I'm writing this on the 7th to make up for the 6th, when I didn't write, because I was out until 1:30 or so.

I didn't do much at work. I ran through a bunch of interactions and put them all in the appendix of my report, which is now 55 pages long, but that was mostly just using my program, so it's not a big deal at all. I listened to some Khmer and tried to really concentrate on what they were saying. It's difficult to do that in a language that you don't fully understand.

I went home early because there was so little to do. I left the office at 2PM. First I went to the bank and that took a good while because their computer system kept freezing on them or something. Then I got my car from the lot, which took another few minutes, because it just takes some time for someone to run and get your car. I got a bunch of tens from the bank so I could tip the regular guys at the lot, but only one of them was there, so I'll have to wait until Monday or Tuesday or whatever to do it.

I don't tip every day at the lot and sometimes I wonder if that's the right way to do it. I just never have ones on me and I don't want to be inconsistent with them. So every two weeks when I cash my check I just get some tens out and give it to the regular guys. I feel like that's enough tip, right? For them to not be pissed off at me?

Well anyway, as I was saying. Left office at 2PM, bank, parking lot, pulled out of the lot and the street was jammed. Hm? Never happens. And it turns out there's an 18-wheeler blocking the exit of the highway. WHAT THE HELL. So I go around the block once hoping that he'll finish backing out by then. He did finish backing out, and then proceeded to make another attempt, and was blocking the entrance again. God damn him. So I had to go all the way down Columbus Blvd to get onto I-95. It's like 2:50 at this point.

The ride home is pretty good. I'm pretty expert at the traffic on I-95 now and know all of the lane-changes and fake-exits to take and all that jazz.

I realized I would need ingredients to make brownies though. So I got off at Foulk Road and went down to the Safeway and got some ingredients for brownies, and also some blueberries, because they're the best food in the world and it was a big thing of them for not much money at all.

Then I went home. And by that time it was like 3:30. Those things should not have taken that long. But oh well.

My singing voice gets strained a lot recently. I wonder if it's because I'm stressed? I dunno. But it usually doesn't happen this much.

So anyway, I made brownies according to the amazing recipe that I learned from Nicki and the inside of the baker's chocolate box. I cleaned up as I was going and was energy efficient and didn't pre-heat the oven until I knew that I would be ready in time. I used chocolate chips that my dad claimed were his and now he's bugging me about them. They take 30 minutes to cook (exactly, for future reference) and during that time I shaved... and I did something else too but I can't remember what anymore. Oh! Learned some Khmer, went through the start of another lesson.

I took the brownies out when they were done and went to talk to Kristin W. I haven't seen her in a long time even though she's been one of my best friends for four years. I feel bad about that. I went to her house and she wasn't there. I texted her as I was leaving, "Duuuude where arrreee yooouuuu" and then she texted back, "Sleeping. Why?" And then I was already back home (rode my bike and didn't feel the text) and told her I was at her door and she said I could come back, so I did. Kristin is really good at hugs. I always appreciate that. I saw all the things she got in preparation for college (she's a freshmen, so it was a lot of things), and we sat outside on her deck and talked about life, who were friends were, what she's been doing all summer, her relationship with Matt, her internship, and what she was doing tonight. We watered the plants on her back patio. It was nice. She texted me goodnight at the end of the night.

I only left her house when I did because I needed to go see my friend Sonali, who I had promised to see all summer but hadn't, and who was going to Myrtle Beach the next day. I also told her I would bake my awesome brownies for her, so I cut them out before I left and put them on a paper plate to take them to her. She was working at Starbucks on Gay Street and the traffic on 202 was WAAAAY WORSE THAT PLANNED! Because an entire lane was closed, what the hell you guys?! So I was late, but she waited to take her break until I was there.

She ate some soup, because she spent all her money on canvasses that were 50% off so she'd have nice things to paint on during the vacation, because she hates the beach. She also likes being a starving artist. I thought that was cool. I saw a scar near her knee that was like the scars that Jen has. She's been good for a while. We talked a little bit about Semester at Sea, which she says she really wants to do, which I think is great for her. Even if only a few of the people who I've tried to convince to do SAS end up doing it, I'll still be happy with that. She had one of my brownies and said it was very good. I was glad, although I wish I could have made them with her.

There was a book about being an expert chess calculator on the Starbucks counter. I tried to read it. It was unintelligible to me.

Stefan was in town and I hadn't seen him in forever and ever and ever and so I texted him to see if I could come over, and he said yes, and that he was making teriyaki rice and could save some for me if I hadn't eaten dinner, which I hadn't, so that sounded great. It was just him and me at first and he had just gotten done cooking, so it was perfect timing. We talked about his summer, which has been full of some unfortunate run-ins with people you'd rather not run into. He's taking a semester off to work and make some money. I think his friends are bad influences and that makes me really upset, because he's such a good guy when he's around good people. His dad and brother and sister came home later. His dad is Indian and was interested in Semester at Sea and talked to me about that for a while, and the two kids are half-Indian (Stefan is all European) and they asked some questions too. They're younger, the boy is 7th grade and the girl is 4th grade. They're both really nice kids. The girl asked about bathrooms in India and she didn't fight me on the answer, but I got the sense that she thought no, they don't ACTUALLY do that. She likes reading and that's awesome for a 4th grader. Stefan and I played Egyptian Rat Screw with his brother, who picked it up very quickly, although he didn't win any games. He seemed to like it though, which is cool.

I like hanging out with people's families. That's one of the things I miss most about college.

I asked Lauren if I could hang out with her earlier in the night, and I called her after I left Stefan (he had to run an errand with his dad around 10:30, heh) to see if I could hang out, but she had gone out somewhere. She invited me over today, though, so we might play chess. I went to see Chloe instead, and we watched The Last Lecture, which was okay, though not as emotional as I thought I had heard it was. We went outside for a bit at the end of the night, and had Honey Nut Cheerios, and I looked at her comic, which is amazingly beautiful, I wish I could do something like that.

My life is so beautiful.

Holy shit.

Peace out.

posted by Singing Farewell 11:16 AM on Saturday, August 7, 2010