H is for hiatus

Hiatus. that's the word of the day kids. As in I am taking a Hiatus from grad school. Yup. Hiatus meaning I want to eventually return to the program, but the current program is not conducive to my work life schedule at the moment. which is essentially what i told the review committe. we all agreed it was a wise decision.
hiatus, meaning I shall return. I'll be back. just ya know, not next semester. I'll still take classes. but most likely at nova. classes that I should have taken before I started the program.
So yeah. lessons learned. the lesson- don't ever fuckin take more than 2 grad classes while working full time.
I know some folks do the whole grad school full time bit. but dude. i'm almost 31 with an ass-ton of debt/loans, and the profession I'm going into would mean a 20% pay cut from my curent job, which barely pays the bills right now. so um. yeah. I'm doing the full time job it unitl this whole winning the lottery bit pays out.
After I left the review meeting I started thinking about what I could or would do now with this new freedom of having no grad schtuff to deal with for at least 6 months...I could go to GYM! holy crap i never thought my thighs would yearn for a stationary bike. I could do YOGA! I could come home from work and watch a movie or a tv show W/OUT GUILT. I could take up KNITTING! OMG. and then of course I looked through websites about other grad programs and through various catalogs trying to find activities to fill up my time. and drafting up a timeline of events to happen; relaunch website, substitute teach, volunteer at smithsonian, go to costa rica, get nose job, buy wacom drawing tablet. ya know, save the world too. in that order, of course.
I can have a LIFE! oh my god.
So last night was my last final. and it would not be a gina final without file and equipment failure. good times. but it's done. done. done. free at last free at last thank god almighty i'm free at last.(apologies to MLK)
So now I have a few weeks to rethink my life direction and stuff.
And hey, maybe that direction is not teaching. who knows. i know i currently can't go 18 weeks w/out working (18 weeks is needed for student teaching) so hm. yeah. decisions. we'll see.
it's funny how this time of year makes you realize how good you have it. amist stories of layoffs and other dificulties in life, i think ok, so I did pretty horrible in my first semester of grad school. but ya know what, my job honestly isn't that bad. and i have a job. and great friends and a great family including an adorable neice who i got to take her first independent steps the other day!

so basically..this blog will transition back to a quasi DCist type. instead of me bitching about life I will actually have fun activities for folks to participate in. such as ..
seeing International Graduate University play at the red and black this thursday with karate coyote.
And anti commercialism caroling on friday in Georgetown... sing the tune away in a sweatshop...(sung to the tune of away in a manger). so lots fo fun activitis coming up, so check back for some fun postings and less bitching.
and fun pics too.
if this is what santa looked like, you bet yoruass i'd be good all year!

i heart me some newyorkshitty.com

hang me up to dry..i've been rung out too many times.

so....
after the convo i had with the head of the department...i um. might need to rethink my um path or something.
...could write so much. could rant so much. but i am so done. yet no. it's like i'm at mile 20 in a marathon and someone just tripped you, you fell, you're injured, you don't know if you can finish the race. but you've already come 20 miles so far. so what if it was at a 15 minute mile pace b/c you didn't train enough. b/c you thought you could handle this marathon b/c you know how to run and you're an athlete and tons of ppl run marathons and..and...
so maybe i can write about it. the person tripping me would be the department head. the finish line is just the fuckin semester. i don't know if i will be allowed back next semester. yeah i've been running that bad. the whole full time job and school full time. god it fuckin sucks. and it shows. in my work. very apparantly. but they don't care. they don't care that you're injured. or why you're sick, or how you're holding up.
i really want to be an art teacher . but now, i don't know what my options are at this point. i was doing well. i was doing ok. then all o a sudddenly i had a bunch of projects due ..and it took longer than i anticipated..and a bunch of other stuff happened in my life as well.
and they act like they care...but they don't. i could tell them - hey my brother had a fuckin brain tumor removed the day i interviewed for this program and he's currently undergoing chemo. but they don't fuckin care.
maybe..i just drop out. and just do a whole bunch of volunteer teaching and subsitute teaching and then apply at the corcoran and yeah, take out a shit ton of loans and hey, maybe i'll work in the DC public schools.
or maybe i can learn another language and join the peace corp.
maybe ill marry some rich guy and i can just be a freelance designer and artist
maybe i'll turn into a pumpkin at fuckin midnight.
at least then i could be made into a pie. right now i'm only good enough to be on the bottom of someone's shoe.

Ooof... and good times.

So for the first time in a while I am sick. not mentally. well, some would say I am always mentally ill, but yeah, mucus fest 08 is happening in my head and lungs. it's pretty hot. hacking cough, going through 2 boxes of kleenex, looking like a zombie from shuan of the dead. good times. I say I rarely get sick b/c all of the cold/flu meds in my med cabinet expired in 06. oops.
God my body has the worst friggin timing ever. hey let's get sick right before ass tons of work is due for class, less than 2 weeks before finals and a week before thanksgiving. and and..woth all this soup eating I haven't lsot any friggin weight. seriously. that's the only benefit of being sick!
And now when I blow my nose blood comes out. awesome. so I googgoel bloody sneezes. and i love wiki answrs repsosne to what happens when i sneeze blood?
I'll save ya the click:
Answer: You probably have a deviated spetum bleed often caused my using massive amounts of Cocaine.
..ah if only...
so if you go food shopping when you feel like ass you will buy enough canned soup to make a mormon jealous.

signs you are 30..or getting old:
you now shop for anti wrinkle creams instead of anti zit creams.
you spend 3 hours in the grocery store on a sunday in your velour tracksuit
you get hit on in the public library

Disney- it really is a magical place....
So a couple eyars ago my family vistied Disney in Florida for my Uncle Mike's suprise 40th Birthday. Although I had a great time with the family, I was almost freaked out by the magicalness of it all- meaning, how freakin friendly people were. cleaning crews singing along on trams on their way to clean rooms, how everyone smiled and said Have a Magical day!- from the fron desk operator to the bus driver to cast member in the park. It was almost bizarre to have people so happy. it was refreshing yet pod like. the quasi hippie in me wanted to dismiss disney and all its' commercialism. but the little kid in me who at that time secretely needed a big hug was happy to be greated with smiles as we pushed my brother and mom along in their wheelchairs throughout our disney adventure.

So I was actually looking forward to this almost sacharin like atmosphere when we embarked upon disney this past weekend to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday. Between incredible stresses at school and work (I'm currently off the books at RB...) monies and life in general, I was atcually looking forward to a friendly smile, a goofy joke and someone telling me to have a magical day. If anything is a sign that the world is in the crapper, it's Disney. apparantly the magical world is not immune to the nasties of the outside world. and the guests at the park didn't help with the loss of the magical experince. hey look, a guy in a scooter, let's walk in front of him! don't get me worng, it wasn't horrible, it was well...an american tourist vacation spot, instead of the house that walt built, the magic kingdom. I wanted the employees to go back to drinking the kool-aide that made everyone smile. but we were with family and that was the best part. and speaking of family and best parts...I have some awesome news. My brother proposed to his girlfriend, Caitlin in front of Cinderella's castle during the fireworks display. we were accidenentally there for it. we had no idea..ok well, I did have a dream over the weekend that he would propose in front of the castle. but I didn't want to say anything b/c I didn't want to seem like i was bugging my brother .
I am wicked excited to have caitlin as a future sister in law. she already feels likw family. she is such an amazing person. she has been there for my brother every step of the way- every operation, radiation treatment, etc. as my parents said, marirage is for better or worse, and you've already been through the worst, so here is to the best! and i coudn't agree more ;) I'll post pics soon.
ALSO....FESTIVUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This year it's a combo festivus and bon voyage party for Lorien and Scott. they head to West By God (aka west virginia) mid decemeber so scott can work an internship. so we're having festivus a little earlier and icnluding their sendoff in it. and we're having it at Heather's old house in Burke this year b/c well, the cops being called last year kinda blew- and sinec my neighbor still lives downstairs from me...yeah we're having it elsewhere. if you need to be added to the evite- i totally apologize if i inadvertantly left you off- my brain is being controlled by snot monsters- lemme know and i shall add you. But it shall be a good time. noshings, libations, good times by all.

obligatory morning after post

hey kids
so I'm not going to post anything that has already been or is being said about the presidency and etc etc. I'm just going to go over yesterday. a day in the life of working the polls!..and that's POLLS not POLES. people who work the poles dance naked and get money thrown at them. kinda like politcians. we dance when our numbers add up every hour. it's pretty hot.
So yeah. as a chief officer of election it was an intersting day. me being awake and coherent at 3:30 am will always start off as an interesting day, to say the least. There was so much media buzz, I wasn't sure what to expect b/c well the media tells as much truth as a guy you meet at a bar.
Some quick background: been an officer of election for 4 years nows. my first election was 4 years ago as a regular ol' OE. and I was promoted through the ranks over the years and have been chief now for about 2 years. I wasn't a poli-sci major, but I've always been a civic dork, and I had some awesome role models like my fraternal grandparents working as OEs and my mom being not only an OE, but prez of her chapter of the league of women voters. the COE is a paid positon, but I would gladly do it for free. I have some amazing coworkers. Not just the fellow OEs in my precint, but the regsistar, his assistant and the electoral board. The city I work in is wicked small compared to the surrounding regions. we only have about 15,500 registerd voters, as opposed to say arlington with about, 300,000.
So considering I was living off of less than 6 hours of sleep- I didn't get to sleep till close to 10 PM and I woke up at 3:30 am. why did I go to bed so late? b/c I deceided to make cookies at oooh 8:45 at night. smart, I know. and well, my smoke alarm kept going off and I had to beat it with a broom in order to get it to stop. b/c that's how you get things to stop- beat it with a broom. just like my italian ancestors did.
Anyhoo.
So lemme do some Q and A to break it down:
Q: How long were the lines?
A: the longest we had were about 90 minutes. and after noon, the longest lines we had were about 10 minutes. ya know how the naacp and douglas wilder wanted to extend polling hours an extra 2-3 hours? yeah, well, from 5-7 we had 71 ppl vote. the police showed up at 7 ready to barricade the doors and work crowd control. now, I wouldn't mind these handsome officers using their hand cuffs on me...but here was not a soul in the precint at 7 PM.

Q: what was your turnout?
A: In person we had about 1373 out of a possible mm 2000. about 16% voted absentee (of a possible 2300 in our precinct).

Q: What was a highlight of the day?
A: Ooh so many. the red bull girls showing up right around the time I would normally hit the wall was like a sign from God. they should have been wearing wings- angels wings- instead of can shaped backpacks b/c these gals were heaven sent. Plus the overall good feel of it all. first time voters, returning voters. longtime voters who are like family. corny cheesy whatevs.

Q: Are there any side effects from working the long day?
A: well aside from gaining about 5 lbs from all the freaking amazing baked goods- holy crap my OEs could kick betty crockers ass!

Q: what was the most disapointing part of the day?
A: not being allowed to have the voter use the zoom ballot b/c it turns it into a butterfly ballot which makes it illegal- so we had soem old school magnifyer glass. AND not getting out in time to snag my free cup of coffee from starbucks, doughnut from krispy kreme, scoop of icecream from ben and jeryrs and I was also hearing rumors of burritos at chipotle! as the day grew on more rumors amounted. soon, they were giving away free babies at the hospital with the display of an "I voted" sticker. anyone pick up a bambino with you burrito?

Q: Any snafu's?
A: eh, yeah, but the risidual effect is minimal. everything has been taken care of, so it's all good.
I would talk about them, but it involes me typing more and using insider jargon and then typing more to explain what it all means. so let's just leave it at : it's all good.

Q:.so...what are soem perks? aside from that warm fuzzy feeling of doign your civc duty and your coworkers amazing baked goods (is that a euphanism?)
A: being a part of a somethign where in other countries peopel do not have the right, my coworekrs are amazing, inlcuding our registar who is. i ebliev the youngest in the commonwealth of virginia. it's just an overall awesoemness. I encourage all folks to participate if you can.

Q: Is it true that after one particuar proffesor told the whole calss to vote on tuesday and to make a difference and just came back from a gallery show opening which featured works from your class reacting to political events in the newspaper that she railed into you and gave you shit for working on tuesday and for missing class and couldn't understand why you couldn't leave for a few hours to attend class, even after you told her that it was illegal to leave b/c you're friggin chief.
A: yes, that is all true. apparantly she felt missing class was a horrible, irresponsible thing. I should have left my post and attended a lesson and demo on tempura paint and collage...b/c ya know, that's more important than manning a staff of 12 and making sure the votes of 2300 ppl are brought forth correctly. she can miss class for a religious holiday. but i guess b/c the presidnet is not a diety, I am not excused. ahh. the world of academia. what a lovely bubble it lives in.


I personally believe there should have been a ballott measure that says it is illegal to display christmas merchandise in stores before halloween. who the hell buys xmas deco before halloween?

And what am I doing to celebrate the end of this much anticipated event?... I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!! seriously. I am. my family is heading down to the sunshine state for a long weekend to celebrate my mom's 60th b day.

oh and btw...it's a boy! well it will be. well ok it already is, er. ok my sister will have a baby boy on saint pat's day!

OMG the Rosebuds!

Big important announcement! Thursday the 23rd , you should all go see the Rosebuds at the black cat. b/c they're awesome and the tix are really affordable. b4 service fee its 12 bucks! for the rosebuds!! yes, I like 'em so much I am going to see them by myself if any of you peeps don't join me (insert italian catholic guilt trip here). so you should get your tickets TODAY. get your 3 buck draft of PBR and listen to some good music. be a hispter for the night.

So the whole practing waking up early bit...does it count if you didn't really go to bed last night? yes, ahh I'm back in the life of a student. pulling all nighters to write a 16 page midterm paper.
But I shall get some ZZzzs this afternoon b/c tonight at the red lounge for fatback dance par tay! which you should go to also. b/c if i fall asleep midst dance move, someone has to pick my ass up off the dance floor and throw me on the metro. orange line to the end baby.
also this weekend...diwali festival, scotts 30th b day, mousetrap, and err some other stuff. oh right, more midterms.

its a good thing i live a couple miles away from the university i'm attending. it esp. comes in handy when you put your midterm papers under the wrong office door. ...and then have to go back home print out another 18 pages, then slip it under the right door.


source: DCist

open and shut doors

It's october 14th. I have a sunburned face, a nice shade of hot pink that only barbie could love. my ankles are covered with about oh 20 mosquito bites. and I was greated at my door this morning by a neighbor who was very concerned b/c my car door had been open for the last 45 minutes and they couldn't get ahold of me. well actually, i think it may have been open all night.

welcome to a day in the life of moi.

the sunburn is from a really great weekend of campin and canoeing in the northern neck of VA. the skeeter bites i attribute to a free loading hitch hiking blood sucking, no, not an ex boyfriend, a skeeter that sneaked into the car when we were packing. and feasted upon the oh so tasty ankle blood. it must taste fabulous, judging by the size and amount of bites. god only knows how fat the skeetr is now...i think i saw the skeeter later try out for the redskins. i'm surprised the damn thing didn't die from my veneous bitter boiling blood. but whatevs. hey, at least parasites still want me.
so my morning started like this:
I'm in the shower and I hear the phone ring repeatdly. my home phone which aside form god only knows how many non profits and other surveyers i think maybe 5 people actually call this number. so who the hell is calling me at 8:30 am (yes, i was running late shutup). my answering machine (yes old school shutup again) is full, so no message, but i see that my neighbors have called my cell phone. oh shoot they must really want their sander back..they called about it on saturday and oh crap, they're probably staying home from work to work on their project that requires a sander and ok umm where'd it go. so i rush to the door to answer the knocks, hair dripping wet, in my bathrobe. and there is my awesome across the hall neighbor apologizing and saying.' i think i've seen too many episodes of CSI and we saw your car door has been open for 45 miunutes an we couldn' get ahold of you and we just thought something was wrong. ' well soemthig is wrong. i'm a friggin dumbass.

there is a very good possibility i left it open. that's how my days have been lately. I had worked over 12 hours and had a lot on my mind. It doesnt' seem like anything is missing from the car. there is so much crap in it right now it's kinda hard to tell. but all the important things seem to be in there. so..moral of the story, if there is one..is a) I'm becoming an abscent minded idiot b/c of events in my life b) my neighbors across the hall are friggin awesome and I'm beyond lucky to have ppl like them c) I either have some really honest neighbors or I have so much useless crap in my car no one would want to bother taking any of it. and d) my gurdian angel is working overtime. last month it ws the brownies burning in the oven and how the door to my balcony magically blew open in the middle of the night so the place wouldn't fill with smoke.

so here I am working full time and going to school full time. getting a degree in arts education. and I live in virginia. and guess what? yeah we have a budget shortfall. so there are going to be cuts. and guess what they're going to cut? yup ding dig ding. arts education among many many other programs. I could go on about this. and I might in upcoming posts. mark fisher of the wash post said it fairly well when he said:

"In a government jam-packed with unnecessary programs and foolhardy supports for businesses that can't seem to make it on their own, the state chooses instead to take out its budget woes on children, who, of course, can't vote. So despite all the rhetoric about how schools still care about teaching kids how to learn and how to love learning, the grim focus on rote basics continues apace, as Virginia eliminates its grants for art education for public schools (savings: $90,000), savages arts organizations with an 85 percent cut in second-quarter grant awards (savings: $604,000), and eliminates financial assistance for programming by local arts coalitions (savings: $114,000.)"

welcome to virginia. where they spend more state funds/tax dollars on training bingo callers than they provide for arts grants.
and also a state where Palin mistakes a group of supporters for a group of protesters...I hope tina fey somehow covers this... http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1496465

50 foot blue balls

so this is the cause of the crisis on wall street...or vice versa



ok so after speaking with some folks the other day, it turns out my halloween costume idea well, needs to be revised. and by that I mean they had never heard of the movie in which I would be playing the character from it. the movie came out again in 1993. it starred darrel hannah! of splash? god i'm old. so time to rethink the halloween costume. and one that does not involve me going on a crash diet b/c I just got an email about chocolate cake in the 5th floor pantry...mm breakfast.
Update: even older folks haven't heard of the movie- the original movie at that. I was told by someone today that it wan't a good movie..so that's probably why people haven't heard of it. so, i am not old, I just watch some really bad movies.

So i'm practing waking up early. so i can wake up in time to work the elections in less than a month. yes, i need to practice these things. the good, er, bad thing is, if i sleep more than 6 hours i get bad lower back pains. also, having a cat who you are a little allergic to, smack you repetdly in your face with her butt is a way to get out of bed too. how many ppl can say the first words out of their mouth in the morning is "get your hairy ass out of my face! " you? oh well, hey its like i'm in some west virginia drag strip show.

and speaking of sexy beasts...

have a good weekend kiddies...I'm hitting the northern neck for some campin. and hopefully once I get some moolah I'll be visiting this sexy beast and some other folks as well.