the white stuff

Yeah, it's snowing again. I've started my annual winterly disliking of snow. It's official. No longer is it beautiful, or nice, or romatnic. Nope. Just wet, annoying, cold, and time consuming. Go away snow! I don't like you anymore!

In better news, the show last night was awesome. Gunsmoke did a really great job, and the other bands were good too.

Hey, does anyone want to go see Bright Eyes with Tilly and the Wall at the Norva tomorrow night? We have an extra ticket we need to get rid of (so far me, caleb, and daniel white are going....cameron has to take pictures for something so he can't come). Call me if you want to go.

Caleb and I are going to go see Blade III. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Woo Hoo!!!

Above, of course, is the only suitable title for this entry. seeing as how...

I GOT A JOB!

Ahem. Yes, yes I did. InService America called me back this afternoon (note: Friday afternoon--they were supposed to call yesterday, which put me through about 23 hours of frustration and worry, thinking I was going to be working for Subway or something. Not that there's anything wrong with that). I'm scheduled to start my (paid) training next week, Tuesday through Friday, 5-10. I'm so excited, and so relieved, that I actually have a job. It's nice to know that I'm not going to sit around being useless all semester!

I'm almost done with Luke Smith's cd. It's looking good and I'm really happy with it. I'll post the final layout once we get it sent to press and everything. It's got a real gritty feel to it, which really suits his music. Speaking of which, he's one of the opening acts for Gunsmoke Dialogue tonight--9:00 at David's Place. It's free, so you need to come and enjoy the music. Blake Powell is also playing, and the boy carries a mean piano. Or...something. Wow, what a mental picture.

When you were in high school or junior high, did you used to write extremely long emails to your friends? I remember sending two pages worth of emailness to people I'd seen in school the very same day. I can't even imagine how I could write for so long, I'm sure half of it must have been pointless. I wish I had saved some.

Does anyone know where to get cheap (but not "cheap") RAM? Turns out my computer needs more (i'm only running 256MB right now, I want to get 512MB more). I found some by Crucial for 80 bucks or so, but if anyone knows a place where I can get it cheaper, give me a holla.

Oh, if you live in the Lynchburg area, you need to check out the Mountain Frost Creamery (right next to the Daily Grind in Wyndhurst). Wow. They have some amazing ice cream. I had a scoop of this stuff called "Vanilla Cake Batter", and it was just this side of heaven. I seriously felt like I was licking cake beaters (only colder, and in a bowl). They've also got gelato--still not as good as in Italy (and it never will be in the US!), but good nonetheless--not to mention probably the only place to get it in Lynchburg.

Mmm. Ice cream. I love you, ice cream, with all my frozen heart.

looking up...in a hopeful sort of way

Blogger has kind of been on the fritz lately. It takes eight years to publish my posts and I'm not really sure what the deal is. All I know is that it's not very nice.

Yesterday, on the other hand, was very nice indeed. I had my InService orientation, which went really well, and I got a call from Flagler that pretty much confirmed that I've been accepted. Now, granted, I'm not officially in or anything, but I'm now 90% Pretty Darn Sure. Which, let me tell you, is a really great feeling. I was grinning all day.

This morning I had a follow-up interview with InService, which also went well. If they don't hire me, it can only be because I won't be here for a super long time. Hopefully that won't matter, and they'll call me on Thursday to let me know that I'm in.

I'm working on a cd layout for my friend Luke Smith. He makes amazing music, and the cd will be out soon, so you'll definitely have to check it out. He's playing at the Campus Artist Concert Series on Friday night. It's free, it's at David's Place, and Gunsmoke Dialogue will be there too, as well as Blake Powell. So show up, it will start around 8pm.

I feel bored tonight, which is sad because there are lots of things I could be doing. I think I'm going to call it a night and go read until I fall asleep.

Ahh, the exciting life and times of a former-future-but-currently-non-college student.

Only for a moment, then it's gone...

The clouds that occupy the Lynchburg skies have decided that they're sick of the city. They also decided that it would be a lot of fun to drop a bunch of ice and sleet on us while they laugh. Oh yes--these clouds are cruel. At least they haven't succeeded in me wrecking my car. Then i'd be really mad.

Because of the bad weather, my day went something like this: sleep in until 11:30, wake up, sleep more until 12:30, get up, drive to Caleb's, go to the Gym (and, might I add, work my tail off), eat chicken sandwich at Caleb's, watch most of Rocky IV (which was actually pretty good), make hamburgers for dinner, walk to the dollar theatre and see "Shall We Dance?" (not bad for your typical romantic-comedy, although the soundtrack was rank), come back to Caleb's, help him clean his room, knit for a while, drive home, get really tired, decide I should put something in my blog....and now I'm going to bed.

Anyone remember Swedish Fish? My grandma bought me a bag when I was in PA, and dang they are good. Addictive, even.

g'night.

Simply Delightful!

First of all, if you haven't seen it her, get thee to an iTunes and watch the Shins' video, "New Slang." It's beautiful, like a cupcake (or an eisley video). Watch it, you'll know what I mean.

So, what have I been up to? Well, a lot of nothing and a lot of being frustrated at that nothing because it's making my days disappear. I drove from PA to VA on Monday and got here around 5:00 or so. Caleb took me out to eat at Neighbor's Place, this awesome restaurant in the area, and then we got coffee at the Daily Grind. It was a good night, and I was all happy to be back and see my boyfriend (awwwww) and stuff.

Cut to the next day, when I get all gussied up (ew...that's a horrible word. I don't know why I thought of it, or where it originally came from, but we'll pretend that it doesn't matter) to go to J.Crew's call center and apply for the job that I thought I had a 90% chance of getting. Well. The first words out of the secretary's mouth were, "We're not hiring right now."

My heart sank. I filled out an application anyway and was told that, "Well, we might be hiring in a few months." Great! They'll probably call me the second I arrive in Florida for the summer. Argh.

Suddenly I felt stranded, with the realization that I was going to have to look and search and wait for a job. And it will probably be a stinky job that I won't like. Yes, I know, it's only for three months, but I really wanted to make decent money. And I really really don't want to work retail. Add the jobless thing to the weird feeling that I'm not technically in college right now, I won't be seeing the people I usually see every day, my boyfriend's job is taking more out of him than he thought, and a horrible neck pain that picked that afternoon to emerge, and you'll watch my night quickly go down the drain. I was all but despondant, and the terrible (and random!) muscle spasm that my neck was throwing around made me a bit irrational. Thankfully, Caleb loves me anyway and is a good boyfriend who knows how to talk me back into my senses.

Needless to say, I'm feeling better. I've applied for a few clerical/data entry type jobs, and I have an applicant orientation meeting on Monday with InService America (another call center). So things are looking up a bit, but please pray that I'll find a good-paying day job soon. I want to be able to save money and still have time to be halfway creative.

On a side note, I went to a mennonite church on Sunday night with my Grandma, my great-great aunt, and two other old ladies. A gospel trio was in for the evening, which apparently old ladies are all about, so we braved snow and ice to see the "Higher Ground Singers." It was fairly entertaining, although more for the sheer amusement of it all than the actual music. There were lots and lots of old people, and the sorta creepy thing is that 99% of the songs were about heaven and dying and such. I guess when you get that old it's nice to hear that sort of thing, but for me it was just...well, creepy.

I'm gonna go work on some website stuff for Classic Design Hair Studio. Here's to doing what I should be doing....

Virginia-i-a

Well, i'm back. And it feels really, really good. I wasn't expecting that. Trip was good, flight to PA was good...I went to a mennonite church with three old ladies last night.

More tomorrow. :-D

mmm, fashionable

Alright, I admit it.

I'm addicted to Bravo's Project Runway.

There, I said it. I'm not normally a fan of all the reality tv junk, but this show...well, they actually make stuff. Clothing, in particular. And to watch them make it in less than two days is just plain cool. Wednesdays at 8, man. You know you want to watch...

floating birds make me smile

Holy wow! (I'll allow you a moment to recover from that horrible expression of joy) I just went to Mae's site for the first time in a long time, and it is beautiful. Don't take my word for it, go there yourself and see how you can make the birds fly (you'll get what I mean). The site was done by Squad Studios, and after seeing some of their other work, I decided that if I ever wind up in Seattle (where they're based), I'll beg them to let me watch them work. Incredible stuff.

Also, Mae is coming out with a new 5-song EP sometime relatively soon--it's mostly B-sides from Destination Beautiful, but more music from Mae is always a good thing. Anberlin has an album out in early February and Copeland is working on new stuff too. Mae, Anberlin, and Copeland always group together in my mind--mainly becuase I discovered them all at the same time that Caleb and I started dating. They always make me think of nervously joyous March days.

I got my philosophy stuff in the mail today--I ordered some skin care stuff earlier this month, and there's nothing like a little belated Christmas gift for yourself. I love philosophy stuff--it's more expensive than I'd like to admit, but a girl's gotta splurge now and then. Plus, it works, and it smells yummy.

My day has been pretty bleak--the dentist, Barnes and Noble, picking my mom up from school, and spaghetti for dinner. I did manage to rescue my boyfriend from being locked out of his car, via my cell phone and AAA. Ain't nothin for supergirlfriend.

Oh, and apple keeps on rockin the free world with the new iPod Shuffle and Mac Mini. You know you're addicted to apple when you want to buy their new products even when what you already own (a 20GB iPod and a G5) better and more expensive. Phrases like, "But it's so cute!" "It's lighter!" and "It's so, so...cool!" come out of your mouth, and you want to tell all of your friends. Ten times. Until they tell you to shut up and go kiss your computer.

Not that, you know, I'm speaking from any experience or anything.

5:34 is way to early for the sun to go down

I think the biggest thing that I dislike about winter is the whole "getting dark early" thing. Sunlight truly is a driving force in motivating me to be productive, and the early gray darkness that surrounds most winter evenings encourages me to do one thing: sit. Which usually leads to production killer number two: watching tv. I'm so bad at telling myself, "Okay, one half-hour program, and then I'll go do [fill in the blank]. So I sit, I watch, the half-hour ends...and, oh, cool--what's this? The Most Awesomely Bad Number 1 Songs of all time? I must watch it! I have to see every Awesomely Bad song and revel in its badness as a jury of comedians and entertainers make fun of it. Four hours later, my night is over and all I have to show for it is my badly sung rendition of Ace of Base's "The Sign." No good.

My brother and I went to Barnes and Noble today to have coffee with my friends Andy and Jay. After the initial silly greetings and buying of chai's and IBC root beer, the four of us sat in the cafe, spurts of conversation mixed with magazine browsing. Looking around at the two or three magazines each person had grabbed, I realized that our magazine choices were clear indicators that we've gotten older. Jay perused Digital Photography and Shutterbug, his thousand dollar camera equipment neatly tucked under his chair. Andy enjoyed PC Magazine and US News as he talked about his possible internship with the Sterling Heights Crime Lab, and Philip examined the latest Microphone/Sound periodicals. I had my trusty HOW magazine, which made me drool over fonts I can't afford, design offices I'd kill to work in, and designers I'd love to have lunch with. I'm glad that my friends and I have dreams and goals that involve more than just Entertainment Weekly and Seventeen, yet we still manage to find "How to Be a Superhero" (one of those little books on the table near the cafe counter) immensely amusing.

Did you know that "using telekinesis to fiddle around with the inside of a lock is a trick. Not only do you need to learn fine telekinetic manipulation, you must also learn lockpicking skills"?

She will be loved

I am, again, at home in Michigan. I almost said "unfortunately", but I am glad about the home part, just not the cold part. I was in Florida (click for pictures) just last Wednesday, but alas, I had to come back:

So in the midst of this frozen Michigan winter, I have done something slightly profitable. I redesigned this blog. Yay! I'm working on re-doing the whole site, but this will be it for now. Simple, yes. Pretty? Also yes.

Some hypothetical dialogue to get you up to date...

You: So, Crystal, what have you been up to these past few weeks?
Me: Why, I've been pretty durn busy, as a matter of fact!
You: Doing what?
Me: Well, let's see...I finished up my classes [two A's and two B's, thankyaverymuch], learned to crochet, drove to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with my family, rode with them to Detroit, flew to Florida and hung out with Caleb and his friends for a week, went to a fun New Year's Party, watched a bunch of "Arrested Development" episodes, flew back to Detoit, endured half a blizzard, helped my dad move a cance care center into a new office for ten hours, saw "Meet the Fockers", slept in, and stayed up too late.
You: Whew!
Me: Yeah, I know. I'm getting tired just thinking about all of it.
You: So, you're not going to school next semester, are you?
Me: Nah, I've already taken as many classes as I could that will transfer to Flagler. I'm going to work for a semester and work on my portfolio before I move to Florida this summer.
You: Cool. So you're actually gonna have time to keep this whole posting thing up?
Me: You Betcha!

Ahh, that was a nice conversation, wasn't it? So I'm a dork, leave me alone.


I just finished watching a really great Family Guy (the one where Peter wishes for a soundtrack to his life and later loses all his bones) and a really horrible Aqua Teen Hunger Force (the one where they go on vacation and Carl is house-sitting for them and he later loses all his skin). Can I say I love adult swim? I love adult swim. I'm just sad that I missed Arrested Development becuase I forgot it comes on tonight. I got addicted to that show while I was at Caleb's, along with Project Runway (one of the designer's names is "Austin Scarlet" and he's the spitting image of Andy Warhol. That did it right there, on top of the fact that they actually make things every week and use real talent).

I had to drive my dad to the airport this afternoon, which was fun since I didn't get much sleep last night. The combination of dark streets and warm automobile interior would have done me over if it weren't for those wonderful MeWithoutYou boys. "Catch for us the Foxes" kept me awake and happy, and also made me want to steal from my brother (it's his cd). I think when I get back to Lynchburg, Caleb and I will just split the cost so I can put it on my iPod and give it to him to listen to. Yes. I think I will do exactly that.

Fin for now, everyone. 1:02 am and my bed is sounding reeeeal good.