Laid out beneath the stars...strung out and feeling great...

Greg "Garthur" Arthur of University of Maryland at College Park aka The Fairy. Yes, this man did change my life. I'm torn between wanting to marry him and wanting to mock him incessantly. I'm leaning towards the former, partially because I'm fairly certain he'd kick my ass in a battle of wits. Read on to learn more about The Fairy and his actions.

Well, after a weekend of wicked insanity, I'm ready to chill, have lunch with my friends and go shopping.

As anyone who talked to me knows, this weekend was AU Debate Society's tournament. Good turnout (30+ teams), ran, for the most part, on time, and I think everyone who debated had a pretty good time. So, the end game: AU's got another legitimate tournament under it's belt.

The price for all of this? The insanity and ridiculousness of putting together housing for people staying the night. It was insane mostly because people kept bailing on me at the last minute. But in the end, we only had to house about 30 people, and I had it for 45. Thanks to everyone who offered up their floors, and especially to those who actually did have people crashing in your rooms. See? They did NOT steal your stuff.

Aside from that, I had to judge too. I did all the normal rounds, as well as the novice semis, finals and varsity finals. 8 rounds all together. I was a wreck by the 7th, but the 8th (varsity finals) returned my soul to me. Let's just put it this way...there's nothing quite like watching an incredibly attractive man stand up (Garthur/The Fairy) and argue (very passionately I might add) that Billy Goat Gruff was unjustified in his actions against the troll because the troll OWNED that bridge. Other arguments were: Rousseau's social contract, the Preservation of Wildlife (or possibly envoking the ire of the troll nation), and let's not forget THE DEPRIVATION OF THE NATURAL DIVERSITY OF THE ECOSYSTEM.

Anyways...that aside...UMD parties and parties at the Albemarle tend to equal a lot of fun and mild hangovers.

So...in conclusion...Would you punch Rosa Parks in the face?

I said all the things that you said to say...did I say enough?

Yeah...I don't know either...but that's Adam and that's why he's cool.
The infamous Kat and Rick. Rick is one of the people who has been forced to live with us.
Is it wrong that the only thing I can think of when I see this picture is "His left pant leg is rolled up...is he a Blood or a Crip?!?!?!" FYI: That's Shea trying to be a dirty Mexican. Shea is quite possibly the most Irish person on the planet, in case you couldn't guess from his name. Also...it just dawned on me...that picture was taken in MY room. The serpentine of pictures in the background gives it away.
And here we have a picture from When Kat and Ash go the Dupont. Notice the computer screen. We were clearly in the back of an MPD cruiser.


FYI2: Photo credits go entirely to Kat. I stole these off her blog

( http://thirteenmirrors.blogspot.com ). I need my damn camera back. Now. Actually, no, I need to buy a new one. Geh.

A Short List of People Forced to View the Horror that is Ash and Kat...(aka people who've slept on our floor for):

Carey

Rick

Justin

Crystal

Eventually, they're just going to form a support group.

Here's to the nights we felt alive, Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry, Here's to goodbye, tomorrow's gonna come to soon..

Despite the fact that I'm not a huge Eve 6 fan...I can safely say (and I think Kat will agree with me) that those are the most approrpiate lyrics I could use to describe last night...

Let me just start out by saying that ANY negative comments I have ever or will ever make about the MPD...I recind them RIGHT NOW.

That being said, let's continue on to my story...a tale of blind fear, shock and dismay...

Last night Kat and I returned home from UMD at CP around 2:30 in the morning exha usted and delerious...after scribling the following message on our redboard, I passed out in bed...

...Ash and Kat would like to express their undying love and devotion to their friends. That being said they will systematically and ritualistically slaughter anyone who wakes them on Saturday morning...

Yeah. We were tired. Luckily, it's parent's weekend and most of our friends who would wake us up were off with their families.

So, being orphans, Kat and I decide to go down to Friendship Heights. Because of the rain, we have to take the metro, when we normally would have walked. So, I stop to put money on my SmarTrip (something like a gift card...you keep putting money on it and you use it to get around on the WMATA system). I tried 3 times to do this...on both credit and debit...but the machine kept repeating "Authorization denied. Transaction Cancelled." Obviously, this upsets me a good bit...but I figure it was just a messed up machine. We move to another machine and Kat uses her debit card to put money on my card, money that I intend to pay back as soon as we get to an ATM in Friendship Heights. Now, I need to point out. The fact that Kat uses her debit card is INCREDIBLY important later in the story, so pay attention and take notes.

So...we get to Friendship and I check my ATM balance...it reads "-66.68." Obviously, I'm incredibly disturbed. I worked FOREVER this summer to avoid things like this happening, and I should have a couple hundred in my account at the very least. So, after schlepping around Borders and Cosis for a bit, we finally head back to school (walking this time, it more or less stopped raining). And I get my computer to pull up my account online and my cell phone to talk to PNC.

I think its necessary to clarify at this point. I worked a lot this summer and came to school with a good bit of money (some of which I blew on an iPod, something I still don't regret doing) but I still work down here. Every time I'd walk home from babysitting, I'd pass my bank on the way and would stop by the ATM to deposit what they gave me (usually cash) because, hey, I live in a city and guess what? PEOPLE LIKE TO STEAL YOUR STUFF. Also, there's been a series of on campus break ins, so I don't want to keep a ton of cash in my room.

So...continuing on..I'm on the phone with a guy from PNC who is incredibly nice, I tell him the problem (namely that I have no money when I should have a lot of it) and he does a bit of research. Well...you know how I mentioned that I was worried about people stealing my money? Turns out I should have worried about the bank stealing it...and by stealing it I mean LOSING IT. Somehow, the entire time I was depositing money into my account on a weekly basis, they were recorded as "reverse transaction deposits." I have no idea what this means, but its akin to more or less recording the transaction then the money magically disappearing after that. Yay. So...basically...they lost a couple hundred dollars and I've been living entirely off the money I earned from the summer.

Yeah.

I was hysterical and confused. At some point I was crying and asked "why would you do this to me?! I didn't kick puppies in a past life or anything!" He was nice, calming and reassured me that there really wasn't anything that he could do until Monday but file some reports. He assured me that my money would be returned to me...in about 10 business days. That's about 2 weeks for you slow students.

Terribly upset, I just wanted to cry in my bed. BUT I promised Adam that I'd go have dinner w/ his family and Caroline so I had to leave school yet again.

So, Kat and I are late to meet them and end up going with them to Dupont for the best ice cream in the world. Kat and I leave early because she has to go to work and I've got plans with another friend.

Here's where life starts to suck.

Upon getting back on to the Metro, Kat and I stop to put money on the SmarTrips. (She had previously agreed to lend me $5 for this). But for some reason...it wasn't working. The machine kept denying her card.

Now, she flat out knew she had a ton of money in her account, due to hysterically calling Wachovia earlier in the day to check her balance.

Well, it turns out that the WMATA has a very interesting rule that neither I, nor Kat nor ANY of our friends were aware of, despite living in DC and using the Metro on a daily basis for over a year...It turns out that you can only do one credit card transaction per day on the metro station machines.

Enter hysterical fear, stage left.

I think I need to qualify the hysterical fear here. Dupont Circle is 30 BLOCKS AWAY FROM AU. IT WAS DARK AND THERE WAS POURING RAIN. We literally had no way of getting home.

Now, some of you may be asking why Kat didn't just go to an ATM and withdraw money, right? Well...her account is brand new and she DOESN'T HAVE HER PIN NUMBER YET. Incidently, while reaffirming this knowledge at Dupont's CVS, I insulted a homeless war veteran. When he asked me for change, I said (without thinking, 'cus let's face it, I never do that) "Sorry sir, I'm in the same situation." Excuse me, I'll just go use my credit card to purchase my ticket to hell on Amtrak...oh wait, can't do that! NO MONEY!

So...despite being 2 college students from relatively well off families at a top institution...we had no way of getting the 2 dollars we needed to get home.

At this point, we start walking down Mass Ave, attempting to find a bus to take us back to AU. Apparently, Dupont Circle is too good for buses as there were no stops whatsoever. Dismayed and scared, we headed back to the Metro stop...

TO BEG FOR CHANGE...

Yeah, it was bad. I actually have to give Kat credit here, because of the two of us, she was the only one who could actually do it. I just couldn't make myself do that. At one point I actually said "Kat, I would rather DIE TRYING TO WALK THE 30 BLOCKS BACK TO SCHOOL THEN BEG FOR CHANGE!" Damn pride, damnit straight to hell.

So, Kat finally gives up her crusade on the kindness of strangers (she actually got 55 cents) and we start walking down Mass again, fully prepared to die somewhere along the way. Just before we get out of Dupont, we spot 2 cop cars, parked along side each other. While Kat talks on the phone to a hysterical friend, I walk over to them. The conversation went something like this..

MPD 1: What are you looking for, sweetie?
Ash: *grinds teeth* I'm actually not looking for anything. I'm from here, I just need your advice.
MPD 2: What's up, sweetie?
Ash: *grinds teeth and proceeds to explain situation, stressing that it is neither her nor Kat's fault*
MPD 2: HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?
Ash: God hates me.
MPD 2: How old are you, sweetie?
Ash: 20, sir.
MPD 2: And what's your name?
Ash: Ashley
MPD 2: And where did you say you lived?
Ash: AU at 4400 Mass Ave
MPD 2: How old is your friend, sweetie?
Ash: She's 19.
MPD 1/2 Converse
MPD 2: It's on my beat, I can give you guys a ride home if you'd like, sweetie.
Ash: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

So...I'm convinced that he was questioning me to make sure I was neither drunk nor high and while constantly calling me "sweetie" annoyed me, I was not about to comment on it to the man who literally became MY SAVIOR last night.

Now...if I was a normal person...or if normal things happened to me I either a) would not be telling this story or b) would end it here...but this is me, and of course, there has to be more to tell.

So, a relieved Kat and I hop into the back of the MPD cruiser, still profusely thanking MPD 2. When he turned on his lights to cut through traffic and get onto the road he wanted, I should have known we were in for something interesting...

So..turns out...MPD 2 DRIVES LIKE KAT! Only he's allowed to, because he's a cop. He was accelerating to 60+ on WET DC roads like no one's business. I glanced over at Kat and she had this evil gleam in her eye that looked like she had found her soul mate...if he was taller.

So...yeah...MPD 2 is speeding down Mass Ave when a taxi cuts him off. I believe his words were something like "OH FUCK NO YOU DID NOT DO THAT TO ME!" He then proceeded to pull over the taxi and yell at the guy. Here's to beautiful, sweet revenge for anyone who's ever been cut off or ignored by DC taxis. Rock on MPD 2. You made my night.

Ultimately, my life is cool.

For anyone who comes down to DC from the North...chances are you've probably seen this building from somewhere on the Beltway (Capital, not Baltimore). WHAT THE HELL IS IT?! It reminds me, oddly enough, of a Masonic temple even though the architecture and such is completely wrong...But really..if you actually know what it is, please tell me, it's starting to keep me up at night...

Well...ok...it doesn't do that, but rest assured it WOULD if I saw it more then 4 or 5 times a year...

Anyways...odd buildings aside...I'd just like to go ahead and put this out there...

I live in a beautiful, amazing city.

Last Friday Rick came to visit. It was great to see him and I miss him horribly already, but that's not the point of this entry. As Kat and I were wandering around Union, waiting for his train to get in, we walked down to the Capitol and I have to say...Seeing lights on, realizing that people actually work there and knowing that I really do live here...it just amazed me.

Even though today was probably not the best day to wear a skirt and flip flops...and even though my teeth are chattered as I skuttled to and from class today, I am content and very happy.

Ain't no use in complaining...when you got a job to do...

So...yeah...I'm beginning to think I'm mildly bi polar...

Yesterday started out great, ended HORRIBLY and today, once again, feeling great. Maybe I should look into medication...

...only no, not at all...

Turns out, I backed up SOME of my class notes on CDs...and for some inexplicable reason some of those backed up were all of my Policing in America notes. So, end game you ask? I massacred my midterm and by massacre I mean I knocked it down and kicked it into a bloody pulp.

Babysitting from about 2:45 til midnight tomorrow and then am running the kids around a bit on Thursday, so there will be copious amounts of money for Ash (at least part of which I will be using to buy my ticket to Philly).

My allergies seem to be letting up a bit...granted this might just be a one day reprieve before the Powers that Be decide to stuff some pollen right underneath my nose, but I'm taking what I can get.

Basically...I'm trying a new lease on life out...Things happen, if I can forsee/prevent them, then I shall do my best to, but sometimes there's just nothing to be done about it. Sometimes you just get dealt a bad hand and to those things you can only control your reactions...Oddly enough, I don't want to spend half of my life being a raving maniac who gets so stressed out over the grocery store not having bird seed, kills a clerk and gets carted off to a super max....

Rest assured I REFUSE to turn into an apathetic, ambitionless waste of space, time and air, but I really do need to mellow out a bit.

I ALWAYS want to hear all the beeps that sound to alert me that the microwave is finished*...and I certainly don't want to turn into one of the psychos dashing headlong down the metroscalator because *gasp* heaven forbid they miss a train when an IDENTICAL one will be rolling around in appx. 3.15 minutes.

*If anyone gets that reference...I'll marry you. Provided that you're, you know, male and attractive.

...utter, complete silence...

And do you know why there's utter, complete silence? Would you like to take a guess?

Rasputin crashed today. Resulting in the complete wipe out of my harddrive (music, pictures, CLASS NOTES, quotes, journal entries...everything gone in a heartbeat). Yeah...had a minor emotional breakdown followed by listening to Shea play the piano, which actually helped me regain a bit of control on my emotions, so forth and so on. Dearest Kat then came home and set up my internet again, in record time, so Rasputin is more or less healed. But nonetheless...everything is gone...and I just can't believe it happened.

Seriously, did I kick puppies in a past life or something?

Truth be told though...this was the LAST thing I needed to have happen today...

Back beat, word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out

This year, I'm trying something new. Anything that I have as memories from something happy and fun I did this year (movie stubs, speakers announcements, train tickets) I'm taping on to my wall. It's right above my bed and I wake up staring at either it or the pictures of Barbados I have taped to my bookcase. The amount of growth on the wall of happiness is directly proportional to my level of peace, calm and happiness.

Have I mentioned that I truly love DC? It's amazing how something as simple as going to see a movie in Georgetown can make me so utterly happy and at peace with myself.

Thus begins the next few weeks of craziness...Next weekend is parent's weekend and a debate at UMD. While my own parents are leaving me to orphanage that weekend, I should get to meet Adam's dad and that's cool. Immediately following that is AU's tournament (AUers...seriously, I need people to house debators from other schools. Don't make me come banging down your door!). After that is a tournament at GWU which I probably will not attend because of a little something called POLICE RIDE ALONG. Gotta say, very excited about that. Then it's up to Philly for a visit with the infamous Jo and shortly thereafter is Thanksgiving, immediately followed by going to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra with Dave, Carol and possibly Ben.

In related news...it's official, I'm going to Ireland over Spring Break. I'm locked into an agreement with my roommate who has threatened me with fiery death should I back out (something that I have no intention of doing) and that's as good as buying my ticket and cementing myself to the 747.

In bed last night at 4...up this morning at 10...seriously, the only thing that could make today better is a) not having to study and b) still being asleep.

Nothing but LOVE for everyone.

FYI: New SN goes into effect tonight. macashsar for those of you who have yet to GET IT DOWN.

May your cup runneth over...

...with my words. Mwahaha.

In approximately 1 hour, I will have been up for 24 hours straight. While this is no great accomplishment and is certainly not the first time...this is the first time it's been both involuntary and completely lacking in the category of fun.

Fucking insomnia. A plague on however many houses you have!

A run down of my day, thus far?

2:30: Phone call from Shea.
3: Off phone w/ aforementioned Shea, back to bed.
3-9: Stared at ceiling, watched the sunrise, cursed the day I was born.
9-11:30: Packed, showered, said g'bye to dog and house
11:30-1:30: Drove back home.
2: Dropped all stuff in room, left harassing messages for friends on their doors, left for work.
3-7: Work. Oh the joys of chasing little kids around...
7:30: Back at school. Dinner/chat with Rachel.
8-10: Unpacked, continued chatting with Rachel (received some lovely apples from an orchard in Syracuse)
10-11:20: Chatted with Jo on phone. 29 days til Philly!
11:30-12: Kat returned home. Chatted with her til she left for work. Started laughing hysterically over absolutely nothing.
12: There was a knock, knock, knock on my chamber door. It was l'Adam, begging for a few hours of sleep.
12-12:30: Shower.
12:30-present: Sitting in room, contemplating sleep, wondering if it will elude me, yet again. Dreading tennis. Dreading sunrise. Dreading tomorrow.

Ash is in desperate need of a) sleep and b) non-anxiety ridden down time.

I worry that my roommate grows fearful of my random bouts of semi hysterical laughter.

As a joke...I sent a bottle of whiskey...as you choked, you said it made you feel dirty...

I've got absolutely nothing to say..so let's just do some general announcements...

1) The Empire of Katash will re-open earlier then anticipated. I'm back tomorrow around 2. However, I'm leaving almost immediately for work so feel free to come up and harass any time after 7.

2) New SN: macashsar. Once I get back to DSL, I'm going to post it in my away messages for a few days before making the transition. Bye bye catori sedai, you've been pretty good to me, but I've had you for far too long. Props to anyone who can figure out where macashsar comes from. Seriously, it shouldn't be too hard. This one's actually in English. When was the last time I had an SN in English? I honestly don't remember...

3) Exactly one month from today (Nov 11) I will be in Philly at Chestnut Hill, visiting Jo. To all of you studying in in the City of Brotherly Love (aka extreme poverty), gimme a ring, I'd like to see y'all if possible. Wicked, wicked excited.

4) Guster concert in early November. If you're interested at all, let me know. It's in Baltimore.

5) One more midterm (Policing in America, it's going to be a bitch), then my work load is dramatically decreased until the December rush. Still having weekly quizzes in PiA, as well as quizzes in ItSJ, but that's all manageable.

6) I think I've got 3 more big (aka 20+ pages) papers due before the semester ends: History/Philosophy of Criminology, Intro to Sys of Justice and Anthropology of Genocide. Stiff upper lip, Ash, you can do this. My topics? Sex trafficking, more or less op-ed piece on the MPD (Metropolitan Police Dept for you non-DCers) and the pre-Holocaust propaganda of the Third Reich. Damn, I really am a college student. It really does amaze me when I look at some of my topics and some of the things I've written...hasn't really sunken in yet.

7) On Nov. 5 I get to go on a police ride along in the 4th district...it's going to last for like 8 hours and I'm wicked excited. (This is actually more for me..so that I don't forget the date again..). I hope I get to bust up a crackhouse...mostly so that I can then proceed to sell aforementioned drugs to the overly wealthy crack addicts at school...I wouldn't want any for myself...no..not at all...

8) The Killers make me incredibly happy, and will always remind me of dancing around Baltimore with Adam. They make no fucking sense whatsoever, but hey, who needs logic?

9) I am insomnia's bitch. 3 hours of sleep last night. Yeah...it hurts me deep down inside, where the feelings are...

And I do believe that about sums everything up...

Pennsylvania is like a bad horror flick from the 50s...

...you know the ones I'm talking about...the B raters with the bad plots and acting..the ones where mutant aliens from another planets come and suck the brains out of the poor, innocent earthlings...

Yeah, that's kind of like how I feel right now...Everything here is just so morose and bland, it's like there's no feeling of life, no vibrancy, no energy. Being with my family is cool...and seeing friends is/will be cool...but I need an atmosphere that's got a high emotional charge, whether it be positive or negative. This neutrality is SLOWLY KILLING ME.

Maybe it's the weather...maybe it's the lack of a decent fall..hell, maybe it's even the DAMN WAL-MART THAT'S BEING BUILT DOWN THE ROAD FROM ME, but I've just been drifting in this state of semi-conscious thought since I got home. It makes me sad...incredibly sad...

Not working was a mistake...at least when I'm horribly busy I can keep my mind occupied...but without that constant need to be somewhere doing something...I'm just kind of wading around in a pool of eternity, waiting for a tomorrow that never seems to come.

Excuse me while I go kick myself in the arse twice...once for actually typing that and a second time for not deleting it immediately.

Tomorrow and Tuesday should be better...shopping with mom, visitng people at the hospital, hanging out w/ Katie and Ben, seeing the Gloriosos and the Levines...and Wednesday its back to the city, hopefully in time to do some work so I have available cash for the weekend.

On a happy note...some things I'm looking forward to...
1) Rick's visit
2) Ireland over SB
3) Christmas shopping in Georgetown and Pentagon City (just because the atmosphere is so cool)
4) Visiting Jo in Philly
5) Europe this summer (taking it by storm..one European Union country at time..DOWN goes the Euro!). Quiet, all of you, I swear I'm not on crack.
6) The fading of my flip flop tan (seriously...it's still horrendous..I must post pictures of it at some point or other...just so you can understand the horror that is this thing. My dad actually though I just hadn't washed my feet in weeks).
7) The Debates. All of them.

Also..I'm pondering the possibility of a new SN...we can all thank Adam for the lovely idea he put into my head (albeit unknowingly). We'll see..should I chose to switch I'll post it here and let everyone who matters know personally (via away message, obviously).

Memories of a happier time...

Rache and I...enjoying a daquiri before galavanting off to partake in some drunk dialing...

This is Shea and I from last spring at his and Kat's birthday...yeah...that was a good day...

So...exhausted...yeah...that doesn't even begin to describe how I feel now...it's like I'm driving on black ice, about to crash into whatever's in front of me and I've got no control whatsoever. It's not like my life is bad...it's just that I'm JUST NOW coming off the caffeine/sugar high I put myself on last night to finish that god forsaken paper. I don't like this feeling...it's kind of like being drunk...only NOT FUN AT ALL.

Also...I really have no desire to revert back to being an insomniac...I've just finally gotten it under control and I don't need to go back there! NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME GO! YOU CAN'T!

Right now..my redboard says "Je suis finis avec le papier de MORT! MON DIEU!" Most of you are probably intelligent enough to translate that...and if not..well...think about it...this is me...I'm speaking French here people...

Also..I'd really like a nap...and I might be able to take one now that my room is clean...

On a random note (not that this entire entry wasn't random) I'd just like to go on the record with a conversation...

Ash: Adam, can I borrow your duct tape?

Adam: Sure, why?

Ash: I need to duct tape Bob to my bed...

Adam: *blinks and cocks his head in that way he does when he's confused*

Shea: Lucky Bob!!

Out of context...that is so brilliant it makes me GIGGLE. Giggle I say!

I'm going to shut up now...and go watch the OC. Don't judge me!