Almost Sunday

Saturday night is coming to a close and I'm trying to get some work done for class. With my busy work schedule and a full class load, I have to spread out my class assignments, so as to not overload myself. I'll survive though. It will all be worth it in the end.

So, here's some random tidbits that will cover the past few days:
I finally made it to the DMV to renew my registration and get a new license photo. My registration expired on the 14th, apparently. I knew it was up this month, but I didn't check the actual expiration date. No worries. There was no late fee. As for my photo, well, I just never liked it. I have been mulling over the idea of changing it for a long time. Sure, I'll miss saying that the t-shirt I'm wearing in the photo is my Huey Lewis & The News tour shirt, but since I rarely show anyone the photo, the story was being told with little frequency. Let's hope this photo comes out better. I'm far from photogenic, so I have my doubts about how it will look.

Magdalene and I had dinner with Christian and Lydia on Friday night at a little Italian place by their apartment. Sadly, I didn't pay attention to the name of the restaurant, but I know the location for future reference. There was an outside, courtyard area, which had a nice garden-like look. It was a nice night, so eating dinner outside was nice. And it had been a while since I had hung out with Christian & Lydia, so that was nice. They are two of my favorite people.

I also picked up tickets to the second Death Cab show. Carrie offered to sell me two of the tickets she bought for the Wednesday show, and I figured why not buy tickets for the second show as well. I now have tickets to several shows over the next couple of months. Quite exciting. Here's the list:
9/29 - The Long Winters @ Bowery Ballroom
10/1 - Cursive @ Webster Hall
10/12 - Minus the Bear @ Irving Plaza
10/21 - Maritime @ Mercury Lounge
11/8 - DCFC w/ Ted Leo @ The Theater at Madison Square Garden
11/9 - DCFC w/ Ted Leo @ The Theater at Madison Square Garden

I'm also considering seeing Nakatomi Plaza with Channels on October 8th @ North Six. This, of course, depends on the amount of work I have to do for my classes. Ugh! I should really get back to reading. I have to write another response paper for my Adolescent Lit class, as well as post some responses on the discussion board. I'd rather take a nap though.

I guess that's all for tonight. Later.

-Sergei xo

Song of the Day:
Dismemberment Plan - Superpowers

Take a breath

I've been so busy lately since school started. It's going to be a long, tiring semester. I've started taking naps on the floor, behind the counter at work before the store opens again. It's been a while since I did that, but I need the extra sleep sometimes. Today I had planned to go around to middle schools and drop off the request form to do observations, but after getting up early, I fell back to sleep and woke up late. I still have time to go, but I really need to go to the DMV. My registration is up this month and I want to get a new license. I should be doing that now, but, as you can see, I'm slacking. Since I haven't updated this in a while, I wanted to update it quickly.

School is going well. I'm starting to figure out what is actually expected in my classes. On the first day of class you are bombarded with statements like, "there is going to be a lot of reading and work," but, in actuality, some classes are easier than they are made out to be. For example: my Human Development class. We were assigned several chapters of reading for the second class according to the syllabus. I read three of the five chapters assigned. In class, my professor talked as if we only needed to read chapter one and also gave us a breakdown of the chapter on the overhead projector. There are also no tests and the final paper is only;y 4 pages. Brilliant! This will take off some of the pressure so I can focus on my more demanding Methods I class. Once I start doing the classroom observations I will be really busy. I'm excited to be back in school, but I can't wait for the semester to end.

I saw a couple of movies with Magdalene last week. We saw Hollywoodland and The Black Dahlia. Hollywoodland was awesome. Great cast, great storyline, great acting. The Black Dahlia, on the other hand, was, well, it was actually really bad. This was quite disappointing for both of us. We spent a couple of days looking up information on the actual murder and looking at death photos. And since James Elroy wrote the book, I was convinced it would be good. I was so wrong. I love LA Confidential. The Black Dahlia is no LA Confidential. The acting was awful, aside from Aaron Eckhart, who was mostly good, & Hillary Swank, and the story was confusing until the end. It's fine if a movie keeps you guessing, but this one had us saying, "I have no idea what's happening." So if you have the urge to see it, I suggest you better spend your time staring at a wall. You'll be more entertained.

Ok, I need to shower and go the DMV, then work. Later on.

-Sergei xo

Song of the Day:
The Good Life - Album of the Year

No subject

I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Not sure if my feeling sick is a result of the not so inviting weather of late or the few people I know who have been sick these past few days. Eh, whatever. Colds happen. Anywho, I started feeling the dry sinuses kick in at work on Friday. They were a tad raw this morning as well, but I didn't truly start to feel sick until I was getting to work. Running around like a maniac wasn't helping at first. Eventually, the DayQuil kicked in and made me a feel a little better. Back-to-School shopping was in full swing today, so I didn't have time to be sick. It's funny, when it's really busy, I really enjoy working at the store. Sure, you occasionally encounter an obnoxious customer. But, for the most part, I have had some great customers these past couple of weeks. I really enjoy it when I get the customer who seems like they are frustrated and I put them in a better mood. Maybe I'm weird, but I like making people smile.

Today started out great the moment I woke up. Magdalene and I went to the Peter Pan diner before I had to go to work. There we bumped into Sean, who was waiting for Rachel. So we combined our two parties and got a table for four. It was great seeing them. Sadly, Celia wasn't able to join us. Perhaps next time. I tried another item from the Peter Pancakes menu; the peanut butter & chocolate chip pancakes. I opted for the whole wheat pancakes, as always. Imagine eating three giant cookies smothered in syrup. That's what this was like. So sugary. Sooooo delicious!

I received some sad news today. A few years back, we (WEIH) played a show with a band called The Waiting Process. Nice guys. A fun band to play with. We later played with them a few more times before they eventually broke up. The bass player, James, was a really nice guy. He used to stop into my store in Massapequa every so often. I never really knew him too well, but I knew he was a good person. James was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and fought hard for several years to beat it. James lost the fight on Thursday. I don't know the full details, but was told it had something to do with him developing an infection. I know he had gone into the hospital for a bone marrow transplant somewhat recently, so I'm assuming it had something to do with this. James was 24-yrs-old. RIP James.

It's crazy to think of someone so young passing on. I can't even begin to fathom what it must have been like live with cancer. It really makes me realize how precious life is. Sometimes we take for granted how important each moment of life is. We go about our days with little thought about our friends and family. Lately I have been enjoying life more, taking mental notes on each moment. Hearing about James has made me appreciate my life even more. I'm a truly lucky person. I have a great family. Sure, their odd and can often drive me crazy, but I still love them. I have amazing friends, whom I would do anything for. They are like my other family. I work with fantastic people, who are also like family. And I have a beautiful girlfriend who inspires me to be a better person and makes me smile so much that my face hurts. She is my life. I'm constantly surrounded by people I love and trust. Knowing this removes all negativity from my life.

Ok, I'm really exhausted. Goodnight.

-Sergei xo

Song of the Day:
Shades Apart - Getting Over It