Weekend Update

No, they aren't actually here.

Sigh.

That would be so cool.

But anyway...

This weekend was pretty lovely. There was another huge snowstorm on Thursday evening, and NYU closed the university on Friday. This may sound logical and normal, but it most definitely isn't. Prior to this year, NYU hadn't had a snow day in years. This makes sense; we live in the middle of Manhattan. The public transportation system is one of the best in the nation. And the majority of students and faculty live within walking distance of our "campus".

But this year we've had 1.5 snow days (we were closed Friday, and then they closed early another day). I don't know what's going on with JSex- if he's just getting kindly in his old age or what, but I enjoyed not having to go to work on Friday. I slept in until noon (I haven't done that after going to bed at a normal hour in ages) and then Richie and I went to the movies. We had planned on going to see Shutter Island last weekend, while Jimmy was here, but it was sold out. So I thought we would go see it on this "found day" (because it's pretty rare these days that Richie and I are both free at the same time to go see a movie). But he's been trying to get through all of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars on March 7th, and he hadn't seen Avatar yet.

I saw Avatar back in early January, and I really enjoyed it. The writing left much to be desired, but it was visually stunning. Richie was planning on watching it on his computer, but Dan and I had talked to him about it, and he realized that in order to really understand it, he needed to see it on the big screen. So I watched Avatar again.

I was in a hell of a mood on Friday night, and I had planned on just staying home by myself, but somehow it always ends up that I have four people in my room until all hours of the night on those days. It wasn't bad, just not what I had planned for my evening.

Saturday was a busy day. I got a lot of homework done, which was really good, and Saturday night we went to see "The Vagina Monologues". I'm not a big-time feminist or anything. If it were up to me, the feminist movement would probably be about extinct by now. But we went because the endlessly lovely Alex and Jenni were in it.

I had never seen a production of VM before, and I thought it was really interesting. This production was being done to raise money to help victims of violence in the Congo, and at the end the entire cast told the story of one young woman who was a sex slave for two years. I've been learning about this for a while in my Human Rights class, and the story just affected me so deeply. The entire experience was really moving.

That's really about it. I'm pretty on edge about a lot of things lately, mostly because I really want to know if I've made it as an RA. So much hinges upon it, and I don't quite know what I'll do if I don't make it. Sigh. Stress!

OMG IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!1!!!!11

Wow.

People are crazy when it comes to weather.

A completely un-scientific survey of Facebook status updates this morning showed that an obscene amount of people were shocked and appalled by the fact that it is snowing in February (I define obscene as "if I read one more update about the fact that it's snowing, I will no longer be your friend").

Guess what, people? Here's a weather lesson for you.

I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you are located somewhere within the Northeastern section of the United States (the majority of people I know live in this area).

It is currently February. This is what is know as "winter" in the Northern hemisphere.

During this "winter", temperatures are lower than at other times of the year. (This is due to the tilt of the Earth's axis and other scientific mumbo-jumbo that you should have learned in 9th grade Earth Science.)

This drop in temperature causes changes in the weather. Therefore, precipitation that might have been rain during another time of year (such as "summer") freezes and becomes what is known as "snow".

There's a lot of other stuff, about low-pressure systems and Canadian winds, but the long and short of it is this: You live in the Northeast. It is February. STOP BEING SHOCKED THAT IT'S COLD AND SNOWY!

[I apologize for the rudeness...but really, people? Weather is not that hard to understand.]

I Miss Non-Required Reading

Don't get me wrong: I love school. I love learning and becoming more knowledgeable about things that will actually apply to my "real" (read: adult) life.

But I miss having free time to read.

A lot.

I get Time delivered every week, and today I was actually really lucky: I had enough time to read the whole thing. But that's so rare for me. I typically scan through it and throw it on the extra desk, figuring I'll find the time later in the week to actually read it. And it never happens.

I also have a ton of books that I'm about halfway through that I just never have time to read. Right now I think I'm in the middle of four (pretty low for me) different books that aren't school-related. One is a fictionalized autobiography of Cleopatra by Margaret George. She writes a lot of these kinds of books (the first one of hers I read was about King Henry VIII, one of my favorite historical figures of all time) and they're all really compelling. The writing isn't the best, but the stories are just so easy to get sucked into that I end up reading it during every free moment I have.

Another book that I'm trying to finish is I Know This Much Is True, by Wally Lamb. Lamb wrote She's Come Undone, another one of my favorite novels, and this one is just as good. I started it over Christmas break and just haven't had a free second to finish it.

The third is Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. This one is actually on the bottom of my list right now, because I've read it before, but it's been a while. I really enjoy Wallace's writing, and was actually pretty upset when I heard that he had died. I was encouraged to read it again after my Journalism professor mentioned it last semester in class, and so I picked up a copy from the bookstore (instead of borrowing it from the library). I really like owning books, and I always hate the moment when I have to bring them back to the library. That's why I love my local library at home; they have the book sale room where I always find excellent books for wicked cheap. The last time I was there, I found Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol for a dollar!

I also really love bookselling websites, like thriftbooks.com. Their prices are always excellent. At this point, I think I would rather buy books than clothes (Not shoes, though. There are some things I refuse to sacrifice, and shoes are a part of that list).

I hate to admit it, but I really love some of the really awful literature that's out there these days. I think it may come from reading way too many Sweet Valley High books as a kid, but I love a juicy teenage drama. I love the Twilight series (even though I admit it's some of the worst writing I've ever read, the story is SO captivating!). I love He's Just Not That Into You. Heck, I'll even read a trashy romance novel every once in a while.

I guess the moral of this story is that I will read pretty much anything that you put in front of me. I don't discriminate (unless it's a weird science fiction book or something). I know that such a voracious appetite for the printed word is rare among my peers, but I would honestly rather read than watch TV or play video games or do most anything, really. I guess my mother taught me well.

Busy Busy Busy.

This week has been crazy.

I don't even know why I'm so tired out by it. In all seriousness, it's been a pretty average week. But I think after not really having any real things going on since last Tuesday, I've been in a state of dissociation with the normal universe.

I've also been doing some serious thinking about a lot of the people and things in my life, and trying to simplify and declutter not only my room and belongings, but my mind and heart as well.

I was having a pretty tough time of it a few days ago, and I realized the people that will be there for me if I need it, and also the people that won't stand with me when I need help. And I think that's a really valuable realization. There's something to be said for knowing who your true friends are.

On a lighter note, Jimmy is coming up this weekend. He's been best friends with Richie since kindergarten, and we've gotten to be pretty good friends over the past year and a half or so. Not sure yet what the plan is for this evening (I think we'll probably just stay in and hang out) but tomorrow night is shaping up to be a very fun time! We're going to all go see Shutter Island, the new Scorcese film that opened last night, and then there's a fundraiser party for the production of Vagina Monologues that Jenni and Alex are in. I'm not sure yet how I feel about the movie; I like Scorcese, but it's supposed to be really intense and suspenseful, which I typically get pretty scared of. But going to the movies is a special treat around here, and we're going to get Spice beforehand, so I think I'll survive.

I know it's a short post today, but there just really isn't much interesting going on these days. It always surprises me when people say "Oh, you're in New York City! I bet you're always busy, going to shows and concerts and events!" I think people forget that yes, although I live in Manhattan, I'm still a poor college student with papers to write, exams to study for, and three books to read by the end of the weekend!

I Love Long Weekends.

I really do. No class tomorrow...thanks, presidents!

And with The Great Snowpocalyse that hit on Wednesday, this has been such a low-key couple of days. Imagine, NYU cancelling classes! I had no classes Wednesday, just work on Thursday, and work on Friday. Awesome.

After getting snowed in on Wednesday, I decided to make a nice big dinner. I hadn't made a chicken in a while, so I did that. Roast chicken, stuffing, biscuits, sauteed carrots, and gravy...there's something about snow that just makes me want to cook huge meals. Richie came over, and Jayson and Aaron stopped by to eat before going to a show. Then Richie and I watched Transformers and he stayed over. All in all, it was a nice way to spend a very snowy evening.

Thursday night, we went to see the Tisch production of Tommy. I had never seen the musical before, but I had heard most of the music. This production was amazing. Maybe I'm a little biased because I knew some of the people in the show, but honestly, I think it was the best student production I've ever seen. Everyone was so talented, and they seemed to really love what they were doing. It was just incredible.

I gave blood on Friday afternoon (hooray! My iron was high enough!) and that actually really wiped me out...I really need to start eating better and drinking more water, because when climbing three flights of stairs makes me light-headed, there's a problem.

Friday night, we were supposed to go to a fundraiser party for another show, All That He Was. But getting everyone together and ready to go was such a time-consuming experience! We didn't even leave until almost midnight, and then we ended up not going (apparently the party got busted). So we all came back to my place, hung out, played Apples to Apples, etc.

It's times like those that really catch me off guard sometimes. I think about the people that I know from high school and what they're doing with their lives, and then I think about the fact that it's 3:30 in the morning, and there are seven people in my room discussing Academy Award nominees and politics. I really enjoy going to a school where everyone is smart and well-informed and excited about sharing their opinions.

Saturday was a pretty low-key day for me, I watched a lot of TV and then went over to Richie's. His mom was here on Thursday and she brought an entire sheet pan of baked ziti, so a whole bunch of us pigged out on that. Then we decided to try out this ChatRoulette thing that everyone's been talking about.

I don't know how I feel about it, honestly. We talked to some people in England, which was really cool, but then there were the creepy people masturbating and the guys who just wanted us to take our tops off, which is so not okay. I think it's a cool concept (and I'm actually now Facebook friends with one of the girls from England that we talked to) but I got bored with it pretty quickly, and I probably wouldn't use it again. It's just not something that I'm really interested in.

Today I had my final RALI session. Now I just need to write my final reflection paper and I'll be done with the whole process! I won't find out if I've made it until the middle of March, though...it's so long to wait! I really just hope that I came across well. I think I'll make a good RA, honestly, and I'm really excited about having the opportunity to do so.

Tonight will probably be pretty laid back as well...Richie is coming over and we're going to make dinner...None of us really have anyone special to spend Valentine's day with, so we're all just going to do our own things I think.

But Happy Valentine's Day to everyone else!

An Open Letter to NYU Housing

Dear NYU Housing,

You are a fickle bitch. You give me something nice, and then just when I'm getting used to my good fortune, take it away. Is this because I didn't want to spend an extra $2000 to ensure that I'd have a room to myself for the next three months?

This is nothing against my future roommate; I'm sure she's a lovely girl and we'll get along just fine. But really? I loved the idea that I could have people stay over whenever. I loved having random dance parties with myself at 3 AM. I loved never having to use headphones. I loved not worrying about turning a light on when I got in late at night.

I want to love you. And you've been good to me in the past. You've provided me with housing in Manhattan for almost two years so far. I'm hoping you'll be good to me in the future, and let me be an RA.

But right now, we're not on speaking terms.

[Updated, 2/12/10]: So now I'm not getting a new roommate? After moving all of my stuff around? And cleaning like a bandit? And moving all of my posters to the other side of the room? RUDE.

An Ode to Google Reader.

This is one of the best inventions of all time.

Imagine my surprise, after spending my day going from site to site, checking for updated posts, to find that there was a way to get all of my favorite content in one easy place.

New York Times headlines, next to Look At This Fucking Hipster? Done. NYULocal and WSN battling it out? You're on. The (mostly) feel-good Postsecret just above the raunchy Texts From Last Night? No problem. Every post from some of my favorite blogs (like Dealbreaker, Stuff White People Like, and 1000 Awesome Things), all in one convenient place. You've done it again, Google.

Probably one of my favorite things about Google Reader is its potential for time wasting (being a huge procrastinator, I'm always looking for new things). I can spend ages at work, reading Gothamist (when my boss is in the room) and Perez Hilton (when he isn't). And just when I think I'm out of material, it always manages to refresh itself and give me a few more moments of stolen time before I go make some copies.

So here's to you, Google Reader. Keeping me updated on the news, while still managing to suck every available free moment out of my day.

(P.S.- Sorry, I went a little link-crazy there. My bad.)

"The sun is so underappreciated!"

The end of last week was pretty busy. Thursday was probably my busiest day- after classes and work, I went to Third North to interview for the RA position. This was my individual interview (instead of the group sessions that I did on the 31st and that I have again on the 14th). I don't want to jinx it, but I feel like it went really well! I'm just really anxious about the whole RA process. This means so much to me (if I don't get an RA position, I don't know if I can come back to NYU next year) and I feel like it's going well, but I don't want to get my hopes up too far only to have them crushed. And at this point it's not even about the money as much as it is about the fact that I really actually want to be an RA. It seems like it would be fun, and I'm really interested in passing along the knowledge that I have to the next generation of freshmen. But the more I think about it, the more nervous I get, so here's hoping!

This past weekend was a nice slow one. I had a bit more homework than last weekend but still not a terribly large amount. I didn't have to work Friday, which was excellent, so I stayed in for most of the day and worked on some papers that I had due. Saturday was Jayson's birthday, but he was going uptown to spend the whole day with his mom, so we all went out Friday night. Of course, this meant that I needed a new dress (well, okay, maybe "needed" isn't exactly true, but really, I didn't have anything that was appropriate club wear). So I went to Forever 21 (my default "need a tight short cheap dress now please" store) and actually found...a really excellent dress. This is a good one. I don't even feel guilty about spending the money on it (I stress for days about taking the subway 40 blocks each way, but I'll buy a dress no problem...interesting). It's black, and yes it's tight and short and strapless, but it makes me look even taller than I am (I didn't know that was possible) and thinner...plus it's the kind of dress that with tights and a blazer could be appropriate for a different event, or with a shirt underneath and leggings could be daywear...I haven't really played with my options yet (must...do...laundry...) but I'm just really glad I've found my little black dress!

So we all went over to Constance's (Jayson's best friend) room to have dinner and get ready to go out...we finally headed out around 12:45 and got to the club at 1ish. It was really fun, and I'm really glad we did that. I didn't get home til about 4 in the morning...but hey, that's what weekends are for :)

Saturday was a very slow day...I got out of bed around 2 and met Richie for a late lunch at 3N...then came back to UHall and did some more work on my paper...he came over to hang out for a bit later...and then I spent the evening catching up on my Academy Award-nominated films. I'm actually trying to watch all of the Best Picture nominees this year, so I watched Up In The Air and The Hurt Locker on Saturday.

Up In The Air was really good. It was definitely a movie made for adults, which I appreciate (it's nice to see something other than fart jokes and gag humor every once in a while [not to say I don't love The Hangover and Judd Apatow films and other such things, but really, I like a smart movie now and again]) and I understand why it was nominated for so many things. The acting is excellent, the story is good, and while I don't know much about filmmaking, it seemed to me, anyway, to be a lovely film visually.

The Hurt Locker is currently my front-runner for Best Picture. I've read some of the comments made regarding Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker, and honestly, I think that this one comes out on top overall. It's a really powerful, intense film; I had to pause it multiple times just to calm myself down and remind myself that it's only a movie. Again, I don't claim to be a film buff by any stretch of the imagination, but I really thought that this movie was incredible. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Sunday was a pretty frantic day...I had put off finishing my papers until the last minute (of course, since I am the biggest procrastinator in the universe). So I ended up having to write papers while watching the Super Bowl. Now, I'm a pretty big football fan, but I was having a really hard time caring about the game. I didn't really care about either team at all, so I actually ended up paying more attention to the commercials than the game itself. Oh well. Good job, Saints!

My best find of the day (so far) has been ArtsyGirlNYU's YouTube channel. This guy, Johnathan something, has started a vlog of a girl named Gramercy (perfect choice) satiring the typical NYU artsy student. This guy is only a freshman, but it's clear that he's been here long enough: his impression is spot-on. It makes me wonder how many self-proclaimed artsy girls (like this one) will take offense at it and take to their own vlogs to describe how completely ridiculous it is (if they deign to acknowledge it at all). It makes me giggle, honestly. NYU Local interviewed him; suffice it to say that some of his quotes are priceless...only because I've heard them in the halls of Silver.

And with that, I'm going to end this post and watch the student film being made across the way. i love UHall...I can spy on the people across the commons. There's some really pale guy in tighty-whities. It's the little things, people.

Requisite Ranting

Okay people. Let's get real here.

Teen pregnancy is not cool. I don't care how many MTV shows they make or how many cute baby shirts you buy. Having a baby when you're barely a legal adult (or still legally a child!) is a bad idea.

It seems as though every day, I hear about another friend from elementary school that's had a kid or gotten married (typically just the former, but occasionally the latter follows). How ridiculous is that? I tell my friends at college that I have a ton of friends with children, and they look at me like I've got two heads. It's hard for them to fathom a community where that's okay, accepted, and even embraced! At this rate, I'm going to be one of a very small minority at a ten-year reunion without a kid in second or third grade. Maybe by that point I'll have an infant. Maybe.

I talked to my mom last night, and heard that another girl from my town has ended up pregnant at a very young age. And that's when it hit me. It's not "something in the water". It's that we grew up in a town where there is absolutely nothing to do, and we received no sex education whatsoever. You know what they teach in health classes? Abstinence is drilled into us, and then we watch a short video from the 70s that talks about pregnancy prevention. But there is an overwhelming feeling that it's abstinence or nothing. And that's obviously not working. I can't even count the amount of my peers, people that I've known since elementary school, that are now parents.

I know that some of them are extremely happy with their lives. And I think that's amazing. But I wonder if they realize what they gave up. The possibility of travel, or college, or actually having enough time to grow up and learn about themselves and who they are and what it means to be an adult.

Could I take care of a baby? If it came to that, probably. I would work 40+ hours per week and live with my mom. I would be able to provide for my child. But would I be the kind of parent that my child deserves? I don't think so. I don't know myself well enough to be able to give my all to another person.

And don't get me wrong. I love kids. I can't wait until I get married and have kids. But is it a responsible decision at this point in my life, or at any point within at least the next 7 years? No way. I want to have an established career, a home, enough money to know that I can buy the stroller and the toys and the books that my child deserves for their health and happiness and future. I want to be in a rock-solid marriage that I know for certain will last, because my child doesn't deserve having to go through the pain of divorced parents.

That's really it. It just makes me sick to keep hearing about more babies.

Stuff I Know Now

Whoa! Two posts in one day! The girl is out of control!

(Honestly, I just really don't feel like doing more reading for my Human Rights course. It's uber-depressing.)

I got this idea from the blog of a fellow Depositonian and NYUer, Tia (it's a very rare combination, and we are the only ones that possess both titles. Go us!). She's been posting things she learned in 2009, and considering that I've now had a month to reflect, I think I can safely do the same.

So here's my list:

• Keeping a blog is hard. I made it my New Year's resolution in '09 to start a blog. It failed. Then I decided I'd start one for the new school year. Nope. So here's looking at you, '10!
• Lady GaGa is a goddess. The woman is a force to be reckoned with. She makes amazing music (that even my mom has said isn't awful!) and is a really positive influence. Her constant reminders to be who you are, are really important messages for younger kids to hear, especially from someone as big as she is. She loves her fans a lot. Also, she went to NYU, so she's automatically cool.
• Angel hair pasta is a staple of my diet. And there's nothing wrong with that.
• It's possible to fit a 16-lb, fully roasted turkey in a heat bag and carry it through Union Square, while it's snowing, unscathed. People will look at you funny, but the turkey will still taste amazing.
• Allowing Richie to mix your drinks is usually not a very good idea.
• Sometimes you've got to admit when people don't want your help. This was an especially difficult one for me, with my whole "save the world" complex, but it's one of the most important lessons I've ever learned.
• A week can be an exhausting, embarrassingly long time.
• I am not nearly as good at things as I used to think I was. In Deposit, I was a very big fish in a teeny tiny pond. Singing, acting, academics, sports, leadership, community involvement...I did it all. But here I'm mediocre at all of those things (if that). So I've learned to figure out what my real strengths are: helping people with their problems and being someone to lean on.
• It's okay to change majors. Your advisor will help you, and give you more information than you could ever imagine you'd need.
• Money sucks. I'm awful at budgeting and controlling it and basically everything having to do with finances. I need to marry someone with financial skills, because I fail at them.
• My mom is one of the smartest people in the world. Seriously.
• Zach Galafianakis does really good stand-up. I saw him before he got famous with "The Hangover", and he was ridiculously hilarious.
• KenKens are addictive, even to someone that hates math as much as I do.
• Google Reader is one of the best inventions ever.
• I can fix a computer (as long as it's just a basic problem).
• Torrents are magical.
• Sporcle will eat up hours of your time if you let it. Stand strong!
• Seeing a movie in 3-D is always worth paying extra ("Avatar")
• Dancing in a fountain is a perfectly acceptable use of an evening. Getting thrown out of the park by the cops kind of puts a downer on the whole shenanigan, though.
• MT parties are legit.
• I am an amazing cashier. Seriously, put me on a cash register and I will make those groceries disappear.
• Sometimes it really is best to just say what you think needs to be said.
• Sometimes surprises are exciting, huge events. Sometimes they just mean your best friend bought an Entemann's cake.
• Two medium-sized roast chickens feed nine people pretty well.
• You can write on your laptop screen with dry-erase markers and it'll wipe right off (I spent about 45 minutes coloring pictures and drawing mustaches on people when I found this out).
• David Foster Wallace is a really hard author to read, but it's worth it.
• Missing a Mika show is sometimes very much worth it.
• You can set fire to nail polish remover in your bathtub. It'll leave a small mark, but it's really cool to watch. Almost all of your friends will think you've gone crazy. The one that doesn't is the one that'll stick with you.
• Black nail polish is not a good decision. My mother was right.
• Man vs. Food is an addictive show.
• So is 24.
• Be nice to people at work, because sometimes the guy that comes through your line at the grocery store will invite you and your entire family to a gourmet brunch on your birthday. Free.
• A really good friend will follow you into the bathroom of a pizza place and hold your hair while you throw up, then walk you back home.
• Bill Hader is really nice.
• My skills at Mario Party have not improved with age.
• Sometimes you really will have a professor that takes you out for pizza on the last day of class (and sends you home with leftovers!)
• Having an on-campus job at NYU basically means having a set amount of time to do your homework every day.
• The Weather Channel does not lie.
• "Wicked" is completely worth standing in the cold for.
• A+3G+Y=magic
• When seeing legendary performers like Aretha, U2, Springsteen, Jeff Beck, Metallica, Ozzy, Annie Lennox, Lenny Kravitz, Mick Jagger, Black Eyed Peas, etc. live, it doesn't really matter where you end up sitting.
• I can't do 8 AM lectures. I just can't.

That's really about it for now...I'm sure I'll have to update this one later.

Clean socks are a godsend.

This semester I'm taking a course focused on Human Rights (which has nothing to do with my major, but such is the life of an LSP student) and it got me thinking about all the things that I take for granted that I don't even think about, until they're taken away/returned.

For instance:

• A door. Yesterday F&CM came to replace the hallway door. It had been sticking all year, and Michelle finally decided that we should get it fixed. It was SO weird to leave yesterday morning and not have a door to shut behind me. But the fact that I now have a door that functions perfectly is wonderful.
• My own room. I shared a room with my brother for a long time, and was so excited to get my own when we put the second floor on our house. Then I came to college and learned to share a room again. I can make the best of really any situation, and I didn't mind having a roommate, but there's something beautiful about having my own space to think and sing and talk to myself and have a random underwear dance party that is just amazing. And this is definitely going to be the most space I'll ever have to myself while living in NYC.
• Money in the bank. I'm not talking big money here, but it's nice to know that I can use my debit card for something other than getting the gunk out from under my fingernails. Seriously, the times when I can't even afford a MetroCard are the worst.
• A phone. I'm not one of those people that's addicted to their iPhone or Blackberry, but back in December I was without a phone for about a week (due to problems with switching my service to AT&T). It was horrendous. I don't realize how important a phone really is for everything I do until I didn't have one. Also, I think my thumbs started to atrophy from disuse.
• Clean laundry. I am the queen of putting off laundry. It's a pain, it's expensive (okay, I know I spend twice as much on a burrito as I do on laundry, but it's the principle of the thing), it takes forever, and I despise folding clothes and putting them away. Once it gets down to the wire, I find myself wearing some pretty ridiculous combinations of clothes/wearing the same pair of jeans four days in a row. But I eventually just bite the bullet and do it. And then it's like heaven. It's wonderful to look in my closet and see so many options, instead of the sweater that's stretched out and has that weird stain and that I only wear as a last resort and today is last resort day.
• Waterproof boots. It sounds weird, but living in Upstate New York, I never really worried about having waterproof footwear for winter. After the age of about ten, my outside time consisted of the time it took to walk from the car to whatever building I was headed to and back (I loved snow as a kid, but then I realized that instead of going outside and freezing my fingers off, I could stay inside reading a book and drinking cocoa [thus my middle-school extreme nerdiness and fatness]). But once I got to college and started walking everywhere, I realized that waterproof footwear was a gift from the gods on high. I have the best boots ever: warm, fuzzy, good traction, and not ghastly to look at (plus they were cheap! Go KMart!). And now my toes stay nice and snuggly all day long, no matter how much slush I encounter.
• Contacts. Oh yeah. These babies are awesome. As jealous as I am of my friends that can just wake up in the morning and see, I love the fact that I have an excuse to wear fun styles of glasses and contacts. I wear colored contacts (my eyes are green anyway, but these contacts make them ridiculously green, to the point that strangers sometimes stop me on the street to compliment them). But the downside of contacts is that itchy feeling you get when they're too old and need to be replaced. That's the point my contacts are currently at. I can't wear them for more than a few hours before I start wanting to rip the suckers off of my eyeballs. But I'm holding out, because I know the new contacts feeling is the best ever.
• I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them at this point. Maybe I'll update this post later!

I Hate Money

I really do. It's the worst. It's always on my mind, I'm always worrying about it. I knew that it would be an issue when I decided to come to one of the most expensive schools in the nation, but honestly. This is ridiculous.

I check my bank balance more than any normal individual should. I know exactly, down to the penny, how much a 20-oz. soda costs at Walgreens, Duane Reade, Food Emporium, Space Market, and CVS (my caffeine habit is my guilty pleasure...SO guilty, but oh so good). I buy books for class at the last possible second and spend hours searching for better deals online. I just spent four dollars to do my laundry, and I was honestly contemplating going another week with just the clothes I've got left in order to put off paying (once I run out of socks and underwear, though, I draw the line). I hate being a poor college student. I really hope that I'll be able to get through college pretty well and then find myself a job that'll allow me to not worry about bills and emergencies and overdrafts 24/7 and actually be able to afford little pleasures (like SHOES). But considering I still don't really have defined career goals, I'm not sure if that'll happen.

Sigh.

Anyway, on to more interesting topics.

This weekend was a relatively quiet one. It was far too cold to think about venturing out and actually doing something, so I stayed in both nights (well, I went over to Richie's on Friday, but that doesn't really count). On Saturday, Richie and Jayson came over to my place. We had a movie night and a sleepover. The first film we watched was "Paranormal Activity". I don't know if you know about this movie, but seriously, don't watch it. I'm a huge baby when it comes to horror movies, and I got so scared that I start shaking and crying...it's not a pretty situation. Luckily, both of the boys understand this and I had one of them on either side of me...just in case the demons decided to come get me. It was terrifying when, partway through one of the scariest scenes, my suitemate came in. When I heard the door, I was convinced that it was a ghost coming in to attack me. Don't laugh. It was scary!

Well as I sat on the couch, crying and sniffling after the movie ended, Richie quickly put on "Up". I hadn't seen it before, and while I think I would've enjoyed it more if I had been in a good state of mind at the beginning, I got into it fairly quickly and ended up really enjoying it. I don't really watch many animated movies (I grew up in Disney's golden age of animation, and I don't like CGI as much) but this one was really well-done and pretty poignant. I like that it was the kind of film that kids as well as adults could enjoy. The music was excellent, as well (I think it won a few Grammys).

Sunday was a really quiet day. I'm going through the RALI process in order to be an RA next year, and I had my first session at 1:00. I was pretty nervous (I'm an anxious person to begin with, and stuff like this is always quite nerve-racking for me) but it actually went well, I think. I do well in groups, and there was a point where we had to role-play mediation situations (I have to admit, I used a little of my psych knowledge as well as my own personal experiences with mediation on this one) and I think I did quite well. I've still got two papers to write, homework, another group session, and an individual interview to do, though...so let's hope everything turns out well!

Today's been okay...I was reminded when talking to a friend in Italian of just how great my job is (really, I get paid $11/hr to have a place to do my homework and read the news, and in return all I have to do is deliver and sort mail, make copies, sign for packages, and provide office supplies). I don't have a 9:30 AM class tomorrow (my professor had a death in the family, which is terribly sad, but I certainly appreciate being able to sleep in) so I plan on getting a LOT of sleep tonight and hopefully getting some homework done that I've got for Wednesday. Here's to it!