Oh yes, ice cream is indeed the solution to life's little downfalls. (Speaking of ice cream, a Coldstones has just been opened in downtown SC, hallelujah!) I can't think of anything ice cream can't fix or help make better. =)

Another congrats to Gina for the new relationship, but then a bit of worry for Katie: what's this "situation" with Cody? I don't remember hearing much about this....is everything okay? And glad to hear you had fun in LA Jake...but the whole girls-all-wearing-the-same-skirt thing sounds horrible. Urgh.

Man, the long weekend went by way too quickly. I think I will go get some ice cream to make it better =) Have a good week, ya'll.

Just a quick note to say that I, regardless of the jealousy felt from this side of the Spinster Table, am sooo incredibly excited and happy about Gina's new prospect. YAY!

And, in some forms, I'm making progress on the Cody Situation [yes, it's become a situation.]

I'll post more tomorrow to discuss my weekened activities and overall emotions. Until then, KT.

YEEHAW...go Gina! I'm quite pleased to hear about your date, it was a fun post to read...that and how you met this dude. My favorite part of the post was "Yes. You read it right, I climbed down rocks. With my fucking Coach bag and Anthropologie attire." Hilarious! I'm glad you had a good time though, Half Moon Bay sounds like a great place to have a date. And lucky you got to have clam chowder. Speaking of which, I had a massive craving for Fisherman's Wharf clam chowder in a bread bowl the other day and had to improvise ghetto-college dorm style...I stole stale sour dough slices from the dining hall and cracked open a can of Campbell's New England Clam Chowder to heat up in the microwave. Not the same thing, but it was better than nothing, I guess.

I didn't realize that MLK Jr. Day was coming up already, but I'm not complaining...a holiday is always a good thing. Now that Gina just talked about going to the beach, I want to go too...but it's been damn cold over here. All I do is go to class, then hurry my ass back to my dorm room so I don't freeze or get caught in the rain. I'm trying to think of something interesting to post about, but thinking back I really haven't done much, especially compared to Gina's adventures. What do you think about this dude, Gina? I know you said he was younger and such, but do you think there's something there? Just wondering...I'm still excited for you. Yes, you do "still have it" =)

Oh wait, I did do something cool. I had signed up for this "cash only research" experiment for Psychology. The advertisement was eerily vague, just saying that we would be participating in a visual perception test and were guaranteed $2.50 for showing up and could earn more depending on our performance. I was really sketchy, but money is always a good thing.

It ended up being quite fun. Basically I was in a room by myself and had to do this test on a computer. The test was to see if monetary compensation affects people's efforts. The tester handed me $2.50 to keep and told me to do the test, and if I scored 25 points or higher I would get an extra $10. The computer would show a screen filled with differently shaped and colored dots and I was to estimate in 12 seconds how many dots there were. To make a long story short, the results I received at the end said I had a score of 23 and thus technically meant I should get no money, but when I was debriefed, the tester told me that the score was fake, and I ended up getting 10 bucks anyway. Spectacular! $12.50 for 30 minutes of cognitive visual perception fun. I went downtown and immediately blew my earnings on a good dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

Wow, okay enough from me...this is a really long post about nothing super important. Hope you guys are all having a good week, and keep us updated about this boy, Gina. I love your stories!

1) using band names of bands that you like, spell out your name.

Kosmos Express
All-American Rejects
Travis
Incubus
Eagles

2) have you ever had a song written about you?

not that I know of. Though I'd like to think that "Katie Wants a Fast One" by Steve Warner/Garth Brooks is completely about me.

3) what song(s) makes you cry?

I have to agree with Gina. I have never cried simply due to a song, but because of the memory/emotions it evokes. And even then, I can't remember any songs to do so.

4) what song(s) makes you happy?

"So Impossible" - Dashboard Confessional
"Home Life" - John Mayer
"Nobody's Fault" - Phantom Planet
"You and I Both" - Jason Mraz
"Fireworks" - Plain White T's
"The General" - Dispatch
"She Will Be Loved" - Maroon 5
"The Hardest Part of Breaking Up" - 2+Gether
"Careful" - Guster
"Good Day" - Luce
"All I Want" - matchbox twenty
"King of New York" - cast of Newsies
"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen

And the list goes on and on and on...

5) what do you like to listen to before bed?

I rarely listen to music right before bed, because Sierra is usually already sleeping. However, if I were to do so, this is what I'd listen to:
Dispatch, Howie Day, Josh Kelley, Ryan Adams, Damien Rice, John Mayer, Schinder's List soundtrack

6) who was/were your idol/s when you were younger?

I have no idea. Though, my musical idol who is NOT a professional musician would be my dad.

7) first album you ever bought?

I think the first new CD I bought with my own money was 311.

8) name some songs that remind you of people.

"Criminal" - Fiona Apple: Gina. It was her code name when we were cool in the 7th/8th grade.

"Love is All Around" - Wet, Wet, Wet: Jo. When we changed the lyrics on the chair lift while skiing. Good times. Also, "Turn my Head" - Live. Because of the "I can't forget you/but I can't remember" lyric.

"Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend" - Mr. T Experience: Jake. He told me to download it.

"If You're Gone" - matchbox twenty: Deanna. She loves the lyrics "there's an awful lot of breathing room, but I can hardly move". Also, the Friends theme song and any song Phoebe sings.

"Bright Lights" & "Long Day" - matchbox twenty: David. He gets really into these songs. Also, "The Game of Love" - Santana/Michelle Branch, because we made up actions to go with the song. And also, two of John Mayer's songs "Love Song for No One" and "Home Life".

"Pretty Young Thing" - Michael Jackson: Cody. He used this song twice to audition for American Idol.

"The Good Life" - Weezer: Will from when he used to sing it in Driving to Milpitas. Also, "What is and What Should Never Be" - Led Zepplin

any radiohead song: Jason Sposeto.

Songs off the Grease soundtrack: my crazy family.
any old Forrest Gump soundtrack-y style song [mainly from 60's and 70's]: my dad

okay. Done and Done.

Wow. My first post of the new year. I am the biggest slacker ever.

A quick run through of past events:
New Years Eve was bunches of fun as others have mentioned. I am still appalled at my sudden lack of Monopoly skills. I used to be really good, and this time I was blown outta the water.
Skip forward to the next exciting part of the break: Disneyland. I left Saturday the 3rd to meet David, Cody, Sierra, and Jason in Fresno. We left at 4:30am on the 4th to get to the park by 8:30ish. Disneyland and California Adventure were both really fun. It was kinda crappy because my favorite ride, Space Mountain, is closed until 2005, but oh well. We did a ton of stuff and there weren't too big of lines anywhere. We abused the Fast Pass system and never had to wait in line for more than about twenty minutes. The second day we went to far too many shows for my liking, and far less exciting rides, but I did exercise the practice of compromise, so go me! David and I decided a few times to try to sneak of on our own to go do the exciting rides rather than watch such things as Muppetvision 3-D [dear god], but we managed to have self control. Overall, a very enjoyable time. Though, I don't need/want to go the Happiest Place on Earth for a good long while.
Thursday, I hung out with my family a lot. I got up for breakfast at 7:00am with my mom and Ellie, and aunt and cousins. Then I took the kids to school. Then, at 11:30ish, I picked up McDonalds and took it to St.Clements for the chil'ens [spelling on the slang term?] and met my mom and Ammie and Papa for lunch at Marie Callender's.
Friday, Gina and I went to New Park mall. Jo, I now understand why you hate it there. The place is dead. It seemed like almost all the stores were having 50% off - Store Closing kind of sales events. I felt really old amongst all the teens dropping by instead of attending school. It was pretty sad to see a place I hung out at a lot as a high schooler is now a shithole. After that, Gina and I reached an all time low in our lives. We went to a fabric store. Nothing quite says "spinster" than going to a craft/fabric store on a Friday. Gina redeemed herself later that day, but I'll let her tell it. After realizing that I'm going to be alone forever, shopping in Joann's Fabrics with my three cats [two comments: #1 - I HATE cats, #2 - There was actually a woman in the fabric store with cats in her shopping cart, no lie.] Gina and I went to see "Big Fish." It was a really good movie, bizarre, but good. I cried a wee bit, I must say. After the movie, Gina and I made our way to Pasta Pomodoro. Ten minutes of looking for a parking spot later, we were primed and ready to enter the restaurant and ask to be seated in Hot Waiter Boy's section. One minor complication: Hot Waiter Boy was not there. Damn my unlucky stars. Oh well. We made a quick trip to Borders and then made the ubiquitous dessert stop at Baker's Square. It was strange, at Baker's Square, this group of high school boys came in and were talking about where they had applied for college and one of them mentioned Fresno State. Being the complete eavesdropper I am, I listened more. A few minutes later, he mentioned that the deciding factor for which school he'd attend would be "whether or not he got into the Honors college." He had to have been talking about Smittcamp. It was kinda exciting and I wanted to turn around and talk to the kid, but Gina wouldn't let me make a fool out of myself and thus, her.
Saturday, I stayed in my pajamas until 6pm. Gina, Deanna, Ryan and I went to dinner at Buffalo Bill's in Hayward on B Street. It was nice to try something new and it paid off, I liked the food. Afterwards, we went to Long's to get change and because I wanted to see if anyone I used to work with was there. I recognized two people, but I was sad that Anto or Tim wasn't there. Then we all went to Cold Stone. We waited for that delicious, expensive ice cream for an hour. But it was soo worth it. They all left my house around 10:30 ish and I started to get ready for bed. Then David called and we talked for an hour or so. Instead of getting to go to bed early, I went to sleep at midnight thirty. But I made up for it by sleeping in until eleven, and even then I only woke up because the phone rang. Allow me to refer to the third sentence of this post.

And now for the future:
Today, a bunch of my aunts and I are going for a girl's night out. Dinner at Max's and then going to see "Chasing Liberty." I confess: I like Mandy Moore. I even like some of her songs, and I really like her movies - she's always cast opposite really attractive fellas.
Monday, I have a dentist appointment in the morning and then I'm off to Fresno. I have to get there around 1ish to get to the Honor's office so I can start reading the applications. I'm really excited about this next week. It's going to be very interesting to read all the applications and be able to be a deciding factor in about 40 people's lives. Also, I'm going to have a lot of free time. I have a whole list made out of things I'm going to do. Decorate my room a little more, perhaps get a pedicure [I know it's the middle of winter, but I've never gotten one before and I want to remedy that], go to Target to pick up some necessities, and the list goes on. I'm going to David's house to visit his puppy, and perhaps Kingsburg to see the hometown of my friend Janna.
Then, on Friday: DEANNA AND RYAN VISIT!! They're coming down to Fresno and we're going to hang out, go to the snow, and have a blast. I'm really excited about them visiting. Deanna hasn't gotten to see my new dorm and Ryan hasn't seen Fresno at all. And I love the two of them, so I'm elated that they are coming down.
School doesn't start unitl the 22nd for me. So I'm livin' large until then.
Hope everyone who is at school is having fun and those who are still on break are taking advantage of it. I'm going to do that Music survey right now on a separate post, otherwise this one would rival The Odyssey.
Bye!

Ooh! Good stuff, Gina! I saw this survey somewhere else too, but hadn't gotten around to doing it. Thanks for the opportunity.

1) using band names of bands that you like, spell out your name.

Journey
Oasis
Hootie and the Blowfish
Al Green
New Radicals
Notorious B.I.G
A-Ha

(dude, my name was hard! All the bands I like start with an S or something)

2) have you ever had a song written about you?

Nope, I wish. There's always Bob Dylan's "Visions of Johanna" though.

3) what song(s) makes you cry?

OH GOD. "Leaving on a Jet Plane" by John Denver. Everytime.

4) what song(s) makes you happy?

wow...well usually if a song that fits my mood comes on the radio at the correct time I'm pretty happy, but in general? Probably (this is not an all-inclusive list, mind you, just some songs that I flip out about when I hear them):

- "The Man in Me", Bob Dylan
- "I Wanna Love Ya", Bob Marley
- "Sound of Silence", Simon and Garfunkel
- Any Fleetwood Mac, Journey, Elton John, The Cure or Rolling Stones song
- All that old school hip hop from the early 90's...reminds me of my cousins breakdancing on a piece of cardboard in their driveway...fun memories.

5) what do you like to listen to before bed?

Actually, nothing, I guess...because usually I fall asleep on top of my homework or with the book I was reading on my face, not meaning at all to fall asleep.

6) who was/were your idol/s when you were younger?

Musical idol? Wow, uh, how young? I have no idea.

7) first album you ever bought?

I think it was either the Batman Forever Soundtrack (oh man...) or What's the Story Morning Glory.

8) name some songs that remind you of people.

"Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet (i.e...."I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes...") - reminds me of Katie and when we were on the ski lift at Boreal and it was fucking freezing. That and that 7 stops 8 song, or whatever it was...oh, and "It's Over Now" by Neve. Wait, one more. I heard that Boyz to Men song "Thank You" the other day and remembered how in 6th grade or something we had to pick a song that described us and play it for the class and I remember Katie picked that...and I think a bunch of people forgot their songs and latched on to Katie saying "oh, I picked that one too".

This is going to sound completely random, but "Stay" by Lisa Loeb always makes me think of Gina. I can't say exactly why. I think it may have been because Gina told me I should see "Reality Bites" and I always associate that movie with her. My memory eludes me now, maybe Gina never told me that, but whether it happened or not that's what I think of. (God I'm so weird). That, and any Smashing Pumpkins song!!!

"Wish You Here" by Pink Floyd always makes me think of Will Griffin for some reason. I think it's because he sang it once with Driving to Milpitas...or maybe it was because Katie was gushing about it once. I don't remember now.

yay! Happy New Year! I just have to say THANK YOU for an awesome new years eve y'all. Though it was low key, it was spectacular. ::waving vermont ave. at gina...and some money!!::

Yummy food (raspberries and garlic bread, ::drool::), good friends, happenin music (katie if you find that NIN/50 cent mix anywhere, let me know), a crazy game of monopoly, jumping in the new year (great suggestion jake), sex and the city...what more could you ask for? You guys are awesome, I love you!

By the way, THANK YOU again Kate and Gina for my Christmas gifts... I loved them! I've already filled the Paul Frank case with stuff, started putting pictures in the album, and packed the rest of my goodies to bring back to school with me. Again, I love you guys, you're the best buddies ever! Hope eating Haagen-Daas and watching your Queer Eye marathon was fun.

So yes, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone, and here's to an awesome 2004!