I have an ant problem! There are huge ones in the sink and tiny ones in the bathroom! Why are they here and why are they not the same size?

There was a huge storm here while I was at work yesterday, and as a result, there was no power till 1 this morning. I thought I’d be freaked out sleeping alone in a pitch dark house, but then it was actually kind of cool to hear it come back on in the middle of the night.

I turned 21 on Sunday! I bought some Chaco flip flops to celebrate (sort of) and haven’t worn anything else in the past couple of days. I wasn’t going to drink Sunday night, but then I got hungry while we were at Emily’s and we went to the Tap for french fries and beer. They were very nice there, and said happy birthday maybe one too many times, and gave ma a free drink. High point of the night: Orlando and Kris singing along to Hollaback Girl. Last night, though, we went to the Muddy Pig where we had the worst waiter I’ve ever had. Orlando talked to the manager and she cut our bill in half. Honestly, this guy, besides being really horrible at service, and bizarrely confrontational, was a total tool. Also, the fire alarm went off intermittently near the end for no apparent reason. So we left, and went to the Turf Club where our server wasn’t a dumbass, and no alarms went off, and Kris bought me a Sex on the Beach. It was okay.

I’m making chili tonight, probably in unnecessarily large amounts. Anyone who wants some should come get some.

Pssh Father’s Day. Way less important than me turning 21.

Anyway, my dad shaved his beard, so he doesn’t look like my dad anymore, and he’s going to Amsterdam today. So I can’t really do anything.

Something went wrong with this yesterday. Now it is mysteriously fixed. How nice.

Kris brought over the camera-related stuff I left in her car so I fussed with the pictures (by which I mean I reduced them) and here are some.

Kris’s dog, Missy, and her cat, Patches, whom I took many pictures of. She’s kind of the star of my 25-picture collection right now.

A very fuzzy picture of Kris’s cabin where we stayed

Part of the inside

Emily, Kris, Mike, and the animals on the dock

Kris on the dock. Well, sort of the back of her head.

Me and Mike at the soda fountain where Kris used to work

Kris and Emily on the other side of the table

Oh, and here’s the hailstorm from earlier. I’m a big dork and took pictures.

G’night.

Thanks to Kris and the inexplicable appearance of The Killers – Hot Fuss in her house yesterday, we listened to a lot of Mr. Brightside on our trip. (No complaints ‚Äì I like the song too.) You know how some songs take you back to a specific time and place? (I have Uncle Kracker’s Follow Me and Brandon’s 18th birthday in Research Park at midnight specifically in mind whenever I think or talk about this.) I’m usually oblivious to the creation of one of these memorable moments, but yesterday, Emily commented that we’ll definitely associate this song with driving back and forth from Park Rapids to Strait (sp?) Lake last weekend.

I made a “CD for Malavika in Capetown” (that I’m pretty certain didn’t get to her till she was back in College Station) last year that I’m now listening to. Wait, that’s a lie, I’ve now switched to “CD for Rebecca”, which was created in Saint Paul last summer, although it lacks the usual specified location on the titles of all my mix CDs (I’m so creative, I know). Anyway, on it is Aimee Mann’s “It’s Not” and Neil Finn’s “She Will Have Her Way,” the first, probably the most depressing song I have on CD, having been played repeatedly over Christmas break freshman year, and the second connected of course to the creation of our Sports Night soundtrack last summer, accompanied by obsessive watching of DVDs. (On reading this, some might say I should write shorter sentences. I don’t know what to tell you, except that I’ve tried, and I’ll always remain ridiculously verbose– perhaps even unequivocally.).

Anyway, I’m wondering, do all these connections I make between songs and places and times mean that I have no continuous taste in music? So that I always obsess over an artist or a song and then drop it? That seems very duplicitous and fickle. Does everyone do this?

Hmm, there’s a tornado warning in effect here for the next fifteen minutes. And it just hailed. I took pictures.

I’m back from a very nice weekend at Kris’s cabin near Lake Itasca where Mike is sequestered. (Is that the correct use of that word?) I would have pictures to put up (because I got a digital camera for my birthday! which by the way is next Sunday), but I left everything besides the camera in Kris’s car just now. So I have no USB connector. So you’ll just have to wait to see pictures of her kitty. She is so cute.

I really don’t know what you’ll do with yourself during that wait.

Newsflash: I have had no internet since Tuesday night. Punks.

Breaking news, people.

Lindsay Lohan wonders why tabloids care

Thank you CNN, I would really have hated to miss out on that.

Happy Grand Old Day. Am feeling higher levels of irritation toward 10-year-old girls (who insist on trying on shoes they can’t afford or fit into) today than usual. I also felt stupid when I realized the bathtub that I thought was clogged was actually just plugged the way it’s supposed to be (with the sneaky lever under the faucet), when I’d already used a thing of drano on it. Bathtub: 1 Eileen: 0.

I’ve made a few conclusions today. First, that I need to learn to parallel park. Second, I need more interesting things to write about on here.

Having finally found my alarm clock, I now cannot find my TV remote. So now that I’m getting up on time without having my parents call to wake me up, I’m not watching any TV.

What is with Minnesota jury duty taking a week? It’s only a day in Texas. And while Texas is stupid enough to call non-American citizens for jury duty and insist on their coming in anyway, I feel the one-day system is much more reasonable and respectful of working people’s time. I hope to never get called in for jury duty anywhere else. Sadly since I’m not spending the rest of my life in Texas, that plan will probably fail. I also hope to get out of any trials because of 1) being a feminist 2) being against our supremely stupid drug laws and 3) finding something in my family history to relate to any trial in an inappropriate way. Number 3 has worked pretty well for my mother in the past.

What a day. The biggest news I have for today is that raspberries are on sale at Cub. Two for $3. Go get some. It’ll never happen again. (Until next raspberry season.)