i feel gross

Have you ever thought that you might die from eating too much meat? I did, last night.

Ricardo wanted to go to a Brazilian BBQ place that he loves and Scott dragged me along. Despite such descriptions as "They keep bringing meat to the table" and "All you eat is a lot of kinds of meat" I held on to my hope that Brazilian BBQ was essentially a Benihana/hibachi place. It was not logical for me to think that - Benihana is Japanese, not Brazilian. But Ricardo is both so maybe that's where I got my wires crossed.

Anyway...what Brazilian BBQ reeeeally is, is a restaurant where they offer you a weird buffet of "salad" items and french fries, and then waiters start bringing around meat on sticks and you say "Yes I want that" or "No get that away from me now." I ate SO. MUCH. MEAT.

To name a few of the meats offered... Pork ribs. Beef ribs. Chicken wrapped in bacon. Kielbasa. Sausage. Chicken hearts. Weird roast beefy stuff.

The damage:

wanted: pool. also wanted: backyard to put it in.

Oh, the heat. Oh, the terrible, terrible heat.

Caution: Wild times ahead

On Sunday night, Scott and I went to a raging James Taylor concert with this people:

We were by FAR the youngest people there and it was awesome. Some of the old farts were even smoking weed in the balcony. I can just imagine the scene a few days before the concert.

A portly husband (I'll call him Ted) comes home from work on a humid day, his forehead glistening with sweat and a nervous smile playing on his lips. His wife, Marny, is sitting at the kitchen table clipping coupons and looking through the Bed Bath and Beyond sale flyer for bargains on dorm essentials for their 18 year old, the last of their brood to head off to UNH in August. She doesn't look up as she greets Ted, but he hardly seems to notice, he's so jittery and excited about his news. "You're late," she says. "Yeah, I know," he spurts. "Marny, I got us somethin' for the big concert this weekend." "Huh?" she asks, barely listening. "Babe...look. I got the neighbor kid to sell me some reefer!" Marny lays down her coupons and gives Ted a penetrating look over her reading glasses, purchased on sale to perfectly match her favorite turquoise capri pants. "What are you talking about, Ted?" she says quietly. "Look!" he says again as he pulls the joint out of the pocket of his faded sport coat. "Look!" Marny feigns indifference, her face a mask of neutrality, but Ted knows she's excited to relive her youthful indiscretions one more time under the harsh lighting of the TD Banknorth Garden, with "You've Got a Friend" whisking them away to an easier time. Marny serves Ted an extra big helping of non-fat, sugar-free peach sherbet after dinner. It was going to be WILD.

Pardon the tangent...back to the concert:

Probs one of the best photos I've ever taken in my life.

James was so cute. I just love him so much. He played the concert wearing SLACKS...like a grandfather going to a special occasion. Carole King was also there (meh). I am not a big fan but she was kind of funny to watch. For a 68 year old she really gets down with the dance moves.

And on bass, James introduced a member of his original band... FATHER TIME.

That's all!

Shep has the farts today; I'm a stereotype.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/12/22/130-ray-ban-wayfarers/

Hey Intel - don't steal these masterful plans!

I did one bad thing today (hit a biker with my car door) and one good thing today (helped Scott with his work!).

I'm like so good at computers and stuff and Scott was like totes magoats swamped, so he just asked me to step in and do a little computer designing for him. Here it is!

And he said that since I did such a fab tab job he would buy me this!!

No he didn't. I just want it really bad. Sad face.

slant face

All week I've been WAITING for Thursday to get here. Begging time to move faster. Doing a dance to appease the gods of the workweek.

This is why:

Sunday we drove from PA to MA, 6.5 hours. Immediately upon arriving home, I have to start working on my photo homework for Monday. Then I unpack, then I go to bed.

Monday I worked from 9-2, then went to the gym, then came home for about 45 minutes, then left for class. Was in class 5:30-10, got home around 11, went immediately to bed.

Tuesday I worked from 9-2, then went to Scott's house for a while because he was working from home. Hang out there for a while, get home around dinner time, start trying to do my Photoshopping for Wednesday...BIG PROBLEMS. Extreme frustration ensues, including cursing, crying, freaking out. (I lost of the files I had saved the night before, about 3 hours worth of work, AND my work laptop wouldn't upload pictures from my camera.) Work non-stop, forget to eat dinner, go to bed around 11:30, finished but pissed.

Wednesday, work as usual, then gym, then to Scott's house to put his spare car keys in his mailbox because he locked his keys inside the car at work, then home for 15 minutes, then back to class until 9:30. Home at 10:15, promptly to bed.

But Thursday...oh Thursday. No class. No homework, because we don't meet again until 6/28. Nothing! I was so excited to come home, watch Glee from Tuesday, bake lime bars, and generally just vegetize myself. Which I have done, and am continuing to do, except for one thing...

I'm bored. So bored. It's 7pm and I have nothing to do. Life is so hard sometimes.

Humbo is the best nickname I've ever made up

My art classes have historically been the best thing to ever happen to this blog. Remember this? Yep.

I'm taking another class now, on digital photo. I'm loving it and the people in it are significantly less weird than those in my metals class. But they're still kind of weird.

Anyway, we started last Wednesday with 6 students and 1 instructor. We met again Thursday with only 5 students and 1 instructor. We met last night (Monday - yeah, it meets 3 times a week, 5:30-10pm, it sucks) and there were only 3 students and 1 instructor. I'm getting nervous that soon we're going to be 1 student (me) and 0 instructors (because it probably isn't worth his time to teach so few students). I'll now describe everyone for you:

Ben - Instructor, appears to be an Asian blend, wears his hair in a frizzy pompadour style. Lisps. Frequently sneaks up behind me to offer help.

Blonde Girl - First one to drop the class. Had never used an SLR camera before and had clearly decided to quit about 10 minutes in, but had to suffer through the remaining 4 hours and 20 minutes before she could make her exit.

Humberto - Very talented, possibly gay, has a tattoo on his ankle of wavy lines. A little chubby. Took a photo for the first assignment of some weird kitchy bear on his desk at work, and told us it was given to him for doing "A really fantastic job under great stress."

Brunette Girl 1 - Has seemingly also dropped the class, but did a really good job on the first assignment. She looks like how I think I look until I actually look at myself. In my head I called her "Me 2.0" and don't know her real name.

Brunette Girl 2 - Not smart. Friendly, and has rounded out the trifecta of me and Humbo, but definitely not smart. Also has a tiny mouth.

Henry - I was glad when Henry didn't show up last night, though I feel guilty admitting it. He is the kind of person who has absolutely zero self-awareness. He talks non-stop about uninteresting things, tries to correct the instructor when he clearly doesn't know what he's talking about, pulls on the greasy hair of his beard when he's nervous (which seems to be always), and has scabby tattoos. I think he thought he'd be really good at photography because his dad is a professional photographer, but his first assignment proved him very wrong, and it was awkward for everyone.

Me - (I'll try to write this as an outside observer.) Shows up in gym clothes every day, and sometimes smells strongly of self-tanner. Keeps having problems with her lab computer and equipment. Answers questions a lot but is only right about half the time, probably only speaks up because she feels uncomfortable with silence in so small a group.

So, class is going pretty well and I'm really enjoying it. I'm finally learning to use Photoshop, thankfully, since I've been putting "Proficient at Adobe Suite" on my resume for a long time when really I'm only familiar with InDesign. I woke up last night to go to the bathroom and realized I had been DREAMING about editing photos, which is weird.

I'll keep updating as weirdness happens, which it probably will. (Humbo, the pressure's on you.)

Oh, and here's some of my work so far:

update

So I just finished The Last Days of Dogtown and...OMGod. Just...so good. It was a great story the whole way through, but the last chapter or two were really the best. I literally had tears in my eyes as I was reading on the T (at 10pm, in a burrito-stained t-shirt, by myself, covered in sweat...so needless to say, not looking hot and the tears didn't help much).

Anyway, take my word for it, this is a must-read.

Book Worm

I love books. Period. Here are some good really good ones:

All of David Sedaris' books are incredibly funny. I read this one immediately upon its release (about a year ago? 2 years?) and then reread it last month. I laughed just as much, if not more, the second time around. Here's a favorite quote: "And what about the butterfly, the colorful cousin of the moth? Are you afraid that he, too, will attack?"

Both Freakanomics and SuperFreakonomics were great reads and made me feel much smarter upon completion. And I'm already pretty self-satisfied when it comes to my intelligence, so now my head barely fits through doors.

Does anyone else remember that episode of The Office where Michael says that he's reading "the novelization of the movie Precious based on the novel Push by Sapphire"? Because it exists and I read it. It's actually kind of hard to just find Push these days - it's repackaged as Precious but still the same story. It's a hard read (emotionally) but well worth it.

Awesome story of a woman who goes to prison for a year for a crime she committed 10 years prior. It's funny and touching and really really good.

Probably one of my favorite books ever. This is the first of a series of 3 books (the last will be released in August), and you'll find them in the Young Adult section. Don't be put off by that, it's still a great story and I promise you'll love it.

Reading this now, hopefully finishing it today. Anita Diamant is just a great story teller (The Red Tent is another favorite) and this one is set in Gloucester, my former town of residence.

GO READ SOMETHING!

Brain exercise is just as important as physical exercise, and I do both every day. Don't you want to be as awesome as me?