DUDE!

DUDE!

I am so super stoked about this summer. Let me tell you why...

June 30-July 1 = NY
July 4 = no explanation necessary
July 6-9 = Canada (Andy, Armenchik, Paul, Tata - and Toronto!)
July 14-15 = Cape Cod?
July 19 = GIRLS COME VISIT ME
July 26 - 29 = Head to NY with the Girls
Aug 3-5 = MAYBE Hedges Lake? Emily?
Aug 8-14 = Puerto Rico to visit Lisa
Aug 22 - ??? = New York again (I have to... I swear... It's for school/work!)
Labor Day Weekend = Jersey? Olympics? (Hopefully I can scrape together some last few pennies for that).

um... so much for doing ANYTHING in boston. I guess that will have to wait until the fall.

another day, another stranger...

So much for not talking to strangers...

Yes, the T again. I honestly believe there is a tattoo on my forehead (in invisible-only-to-alina ink) that says, "talk to me!"

I got on the T at north station yesterday. As always, I had my book in hand... my thumb sorta holding my spot until I could find a spot to sit. When I got on, there was an empty seat next to some "young gentlemen" - probably someone about my age, on his way home from work. I sat down, opened my book and started reading...

"A wave of..."

"What book are you reading?"

Not really wanting to get involved in a conversation mid-sentence, midway into my book (okay, so maybe it was more like 1/3rd of the way)... I closed the book and turned it so he could see the binding.

"Lies and the lying liars who tell them," he read aloud.

Satisfied that I had sufficiently answered his question, I opened the book back up and started reading again...

" A wave of..."

"What is it about? Is it about men?"

I stared at him for a moment not sure how to answer. "Well, its by Al Franken, so I guess you'd probably call it a political book..."

"Oh."

Again, I went back to reading.

"A wave ..."

This time, I interrupted myself. "Wow," I said, looking up at him and laughing. "Way to incriminate yourself." (Way to break your "no talking to strangers" rule Alina!)

He laughed. "No. I mean. Well... I just feel like that seems to be the consensus."

I just sorta nodded and said okay. I might have said something along the lines of, "Sure, but I'm not sure you want to just admit to it."

Either way, he responded. "Not me. I'm just saying."

(me) "Well, you are male aren't you? You do fall into that category."

(him) "Ya, but I wasn't referring to myself. I mean..."

(me) "Right! I believe you..."

I went back to reading. He just sorta sat there smiling - not in a smug way - but the way you usually do after a joking/friendly exchange. The next stop was his and as we pulled in he signaled to me that he needed to get out so I slid over a bit and let him pass. As he exited out the door (just a few seats from me) he turned and said, "We're not all liars you know..."

"Sure!" I said... smiling and nodding.

He did seem like a nice guy. Too bad he has a penis.

secret admirers...

so, i tend to attract conversations on the T. There was the guy who told me about how his great granddad started the NFL and the other guy who talked to me about the war in iraq and how difficult it was to get accustomed to life back home. I admit that sometimes I might ask my neighbor a question or something which then sparks a conversation but half the time, I'm really just minding my own business. During finals I had my head phones on and was studying my flashcards and the older gentleman next to me kept asking me about school and my class and my future plans. I'd take my headphones out (don't want to be rude), answer his question, and put my headphones back in. I figured that was enough of a hint... guess not.

Well, the train chat just got a little more bizarre for me. Last tuesday, I was heading home after a few drinks (okay like 3/4ths a bottle of wine) and when I got on the T there was one empty seat next to this guy so I sat down. The guy started to talk to me.. introduced himself... yada yada. Again, trying not to be a bitch about it, I smiled, was polite but not super talkative. I mean, I'm sure I was more talkative than usual thanks to the wine but after awhile, I was just getting annoyed. There was this really hot guy sitting across from me and I was busy having a staring competition with him. But, the guy next to me just wouldn't stop... and every once in awhile I'd have to break my stare in order to respond to this guy. Gr.

On friday, I went to check my mailbox at work and noticed a letter addressed to Alena. Hm....

"Dear Fellow D-line passenger"

Now, I'm not sure it was that dude but I have a feeling it was that dude because I can't remember any other dude that I had enough of a convo with where I might mention where I work. He sent me a picture cut out of a magazine of some beach somewhere and a little note hoping this would "brighten" my day and asking if we could hang out....

uh, creepy.

I mean, perhaps its a little flattering but the guy looked up my work place (no, i do not have business cards... and i wouldn't have given him one anyway) and wrote out a letter... its just a little strange. Either he's desperate or I made a good first impression. (Probably the first, I know).

So, from now on, I will try my darndest to not strike up convos with strangers.

Weekends were made for relaxing.

The last few weeks I've been burning myself out during the week and by friday all i want to do is sleep. Last week there were several nights of drinking and dinner with friends. Friday night we had a little get together at our place (cranium of course... though next game night is catchphrase night i guess). Saturday I had to return some stuff so we spent a chunk of the day walking around downtown crossing... I really like it down there - dunno why. And then I went to a friend's grad party at her house - it was fantastic. Armenian family, Armenian food (too bad i had stuffed myself with sushi and couldn't fully enjoy the home cooking), Armenian music and dancing. (Thanks Lilith). Anyway, we had a good time, danced a bit and drank more than a bit. (Oh yes, had some interesting "assumptions" made about my love life... as always). Then on Sunday, headed out to Manchester by the Sea to lay out and "play" in the water... when a storm started to roll in, we packed up and headed out to Rockport (for the Mermaid, Fairy and Gnome festival!) - rockport is such a cute little place. Fun day trip though not a whole bunch of stuff to do. We had some yummy seafood on the Harbor and then headed home (well, made a pit stop at target to finally get some shelves and stuff for my room!!!! yay!)

This week was pretty much the same... except, we drank monday, tuesday (drunko alina passed out on the couch), thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday. Well, by drink I mean 1-2 beers or glasses of wine most nights. Throughout the week I worked on fixing up my room. Its finally starting to come together (and not look like a boring room with just a bed). I'm excited!

Saturday was our long overdue roomie night. Roomie nights at my house = GREAT food. And me trying to force everyone to drink. Sunday was a lazy day - i did nothing all day. Made some kookoo (the parska-hyes should know what I'm talking about). And later I went to see A Mighty Heart. Really good movie. I mean, we all know what the ending is but I think Jolie is stellar. I really went to see it because I loved the way she played the role (in the previews) and she did not disappoint. Or maybe its just me.

Oh! How could I forget? I went strawberry picking on Saturday with Sarah and her cousin. STRAWBERRIES! YUM! I am not a huge strawberry fan... as I'm sure many of you know... but thats because the ones in the supermarket are usually a bit tart. These were super sweet - just like CANDY! I was "chetes" and took quite a few and now I'm stuffing myself with strawberries everyday! lol. But it was a ton of fun.

summertime...



...and the livin's easy.

Summer's are fantastic aren't they? I mean, even if you're working, its a break from school (and I guess if you worked year round, summer school would be a break from work)... its just something different.

The last "summer vacation" I had was 03... DC baby. Honestly, that was such an awesome summer... the drinking, partying, exploring, learning, working, going to all sorts of cool events and meeting awesome people.

Which of course leads me to my reunion with my 03 buddy... MIKEY! Lev, Mike and I are going to head up to Canada in two weeks for some armo gathering in Toronto. Tata, Andy, Armenchik, Paul... 7000 armos (supposedly). Sounds like a great time no? And Mike promised to sing Ghapama at some point.

For those who don't know the story. Mike was the sole male intern in the intern class of 03. That's right - 8 girls and 1 guy. I think he came into it thinking he was blessed but about a week later realized he was actually cursed. He managed to make some friends outside the intern crew (i think the excess estrogen got to him) but when it came down to it, we were all always together for the big nights. Now, Mike's trademark... well, actually mike had several (Wait for it... Wait for it....)... but one "Mike" thing was the song Ghapama... Mike is the only person i know who knows ALL the words to that song (he even wrote it out for me - sorry Mike, i lost the paper). One night, we were all headed to Ara's house for a party out in the DC suburbs so we were waiting at the Metro station to change lines. It was something like 10-15 of us... all obviously drunk (as we'd always pre-party before leaving the dorms)... Mike busted out singing ghapama and a group of us started doing the michigan hop (i dont even know what the michigan hop is anymore) and of course, clapping and singing along. Eventually, someone got on the loudspeaker and asked that we refrain from singing and dancing in the T station... (they sounded a bit annoyed with us). Too bad huh?

We had some crazy times that summer....

its almost like being in glendale

I met an armenian man on the T a few months ago. I'm not sure I ever blogged it so pardon me if this is a repeat...

I was on the B line inbound - I can't remember where I was going but i'm pretty sure it was further than my usual trip to Kenmore (in fact, I may have been on my way to my job interview for the job I have now - but I can't recall...)

I walked straight to the back of the train and leaned against the back wall - I was reading something - perhaps a newspaper. The man sitting in the last seat next to the stairs (in the old train cars its a single seat) caught my eye. There was nothing extraordinary about him...He had on a white T-shirt and blue jeans... shaved head/bald... darker skin. But what really caught my eye was a tattoo on his neck - it was an eagle or something - in red, blue and orange. At first I figured it was a mere coincidence but then I figured I might as well ask...

"I'm sorry - this might seem random but... are you armenian?"

Sure enough he was - and a total parska hye at that. I mean, straight on sing songing and rounded out words and everything. He seemed in love with the idea of living in california and asked me several times if i like it there and whether i miss it. We chit chatted and eventually parted ways.

This morning, I woke up around 6 am but decided I didn't want to be at work just yet. I knew I was going to be staying late for a training so I figured I'd catch the 9:45 train in rather than the 8 or 8:30 trains. So, I hit the snooze and napped a few hours then took my time getting ready. Sure enough, I ended up running late. I walked down to the D-line stop and when it got there, I quickly jumped on and ran towards the back and leaned against the wall. When I looked up, I immediately recognized the tattoo. There he was - same seat, white t-shirt and blue jeans.... what a coincidence! Of all the trains I could have taken. And this time I wasn't on the B line - that would have been a bit more expected (you often bump into the same people on the same lines). Anyway, I wasn't sure if he'd remember me so I said... "You might not remember but we met right here on the train..." and he immediately responded with, "Hye es?" So we chit chatted a little about life and school and the weather.

Later on in the afternoon, I headed out with my co-workers to the training thing. The program was held at the Peter Torigian Community Center in Peabody. Former Armenian Mayor I guess...(article on festival Torigian started). When I got there, I looked over the registration sheet and immediately saw that 2 out of the 22 attorneys who had signed up to attend were Armenian. Later, one of the speakers (a clerk in one of the courts) was discussing divorce cases and scheduling and she read off the names of the five judges.... the second one was Sahagian.

Finally, on my way home, I was reading the Metro... and for those who don't know... the metro always has a question of the day which they ask three people - the middle person's picture is usually the bigger one with their answer in bold. The "middle" answered in today's paper was Melkonian.

I know. I'm having an odd armo-dar day. But you forget folks... I'm not in Glendale anymore. We don't have three (oh wait, now two) Ian/Yan councilmen... and we don't have 80,000 armos living within 5 miles of each other. So, I get excited over things like this.

Or maybe I just need a life.

Anyway, I promise to return to my blogging. I totally started slacking once classes ended - and we all know why that is.

Bed time now... gnite :)