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It was another awesome trip to Sac and it's a little sad to be back in my little apartment. The panels left a little to be desired, but the socialness of the weekend definitely made up for it. I got to know some of my friends better and met a lot of great people. We had great debates, laughed like crazy and went on silly missions for fried chicken. There's too much to say to really give you a real idea of what we did and how we did it, but just suffice to say, I had a blast (like I knew I would) and tomorrow is going to be a hard day back in "reality." Jenn posted at 9:44 PM | |
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::checks watch:: um, yeah, it's 1:15 and I'm done with cleaning and packing. What's up with that?! K isn't going to be here until 3 and we aren't leaving the city until 4. How the hell am I actually done with everything? Oh wait, I have to iron my shirt - but still, that's just amazing! I'm trying not to get my hopes too far up, thinking that this year is going to be as awesome as last year, but it's really hard. This semester is already way better than last spring semester, so logically, this year's trip should be way better too, right? It's raining again, with some massive storms heading our way, but we should be leaving with plenty of time to actually get there before dinner this time. And really, two of the rooms are in my and D's name, so they can't really do anything without us, right? Ha ha! And since, I'll be away from my blog tomorrow (::sniff, sniff::), I want to say Okay, off to iron and then I'm really, truly DONE! Jenn posted at 4:15 PM | |
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1. What your favorite movie that you've seen so far this year? I haven't really seen any movies this year. I went to see HP4 on IMAX with my parents over break, but I had already seen it in 2005. I saw Syriana with Matt, but the torture scene just really ruined that movie for me. I'm a big wuss - big surprise! 2. Favorite new musical artist? Anna Nalick - I liked her single and I finally picked up her CD over break. She's fabulous ;) 3. Jennifer or Angelina? Oh, please, neither! I cannot stand Jennifer Aniston and haven't since 2001 and Angelina is just too freaky. I really, really, really wish they would all just shut up and go away! 4. How often do you check your email? Too much I'm sure. It's always open, so whenever my indicator tells me I have a message, I'll check. And sometimes in between. Just...a lot. I check it a lot. 5. What are your plans for the weekend? SLS, baby! Seriously, I'll be spending tomorrow doing research and packing and then on Sunday, it's Sac time! Oh yeah! I finally got to pick up the reader for Prof C's IGR class and OMIGOSH! The thing is freakin' HUGE! It's easily 500-600 pages - and that's with him taking out the stuff that had already passed when it was printed. This class is definitely going to kill me! Jenn posted at 6:01 PM | |
 Thirteen Places I Have Traveled (Idea borrowed from here) 1. London, England When I was 14, I went on a 10-day trip to Europe with a group of 8th graders from Robinson. We spent four days in London - just long enough for me to know that I desperately wanted to go back there without the need for a chaperone ;) 2. Paris, France Same trip ended up in Paris. Alas I did not leave with a favorable impression of this city, being that it was dirty and the people were rude. One of the girls was molested at the top of the Eiffel Tower! However, should I go back to Europe, I will definitely go back to the banks of the Seine and see if that visit was just a fluke. 3. San Juan, Puerto Rico Since my dad lived there for a few years, we would go down there on breaks and in the summer to visit. The water is so clear and the beaches are fabulous. And really, you just can't beat El Hamberger for lunch! 4. La Jolla, California This was one of my favorite places to drive to when I lived in SoCal. I loved watching the sea lions in their natural environment and all the cute little shops. I first visited LJ in 1997 when I was looking at colleges, but it remained a favorite place all during my time in LA. 5. Chicago, Illinois I have visited this city three times and all three times the weather has reminded me exactly why I could never live there. I like the view. I like the lakeshore. I like the university (Northwestern in Evanston), but the summer and winter are just too extreme for me. 6. New York City This town has extreme weather too, but for some reason, I don't mind it as much. I first visited this wondrous city in 8th grade during our "Career Day" project when I went with our neighbor who was a flight attendant. Every time I go, I'm fascinated by the buildings, the people and the fabulous shopping and food. I don't think I'm tough enough to live there, but I definitely love visiting! 7. Greencastle, Indiana Site of DePauw (yes, with a W) University and the AGEHR festival in 1998, I spent more days than I'd like to admit in this awful little town. Anytime I am talking about small towns or the crappy places that we've ended up going on Tour, this town always shows up. While I'm sure the town is nice as are the people who live there if you like that kind of thing, I am surely not a fan. 8. Kansas City, Missouri (and Kansas) I first visited here in October 2001 to see KB's family and drive down with him to his university. He was giving a talk on the entertainment industry as part of a panel and I pretended to be his assistant in order to give him more cache. It worked too! I love this little city - it's totally midwestern, but it's got two major sports teams and is the corporate headquarters of Hallmark. Doesn't get better than that :) 9. Atlanta, Georgia I have visited this fabulous Southern town three times - the first being in 1996 for the Olympics! It was amazing to see the events live even if we didn't have tickets to the events I really wanted to see. I came back in 2000 for XPhest South and again in 2001 as I drove to LA for the first time. My mom and I stayed with Adam to save on hotel costs and you know, visit with the Rev ;) 10. Seattle, Washington I've been there a few times because that's where my cousin Juile and her family used to live. The last time I was there was in 2001 in both July and August. I went during the July 4th hiatus from Kilborn and actually got to walk around by myself for a while and again in August for Julie's wedding. It's a great city and I think I could live there if I had to ;) 11. Las Vegas, Nevada This is one of my favorite places on earth! When I lived in SoCal, we used to go at least four times a year. KB and I tried to stay at a different hotel every time, trying to stay at all of them on the strip. I love the free drinks, the shows, the cheap buffets and the slot machines - it's all good things in one great town! I miss it! 12. Santa Cruz, California I don't know what it is, but there's something about driving down the winding two lane highway to get to the shores of Santa Cruz that just relaxes me. I love the university and the boardwalk, the surf shops and the indie bookstores. I like to go down there to unwind and just appreciate the beauty of my new home state. 13. Sacramento, California I will be visiting for the third time this weekend ;) Despite C's constant comments that it's part of CA's armpit, some of my favorite memories have happened in this town. Here's hoping for more! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. The Noodle Incident 2. Little Bit of This and That 3. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) |
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When I started out the morning, I wanted a do over. Nothing was going the way I wanted it to - overslept, research not going the way I wanted, D not going to Sac, boring ECC class, etc. But I decided to sit out in the sunshine after my class and it made all the difference. Mostly because I ran into A (el presidente de pssa) and we went up to Prof C's class, even thought we're not actually in it. Prof C ended his class early so we could finish planning our Sac trip and everything has just fallen into place. We booked the hotel, worked out carpools, exchanged information and all that good stuff. I feel so much more settled now. I have this incessant need to plan things and know what's going on and without that, I feel lost. I can breathe easier now - I want to be spontaneous, but I guess I'm just not a "fly by the seat of your pants" kinda girl. Jenn posted at 7:26 PM | |
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I love watching television on Saturday afternoons because you get to see stuff you wouldn't ordinarily see. I'm watching Flight of the Navigator on ABC Family and I love it! This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. It has great 1980s special effects, Sarah Jessica Parker and a great alien abduction - all the good stuff. I've heard it's available on DVD, but I had forgotten how much I missed it until now. Jenn posted at 8:14 PM | |
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Just got home from B's fundraiser! Their turnout was about like ours usually is, but PSSA was representin' like crazy! I am crazy tipsy/drunk right now so I am grateful that B was DD for us. My ears are still ringing from the jutebox and spelling is really hard for me right now. Ha ha! It was a fabulous, crazy, stressful, laughing today today and I loved it. Lots of C and K and D with some Prof W mixed in for good measure. I only had two classes, but they were both good. Of course the breaks make the classes even more worthwhile. Good thing I'm off tomorrow, or I would be in a world of hurt. Lots of fun tonight though. And good pizza as a chaser. Good times! Jenn posted at 4:03 AM | |
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My Johari Window This is going around and I think it's an interesting way to learn more about yourself. So go play! Jenn posted at 7:08 PM | |
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It's Valentine's Day once again and the country is dressed in red, pink and white to celebrate love and coupledom, the natural order of things according to Hallmark. Who, I might add, has come out with a card for single people, embracing our singledom. Me, I've never had a Valentine - a real one, with all the romantic implications that having one entails. I've had boys bring me flowers, make me cards, but only as friends, which they made explicitly clear during the gifting as well as for posterity in the card. Over the past few years, I'd like to think I've developed a zen-like attitude towards this holiday. I refuse to be the bitter stereotype of a single person on Valentine's day, a shell of a person because she doesn't have a main squeeze to buy her gifties. Of course, there are times when all the lovey-dovey couple-y crap makes me want to vomit while putting a pen in my eye, but luckily for all those around me, those tendencies are fewer and farther between. This year, however, I am taking it a step further. I'm embracing, owning Valentine's day. Much like my generation of feminists have taken the word "bitch" to be a compliment rather than an insult, I choose to celebrate love as a single person right alongside those who are in love. I made cookies for my friends and colleagues. I have a heart-shaped wreath on my door. I'll be wearing a red shirt today to the PSSA event. I wrote Valentines to my friends. I may be currently devoid of romantic love, but I am not without love. Jenn posted at 3:39 AM | |
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I started my new exercise routine today and I feel really great. It helped that we had great weather today, but just having that great workout really made my day all better. K and I are going again on Wednesday and next week we're going to step it up a notch. I wasn't having a good day before that (as D and C can surely attest), but afterwards, I couldn't stop smiling and laughing. I may not have done everything I should have, but today was a good day and I have no apologies for that. quote from "Legally Blonde" Jenn posted at 1:41 AM | |
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I skipped out on an hour of Olympics to watch Grey's Anatomy. That show is seriously addicting in a way I can't explain. Anyway, that was the central question of the episode and usually, I have a silly answer about telling people that I love them and kissing people I would never kiss otherwise just because it wouldn't matter. There's a saying that you should every day like it's your last because you never know when that might be true. But of course, you can't really do that because statistically you are really only right once out of thousands of days and there are always consequences to deal with when you do live to see the next day. I mean, if it were true today, I definitely wouldn't be struggling through my IGR reading. I'm not sure what I would be doing, but I'm sure it wouldn't be that. But odds are, I'm going to make it till tomorrow and I'll have to deal with the consequences of not reading at that time, so I plug away.      I baked cookies tonight. Big f-in' deal, right? Except I've never actually done that before. I've never made anything by myself before. If I wanted cookies, I just went to the store and bought them. But this was actually surprisingly easy and after eating one, I am pleased to announce that they taste pretty good. My apartment smelled like cookies for a while too, which was an added bonus. Of course, this success has prompted me to think that perhaps I might be able to branch out into baking things made from scratch, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I'll just bask in this yumminess for the time being. Jenn posted at 2:22 AM | |
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Two years is just long enough for me to forget how much I hate the commentators NBC uses for the Olympics. It seems like every time they just a little bit more insulting and condescending. They try to make celebrities out of athletes who really just want to be left alone, ignoring actual competition in favor of following Michlle Kwan to the ice rink for practice or Bode Miller to his RV. Last night, they made comments about how, for some country's athletes who have "no chance to get a medal," the opening ceremony was their big chance to shine. Now, perhaps I am naive, but I thought the entire point of the Olympics was for amatuer athletes to gather and compete against each other - an "any given Sunday" sort of deal. I realize that most of these athletes won't medal (statistically, that's a given), but to have the commentators, who aren't judges and have minimal knowledge of anything really, write them off, just really pisses me off. There are some athletes who already have national holidays on their birthday, just for being at the Olympics! Take today. The German nordic combined skiier who was favored to win ended up doing badly in the jump portion. His teammate, that no one cared about (in the press), not only won the jump (106+ meters!), but won the gold medal. No one thought he would even place, concentrating on his teammate and on the American athletes. He defied expectations - at least those of the commentators. KB and I have come up with some new cheering strategies. We will cheer for USA against athletes from other world powers and places where they have snow. But we'll root for the underdog against USA when the athletes come from tropical places or teams with less than 10 or so athletes. Perhaps we will be disappointed. Perhaps the same old countries and athletes will win the events they always do. But maybe more of those athletes that no one is paying attention to will continue to defy expectations. If nothing else, they are out there, competing in the Olympics, something that most people will never have the opportunity to do. And I think that merits them the benefit of the doubt before the competition from the commentators. Shut up and just let me watch. I don't mind being surprised. Jenn posted at 11:54 PM | |
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1. I've got to come up a better name for these "Friday Questions". Friday Five has already been done and I never have five questions. What's your suggestion? Well, besides the title of this post, which I know doesn't really scream originality or fun times, I'm partial to "Friday Fragen." It has that alliteration we all enjoy and shows off my limited knowledge of German. That's all I got ;) 2. What's for lunch today? If you work outside the home do you usually pack a lunch or buy? Whatever I feel like when I get home from class and errands. Or I might just pick something up while I'm out. But probably not. I'm trying to be better about buying food while I'm out when I have a whole fridge full of food already bought. 3. How do you feel about Valentine's Day. What are your plans? If you're single, do you plan on doing something special for yourself? I'm the typical bitter singleton, though I'm a bit more into it this year than in years past. On the day before, I'm bringing cookies to class and handing out little cards to my friends (if I can track them all down during the day). On the actual day, I'll be staffing the PSSA event and going to a Bruce Babbitt booksigning. 4. What's your favorite fruit? Probably either oranges or bananas. I think I actually like kiwis and mangos better, but I so rarely have them that I'm not entirely sure. 5. List five things you're grateful for. My family, my West Coast friends, my East Coast friends, a roof over my head, a car that works even after nine and a half years 6. Who was the last person you hugged? Hmm...good question. I've been in despearate need of hugs this week and haven't seen anyone to hug. It was probably D who hugged me to congratulate me on speaking up five times in my first proseminar class. 7. What are your plans for the weekend? Reading, Olympics and knitting...oh and probably going to a used book sale because really, who *doesn't* need more books? He he! And a big Happy Birthday goes out to my baby cousin, Kristen, who's not really a baby anymore. She turns 12 today and she'll be in junior high next year. Eek! Jenn posted at 2:02 PM | |
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While on the phone with KB this afternoon, I refreshed myself on a recent SFist rant about being too obsessed with your iPod and search for the "the perfect iPod moment." While I've never had the perfect iPod moment, it really hit me how I look for perfection in every day. Not only in myself (as I am a self-admitted perfectionist), but in life around me. Which is why I ended up having days like Monday, where I got everything done, accomplished my goals and yet felt empty because I didn't have that little extra something to make my day feel like the best one since I've been alive. I should know that in order to have those fantastic days where I'm talking a-mile-a-minute about everything that happened and can barely be understood for all the laughing that I'm doing, there have to be regular days where life is fine, but not awesome. It's the good, but not great that make the perfection work. Without the mistakes and lameness, the sublime would become mundane. And I couldn't take that any more than I can take having too many monotonous days in a row. Jenn posted at 2:41 AM | |
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I was pissed last night when I came home and found that my kitchen light hadn't been replaced. There's nothing worse than coming home from a long day and not being able to see the buttons on the microwave, even with the ambient blue light of the Dave & Buster's clock. But today, the wonderful maintainence man came to change the light bulbs and I could see again. It's lovely! I'm getting so excited for the winter Olympics! Traditionally, I am a summer Olympics girl as all the sports I thought I might have wanted to compete in at one point were summer Olympics sports. However, there's something about the Olympics that just warms me inside. Call me a cornball, but I love the spirit of international cooperation and competition. And of course, I love Michelle Kwan - I want her to win the gold so badly! I even love the commercials related to the Olympics - that truck one with the S guy cracks me up ;) Jenn posted at 11:22 PM | |
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When my cousins were little and they'd get fussy, there was always a standard explanation: "Oh, they're just overtired!" That's the way I feel tonight. I feel like crying for no other reason than it's been about 12 hours since I've seen the inside of my apartment. The day was mostly good, broken up by items of stress that have since resolved themselves. I had to take my laptop to school for use during the PSSA meeting (since I am now the secretary) and that extra weight combined with my already heavy backpack has left my shoulders completely sore. I tried to stretch it out during my IGR break (resulting in some weird looks from D and C), but I think I just made it worse. This week is just so weird and I'm just feeling weird in it. Nothing went the way I wanted it to today and yet, I accomplished all of my goals. I got to school with time to spare. I recorded the minutes of the PSSA meeting and sent out the email (which of course, had a bunch of errors in it even though I spent 45 minutes writing it). I got my last signature for my graduation application. I had a place to stash my laptop for the rest of the day. I spoke up 5 times during my proseminar. I made some points (whether they were actually thought-provoking is another story) during my IGR seminar. It's all good. And yet, I am blinking back tears. I guess I'm just overtired. Jenn posted at 1:28 AM | |
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I'm having a really hard time getting back into the swing of things this semester. I mean the first week of classes is already over and I'm still feeling like it must be time for break. I know what I need to read. I know what I need to do while I'm reading. I know what I write after I read. And yet, I can't get myself motivated to do anything. I even cleaned my desk to procrastinate. And now I'm blogging. Man, someone save me from myself before I get off on the wrong foot and totally screw myself for the whole semester. Okay, maybe it's not that dire, but I want to be able to concentrate! Jenn posted at 2:57 PM | |
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Coretta Scott King dies at 78 - I don't know how I missed this story on Monday or the subsequent press all week. I guess it just proves how self-centered I've become. Sigh. I always had a special place in my heart for Mrs. King, ever since I "played" her in a school play in 3rd grade. My best friend, Suzy M, was supposed to have the role to herself, but the teacher decided to split it among Suzy M, another girl and myself, splitting the solo as well. I was about as an aware 3rd grader as you've probably seen (not much), but I knew that who I was playing and what I was singing was really important to a lot of people. She will be truly missed. Jenn posted at 3:01 PM | |
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Race the Governor - I am having just a little too much fun with this new game! Jenn posted at 10:16 PM | |
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And the sun shines on the bay I want to be there in my city "Lights" by Journey I've had that song stuck in my head all afternoon. Of course, there was no sun shining on the bay today as it was raining all freakin' day! I came home between classes just to blow dry my pants and shoes. It was sunny part of yesterday, but I didn't have class. If it's sunny again tomorrow, I'm declaring a conspiracy! I had my ECC class again today. We started on our "quest for the historical Jesus" and had a discussion about putting aside personal, theological beliefs in order to study the person as a historian. I think it's going to be an interesting unit. I had never really thought of doing such an analysis. Prof C's internship class was in the biology building again. I think someone must hate him or something. It smelled like we were going to dissect pigs and there was just no air in the room. I'm glad we only stayed part of the time and that we're getting a new room. I know a couple people in that class, which is nice. Our discussions are going to be really informal, but it's still nice to know people in class. I've been doing some knitting tonight. I can only do about two rows of this monstrosity of a project before my hands hurt, so I'm taking a break. Tomorrow, it's all about academic reading - I'll be buried in the middle ages and federalism (two different class) all day. Fun stuff! Jenn posted at 12:50 AM | |
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That's what I did today. And it was kinda nice. I mean, I could have started my reading or run a few errands, but instead, I lounged on the couch and watched DVDs. I made myself tacos and talked to R on the phone. I did take care of some business and I did wake up around 9:30, which is early for me without an alarm. I've got class again tomorrow, but it shouldn't be too bad. Just my ECC class and internship seminar with Prof C. Between those two, I've got to stop by another prof's office to pick up papers from last semester and get her to sign my grad app. Happy February! Jenn posted at 2:57 AM | |