Was just piddling around on Neil Gaiman's Journal only to notice that Neil got a new drivers license this morning too. For some reason it's hard for me to imagine Neil Gaiman in the DMV. Why, I don't know. They are such cold and unwelcome places, and he should be in kooky weird places where they have cobra wine, potentially stupid coin tricks, and other storytelling-worthy things. It's funny to be reminded that people you admire have to do crappety crap things too.

I actually got a bit choked up when I walked out of the DMV this morning. Believe or not, I had the best drivers license picture EVER. And I had one of the pretty new Mississippi licenses, all yellow and green (which matched my wallet - yes, I know. Stupid vanity). Now I have a Jersey license, which has got to be amongst the most butt-ugliest of any DL design I've ever seen, with one of the worst pictures of me I've ever seen, AND it looks fake. The picture is so off-center, it's barely there- just a big swatch of blue with my little head on the bottom left corner of where the picture is supposed to go. I also, by the way, had to go to the DMV TWICE, stand in no less than 7 different lines, and get this: They don't tell you that they totally scam you out of $10. Yes, getting a new license issued by the state of NJ is $24. Ok. But. You have to have a permit first. So I stand in line, pay $10 for a permit, which I then wait 30 minutes to receive, only to carry it to ANOTHER line where I apply for a drivers license. Is that BULLSHIT, or what?

Well, now I've got however long it takes for my new license to expire to move to another state (or get a chauffer), because I don't ever want to have to go back there. Talk about some SUCK.   ¶ 7/10/2003 07:17:00 PM

  Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!

My new hero is Captain Jack Sparrow. Arrgh, yo.

Saw Pirates of the Carribean: the Curse of the Black Pearl last night, and loved it. That's the second time this year I've gone to see a movie, and upon it's end I immediately wanted to watch it again (the other was X2). Johnny Depp is fantastic. I can't even imagine how much fun he must have had playing that role - or at least I would think - but DAMN. He was perfect.

That was some fun.   ¶ 7/10/2003 08:59:00 AM

  Upon a perusual of the referrals, I noticed someone found me by searching for "ass smothering tales."

I think that's one of the best I've had in a long while. :)  ¶ 7/09/2003 06:08:00 PM

  Oops. Puck and I just scared the bejeezus out of the older retarded lady that wanders around all day.

Did I mention that my new apartment is smack in the middle of some sort of ARC program? The apartment 2 doors down from us has been converted to a 24-hour office, and the participants have apartments in and around our building. Some have jobs, but there are a few who run back and forth from the office to their apartment to someone else's apartment etc. all day long.

I think the program is cool - we ain't got nothin' like that down in Miss'ippi now. If ya ain't right in the head, we reckon your mama can take care of ya, or maybe we just take ya out back 'n shoot ya. Ok, so not really. But still, there aren't alot of programs of a proactive nature. They are also very good neighbors - no loud parties, they are meticulously clean (I now feel bad about tossing cigarette butts onto the ground when I get out of the car, because I've seen them sweeping the parking lot, so I've started stubbing them out and carrying them in with me). On the other hand, though, watching them go back and forth CONSTANTLY drives the dog crazy. The worst part is the transportation. I'm glad that NJ has a program where disabled peoples can be picked up and dropped off for free. However. They pull up, they honk loudly, and then when it's time to leave, they have that godawful BEEP-BEEP alert thingy so that you know they are backing up. Oh, how I hate that sound. And I hear it more times in the day than I count. Hey- that's actually one more good reason to be getting a job soon, right? Then I won't be around to hear it.

Oh, yeah. I put in an app today for a job I really want. Send me happy get-yerself-hired vibes.   ¶ 7/09/2003 06:00:00 PM

  New mantra....I will not drink on an empty stomach.

Imbibing alchohol - no matter how small the amount - is NEVER a good idea when all you've had to eat in the last 24-hour period is a salad.

I meant to eat, really. I intended to order something at the bar. But I forgot. Instead, I had 3 bass ales and a shot of... something Steve made me drink. Do not accept weird shots people insist you try should be my other mantra. Honestly, when it comes to shots, I'd really just as soon stick to tequila. I know that sounds insane, but I *know* how tequila hits me, I know to drink nothing less than cuervo gold, and I know how much the tequila will affect me based on the shots-to-beer ratio. Crazy froo-froo shots with god knows what in them that taste like children's tylenol? Not my bag. And yet, when handed one, I'm Miss Toss-It-Back gal.

More like Toss-It-Up girl. I'm not even going to tell the rest of this story, because it was ungodly embarrassing. Especially considering I hadn't really had very much to drink. Oh, the shame of it. Let's just say that I don't know if I will ever be going back to that bar.

As you might assume, I'm having a bleh morning. I don't feel bad - I don't get hungover in the classical sense. No headache, no sick to my stomach. Mostly, my legs feel weird. Like little trolls are nibbling on my ankles (or knees, sometimes), only they're nibbling from inside my skin. It's like they are trying to nibble their way out. And I feel worn. Eh. I'm going to go nurse my coffee on the porch now, and do absolutely nothing.   ¶ 7/09/2003 09:49:00 AM

  Did you know that there are special tools for popping pimples?

Well, I didn't. Maybe its because I've never had a serious acne problem, or I've never seen a dermatologist. But I know now.

Wanna know how I know? (You don't, trust me. But I'm gonna tell you anyway!)

Family (Ryan's) gathering. Steve pointed out that he has more family gatherings than anyone he's ever know. I have to agree. Anyhoo, its a belated birthday gathering for his brother's girlfriend, and we are sitting around the living room having chatties. Ryan's brother says his ear has been bothering him - shows it to their Mom. She laughs, says its a pimple.

Suddenly the conversation turns to pimples. Someone brings up the tool-y thing, in a "I wonder whatever happened that" sort of way, when Gramp pipes, "Oh, I've got one in the medicine cabinet!"

And he GETS IT.

Ok, I'll admit I was curious. Having never heard of such a thing, I wanted to know how it worked. But only in a purely theoretical manner, mind you. I wasn't asking for a pimple-popping demonstration.

Except that's what I got. Suddenly the boys are being asked to pull their shirts up in hopes of a stray back pimple - Ryan's brother ended up being the gunnea pig (Ryan was quick to note that he hadn't any).

Needless (hopefully) to say, I didn't watch. While the family gathered round with the "oohs" and "aahs", I hovered in my chair across the room, suddenly enamoured of my iced tea.

Now I understand family closeness. I will even shamelessly admit that my pimples have not always been strangers to my immediate family. But not my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all their signifigant others. Gotta love 'em for not giving a hoot, though.   ¶ 7/08/2003 05:21:00 PM

  I love this. I move out of the South, only to find the weather has decided to be 90 degrees in the Northeast, but 72 back home. What the hell? I was hoping for a break from the sensation of melting the second you step out of your front door. At least I'm accustomed to it... but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Spent yesterday mounting shelves, hanging pictures, etc. I've developed a thing for mounted wall shelves. I love the clean lines, and how you can funk it out by having, say, a silver one and a purple one in your living room. I also finally hung my "Once More With Feeling" promo poster...

Let me tell you. Ryan gave me this poster for Christmas a year and a half ago. There is a framer who also happens to be a [Ryan's] family friend. He'd done some things for us before, and not only are they excellent jobs, but also (this is the best part)... free. I am very fond of free, especially since framing is not cheap. After I open my gift and gush and exclaim how perfectly the colors go with the Big Red Sofa, it's rolled back up and set aside for the framer. We leave it with Ryan's parents to pass on, which they do, and go on with life.

I do understand that you can't be too picky when someone is doing something for you out of the kindness of their heart. But. Do you know when we got the poster back? In the beginning of May. This past May. Ryan called me up (this was during the he-had-already-moved-but-I-hadn't-yet phase, so the framer just sent it to him) to tell me that it came. To be honest, I was harboring fears that he'd accidentally damaged it, and was taking so long because he was waiting for the same to show up on e-Bay or some such. Hell, maybe that did happen, and I just don't know it. :)

It's georgeous though. I am no longer bitching about the wait, because I don't think he could've framed it better. And it DOES look awesome hanging just above the Big Red Sofa, like they were made for eachother.   ¶ 7/06/2003 10:26:00 AM