Sunday, May 24, 2009

Skeleton Boy

I love weekends.
Oh wait, except this one.
Don't get me wrong, not all of it has been bad. Trust me. I like to make all situations into positive ones. This one has one great story though. You ready kiddies to hear a tale of tales? I call it.
To Boston; From Hell.
Oh. Get excited.
So for Memorial Day weekend, a girl that graduated a year before me (cute Sarah Bennion. We had Art History together. Really fun girl.) and I were planning on going to D.C. She emailed me that she didn't feel good about it though, so she was thinking of us going to Boston instead. Since I have already been to D.C. before, I was really excited to go to a new place that is home to baked beans, clam chowder, and parking cars in Harvard yard. So I rode the train up from Harrison, New York, to Hartford, Connecticut. It was about a two and a half hour train ride, but it was on a real train. It was pretty fun. I accidently stole the seat of a deaf man, and I felt pretty ridiculous. It is one thing when you steal from a healthy person, but when you steal from a disabled person that had a sign directly above the seat, yeah, you feel a bit sheepish after that.
When I arrived in Hartford, Sarah picked me up from the train station and showed me a bit around. We then went to Cosi to feed my starving belly, then got some Ben and Jerry's and walked up and down the street with all these fun little stores. It was really fun to talk to her. I saw her in February and we have been planning on visiting each other, but distance and time were in the way. It was great to talk about life and our little adventures we have had out here. We got home, she showed me the freaky basement (A Haunting in Connecticut has truly messed me up) then went up to see what there is to do in Boston. We both know it is a cool city, but we really didn't know what to do there. So we looked up stuff, decided on a few things to do, then went to bed.
Later that evening...
Poor little Madeline, one of the twins she nannys for, had a horrible ear infection during the night. She was howling and wailing in pain. I surprising wasn't phased by this and slept quite well. Poor Sarah, though, did not have the best sleep. She came in the room I was sleeping in and told me that she did not feel up to the trip to Boston. I told her that was totally fine, because it was. You never know what life is going to throw at you, so I was completely understanding. So she told me that a guy in her ward said that he would be fine taking me up to Boston. He is from the area (Hartford, not Boston) and was nice. I was thinking, "What the hell, I have nothing to lose," so I took up the offer. She drove me to his house, we talked to him for a couple of minutes, then we were on our way. He's twenty-three and likes music. I thought that would bridge some of the uneasiness.
Oh.
I was wrong.
I was polite and tried to make some conversation so the two hour trip to town wouldn't be that weird. He had other plans. Whenever I tried to start a conversation, he would quickly answer in the shortest amount of syllables, then silent up. I was figured a few things out then.
-He really didn't volunteer to take me.
-He didn't want to take me.
-He was not planning on having a good time.
Oh goody.
We finally got to Boston after a two-hour drive. He then asked me what I wanted to do. I didn't know; I don't know what is in Boston. He was not very helpful giving ideas. So all I could remember was the U.S.S. Constitution is harbored there and that it was fleet week. I said why don't we go down there. So he reluctently took me down there. It was a good half an hour--forty-five minute walk, and I tried some conversation again, only to be shut down. Wow. Fun time, let me tell you. I wanted to tell him so many times that we should just go back home, but then again, it was a freaking long drive there nad he went out of "his" way to drive me there. So I was just trying to make it a good experience. While walking to the boats, he asked me what I would do if the ship wasn't in. I told him that I would have honestly been fine and that weird things like that happen to me all the time, so it would just be another great story for me to tell. He was not impressed by that answer.
The boat. We found it. It wasn't gone. That is always a plus. Before the boat, there is a street called Chelsea ST. I was freaking out saying how that is my name and that that is just the most amazing thing. He didn't care at all, and seemed put off that I wanted to take a picture of it. So I didn't want to ask to get my picture taken under it. It would have been "too much" to ask of him. We got to the Constitution and come to find out, it is a wooden ship. It fought during the war of 1812 and the oak that made the sides was so strong, that whenever the Brits shot at it with their cannons, the balls would bounce right off. Pretty cool ship, if you ask me. Unfortunately there was a line, and pretty mediocre at that. He seemed put off by that, so I was like, hey, looking at the outside is fine with me. Fun right? Not really. We then saw the outside of a WW2 battleship. Ships amaze me. How they stay afloat and not rot out is incredible. They are huge and so heavy! There was this hilarious kid that was pretending to shoot one of the big missles at a ferry and I was just laughing hysterically. He, however, did not find it funny.
After looking at the boats, he was like, well it's one-thirty. Do you want to go eat? I was starving but I didn't want to make a big deal. So I said only if you are. We walked back into town and went by all these little restaurants. He then stopped, looked at me, and said "Well here you go. I'm not hungry so you pick something from here." I was overwhelmed! I honestly wanted some clam chowder, but I didn't want to feel like an idiot. so I just said that I wanted a diet coke. He seemed put off, then walked away. I was thinking to myself, what did I do to put you off so badly? We then proceeded to go to a bakery called Mike's Pastrys. Pretty amazing stuff. I bought some famous cannolis that had me stopped three times by people offering to steal them from me, so I thought that was pretty cool. We then walked through a farmer's market, then into some town square. I told him I wanted to buy a postcard for my cousin. Of course, he seemed turned off by that, so I felt rushed. After that, though, he made me watch some lame street performance. I was like, oh really now? So we stayed in the square for at least a half an hour, then started walking back to the station. I told him that I wanted to ride a train from Boston to home, but we sadly couldn't find the train station there. So I had to get in the car with him again. Of course, there was no talking, and I almost fell asleep at least twenty times. I felt like a fool.
In Hartford, I told him that he could just drop me off at the bus station so I could go home. I was exhausted, embarrassed, and felt like a total idiot. He dropped me off at the farthest end of the curb, and got on his phone and started making plans with a friend. In front of me. Nice, right? So I wanted to show that I was appreciated for him "wasting" his time, so I gave him a hundred, thinking that he would turn it down at least, so I could just give him a fifty, but all he did was look at it, said a fake thanks, then turned me out.
I've never been to a bus station in my life. So here I am, with my backpack filled with a box of tampons and a toothbrush, thinking, how do I get home? He left in a hurry so I had to try to figure this out. I caught a PeterPan bus filled with all these hardcore, street, people, and I am this little utah mormon girl, by myself with a box of tampons. What fun!
I made it safely to New Haven and made it on my train with, again, only thirty seconds to spare and made it home. Needless to say, spending eight hours with a complete stranger that doesn't give a damn about you is quite exhausting. Hopefully I will make another trip to Boston and actually have some real fun. So thanks, Tim, for nothing.

See It All


Pictures

Ruby Tuesday

Utah. How I love thee.

I had the chance of going home in April (4th through 11th, to be exact) to go to a concert, surprise my parents for their birthdays, and just relax in love. I guess I am going to share this experience with you. Hold on tight, it is going to be an intense one.
SATURDAY
On the morn' of April fourth, I woke up at five in the morning to be picked up by the train shuttle (If any of you have seen the episode of Arrested Development where Tobias gets picked up by the shuttle to go to the airport, it really is like that. Made me laugh hilariously...quiet....in my head thinking about him saying "I can't believe this is only fifteen dollars! Who would want to get picked up in a limo when you can travel like this?!") I was so excited to go home, so when we got to the airport, I tripped and fell out of the van. Classic Chelsea there. The driver was all worried and I just laughed.
I arrived at the airport around six thirty, checked in, then realized my plane was an hour late. I woke up four hours earlier than I had to for the chance to sit in the airport waiting for my plane to come at eleven than nine fifteen. Oh glorious. So I did what any other person would do: I bought a grande mocha frappachino, some Dunkin Donuts for the mother, and watched Arrested Development episodes on my lappie. It did help the time pass.
I boarded the plane.
Made some friends.
Saw my mountains.
Bawled when I saw my mom and dad. Cried even harder when I realized that the dogs weren't in the car. DEVASTATION.

By then, it was already noon...ish. So I went home, showered, then proceeded to the Lloyds to get Ashlee for the concert. That was fun. I was screaming and jumping, Cooper was barking, Lynne started screaming, and it was a lot of chaos. Even Carey was excited to see me; he made me grape juice. So that was fun. Ash and I then went to pick up Jake so we could go see
Brett Dennen
ANGUS and Julia Stone.
We found a huge Indian head made out of a tree. I made us take pictures. We then partied, partied, partied. Amazing show. Amazing friends. After that, we went to IHOP until two in the morn'. When all was said and done, I had been up for a full 24 hrs. Oh, the glorious.
SUNDAY
General Conference, baby. The parents and I watched it, I didn't listen really at all, then...I don't remember any of Sunday. Hmm...well, it was a good one? Oh, it showed the dedication of the Draper Temple. Wow, I am so glad I write my blog a month later so I forget all the details. Oh, Steph and I hung out a bit. I got to see my favorite redhead. That was good.
MONDAY
I went up to campus with Ash. She showed me where she parked, I found a deer jaw while walking to school, went to institute, then waited for her to finish math. I talked to Melissa Warren for a bit, then wondered "What else am I going to do?" Well, thank goodness I saw the banner advertising a blood drive THAT VERY DAY. I went up to the ballroom, rolled up my sleeve, and tapped that vein silly. Ok, I didn't tap it for them, but I did donate blood. Then I picked out the red gauze so that
"It will look like you hit an artery and it wouldn't stop bleeding."
Man, I have some poetic words. So then I had to buy an earring for my third hole, but before that, some Peruvian people were selling bracelets and I made Ashlee get one with me so we would have friendship ones. We fought in the Union Building. Some girl in an I heart NY shirt just stared at us. Pretty hilarious.
We went to Ume. I bought a yellow sundress. It was a hot day. The dress was sheer. I didn't have a slip. I gave both Jakes a show for free because of this. We all went to lunch at Pelatons and I talked them into seeing A Haunting in Connecticut because I live right by that state. Jake Cook flaked out. It was a pretty horrifying movie. I can't spend the night at my friends' homes in CT because I think that all their basements were morgues and dead people are going to attack me. Pretty great fun.
TUESDAY
I can't really remember what happened this day. I probably just hung out. Maybe I slept. Who knows.
WEDNESDAY
I hung out again with people? I made a collage of my parents.
THURSDAY
This is where it gets good. So my amazing, classy, smart, witty, gorgeous sister had this amazing plan that we should have a surprise party for my parents' fiftieth birthdays. I agreed and so did Dave and Em. We threw it at the Mandarin. Grandma and Grandpa Waterfall helped us with the planning by saying that they wanted to take mom and dad to dinner because the "family was in." So I rode up with mom, dad, Gma, and Gpa and they were so surprised to see forty plus of their close friends in the dining room. Mom freaked out. It was extremely hilarious. The best moment was when my mom saw Pam Alston there. Pam lived in Austin while my parents were there. She actually had a daughter around the time I was born. Well, mom and Pam hadn't seen each other for ten years. That was pretty great to see how excited they both were. While eating some amazing food, we all got to say things about how we love the padres. I, of course, bawled because being away helped me truly realize how amazing they are. It was so neat to see how many people love and care for them. It really makes me want to live my life as my parents have. They have helped so many people and spread so much love. They really are two of the greatest people in this world..
FRIDAY
Mom, Ang, and I went shopping for wedding attire. It was exhausting. I did say multiple times that we shouldn't get my clothes here because "the Westchester has more of a selection." Yes, I am a New York snob now. There you go. We all got some beautiful dresses while out. It was nice to just get it all done at the same time too. We spent forever shopping though, so that was pretty much Friday.
SATURDAY
Day of mourning, day of leaving. I had to say my goodbyes to everyone, which sucked. It's the last time that I would see most of the folks in my grand state until Christmas. That was a weird feeling. It still is a weird feeling. It is so nice to come back to a familiar place with familiar faces and people who love you and know you. I miss that to this day. The fam and I went to Cafe Rio before checking me into the airport. I had to check on my bag because I packed some Love Spell, so that sucked. Oh well, it was a long flight but I made it home for Easter. You know, even though I say I hate Utah (I said that even yesterday) there is a lot of good in that state. It is full of peculiar people, people who actually care about others and want people to be happy. They enjoy the ride, not really worrying about how long it will take to get from point A to point B. They truly love life. We are like the Hobbitfolk in Middle Earth. I can't believe that I just said that and that I am going to post that. We really do enjoy life though.
So I am back in New York (surprise, it's almost been two months) and life is going well. There have been some trials and times of frustration, but it is good to be back to my schedule. I miss you all terribly though. I hope you know that I still love you all; you have been good to me. I have been spoiled to the extreme with friends, love, and family. I hope I can help spread the love and happiness to my New York neighbors. Home is honestly wherever you are happy and where you feel loved. Hopefully I will find that here. It was good to see you all. Love you.
Cheers.
Ch.Wa.

Shut Your Eyes

Woah.
What the hell, people. Sorry I haven't written for a while. I am great at wasting good blogging time not on blogging. Eh, oh well. At least I am writing right now, right?

So let me think of when the last time I wrote. Hmm....before I came to Utah, correct? So it has been almost two months.
Two
Months.
That is one LONG time for me to not update people on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thanks, Jefferson, for letting me steal your words. He should have had those copyrighted when he wrote them. Then again, that would have gone against our innate rights. That is an intense thought to think about. We are enabled as people to have rights. They are ours; no one can take them away. It is incredible to think about how our nation was built upon that foundation, that we as a people, no, as a person, matter in this world. That is a pretty cool thought. Thanks, Thomas. May your soul rest in peace because of the work you have done.
I don't know if I would describe myself as a patriotic person. In fact, a couple of years ago, I loathed America. I didn't want do be associated with any part of it. I had this lushly romantic idea in my mind that I would meet a Spaniard, have a whirlwind romantic courtship, then live in Spain the rest of my life, taking on their traditions and outlook on life. I would still be fine with an attractive Spaniard courting me (or anyone at this point), but I think I would want to stay in the states. Ok, I would maybe move to Canada, but I think I would be thinking, "I am fine with the good ol' U.S.of.A.
I think I feel this way because of the growing up I have done and moving around the country. We live in a glorious time in the world. Even though there is torture controversy, swine flu, and countless civil wars in countries, we have it extremely well in the states. I have never had to go hungry, I have never felt like I was putting my life on the line for the beliefs and mindsets that I have. I have been around strong women and have been able to see how far we can go in life. We have it good; some people will never have what we have. At times I do feel overwhelmed with what I have and then seeing others' conditions. It is almost like the "why me?" train of thought, but in a different light.
Why was I born here?
Why have I always been well off?
Why do I still have anger and frustration towards the government and local law?
Why do I want to be somewhere else?
Being back east where our country was conceived, I get the chance to see history and what really was done for the past generations and what is being done for the future generations. Our forefathers had something in mind when they fought for this. It was so important to them, so life-giving to make sure that this country was founded. It was founded under God, under a Supreme Being, and made sure that everyone* had equal rights.These men--and women--put their lives on the line so that future generations would have this vision of life. Look at us now. We truly don't appreciate what we have in the country. We bicker, moan, and whine about what we "don't" have. Shut up already, people! You have more than you can imagine and so many people would kill for it.
So on this Memorial Day, I hope you all will truly try to realize what we all have in our lives. Remember our forefathers, their vision of this life. Remember our current soldiers, putting their lives in danger to continue to keep our freedom and to bring it to others. Our way isn't perfect, we have our flaws. We are so blessed to be here though. Please remember all who have died for this vision; don't let their deaths be in vain. I love this country. I love this freedom. Let's make them proud of this generation.
Cheers.
Ch.Wa.

*everyone meant different things back then. Look at the nation in its current time though: everyone really does mean everyone. Even though we have had to work a lot towards it, it has been accomplished. Smile on us, George, smile.