Well, well, well … I suppose some of you might know me by association, but it’s doubtful many of you have formally been introduced to me.

I am, of course, “the boy.”

It’s been a pleasure to lurk around this lovely place the past few months, with the occassional shout-out thrown in by Ms. EP every once in a while for good measure.

In keeping with the pseudo-mystery EP shrouds herself in, I can only say I’m writing this post from an undisclosed location in EP’s room while I help her pack for the impending big move (read: sit on my ass and sporadically say something along the lines of, “Yeah, I think that will work,” “Sounds good to me,” and “Yes, of course, my darling sweet angel.”)

For those of you who only know EP through StyHand, let me first and foremost inform you that not only is she smart and beautiful (and a damn good master chef), but extremely down-to-earth and charmingly unaware of how rare a person she is. The handful of girls I know who have anywhere near her combination of intelligence and attractiveness are either hopelessly stuck up or alarmingly out in space. EP strikes that elusive balance who don’t find in many places or many people.

Hopefully this has served to give all of you another angle on the girl you’ve come to love.

Well, now I have to finish packing the 327 pairs of shoes EP owns, so farewell for the present…

Since I was Tiki Tubing on Sunday (more on this later), and our Internet was turned off yesterday, I was not able to post the Pay It Forward contest winners ’til today.

First, I wrote all your names on index cards. (Check out that stylish handwriting. Was my professor right about it?)

Then I put them in my (awesome) floppy hat…

And drew the winners! (Sorry no photo — it’s hard to do this kind of stuff by yourself). The winners are…

Congrats to:

Sandy of Only Slightly Neurotic
Arielle of Good Things Come to Those Who Whine
Jenn of Free and Flawed

Send me your addresses pronto to stylishhandwriting (at) gmail (dot) com so I can go ahead and get your Louisiana-y packages in the mail before I officially leave the state next Tuesday!

Remember that time where I said I was deathly afraid of getting hit by a soft/baseball? Remember it?

Yeah, well, I should have never said anything because I got beaned in the HEEL by a line-drive foul ball this afternoon.

The guy hit the ball, and I saw it headed my direction. My heart leapt into my throat — the same as it always does whenever there is a hit in my vicinity. And the only thing I had time to do was jump, and I didn’t lift my right leg enough to avoid the blow. It hit the inner part of my heel, and now I have a funny-looking bruise.

Until this point, I have never been hit by anything/anyone in the two years I have shot sports. I have had close calls (including one where an LSU former second-string QB almost took me out on the sideline), but nothing like this.

I’m kind of glad that the one thing I was so scared about isn’t as bad as I thought. But this weekend, I will be walking around with a slight limp. That’s no fun, but I could have been hit in the shin or tummy or face. And that would have sucked a lot more…

It struck me yesterday when we were driving home from the Hub City that I am actually moving — I am renting an apartment, I am buying furniture and I have a job in a new city that I will live in for at least a year. And while it is all really exciting, I am completely overwhelmed that it is all happening and beginning in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS.

It also struck me that I am about to embark on a long-distance relationship. And while I am completely OK with this because I want us to work, I know it is going to be one of the more challenging things I have done. Because the last time I had an LDR? Well, let’s just say it failed miserably.

More than anything, I am anxious about my new start. I want to get my feet on the ground quickly once I get there. It’s going to be a lot of fun, but the whole getting to the point where all my belongings are packed up and ready to go is intimidating.

In response to all this newly discovered stress, my roommate and I ventured to the two animal shelters today to see what kind of dog I can get once I settle into my new place.

(For the record, I have been wanting a dog for about two years now, so this decision is not a random one — it has been calculated for a very long time, and we figured today would be the joyous start of it all).

We decided to go to the city pound first because we were positive it would be more depressing. Oh, we were wrong. The people were friendly and took us straight in to see the young, adoptable dogs who could possibly be in that weight range. The lady who showed us around was really excited that I wanted to adopt a dog from a shelter instead from a breeder or pet store. And I was pleased with what we saw and with her enthusiasm.

So we hopped into my car to drive to the second shelter, the one we thought was going to be so much better. Boy, were we wrong.

We got there, looked around and when we had questions, the director of this shelter was a HUGE bitch to us. What I don’t understand is that we want to take one of these dogs off your hands and give them a home, and she ignored us, pretended we didn’t exist when we finally MADE her notice us, she was rude. No, thanks.

Driving home, I was incredibly emotional about this. Who runs an animal shelter when they could give a rat’s ass about who these animals live with? And when the boy and I spoke, I cried about it because I am a baby.

There was a dog there who could be the perfect puppy for me. She was the right size and was so friendly and exciting to be out of her kennel. But I don’t want to go back to that awful place or have to deal with the atrocious woman who runs it. And that’s not the dog’s fault, but I can’t help but wonder how many people have gone other places to look for animals because the director of this shelter was so unpleasant to them, too. Probably a lot.

So when we got home, I spoke to my mom, and she tried to convince me to come home for the weekend. And I want to go home so badly (and I hope that I can), but gas is SO expensive. I don’t have any money either, which adds to the stress. I want to do so much, but you can’t do things without money in this world, and when you don’t have it, options are severely limited. And it sucks.

And to top it all off, our TV is broken, so I didn’t get to watch The Office or ANYTHING ELSE tonight while I was hanging out at home alone because all my friends have finals, are out of town or are working. Yeah, awesome.

I know things are going to get better once I am more organized and the time approaches, but it’s just so stressful getting to that point. It will be OK, everything will straighten itself out and what will be will be, but that doesn’t soothe the headache I have from attempting to organize it all.

I just have to keep telling myself that the move and the stress that accompanies it will be over in less than two weeks…

Yes, I’m going up to my new home to check out apartments. Those apartments that were advertised online, anyway. We’re going to have to do some searching in the historical district somewhat near downtown to see if there’s anything else cute/close available.

Where am I going, you ask?

Well, I’ll give you some hints because I don’t want to just give it away:

• It is within 3 hours of Baton Rouge.
• It is a quaint Southern town (i.e., has no more than 60,000 peeps total).
• It is a college town, and the students probably make up about 1/2 to 1/3 the population.
• The newspaper is very patriotic. (And the other newspaper I was offered a job at? Also patriotic. Hmm).
• Its nickname has something to do with trains.
• There are giant swan statues hanging out all around town. You know, like the pigs in Cincinnati? The donkeys and elephants in D.C.? I think it’s a fundraiser or something…
• The nicest area of town is trying to break away and form its own city. (And I’m looking at a lot of apartments there because I’m good enough/am FILTHY rich… Umm, no).

Enough clues? I certainly hope so. Because the person who guesses right gets a hug AND my love and affection.

Top 10 random questions of today (pertaining to today)

1. How did I think those four margaritas last night were a good idea?
2. Also, why is there (lite!) margarita mix and tequila still at my home? Someone should KNOW that is a bad idea…
3. How did I think those enchiladas, refried beans, chips and salsa would make me feel this morning?
4. Also, why aren’t there leftovers that makes my tummy happy?
5. Why did I volunteer to take the all-afternoon assignment today when I knew I was going to be hard-pressed for time and hungover?
6. Did I realize that cleaning out my closet would cause clothes and other possessions to be scattered throughout my room and home?
7. Did I realize that sorting through all my junk in preparation for my move would be this intense?
8. Why are there not many 1br/1ba apartments listed online in my future town? Where are they hiding?
9. If you were/owned a cute apartment, where would you be?
10. And would you allow me to have a puppy? Because I want one.

Get excited, y’all!

I recently entered a Pay It Forward contest at A Beautiful Day in the Reneeborhood, and I won! Woohoo!

So what does that mean, and why should you care?

Well… it means I am having a Pay It Forward contest HERE, and if y’all simply leave a comment on this entry, you could possibly win (if your name is randomly picked). And I’ll send you a super cool care package with some Louisiana flair. And then get to have your own Pay It Forward contest to spread the love.

So do you want to enter? Of course you do!

The THREE winners will be picked out of my floppy beach hat on Sunday, May 11 and posted shortly after.

This is the perfect chance for any of you lurkers to say hello! And for those of you who comment all the time to say hello, too!

I received this facebook message from a former co-worker who perpetuated the myth that I was an emo kid with poor musical taste. (I am not and do not, btw).

So a girl at work gave me a Rilo Kiley CD and I absolutely love it. Weird, huh? I’ve never been into that kind of music. Anyways, thought you’d find that interesting. Let’s keep this on the hush hush. Cheers.

No one listened when I said Rilo Kiley was good. No one believed me when I said a few lines of “More Adventurous” got me through some tough times. With every broken heart, we should become more adventurous. Yes.

Of course someone would find it enjoyable after they’ve left campus. Hey, at least he figured it out late rather than never, right?