October

Rebecca and her father left the game after the 11th inning (they wanted to go to dinner before her father had to catch the train home). Her brother left around the 7th inning. The game was still going on in the 15th inning when they delayed the game (permenantly) because of the rain. I'm surprised they didn't do it earlier. It was really pouring. When batters couldn't even hold onto the bat, I guess they decided it was time to stop.

So Rebecca and her father went out to Dawatt on my suggestion (they loved it) and then her father left. Rebecca looked at the rest of my pictures from my various trips and stuff (I had showed her some of them when I was in Baltimore in August) and then she went to bed. I fell asleep around 3:30 (early for me!), woke up at 5:30 to make sure Rebecca was up since she had to leave at 6:15, went back to bed, and slept on and off until 10:30. So maybe tonight I'll force myself to get in bed before 1:00 and then I can start to get back on a better schedule.

Today I need to make train and car reservations before heading to school. School. I'm still not ready to deal with school, but I have no choice. I can handle going to classes, it's the Math workshop I don't want to do. But I have to start this thing. I have no choice. I don't know why I have such an aversion to it. I know what it involves, but I also know I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't remember where I left off, but I remember not understanding any of it. I'm waiting for the lightbulb to go on and to have at least a little understanding, but I think that's wishful thinking. I'll go, try to make the people working there understand that I am signed up and to let me on a computer (and hope I have the same password and if not, that the people working there can help me), and just jump in. Okay, thinking it through makes it sound SLIGHTLY more managable (I guess). I'm so happy my 2 classes don't seem that impossible this semester. That would make going to school completely rejectionable (is that a word?). Fortunately, music makes sense to me and I'll just have to ask someone what we did last Monday. Anthropology I'll get there a little early and see if I can borrow someone's notes and try to copy as much as I can before class starts. I'm not too worried about that one. I'll just read the book carefully and hope I can remember all the terms (since that's what I think will be the main thing of importance for the tests). According to the syllabus, we have a test on Wednesday. I'm sure we'll still have it, and hopefully he'll talk about what topics will be covered today. Another thing I have to do at school today is get a ticket for the symphony concert that I must attend for the music class (I'm assuming/hoping tickets will still be available). I also need to sign up for the proficiency exams (this is another rant for another time), but I think I'll do that on Wednesday. At some point I also need to give the admissions office my last transfer credit evalution form so I can get my last required credits on my record. And also at some point, I want to take my newly updated record, bring it to an advisor, and figure out what else I need (don't want any surprises at a later date- and that school is FULL of nasty surprises).

Okay, time to go make reservations for my Maryland trip. I can't believe I'll be leaving on Thursday.

Yesterday I had the patriotic 4th of July celebration song from "Music Man" in my head. That was a new one for me.

Two nights ago I had a dream that I was at Tracey Chester's house and a group of people were discussing what used to be on her walls and what was different now. I added that there used to be Marmaduke drawings that she did that were no longer there. That's all I remember. That was a very random bit for a dream. She really did used to have those Marmaduke drawings, but why would I remember that and why would it be in my dream?

The new Bloomberg-for-Mayor commercial is horrible- he's reminding me of Bush. Before September 11, I thought he looked like the best candidate, but now I'm not so sure. I still really hope there is a way for Giuliani to stay on for another year.

Yesterday I bought a ticket for the concert at school. It didn't take any time so I decided to see about registering for the stupid proficiency exams. Okay, it's time for the...
Rant of the Day:
The profiency exam is a CUNY concept started in 1997. Before you have 60 credits you have to take tests on reading comprehension, writing, and graphs analysis (or something like that). You get some reading to study before the test and the rest of the material you get at the test. The test is one day and lasts about 5 hours, plus you have to get there an hour beforehand (I have no idea why you have to get there so early). I think this is a ridiculous concept. First of all, you have to take placement tests after you get accepted to the school and before you're allowed to take any classes. Then you take about 60 credits worth of classes. You can't move onto other classes before you pass the ones that are prerequisites. That means that you've placed into appropriate classes, passed several classes, and that seems to me that you're on the level that is required for college students. But they seem to think otherwise. They think more tests are necessary. I think it's a waste of time.

Anyway, so I finally found the resgistration place (after getting sent around from floor to floor, from office to office) and found out that it's only available on one weekend, the weekend Eytan and Jeff will be here. I really don't feel like taking 7 hours (an hour travel time, 5 hours for the test, and one hour to sit there and wait) while they are here. I asked if there was another time and they told me to first check and see if I was required to take it or if it was optional. I had no idea it was optional and I started to get excited. I went to the woman who was checking optional/required people and she told me I was required. I asked why some people were required and some weren't. She said it was optional for students who wouldn't accumulate 60 credits by the end of this semester and required for people who would. Oh. So I asked if there was another date and she said I could submit a letter to the head of the tests and a committee would review it to see if I could be allowed to take it on a make-up date. Well, I guess I should take it on the assigned date, but I'm so irritated with these tests to begin with, I want to give them more work to do- review my letter. I can tell them I have to be out of town for work (it could happen- there are plenty of weekend when I'm away on business). So I'm going to submit the letter tomorrow and we'll see what happens. I wouldn't do it if I wasn't available on any other weekends, but all my weekends until Thanksgiving are free. I can't believe the assigned dates are only on weekends. MANY people work weekends. They should have more testing dates as options.

After I found out about the prociency tests, I went to the Math workshop. I told the woman at the desk that I was signed up and needed to continue it from last semester. She told me I had to see Stacy Karapedes and she wasn't there. Then she said I could talk to the Math receptionist. I told her the same story and she asked what the problem was. I said that I didn't know but the people at the desk sent me into her office. She told me to go back, there shouldn't be a problem. So I tried again, and this time they let me on a computer. This school is so ridiculous! The first unit I did yesterday seemed to go well, which gave me hope. The next one was difficult, but somehow I passed it (even though I guess on a lot of it). And I'm still so irritated that the program is not consistent (sometimes they want you to type the answer one way and the next time another way- there is no pattern). The third unit I did was impossible. I tried it 6 times and could not pass the damn thing. I have no idea how to do it. The lesson makes sense but once again, the questions on the test are not like the practice questions. You have to wait at least 20 minutes (if you're lucky) for a tutor, so I just kept trying to guess. The questions were always different and I kept guessing wrong. So I gave up for the day (I had to get to my class) and I'll try again on Wednesday- maybe I'll get lucky then.

It turned out that the Anthropology instructor was not there last week (he was sick and still is) so I didn't miss much. The test scheduled for Wednesday will now be a take home given on Wednesday and due on Tuesday (Monday is Columbus Day so since we've missed so many Mondays, Tuesday follows a Monday schedule). I, like 99% of students, like take home tests MUCH more than in class tests. He also told us someone else might be taking over the class since he got some assignment that he needs to do in the evenings. I like him and really hope someone else doesn't take over. If someone else does take over, it will be a woman. I've had much better luck with male teachers than female. I don't know why, but statistically, I've learned more and done better when the teacher is a man.

I also didn't miss anything in the music class last week. Maybe several people weren't there, so she didn't have a normal class. She said they just listened to several songs and wouldn't be required to know any of them. Yesterday we discussed the different voice parts (SATB and a few intermediate ones) and heard a few songs- I recognised a lot of them (the South African group that Paula Simon used on his "Graceland" album, Mimi's first aria in "La Boheme", and a Joni Mitchell song- I didn't know the song but recognised her voice).

I didn't get to bed too early last night (around 3:30 AM) and didn't wake up until noon. I just wasn't tired last night. I was reading the news and IM-ing Josh and before I knew it, it was 1:30. I still wasn't tired but got in bed anyway.

Hey, I just had another idea. I can take a bus (or maybe even a train) to Newark airport and rent a car from there! I had that idea, sort of, before (last week sometime, I think) but forgot about it with all the other possibilities swimming around in my head. Why should I have to take a bus all the way to Baltimore, just to take a cab to BWI? Yes! This is a good idea. I will go do make those arrangements now! And then I will deal with my mail and finish straightening up the apartment. It's always obvious when a guest leaves. Things are always out of place. Whenever I'm a guest, I feel weird using their stuff (dishes, books, etc.). All the guests I have makes themselves at home. That's the way it should be. I don't know why I'm uncomfortable being a guest.

I watched a little of the John Lennon/Imagine/WTC relief fund concert tonight since Paula told me it was on. I didn't like any of the artists versions of John Lennon songs (except maybe the Stone Temple Pilots' "Revolution"), but the lighting for most of it was great! I only watched for about 30 minutes. I couldn't handle any more than that. The artists I like (Dave Matthews, Alanis Morrisette) were horrible and the artists I don't like (Stone Temple Pilots, Natalie Merchant) were pretty good.

I'm watching Letterman right now and he's encouraging tourists to come back to New York. Good- maybe people will listen. America listens to people like that. I read somewhere once that most Americans get their news from late night talk show hosts.

I realised last night that I might get back on a normal schedule this week. Tonight I have a ton to do but need to go to bed early as well so I can get up early for the train. Then Thursday I'll be at Buffalo Billiards for Eric's show. I'll be there late, but I'll still have to get up super early on Friday so I can drive up to Baltimore to see Sylvia for a short amount of time. Then I'm supposed to go have lunch with Harvey in Towson. Then Saturday I could sleep in, but I'll probably be awakened by Maxine and Abby (I'd say Neil too, but he's too quiet to wake me up). Sunday I'll want them to wake me up so I can drive back to Baltimore to return the rental car and get to the train station to go home. Monday I'll probably sleep REALLY late. But I hope not too late since I want to get to bed somewhat early since I have an 8:30-12:30 RCN appointment. They probably won't show up until 12:00, but I have to be up at 8:30 just in case. Actually, all the other times someone from RCN has been here, they've showed up no more than an hour into the window of time. So we'll see...

I also realised that I probably won't be able to upload any entries until (maybe) Sunday night. I'll have time to write, but it always seems more difficult to make time to write when I'm out of town, so I might not even have that much to type and upload when I get home (which is a good thing since I'll be tired but bad thing since I won't have as many details as I normally like to have). Anyway, I don't care right now. I'm still tired and my brain is hurting from all this thinking.

When I get home I hope I can quickly figure out what to pack- the weather is that weird in between weather and I don't have that many options, but I'll do my best to not be freezing or roasting. I also wanted to colour my hair before I left, but I've kind of run out of time (I could do it late tonight but don't really feel like it). Time is going to quickly as usual. Oh well, guess I'll have to put up with the grey for a weekend. I'll do something when I get back.

One more thing before I go- that church that I wrote about last month (the one on Park) is doing "Godspell" this week and next! I found out from a theatre site and when I did a search for the name of the theatre company, I found it was at the church that I've been interested in checking out. So I tried to buy tickets online, but their website wasn't working. I called the box office number, got a machine, and left a message. If they don't call this afternoon and leave a message, I will try to remember to bring the number with me to Maryland and try again from there. Then I can check out the show and the church at the same time!

Before I write about my day, I must write about the worthlessness of half-assed security. They just don't have their act together to have uniformed, useful security measures. Some place check IDs. Some places check bags. Some places check IDs and bags. Some places check some people and not others (and it has nothing to do with racial profiling). There are more and more looneys coming out (the guy on the Greyhound bus in Tennessee, all the people calling in bomb threats- at the Emipre State Building, Holy Cross Hospital in Maryland...). Maybe we need serious security everywhere for a while, even it takes away certain freedoms.

Yesterday in music class (hey, that sounds like "one time at band camp...") we spent the entire time discussing concert etiquette (a VERY useful thing) and what to expect at concerts. It was all very important but nothing I didn't already know. In fact, I mentioned two things I thought were worth discussing (who was performing at the Hunter concert and where to find listings of other concerts). And the anthropology class was cancelled. He was sick but came in to put the take-home test question on the board before going to the doctor. Why didn't he just tell someone else to put the question on the board and stay home?

I got home and had a lot to do but had no energy. I had a lot of email (somehow people know when I'm busy and send me lots of emails to keep me even busier) and managed to answer all of it. One of the emails was from the woman in charge of the profiency test- that was quick. She said she needed a letter from my employer verifying my dates of travel (my letter said I would be out of town on business). I sent her an email stating that I was self employed but didn't mention anything about free lance or multiple clients (that sounded too confusing- I can't even explain it to my friends very well). Even if I was going out of town on business, I would not want to ask ANYONE I was working for to write a letter to my school. I already have a hard enough time getting respect because I look so young. If I said I needed a letter for my school, they would assume I was of the traditional college page and really not respect me. So I told her I could not have an employer write a letter, but I could have an employee write one (I figured I could do a letter on fake letterhead, put Eytan's phone number- so it was an out of town number, and he could lie for me if she actually called him). A little extreme, I know, but this whole test thing is ridiculous. She replied today just telling me I could take the make-up exam. Guess she decided my email sounded professional enough and she didn't want to take the time to check references. I worked hard on that email and thought it sounded very believable!

By 2:00 AM I was exhausted but still had things to do. I tried to fall asleep and decided I would wake up really early. Even though I was super tired, I didn't fall asleep until around 5:00 AM and didn't wake up until 8:15 (not enough time to get everything finished). I only did the things that were a big priority and put off everything else- as it was, I was rushing to get the priorities done.

The train was only a little late getting into Penn Station but of course the slower-than-regular trains Acela got in almost an hour late. At one point, a regular train pulled up next to us and passed us. Hey, what's that about? I slept from Newark to Wilmington on and off- that was nice. I was scared to sleep past Wilminton though in case they forgot to announce the station stops again and I missed the BWI stop.

I took the bus to BWI and it was very strange being there. VERY strange! It didn't look any different than normal, but it felt different. Avis didn't have any cars next to the booth. It took a while to get my contract- they didn't have it or something. I think it took 20 minutes to find it- so much for being a prefered customer. To get to the car, I had to take the elevator to another floor and walk ALL THE WAY TO THE END of the parking lot. They had an Avis representative half way there making sure you knew where you were going. I thought of him like the people who line up on the sidelines of marathons, cheering the runners on. They even had balloons when you finally got the rows of rental cars. I'm driving a silver, 4 door Alero. Renting the car reminded me of when I used to rent cars so frequently, often I wouldn't pay attention to the car I was getting in, park it at my destination, and when I went back to get back in the car, forget which vehicle I rented- hmm... was it a Mazda 626 or a Pontiac Sunfire?

On the drive to College Park, all the overpasses I drove under had flags or other patriotic objects hanging from them. Some of them were wordy banners- not a smart thing- having already careless drivers try to read banners while they're driving at least 70mph? I think seeing the flags made me feel good. I felt weird about being away from New York. I felt like I was running away. I know that's ridiculous, I was coming back in a few days, but that's just how I felt.

I was writing Thursday's entry at Buffalo Billiards while waiting for Eric to start playing. I was the only one there for the music. There were a few other people at the bar and 1 table of 4 having dinner. I was the only person clapping after the songs. I finally made the 2 guys next to me clap as well. I started talking to them, Scott and John, and of course they asked me where I was from. So of course our topic of conversation was September 11. Eric played a great show!!! I normally don't like covers, but his versions of songs (Radiohead, Van Morrison, etc.) are really good. I chatted with him for a while between sets and after the show. He's a really sweet guy. I'm so glad I made it there.

Friday I got up super early and went to visit Sylvia. She was her typical self- asking me 4 dozen times if I was sure she couldn't get me to eat something, not letting me finish a sentence, talking non-stop about all the people who invite her to dinners and parties... She's much easier to deal with in email since I can actually finish sentences and she even often responds to most of them. In person, she'll ask me a question, I'll start to answer, and then she'll tell me what she wants to tell me. She can complain about things, I cannot. It's completely frustrating. I just kept telling myself how happy I was making her by being there and that calmed me down enough to get through the morning.

Around noon, I went to Towson to go meet Harvey for lunch. We went to Troia's and had a nice lunch even though the waiter was clueless. REALLY clueless- Harvey said he would say something to the owner the next time he saw him (he wasn't around when we were leaving). Then I went to see Eytan to lend him my "Tick, Tick... Boom!" CD and ask him if he wanted to join me for a drink at Dougherty's that evening. He had to go to the gym soon after so he wouldn't have a drink, but he would join me.

We got to Dougherty's and Sam was working (the main reason I wanted to go- to see Sam the bartender, whom I've hung out with a few times at the pub, who I thought still had family in Afghanistan. I wanted to see how he and his family was doing. He was still working and it was busy (Friday happy hour), so I just talked to Eytan for about 30 minutes. Then when Eytan left, Sam stopped working and sat down to talk to me. It turned out the rest of his family left Afghanistan in August and moved to Germany. The bad news was that his cousin who owned a restaurant in DC was killed a few days after the 11th by stupid people with baseball bats. He bought me another drink and we chatted about other things for a little longer. Before I left, he asked me out. We made tentative plans for Saturday afternoon.

I got back to College Park just as Maxine, Neil, and Abby were returning from picking up Bruce (Neil's friend) from the airport. We all chatted for a bit and then went to bed. I actually got to sleep early since I hadn't really slept the past 2 nights.

Ssaturday morning I realised I didn't really want to drive up to Baltimore so I could have lunch or something with Sam for a few hours before having to drive all the way down to Rockville for dinner and then back to College Park. It didn't seem worth it. So I called Sam and left a message on his voice mail. I do hope to get together with him the next time I'm down there though- he's a really nice guy.

So instead, on Saturday I went to drop off a roll of film and then went to the College Park Aviation Museum with Maxine, Neil, Abby, and Bruce. That was fun- I love museums like that- learning and playing. I didn't realise how important College Park was at the beginning of aviation. I picked up my pictures and they came out terribly. I'm going to have to take the negatives to a place around here and try again. Some pictures didn't come out at all (and I looked at the negatives and they look fine) and the ones that did come out are very dark. I should have known it wasn't a good place (one hour photo place that first told me my pictures would be ready in two days) but Maxine told me not to go to CVS and there wasn't anything else around. Before dinner, Neil, Bruce and I watched a little college football (as much as we could in between the satellite going in and out- they really need to get that checked out).

On the way to dinner, traffic was backed up from their house, all the way on Route 1 to the Beltway (I guess it was football traffic- although it seemed a little late for that). Then there was traffic on the entire part of the Beltway I drove on (new traffic patterns causing people to SLOW DOWN TO A CRAWL). Then I got off the Beltway at Rockville Pike and there was an accident. The two left lanes were closed and no one would let me over to the right lane. I sat there for 20 minutes. Every time the light changed, I was sure someone would let me cut in. No, of course not. And there was a bus behind me so I couldn't even see what was in the lane next to me until they were right next to me. I was in tears after 15 minutes. I asked the cop how I was supposed to get over and he told me he couldn't do anything. That REALLY made me mad. What also made me mad were these drivers who were flying the American flag and making sure I would not cut in front of them. So much for helping your fellow Americans. Finally the cop saw I still hadn't moved and he stopped both lanes of traffic and let me go! Even though Paula and Harvey and Neil, Maxine, Bruce, and Abby had the same traffic situation I did, they all made it there before me. I guess people let them get over the necessary lanes.

Dinner itself was okay. Most people liked the buffet/meat thing and I enjoyed my salmon dish (although it was HUGE and I could barely eat any of it). Jay and Sherry got there first and sat next to each other. Then Paula and Harvey sat next to each other across from Jay and Sherry. So the rest of us (Neil, Maxine, Abby, Bruce, and I) were sitting next to and across from each other. We couldn't see or hear anything from the other table. We might as well have been back at Neil and Maxine's in terms of socialising. I was still upset from the traffic situation (didn't I swear to myself at the end of August when I was with Josh down there that I would never drive in the Maryland/DC/Virginia area again?), upset about the world in general, and upset that Jay and Sherry seemed to be ignoring our table (Jay only said hello after I tried to get his attention 3 times and Sherry didn't say one word to me). When Paula came to hug and thank me for the gift (lunch and tickets to "Music Man" on October 21), I started sobbing. At first it was just a few tears and then I forced myself to cry even more. I thought it would make me feel better. I think it sort of did. No one noticed. The place was so crowded and noisy (noisy is an understatement).

Sunday I went back to BWI, returned the car with no problems (besides the round-about way they make you get there, with all the construction), walked the 12 miles to the terminal, got a shuttle bus to the train station rather quickly, and got to the train station with plenty of time to spare.

The train ride was uneventful, except for their announcement at 1:30 that the US had begun to attack Afghanistan. That was hard to deal with on the train. There was nothing we could do except wait to get home. I tried reading news on my Palm Pilot, but I didn't have service the few times I tried. My cell phone battery was low so I couldn't call anyone.

When I did get home I was exhausted but turned on the TV anyway. I couldn't stop watching. I had to learn everything I possibly could before I went to sleep. I tried to fall asleep around 8:00, but after 2 hours, I realised that sleep wasn't coming. So I went back to the living room and read some news web sites (and a few others as well) and answered most of my email from the past few days. I finally fell asleep some time after midnight.

Today I have A TON to do!! Most importantly, I have to write a paper for anthropology. We have to write a 1-2 page paper on how Darwin's concept of natural selection influenced social change and diversity (or something like that). I thought I was going to work a little bit on it on the train home, so I took the question with me. Or so I thought. I can't seem to find it anywhere. It's not in my suitcase, not in either of my notebooks... I basically know how I was planning on answering the question, but I still wanted to re-read the question one more time to make sure I'm answering the right thing. I'll look again in a few minutes. I also have a huge pile of mail to go through. I've never gotten as much mail as I have in the past month or so. I used to get a big pile at some point in the month and then get a few pieces through the rest of the month. Now I seem to get huge piles every week. What am I getting more of? I think most of it is theatre related and credit card offers, but there are other random things too like financial stuff, election stuff, and other local activities.

I'm not feeling my usual fall feelings- not feeling creative, not in the mood to wear cozy clothes, not in the mood to listen to "fall" music (like Jethro Tull's, "Songs from the Wood!")... In fact, I just realised (or finally noticed) that it's October. This month will fly by with all the things I have planned (theatre, tests, jobs searching, visitors...), and then it'll be November- Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping... Then December- holidays, lonliness... And then a new year will be starting. Time flies.

I'm finding it difficult to get anything accomplished right now that requires concentration. I can't turn off the news and I can't stop reading news web sites. This is going to be a long war and I know I'll eventually get back to the daily grind, but I can't seem to do that today even though I must. Last night I was scared. Today I'm inquisitive. And I can't seem to think about anything that isn't related to current events. I actually am surprised I managed to type as much as I did about my weekend (although I know I left out some things). I am upset that the media cannot report absolute truth. I know they make mistakes and tell things in a way to hold audience attention, but this bothers me. I hear/read reports all day. I know personally that some of them are false (local things I have witnessed, especially theatre related things). I wonder which statements are true and which ones are false or embellished. I want to understand everything completely. And then when I realise this is an impossible task, I just want to live my life as best as I can and forget all about the global events. I can't seem to find a comfortable medium.

Okay, I really need to start on this paper. But how?

I feel Fall today! I've had a few flashbacks of Blacksburg and I'm feeling powerful and intelligent. Now I don't have to force myself to listen to Jethro Tull's, "Songs from the Wood!" (I was going to make myself listen to it to get in a Fall mood). Maybe I'll listen to it tomorrow though.

RCN called me this morning at 8:10 to tell me that the problems I've been having is on their end (no kidding) and it would be a waste for a technician to come out today. Why couldn't they have told me this a long time ago? Oh well, at least I can go about my day without waiting for them. They have too many people on the same servers and it's slowing everything down. They said it would be fixed in 2-3 days. It's been a problem for over a month- do I really think it'll be fixed in 2-3 days? No. But maybe one day in the somewhat near future it will be.

Somehow I managed to write my paper last night. It didn't take long- the hard part was starting it. That's always the hardest part for me- starting it and ending it. I also looked through my mail and decided most of it wasn't urgent, so I'll deal with it either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Today I need to get to school early to print out my paper (thanks to school, it's not a big deal that I don't have a printer) and pick up the materials for the profiency tests.

At around 2:30 AM I had this thought:
OMG!!! I just had a flashback of driving in Christiansburg on Christmas Eve listening to Christmas music. It doesn't feel that long ago. What the hell happened to the last 10 months?

Last night classes were okay. The Math workshop was okay. I picked up the materials for the CPE (proficiency exam) without much trouble (I had to wait a little while though because there was only one woman who could give me the materials- WHY????). The essay we're given to look at before the exam is about communities and how people choose the one they want to live in. I'm so glad it's a subject I'm interested in (reminds me a little of last semester's Urban Affairs class). That will help with this stupid exam.

I got home and was very awake. I did a lot of stuff online (dealing with emails, chatting with some people, looking for work...), and before I knew it, it was 2:00 AM! Fortunately, even though I didn't fall asleep until around 4:00, I woke up at 10:00 wide awake. I guess I'm finally back on my "normal" schedule. I still think my theory about the every-other-month schedule is true. Since the beginning of October, I've been on a not-needing-much-sleep schedule. September I needed lots of sleep. I like not needing much sleep. It lets me get more done each day and makes me feel better about myself. These past few days, I've been feeling positive about personal issues. I'm scared about the global (and local) situation, but I am able to live my daily life and feel good about it. I think this is the first time in a month I am able to say that. That feels so good.

I talked to Marcell last night. She's been spending her days volunteering for the Red Cross, attending services around the city, and with the leftover time- she's looking for work. Everyone handles tragedy and horror in different ways.

Tomorrow I'm going to see "Godspell" at St. Barts. I'm really looking forward to that- for two reasons: one, it's one of my favourite shows, and two, I get to see what this church is all about and see if I can get a feel for the type of community it is. I'd really like to find a community where I can feel comfortable. I'm not certain this is the place since their web site made it seem like they REALLY preach about Christ being our saviour and being the main important thing in our lives, but they also preach that he accepts all human beings, so if I can ignore the religious aspects and concentrate on the acceptence, maybe it will be okay. I'll find out soon. Before the show, I'm going to pick a restaurant participating in the Dine Out for America. I was thinking about Tao, but I don't know if I want to go there by myself. I think I'll try something else. I'll figure it out tomorrow. I'm sure all the restaurants will be busy, but I can always sit at the bar (that's better when dining alone anyway).

Soon I have to get up to school. I'm actually, while not looking forward to it, not minding attending classes today (they're easy classes and there are no tests or papers right now). I'm not looking forward to the Math workshop though (I don't think I ever will be). I finished a unit up yesterday and the next unit wasn't on the computer program but on a video with a written test at the end. I decided I didn't want to deal with that yesterday so I'll give it a shot today. I'll probably watch the video 2-3 times, make sure I sort of know what I'm doing, take the test and then fail it. And since I can't move on until someone grades the test, I can leave for the day. Guess I'll bring a magazine with me. Speaking of magazines, I keep getting offers for a free yearly subscription to magazines of my choice. I've been able to choose 8 so far. I've picked: Time Out New York, Smithsonian, Money, New York, Travel Holiday, Los Angeles, Stuff, and Metropolitan Home. Have I had time to read them? Some. I should read more often though. I've gotten into taking a magazine to little cafes and doing my reading there. So that's what I'll do this afternoon after the Math workshop. Or maybe I'll just get to the Math workshop at 4:00 so I won't have time in between. Then I can stay home and do stuff here. There aren't any cafes around the school anyway. I'd either have to go to the cafeteria where they're always playing loud Rap music or something else just as awful, or read in the library (in which case I couldn't eat anything). I really don't like spending time at Hunter.

Okay, now I've given myself extra time this afternoon at home. Although maybe I should take a magazine to a cafe around here and eat something before going to school. Then I'll have food energy to deal with the Math video.

I feel like today's entry is a bit muddled. I'm not really paying attention to what I'm writing. I don't know what I've written at all. Oh well, I don't have time to look at it now. It's already 12:15 and I still have things to do before I leave. Maybe I won't do the lunch and reading thing today...

The last three songs on "Songs from the Wood!" are simply beautiful (I was so happy when they played the Pibroch instrumental at their show at Pier Six in August). They make me feel warm, melancholy (in a good way, if that makes any sense), and wanting to go take a ride on back country roads enjoying the Fall season and then find a cabin with a fireplace, and drink a nice bottle of wine with someone special (and it's not just "Fires at Midnight" that makes me feel this way- in fact, it's more "Pibroch" than "Fires at Midnight"). That's the only romantic fantasy I've ever had. Maybe one day it'll work out in real life...

Everyone should listen to Sinatra's, "Autumn in New York" and maybe that will convince them to put away their present fears (hey, terrorism can happen anywhere) and come take a mini vacation in my wonderful city! It really is a great time of year to be here. Of course, I think New York seems wonderful in all seasons (except for the high winds and too-often rain). But seriously, Fall is a lovely time to be here- walking around Central Park, checking out an outdoor cafe... And the Christmas season is beautiful as well- looking at the window displays along 5th Ave., seeing the tree in Rockefeller Center, drinking hot chocolate in one of the many cafes... And Spring is a great time too- walking around enjoying the warm air, taking in a game at Yankee (or Shea) stadium... And summer is fun as well- summer concerts in Bryant/Battery/Central Park, movies in Bryant Park, outdoor theatre events... I really do love this city!

I HAVE WORK!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!! Tomorrow I get to go to the PF to do some research. It's not much, but at least it's something. And there might be more to follow!

So I'll do that tomorrow afternoon, then I'll stop by the American Airlines Theatre to give them my HIPTIX membership form, then I'll find somewhere for dinner, and then go see "Godspell".

Eytan and Jeff aren't coming up until Saturday which gives me Friday evening free. I was thinking about going to see a show, but if I can't find one I want to see for free or a really reduced price or in a convenient area, I'll probably stay home and rest. I love Fridays at home. That would probably be a good idea anyway since most of my nights in October seem to be busy with theatre and visitors (and a possible trip to Boston/New England).

I'm toying with the idea of checking out a show at Don't Tell Mama- there are two on Friday night that are free (for me). One is at 6:00 and the other at 7:00 (or I could do both). Should I or shouldn't I? Maybe by the time I make up my mind, they won't be available for free. Staying at home and renting movies sounds like a good idea too. Hmm, what to do... I'll take a poll. If you email me before Friday afternoon with a yes or no, I'll add them up and let that be my decision (provided I can still get in for free- if not, I'll just stay home and watch movies, unless there's another show I could see for free...).

Today is busy as well. Again I had a ton of email to deal with. I'm also looking into car rentals to Boston. I'm planning on leaving Thursday morning and staying through Saturday afternoon. Paula and Harvey will be coming here Wednesday, staying Thursday night for a cocktail party (they hate them, I love them- wish I could go), then going up to Boston on Friday. They will get a ride back with me on Saturday. Anyway, this evening I'm going to hear Nancy Bach's cabaret act at Don't Tell Mama. I decided that I'll have a long winter of staying home. While the weather is still beautiful, I should go out. So this is perfect- I'll be going out but it's not that long a performance and it starts early enough (7:00 PM) that I can get home early. When I get back I'll have to go through my mail and clean up the apartment so Eytan and Jeff don't walk into a mess tomorrow.

The Beta Band is playing at the Supper Club on Thursday the 18th. While it would be great seeing them live, I don't think I could drag myself out to see a show like that alone. I don't enjoy standing in a crowd of people all night. Plus, I want to get up to Boston. They're playing in Boston Saturday night, but I don't think that would work either. Even though I could probably drag Rebecca with me, it's not something either of us would really enjoy. Plus, I'd have to leave REALLY early Sunday morning for "Music Man" and that's not worth it. If they were playing at a concert where we can sit and watch, I might feel differently. Guess I'm getting old. I never used to mind standing through a performance with a ton of annoying people all around me. Oh well.

I'm going to mention this even though I don't completely trust it. I got several emails like this one, all worded a little differently. Even though I don't completely trust it, I would still avoid going to malls on the 31st. Personally I avoid going to malls any day of the year (I'm mall phobic) and I don't have to worry about being near any in Manhattan (except for that thing on 6th Ave).
"My friend's friend was dating a guy from Afghanistan up until a month ago. She had a date with him around 9/6 and was stood up. She was understandably upset and went to his home to find it completely emptied. On 9/10, she received a letter from her boyfriend explaining that he wished he could tell her why he had left and that he was sorry it had to be like that. The part worth mentioning is that he BEGGED her not to get on any commercial airlines on 9/11 and to not to go any malls on Halloween. As soon as everything happened on the 11th, she called the FBI and has since turned over the letter."
There are so many stories and hoaxes out there. If we believe every one, we will lock ourselves in our homes and not want to ever come out. This country is so media driven, it'll be hard to avoid these stories. Plus, people like to overreact. Most of the time I'm an extremely rational person, but these days I sometimes catch myself thinking the way everyone else is. I'm scared. I don't want to believe any of these stories, but I can't help but take them all a little seriously.

Her name was Robyn and was visiting from Vancouver! She was a beautiful woman who has been performing for the past 9 years. She's hoping to move here soon. I wish her lots of luck getting her career started in New York. We hung out after the cabaret show- walking around the Times Square area and eventually settling down at Danny's Skylight Room (a piano bar). One of the bartenders sang a few songs and had a wonderful voice! He said he performs there on Sunday nights. Robyn said she has tentative plans on Sunday, but if she's free, we'll go out for dinner and then check out Danny's. If she's not free, I'll go myself. I really want to hear this guy again!

I had a few drinks last night and was very tired when I got home. So I just checked my email and then went to bed. I got up early to clean up the apartment but decided not to colour my hair. I'll do that Monday.

I talked to Harvey for a few minutes this morning to talk about the car rental to Boston issue. It looks like it will work fine- he called and got a good deal from Hertz. Anyway, we were talking about restaurants here that are closing. He asked if I thought the Helmand (an Afghan restaurant in Baltimore) would close. I told him I didn't think it would because Baltimorons wouldn't know what kind of cuisine they were eating. I told him the story of when Maki Maki (a Japanese restaurant in Towson) opened, I saw 4 businessmen check it out. Three stood up on the steps while the one brave pioneer went down to see what it was. He announced to the others that it was a Chinese buffet. IDIOTS!!! Anyway, we agreed that the Helmand wouldn't close. He called me back a few minutes later to tell me a little story. He just went to get a bagel at the bagel shoppe in Towson and there were two women there. One was around 50 and the other around 70 and they both had bleached blonde hair. One of them pointed to a croissant and asked the guy behind the counter if it was a scone (she saw the word scone on the glass case). He told her it was croissant. She said, "Oh, that's like a pretzel?" He said that it was more like a roll. She said, "Okay, heat it up and put a lot of butter on it." What a moron!!!!! Even Dunkin Donuts have croissants. Did these women just come out of a cave they had been hiding in their entire lives? So Harvey decided that the Helmand would DEFINITELY NOT close- Baltimorons have no clue what they are eating!

Okay, Eytan and Jeff should be here soon...

So yesterday was great! After Eytan and Jeff got here, we went to lunch at Mickey Mantle's. Then we walked through Central Park on our way to the planetarium. Eytan called before we left and learned that it was free admission day (usually it's $19). When we got there, all the space shows at the planetarium were sold out. So we went to the parts where you didn't need a ticket to get in. I wasn't too impressed with any of it. After we walked around there, we went to the Natural History part of the museum and looked at the gems. By this point, my feet were killing me (I really can't wear shoes that aren't sandals for more than a few hours without my feet rebelling) and even though I was interested in the gems, I had to sit down. My feet were through with walking.

That evening, we saw "Tick, Tick... Boom!" It was fantastic (except for Molly Ringwald- which I figured would be the case). I'm so glad I got to see Raul Esparza one more time before he leaves (this is his last weekend). He's just so incredible! We were in the first row which gave us an interesting view (every little detail). Molly Ringwald, while she had a pleasant voice, was way too severe. She had no chemistry with Raul and she held back when singing as an ensemble (maybe she wasn't comfortable with it yet- but she should have been by now). So even with her performance, I was still so happy through the entire show. It's just amazing! I was beginning to worry that I wasn't able to enjoy anything these days except "Music Man" and Eric Lewis shows. I'm so glad that's not true. "Louder than Words" was always a great number, but of course it has so much more meaning now. I actually teared up when he sang, "Why do we follow leaders who never lead, why does it take a catastrophe to start a revolution?" We waited around after the show to talk to Raul (Jeff wanted to tell him how much he enjoyed his performance). I really want to go see him in "Cabaret" now. I'm thinking of going over to the theatre this afternoon after Eytan and Jeff leave (or maybe while they're still here, if we're in the area) and see what they have available for Friday night (Raul's first performance as the Emcee). I also realised last night that he reminds me of Joel (in looks). That bothered me. It reminded me that I still was hoping Joel would reply to my email and one day we might get together. I know that won't happen. For the past few months, I hadn't even thought of him. Or maybe I remembered him once in a while, but not in an emotional way. But seeing Raul last night made me miss Joel and wish I could run into him somewhere. It doesn't help that I've been feeling a little lonely these past few days.... Oh well, I don't feel like going into that now. Having Eytan and Jeff up here make me realise that it's not necessarily a relationship that I want, but just some good friends or fun acquaintances to hang out with. I had a really good time last night. I was able to forget about world problems for a few hours. Even though I have had a few good times in the past month, I was never fully able to forget. Last night, I forgot.

After the show, we walked to Grace's. If I had realised just how far a walk that would be, I would have figured out other transportation options. I thought it would be about a 15 minute walk. I don't know how long it took us, but it was definitely more than 15 minutes. Fortunately for me, I had my sandals on (I realised it wasn't cold enough to put away the sandals yet- a wonderful thing) so I was able to walk without any problems. Eytan said his legs were getting tired. They were sore from him work-out yesterday and we had already walked a lot in the afternoon through the park. But we finally got there. Right before we crossed the last intersection, I looked to make sure no cars were coming and it was safe to cross. I forgot where I was (I really was enjoying my evening and forgetting about the problems in the world) and happened to catching the big hole in the skyline. Ouch. Back to reality. I knew where we were and where we were going, but I forgot to prepare myself. I sort of prepared myself before we started our journey, but then I forgot. That was sobering. After our evening at Grace's, Jeff wanted to go down to the site to pay his respects. Eytan didn't want to go and suggested going to Union Square or somewhere like that. Jeff didn't think that was what he wanted, so we just left. He said if he still felt like he wanted to go down there tomorrow, he would do that.

Anyway, Ilove their Pimms Cup cocktail! After we left there, we went to Christopher Street and wandered in a random bar with a woman playing piano. She played without passion and sang with no heart and turned emotional songs into peppy little numbers. But the bar was nice a laid back with a sweet bartender. He sang a song as well and he sounded great (some number from "A New Brain" which I'm not familiar with).

I don't know what we're doing today. I think they're waking up now, so I guess I'll find out soon.

Then we came back here and Jeff and I read The Times while Eytan took a nap. Then it was time for them to depart. The time went by so fast. I walked them to their car and as soon as I took the first few steps away, I got lonely. I had this wave of lonliness wash over me. I was very melancholy.

But I managed to go about my business rather than go home and be even more miserable. I went to Kinkos so I could print out the discount coupon for Cabaret and then went over to the Cabaret box office and got a ticket for October 26 (Raul Esparza's first performance as the Emcee). Then I took the bus home- I was tired of walking. We walked to Norma's on 56th between 6th and 7th. Then we walked around looking for The Times. Then we walked back to my apartment. Then we walked to their car at 59th & 1st. Then I walked to Kinkos on Lex @ 54th.

So I got home and was tired and melancholy. I should have gone through my mail and read the reading for the CPE which is on the 17th. But instead I didn't do much of anything. I tried to go to sleep at 9:00 but that didn't happen. I got up and checked football scores and read half of the reading assignment for the CPE before heading back to bed. I don't think I fell asleep before midnight. I tried to wake up at 7:30, but that didn't happen either. I didn't get out of bed until 10:00. I don't think I'm going to dye my hair today. I got a call from Robyn (the woman I met the other night) saying that she had plans that night but would give me a call today and maybe we could get together for coffee. So I don't feel like being in the middle of dying my hair and that be the only time she can get together (I'll do it tonight when I get home). Plus, I have to head up to school by 3:00 for the Math workshop and classes. So I'll just go about my business and hope she does call. It would be nice to see her again before she leaves.

I have a busy week ahead. Tomorrow I have the RCN appointment sometime between 12-5. Then at night is "Noises Off". Wednesday is the CPE at 1:00 and then I have classes. Paula and Harvey are coming up that night, so they'll be here when I get home. I'll talk to them for a short time and then I have to pack for the weekend. Thursday morning I rent the car and head up to Boston. Thursday night I'm doing something with Kristin and Rebecca. Friday I'll take a drive around New Hampshire (I should look into that before I leave) and then do something with Rebecca that night. Saturday I'll go with Rebecca to her 3 year old cousin's birthday party for an hour or so and then meet Paula and Harvey at the Summer Shack for lunch before we all head back to New York. Sunday is lunch and "Music Man" with Paula and then I'll head up to Lincoln Center for "QED".

The following week looks busy as well. I have my music midterm on Monday. Then Tuesday night is "By Jeeves". Wednesday is the music concert at Hunter. Friday is "Cabaret".

Okay, enough writing- time to get busy...

Lucky day! Even though I didn't get to sleep very early, I managed to wake up at 8:00 with no problem!

I was reading my entry from last October 16, and I laughed out loud at several points. I can be really funny sometimes. I haven't noticed me being funny in a long time though.

I hope RCN shows up before 4:00. I'd like to get the appointment out of the way. If he fixes something or tells me a solution is possible, that's a bonus.

Yesterday afternoon I met Robyn and we had smoothies at a little coffee shop next to Carnegie Hall on the 56th St. side. It was a perfect place to go. We hung out for around an hour, talking probably too much about the problems of airport security (she had to get on a plane a few hours later). I couldn't have gotten up to school before 4:00 and I decided an hour of Math video watching wasn't worth it (I'll get it done next Monday), so I went to Starbucks (I really don't like supporting that place) to finish the reading for the CPE. I think I have enough thoughts on the reading to write a good essay, but I'll go over it some more tomorrow morning.

Classes were okay. For Anthropology we had another substitute. This guy will be teaching for 3 more classes. I actually like him the best. He goes into too much detail, but he's clear and even tells us WHY he's saying what he's saying- where he gets his information, mentions other views to show that his information is an opinion, etc.- and he's very rational. Too bad he's not permenantly teaching. Unfortunately, the day our regular instructor comes back is the day of the scheduled midterm. Our current substitute doesn't have any information about the midterm. Hopefully this guy will get the information from our instructor or when the instructor comes back, he will reschedule the midterm. Music, we finished going over definitions for the midterm. I still haven't learned anything, but it's nice to get her concrete definitions so I'll do well on the midterm. I need to listen to Smetana's "Bartered Bride" overture for the midterm as well. I have no idea what to keep in mind when listening, but she'll go over that before Monday (the day of the midterm). I'm going to take it with me and listen to it on the ride up to Boston. I think a 4+ hour ride each way will give me plenty of chance to memorise it.

I hardly took care of any priorities last night. I was pretty tired when I got home. So I didn't colour my hair until this morning. Note to self: Don't use Loreal Casting Spa again. I'll give it a few days, but I don't think this product works on my hair. I chose it because it's non-permenant (supposedly lasts 28 days) and gentle on the hair. So at least I didn't use a harsh product that didn't work. I'll try something else next month. Now I need to go through that Mt. Kilomanjaro-sized pile of mail that I've been avoiding for a while now. I'll feel so much better once that's out of the way.

Tonight is "Noises Off"!!!!!!! I hope I can get in a better mood by then. I'm not in a bad mood, but I need to definitely be in a better mood. Maybe the show will be amazing enough to transform my mood, but I still think it would be better to arrive in good spirits. One thing I should do to stop a negative mood would be to stop reading about September 11. I keep finding all these articles, facts, stories... Stop reading! There is such a thing as too much information.

I'm trying really hard to get in a good mood. I'm thinking about how lucky I am in general. I'm listening to good music. As soon as I stop writing, I'm going to read my old journal entries for the rest of this week since I won't have time to read tomorrow and then I leave for Boston. Before the show, I'm going to take a magazine to Jack Rose and have dinner there. Oops, maybe I should only listen to select songs from "Tick, Tick... Boom!". "Johnny Can't Decide", "See Her Smile", "Come to Your Senses", "Why"- not good happy music choices.

So RCN hasn't shown up yet. Actually that's not completely a bad thing. For the first time since the week of the 11th, my Internet connection is working well. Maybe they "fixed" something on their end and will tell me once again that someone does not need to come out to my apartment. Hey, maybe I can get another credit. If that happens, pretty soon they'll be paying me to use their service. That's a happy thought!

In reading old entries, I reminded myself of how much I like the NTN bar trivia game. I decided to see if any bar has it near me and learned that Mad River Bar and Grill has it (about 20 blocks from me). Hopefully this isn't old information and I'll remember to check it out soon. Never mind- I just read a bunch of negative reviews of that place. I'll check out "Mo's Caribbean" instead (also not too far from me).

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"Noises Off"- well, the script is so great, no matter what a particular production is like, it's still hilarious! I didn't love the casting (Peter Gallagher was not a great Lloyd and I can't remember his name, but I didn't care for the guy who played Gary) and I didn't like all the characterisations. No matter how many times I see it, I always seem to forget just how funny Act III is! It's hard to catch all of it because the audience is laughing through the entire thing. This was the first time the woman playing Poppy was sassy. Usually people play her as quiet and pathetic. This woman (again, can't remember her name) gave her attitude. I liked that. I believe the performance was sold out and this was the first preview. I'd love to see it again once it opens, but who knows how difficult it will be to get a ticket (I'd want another good seat- last night I was 3rd row, centre)? As I was walking out of the theatre (it took people forever to get out the door), a door to backstage opened and a guy came out asking someone where someone else was. The woman said, "Behind the pillar, talking to Michael Frayn." Wow, I would have loved to say something to him (like, "You're a genius), but it was too difficult to get back there.

It was WINDY and slightly rainy when I got outside. I decided that even though I really needed to get home and do a few things before going to sleep, that it was a good idea to stop in somewhere for one drink. I thought maybe the rain would slow down or something. The first two places I passed were either closed or no one was in there. I finally passed an Italian restaurant with a few people at the bar, and I decided to go in. There were two guys sitting next to me having an interesting conversation about music. One of them noticed I was listening and included me in the conversation. Then another man walked in and he was introduced to me and the other guy as some famous songwriter. The other guy said, "Wow, this is my lucky night, I'm sitting with a famous song writer and Paul Schaefer (from Letterman)". Once he said that, I realised he did look familiar. I really wish I recognised people more easily. So I talked to them for a little while. I didn't like the songwriter- he was a name dropper and dominated the conversation. Before I knew I was talking to Paul Schaefer, he asked me what my favourite song of all time was. Tough one! I decided on Tull's "Baker Street Muse" (first great song that came to mind). I think he was impressed with my choice, even though he didn't know that particular song. Anyway, it was a nice random enjoyable evening. Maybe I'll go back there next week after seeing "By Jeeves".

RCN never showed up yesterday. I called around 4:30 to find out what to do. It took forever to the guy on the phone to figure anything out, and it was time for me to leave. He said he would call me back and leave a message if I wasn't home. He called back and his message said that he rescheduled it for that evening between 5-9. I of course got that message at 11:30 that night. Someone else left a message saying someone showed up at 9:00 (gee, they didn't wait till the last minute or anything), but my doorman said no one could do work in the building after 4:30 (hmm, I didn't know that- good to know). So I called this morning and the only time they can reschedule for is next Tuesday from 1-5 (hope they show up before 4:30), That's fine, I couldn't do it before then anyway. I can't wait till they come out, "fix" the problem, and I can call up and tell them how long I did not have service. I really wish I had another company to choose for Internet access (like Earthlink). So frustrating. But it really doesn't seem too important in the grand scheme of things.

By the time I got home last night, I was too tired to do anything productive but not tired enough to fall asleep. I've been like that a lot recently (scared that will happen tonight). So I woke up early this morning and I still didn't have time to do everything, and I forgot to go to the bank (I'll do that really early tomorrow morning before I leave for Boston), Tonight I need to answer a lot of email, organise a little work, and pack. Paula and Harvey are coming up tonight as well.

The subway was REALLY crowded today! Then when I got off at 68th St., so did everyone else. It took 5 minutes to walk up the stairs. Then the school was crowded as well (what's going on here today?). It took another 10 minutes to get up 3 flights of stairs. There are a few events going on here today but they all start at 1:00. Is everyone here for those things and just really early?

Okay, time to go take a stupid exam. Hope it doesn't require too much effort on my part.

I looked into going to a movie, but there's only one movie theatre close enough to walk there, see a less than 2 hour movie, and walk back. I checked but they didnt' have any movies starting at exactly the time I needed. Then I thought about skipping Anthropology and only going to music. I thought about seeing a movie again. There really weren't many options and it's too cold (windy) to walk too far. I thought about going home, but I'd never get myself back out for music class. I thought about doing the Math workshop, but my brain is too tired from analysing graphs and reading and writing essays. I couldn't handle Math right now. So, I thought I'd write in my journal. Then I can check some things online. Maybe then I'll grab something to eat from the cafeteria and find somewhere to eat it. The hard part is finding somewhere to sit- the cafeteria is too noisy (loud people and loud music) and the only quiet place that isn't outside is the library, and of course you can't eat in there. There are a few random desks scattered throughout the hallways, but I'm not wandering around until I find one. I guess I'll just go up to where my next class is and sit on the floor. I hate this school- forcing me to have dinner on the floor.

So, what else can I write about to pass the time? I can write about how the computer labs here are too small. They have about 150 computers and that's not enough- especially when the biggest lab (around 50 computers) usually has a class occupying it. So you just have to stand at one of the rooms and wait... and wait... and wait. Meanwhile someone walks by you to another room, someone is just leaving that room, and that person who walked by you goes right in even though you've been waiting for 20 minutes. It doesn't matter- you were not waiting at the right room. It's all about being in the right place at the right time.

Okay, that's enough complaining for one day. What can I write about that's positive? I hope the weather is nice this weekend. It doesn't have to be warm, but not rainy or too windy would be nice, especially during the drives (4+ hours there, 4+ hours back, and on and off all day on Friday). This time last year I wrote about the temperature in Boston- it was 82��! I'm not expecting that, but I sure hope it's not 52�� with 40 mph winds.

That wasn't positive. I'm not going to stop this entry until I come up with something positive to write about. "Music Man" on Sunday will be great! That's definitely something positive!

Okay, I'm tired of typing. I'm going to spend a little more time online and then get something to eat. I'd love to have some caffeine, but I don't want to be up all night (not that caffeine gives a guarantee of that happening). I have to get up early tomorrow.

Thursday I drove up to Boston. Getting out of the city wasn't as easy as it should have been. When I paid the toll at the Triborough Bridge, I was in the far right lane since that was the only one open for cash (the rest were EZ Pass). Well, the ramp for 278 E. was 7 lanes over on the left. It was impossible to get over 7 lanes with only a few feet in between me and the ramp. So I got on 278 W. and hoped I could turn around at some point. I got off near the La Guardia exit and recognised where I was from many trips to the airport. Unfortunately, there was not a way to get back on 278 heading East. I got back on going West and wound up in Brooklyn. That part was easy. I turned around after enjoying a little scenic tour of Brooklyn and found 278 East. There was A LOT of traffic heading East and it took a LONG TIME to get back to the Triborough. I finally made it out of the city, but it took 2 hours (and involved being in 4 boroughs- I almost thought of driving to Staten Island just to say I was in all 5 in one day)! Glad I left at 10:00 AM. I actually didn't mind the driving around different boroughs (it was fun), but the sitting on 278 with all the traffic was not fun. It was especially not fun since the stupid car did not have a CD player. It was a Mercury Grand Marquis (AKA a boat). One would think a full size car would have a CD player, but this one did not. It's actually a poorly made car that does not handle well at all. So I took the back roads (mainly Route 1) through Westchester, looking for an electronic store where I could buy a cheap portable CD player. I finally found a Coconuts in Port Chester and bought a portable CD player with a car kit. I used to have one but I think there's something wrong with it. I don't remember if it's fixable or not, so I thought there's nothing wrong with having a backup one.

The rest of the drive was uneventful. When I got into the Boston area, I started recognising where I was (that was a good thing)and thought I could figure out how to get to Rebecca's house. It was a beautiful day and I was really enjoying driving around quiet streets with all the trees with colourful leaves lining the roads. I got a little turned around, but called Rebecca and found out I was exactly where I needed to be. I always feel like I know the area better than I do, then second guess myself and think I have no idea where I am, and then I'm always where I need to be. I shouldn't know the Boston area that well, but I think I do. I'm not explaining myself very well because I'm in a rush. The only area I know really well is the area around Harvard Square (I can walk around there with no problem).

I met up with Rebecca and Kristin that evening for dinner at Maurizio's- a nice Italian restaurant in the North End (I didn't remember the name, I just looked it up at Zagat). It was okay (nice wine list, decent food), but I wouldn't highly recommend it (cold atmosphere, bad waitstaff). After dinner, we went to The Times for karaoke. There songlist was weak, and I had trouble picking a song. I sang "White Rabbit" (not so great- wish I had time to do another one to redeem myself), Rebecca sang "I Dreamed a Dream" and Kristin sang "Like a Rolling Stone". I probably shouldn't be writing this, but I'm a little attracted to Kristin (especially when she was singing- she had a lot of poise and energy). We always have a good time together, she's extremely intelligent, we have a lot in common (fine dining, travel, music...), and she has good taste (or at least, my taste). But of course I will be keeping this to myself (she won't be reading this and if by some odd chance Rebecca decides she has a few minutes in her overly busy life and reads this, hopefully she won't say anything to Kristin). I see her so rarely and really enjoy the time we do spend together. I love having her as a friend and don't want to make her uncomfortable.

Friday I had planned on driving up to New Hampshire, but I got a late start and had to be back for dinner in Boston, so I didn't make it. I drove up Route 1 for a little bit, stopping in a Barnes and Noble to have an Honest Tea and a bagel while reading a book on the TONY awards. "Fiddler on the Roof" keeps popping up in my life. On the drive up to Boston, I was listening to the "Forbidden Broadway" album with "Ambition" ("Tradition"). Then in Barnes and Noble, they were playing the instrumental version of "Tradition". When I left Barnes and Noble, it was already 4:00, so I drove back to Somerville rather than drive around some more and get stuck in rush hour traffic (it's bad enough when it isn't rush hour). I wasn't meeting Rebecca until 5:30 or 6:00, so I went to PJ Ryans for a drink. I tried to read a local paper but couldn't concentrate. I watched the news but their TV didn't have sound or captions so it was a little frustrating. I was very emotional about the news on Friday. I had tears come to my eyes when I saw the story about the explosives in the Phili bus terminal and the story about the Anthrax case at the NY Post. I liked PJ Ryans. There were quite a few people there on a Friday afternoon/early evening and many of those people were alone. That's one of the things I really love about Boston- people go out by themselves. When you go to a restaurant alone, the host never says, "Just one?" like they do in every other city.

Friday night I had dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Watertown with Rebecca and Kristin. The cool thing about this place was that they actually had sushi rice listed as a menu item! I usually have to ask for it and often get a confused look. I should have taken advantage of the fact that it was on the memu and order it, but I didn't since I wasn't that hungry and I had ordered Tofu Miso Udon soup which was HUGE (I couldn't even finish that) plus had a few pieces of Rebecca's spinich rolls. We were all tired and called it an early night. On the way back to Rebecca's, she wanted to stop at the grocery store to pick up a card for her 3 year old cousin's birthday. I decided to get a few boxes of cereal since stores around here don't have much of a selection and are incredibly expensive. I would just have to drive to my apartment to drop off everything before returning the car. I got to the cereal aisle and went crazy! I wanted one of EVERYTHING! I was so excited to be there- it was a bit ridiculous. I bought 15 boxes of cereal and 13 bottles of Honest Tea (this store had all my favourites of everything), spending around $70 (not bad at all!). I usually hate food shopping since I can never figure out what I want. I was just sorry I had to stick to non-perishable items. I told Rebecca in the check out line that this was the highlight of my trip (a statement that was a bit extreme, but that's how I felt at the time). Looking back, I'd say it was one of the highlights, along with hanging out with friends and seeing the Fall foliage.

While I LOVE the colourful trees, part of me does not love it. I woke up Friday morning thinking I had a cold. Then I realised it was just allergies. I always forget about allergies. Yuck! Fortunately, they only bother me when I'm falling asleep and when I wake up. Definitely one of the benefits of living in Manhattan- no allergies for me!

Saturday, I went with Rebecca to her cousin's birthday party. I only stayed a short while since I had to meet Paula and Harvey at the Summer Shack for lunch. They called right when I got to the party but I missed their call by 1 second (I hate that). The message said that the Summer Shack was closed (why would a casual dining restaurant be closed on weekend afternoons?) and they would stay there until 1:15 waiting for me. I got Rebecca to let me follow her there so I wouldn't get lost (we were in Winchester and getting back to Route 3 from there is REALLY confusing). We made it in time. Rebecca went back to the party and Paula, Harvey, and I went back to their hotel for lunch and so they could get their suitcases. It wasn't exactly well thought out on their part about leaving their suitcases at the hotel, but it wasn't a big deal (there was just A LOT of traffic). After lunch, we picked Rebecca up at her house so we could give her a ride to New Haven. That ride was okay- no traffic and I put on some good tunes (we even had a "Godspell" sing-a-long). When we got to New Haven, Harvey took over driving. We both hate sitting in the car as a passenger, so we shared the ride. He let me take over for the last bit of the ride since he always gets into the city by way of the Lincoln Tunnel. I told him it was ridiculous to do that since I live on the east side and the rental car location is on the east side as well. The Triborough is really the best way in from where we were coming from and where we were going, and he didn't want to drive a new way since he was tired and had a headache. We got over the Triborough Bridge and there were no signs for FDR Drive (we were all looking and none of us saw where to go). We wound up heading towards La Guardia (I'm still really confused as to what we did wrong), so I suggested 495 to the Midtown Tunnel. My poor eyesight makes it extremely difficult to see while driving at night. I can see where I'm going, but I don't like to drive in areas I don't know (except on the highway). So I pulled over before 495 and let Harvey drive the rest of the way (the seat adjustment buttons were getting quite a workout). So the last leg of the ride took a bit longer than it should have, but it worked (the traffic wasn't too bad at all). We left Somerville around 3:30 and made it back to my apartment, I think, around 8:00 (and that included a stop in New Haven).

Yesterday was a perfect day! The weather was beautiful (warm even). Paula and I had breakfast at Norma's before the show. She had bacon and eggs and I had yoghurt with berries. We didn't know how long it would be to get a table, so we got there early. It wasn't a long wait at all and we had a lot of time to kill before "Music Man". Paula went shopping and I had a few drinks at Gallagher's. I was sitting next to some Local 1s (union stagehands). One worked "By Jeeves" so I asked him how it was going. He said it was okay but was too soon to tell. ALW has been there all week changing the music. The bartender was talking to the host about Paul Schafer and if he's been around recently. The host said that he comes in all the time. Now I know two of his hangouts. I'll probably run into him again at some point.

I met Paula at the theatre at 2:00. We stood outside (it really was a beautiful day) and she made me point out everyone walking by who was in the show. Robert Sean Leonard walked by with his bike and she got really excited (she has a crush on him). The show was wonderful with two MINOR exceptions. My favourite dancer was out and the understudy for Charlie Cowell wasn't creepy enough and too good looking. It was the dance captain's and Michael Phelan's (Winthrop) last performance, so at the end of the curtain call, Rebecca Luker made a very emotional speech (she was crying through it and 90% of the cast was crying as well). Paula and I managed to sit together in the 3rd row on stage left (great view for the footbridge scene) since the seat next to Paula remained empty. The very edge of stage left was obstructed, but it didn't matter. We saw everything we needed to see! Paula LOVED the show!!! She had about 30 minutes to kill before meeting Harvey at the train station, so we waited around for Robert Sean Leonard. We waited for him to sign autographs and get pictures taken with all the kiddies and then he went over to talk to some girls he knew. Paula interrutped him to tell him that she admired his work (she said she felt silly waiting to talk to him. I don't blame her- I would have too). He put his hand on her shoulder and shook her hand and thanked her. She was beaming! When we were walking away, she said in the voice of an excited teenager, "He shook my hand!" I asked her if she would ever wash the hand, and of course she said she would- she's not that ridiculous. She had a fabulous day! I'm so glad. She's just not a happy person. She's always telling me how the world is a mess and she's miserable and she has dreams of suicide and how she doesn't enjoy living. That scares me. She also says the only reason she doesn't want her life to end is because she knows so many people need her around (especially me, Harvey, and Neil). So the fact that she had a wonderful day and was happy and joyous the entire time makes me beyond happy. It makes me feel absolutely wonderful. It makes me feel... never mind, I don't have enough time to come up with words to describe my joy.

After I put her in a cab, I took the bus up to Lincoln Center for "QED". I was early, but there wasn't enough time to do anything else. This was just a day of waiting around for theatre. I got some water and sat inside the theatre watching the people walk in. It was mostly and older crowd (big surprise), with some younger couples mixed in as well. There is not a bad seat in the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. I was in the second-to-last row in the loge (dead centre) and I could see perfectly (with my eyesight, that's saying a lot). The show was wonderful!!! Science, views on life and death, made you think about so many things. However, as usual- too much personal stuff, not enough science (I got spoiled by "Copenhagen")- but I enjoyed the personal stuff this time- wish there were elabourations on much of it (especially the part about his wife dying and about his views on death). There should have been a longer beat between the bit with his friend reciting the Tuvan's view on death and the next bit that went into the discussion on where his friend was going to take the Russian visitors. I would have liked another few seconds to let those words on death sink in. I would have prefered this to be a one man show. The female student didn't seem necessary. I know the one scene with her was important, but that message could have been conveyed another way without having her be present onstage. It could have been done like the rest of it- his stories, flashbacks... He could have even done the dance they did himself- showing what he was doing and describing what she was doing. Or, if she is to be left in the show, she should have been in it more. The balance was way off- she was onstage about 5% of the show. But I'm so glad I went. I would definitely see it again if the opportunity presents itself. But there is so much to see right now, I'm not going to actively make an effort to see it again. If I'm free one night and can get a free ticket- that would be great. Or if I have a free night and feel like waiting at TKTS or can find a discount code, I'll do that as well.

When I got home, I got a sweet, touching, honest letter from Harvey explaing that he was sorry about some of the things he did this weekend. He said he thinks I'm a wonderful person and loves me the way I am. I didn't deserve that letter but it did make me feel great.

On Wednesday night (yes, I'm going backward), Paula and I were talking about Anthrax. We came to the conclusion that they're not doing a great job of trying to keep the public calm. To disinfect the Capitol, they are using formaldehyde and chlorine, but they're telling us that washing your hands with soap and water after opening the mail is good enough.

Go Patriots!

I've been trying to remember the song from "Hair" at the beginning of Act II for the past few weeks (I've never heard a recording with this song on it, but we did it in our production at Catonsville). I hadn't been trying to remember it in the past few days, but suddenly I started singing it last night for no apparent reason. "Oh great god of power, oh great god of light..." I used to have trouble remembering things, but I'd almost always remember it in a few days. Recently, I'll try to remember something and hardly ever succeed, so this was nice- remembering something without even trying!

This morning, I finally looked over some stuff for the music midterm and listened to "Bartered Bride" overture as well. I'll look at my notes (not many) right before the exam and I should be fine. The hard part will be remembering the exact definitions for most of the terms. It's all mulitple choice and I have a feeling she'll make the choices sound very similar, making the decisions very difficult. And I have no idea how she'll word the questions on the "Bartered Bride". I'm sure she'll play a part and there will be a question on it, but will we need to know what instruments are playing or what the meter is or tempo or what comes after the part we're listening to or what the tone colour is? Oh well, I'm not really worried. I'm sure I won't get a perfect score (I'll know all the information but not pick every correct answer because of the wording), but I'll do well enough.

So the Diamondbacks are in the World Series!!! WOW!!! I still have a soft spot for them- I guess because we both got to Phoenix the same year. I have a feeling it will be them and the Mariners. I just feel like it's time for the Yankees to sit out a year for the World Series (just a hunch). But if that's the case, it will be two West teams, which doesn't exactly make it fun for the rest of the country but the traveling will be easier for everyone involved.

Okay, I need to take a shower, go do the Math workshop, get something to eat at the crappy, loud Hunter cafeteria, go to Anthropology, and then take the music midterm.

Tomorrow is my re-re-rescheduled (no, I don't have a stutter) RCN appointment and at night is "By Jeeves".

And now I will get ready to head up to school. I will use most of the Anthropology class to finish studying for the music midterm (this substitute likes to go into great detail on subjects, so I don't need to really be paying attention through most of it).

Oooh- and while I was writing this, I got email about another project. I don't have time to see about the details right now- I'll look into it more tonight. Life is good!

Last night, our regular Anthropology instructor was back. I can't keep up with this class. There's no continuity at all with different people teaching every day. We will have a take home midterm- 3 questions that should have answers of 2 pages each. We have 1 and a half days to complete them. It would be nice if he could give it to us this Wednesday and have them due Monday rather than give them to us next Monday and have them due Wednesday, but that's not what he wants to do. Oh well, I'll work on them Monday night during MNF and finish them up on Tuesday.

The music midterm was ridiculous! Many of the questions should have been opinion questions, but they were all multiple choice. I could easily explain why I picked what I picked, but instead I'll just either get it right or wrong. Example- she played a bit of music from the "Bartered Bride" overture and the question was about the tempo. It would have been fine if the choices were: A. Largo B. Moderato C. Presto. However, the choices were: A. Adagio B. Largo C. Moderato D. Allegro. Well, we never had the score in front of us telling us the different tempos for the different sections. So, depending on how you hear it, it could seem either Adagio, Moderato, or Allegro (well, not so much Allegro, but definitely the other two). So I just picked one and hoped it was the correct answer. Many questions were like this. The one that really takes the cake though was the one of the orchestra seating arrangements. We were told to study the seating arrangement found in our book. I knew exactly where everyone is seated- I was very confident about that. The question was this: In the picture in the book, how many Double Basses are there? A. Six B. Ten C. Sixteen D. None of the Above. HUH?!?!?! That's not a question on music, that's a question on memorisation. I had no idea we would have to count how many little bodies with instruments there were in each section. I made an educated guess- I thought 10 and 16 Double Basses seemed a little high for an orchestra, so I picked 6. I looked at the book when I got home, and there were 8- so the correct answer was D. None of the above. How unfair!!! So I probably got a B because of poorly worded questions and ridiculous questions for retention of useless information. And the instructor is SO obnoxious about teaching. I have no idea why she's a teacher (or at least teaching at a college). She made us all sit in perfectly straight rows so she could hand us different tests for each vertical row (I was wondering how she was going to deal with the possibility of cheating situation). Then she yelled at us to keep our eyes on our own papers and she would be especially watching those in the back. It was a scan-tron test which she didn't tell us in the last class, so none of us had pencils. She had a few, but many of them weren't sharpened and most didn't have erasers. She said if we needed to erase something, we would be allowed to come up to her desk and use her one eraser. It took 20 minutes to hand out pencils, hand out tests, and have her yell at us about how to take a test (if she saw anyone doing something they weren't supposed to be doing, we would be thrown out of the room and get an automatic F). How old are we?!?!?!?!?! It took me 15 minutes to answer the 40 questions, including the time I had to wait for her to play the listening selections. Oh well, at least it's over. I still would love to say something about that one question, but she's not the kind of woman who handles constructive criticism very well.

I'm trying to arrange Thanksgiving weekend. Paula and Harvey decided they would come up, but only for Thursday and Friday. They're coming up by train on Thursday and leaving Friday afternoon. Neil and Maxine are coming up Thursday and leaving Saturday. I was trying to find a show for them to see Friday night, but discount codes aren't available Thanksgiving weekend and they don't want to pay full price. So, they'll either go to TKTS, see if I can get any free tickets to anything, or just not see a show. Now I need to figure out the dinner situation. My kitchen is way too small to cook an elabourate meal, so I'll try to find pre-cooked things on Wednesday and just heat everything up for dinner. And I need to order a turkey at some point. And I will buy stuffing with onions, but I will also make onionless stuffing for me! And I need to figure out where Harvey and Paula are staying. I have a feeling they will choose a hotel, rather than stay at Grand Central (what my apartment will look like that weekend). Once I figure out all the details, I will be very excited. I love visitors and it will be wonderful spending Thanksgiving with the people I love.

I also need to organise my trip to Maryland Nov. 9-11. Heritage Players is doing "Noises Off" that weekend and Eric Lewis is playing in Fells Point. I'll stay in College Park with Neil and Maxine- I just need to see about where to rent a car.

Well the Yankees did it again. So the poor Diamondbacks will have to face Petitte, Rivera... My prediction: Yankees in 5. But wouldn't it be exciting for the newest team to not only make it to the World Series (it only took them 4 years- that's the quickest ever) but to actually WIN the World Series?

I remembered my dream again last night!!! Last night I dreamed that I was with a BIG group of people. Someone supposedly committed murder, and there were a few cops trying to solve the case. He finally arrested this cute redhead. I ran up to the car and asked the detective why he only arrested her and he said because she was the only one who was proud of it (or something like that). Then I was in a class. People were talking about what you should and shouldn't do and someone said, "Thou Shalt Not..." and I added, "Sing Tug Boat". This woman sitting near me looked at me and asked why I knew that song, and I told her I had seen the first preview of "Thou Shalt Not". It turned out this woman was Catherine. I don't know how she wound up in my dream. Then the class ended and I was walking in the hallways of the school with a ton of other people. I don't think any of us knew where we were going. I was still walking with Catherine and another theatre person along with a few guys who were talking about airlines. I was talking to one guy about baseball (he was a Rangers fan). He was carrying around a pillow in a mailing envelope- it was a present for his friend that he needed to mail. Then I don't know where I wound up, but some IWII Theatre people were there (like Tom and Angie). Tom was trying to get me to be in some show. We were talking at his house, and he was asking me if I knew how to spell someone's last name. In real life, I wouldn't have even known the person's last name (I'm really bad at that), but in the dream, I spelled it for him. He then asked if I knew how to spell George... I knew exactly which George he was talking about- George Failla, from Liberty Showcase (I can't believe I actually remembered this guy's name in my dream- I hadn't thought about him in YEARS). I told Tom that I was really good at knowing how to spell everyone's name. In the dream I even thought to myself that I didn't think this was really true, but then I convinced myself that it used to be true when I was younger and maybe that was when this dream was taking place. Then I looked up at a wall, and it had a bunch of mailboxes with everyone in the theatre group's name on them. Most only had people's first names, but mine had both my first and last name. Then I woke up.

Today I'm going to pick up some MRP fliers to distribute at Hunter. I don't know why I'm doing this exactly. I'm not an activist, I'm not going to vote for the mayoral candidate (although, I might vote for other candidates in this party running for other offices). I never take fliers people try to give me so why should I think people will take the fliers I'm trying to give them? I guess I'm doing it because I think arresting people for small amounts of marijuana is wrong and drug testing people in the workplace without a reason is wrong. If a party gets more than 50,000 votes in an election, they can be added to the state ballot as an official party. I think that it's important for people who strongly believe in something to get a chance to have their say. My question is this: what besides repealing the laws involving marijuana will these candidates do if they get elected? How do they stand on other issues and what do they even know about other issues? Why can't they just be a non-profit group that holds meetings and tries to influence politians? Is that not enough? I have a lot of questions, and maybe one day I'll be able to ask them (either at a meeting or by talking to Tom (the guy running for mayor) directly). That won't be until after the election though. So why am I handing out fliers? I still don't really know. It's not like I'm not busy enough. Maybe I think someone will actually take my flier, ask me questions about it, and they'll be an interesting person and I'll make a new friend. There's a rather small chance of that though. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. I'll hand out some fliers before the Math workshop and after the Math workshop. Then tomorrow I'll call Tom and tell him how it went.

And when I'm not handing out fliers, I'll be watching the Math video, printing out some theatre discount codes in the computer lab, going to Anthropology class, and attending the symphony with my music class and our anal-Nazi instructor who wants us to get there early so she can give last minute instructions (even though we had a whole class devoted to this) and take attendence.

Tomorrow is a busy day too! In the morning I'm going to a reading of "One Touch of Venus". In the evening I'm going to Don't Tell Mama for Broadway Chatterbox with Raul Esparza (so I can continue making this Raul Esparza week- I'm going to see "Cabaret" on Friday) and after that going to see "An Immaculate Misconception"- a new play by Carl Djerassi, inventor of the birth control pill.

"By Jeeves" was really cute. If I didn't know it was an ALW musical, I would never have guessed. It's so NOT his typical! Not flashy, no repetative music, no special effects... I would definitely recommend it. It's a funny show and has little extras that add to the entire experience. Outside the theatre, they have a table with tea and cake for people waiting to enter the theatre. The lobby is decorated like the lobby of a church (since the show is about a church having this production to raise money). Before the show starts, the actors (as church people getting ready for their show) are setting the stage and talking to people in the audience (as if we're members of this church in England). There is even a little interaction with the audience during the show. The music is cute, the actors are talented, and the church raising money idea is a great way to get away with having a low budget set. I don't think I need to see it again, but if someone wanted me to go with them, I would.

Now I need to pay some bills and then go get the fliers.

Two nights ago, I had this dream- I was getting ready to go on some trip with Neil. The night before I was going to stay with him in College Park, but Sylvia called and thought I was staying with her. I couldn't tell her no, so I went up there. I was trying to finish packing and was having trouble finding everything. Paula was mad at me because I was having difficulty packing (made no sense). Then Harvey, Paula, Neil, and were sitting around talking about our trip. Harvey and I were stoned but Neil and Paula didn't know. I made some really cool comment, and Harvey and I looked at each other knowingly. (That part must have been from doing stuff for the MRP yesterday.) Then I was in Blacksburg (I think). I was stopping near an Econo Lodge with Chandra. Someone asked if she could follow him in a car somewhere for a few minutes. She said that would be fine and proceeded to get in my rental car. I ran out to her and asked what she was doing. She said it was no big deal. I told her it was a rental and she wasn't covered. She said it would be fine and if she got pulled over, she would lie. I told her she did not live in reality, she didn't understand what would happen if she did this. Then I took the last bite of my bagel with cream cheese and threw it at her- it stuck to her cheek- and said, "After all I've done for you, this is what I get in return?" I walked back to the cafe where I was eating as she pulled out of the parking lot in my rental car. Some guy at the cafe understood how I felt and couldn't believe Chandra was still leaving in my car. Then there was another part of the dream I had before I woke up that I don't remember.

Wednesday afternoon, I went to pick up the fliers for the Marijuana Reform Party at Tom's apartment. He's a very "hippy"-type guy with Grateful Dead CDs and marijuana posters all over his apartment. He's a very nice guy and I'd love to keep in touch with him through this party. I didn't have time to hand out fliers, but they had a typo on them anyway, so I didn't feel that bad. After school, I went to pick up more fliers with everything spelled correctly and those I'll hand out. While I was there picking up the new fliers, someone was over his apartment talking about politics and research. His name was Kevin and he teaches government at Hunter- small world. He was REALLY cute! That school really gets some good looking, nice part time teachers. I'm thinking about trying to find him in the Political Science department office and ask if I can sit in on one of his classes. Not only would be an interesting class, I would get to see him again. I don't know if he's that friendly with everyone, but the few minutes I spent talking to him at Tom's apartment, he was very friendly!

The Math video had some complicated parts, but I actually understood a lot of it! And the test was easy. Of course I always think that and always do poorly, but I feel a little differently this time. I guess I'll find out on Monday.

In Anthropology we got practise questions for the midterm. This weekend I'll read the book and think about the questions, then I'll be ready to answer them on Monday night and Tuesday.

The Hunter symphony was pretty enjoyable. The instructor was in a good mood- I guess because she got to hear a concert of her favourite music. I asked her why there aren't many students in the symphony and she said because most students aren't good enough so they bring in professional musicians use professors.

I've been on a yoghurt kick recently. I haven't been on a yoghurt kick since 9th grade and eating yoghurt the other day reminded me of the first time I noticed the "live active cultures" message on the container and how I found that a little scary. I thought that there were little squirmy things swimming around my lunch.

I think I forgot to mention that RCN did indeed show up the other day and fixed things! The problem was that I had an old 3-way splitter but only one TV (makes no sense). So not only do I have my modem working better, my TV picture is much more clear! And he told me my building was getting upgraded in the next few weeks and I'll get a notice about upgrading my modem then. So things should be even better in a few weeks! I'm so glad! Now I just have to call RCN and get credit for all the time I wasn't able to get online. I should do that now while I'm remembering, but I don't want to get into all that right now. Hopefully I'll remember tomorrow or Sunday.

I'm really tired in the afternoons. Between 3-5, I really just want to rest, but I never have that option. I almost didn't get back out of the apartment yesterday afternoon, but I finally forced myself.

So yesterday was an amazing day! In the morning, I went to a reading of "One Touch of Venus". Ruth Gottschall and Sara Ramirez (I saw her in "A Class Act") were in it. It was really a fun experience. Talented actors, cute show, and intimate experience (the rehearsal studio was very small). I sat next to Nicole- a cute, perky girl from Vancouver (what's with meeting people from Vancouver?). She was friends with the producer and it was fun listening to her stories about casting details, etc. Anyway, this reading went way beyond my expectations!

Then I tried to come home on the bus, but St. Patrick's was having a funeral procession so it was quicker to get off and walk home. I got home and it took a lot of effort, like I mentioned previously, to get back out again. I was tired and comfortable. Finally I made myself go to the bank to make a deposit and head over to Don't Tell Mama for Seth's Broadway Chatterbox with Raul Esparza. Catherine was there and it reminded me of that dream I had the other night. I sat next to Seth's mom and sister. His mother was sweet and talkative and his sister was absolutely annoying. She reminded me of Sylvia, except louder. I also sat near from a boy (who was also alone) from Minneapolis. His best friend lives here so he comes in a lot. It was fun listening to Raul's stories and it was great having more insight into his life. It's just not fair that someone who wasn't obsessed with "making it" on Broadway has such incredible luck with "making it" on Broadway. As I was leaving, I wished him luck with "Cabaret".

After that, I walked one block down to Primary Stages for "An Immaculate Misconception. Here's another performance of the day that I didn't know what to expect and it went way beyond my expectations! WOW- finally a play that had the perfect blend of science and emotions!!! It was a fascinating subject and some SERIOUS emotional issues! The actors were extremely talented and knew how to explain the science well and show real human interaction. The script was perfect as well- it explained just the right amount so I didn't have too many unanswered questions but didn't go too far on the issues (ethics, etc.). Now I want to read some of Carl Djerassi's novels!

The show was only an hour and a half with no intermission, so it was early when I got out. I wasn't ready to go home yet, so I went to Cafe Cielo for dinner. I ordered the gnocchi and the bartender was happy about that. She was a cute, perky blonde who told me it was her favourite item. She was really sweet. There was a party of people at the bar who knew the bartenders. I was the only one there who didn't know anyone. I felt like I was in the middle of a party at some family's house, but I didn't feel uncomfortable. They didn't completely include me in their partying, but they did make me feel at home.

Paula was telling me about a programme she was watching on CNN where Alan Dershowitz wanted to share the stupidest quote from Bush yet. Bush said that he wanted all the Arab children of the world to be pen pals with American children. Dershowitz said, Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's flood the post offices with mail from Arab countries."

So tonight is "Cabaret" and tomorrow I'm going to see "Reefer Madness" before it closes (it's a free ticket, why not?). And before and after the show, I can hand out Marijuana Reform Party fliers. And then I'm going to find a cafe and read my Anthropology book. And then I'll either go home or to a bar to watch Game 1 of the World Series!

Sunday I'm going to stay home and relax- read The Times, work on the Anthropology questions, and watch football and the World Series.

And hopefully no matter how busy I am, I will try to write these entries every day. Every day that I don't write gives me more to write the next time I do.

I really think I look generic. Two nights ago at Cafe Cielo, a man told me that one of the women in his party thought I was Amy Fisher. I assured him I was not. Last night as I was crossing the street, a man coming toward me asked if I was the woman he was giving salsa lessons to last week. I told him that I was not. This often happens to me. I'm just not very original looking. It's fine with me, I just get tired of telling people I'm not who they think I am- but if some interesting, intelligent, gorgeous person thinks I'm someone they know/knew (that they like)- I will not contradict them ;)

"Cabaret" was wonderful. Raul Esparza was great as the Emcee and I bet with a few more performances under his belt, he'll really make the part his own and be super! Brook Shields was lousy- who gave her this role? I asked my server who was replacing her next week, and she said Gina Gershon (it'll be great to have her back). I should go again so I can see how Mr. Esparza's doing and to see a better Sally Bowles. I have really bad luck with sitting near obnoxious people. There were two guys in front of me on the couches who were talking to me before the show started. One was okay but the other one was really drunk and irritating. The couple next to me talked through a lot of the show. I told them to be quiet a few times but they didn't listen. Every time there was a line in another language (German, Yiddish, French...), the guy had to repeat it to his wife (I'm assuming it was his wife). And they gasped loudly at everything. There were a few people sitting in the front got up during the show (I guess to go to the bathroon) and came back later. They had bad timing with this (during dramatic moments). This is a really bad show to get up in the middle of since the performers use the aisles during the show.

I think there should be a test to see where you will be seated at each show. The questions should be about the show itself (playwright, plot, cast...), what else you have seen recently, and proper etiquette during a performance. If you get some wrong- it's the back of the house for you, if you get quite a few wrong- you can sit in the mezzanine, if you get most wrong- enjoy the nosebleed seats sweetie! Isn't that fair? ;)

After the show, the performers were in the lobby with buckets for BCEFA donations and were also selling the Broadway Christmas album. I bought that! I'm going to have to put it with the rest of my Christmas music so I won't be tempted to listen to it before Christmas (or maybe Thanksgiving weekend if I get around to decorating my apartment then- hey, I should start thinking about that soon). I hope I can find my Christmas music. I know it's around, it's just a question of where.

So after the show, I went to the stage door to see Raul Esparza. There were fences up, police, and a body guard all for Brook Shields. 99% of the people waiting last night were NOT there for her. I wanted to tell that to the police so they could relax a little bit. He was taking too long to come out, so I just left. As I was walking to the bus stop, I passed Robert Sean Leonard riding him bike home. If I ever get a chance to talk to him, I want to ask him what he enjoys about riding a bike in Manhattan. I barely like driving a car around Manhattan- I could never handle biking through midtown.

I woke up this morning singing "Louder than Words" from "Tick, Tick... Boom!" and soon after got part of "Christmas Bells" from "Rent" in my head. I was having a Jonathan Larson morning.

Earlier today, I realised I remembered where I sat in my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classes. I remember the row and the seat. Do other people remember stuff like this?

I'm trying to make a decision about transportation to Maryland on Nov. 9th. Take the train and use Neil's car while I'm there or rent a car here and drive down. The costs are the same. It's just a question of preference. PROS OF DRIVING: leave when I feel like it, able to sing on the trip. CONS OF DRIVING: the New Jersey Turnpike is the most boring stretch of highway in the country, possible traffic issues. PROS OF THE TRAIN: no Turnpike traffic, can read (at least until I get a headache). CONS OF THE TRAIN: delays, stuck sitting next to obnoxious people, can't leave whenever I feel like it, can't sing on the trip. I'm leaning toward renting a car here. What do you think?

This afternoon I had a quick bite at Cafe Centosette and then tried to hand out fliers. Well, I didn't try too hard. I just didn't know how to do it. I saw several people who might have been interested, but I didn't know how to approach them. I thought it would be easier to stand on a corner and try to put them in people's hands (like the mens suits guy on Lexington). I'm just not a handing-out-fliers kind of person. So instead of handing out fliers, I went to Footlights and bought the cast recording of "Oh Calcutta"! I remember renting the video sometime in my teens and loving the song "Much Too Soon". I got a tape recorder, put it really close to the TV, and taped that one song. I probably still have that tape somewhere, but I thought having the record would be even better. I do love that store!

So "Reefer Madness" was fantastic! They changed a few little things since the preview I saw and it was much better! I was also in a better mood. I wish it didn't have to close. The house was almost full this afternoon! Again, I sat next to obnoxious people. The woman to my left repeated some of the lines and kept kicking my arm off the armrest. The couple to my right was worse! The woman took 10 minutes to get situated- sat down, took off her coat, rustled through her bag, got up, went to have a cigarette, sat back down, rustled through her bag, drank some water, looked for her glasses... The guy was LOUD! He was also a line repeater and had to comment on EVERYTHING! At one point in the show, Jack slaps Mae and actually says, "Slap!" and then Mae falls and says, "Fall". Well, the next time they go through this, the woman to my left and the man to my right both said, "Slap" before the actor said it. Then when Jimmy hits the old man with the car and goes over to the man lying on the ground, the man to my right says very loudly, "Call a lawyer!". This is not interactive theatre, there is no audience participation. What is wrong with these people?!?!?!? Anyway, I really want to get the cast recording for my drive down to Maryland (or my drive around Maryland, if I take the train). Amazon says it will take 2-3 weeks, so I'll have to look elsewhere. If I feel like going down to the East Village between now and Nov. 8th, I can go to Footlights (I don't want to order online and pay for shipping from a local store) or I can go to Colony at some point and get it there (but it's $5 more there, so I'd rather not do that- but I probably will since I'll most likely be lazy).

Harvey's thought about Daylight Savings Time: "Tourneau will have fun tonight (or tomorrow morning)- changing 4 floors of watches to the correct time." I wonder if their entire staff stays late tonight to do that. If they weren't so snooty, I'd stop in the next time I walk by there and ask them. Actually, I probably will do that if I remember.

Jewel singing the game 1 National Anthem: She looked horrible tonight and her singing wasn't too great either (although, I never seem to like any of the people singing the National anthem).

WOW!! Go Diamondbacks!!! At least when they lose the World Series, they can say they had a great first game!!!

I love the making fun of New Jersey E-Business commercial!! Perfect thing to show during a Yankees game!

I understand the need to change pitchers when the game is critical or the game is nearing the end, but why after 3 innings in Game 1 do they have to have Mussina leave just because the score is 5-1 Diamondbacks? I think he could have pitched another few innings and done well. It's only game one. The Yankees have plenty of time to prove their greatness. I would have kept Mussina in the game for at least another inning, and if the D-backs scored again, then I'd take him out. I guess that's why I'm not a manager though.

See, getting rid of Mussina doesn't help- now it's 9-1! This is CRAZY!!!! I'm so proud!!! They're really showing those Yankees they're not the pathetic little team they thought they were!! The Yankees will really need to make some changes... and fast!

After the show this afternoon, I didn't feel like sitting at a random cafe and reading my Anthropology book. Instead, I hopped on the bus. I didn't get off at my stop- I went to the Food Emporium! Finally- I went food shopping! This was the first time I was in a grocery store since some time in August! I'm so proud of myself! I went to the one further uptown so I could take the bus back. If I go to the one on 63rd, it's not worth taking the bus since I'd have to walk 2 blocks to the stop, ride it for 1 stop, and then walk 2 blocks home. So I went to the one on 68th and only had to walk 1 block to the bus stop, took the bus two stops (and got a free transfer since it was a different bus number), and walked home two blocks.

So since I didn't read any of my Anthropolgy book this afternoon, I was thinking about turning off the game soon and reading it tonight. But this is so much more fun. And it's the first game so it's exciting. The last World Series game was a little over a year ago. I was watching it with Brie in Phoenix. I think I'll finish watching it and then read the book. I don't have to get up early so I can stay up late reading. I just hope this game isn't as long as Game 1 was last year (I think it was record breaking, if I remember correctly). It won't be. 9-1 is a pretty big lead. Still, anything is possible. And this year seems to be the year of the unusual happening more often than not (now that I said that, the game will be a traditional 9 inning game, right?).

Oh boy, more bat throwing!! Isn't it a little early for that? I know it wasn't his fault- he didn't know Womack was standing where he threw it. I wonder what Roger Clemens thought of it?

I really don't see the attraction to Jeter. I think he's kind of funny looking... "in a funny looking kind of way,".

Now I know what Vanessa Williams (or should I call her Vanessa L. Williams) sounds like (she's currently singing "God Bless America" in the 7th inning strech). So that's the Witch we have to look forward to in the "Into the Woods" revival. Okay, it doesn't seem totally hopeless.

So I'm finally enjoying things again- enjoyed "Reefer Madness" today, enjoying baseball right now... It feels good to enjoy things as much as I used to. Even before September 11th, I felt like I wasn't enjoying things as much as I used to. That really bothered me. I feel that you're not really living if you don't enjoy enjoyable things. I hope my ability to enjoy the things in which I'm taking part lasts.

I read and skimmed my Anthropology book- a lot of it is interesting but goes into too much detail (or rather says the same thing over and over in a slightly different way). I also updated my theatre page to include the shows from September and October. I've almost seem more shows in those two months (22) than I did the rest of the year (30). And I read a little of The Times. What I didn't do today was watch any football (except for a few minutes here and there- just wasn't in the mood, I guess) or clean the apartment.

In the article about BWI, it said that they are trying to do more for the passengers. For stress relief, they hired jugglers and other entertainers to entertain the people waiting in long lines. I was talking about it with Paula and she said, why not just hire more people to make the lines go more quickly? Then she told me about a CNN ticker-tape message about needing Maryland state employees to help with the security gridlock at BWI. Baltimore is such a mess!

So Maryland is longer undefeated- not a big surprise since they finally played a good team (Florida State). And Tech lost yesterday to Syrcause. I had a feeling that would happen. I seemed to be the only one. I was the only one who picked Syracase over Tech- wish I bet real money. I haven't bet on any games this year. There are more important things to do with my money.

I wish this day could last longer. I would love to take an entire weekend and stay in my apartment doing a mix of household chores and relaxing things. Oh well, maybe some time in November, or if not November, definitely December.

I love the new Fleet commercial with the guy sitting at the library (or something) between the 2 shortstops and trying to talk to them about investing.

Randy Johnson is truly amazing!

I'm feeling really lazy right now. I was going to at least clean up the apartment a little bit tonight, but I doubt I'll do that now. I think I'll just read or something and then go to bed. I want to get some rest so I'll be mentally awake tomorrow night to start working on my Anthropology midterm. Oh how I wish there was an easier way to get my Psychology degree...

It feels like tomorrow should be Sunday. But it also feels like this weekend was extra long. I truly have no sense of time.

Tomorrow I want to get to school a little early to see if I can find out where to reach Kevin (the cute guy I met at Tom's place the other night) and put up a few MRP fliers. Then I get to find out if I passed the Math test and if I did, move onto the next lesson and if I didn't, I get to watch the video again. Then I have Anthropology where we'll get the midterm questions, and after that I have Music where we'll hopefully get our midterm grades (I almost definitely got a B and that still pisses me off!). Then I'll come home and start working on the midterm. I should stop at Duane Reades on the way home, but I don't want to take the time. I guess I'll go on Tuesday when I'm taking a break from the midterm questions.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I should go see "45 Seconds From Broadway" Thursday night. I either want to see that or "Proof". I guess I'll choose the one whose discount code expires first. Or I could see "Proof" on Thursday and "45 Seconds" on Saturday since there's a better chance of getting a good seat on Thursday than on Saturday and more tourists will choose "Proof" over "45 Seconds", so I still should be able to get a decent seat for "45 Seconds" on Saturday but I wouldn't for "Proof". Am I making any sense? And does it really matter? I'm definitely getting back to my "normal" life- I'm going on and on about unimportant things. Okay, I'm babbling- time to stop typing.

I signed the guestbook on the Reefer Madness website and asked if there would be an Off-Broadway cast recording. I got an email this morning from Kevin Murphy (he did the lyrics) saying that it was a plan to get as many of the New York cast members involved and he would keep me updated. He ended it by saying "In the meantime, give a call any time you want me to swing by and sing "Lonely Pew" for you. :)". That sounds fantastic, Kevin! That's one of the ones I'd like to have on a recording (there are so many songs added that aren't on the LA recording- but I will still pick up that one some time this or next week).

I had a dream last night that my apartment was really downtown and had been destroyed on September 11. I was sort of given a hotel room, but that was getting expensive so I slept on the city buses for a while. The bus stopped at night and I stayed on it. In the morning, the bus driver let people on and yelled at me that I didn't pay my fare. So I went back with my Metro Card to the front of the bus and tried to put it in the slot but was having difficulty. Then I was in a library trying to find someone, but I don't remember that part anymore. I got back on the bus downtown and for the first time really thought about how all those people died. I pictured myself being trapped in the building and thought about my parents being trapped in the building. I could see their clothes burning. It was HORRIBLE!!!! I tried to put it out of my mind and concentrate on the pretty dawn sky but that was hard since the sky was orange which reminded me of the fire. Then I woke up.

I don't want to end this entry on that note, but I really don't have much else to say.

The stupid space bar on this computer doesn't work, so typing is really frustrating. I'd switch computers but... first of all, most of these computers have the space bar problem and second, it's so rare to get a free computer I should appreciate the one I have.

I'd love to go home and rest. I'm really sleepy.

And I don't have anything to say. Oh, yes I do. For my transportation to Maryland, I'm going reserve a train and make a car rental reservation. Then I will wait until the last minute to decide. If it's not supposed to rain Friday or Sunday, I will drive. If rain is a strong possibility, I will take the train. The only thing worse than driving on the Turnpike is driving on the Turnpike in the rain.

Okay, now I'm going to print out my "Cabaret" discount code and then go sit outside the classroom and rest.

Yesterday was almost a complete waste of a day and just not great in general. I went to my Anthropology class only to find that the instructor wasn't there once again, nor would he be there Wednesday (at least we know in advance for Wednesday). A woman had our midterm questions and told us they would not be due until next Monday (that's a plus!). She also said she would have a movie for us on Wednesday. I think I'll skip it. Maybe I'll do the Math workshop and then go see a movie.

We got our music midterms back. I got an 85 which turned into an 87.5 thanks to me. We were going over the answers and when we got to the question about how many double basses were in the picture, I spoke up. I told her this question wasn't a good one. It had nothing to do with music and since it's not always the same number, it just didn't make sense for it to be a question. Everyone else chimed in, and she gave us all the 2.5 points as if we got the answer correct. So I still got a B but at least it's more like a B+ (if that makes any difference). Now that I know the questions came from the book's website (someone told me the questions were identical to the quizzes on the site), I'll look at that before the final. This woman is lazy- taking answers from the website and giving multiple choice tests that are electronically graded. Does she do any work? Well, she'll have to read our concert reports...

When I was waiting around for Music class (I had a total of 4 hours with nothing to do), I checked my home messages. No one ever calls me so I don't really know why I did this. Sure enough, I had a message. It was from George calling about my staying there Nov. 9-11. He said he would have visitors that weekend so it wasn't possible for me to stay. Fine with me, I had forgotten all about asking him and already made arrangements to stay with Neil and Maxine. I'm so surprised he remembered to check and call me back though. It's so un-George.

When I got home, I had 3 messages on my voice mail (4 in one day? This is a record!). One was for a job, but by the time I called her back, she had already found someone else. I just missed that one. She called around 5:30 and I had checked my messages at 5:00. That made me mad! The other messages were from Marcell (glad she called, I had been meaning to call her and kept forgetting) and Eytan (calling me back about seeing the Eric Lewis show with me in Fells Point).

Then I pulled out my microwave dinner. When I normally buy more than one of something, I take a few and throw them in the basket. Now I hopefully learned my lesson to check each item before putting them in the basket. I bought 3 items from the same shelf and one was not what it was supposed to be. Whatever it was, I couldn't eat it. So there went my dinner. I eventually decided to order some Japanese.

Oh, about my being a penguin occording to the animal quiz- I don't know if I like that so much. I agree with most of it, but it reminds me too much of Frank Mandel. I guess it fits his personality, to a point. I just don't want to be grouped in with him.

The new Bloomberg commercial is scary. It's showing that Giuliani completely supports Bloomberg by listing all of Bloomberg's "qualifications" and then showing Bloomberg and Giuliani shaking hands. The NY Times had an article that said Giuliani wasn't extremely gung-ho about endorsing Bloomberg. This commercial looks like Bloomberg has hus full support. And the Mark Green commercials aren't very good either. I have no idea what will happen on election day. And I still don't know for whom I will vote.

I was IMing with Jeff the other night and he was telling me about his one day trip to Boston for a recruiting dinner (or something like that). He got to take the corporate jet- no security, no lines- just drive up to the plane and get on. I asked if I could borrow it sometime. Must be nice being important in the corporate world.

So people at the Pentagon are asking the general public in helping To Catch a Terrorist (read this editorial- it's funny). This scares me- highly trained professionals asking average idiots, whoops- I mean citizens, how to do their jobs.

In fact, I'm scared in general today (and some of yesterday). Why tell us that something bad is supposed to happen next week (or is it this week?) but they don't know any details? Are we supposed to be even more on the lookout for suspicious activity? This is only scaring us more than we already are. Paranoid people and people that want attention will continue to bombard the FBI with possible "leads" and everyone else will continue their daily lives. All this does is give us something else to talk about with friends and family and strangers.

I'm feeling my typical Fall I-want-to-do-something-big-just-don't-know-what feeling. Within 5 minutes, I wanted to go to a bookstore, download songs by every artist I've been interested in learning more about, run over to Times Square to get tickets for Thursday and Saturday and pick up "Reefer Madness", see if I can fix my CD burner, continue one of the several personal pieces that are unfinished (short stories, articles, my musical...), go get some Japanese take-out, watch either a movie or the Broadway on Broadway 2001 that I taped and never watched... So what am I doing? None of the above. It seems since I can't make up my mind, I'm choosing to do none of the above. Instead I'm answering trivia quizzes on It Pays to Learn, reading online journals, and making train and car reservations. Perhaps in an hour or so, I'll watch a movie. Although, I probably won't since it's getting late and I want to watch Game 3 tonight.

While walking around school with my 4 hours of time wasting, I noticed 2 meetings that are taking place tomorrow between 1-3. I think both sound interesting and am thinking of picking one and going. One was on witchcraft in Judaism and the other, I think, was something on terrorism. I'll just get there a little early and try to figure out where these meetings are held.

So time to watch the Yankees prove that whatever happened in Arizona was a mistake and time to watch George Bush through the first pitch.

They're really taking a long time to get this game started.

They commentators were discussing the weather and one of them mentioned that the roof was open at Yankee Stadium. Funny.

These United commercials are getting on my nerves.

And now they're showing where the pool would be at Yankee Stadium- when they re-decorate. "I don't think any ballpark should be without a pool." These guys are too funny!

Paul O'Neill is so AWESOME!! And so cute too!! You kids can have Jeter. I'll take O'Neill any day!

I meant to write this earlier, but I forgot. Paula told me when they got into Baltimore's Penn Station a week or so ago, they had a big glass wall hanging thing with rubble from the WTC in it. How disgusting! It's one thing to show pictures which people can view at their own discretion, it's another thing to have actual pieces of the building for all to see whether they want to or not. Leave it to Baltimore to do something like this! I asked Eytan to go over there (since he lives across the street) to talk to someone about it and see if they will take it down. Put up messages or flags in its place. There is just nothing else I can say about this sickening thing.

I thought the airlines were in trouble financially. United certainly has enough money for advertising. Is anyone else who is watching the games sick of that pilot telling us that when he says hello, he means it? And that woman who fixes the planes sort of reminds me of Bev.

Like I said before, if the Diamondbacks are down at the bottom of the 7th, they'll lose the game. Rivera is unstoppable! They just had a stat that he has the lowest postseason ERA ever- .078! Unbelievable!

Now they just announced the World Series sponsers and two of them I have not seen any commercials for yet- Charles Schwab and Pepsi. All I've seen is United, United, United.

Spoke too soon- the next set of commercials had one for Schwab.

The Yankees are 154-1 when leading in the 8th inning. What an amazing stat!

The broken bats accumulated during this postseason could heat someone's house for the entire winter.

I don't exactly remember my dream last night but it was adventurous (in a good way, I think) and George was in it again.

I'm going to clean up the apartment a little this morning- it's a mess. Not much else to say since I wrote late last night and all I basically did in between then and now is sleep.

Just had a flashback of walking around Park City, UT.

Just read that it's supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow!

This U2 song ("All I Want is You") still gets to me. I guess since I haven't heard it in a long time. It reminds me of Christmas of '96- driving to meet Kendra for church on Christmas Eve. Actually, it reminds me of driving around the New River Valley in general.

Okay, time to go clean.

I suppose I should think about Halloween- how it started, the different traditions, how it became another commercialised American holiday... but I'm too tired and don't really have the time anyway. Maybe next year...

I changed my mind about "K-PAX"- not in the mood. So instead I'll run down to Barnes and Noble and read for a while before heading up to school.

So now I'm in the computer lab wondering what to do with my 2 hours. At least the space bar on this keyboard works. But the computer is set up terribly and my right wrist hurts already (don't know why the left one doesn't hurt- I guess my right one has to stretch farther to reach the keyboard). So withe poor layout, I don't want to type for too long. I suppose I'll go put up some fliers (it'll be easier since they took a lot of them down, so there's more room now) and then wait around the Music room until 7:00.

Okay, we're going into the 10th- GO DIAMONDBACKS!!

Alright, it's fine to announce that this is the first World Series game played in November, but did they have to remind everyone why? I think we all remember very clearly!

Oh of all people to win the damn game- Jeter. Now all the kiddies can talk about how cute and wonderful he is to win Game 4 for the Yankees.

This was a weird game. The Yankees seemed to get their runs out of nowhere. How can they be playing so terribly and then suddenly get these random home runs? Of course, if it had been the D-Backs doing all this, I'd be putting it differently. Just like Derek Jeter is talking differently now that they won. Compare these two statements:
When the umpire asked him which runner he thought was out, Jeter said, "The first one," and then when the ump said he was safe, Jeter said, "No, the second one". He didn't even bother to use their names. Then when he was just talking about the game to the reporter, he said, "Matt Williams made a good play...". Hey, he knows their names now. I have to turn this off- I can't take anymore Yankee arrogance right now.

Ah-ha, I was right. I decided to check out Catherine's website since I know she's one of those Jeter lovers, and sure enough, this is what I read as her only comment in her November entry (yes, I should technically be writing this in November, but I'm too lazy), "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love Derek Jeter." I had a feeling she'd write something right after the game ended.

Tomorrow I'm going to head over to Times Square to get tickets for "Proof" and "45 Seconds from Broadway" and pick up the "Reefer Madness" LA recording.

Oh, so rather than waste any more time at school, I went to Anthropology and watched the movie. It was a documentary on the Bushmen Africa. It held my attention the entire time- but why do all films shown in classes come from the 70's (are they all too cheap to buy updated videos?)? It's not a problem for some things, but for science or any other subject where new information is discovered all the time, it's pointless to show something that happened almost 30 years ago. Anyway, given the fact that the entire documentary takes place in the desert and most of it was about their lack of water and how excited they were to finally get some water, I left the class VERY thirsty! I tried the waterfountain on the 5th floor- not working. I tried the waterfountain on the 4th floor- not working. This school ceases to amaze me. So I went down to the basement to buy a $1.30, luke-warm soda (certainly better than nothing).

In Music we watched and listened to creepy classical music ("Fantasia", Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastique"...).

And am I the only one who has trouble actually getting the correct food items that they order? Nine times out of ten, they don't do what I asked them to do. Tonight, I went to get some Udon soup at Fuji, down the street. The last time I ordered it, it looked like an overgrown garden. Serisouly, I opened the lid and vegetables were popping out. Now I like my veggies, but not when they soak up all the broth and all you're left with is a bunch of soggy vegetables. So this time I asked her to make sure it was just noodles and broth. After a 10 minute argument (I told her broth and noodles, she told me it was better her way), she finally agreed. What did I get? An overgrown vegetable garden. Even though it's much more convenient to go there, I'll have to go out of my way and try someplace else. One day, I'm determined to find a place that knows how to follow directions. Better yet, I could find one place of each cuisine to follow directions- but I know this is a big goal and I'll be happy with just one restaurant. Sometimes I wish I thought it was worth cooking things myself. Actually tonight's dinner would not be difficult at all. There's a Japanese grocery store a block or two away. I'm sure they have udon and/or soba noodles. I can boil some miso or other broth and stick in the noodles. Then I don't have to worry about anyone following directions. Okay, I'm going to try to remember to check out the store soon (maybe tomorrow). My next goal is to get a pot in which I can cook the soup ;)

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