"UpDation"

Here is the updated story that I have written for Tony for his birtday, let me know what you think!

There once was a boy…

There once was a boy who lived in a land of plenty. His childhood days were sunny and warm and free from all bothers and worries. He lived with a loving family in a little grey house that stood atop a small hill. They lived in a little village surrounded by green, rolling hills that resembled a vast green ocean. The little village was untouched by the evils of the world; the villagers all lived within the safety of one another. Children were raised and most left once old enough to places far beyond eyes view into lands unknown to them. There, they began their new lives.
Day after day the boy would play in the misty green grass with his brother as they gazed out abroad the distant paths that scoured the hilly landscape. Blue skies laid like a blanket over them. At night he dozed safe in the warm embrace of his down blanket and dreamt of his future life beyond the hills.
But as the boy grew older, his days became darker. Nights became an inky black which even the strongest light could not penetrate and a dense fog settled itself in every crack and crevice in the village. Paths that crossed distant hills and far off lands, once seen by day, were now obscured by thick clouds that dragged themselves across a forlorn sky, blocking out the warming rays of the sun. The darkness was unheard of in the village, for none that lived had ever experienced it before. Children were kept indoors and shielded from the darkness and the evil that usually accompanies it. But the boy did not fare so well. Day after day, he watched through the kitchen window as the distant lands were swallowed up by the fierce sky. In losing sight of these lands, of these distant dreams, he felt his hopes trickling away.
In the wake of the darkness came demons who searched for the weak to consume and grow strong off of. Sensing weakness like a hunger, Demons came to visit the boy and instead of shutting them out, he invited them in. He was a vulnerable boy at this time in his life; with obscured paths on the horizon, he felt lost. Days became darker and melded into one another. The boy put off everything. No longer did he still gaze out with hope on the fogging hills to try and catch glimpses of what he had once been able to see, for he had lost interest in many things and his dreams began to wane. He let time slip slowly by without a thought. Family and friends looked on with worry and fear. But with his hood pulled up, he seemed untouchable to everyone.

His friends left to seek greater things in distant lands and his family grew. But the boy remained the same.

Then one day, the boy chanced a glance out the window for the first time in many years. With the world dark and his hope vanquished, he had never had the desire before. His world had grown far darker since he last remembered. He saw his reflection in the window and pulled down his hood to reveal his face. How much he had grown, how much he had never realized. He wanted to question that it was him. He touched his face and his fears were confirmed: it really was himself that he saw staring back. But there was something else that scared him. He could see the hint of his demons’ destruction within his face. It showed radiant in every line that had been furrowed into his youthful skin and in his dull and dying eyes. He seemed hollow; there was no hope nor future to be found. It now became apparent that his demons were slowly consuming him; he was only feeding them and making things all the worse. The boy was suddenly brought back to reality. His past childhood and adolescence flashed before his eyes. Days of sunshine that had turned to days of darkness; days of joy that had turned to days of numbing. He saw his friends leaving and himself remaining.
Suddenly, an anger arose within the boy; anger with himself for letting his world get so dark, for allowing life to just pass him by. He knew that staying here would not cause the fog to lift, nor for the clouds to part. He cast out his demons with a promise to himself, and shut the door on them.

The next morning, he left.

He traveled day and night, for they seemed to be just a continuum of one another; it seemed day never ended and night never began. He traveled with his hood pulled tight, for he felt utterly alone and at times hopeless. But he trudged on through the broken terrain of brambles and thorns with the feeling that this was the right thing to do. Upon sleep; he dreamed of lands he had once glimpsed as a child and he awoke each morning with renewed vigor and set out to seek such places.
One day the boy came upon a very tall hill with sides that seemed to stretch for miles. In the far distance of the sky, he could see its tones becoming lighter, even if only minutely, foreshadowing a hope of lands he dreamed of. He set out without hesitation and began to climb. The boy was weary and pantingwhen he finally reached the top, but the sight before him caused his breath to catch in his throat. He fell down on his knees and gaped at the beauty he saw before him. Miles and miles on he could see. In the far-off distance, he could see lands of deep green and skies of pearlescent blue. He threw back his hood and down the hill he began to descend.
With each passing day the sky turned a shade lighter. No longer was it an inky black, but instead a grand blue, and on into an amber orange. Every day gave promise of much more. Paths were clearer and there were more and more that he came upon. The grass became fuller and the flowers ever so vibrantly colored.
But the boy knew that this was still yet the beginning. There were many paths to take, more hills to climb. He knew he’d happen upon gullies and brambles, but he did not fear this. For whatever gully or bramble he came across, he knew there’d be greater sunshine and even more paths to follow. He kept his eyes locked on the distant horizon and took each step with an unwavering heart.

And now there is a boy, who is turning into a man; he’s crossing paths he once could not see, and never chancing a look back at the things that used to be.

Pictures!

Go here to see photos! I'll be updating it soon too!

Lame Jokes and Cruel People

I hung out with Josh the other night. He came over and we talked for awhile, and then Emily came home and gave him the grand tour of her bug "collection", which was fun. And then after that we watched my 10th anniversary dvd of Conan.
I would say that things went well. We had a lot of time to talk and just get to know eachother, and I'm so glad that that's over with! That's the one thing I kind of hate about meeting new people, now we can just hang out and know the basic foundation of one another.
I think that Josh likes me, and though I did say I had a crush on him, it's nothing I plan to pursue. Just with the way that I feel about Tony and our whole stupid situation that we're trying to correct, I don't really feel "dateable" at the moment.
Blah.
Josh is a cool guy; he's 23 and from Kansas. He's already been through school and I forgot the exact time...but he wants to work as like a DNR or related. He wears a loose brown and orange hot cocked to one side on his head ALL the time which is rather cute and he wears his hair a little long and messy. Definitely cute. He smokes...ciggerettes and pot...not so cute. He doesn't quite have the sense of humor I'm looking for; he laughs at my jokes but doesn't really join in and he makes some corny jokes sometimes. Oh well, I look forward to a friendship.

Aside from that, I had about the worst day of my life a couple days ago. To start out, I had a major breakdown in the morning which Tony was witness to. I just felt really upset with some things that are going on between us and just little things in my own life. He was there to hug me and talk to me and I got through it. At 3 I had to be at my creative writing class to read my writing about Tony to the whole class. I almost didn't go since I had felt so upset, but I went. Tony waved me off with a "good luck" and I trudged into the class feeling confident. I read the paper and felt good about it, especially since I had made some changes to it which I felt were definite improvements. But when I got done reading it, the class was just dead silent and no one seemed to want to comment on it. People looked down as sparse comments were made about how my piece was too vague. No one really had anything to offer and I just felt like complete shit.

Oh well. They can all eat my ass.

Pathetic Now?

I finally grew balls and did it. I saw that Josh was working tonight, but was confused if it would be him or not. There are two different overnight Josh's and I saw that this one was coming in at 9. When 9 neared, my heart began to race and I just felt so overwhelmingly nervous! But 9 passed with no sign of Josh. It wasn't until 9:30 that he came in, just when I thought I could be calm for the rest of the night. At the sight of him and that little brown and orange hat he wears, my heart started to drum once more. He walked by my lane and I noticed him looking at me as he took off towards the back room. I thought I was done for the night; he hadn't come through my lane and I wouldn't be able to take that chance and ask him to hang out. While putting away stray (stuff that people decided they didn't want and we have to put back) tonight, I saw him pulling out carts of items to be stocked. I was working in the market area, when suddenly he showed up. I was walking into an aisle when he passed by and I noticed him turn his head to look at me. (God...this is so middle-school!) As I went back to the cart to grab some items, I said "hi" to him as he walked by. "Hi Liz." He replied. This caught me by surprise that he said my name for we had never introduced one another before. Granted I wear a nametag, but it's cool that he took note to it.
I grabbed some soup to put away and then noticed to my delight, and nervousness, that he was stocking the shelves in that aisle. I walked in there, he looked up and smiled at me, and right away I said, "Alright, this is coming out of nowhere but I've been wanting to ask for a long time. Do you want to hang out sometime?"
"Sure." He said.
"You got a cell phone on you?" I asked.
He didn't, so he gave me his number, told me to call it so he had my number, and said that he'd call me sometime. After that we started to small talk a bit and I found out that he's from Kansas.

Oh, I was just in such a good mood after that!

Pathetic

So, I knew Josh was working tonight...remember, the overnight guy I've got a wee crush on? I got done with work at 8:30 and knew he was coming in at 9:00. I was talking to Kenny about him, a guy who works on the sales floor and who used to work nights and knows Josh, and he was telling me I should wait in the break room until Josh got there. When I got off of work, I decided to do this, even though I felt like throwing up. I was blushing just at the sheer thought at what I was about to do. In the break room, I noticed a humongous coffee thermos and knew that this overnight guy that I talk to every now and then was there, so when he showed up, I sat down and talked to him about old video games and tv for a 1/2 hour. 9:00 came and the overnight people made ready to clock in. Josh had not come yet and instead of sitting alone and looking like I was waiting for someone, I decided to leave, hoping that he'd be walking in just as I was leaving. He didn't though... It wasn't until I got on my bike that I noticed a person walking in that looked like him. Oh blah.

And Out of Nowhere...

Bad Bad me...I haven't been blogging lately. I'm almost at the tail end of working 7 days in a row at Target, Tuesday will be my 7th day.

Blah.

Oh well, it's good money, and I definitely need money. A few weeks ago, I got pulled over for the first fucking time...for speeding on University. The PO-lice man explained that I was only getting a citation, so it wouldn't be affecting my license or insurance, it would just wind up costing me $140.

"Joy."

I went home the weekend of Halloween and went to a little house party with Jay, Rachel, and her new boy-toy named Jake. I went with a vintage look; I wore a black dress, pearls, black heels, a fur wrap-around, and a vintage gangster hat. I wanted to get wasted, but failed to do so as I had a splitting headache and was tired.

Some INTERESTING news...found out that my ex-bf had a 3-some with a girl and guy in which he and the other guy both fucked the girl at the same time...and in the same place... Yeah. And now he claims he's bisexual and is in a relationship with the guy he had the 3-some with.

He just doesn't know he's completely gay yet.

What else...well, I have this crush on a guy that works overnight at Target. His name is Josh and I've been told he's already gone through school. Yeah, and he's working overnight at Target? It happens. I've spoken to him a few times, just said some dumb and sarcastic things. The other night he came through my lane and I was litterly shaking. I don't know how to approach this whole thing. I think he knows I'm interested, and he responds well when I talk to him; he laughs and all that good shit. He's come through my lane twice...am I just supposed to ask, "So...want my number?" It's beginning to kill me!

Supposedly I have a stalker at school, though he has failed to stalk me very well. I'm still waiting for him to show himself.

Isn't it Ironic?

Don't you think?

Scalin' A Building

The other night Tony and I hung out. We were biking to my place and going through downtown. I had my digital camera with me and we kept stopping to take pictures of the buildings around us. At one point, we turned off of Nicolet and headed up to Hennepin, when Tony started biking up a ramp into a parking garage. I followed along and we went up to the top floor of the parking garage. As I stood atop a ledge and made ready to start snapping pictures, Tony yelled out, "Wait!"
He pointed to this apartment building next to us that was probably around 8 stories high and there on the side was a staircase that went all the way to the top of the building. "We have to go up there." Tony said.
We took the spiraling exit down a couple floors and locked our bikes to this chain link fence that was set up in the space between the two levels of the garage. There was a locked door that opened to the platform of the stairs, but as it was locked, we had to think of another way to get over there. I climbed onto the concrete ledge and swumg myself over onto the other side of the fence, walking precariously above the ground, two stories up. I could get my foot over to the platform, but there was this square piece of concrete that was jutting out of a corner that I couldn't get my arm to wrap around to grab the other side of the fence. I had to retreat defeated. Then Tony went and was able to swing himself over to the platform, and from there he opened the door for me. We climbed up the stairs and then climbed the ladder to the roof of the building. It was so great! We were able to sit on the ledge and take pictures of Hennepin at night. We also watched as some people met up on the top floor of the parking garage to do beer bongs. On the way down, a guy that was in a parking lot near the parking garage walked over to a corner of the building we were climbing down from and proceeded to pull down his pants and start peeing. I found this highly amusing and stood a story above him and watched and I waited until his friend saw me and then I waved.
"Hey, that girl saw your penis!" His friend yelled.
Heh, I just started laughing.

Tony and I have further plans for climbing buildings.
I really should put my pictures online.

12 Year Reunion

I was biking over the Hennepin bridge on my way to class today when suddenly a felt a nasty stinging sensation on my right leg as though I had been bitten or pierced with a needle. I think I saw something flying away with black wings, but didn't see what actually stung me, I just knew it hurt really bad. I had a red dot where it happened and began to swell pretty quickly. I had not been stung since I was around 7 or so and so I didn't really remember what it felt nor looked like. I called up my mom and asked, "What does it look like when you get stung?"
By the time I got to school, about 5 inches of my leg had turned red and was swollen and I had a "safety guy" come and take me from class to clean up my leg. I thought the swelling might get intense, but as I sat in class, it slowly went away.
It just worried me for I knew that I used to be allergic to bee and wasp stings, but since I never got stung as I was older, I had no idea how I was going to react. But it's going away on it's own...it still aches and such but the swelling has gone down and the redness is disapating.

Blah, stupid wasp or bee...or whatever the hell it was.

Ok...?

So no one has any comments about woofing? No one checked it out and is giving their opinion on whether they like the idea or not?

Other than that, I got locked out of my house for an hour yesterday. It sucked. I had gotten up early to go jogging. Emily was still asleep when I left but I could hear her alarm clock going off and so I sent her a text saying, "Do not lock the door, I'm jogging." About 20 minutes later, I hadn't received a reply and so I resent the message and then I got, "I already left!"
She hadn't seen my first text for she had been asleep. I told her to have her bf Matt come let me in for he has a key and only lives a few blocks away. She told me she had called him and that he'd be there in about 15 mintues and I told her to have him just unlock the door and leave. I get home about 15-20 minutes later and the doors are locked and he's not there. I wait 15 minutes and I'm calling Emily to tell her that he's not there and I don't see him coming down the road. She calls his house to find out that he has already left. I wait, and still no sign of Matt. So Matt didn't come and Emily ended up having to call her mother to come let me in, and I waited outside in the "cold" in only shorts and a tank top for an hour. It sucked.

Better news, I got my camera last night; a canon-a80. I find that I just can't stop taking pictures now. But that's how it always is with new things. When I first got my cell phone, I was almost walking into walls because I just couldn't stop playing with it. And now it's my best bud.

A'WOOFING we will go...

Tony and I may have found our ticket to Italy!

While Tony was working at Lund's the other night, a girl who had done this was sent to talk to him by one of his coworkers who knew Tony was looking for a way to get to Italy. He got the address to the site from her and we checked it out the other night and it's like a dream come true. It'll be nice for before Tony talked of us getting an apartment in Rome which I felt a bit hesitant about as it'd just cost so much money and we'd still have to find a job on top of that. With this we will have accomadation AND a job.

How awesome will it be to say, "Yeah...I'm going to be living in Italy and working on a farm this summer."

"Moving"

With my influence, Tony has decided that he wants to move overseas with me for the summer. We both really want to live in Italy as we have both been and just loved the place. We also thought about maybe going to Ireland, since they actually speak English there.
Tony has cousins in Italy...and so maybe we have a connection there for a place to stay. Anyone have advice or know of a site to check out where I can get information about moving to Europe for the summer?

Oh Yeah

Scary...

The other day, Tony sent me an e-mail of something he had written while sitting in Loring Park. I could not believe what I was reading. I mean...see any resemblence between his little writing and my story?? Tony knows that I have written a story that I will not allow him to read, but that's as far as he knows about it. And I wrote it like three weeks ago, this is only two days old...

"TODAY, PARADISE"
As I walk this path, It guides me through paradise. Paradise that is separated into smaller paradises by an endless number of rolling hills, that I cannot see beyond. When I ascend to the top of one hill, I am warmed by sunlight, and can see new grass covered hills, and I am happy. When I descend into the valley between two hills I emerse into the shade of a new tree, and am surrounded by vibrant vegetation that outlines my path, and I am happy then too. The wind brings a different scent each time it comes, and a new thought is remembered. I realize that paradise is not only around me but also inside me everytime I breath, or take in these placid visions. My paradise is nothing more thatn a walk in the park on a sunny day.

Hills that he cannot see beyond? Hills that he climbs and he sees sunshine? Vibrant vegetation?

The First Revision

Here is the revision of my story that I presented to my creative writing class. Well, to two people in my class anyways. The guy who was in my group said that he really liked the story; he liked the way the environment reflected what was going on with the boy. He liked the little vagueness for anyone who reads the story could make it their own.

I have also put it on here for my friend Rachel should be coming to the site soon to read it, and I'm just trying to get as much feedback as possible.

There once was a boy who lived in a land of plenty. His childhood days were sunny and warm and full of many things to do. He lived with a loving family in a little brown house atop a small hill that overlooked the surroundings lands that resembled a vast green ocean. Day after day he’d play in the misty green grass with his brother and there never seemed to be a cloud in the sky.
But as the boy grew older, his days became darker. Nights were an inky black which even the strongest light could not penetrate. Paths that crossed distant hills and far off lands, once seen by day, were now obscured by thick clouds that dragged themselves across a forlorn sky, blocking out the warming rays of the sun.
Demons came to visit the boy and instead of shutting them out, he invited them in. He was a vulnerable boy at this time in his life. With obscured paths on the horizon, he felt lost. The demons kept him locked inside, not only within his house, but also within his mind. Days became darker and they meddled into one another. The boy put off everything. No longer did he still gaze out on the fogging hills to try and catch glimpses of what he had once been able to see, for he had lost interest in many things and his dreams had waned. He let time slip slowly by and without a thought. Others looked on with fear, family and friends. But with his hood pulled up, he seeemed untouchable to everyone.

His friends left to seek greater things, his family grew, but the boy remained the same.

Then one day, the boy chanced a glance out the window; his world had grown far darker since he last remembered. He saw his reflection in the window and pulled down his hood to reveal his face. How much he had grown, how much he had never realized. He touched his face and his fears were confirmed: it really was himself that he saw staring back. But there was something else that scared him. He could see the hint of his demons within his face. It now became apparent that they were slowly consuming him; he was only feeding his demons and making things worse.
Suddenly an anger arose within the bo;, anger with himself for letting his world get so dark, for allowing life to just pass him by. He cast out his demons and shut the door on them.

The next morning, he left.

He traveled day and night, for they seemed to be just a continuum of one another; it seemed day never ended and night never began. He traveled with his hood pulled tight for he felt utterly alone and at times hopeless.
But he trudged on with the feeling that this was the right thing to do. Upon sleep he dreamed of lands he had once glimpsed as a child and he awoke each morning with renewed vigor and set out to seek such places.
One day the boy came upon a very tall hill with sides that stretched out for miles. In the far distance of the sky, he could see its tones becoming lighter, even if only minutely, foreshadowing a hope of lands he dreamed of. He set out without hesitation and began to climb, and when he finally reached the top, he fell down on his knees and gaped at the beauty he saw before him. Miles and miles on he could see. In the far-off distance, he could see lands of deep green and skies of pearl blue. He threw back his hood and down the hill he began to descend.
With each passing day the sky turned a shade lighter. No longer was it an inky black, but instead a grand blue, and then an amber orange. Every day gave promise of much more. Paths were clearer and there were more and more that he came upon. The grass was fuller and the flowers ever so vibrantly colored.
But yet the boy knew that this was still yet the beginning. There were many paths to take, more hills to climb. He knew he’d happen upon gullies and brambles. But fear this, he did not. For whatever gully or bramble he came across, he knew there’d be brighter sunshine and even more paths to follow. He kept his eyes locked on the distant horizon in front of him and took each step with an unwavering heart.

And now there is a boy, who is turning into a man; he’s crossing roads he once could not see, and never chancing a look back at the things that used to be.

Hate

I hate being so young.

I hate having feelings.

I hate that I'm sensitive and insecure.

I hate that I can't just let things be as they are.

I hate...

I just need to rant.

Ebay Anonymous

I have probably just done one of the worst things I could do as a young girl with a fresh, new credit card.

I have registered at Ebay.

The real reason I registered there is because I have been yearning for a Claddagh ring, I got one a year ago when I was in Ireland that was beautiful! It was sterling silver, had a green stone, and then two little white stones on the sides. But one night at Target, it fell off my finger without my noticing, and I never saw it again. Since then I've been wanting another and I've tried searching on internet for my exact ring and have found nothing. So last night I searched on Ebay and I found something similar, and cheap. Though it's nothing quite like my old ring, it's not as cheap looking as some of the other ones out there.
And then today I bid on a digital camera, a Canon A80. Heehee...ok, it's really not as bad as it sounds. I talked to Mom before I did anything and it's going to be my X-mas present if I get it; it's only $50.00

Man...there are so many things I WANT!

This is bad...

Revising

Tomorrow I will be reading my writing to a small group in my creative writing class. Guess I'll see how they like it, or not like it. Our teacher tells us to take risks with our writings, and I feel that I'm definitely taking a risk with writing a dark story in the form of a children's story. This was definitely a different writing for me; I had never been able to just write short stories before, nor had I been successful in my attempts to write children's stories.
So I have been revising my paper in the last few days and as is common with revisions, I feel that it is defintely a lot stronger and more clear than before. This has also got me thinking. I'd like to set up some sort of web-site where I can post my writings and then have a link to it on my blog? Anyone know of any site that I could do this on?

Oh, it was all nice and sunny when I woke up and biked to school today. And now I'm stuck at school with the foreshadow of a thunderstorm. "Joy." I had to bike home in the rain last night and got soaked pushing carts int he parking lot last night at Target. Heehee, last night was funny. I and another girl were pushing carts when suddenly this wall of wind and rain just hit us. All these carts that we had lined up and ready to push inside were ripped away from us and just went sailing across the parking lot. Oh...but a line of carts hit a ladies car and put a HUGE dent in the back bumper. Oops... :)

"There Once was a boy..."

I have written a story that I feel is probably the best thing I've written. Thing is, it's only two pages long, and it's nothing like anything else I've written; it's a childrens story. Well, sort of. At least I can imagine reading this to my children some day, hopefully many years from now. : )
I have written a story about Tony; the idea of it just happened upon me one day while at Target. I just knew that for his birthday/X-mas present, I wanted to write him a story in the form of a children's book, and I wanted it to start with "There once was a boy..."
So in the past couple of weeks, I worked on this in bits and pieces; I did more thinking about it than writing really. One night I finished it and typed it up on word and just felt really good about it.
I think I will be submitting this for my writing workshop for my creative writing class, but before I do that, I would REALLY appreciate feedback from anyone who visits this site. Please read over it and tell me what you like and what you think I could improve on. Or maybe something needs explained further? More detail? Feel free to copy and paste this into word, put some feedback on it, and then e-mail it to me at neiniel@yahoo.com Actually, I encourage EVERYONE to do this.

Thank you!

(Oh...and I know I use too many "more" 's at the end of the story. I need suggestions.)



"There once was a boy who lived in a land of plenty. His childhood days were sunny and warm and full of many tings to do.
But as the boy grew older, his days became darker. Nights were an inky black which even the strongest light could not penetrate. Paths that crossed distant hills and far off lands, once seen by day, were now obscured by thick clouds that drug themselves across a forlorn sky, blocking out the warming rays of the sun.
Demons came to visit the boy and instead of shutting them out, he invited them in. He was a vulnerable boy at this time in his life. With obscured paths on the horizon, he felt lost.
Days became darker and they meddled into one another. The boy put off everything. No longer did he still gaze out on the fogging hills to try and catch glimpses of what he had once been able to see.. He let time slip slowly by and without a thought. Others looked on, family and friends. But with his hood pulled up, he seeemed untouchable to everyone.
Then one day, the boy chanced a glance out the window; the world had grown far darker since he last remembered. He saw his reflection in the window and pulled down his hood, revealing his face. How much he had grown, how much he had never realized. He touched his face and his fears were confirmed: it really was himself that he saw staring back.
Suddenly an anger arose within the boy, anger with himself for letting his world get so dark, for allowing life to just pass him by. He cast out his demons and shut the door on them.
The next morning, he left.
He traveled day and night, for they seemed to be just a continum of one another. It seemed day never ended and night never began.
He traveled with his hood pulled tight. He felt utterly alone and at times hopeless. But he trudged on with the feeling that this was the right thing to do. Upon sleep he dreamed of lands he had once glimpsed as a child and he awoke each morning with renewed vigour and set out to seek such places.
One day the boy came upon a very tall hill with sides that stretched out for miles. In the far distance of the sky, he could see its tones becoming lighter, even if only minutely, foreshadowing a hope of lands he dreamed of.
He set out without hesitation and began to climb, and when he finally reached the top, he fell down on his knees and gaped at the beauty he saw before him.
Miles and miles on he could see. In the far-off distance, he could see lands of deep green and skies of pearl blue. Down the hill he began to descend.
With each passing day the sky turned a shade lighter. No longer was it an inky black, but instead a grand blue, and then an amber orange. Every day gave promise of much more.
Paths were more clear and there were more and more that he came upon. The grass was fuller and the flowers ever so vibrantly colored.
But yet the boy knew that this was still yet the beginning. There were many paths to take, more hills to climb. He knew he’d happen upon gullies and brambles. But fear this, he did not. For whatever gully or bramble he came across, he knew there’d be brighter sunshine and even more paths to follow. He kept his eyes locked on the distant horizon in front of him and took each step with an unwavering heart.
And now there is a boy, who is turning into a man; he’s crossing roads he once could not see, and never chancing a look back at the things that used to be."

Expensive Feet

So Tony and I hopped on the light-rail yesterday for the first time. I must say, I really did enjoy the light rail. I like being in a city that has a unique form of transportaion, kind of like a subway, only the light-rail was much smoother than the subs in New York. Tony and I both agreed yesterday that they should extend the light-rails to connect all parts of the cities together. It's just a nice way to travel, save for the fact that they aren't that big and get crowded easily.
We got to the mall of america around 6:30 and began looking around for shoe stores. We went to Journey's and didn't really find anything there that I liked and we also checked out Steve Madden. There were these shoes there that we both liked, but they were from the spring and so the biggest size they had in them was a 6 1/2 and I needed a 7. We found this Puma shoe store and headed into there. There were a few shoes in there that I really liked; Tony kept pulling down shoes and was asking if I liked them or not. The guy working there was talking to us about the various types of shoes they had and about all the different ones he owned. We were at the men's shoes and he pointed out a pink puma shoe and said, "You've got to be a confident man to wear that." Then he admitted that he had one and said, "I love pink." Tony and I later laughed about this for just last week we were at Marshall's looking at men's shirts and laughing at the pink polos, saying, "Who would ever wear this?"
Well, I guess we've met him.
The last place we went to was Nordstrom's and there were some great diesel shoes there. I tried on a couple pairs and found a gray and burgandy pair that I really liked, and ended up buying. While I was trying on shoes, Tony asked where the men's shoes were. We headed over to the men's section and he started looking at diesel shoes. "I'm just going to try some on." He said.
So he tried them on and liked them...and then he bought them. Hehe, we went shoe shopping for ME and then Tony ends up buying the same brand as I.

So I just spend $94 on shoes, and Tony just spent $90. As we went to bed last night, Tony just started to laugh. "I just bought a pair of diesel shoes today."

Nothin' Much

School

School has started back up again. I've already got an Abnormal Psychology test on Wednesday, and I have no idea how it'll go. The Professor doesn't give you notes for what will be on the test, instead he just tells you to study the text. So I've spent hours reading and taking notes from the text. Hope it goes well.
Because of school it'll be almost a week until I see Tony again. He has two tests on Tuesday and he's using the time that he doesn't work to study. Last semester we spent a lot of our free time together and watched as one another failed our classes due to lack of motivation. (We didn't literally fail.) So we've learned from our mistakes and see that we need to have school come first, or as Tony told me yesterday, "I just really want to make sure I do well, or else it'll just be a waste of my money." For me, it'll be a waste of my parents money.

Big Spender

I got my first credit card the other day, it's a Citi Bank card that gives me 5% cash back on most of my purchases. Nice. I've already accumulated 24 cents. Oh yeah... But hey, I can use it at grocery stores and gas stations and get a little money back that I never would have with using checks, so it IS a nice thing.
I keep telling myself and others that I will not be one of those people who gets caught up in the card and just ends up buying tons of shit and doesn't pay for it. I've assured my mother I'll only buy things that I'm buying already and ALWAYS pay it off at the end of the month.
On Wednesday, Tony and I plan to hop on the light-rail (which should be exciting as we're both light-rail virgins) and go down to the mall of america. Good idea for someone with a credit card right? I'm going to be buying 70-80 dollar shoes while I'm there. Not because of the card, I've been planning on doing this for awhile. I need new shoes really bad. The pumas I have are about 4-5 years old; there's no padding left and my feet kill after standing around for 8 hours at Target and on the left shoe, the side is being pushed out because I walk on the insides of my feet. I want to get some diesal shoes. I might get another pair of pumas. Who knows. The other day, Tony and I looked at Gola shoes and I really liked how they looked, but they were about $80, and I just need to have some more options.

Critter Sitter

Emily's gone for the weekend so I am the official "Critter Sitter." She and her bf went to New York City to visit her cousin who just had a baby. It's kind of nice to have the house alone, but also not. With Tony swamped with studies and no one else to hang out, it feels like my first semester here when I didn't know anyone. Oh well. I think this calls for hanging out with Ian late at night at the parking garage. Such fun!

No Giggling

I had my first pot cookie last night.

I felt nothing, and declined the offer of a second one.

Various Occurences

Compliment

A lady came through my lane today and said to me, "I like your style."
I was wearing my khaki's, of course, with my hot pink belt, and my zip-up red and white top with my London Underground shirt showing through. And then I've got on my sparkly vintage necklace, my hoop earrings and then my hair is bleached with pink streaks and I had a...hair band in my hair. Ok, not a hair band...but the things that are popular now...tie it around your head??? Whatever.
Anyways, so this compliment took me by surprise. I've got compliments before about my necklace, belt and hair, but never has someone commented on just everything.
"Well that's a compliment." I said to her.
"It should be from me, I used to be a famous make-up artist." She told me. "I still do Prince's make-up."
Wow, interesting.

"That's Hot"

The other night Tony and I were biking in Uptown towards my place late at night and we passed these two older guys who were sitting outside and talking. I didn't hear what they said, but suddenly Tony starts laughing and I look over at him to see what he's laughing at. I guess one of the guys had commented, "A blonde on a bike, now that's hot."

Fat

Tony and I were on 2nd street on the way to my place and we hadn't come across Broadway yet. It was late at night and we passed by this guy walking on the sidewalk and Tony called out to him as he pointed to me, "Hey, isn't she fat?"
The guys goes, "From what I can see, she looks fine."

"Treat Her Right!"

Tony and I were biking on Nicollet late one night and we passed by these three drunk older women. One yelled "Hi!" at us and then another yelled, "You treat her right!"
Heehee...

My First Anniversary

I am such a happy girl...

And now to the next topic: As of today, I have been in Minneapolis for one year now. Time to reflect eh? A couple of years ago I was in Minneapolis for Ian and Em's wedding. As my mother and I left the city, I remember thinking, "If I don't go to school up here, I'll probably never live here." For awhile I had felt torn between coming up to Minneapolis or going to the University of Iowa. But this last visit to the city had a strong effect on me and I made my decision to move up here. My senior year I applied for Inver Grove Community College, took my assement tests, and then happened upon MCTC while I was up one weekend with Ian and Em. I transferred my test scores and was accepted. I got onto craigslist.com (thanks Ian) and found my roommate Emily and on the 17th of August of 2004, my mom left me up here. Ooh, I remember that was such a weird feeling to just have my mom say goodbye and walk away, leaving me to stand alone on my new driveway and knowing that I'd be up here alone. A feeling of utter lonliness. Something I DO NOT want to ever feel again.
Moving up here was a big thing for me. I wanted to get out of Iowa; not because I hated the place (I love it), but because I knew I needed more. State Center just couldn't give me what I needed, nor did any other place in Iowa I felt. I wanted diversity and I wanted to be alone and in a place where I knew not what to do. Heh, and it felt good to be one of the few people who left the safety blanket of Iowa. I remember the first walk I took; I said "hi" to a couple people and they just gave me funny looks. It was weird not to know and be friendly with everyone I saw. I soon found that I couldn't go on a walk by myself without being hooted or whistled at at least a few times.
My first semester was really hard for me. It hurt to be away from my friends, but mostly it was Jay. I hated being away from him, but looking back I realize that I had a really unhealthy relationship with him. Towards the end, he'd get angry with me for stupid things and then he'd yell at me and not want to talk. Of course, I'm a talker and this just upset to the extreme. My first semester I just felt down and distraught a lot.

Thank God he dumped me.

Other than that, I had started my job as a cashier, which was a challenge for me. I'm shy and get embarrassed easily and it was hard at first to just deal with so many people face to face. But I feel it's been good for me. School went really well my first semester; I got a gpa of 3.76 Kick ass.
Second semester wasn't as good with grades for I took too many classes and I was working more. I didn't have time for the little things that I loved doing like reading and writing. But luckily, I met Tony, who had just moved up here from San Francisco (originally from Pittsburgh.) Together we got on our bikes and became true Minneapolis bikers; we'd bike the city and just look for new places to explore. We'd get up early in the morning and have breakfast at the little cafe's in Uptown. Oh, and our friendship is ever growing.

I've experienced some rather strange things. I had a very weird admirer(sp?) that went by the name of J.D. He was in my speech class, as was Tony, and he just became infatuated with me. I made the mistake of haning out ALL night with him and though I never let him hold my hand when he tried and told him I didn't want a bf, he still thought I liked him. He pursued me, but soon after, he just disapeared. He called once and left a weird message to say that he had been stopped by the cops on the way to my house to give me a flower and had been taken in for something little that happened a year ago and was having to go to a clinic. But now I have no idea what has happened to him.
I've seen two car chases while up there; was almost part of one once. So exciting! I saw cops wrestling a guy down on the street once when biking home from work. So great! And just the other night I saw a man running towards a woman as she swung a bat and tried to hit him while onlookers said, "Leave her the fuck alone." As the guy walked off he shouted back at the woman, "It don't matter, I already called the cops and told them you're stealing the bikes, you thievin' Indians!"
Oh, I love the city.

And to think that I almost left. I thought of going back to Iowa to be with Jay. Again, thank God he fucking dumped me.

I look forward to more bizarre admirers, car chases, and maybe a shootout???

Oh Minneapolis...

What Are The Chances?

I ended up not going into work today and called in sick. I had been drinking last night with Tony, my roommate, her boyfiriend and her ex bf. I hadn't had much to drink, two beers and one vodka and sprite drink that wasn't even strong. I didn't really eat anything for supper though, so I'm sure that helped. Tony and I didn't get to bed until 5 a.m. and I awoke at 6 feeling like ass. My head was pounding and my stomach felt nasty and I ended up dry-heaving in the toilet. (Lovely eh?)
So I called in sick and this gstl named Audrey picked up. I told her I was sick to my stomach and not coming in and she said, "Ok."
Later on I'm feeling better, as that's what happens with hangovers, and I went to see Tony during his lunch break at work. We're sitting at this table on the outside perimeter of Lunds and this car drives by. A man is driving, but I see Audrey's sister, and Audrey with her baby in the back seat! I'm struck with horror. "That's the lady I told I was sick today." I said placidly to Tony.
I was confused as to what to do. I didn't want to run inside the store and run the risk of seeing her in the store, but I knew I couldn't stay out there. "What do I do?" I asked Tony.
I pretended to rummage through my bag as her sister and the man walked by. She was staying in the car with the baby for a bit and I hoped she might stay out there the whole time. Tony and I headed into the Caribou Coffee place connected to Lunds. A little while later, we saw Audrey walk into the store with her baby. Tony's break was nearing its end so he took my keys, unlocked my bike and brought it to me. (They had parked their car right in front of my bike...) So I got on my bike and rode quickly out of there.

The hell? What were the chances that we'd just happen to be there at exactly the same time??

Iowan Antics

I'm down in Iowa right now, at the Gutenkunst Public Library actually. I came down Sunday night with Tony and he stayed until Wednesday morning.
On Sunday, Jay had his going away party. (He's going to be attending the University of Iowa.) We didn't get into State Center until 2 a.m. but were told that the party was still going on and so we headed out to Jay's place. I was interested to see how it would be for Jay to meet Tony for I have told him different things about Tony and I and whatnot. What I didn't know though was that Jay considered Tony and I to be a couple. When we got there, I could see that Jay and Rachel were outside talking and so Tony and I headed towards them. Jay was SO drunk, but granted, it was 2 am and they had started drinking around 9 or so. Jay held open his arms for me to come and hug him. I felt a little weird hugging him for I don't tend to get close to people. Though I used to be really close to him, I feel ackward about it now. But I hugged him to be nice and he clung to me and said, "I've missed you so much!"
"It's alright Jay...." I said.
Tony and Jay met and shook hands and then Tony and I headed into the "shed" where the party was. There weren't too many people there, but there were people from my class that I hadn't seen in almost a year. A lot of people were complimenting me on my hair, which is always a nice thing.
As Tony and I walked into the shed, I had turned around and told Rachel to come with us, but then I noticed that Jay started to cry. I later found out that Jay had been talking to Rachel and Jacob about me prior to my arrival. Rachel told me of how he was upset already about the fact that he was leaving, but he was also nervous about how to react to Tony and I. I guess he was getting upset at the thought that another guy may have me and...this is funny...at some point Rachel mentioned that Tony and I needed to drop off Leeloo first and Jay goes, "...Leeloo...!!!!" And then he just started bawling! Heehee....oh, Leeloo reminds him of us.
The party didn't end well. The girl that was taking Jay home was getting pissy and telling him to stop the party as pretty much everyone else had already left. We were outside and Jay asked for a hug, and I backed off, and then Jay got pissed! "Ok, everyone go home!" He yelled as he stormed off into the shed. He was throwing a huge fit! One thing that I DO NOT miss about our relationship. As we're walking back to our cars, Jay yells out, "Rachel's cool, but everyone else can kiss my ass!"

I'm sure Tony was thinking, "Nice to meet you too Jay."

Fountain Swimming

Fireworks

Tony came back from Boston on Saturday and so immediately we hung out. Of course.
That night I went with him and his uncle to go see the fireworks. First we went to this apartment building by the Mississippi where one of his uncle's friends was hosting a party. The apartment was one of those million dollar places; all of the furniture was modern and there were expensive rugs here and there and paintings all over the walls. I felt so out of my element!
For the fireworks, we headed down to the Stone Arch Bridge and took a place towards the middle and waited for the fireworks to start. There was this group of a couple of older mom's with two young teenage girls and this one mom was just insane. She kept hooting and hollering when the fireworks were going off and she was making the two younger girls stand up to get their picture taken in front of the fireworks.
I must say, the fireworks were very enjoyable; just 20 minutes of eye stimulation. And I'm used to the fireworks that State Center has after our town celebration in June. Take all of State Center's fireworks and fire them off all at once, and you won't even have the finale that I saw that night.
We headed back to the apartment to "chat it up" with some people before we left. When we entered the building and made our way to the elevator, who left the elevator but none other than the Mayor of Minneapolis. Not that it had much impact on me, I had no clue it was him until Tony's uncle made a comment.

Fountain Swimming

Yesterday Tony and I biked all over Northeast and Uptown. The weather was hot and so we figured out how to cool ourselves down.
We were biking to my place and were going through Loring Park when Tony turned towards the fountain in that park. He threw down his bike, took off his shirt, and just dove into the fountain. I followed suit soon after him, though I did not shed my clothing. : )
Tony found a cd while in the fountain and there were two cds inside. So now I've got a Tori Amos cd and The Soviets.
After that fountain, we continued on the way to my place and before leaving downtown, we spotted another fountain in front of a building and decided to check it out. There were a couple of homeless guys there washing their shirts but we dove in anyways; they got quite a kick out of it.

I think this will be a new hobby for us.

Drunk, Bored...New People

"Bye Bye Love"

Last Saturday I drove Tony, his brother, and their uncle to the airport and said my good-byes to them and they flew off to Boston. So this week I've been hanging out with people I usually don't hang out with and have just been trying to keep myself busy.

Brock

I talked a bit of Brock in an earlier post; he's the guy who went through my lane at Target and gave me his number. I hadn't called him in a few weeks and almost felt that it had been too long to call him back, but I did call him on Sunday and we decided to meet up on Tuesday as I worked that night. Well, Brock called me Sunday night and wanted to hang out and so we met up around midnight.
Brock's 24 and is from a town of 600 people in southern Minnesota. We biked around a little bit and then headed back to my place where we sat on the couch and talked until 3 am. Brock's an interesting guy; he's really into art of all kinds, which is something I really enjoy, and find especially attractive in the opposite sex. That's not to say I was attracted to Brock, I wasn't. He has one thing about him that I find to be a bit annoying, and it's that he has love for everyone, until he's given a reason not to. I don't mean to sound all cynical and whatnot, but it just sounds corny when he talks about it and there's just something about the whole thing that I find annoying. I think he's also a little too good for me to, not that I go for the "bad" boys or whatever. But he just has high morals and values, but I just enjoy people that have had a little more experience and have learned from past, and sometimes huge, mistakes. He's not very social and doesn't have too many friends, hence the reason he gave me his number. I'm not the most social person and enjoy guys who tend to be more social than I. He's goofy, but just not the right sort of goofy for me. I don't know, I didn't always feel my most comfortable around him and couldn't just fully be myself. He's still a cool guy though and I'm always looking for friends.

Drunk Night

I got drunk Tuesday night, but I didn't think it'd be happening. Brock came over and I invited my friend Dane over and he brought a couple of his friends. Emily came home and her ex came over and we were all drinking. I didn't plan to get drunk, but I had one beer and I could already feel that, and I made myself a vodka and sprite drink. Then Emily and I did a shot of whiskey together and I had another vodka and sprite drink after that. Oh, I'm such a dumbass when I'm drunk. I just kept laughing about everything that night and kept saying the stupidest shit.
Though Dane told me the next night, "I love you when you're drunk, you're just so happy about everything!" Yes...that's me being a dumbass.
Ross came over later that night and he was already drunk from an earlier get together. He came over and just started messing around with me and being an ass, for he knows how I am about being touched by anyone. He was picking me up and spinning me around on his shoulder in the kitchen. Annoying.
Brock ended up staying the night; he was about to leave on his bike but I could hear him coughing and maybe even puking below the little "porch" and I asked, "Uhh, you want to stay here tonight."
"Yeah, that might be a good idea." He answered.
I offered him my bed and said I'd take the loveseat for he's a foot taller than I am and the love seat is horribly small. But he mumbled something about there being my pheramones in my bed, and so he took the loveseat.
Whatever.

White-Haired Iowan

Iowa

Tony and I headed down to Iowa Monday night around 10, after Tony got off of work. I was going down to Iowa to pick up my Taurus which had been down there getting a new transmission and planned to only be down there for a day and so I asked Tony if he would like to accompany me. We headed down that night and didn't get into State Center until around 2:30. After Tony and I lugged our shit in, I made him follow me outside and took him out to one of our open pastures.
Living in the city, it's hard to get a very good and open view of the night sky, and especially hard to be able to just even see stars and whatnot. So I brought him out there to see the stars and milky night sky above us. "Wow," was all Tony could say. : )
The next day Tony and I were going to drive down to Caseys, the main gas station in Iowa...they're everwhere, but then we found that I had locked the keys in my dad's blazer. So, we walked downt to Caseys and got some donuts. Ooh, Casey's donuts make me so happy. We didn't have much to do that day for the blazer was all locked and I had found out that my car wasn't ready yet. As we sat in the kitchen watching tv, I said to Tony, "It feels like when I was 15 and wasn't able to go anywhere."
We headed over to my friend Jacob's house. When he answered the door he screamed and said, "It's you! I can't believe it!"
We hung out with him for awhile and just talked of t his and that. Tony was itching to go somewhere and before I had mentioned something about going to Marshalltown to go grocery shopping, and Tony goes, "Why don't we just take the bus to Marshalltown?"
Jacob and I looked at eachother and just started laughing. "What bus?!"
City boy...it just seemed common sense to him that we'd have some sort of public transportation like that. "Why don't we just call up a taxi?" Jacob and I joked. "Oh wait, there aren't any of those here."
The blazer was fianlly unlocked and we were able to head up to my mother's place for supper. Tony wanted to drive, saying that he enjoyed driving through the countryside. The way up to my mom's is a really pretty drive. It's a bunch of open fields of corn and soybeans and the whole way there there are just gentle rolling hills. "It's beautiful." Tony said at one point.
I was so happy to hear him say this. I love Iowa and think it's beautiful and so it meant a lot to bring Tony with me. I just wanted him to be able to see what I see in Iowa, and this he did.
Tony seemed to really enjoy my mom, and I think she really liked him too. Mom made us a supper of buffalo burgers, squash, biscuits, and fries. After supper she gave Tony a tour of the farm and of the buffalo and various other animals. Tony kept drilling my mom with questions about the buffalo and slaughtering and then about horses. Before I left, Mom asked to get a picture of Tony and I, and then she hugged him before we left. That's something she never did with Jay. I think she really liked Tony.
Next time I go home to Iowa, I think Tony will be coming with me for a couple days. I'm hoping that there will be some sort of party going on where he can interact with other small town people around our age. I just want him to see the kind of small town minds they have and just let him experience the life of a small town youth.
Should be interesting.

Bleached

On Monday I headed over to Ian and Em's place and Em bleached my hair. For awhile now I've just felt the craving to change my hair. I've been getting so bored with it, and finally I did something. I decided to have it all bleached for it's something I always thought about, but never did. And platinum hair is pretty. After Em bleahced my hair, it was a light yellow color and so she put in the toner to make my hair white. Toner is this purplish color and it's supposed to stay in hair for maybe 15 minutes. It took 15 min for it to turn her hair white. She put it in fast and it was on the bottom layers of my hair for like 5 minutes and on the top layers for only a couple before she rinsed it out, and my hair turned purple! A very light purple, but it still looked like a mistake. Em was shocked at how fast my hair had taken the toner and said that she had never seen that before. So we had to do a couple of bleach washings to get the purple out. After that, she put pink streaks into my bangs and after around 5 hours, we were all done.
I love my hair, I just love how it looks. I'm so happy that it's finally different!

"Intruiging" Propositions

I have a profile on the hi5 site. I didn't join it for any real reason; I got an invite in an e-mail once and thought, "What the hell." So I joined and put up a profile and whatnot and I keep getting e-mails from guys who say shit like, "You look like fun" or "You're hot." But...in the past few days, I've gotten a couple of very interesting propostions.
I'll post the e-mails:
The first is from a 33-year-old guy named Chris:
"Hey there, I would love to talk more and get to know each other, maybe hang out too if you would like that. I would also like to talk to you about the possibility of doing some nature modeling. I liked the picture you have on here and you have alot of natural beauty to you. What i mean by nature modeling is wearing things like a sundress, shorts and tank top, etc.. and using streams, waterfalls, etc.. as the setting for the shoot. I do alot of nature stuff already, but I am looking to include people in it too. I think you would be wonderful for it. But either way I would like to get to know you more. Have a great night and sweet dreams. Sincerely, Your new friend, Chris "

Nature modeling eh? Now, who out there can see me basking in the sunshine in front of a waterfall in a sundress? Yeah...

And then I got this one today from a guy who's on there as "Nas":
"how you doing? I know u don't want to meet any guy right now, but I would like to ask something because u had pervious relationship with a man. I and my girl don't know anything about relationship. I feel like we are not good in lot of things such as, taking care of each other, having sexy even though I think I'm so good in sex coz my two ex-girlfriends told me that, and other things. So, I would like to ask if you want to share our relationship with us and be part of our life, and we can do whatever you want as a one family sharing everything together...................... do u have a messenger or even phone # that's we can talk faster.......................halla back "

...
Well Nas, I enjoy how you read that I don't want to get involved in a relationship right now, but yet you still figured out that I'd "love" to be in a three-way relationship. I mean, it does sound "very" tempting and I'll be giving it a lot of "thought."
Ok, it's bad enough he asks me to be a part of the relationship, but then to say we'd be "one family?" That's creepy. I mean, I want to go into psychology and give people advice on relationships and whatnot...I just don't want to have sex with them.

Oldest Vet In Minneapolis

Emily and I took Leeloo to the vet today. Emily had warned me of how the lady was old and slow and might nag me at times for little things but I wasn't too sure quite what to expect. When we first got there, I couldn't get the door open - I had turned the knob the wrong way... - and there was this button for a buzzer on the door and I thought that maybe I needed to push that so that I could be let in. So then I pushed it and then Emily told to try turning the knob the other way. As I enter, I hear the lady yelling, "Just open the door! Jeez, I can't take it anymore!"
That first meeting was a bit intimidating but she turned out to be quite nice, and you could tell that she just loved what she did. She got her degree in 1961 and she was talking about how when she was younger, all she wanted was to start her career and she remarked on how guys were like, "A career? How about you have my kids." But she didn't concern herself with men and never married nor had kids, and she just set right off in her career. Lovely.
Leeloo is not good around people she doesn't know. When I'm at home sitting on the couch or lounging around elsewhere, she'll come up to me purring and she'll lay with me. When others are around, she'll hiss at and attack anyone, including me. Leeloo was no different with the Vet and she was a bit upset with this. "Someone was rough with this kitten growing up." She talked of how you can't play too rough with kittens or else they'll turn out like this. I don't believe that Leeloo would have been too different if she hadn't been played with roughly. When she was young and I would just pet her, she'd try to bite me. It's just her temperment, and I rarely played with her that rough.
Leeloo had to get her shots and since she wouldn't cooperate by just being held, she had to be put into the "Squeeze Cage." It was this white cage and there was a wall in it that moved that would pin her against the side so that she couldn't move. Heehee, it was funny, but also kind of saddening to see her squirm and yowl as she was stuck with the needle.

Now I just need to get her spayed. The vet explained the process to me: "You'll bring her in in your cat carrier and leave her with me. I think my dad and I invented this, but we never patented it, but I'll put her in this aquarium which I'll let gas into so that she'll fall asleep."
$90 spay. Good eh?

"This Shirt Only For Black People?"

I had a pretty funny occurance today. I was working at Target and I had this old couple come through my lane. They didn't seem to be all there in their old age, a bit senile if you will. (I'm not trying to be funny either.) The woman threw this black shirt onto the conveyer belt and said, "Ok, I have a question. Is this shirt only for black people?"
The shirt was black and said "AC/DC Back In Black." I looked at her for a second and wondered if it was just some poor joke she had made but she just looked back at me seriously.
"Oh no." I said. "It's an older band."
"A band? I don't know them. I'll take it." She said.
I told Tony this story earlier and made a joke about there being clothing for just black people, and clothing for just white people.
"For Us By Us." Tony said. "Fubu."
Ok, I guess I'm black apparrel retarded.

Boys

I need some more friends, rather than just always being with Tony. There's a boy named Aaron who I know from okcupid.com. We've only talked on the site and had met once by chance at Target. He came through my lane last night and bought a bike and I talked to him for a wee bit and gave him my number. I'm hoping he actually does call me, I've been a bit annoying to him with telling him we should hang out but then never actually making official dates to hang out. We seem to have the same sense of humor and he did splendidly in joking around with me last night.
There's also a boy named Dane who I might be hanging out with tonight. He's a 17-year-old cashier who works at Target and we exchanged numbers a little while ago. He seems like a cool guy and we have similar tastes in music and such. I just hope he doesn't try hitting on me though, for when I had made some comment about me being single one time he made sure to say that he too was also single.
So if I hang out with him tonight, I'm sneaking vodka by his parents.
Oh..please don't make a move on me.

Bored

I'm SO bored with my hair. Em - Ian's wife - said she'd bleach my hair for me. I've wanted it bleached for a long time but have just never done it. I feel a need for a change and hey, it's only hair and I'm young and why not try out something different? I'm thinking that I also want to have little streaks of pink put into the top layer and possibly some black streaks under the pink.
I need something different.

Annoying

I got honked at today by a guy while I was jogging. I flipped him off. It's starting to get annoying. Just because I'm a girl with the right curves does not mean that you can treat me like a sex object. Blah, I get guys hanging out the window looking at me.

Leeloo

Leeloo is going to the vet this Saturday to get her shots and just a little check-up. I have a fear that she may be pregnant, for when she was at home while I went to Seattle, she figured out how to open the sliding screen doors and got out a couple of times. And, she was also in heat at the time. Lovely eh?
I'm wondering how the visit with the vet will go. Emily goes to her and I guess this woman is the first woman to graduate from the Vet's program at the University here. So she's older and takes a long time...but she's cheap. (That always sounds so "prostitutish" when I say it.) The check-up is only costing $25 and the spay should only be around $90. Nice eh? Heh, the first time I called to schedule an appointment, she got my name and number and said she'd call me back because she was with someone at the moment. She never called back. So then I called a couple days later and the first time I called, she said she was upstairs and wanted me to call her back in 10-15 minutes when she'd be downstairs. Where's her receptionist?

Zim

I went over to my friend Ryan's place last night. He's a cashier at Target and I've hung out with him only a couple times in the past. We watched his dvd on Invador Zim last night, which was entertaining. I loved that show when it was on Nickelodeon.
Ryan used to have a crush on me, but I don't know if he does anymore. While on the couch, he seemed to want to get closer and/or put his arm around me; I was hugging the corner of the couch. I made myself a drink while I was there, a psuedo vodka and tonic - I used off brand sprite. I added a little more vodka than usual and was a little buzzed when I biked home at 1:3o in the morning. It was fun though.

A Finger and a Number

A Finger

Hmm...I'm thinking that some perv's could find my title a bit dirty??

Anyways, it's not meant to be dirty in any sort of way.

I must say, I feel rather good as I just let out some anger. As a biker, motorists piss me off. It's 2 am and I was biking home from Tony's and was on the last stretch home on my street. I was nearing a stop light and was on the side of the street, where bikes ARE allowed to be and I heard a car coming up behind me. Again, I was at the side of the street...not swerving around or anything. I was being a good little biker, but this fuck bitch still decided to honk at me. And she did so while she was behind me, which made me jump a bit. That pissed me off. I headed on through the stop light while she waited and as I was pissed, I decided to do something that would feel good. I took my good ol' time and biked right in the middle of the road. I just waited for her to come up behind me...and she did, right before my house. She laid on the horn but I still kept up my snail pace, then turned around and flipped her off. Ooh, it felt good. Now, I realize that I didn't really do anything spectacular, but you must keep in mind that this is coming from someone who usually just stays quiet and doesn't do anything when angered.

A Number

Yesterday at Target, an amazing thing happened: I got a guys number. This guy came through my lane and he bought a couple of dvd's; one was of a show on Adult Swim - can't think of the title - and I don't remember the other.... He was wearing a backpack and I assumed he was biking so I asked, "You biking?" He said he was and I made the comment that I bike everywhere. He told of how he recently got into a car crash and had to bike everywhere. Nothing too spectacular happened, I just noticed that he kind of looked at me as he was leaving, as though he wanted to say something. But he left.
A little later on, I looked over towards the entrance and I noticed him coming back in. I had a quick thought of him coming back and giving me his number, for it's something you always see in movies and such, but it has never actually happened to me. Out of the corner of my eye though, I saw him round the corner and come over to the lanes, and he walked straight to mine. He handed me a little blue scrap of paper. "My name's Brock, call me if you want to bike and get some coffee sometime."
Heehee, I've never had something like that happen to me before; never before has a guy just thrown his number at me like that. It's so flattering!
And then tomorrow, or today rather, I'm meeting up with a guy from okcupid.com.

Too bad I don't really want to date anyone. Damn it, guys always go for me when I'm not looking to date.

Biking It

As I kept saying I was going to do, I bought a new bike the other day. Tony and I headed into Penn Cycle where he got his for they had really good priced bikes and Nick, the guy who helped Tony find a bike, was super helpful and nice. I ended up with a 15" Giant Cypress. Ahh, I love having a bike with gears and brakes that actually work.

Biking home from Target today was "joyous." It was just raining non-stop. I had stopped by rainbow to look for soybeans and when I came out, it was just pouring. Iwaited for like a half-hour in the little area where they keep carts as I waited for the rain to stop. It was pretty entertaining to watch people sprint from the store to their cars, it was like they were on a battle-field or something. There was this one chick who was wearing a really short skirt who went running down the parking lot with her shopping cart. The wind was blowing up the back of her skirt and it's safe to say she was probably wearing a g-string. It was funny. If I had a penis, I might think it something other than funny.

Now...to speak of something related...anyone think it weird that while on the trip to Seattle with Erik I kept finding myself just wanting to say in front of him, "You know Erik, I'm a lesbian." Not that I am...I definitely like guys, but I just so want to say that to him sometimes with some of the shit he says.

I seriously hope Jacob turns out gay. I'm not even being remotely sarcastic. He's afraid of bugs and always crosses his legs.
Seriously, it'll do some good for the family.

How Many Kids You Had?

Wow...I can't believe what just happened. I walked over to Sentyrz, the grocery store right by my place, and there was this older black guy in the parking lot. As I walked by, he smiled at me and asked me to come talk to him. I just laughed and ignored him. When I left the store, he was still outside and began to walk along with me. "Damn, you walk fast girl, how old are you?" I told him I was 19 and then he introduced himself to me and shook my hand. "Can I get your number Liz?"
"Nah, I got a bf." I lied, knowing that if I said I was single I'd just never be able to get him away from me. So I stop in front of my house and this guy is just looking me up and down. "Liz, you got such a tight body...I've never seen such a body on a white girl."
I just giggled through all of this, for I have heard similar comments from Tony.
"You ever dated a black guy?" He asked.
"No." I responded.
"It's a whole 'nother experience, it's like adventureland."
He also asked me how many kids I had. It's not like he asked if I have had kids at all, he just assumed I had had some. I told him, "I'm only 19, I haven't had any."
"Now Liz, I just gotta be up front with you, you got some great titties. Turn around and let me see that ass, you like wearing thongs?"
I began to think it was getting a bit out of hand and so I told him I had to go. As I turned and walked he yelled out at me, "Where'd you get that million dolla' walk?"
As I walked up the stairs he called out, "Hey come back, I think I came on a bit strong."

Nicolet Island Venturings

The other night, Tony showed me a part of Minneapolis that I had not realized was there; a little island in the Mississippi called Nicolet Island. The island is very close to where I live and whenever I bike into downtown, I always pass over it. I just never noticed it was an island I was passing over. We biked down to St. Anthony Main late the other night and rode along the cobblestone streets for a bit. We got onto the heritage trail and took a little stroll on the bridge; we stopped to gaze at the view of the lighted city and looked down at the Mississippi passing below us. After this, Tony led me down to the bridge that crosses over to Nicolet Island and we biked around this little hotel restaurant called Nicolet Island Inn. He talked of how he had eaten there in an earlier visit to the city and said, "We should have breakfast there sometime." We biked along the winding trail that led around the perimeter of the island and remarked on the old Victorian houses in the area. On the way home as we were passing over this little bridge, a train came and went under the bridge. We climbed over the side of the bridge and stood on this little edge right over the passing train. Tony talked of how we HAVE to someday jump onto a slow-moving train and ride it for awhile.
We'll see how that goes.

Today will be my fifth day in a row working at Target. I know, boo-fucking-hoo. Some people work 7 days a week and some people work like 30 hour shifts...like Greg. : ) I shouldn't complain, but I will.

Leeloo lost her collar while she was home. She figured out how to open to the sliding screen doors at my dad's place and escaped one night, but she ended up spending the night in a tree as one of the cats scared her up there. She was not fixed while she was home; I'll be getting her shots and either I'll find a REALLY cheap place up here to get her spayed, or I'll have it done next time I go to Iowa.

The transmission in my Taurus is shot. It's in Iowa right now awaiting a new one and I've got the blazer. Blah. Yes people, hate me because I'm spoiled. I've never had it rough. As I told Tony, you're going to hate me when you come home with me and see how much I've got.

I'm buying a new bike. Mom's bike is really taking a crap on me and so Tony and I headed into Penn Cycle yesterday to look for a bike. The bike that I wanted is 15" tall and is too high for me, so they have one coming in on Friday that they're going to have me look at. Joy!

Sittin' on The Dock of a Lake

I got back to Iowa on Thursday and stayed home for a few days. I met back up with Jay, and I must say that that was quite the experience. We hung out Saturday afternoon and evening and were VERY open about what's been going on with us lately, especially in terms of our dating lives and whatnot. So, I found out that he's seeing some girl who lives and bartends in Des Moines, he shaves his armpits now, he works as an exotic dancer in a Des Moines club, and he HAS to have his white shirts be WHITE or he won't wear them.
I went to the Rose Festival parade on Saturday; every year State Center has their town celebration called Rose Festival. It's the time when all the carny's rush over to State Center to add a little skank to the town. So, I went to the parade and met up with Jay and also with my mom and Erik. I REALLY wanted some candy but as I'm older, I wasn't really getting candy thrown at me, so I would sit there and clap my hands and go "candy candy!", to all of the passing floats, cars, tractors, etc... People started to finally throw candy in my direction but I had some competition; I had my nephew Jacob on the left and a group of little kids on the right and I was literally out there on my hands and knees - I do not joke - as I grabbed candy.

I am not ashamed.

I came back up to the cities on Saturday. As I was unpacking, I heard the back door open and shut and thought that it was Emily. I looked up as I heard the approaching footsteps, and I saw that it was actually Tony standing there with a big smile on his face. Ah, this rush of just pure happiness just ran through my body, I've never had anything like it. He walked into my room and I stood up and we just hugged for the longest time. Needless to say, Tony and I spent our evening together. A lot of it was spent at my house, but later on we headed into Uptown and sat out upon the dock on Lake Calhoun. That night Tony and I had a big talk and have decided to not move in with one another. We both talked of how just everyone has warned against it and we discussed our own worries with the situation. We just both feel that living with one another would create pressures and stress that could hurt our friendship. And we're both very interested in one another, but we aren't taking that step to date yet...so we feel it better to not have it so that we're always coming home to one another.

So my life has started up again. I'm back at Target for 5 days in a row. Suck. I've been doing some cleaning and tonight I'll be making some lasagna for Tony; I must thank Greg for giving me the idea of how to make a really good lasagna. Tony and I are hanging out again like usual, though we haven't done as much biking yet.
But...I have a feeling that will change.

Lovely Seattle

I took a break from hanging out with Erik and Sue and the two boys today. A much needed break. Greg worked a 30-hour shift and wasn't to get home until around noon. Erik and Sue left around 10 or so and took the boys down to the aquarium and to an I-Max theatre. I didn't feel like spending money on such things, so I waited for Greg to get home. We had lunch at Pho Cyclo and I had Pho with cow tendon and stomach in it. Yummy! Then we headed over to China Town and I picked up some really weird folder things that have weird Japanese cartoons on the covers. One is of this cartoon grocery store and in every piece of fruit, in the toilet paper, and in all the food are these little kittens. A bit creepy, but funny. I also bought a couple of really cool plates that were made in Japan. Just something to add onto my collection of "grown-up" stuff.

Tomorrow it looks like we will be going kayaking which I'm excited about. It's one of the main things that I wanted to do while here.

Sunday we will be leaving, which sucks ass. But alas, I am not the driver, I was only along for the ride.

Minneapolis to Seattle, And All Inbetween

So I won't be talking about EVERYTHING...but I'll try to get in what I feel is "important." Now....important stuff? Well, I guess there isn't really anything too important that happened.

Last Thursday I spent my day with Tony; we just biked back and forth between NE and Uptown, ate lunch at Punch, looked at an expensive bike for Tony, and rode along The Green Way. In the evening, Tony and I laid out on this dock on Lake Calhoun and watched as the sky darkened above us. Heehee, while on the dock I was getting a bit chilly and I had pulled my knees up to my chest and had my arms wrapped around my legs. Out of nowhere, Tony grabbed me, pushing his hands against my arms so that I couldn't free myself and he pushed me onto my back and started to roll me back and forth on the dock. He was just cracking up as he did so, and I was laughing as I yelled at him to stop. And then Tony started to slap me in the face, but it became too much for him and he finally let me go, and we just laid on the dock and laughed for minutes. Heehee, that ass.

Friday morning I got up and said my good-byes to Tony and headed home and that night around 6, I met up with my brother Erik, his wife Sue and my two nephews Jacob (7) and Nicholas (17 months) and we headed out for Wall, South Dakota. Since we had the two "young 'uns" with us, the plan was to see the sights during the day and then drive at night. This accounted for not ever getting to the motel until 2 am, while I desperately tried to seek sleep while I sat inbetween the two boys. While do I always get the shaft? On my right I had Jacob who always asked me to play "go fish" with him. I like keeping to myself anyways in cars, but when I did play with him, it turned into a game where I'd win off the first hand for he never shuffled the cards. And then I had Nicholas on my left who just got fussier and fussier as the trip went on, and I'd have him screaming in my ear at 1 am. There were so many times that I just felt like running up a tree and shaking it with all my might.

It's not just the boys who were annoying, I found that Sue is a bit unlikable. When she's around family, or at least my family, she's all smiles and corny jokes. Fake. When she's in the car, it's a different story. She gets stressed out easily and is strict with Jacob. She rolls her eyes a lot and just never seems to really be enjoying herself. It's annoying.

On Tuesday, we finally got into Seattle. Thank God. It feels good to be out of the car and in the lovely city of Seattle. Last year when I was out here, I was really torn between wanting to move to Minneapolis and wanting to move out to Seattle. But I chose Minneapolis (obviously). And hey, if I hadn't, then I wouldn't have met Tony. But there is still so much in Seattle that I see that I like. It's so big and I love the way that the city is all cut off and displaced by the lakes and ocean, and I love the way the houses on the hills look above the ocean and lakes. I enjoy the way the streets curve and slant severely.

It's just a nice place.

*Update*

I just got back from taking an hour walk. I was wearing shorts and a tank top and I was walking by this tobacco store where two guys were standing outside by the sidewalk at a pay phone. One of the older guys just started beaming when he saw me walking by. He said "hello" to me and I replied with a "hello." He then asked, "How are you doing."
"Good." I said.
"You look good today." He said next.
Jesus Christ.

And then earlier, I had stopped to cross the street in the middle of a block and this guy in a car that had no stop signs just stopped and waved for me to cross.

Worn Out

I've been active too much. On Sunday, I jogged 40 minutes in the morning, biked to Target (15 minutes) and just before I got there, the tube in my front tire popped. So...I had to walk home from Target, which took 45 minutes. Heh, I was having such an awful time. I've never changed a tire before and had only seen it done once and I was just pissed off at what had happened. On the way home, the only happiness I experienced was when I purposely ran over an ant with my flat front wheel and killed it. Also on the way home, I stubbed my toe...and it bled. Changing my tire took about 45 minutes; between calling my friend Jay to get the jist of how to do it, to running up and down the stairs to get tools, and to just plain figuring out how to do it. But in the end, it was done successfully. Immediately after that I got on my bike and biked from Northeast into Uptown (SW), about 3-4 miles (?) and met up with Tony on his lunch break at Lunds. Then I biked back home. Sat around for a few hours, and then biked back into Uptown at 11 when Tony got off of work. We headed to his place real quick, and then came back to mine. Yesterday I biked to Target and back with no tube popping. Then I biked into Uptown after I got off work and Tony and I biked to Northeast to get coffee and then biked back to Uptown for supper at Old Chicago, and then I biked back home by myself for the night. My bodies exhausted; I laugh at the idea of going for my daily jog.

Hi!

I was walking to the store right by my house this morning to pick up some orange juice. I'm walking across the parking lot when I hear a male voice call out from a short distance, "Hello!" I look to my left and I see these three older men sitting outside the store, most probably workers, and they're all waving at me. So I waved back. But hey, it's pretty funny how they were just all waving at me.

Leeloo Likes Big Black Cats

My cat Leeloo is in heat. Well, she was for the past couple o' days, and it was VERY annoying. She just kept meowing and making all weird sorts of noises as she rolled around on the ground. She'd stick her ass in the air, inviting anyone in, as her hind paws danced and her tail shook. The other morning when Tony and I had breakfast, we sat out on the stairs. Whenever I leave the house, Leeloo usually jumps up in the kitchen windown to watch me go and that morning I said, "She'll probably jump up there and stick her ass at it." Within a few moments, Leeloo jumped up into the window and displayed her ass for us. That's when she got shut in the bathroom.