sunday morning i was staring at a clock trying to push it back.

Ear Candy: "Sunday Morning at a Funeral" by La Dispute

Last Night:


SO. MUCH. FUN. met some cool people, hung out with some cool people i already knew. it was a much needed break from packing. shitdamn i am going to miss shows.

today and tomorrow is packing packing packing cleaning cleaning cleaning hugging hugging hugging not crying (crying is for bitches. bitches get stitches.)

Tuesday:

cheryl is going to say her good-byes. i am going to eat burritos at roberto's.

Thursday:


whoa.

this could define a lifetime

"It's Not a Bad Little War" by Bayside

i took all of my art down. all of my pictures and posters are carefully packed up into a box and a portfolio, all ready to be stored for the next two months at my dad's house. my walls are bare for the first time since i moved in, and it is beginning to hit me that, in two weeks, this will not be my room. and this will no longer be my home. and i will be moving on to somewhere new entirely. i have so many different emotions right now, i don't even know what to think or say or feel.

i am sad to say goodbye to this amazing family:



all i know is i can't stop the future, so i had better get on board with it.

if packing up my art was this hard, i don't even want to think about packing up my shoes. oh man.

on a side note, we went and saw bayside and the polar bear club at ace of spades in sacramento last weekend. AMAZING. PBC was having mic issues, but they played well. they played "our ballads", which is my favorite song of theirs, and which has only been slightly ruined by certain boys. bayside KILLED it. it has been so long since i have been slammed in a crowd covered in stranger sweat. i felt like i was fifteen again, and it was kind of magical.

oh, how we have not even started yet.

e

you can't sell me incense, my world smells good enough to eat

"Unlisted" by The Story So Far (it's a Jawbreaker cover)

We're leaving for Las Vegas on May 31st. We're leaving for Indonesia on June 2nd. I'm coming back to San Francisco on August 2nd. Holy fucking shit.

While we're gone, we're going to be updating our travel blog so that everyone at home knows where we are, and what we're up to, and that we haven't been taken or imprisoned, or sold into the sex trade. We're only partially joking about the idea that people are going to like our travel blog so much that we'll get famous and then get paid to travel and blog about it. These things happen, right? I mean, Allie Brosh and Kelly Oxford gets paid to blog, so...

Anyway, you can keep track of us HERE: http://www.cheringoestoasia.blogspot.com

I'm so excited. And so very terrified about leaving my home, and my friends, and my family, AND MY CAT, and going to a world that is so completely different. And I am very sad about leaving our little home here, because we won't be coming back to it. I feel like I always love Santa Rosa the most when I know I'm going to leave it. It's the rose colored glasses at the end of high school.

17 days, so much to do. One of these days, my insane need to make the most of every second is going to kill me.

this self appreciation is lame

it's not charming or cute anymore.

Ear Candy: "Van Rides and High Tides" by Broadway Calls

22. Yeah... I keep having to remind myself that the definition of failure is attempting to hold myself to other people's standards of success. That way, I can feel less lame about having spent the last five years dicking around only to be rejected from all of the colleges except the ones that I was accepted to right out of high school. Way to go, self. Now, if I'm lucky, I can graduate no more than two years after my little sister.

Happy birthday, Erin. Time to be a grown up.

i wanna hold your hand

Ear Candy: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles

it feels weird for me to need people. i am always the person that other people lean on when things are tough, and it is hard for me to ask for support when i need it. i feel so lucky to have so many people to reach for. and i hope that the people i love know that i love them. and i don't actually think any of you read this anymore, but if you do, know that i mean you so very thoroughly and completely. i love every cell in your body, even the parts i don't always like, and whether we have fought, or drifted apart, or anything else, i treasure you.

my heart is so full. it is full of pain, it is full of love, and it is full of a desperation to hold onto the people who mean the most to me. i know this is me reacting to a tragedy, but i also know that this is me realizing the things that i don't think about enough: that we are all fallible, and fragile, and that we must always fight for the things that are important to us, and the people we love.

i hope you know i never mean to take you for granted.

spit shine your black clouds

Ear Candy: "Spit Shine Your Black Clouds" by The Blood Brothers

this is one of those weeks i wasn't sure i could face. i'm still not. but last night, seeing all of the old faces in the old places made me feel so much better, at least for the time being.







we were aware of those who were not present with us in physical being, but they were present in love. today we have to say goodbye to one of our own. my heart hurts, and i feel like i can't breath.





i am so grateful for the people in my life who hold me up when i feel like i can't stand.

all things grow, all things go

Ear Candy: "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens




I love you, Dommie. I'm so sorry we couldn't get through. I hope you know how much you will be missed, and how loved you are. You were a truly beautiful soul, and you made my life so much brighter. I will always hold you in my heart, with my other loves I lost too soon. At least I know you won't have to fight anymore.

RIP Dominic Agius, a beautiful soul.

love.

come with me pretty baby

Ear Candy: "Long Way Home" by Tom Waits



I am so gay for Rachel Maddow.

and i feel like i just don't know

Ear Candy: "Heroin" by The Velvet Underground

There is no universal moral code that should dictate human behavior. There is no such thing as good or evil, there is no universal standard of right and wrong. Our values and morals come from us and belong to us, whether we like it or not; so we should claim them proudly for ourselves, as our own creations, rather than seeking some external justification for them.


I feel like I am finally waking up.

you can do whatever you like

Ear Candy: "Whatever You Like" by Anya Marina

This is what I do on Sundays:
Sunday Morning Chais with Brianna is becoming one of my best and most favorite traditions. It gets me out of bed, and I get to start my day with a good friend, good conversation, and a delicious drink that never disappoints.

Sometimes I feel like my life is awful. And then I actually look at it, and realize that actually, my life is awesome, and full of wonderful people.

E

the great escape

Ear Candy: "Drain the Blood" by The Distillers

So Cheryl and I are escaping this summer. I am so ready for the change. We are leaving the 1st of June, and going to Europe, and Asia, and the Middle East, and all over for three months. She is continuing on after I leave, and I wish I could give into wanderlust forever, but I have to go to big kid college in the fall. I'm not getting any younger.

We are getting shots and passports this week. I am going to dye my hair dark again so that I am not obviously as obviously an American tourist woman standing out in hostile territories. We are going to travel as a part of the courier service. We are going to couch surf, and camp, and work on organic farms. We are going to hike, and climb, and explore. We are going to swim, and get lost, and eat weird food, and I have never been more scared or excited in my entire life. And when I get back, I am going to move into a new home in a new city and start a new life. Probably with a new tattoo.

It is weird when the things that you always thought you wanted end up being the exact opposite.

E

I don't care for fancy things

Ear Candy: "My Girls" by Animal Collective

So I went to PetCo to get more kitty litter today, and I was feeling like Bad Mommy because Buster Posey doesn't have very many toys, so I got him some new ones, one of which is an organic mouse filled with catnip. Needless to say, he loves it, and has been tweaking out over it all day. Cheryl got back from the Vegas today, and on the way back from the airport, I was telling her about the toys. This is the conversation we had:

Erin: So, I got Buster toys. One of them has cat nip in it. Now he's crazy. I'm sorry.
Cheryl: We could have just made him toys!
Erin: Yeah, but I was at the pet store, and I was feeling like bad mommy!
Cheryl: So you bought him drugs?! Way to go. Mommy of the Year award.

And there you have it. Baby missed us.

E

i whip my hair back and forth

Ear Candy: "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith (Don't judge me.)







I felt like it was time for a change. Also, that's my cat, Buster Posey. Yeah, he's a winner.

i love you!

E

you love love love, then you die

Ear Candy: "The Absence of God" by Rilo Kiley

i went back to hippie church with rosie on sunday, and it felt really good to go back. as much as things had gone negatively with the bureaucracy of it all, i missed the feeling i got while i was there, and it felt good to go back there and feel safe again.

it was the day that the teens and young adults speak. a ghost from my past was there in a way, and it was so strange to reconnect with those feelings that i didn't even know i still had.

i went home and wrote a letter in response to it, and mailed it before i could change my mind. i wonder if he ever thinks about me, or if he ever did. and i wonder if my letter will creep him out, or if he'll think it's pathetic, or if he will respond, or even read it. times change, so do people. and at least i can say that i tried.

i am starting to embrace the idea that moving forward does not have to mean leaving everything behind.

i have an incredible sense of wanderlust right now. i need an adventure.

i love you.

E

to open my eyes, and wake up alive in the world

Ear Candy: "Alive in the World" by Jackson Browne

good lord, longest week of my life. on sunday night, i was staring out at my week, and was pretty sure there was no way i was going to survive it. i am amazed that i haven't started crying from sheer exhaustion. i haven't slept more than four hours/night in over a week, and have been consuming more caffeine than anyone ever should. four finals down, two to go, and i have so far done three a's and one b, which i am disappointed in, because i should have done better, but c'est la vie. i am very pleased with them overall considering that i was also doing play rehearsals and paperwork and all that goes along with that on top of the finals.

i am literally not sure how i am awake and coherent right now, let alone in a strangely positive mood. the only sign of my overall stress and exhaustion is my complete lack of appetite, where i keep forgetting to eat for 12 hours at a time, and then remembering, and having to force myself to eat. finals is such a good diet!

i have reached the following conclusions:
- trying to get a full night's sleep in the middle of a week where you have trained yourself for exhaustion is a bad idea. i got eight hours on monday night, and tuesday was awful, because i was super tired, had trouble waking up, and had a head ache all day. it was much better when i got four hours a night, which is what i did on tuesday night, and wednesday morning was no issue.

- if you are an instructor who gives a 7AM final in december, you should definitely be there to let your class in on time, because they are cold and cranky.

- if i have a three hour slot in which to take said 7AM final, and i finish the test in 20 min, it makes me angry, because i should have shown up at 9.

- i will never understand those girls who show up for a 7AM final in full hair and make up, and pajamas on. unless they fall asleep with their head in some kind of chamber that perfectly preserves their look from the night before, and literally did just roll out of bed looking like that, they had time to throw on jeans and a shirt. and a bra.

oil change. lunch in auburn with grandmother (two hour drive each way, ugh.) dinner with depressed-due-to-break-up father. two more finals on thursday. freedom. come on, final push!

if you are as exhausted as i am, i love you.

E

i send vibrations in your direction through the satellite mind

Ear Candy: "Satellite Mind" by Metric

Tis the time of the season for changes.

- End of the semester. Going into finals, grades are looking good. Intention is to keep them that way.

- College applications are in and out of my hands. Now we play the waiting game. I turned my UCB application in at rehearsal, since the internet at my house was being fritzy, and I had to go to rehearsal. Before I hit submit, we all put positive energy into my application. Hippies. Afterwards, one of the actors in my cast, JET, comes up to me and has the following exchange:

JET: You know, you should probably start preparing yourself for the likelihood that you won't get in.
Rosie and Jeff (other actors who are standing behind me): What?! Why would you say that?! Don't put that out into the universe!
Erin: I am not considering that possibility. Because I can't. Because I would drive myself crazy in the next five months.
JET: Yes, but getting your hopes up makes it harder when you don't get things.
Erin: I have wanted to go to Berkeley since I was seven. I think it is safe to say that my hopes are up.
JET: Yeah, but I mean, you can live through disappointment. When I broke up with my girlfriend... (NOTE: I have strong suspicions that this girlfriend is fictional.)
Erin: I firmly believe in the power of positive thought. The universe only hears "yes", so if I say, "I am not going to get in", then the universe says, "Yes! You are not going to get in!"
JET: That doesn't make any sense.
Erin: Maybe not, but to me, I have to hold on to the belief that everything is going to happen the way that it is supposed to, and trust in that. I can't dwell on negative thoughts, they are going to poison me.
JET: Well, my parents always told me that you should hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Erin: And my parents always told me, "Erin, you're going to go to Berkeley when you grow up!"

Apparently, I am working harder on being more positive, and not dwelling on negativity so much. I think it's time to hang up my emo hat. Part of being a grown up is accepting that not everything is in my control, and the best I can do is to accept things how they are, and to do the best that I am capable of.

- New jobs coming up (see if you can notice the pattern!):
* Working as business manager for my friend Vince's dance studio. This means organizing, filing, and building things. And hanging out with/working for people I adore. I am excited.
* Working in the scene shop for the theatre. This means building things, welding things, painting things, learning things, making art, and working with/for people I adore who are all as dedicated and crazy as I am.
* Stage Managing a new show, which I have been since mid-October. I am still loving it, which is good. My assistant quit, which is good, because she wasn't very good. Now I get a new one, and he is awesome. And voluntarily gave himself the title of "ESB" (Erin Sweeney's Bitch.) This bodes well.
* Got hired by the theatre department to be the season Production Assistant, which is the assistant to the Production Manager, who is in charge of all of the plays (she is the SM's boss). I adore Risa, the PM. And she LOVES me. This looks good on a resume, and is definitely going to be a good learning experience.

- Broke up with Glenn. This is a good thing. Dating me was awesome for him, dating him was a drain on me. We argued for three hours about how I felt like he didn't listen to me, or understand me. He thinks we broke up because of the distance. I'll let him think that. It is always sad when things don't work out. But I know that this was definitely the right choice, and I feel like I am in a much better place now that this happened.

- Want to play more music.

- I want to reconnect with the people that I have lost touch with. I have been feeling this weird divide lately. I call it "the wall." Like there is me, and then the wall, and then the world. And I think part of the reason for the wall is that I get super wrapped up in work and school, and forget to cultivate my relationships with my friends and family. This is going to change.

- I have no idea what to get people for Christmas. I want to make presents, but I don't know what to make. And I am not great at art, unless everyone wants prints made out of handmade rubber stamps.

- I am newly obsessed with making rubber stamps.

- Excited to go to LA to see my lovely Robert for our post-Christmas holiday celebration. Bummed about breaking the tradition, but we will make it work.

- New Years in Vegas with my Cheryl. This is going to be interesting. I have never been to Vegas, and it is going to be weird to see it not from the perspective of the tourists, but from the perspective of someone who grew up there.

- Mostly, just excited to get out of SR for a few days and to see people I love, and to meet new people, and have adventures.

- I know I say this every year, but this upcoming summer, we WILL be going camping in Yosemite. I am super hellbent on trying to have us in the same place at the same time, and to go do something fun and awesome.

- Also, I want to go to a Giants game for my birthday. And I want people to come with me. I am not above sitting in the bleachers drinking beer and yelling by myself, but it is more fun with buddies.

- Apparently, this is the season for short hair. And since apparently, if all of you (well, not all of you. But the ones who count, and you know who you are) jumped off of a bridge, I would be jumping too...

I am also going to update more, even though I am pretty sure that my infrequent updates have made it so that no one reads this anymore. But it is good to have a record of where I was.

Even if you don't read this, I hope you know that I love you.

- E

L-O-L-A Lola, lo-lo-lo-lo-lola

Ear Candy: "The Angels Hung Around" by Rilo Kiley

i have a new project.



her name is lola. i rescued her from community bikes, where even they had given up on her, and were not even bothering to fix her. but i saw so much potential to be such an awesome bike, and i just felt this need to bring her home, and give her a lot of love and attention and breathe new life in to her.

so i did. and i am learning how to build a bike from the ground up, which is really fun, and really interesting, and super exciting. i've never worked on a bike before, and up until Saturday, did not even know how to change a bike tire. i have now not only learned to change the tubes and tires, i patched a tube. and took apart and reconstructed the entire bottom bracket, including bearings, crank, pedals, and sprocket. the chain comes friday. i also removed a lot of the rust, buffed out the fenders, replaced the wheels, and learned how to attach a coaster brake.

Now, it hasn't all been easy. Or fun.


lola bit me. which actually means that i tripped over the forks while i had her upside down on the floor in the kitchen with the wheels off while i buffed out rust. OUCH. i do not recommend it.

hopefully, i will have an assembled picture, and one of me riding her by the end of the week. so stoked!

it feels really good to have a project. and to be learning a useful skill like this. and to be doing and making things with my hands again. i am super stoked.

Dear Mother, This is Just Survival

Ear Candy: "Walking is Still Honest" by Against Me!

It's amazing how meeting someone else can make you feel more like yourself.

I am outside more.
I ride my bike everywhere that is practical, and I drive less.
I listen to more music.
I eat less shitty food, and more yummy food.
I cook more.
I am less wasteful, and recycle more.
I am planting a garden.
I am making a list of things that I want to learn to do [better].
I am less stressed and neurotic, and more at ease.
I am wearing more dresses and less make up.
I am caring increasing less about how I look, and more about how I feel.
I am making more things.
I am wanting more tattoos, but thinking less and less about getting them (for now. I still really want a half sleeve.)
I am getting along better with my dad and my sister.
I read more, and watch practically no tv.
I am becoming more self-sufficient.
I am figuring out much more clearly what I want out of life, and becoming more ok with the idea of being emotionally successful over fiscally successful.
I am appreciating the people in my life more. Or at least trying to.
I feel more like myself lately than I have in a while, and it all feels like it is happening very organically.

"And you haven't given up on me. And you haven't forgotten me."

you're the places that i wanted to go

Ear Candy: "People as Places as People" by Modest Mouse

i love that even when we're all apart, we're all still together.

i just hate it so much that these are the circumstances that reinforced that for us. but we take care of our own, so this is where we are. together.

regardless (well, not regardless, but perhaps despite of?) of the circumstances, i am so incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful adopted family, and to have you all in my life. you know who you are. and i love you so much that i think i might burst trying to express it. you are more important to me than i think any of you could ever fathom.

thoughts are jumbled. it feels like we left reality a while ago, and now we're just floating in a dark cloud that everyone can feel, but no one can see. it's a good thing we have all of that love to hold on to.

thank you for being my family.

You better wise up

Ear Candy: "Planet, Schmanet, Janet" by Tsunami Bomb

I love my room mates. But if they don't stop fucking each other (loudly with the door not closed all the way), I am going to fucking kill them both.