I don't understand people some times. One minute they're throwing cheeky little barbs at you about your job performance, the next they're singing your praises. It's all very confusing. Some day I may figure this all out. For now though, I need to draw, paint, be creative in general. So I shall keep this one short. (Also because nothing has happened to me lately.)

Ok. I lied. I just saw the coolest thing on TV. I love the Food Network. Some supermarkets have come out with a shopping buddy. You go to the store, place your personal key into the small, handheld device, and it'll basically allow you to do all your shopping through it. You can place an order with the deli, and it'll send you an email when it's ready, you can email home if you need to ask a question (though who doesn't have a cell phone now), it'll tell you your shopping history, give you coupons, recipes, and there's a local GPS for the store, so you can see where you are and where the item you're looking for is. Awesome. It even comes with a little scanner, so you can check yourself out. Coolness.

Update me!

So I took the good meds my cousin gave me. They didn't kick in till 3 in the morning. And my legs were still sore yesterday. I must have some freaky crazy immune system, because heavy duty drugs don't affect me like other people, and I must be the only person on the planet who can't get high from pot. I took about 5 good tokes from my cousins bowl a few weeks ago and didn't feel a damn thing. I guess it'll bode well if some terrorist tries to use a pot bomb on the US, but I don't think the odds are in my favor to become a national hero that way.
On a side note, that guy who called for me the other night had the wrong number. He was looking for someone to produce a show for the Washington D.C. Pops Orchestra. The "Mike" he was talking about was some dancer! I had this conversation with him at about 7:30 in the morning on my way to work, so I didn't really understand what he was talking about at first. I did try to tell him I could design the stage and what not (which I have absolutely not experience doing, but hey, I gotta try don't I?). I did however get a publisher to talk to me today, so I'm going to overnight my book to them tomorrow and see what kind of havoc I can wreak next week.

I HURT!!!

You know. You try to give 110%. You want to be a team player you know. So I ran home after work to cut the lawn before the daily rain shower from the 110% humidity hit. As I'm mowing along this small stone wall toward the front of the lawn, lo and behold a nest of yellow jackets attacks me!!! Now one yellowjacket is a nasty customer. I got about 8 of them. All in the back of my knees!!! Like the most sensitve part of my body outside of my balls and my facial orifices! Of course one or two lucky bees stung my temple too. Bastards. To give you an idea of what it feels like, think of getting stabbed by a sewing needle every 10 seconds. Now multiply that by about 8 or 10 different spots on my leg, and one on the head. I did however get a chance to take my first dose of some serious meds. My cousin has these pills called Duladin. Now from what I've been told, these little white pills are supposed to knock the hell out of you. Most people just take a half of a tablet that is half the size of an eraser head. I've taken a whole one, and the pain is a little less, but I'm doubtful that I can sleep it's so annoyingly painful. I did get a call today from some guy who directs an orchestra. Seems a "Mike" I know recommended me for some artwork they want to do. Don't know if that's Heroux or Wunder, but I'm appreciable either way. Plus I've put together a list of possible publishers I want to visit next month. I'd like to take two days and make a trip up there, see if I can't talk someone into giving me some work. Now I must go and whimper in my bedpillows.

Whine me and Dine me baby

I love my job. Oddly enough, working for a flooring company can be a relaxing thing. As long as I don't have any vested interest in how things go, life is grand. :) The guys are cool, we joke and poke fun at each other all day long (which, I think, is helping me get over my problem of being overly sensitive/defensive to such comments), and at the end of the day I go home. Though now I'm dreaming of work. Calling people and asking them why they haven't paid us yet apparantly fills up a large part of my mind these days. :p But it's good. No stress, ok pay, and good times. I even got free donuts and hot dogs for lunch today!! Rah!!

On a side note, I randomly talked to the ex the other night. She IMed me. Went well in that cordial, "Hey, how are you" sense. But I realized afterward how bitter and angry I still am about the whole thing. The idea that I'm not good enough for someone just sticks in my craw, but, since there's not a whole hell of a lot I can do about that now, no use in worrying about it. I have other plans and other things to occupy myself with for the time being, so life moves on. But I think I'm going to have to ask her to stop talking to me. I have two options. Tell her I've met someone else, and she doesn't like that I talk to my ex (which is what she says her new boyfriend tells her) or tell her my therapist said it was in my best interests to sever ties with her (which wouldn't be true, since I haven't seen a therapist yet, but I have a feeling that's what they would tell me to do). Ah! Decisions. Decisions.

Car Troubles

You've heard that old quip that goes "If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." That seems to apply to me and my car these days. Poor little Rosey. She just can't make it through a month anymore without something breaking. Now it's the altinator. For real this time. Conked out on me while I was trying to limp it over to my uncle's shop. But i'm not really put out by it. Things happen. No use getting all mopey about it. Which is funny since I get bent out of shape about some of the silliest shit. :p LoL Hell. I don't even know what sets me off anymore. But apparantly getting stranded on the road isn't it.

Good Times

We had a surprise 50th birthday party for my uncle on Friday. This was my big coming out party with the bald head. My grandmother almost fell backward in the parking lot. My grandfather couldn't stop giggling (which for a gruff old Italian was kind of creepy), and my god-father says I must have done it to be more like him. (Though, to be honest, I'm about 1 of 3 people in my family who isn't bald anyway, so I don't know how much truth there is to that statement. This nice thing is, I can grow mine back if I want to. ;p )

Anyway, we get toward the end of the night, and my grandparents are drunk (they /never/ drink) and my grandfather's brother and his wife are alcoholics anyway. But my great uncle was completely gone. He would have fallen over, face first on the floor no less, if I hadn't been standing right next to him. So I take him and my great aunt back to their place. Now mind you, this man couldn't hear a 747 landing in his backyard, and she can't see how many fingers you're holding in front of her face in broad daylight. And here I am, sidestepping my way up the sidewalk to their house, him in my right arm, yelling her name to see where she's at and stumbling into the bushes and anything else that's remotely close to crash into, and her in my left, trying to judge the next step while yanking my arm out of it's socket. But like I told them, for all the times people have helped me through the same thing, I figure I'm due to help someone else. ;)

Then there was Sunday. Helped little sis move some stuff into the new place she has, but before that, we had to stop over my godfather's. He's digging this huge trench in his backyard for a patio and a brick oven (mmmm....brick oven pizzas). My brother and I decided to help him out since we're good guys like that. This would have worked out splendidly if I had brought some gloves with me. You see, when you use a pick ax to break up the ground for the shovels, it kind of turns your hands into a bloddy pulp. I didn't really notice it until they looked like they had been through a meat grinder, but hey, at least my uncle didn't have to throw his back out doing all this hard labor. :p Once the scabs heal I'm sure I'll be ok.....