Dear Katie--May 6, 2005

Dear Katie, May 6, 2005

Hi! How are you today? I hope you’re doing well. So...what’s next for you? Does your job end in May or does it continue through the summer? I’m heading home to help Mom take care of the house and yard...and of course to earn enough money to pay my bills.

I’ve had a hell of a week with a million little things going wrong and wearing me out. I am so looking forward to Saturday and sleeping in!

So, I wanted to put my hair in a ponytail because it was hot and I don’t like sunshine. BUT I’d left my ponytail holder at home. Usually I have it wrapped around my Dr. Pepper Lipsmakers lip gloss...but instead it was sitting at home on my television. I was sad, but then I remembered that there was always a ponytail holder on the ground somewhere. So, I just started looking. Here’s the adventures that ensued:

April 28th: 2 ponytail holders in front of Curves for Women. One small and yellow perfect clasp. One medium and white, rusted clasp...probably sat through the rain.
April 29th: 1 ponytail holder in front of Domino’s Pizza. Large and black, perfect clasp, but the elastic is a bit stretched out and nearing breaking point at clasp.
May 3rd: 1 ponytail holder on Hello Walk. Large and black, fancy sans clasp...some rich snooty sorority girl has no ponytail today....Mhahahaha.
May 4th: Ack! The cleaning crew is out! They cleaned the streets! How ever will I find ponytail holders now? I might have to break down and buy some. I own some...I might have to use them. Curse you...you capitalistic society where one must buy their own ponytail holders and the streets are cleaned by the lesser criminals of the Department of Corrections!! Curse you!
May 5th: 1 ponytail holder in front of the bookstore. Medium and brown, fancy sans clasp...take that both snooty sorority chicks and the Department of Corrections!! I’m still winning!

Doug Otto announces the arrival of his child:

This is from an email from Doug Otto:

We are expecting an offspring in November. Becca is having fun throwing up.

A man of fewer words would be hard to find.

My boyfriend is here!
I had gone to bed early and I was worrying about the fact that Grover was sleeping on my extra pillow on the floor instead of under the blankets with me and Eddie-Phil when my phone rang. Thanks to the personalized rings I knew it was my boyfriend, Joe.
I’d written him a message in his tablet on Sunday (Joel Harris thought it was mine and also left a bit of a note: a drawing of a snake). So Joe was just calling to say HI. He said he was going to go to the SUB to print a paper, but instead I invited him here to use my ‘pooter. It’s so much fun having my boyfriend here typing his paper while we listen to music and chat in between furiously typing our individual papers. Granted his is going to be graded and I’m just typing a letter...but I take it nearly as seriously.

Christmas in May

Christina cleaned out her closet and gave me a bunch of clothes! Seriously I hit the mother lode! I am so glad that I have friends to get hand me downs from. Christina has a bit more girly taste than I do, so the girly side of my closet has grown and the t-shirt side is feeling a bit neglected. Don’t worry t-shirts, summer is coming!

A much better horoscope than the last one!

Your most exotic spaced-out-during-the-lunch-digestion-phase-of-the-day dreams are going to be nothing -- nothing! -- compared to the very exciting reality coming your way today.

Our Vampire Names:

Me: Goddess of the Night...a needy and violent spirit.
You: Sophie Cromwell...Mistress of Sewer Rats
Joe: Hanzi Keat...Father of the Steely Moon
Christina: Marion Arnauld...Minerva of the Crows
Nathan: Elijah Saint Clair...a dark one, ancient, who flies free above all others
TJ: Launcelot le Boursier...Belatucadrus of The Winged Death
Matt: God of the Orient...Death of Wraiths
Kylie: Rosalind Darling
Teddy: Launcelot Darling
Janay: Empress of Moldovia...haunt of the highway thieves.
Ryan: Maharaja of Moldovia...hiding great power, great danger

Technology is the Bane of my existence

Here I sit completely angry and out of my mind. The ITS lab here on campus tells me that my computer is sending out SPAM and that I need to take my computer to Cactus Computers where they charge $40.00 an hour to correct things like that (if it takes 5 minutes...they still charge you $40.00. If it takes an hour and five minutes they charge you $80.00) because they don’t deal with HARDWARE problems. So, since my computer is not even a month old I contact Dell support...where they tell me that I have to call a different number because they don’t handle SOFTWARE problems by internet. I’ve sent an email to both TJ and Ryan because they’re the only ones I know who know about computers...BUT still...I’m very, very cranky.

Computer Help is on the way!

On a whim I called my home teacher, Brian Rucks, and asked him if he knew about computers. He said that that’s his major! I told him the problem and he knows exactly what to do! He’s coming over tonight to fix my computer. And TJ sent me a program called STINGER that should take the virus off of my computer. Man. It’s so very true what Mighty Mouse’s dad said, “Technology is a tool that may never, never, be trusted!”

I must break all contact with Mr. Cheese

I sent an email to Mr. Cheese telling him the following:

My friend Lucia is dancing in the Cinco de Mayo pageant. They are having free food and the admission is free. You might also have the opportunity to speak Spanish with someone. It’s Thursday evening in the SUB at 6:00.

To which he responded:

Unfortunately one of my brothers is coming in to town so I must decline your invitation.

WHAT INVITATION? I didn’t invite him! That’s what I’m on about...he always READS MORE into EVERYTHING!! I’ve already invited Joe to go with me and he’s already accepted...I just thought that as someone who’d lived in a Spanish speaking country for two years, he might be interested in knowing about it.

And then, after I told him that I rescued him from going through a repeat of exactly what’s been going on between us with another girl...all he says is that he can’t imagine having a conversation “Let alone a quasi-serious one” about zodiac signs because it’s complete “bullshit”. He doesn’t say thanks that I’ve got him off the hook, instead he just makes fun of me and the other girl for being interested in zodiac. BUT WHAT HE NEGLECTS TO SEE IS THAT HE’S EXHIBITING TYPICAL BEHAVIORS OF SOMEONE WITH HIS PARTICULAR ZODIAC SIGN. He’s such a putz.

Add that to the fact that he YELLED at me for being intuitive enough to know that something was wrong with him and that’s all I can take.

I sent him an email that said:

I thought you might like to know about Cinco de Mayo, but I wasn’t inviting you, I already have plans, too.

And you’re welcome for saving you from Emiline calling you up all summer and asking you out.

And I don’t think you want to be my friend because you’re not treating me nicely at all.

I will stop emailing you.

So, that’s the end of Mr. Cheese.

He’s building a very lonely world for himself. Unfortunately. And I feel sorry for him. I kind of hoped that he could teach me to be a little braver and I could teach him to be a little freer. But, as it turns out the stuff he taught me was lessons that Heavenly Father had to show to me.

So, out of The Seven...I am still friends with Brian, Pablo, Chase and, of course, Daniel. I have no idea where Arch is and Matt has moved to Boston. Pablo will soon disappear into the ether, I’m sure. It makes me wonder if Mr. Cheese will join the oblivion to which Pablo and Arch have been sentenced or if he can prove to be a friend in the end. Unfortunately (again) I think he’s headed into the quiet oblivion. So, I guess remaining friends with three of them is kind of amazing, really. Especially given that Daniel and I are so close. He kind of makes up for all the others.

...anyway...Good-bye Mr. Cheese.

Maaike Draws Out Secrets from Everyone!

Brian Rucks came over to install all those spyware search and destroy thingamajigs on my computer...he said that he was talking to TJ and TJ was laughing at me because of some computer related comment I made. Brian told me what I’d said and obviously it’s only funny in the computer world because to me it seems like a perfectly reasonable statement to make. Anyway, after Brian told me that TJ was laughing, he said, “Oh yeah, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

Then Joe came over and he apologized about being late because he was talking to a girl, but not just any girl...a BLONDE. Then he said, “Oh yeah, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

“Hey, I just did the same thing.” said Brian.

“Yes, I have a way of drawing out secrets.” I said.

Actually, I’m usually quite intuitive, but this time all I had to do was listen.

When all was said and done, Brian fixed my computer (with a little help from Caleb and a program TJ sent me) and we all watched “Pitch Black”. It made for a fun evening.


Well, I’m looking forward to your visit this weekend. I hope you have a GREAT day!

Love,
Maaike