27 October 2007
yours
Right, so I don't want to read John Locke's Second Treatise of Government. At all. It's the only homework I have due next week, so I'm being terrible and just putting it off. For days. It's in Old English and is soooo boring, and therefore takes me half an hour to read five pages. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahsd.
I found these wonderful 6 oz. yogurts at Sprouts the other day that are low-fat (2% milk), organic (no hormones), and fruity, but without lots of sugar. I eat nonfat plain yogurt every day, but if I want something with a bit of fat in it to tide me over until dinner or to pretend to be a delicious chocolate dessert, these aren't half bad. So what if they're called YoKids? Oooh, I should get the squeezers and put them in my little freezer! Today was grocery day, and I'm really excited because now I'm fully stocked again. I made a special trip to Trader Joe's just to get hummus and macadamia nuts, and that is so thrilling.
25 October 2007
empty
Hmmmm well, I'm back at school after a few days at home. It was really nice to escape the bubble for a while, make soup, sleep until ten, drive around at night and know I had a parking space when I got home. I came back to school on Tuesday afternoon to make a random evening choir rehearsal and then had two days of low-key classes. (I wish they would just give us the week off.) Now I'm getting on two research papers, one due the week after Thanksgiving and the other during finals week. (There's a third, but it's a group project, sigh, so I'm not worrying about it yet.) I have a less-than-average amount of reading to do for next week, so this weekend I'm trying to be proactive and start reading the books I got from the library... so a month from now I won't be feeling hopeless.
There's always something going on in California, I tell you. Two weeks ago our campus received a legitimate bomb threat and then a shooting threat. We had security guards at every entrance to the school, a lockdown, and constant "security update" emails from the administration - everyone was on edge. While nothing happened, the whole thing really stressed me out so getting the hell out out of Claremont for a bit was a huge relief. Things seem to be back to normal this week. Of course, now the air is pretty smoky thanks to the wildfires, but at least there are none near us - one of the few benefits of going to school in the suburbs. It's also been really hot, like 90 degrees, for a while which I hope will end soon. It's supposed to get back down to the 70s this weekend.
Every time I go back to Arizona I realize just how much better it is than California.
I was up late doing some reading last night... and up early this morning finishing it before babysitting a little girl. So I took a long nap in the afternoon after class, and of course now it's midnight and while I'm physically tired, I'm not mentally tired. I wanted to go running at 7:30 tomorrow but probably won't now that I'm not going to go to bed for at least an hour. Darn!!! This is why I never take more than 30-minute naps. Maybe if it's not too warm I'll go at sunset.
Feeling kinda blah. It's hard to get back into things after breaks.
I was reading my old diary cavendove last night and died laughing about this:
24 February 2006
Ali: I think that guy just snarled at me.
Me: Snarl... like snigger.
Ali begins laughing so hard she's soundless.
Me: Oh, fuck! Is that wrong? Is it 'snugger'?
More silent heaving by Ali.
Me: Snugger? Snooger? - I try other combinations of vowels, before deciding I am right - Okay, no one really says 'snigger', you only read it in novels. And it sounds a lot different out loud than when you're reading it! I'm not racist! Ah, I left my sunglasses in the restaurant!
15 October 2007
wrapped
Mmmmm I just had such a good run. Every morning for the last couple days, it's been cloudy and yucky outside. Two negatives: there's less light to wake me up, and it's harder to motivate myself to go outside into the cold dreary weather and run. But since I plan to live in Europe I'd better get used to it, since right now I'm spoiled by living in one of the sunniest places in the world! Anyway, I'm up to four miles these days. After a super-charged sprint-like run on Saturday because I was frustrated and pissed off, I took it slow today, or slow it felt, but I still ran at an average pace. Strange. Maybe I'm just getting faster :) When I stopped my heart rate quickly slowed down to normal, and it was really quiet because there weren't many cars on the road, and I was listening to some beautiful music and it was just lovely. And now I'm showered, fueled, and caffeinated, and wrapped up in long sleeves and sweats since it's chilly (again) today.
I'm going home on Thursday for a few days since we have next Monday and Tuesday off for October Break. This semester is flying by; I can't believe we're half-way through already. I don't particularly need to go home, unlike last year, but since I have nothing else to do it'll be a nice change. I have one midterm this week for American Politics but other than that it's business as usual which is nice. Last week I had two papers due but it really wasn't stressful. Maybe I'm just getting better at handling big assignments? Or maybe I just enjoy them more.
07 October 2007
blurt
I first heard We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel in my 8th grade Social Studies class with Mr. O'Rourke. (God, I can't believe I remembered his name.) I remembered being absolutely enthralled with the song, with its fast beat and all the words and the historical references. I never got around to getting it on iTunes but whenever I hear it somewhere, I grin. And yesterday I found this -
With perpetual three-day weekends, I get really confused with what day it is. Fridays feel like Saturdays, Saturdays feel like Sundays, and Sundays sometimes feel like Fridays. Is it really Sunday already? Seriously, Thursday afternoon to Sunday night just flies by. As does Monday morning to Thursday afternoon. It's like my week is made up of two completely different blocks. First, I have to actually pick out clothes to wear, be somewhere at a certain time, pay attention in class, think of quasi-meaningful things to say; in the other, I wear the same zip up sweater and sweats all day, spend a lot of time on my bed reading politics and taking notes (seriously, I've never spent more time in my dorm room than this year... probably because I adore it and my dorm), consider it an above-average weekend if on one of the weekend nights I do something other than the above (like, see a movie, or go out to dinner, or go salsa dancing at Pomona - I actually did this last thing the other weekend). Yes, it's true, I've become a nerd. Or, in nicer terms, focused. No alcohol or super late nights necessary. I do my homework, go to bed early, wake up at sunrise happy (~7am; I'm not sadistic). It's not like this is the plan for the rest of my life - I'm not saying goodbye to my 20s or anything like that. But I've found that I just don't get into the "typical" college experience. So why not be well rested and on top of things? God, why aren't I an RA?
I've spent part of the weekend figuring out next summer and the first few years of life post-college. Yep, it's all done. Haha! No... but grad school (immediately after) is definitely out of the picture. There is lots of French involved... and time in France... and teaching. I'm warming up to the idea of teaching as a career. What age, what subject, where; I don't know (although I do really think I'd be okay not living in the US again for a long time*). But I don't think I can live a life where my main contribution to society is increasing the amount of money earned by a company. This is funny because in high school I decided I could never be a teacher. Maybe I've just been out of public school for too long and have forgotten why I felt that way. But education has always interested me, because it really is the most important investment a country can make. Without an intelligent population, you've got nothing. Also, after reading Plato's Republic (which I thoroughly enjoyed), I'm trying to live the most just life possible. And part of that means thinking about honorable careers, those that I feel make a positive contribution to society. I'm tutoring elementary school kids once a week, so that's a good start.
Today I went to the opera in LA with my music history class. We took the train (I. ADORE. TRAINS) and then the subway. We saw Jenufa, by a famous Czech composer who I can't name. It was very good... quite dramatic (I guess that's the point) and long, but it was fun. I really like being in control. When I'm not the one organizing stuff, there is a small part of me that is perpetually anxious. But I got over it, and enjoyed myself as much as I could considering I have a fair bit of reading on the International Monetary System left to do and won't do until tomorrow because I am so exhausted from today that I'm going to bed. Very soon.
*I know I've said this for the last seven years, and I keep saying it, but I don't hate the US (if anything, in the last few years I've come to love it) I just really, really need to experience life in Europe as an adult before I'll feel complete, if that's even possible.
05 October 2007
funnies
Love it.
...A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette, with a satisfied smile on its face. The egg, looking a bit pissed off, grabs the sheet, rolls over and says, "Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question!"