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7/27/2000 I'm not entirely sure that last post was altogether coherent.. But, hey, it made me feel better. ^_^ And in case you haven't figured it out yet, I, a teenager, actually love my brother. Go figure.posted 1:49 AM / post This has been an interesting night. Let's see.. You'll need a little background info. My brother, Charlie, has an on/off girlfriend/friend named Heather, who I fondly call "Hellspawn." They started dating roughly 2-3 years ago, when he was still in high school. They seemed to be pretty normal in the beginning, and then things started to change. Heather's behavior has become increasingly erratic (Charlie and I both think she has some psychological problems; trust me, I know of what I speak), and they have had too many arguments to count, and I can't even remember how many times they've broken up. Of course, it doesn't help matters that our mother hates her guts and that she happens to be three years younger. That may not seem like a big deal, but when the ages in question are 17 and 14, things tend to get a little sticky. So now they're 19 and 16, and it's not so strange anymore, but anyway... Over the years, she's cheated several times with various people, she's lied, alienated half her friends at some point or another although they always seem to come back, and she's most definitely alienated her friends' parents. Whenever she and Charlie get into an argument, she refuses to talk about it. She avoids him, talks about him behind his back, and just generally pisses him off. That can be overlooked a time or two, but when it continues for 3 years without a break, it tends to get a little old, both to him, and anyone who even tries to keep up with this saga (i.e., me). So. Monday night, Heather arrived home from her trip to Europe. Charlie went with her parents and her best friend to pick her up at the airport. That night, she tells him she has some sort of news for him, which he thinks will be bad, but she says, "No, no, it's good news!" But she refuses to tell him the news, whatever the hell it was. So here it is, almost four days later, and he hasn't heard one word from her. Not a one. Apparently she's been too caught up with her other friends to talk to someone who is supposedly very important in her life and who happens to be leaving town in a little over a week. Charlie is moving soon to take up residence in his first apartment, in Tuscaloosa where he goes to school at the University of Alabama. Anyway. Tonight, Charlie called Heather (she has her own line and answering machine), and of course, she didn't pick up. So he sat and he rambled on, about what's going on, and why haven't you called me yet, and I think, deliberately trying to be annoying. Which I can understand completely. He thinks, and correctly I might add, that she's home and listening to him talk. I was in my room, and I thought I heard someone talking, so I went out and found him sitting at mom's desk at the other side of the house talking on the phone. I stopped and listened since he seemed to want me there. Well, eventually, the answering machine cuts off, so he called back and rambled on some more, mostly directed at me, sort of bringing me up to date a bit. Well, the machine cuts off and again, and he calls back again. After awhile, though, Heather actually picks up. *gasp* He put her on speakerphone and she, of course, turns the whole situation backwards so that it sounds like she's the victim here, and all she wants is to be left alone, when I think Charlie and I would both have been happy to let her go ages ago. She said that Charlie made too big a deal out of the little things, like her not calling him this week. So I ask you.. If your "significant other" or someone who's close to being that were out of town for a month or so and you had no contact with them.. And when they got home said they had good news to tell you but refused to say anything that night.. And then conveniently didn't call like they promised they would.. And you try to get in touch with them and vent your feelings a little.. Would you call that overreacting? I don't think I would. It seemed like a normal course of action to me. Anyway, during her spiel, Charlie tried to cut in and actually discuss the situation, but she kept talking. And then when she was finished, hung up. Well, I called her back. And I told her exactly what I thought about this whole horrible mess. But. The machine cut me off waaay earlier than it ever did when Charlie was talking. Funny that, don't you think?So. After three years of dealing with Hellspawn, I'm looking forward to the day when Charlie moves to Tuscaloosa and leaves her behind along with all their mutual friends that didn't seem to actually give a damn for him. Listening to: Strangely enough, nothing. posted 1:47 AM / post 7/25/2000 I don't know about you guys, but I'm really starting to worry about Misty. That last entry scared me to death, and there hasn't been anything new in almost two weeks. Has anybody heard from her?The driving school isn't as bad as I expected, but it sures takes a big chunk out of my day. 9 am to 3 pm. But there's only two more days, so I think I can handle it. Unfortunately, because I've actually been busy this week, I haven't had time to work on designs.. I just about finished the layout for Moon Over Tokyo, and I'm almost finished with Ellie's new site. Then I can finally get to work on some of my other sites. ^_^ Listening to: Thank U, by Alanis Morissette posted 10:28 PM / post 7/21/2000 I've been in a great mood today. I got lots of sleep last night, though mainly just because I hadn't slept in almost 33 hours. ^_^ I got up relatively early this morning and went to lunch with my family, then came home for about ten minutes, and then my mom and I went shopping. I actually bought *gasp* a skirt! And a couple of new shirts and a new pair of shoes to go with the skirt. All in all, that trip was pretty productive; I was surprised. I usually can't find anything when I'm really looking. Anyway, that means I did a lot of driving today. Yay. ^_^ I have to take driving classes next week. Ugh. They actually have a freaking handbook. They sent it in the mail. I screamed when I saw it. Ugh.I finally made some progress on the new design. And here's the template for your perusal, Moon Over Tokyo. And if you would, please email me and give me your opinion on whether I should design for a 640x480 resolution or 800x600. I've been designing for 640x480, but I'm getting kinda sick of it. It's really limiting, and besides, I use 800x600. Your opinion would be appreciated. ^_^ Listening to: Oh What A Night, by the Four Seasons posted 9:09 PM / post 7/20/2000 Wow. Get distracted for a little while, and your blog just goes to hell. I can't believe I haven't posted anything in 7 days! Of course, that could be because there wasn't much to write about. Hmm.I finally get my car back tomorrow! Thank God! I swear, after this long without driving, I just know I'm gonna go straight into a tree, or something. I can't believe it took them almost two weeks to fix that damn air conditioner. Grr. I hate that place. In fact my whole family does. Our original plan was to just take it back to the dealership, but nooo.. Dad likes Jerry Higgins. It always takes them forever. I think they must be making a fortune off of us. My mom's car has been in I don't know how many times, mine's been in at least twice, and then there's Charlie's and dad's cars, too. Errgh. Sorry. Pet peeve. Anyways, when I get my car tomorrow, I'm going to drag dad away to see a movie. I saw X-men a few days ago with Ellie, and now I'm gonna make dad go see it. ^_^ I'd drag my mom along, too, but she's flat-out refused. Meanie. It's a good movie. I started a new design for my personal site over a week ago and got stuck, and I still haven't been able to make any progress.. It's starting to get annoying. If I don't get something figured out soon, I'm gonna go nuts. Anyway, I'll post a template of it soon for you. Listening to: If That's What It Takes, by Celine Dion posted 1:29 AM / post 7/13/2000 I got a new pet yesterday. ^_^ Ellie and I went all over town yesterday trying to find a pet store that sold guinea pigs, and when we finally did, I spent about $80 buying one along with all the other stuff. Cedar shavings, food, water bottle, vitamins, a cage.. Oy. He's now set up comfortably on my cedar chest. He's still very skittish though. He hates being picked up. Once you actually have him, he's a perfect angel, but it's getting him out of the cage that's proving to be difficult. I let him out for a few hours tonight, and after a while, he wandered underneath my bed. An hour later, I finally managed to drag him out. And I got about four nice long scratches on my arm in the process. Can you say, "Ow"? Yeesh.. I hope he gets used to me soon. The only other problem I've noticed is that every time he gets scared and runs away from you, he kicks cedar out of his cage. The area around it is now covered with the shavings. The last time we had this problem, we ended up taping plastic sheets around the bottom of the cage, but until we can go buy some, I'm having to make do with plastic wrap. Let's hope he doesn't try to eat it. By the way, my dad and I named him "George." It's an old family joke.. Unfortunately, I can't remember where it came from anymore. I want to say a cartoon..On another note, I know what my classes are going to be for my senior year in high school. In no particular order, there's AP English IV, AP Government and Economics, Pre-Calculus, Art II, Art Assistant, Study Hall, and Literature in the Community. It's a nice balance of good and bad, I think.. Everyone pray for me, okay? Those AP classes may kill me. My car is in the shop yet again. Earlier, someone broke into it (in broad daylight in our driveway, I might add, while my parents were at work and I was at school) and stole the stereo system. So we had to get the window fixed and have a new radio put in. But no CD player. Damn those vandals. Anyway, we finally got my car back the first time, and about two weeks after I started driving it, the air conditioner broke. Do you know what Alabama is like in July? Last I checked, the heat index was 108. Not to mention, when those idiots were putting in my radio, they got some wiring mixed up, and whenever the headlights were turned on, the radio came on, too. So we're getting that fixed now. $20 says the battery goes next. Either that, or I run it into a tree. Listening to: My Boyfriend's Back, by The Angels posted 2:34 AM / post 7/9/2000 Well. I finally got my room re-arranged. ^_^ Although now that I've done it, I'm not sure I want to paint anymore. I'd have to move everything again. :Þ I guess I can figure that out later.My parents and I went to ASF last night to see King Lear, and I absolutely hated it. The acting was done wonderfully, but the story itself was far too depressing.. I guess I should have expected that from a Shakespeare tragedy, though. I think I can definitely say that that's the last one I'm gonna see. ^_^ I've been working on a new site design for my personal site. I like it so far, but it won't be going up any time soon. And I had to rework Ellie's new site design because I couldn't get the last one to work right. Ugh. If this one doesn't, I think I'm going to go insane. Oh well. At least she came home today, so now I can at least vent to her about it. ^_^ Listening to: I'll Be There For You, by The Rembrandts posted 10:15 PM / post 7/4/2000 Every year for the 4th of July, my family goes to the country club to have dinner and watch the fireworks. So basically we sit around for about two hours, usually on the second floor balcony, talking and baking in the heat until the fireworks finally start around 8:30. This year was a little interesting, though. For one thing, there was this little old couple sitting near us, and I don't think they stopped bickering the whole time they were there. It was almost cute. ^_^ And during the fireworks, there were two little kids, maybe about 5 or 6 years old, and every few minutes they'd go, "Ooh" and "Aah," and every once in awhile say, "Great balls of fire!" That was pretty funny because you could tell they were doing it on purpose. It's always amazing to me to see how quickly kids pick up those little stereotypes and promptly use them.On another note, I think I'm finally out of my designing slump. I was fooling around with some dingbats yesterday and ended up making a new set. I kinda like it. It seems nice for a spur of the moment thing. Now I just need to do all the coding for it. It's about time to start re-designing my personal site again. That grey and pink Audrey design has been around for a couple of months now, and I'm starting to get restless. ^_^ Now I need a new inspiration.. Any suggestions? ^_^ I still haven't gotten around to re-arranging my furniture yet. I need to do that before Ellie gets home this weekend so we can start painting. Fortunately, I did find a place to move my cedar chest. Mom doesn't know it yet, but it's moving into her closet. ^_^ Listening to: Now and Forever, by Carole King posted 10:50 PM / post 7/2/2000 I have no energy today. Actually, I haven't had any for a few days, hence the lack of blogging. I haven't been able to get any work done, either. The most I did in that respect was to download about 10 dingbats that I can use to make graphics. Yay. ^_^Ellie's going to kill me. I'm supposed to be working on her homepage design. Which I actually finished, like, two weeks ago, but I haven't actually put it together yet. I had a bit of trouble with the frames and gave up. I haven't felt much like messing with it lately. I guess as long as it's done by the time she gets home next weekend, it'll be okay. My mother made Charlie go see my therapist, Dr. Collier, last week. She thought he was being too.. erm.. uncaring, I suppose, about his future. Overly nonchalant, maybe. So he came home that evening after the appointment and not only tells us that he's normal and we're the ones who are screwed up.. ^_^ ..but also that we actually should know Dr. Collier. Her daughter went to school with us a few years back. Lauren Browder. She graduated the year before Charlie did, I think. And now that I know that, it suddenly occurs to me that Lauren and her mom look a hell of a lot alike. But did I notice before? Nooo... So. Anyway, I somehow doubt Charlie will be making further visits there. I, on the other hand, have my next appointment on Wednesday. ^_^ As much as I hate to admit this.. I think I want school to start. I'm beginning to go out of my mind with all this free time, and I don't even have anything to read anymore. Currently, I'm working on a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I took a break from it last night, though, and started one of our Calvin and Hobbes books. I love that strip. ^_^ It's too bad it doesn't run in the newspaper anymore. Oh, before I forget, if anyone could tell me how to get the archives working, I'd be much obliged. ^_^ And has anyone had trouble with blogger lately? I'm having to type this in UltraEdit (what I use to write my websites) because blogger was messing up my keyboard. Half the time I pressed a key, it wouldn't work. But now it does fine.. Hmm.. Listening to: Bittersweet Symphony, by The Verve posted 7:26 PM / post |