To That De-luxe Apartment In the Sky-y-y...

We're movin' on up!  

Saturday we hung out with friends and went mini-golfing.  It was awesome!  Afterwards, when we were hanging at our friend Erin's house, I said we should get rid of our nasty love seat that no one EVER uses and replace it with one of those Ikea chairs...you know the ones:

Slightly springy, footrest, the whole nine yards.

Yup.  That one.

And we built it.  Ourselves.  Footrest and all.  

Now...we just have to get rid of this disgusting love seat.  Does Goodwill do pickups?

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Quotes from our car ride: "I just got hit in the back of the neck by Fight Club."

Community...

Today I drove three blocks to drop off my car for an oil change.  I love that my mechanic is literally right around the corner.  I jogged ran home.  I'm out of shape.  Running made me feel like maybe I might die.  My throat was all kinds of puling and tight, and I couldn't catch my breath.  It was awesome.

I'm the first to admit that I am, by no means, a runner.

Hell, I'm barely even a walker.

But I walked back to get my car, and I was thinking while I walked, thinking in a way I don't think while I drive.  I started to notice the smells, the sounds, the beauty of my little neighborhood.  I think we lost that, somewhere...or, more accurately, lost our appreciation for that...or our ability to appreciate that...or something. 

We drive everywhere.  Other people are just in our way.  We don't have the time to see and smell and hear while we're guiding our 1500lb. bullet wherever we've overbooked ourselves next.

Yes, this is a "stop and smell the roses" post.

But it's also about community.  

When I got out and walked, I felt like a part of something bigger.  The flowers in that old lady's yard are a part of my neighborhood.  Those three barking dogs are a part of my neighborhood.  The big, lush garden in that guy's backyard.  My neighborhood.  My community.  And just by getting out and walking three blocks, I felt connected.

Take a walk tonight around your neighborhood.  Wave at a neighbor.  See.  Hear.  Smell.  Feel connected.

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Kurt Vonnegut

One of the pleasant little consequences of my job it that I'm actually reading again.  It used to take me six months to get through a book.  I just never made the time to read.  And now?  I've got loads of time, and I'm getting paid to do it.  So...why not?  There's so much down time at work that we all bring books.  One of the first books I brought to read was Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut.  

And I loved it!  More than I can say.  It was just...hilarious and tragic and imaginative.  It made me read like I did when I was ten, devouring the book on the edge of my seat, knowing what was going to happen (as Vonnegut writes his books with the ending first, as I've come to find out) but wondering how in the world the characters were going to get there.

I had read Slaughterhouse Five a few years ago and enjoyed it, but it didn't blow my mind or anything.

Cat's Cradle, however, made me fall in love with his writing!  I devoured Galapagos, and yesterday I just finished The Sirens of Titan, which I believe was his first book.  They're all so weird and wonderful.  And his structure...oh man.  It's like, "Here's a character.  Here's what is going to happen to that character in the end, although they don't know it yet.  And here's 300 pages explaining how they got there.  The end."

It's divine.  I'm thinking maybe my next NaNoWriMo novel should be structured similarly.  I dunno...I need an idea first.

And now?  I'm out of Vonnegut.  I have to go buy some more soon!  What books by Vonnegut have y'all read that you liked?

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I instantly think less of you when you say "checkings account". There's NOT AN "S" AT THE END!!!

Getting Married...

First, to answer your questions:

No, it's not legal in llinois.

No, he didn't propose.

No, we're not going to Iowa or California or any other state to make it happen.

I was just thinking about it, and we were talking about it in the car again. I always get stuck on the colors. His favorite color is purple. My favorite color is green. My second favorite is orange. None of which make good combinations. So...I dunno. I'm stuck there. I thought maybe we could do black and white with an accent color. That's still pretty high in the running, but then you run into the problem of what the accent color would be and why.

It's all so messy.

Destination wedding? No. I already put the axe to that one. I don't want people to have to pay or go WAY out of their way to be there. I'd like everyone I love to be at my wedding.

In my wedding? Well...that's another sticking point. There's one person I know I want to be IN my wedding (besides Robb, of course), and that's David, to play the organ/piano/whatever. But as far as bridesmaids and groomsmen...even the terminology isn't right. What do you call them? Attendants? Groomsmen and groomsmen? But they're not going to be men, largely. Robb doesn't really have that many close guy friends. And I can't decide who I'd want up there with me. I wouldn't want anyone to feel left out...

Best man? Maybe my brother? I dunno...

Being that its a gay wedding, I think that there are people who may not feel comfortable attending or being IN it. My brother is in the Army. Would he want to be in a gay wedding? I'd like to think he would be in my wedding no matter WHO I was marrying, as long as they treated me right. But, I dunno.

How do you pick who will be in your photos for all of time? Hell, I can't even decide on a COLOR!

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Identical Grandma Train Bridge...

I woke this morning from dreams where I was at my grandma's funeral. I was running from this guy I knew from high school whom I had called an ass because he was spitting everywhere and revving his engine to scare children. He got his cronies against me, and I was just running through this high school knocking people down and crashing through doors, hoping to get outside. And then when I did, I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go for the funeral.

Insert a brief ice dancing scene that made me feel like a star.

And then I was crossing a train bridge over this disgusting reddish water, and trains were coming by on the four rails al the time. I was chewing on wax for some reason, and it kept getting bigger and bigger in my mouth all the time, no matter how much I spit out. Ugh.

Oh, and at some point there was this huge line of old ladies with perfectly round, curly hair. They all looked like my grandma, the one who had died (she actually died about ten years ago), except for the one that looked like my old pastor's wife.

I don't get it.

Today I'm at work from 11 to 7. Well doggies.

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I Have a Laptop...

Finally.

Is it perfect? No. There's a questionable pixel or two down in the lower right corner, but it's not completely dead and it's out of the way, so...whatev.

I have a laptop. And $200...theoretically. I haven't actually seen it yet, but...you know.

And I'm thrilled. Couldn't be happier.

What? Prop 8? Oh...yeah...and there's that. But they've appealed the decision, because when the court decides something, no one ever just accepts it. We wanted to strike down Prop 8 for being unconstitutional. It was. Now they want to strike down the striking down because...well, I want to say that it's because they can't stand to see happy people who believe differently than they do, but it's really because they, too, believe that what they're doing is the right thing, the good thing, the just cause. And I think this will just keep going on...for now.

Everything in life is only for now.

So you won't hear me whooping or hollering or rushing off to get married, despite how much I want to. Because this isn't over, and if this computer debacle has taught me anything, I've realized that the best way to avoid crushing disappointment is to not get too excited about anything.

So forgive my silence on the matter.

Just listen to the clacking of my brand new keyboard and see the quiet little smile of triumph on my face from all counts.

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Finally, Apple Owns Up...

I called Apple yesterday. I was calm. I waited 20 minutes on the line for a customer service rep. They were busy, apparently. He picked up the phone and I asked to speak to a supervisor. He asked me why, and I told him I was calling with a complaint about customer service, and from then on, he was WAY nice to me. 20 minutes later, I had a supervisor. I told him what had been going on with the computer, starting 10 years ago when I decided I wanted a MacBook, and how excited I was to get one finally, only to have all of this go on. I told him what I'd been told, what had been promised falsely, and what had just plain gone wrong. I finally got to use the phrase, "This was supposed to be a fun, joyful occasion for me, but it has turned into a complete nightmare!"

And you know what? He cared.

He followed along with me in my customer notes. He saw the things they'd said to me and how wrong they were. He apologized profusely, made me feel like I wasn't crazy for being mad, and, best of all, he did something about it. After all my hassle, after all the people I talked to who apologized but didn't do anything, he's refunding me $200. Yes, you read that number right. How amazing is that? He said, "Well, you told me you work at a bank, so I know you appreciate money. Here's what I can do." And he did it.

He listened. He acted. He made all my anger go away.

And now I have $200 saved for my iPod touch I'm eying!

Best of all, my computer should be here today! Maybe the curse of disappointing Thursdays is over. I certainly hope it is.

Maybe, after all these long weeks and overemotional blogs, I'll finally have what I wanted.

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CENTIPEDES!!!

Eww. I got shivers just typing that.

If you could check the backlog of my dreams, you'd see that there is a sort of archetype that my brain goes back to on a fairly regular basis. I am minding my own business, whether inside or out, and I see a bug, a snake, or something else alive and particularly unnerving. I go to examine it, and it disappears. Then, I turn to look for it and find that the entire area that I occupy in my dream is CRAWLING with them. More and more all the time, until I wake up in a panic.

And this is what my brain does to me while I sleep. Last night, however, there was a new wrinkle to this tired plot.

Comedy.

Seriously. I was in a house with white walls, possibly our old house from ten years ago. There was a single small centipede on the wall, like a little armored train with legs instead of wheels. And then there were two, and four, and more than I could count. I went to check out two that were on a wall, and they were gone. I took a step backward, and I heard a crunch.

Eww. Immediately I was freaking out because I'd stepped on a centipede...but when I turned around, it was a pile of potpourri I had stepped on. And we all laughed about it (who else? I dunno...) while the centipedes scurried all over the walls and carpet around us.

So, thank, brain, for concocting that little niblet of fun in all the horrifying creepy-crawliness.

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Serously, Target? Seriously?

Check this article out:  Target Paints Bullseye With Anti-Gay Contributions.

I'm getting sick of my favorite stores being dumbasses about equal rights.  Now where do we shop?!

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I Love Apple...

No, seriously. I'm going to write them a love note.


Dear Apple,

Thanks for all the hassles. Thanks for the gray hairs. Thanks for the stress that's keeping me awake. Thanks for working slow and screwing things up. But most of all, thanks for NOT CHARGING ME FOR MY NEW LAPTOP!!!

Signed,

Justin


No, seriously. I got my ship notice today. It should have been here today. But I'm willing to overlook that for the moment, because it will be here by Thursday. And when I checked my account at work, realizing my computer was on its way AND that they had refunded me my shipping costs over the weekend, I realized something. I have almost $1400 extra dollars in my bank account, and Apple hasn't charged me for it yet. But it's on its way to my house. Right now. As we speak. But they haven't charged me. But it's on it's way. But they didn't charge me. But it's coming...for free.

Everyone, hold your breath. No, seriously. You, too. This could be the break that I've been waiting for.

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