And now, for this week's catch-up post:

It's almost a week later, and I'm still recovering from last Saturday's family reunion. I was driven to the point during the afternoon to ask my Mom to kindly "Take me out of my misery". In a way, it was that bad. I really didn't have too many people to talk to on a real level, without having to be asked the usual questions about school and such. There is more to my life than school! I wonder what my relatives will ask me after I graduate from college? How's work? With the exception of a handfull of people, most are just being nosey. Trust me, I'm not letting them into too much information. All of my goals and accomplishments will be a big suprise. By the time the day was (finally) overwith, I was emotionally and physically drained. I was happy to leave from the park. As a way to top off the night, my friend Teresa invited me to go out with her and another friend, Ben. We ended up at this bar down in the Main Street district downtown. We were having a good time, until, someone on the third floor (we were on the 2nd) pulled the fire alarm. We didn't care, it was a well needed, and well deserved night out for all three of us. It was just one of those days for the three of us.

As for this week, it was okay. I switched my work days around because Tuesday would have been my Dad's 55th birthday (God, continue to rest my Father's soul). We went out to the cemetary and decorated the plot with flowers, balloons, and a blue pinwheel that I bought last summer for him, but never made it out there to actually stick in the ground. Honestly, I've been extremely hesistant about going out to the cemetary. They make me uneasy. But I am proud to say that this time, I was calm. I had to be for my Mom, she misses Dad a lot. I do too, but with loosing any loved one, everyone has their own way of coping. I'm now discovering my own way of coping. On Wednesday, I wrote a poem to my Dad about our trip out there.

Thursday, my day orbited around watching the VMA's. I wasn't too enthused with the "big kiss" between Madonna and Brittney. Justin Timberlake wasn't either. How bold and somewhat of the camera men to switch so that we could see Justin's reaction. I did enjoy Mary J. Blige's performance though. It wasn't as over the top as Beyonce's, although she's one of my favorites right now.

Also, since yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's speech in Washington, D.C. , his son, MLK III, was in Cincinnati (which could use some serious uplifting these days). Its sad to hear that the dream has not yet been achieved, 40 years after the fact.

Through all of this catching up, I'm at work with a few more tasks to finish before going home. I wish that it would stop raining by the time that I leave.

The Friday Five and stuff:

1. Are you going to school this year?
Yes, I am. I'm looing forward to this being a relatively decent year, and possibly, my last full year of college. My goal is to be completed by June, 2005, but I'm just now learning to pace myself and take classes at my own speed, regardless of when I finish them.

2. If yes, where are you going (high school, college, etc.)? If no, when did you graduate?
I'm in college right now, at the University of Cincinnati (whoo-hoo!), and I graduated from Walnut Hills H.S. in 2000.

3. What are/were your favorite school subjects?
In h.s. I enjoyed Art, Algebra, and Study Hall. :P
So far in college, my favorites are Psychology (when I learned about child development), and Sociology (which wasn't as bad as I expected it to be), and Women's Chorus. After this fall, I'm hoping to add Creative Writing: Poetry to the growing list.

4. What are/were your least favorite school subjects?
I loathed Chemistry (anything Science related, for that matter), Geometry, and Pre-Calculus.

5. Have you ever had a favorite teacher? Why was he/she a favorite?
Dang, I have a few favorites from high school, so I'll just list them at random:
Ms. Williams - Art; she was just an all around good person. She encouraged me to work harder at my creativity.
Mr. Williams (no relation to Ms. Williams) - American History; another positive force during the hectic high school years.
Mrs. Macintosh - had her for Algebra I and Statistics; she was a sweet and down-to-earth teacher. I stil have the birthday card that she sent to me for my 14th birthday! :)
Ms. Kombrinck - Ms. Kombrinck wasn't even a teacher, but she played a major role in my senior year at Walnut. She was the school pshychologist, but she allowed students to visit her during 4th bell study hall. She was definately my escape from being in the aura of chaos and stupidity of some of my fellow classmates of the c/o 2000.
Mr. Cheeseman - Medieval History, Yearbook Journalism; Mr. Cheeseman was the only teacher that I had all four years of high school! :P He was a new teacher to Walnut during my freshman year, and it just went from there. He was another postive
Although the coursework was extremely challenging, these teachers made each day a bit more pleasant.

With college, my favorite professors so far were: Mr. Jacubovic (everyone called him by his first name, 'Bob'), who I had for two quarters of English Comp freshman year. He always encouraged me to improve my essay writing, which, in the long run, I have. Mr. Ghee, who I had for a section of Psychology two summers ago. Too bad it was only a 3 week course, but he made the course worthwhile; who would have thought that "The Simpsons" would relate to in the two types of child rearing: passive (like Marge), or authoratative (like Homer)? Mr. Ghee definately made learning Psychology entertaining and educational, which he called, "edu-tainment".

The Friday Five:

1. When was the last time you laughed?
This morning, when I was watching Jerry Springer before leaving the house for work.

2. Who was the last person you had an argument with?
My Mom; we were in a 'dispute' about some decorations for our family reunion that's tomorrow.

3. Who was the last person you emailed?
Uhh, I email a lot of people. I think the last person I emailed was my friend Teresa. (hey girl!)

4. When was the last time you bathed?
Yesterday.

5. What was the last thing you ate?
Some cinnamon Teddy Grahams and a Dr. Pepper. I'm craving a double cheeseburger right now...mmm cheeseburger! (channeling Homer right now)

Today is decent, so far. Had a nice weekend, although I lost my voice between Thursday and Friday due to my allergies/sinus issues. I spent all day Saturday with my Mom and my Aunt Brenda getting things for our family reunion picnic for this Saturday. The family raised a lot of money, so we were able to purchase meats, extra containters, a couple of deli trays, a fruit tray, and stuff for the kids to keep them busy (jump ropes, balls, noisy things, etc.). And there is still some money left over; we're gonna go out again on Wednesday to finish up shopping for the event. I was placed in charge of making up the entrance sign, some suprise certificates for all my great aunts and uncles, and my grandmother (there are 15 of them), plus some souvenir thingies for the rest of the fam to take home (so they won't feel left out). I'm excited about using my creativity for something useful, I just hope that they appreciate what I did. My family has the tendency to not give credit when it due, sadly. I put a lot of time into it, I used Paint Shop Pro 7 to get the job done. On Sunday, I went with my friend Dalkesha to see Freddy vs. Jason. It was her birthday, and there's not much that one can do on a Sunday, especially if your birtday falls on that day. The movie was great. I used to be so damn scarred of Freddy growing up! I remember waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and my Dad had the tv up hella loud downstairs. I decided to be nosey and went to see what he was watching. Big mistake!! He was watching one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. and it showed Freddy Krueger with the faces of children he killed in his stomach! It was pretty ill, and it scarred me for a long while! Couldn't even watch his movies during the daytime if I wanted to! Anyways, the movie was good, but it was funny how they use the same elements for every horror movie (the girl stuck in the woods is a major one), but they seem to find new ways of killing people. I won't even lie, some of the killing scenes made me and my friend jump! After watching Freddy vs. Jason, it makes me want to backtrack and watch all the previous movies they were in, just to see what I've been missing.

Forgot to mention that while I was out Saturday, I picked up Beyonce's Dangerously In Love cd, and it's great. There are a lot of slow songs on the cd, but they are amazing; my favorite tracks are: Signs ("...Cancer, oh!" :D ), Daddy (a very loving and heartfelt tribute, it makes me miss my dad a lot more when I listen to it), Gift From Virgo (it has this old school, live band, jazzy sound to it, very authentic, very beautiful), and Baby Boy (the beat is hot, plus Sean Paul is on there). Honestly every song on that cd is hot! For a mintue, I was getting bored with music, hearing the same 20 songs between the two stations that I listen to. I rather make mix cd's of past favorites to curb that boredom with music. But Beyonce's cd made me a more active listener of music, for now at least. After I leave work today, I'm going to go and buy the Neptunes present...Clones cd. Chad Hugo and Pharell Williams are two of the best producers out right now. Their beats are sick!!

Long digression there! My Monday was alright, just chilled at home, cleaned up a bit, and cooked dinner too. I am very proud of that! :) Its very rare when I actually cook dinner; heating up soup from a can doesn't count. I fried some skinless chicken breasts and had some pasta on the side. As long as I don't burn up or burn down anything, I consider my cooking adventures to be a success, that is, when I do try.

Trying something new today, I'm answering the questions, as posted on Friday Five dot org :

1. How much time do you spend online each day?
Usually between 3-6 hours per day. I consider myself to be an internet junkie.

2. What is your browser homepage set to?
The Road Runner hompage. That's my subscriber.

3. Do you use any instant messaging programs? If so, which one(s)?
Occasionally I use Yahoo! Messenger (like once or twice a week), and AIM (once a month).

4. Where was your first webpage located?
If I rember correctly, it was on AOL, when I used to subscribe to them way back.

5. How long have you had your current website?
Amazingly, for a little over two years now. :)

Jubilation! (That's my new word I've been saying. To my dismay, it's actually a word, here's the definition.)
Anywho, I just checked out the grade online for the Medieval History course (that I finished last week), and I got a B; now I don't feel like my three weeks of time-- and refund money--were wasted on a lousy grade. It's definately one less element that I have to stress about. My newest concern: the family reunion that I have to attend next Saturday. That event is going to be one uneventful afternoon. I'm already in the process of planning a 'survival kit': snacks. pop, some good mix cd's, and a notebook, just in case I get inspired to write a song while I'm there.

Yet another gap between posts. Oh well. The summer is pretty steady right now, I'm back to just working again. I just completed my medieval history course last Thursday, which is a relief. A little over a month of vacation resides before I begin classes full time again (September 24th). Since I have more free time on my hands now compared to if I had chosen to co-op, I don't know what to do half the time. I guess I'm in a state of bliss with my boredom. :)

Plus, there will be some time devoted to revamping this page. This is just a temporary layout for now, until I get more creative with my designing.