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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Landmark Occasion

This morning, I had my first solid poop in over 2 months.
About 2 weeks ago, the doctor told me that I needed to start taking fiber supplements or this would never end. So I bought a bottle of Metamucil pills, and have been choking down 5 of them every morning since.
But now, I think they're working! Maybe it takes a while for the fiber to build up in your system. I don't know. It was perfectly poo-shaped, the kind you would fish out and put in a paper bag and set on fire outside your most-hated neighbor's front door. I sat in front of that toilet and admired it for a good minute. In the end, though, I had to flush it away. So here's hoping I'll see another one soon.

A new bicycle? Thanks!

Barack Obama is your new bicycle.

I honestly can't stop smiling over this. Yay Barack!

A Simple History

By me
Translated from the Spanish by me

In a country very far from here, there lives an unhappy prince. His kingdom is poor and dirty. The peasants are disgruntled and talk of a revolution. This prince doesn't know what he needs to do. His father, dying slowly and painfully in his bed, can do nothing to help. It is a time without hope. While the prince worries by himself, the peasants prepare their torches.
It wasn't always like this. In better days, there was a brilliant and warm sun. The plains were green, the crops abundant, and all the people in the kingdom worked with a smile in their hearts. Many ships sailed in and out of the ports, bringing with them exotic spices, fine silks, and strong slaves.
Life was good.
In these old days, the prince wasn't a coward; he wasn't scared of the world outside. He was handsome, rode his horse with style, fought valiantly in battle, and made love with many women. His father, the King, governed with justice and fairness, and the peasants adored him.
The end began on the same day the prince met the woman of his dreams. She, a princess of an old kingdom and an old alliance, was visiting the exotic countries before her upcoming wedding. The love between them was instant and unstoppable, and like a terrible fire, it destroyed the friendship between the kingdoms.
The resulting battle inflicted destruction equally upon both nations. Cruel soldiers invaded the princess's kingdom while her father fought on the plains of his enemy. The list of tragedies is almost endless. The prince's favorite horse died with a lance through his heart. The beautiful princess's father disappeared without a trace. Some say his brother killed him, before he was decapitated in the mob. The gardens of the palace, known throughout all the land for their tranquility and beauty, were the site of the worst prisoner camp. Innumerable women were raped, resulting in an immense flood of orphans into the city streets.
After three years of war, the princess had a child. He was fragile, small, and blue; he died in the night without a sound or a name. The next day the princess begged the prince to stop the senseless massacre. Enraged by her lack of respect, he hit her. Not knowing his own strength, he caused a hemorrhage in her brain. He cried out in horror when he realized what he had done, but it wasn't enough. Two days later, the princess died and her dream came true. Without his love, without the backbone of his body, the prince lost his strength.
Eventually the official war ended. Unfortunately, no one was there to control the kingdom. Soldiers still fought over loot, villages were pillaged and torched. The economy was entirely destroyed.
Ten more years, and the prince still lives with fear in his castle. The peasants shout for his head.
Careful, my little one, for this is the terrible power of love.

When are they going to invent a time-turner?

Owwww. I want to die.
Irene had this theory that Walmart gave us placebo antibiotics. I think she's got something there. The white bump is still in the back of my throat, I'm coughing more, it hurts to swallow, and occasionally I get some gooey green stuff, too.
Dominated at beer pong last night, and whether this was because I'm getting better, or I was playing with the King of Pong on my team, I don't know. Or care. All I know is that I kicked ass. And then blacked out.
So naturally the hangover didn't go so well. I was worthless and whimpering with my head on my arms at work, and the ringing phones and screaming kids weren't helping at all. I made it through 3 hours before I gave up and begged to go home sick. I don't think it's gone away yet, but I got my appetite back around 5.
And now I'm going to crawl into bed and sleep fitfully, because I'm freaking out over how much work I have to do tomorrow.

Ouch

So The Man broke it off today. In the library.
Even when they say it's not your fault, how is a girl supposed to be expected to believe it? If it wasn't my fault, he wouldn't have done it.
This sucks.
If my eyes weren't red and puffy, I'd go out and rent a sappy movie. Instead I think I'll stay in and sleep on this first Friday back in Bellingham.

Mardi Gras = <3

I've lost track of the days of the week. The differences between Saturday and Sunday and Monday are unknown to me - they're just The Night We Went to the French Quarter, That Day We Drank for 10 Hours, and That Night I Toured the Mansions. Tuesday, of course, is That Morning I Woke Up With Strep.
In all seriousness, there are too many things to be able to recount. Today, for example, has been one long wander.
We started at 8 am, sick (Irene with a fever and bronchitis, myself with strep) and ready to hit the parades. I found my sunglasses I lost the night before under the picnic table. Soon after the first parade we gave up on pretending we could make it, and drove our sick, miserable, exhausted selves back to Mississippi. Once back in Jackson, we sat in an emergency room for 2.5 hours waiting for a simple prescription for antibiotics. Shortly after we caught up with Irene's friends and made plans for pizza (to be perfectly honest, I don't even remember where this conversation took place.) The beer and pizza experience included pitchers of cheap beer, Lawrence of Arabia on the Shack screen tv, and high speed winds porchside. Then there was the basketball game, and some more wandering. The night ended on a screened in porch with Milwaukee's Best and discussions about the presidential primaries and pirates.
Basically Irene's got some kickass friends here at Millsaps, and I forgive her for moving out of the Green House and heading south. It was a good move for her, and I'd much rather come visit her in the heat again instead of hanging out in my apartment, afraid to go outside because of the cold.
Oh, also. Mississippi has amazing lightning. The kind that we on the West Coast see maybe once a year.

Reminiscing

Last night, after dropping the Man off at his house and still daydreaming about the french fries he ate in front of me, I decided that hard-boiled eggs sounded like the most delicious thing on earth. So I busted out a pot, turned on the stove, and waited. And waited. And waited some more because how did I forget! Hard boiled eggs take a lifetime! Then, naturally, I got impatient and tried to eat them before they were done. Bad idea. I went through 6 eggs trying to get it right, 45 minutes of half-sleeping half-starving irritation, and by the end of it all I just felt like puking the eggs right back up.
Then naturally this morning, before pouring myself a giant heaping bowl of cereal, I checked my "dietary restrictions" list and realized that I don't get to eat today. At all. By the time my appointment comes around tomorrow (today), I won't have had anything other than Gatorade, water, and laxatives in over 30 hours.
I can't sleep, either. I passed out earlier today, around 7. I'd been cold and shaky and achy and miserable for a few hours, but I'd tried to fight it off by reading a book. Instead I fell asleep, and according to the laws of my life, my mom called at 9 and woke me up. I've been wide awake since.
Her news wasn't all that great, either. Go ahead and read about it. I knew this girl in junior high, and had a hard time placing her name while my mom was talking. It hit me right after I hung up. I hated her. Not in a full-blown planning for her destruction sort of way, but she was a year younger than me, went to my church, and in general was a huge pain in the ass. This isn't a very accurate description of her, though, considering it's the memory of a 14 year old. Anyway, I wish her all the best in the world. It sounds like she's being cared for, though, so I guess her parents are the ones in need of support now. (My mom told me about all this as a warning against letting people drive my van, of course. Thanks Mom.)
Now, on to the entire reason I started writing. I want to talk about food, and all the food I want to eat when I come out from the anesthesia tomorrow.
Taco Bell: A cheesy gordita crunch with refried beans. The texture of all those ingredients - crunchy lettuce and taco shell, combined with squishy tortilla, beans, and melted cheese would be Heaven. Also, steak taquitos drenched in sour cream.
McDonald's: An egg Mcmuffin, of course! The sweet burst of ham on top of egg and cheese, accompanied by the crisp feeling of biting down through a freshly toasted english muffin. As for potatoes, I can't tell which sounds more appetizing: fries or hash browns.
Other Things: A Boomer's burger. The roommates and I are going for dinner, fo' sho'. Peanut butter toast. Kenny was eating it earlier tonight, it smelled divine. The nacho cheese Doritos someone left at our house after the party - yummm. Also, I want a hot dog. And some sort of meat with BBQ sauce. Or a taco salad from Dos Padres! Hell, even a big bowl of Rice Krispies with milk sounds divine.
It's going to be a long night, I can tell. A headache has settled in on top of my head, the cigarette burn is itching, and in general I'm feeling downright bitchy.

Park Day!

Today was another Chelsea & Sharron Go to the Park Day! We hit up Larrabee again, because come on, you can never go wrong at Larrabee. As usual I took a handful of decent pictures, and Sharron practically filled her memory card with professional-grade photos. We watched little children play on the rocks, college students skip stones, and kept our eyes out for our Beloved Starfish. Unfortunately it was high tide, so we didn't find many interesting critters among the rocks.
Right now our Park Days are a quarterly ritual, but today we decided that Bellingham is far too pretty to only by documented every three months. Besides, it's a good break from the usual. We put on our rain boots, wade through the water, and spend very little time actually talking. The goal is mostly just to wander, look at interesting things, and listen to the soothing sounds of families playing and waves crashing. Later tonight she'll be handing off her thousands of photos to me, so perhaps in a few days I'll load the best of the best up here.
Now for tonight! It's our quarterly Shit Show here at the apartment. This year is a step in a new direction - the goal is still to get trashed on trashy cheap drinks, but we've mixed the themes up a bit. Last year it was always Wine and Cheese - this fall we did a toga, and tonight is Freaks & Geeks, aka Awkward High School Party! I'm thrilled to see the turnout. Cole, my friend from Church Camp, is coming up on a bus from Shoreline. Tuey is going to come by in her gothic chain pants, fishnets, and Alice in Chains gear. Nick has a shirt with wolves running across his chest. I'll be channeling the dark-eyed duo from my own school, with heavy black eyeliner and a compact mirror to touch it up as the night goes on. Also the Man will be attending, which is sad because he's missing out on camping, but also awesome because I wanted him to come. I'm going to see if I can turn his hair into a mullet when he shows up.

Can't Concentrate!

Today has been surprisingly productive. Tuesdays and Thursdays are fast becoming my favorite days (although they're showing a sad trend towards doing homework for several hours.) I spent almost two hours at the gym! It started as a determination to run and use the ellipticals, and turned into a bet against myself that I could stay until I burnt enough calories that eating an elephant would seem like a good idea. Ran into the brother while lifting weights, which was rather odd. Our family is not known for being healthy, so seeing each other working out was like a step outside of reality. He and I exchanged a few words and quickly separated. And yet, despite that extreme creep-out moment, I still stayed on for another 40 minutes.
Then it was gorge time.
Unfortunately the Atrium, no, THE SUB CONNECTION HAS A VERY FUCKED UP PRICING SYSTEM. A baja chicken wrap comes with bacon! A baja chicken sub costs $0.50 MORE and HAS NO BACON. I wanted them to stop and swap, but they weren't going for it.
That said, it was deliciously spicy and I inhaled it in less than five minutes.
Walking through Red Square I watched a boy carrying a very large street sign while holding his girlfriend's hand. He almost hit her in the back of the head about 5 times. I followed not-so-stealthily hoping to see it happen, but alas, he caught on and shifted it.
Then I sat in a secluded corner of the library and did homework for two hours without falling asleep. So proud of myself! But still no closer to understanding this take-home econ quiz. Or having a working calculator.
Went home around 5. Went out to Boomer's with the boys an hour later. The wait was about 30 minutes this time -- worth it! The most satisfying $3 ever spent, except for all those other times I'm going to buy burgers this month. Shortly after dinner I went to the pool, where I saved my coworkers from several deadly hypothetical situations. Unfortunately it ran way later than I expected, so I didn't get home until about 10. And we're still not done. And my essay is still incomplete.
So now here I sit, having been working on an informative guide to salvia for the last hour and a half, only lacking a solid conclusion, and I just don't know if it's going to happen. Of course, it will, but only after another hour of staring balefully at the Word document and giving up to scour Youtube.

Martin Luther King gave me the day off!

The newest Spanish essay prompt is to research a drug, legal or illegal, and talk (or argue) about it. Initially I was looking into male contraceptives. Unfortunately they're all either abandoned ideas or still in testing, so I'd be doing more of a hypothetical analysis than anything else. Instead, I turned my sights to salvia. Who knows, maybe it will be an original topic. Or maybe I'm doing the college version of a high school report on pot! (Haha, I loved those kids. They were always so clueless and giggly while talking about the munchies.)

I put the Buena Vista Social Club on LOUD and cleaned tonight. Instead of using the dust bin and broom, I swept all the dirt into one big pile and vacuumed it up. Earlier in the quarter, before we had a mop, I took paper towels and Windex to every inch of the linoleum. I like to think that as I get older I'll just become more eccentric with my house cleaning. Toothbrushes to get the grooves between the molding and the floor, gleaming stove tops minutes after cooking spaghetti, bathrooms without a hint of hair... Naturally, I won't be able to live with anyone else.

Owww

Hikes are lovely. Fabulous. Excellent fun. A time to test your physical ability, appreciate nature, and bond with good friends in a new and interesting way.

They are not, however, a good idea when you've just come down with the Irritating Nose Drip From Hell. I'll be falling asleep, belly full of cold meds, within 30 minutes.

Money on my mind

About 5 years ago, I found myself standing in a boy's living room attempting to read Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything while stoned out of my fucking mind. I can't even begin to explain just how infinitely blown my mind was while reading about the size of atoms.

Today I started that book again. Apparently Bill Bryson usually writes comically about his travels, so this is more of a travel through the history of the world told with an ironic and friendly sense of humor. Many times I've found myself thinking, "Oh, man, I need to remember that line!"

But I could not resist any longer when he mentioned this chemist's name: Lorenzo Romano Amadeo Carlo Avogadro, Count of Quarequa and Cerreto.

I want that name. Or something fabulously similar.

Also! Irene will be in town TONIGHT. Let the brazen disrespect for maturity begin!

Please don't ask me to get up

It's 6pm. I've been awake for 11 hours. I think I'm going to be sound asleep before the 12th.

Fuck me today was a long day. On the plus side, I finished my first book of Winter Break. Babylon Revisited and Other Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Am now working on Salman Rushdie's Jaguar Smile, seeing as I can't get enough of these tales of Latin American revolutionaries.