These past two days were amazing and exactly what I needed right now. Brittny called me Monday night to see if she could come see me in Cupertino to spend a little more time together before I leave for Scotland. We decided that it would work out best for both of us if she spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights here. Then on Tuesday morning I got a call from Catherine, who was moving her stuff back home to Danville. She had realized midway that she really didn't want to be back in her house just yet, and I told her that she was absolutely welcome to stay with me, especially because Brittny would be here and it would give us all more time to hang out. So Catherine got here a little before Brittny did and I had her go answer the door when Brittny arrived. The look on Dizzle's face was LOLarious. Hahaha...

After the excitement died down, we had lunch at Johnny Rocket's and it was delicious. Yummmm!!! Then I just couldn't wait to show them the Awesome Department DVD, so we came home and watched it. They seemed to like it, which made me feel really good. I love watching all that stuff over and over because I love the people in the videos. :) I also remembered while watching it how the name "Awesome Department" came to be! When Brittny and I were preparing for the talent show at the beginning of our first year, we had to alter some Saturday Night Live dialogue to fit our situation. Instead of saying that we headed up the music department at Alta Dena Middle School, we decided to be random and say we headed up the AWESOME department at San Miguel Hall! Thank God we had video from that talent show or else the origins of the best group name ever might have been forgotten forever!

Next on the agenda was two episodes of FotC, because Brittny hadn't seen this week's, and I had been slightly tipsy during the second to last one. Will Forte is so amazing. I also think I have a really big crush on Dave now, which is weird... But true. I'd pick Bret or Jemaine over him any day, but he's still pretty cute.

After FotC, we ate some yummy appetizers with my parents and hung out with them in the [extremely hot] kitchen. My dad made us dinner and it was pretty fascinating to watch him cut steak with his electric knife thingie. When dinner was ready, we ate it out in the backyard. It was really tasty and fun. We finished just in time to get settled in for Power of 10, which is officially the DUMBEST game show ever. And we were really disappointed that there was no Daniele/Nick reunion and that stupid Amber got a thousand bucks out of it (even though she looked really dumb, especially when she yelled "YAAAAYYYY" every two seconds and did what Brittny termed her "God Claw" clap). It also made me feel really sad about Drew Carey & his career, especially because so much of his identity relies on his ugly, outdated glasses. I don't think he would be hired for anything without them. With the fug-o glasses, he is stuck hosting the most pointless game show in the world, but without them he would be out of a job altogether. So sad.

Big Brother itself was much more entertaining, especially because we played an excellent drinking game with my parents and some Vodka Collins. Take a sip if...

- Amber cries.
- Amber or Jameka mention anything having to do with God & his plans for the BB house.
- Daniele says: "It's so frustratinnngg," "It's not fairrr," or "It sucks."
- Eric mentions anything about being 5'7", Jewish, or from New York (one sip for each).

Needless to say there's was lots of sipping.

After I threw up all over the world over Eric & Jess, the show had come to a close so we sat in the living room and heard my dad's college stories. HAHAHAHA It was so ridiculous. He gets so excited when people enjoy his stories, and he also had a lot of wine so he was especially animated. My favorite story was about a man named Jeff Asher who really didn't like my dad very much, so one time Jeff just grabbed my dad's foot and "started ga-narring on it!" I am assuming "ga-narr" is some weirdo form of the word "gnaw," because that's what he meant. We were laughing so hard because it made no sense -- if you don't like someone, why would you want to put their foot in your mouth!? Why would you want to put anyone's foot in your mouth!?!?! WHAT!? Jeff Asher is obviously not a good person.

Eventually we all went upstairs and set up the air mattresses in my room. We talked for a little bit and laughed about my dad's stories. Then we went to sleep.

The next morning we all woke up and did stuff on our computers and eventually showered and got ready for the day. We didn't really have a plan for what to do, so there was no rush. By 1, we had all showered and stuff and we decided that we'd go see Death at a Funeral at 3. Brittny wanted to look for a digital camera, so we drove to Circuit City and found her a good Canon one. I think she'll really have fun with it and I'm excited! The guy at the store was a douchebag because he asked her "Do you want a bag for this?" while he was ringing her up. She said that she did, and he pointed at an aisle and said "They're over there." We were really confused. When Brittny got over there, she saw camera cases and carrying bags. The guy finally realized that she was confused and said to me and Catherine in an irritated tone, "They fall for that all the time." WHAT AN ASS. Was he trying to make her look bad on purpose, or did he really think that there is no fault in the way he asked the question??? SIR, MOST RETAIL STORES ASK YOU IF YOU WANT A BAG WHILE YOU ARE RINGING THEM UP, AND EVERY OTHER TIME THEY ARE REFERRING TO PLASTIC BAGS FOR TAKING THEIR MERCHANDISE BACK HOME. You idiot. I hate salesmen who are awkward and don't know how to speak to their customers. It drives me batty.

Aaaanyway, we drove to Santana Row, where the movie was playing, and bought our tickets. We still had an hour to kill, so we walked across the street to Pasta Pomodoro and had lunch. The waiter was really cool and it seemed like he thought we were cool, so we loved him. Catherine had post-it notes for paying with multiple credit cards, and this made him think we were really smart and awesome. We want him to be our best friend. He had a cool belt buckle. My pasta was delicious. The company was even tastier. All-in-all, it was a very enjoyable meal.

We walked into the movie theatre just as the previews were starting, which makes us super slick... Slick as goose shit, as the very popular saying goes. Death at a Funeral was an amazing movie and we all agreed that it was a giggler. Everyone should go see it. Hahahaha... Phillip...

After the movie, we drove to Vallco, the worst mall ever, so I could buy some pajama bottoms and underwear at Victoria's Secret. We also made a stop at Macy's and enjoyed their really hip, unique music. The next stop was Old Navy. On our way there, we were passed by a few speeding Fire Department vehicles, including a large truck... We turned onto the same street that they did and saw a huuuge amount of smoke rising out of what seemed to be an apartment complex. The side street was all blocked off and there were police and lots of people were standing on the sidewalk watching. I think it must have just started because the first fire truck was arriving just as we drove past. We kept driving down the street but we could see behind us that the cloud of smoke getting bigger and bigger. It was really scary and smelly... We couldn't breathe for a while after we drove through it.

We had a very successful time in Old Navy, each of us making some good purchases. The only bad thing about it was that my LEAST FAVORITE employee was working and I had to look at her stupid face, even though I didn't end up at her register. THANK G! We saw the saddest little mullets on some very beautiful young blonde boys. Their hair was really pretty, except for the cut of course. The tiniest one even had some delicate blonde curls. These were seriously young boys, yet their mullets were already like a foot long. It was so sad because they seemed like such a nice family, but their hair... Oh no...

At this point, we were hungry for dinner and decided to eat at BJs. We tried to drive back the way we came, but the entire road was shut down when we got close to the giant cloud of smoke. I had no idea how else to get to the street that BJs is on. So we experimented and I finally got there. [By the way, I read in the paper this morning that the apartment complex fire left four families homeless, but the only person injured was one of the SEVENTY firefighters, who only suffered minor injuries. At least no lives were lost... God, it was so scary!]

We had to wait a little to get a table and I had a sad-o moment when a door LITERALLY hit me on the ass... But we finally got inside and had a delicious meal. I had an amazing personal pizza -- alfredo sauce (instead of tomato), parmesan, garlic, and chicken. They gave us all so much food, but we saved room for some warm melty Pizookie! BJs makes the best desserts -- they bake cookie dough in little pizza pans and put ice cream on top. Yum yum yum!

Then we came home and had a little scare when Brittny couldn't find her car keys anywhere... The AAA guy came and opened the car and they were NOT in the trunk as we expected, but Catherine eventually suggested looking UNDER Britty's suitcase and there they were!!! Then we all laughed and let out a sigh of relief because it would have really sucked if Brittny lost her keys!

We had been planning on taking pictures using the Photo Booth program on my computer all day, so that was what we did next. We took a TON and they are all amazing, but we put the best ones up on Facebook. You can see pictures here and here if you'd like. :)

Then we got ready for bed and went to sleep.

This morning Brittny had to leave really early to get back to SB for work, and Catherine left a couple hours later. I am soooooo so so so so glad they came. We had so much fun just being together one last time. Now I am all alone again and I will not see any Awesome Department members for months and months. I have to say I am pretty damn heartbroken... I really miss Mitzi, Val, and Starr and wish I had more time before I leave so I could see them too. I leave in 5 days and everything is starting to feel very real and really scary. No matter how lonely I feel over there, though, I will always know that I have amazing friends back home (or wherever they may be) who love me and are a part of the woman I have become over the past few years. I can't believe that fate was nice enough to bring us all together and keep us united under one roof for three beautiful years. I really am the luckiest.

By the way, Mitzi, Val, and Starr, I sent your DVDs to Santa Barbara with Brittny so make sure you get them from her. There are lots of videos and you can watch them in whatever order you want, but if you can remember, I think you should watch the one called "The Luckiest" at the very end. It was the last one I made, so I feel like it should be the last one you watch. I dunno.

I love you guys.

Okay, I found tonight's America's Player question to be really "frustraatiinnnggg" and "not faaaaiiirrrr!" [The words in quotes are intended to be read with a Daniele-like inflection, btw.] To understand why I dislike the question so much, you will have to read what's under the cut, which is sort of live-feed spoilery. However, it's not an important-to-the-game spoiler... It's just crap about dumb-ass Eric. So please read becase I want to share my frustration.

( I don't like cheats either, Jess. )

Also, I can't wait to buy all the magazines that feature Amber on the cover. I hope she wears that cute little bikini number they flashed on the screen for a second there. *whistles* Now that is some serious heat right there. God sure has graced her with some magnificent beauty.

So the video editing is shite (due to laziness, I'd guess)... But this song is AMAZING. Even though I still love Evel.

I wanna play Slop Pong! LOL...lypops.

EDIT: Hahahahahah Woobie to Dick! Woobie to Dick! Go vote!

EVERYBODY VOTE FOR JESSICA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA YAYYYYY!

Last night we saw Hot Fuzz at IV Theatre. I will probably never be inside IV Theatre again. It was awesome, of course, and we had a really good (drunk?) audience. Leah came with us and it was delightful to see her again. We discussed Harry Potter and Big Brother and life and we had some delicious tortelloni for dinner. <3 <3 <3

I just purchased the Hot Rod soundtrack from iTunes. "Cool Beans" is definitely my new favorite song. How could it NOT be??? I can't wait to see the movie in only THREE SHORT DAYS! I wish I could also see The Ten on Friday, but it unfortunately doesn't come out in Santa Barbara until the 10th. BUT we are going to see Becoming Jane because James McAvoy is the most precious man on the planet.

And now for something that is NOT hot... Nick (from BB8) did something awful to his head. Just awful. I saw some pictures and video, but I don't want to describe what's going on because everyone will surely see it on the show tonight. Unfortunately, he still has not done anything to that awful moustache. *sigh*

I have to read sparknotes for Death of a Salesman now. Byeeee.

Omigod. I just read the chapter titles for Deathly Hallows and I can't breathe. They weren't exactly spoilery or anything, they're just really good and dramatic sounding. Oh shit.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Half-Blood Prince. I will definitely be ready for Friday night. I even wasted several hours on it today when I should have been writing my paper.

Oh yeah, the paper... Hmm...

Catherine made the most delicious pineapple upside-down cake tonight. My mouth died from the pleasure.

BB was excellent tonight. Jen needs to go ASAP.

Grrrr. Dumb summer school.

DANIELE: I haven't had Butterfingers in a long time.
NICK: You know what I haven't had in a long time? Two guys at once.
DANIELE: I think you can make that happen in this house. *gets up and walks away*

Apparently Nick tried to kiss someone last night and got rejected. I'm just assuming it was Daniele, but I turned it on midway through the conversation and missed the part where he said her (or his?) name. In ontd_bb8 there is an ongoing tradition of posting about Nick's sexuality. I love it. This entry is particularly enjoyable.

Gots to dry my hairs now.

I was really cranky today because I didn't get enough sleep, so I couldn't stay very long at the gym. That was a bad start, and it led me to be grumpy. Then I came home and tried to fill out my student visa application, but I got really frustrated and confused so I gave up. I watched a little BB live feed, but then it went dead for like HOURS while they did the longest PoV competition EVER. As the afternoon progressed, I was bored out of my mind but too tired to actually get up and do anything. I even thought about reading for my class, even though I'm already ahead -- which is STRANGE for me. There was absolutely nothing on TV and BB was broken so I napped uncomfortably on the couch for a bit. Brittny came home and we attempted to watch Shameless, but the sound was really shitty AND we missed a Christmas special that I neglected to find out about until today, and therefore do not have downloaded. But right at that moment, we discovered that the live feeds were back on, so we watched that. Brittny and Val played chess as we watched all the people stuck in the HoH room playing 20 questions. I started to feel like we were in the house with them. We decided that one day we're going to limit ourselves to the kitchen, living room, and downstairs bathroom for a whole day -- no internet, no music, nothing except for what the houseguests get to have. Except we'll have the live feed on the TV so we can pretend like we're there, of course. We might even do some kind of restricted diet thing... but I don't want any slop. Maybe PB&J like the old school days. Anyway, we watched it until Law & Order: SVU starring MICHAEL EMERSON came on -- creepy as all hell, btw. Then more live feed, then two hours of Man vs. Wild, switching to the live feed during commercials. Then even more live feed. OMG. I am going crazy. Today was like the laziest day ever. Thank GOD we are doing something fun tomorrow. I feel gross today.

I can't believe that a month from now I will have moved out of this house! It's very sad to think about.

Big Brother was really good, but the best part was watching the Live Feed afterward. Val, Brittny, Catherine, and Ali watched it with me. I think they are all pretty hooked so far. So far I like Dustin, Nick, Joe (but plz cover those giant nips!), Daniele (but plz eat something), and maybe Dick for entertainment purposes. I really can't stand Jessica, but I was just watching her and Joe and Jameka get ready for bed and it was hilarious. So I dunno. Mike might be okay but he doesn't seem to have much of a brain so far. The person I hate most is ERIC. WHAT A TOOL. America says: "Get the hell out of the house."

I'm downloading the episode right now just so I can make an icon out of Dustin's face after Joe told them all why they broke up. LOL LOL LOL! Btw, both of them have a huge crush on Nick, its obv. But Nick and Daniele are totes in love.

Sometimes I feel like I have to talk in lame interwebz speak when it's about BB. That's just how it goes.

Soooo my favorite summer program, Big Brother, begins its eighth season in only four days. Words cannot express my excitement. Yes, I know this show is trashy and fairly pointless, but I love it all the same. I still maintain that the idea is awesome and there's nothing better than a show that comes on THREE TIMES A WEEK and allows you to tune into the goings on all day, every day, via the internet. Television fried gold, my friends. I used to be a pretty hardcore reality TV junky and I've toned it down over the years, but I still love this show with a fiery passion. My favorite part is loving to hate all the bitches and bastards, and it's looking like this group of houseguests might fit into these categories. While browsing their interests on the CBS website, however, I have discovered that some of them might just be okay. Here are some of my preliminary favorites... But please bear in mind that I have not truly seen these people in action yet. By the way, if you click on their pictures, it will take you to their profiles. :)



He likes The Office, Parker Posey, Laura Linney, MIKA's "Life in Cartoon Motion" album (which I happen to be listening to at this very moment), soft serve ice cream, and Crystal Light. Also, judging by his fondness of the original Broadway cast recording of Fosse (which I, too, have and enjoy), he probably also likes boys. That's okay, we can still be good friends. And one of his favorite alcoholic drinks is diet root beer and rum, which I'm going to have to try now. Thanks, Dustin!



Okay, I mostly just like him because of the two second video clip I saw. He is gonna be the life of the party, I know it. He also has pretty good taste in favorites: Ewan McGregor, Christina Ricci, Drew Barrymore, Lilly Allen, Scissor Sisters, Fruity Pebbles. :) Joe will be fun.



This guy looks like an idiot, but he likes some good movies and TV shows such as: Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Love Actually, Cinderella Man, LOST, and Man vs. Wild. However, his music taste makes me shed a small tear. So I think we'll just have to wait and see.

I am soooo excited for Thursday.

How is it that I have been wandering around the internet all day, yet I haven't managed to write a single update in here about my exciting new life??? I've decided that it's now time for me to write a little in here before I watch a bunch of LOST special features and then hit they hay for the night.

So after I updated about everything yesterday, Catherine and I put our computers in the car and then walked to the Rec Cen to work out but that sonofabitch was CLOSED for yearly maintenance until September 10th. We decided instead to go back to the house and do sit-ups to Oldies. Catherine and I are Oldies buddies. We came back and did that in my nearly-empty room and Catherine totally beat my butt at sit-ups. Plus I am way more sore today, so she is clearly in much better shape than I am. We were nice and hungry after our workout, so we went downstairs and made lunch. Since we don't have any furniture yet, we decided to sit on the ground next to the fireplace to eat. Then we took showers and got ready to go on our shopping excursion!

First we stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond, where I bought a lot of cool things like a shower curtain rod, shower curtain, bath mat, bathrobe, muffin pan, straw holder, and two Snapware food containers to replace the ones that became nastified somewhere in the moving process. Snapware is the ultimate! Our next stop was K-Mart, because we figured that Linens 'N' Things might be really similar to Bed Bath & Beyond. We found some useful items there, but not the black trash can we were looking for. (We are still without a trash can for the kitchen.) Since that was the only thing we were still looking for by the time we were done with K-Mart, we decided to look at Costco. We didn't find one there either, and we didn't even end up buying anything, but this was probably the best stop because they had the BEST SAMPLES IN THE WORLD. We had pumpkin pie (2 samples for me and 3 for Catherine), pepperoni pizza (2 each), yogurt, goat cheese, sorbet, Catherine tried some pasta... Jesus, it was delicious. We were burnt out after that, so we drove back home.

Starr's parents were leaving as we put our new purchases away, and then she took a shower. When Starr was ready, we all went to the Goleta Coffee Shop to get dinner/use the internet. We stayed until they closed (which was at 7) and had a really awesome time. I got the best phone call ever from Mitzi. I almost peed my pants at least three individual times. But especially at the beginning. "This is Michael Jackson! Do you want to come to Wonderland? This is Mike Tyson!" The coffee shop was the cutest place I've ever seen in my life. It's really big and there is a large comfy area in the back with booths and couches and a fireplace and the smoothies were delicious and aaahhhh I LOVED IT! While we were there, I ordered a bookshelf and dresser to complete my room. The shipping was WAY TOO MUCH and I am really pissed about that, but they are the perfect size and they're really cute. I hope they're not too hard to put together. :/

Then we came home and attempted to put Catherine's desk together. It did not go well as IKEA forgot to include instructions in her box. So we gave up and had a little lay down on Catherine's floor for a while, just talking. It was nice to talk! Then Mary came to visit Starr (and bring me shower curtain hooks!!!) and Catherine and I talked in my room for a while. Starr went out with Mary and Dave, and Catherine and I decided to watch some Ali G downstairs. It was amazing, of course. Starr came home and watched some with us, and then we decided to go to bed, I believe. I can't think of anything I missed.

I slept in my room for the first time. It was very nice. I love it. Right now, I am on an air mattress with a little desk light propped up on an upside-down trash bin. I used this light to read some of my Anthony Rapp book before I went to sleep last night. Then I went to sleep and slept very soundly!

I woke up to the sound of my alarm at 7:30am because the cable guy was supposed to show up between 8 and 10. I pressed snooze twice, and then went downstairs to eat some CINNAMON KRUNCHERS, BITCHES! Ugh, I'm so glad I finally found some! I thought they'd stopped making them! Anyhoo, we all ate a little breakfast and then stood around waiting for Mr. Cable Man. I think he arrived at around 8:45, and he didn't seem to have any problems getting us all set up. He even made it possible for me to watch TV in my room, which is going to be fantastic. When he left, we began the process of setting up our wireless router to the internet modem. This took a long time. The router came with a CD that could only be used on PCs, so Starr had to use her laptop. Once she finally got it set up, Catherine and I were unable to log on to the network using our Macs. We were very frustrated, and Starr eventually called the tech support people and was able to figure it out. The phone call lasted a long time, but in the end all he really told us was that the password has to have a $ in front of it for Macs. Oh well. We figured it out and we were really excited!!!

The next part of our day consisted of laying on the living room floor for hours visiting every website in the world, and doing a lot of silly things on Facebook. Teeheehee. It was marvelous to be connected to the outside world again.

At noon, we took a 30 minute walk around the neighboorhood and scoped things down further down the street. We found an international grocery store that Catherine's going to check out. There were also a couple restaurants and things that we may want to look into. The walk was very pleasant! I certainly enjoyed myself.

After that, I ate lunch and sat around on the internet some more. Finally I decided to shower, but I didn't even dry my hair. I am so lazy!!! And my beautiful LOST DVDs came. Hooray!!! Then Catherine and I went to go see Idlewild at 5. It was SO GOOD! Everyone needs to see it. Yaaayyyy!

Then we made dinner and Starr & I watched Big Brother (BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and then I called my family to talk about the Big Brotherness. After I got off the phone, I went downstairs and found Catherine sitting in the living room on her computer. Soon Starr joined us and we looked into a possible Awesome Department Disneyland trip in the month of September. This inspired us to play the Cinderella version of Pretty Pretty Princess that Catherine brought. It was delightful. Then we did nothing for a while on the floor of the living room. Catherine was on her computer, but Starr and I were pretty much daydreaming/moping about boys. We were in our own little worlds.

And then I came upstairs, got ready for bed, and now I'm here.

Tomorrow at noon, Brittny will be here! And hopefully Mitzi will come tomorrow too! And then Val & my family will be here on Saturday. Unfortunately, Starr is leaving for the weekend early tomorrow morning... But we will all finally be reunited on Sunday! YAY! I can't wait for the sextet to be complete!

Okay it's LOST time, people. EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodnight.

OMGZ LOST COMMERCIAL WITH ACTUAL SEASON THREE FOOTAGE:



And here is something special for everyone who hates Julie Chen.