Plugged In?

I'm so tired of shoddy internet connections! Mine on campus has been glitching out through the last few days, it's incredibly, incredibly frustrating. I'm hoping that today's ease-of-use continues again, though. It's been nice to not have to restart my dear Daniel anymore—I had to do it twice last night!

Choir Countdown

I was worried for a bit that this wouldn't got through—the first time I tried to load it, I got this 'whoops, that's an error' page, so I was a little upset. Thankfully, the page loaded so I'm able to fill your screen with pointlessness and rather sleep-deprived ramblings once again.

Reading Week is nearly over—Monday is back to the grindstone for me, and into my second half of semester. Looking forward to it, actually, because it's not long until my choir day-trip, and all the singing that comes with that. Yay, choir!

Shift Work

As much as I logically knew that there was next to no one living on campus for the break, it took until my shift today at work to really sink in. We usually scan in at or three hundred for suppers, but today our grand total scanning was…sixty-nine.

That was the most tedious, long, boring, uneventful shift I've ever worked ever.

I have two more this week.

Day One

So my first day of Break: sleeping until 1330, awake until…whatever twenty minutes from now is.

So far, so productive!

First of the First

My forst night of my first reading week, and I'm up, late, talking to someone on Skype because that's what mature, responsible university students do. They stay up until who-knows-when in the morning, doing very little that could be counted towards their degrees.

I think I like this life…!

Formal, Field Trip

Well, I have given into peer pressure, and gotten dolled up for the Formal tonight. Hopefully I get home relatively early—I'm going on a field trip tomorrow! I"ll tell you about it when I get back….

I-Week Impromptu

I was part of a semi-impromptu fashion show today! Well, it was impromptu for me as of last night, I didn't even know about it until I was walking home from work and stopped by the setting-up. Next thing you know, I've volunteered and have two outfits done and ready.

I wish I knew where to find the photos from today, but I'm not sure where they'd be posted, so I'll have to inform you that it was lovely, and use your imagination to picture me in satin African-style garb. It was definitely a neat thing to do, and I'd love to be a part of next year, too. My school does International Week (I-Week) every January, and it's been really interesting so far.

On a slightly different, but related note, I got a Brazilian wish bracelet today. 

(Forgive the atrocious lighting, I'm trying to let the roomie sleep.) It's tied three times, and each knot is a wish. It's said that when the bracelet (naturally!) falls off, your wishes have come true. If there's any Brazilians out there that want to correct/expand on that, please feel free!

Lack Of Communication

I missed my first session of a class I've been quite looking forward to—my Intro to Oral Communication. Why did I miss it?

I couldn't find the classroom. That's so very much a first-year mistake….

The prof emailed me about it, too…. Friday's class shall be interesting.

Beginning of the End of the First

I had my first university final tonight, and it was…interesting. I'm marginally worried that I didn't do it correctly, but we'll see. Seeing as I wrote it in less than an hour, I suppose that one way or the other, I'm at a spectrum-end.

We shall see how the rest go.

Nearly There!

Well, today was the last official day of classes, though both of mine were cancelled.
I'm nearly done my first semester of uni.
Wow.
There were days when I didn't think I'd ever get this far!
(I'm off to bask in the glow of near-success!)

Confirmation

First choir concert complete…one more to go! A friend video taped us, and we actually sound decent. Not that I didn't think we would, but it's nice to have the confirmation, yeah?

I'm really looking forward to the next one, for a few reasons—one, I actually have people coming on Sunday (today…?!); two, I know now how to hold myself to look like I'm not being stopped with a hot poker; and three, I never have to sing these songs again.

I suppose there is a fourth reason, but that's even pettier than the third…I'm so sick of the drama of nearly thirty women of various ages, skill- and self-absorbtion levels 'getting along.'

(People look at me so oddly when I say I don't like working with a female majority, but I really would rather an even split. Women, myself certainly included, get so awfully exhausting to be around!)

Blank

I am so ready to have this semester over…ad hopefully reset my circadian rhythm, too!

That's all I've got….

Practically Snoring Already

I don't know what to say tonight other than I'm completely done, ready to sleep. I'm so ready for Break to get here; I want to cook and go for walks and not be with people 24/7.

Mostly right now I want to sleep.

To India And Back

Time to boast about my wonderful uni life, my awesome friends, and my great love of sharing obsessions. 

J, my Indian-from-Kenya friend has taught me the art of sari-making. I've talked about how I love Doll Divine before, I do believe, but I'm quite set in my ways, and matching is one of the largest. So…in the sake of spontaneity, J and i spent the evening with friends, first discussing tattoos, then Hinduism, and final (somehow!), we arrived at saris, and the dress-up doll at DD.

Both were modelled after myself (I'll have to get J to do herself soon!), and I thought I'd share.

Our first doll, that came complete with sari-wrapping lessons performed on my old fuzzy blanket.

I was surprised by the purple-ish tone J picked—I can't wear that shade IRL, as it completely washes me out. Nice to dream, though!

Our second, in the style of a modern/traditional Indian wedding. I love how red is used so much—my favourite!

Wedding Mahara. J loved the incorporation of green that she picked, for my own accent I think I might pick a golden/caramel brown, or a teal, perhaps a paler, yellower green if I were to do this over.

Here's the Doll Divine site—I highly recommend spending precious, valuable and productive time there.

SFAD

I'm excited, and nervous, today—tomorrow is my first Student For A Day touring. I co-run one or two of the events on the schedule, then do the second half by myself. Sort of worried, because it's my first time…I want to do well.

Any tips for confidence boosting…?

Hair

Every Spanish class, we sing at the end—immersion and all that. Today, the end verse was, translated, 'When a man loves a woman and she doesn't love him, it's like a bald man finding a comb on the street.'

I wonder, though—am I the comb or the man? Am I the tool that wants to be used, or the person who wants to have something to use it with? Am I purposeless and redundant, or broken and incomplete?

How do I tell?

Cramming

So, a month. All too often I seem to be doing the 'it's been too long' speech…so I'll leave off it this time. I do feel like a general update is in order, though.

I recently switched to veganism, after nearly two years of vegetarianism. I found it was no longer ethically enough to soothe my conscience. Research into it—how chickens are the worst treated animals on the planet, for instance. Or how 'they' get that dairy cow to produce your 2%. Or what the fashion industry does to foxes for the one piece that is desired for a finished product.

It's sickening. Compassion and empathy over profit and greed, any day.

What else? My family is moving, so while I have my semi-permanent home on my university campus, they'll be hauling all of their things hours northwest of here to settle in a tiny town of four hundred people (that jumps up to nine hundred in the summer).

Wow. Crazy, yes?

I've fallen in love with the uni lifestyle—definitely something I'm glad I did. I'm currently on a break, and (shh!! Don't tell my folks!) visiting my hometown. I'll swing by my old place on Sunday, surprise them all.

Speaking of surprises, yesterday I had a delivery made to my Mommy (the librarian I used to work for, and who I've adopted…) that was me, with a bow stuck to my face, carrying a pen. She was surprised, and we spent about four hours or so together, going out for supper, looking at photos, and talking, talking, talking! (Turns out local pizza is way better than chain! So much flavour!)

A friend of mine put me up last night…at his grandmother's. I know, ridiculous, right? We had to get out of town by 0730h to be on time for his 0830h class, and I had set my alarm for 0630h. It didn't got…. His grandmother, lovely woman, came down at about 0705h, asking if I was going in with N today, and if so, I better get up!

Needless to say, I rushed through my toilette, and was ready and waiting by 0730h. (He was a few minutes behind.)

Now I'm sitting in the café in his (used to be mine, too!) college, waiting for the Winners to open so I can spend the gift card that I can't at home, and then go to Fabricland for the same reason. A crazy day ahead of me, that's for sure!

Cram

Tomorrow's my first midterm—Politics. Then a quiz in French, then nothing, then Spanish exercises. Jolly.

I don't really know what to do for Poli Sci, but I know I need to go over my French stuff before class, as it's a double period and we'll go through a less on after the quiz.

Ugh. Why is school now, after twelve years, finally making an appearance?

Conflicted

I feel so conflicted lately.

I'm guilty—not writing here, not able to provide the supports for a dear friend who seems to need them.

I'm frustrated—nothing inspiring to write, a lack of words to say to said friend.

I'm hurt—can't seem to move 100% past the pain that has been dogging me for months.

I'm scared—worried for my friend, worried for my heart health (again), terrified of the abyss that is university.

I don't really know what to do right now. I'm going to remind myself to get back to blogging regularly, though.

With that on my mind, here's what I've been up to.

Textbook

I realized today how blessed I am in my residence. Literally, there have got to be about half of us on my floor who are hardcore tea drinkers, and we've really become very close. I'm not always one for 'big happy family' cravings—I like my solitude and fantasies too much—but this is so appallingly normal, it's been great. I couldn't get over how normal it was for me to go to res, in a university hours away, right out of high school.

With a lot of the crap I've seen, and how my family works, I never really expected to be this girl—the one who worries if it'll be rude to duck out of the room while her roomie talks to her mom. I'm now the girl that crows if my side of the room is cleaner than said roomie's. It's so standard-fare, so 'regular'. My mother would say this is least common denominator. To be honest? I like it. I want a bit of LCD in my life. I want to be able to say I did one 'textbook' teenager/young adult thing, even if that textbook was written in 80's America.

I really don't know where this is going—first week drain and all—but I guess I could say it's going towards the fact that I'm content. I've had to change to slide in around these people, but I think it's an educational change, and not a permanent, "You can never be you again," change.

I'm pleased to be here.

What was the most 'textbook' thing you ever did?