passions quote of the day:10/30/07

"Nothing like a dead baby to put everyone in a bad mood."

punch in the nose

FUNeral: part one

The whole experience of my grandfather's funeral is pretty much over. I'm here at my parent's house watching a huge HD TV (new), sitting in a comfy office chair(new) blogging with their dial-up connection (also new. They upped it to 100mb/sec!) The HD TV is pretty cool. My dad wanted to show me what the picture looked like but had to find a channel that was in high definition. As he was flipping the channels he stopped and said it would have to wait. He wanted to watch Family Feud and that was not in hi-def.

Last night there was a rosary thingy. I haven't prayed the rosary since I was a kid and I'm pretty sure it was my grandfather who was leading it. Father Vicente, who has been at the parish for a very long time and knew my grandfather well, led the rosary last night. Father Vicente, a native Spaniard, has a heavy accent but I have gotten used to it over the years and understand him perfectly. I also know what he sounds like when he's talking and crying but last night while saying the rosary he had a different sound in his voice, one that sounded like a worn, warped record that has been repeating the same song over and over for decades. For those of you who don't know, the rosary consists of fifty Hail Marys said in groups of ten. It was during these that his voice became soft and warbled.


There were a lot of people at the rosary. All of my uncles, some of their families, even my sixth grade teacher, a friend of my father's who was there when KC and I made our unholy alliance all those years ago. Speaking of which, KC was sitting in his car outside. He didn't feel he was dressed enough for the occasion.

My grandma was being her usual self. As I walked up to her she told me I didn't look like Philip. I bet it's the haircut. She was a lot quieter than she has been lately but other than that she seemed fine. As the rosary was coming to a close she started shuffling with her purse, getting ready to go. She nearly dropped it and made an audible comment, something along the lines of "Nice move." After the rosary Father Vicente told about how my grandfather, who used to work for the school district, told him to take all the old chairs and desks he wanted when the parish was starting up their own catholic school and made some joke about church and state being separate. He started talking about the service/mass that took place this morning and my grandma made another audible comment. "Cut it short, Father."

Kc and I then went to a snobby coffee place we used to go to all the time before we moved to Arcata. Back then KC would hit on all the foreign girls who worked there. I even (tried to)hit on a cute, tall, skinny guy who worked there. I let him borrow my copy of Crumb. That went nowhere. Last night, thought, we had a great time catching up, listening to old-school Sebadoh, and making fun of people. I thought "This is just like old times, but better."

work tales

This woman,a regular customer who always comes in with her elderly mother, was in the store tonight and while i was bagging her groceries, she grabbed the Robitussin that she was purchasing and said "I think I'll try this now." She opened the package and took a sip. Then another. I helped her and her mother out to the car. Trying to be friendly I asked the old woman if she was ready for Halloween. A blank stare followed by an "I guess." I honestly didn't expect more than that. The woman always talked about her mom as if she wasn't there or was deaf or something, and I just wanted her to feel noticed.
As I walked to the car, and even after I had loaded the groceries into the car, I saw that the woman had not stopped sipping the Robitussin. Right before she got in the car she said "This doesn't taste very good." She kept sipping the bottle as she got in the car. I'm sure it was gone by the time she got home.

video killed the blogger

Now that I have the capability to edit video on my computer, I was thinking of doing a video blog entry. The problem is I have even less to blog about with video than I do with text. So rather then force it, I'll just wait until somehting comes up. In the meantime, here's a video of me six-packing beer at work, set to some really exciting music. It takes practice to be able to do it that fast.

ok, so....quick update

I just talked to my dad. He's doing just fine. He seemed puzzled that I even asked how he was doing. He also said that my grandma is doing fine, not showing much emotion as usual. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my family maintains it's usual stoicism, even with the death of the partiarch, a man who was the epitome of stoicism himself. I told my dad how I was feeling, even though I know that it makes him uncomfortable when I do that. He told me that grandpa would say, "Oh, don't worry about it," and he was right. He also pointed out that it wasn't a big surprise, he was 90 years old, after all.

He did tell me that my grandma, who is usually very independent, surprised him by wanting someone to stay with her overnight. I told him this didn't surprise me because, despite her independence, she always had my grandpa right there with her.

it's been quite a week

There were a lot of stressful things going on, but nothing I couldn't handle. All of those things have been resolved, also. Among other things, my tests are over and my water heater is fixed. while these things were coupled with my full work and school schedule I managed to maintain a positive attitude and cheerful demeanor. On Tuesday my Grandpa passed away and that sort of pushed me to a limit I don't think I've been to. I managed to maintain that positive attitude at work and school all the while feeling like a zombie. There was this thing that was trying to get into my brain but I was just too tired to let it sink in. The only time I felt like myself was when I talked to Jeremy about my Grandpa, the only time I gave myself to reflect upon it.

Today, I finally let it sink in. I talked to my mom, KC, and KC's mom on the phone.
I'm feeling much better now. Talking to KC always makes me feel better. I'll fly home next week and get to see my family, be there for my dad, my sister, my Grandma and everyone else. I don't know how my sister is doing other than she's in too bad of shape to talk to me yet. I haven't heard about my brother, either. He and I don't talk much. I'm going to call home now and hopefuly talk to my dad. I've only talked with my mother so far. Talking to my dad will help me know more about how he's doing and how my grandma is doing. Just thinking about her makes me tear up. I think about how she and my grandpa were almost never apart. They did everything together, even if they didn't do very much. I have no idea what's going to happen to her or the house they lived in since the 50's, or any of that. I feel so far away from my family right now, I really wish I could be with them. I can't believe I almost thought of not going down there.

On the plus side, both of my classes have been canceled for tomorrow. That will give me time to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Starlight Angel

When i was in 8th grade, i watched an anime movie called "Robot Carnival." It was mostly lame, but there was one segment I really liked. I like the music, the lame love story and the robot fight. Thank Google for Youtube.

poop cake? WTF!?!

A little over a year ago I agreed to go on a semi-blind date with this dude who kept bugging me about comics and Miranda July. We went on said date and you know, we're still partying. Turns out I'm totally gay for him.
this weekend we hung out, drank, ate, made poop cake, turned ourseves into the undead, watched a movie about jumping off bridges and listened to some great disco. I'd put links in here, but i have to go to school. Stupid Higher education.

-_-_-_-_-_-

just checking in

school:
had a math test on friday. feel confident about it. the teacher says these next two weeks are the most difficult of the class. I'm starting to like math, it's like solving little puzzles.
gave an intorduction presentation in communication class. we needed two things that represented our past, our present and our future. I had:
-a pineapple
-the cover to the Boont Dusties album
-a computer printed Stephen Shore photo
-a notepad from work
-a copy of Atomic Ranch magazine
-a croissant
they were all in a small box for holding comic books. i left all of them in my math class today. meh.

what else?
my computer. My dad mailed my sister's to me and I had to mail it back. Mine was supposed to be here today, but no one was home to recieve it. my sleeping beauty volunteered to nap at my place to intercept my sisters, but today my roommate, cesar, wasn't home from work when it came. the sticker they left didn't say whether or not they would try again tomorrow. that section was left blank. my dad said he'd pay me back for shipping my sister's computer to her, but really, how can i ask that of him? he bought me a freaking computer!

And I am now paying to watch Passions, and excited about it. They're getting into Furries.


oh, and today i only spent a total of $3.77. Three cheers for frugality.

people in my house

Tom is always in the way.



Christina



Amber and Cesar



Tom



David

while i have a moment

My dad has my computer and says he'll "try to send it this week." That's sooner than I had hoped!
My first week of school went well. I'm still learning how to budget my time, although I think I did OK last week, with one exception. On Thursday I went to happy hour at Bleu with Chelsea instead of napping and doing my homework so I had to catch up on the math. I'm pretty much caught up now. Keeping my mind occupied has calmed me somewhat. My brain just had way too much free time for it's own good. It's a lot easier to go into robot mode at work. I feel further removed from the job, and at the same time I'm doing better work, in my opinion. But I sure am tired a lot.

Here's my take on my classes:

Interpersonal communication- It's gotten a lot easier for me to talk to strangers, sometimes I even do it voluntarily. Yes I still dread being put into groups or giving speeches but I have to say now I can do so with minimal effort. Before I moved to Seattle I rarely spoke a word to anyone unless poked with a stick. I already got in front of the class and told them that I've watched Days of Our Lives all my life.

Beginning Algebra- Took it once in 1995, once in 1999, and here I am again. This stuff just doesn't want to stick in my brain. For a subject that has little or no room for interpretation it can be quite complicated. I'm picking it up well, though. I think the fact that I am annoyed by the younger kids in class who say "What do we need this for?" is a good sign. I paid good money to learn this stuff, you little brat!

Yoga- makes me sleepy. It's fun, though. Here's hoping it will make me even more limber than I already am.