a ridiculously violent thunderstorm hit while i was at work tonight, eventually becoming just a wall of water falling down. i love the rain, always have, always will, and whenever it is raining, i want to be outside in it. so imagine me, looking out forlornly at the falling water, wanting to play.

finally, i decided to screw looking managerial. i told andrea what i was doing, and then cj and i ran around the store like little kids, shrieking and laughing the entire time. everyone else looked at us like we were insane, but it was wonderful. we then calmly walked back into the store, our sneakers squeaking against the tile floor, hair drenched, huge smiles on our faces.

it was wonderful.

and i only have one more shift.

yet another live dave album is being released, according to the big blue house...i think it's great that live albums are released--much as i love a dmb studio album, it's nothing like live stuff--but i have to agree that i find the selection of the particular show to be odd. why not something newer, with some of the "sessions" stuff on there? i don't really get it...

i've been somewhat more frustrated at work the last couple of days. i'm counting down the number of shifts i have left and have admittedly been developing a "hey, if they have a problem with what i'm doing, i've only got X number of shifts left anyway" attitude...

i randomly started thinking about a kid i went to elementary school with during the middle of my shift tonight and about how he tormented me one day on the seesaws. i was in second grade, i think he was in fourth or something. and i started wondering where this kid was and what he was doing with his life and if he is now as much of a dick as he was as a little child. i think this could be an indication that i need to go back to school--now...

three-fourths of my house is together--the fourth fourth is getting antsy to get back and complete the puzzle...

so while i'm at work today, i'll keep in mind that i'm missing out on pina coladas and a slip n slide.

grrrrrrrrr.

i finished "dream brother" around 11 last night. today has been spent trying to get stuff for school. i finally caved and bought myself a discman--mainly because my brother took his from my car this morning and i couldn't imagine a few hours without my cds. i'm pathetic, i know.

not exactly looking forward to tonight's shift, but depending on who's on the closing team, i could be having a lot of fun. someone deserves to have her life made more difficult (or at least her shift)--let's see if she shows up...

after close, i've been cohersed into going to flub's for some dancing. going out dancing i have absolutely no problem with. flub's, on the other hand...maybe it's just me, but i'm not a huge fan of the place. i guess you just have to experience it firsthand to know what i'm talking about.

while i've gotten much better at budgeting my time and getting things done ahead of schedule, there are still days in which i find myself doing absolutely nothing and loving it. today, for instance, i was supposed to get all of my stuff done for getting back to school. or at least a chunk of it.

i spent the entire day curled up in my chair reading. i took a short trip to a thrift store with my brother and he found a 1968 45 that he thought i might like--the doors, hello, i love you a-side, love street b-side. i squealed. anyone who had a doors 45 should NEVER have parted with it. the fact that i got it for fifty-three cents astounded me.

i'm listening to it tomorrow on my brother's turntable--the opportunity to hear the doors' music as it was heard when they first came out is remarkably exciting, for whatever reason.

of words we're twenty blocks too late.
- remy zero

in this installment, our heroine attempts to drive her new (to her) car to the north shore of massachusetts--the first time she's ever attempted the trip. armed with only her trusty travel companion, father, a purse, cds that are never played, and a set of golf clubs in the trunk. what adventures will befall her?

i made it to my grandmother's with little difficulty, the only part that made me nervous was trying to get onto 114 just as a really big truck was getting off of some other road. little car vs. big truck. you do the math. keep in mind that i'm from vermont. we don't have these types of roads (or drivers) in vermont.

the drive was fun--we listened to the red sox game and yelled at players together, chatted and reminisced (i went on a tangent trying to remember bits of my early childhood--dad provided key information that had been lost to me as of late--the name of my kindgergarten teacher. it had been eating me up inside that i couldn't remember. MS. DRISCOLL. fuck yeah.)

yet we arrived around 11 p.m. and sat and talked with my uncle and my grandmother before i collapsed into bed. i'd worked a 10-7 shift and it was exhausting. driving drained the last of my energy. lying in my bed at her house was wonderful--i hadn't made it to beverly in awhile, and i missed it.

i awoke around 10, grams went to get her hair done, dad went to play golf. i watched "mystery, alaska" for the millionth time (love it) until grams arrived home, at which point we embarked on our afternoon of spending time together. we went shopping--she bought me things, i protested, she insisted, i grumbled about how she shouldn't--we talked, and i had a great time. i'd been missing her lately, and the fact that she specificially told my mother that she missed me and wanted me to visit made me feel really good, in my own sentimental sappy way.

we got back and relaxed until dad showed back up, then we all piled into my car and drove to my great aunt's house to briefly visit (i'd wanted grams to get to ride in the car). i hadn't seen aunt caroline for awhile, how much she's aged amazed me. i found myself staring at a small cd player in the corner of the living room--it seemed out of place, new where the rest of the house was the same way i'd remembered it since i was a tiny girl--except not having uncle roy in the back room in his leather recliner. we all watched the red sox press conference at 3 p.m. sharp, providing our own color commentary as they announced jimy's departure and joe's promotion.

then dad and i dropped grams off at the house, loaded up the car, and stopped at a couple of stores before heading home. i had a chance to stop at newbury comics (dear, dear newbury comics, i've MISSED IT), and i was pleased to see that the rumors were true--"australia" is available for sale in a record store. it was neat seeing the name "howie day" on its own white separator card.

i drove home, dealing with 5 p.m traffic for the beginning of the trip, my father and i singing along to oldies (my father rarely sings with any of us in the car with him--he hates his voice--so i was happy to sing along with the beatles and others in my normal loud fashion, hearing him quietly singing in the passenger seat), then listening to the red sox game, my dad laughing as i cheered when nomar hit his home run (note to self: see if they actually won, they were leading 3-1 when we got home).

arriving home, i found my license plates and registration waiting for me--which means i can finally get my car inspected and be done with all of the paperwork one goes through when buying a car.

i arrived home with:
--two pairs of jeans
--pair of black pants
--turtleneck/sweater
--shoes
--buckley poster (thank you newbury!)
--buckley bio--the streak continues
--butterfly chair
otherwise known as a lot of things i didn't plan on getting.

i'm exhausted, need to pack tomorrow, and also need to get the rest of the crap i need for "back to school". which means i need sleep.

higher ground is making me happier. 9/24--pete francis from dispatch and 10/16--o.a.r. :)

and i WILL be in boston on october 5. remy zero and travis at the orpheum.

i am very happy to be going on LEAP.

it's a damn good thing i'm so happy, because the gods are holding their sides in laughing at me right now, as they have brought howie to paradise on the thursday before LEAP and john mayer to paradise that saturday.

if i had any other reason preventing me from going, i would be climbing up the walls right now.

as it is, i'm only grimacing as i see the tour schedules.

PLEASE PLAY BURLINGTON!!

scotty-isms are addictive. they make no sense, they're completely random, yet i eat them up and i can tell that i'll start using them at work, therefore corrupting the minds of the teenagers who work there even more (if you don't believe me, let me tell you that everyone now says "not so much"--thus making me miss joey and bethy and bongo so much!--and that they often answer to their name with "yo." hehehehe. taking over the world, one person at a time.)

i went grocery shopping tonight (which later resulted in a fun incident involving me, rice, and burning--use your imagination), and while walking the aisles with my mother, all of a sudden i hear, "VICKIECICLE!!" i haven't heard that nickname since high school, so needless to say, i was confused. i turn, and a girl i graduated high school with (who was notorious for falling off of the stools my senior year in physics class--numerous times) and now works there is waving wildly at me.

keep in mind that i've been in there numerous, numerous times since high school, and i generally get a "hello," or perhaps a nod. we weren't overly close in high school--so whatever.

i have no idea what brought it about. but it was interesting.

hell, she'll run up and give me a huge hug at our ten-year reunion at this rate.

in other music news, glen's last entry on his tour diary leaves me feeling somewhat sad, but also (wretched as it might be to say this) somewhat relieved. while i knew he was sick (after the burlington show, he didn't even perform for a few dates), i kept feeling as if he wasn't the least bit amused with us. i felt awful about it, and while i don't feel quite as bad now, i still wish he was happier...during the few moments in which he was joking around with us and john, he was an awesome guy, and he's an amazing performer. i don't know...just randomness from me.

as the wise scott himself said...
no problem, just rush hour.

AURGH.

i write joann, my boss at school, to say i want to be back up there the week before classes to work (so i can get out of southern vt). about, say...at least a week goes by, mike needs to know if i can still work or not, so, since i constantly need money, i tell him i can work monday and tuesday, i'll take wednesday to pack and buy things, and i'll get up to school thursday.

now that the schedule's set and i can't get out of it, i get the response from joann saying i can definitely come back the week before school. now that i can't get up there til thursday.

plus email from paul about defender. making me nervous. but in a good way. i hope.

with an official date set for moving back (note to self: talk to girls, fill them in--what do you say gals? want me back a few days early?), i must now figure out what i need to do before i return to school. among these things is the thought of a haircut. i need input on this matter. short or grow?

i am such a sentimental sap.

in other news, i caught an episode of "the lot" this evening. it's a show on amc (american movie classics) that takes a fictionalized look at golden hollywood gossip and tells the stories behind the rumors. fantasic show, i hope to catch more of it before i leave for school (i don't think we get amc at school)...

the date is official...i'll be back at school a week from thursday. counting down the days...

and before i forget, happy birthday wishes to ryan. :)

*insert useless tirade about how if you have a road journal, you should update the damn road journal. also insert chuckling about other road journal.*

i'm exhausted. work today pretty much blew, mainly because of the fact that i was exhausted and my shift involved mornings. highlight was a stop in by the new jersey cardinals. however, after they left, i needed to inform jason of the two essential rules:

1) if bus full of attractive, athletic men my age come into store and i am on break, call me up immediately so i can serve them.
2) if bus full of attractive, athletic men my age are sitting in lobby eating, find a way to get me out into the lobby. i don't care what type of strings must be pulled, make it happen.

they were heading up to burlington to play the expos. this means that there is a chance of them coming back within the next day or so. here's hoping...

tonight consists of heading into town to get some school necessities and of sleep.

random note: last night i had a dream that left me both upset and very at peace (contradiction in terms, i know, but go with it). all i know is that andrew and bethany from high school were in it, i was (according to my dream rationale) in high school, but people from smc were there and we wound up talking about lexi and everyone knew who i was talking about.

yay :)

we were bribed tonight. mike told us that if ben, debbie, chris and i were able to close the store and be punched out by 11:30 (then extended to 11:45 just in case), we would be rewarded.

punched out at 11:27. i think they need to keep this in mind. bribery=motivation=faster closes=less wages paid=happy lloyd.

i found a couple of mixes i made last summer and during the school year. pleasant discoveries. i found it funny to be getting things done while singing along with bnl "mcdonald's girl", and jack johnson's "bubbletoes" was the song of the night.

i have to be in tomorrow at 9. aurgh.

it begins.

email that begins with "hello, my name is (fill in the blank) and i am the (fill in the blank) of the (fill in the blank). we understand that you're the executive editor of the defender for this year..."

a simple email request is making me realize that in a couple of weeks, we're right back into the swing of things with the paper...

so i went to the eddy house this afternoon. i'd wanted to go for awhile, but i never had a chance, and i wasn't aware of all of the stories. i got to hear them as i drove cortni and myself today, and yes, i was incredibly interested.

the house looks nice and cozy, we couldn't get inside, but i was interested in finding out more about the house. the whole issue of haunted houses is something i won't even address, as there are always so many rumors of gimmicks and doubt that i'm in no place to pass judgement. i'll simply say that it was fun--in its own creepy sort of way. we also went to the family cemetery and the larger cemetery up the road, where william and horatio are buried. from everything i've heard, the whole family was pretty creepy. but then again, that added to the mystique.

afterwards, we tried finding honto's cave. following the drive way across the street from the eddy house, we walked towards the woods, breaking off to the left before we reached the house at the end of the drive (we thought it would be, well, rather rude to walk up the owners' driveway and through the lawn), thinking that we'd be able to get around the house to where the rock formation (it isn't actually a cave) is supposed to be located.

we found pricker bushes, ferns, logs, mosquitos, branches, and did i mention pricker bushes? also a murky pond and a horse pasture, but no hanto's cave. i'd like to find it some other time, but i wasn't disappointed. it was fun to wander through the woods, looking for path's and places to step. i brought my camera and snapped pictures the whole time, and i joked that weeks from now, my camera would be found and the two of us would reach fame with our own blair witch. we thought it would be a bit excessive to make the stick figures, however.

now, i sit here, exhuasted, happy after a nice day, and with my legs covered in scratches and scrapes from the damn bushes.

and i bought kid a today.

i woke up late to a phone being tossed onto my bed. it was cortni, and she wanted to know what i've been up to. it looks like we're going to brave the rain and search the eddy house, possibly find tanto's cave. i'm bringing my camera.

about three minutes after hanging up with her, the phone rang again, this time michelle calling to know what i've been up to.

nice way to start off a day. :)