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.

On September 1st, 2004, I received an email that said:

Hello, I'm Monica. I'm sorry to tell you the bad news, but I will not be attending UCSB in the fall. I was going to be your roomate but some things happened recently, which is preventing me to go to college this fall. I am incredibly sorry for the inconvenience. However, I do wish you the best of luck in your first year of college.

Whatever happened to that girl, I hope she's happy now. God knows what would have happened if she hadn't dropped out of school... But I am so glad she did. Otherwise I know for certain that my life would be a hell of a lot emptier today.

Hello. I am sitting/studying in the living room with Brittny and Catherine having hardcore San Miguel 1st Floor Lounge flashbacks. Tonight is my last night of studying [revising] at UCSB, so it seems very appropriate to bring it back around to where it all started.

While composing that last sentence, I decided I'm going to start doing something new to prepare for my upcoming move! Whenever I write a word and am aware of a British equivalent, I will italicize that word between brackets. I may do the same for alternate spellings. I also may forget that I ever decided this and never do it again.

Watch this video:



Tonight Christopher Meloni was on Celebrity Jeopardy. It was really amazing and he totally won. Detective Elliot Stabler rocks my socks. He is cool beans and the bee's knees.

Finally, this is what I look like when you're high:

I can't believe what happened tonight. We currently have (well, had up until a few hours ago) six people with cars living in our house and only four to five real parking spots. There is technically room in the driveway to park behind each other, but it's a hassle so we try to avoid it. Anyway, we were expecting several guests with cars tonight for our BBQ, so Catherine, Val, Brittny, and I all moved our cars to the street. We live in a house that's a little bit off the main road (Hollister) and a driveway takes you up to a cluster of houses that includes ours. The parking that's available on the Hollister is across the street in front of some weird woodsy area. It's legal to park there, but it's also rare to see cars parked there because most of the housing in the area has plenty of spots in driveways/garages.

So we were all in our living room, enjoying each other's company and watching people play Wii, when there was a knock at the door. It was one of our neighbors telling us that there was a car accident involving a parked car across the street and asking if it was ours. From the description, Val says that she immediately knew it was hers, so she ran out there. The rest of us followed and I quickly saw that it was, indeed, Val's brand-new five-week-old car that had been involved.

From what we understand, here is the story: An old wispy-haired hippie lady was minding her own business, driving down the street, preparing to turn left but stopping for a red light. Much to her surprise, the old wispy-haired hippie man (no relation, apparently) in the car in front of her did not stop for the red light and proceeded to run it. She decided not to turn left, but to follow him to make sure everything was okay. As she followed him down Hollister, the dude started to drift off to the right at a VERY high speed, foolishly slamming into Val's parked car. Startled, he must have swerved to the left very quickly, causing him to overcorrect and speed into a deep ditch on the left side of the road, narrowly missing trees, mailboxes, and a power pole. Val's car, meanwhile, slammed several yards forward into Brittny's car and was forced up onto the curb, twisting the undercarriage so that the doors were no longer capable of being opened. The back was smashed into crazy oblivion from the hippie man's car, and the front didn't look much better. The back of Brittny's car was dented a little bit, but fortunately looks much better than Val's and is still driveable. And Catherine's and my cars were far enough in front of Brittny's that they remained uninvolved.

All of our neighbors were out observing the scene from our side of the street, but the 9 of us who had been hanging out all crossed over to survey the damage. It was brutal. The fuzz came and took everybody's information. Two tow-trucks came and Val's dude jovially told her to say goodbye to her car because, from what he could tell, there was an 85% chance it would never be driven again. As the tow-truck man pulled it up onto his truck, Aharon named it Ruth, because that's what it felt like to him. He also named the crazy dude's car Alfred. When the other truck pulled the Alfred out from the ditch, it was MANGLED. The front right tire was shredded to bits and the wheel looked like it was about ready to fall off completely. He was really lucky that he didn't hit any trees, mailboxes, or power poles, though. He was certainly very close to all of those things. The man had a big cut on his arm, but that was the only injury that came out of this incident. There was another near accident when the police were blocking the street and some lady didn't see cars stopped in front of her. The screeching sound was terrifying for us, an already jumpy audience.

We still don't know what the hippie's story was. Why did he run the red light? Where was he going? Where was he coming from? What did he cut his arm on? Apparently he WASN'T drunk, which is what we all assumed at first. Alex, one of the BBQ guests, asked the police, "Is it alright if I ask if he was drunk?" And the officer looked taken aback, like the guy's sobriety had not even been questioned. "Oh! No, I don't think so..." he said. And we're assuming they didn't find any reason to arrest him, because a taxi was called to take him home. The man seemed very quiet and withdrawn; he spent a lot of time standing back, his hands clasped in front of himself, just eerily staring at everything. He didn't really look over at our side of the street, though. He was pretty much just staring at his own car. I wish I could have heard his explanation. Brittny says that the police told her that she could get a copy of the police report for $15. We are all so curious that we're all going to chip in.

We've decided to try to piece the story together while we wait. Here's what we've got so far: Catherine has theorized that his name is Ernie Gill, because that's what he looks like. We also think that maybe he was running away from the scene of a crime, and the "cut" on his arm was actually someone else's blood. I'm also suspicious of the hippie lady witness, because she looked way too much like someone that he would associate with. Perhaps she was chasing him down for some reason? I don't know.

So now Val's brand new car is gone. Nobody can believe it. The rest of us moved our cars back to the driveway as soon as we could. Brittny's seems to be running okay, but it seems like it had been hit sorta hard since her CDs were strewn about when she looked inside afterward. Apparently, she had originally parked it between Brittny's car and Catherine's and my cars, which were pretty close together. Then she left to go buy strawberries, and parked it a considerable distance behind Brittny's when she got back. If she had left it where it was, the guy probably would have hit Brittny's car, which would have hit Val's car, which would have hit my car, which would have hit Catherine's car. They would have been really close together and they'd probably all be really screwed up. Although it's really awful that Val's car is gone, the rest of us are really lucky that she parked where she did -- even Brittny because the considerable distance between their cars really reduced her car's damage, I'm guessing.

Crazy crazy crazy.

Hooooray! I downloaded the HBP audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry. I haven't listened to it yet but I already know it's gotta be better than the Jim Dale one because a) it's divided up between discs rather than the single continuous file of the version that I have and b) I'm pretty sure Stephen Fry's Hermione wont = Stewie Griffin.

Yesterday I went to see a movie with Catherine and Brittny called La Vie En Rose. It was really good, even though I was mighty confused at times. Then we came home and watched Reefer Madness with Val. It was so so so so soooo hilarious! I'm currently downloading the 2005 musical version that Ana Gasteyer and others are in. It's supposed to be really good and I think it has all the same characters and stuff. LOL Kristin Bell is Mary Lane. This is gonna be good.

I decided to see how big my room next year will be compared to the one I'm in now. I looked at the measurements from the website, converted them into feet, and then measured my room. It's almost EXACTLY the same, just a couple inches off. And that is awesome because I never thought I'd have such a big room to myself ever again in my whole life. I'm so excited.

Now it's time to take a shower and listen to my new audiobook. Weeee!

EDIT: I downloaded the Hairspray soundtrack because I wanted to see if dumbass Amanda Bynes did her own singing and the answer is, unfortunately, YES. Gross. I was listening to "Without Love," which features her character and three others. She was the last of all of them to start singing and before I got to her I was like "Hey, all these people are pretty good... Maybe I won't hate it after all..." But then she started singing and she sounded so dumb. GOD I HATE HER.

Yesterday was one of those magical days that lasted 100 hours and will be remembered forever.

I slept in because the gym was closed. When I woke up, I baked my snickerdoodles and then watched Will & Grace and enjoyed some Leave it to Beaver with Catherine. Then I showered and got ready for our barbecue! I helped Catherine set up stuff in the kitchen and then we listened to the Spice Girls and watched Val make things in the kitchen. Before long, we were joined by the lovely Brittny. And then Ali, Aharon, and Abdellah came and started grilling. Soon after that other guests arrived and everybody ate and talked and enjoyed each other's company. It seems like the actual barbecue part of the day went by pretty fast. Lots of people had other things to do after enjoying the delicious food and magnificent company at our house. However, even if this part of the day was short, all the hard work was worth it because it was really fun!

As everyone was clearing out, Val brought her bouncy ball outside and everybody started kicking it around the small patch of patio we have in our backyard. For those who haven't been to my house, we have a HUGE yard, but most of it is just dirt -- no grass or anything -- with random trees and plants scattered around. We have a creepy gardener who suddenly shows up when you're least expecting him (like YESTERDAY during our Fourth of July barbecue!) and there are all sorts of creepy ladders and gardening implements and upturned garbage cans lurking in odd corners of the yard. It's a scary place and we rarely venture outside of the brick patio area, unless we need to pick a lemon or something. So we decided to explore the yard, and the remaining seven of us (me, Catherine, Brittny, Val, Ali, Aharon, and Abdellah) took a clockwise journey through the mysterious terrain. I think that's as close as I'll ever get to being Bear Grylls. We discovered lots of strange holes everywhere and wondered what kind of creature lives in them. Then we got to the infamous scary upside-down garbage can and decided the time had finally come to find out what kind of horror was buried underneath. We discovered another trash can underneath, but under that was only a mound of weird looking dirt. Val dug through it with the shovel she found, and there were no dead bodies or anything. But then the boys found a black widow in the trash can and we all freaked out a little bit until Ali brutally murdered it with a long stick.

We all decided that we were going to see License to Wed at 7:15 and then drive downtown to watch the fireworks. Catherine, Brittny, and I started to tidy up things in the kitchen and cover food with plastic wrap. Meanwhile, Val decided to start kicking at the tall ugly flowers that line our patio... And it was only a small amout of time before she brought down her sword and started hacking at all the plants like she was that Link dude from the Legend of Zelda. I think all of the flowers are gone now. The gardener is going to have a heart attack. I went back in the house, and came out again to find the boys chucking lemons at Val, and she was slicing them in half mid-air. HAHAHA. And the best part of this is that the whole time she was wearing this 50s housewife dress that actually almost looks like its inspired by something out of the old prairie days. And bare feet. It was certainly an image that will stay in my mind forever.

After Val washed off her feet, we all went to the movie theatre and saw Licence to Wed. I had a good time and the movie was decent... But really only because of John Krasinski. I can't stand Robin Williams or Mandy Moore, and I never would have seen this movie had he not been in it. But our group of seven was really giggly and silly, so it was a fun outing.

Then we got into our two seperate cars (Brittny and me in Catherine's car and the boys in Val's car) and drove downtown. The fireworks started while we were still on the freeway, and it was REALLY crowded downtown. So we watched about 3/4 of the show from the car while finding a place to park it. The streets and parking lots were all just PACKED. But finally we found a red zone just long enough for Catherine's car facing the fireworks. So we stopped there and watched the big grand finale. Catherine switched the radio station and that awful country version of "God Bless the U.S.A." was playing. So we rolled down the windows and blasted the song and sang along at the top of our lungs for all the people who were standing nearby or walking past the car. It was a really hilarious moment, especially since we're all really fed up with our country right now. The irony was beautiful. It was also really awesome because fireworks are cool, no matter what the occassion.

Then we came home and Val and Ali played with the ball in the kitchen, and then everybody played some crazy card game called Bonjour Madame that Catherine taught them, and then we all played Spoons. Ali's friend was about to leave, and he asked if she could come to our house so he wouldn't have to leave to say goodbye to her. So she joined us and we all watched the first episode of Flight of the Conchords, which everybody totally loves now. Ali's friend (I cannot for the life of me remember her name, but I know it started with an S) brought sparklers, so we took them out back and had some fun. Somehow the bouncy ball ended up in the backyard again, and the eight of us reverted back to the game from earlier in the day. I think it was around 11:30 at this point.

We played our game for about an hour. It was AMAZING. The goal was to keep it in the air for as many hits as possible, but it was more intense than that. Three sides of our playing space were surrounded by the dark, myserious forest of our backyard. So that added to the danger and fun of the game. We were all getting really into it and we started counting the hits out loud and getting really excited. At one point the ball got caught on Starr's balcony and Val had to find one of the ladders to retrieve it. Our record for the night was 40. We named our team the Clever Giant Buffalo Beavers.

The game pretty much died down after we reached 40 and we decided to call it a night. Just as we opened the back door to go back in the house, the doorbell rang. It was the FUZZ! Lol lol lol one of the neighbors called the cops on us! Brittny went to the door and talked to him and he told her he could hear us all the way down Hollister or some crap. So we all had to come inside and be quiet, but we were about to do that anyway. I feel sort of bad that we were being so loud late at night, but I get woken up EVERY SINGLE MORNING by those stupid demon brats next door. I just think it's so funny that we got the police called on us for playing a game with a bouncy ball in the backyard. No one was drinking or anything. It was all good clean fun... just at an inappropriate time of night.

We recovered from our game/brush with the law by sitting around the kitchen eating popsicles and ice cream sandwiches. Eventually the non-residents of our house decided it was time to leave and we all said goodbye.

Man, what a day. :D

I'm really gonna miss these people...

When you're alone and life is making you lonely you can always go...

( DOWNTOWN. )

Awww my Leah just left me. :( Yesterday was SOOOO FANTASTIC. Obvly (that's the new abbrieviation for "obviously" brought into my life by Leah) classes were a little boring because all I could think about was how it was Hot Fuzz day. But then after that I came home and watched Spaced, which eased the pain of waiting.

When Mitzles got out of class, Brittny and I picked her up, and then we went to the theatre to buy Hot Fuzz tickets. Then we got Starbucks and discovered that TANGERINE FRAPPUCCINOS ARE BACK IN SEASON! Those drinks are my bitches and I will drink them every day until they are gone again. [Imagine me making a Brian Topp-like "Mmmm..." now!] In Starbucks was a dude that looked like a younger Locke playing some kind of game (not backgammon) that involved little white and black rocks. I freaked out a little too much. The worst part of my day was when some kind of folk version of "Crazy In Love" came on in Starbucks. Too weird.

So then, after almost I almost got kidnapped by Sleazy Ben outside the theatre, Leah arrived and we all got settled into seats. And the glory began.

It's hard for me to write about perfection, so I can't quite come up with the right words to say about Hot Fuzz. I laughed/smiled the entire time. Even when something tense or scary was happening, I was still smiling because Simon Pegg is so amazing and sexy. I laughed every time Julia Deakin's (a.k.a. Marsha from Spaced) crazy mug showed up on screen just because she is hilarious. My face hurt afterwards, in the really good way. Most of the people in the movie looked familiar to me, which was exciting. It's always cool to see movies chock-full of people you know and trust, because then you don't have to worry about if the acting will be good and you can just enjoy the show. The weirdest thing was when I did some research on the interwebs and found out that the Andy with the smaller moustache was the 17-year-old douchebag guy who worked in the store with Shaun. WHAT? Is it weird that I thought he was sort of attractive in Hot Fuzz? I'm confused. Oh lordy it was all just so good. Am I going to have to see it again very soon? Yarp. Is this a problem? Of course narp! :D

Aaahhh best movie ever.

After the movie, Leah came over to hang out with us and we watched "The Landlord" again because Leah and Starr hadn't seen it. Then I showed everyone the cool blood blister I have on my pinky, which I got when I was pretending to be Pearl and pounding the remote control on the table shouting "BITCH! BITCH! BITCH!" Good times.

Then we watched two amazing episodes of Spaced. It made me crave Jaffa Cakes.

Then Leah and I made plans for dinner, which ended up being so delicious. We went to Vons and got a fresh pineapple, strawberries, granny smith apples, sugar free pudding & cool wHip for dipping, french bread, cheese, pineapple juice, and vodka. They all go deliciously together. We cut up all the fruit and arranged it beautifully on a plate. We warmed up the bread and cut that up too. And then Leah made some delicious drinks that we didn't have a name for, so we dubbed them "Gingernuts." Vodka + pineapple juice + grenadine. Proportions? We have no idea.

The rest of the night was a blaaaaaast. I have a sore back because I hit my lower back/upper bum on the fireplace. I don't know how, but I do know that at the exact same time I hit my nose with the top of a stool, which had been balancing on my feet. And my nose is sore too. Oh well! We danced around and talked and generally enjoyed ourselves. We went to bed really late, so I should be more tired now. But I'm not!

Do you hate it when people talk about dieting and weight? ( Then I will spare you. )

My family is coming tonight. Yaaaaaay!

I need breakfast.

Ahhhh today. I woke up at 7 to pack and such and then Catherine arrived shortly before 10... Which was good because at that point I was just sitting around playing Big Brain Academy anyway. We had a really fun and fast (four hour!) drive down to Santa Barbara. Catherine is the best driving buddy ever. Seriously, the time flew by... At least for me.

When we got back, I was pleased to see Starr and Brittny and the fantastically clean house for which they were responsible. It was a glorious thing to come home too. I love them. Catherine and I sort of settled for a bit, and then made up grocery lists and we were off to Ralphs! As soon as I got back and put my many groceries away, I got into the third motor vehicle of the day -- Starr's car -- and went with Starr and Brittny to Albertsons. There are some things (like Three Cheese Prego, Wild Strawberry Crystal Light, and Tangerine Lime Clear Excellence) that you can only buy at Albertsons, and I happen to really enjoy those things. I also enjoy the company of Brittny and Starr.

After this excursion, I came home and immediately made some of the ALFREDO EASY MAC that I found at Albertsons (so so so so good) and then the four of us (Starr, Brittny, Catherine, and I) watched the shitty Josh Holloway thriller that I ordered during finals week -- Cold Heart. It was so worth the $7.08. First of all, there was some nudity and I am about 75% sure that he DIDN'T have a body double... But I have to do more research because they never actually panned all the way up from rear to head. If it was another dude, however, they did an excellent job pairing up lower back dimples. Because they were pretty much identical. And even if the bum wasn't his, the parts with his face were even sexier. Sooo... It was good. Also, as opposed to the deceitful Mi Amigo, Josh actually had a huuuge role in this movie. I would like to say that he was the main character just because I sided with him (even though he was EVIL) over the lady he was stalking. She was dumb. The entire plot was dumb, but the movie was quite enjoyable. For a shit movie, Josh's acting was very good! And I had fun making fun of the stupid stuff with my fellow viewers.

The infidelity theme of the movie then prompted us to watch Cheaters, which was all good until Val came in with her brother and his friend right at the most inopportune time. When they say "The Best of Cheaters Uncensored," they mean uncensored. Yikes. Sorry, Val. :-o

After that we watched an episode of Black Books and then Family Guy and then had some Law and Order playing in the background while we finally got productive. I went through my EAP papers for the first time all break (stupid idiot me) and learned that I must go to Student Health tomorrow to set up an appointment for my health check. The sheet says that I'll have to go on a specific date, but doesn't tell me what date it is. Thank you very much for the information. It would be nice to know before I go in there. Whatever. I also read that I will be hearing about my host school between now and August. AUGUST!? WHAT? I think I'll need to make travel arrangements before then. Gaaah!

I'm stressed because classes start tomorrow and I am very unprepared... I don't have any of my books or fresh notebooks or anything. I'm going to have to brave the the bookstore tomorrow and it's going to be so crowded and scary. Damn it. Plus I have three classes in a row in the morning starting at 8:30... At least my 10:00 and 11:00 classes are in the same room! It's fun to be lazy sometimes.

I must leave now because I have to get up at 6. YUCK YUCK YUCK. Tomorrow will be a busy day. Josh Holloway is pretty. Goodbye!

I woke up at 1:00 pm today. Oops!

My Latin test is in two days. I REALLY SHOULD STUDY.

Last night I went to Blockbuster with Brittny (Bidni) and Val (Val). I got all awkward because I was stressed about lines and forms and not having a place to fill it out etc. I am so stupid. My most ginormous apologies to Bidni and Val. But eventually I got a Blockbuster card (ew that guy was a TOOL) and Val had used her four free movie passes to get her movie and my three free! Everyone working there was crazy/stupid/crazy stupid.

Anyhoo, I came home with:

Confetti - A mocumentary about three couples competing to have the most original wedding of the year, awarded by Confetti magazine. It stars people such as Martin Freeman from The Office, Jessica Stevenson and Mark Heap, both from Spaced.

Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story - I think I originally wanted to rent this because David Walliams was in it, and then I watched a trailer and thought it looked really good. Unfortunately that was a little while ago and I can't remember what it's about now. Steve Coogan is the lead, I believe. And Ian Hart (from Harry Potter and Dirt), is in it and I love him.

Young Adam - I came across this yesterday in my online search for good Scottish movies. Ewan McGregor is the star... And apparently he is nudie-pants in it. ;) IMDb gives this as the description: "A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits." The only other names I recognize are Jack McElhone and Emily Mortimer, who played Frankie and his mom in Dear Frankie.

Brittny wanted to get a movie called Shortbus but they didn't have it at Blockbuster. She called Video Schmideo who said they had it, so I went with her to go pick it up. We had a delightful time.

We came home and decided to watch Shortbus before SNL because that was due back before any of the movies I got. It was quite shocking at first - lots and lots of explicit sexuality. But it wasn't like a porno or anything, it was a legit movie with real actors (some better than others) and an interesting plot. I ended up really liking it! But I wouldn't recommend it for those who get uncomfortable easily... There's lots of content you don't normally see in movies.

Then we watched SNL and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. I'm not sure what's going on... I know they have talented writers and every member of the cast is amazing... But last night's episode was mediocre at best. I think what they're really lacking is recurring characters/sketches... You can NEVER go wrong with Deep House Dish. And Digitial Shorts are always good, as are most commercials, but those are not the heart of the show and shouldn't be the best part every week!!! I will always support SNL. I will never be one of those bitches who says "I love SNL but it hasn't been good since Will Ferrell left!" because they obviously haven't even tried to watched it since Will Ferrell/whoever left. But back in the days of Will Ferrell and a little bit after, there were tons and tons of recurring characters who were adored by the audience. Where are the Mary Katherine Gallaghers? The Lovahs? The Gemini's Twins? The Brian Fellows? Episodes like last night's are filled with sketches about characters who we don't care about because we'll never see them again. I also think it really depends on the host. Rainn Wilson was an excellent host. Even Matthew Fox was quite enjoyable. But for some reason, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was ON the show, doesn't do it for me. I love her, don't get me wrong, but I didn't like her episode last season, and I didn't like last night's either. I don't exactly know why, I just didn't.

Weird.

Anyway, after that, we didn't want to go to bed so we watchhed Confetti. Oh my God. I loved it. It was so so cute! I'm definitely going to copy it before I take it back because it was basically the perfect feel-good movie. First of all, mocumentaries are almost always winners. Pretty much every actor in it kicked ass. Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson were my favorites -- both subtly hilarious and ADORABLE at the same time. Heheheheee!





And after that I watched an episode of Stella ("Camping") and eventually went to bed.

Ewww I don't wanna study. I am the worst student ever.

G'devening. I am coming to you live from my extra comfy bed-desk setup. Today was a good day! I had a dream that I was going bald and it freaked me the hell out, and then I woke up shaky and dizzy. I got a full eight hours of sleep, but I have still been feeling tired and weak all day. I guess it's either because of my bad dreams or because pretty much everyone else in the house got barely any sleep last night and I just picked up on the vibe. The first thing I did this morning before class was watch a lovely wee video [all my thoughts are coming out Scottish right now... stay tuned for an explanation] about zombies starring Nick Frost and Simon Pegg as Dr. Russell Fell. Care to watch?



Thanks to _see_spot_rock_ for that one! Watching it put me in a silly mood, and the drive to school with Mitzi was odd. It was ridiculously foggy and I felt like scary zombie things were going to start happening. But it was fun. Then I had one class and suddenly I was done with regular classes for the quarter! I went back to the car to wait for Mitzi, who had decided to skip the rest of her classes because sweet sleep was calling her name. Bored and restless, I went through my glove compartment and found many strange discoveries, including a very old car air freshener that says "This air freshener is my best friend." I decided to put it up. It smells weird.

We came home and I finished Austin Powers, watched some Shaun of the Dead special features, and then delighted in two episodes of Coupling. Good fun.

Next I took a shower and cleaned my room, and then made the shocking discovery that I own a cable which enables me to use a TV screen as a display for my laptop! My first impulse was to create some kind of powerpoint presentation. Mwahaha!

I dried my hair and fiddled about... Then eventually went downstairs and watched a documentary called Tarnation with Val and Mitzi. It was made by a guy who started videotaping his life at age 11 and his crazy (literally) family. I didn't hate it as much as Mitzi and Val did... In fact, I found it rather interesting. It had its problems, but it was a cool idea and was pretty well executed, aside from the third person storytelling (wtf?) and the dude's total obsession with himself.

After that I found a nice comment from Stu on MySpace that made me smile. I also learned a new word: "chuffed." Very informative.

Then those of us who were home went to have dinner at Luigi's. It was delicious, to say the least. We stopped at Coldstone, too, but I didn't get any as I had plans to make dessert when we got home. I made some of my favorite chocolate frosting and some cookies to go along with it. Then it became Gerard Butler Night. Brittny and Mitzi showed me a couple clips from Dracula 2000 (lol!!!) and then we moved on to our feature presentation: Dear Frankie. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! This movie was sooo precious! It was sad but happy but sad but happy and wonderful. We all did some crying and some laughing and some lusting.

We watched the deleted scenes and other extra stuff, and then I ran to get my laptop and connect it to the TV so I could show Brittny and Mitzi the video posted above. Then we watched the second episode of Spaced (Hullo, Brian...) and other random YouTube videos, including Ali G's interview of Posh and Becks. Lol lol lol forever.

So now here I am... Hesitant to go to sleep, because when I wake up it is time to hardcore study. And time to begin shaping up my life/attitude/all that crap. Boo!

I guess for now I will just try to get to sleep and enjoy a nice, restful night of good thoughts. Please? I do have a lot to look forward to now, so maybe I should start dreaming about the magical experiences that await me next year!

Goodnight all.

Oh gosh.

I can't believe we had to spring forward today. I totally forgot. I went to bed at 11:30 last night, thinking I would get up early. But no, I didn't open my eyes again until 10:30... Which, I found out a few minutes later, was actually 11:30. What a waste of 12 hours. I had stupid/bad dreams too... But one of them was very smart of me. I was trying to finish a play before I fell asleep, but got too tired. So I made up my own ending for it! The daughter ended up dying, bringing the rest of her crazy family closer together. I'm about to go finish it now... How creepy would it be if I were right? I won't be.

Yesterday was really fun, but it shouldn't have been. It was only fun because I didn't do the things I was supposed to do. I had lots of Brittny & Mitzi time. First we played a really cool new game involving stairs and small objects. Then we went to dinner at Outback and ate waaay too much delicious food. Finally, we watched Shaun of the Dead with all the lights off.

Today I have to write two papers and study for a quiz. Balls!

My aunts Lynn and Sue just stopped by to check out my house. I think they were impressed. We talked about me wanting to go abroad next year and now I am really stressed out. Within the next two weeks, I should know what my next year will be like. Oh God, please just tell me!

I'm going to go read my play now. It's going to be a bad day. I will probably eat a lot to make up for this. Eating a lot is a bad idea. Oh well.

Today Brittny and I are driving to Catherine's house in Danville, and then taking BART to San Francisco. There, we will meet up with Stu and have the most glorious day of our lives.

:D

BRITTNY STOUT WILL BE AT MY HOUSE IN FOUR HOURS!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!