The story of a car that almost blew up

It was Halloween 2002. Liz, Kyle, Paul and I drive to a party in Adelphi. I got really stoned at this party and have never felt more existential in my LIFE. I cannot remember anything about this party. I couldn't even tell you if I wore a costume. Actually, I don't think any of us did because the party was not actually on Halloween, it might have been a few days before or after. But that is irrelevant for this story. We left the party pretty late, it was definitely past 2:00. I remember driving on 193 past the courtyard apartments. As we made the right turn onto Metzerott, we saw some smoke and started to smell something burning, and I said that it must be the car we just past cuz the smoke was behind us. But the smell did not go away, it got worse. The car was a little smokey at this point. We made it down Metzerott a bit until I started freaking. I pulled over at the 7-11 where the Golden Bull is and we decided what to do. It was too late to call AAA to have the car towed and be stranded at 3:00 a.m. in Adelphi.

Since we weren't too far from my apartment, someone suggested that we just try to make it. This seemed like a good idea at the time. The more we drove the worse it got and when we made turns it was horrible. The smoke started coming into the car through the vents and I thought that either we were going to die from smoke inhalation or the car was actually just going to blow the fuck up. There was nothing we could do, stop and be stranded or die. I think we all kind of excepted this, even though we were all really freaked. The smoke was unbearable by the time we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment. As soon as we did, I stopped and we all ran out. We ran out so quick that I forgot to shut the car off. The car was engulfed in smoke, but Kyle ran back into the cloud and shut the car off. Then Paul and Kyle pushed it into its parking space and we were so relieved that we had survived.

I took the car into the shop the next day the prognosis was a broken tube in the engine and what we were breathing in was probably anti-freeze. Yay!!! So we could have died but we didn't and that is good. But it is experiences like this that make me less freaked out about car problems. It's not the end of the world when you car breaks down. It is just really annoying and costly. I need to get rid of my car and embrace public transportation. Or if you are my brother, you are a genius and you don't have to study - you can just sit around in your house at Brandeis and get stoned all day and still manage to get a full tuition and A-'s and have Beryl and Mike lease you a brand new Mazda6. This car is fucking awesome. It is a sports car and incredibly fun to drive. I whine about this to my parents frequently, but they always tell me that they made a deal with Matt, that if he got a full tuition to school then he would get a car. Bribes are bull shit. The other option for Matt was to go to MIT. My stoner brother is so smart that he actually got into MIT. But since MIT is $40,000/year and he got a car and a spot on the soccer team at Brandeis he went there. Life is so nice for Matt. But really, I love my brother he is hilarious. He dresses like Kayne West. He owns Jay-Z's sneakers. He is a label whore. He also loves the Strokes.

I just got back from HELL!!!

During lunch today, I went over to the gas station to have my cracked headlight replaced. It took about 15 minutes for them do. I was going to get gas as well since my gas light was on, but it was $2.20/gallon. So, I decide that I would drive up toward White Oak for cheaper gas. I found the place and was just about to take a U-turn when the car started slowing down. I was actually running out of gas. I was able to get into the left turn and then nothing. The car wouldn't even roll, except for a little bit backwards. If this had happened a few years ago I would have freaked out, but I have been through so much with this car that its old news when something happens to me. (I will tell you tomorrow about the time my car almost blew up.)

So, I called AAA and asked them to send someone over with gas. They told me that they would put it as a priority call since I was in the middle of an intersection and I was on my lunch break. The time was 2:15 and they said that someone would be there by 3:30, 4:00 at the latest. Then I called Gwyneth at the office and told her of my troubles. She always understands my stupidity and that's why it sucks that tomorrow is her last day. It was freaking hot in the car, I haven't been sweating for a few days and it felt like a sauna in the car and I couldn't run the airconditioning because it would wear out the battery and I couldn't open the windows becuz there tons of cicadas flying around and I already had the excitement of a cicada in the car for today. So I sat in the boiling hot car with no gas and bugs flying all around. I think that this is what hell will be like. Sweaty and full of bugs.

So I called Liz and told her I was in hell and that I was stupid and she suggested that I call Mike, so I did and he attempted to come and help me, but he couldn't find my car, but it was okay because AAA had just called to say that it would only be another 20 minutes.

People are stupid (besides me and my problems.) I had my hazard lights on, but people still came right into the turn lane and came right up to the back of my car and then started honking even after I waved them around. Don't honk at me I cannot go anywhere get over and stop giving me dirty looks. This went on for over an hour. Finally, the AAA, who had a University of Maryland Facilities shirt on, arrived and filled up the gas and I tried to start the car, but the fucking battery was dead becuz I was running the hazards the whole time. So he gave me a jump start, I gave him the $5 for the gas and I was on my way. I finally got back to the office around 4:00. I took a pointless sweaty 3 hour lunch break.

Sometimes I don't know why I do the things that I do. They are so illogical. Normally I don't care how much gas costs I just get it cuz I need it. I have never run out of gas before. Why today did I decide to drive out of the way to get gas? I will never understand. Am I subconsciously testing my own boundaries?

So far today . . .

a cicada flew in my car window.

I have been told that I am dressed like Flashdance.

I have been called Bunkian Bunkabunkas.

Good News!!

I found my sugar lipgloss behind my bed. My lips taste yummy once again.

The Hard Tomorrows have a website.

I have airconditioning.

I have a carton of marlboro lights thanks to Matt's trip to South Carolina.

I have beach plans for 4th of July.

I love Ambulance LTD (esp. Benji on the left):

Sweating is the new makeup

Since the second I left work on Friday til about 2:00 today, I have been sweating. Chuck, our landlord, kept saying that he would install the air conditioner and told us that we would be okay until this weekend, but I beg to differ. Waking up every morning in sticky sheets is not comforting. I yearn for the days when I lived on Long Island and Beryl would set the central air at arctic temperatures. My friends used to come over to my house in the summer in sweatpants and sweatshirts because they knew how cold my mom kept our house. Beryl likes it cold year round - she sleeps with the window open in the winter. I am embracing sweat though, I have no choice. It's very rocknroll. That nice sweaty glow has replaced my MAC foundation. If I attempt to put makeup on it melts off my face.

Friday nite was the first time in a long time that I stayed in. I watched the Strokes on David Letterman. They performed "The End has No End" which was nice because they just ended a 3-month long tour and I'm sure that they must have been happy to be back in NYC. Julian wore a white blazer with a black T-shirt and white unlaced hightops circa 1986. He sang a little slower and had a little more acne, probably due to sweating. After the performance, I hopped on the internet to do a little Strokes research and stumbled upon the news that Julian is engaged to Juliet, the Strokes asst. manager. In fact, Julian and Juliet had an engagement party in Providence the night after I saw him in Boston. (side note - there was a girl that resembled Juliet in the audience at Boston - the more I think about it the more I think it WAS her.) And he announced that they were engaged at the Central Park Summerstage show last Wednesday. This news makes me sad. But Liz predicts "that the marriage will last approximately three months before julian accidently stabs his new wife with a broken beer bottle and they get seperated and he goes to rehab." So this makes me happy. It's not that I think that I am going to marry Julian, cuz god only knows I can't even get Diner Boy to like me, but to think of Julian as a married man is crazy to me. Part of the whole appeal is that he is a sweaty drunken rocknroll bachelor. That is hot. Now he is going to be a sweaty drunken rocknroll husband? What next? Is he going to have an MTV reality show about married life, please fucking spare me. I would rather eat a cicada then have to deal with that. So I am dealing with the news and I am sweating.

On Saturday, I was able to see my new rocknroll obsession, Benji of Ambulance LTD. I love Benji - he looks a bit like Diner Boy and closes his eyes when he plays guitar. They sounded great. I was up close to the stage, I do this because I like to escape the talking people and the less people in front of me the better I can see the cute rocknrollers. (this is why I am the Hard Tomorrows superfan.) The best part of the Ambulance shows are the last two songs. They always close with Young Urban followed by Yoga Means Union (which always reminds me of Urban Yoga)and I love when Marcus and Benji start simultaneously wanking. It sounds incredible and it looks so good. I love the disc, but I prefer the live show.

After the show, Liz and Mike dropped me off at the Stripes v. Polka Dots party on Irving. People were dancing inside, but it was unbearably hot inside and Sarah, Rishi and I among others hung out on the front porch. Funny things that happened at the party: Kelly in bikini and Alex in underwear, Ben talking about Dillybeans and going camping, Bobby climbing onto the roof, cops stopping by 3 times, tug of war, people calling people at 4 in the morning and giving out the address. At about 4:30, Sarah, Rishi, Bobby and I were hungry and went to the Diner, where we saw Maile at the counter and were waited on by none other than Diner Boy - whose name for the record is John. I had a headache and masacra under my eyes (from being sweaty) and looked a mess and I can't believe that Diner Boy saw me in this condition. However, his hair was sticking up all over the place and Rishi asked me why his hair looked like that and I said that it was cute. Diner Boy thought that I was a vegetarian.

Sunday I sweated, took the airconditoner out of the boiler room, moved my bed away from the wall so that Chuck could install it, drank a iced soy latte, walked to Pop, drank a smoothie with the mammal, walked through Meridian Hill Park, watch Hollywood Homicide with Liz, swooned over Josh Hartnett, ate Astor, watched Viva La Bam, swooned over Tim Glomb(he builds stuff and has really hot tattoos), by the time I got home I was still sweating and Chuck did not put the air conditioner in my window so after killing a roach I took a cold shower and went to bed.

It's easy to wake up at 7:00am when you are sweating in bed. The sheets get all wrinkled and the last thing that you want to do is hit the snooze button, which is a good thing because I had a big meeting today and had a lot to do, so I had to run all over the building today, which made me fucking sweaty at work. Finally around 2, the running subsided and I could sit and do desk work again and enjoy the airconditioning. I also enjoyed the catering. I did not enjoy my cigarette breaks, because there are dead cicadas everywhere. Gross. I am getting ready to leave work now. I hope that Chuck has installed the airconditioner like he told Sarah that he would do today. I want to drink beer outside though. Want to or no? Let's sweat some more.

Don't talk to me. I am in mourning.

Now this is totally ruining my artificial reality.

"Spare me."

Artificial Reality - Part 3

So Pri thinks that my name is really Meg Casablancas. Last nite I stopped by his house and he asked me if we were related.

And at this point I'm not so sure if there isn't some truth to that.

At the last Strokes show, Liz said that I was able to channel Julian.

This time it was Casablancas vs. Casablancas:

Julian the drunk sweaty lead singer. Meg the drunk sweaty leadsingerlovergroupie.

Julian climbing over seats while he sings ... Meg climbing over seats to get to Julian.

Julian singing from a seat 3 feet away. Meg standing on a seat 3 feet away from Julian.

Julian falling into a seat closer. Meg leaning over and grabbing Julian's sweaty head, sweat dripping from his hair. She whispers in his ear, "Julian what's wrong with you?"

Julian answering Meg's question into the mic, "I'm fucking tired man."

Meg still drunk and still in love.

Artificial Reality - Part 2: The Artists

Frank Bauer

Arnout Killian

Glen Rubsamen

Bret Easton Ellis

and Julian Casablancas . . .

Artificial Reality

"We live in an artificial reality. Our inner life is flooded with images of better worlds evoked by mass media. These images shape our desires, as well as our experiences. But not only our inner life, also in the physical world around us, artificiality has become accepted as part of reality. In the design of our daily surroundings - landscape, shops, public and domestic space - spectacle and experience often seem more important than concepts like authenticity or reality." - quote

Part 2 of Artificial Reality - coming soon.

and you thought the rites of spring was sweaty.

Julian takes Boston

So, I just got back from the Strokes show. I cannot even begin to tell you about it now. But its coming and its pretty unreal.

That's all for now, cuz I'm too drunk to tell you right now.

But get ready cuz this is good.

megadork: i chugged a starbucks doubleshot in the car this morning

mike: why are those so good?
i could go for a starbucks double shot kegstand.

I was so drunk last nite that I lost my brand new sugar lipgloss :-(

This is where I burst out into song "What are we gonna do now?" I don't really know, because this morning I couldn't find my cellphone either. But this has to be in my apartment because I called my brother last nite when I got home. Lipgloss might be in Mike's car. Cellphone has to be in my apartment.

Missing: Sugar lipgloss, cellphone with butterflies on the face. Please call bunkablancas if you have any information leading to the recovery of these important items.

Sorry that these blogs have become few and far between. Here are some updates:

Rites of Spring

I called out sick on the Friday before the party, because I had partied a little too much at the French Kicks/Ambulance LTD show. Waking up at 9:00 a.m. makes you feel like you shouldn't bother going to work at all. If you are still in bed when you are supposed to be at your desk makes you wish that you could actually work from bed. Like a good mom, I drove Sarah to work and then went over to Hobart to wake up Liz who the nite before had to lie down in my car after the show she was so drunk. I found her in her tropical room in bed. I didn't care that I had to wait for her to wake up, I was so happy to not be at work. I spent the next hour trying to motivate Liz to get up while going through her cds in order to create some killer mixes for the party. Then Liz goes How did I get yellow highlighter on my hand. I am fucked up. I am like Paris Hilton... Hold on, I might puke. Then she got up and ran to the bathroom. We thought she was better, but Dos Gringos was hard for us. Liz became Bunkenstein shortly afterwards as she crossed the road with her arms stretched out in front of her. Later that day we went through things in the basement showed the man from the dump what to take which was basically anything that we deemed trash and swept for the party-prep. After the house looked super clean we took a trip to the party store followed by a stop at Sephora to buy Sarah her birthday presents and some presents for me too (purple eyeshadow and lipgloss that tastes like sugar.) This took to long and I was late picking Sarah up for spraytan. (We have missed the opportunity to do spraytan one time too many that we have since abandoned this plan - besides it has been really sunny out lately and I am getting a lot of natural color.) The day ended by getting really stoned and decorating for the party. Actually, now that I think about it I didn't go to bed until 5:00 a.m. I stayed up later making the killer mixes for the party.

The party was excellent. I realized early on in the nite (possibly 9:30/10:00) that there were no boys with bigbabyfacemessyhair so I just concentrated on me and my state of partiness. By 11:00 I was wasted. The Cause started it all out with a bang. They did a cover of Hey Ya - and everyone went fucking crazy. Other highlights for me were the Thundersluts - they make me feel like I am in the 80s - Elizabeth is so incredible up there and the lyrics are rad. The Hard Tomorrows sounded so good - I was falling down they were so great. They played the song that Liz calls the Rocker and I call It Get Heavy. And I really love that song. It replaces Jaywalker as my new fav. When they didn't play TakeDown (my true all time favorite song ever) we whined and cried and screamed that they had to play it - we even threatened with the fact that it was Sarah's birthday so they had to and they DID. After that it get foggy. I watched a little bit of Reizou's set and then went outside - Betty and Becca arrived and I told Betty that I would watch her car while she went inside for a little. I was good at doing this for some reason. However, I missed Reizou wheeling over the keg during their set and doing keg stands - bummer. Like I said the rest is a haze. But I did NOT get sick - that is the key. I did have to sit in the alley for a little bit, but I persevered and eventually was able to walk home with filthy feet and dirty jeans.

Champagne Brunch the next day at Erin Worley's was fun. We were all pretty hung over, but we sat on the roof in the sun and drank champagne. It really does not get any better than that. After brunch I changed to an all american clean up outfit and headed over to Hobart for cleaning crew. We swept and mopped to the Strokes and rearranged furniture. That nite Liz, Mike, Perry and I sat in the clean house got stoned, watched The Sopranos and Deadwood (everyone's favorite new show) and ate yummy organic chinese food.

DC9 - an introduction to Paul Michel the band

I had missed Paul Michel's prior shows and was very excited that this one was on a Friday. He was incredible. I was really into his set and he has a cute brother that plays bass. Sarah and I got there at 8 so that should tell you something about the state of mind I was in by the time we left. There was talk of going to Lucky Bar cuz Maile was working the back bar, but we ended up going to the Cat. I left my umbrella at DC9.

New York Minute

On Saturday, Carrie and I went to see New York Minute - yes this IS the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie. And YES, I loved it. The twins run around New York getting into trouble in towels and rocking out. This is fun. I wish that I could do this.
It was nice to see Carrie. We used to live together back in college and I don't really see her enough anymore.

Drunk in the sun on sunday

On Sunday I thought that I would go down to the museum via Pop (sarah's store,) but somehow I ended up at St. Ex for 5 hours. Drinking in the sun really does not motivate you. I then watched the Sunday nite shows with Liz and Perry again stoned, so Deadwood is really scary and confusing for me and I love it. It is about Cowboys. Then this stoney dork decided to go to the Diner with Sarah and Becca and ask Diner Boy 101 questions. I think he kinda liked that. He is funny. Like tripping on a chair and smiling at me when he does it.

Present Day

Right now I am drinking Orangina at my desk and listening to the Stills. I love Orangina because its fizzy and its juice and the bottle is really fun to hold. I also love the Stills and I am excited because they are playing tonite at the 9:30club. So after work I am going to make dinner and meet up with Liz and Mike for drinks (and Sarah although I do not know her plan since she is at her dad's house right now) and we are going to go to the show. The last time that I saw the Stills we were right up front and it was really emotional for me and I cried when Dave the drummer came out from behind his drums and they played Yesterday Never Tomorrows. They played with the Unicorns last time and that was one of the best shows ever. Liz keeps saying that Mike says that the opening bands tonite (metic and sea ray) are really good and we should go see them.

What am I doing tomorrow?

Well, first I am going to attempt to get out of bed before 8:20 and try to make it to work before 9:20, but we all remember what happened the last time that I went to a show and then tried to go to work. I cannot call out sick tomorrow because I am going on vacation starting at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow nite. I am flying up to Boston to visit my brother and see the Strokes (who the Stills are opening for.) So my energy level is really up right now and I am fighting to make it through one more day.