we're not delivering pizzas around here

It's been a decently long time since I've done any blogging. I mostly blame it on the unfortunate passing of my camera, but I got a sweet new phone(team approved!) with a nice enough camera in it that I can continue to document my life while I decide on whether to get a new camera myself or wait until Christmas. Who am I kidding? I want boots. I'll wait for a camera! Anyway, here's what's been missed:

My nephew, Samuel, turned a whole 1 year old on the 20th of July. I was hesitant about all these "Aunt" duties, but I killed it this year! Beatles shirt? Robot hoodie? Black rock tee? A xylophone (not pictured)? Once he learns how to do 8 rock squats at a time, in a row, he's going to be EPIC.

I was volunteered/deemed/became the 2nd merchandise flow person at Aero. Rachel heads it up, but apparently I'm her number two. It's kind of stupid. Then again, what about my job isn't stupid? Be that as it may, pictured above is the kind of little surprises I get during my day at work. You never know what you may find in any given box of clothes!

This is Arygle Gargoyle.

This is Argyle Gargoyle if you're Nathan.

On a walk with Gizmo in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetary across the street from my house, look what I stumbled upon. That's right, George Harrison is buried in Millville, NJ. I would never have guessed that. I would have thought in the UK or Bangladesh or something. I'm sort of upset with myself for not knowing this.
But I think I was a lot more upset about this. Spiders in this area are really getting out of hand. I mean, I THOUGHT that the neighbors moved, but now I can see that they were evidently eaten by a huge mutant spider.

I love Gizmo!

you know, people have quirks

As previously mentioned, my dear camera has passed on. Being not only a great team member but an awesome eugoogoolizer, Eavvon wrote up a touching memorium that I HAD to share...

"Olympus was never respected as the deity he should have been. At times he viewed the world through a lens of optimism, at other times, scathingly dim, but always honest. His workload was often intense, yet he approached every exposure with dignity, and made the best of each opportunity. I remember the holiday season he was first introduced to us all, and the joy he brought his partner, Jenellifer Ogo Oboogie, Rodriguez, IV, and I find it hard to believe that bond will be forgotten.

I find it hard to believe because at the core of his metallic casing, was the focus of a true visionary, and his work is a testament to his ability to work with others, and help them to realize and express the beauty of the world around them. The memories that he has provided us with, speaks to his memory, and the love we all experienced, or rather the love that was captivated by his presence.

Olympus, good friend, purveyor of all things whispered through the bond of friendship, you will be deeply missed, always remembered, yet hopefully speedily replaced. Thanks for your contribution, your good will, and your marginal shutter speed."

R.I.P OLYMPUS

you won't live to see tomorrow

My blog has taken another hit. My camera broke. First Aero; now this. It didn't even really break in the traditional sense of the word. It just decided to stop working. It's not like I dropped it or anything. I took good care of it and it decided to die. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, though. It wasn't a very expensive camera and it got a lot of use. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. It sucked that it decided to die right before we saw Nicole Atkins play at the Fire. But that's life, I guess. I'm sure she'll play there again and the sound guy will get fired for being late to work and the monitors will break and she'll have to stand in the audience just a few feet away from me again real soon. OHWAITMAYBENOT! Double farts.

In other news, we had a photo shoot this afternoon with a new photographer. It was pretty fun, but apparently photo shoots are exhausting because I was so beat and not feeling very well afterwards. The way I felt didn't exactly make for a great performance on my part. And the sound quality coming from the PA was not sounding great to me. It sounded like I was singing through a megaphone to me. So I was ripping my throat apart to hear myself and to sound good. We tried to adjust the levels, but I wasn't that pleased with how I was doing. I felt rusty and tired and every time I moved it felt like my brain was hitting against my skull. Be that as it may, I wasn't going to hold up the rock. Show must go on! I mean, there was patrons down the road dying to hear our music while they ate their dinner...

Have I mentioned how much I hate my schedule?

I saw you and I thought you saw me

Due to unfortunate employment obligations, this blog has gone right in the shitter. I don't want to consistently just update my blog about the stupidity that is my job, so I'm going to try to talk about things that happened around my horrid work schedule.
Already July and I've actually made it down to the beach a handful of times. I made it my own personal mission to get a tan this year and it's not been easy. As pale as I am, I'm not the burning type. I do burn but it's never that bad. That being said, I do always apply sunblock because I'm not stupid and I don't want skin. I use a low number, but as low as it is, I get nothing. As a tan is nothing more than minor skin damage, any amount of SPF seems to protect me from any color at all. I went to the beach about 3 times and got nothing. So then one day last week I sat out on my back porch without any sunblock on and finally got a little bit of something. But to ensure it'll be more effective, I got some tanning oil. It has SPF in it and it's not much less than what I already use so don't hassle me, yo!Independence Day came and independence was lost. Well, not for me. Just for TJ & Lauren. Those two made their forevers official and we all got to come and enjoy the spoils! The wedding ceremony was long, but it was all worth it when we got to the reception! So snazzy! It's nice to go to a wedding that's not just full of family. I prefer weddings full of friends than tons of family. I know neither TJ or Lauren probably read my blog, but if they ever stumble upon it when they're googling their names... Congrats and best wishes, ya'll!I have nothing to say about this handsome beast, but OMG he is such a baller look at his collar! WHA WHA?!

there it is and there it isn't

Today, just like any other day, could have been the day that I died. The difference being that today there was an actual threat upon it rather than just the usual fear of a random satellite falling from the sky on my head or getting run over by a tractor trailer. Anyway, today at work things got crazupid. They got slammed Saturday night and things were left pretty messy so I was directed to clean up and had spent my morning cleaning up the front. It was pretty busy and there was two cashiers ringing (which there hardly ever is) and one big, long line. I was minding my own business and organizing the polo table when this lady up at the register starts to have a fit; yelling and screaming about being told to go to the back of the line. I guess she came up to the register and Katy told her there was one line, not two lines, and that she'd have to go to the back of the line since she was essentially cutting that whole long line. So the woman proceeded to call Katy a racist (the women were black and Katy is white) and say that every other time she's been in the store, there's been two lines. Even if that was true, that's no reason to throw a fit. No matter what the case, there was one line this day. So, she goes over to the other register where Rasheem was ringing (probably thinking she would get sympathy from him because he's also black) and he also tells her, again, that there's one line. So, she calls him a white washer and continues to freak out. Saying that she was going to come across the counter and slap Katy in the fucking mouth and all this craziness. She had a friend with her and her child in a stroller and her friend was laughing and egging her on the entire time. After a while of yelling and screaming and throwing a pair of pants and exclaiming they were going to tear the store apart, they stormed out. But not before her friend swung her bag, knocking half a row of graphic tees all over the floor (my work!!!). Katy called mall security immediately but when she went to the front of the store, the lady turned her stroller around and came back in and made a point of looking at all our faces and saying she was going to remember our faces and kill all of us.

So there you go. That's a terrorist threat and assault. That shit don't fly. Especially not in this day and age. And she not only said she was going to kill all of us, but she told Katy she knew where she parked and all this mess. So, then the cops were called and like every corporate person in Aero. Katy wanted to go home, but the other manager was out of state and a lot of people weren't being that helpful in general. The cops that came were absolute idiots. When they first arrived, one of them came over to me and in a cute little voice asked if I was the one that was causing all the problems. I humored him, which was probably a mistake. Because then he smartly asked me, "There isn't a height requirement at Aeropostale?" Rude. I wanted to ask him if there wasn't a hair requirement to be a policeman as he was baldly quite a bit, but I didn't need any fine for insulting a policeman. That being said, you can clearly see they did not send the sharpest tools in the shed. Not only were they stupid, but they were liars. They told an Aero corporate person that the ladies were escourted from the mall, but that was a lie. Later on, the ladies were hanging around outside Aero at the picture kiosk. I saw them. Katy saw them. We all saw them. And the police had told Katy that they got their names and that was it. I don't understand policeman.

Long story shorter, Aero closed early today. We put up a sign that said we closed due to computer malfunction, but that's not the truth! I was supposed to work 11 to 4 (or 6 - stupid on-calls), but I worked 11 to 3:30 instead. We actually closed about 2:30 and spent about an hour just cleaning up around the store. Apparently the big wigs at Aero kept calling after we closed to apologize and to inform us that they're going to send armed security to watch the store for the next week or something. Pretty crazy. But you never know. You don't know who is actually going to come back and kill people. And you don't really want to wait and find out. I mean, flip, I don't want to die at Aeropostale. How lame.

maybe better than bitching about Aero

Unfortunately I've been doing a lot of thinking about a dark topic; death. It's only human to consider our own mortality; especially following a loss of a loved one. Not to mention I can't even escape it while watching a new episode of Real World (I can't be the only one that was crying my eyes out watching that!). But anyway, I wouldn't say that Don the Pirate and I were super close. But his loss was jarring to me. I have known him as long as I can remember and had begun to see him more and more in the past few years as I became more and more immersed in the Millville Art District. He was good friends with my eldest brother throughout high school and, like with a majority of my two brothers' friends, he took on a sisterly relationship with me; one where he looks out for me and never hits on me. Which is something Jamie probably can't say about Don! His personality was a bit much for some people and his fondness of drinking could rub people the wrong way at times, but I never joined in on bashing him. He was a good person who provided me with my first opportunity to play out live during Millville's Third Friday and even made me a guitar strap. He was a sweet, unique guy and he'll be missed.

Not to be disrespectful, but this whole thing has put too many not-so-fond memories of someone else into my mind. Moving on is deceptive. You never really do. It's purely an illusion that you fool yourself with so that you can function. At least for me. When you haven't carried a weight for awhile, it always seems a lot heavier than you remember it being. I hate the pain I get in my throat and my chest when I think of him. I can feel the tears coming on and I fight them back, but the pain of doing so is really unfair. I've been successful at work on the most part (asides from one day when I had to keep going to the bathroom to breathe - but overall I've just been sad. I just miss him. I hate all this living I keep doing without hearing from him or talking to him. I hate thinking all the last things that I said to him. At random times I'll blurt something out extremely personal (like at a Borders open mic) and today I did that at work to a co-worker. This girl Rachel was telling me she wanted to do something with her hair and this naturally turned to talk about my own hair and how long it is. I told her that I had been growing it for years and I wouldn't cut it. And she said, "Is that the rock star with you?" and I blurted out that someone I was close to had passed and he had always wanted to grow his hair really long so I just stopped cutting my hair. She just said, "Aww" and went on talking about her desire to get highlights, but I turned quickly to fold shirts and busy myself. I was feeling incredibly uncomfortable. I hate when I do that. I hate how it just comes out without much control.

I know that this post is pretty dark, pathetic, and long, but I have to get these thoughts out of my head. Just in hopes that it'll help me to deal with them better. If not for my mental health, but for the well being of my nose. It's pretty tired of being blown (that's what she said). I apologize to my "readers". Don't hate on me for disabling my comments either.

what are you waiting for?

If you haven't seen "Get Smart", get smart and go see it. I know, I know, that was a terrible pun, but I couldn't help myself. But really, it's good. "The shit" if you will. Steve Carell is amazing. I may be bias. Possibly bias. Probably because Steve and I are bffs. We go jump roping and visit zoos with Eavvon and his celebrity bff, Dave, all the time. Don't be jealous omg!

was I that bad?

Yet again, I have dropped off the radar. Having a job is a factor. Getting jury duty was another. And suffering a loss sealed the deal. I'm still suffering two of those factors, but I was dismissed from jury duty somewhat painlessly. Asides from the things in my life that bring me down, I've been busy doing a lot of other things. The pictures below are an accurate depiction of my life outside of civic duty and Aero slavery:

this happened tuesday. read about it today.

Like the black 'n' white cookie, my ice cream represents world peace. If you don't watch Seinfeld, you might not understand that reference or understand what I'm saying. And if that's the case, that's sad. I hope one day you can understand that reference. Anyway, am I the only one that buys a coke with everything?
I don't know what Jamie's ice cream represents. I guess it represents how modern the Custard Corral is getting. It has orange swirl custard AND pretzel cones. It's not just some hokey ice cream stand with goats. It also has rides and wet benches. Best recognize!
Whatever our respective ice creams represented, they were delicious and were just what my ailing throat needed. Yesterday, I spent most of my day hardly able to speak. Today my throat doesn't burn and I can speak! Was it my immune system that healed me or perhaps it was ice cream!? EH? EH?

And he smelled like cookies

So, I had things I wanted to blog about. Like my summer cold, missing Hello Tokyo in Philly last night, and yummy ice cream, but what happened to me today about takes the cake (or the ice cream) and it must be blogged about immediately! So, today at work it was pretty hectic. There was a family emergency with the store manager's son and she was going around trying to find coverage for her and the visiting assistant manager from North Jersey stayed like 3 hours longer so that another visiting manager could come in. Be that as it may, at points it was just me and the assistant manager. It started to get a bit busy and things were getting a bit messy in the store. During a down moment, I was cleaning up the cami table which was in completely disarray. Meanwhile, this man, who had been in and out of the store all afternoon with his daughter, asks if his daughter can use the changing room. I let her in and come back to my work and he starts to talk to me. Starts off by asking if my hair color is natural. It's a pretty casual conversation mostly about his (probably) 12 yr old daughter and how he doesn't want her to dye her hair and the like. I figured he was just bored, but I did think it was a little suspicious that he persisted on talking to me. Even more so when he asked me if I worked weekends. And even to the point of asking me how old I was. And, to add to the creep factor, he's surprised at my age and says he would have thought I was 18. Which would have been fine. Everyone says that. So, I leave to ring other costumers up and whatever and he comes over and asks to use a pen. When the customers leave, he slides me that cute little number pictured above. Tells me that I can email him and let him know when all the good sales are. I tell him I can just add him in the system and they'll email him with coupons and all the deals and he says that I can do that when I ring them up, but that that's for me. And I was just like, "oh, thanks.." in complete shock. Then he asks me if I have a boyfriend and I said that I did and he asked me how long we'd been together and I said, "long enough" and he said that you never know with those things, etc, etc. Despite the fact that this man was more than likely old enough to be my father, balding, and had once been married for 11 years (I know, because he told me!), he was hitting on someone that was barely his daughter's height while his daughter was shopping! What kind of father does that?! He was going on and on about how his daughter comes first and when his wife got a boyfriend he made sure that everyone knew he wasn't going anywhere and all this bullshit. I mean, that's just creepy. That's beyond creepy. That poor girl must have been so embarrassed! I mean, I was trying to help her find shorts and hoodies and her dad is trying to get a date! Unbelievable. I still can't believe that dude. Yuck.

And don't forget, he thought I was 18 before I told him my age. bkaoiajdofiasjd

someday I'll laugh about it

Our lovely Lisa had a birthday on Friday. But celebrations of this monumental moment in Uptown history actually began on Thursday. Unfortunately, it coincided with the start of me not feeling so hot. I only worked 3 hrs, but I felt like shit the whole time and I wasn't in a joyous mood when it came time to leave for Philly. Why did we go to Philadelphia? To celebrate the birth of Lisa and the beginning of summer with an olfactory stink fest at the Rilo Kiley show at the Electric Factory. From the moment we got in line, horrible smells abound; Jenny Lewis wannabe's and their boyfriends who smell just like the thrift stores they bought their outfits from, the waitress who carried her tray as proudly as her body funk, and the bathroom that I honestly questioned whether or not there was an unfound rotting corpse somewhere. Before Rilo Kiley came on, we had to suffer through not only bad smells, but stinky opening acts. Benji Hughes, a drunk, overweight Jim Morrison who even took his shirt off for the last song to give the ladies a thrill. Which in fact left Jamie pregnant, Lisa with wet pants, and me with gonorrhea in my throat! And then Thao, a 3 piece band headed by a girl that sounded like a combination of Bjork and Cat Power. They were interesting for about two songs, then I zoned out and watched the light guy try to pick appropriate lighting for their music. After this, we went downstairs and were literally blown; by an industrial size fan AND Rilo Kiley. Despite playing a few songs I do not enjoy from their new album (and one they actually made me hate more by seeing it live), they were pretty good live. I often wondered how Jenny Lewis' vocals were live and she did not leave me disappointed. Chick has got some pipes. I've always been envious of her lyrics (well, on previous albums moreso), but I definitely was impressed with her abilities singing and on bass, guitar, and piano. Not to mention they definitely made the right choice with that robot chick. J&TY need a robot like her!Speaking of J&TY, we had a few shows this weekend. Friday we played at this cool place called the Auction House in Audubon, NJ and then we played a benefit show for the Hope Project in the mysterious land of Burleigh, NJ. As I had mentioned earlier, I felt like shit on Thursday and I didn't really feel any better on Friday or Saturday. I felt worse everyday. Sore throat, congestion, headache, etc. And on top of that I was pretty upset about some internal band conflicts going on. I'm just completely relieved that it's Sunday and that shit is in the past now. I'm not exactly looking forward to this coming weekend, though. If this illness carries on through my whole work week and into the weekend, I'm going to be one unhappy camper.
But, be that as it may, I did enjoy spending extra time with Miss Lisa! But we've definitely got to go back down to Wildwood when I don't feel like death, it's not Senior Week and we have more time! Lisa, you already know this.. but.. I have to admit.... I toat love you!!!! And if you're ever wondering if you're cute, just open that card I got you. CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA :D

every single one of us was intoxicated

Some people see bowling balls. I see faces. And lava.

Some people see the lead singer of Army of Me. I see a poor fool who was tricked by a NY band into thinking they're from Australia! An idea stolen before it was realized! Woe is us!

Some people see a friendly note left on my car. I see a hilarious mistake. Can you see it? [Hint: It's not an awsome spelling mistake]

Stop this!

This whole job thing is really infringing upon my leisurely activities. No time to take pictures. No time to blog. No time to write music. No time to make my bed. No time to clean my car. No time to bathe my dog. Just no time. Things are suffering! Have I seen any financial reimbursement for all my time lost? Nope, not yet. I had to use the ATM today so I could have a drink and a pretzel on my first ever break (so sad) and the balance was painfully, painfully low. It's a harsh reality. But on my glorious first ever lunch break, I sat outside and realized my true calling; soccer. The wind blew and my napkins took a trip and I jumped up and blocked/stopped them with my feet while I was at the same time putting my hair back. The fellow on the next bench said he was impressed with my skills and I said I should have been a soccer player. He agreed it was my true calling. So, if Aeropostale doesn't pay me soon, I'm going to quit and become a world famous soccer player so help me God!

In other news, one really awesome person and this other asshole had birthdays recently. Happy birthday to the awesome one! Unhappy birthday to the asshole!

at least my pay check will be nicer

My first day of work at Aeropostale was fuckin crazy. Where can I begin? Let's begin at the start. When I went to orientation last week, I was given my schedule, which clearly said that my first day was Sunday from 6am to 3pm. Despite that being a totally shit time to have to get up to go to work at the mall, I wasn't going to question authority. So Sunday morning I got up at 5am and got all ready to go and got on my way to work. The roads were as empty as the mall parking lot. And, apparently, as empty as the entire mall. The doors were locked and Janine, the manager, didn't answer her cellphone or the store line. I left a voicemail and drove back home thinking that I perhaps had the wrong times or the wrong number. I didn't have either wrong. So, for the next few hours, I called the store and Janine's cell about every half hour. At about 9:30, Katie, the assistant manager, answered at the store and I told her about my confusion. She didn't have much information for me since I'm too new to be on the schedule. We speculated that maybe Janine meant to write Saturday 6am to 3pm (what Janine had worked on Saturday) or that possibly she meant to put Sunday 6pm to 3am; what Janine was scheduled to work. A little after this, Janine called me back and come to find out, she had meant to write Sunday 6pm to 3am. Janine and Katie both apologized a lot and I tried to use this to my advantage and get my hours changed from 6pm to 1am. Janine agreed to this, but read on! haha

So, after that got all settled, I called my mom to let her know because we had made plans to meet at Volkswagon so I could get things fixed on mah ride. Since my hours were different, we decided to meet then. So, I drove down to Cape May Courthouse (about 40 mins away) and dropped my car off. Then my mom and I drove in the most disgusting smelling car (my brother's) ever to my Uncle John's so that I could borrow my grandmother's car so I could get to and from work the next few days. On a side note, I can't believe how horrible my brother's car smells. So rancid. So disgusting. It actually made my chest hurt. We had to open the windows.

Anyway, I got my grandmother's not so sweet ride, drove home, made myself a sandwich, and tried to lay down for a few hours to get some rest. I'm not very good at napping so I don't really know how much rest I really got. I was so in and out. I got back up at about 3:30, got re-dressed and chilled out with something to drink. This would be the last drink I'd have for many, many hours! I left a little early to get gas, but in my rush to get out of the house so I'd have time to get gas, I completely forgot to bring a drink with me. It did not register in my head that the mall would be closed the entire time I was there and thus there would be no way for me to get anything to drink. But I figured it'd be alright since I was leaving at 1am so I didn't stress....

So, what was I doing? I was doing "floor set". The Aeropostale corporation sends them books with how the floor sets are supposed to look and what clothes go where and we're supposed to follow that and make it as close to that as possible. But that means you have to move the clothes already on the walls, tables, racks and put them somewhere else. It's not fun. It's a big undertaking. And when we started, there was 6 of us doing it; Janine, Caitlyn, Alison, Devon, Ana, and myself. Devon is a minor so she had to leave at 11. At 11, we all went outside (because we can't be left in the store alone without a manager and Devon had to be walked out) and we had our break. It wasn't much of a break since all the benches outside were soaked so we just stood outside while Janine smoked a cigarette. After that, we all went back in and got back to work. Then at 12, Ana and Alison left. I don't know why. I guess they were just done. I know Ana had classes in the morning, but I overheard talk and it seems that Alison just is lazy and never stays. I don't know! hahaha So then it was just the three of us and there was still so much work ahead. Janine with a sinus infection and Caitlyn who sounded like she had one and me. I had a headache brewing, hadn't eaten since noon, and was seriously dehydrated. But, when 1am came around, there was still just so much work to be done and I couldn't just leave the two of them to do it alone...

So, I stayed. And it sucked a lot. I did a lot of shit. I can't even hardly remember. Just a lot of shit. I tried to work quickly but efficiently so that things would just be done and I could get home. With every hour, my headache grew, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I knew Advil wouldn't have helped at that point and taking a Codeine without anything to drink or eat would undoubtedly led to me being too sick to drive. So, of course, I got a migraine. I continued to work and tried to like go into a sort of meditation in my head. I was putting these tank tops on hangers and they kept slipping off and there was soooo many, but I kept my cool. Just tried to be chill. It got really bad when Janine and Caitlyn started to clean up (I was still hanging tank tops) and found that Ana and Alison had left piles and piles of clothes for us to clean up for them. We had no place for them. Janine like flipped out at one point in the back. I was crawling around on the floor folding plaid cargo shorts. We were all exhausted and unhappy and Caitlyn kept saying, "I feel so bad for you... this is your first day!" and at one point said, "I hope you come back..." hahahah

At 3:55, we clocked out. I don't know how I managed to drive myself home. Thank God I live so close because I definitely wouldn't have been able to drive much farther. I had to drive with one eye covered in a car that's not my own. Horrible.

Upon getting home, I took a codeine and laid down in the dark with a piece of bread, a drink, and my Gizmo. I started to feel like I could function so I got up and made myself some mac & cheese (something I had been like fantasizing about all night!). For a while, I felt good. "Knocked UP" was on and I had eaten and I felt a bit better. But then I started to feel really nauseous. As time went on, I felt more and more sick and had to sit up and I was trying to breath slow, but it was no use. The feeling started to overwhelm me. So I went into the bathroom and said goodbye to my mac and cheese. :(

I didn't wind up going to bed until like 7am. And now I'm all having the after effects of a migraine and feeling like shit. It sucks. At least I don't have to go back there til 4pm tomorrow.

I think I just stole Benji's longest blog post award! OH OUCH!

prison is no fairytale world

Nathan has got me completely spooked. He told me a story about how he stepped on a mouse in the dark in his old apartment while only in his socks. He stepped on a mouse and crushed its tiny little body. He saw its brains! Anyway, now when I'm going around in the dark and I step on anything, I think it's a mouse and get all creeped out. For instance, I was in the hallway and I stepped on something and I ran down the hall so fast. I turn the light on and what was it? A dog toy.

Thanks, Nathan, I'm totally insane now.

little mama, what you drink?

Guess who finally got a job?!

hollahollahollahollahollaholla

what are you a pimp now?

I haven't made an update in far too, too long...
so here's some pictures to catch things up:
I think that about brings us up-to-date.