Toast

Why yes, I should be slaving away devotedly at my Capstone! And yes, I am writing yet another boring entry about stupid things! But wait, a distinct feature of this post will be..... mention of the two girls who just walked in looking like slightly overdone toast!! Yes, while I may have made disparaging comments about over-tanning before (or have I? I can't remember. I know I have in real life.) they have never included snide commentary about the Olsen twin wanna-bes currently sitting, that's right, at this moment, in the library computer lab. I mean, a healthy-looking tan looks okay and I secretly have this thing for guys who are tanned from working outside, but there is a limit. Orange is not a color in which your skin should be appearing. I have tanned before and after sliding out of the alien brain-washing pod I held my arm up to my nose and sniffed. Not believing my olfactory sense I sniffed my knee. I would have sniffed more body parts, but I'm not quite that flexible. I smelled like lightly charred flesh!!! What does this have to do with your Capstone? I can hear you asking. Absolutely nothing, except for Simón Bolívar's premature aging in the novel El general en su laberinto can perhaps be attributed in part to his overexposure to the sun. Men, answer truthfully, is that orange look really that much more attractive than my slightly pale epidermis? Gak!! Ten minutes of reviewing my proposal down the drain!!!!!

Nothing new....

Same lab, one chair over, with my compadres de Capstone, similar panic. *sighs* Not much has changed since last term, I guess. Except the itching. Well, and I've had more homework. And assessments. And the bi-weekly restaurant dates. And my parents' (really Mom's) theory that I am having an affair with a married man named Frank and that's why I'm in Ashland all the time. And the weather is slightly warmer, so my garden needs more attention. Many things have changed, I guess. Just not my end-of-term location.

Things You Have Missed

I am sitting in the computer lab watching the pouring rain and waiting until I can walk to the library and get some stuff done. This weather started on Friday with a magnificent, fabulous, awesome, woooooowwwww thunderstorm Friday night. Joel and I were in Ashland for the Percussion concert and El Genius decided we should go walking in the torrential downpour which wound up with both of us soaked but was actually a lot of fun! The thunder and lightning lasted until about 4 or 5 Saturday morning, which did nothing for my beauty (or even vitally necessary) sleep. So, yeah, Memorial Day weekend, after two days of over 90 degree heat, was cool, cloudy, and slightly damp.

A quick update on the Things You Have Missed, as I have been desperately trying to cram 3 gajillion things into the last week of school (see post from end of last term. Can't remember the title.) but this time with my Capstone (humongo project required for graduation) hanging ever closer over my head: several rather angry rants on a variety of subjects, many reflections on the weather, ravings about YSSO and Percussion concerts, more ranting, wails about how overwhelmed I am, thousands of happy comments about my fabulous garden, slug murders involving beer and much evil laughter, panic over state of violin pieces to be played next week for assessment, rant about third Star Wars movie (you may still get that one), comments about the state of fellow students' clothing, complaints about skin disorder (I feel like a leper and my skin is beginning to resemble hamburger but I can't quite scratching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), quiet thoughts about the beauty of tea and Jane Austen while on my covered patio during a light drizzle, ravings about Capstone class (though I have got a lot of my current knitting project done in there), more panic about Capstone, and finally....oh rats, I waited too long and the rain is starting up again. *le sigh* Well, I'd better either get back to work or trot over to the liberry. Have a nice day all!!

PS Congratulations to all of my cousins who are graduating!!!!!!!! This would be Joshua, Troy, Jennifer, Andy, Jody, Chelsea....umm, Jacquelyne and Jasmine....and I think that's it. But congratulations, guys!! (Especially to Jen, who graduated first ;-))

Three weeks? I wish it were still ten...

Just a note to let you guys know that I'm coming into the end of the term and probably won't be able to post that much. Not that I don't have things I would love to rant and rave about, but I think I'll just bottle them up and stew with the school pressure. *grin* I hope everyone else has a good end of term and has done all of their homework before now!

Saints preserve us!

I do believe I see sunlight outside!! And...why yes! That tree is casting a distinct shadow!!! Now I can begin running around in string tanktops and miniskirts like the other skinny blondes on campus. OR NOT!!!!!! First, sunburns bother me. Second, my skin is in no condition to be exposed to the world. Third, I think I had a dream about Wretched David (not B.) last night, how very odd. Four, I can't make fun of people if I'm wearing the same clothes they are. Five, I need to eat breakfast.

The saga of the Unspecified Allergic Reaction continues. Although I was originally dead set on my scourge of itchiness being poison oak, the lack of welts (although there are plenty of little red dots) and disgusting stuff like that leads me to begin thinking otherwise. I have current reports of new patches on my feet, ankles, legs, upper arms, and poor tummy. And I can't take all of my meds. I took this stuff called Doxeprim, slept for ten hours, and then spent the day in a rather nice haze, slurring words when most inappropriate, like during class. The evening ended with me going to bed at 9 because I was exhausted, not being able to sleep until 11, and then sleeping through my alarm for 30 minutes. As much fun as it was to feel like I had been ingesting illegal....things, for lack of a better word, this is not an experience I will be repeating anytime soon, at least until the itching drives me to desperation. Which it may well do. Very soon. Like no...well, not now, the stuff is at home.

On to the joys of breakfast. Breakfast is one of those things that I really shouldn't skip, no matter how many useless and excessive calories I have ingest the night before. I didn't eat any this morning, and look at how cohesive and well-thought out this post is. *snorts* I've decided that in a desperate attempt to combat my binge-happy self of late, I should start exercising at least an hour every day. Too bad I have NO SELF CONTROL!!!! Ah well, on to the chai and pastry.

PS Sorry about the serious nature of some of my recent posts. I'll try to keep things relatively light and fluffy when I can. Too many social science classes can really do a number on a person.

*itch itch itch itch*

I am now taking three? four? different meds for this bizarre itch that is taking over my body. I may go crazy soon. Even after taking Benadryl I wake up around one and have to scratch. Oh that things would get better soon! We're still calling it an unidentified rash. *mumbles "stupid princess skin" under breath*

For the third time in two days I was caught in a deluge, walking to the computer lab. Fortunately this time I was wearing a jacket, although neither it nor my backpack are waterproof. So, my pants are wet, my jacket is wet, my school stuff is distinctly damp, and MY HANDS WILL NOT STOP ITCHING!!!!!!!!!!!! But the storms are really fun to watch while in a building. Yesterday during Youth Symphony we had some nice thunder going on during Romeo & Juliet. I can see the rain falling in the puddles outside and it's mesmerizing to watch the perfect concentric circles expanding into one another and continuing on without changing.

*SPOILER* This next paragraph contains violent, liberal, and potentially controversial ideas. Today, through a series of events that I will not bother with here, I wound up at a rally against a hate crime against a gay student that was committed here last week. This post isn't about supporting homosexuals or their lifestyles, because I think this is a much larger, over-reaching topic. It is about condemning hate crimes and violence against anyone. This kid was trying to get a group of 6-8 'men' to "show some respect" to two female friends who happened to be with him, i.e. knock off the sexually aggressive comments they were making. They called him a faggot and when he said that, yes, he was gay, they followed him to his dorm room and threatened to beat, rape, and/or murder him. One of these guys finally stood up to rest and got them to leave the kid's room. Now, I don't care who you are or what you believe, this sort of violence and abuse is not the answer to anything. If they had raped him, would the fact that he's gay have made it any more acceptable than raping a woman? For that matter, how can we as a society even remotely tolerate the fact that rape is so prevalent? How on earth can we possibly think that someone's being different from us in any way justifies violence? Without glorifying the one guy who stood up to the rest too much (he does hang out with a bunch of jerks after all), I think he set a pretty decent example. That one person stopped a bunch of goons from beating someone up. If we say "hold on, violence and hate crimes are wrong," maybe we can stop one person from being raped. One person is a lot if people if you're that person. I mean, can you imagine how unbelievably horrible it would be to have a group of people threatening you to your face because you are a woman/a Christian/a different race/a geek/a blonde/a brunette/short/tall/Muslim/Jewish/a man wearing a pink shirt/a woman with a short haircut? I had a kid spit in my face in high school because he didn't like me (pretty vague, don't you think?) and that moment ranks in the top of my "Most Awful Experiences" list. If one of the guys with him would have just said "leave her alone, this is way uncool" he would have changed my world. Hate crimes and violence are not the love that Christ showed us. Step up, say something about not picking on the retarded kid or reducing a woman to a pair of breasts and a short skirt or stopping something bigger, and change someone's life. This isn't about tolerance or acceptance, this is about being a decent human being and doing the right thing.

Cuatro de mayo

So, this post is for those of you who didn't know that Cinco de Mayo is NOT, repeat NOT, Mexican Independence Day. My faithful friends from my venture in said country will remember that we celebrated that particular holiday in September with much partying and yelling. It is rather the anniversary of a battle fought in the city of Puebla where the rather badly out-gunned and manned Mexican army defeated the French, who at that point had the best army in the Western world. But still, WHOO HOO MEXICO!!!!!! I'm considering going to the Latino Student Union bash tomorrow night and hanging out with my fellow Spanish majors. Could be fun, but I'm sure I'll have to endure my parents oh-so-subtle question of "so what's his name, dear?" *rolls eyes* I go to a few concerts and now I'm in love. Who knew? Oh well, I've gotta go, as my library session is about to time out. Night, all!