I was supposed to manage a shift at work from 1-5pm today, except that all morning it was raining heavily with lightning, which prevents us from working for safety reasons. The Weather Channel called for lightning until 9 o'clock tonight, so, trying to be responsible and proactive, I went in early, got my boss's permission to cancel the shift and called the employees to tell them not to come in. This took all of twenty minutes. By the time I was done, I left the building to discover that the clouds had broken and all was clear. I appear to be cursed regarding the working of shifts on Saturday. Chagrinned, I came home and took some pictures to console myself.

The visit to Charleston last weekend was fantastic. My folks have a beach house on Folly Beach that they rent a few times a year, and this was Matt's and my second time going. Its location is excellent: it's set on a quiet street (1) about twenty feet back from the beach, with a raised boardwalk that leads to the sand (1,2,3). It was an ideal place to watch the sun set (1,2,3). It rained through the night and was cloudy and choppy Friday morning (1,2,3,4,5), but it cleared, and most of the day was windy and bright. Matt and I spent it alternately reading, sunning and reading in the sun. Saturday was even more ideal, and more people came to enjoy it (1,2,3). We spent several hours in the afternoon with my parents, walking through some of the historic sections of the city proper. The considerable age of the area is apparent everywhere-- especially in its greenery-- and it's one of the area's best features (1,2). The prevalence of well-manicured gardens, many of which are enclosed or hidden away, was also beautiful (1,2). We had lunch at a small shop called Joseph's, complete with sweet tea, then skedaddled as hoardes of other tourists packed the area. We had dinner with some friends of the family, and the sunset on Saturday was even more gorgeous than the previous night (1,2,3,4). Just as dusk settled in, I happened to see a lithe black-and-white dunekitten prowling confidently through the scrub flanking the beach! She mewed at me and rolled around and around very energetically, but wouldn't let me pet her.... Shame. On Sunday morning it was time to clean up and head out, and after saying goodbye, Matt and I left for Athens.

This summary is pretty sparse, but in truth it was an excellent vacation and couldn't have come at a perfect time. I came home happier and healthier (and tanner), and feeling much more prepared to face the end of the semester.

After my classes tomorrow, Matt and I are off to Charleston to spend the weekend with family. The weather looks like it's going to be perfect! And of course by perfect I mean raining for the two days we'll be there. Just like last time. Dampness aside, I'm still hoping it'll be a nice change of scene.

On today's itinerary: graduation, Garbage and grades.

With graduation fast approaching, familial dramatics are reaching a fever pitch. I didn't want graduation to be a big deal, and was even thinking about skipping the commencement ceremony, but my father has suddenly orchestrated a massive party of relatives to come celebrate the event. Suddenly announcements, a cap/gown purchase, hotel rooms and dinner plans, etc. are all being orchestrated, but with all my schoolwork at the moment these are the last things I'd like to be worrying about. In addition my mom is trying to get her side of the family equally involved, much to my dismay, and after breaking down in tears over the phone, was even briefly planning to come herself, much to my father's dismay, and stay with us in the house, much to Matt's dismay. (Matt and I are now planning to visit her for serveral days after graduation instead.) Interfamily tension and its associated responsibilities always make me clam up miserably. It would be nice, I imagine, to have two halves of a family who did not dislike each other and parents who could address one another without sniping or raising voices. At the very least, all of this graduation chaos has offered an unexpected perk by distracting me from the vast, gaping black hole that is my life post-graduation.

On Thursday evening Charlie and I went to see Garbage perform at the Tabernacle theatre/club in Atlanta. (It was my second concert ever; the first was, uncoincidentally, also Garbage, back in '99 at the HFStival in DC.) Garbage has been my favorite band for the past seven years or so, though as the last two albums have been subpar, I've been reconsidering that title and had some doubts about going to the show. My doubts, however, proved unfounded. Not only was the Tabernacle, a renovated church, a very neat place, but the band rocked so hard that my ears rang for the next two and a half days. Impressive, if not a bit unnerving. They did almost all of my favorite songs from their four-album catalog, but the highlight was when, during the encore, Shirley stopped mid-song, shouting "Wot the fock is goin on down there?" all flustered and concerned like an angry mother hen. It turned out some poor soul near the front had lost his glasses. "If yer goin to see a show, put yer glasses on a fuckin string!" she advised us, laughing, and then restarted the song. Rocker with a conscience, our Shirley! And fantastically, enthrallingly beautiful. Here is an album of pictures that someone else at the show was kind enough to take, and off which I will sponge without pity or regret. Elsewhere on the internet, it appears someone was kind enough to bootleg the entire show in surprsingly good quality and post mp3s and some apt commentary, so these delights, too, can be had. It was truly an excellent second concert. I can see why these things are so popular.

Today I was returned the paper mentioned in the previous post, and flipping instinctively to the back page, discovered that I earned a 99 and many congratulations from my normally demanding and pretentious professor. The point I lost was due, I suspect, to my blatant misspelling of the author's name in the first sentence of the paper. Seeing as I wrote the introduction half an hour before the deadline while running on three hours of fitful sleep, I will gladly accept the loss.

One knows one is an English major when one has written a five-page critical analysis focused solely on some obscure novel's use of the double hyphen.

The Undergrad Conference went well; no more, no less. The audience only consisted of a couple friends of each of the other two speakers and maybe a professor or two, but that was all right since Matt was able to come. I was the last to read and did so far too quickly, due in part to my nervousness and in part to the fact that both of the others were unfairly talented public speakers who went way over their allotted time. The food was great and the coordinator gave each of us a $15 gift card to Borders, which I found both surprising and generous. All in all it was a very pleasant experience.

I woke up full of energy on Saturday and got so busy with chores that I simply forgot to go to work that afternoon. While this alone would be Sort of A Big Deal, what made it worse was the fact that I'm the boss: since I didn't show up, about a dozen people were left standing around with no explanation, unable even to get into the building. In my three years at my job I've done my share of rule-bending, naturally, but this is certainly the worst thing I've ever done. About half an hour too late I realized my mistake and went in and paid everyone for half the shift as per our emergency policy. I also took down everyone's phone numbers and called them all to explain what happened and apologize. On Monday morning I went in to apologize to my boss in person and vow repeatedly that nothing of the sort would happen again. I'm fortunate enough to have both a great track record and a very mellow boss, so I didn't have to face any real repercussions; it's just the act itself that mortifies me. I let a lot of people down and that's not a feeling I like.

I don't talk about my job very often, which is a shame. Back in high school I had a few bad experiences due to chatting too liberally online about where I worked, but that fact suggests moderation, not complete silence. I love my job and it's a big part of my life-- I almost always enjoy it and I've met a lot of great people there. I have a lot of authority, the hours are fairly flexible, I can do just about anything I want while working (homework, napping, web-surfing) and for a student job, it pays fairly well. What I like most about it, though-- other than the authority-- is that I have the ability to change and improve many aspects of the managerial side of things as I see fit. If a certain form or paperwork process is too cumbersome, I can improve it. In my time there, especially since Andy died, I've changed a lot of things for the better. I consider myself very lucky to have a job that I enjoy as much as I do and can actively take part in.