How to make new friends

When most people move into a new apartment they knock on their neighbors' doors to introduce themselves. Some people might even bring baked goods. Lili and I did not ever do that. We have slowly started to recognize faces of some the individuals that live on our floor and building, but we are no where close to being friends with them. I have found a new way to break the barriers of friendship. Try to burn the building down!

Yesterday afternoon I tried some soup that I had purchased from the grocery and didn't really like it. That meant that I was still hungry but did not feel like cooking. I decided to throw some fries into the oven while I changed out of my work clothes and chat with Kristen about wanting to come back to Michigan earlier.

My smoke alarm started going off. I rolled my eyes and went to go turn on the fan of my stove. The alarm seems to go off every time we use the oven, and no, I do not burn the food every time I use the oven causing it to go off. This time it wasn't stopping and I noticed the smell of the oven to be much stronger then usual. I open the oven door to begin the panic. There were flames engulfing the lower portion of my oven.

My mind started racing....what to do...who to call....what to do. Open the oven again and yes...there are still flames. SHIT! Is it gas or grease you can't pour water on? THINK KOURTNEY THINK! Alarm is still going off...run into the hall way and yell help. Some one will know what to do.

"HELP! Can some one help me? I need help!"

NO one....surely they hear that my alarm is STILL going off....right? Go back out and yell again.

"HELP!"

Finally, the people living next to us come in and help me. I hear my self saying "I have never had a gas stove I didn't know if I could pour water or if that would make it worse. Do you have an estinguisher?"

They pour water on the fire and it is put out very easily. They then inform me, "The lower part of the oven is not a place to put pans, as in an electric stove. It is a boiler so you need to keep it empty."

Empty? What were they talking about? I look...see the burned cardboard box and bread pan and remember. I cleaned yesterday and put my stone from Papmered Chef and bread pan in there so I could clean. OOPS! Who knew that was not a drawer for the purpose of holding the things I didn't have room for in my cupboards.

Good news...no one was hurt and I met 3 neighbors. Neighbors I hope to never see again! Although I am joking about it now, I was not for a while. I was still in tears when Lili got home an hour later. Amidst the tears and vomit from my nerves I managed to text her "Your roommate is a dumb ass...I thought you should know. Hope the exam went well!" She joked with Alison on her walk home "HAHA I hope she didn't burn the place down!" (True story) Isn't it ironic? It is becoming more funny, but please tred lightly with your jokes, just thought the story was one that needed to be shared.

Table For One

Before I moved to Chicago I hardly ever had to do things by myself. When I was at CMU I had plenty of people to go get a cup of coffee with me, go out for a meal, go see a movie, or whatever else I wanted to do. People were always around. At home, I had the people I worked with, a few friends from high school and, of course, Kath Kath to come with me, or me with them. It wasn't ONLY that I didn't like doing things by myself, it was just that I never had to. In Chicago I have been finding myself doing more things on my own more then I ever thought of myself as being able to do. I get lunch breaks at work and even when I bring my lunch, I usually go some where other then our break room to eat it. I go to the food court and sit for my hour to read and eat. A conversation with a client a while back has made me wonder, do people sitting alone draw more attention then people sitting in groups? She was looking for a place to eat that would be good food but also faster then a nice sit down establishment, but not fast food. She didn't want to sit for a long time alone because people stare, she felt, and it made her uncomfortable. I thought to myself that this was probably all in her head; or was it? Do people tend to stare at you, or at least do double takes in shock, when you are some where alone? When you are at a sit down restaurant? What if you are at a coffee shop alone? The movies? The bar? Where are lines to be drawn, or do they even have to be drawn? Why is our society a society that deems it "odd" to do some things by yourself and not other things?

The What If Game.....

This is a game that I always would play with my roommate Emily. I would play out a situation to her (or her to me) and we would come up with every possible ending we could by finishing the sentence "What if (fill in blank) happened" I have found myself playing that game in my head lately. Many feelings of nostalgia have been surfacing in my head causing me to question many steps I took and turns I made. It makes me wonder how different my life could, or would, be right now had I played those five minutes a little differently. Or if I had gone to that party instead of being too nervous to hang out with a huge group of people when only knowing one person. What if I had quit debate when I wanted to. What would have changed in my life? Looking at all of the CMU tailgating pictures of the game goers this season made me sad that I missed out on so much of my college life by being so active in other activities. Who would I have met or hung out with had I been able to tailgate more often? Or actually have a weekend to enjoy college life more then once a semester. I am so thankful to all of the people I met in college and for most of my choices throughout my college career; however, sometimes the what if game creeps in. I don't want changing my choices or actions to mean that I wouldn't have met some one that is now in my life. I just sometimes wonder who ELSE I might have met. What other experiences could I now be telling my new friends about in order to help them know what made me the me that they are meeting. I guess it is true what they (who ever they are) "By the time you realize you miss something, it is already too late" I can't change what I may or may not have missed out on, but I can think about what my future could be. It is truely time to make new memories and never wonder if I missed out on anything again.

American Wages

Rarely will you hear me claim one job in society to be more important than another job in society. Infact, I am not sure the level of importance has ever been compared by me. How would one decide what is to be considered important or not important. The same question comes to mind when you deal with salaries or wages. How did society decide that it was acceptable to pay educators so little while athletes get paid so much. Sure, some might say that athletic jobs bring in money, and that is true; however, does that mean that educators should then start paying 10 dollars a day for a student to sit in their classroom? Clearly that would never be able to work. So when did society decide that job A should be paid X and job B should be paid Z? What were the guidelines for such decisions? I want answers!!!!

Take Five, and I don't mean the candy bar!

After reading Delightfully Dawgmatic, it made me want to try this. I think for some categories it will be hard to narrow down to just five songs. Okay, all of the categories will be hard, but I am up for a challenge :) Enjoy and feel free to do your own list on your blog or in a comment....or both :)

Five Songs From Childhood:
1) Shake Your Love: Debbie Gibson
2) Mony Mony: Billy Idol
3) You've Got The Right Stuff (Baby): New Kids On The Block
4) I Wanna Dance With Somebody: Whitney Houston
5) I've Had The Time Of My Life: Dirty Dancing

Five Songs From High School:
1) Rosa Parks: OutKast
2) Drive: Incubus
3) In The End: Linkin Park
4) If I Bought You A Rose: Kenny Rogers
5) Are You That Somebody: Aaliyah and Timbaland

Five Songs From College:
1) Central Girls: DJ Greenup
2) Put It In My Mouth: Anikyele
3) Always: Saliva
4) Good Morning Beautiful: Steve Holy
5) Like A Prayer: Modonna

Five Songs From Now:
1) Chasing Cars: Snow Patrol
2) See The World: Gomez
3) It Don't Matter To The Sun: Rosie Thomas
4) Sad Eyes: Josh Rouse
5) 9 Crimes: Damien Rice

Five Songs Every Girl Has Loved:
1) Like A Prayer: Modonna
2) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Cyndi Lauper
3) Strong Enough: Sheryl Crow
4) Don't Stop Believing: Journey
5) I Will Survive: Gloria Gaylor

Five Songs That If I Found Out You Knew All The Words To I Would Love You:
I do not have any in mind. Songs that I love are not hard to learn all of the words to like Come On Eileen. I am more excited if you listen to things that aren't played on the radio!

Five Songs I Would Slow Dance With A Stranger:
1) Luckiest: Ben Folds
2) I Only Have Eyes For You: Jamie Collum
3) She's Got A Way: Billy Joel
4) Sweetness In Starlight: Matt Wertz
5) Can't Help Falling In Love: Elvis

Five Songs That Summarize My Short Commings Well:
1) Favorite Mistake: Sheryl Crow
There are more but must come back to it..........

Five Songs I love And I Don't Care:
1) Don't Stop Believing: Journey
2) Wilson Phillips (All 4 of their songs :)
3) Fantasy: Ludacris
4) Justin Timberlake
5) Gimme Dat Nut: Eazy E

OH NO! (Said in odd voice/accent)

Me: Did I fall last night?
Lili: No, I don't think so.....
Me: Well because my back really hurts as though I have a bruise.
(Moment for a pause while Lili thinks back to last night)
Lili: NO WAIT!!! YOU DID FALL! YOU FELL OUT OF YOUR BED LAST NIGHT!