Lake Geneva

"But Beatrice Blaine! There was a woman! Early pictures taken on her father's estate at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, or in Rome at the Sacred Heart Convent—...showed the exquisite delicacy of her features, the consummate art and simplicity of her clothes." -F. Scott Fitzgerald, "This Side of Paradise"

It is perplexing to me why people come to Lake Geneva, at least nowadays. It used to be the "it" place for Rich Chicagoans to vacation, as evidenced in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. It's stellar reputation has waned, despite the influx of weekenders. The Playboy Mansion was in Lake Geneva, which is now the Grand Geneva resort. Al Capone used to hang out in the LG, and a few years ago one of his victims was discovered in the Lake, with his feet in cement. But why come to LG now? Lame shops and bad food is all you'll find here. If you're of the bourgeoisie you can see how the patricians live by taking a boat tour to see their mansions, a sick celebration of wealth. But if you like that lame shit, that's fine with me because I will be there to take your dollars.

Yes, the art of cheating people out of money, also known as 'tourism', is paying my bills. I am a crook, the one with a sharp-toothed smile on my face and a hand out stretched. Food service is where you learn how to act, to hide every bit of genuine personality behind a mask of congenial servitude.

My new job forces me to be the waitress, busser, dishwasher, barista, and cook all at the same time. We run around like headless chickens, dogging Chicagoans for their fat wallets.

I like the people I work with, certainly. Aran and I get along famously, Caleb and Megan are the weekend cooks and are great fun, and Astrid is nice to work with because she's so delusional. My boss is schizo, screaming at people at random, and being anal retentive about cleanliness even though she doesn't follow her own procedures. We get no breaks, however. And no lunch breaks, and are kept working long after we have punched out.

Stripes Love

Jack White is quite possibly the sexiest man on earth. Check out the video for 'Icky Thump.'

He also strikes me as the kind of guy who gets bored very easily, and does crazy projects to keep himself occupied. Such as practicing his knife-throwing,


or designing costumes.


I think Jack made those himself. Take a look at the dots, don't those look like little white stickers? He probably got up in the middle of the night and decorated his hat with a sheet of those stickers, and then decided that he needed a suit to mtach it and a suit for Meg to match his. And Meg just goes along with it. Take a look at the expression on her face! She probably thinks she looks like one of the three amigos that joined the Red Hat Society.

Containing book references, family history, and music

I saw an ad today for the Nancy Drew movie, and all I could do was cringe. I used to read Nancy drew books, I could get through at least three a day. They were entertaining, short, and easy (the books, not the characters, hehe). Don't ruin classic children's lit with another shitty movie.

The real girl detective I loved was Trixie Belden. My fourth grade teacher had a shelf of those, and I consumed them. The character I liked best was Honey, Trixie's cousin. She didn't appear in many mysteries, but when she did she made them so much better. Although the was the cousin of the whitest chick in the world and was described as having honey-coloured hair, I always imagined Honey as a gorgeous black girl with a myriad long sleek black braids. Honey was crazier, wittier, and more interesting that Trixie could ever hoped to have been.

The girl detective genre was rather inspiring to many. Harriet the Spy for instance. I didn't like her that much, but she had a profound effect on my mom. Harriet inspired my mother to keep a journal, which then evolved into her sketchbooks. My mother was TALENTED. She kept all of her old sketchbooks, and they are amazing. In particular, the drawings of horses. She could draw anatomically correct horses, but she also did several that simply captured the soul and grace of certain beasts. I wish she had gone to art school or something, instead of letting her immense talent just waste away.

Side note: I totally thought Mother's day was next weekend. oops. Love ya, Mom!

I am afraid of becoming her: not making use of whatever talents I may have, being stuck in a waitressing job for decades, not getting a degree (any degree!), and letting depression consume me. I have her bad habits already, and her crazy temper. I also worry about inheriting my father's traits. Procrastination, willingness to settle, a predisposition for quitting too early. I think everyone angsts about becomig their parents. It frightens, no, TERRIFIES me how similar to them I am already. We inherit our elders' sins, yes, but that is because we become them. I know my mom is just like Nana.

I can't compare my father to his parents because they kicked the bucket long ago. I don't feel like I can refer to them as my grandparents because I never met them, and my dad rarely mentions them. I know His mother was an alcoholic and his parents divorced when he was young. I pretty sure his father remarried and moved to Mexico City. I have never met most of my cousins on Pater's side. The closest I had to paternal grandparents were Aunt Dot and Uncle Ray, who both passed away some time ago. We used to go to their house in Racine for Christmas Eve every year. Ironically, they only lived a block from my mom's parents where we go to spend Christmas day.

As far as aunts and uncles on that side of the family, I have a few. My father is twelve years younger than his nearest sibling, and so basically grew up an only child. Aunt Kim is not actually my aunt, but my dad's cousin. I was a bridesmaid in her daughter Michelle's wedding. We used to go to cookouts at their house in Kenosha back in the day. I used to play with my cousin Jennifer (who I'm not sure is even my cousin), and I idolized Michelle.

Aunt Claire died from cancer long ago. I only saw her once, before she died. I will get to see my Uncles Dan and Alan and my Aunts Sherri and Neen later this summer. Uncle Dan likes to tell stories of his war buddies, and the stupid things he did when he lived in Japan. I don't know Uncle Alan well, but he has great stories about growing up in Ireland. somewhere along the line I also have a cousin that is an archeologist in Arizona (expert in Native American caves etc.) and also a cousin Margaret that has traveled the world and was last heard from in Patagonia. I met my cousin Rain once, but hardly remember. I was a snotty teenager back then.

Listening to The Beatles. Holy shit, these guys were/are amazing. The Beatles is like the soundtrack to my childhood. My dad has nearly every album they made, and he gave me Beatles CDs all the time. I used to come up with little stories that went along with the album I was listening to. The only one I can recall now is the silly story I made up to go along with Rubber Soul. I used to just lie in bed for hours and listen to The Beatles. I do the same thing now, but I've branched out to other bands.

My first concert ever was Paul McCartney. My dad scored discounted tickets (he's got connections everywhere, it's mind-boggling), and we went and saw him at the Bradley Center when I was in eighth grade. I hope to go to many more concerts with my dad in the future. He's so cool that it isn't embarrassing in the slightest to go to concerts with him. If I ever have the chance to see the White Stripes in concert, my dad is the first person I would want next to me.

I haven't slept a wink, so I'm going to go meander around, perhaps catch a sunrise.

Finals Week Update

I was done with my Theatre history exam within 20 minutes. Is that bad?

Math was...hellish. Well, maybe just intense. I am so glad David went over the material with me, otherwise I would have been fucked. I wasn't the last to finish, surprisingly.

Pas Encore, Pas Encore!!

Finals week.
Under-prepared and over-anxious.
I'll see y'all in the morning.

Caaaan't Sleeeeep

What the fuck? I sleep for about 24 hours, and now my body decides that's all the sleep it wants for the nex week? I only slept 4 hours last night because I forced myself to. Tonight I may not sleep at all. I need the rest, but I have to be up in 5 hours anyhow. I can't blame it on my bed, uncomfortable it may be, nor my caffiene consumption, because I have been known to go right to bed after pumping myself full of it and sleeping wonderfully. My crazy sleep patterns are too hard on my body, I don't know if it can handle another two weeks worth of abuse. I should do a bit more math but mon camarade de chambre is asleep and I don't want to disturb another's sleep pattern. Stress sucks, it probably why I'm so messed up lately.

Something's wrong

I just woke up and realized it was Sunday.

I fell asleep Friday night and woke up on Sunday.

I only vaguely remember getting back to my room. Where did Saturday go? I didn't even get up to eat or go to the bathroom, I just slept.
I want my Saturday back, goddamnit.

Questions from Mr. Boy

1 – What inspired you to start your blog and what inspires you to continue?
Somehow I got it into my head that people actually cared about my crazy life, or just wanted an escape from theirs. Now it’s something to occupy my time instead of oh, say, homework?

2 - You mention a lot of music, what music matters most to you now?
Whoa, I DO write about a lot of music. The White Stripes always remind me of driving to Dracula rehearsals with Adam in tow. My dad had the first two WS albums floating around for years, but we never listened to them. Then Elephant came out, and we became obsessed. If he ever goes to a White Stripes concert without me… I have no shame about going to concerts with my dad. He’s just that cool. Back in the day (which is always a Wednesday), he partied with a bunch of bands, including The Who. He’s a seriously cool guy. My dad and I share an obsession with music. We share any new music we get, and have spent a summer organizing his massive CD collection.

3- Do you want to know who reads your stuff?
Yes, actually. Most who visit my blog have the same uwec.edu sitemeter ID, so I really can’t tell who they are. I don’t have many readers outside of those who I go to school with. My brother looked at it once, and left comments. He hasn’t visited since, I know he disapproves of many things I do. I got a lot of hits from NY after I mentioned Bill Sullivan.

4 – Has there been anything you have written that you wished you could have back once it was posted?
No, I think things should be left as they were in the moment, to keep history intact. You have to keep the little bits of shame to keep yourself humble. I think I keep most of the really private stuff out of my blog, some things needn’t be shared with the world.

5 – What can your readers expect in the future?
The Saga of the Lla(m)a House,


The Many Adventures of Liz and Adam,





The Bad Ideas of ADD Boy


and The Hangover Chronicles (No photos of this one, praise Shakespeare).


1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions, so make sure I have your email address. I get to pick the questions.

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Word of the Day: Squalor

Definition: A College Dorm Room.