Not Yet

Well, I thought that the previous entry was going to be the last before I left, but that was before the cold medicine wore off at 2:00. So now I'm up again, which is a shame.

Another thing happened at my haircut today. The stylist was asking me what I wanted done, and even after I told her she kept suggesting additional things. She said, "are you sure you don't want bangs?" and I was like "hah! no!" in a much ruder voice than I had intended, right before noticing that she was majorly rocking the bangs look. She looked crestfallen. Maybe that's why she took it out on my hair.

God, my arms and legs have this weird disconnected feeling now. I'm not tired in the slightest, and I'm pseudo-tempted to take some more Benedryl or something, but I think that's a really bad idea. I probably wouldn't wake up.

I am sorry that I didn't get to see Little Miss Sunshine before I left. Damn you, Carmike Cinemas! Why don't you carry good movies?

Oh, and I think I ruined our computer desk. I left the cup of water that I used to take the medicine on it, and it condensed like mad and now there's this huge circular watermark that's conspicuously lighter than the rest of the wood. Yeah, it doesn't look like it's going to go away. (psst: 30 minutes later, it's, um, lightening.)

Travis couldn't believe that I could just stop watching Alias two episodes before the season finale, but I actually think that it's better that way. For one thing, I didn't have time, and the other is that there's always this major suspenseful cliffhanger and while that's not a bad thing, it is kind of irritating when I know that I'm not going to be around to watch season 5.

Last in Mt. Lebanon

Okay, last post from Mt. Lebanon. I took NyQuil about a half hour ago, so I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to stay up. The luggage thing ended up to be a huge problem, causing stress and frantic shoving. It's still a problem, but I'm ignoring it for now. I figure I can worry about it tomorrow. Right now, I'm dazedly moving files from my iTunes to my iPod so that they aren't lost forever. I still need a shower quite badly, and I'm counting on the nice relaxation to get me to sleep because I don't want to be up at 3:00 in the morning panicking. God, I just don't want to forget anything way crucial.

I had to get a haircut today and while sitting in the chair I noticed this guy in the mirror being led to the hairdresser's station and right as the words 'foppish dandy' flew threw my head he looked over and gave me a little head flick, as if to say 'heyyy . . . I totally caught you checking me out' which I so wasn't doing. My poor hair got a beating, too. The stylist was way too harsh on the blowdrying. I could almost feel my hair sizzling.

If you haven't checked it out already, my study abroad blog will probably be updated more.

Loose Ends

Will someone please tell me what happened to the Ben and Jerry's kiosk in the Galleria? I was saving up my 'free small ice cream cone' coupon for a month to use while at home, and as Travis and I were ascending the elevator . . . nothing. It was as if it had never existed. So now I have a superfluous coupon which I gave to Travis and no ice cream. Bummer.

Am I still finding random, important things to pack? Uh-huh. Latest one - an entire bag full of shampoo and the like. Also, the big headphones I love as well as some embroidery.

I know this is like, the oldest thing ever, but I am completely enamored with the Snakes on a Plane song by Cobra Starship. I honestly had not heard it until I saw the movie on Thursday, and now it's like my personal theme song.

I went to the knockoff Dollar Tree in Caste Village today to pick up various items and I found the neatest little wallets that had skulls and crossbones on the front. I was sorely tempted to buy out every color, but resigned myself to the basic white-on-black. I picked up this prehistoric-looking bone and some catnip toys for my host family's pets. They better appreciate them. They seriously have the best present ever. So far, their gift includes:

Aforementioned pet toys
Calendar of different American monuments
Postcards of Pennsylvanian scenery
Brochures of Pennsylvanian entertainment
Long-sleeved Penn State shirt
Short-sleeved Penn State shirt
Short-sleeved Steeler shirt
Nittany Lions paw magnets
Jelly Belly 40-bean variety box

Now, wouldn't anyone just love that?

Awesome Combo

Wow. I don't even know how this could get any better.

P.S. Another one!

P.P.S. Somebody has a real Killers/Harry Potter fixation. And again!

Lordy. There's more, but I'm done linking to all of them. Sheesh!

Almay is Back

I finally broke down and made a Wal-Mart trip to get basic necessities, like socks. I got the usual stuff like shaving gel, razors, body wash, and then . . . I found it. The Almay Fragrance-Free Clear Deodorant. Oh, heaven! I don't think I mentioned it before, but it's my favorite antiperspirant of all time. It doesn't smell like anything! At first, I was like "pshaw. I'm going to stink within minutes." But truly, it lasts all day. So anyway, back in like, June, I was way out of deodorant and made a special State College Wal-Mart trip just to pick up that brand. They didn't have it! I was shocked. So I went without deodorant for another day (it was very hot at the time and not a good idea) because I figured they had to have it at McLanahan's. Guess what. It wasn't there, either. So I had to pick up this dumb "power gel" Almay creation that totally wasn't my fragrance-free, and I was very unhappy.

So! I was overcome with joy to see it again. I bought two, just in case. Maybe I should have stocked up more.

I keep finding random important things around the house in weird places. I completely forgot that my adapter was in this box which I just happened to open, or else I would have left it and been very mad. I found my retainers in this box in the basement. I found some things I meant to give my host family up in my room. So now I'm worried that there's a ton of stuff all over the place that I'm missing.

Packed

It's muggy to the extreme outside, and even the rain that we did get didn't manage to make it any cooler. I tried The Gap again to see if my fragrance was in, and they still didn't have it. I've been told twice now that I should be flattered that I have the taste to pick such a popular smell. Yeah, I'm flattered that so many other people out there smell better than I do. My new glasses were in and they are awesome. I picked them from the Men's side just so I could say "oh, you like them? They're men's frames."

It's amazing how fast two medium sized suitcases fill up. They are now packed to the brim, and I don't even have anything like toiletries in them yet. I'm going to have to make copious use of the front pockets. They're going to bulge like crazy. Hopefully I have gentle baggage handlers or else all of my stuff is going to be nasty and soapy.

On the one hand, I'm like "oh wow, it's Saturday, I'm leaving in a rather short amount of time." Then, I'm like, "but I still have four nights left. Oh man, it's going to go slowly." I still have to pick up stuff like deodorant and hair clips and stuff. And dear lord, my room is so messy. It's embarassingly so.

I got to see Roberto before he leaves us for good. Bye, Rob.

My mother wants me to go to church with her tomorrow. Oh, agony.

Snaaaaaakes

Snakes! On a plane! Oh yes, that's right. It was Snakes on a Plane night. Travis brought along this rubber snake I lent him that I got from Disney World when I was nine, which I brought home and coiled up in the fridge for my mother to find in the morning.

It was actually better than I expected, believe it or not. Kenan Thompson, in my mind, is still a cast member of All That so of course he's funny. There were such memorable scenes - snake bites to the penis, to the eyeball, to the nose, to the heart - if a snake could possibly bite it, it was bitten. A dog was fed to a snake. A man was devoured. What more could you ask for?

Westminster

It was Arienne's big move-in day, and quite hot as well. She brought a million and a half boxes of random crap, and suffice it to say I was really cranky by 12:30. The campus is only about the size of East Halls so there wasn't anywhere to go, not that anything was open this early. Obviously I didn't get the most luxurious sleep last night, so I fell asleep on the way up and struggled to make it home awake on the way back. I found a long-sleeved shirt, a bra, and a pair of socks that were mine amongst her gigantic piles of clothing, so I surreptitiously snuck them away.

Snakes on a Plane tomorrow! I'm indulging Travis's whims and going to the 10:00 showing tomorrow night. I hope it's an action packed thrill ride like the commercials indicate.

Still Up

Addition: do train whistles kind of freak anyone else out? My mom says that they're calming and help her sleep better, since she heard them all the time growing up. God, there's just something about them that unnerves me. My heart rate gets going faster and I just have to wait it out. Maybe I've seen Stand By Me and Fried Green Tomatoes once too often, but they always sound foreboding and dangerous. Perhaps it was that episode of Hey Arnold where Casey Jones is on the renegade train. Who knows.

The mice had a field day today, literally. I gave them the unprecedented liberty of being able to run free in the yard. I do believe they enjoyed it. At first, the one just sat and cowered in the wooden house, sniffing a lot, but then they both explored like crazy. It took a lot of stooping and bribing by means of peanut butter to entice the other one back. I cleaned out their container and they have been very active all night.

I went to the fridge to get something to eat, and believe it or not, found that I was craving broccoli. Um, weird. Maybe I have low iron or something. That's in the realm of reality. I was trying to think of the French word for broccoli at dinner, and came up with a blank. If I had that problem with my host family I'd probably just ask for 'green cauliflower' and hope that they had a good imagination.

I really don't want to get up at 7:45 in the morning.

Up Late

I rented The Dead Zone from the library on a whim, and ooh! I like it! I thought that this one was about the people that go back in time and have rotten food, but it's not. Stephen King makes me happy. I hope that it ends well. My dad always says that Stephan King can't end a book right to save his life. Personally, I think he's right. The Tommyknockers went on about two hundred pages too far.

So, I had to finally stop at page 379 because that was a ton of pages to read without stopping and it was past 3:00 in the morning. Arienne is moving up to Westminster tomorrow, and of course I have to go and set up the computer and everything.

Not only did I take a nap this afternoon, but I also downed a Pepsi One this evening, which was the first caffeinated beverage I've had in . . . many moons. Now I'm hungry, of course, but we have like crap food here.

I was thinking more about packing today, and I think I'm going to be weighted down on this flight. I was planning on wearing my sweatshirt anyway, because airplanes get cold and there's no way I could stuff a bulky thing like that into my suitcase. But I was considering it today, and I would really like to take my black boots. Once again, small chance of fitting it anywhere. So those will be worn as well. Those should be fun to take off during the security checkpoint.

Tim Gunn has a blog at the Bravo website, and he is just so insightful. I can hear his authoritative voice as I read it. I hope Horny Rob catches a glimpse of him next year.

Part Two

I seriously didn't mean to write a freaking narrative piece on The Descent, but now it seems like I have to start a new entry. Wow, I must have strong opinions.

I created a new instant messenger acronym today! I know it'll take awhile to catch on, but then it'll spread like wildfire. Erin responded to something I said with "hwhw" instead of the usual "haha", and from there I created "hey what hey what?!?!". I am totally going to start using it. When people are like, what is "hwhw" I'll roll my eyes and exasperatedly tell them that all the cool kids are using it.

Speaking of what all the cool kids are using, in this same instant messanger convo I was talking about buying my host family presents and mentioned

ME: My mom said that they have tons of Steeler shirts for like, five bucks.
ME: So it's not like I'm dropping a benjamin on something they're going to hate.

God, I am too cool for my own good. I sound like freaking Cher Horowitz.


Oh! Oh! I was reading up on Descent, and I didn't really understand what people were talking about when they mentioned the ending (no, I'm not going to ruin it). Apparently, the UK version is longer than the American one, and that one actually makes sense! The one I saw just sort of ended, and everyone was like, wtf?

The Descent

At the risk of being in the way minority, Laura and I saw The Descent today and I . . . didn't really like it. I mean, it was a neat story and all, but after an hour of a half of holding my ears and squinching really weird in my seat, I was a bit uncomfortable. Everyone and their mom knows that I hate, hate, hate jumpy scenes, and this movie was just one staccato burst after another. God, it was everything - car wrecks, flapping bats, flapping crows, creepy dudes. You name it, the director found a way to have it jump suddenly into the film.

Halfway through the movie my ears already were red and thumpy from being squeezed shut for so long, and my poor hands were cold and tingly since all the blood had drained out of them in that position (against my head). I tried to set them down every so often but then I got panicky whenever there was an extended silence.

Laura pointed out, and I agree, that the movie would have been just as good (probably better) without any freaking blind cave-dwelling pale Gollums. Up until then, it had successfully made me very paranoid and claustrophobic. There was one excellent scene where one of the women is trapped in a turning point in the middle of a very narrow tunnel, and it was the most realistic hyperventilating that I've heard in awhile. Also, after the Pale Folk arrived, it sort of turned into the kind of trashy teen horror flick where the lead girl's friends get picked off one by one and she is left to find her strength, work through her inner turmoil, and survive with naught but psychological scarring.

I also feel like it could have been done better with less gore. I don't really mean this to sound all old-persony, but seriously, blood was like, spurting everywhere. We see a compound fracture, complete with bone shards. Spurt. Someone gets clawed in the jugular. Spurt. A girl gets hooked in the neck. Spurt. Entrails are chewed. Spurt. It just got old. I think it would have been a million times scarier if it was like, pitch black and you just heard, I don't know, wet noises. After awhile, it wasn't even effective. I mean, the main character falls into a freaking pond of blood. So it kind of lost impact on me.

To wrap things up, I think that this movie had definite "scary" potential, but I don't think that guts + sudden scares = scary. It sets you on edge, maybe, but that's more of the cheap way out. It's regrettable.

Two Freaking Dollars

Travis came over this evening and we had a veritable Alias extravaganze. Manface Garner now has these horrible bangs that make her look about seven years old, but I liked the last two episodes that we watched.

I got to see my Aunt Bea today for the first time in over a decade, and I don't know, but I was expecting her to look a little . . . older, I suppose. She's like, eighty four or something but looks pretty good. She was here for some family reunion that we didn't go to since we really don't care about being in touch, apparently. The last time we went all I remember is that there were a ton of bees and that it was killer hot. So I really don't miss those things too much.

The waitress at the restaurant tonight was funny. I saw her storm into the kitchen, and as the doors swung back open, I heard her say "Two freaking dollars! Again!" My mom asked her about this when she brought out the dinners and she told us that this one five-person party always comes in on Sunday and only tips two dollars, when they tip at all. I remembered this one time that my family went to a fancy Chinese place on New Year's Eve and the waitress chased down and vehemently chastised a couple who forgot (perhaps) to tip.

I thought I was doing pretty well in the sorting and packing department until today I found an entire bookcase full of boxes and bags leftover from previous trips. Oh, good. Now I get to wade through those as well.

This 'being at home' thing is really throwing me off. For starters, I can't find freaking anything. First it was my iPod, then it was my phone charger, then it was my backpack, then it was the mouse ball. I'm so used to only being in two or three rooms (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen) so it's pretty easy to track things down. I get all discombobulated with multiple floors.

Party Hard

Alex had his party last night, and at first I had the most boring time ever since I really didn't know anyone, but then more people showed up and it got a lot better. I was there until 4:30 AM. Oh my goodness! My sleep schedule is now officially wacky. I spent most of the evening (morning) with Matt on the couch.

I went to Wendy's for some snacking and Alex asked me to pick him up a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger. Always one to oblige a host, I got the burger and he starts eating it. He stopped suddenly and said "Alaina, is this a bad joke?" Turns out, the Wendy's people neglected to add the burger and cheese, so poor Alex was left with a bun and condiment-laden lettuce. I had to haul my butt back to the Wendy's, where they admitted a serving-line mixup and graciously made a new burger.

The Steeler game was unfulfilling. Frankly, I was really bored throughout the entire thing and went upstairs to perform the more exciting task of organizing my closets. That fun activity was only terminated by my severe dust allergy, which made me sneeze about eight times in a row.

Good lord, only a week and a half to go.

Home Again

I'm online talking to Rob, and he just told me that he waited on Michael York this morning. Michael York! From Cabaret! And, I suppose, Austin Powers. Oh, how cool! I think the closest I ever got to someone famous was the Olsen twins when I was six. And Mo Rocca, of course.

Lauren and I went to the Red, White, and Blue today. I'm a little embarrassed - I meant to only look for pants and shoes, and went crazy overboard with shirts. But there were great buys! I got some black t-shirts, a few jackets, a sweater, et cetera.

I got the neatest salt and pepper shakers that Lauren coveted immediately. They were shaped like eggs with legs. I let her borrow them for the upcoming year.

Mmm, my mother bought crab legs for dinner tonight, and I must say that they are one of my top five favorite foods. It was like "Alaina's favorite foods" night. We had butter noodles, fried zucchini, cucumbers, the legs, and for dessert, since I was craving it yesterday, was blueberry pie. God, you don't get better than that.

Wegmans Trip

This makes me remember exactly how happy I was to get internet in my apartment in the first place. I think the guy next to me farted, gross, and there's some dude in a thong laying out by the pool, which is almost as gross. My last day at work was surprisingly annoying, even with 140 people. I was on yogurt machine, which would have been nice had the yogurt machine been functional. So they slapped me onto salad bar, which is my least favorite. At least I only had to smell the dank rot of produce in the cooler one last time.

And there wasn't many people working due to the low volume, so I had to actively participate in the cleaning rituals, and couldn't just slack off and wave a cloth around to distract the managers. Then I had a little bit of a bus fiasco, and I cashed out the rest of my PNC account. Well, I cashier checked out of my account.

Erin and I are hanging out tonight, which means a Wegmans trip, which means . . . gummy candy! Oh, lord, it's so good.

Shiny Meat

Nick, Robbie, and Bartley swarmed in yesterday and today in order to completely clear out their stuff. This ended up being a problem, since Nick took the Adelphia router with him, and now I am internet-free. So yes, I am back in the computer lab. This sucks. I do admire their keyboard, though. I am really digging it. It's a lot more sensitive than mine, which you have to pound in order to type correctly. You could whisper on these keys and they would write for you.

There were only 131 campers at work today, which was incredibly relaxing. We had the 'whipped potatoes' and gravy for dinner, which is my favorite side dish in the world. Coincidentially, I also ended up serving them during my shift, as well as the broccoli and the roast beef. The meat smelled and looked really tasty, but as I got closer I noticed that there was a shimmer to it. Like, an iridescent green and pink shimmer, the kind that no meat should have. I asked my fellow old lady line server, and she said that it was just a preservative and that it wasn't a bad thing. In the right light, this roast beef looked like shiny fish. It was really bizarre. At the beginning of my shift I was tempted to try the meat, but by the end it kind of killed my appetite.

I wish that Rob would get online so I could kick his butt at Yahoo Gin.

I took my last shower ever in my apartment today, and I'm actually relieved. The water here is so hard and calcified that it weirds out my hair. Right now, my poor hair feels greasy and dirty, although I washed it like, six hours ago. It sucks, because I get paranoid that people are saying things like "there goes the girl who doesn't shower" even though I do! I miss the water pressure of my freshman dorm. It was like a shiatsu massage every time I showered.

Alias Triumverate

For lunch yesterday, my dad took me to the Corner Room (meet you at the Corner!) and I was in such a weird mood cravings-wise that I ordered a mint chocolate chip milkshake with quesadillas. Oh, it was so good. I saved one of them and brought it home, and six hours later it was still good.

Things are looking a lot more managable now that all of those boxes were carted away. I just hate to take down stuff like curtains since it's going to look so drab and bare.

So, who else was incredibly surprised by the positive review of Talledega Nights? I am halfway tempted to go see it now and see for myself, even though before I stated that wild horses couldn't drag me into that theatre. I do love John C. Reilly and feel as though I can trust his taste in movie roles.

It also totally doesn't feel like a Sunday. I watched Garden State this morning and it was wonderful.

Erin and I finished the entire season three of Alias in record time, so I need to pull some strings to hook season four. Sark remains my favorite character, with Jack Bristow in close pursuit. Oh, I don't even know, maybe Jack is number one. Wait, I forgot about Marshall. All right, those three can be the Alias Triumverate. They should have their own show.

Barnyard

Thank god it's cooled off somewhat, because I was about to die. Erin and I saw Barnyard today, and I would have found it mildly amusing had it not been for the glaring biological errors the film employed. The boy cows all had udders. A girl cow had a bow and gave birth under a blanket to a perfectly clean boy, uddered calf. The farmer was a vegan and didn't eat the animals. They buried a cow when it died rather than eating it. The list goes on.

I found out today that my father is going on a three week business trip to Italy that not only extends over my sister's move-in to Westminster, but also to my departure to France. Poor Mom is not taking it well. So Dad is coming up tomorrow to cart half of my stuff home, and take me out to eat, and anything else I want to do.

Until this evening, I didn't have a firm grasp as to exactly how much crap I can amass in a single year. It's astonishing.

Hot Stuff

It's reached a staggering 97 degrees in the Happy Valley, and of course I was switched to line serving both french fries and steamed vegetables. I couldn't imagine a nastier, sweatier job. I kept getting blasted by hot steam from the underside of the bins. Not pleasant.

So, we finally found out what happened on Project Runway to warrent Tim Gunn kicking someone off the show. Turns out, it was for . . . harboring design books. It was a little lackluster. But I didn't like that guy anyway (he was the one last week who thought creating an outfit for his dog was 'below him'. Wow, way to miss the point of the show, dude).

I spent a significant amount of time last night removing all of the crap from my walls and subsequently detaping them, a rather obnoxious process that I didn't enjoy. I packed about a fourth of my dishes into nice tiny boxes to minimize breakage, and the whole task seems a lot more managable.

Kelsey and Hallie had to go to Pittsburgh for a funeral, and I didn't really want to go to the Death Cab concert by myself, since I'd probably end up in a corner somewhere with a scowl writing bad poetry. I called the ticket office, and they recommended that I just stand in the parking lot and scalp it. This really wasn't my favorite option, but whatever.

So I felt like a total prostitute. I had to go up to groups of emo folk and be all like "hey there, studs. Looking for a hot student ticket? I got just what you need." It was really awkward for a long time since everyone had a ticket until I finally found some wonderful soul who hadn't bought his yet. I thanked my stars that I could finally leave.