The New Sinus Remedy (caution: somewhat disgusting)

Sinus problems have unfortunately plagued me for the past few years. Though I used to be fine, the annoyingly frequent sinus infections worsened to a point where I’d get a few infections every year—usually accompanying a cold, and usually leaving me bed ridden. Different medicines and antibiotics have been prescribed through the past two years or so, but none have offered me any substantial success…so you can imagine my reaction when, last week, instead of prescribing me another worthless pill, my doctor brought a plastic transparent bottle and some packets of powder into the examining room for me to take home.
“Now I don’t recommend this to everyone, but you seem like the kind of person who would like this.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Or that’s what I wanted to say. Instead, I happily accepted a new hopeful remedy to my constant sinus problem. He instructed me to read the directions (a booklet of about 25 pages), try it out, and let him know if this works. I tried it out yesterday for the first time and have some news to report.

Though I love reading (I’ve done plenty of it recently), a 25-page instruction booklet was a little ridiculous…that’s not even good bathroom reading material. Instead, I read the condensed instructions printed on the side of the bottle.

Basically this 8oz plastic bottle needs filled with 8oz of distilled, hot water; the packet of powder (the actual medicine) must be poured and mixed in with the water. Now the interesting part: I have to rest one nostril on the bottle opening (it’s shaped to do this) and gently squeeze the bottle of water/medicine while inhaling, until the medication travels up one nasal passage and dispenses itself either out of the other nostril OR out of my mouth. I, obviously, must continue to breathe while doing this or else I’ll drown. After completing this step, I blow my nose into a tissue (though I can’t “pinch” my nose while doing so, or else I’ll “blow out an eardrum”). I repeat these steps for the other nostril, thus utilizing 4oz per nostril. I feel like I’m snorting a liquid version of crack or something.

I was actually uncomfortably excited about trying this, so I boiled some water, poured it in the bottle, mixed the powder in, stood over my sink, and began ingesting this toxin I had just created. Sufficient to say, the 8 ounces of water, the medicine, and plenty of other shit that was clogged up my nasal passage all drained out…either from my mouth or from my nose. And yes, it burned.
It worked though. I have never felt so clear, but I was also woozy as hell, so instead of departing to meet a friend in Oakland like I was supposed to, I was forced to lay down for 20 minutes.

Even though my nasal passage and my throat felt completely clear for once (I honestly couldn’t wait to try this ingenious process again), I discovered an unfortunate side effect later that evening.
After my late afternoon/evening in Oakland, I arrived to my parents’ house and offered to walk one of their dogs, Sofie, the big Burmese Mountain dog. As I leaned over to pet the dog, me AND the dog were both stunned as water and nasal juice quickly shot out of my nose all over the poor dog’s face.
I darted towards the bathroom—leaving a trail of nasal drippage along the way and began covering my nose with tissues. This did very little to help. After going through a couple of tissues, I ran up to examine this instructional booklet I earlier failed to read. I successfully found, “May cause nasal leakage after immediate use” written under “Side Effects.” Nasal leakage? More like a nasal waterfall.
Now I’m nervous as hell. I’m going to be out with friends, or simply out walking the dog, and water will begin to leak out of my face. It’ll be embarrassing, I’m sure; I’m just warning you all.

SUMMER MOVIES!

Ok, so this summer...a new Batman movie...and new Indiana Jones movie...and if that wasn't enough, a new X-Files movie!?!!! Seriously, my entire childhood all smashed into one summer!

The only thing that would make it complete would be a new Jurassic Park, but let's face it, it would probably suck (just like the last two), so I think we're ok.

Plus the new Pixar movie about the robot looks super rad as well!

Rick Makes a New Friend at Target

I had to make a quick stop at Target last week to buy some chapstick and vitamins. I park my car and begin quickly walking towards the store (for it was cold outside) when this random man, fairly young and pretty fit, starts talking to me.
“Hey,” he says.
“Uhh, hi.”
“How’s it going?”
“ummmm, not bad”—I begin walking slightly faster.
“Hey, you want to join the army?” he asks enthusiastically. I seriously thought he was messin’ around, until I notice that he was wearing an army hat and had camouflage pants on…so obviously a recruiter. I haven’t been hassled by army recruiters since high school.
I chuckled as I kept walking. “Haa…no.”
“Come on man! They’ll pay your school costs!” He wasn’t going to let this go.
“I just graduated man; sorry, you’re a few years too late.”
“It’s never too late to serve your country!” He continues to follow me as we’re walking into Target.
Now even though I have total respect for lads and chicks who decide to join the army, there’s no way one could ever convince me to join (seriously, try picturing me fighting. No? That’s right, neither can I -- though I’m sure it would make a great sitcom)…and this fantastic feat was certainly not going to happen in a Target parking lot of all places.
At the same time, I honestly felt guilty. To think, he has to ask younger guys in department store parking lots to completely rethink their life goals and leave everything behind to join the army…they must be really fucking desperate for people. And it’s not his fault if at the end of the week he doesn’t get any new recruits, I mean, the guy’s trying.
I tell him “sorry, but no,” one last time, “but good luck,” and I walk in my separate direction. I was hoping that I wouldn’t run into him again in the store, and luckily I was wearing my camouflage Target gear (a red hoodie), so I could blend in with my surroundings and not be spotted.

My Top Movies from Last Year

Alright, so while hanging out on set today, I had some downtime, so I made my list of Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2007 that I've seen. Granted, there are still some movies that I really want to catch (Control, Lars and the Real Girl, Rescue Dawn, Enchanted, etc), but it's still pretty complete I think.

My Top 10 of 2007

10. The Host
9. No Country for Old Men
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. 3:10 to Yuma
6. A Mighty Heart
5. Paprika
4. This Film is Not Yet Rated
3. Eastern Promises
2. I'm Not There
#1 There Will Be Blood


Most Disappointing Movies of 2007
1. 300 (seriously people, c'mon)
2. Spiderman 3
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
4. Zodiac
5. Knocked Up (yes, even though Seth Rogen was about 10 feet from me all day today, I was still really disappointed with this one).

"Christmas is Coming..."

For the past 3 weeks or so, I've been successfully boycotting any store/restaurant with either Christmas decorations up OR Christmas music being played. I strongly urge you all to do the same. Even before Halloween came upon us, Christmas music was "delightfully" being played in department stores. This includes almost every store in the Robinson Twp (and greater Pittsburgh) area.
Unacceptable people. Simply unacceptable.
Luckily for me, I don't need any new clothes...

There's 'Hell' in Hello, but More in Goodbye

I haven’t written anything in awhile, so here it goes.

Pittsburgh summers are usually gray and monotonous, though the past 2/3 months have been rather eventful. Besides working everyday in this miserable office (where I’m currently writing this), I’ve been able to catch up with a lot of friends around town, see a few (rather interesting) shows, play some music w/others, read a few books (though not as many as usual), and just walk around and enjoy the horribly humid air.

As far as movies go, I haven’t really seen too many (my attention span is dwindling at the moment). I HAVE been listening to a lot of music though. I’ve been craving electro dance/electronic sort of stuff, but have also been receiving a heavy dose of shoegaze and
your standard indie pop. Some things never change.
I’ve been reading a lot of travel writing, along with a few select novels (yes, including Harry Potter). The best book has probably been “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” though. Yeah, I can realllly identify with the main character, though the upcoming movie sounds like they’re really fucking up the plot.

Relationships…..hmmmm ok next subject.

One different activity I’ve been indulging in is drum corps...not playing or anything, just watching and experiencing. I’ll try to write another entry solely about drum corps, but seriously, it’s wicked. I’ve been kind of searching for some kind of subject to possibly make a documentary on in the near future since I’ve gotten back from SAS, and so far, this seems to be the most interesting. There’s this whole world containing thousands of drum corps members and fans, but the whole activity has failed to break it into the mainstream (though if you’re bored this weekend, you can definitely watch the DCI finals on ESPN, PBS). It’s seriously insane (and yes, it generally takes a lot to really impress me).

So school starts in a few weeks, and I’m NOT looking forward to it. I’ll be student teaching, and even though I’ll be at CAPA (Pittsburgh’s performing arts school downtown…which is awesome), I’m still utterly terrified and simply uninterested in completing this semester. I don’t really want to teach… at least high school kids anyways, and that’s upsetting, because I for one believe that one must really desire to teach in order to effectively do the best job. Teachers always just seem so…old. I’m still young! I can’t imagine people calling me ‘Mr. Moslen.’ Ewww. I don’t want that. Luckily I’m double-majoring so I have other options of course. I was kind of hoping to start a graduate degree soon (in another city), but I’ll have to work alittle bit before starting that; not only because I’m planning on moving into my own place later this year, but also because I need to save up for traveling in the future! That or I should just move to Japan and teach English…we’ll see.

This summer I’ve been to Erie, Allentown, Philadelphia, Toledo, LA (after this weekend), and DC/Baltimore for our little SAS reunion last week. Honestly, this past weekend in DC/Baltimore was easily the most enjoyable weekend I’ve had in a long time. I really do miss a lot of people from the Semester at Sea trip. It’s also a shame, because I’m not too sentimental and don’t care for expressing many feelings/emotions out loud, but I really do miss certain people a lot and it’s most difficult to express at times. Though it was a fun weekend, saying goodbye is always the worst. Feeling somewhat depressed at the moment.

Well, after work today I have a 21st birthday party to attend to at least, and still must find time to pack some clothes, for I’ll be leaving for the LA area tomorrow immediately following work. So I’m still sad, but still very excited.


Current listening music: “Neverland” by The Knife

Random Thought

I'm toying with the idea of buying a house in Valencia, CA when I have the sufficient amount of funds.
Why you ask? Not for any imporant reason really. Just so that when someone asks me where I'm from, I can exclaim slowly, over-dramatically, and mystically "VaLENcia!" and then disappear into the darkness.

work/out of town opportunities-related

So I’m looking at my desk and I literally have one empty styrofoam cup of coffee on one side, a half-full cup of coffee on the other side (which I’ve already refilled), and an empty bottle of Starbucks Frappuccino on the other side from this morning. This doesn’t include the half-drunken bottle of Gatorade I have stashed in the refrigerator. I think I’m starting to get sick from all this caffeine though. It's only 12:30, and needless to say, it’s still difficult to stay awake/concentrate.

Because of these coffee cups and all of these papers/folders, by the end of the summer my desk will probably resemble Dennis Nedry's. My messy antics will surely cause Samuel L to come in and give me a beatdown ("what a complete slob"). Hey at least I'm usually really clean.

In other news, my friend Jon e-mailed me this link late last night, saying that I must do this. It is VERY tempting. A friend and I went to NYC a few years ago and played in a symphony with 100 guitars, so playing with 77 drummers doesn't seem tooo far fetched I guess. Plus I am actually in the mood for an absurd road trip. I’ll e-mail them and see if they’re still looking for people.

I'm Starting to Realize How Truly Exciting My Life was a Month Ago...

I kept a journal for my trip, and it was rather interesting for the most part. Different adventures each day. Lots of fun. So much to write about that I often skipped over the more important things.

Anyways, I’m still in a journaling mood, but have no cool adventures. So here’s a recap of my exciting day at my summer job, just to prove how boring and uneventful life suddenly becomes.


My Work Journal for 6/12/07

8:31. I arrive to the office one minute late. Oops

8:32. The girl next to me asks if I saw myself on television Saturday night (she thinks I look like one of the cast members on Saturday Night Live). I say “no, but thanks for asking.”

9:25. As I’m filling out one of these escalation sheets, I realize that the word “institute” has way too many ‘t’s in it. 1/3 of the word is taken up by ‘t’s. This troubles me.

9:43. Almost every girl working in the room sneezes at about the same time. This is weird. This occurrence causes much laughter throughout the office as many snot germs fill the air.

10:50. I have to call numerous places and people to confirm addresses, and some really don’t like to disclose this information. For example, it’s the second time in the past week that I’ve had to verify an address with a secret “WMD Warehouse” on a military base in Colorado. The feds are gonna bust through the door soon because I know too much.

12:00. I’ve always thought that I was very good at understanding different accents…until I talked to someone on the phone from southern Texas.

12:02. Lunchtime at my desk, except both people who sit next to me are at a meeting, so I have nobody to talk to :(

13:11. This is how sad I am: My computer clock is one hour behind, so I look at the time and I’m like “aww it’s only 12:10,” but THEN I look at my watch and I’m like “yea!!! It’s really 1:10.” Quite simple, yet quite refreshing every time.

13:33. I’m gonna make a shout out to the Westchester Medical Group. "Holla!" All I need from them is a suite or building number, but they’ve put me on hold for the past 10 minutes. After listening to a recorded loop of information at their number while on-hold over and over, I now understand that I should schedule a physical appointment at their office at 3020 Westchester Ave, Purchase, NY 10577. “When was YOUR last exam?” Did you know that people with high anger problems and high blood pressure are prone to heart attacks or sudden cardiac death? High blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and physical exhaustion can all predict heart attacks. So says the Westchester Medical Group on-hold radio station.

13:43. Sign onto http://www.westchestermed.com/ where you can register for their new feature messaging services! Brown or multi-grain bread isn’t necessarily “whole grain.” It must be made out of 100 % wheat flour for it to be considered “whole grain.” Check the nutrition facts for more info.

13:45. If you have diabetes, then walking barefoot or with sandals can be a hazard. Schedule regular podiatry exams if you have any further questions. The Westchester Medical group cares for YOU!

13:46. I hang up.

14:14. I try calling this “medical group” again, but now the number’s apparently been “disconnected.” They’re trying to avoid me. I can play this game.

14:56. Looking through shipping addresses, I magically discover that there’s a street in Kentucky named “Cinnamon Children Road.” That’s right folks. I’ve discovered that there’s something cool in Kentucky.

16:03 I finally get in contact with the bitches at Westchester Medical. They gave me my information…good thing for their sake.

16:15 I’m posting all of this stuff up on my blog. Shouldn’t I be working? Yes, but every time I walk past almost every girl in this room, they’re either on their facebook or myspace page. At least I’m working with people my age I guess.

And at 16:30, I’ll leave a half hour early, because I ate my lunch at my desk.



So yeah. The blog has suddenly taken a turn for the worst, because life is back to normal.

SAS Conclusion

So I wrote this little blurb on my laptop while sitting on the floor at a Chicago airport while my flight was delayed—May 15th. Sorry for the INCREDIBLE delay, but I still feel like posting what I wrote:


This sucks.
I just realized that for the first time in the past three and ahalf months, I’m truly alone. I’m all by myself. I’m waiting on the dirty floor of this airport for my flight to take me back to Pittsburgh …back to the place where I was honestly trying to run away from. It looks like hell outside—thunderstorms, lightning, my kind of night I guess. Sure, while on this global journey there were a few times where I’d travel to a store, a movie theater, or an Indian museum by myself; I always hated traveling alone for brief periods of time, but I’d also always make it back to the ship where I’d meet up with familiar faces Not this time. I surprisingly loved being around people all the time, and honestly never got sick of it.

I’m not too sentimental, but I’d be lying if I said that I’m not going to miss the experiences, the countries, the laughs, the ship itself, and the people. I’m going to miss sitting in that global studies class. I already miss the many inside jokes that no one at home will understand. I’m even going to miss getting hit in the stomach with a pillow in the middle of the night in my cabin because I was snoring. I'm going to miss those milkshakes they made for me up on the 7th deck. I’m going to miss the wonderful peanut butter and cheese sandwiches I'd make and ALL of the positive praise (and some jealousy) my friends had for this fantastic sandwich. I’m REALLY going to miss walking off the ship the morning we enter a new country, excited for new adventures; new plans; meet new people; etc.

So yeah. It’s weird. Actually…have you ever had a really awesome dream? I mean, an unbelievable dream. One of those dreams where you know you’re dreaming, and you never want to wake up. Maybe you’re living in a perfect world, where you work at a perfect job and have that perfect house you’ve always wanted. Maybe in your dream you’re kissing that person you’ve always had a crush on, but never had the guts to express your feelings to him/her. Maybe in the dream you’re talking and hanging out with a loved one who passed away years ago. I love those dreams, but the worst part; the part that’s really horrible and depressing is when you wake up and realize that it all wasn’t real. It never happened. It was a dream and you’re back in reality, and reality bites. I’ve honestly just awakened from a 3 ½ month perfect dream…and I have a feeling that reality’s really, really going to suck from now on.



Just thought that I’d share that. Honestly, it’s been a few weeks, and at this point, I just have to deal with it. Sure life’s boring. Sure the summer’s going to suck working a job I dislike, and of course I still miss everybody and miss everything…but there’s nothing I can do about it. Oh well. It’s ok.
I actually feel like writing a lot more. Maybe I’ll try and write some short stories or something if I have free time, but I also feel like making the most out of this summer. So hopefully, my free time will be limited.