The Roulette Wheel

So this is Austin. I kinda thought my last post about Austin was a little weak so here is the real one.

I didn't get to spend much time there but I did get to walk around campus for a couple hours before I left. Had coffee with one of my German graduates from last year. That was pretty awesome. And oddly enough
... Not weird at all. :)

I also decided to start up with folk dancing on a team at bavarian grill. Ya know...soon as I get time.

Anyway this is where I spent the most of my time:

And this second one was my big surprize. No shit...wait...I mean: no, it's really shit. I found a pair of underwear actually full of shit. After I stopped laughing I took a picture. :)

Tommy "what?! It's not MY shit!" Schubert

Ok...so I've been packing and moving my shit all day today. That's right folks: I'm headed back to my parents house. I've been out of there for years at this point and I'm actually none too happy to be going back.

I spent a little time with them tonight and wow...I know this is gonna come as a shock...but I don't miss the near constant yelling and depressing statements. Nope...not one bit! I think that's going to eventually drive me crazy actually. Between my mom assuming she knows EVERYTHING and forcing that assumption on everyone around her and my dad constantly putting himself down under his breath...I seriously doubt that I'll last the year that I have planned to stay there. Year?! Yeah...I'm not very happy about that either but the way I see things is that if I keep it together (and spend a lot of time in my room with my door locked) I should be able to save somewhere around 10k...yeah...I'm sure my math is all wrong and I'm not really compensating for what school will continue to cost me out of pocket BUT that's a lot of money. It's really hard to scoff at 10 grand, or even close to it. That will be more than enough to get my started on a condo, or buying a loft apartment, or a town home, or a house. It won't get me ALL the way there but it's a fucking start. Where? Who knows...here? Chicago? Boston? DC? Austin? San Antonio? Albuquerque? Depends on the people and the jobs....but really more on the people...but then AGAIN...Austin rocked my nuts off this weekend so that's getting a serious bump on the score chart...

But back to the living hell I'm about to endure. I got out of that house for a reason. I can't stand living with my parents. I love them dearly and would of course do anything for them...but I'm just done living with them. To do this, to go back is...well...it's any number of things: Degrading, embarrassing, demeaning, pathetic, beneath me, sad, lonely, depressing, smart, worth the money I'll save...well...you get the idea. Anyway...it's gonna suck and I really don't want to be doing this. But it's the smart thing to do and that's the end of it.

On a slightly lighter note, for those of you that don't already know, my parents completely tore down the wall between those two back bedrooms of the house for me. It's a pretty big place. I would guess it's around the same size as the front room of my apartment. They have completely remodeled it (with a little help from me but it was mostly them). New closet, new paint, new light sockets, new ceiling spackle, new fans, new carpet, new drapes, it's a whole new room. It's actually really nice. Probably nicest room in the house at this point. But still I find room to complain right? oi. Anyway...just wanted to share a little. The movers come for my furniture Monday night...I have to be out of here by Wednesday.

Tommy "but I won't call it home" Schubert

So i'm down here at UT in austin and I find this hole. First thing I think? Exactly! "I'm gonna put my Dick in there!". But I didn't...it wouldn't fit! Zing!

Tommy "obligatory dick joke" Schubert

You ever have one of those? Ya know: a vacation you really shouldn't take even though you're going to anyway? I'm about to have one of those this weekend. There isn't a god damn thing in the world that could stop me from going...but it's just a handful of unfortunate things surrounding the weekend that will get me down. Well... Let's back up a little.

The last two weeks I have literally had the purchasing power of gas alone. I have quite literally had money for nothing else. How you might ask? Well...basically Feb is a bad month for teachers in my district no matter how you swing it. Because we get paid two weeks early for December they choose Feb to be the month where we take those two weeks back. So I get paid two weeks late. Those of you that are teachers will know what this really means but since you aren't all teachers: my Jan paycheck has to last me 6 weeks. Yea...ouch. And actually that's not the real problem. I would be fine financially if I hadn't basically destroyed a tire requiring me to get two new tires and an allignment. That put a ~ 400 dollar burden on an already stretched budget. Oi. But right...that all has little to do with vacations. That was all just much needed bitching about money. Sorry.

The next three weekends I'm going to be going out of town for various reasons. This weekend I'm going to Austin, next weekend to ski in New Mexico with mike and dan, and weekend after to North Carolina to visit the friedmans. All that equals fun right? Right! :). Problem? First, all that costs money...a lot. Second, I start moving out of my apartment this weekend. It's just frustrating is all. And I still don't know how u'm going to handle it. Ugh. Wow... That wasn't very interesting and doesn'th really sound all that bad...that's kinds nice :). All that buildup for nothing interesting...sorry about that. That's really all I had to say. Well...lunch is over have a great day all!

Tommy "wait! What now?" Schubert

Hi everyone. I found love this Valentine's Day.

I would like you all to meet her. Please excuse her appearance, I DID just ravenge her. Her name is Mississippi Mud cake. I would love for you all to meet her but there just won't be anything left of her once I'm done with her. That's not marshmellow by the way! Wink! Wink! (ok...yes it is...)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!

Tommy "yes...it's still my favorite holiday" Schubert

Well I didn't really post about the after show for Cirque du Soleil : Corteo because there was an...incident right before the show ended. I just didn't really feel like blogging it. I have been telling people that the crowd, including myself and my sister, saw a performer break his neck. That was rather dramatic I suppose, but considering there were other performers on stage on the verge of tears well...yeah. Needless to say it was a bit of a bummer, but in the same breath probably the best Cirque I've seen so far. I really connected with the imagery and really enjoyed the trapeze heavy show. If anyone wants to see it again while it's in town just let me know and I'm there! :) Anyway...yeah...it was a bit of a bummer and REALLY didn't make me want to go and meet the cast afterwards but yeah...I did and it was interesting but I really felt like I was intruding as a lot of the cast really looked like they REALLY didn't want to be there. Anyway...I really need to get some sleep for work tomorrow. Enjoy!

Oh yeah! One of the performers was the spitting image Tim Curry in his Rocky Horror Picture Show days. It was fucked up, and made me really want to meet him...but he never showed. Oh well. Oh yeah! Again! All the performers were REALLY young...and SUPER short...which was hilarious.

Tommy "Ich denke diese woche an dir" Schubert

Jesus Christ on the fucking cross!

Tommy "yes...that good" Schubert

So here I am sitting in the fifth row for the newest Cirque du soleil um. Oh yeah and I just got out of the VIP bar too. That was interesting. After the show? Yeah can you say back stage pass? My nuts are being rocked off tonight. Film at 11.

Tommy "what will I do without nuts?" Schubert

So there was a while there when dealing with people at Dallas Metrocare Services that I was talking people out of suicide on almost a daily basis. Sure it's arguable if they were actually going to commit suicide I might not have been able to talk them out of it, but that's beside the point.

Yesterday I just so happened to have grabbed a kid out of class to talk to that really needed it. The student felt comfortable enough with me to tell me about their plan to kill themself later on that evening. After talking to them for about an hour I moved up the proper channels for this kind of thing, and eventually had their mom in the office hearing things and being made to believe things that she had never heard or taken seriously before. I really made a difference in that family's life. The school I work for was pretty glad that I was around for that catch and that not only did I handle it exactly as I should but that I had the skill to build such a quick rapport with the student. I was pretty proud last night. No one really to tell these days (especially at almost 10pm) but I called Heather and told her. I was mostly just really proud of myself, really hungry and REALLY worn out.

So yeah...I guess I forgot what it feels like to save someone's life. It feels good.

Tommy "I don't like tooting...especially horns." Schubert

'Nuff said.

...to Ed, Will and Kevin!

Can't speak for the other two but I know for a fact that Ed is having a good time tonight, a good time and about three pounds of sushi. You can tell from the picture that he was starting to get a little full. Just thought I would give my shout out before the party is over! Happy birthday guys! Time for some rad ass whirlyball! WhooHA! :)

Tommy "fear the sober man on the whirlyball court!" Schubert

So I'm getting my masters right? Right. Costing me so much this semester (yes tuition went up AGAIN) that I had to take out a small loan to get books and tuition taken care of. Yea even after getting this far and actually seeing real clients I still have to pay through the nose for every class, which keeps me from taking more than one per semester. Ugh.

So anyway. I'm thinking about moving into an apartment like setup inside my parents' house. They have already torn down a wall and made another huge room in the house. My old shelves and desk and all gone but my old media room and my old bedroom are now the same room. My parents have gone a little nuts but I can't say no to "free rent, food, and util for as long as you are at school". I would (most importantly) be able to pay for school without killing myself with skrimping. And I would even be able to save a ton of money. If I play my cards right I should be able to save like 800 a month. That's nothing to shake a stick at. I REALLY fucking don't want to have to deal with my parents every day, but it's a lot of money...and at least three days of my week are work and sleep ONLY soooooo. :)

We'll see what happens. Damn you Dan for getting me into this!

Tommy "low battery" Schubert