Okay. Sad news. Are you prepared?

I am not going home to Minnesota July 17-25. You heard it here first. Of course, I will be contacting friends and such to tell them personally because I feel like I am really letting everyone down... but parents said I should stay because now I am taking photography classes and I really shouldn't miss them. I agree, but I hate to agree at the same time. I really would like to go home.

But since I have already asked for the week off, I want to do something July 22-25.. like go to San Juan, Puerto Rico!! Okay, seriously, does anyone want to do it with me? Because I've calculated it out and for those four days of fun, it'll cost $502 with flight and hotel. And the hotel is gorgeous.. it's the Westin Rio Mar Golf Resort and Spa. 4 days, 3 nights. Well, think about it.

Any other ideas for a short trip? Suggestions would be appreciated.

After eating half a bag of guacamole doritos, stopped self, aghast at high position of MSG on ingredients list. Told supervisor to spit in bag as would be effective deterrent to me. He not only did that, he also locked them up. Thank goodness. But the doritos were not so easily quenched.

As I went to Launch to search for 'Dido' and her videos, typed in 'Doritos' instead, without a thought.

Evil, evil doritos.

...

Went to DC for the weekend and it was lovely fun! Shopped all Saturday and museum hopped all Sunday. The Smithsonian museums have got to be the coolest--you see all this great stuff for the great price of FREE. Saw the Hope Diamond, of course, and lots of other jewelry that made me want to head out to the nearest Cartier and buy the lot. So thank you Sam for a wonderful weekend.. you were the hostess with the mostest!

Eyes swollen and tired. Long bus ride! Got up early too, cause thought had class today after but nope. Okay realize rambling. Must go scan slides.

Oh by the way.. I cannot believe I forgot to mention this... I went to a free Dido/John Mayer concert last Thursday. Raining like all hell outside, so left before John Mayer played. But I got what I wanted out of it.. Dido!! She played a surprising amount of songs, about 12 in total. She didn't play my fave song from her new album, Who Makes You Feel, sadly, but it was good nonetheless.

Yup. Probably should record that for future memory. Ugh, also remember awful wetness that caused Dido to joke that she'd brought her country's weather with her. Remember also, big sassin' girl who, when I got caught up in a line of people shoving through the crowd, kept insulting people who budge really loudly and whipping her ponytail around over and over and barely managing an apology when she pushed me. Beyotch, if you're out there-- glasses and long brown mousy hair and bare arms and at Dido's concert in Bryant Park, I would just like to say this:

Up yours.

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Also, tonight am eating at Eleven Madison Park--doesn't it look gorgeous? I think I'd go even if the food was awful.

Mary Kate Anorexic?

I like how this was deemed breaking news. I like even more how we're going to be experiencing this drama first hand next year. Ah, NYU, how I love you.

Seriously, though, at first when I was trying to compare her to her sister, I couldn't tell a difference. All actresses in Hollywood these days appear to be starving. Sometimes, I really just want to slap them and force feed them at the same time. If you've got the money to spend on the best food around, why waste your opportunities and starve away? Is it really worth it?

Speaking of good food... oh yes, you know what's coming next. It's Restaurant Week here in the Big Apple so of course, you know me, I had to go and start making reservations straight away.

First, I called Aquavit, which was rated very highly in Zagat's and managed to make a reservation for next Friday. Apparently everyone wants Scandinavian food with a two story waterfall.

Next, I gave Union Pacific a ring and barely managed to make a reservation. Luckily, they're extending their offer to Labor Day so I'm heading there July 7.

Well, at this point, Mike (my coworker and fellow Restaurant Week conspirator) and I were getting frustrated. We wanted good food, dammit, and we wanted it NOW. So I called Blue Water Grill and scored one for 6:15 tonight.

Don't you want to be tantalized with the descriptions of delicious food we had? Oh, you know you do. Mike started off with the Chilean sea bass maki roll, while I chose the golden tomato gazpacho. I'd read about gazpacho in one of my favorite magazines, you see, and the writer made it sound like without gazpacho, summer was nothing. Well, it didn't exactly live up to the ideal I had in my head, but the guacamole was delish. For main entrees, I got the pan seared black bass which literally made me cry after I took one bite. Mike ate the corvina, which both of us had no idea what it was until it came. Apparently, it's a type of fish. Dessert, though, dessert was the highlight...

Clafouti. Yeah, I don't know what that means, but apparently it means really really delicious berry jam and sorbet and tart thing. Oh God.

Suffice to say, we were both very happy after. The atmosphere of the restaurant was lovely as well, though it was sometimes hard to see the food. We ate in the downstairs jazz dining room, which, you guessed it, had live jazz.

I'll never understand how jazz works--constant improvisation on the same sort of theme... I suppose it's like improvising for anything in life.

I'm back from Philadelphia, and from my unconscious hiatus from this blog. I just felt that the last post took a lot out of me, you know? But it also made me realize that I really ought to work on the quality of my posts as well as include some current events and whatnot, otherwise I'm not a true blogger, am I?

I suppose I don't write much about current events because I don't pay that much attention to them. Hrm, let's do current events in Christine's world in a three sentences, shall we? And I realize I shall look quite the ignoramus, but this is to give you an idea of what goes on in my head.

Reagan: over-hyped funeral for an okay president that I didn't know or care about. Iraqi prisoner torture: I feel awful that this is happening, but I am helpless. EU: erm, yay?

Okay, now that I have made a complete arse of myself...

Weekend update to come. All I can say is Saturday was both very good and very bad.

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Also, have Gmail invites. E-mail me the funniest joke you've heard and one may be yours!

New resolution: no more snacks! Snacking is really not good, ruining your appetite for your meals and filling you up with bad stuff. So: no snacking. Unless it's good for you. Man, this is going to be hard. Someone make a bet with me about, si vous plait?

...

I waited at the bus stop, seated on the mottled concrete. He sat down, then. He had those veiny arms, with a tan that spoke of hard outdoor work or lazy vacations at St. Bart's. It was hard to crane my neck for the bus without him being in the way, so in typical New York fashion, I focused straight ahead, staring at the glass that rose into a tower in front of me instead of taking the horrifying chance of meeting eyes with a stranger. A few long moments passed. Then,

"This street, it's quiet," he said with a distinctly European accent. I nodded in acquiescence.

"Yes, the city's usually so loud. So where are you from?" I asked, brazen in the dream-like quality of the entire encounter. He hesitated, then answered with his eyes fixed on a point beyond me.

"Paris." I murmured a noncommital 'ah.' "Then before that, Denmark." I breathed a laugh.

"So where are you from originally, then?" I asked, slightly teasing.

"My mother's Danish and my father's Iranian-French," he replied. There was something restrained, shifty, about him. It felt as though he was testing the waters with each reply, tailoring the next response to suit me, to suit him.

"That's cool. So do you go to the dental school?" I gestured towards the glass behemoth facing us across the street.

"Dental school? That's a dental school? Are you a dentist?" he asked, words surprised but expression not, in the European manner.

"No, no. I work there in tech support," I replied, then, seeing his semi-confused look, I clarified, "I work with computers. What do you do?"

"I'm staying with my sister and her husband over there," he said, gesturing vaguely to his left. I couldn't tell if he had deliberately misunderstood my question, or not. Being in the city mindset, I felt he had done the former rather than the latter. A silence descended then, after I had nodded my head. For several agonizing moments, I tried to look everywhere but at him, wishing with everything I had that the trolley would come and whisk me away.

"So what is everyone doing here?" he asked. By then, several others had settled near us, a miniature version of city high school where the youths lean sullenly against chain link fences after the ending bell to wait for transport.

"Oh, we're all waiting for the trolley," I replied, relieved that the heavy silence had dissolved. He nodded.

"Does it go everywhere?" he asked.

"No, just to the NYU dorms," I replied, with a note of regret for him.

"My sister goes to NYU," he said. Again, the non sequitur didn't bother me.

"What's she studying?" I asked. He looked away, amber brown eyes clear in the sunlight.

"Something that takes many years, I don't know," he said slowly. I laughed nervously, thinking, you don't know what your sister is studying? With every passing moment, I felt myself detaching more and more, certain there was mischief afoot. "The NYU dorms, can non-NYU people stay there?"

"Yeah, but only during the summer," I replied.

"Is it expensive?"

"Well, if you get a non air-conditioned double, it'd be about $100. Oh, and you'd have to get a meal plan, so that adds up to about $187," I said.

"But you have to eat anyway, right?" he asked. I was surprised he had caught my feelings toward the meal plan so easily.

"I suppose so," I said, smiling.

"Where can I apply for housing?" he asked.

"Online," I said, then at his slight grimace, added, "Well, if you have a computer, that is."

"I am not good at online," he said, frowning, rubbing his face. His fingernails were dirty. His reluctance about the internet only intensified my suspicions of him--different, increasingly negative ideas flashed through my mind. He was a homeless hobo without a computer, looking for a girl to be his sugar mama. Or a drugged-up addict searching for a quick fix. I didn't know what to think.

"Well, you could also go to the NYU campus and ask for information," I said, my Midwestern drive to help and be nice to those in front of me pushing me.

"Where's that?"

"Washington Square Park."

"Downtown?"

"Downtown. Around 8th Street. Just ask around," I said. "So what do you do?" I persisted, curiosity shoving aside detachment.

"I am doing a little work," he said. I was about to push him to tell me more, but at the sight of the trolley, gave it up. I wouldn't see him again.

"Oh, here's the trolley," I said, abrupt even to my own ears.

"Trolley, it's free?" he asked.

"Only for NYU people," I said with fake regret, secretly glad like the runner who catches sight of the finish line just as she tires. I stood, then, and the trolley stopped in front of me.

Before I stepped on, he shouted, "What's your name?"

"Christine," I tossed over my shoulder, knowing it didn't matter. I heard him repeat it to himself, quietly. I sat next to a woman, and didn't look out the window as the trolley rolled on, leaving the stranger behind.

You know you're eating at a good restaurant when you feel you've been transported elsewhere.

Based off of Robert Sietsema's recommendations in the Village Voice, Suzanne and I ate at Bianca's today, which is located at 5 Bleecker Street. I highly recommend this place because the seafood is delicious and the decor is lovely. Suzanne ordered the calamari/seafood dish while I ordered an appetizer of mussels because I had eaten quite a bit at lunch (more about that later). The decor was very Newport, Rhode Island-esque--white-painted wood, blues, candlelight. Quite an ambiance. The food arrived very quickly; most likely, this was because we ate at 7.

And man, oh man, was the food just plain good. My mussels, the menu said, were cooked in a white wine sauce. I could also taste olive oil, garlic, and basil. Isn't that really all you need? Usually I shy away from mussels because they taste so fishy, but these tasted like real meat, you know? No fishiness evident at all. As for Suzanne's fried seafood... Robert wasn't lying when he called it a paragon. The batter was wonderfully done, just the right amount of saltiness and bay leaf.

Okay, now that I am done gushing about food--it's time to gush about Ikea! Which is actually, now that I think about, a lot like gushing about food. How about if I summarise: it made me want an apartment, just so I could buy all of Ikea and stuff it into the apt. Also the food was quite good for the price..

After Ikea, we headed to H&M, then Suzanne and I wandered around the East Village, Chinatown, and Soho. I do so love wandering.

An aside: anyone else been seeing a lot of instances of 'wondering' instead of 'wandering'? People are committing heinous crimes of word misusage.

Why is it so difficult to find a non-tedious person?

I feel as though with every year I am finding it harder and harder to either be in new relationships or maintain old ones, because my eye is ever more critical of people and their faults. One person, for example, could be really intelligent, but repeat things over and over--which I cannot abide. Another could be nearly perfect: always interesting, funny, laughs at your jokes, crazy in the right way, but also be rather dodgy and uncommunicative about certain things that matter.

Of course, I realize I am not perfect--far from it, indeed. I suppose I am just lamenting the difficulty in finding the perfect fit, a fit that I pretty much had secured in high school. And now it feels like starting from scratch.

Heh. I speak as though I'm starting my freshman year, when in reality, I'm starting my sophomore with six other girls who hold great potential to being perfect fits.

I suppose I need to stop being so critical, but it's hard in a society that is extremely judgmental because of free speech.

...

Also. I have lots of big bug bites. Any home treatments I should try? I've already tried cortisone, to minimal effect. Thanks!

I won 100 million dollars in a radio call in contest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or so I dreamt. And the strangest part of the whole dream was the sense of disappointment I felt. Of course, I was also wildly happy. The first plan I had for spending money, I remember, was to get myself a driver and car. I think this is indicative of the laziness so deep-rooted in me.

In any case, when I woke up, the disappointment lingered in my mind, as obviously disappointment is not an emotion normally associated with winning the lottery. Wild excitement, yes. Orgasmic pleasure, yes. Disappointment, not so much. Then, as I thought back to WHY I was so disappointed, the main reason I came up with was that with the money, I would not be able to experience life the way I wanted to, with everything from scratch and knowing the excitement of my first hard-earned job, check, house, car, and so on.

So I guess I do have hidden depths and morals... odd.

...

For those who care: I've moved back and everything is dandy, except allergies and humidity. The roomie is nice, a sorority girl from University of Delaware who also has to wake up early for her job so corresponding sleep schedules = good. I now understand why my father, when he gets home from work, plops down in front of the television. It's not that I really do all that much at work; it's just that sitting in the same place for long periods of time can take its toll on you.

Therefore, don't be expecting anything exciting in this end. I'll be sprawled out on my bed most nights, I think. Ooh, but Suzanne and I ARE going to the ballet June 19.. I am ever so excited for that.

Oh do I love Sarah McLachlan's video for "Stupid"... I have such a weakness for beautifully orchestral background and the first period of costumes shown. And you have to admit, even though she's cheating, it is awfully romantic. Why am I such a romantic???

BTW, those of you here for the Fountains of Wayne photos.. here & here, so you don't have to do any searching.

I cannot believe Anna Nicole Smith has so much money. Oh God. Is there no justice in the world?

All righty, have got two pen pals now. Come now people. No one else is up for discovering if I am a kindred soul through paper?

What's the most beautiful thing you've seen?

New collection up at foto-graphie... long overdue from my trip last summer to Australia.

Off to sleep.

Have succumbed to the parents after a week of commuting. It was just too difficult so am now moving to live in New York. Really should have stuck it out longer, but the NYU summer housing deadline was yesterday, so was rushed into a decision. And I will like being able to get around places on my own. But I will DEFINITELY miss Maliha's family and home because it was so comfortable and lovely and had yumalicious food. If only we could just move her entire apartment to NY.. anyone up for the job?

Anyway, excited for that and Shakespeare in the Park.

Been working on starting up paper correspondences (penpals as of now: 1). Anyone want to be my penpal? I can write long letters with charming illustrations...

OMG. What the hell? Did anyone else watch Miss Universe? Did anyone else think that Miss Australia, while not unattractive, did NOT measure up to her fellow top 5??? Maliha and I were sure that Paraguay was going to win. Especially when we listened to the god-awful answers all the girls gave.. I mean, Paraguay may have chosen Eva Peron, a woman who caused the value of her country's currency to go down, but at least it was better than choosing to be a woman of today "because we have lots of freedoms." Yeah, right. We women DO NOT have a lot of freedoms, not as a whole, not even close. These women are hell ass dumb, but pretty.

Also, watched the Summerland premiere, which was pretty good, though formulaic and with iffy acting at times. I may actually watch it this summer!

Hurrahhh! I asked my boss and she very nicely gave me July 19-23 off so I can go HOME!!!!! Rejoice fellow Minnesotans, for I am returning!

Yippeeeeeeeeee skippeeeeeeee.

Also, last night I cooked my mom's special fish and it turned out delish--the fish out here is really fresh, one big bonus. Yum yum. I don't know what I shall whip up tonight. But I know I am going to the ole library, yay!

Yup. T minus 45 minutes and counting before I go on back to North Brunswick.

Other things to look forward to: Ikea this weekend, DC June 24, Jersey Shore and Montreal ?? so that is always good. Of course, Harry Potter next Monday also....