Spring Cleaning in the Summer

Today, my mother and I ripped all the clothes out of my closet (which resembled nothing more than an exponentially growing, mutated ball of cloth), and sorted them all.  I even got rid of things, which is saying a lot, seeing as my room looks like it belongs on TLC's Hoarders show.  Now, my closet is basically just as full, but NEAT for the first time in literally years.  It's quite refreshing.

I had planned on writing more the other day, when I was accosted by a lady selling hair straighteners.  I had been out to lunch with my friend, as she was about to leave for college.  Then, I had needed a bathingsuit, so I walked around the mall for an hour looking for one.  It was very exciting and not at all frustrating when H&M had only bottoms (except for a truly hideous, skimpy, patriotic thing...), Sears had suits that would look presentable in a nice restaurant on a cold evening, and Kohl's became the scariest place in the world.  To make matters even... better.... I was wearing these brown pumps that really should not have been used to walk for above 30 minutes around the neighborhood.  So, by the time I was looking around for bathing suits, I was walking around the mall in my stockings, muttering to myself about how I "didn't give a damn if anyone cared.... I wouldn't care."

Basically, all this leads up to the point in time where I said "Screw it," and decided to leave.  Unfortunately, many kiosks are located in the mall, and as I walked by one of them, a young woman with some exotic-sounding sort of accent approached me.  I turned to her in annoyed resignation (I don't think it's even possible to walk past these people without saying ANYTHING), and she asked me, with sincerity in her voice (snort), how I got my hair to be the way it is.  I told her nothing, and she asked me if I ever straightened it.  I told her no, that it doesn't work.  This is very, very true.   My hair is blonde and semi-curly, and whenever I try to straighten it, it says "Hell no!" and looks like dried out, voluminous straw.

The woman then walked back to her stupid kiosk, and beckoned me over, saying we'd try it.  Apparently, "No, I can't," actually means, yes I have time for you to do "just one piece."  At least she had the courtesy to keep her expression exactly the same as I left, and wave at me (both of which were mildly creepy and frustrating, as they show the lack of interest these scary vendors have in anyone as a person).  The odd thing was, was that I knew she was a vendor when she approached my, and yet she sounded so truthful and normal when she asked my about my hair that I thought she might just be wondering.  Silly me, clearly.

Green dress, Green Peace

My mother and I went to see Eat Pray Love today, and I quite enjoyed it.  Now, I want to go on vacation with Javier Bardem.

We then went to return the many DVDs we had rented from the video store.  As I was walking along to meet my mom, who was throwing away her regretfully empty Junior Mints box, I saw two young women standing on the sidewalk, holding flyers.  My first thought was "Dear God, let me out of here."

There is little more awkward to me than those folks who hawk products or causes on the sidewalks, and you really could care less what they have to say, yet you still have to talk to them because they DO NOT LET YOU PASS otherwise.  One of them approached my mother, and swear words ran through my head as I rolled my eyes to myself and walked forward.  Why didn't I just stand still and wait?  Why?  I have no idea.  Perhaps part of it was the fact that I didn't want them to influence where I went... I can walk wherever I damn well please at our weird, tiny strip mall.

But, of course, as I approached, I couldn't help but make eye contact with one of them, and she, in all her  blonde confidence and straightforwardness, came at me saying, "Green dress, Green Peace. Let's talk."  Actually, I would call my dress teal.  But whatever.  Luckily, my mom reached me at that point, and I grabbed her arm, turning away from the woman, saying, "Sorry... I can't, I've got to go...."  Do nothing.  Ignore you.  Do they expect to endear themselves to people by marching up to them like that and forcing them into conversation?  Maybe it's supposed to intimidate them and leave them without an opportunity to leave.  I however, think it a tactic beyond annoying.  Why can't they just set up a booth and wait for those who are interested to come, instead of trying to snag all of the people who are mentally screaming at them out of fear and frustration?

Welcome home, new plant!

I bought a Sansevieria plant (otherwise known as Snake Plant or Mother-in-Law's Tongue...) today.  It's very lush and pretty, and has a brand new blue ceramic pot to live in.  I figured I'd want a plant in my college dorm.  Not only do I want a living buddy (hopefully my roommate will satisfy that requirement too), but maybe it will absorb all the CO2 that is produced when two college students sit listlessly at their computers for hours on end.

Lauren Vs. The World

I went to see "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" today with my mother.... and it wasn't the WORST thing I've ever seen (I reserve that honor for "Highlander," which I HIGHLY recommend).  For fans of Michael Cera's performances, it's probably exciting to see that he brings the Exact. Same. One. to every movie he's in.  But, at least his character is pathetically charming.  Though the movie did have it's comic moments, I was more amused at the fact that I was watching it at all... oh well.  That's what summer is for - seeing as many movies as possible until you find one that blows your mind (and, I've seen "Inception," so my mind is, indeed, blown).

I still have an astounding 5 weeks left of summer vacation, which will make visiting my high school when my mom goes to visit very satisfying.  At the beginning of summer, I thought I wouldn't know what to do with myself, having so much time off of school.  But, I have filled the void with more lurking on Facebook than I can possible describe, as well as by getting very invested in "Jerseylicious" and "Khloé and Kourtney Take Miami."  Both great, truly high-quality, examples of television.

This is my first time blogging, and I'm quite enjoying it (I'm also enjoying the feel of the keyboard of my laptop), so I'll continue.  I took my dog, Sally, who is much more mature than I am, for a walk yesterday.  I fully intended to just go around the block and return home in 20 minutes.  But, of course, Sally wanted to go for a better walk (and I figure, it is HER walk, so why not?).  So, she took me down to my old middle school, where she wanted to go into the teachers lounge (surprise!), through a forest that made old poop really interesting, and down to the creek.  For a dog who avoided water like the plague for 10 years, Sally's yearning for all things aquatic entertains me greatly. It took a while to get her out of there, as she has the fun, not at all stubborn habit of laying down whenever she doesn't want to leave (smart dog).  However, she's so cute, that I can't ever get mad.  I just walk away and wait for her to follow at her own graceful, sedate pace, sniffing at anything she pleases, not caring anything for the steamingly impatient human waiting for her.  I would have been a lot happier trying to forge my way through the hallways of my high school if I had taken a leaf out of Sally's book and just meandered.

Anyway, I have now tired enough of typing to hit the Publish button (but I'm sure this will be my new addiction that only I care about.. oh well, it's faster than a diary.)