No, you idiot.

mountainlaurel02: btw, it's tuesday, not wednesday, like you said
Megjaim: oh crap

Is it Friday yet?

No, it's Wednesday, and tomorrow the Flaming Lips are playing, along with Cake and Kinky, and Modest Mouse.
Am I going? No. Tomorrow I am skipping a peridontist appointment to go with Laurel to senior pictures. We get to wear our vintage dresses. Excellent. Speaking of vintage dresses, today Laurel and I discovered Alice's Vintage Clothing in the Central West End. I've decided I like the Central West End so much that I'm going to hang out there a lot more often.

I didn't buy anything because I am broke.

I am also addicted to the new Altoid's Tangerine Sours. Laurel bought them on a whim and I ask her for about 6 daily. Boy are they good. I'd buy my own tin, but I can't because I am broke.

Today, while Laurel and I were driving home from Aesops, I winked at this guy in the car next to us. He drove away from us really fast so we followed him into my subdivision. I think he was pretty freaked out. But he was listening to Cat Stevens, so I liked him.

Isn't it ironic that even though I'm diabetic, I am killer at making desserts? That's what I did today, at Laurel's. She made that itallian dish with long noodles and tomato sauce that I can't spell and I made... CUSTARD.
Boy was it good. I even sprinkled nutMEG on top. Tasty-licious.

This is the worst post I've ever written. I can no longer write. This is depressing. At least I am trying to.

I like most things.
Love,
Meg :)

See, I told you neglect would ensue...

soy ou can't say I didn't warn you. It's been brought to my attention that my computer institues pound signs when it thinks I've been a naughty girl and said something in my blog that I shouldn't have. The last 3 am post contained two of these words. one of them was "hard --- core" and the other one was "ston --- ed" I'm trying to put lots of spaces in it in the hope that the computer won't edit me again. Oy. Net Nanny.

It should also be noted that I got linked on the Husband's page. Please read his blog. That kind of writing needs to be shared with the world. I'm currently reading the archives about his newborn, which, depending on the subject at hand, makes me laugh or go "awwww..." I've decided they need a babysitter. Namely: me. I'd wow them with my child-watching abilities while they had a night out on the town. They'd rave about me to all their friends:
Friend: Wow, where did you FIND that incredible babysitter?!
Them: Well (socially acceptable laugh) actually, she found us...
Friend: She called you?
Them: Actually...she found our websites.
Friend: Oh. I see.
But eventually the friends would be won over. It'd be easy to convince the parents to hire me, because at the initial interview, (There should always be an initial interview) I'd say things like, "Well, my goal as your daughters' short-term replacement parent figure ("babysitter" is so passe) would be to expand their eclectic music interests, while helping them retain their pop sensibilities."
or "Actually, yes, I am aware that the current method of preparing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches requires cut-off crusts, as well as diagonally sliced white (never wheat) bread. Tell me, does your eldest daughter prefer an excess of peanut butter, or jelly?" or "Well, I plan on majoring in English...I'm familliar with almost every children's book. My personal favorite? Oh, that's so hard. I truly believe Shel Silverstein is a stunning author, really..although his later poems..well..we won't discuss that just yet."

But the kicker? "Why, how ODD! The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" is in my top five albums list as WELL!"

Then I'd be good as gold.

Well, Kel has come to entertain me (or the other way 'round, we've yet to see..) so off I go.
Love you all madly
-Meg :)

Randomness, no really...

Let's address a few things, shall we?

1)The internet was broken this morning. However, due to my hidden superpowers with technology I was able to fix it. "Props" to me.
2)Last night I opened Microsoft Word to work on a story and I have that little talking paperclip that gives me tips and last night the little word balloon said "It's never too late to..." but then I clicked on the close window button and now I have no idea what is is never too late to do. It bothered me. I yelled at the screen "it's never too late to WHAT?!... WHAT!! TELL ME!" (It was a fuzzy night last night)
3)I was blog-browsing, and I came to this page. Basically, it's the weblog of a woman fantasy writer who's currently working on a novel. And you know what? SHE SUCKS. This made me really really happy.
4)Tomorrow everyone returns and I go off-sabatical.YAY! That is good because I think I am nearing insanity. I might call Jeff tonite and break it, though, cause I want to see "Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys"
5)In that list-y song blog, I couldn't remember what song I wanted played at my wedding. Well, I was listening to "Revolver" (That's a Beatles album, for all you musical idiots) today, and I realized that the wedding song I want is "Here, There, and Everywhere." It is my new favorite love song.
6)Everyone needs to download Jack Johnson's "Bubble Toes." Yeah, right now. Do it!
7) I think that's it. I'm going to go make food now. Yummy.
-Megera.

Time for a Friday Five "moment of conformity"

(Wait! I was just re-reading something and I realized that Michael lives in the same apartment complex as Nick, the guy from Cornerstone. Weird... back to regularly scheduled programming)

1.How long have you had a weblog? Well, as I believe we discovered a few posts ago, Meg's meanderings has been around for about 6 months now, give or take a few days. Can you believe it?

2.What was your first post about? The first REAL post (although you can go back and look at it yourself) was entitled "Honeydogs Here's Luck" and was about Wilco, Waking Life, The Smiths, and Mr. Graham. These subjects have repeated themselves in dfferent forms throughout my blogging past. How very appropriate.

3.How many changes of your weblog have there been, if more than one? I have always been a Meandering Meg, although the template went psycho once, so I had to get a yellow one. I don't know if I like it as much. I wish I had a comment system so readers could tell me their preference. The times when I actually view my own page are so few and far between that it doesn't really matter what I think of the template.

4.What CMS (content managing system) do you use? Do you like it or do you want to try something else? ::Meg looks frightened:: er...um... ::runs for cover::

5.Do you read people who have both a journal and a weblog? Or do you prefer to read people who have all their writing in one central place Well, I'm really not aware of the difference here, but I must say that writers who have all their work in one cenral place are really not writers at all.

quiet, it's late, baby

Shh..it's 3 in the morning. 3:39 if you wanna get technical with me. I guess insomnia would be bad if you had it for a lot of the time, but I am "digging it ########" right about now. Gosh, I need a commenting system. Special note to Michael: haha, I made you do those list-y things that you hate. You just found out about the film thing? I need to get over there... Special note to Laurel: I miss you, all these blogs are because without you here I have no life. That's all the special notes for tonite because if I listed everyone I'd miss some people and then they'd get mad and shun me, and that would suck.

Laurel told me once that her and Amanda and Jackie (cause I can't spell it the French way) used to decide to shun each other randomly. So, they'd just be sitting there and Amanda and Laurel would be like "hey, let's shun Jackie" and then they would. Or Amanda and Jackie would be like "let's shun Laurel" (but she was "Laura" at the time) and they would go through these shunning-rounds. Middle school is definately a weird time.

Why am I up at 3 am? Jaime and I just spent the last few hours watching tons of home movies, (I can hardly move from laughing so much.) discussing boys, and giggling a whole lot. It was really, really fun. I have *jealousy* issues with my sister because she is so incredibly beautiful and cool and talented and a lot of things that I'm not. But I love her too much to be jealous of her. Instead, I'm just really really proud of the way she turned out. Maybe I had a little part in it.

Char was in some of the videos. He just grinned a lot, didn't say anything. That was good because I think I might have hyperventilated if he had. I was shaking pretty badly. I was cute when I dated him. I miss him, can you tell? Tell me I'm not borderline obsessive... He's going to find this page, isn't he?

Hang on, I need to go look in a mirror. Sorry, but after you spend a few hours watching yourself on film in that really awkward phase, you start to think you still look like that. I don't, by the way. (Meg tries really hard not to go on a self-deprecation trip)

I'm all low self esteem girl tonite. I must be paying dearly for the Wilco night.

I was talking to Jaime, and she was telling me how all these random guys hit on her, and it was really weird because they were all like freshmen in college and she's a freshman in highschool and I was like "Dude, I have never gotten randomly hit on." And, like insomnia, I imagine it would be bad if it happened to you a lot, but right now I would "dig it ########." Wait, I lied. Once I got hit on by this ###### guy at California Pizza Kitchen with Laurel. That was weird.

Who am I tonite? It's quite clear I am not exactly Meg. Should I even post this? I feel like...a Sylvia or something. I guess your whole tone/outlook on life changes at 3:00 in the morning. This is probably the person that all those boys like. I mean, the lights are low, there's no more inhibitions, heck yeah you're going to fall for Sylvia.

Mmmm...Meg need Jack Johnson. What would it be like to love him? Would he write a song about me? Would he call it Sylvia?

You want me to stop writing all this crap and get to the Friday Five?
well, ok.
Honestly, can't you all just accept me for who I am, even if you don't like who I am very much?
-Meg

Making up for lost time?

I found this list on a blog and the guy's answers were so atrocious, I felt I had to answer it myself.

Which Song...?

Reminds you of an ex-love: Some nameless song by the Young Blood Brass Band
Reminds you of an ex-friend "ABC" by the Jackson 5 (or whatever the title is)
Makes you cry: Couple here... "Horses" by Tori Amos. "What am I doing wrong?" by David Gray. (Actually, there's three songs on the David Gray album that, played in sequence, never fail to make me cry: "Only the Lonely" "What am I doing wrong?" and "Gutters full of rain")
Makes you laugh "The Likes of You." by Flogging Molly. This song never fails to make me feel a great joy welling up inside of me.
Makes you want to dance Absolutely anything by Oakenfold.
Makes you want to sing oy...umm... Old 97's "Singular Girl"
Reminds you of the one you love "They Can't Take That Away From Me" sung by Diana Krall
Reminds you of the one you want "It's tough to have a crush when the boy doesn't feel the same way you do" by OKGO
Do you wish you'd written "Baba O' Rilley" by The Who, or "Yacht Dance" by ###, or "In Other Words" by Ben Kweller
Do you never want to hear again I..can't answer this. I don't really know. Something by Sigur Ros? Or, oh, what about that horrid song by The Bloodhound Gang. I heard that once, and I think I got physically sick.
Do you want to get married to Actually, I'd prefer it at the reception. Oy, what is this song. I heard it and thought "I want them to play that at my wedding." OY! What was it! This is really going to bother me. Gosh, its a beautiful song, I only heard it once, I think yesterday. Jeff, help?
Sums up your teenage years "I'm Always in Love" by Wilco
Do you like to wake up to Aww, this is easy. There's this Guster album that starts with the lyrics "Woke up today/to everything gray" (the song is called"What You Wish For") that or "Smile" by the Jayhawks that says: "Wake up/put your shoes on/take a breath of the morning air/and rub those eyes" or a song by Dar Williams ("It happens everyday") that starts "The first part of every day for me is good" Incidentally, I love Wilco's "Summerteeth" but I HATE waking up to it.
Do you like out of your parent's record collection? goes to check... The rock opera "Tommy" by the Who.
Do you love, but wouldn't know about if not for a friend HA! that's funny, cause that's everything I listen to is from someone else, except for Dar Williams. Let's say "Bubble Toes" by Jack Johnson, introduced to me by, who else, Jeffy.
Do you love the video more than the song "Save Me" by Aimee Mann or "Story of A Girl" by Three Doors Down. Listen to me... the filming is brilliant, I know it's a mainstream song, I only sorta like the song, but it's filmed perfectly.
Do you love that happens to be from your favorite movie Hmm, that would require me to pick a favorite movie, and I refuse to do that. Jeff, what's that song they play in "Magnolia" when everyone sings along? Yeah, that or, from High Fidelity "Dry The Rain" by the Beta Band
Makes you think of the moon "Tonite, tonite" from West Side Story. That or "Calling the Moon" by Dar Williams, but I hate that song.
Makes you think of the dark "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" by The Smiths (wow, that's ironic)
Makes you think of storms "Sit and Listen to the Rain" by Ryan Adams
Makes you think of sex "I'm Sorry Now" by Jude (really anything by Jude, who's lyrics make JEFF uncomfortable.)
Makes you think of being alone "One Man Guy" by Rufus Wainwright
Is your all time feel-good listen This changes from time to time, but right now it's "Get Me Away From Here (I'm Dying)" by Belle and Sebastian, which doesn't SOUND like a feel-good listen,but is, I promise.

More Linkage (I'm such a tease, I kept giving you weird things instead of normal entries)

Found these two in St. Louis. They're married, they're in love, they remind me of Kurt Vonnegut and his wife, they are both brilliant writers. Enjoy, please:

The Wife...she works at an ad agency!
The Husband...boy is he funny.

Rice.

The scene: A loft apartment in some unnamed urban setting. The camera zooms in on a figure wrapped head to toe in sheets, grasping her pillow like she's holding on to her last life line. Her eyes are screwed shut and there is a slight pout on her lips. Her light brown hair is in disarray around her face.

Meg: Mpppph. Go away. Don't want to write today.
Faithful Reader: Come on now Meg, just a little something? For me?
Meg: (turns her head into the pillow, mumbles) Go away. Life is cruel.
F.R.: What's this? I thought you were the 'incurable optimist.' Suddenly life is cruel?
Meg: Don't want to talk about it.
F.R. Come on, sweetie, we've been together for how long now? (Checks the archives) 6 months, about? (epiphany) Oh, gosh, Meg, we hit six months on the 22nd.
(Meg rolls her eyes)
F.R. Look, I'm sorry, ok? I forgot our six month anniversary. Well... I've got a lot on my mind lately! You're not the only one who's got a lot of things to think about.
(Meg mumbles something that sounds like "Screw you.")
F.R. Oh, let's not pretend THAT'S happening.
(beat)
(Meg looks F.R. straight in the eye) Meg: You've been reading other blogs, haven't you?
Not So Faithful Reader: Look, Meg, it's not like that. I read them occasionally. I browse, I visit. What we have is commitment.
Meg: uh-huh, sure. Whatever. I don't want to do this now. I just want to sleep. Go 'way.
NSFR: I'm not leaving now. We need to talk about this.
Meg: You are so self-centered, you know that? I don't CARE you forgot our six months, I don't CARE you're seeing other blogs. Go away!
(Meg dissolves into tears)
NSFR: Oh, come on baby, what is it, tell me?
Meg: (through racking sobs) I...had..a dream
NSFR: What was it about?
Meg: It was, it was about the most beautiful story in the world. I was reading this story about how this boy met this girl. Allison, I think her name was. They were made for each other, everything came together brilliantly. And it was beautiful and perfect and well written and I never wanted it to end. And then (fresh round of tears)... it DID.
(NSFR is slightly confused) Erm...it did?
Meg: It STOPPED. The author hadn't finished it! It was glorious, and I knew there should be more and there wasn't. (Hides in her pillow again) Oh God, what a nightmare.
(NSFR has a look of insight) Meg...have you been reading your story archives again?
Meg: (shuddering sob) Yeeess!
NSFR: Now, Meg, you KNOW what that does to you...
Meg: All those stories! Unfinished! Lying around, waiting for me to attend to them. I am a terrible person!
NSFR: Honey, you're not a terrible person. You just have issues with...finishing things you start.
Meg: And I can't write.
NSFR: Oh, not this again. (eyeroll) Meg, you can write. I've read your stuff.
Meg: You only say that because you love me. You didn't read the dream-story. THAT was writing!
NSFR: (gently) Meg...um...you dreamed that story. You wrote it, it came out of your head.
Meg: (visibly brightens) Hey, you're right..
NSFR:Now, see... are you ready to write now? Can we get to blogging?
Meg: (horrible truth dawns) I wrote a brilliant story... and now I can't REMEMBER IT.
NSFR:(sees this is going to take a while, moves to the camera and shuts it off.)

(blank screen ensues)

Let's partake in some good ol' fashioned Wilco-bashing

This post is just for you, Michael--

Now, you listen to me. When was the last time you actually sat down and LISTENED to Wilco? Honestly, I bet the last thing you heard was "AM" or "Being There." And just so you know, I am morally opposed to twang. I can't hardly stand it. It makes Jeff laugh at me, but it is for this reason that I can listen to Wilco, and not their "brother band" Son Volt. Have you heard Summerteeth? Have you heard Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? I mean, sure, they've gotten a little experiemental, they've gotten kinda weird, and yeah, I don't listen to them much during the year, but let me tell you this:

THEY PUT ON THE BEST LIVE SHOW I'VE EVER SEEN.

So, I always forget why I love Wilco most of the time, but one concert brings it all back. Kudos to your roomate and his girlfriend, even if they do have rather loud and boisterous sex.

Yeah, I just felt the need to say this.
I hope you all who read my blog don't get spoiled, because as soon as everyone gets back from vacation and I have a social life again, the blog will go back to being neglected.
Well, I'm off then.
-Meg

Variations on The fish *gasp* are HATCH-ING"

Just remembered something I wanted to blog a few days ago. I'm opposed to back-blogging, but this is golden:

Jaime and I were driving home from somewhere, probably the Loop, since I seem to spend all my free time there. We were at the intersection of...um...that street...with...er.. Brentwood Boulevard, (look, you all know I have no sense of direction) and although the light was green, people weren't driving, and I saw a woman waving her hands wildly in the middle of the street. Strangely enough, I don't remember being alarmed, but just mildly curious.

As we neared the intersection, I saw this slightly hippie-ish looking woman escorting a mother duck and roughly a dozen little ducklings across a major street. I remember giggling because she seemed very intent on making sure EVERY duck got across the street, although they seemed to be doing rather well without her. I glanced to my left and noticed a man (I assumed her husband) walking the other way. In his hand was a dead mallard duck. He had it by the feet and its head and body was swinging back and forth. The man looked pained as he walked to the sidewalk. Traffic started again, and so I began to drive, but the image stayed in my mind.

Why were they helping the ducks? Had the man ran over the duck? Was the woman an ultra-environmentalist? Had they seen the dead duck and immeadiately stopped the car to help its widow and babies? Wasn't the man scared of the diseases that the duck corpse might have? All these questions ran through my mind, but the one that stuck was:

If I had run over a duck, would I have stopped?

Would you have?

I miss the innocence I've known

Little Wilco for you tonite, dear readers. But before I delve in, guess what? I got linked on dear Michael Ko's page! If you look on the right hand side of his webpage, you'll see a link to me. I plan to link him just as soon as I implement those techniques Hans taught me. (huggles to Han) Turns out some of my educated guesses were wrong, but you can read all about what his history actually is just as soon as you click on that there link up there. Go on, chillens!

Right, so you want the skinny on Wilco? I'm going to try to say this in a way that won't hurt too much: If you weren't there, you are a pathetic loser. I love you, but you should have been there. Everyone who was anyone was there. (More on that later.) It was incredible. Jeff Tweedy is an incredible showman, and every song (well, except for this psycho version of "Sunken Treasure") was amazing. Yes, they did play one of my theme songs "She's a jar" but it wasn't as good as when they played it last time. "War on War" was stunning, and made me cry. The line "you've got to learn how to die/if you wanna wanna be alive" hit me particularly hard. Brilliant. On the drive home we were listening to Jeff's new compilation entitled: Sham Rock (just think about that for a while, and soon the brilliance of the title will hit you) which is the 3rd CD in his triology (The first two being "Elation" and "Summer") It is excellent. Driving home to "Light up Your Room" with the windows rolled down and the full moon peeking through the clouds was one of the most amazing moments I have ever experienced. But let's move on past this mushy sentimentalism and get to some good ol' fashioned indignance.

I said everyone who's anyone was there. Yes, HE was there. The Infamous Ex. And yes, he had brought his 12 year old-looking girlfriend. Naturally, this was slightly upsetting. I think I would have been ok, except for this tiny, yet shocking fact:

HE SHAVED.

Ok, Laurel, are you conscious again? Good, let's continue. That's right. The beard that kept me from falling over in halls while he passed, the beard that covered his near-perfect jawline and turned him from a handsome young man into an ugly, messy 50 year old has been removed. I nearly, literally, keeled over. He was wearing a hat he'd bought with me, and snuggling with his girl (1 year in August) and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. He stood behind me the whole time, of course. Luckily Wilco was good enough to distract me, but it was heart-wrenching nonetheless. I was about 5 seconds from running over to him and either hitting him across the face or kissing him passionately while simultanously pushing his girl to the side. Fear stopped me.

I don't think any of you know how much I wish I didn't feel this way. If Time heals all wounds, I've been waiting a year and a half, and I'm beginning to look around for some other type of elixer (drugs, alchohol)

::long sigh::

Still, the night was amazing, even if I spent half of it turning around in my seat to catch a glimpse of him smiling or laughing. At least he was kind enough to keep that beard while we were in school together.

Hopefully my "sabbatical" will go better, as of yet it's been a whirlwind of emotions.

I felt very beautiful tonight, some of you will be glad to hear.

Well, I have to get up much too early tomorrow morning, so I suppose I'm going to get some sleep.
Love you all madly,
-Meg

Dentists, The Loop, and A Surprise

This morning I got my teeth cleaned professionally.

*Meg beams at her readers*

Now they are all shiny and clean. But, oh, I have bad news! You know how I'm on the learning-from-my-mistakes-and-being responsible-kick? Well, apparently, it went to my head. I mean literally. That's right, your dear Meg has to get her wisdom teeth pulled. Terrible, isn't it? But moving on...

After the dentist, I decided to take my brother out to lunch. We went to Fitz's. For the record, Fitz's is a complete rip-off. I paid roughly 24 dollars for a two person lunch. I am sickened. I think I'm going to boycott them. For the record, Carl's Drive In has MUCH better rootbeer, AND it's closer to me. So there. Afterwards Will and I went to Streetside and looked for that Iris Dement CD for my mom. No such luck. I also wanted to get "Cry, The Beloved Country," but SubT. books was closed. Weird. I didn't have any money left anyway, thanks to that darned restaurant (plus, the server looked at us funny, I swear)

I wanted to take a big break from everyone this week, just take a mini-vacation and take time to reflect on everything that's going on in my life. (It wouldn't have been so hard, considering everyone but Jeff is gone.) However, tomorrow I am seeing Wilco at the Pageant, so that kind of screws that over. It'll be a good show though, definately. The last Wilco show made me cry. (In a good way, guys.) I still have to decide if I want to go to that poetry night Wednesday. I think there's this service at Jimmy's church that I kind of want to go to though. Hmm...decisions decisions.

But enough of this stalling. You all want the dirt. And the dirt you shall get. Today I got an e-mail from a Random Person. His name, actually, is Michael Ko, which means he's Asian, which means his cool factor goes up roughly 11.2 points (not that I'm counting) He likes Brave New World (5.7) Waiting for Godot (6.2) and Catch 22 (7.0) and dislikes The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man (10 points, because, according to Jeff, this book sucks so much) However, he dislikes Catcher in the Rye, which puts him down about 3. I learned all this from his webpage, because, like normal people, he knows how to put permanent links on the sidebar. Han, please help me.

Interestingly enough, he also attends Wash U (is this some sort of sign?) lives in the Loop (7.4) and is a pre-med (5.6.) He writes fiction and screenplays in his spare time (10) (It should be noted here that he is actually good at writing fiction, damn him) He was attracted to my "airplanes" post, because he seems to have a bit in common with New Guy and Jewish Boy. His letter was awesome, and it actually answered a rhetorical question. Apparently:

"...college men do other things at college besides get drunk
it is not our only way of having fun, but drinking for college men is like nutella or parmesean (sic) cheese. we keep trying to see how many different things we can combine it with. just to see what it would be like." Nutella makes me think of Ace. Boy do I miss her.

He also noted that not all kids at Wash U have rich parents. This is good to know. In fact "some of them were raised on television, fast food, and books from the library as a substitue for parental guidance, home cooked meals, and father-son talks respectively since both parents were endlessly working jobs with long hours and irregular schedules."

So, apparently, both of his parents were doctors.

Anyway, if he's reading this, thanks for the letter. I appreciated it so much that I dedicated half a post to you.

For the record, I like Brave New World, but don't like Brave New World Revisited.

-Meg

Listen to Me

I have been misquoting Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" all my life.

Let me explain. Tonight I finally understood my favorite little set of lyrics. They go like this (he's talking about love, by the way):

It's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody you seem to like
It's a cold and it's a broken "Hallelujah"

And I thought you myself, "YES! Love is not someone crying out at night because they miss being held, love is not someone you're infatuated with. Love is a cold, broken man on a cross who whispers "Hallelujah"

Not as I will, Lord, but as you will.

As it turns out, as I was getting ready to write this post, I looked up the lyrics online. And the actual lyrics say
"It's not somebody who's seen the light."
But I like my version MUCH better, and will continue to sing it that way.

I am learning everyday, that love is not a feeling, but an action.

Couple of airplanes, lots of airplanes, even expensive airplanes

The New Guy has a name. It is Carl. His friend, the Jewish Boy? Alex. (For a while we thought it was Joshua, but that turned out to be a misunderstanding.) We all have matching eyeglasses. I suppose you'll want to know how it all happened.

I went to Aesop's to get coffee, to write letters, and to read my Asher Lev book. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Asher Lev, so it had to be Douglas Adams. At first I couldn't find my Brand New Shiny Fountain Pen with Purple Ink, and I thought the whole thing was going to be a bust, and I might as well give up on it, because, really, what's the point (no pun intended) of writing with a ballpoint pen? Luckily, however, the phantom pen was found and the adventure began.

Aesop's was dead. I bought a cappucino and sat down to write letters. I wrote many many pages to Laurel, most of which didn't make any sense. I thought Jeff might meet me there, but not surprisingly, he never showed up. Surprisingly, Jewish boy did.
For the uninitiated, Jewish Boy is not Jewish at all. In fact, the only thing he has in common with the Semitic people is that he has dark hair. But since I'm obsessed with Jewish culture, I pretended he was. I first saw him reading when I was out with Kel, Jimmy, and Jeff. The next time I was with Jeff and Laurel, and he was reading "Whuthering Heights." We talked a bit two times before, but it was more us talking to other people instead of each other.

Anyway, the point is, that 12 rolls around and I finally figure out he's not going to come over, look at the book and say "Wow, I don't know many girls who read Douglas Adams." (look! I couldn't find Asher Lev! I told you, I'm sorry.) So I start making conversation with the New Guy, who I've already figured out is named Carl. We talk a little about Elliot Smith, ect, and eventually Jewish Boy joins in and we all start talking. I ended up sweeping the floors and closing up shop with them. I left at 1:30. It was interesting. We talked about books and movies and music and pop culture, and you know what conclusion I've come to?

College kids, hey, they aren't that different than us. So these guys are juniors in college, as far as I can tell. Do they act like it? No. Are they intelligent? Yes. And their parents are rich, since they go to Wash U.

But honestly, I don't know what to think. These guys (well, at least Carl) sounds like he's just saying stuff to say it. The Jewish Boy (sorry, Alex) has this funny, slightly cynical way of talking. He is certainly not introverted or shy. He does not ponder his words carefully before he says them. I felt like I was in a play, only I was the only one that realized it. It was interesting conversation, sure. But to a large degree it felt very false. I felt like we were all trying to impress each other. It was less of a discussion and more of a "here's-what-I've-been-thinking-about-lately." We all kept interrupting each other with our brilliant observations on life. Maybe it'll fade with time. They asked me to go to a kegger, but not surprisingly, I declined.

Is the only thing men at college do get drunk? Is this the only way they can have fun? I give up.

Well, they certainly won't get the address to this page, but if this post suddenly disapears in the future, you'll know where it's gone. Interesting, though. Almost certainly will see them both Wednesday night at the Red Sea for that poetry night. We all want to be writers. Getting three writer types in a room together is funny.

Alex is a runner. Carl alternated between nievete and intelligence. He taught me the word "maunder." Alex likes Huxley, Oregon, and needs a hobby. He doesn't like television, computers, or stupid people. Carl has two jobs. Alex has none. Carl wants to wait until he's 30 to publish something. Alex is a perfectionist, and doesn't like to write now for fear someone will find it in the future and laugh at his early work. Alex is an intellectual elitist. Alex's dad is a doctor. Carl's dad is a doctor. Alex thinks his most interesting years have been from age 12 to now. Alex used to be able to hang from doorframes. He thinks Family Guy should be turned into a movie. Carl doesn't like the prose in "The Faerie Queen." Carl likes Family Guy. Alex's favorite book is Brave New World, but he doesn't get Brave New World Revisited. Carl thinks the gap between intelligent people and idiots is widening in our modern culture. Alex pretends not to know about shows like "Who wants to marry a millionaire." Carl has been to the Kentucky Derby. Alex has been to New York. Carl smokes. Alex wants to. Alex has a diabetic roomate with a pump. Carl thought my pump was a pager. Alex thinks that diabetics like to stay up late and sleep in. Both enjoy Elliot Smith.

I think that's about it. More as it develops.
Love from,
Meg

Never Tire of Playing

With the template, that is. Trying out a new commenting system, lets see if it works!

Oh! Get me away!

I sat down to write this post and I had an odd thought: What if nobody reads this anymore? Or what if people read it, but they are so darned upset with me that they just glare at the sceen and scoff at everything I say?

Scoffers! Scoff no more! (wait, I changed my mind, "scoff" is my new favorite word.)

Right, so aside from the fact that no one reads this anymore and everyone hates me, how are things?
So kind of you to ask.
Sadly, I can't answer honestly, but here's some tidbits for you:

Today I have been suffering from Chinese Water Torture. Now, my friends (or, erm, former-friends) and I have had discussions on what actually constitutes Chinese Water Torture. While some believe C.W.T (abbreviated for posterity's sake) consists of having water dripped on one's head over and over in the same spot for many a month until the tortur-ee goes insane, others believe it is being immersed in a large tank of water until one's skin decays and falls off. Well, I'm not really sure what the formal definition of CWT is, but I have been listening to the sound of running water for going on 4 hours now. I go from bathroom to bathroom, trying to determine where exactly the water that is running IS. I have yet to find it, but I can listen to it a lot. Maybe some people would find it soothing.
I find it completely and totally annoying.

But moving right along...

One day, a little while ago, (you all know time means nothing to me) Someone ran into my street sign, so I "saved" it and hid it in my room. Today is it being washed by the sprinkler. It looks pretty cool. Dad wants it for the river house, but I want to take it to college andput it outside my dorm room so I can say "yeah, my door is the one with the street sign." That would increase my cool factor by like 12 points, I think. Not that I'm counting.

I read all of Han's back blogs today. Boy are they good, I like them. I don't think she likes me anymore, but I still like her blog. I'm still trying to figure out how to put permanent links on the sidebar. I play around with the HTML, but it doesn't seem to do much.
Boy, I'm computer illiterate.

Well, I have three letters to write with my Brand New Shiny Birthday Fountain Pen with Purple Ink. Guess I'd better go do that.
Huglets,
Meg

What Time is it? Friday Five Time!

That's right, and I'm your host, Meg the Meandering Malingerer! (Ah, "malinger" is my new favorite word.)
But enough with this crazy small talk! Let's get down to business!

The "Gee I wish I'd been smart enough to think of this brilliant idea" Friday Five

1. Where were you born? St. Louis, MO. Some hospital at 3:00 in the morning. Suppose which hospital it was doens't really matter that much. I was a cute baby, I slept a lot.

2. If you still live there, where would you rather move to? If you don't live there, do you want to move back? Why or why not? Well, for a long time I thought I'd like to move to Chicago, cultural scene and the like. But I think I'd probably be very happy in Torch Lake, Michigan, the home of my idyllic childhood vacations. I would like to note that the stones in the upper corner of my new template remind me of Michigan. When I was a child I used to collect what the locals called "petoski" or "petosky" stones. The had old fossils on them. You could get them polished and cut into little shapes. One year, Jaime got a frog shape and I got mushrooms. (No comment on the drug connotations, my dears)

3. Where in the world do you feel the safest? Wrapped in an embrace.

4. Do you feel you are well-traveled? Relatively, yes. The Annual Clark Family Summer Vacation has been enacted since I was a child, and I've seen a lot of the US (not to mention a bit of Europe.) It is still my wish to see the East, however. I have never been to Boston in the Fall. I want to road trip. Anybody up for it?

5. Where is the most interesting place you've been? Oh my, this is a kicker, no wonder they saved it for number five. Well, perhaps this isn't the most interesting place I've been, in fact, now that I think about it it was downright boring, but I can't get it out of my head, so I'll tell you about it. I went to South Dakota when I was about 12. I remember it very well because we went with my dad's brother (John, the lawyer) and my dad's sister (Cheryl, the zen-like single mom with long dark hair) and my cousins. It was a very sparce western place. We slept in teepees, I kid you not. In fact, they were the same teepees that had been used in the movie "White Fang" (or something like that.) I couldn't have cared less, but my parents were impressed. There are a few things on this trip that I will never forget. One was that we went during my birthday, and we took a whole wagon-full of people out to the mountains and had a big barbeque in my honor. Another one I remember was one morning, Aunt Cheryl took me out on a hike up into the Black Hills early in the morning. I watched the sun rise while she slept with her head on a rock. I felt very zen.

We are the champions, my friend

That being the royal "we", that is.

Well, I finally got most of my issues with the blog worked out, so now we can get back to business as usual. Next on the program: the Friday Five! (everyone's faaavorite blog featurette) But first: Meg goes to do the dishes and then heads off for yet another doctors appointment! Stay tuned, kiddos, and you won't regret it!

(I'd like to break here to thank our sponsor, Blogger, and say hello to a new group I recently joined: St. Louis Bloggers. This means I may have visitors that I don't even know! Maybe this will inspire me to blog more regularly, but probably not.)

Love you all madly, I'm out until after lunch.
-Meglet

Know what's terrible?

All the titles are RIGHT ALIGNED. Why am I forced to suffer this?!

Like Ben Kweller Says

I've got problems! Can't get...rid..of cutesy...kittens. Will to blog, fading, fading, fading

Meg plays with template

Guys, just playing around. I had it on these cutesy little kitten things. Sorry, but that's a bit too girly for my taste. (so what if my room is painted pink? I WAS SIX.

Oy Gevalt

Test test, one two three. Blogger hates me and keeps giving me error 503

Test, test, one two three. Che-ck-check one, one, twooo

The Blog and I have been having arguments lately. Tsk, tsk. I'm posting this to see if he will let me write. (Am I the only one who personifies my blog? At least Joe talks to inanimate objects, that makes me feel better)
-Meglet

I'll be good now, I promise

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. You think I don't feel guilty? I DO! It's all I think about all night long! How I've been depriving you all of blogs, even terrible blogs. Things have been going on in my life that half of you don't even KNOW about. I went to a rave, I turned 18, I drive on highways now. Oy. I have done a terrible terrible thing and I am awfully sorry about it.

But we cnn forgive and forget, right? We can start over fresh and I will blog more often and you will read and enjoy it and maybe I'll even get a little comment-y thing so you can leave threatening messages. We'll return to normal and everything will be as it should.

Promise me it can be like it used to be?

An Object Lesson in Domesticity

(I'm back, by the way. Thanks, I missed you too.)

This morning I was woken up by my mother and informed that I was to go and babysit for my cousins and since my car is currently residing at Laurel's, my uncle had arrived to pick me up. I rolled, literally, out of bed, and set off for a little house in Kirkwood, the home of my three cousins: Eric (11, I think) Sarah (5) and Eileen (1, and yes, you can sing the song) We spent about 4 or 5 hours together and I would just like to say to any woman that has ever had children:

You are completely nuts, but I respect you more than most people.

For those of you that haven't heard, Meg is going on a responsibility kick. I've realized that eventually I am going to have to grow up and take care of myself and eventually a family. And it is becoming painfully clear to me that I am the most unprpared person on earth. So it is. And it seems as though once I realize a rather large personality flaw, it is presented to me again and again in different forms. I have so much to learn.

It's not that the kids were bad, they were perfect angels. But that's really not the point. The point is that even if they are perfect angels you have to feed them and take care of them and clothe them and entertain them and kiss them when they hurt (emotionally or physically) and attempt to stimulate and educate their young minds and watch what goes into their mouths and watch what goes into their heads and watch what goes into their hearts, and drive them everywhere, and keep them from killing each other or themselves and the amount of responsibility (what's that?) just floored me. I am not ready at all, but I am willing to try and learn.

I know this post might bore most of you, because it is not about the latest movies or the coolest places to eat or the newest dress I got, but here's the thing: A LOT OF MOMS DON'T SPEND HOURS PLANNING THEIR OUTFITS FOR CONCERTS WEEKS IN ADVANCE. Having kids forces you to stop thinking about yourself because you don't have TIME to think about yourself. It is a cure all for the me firsts and the gimme gimmes (just for you, Kel.)

So that's my schpiel for today. I know none of you believe that I'm actually going to start writing to-do lists and trying to learn how to wash clothes, and I don't know if I even believe I do. But I think I'm beginning to realize I have to.

I refused to be paid, by the way. I'd already been, in a lot of ways.

-Meg