Long Winters

well, i apologize for leading you all along to believe that i had this blog posting thing under control. truth is though, that during the week, AOL and CompuServe had a big fight over which one of them was going to provide me with internet service. all at the expense of me. i think i was denied access on wenesday night or so, and didn't get it all straightened out until just last night.

classes? fantastic! i don't think i went into them really expecting much. i mean i really didn't know what to expect. i hadn't really thought too much about it beforehand, it just sort of happened. And they fucking rock!!! i kid you not! i think what has surprised me the most is how much i'm really into them. in school before i would rarely ever parcipate or raise my hand or whatever, but now i'm all for it! all my teachers are just as into the classes as i am, i think. even if they're not bouncing off the walls and inspiring the masses (though a couple are... or at the very least, pissing people off). i'll you give the rundown later.

in other news, it's really cold. i don't say that lightly. i usually manage to stay pretty warm. just as it's in my genes or something, but this is pretty intense. it's not even enough that the highs only get up around 15 degress F, but the wind coming down from the hills is a killer. i honestly don't think i was that aware of how bad it was until yesterday when i was out driving around as the sun was setting and you could just feel all warmth leave the air. even the exhaust from the nuclear power station near by was cooling so much that it stayed pretty low over the hills. it just felt cold. period. the clincher was that there were sheets of ice all along the river. it was absolutely breathtaking. i'd never seen it like that. it made me feel like i'm much farther north than i thought. plus there's just no rain anymore, just snow. so much that you just start taking it for granted. it is a lot of fun, though, to be driving around singing to pedro the lion and all the while you can see your breath. though it may have sounded like complaining at first, all these are the simple pleasures of an artic wonderland.

oh, distance has a way of making love, understandable

Joe Buck, You're The Greatest!

tomorrow's the big day. i'm excited. battling the mentality, that seems a part of growing up, that school is to be dreaded. you go in, do your time, and get on with your day, with your week, until the weekend. Then repeat (until throughly educated). the same with work, except there's more physical wear.

i'll keep you posted :)

just sit down, there's no dancing

is it bad (or just sad) that tonight is more like christmas eve than... well, christmas eve?

...hmm, i can't decide.

"whatever, mortal"

well, i think i'm going to go ahead and completely rip off michelle's idea and put up a little "top 5" list of my own. terrible. but it's a really good idea, and i'm going to tell her, so it's okay.

impressively i've done fairly well in money spending even though i don't have a budget in motion just yet. it's a little scary having so much money at my disposal. but it has to last me a good half a year, i would think. did some good grocery shopping, plus bill paying. Rented the two remaining paul thomas anderson films i have yet to see (remarkably Boogie Nights and his debut Hard Eight). This is what i had in mind. Usually i get off track.

we've been getting a lot of snow already this winter. it's quite remarkable. the afternoon snow flurries that swirl all around you but melt on the road are probably my favorite. it's sticks mostly to the ground b/c of how much colder it remains than pavement. it's pure magic. the silence is the best part. There's no thunder, no droning patter of raindrops, though i enjoy thunderstorms quite thoroughly as well, there's just an odd echoing stillness. there's the silent movement of the snowflakes and the wind.

all verbs

hey be sure to check out the fun extras, but especially go visit/explore julia davis' improved site. it's absolutely gorgeous.

big little steps

well, i'm having the worst time trying to get the comments section up, so i put my e-mail in the links section. you can reach me that way, if you wish. i would especially appreciate shorts notes just letting me know that you hold no grudge against me for my long absence.

managed to get up early this morning and many an errand done before noon (usual waking time). mostly silly things. hope to have everything for the welfare office tomorrow. i'm also all set to start work again after my first day of classes. friday's going to be shopping day. for food and a tv and such. hope to get a bunch of cleaning done this afternoon. rock!

i try but cannot remember the colour of your eyes
just the shape of your dress

happenstance

well, i'm back from all my holiday travels. it all went quite nicely actually. everything just flowed right into the next. it was all so quick that i didn't even much time to over-think much of it at all. ended up spending more money on records in a week than all year (i think). A whole lot of stuff that i've had on my wish list for a good while, plus a few good surprises. But it mostly nice to find a sort of grounding in all the people i managed to see. really most everybody that i keep in touch with. it's too bad some couldn't be closer, or vice versa.

no, i'm still here in my odd, drafty apartment. watching meaningless sitcoms and trying to find the energy to clean the place. a lot of scary stuff to take care of too. mostly having to do with money. i managed to rack up a $1000 worth of medical bills, mostly in one foul swoop. as these things go it was my last day of work and i was asked to play a game or two of basketball with some of the teachers before work. elbow to mouth, four and a half hours waiting in the er, two stiches later and i had myself an odd and expensive end to working full time (for now). so now i've got to try (again) to get medical assistance from the great state of pennsylvania. hopefully food stamps as well. it's just pretty nerve-wracking. i do have some money saved away, but my paranoid dad makes me nervous about how long that might last.

oh, right. i'm taking classes again. full-time. still working at sheetz but that's just 6/hrs a week of cleaning (fun fact: for the holidays they sent me $10 cash! For those who don't know, sheetz is a pretty large chain of convience stores that strech through most of PA and maryland and some of west virginia and virginia. i didn't even get a christmas bonus at my "real" job!?). Anyway, all this promises to leave me with much more energy and too much free time.

the comments section should be back up shortly.

i live my life on the road
the view is never changing
just the viewer's mode