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Well Week 2 of classes is over, and it was a pretty good one.

I'm still trying to get used to this whole blogging thing. I've tried having a blog before, but I just never felt that I had anything interesting enough to say that people would actually want to take the time to read. But it seems to be a really beneficial thing for a lot of people I know, so I figure I might as well keep on going instead of abandoning it (as I've done with blogs many times before).

So...yeah this is the part of the post in which I'm lost as to what I should be writing.

What did I do today? Let's see. I got up and went to work. I really can't stress enough how lucky I feel that I have this job. My boss is just excellent, and SO easygoing. I can basically come in whenever I like and leave whenever I like, and he's always telling me to take it easy and relax because I work so hard. I feel more pampered at work than I do anywhere else! Plus it doesn't hurt that there's always free food around Courant. Honestly, I think I've eaten on NYU's dime three times this week. There are just always conferences and meetings going on where they set out huge spreads of sandwiches and fruit and soda in the hallways, and then when they have less people than expected (because really, it's a MATH conference people) they tell me to take as much as I like, and don't I want a cookie, and take another can of soda for later.

So I went to work and made copies and took phone calls and other basic boring work-type-stuff...and then I left around 2 to go deliver mail. This is the only part of my job that I really just don't like. Especially on a day like today.

Today was so cold! I know that it was normal temperature for winter, but it felt way colder than it should have been. The fact that Manhattan is basically a series of wind tunnels doesn't help, either.

But I went to deliver a bunch of mail. A lot of it was normal everyday stuff, but there were some invitations to a formal function that had to be hand-delivered. A lot of them go to Dean's offices, most of which are located in the buildings along Washington Square North (the picture above is of the buildings there; it wasn't snowy today, but it was certainly that cold!).

The insides of these buildings are gorgeous. They've got these beautiful staircases and old-fashioned elevators and really high ceilings. The film I Am Legend was shot there, and the houses themselves would be amazing to live in. I always love when I get to deliver stuff there, because going into these houses makes me feel like a little kid going into a big adult store. Also, people rarely go in or out of the houses, so people always think I'm on some important business when they see me heading in or leaving.

My last delivery was for the NYU Abu Dhabi chairman. They have offices here in the city, and these offices are also really stunning to look at. They're extremely modern, which is strange considering the overwhelming design of the building they're located in is old-fashioned. But you walk in and it's just this extremely light, airy, modern chrome-and-glass decor that NYU loves so much (and that I really love as well).

I finally got paid today (hooray!) so I went to the bookstore and bought my Italian book. Sigh. All of my money that I get from NYU goes right back to them. I feel like it shouldn't even make a pit stop in my bank account.

I got an e-mail from Housing that said I could ensure no one would be moving into my room by paying an additional $2000. I think I'm just going to risk it and take my chances.

And then LSP sent a mass e-mail saying (and it really was written like this): THE LAST DAY TO APPLY FOR AN ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE IS TODAY!!! IF YOU DON'T APPLY TODAY YOU CANNOT RECEIVE YOUR ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE!!!

Now, maybe I'm being a bit judgmental here, but the tone of that email seems to imply that they had mentioned graduation applications before. At least a few times. But this was the first that ANYONE had heard of this. So of course, people were freaking out (it didn't help that they put incorrect instructions in their e-mail and no one could figure out how to actually apply). And, brilliance above all, they made the default reply-to address the LSP listserve. Which meant that every time someone hit reply on this email, EVERY SINGLE PERSON in LSP got their email.

So I spent a solid 20 minutes explaining to people how to apply for graduation (really, it wasn't that hard to figure out) and received at least 45 emails from people I'd never met about why should they get an associate's and how should they apply, etc.

Ridiculous.

Then I made dinner...tomato basil chicken with garlic and angel hair. I eat more angel hair than any person ever should. But it's just so good!

Well that's really about it...I guess I found something to write about after all :-)

[note: This is an edited version, because I realized when I reread it that there was a typo. Horrendous.]

Watch the State of the Union address on my blog!

thx Hulu.

Weekend...

This was a good one.

It's nice to have a weekend in which I wasn't concerned about homework or anything like that...and was just able to have fun without feeling guilty about it.

I worked on Friday...the office where I work was just moved down one floor, so the day consisted of six hours of me unpacking boxes and organizing stuff. Now, I usually don't really do much at work. At all. It's the time that is set aside in my day for doing crossword puzzles and reading novels that aren't assigned and doing homework if I happen to have a lot of it. So actually working at work...well that was something weird. But it was worth it, because my boss told me to take a day off sometime this week. I'm thinking Wednesday.

Anyway, Friday night, Team Pretty went to Greenwich Hotel to hang out with Jordan and Traver (more MT members). GHo is way over on the West Side, south of Washington Square. It's not that far from campus, but getting there from Union Square is kind of a pain. But it was a nice night, and we walked over there.

Friday was the last Tonight Show with Conan. I've never actually watched the show (honestly, I've never watched Leno or Letterman or Jimmy Kimmel or Craig Ferguson either) but I've been following the whole drama as it unfolded and the boys wanted to watch it anyway. And I kind of regret now that I had never watched it. He was really funny, in that "this is my last show and I'm going to go crazy and say exactly what I want to say" kind of way. His last monologue was pretty great too.

Anyway. We spent the rest of the evening watching YouTube videos and shaking our heads at Richie, who fell asleep all over everything.

Saturday was a pretty mellow day. Richie and I went to Spice, and then I spent most of the day watching 30 Rock on Netflix and being lazy. Saturday night, on the other hand, was anything but mellow.

Two former MT members are moving out of their apartment (where afterparties and general carousing are the rule). I've been there quite a few times, and I've always enjoyed myself. So they were having one last hurrah before they left.

And what a hurrah it was.

Today will consist of watching football and getting some reading done for classes. And then tomorrow another week starts. Sigh.

Well Hello There, Blogoverse!

I'm Amelia, and this is my blog. Isn't it just all nice and shiny and lovely? Yes, yes it is. Here's some basics about me (so you're not confused by my references).

-I'm 19, attending NYU.

-I'm currently in the Liberal Studies Program (LSP) but will be transferring to the Steinhardt School, to major in Applied Psychology (APUG) with a concentration in clinical psychology.

-I live in housing. I currently have a room all to myself (due to extenuating circumstances from last semester) and I LOVE IT. Many friends come to stay with me and sleep in my extra bed.

-I love my friends more than life itself. I'm super loyal, and I've also realized that I prefer the company of men far more than that of women. So much less ridiculousness.

-I am a member of an exclusive group known as Team Pretty. The other members are:

• Richie. We lived on the same floor last year, and we've been through some pretty gnarly times together. He has terrible taste in music, is a double major in drama and math, and is a member of Mass Transit (explained later).
• Jayson. Also in MT, he's a freshman, a dancer, and is ridiculously fierce.
• Jenni. In the same studio as Richie. Lived in the same building as us last year. Also off the charts in terms of fierceness. Texan and Aries.

-Mass Transit (MT) is an all-male a capella group that Richie joined last year. They're a bunch of really fun guys, and have pretty excellent parties. Other members (past and present) will undoubtedly be referred to.

-I lived in upstate New York (in "the bayou", as it's affectionately known around here) with my mom, older brother Danny, and dog Tiki before coming to school at NYU.

-I don't really keep in touch with many people from high school. Shrug.

-I work at a work-study job in the math department (ironic, because I am horrendous at math). My boss is ridiculous, and I get paid to sit around and do nothing, basically. It's pretty awesome.

-I love music. A lot. Like, a little too much.

-I also love cooking. Expect to hear about meals.

-I do pretty weird things sometimes, but it's all in good spirit and fun, and I'm really just trying to take advantage of this awesome time I have to spend in NYC while I'm young!

That's really about it...now, read on!

What? Classes?

So school started this week. Like, actual school. Classes and stuff.

Here's the rundown:

-Introduction to Psychology and Its Applications: AMAZING. WAY TOO AMAZING FOR WORDS. Okay, I'll calm down. But seriously. This is the class that's "introducing" me to the stuff I'll be studying for god-only-knows-how-long and then actually working with...and it's so excellent. The very first class, we talked about how race is portrayed and perceived in the media and in the general population. It's all stuff that would be extremely boring to anyone who wasn't crazy about AppPsych, but luckily it's exactly the stuff I'm most interested in, and I wake up excited to go to class. Imagine that. Me, excited to go to a 9:30 AM class. But I realize now how awesome it is to actually be going to school for what you want to be doing with your life (for the first time EVER)...and it's fucking amazing.

-Intro Italian: Pretty excellent. Mi profesore sei molto bene, e...yeah that's all I've got so far. But there's a good vibe in the class, and I've made a good friend there already so I'm excited about this one too. Plus, languages have always come pretty easily to me, so it'll be another pretty easy one. The only downside is that every time I have class, I have to get from Silver to 12th Street (between 5th and 6th) in 15 minutes...but Tuesdays I walk with Richie so it's cool.

-Topics in Modern Society -- Human Rights and Societies at Risk: My very last LSP requirement ever. Thank goodness. It's okay...we've only had one session so far but the professor is really passionate about the topic and she seems pretty cool...My assignment for next Wednesday is to do one unusual act of kindness. I like this coursework already. Honestly, I think this is going to be the class that makes me not want to get up and go in the morning, but I just need to get it out of the way so I can finally be done with LSP!

-Basic Statistics Using SPSS: Ugh. Thank goodness this class is only one night per week. The professor seems nice, and the work is easy (honestly, software isn't hard for me to figure out, since I'm pretty computer-literate) but it's just the idea of sitting in front of a computer screen for two hours and forty minutes (no lie) and learning how to input numbers in a program that makes me hate it. But it's a APUG requirement, so I suppose I'll just have to make do.

Overall, this semester should be a pretty solid one for me. None of the classes look terribly difficult, and I'm glad to be finishing LSP and getting some of my APUG requirements out of the way at the same time. It's also nice that I've only got 15 credits this semester (which is fine, since I'm technically at Junior standing since I came to NYU with a full semester's credit under my belt already) so I've got more time to work...I'm currently putting in about 25 hours per week (which makes each biweekly paycheck roughly 520 bucks)...which is really going to help with this semester's massive tuition bill. Sigh. I hate not having money.

In other news, it's been a beautiful week to get back into the swing of things here. I've seen everyone by now (more or less) and I've been able to get used to my hours at work. This weekend should be a good one...everyone's back, finally, so there should be fun times to be had by all. I'll keep you posted. ;-)