Highlights (not the magazine)

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, blah blah blah, I’ll try to do better, blah blah blah. Well, now that that’s been said, let me catch you up. Life in Jersey has been eventful and uneventful all at once. Although it has its ups and downs, overall, I am definitely enjoying it. Most of all I am enjoying paying off my debts. Due to low expenses and good pay, I have been able to put a substantial amount of money towards this cause every week. It excites me to think that at this rate, it should only take me about 35 years to become debt-free, instead of the 70 years I’d been planning on! Seriously, though, I’ve discovered that student debt can be an extremely intimidating and overwhelming animal. Especially if one spends one’s college years gallivanting around Europe… But I don’t regret a minute of it. My experience was worth the crushing weight pushing down upon my chest, forcing me down into the depths of the ocean. I can hold my breath for a long time.

Exaggerated metaphors aside, I really don’t regret any of it. But I digress. Umm..I think I was trying to catch you up on my life in NJ? Ah, yes. I’ll give you the highlights:

My weeks fly by out here. I am up at 6:30 every morning* and I only take enough time to throw on some clothes and put my contacts in before starting work. Although I typically have a couple of hours free after the kids are off to school, my day doesn’t end until 7:30 at night. Recently I have been so busy with work that I haven’t had much time to myself in the morning. I enjoy my job, and this, coupled with the quantity of hours I’ve been working, results in weeks that fly by. I take it easy on the weekends, though, so it sometimes seems like my weekends are as long as my workweek. Not bad, right? It may not be the case, but if that’s what it feels like, that’s what counts, right? Of course right!**

Ok, so, that wasn’t really a highlight. It was more like a description of my everyday life. So? What are you gonna do about it? I’m 26 years old, nobody tells me what to do. WHAT?!?

Highlights. For real this time. I got a 4-day weekend because of Thanksgiving this year. Woot woot. Last year I worked on Thanksgiving, and the last time I had 4 days off in a row was before I got a job after coming back from Spain. So this was definitely a treat. I went over to Christin’s house Wednesday night, then on Thursday she and I went with Brian (her fiancé) to Connecticut to have Thanksgiving dinner with his family. We did some shopping and chillaxing on Friday and Saturday, then on Sunday, our church didn’t have a service. Instead, we had a community outreach which we called “Gas Buy Down, Prayer Fuel Up.” The church bought eleventy-billion*** gallons of gas, then sold it to the public for 99 cents/gallon. We also washed people's windshields and tires, gave out coffee, cider, juice, water, and donuts, and prayed with people who had any prayer requests. It was very cool. I must say, though, while it was an act of service we were doing for the entire community and everyone was welcome, there was a part of me that was a bit indignant at the Hummers that rolled through. Oops! Forgot to mention something. Saturday my boss called me and asked if I wanted to go to the ballet with them - they had an extra ticket! Of course I said I’d love to. After a delicious dinner in Little Italy, we sat in the 8th row at the New York City Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker. It was Very Fun Times.

Those are the main highlights. The one that is just beginning is my Christmas vacation. I started today. Right now I am sitting in Newark (evidently pronounce “Noork”…) airport waiting to be let on a plane that was supposed to depart an hour ago : ( It’s not all bad, though. I’m posting a blog! Tonight (or at this point, maybe early tomorrow morning) when I arrive in Seattle, my parents and Jess will pick me up at the airport and we will head to Port Townsend where we’ll meet up with the rest of my family at the condo we’ll be staying at for the week. Yay! I’m so excited! Then I’ll go back to Centralia with them for a few days before I return to NJ on New Years Day. I think we’re going to board soon, though, so I’m packing up the old lappy until next time. Good night, San Francisco. You stay classy.


*By this I mean that I should be up by 6:30 every morning - my alarm starts going off at 6:15 but sometimes it is as late as 6:50 when I finally drag myself out of bed. Some things never change.

**10 points to the first person who names the movie I’m referencing. 20 points to the person who names the character.

***This number is approximate.

Ninja Day

Hey guys - if you didn't celebrate the Day of the Ninja, you'd better get a life right now or some ninja might just cut your head right off. This is a picture of me that I took this morning right after I got up. I fought all day long, and even flipped out and killed a few people. Here's my story:

My alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, just like it does everyday. But as you know, this was no ordinary day. I was totally pumped. I launched myself out of bed, eager to start flipping out on people. I put on my ninja outfit, grabbed some throwing stars and my ninja sword, and headed downstairs. By the way, for those of you who don't know - although I am a ninja today, most days I am a nanny for an 11-year-old boy (who we will call Jack) and a 6-year-old girl (who we will call Jill). Jack's alarm clock is supposed to go off at 6:50 every morning. At 7:00, when I had not seen Jack and realized his alarm must not have gone off, I did a few flips up the stairs, cut down Jack's door with my sword, and totally flipped out on his alarm clock. This woke Jack up. He shot out of bed and got himself ready and off to school, crying a little bit from the sight of the slaughtered alarm clock. Once he was gone, I woke Jill up with a ninja war cry and threw my throwing stars at her feet in order to speed her up. After she ran off to school screaming, I figured out what I needed to do for the rest of the day. You see, although I was a ninja today, I still had to work. So I went to the grocery store. I was at the grocery store, just doing my shopping, when some loser left their cart in the middle of the aisle - right in my way. So I flipped out and killed everyone in the grocery store and didn't even think twice about it. Then I went to the post office to drop off some mail and there was a dog barking in the parking lot, so I flipped out and chopped everybody's heads off. Then I went home and wailed on my guitar. That's pretty much how my day went. What did you do? I'm not even going to tell the rest of the story, because I don't think you could even handle it. Ninjas are totally sweet.

The Day of the Ninja

Alright people - I know I am way overdue for a post. I apologize and promise to remedy the situation soon. I have been planning a post for over a week now and I promise to let you know soon what is happening in my life. However, it has come to my attention that Tuesday, December 5th, is The Day of the Ninja. It seems to me that we should all be focusing on preparing ourselves for this day rather than pointing fingers at people who have neglected to blog, hmmm? This is the one day of the year when all of us nonjas can have Real Ultimate Power. Check out the links for ideas on ways to celebrate. At the very least, I want to see some pictures of you people in your best ninja costumes. I mean, you don't want to disrespect ninjas by not recognizing the Day of the Ninja - one of them might just flip out and kill you...

Moving

Here I go, moving again. Has it really been just 4 months since my last move? I seem to remember commenting then that I was sick and tired of moving. It’s not necessarily the physical act of packing up and moving to a new place that gets to me (although that does play a part), it’s more the emotional uprooting and necessity of reestablishing oneself in a new place and building new friendships. What was wrong with the old friendships? Why must I get new ones?

The whole moving process is stressful. Although, I will say I am getting much better at it. I have a tendency to overestimate my time and abilities and wind up stressing myself out much more than is necessary. This time around, however, I took 4 days off before my move. A new record. This is not to say that I haven’t been under stress, though. While I’m not very good about mentally acknowledging or dealing with stress, my body forces me to recognize it. It’s a bit funny, really, I’ve discovered that when I get stressed out, my eyes twitch. I picked up on this last spring when I was writing my senior thesis. My eyes twitched so often, I was beginning to wonder if something was seriously wrong with them.

It seems to me that the most obvious way of dealing with stress is to relax. Makes sense, right? For instance, someone in my situation might try to get a lot of packing done, then get a lot of rest. That way, they are neither stressing because they have a lot left to do nor because they haven’t had a chance to rest.

But that’s not me. My eye was twitching like nobody’s business last night. So I opted to get a lot of packing done, and then bake a couple of loaves of apple bread. My dad gave me a big sack of apples* (in hopes that they would be returned in some other form - apple pie, for example) that one of his clients had given him. But I only used about 4 apples for the bread. So tonight I made an apple cheesecake, and an apple honey bundt cake. I realize that this may seem like an odd thing to do in the midst of a move. However, my eye hasn’t twitched at all today - so it must be working. I’ve got just about everything packed up, so I’ll probably bake some apple pie or an apple crisp tomorrow - I’ve still got half a bag of apples left.

I suppose the good thing here is that I know I’ll be in one place for at least a year and a half. I’ve moved about 4 times in the last year and a half - so this is definitely an improvement. But it’s nearly 4 in the morning right now, so I’m going to end this blog without actually closing it. I’m 26 years old - nobody tells me what to do. What?

* There ain’t nothing like Washington Apples

A warning to those mourning Vinny - this could happen to you.

This is him. Vinny. Just moments before he bit the big one. As you can see, he was One Huge Freaking Spider. I killed him. I don't deny it. Before today, I had nothing against Vinny. However, when he came in my house and got in my bed, he crossed a line.

This is the second spider I've found in my bed in the last couple of weeks. I frequently make my bed in the afternoons if I go home between jobs. As I cherish my sleep and don't get up any earlier than I have to, I rarely have enough time in the morning to make my bed. And looking back on my actions today, I wonder if perhaps I shouldn't have iced Vinny. I might have been better off just breaking a few of his legs and sending him back as a message to his family and friends. But it's too late for regrets now.

I found Vinny underneath my pillow. Creepy, right? In case you're wondering, I don't normally put chapstick underneath my pillow - I placed it there so you can see how big Vinny actually was.

So to all of those mourning Vinny - this is a warning. I know at this time you are grieving - and possibly contemplating revenge. But Vinny had it coming. Let me just warn you: If you value your little spidery life - stay away from my bed.

Baking a pie

I baked a pie last night. After working approximately 55-60 hours this week, the fact that I felt like making a pie when I got off work at 9:30 pm last night came as a bit of a surprise. In my family, we all eat lunch together on Sundays. As my siblings and I reached our teen years and family dinners where everyone was present became less frequent due to scheduling conflicts, my mother decided it was time to begin a new tradition. We all eat lunch together on Sundays. Period. You may bring a friend to lunch if you like, but if you aren’t there, you’d better have a doctor’s note. And if you don’t have a doctor’s note, you might as well just leave the country. So now you know the real reason why my brother and I both spent a year in Spain. We missed Sunday lunch and had to flee the country. Anyway, in times past, we have all pitched in with lunch. A couple of us would cook; those who didn’t would set the table, put the food away, wash the dishes, etc. But recently it seems that the oneness has fallen upon my mother and she is doing all the work (unless we’re barbecuing- then my dad cooks). So I’ve decided that I could at least bring dessert. I came to this conclusion several weeks ago, but if I recall correctly, I have only brought dessert once… I’m trying, though.

This is why I baked a pie last night. I’m really glad I did, too. I enjoy cooking. There is something comforting about making a pie. Rolling out the crust, carefully transferring it to the pie tin, mounding up the layers of slivered apples, cinnamon, and sugar, and topping it all with another crust. I have often said that cooking is the only artistic outlet through which I express myself. In fact, cutting a design in the top of the crust in order to allow the pie to vent is essentially the height of my artistic ability… Oh, wait. I take that back. I can draw a pretty cool-looking stick man.

When people ask me how I learned to cook, I usually say that it was a combination of my mother, cookbooks, and a lot of practice. My mom doesn't like to cook, but I always have. So I taught myself a lot. I think that one of the reasons that baking pie is comforting to me is that it is something I remember doing with my mother. I always use her recipe for pie dough (it's the best). Even last night, as I was rolling out the crust, I could remember my mom telling me not to work with the pie dough more than necessary or it would make the crust tough, and showing me how to neatly remove the excess dough from the edges of the crust.

Feast or famine

When it rains, it pours, folks. I am currently blogging from Starbucks; I start work in half an hour. I signed up with T-mobile last night so that I can use the internet here before work. I did this because: 1) I'm tired of not being connected to the internet at home and accessing it from work is the next best thing. 2) Since I work for Starbucks, it only costs me half of what it costs The Average Joe. 3) I have about two hours between work at my second job and work at Starbucks, and I hate to waste time going home.

My second job? Oh yes, that's right, I haven't told you about my second job because I haven't had time. heh heh heh

I've been struggling to get enough hours at Starbucks for the last couple of months, and finally I decided maybe I should just get a second job. So, I stopped in at Thorbecke's to find out if there were any opportunities for me there. I figured that since they all know me and I worked there for almost 2 years, if they had any openings, they would hire me back. I was right. The Chehalis Thorbecke's has a little café which delivers lunch to local businesses every morning during the week. It's really nice for doctor's offices and places where they can't really get away. So the lunch run shift is from 9:30-12:30 every day. Fifteen hours a week sounded just right for me since I tend to be scheduled for about 25 hours per week at Starbucks. So we planned on me starting when I got back from New Jersey. I started last Thursday and everything is going well so far except for the fact that while I was in NJ, a bunch of people at Sbux quit. So now I'm working 40 hours a week at Sbux and 15 hours a week at Thorbecke's. Ironic, yes? If we get out of work on time, I'm home around 11:30 at night, then I leave the next morning shortly after 9:00. I hope this doesn't last long. Anyone looking for a job at Starbucks?

P.S. Clearly I am experiencing a time of feasting now, rather than famine. In more ways than one- in addition to getting free coffee at Starbucks all the time, I get a free meal every day at the restaraunt...

Jessica is a blogger!

It's finally here! The moment we've all been waiting for! Jessica has a blog!

Well? What are you still doing here? Go check it out!

"Posty post post poster"*

Today I'm off to find a Starbucks. The closest one is about 15 minutes away, so that's not too bad. While the motivation behind my mission may seem obvious, I actually have a few reasons for going:

1) I need some good coffee. Period. That statement needs no explanation.

2) I get a free pound of coffee per week and I haven't picked it up yet this week.

3) I need to become more familiar with the area and be able to find my way around.

4) The kids are gone at camp for over 8 hours and there really isn't that much I need to do while they're gone, so why not?

In other news, I went out with Christin night before last - it was so good to see her! It has been about 3 years since the last time I saw her. She only lives about 20-30 minutes from me, so I'm excited about that.

I guess that's it for now, I don't really have a lot to say but I figured I would post anyway.** Here's the question of the day: If the moon was made of spare ribs, would you eat it?

* Stembokas, Victoria. "Post." I'm Not Really Victoria. 9 July 2006. 9 Aug 2006.
**See Reason #4

The Bi-monthly Update

Hey folks. I'm back. Yes, I know, it has been nearly 2 months since my last post. I was going to apologize, but then I glanced at my last 5 posts and took note that there is nary a comment. So I owe you nothing. Ha. Didn't see that one coming, did you?

But out of the goodness of my heart, I'm going to post anyway. My last post was just one week prior to moving back down to C-town. I moved in with Julianna for a month, which was Fun Times. However, she does not have wireless internet (gasp!), so I was forced to utilize a dinosaur that lives in her house which she passes off as a computer. Add sporadic connectivity to the above-mentioned dinosaur, and you have a recipe for blog famine.

By mid-July, Julianna needed the extra bedroom back, so I moved to a cozy nook underneath an overpass. Well, that was the plan, anyway. But then I found out that my dear friend Hannah was moving into a little 2-bedroom house and she didn't have a roommate. So I moved in with her. This has also been Fun Times. Although we don't see each other nearly enough due to our busy schedules, it's fun to have her as a roommate. However, we do not have internet access (double gasp!), so I rarely even check my email, let alone blog.

So those are my excuses for not blogging, what are your excuses for not commenting?

Right now, I am neither at Julianna's house, nor at Hannah's house, nor at that lovely spot under the overpass. I am in North Jersey (not to be confused with South Jersey - two different worlds, people).

I got here yesterday and I'll be here for a couple of weeks working as a nanny/household manager while the current one is on a trip to Europe. If everything goes well (and I believe it will), I will be moving back here in late October/early November.

So that's basically what has been going on in my life for the last couple of months. I'll probably be blogging more over the next couple of weeks.

*Hint* If you want to hear more from me - feedback helps :)

More pictures- -part 2

Apparently there is a limit of how many pictures you can use in one post. So this is a continuation of the last post.
Elida and me in front of Drumheller Fountain.

Elida and me driving around in my car.

So that's it for pictures. We hung out at the UW campus for a little while, then went to the Bellevue Square Mall. On Friday I met her and Jerome (along with a friend of hers and a couple of friends of his) at Beso del Sol for some salsa dancing, but I left my camera in the car. That was a lot of fun, too. Essentially, then, much fun was had in little time - because that was all we had. Although we didn't have long together and it would have been nice to be able to spend more time with Elida, I am thankful for the time that we did have.

I realize that this post has basically just been pictures- but hey - I'm in the midst of Post-Finals-Crash - you guys should be grateful that I'm posting at all.

So in closing, it's midnight and I work at 5:30 am, so I'm closing. Bye.

More pictures

Okay, people, so I'm finally posting pics of my time with Elida. Due to our schedules, we didn't get to spend a lot of time together. But she flew in on Thursday, May 18, and after touring downtown Seattle with Jerome, they picked me up near the UW campus so we could all have lunch together.

Elida! I took this picture of her right after they picked me up.
Elida and Jerome in the sushi restaurant.
Elida and me in the sushi restaurant. This is Suzzallo Library, one of the two main UW libraries, and Red Square (although it doesn't look very red and it isn't at all related to communism).
This is the quad. A couple of months ago the trees were covered with cherry blossoms. However, I don't have a picture of that.Another picture of Red Square. Still not red or communist.

The end is near

I longingly await the day when I will once again embrace my long lost friend - sleep. That day is coming soon. Today is the last day of classes. On Monday I have one paper due and one exam to take, then next Saturday I graduate.

I've discovered an interesting dynamic in my sleep patterns (or should I say, lack of sleep patterns). I've always known that the less sleep I get, the more it takes to wake me up (i.e. the more alarms I need to set, the longer they will inevitably go off before they rouse me, the longer I will groggily hit the snooze bar, the higher the chance that they will not wake me up at all, etc.). However, my level of sleep deprivation has reached such a height that even on the rare occasion that I get a normal night's sleep, it takes just as much to wake me the next morning. In fact, night before last I slept an amazing 7 hours - but it was just as difficult for me to wake up as it was this morning after sleeping an hour and a half. I had been thinking that I would be able to get some extra rest this weekend, but then I realized that I'm scheduled to work a total of 24 hours over the weekend, plus I have to write a paper and study for an exam, so no luck. Looking at my schedule, I'm thinking maybe I can sleep in on Wednesday. That would be nice. If not Wednesday, it will probably be the following Monday or so. Then again, the following Thursday I'm moving, so it would be helpful to pack at some point. Oh well, after I move, I'll have three days off before I start work again. Lots of sleep will happen.

So maybe I spoke too soon, that day isn't quite as near as I thought - it's getting closer though, and the pressure is decreasing, even if I'm not getting more sleep. But for now, I'm off to my last class, then to celebrate the last day of classes by having lunch with a friend at Thai Tom's- my favorite restaurant. Mmm...I can taste it now.

3,000% - a Ridiculous Dosage of Anything

As I mentioned in a previous post, I like energy drinks and I've been drinking a lot of them since I started working on my thesis. I have a couple of favorites, but I also like to try new kinds all the time. Today I'm sampling the one pictured above. I bought it because it made me laugh. 3,000% the RDA of B12? That's ridiculous! What is the point of that? There is a recommended daily allowance for a reason. Approximately 96.6% of the B12 in that drink is purely superfluous. With some vitamins, it can actually be hazardous to your health to consume that much above the RDA. I don't think B12 is one of them, though... At any rate, I won't be drinking this energy drink again - it tastes like a vitamin.

Pictures

I rarely take pictures anymore. The days where I would take 30 meaningless pictures without even thinking twice about it (which is, incidentally, how ninjas do most things), are long gone. However, I do take pictures when I have a good reason, such as today. ELIDA IS HERE! It's so crazy, and I'm so excited - even though this is the worst possible weekend of the year for me. I'm meeting up with her and Jerome in about an hour and a half.

Consequently, I charged up my batteries and brought my camera with me to school. And guess what - I have more pictures from my trip to Madrid. I just forgot to put them on my laptop. So here are some from my last few days there.

Ahhh, the Wonderfully Minging Casa Mingo. Matt was trying to pour sidra like the Spaniards, but most of it wound up on the floor. Bless.

This was in the Gatwick Airport. I feel very strongly that there is something inherently wrong with the entire concept. This may be a clue to the origins of the stereotype of Brits having bad teeth.

Ahh, yes. My lovely stay at the exquisite Chez Gatwick. I think I was there for about 15 hours? Luckily for me, it only felt like 15 years...

Well, there you have it, folks. A few more pictures for ya. Maybe someday I'll post daily pics again, who knows. I will definitely be posting some pics of me with my old roomie in the next few days. Hooray!

I study on campus to avoid distractions?

As I have mentioned to some of you already, I've basically moved in to the library at the UW. My senior thesis is due in six days, and I still have a lot of work to do. I find that I generally get a lot more done when I study on campus because, for one thing, the library atmosphere is much more conducive to studying than my apartment is.

This is not always the case.

There is usually a low buzz of student conversation in the Odegaard library, the one I'm currently studying in. However, a few hours ago, that buzz grew to a steady hum. As I looked around to figure out what was going on, I thought I caught the word "police," then I heard the unmistakable squawk of a police radio. A group of students sitting next to me decided that one of them should go to the desk and figure out what was going on, otherwise, all hope of accomplishing anything was lost. When the messengerboy returned from his errand, I discovered that there had been a shooting on the Ave and the police were checking to see if the suspect had entered the library. He hadn't. And I wasn't scared, anyway. Things like this don't usually scare me, I stay as cool as a cucumber. Except for this one time, I was almost attacked by a squirrel...

Anyway, here's the full story.

The Way I See It

For anyone who frequents Starbucks, or even just drops in once in a while, you are probably somewhat familiar with the little blurbs that now appear on the sides of the cups. They are little quotes on a wide range of topics from a wide range of people. Some of these have ignited a fair share of controversy.

It has sort of become a habit of mine to read these little quotes as I drink my caramel macchiato on my break. Generally, I find them to be overly sappy, pseudo-profound, and/or simply annoying. However, I read one recently that brought a smile to my face. I instantly sprang out of my seat and quickly got the attention of the baristas that happened to be working so that I could share this quote with them. I was truly impressed that Starbucks had finally managed to find that vital ingredient to a quote-worthy quote...sarcasm. I present to you the pièce de résistance:

The Way I See It #103

For all those parents who wonder, How do I get my kids to read? – here’s a simple, earth-shaking notion: give them a book. For gosh sakes, give them a couple books.

-- James Patterson
Author

And it's so true.

Squirrel tried to kill me

No, seriously. I was kinda freaked out.

It all happened just moments ago. I was sitting outside on a bench, minding my own business, eating my dinner (which consisted of a Veggie Delite sandwich from Subway and a Diet Coke - yum). Then I saw this squirrel, just a-scampering around on the path. "He's a cute little guy," I thought to myself. Then after the guy walked by, I noticed the squirrel again. "Aww, the squirrel is cute, too," thought I, "but in a different way."*

Let me just reiterate here that I am sitting on a bench, eating a sandwich. This doesn't involve a lot of movement.

The squirrel starts coming towards me. He's getting really close. I start noticing that he isn't really that cute after all. He looks like a big, ugly rat. A big, ugly, mean, crazy rat with razor-sharp teeth. As he grins at me menacingly, I notice that he is also wielding a switchblade, which he tosses back and forth from one tiny little hand to the other.

By the time he's about 2 feet away from the bench, I'm getting kinda edgy. You see, he's a quick little dude, as squirrels generally are. And I realize that he could close that distance in less time than it would take for me to shout, "Help! Crazy squirrel!" So I start moving around to try and scare him off. He backs away a little, but as I continue to eat my sandwich, he starts closing in on me again. So I quickly finish my dinner and beat feet out of there. This is not a joke. It really happened.* I could have died.**

Tune in next week for more animal adventures at the University of Washington. What creature will I run into next? Maybe a husky? Better not be a cougar...

*Parts of this story really happened. Other parts may or may not have happened.
**This is clearly not true.

The menagerie that is the University of Washington

The title of my blog, as you may have noticed, is "Marianna'a Random Ponderings." And I am really tempted to post just a whole bunch of random ponderings today. Here's me giving in to temptation.

I saw a duck about half an hour ago. I was walking to the writing center to get some advice for my senior thesis, and he was hanging out right outside of Mary Gates Hall. I came within about 6 feet of him and he didn't even look at me. How weird is that? I wonder- If I threw something at him, would he have ducked? But anyway, the duck made me think of my senior thesis. When ETA was first established, their name was almost something different. I don't remember what it was, but the acronym would have been ATA. Then they realized that "ata" is the Euskera word for duck. So they changed the first word.

I almost wrote, "But I digress," just now - then I realized - that's the point. This whole post is one big digression - Yay! What fun!

I saw a raccoon a few days ago. I was walking across campus on the way to my car the other night after studying all day. The little guy was on his way up/down (I'm not sure which) a tree right in the middle of campus! I know where the duck came from - Drumheller Fountain. It's always full of them. But what was the raccoon doing hanging out by the library? I think that's the first time I've ever seen a raccoon in real life. I came within about 12 feet of him. It was cool for me.

Thanks for the birthday wishes yesterday :D I loved the songs, comments, and messages. Whoever this "Victoria" is that keeps leaving me comments and written birthday songs - thanks. I don't exactly remember who you are, but I appreciate it anyway.

I just found out today that I share a birthday with Sigmund Freud...

Just prior to the Duck Sighting mentioned above, I spied a bird snacking on a worm. The funny thing was, he would just kind of peck at it a couple of times, then look around for a few seconds, then peck at it a couple of times, then look around for a few seconds - you get the idea. It didn't seem like a very effective way to eat a worm. If I were bird, I'd just eat him and be done with it. Actually, if I were a bird, I would change the way birds eat. Birds would drink coffee and eat candy bars.

I'm hanging out in the writing center right now, waiting for my turn.

I've basically moved in to the library now. I'm going to try to be signed in to MSN Messenger more often so I can chat with you folk. Even if my status is "Busy," you can interrupt me and we can chat for a bit :D

I'm becoming addicted to energy drinks. I like them. They're great.

I graduate in just over a month! That's mental! If anybody wants tickets to the ceremony, let me know. It's June 10 and the tickets are free, but I need to request them by May 21.

I may post some more pics soon and I may try to blog more often, but then again, it may not happen. So I'm not going to commit to anything.

I may be here pretty late tonight studying. The more I am able to write tonight and turn in tomorrow, the more I will be getting feedback on.

In light of that, I think I will close now. Gotta get back to writing!

Just in time!

In my last post, I said that I was hoping to post more information about my trip in the coming week. So, for anyone who has been wondering why the post hasn't appeared yet, it may be useful to note that the phrase "the coming week" has been redefined by the Board of Definitions and Redefinitions of the English Language. It now means "the next 19 days." Therefore, this post is just in time - not late, as you might have imagined.

The trip was great; I had lots of fun hanging out with Homeskillet and Strong Sad (a.k.a. Victoria and Kelly) at their place on Holy Spirit Street. Jess and I also got to go visit Jonathan in Los Hueros (which is a.t.p.e.c. - I'm giving a whopping 50 points to whoever is the first one to figure out this acronym), and he hung out in Madrid with us as well. The trip mostly consisted of hanging out with friends and visiting the places we used to frequent, for example: Casa Mingo, el Rastro, Ricci's, etc. Jess and I both spent a substantial amount of money on clothing, I made Bailey's brownies a couple of times, and we (Victoria, Kelly, Amy, Jess, and I) watched the entire collection of "The Office" - which amounts to about 8 hours of fun... or should I say, the equivalent of the average day at the office? I also got to see Troy and Heather, Ana, Shawn, and Nicole Trabes. Plus, I got to know V & K's roommate Amy, and meet some of their other friends. It was an all-around good time. Also, Matt 3 came to town the day before I left, so we met for some wonderfully minging food at Casa Mingo. Here are some pics from the trip:

Jess, Jo, Vic, and I, at La Finca de Susana, which is a culinary school where you can get amazing food for a very reasonable price. Jonny and I on the Madrid Tour bus. Jonny "working hard" at the office.This sort of reminds me of Gareth's phone holster. "Did he make 5 calls, or six? You gotta ask yourself, do you feel lucky, punk? Well? Do you?That Uncle William sure has one big Tub O' Mayonnaise.
This place has the best mojitos in the world.

This is the most amazing chocolate in the world. Seriously.
Jonathan? Playing video games? There's a shock...

Posting of post postponed until post-travel

I typed up this post a couple of days ago when I was hanging out in Gatwick. However, since I was not connected to the internet, I was unable to post it at the time. I'm hoping to post more about my trip in the coming week, but for now, here's Tuesday's post:

It is now 7:26 am of Tuesday, March 28th. I’m sitting in Gatwick airport, twiddling my thumbs. Except for the “twiddling my thumbs“ part... I’m fairly good at avoiding boredom. But I’ve been counting the hours until my flight, and they are many. Luckily, I’ve come well prepared. I’ve been reading Jane Eyre, and I occupied about 3 hours in finishing the book. I’ve got the entire collection of The Office with me (both seasons and the special), so I’ve watched some of my favorite bits as well as the special features (yes - this includes the commentary, and yes - I know I’m a nerd for watching it. It’s actually quite funny, though. Ricky Gervais is ridiculous). I accidentally left one of Kelly’s DVDs in my laptop (oops… sorry about that, Guills, I could mail them to you…), so I spent about 2 hours watching episodes of Arrested Development which I hadn’t seen. I also have a copy of Nicholas Nickleby with me, which I am eager to read. So, I’ve got plenty of supplies to help me while away the hours.

My plane was scheduled to arrive at 10:15 pm last night, but it was delayed and did not arrive until 11:45 pm. I didn’t mind, that just meant less time that I had to hang out here at Gatwick. My flight today is not until 2:00 pm, but I am over halfway there. Consequently, with all of my provisions and the amount of time that has already passed, I’ve been feeling quite optimistic, if a little tired.

I haven’t slept, because I don’t want to risk any of my things getting stolen. I’m not really that tired, though, and in a bit I’ll go buy some coffee at Starbucks - on second thought, that could be a bit risky. Last time I went to the Gatwick Airport Starbucks, I ordered an Iced Caramel Macchiato and the barista put steamed milk in it instead of cold milk… Hmm… I wonder if they’d let me make my own drink? Yeah, probably not.

Anyway, back to my optimism. I was just contemplating the fact that the time has gone by relatively quickly and it shouldn’t be too hard to get through the next few hours. Then I looked at my itinerary. I have a total of 15 hours of flying ahead of me today plus a 3 ½ hour layover in Atlanta. Fun times. Well, at least I should be able to get a little sleep on the plane. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll upgrade me to first class. I definitely need to get as much sleep as possible, because I don’t get in until almost 11:30 pm tonight, and I have class tomorrow morning - my first day of classes in my last quarter at the UW. Technically, the first day of classes for spring quarter was on Monday. Obviously, I didn’t go…

I think I’m going to close here. Someone just walked by carrying Starbucks coffee and the sight of it made me conscious of the necessity of a caramel machiatto. One of the annoying things about traveling alone is that I can’t just run down, get some coffee, and bring it back - I have to pack up all of my stuff and drag it down to Starbucks. But that is of little consequence, I desperately require a caramel machiatto. Now. I am convinced that oversight of the requirement of this critical, life-giving manna would lead to certain death. Hence, I must bid you farewell.

Random side note: If you’re looking for a song with some cowbell, “The Undeveloped Story,” by Anberlin is a great one.

Random pictures

So, Kelly says that this is a fun game to play if you're bored: Type the answer to these categories into google images and pick one picture out of the first page each word brings up. So, I tried the first one out and decided it was definitely worth doing. Here's what I got:

First name: Marianna

Middle name: Jean (Jean Claude Van Damme - Oh yeah)

Last name: Willey

Age on my next birthday: 26

City I grew up in:Centralia (This appears to be the welcome screen to an online Italian grocery store?)

Favorite color:Red

Place I'd like to live:Madrid (Oh yeah, let's hear it for Real Madrid!)

Place I live now:Renton

Habit I have:Drinking coffee

Favorite food:Sushi

Favorite animal:Frog

Religion:Christian

Dream job:World traveler

Grandmother's name:Verda

Favorite smell:Cinnamon (Actually, I love good-smelling things, and I can't really pick a favorite. This is a good one, though, and this is an excellent picture.)

Well, that's it. Kinda weird, but I thought it was fun. Here's the question of the day: Which picture do you think is most representative of me?

Anybody out there?

I posted 3 separate blogs in one day, and there hasn't been a single comment on any of them. Have my bloggings become so sporadic/strange/boring that nobody reads them anymore? Or has my rambling shocked you into silence? On the other hand, was it just the absence of a "question of the day" that has prompted the lack of response? If it was either of the former two possibilities, that's unfortunate, but I regretfully report that my blogging style isn't likely to change much. If it was the latter possibility, I can fix that! I submit to you now... a question of the day: Are you a procrastinator or a plan-aheader (I know, I know, that's not a word - but it should be)? Bonus question of the day: Where does the following quote come from? "Corn chips are no place for a mighty warrior!" Okay, people, now it's your turn to leave a comment.

P.S. If you're just now tuning in and you haven't read the previous posts, please start at "Choose your own title."

Final update or I am wired(weird?)

Hey. So. I finished off that energy drink, and about halfway through the class I started getting sleepy. Luckily, we get a 10 minute break halfway through the class. So, I went over to the HUB (Husky Union Building - there are a bunch of restaurants and a convenience-type store there) and got myself another Full Throttle. It did the trick. And then some. I am so wired. Hey. I just realized that wired is an anagram of weird. That's weird. Or is it wired? Umm..ok, that's the Full Throttle talking. Anyway, so I got home a few minutes ago, but now I need to leave again to go to my cadre. Hopefully the energy drink doesn't wear off until I get back home. I just need to hold out for a couple more hours! In conclusion, today I learned that energy drinks combined with a lack of motivation to study make me a compulsive blogger.

Progress report

Okay, folks, here I am - checking in. I realize that when I have a recent blogging record of every 3 weeks, the chances that anyone has actually already read the blog I posted a couple of hours ago are slim to none. Nonetheless, I had a half-hour break between my second class and my last class, so I thought the most effective way to use it would be to post another blog. Not really. I thought the most effective way to use it would be to study, but I didn't want to do that.

So, I made it through another class with no problem. Despite the fact that it was an hour and a half, fairly boring, and they even shut off the lights to show some slides - sleep, my old foe (and sometimes friend), did not even make an appearance. The real challenge will be halfway through my next class. It's always tough around that time, on 2 hours of sleep- it could get pretty hairy. I popped open the Full Throttle a few minutes ago. I like. But I fear that sleep deprivation plus 16 ounces of energy drink may cause me to react like Victoria on skittles. Or Strong Sad on caffeine. That could be crazy. Time for class again. Got to go!

Choose your own title

That's right, choose your own title. It's like Choose Your Own Adventure, only I'm not giving you options to choose from. It's all you. Please submit title suggestions by posting them as comments. All suggestions will be considered. Winners will be announced whenever I feel like it and some random prize will be made up at that time. No purchase necessary.

Hmm...three more weeks and one more blog. So that two week break that I mentioned in my last blog was nice - it was way too short, though. The finals crunch has begun. I had a paper due on Tuesday and one due today. Then I have one more next Thursday, a final on Friday, and two finals the following Monday. Then on Tuesday...dun dun dun...(drum roll)...I'M GOING BACK TO SPAIN! HOORAY! I'M SO EXCITED! CAN YOU TELL? YES, I KNOW I'M YELLING - I CAN'T HELP IT! Actually, fortunately for me I can help it. I'm only yelling internally. I don't think the rest of the people in the library would appreciate me yelling out loud, even if I am going to be in Spain in 2 weeks. AAAAAHHHH!!! I'M GOING TO BE IN SPAIN IN 2 WEEKS!

My goal right now is to get through the next week and a half without entirely burning myself out. I have a game plan, too. Ready? Here it is: Quit procrastinating. I put this game plan into effect last week and it started out nicely. I actually decided on my topic and started organizing my thoughts last Friday for my Tuesday paper. Okay, rabbit trail: Who came up with the expression "organize your thoughts"? It's dumb. It's like I have a box full of thoughts and I'm putting them all in labeled file folders or something. Who does that? It's a waste of time and file folders. I just leave 'em all in a pile in the corner and pull out a random thought whenever I need one. So now you know where I stand on organized thoughts, as if it weren't already clear by my blogging style...ha! Anyway, back to Tuesday's paper. So by Friday I was already researching and making notes for my paper. I even came up with the title, "The Role of Religion in Machiavellian Politics." (Did you hear that, Jess? I said, "Machiavellian Politics." It makes me think of you every time ;) This is huge, people. I'm not sure you understand the magnitude of the effort that I put forth. It was only a 5-page paper, and I started thinking about it not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 DAYS IN ADVANCE! And it did help. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to begin the actual writing of the paper until the night before, so I was up until 3:30 am finishing it, but it definitely helped that I started ahead of time. Then again, I probably would have finished a lot earlier if I hadn't taken so many breaks and then decided to hang out in the living room with Isaac and Lindsay while I wrote my paper... Oh well, starting on Friday helped my stress level, if nothing else. The real problem with the plan is this: If it is not implemented early and correctly, it cannot be sustained. Case in point: Tuesday's paper was started early, but not finished until the night before. So, after sleeping 4 or 5 hours Monday night, then spending all day at school, I arrived home exhausted at around 6:30 pm Tuesday night. I managed to do a little bit of reading for today's paper before I crashed. Then on Wednesday (yesterday) I had to work until 6:00. So I didn't start on today's paper until last night. Alas, but I started out with high hopes. After arriving home, I, of course, procrastinated some more, because as a great American icon once said, "That's what Tiggers do best!" I didn't actually begin typing up the paper until about 2 am. As a result, I did not finish until 7:30 am.

After a 2 hour nap, here I am, back at school. I've got 2 more classes before I'm free for the day, and I've gathered supplies to help me make it through. Sleep will not be my master! I'm drinking some french press coffee right now, and on my way to the library, I bought a 16 oz can of Full Throttle, some Lunchables, and a bag of Cheetos. I ate the Lunchables for lunch. Yum. If my enemy, sleep, starts gaining ground during one of my classes, I will simply crack open some of my provisions and the day will be mine! Mwah hah hah! I'm not sure about the whole Full Throttle thing. I've never actually had one before. I'm not really an energy drink type of person. Oh sure, I enjoy the occasional Red Bull (especially because, as they say, "Red Bull gives you wings" and I like flying), but I don't generally drink too many energy drinks. I was hoping for some Rocket Chocolate, but they didn't have any. It's okay, though, I'm sure what I have will suffice. I've got to go to my next class now, so this is where the blog ends. I'll add a note later to inform you of the outcome of the Battle Against Sleep. In closing, I'M GOING TO SPAIN IN A WEEK AND A HALF! HOORAY! That is all.

Sweet Hearts

Somehow I've managed to let 3 weeks slip by without updating my blog... Didn't realize that until just now. So much for me updating weekly, huh? In my defense, I have been busy with midterms and papers. In fact, a paper is the reason I am here right now. I have just one more to write, and then I'll have a break for a couple of weeks.

I said that a paper is the reason that I am blogging, and it is...sort of. More to the point, it is the avoidance of the writing of said paper that has compelled me to restore hope in my faithful readers who return day after day with bated breath to get a glimpse into my life. Well, here's a tidbit.

While employing one of my many other avoidance techniques, I came across an interesting article in the UW's student newspaper. The title was, "Valentine's Doom." The article basically bemoaned the plight of a single person on Valentine's Day - not really anything new. It was an entertaining piece, though, and one part in particular made me laugh. The writer brought up the topic of Sweet Hearts - you know, those little candy hearts with messages on them like, "Be Mine," "True Love," etc. She said that she thought it would be nice if someone came up with Sweet Hearts for singles. They could have messages like, "One is Fun," "You're Just Not That Into Anyone," and "Being a Nun Wouldn't Be So Bad." I thought it was hilarious, and not a bad idea. Someone should really do it. I'd buy them. Somehow, though, I'm not sure it would be a great idea to share those with your friends. A person could easily get insulted if given a candy heart that said, "Being a Nun Wouldn't Be So Bad." Well, I think I've procrastinated enough for now. After all, it's after 6 pm here and my 6-page paper is due tomorrow.

A few highlights

Hey. Here I am. Posting again. I feel that I have some making up to do for the lack of blogging in recent months. So, here are some highlights:

In late October, I bought a car. It still needs a name, though. I'll post a picture soon and you can start posting your votes!

Around the middle of November, I got a roommate. She already has a name, though. No votes needed here. Lindsay is a great roommate and it's nice not living alone anymore.

December was a busy month. After almost dying due to finals (hey, it could happen), I participated in an all-day Family Guy marathon (as mentioned in the previous post), and the following week we had a Lord of the Rings marathon. We actually managed to watch the extended versions of all three movies in one day. Also, my brother surprised us all by coming home from Spain for Christmas. Hooray! A week before Christmas, while cooking some naan to go with the curry my brother and I were making, I burned my hand with hot oil. Not hooray. That hurt. A lot. About 2 hours later, I noticed that the burn was looking purplish in places and it looked like it might be blistering. Thinking that maybe this wasn't a good thing, I asked my mom to take me to the ER. About 2 1/2 hours later, I left the hospital with a bandaged hand, a prescription for percocet, and orders to return the next day so they could check for signs of infection and change the dressing. As it turned out, it was a second-degree burn.

Winter quarter started on January 3rd. The break went by way too fast. I'm already in the 3rd week of the quarter and I have 2 5-page papers due in the next week. I haven't started on either one, of course, but in my defense, one of them hasn't actually been assigned. You know, I thought about writing, "In my defence." One of my profs is English. Surprisingly enough, I'm still actually learning in that class. I guess it just goes to show that you can learn something from anyone, even a Brit! Anyway, the paper in that class will be assigned tomorrow and due on the 26th. Nice, right? Oh well.

My lappy broke. Actually, it was just the CD rom. Whenever I take my computer in for repairs, I usually back up all my information first. However, since the CD rom wasn't functioning, I didn't do so this time. Of course, this was the one time that they actually reformatted the hard drive. I just got my computer back 2 days ago (I brought it in around the end of December) and discovered this. Not fun times. Luckily, I backed everything up in July when I took it in to get it checked out. Now if I could just find the CDs with all of the information on them...

In other news, I'm going back to Europe for spring break! I'll be in Madrid from March 15-22, then England from March 22-28. I'm so excited!

Well, there's a brief recap for you. I'll try to get back to posting every week. I'm only working 20-25 hrs per week this quarter. I averaged 30 per week last quarter and that was just too much. So hopefully, I won't lose what little sanity I have left. Bye for now.