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May 15th, 2008
07:37 pm - Oh! My back! The saga continues...
So hopefully with the assistance of muscle relaxers and steroids my back will be restored to it's state of a natural wonder in a matter of days. Not having my normal flexibility has been a frightening and alarming experience--sometimes you really do need to be able flex backwards, like when rowing or when evaluating whether or not you can pursue other activities.
My supervisors at UPMC have told me not to come in again until Monday no matter how bored I get. I've got no idea how to spend my day tomorrow. Anyone want to go drinking in Shadyside on Friday night? I think I need to pre-game a bit before Saturday night.
Oh well. For the Saturday night crowd, if you have any booze requests above and beyond what you plan to bring let me know and I'll try to accommodate.
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May 13th, 2008
04:41 pm - Ow! My back! --But not Kansas City style
So my back's been nagging me for a few weeks. Figured I probably goofed up when I was doing some heavy lifting. Well nagging turned into raised voices last Thursday when two girls almost dropped the boat we were carrying from the dock to the boathouse and I jump in to save the boat from crashing to the ground. Gave it a few days and things were nearly tolerable. Then last night I reach down to get something off the bottom shelf of my fridge and the pain that shot through my sacrum was indescribably painful. Well that didn't go away. But I still went about my business today--went to work and all that junk.
After lunch my boss tells me that I indeed do look like I have a headache or that I'm just, overall, really physically uncomfortable. Well, I've got to give her that much credit. So, with her approval, I head home. And I finally stopped procrastinating, I'm going to see my doctor tomorrow.
To me, it's weird to go see doctors at West Penn (and occasional Allegheny General) and then immediately turn around and go to work at Presby, part of the "competing" health system. Namely because sometimes people ask me what I think about doctors at Presby and ask me who my doctors are, assuming I see doctors at UPMC. Makes me feel like it's a dirty secret, even though it's really just because I've seen my doctors at West Penn for longer than I've worked at UPMC/Presby and I really like who I already see.
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May 4th, 2008
10:08 pm - New River Gorge!
So because I've been to most states, though there are still a select few that I need to stop through, my wish list is now turning more to landmarks and state capitals. With ruling Sedona, AZ off of my wish list in December the next item on the list was the New River Gorge Bridge, near Beckley, WV. Well, that's where I went today.
Then, because time permitted, dad and I swung through Charleston via US-60 from US-19 and there are indeed now pictures of me at the West Virginia State Capital.
The New River Gorge Bridge totally blew my mind. Even when I was standing under it, with my feet in the river itself (no one tell me how polluted it is or I'll beat you senseless), it seemed unreal. If you're unfamiliar with this civil engineering orgasm/feat, check out the Wikipedia article for the New River Gorge Bridge.
Pictures of today's fit of awesome shall be forthcoming.
Current Location: Shadyside
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May 3rd, 2008
09:39 pm - Commencement Day
So the ceremony for commencement was alright. The speakers were sort of your typical rolling stock, though one of them quoted George Carlin and that kind of made the whole ceremony. So I walked and I was all uncomfortably warm for the ceremony. I looked remarkably well considering I didn't shower beforehand and really didn't wake up until dad called and said he was in the parking lot for my building telling me he was waiting for me. Oops.
After the ceremony I carefully selected a restaurant for my triumphant post-commencement lunch, as it was just dad and I, and I settled on Ritter's. Essentially no one else will eat at Ritter's so I figured my best chance was to take someone who'd never been there before. It was tasty.
Then we sort of meandered east. We drove out to Latrobe on US-30, then went through Latrobe to get to westbound US-22 and returned into the city. As we came through the city again I showed him around 'Woodland Hills' (where I run with an EMS company) and Verona (where I frequently row), and now I'm in Swissvale at Chip's and I think some alcoholic checkers is about to go down.
Current Location: Swissvale, PA
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May 1st, 2008
01:15 am - !!!
I did it. Thank goodness. It's all over now. That final push was a tough one but this is it. I've finished school.
This weekend seems like it will be a wild one. Lots of people coming in and out of the city. If I seem like I'm going a little crazy, I apologize in advance because the truth is that indeed I am.
And I didn't even need to dispense sexual favors!
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April 30th, 2008
04:03 pm - ...
That thing flailing out above the water is actually my arm.
Goddamn, I'm so exhausted right now. I can't seem to muster that last burst of energy to get the last assignment done...
Anyone else want to write a paper on how much I've learned about the development of industry in Pittsburgh over the last semester by this evening? Please? I'll even consider dispensing sexual favors!
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April 18th, 2008
09:35 pm - The News From Fifth Avenue
1. Someone ran a red light in California and the result of it is a totaled, black 2002 Miata--oh right, yes, my car. Thank you dude, because a 20-something workaholic who's too busy to get laid nearly enough really doesn't need a car that's better than sex to drive. On the bright side, the insurance settlement is enough to replace it with an only slightly older Miata with very similar mileage, oh, and of course, it's also in my favorite color. I'm sad about the loss of Little Black Sexy, but hopefully we shall move on with Little Blue Sexy.
2. I was working over in Montefiore Hospital today, in the oldest wing of the current hospital, in a tiny, crowded conference room (formerly x-ray room) when I noticed the carpet was wet and the water seemed to be originating from inside a bathroom that hadn't been used in a decade. Then when I went to get ESS to do their jobs and clean it up while waiting for maintenance they pretty much told me to go to hell. Maintenance never came--that was one moldy, muggy, shithole to work in this afternoon. If I told everyone what I was doing I'd confirm everyone's suspicions that I'm the biggest tool in the world so I'm not yet ready for that.
3. I passed EMT class, which was totally badass. The next day I was walking to my office and I ran into the course instructor outside of BST3 on Fifth. It was kind of funny.
4. I went to closing convocation at Chatham wearing a rescue helmet as my tutorial hat. I believe I had the heaviest hat of everyone there, but it was super badass and a lot of people took pictures and the chief of police at Chatham and I had a very awesome conversation spawning from my choice in headwear. My neck still hurts pretty seriously from wearing it for two and a half hours without a break.
5. Emily was in town last weekend. We had many adventures. I have made strange acquaintance with a US-40 sign as well as with Emily's Sentra--which never felt like it was going 70 when indeed I was driving 15 over. Oh well.
6. Birthday is near! Commencement is near! An uncertain future is near! Oh dear! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
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April 13th, 2008
12:31 am - Breaking Glass and Masturbation
Today was extrication day. It was badass. I wore turnout gear and smashed the living shit out of vehicles. It was beautiful. When I went in to smash a rear-window with an ax John said, "think about how you feel about your thesis," and I smashed that window wildly. It was a nearly perfect day to be wearing all of the gear and the the only time anything was particularly difficult or uncomfortable was when I had to use my knees and thighs to propel myself forward while holding c-spine while extricating from under a trailer and when I had to do a hillside extrication over the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
But then while walking home from Ellsworth in Shadyside with Emily Jo we spot this older gentleman furiously masturbating along Maryland between Kentucky and Fifth in Shadyside. Then as we got closer it went from fap... fap... fapfap... fap... to FAPFAPFAPFAPFAPFAP. So we decided to like, b-line it out of there. So as we cross the street away from this dude, he gets up and starts following us. So we RUN. We run into fucking traffic on Fifth to cross the street. And we keep running until we get into my building and have a locked door between him and us. But, I mean, that's a serious nasty thing. So I call it in to both campus police and city police. City police show up a few minutes later when I go to let Chris into my building and the dispatcher screwed up the report (surprise, surprise).
So I shall have dreams of SMASH and FAPFAPFAP.
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April 9th, 2008
11:13 am - So... just a little busy...
I've been so freaking busy, what with the near completion of the thesis business and trying to graduate my ass out of this place and figuring out where the hell I'm going to be going this summer as well as where the hell I'm going this spring (though as it stands I'm presently preparing for a move to Georgia).
Just a basic overview of what's going on:
- Thesis is due on Friday by the end of business
- Only two more installments of FNI before it breaks up for the summer
- Saturday is extrication day, which I'm only looking forward to because if I get any more stressed, I may explode, to manually taking apart cars sounds like awesome times to me
- EMT class ends on Tuesday, with state testing following roughly by about two weeks
- Commencement is on May 3rd
- West Virginia is still supposed to happen on May 4th, though I'm having a hard time determining the most badass route to get down to the gorge, the tentative idea was to do US-19, but a number of people, despite knowing my road preferences, are still recommending against it
And an overview of what has gone on...
- Went to Harrisburg on Monday to lobby on Tuesday, after a wonderful dinner on Chatham's nickel I hung out with a friend, then lobbied my little heart out on Tuesday
- On Saturday I went rock climbing in West Virginia and it was pretty badass, except for that time that I was trying to pee behind a rock at a 30 degree angle and I kept slipping and banged up my elbows afterward (who knew that peeing in the woods was so dangerous?)
- Saturday was also formal. It wasn't bad, but I just really don't think I'm into that stuff.
- Friday night, for the first time in history, a Pitt student came to Chatham for a party
And now, I return to my thesis.
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March 31st, 2008
02:02 pm - Janet's Weekend...
Just giving the point details of my weekend:
Friday:
-Worked at Presby
-First crew practice of the season (where it was effing cold as hell on the river)
-Bait & Switch show, props to Jenn for setting that up and FNI for bringing in Bait and Switch last semester and making Chatham fall in love with them
-FNI (probably one the best showings for Chatham at FNI, will almost half of the Chatham people present made contributions)
-Primanti's with Jenn and Flee to feast on some Smallman Street Fries (those things are like crack, I swear)
Saturday:
-Caving at Laurel Caverns with a bunch of people from Chatham and CMU, including Flee--which was badass!
-Rocky Horror Show on campus, where I dressed up as myself and was routinely told to put more clothes on (the true mark of success)
-Quality time with Jenn, Paige, and Flee
Sunday:
-Went on a stupidly long walk with Tory, that involved a CVS, a Taco Bell, a car dealership in Bloomfield, and other mischief
-Sweet-ass musical worship service in the Campbell Memorial Chapel on campus in the evening.
-Late dinner of breakfast food with Katharine at ENP
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March 18th, 2008
04:19 pm - Acceptance #2
Georgia Tech has unconditionally admitted me into their master's program in city and regional planning.
Georgia Tech has been my co-#1 choice with Carnegie Mellon essentially since the outset.
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March 15th, 2008
12:54 pm - Jenn's 21st
Jenn got piss drunk last night. It was awesome and hopefully it is something that will happen again, and again, and again.
And she didn't even puke--she took the advice that I had written on the cake, "Don't get sick, Jenn <3 <3!
And props to Giant Eagle for making decadent cakes for even the laziest of asses (namely myself).
Current Location: Shadyside
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: U2 - Bad
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March 13th, 2008
06:41 pm - Hey Spring, sup?
So as it was bound to happen, Spring has finally sprung (for the most part--a few bad days between now and late April don't make my statement invalid). That said it is the season for shaving my legs, skirts, and that same awesome nudity you've all come to love at every other possible moment when it won't put me in jail. It's nice to not have to wear nylons when I stroll around the East End in one of my large number of nice and flowy skirts.
I am mere days away from hearing either good or awful things and determining what on earth to do with the rest of my life. Do you know how scary that is? I could be in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, California (either north or south), Missouri, West Virginia, Nevada, or Georgia! If I'd been normal I would've picked a location and then selected my options, but I've just got to be difficult.
I also just got back in from California, which would've been wonderful if I had more than 3.5 days that will all full of 10 kinds of amazingling awesome adventurous chaos. I lack words for it. Well I don't, but I'm sort of lazy.
Essentially this post is me wasting time until my hair is dry enough so I can veg on the loveseat in front of MOAR GREY'S without screwing up said hair--as I said, it's Spring now, I have no excuse for looking like an old bag.
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March 12th, 2008
12:12 am - The River--which one?
I'm in California. It's California-like. I fly back to Pittsburgh late tomorrow. In the meantime, more lyrics so I may continue to be awesomely nebulous.
You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin' as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores... and
I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide... yes
I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
There's bound to be rough waters
And I know I'll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain
I can make it through them all... yes
I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Yes, I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
'Til the river runs dry
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March 4th, 2008
12:08 am - Because I love Leonard Cohen and lengthening your friends page and life's a little nutty...
So were drinking and were dancing
And the band is really happening
And the Johnny Walker wisdom's running high
And my very sweet companion
She's the angel of compassion
And she's rubbing half the world against her thigh
Every drinker every dancer
Lifts a happy face to thank her
And the fiddler fiddles something so sublime
All the women tear their blouses off
The men they dance on the polka-dots
And its partner found and partner lost
And its hell to pay when the fiddler stops
Its closing time
We're lonely, we're romantic
And the ciders laced with acid
And the holy spirit's crying, where's the beef?
And the moon is swimming naked
And the summer night is fragrant
With a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
Down the snakes and up the ladder
To the tower where the blessed hours chime
And I swear it happened just like this
A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
The gates of love they budged an inch
I cant say much has happened since
But closing time
I loved you for your beauty
But that doesnt make a fool of me
You were in it for your beauty too
I loved you for your body
Theres a voice that sounds like God to me
Declaring that your body's really you
I loved you when our love was blessed
And I love you now theres nothing left
But sorrow and a sense of overtime
And I miss you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex
Looks like freedom but it feels like death
It something in between, I guess
Its closing time
We're drinking and were dancing
But theres nothing really happening
The place is dead as heaven on a Saturday night
And my very close companion
Gets me fumbling gets me laughing
She's a hundred but she's wearing something tight
I lift my glass to the awful truth
Which you can't reveal to the ears of youth
Except to say it isn't worth a dime
And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
And its once for the dvil and its once for christ
But the boss dont like these dizzy heights
Were busted in the blinding lights
Of closing time
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February 28th, 2008
01:06 pm - So I think 16 people are about to drop dead...
This week is going too well. A summary:
1. Got fully accepted into grad school at George Mason
2. I got As and Ps on all midterms, exams, and assignments to date
3. Crew is resuming water practices on March 13 (and seriously, who doesn't want to know a hot rower?!)
4. Mary got into Berkeley for grad school (neither of us *have* to go to UNLV now!)
5. Getting a little hair cut on Friday night
6. Likely going to do karaoke with Joyce on Friday night
7. Joyce can join crew again and hopefully we'll be able to take a double to the CarDuPitt regatta at the end of April
Just wow, what a wonderful week! I feel so happy and lucky and refreshed. It only gets better from here--which is the stunning part. The list above is just a sampling of reasons why I am so in love with life and the world right now. Things do balance out :)
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February 27th, 2008
02:35 pm - Acceptance #1
I received my acceptance letter from George Mason University today! I've been accepted into the Master of Arts in Transportation Policy, Operations, and Logistics program for the Fall 2008 semester!
There will be celebration tonight!
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February 25th, 2008
11:54 am - All I'm trying to say is...
Jenn got me sick.
>:-O
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February 24th, 2008
09:08 pm - Fuck you, Dodge!
So this coming weekend... Feb 29 thru March 3. I want to go somewhere.
I've got enough cash to fund most places within 8 hours of ground transport time.
I just want to get out of the city. It's making me a little nutty.
If your couch is available, you should tell me. If you don't, you fail.
FAIL.
Do not fail.
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February 22nd, 2008
11:49 am - The world is either an A or a P
I feel sort of bad that I never update this thing and when I do it's usually purely logistical or a detailed complaint about some new kind of injury I've somehow managed to skillfully inflict on myself (right now it's the continuation/accidental reinfliction of the ice-related hip injury).
I also only write when I'm procrastinating my ass off. Like right now.
Life seems pretty exciting but come Friday I'm usually so overwhelmed with the events of the preceeding week. This week in particular has been nuts: full of midterms, surprise visitors, funky weather, bizarre confessions, slow claps, learning, excitement, yay, and finally a whole pile of triumph.
I never previously credited myself as being much of a student. I guess because I was mottled on meds or let personal issues get the best of me too often. I can say now that I'm impressing myself with how much I'm getting done and doing well. Everything I've done that's been graded this week has received either an A or a P--including things that I didn't think I was that good at, like Spanish.
So I'd apologize for sucking at life by not updating TEH INTERNETZ frequently enough, but I'm a really bad liar. Just ask Jenn. My face turns red and I giggle like a little Catholic school girl during sex ed class.
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