i got tonight off--ted said there was nothing on the schedule, so i was able to relax at home and visit with my parents...good times.

three things of note:

- heard back from clint. we're going to give this whole meeting up thing another shot when i'm in d.c.

- i will be going to a colloquim held in the newsroom of the new york times. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- i miss you too joey! :)

my mother taped the west wing last night. i will now enjoy my hour of washington revelry.

my entire body ACHES. but what a trip it was...

we talked to lars monday night and set up how we'd be getting in touch when we got to providence. he was going to call us while we were on the road and direct us to somewhere where we could meet. he was going to get his ticket for john and his friend pete was thinking about coming as well. so everything is all set and i'm very excited to make the trip, see the show and have fun.

we didn't hear from him until around 6:30 because he got out of work late. normally, not much of a problem. however, since we'd arrived in providence around 5:15, michelle and i had spent an hour and twenty minutes driving all around the city. no rhyme or reason to where we went, just a random selection of streets. we stopped at "the best local market"--eastSIIIIIIDE marketplace--and finally wound up at a wendy's. we met up with lars around 7:30ish at the providence place mall and headed to pete's house before the show.

lars hadn't bought his ticket. pete was still undecided about the show. and when i called lupo's to see if there were still tickets available, it was sold out. but lars said he knew someone down there who might be able to let him in, so we all piled in the car and drove down.

of all the luck, pete knew someone who could let him in, but lars couldn't. so, after a bit of "well, err...what should we do?" deliberations, they said they were going to hang out in town and would meet us around 12:30.

john was disappointing. severely disappointing. i don't like him with the band and i don't like feeling like he's becoming a rock star. michelle and i stood there for maybe two songs and decided that we'd try to catch the guys. the show wasn't good and we felt bad about leaving them, so we figured we could all just hang out. so we left lupo's (where it's clearly marked no re-entry) and ran to where the car had been parked--and now was no longer there.

so we don't know where the guys are, we can't get back into the show, and we are two college women in downtown providence alone at night. this was a concern. we walked down towards PPAC and found a bar called mama's and were trying to look inside to see if they were there and the bouncers were trying to convince us to come inside and told us that there was no way we'd be able to find the guys because there are a million bars right around that area (funny, we didn't see a million other bars...). we got away quickly and wound up going to the met cafe. paid our $5 cover, walked in and watched a set with a really unknown band. we were the only people there who weren't friends with the band members. but it's warm and dry in there (because, naturally, it was raining a bit outside) and we had something to do to kill time until meeting up with lars and pete.

but the guitarist of the band freaks out after two songs and walks offstage, yelling that it's pointless, why should they bother, rockstar angst angst angst rage rage rage. so they end the set and we have to leave.

now we're down $5 each, we still have an hour to kill and we don't know where to go. so we walk back to lupo's and explain to the bouncer that we're aware of the no re-entry policy, but we've come down from vermont, our ride isn't due back until the end of the set, we just witnessed the breakup of a band and we haven't gotten a break ALL NIGHT. would he please just let us back in?

after grumbling about how he should punish us for listening to bad music, he let us back in and we chilled at the bar for the rest of the set with mcclane, a guy who works for abercrombie and is on the lookout for new music. michelle started to talk to him by asking for a cigarette and we wound up talking to him for the rest of the show. awesome guy--funny, hot and a sweetheart to two girls he's just met. we wound up giving him our email addresses and told him to drop us a line and we'll fill him in on more bands he'd like. amusement...

the show gets out at midnight, and we wait outside for a bit until it begins to rain. then we're huddled at the door to lupo's and we see lars and pete and proceed to tell them all about our adventure. lars' face was priceless--"you LEFT john mayer!??!?! what happened!?"

wound up going to a bar, drinking and talking about sports for awhile before heading back to pete's. good times.

the rest of the night was spent in drunken revelry, with some grand theft auto 3 thrown into the mix. we were all ridiculous--i wound up taking a shot of this fantastic german peppermint schnapps--and normally i have major problems with shots. but it went down beautifully and was really good (note to self: find this stuff). pete has the most adorable dog ever and it was fun to just relax and talk and have fun with everyone.

yes, it was very good to see lars. :)

we woke up around 9 this morning, after saying goodbyes, michelle and i drove back to quincy and then i drove back to vermont. i'm relaxing for a bit before i have to drive back to burlington. i'm exhausted and they SURE AS HELL BETTER APPRECIATE THIS!!!!!!! i think i'm crashing at school tonight and driving home tomorrow morning.

so all-in-all opinion of the rhode island road trip? despite all of the turmoil, i had a wonderful time. i don't know how michelle and i managed to keep our sanity and sense of humor, but we did. we wound up just laughing through it all, which was a relief. if she hadn't been there, i would have lost it numerous times! what a team, i tell you...fine holiday fun.

i like oatmeal.

hola from quincy land...

in fine "vickie visits" tradition, the past couple of days have been fantastic. michelle and i left st. mike's sunday and drove down to fair haven to say hello to my parental units, then drove to quincy. we busted out all of the classics (some truly classic--billy joel--and some not-so-classic--color me badd, anyone?--but old school janet definitely dominated) and spent the hours singing, laughing, and MAKING SURE NO ONE PASSED ME IN THE RIGHT-HAND LANE!

we spent last night hanging out at jess'--she's one of those people i'd love to be able to spend more time with. she's fantastic and so much fun--and also there to engage in some nice, serious discussion, then following it up with her recitations of slam poetry...it was a delightful evening.

went on the great quincy bar search tonight--went to four different places before we could actually get a drink at uno's...would have been able to go to the first bar if they accepted out-of-state licenses...grrrrrrrrrrrrr...

but it's been great fun. it's nice to be able to relax and have a good time...and michelle's fam has adopted the"you can do it yourself" rule for me, which makes me very, very happy. i'm a part of the family, and it feels great. :)

tomorrow will be a good time as well. we're heading down to providence and meeting up with lars before the show...his friend pete might witness all that is mayer as well...then staying at pete's house tomorrow night before we all head to our respective homes wednesday morning.

i have several wishes for the evening:

- i hope john's live show with a full band is as good as his solo shows...

- i hope everyone enjoys the show

- i hope michelle has a good time and knows how happy i am that she was up for a little rhode island adventure (yet another reason why she's one of the best friends in the world)

- i hope everyone has a great evening. :)

when i count down from ten
you'll feel the lead in your lids
you've no need to resist,
and wake up refreshed
hah!
--jeff buckley, haven't you heard?

john mayer sold out at higher ground. so instead of simply seeing him down the street from our school, we're driving 4.5 hours to see him! logical, eh?

actually, it works out really well. we're leaving tomorrow to see my parents, then continuing down to michelle's. spending time there, seeing some of michelle's friends and visiting with the fam (yay!), then heading to providence on tuesday and seeing the show and hanging out with lars. we won't be super rushed, and i wasn't overly keen on the idea of seeing john twice in two days anyway. i just thought it worked out well so it was something we should try. but i'm happier with how it appears to be working. :)

i am so impressed...joey created a blog! i am exceptionally impressed. :) now people will be able to see what crackheads we actually are...

to thank the sports department for everything we've done since patrick has been off galavanting at the olympics (still bitter i wasn't given the opportunity to go--hehehe), the managing editor of my fine place of non-paying employment paid for us all to get dinner tonight, so we ordered from bourbon st. grill. i'd always wanted to try the stuff there, so i was psyched. i ordered my cajun chicken sandwich and crawford asked me how spicy i wanted it.

"how spicy does it get?"

"1 to 10. 1 is tame, 10 is eyes bulge out of the sockets tongue is on fire."

now i like spicy stuff. and i figured that there's no way it can really be ridiculously spicy, so i went with a 7. i thought it would be safe but still spicy enough to give me a kick.

i took a bite and a half of this thing and pretty much downed my pepsi. then went to fill my bottle with water. tongue is still on fire and my face feels all flushed.

i think a 4 would have been more than enough for me, let alone a 7. so now i'm eating the roll and the lettuce (but only the spots without any spicy sauce on it). if i actually had any taste buds left, i'd be sure that the sandwich is quite good and i highly recommend it.

work has been going remarkably well the past couple of days (trust me, i knocked on wood after typing that). everyone's in good spirits, i feel like i'm not constantly waiting for myself to mess up and people have been really great on the phones. carlton down at the herald is great--i like it when i talk to someone again and they remember who i am and are really friendly.

met jj cioffi at the rice/cvu game today (yes, the game that just about everyone agrees rice should have won, joey, including the cvu players) and he seemed pretty nice. it's always rather odd meeting these people--i've watched jj since i was a little kid and feel like i know the guy even thought i obviously don't--but he was nice enough to me, so i guess it was cool. and i got to take a look at the gutterson fieldhouse rink from one of the press boxes, which was cool--hey, little things make me happy, so shut up. ;)

i technically have four more hours of work before i'm finished (but we've already heard from most of the high school games and i think all we'll be waiting on is hockey--which crawford's covering--and the mayflower semis down south, so maybe--hopefully--i'll get out early) and then it's relax until john mayer on monday. i spoke to my father while my mouth was on fire and he told me he and my mother were going to visit on monday around 7 p.m. and take me out to dinner. since, as i said, my mouth was on fire, i responded with "ok, sounds great, looking forward to it." my parents then laughed about how their daughter is a moron. i responded with "dude, my mouth is on fire--do you think i have any coherent thoughts right now?!?!?"

you can always judge how much work i have to do by the amount of blogging i do...

on behalf of all journalists and journalists-in-training, i need to say that this is absolutely wretched.

this goes to show that not even journalists are invincible. talking to my mother on the phone, she made sure to talk about how i should learn from this.

ah yes, only a few months til i'm out there too...not pakistan, but out there nonetheless...

i love the fact that, in the midst of all this "scandal" at our school, people try to paint the defender (and, at times, yours truly) as the villain in all this. because we strive to reach the standards of "real news" we're constantly blasted for not reporting, we are criticized. hmm...this presents a dilemma. do we cover the real news or do we stick with fluff? we're criticized either way...

i'm not upset by any means. in fact, i'm actually proud, in my own backwards way. we've managed to shed light on things no one really expected us to be able to shed light on. people are talking about the defender and are getting pissed off about it, but that means it's affecting them. people are paying attention.

not too shabby.

"what is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?--it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-by. but we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."

yesterday turned into the "v rebellion day," although i did not intend for it to be quite as complete as it was. i woke up around 1 and spent almost the entire day at home with a body that felt like lead and no desire to do much of anything. i called all of my professors and left voicemails, and they called back to tell me i sounded horrible and should rest. so i did.

and, even though i felt rather stupid afterwards, it felt nice to call someone simply to say hello and say that i was alone in my house, sick, bored, and wanting to talk. :)

i'm currently racing through "on the road." i don't know why i didn't read it sooner--it's absolutely brilliant. there was one passage where sal and dean are rushing from virginia to new york to virginia again and everything's going at a fever pitch. while i was reading it, i was trying to race through the text, make some ramen (hey, it was 12:30 at night and i was hungry) and do 12 things at once while reading, and the pace i was doing everything at fit so well with the pace of the book at that point--it was just awesome. kerouac's style is what i aspire to and think i can reach if i keep trying, but then he throws this imagery into the mix and has such an eloquent control of words and i'm left with my jaw hanging open (quite literally). absolutely gorgeous. i'm going to read this again sometime when i can just settle down and soak it all in.

break begins for me after literary seductions tomorrow. i feel like it's already begun--we're watching film clips, it's not like it'll be a strenuous class--and all i have to do is get through the f and relax before the mini-roadtrip with michelle. this weekend we're planning the trip and we're also planning our european adventure after graduation. i'm especially excited about the idea of europe right now, with my whole kerouac-ian frame of mind...

but speaking of europe...when we get back from break, the eric boy will be off to live in scotland. today is the last day i'll be working with him here at fair user support...i'm obviously very happy for him about scotland, but he's made work all the more enjoyable lately--we're getting along famously and he's fun to have in the office. work will be much duller without him around. but i think everyone knew he'd go back to scotland at some point--i first met him after he came back from studying over there and you can just see him brighten up at the prospect of living there. it's going to be good for him.

at 1:46 a.m., i despise all of my professors for the workload they have piled on me. i curse the gods for making me feel sick, and i prepare to rebel tomorrow.

i sent an email clint's way to see if he's at all interested in meeting up when i'm in D.C. for ACTF...i figured it might be fun to try the whole "let's meet up" thing one more time--so this time we wouldn't just be playing phone tag all week! we'll see if i even hear anything back, but hey, worth a shot, right?

yet another example of how i have too much spare time on my hands while working at user support sometimes...

so.

paper is finished--i don't think there were any shockingly glaring errors anywhere--i tried so hard to get everything done, but i desperately need break. i feel like i'm on self-destruct mode with the pace i've been going at lately. yet i find it funny that i'm looking forward to a schedule of working at home during the day and working at the free press at night...?!??!

but i have two or three days of fun and relaxation. i get to see one of my favorite singers two days in a row, enjoying a mini-roadtrip with joey. :) it will be lots o' fun and i'm very much looking forward to it.

it's very nice to know that i have at least two weekends where i don't have to worry about the defender...ah...bliss, i tell you...

paper's not done yet, i must finish tomorrow. i've been running around all day doing journalistic stuff and i think i just need a few hours of rest so i can focus, crank out the rest of the paper, save it to disk and run it to the printer.

note on my computer when i came home: (BONZACK HAS A HUGE PROBLEM BECAUSE THIS EDITORIAL ISN’T GETTING WRITTEN BECAUSE I’M TOO BUSY DROOLING OVER MY EASTERN GIANT OPERATION…) LOVE YOU SMOOTHIE- NIGHT, Princess Joey :P

i'm working on the editorial to end editorials for father mike and michelle. :)

paul was playing my secretary this evening...lars called the lab and paul answered it with something along the lines of "v's office"...i could get used to that kind of greeting on the phone. forget "hello, defender." :)

paper will be lovely, just need to sleep so i can finish making it lovely...aurgh.

i'm sitting here trying to write my editorial, and i'm going nuts. i've had two pretty decent editorials, so i feel like i can't falter now. only with the previous two, there was actually something i was interested in saying. this week, i'm not feeling overly impassioned about much of anything. and i do have an issue i'm trying to discuss, but it's just not coming out! the words are on the tip of my tongue, but they just refuse to go onto the page.

blearg. is it break yet?

speaking of break, the plans for the "vickie & michelle only slightly stalk john mayer" tour are in development. we will see him at higher ground on the 25th and head down to lupo's for the show on the 26th. i'm going to write a review of the higher ground show for the defender, which is good because i'll finally be able to write something for the paper and i'll also be practicing the review writing process...and then going to lupo's will be fun because it'll be a new place to check out and lars said we have to meet up.

yay...

i'm liking the new design on howie's site...sure as hell beats the really odd bubble/circle scheme howie was sporting recently. and the orange makes me happy.

i don't know exactly what it is that's changed. tonight i put on my long blue dress, last worn my sophomore year, to go to a formal/dress-to-impress/whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it event. last time i wore this dress, i had a blast--dancing, socializing, just having a kickass time. but tonight was just another example of getting all dressed up with the hopes of having an amazing time and instead leaving disgusted and wishing i'd had more to drink. grr.

covered the high school gymnastics championship this evening over at uvm. definitely an...odd experience. but i covered it, and ted said i did a good job with the story, so hey, whatever. i've got full clearance to enjoy my fun miniroadtrip over break--yahoo...fun times. now i just have to find out how much tickets are at lupo's...

holy shit. the day before st. patty's day, remy zero is playing there. WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW BADLY I WANT TO SEE REMY ZERO.

this must be looked into.

"i always say that after graduation i'm going to live in a box on the mean streets of burlington. you're welcome to join me if you wish."

"but we don't have any boxes!!!"

nothing like graduation talk...

i have some of the most hilarious professors imaginable. i don't know what the hell that was in my literary seductions class today--all i know is that it wound up being a discussion about english teachers training their students to read the way the professors want them to and then an opportunity for dogs and whales to be drawn on the blackboard by a professor. i was laughing so hard by the end of class but wondered afterwards, "what the hell was THAT?"

tgif. participating in happy hour this evening. mmm...my darling long island iced tea, how i've missed you...although i've also grown particularly fond of sour drinks. midori sour and amaretto sour are both now ranking high on my list of favorite beverages...

i'm glad i wore the red sneakers. :)

valentine's day didn't turn out so badly afterall.

valentine's day. bah humbug. ;) i wore black today, but, for those who are paying attention, i wore my red sneakers. i'm not completely bitter, just mostly. ;)

pat brought eclairs into work today and they are sitting

right
next
to
me, looking tasty. i'm not going to overindulge, even if it is v-day.

i signed my first official autograph today. rick printed out the press release and asked for my autograph because when i'm all famous and living in new york or cali, he wants to have my signature from back in the day. i laughed and signed it: to rick--my first autograph! don't you feel special? v.

it amused me.