my time, this was my time. I finally fell asleep with the thought that if I did awake tomorrow, I would go to Jekyll & Hyde on Thursday.

Well I of course woke up today (I'm not typing this from the underworld), so I feel like I should go to Jekyll & Hyde tomorrow. I was thinking of seeing if Kim and her friend whom she is visiting want to meet me there for a quick drink. I don't want to tell her why I want to meet her there and it doesn't seem like a typical place for me to want to meet (a tourist spot), so I'm not sure what I'll say yet. If this was the Kim of 5 years ago, I could easily tell her why I really wanted to go there. But she is much different now. Maybe I'll just tell her that I had a strong feeling about wanting to go there. It is a strong feeling- even stronger now that I might not have to go alone. Or maybe I'll chicken out and tell her that I've always wanted to check it out, I'll be in the area anyway, and would they mind meeting there? I'm sure I'll go there and nothing out of the ordinary will happen. But I still really want to go.

I've been having problems with my cable modem again. I don't remember if I wrote this, but a couple of days ago I called RCN, they tried a few things from their end, and nothing changed. They set up a trouble ticket, but the next morning everything was working again. They left a message for me last night to send someone out, but everything was working so I didn't call back. Last night things stopped working, so I called them. The next time that I'd be home that they could send someone out was Wednesday. I didn't think that was a big deal, since my modem seemed to work on and off. Well, it didn't work the rest of last night and it's not working this morning. I can't do a dial-up connection since I need to install a driver- and of course I have to be online to do that ;) This morning, the cable modem still isn't working. Now I'm mad!! When the guy was out here last time, why didn't he realise I had a weak modem that was about to die?

Of course I have a ton of things to do today, and now I have to add go-to-Kinkos on my list. Fortunately, it's right near the shoe store where I want to see if they have snow-boots-that-go-over-shoes-that-aren't-too-floppy-and-I-can-wear-them-without-shoes.

I thought about driving to Boston, and decided it felt better to take the train (if I don't have to stop in Connecticut. Don't know why- just felt more comfortable. I still don't know if I'll be going to Connecticut or not. Guess while I'm at Kinkos I should reserve a car and a train and then cancel one of them when I find out what my plans will actually be.

Anyway, stress is fun! Gotta run. Probably won't have time to write until Sunday.

This entry might take a while.

Thursday turned into an irritating day when I was by myself but was fine when I was with other people. Kim and I finally got in touch in the afternoon and she asked if I could meet her and Suzanne at Chelsea Market. Not exactly convenient for me, but oh well. The 57th St. bus took forever because of traffic, but there was no excuse for the bus down 9th Ave. to be going so slowly. The bus driver was a nasty woman who stopped the bus from time to time for no reason. The fare machine wasn't working and she gave everyone an attitude when they tried to pay. Then she stopped at one stop and 2 boys got on, talked to her for a minute, and then got off. The bus didn't move. Five minutes later, the two boys came back with food for the driver. That's so wrong! Anyway, it took me a while to get to Chelsea. Seeing Kim again was fun and it was nice to meet Suzanne. It turns out that I used to do theatre in Baltimore with Suzanne's cousin- Kelli Kolodny. And of course I also did theatre with people they went to high school with, but I already knew that. I did find out that Eric Besbris was living here but is probably moving back to Baltimore soon. Anyway, we had Hale and Hearty soup and walked around the market a little.

Then I had a little time before I had to meet Meital, since she had called earlier to tell me she was going to look at an apartment at 6:00 and would meet me at 7:00. So I went to Jekyll & Hyde for a quick drink. I saw on their web site that they had meade and was excited about that. The bus back uptown was almost as annoying as the one downtown. The bus sign said Not-in-Service and the bus driver yelled at everyone who got on asking what bus it was. Then people yelled back and had loud conversations about this nasty man to other people on the bus. Anyway, I finally got up to Jekyll & Hyde and they were out of meade. Figures. And I have no idea why I felt an intense need to go there. But I would like to go back when they have meade. How many bars in the US have meade?

My feet were killing me by this point, so I took the bus 10 blocks to meet Meital at Cafe Edison for a quick bite and then we headed over to the Shubert Theatre for "Chicago". I wasn't impressed. It was average, I guess. I really don't like seeing shows that have been running for a long time. And it wasn't just me- Meital leaned over to me at the end of Act I and said, "This is really low energy,"- it definitely was. I'm glad I finally saw a production of it though and was really glad I didn't have to pay for it. I've thought about the song, "All That Jazz", on and off through the years, but I guess I never have the introduction in my head. When they started the intro for that song, I instantly remembered the older girls at Sudbrook doing a performance to it. I remembered much of the choreography and their costumes (sparkly leotards and hats). I remembered I collected a few of the sequins from several of the costumes (I remembered most of them were pink and Lisa had red) and was still finding them in odd places for years. They just wouldn't go away. I rememembered finding one in my coat when I was walking into the lobby of the Essex House at least a year later. When I told Paula, she said that she remembered vacuuming off the bathroom rug a few times. Those were odd little things.

Thurs night RCN teased me briefly by working for 2 seconds and then stopped for a while and then worked again for another 2 seconds and then stopped for good. I hope the guy who comes out here Wednesday knows what he's doing and brings another modem for me to see if that fixes things. Why can't they just give me another modem? Why do people keep coming out here and not fix the real problem? And when are they going to upgrade my building? The two guys here a few months ago said it would only be a few weeks. That obviously was too optomistic. Then I asked a knowledgable woman I talked to about a month or two after that, and she said they had a lot of buildings to upgrade and only a few people working on it. It would take time. How much time? And will it make a significant difference?

Anyway, Friday I took the train up to Boston since I didn't need to stop in Connecticut. I was so irritated by everyone around me. The Acela train was completely full (I got one of the last 2 seats) and everyone around me was talking on their phones (one woman was on two phones at once). It was so loud. There was a teenager next to me playing video games. She had headphones on so the noise wasn't the problem with her, it was the fact that her arm kept bumping me as she was playing. And there was a kid crying for most of the ride. Oh, and the guy behind me kept getting in and out of his seat, pulling my seat every time he did that. Somehow I managed to finish "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", but it wasn't as enjoyable with all the noise around me.

I met Rebecca in Davis Square and we had a nice dinner at Christopher's (and I enjoyed their minty martini). Then we went to Swing City. I hadn't swing danced since the last time I went with her in '99, but of course I did fine. There was one man I really enjoyed dancing with- he asked me to dance several times. He was an Asian man in a sailor suit- so I called him "Sailor Man". Sailor Man gives you lots of room to improvise with your feet and is really easy to follow. I felt really comfortable and confident with him. And he was into making me twirl. A few guys would let me do double turns, but Sailor Man had me turning 5/6/7 times in a row. Fortunately, I know how to spot.

Saturday morning, Seth and Kristin came over for waffles. Yum! Then Seth left and a few other people came over to meet for snow tubing. It was a gorgeous day, but fortunately the park was open. The actual ride down the hill wasn't extremely exciting, but we made our own fun. Going down alone wasn't really fun, but going as a group was much better. It was faster and funny since we kept trying new ways to go down and not all the ways worked out the way we intended. I wanted to go backwards, so I made sure I was in the back facing backwards. Rebecca's friend, Andy decided to do that too. Two seconds into the ride, Andy and I wound up in the front facing front. We decided it was because he was the heaviest, so the next time, he was in the front, and I was diagonal from him in the back. Two seconds into the ride, I was facing front again. I did manange to get it right one time though. Backwards adds a little extra rush to this tame ride. Then Andy and I got even more creative. We decided to link arms and go down back to back. We linked one arm, but the tubes were too big to link our other arms. As we were trying Andy said, "Does your arm go that way?" We were still trying when the tubes started going down the hill. We wound up facing front arm in arm. I'm sure it looked cute but wasn't what we intended. Another thing we tried was 4 of us going down in the straight line. We wrapped our legs around the person in front and held on to the tube of the person in back of us. I was in the back and had nothing to hold onto. I hadn't figured out where to put my legs yet when we started going downhill. So I was riding with my legs in the air depending on the person in front of me not to let go of my tube. It was funny. In fact, there were a few times I couldn't figure out where all my body parts were. On one trip down, I thought to myself, "Where's my other arm?" So, I'm glad I went. And in my comfortable new boots, my feet didn't hurt at all. The only thing that hurt was my one arm the next day- from trying to link arms in a way that just was impossible. It even still hurts a little bit today.

Krisin, Rebecca, her friend Sean, and I made a stop in Newburyport to say hello to her friend Jonathan who couldn't make it snow tubing because he was sick. This little stop made us crunched for time to make our dinner reservation. When we got back to her apartment it was 7:00. Our reservation was at 7:30. Rebecca called the restaurant to see if we could be a little late, and they said they wouldn't hold the table for more than 10 minutes. So we ran to the Davis Square T stop, waited a few minutes for the train, managed to get lucky with the Lechemere train coming just as we got there, and ran to the restaurant. We got there at exactly 7:30. The table wasn't ready until 7:45- figures. Dinner at Monica's was okay, nothing special.

I decided Saturday night that I would try Fung Wah- the bus service Kristin recommended that goes from Chinatown in Boston to Chinatown in New York- since I was sick of having bad train experiences. I called to cancel my train reservation and hoped the bus would work out.

Sunday Rebecca decided to drive me to Chinatown (that was nice of her). I got there at 11:15 and the next bus was leaving at 12:00. It was a great deal- $25.00 each way ($15.00 on certain trips) on a mini bus that takes 4 hours with a 10 minute rest stop (I know I couldn't drive there any faster). Cheaper than Greyhound with no stops, no creepy obnoxious people and the stations are in safe areas? Terrific! I highly recommend it. The only problem I had was with my seat. A few minutes before we were going to leave, everyone had a seat to themselves. At the last minute, a huge man came on the bus and out of 10 or so empty seats, he decided to sit next to me. He took up half of my seat- not comfortable. But I will definitely be doing this again. I don't know Chinatown that well and had a lot of stuff with me, so I decided I would take a cab home. I walked 1 block and saw the bus stop for the bus that goes up 3rd Ave. I decided to wait for that and the bus showed up 30 seconds later. I was able to get a seat which was definitely nice with all the stuff I had. So I left Rebecca's house at 11:00 and was in my apartment by 4:45- not bad at all!

Late last night, my modem started working and is still working this morning. In fact, I have a really fast connection (maybe I shouldn't say that though- don't want to jinx it). I'm just so happy to be able to work in the comfort of my living room! It also saves me time since I don't have to go out and find a place to work, and having extra time right now is a great thing!

I can't believe the Patriots are in the Super Bowl!!!! Be happy for me, Neil- even though I wouldn't be happy for you if the Ravens had made it. It must have been weird for Bledsoe to get back in the game. I wish I could have watched it. This is something no one predicted. If anyone did, I would be convinced they were psychic.

Last night I had a dream that I was at BWI with Harvey and we saw a plane on fire sort of crash land onto the runway. I was supposed to take a trip the next day and was scared to have to get on a plane. Then in another dream, there was a cute stranger. I don't know if we knew each other, but I saw him right before he was about to go onstage and we looked into each other's eyes, there was an intense connection, and we kissed passionately before he ran off. I just read a few entries from this time last year and I was having dreams about cute strangers then too. Is it a late January thing- to dream about cute strangers?

I also read in an entry from last year a comment about Steve Blake looking like someone who should be playing for UNC. I don't remember writing that, but I guess I must really think he looks like a hick.

I decided for my day trip when I'm in London, that I'll go to Cardiff. It's only a 2 hour train ride from London. Anywhere in Scotland is too far for a day trip. I've never been to Wales, so that should be exciting. I was 90% sure that this is what I would do, but what made it 100% was the fact that a theatre there is doing "Godspell". They have a 5:00 performance on Saturday, so I'll go in for the day, look around the castles and science museum, have a quick bite, see the show, and then take the train back to London. Sounds like a perfect day to me.

Kristin invited Rebecca and I on her trip to the UK with a friend of hers. They had been wanting to do this trip for a while. Kristin will be going from May 11 to Jun 2. Once I find out the dates for the summer session at Hunter, I'll figure out when (and if) I can meet them. I really want to go to Scotland, so hopefully if I can meet them, they can arrange their trip so they'll be in Scotland when I can join them. I know the Spring semester ends May 24th, so if the summer session doesn't start right away, I could meet them for a few days at the end of their journey. And if the summer session doesn't start for a while or there are two sessions, maybe I'll have time for a little more trip (maybe go to Germany for a few days or something).

So school starts tomorrow. I'm not ready but I'll never really be ready. I like the subjects of all my classes, but it's really the teacher that makes or breaks the class. If the teacher is obnoxious and gives a lot of time consuming useless work, I won't enjoy it even if I like the subject. So I'm crossing my fingers. I know I can't have another easy semester like the last one, I'm just hoping for a reasonable amount of work and interesting teachers.

Now I need to go get a bite to eat and go through a large pile of mail.

Ugh school. The theatre class seems okay but will be a lot of work. Attendence is mandatory since during class we will be doing excersises individually and as groups. I thought this would be a lecture/discussion only type of class. I didn't realise we'd have to perform and stuff. We will also be doing a project due at the end of the semester. He seems like a laid back guy and will approve most projects, so I'm thinking of asking if I can submit a work-in-progress. I'd like to do some serious work on the musical I've been occasionally working on for about 10 years. I know I couldn't have a finished project by the end of the semester- but maybe he'd let me turn in the first act plus some lyrics for several songs. We also have to turn in a 3-5 page theatre review. The plays we'll be reading are: "Oedipus Rex" (my least favourite), "True West" (Eytan will be happy- he did a scene from this in college), "Othello" (already read it in English Lit last year), "Waiting for Godot" (I read and saw it a long time ago), and "A Streetcar Named Desire" (also not my favourite). And we'll have a midterm that he says is no big deal. The guy teaching it, Michael, is fairly young. He brought up age related things 4-5 times in the hour and 15 minute class. Things like: "Back in my day...", "...an LP, or a CD for your generation", "you might be too young to remember but...", and so on. Rather irritating, but I guess he's trying to make sure he doesn't get walked all over because he's young. I'd probably do the same thing. And this class is made up of mostly young people. It's my first time taking a class during the day here- there are defintely more typical college aged people during the day.

As for the History of Jazz, that seems like the easiest class. It's just like the music class I had last semester except with a much nicer teacher. He's a young jazz musician with strong opinions. We have to go see a concert and write a concert report like last time. He told us of a concert this weekend. He's in it. No way am I writing something about a performance that he is in! Again, attendence is required, but such is life. The class seems like it will be interesting.

As for the Intro to Government... forget it. The teacher is WAY out there! I had no idea what he was talking about and how he started talking about whatever it was. It was like I came in the middle... of the semester. I couldn't understand enough to explain what I didn't understand. It wasn't just the foreign concepts he was mentioning, he was talking about supplemental readings that we would need to get- from some office on 22nd St. He wasn't clear about what we needed to buy for that. Some of it was on the 5 page syllabus, but it wasn't written in a clear order. It was very confusing. He was very confusing. He jumped topics constantly. So... I dropped it.

Now finding another class was NOT easy. EVERYTHING was closed and no one allows overtallying. I was too tired to do anything else about it last night. I was so tired, I got into bed and tried to fall asleep even though I had a lot to do. I guess that government class really wore me out (struggling for an hour and 15 minutes to understand what he was talking about). That class could be my sleeping pill. I'd fail the class, but at least I'd be on a normal sleeping schedule. Anyway, I couldn't fall asleep after 30 minutes, so I got up and semi-straightened the apartment (at least it was neat enough for the RCN guy to come tomorrow and I'd feel comfortable letting him in).

This morning I called the school to see if they allowed students to take classes at other CUNY schools. I called the admissions office and they told me I had to talk to the registrars office. She would try to transfer me. The transfer didn't work- I had to call them myself. First it was busy a few times. Then it rang and rang and rang- no message, no one answered, no instructions on what to do. I called again and let it ring for 5 minutes. Just as I was about to give up, someone answered... and put me on hold right away. Ten minutes later, a woman told me I cold get a form from them, take it to the department of the course I wanted to take and get it stamped and signed, and then bring it back to Hunter. I guess that would be worth it, if I could find a class to take at another school. I looked quickly at the classes available at Baruch (much easier to find information on their web site) but the only thing available was Intro to Sociology on Saturday mornings. No thank you. So I tried again desparately to find something open at Hunter. I was getting creative. I could handle a Shakespeare Survey course or Intro to Religion or Basic Reporting. But even these classes that I really didn't want to take were closed. Finally I found a class called Black Play: American Space offered on Tuesday and Friday mornings. That didn't sound so bad. There is no description for it in the cataloue and it said you needed department approval to take it. I got stubborn and tried to sign up without department approval. It let me. So now I will have that on Tuesday and Friday mornings, Theatre on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, and History of Jazz on Thursday evenings. Not bad. I hope this English class isn't too difficult.

I only remember a bit of my dream from last night. I met a cute girl at some weird event (another dream about a cute stranger). We hit it off instantly. We were sitting cozily in the corner of the room, and there was a dog there that looked just like Dane. I believe that's the first dream I ever had about Dane. Sure, he lived with us for 10+ years, but he was never a big part of my life. Anyway, there was a lot more to the dream- lots of adventure- but I don't remember it now. I believe some part of it invovled characters and magic from Harry Potter, since I woke up at some point saying, "See, I knew it would appear in my dream eventually,"- but I could have been saying that in a dream as well. I don't know. I also just remembered doing some dance to "Mein Herr" from "Cabaret". It was a strange night for sleeping.

So the RCN guy came this morning and told me there was nothing wrong with my modem. It worked fine. I told him that it was working fine now, but a few days ago it didn't work at all. He said it was because there is an overload on the bandwidth that I'm using. Gee, really? And my building should be upgraded soon. I asked how soon and he said in a few months. I told him that was too long and he said maybe it would be sooner than that. I told him the guys who came out here in September said it would be a few weeks and then someone in October told me on the phone that it would be a few months. He said it could be a few weeks now. He knew my building was one of the ones in some group that was being worked on now. He said the longest it should be is a month. Then he left. I'm going to call them later today and demand a refund from the time it wasn't working and see if I can talk to someone higher up and see exactly how long I'll continue having these problems.

I just went through my large pile of mail today. I forgot to do it the other day and was too tired last night. So tomorrow I need to mail everything out, go to the bank, go do some research at the PF, and then go to the Jazz class. It feels strange for me saying Jazz class and meaning music and not dance.

If anyone wants to get a pair of free tickets to: "Cabaret," "Chicago," "Contact," "Les Miserables," "Proof," "The Full Monty," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" to be seen between Febrary 28 and March 10, you can purchase a pair of Off-Broadway or Off-Off-Broadway tickets between now and February 5 and be one of the first 300 callers to 212-279-4200 and give the operator the code "Arts Give, Give Back". I don't think I'd do it since I've already seen most of these shows and don't really want to see the others. But if someone wanted to take me with them, I wouldn't say no (especially for "Proof").

I'm going to be seeing a lot of theatre in February! I'm going to a reading at John Jay College on the 11th, "The Last Five Years" on the 13th, "The Crucible" on the 16, "Oklahoma" on the 25th, and "The Sweet Smell of Success" on the 27th. And I might be going to see "Side Man" in Boston on the 23rd if I decide the trip up there is necessary. I'll probably make up my mind by this weekend.

Michael, the theatre teacher, allows one excused absence. I wonder if he considers going out of town to see a show as an excuse, since I'll be going to Boston May 10th to see "Copenhagen" with Kristin and Rebecca.

Oh, and I found out that summer classes at Hunter are 4 weeks and start either the first or second week of June. If they start the first week, I won't be able to go to meet up with Kristin and Rebecca in the UK. If they start the second week, I could manage the trip, but I don't know if it will be worth it- going for a week and a half. But I still might talk to the theatre advisor to see if they have any kind of study abroad summer program or if they allow credits taken at other universities. Although, I'm leaning toward not doing that. It seems like a bit of a hassle just to take a class or two. Things will be more decided by March, I guess.

I'm in Harry Potter withdrawl. I want to read "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", but it's only in hardcover. I really prefer reading paperbacks, since it's more comfortable to hold them while reading. So I guess I'll wait. Anyone know when the 4th book comes out in paperback? Until then, maybe I'll go see the movie if it's still playing around here.

The Six Feet Under episode on tonight was one I haven't seen (the one where Frederiko quits, Claire goes on the hiking trip, and Brenda has some Australian friend staying at her place). It was okay- not one of the best shows, but it definitely got me excited about the second season coming up. March is just around the corner (unfortunately it's around the corner, but if it means new episodes of Six Feet Under will be starting, I guess I can look forward to March). And now I can't get the theme music out of my head.

Another bad night of sleep. I fell asleep around 2:00 and woke up, what felt like hours later, at 3:00 in pain. I felt like I was in labour or something. I managed to get back to sleep at some point and woke up again (don't remember what time) from a dream. I was going to meet some cute stranger somewhere and had to find my car (my old Geo Storm). I found it and Eytan needed a ride somewhere, so I was going to take him. He pulled off the door (in what in slightly better condition than when it was totalled), looked at the plastic and metal panel and asked if the car was safe. I said it was and proceeded to open the passenger door for him. He got in the driver's side and started the car. I realised he didn't trust my driving plus didn't want me to get to my destination on time. He refused to let me drive and started driving away. I screamed for him to come back and then woke up angry with him. Then I went back to sleep and the rest of the sleeping time was uneventful.

The stuff isn't ready for me to research today, so I have a few more hours than originally expected! I'll go do the research on Monday. Today before I head up to school for my one class, I need to go to the bank and get some notebooks.

So it's the end of the month. How did I do with my monthly resolutions? Pretty good. I've been fairly consistent with my excersing and my apartment is tidy. So I will continue with those two, and what will I add for February? I'm going to have better school habits. I'm going to keep up with reading assignments so I don't have a lot to read at once when it's time for the midterms. If I stay on top of my resolutions, by the end of the year, I will be about 12 steps closer to perfection.

I asked Meital if she wanted to see any of the shows offered in the free Broadway tickets deal and she does. So I'm waiting to hear back from her about which one and which night is good for her. I think we've narrowed it down to "Contact" (which I haven't seen but don't really like the current cast) and "Proof" (which I love but don't know if I really need to see it again). Either one will be fine with me.

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