jury duty and no doubt

i've been meaning to write for a while, but i've actually been busy... quite a feat for me as i am currently in ventura county! however, last week was chock full with doctor's appointments (for vaccinations), visa application paperwork madness, reading for the impending ihs seminar, and (the least common of these) hanging out with old friends. i'm quite proud of myself for staying so busy, and in fact i wish i had a little more time to relax and get stuff done before i leave for north carolina on tuesday.

speaking of which, here's a more comprehensive list of my upcoming schedule:

• may 26 → to cary, nc to spend some time with brittney
• may 30 → to winston-salem, nc for the ihs seminar
• june 5 → to washington, dc to spend time with my friends up there
• june 10 → back to thousand oaks, ca
• july 13 → to cape town, south africa (arriving july 15)
  

if you're in the raleigh or the washington area while i am, hit me up and we'll hang out. :)

anyway, since arriving back in california, in addition to all the aforementioned activities, i attended the bar mitzvah of one of my cousins, as well as jury duty and a no doubt concert. the former was actually fun and turned into me spending the entire weekend down in long beach. my family is totally crazy, and i think i am going to write a book about them all some day. but, that's what makes them (us?) amazing. :)

jury duty was, well, jury duty. i probably would have been more willing to serve if i didn't have my impending north carolina trip, doctor's appointments, and a job interview (which fell through anyway, so don't even ask). people are interesting with regards to what lengths they'll go to in order to escape getting placed on a jury ("your honor, i have a list of reasons why i shouldn't be on a jury. want to hear them?" "yes." "uhh...").

the no doubt concert, in contrast, was AWESOME. bakersfield (where we went for the concert) is still a shithole, and they didn't come on until over 2 hours after the concert after the concert began (thanks to the 2 opening bands and technical delays), but once they did get going they kicked ass. they are so amazing to watch live. gwen is so energetic and interacted with us (the audience) so well. she even ran out into the audience at one point... i nearly died of excitement! my only complaint is she didn't perform any of her "rare" songs (you're so foxy being my favorite of these), but i guess that's to be expected at a comeback concert like this one.

in the near future (that is, before tuesday), i need to not only finish up/submit my visa application, but finish my reading for ihs as well. i'm gonna make an ass of myself there. i feel like such a retard. :(

nevertheless, for now, being home is withstandable (and, dare i say, enjoyable), and i've still got a few more days before i leave for raleigh in order to accomplish all of this. i need not to procrastinate, though, which for me might be asking for the stars. ;)

bed.