This girl I know....

...is a stripper. Now, I've always been the type to not judge, so when she told me this I was like ok. It was actually like:

Me: So where you working now?

Her: (insert the name of a downtown gentlemen's club)

Me: Oh so that's why you been stopping by (place that I saw her) so much.

One of two things occurred here. She was expecting a REACTION from me, and she should know by now that that's not my style. Or she was expecting me to be level headed and tell her to get another job, and that aint my place. But where I am unjudgemental, others are not so much.

"man, she can do better than that."

"she gave me a lap dance last night! Woo dog."

"knowing her, its probably more than stripping..."

Sigh. I don't know what to say. And I really don't kno what to do. The more people that turn away from her, the more that makes me not want to turn. Cuz that's the type of person I am. However, she's throwing a "party" at her "job" and invited me. I definitely don't wanna go to a strip club alone. And is she gonna be working? Cuz I also don't want to see my friend nekid. I've had enough of that in the past. (If I haven't seen you naked, I don't want to. And if I have seen you naked, I probably didn't want to in the first place, but these things keep happening to me!) I thought about taking Kesi with me but I want him to see my friend naked way less than I actually want to see it. I thought about taking Breezy with me, but I don't wanna take somebody else's man to the club. And now I'm thinking I'm not gonna go. I'm thinking as I type.

Did I mention she's lost weight? I mean, she looks cute, its not like cracky weight loss, but its apparently thanks to the pole workout. Not fair! I'm breaking a sweat every day at work and she gets a higher salary AND she's thinner than me? And she didn't lose her booty. Hate!

So yeah I had to just get that out. I've had deviant friends, one is even a professional drag queen who likes to dress up as the yellow ranger at dragon*con, but I've never had a stripper friend. Is there a decorum? Things to say or not say? Hopefully this will end well, with her transitioning to an office job and not being someone's trophy wife or baby mama... I'll just keep rambling if I don't stop now. Night...
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Back for the 08!

Its been a while since I've done a hate list. But considering right now, I'm feeling particularly hateful. But not so much that I can think of more than 5 things that I hate right now. They're big things, but not many things. Its the quality, not the quantity.

1. Late deliveries.
Our stock delivery was late at work. And we're very busy. Here are the things we ran out of:
*grande cups
*Fat Free milk
*soy milk
*cup sleeves
*creme frap base
*coffee frap base
*coffee light frap base
*sugar
*Vanilla syrup
*"classic" syrup
*lemonade
Meanwhile we had back to back groups of young adults, which means they wanted frapucinos. Do you know how much money we lost? Additionally, we have ads all over the store for blended lemonade and mint mocha fraps, so of course people want that, and get pissed when we say we don't have it, which I can understand. Then our manager went and got us some frap mix, and we subsequently ran out of mocha and whipped cream. Yay! Yesterday was the wackness.

2.T pain's top hats
They're getting bigger. What is he? The ringmaster of coonery? Its not a hot look. Neither are the golds that make his teeth look yellow. And his face doesn't do anything for the equation either. And he wears them everywhere? He must have like 50 top hats of various heights, each reflecting the foolishness of the particular event he's at. The one at the BET awards was the biggest so far.

3. Duffy's dimples
Don't get me wrong. I really like Duffy. "serious," "syrup and honey" and "rockferry" are really good songs. I tend to sing along at work. But watching her sing makes me not like the song. I don't think its just the dimples, but they're there even when her face isn't moving and that's weird. I think its more that her voice doesn't go with her face, in my opinion, and so I rather imagine that she looks like she's gone through some stuff. Like Adele. I believe her. She doesn't look packaged.

4. Black men with mohawks.
The only acception is Kesi's brother H. He has this loose, curly hair that works for the hawk. But when you're fashioning your afro into a hawk? It needs to stop. I automatically think you're a poseur. Yes, you're such a poser you deserve the "u" added in. H got his mohawk for symbolic reasons (he had one last year too. If you feel like checking the late may/early June archives there's pics there) and it happens to look great. But you, Mr Ed Hardy shirt? Bah to you. You are lame.

5. Gatorade
I just missed the bus, so I decided to go to the lil cultural market (its really a corner store owned by Africans, but its not on a corner and they sell African, Caribbean and Spanish food there) and get me a bev. You know, cuz its hot. So I open my drink, and it flies out, leaving drops of red ass drink on me and the bag of "going out" clothes I have in my hand. And on me. So now I'm pissed cuz I'm nowhere near a sink or washing machine, and these shorts I plan to wear are white and light blue sailor stripes. WHITE! And LIGHT BLUE! Ugh. So now I have to figure out how to get this stain out and not be late for work. I have 20 minutes to get off the train and to work, change into my uniform and get a stain off my shorts so they can dry while I work. Not happening. I can't leave it because it'll set in and I'll be even more pissed. And did I mention I've never worn these shorts? Argh! I wanna hit somebody. And I lost most of my appetite for the drink, since spilling it on my shirt makes me look like a 5 year old... Hate.
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So I was at the grocery store...

And turning down the card aisle just for the hell of it, we spot this along with a collection of cards featuring celebrities.

*thinks of who's birthday is next....*

Mo's gonna be 23 in a few weeks.....
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I'm still alive

Who knew itd take 2 days to program a phone?! I got a new blackberry, same one as the old one, but... New. I was gonna get the 8130 but all it has is a higher res camera and video capabilities and wifi. I don't need none of that and it aint worth $50 extra. So there. My new phone is red! Its so sexy. Lol. And yep, it took me 2 days to take off all the phone numbers and addresses and personal stuff so I could sell the old one. Now, apparently you can do this via PC, but everything's set up on Kesi's PC and its all the way at his house, where I am not. So I did it joy's way. And I have a hand cramp.

The gas tank had a leak. I mean probably all the gas is drained out. Gas is too expensive to be leaking out on the ground like that. It better act like it got some sense. So the car had to be towed and we're not sure when it'll be fixed. Bah. Meanwhile I'm relying on the bus and kesi's mom (my street is long and dark, so...), and if you've been reading my blog for a while you know she likes to "speech." the other night Kesi was outside having deep convos with his friend/ coworker, and I'm inside his job talking to a few other coworkers (more on that later), and so mom sees him out there when she came to pick us up and when I get out the car she lectures him on fidelity and the like. What? It was a conversation! Luckily we have trust in our relationship. He thinks nothing of the fact that I go to parties and clubs with other dudes and I don't care if he did the same (which he doesn't, which is why I go to the club with other people- he's not really a club dude). Its me telling him not to have female friends and him telling me not to have male friends that would drive one of us to be unfaithful, in my opinion. Anyways....

While he was outside, I was inside finding out that his coworker that is from my hometown went to the church I grew up in! Not only that, but my Godsister is her kids' Godmother! And my godmother, day care extraordinaire, took care of her kids before she moved down here. She knows all my peoples! Small world man. My mom was a minister with her aunt. The list goes on, lol.

*Can you say that gay people should be stoned in this day and age? I mean, can you be a young black woman with biracial kids, and be so bigotted and ignorant as to say that gays should be stoned for the protection of said children? Seriously. And accordingly, can this cordiality I have with you continue, knowing that you're so narrow minded and foolish that you would not only think but say such a thing? To me? A rational and loving human being with some sense? Sigh.*

This girl I work with is such a pain. She leaves messes everywhere and will litterally walk away from making drinks so that she can ring up guests (and possibly make tips). Tonight she banked out first and "left" me, exiting with the words, "wow, you're really behind..." meanwhile I left before her because despite wanting to be a cashier all the time she can't count and her drop is always wrong. I am thinking of calling her "green card,". Not because she's an immigrant, but because she was singing Lil Boosie's "independent" and we swear she was singing "she got a green card, she got a green card..." we were like what? So now that's our new song when she does something dumb, which is often. Today she walked away from a whole row of drinks... To take more orders. I was already taking care of the guests and she could have made those drinks, but she's determined to stand her ass at the register. She's so wack. And lazy. And I'm over it.

On to better things. 7 days til whitewater! This will be infinitely better than last year's attempted trip. You know, the one that was canceled by a death in the family. So let's all cross our fingers that everyone that I, Kesi, Breezy and Walter Lee's lives makes it safely to Saturday and beyond.
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Please read!

No, I'm not asking you to read my blog, cuz um, duh. I'm not even speaking about this particular post. What I'm asking you to do is read in general. At least do so before you comment or email.

What do we owe each other as owners of blogs? Nothing, really. You choose of your own will to read what I write. I do the same for you. Sometimes I feel moved to make a comment. Sometimes you do too. A topic-relevant comment. I do NOT owe you advertisement. I will ignore you. So hard. You will get the internet equivalent of the stone face. I will net-mug the hell out of you. I'm not going to tell my friends about some article you wrote unless I read it and go "hey, yeah!" Your emailing me means nothing if I've never heard of you before. I realize people wouldn't know what annoys you until you tell them. So here I am. Rashan, La and I were talking about this this weekend. And then Adei and I a few days ago. I remember one of my first posts was about how I hate sales people because they manipulate situations so they can make their pitch and try to sell you stuff you don't need. I hate it equally online. And I'm through. On to other things that's on my mind.

Yep, La and I met Rashan. We went to Cafe Intermezzo, and had drinks and a light dinner. Or at least I feel like it was light. The place didn't seem like the type to have big steaks and whatnot. Anywhoo, we laughed and tripped and La's fam just happened to have the same idea of where to go... So they showed up and crashed the table for a minute. We spent a lot of time talking about the people we could see out the window, some of whom were drunk or unfortunately dressed. Rashan was shorter than I thought he'd be for some reason. That's not to say he's short, but I had him at 6 foot. I always think people are gonna be taller than they are. He also had his name tag on from work, lol. I know where he works! Haha. Considering what he does (I'm not saying what) I wouldn't figure he'd need a name tag. I emailed Jameil cuz she said we were lame for meeting him, as if it were so easy to head up to PA and say hi, lol. But she's headed down to Fla, and if she doesn't come up to Atlanta I may cry, lol. And the best, most unexpected thing about the night was that he paid! For the whole bill! Then he was like, "you guys can take care of the tip," at which point Lauren and I just throw down money. "Aren't you gonna look at the bill first?" nope. We both know what its like to work for tips and our waitress was nice, if a lil weird, so we hooked her up. Personally my whole weekend was funded by tips, and I know how good that feels. Let's see what else? I'm not going in any particular order... Oh, we took pictures, and I sent the one of me and Rashan to him, but I can't post it here cuz I'm on my phone. And curiously, the picture of him and la is gone hmmm... The same thing happened in Miami. Interesting, huh? Wonder how that happened.

Watched Michelle O on the view thea morning. She has great legs. She clearly wasn't a tomboy. Cuz my knees are dark. Besides that she's cool and interesting and I love what she said about her oldest daughter's feelings about crowds. "they're not here for me. I just smile and wave and go sit down." ha! What a clever lil chickie. There was nothing of note on the show really, but I'm sure they'll find some controversy and take something out of context. Womp womp.

I'll have new crochet pix soon! Yay! Have a great day!
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Father's day

"Do you wanna just go tomorrow?"
"maybe, I gotta see what my daddy wants to do for his day."
"I KEEP forgetting tomorrow is fathers day!"

I keep forgetting because its been over a year since I've talked to my dad. I've talked about him before, all the drama, but since he chose to not come to my brother's graduation I haven't said boo to him. At one point I wanted to renew the facets of our relationship and have him fix my car, but his number is disconnected, so... At this point I figure if you really missed us, you'd call MY number has been the same for years.

Yesterday, kesi's dad's girlfriend's daughter (yes, all that is necessary... She's separated from us by trifling people) called him. We were napping, as we are wont to do, and his voice was very deep and scratchy as he was telling her, "fathers day is very busy, I can't just not go to work... Nope, I can't come by tomorrow... I don't know we'll see..." etc. She's 13 and doesn't really understand what it is to be fed up with her father like Kesi and I are. Her father died when she was 5. But she lives with Kesi's dad and he's the closest thing she has. Funny how people can be one thing to some people and something else to others. My dad is currently taking care of his girlfriend's child too, I would suppose.

Kesi's brother, H, and I were in the kitchen talking one night and somehow the conversation turned to our wedding: would he be in it, why don't Kesi and I just go get married and spend the money on some big vacation, etc. "will you feel bad if your dad doesn't walk you down the aisle?" I wouldn't. Ok, maybe on some level. But I've got two brothers who would do it. Or a close friend. Someone who's been there more than he has. Of course, traditionally, it would be nice for him to do that, but at the same time, who's to say I wouldn't temporarily have him in my life just for him to disappear again, and then I'm stuck with him tainting the memory of my wedding? And you may say, well the day is not about him, and that's true, and that's why I don't care if he doesn't walk me down the aisle.

Don't get me wrong, my dad isn't all bad. Its just... Its as if there's 2 of him, and I can't really reconcile that. There's the one guy is so proud of me, shows me off to everyone, takes me on boat trips, moves to a different state because his children were moving, calls Kesi his son in law, comes through when I need him, fixes up a friend's hair salon in return for a cheaper hair do for me. Then there's the guy who gets arrested 5 times in Atlanta, leaves the state (long term) without telling us, misses one son's graduation, doesn't know the other's on the way to Iraq, doesn't call, and picks some chick he barely knows over us. I never know what I'm going to get. I don't know him as well as I think I do.

About a week ago, Kesi and I were laying in bed, about to nap, as we are wont to do, when I started reciting: "I love you. You love me." when I would pause, he would nod. "we're a happy family. " "we're not a family." "yes we are." "but we don't have any kids. When we have kids, then we'll be a family." I think he's wrong, but he's right too. And I know that when we do have kids, it will be different. He'll do better. And I won't forget to honor him on father's day.
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5 senses

i just finished reading "when you are engulfed in flames" by david sedaris. last year Jameil advised me to read another of his books and i fell in love with him. im passing that book onto my friend sammy sam because she saw david on the daily show and fell in love with him. i recommend you buy this book. the thing that inspired the title? pure comedy. i was quoting it and laughing and people were very concerned about me. lol so buy it ok? its definitely inspiring the short story writer in me. how he remembers all this is beyond me. but im glad for it.

i just bought NERD's "seeing sounds." im listening to it now. there's a song called "kill joy." damn!!! be that way pharell! after all ive done? psh... anywas i really like "anti matter." the chick on that song, you can almost hear her neck rolling, lol. also, the drums on this album are on point. i love drums. i wish i could play. im not very good at multitasking my whole body toward one thing. i tried once, and got upstaged by a drag queen.

kesi and i just got from Yasin's seafood. i had a po' boy and he had enough whiting to feed his whole family... i mean even the ones in missouri, lol. it was so good. his mom said i be leaving food in the fridge all the time. i dont mean to!!! i just be forgetting! i leave the house at like 2 in the morning and im not thinking about my leftovers. in the middle of the conversation and i was like "ooh you got fudge pops?!?!?!" she was semi amused. but damn it if i dont want that fudge pop right now!!! btw there's half a po' boy in the fridge....

i want that fudge pop so bad cuz its hot!!!! i mean, record breaking temps down here. and aside for a total of 20 minutes the past 2 days, we havent seen rain since aprilish. im sweating in really not nice places. i'll let you think about that. i had a temper tantrum the other night because i was sweating behind my knees. at NIGHT!!! evil! who does that? full dislosure, ive been trying to go without a bra as much as possible. i am currently hating these gifts god has given me, simply because they require a harness. on the upside, its perfect weather for Whitewater!!!! we're going to the water park!!! i plan on spending quite a bit of time in the lazy river, getting my puffy blue-black (or in my case, caramel-bronze) on. kesi will be getting his amber- honey on. light skinned people always remind me of baked chicken at the end of summer.

because its hot and rainless, the water stinks. algae overpopulation for about the past few weeks. its gross cuz then you smell funny when you get out of the shower. you dont smell fresh and clean, you smell like algae, which iosnt bad, just indescribable. and at work, its interesting to wash things in this smelly water. rinse things out. some places had up signs that said "water smells today, we suggest bottled water." its not bad to drink, but im sure it has a tinge of sea monkey to it. you know what else smells? chai. i dont know how los angelista drinks it so much. maybe it changes with the milk. but once i got it on my hands, i then had to choose between smelling that or the weird water. i chose the water cuz its not brown and sticky (btw all starbucks use filtered water in beverages, so dont worry!). in ct sometimes the water would be brown, and they'd tell us not to drink it. but it never smelled....

im posting this video for 3 reasons

1 lloyd's hair is delicious. If you didn't know, I have a *thing* for dudes with long hair.
2 this beat is ridic. PM dawn? Help me out here.
3 i needs the kaleidoscope glasses. :50 and 1:25

enjoy

lloyd featuring sonic the hedgehog- "all around the world"

80

Today is my grandmother's birthday! She's 80. How cool is that? I talked to her earlier while she was eating lunch and she told me she wasn't in the mood for cake. That's fine. I'll have a cookie in your honor. I lived with her for a few years when I was younger, so I know she doesn't like to be fussed over. This task can be a hard one, considering that you have so many offspring, and especially so when you turn 80. We had a surprise party for her 75th and she smacked my cousin (lightly) for not ruining the surprise. I have a great pic of her and Kesi and she's giving him this look. A look that says, "you may be new here, but you should know I don't like surprises!" ever since then she's been trying to steal him from me, lol. of course she had fun. Sat at the head of the table, and when it was time to cut the cake she prayed and thanked God for the (big) room full of people that loved her. You couldn't help but get a lil emotional over that. I miss her. Hopefully I'll get to see her soon.

In conclusion, I just found out I can mail pix to my blog, so I'll leave you with one. The oldest and, as of right now, youngest members of my family.
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Pharmacy: photo

So. When last I left you I was putting thoughts of my friend's parents out of my head. Today is no better. But first let's talk about cashiering.

I've mentioned before that as a cashier people drive me crazy. They do stupid things like making their own lines and complaining about the price of stuff as if you can do anything about it. Every Sunday morning towards the end of my days there, I would meet the woman who took the prize for the most annoying guest evar.

She'd come in, slowly, as she was McCain-aged. She was a skinny lil woman, old but still blonder than grey, which seemed natural for some reason. She'd get her paper, then go to the pharmacy. Then you'd hear Dr Li over the intercom, "Jeff to the pharmacy, Jeff to the pharmacy." Jeff was the jerky supervisor. He'd smoke EVERY 45 minutes, no matter what. Anyway. Jeff would talk to this woman about whatever insolvable problem she was having in the pharm. When they were done, she'd continue shopping and then come to me. At this point she'd either thank me for having mayfield butter pecan ice cream in the big tubs, or she'd ask me 12 times if I could order some. Then I'd tell her I don't do the order and mayfield brings in what they want essentially, and she'd ask for my manager. "Jeff to the front counter." that would take another few minutes. At some point she would complain about being charged too much tax on her items, and how it was supposed to be 3% and not 5%. Then we'd tell her she needed to call the government about that... This happened EVERY WEEKEND! Every! And I worked Sunday mornings, so she knew noone but me. And I'd have to explain this to her every weekend. I'm getting annoyed just thinking about it.

So yeah, photos. There were rules to the photos. You had to check all the pix for quality and content. We have to make sure there's no illegal activity in the pix, and if there is we have to report it. And trust me, even if you send them off to be developed, that's true. If you go to wolf camera and do the digital thing, its true. Someone you don't know is looking at your pix. Haha! Someone has seen your worst, most incriminating picture! Some people tended to send off their items, rather than having the doll faced 18 year old develop them. I was the only one qualified in the photo area. You couldn't get one hour til I got out of school, lol. It wasn't that it was so hard, but our store was just that raggedy.

So yeah, despite the fact that I never had to develop naked pix, it didn't mean I didn't see them. For one thing, one day there was a mix up from ko.dak and the photos were not in the packs. So that meant I had to kind of try to figure out which went with what. The fact that some of the people came in and got theirs that day made it easy, but at the end of things there were still a few left, and I had to try to figure out where they went. There was one guy who would get slides developed (snore) so his was easy. Then there were some people who I knew from the neighborhood. Cool. Then there was Mr K, who would come get pix done like every week. I remembered cuz he had one of those hard, Polish names with the unneccessary letters. So since I knew what he looked like, I figured I'd look through the photos and see if I could find him. And I found him... And about 15 naked people. Apparently he takes pictures of ORGIES! Is this a weekly thing? At least there's a nice mix of races here... Ew they're all old! The whole roll is naked! Oh my God how am I going to look at this man? Isn't he married? Is his wife one of these fleshy old people? I have not had enough sex to be scarred like this. I may never have sex again. Oh my head. It hurts....

These are the thoughts that went through my head. I was seriously shocked and disgusted about the whole scenario. Despite all that, it wasn't as bad as the OTHER time I saw some naked pictures.

So as the chick with the sweet job at the pharmacy, my friends would come in for the hook up. I think the statute of limitations are up, so I will say that I would ring people up for the cheap stuff and let them get away with the more expensive things. One time my friend, one who tended to brag about his... Gifts... Wanted me to grab his photos. I did so gladly, since he had recently been fired for hitting me with a wiffle bat(it was funny, but the manager didn't see it that way). I also gladly decided to look at them. Glad turned to "oh lord why!" turned out they were pix of him and his naked high school girlfriend! Ahhh! No! Why?! And, it turns out, he was not as "gifted" as he claimed. He could have kept that, lol. If you have been reading my blog long you know that we ended up working together and I eventually told her that I saw her naked. What you don't know is that she was 2 years younger than us and that was illegal. Through no part of my own doing, the police investigated him for statutory rape and I THINK the pix were involved. He didn't get sent to jail though. And you KNOW I told my friends. Some of which were his friends... So it was quite an inside joke, he and his lil homey...

So that's my adventures with my high school job. I had fun there, in addition to the traumas. Maybe that's why I love working around strangers, you never know what to expect. Lol.

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All in good fun, yall.

www.soablackmanispresident.blogspot.com

And you can play too!
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it came!!!!

so id been thinking of getting a barack the vote tee for a LONG time. i think since my birthday. but i had decided that i'd wait until he secured the mon, despite the fact that the price would go up. THEN, kesi asked me what i wanted him to buy me with his stimulus check, and i couldnt resist. well....



it came yesterday!

is it a coincidence? is it a coincidence that the as i was trying it on, mr O was 5 and counting away from becoming the democratic nominee? id like to think it isnt. i spent the night text-yelling "5! 4! he's the nominee!" at everyone who would listen.



i think i have a problem.... lol im a bit obsessed. and lastly, an excerpt from the hilarious text comedy stylings of Joy and La:

La: i think im a bit overwhelmed. a black man is the presidential nominee. the most degraded, discounted, depressed and oppressed entity in this country. jesus christ.
me: woo hoo! go black man, its your birthday! im gonna use this as a jumping point every time i see a negro doing somthing stupid. "so a black man is the presidential nominee, and youre cheating on your girlfriend? hmmm."
LMFAO thats perfect!
a black man is the dem nominee, and you came at me with that wack line? bah.
LMFAO! a black man is the presidential nominee and u cant find weave that matches your real hair? no ma'am.

Working at the pharmacy

From 2000 to 2003 I worked at the cvs down the street from my house in The Point. When I was first hired it was as a stocker, because of course you can't do anything without knowing the store first. Then I became a cashier, and sometimes worked in the pharmacy when they needed help (if it wasn't illegal then, it is now. I should not have been sorting pills, even if it was rechecked by a pharmacist). My favorite job, though it wasn't an all day position except after holidays, was the photo shop. Checking in overnight orders. Breaking open one time use cameras (which, if for some reason you are still using them, you can do at home and save the batteries. You can also electrocute yourself, so be careful, you who lives in the 90s!), using the "black bag," and developing pictures. One hour photo was my favorite part because I am a bit of a voyeur and I like to see other peoples lives without actually committing to being friendships (blog anyone?). All of these areas have their... Interesting points... Especially when people's private parts are at issue.

So in case you didn't do the math, I was at the edge of 16 when I started working at the pharmacy. I was a junior and needed some money in my pocket. And 2 kids in my class already worked there, with more to come soon, thank God. The 2 parts of being a stocker are stocking, naturally, and customer interaction. The want to know where everything is. Even stuff that's right in freaking front of them. I mean, like, rightthere. Then there's the country folk. This man asked me repeatedly for some "tomanal" I was like, I don't know what that is... "tomanal! For a headache!" oh, TY-LEN-OL. It was like on Austin powers where he kept saying "fajja," instead of father. Then of course there's the fun of having the key to the condom/ pregnancy test/ "ointment" case. Picture old men coming for their condoms and finding out this baby-faced teen is the thing keeping them from getting some that night. Loved to watch them squirm. Of course then there's the women who wanna ask me which version of monistat is the best. The one that works the quickest, I guess, geez.

And then there was the time we found some 20 bins of makeup that someone was too lazy to stock, so we got free reign of the stuff for a dollar a piece. I'm talking, loreal, revlon, cover girl, stuff they had since stopped making. 3 bottles of this blood burgundy revlon nail polish that looked delicious on me. I still have unopenned stuff in a big bubblegum container somewhere in my house. La and my mom wrecked shop.

On to working in the pharmacy. For the most part, they needed someone to man the register so they could concentrate on the actual pharm stuff. And it was the best place to be when you had homework. The night pharmacist was a lovely Korean man whose name I cannot remember! I wanna say Dr Li, or some other one syllable situation. Anyway, Li didn't mind if you had your pre-cal (yep, 11th grade, pre-cal) books out as long as when a customer came up you took care of it and he didn't have to get involved unless they asked. Which meant you had to know to look in the fridge for some stuff and tell the people how to mix it, etc. Of course the people would bug him anyway. When it was exceptionally busy, I mighta been asked to count out some pills. They had these lil baskets with the pills and the prescriptions already in them, and all I had to do is count out however many and stick the labels on the plastic bottles and put the pills in there. Then Li or one of the techs would come after and check to make sure you did it right. This is how I found out that a the father of a boy I had known since 6th grade, and also worked with at the time, was using Via.gra. Ew! I did not wanna think of them having the sex. I do remember him coming to get them that evening. I think I got a ride home from them that night too. To this day... I swear the image of my hand holding a bottle of viagre with his name on it is seared in my head. *banging my head* Repress! Repress!

Ok I'll stop there. I need to go rinse my brain. Tomorrow I'll get to the juice: photo shop!
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Saturday

So here's how the day was supposed to go:

*Wake up late, all snuggly and rested.
*meet Jeremy to give him money.
*Oz pizza, yum.
*Harold and Kumar
*come home and hang out and stare into each other's eyes lovingly.

Yeah... Not so much. Kinda, but not really.

After I got up for my requisite morning bathroom run, I went back to sleep for a few minutes before Kesi says, "my phone is wet." um, what? Dude, I'm the one who talks in my sleep.

So I open my eyes and roll over and he's literally wiping his phone off. It would not turn on. The razr, may it rest in peace. So its 1130 and he decides to head to the phone shop. "do you wanna come with me?" no. I'm still asleep. At some point he comes back and has to use my phone to transfer money within his accts. And then I go back to sleep again. And wake up at 2.

Kesi has already met up with Jeremy and he's at home letting his phone charge. So I decide to get dressed. Why, oh why, did my mother tell me that I wasn't dressed appropriately? First of all, what is her problem? Secondly, I am 24. Thirdly, there is nothing wrong with what I had on. Army green shorts and a blue and green VS camisole, one of those long ones. And she's like its too much skin. Um, again, 24. Also, its 80 degrees out. I do see, not that I understand, that she will dress like she's going into an air conditioned office even though she has to walk to get on the bus and is sweating by the time she get there, but wah. Hush. I'm no one's mom. I will not dress like it.

Moving on. Finally Kesi and I made it to Oz, the best pizza place ever, and the site of our first (unofficial) date. Got me some lazagna and he had 3 slices of cheeze. We talked and acted silly and when I mused that this was where we had many dates and that we should get married on the little grass lot next to the restaurant(joking!), he said, "no, this is East Point. You gotta think about that." lol. Yeah East Point is kinda low rent. But its a romantic idea! Geez.

Turns out, TI's movie theater isn't showing Harold and Kumar. They are still showing meet the browns, but no H+C? Bah. And before you ask, Kesi was not going to see satc. And that's fine. He's probably never seen an episode of the show. So what do we do now? Go home and watch "the labyrinth" the 80s movie featuring David Bowie and Jennifer Conelly. Yeah it was pretty awesome. A gallery opening I modeled in had some of the puppets from the movie. The movie was good, funny, graphics were good for that time period. But JC was over acting just a lil bit. One thing I noticed is how they played with camera tricks which are probably cheaper than graphics and cgi stuff, and more realistic looking because these things are actually happening, not added in later.

After that I watched graham Norton while Kesi took a nap. I do wonder how we'll accomplish anything once we live together. We mostly sleep when we're able, lol.

So that was my Saturday. I'm currently thinking of writing a few flashback posts, especially now that I've discovered ifoundyourcamera.com, which reminds me of my days as a "photo development specialist." you wouldn't believe the things I've seen...
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Jury duty pt 2

Well this part is a little different than part 1. For one, I was writing that as it happened, and I couldn't do that with this part as I was actively in the court room and phones and such were not allowed. So here's what happened:

They called my name. #7. I literally let out a sigh of disgust. And so I went down to the 5th floor and stood in line while a lady told us what would be happening. We'd go in and be surveyed (guadiere, I thing that how its spelled. Pronounced "gwa-deer") and chosen or not chosen to be in the jury based on our answers.

So of course being #7 I was right in the front. Center. And the dude next to me would NOT SHUT UP. At first it was funny, but then he said, "he's guilty," when we found out what the charges were. Not funny. Btw it was the state vs this young immigrant who was accused of sexual assault of a 12 year old girl. So yeah dude, shut up. The immigrant dude looked like he was having it rough up on Wright St. His eyes were red the whole time. I know they treat rapists hard up in the joint, and with good reason, so...

Certain things could be implied by the line of questioning. There was forensic evidence. If the forensics did not incriminate the defendant, I don't believe we'd be there. You know? If the DNA was someone else's, we wouldn't be looking at this guy. Also, the way the defense lawyer asked his questions made it seem they could only put reasonable doubt in your head, maybe, possibly. On a good day. I wouldn't want him reppin me. He wasn't too tight in the game.

So we get on with the questionaire. Do you know anyone in the courtroom? Would the influx of Latino immigrants into the US effect you negatively in this case? Do you have police or military relatives? Do you watch law and order or CSI? (when they asked this question, people were like, what about "cold case"? What about "48hrs"? Damn, just say yes. You get the idea.) Has anyone close to you been arrested? do you have an negative experience with the police? Positive? Do you have a scientific, counseling, child care background? Do you have children? On and on. And then there were 2 questions I was the only one who answered in the afirmative: do you speak Spanish? Were you personally the victim of a sex crime?

Now, admitting you were the "victim" of a sex crime can be a hard thing. First of all you have to move past victimization. I don't feel like a victim. It was a part of my past and makes me who I am. By not saying that it happened, 2 things occur. I make myself ashamed and a liar. (btw, Mr talkative gave me the side eye when I answered this question. I was actually thankful he clammed up and looked at me differently.) I did no more to deserve the actions brought upon me than I did when my house was robbed when I was 19. The other thing is a perpetuation that its going to be something we should be silent about. Its not. I once sat in a room where a large majority of females admitted to having been a "victim" too. No one would have known otherwise. But by us saying it, and there being males in the room hearing what we had to say, I can guarantee it had an effect on them. So while I am pretty sure I wasn't the only one who was involved in a sex crime, I was the only one to admit it. And that's fine. I don't want people to think they can ever be in a room full of people and assume that none of the women there have been offended. And next time, maybe every one would be able to admit it.

As far as not knowing Spanish... Really? 60 people in the room and the only ones who speak Spanish are me and the defense? These people had a crazy diverse background, and I was the only one who could communicate with the people who are literally running to live in our city? Boo!

So moving on. After this, we took a lunch and then it was specific juror questioning. Something I found funny was one man's response:

"where does your wife work?"

"oh she's retired."

"from?"

"north Carolina."

Dude. Not what she meant. I really wanted to laugh.

My questionaire was long. I talked about my brother's and uncles' military service, my dad's and cousin's arrests, my functionality in Spanish, whether or not my personal experience with the crime would bias me (I said it wouldn't. I'm able to see that this guy is not the person that hurt me), and my job. After that, I went in the hallway and squeezed in next to a nice old lady who was eventually chosen. I'd first seen her earlier because she was sock-footed. Someone had taken her shoes! What the? She was 74! And walking around the courthouse since she'd gotten there with no shoes on. Her daughter came after lunch and brought her a pair from her house. We talked for a while, and she was talking to me for a while. It took me a second to realize that Jackie was her daughter that died of diabetes in 2004 (yes, we really talked) because she talked to me as if we'd known each other since back in the day. She grew up in warm springs, the home town of Eisenhower, I think she said. And her dad worked for him. Was he the one in the wheelchair? That's who she was talking about. Anyway, we talked about her time as a private investigator at "Girls Friday" in roswell. That name reminds me of a strip club even though I know where it came from.

So after a while, a long while, remember I was #7 of 50, we went back into the room and the judge talked to us about "striking" jurors. He said they'd take a 15 minute recess and we'd be out by 6. Lemme say that first of all, we weren't. 2ndly, I'd been in that building since 8am and I'd been up since 6am. So I was beat. After almost a half hour, the lawyers came back and striking began. Now, I've seen them do this OUT LOUD before but never in this "passing notes in class" way that was occuring before me. No one said A WORD for another 20 minutes. A court worker passed a. Few sheets of paper back and forth, writing here and there and passing, whispering, while we sat there bored and not knowing what's going on. Then finally they had a jury and they called 13 people and then the judge thanked us and we were on our way. It was 630! I spent 10.5 hours in there only to not get picked. And I know that the fact that I was the only one who admitted to what I did was the reason why. It was the only thing that set me apart to the point of being a "biased juror." meh, whatever. I could see how that could hurt your case, lol. I went to kesi's house and went to sleep. Now I just sit back and wait for my $25.

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Jury duty pt 1

*This was written in the juror waiting room before I was sent to a judge. There'll be more on that specifically later on. There's a lot to mention. I will say, clearly, that I did not get picked, so there will be full disclosure.*

I've been up since 615am. Ate my breakfast of oatmeal and Vault and took a shower. Got dressed and tried to leave the house. "you can not go to court dressed like that!" ok, so I had on a fuschia top with a dancing monkey on it (which some have referred to as racist, but its an aeropostale shirt and its cute), and I was thinking more of my picnic date with Kesi in Centennial after I'm done here (because they never keep me long), but I knew she was right. It did make me laugh a little after a while. But um, its hot outside and I was dressing for comfort. I aint putting on a dress! And certainly not tweed pants, as she suggested. I changed into a blue Nike golf shirt. I really look like I'm gonna golf today. I have on tan above the knee capris- I know these type of shorts have a name, but usually I would just barely be waking up this time of day, so- and some loafer sneakers with tan, blue, pink and lime dots. I actually saw a guy with a similar outfit on who looked like he actually owned clubs.

Anyway, I get to the courthouse and they take my camera temporarily. I just gotta make sure I keep this raffle ticket they gave me. I remembered to take my knife out of my purse, didn't think of the camera... Oops. anywhoot, I get to the 7th floor and there's this line that stretches to eternity, because they're not letting people in as a group. You have to check in first and there's 2 people at a windo checking in oh about 300people. Give or take. Maybe 200. Still, that's a lot of people. And I'm tired! I'm listening to Frank Ski, and apparently its Usher Day. Btw, his album sounds pretty wack. His son sounds adorable. Put him cooing for an hour on wax and I may head to Target. But this album? Bah. Not that I own any usher... I hold my r+b dudes to a very high standard. I have Maxwell, Robin thicke, um.... Shoot that's it. I think. I've digressed again.

So I get in the room, and then we watch a movie with channel 11's own Brenda Wood, all about what the hell we're doing here. I don't remember what they said. I was paying attention but my brain was still asleep. I just realized I may be the youngest person in the room. Lol someone in here's last name is "Cooch!" *dead*

So I've been sitting here since then and I am trying to hold on. Reading and playing on my phone. I finished my book 2 days ago. It got really good, at the last 3rd, things started getting really twisted. I mean even moreso than usual.

*****************
At 11ish, I got chosen for jury selection. Of course I can't tell you anything about it. I'm eating lunch now... If I get chosen for the jury then I won't be able to comment on the case until a verdict comes in. If I don't get chosen, you'll hear all about it tomorrow. Some funny things have happened already. Funny odd, not necessarily funny haha. Til later...
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"You must be on your period"

Usually such a remark stated to me would warrant a swift cussing out, but this time was different.

It was about a month ago, and I had walked into starbucks for some reason. It was official that I would be working there within the week. When I mentioned it to Breezy and the other person who was in there, they responded jokingly, "what about the Evil Supervisor?" I responded, with all kinds of poison in my tone, "she can go suck a fat one."

The recoil was amazing. I mean they were simply shocked at what came out of my mouth. I laughed at that. And then Breezy said, "damn, you must be on your period."

"what?!"

"yup. I know my Joy." I mean, he'd never uttered that phrase to anyone in my presence, so I know he doesn't just say it... And he was right.

"I know my Joy." even to my best friends, I don't like to seem predictable. So that phrase bugged me more than his having my menstrual calendar memorized.

More recently, I was riding home with Kesi and discussing some hypothetical wherein I gets disrespected, and what he would do in the situation.

"I wouldn't have to do much."

"why?"

"because I know you, you'd have it handled."

See, Kesi always thinks I'm quick to pop off when I feel disrespected, and he, of course is right. I tend to not wait for someone to jump to my honor; I get loud instead. The thing about it is, this has not occurred in a long time. I mean, some years its been since I've really had to let someone have it (in all seriousness) in his presence.

He also claims that he let's people (like our friends thurm and Jeremy) say things that may set me off just so he can hear my response. Because he "knows" I'll say something crazy.

I guess that's not the same as being predictable, that last one, but its still weird.

I guess there are worse ways for people to respond to me. At least I'm not boring... But I never figured I could be pinned down, even by those that have known me so closely for so long. I'm sure Lauren and Bre could pick out a few of my character responses that I didn't know were so obvious. To have a person say they "know" you is a bit of a jar to your system, or at least mine.

Am I alone in this? Am I just wilding? Lol. I felt like going all maury on them, "you don't know me son!" even though I suppose its a good thing that people are so invested in me and actually care. Yeah? Yeah.

Tomorrow: jury duty! Bah.
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Make me wanna holler

So what's been going on in joy-land? Sleep! You guys, this is hard! I get off at 10ish, which is nice, but I still usually have to wait for Kesi or his bros to get off before I can go home. Which puts me in the house at about 1or 2ish some nights. You should have seen how excited I was to get home at 1230 the other night! That like never happens! And I have to go in at 2, so I have to leave the house at 1230PM, which gives me a good ammt of sleep if I don't have anything to do the night before or that morning. Which I usually do... But this week, with my trying to recover from what is now just phlegm and a hoarse voice, I've been going to sleep as soon as I can get out of my uniform. Its not like I have the most difficult job, but being unable to go straight home is draining.
Speaking of my job, its going well. I'm finding it funny/ cathartic/ annoying that people ask me why I swithched over. It all depends on who and how they ask. Some people wanna be complete retards and say "aren't you supposed to be over there? Why would you switch? Wasn't it easier over there?" firstly, no, it wasn't. "over there", there was 3 people on night shift. Over here? 6. There's more of a even distribution of tasks, and people actually wanna work as a team because they LIKE each other, so... And if you ever paid attention to me while I was over there, you would have blatantly seen how unhappy I was. For months. So fuck off. Thanks.

Other than that annoyance, its fun. Its been pretty slow, so we've been kinda getting into interesting convos, like how one of the girls we work with has a made up boyfriend, and how my supervisor locks her keys in her office about once or twice a month. Which is a lot. Especially when anyone else with a key is at home and not coming back til the AM. And how someone I work with (I won't say who, but if you see her you'd know who) has the nickname "huffy" because she has some serious love handles. I was walking behind her one day and just-a-staring at them! And she turned around and I think she thinks I was staring at her butt. Then the other day I was telling a story and someone said, is this another story about "your boyfriend"? So I'm trying to make an effort to use his name. The problem with that is that I don't call him by his first name. I call him Kesi. But people who don't know him wouldn't call him that (he and his dad have the same name so his fam calls him Kesi to differentiate). And you know he's still considering changing his name...

I have 4 days off this week. We're so slow in the hotel! Luckily I have paid time off, so I'll still have 40 hrs, plus the holiday, which I'm working but I don't mind. Even though its pride weekend and I really wanted to go hang out with the beautiful people, lol. I just saw a girl with every rainbow ever on. I'm talking head to toe, and had the nerve to have on some damn black jeans. Its burning hot down here maam! Highs in the 80s and you know you're about to be running around outside.

Moving on... Have you ever been asked a question it was not your place to answer? This happened to me the other night. It wasn't like the person was trying to be rude or nosy, the conversation just led to it. And whereas I know the answer, it wasn't a question I felt like answering. Its hard to explain, and as hard as it is to explain, imagine how hard it was for me to dance around the answer to the question. Lol. I'm a rather honest person, and I would answer anything a person asks about me ("none of your business" is an honest answer) but this wasn't about me. So...

This girl on the train has on these banging big-lens shades. I am so coveting. Coveting like a mug! Lmao.

Breezy and another coworker are both in Miami right now and won't be back til Monday. They booked their trips separately but are gonna meet up and go clubbing while they're down there. I was hating so hard!!! "how you gonna go to Miami a clear MONTH after me? Booo! Go have fun on the beach without me..." I gotta sit at work bored, because not only are they gone, but Walter Lee is on a leave of absence until Monday, so I'm stuck with the chick that lies about her invisible boyfriend! Lol. Getting a tan and ish...

And finally... My supervisor listens primarily to country music. She did not readily recognize Marvin Gaye's "what's goin on" when it came on the store's radio. I just don't know what to do with this.
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Books and booze and bones

I've been sick all weekend. Friday it was chilly, probably like 50something and the wind was gusting so it felt colder. And of course I was outside with no jacket because I didn't think I would be shivvering at 10PM. And so I got achy and cranky and had to take an extra day off because my head felt like it was filled with water and just heavy and sloshing around every time I sat up. I did almost finish my pillow project, which I must say I don't like, but maybe she'll like it. Meh. I guess I gotta make something I don't like eventually. And I watched a Reno 911 marathon and a Law and Order marathon, which made me think of rashan's old girlfriend. I'm feeling better now, what with my bf bringing me nyquil and kisses and a mcd's chicken sammich (mmmmm).

Friday(yes I'm going out of order), I went to a house party and it was so fun! It was a crazy mess though, and my former coworker (the one who has the jailed boyfriend who she's never seen) came in pissy drunk with her 4 friends. Did I mention she is 20? Yeah. Not to say I didn't drink at 20, but I didn't come to someones house where many of my (and my parents, cuz they work in the same building is me) coworkers are fall down drunk. And so she and her friends were pissing we "mature" party goers off, by falling all over each other and us, and spilling beverages on the couch with wreckless abandon. Other than that, and the guy from event svcs that has a crush on me and got the "basic 2 step" every time his behind tried to dance with me, I had fun! I'd say it was almost worth getting sick. Almost.

I bought a new book. "rant" by chuck palahniuk. I'm only on pg 10, and its kinda slow so far. All his books are like that. Expositions filled with questions to be answered later, at which point you read the book again and say, "ok. I get it." obviously I suffer through that; I have all of them except for the one right before this one. I include the two I gave away, "fight club" and "lullaby," which are my favorites, so I kinda regret doing that. Bah. So anyway I have a book to get me through jury duty next week. I hate that I have to get up at 6am for this! Don't they have afternoon jury duty? I mean, every time I go (this will be my 3rd) they have me in this big room, just sitting, with CNN on, and you can't listen to your headphones because what if they make an announcement? And there's no guy with an odd fruit in his briefcase, a la SATC, to entertain me, oh no. There's just about 50 other people, all considerably older than me, sitting bored in this room. Civic duty my toe. They'd better call me for a trial. At the same time, I kinda don't want to sit in judgement of anyone. For 2 reasons: 1, I'm very sleepy during the day, and falling asleep in the jury stand isn't a very good look. I could be found in contempt or some such. And so itd have to be very interesting to keep me awake. 2, if it is indeed a very interesting case, that would mean someone died and probably in a gross way. And I'd get nightmares. I've been very fortunate to have not experienced any gruesome sights in life- I wasn't even there when my brother shattered his elbow- and I don't want to see any pictures of it or hear a first hand acct of these types of things. I know I wouldn't be able to look away so I'd be either barfy or crying. And that brings up another thing. I don't think I'd be able to be partial. I have an opinion on everything. Clearly...

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Questions

Yeah I'm a bit late... Life gets in the way of things. I haven't had the time to post this because I've been working on a few projects, which I will take pics of, and trying to spend free time with my boo since we haven't had the same days off since I started at the 'bucks. Aaanywho...

DiamondsR4eva said... Would you ever leave Atlanta? Why or Why not?

Yes, yes I would. But itd have to be towards somewhere with a beach. And don't give me that Lake Lanier crap. First of all, ocean levels never drop to a noticeable level. There's high and low tide, and plenty of room for everyone. And clam bakes! Mmmm... So yeah I would. Itd be an interesting time convincing Kesi to move though if it wasn't a career move. I'm a lil more flighty and free spirited than he.

Have you and Kesi talked about marriage kids the whole 9 yards?

Oh yes. My friend found it very interesting when I said the other day I knew I wanted to marry him before we finished high school. But yeah we've talked. Married, 4 kids, they'll have some kind of musical instruction and play sports. I would like to have a girl first, seeing as I'm the oldest and feel that I have a unique view of things...I'm more independent because of it, I feel. He wants to have a boy first, but of course its all up to God. But we still got 50 riding on it.

Where would you be without your Crackberry lol ?

I'd be so messed up. I wouldn't know my blog family, I wouldn't be able to keep up with my fam and friends, I'd miss ample opportunities to send pictures of crazy Atlantans to Lauren. I love my phone! I'm on it right now. Ooh and I have facebook mobile. :D

What clubs/events/venues would you recommend in the (downtown) atlanta area for the under 25 crowd?

Girl... I have no idea. I used to go to the Peacock, but they closed that down... Are you 21? Verve lounge was aight but I like to dance so... Plus I live near the airport. As you know there are no less than 10 clubs in my neighborhood (frozen palace, throwbacks, Ritz, crowes nest for the grown and sexy, lol) and if I can WALK home intoxicated, ima do that. So... I don't know. But if you call my job's concierge and ask for Courtney, she'll hook you up.

What do you think about Georgia State, if you have an opinion that is.

Kesi "used to" go to Ga state. I say "used to" because I'm pretty sure he's still enrolled, he just is considering going to another school. It was cool. I used to use the big computer lab under his name when I got off work and no one carded me, lol. And there was good places to eat... Lol I'm no help. I know a lot of people that went/go there, so...

Canon Obama said... ummm...why is Jadakiss the hardest it get? why is the industry designed to keep the artist in debt... sike nawIf

You know what, I went to high school with a kid who looks just like Jadakiss. He was a lil baby face. I saw him at the Compound last summer. His brother was in Another Bad Creation. I just thought about all this just now and realize that you have no idea who I'm talking about, nor does it matter.

anywhere besides Atlanta, where would you want to be?

Since diamonds asked that question already, I'll answer yours a different way. I'd wanna be with my grandma watching some kind of mystery tv show. Or in Miami again.

low paying job (like 15,000) where you had freedom and enjoyed what you were doing, or a high paying job (like 650,000), but your boss was strict and you were very limited in your ability for growth?

See, this is a tough one. Cuz I currently make more than 15000 and its certainly not enough. And I couldn't possibly enjoy what I did if I wasn't getting paid right for it. So maybe I'd go with the big money job. If I'm gonna hate the place, might as well love the money. At least I could quit once I started having kids and still have money saved up.

Vdizzle said... Question: what is your 10 year plan (something I obsess about)? It can be detailed or basic.

Argh! Let's see. In 10 years I'll be 34. I hope to be pregnant with my 3rd or 4th child, married of course, living in either an old (no later than the 70s) brick multi-level OR a new brick home of my design (no mcHomes for me. They don't have enough windows and they're poorly built). I'd be somewhat successful in radio or voice acting. But of course I know plans change. I was supposed to be done with school by now.... Lol.

Anthing else yall wanna know?

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