Thursday, September 30, 2010

And now, live from the old house.

Yeah.... Salt Lake didn't work out. It's kind of sad, but there you have it. Other than that, not much to report, but now that I've semi-gotten back into the habit of keeping up with this thing I don't want to stop.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Life in Starbucks, or the Musings of Mr. Bradley iv

Every afternoon for a week or so now, I've gone to the Barnes & Noble cafe, gotten a tiny cheap coffee, and sat in the corner to watch people come and go. It's been thoroughly enjoyable in that it helps me get in a more write-y mood, helps me give my characters more depth. A bunch of random stuff I've thought of while sitting in or walking to/from the cafe:

•The only depressing thing I've come up with, in relation to sitting in B&N, is that it's a world of transit. Everybody just comes and goes, in their own little bubble. Even if they sit and talk with someone, they have their own space that nobody else enters. All these bubbles bounce and touch, but nobody crosses over. Except for me and the employees. (Yeah, I go specifically to eavesdrop. Got a problem?)

•I'm irresponsible. Sometimes I feel like it's tangible in the air around me, or a sound I make when I walk. I go "irresponse, irresponse, irresponse" like in that Calving and Hobbes comic. Galosh, galosh, galosh. I spent money I kind of shouldn't have (and now DON'T have to begin with) and bought a beautiful 1000+ page book for only $21-plus-change. My rationalization is that 1, this is my September allotment (I've put a restriction on myself that I can only buy one book a month, unless it's a special case; special cases usually constitute midnight releases, but is open to interpretation) and 2, I saved 30% thanks to my member discount and the new release promotion.

•I love the staff at the Barnes & Noble cafe. And I think they love me.

•I can make a fairly decent fake mocha by loading a cup of plain coffee with cream, sugar, and cocoa, for about half the price.

•Current strengths in my life: talking to boys; playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook.

•It should rain. [ten minutes pass] It should rain harder.

•My iTunes library has far too many associated memories. I can't listen to anything without thinking of somebody, sometime, somewhere. (This is even after I've deleted the really painful ones.)

•The only place I feel remotely unsafe walking to/from Barnes & Noble is the outside bar a block and a half from the house. Not even the freeway underpass at night triggers the mild anxiety I get when I walk past one people start drinking.

•We need more milk.

•I need a job so I can buy milk.

•I think about milk way too much.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Not thinking. Not thinking. Thinking. Not thinking.

Bah. Now I'm all nostalgic. I blame the caffeine.

A year of my life condensed into thirty-odd blurbs. Thirty snapshots. It's like a really bad journal. (Wait, isn't that what a blog is anyway? Moot point.) Not even good snapshots, really. All the best parts have been the ones I can't put into words. Just hanging out with friends. Moments with my family (edit: Moments with my sisters). Even school sometimes. I grow up too fast.

So. Here's the shoutouts to the people who have changed my life in the past year. Barely any of you actually see my blog, but I'm putting it out there on the off chance you get around here sometime. Apologies in advance for the use of real names. Hope none of you are offended. I'm sure I'm going to miss some of you, but who can blame me?

The family: Sara, Lara and Holly. Love you all so much, even if I don't act like it a lot of the time.
•Sara, thanks for the toaster, it's working brilliantly.
•Lara, the towels are a lifesaver, and they made Amanda laugh the first time I took a shower because I came out covered in purple lint.
•Holly, I do miss you. More than I thought. More than I like. But this is happening and I need it to happen.

The friends: Shelby, Caitlyn, Victoria, Ariel, Amanda, Dustin, Kayelee, Rikki, Briana, Kelley. You made school bearable. After classes ended you made life fun. To the writing ones: You guys are the most incredible people I know. I'm so proud of what we've accomplished, both separately in the role-plays, and by ourselves in our own projects. We will all be published one day, and when that happens you can bet I'll brag about it. "I knew them in high school. Oooh, what now?!"
•Shelby, I will forever love your sense of humor.
•Caitlyn, thanks for being the voice of reason when we needed it — and let's face it, we needed it a lot.
•Victoria, you give fantastic hugs and the best midnight advice.
•Ariel, thanks for leaving behind a great club. You did a brilliant job at running it and gave me something to look up to.
•Amanda, we've had the ups and downs, but I've been as honest with you as I can be. Thanks for (probably) doing the same.
•Dustin, I know things haven't gone the way we expected them to, but I worry about you just as much as you do for me. I care about you and honestly pray for you — though not in the same way.
•Kayelee, you're almost there. You can make it. Thanks for helping me. I'll always think of you when I get a frozen coffee drink or go bowling, you and the Emilys. (Loves to both of you, for the party nights — Emily D for the prom and Emily G for the one with the straw hat and the crackers, not to mention To Wong Foo.)
•Rikki and Briana: we'll be the trio again sometime — Arctic Circle is calling. Thanks for laughing a lot and being ghetto in Rikki's van together. Rikki, my other soulmate, keep me posted on boys/music. Briana, shoot people in HALO and pretend they're me — it'll make you laugh when you imagine my reactions.
•Kelley, thanks for accompanying us, and listening to me whine far more than I should be allowed to.

The boys: Clark and Xandr.
•Clark, you're one of the sweetest people I know. Thank you for putting up with me. Things will work out for you.
•Xandr, things didn't work out. I'm sorry for the parts that were my fault, not to mention some of the ones that aren't, and I wish you the best in life. Thank you for what you've given me. Enjoy the book.

The teachers/random school people: Mrs. Warby, AP Music 2009- 2010, Gina/Abby, Mr. Johnson.
•Warby, I basically love you. You taught me so much more than music, and did so much more than teach. Here's hoping I taught something back.
•AP Music, I love you all. Honestly and hands down my favorite class this year. Thanks for making B3 fun.
•Gina and Abby, you run the library beautifully. I was so privileged to be able to help out.
•J (and by proxy a good portion of the drama department) thanks for the push. I still hate the tambourine, but it was a good learning experience. Also sorry for not really showing up to class those last couple weeks... Looking back, I honestly can't remember why.

The randoms:
•all the cats in their different places;
•all the baristas who make me mochas;
•Misty Lue, for the awesome store;
•Mikey for talking/listening;
•everybody at UTA, even if I haven't met you all;
•Lisa for the comics, the MP3 of the day, and the reminder that you don't have to be married to be married;
•Jennica for letting us eat macaroni instead of going to fourth period, and for talking Mockingjay/Scott Pilgrim;
•Sandy for the rides and the shake;
•Megan at the bank for being friendly;
•Bryce for letting me move in without a job and $160 in cash;
•Mikelle for being epic at the piano;
•anybody who ever returned one of my books in the same condition it was given;
•Shireen for all the song lyrics and wavelengths;
•Tanya for the artwork and camera skills;
•the neighbors for being the neighbors, and putting up with all our craziness;
•Yoko Shimomora, Thomas Newman, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Hans Zimmer, for the music;
•Lady Gaga for the music and craziness;
•Muse, Trifonic, Marina, Tegan/Sara, Meg/Dia, and Thriving Ivory for the music;
•Chris Baty for the ambitious acts of the imagination;
•Æon, for the short shorts and the boat-rocking and general online hilarity;
•anybody who ever sold me a book, ever, regardless of location or time or the book(s) involved;
•everybody at Wikipedia, Facebook and Google for making the internet fun/pointless;
•everybody at Apple for making the internet attractive (as far as the access method goes);
•Eric for the talk and the drink;
•Daive, Cory and Kerisa for the party; and
•my bed for being the best place to sleep, because it's mine and mine alone.

Two Posts/One Night

Not that this is important or anything, but I've had this blog for over a year now. Weird when you think about it. Not that I'm planning on thinking about it — after all, it's 12:30 in the AM and I've had far too much Subway Drink to be wholly healthy, but oh well.

Here's to the one year and twenty days of Musings!

Friday, September 17, 2010

And now, live from the New House!

Yeah, okay. I've been here a couple weeks, and you'd think exciting things would have happened between then and now.

Exciting things that have happened between then and now:

1. I've had one date.
2. I've had one job interview.
3. TBA


Yeah, life here isn't a whole lot different than before. Food selection is limited and the internet connection is a thousand times better, but other than that life hasn't changed much. I still spend the majority of my time doing one of five major activities (reading, writing, Facebooking, talking to boys, sleeping). I still stay up till obscene hours and don't sleep in nearly as much as I'd like, though now I don't have to do it secretively.

Even the selection of boys I talk to hasn't changed much. Sure, new location, new pool, right? I guess. Unfortunately the gay community is rather polarized. You get the Gym Rats with minimal personality but carefully-sculpted bodies, the Friendly Older Men, and the teenage Flamers with matching hairdos and profiles. "im chill no girlz plz bois tlk 2 me plz plz".

Seriously.

Roommates are nice, and aside from a couple mild spats things have gone smoothly all around. We take turns buying milk and avoid eating each other's food. We watch movies or play Band Hero or Monopoly every night, so there is actual bonding. Chores get done. Life goes on.

Now if I could just get a job....

Interview with the café at Barnes & Noble tomorrow. And NaNoWriMo is only 44 days away. (Technically 43 days, 23 hours and 55-ish minutes, but we're not counting.)