The Dapper Finch

Happy Clams

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:59:02 GMT

Man, haven't posted in quite some time. Since last entry, I've graduated and got a real job. No more filling prescriptions all day. No more dealing with customers and their drippy-nosed kids. No more calls to insurance companies... Now I'm on the other side of the pharmaceutical industry, working in a microbiology lab. I love having a decent 9-5, but I do miss my pharmacy chums.

Sean and I are still together, (6 years now!) happy as clams. Juicy, squishy, salty clams, just chilling right next to one another on a nice quiet beach on a nice summer day. Mmhmm. Loves him.

Speaking of seafood, I tried a real bite of lobster for the first time today. I've had a little lobster quiche thing before, but not a big old chunk of meat. In honesty, all I could taste was butter, and all I could think about was corn on the cob. Either way, I was all set with my one bite.

We're back on the eating-healthy-working-out-every-day thing too. Which is why I think I was a little off-put by the butter-bathed lobster. Anyway, he plays basketball while I run, and then we both lift together. Good times. It's definitely so much easier to be healthy when you have someone to say, "You don't want a cookie," and wave his hand in front of you like a mind-controlling magician. Works, really.

Ooooh I should sleep.

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:00:56 GMT

Donnie Darko 2?!!!?!?! It better be amazing. Making me wait this long... We'll see.

So the wedding was Saturday. Busy busy. Sean and I looked cute. But I forgot to switch all the junk in my purse to a small matching clutch. Aaaand my dress was way too short. I felt awkward.

Sean and I both forgot how long mass is. We were both confirmed, but only to appease our parents. There was an inchworm crawling on the back of the skeezy guest in front of us, and I tried not to laugh.

My mumma made the cake all by herself.   It's kind of hard to see, but there is so much intricate, erm, "frosting-work." And on the bottom tier-space, she put a little R2D2 figure dressed in a tux, because I guess it was sort of an inside joke from when the groom was like 6 haha.

Aaaaand for your amusement... Me. 8 drinks in. Demonstrating my dad's signature dance move, which is like this twisty, leg-flailing thing. Note the look of extreme concentration of my face haha. Pai was loving it.

I bought those shoes for $3. Yessss. But that skanky dress was quite expensive, even though I look like a 13 yr old that wants to go to her older sister's prom.

Actually, lastly lastly, I give you, the "Filipino Maria," the lovely lady on the right side. Sean and I could not believe the resemblance to the real, Greek Maria, and now I shall show all of our friends, and they too can agree.   I wish I had a better pic of her, but all of the pics came out blurry and terrible. Also, my great uncle is a pimp.

Sorry for the lack of lj-cut. It's been so long, I forget how and am lazy. But my posts are typically longer than that anyway. :)

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TODAY
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Bleh. I wrote my entire term paper for one of my bio classes last night. I didn't even have a topic at 7pm. It was due at 9am. Not long, around 15 pages, but man. I did NOT want to write it.

I decided to write it on trypsin-modulating oostatic factor (this hormone from mosquito ovaries. yeehaw). When its genome is spliced into that of tobacco mosaic virus, it can be used to fuck up the trypsin synthesis in the digestive system of certain insects who consume the plants. The buggies then can't digest their food to get nutrients, and they starve to death. It becomes a great chemical-free pesticide, which is important in our times of both a world hunger crisis, and the craze to be "organic!!!111!!11oneone".

It PISSES me off that people shun anything that's genetically modified in any way, even if such advances would increase crop yield, and help end hunger. Pick a side hippies, end hunger or bitch about your "organic" plants. So I wrote half of it, then slept from 3am until what was supposed to be 3:35am, but ended up being 5am. Finished the last half of the paper by 7:30am, and turned it in. Came straight home and napped from 9-11:30. Then went foooood shopping.   And Seaniepants is leaving the restaurant at 4pm today. Woot!

Fuck today.

Thu, 08 May 2008 23:33:20 GMT

Oh. My. God.

12:45pm
So I'm driving along to the lab. It's the last week, and I had to turn in my keys. La dee da, right on time. It's maybe 7 or 8 miles to campus and I was maybe 1 mile from my condo. Car stops. I pull over to the front of someone's yard. Battery light, oil light, engine light, and "!" light are on. you KNOW whatever "!" is, cannot be good. I just got a brand new battery 3 weeks ago, and the car itself is nearly new.   \

1:00pm
Called AAA. Request a tow. "They'll be there between now and 1:55pm" Okay. Fucking HOT outside. I take off my sweater but don't want to get out of the car in my tank top. Busy street... cat calls, stares, etc. Another car pulls into the same yard. I go, "Ohhh sorry, my car just broke down, AAA should be here soon, and I'll get out of your spot." Guy goes, "Oh I don't live her, that car over there is mine. I got a flat." Haha. What are the odds. We chatted a bit. I called friends to make arrangements for a ride home after the tow.

1:55pm
No AAA. I called back to verify the address. Lady says, "If there's a problem locating your vehicle, the driver will call you." mmmkay. Everyone is calling me at this point. Parents, Sean, friends offering food and water haha. Jon called to tell me he booked a hotel room for us (Sean too). I had yet to tell Jon we couldn't go... Stress! All I can think about is how this was the time I was supposed to be spending studying for my final at 5pm.

2:15pm
My crazy talkin mama calls AAA herself. She always gets the job done.

3:00pm
Tow guy shows up. Looks like a cop. Drives me to auto shop. Talks about how he's in cop school. Yadda yadda. Offers to drive me home, since it's only half a mile. A wasp flies into my (small amount of) cleavage. I'm deathly afraid of bees. It was an unpleasant experience.

3:30pm
Arrive at my condo. Smell like crap. I'd been kicking dirt at the side of the road to pass the time.   Sweating. Gross. Change clothes. No time to shower. Walk to bus stop kind of far away.

4:15pm
Bus takes me to campus. I take my exam at 5pm. 100 points, one question was worth 40. 40(!!!!)

6:05pm
Bus leaves campus.

6:15pm
Bus drops me off at location believed to be closest to auto place. I (POWER) walk for 49 minutes straight.   Carrying my tote bag loaded with textbooks, digging into my shoulder since I'm still wearing a skank tank. And I was wearing wedge boots (could have been worse, but still). And I hadn't eaten or drank today. Tried to get a sandwich before the exam, but the little sandwich cart was closed. Tried to get a soda from the vending machine, but it wasn't accepting money. Get into car and drive home. The problem? The fucking gas gauge was wrong. By 1/3 of a tank! They charged me $97 to tell me that. And put $10 in the tank, which I obviously have to pay for.   Errrr. And I've got to pay a few hundred for those stupid football tickets for Sean's bday, and a decent amount of money for my passport to be expedited. Not a good week. I definitely don't live paycheck to paycheck, but I hate spending a lot of money at once. Aaaand I want new shoes for the wedding. Blahhh.

I have a bunch of things I need to sell on eBay. I've been waiting so I can list them all at once. Mostly jewelry, a TON of clothes and (new) shoes, lots of fabric and trims, and some antiques.

Soooo yes. Tonight I shall work on my paper until Sean comes over at 10:30. I wanted to go to the gym but I feel dead already. Maybe I'll just go for the tanning. I'll look stupid in a light orange/light coral dress with white skin.   Oiii... Maybe I'll just sew tonight.   I've somewhat scrapped my first underbust, because the panels weren't wide enough. Too much gap. Plus I was sick of the fabric. But I've got a new set of materials lined up, and I just need to design something with fewer, wider panels.

I made a quick crafty thing the other night. A hello kitty decoupaged box. Simple hello-kitty print scrapbooking paper (I will never scrapbook but I LOVE the papers!), covering a paper mache box. Polyurethaned, and lined with loosely tacked satin inside. I'm going to line the edge with ribbon or something stupid. The whole thing is tacky to the max, but it's soooo cute. Hello Kitty has also sneaked her way onto my "wall of chemistry flashcards." Just 2 or 3 Hello Kitties hidden in the corners among hundreds of index cards. Sneakyyyy.

I should shower. Yeah.... shower.

Stalling...

Fri, 02 May 2008 13:14:09 GMT

Friday's are the best because I only have one class. But. Every Friday in this class, we have a quiz. The class average is never above a 53%. It's a chem class, and it's ALL open response, reaction mechanisms, drawing structures of compounds you've never heard of until you sat down to take the quiz... My scores have ranged from a 100% to a 32%. It's so ridiculous and random. The professor scales the class by 30-40 points every semester, because god forbid he make the curriculum easier... Blehhh. I don't want to study. It's the end of the year, and I've done comparatively well, so... Haha my entire wall above my desk is FILLED with taped-on index cards, each displaying 1 reaction that I have to memorize. There are currently over 200 cards, and I stopped making them a few weeks ago. My friends walk in and they're like, "What the FUCK are you plotting?!" It's scary indeed.

Yesterday was kind of boring. I got out of lab 3 hours early because I'm speedy. I was so excited to have some free time, and then Sean called to say he was leaving the restaurant early. But he failed to say that he was tired and didn't want to do anything. So I went to his house and we ate dinner and watched tv. Ugh. I never get the remote either. Not even in my own house when he's around, and I only turn it on when he's there. Anyway, drank a bunch of wine and did crossword puzzles while I half paid attention to "How It's Made," which is a decent show. Woke up at 2 feeling icky (not from drinking). I got some juice and read one of Sean's survival books. Lot's of pictures and cool ideas. You know, just in case you're lost in the jungle.

Today I'll be working at his restaurant 4-9, then tomorrow at the pharmacy 8-3, then the restaurant 4-9, then Sunday at the restaurant 10-9. I don't know when he and I are going to shop for clothes for Jean-Claude and Pai's wedding. We don't even need new stuff, butttt it;s a good excuse. :) Sean's birthday is the 9th, the wedding is the 10th, Mother's Day is the 11th... oi...

Okay, I really should study.

Thu, 01 May 2008 01:11:43 GMT

I realized something today. I have the oddest obsession with containers. Mostly small boxes, or a BIG cabinet with lots of tiny compartments (think library card catalog). I had amassed a ton of tiny trinket type boxes as a kid. Just little shitty ones. But now that I'm older, and have more money to spend at will, I've realized I'm buying lots of boxes. Carved wooden boxes, antique tins, enamel boxes, sterling boxes, pillboxes, stone boxes... Big ass trunks... I even buy papier mache craft boxes to cover in fabric and make pretty. With all of these boxes, there is 1 more I seek... An antique cloisonne card box. Dun dun dun... They're pretty common on eBay, but I've never seen one in my antique adventures. Not a nice, true cloisonne one at least. I'd also like a Japanese puzzle box. It's so lame, I don't even put things in them haha.

I got up mad early today to essentially start studying for my exam. It was nearly all memorization, and I didn't have to apply a single piece of knowledge. Which... is a breath of fresh air, in contrast to my harder courses. Took the exam, went to another class. Then called the Board of Pharmacy to see what was up with my license renewal. They never got it. Errr... (Big issues with my mailman lately... I still haven't received some eBay things, even though delivery to my city was confirmed). Anyway. Found out I had to drive all the way to the capital to hand in a new form.

The minitrip wasn't nearly as long as I'd expected. An exact hour. I used my GPS and didn't freak out over getting lost. I need to figure out how to change the GPS lady's voice though. She sounds like a bitch, and I know there exists some calm British guy, I just don't know how to access him. So I'm heading out, get on to this road, and I see a sign... A sign of all signs... "Welcome to ANTIQUE ALLEY!" Ahhhh! Mecca! There had to have been over 40 antique stores on that tiny stretch of road. I'd stumbled upon this wondrous location once before, but never remembered how I got there (random adventure). It took all of the willpower in the world not to stop, but I wanted to get to Concord before they closed. But on the way back... I visited a bunch of places. Most of the prices were crazy though, with all of that tourist traffic. I found an old OLD cloisonne vase tucked behind a bunch of things, and talked the dealer down to $10. It's largely white enamel, with all of the wire swirls. Some twirling green vine with flowers, and blue and yellow scallop designs around the top and bottom. Very niiiiice.

Sean came over soon after. He bought a Lincoln today and it's very nice. We went shopping for subs and an amp, and then went to dinner. I had this martini sake pomegranate bullshit. Admittedly purchased because it was the $5 cocktail of the day. Haha I'm such a cheap date. We stopped at Rite Aid, and now we're back at my place. Sean's on my couch reading his car manual, and I'm... doing this. Hoooo hum. I refuse to watch TV actively. I'll crochet or do crosswords, but I can't keep my eyes glued like he can.

I shall leave you with 2 random pics of cool cloisonne boxes. The first is the shape and style that I want. The second is just cool.

And now Seanie is calling. He wants to cuddle. Awww... :)

Wooo... so...

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:38:21 GMT

Meh, a bleh day. Rain, soggy worms, slow drivers. It's an excuse to wear a pair from my (ever-growing) collection of gaudy rain boots, but I'd rather have sun. Today I chose a duckling yellow rain boot, with big light yellow spots, in effort to propose a bit of sunniness to the day. The skies have not yet taken the hint, and it's still pouring.

I do love boots though. The manager at the front store calls me "Moots in Boots," (half of my last name) and he thinks it's the greatest, most fitting nickname. Great, no; fitting, quite. I have Victorian style prairie boots, and HUGE woolly "yeti" boots, and tall skinny wedge suede boots with leather strapping that criss-crosses all the way up to a tiny edging of fur. Those are my "barbarian" boots. I have the quintessential black stiletto "hooker" boots, and also horseback riding boots (that I wear in public on occasion). I have beaded white "eskimo" boots with big pom-poms, all of the gaudy rain boots, and many, many more. Worse, if I find something cute, I buy it in every color. Where does one store so many boots? Within the cabinets underneath all of the fishtanks! (My bigger obsession).

Anyway. Class was stupid today, but Tuesdays are cake and I'm out by 11am. I did some errands, got coffee, and came home. There were no hoes today at Aroma Hoes (which is, in truth, "Aroma Joe's," but if you've ever driven by the skank-filled coffee hut, you'd know why it garners the re-naming). So I was mildly disappointed. All boy-hoes. You can bet they didn't have any g-strings hanging out. A shame.

So I got home, started sewing my first "real" corset together. It weighs like 14 pounds haha. But I think I like it that way, like... armor haha. I need to buy more duck (FRAY CENTRAL btw), because I'd like to add 2 additional panels to the back. I drafted with the intention of a decent sized gap, but it's too wide. It's cute though. A realllly long underbust (because I'm afraid of fat splooging out from the bottom, even if I'm 105lbs haha. Never know). It's very slightly curved along the bustline, and the bottom center curves up to the hips. The back swoops up from the armpit, for better posture and to minimize the chance of back fat. Pictures soon.

And now... I clean up and got to work at the pharmacy for a mere 4 hours. Then back here to START studying for tomorrow's exam, aaaand get going on a term paper, and oh... finish my labs for Thursday. Woot. I've got to plan a little casino trip too. I'm supposed to be going with Sean and some chums from UMass, and the whole thing was MY idea, and now Sean doesn't think he could take a night off and be away from his restaurant. It's like, "sorry guys, I know this minitrip was my idea, but now MY bf is bailing." Oddly, when Sean found out I got him Patriots tickets for his birthday, he said he'd make himself available for ANY game. And he's been to 2 late Celtics games in the past couple of weeks. So hmm... looks like Sean is free when Sean is doing something that Sean wants to do... Weird.

So... I kinda don't want to pick up all of my little fabric snippets and threads (that do not "litter" my livingroom, but rather "COAT" it), instead, I contemplate making a skirt to wear to work. I have a really cool wide seersucker in all beigey, sandy, colors, and really want to make a frou-frou skirt with a WIDE yoke. I highly recommend making skirts with long yokes, especially those that come to a shallow point in the front. They make your stomach look extra-flat, and when the skirt body is gathered against it in the back, it makes your butt extra big. In a good way. k bye.

A pretty uncharacteristic weekend,

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:37:06 GMT

though no less busy.

Friday I worked at Sean's restaurant till 9. Well. 8:30ish, then enjoyed dinner with him at the tables outside. Headed back to his place for a low-key night. Watched half of "War." Not that documentary series (wicked good!), but a Jet Li movie (also decent). Fell asleep early. Got up at 6 to get to my place, shower, and be at the pharmacy for 8.

The new girl was to open at 8 as well, and she showed up a couple of minutes late, soon rushing to the bathroom, where she booted all morning. By all morning I mean the 46 minutes she lasted until the RPh told her to punch out (because she was throwing up on the clock) and go home. Presumably, she's fired. It was her 21st birthday the day before, and since the pharmacists are all really cool, they'd asked if she'd need the day off, and were willing to rework the schedule last minute. "Nah... I'm not going out."

I lost a ring at work too. My right hand pinky ring. Booooo. To compensate for the loss, I felt the need to buy something. I left work at 3, as I usually need to be at the restaurant for 4-9, but I told skankface that she could work my shift, since her weekend-custody daughter had bailed on her, and she's bored otherwise. She happily accepted, and I happily went yardsailing.

I hate yard sales with baby clothes and household appliances; I like the ones with objects (of no modern use, that just take up space in my little condo) from the past. Found one! The guy was decent. Something 1960's born, a portly thing, he kept calling me "man." "Hey man! Thanks a lot man!" I liked him, for his interest in antiques, and perhaps because he sported the haircut my dad did in the late 70s. Familiarity. Anyway. He saw me eying an old-model Underwood typewriter. I couldn't decide if I had the room for another, especially since it wasn't MINT like my Smith, and it wasn't otherwise rare. "Hey man, how 'bout $5?" he asked. I literally repeated him, with raised eyebrows. "FIVE dollars?" I probably shouldn't have expressed such interest, but it's not like I would have even wanted to make a lower offer. Sold.

My L.C. Smith mint one looks similar to this one, but is older has SHINIERRR lacquer, with intact gilding:

I chewed my acrylic nails off on the drive home. I only got them so I'd stop picking at my cuticles. It's such a bad habit. A third generation one at that. With the acrylic though, the tips of my nails are rounded and thick, and I can't get a grip haha. So now I should probably get them done today. Among other things. When I got home, I did not do errands or housework. I sewed up a corset mockup, showered, and Sean came over around 6. We were supposed to go out to dinner, but he spends over $300 on our dinners a week, and I'm sick of the mountains of calories in restaurant food, aaaaand we wanted to eat, like, NOW. So we headed to Store 24 for beer and wine, and then home for food. We watched "Curb Your Enthusiam" and I painted a classic style still-life for my Dad.

I'd never painted whilst... nearly drunk. It came out great! Very... Caravaggio. Shadows and intensity. Haha I was surprised especially since my artistic strength lies in the technicality of tightly rendered graphite portraits, and NOT painting. But my dad knows nothing about art, and thinks that to be considered a real artist, you must oil paint. Still-lives and landscapes. Boring, but Monday is his birthday, and I rarely buy my parents anything. This will do.

So today. Sean has already left for work, and I would be meeting him there at 10, but I needed the day off. My parents are coming home from the lake around 11am. My mom is hosting a bridal shower for her youngest cousin's fiance, Pai. She comes all the way from Thailand, I think. I should head home soon, to do laundry before the party. So we've got the shower at 2 ish, then the male side of the family is joining us at 6 ish for my Dad's birthday party. AHH! Definitely not a diet-day. My mom makes killer hor'deousirveslrjgrj whatevers. Scallops in bacon, spinach tortellini soup, sweet and sour meatballs, turkey pot-stickers with ginger garlic sauce, teriyaki chicken, seasoned oils for breads, vegetables and dips, crackers and spreads, little sandwiches, and then a few random things. But the above she makes EVERY time we have a party, and it's such a mishmash of random food, but so good. Then for my Dad's party, she's making a spicy roast beef with onion gravy and 7548368 vegetables (of which I only eat potatoes and spinach). Nom nom.

Worst blabber ever. But that's because I'm hungry. :)

I like to post random pics of things I like. This lady hangs on the wall of my living room, and I like her.

She hangs next to a wooden, dyed carving of some scary Montezuma-type mask with a snake and jaguar. My parents got it for me in Mexico. The contrast is... distinct. Haha.

Okay. Off to finish my weekend.

Random pics

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:59:17 GMT

Home early. Figured I should relieve my camera of all of the sloshy, sweaty pictures it's been carrying around since that night I went out with some ladies a couple of weeks ago. I'm never part of "those girls" who obnoxiously take pictures at the bar (with flash...) every 2 seconds, but for whatever reason, I had decided to bring my camera that night. Anyway, found some interesting (if random) pics amidst them.

Betta bowl atop apothecary cabinet atop desk + glass of water on desk + curious kitty = bowl smashing down upon glass of water, shattering both, spilling water on laptop, fish flopping on desk. (I put the betta in the glass not for dramatic effect, but because it was the closest water source.) Aaaaand maybe it made for a nice pic.

My latest yardsale find: big brass bowl from India. 2 Dolla. This is the inside of the bowl.

This is boring. And I hate uploading things. Off to do stuff.

Ahoy

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:31:42 GMT

I'm in the library. Mini-break between classes, which is nice, but Wednesday's aren't horrible anyway. (Curses, Thursdays, curses).   Actually, Wednesdays are the best. In a mere hour or two, Sean will put Mark in charge of the restaurant, leave, and not come back until tomorrow. It's our one day of the week to spend entirely together. We're going to Massachusetts to play pool with his grandparents.   Love them.

I wish I still had grandparents. I've sort of taken on a few oldies as my own (customers of the pharmacy, mostly), but it's not the same. Mr. Colwell buys me candy at least once a week, and it's always old-people candy - circus peanuts, Necco wafers, black licorice, Mary Janes... Which is nice; it adds to the grandparent feel.

I don't understand why anyone would want to work in a pharmacy, save for those falling in these distinct categories:
1) You're a pharmacist. You make mad bank.
2) You're in/considering pharmacy school (as I was). Preparing to make mad bank.
3) You're good at drug-thievery. Lame, but it happens.
4) You're a 70-something year old townie, and only cashier to see all of your old townie friends. ...Muriel.

But oddly, the majority of people I work with don't intend on going to pharmacy school (or anywhere). 23 year old girls. No chance of promotion, because there IS no promotion. Just show up to work and be a pharmacy tech and make zero dollars.   Whatever.   Someone has to do it.

And I... need to finish my resume. I've decided against pharmacy school. Going to apply to research labs and drug companies after I graduate. Buttttt secretly want to open a business or refinish antiques or breed fish or do SOMETHING I like.   (I apparently don't like sentences with subjects). For a 3 week stint, I was banking on Powerball tickets, but that didn't work out. Now I'm scheming up a gimmick. Any gimmick would suffice. Something like facebook or velcro or the Atkin's Diet would be great.

My cat always lays on my right arm when I type. Carpal-tunnel kitty. When I'm on a computer outside of home, my arm feels weightless.

Okay. I should go to class.