Modest Midget.

I have been blogging for a year now. Offically, one year of my life has documentation. Accuracy filtered through what my mind will allow the reader to view. those of you who read sporatically (or often, as I write sporatically) check the archives and within a few minutes I am sure you will be able to know more about me than you thought you may want to know. Actually, the only thing I believe one can gain from regular reading is a theme of evolving self and reoccuring themes of quest for self improvement.... with little success. What one may find is an entertaining tale of observations from the mouth of a single girl adapting to the challenges of life in middle america.

With that said, let me update you on the occurances of this past weekend which proved to be my long awaited return to life after work. It is a beautiful experience each fall to remember the convenience of having a social life and within that enjoying the company of many great friends.

Thursday night I took my pal Luke to get a tatoo. He is here from South Africa and wanted to get an outline of Africa between his shoulder blades. Somehow I became an expert on tatoos, though I have none myself. We went to the place and wouldn't you know it, the tatoo artist knows me because we went to highschool together. We exchanged glances many a time before he siad, "I know you." to which I replied, "I thought so." then he played the drawn out game of " do you remeber my name?" followed by a rush of blank stares from yours truly. I sort of looked at him like maybe I knew him... and he did look familiar, but that was as far as it went. There was no sudden realization on my part of mutual friends or even time shared.... he seemed to be getting offended so at last I said... "you know- it's been eight years... and a few years of that I have little memory of so can you just tell me your name?" Then he got a spark in his eye... ahhh, by some strange coincidence he had brought his senior pictures in just a few days before.... yeah, now I remember him- he was two years older than me so I hadn't seen this guy in ten years and we had one art class together, that hardly consititutes a celebratory reunion. Nonetheless, we entertained each other with what has been happening in the past years and it was a nice conversation.

Friday night I planned to hang out with a friend Kristi who I also went to high school with and for those of you that have not had the pleaseure of meeting Kristi, she is incredible. Always fun, but with intelligence and humor to back it up. Cody and I met her downtown with hopes of tracking down friends Spencer (Sam's brother) and Mike Cassidy (Kristi's friend from U ofI) after a shameful call to Sam to acquire Spencer's number (again) (I LOVE YOU SAM!!)... at least it wasn't sam's Birthday.. we call the boys and direct them to the Hessen Haus where drinks are served in Liters and boots (2 ltr).
We commented on how much handshakes say about a person. I prefer the firm, right handed shake. I don't think gender should have anything to do with your handshake.... if someone lays their hand in mine and doesn't have a grip- I probably won't continue to talk to you- I think you are boring and sneaky. Not for me. However, on the flip side, if you attempt to break my knuckles and shake my hand profusely, well, you are probably overbearing and need too much attention. I am in the process of trying out different hand shakes with unsuspecting individuals to determine the vailidity of the above stated opinions. And girls- don't be a complete d-bag by offering a limp left hand- you are not royalty and everyone knows it- get over yourself.
Mid- evening while Kristi and Cody and I were talking Kristi said something to the fact of," I don't know, I just think I am too young to be saying its too late." At which time the entire table sort of went into a reflectve trance, each of us pulling to the front of our mind the opportunities that we may have missed... the only thing I could come up with is my missing my time to shine as the naive, drunk, boy crazy party girl on The Real World. I know that I could have made history with ratings and America would soon have adopted me into their homes and HEARTS. I thought about it and actually I believe that I lived all of these experiences without the cameras. My time in SanFrancisco was that of a real world trip. I was the drunk, party girl, experiemental, naive, the artsy one, the reponsible one, the irresponsible, slut, music fanatic, risk taker, bitch, activist.... you name it, I played that role. It was a time of self discovery... I think the great thing about self discovery is that if anything I discoverd that I didn't want to be any of these people I was portraying... I guess you have an idea of who you are and the natural thing to do every now and then is to freak out and try to prove yourself wrong. or maybe that's just me. So Friday night was a great time.

Saturday I drove to Newton to have lunch with my mom. She is doing great and we had a really nice time. She is still taking care of my great grandmother who is 101 years old. I realized on Saturday that despite everything, my mother is an absolute Saint. It started to make sense to me where I learned patience and the strength it takes to care for someone when at times, it compromises your own quality of life. My mother and I have a great realtionship these days as she often asks for my assistance in technical matters of providing direct care and I like to think that I am support for her in understanding that while she does not always enjoy her days with my grandmother that she wouldn't have it any other way. I repect her for that.

Saturday evening I had plans with Jim, which I was looking forward to a great deal because I had not seen him since last November due to his teaching gig in Prague. So we planned to meet at Racoon River Brewing which I wil have to say is a favorite of mine. Very neutral ground... I bring several different types of acquaintances and it seems to blend well. Cody joined us, as did a few of his friends. We played some pool, had some laughs, and a few drinks. It was so great to see Jim... you know when you are so glad to see someone and there is so much that you want to talk about and it often results in engaged looks and little dialogue? That is how it felt for most of the night.... it was fantastic. Jim had said that he needed to "take it easy" on Saturday night but when we decided to go dancing at 1:00am I knew that he would have to be joking.
So off to the frathouse where the drag queens scramble like you just moved the rock. We dance there and catch up with a few old friends that I have seen since my days as a frequent fruit fly. ( last year) We waited and went into the afterbar where we decided to play pool- I can say with all honesty that I probably shouldn't have been standing at this point but still wanted to play pool.... we played a few games and it was confirmed that the pool table was just for looks as no cash register had quarters... hmmm. and then randomly we had a challanger... a small man, though mighty in his pool game, approached us and stated that he wasn't really that good. So we play him and he beats both Jim and I... ooh- meanwhile this dude hits on Jim and he looks strangely familiar.. oh yeah- he was the nude male model in my life drawing calss at Iowa(remember Sam?)... he also took my friend Jamie home one night... what a creep- so I called him on it. and it was funny. just to me. So Cody leaves and then Jim and I decide to go. As we are outside walking to the car the short dude in the shiny shirt follows us out and procedes to tell us that he has just played the best pool he has ever played, and where were we going?... etc etc. (read: he wanted to go home with Jim and I and have sex with both of us) yawn. sorry shiny shirt guy... no dice.
the next moning I wake up and watch the most ridiculous movie I have ever seen... did Iwatch the whole thing? yes. it starred acclaimed actor Yahoo Serious... I thought it would be a prime opportunity to dumb Jim down a bit before his IQ test at 1:30. We'll see.

Tuesday the 14th proved to be a diamond in the rough. I was still feeling a but funked as the start of the week always seems to instill a hesitation of enthusiasm.... Kelli and I went to lunch and she convinces me that we should really go shopping instead of going back to work- we go... not for me- but for Kelli... she hates to shop and has, until a recent realization, been wearing oversized college t-shits and holy jeans.. no no no. I take her to a few places and pick out things that fit her. So cute. I think I should be a personal shopper. maybe I am in the wrong field. $600 later, we are on our way home and she has a new confidence that only material things can bring. (note sarcasm)
We decide that we will go out tonight even though tomorrow is the annual "Day of Caring" where coorporate types come out to camp and do manual labor to ensure good karma for another 364 days. We call Brad in Ames and he comes with Kate and Vicky (friends from the summer) and Cody and Tanner join us and we head to RR (racoon river) and play pool and have a great time.... hilarious. I truly think I am blessed with some of the funniest people as friends. Then we decide at midnight (only eight hours until caring) that we will go to the "Blazing Saddles" to dance. We are walking in Kelli bumps into a manly woman who says,"oooh, do it again!" Lesbians love Kelli. At some point (within the first 20 minutes) I decide that, I will, in fact, perform a one person dance routine to any and/or every song I see fit... there is competition on the dance floor with a short, shirtless man that seems to enjoy the company of the mirror but I am not phased. (We called him headache dancer because he often held his haead and looked to the ground while dancing.) As soon as Whitney Houston came through those speakers it was on... full blast Claire. I had the stage to myself and a nice sized audience... Cody joined me after a while and we danced like everyone was watching.... that is truly how one should always dance- like everyone is watching- it is so much more fun. (Please note that it was that time of nichgt where Kelli and I had both ditched our heels so you know that common sense was not one of the qualities any of us possesesd at this point.) Cody and I are very compatable dancers and this was this first real marathon we have had since before summer. It was fantastic. We left the bar at 1:30 (note: only 6.5 hours until caring begins)

Day of Caring: ugh. i did not feel like caring that day, but the 300 volunteers certainly did so certainly gave it my best.

Wednesday night a few of us went to Benchwarmers for the post caring beer where I stared at mine for a while because i still felt hungover from the evening before.... there was an element of entertainment expectations from my co-workers and I simply could not provide. I stared at my beer for the better part of two hours. Then Cody, my brother, Kelli and I decided to go downtown to have a few drinks and play some mo' pool... I was going for diet coke at this point because my liver was in bitch slap mode and I needed a break. We were home by nine and Cody and i rented a movie called 'Wonderland'. Interesting.... I fell asleep before it all unraveled so I cannot, at this time, give an accurate review.


alright, that brings me to present and I hope I have fulfilled all expectations of blog detail.


ahh.... modest midget. there is a new manager at the Casey's down the street and he has bright red hair and he is tiny. Kelli knows him from Ames and he is a bit of a stalker so I call him "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Midget" or "Amber Waves" because he has the longest red arm hair that i have ever seen and it is really wavy. He is nice enough, a little too inquisitive for my liking, but right on. There will be more on Modest Midge later.... I am hoping to filter him into regular blog entries... which should be no problem because he is in love with Kelli. yeah! (it makes her really uncomfortable because she tried to be his friend and he started stalking her and then when she was in Ames this summer she told him where she worked, at camp, and now he works right down the street.... coincidence or crouching midget???) you be the judge- more to come.


Have a wonderful day!
c