erikstroh

The season finale of Dexter was incredible.

It's only been about a week since the last post. I'd say that's a good start given my track record of entries in the past few months. Honestly it's just been hard to get in here, sit down and write something. I'm not going to blame my lack of effort due to busyness. I mean, I've been busy, but not THAT busy.

Today is mine and Jess's 14 month, and we're still going strong. =]

I won $10 from lotter tickets today. Go me.

Trisha came over a couple days ago. Nothing special. But it was fun, we watched a movie and took a walk to my dad's girlfriend's house and stuff. It was nice seeing an old face.

I bought a carton of cigarettes a couple days ago as well. I wanna see how long it'll last me. I'm betting a month, but we'll see.

Jess met my mother yesterday. It went okay I guess. We went to some birthday party for my little cousin at my uncle's house. My brother and sister were there too. Overall I'd say it was fine. My mom got a new car. A Pontiac G5. And Ray got a Pontiac Solstice. Thief took my car! =/

I'm actually getting really good at driving. I can't wait to get that car on the road.

Speaking of which, it's surprisingly hard to find a job. Stupid economy.

Eh, this one was short.



~ all the best.

It's been over a month. Coincidentally, I have not that much to say.

Jess's birthday is tomorrow. She'll be 18 and finally able to make decisions for herself despite her parents' opinions. At least that's what she thinks. I think differently. I think even as her 18th birthday passes, her parents won't let up that much on the rules. Such as sleeping over at my house. We've been wanting to do that without incident for a long time. Even I don't understand why they baby her so much. She's not allowed to see me past 11pm, even on the weekends. It's completely ridiculous, and quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of it. But anyway, she has this notion that the number 18 means freedom. Well, technically it does. But in reality it won't change a thing. And even if it does it won't be an overnight change. It'll take time, and I don't know if she completely understands that.

I finally got my permit recently. LOL at my life. But I'm going for my road test in 3-4 weeks after some more practice. I do well on the streets I think. I just have to let up on the gas sometimes. Oh well. On that note, I have a car already. Well, not technically, but I bought my brother's car off him last week. As soon as he gets his new car on the road, he's dropping off the old one for me. It's not a bad car. But I don't plan on driving it. I'll most likely sell it for about $1000, it's worth $1400 or so on Kelly Blue Book. So I figure I'll post it for $1500 and let someone talk me down to about $1100. That's fine with me. Then I'll get a $700 or $800 car, and use the leftover money for my first insurance payment, which will go under my grandma's insurance. Pretty much the only reason I want to sell the car in the first place though is that it's a stick. And I don't really want to put in the effort to learn how to drive it. Plus I need the insurance down payment, and it's the quickest way I can think to get it.

Airsoft is expanding on the business aspect, but since Matt abandoned us and left for California a little while ago, I took his spot and am now in charge of infantry training. Which is a big deal. But lately everyone's been slacking, even Aaron. I made another date for Basic Training for this coming Wednesday. Hopefully it goes well, but the weather has not been agreeing with me so far.

Computer repair is going excellent. I earn basically what I would off any part-time job. But since I'm moving ahead with this car thing, I'll need one eventually for more security. I don't want a job, but I guess as of now it's a priority. Once again.

I don't plan on enrolling in College until next year. And that's final. Suck on that, Kaplan emails.

My drinking habits are getting better. It's cutting down to about once a week, which is way better than I did this summer. Speaking of bad habits, Tina is letting me borrow her electronic cigarette she bought a little while back. It helped her quit smoking pretty much altogether. And that's my goal. She keeps forgetting to bring it over though >_>

That's about all I got for now. I want to keep updating in here more often. I'll try to make a mental note.


~ all the best

I started writing a book today. And I feel really good about it.


~allthebest.

Finally I got some of the tattoos done that I wanted. I have the word "relentless" down my left arm, and a nautical star on the right side of my neck. This is only the beginning.

My long awaited weekend in Depew has ended, and I'm obviously sad that it's over. I had a blast. Next month should be even better.

My girlfriend left for Italy today. She'll be back on August 21st. She's probably getting off the plane as I'm writing this. Three weeks without her will be difficult. I already miss her and I'm sure it's just going to get worse.

Airsoft has been excellent. I'm moving up fairly quickly. I would like to see a training camp in the works sometime near the end of August. I have to design a website by next week, forgot about that. Yay for me.

My computer repair business is expanding. Still no building though.

That's all I got for now.


~allthebest.

I have more endurance on my runs.

Black olives with pits are gross.


~allthebest.

I don't like the schedule I'm keeping with this, it seems like a weekly thing rather than a daily thing which I would like it to be. Oh well. Here's a quick update.

My uncle is giving me my first tattoo soon. I'm excited. It's the "Stroh family crest," and he won't charge me to do it. My brother just got it done a little while ago. It looks good. I was thinking either upper arm or upper chest. I haven't decided yet.

Josh and I might open a little computer repair shop. We were offered a spot in the back of another shop for rent from a former client, where him and I could sent up like a headquarters type thing. We would then have to get a DBA from city hall, which is about $175, but I think it'll be worth it.

Airsoft is going excellent. I am now officially fire team leader for bravo team. It's a big responsibility, but I'm up for it. The next training day should be sometime early next week I'm assuming. Not sure yet though, I have to talk to Matt and Aaron about scheduling first.

Monday should be interesting. I got an offer to do some networking at a hotel on Main St. It's a little more official than the stuff I have been doing, but its going to pay a lot better as well. I have to go at eleven on Monday morning to meet the manager. I'm a little nervous, but I think I can handle it. Then after that, I have to do more networking and bug fixing at a used car dealership. That should be interesting too. I seem to be moving up in the world of computer repair.

This Thursday is Warped Tour. I'm definitely going to that, and then the rest of the week until Sunday I'll be at the Italian Festival for the most part.

My attic seems to be the party hotspot of North Buffalo. We hold little gatherings up there at least a few nights a week. More so last month than currently, but I'm sure that will change. I've just been extremely busy.

I keep forgetting to go downtown to turn in that security application. It's a done deal if I can get the paperwork in, Aaron is the supervisor. I just keep slacking on turning it in.

O.A.R is my music artist of the month. My brother played it on the car on the way to Medina a few weeks ago, and I can't stop listening to it.

That's about it. I have to get to sleep if I want any chance of getting up at nine in the morning.


~allthebest.

One hundred and forty one hugs in less than two hours. Fuck yess.

I haven't been on here as much as I would have liked to in the past few weeks. But to be honest, nothing significantly major has happened in that time frame.

I started running more frequently. Still not as much as I would like, but I'm easing myself into it. I'm pretty out of shape as of right now.

I pierced my industrial and died my hair. Nothing too exciting there. But I like them both a lot. And I like the reactions I get walking down the street.

I went to my dad's house for Father's Day last weekend. I enjoyed it.

The past week hasn't been that exciting.

Yesterday was Jess's graduation and little party and whatnot. The ceremony was kinda boring, but after that it wasn't so bad. We went to the casino for dinner, then back to her mom's house to celebrate. Her mom has the cutest little kittens I've even seen. And a bunny. Score.

Today I'm going out to Depew for my cousin's graduation party. It's supposed to be pretty big. I invited Jess, who will undoubtedly show up late. Arielle might stop by after work, so that's cool too.

I'm excited for basic training this Friday. Really excited. I should probably check the weather for that day. But anyway, I can't wait.

That's pretty much all I have this time. Told you it was boring.

Till next time.



~allthebest.

I'm fucking excited =D

My week, in a nutshell.

Monday - Airsoft.
Tuesday - Downtown.
Wednesday to Saturday - Girlfriend.
Sunday - Trisha.



I love summer.

I went for a run tonight. Like last summer. First time in a very long while. I enjoyed it.

I recently became friends with this kid Aaron, from North Tonowanda. He's dating one of my cousin's friends, and we party a lot. Anyway, him and myself are starting an airsoft team/company. Full sponsorship, building, everything. It's just starting to get off the ground, but altogether he's already put in over $20,000 in loans and his own money. We have orientation for people who want to join the team this Monday, around 4pm. I'm really excited about this idea. I spent almost 6 hours writing the manual a couple days ago that will be read at orientation. I got Dave and Josh to sign up too. It'll be kinda expensive to being with, since we have to buy all our own gear. But Aaron is loaning me his extra stuff for the summer until I can put together some cash, which helps me out a lot.

Other than that, nothing too special is happening. Oh well.



~allthebest.

No more high school. Finally.

Fourteen undefeated games of beerpong. I need some fucking sleep.


~allthebest.

My girlfriend is amazing. =]

I guess the only reason I'm on here is to kill time. Gotta be up at six for work. So I figure I'll just stay up. What's another three hours.

Tonight, just a few minutes ago, I looked back at all my comments on myspace from day one 'till now. It took about an hour. But again, I'm trying to kill time.

I miss Depew. More tonight than I think I ever have. I miss my friends. A lot. If you're reading this you're probably one of them. And if you're reading this, I miss you.

As I was looking back, I saw old comments and conversations from last year. My suspension, Nick Sterner, the Italian Festival, school, the lawn fetes, my jail time, and all the other adventures were among the topics. I laughed at some. Cringed at others. And overall, it was a good year. I met a girl I love, made friends I'll never forget, and had experiences with life that helped mold the person I am today. All for the better I believe.

I usually don't get very nostalgic like this. Every once in a while. But when I do, it hits me hard, ya know?

My intention of writing this post to begin with was simply just to state that I miss certain people. If you have to ask yourself if you're one of them, you most likely aren't. You know who you are.

In case you wanted to know, however, I did come up with a list. Just names that will stick with me for a long time. And here they are:


Arielle Dannhiem - I miss our friendship. We're not nearly as close as we once were. And I hate it. We both have lives, I understand. I want to make more of an effort. I miss going to your house without anything to do. Playing volleyball in your backyard. The lawn fetes. I miss middle school. And a lot more.


Jay Kowalewski - We hung out almost every day two summers ago. Me, you, Tara, and Scott were so close. I cherish every moment. From watching boring hockey games, to filming stupid stuff at the park. I miss your mom as well, as I'm sure you do. That funeral was a turning point in my life, as well as yours. I'm sorry.


Erika Banas - I met you two years ago at the OLBS lawn fete. In the short time I've known you, there's been a lot of drama. And I regret not making more of an effort at our friendship.


Marcie Szatkowski - My little English nerd. I'll always remember driving to Tops at halftime of the powderpuff game for tomato sauce. You were always proper. Always tried to better me. I didn't appreciate it way back then. I do now. I miss everything about 6th and 7th grade. I miss the three-way phone calls with you and Arielle. I hated losing touch in the beginning of high school.


Katie Doyle - The whole drama with Phil has passed a while ago. But I'll always remember those times, because it's when I really got to know you. Me, you and Brian stayed after school almost every day. Not even cause we had something to do, we all had a great time anyway.


Scott Mazerkiewicz - We've been friends for as long as I can remember. Throwing action figures out the school bus window. Blowing fireworks in the park. Playing hockey in the street. Working at McDonalds. And through all that time, I still can't fucking spell your last name right.


Jeremy Bible - It was a good run last year in math. And the mall adventures were always great. But indirectly, whether you know it or not, you showed me it didn't matter what other people thought. And not to give a shit about other people's opinions. I still don't.


Kayla Kandefer - I haven't known you for nearly as long as I would have liked before I moved. But in that time, you were a good friend, and always made me laugh, no matter what mood I was in. And at one of Blake's parties, when you were upset about Adam, and the only person you wanted to talk to was me. I take pride in being your safety net, and will continue to be whenever you need it.


Amanda Vona - There's too many memories to write down. You were MY safety net. I could always talk to you about anything. And you to me. I miss the lock-in times, when I smothered you under a table for an hour while you counted old pieces of gum stuck under there. I miss biology our sophomore year, and Chemistry last year.


Trisha - No last name is required, I don't even know another Trisha. And I don't want to butcher your last name like I did to Scott. Anyway, I miss your house. It was always my first stop on the way to where ever I was going when I made Depew visits. I miss the mall. The movies. Drawing stupid pictures with your sisters. I miss mommy too. Pass that along.


Ashley Digiacomo - I actually know how to spell your name. You practically beat it into me. I miss walking to Bonda's every 8th period last year. I miss wearing your oversized bracelet. I miss visiting you in art class. I miss dealing with you and Phil, believe it or not. And you and Chris. And whatever other guy-of-the-week I forgot. I liked being the one you turned to.


Stephanie Latozek - I liked you for a while. I was fortunate enough to not let that get in the way of our friendship afterwards. I miss accounting. I miss Entrepreneurship the most, with you and Ashley. I miss Leary yelling at us to stop talking and do our work. I miss Barnabas. I miss being so close to you and Amanda.


Jessica Leary - I almost forgot you in this post. But when I posted Stephanie's about Entrepreneurship just now, you were the first person I thought of. You were more than just a teacher. You were more like a mentor. You helped me through the times with Miranda. And you drove me to Jay's mom's funeral. You texted me telling me to look both ways when I crossed the street. You even gave me advice about dying my hair. I miss your classes I took. I took Entrepreneurship twice, and failed it twice. But I learned a lot more from you than any class could teach me.


Janelle Ganje - You were a friend when I needed one. And slapped me in the face with reality when I needed that too. You helped me with Caitlin. And I listened to your problems about Nick. I miss your sarcastic sense of humor. I miss the bonfire, walking around looking for people.


Caitlin Kozlowski - You probably never thought I'd do one of these for you. But you were a big part of my life at Depew. I miss lunch, when I would buy you a cookie every day. I miss coming to your house at eight in the morning. I miss when we first started talking, when you knew me as "the kid with the phone." I miss our mean petnames. I miss gym. I looked forward to fourth period every other day. I miss badminton. I miss how everyone at your house knew me as ginger, although I'm sure they probably still do. You were one of my best friends, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, minus the drama.


Matthew Boyle - My favorite ginger. Pretty much the only ginger besides me. I miss volleyball, and Burger King. I miss dodging traffic with you and Ricky. I miss the jokes about Linda, and the numerous girl problems we both had. I miss the helmet, and the fire we had at Devon's house. I miss English 4. That class was such a joke. I miss making fun of Kevin. I miss hanging out with you and Corey at several sporting events. And I miss band, believe it or not.


Jake Berst - The lawn fetes were a blast, and so were the parties afterwards. I miss that friggen camera we lost. It had so many pictures of all those nights that I wish I had.


Taylor - Another last name not required. I miss Barnabas with you and Jake and Erika, and all the drama we dealt with. Between you, me, Matt, and Erika, we could have started our own soap opera. I miss parties at Jay's house. I miss being a dick to you when I was drunk. I miss Derek making us breakfast and putting it under our pillows. I miss the kid with the spoon episode. I hope everything with you and your boyfriend continue to be good. If not, I'll deal with him.


Tim Stearns - The key player in all our adventures with Jeremy. I remember when you called Miranda and told her I stayed at your house sick so we all could go to that party. I miss throwing tacos out the window of your moms car on the freeway. I miss epic adventures to Fantasy Island.


Liz Palmeri - Math was always fun, and we always hated on Beltz. I miss those days. I miss study hall. I miss way back in eighth grade, in Connely's math class. I miss setting the overhead on fire with Tim. It like made your day.


Turk Fetchick - Nobody really understood why we always hung out so much. You were my best friend in the beginning of high school. We did a lot of drugs, and did a lot of stupid things. We always tried skating the backyard, it never worked. I remember all the days we skipped school, but never had anything better to do. I remember getting arrested at your house. And my house. And my house again. I don't regret any of it.


Chris Schlegel - Another friend I've known since Cayuga. Me, you and Scott were good friends all the way through high school. Football in the street. Music at Jay's house. I remember your house, and your big ass dogs. You'll always be the kid who wore sweater vests to school, and I never thought twice about it. You were a weird kid, but nevertheless, a good friend.


Alicia Weidenbeck - I probably butchered your name too. You were my best friend's best friend for like, ever. And because of that I know you pretty well. I help you a lot, and you help me. I like to think of myself as your therapist. I miss your house. I remember the garbutt chronicles. We still talk to this day about boys and school and work. I like that we didn't lose touch that much.




That's all I got for now. If I missed your name, sorry, it's four in the morning and I'm a little tired. If you think you should be in here, post a comment with your name. I'll have one for you the next day.


~allthebest.

The quote: "In literature, evil often triumphs but never conquers."

The interpretation: "This quote means that the perceived evil of a piece of literature, no matter how prevalent, can never overshadow the underlying lesson or statement of the piece."



Apparently that's wrong. I disagree.


Thoughts/comments?

It's been fifteen days since my last post. Honestly, I need to get in here more.

There's no need to write down any of the little shit that's happened over the past two weeks. Most of it is boring and pointless. Actually, I'm not even particularly sure why I'm writing this, if not out of shear boredom.

Work is work and school is school. Nothing too exciting there.

Spring break was alright. I spent most of it with Jess, which was great. The other parts I spent cleaning my attic. Josh and myself have decided to move in up there, so we can have our own separate space away from everyone else. I'm getting more excited every day. There's still a whole bunch left to do, including insulating, drywalling, wiring, and so forth. As of right now though we're just worried about cleaning. I'd say if all goes to plan, we should be ready to move in fairly soon. And by that I mean maybe sometime next month.

I'm getting excited to run again. It's been a long time. I can feel myself getting more out of shape. I can't even touch my toes anymore. I used to be able to grab my foot back during volleyball season. And as the weather gets warmer, I'm getting more anxious.

Speaking of, I miss volleyball a lot. I can't wait for summer. I'll end up going to the YMCA a lot this summer and messing around down there. There's a few kids who play.

My brother should be spending the night tomorrow for some pong with me, Josh, and my dad. He's bringing Joe G, who I haven't seen in years. Literally. So I'm excited for that too.

That's pretty much all I got.


~allthebest.

It's been a big break since I last posted on here. I've thought about it, but never really had the time or the incentive. I still kinda don't. I have to get ready for work in like 45 minutes.

Speaking of. It's not going too bad. I wish I didn't get stuck with the morning shifts though. It's so boring. Standing up in the front of the store by myself for hours. Few people shop in the early morning, believe it or not. And it's hard to stay occupied, besides folding pile after pile of clothes. Whatever. I just can't wait till I'm 18. I was thinking about quitting there and going back to Fantasy Island in May. But then again I'd only be there for a month or so, until my uncle gets me that job in collecting. I'm still undecided.

Anyway, I'm staying up through the night again tonight before work, trying to get this computer I built up and running. It's a steal for what I actually paid for it. It was $65 for a motherboard/processor/1gig ram combo. Which is amazing. It's not a dual core like I'd hoped, but still by far better than what I was running previously. The monitor, keyboard and mouse I just had laying around from other computers that don't work anymore. Which is also where I salvaged the heatsink and hard drive. I got the dvd burner from April's computer so I can load a pirated copy of Windows Vista on there. I'd say if I were to sell it, it could get me around $300. Like I said, a steal, considering I only paid $65 for most of the individual parts, and the others I already had.

Enough computer talk. Jessica and I are still going strong. I'm really happy =] This weekend will be eight months, my longest relationship to date. Yeah, it's really not THAT long, but it is for me. At least it's been eight months straight, and not "on and off" like some people's. I hate that bullshit. I'm not sure where I was going with that lol. But regardless, I love her a lot.

School is ridiculously easy. I have to write a descriptive essay with 200 words to pass English 4. For the whole year. That's it. And math is a piece of cake. It's advanced algebra. Which is like freshman year math. I could probably teach that class. If I take the Math B exam and pass, which also won't be too hard, I can graduate with advanced regents instead of regular regents. OH. And I have off for the next two weeks for Easter and shit. Like I said. Easy.

I recently picked up a racing game for the 360 that I can't get away from. Last night I played it for like 6 hours straight. No lie. Till like 3am. It was insane.

I saw my brother the other day for a little bit, so that was cool. His mail is still all fucked up and gets sent here for some reason sometimes. So he picked it up and he chilled with me and Ashley for a few hours, talking about old times. I love doing that.

Arielle and Alicia invited me to a little party thing...whenever it was. Friday night? Probably. I don't know. Anyway, if it wasn't so last-minute I would've been able to go. It's not their fault or anything. I still wish I could've went. I miss them =/

Marcie texted me today about a cookbook our class made in the 6th grade. Apparently my page was covered in bunnies and sticks of dynamite. She said she wasn't surprised. Neither was I. I miss her too =/

Other than that it's going about the same as always. I'll try to get in here and update this more often if I can. Until then.


~allthebest.