05/16/2003 - 9:14 a.m. | there - caught up

So much for freshman year. Hm. Gonna try and recap everything, but I'm not 100% on the ball here, so please forgive if I go a little sketchy. From where I last left off (Tuesday!). After Spritz and I came back from Busey, I watched Carmen Elektra host some crappy VH1 special about sex on TV. A different crappy special hosted by Carmen Elektra. Damn you! Damn you. Kyle had a physics final to study for, so he obviously hacked at Counterstrike and then decided we should go to Steak 'n' Shake. That is, until I noticed the guys in the studio lofts across the balcony were watching porn! Watching porn is dumb, but watching others watch porn is hilarious. So we altered our plans, got Jimmy John's and lime sodas, and came back here to peep. Unfortunately, I think they overheard me (people always overhear me because I am so damn loud) because they turned it off. And possibly whipped firecrackers at us. Don't remember.

So, the optimum thing to do since everyone else had a final and went to sleep early was to stay up and wait for the "Miss Independent" video came on. And after about 15 minutes, it did on VH1. Pleased, I watched/sang/danced faggily until it was over and then switched to MTV just in case Jimmy Eat World was on or something (hahaha). Even better - "Miss Independent!" Again! It was an omen. So I slept.

Amazingly, Wednesday wasn't an unproductive day for me. Woke up reasonably early (10, 11?) and developed some sort of battle plan, which was happily altered when I realized my psych final was at 7 pm instead of 8 am. Did some errands and shit. Actually, that's glorifying things. I hauled a lot of books. First a big bag to the bookstores to get royally screwed selling them. $84 - woo wooooo! After I sold everything I could at T.I.S., I went to Follet to try and pass off the rest on them. It was hilariously disappointing. The girl was like, "Well, we don't really need this book, but we can give you 50 cents for it!" "Sold!" "This book just came out with a new edition, but you can donate it to Africa if you want..." "Uhhh... Right on! *throw*" All-in-all, I made about $5 there. $1.50 in cash, $1.50 in little boxes of stale, hard as rocks Hot Tamales (Take as many as I want, eh?), and $2 in lukewarm Papa John's pizza. Lisa grabbed a bubble tea and we sang on the way to meet CRUSH (henceforth known as AlterNate - OK, prolly not). They had an interesting day together, but I don't think I am supposed to speak of it. Not like that will stop me.

Back here, I hauled another bag full of library books back to the, uh, library. So heavy. I am a dump truck. Then back here to do some cool stuff like laundry and reading. Cool. :| Michelle IM'd and asked if I wanted to work on an art project whose details I will not fully disclose at this time. I did indeed, so I went over to PAR, and we worked on that for several hours. Ours both turned out pretty awesome... except she sort of sabotaged mine (I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say unintentionally). Thought that counts. And art projects are fun! I miss them. While at PAR, a tornado siren went off. Quickly proving how dumb the majority of the population is, the girls on the floor flooded out and began screaming. "What should we do?!" "Do we go to the basement?" "Does anyone see a FUNNEL CLOUD?!" By far, the biggest complaint was that they were missing the series finale of "Dawson's Creek." Eventually an RA came by and led them down to the basement. Michelle and I didn't move throughout this. I seriously doubt PAR was gonna be sucked up, and even if it were, I'd die doing what I love: spinning in a vortex of high-speed winds! Once we finished our... shit (and once Michelle gave up on trying to find her roommate - by the way, where was she that whole time? - and got the key to her room down at the front desk), we ended up watching the last bit of "Dawson's" ourselves. Jen dies. :( River of tears for you, Jen.

Back here to start on a major cleaning of the bathroom. I can fly through the normal stuff pretty easily. Floor (with my hands and a playing card - weak), sinks, terlet, etc. The tub, however. Oh, that fucking tub. I've hated how gross it's been all year, but it was just such a huge job to get all the grout and junk off that I just keep delaying it. Not then, though. Grabbed my little Brillo sponge, "Bill's All-Purpose Cleaner" (thank you, Bill), hopped in the tub and started hacking away. About an hour in, I got inspired. Perhaps water would loosen the soap scum! So, I rolled up my pant legs and started to fill up the tub. Eventually decided that to get better leverage, I might as well just sit in the water. Soon, I just let the tub fill, scrubbing under water, fully-clothed and soaking wet. Finally, I drained the sucker, turned on the shower, and just let it rain down on me while I scrubbed and screamed Old 97's at the top of my lungs. 3 hours later (and what I'm sure must have been a horrifying interruption by Michelle - no one needs to see my in skin tight, wet anything ever. EVER), and that son of a bitch is cleaner than it has been for prolly 5 years. 10 points to Nate.

We all watched a bit of Jenny Jones - a "quizmaster" was testing a bunch of hoochie teenage girls (funny what was just beginning at the same time). I think the idea was that the girls were supposed to do poorly on the questions ("Who is on the one dollar bill?") and thus Jenny could be like, "Look! You need school after all!" But they all got 'em right, so she had to switch to the far less effective, "Well, see how smart you are! You shouldn't waste that! Go to school." Weak, Jenny. Then we started to watch Rocky, but I guess Sylvestor Stallone's soothing speech impediment lulled us into dreamland because Michelle and I just passed out. Woke up groggily at 5, and I don't think either of us understood what the other was saying.

At 6:30, Lisa called me with some good news. HER CRUSH LIKES HER. More than that even, but I suppose I should keep some tact.

Wow, Nate, you're a dick. True enough. One hardly needs to self-censor because when I do say something uncalled for, society swoops in and makes sure I am plenty punished for it. It's like communism. The bad kind. I dunno - I'm glad Lisa and I have finally reached this point. Where she can call me and tell me this stuff and we can discuss it and joke about it and possibly someone else can foster the brunt of her... not insanity. Quirkiness. I dunno if it would have been entirely mutual as recently as two weeks ago (when I still "FUCKING RUINED HER LIFE"); had the situation been the other way around, she would've seen it as gloating and been pissy at me for it. So I'm 100% all for it. I was kind of expecting at least some sort of jealousy or feelings of ugliness about myself, but all I've got is a tinge of nostalgia. Nate wonders if it is the pills. Nate decided he must be a big person instead. Haha. Still, in this transitional period, I am the voice of reason for Miss Rationalization.

We had a brief chat and then I sunk back into sleep for several more hours. Woke up and went out to lunch with Lis to discuss recent events and eat terrible IHOP food. You get your money's worth, though. 3 SIDES?! What the hell? Next time, all mashed potatoes. We walked back here (this is now Thursday, by the way) and while she slept, I showered and half-assedly studied psych... and fell asleep myself :D We both woke ourselves up with the cowbell skit and jumping on the bed to "Turn It On." She still needs me for this sort of stuff now and then. She left, and I tried to pathetically cram in more knowledge, but it's been a no go lately. I am so winding down. Went to take the test, which was east enough. I'll get my A.

Ran back here so I could make it home in under an hour (personal goal, no real reason) and then watched "Cribs" very briefly. Jerry O'Connell (of "Sliders" fame) was on. Apparently, they thought he would have a really nice house or something. They were wrong. He had some 2 story apartment he shared with his brother, and it was amazingly average. Messy, stereo on the floor, crappy ping pong table... The "game room" was a dusty PS2 on the floor. And the "Cribs" people had to film all the boring shit (his fridge full of Coors Light and cheap champagne - only Coors Light and cheap champagne) in lots of crazy angles like it was all highly interesting. Poor Jerry O'Connell. We saw as much of his brother's place as we did of his. Sabrina Lloyd is cute.

Started to watch Rocky IV with Will and Dank. There is some insane-o shit in that movie. A robot as an ongoing gag for some reason, and Apollo Creed's intensely queer American Hero outfit. Mostly, I laughed when he died. Stupid Drago. "WHATEVER HE HITS, HE DESTROYS!" Kyle and Spritz woke up, and we started to get out shit together to go see The Matrix Reloaded. Lines were long as hell, but we had connections or something, so things worked out really well. Felt bad for the nerd who had to warn the audience that they would need their ticket stubs to get back in if they left. Not bad enough not to laugh, though. So, so awkward. He stood his ground, though, when Michelle and I came back after getting food for everybody. Way to go, pal! 3 points for you.

The movie was... fine. Sorry, sorry. I'm terribly over critical. It was entertaining enough, and I really couldn't pinpoint too much of what was wrong with it, but I'm a picky son of a bitch. Mostly the pseudo-philosopical / quasi-religious stuff bugged me. And the stupid rave. And it takes itself a little too seriously. I certainly didn't hate it. I'd watch it again, and I wanna see the next one, so that's good enough. By the way, the Paul Oakenfold remix of Dave Matthews' "When the World Ends" is really, really bad. It so isn't the type of song that needed remixing; sounds really inept. I have it if you'd like a laugh.

So, the plan following the movie was this: a) launch styrofoam airplane with rocket engines attached to it, b) study entomology, c) sleep. Plans never work. Kyle and Spritz had to chat it up with their respective womens. Meanwhile, Will, Dank, and I watched the same shitty music videos over and over (with intermittent periods of the "Girls Gone Wild" infomercial - God damn Snoop Dogg). Around 4, everyone was about ready to hit the sack when Spritz finally gets off (the phone) and decides we can go. Drove out by Japan House (whatever that is) and tried launching the thing. Unfortunately, phone wire doesn't seem to conduct very well, so Will had to do each engine manually, leading to some near death. We have some excellent film footage, though. Actually, there's a good hour left on the tape that I should try and fill up tonight. Editing it down over the summer would be an OK project.

Came back here, where I was once again wavering on whether or not I should try and sleep. I decided against it, tried hacking Counterstrike on Kyle's computer, failed pretty miserably, and then studied on Spritz's computer (mine don't run the pdf's) while everyone else slept. Kelly Clarkson and Co. kept me company. As did 43's. Finished around 6:30 and promptly decided to watch TV for a little, shower, then head to the final. Or sleep until 7:55. Shoot. Ran to Loomis and took the stinker. It wasn't as easy as I hoped. I knew the recent stuff fine, but there were some things from earlier on that I wasn't sure at all about. I think I'll still get an A, though, so I'm not gonna worry. It's 10:30, and I had some sleep, but I should prolly get a little more. Supposedly, I am covering some chick's shift tonight, but she didn't return the favor like she said she would, so I dunno. Could just be an ass. I really shouldn't waste my last day here sleeping and bullshit. Just let me stay awake 'til Saturday night. No problem.