There was a man
A boy, who stood
On a boulder
In front of
Glass, staring
At brown eyes with black
Shadow, which belonged
To someone he
Knew not too
Long ago, but better
Than well enough
For sure.  And he beat
His fists on the frosted
Glass, beat until his knuckles
Bled.  And all he wanted
To do was lay
His chin on a Chemistry
Class desk and ask,
"What's wrong?"

So it's been a while since I blogged here, but here I shall blog about Valentine's Day.

First, however... I have submitted plays to Geva and plan to submit a massive dose of fiction and poetry to Jigsaw, Brockport's literary magazine, and if I'm feeling cocky, to The Rectangle, which is the Sigma Tau Delta literary magazine.  I've been prepping up and rehearsing for Lauren's production of Love Letters by A.R. Gurney.  I've been studying film, short short fiction, magical realism and improvisational theatre.  I've also been enjoying Pizza Sub hot pocket thingers and getting Sadie to like me more.

And other secret things.

Now.

Valentine's Day was awesome.  I went over to see Coletta as soon as she was out of her last class.  Before that, I spent some time assembling a bouquet from various elements I'd procured.  When it was ready and Coletta out of class, I went to see her.  I took her the bouquet, in a very cool vase, and two little boxes.  In one box was a small pewter dragon holding an orb.  In the other box was a small glass dragon carrying treasure up into the air.

She loved them.  In return, I received a single red rose, which will replace the one from last year (still near my bed, though... accidentally decapitated. ).  She gave me two bags of poato skin-flavored chips and a big box of my favorite desert thing ever, Nutty Bars.  And of course, there were the videogames.  This round was a particularly excellent haul.  For my GBA, an update of the SNES classic FFII, Final Fantasy IV Advance, which is an absolutely awesome game.  Along with this, a copy of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, the first new DK platformer in forever, controlled entirely by my brand new sound-sensitive DK Bongo controller!   There was chocolate in the bag, to round it all off.  And some coupons, for a half hour massage, a 15 minute...uh...head...hair...fingers-running-through-hair session ().  And another coupon, for a free, well... something else.

From the gift exchange, we went to Brockway, where Coletta paid for dinner (don't worry old-fashioned people, I'll be buying her dinner in the future) for the Brockway Valentine's Day Dinner thing, where they have lots of chocolate and free carnations.  And little red potatoes.  More than anything, though, sitting and talking with Coletta during dinner was awesome.  We rarely get to sit down in relative solitude, at a table, and eat an actual, warm, prepared meal.  The college lifestyle is rough in that way.  But I appreciate the little table by the window, talking about the people around us and which chocolate thing is better than some other chocolate thing, and stealing more carnations than we should and talking about the annoying girl in my class.

Then we went back and hung out for the rest of the night.  We watched The Neverending Story II, which was fun, but no Neverending Story.  We tried to participate in a scavenger hunt, but missed it.  The night before, we spent two fun-filled hours running around Harmon and, well, failing, but I had a lot of fun doing it until we got frustrated.  It was fun exploring those dingy halls with a Letter by my side.  And, and, and we played with my new DK game.  And snuggled.  Snuggling, snuggling is good.

I went home around four o'clock AM, after some other Valentine's Day festivities.  It was a great day.  By the time I headed home, I was again reminded of just how lucky I really am to have someone who really cares about me and who I really care about, too.  (I know you're reading this -- love you, letter! )  So that was my valentine's day, and the best ever... possibly, and only possibly, excluding last year, which was an incredibly special day with the same ubergirl I'm with today.  Possibly, but not probably.

And that was Valentines' Day.  I still have some work to do, so I'm going to go do it.  Ciao.

Currently Listening Everything to Everyone By Barenaked Ladies see related

Had a family thing today, t'was fun.  I took more pictures of the moose.  This time, in color, with blue candles instead of red, and with my cousin Trina nearby.  Feast your eyes.

I also have pictures of Jacquie falling out of a chair, but those can wait for another time.  Unless, of course, they are published due to popular opinion.

Yoinked from Gretchen:

1. Taken naked pictures? No
2. Painted a room? Yes
3. Made out with a member of the same sex? No
4. Driven a car? Yes
5. Danced in front of your mirror? Yes
6. Have a crush? No
7. Been dumped? Yes
8. Stolen money from a friend? No
9. Gotten in a car with people you just met? No
10. Been in a fist fight? No
11. Snuck out of someone else's house? No
12. Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes
13. Been arrested? No
14. Made out with a stranger? No
15. Met up with a member of the opposite sex somewhere? Yes
16. Left your house with out telling your parents? Yes
17. Had a crush on your neighbor? Yes
18. Ditched school to do something more fun? Yes
19. Slept in a bed with a member of the same sex? No
20. Seen someone/something die? Yes
21. Been on a plane? Yes
22. Kissed a picture? Yes
23. Slept in until 3 pm? No
24. Love someone or miss someone right now? Yes
25. Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? Yes
26. Made a snow angel? Yes
27. Played dress up? Yes
28. Cheated while playing a game? Yes
29. Been lonely? Yes
30. Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
31. Been to a club? No
32. Felt an earthquake? No
33. Touched a snake? Yes
34. Ran a red light? No
35. Been suspended from school? No
36. Had detention? Yes
37. Been in a car accident? Yes
38. Hated the way you look? Yes
39. Witnessed a crime? Yes
40. Pole danced? No
41. Been lost? Yes
42. Been to the opposite side of the country? No
43. Felt like dying? No
44. Cried yourself to sleep? No
45. Hurt yourself on purpose? Yes
46. Sang karaoke? No
47. Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes
48. Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? No
49. Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
50. Kissed in the rain? Yes
51. Sang in the shower? Yes
52. Had sex in a park? No
53. Had a dream that you married someone? No
54. Glued your hand to something? No
55. Got your tongue stuck to a flag pole? No
56. Ever gone to school partially naked? No
57. Been a cheerleader? No
58. Sat on a roof top? Yes
59. Didn't take a shower for a week? No
60. Ever too scared to watch scary movies alone? No
61. Played chicken? Yes
62. Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? No
63. Been told you're hot by a complete stranger? No
64. Broken a bone? No
65. Been easily amused? Yes
66. Laugh so hard you cried? No
67. Flashed someone? Yes
68. Cheated on a test? Yes
69. Forgotten someone's name? Yes
70. Slept naked? Yes
71. Gone skinny dipping in a pool? No
72. Opened your eyes underwater? No
73. Blacked out from drinking? No
74. Been in a threesome? No
75. Gone to a late night movie? Yes
76. Feared for your life? No
77. Failed a class? No
78. Choked on something you're not supposed to eat? No
79. Played an instrument for more than 3 hours? No
80. Cheated on a girl/boyfriend? No
81. Did you celebrate the 4th of July? Yes
82. Thrown strange objects? Yes
83. Felt like killing someone? Yes
84. Felt like running away? Yes
85. Ran away? No
86. Did drugs? No
87. Had detention and not attend it? No
88. Done a backwards dive? No
89. Made a parent cry? Yes
90. Cried over someone? Yes
91. Owned more than 5 sharpies? Yes
92. Dated someone more than once? No
93. Have a dog? Yes
94. Been pregnant? No
95. Own an instrument? Yes
96. Been in a band? Yes
97. Drank 25 sodas in a day? No
98. Broken a CD? Yes
99. Shot a gun? No
100. Had feelings for one of your best/good friends? Yes

Kaitie Bear, Look-a-Me

Aluminium is a sort of alternate way of saying and spelling aluminum.  In the song, the implication, I think, is that aluminum is an outmoded word and to be part of the new America, it's aluminium.  Song:

Purest Aluminum people are walking
The streets of London
So hysterical
Nobody here gets a word that I say
And the problems, I'm told, are more
than medical But I got a friend from the new frontier
And Galen, she says,
"This is not America
You need a girl with electrical hair.
And the word that you wanted was
aluminium."

Currently Reading High in the Clouds By Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar, Philip Ardagh see related

Chef Benja

I made a very pretty lunch today.

Oddly, this is something I like doing.  I like setting up for myself, sometimes, a nice, organized, attractive meal.  Today, chicken barley soup, an elaborate cheese sandwich (buttered homestyle bread, pepper jack, american and cheddar cooked in a frying pan), a side of potato chips, and Mountain Dew on the rocks in my Martini glass.  I topped it all off with Little Debbie Valentines Heart Cakes (not pictured).

I took many pictures of this meal.

I've been busy this week.  Between running around trying to sort out my classes (had to pick up one, drop one, and add another... finally will conclude on Monday), panicking about overdrawing on my school books (luckily the account was refilled by a check from Wegmans before the purchase went through), trying to write a play for Geva's contest (about, and raise your hand if to you my play applies: frisbee therapy, the beach, camping out, neglecting friends, and revealing games of "I Have Never"), and of course finally beating Namco's excellent RPG, Tales of Symphonia, 10 minutes short of the 50 hour mark.

Now, I guess I'll take a breath, though my work is far, far from over.  I haven't had a good night's sleep this week.  Tonight probably won't be any different.  Maybe it will.  We'll see.

I gathered the names of a number of writing contests in poetry and short fiction.  One of them encourages Asian writers, so I think I'll try and pass my work off as being "Asian-American" and use a nom de plume.  I'm thinking "B.J. Yang," or something like that.  Maybe I could go Japanese.  "B.R. Kojima."  "B.R. Miyamoto"  Ooh, how about "B.R. Nomura?"  Anyway, it sounded like a fun little challenge.  I don't know what Stonybrook has to do with the East anyway.

I discovered a timer feature on my spiffy little camera, obviously.  It's great for taking pictures of, you know, stuff.

I'm taking a course on film, and we're talking a lot about camera angles and all that nonsense.  It's quite interesting, and only two days in.  Oh, hey, courses.

This semester, I'm taking:

Magical Realism (with J. Roger Kurtz, w00t!)
Improvisational Theatre (with Mike Krickmire!)
Topics in Creative Writing: Flash Fiction
Intro to Theatre (with Davida!)
Art of the Film

All seem pretty good.  Kurtz is a rough teacher, but it should be okay, I think.  Fun stuff to read and learn about at any rate.  Flash Fiction will keep me reading and writing really short stuff just like poetry did, so I can keep playing and poking around bigger projects and such.  Fun, fun.  Film is just freakin' cool, even though the movies we're watching are old.

I just ran out of steam on this blog.  I'll try and update more often than lately, though.  w0rd up.

Jacquie, put the sign up, woman.  I can't come if I do not see the Benja Beacon.