Hi, everyone! I'm alive! And well!

College is going well, and I'm looking forward to next semester.
I'm thinking about showing my photography.
I'm painting, and not even for school.
Work sucks, and I'm going to kill my boss.
I'm ever-so-slightly broke for the holidays.
I'm sort of dating someone, and the "sort of" aspect is why it's working well. No future in it, but it amuses me.
I think I got straight A's, even though my English teacher was evil.
My car is still running.
My schedule next semester might even allow me to exercise some - I think.

How's you?

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users.

( I changed the rules a little... )

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

There's two ways to end up with this result. Either you picked the silliest possible answer to each question, or you answered honestly, and happen to be a hyperactive, manic loon. Assuming you answered honestly, your profile is as follows: You are the 100-sided dice, also known as the legendary Zocchihedron. You are the bit of data that registers so far off the chart that the average person doesn't even know you exist. You are desperate for attention and will get it any way you can. Your jokes have the lowest laugh ratio, but you go for quantity, not quality. Once you get started on a pointless tangent, it takes a group effort to bring you back to reality and make you shut up. You are a distraction who is permanently distracted. You consider yourself silly and entertaining, but everyone else complains about how lame and annoying you are. The one secret they aren't telling you, is how they sometimes actually miss the noise when you're gone.

For you, rabid_chemist... Although I do see through your evil machinations: you're just checking to see if I'm still alive. I am.

1) I drink warm Diet Coke.

2) I own about 12 sippy cups.

3) I like tomato sandwiches.

4) I peel the skin off the bottom of my right foot. Sometimes. No, I don't know why.

5) I have a rubber fish I chew on. Frequently. No, I don't know why.

6) I love showtunes, and will sing them incessantly when I work overnights alone.

7) When a some dumb bitch sneers at my car, I wait until I catch her eye, and then make the Internationally Recognized Sign for cunnilingus, and it never fails to amuse me.

I begin college tomorrow.

Good wishes and/or words of advice are TOTALLY welcome.

Thanks.

You're The Handmaid's Tale!

by Margaret Atwood

An outraged feminist, you have been oppressed and even silenced in
your life, fueling your fury against the society as it stands. Your role has been
strictly defined by society and you are almost certainly unsatisfied with it. You
have some vague idea of how this has come to be, but insufficient power to stop it,
let alone reverse the trend. And somehow you blame yourself for everything because
people ask you to. Beware people renaming your nation a Republic.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Margaret Atwood's books always give me the bends. In a mostly good way. It just takes me awhile to come back to myself.

Hi, LJ Friends! No, I haven't been dead, I've just been taking a hiatus.

So this is going to be a muncha-cruncha-buncha update, right here. Settle in.

You ready?

Item #1: I still work for Michaels.

Whoo. Michaels, yeah. Whoo some more. It's all Michaelsy, and stuff. We're getting a new senior framer (the counterpart to my position) and he seems like a swell enough guy. We have a couple of new kids who are thoroughly useless, and my supervisor still sucks the big one. So I have no doubt work will continue to be a huge source of stress, but whatevs.

Item #2: I'm still single.

And really plan to stay that way, not that there's been an astounding array of offers. It suddenly occurred to me that I have been sabotaging myself in relationships. Shut up, wolffsekunde, I hear you laughing... stuff it up your not-inconsiderable schnoz. But more importantly than that realization, I've also come to the conclusion that Boys Take Up A Lot Of Time. And Time is something that I've been trying to use more wisely (see Items 5 and 6). So I have some numbers to call for maintenance-oriented sex, people to call for hanging-out, and a list of Projects as long as my arm. I'd still like someone to love me and cuddle me all through the night, but Tchuh! that's not exactly gonna happen with the Cynicism Level I've been putting out lately.

Item #3:

THERE IS NO ITEM #3!!!

Item #4: I've been exercising.

Now let's never speak of it again. No, it's cool. I joined a gym once, but it made me neurotic. I recently bought an elliptical (thank you eBay) and thus far it's been going well. I've got hopes. It's been easier to work fitness in, and now I don't have my paranoia as an excuse not to exercise. Now if only it wasn't so BORING!

Item #5: I'm trying to cut down my drinking.

I drink. A LOT. And it just kinda needs to stop, yo. Not entirely, but I need to remember that it's y'know, a SOCIAL activity? And that groups of people can do things together BESIDES drinking? So tonight I made a list of Awesome Things To Do That Don't Include Drinking. Most of them are solo activities (the aforementioned Projects, not the least of which is photographically exploring my city), but some are group activities, the most obvious of which is gaming. So let's game, shall we? Plus I want to go to art shows and other fun things. Let me know* if there's anything SUPER exciting going on, OK? However, my time will shortly be at a premium because of...

Item #6: I'm going to college!

Yes, folks, that's right. At the tender age of 29, I'm going to do the unthinkable and get a two-year art degree, a pointless career decision that is only acceptable if you're 18 and stupid. But, no, seriously... there is a Plan. Ultimately, I'd like to be a conservator/restorer of paper/textile artifacts. I'm not sure why, but it seems like a logical offshoot of my current shtick as a picture framer, plus it's pretty fascinating. That's not set in stone; perhaps I'll discover another branch of The Arts that is suitable for me. In the meantime, however, I sure could use the experience, practice, and background. So two years at Truman, and god knows where that will take me... hopefully someplace good.

So there you have it. My current life in a (very large) nutshell.



*I'm serious about gaming, etc. If my sober company is your desire, let me know. We could always do something awesome! Plus, fellow photographers are ALWAYS welcome.

If I was a Simpsons character, I'd totally look like this:


Thanks to evilphoenix for pointing the way!

Diet Coke with Vitamins and Minerals. Oooookay. Little weird, but whatever. I bought some, and am trying it tomorrow.

Hell, it can't be any worse for me than regular Diet Coke. And if it still tastes like Diet Coke, then I might keep buying it. Even though it'll make me feel like a typical asshole consumer.

Heigh-ho.

( Images of my last UrbEx excursion... )

The rest of my photos, organized by set, can be found here.

(cross-posted to chicago_urbex)

Your Love Type: ENFJ

The Giver In love, you give your all and feel guilty when relationships fail. For you, sex is not seperate from love and caring. Overall, you are humorous, giving, and motivational. However, you tend to be over-protective and critical of your partner. Best matches: INFP or ISFP

Freakishly dead-on for a quicky quiz.

The day itself was fairly shitty, what with wind, rain and the general stupidity of Chicagoans driving under those conditions. But once we got where we were going, everything was great.

The Brach's plant, located on north Cicero near the baseline, was built in 1923, and was abandoned in 2002, when Brach's moved their manufacturing to Argentina. It's a 32-acre site, mostly empty lot, but the plant itself is comprised of a three-story office section attached to a six-story manufacturing section. At peak production, the plant employed more than a thousand workers... and by the time of its closing, only 400.

( Today's exploration site: Brach's Candy, Chicago, IL... pictures, too! )

There's a few more pictures at my Flickr and TONS more I didn't capture... poor equipment (only one memory card and a camera I didn't know anything about; for example, it had a zoom?!?!) and also we were a little pressed for time. It was fascinating, and I can't wait to go back! With a spare battery, spare memory card, and a coffee filter to diffuse my flash flare (see Jesus picture). Photo buffs: does that make sense? And if you have any suggestions on improving my pictures, feel free to drop a hint or two. I'm a total novice so any help is appreciated.

(cross-posted to chicago_urbex)

Today was awesome, actually.

I joined the Chicago Urban Exploration MeetUp Group a couple of weeks ago, just in time for an outing to Gary, Indiana. Interestingly enough, the organizer of the group is someone I've known for years, but regularly fall out of contact with. When he learned I was interested, we started chatting again, and he very vigorously suggested I go.

( SO I DID! )

But it was fascinating to see the action of nature rending asunder what man has built, to see trees thriving in the dirt and offal of the second story of an old shop, the signs of weather having affected for so long something built to last. The magic and mystery of these abandoned spaces is something I plan to experience again and again.

Preferably with a camera. lollipopmilitia, what kind do you have, and just how much did it set you back?

So, no more boy. It's for the best, it wasn't the best scenario ever, but the transition period is getting to me. Tonight, for example, I think there's a party his friends are throwing, and although we plan to be friends (which I really think we'll be able to pull off), obviously that'll take some time. So I won't be there, and that's just a little sad-making.

So today I'm sitting around feeling kind of adrift and friendless. I can't go out late tonght, since there's something fun and exciting I'm doing tomorrow that I need to be up early for. I could go out now, just have some fun, whatever... but I have nowhere to be and no one to be with, and it's just a little hard to adjust to.

I could go out alone, but... you know. Maybe I will. Maybe.

Tomorrow will be an awesome day.

Tomorrow night. 11PM-4AM. Hidden Cove. Berwyn and Lincoln. Karaoke and liquor. You, me, some other people and some seriously good times. Whaddya say?