naniofthesea

*I found an old journal entry that I had written while on a train*


    Vonnegut was not holding my interest. The rush of excitement, from the previous ride, had settled to the bottom of my brain- like flakes of fish food drifting down to the bottom of a bowl. Sitting on high of the Metra, a family across the aisle was settling into their seats. A wife, husband, and their boy, all three were obese, and passing Krispy Kreme doughnuts to each other. I have no right to judge this family, the mother and father seemed like decent people, its just I couldn't help raise my eyebrow at the sight of doughnut swapping. But again, who am I to judge, and besides...I could have really gone for a doughnut too. I rattled my head back into reality, and returned to my book. Vonnegut was singing of the eloquently impolite Phoebe Hurty, when I heard it!

                                                    "Smack!"
The wet, sucky sound of someone chewing with their mouth open. My family calls this sound "smacking." I turned my head towards the offensive sound, and it had travelled from the mouth of the boy. The boy, who was about 13, wore a blue striped sweater vest, and a green coat. He looked like a large frog, and sported wee glasses. The frog boy was currently consuming a small bag of cheetos, and sprite. Kurt's words had lost, and the boy's munching had won the battle of my attention. I watched the boy’s reflection in my window. He was wolfing down his orange treats by the handful, and was gulping down the sprite like a baby at a tit. Making moist slurps sounds, and gasps. Each bite, each slurp, each gasp penetrated my ears, and echoed in my brain. I watched him dump the rest of the bag's contents out of the bag, and sighed in relief. I closed my eyes, and then heard the sounds of extra moist chewing cutting through the air. He was now happily munching a bag of fruit gummies. I tried to suppress my panic attack, and tried to resist the urge to shoot daggers at him, via my eyes. When that massacre of my senses finally ceased, a violent belch croaked from the depths of his gut.

"Say excuse me,” his mother cooed
"Excuse me"
I curled up further, into my seat.” Dear God! Even his voice is offensive!" I screamed inside my skull. The train screeched to a stop, and the offensive family waddled off. Before leaving the mother told him to pick up his trash.

"Don't be a litter bug."

So here is my question. Do I judge this boy, who gives off an air of self-loathing? Or rather should I praise the frog boy's disgusting habits, because they gave me something to write about, and thus kept me awake?

But seriously, once you're older than...lets say 5 or so, if you still chew with you mouth open, you aren't a real person.
                              

So...I just started using twitter. If you have one you should add me. Twitter.com/naniofthesea








I am not an attention whore.









(Yes, I am)

  I hadn't seen another human being in two days. Vacations have a tendency to turn me into a reclusive shut-in, who is up at all hours of the night, staring at a glowing box. A part of me loathes this isolation, and another part of me is too socially awkward to do anything about it. Every break there is the same vow against this reclusive behavior, and every vacation I become paler.

  There was a moment of relief when I opened the car door, to greet another human being was a wonderful thing. As I settled into the car, that moment had past. I looked the driver over; he was wearing his patchwork cap, his mustache was in full stride, and his belt line had grown since the last time I had seen him. The fact that my ex is gradually slipping into obesity, and looking more and more like a ginger version of Winnie The Pooh, has been something that I can help but internally smile about. Deep down, in like the stomach or uterus. (whichever is feeling more evil that day) We made a detour to 28th street, and since it was the season to binge shop, everyone and their Uncle Fred had made the same life choice as well. As we waited an hour to go around a block I sweetly told him that "This was a huge mistake". To which he agreed. This was to be the first cut in a series of other little cuts we gave each other. ( This being a reference to my mom telling me that every time he and I get together we verbally cut each other.) By the time we got on the highway we could have been back home, thanks to our little detour. He asked me to "reach back and grab [his] laptop." I grinned. I had predicted that we would have a row about this. Every time we go somewhere he asks me to hold his clunky laptop, so he can listen to music. Since we had a long trip, my resistance to hold his piece of machinery was even greater. Since I had known this conversation was going to take place, I couldn't help but expose my pearly whites. His reaction was predictable: a silent temper tantrum.

"You're silly" I said.
"You're stupid" He said.

   We listened to NPR instead, and he swore under his breath. I listened to a report on airplane crashes, and it made me somewhat fearful. My objective profession, later in life, would involve a lot of plane rides. And you know statistically speaking, one theological role of the dice, and one of those crashes could be in store for me. As I was absorbed in my world of travel and planes dropping out of the sky, Hunter's knuckles turned white, as we slipped and glided along the highway. The irony of which was lost to me, until much later.

  I hadn't payed his parents a visit in a couple of years. Not because I don't like them, I'm actually rather fond of them, but because ...you know.. the death of our relationship. In a silly little way its almost as though our relationship was buried in The Pet Cemetery. It died, and then it came back, and its conflicting to the people involved because, it looks familiar, but its turned into something awful...something that will shank you when you least expect it. Butch, was where I expected him to be: smoking at the dining room table..shirtless. Helyn was sitting in a new comfy chair near the tv, and hooked up to a machine. I kissed the top of her now frail head, and gave Butch a hug. She wanted a life report, and I didn't really know what to say." How's school? How's your Grandma?" Perhaps it was the amount of time that had passed since the last time I saw them, perhaps it was the fact that her health had gotten so much worse, or perhaps it was my own social awkwardness that made me uneasy. I focused most of my attention on the dogs, as I have always done. When conversation dwindled I started wandering around the house, until Butch noticed and asked if I "wanted a Coke or something", because I looked like I was lost. And I suppose I hadn't really realized that I was lost until he called attention to it. For years their house had been a stale memory to me, and once I was back there the subtle, and not-so-subtle changes, turned me upside down. Eventually my mother picked me up, and I was whisked away to the home that I feel lost in as well.

 The Lost Boys were killing things in the basement, the cats were perching around the house, my Grandmother was in her bedroom, and I was putting presents under the Christmas tree. My mother and brother joined me, and he tried to convince me to let him open his present then. This had always been a sort of camaraderie between him and my sister. I however am not my sister, and I smiled when I told him he would have to wait. When my brother joined the Lost Boys, and my mother went to bed I joined my Grandmother in her room. And she told me stories about the boys that used to court her, how she met my grandfather, and the lesbians that used to live upstairs in her old apartment in Chicago.

"One of them had tiny ears, that looked like sea shells. And she would clean them to the point that they looked polished. She told me that she did so, because when she was younger other children used to make fun of her dirty ears. Isn't it interesting what little details affect our behavior for the rest of our lives?"

  The rest of my stay was a mixture of happiness and annoyance. My annoyance directly related to the Lost Boys. Since their reinstallation at the house, and my allergies, I find myself with out a room, which means I have to sleep on the couch. The boys have tendency to stay up even later than me, so as I tried to sleep I could hear the never ending gun shots and swearing, created by a video game. Then early in the morning I would be awoken to my Grandmother's television. I would then scrape myself up, and try to find refuge in my mother's abandoned bed. To this I could still hear my Grandma's television, and on certain days my brother would turn up his amp and play his new guitar. This was a very unsettling sleeping arrangement for someone who is a light sleeper, and just spent a lot time alone. I however tried my best not to let it get the best of me.

  One the other hand, I shared many games of Uno and Rummy with the members of the house, and had many conversations with my grandma. I enjoyed these games and conversations, because I value the sentiment of these moments. My Grandma and I are similar in that ideal. I spent sometime with old friends, and I saw the movie The Spirit. I may get some flack from other people about this, but I actually enjoyed this film. I "dug" the ridiculousness of it all. We celebrated Christmas on the 24th, and I was excited to see the reactions of the recipients of my gifts.

To my mother I gave a phasor, from the original Star Trek series. Which she fired all through the night, which made me some what regret giving it to her, but I was pleased over how much she enjoyed it. I also gave her a little laptop desk, which she needed. The next thing I need to get her is a phasor holster. From my Grandma she received a tee shirt that has a picture of our Galaxy, and then a little sign that says "You are here" and it points to where Earth is. It was a pretty nerdy Christmas for her, and she was pumped.

To my Grandmother I gave a Sketchbook and some inks, because the last time I saw her she told me that she can't draw anymore. Which made me sad, because I have always loved her illustrations. This will also give her something to do when she's too tired to get out of bed. I also gave her a replica of a Caulder Mobile, because the last time I was home she hinted that she wanted one.

To my brother I gave three shirts, which he seemed to enjoy. They had "funky" little illustrations on them, and I got them from Threadless.com. That year he got an electric guitar for his present, which he would later wake me up with.

From my family I got a nice assortment of movies. My grandma gave me a doll of the rabbit from The Holy grail. It had big pointy teeth, and we bonded over my stay. She also gave me some really cute taroh cards, with Edward Gorey illustrations.

The unwrapping of presents was a sweet little gathering, and I believe that every one really "hit the nail on the head", so to speak, when it came to gift giving.

Friday eventually rumbled in, when I was awoken to to one of the Lost Boys petting and talking to one of the cats, who happened to be perched on the couch I was sleeping on.

"Go away!" I croaked.

As the day progress I decided that I really didn't want to sleep on that couch again, other than the noise, it was making my whole body stiff. My mother drove me through the foggy night, and I drifted away in my thoughts thinking of this animation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZS1fLK4DYM&feature=channel_page

( Read more... )

    The light squeezed through a crack between the curtains, we turned our backs to it. We dozed in the stuffy darkness, until the shrill ring of our wake up call. It was our last day in Beijing.

    The Temple of Heaven is considered to be "the supreme achievement of traditional Chinese architecture."  Here The Ming and Qing emperors would perform rites to Heaven during the winter solstice. The purpose of this temple has changed from a place of ritual to a place of recreation; for the outskirts were filled with people enjoying their free day. The place was packed with people singing, dancing, playing music, doing Tai Chi, and taking their birds out for a stroll. We pushed forward, in this sea of faces, enjoying the shows along the way.
    The Temple of Heaven is not one building. There is one large building with several other smaller ones. We had time to explore on our own, and I spent some time with fellow members of the group, peering at the inside of these beautiful buildings. But as time went on I found myself roaming farther and farther from where the group was, and I decided to go on a little walk by myself.
    The sun was brightly shining, and there was a nice wind that day. I walked in the center of the path way, head head high and smiling, and stopping here and there to look at something. I noticed people looking at me in the corner of my eye, but by this time I had grown used to it. It's some what strange to think that I might have been the first white person they have seen. (Not that that really matters) I kept marching further and further, and after some time two men stopped me, and asked me if they could have their picture taken with me. They didn't really say it, as they spoke no English, but pointing made it clear enough. I agreed, and they took turns posing with me. I said goodbye, and started trekking on. I walked a little ways before thinking "why didn't I take their picture?" I was some what annoyed with myself, because its always nice to have pictures of people that you meet along the way. I eventually got stopped again by a man and his wife, who spoke English, and wanted to have their picture taken with me as well. They were sweet people, and while I was having my picture taken with his wife another man waited his turn to have his picture taken with me too. He didn't ask me, which annoyed me a little, but at least we had someone to take a group picture for me and the couple.

     I had walked too far, and during my journey back I met up with the two men again. They were excited to see me, and I asked them if I could get their picture. We took turns taking pictures again, only this time one of the men wrapped his arm around me, and his hand was very close to my boob. I tried to adjust his hand, but he moved it back. I took my camera back, and they tried to get me to come walk around with them. "FUCK YOU!" I yelled in my head, and I hurried back to my group. I returned right when the group was beginning to ask where I was, and as it turned out the way out of the Temple was the way I just came. When we got to the archway leading out, those men saw me again, and started waving, and I hid behind Alysha.
  I had just done a considerable amount of walking, but compared to the next destination it was nothing. The forbidden City has 9,999 rooms, 9 being the royal number, and it was here that the 24 emperors of the Mind and Qing dynasties ruled. It would take a very long time to see every single room of that place, but we saw a large selection of ceremonial courtyards, private quarters. It was getting winder, and the sun felt  like it intensified, and although there was shade most of the time, I found myself getting sun sick. It was a shame that I was feeling ill, because there was so much to see there, but towards the end of it I really wanted to get back on the bus. I had simply done too much. We saw a little exhibit of antique clocks. Some of them were beautiful, some of them were cute, but most of them were gaudy. They had a movie, that was probably made in the 70s, showing all the clocks in working order, which I thought was pretty cute. Alysha came over to me and whispered "I have a secret." She had been picking up stones from every location that we went, but this was different. She held out a little piece of red wood. I gave her a confused look. "It came from the ceiling! I was just standing there and all of a sudden something dropped from the ceiling, and made a little clink at my feet!" The Forbidden Palace was completed in 1420, I can imagine that there has been some reconstruction over the years, but ideally speaking she was holding a piece of ceiling that was at least 500 years old. It was as if God was like "here ya go Alysha!" It was pretty awesome, and I can admit I was a tiny jealous. We had finally made our way to the exit, and as we walked through the arched tunnel, that lead out, the wind picked up and pushed against us. Almost as if something was telling us that it was time for us to leave.
    When we walked out Alysha put her arm around my shoulder, and I leaned my head on her. "You two are just so darling" Said Georgia. When we got to the outside there was a vast ocean of people wandering around. We all had to be very alert, as to where our group was. We shoved our way to the out skirts, and then turned back to the Forbidden City. There looking down upon us was Chairman Mao. Here hung his famous portrait, and across the street was Tienanmen Square. To get there we had to go into an underground passage way, almost like a subway system. Here there were groups of people trying to sell cheap wears, and homeless people. The one that really sticks out in my mind was a younger man, who had no legs, and had to pull himself along on a little cart. I was very happy when we resurfaced on the other side of the street. Tienanmen Square is the largest public square in the world, it can hold up to a million people.  Here there were some people relaxing , all  gathered along the edge of the grass, but none actually on it. To do so was against the rules. A little further down the square was a group of people scrubbing the tile of the square with small brushes, under the supervision of Mao.
"I'm glad I wasn't born here." I said to Narumi.
"Me too."

5:30 Am
    Japan may be called the land of the rising sun, but it rises just as early in China. As the light flooded in I could hear Alysha rustle around in her bed. We stayed in bed for a while, debating whether we should get up or not, our natural clocks said it was 5:30 PM, and that ended up winning. We got up and started getting dressed, an awkward little dance, and knowing where we were going that day I tried to look at professional as possible. A white button down shirt, blue undershirt, and a white skirt. Alysha hadn't gotten her suitcase yet so she borrowed my red shirt and red and cream striped skirt. We were one of the first people, from our tour, down at breakfast. It was a large buffet filled with Chinese and Western foods, and we piled our plates with both varieties. I was delighted to find bamboo baskets filled with many different types of dumplings. We happily munched our breakfast, saying hello to our group members as they made their way down, and stuffing ourselves as much as possible.
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   Thinking about the food in China compared to my food experience in Egypt, there was a vast difference. The hotels in both countries were fairly similar, they had gift shops, a whole bunch of services and eateries. I really enjoyed most of the food that I ate in China, and there was literally never a moment where I was hungry, in fact I sort of missed being hungry. They kept us so well fed I had to force myself to eat, because I knew I had to. In Egypt however-I was never full. We never really had traditional Egyptian food while there, we mostly had Americanized foods. For whatever reason I had a really hard time eating while I was there. Although they did have hibiscus juice in Egypt, and I really wish that was available in the states.

    When a large group of tourists come to China, they are supposed to eat at certain restaurants that are approved by the government. Most of the resturants that we ate at were at hotels and malls, and a few other government approved places. At these restaurants there was, what we would call, a lazy susan. Here the servers would place various dishes, that we would all share. We are used to having our own personal meal, so this new concept was a little challenging at times when one would really like a dish, and didn't want to share. The lazy susan caused a few problems here and there when people weren't paying attention, and started to rotate it -when say someone was getting a serving of soup.
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    While the others were chowing down Alysha and I decided to try to find the internet area. While we were looking we walked past the gift shop, and one of the workers convinced us to come in. We walked around the shop, as she followed behind us showing us great items, and ensuring us quality. I hate when shop keepers follow me around, but it is effective. One of the male workers tried to do the same to me as I wandered away from Alysha and Swallow, the shop keeper. (I'm surprised I remember her name) In the end Alysha ended up buying a pair of earrings, and grabbed Swallow, giving her a big hug. After we left I had to tell Alysha that in many Asian cultures they only hug people they are close to. "Oooh noooo! I'm sorry! I just don't have a bubble, and I forget other people do!" She ended up asking MIng and Shirley about it, and they confirmed that she shouldn't hug random shopkeepers.
    We piled onto the bus, and we were on our way to our first destination-Interior Design Magazine office. As you probably gathered from the name, this was an interior design magazine office building, and we got to meet with some of the people that work there, and talk about interior design in China. We sat in a small stuffy room, as they gave us a lovely presentation, which they had obviously spent a lot of time on. After the main presentation was over some interior students gave a presentation as well. They were selected to talk to us, and it was obvious that they as well put forth a lot of effort to make this presentation for us, and they did there best to speak in English as well. They did a great job......however i think a few of us got restless, and began talking amongst themselves while these girls were trying to their best representing their country and their school. You see in China they believe in collectivism instead of individualism. They weren't there representing themselves they were there representing interior design students of China. Our group, therefore, were representatives of Kendall, and we also represented The United States of America. So while Maja, the odd couple, and the Aunt chatted it up amongst themselves, they were really saying that Americans can't sit still and be quiet for one goddamn second, while other people try to do something nice for them. If you can't tell I was really annoyed, and I wanted to tell them to shut up. But 1. snapping orders at my "elders" feels weird to me and 2. Our hosts would have noticed. But seriously, they were the adults! They should have known better!!
    Later we went to the Capital Museum. It was a beautiful building, with a lot of ancient artifacts. The lobby played lovely Chinese classical music, and it also had a marble floor...so I slid around dancing to the music. The museum allows visitors to take photographs, and I forgot to take my flash off, and had to be spoken to. Later I learned the phrase "Dway Boo Chee", I'm sorry, from Shirley. I used this phrase often. I'll eventually put my pictures up, and you can see all of the great sculptures they had there.
    That night we went to the Peking Opera.

Before the show we got to watch the actors put their make up on, which was interesting. That night we watched two shows. The first one was about an innkeeper who was also an assassin, who tried to kill a solider, staying in his inn, the whole night. It was set at night, and the audience is supposed to pretend that the fight scenes were happening the dark. The play was humorous and full of suspense, as only the audience knew how close the characters were to each other. The other story was a love story, about a nymph princess and a mortal man, and how the gods went to war over their marriage. There were lots of cute nymph girls, with high pitched little voices, squealing "It's time to get married!" The princess wore a long red gown, and a head dress with long feathers that looked like antenna. She later kicked ass with a spear, while they went to war. While I love the show I had a constant battle between desperately wanting to watch, and desperately wanting to close my eyes. Jet lag had its firm grip on me, and while others went out that night, I went to bed.

    In the late afternoon the plane landed in the nation's capital, Beijing. Our legs creaked as we stood up, and stumbled out of the plane. Searching for other ,bright pink, China Spree name tags we eventually huddled in a little group waiting for the whole pack to gather. This is where I introduce the cast of the trip...which isn't easy because I have forgotten, or never bothered to learn their names. As I cannot help it, I must compare this to the Egypt trip where we were all really close, and most of us are still friends today. I however never really clicked well with most of these people. Most of them being designers, and I've never really been able to mesh well with designers.
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The characters of Kendall in China

Starring
Deanna: She is in her early twenties, has long light brown hair, short, wears thick black glasses, the actress that plays her should have a decent sized rack. She is quiet, often narrating her trip in her head, a little naive, sweet, well-meaning, while also having momma bear tendencies. If you took Mary Katherine Gallagher from SNL, Enid from Ghost World, Peppermint Patty and Lucy from Peanuts, Velma from Scooby Doo,Don Knotts, and Juno -steal personality and looks here and there from them- you would get a Deanna. She is also an anthropomorphic cross between a venus flytrap and an avocado.




Alysha: She is my  roommate and closest friend, on the trip. The key word to describe her is intense. She is intensely sweet, intensely innocent, and charming. She has an attention span of a guppy, and is easily startled. She lives in a world of her own, and often says random things. She loves green beans and dumplings, and when she gets drunk she hugs random people, and loves to sing Tom Petty. She was the darling of the trip, and brings out Deanna's momma bear tendencies. I haven't admitted it yet, but I consider her to be like a little sister to me. She is a little taller than me, in her early 20s, often has one red eye from her contacts, and often wears her hair in pig tails. She is proud of her Polish roots and loves Star Trek.




The people running the show:

Professor David Du: David grew up in China, and now teaches as both a design and illustration teacher at Kendall. He is a shy man, and easily startled. His voice tends to squeak when he's nervous, and also when he laughs.

Professor Max Shangle: Head of the furniture department at Kendall. He is a very tall man, who sports a mustache, a pony tail, and glasses. It is clear that he is a father, as he often tries to get to try new foods, asks if you are wearing the proper foot wear, and can be often seen buying presents for his daughter. He is very kind but also can be very serious.



Georgia: A shorter woman, with a sharp short bob hair cut-that is dyed black. She has a large smile and a large head, very much like a bobble head doll. She is a head of a Interior Design firm, and arranged meetings with Chinese businesses. She is a sweet woman, who is very serious about her work. Get her drunk enough she will teach you how to give a proper handshake.

The tour guides:
Ming: Our national tour guide, a woman in her early 30s, with a cute little bob hair cut. She was with us in Beijing and Shanghai, and Alysha became very attached to her. She was not afraid to say like it is, when it came to the subject of the Chinese government. She told us stories about when she used to work at McDonalds, and how its awful to work there when you live in McChina. Ming was somewhat shy, but curious and playful....like a kitty.



Shirley: She was the Beijing tour guide, who was shyer than Ming. She pronounced her English name Shuh-lay, and after almost every sentence she added a "ha ha". (I'll do my impression for you sometime)





June: Our only male tour guide, who has a very girlie name. June was our Shanghai, and he learned English from BBC Radio and there for he had a British accent. ( he also had a little bit of a billy idol lip snarl going on) No one really payed him much attention. Except when I would flirt with him just for fun.

The students:

Narumi: Deanna's former neighbor; she is an international student, from the land of the rising sun (Japan). She has lived in the states for a while, and speaks nearly perfect English. Sometimes she talk gooder than me. She isn't a stereotypical Asian exchange student, not the the "Donger" from 16 candles. She is a some what conservative Christian, who still has a sense of humor. When I didn't have much to say she would make round eye jokes with her. Whether or not Narumi found this funny or not is still unknown. Through out the trip she is often mistaken for a local.



Megan: She was Narumi's roommate on the trip. One of the more quiet people, and always had a camera strapped around her neck.


Derrick and Max :
Roommates on the trip, that acted like a married couple. Derrick a very tall fellow with long dirty blond hair, who wore aviators all the time and was constantly smoking. He looked a lot like my brother, and the Asian women loved him. However back in the states he doesn't get that much attention from the ladies, and he tried not to let the attention get to his head...it did a little bit.  (At a Halloween party we both showed up wearing the same costume)
Max is a lot shorter that Derrick, and is obsessed with the martial arts, and healthy living. He and Derrick would sit on the bus and swap vitamins. They would often complain about certain aspects of the trip; such as the way the class was being run or the differences in cultures. I would often lean over to Derrick and say "poor Westerner", and then he would laugh and pop more vitamins.

Ken:
A quiet boy, who just graduated from Kendall. He wore his hair in a ponytail with the underside shaved...kinda like  the oldest brother on Home Improvement. He also has very large teeth... He's totally obsessed with Asian culture, and from what I've heard Asian women. 60% of the time he was around all of the time, but he didn't say much. He also went off on his own a lot, except no one really noticed..cause you barely noticed he was there to begin with.

The Bald vegetarian and the stick:
These two always sat in the back of the bus with the regular group of back of the bus sitters, however I can't remember their names for the life of me. The Bald vegetarian's name might be Craig, but that doesn't matter. He was fairly tall, balding, had a big old belly, and he looked a lot like a turtle, mostly when he wore a backpack and a baseball cap. I could tell that he was fairly amused by Alysha and slightly afraid of her. They ordered ahead vegetarian meals for him, which were mostly plates of greasy lettuce. When he would ask Ming if he was going to be served something besides the lettuce,  she would say "You don't like lettuce?"
I have no idea what the Stick's name might be, and there isn't must to say about him anyway, besides the fact that he is extremely tall, and that scared some Asians. If he was ever in a school play they probably made him play a tree.

There were a couple other students...but I don't remember anything about them...I just remember there were some interior and furniture chicks around.

The grownups
Along with Students there were some Alumni, and other people some how connected to the school, that went on the trip as well.

Maja:
 Every group has that annoying person, and Maja was ours. She was a professional interrupter, and was very high maintenance. She was in her mid-thirties, and you could tell that she was stunning when she was younger...still very pretty though. She was non-stop talk, and liked to sit with the younger peoples. Even if we wanted her to or not. There was a sweet side of her that you couldn't ignore (she wouldn't let you), she is a widower and had some brain damage. But seriously imagine the most talkative/ annoying person you know...this was her 80% of the time.

The Elder Couple:
A sophisticated couple, probably in their 70s. I believe their names were Shirley and Bruce... They were a pretty classic couple. Bruce was pretty straight cut, no nonsense kind of guy. I don't remember seeing him smile, and I often wondered if he ever hugged his children. Shirley was kind, but you could tell that she's probably never taken a crap in her life. She often wore black and pearls. They reminded me a bit of the Howls.

The Odd couple:
A kind couple, in their 40s who always felt a tiny bit awkward. The woman always asked series of strange questions, and you could kinda tell that she wore the pants in the relationship. She did not however wear the bra in the relationship. I would often notice that she was not wearing a bra, and I would get sucked into staring at her tiny boobs, and her defined nipples that were suffocated by her red tank tops. Images of orangutans often came to mind. The man was a stalky, over weight fellow with a nice thick mustache. He would often give me pats on the back, I like pats on the back.

The Kansas Boys:
Two wealthy Furniture Designers from Kansas joined us. One kinda looked like a weasel, and talked about his mother a lot. He also liked tacky jewelery, and made purchases left and right. I told him if he need any help using his credit card to look no further. We both laughed....but I was serious. The other was a stout man with glasses that would appear out of no where. I always kind of suspected that they were an item.

The Louisville Ladies:
A mother and daughter, both interiors, from Louisville, Kentucky. ( Loo-ee-vull) They were classic upper middle class ,The southern bred ladies, and I'm sure if they spilled something on themselves it would some how slip right off of them. I would have pleasant small talk with them, and the mother would often comment on the decor of a building. Saying "Oh look how lovely this place is, a classic contemporary design." and then I would be like "OH YEAH....classical contemporary."

The Duffies:
An engaged couple in their late 30s. The man's nickname was Duffy, I never learned his real name, and I'm not too sure if I ever learned his lady's name. I met Duffy on the plane to San Francisco, he's a cheerful man who makes glass jewelery. I suspect that he's always been the class clown.

The Aunt and Niece:
Finally we get to the last people that I can remember. The niece is currently a student at Kendall...studying something or other. She and her Aunt looked very similar, and acted very similar. They were kind ladies, and sometimes I would eat breakfast with them if there was no one else to sit next to.
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We made our way through the machines that took your temperatures, and up to customs. A grumpy looking man looked at my passport and arrival card. There was a machine ,in front of him, that you could rate his performance with- I gave him a smiley face. The airport was freshly build, it was huge but vacant. We gathered around to take our first group photograph, and then we made our way to the luggage area. When we got there I spotted Alysha. We squealed, ran and gave each other a big hug. "You must be the roommate that got lost along the way" Some said, and other asked "How was first class?" Which confused her as to how we knew she flew first class. "I called your mom" I said, and shuffled my feet.
    We stood around the luggage return, and piled our suitcases onto pushcarts. However Alysha's never came, and she had to go fill out a missing luggage card. We made our way to the pick up area of the airport, and met our guides Ming and Shirley. We spent a lot of time counting heads, and passing out luggage tags, before we could get on the bus. Ming and Shirley gave proper introductions, including introducing the bus driver Mr. Fish. Who was called so because he can swim in and out of traffic. I sat in my seat feeling glazed over, and I stared at the airport, which looked like a big dragon. At some point a bird flew into the front window, leaving a big scuff mark on the glass, and I believe Duffy made a Kamikaze joke.
    I felt like an absolute zombie as we got off the bus, it had been a long drive from the airport to the hotel. A woman ran up to David Du and gave him a big hug, very excited to see him. Alysha walked over to her and gave her a hug as well. "Who was that?" Alysha asked. Laughing I replied," His mother." "Oohhhhh." Inside the lobby Narumi was waiting for us. She had been in Indonesia, and then stayed with a family she new in China, while she waited for us. I kept forgetting that she was going to meet us there, and the whole time on the plane I kept having Narumi sightings, and often waved at confused girls. She suggested that after we got our luggage, and settled in, that we go out and get some food. Alysha and I agreed, and we ventured up to our hotel room. I flopped onto the bed, that felt like stone. "Oouucchhh", I whined. I found out that all the beds in China are that hard. Well of course they are...we were staying in a communist country. I then wondered what Chinese people think when they go to another country, and sleep on soft beds. Do they hate it?
    The bell boys knocked on our door, and I went with them and picked out my suitcase. A younger boy with spiky anime hair and acne helped me take my bag to my room. "She-eh she-eh", I said. (meaning thank you) He snort laughed at me. "Well fuck you too", I thought. I then avoided eye contact every time I saw him. We went down stairs, and sat a while trying to figure out what we were going to do. The whole time I was thinking "Why am I doing this? I don't want to go out. I'm so effing tired." I eventually told them that I couldn't do it, and went back up stairs, and as soon as I hit that rock hard bed I was fast asleep.
   

    The flight transfer in San Francisco went by quickly, but it was filled with where in the world is Alysha. As soon as I got in the airport I checked my messages, and I got one from Alysha. The flight that she was going to go on was delayed so she was going to be put on a direct flight to Beijing. That freaked David and Max out cause she would get there before us, so they were scrambling to contact China Spree and let them know, and Alysha didn't tell me her flight problem so we wouldn't be able to tell China Spree that. I eventually realized that I should probably call her mom and tell her about everything that was going on. I figured Alysha would tell her, but just in case she didn't have to...blah blah. She ended up having her flight number, but by that time the professors didn't care anymore. Her mom and I talked for a little while, and she told me that Alysha had gotten the last seat on the plane, and she got a free seat in first class. So I guess that worked out for her, and I didn't have to feel guilty about abandoning her, because I wouldn't have made it to China.

The plane ride

    The plane was huge, (a 747?) it was two stories. I got the window seat, which I was excited about cause I haven't gotten one of those in a while. I ended up being pretty comfortable on the ride, maybe not as comfortable as Alysha. There was no one in the middle seat so the guy, in the aisle seat, and I sprawled out, and there was plenty of space to walk around and do stretches. They made us shut the window shades, so people could sleep and enjoy the movie. It made the plane feel like a little cocoon. While I wasn't really supposed to I would sometimes open the window, and peek out. The plane was flying past Alaska, and we also flew over Siberia. When I peaked out the whole plane light up, but I couldn't help but look. I must admit, however lame it might sound, that the ice shelves were so beautiful that I started to tear up a bit...that and the reflection from the snow was blinding...ha. I cried a lot during this trip, and sometimes its a little hard for me to articulate why, but I felt extremely grateful that I got to experience the things that I did. That and as my mom said "Of course you found it moving, you've got Viking in your blood!" Anyway there isn't much else to say about the plane ride. I was extremely happy most of the plane ride, and I was trying to stay awake..to be on China time..but then I hit a sort of mental brick wall. I was staring outside the window at the clouds and became almost hypnotized at the fact that they looked like jellyfish...and then I just sort of became grumpy. So yeah then I forced myself to go to sleep. haha very exciting I know.



photo doesn't do it justice.
I like to think that somewhere down there is a polar bear.

    The sound of Mike's alarm clock jerked me out of sleep, I roll over and look at Alysha...some what annoyed. I woke her up, and started my get ready routine. We were calm, and after some time I started to perk up. The people in charge wanted us at the gate at 7:00Am. I wasn't worried as we piled into the car, and I wasn't worried while we chit chatted in traffic cause by construction. At 7:00 Mike pulled up to the drop off area, and pulled our luggage out of the trunk. I hugged him and thanked him for not killing us in our sleep.
    We pulled our luggage behind us, and entered the air port. Waiting for us was the very long line to the front of check in. We joined the line and a TSA agent asks to see our tickets. She looked at Alysha's ticket, which was paper, and she looked at mine that was electronic. "Your not going to make it." She told Alysha, and then she turned to me "You might make it if you hurry." and then she directed me to the line I should be in.
    I looked at Alysha and told her that I was sorry, and wheeled over to where I had to be. I still had to wait in a line, and I was in full panic mode. I finally got to the counter, and the machine I end up with didn't scan my passport correctly. After trying to get help for some time I finally get someone, and then other passengers tried to steal her away from me. It felt like checking in was forever, and when it was finally done I turned around and Alysha was in her line, but was behind me. I walked over to her, tearing up, and we gave each other a hug. "It will be okay" she told me. Then we both squealed "I love you" at each other, and then the race was on.
    I turned and ran towards the direction of the security check. I didn't run far until I screeched to a halt, to wait in yet another line. Passports and boarding passes had to be checked before we could go through the metal detectors. I bounced around as I waited in line, and when I finally handed my passport, to the elderly TSA agent, he took his sweet time looking at all the stickers that have accumulated on the covers. "You sure do have a lot of stickers on here" he said. I mentally furrowed my brow, and stared at him till he handed it back to me. I then did the dance of the metal detectors. I took off my shoes and sweater, took out all my electronics and then zipped them down the line. Then I did the dance of trying to quickly get everything back in my bags.
    I started to run again, and the pathway to my gate took me to a darkish tunnel that had neon lights running along the sides. I continued to run, and there was a man ahead of me involved in his own personal race to a plane. The neon lights are blurred as we chase each other. At one point my sandel flew off, and he took the lead. we met up on the escalator, nd we stood there nervously twitching and bouncing. When we got to the top he ran one way, and I ran the other.
    I arrived just in time to the gate, and there was still a little line waiting to board. I was shaking, I was out of breath, I was sweaty, and I felt sick to my stomach as I boarded the plane. I gave a nervous nod and smile to my professors as I pushed my way to my seat, dreading the moment I had to tell them what happened. While I was settling in Alysha called me, and told me that she got another flight, and would be meeting us in San Francisco. "I'm fine" she said, and I could tell from her voice that she was.
    I relaxed, and as soon as I could get up, I went up to David and Max and told them about what was going on. The flight was pretty uneventful. I watched the Bucket List, and they forced the E True Hollywood story: Will Smith, on us. The boy sitting next to me snored the whole flight.

    I could hear my little brother getting ready for school, and I continued to lay in bed until I heard the front door shut. I rolled ungracefully out of bed, and dragged myself upstairs, and then tiptoed into my mother's room. I prodded her and told her the plans for the day. My next job was to wake up Alysha. After shuffling back down stairs I found my cat Wednesday sleeping on the back s of Alysha's legs. "Honey it's time to get up" I said in the most momma bear like manner. I continued to shuffle around the basement, collecting last minuet belongings, as Alysha and Wednesday continued to cuddle. "No really it's time to get up."
    My mom dropped us off at the TA, and on the way there she laughed at the fact that Webber works for Disney. Webber showed up on time, which helped to relax my nerves a little. Running on no sleep combined with traveling really gets my stomach in a knot. He was accompanied by and Asian man that he called Sars. He was a stout man, with large lips, and a jacket and hat that reminded me of Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas.



(I call myself momma bear but I think in this duo I would be Kermit. "Look Dad a bear! That's a frog dear")
    It was a quick drive, filled with long periods of tired silences, awkward stories from Alysha, and Webber's advice on how to survive in China. He had also been in Egypt two weeks prior, and we shot the shit about our experiences while there. He was jealous that I stayed in real hotels, and I was jealous that he got to stay in more "rustic" housing. We also poked fun at Crowder here and there.
    They dropped us off at the Grand Central Station, and they were little sweet hearts and helped us find our way around; they even refused our gas money.
    Our destination: Libertyville, Illinois. Alysha slept through most of the ride, and I strained to here the stop announcements, in the proper momma bear fashion. Which wasn't easy to do because the air was polluted by the chatter of two teen girls sitting across from us. I didn't fancy them much. Scenester girls chittering away about anime with an heir of pretentiousness. Libertyville was finally announced as the next stop, and I nudged Alysha into consciousness. Not really wanting to sit near those girls anymore, I suggest that we move closer to the door. And very awkwardly, with our luggage, we made our way to a seat closer to the door. Behind us was one of the younger conductors, and I could tell he was listening in on our conversation, and he interjected here and there. That's okay I wanted him to.
             And then there was Mike.
    He picked us up wearing his fancy aviator sunglasses, and nothing else. Which is actually a lie of course, what did happen was he picked us up, and he wore his lovely shades, and he showed us the sights of Gurnee; while Alysha played with his sugar glider puppet in the backseat.(Run on sentence much?)  Its almost as dirty as it sounds.
    While arrived at his lovely home, and instantly started putting our greasy fingers all over his belongings. Alysha found a Star Trek sound track, and became fixiated with that, and I found a Data action figure that I instantly bonded with. He had to get back to work, and after he left we continued to poke around at his stuff. We let out full on nerd squeals of excitement here and there.
    I really like his house...like for realz. Alysha plopped down on the couch, and I made my way out into the back yard. I sprawled out in the grass, and enjoyed the sunshine and the warm breeze. Which made the long grass ripple and glisten. Combined with listening to The Album Leaf on my IPod, it was a rather good way to unwind from the wear and tear of that day. And if you looked out the bathroom window you could see the spots of bent grass that I had sunbathed in.


    Alysha was asleep for five hours, momma bear counted. During that time her freshly ex boyfriend called three times. I eventually picked up the phone and told him that she was sleeping. I like Dave, and I know this still isn't easy for him, but his obsessive calls were starting to bother me. It upsets me when you upset her.
    When Mike got back from work he took us out for pizza, and during which she vanished into the bathroom...to talk to Dave. I guess every journey has its bumps along the way, but I didn't want hers to start out like that. Plus momma bear reminded her that she was roaming and that the foo betta pay her phone bill.
    Its hard to describe what we did that night. There was a lot of Trek talk. (Alysha is so damn cute when she talks Trek.) There were sporadic sounds, accents, and running around. Aylsha was hyper, because of the nice long nap she had, and I was hyper because of the lack of sleep I had. Around 2 we decided that we should try to get some sleep. But Alysha was very hyper and burst into laughter every two seconds, which made me laugh as well. Even though in my mind I was going "Dear god go to sleep". I eventually sought refuge on the couch for a while until she calmed down. (god bless her)

    The day was filled with explosive energy charged by anticipation. Mom was coming to pick Alysha and I up. The last time I was home was back on Easter. Now that the sun is back there has been a need for home. Mom and Freedom arrived while Alysha was running around downtown. She kept us waiting for a while; which I found highly irritating.
    Once we were finally on the road she and my mother filled the air with Trek babble. She talked with such joy and excitement, about Star Trek, that her cuteness made us forget all about her making us wait. when we got home mom had made BBQ chicken which we scarffed down instantly. Alysha ate the whole bowl of green beans- my mom really really liked her.
    That night we met up with my friends Cody and Mike, at the local truck stop. I often have to explain why we would meet up at a truck stop. It's a small town thing. I was a little nervous about introducing them to Alysha. Just didn't know what they would think of each other, on both sides. We got on the subject of trying to find a train station for us to go to the next day. At this time Webber comes into the Country Pride, and Cody inquires whether or not he knows of a train station near by. Webber rembles off some answers, and asks us where we are going. I tell him that we are going to Chicago. "I'm driving to Chicago tomorrow He said, and I awkwardly bobbled my head. "Watcha doing in Chicago?" I ask. "I have to go to the Chinese Embassy."
    As it turned out he works for Disney, doing lights for live performances. Which is funy, because he is extremely tall, listens to death metal, and has an intemidating presence about him, and he works for Disney. "Please kill me" He says, when I joke about it. I tell him that I am going to China as well, and he offered me a ride to Chicago. Alysha and I accept, and we talk about how we need to have drinks together in Shanghai.
    Much talking, more people showed up, and Webber and I talk a bit about two mutal friends we have at Kendall, Crowder and Murph. Mean while my roommate dissapeared in the bather until we end up leaving.
    He was picking us up at 8AM, and that night I couldn't sleep. My cat Neko curled up beside me, and the excitement for my next adventure wouldn't let me be.

I feel sick to my stomach....and all I can really think about is how I'm probably going to end up a spinster who probably breeds guinea pigs in her basement, and shows them at county fairs. I don't even think guinea pigs are that cute!

    I should be writing papers for my Irish and Mythology classes, but motivation is at a minimum. While I was all set to get work done yesterday; I randomly had a social life.

    My friend Kate called yesterday, wanting to know if I wanted to hang out for a little while. We usually go get a bite to eat, and I figured I had time for that. While eating we got on the subject of Rats and Guinea pigs. Kate has been wanting to get rats forever, and I've been contemplating  getting a guinea pig. Well we then decided to go to a pet store, and that we would be strong! It was a nice little visit; a combination of being happy to pet the animals, and feeling guilty that I wasn't bringing any of them home. We wandered over to the small pet department. We giggled at the mice, said hello to the chinchilla, and I eyed the guinea pigs....luckily I didn't fall in love with any of them. Then we wandered to the rat section, and Kate got all giggly. Kate is not usually a giggly girl, and that's partly why I like her so much. haha. Anyway, I think I kinda talked her into getting the rats, or I was at least partly responsible. A "quick" get together ,to get some dinner, turned into a "quick" visit to look at some animals turned into a quest to find the right cage.

    We didn't get the rats that night, because Kate wanted to have everything set up and ready before she brought them home. We sat at my place for a while and looked up information on rat care. Then my roommate Aylsha came home. That night was Zombie of Zomb. People get together at this park in the middle of the night. Some play as humans and a few start out as zombies. Humans have nerff guns and zombies hunt in packs. Aylsha is a pretty big fan, and Kate and I ended up going with her. Kate and I were going to play as zombies, because we didn't have guns, and the whole ride there I kept telling our driver, Chris, that I was going to kill him. We met in a parking lot, and there was over 100 of us, it was probably the second nerdiest gathering I've been to. What's the first? A con of some sort, don't worry about it. They were pretty excited that there were more girl players. Zombies had a 10 min start to get to the park, and we ran most of the way. Lesson of the night was, I am pretty out of shape. We waited at the bottom of a hill in the park, until we heard their battle cry, and then we rushed them. It must have looked pretty cool; about twenty zombies running down a hill with the full moon behind them. We weren't the slow zombies, we were 28 days later zombies. *nod* When a zombie is hit with a dart it is supposed to sit down on the ground for three minuets. With in the first ten minuets I was shot, and didn't sit down fast enough and another dumb zombie thought I was a human tackled me, and then Chris knocked into to me. He stopped to see if I was okay, and then he was killed.
" I got killed in the first 10 minuets, because I saw you, tiny you, and I was worried about you! This always happens in the movies!"
"I told you I was going to kill you."
Zombies won by the way.

    With all that running, I am very sore today. I woke up around 9:30, so I could go with Kate to get her rats. She named them Beatrix and Ophelia. Yeah they're pretty damn cute.

Yesterday:

I stood in line holding my basket of french fries, waiting for my quesadilla to finish cooking. ( Why they serve quesadillas and french fries I'm not really sure.)

"Can I have one of your french fries?" Asked the man next in line.
I didn't really know what to say to that; I'm not really good with the whole talking to strangers thing. So I smiled and scooted away.
"You have all those french fries, and I can even have one?"
I stuck my tongue out at him.
(To the cashier) "Bitch stuck her tongue out at me!"

I haven't had much time to start updating this journal yet.



This is my life right now, pastels and papers. Finals are going on right now.

I just finished up one of my pastels, and I've possibly got two more to do in a two week time span. I also have to finish some journal entries, a few random work sheets, write my obituary, and write about my mythic journey and present it to the class for mythology. I thought about my obituary for a little while today, trying to think about what age I will die at, and what I will die of. Realistically I came up with dying in a car accident, I have an on going struggle with things on wheels, and cancer; now-a-days everything gives you cancer. Or I could put down that I died while trying to save baby harp seals. I'm trying to decide what age I will die, I'm thinking late 50s- mid 60s? "But that's so young!" Hopefully I will have accomplished a lot by this age, and honestly I don't want to decay into the nothingness that is old age. I like to think that I wont end up in a nursing home....but who knows *shudder*

The same day that I have to give my presentation in mythology I have to give my presentation in my Irish Culture class. The presentation is on the same subject as the paper I have to turn in, Celtic mythology; he wants the presentation to be about Celtic mythology, except completely different than my paper. Oh and I also have two projects in my digital class.

On a different note....

I have a pet Chinchilla named Peri Winkle; he's the boy I love...who wants nothing to do with me. 



Whilst I was sitting on the couch today I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a gray blur zoom by. I thought I had hallucinated. Peri lives a giant wooden cage, and has been gnawing on it for ages. I thought I had more time until I had to replace that board, but today victory was his. It was short lived, however. While I was fixing up his small cage  he jumped back in the wooden one, and I stuffed a festive Christmas sock in the hole. Which he started chewing upon instantly, that should be good for him.

Bambigotapanzer is dead; I shot her.