Freak Show

This scares me. A lot. Thanks photoshop!

change is good when you can get it.

one year of the cuse was all i'd prepared myself for, but it seems that i'm going to have to prepare for an extra few months. not so bad now that i dont hate my job and my boss; had this news come to light 6 months ago, i would have completely shit the bed. but whats another few months anyway? the past year seems to have flown by at record speed. i've decided that syracuse isnt the worst place in the world, and i've even come up with a few things i like about it:

things i like about syracuse:

snow/winter. muwahaha. (yeah i still like)
old houses converted into apartments.
carousel and its attempt at being green.
el canelo!!
wegmans, i love you.
borders
hilly areas
downtown
soundgarden
singers. haha.


However, there are still so many things i miss about br:

the chimes- beer and food. mmm.
food, in general
knowing where the hell i am going.
flip flops and tanks year round
wine loft x 2
mall of la
a whole mess of people, including lots of babies.
party time in big texas
a job
LSU football and tailgating
food places that are open 24/7 (essential)-louie's, waffle house, jack in the box, ihop

several week wrap-up

Its been a few weeks, and here is what's happening:

I've got two jobs- cashier at a book store, which I thoroughly enjoy, and a planner/scheduler or something like that at a factory that makes all kinds of explosion proof metal things. Its a temporary position, and its cool to be learning some new stuff, but the people are kind of annoying with their union allegiance and company hatred. Its incredibly childish and leads to one conclusion: Unions blow. :P

My factory boss looks a little and sounds a LOT like Kevin James.

Despite all my bellyaching about my birthday this year, 25 is the very best age I've been thus far. :)

I finally own a mac-friendly webcam. I can video chat. Whaaaaaaat?

As expected, I've been reading quite a bit, and the realm of my reading interests has been expanding. So far, I've allowed a bit of fantasy/sci-fi or whatever you want to call it, including the Twilight series (Alex still makes fun of me for reading books for teenagers, but they are a little addictive, and I even find myself a bit annoying for having read them... but oh well.) Also read a book called Stiff, which goes in depth about all kinds of things about cadavers that you never even thought you might be curious about. Its a strange fusion of gruesome and entertaining. Its definitely one to read if you get a chance.

Pretty sure I've got a touch of tendinitis in my left hand, and it hurts like crazy.


Fin.

I want some milk & cookies

Rest In Peace, Bernie Mac

A KING of Comedy, a funny ass summa a bitch who will certainly be missed.

Here is Bernie doing what he did

Have a Laugh.

Enjoy.

"Speak of the devil, and he appears."

Let's hope not.

This entry is dedicated to the fellow who creeps me out more than any other creature I've ever encountered: Scutigera coleoptrata, aka House Centipede.

If you are lucky, you've never actually seen this thing in your bathroom or your kitchen. If you are lucky, he lives in your house, eating your pesky bugs, but never showing himself to you. Apparently, I am not lucky.

Bugs and I don't mix. They give me chills, they make my stomach turn, they represent a primeval fear of the unknown, the unfamiliar. Even so, killing bugs is not really my thing (except silverfish).... but when I saw Satan, a mysterious and disgusting looking bug, on the wall next to my towel, I was overcome with terror. This never-before seen prehistoric creeper, with all of his legs and antennae, could not live in an apartment with me-- so I reached for the fly spray and I coated him. He fell off the wall and was dead almost instantly. Later, I felt a little bad about my decision to kill the intruder, but I also felt better knowing he wasn't in the bathroom with me anymore...whatever he was.

A couple weeks later, Alex woke me up and dragged me into the bathroom, half asleep, to see something... There he was, Satan 2, in the same place I found Satan. He was a little bigger than the first Satan, but he showed the same indifference that I'd seen weeks before. He didn't move away from us. He just sat there, watching us with his faceted eyes, I suppose. What was this creature? No time to find out. He had to be killed. Alex reached for a shoe, and somehow he missed the target. Satan 2 didn't wait around for the second blow and his certain death; he bolted out of the bathroom and scurried into the living room. He was so freaking fast, initially I wasn't even sure which direction he went, but Alex quickly located and squashed him. We were safe and could breathe a sigh of relief. I went back to bed, sick when I thought about how close the damn thing had been to my feet. It still makes me shudder; no telling how crazy I would have gone if he had actually touched me. AHHHH!!!! :O

Now that we had encountered and killed 2 Satans, I felt I needed to know what the damn thing was. It wasn't hard to find out; apparently this enigmatic bug freaks out a large portion of the population, and its image is all over the internet. AHH. Gross.

After doing a little bit of research, I found out that house centipedes aren't bad to have around, despite their alarming appearance. They eat bugs, and they don't really try to bother humans. I'm not sure I will ever be able to get close enough for a capture & release, but I truly hope, at the very least, that I have the wherewithal to coexist with these little freaky beasts.

Colorado and more

Lake Lenore (a prostitute, so i heard)
So, I'm back in the 'Cuse after a week in beautiful Colorado and I'm feeling, now more than ever, like I want to live somewhere rustic and beautiful. until this trip, west was last on my list of places to go; my childhood memories consisted of an ugly and barren waste-land devoid of the color green. Perhaps I only remembered the dry, prickly land my uncle Carey lives on and now uses as his junk yard. >:(

Things of beauty are a rarity; a lone pink flower was the only one I encountered....

The Colorado that I saw was, instead, a lovely mix of landscapes. Green everywhere, red mountain tops, rocky snow-covered peaks, rolling hills spattered with pine trees, picturesque towns, and of course, the desert....

Ouray, Colorado

Ridgway, Colorado-the whole gang

The train ride from Rockwood station to Tall Timbers was one of the highlights of the entire trip. a little over half an hour along the Animas River which offers some of the most beautiful views I've ever seen, accented by a little bit of excitement; the train cars were rocking pretty violently as we passed by rock walls that couldn't have been more than 10" from the window and chugged through passes that were so narrow, the ground disappeared beneath the car. Crumbly rocks and steep forest floors on one side, pine trees trickling down the other side to the river hundreds of feet below. No barriers, buddy.


Then we arrive at tall timbers for our day of soaring through the tree tops and over the river. coolest thing ever.....Maybe not ever, but it was reeeeeeeally cool. :) The first picture shows the "tree hugging" system that allows the soaring platforms to be suspended in the trees in a non-invasive manner. The trees sustain no damage, no piercing or drilling, and they can grow comfortably while allowing the platforms to remain in place.

Aspen Alley...Keep your legs and arms close to your body!!!

Rescue over the river. She got stuck! Haha

Rainie, Nick, Daddy, & me before heading into the trees. the first platform is visible behind us

Daddy going up to the 100' platform (where my hat fell off)

Rafting on the Colorado was wonderful, although much of my time on the river was technically spent IN the river. The rapids were mild at best, so Chad let us get out and float down the river. At one point, we even floated through a good little patch of rapids. Could have spent all day floating down the Colorado River....... After the rafting was over, we headed over to Arches National Park for some awe-inspiring rocky landscape. Nick and I did it up redneck-style (in the back of the the truck) so we could get better pictures. I think we did.

Arches National Park

Balanced Rock

Cattle Drive on the way to Moab, Utah

On one of our free days, I was determined to ride a horse; it was essential to my happiness. So I made the plans and did it, and at the last moment, Nick decided to join me, which made it even better. Our guide, Post, was an authentic cowboy, full of cowboyisms and the requisite dirty jokes. What a silly little man he was. Too bad I can't remember more of his quips. The ride was short but thoroughly enjoyable, even for Nick who was stuck behind my ridiculously gaseous horse.

Nick and I in another life on Diamond C and Rascal, respectively

So that was Colorado. What an amazing time. It was good to be with the family again, and hopefully it won't be too long until the next time.

Day Three

the apartment is being invaded by bugs!!! ugh, i hate bugs...they completely freak me out. there are flies, june bugs, daddy long legs, beetles and moths popping up in every room, every day. where the hell are they coming from?

pretty boring day. looked for a job a little bit, but i'm once again disappointed by the lack of opportunity in syracuse.