it was so hard going back to work today after an amazing three day weekend. depressingly, i realized that the next time that i'll have a decently long weekend will be the fourth of july. that's more than a month a way. oh man, help me! while doing my last minute things at work tonight i was out on the dock and noticed a pile of money on the floor. i picked it up and then went around asking the rest of my co-workers if they had lost any money. no one had, so i kept the $19 and told the three of them that i'd bring in cookies tomorrow. free money- it's the best kind.

i love summer. i love summer nights even more. i love the ability to walk around at dusk at 8:30, the lack of jacket necessity, and the ability to sleep in nothing but underwear AND without any sheets. admit it, you all do it on those hot summer nights.

bailey, alex, and i made an end-of-weekend mexican fiesta out at bailey's beach house. i basically stood around and watched while alex made everything. but it was still good. and i felt like i did something when i sponged down all of the countertops after the meal. later molly came over and a good time was had by all. i think we all enjoyed watching alex plunge into lake michigan and then run out even faster. (the water is still quite cold.)

this picture basically sums up the awesomeness of this past weekend. good friends and great weather.

the number of miles i biked this morning. today was by far the best day of the year so far. not a cloud in the sky and temperatures around 80. i have always been meaning to go out to Greenbush on my bike but never got around to it last year. so i set out this morning and made it out there in a decent time. and i then i was like "oh, my legs. and i have to bike all the way back? shit." but the trip back was more downhill and i made it back to town in 30 minutes less. the ride was amazing and surprisingly there weren't a whole lot of people on the trail. it was basically perfect.

depending on the amount of pain in my legs tomorrow i might bike down to the south side of the city and hang out at the Lake.

I got my first dose of sunburn! i love being red as a lobster.

i went with some kids to milwaukee for the afternoon. not having been there since last august (pre-Germany), a lot of new stuff has sprung up. weather was semi-cooperative minus the gloom and haze down by the lake. oh well, the calatrava was amazing as always. the mitchell domes are always nice, and the trip to Banana Republic was successful like usual.

bailey went with alex. hannah went with jason. i went with persephone. we had a great time and i have a couple decent pictures. for your enjoyment.

so i read about this in the paper today and it just really made me mad. Why? Why oh why would a car company so desperate for car sales be willing to give out money just to make money? an overwhelming majority of the cars that qualify for this deal are either SUV's or large sedans (basically all the vehicles with the worst gas mileage they make).

rather than spending money on reimbursing Californians and Floridians as gas prices increase, why not invest that money in future cars? Hybrid technology, hydrogen fuel cells, alternative energy, etc.? Not only would those new cars be better for the environment and peoples' checkbooks, but those models would be available to people nationwide, not just in two states. that is how you should attract customers.

let it be known that i never plan on purchasing a general motors vehicle in my life. nor any American car for that matter.

bailey and i biked down by the Lake to enjoy the weather. i tried out persephone a little more. both of us have lived in Sheboygan for years, yet neither of us ever go to the south pier. so we did that today. and the Lake is by far the greatest (and maybe the only good) feature of this city.

on a completely unrelated note, has anyone else noticed the Nike+iPod banner on the apple page? yes, buy specially designed nike shoes and a special kit and you can track your running progress on your ipod nano. crazy ridiculous, i know, but i'm sure people will by them up whenever they finally do come out.

photo courtesy of persephone, the world's greatest new camera.

after biking home from a good day at work i saw my package from amazon on the table. PERSEPHONE HAS ARRIVED! and i love her.

on the back is the first picture i took.

and yes, that is a three inch LCD.

my current top five personal likes:

1. lilac
2. lake michigan
3. large paychecks
4. upcoming memorial day weekend
5. argyle socks.

so there is this show on VH1 on friday nights called "can't get a date." it's on semi-late and most friday nights i'm home. so of course, i watch it. this week there was a guy for whom i felt such great pity. and jealousy. and confusion. this overweight, fumbling fool acted like a twelve-year old stuck in a 35-year old's body. he didn't know how to ride a bike. nor did he know how to swim. he stuttered so much he was nearly incomprehensible. and yet he got a date.

i'm at a loss.

here i am. a good head on my shoulders, a healthy dose of wit, decent looking, decently dressed, pretty decent taste in music, bicycles, electronics, etc. (yeah, i know electronics turn women on [you can admit it, girls]). i don't consider myself a "man's man," but i'd say i'm halfway to being a gentleman. why can't i get a date? anyone? any ideas?

i've done this before, but it was years ago. always remember to wash your hands thoroughly before putting in contacts after cutting onions. stings like a mother. why didn't i remember? i'm a fool.

i ordered a new camera on amazon the other day. it hasn't even shipped yet. i'm getting anxious. i love the fact that you can track packages. i think that's what i like most about ordering stuff online- you can see where it is and guestimate when it'll get to you. admit it, you like it too.

in response to matt's comment: i started reading the book with the mindset that there wasn't an ounce of credibility to it. reading it like a plain old novel does the trick. i'm only 50 pages into it and i don't think it's possible for anybody to go through some of his withdrawl "symptoms."

another day at work. another lovely ride there and back.

so maybe i can't make it the entire summer without seeing anybody. but still, i'd like to have a lot of alone time. for the first time this week i met up with molly and her dad after work at a bar. i wish i knew of more mixed drinks. i don't drink soda, so that rules out a lot of them, but if anyone has suggestions...

in an attempt to make myself feel better i ordered my new camera yesterday. it should be here sometime next week. great, cuz that means it'll be here before memorial day weekend. kind of pricey, but i like photography and really, my paycheck this week was quite large. many more to come.

i started reading "a million little pieces" today. i'm torn. it's kind of interesting, but it just seems really fragmented and a wee bit hard to follow (no quotation marks). but really, i just started reading it on my lunch break tonight. it'll probably grow on me.

i'm convinced that Cingular is the devil. for the third month in a row i must call them about my stupid bill.

i'm considering going into hiding for the entirety of the summer. and possibly next school year. i don't like dealing with people anymore. i partially blame my job. i deal with crabby people for eight hours a day running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get things done. yeah, that's definitely a big part of it.

i liked the simplicity of having only my schedule. i don't like making phone calls and working around other people. i foresee more bike rides than previously expected. and several good books.

i have to work on saturday. and i signed up for sunday. it's going to suck. but i'm determined to go to ny in august for a couple days. i need to get out of here. i'm going crazy.

early night. tennis tomorrow morning. first time this season.

i feel like i'm running around in circles. if i were to be figuratively running to Point B for a purpose, i would be getting nowhere fast. the past couple weeks at home have been trying. i mean, today was mother's day and i didn't even see my mom. i partially felt bad, but she's had it coming.

a handful (and by handful i mean two) of my friends have returned home for the summer this weekend. it has been months since i have been busy all weekend. it was nice to get out of the house. it was nice just laughing! i love making people laugh; i don't really get a chance to be funny at home.

my vice has always been expensive electronics. i'm afraid i might have to give in and buy my new camera. girls buy clothes. i buy ipods and digital cameras. bad habit. expensive habit.

tonight bailey and i were talking and i haven't taken a picture since i don't even know when. maybe february?! but really, there's nothing around here to merit a photograph. the weather has been horrible.

and for those of who are still wondering- yes, it's still raining.

when you think about it, none of the animals for chinese years are all too flattering. i mean, i was born in '85- the year of the Rat. which, come to think of it, is better than the year of the Ox or the Cock. why don't think pick cool animals?

if you saw the state of my room right now, you'd probably think that a bomb went off. because...maybe one did?

i've been meaning to clean for the last couple weeks. never any time though. must. make. time. i fear i might trip over something. which wouldn't be so bad- i could land in a pile of clothes.

you know when people are crabby and people then respond with a "So-and-So needs to get laid." I think that could be said of Mother Nature right now. I would suggest that she call up Father Time and get it on. APRIL showers bring May flowers. wrong month, biatch. enough with the rain. please? thanks.

did you ever have those days (or weeks, months, or even years?) where you feel like the world is against you and you just want to run away? this is one of those days. all day long i felt as though i was dragging people down, not understanding what people were asking of me, and basically finding every single thing my family did aggravating beyond belief. if it weren't for the fact that i need to save up as much money for school as possible i'd just rather move out and live by myself. sometimes i think living alone next year would be best. my last roommate experience went so horribly that i think part of me is afraid to try it again. but then i realize that i won't be living with crazy german bitches. just bitches.

kidding.

i got a note from my old high school german teacher today and she said she was proud of my experience. and she said she was jealous of my travels. at the end she wrote, "'wanderlust'-- it's such a great thing." it is. the month of january was the most spectacular month of my life. i saw so much, i took so many pictures, and i felt so foreign. i loved it. ideally, i would love to go some place this summer. however, i must work. and that money must go towards school and rent (whenever we find a house). but i feel so stuck here. does anyone want to do a mini road trip/bike trip with me this summer? or...does anyone feel like going to asia with me next year? i hear thailand is very nice.

i think the reason why i love traveling is because of all the emotions you experience. you're excited to plan it, anxious for your departure, nervous whilst en route, relieved/excited/amazed/awestruck/overwhelmed upon arrival, you feel foreign while you're there (which is my favorite emotion), you're sad to leave, but you're happy once you're back home. yeah. i want to go through that again. soon.

I, Michael Diener, hereby dare one Miss Grace Eelkema to open a Blogger account and design a blog more kick-ass than mine. let's see where your "interface design" knowledge gets you.

has there ever been a time in your life where one certain cd was so fitting for you? for me, this past winter it was david gray's "life in slow motion."

feel free to share yours.