rrrandom_antic

You scored as Elizabeth Bennet. As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to. </td> Elizabeth Bennet 78% Elinor Dashwood 63% Jane Bennet 50% Marianne Dashwood 44% Emma Woodhouse 34% Charlotte Lucas 31% Lady Catherine 13% Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!! created with QuizFarm.com

Hee hee! I'm so happy with my results!

*dances around like the little lit geek that she is.*

My Hogwarts House test says that I'm about 70% both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Hufflepuf was up there too. What does that mean? Would I have broken the sorting hat?

So, I'm in Cali right now. I flew out with my mom on Tuesday and my dad will be joining us on Friday. I suppose, technically, that's today. It's been a good, if odd, time. My Grandmother on my dad's side lives in Orinda (bay area) with one of my uncles, and my Grandparents on my mom's side just moved to Alameda(also in the bay area). This means that we only have to fly to one location to visit almost everybody, but it also means that we spend most of the time shuttling between the two houses, trying to explain to each one why we can't spend more time at their place. It isn't bad (the families really like each other) but it's usually a little hectic.

Right now we're in Alameda and I like my Grandma and Grandpa's new house.It's cute and classy, and all one level so that nobody with an artificial hip has to climb thirty steps to get inside. All their things are here, so it feels like the same place I've been visiting since I was a baby. . . only different. My mom and I came, ostensibly, to help them finish moving in, but of course they don't have anything for us to do and instead my Grandma's spent the time trying to get us to take all of her beautiful old things home with us and to eat more of everything.

She convinced me to take two fantastically antique purses that look like they belong at a banquet with Marilyn Monroe.

Yesterday, I decided to go for a walk along the water, and since my grandfolks didn't want me to get my little self lost, they all decided to come along. We made our way down to the dock where you can catch the ferry to San Francisco. I had a really nice, long conversation with my Grandpa and we kept leaving my mom behind when she'd stop to take pictures of the pelicans. Then it got dark and since they haven't been in the neighborhood long, we all got lost. My Grandma's limping along going "I'm fine! Yes it hurts, but stop worrying about me." and I'm reading all the street signs out loud because my grandpa just got his eyes checked and can't really see. Lets just say that when we got back to the house we deserved our celebratory burritos.

I'm excited because I hope to see Teagle while I'm here and then I'm throwing a New Year's Eve party the day after I get back to Superior. It's going to be a great time, in part because a certain someone is coming to town for a whole 48 hours. Yay! I wonder how much of a gastro-tour of Duluth/Superior I can manage in that time. Twin-ports folks, any tour suggestions? The possibilities in Superior are so extensive I just don't know where to start.

Addendum: I just (JUST) found out that my other Grandma had be checked into the hospital today. Apparently she was confused and started talking about me as if I was 27. It sounds like all the tests are going well, but I still not quite sure how to take the news. She loves Christmas, so I hope she's feeling better in time to enjoy it.

Hmmm. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Cuddles are good.

In other news, the term is now over and instead of being back home I come down to Madison right after Thanksgiving to stay with Justin. The week has been incredibly busy, but it’s been a nice chance to experience life on a VERY different campus (HUGE!) without having to do any of the homework. I feel like I’m easing into break and that‘s a nice change from the sudden everything to nothing switch that I get to have most years. On Tuesday a group of us went to Club 5 to celebrate my birthday. Actually, he goes to Club 5 every Tuesday, but this time we waited until midnight so I could get in for free and have a free drink. Excellent. I’ve also visited classes both with him and with one of his frat brothers. My favorites: Television, comedy and Politics, and a 20th Century survey course. The last one was particularly amazing because I think the prof may be a god. She made Existentialism crystal clear in about five minutes and is coming to Justin’s birthday party on Saturday. Very cool woman. This isn’t a serious question, but really, why have a majority of the best teachers I’ve had been Lesbians? It’s unfair. I want to grow up to be a kick-ass Lesbian too.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I also want to remember some of the awesome things which happened last term that I didn’t have the time to mention on livejournal. This term was intense and so I pretty much stopped going on livejournal, Facebook, my own e-mail, etc. However, this did result in a way better grade than I’d expected in Sociology of South Asia. Yay. It’s nice when the “full speed headbutt” method of dealing with classes actually works out. That, and I am completely done with my distros. Now I can focus on being just as one-dimentional as I please.

Here’s a couple nice things from last term, in random order:

1. One-year anniversary

I know this is a fairly random day to celebrate, but it also makes me really happy.

2. Murder Mystery Party

Nik makes one scary bad guy (surprise!) and apparently Laura is very good at a death scene. Congrats on a good shindig Kristine!

3. My classes reasured me that I do know what I like.

I sang in front of my “master class,” screwed up, and actually enjoyed it, and Narrative theory was just as amazing and painful as I could have ever hoped.

I am actually still alive.

Thought you might like to know. Coincidentally, I also had a wonderful and very busy time out east visiting my boy and his entire (I mean ENTIRE) family. After about the first day we took to referring to the trip as my own personal summer camp, complete with crafts, kiyaking, and making lots of new friends. The unofficial theme of this camp was "rocks and water" as they somehow seemed to be centrally involved in everything we did.
--big gorge (rocks and water)
--hiking around a lake with Nik and Sophie (rocks and water)
--cave tour (rocks and water)
--Niagara Falls (a whole tone of. . .you get the idea)

Of course it was wonderful seeing Max after such a long time in phone-conversation limbo. It was so nice and easy to get right back into the flow of how we are around each other. We've both changed a little bit, but somehow I think we've kept up with each other. I can even honestly say that I liked his family. Although when his sister's best friend asked whether "the kids" would be Christian or Jewish I think I turned colors crayola hasn't discovered yet.

Plus, I got to ride on both a motorcycle and a tandem bike, eat sushi, and learn how Elmira, NY was once a horrible POW camp.

Then, we got to spend about 26 hours straight driving from NY to MN with two teenage girls, Max's best friend, and his mom. Now that was a party.

The last two weeks or so were spent working on the awesomeness that is "It's Not All About Sex," the educational/entertaining show for froshlings. This year we ended up writing about 7 new short bits for the show and rewriting half of one of the main scenes, so it wasn't that surprising that we were revising right up until the first performance began. I got to play one transgender party-goer, one cradle-robber, and one verbally abusive girlfriend. Max got to be the stalker, so we are clearly going for the "creepiest couple on campus" Award.
We win.

Now I'm officially back in classes and realizing just how much this term is going to kick me all the way back to London. I'm taking:
Geology -- my last math/science distro. Also, cool labs.
Politics, Culture, and Religion of South Asia -- now I will know about queer life in India, and she seems like a great Prof.
Literary Theory -- A Senior Seminar, I can geek out on the subject, and she's one of my favorite Profs.
German Coffee and the News -- Kann Ich Deutsch sprechen? Wir werden sehen.
Singing lesson -- because I miss the pretty sounds I used to be able to make.

I'm also busy missing my people off campus. Campus doesn't feel empty, thanks to the hoards of freshmen, but I really miss the real people who really ought to be here. Oh winter term. . .so far, so far.

Guess where I am now?

If you said anywhere on the east coast you were probably correct. Congratulations.
This is following several days at home, two back at school, and then finally a good couple of flights out to Elmira, New York.

Happily, I got to see a whole bunch of people while I was in Superior, first during an impromptu party at my house and then at a 1 am mass meeting in the Perkins on LOndon Road. At the first we watched Reefer Madness and at the second we got a picture with Ryan-the-waiter, so I would consider both roaring successes. If you would like to see this fabulous man who personally got on Gerhard's cell phone and berated my friend Emily for being "late" and "letting down the entire restaurant," I should have the pictures up on facebook when I get back from my coastal fun.

Justin and his friend Eric were nice enough to drive me back down to Carleton and take me to The Gay '90s for one last campy adventure before school starts up again. Considering the wide variety of Drag Kings and Queens on stage, the evening didn't disappoint. My personal favorite was the was the song "Micky" performed in the famous style of Mary Katherine Gallagher. Priceless.

Later, I will write about all of Max's plans for my time out here. It's really nice to be out here and to finally get to see him. Plus, tomorrow we get to see more people. More! Yay!

I'm heading home this afternoon! However I'm only going to be there until Sunday and then won't be back until thanksgiving. I would love to get together with anyone who is around, so either drop me a line or just show up at my front door. That's what Justin always does anyways. . . .

I just got myself locked out of my own building.
They're working on construction all across campus and so for the next week West gym is going to have really strange hours. Apparently they locked up between when I arrived in the morning and when I left to buy blank cassettes, so no backpack, work supplies, or Aikido for Rachel today. It happened late enough in the day that the setback won't kill me, but I will have to postpone the interview I set up for tonight. It might be a little difficult to pull off with the tape recorder and interview questions behind closed doors.

In other news:

1. Sophie, Julie, and I went to a Futureheads concert in the cities last Sunday. I hadn't heard their music before, so I borrowed Sophie's CD the day of the show and listened to it four times straight through. It worked. By the time we heard them half the songs sounded so familiar I could have been a fan for years. It also doesn't hurt that I really like their happy punk sort of music. Imagine if The Clash, Franz Ferdinand, and The New Pornographers had an annoyingly talented and ADHD baby. The Vintage theater, where the show took place also helped by living up to its name in a surprisingly pretty way. Before-hand we all went shopping on Hennepin Ave. and ate some fine Tibetan cuisine. Afterwords, we stopped at Micky D's and bought ice cream. Classy.

Unfortunately, when we got back Sophie found out that one of her good friends from high school had died the day before. The funeral was scheduled for monday and she was having a difficult time finding out any clear information. If you would like to see a very eloquent explination of where she was, be sure to check out her blog, but to keep it short, I spent the night at her place, while she did an admirable job of keeping it together. She couldn't do much from so far away and that can make it a lot harder.

This does remind me to tell all my friends back home in Duluth and Superior how much I love you guys and miss having you around. Susanne, Molly, Carly, Heidi, Alena, Jasmine, Colleen, Emily, Natalie. I can't list everybody, but do know that I still love to hear from you guys.

2. The rest of the week was mostly spent with the usual working and -now- a great deal of the tv show Angel. Pechous decided to educate us and we were game.
My review: well done, but masochisticly depressing. And yes, that does mean I want to watch it all over again. Wes rocks.

3. Sophie cut my hair! She did a very good job and it hasn't been this short since middle-school. It has taken a little getting used to, but overall, I like. Right now, in fact, I have pig-tails.

4. On Saturday, Reid, Rachel K, Henry, Sophie, and I took our last Kobukan (aikido in the cities) trip of the summer. This followed our final West gym training session on Friday, and I'll be damned if we weren't all a little bit emotional. I also completed the 1000 back-breakfalls challenge. For those of you who have yet to drink the kool-aid, a back-breakfall basically means falling backwards and getting back up in a way that isn't dangerous. The aikido folks in the cities challenged everyone to do 1000 by labor day, but Sophie was leaving early, so we modified the challenge. Now we had to do them in a month, and the month officially ends today.

5. Also on Saturday we threw a double birthday party for Sophie and Julie. If you average it out they were turning 21 and the size of the party reflected the momentousness of the occasion. I think I knew about half the people in my house. We also had homemade cake and divine chocolate mousse.

Last but not least: I am feeling light, for the truth --whole, take-no-prisoners, and ugly-- will set you free.

This is the first time in several weeks when I have not had some wonderful person or another visiting me in Northfield. This is both a good and a bad thing in more ways than I'd anticipated:

Good: Breathing time is nice, as is actually being at work when I say that I'm there.

Bad: I miss people and I wish I could see them for more than just a hurried bunch of days. The fact that there is only so much time can make things extra intense and while that can make party games feel extra special, it can also make anything that goes wrong feel like the next Hurricane Katrina.

Also, I should really give my body more cleverness points than usual, because I think it's realized it doesn't have to be on the ball anymore and has abandoned me completely. Yep. I've felt myself getting sick since tuesday and have tried to stave off the inevitable, but as of today it's official. I just spent four hours trying to sleep followed by two hours researching Joseph Conrad. The second part may have been more successful, but my body definitely liked the first bit a whole lot more. This is why your grandmother never said: "Feed a fever, critically analyze the hell out of a cold."

On that front, I am happy to say that I like Joseph Conrad a great deal more than when I started the summer. Once I got used to the fact that he never met a back story didn't love, I was able to enjoy some of his tweaked out characters and incredibly unpredictable plots. Plus, he paints terrorists, gigantic corporations, and foreign interventionist nation builders as good guys, like Superman or Jesus. This summer has truly changed my life. My new motto? "Screw the poor. I'm gonna go blow something up."

Since it has been so ungodly long since I had time to post, I feel I ought to update on all that has gone on in the last few weeks. Here goes:

While I was in the cities with my folks I got a call from my friend Justin that he would be down to visit me that evening and would be bringing my friend Natalie along for the trip. For those of you that don't know, Justin and I have known each other since early grade school. We split off for middle school and high school, but have managed to stay friends through almost complete changes in personality and interests. I'm actually not sure how we did it. Now-a-days, he could be described as a big teddy bear of a boy (often in glitter) who is poised to take over the world. I met Natalie just before 8th grade on a trip for the Lake Superior Youth Chorus. We sat together on the bus and spent the entire time talking before realizing that we were going to be at the same school in the fall. Then, we actually had to figure out each other's names.

I was very happy to see both of them and, as this was before I acquired a roommate, I actually had room for them. If you would like to hear the story of Byron walking in on them in the same in the bed and getting the entirely wrong impression, just ask. You can't make up this stuff. Anyway, we spent most of saturday night and evening just talking and talking and finally watching Animal House in the we hours of the morning. Natalie had never seen it. She lives under an even bigger rock than I do. Then on sunday, after checking out this cute little movie theater in the cities, we visited the Gay 90s with Sophie and Jenny. They had a drag show playing at the same time and some of these ladies were working some extremely high, skin-tight sequined numbers.

Teagle arrived on tuesday, to much aplomb. I won't go into all the fabulous activities that we all enjoyed with her, but some of them did include:

--a game involving Star Wars: Return of the Jedi at Emily Ruff's house.
(My list of cues included: --every time someone does something apparently suicidal which turns out to be brilliant and --every time there is palpable homosexual tension, especially C3PO and R2-D2)

--Swooning at the most awesome used bookstore ever in the twin cities. (I appreciate how Rachel only called me a geek once or twice during the trip)

--Going to ANOTHER gay club, this time with Sophie, Jenny, Justin (who had returned), and his friend Vipasha.
P.S. At said club, guess who's pic was on the wall? C.J. Griffith's, that's who. That's right. We saw Carleton student President 05-06 in some excellent softlighting on the wall of The Saloon.

--An Ethiopian dinner

--An Indian dinner NOT at Chapati's.

--A fabulous party at my place (The Pool! Woot!) with brownies, Herr Pechous's beverages, twister, dancing, and a little bit of game-induced drag.

Good times. Good times. *Cough* *Wheeze*
I'm going back to bed now. . .

Yesterday around 3 I was finally packed up and on the road back to Northfield. We didn't eat lunch before we left, so we ended up at McDonalds purely because there is nothing just outside of Duluth until you get within an hour or so of the cities. Of course I exaggerate, but still, McDonalds? Exaggeration is completely warranted.

In the car I accidentally read through an entire memoir that, as my mom put it, "is good and she's very funny, but do you want to be really sad right now?" It turns out that was an accurate review. The book is called Name All the Animals and mostly focuses on the death of the author's older brother and her "sexual awakening" as a lesbian in a very religious catholic family. The entire thing covers about four years in her life and does a good job of reading like a novel rather than a grouping of self-indulgent family stories. I know one part that jumped out for my mom was how incredible, even hilariously, overprotective her family became after the death. For example: Her dad came into her bedroom every night, blessed her head, hands, mind, and voice individually and reminded her to "remember. You are all we have left." Then her mother couldn't stop bringing her into the hospital, once because the poor girl wouldn't stop reading. "I'm sorry Madam," the doctor had to tell her, "we don't have a cure for that."
I know my mom realized that they never even came close to doing that to me. Hell, this book made us look normal, but I think there was still this niggling worry in her mind, when she read it though this girl's eyes, that they might have warped me too.

So, after the three of us lugged my stuff back into my summer room and they turned for the door, I tapped my dad to stop him. "I don't know if you know this," I said, serious as Survivor during an elimination round, "but I want you to remember." I paused. "You are all I have left." They both stood there for a second, until I made eye contact with my mom and we both started trying not to smile. That turned to giggling and soon we were both laughing, hands on our knees, while my poor dad just stood there with this bewildered expression going "What? Wait a minute. . .No seriously, what's so funny?" We told him before they actually went home today, but we made him wait for it.

I've now been back home in soup-town for just over two days, and I think I'm more busy than I was at school. Most of it is the fun, or at least good, kind of busy, but it still doesn't leave much time for relaxation or seeing friends. I'm only here from Friday to Tuesday morning and in that time we've managed to plan in a Bat Mitzvah (including two services and a party), a doctor's appointment, the fourth of July, my mom's birthday, and (at some point) all the work I have to make up for the three days I'll be away. This is where I let out an emphatic Oy Veh. The services and party were a lot of fun on friday and Saturday. I've known the girl of the day since she was crawling under the benches in the synagogue, so I got to feel ancient while eating excellent Jew food. MMMMMmmmmm. Kugel. Challah. Root beer floats. The chosen people really do know how to eat properly.

Oh, but they hired the oddest DJ for the party. My friend Suzanne and I watched in vague horror as this guy named Shelly wiggled around behind his equipment with flashing lights in his teeth and a mechanized tie smacking him in the face. Apparently he was once a famous radio announcer, but now he's slumming it by playing "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" and "The Macarena" for 12 year old girls. Bizarre. That didn't stop us from spending most of the night on the dance floor though. There are perks to being just a bit too old for these sort of things. The three of us (plus her sister Kristin) could act as goofy as we wanted and all the adults would just think wistfully back on their crazier days, that is, if they didn't get drunk enough to join in. After all, there was an open bar.

Notes:

1. On Friday I missed work thanks to the Germany/ Argentina game, and when they finally won I got to jump around the house living room like a true super-fan. Max, you are being a very bad influence. Thanks for that. Go Germany!!

2. I just saw "The Devil Wears Prada" with my folks and my dad thought it was about the dumbest thing since The Flinstones in Viva Rock Vegas. My mom and I shared a slightly more favorable opinion. The divine Ms. Streep is amazing, but that Andy character should really get less obnoxious friends. We were divided on whether the guy who kept hitting on her was even somewhat interesting. My vote = slimy and not remotely attractive. Now I just need to see Superman, An Inconvenient Truth, Pirates, The Break Up. . .

3. It's really fun to watch people get lifted up on chairs for the Hava Nagilah. And in a related note, the polka is a good way to get lots of old people on the dance floor. Remember that.

4. I'm considering going for a junior fellowship next summer. Right now my research idea is just a pretty pipe dream, but I'm hoping to flesh it out with some help and a lot of research.

5. It is really hard getting invitations to two parties for right after I return to campus. As is I probably won't have time to see people again before I leave and then there are two big get-togethers happening just after I go. In the first, I was to meet Carly's much-lauded boy, and for the second, my invitation came by singing pirate telegram (in costume no less). You don't get much better than that. Have fun guys,thanks for the invites, and tell me all about it.

6. A whole bunch of family friends at temple wanted first to hear about my summer job and then to know if I had a "heart throb." One man (funny guy who runs jewish/muslim understanding events for fun) just raised his eyebrows, went "Well. . ?", and pounded his hand in his shirt, between the buttons, a couple times. I, of course, totally missed the point and thought he was asking if I had a pocket protector.

I've recently made big advances towards having a life that mimics reality. Last night I put on the documentary Spellbound and got to work unpacking and arranging my room. My temporary roommate moved up stairs that afternoon and it was now or never. I would have to get my stuff in some order or condemn myself to living like a bag lady all summer. I think I went the right way on this one. I finished the preliminary process just as Nuper Lala won the Bee, and now the main problem in that the room just looks so empty. If anyone has any ideas for brightening up some very white walls or making things more cozy I would really appreciate them. I think I was born with decoration deficiencies. In good news though, I did discover that there is a bed I can use, so I won't need to sleep on the futon all summer. Plus, like the room, it's huge. I basically have the whole basement to myself too, so once I make the room a little more inviting it will be a very nice place for company.
Now all I need is a disco ball.

I have discovered this past week that my schedule is completely jam packed. I suppose I should have realized that working full time would do that, but somehow the not having homework bit fooled me into thinking that I would be able to get into town or hang out with people to my heart's desire. I have definitely been able to see people, but it's been hard working things like grocery shopping into the days. Right now I still have food (leftover rice, malt 'o meal cereal, a can of green beans. . .), but I'm just not sure how long it's going to last me. Should I try to stick it out until I go home on Friday? Hmmm.

Right now I'm not feeling too well, and so after a long day of putting every men's swimming statistic since 1929 in Excell spreadsheets (Know what? They went undefeated in '49. Oh yeah.)I'm looking forward to a nap now and watching Pulp Fiction later. That one's been on my "need to see" list for ages.

Oh, almost forgot to mention it, but today George (Shuffleton) showed me the microfilm of the manuscript I'm working on, and it was
1. fascinating
2. nearly illegible
After he spent a little while explaining some the the now extinct letters and the author's doodles in the margins, some of it started to make sense. However, it's still incredible that he managed to read/translate and comment on hundreds of these pages. One of the now-defunct letters was called a "yog," it sounded something like a hard "gh," and I'm going to petition somebody to bring it back. That name is like "zed," i.e. way too cool to waste.

I'm over at Sophie's right now and we just finished watching a few more episodes of Sex and the City with her temporary roomie. We're quickly working our way through season six and thanks to all this girly tv we've decided that a shopping trip to thrift stores in the cities is really necessary. In the last couple days the two of us also got together with Matt P to watch the lovely Neverwhere. Not that we've just been watching things constantly, but after lots of work and even more aikido spacing out sounds pretty amazing. I also went to a dinner at farm house, mostly to see all the London people who are in town right now. There we had an excellent salad with sweet curry dressing and burgers, all while discussing how Byron could secretly drug the kids in the Prairie and Wood camp. Brownies anyone? We basically came to the conclusion that parents wouldn't notice if their little darlings got snacks and spiced punch on their birthdays.

Speaking of spacing out, have you all heard how much aikido is happening here over the summer? Basically we are training every weekday except friday at either 11am or 5pm, plus there's sundays at 1pm and possible field trips on Saturday. To this regimen Reid has added Su Bhak Do training, I'm considering checking out Russ's workout classes, and Bitsy has pretty much sold me on dance classes in town. Here's to being sore. Of course, the only reason this schedule works is because we are brilliant criminals. Technically, West Gym closes at 6, but I think exercise counts as work and that's what they gave me the building keys for right? Right.

Other notes:

-Sophie and I may be going to a Futureheads concert at the end of July. Yay!

-I just met a guy from Ghana who is very happy with how the soccer game went. He may be the only one, but I'm pretty sure he's ok with that.

-Pirates, Super Man, The Devil Wears Prada = movies I want to see that are not out yet

-The Bookseller of Kabul= the good book I've started

-I just got my final paper back from last term and there was a lot of ouch there. When I turned it in I though it was alright, and it's always worse when its a surprise. So anyway, I'm going to try and figure out what went wrong there and try to keep it in perspective. One crap idea does not reveal my mind to be a complete waste of space. And repeat.

-Unrelated, Middle English poetry= way more interesting than it has any right to be
.
-The end of this week= when I get to start unpacking into my single!
The End.

Insert:
-We (Rachel and Sophie and Julie) have reached a consensus that male muscles are fascinating and we like to touch them. toodles! S. "there's all these lines and angles. . ."


Cause I kinda have to:

Leave your name (and maybe comment or something. . .), and…

1. I'll respond with something random about you
2. I'll challenge you to try something
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you
4. I'll tell you something I like about you
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours

Well I'm back in Northfield, and I'm beat. Last night my folks and I got in around 9 and had all kinds of fun lugging stuff down into my basement home. When I first got to the place there was a big group playing beer pong and I found out that I actually have a temporary roommate, Casey. She's going to be living with me until her room upstairs opens up and she seems pretty cool. Apparently nobody told her anything about the house either, so we pooled what little information we had been able to come up with (example: whether or not they ever lock the doors) and both came out the better for it.
Then Sophie and I hung out with one her temporary housemates and watched Sex and the City until 12:30 or so. Yay. It was really fun to be back. Still is actually. We both had to work in the morning, so Sophie was nice enough to give me a ride home (in her car that decided to work! sweet.) and I tried set up my room and go to bed without waking Casey up.

Bright and early in the morning, my folks gave me a ride to West Gym (since I can't seem to unlock Nik's bike. grrrr) and I got to find out what the heck I'm doing at the Sports Info Office. It looks like much of my time early on is going to be spent organizing, copying, stapling, and otherwise playing with files full of statistics. That sounds bad, but I'm actually pretty happy about it so far. I get my own room where I can play music while I work, I can come and go as I please, my boss (Eric) seems kinda goofy, and the work is actually less mind numbing than it first appears. Plus, lots of hours.

Around 11, my parents took Sophie and me out to eat at the James Gang Hideout, that new coffee place on Division. I think the general verdict was, cute place with nice atmosphere (and HUGE chairs) and good food, but maybe a bit more pricey than Mondays. They do have a good range of vegetarian options. Sophie and I are going to do a taste test of the coffee over the summer and render a final verdict on the new espresso in town.

Tonight, after Sophie learns some Chinese, we're planning on breaking and entering around 7:30. More news on that later.

I just got back from dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called the "Lotus Flower" with five friends from High School. After loads of terrific food we went all the way to the other side of Duluth on the off chance that this ice cream shop/video rental store might have licorice ice cream in stock. My friend Colleen (now at Madison U) is fairly obsessed with licorice, so we got a fun excuse for a Holy Grail Search around the city. In the end, they didn't have it, but she got a scoop of Rum Cherry with a scoop of fudge and all was well. This crazy night of playing catchup follows the sleepover I had a couple nights ago with four different High School people, one (Heidi) I hadn't got to school with since 10th grade when she moved to Jersey. Now she goes to Olaf and yet it took both of us visiting to Duluth for a meet-up to happen. Ridiculous. And that follows a get together at Perkins just after I got back. in this one week, I have been reborn a social butterfly. In all cases I had an absolutely amazing time. God, when I had to lug my sleeping bag out of storage and into the front hall I felt like I was 13 again and going off to, well, the same people's houses. We didn't end up sitting around watching anything the entire night because there was just too much to talk about and dance to. Aqua and Brittany Spears have never found a more accepting audience. Also, I kicked some serious ass at scrabble and anyone who knows my usual spelling abilities would understand how much this occasion is to be celebrated. Perhaps diet coke and. . .additives help my mental processes. May have to test this. . .

Yesterday, after the sleepover, my mom convinced me to come along to her monthly scrapbooking get togethers. Here's the deal, they are put on by a company that sells scrapbooking supplies in this social hall near a little league baseball diamond where people hold grad parties and vote. The powers that be set up a bunch of folding tables with little convenient bags for the ladies to throw away their extra paper, and from 6 to 11 the table fill up with mostly mothers (I would be willing to bet) and their piles of memories. It really is the cutest little thing ever. They even have a drawing for special background paper or stickers or something each time. We got there pretty late because Walgreens decided to lose my mom's photos, but even so I had three good hours to learn three good lessons.
1. There is no limit to how cutesy your life can look when surrounded by baby animal stickers and sequins. And no, that wasn't my work.

2. Elementary School teachers get gossipy as hell when hard at work and surrounded my their peers. Do you know who was just "given a long break" for pulling a temper tantrum in the last staff meeting? Well I sure do.

3. When you look up from you tape and photo clippings only to realize it has taken you three hours to do three moderately interesting pages, you might want to just dump any remaining photos in a paper bag and wait for quantum physics to randomly place them in the right order.


In other news, I can't stand Joseph Conrad. I have to read him for my job and I want to go back in time and hurt him. I suspect there will be more news on that front later.

Also, less funny, but today I found out that this awesome music teacher who directed my first six plays, whom I've since visited, and who taught me to love theater, was just accused of sexual misconduct with one of his students. She was 18 and it was supposedly more like dancing and a kiss than anything horrific, but it is still really hard to reconcile in my mind. This is a man who has been incredibly popular for years, especially considering his ability to create something beautiful out of a cast of over 100 elementary schoolers. I know it doesn't actually change my experiences, but in a way, it does.
Sorry, just wanted to get that out of my system.

By the way, Max, you bastard. Was the sex with or without the bridesmaids? I hope that ankle gets better soon so I may take my revenge guilt free when you return. Oh, and happy anniversary.

Ok. This is the post of happiness. This is true for several reasons:

1. I finally changed my livejournal settings and have completely fallen in love with the new look of my page. You can read it and it actually makes me want to put words on it.

2. I ate the most incredible thing yesterday and I'm still happy just thinking about it. In honor of my mom's retirement, we went out for dinner at this new tex-mex place and then my dad convinced her to try. . . Coldstone Creamery. Ahhh. We shared a "love it" (read: medium) size, made your own bowl of ice cream, and I don't think I've ever eaten anything quite so perfect.
Picture this: base-- cake batter ice cream
add-ins-- fudge, cookie dough, and pieces of twix

I take no responsibility for keyboards with drool damage.

3. I realized I never talked about how amazing it was to come back to Carleton for a few days. I feel so lucky that I got to see Des graduate and get in a little time with all the folks going off campus this fall. As we drove past the street construction and towards Evans, I asked my dad to turn the car around because I thought I might have seen something odd towards the main campus entrance. We looped back towards Davis, and it turned out I wasn't going crazy. Ben, Pechous, and Max had decided to welcome me by standing and waving their arms on the Carleton sign. Starting when Max ran around the car and starting walking me back towards campus, it turned into a day full of huge hugs: in the parking lot, in Sayles, Rachel just about tackled me to the ground in front of Evans, and Sari sqeeled with me on the Sayles steps. It seemed like every few minutes I couldn't breath, and I didn't care.
I thought that would make it doubly hard to say goodbye again in a few days, and in some ways it did, but I also felt lucky just to have that "bonus" time. For those of you who weren't there, the graduation was really nice. I wish I could tell you about the student speeches, but I acidentally misread my watch and showed up jut as the honorary degrees were being awarded. Whoops. Considering how cold it was, I'm not too upset. Especially since I still got to hear the band and see the seniors walk across the stage.

Hi,

Upon my return to the states, I discovered just how lack luster my livejournal performance had been. I suppose it was a step up from my usual e-mail and online performance, but it still sucked. Looking back, I'm not sure why it was so bad. I think I just never got into the swing of doing regular and SMALL posts, so over the summer and the fall term I'm going to try correct that. You are all perfectly within your rights to give me a good talking to if I don't follow through.

So I'm back home now, and it's actually a lot less weird than I'd expected. I even went to graduation at my old high school and felt strangely normal. I guess I'm getting used to being an alum. Instead of feeling stuck in the middle between home and Carleton, I'm now firmly in the second column and can be a little more detached. All that makes it sound so negative, but I appreciated being able to go watch my old band play Battle Hymn of the Republic and chat with my old English teacher about her horrible new students without feeling like it should somehow still be "mine". Being a tourist in my old life has never felt so great.

I'm only back here for about a week, in which I will try to fit in:

-scrapbooking my London stuff (I have started going though bags of memorabilia--read:pretty trash--so soon you will be able to see what I was up to over there)

-seeing high school friends (last night I got to see my friend Heidi who moved to New Jersey after 10th grade, a little awkward but very much worth it)

-reading everything ever written by Joseph Conrad for summer work

-excercise (because I have my trampoline and treadmill back)

-buy some new clothing (because contrary to popular opinion, holes are not chic)

-watch some trash tv (Rachel--did you see the episode where the guy "nexted" a girl 'cause she looked like his mom? such art)

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"Look ma! No hands!"

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Low
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Test

Tomorrow I head off to Dublin and today I realized that I'm forgetting where the heck I am at any given moment. For a week I got to travel around the British Isles, then I was in London again this week, and now I'm headed out again. I love it, but perhaps I also just love being confused. What's going on? I don't know. Yay!
Anyway, I'll try to give you all a short run-down of what we got up to over break. We did so much every day, especially in the beginning, but I hope I can send over a little sense of what I've been spending a whole bunch of European money on.

First of all, we headed to York, way up in northeastern England. It served as a stop-off point between London and Scotland, but according to our trusty guide book it also had a lot to offer on it’s own. It did not disappoint.

The Highlight of York: I hate to line up with all the touristy suggestions, but there is obviously a reason York Minster comes so well recommended. This Cathedral and Minster in one was absolutely gorgeous, partly because it boasts hundreds of stained glass windows from the 1200s and 1300s. In the very front, our quirky little old tour guide showed us one that was the size of the center court at Wimbleton which illustrated the entire history of humanity from creation to destruction. Very ambitious.

Other exciting activities: Undercroft: saw the stone foundations of the three great buildings which have stood in the place of the Minster including a Roman fortress.
Yorvik Viking Center: A remade viking village, authentic to the last rancid smell.
The Fudge Kitchen: So beautiful. Guh.


And then the next day we left for Edinburgh.

The Highlight of Edinburgh: The Castle was beautiful and stunning and we could see it from almost everywhere in the city. It also didn't hurt that the day we took our tour turned into our most lovely day in the area, so we had some great views of all of Edinburgh from the top of the towers. Inside the building we visited the Scottish crown jewels, a re-creation called the “Prisoner of War Experience,” and the room where JK Rowling unveiled her latest creation to the world.

Other fantasticness: The National Gallery of Scotland: Especially the impressionists.
The Elephant House (twice): Where the first of JK’s creations began. great steamers.
The Scottish Parliament: Weirdest building ever.
Pub Walk: silly actors and interesting half-pints
Beltane Fire Festival: we discovered that this was happening by running into a stand selling tickets, talked our way in for free, and got to see people either in crazy costumes or body paint doing acrobatics and playing with fire. Also, I think I now understand how a hill could have a maximum capacity.
Arthur’s Seat: The highest peak in Edinburgh and we climbed to it. Wheeee!
Our Hostel: it’s own deathmental venue, wall murals everywhere, and over 200 beds. priceless.
Also: The National Library, Edinburgh University, Club Nbuluh, and live pub music.


And, four nights later, on to our last stop in Wales. Our town was called Carnefon, and it was definitely one of the more easily pronounceable ones. In the area of Northern Wales where we were staying, most of the population learned Welsh first. Everything was in both languages, and I’ve decided that Welsh sounds like a strange cross between Scottish English and Norwegian.

The Highlight of Wales: We bused down to the southern coast of Snodonia National Park and hiked two miles up to a walk called “the Precipice Walk.” The weather in Wales was uniformly wonderful, but this day was special. As we walked along the side of the hills, we got these unprecedented views down into the valleys, rivers, and little towns which made up the entire area.

Other greatness: The Black Boy Inn: welcome to the oldest pub in Carnefon with great, inexpensive welsh pie, and trauma-inducing signage.
Candy Castle: that’s the town’s name. sorry. The place was cool, but the very energetic tour guide, Neville, really made this one. He want all out for our little four person tour and even knew things about Minnesota I’d never heard before.
Our Hostel: This place was like staying as a house guest and we were the only ones in our room every night. Plus, great beds and a large VHS selection.


And then, eight days after we began, we returned to our beloved Pickwick. I’ll get some pictures of all these things up on facebook as soon as I get them from somebody else’s computer.
I miss you all a great deal and wish that I could experience all these things with the people I care about. Thanks for the messages and e-mails too, they really make my day!

Sophie, Max, Des, I hope the show was awesome tonight and break a leg over the rest of the run! I’ll be philosophizing hard for all of you.