ThatNight

Birthday | Part 1

May 10, 2008

They won their game, and then we had cake.

Categories: Daily, Lacrosse | 7 Comments »

How dare he!

May 8, 2008

While I was watching The King of Queens a few days ago on daytime TV, a commercial came on for a bridal salon chain and I was sort of half paying attention until the end.

From what I remember, there was jaunty frolicking, lines of diverse bridesmaids in pastel green dresses, and several closeup shots of a woman in a wedding dress, throwing her head back and exposing bleach-white teeth as she twirled on a beach with her husband. And that’s where my attention grabbed hold, because the husband? He was young.

Young! I’ve been watching wedding ads on TV for well over ten years, somewhat interested, relating the brides to my teachers and bank tellers and women in town who walk in skinny heels and trench coats. And here was this man in a tuxedo, looking no older than any of my male friends, the ones who shoot pool and toss back Jägerbombs on Thursday nights.

And I thought back to eighth grade, and how even then, you see the seniors, and it’s all, wow, those older kids must really have their lives figured out. And now I see them when I drive past my high school and I’m all, asses.

So I’m wondering, am I going to look at those commercials five years from now, and see a groom that age, and be all, heh, crazy kids, getting married when they’re still practically children?

Because I am entirely, wholly, thoroughly not cool with that.

Categories: Daily | 23 Comments »

Sleepless nights

May 2, 2008

If there was anything my friends could ever rely on me for, it was to fall asleep. In their cars. On their couches. Given the opportunity, I could go to bed at 11PM and sleep straight through till noon.

This year, though, something in me finally had enough sleep, and I’m up at 8AM, even on weekends. The past few nights especially have found me restless, and I’m hoping whatever bad karma has found its way into my evenings will have had its fill by next week.

Tuesday Night

Awakened at 3AM, presumably by the rain. I look around the bed for Bello, my typical first response upon waking up, and find him motionless at my ankles. I look at the clock, and as I do, my blanket moves up a few more inches, covering my eyes. I am immediately freaked out, convince myself that I am dreaming, and remain still until I can fall asleep again.

Wednesday Night

Bello had a busy day, as we had a lot of running around to do for lacrosse. It’s his favorite thing, going to games and practices, as he can sprint in wide circles around grassy fields while simultaneously being fussed over by groups of squealing girls.

He must’ve came home that night and drank a bit too much water. I realized this when I woke up a little after 4AM to a watery wet spot on the left side of my body, a watery trail across my chest, another to my right and off the edge of the bed. I searched for Bello, who was, startlingly, not on the bed, and saw him across the room, facing the corner, dejectedly hanging his head, afraid to make eye contact.

My eyes flooded with tears, both in the confusion of sleep, and the thought of how long he’d been standing there, distressed, waiting for me to wake up.

Thursday Night

I curl up in bed, feel a tickle on my arm, and ignore it. Hair, I thought. The feeling returns, and as I go to brush it away, feel a tiny girth leave my arm and fall onto the sheets. I jump to the floor, shoo Bello off the edge, and in my panic, grab the only plausible thing within distance, a leftover bottle of Aquanet. I shoot and spray.

Yes, it killed the hornet. I didn’t put a glass over it and release it into the night like an elegant dove. I killed it. And I’d do it again.

Categories: Bello, Daily | 10 Comments »

Six degrees of HATE

May 1, 2008

Things I’ve had enough of for the time being, in six (or so) degrees of separation:

The gas meter slowing down to a painful crawl at $19.30 when I prepaid $20 cash
Gas prices
Tuition prices
Having to pay back tuition loans
Miley Cyrus’ naked back
Naked boy parts
Fall Out Boy
Falling behind on blog posts

Categories: Daily | 14 Comments »

Sweet stalkability

April 27, 2008

So there’s this new thing called brightkite.

Let me start by saying I know some people who still aren’t sold on Twitter. A year ago, when the majority of my friends didn’t understand blogging outside of MySpace, I really didn’t touch it. Since then, though, those statistics have completely flipped, and now it’s a major form of communication among my favorite people.

Brightkite takes it a little bit further. Thanks to Woy, I was sent an invitation this morning, and after clicking around for a while, discovered that it was a lot like Twitter, except that you’re able to pinpoint specific locations and upload pictures via web or cell.

For example, if I’m in, say, Pittsburgh, not only can I “check in” there, and upload text about the city, and email photos of it to the site, I can also see a list of people who were (or are) there, and their past notes about the place, and their previously-sent pictures.

It can be narrowed down to the convenience store on the corner.

I think it’s cool to be able to capture quick memories, in words and pictures, in real time (also possibly allowing for easier, more detailed/accessible blogging later). It also seems like it would be useful for traveling, especially to remember the less-well-known places. There’s also a text command which will send you a rundown of friends that are in the neighborhood (you choose the radius) at that moment (although I suspect this would only work sufficiently if people constantly added every place or building they were in at any given moment).

But I can also see how that could lead to SMS unpleasantness.

Dude 1: “Hey dude, saw that you were at Friday’s on McKnight Road with a few hot ladies. Want me to swing on over?”
Dude 2 (apprehensive online acquaintance): “Well, no, not really.”

But this isn’t really a product review.

I went to a local pizza shop this afternoon, and after plugging in the name on the site, and stating that it’s my second-favorite pizza in the city, a message was also sent out on Twitter, with a (small) link to this image, which includes not only the address of the place, but a map of the streets and intersection:

I’m not entirely sure how often I would do this while I’m actually sitting at the location. It seems like a little too much info to be sharing with everyone, and I’m anxious enough as it is. Of course there are multiple privacy options, but still, I think I’ll be holding off on sending the coordinates of my exact position to the world until a little while after I peace out.

Out of your comfort zone?

Categories: Daily | 25 Comments »