well. i live in the city. i live in an apartment. i RARELY hear anything from the other apartments in my building (there are 3 others) - once and awhile i will hear elderly anne who lives below us blasting her tv, but that is about it.
last week, i was home alone, watching tv, and suddenly i heard yelling. loud yelling. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT" woah. then a lower, softer, gentler "i thought we would buy a house, start a family" then muffled voices, then screaming again. after a minute or two i thought "they MUST be rehearsing a scene... people are NOT that trite in real life." but, my loyal readers, it was 100% real. 2 hours real. i sat on the couch nearest the window, put the tv on mute, and listened... "GO AHEAD THROW SOMETHING, BREAK SOMETHING" about 100 times. "YOU JUST GOING GO OUT?! GO AHEAD" 10 times... "how can you say that" was repeated throughout the evening, about 100 times- no joke. and, let me get this open, i am a woman, but the woman was the one yelling. the man was calm, rarely raising his voice, which i am SURE infuriated her even more. my favorite line "YOURE DEAF!!! y ou NEVER hear ANYTHING i say!!!!' that would explain the yelling, i suppose... perhaps the point where i was most confused when i heard her say "YOU WORK ALL DAY" then a muffled response, and then "I DONT WANT TO GET A JOB" ok... so he was suggesting she get a job. wow. i'm not sure how it ended, but wow. it was 2 hours - but some of it was muffled when they moved to other parts of their apartment. OH. and let me add, these people do not LIVE in my building, they are in the building NEXT to me, so i heard all of this through open windows. i WISH i knew what they looked like... it was fascinating. how can people LIVE like that!
so my roommate came home, and i relayed the story to her, and she was mad she missed it!
go forward 2 days. i am sitting on the subway, minding my own business, when i see a couple walk in, obviously arguing. the man has a suitcase, the woman an obvious "carryon bag" - so i got the gist she had been traveling, and did NOT look happy. "so you walked by, and didnt think toi go in?!" she said. he replied "NO, it didnt click until later" the conversation continues similarly- her asking details about what he did- him affirming. and she did not like it. what i got from it: he was picking her up, forgot WHERE he was picking her up, and she was pissed because he was late. at one point she said "well, i told you, but you were talking to so and so..." (a guys name- he must have been out when she called to tell him where to get her)- then he said "i called you and left a message" uh oh... looks like someone didnt have her phone on... although, at one point i heard her say "i dont have her phone number MEMORIZED, how i could i call her!?" so, this went on. literally, the same argument, the same story, for 20 minutes. she kept asking the same questions. he had the same answers. there might be a minute of silence and then "so you walked by?" "YES" i wanted to go up to her and shake her and say "LET IT GO YOU FUCKING BITCH" but i didnt. i stared instead. then, finally, she gave up, and turned her body from him... did i mention she had an engagement ring? she SURELY sounds mature enough to be getting married (she looked in her 30's, so did he). finally they get off at the stop before mine, she walks off in a huff, he follows, trying to finagle her suitcase. i wonder if they are still together...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
harry
ok, i know i usually blog about new york, but i have to talk about harry.
also, i apologize for my long absence, i have been away... but here i am!
so. 8:50 friday morning, i arrived at borders, to see a line out the door, around the building. panic sets in. however, luckily i was meeting efficient people who were already in line- phew! i get up to the line, and 2 of my ex coworkers were handing out the wristbands. we got them for the first group! hooray! me, lauren, christine and katie then all got coffee and discussed the evening/the book/theories etc... it was a fun time.
adrian arrived at my house around 4, followed shortly by jess. the hogwarts express (katie) picked us up at 5:30 and we were off to laurens.
we arrived at laurens, to be greeted by a sign on the buzzer area telling us, in true harry fashion, what buzzer to press. we were then greeted by the fat lady on laurens door. and that was only the beginning... this was katie's reaction upon walking into laurens:
here are some photos of laurens house:
hogwarts
book shrine
potions bar - where we could make polyjuice potion (also known as pomegranet martinis) and butterbeer (cream soda and butterscotch schnaups)
it was a lot to take in, and was a wonderful way to set the night ahead... in order to nourish ourselves for the long night ahead, lauren had plenty of food - snacks
as well as sweets from honeydukes:
and a Harry party wouldnt be complete without treacle tarts, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pasties, or mrs. weasleys ham and chicken pies: 
while we were stuffing ourselves to the brim, drinking deliciousness, we had to prepare for the night ahead- the big task: TSHIRT MAKING. adrian, bless her, with the help of her lovely fiance steve, designed the logos - you could choose from "accio book 7," "it's a harry thing," and a simple lightning bolt with stars - all 7 of us had "DA" on the sleeve (which, without my knowledge, was supposed to go on the LEFT sleeve... i put mine on the right, and decided that it just must mean that i am president of the group) - the date the book was released (21 July 2007) and "siriusly." now, for those non potter fans out there, sirius black is harrys godfather.
i was rather nervous making my shirt. if i were to mess up it would be imminent disaster.
here i am, carefully ironing
and christine, oh so careful
jess, with my assistance:
finally, with the tshirts finished, lauren and i made signs -
and after the sign making, i had to take a gander in the mirror of erised to see what my hearts greatest desire was - big surprise!
it was a few more minutes of fun at laurens -
i brought some fun toys for the evening:
katie brought goodie bags for all, but adrian got an extra treat:
the mug says: dumbledore's girl through and through. all were jealous.
i started panicking around 8:30 - i was getting nervous, i wanted to make sure we got a place to park, and that we werent too late. we wrapped it up, piled into 2 cars, and were on our way! katie dropped me, adrian and jess off, and went to park the car. We were not the first ones there. loads of people were there, all dressed in various costumes, some muggles, all eager with anticipation. this group was one of our favorites:
we had several people asking to take our picture, asking where we got our shirts, telling us they loved our shirts etc... so i believe a lot of people have a picture like this:
i of course knew several people working, and hagrid was there from 2 years ago - who looked a little bit like my ex coworker josh....
we tried to go to some of the events, but many were too crowded, and there was a lack of announcements by the staff (never would have happened in MY day), and screechy voices left our ears buzzing, so we settled ourselves by the window sill:
after the window sill, we settled for awhile near the summer reading displays, away from it all... and we were told from a reliable source that the line would be formed by the registers, so at around 11:15 we mingled near the registers, then i went to verify where the line was to start, and i was told the KIDS section. so off we went to mingle at the kids section... then chaos began. the person in charge (not someone i knew, thank god, i think if i had worked with him there would have been some serious issues) - had no idea what the hell he was doing. he wanted 75 eager people to line up WITH NO ORDER. i repeat, NO ORDER. it was ridiculous. people were shoving, people who were first in line (US) ended up way in back, people got separated, then some genius borders employee (again, one i didnt know) said "line up in single file, you all went to elementary school right, you can all line up in a single file" and i said "yeah, and we all learned not to cut in line too..." i could have hit her and her idiot coworker. but, i was minutes away from getting harry. we were then led across the store to the register line. i was probably 20th. i was with christine, but had been separated from everyone else. we waited. finally, the time came, there was a roar from the store when the first boxes were brought out. then, the first person went up, there were cheers. the line started moving... i was getting closer! finally i was next in line. my spot opened up, and it was an ex coworker, lauren, so i was glad to get someone i knew. and here is the moment:
finally. it was in my HAND!!!!!! i screamed, the crowd yelled, everyone was cheering. i think they were thinking "finally that redheaded bitch goit her book, she was annoying all night" but WHO CARES i HAD IT!!!!!!!! i stayed and got photos of jess
then adrian
getting their books... but it was too busy and chaotic for me to stay for everyone. we waited outside for the others to come out. finally, they did. we parted ways with the shrewsbury crowd, and me, jess, adrian and katie headed towards katies car, only to realize katie could not get in.. so i slid over the middle of the front, pulled the car up so katie could get in. mind you, this is all in EAGER anticipation of the BOOK that we had IN OUR HANDS. finally we got settled, and i began reading aloud. there wasnt a noise in the car. we got to my parents house, and katie came in, and we read for awhile. katie left, and jess adrian and i continued reading, then went up to bed, where we all read a bit further. at 3:45 i put my light out so i could get up early enough to read. at around 8:45 i got up, went downstairs to find adrian and jess reading. i made coffee and pancakes, and our reading marathon began. at 10:30 katie joined us. at various points we would stop reading and discuss. finally, between 4-5 we all finished - katie and jess first, followed by me, and then adrian. i laugh, i cried, i cheered.
also, i apologize for my long absence, i have been away... but here i am!
so. 8:50 friday morning, i arrived at borders, to see a line out the door, around the building. panic sets in. however, luckily i was meeting efficient people who were already in line- phew! i get up to the line, and 2 of my ex coworkers were handing out the wristbands. we got them for the first group! hooray! me, lauren, christine and katie then all got coffee and discussed the evening/the book/theories etc... it was a fun time.
adrian arrived at my house around 4, followed shortly by jess. the hogwarts express (katie) picked us up at 5:30 and we were off to laurens.
we arrived at laurens, to be greeted by a sign on the buzzer area telling us, in true harry fashion, what buzzer to press. we were then greeted by the fat lady on laurens door. and that was only the beginning... this was katie's reaction upon walking into laurens:
here are some photos of laurens house:
hogwarts
book shrine
potions bar - where we could make polyjuice potion (also known as pomegranet martinis) and butterbeer (cream soda and butterscotch schnaups)
it was a lot to take in, and was a wonderful way to set the night ahead... in order to nourish ourselves for the long night ahead, lauren had plenty of food - snacks
as well as sweets from honeydukes:
and a Harry party wouldnt be complete without treacle tarts, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pasties, or mrs. weasleys ham and chicken pies: 
while we were stuffing ourselves to the brim, drinking deliciousness, we had to prepare for the night ahead- the big task: TSHIRT MAKING. adrian, bless her, with the help of her lovely fiance steve, designed the logos - you could choose from "accio book 7," "it's a harry thing," and a simple lightning bolt with stars - all 7 of us had "DA" on the sleeve (which, without my knowledge, was supposed to go on the LEFT sleeve... i put mine on the right, and decided that it just must mean that i am president of the group) - the date the book was released (21 July 2007) and "siriusly." now, for those non potter fans out there, sirius black is harrys godfather.
i was rather nervous making my shirt. if i were to mess up it would be imminent disaster.
here i am, carefully ironing
and christine, oh so careful 
jess, with my assistance:
finally, with the tshirts finished, lauren and i made signs -
and after the sign making, i had to take a gander in the mirror of erised to see what my hearts greatest desire was - big surprise!
it was a few more minutes of fun at laurens -
i brought some fun toys for the evening:
katie brought goodie bags for all, but adrian got an extra treat:
the mug says: dumbledore's girl through and through. all were jealous.
i started panicking around 8:30 - i was getting nervous, i wanted to make sure we got a place to park, and that we werent too late. we wrapped it up, piled into 2 cars, and were on our way! katie dropped me, adrian and jess off, and went to park the car. We were not the first ones there. loads of people were there, all dressed in various costumes, some muggles, all eager with anticipation. this group was one of our favorites:
we had several people asking to take our picture, asking where we got our shirts, telling us they loved our shirts etc... so i believe a lot of people have a picture like this:
i of course knew several people working, and hagrid was there from 2 years ago - who looked a little bit like my ex coworker josh....
we tried to go to some of the events, but many were too crowded, and there was a lack of announcements by the staff (never would have happened in MY day), and screechy voices left our ears buzzing, so we settled ourselves by the window sill:
after the window sill, we settled for awhile near the summer reading displays, away from it all... and we were told from a reliable source that the line would be formed by the registers, so at around 11:15 we mingled near the registers, then i went to verify where the line was to start, and i was told the KIDS section. so off we went to mingle at the kids section... then chaos began. the person in charge (not someone i knew, thank god, i think if i had worked with him there would have been some serious issues) - had no idea what the hell he was doing. he wanted 75 eager people to line up WITH NO ORDER. i repeat, NO ORDER. it was ridiculous. people were shoving, people who were first in line (US) ended up way in back, people got separated, then some genius borders employee (again, one i didnt know) said "line up in single file, you all went to elementary school right, you can all line up in a single file" and i said "yeah, and we all learned not to cut in line too..." i could have hit her and her idiot coworker. but, i was minutes away from getting harry. we were then led across the store to the register line. i was probably 20th. i was with christine, but had been separated from everyone else. we waited. finally, the time came, there was a roar from the store when the first boxes were brought out. then, the first person went up, there were cheers. the line started moving... i was getting closer! finally i was next in line. my spot opened up, and it was an ex coworker, lauren, so i was glad to get someone i knew. and here is the moment:
finally. it was in my HAND!!!!!! i screamed, the crowd yelled, everyone was cheering. i think they were thinking "finally that redheaded bitch goit her book, she was annoying all night" but WHO CARES i HAD IT!!!!!!!! i stayed and got photos of jess
then adrian
getting their books... but it was too busy and chaotic for me to stay for everyone. we waited outside for the others to come out. finally, they did. we parted ways with the shrewsbury crowd, and me, jess, adrian and katie headed towards katies car, only to realize katie could not get in.. so i slid over the middle of the front, pulled the car up so katie could get in. mind you, this is all in EAGER anticipation of the BOOK that we had IN OUR HANDS. finally we got settled, and i began reading aloud. there wasnt a noise in the car. we got to my parents house, and katie came in, and we read for awhile. katie left, and jess adrian and i continued reading, then went up to bed, where we all read a bit further. at 3:45 i put my light out so i could get up early enough to read. at around 8:45 i got up, went downstairs to find adrian and jess reading. i made coffee and pancakes, and our reading marathon began. at 10:30 katie joined us. at various points we would stop reading and discuss. finally, between 4-5 we all finished - katie and jess first, followed by me, and then adrian. i laugh, i cried, i cheered.
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