I'm still not sure what's going on with my current living situation. What I mean is, I'm fairly certain that we all are gonna be asked to leave. None of us mind so much as long as we get not only our deposit back but a little something extra. Especially since we discovered that we were paying to heat the basement apartment downstairs PLUS there apparently was some kind of leak down there. No wonder our heat bills were so outrageous this year. On top of that, the landlord had arbitrarily decided to pay some schlub to take our trash to the street two times a week and tacked on an extra hundred dollars onto the rent (which we refused to pay.)

I don't care. Like I said, let me get my deposit back plus a little something extra for the gas we were paying and I'll be on my merry way.

The question is where do I go now? Austin's another year or two away. As much time as I spend in Philly I don't really see myself moving back there. I'd really prefer to stay here in DC, but that's because most of my friends are here. The climbing cost of living, the increase in yuppie inhabitants and sort of the routine of going to the same bars, the same shows, the same parties and seeing the same faces is actually starting to grow tiresome.

Now here's the option that seems to be the best fit for me as things stand right now. My sister, who just graduated from Vassar, is going to be attending grad school in Baltimore. Not at UMBC but...some other school I've never heard of. She and my folks were already looking at a cheap little townhouse just outside the city that they'd buy, she'd live in and rent out the other rooms to perhaps her friend and someone else. As I've been searching for living, I ventured over to the Baltimore Craigslist page and found myself drooling over the WAAAYYY more affordable housing. Since I can think of just as many reasons to leave DC as I can to stay I'm not completely opposed to moving up 95 for a spell.

So I told my sister that I was looking at possibly moving to Baltimore and she seemed thrilled at the prospect of us two Elliott siblings living together again. This would be cool, too cuz my folks would probably be way more comfortable about her living in Baltimore if big brother's gonna be there to watch her back. And if they're really serious about freaking buying a townhouse then that would mean me and my sis would pretty much just have to pay utilities (I guess.) I also want to bring the family cats with me so my folks don't have to take care of them too.

(I did see an ad for this one nice looking place that was rent-to-own. Kara, I still have the ad saved it you're still interested in owning your own crib.)

My heart says stay in DC. My wallet and sense of brotherly duty say move to Baltimore. When you look at it, not only would I only be 45 minutes from DC but I'd be that much closer to Philly whenever I feel the need to go there. Oddly enough, the only hesitation from my parent's side is that my mom seems to think that me and Rachel will not clean anything at all and the entire house would be a complete wreck. Parents.

Decisions, decisions.

I saw the following two movies this weekend, and I thought that they were amazing. (Sorry Abby)

Boys Don't Cry

I finally saw this movie for the first time on Saturday night. I thought it was very well done, and it gave me insight as to what the mindset of someone with gender identity disorder might be like. You really got a sense that this was a boy (or young man) that was so unfortunate to have been born with girl parts. He loved girls as a guy would like girls, even defending at least one girl's honor by starting a brawl in a local dive bar. The acting was extremely well done, especially by Hillary Swank. I felt really bad for her character and what he had to endure.

The Shining

Last night I watched "the Shining" for the first time. I don't know why I had never seen it before. I didn't really even know much about the movie except that it had Jack Nicholson and was directed by Kubrick and based on a Stephen King novel of the same name.

Holy shit, what an intense movie. The story was amazing. The acting was amazing. The art direction was amazing. The music was amazing. I was completely blown away, and I loved every aspect of this movie. What a creepy environment, the kind of environment that can only exist in movies. I loved the scenes of the child riding around the hotel on his "bigwheel" or whatever it was he was riding. You definitely got a sense of how vast the space was. I loved the carpet and the wallpaper of the hotel as well. There are also some pretty intense scenes of Jack Nicholson wandering through the hotel or just standing completely still and staring like he is completely possessed. The two girls holding hands was also absolutely creepy and gave me chills whenever they were onscreen. I can see where this movie inspired many other horror movies that come out even today.

Does anyone have any recommendations of any other films based on these two? I think I am going to rent "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" soon, also with Jack Nicholson as I haven't seen it yet.

I don't think I can really explain this so just enjoy the picture.

my coworker found an abandoned baby duck this morning.
She has it upstairs in a shoebox. It keeps chirping. It likes to be held.
It's little bill is super cute. It looks like this:



I held it.