| Another mountain climbed |
[Aug. 17th, 2005|09:00 pm] |
Again, I've been so busy that a lot of events occurred and now this journal is backed up a few days, so prepare for traffic. This long line of cars is all because of me.
We begin with Sunday, and a conclusion to the previous entry, at the end of which I asked you all to wish me luck and no one did. I'm not angry. Anyway, everything worked out by way of acquiescence. Eriko called me in the morning and said she couldn't make it until the afternoon, so I asked her to leave it under the couch outside the door of my old apartment. Then Nathan came over to help me finish the packing and moving, and we got a campus police officer to open my door to my new apartment. We left both doors open, and I convinced my sister to be late to the family gathering (she hates tardiness - she is punctual) and let me use her car to move. It was a million degrees and my ghetto boxes broke apart (should have used cowboxes) and it sucked, but I was able to laugh at myself and get the job done. Then I was incredibly relieved for the rest of the day, despite being around a million people at this gathering, many (I'd even say most) of whom I didn't know. That kind of thing used to bother me, but I have a knack these days for finding my niche wherever I am and being comfortable with it. I got back, got my key (thanks Eriko!) and was officially moved in. I did most of my unpacking immediately, and although I still have some left, I'm relaxed. And the stress of the day made me appreciate the relaxation more, just as the heat of the apartment (which has improved after a few days, thankfully) made me appreciate the air conditioning I no longer have.
But I like my new apartment much more than my old one, overall. The only major problem with it is that most of the lights in this apartment don't seem to work. The one in my bedroom works, but I've been using lamps for everything else. The kitchen light doesn't work at all, which drives me nuts at night. Here's a picture of me in my apartment, by the way:
You know why you can't see the (second-)most beautiful thing in the world? BECAUSE IT'S TOO DARK! Maybe there really is toilet paper here, and I just can't find it. Also: I don't really have white hair when it turns dark - except on my stomach. But that's because of a birthmark, and a racial war that must have been started by a Jewish, on the hard battlegrounds that are my abs. And yes. That's right, a Jewish. I bet you've never met a real Jewish before.
Random mid-entry book recommendation: The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
Monday, Corey visited to check out the place and bring a bike, and we talked a lot and went to Subway and it was fun but mostly inconsequential visit. That night, however, I went for a walk with Nathan. Those of you who remember two years ago and my old journal remember how much I complained about how depressing it was that I had no one to walk with, especially at night. Now I have two people - Malorie and Nathan - who love to walk and apparently love to walk with me. And conversations with either of them, although different, share the same poetic concordance and smooth transition of tone and emotion. It's special.
That reminds me of something I noticed about music. It's one of only two things I can think of that can fill a room, the other being air. And coincedentally, we humans need both of them to live. We breathe music, while dissonance asphyxiates. Or finds some other way to kill you:
Today I ordered lunch from a local pizza place, Bruno's and part of my order included breadsticks. They cost $4, and as it turns out, they give you 10 breadsticks. That's 40 cents per stick, and they are large and filling. It's like 2 full meals, for $4, and they're excellent. It blew me away. I wish I knew that earlier.
At work, the tasks I've been doing make me not a circulation desk employee, but rather a maintenance worker and a skilled architect. I'm so damn underpaid, and they're so damn understaffed. But at least I'm mostly not underappreciated, which I mostly appreciate.
Yesterday, I went to an Aquabats concert with ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) andshewalkedon and almightyspoony. It was fun, loud, sometimes crazy, sometimes humorous, and all around a good time. There was an evil tree. It was cool. Unfortunately, I have little else to say on the matter, mostly because I am so out of place at a concert that it becomes something I take in and process, but not something I mentally or physically participate in. I just find the experience interesting.
Today, after work, Asif and I ran our hill workout. We drove to Minnechaug High School in Wilbraham, and from there we ran 10 minutes to the infamous Monson Road, a steep 1.2 miles uphill, and then continued around the area (the richest and most beautiful part of the rich town) for a full 7-mile run. Here's the hill, drawn to scale with other major landmarks:
After hauling ass up the hill together, during which, on the hardest part, I am proud to say it was me, not Asif, who picked up the pace. He told me later he was surprised. He made up for it by outkicking me at the end of the run - which we ran the post-hill remainder of at tempo pace, for 25 minutes. It was a hell of a run. We're in insane shape, and we're both ten times more confident than last year. We did some strides and then drove (in his BMW!) to Stop and Shop, where I bought drinks and he was able to have an excuse to drive in his BMW. Then we hung out at my place for a while and played a game of Madden, which was really a game of trashtalking during a game of Madden, and I won 23-14. He demands a rematch.
Tomorrow:
1. *sunflowers sprout everywhere and cover everything*
2. Nathan cuts my hair!
3. But not my beard! Courtney said at work today that it makes me "distinctive" and even people who told me to shave it said I could just as well keep it and it wouldn't be bad. But it was funny - my half-sister Becca, the younger one (10 years old) can't stand it and practically begged me to shave it when she saw it. She kept looking at me and frowning and saying "you should shave your beard." It's become a part of me, and for now I want to keep it, regardless of good or bad reviews. I bet I'll kill it during the cross country season at some point, but we'll see how it looks with shorter hair.
4. Work, night shift, so I FINALLY get to sleep in, for the first time in weeks. Although I have to wake up early to let Malorie in. Maybe she'll let me go back to bed.
Just a few more days! I will run EVERYWHERE!
That reference to Jesse reminds me:
1. Wish Jesse luck at UMass, see if he has a new email address now.
2. Wish Coach Mike luck for his Springfield College team that I will be racing against several times this year.
As Asif once said, "it's gonna be win or go home." Not that we stand a chance against Springfield College's team at this point - their program has been around much longer than ours - but we should win our conference again. And then next year we move up to a better conference, and I am already working on strategies to get everyone running in the offseason, to offset our disadvantage caused by lacking a track program (and the lazy attitude of the classes prior to mine). I will change everything, here and wherever I go. People will remember. |
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