oh hey, let me just say this:

Seriously, if Thomas Kincade found something that works for him, that's fine--for a while. But the man has been pumping out essentially the SAME THING over and over. If you've seen one quaint cottage, you've seen them all. He, much like boy bands and girlie pop-stars found a thing that sells and continues to reproduce it with slight variations. His longevity and continued appeal is beyond me. I admit, I'll fault him for it partially out of jealousy, but also because man, it's getting old.
How about Wyland:

He is basically the T.K. of the tropics. I want, so badly, to compare him to Jimmy Buffet, but I feel as thought Jimmy Buffet is more diverse in his talents. He also writes AND owns some restaurants (yes, I called investing a talent.)

(one of my favorite things to do/one of the most romantical things of all time is this: writing/studying alone but sitting with someone else doing their own reading/writing/work while drinking coffee/tea.)

more date-related updates tonight, i mean it!!

but in the meantime: i might be moving to baton rouge, la?
from:

Matthew  <mxxxx@xxxx.com> to Amy Txxxx<atxxxx@xxxx.com    cara schmidt   <caraaschmidt@gmail.com> date Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 10:24 AM subject Staffing this week

hide details 10:24 AM (6 hours ago)

Let's Discuss this list:

Staffing this week:

Tasks to do list:

BC:

1. Data center wall.  (needs ) Matt

2. Inserter room (wants ) Amy

3. CEO Coffee Bar- (Amiee to set up Alonzo to revise the rendering)  Amy

4. Security Building- Matt

5. All projects- Meeting notes (completed- Nate to review and send out) 

BR:

1. Issue ASI for finishes- Amy

2. Issue ASI for Lobby revisions- Matt

3. Send back the aluminum submittal- Matt

4. Revise finish boards to new finish selections- Cara

to which i replied:

Matt,

I'd prefer to do the CEO Coffee Bar, honestly. This must have made its way to the wrong Cara Schmidt though. I'm in Pennsylvania. Let me know if I should read up on Finish Boards.

Thanks,

 Cara

leading up to date twelve

i was supposed to be updating this on a regular basis. unfortunately i got busy with the start of a new semester, applying to grad school, shopping for a replacement car and doing my best to remain optimistic during the time of year that brings me down the most.





when my car was lost on that monday following date #9 i called milkshake. he immediately came to my aid like the good friend that he is. as we walked away from my car it hit me hard that i wouldn't be able to go to do a lot of things:
- go on date ten to the story slam.
- make it to new york for the talent show.
- get all of the dates in by the end of the month.
- necessarily get a new car by january 3 to return to work.

my biggest concerns (i know, i realize the last on the list should be most important...) were getting to new york and finishing all the dates. it was freezing and my fingers, i was convinced, had detached from my hands. they were just sitting in their rightful slots in my gloves. i wanted to cry but was too cold and too upset. besides, though i'm extremely comfortable around this guy, the last thing i wanted to do was cry to him. he'd just done me a big favor and i didn't want to get all over-the-top, etc.

some really good things came out of this whole nightmare: he changed my question. i thought it was "am i going to go to new york?" he made me realize instead that i needed to begin it with "how..." get a rental? take a train? a bus? just go. yes.
he recognized that we'd planned to go to a party on new year's eve, so instead of having dates 10, 11 & 12 on tuesday, wednesday and thursday, just make the last night of the year the last date of the project. i admit it: this is something i'd wanted to ask him, but with everything that had happened in the last twenty minutes i kept my mouth shut. when he suggested it though, it was a tremendous relief. were this a movie of my life, i'd be hearing some adorable singer/songwriter. i'd get my final date in. it would be with someone who i actually really care about and it's on a night that is kind of momentous: last night of the month AND year AND my project deadline. WOOHOO!!
also, we got coffee and i got a cheese and pepper sandwich. that was pretty good. yeah, all around good night. oh, also worth mentioning: when i posted on facebook that i'd lost my car my hysterical friend tom whitaker responded with: "ALL MY WORK!!!!!!" he's a great guy and has put in way too much time changing my headlights, and and and. in writing it, i realize i've lost a lot of what's funny about it, but just trust me, ok? here i am, sitting in some 24 hour brown and orange cinder-block restaurant eating a meatless cheesesteak. i've just lost my beloved car and it's three in the morning. my friend hears about this accident and his initial response is concern about the time he spent checking a headlight. trust me. hilarious.


so now i've got all my dates lined up. i am delighted.

date eleven

i'd be lying if i said i wasn't disappointed that i haven't heard from #11 since our date.
jon was polite and handsome and contributed interesting things to the conversation.

i met him at fiume for some bluegrass. we talked, listened and looked at pictures in each others phones. (funny how that's a normal thing to do.) a third of the way into the evening we left to put coats in my car. it was hot up there and nice to take a little walk. i thoroughly enjoyed this guy and can't help but wonder what it was about me that made him say he'd see me again, but not actually follow up on it.

(that's one of those things that is really getting to me. he and #2 both seemed to enjoy the evenings, both expressed interest in getting together again, but neither of them have made any attempt. and, as expected, they are the two that are now eating away at me most. drives me crazy, absolutely crazy.)

we talked about ideas, projects and motivation. he told me about the dance party machine which, by the way, is extraordinarily awesome. in discussing this we met some guy who apparently does electronics on sculptures. had i not been a total slacker, i would have networked the hell out of the situation and at this point we would all be in a room with a moving box, flashing lights, and a fog machine to keep the energy up. (note to self: accepting invitations.)

when the night was done jon walked me to my car and i drove him home. at this point, he paid me the best compliment i have ever received. i left smiling. when i got home 35 minutes later i still had this dumb smile plastered across my face.

i feel as though I should write about date #13 because was originally supposed to be date #10. the circumstances surrounding this guy were interesting, all thing considered, even by my often skewed standards (for example: is it ever ok to share a toothbrush with someone? I don't say no. this has resulted in various discussions.)

but then, at what point does it stop being a project and start being too much information by a girl who should maybe consider investing in a filter?



but trust me, this one was pretty interesting.

boots are the new bag

chapstick. credit card. id. keys. lotion. money. notebook. pen. phone. scissors. sunglasses.

oh, he!!o 20!!

this is the year to get totally thrilled!!
this is the year to get tota11y thri11ed!!
this is the year to get tota!!y thri!!ed!!





date 12 just ended, I guess you could say.



overall I am amazed, excited, inspired, optimistic, up and sometimes yours.

I'm going to sleep but the updates will be overwhelming. I let too much time lapse. oops.

date ten: oh oh oh!

i'd been trolling the internet for dates and feeling really bad about myself because i couldn't find anyone who was enthusiastic about the endeavor. in philadelphia the sense of adventure and willingness to participate was totally encouraging. on tuesday night i came across will. we spoke briefly but he was out of town due to the holiday. i was [secretly totally bummed but (hopefully) outwardly] sort of disappointed.


as i was driving to enterprise dictating messages for sam to transcribe she mentions that this guy suddenly became free and figured the ticket was gone. immediately i had her send my phone number and begin sending out notes of thanks and appreciation but also of declination.

without knowing if he'd be sure for sure, i threw out all the other options. it made me feel a little bit like one of those whirl-wind-musical-montage-scenes from a girl-y movie. add that to the fact that we were dancing and listening to le tigre like two jerks and yes, this was totally amazing. (i was just reminded that specifically i said i wanted music that was almost too much. i don't remember using those words but i'm so glad i did.)

will called and we confirmed plans. i hung up and was thrilled.

two and half hours later we were pulling into a parking spot. AWESOME!! note: it took me as long to get to this date as it did to get to some dates in philly due to traffic. that's disappointing.

i walked in with my re-gift-gifts for the gift swap and waited for will. he messaged that he'd be there shortly and the excitement just mounted. i wasn't nervous or anxious or anything. i saw him come in. he walked over. immediately i felt comfortable with him.

the show was totally worth the $5 admission. our hosts kevin and jane were so entertaining (kevin was in philly last month for the first person festival and i developed a little crush on him at that time.) ira glass graced us with his rendition of the pogues' "fairytale of new york" with a multi-accordion back up. the most titillating (can i say that? you should have seen her outfit...) part of the night was the performance of sarah nowak. this girl was adorable. she told the story of her "disengagment" and subsequent trip to europe. she talked about her ring and the good times it ultimately brought her. she danced and smiled and encapsulated the energy and emotions i've grown to know and love. this girl went through and lived through the stupid rotten loss a few years before me and came out glowing.
i can only hope i'll be able to present myself in the way that she does.
things just got serious up in here.


and then there's the fact that i'm still on this date. get back to business.

will was amazing. he was even more handsome than i'd expected. he was charming and polite. he won both the original "miami vice" soundtrack and "the fine young cannibals" on vinyl in the gift swap. some guy mentioned being jealous without realizing my guy was the new owner of the coveted objects. will was quick to trade for a bathrobe that reminded me of the inside of a conversion van or a waterbed. that's a really gross combination, actually.
he cut a hole in the lapel and inserted a flower. he looked bizarrely dapper considering he was wearing a bathrobe.

after the show (i'd not been selected to switch gifts during) it became a gift-exchange-free-for-all. not one to merely participate, i took it upon myself to climb behind the table and start working as if it were the redemption counter at chuck e. cheese or something. presents had fallen behind the table and i didn't want them to go ungiven. we organized gift packs: the glen beck/ann coulter book set, the cocktail napkins with a one-liner comparing chocolate to martinis belonged with the flip-flop tip-topped toothpicks.

i left with a picture frame and dress.


following the show we went to meet up with some friends. it was awesome. i have to write more later.
i'm late for date twelve.



i can't believe i've made it this far.

i can't believe a lot of things.




i still need to tell you about bluegrass and jon, who could easily make me a fool. he's quiet and clever. and he plays the piano.
i melt.





and then we have tonight. tonight i'm going on my final date with a very good friend. lots to be said about this. it's funny because i already know i love this guy. he's amazing.






details to follow. i really need to go and i'm already late.




oh, and that nightmarish rest stop? here you go:










i'm thinking about doing a new "roommate project." i need to tell you/ask you about this later.

this should have been edited and completed already.

i had no date. it was five in the afternoon and all I could do was make my eyes get all big and bug out repeatedly. I was ready to stand outside and solicit any person walking towards the street alone or with an odd number of people.
then the sea parted. within a matter of mere minutes i was quoting the salt-girl. I had gone from having no real contenders to too many. just as i was getting off the phone with my friend justin's friend's friend chris who stepped up to accompany me I got a follow-up from a previous message from quinton who came across a post on craigslist whilst looking for a schol bus to purchase (intrigue!!) all the while my friend Andy was working his magic on a friend of his: Ben. i hadn't heard from Ben yet and was, at this point, scouring the Internet and my phone book (contact list--you know what I mean) and asking everyone I knew. I'd exhausted both facebook and craigslist as well as okcupid which, for the record, has been the best resource when it comes to dating sites.
within sixty seconds it all came to a head: Quinton responded with a definite and Ben had emailed with his info while I was in a frantic initial phone call with chris. crazybones!!
   
sam and i pulled in to get the rental car and we were dying of uncontrollable laughter. parking next to a red # 40 vw new beetle i go, "that"ll be us." and boy was it.
the dashboard space in this spacevehicle is unreal. you could stores year's worth of boxed cereal in the windshield.

the condition of the bathroom in the dr. joyce brothers née kilmer rest stop set us off further. diapers--dirty ones-were just laying openfaced as would an unsavory sandwich on the tan tiled floor. we spent about twenty dollars on two orders of fries in holsters and got out of there. i almost feel like the health dept should see it. or like, life after humans on the discovery channel?  

date #10 is on!!!! yes!!!!!! totally excited!?

how is this even possible?

i've got less than six hours to find a date. i've been trying for a few days. i'm feeling pretty damn pathetic, all things considered.



SOMEONE COME OUT OF THE WOOD WORK, PLEASE!!