lunch

I don't typically post more than once a day, and definitely not within an hour but I just proved myself to be a loser once again and felt the need to share.

I went to lunch in the dining hall during peak hours which I have never done because I am usually working. To say the least this was the first time I actually have seen the dining hall full, I was beginning to think there were not enough students on campus to fill up half the seats.
So there was a long line for the main food so I decided to just make myself a sandwich.
The sandwich bar is in the center of the dining hall and it just so happens the football coaches were sitting at the table directly beside it. When I first noticed I said "hello" to everyone then proceeded to make my sandwich. When the football coaches are in full force they fill up a whole table, that was the case today so I felt like I couldn't sit with them. So I walked away, got some salad and found a nice quiet table in the corner of the dining hall. Once I sat down I realized my mistake.
I was sitting at the table that faces the tray return. Everyone, upon finishing their meal had to walk by me and then face me as they left.
I felt committed to the spot. To get up now and scan the full dining hall for an empty seat seemed even more embarrassing. I had to just face the crowds and awkwardly smile when ever eye contact was made.

Then one of the football coaches dropped of his dishes and asked me why I didn't sit with them. I told him the table was full so I didn't think there was room. He told me they would make room next time and to just sit with them. That's when I realized I was a bigger tool than I had thought. He was right, I could just ask to squeeze in.
Then another football coach walked by to drop off his dishes and I tried to make eye contact to say hello on his voyage there and back with no success and I feel that he was avoiding eye contact because it is near impossible to not notice me sitting there.
Now I wonder, did I offend the football coaches. Have I avoided sitting with them one too many times and now they think I am a snob? A northerner with no manners. How do I explain without making a big deal of it and sounding awkward that I am not a snob, I am just awkward and make big deals out of nothing?

okc

I was considering keeping this one as one of the deep, dark secrets of my existence but then ultimately decided that it was humorous enough to be added to this blog.

I have joined okcupid. Embarrassing. I mean, maybe it's not as embarrassing as I assume it to be but it is one of those taboo subjects in our culture.
On-line dating, although it has become a far more common practice, is really only accepted by those who use on-line dating.
At this point I would like to throw out a disclaimer. I don't want a relationship, I don't plan on getting a boyfriend and I'm not going to go on and message all these random people.
So the question is, why am I using it at all?
I don't know.
Does entertainment purposes qualify as a good reason to use an on-line dating site? Not that I am sitting at my computer laughing at all these "potential suitors" (though I am laughing at some) it is entertaining enough to just look through random peoples profiles. It's like having access to the facebook profiles of strangers and then having an easy means to compare them to your own.

I can't really knock it. I know enough people who have used it and some who have found success on it, so whose to say I should be ducking my head in shame. In fact, I welcome all who care to look (and laugh) at my profile to go ahead and do so. My name is hairinthewind.

Angry Elves

In an attempt to stay connected with friends from home I do spend some time in g-mail chat here and there. Last night I was having a couple nice little g-chats when my conversation with one Lauryn Serratore revealed that my blog may be giving people the wrong impression.
For those who aren't aware, I also go by the name Animal but just last night I was informed by Lauryn that after reading my blog, she believed that Angry Elf was better suited to me.

According to Lauryn, who I doubt has any real expertise in elf mythology, all my entries on this blog are sad and more reflective of an elf than an animal.

Let's break this down a bit and see exactly why it makes no sense.

a. Physique. Clearly, standing at approximately 5'10" I drastically exceed the average height of a typical elf. Exception being only to that of the Elves of Middle Earth from Lord Of the Rings yet even than the only elf race I am comparable to is the Noldor race and despite sharing their good looks and dark hair, I am too tan and my ears are not pointy enough to really be considered one of their own.
b. Emotional Status. I assure you that my opinions and emotions have changed very little since my arrival in Georgia. Although I didn't write a blog back home I am sure if I did it would be filled with just as many satirical entries about the futility of my life.

So, just to clarify, it may sound as if I have a pathetic existence since moving down to Georgia but I assure you my life was just as pathetic back home when people called me Animal so I see no need for a name change.

Contemplations on making friends

There is an uncomfortable uncertainty whenever entering into a new relationship. I feel like this uncertainty is even greater when entering a friendship than when entering a romantic relationship because at least when entering a romantic relationship it can be assumed that there is at the very least a physical attraction. With friends you really have to ask yourself, "why does this person even like me?"

And I have to be completely honest with myself and accept the fact that the majority of friends I make down here are going to be friends of circumstance. We will become friends purely because it is convenient for both our lives and no one likes to be alone. Because of this I find myself entering friendships with a bit more trepidation. This means, in the name of making friends, I find myself "watering down" my personality a bit; making it a bit more "people friendly" if you will.

It's not that I am not confident that I am completely awesome, because I am, but it is more of an issue of trying to appease the masses. At home I can just be my bad ass self and those who enjoy that stick around and those who don't... well, don't. Down here I don't have a base group of friends and to develop such a group I need to make myself marketable to as many people as possible.

This means a few things. First, I find myself using unnecessary exclamation points and smiley faces far more often while texting. I believe this makes people feel as if I am a warm and upbeat person, thus more friendable.
I also find myself being more active on facebook with friending new people and commenting on their lives. I feel this shows people that I am actively interested in their lives and I believe that is what people look for in a friend.
Lastly in the process of becoming more marketable, I literally just have to watch what I say. I down play any enjoyment I may have once gotten from alcohol or unsavory substances in the event that one does not agree with such practices. I do not make satirical comments on why most people in this world suck in the event that one is related to or friends with one of these sucky people and of course, above all, I limit the conversations I have regarding my sorted past in the event that one does not want to be friends with a complete fuck.

A little dinner here, a little rant there

I went to dinner with my roommate. This was the first time we have ever gone to the dinning hall together. To be honest, I think she only came with me because I said I would go to the free ice cream event with her but only after I had dinner. I actually think she ate like an hour prior to going to dinner and to tell the truth, so did I. In retrospect, I don't know why we went to dinner, we clearly should have just gone to the ice cream event.

All that aside, the reason dinner is of any importance is because while I was at dinner with one friend, another friend texted me to see if I wanted to go to dinner. Can you imagine that? Little old me with multiple dinner partner possibilities. My heart was just as full as my tummy.

After dinner, me and the old roommate headed back to the dorm for a bit of puzzle time. She recently acquired a set of puzzles featuring favorite Disney characters. Tonight we began a sweet little puzzle featuring Mickey and Minnie at a romantic dinner. Very charming.

*Edit* So apparently my mom reads this blog... I'll have to block that one.... but she tattled to my dad that I was trash talking education and my dad is making me take it down. That is my life.

The Farmville debate

So last night Kayla and Torri invited me over for taco night. Erika and Matt, two of the trainers at LaGrange, were also in attendance making this my biggest social event of the season.

Tacos were good, and the company was entertaining. You better believe I got two more facebook friends out of the night.

Then... the unthinkable came up. I don't know what brought the matter up, perhaps it couldn't be avoided, but the subject of farmville and country life (two facebook games) came up. I was being told to pick sides. I was being persuaded to join. Is this the cost of friendship? Does a game as such count as socializing? Do I join one of these games to strengthen the bonds with my new friends?

Well the question goes out to you. I've created a poll. Should I join one of these said games of should I continue my blissful existence? (see poll to right of blog)

how to loose friends and alienate people

It has been an eventful weekend; a roller coaster of emotions.

Friday night was a bust as you might have read in my last post or on my facebook wall but Saturday took the cake.

It started all well and good. I represented the athletics department at a visitation day for seniors in high school. While there, a handsome English professor came over and introduced himself. We shook hands, exchanged pleasantries and I felt the need for some reason to shake his hand again. I just stuck out my hand and he looked a bit confused but shook my hand again. At the time I didn't consider how strange it was for me to shake hands with him twice in a matter of 3 minutes but in retrospect I have to admit, I am a fuckin' weirdo. Anyways... I just found him on facebook and I'm going to friend request him because why the hell not.

After the visitation day I had to go take the my boss' dog for a walk. She had a volleyball tournament in Kentucky and left early Friday morning and wouldn't be back till late Saturday night. All I had to do was go over, walk the dog, give her a little food and put her back in the crate.
That seemed too simple. The powers of be thought, "How can we make this task more difficult for Adrienne?"
I'll tell you how. I lost the dog. I opened the door and like a jack ass I turned my back to the dog for one second and she bolted out the door. I tried getting her and she ran further away. I tried to sneak up behind her and flush her towards the house but in the process I lost sight of her. At the same moment my boss called asking me how it was going. I considered lying. Old honesty won out though and I had to fess up that I just lost her dog. She started crying. My mind started running a million miles a minute, "fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..."
The assistant softball coach came over to help me look for her. We walked and drove around the neighborhood for two hours.
Finally my boss' boyfriend, who lives in Alabama and had to drive an hour to get there, showed up. We drove around for two hours. I finally had to leave because it was dark and I had to return the car I was borrowing.
I was positive that I was going to be heading back to MA because there was no way I was going to be able to work here after loosing my boss' dog, but alas, nearing 11 o'clock I got a call. The dog was found, my future was saved. Way to go me.

Come Sunday and I am working at the deli. One of my least favorite parts of working at the deli is the owners baby. He is always there and us waitresses always have to entertain him to keep him from crying. I suppose there are worse babies out there, more demanding babies who cry more, but to me, not being an owner of any such babies, any crying in a baby is too much crying in a baby. I was on my own today so I had to do the entertaining myself.
I was getting kind of fed up with it. He was whimpering and making baby noises just to get my attention. It annoyed me. Well, discomfort breeds inspiration.
I discovered the best way to keep a child from crying.

Adrienne's Guide to Child Care

Lesson One: When A child wants senseless attention

Step One: Turn baby away so you are no longer in its line of sight.
Step Two: There is no step two. If the kid can't see you, it doesn't know you're there and wont try to annoy you.

Pity Party

This is basically a list of grievances and this blog was never meant to be a place for me to bitch and moan unless it was about my lack of friends, but since there is no news about my friend progress and I have no friends down here to bitch and moan to, I am going to just do it here.

I am not one to believe in karma but I have to wonder if today has just been good and evil balancing itself out.
It all started yesterday. Good things were happening. My dad said he was going to see the car he wants to buy my tomorrow. LaGrange is letting me be "chaperon" to two students when they go to a NCAA conference in Orlando, FL in October. I got Saturday off. The head coach is letting me use her car for the weekend. All good things that seemed to just fall into place.
Then today began.

10:30: I go to work. I do a bunch of shit while the other waitress just stands there doing nothing (typical).
11:55: Other waitress repeatedly takes my tables, despite me seating them and getting their drink orders. she is too busy with all her tables to clear off her tables/get refills on drinks for her tables/bring food out to tables so I end up doing it for her. she later talks about making $32 in tips, I make $12.

2:00: day continues to suck.

2:30: other waitress leaves without cleaning up (typical). I sweep up and make sure everything is good to go for dinner.
2:40: Talk to boss about when I will get paid. boss says i wont get paid for another week since I have only worked two weeks. I have been working since the last week in august. She disagrees, says I have been only working two weeks. I disagree, I am sure I have been working since last week of august. Boss says she is too tired/dizzy to talk about it anymore and she will figure it out later (I pretend to believe her)

3:30: I go home and eat a late lunch early dinner, the cafeteria has not had potato salad for the past week. I am disappointed.

5:46: I get a call, "please come to the deli, I need to go do stuff and I need you to be here if anyone comes in". I'm a sucker and I go in. I get three parties. One large group and two small groups. I manage fine.
7:30: Boss comes back in time to ring the large group out. My other two parties are almost done eating.
7:45: Boss hands me a stack of 1,000 fliers for the deli and tells me to go put them on car windows and that she'll pay me $8/hr and that she wants it done now so I have to leave. Spend an hour (and no more than an hour because I know I wont get compensated for 15 minutes extra) being that dick who puts fliers on peoples cars.
9:00: Get back, both parties are gone, I don't get any tips from them.

we spend about an hour and a half doing absolutely nothing. ask myself "why am i here?"

10:30: party of two comes in, take order, serve food, check-up on them.
10:45: party of two not done yet, boss tells me to go home. I try to linger so I can get my tip if they leave one. boss shoes me away. Go home without tips.

11:00: mad men episode I started downloading before I left was interrupted and never completed. no longer have show to watch.

11:30: check e-mails. Taylor Fuckin Nissi from Gamebreaker Lacrosse Camps has e-mailed me to ask me why there was an extra girl on the roster who didn't pay for camp. Taylor Fuckin Nissi is the same fuck who told me to invite girls to come for free just so we can have more girls. Taylor Fuckin Nissi wants the girl to pay now. Adrienne thinks Taylor Fuckin Nissi can shove it up his ass.

12:00: Fuck this shit, I'm going to bed.

12:05: Roommate, fiance and friends come back and decide now is the time to play mexican train and talk loudly in Spanish.

12:45: I fuckin hate everything/one. menstrual cycle soon to follow. need to sleep in but have to wake up early for visitation day on campus. everything sucks.

third wheel

So I've resided to the fact that this weekend I will be the third wheel, and not just any third wheel, a foreign third wheel.

My roommates fiance from Mexico arrived this afternoon and is spending the weekend with us. Now, my roommate is totally awesome and her fiance seems to be wicked cool as well, but he doesn't really speak English and I don't really speak Spanish.

My roommate has made it clear that I am more than welcome to hang out with them the whole weekend but I have to wonder if I want to be that person. First in that equation is being the third wheel. Who ever wants to be the third wheel?

I remember back in high school being the third wheel on new years eve.
Try to imagine that one. Adrienne in her most awkward years sitting on a couch with her friend and her friends boyfriend waiting for the ball to drop. Then imagine the ball dropping and the couple kissing and Adrienne sitting there cuddled up with a dog as her only companion. The real sad part of the story was that the evening was supposed to be a double date of sorts but being the awkward person that I am, I didn't speak to my boyfriend (literally was too awkward to ever say more than a few words to him) and I just assumed that he knew to be there because my friend was dating his best friend and I thought the plans were relayed to him. Anyways, point of story, I could have avoided being the third wheel if I wasn't so awkward. Now I am grown up and slightly less awkward so perhaps I don't have to put myself in this situation. Being the third wheel is just a bit sad.

Add the fact that I can't speak their language and not only is it sad, but its just a challenge. Just earlier evening when I got home I was able to communicate a simple greeting but was left totally dumbfounded when I got his reply. My roommate had to act as translator. This went on for the next hour, everything spoken in Spanish and getting translated into English for those who didn't try hard enough in high school Spanish class.

It's one thing to be a third wheel but to need everything translated just makes me a stick in the mud.

Fan Mail

After popular demand for me to get an address so people can send what I can only assume is fan mail, I headed to the post office and got myself a box.

My adoring fans can now send letters of appreciation to me at:

LaGrange College
Campus Box 882
601 Broad St.
LaGrange, GA 30240

Love my life

so it's Tuesday night which means I'm in my room procrastinating about doing any homework for my class tomorrow.

this means I will spending a lot of time on facebook.

Earlier today I friend requested three people. count 'em, one-two-three. Now those request are still waiting in limbo for confirmation, but who wouldn't want to accept my friendship?

So far my total of facebook friends from LaGrange is at a staggering four. Actually five if you count the random person who friend requested me and I accepted because I thought they were someone else. Add the three friend requests from this afternoon and I am getting dangerously close to double digits. Watch out world, here I come.

In other news, I was sitting by myself at dinner yesterday (obviously) when one of the football coaches came in and asked to sit with me. The football coaches typically travel as a pack so it is a rare to see one by themselves. I made my best effort to be a friendly person and went so far as to stay sitting after I was done with my food to talk while he finished his dinner. A big step for the girl who used to excuse herself to go sit alone her dorm. So we were chatting as we put our plates away and heading for the door and he stops, only I don't realize and continue walking and chatting. Low and behold, 6 steps later, I realize he is no longer next to me.

Love my life.

I'm slightly an asshole, ever so slightly

On Saturday LaGrange had this local country band come and perform out on the res-quad. They served dinner out side, and offered a rock climb and a bungee jump thing and all in all made for a nice Saturday evening. At 5 o'clock when they opened the buffet tables I prepared myself for the typical dinner alone at a table to myself.

I grabbed some food, and took a seat at an empty table and listened to the opening acts as I poked at the craw fish and jambalaya they serve down here when they wish to be fancy. I had on my sunglasses so I know I looked cool and indifferent so I was surprised when this girl came up and said "hi".
So she comes up to my side and kind of stands there looking at me for a moment, then says "hi" and I respond with a friendly "hello, how ya doing?" to which she responded and I expected the exchange to end there. But it didn't. She stood there looking at me for a few moments until I realized I should probably invite her to sit with me, so I did.

It didn't take long to realize she was one of those kind of people and by "one of those kind of people" I am referring to the kind of people I have been doing my best to avoid coming off as. One of those people who are really socially awkward (but also socially uninhibited) that talk to everyone and laugh awkwardly when the conversation pauses and dress like they are from the Midwest. Now I've noticed in my vast experiences with college campuses that there is always at least one at every school and people take them in two ways. One way being very obliging and welcoming; the person will go almost out of their way to ensure the awkward being feels like they have a friend. The other kind of person is the one who is openly bugged out by it and is as short and curt with them as possible to get them to go away as quickly as possible.

I am in no position to turn away friends (unless I think they want to have sexual relations with me like Charlie wanted) but to be honest, this isn't the kind of friend I want. I feel like I am always friends with this kind of person (a.k.a. Mello) and to be quite honest, it's taxing. I don't have the social stamina to entertain these people for long periods of time.

Fortunately, in the end my roommate came out and ate with us and her exchange student friends sat with us as well and my obligation to be the sole socializer was lifted. Eventually my new little social obligation drifted away and I could relax and enjoy the music until, about an hour later, when my guard was down, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It only pressed upon me for but a swift moment and then was gone, but I knew it was her. I didn't want to turn and look because I didn't want to start any sort of conversation so I just sat still and waited for the moment to pass. She stepped into my line of vision and I acted surprised/delighted to see her again.

i don't wanna

i don't want to go to work. i don't want to ride my bike there. i don't want to stay late and clean up after we close.

more importantly i don't want to stay home by myself on a friday night... looks like i'm going to work.

despite my addiction...

So I had originally wrote a post tonight about my addiction to True Blood and how it is holding me back from making friends since all I do is sit in my room watching it... but I realized that's not true. I am making friends in the midst of my True Blood addiction, real friends too, not just pictures of famous people with my face photo-shopped in.

Meet Mr. Williamson:He's the athletic director here at LaGrange, we hung out tonight; watched the women's soccer game together. And I know everyone here says Coach Williamson is their best friend, but I feel like when I say it, it might really be true. He gave me candy and a cup full of nuts and really, as far as winning me over, that's all it takes (don't tell Charlie).

I am back in the game ladies and gentlemen, the friendship game.

My suite-mate, Mariam, went to Wal-Mart today and when she came home and pulled Monopoly out of that shopping bag I knew that we'd be spending more time together and when she went a step further and said, "Maybe we can invite some friends over to play, if we get any friends" I knew that we were finally on the same page. Bestfriendom here we come.

And let me not forget to mention that I ate a double dinner today because I ate after I got home from work and about an hour later Torri asked if I wanted to meet up with her at the dinning hall. Lord (a.k.a Jesus) knows the best way to make friends is over food.

Good thing Mariam also bought a scale at Wal-Mart and is so kind as to leave it in the common room so we can both track our weight and see how many pounds you have to gain to get a friend in this town.

true friends

So it has been a long weekend and due to the holiday most people left LaGrange to enjoy a little vacation else where. Worry not faithful readers because I was not left alone. I met a few really cool people this weekend and spent most every minute with them.

Here are a couple photos from the past few nights...


alright, fine. I admit it. I didn't do anything except watch episodes of True Blood on-line... but that's the same things as spending the last few nights hanging out with the cast, right?

Beggars CAN be choosers

So I learned an important lesson about standards today and why it is important to have them even when making friends.

I worked what we in the restaurant business call a "double" today where I worked two shifts in one day. On any other day or at any other restaurant this would call for a lot of exertion on my part but today was slow as hell so instead of working I got a chance to bond with my co-workers.

There were two people about my age working the first shift, Brittany and Jake. We didn't share our life stories or anything like that, but I feel like I am developing a healthy repertoire with them and will be able to joke and conversate more fully at later dates. After first shift I went home for a little break and headed back for second shift super excited to continue co-worker bonding. To my dismay neither Brittany or Jake were on the second shift.

Fortunately Sophia, the owner, is a very social and friendly lady. Unfortunately Charlie, the dishwasher, is just creepy. Throughout second shift Sophia and I got the chance to chat and learn more about each other, which is great. I feel like she is a person I can go to with problems. One problem being Charlie.

Charlie came in towards the end of my shift and was immediately smitten with yours truly. Charlie is in his late 40's, missing several teeth and has an accent so thick and slurred I can't understand half the things he says without asking him to repeat it and stepping closer to him (something I am trying to avoid doing).
When he first told me he wanted to "holla at me before I left" I thought, "golly, what a friendly guy, wanting to get to know his new co-worker" until it turned into "don't forget I want to holla at choo before you leave cuz we need to be hookin up sometime". I soon realized through his persistent "you're really pretty"s and his "let me walk you home"s that maybe Charlie wanted to be more than just my friend.

I learned this night, that no matter how much I want friends, not just anyone will do and some people will have to be turned away. I told Charlie that I wouldn't be able to hang out with him outside of work and if he wanted to get to know me, at work is the only time. I also learned that pretending to have friends is also a great tool because as far as Charlie is concerned I do have a boyfriend and me and all my new friends have plans to hang out pretty much everyday this month. Sorry Charlie, you just didn't make the cut.

fail

It has come to my attention that despite whatever mandates I dictated on our first day of formal acquaintance, my suite mate and I are not best friends. I had my suspicions that this might be the case but she is just so friendly and nice I wasn't able to face the truth. Nevertheless, I attempted to forge a path of friendship today when I asked her if she wanted to go get dinner at the dining hall later tonight yet she told me she had other plans. That's when I realized two things:
A. I am not her best friend
and
B. She already has more friends than I do

Honestly, I can come to terms with not being her best friend. We come from such different worlds, how can I expect our mere shared living space to be a catalyst for best-friendship? What I can't come to terms with is the fact that I have been here 15 days and she has only really been here 5, and she has already gone out to dinner (off campus) with two different friends.

What gives? Should I have brought culturally specific treats from Massachusetts to pass out to people to gain friendships? Is that even why she has all these friends already? Maybe she has secret friend gaining powers. Regardless, if this was a competition (which it just became) I would be losing.

Do you know his name?

So the business of making friends took a back seat today as I had my first day at my new job as a waitress at this deli in town. In the long run I see this venture turning into a friend machine with all the new people I'll be meeting. I just need to figure out how to charm these people into liking me.

Mainly the job of waitressing seems to be about busting your ass and socializing- and there are two types of socializing. Socializing to make conversation which ultimately results in friends, and socializing to get good tips.

I had a couple of encounters today where I felt my overall socializing skills could be fine tuned.

For example here is a little diddy I had between an elderly couple (this is legit verbatim):
me: How are you guys doing today?
old man: We are doing good by the grace of God.
me: Awesome, can I start you guys off with some drinks?
old man: Are you blessed by God?
me: Uh, well ya, sure. I have been pretty lucky in life so far.
old man: Luck and God are two different things. Do you know his name?
me: Um, uh... excuse me?
old man: Do you know his name?
me: His name?
old man: His name.
me: Um, God. Unless there is some other name that I don't know about.
old man: Jesus, his name is Jesus.
me: Oh right, Jesus, the lords son. So... uh, what would you two like to drink?

Now clearly, I need to brush up on my Jesus knowledge around these parts or else I just wont be able to make good conversation- no one wants to be friends with someone who doesn't even know his name.