Photos, photos, who's got the photos?



Not me! The above photo is the only one taken in the past two weeks that anyone's bothered to post (thanks, EG!) I'm waiting for photos from my birthday and from my Reno/Tahoe adventure---as soon as I can I'll post them, complete with exciting commentary!

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Birthday All Week!



The showing tonight was small but fun. I didn't do so well at pool, but rocked the air hockey and was respectable at the Ms. Pac-Man. I also tried out the Dragon Punch, which was not nearly as awesome as the name might make you think. My bartender girl hooked me up with birthday shots, VH1's Lindsay Lohan's Most Shocking Moments played on the big screen, the summer wheat beer was delicious with a slice of orange, and we ended the night on the roof where CV made a very memorable toast to me ("Happy Birthday....to casetheplace...who since I've met her I've had more bizarre things happen to me in a short amount of time...she's like The Twilight Zone...she attracts the weird...") The best part is I got home just after 10pm, which means I will have a full night's sleep before work tomorrow. Yay!



The best part is that everyone who missed my low-key gethering tonight wants to meet up all the rest of the week. So far I'm booked tomorrow (Tuesday) night with dinner with Dad, etc; Wednesday night I get my hair did (thank god...I have been dying for a haircut for months but haven't had the time/funds to do so till now), then I go out with EG for a night of GIRLIE UPSCALE DJ DANCING (guaranteed to be awesome, because EG saw these guys in Chicago last week already); Thursday night I seem to be free; and Friday night several people have requested I hold Birthday Party: Part Deux. Then Saturday afternoon I leave the dirty dirty for four days in the desert sun. Laying by the pool in a bikini, what?



And thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, near and far. It makes me feel all special inside.

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The suspense regarding my birthday: Will it be a good day or a bad day?



The old people forgot my birthday, the father freaked out about getting an ice cream cake, and everyone else seems to be out of town. Looks like the typical birthday shenanigans. I doubt tomorrow will come close to topping the Worst Birthday Ever, but neither do I expect it to be the Best Birthday Ever. Maybe it can be the Most Stress-Free Birthday Up To This Point? That would rock.

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Very, very behind



I am very, very behind on this whole blogging thing. Let me explain: Once the semester ended around the third, I celebrated by not turning on my home computer for, oh, about fifteen days. I've used my computer at work, for doing work things and checking email, but the thought of turning on the home computer has just been too much. I spent way too much time with it the last month or so of school.



But now I am back to a place where I can stand to use the computer at home. So expect more blogging out of me as a result.



Also, I have been SICK as anything since Wednesday late night. Not fun at all. I've called out of work the past two days, and spent most of my time asleep in bed. I was awake for a few hours last night to watch the season finales of The Office (man, do those Office people know how to make a good season finale!) and Grey's Anatomy (first episode since THE FERRY BOAT INCIDENT to make me cry, which is the whole reason anyone watches Grey's in the first place, so I guess they've redeemed themselves for the past few awful weeks (case in point: the two-hour Addison-gets-a-spin-off-with-Taye-Diggs-and-that-guy-fromWings disaster).



Today I managed to get out of bed at 1:30 without feeling too gross. I'm hoping to be all better by Monday, which is my birthday. I'm not doing anything overly huge or special, just hoping a few friends will show up to have drinks and play pool and air hockey with me. Oh, also, I thought I heard someone stomping up my stairs this morning, but chalked it up to delusional sick dreaming. When I opened my door about a half hour ago I found a birthday present and card stuck in my screen door, so I guess Iw asn't dreaming the stomping up my stairs after all. It was unexpected and awesome.

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I carried a watermelon





I haven't posted in the better part of a week, which means I have so many amusing anecdotes stored up I don't even know where to begin. Monday's 3 final exam insanity? Tuesday's meeting with the Fulbright advisor? Tuesday night's Arcade Fire show at the Civic Center? (Yes, that's right, the CIVIC CENTER, the place I grew up going to see The Nutcracker and high school graduations. In fact, the last time I was there was for the class of '99's graduation. Apparently they haven't updated the decor in that place since 1988.)



But no, I have to start with the pinnacle of the awesomeness: I saw Dirty Dancing on the big screen last night. I don't think words can even begin to describe how influential this movie has been on me. I saw it for the first time when it first came out on VHS, when I was a very impressionable (and way too young to be watching a PG-13 movie!) 5-year-old. Forever seared in my memory is the moment that my Aunt J turned to me, just as Baby gets her dad the doctor to come take care of a post-back-alley-abortion Penny, and says, "Don't tell Grandma you saw this." As if I was going to tell Grandma I saw a movie called DIRTY Dancing! I was five; I wasn't an idiot. Of course, at that age I didn't really get what was happening to Penny, but I certainly got the thrill of Baby's learning to dance with PATRICK SWAYZE (I mean, Johnny Castle). SWOON!



After I had the time of my life, Rob and I played a game of air hockey. I've been practicing lately, and Rob was surprised to discover that "You've improved your defensive game. Ways I used to be able to score on you you now block!" Quick, someone make that a metaphor for our relationship...

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