a place in the universe. july 25th.

the weekend is turning out different than i thought it would.

yesterday was the craziest day of running around ever. it was good, though. i got a lot accomplished.

for starters, kit went with me. i made awesome peets coffee and started some laundry at her place.

made a big lunch for us, watched the hangover again, because you can never watch it too much. then piled into the car for a suburban adventure. first we went to the at&t store to get my replacement phone. the guy warned me that anything like pictures would be lost.

what he didn't tell me is that i'd lose EVERYTHING. and i mean everything. every single phone number. every text message i'd actually saved. and ones that i hadn't even received yet.

it sucked ass.

i think he accidentally put my sim card in the trash, because i had JUST gotten a new one that had all my info on it. or so i'd thought.

in any case, one of the two people at at&t did the great dis-service of erasing all of my shit for me. thanks. fuck you.


that being said, i hoped that when i had my new phone in hand, that i'd have a text from intern. or my friend jay. or nina. because i'd sent them all messages right before it died.

and i had nothing.


so without knowing whether intern had messaged me back or not, i went to see hubble today. and you know what? i'm glad i went alone. it was awesome. and the boy who charged me for the ticket only made me pay the add on price, despite asking me if i was going to the museum. i told him no, and he still only charged me $5.50.

life is sweet. if stupid intern had been there, i'd have paid full price. the guy probably felt sorry for me, seeing a movie alone. or maybe that is just my perception, because i never go alone, and never thought i would.


back to yesterday.

so we left that place of hell, new phone in hand.

and went to walmart.

kit hates walmart. but this walmart was better than the one in the city. less trashy. brand new inside, complete with the grocery store.

we were there for only a few things.

one of which, for me, was a pack of condoms.

so we walk in and grab stuff i needed from the pharmacy area. saline, atkins bars and shakes in prep for chalk, and kit went to get a cart.

like a thirteen year old boy, i walked nonchalantly past the condom section, seeing where the things were that i'd be needing, so i could swoop back in quickly for what i needed.

i can't explain how i felt. nervous and sick, giggly and hot faced. lightheaded.

it was ridiculous. but there's a first time for everything, so i dropped everything in the cart. and i was walking back, kit watching, and then a guy was in the section. so i ran back to her, 'i can't do it. i can't do it.'

and in her typical fashion, she got really adamant. 'oh yes. you are. right now. go. GO.'

and i couldn't.

i would start there and then stop. laughing hysterically.

knowing that i was on surveillance for anyone and every to see, broadcast above the lipstick and foundation and mascara. and to some room, where some greasy faced security kid was probably enjoying the scene a little too much.

she refused to let me shop for everything else. she parked the cart in the makeup aisle. and demanded that i go.

and finally, with tears in my eyes from laughing, and a bright red face, most certainly, i did it.

i grabbed the box of trojan magnum xls. just the twelve pack, not the thirty six. because if i had that much sex in forty eight hours, my vag would never recover.

so i threw them in the cart, and started walking away quickly.

and then kit did the funniest/meanest thing ever.

'grab the box of blue ones for me.'

so i had to go back to the section and get them. i did it to prove a point. the first one was the hardest.

and then practically ran from the condom aisle into the bigger part of the store, in search of toilet paper and paper towels.

nothing to see here...

and i couldn't stop laughing and crying simultaneously. this whole weekend has been like that. kit and nina have had me in hysterics, nose running and eyes running and all. all weekend long.

so we get everything else we need, and start walking toward the registers.

and i remember. just like tampons. checking out is the worst part.


so there's one cashier who isn't a dude. so we go see grandma. and pay for our condoms and other random items. and leave the store laughing about an imaginary phone conversation, had we forgotten our bags with condoms in them.

'yes, i left a bag there. i paid for it.'

'sure, miss. what was in the bag?'

'oh, god. do i have to tell you?'


it was funny.

then we went to the apple store. kit's favorite place in all of the city. we go there almost as much as our favorite watering hole.

and as per the usual, there was a hot boy working. and as per the usual, there was a wall of people, dying to get things fixed by a genius.

and so it was that kit got her blacktop reformatted. for my use.

and so it was that a bit later, she got the broken sim card tray out of her old iphone, in preparation for my use.


and we left without a working iphone, because they didn't have any spare trays. and kit was pissed, because if a boy had been helping us, we surely would have left with one from another old school iphone. but the girl couldn't find one after searching high and low, so we left only partially defeated.


this all goes back to my taking advantage of kit thing. luckily for my broke ass, kit has a bunch of 'old' stuff she has replaced with new stuff, and is gracious enough to let me buy the old iphone off of her and use the 'old' laptop (which is blowing my mind!) for a while, until i can afford a new one of my own.

i'm just really lucky to have a really generous friend.


so we came home after that, and i got all my laundry after a trip to the grocery store, where we grabbed a ton of salad and veggie stuff, and meat, for atkins redux.

kit's trying it for the first time. and i'm just doing it until chalk has come and gone. to break the habits that i had ditched before my trip home, but picked up with a vengeance since i've been back.

it's funny, the whole two weeks i was home, i didn't really go crazy with carb-y stuff.

but since i got back? oh my god... popcorn and ramen and french fries and ice cream and oreos and apple fritters and scones and bread and pizza and sandwiches and pasta. so bad. living on carbs again.

the only way for me to break it is to give it up completely. and i have a problem wiht moderation, apparently. so here i go again.

i need to be doing situps, but kit's afraid i'll hurt myself before chalk gets here.

which is cracking me up right now.


last time i tried to do situps was a royal disaster. that stupid incline bench broke my stomach, and two weeks later, swimming in the pool still hurt! it was horrible.

so i have to take it easy. but i should really get my belly muscles ready for whatever happens next weekend. even if it's only for laughing a lot.


there's something really great about spending a sunday in bed, in the air conditioning, after being out in the swampy heat and riding my bike straight through the thick of center city in the midday heat.

and that movie...


i love leonardo dicaprio's voice. i always have. i like him, too. but his voice is nice.

and i knew i was in for a treat when the imax intro started. i remembered it from the only other one i saw, with ever when aubree worked at the science center. we saw the grand canyon imax, because he had never been and i wouldn't shut up about my trip there.

they show a light on the speakers built in behind the screen dome.

and the lights go out and the intro felt like a roller coaster ride. it was intense. i got a little scared for a second, as my body adjusted to all the sensory information. i thought i was getting vertigo or motion sickness.

but i took a deep breath and marveled at the effect, and it passed.

and the movie. i think maybe i could have had a slightly better seat. i tried to sit just above the center of the theater, in the middle of the row. and it was pretty great. but i'm sure nate will know where the best seat in the house is, because he is an imax expert.

but there was a starfield. just floor to ceiling, wall to wall, stars during the opening credits.

and motion through it. incredible.

and then the astronauts and the launch sequences of different shuttles and floating in space. it was really cool. all the repairs and everything that have been done.

and the first hubble image they showed: saturn, of course.

and there was a short little part in the middle for 'space travel', looking at things hubble has captured. and then the end, was the longest portion of star touring.

it was incredible, what they were able to do based on what hubble has captured. into the orion nebula. just mind blowing. and into that deep field photo that looks back into the beginning of the universe, through it.

and then galaxies upon galaxies. and leonardo saying, 'just imagine' in that soothing voice.


it was a rude awakening, leaving the cool dark theater and heading back out into the summer convection oven that is this city. and onto my bike back through the city to my apartment.

and up and in, air cranked, food cooked, back into bed.


today is a good day. i'd say 'was', but it's only five.

so there's more to be had.


and, yeah, i wanted to go with intern. but i highly doubt i'd have felt this accomplished if i had gone with him.

i'd probably just be disappointed that he left right after.

instead, i went to the movies. alone. and got a sweet deal on the ticket. and the museum was awesome just to walk through. huge incredible building. i'll definitely go back sometime to see the place. i know i'd love it. and they have a planetarium. i'll go there too.

and i got a bike ride in. and now i'm having lemonade after a big salad-y lunch.


i don't know my place in the universe. i don't think i'll ever really grasp what is out there. or how far away a light year actually is. or how any of it works.

but i know i like to look at it. and suddenly, dark sky part two cannot get here fast enough.