Song of the Day

I am in desperate need of a new post.  It will have to wait because I actually have a little work to do today.  So for now I bring you an entertaining video by The Format.

Mallrats

Man oh man were there some characters at the mall last night.  Naturally the mall always draws in some interesting people but last night it seems like that's all there was! At least in our store, anyways.  At the end of my shift I made sure to write down a short list of the unique customers I encountered last night.  They are as follows:

- talked to herself
- shoelace teenagers 
- old gays
- trauma girl
- fox tail

Now I explain...

- "Talked to herself" was an older lady that came in right when my mom and I were switching shifts.  She was an older lady with a large hat on and she was arguing with herself.  I couldn't hear what she was saying as it was all mumbling but she did say "NO NO...not a good idea" somewhat loudly.  My mom didn't want to leave me alone in the store until she was gone.  I felt kinda bad though because she might have had some sort of dementia.  Either way, I was pretty weirded out.


- The "Shoelace Guys" were about 16 years old.  They came into the store saying "yo" every two seconds then when I asked them if they needed help with anything one kid said "YO...no thanks, yo".  I rolled my eyes as I do when any skater punk sasses me and he says "by the way, I'm not black.  just wanted to let you know....do you have any extra shoelaces?" I told him we didn't.  He gave me back the box of shoes I had pulled out of the backroom for him to try and one of the shoelaces was missing.  Great...now I have to ask this kid if he had the shoelace.  He didn't steal it, he promised.  I ended up finding the shoelace under all the tissue paper in the box.  When they both left, one of the guys comes up to me and says "bye. i love you."  I get so sick of those skater kids sometimes.

- The "Old Gays" were my favorite.  They were probably in their 60s and were looking through the sandals.  One of them asked if he could tell me which ones looked good on him and I had to wait on him and comment on 5 different sandals.  Finally he decided on one and he goes "THANKS, GIIIRRRRRL! You made my day!"  That made me smile.  I think these two were equals in their relationship.  The other day a few old gays had come in and one was DEFINITELY the sugar daddy.  He bought his man-friend a $300 watch...no questions asked.

-  "Trauma Girl" did not not say word to me as she gestured that she wanted to try something on and needed a different size.  I assumed she didn't speak any English.  But then she came up to the register to buy a sweater and said in a low quivery voice "umm...I've just been through a trauma.  So could you like give me a discount."  I couldn't because it was already 20% off.  She walked out of the store very slowly.  I'm about 98% sure that she was on drugs. 

- And then there's "Fox Tail".  She was a tall, lanky thing.  She asked me if we had any shorts that were a little on the longer side.  She wanted to find something that wasn't neutral colored.  She complained about how she felt conscious when she wore shorts that were too short.  She said she had been everywhere to find the right type of shorts.  And then when she walked out, I saw that she had a fox tail attached to her pants.  As if she were a fox herself...but disguised as a human.  I just shook my head and started closing up for the night.

We can be heroes just for one day

By day I'm just your average unemployed Indian girl.  Looking for a job, planning a wedding, spending time with my mom and friends.  Nothing too out of the ordinary.

But by night...I'm a butt-kicking crime-fighting super hero.

Ok so here's the real reason I had baby powder in a strip of my hair:
A few of my friends were going to a "Heroes/Villians" themed party.  Because I am somewhat of a dork/tomboy, I really wanted to go as Rogue from the Xmen. (She and Gambit were my favorites when I was younger)

It turns out only me and my friend Tim dressed up...which was fine.  Tim had dressed up as  Spiderman and it was obvious of who he was supposed to be.  I, on the other hand, had several people walk up to me during the party who said "HEY! YOU'RE STORM!"  I guess the brown skin was throwing everyone off.

Either way, you probably wouldn't wanna mess with this:

02-03-2005

Today marks five years since my dad passed away.  I seriously can't believe it.  Sometimes it feels like it happened so long ago.  Sometimes I feel like it was just a little while ago that my dad was in the hospital for that month.

Either way, it still doesn't feel real.

The Rat Pack

For the last few weeks, my mom and I have been getting frequent visitors.  These visitors wake us up in the wee hours of the morning...scratching and knawing at things in our ceiling.  Today, our guests decided to be active during the day.  I've been hearing them burrowing and thudding just over my head.  It is freaking me out.  It's probably freaking my mom out five times as much.

Turns out this is a common problem in Florida.  I've been reading forums and called animal control services.  What I've found out is that during the "cold season" in Florida, palm rats find shelter in the attics and walls of homes.  And some of them picked our house.  Lovely.

So tomorrow we are having men walk around on our roof to see where these rats (or raccoons or squirrels...we're not sure yet) enter our house from.  I'm super grossed out. 

Ew, ew, ew...I just found a website that is against killing roof rats for no reason.  As a solution, they offer a few food recipes. Grosssssss! I'm gonna go take a shower now...or three.

Song of the Day

Getting ready to go to an Indian Association picnic.  But while I'm gone I'll leave with another song of the day.

There are certain bands that I will love no matter what.  Along with Death Cab for Cutie and Blink182, Jimmy Eat World is one of them.  Coincidentally, my first concert EVER was the Pop Disaster Tour with Blink182, Jimmy Eat World, and Green Day.  My favorite tshirt was my Jimmy Eat World shirt...until my mom bleached it by accident :/It's ok...I got to see "J.E.W." another time after that.

I don't think there's been a single song by them that I haven't liked.  Their Futures album was one of few that helped me through my dad's time in the hospital (although, I have to admit the album's a little hard to listen to now...especially "Drugs or Me".)

Anywaaaays...I'm picking just one of all the great songs they have.  This one is "Dizzy" from their latest album "Chase This Light".

Hanging Out Jonas and Coullias Style!

When in Naples, you have to take advantage of any events in town to change up your life every once in a while.  Erika, Holly and I had plans to get dinner and maybe go out after.  Instead we decided to hit up the annual Greek Festival at the local Greek Orthodox church.  I think the rest of Naples decided the same thing.

We mostly went there for the food.  Holly and I went on a mission to get gyros while Erika went for the vegetarian friendly spanakopita.

(Sorry we never got that pic of you, Erika!)

Speaking of spanakopitas, when I was getting a gyro, I asked the lady if they also had spanakopitas at the booth.  She gave me a puzzled look and I told her I was probably saying it wrong.  She starts laughing at me and says "Oh I understand what you're talking about but I didn't know what you were saying hahahahaha".  Apparently, I was saying "spanakoPIta" when it's really "spanaKOpita". Pff.  I felt like all the white people do at our Indian festivals.

 

 

Note: "Jonas and Coullias Style" refers to the two awesome Greek girls I know...Antoinette and Angela :)  I thought about these girls the whole time I was at the festival, especially when people started dancing.  OPA!

Strike Three...I'm out.

After careful consideration, I've decided that God has no sympathy for me when it comes to my initials.

All my life, I've been PP.  As a 24 year old, these initials haven't really affected me lately (with the exception of some immature friends...coughcolleenscardinoandkalenmickeycough).  However, as a child growing up in Miami..."PP" was the source of a lot of ridicule.  I can say it may have even scarred me for life.  If any kids ever made fun of me by calling me "PEE PEE!" then I would say "Well, my full initials are PMP...and that, as a word, spells out PIMP. So there."  It never worked.

Well now's my chance.  I'm getting married and here comes an opportunity for a change.  My initials will now be a safe PS.

Then I thought about my full initials.  Some of us Indians usually take our husband's first name as our middle name when we get married.  So I'd be Priya Ojas Sampat.  Or POS.  Great.  I'm not peepee anymore...I'm worse.  A piece of...well, poop.

But again, I'm escaping this seeing as how I had decided a few years ago that I would keep my dad's name as my middle name.  Ultimately, that would make me Priya Mahendra Sampat.  So let's see...that would mean that I'm...

PMS. (smacks hand to forehead) I give up.

DC Part 2

The only other time I had been to DC before this New Years Eve trip was with my family.  I have to say that my parents definitely spoiled us kids with some awesome summer vacations.  We've been to Europe, India, RVing through Yellowstone/Grand Canyon/Las Vegas.  We've gone on cruises to the Caribbean and to Alaska. 

I think it was the summer before I moved to Naples that my parents had decided to take us on another trip.  So about 13 or 14 years ago my dad mapped out a route that would take us from Miami to Toronto (yeah...the one in Canada).  We took our old Isuzu Rodeo and hit the road...stopping, site seeing, and collecting photobooks and postcards along the way.  We got to see Philadelphia, Atlantic City, New York, Niagara Falls.  We visited my aunts family in South Carolina and rented a cabin in North Carolina.  And we went to DC. 

I think I had forgotten how impressive the monuments looked in real life.  They seriously took my breath away.  I envy cities with old architecture.  That is one of the things about Naples that I'm not too fond of...everything was built from the 70's on.

Even on a cold and misty day, the Capitol looked great.

I hadn't been to the National Gallery before.  I was glad that Natalie suggested it, because I loved it.  There she is with Terence, Karl, and Jon.

Our visit to the Gallery reminded me of that part in Ferris Bueller when they go to the museums.  Somehow, I always manage to relate everything to a part in a movie, show or song. 

 

We spent 2 or 3 days in DC on that trip with my family.  We got to see every monument in the Mall.  But...we didn't get to see them at night.  That in itself was a different experience.  It was a cold walk but totally worth doing.

 

 

 

 

See the US Treasury below?  It kinda glowed green and I immediately thought that if Beetlejuice had to settle, he'd probably pick this place to live. (D'oh...I did it again)

 

While the Metro isn't exactly a landmark, I thought it was one of the very cool things about DC.  I liked it so much better than the subways in New York.  It was nice going to a place where you didn't have to rely on cars.  Someday...oh someday...I will find a job and get to move to a place like this.  Even if it's just for a little while.

This is my friend, Karen.

We have been friends since middle school and in just a few weeks she will be getting married.

But before she gets married, she will need one last night out as a single lady.  Which is precisely why we're having a bachelorette party for her in Tampa next weekend. 

I hope you're ready, Karen.