On school, its stresses, the harvest, and polygamy...

Bueno.

Aqui estoy. Apparently I haven't written in forever and it made Deya cranky. (Look! Personal shout out!)

I'm watching Big Love right now, sipping a diet coke. I probably should be writing that durn paper. But I just don't want to. It's not due until Friday at midnight. And I've already got a draft. So no big, right? Righttttttttt.

I've been hooked on Farmville. Lame. I know. What's next? I mean, really. What, I'll make my dogs a facebook?

Ah... Pero wait.... lol.

But yeah. I've got raspberries, squashes, artichokes, cotton, rice, pumpkins, soybeans.... Got a few cows, some chickens, elephants, a goat and a sheep. Oh, and a horse. :) I'll get bored in a few days, lol. I feel the boredom already.

This Saturday's a service mixer for AOII and Alpha Phi Alpha (I think?), and I'm supposed to be in charge of food. But I don't know where to get this food from? Lol. Oh, silly little me.

And whilst near this subject (that is, Alpha Omicron Pi--aka, the best sorority evarrrrrr), has this cute little idea for themes for our new member meetings.

Which of course stress me out. Because it's me and nothing can be simple. And I like to be a perfectionist. I could just throw on a shirt with Mickey on it or something. But no. I actually have to get a costume, lol. Ay. Natali. So crazyyyyy.

I had coffee with my Panda Pal today. :) It was great. I love her. She's adorable. :) Pero you know, being awake at 9 am is way too damn early, lol.

I wish there were like these little villages you could live in for like a week or something and experience life in different periods of history--the Renaissance (actually, I don't care to go there. But it's an example), Regency England, Colonial America, Ancient Rome, etc. And I know there are some places like that. But I want more. And cheaper, lol.

I'd like to live in a polygamist compound for a week, as one of the sister-wives. Just to see what it's like. I think it's great in concept--like communism. However, human nature just doesn't work that way. Once put into practice, it collapses.

SO, here's my proposition. Revert back to old styles of living! We should have compounds of different families. A bunch of little houses arranged around a central square. Yes. And everyone has their own role within the family. Fantastic. Me gusta. Like a little pueblo.

Hmm. Almost 2 am. My strawberries should be ready.

Arrivederci.

Thanks for reading,
Natali

On pathetic pets...

So, I have two dogs (as any of you who will read this will know), Papito & Clarice.

Papito doesn't play fetch. He doesn't really do much of anything, really. The only thing that excites him is food and walks.

Clarice plays fetch. Clarice never chills out. She likes food and walks, too--and jumping and running and sitting on my stomach and hogging the attention and being a brat and being obese and eating and being with me CONSTANTLY and etc.

So at first, one would think that Papito has absolutely no personality. Not true! And my friends always have their favorite (usually Papito), even though Clarice gets more attention (because she's an attention whore).

But moving on. I took them for a walk and decided to play fetch with Clarice. This would serve several purposes:

1. One of the two things that gets Papo excited is a walk. (The other is wet dog food.) Otherwise, he's comatose.
2. Clarice is obese. (Ha ha, if she were in school, the mean kids would call her "Obese Clarice!") She needs exercise.
3. I get to live out one of those stupid "American" moments--playing fetch with my dogs in the park. (What's funny is that my dog is six or seven inches at the shoulder and looks nothing like a golden retriever.)
4. It will tire Clarice out so she isn't so rambunctious and bugs me less.
5. It would save me from homework for awhile.

Fiddle-dee-dee, right? ("Gone with the Wind" allusion.)

Hmm. They last five minutes outside before they were panting, refused to (in Clarice's case) play more fetch, and basically sat their rumps on the ground and my mom and I had to carry them back.

What's more?

Now, after the event, they're both super hyper. Fack.

First two weeks of school have flown by. I like this. Let's just keep up the pace now.

Recruitment week just ended! :-D I'm now a proud new member of AOII!!! Can't wait for all that's ahead.

Unfortunately, until then, I've got homework. >.<

...Right after I watch "Greek."

Lol.

Thanks for reading!

On stubborn donkeys...

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a
well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do.


Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the
well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began
to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the
donkey realized what was happening and cried
horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he
quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally
looked down the well. He was astonished at what
he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his
back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel
dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it
off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey
stepped up over the edge of the well and
happily trotted off!
*****
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds
of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well
is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of
our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out
of the deepest wells just by not stopping,
never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up..

On breaking my hand, and not remembering how...

I got home about twenty minutes ago.

I walked in through the door with a smile on my face. Why? Was I drunk? Nope, not anymore. It'd worn off about an hour before.

[In the middle of my sentence, I realized I had ants floating around in my cup... After disposing of them, I continue.]

Was I high? Nope, haven't smoked a damn thing in awhile. Au naturale par moi.

...Am I happy?

Beyond. I've had an amazing night with some amazing people (though missing a couple VERY important ones! Elise & Stephen, for example) & I've got a slightly amazing headache... Lol. But mostly, it's just a dull ache now. The Ibuprofen will soon set in and take care of that for me.

I remember getting to Mai's with three passengers (two of whom will remain anonymous) and some ice and cookies and Chef Boy Ardee. Then Michael showed up with that limoncello shit--which, btw, goes down oh so smooth...

Next thing I know, we're floating around the pool, half-tipsy (or, in Cristy's case, full-on drunk) and having a good time.

Somewhere between my last beer and a giant gulp of the Smirnoff Tuscan Lemon (for which I had to fight a certain person who shall not be named due to the nature of his or her situation), I got a little fuzzy. And really, really hurt my hand. Only Allen & Cristy seemed to care, but it was nice of them. :) Don't really remember what happened, though... Wish I could...

Oh! And Susie!!! She brought me cookies! And they tasted so good, it was so sweet of her! I still have some left, and I sure will enjoy those!!

I just... Love my friends. Not a single thing went wrong tonight (though I know perhaps some people would disagree due to the arrival of certain personas, but we shall continue on!) and it was PERFECT to end the night by blasting "A Puro Dolor" by Son by Four.

I just... Idk. I love the world right now. And, as I told Mai (after being accused of being "sassy!"): "I felt good tonight. So, I let the world know it."

So... to those who were those (and a few who weren't), I love you. I had a WONDERFUL time. And I hope the birthday girls did, too.

[I now vaguely remember singing happy birthday to the birthday girls... And the ice cream cake melting... And floating around the pool on my own, lol. It'll come back slowly...]

I love you all.

Thanks for reading.

PS: My hair looks crazy. It was earned. For that reason, I post up a picture. This is after a bout in the pool, lolling around half-asleep, and driving with the windows down. This hair, to me, symbolizes: friendship.

On getting four large-ish pieces of enamel removed from my oral cavity...

It's currently 8 pm and I've been missing four teeth that have been with me... oh, for at least two and a half years or so... for about 8 hours now? Life is good so far. Hasn't hurt me much. But then, I've also been popping three Ibuprofen every four hours, lol.

I actually wouldn't complain at ALL if I could only finish clotting and remove that damn piece of gauze from either side of my mouth. It's irritating me. But as of yet, I show no signs of clotting in the near-future. And yes, it's slowed down. But... *sigh*

[And poor Cris got such a rude sight when we arrived back from the dentist's office... Sorry, Cris. But it was a pretty funny reaction, lol.]

My mom's watching some movie with Goldie Hawn in it (my "info" tells me that it's "Best Friends") and I really have never found her attractive. I actually think she's really cheap and trashy.

There's this man at my office who comes in about 3 x's a week for physical therapy (I can't, of course, say his name due to HIPAA. But he's really cute) who's an absolute sweetheart and always a joy to see. And he always wears this abuelo cologne and it's just so damn cute.... I kinda wanna stick him in my pocket so he can come home with me and play dominoes with the other viejos on the block.

Also, I'm getting sort of tired of hearing about MJ. I mean, I totally get that he was a great icon and an amazing artist... Totally. But really? Is this going to be Princess Di part 2? Are they EVER gonna shut up??

CLOT, DAMN IT!!!!!! CLOT!!!!!!!!!!

I believe that Cristy, Joey, Susie, Deya, & Mai are coming over tonight to:

1. Mock me.
2. Bring me gauze for the wound THAT WILL NOT CLOT!!!!
3. Bring me ice cream.
4. Entertain me since I am, of course, a horrible patient and dying of boredom. Even though I usually like spending a day at home doing nothing.

This will be fun, I am sure. I may have to kick them out early in order to sleep, but otherwise I shall be fine, I think. I'm actually feeling pretty spritely.

There's a very interesting scene going on outside my house right now. The sun's set and there's an odd yellow-ish color (which I'm going to assume is a result of the clouds, rain, and in-limbo time between sunset and dark). It's a really pretty color though. Soothing.

I'm on the phone with my grandparents now. I love them. They're so sweet--even if 97% of the time they drive me up a FUCKING WALL! They cleaned the house, made me pure de platano, and chicken soup. I love them today.

So. Mai's here and the rest are on their way.

AND I'VE ALMOST CLOTTED!!!

w00t

On feeling like I'm in 2nd grade again...

Lesson I learned today: Seeing certain people three times in a week is WAY too much. Another lesson: Yeah, some expensive restaurants might be nice, but... There's a lot to be said for La Nueva Argentina. Screw the $34 filet mignon.

I went on a little drive today. Mainly because I had nothing better to do. But also because I find it very therapeutic. But you know, did the usual. Hopped onto the Palmetto, got up to Pines (again. I keep going up there!), turned back around (because I had to be within reasonable distance of my mom because she's ill) and got to the 836 to go downtown so I could ogle the beautiful skyline. Drove past my job at night (and it's so rich that the drive that usually takes me 40-50 minutes only took me 20) to find that little club hoppin' at 2:30 in the morning.

So, headed back home (because my iPod was about to die) and decided I would stop by my old elementary school (St. Paul Lutheran). The driveway isn't locked, so it was no big.

It was beyond creepy. I was turned back about 9 years. It was really, really bizarre and frightening and upsetting and just... Bah. Like ugh. I don't really understand why, but it was shocking to me. I hadn't gone in there since that one time in 7th grade when I visited. There's no one left for me there now. My class has long since graduated and who knows if my old teachers are even still alive. But I should go back one of these days. It's strange to see how things change. It's even almost scary in hindsight? Like, I just know I'll go back to FCS like two decades from now and break down into tears because it won't be what I remembered. Hell, it isn't that already.

Cops were out in full force today. Saw about 5 or 6. Yuck. AND I almost did something illegal with one right behind me. SUPER happy I didn't because I didn't even know he was there. Bugger.

Tomorrow, I'm going to have lunch with my Abuelo, Abuela, & mom and then go see Robert. Of all the days of the week, this will be the most painful. Doubtless. Hmm. But no, perhaps that shall be Sunday. fml?

Ah, speaking of, my fifteen year old cousin was asked if he wanted wine with dinner. When my grandfather asked that I be served some, the waiter said, "She isn't of age." Fuck you, Mr. Waiter. Fuck. You.

Thanks for reading.... I guess.

On why my friends rule

You know you have the best friends in the world when you can sit on a couch with them for hours on end (sober as fuhhh) and still have the time of your life. Or when you're the only all-girl group at Bird Bowl playing pool in a testosterone (because CERTAIN males who were SUPPOSED to go decided they would rather sit and play... um. Ok, I forgot. But I'm sending dirty looks at YOU, Stephen!). Getting home at 5:30 in the morning after a night of simple love & laughter? Priceless.

So last night was semi-torturous. The first part, anyway. I trekked all the way up to Davie (I made that trip twice this weekend, btw) for my cousin's ballet recital. Which, actually, as far as recitals go, was rather painless. Or would have been. If not for the three horrific hours that I had to sit in a chair watching performance after performance after performance all for the five minutes that Naty was on stage. So then there was this drama (I won't bore you with the gross details) with her father & mother & etc., so dinner was... Late. And I managed to somehow not eat anything except a 4 oz. yogurt & string cheese all day. Not intelligent. Yes, I got that. But between one thing and another, I wasn't much hungry and then didn't have the chance to eat. So, killer headache and... Well, I may have almost fainted, but I don't think I let on to anyone.

Fast forward a few hours and I needed to get away from two mildly irritating 13-year-old girls (not because they themselves are irritating people... It's the age. How could anyone want to be around 13-year-old girls?), my tia's husband (who's a major pesado), and into my bed. Blah blah blah, my hormones make me C-R-A-Z-Y, fed my dad's dog, cried over his gift, yada yada, my grandpa drinks too much....

Arrived at Cristy's. :)

I <3>=0.

Add to that Cristy's little trip to my house tonight (Nat + Cris + camera = narcissism at its very best), and I've had a decent weekend. All things considered, yeah? Not too bad.

And as I sit here, waiting for my 150+ SF pictures to load, I smile. Because I'm happy. And I love my life. And I'm glad that I'm me and am optimistic about the world and about life.

...I'll look back in twenty years and say, "What an idealistic nincompoop."

It does happen.... L0L.

Thanks for reading.
~*~

"I let go."