Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Baby, you got what I need (But you say he just a friend)

There are ups and downs to knowing how to use the internet for more than googling images of Britney Spears pre-breakdown. On the upside, I know where to find endless material for amusement. Blogs are fantastic. They're also the biggest downside. After all, if I, an easily amused college student who relies upon her parents to make rent, can manage to keep a blog, then obviously there are many other people with many other talents and far more interesting stories doing the very same. Nothing quite brings me out of my "yeah my life is awesome" mindset as well as an hour spent catching up on Internet idols.

Not to mention that I lose an hour reading about someone cooler than me, when I could have been studious or amusing or bonded with a roommate or cooked something amazing. That is an hour I will never get back. It's an hour that I chose to spend chuckling while simultaneously making myself feel bad about how that's not my amusing story.

That said, awkward moment of the day: Sharron, Andrea and I tried to pull off a group hug today, only to realize we didn't know what to do with our faces. We ended up staring creepily into each other's eyes (or chins, in my case.)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

I am a Gemini

Via Wikipedia:

Characteristics (bold words apply)

Astrologers broadly agree that the following are the characteristics of Gemini:
The Gemini person is versatile, whimsical, nimble, articulate, active, adaptable, intellectual, witty, inquistive, intuitive, charming, brilliant, affectionate, courteous, theatrical, generous, thoughtful, straight-forward, social, talkative, mercurial, eloquent, brave, free-spirited, loves attention, playful, good-natured, good sense of humor, leader, broad-minded, diplomatic, and lively.
The Gemini is prone to be temperamental, fickle, demand attention and admiration, boastful, plays mind games, quarrelsome, prattlers, tricksters, narcisstic, devious, manipulative, superficial, argumentative, restless, childish, indecisive, nervous, duality, tense, cold, insensitive, inconsistent, and cunning.

Semi-Compatability: Pisces, Aries
Incompatability: Cancer, Scorpio (the favorite brother), Virgo, Taurus, Capricorn
Ideal Careers: Actor/actress (no thanks), comedian (no thanks), teacher (maybe), debator (no thanks), sales person (no thanks), diplomats (sure! except not rich enough), speaker (no thanks), authors (no talent), poets (no talent), journalists (no talent), lawyers (sure!), movie writer, or director.
Likes: Talking, the unusual, teaching, different things in life, Multiple projects all going at once (oh God ew stress)
Dislikes: Feeling tied down (definitely), learning (actually, I wish I could stay in college forever), being in bad situations, mental inaction, being alone (also not true)

Astrology.com says:

Gemini
May 21 - June 21

Gemini is the third Sign of the Zodiac, and those born under this Sign will be quick to tell you all about it. That's because they love to talk! It's not just idle chatter with these folks, either. The driving force behind a Gemini's conversation is their mind. The Gemini-born are intellectually inclined, forever probing people and places in search of information. The more information a Gemini collects, the better. Sharing that information later on with those they love is also a lot of fun, for Geminis are supremely interested in developing their relationships. Dalliances with these folks are always enjoyable, since Geminis are bright, quick-witted and the proverbial life of the party. Even though their intellectual minds can rationalize forever and a day, Geminis also have a surplus of imagination waiting to be tapped. Can a Gemini be boring? Never!

Since Geminis are a mix of the yin and the yang, they are represented perfectly by the Twins. The Gemini-born can easily see both sides of an issue, a wonderfully practical quality. Less practical is the fact that you're not sure which Twin will show up half the time. Geminis may not know who's showing up either, which can prompt others to consider them fickle and restless.

They can be wishy-washy, too, changing their mood on a simple whim. It's this characteristic which readily suggests the Mutable Quality assigned to this Sign. Mutable folks are flexible and go with the flow. Further, the Twins are adaptable and dexterous and can tackle many things at once. It's a good thing, too, when you consider their myriad interests. The downside of such a curious mind, however, can be a lack of follow-through. How much can any one person do, anyway?

comments: the whole gathering information and relaying it to people bit is oh-so-true. life of the party, though? not so much. sudden mood changes apply - my mother says i'm impulsive. lack of follow-through, definitely, though i don't usually try to multi-task like crazy. it's too stressful.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Today's Game Face: Irrational!

All morning, I've been surprising myself by how alert and chipper I've been. No breakfast, but I'm not hungry. No caffeine, but I'm not drowsy. 5 hours of sleep, and I'm not irritable.

But just now, all the warning bells and whistles went clanging crazily away. I most definitely am not well-rested and prepared to meet the day. How do I know? This entry made me teary-eyed. Although I think that's what Heather wanted.

"...but when her feet leave the ground there is a tiny, measurable block of air that separates her feet from the earth. The distance from here to the stars is a lot bigger than that, I know this, but if you take that enormous distance and convert it to centimeters, well then Leta just got a little closer."

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Hands like ice

At first I thought it was a silly coincidence. But after listening all the way through, I am convinced that Putumayo Presents: Turkish Lounge accidentally filled the CD with Bollywood tracks translated to Turkish.

Also, I locked myself out of the apartment this afternoon. Instead of cooking my own lunch, I walked the mile to Fairhaven and enjoyed a warm cup of hot cocoa and a chicken pot pie. This conveniently took up enough time until one of my roommates came home from class.

I made a beeline for my bedroom, and settled in with the computer while I waited to warm up. Over an hour went by before I realized that I keep shifting my position to have one foot and one hand tucked under my body. Oops. Someone forgot to turn the heater on.

Monday, November 12, 2007

High Expectations

So I know that studying a language for three years naturally gives you a leg up over the non-bilingual population. But I refuse to believe that understanding Spanish is really that hard. Look! So many of the words are almost identical to English! It's the verbs and conjugation and structure that don't make sense at first. I feel like almost anyone with a clear head and ability to recognize word roots could figure out the gist of my essay.

¡Quiero comer pan, por favor!

En este día, hay muchas personas que no son saludables. Son cansados con mucha frecuencia, no pueden concentrar, y se enferman fácilmente. Necesitamos preguntarnos, ¿es una cuestión de una vida normal, o es algo que nosotros hacemos mal? Los defensores de la medicina alternativa creen que las cosas que comemos duelen nuestros cuerpos. Para dar el tiempo del cuerpo a curarse, es necesario que algunas veces todos los años eliminemos los alimentos perjudiciales en nuestra dieta. Esta vez de comiendo comida pura se llama una dieta de desintoxicación. Una dieta de la desintoxicación tiene críticos en la medicina profesional, pero si se lo hace correctamente, la dieta da más energía, ayuda a personas a adelgazar, y ayuda en descubrir comida más interesante y saludable. Yo traté de hacerlo.

En una dieta común hay muchísimos comidas que tiene componentes artificiales y peligrosas. Naturalmente, una dieta de la desintoxicación quiere quitar los dos. Las instrucciones de la dieta dicen: No comas trigo, gluten, azúcar, carne, productos lácteos, comidas con mucha aceite ni grasa, y no bebas alcohol ni cafeína. Es esencialmente una dieta vegetariana. Para mí, la parte más difícil no fue buscar comidas apropiadas. Fue no comer pan. El cuerpo tiene comidas favoritas y confortables, y quiere comerlas. Vegetales y frutas son excelentes, pero yo nunca me siento repleta sin algo más sólido. Sin pan y carne, especialmente porque mucho de mi dieta está hecho de esas cosas, sentía completamente vacío unos pocos días después de empezar. Afortunadamente, esto es uno de las metas de una dieta de la desintoxicación.

Algunos efectos de la dieta son extraños, pero otros son buenísimos. Yo necesité el baño frecuentemente en la primera semana. Desde que la dieta requiere comer muchos alimentos con mucha fibra, el colon limpia su contenido pronto. Algunas personas les duelen la cabeza a causa de retirada de cafeína. Después unos pocos días, yo tenía más energía y podía concentrar mejor. No he adelgazado todavía, pero no es la cosa más importante para mí. Pienso que el mejor aspecto de esta dieta es que yo aprendí cocinar comidas más interesantes.

Puedes ver que no tengo resultados significativos de hacer esta dieta. Para esta misma razón, muchos médicos no creen en la dieta de desintoxicación. Dicen que nuestros cuerpos adaptan a sustancias nuevas y no necesitan ayuda. Si este es verdad, no me importa. La dieta de desintoxicación es un descanso de comidas insalubres que normalmente una persona no toma.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Failing Again

I've successfully given up on nearly every endeavor I've tried. Rowing lasted a whole 2 seasons. The tennis club lasted a day. Running this summer? I did 4 miles a day for a week, then decided that working part-time was enough of a commitment. I dropped out of the Culinary Arts class in high school. I didn't apply to any other college except Western because their application requirements were too strict - application essay? Forget that! Even last quarter, I failed a finance class because I decided that riding my bike was more important.

The most recent drop-out I've accomplished was my attempt at a detox diet.

The idea was that I'd stop eating wheat, gluten, dairy, meat, caffeine, sugar and alcohol for two weeks. Sounds crazy, right? Well, I have a Spanish essay due Tuesday, and I thought it would be fun to write about my experiences. Also, ever since the Peruvian parasite poop-fest, my body still hasn't quite been up to shape. I started last Sunday, and I was doing well. Trader Joe's has an amazing assortment of indian curries, and one bag of frozen stir fry veggies from Costco + gluten free soy sauce + rice can keep a girl stuffed for weeks. But oh. The roommates just had to go and stock up on bagels this same week. I've been smelling toasted bagels every morning, watching Nick and Chris lather on the cream cheese while I drink my soy milk and fruit smoothie, knocking bags of the delicious circular bread out of the freezer every time I go for the vegetables. It's been sheer torture.

So this morning I gave in. I ate a bagel, and it was delicious. So delicious, in fact, that I took another one with me to work. While there, a coworker and I unjammed the vending machine and looted over $2 in quarters. Naturally, I had to celebrate the windfall with some peanut M&M's. I knew I would regret it and here I am, 4 hours later, tallying up my history of wimping out.

I think I'm going to keep going with the diet, though. It's only another week. Today was a slump, but I'm more determined than ever to see it through.

Also, I made potato pancakes for dinner. They were heavenly.

Fortunately the roommates are in Canada tonight, because I also burned them and filled the entire apartment with a thick layer of smoke. Does anyone have tips on how to cook with oil without starting smoke signals?

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

I Have the Giggles

Nick just came in to my room. "So I was eating a bowl of rice, and I sneezed. Now I have a kernel of rice stuck up my nose. And I can't get it out."