okay, so Gwen fixed my comments and now the Snozzberry people say I have to reinstall it because they changed their site and I AM SO SICK OF THIS CRAP. Just a little venting for you folks out there, brought to you by our PMS Committee.

DON'T READ THIS NEXT PART IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE SUBJECT OF WOMEN'S HEALTHCARE!!! OKay? Jason, are you still reading? Well, stop until I say it's safe. Tomorrow I have to go to the "gynie" (as HEF coined the phrase... Remember when we were talking about the gynie in Greg Supple's basement and his stepfather walked in and he had obviously heard the whole thing? Yeah. That was embarrassing in a very funny way.) So not looking forward to that. Just a little reminder to do your monthly self-breast exams in solidarity, okay? :)

IT'S SAFE TO RESUME READING...

Working for Alissa's mom is very fun. I don't have to talk to customers or anything. I get to hang out in the stock room and tie ribbons on things and wrap presents for people and attach pretty cards to brown paper bags and turn them into gift bags and fluff artificial Christmas trees. It's actually very relaxing.

I am procrastinating. I have to go finish working on my CD-ROM Portfolio version 2.0. Almost done. Just have to print labels and burn CDs and stuff. I have done nothing but eat, sleep, work at Country N' More, and work on this CD for the last three days. Seriously, I worked harder on the CD in three days than I did all semester. It's new and improved, but it still has some quirks. Sigh....

Oh, and I also yelled at Alissa in German to work on her paper. :) MACH SCHNELL! ARBEIT MACH FREI!

Gwen is good! Gwen is great! She fixed my comments and the error message issues! I was totally hovering, impatient and mean while she fixed them, and she was nice about it even though she is very tired. :) Hooray for old friends who understand you. (Hey, Old Friends! Now you can comment on this page, and it won't be like sucky reblogger!) :) I smudged her with incense to thank her in the Goddess tradition.

I got the incense out of my sacred space, (a quasi-private meditation area that some of you have been in) which is now very clean. I had wax all over it, but I got this great candle wax remover stuff from Alissa's mom's store, and it really worked. I didn't think that it would, really, but it did. Also, I am going to work for Alissa's mom sometimes, which is very exciting. I am getting a very eclectic post-graduate work experience, what with the freelancing and the interning and the substitute teaching and the occasional retail/stock-type stuff. It will be fun when I am older to list all of my jobs, like SARK does.

Here is a partial list off the top of my head: babysitter, snack bar worker, dishwasher, short order cook, cashier, hostess, waitress, telemarketer, saleswoman, clerical staff, band bus captain, quartermaster (hey, I got paid to do those things-- work study in college), librarian, receptionist, image technician, photojournalist, pet and wedding photographer, substitute teacher and now temp stocker/craft store employee. Hmmm.... This life is amazing! I wonder what I will be in the next one.... :)

Also, today was the 50th birthday of the woman who can teach phonics while wiping noses, prosecute child abusers, waitress like nobody's business, read books with perfect voice inflections, knew how important it was to be the first parent in line to pick me up from kindergarten/CCD/Band Camp/Parents' Weekend, bake a delicious casserole and look gorgeous in 25 different shades of burgundy lipstick. Happy birthday, Mom!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Family and friends are starting to arrive, so this will be short. :) This year I am most thankful for good health for all in my family. We had too many broken bones, trips to the hospital and painful journeys last winter, and so I am grateful for the resiliency of my family. I am also gratefull for the steadfastness of my friends, who never cease to amaze me.

Larry is here right now talking to my mother in the hallway outside of the computer room. She is telling him that Amanda and Tom did not drive from Boston; they flew. He's saying, "They FLE-EWWWW!" At the very least, I'll get some good new material!

Here's wishing you all a PEACEFUL holiday.

My sister is here, tra la la. Annie is in town, and Nick is on his way, and Jason doesn't have to work, and I can have lunch with Alissa on Friday, and Gwen will be here soon! La la la! No more loneliness for the rest of the week!! :)

I sat outside today in the freezing cold for eight hours straight with half an hour for lunch. I also did that yesterday. It was unbelievably cold. I sat in my lawn chair. The highlight of my day was when Paul, one of my co-workers, brought me unbelievably delicious soup. It was the perfect temperature- not so hot that it burns your mouth, but definitely very hot. I was huddled next to this wall which was sort of out of the wind.

Had another fight with mom. Grrrrr.... Hate that.

Wow, I really have to be better about blogging. I only wrote once last week. Anyway, I SAW THE HARRY POTTER MOVIE!! I really, really liked it. I had a lot of fun.

Alissa and I got up at stupid o'clock in the morning to go see it- No, wait, first we got up at Really Stupid O'Clock to see the meteor showers, which were unbelieavable. I was sound asleep on Gwen's couch in DC when Gwen, Alissa, Greg (SOOO GOOD TO SEE GRAC!!!) and Heather and I ventured out to find a dark, noncloudy, fog-free place to watch them around 4 a.m. I kept falling asleep in the car, to be awoken by lovely friends as we arrived at each new place, only to discover it was too bright, too foggy, etc. to get back in the car and fall asleep again until we found a good spot. It was almost supernatural, it was so beautiful.

We then went back to sleep for an hour until Alissa and I went to the 8 a.m. showing of the Harry Potter movie. It was very fun. I think they did a really good job on it, but I have to say that I like the books better. There were some things about the movie that I actually liked better than the way I was imagining them, whihc was kind of nice. Alissa and I were both struck by the same notion that marching bands everywhere will be using the John Williams score for field shows for the next few years. We were even imagining that the drum majors will be wearing Hogwarts robes and pointed hats and the colorguard will run across the field with t-bar flags depicting the banners of each of the four houses of Hogwarts and doing guard work with various sized balls during music from the Quidditch sequences. Band geeks, never say die! :)

On a more serious note, I have a topic for discussion/comment. Thanksgiving is coming up, and as usual, we have invited a very mixed crowd of people to have dinner at our house. Some of these people are my grandmother's friends, who are middle-aged and elderly people. Now, all of you know that hold I deeply radical feminist views. Part of my philosophy regarding my politics realtes to my belief that activists who are committed to social change should interrupt racist/sexist/classist, etc. moments wherever and whenever they occur (unless they are espoused by Nick, who desperately wants a rise out of me, which I now refuse give him, because once I am officially "risen," I have, in the past, had homocidal tendencies. Those of you who witnessed the "You hate me, but you love me" incident of 1998 will attest to this). This actually has led to some very tense moments in recent months when I have been eating dinner with these people at my grandmother's house, and they make racist comments, largely relating to immigrants, people of the Islamic faith, and other people who wear turbans, including but not limited to Sikhs, people taking chemo and Daddy Warbucks' manservant Punjab, from the beloved musical Annie.

Okay, I was kidding there a little bit, but seriously... My parents were furious with me when I curtly explained, at a recent dinner, that Sikhs practice an entirely different religion altogether and such comments are inappropriate. One woman was deeply offended when she thought my grandmother had a plumber named Mohammed (his name is Mahoney) because she "wouldn't want one of those people in her house," etc, etc.

If I were to have my way, I would not break bread with these people. They would not be welcome at my table, certainly not at a celebration where we call to mind all that we are grateful for. I am of the belief that if one is not part of the solution, then he or she is part of the problem. Furthermore, I believe that if one is not outraged about oppression in all its forms, then one is not paying attention. I know that is not a popular opinion.

My mom is also uncomfortable with these people's racist comments, etc., and she believes that we should say something if racist comments are made at the Thanksgiving dinner table, but not if it would embarrass anyone. My dad thinks that these people are good at heart, that they say things out of ignorance, that they "do it for comic relief," and since they aren't actually out committing hate crimes, it's okay, we can't "teach old dogs new tricks," just let it go, it's a holiday, etc, etc. My mother said she "lives in fear" not of them saying racist things about the war, etc., but of my causing an awkward moment by not tolerating it. So.... What to do? Any thoughts?

Hello, all... Well, I am bored to death, this being my third official day as a freelancer, while I am not actually freelancing because I am waiting to hear about some job opportunities, and I don't want to put myself on freelancer lists if I have to take myself off almost immediately. Sigh... I hate waiting for the phone to ring.

I had a very fun time at championships with HEF this past weekend! Actually, I got more one-on-one Heather bonding trime than I think I have ever had in my life, which was great! (Thank you, HEF!) I was driving us home in the rural area north of Lititz at one in the morning with practically no gas at all. All of the gas stations were closed. We were actually going up to pumps, inserting the turned off hose, and squeezing whatever drops we could into the tank. Bad news, bear. It would have been fine, we would have called AAA, but it was still risky and stupid nonetheless. We saw a gas station that was still open just in time.

In the meantime, I have cleaned the house, read all of Harry Potter IV again, made a bunch of Christmas presents, wrapped almost all of my Christmas presents, done three loads of laundry, ironed a month's worth of clothing, written half a dozen letters, went to Root's with my parents, watched a LOT of television, faxed a resume and cover letter to a place where I am going to teach photography and made a bunch of long distance phone calls. My main goal for today is to install my new CD-burner on my computer.

I really should be working on my new CD-ROM portfolio. That's my goal for next week is to do a complete redesign. I have already gathered up the raw materials.

I AM SO BORED..... Please, please come visit me and entertain me!!! Can't wait to see everyone for Thanksgiving. :)

Tomorrow I am going to Allentown with HEF to see Hempfield compete in band championships. I have not seen the band since I graduated. I am now old enough not to be considered one of those pathetic hangers-on, and besides, Heather's brother is the drum major.

On Band Fun Night 1995, Heather gave me her glow-in-the-dark triangle. It was great. When I did my last will and testament (which Mr. Powers threatened to disband my senior year) , I willed them to Lauren Groff, with instrauctions for her to pass them on. Then, I know they went to Liz Stacks, who willed one to Martha Fuchs and one to Amanda Kramer (Meg and Ben's sisters, respectively) with the instructions that they should pass them on. So I am curious to know... Are they still around? Will Martha will them on to the next Pit Grrl? I think maybe I will ask tomorrow.

That may, however, make me seem like a pathetic hanger-on.

Oh. My. Goddess.

All of you, seriously, need to go to my Soapbox. Right now. Now matter what your politics are, you need to see this. I could throw up. Racism is alive and well. Here is a good example of things that can go horribly, horribly wrong in SOME (not all, not all) factions of the Greek system.

Holy shit.

Grumble. Blarg. I am trying to fix the stupid comments so that the counter works again, but so far the only thing that I have been able to accomplish is making A> appear next to my comments. If all I wanted to do was make A> appear next to my comments counter, do you think I wold be able to? No, of course not. And I was so proud of myself because I installed some new tricky software on my computer all by myself. Maybe I am only allowed to have one computer miracle per day.

Yesterday, I went to the Hempfield Craft Show. My mom's best friend from college (whom everyone, even at the age of 50, still calls Kuhlen-- her last name-- which makes me happy to think I'll still be calling Enders "Enders" and Wetzel "Wetzel" 28 years from now) was in town. So Kuhlen was here, and she is very fun and cool, and they were going to the Hempfield Craft Show and they asked me if I wanted to go, and I was like, "I like craft shows. I like Kuhlen. I benefitted from the scholarship fund that the craft show supports. I'll go."

Hmmm.... Somehow, things did not compute in my brain. Why did I not realize that practically every teacher I ever had and didn't want to see (as in, I did not see Doc Kondravy, Mrs. Wetzel or Mrs. Minnich) would be there? Why did I not realize that the food they would be selling would be hot dogs with sauerkraut and those subs I used to eat every day in junior high with the mysterious pink meat such that the whole craft fair smelled like the school cafeteria? Why did I not realize I would run into the mothers of a bunch of people I lost touch with four years ago? Why did it not make sense to me that my fourth grade teacher- who was pregnant when I had her; we were so excited- would be there and her son (who I went to see the day he come home from the hospital) would be like, 12, and running around in a soccer uniform. Why did I go? What was I thinking? What? Why? Why? WHY?

It was not that traumatic. It was just very strange. I ran into this teacher that people used to refer to as "Mrs. Fetterf*cker." (Not her real name) She was with Mrs. Shenk, my 8th grade science teacher who of course remembers me because 8th grade was the cow manure/Science Fair Jr. Grand Champion year (If you don't know about me doing a five-year long project about cow manure and my local fame, we probably became friends in college-- I'll tell you sometime over a bottle of wine). Mrs. Shenk was all, "Angie, hi! How ARE you?" And Mrs. Fetterf*cker was like, "Didn't I have you?" and I was like "No, actually, I don't think so," but all I can hear in my brain is "Mrs. Fetterf*cker. Mrs. Fetterf*cker." It was like that scene in Bridget Jones' Diary (the movie version) where she has to introduce her boss Mr. Fitzherbert, and all she can think is "Mr. Titspervert." Luckily, I didn't slip away and exited the conversation quickly enough. Sigh.....

It did occur to me, though, that when and if I end up substitute teaching, I will be having similar experiences every day. Stay tuned....

So today I took a much needed sick day, as I was having all sorts of feverish, nausea issues last night. I told myself I would do a bunch of things, including resting of course, that I have been putting off doing for a few weeks now. But the very first thing I wanted to do was wake up when my body told me to- which turned out to be at 3:00 this afternoon. I had some very strange dreams, too, which you may find interesting.

I am also working on a very fun new craft project where I have decided to paint a broom. I asked Alissa where I could buy one with a wooden handle, since this is the sort of thing that Alissa knows, and she was very bummed because apparently she had been planning on painting me a broom for Christmas. I almost wish Alissa was the one making the painted broom afterall, because she is very good at things like that. :) I never got around to broom-painting today.

By the way, the new Femail Creations catalogue (where the idea to paint brooms came from) is awesome, and in case anyone did not know what to get me for Christmas/Solstice, the beaded fruit basket, the incense bottles (especially the one with the Goddess on it), and the compass necklace that says "Search" on it, all rock my modern young adult world. :) They're way more expensive that anyone who reads this page can afford, so really I am saying this for the benefit of Random Wealthy Web Surfers who may wish to shower me with presents. For those of you who are not Random Wealthy Web Surfers, your friendship and love are priceless presents, and all I really need.

Although, a job would be nice. My internship is over at the end of next week, and then I am back to freelancing. I am also doing some training sessions to be a substitute teacher, which should be interesting. I am trying very hard not to be frustrated by the whole job-hunting-in-a-sucky-economy process.

Positive. I am staying focused on the positive.