Death by sleeping poorly

I'm slowly but surely dying (more so than normal, I mean).

My neck and right shoulder are KILLING ME. Why, you ask? Well, I tend to hunch over my work, or my studies, or the canvas I'm working on. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I carry a backpack and a portfolio around on my shoulder. I don't have an in-between in my Honda Fit to rest my arms on. I sleep on my side, in the fetal position.

All of these things are working together to kill me, I'm sure.

So between that and the THREE exams I have this week, I've been short of time/energy/patience to post as of late. Forgive me, find me amusing, and smile. Or, you know, get the fuck over it (because at least your neck/shoulder/back isn't trying to KILL YOU).

xoxo, etc.,

Me. 

Snow Day; it's more than just a shitty movie from the mid-90s.

Late Sunday night, as I was up working on art and getting my shit together for the start of classes at GSU, I had an amazing view of the gathering snow from my front window. I smiled, because my furnace was fixed, I had food in the fridge, and my dogs were safe at home. "What could go wrong?" I thought to myself.

Monday morning, the snow was about 6.5" deep. It was the most snow I had seen in Atlanta since 1993. The sun came out, melting the top of the snow so it refroze into ice. Then I let the dogs out. Because Lucy is so giant and built like a deer, the scene in the back yard went almost exactly like THIS. It was one of the most hysterical moments of her life. She loved it, though.

Then I went out to check on the car. Because I live on a hill, there was no way in hell I was going to attempt to move my car. It would have been like trying to climb up a slide wearing only socks (and don't deny it, you know you've tried that at least once in your life). So I made some food, and settled in for the day.

Tuesday, classes were canceled. My car was still surrounded by ice. It looked as though no one on my street had even tried to leave their place. People getting cabin fever all around Atlanta started attempting to venture out. A lot of them failed, and ended up abandoning their cars on the interstate. I managed to get out of the house and down the street without busting my ass, and went for a long walk to cool my claustrophobic nerves.

By Wednesday, the whopping 10 snow plows we have here had cleared a lot of main roads and interstates. Unfortunately, neighborhoods and maybe 40% of surface streets were still really dangerous. In an effort to keep me from going completely mad, a friend of mine braved the ice and drove the 30 minutes to my house. He had to park a few streets down, but I didn't care. I grabbed the dogs, a backpack of clothes, my art supplies, and high-tailed it out of there.

The roads are now less insane, but people here in Atlanta seem to want to continue driving like they're half-drunk, half-retarded, and entirely lacking an awareness of common rules of the road. Morons.

So now, until next time, I'm going to go paint some more, maybe eat something, and take solace in the patches of grass that I can FINALLY see outside.

Oh, and for all of you bitching about the snow, realize it only sucks because it kills our roads. Were we prepared, the snow would have been AWESOME. Plus, Lucy's ice-capades more than made up for the inability to use my car. Crazy giant dog.

GSU has aced Pain in the Ass 1001

I was so, so, so very excited about finally going back to school.  I'm still excited, sure, but I'm also starting to realize that there's just no winning when it comes to the quality and competency of institutions for higher education.

Don't get me wrong.  My professors are fabulous.  The classes are going to be entertaining, at the very least.  But good Christ, I have never seen more slack-jawed, clearly dumbfounded people in my entire life.  Walking through the courtyard is like getting a backstage pass to a Neanderthal convention.

When did 18-22 year olds turn into such blathering idiots?  You know, I ask because my biggest concern is that I'll discover that I was JUST LIKE THEM, and I fear the only option I would have left would be to turn to Seppuku as a means of salvaging my honor. 

Other than the completely oblivious student body (for the record, I'm generalizing. You know, like saying "the general public is a mass of greedy, bovine-esque bastards," despite the fact that I know quite a few people that are the opposite), my GSU experience, 2nd edition, is just like the last. There are the same, completely insane hobos wandering around downtown Atlanta. There are the same horrendously-dressed "business women" that don't know how to apply lipstick but can down four Philly Cheesesteaks in 14.6 minutes. There are the same drivers, in newer cars, still trying to pretend they're NYC motorists, honking and yelling and all that, but lacking the guts to actually commit to the role by running someone over. The heat and humidity, the odd-smelling train to and from campus, the cops pretending to look busy despite the traffic light above their heads CLEARLY doing all the work. All the things that you'd have to spend considerable time downtown on a regular basis to notice... well... they're still there. Atlanta hasn't changed.  And while I love Atlanta, because it is my home, I still can't wait to (one day) find myself living in NYC.

At least the motorists there have some balls.

And this round goes to.... Chuck Norris. But you already knew that.

The past 24 hours have been completely insane (not that I'm wildly familiar with insanity, mind you). I don't know what is going on, but I am totally baffled. Like, more than usual.

Life has been like, "Hey! Here, have something AWESOME!" Then fate, or Satan (for you zealots out there), has been like, "Dude, Life, what the hell are you doing? That was a bit much, don't you think? I better balance that shit out, stat." And then Life is all, "Hey, now. Come on Fate/Satan FATAN. That was harsh, dude. Like, WAY more drastic than that good thing I did. Now I have to do something awesome again. Fucker. Oh, by the way, Chuck Norris called. He asked me to tell you-" then Life roundhouse kicks Fatan in the face.

Now that this is an actual fight, I figure someone ought to keep score.

-Realizing that my financial aid went through -point to Life
-Spending 4 hours on my feet,behind a bar, after being unable to find the shard of glass embedded in my foot -point to Fatan
-Getting free Braves tickets for a friend that really, really wanted them but couldn't afford them (and the requisite teasing about their love for the only sport almost as lame as golf) -point to Life
-Helping a friend through a traumatic experience that involved all kinds of insanity, cops, misunderstandings, and the like -point to Fatan
-Waking up late for work by 30 minutes this morning -point to Fatan
-Hearing from a darling old friend that I haven't seen in far too long-point to Life
-Getting totally dumped by my band... stupid time constraints -point to Fatan
-Being commissioned by a serious art collector to do a painting for his new house -point to Life
-FINALLY getting the glass out of my foot, using nothing but ingenuity and some cuticle clippers -point to Life
- Forgetting to eat today -point to my figure, and irritability

So I'm off to fly home, deal with dogs, fly to class, and then go home again before going to karaoke. Jesus Christ, I need a Jack and Coke nap.