Monday, March 24, 2008

I Bought It

And I loooove it. So nice. So sleek. So easy to use! Although sometimes it makes noises that I don't understand.
I also got lost in Portland today. I spent 2 hours wandering through downtown, to the edges, and back again. A very kind man in a Mercedes repair shop drew me a map, a trendy girl in an Anthropologie dress pointed me to the Apple Store, and a gay boy in a coffee shop coveted my seahorse necklace. Bicyclists of all kinds, with clipless pedals and spandex or Timbuktu bags and knee socks, were pedaling their hearts out all over the city. I suppose it would be easier in Portland - there's not half as many extreme hills as in Seattle. I only ran into one obscenity-shouting homeless man, although admittedly my headphones probably drowned out the ones I didn't see. Hands down, though, the award for greatest Portland individual goes to the Elvis impersonator singing on a scarcely populated street corner with his karaoke machine. You'd think he would at least go to a part of the city where a crowd might gather.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Debate

Question: Just because I have the money, should I spend it?
I'm thinking about buying a MacBook. I dearly love my current PC, but having Vista installed on it is a pain in the ass. It takes about 5 minutes to shut down, and lately it hardly knows how to run 3 programs at once before putting all of them into slowmo. Also, it is inconveniently large and heavy.
I've been thinking about this since New Orleans. Lying on a couch, hungover and throwing Jessica's laptop from one person to the next, I realized that I really liked the idea of a computer that doesn't require finicky handling. It would be nice to have something that fit into my backpack, and a battery life that could see me through the end of a class.
But do I really want to leave behind my PC? And Spider Solitaire?? (I have 84% wins!)
I'll be on the phone with el padre tomorrow.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Soco Amaretto Lime

Okay, okay, I'll be honest. I really was in love with Brand New. I listened to their CD's endlessly, Chanel and I sang and danced around her apartment to their punk pop chords, and when I turned 18 I really felt that I connected with the last track on their first album. You know the one. "Get the hell out of this town/ find some conversation."
So this afternoon the roommates and I did a liquor store run, and I went all out and sprang for some SoCo and Amaretto. After all, if Brand New turned out to be a liar, I could just spend the first half of Spring Break drinking Amaretto Sours and Comfortable Screws.
The result feels a bit iffy. They're not especially strong drinks individually, but mixed together, 2 parts liquor and 1 part lime juice, I've got a good glow going already. However, it tastes too Amaretto-y if there's not enough lime, and once you find the right level you find yourself making bitter beer face because of the sour taste on the sides of your tongue.
I'll give them tonight, but tomorrow it's one or the other. Brand New doesn't have the best taste in mixed drinks, it turns out.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Dork

So I log into Blackboard looking for some practice economics quizzes. Oddly enough, one of the documents available is Winter2008's Final and Answers. "What?" I ask myself. So I open it, of course. My professor is the world's biggest dork. In huge text, bolded and all caps, I see: JUST KIDDING!

I'm definitely not putting any effort into the essay now.

Levanta la mano

The most recent item of distraction is Muñeca Brava, a telenovela from Buenos Aires. It's a classic soap opera, with secret children and drunk housewives and an evil brother-in-law, but I just can't stop myself from watching it. Between classes I sneak away to the Language Lab and settle in with the Macs. At home I jump a mile when the roommates interrupt my focus.
On the upside, I'm getting better at understanding Spanish. And I could rewrite this whole entry without using Freetranslation.com or a dictionary. Actually, it feels kind of strange to leave my room and hear another language.
Cannot wait for Mexico.

Monday, March 10, 2008

What is she up to?

I have a plan for August.
I'll have to move home for two weeks, which will be sad. And awkward, because I imagine the bar scene in Fedtown isn't too kickin'.
So instead I'm going to repaint my room. The two-tone colors are simply awful - I can't believe my parents let me pick them out. It's going back to white, so I can visit home without cringing in my old bedroom.
Also, I'm going to drag all my old furniture into the driveway and paint them white. The IKEA bookshelf, once painted, will no longer look like I put it together wrong (which I did). The dresser as old as I am will finally get rid of all those crayon markings, and new knobs in the drawers will really give it a classy look.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Oh Dear

News! I'm going to Guadalajara in the fall. Of course, this means I didn't get into my school in Buenos Aires. I'm more than a little heartbroken about it. This means no tango classes, no learning to speak with an Argentinian accent, and certainly no epic shopping sprees for chic clothing. But, I'm still excited to go to ITESO (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente). My daydreams took a minute to catch up with the new plan, but now they're back to running full force.
I just about bit through my lip with tonight's episode of Lost. Usually I gather over at Sharron's, where we've splintered into two teams: Team Jack and Team Sawyer. Your team is based on who you think should get to shack up with Kate (personally, I wanted to branch off to Team Polar Bear, where Kate gets eaten by one of the island monsters, but that wasn't allowed.) We've even got color-coordinated bandannas! Tonight, Sharron couldn't host, so we all did our own thing - I watched it over at a coworker's place with her friends. And oh! What an episode it was! Jack licked all over Juliet's face, with Kate no more than 20 feet away (unfortunately, with her back turned.) I wanted to cry and shout and call up Sharron and brag in her face that there was no way Team Jack has a shot after this. I guess I'll have to save it for a text message tomorrow.