On ice cream

awesome.

On disorientation

Recently the universe has been disorienting. It's not exactly against me, not really for me, just trying to screw me up and see how I'll handle it.

Cons:
1) I got lost on the CTA today. I thought I knew where I was going, but when I looked up from my newspapaer, I didn't recognize where I was at all. I ended up going in the wrong direction on a street I am very familiar with and then realizing my mistake and making it home after a bit. Also, walking home I saw another bus I am very familiar with en route along a street I am positive it does not travel. Perhaps I should be more observant of where I am at any given point in time.
2) Time will speed up or slow down just when you want it to do the opposite. This is one of those things that everyone knows to be true but is always surprising when it actually happens.
3) Everyone is sick and I'm having to pay particular attention to not get sick myself. This involves hand-washing, eating lots of oranges, wearing a facemask like a surgeon, and general avoidance of other people...or at least the first two. Sick people are not particularly good at life, they are focusing all their attention on staying coherent which is enough of a struggle, you know the feeling.
4) I have a midterm tomorrow. It's gonna be tough.
5) One really really great friend is choosing something that does not seem to be the best option available. There is a sight, postsecret.blogspot.com that is truly amazing, and one of the quotes sums up the situation very well: "Sometimes we build up walls. Not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to knock them down." Unfortunately, I dont have time or energy to care enough tonight, it's just bad timing. Luckily I have other good friends (as does he) who will step in.

Pros:
1) Teachers like me: I got an extension on a a paper (I have reasons to believe others were denied) for a day so I dont have a midterm and a paper on the same day, got over a b+ on the paper I turned in late for last quarter and a b+ in the course, and got 100% on my participation for statistics even though there was something wrong for nearly every one of the assignments i turned in (wrong problem, missing parts, done incorrectly, etc).
2) My friends love me, one in particular has been particularly amazing today and tonight. another is being a little more than slightly self-destructive, but its because of insecurity or something that is forgivable if not acceptable. Every so often its nice to hear things out loud.
3) I can land on my feet, think on my feet, and other spontaneous things. I got two thumbs up on a spontaneous analysis of a print in art history, i can answer questions in class, i can find my way home after randomly becoming lost.

...I think I passed.

on how I'm in the b-level

I'm in the b-level (thats the second below ground level in the library for those non uofc-ers) right now with my Wofflin (more umlat) and my camera full of pictures i took at the art institute today. I'm trying to decide if saint jerome is more classical or baroque, but its kind of hard because the painting is unfinished. In 30 minutes I get to go to may house and eat banana chocolate chip cookies and perhaps watch an episode of Arrested Development before going back to work.
I've been having many weird dreams and too much to go into detail here, but this morning I woke up just when it was getting really good, it involved frat boys and theme parks. Now I am going to go try to decide whether there is closed or open form before my break.

dream

I spent the whole night trying to punch people in the face. I had a good reason, but i dont remember what it was. oh yeah, people kept trying to steal my car! while i was watching! they were nice when i caught them, but finally i just had to punch them in the face. and then they said i should punch the guy dressed up like the bk guy who was manning a circus ice cream cart and so i totally tackled him and broke his nose, but he wasnt mad. i wish he would have been, it left me very disappointed this morning.

on Kuviasungnerk and Kangeiko

so we do this winter festival where every day for a week we wake up and go to the gym at 6am and do yoga, martial arts or other sports for two hours and then eat breakfast and then go to our classes. today was the first day. if i go for the whole week, i get a shirt. rock!

out of the funk and into the fire

so two beans were in a pan over the fire and they decided it was too hot and they were going to die. one of them decided to jump out of the pan and landed in the fire and died. the other was too scared of the jump and stayed in the pan. he died too. theres a moral to this story, but im not sure what. im pretty sure this is a grimm's fairy tale as well.

so today was good, worked on my scarf some which is relaxing. i think im on my way out of the funk. i dont know what causes it, but it seems to strike nearly everyday, but its spending less and less time hanging around, and i have better ideas of how to get rid of it now.

this weekend will be fun. its jonathan's 21st birthday, theres the belated new year's celebration, sunday is anna's birthday and also andrew and i wanted to make brunch at some point. all exciting good stuff. hopefully i can also finish unpacking and other things. well, now its off to read and fall asleep.

Its not a good mood, not a bad mood, just a funk

some things that have happened recently:
1) i got back to chicago, got to see my friends again, everything wonderful like that.
2) there has been some drama involving my friends from home and i am far away from it but still wanting to be there for them and all that.
3) Garett got back from Austria or wherever he was. I kind of thought it would never happen, it just seemed like he was gone forever, but its good that he's back, jonathan for one seems to be complete again.
4) Andrew and I apparently were forgotten when everyone congregated at Zach/Colleens tonight and we got invited late, it was still fun.
5) Jamie moved out, the room is a lot more quiet without her, it seems to be missing something. oh wait, just the mess, but i do miss her.
6) I thought today was monday, but its not, its tuesday, and that screwed me up even after i realized my mistake at 9am, the whole day seemed off.
7) i woke up at 7 and couldnt get back to sleep, so i took a nap and woke up and it was dark which also screws with my head. I dont like sleeping through daylight, it doesnt seem right.
8) Andrew and i have decided to at least try to get an apartment together for next year.

even chocolate, cards, friends, and my music didnt get me out of the funk, maybe a shower and a good nights sleep will do the trick.

I ate the fricken sauerkraut!

This new year i will be healthy, wealthy, and wise, or so says my family as i ate the ever so disgusting sauerkraut. that stuff is just gross.

New years this year started out slow but got to be a lot of fun, towards the end of the evening (read as 2-4 or so). the next day i drove to indiana to take my grama home and then yesterday i took the train into chicago and got back at my dorm.

last night was a blast! i unpacked all the imporant things, my new food processor, all my new spices, and my books, talked to jake and andrew and decided to make dinner for all my friends! well, not all, but a few of them. so andrew, jake, cat, zach, erica, jonathan, and the long awaited garett all came over and we failed at making soup as the kind of squash we bought refused to open and turned out to be much more like a pumpkin than anything else, then we successfully made manicotti (some tofu, most cheese) spinach and peach cobbler dump cake. it was fabulous, including the part where andrew and i were walking back from the store, saw a bus and i said "wouldnt it be funny if our friends were on that bus and we're really late?" and then they were.

today im going to attend to classes, go to lunch and meet people, i know zach will be there, and then just do some random stuff, emailing, gym, unpacking, all that good stuff that needs to happen.