Enjablog

TMAI:

Carolyn:

Do you think there are people out there who are incapable of happiness because they derive a large part of their identity from being miserable?

– Friend

I don’t think they’re incapable of happiness so much as afraid of it. When a person gets her hopes up about something, she runs the risk of being let down; to some people that’s the same thing as looking stupid. So, they just play Eeyore and that way the world never tells them any bad news they didn’t already know.

I also think some people complain all the time because they can’t figure out what else to say. Almost a shyness thing.

So, I went and watched Spiderman 2 last night with some people. Yeah, my second time watching it. Not really something I would typically watch twice in the theaters, but it was the company. I promised Friday to someone, and that was his pick for activities. Anyway, as I was watching the movie, I wasn’t really focusing on the plot because I already knew what was going to happen. I was watching the characters and listening to how they had their lines of dramatic irony and made it sound really cheesy because they didn’t really seem like they would be appropriate things to say if they didn’t really know.

Anyway, the whole MJ-PP thing with him not showing up or showing up late and always with excuses… I know I tend to be flaky on occasion too, so this isn’t an attack or anything, just observations and reflections. I’m also perpetually late, but the fact that, for the most part, none of my friends would ever know this, is kind of disheartening. (Well, unless they’re all superheros. But then, that’d be a completely different rant.)

I can list my close friends on one hand. The people who know me inside and out… the ones who come across a news article or a book and know that I would love it… the ones who see a picture and think of me because it’s something I would like or something I would show them, if only I had seen it first… the ones who know which stupid commercials will make me laugh uncontrollably or which episodes of Gilmore Girls secretly make me teary-eyed… the ones who hear a speech and pick up on exactly the same points as I do… And in the same way they hold that place in my life, I would like to think that I hold it in theirs. Which is why I can’t toss these friends aside. Yet… they are all my Peter Parker best friends. They’re unreliable, late, don’t return phone calls, and stand me up. You know who you are, because I know you know.

I don’t actually expect anything to change, because that is part of your character and how I’ve come to know you and know in what ways I can rely on you. It is one of those flaws I just disregard because there are so many other redeeming qualities, but it still shows a lack of respect and consideration. I’m tired of making plans and making the effort and going unappreciated. So, if you find me making less of an effort as time goes on, it’s not for lack of wanting to be around you; it’s just that I’m tired. You stand me up once, shame on you; stand me up 37 times, I’m just going to stay home and read. -j.

QOTD (driving over a bridge): “This is the bridge you like from far away.”
LOTD: random story:

I’m sitting at the Bourgeois Pig cafe on Fullerton, next to two people who are obviously on a first, blind date. You wouldn’t necessarily notice them at first - they are average looking white people in a room and a neighborhood full of the same, but something about them is making the whole room hum. They are both so NERVOUS. They are both talking too fast and too much. And then they fall silent and grin, with these huge geeky grins if they happen to make eye contact. She keeps dropping things and he keeps picking them up and then they meet under the table and she blushes deep red and so does he.

[...]

Tried out Red Rock Canyon Grill with Jas today. It was very tasty. Too much food for me. Maybe I just wasn’t hungry enough going in. I don’t know. It was good though. Ice cream and DNC speeches… Time for bed. I’ve been tired all day. I even took a nap and I still can’t stop yawning.

QOTD from my boss (Yes, he is a very intimidating man.): “He’s going to hang himself. I don’t care if he hangs down two feet or swings in the breeze. I’m going to pour gasoline on him and he’s going to light the match himself.”

LOTD: Naps!!

Ok, so I know I did this on new year’s, but today is a little bit different. So I got home tonight and checked my email. And what do you know, but my birthday seems to be a yearly evaluation of my current ex-boyfriends. To be fair, I really don’t have that many. But for the relationships lasting longer than, say, 6 months… all but one of them contacted me today. It seems like I talk to these guys three times a year. Once on their birthdays, once on mine, and then again some time during the winter holiday season. At least I know I’m not falling out of touch with people? It’s nice to keep track of where people go over time and pretend not to be strangers. I mean, there were obviously reasons that each of us parted ways, so it’s not like there’s regret for not dating them anymore. It’s just weird to think about what a big part these people played in my life before playing no part at all, and then now, playing the part of obligatory social call. People who used to know every second of my every day who now know… one, possibly two, highlights from every year. Anyway, to those of you reading this, uhh… yeah. Hi. :)

Spent the day being a busy worker bee. Ok, maybe more like “busy” worker bee. Filled the day with office politics and gossip. (Still waiting on Roy’s gossip, btw. Since you didn’t tell me, I’m going to have to lay the pressure on. I got an email from him today saying he had gossip and then after I replied, he said that he couldn’t tell me while he was at work, which is the same thing he always says. Unfortunately, I got home late, so… no gossip. But he said he’d gmail me because, well, I’m always desperate for gossip. And what with it being my birthday and all, of course I pulled that card and asked for gossip. Still no email. I’m hoping for a good excuse and possibly additional gossip.) And then off to the castle to spend time with the family. Had a nice dinner that my parents cooked and ate two kinds of pound cake. Visited ITP afterward and received some surprise cookies. :) I’m so easily pleased.

Oh and so my sister totally tricked me. She told me over a month ago that Dawson’s Creek Season 3 was out and asked me if I was planning to get it. I haven’t finished watching 1 and 2 yet, so I said I might wait on it. She suggested I wait until Season 4 comes out and then buying them packaged together for a discount. That sounded reasonable to me. A good idea, even. So, I thought nothing of it. Until today. When I opened my present from her and it was Dawson’s Creek Season 3! Hehe. She totally tricked me, but in a cool way. Yeah, yeah. Make fun of me all you want. You think I’m lame for watching Dawson’s Creek. I think you’re lame for reading my blog and then lying about it. And camping out too. Yeah, that’s right. I know you do it. I just play along to let you think that I don’t know. Or something. Yeah. And some other stuff.

Anyway, thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! I’m off to bed. :) -J.

LOTD: Restaurant Week in DC

QOTD: “You gave me a look”
“That’s what my face does”

Happy Birthday to the biggest nerd ever. Just kidding!

Happy Birthday to my bestest friend in the entire world. Thanks for everything. :)

*this is your birthday song/it isn’t very long* - Fashiongrrl

TTFN.

Just wanted to wish my sister a happier birthday… 

With much love…

On the one hand, it’s nice of people to think of me and wish me a happy birthday. On the other hand, it’s not my birthday. Thanks, though. It’s the thought that counts. :) -J.

More stolen quotes from In Passing:

“Oh my god, you’ve never been to Krispy Kreme donuts? You didn’t hear about the time Zach and I went there? God, it was horrible — the time, not the donuts. See, we got a dozen, because they’re cheaper by the dozen, and I ate 3 and I had one milk chug, and Zach ate 6 and had two milk chugs, and I was going to bring the last 3 back for my roommate, but then Zach said he didn’t want to bother bringing them to the movie, too.
We get another milk chug, and Zach eats three more, and drinks all the milk and then we’re going out to the car and he’s like ‘ohhh I’m gonna be sick,’ and I’m all ‘Don’t be sick in the parking lot!’ and so we get in the car to drive home, and he’s really really sick. I mean, he ate like, 9 donuts.
I pulled off the freeway and he runs over to the bushes, and he’s there for a while, and then this police officer pulls up behind us, and I swear to god I was dying, because I didn’t have my insurance on me. He walks up to the car, and Zach’s still over by the bushes, and he says, all official like, ‘Have you kids been drinking tonight?’
But then I say, ‘No, he just ate 9 Krispy Kreme!’ and then he laughed and let us go, and said that in the future, we shouldn’t eat more than 6.”
–One girl, about 25 years old, to another on Telegraph Ave

“It was so weird… I was at Starbucks this afternoon, and this guy walks in.”
“Um, I’m sure that happens a lot at Starbucks. Customers, y’know. They walk in.”
“Shut up. Let me finish. First thing, I think ‘whoa, is that Snoop Dogg?’ I mean, it looked just like him. The hair in pigtails, the big jersey, the necklaces, the whole look. But then he pulls out not one laptop, but two. And starts typing on one, then the other, then both at once.”
–A girl behind me in line at Yali’s Cafe

“Well, I enjoy wearing pants…”
–A guy in Pimentel Hall

“For something that sounds so pleasant, I was disappointed by how not fun free body diagrams are.”
–A guy walking up the stairs near Davis hall

“My mom’s friend Lisa calls and says, ‘I got a toaster! I got an appliance for christmas!’ and my mom’s all, ‘I win, I got a fire extinguisher!’”
–A woman talking on a cell phone in the parking lot

“Shall we go running, or swimming?”
*smattering of giggles*
“Oh… *snicker snicker* I’d say swimming. Definitely swimming.”
–Two teenage girls in La Val’s Ever have a sudden flashback to being 13?
Remember the code word phrases you and your friends had, like “The weather is gorgeous today…” so you could tell each other when you thought the guy walking by was cute?
The swimming comment was said in the same tone of voice… wonder what that was code for. And here’s a question — did guys do that too, or was it just a girl thing?

Ok, so that last one just made me feel so unoriginal. Because I did do that. I’m a girl. Woo for me!

For some reason, I’ve felt like a part of me has been missing this past week. I’m so addicted to blogging. I don’t think this is even one of those things I can claim to be able to “quit any time.” Because, as you can plainly see: I can’t. Every time someone sends me a link, I think, “Oh cool! I should blog that.” Or every time something interesting happens, someone says something stupid to me, I get angry about something (and you know that’s a lot), I think about blogging. And then I have to remind myself not to. Anyway, so I’m back. With a [what's the opposite of vengeance? Hm... seems nouns don't have opposites...] doober. Sigh… “My name is enjanerd and I blog obsessively. I have a problem.” “Hi, enjanerd. Welcome.”

So, my adventures. (Caution: Very parentheses intensive.) Last I blogged, I had gone to see a sneak preview of I, Robot. Hung out with Roy and watched a bunch of Stargate. Ate ice cream and cookies. JL2 got a boat. My sis had poker night. I ate cookies and played a bunch of Bust A Move 2. (Side note on that… I always thought I sucked at that game, even though I had fun playing it, because I played against my brother and he beat me every time. Not, he beat me a lot. But he literally beat me every time. Turns out he’s just really, really good at that game and he trained me well. :) I could totally have hustled people if I knew any better. Granted it’s just a silly video game with colored bubbles. Woo.) (On another side note, I finished my dessert hiatus which did me absolutely no good. I don’t know if I lost weight at all because I forgot to weigh myself before I started and then haven’t been to the gym in like two weeks. But in any case, finished the dessert thing and my pants still didn’t fit. Decided I didn’t care anymore and spent the weekend eating ice cream and cookies. End of the weekend: my pants fit again. How messed up is that? I’m never quitting cookies again. I’m sorry cookies. I have wronged you terribly and I will make amends. I will never leave you again. I promise. Please take me back… I’m so sorry. Ok. I’m done. Really.)

Family time, drama time, Chipotle, HOA, and then sneak preview for Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. That movie was actually a lot funnier than I expected it to be. I’m not usually one to enjoy storylines where the plot revolves around the main characters getting high (absolutely hated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), but this was actually funny. They didn’t spend the whole time being high; they spent the whole time trying to get more pot[pot] so they could stay high on their misdaventures to White Castle. Total brain-washig there too. I’m still craving White Castle. Mmm… White Castle. Yeah, White Castle… Let’s go to White Castle…

Family time again yesterday. Some relatives were in town for a banquet doober. Then, I met up with some people in Georgetown for dinner and ice cream. I haven’t seen this group in a while, so it was pretty fun. Went up to the waterfront and just hung out and chatted for a bit. They have way more drama going on than I do, so it was good for gossip at least. ;) I’m such a drama whore. Anyway, today is cookie day. And I’m off! :) -J.

Top 4 responses upon finding out I got dumped:
4. “You may have lost a boyfriend, but I lost my arch-enemy.”
3. “At least now you can get a job.”
2. “You got dumped?” (Ok, so I added the emphasis and it was out of context on IM. But still… put that in a context that makes it sound nice. Try it.)
1. “So you missed [someone else's]’s birthday for nothing?”

For future reference, a polite response might be, “I’m sorry to hear that; are you ok?” Or if you’re not sorry to hear that, “Sometimes things happen for a reason/Maybe that’s for the best/Sometimes things just don’t work out. Are you ok?”

Last finished: Eats, Shoots & Leaves (I found this very entertaining, but my sister said it wasn’t funny. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys linguistics and has an appreciation for the English language. Otherwise, it will just be boring and not funny to you.)
Current books: The Second Time Around (Reading this because I used to read Mary Higgins Clark when I was middle school/high school. But I think I’ve either outgrown her writing or Eats, Shoots & Leaves has ruined me for all pop literature. I’m not sure yet. In any case, plot isn’t her normal recipe of heroine with two suitors, one of whom is the killer, and the other you suspect of being the killer, but turns up just in time to save her because women are helpless. So, it’s a different kind of predictable. It’s ok. Wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s ok for a quick read if you need some filler.)
All Quiet on the Western Front
On deck: Dr. Zhivago (I was passing the 6th-12th grade reading list display and I was astounded by how many of the books I hadn’t read. I’m so uncultured. Anyway, I swiped this one. I might go back and take down some titles. How sad is that?)

Where do you news? Check out the graphs around page 13. The whole study is interesting, but in the interest of time, the graph on that page had the largest impact on me. -j.

Ok… so I had way too many blog entries building up and just sitting around wasting away. Read them when you like. Do what you want. I’m going on hiatus for a bit. Don’t know how long. Maybe just the weekend. Who knows. So, pace yourself. ;) Back in the world of the wild. Or something. Yeah. Figure it out. Oh, also… Watched I, Robot today. I liked it. Flawed like any other sci-fi, but it was decent. Later! :) -J.

LsOTD:
Books for Soldiers
Gmail4Troops.com