vroom

I still haven’t vacuumed. :-)

So now is the time to finally explore all that music I’ve been looking into and give it time to sink in. The latest craze for me is: Coldplay’s X and Y, Maria Mena’s Another Phase, Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams, Radiohead’s Kid A, The Flaming Lips’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Phoenix’s United, Michelle Branch’s Hotel Paperdone, the I Heart Huckabees Soundtrack, and really listening to Jason Mraz’s Waiting for My Rocket to Come. Thankfully at work, I can plunk this stuff into the CD player, pop on ear plugs, and groove as I sift through my presentations. Because really, I don’t listen to music much at home. At home, the TiVo rules, as well as the Netflix DVD.

This weekend was a blast. I went to Matt Knott’s graduation party with Joe and got to hang out with Schmidty and his girlfriend Amanda, Adam Bryant, and of course Matt Knott and his new girlfriend Lisa. Lisa is a moderate, which is much better suited for Matt’s conservativeness. :-) It was positively suffocatingly hot that day and we spent a good part of his party indoors where the air conditioner reigned. Adam Bryant was a riot as usual, with his weird Adam Bryant-isms. Honestly, if we didn’t have him around, conversation would not nearly be as fun.

Joe and I cruised home around 5pm, and William and I had dinner at our favorite – Thai Cha Da! Afterwards, we made it a double whammy movie night, with Bewitched and Batman Begins. Bewitched, which Joe joined us for, was as bad as I thought it was going to be, with a few good Will Ferrell moments in there. And Batman Begins was as badass as it was before. Tucker was our bartender this time and it was very fun to chat it up with him, although he labeled our bill “Clarkies” and I don’t know if that was on purpose to poke fun at us or because he REALLY thought we were Clarkies. Obviously, William discussing his love of Star Trek should have been a dead giveaway for WPI.

Sunday was the first of (hopefully) many brunches. We went to IHOP where it was ccccrazy busy. But it was nice to see everyone again, although Carla’s car broke down on her as she was making her way to Worcester. :-( I miss her. Anyways, chit chat was fun as usual and catching up. The next Sunday Brunch will be held at Matt Knott’s new apartment where we will actually cook brunch. I look forward to that in July.

One of my new summer friends called me, asking me to go to the beach on Saturday. Unfortunately, I had already committed to going to Matt Knott’s graduation party, so I had to turn down Stu’s invite. But it is a goal to hang out with Stu sometime soon. I need to branch out and keep making new friends and keeping them.

I am such an old fogey. Last night, I came home from brunch and a trip to Best Buy to only do laundry and then proceed to fall asleep while watching The Godfather III. And you think “That isn’t old fogey-ish of you, Vonda.” Oh wait… I left out the time I fell asleep. 8pm! Repeat: 8pm! Yes, people, I went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 5am, confused because I felt so rested from all that extra sleep. No worries, I forced myself to sleep in until 6:15am and then showered and got to work early.

So the best news of this past week: I am on the verge of a job offer. It’s not official yet, but seems absolutely promising. As long as their HR department follows through on the paperwork, I should get an offer very soon. And I will take it! It’s in the heart of Boston, by City Hall and such. Now with this possible offer, this brings up tons of questions and thoughts. Do I move to Boston with Lee and Lisa and hold two rents for the year? Do I stay in Worcester to commute? Do I go home to Erie for a week and officially change residency to MA? Should I buy a new car and give back this one to my parents and get my own insurance? So many options and so many decisions to be made. I was talking to Becky about this all, and it really hit us… I’m an adult.

I’m an adult.

the little things

Weekday life is getting pretty typical. I notice that, as an adult, I have so much time to get all the little things done, like grocery shopping, writing thank you cards, doing laundry, organizing my room, etc. So, in a sense, I have all the time in the world to do all the little things, but there are a lot of little things to be done, therefore taking up all my time. Ironic, huh?

Speaking of ironic, I saw Alanis Morissete and Jason Mraz in concert last Friday at the Wang Theatre. She is amazing live, sounds like the real deal. No lip-synching, just acoustic and completely wonderful. The stage set was ridiculously detailed. It looked just like a living room, complete with couches, love seats, old TVs, two plasma screens, a rug, lamps, floor lamps, just... a really fashionable living room set. It was very surprising. It was hysterical to watch the crowd sing along to Alanis's most popular songs. My favorite moment was when the woman in front of us high-fived herself when Alanis sang "I got one hand in my pocket, the other one is giving a high five." Too funny. As for Jason Mraz, he was very entertaining and I can see why people fall in love with him. He is funny and quirky and definitely talented. My brother loves him, surprisingly enough.

The weekend was spent with Tom and John. We went to the concert, saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Batman Begins (which were two very superb movies), and just hung out and ate at good restaurants. I think I am drinking at Blackstone Valley too much considering that one of the bartenders, Dan, knows my name. :-) I only drink when I see a movie... ;-)

I am currently doing me best to get through the Godfathers. They are very good (well the first and half of the second that I have seen). But they are soooo long and I hate holding onto them for so long. I need to get moving on my Netflix queue. I think I subconsciously watched the Godfathers on Father's Day because the Godfathers remind me of my dad. It was the movie series that he really loved and said he actually read the books for too, which is a huge deal. Plus, supposedly, when he was growing up in Vietnam, he was his own little godfather/badass and lots of people fear him. I don't know if that is a good thing, but it's interesting to think about it. As for the movie, the family love, the treachery, the lies and deceit and the things we do out of loyalty... it's very depressing and yet incredibly beautiful. I can see why these movies are held to such a high standard. I am glad I finally forced myself to see them. Everyone thank Netflix!

I interviewed with another consulting firm. I think I did really well and I really liked it there. It's in the Mellon Financial building in Boston and is a great location. I really hope I get it! :-)

William gets back this weekend, which will be nice. We plan on making another movie extravaganza. I love Blackstone. Also, I think I'll get to see Carla, Molly, Schmitdy, and Matty for some Sunday brunch. Oh and Joe, too. But I am sick of Joe, just kidding! But he is a regular in life, since I see him 1-2 times a week for relaxation and chit chat. Anyways, I look forward to a bit of a mix up in my life.

Remember the little things? The one little thing I can't seem to get myself to do is vaccuum. Strange, as usual. That's life.

over and over again

Sometimes, I think I am a masochist. Especially with music. I will listen to the same song over and over again knowing it will only make me feel troubled over my lack of grasping reality. It's not to say I am wicked unhappy or anything. Granted, I am not pleased either with the turn of events in my quest for a love life, but I really don't let my happiness in life be dictated by a lack of a significant other. I've always wondered if that was a flaw of mine. That I've always wanted someone, to be with someone, but if I don't get who I want, I don't die over it or feel like I am unworthy of someone. I may be melodramatic for a day, but I bounce back relatively easy. I mope with music and just... get over it. And it just makes me stronger in my independence from the idea of a boyfriend, but maybe I become more dependent on friends. Maybe I keep up walls, never really letting myself become someone "date-able" but just the great love-able best friend because that's all I know how to do and I'm good at it. For pete's sake, only two people in college have wanted to date me (that I know of) and I probably (ok definitely) self-sabotaged one because I was intimidated by how much he liked me and never took the other person seriously in his quests for dates. Why do I do that? Why do I self-sabotage? Sometimes, for about 10 minutes out of the entire year, I worry that I will grow up to be old and alone. A great woman, loved by many, but not loved by the one she wants, that is if she even knows what she wants. I will not own cats. I promise that. Maybe A cat, but not catS. :-) There, that is one minute out of this year that I worry about where my love life is going and if I will be an old spinster when I grow old.

Laura being home really completes the apartment. Too bad William is already leaving next Thursday, which makes our apartment incomplete again. Hopefully he won't stay on Long Island that long after his trip to FL, although if there is nothing here for him to come back to, then why not spend some free time on Long Island? Maybe I will visit LI, but then again, my last excursion cost me 550 with a possible accident. Anyways, Laura came back and I baked cupcakes in the sweltering heat. My first attempt at cupcakes ever! They were a little over baked, but still wicked good. It was funfetti cake mix with funfetti frosting, mmmm yum! Last night was nice, because we hung out in my air conditioned room and got take out Thai Cha Da and just... hung out, which is something we haven't all done together in a LONG time. I really like my apartment and my roommates and consider myself pretty lucky.

This weekend seems a bit stale. I feel a little incomplete without Becky. I feel as if I'm missing my better half without her for the summer. I don't know how well I will survive without seeing her a lot this year. But I need to get used to it, because our lives aren't exactly intersecting for an extended amount of time anytime soon. Anyways, this weekend right now only has a haircut in store on Saturday at 1pm. I am in desperate need of it. My hair is getting so frizzy with the humidity and the split ends and frazzle is just no longer acceptable. I want to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith but have yet to find someone to come with me. I need to post for a new movie buddy. Someone willing to see movies with a reckless abandon and shell out the cash. That is what summer is about for me, losing myself in films and movies. That, and reading. I just bought the first three books of the Chronicles of Narnia. Can't wait to get started on those. :-) Let's hope some weekend plans stir up, or I will go stir crazy. I was hoping for Carla, but after a baillion unreturned messages (ok, really just two emails and three voicemails in the span of a week), I don't think I will be seeing her this weekend. I wonder where my beauty has disappeared to!

Just keep looping it Vonda. It will eventually get out of your system and your play list. I'd do it if I could. I hope you know I would.

real life takes so much work

So... I need to blog more. I notice that I have turned into that blogger who blogs HUGE blogs every few days or almost every other week. I can't help it though. I always lose track of the time and although this summer feels lethargic, it isn't. I've actually managed to stay relatively busy.

I've started stocking my arsenal of summer friends. It's not to say we won't be friends all year round, but summer is a pretty pivotal time period where you need your resources. I just need to actually make dates with these friends and not turn into a summer recluse who only works, cleans, eats, andsleeps.

As Adam reminded me, I forget to talk about seeing Star Wars at midnight on opening night. I will be brief. We got there 2 hours early, the place was packed and we BARELY found four seats together. People were dressed up the characters and several light saber fights went on, entertaining the crowd. It was a good time with all those geeks and dorks and nerds. It was comforting, haha. On another movie note, when we saw Madagascar, William cried during THE PREVIEWS! Come on! It was for Dreamer with Dakota Fanning. Why cries during a preview? Sheesh!

Anyways, last week, I spent my time getting acclimated into summer life. I got my room together, or rather clean that is. I went on the CCA interview, which went pretty well. I am waiting to hear back from them and I really hope I get the position. I liked the people and the location, and it seemed like a great place to grow. I also talked to Travelers, and they were very formal. They knew exactly what they needed and asked a lot of more technical questions. I'm not sure if they are what I want, but I need to keep my options open.

I spent the weekend in Connecticut with my longest, and scruffy friend Tom.

We watched all three of the original Star Wars on Friday and they were pretty good. Leia: "I love you." Han: "I know." :-) I kept falling asleep, but only for a few minutes. I am glad I am now a complete human being, now that I've seen all the Star Wars. We then went to see Episode III in digital projection and HOLY CRAP. It's so weird. I was staring too hard and could see the pixilation. And when the green preview screen comes up, it REALLY is GREEN! So green, it's almost painful, but awesome. The best part is that I realized that the thingy is the Death Star. I know... if you are a Star Wars fan, you shake your head in disgust, but really... I can't help it that I didn't know. :-P Anyways, time spent at the Mullers is always pretty low-key and chill. Although, I do admit, Tom's mom has a way of making me feel uber guilty about my dislike of vegetables. I sometimes guilt myself into eating green beans or something while I'm there. And while I was backing out of their garage, I almost hit the beam... but I just nicked the plastic flapping thing. But as I was reversing, I kinda crept onto their lawn. Oops.

Drew's graduation party was nice. It was very buggy and hot. And I got lost twice on the way to his place. The directions I had weren't that great. But I found my way there and chatted it up with Stu, who is officially one of my summer friends. It's a shame when you meet people who you spent four years with and never really knew. But Stu is here for another two years, so I will get to know him now. And Braga was hilarious as usual. That kid... really... something different, haha.

I got an AC on Monday because sleeping Sunday night was excruciatingly hot. As William was working on installing it, he dropped two screws INTO the AC. Well... then he tried to pick up the AC with his less than strong muscles and shake it out. The image that comes to mind still makes me chuckle. Watching him shimmy with an AC and try futilely to get the screws made me lose mybreath in laughter. Oh William... how unmanly you are at times. :-)

I spent some time with Joe Vaughn. He was in need of an outlet for his more whipped side. We watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and man, he is the worst person to watch a movie with if he has seen it already. He was totally ruining some stuff. But seriously... one of the best movies I've ever seen. The ending, where Jim Carrey says "OK" just really... spoke to me. It says a lot about love when people are willing to go through it all over again, knowing it might not work out, just because they know some parts were so good, it's worth it. Amazing. I think I will watch it again for detail. But I also have the Godfathers with me too. Netflix rocks!

The goal for this week is to get some time with Carla. She is hard to reach. But it's her birthday and she is a favorite of mine. Let's hope she returns my messages and emails! Plus I really want to see Sisterhood of theTraveling Pants. :-)

William leaves next week and I will be a little lonely, but at the same time, Laura is back tonight and that makes me very happy. It will balance out William a little bit, but not completely. And right now, I really miss Erie, or more my friends and family in Erie. Everyone is in Erie right now, celebrating Mrs. Huzinec's retirement and I just hate that I am here, and not there. Hanni is in Erie for the next two years doing grad school for a master's in education. Becky is still finishing out her BA. My brother and mom and sometimes dad are still there. I admit... I am a little nostalgic for time with them. Oh well, I will see them sometime this summer, just notnow. Deal with it Vonda.

Lee and Lisa are moving to Boston in July and if I got the CCA job, I would contemplate moving in with them, or maybe Molly or something. We will see. It all depends on how this works out with money and the job and the availableapartments.

Lesson I am quickly learning: Real life takes so much work.