(no subject)
*smiles* SALUTATIONS!!! It's time for me to sing the Song of Al Jay with my prose. As I promised over AIM I will write the goings on of the CPSLO tourney for all of you to see, ooooooo.
Friday had quite a few surprises between a Physical Chemistry midterm and the drive to SLO. I got home expecting to get some sleep when my phone screams at me that I have voicemail, several of them. I listen to the voicemail, and it's Mom calling and asking me to call her back as soon as possible. *blinks* Mind you this is in the timespan of the hour it took me to take my midterm for P-Chem *shakes his head and goes, "oi, what did I do?"*. I call her up, and she just asks me to run around and do some banking errands for her *shakes his head and goes, "hahahah, whew"*. I'm getting ready to shove off to do the errands so I can get some sleepage when I check my e-mail and 'lo and behold I have something that's not junk!!! I check it to see that Miss Sharon Peterson is in need of equipment. After some AIM talk I get a number from Preston and then get Sharon's measurements *winks* thinking we, as a group, will go grab stuff out of the ARC before we leave. So, now that I've got Mom's errands and Sharon's measurements I bust out the PG&E bill to see how much I write a check out to them for . . . GOD DAMN IT . . . the due date was the 18th, not the 19th (this past Friday when all of this was going on) *sighs*. So I'm just about to leave when Huy comes in and tells me about how he got rear-ended by some guys and how his car trunk is all bent up. I end up talking to him for a bit, because at this point he's a bit hysterical and not thinking quite straight. He goes off to make a few phone calls, and I decide to keep myself free for the next half hour or so in case he needs something. I end up talking with the Elf and making plans for that night when I'll be in SLO when Huy asks if I can drive him to the Police Station. *grins* By this time, my hope for getting in even a half an hour of sleep is dead; no rest for the wicked *smiles*.
I shove off to do everything and after I've dropped Huy off back at our apartment and call my mom about the bank she tells me that Anne (my cousin) has had a baby!!! *blinks* The surprise was from the fact that I had just finished talking with Anne on the phone, and she didn't say a word about her daughter!!! Geezuz, girl!!! Well, off I go to pack all of my stuff when I decide . . . I should eat first; JACK IN THE BOX IT IS!!! The last time I had a meal was the previous day. The PREVIOUS, FUGGIN' DAY!!! Oh yeah, I'm taking gooooood care of da body. Well, I ate my fries, packed up my stuff, and I was off to the U-Mall to pick up my people for the trip. Off we went to SLO and right into traffic on the 80 *smiles* niiiiiice. It gave me a chance to eat my burger and talk more with my fencers. Turns out that the accident was on the other side of the friggin' highway, and the traffic on our side was from where? Survey says: "RUBBERNECKERS!!!" Ah well, the long car ride to SLO was made short by great conversation between Kelly, Preson, Ben and I. Some things are best left unsaid *smiles*.
When we finally got to SLO I called up the Elf and tried getting her to come out to eat dinner with the fencers. We ended up in an Italian restaurant because I suggested we eat some pasta before the tourney; *turns to Kelly just in case she's reading, "Well, she could have picked a color that didn't match her skin or her dress, hehehe"*. I get the call back from Mia saying we could just get together for coffee or something after I tuck all the fencers into bed and whatnot. As I thought it would turn out (I really should have just told her I couldn't do coffee), responsibility took hold when Killer and Annie left to go get snacks and personal plans were put on hold *sighs and mans the fort while watching Cody and Ben do magic tricks*. My snoring didn't wake my hotelmates that night, nor did my early shower, stretching, and meditation affect them at 5:30AM the next day.
After a breakfast at the Cajun Creole place we ate at last year we were on our way to the tourney. I made sure all of the noobs were safely registered while Killer went to go get snacks with Annie *quirks an eyebrow, "Yeah, it caught me by surprise too. I'll just have to make it up to the Elf"*. Then began my long wait for some action on the piste. I floated around to all of the pools where our novices found themselves and got a chance to watch each of them in action for at least a few points; I was a bit partial to the pool where Trevor was *smiles "I miss Trevor!!!"*. The Elf did make it out to the tournament, and I introduced her to the various fencers we came across; she had homework she was putting off doing (lots of it *insert sad face here*) and couldn't stay for very long. *insert sad face here* Yeah, I'll have to find some way to make it up to her the next time both of us find ourselves in the same town, maybe over winter or something *shrugs*.
Sabre pools seemed to form about 5 min. after all the sabreists were suited up and fencing. Yeah, no time for warm-up for me, yay!!! Oh well, straight into the pools it was. The first match was against someone from Reno, and that one I lost. The next 4 matches were against T. Jones (UCSB), Trevor D. (CPSLO), C. Stevens (UCB), and Preston's Twin brother Patrick (CPSLO). *smiles* I came out 4-1 in pools. I spent a bit of time drifting around and watching people fence before the sabre tree came up. I got a bye in the round of 32 and faced off against Samir Qureshi in the round of 16. He would be the guy known as "Slip and Slide," and he's also the guy who was using excessive force at UCSC. During the match I seemed to be the one using excessive force, which I silently chastised myself for and openly apologized to him for. There were only 2 calls in which I had to cock my head to the side and go, "ummm, OK" to. One call was made when I circle 3 parried him and riposted. It left him dejected, me riding on a high, and both of us in disbelief when the director called it in his favor. With that one, it's all in the eyes of the director I suppose. The other was a call that started off with me attacking in one line, then changing over to another line when I saw that his simple counter attack may inadvertantly turn into an attack in opposition or be seen as something of a parry if our blades should cross. Not once did I break my attack by pulling back on the arm, but it was still called in Qureshi's favor. Upon consulting TC and Simon (Pitfield) about this call and going over what the director was saying I feel VINDICATED!!! The touch was mine *smiles*; I just need to look over the sabre rules and be clear about it so that I know how to argue touches when I feel they are called wrongly. In any case, the highlight of the bout was when I got two points in a single touch. He attempted to parry, began slipping ot his knees, gets hit by me, then falls to the floor. Point goes to me for hitting him, and another point goes to me for his unsafe fencing (we both got a yellow for clashing guards). I ended up losing the bout 8-10, but hey, sometimes things just happen like that. Cheer up, kiddo, you played a good game. Sure, it could have been better, but you did well enough. Samir did come up to me during the handshake and thanked me with, "Damn, that was the most intense bout I've had so far." Earlier, Christina Stevens (who beat MacFarland in DE *smiles widely*) was complimenting me on my strong voice and fairness as a referee for our pools *smiles, "YAY!!!"*.
Before summing up the tourney in general, I'd like to thank everyone for joining us this weekend. I can't recall everyone's exact placement, but there will be a list of the results on the club webpage soon. In novice foil Preston and Cody took 5th and 6th, respectively. For foil Mr. Vinnie Carbone (aka V-Love) destroyed Brian Davis (CPSLO) for first place, after which he proceeded to "mount" TC. Annie and George duked it out for third, and George took it. For epee Brian Davis got the shaft from his teammate, with each point scored against him, widening the grin on Eric McDonald's face *whispers, "And everyone else's too"*. In Sabre, George fought for 1st but lost to Sean Graham (CPSLO), a good guy who I'll miss fencing at these tourneys because that he'll be graduating this quarter. Sorry Matt, it's not quite as detailed as your synopsis was. I should have floated around more and garnered more info of the bouts around me. In other news, Miss Wise has shown herself to be quite the temptress *grins* in how she played upon Brian Davis.
I have a lot to learn about sabre and much to practice. I was REALLY happy this past Thursday when Tom Ellison swung by and worked with me on Sabre. I actually used some of the things we went over to call forth responses from my opponents and made them react to me instead of the other way round. Perhaps this is how it is to be, me acting the part of the lone ranger going about learning the art of sabre in whatever fashion I can until those sporadic times in which I pick up something new from a sifu. So be it, I know what I can work on, and I'm fairly certain I know how to improve that which I think I need improvement in . . . PARRYING . . . distance . . . fast-twitch actions . . . and of course a new addition, "Rules of Sabre."
The post-tourney dinner was as great as it was last year. It wasn't quite as entertaining due to the lack of Mr. Brown playing with Adrienne's feet or flirting with some blonde who was flirting shamelessly back. Heh, most of it was spent trying to figure out car situations with people. Bishop took people home that night, and that left a number of people displaced. It also raised the question of what time people wanted to leave. I talked with the other drivers and confirming what I already knew to be true, "No one but Al Jay is willing/stupid enough to leave as early as 7:30 the next day." *sighs* Well, so bendeth the Al Jay to the will of the people. Up and ready to go the next morning, the drive back wasn't so bad at all . . . yes, OH YES, did I crash and sleep when I got back home. Ahh, and here's a special thank you to one Mr. Huy Quoc Duong for cooking a magnificent dinner Sunday night for his college family *points the firing squad at the crowd until they cheer as if "they're lives depended on it" (ok, so that was bad, hehehehe)*. Having Thanksgiving Dinner with my roommates was great, and what better way to do it than in front of the TV watching Micheal Moore trash and ridicule something political?
Yesterday wasn't so bad. I had a bio quiz, which wasn't the most horrendous thing in the world, but I DO wish I had gotten a 20/20 on the first quiz , which was the easier of the two. We'll see about this one though, I'm hoping that the people who didn't take the quiz count as nice, fat zeros and help out the curve for those of us who just weren't as smuhrrt the first time around. I did splurge on my fishies and replaced their dead plant with some new ones, a lily-looking plant and an aquatic bulb. They seem to like the new plants and have shown more of their lively colors since the change to their tank was made.
Today wasn't so horrible either . . . hahahahahahah, ok, I lie. Before I went to work I came across Alex and waved. We locked eyes for over 10 seconds and afterwards she just turned and walked away. *sighs* Ah well, what can you do to answer to that? Oddly enough, before that I ran into her roommate, yeah, THAT roommate. Her roommate waved at me and made sure I said, "Hi" before our paths diverged *quirks an eyebrow*. Can I get a WTF? It is possible, though I HIGHLY DOUBT IT, that the roommate was after me. As much as I like the Chris Rock quote, I do not think it applies here. The behavior is most definitely strange to say the least. *looks to the stars* What do you think, Frank? Well, as a sunny side to the growing tale of woe, I did get a compliment from one of the lovelies over at Dos Coyotes. I was eating my lunch when she came over to me and said, "You have such beautiful hair. I just wanted to tell you."
The rest of the day wasn't so bad either, hahahahah, ok, so slightly worse, but hey, it works. The new students at work took to the concepts of fencing with much ease. The girl in the older class has a wonderfully-strong parry, but I'll need to break her of the tendency to attack the blade and not the person. I came back to DFA to find that my buddy Jon made the Junior Olympics!!! GO JON!!! This would be Cali. Jon, not St. Louis Jon. I staggered off to fencing on a high note, thinking of what possibilities lay in store for my young friend, a fellow sabreist mind you. I get to the ARC and what o' what do I see? I see fencers standing outside the ARC telling me that the section where we hold our practices is closed. Can I get another WTF? Well, I try to talk with the Noobs at the desk and see what's up; last spring during finals week we were allowed to use the last basketball court for our practice. I told the guy that, and he said they just couldn't do it. He said it was a liability issue with the basketballs, my response was that they put down the net so that none could pass over. His response was a shrug and a, "I got nothin'" look. Well, as I walk on over to the growing group of fencers, now with Huy and Wendy, who should I see? No, not Alex, another lady from the past, the Sorority chick!!! Yup, there she was in all her splendor, and might I add that Kristen lost weight since the last time I felt inclined to check. Wonderful, just absolutely wonderful, no? It took me a bit of time to put the unwelcome surprise in the back of my mind and back to the problem at hand. I was considering the possibilities thrown at me by the fencers, which included pie (very tempting, but I wanted to get my fencing in, DAMN IT!!!), and decided upon walking back up to the desk in a more forceful way to speak to the guy in the "Box" (the office) instead of the Noobs (don't get me wrong, they're nice noobs, but they're noobs). It was just then that TC showed up and put an end to all of the madness with his "Jedi Mind Trick," charisma, and negotiation skills. *grins* I have much to learn from Mr. Cate; I took mental notes and am determined to use them to my advantage the next time I have to deal with such people. Compose thyself and attack . . . with soothing words, hahahahahahah.
My fencers are situated, all is well, and now all we need is equipment. That was simple enough, no? I gather up the noobling fencers and announce that I'd be making a trip to the armoury to get equipment. We go, we come back, and what do I find? *sighs* More fencers who need equipment. Where do I go? Back to the armoury. I can't fault them, they're quite blameless for coming at the time they did, honestly. So, I get them situated, and on the way back who do I come across but Paul. Does Paul need equipment? *sighs* Yes, and back to the armoury we go. I can't blame Paul, it's not his fault either. Well, it looks as if I'm about to enjoy the practice when I come across a "wardrobe malfunction" that results in yet another trip to the armoury *sighs*. Oh the joys of having the simple knowledge of the combinations to a few locks. It's alright, it's my responsibility to make sure things run smoothly and problems are taken care of. It's my job, and heaven-willing I'll fulfill its requirements. Naw, I don't blame the fencers for needing to get into the armoury. They are simply fencers who need that which lies beyond barriers I am entrusted to keep up. I finally come to the temporary salle after over an hour of running back and forth to find that Huy and Wendy are leaving *frowns*. Awww, well, damn . . . they came to see me fence, and I disappointed them . . . *grins* I'll have to make it up to them. Oh the things I owe to the people I love for the actions I must take; I'm sorry guys. This is all written in retrospect of course, and now that it has had time to sink in perhaps my partially-correct answer of, "Long drive tomorrow" can be combined with the events rehashed here to answer the question of, "So what was up tonight?" I do apologize if I was anything sub-amiable. I'd like to thank Miss Cathy Perata for getting me up to fence after she found at the task of trying to fit a zipper back on when we both knew the zipper wouldn't go back on the jacket. I seriously would have stayed there and tried to fix the jacket for the remainder of the time. Well, as it usually is, Woodstocks served as the means by which I was able to melt the growing snowball of "yuck" that had accumulated throughout the day/week/whatever . . . ooo, how I hate hearing that last word *narrows his eyes at the last word and chants in a long-forgotten tongue to put a curse upon that word*. I'm sick of hearing it. *smiles* Hey Adrienne, how the hell did you manage to not go nuts after all those years of being in charge?
Well, after Woodstocks I went to grab a few things from Safeway. *smiles* Hehehe, I know, I know, I can already hear Rock's commentary in my head. Well, so there was this girl that caught my attention; she looked like she was just wearing a tight sweater-top, with a zipper down the middle. I don't know what you call those things, but she was wearing that and nothing more underneath. I KNOW THEY DON'T POKE OUT THAT MUCH EVEN THROUGH THE THINNER BRAS. I later meet up with her in line and she's leaning over to reach into her cart, where do my eyes go? Yeah, I know, ooo, BAD ALJAY, BAD BAD BAD!!! Well, she looks up to see me looking at that particular part of her anatomy and gives a starteled look. Being that I've already driven the dagger midway into my chest, why not drive it to the hilt? A half-smile forms across my face, and an eyebrow slowly raises. Her response? She removes any doubt in my mind that she's wearing anything underneath by unzipping enough to remain modest but yet show just how immodest she is *laughs*. Well, now that the dagger is in the chest ot the hilt, and it doesn't feel so bad, why not give it a twist? I slowly nod, and speak one word, "Nice." It got a giggle out of her, and she tries to cover her blushing. Come on, the girl's just shown me she's not wearing much, she's probably commando too (yeah, it was either that or a G, and with the revelation on the top, I'm thinking the former), and now she's trying to hide her blush?
*grins widely* Well, there you have it, another, shining example of the ups and downs of the life here in Aljayville. Yes folks, I didn't even try for the girl in Safeway, sometimes just enjoying the eyecandy is enough. I'll find one, or she'll find me. Killer said so, so it has to be true *smiles*. "It is written," to steal a line from Lawrence of Arabia, and I am the one holding the pen. Let the residual bitterness of past affairs poison my days as they will; their sting is fleeting and weaker with each occurence. "The Fool" journeys on, and the ghosts will farther and farther to the wayside 'til they trouble him no longer.
Friday had quite a few surprises between a Physical Chemistry midterm and the drive to SLO. I got home expecting to get some sleep when my phone screams at me that I have voicemail, several of them. I listen to the voicemail, and it's Mom calling and asking me to call her back as soon as possible. *blinks* Mind you this is in the timespan of the hour it took me to take my midterm for P-Chem *shakes his head and goes, "oi, what did I do?"*. I call her up, and she just asks me to run around and do some banking errands for her *shakes his head and goes, "hahahah, whew"*. I'm getting ready to shove off to do the errands so I can get some sleepage when I check my e-mail and 'lo and behold I have something that's not junk!!! I check it to see that Miss Sharon Peterson is in need of equipment. After some AIM talk I get a number from Preston and then get Sharon's measurements *winks* thinking we, as a group, will go grab stuff out of the ARC before we leave. So, now that I've got Mom's errands and Sharon's measurements I bust out the PG&E bill to see how much I write a check out to them for . . . GOD DAMN IT . . . the due date was the 18th, not the 19th (this past Friday when all of this was going on) *sighs*. So I'm just about to leave when Huy comes in and tells me about how he got rear-ended by some guys and how his car trunk is all bent up. I end up talking to him for a bit, because at this point he's a bit hysterical and not thinking quite straight. He goes off to make a few phone calls, and I decide to keep myself free for the next half hour or so in case he needs something. I end up talking with the Elf and making plans for that night when I'll be in SLO when Huy asks if I can drive him to the Police Station. *grins* By this time, my hope for getting in even a half an hour of sleep is dead; no rest for the wicked *smiles*.
I shove off to do everything and after I've dropped Huy off back at our apartment and call my mom about the bank she tells me that Anne (my cousin) has had a baby!!! *blinks* The surprise was from the fact that I had just finished talking with Anne on the phone, and she didn't say a word about her daughter!!! Geezuz, girl!!! Well, off I go to pack all of my stuff when I decide . . . I should eat first; JACK IN THE BOX IT IS!!! The last time I had a meal was the previous day. The PREVIOUS, FUGGIN' DAY!!! Oh yeah, I'm taking gooooood care of da body. Well, I ate my fries, packed up my stuff, and I was off to the U-Mall to pick up my people for the trip. Off we went to SLO and right into traffic on the 80 *smiles* niiiiiice. It gave me a chance to eat my burger and talk more with my fencers. Turns out that the accident was on the other side of the friggin' highway, and the traffic on our side was from where? Survey says: "RUBBERNECKERS!!!" Ah well, the long car ride to SLO was made short by great conversation between Kelly, Preson, Ben and I. Some things are best left unsaid *smiles*.
When we finally got to SLO I called up the Elf and tried getting her to come out to eat dinner with the fencers. We ended up in an Italian restaurant because I suggested we eat some pasta before the tourney; *turns to Kelly just in case she's reading, "Well, she could have picked a color that didn't match her skin or her dress, hehehe"*. I get the call back from Mia saying we could just get together for coffee or something after I tuck all the fencers into bed and whatnot. As I thought it would turn out (I really should have just told her I couldn't do coffee), responsibility took hold when Killer and Annie left to go get snacks and personal plans were put on hold *sighs and mans the fort while watching Cody and Ben do magic tricks*. My snoring didn't wake my hotelmates that night, nor did my early shower, stretching, and meditation affect them at 5:30AM the next day.
After a breakfast at the Cajun Creole place we ate at last year we were on our way to the tourney. I made sure all of the noobs were safely registered while Killer went to go get snacks with Annie *quirks an eyebrow, "Yeah, it caught me by surprise too. I'll just have to make it up to the Elf"*. Then began my long wait for some action on the piste. I floated around to all of the pools where our novices found themselves and got a chance to watch each of them in action for at least a few points; I was a bit partial to the pool where Trevor was *smiles "I miss Trevor!!!"*. The Elf did make it out to the tournament, and I introduced her to the various fencers we came across; she had homework she was putting off doing (lots of it *insert sad face here*) and couldn't stay for very long. *insert sad face here* Yeah, I'll have to find some way to make it up to her the next time both of us find ourselves in the same town, maybe over winter or something *shrugs*.
Sabre pools seemed to form about 5 min. after all the sabreists were suited up and fencing. Yeah, no time for warm-up for me, yay!!! Oh well, straight into the pools it was. The first match was against someone from Reno, and that one I lost. The next 4 matches were against T. Jones (UCSB), Trevor D. (CPSLO), C. Stevens (UCB), and Preston's Twin brother Patrick (CPSLO). *smiles* I came out 4-1 in pools. I spent a bit of time drifting around and watching people fence before the sabre tree came up. I got a bye in the round of 32 and faced off against Samir Qureshi in the round of 16. He would be the guy known as "Slip and Slide," and he's also the guy who was using excessive force at UCSC. During the match I seemed to be the one using excessive force, which I silently chastised myself for and openly apologized to him for. There were only 2 calls in which I had to cock my head to the side and go, "ummm, OK" to. One call was made when I circle 3 parried him and riposted. It left him dejected, me riding on a high, and both of us in disbelief when the director called it in his favor. With that one, it's all in the eyes of the director I suppose. The other was a call that started off with me attacking in one line, then changing over to another line when I saw that his simple counter attack may inadvertantly turn into an attack in opposition or be seen as something of a parry if our blades should cross. Not once did I break my attack by pulling back on the arm, but it was still called in Qureshi's favor. Upon consulting TC and Simon (Pitfield) about this call and going over what the director was saying I feel VINDICATED!!! The touch was mine *smiles*; I just need to look over the sabre rules and be clear about it so that I know how to argue touches when I feel they are called wrongly. In any case, the highlight of the bout was when I got two points in a single touch. He attempted to parry, began slipping ot his knees, gets hit by me, then falls to the floor. Point goes to me for hitting him, and another point goes to me for his unsafe fencing (we both got a yellow for clashing guards). I ended up losing the bout 8-10, but hey, sometimes things just happen like that. Cheer up, kiddo, you played a good game. Sure, it could have been better, but you did well enough. Samir did come up to me during the handshake and thanked me with, "Damn, that was the most intense bout I've had so far." Earlier, Christina Stevens (who beat MacFarland in DE *smiles widely*) was complimenting me on my strong voice and fairness as a referee for our pools *smiles, "YAY!!!"*.
Before summing up the tourney in general, I'd like to thank everyone for joining us this weekend. I can't recall everyone's exact placement, but there will be a list of the results on the club webpage soon. In novice foil Preston and Cody took 5th and 6th, respectively. For foil Mr. Vinnie Carbone (aka V-Love) destroyed Brian Davis (CPSLO) for first place, after which he proceeded to "mount" TC. Annie and George duked it out for third, and George took it. For epee Brian Davis got the shaft from his teammate, with each point scored against him, widening the grin on Eric McDonald's face *whispers, "And everyone else's too"*. In Sabre, George fought for 1st but lost to Sean Graham (CPSLO), a good guy who I'll miss fencing at these tourneys because that he'll be graduating this quarter. Sorry Matt, it's not quite as detailed as your synopsis was. I should have floated around more and garnered more info of the bouts around me. In other news, Miss Wise has shown herself to be quite the temptress *grins* in how she played upon Brian Davis.
I have a lot to learn about sabre and much to practice. I was REALLY happy this past Thursday when Tom Ellison swung by and worked with me on Sabre. I actually used some of the things we went over to call forth responses from my opponents and made them react to me instead of the other way round. Perhaps this is how it is to be, me acting the part of the lone ranger going about learning the art of sabre in whatever fashion I can until those sporadic times in which I pick up something new from a sifu. So be it, I know what I can work on, and I'm fairly certain I know how to improve that which I think I need improvement in . . . PARRYING . . . distance . . . fast-twitch actions . . . and of course a new addition, "Rules of Sabre."
The post-tourney dinner was as great as it was last year. It wasn't quite as entertaining due to the lack of Mr. Brown playing with Adrienne's feet or flirting with some blonde who was flirting shamelessly back. Heh, most of it was spent trying to figure out car situations with people. Bishop took people home that night, and that left a number of people displaced. It also raised the question of what time people wanted to leave. I talked with the other drivers and confirming what I already knew to be true, "No one but Al Jay is willing/stupid enough to leave as early as 7:30 the next day." *sighs* Well, so bendeth the Al Jay to the will of the people. Up and ready to go the next morning, the drive back wasn't so bad at all . . . yes, OH YES, did I crash and sleep when I got back home. Ahh, and here's a special thank you to one Mr. Huy Quoc Duong for cooking a magnificent dinner Sunday night for his college family *points the firing squad at the crowd until they cheer as if "they're lives depended on it" (ok, so that was bad, hehehehe)*. Having Thanksgiving Dinner with my roommates was great, and what better way to do it than in front of the TV watching Micheal Moore trash and ridicule something political?
Yesterday wasn't so bad. I had a bio quiz, which wasn't the most horrendous thing in the world, but I DO wish I had gotten a 20/20 on the first quiz , which was the easier of the two. We'll see about this one though, I'm hoping that the people who didn't take the quiz count as nice, fat zeros and help out the curve for those of us who just weren't as smuhrrt the first time around. I did splurge on my fishies and replaced their dead plant with some new ones, a lily-looking plant and an aquatic bulb. They seem to like the new plants and have shown more of their lively colors since the change to their tank was made.
Today wasn't so horrible either . . . hahahahahahah, ok, I lie. Before I went to work I came across Alex and waved. We locked eyes for over 10 seconds and afterwards she just turned and walked away. *sighs* Ah well, what can you do to answer to that? Oddly enough, before that I ran into her roommate, yeah, THAT roommate. Her roommate waved at me and made sure I said, "Hi" before our paths diverged *quirks an eyebrow*. Can I get a WTF? It is possible, though I HIGHLY DOUBT IT, that the roommate was after me. As much as I like the Chris Rock quote, I do not think it applies here. The behavior is most definitely strange to say the least. *looks to the stars* What do you think, Frank? Well, as a sunny side to the growing tale of woe, I did get a compliment from one of the lovelies over at Dos Coyotes. I was eating my lunch when she came over to me and said, "You have such beautiful hair. I just wanted to tell you."
The rest of the day wasn't so bad either, hahahahah, ok, so slightly worse, but hey, it works. The new students at work took to the concepts of fencing with much ease. The girl in the older class has a wonderfully-strong parry, but I'll need to break her of the tendency to attack the blade and not the person. I came back to DFA to find that my buddy Jon made the Junior Olympics!!! GO JON!!! This would be Cali. Jon, not St. Louis Jon. I staggered off to fencing on a high note, thinking of what possibilities lay in store for my young friend, a fellow sabreist mind you. I get to the ARC and what o' what do I see? I see fencers standing outside the ARC telling me that the section where we hold our practices is closed. Can I get another WTF? Well, I try to talk with the Noobs at the desk and see what's up; last spring during finals week we were allowed to use the last basketball court for our practice. I told the guy that, and he said they just couldn't do it. He said it was a liability issue with the basketballs, my response was that they put down the net so that none could pass over. His response was a shrug and a, "I got nothin'" look. Well, as I walk on over to the growing group of fencers, now with Huy and Wendy, who should I see? No, not Alex, another lady from the past, the Sorority chick!!! Yup, there she was in all her splendor, and might I add that Kristen lost weight since the last time I felt inclined to check. Wonderful, just absolutely wonderful, no? It took me a bit of time to put the unwelcome surprise in the back of my mind and back to the problem at hand. I was considering the possibilities thrown at me by the fencers, which included pie (very tempting, but I wanted to get my fencing in, DAMN IT!!!), and decided upon walking back up to the desk in a more forceful way to speak to the guy in the "Box" (the office) instead of the Noobs (don't get me wrong, they're nice noobs, but they're noobs). It was just then that TC showed up and put an end to all of the madness with his "Jedi Mind Trick," charisma, and negotiation skills. *grins* I have much to learn from Mr. Cate; I took mental notes and am determined to use them to my advantage the next time I have to deal with such people. Compose thyself and attack . . . with soothing words, hahahahahahah.
My fencers are situated, all is well, and now all we need is equipment. That was simple enough, no? I gather up the noobling fencers and announce that I'd be making a trip to the armoury to get equipment. We go, we come back, and what do I find? *sighs* More fencers who need equipment. Where do I go? Back to the armoury. I can't fault them, they're quite blameless for coming at the time they did, honestly. So, I get them situated, and on the way back who do I come across but Paul. Does Paul need equipment? *sighs* Yes, and back to the armoury we go. I can't blame Paul, it's not his fault either. Well, it looks as if I'm about to enjoy the practice when I come across a "wardrobe malfunction" that results in yet another trip to the armoury *sighs*. Oh the joys of having the simple knowledge of the combinations to a few locks. It's alright, it's my responsibility to make sure things run smoothly and problems are taken care of. It's my job, and heaven-willing I'll fulfill its requirements. Naw, I don't blame the fencers for needing to get into the armoury. They are simply fencers who need that which lies beyond barriers I am entrusted to keep up. I finally come to the temporary salle after over an hour of running back and forth to find that Huy and Wendy are leaving *frowns*. Awww, well, damn . . . they came to see me fence, and I disappointed them . . . *grins* I'll have to make it up to them. Oh the things I owe to the people I love for the actions I must take; I'm sorry guys. This is all written in retrospect of course, and now that it has had time to sink in perhaps my partially-correct answer of, "Long drive tomorrow" can be combined with the events rehashed here to answer the question of, "So what was up tonight?" I do apologize if I was anything sub-amiable. I'd like to thank Miss Cathy Perata for getting me up to fence after she found at the task of trying to fit a zipper back on when we both knew the zipper wouldn't go back on the jacket. I seriously would have stayed there and tried to fix the jacket for the remainder of the time. Well, as it usually is, Woodstocks served as the means by which I was able to melt the growing snowball of "yuck" that had accumulated throughout the day/week/whatever . . . ooo, how I hate hearing that last word *narrows his eyes at the last word and chants in a long-forgotten tongue to put a curse upon that word*. I'm sick of hearing it. *smiles* Hey Adrienne, how the hell did you manage to not go nuts after all those years of being in charge?
Well, after Woodstocks I went to grab a few things from Safeway. *smiles* Hehehe, I know, I know, I can already hear Rock's commentary in my head. Well, so there was this girl that caught my attention; she looked like she was just wearing a tight sweater-top, with a zipper down the middle. I don't know what you call those things, but she was wearing that and nothing more underneath. I KNOW THEY DON'T POKE OUT THAT MUCH EVEN THROUGH THE THINNER BRAS. I later meet up with her in line and she's leaning over to reach into her cart, where do my eyes go? Yeah, I know, ooo, BAD ALJAY, BAD BAD BAD!!! Well, she looks up to see me looking at that particular part of her anatomy and gives a starteled look. Being that I've already driven the dagger midway into my chest, why not drive it to the hilt? A half-smile forms across my face, and an eyebrow slowly raises. Her response? She removes any doubt in my mind that she's wearing anything underneath by unzipping enough to remain modest but yet show just how immodest she is *laughs*. Well, now that the dagger is in the chest ot the hilt, and it doesn't feel so bad, why not give it a twist? I slowly nod, and speak one word, "Nice." It got a giggle out of her, and she tries to cover her blushing. Come on, the girl's just shown me she's not wearing much, she's probably commando too (yeah, it was either that or a G, and with the revelation on the top, I'm thinking the former), and now she's trying to hide her blush?
*grins widely* Well, there you have it, another, shining example of the ups and downs of the life here in Aljayville. Yes folks, I didn't even try for the girl in Safeway, sometimes just enjoying the eyecandy is enough. I'll find one, or she'll find me. Killer said so, so it has to be true *smiles*. "It is written," to steal a line from Lawrence of Arabia, and I am the one holding the pen. Let the residual bitterness of past affairs poison my days as they will; their sting is fleeting and weaker with each occurence. "The Fool" journeys on, and the ghosts will farther and farther to the wayside 'til they trouble him no longer.