One of the nicest things that anyone has ever done for me:

ethel, organizing people together to replace many of my DVDs that got stolen. ethel is not only my bitchin' Vil partner, but she's a hell of a bitchin' friend, as well. Thanks, everybody.

Thank you's to:
Tracie, Jeff, Laurie, Emily, Manna, Kurt, Amy, Amy, Eric, Eric, and Dan. And if anyone else contributed that got left off the card, thanks to you too. :) It seems totally inadequate to just say thank you for such a big great wonderful gesture, but I don't know what else to say, other than you guys rule.

This is for anyone that stumbles across my journal...

Hi!

Due to previous circumstances, my journal is friends-only access. If you'd like to read my ramblings, please leave me a comment on this post, and I'll either add you to my friends list, or laugh maniacally and mention something about hell and freakish weather patterns.

If you add me to your friends list randomly, that's fine too. But please leave me a comment if it's not totally obvious who you actually are. wilderheart, thanks for putting up that picture, it was very helpful. :)

Cheers!
Chrys

The Tapestry was lots of fun! Can't wait to do it again. Downside: the arches of my feet and my calves still hurt as bad as they did yesterday morning when I woke up. Just made an appointment at Boynton for later this afternoon - finally time to do something about my overpronation problem. In the meantime, I don't have to work today. Yay!

Gonna clean the apartment too.

Never smoke up during lunch hour at work. I get reeeeally clumsy.

I actually got up a little earlier than I needed to this morning, so I'm not racing around like a chicken with my head cut off...

Sunburn update: OWIE.

Tuesday night brought on another one of those humbling moments, but I'm having trouble putting it into words. It was the same as always - this is what I would've killed for ten years ago, etc., mostly, but something was different. Something else that contributed, other than just the whole setup of being with a big group of friends, having a "theme" dress night, having various members of the band sitting with our group during their breaks, and afterwards hanging out at the house, was being invited to a weekend-long invite only shindig in July - Glory. Don't know why it's called that. Supposedly it's pretty much a three-day party involving alcohol, music, drugs, and whatever floats your boat. I've got other friends going so we'll probably all drive up and camp together - should talk to Brad or Seth about that. Sean told me that it's sort of a big deal to get invited, but it was more so since the person who invited me A) was one of the organizers and B) doesn't really know me; has only seen me at the Dubliner and once at the house. Apparently, I behave well in public. :) Also I think that the company I keep helps. Hee.

With all this camping stuff going on I may need to invest in a tent this year...definitely a new sleeping bag.

Well, it's about that time.

One of the things I really like about small-apartment living is that even a major cleaning frenzy only takes about 2 hours. About the only thing I didn't do was vacuum, since I don't have one. I'll see if I can borrow one from one of the group tomorrow at the big barbecue.

Last night Brad had a small party and about ten of us showed up. We played an AWESOME game called Apples to Apples...I'm not going to explain it now, but suffice to say it was great, and if anyone ever suggests it as a party game, take them up on it.

Tomorrow I need to make something for the barbecue. I'm thinking either brownies (classic) or a cheese-and-potato casserole dish that I kind of just made up. I might call Robin tomorrow morning and see what she needs. I could make Rice Krispy bars too, I haven't done those in a long time. Or Snickerdoodles. Ahh, the joy of cooking.

It's been a social few days. I took Friday for myself, and then Saturday night was Brad's party. Today I went with Jill and Brad to see Shrek 2, and tomorrow is Robin's barbecue, and Tuesday night, of course, is Dubliner night. Oh wow, it's Sunday. Maybe I should stop down by Market and have a drink. I need to find Amanda anyway and get my Surfaces book back.

That's sounding like a good idea.

OH GOD, I had an awesome time at the Dubliner last night. Since I bought D and D's CD last week, I could sing along to some of the songs, which was lots of fun. Also, some guy that liked to jig was there and I got dragged up in front to jig along with. Next week, I'm taking my taps along, and the bones player and I are having a rhythm face-off. I'll kick his ass. :) Or maybe I'll deliberately lose...he's hot.

I also did a slow dance with one of the guys who really wants to learn how to swing dance, and as it happens, we're getting a group together to go to the Tapestry on Thursday nights where they play swing from 10 till like 2. So I invited him along and told him I'd teach him.

Parties coming up: Brad's little social gathering on Saturday, and then Robin's BBQ on Monday.

Life since Camelot has been so good. I've met some really wonderful people. and I'm so grateful for it.

And with that, I need to go to bed...I have to be at work at 8:00 (SUCK).

So I've found a new layout that seems to work quite well. The downside is that you need a good amount of personal information in order to make it work, so it's best used on yourself. Also, it's really only useful in relation to a specific situation that has significant happenings in the past as well. Here's how it works:

Think about what you want to know. My first experiment was concerning romantic life.

Reflect on your history in regards to it. I pinpointed 4 things that had big repercussions: my mom disappearing, having my heart broken the first time, having my heart broken the second time, and what happened last April.

Shuffle and cut the deck. Pick one of the stacks.

Deal the cards in chronological order according to the age you were at the time it happened. For me, they were 10, 16, 20, and 21. So I would deal 10 cards face down, turning the tenth face up. This card should have some bearing on the event. Proceed chronologically, but don't start over: when you begin dealing again, continue with the next number after the one you left off at. So for me, when I dealt again, I counted 11, 12, and so on.

The number of the last card you deal should correspond to your current age. This will describe what's in store in relation to the question.

Have fun!

Shrek 2: Cast List

Shrek: Frank Supergan
Princess Fiona: Karen Barker
Donkey: Ken Markovic

King Harold: Stefan Siegfried
Queen Lillian: Jenny Schultz
Fairy Godmother: Jen Scriven
Puss ‘n’ Boots: Chrys VanDerKamp
Prince Charming: Tony Spengel

Ugly Stepsister: Casey
Jerome: Giovanni Pasotto
Gingerbread Man: Matt Willer
“Poison Apple” Piano Player: Kevin Chunko
Three Blind Mice: Steve Dugan, JKMF, Chris Arno
Pinocchio: Eric
Mongol: ZJD
Big Bad Wolf: Nick Walters

With special guest star Tony Barker as the Muffin Man

I saw something today that really worried me. I don't mean worried in the sense that oh, it bugged me for a sec and then I shrugged it off. I mean seriously worried, as in concern for the future of the human race...

I was in the frozen food aisle stocking up on insta-meals, when my attention was drawn to the group of three standing next to me. This kid, about 12 or 13, had thrown himself against the door of one of the cases, laid/stood there for a second, and then started laughing like a lunatic. Apart from being slightly annoyed at that point, I didn't think anything of it. Then came the time when I was walking out to the parking lot, and they were right behind me. The kid was engaged in a continuous stream-of-consciousness monologue. Now, otherwise, he looked fine - fully clothed, etc. And he was speaking with a New York accent. He was talking really loudly and laughing a lot, but his mom and grandmother (I'm assuming) weren't responding. Except his "mom", who seemed rather amused by the antics...

There's what happened. Now what gets me is this. For awhile, I was wondering if the kid was mentally handicapped. Then I evaluated dress and general demeanor, and I realized that there was a very good chance that the kid was not, in fact, mentally retarded. He was just acting like a jackass...and the authority figures that he was with were doing nothing to stop it.

This is what worries me. Our society has degenerated to the point where someone can exhibit behavior that normally would be associated with some kind of mental disorder, when they're fully cognisant of their actions, and it's regarded as okay. Or, here it is another way: It worries me when I see someone acting that way, and I really can't tell whether they're just acting like a dick, or actually have a problem...