Just when I thought I was consistent.

OKAY! Updates.

Well, Letta decided to be a big POOP this past week and lie to both Ben and Dan about her relationship with Dan. (To Ben and Me: 'We're over.' To Dan: 'We're not.') In finding this out, Ben and I decided to do the right thing and let Dan in on the situation of Letta's visit/stuff with Ben. I'm fuzzy on everything that's happened since then, but I'll keep you updated as I get more info.

ANYWAY, this past week was a good one for me as far as co-worker bonding. On Tuesday night I worked late and ended up getting offered a ride home by a busser who lives near me with a few servers and his girlfriend who's a hostess. His girlfriend was supposed to pick us up, but was running late, so this busser, Kenny, and his roommate Sarah, a server, invited me to Houlihan's for a drink to wait. They don't card, and as you all know, I'm not a big drinker to being with, so I asked the bartender to surprise me. He decided to make me a MASSIVE raspberry long island iced tea. It was good, but GIGANTIC. I drank 3/4 and a bit more of that, and had an Oatmeal Cookie shot (Goldschlager, Bailey's, Butterscotch Schnapps). Needless to say, I was drunk by then.

I chatted with Sarah and Jen, the bartender's girlfriend, and they were both INTENSELY supportive of me maintaining my virginity, which I thought was sweetly hysterical. I asked about Raul because, lame-o that I am, he's a total cutie patootie and we flirt like anything. He is a manwhore, by all accounts. Hm.

SO, the next night, Raul invited me out to Houlihan's and a bar in Fell's Point after his shift. Ben came over that night, and we both met Raul at Houlihan's with a bunch of other Hard Rock people. There was flirting and more drinking (but significantly less than Tuesday, although I had a tasty Mudslide), and we went to Fell's Point, to this seedy-as-balls bar called Friends, where Ben traded the use of his lighter for weed. Wow.

ANYWAY. More flirting, blah blah. The other servers that came along, Angie and Brandi (I know) didn't know my name, and were calling me 'Pretty Girl'. Sweet. Thus, this interaction ensued.

Me: That's so sweet of [Brandi and Angie]! :D

Raul: And very accurate.

Me: Oh. Thank you! :) *long pause* Um. I totally think you're super-cute.

Raul: (actually surprised) REALLY?

Me: Um. Duh.

(Later.)

Raul: You know. I didn't think you thought that about me. What you said earlier.

Me: About thinking you're totally cute?

Raul: Yeah. I mean, most girls get turned off by the, you know--

Me: Mustache? Well. I don't LOVE it. But it looks surprisingly good on you!

Things were going well. (Heh.) Finally, Ben did what we were all thinking, and was like "BTW, MAKE A MOVE, PLZ" to Raul. I DID NOT ASK HIM TO. Let this be VERY clear. I only suspected that he did it until he confirmed it after the fact.

So, Ben went inside (we'd been hanging out on the sidewalk outside of the bar), and Raul came out, like clockwork, and sat next to me on a nearby stoop. After some small talk about how glad we were that I came out, he kissed me. And the mustache wasn't that bad! :P So, we talked a bit about how things started between us--apparently, he was completely into me when we first met at Paper Moon while he was on a date with Liz, a fellow MICAn and co-worker of ours (WHOOPS), and I was with Betsy and her dad. Let me set it up and integrate our points-of-view:

Me and Liz: (Chit-chatting while Raul is in the bathroom--I haven't seen him yet.)

Raul: (Returns and sits with his back to me.)

Liz: (Introduces us.)

Raul: (Turns.)

Me: ("CUTE BOY!")

Raul: ("BEAUTIFUL GIRL! Crap. I'm on a date with this other girl! Be on the date, Raul!" [His words! He explained it like this!])

Me and Raul: (Shake hands and grin like doofs.)

Me: (Thumbs up at Liz.)

So, Raul was very clear that he was attracted from the start, and that my un-craziness was refreshing. :P We haven't talked much more since then, and have only made tentative plans, but I'll (obviously) keep you updated.

ALSO, I've reconnected with Hector, the cutie-patootie who wrote and cast me in Ink. He's returning to MICA for grad school in the fall, and he's just the sweetest and most serious guy ever, and I'm really looking forward to talking to him again and more. :)

Not much else to report otherwise, except that I'm going to New Jersey on Monday or Tuesday to see HARRY POTTER. I am so, so excited. I am going to meet John's family and friends (finally) and I'm SUPER-EXCITED, because, obviously, HP is involved. :D And costumes. (Yes, I'm a nerd. SO WHAT.)

And Robin is coming to visit next week for a Six Flags excursion next Sunday (days-off permitting)! I am very excited, because we will also be watching The Room (which he is selfishly seeing without me in Pittsburgh tonight. Jerk. :P). The Room is the Tommy Wiseau classic that brings us these shining beacons of screenwriting brilliance:

HAHAHAHA. It should be an epic first viewing for me.

Love you guys, and I hope you're all doing well.

-A.

My 200th Post!

To kick us, off let's have some Why I Love Brian, Part Fourteen:

Brian: (About the Jack's Mannequin/Fray concert) These drunk ass girls came behind us and it was the tightest packed concert ever, there was no room. And they were screeching like I've never heard before, and then they started to jump.

Me: UGH.

Brian: Landing on people's feet, elbowing people in the head, yelling at the bassist, who they claimed to know. And then this girl behind us started to jump again, elbowed this one girl in the head, then elbowed me. And I finally got real low, used my shoulder and just threw her. Like, 5 feet. And yelled a bunch--some curse words. Then she pushed me back. Pretty good, too--I'll give it to her.

HAHAHAHHAHAA. Oh, Kev, you crack me up.

Now, about my weekend. The visit with Letta was absolutely wonderful. I was only sorry that I had to work so much. :/ However, this arrangement did lend itself to my master plan: Hook-Letta-Up-With-Ben.

Mission: Accomplished.

They hit it off, and despite a few bumpy points (AKA Letta acting weird as shit), really enjoyed each other's company (they are both awesome--what could've gone wrong?!). We'll see how things pan out for the future.

My July 4th was WONDERFUL. I had work in the morning, which was fine--easy. When I got home that evening, I found out Ben and Letta had spent the day walking around Baltimore, talking silly photos and climbing monuments illegally. Romance at it's finest. :P (Sidenote: we also ended up wading in one of the fountains on my street a few nights ago. It was cold, but fun!) We made a plan to picnic on the roof, and we made hot dogs (boiled in beer--new!) and turkey burgers and french fries, and Jen was kind enough to leave us a few of the cupcakes she'd made for the cookout SHE attended.

Once we made everything, we loaded it all into plastic bags and hoisted it up my fire escape to the roof. The first few stories were easy--all stairs. But then you get to the last story, and it's a ladder. And I had a bag around my wrist and my eyes facing straight forward, telling myself to 'look at the bricks, and ONLY the bricks' as I dangled over the Park Avenue sidewalk. But, I made it, unscathed. :D Lauren called me, and Mom texted, and it really put the cherry on top to hear from them, even briefly. :) (Mom called me a 'yenta', hahaha.)

We laid out our blanket and food and ate and drank and talked for awhile, until the sky got dark and the fireworks shows started. ALL of them. It was like a 360-degree show! At least 12 shows going, overlapping each other. So much fun! And Ben taught Letta and I to tango, and we cuddled on the blanket together after the show was over and just enjoyed talking and laughing. After a while, we cleaned up and descended, and walked to 7-11 and sat outside, sipping our drinks and talking about people from home--explaining the drama to Ben, mostly. :P

We all fell asleep in my living room to James and the Giant Peach playing on the PS2, and I woke up on the floor early, and crawled up onto the vacated couch. I still got up early enough to make cinnamon rolls though! And we ate those the next morning and watched funny videos and chit-chatted and enjoyed the morning. We went for lunch to Jay Viccino's Italian on Charles Street. OKAY. Why on earth haven't I gone there before?! They're delicious, AND they offer 10% off for MICA students! AWESOME.

But, alas, we did have to say goodbye at some point. :( But I know we'll talk soon, and hopefully often.

It was a wonderful visit, and an awesome weekend--thanks to all of you who were involved! :D I hope the rest of you had a great one, too. :)

Love!

-A.

Letta's here!

And everything is going swimmingly. I will posit again that I am a genius. :D

I've given Ben and Letta a great deal of space in the past day, as I've been working and they've gone on smoke breaks. My patience has been exercised pretty damn well, I must say! But naturally, I'm still me, and by the end of Ben's visit this afternoon, I went from sitting by the living room window, watching them smoke to sprinting across the hall to my neighbors place in order to get access to a window looking out over the parking lot and Ben's car. (And, in talking to that neighbor, I missed the kiss! I'm ashamed at my spy skills. :P) I'd like to thank Zoe-Zoe for not thinking I'm a crazy creepo stalker.

It's so good to have her here, and I'm just enjoying her company, even while I'm posting and she's playing video games (something I simply cannot get into, no matter what). We can work independently, together, and it's a lovely feeling. :)

I had a great talk this morning with Robin, who called me from the Adirondacks to ask about the visit and to talk about his doings at the lodge where he's visiting. Now, Robin and I have been best friends the whole time, but something about this particular conversation clicked that last missing piece into place, and it's nice to feel perfectly at ease and warm and comfy and excited about being friends with him again. :D

Betsy called too, and makes me miss her all the more! Although Jen and I are doing well at bonding, considering our newly shared active dating lifestyles. (AKA, I've been a ho lately.)

In other news, I am shamelessly addicted to Twitter. Just, get it and tweet with me. I get the updates ON MY CELL. Seriously. Do it.

Chris, my work friend/date situation, has been basically ignoring me since our awkward Braveheart interaction. And when he isn't ignoring me, he's glad-handing me. Being WAY too nice, but detached. Honestly, I'm totally cool with things being done, he just needs to man up and tell me the deal. Especially now that Raul did his part and accidentally spilled the beans about a July 4th BBQ that Chris is currently planning that I am not invited to. Ooooops. :) But, Raul took the liberty of inviting me ("Everyone's welcome!"), and who knows? Maybe I'll show up looking hot. :P

As for Nick, he sent me a few drunken texts last night, and if you have a sharp eye (read: if they post it), you may see one on Texts from Last Night. Just saying. He texted me this morning, too, but I think I offended him unintentionally. :/ Well, if implying that drinking alone every night isn't healthy is wrong, well--well, it isn't wrong. I am right.

:)

Love you all,

-A.

I caved.

After nearly a year of resistance, I got a Twitter--now you can keep up with my doings even more obsessively! :P

Don't worry! I'll still be updating as much as before.

After three long, lazy days off with very little sleep, I go back to work today at 4. Then, tonight, a beautiful thing happens--Letta arrives! :D I am very, VERY excited, as I've only seen her for about an hour in the last six months. But the great thing is, she and I can always pick up right where we left off.

In other news, well...I am lazy and have barely left the house, although I DID attend the Orioles/Red Sox game with Mark, his brother, and his brother's three friends, all of whom were incredibly sweet. We were losing 10-1 by the seventh inning, when the rain began. Luckily we'd moved under the awning before we got poured on! After about 45 minutes (during which Joey V. helped me open my Twitter account via text), the game started up again, and we got 5 runs in each of the next two innings to make it 11-10! It was amazing. I'm no baseball nut, but it was cool to see a turnaround that huge!

As I said, not too much to fill you in on here, but I hope you're all having a lovely day!

-A.

I'm not even keeping score anymore.

On Saturday, Ben came and picked me up from work (that day, a woman took a photo of me with her iPhone in order to trick her friends into thinking she saw Anne Hathaway at Hard Rock, haha!), and we got dinner and rode in the paddle boats on the dirty, dirty harbor and did dramatic readings from internet chatrooms via his BlackBerry. You'd think we were nerds. :P

When we got back to the apartment, Jen informed me that she'd been invited to a party by her TA, Jon, and didn't want to go alone. Ben offered our company and his car, as the party house was in Hampden. After a lot of indecisiveness and changing in and out of pajamas, the three of us got in the car and got lost on our way to the party. :D We did make it, though, and I was surprised to find that it was a block party--there were a bunch of drunk Hampdeners sitting in folding chairs drinking and eating barbecue in the alleyway. I attempted to hula-hoop--one of the 40-year-old Hampden women, Tina, was kicking my ass and trying to teach me. She was very drunk but very encouraging. :)

After spending a little time in the alley, the three of us went into Jon's friend's house for some gumbo that had gone cold and fruit salad. After eating, I just wanted to explore the house a bit--the owner is a MICA alumnus, so it was very artsy, and ended up walking in on the alumnus-in-question rolling a joint in his living room. WHOOPS. But I forced my jaw closed and my eyebrows down and was chill about it, even though I wanted to elbow Ben in the face for taking the joint when they passed it around. (Love you, doll! :P)

While they were smoking, I started chatting with a guy in a blue plaid shirt with pretty olive eyes about living in Italy. Nick, the olive-eyed boy, is 24 and has an intensely handsome face, and was so soft-spoken and interested about my visit. (That, and he didn't take the joint. Bonus points.) It was a short chat, but we kept glancing at each other until I left to try hula-hooping again. I did manage to impress everyone with being able to "skip" the hoop. Woo! After a little while, Nick came out and was watching me and Ben try to hula-hoop with Tina guiding us nearby. When we finally stopped, Nick, who was obviously a bit drunker than when we first talked, chatted with me a little more before leaning in and adorably half-whispering: "I think you're super-cute", and confessing that he could only talk to be because he had a few beers in him.

I was charmed, and he asked me out to dinner, so we exchanged numbers and parted ways for a little while. Jen, Jon, Jon's friend Eli, Ben, and I made the plan to go a couple blocks to Rocket to Venus, a cute little bar/restaurant, so I told Nick we were heading out, and I invited him to join us if he liked. So, we went ahead--when I left the party, Tina slurred that we had to make a date to hula-hoop more and that I was so pretty. :D--and I texted him the name of the place, and he met us. I was actually surprised they let me in at all, as I was the only one under 21, but I guess they just let it slide and pretended my vertical PA ID was valid. :P Nick bought me a beer and we flirted a bit and he told me how cute/beautiful I was about fifty-trillion times and wouldn't stop starting at me. :) However, at this point I'm putting together that he is an agnostic socialist Ravens fan to my conservative Christian Steelers fan, but I let it go because we just met and I barely know him and besides, we hadn't even kissed yet!

We all walk back to Jon's house (different from the party house) and Nick and I sort of lag behind and he kisses me and holy EFF is he a good kisser, and we get to Jon's place and just chill out on the lawn while everyone else goes inside, and we talk and kiss a little more and he tells me about his visits to Ireland and Italy, and I break the news that I won't be having sex with him (which he takes very well). :P We finally go inside and the others are watching The Dark Knight. I sit on the stairs and he sits on the arm of the chair opposite me and touches me knee then gives me the 'Upstairs?' eye movement, which I immediately rebuff. After a few minutes he sits next to me on the stairs and nuzzles me, then lifts his lips to my ear and--

"I want to get married."

I smile, puzzled. "What? In general, or to me?"

He just looks at me. I try not to frown. "You're joking. Ha ha."

"Why not?"

I laugh quietly again and lower my voice. "What do you mean 'why not'? We don't even know each other. You just met me."

"You are one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen. Let's get married. I'm serious. Tomorrow." His voice has that muzzly quality that someone who is drunk and sincere has.

Me---> 8/ "No. That's not a possibility."

But he wouldn't back down. He wasn't forceful at all, but he was only concerned with doing something crazy and making an amazing story. After a few minutes, I excused us to go outside and talk this through without a potential audience.

We talked for about an hour, I guess, in circles mostly--I concentrated on why it's a crazy and dumb idea, and he concentrated on painting a picture of a life where we'd visit Europe every year (he loves to travel), and he'd take his photos and I'd illustrate books, and we'd have two kids and he'd never root for the Steelers. He also confided to me that Tina told him to follow meand fall in love with me immediately after I left the party. Truthfully, he was that kind of endearing fateful type of romantic-comedy hero who is saying something completely insane, but with the air of finally seeing things clearly at the climax of the film.

And this is why, instead of running in the other direction as about 60% of you told me to do, I agreed to still go out to dinner with him. I KNOW, I KNOW. (I can hear Lauren's "YOU'RE RETARDED" from here.)

I also went to Chris' place last night and watched half of Braveheart. I'm not sure what to make of Chris and I--he was all into it at first, but now I'm sensing this hesitance. Also, he paid more attention to his dog than to me, which I cannot abide. I don't know yet, though--Chris is just awful at expressing his feelings verbally, as far as I can tell.

And, Ben makes a Brian-esque observation about me:

Ben: You should be a spy.

Me: Haha. Why should I be a spy?

Ben: Persistent. Hunger for knowledge. Spying is like gossip. Except, instead of 'Who slept with who', it's 'Who has nukes'.

And some more "Why I Love Brian", Parts Twelve and Thirteen:

Brian: Caleb, Matt and I are reaching new levels of gay. We're going to tan before we go to Vegas.

Brian: Time to work some Mystery Method at the Edge tonight.

(shortly thereafter)

Brian: Nothin'. No girls at all. It's a 'dick farm' as Caleb put it.

Sidenote: Letta is arriving on Wednesday night, late. I am working hard to fix her and Ben up and it is working AWESOMELY. BECAUSE I AM AWESOME AND SO ARE THEY. YES. They are freakishly perfect for one another, and I am excited for both of them. :)

Another congratulations to my awesome sister, who was accepted and is attending Ohio University this fall. :D I'm so proud of her!

I love my friends, and as crazy as it is, I love my life.

-A.

I always was more of a Jackie than a Marilyn...

Aside from the people in retail (Jonathan, Liz, Heather, Povilis, Alysia), I've befriended a couple of servers, three in particular: Ahmed, Raul, and Chris.

Ahmed is an American-born Egyptian medical student, and the server who originally set my application aside so I could be interviewed. I apparently owe him coffee. :P

Raul is a super-cute 24-year-old from Maryland who I can actually tolerate an ironic mustache on. He's a very recent ex-hookup of Liz's though, so that would be sticky. I think he attempted a wink at me as I left work, and he definitely touched the small of my back after pre-shift today and told me I did a great job and was "very entertaining". Cutie!

Chris is a 26-year-old surfer-meets-punk who is surprisingly conservative and a Christian and understands the spirit of Christian law and belief, which is so nice to hear (although the letter of the law still escapes so many of us ;P). I found this out while he walked me home last night (a very gentlemanly move, as Baltimore is scary at night), and today, he found me in the stock room (where it's very rare to find a server) and handed me a list of bands he thinks I'll like (thoughtful!). He then stopped by as he was leaving his shift and we exchanged numbers, and he invited me to walk his dog around Patterson Park--which was a bit too out-of-my-way today, but it was a sweet invitation! He also texted me IMMEDIATELY after he left, and started asking me all those clichéd 'get-to-know-you' questions like my favorite food, color, and movie. :P I guess potential romance is never too far from my life. Ha ha.

A funny aside about our walk--a homeless woman asked us for change, but addressed Chris and I as "Jackie O" and "JFK". LOL.

So, yeah, work is going well, on the social level, at least. :P

In other news, Letta is coming to visit from July 1-5! Unfortunately I'll probably be working the 3rd and 5th,and definitely the 4th, but we should still have enough time to chillax. Ben is also going to come down and hang out--partly because I need someone to chill with Letta. :P But he is wonderful and she is wonderful, so I have a good feeling that they'll get along. :)

Also, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming to theaters on July 15th, and I am going to John's hometown of Cranford, NJ to meet his friends and to see it! And, because we are the hugest nerds of all time, we are dressing up. There will be photos, I'm sure. :P

Jen and I also made some surprising plans for tomorrow night and will be seeing Up with Mark and his best friend Jie. It's not a double-date, don't worry. :P But it should be a good chance for us to establish the Friend Zone.

I also got a slight bit of good news about my finances--nothing superb, but I feel a bit better about my circumstance. :)

So, good stuff all around! Thank God for that--I swear, once I did my best to let go of financial fears and to embrace making friends, it's been going great. It's nice re-remembering that I have nothing to fear. :)

Hope you're all having a lovely day! (Stay out of the heat!)

Love,

-A.

Also, because I am an IDIOT, and didn't mention this is my initial Patriot speech.

I voted for the first time! :D

It feels so good to do it, and I don't know why I didn't post about it when I sent the ballot out last week. I mailed it alongside a letter to Letta (and for Robin, a 'letta' to Letta. :P), because she's finishing up boot camp soon (she graduates on Halloween, appropriately). :)

As most of you can probably guess, I voted for McCain (duhr, because all of you have known me for more than two hours). I spend the bulk of yesterday morning watching Fox and MSNBC and the rallies going on around the US. Watching it more than reenforced my vote, especially that Biden interview in Florida. 2:18 is the climax, but you can watch it all and have a pretty good idea of the situations.



While the anchor was (VERY) blunt in her questioning (and a little less polite than I would prefer, but this is politics), it's very interesting that Obama's camp has subsequently cut off all interviews with that station until the election is over. Really guys? Are the questions all that surprising? Maybe it's because the media has been kissing your ass this whole time, glossing over the crap.

The bulk of Obama's presentation in Denver was making snide comments and it was just sort of sickening to see that meanness there. Don't get me wrong, there's been negativity from both campaigns, but Obama wasn't just pointing out an inconsistent record or misstep, he was just being petty and condescending.

Another interesting point brought up over the course of the morning was the likelihood of a Democratic Executive, Legislative, AND Judicial branch. No checks, no balance. Very, very scary thought.

Anyway, have to get to the Ceramics studio--love you guys, talk to you soon. Muah!

-Alyssa

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -Thomas Jefferson

WELL THEN.

Em, I was going to take a leaf out of your book tonight. I'll let you figure out where that was in the events of the night.

So, Letta Parker's going-away party was tonight (she enlisted in the Air Force Reserve and will be peacing out for several months). I haven't spent time at her house for many months, and I was feeling a little awkward at the outset--I don't know her circle of friends that well, although her fiancee (!) and I get along really great.

The awkwardness was mostly alleviated when I saw Dan Thompson there, who is SO tall and awkwardly cute. :) It was nice to FINALLY spend some time with Letta, even if I had to do it in the company of some people I may not like so much. *cough*Liz*coughAttentionWhore*cough*

Actually she treated me with courtesy tonight, I shouldn't be mean.

Bottom line is, Letta's older brother Jeff and I have a history from high school that begins with UST (Google it.) and ends with him wussing out on me after one kiss.

So, he is now single after a LONG relationship with a girl even younger than I am, and we were flirting a lot tonight, and we were all brushing against each other and doing the soulful, sultry looks, and at the end of the night, I thought "Hm, I can get some long-delayed smooches out of this..." So, I decided to let him drive me home. :P BUT, OF COURSE, there was car trouble (what is it about me, boys and car trouble?), and I ended up riding home with Letta/Dan M.(Letta's boy)/a few others. On my way out, Jeff hugged me, and did the cheek-kissy thing. (And Oh. My. God. He knows JUST how to touch a girl's waist.) So, I did the neck-kissy thing and we basically murmured plans to get together at each other. (I meant to type "with each other", but the typo stays. :D) So, we're going to talk tomorrow afternoon. I'll update, don't worry.

So, yes, in lieu of Dan Wolf, I'm going to be a bad girl and have makeouts with Jeff. What do you expect with all this...anxiety hanging around. ;)

I guess I was just surprised that he was into it. He totally called me gorgeous tonight. *blush* Yes, shameless self-esteem boost. Love it.

And love you all,

Alyssa

P.S. This is SO unlike me, isn't it? Rob, you can especially vouch for that, am I right?