Ed Olimpo is the best party buddy ever made.

Last night- I get to Christen's a little after 9. Had a hard time finding house because, what? Her horrible ex, Ryan, had the electricity shut off on her. Didn't matter- she had lanterns and battery operated lights, and with some juice from the neighbors, the basement was completely alight and blasting pop 80s music.
I must say, I was very impressed with Rob, Rob, and Ed- Rob M. was a zombie, but he literally looked like he walked off of the Shaun of the Dead set. Rob D. was the dick-in-a-box guy, which he pulled off crazy well. Ed, oh, man. Ed was the chalk outline from a homicide. Most original thing I have ever seen on Halloween. He was wearing all black, and outlining his body was masking tape. It was crazy good!
After being a sucky partner at flip-cup, which I had never played until last night, Christen dressed me up as Cindy Lauper. I did not fit into the skirt of shoes, but I did wear the rest of the outfit, because I love her dearly. I took it off when Ed and I migrated to Brew Works to meet Chris K., Jen, Rice, and some other people. I had to laugh- Jen was wearing the same thing she wore at the last Halloween party I saw her at. Which, I am pretty sure, was 4 years ago. She pulls off pirate wench better than any other woman I know.
We had a little bit of an issue at Brew Works- Manoj and my cohorts apparently had a falling out before, so a few people didn't end up coming to Club Grooove with us.
Oh, Club Grooove.....I hadn't been there since it was Club Red. Yeah, I danced my ass off. Chris K. wandered off, ending up at Friends, where Jen ended up, as well. Ed and I danced the night away, until we got way too sweaty. I love dancing to salsa and hip hop, which might seem odd, because I'm more of a punk-folk-jazz girl, but those beats......these hips were made to dance.
Interesting point of the evening- I was dancing, and this girl I had met at the Brew Works was dancing in front of me, which honestly, whatever, people dance, but, she said hi, and I said, hi, my name is Kit, and she said something back, which I thought was a mispronunciation of "Kit", but it wasn't, it was a compliment, and then I felt awkward. REGARDLESS. Ed is crazy fun to dance with, as is Chris H. and Lauren V. Awesome!!!
So, from Grooove, we headed on to Friends, where Chris and Jen were. They were at capacity, which was fine, so we planned on heading to the Home Plate to meet up with Carlson and Liam. Jen went home, and Chris followed us to the Plate.
Morty was flashing last cal when we pulled up, and the Plate was full of the usual suspects- Liam and Jarrett and Frank, Carlson, Sprague and Derek, and a bunch of typical 20 somethings. Didn't see Belland, which was sad, but soon. We rounded up the crew and gave them directions back to Christen's as it was only 2, and the party was still raging forth, which I had discovered when Rob sent me a text saying "Come back! Beer pong!"
Upon arriving back to Christen's, with Chris K. in tow, Ed was the chalk outline of the party. Ha. That was supposed to be a joke. Becky Kelly was there, as was Lindsey Robitaille, both awesome. Becky and I partnered up for beer pong, and we conquered. See, I never really got to play beer pong in school, so, playing it makes me feel like I'm picking up what I missed out on. Unfortunately, the first round I had played, I was scolded because I wasn't drinking, and it is a drinking game. Oops.
We laughed and drank and had a fun time. In the end, Rob D. drove me home, and we sat outside of my house and talked for a long time. That kid, honestly, I don't know how he isn't married, with kids. He's a true blue guy, but it seems like girls don't really give him the chance. That, or they walk all over him. I've witnessed the latter.
Viking hat atop my head, I walked into my house after 6 a.m. and proceeded to make coffee and breakfast. Pop came down and we had a lengthy discussion, AGAIN, about me going to Nablus. He really is trying to understand, and I can appreciate that, but I don't want to have the same conversation every day until I leave.
Hmmm. Yeah, that about wraps it up. Smitty, surprisingly, was in town last night, dressed in blue and red (I think) bubble wrap. So many people I haven't seen in a while, yet I still felt like there was someone missing from the whole evening.
Haha.....oh, Halloween. Pretty sure last night was the first Halloween that I wasn't THE designated driver. Yes. Yes. In the last 4 years. UHmazing.

Playlist in the spirit of not being hungover, having a blast, and Ed and Christen enjoying my anise cookies.

SNL- Dick-in-a-box
Aaliyah- I Miss You
Outkast- Hey Ya
Madonna- Like a Prayer
Cyndi Lauper- Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Radiohead- High and Dry
Def Leppard- Love Bites
Kris Delmhorst- Blue Adeline
Paramore covering Kings of Leon- Use Somebody
Julia Nunes covering Del Amitri- Tell Her This

All Hallow's Eve.....Eve.

I made a ton of anise cookies for Christen's party- enough, in fact, that I think I may deliver some to Shani and Amelia if I can get downtown.

Tonight is all about Halloween, I suppose. Not thinking I was actually going to go anywhere this Friday night, I didn't really plan out a costume. Still, I have many options, just in my wardrobe. With my scrubs and stethescope, I can be an intern. With my leather jacket and motorcycle boots, I can be a biker. With my suspenders and some hair gel, I can be a punk rocker.

It's rather odd when things you wear/wore almost every day can be considered Halloween costumes.
In other news, there is a small bat sleeping (seemingly) on the small of my back. Also, not actually sure if the bat is small, it just looks smaller than most of the bats we have around here. Note to self: either clean the chimney out or seal it off.

The Shondes- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Guess who's going to Gaza?

That's right- March through August. Woot!

I need to review a bunch of material they sent me, but I thought I'd lead off with a playlist:

Beulah- Popular Mechanics for Lovers
Dios Malos- You Got Me All Wrong
Sufjan Stevens- To Be Alone With You

OK, well, that was short, but the last song led me to some weird brain association. I know other people do this, but look at me insanely when I try to explain it- like, you could see a license plate with the letter T in it and think of a dog you had when you were little who was tied up to a laundry rope stand shaped like a t, and in turn that dog makes you think about growing up, people you hung out with in high school, college, and unintentionally, makes you single one of those people out with memories separate from the original thought.
It makes sense, I swear.
So, Sufjan Stevens made me think of Super-Jess which made me think of concerts in Northampton which led to thinking about LP hunting with Abby which made me think of living on Bartlett Ave. in Pittsfield which made me think of Rach who had just texted me, which sort of threw me for a loop and made me think of Diana Krall which made me think of concerts again, which led me back to Super-Jess. A complete thought, and all within a second. Words make it take longer.

ANYway. I got pretty tired of the learning software that came today. Seriously wishing you could learn Arabic and Hebrew through osmosis. Just had a lengthy chat with Liam, which he made about my love/lack of a love life. Haha. He's like a boxing coach......always in my corner, trying to psych me up for the match. I love him to pieces, but we don't really see eye to eye on the whole...I personally don't want to just sleep with people thing. I mean, props to people who can, and hey, maybe I'm defective, but I just can't swing like that.

Again, I stray from my main topic, which is Palestine, and my future involvement of living in an occupied state. I will be flying into Tel Aviv on March 15th, and returning at the beginning of September. I'm pretty terrified of flash grenades and tear gas, or at least the prospect of it. It's time, though. I've been bitching and preaching about Gaza long enough. Ever since Lana was killed, I've eased up, but when I found this program , I knew what I had to do. After two applications and three phone interviews, I heard about my acceptance this past Monday. I can't even start to explain how good I feel about this.

Haha, regardless of live fire and bombs and curfew and godknowswhatelse I read in the handbook. Probably will post snippets of the handbook on here, it gets amusing. Like, here, a snippet, then a snippet playlist.

Number 6 is pretty hilarious. I had to post it on Facebook, too. In case you can't read it, it says:
"It is best not to wear sandals. You will be walking over rocks and broken glass and Molotov cocktails usually burst into flames on the ground."
I think this is funny for several reasons- a) it is the Holy Land, and you can't wear sandals. B) The fact that they are nixing sandals because of Molotov cocktails. I find it amusing.

Oh, dear. Time for music.
Tom Jones covering Prince- Kiss

OK, admit it, that song was funny enough.

Personal

hahaha....oh, nat.

Writer's block and leftover love songs

Blurgh.
I just played guitar for the last two hours, and nothing, yes, NOTHING new came out of my fingertips. Also, nothing new came out of me. At all. Honestly, if you gave me something silly to write a song about, I could do it. I'm good with rhymes, times, things like that, whatever, no problem. If I actually try to do as other people do, and write from my head or heart, it's so much more difficult. It's almost painful to feel so many things and not be able to get them out.

I learned how to play "Oh, It Is Love" by Hellogoodbye and just played a ton of Elliott (who is currently playing on my iTunes). The earlier version of Miss Misery (New Moon) is pretty excellent. Le sigh.....what else?

Oh, haha. So, yesterday was my birthday. I was all pumped to have cooking night with Super Jess, but rainchecked on that so I could be around for A-dog. A-dog went far, far away. I ended up going to the Forge with Caitlin, and ended up participating in the keg toss. The place was a little too crowded for my liking, and Cait's, so we spent most of it outside. All in all, an alright day, but still sad not to having baking time. I am such a freak.

Tomorrow is Monday? Why does that seem weird? I really wish it were next Monday....I need to get my car fixed, and am slightly relieved to be getting away for a few days. Granted, I'm now booked solid for my entire duration of Boston happy funtimes, but hey. Whatever. And I get to move in with Parker next Tuesday! Nice. Again, blurgh, as my arm is very sore, and I am cranky, and honestly, why do people text me when they see Libby out at a club? It is not a surprising thing that she is there, and also, I do not live in Rochester or Boston or Brooklyn, so what the hell do I care? I don't mean to sound heartless, but I don't want to hear about her. Really. She has opted to not be a part of my life, and not being part of my life means, you know. Not. Blecch.

I'm going to stop whining and make a playlist now. Yeah? Yeah. Also.......still in some trouble.
(I decided to start linking to YouTube because IMEEM requires a membership.)

Hellogoodbye- Oh, It Is Love
10cc- I'm Not in Love
Barry White- Can't Get Enough of Your Love
Vivian Green- No Sittin' By the Phone
Phish covering ZZ Top- Jesus Left Chicago
Louis XIV- Air Traffic Control
Spacehog- In the Meantime
Everclear- Santa Monica
Green Day- Pulling Teeth
Julia Nunes- L-O-V-E


Oh, Julia. Yay! Didn't even notice that she had that up around Valentine's Day.

The night may not be young, but I am.

Can I just swerve away from the normal banter that I usually start carrying on and just express how much I love dogs? I went to Caitlin's house last night, and her dog- a 4 1/2 year old rescued pit bull that endured Hurricane Katrina- made me remember just how much I do, indeed, love dogs. They want to play, have their bellies rubbed, and yeah, they might poop on the carpet because of separation anxiety, but they are dogs- it happens. You pick it up, clean the floor, and hang out with your dog. Love dogs.

Anyway. The service for Allison's mother was this evening. She seemed surprised to see me there. How could I not be there? Maybe she just thought I didn't know. I didn't want to leave her, she said she didn't know half of the people there, and her father showed up, which is awkward, because her mother was not even close to a fan of him, nor was she. I know she is a strong person, but I also know what it's like to go through that, and yeah, you can be strong, but it's still going to wreck you. She said she was feeling numb, which makes perfect sense. I just wish I could do something more proactive for her. She is a really great person, and like I said before, her mother raised her, so she gets credit, too. When the alternator in my car went today, I burst into tears. I was angry. Not about the car- that is just annoying. I was angry that this happens, and yes, I understand that we have the cycle of life and death, and it is better for people to die when they are suffering than to live just to make other people not feel the loss just yet. But anger- not my strongest suit, and only apparent in grieving- struck hard today. Anger toward cancer, anger toward the inevitable bad things happening to good people. It isn't directed at any person or entity, it just is what it is; anger. A frustration with life, because sometimes life is what seems to be unfair. Anger that this is happening in Allison's life.

I didn't know what to say, other than an awkward happy birthday. Really good to see her, sadly because of this. Maybe I can make her some cannoli or pizelle, or we can go on a cocoa run. I don't know. Nothing will help, but at least it won't hurt any more?

What else. Hmm. Didn't sleep much last night. At all. Really. I saw my doctor yesterday- she was very helpful in trying to get me into another Neurology office, but in Springfield. Yikes. 45 minutes from Lee. She is very supportive, I like her- she talks to me like I am a peer, which, I suppose, isn't exactly professional, but still nice. She also told me that she sent my records to my recruiter- which, also, obviously, I am having second and third thoughts about......I told Caitlin about it, and she countered me with volunteering in Haiti. I am not opposed to going with her to Haiti, but her saying that reminded me of my application for volunteer work in the West Bank, which I appreciate. Sometimes, I lose sight of things. Maybe I will go to Haiti next year.

Rawr. So. Yeah. Still haven't rid myself of crushing. But that's OK. I'll just mask it with....a good playlist.
Music is proverbial duct tape.

The Beta Band- Dry the Rain
Billie Holiday- Let's Call a Heart a Heart
Nina Simone- I Want A Little Sugar in My Bowl
No and the Maybes- Monday
City and Colour- Sleeping Sickness
The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles the Robots Part 1
Ben Harper- She's Only Happy in the Sun
Gossip- Swing Low
Howling Bells- Cities Burning Down Again
Jennifer Gentle- I Do Dream You

Awesome, it's half past midnight. I am officially 26 years old. Awkward.

Interconnectivity and death?

I just read this maybe ten minutes ago.

Linda Lee Gomes
Linda Lee Gomes 1952 - 2009 PITTSFIELD Linda Lee Gomes, 57, of 100 Ryan Road in the Town of Washington, died Saturday, Oct. 17, at her home, surrounded by her loving family. Before moving to Washington two years ago, she had lived in Pittsfield. Born in Pittsfield, March 18, 1952, daughter of Evelyn Rheaume Cormier and the late Ernest Cormier, she was educated in Pittsfield schools. Mrs. Gomes was employed by Crane & Co., Inc., as an assembler in the Specialty Stationery Department in North Adams for eight years, leaving that position two years ago due to ill health. She enjoyed traveling and bird watching. Besides her mother of Pittsfield, Mrs. Gomes leaves a daughter, Allison L. Gomes of New York City; a sister, Sheila Darling and her husband, Mickey, of N.C.; six brothers, Richard Cormier and his wife, Jan, of Becket, David Cormier and his wife, Sandy, with whom Mrs. Gomes resided, Larry Cormier and his wife, Cindy, of Hinsdale, Thomas Cormier of Pittsfield, Philip Cormier of Pittsfield, and Daniel Cormier of Adams. FUNERAL NOTICE: Funeral services will be Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m., at DERY-FOLEY FUNERAL HOME, with the Rev. Charles F. Young, Chaplain of HospiceCare in the Berkshires, officiating. Calling hours will precede the service from 4 to 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Mrs. Gomes may be made to American Cancer Society or to HospiceCare in the Berkshires, both in care of the funeral home, 890 East Main Street, Dalton.

I discovered this tragedy because Allison and I have the same birthday. I decided to go to her Facebook page to leave her a little Happy Birthday message, and saw that a tragedy had occurred. I was also looking at the dates and ages and things....so strange. Same age as mama when she died, same illness, and she died on mama's birthday. Just reading it over, my eyes well up with tears. It might be a grieving thing, but when someone loses a parent or a child, I generally get very angry- or what I assume anger is, which is unharnessed hatred that is not directed at anyone. I do understand that there needs to be birth and death, I really do, but when the death part comes, it always feels so unfair. Not always, that is a lie- sometimes it seems like the right time. But even when I've seen people suffering, I couldn't help but to selfishly hope they would live just a bit longer, because the idea of losing them had always been unthinkable.

Allison is very bright, very wonderful. She is living in Brooklyn still, she found a nice studio. She's a really good person. And I don't just mean that off-handedly, I mean, she is a really GOOD person. The sort of person that you wish the world had no negative effect on, ever, at all, even if it helps them learn things, because she really is that good of a person.

She was her mother's only child. It was just the two of them. Always. I remember when we were in high school and they lived in Williamstown, whenever I would ring the house I could never tell them apart.

I don't know what else to say. I can definitely make a playlist in her memory, though.

(not linking anything, as it's late)
Carly Simon- The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
Jeff Buckley- Last Goodbye
Procol Harum- Whiter Shade of Pale
Deadeye Dick- Marguerite
The Decemberists- Yankee Bayonet
Ben Lee- Gamble Everything For Love
Kate Havnevik- Unlike Me (acapella version)
Colin Hay- I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You
Elliott Smith- Let's Get Lost
The Beach Boys- In My Room
Elton John- Goodbye Norma Jean
Lionel Ritchie- Lady