back on the strip

Well, my initial plan was to hit up the Fencing Academy of Phildelphia today.

But then I remembered: Julia, you have not washed nor worn your gear in... jeepers. 5 years.

I tried it on. It is quite snug. I weighed about 10 lbs less in college.

Also, my gear is ripe. That is disgusting, but it is true. And it must be air-dried. So I will be hitting up the Academy on Wednesday.

In the mean time, I need to lose some paunch, and fast.

Celery diet?

Cleaning?

Yes, cleaning.

It is a super rare occasion when I feel like I am actually living in my own filth. That occasion is now.

Damien and I are not tidy people. In fact, you might call us slobs. I would certainly call myself a slob. Maybe he is not. He is more fastidious. He just makes piles. Also, the cats have basically vomited on every square inch of my floor. Also, my terrible IKEA dresser, which is broken in several ways, is exploding. So I am deep-cleaning today. Even more than when I basically threw out everything in my bathroom.

I am now One Of Those People Who Rents A Carpet Shampooer. Dog knows this place needs it. I am almost curious to find out the difference between the color that it is and the color that it should be. I am thinking "A Huge One, You Disgusting Lady".

Julia's apartment. Where every day is like garbage day.

Odds and ends

1. The building is experiencing another brownout. This happens too often for my liking. Damn you PECO! You ruined my shower! Rassin' Frassin' water pressure.

2. I am still totally elated re: finishing grad school. WOO!

3. I totally need a job. Even a crappy job.

4. I am baking gingerbread today. This might be a mistake.

5. I will have to double-check the openness of the Chinese place downstairs for tomorrow's Jewish-Christmas.

Holy flurnking schnit.

I am done.

DONE.

As soon as that piece of paper shows up in the mail...

I am a Master. Of Arts.

I AM DONE WITH GRADUATE SCHOOL!

Well duh

You don't win anything if you keep putting money in the slot machine.

Dummy.

It is gonna be a loooong week. Lots of writing, preparing a presentation, working on a term paper which I have not yet started (although the presentation will be a kick in the pants), changing my residency status (so much paperwork!), getting in (dog willing) to the cert program, and not seeing Damien until friday.

This normal relationship is turning me into a softie. The long-haul periods I used to put up with? They are difficult now. A few days is difficult :P

Crockpot teriyaki chicken tonight. Hope it doesn't suck!

On another note, it is VERY cold outside.

Bright Lights, Atlantic City

I have been a busy girl as of late. All maintaining a social life, going to New York for a couple days, and oh yes, my computer DYING. Thank dog I have a sweet (if dirt cheap) laptop to save my ass, and a valiant effort made by Damien to fix the damn broken hard drive. He thankfully was able to recover my documents, but pretty much everything else? Bye-bye.

No more photoshop, no more sig pics. :(

Damien and I are going to fabulous Atlantic City this friday, actually staying the night in a cute (and by "cute" I mean large) boutique hotel - the Chelsea, if you're interested - and throwing away what will be absolutely no more than $40 on the penny slots. I am praying that I will not be stupid enough to forget my cancer-sticks and end up buying a $10 pack at the nearest casino. I really, really need to quit. But in a casino? Which is like a giant ashtray? It will be a challenge.

The theme...

Damien got me hooked on some Toto.

And I think this song is how I am feeling...

I'll Supply the Love

There's a cool prog-esque synth progression at the end... which is to say nothing of the sweet vocals in this one.

Much <3, honey.

Insanity!

1) Obvious joy at having found a wonderful gentleman. I am loving the nerd factor. I FINALLY beat him at Scrabble the other day (on some jerk-words, like the ones he occasionally uses). On two consecutive nights, we watched Star Trek IV (the one with the whales), and Star Trek II (Wrath of Khan), and he seems to tolerate my love for Chekov. Of course, now we keep saying "nuclear wessels" to each other. If you do not get this, you should be thankful. It will genuinely be tough to go home for Thanksgiving, because it means 5-6 days without seeing him. So this is what a "normal" relationship feels like.

2) I am loving the hell out of my crock pot. Except for the fact that 90% of recipes seem to involve beans, cheese, butter, or cream-of-something soup. I can't eat those things, people! Why the dearth of relatively healthy eats for the slow-cooker? I have been making lean-beef stew, which is not unhealthy, thank god, and I made some kind of lemon-garlic chicken and rice the other day, which was okay, but too lemony, perhaps. Next: chicken in marinara sauce. Couldn't be possible to screw that up.

3) Home stretch at school. On December 17th, my final paper for 19th century lit is due. I am terrified, because I am SO close to graduation that I can taste it (figuratively). I will have a MASTERS in like, a month. That blows my mind.

4) Teaching stuff... I have a math CLEP test to take on Friday because I have exactly 3 college math credits to my name (earned with AP calculus in high school) and I need 6 in order to get into the certification program. I am a math tutor (granted, the math on the SAT gets no more difficult that maybe 10th grade level at highest), but I am frightened by the prospect of having to remember how logarithms work. I have been studying off the internets, and this stuff is slow to come back. That said, I think I will probably pass (need a 50 of 60), and then I will likely get into the program. Which makes me happy, because it means I will have a future.

5) My finances are running low. A lot of my money was invested in Citigroup, which is worth about $10 a share now. It was around $50 a share like 18 months ago. BAD. I will need to look into substitute teaching, probably.

my charm worked.

Those of you on facebook who monitor my profile closely know...

He's my boyfriend.

Yes, it has not been long.

We have seen a lot of each other. A lot. And it has all been so wonderful.

My mom was thrilled to hear what a great mood I've been in. Everything feels fantastic.

His name is Damien, and he is my boyfriend.

And I am so very happy.

a couple good things.

Thing #1:

The gentleman I went out with a couple nights ago. We have since had two more evenings (stretching way, way into the night) that have been just wonderful. I am trying not to rush things, but this is going so, so very well. He wants me to be his lady-friend. We are not putting any official titles on each other, but this could potentially lead somewhere.

The man got my joke about Polish Scrabble (the W's and Z's being worth negative points - read a little Polish and you'll see what I mean), and has beat me twice at regular-Scrabble (he has scored on some real jerk-words, too. He turned "mace" into "grimace", and then into "grimaces", which got him 36 points. Also, he beat me single-handedly with the word "proxy" on triple-word score). He is a hardcore Dan and Genesis fan. He has played in a Toto cover band. He is so smart, and he makes me both laugh my ass off and smile like I have had the best day ever.

I have had the best weekend ever.

Thing #2:

I got my first crock pot, since I am such a lazy turd that I would rather my food cook itself. I am attempting some beef stew today, and I am praying it will not be awful.

::glee::

I had a date last night.

A really, really successful date.

I suddenly feel incredibly pretty and confident.

He had really good hair.

Also, he was nothing but a gentleman.

I hope this pans out well, but I will take my moment of happiness and totally enjoy the hell out of it.

O.M.G.

I am LIVID. So, so livid.

His friends are NOT my friends anymore.

He, and apparently others, found the situations surrounding our breakup so hilarious that his Halloween costume was his old work outfit, with cuffs.

I am disgusted. And I am unsure why this is bothering me so much. Except for that I had spent 6.5 years of my life with someone who could render me so disappointed.

You make my dreams...

Is it a good or bad thing that I had a pleasing romantic (but not erotic) dream about Daryl Hall, wherein I was his girlfriend?

This was the younger Daryl Hall, mind you. With the really poofy ridiculous hair. But he was nothing but a gentleman.

Daryl Hall used to look like this:

Not bad, not bad at all. Except that he looks like this now.



He is 62. And he looks like THAT. Damn, but he has aged well. Like, he's definitely hotter now. Why couldn't THAT Hall be my boyfriend?

This video, I think, will provide sufficient evidence as to the Hall that was in my dream.

Hall and Oates - Method of Modern Love

That's right. My imaginary boyfriend had an incredible mullet.

As you may have noticed...

A certain counter is not on my blog anymore.

Congrats Phillies.

Enjoy this year.

Because it isn't gonna happen again.

:)

Just so you know.

PHILLY STILL SUCKS.

Eat at Joe's

Oh, Trader Joe's. How I love you.

Delicious item of the week:

Chicken potstickers. One word review: WIN.

I love dim sum/dumplings, and I am a lazy turd and do not wish to make them on my own. TJ's has long been my favorite grocery stores, particularly for their heat/eat type items. I have already proclaimed my love for their Punjab Eggplant, which goes fabulously with their prepackaged naan... and now I find these! I had long been tempted to buy them, and yesterday, I decided to plunge into the world of dumpling deliciousness.

Awesome decision, Julia. These things ROCK. The suggested cooking method is to pan-fry/steam them on the stove, but as I have mentioned, I am lazy, and do not like adding unnecessary oil to my eats. So into the microwave they went (covered by a wet paper towel, for hot steamy action), and 2 minutes later, I get to eat them with a little Shoyu.

So good. So very, very good.

Big props, TJ's. You have created yet another sumptuous item with which to clog my freezer.

Oy gevalt.

I am so so twitterpated.

And I let him know.

Was that stupid?

Spooky Scary!

Oh boy.

I suppose I haven't mentioned how much I love 30 Rock. Such a funny, mean-spirited show.

At any rate, this seems like as good a place as any to post this clip.

Tracy Jordan's novelty record, "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah"

Boys becoming MEN! Men becoming WOLVES!

Suck.

Last week's crappiness was apparently not enough.

Fuck you, Marlins. Oh, and thanks a lot for having me believe in you, Mets. I really like being disappointed year after year.

::sigh::

::Sigh::

The pain eventually subsides.

But I should probably ache for a while.

It's been a long time since I've been alone.