I apparently live in the area of the third most popular flea market in the country or something. Ironically, I have never gone.
UNTIL YESTERDAY!
With all of our Independence Day celebration having been on the 3rd (including work, where a bunch of us hung out on the stoop and watched fireworks), there wasn't anything going on yesterday on my end. It was raining too. But my mom and I have been meaning to go the Kane County Flea Market for a while, and we FINALLY went.
It was a bit lackluster at first, and then I found a table selling toys and crap from the '80s and '90s, and hoboy, did I have a good time.
The loot:
From left to right: Pokemon TCG badges, a Power Rangers coloring book (for a present, long story), Pokemon stickers (probably bootleg), a cat bell-sculpture (another present), and then leather belt-n-snap bracelets that are apparently from the '60s but were too cool to pass up.
YES. POKEMON. STICKERS!!!
My clutch pencil has become my new favorite drawing tool. I've been meaning to take a break from my tablet anyway, so I've been exercising my art muscles by working on new things and starting a fangirl tribute series. This whole school year I hardly touched pencil as a serious medium, so it's fun to be back at it.
Tonight is Movie Sign, and I'm really looking forward to it, since I loooooove Beginning of the End. Illinois jokes and Peter Graves - it's a great combo.
...In America.
I've been holding off on a post out of respect for the recently departed, but now that I come down to it, I can't think of a damn thing to lead me through a post.
I think my problem is thinking of introductions. Once I get those out of the way I'm in the clear.
...Huh, look at that.
Anyway, one of the bus boys/dishwashers at work broke his wrist, meaning I've got one more day in July to work (since his hours are split between doing both and there's four other bus kids). It's the 18th, which now means I have another trifecta weekend - the 17th, 18, and 19th. I'm not complaining so much as I am bummed out. Cody, although relatively quiet, has these moments of absolute brilliance, not to mention he's really good at managing the dishwashing loads and is just a good coworker to work off of.
Yesterday, my mom and I went out because we had coupons. I ended up using most of said coupons. I picked up a new manga out of need for a new series, and it ended up being Otomen. I'm liking it so far, and hey, I kind of need a light shoujo series to entertain me. I also bought a clutch pencil set (that exact one, actually, for three dollars less) at the craft store, which I'm really liking. I'm a big fan of mechanical pencils (been using them since fifth grade), but in the art realm, you've really got to use the regular types. So it's like...balance! Huzzah!
And I can't forget last Thursday, wherein I hopped the train to Ogilvie transport center and wound my way through the Chicago streets to meet Timber. She was staying at a very fancy hotel - one of the old clubs - and boy was it odd. I fortunately was in a composed outfit (rather than my semi-satanic 'Anytime's a good time to destroy the world' shirt) and I managed to slip into an elevator, wherein I realized people actually do speak in terms of "Oh yes, quite" and "Mmm, yes" and "I heard the Smith boy..."
When I got off the elevator, I was met with a crowd of lawyers and servers. I looked and wandered a bit before panicking a little and winding over to a table near a staircase. There was a wall that had been pulled out to divide up the room, and in the little opening that was left I saw a blonde-haired girl that thankfully made eye contact with me. There was an epic hug and squeeing, which caused the lady at the table to be confused but laughing.
It was very bizarre - and I don't mean meeting Timber. The environment was bizarre. The food was good though.
Afterward, we ended up hanging out in the lobby because sight seeing didn't happen for reasons I'm not clear about. We talked a lot about TV Tropes and the old days of theOtaku and Otaku Cage Match and the Defense Shape. There was an epic ending hug before I made my way back to the station, ate Chinese food for dinner, and got a nice seat on the train while my sunburn was peeling.
More than anything, I've come to the realization that my seventeenth year of life has been rather freeing. I look back on the year and notice my parents have granted me so much more freedom than before. In part, I think they're filling the gap that I wouldn't be eighteen until almost my freshman year of college whereas everyone else would be a legal adult during senior year. They've given me chances to prove my responsibility and I've done well in fulfilling them. Late nights after pep band were spent at Steak 'n Shake, if I didn't come home until after midnight I wasn't questioned until the next morning (which would start with me saying "I was at Lorenza's until [x], we were watching Food Network..."), I was allowed to drive to ACen and spend the weekend there, I've talked freely about online friends, and when I went to Chicago to meet Timber, my mom didn't even flinch.
Very strange.
I've been referred to as "the promise child", being the youngest of three, the first and only to go to university, and the one that got the good grades and was involved in school activities. Everything else about me is unconventional (the hobbies, the personality, the boyfriend), but so long as I can keep that part up, there's nothing wrong.
I was going to make a different post, but...Billy Mays. Billy Mays has just passed away. Like, this morning.
What the hell world. What the hell.
Billy Mays was actually a pretty cool guy. I mean, sure, in the beginning, he was a bit annoying, but then as I grew up, I became more attached to him. He was a guy with a love for what he did.
Man...Why am I taking this harder than the other celebrity deaths? ._.
For once in my life, one of my thrown-together plans worked out.
TIMBER, I'MA COMING!!!
Last night (or this morning, whatever you want to call it), I got a call from Timber at around 1am. We talked. And talked. And talked and talked and talked. 2:20 rolls around and she decides to go, whereas I had been thinking for the previous half-hour that she was going to die on me. Poor girl is being run into the ground and asked if I could somehow kidnap her.
One last-ditch plan for tomorrow. We'll see how that works out.
I got my AP portfolio back Monday, which made me a bit confused. There wasn't any score, just the five quality pieces I had sent in. After realizing that they wouldn't all fit in my room (where wall space is at a premium), I decided to spruce up the basement (my summer living headquarters) a little bit and add some thing to distract one from the long and numerous loading screens of Oblivion.
The eight mini-posters above the shelving unit holding my rather pitiful collection of DVDs come from the 13th and 14th MST3K boxsets. The 15th is set for a July 7th release, so I'll have four more posters to add yaaaay. *geeks*
I don't think I mentioned it here, but I have an incredibly gnarly sunburn from Saturday afternoon. I was at a friend's graduation party, which was of the pool variety. Gorgeous day. Combine that with my idiocy and bam, sunburn. And it's been an awful one too. Sunday and Monday nights I had to sleep on my back, but very carefully, because any weight on my shoulders hurt way too much. I also woke up several times throughout the night and baaah. But finally on Tuesday, I slathered Bag Balm on and was able to shoulder-sleep. Woke up feeling much much better with the pain being way less than before.
Completly random edit: I was browsing around and somehow landed on this, reminding me of just how awesome the world is.
