Glad the weekend's here! I just want some R&R. Not that I've been working so hard and really need it. I'm just lazy like that. And I been eating a whole lot this past week. Dunno what's my problem.

Anyway, went to dinner tonight with my sister and one of her old friends. And I ordered a combo platter even though I wasn't hungry and the burrito I ate for lunch was still sitting heavy in my stomach. They ordered Chipotle at the office today.

I talked to the Persian chick in at my job today. Turns out she's married, though I feel like she's my age and I wouldn't have thought of her as being married. And her husband's Palestinian. That's cool. I met some Palestinians Thursday afternoon. I went into work late that day cuz I had some bidness to take care of in the morning, so I arrived at work after noon. And when I finally decided to eat, it was 4. To my dismay, the deli in my building was closed for the day. A delivery guy or whoever he was suggested I go to the next building over since there was a deli there. And that's where the Palestinian guys worked. I noticed the one guy had a necklace with Palestine on it. So I chit-chatted with him. I would like to meet more Arabs so I have more opportunity to practice Arabic.

I went to my Arabic conversation class. Got there late cuz I got a little lost. I had forgotten to bring the address of the place with me. D'oh! Anyway... figures once again I am a minority in the class. Story of my life, pretty much. I'm the only Black girl. I can't say Asian, since there's this Japanese chick in there. Another girl is of Lebanese descent, but basically, she's American. Anyhow, I hope I'll like the class. I signed up for Level I, but the teacher-guy and I both agree I should move up at least to the next level. So I need to remember to handle that on Monday before the next class. But shit - I need this class. I'm gonna be beast at Arabic once I get accustomed to speaking it more. :)

Well, my computer is gettin' on my nerves. I think I need to buy a whole new battery for it or something. So... laterz!

I didn't go into work two days in a row. I blame the snow. And my laziness. But I did some work from home. And I've lounged around quite a bit and ate more than I do during a regular week of work. I don't make sense. When sedentary, I eat a lot. When up and about just commuting to work and working all day long, I starve myself. Whatever. But I'ma eat lunch tomorrow this time. Got my Quizno's sub in the fridge...

Sunday, Tara and I went to Quizno's for dinner (it was breakfast for me, even though it was after 5pm :-P). Then we headed down to the city to Wholefoods so we could connect with Claire and Victor. And coincidentally, bumped into Rohan there. Rohan was the friend of Claire's that I just met last Thursday. He happened to stumble into the same aisle Tara and I were in. But didn't really get to politick with Claire and Victor. Unfortunately, it began snowing that evening, so our plan to chill at Border's afterwards was cancelled because we didn't wanna get stuck in any snow mess.

Talked to one of my Canary friends online the other morning. He's currently in Brazil. I'm telling him about the snow we got and he's talkin' 'bout how hot it is down there. He's gonna be down there about 6 months. That's so cool how he'll just work really hard when he's home in Spain, then just decides to go live somewhere for a few months. I would do the same had I not taken the whole college track. I think I have a nomadic spirit, sorta.

Hmm... I should try to get to sleep soon. I need attempt to wake up and get ready for work and actually make it there this time! And I still have yet to meet with the owner of the company to discuss going from contractor to permanent employee. Also, after work I have my first day of class. My Arabic conversation course was supposed to begin Monday, but due to the inclement weather, it was cancelled. I can't wait to get my Arabic up to par with my Spanish. That would be tight. Wonder how long it'll take, though...

Anyway, think I should take my dog out one more time tonight to pee. Bye! :)

Okay, so it was long before Lisa came. We're talkin' 11 when she got here. Funny cuz initially she was talkin' 'bout leavin' around 8/8:30. Anyway... We got to Catherine's place and two people were leaving as we got there. Then several other people left not long after that. We just got there too late. It ended up being me, Lisa, Catherine, her boyfriend, and one of my friends who came up. And this friend of mine. I hardly know him. I met him in person only once before. I'm sure he's mentioned in a previous blog. Belinda saw him the other night at the club and he was asking about me. Ha. Why he sweatin' me? lol. He's an attractive man, but I'm not feelin' him in that way... And oh, my gosh - his 'breaf' was kickin' last night! :-X

Anyway, we directed Lisa on how to get back home then I had this guy take me to another area of the city even though things was shuttin' down at that point. It was about 2:30 in the morning. Was tryna meet up with another friend whom I'd only met in person once. Ha. The internet's a funny thing. :-P He been tryna see me since we first met and since he's goin' away to school soon for some military stuff, so I thought I'd try to meet up with him. He's sweatin' me, too. I don't like this. Why the guys I'm only interested in on nothing more than the friendship tip wanna hook up? Not cool cuz I'm just too nice to tell 'em straight up, even though I should. So anyhow, first guy is ready to go home and asks if I got a ride cuz he'd take me home if not. And so I verify that I got a ride and hang out with the second guy and his friend. We got our jumbo slices of pizza. Good stuff.

When I walked pass certain guys and we'd make eye contact, I would put on my innocent smile. So funny, kinda flirting with these dudes I would never ever wanna pursue anything with. Oh - and it turns out the other guy we were with - I had recently corresponded with him online. So funny. He said he was thinking to himself that I was familiar. Again, small freakin' world.

Okay, so don't know what I'ma do today. Not motivated to do anything. There's a study group this evening that I don't know if I'll make the effort to attend. And even if I did decide to go, I don't gotta ride. Argh. I need to get me a car or move soon. "First dude" been tellin' me he could help me get a car at an auction since he knows what cars are good. He sells cars. Last night he said he could get me one for 500 bucks. Hehe. Hmm...

Alright, I'm out!

Gettin' ready to go out tonight. Waitin' for Lisa to come scoop me up so we can go to the apartment of this one chick we both studied abroad with in Mexico...

Thursday after work I met with Claire. Our plans to go see "Battle of Algiers" were cancelled to go meet up with one of her friends whom she hadn't seen in months to go to power yoga. But, we didn't make it on time to go to the yoga class. Instead we three went to some vegan/vegetarian place run by Black Hebrews. heh. We sat and talked. I tell ya, I'm tryna surround myself around smart, conscious people. But they can't just be smart. They gotta be "down," too. Cuz not all smart people are "cool." Anyways, I'm sittin' with these young intellects. Conversation consisting of terms such as "nerve ganglia"... "energy"... "fractals"... Talking about some good documentaries or music. I gotta get outta my dumb stage. Claire has inspired to actually make more of an effort to increase my knowledge.

After we finished our food, we went to go see a friend of the guy we were with. He wasn't home at the time, so we dipped into this chill cafe down the street for quite a bit. Then we went back to the visit the one friend and parlayed for a while. Cool peeps. But hangin' out with these people who are into yoga and are vegans/vegetarians... I don't think I'll adapt their lifestyles, but I definitely wanna engage in the mentally stimulating convo.

Well, I think I ought to get dressed. It shouldn't be long before Lisa starts heading my way...

Year o' da Monkey!!

Year o' da Monkey!! oo ee ah ah

Happy New Year, my peoples!!! It's Vietnamese lunar new year once again! After work, went with my mom, her friend, and my sis to someone's home, a Viet family. Got some grub and then my mom's friend brought me and my sis back home while my mom stayed. I gotta wake up early for work. But I really wish I could actually participate in some New Year's celebrations one of these day! Ahh... guess there's always next year. :-P

I was sure slackin' at work today. My supervisor didn't come to the office 'til 5 in the afternoon, so that left me with no one checkin' up on me. Well, the supe called a few times. But by his not physically being there, I was workin' pretty slow. I hope tomorrow will be a fruitful day. And I'm gonna try to leave early enough so Claire and I can go get dinner before we check out a flick.

Alright, I need to get some rest. Peace out!

Another one of my co-workers quit. This is the second one since I started working. Jamie quit so unexpectedly, I was told. He just put his coat on and walked out. Both Jamie and Carmen seemed to quit for the same reasons - they didn't feel they were meeting our project manager's expectations. They felt pressured. So my supervisor calls me up and let's me know that I'm meeting his expectations. LoL. That fool wouldn't wanna see me quit just like that. Yet he did want me to quit my last job without giving them the proper two-weeks notice. Anyway...

So my boss, the owner of the company, took me out to lunch on Friday to offer me a permanent position. I'm still debating it. It has some pretty good benefits, I suppose. But I just don't know what I wanna do. I need to give my answer this week, though. I think I'm mostly scared of having new or extra responsibilities. I don't know how well I'll put up with the pressure. I don't wanna crack like Carmen and Jamie did. We'll see. I'm thinking I'll take the job.

Friday night I hung out with Justin and Belinda. Went to this one spot that was overpopulated with white people. So we just had one drink each and bounced. The place we ended up in was better in that it was not so homogenous. And we stayed there the rest of the night. It was an alright place. Can't say that I'd care to go there again, though. I got back home at 2am, stumbled outta my clothes and put on my night clothes and conked out.

Saturday I did absolutely nothing. And Sunday, Tara and I went to the movies. We saw "Along Came Polly" and we liked it. Both of us could see ourselves in Ben Stiller's and Jennifer Aniston's characters. Like a combination of both. But Tara would be more like Ben and I more like Jen. Anyway, we headed to the Macaroni Grill for dinner. Then it was off to Border's to read for a while. I brought this book I had bought a few weeks ago: "I Saw Ramallah"; an account of a Palestinian man who finally goes back home to Palestine after an absence of thirty years. It's an English translation expressing all the vast array of emotions of the Palestinian in exile vis-à-vis a return to the homeland. And then since Border's closed at nine, we drove around a bit until the next movie we was to start: "House of Sand and Fog." I had never even heard of this film, but Tara wanted to see it and so I went. It was okay. Tara thought it sucked. I guess it seemed like it should have been a made-for-TV movie. And it did lack some depth. Ah, well...

Then when I got home, I watched my "Alias", which I had some VCR timer to record. And that's my weekend.

Here it is - midnight and I should be sleeping. Like last week, I'm sleep deprived. I travel to work, just wanting to sleep at every step of the way, then fight Mr. Sandman at my desk while sitting in front of the computer. This just can't go on. I've got some important stuff to do tomorrow. Hope I don't yawn at the wrong times or nod off during anything...

Anyway, after I went to check out a room in this house, I met up with Claire again and we had lunch at my favorite Viet spot. Then she brought me home and met my dog and - *gasp* - my stupid dog peed on her! That monstrosity knows not how to control his bladder. How embarrassing... Then later that night, I went with Jeannie and another friend for a basketball game at my alma mater. Damn, it was a cold night! Oh, yeah - and we won. Goooo, Retrievers! :)

Last night I met up with Claire again after work. We went to a free concert that I had heard about the very same day. It was cool. Marcel Khalife, a Lebanese oudist. An 'oud is a Middle Eastern string instrument. I guess like a lute or whatever. It was accompanied by a piano and a bass. East meets wests. Jazzy and oriental sounding. I prefer vocals over instrumentals, so when Mr. Marcel began singin' I really enjoyed it. And when the audience was singin' - sounded really pretty. Lotsa Arabs there. Saw Nadine there. And then Shireen. Oh, and met a really cute Palestinian-American guy. Man, I need to go hang out at the Arab functions. :) Oh, my supervisor told me to get him a CD. Luckily I had a single check on me cuz they weren't accepting credit cards and I had no cash. So I bought myself a CD, too. And I even got it signed. That's when I saw Shireen. She was standing in the autograph line (although she had nothing to get signed, hehe) and she let me in. She was telling me to talk to Marcel Khalife in Arabic. I did the minimum and he wrote in Arabic: "To Sheena, With Love" and then his name. Yay!

Okay, I should try to get some shut-eye since I have to wake up so freakin' early!

Whew - long day at work today. Left the house around 6:30am; didn't walk back in 'til around 10pm. The thing is, everyone pulled some extra hours cuz we gotta meet with our client tomorrow to go over the progress of the project. And figures - the day I decide to bring a lunch insteada starvin' like the other days, the boss treats us to lunch. But yeah - my paycheck's gonna be fat! And I'll be quite disillusioned by it, I'm sure, since it'll be the raw figure pre-taxes. I looked at the sum on my invoice (I'ma contractor, so I gotta bill the company for my services) for a single day of work at my new job and was like, dayum! It was about as much as I made in a week at my part-time retail job.

And I'm sleep-deprived. Haven't been getting to bed early and having to wake up early... Not cool. I was tellin' Jeannie, I need to find me a job where I can go in at, like, 1 in the afternoon. And leave at 3. PM. hehe... But it's Friday tomorrow! Yay! The weekend is here! I just may get up with that one girl I met last week. We're tryna go to my fave Viet restaurant. Turns out she likes that place, too. And we've gotta catch up on our girl talk...

Well, end of blog. Bye!

On Sunday, Belinda came and got me and we went to this 'phở' place around her way. It was a'ight, the phở gà I got. But it really wasn't all that. I've had better. And Belinda's phở bò had a fly in it. Or two. :-P Our waiter was this mixed Viet/white guy. He was diggin' Belinda. And he said she looked more Asian than I. Haha. Cuz Belinda thinks I look more Asian and that she hardly does. But I knew she was mixed like me when I first saw her. Anyway, I was askin' the Viet guy about this Vietnamese thing I'm interested in (remember how I said I had a tattoo idea). He said he has a friend who does tattoos. I dunno if he'll ever get back to me, but that'd be tight if I could get a design worked out cuz I only have a rough idea in my head. Look at me - entering the workforce and still tryna get tatted up s'more. :) Thass how I do. Gotta keep it gangsta. Sike.

Anyways, after the Viet place, we went back to Belinda's place for a bit to chill. I never did get a chance to kick her butt in Scrabble 'en español.' I'm tellin' her - she don't want none! Truth be told, I've never played Scrabble in Spanish. But I'm sure I could still beat her.

Then yesterday, had to go to the jobby-job. But afterwards, me, Tara, Belinda, and my sis went to that Mexican restaurant. We were the only ones in that place when we got there. But eventually some more peoples rolled up in there. Anyhow, 'cause of me and Belinda's knowledge of Spanish, the waiter(s) got confused. Thought we were Latina. In fact, thought we all were Latina. But Belinda told Chuy that none of us were. And I even added how all of us had Black fathers (hehe - that sounds funny, right?). And he just couldn't get over it. Kinda insisted that we were Latina. So I proceeded to point out all our 'ethnicities': Tara - Puerto Rican, Belinda - Dominican, my sis - Brazilian, and me - Cuban. And then the other waiter guy guessed that we were all Puerto Rican. LoL. Fun.

And so my sis re-enlisted in the Air Force and will be gone by the end of the month. She tryna sell her car off on me. But I dunno. I ain't been workin' but for a minute. And I am definitely not tryna pay car insurance... And plus, I'm tryna move, too? This will take some consideration. I gotta make sure my budget's right... But coincidentally, one of my friends IM'd me tonight and we were talking... He said he'd help me get a car at an auction since he would know what cars were good or not. That'd be cool. I'ma consider that.

Hmm... I should get ready for bed soon. I hate not getting my 8+ hours of sleep. Well, sometimes I've found I can handle lack of sleep. But shoot - this 9-to-5 bidness has got to go. I miss not being able to sleep in for as long as I want!! And the fact that I have to commute does not help. Well, hopefully, once I move I'll get to sleep in a little. Night-night!

Happy 2004

Happy 2004

But what's so happy about it? Nah... Just another year... Actually, it is kinda a new year for me in a few different ways. Gotta new job. 'Bout to get me a temporary new place. Think my life will be a little bit different in terms of how I'll be spending my time due to acquiring a nine-to-five, the location I'll likely end up in, and how I'll be spending my free time. I need to make out some kind of plan to help me manage my life in the short term...

I'm tryna think what has happened since my last blog that I could write about, but I really don't feel much like blogging either... Umm... Didn't really do much for New Year's. Was 'bout to be stuck just chillin' in my room that night. I was sippin' on my Vietnamese beer and apartment hunting when I got a call from Ms. Jeannie Vieve around 11. Ended up accompanying her over to Jamar's where we met up with him and his friend, then headed over to Jamar's house. We didn't really do much but sit around and talk. Drank a glass of Remy Red and watched South Park. Called people to wish them a happy new year. That was about it. Then I had to work my stupid retail job at nine in the morning (got there late as usual). I was supposed to work there Tuesday through Friday of this week. But luckily, I was able to get a co-worker to take my Tuesday and Wednesday. And then I got another co-worker to take my Friday last minute. So glad I didn't have to work there. I just wanted to be a bum.

On Tuesday, I finally had lunch with this girl I'd been corresponding with online for quite some time. Maybe several months? Anyway, very smart girl. An intellect. I need more friends like that. My mind needs stimulation and growth. And since I'm not searching for knowledge on my own, I figure I can obtain a bit of it from the company I keep. Then after work I hung out with homeboy for some grub and convo.

Oh, and that day at work, my supervisor had asked to talk to me and he wanted me to follow him somewhere else. I was like, oh, shit - I'm in trouble! I couldn't understand why he couldn't just tell me what he had to say right there. So I followed him down the hall to the conference. But thank goodness. Had nothing to worry about. He basically wanted to tell me he wants me to stay with the team, that if I was interested, he could make suggestions to the company owner to get me a permanent position (as opposed to my temporary one). He said how he really likes me, etc... That's pretty cool. I just hope I don't disappoint!

So I'm looking for places to live closer to the vicinity of where I work cuz I despise commuting. I've physically checked out two places that weren't bad. But I still wanna explore, so I'm gonna check out another place on Monday. I'm thinking that when I temporarily relocate, I'll sign up for an evening Arabic course. My Arabic is definitely rusty after barely using it and I still need to take my proficiency exam. Also, me and Nadine need to start studying for our comprehensive exams. I've gotta get my shit together!

This afternoon, Jose, Justin, and I went to a local Mexican restaurant. And then we went to an auto show, which basically seemed like a big car dealership. It was okay, I guess. Saw my old roommate there cuz she works at a car dealership. That's funny cuz last month I saw my other two roommates (separately) at the mall where I work. We all lived together my last year of undergrad. One I saw when I was standing at the entrance of my store greeting people. Turned out she also worked in the mall. Also that day, I saw my old suitemate from freshman year. Then last weekend or the one before (can't remember which), I saw one of my roommates when I was chillin' with this Persian guy whom I met in my store around Thanksgiving.

Well, that's about all I can recall from the past week's time... Nothing too spectacular or fabulous. I need to hurry up and move since I can't/won't be leavin' the country anytime soon...