so so so

There is so much ground to cover and so much that has happened and so many photos to show off. Let's divide and conquer.

Senior Week

The Boston Cruise was a little disappointing. The food was very so-so and drinks were expensive and the music was pretty ghetto and trashy. Lots of country, which only Adam Bryant loved. A particular junior, one of our number one douchebags on the Hnh-North scale, came along as a guest and just made scenes everywhere and almost got the captain to turn around the boat and bring up back to the harbor. DOUCHE! Here is a lovely photo of Katie and I freezing outside before we got onto the boat.

And here are Carla and I pre-dinner, looking fabulous.

The Sever Boys were severely disappointed as well, so much that they had a Home Alone moment of horror at the craptacularness of the cruise.


Blue Man Group kicked ass and we spent dinner at Fire + Ice. That place was pretty amazing and their daquiries were ridiculous! I could have gotten wasted off just half one, so I gave it mostly to Amy. :-) Here is a photo of us at our table, enjoying our food

Dave had (I think) about 3 plates worth of food. I just had one, which was more than enough.

The PawSox game was pretty good. Adam Bryant was extra excited, as you can see from the photo of him pre-game.

The PawSox kicked ass that night and we sat in right field, which was prime for catching several foul balls. There was definitely one ball that I thought was going to take me out, but luckily bounced just right out of my face. Here is a photo of Jocelyn fondling one of the two balls that Derrick caught that night.

I got to have the other ball, which is currently sitting on my desk. Here are some hot AGDs: Bell, Kapow, and T-face to be exact.

Overall, the game was good, but FREEZING!! And I found out that I am one hell of a heckler. I am just mean really. The Indian's right fielder definitely glared a few times my way. The game was such a blowout. At one point, the Indian's pitcher walked in two runs, with the bases loaded. And then there was a wild pitch and that walked in another run as well. I believe I screamed at that point "Way to go number 13! Good job on getting out of the way so your teammate could walk in a run on a wild pitch! Woooo!" Yeah, I am obnoxious, but funny. :-P

Senior Week ended with a trip to Foxwoods where most of my friends were stingy. I only lost 10 dollars, while other big winners like Bob walked away with 850! Crazy, I know. I was pretty impressed with Senior Week overall and am glad I went to almost everything. It was a great way to go out at WPI.

Graduation Weekend

Whoa. I graduated. My family came in, along with Becky and Tony, and it was great. This is me, pre-graduation, in my lovely spring dress that accentuated my tan skin. Rawr!

Becky and I pre-graduation. The 2005 tassle is just sparkling. :-)

So great story about my robe: I bought the wrong kind. I got the master's robe which has these weird sleeve additions. I had to tuck them in and hope no one would notice as I received my diploma. :-) Here it is... the culmination of my WPI career: receiving my diploma!!!!

The other glitch that day was that Janet Richardson said I was graduating with the wrong honor. She said only distinction when I graduated with high distiction. Anyways, the two guys I sat between were pretty cool. Jeff Budis and I spent most of the ceremony cracking jokes and just having a good time. The funniest part of the ceremony was when this guy (Daniel Colao or something?) walked in late and couldn't find his seat. He asked Ian Buzzanoski what his last name was, and because Ian said a last name with a B, Daniel kept looking for his seat thinking he was in the next row. 10 minutes later, he slinked into his seat with a goofy mortified grin on his face and told us all "Kill me now!" Pretty hilarious.

Post graduation photos were lovely. Here is the Bui family:

My father looked so happy. Believe me when I say this, that smile on his face is genuine and there are so few genuine smiles that grace his face. Next up is me with the bestest friend in the whole wide world and her kickass boyfriend.

Here is a impromptu photo of Patrick and I conversing, taken by Becky. She is all about the natural, unexpected photos.

It was definitely very nice to see him there and he ended up hanging out with us for parts of both days and nights. Next is a photo of my brother, Patton, and I:

Do we look alike? Because, really I think we have very opposite features. He definitely has more my mom's looks while I am more my dad's, but really, we don't even look a whole heck like our parents either. Strange, huh? Anyways, this next photo is of the joo and I... graduates. (Still really weird to say that)

And the last of the post-graduation photos is us 3 out of 4 Danish Dames with our Danish advisor, Thom.


Besides graduation, where was also Baccalaureate, where I had to explain what a vector was to William's parents. Friday night involved going to the Sole to see the most fabulous Jon Abad, who was in town. Friday was low key with hang out time with Becky, Tony, Patton, and Patrick. Saturday was exhausting. We spent so many hours just sitting around the apartment trying to decide what to do. We flipflopped around with the idea of the movies, bowling, putt putt, Target, etc. Patrick was our go-to-guy, really, the computer bitch.

In the end, we all went to see Monster-In-Law, which was practically sold out. Afterwards, we went for dessert, which turned into dinner at Denny's after a failed excursion to Friendly's. It was really nice to just hang out with people that I care about and mix the two worlds I live in and have it all be one world for once. If only that were all the time...

Oak Island, North Carolina

The trip to NC was exactly what I needed. It was a week of pure relaxation with sun and water and just... wonderfulness. The drive down wasn't too bad. It was split between four of us, me, Molly, Katie, and Lisa. I drove the last leg, from 6am-9am, which wasn't bad once I had about two hours of sleep under my belt. Here is a photo of the wonderful beach that I spent every day laying on.

This is a photo of all of us at Provision Co.

The quote of the week happened here. Brianne was looking at the pelicans and really wanted one. The conversation goes:
Brianne: I wanna wrestle one of those!
One of us girls: What, the pelican?
Brianne: No, the car. :-P
I guess you had to be there... haha. The next photos are of us on the beach during sunset.

This is a great photo of Brianne kicking that wave's ass! Catherine dragged her in. It was very entertaining.

Here is a final photo of Katie and I before I drove her to Wilmington Airport to ship her off to Colorado.

Notice how tan I am. :-) Here I am, on the final day, tan as can be, and loving the week I just spent in NC. My first time in the ocean. :-)

The beach was full of TV, drinks, card games, sun burns, tans, killer waves (That was totally wicked!!!), and fun fun fun. The car ride back was ridiculous. I was friggin' peeing like a mofo. I had at least two liters of Mountain Dew. Molly and I also stopped by Laurel, MD to visit Patrick as well. His coop apartment was decent, a little cramped but pretty cool. I gave him the Dr. Pepper Pop Rocks that I bought for him while in Oak Island. I'm sure he loved them.

Back to Reality

Now that I am back in Worcester, life is a little slower... and unsure. But I got a lot of fun stuff on my plate. This week, I have two job interviews and some great time set up in CT. I plan on watching all the original Star Wars and then seeing it in digital projection with Tom. I was also invited to Drew's graduation party yesterday when I visted him while I was at Katie's place watching her pack up the rest of life into her car. Papa Christopher treated us to lunch and we gave moral support as he tried to get Katie's stuff to fit. Anyways, I entertained Drew and his roommate Stu for a little bit while they were packing up and such. I also got to see my favorite person, Topher, on Saturday night. He treated me to Dunkin Donuts and then almost got us killed. It was ggggggreat. And last night, I went out with Derrick, William, and Jocelyn to Thai Cha Da, had drinks at the bar in the Blackstone Valley Theatre and then saw Madagascar. Movies are pretty funny with a drink or two inside of you. :-P

Life is good. If only every day, every week, every month were as good as the past few I've just had. Thank you to all those who have touched my life in some way, bad or good. I've grown a lot over the past four years and I can only hope I keep growing towards a better me. I love my life. And I love all of you.

the beginning of the end

And so Senior Week begins. And what a fun beginning it was. We went to four bars in about five hours. People were pretty hammered by the last bar, if not the bar before it. I only have 2.25 drinks since I am such a pansy. After my second drink at Irish Times, my shoulders were hurting soooooo bad. I had to stop. After about 20 min, the pain went away and I was able to function correctly again. I hung out with the AGDs, the Sever boys (who clean up very well and are quite handsome when they want to be), and the D4 boys. Here are a few photos:
The hot Danish Dames...


3 out of 4 Sever boys. Doesn't Adam Bryant look studly... or crazy. :-)


Cumfy Mumfy with Joseph Russell Vaughn and Eric...


Oh man... Jblaze was soooo wasted and so was Jocelyn. They are crazy crazy girls. But I love 'em.


Orion was my dancing partner for the night and it was fun being rhythmically challenged with him all night.


Last photo... the cool boys of D4. And I use cool very very loosely. :-)


Anyways, I also got a real quick retirement talk from Mumford, and just had good laughs with everyone. It kind of died half way through Lietrims for me, but I survived. I have to learn that I should always leave on top. I should have left with Carla. Oh well! I got a lot of good photos and I can’t wait for the rest of the Senior Week events.

Looking at my calendar, I feel like I have so many things to do, and places to be. And what I really need to do is STUDY for the actuarial exam. It’s so hard finding that time in between to get things done. But I want a job and I want to be successful. I need to buckle down. Where is Prof. Abraham when you need to be guilted into studying?

So best thing ever: David AKA “the math kid” wants to be real friends, not just college friends. It was by far, the most surprising email I have ever gotten, especially from him. Anyways, it’s very nice to know he wants to keep in touch and I have a feeling we will just likely correspond through email until some future day when we actually hang out again.

This weekend is mainly focused on one city: BOSTON! Tonight, William, Katie, and I (and Tony) went into Boston to go to the GOLD social at Boston Billards to schmooze with other WPI alumni from the past decade. It was pretty cool and low key, except one of the alums hit me in the good ankle with a pool ball! Ouch! But afterwards, with Hanni, we traveled through Boston to get some dessert. We were aiming for Finale, but instead ended up at Bennigans. The quote of the night was "I love a good 'You killed Jesus' joke." It was a lot of fun and we were just laughing. And it was so spontaneous and great. THAT IS WHAT I WANT. A little spontaneity and fun and just... something out of the ordinary.

Anyways, Saturday has us in Boston for the Senior Cruise. And Sunday has us in Boston again for dinner and Blue Man group. I only live once right? Right! This little Boston Trifecta is going to rock! :-)

The PAC Luncheon was... interesting and hilarious. I think William really ummmm made a good impression on President Berkey... or not. Inappropriate is the word. :-)

Adam Dyer IMed me today and apparently, he is graduating from RPI and has a job with LA DPW. So he is going to California! Holy crap! I wonder how he will like it. I feel like Adam is a jaded New Englander/New Yorker. But that is very cool. I haven’t seen him since sophomore year when he randomly came to WPI with Hanni and just… hung out. We weren’t super great friends in high school but going to tech schools really solidified our friendship. Except that WPI is infinitely better than RPI. ;-)

The rest of the Long Island excursion was painful. Total costs were roughly $550 by the end of it. I spent the last night there helping Franny with her venn diagram questions. I really miss algebra. And it wasn’t my ball joint. Upon further inspection, it was the left tie rod that broke completely off. I had both sides replaced since the right side looked bad too. And I also just purchased AAA so that I would be prepared for NC. I think my car is fine otherwise. I need to get an oil change, as well as a general maintenance look to make sure everything will be alright.

Best news ever: I have an interview with CCA in Boston. Keep your fingers crossed! The commute would be interesting, but worth it if I really like what I am doing.

I was reading through my emails sent during my Denmark trip. And I have to say, the best thing to come out of my Rob correspondence was that I kept a small very basic journal of things I did because I’d email him to let him know of my adventures. And I read through other emails sent with Becky, William, Patrick, Ian, and Laura and Bertini (when they were just starting to date). It made me feel very… nostalgic. And happy. Sometimes… you just get this feeling… you are content with life. And it’s because of the people you have in it.

And with that happy thought, I go to bed. Good thoughts, good vibes, a good life.

bad joints

Well, I thought I was going back to Worcester. Not so much. I was thankfully carrying my "lucky purse" when my car broke down. And you may think, "Vonda, how lucky is that purse? You were carrying it in your first accident where you almost died and now you have it again when your ball joint breaks." And my responses is "Well, I didn't die the first time around, did I? I just fractured my pelvis 7 ways. And this time, I didn't die either. See? Lucky." We honestly were VERY lucky. Had the ball joint given out at any other time, we could have been seriously hurt. We had just exited I-287, about to get onto Hutchinson Parkway when all of a sudden my car starts skidding and making weird noises, almost like a flat tire. We were already slowing down since we were on an exit ramp and pulled over to the side ASAP. On closer inspection, there are no flats but my left front tire is not rotating with the steering wheel. After two calls to 911 (because they didn't find us and forgot us after the first call) and almost 2 hours later, we are towed to the impound in Harrison, NY. From there we hop two trains through Grand Central and to Penn and to Island Park. The guy who towed us thinks it's the ball joint and tomorrow I will call to the Pontiac dealers near Harrison to see what I can have done. I really don't want to miss work on Tuesday over this since I am already missing it the next two Tuesdays for other things.

So that's two bad joints in a year. First my pelvis, and now the ball joint. What the heck!

trying to own my feelings

I'd do it if I could. I hope you know I would. I like to imagine that is what you are thinking. Sometimes, certain songs, certain lines just reverberate through your head to the point where you feel like life is really snap shots of a something else you've already seen. As if it's not even your own feelings you're feeling. Tonight's feelings are courtesy of Late at Night performed by Buffalo Tom a la My So-Called Life. Depressingly beautiful. Or maybe beautifully depressing. Or just... beautiful.

This weekend was spent on Long Island with the Herberts. Basically, William walked into my room on Friday morning and said, "Hey, do you want to go to Long Island for the weekend? Let me know!" and well... here we are. I think it was the perfect trip to take. I was starting to feel my optimism deteriorate as I scrambled to figure out what I was doing with my life, now that college was over. I'm pretty sure Long Island hasn't helped me towards the ultimate answer (which I learned tonight is 42), but it was a great distraction. It was great to see William's mom's face when she saw William. Pure joy. We've spent the weekend relaxing at the mall and seeing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as Finding Nemo, and dinner with Franny and the Herberts in general. The Herberts are so funny and great. I can't wait until Worcester gets a taste of William's grandparents during graduation. :-) It's gonna be great.

Best moment at the mall: Going into Catholic Supply to buy my mom a Mother's Day gift and having three different people walk up to William (one of the hugest joos I know) and ask him if he worked there. :-) Too funny.

I admit, I am struggling just a little bit. More than I'd like to. I'm not sure what it is. I consider myself a survivor and pretty good at getting over things like this. Dangerous trend: Proximity.

I guess I should get to bed. We are having Mother's Day breakfast, a visit with the Caufields (Emily was in town this entire weekend and we didn't even know it!), and then trekking home, with a pit stop to see my favorite roommate. I will miss Laura. She is just gone a month, but I swear, she keeps our apartment functioning. :-)

what am i doing

Really... what am I doing? My room feels... a little empty. My apartment will soon be empty. It's full of people right now, but really it's a group that makes me feel more isolated than welcome. And I'm not depressed really... but I can't say I'm super happy either. Just in a weird in between state. A state of transition, except I have no idea where I'm transitioning to. And it's very scary and different and I almost want to go home just so I can find familiarity. Does everyone feel like this? I hope so. Actually, strike that. I know so.

So I admit, I hate myself just a little bit. I always do this to myself. Every time! Honestly, someone needs to stand and watch over me and kick me in the good leg every time I go down the wrong path.

The last night of the term was very fun. The MAC pizza party was funny and Prof. Abraham gave me a graduation gift (sweet pens). I felt a little old. All the youngin' MAC majors were rowdy and fun. It's good to see them all get along and stick together a bit.

After the food, I headed to the quad and hung out with Patrick at the very random quadapalooza. There was some intense four-square going on where Jblaze was dominating. Once it started to get cold, Patrick and I headed over to Matty's with Katie. We just hung out and chatted it up while Adam Bryant got ready for his RI race car party thingy. After Adam Bryant left, Patrick and I were mischeviouos and planted a few bottle caps in his bed and shuffled his stuff around to mess with his OCD/anal retentiveness. It was definitely amusing. :-P Eventually some key people came over (Jblaze, Big D, and B-dunk) and the party moved over to Jocelyn's. I won my first game of Beirut with Katie against our IQP partners, Matty and Joe, since my freshman year! It was awesome! Katie got wicked trashed and I eventually headed over to Densmore's party. I hung out with Drew (Campbell, not DCW roommate) and Patrick there and finally SNAPped my cripple butt home by 2am. It was a pretty successful last night of the year and I am glad I got to hang out with everyone. :-)

Best drunk story of the night: Joe Vaughn went outside to answer his cell phone and got locked out of Jocelyn's. He was too drunk to realize he could have called one of us to get back in. So instead, he started sprinting in any direction and ended up lost. What a loser, haha. He ended up a mile and half away, near Irish Times downtown. He had to ask for directions on how to get back. Soooo funny. Oh Joe Vaughn, how I will miss him.

Last night I hung out with Patrick, Bob, and Patrick's little brother, Oliver. We played a horribly long game of rummy and then a good game of pitch. I got to see Patrick's ridiculous competitive side. I don't think I've heard him swear as much as I did then. Sheesh! I forget that the expression "It's just a game!" never works on boys. Last time I'll get to hang out with Patrick for quite a while. ::tear::

Sometimes, you just really want to cuddle with someone. No prospects in sight for me though. And I have good vision, too. Just can't read people correctly. That's life, huh?

super tuesday

Here it is. The last Tuesday of my undergraduate career at WPI. My Super Tuesday. I'm not even going to be there for most of it. Alas, I've got a few hours of interning and a meeting about curve fitting. Excitement, I know. Got some good ol' BBQ with the MAC majors and then some down time at Matty's with the Danish kids. I look forward to being super social. I look forward to beginning the end here at WPI. I look forward to looking back.

I had a small freak out moment about commencement today and I will figure out whether I will need to freak out tomorrow when I talk to the right people. But I was kinda upset at a particular friend for not exactly being the most sensitive at the time. I shouldn't be surprised but this person's actions... but sometimes, you expect more from someone who you consider to be close. Tears, frustration, yada yada yada. I am a roller coaster of emotions and I only imagine it getting worse as more "lasts" happen. Last chances...

Hey, you. Listen up. Think Nike: Just do it!

ama me fideliter

I went to see Carmina Burana. Oh Fortuna was friggin' amazing. Break-taking. William and I were very very excited. And Sid really wanted some violence to happen since Oh Fortuna reminds him of The Gladiator. :-) It was definitely a good time and very adult of us to go.

So... I'm graduating. I'm gonna say it again... graduating. Wow, it just rolls off the tongue weird. Anyways, I got an A on my MQP. :-) So that means I am graduating with high distinction. Looking back on my academic career, I feel really proud of what I've done. It wasn't a perfect record, or the best, but I worked for every A or B or C and do not reget anything.

This past weekend was decent, for my last weekend as an undergraduate. Friday was the SocComm Appreciation Dinner (which probably left me feeling a little worse than better unfortunately... but I won't go into great detail), and then just relaxing at home. I called my default phone friend, Tom, and we chatted for several hours until Hanni wanted to three way in her drunken stupor. :-P It was definitely one of the best three ways I've ever had. She is so funny when drunk.

Saturday was ccccrazy. Carla, Katie, and I went shopping for 5.5 hours. Holy crap! I got a new dress and several new shirts and just crap in general. We all spent at least $100 with Katie going to almost $150. We were definitely those chatty shopping girls who swap clothes in the fitting room and laugh giddily. Carla and Katie also had a bra fitting at Victoria's Secret and it was friggin' hilarious. I will miss hanging out with them come June. After the shopping marathon, I went and saw a few amatuer short films with Patrick and then just hung out with him for the rest of the night, almost to the bird chirping state. Actually I think birds would have been chirping if it hadn't been raining last night. :-)

Tomorrow (or today) is the last Monday of the year. I have a phone interview with CCA about a traveling consulting job early on. I hope it goes well. I'd like a job. Really, I'd like a job.

Do you ever have a moment where you'd like to have a re-do? Yeah I would. Seriously, I just need to go for it. I am just far too cautious. I need a flippin' sign. A green light... or even a big stop sign. Clear signs. Or to have someone else take the right of way and go first.

I just want someone to ama me fideliter. Then again, who doesn't want that?

I'm not sure how I feel about all that is happening right now - college ending, jobs, graduation, friends leaving, etc. I'm happy, sad, confused, frustrated, excited, giddy, just... everything. I'm on the verge of adulthood. I'm on the verge of the unknown. I'm just... on the verge.