back on the chain gang

Feels like it's about time for a post!

This afternoon I was walking to class. My grown-out-of-its-sassy-haircut hair was pulled into 2 awkward pointy ponytails which of course did no good, as my flopping-straight-into-my-left-eye bangs whipped all over the place. I was trotting toward Melcher Hall, when this fellow passed me by, boping to his ipod and smiling...he yells at me, "You shouldn't let that hair hide such a pretty face!" I start to laugh, and after he passes he yells after me, "You know I'm right!"

I was also pleased because I made an A on my Ethics Case Analysis. Also, my claim that ultimately, by doing the "ethical" thing, the subject of the case study could keep the "Karma Police" at bay was met with a "YAY!!" from my ultra-hip-dad-type professor. I was very excited. I've also decided to apply a WWTYD (What Would Thom Yorke Do?) standard to all future ethical dilemmas.

I know I've been absent lately and I apologize. I had a great vacation (which I will comment on below) and immediately followed it with tons and tons of summer school work and constant busy-ness. I have also started this fitness kick, so anytime I'm not doing schoolwork, odds are good I am at the gym. Okay, and admittedly, I've been watching "Scrubs" episode upon episode, and of course now wish I was a doctor. (Side note: the epsiodes guest starring Brendan Fraser are amazing...and I don't think it's just because I secretly loooove most of his movies...)

Is it possible to be rapturously in love with a song? Because that's me and "Jesus, Etc." by Wilco. Oh man, it's wonderful.

Paradoxically, I also love Beyonce's "Check Up On It" but in a completely different way. More in the way that compels me to continuously inform Aneil "you can look at it as long as you don't grab it."

Here are some learnings from my vacation week:

1) Little brothers will remain about 10-12 years old in your mind, even as they are graduating from college. It doesn’t help that once we get to the restaurant, he enthusiastically orders the largest menu item and burns his tongue on “freaking awesome” blackened alligator tail (which, in his defense, WAS freaking awesome). He later burned the same tongue on bread pudding.

2) The Sam Houston statue in Hunstville is freaking enormous. For the first time ever, we got out of the car in order to take “Wilco Summer Photo Contest” photos with the big guy. I was slightly frightened. We continuously exclaimed obvious phrases such as “man, he is so freaking huge” or “why is he so huge” or “why does this thing exist”?

3) Ice Cream is wonderful. We ate it pretty much every day while on vacation. Here are the instances I actually recall: DQ Blizzards on Monday (Heath Bar, yes!). Dipped Ice Cream Bars at Six Flags on Tues. Braum’s shakes (and spur of the moment outlet shopping) in Hillsboro on Wed. Maggie Moos (best cinnamon-caramel-heath-chocolate flake cone ever!) on Thursday. At some point we also ate drumsticks and we also bought a half gallon of Blue Bell. It was ridiculous. Every time we ate it, we would feel pudgier, but would simply exclaim “Vacation!” and high five and everything was fine again. Note: I haven’t been able to stomach any more ice cream since vacation ended. Oh well.)

4) Knowing natives really helps keep you entertained. Gloriously self-employed Bo was able to hang out with us both nights we were in town (!) and totally charmed Aneil…heh. He took us to Campisi’s (yummie Italian I used to go eat with the Suggs) and Gloria’s (a Salvadorian restaurant that strangely became a club that played Bruce Hornsby and Hall & Oates remixes (?) about 30 minutes into our meal).

5) Anthony works entirely too much. My “you’re a lawyer shouldn’t you be working at 8:30 pm” joke was met with the not-a-joke response, “no, but I have to go back to work after I finish this drink.” Either that, or he was bored of me…I did, after all, force him to watch American Idol with me.

6) I miss friends such as Anthony, Erik, and Bo more than I realized.

7) I love Aneil more than I realized.

8) X-Men 3 blasphemously killed so many main characters and/or rendered them powerless (read: rendered them uninteresting) that it mostly made me sad...introduce and destroy The Phoenix within 45 minutes? Wha' happened? (Wow I'm nerdy)

9) I am too damn old to deal with the annoying kids who attend concerts at Emo's.

10) Being lazy and only getting up off your ass in order to go buy a huge burrito with your best boy basically amounts to my ideal Sunday.

Okay, I'm spent, and there's an America's Next Top Model marathon on VH1 so I'm out. I should probably also read some contract law, but that's probably not going to happen.