Studious Strategies

If you're in for the long haul, studying in the library that is, then it is important to remember to hydrate.

Hydration is healthy, so why not help out your well being? Hydrating is such a task as it is; I often find myself about to call it a day, and then I realize that all I've had to drink was 6 cups of Earl Grey, a few coffees, and the three popsicles. So, I force myself to chug a few cups in one sitting. Not healthy. We often put all other habits on hold while we are studying, so it is important to realize that the rest of the world cannot be put on hold while you are studying. Maintain your natural habits.

Multitask with your studying by hydrating! Less coffee, more water.

Hydration = more restroom breaks every 2 hours = needed exercise, stretch of the legs.
So, Hydrating, especially while in the library, is a win-win situation.

You've heard my case, and know that, when I have my cup of tea in one hand, and my book in the other, that I  am reverting to my old ways and days of classic bliss.

I am Edison! I am Innocent!

Man on a Ledge
Great movie. Despite the girlfriend; she should have died or grown a pair.

We were informed by one of our Chinese friends in the room that the subtitles translated to, "I am Edison! I am Edison" rather than "I am innocent!"

I mean, you can't shoot the poor guy. After all, he is Edison.

I get a little antsy when too much time is spent in one setting, for instance, the side of the building. But the thought of "what if the ledge is decrepit, breaks, and he falls anyways" kept me amused. 

You're Offending Me!

"Please, go put on some makeup. You're offending me." - only a true friend could say that, and a true friend could accept that...

Aliments and Ailments

"What if they made carbonated beer?" - me
"It's called Ginger Ale you dumdum!" - roomie

I died laughing about this as we fell asleep.

The Balding Samurai

Let me preface, I studied all day before all of this happened:

1. I've never slip'n slid-ed before. It was awesome. Completely unhygienic; now I have tarp burn., but it awesome along with the mud fight. A brief fountain hopping and sun bathing followed suit.

2. We Red Pearled it for THREE HOURS. Now we smell like a Chinese chop house.

3. Made #xyz references to Braveheart. I ate half a gallon of ice cream as we viewed a thirty minute interlude of The Last Samurai.


I wondered to myself, "where are the Samurais now?" but then I realized that that WAS the LAST Samurai.

And then I wondered, if they stripped them of their pride by cutting off their pony-tail, what would they do to a balding Samurai, and how would a balding Samurai distinguish himself as being a Samurai in the first place? Would that make him less Samruain in his Samuraiteness? hmmm....

And then, as Tom Cruise was circled in the deserted town square, he reached into his coat pocket, and I swear these were his thoughts: "Gosh dangit, I left my Katana Samurai Sword in my other shirt's left pocket, how unfortunate." And then he pulls this whole Sherlock Holmes calculating the entire fight scene within half a second, sans gigantoric Samurai sword. And then the son epically dies.


Well, on that note...

battle on ben brown

that moment when two fund-raising organizations are located within twenty feet of each other and they are BOTH playing music. One group is playing flute music and the Beach Boys, and the other group is playing Usher... Do I hear conflict?

Every now and then, one will turn up the music louder than the other, resulting in the other to follow suit.
And then, both will suddenly turn off the sound so there is just silence.

Please, just PICK ONE. either let one choose the music or alternate songs if you really must.

I am absolutely fascinated by this behavior - the battling behavior on ben brown.


This is what it sounds like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odOonolh_ws

a Tacky Heist

We came, we cooned (as in a raccoon thieves), we conquered.

It appears as though our dancing days have become a bust.
But we were successful in cooning four bowls of snacks which included: sour patch kids, goldfish, M&Ms, and skittles.

We walked the long way back from the dance, eating three of the four bowls. We tried doing lunges up one of the hills to compensate for our greed, but then we had to take a breather, and everyone driving past judged us. I mean, I would judge us too...

Yes, I was the one in the back not dancing filling the bowls with snacks to go. No, I'm not ashamed. Yes, I should really stop hoarding.

If you provide it, I will eat it.
If you leave it, I will take it.
If it adds to my collection of everything else I've taken, I will hoard it. Forever. Until my roommate gives me the silent treatment/or takes a picture of it all and puts it on facebook. Then I'll have to redeem myself.

It really was, a tacky heist.

let's study, devoid of each other, with each other

Communal studying is great. In fact, it might be healthier. Find yourself a studying-accountability partner, and your concentration will greatly increase from the usual "study alone in a quiet dark room void of ALL distraction." Let's be real. Everyone needs respite during times of turmoil, agony, brain cell-splitting information intake, and if I was stuck in a quiet peaceful room, I'd fall right asleep and probably be distracted by my own pen gliding across the impasto of paper.

Group studying, maybe not so much. In the accountability partner deal - it is a partnership. You are in tune, in sync with the one and only one other person. Multiple people in this setting make it difficult to find the steady and expected rhythm because you are trying to be in sync with multiple people, and that is just too much for us to handle.

I really appreciate the social time; I miss ya'll already; hugs and kisses, but enough is enough.
Be quiet and help me study by studying.

"the study by studying method."

Also See: http://www.takeitorleaveitbutatleastthinkaboutit.blogspot.com/2012/03/study-groups.html

Wild Dogs

I don't know why, but I say this self-produced quote often. And I'm bringing it up now because I just used it in my Spanish paper. I hope my teacher can understand my abstract round-a-bout way of thinking...

Quote:
"Wild dogs always return to their owners."

Just think about it. It makes complete sense, to me at least. Because why wouldn't dogs that were wild and never had owners in the first place always return to their owners?

My answer to strange behaviors will always be, "because wild dogs always return to their owners."

Conversation Cereal: Just Enough

Today, I coined the term, "conversation cereal."

It was one of those, "Oh, you haven't finished your meal, and I don't want to sit here awkwardly not eating and watching you eat so I'll go get just enough food to keep me seemingly preoccupied, attentive, and functional until you are finished eating, not to rush you or anything, and not to sit here doing nothing, and I don't have a paperclip, pen, or my knitting with me."

"I'm going to go get some cereal" just might be code for "I am finished, but selfishly (avoiding awkward lingering) considerate (not rushing the other)." 

Either that or you didn't really end up eating anything anyways, and you figured that you must eat something. And wheat was on your mind.

Conversation Cereal is perfectly acceptable. In fact, I encourage it. I'd even encourage you to get the cereal along with your first meal so you can spend more time in the long run having a conversation - where it not for its easily-mushing propensity.

Don't be wasteful. Get just enough. And finish your conversation, sans pressure.

information overload - system fail

one exam completed.
415926535897932384626 more tests, projects, and papers to go.


... asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnm.

-- Send error report? --

-- Error report not received. -- 

lazy cravings

one of those moments when you walk all the way back from the library in the cold only to realize that you have a cereal craving and you don't have any milk. big dilemma, first world problems, i am so spoiled.

so you get in your car and drive to the food court that is maybe 50 feet from the library.

you purchase two bottles of milk for good measure.

cereal craving satisfied.

turkish coffee

Turkish coffee is an investment.

Basically, a small cup of Turkish coffee = 5 cups of great coffee.
I bought a cup of this investment from the Lebanese Food Festival, and I still have three more cups of coffee to go before this concentrated liquid runs out.

Since my cupboard at home is well-stocked, I'll usually make regular coffee and add some cinnamon, cardamom, and a few other spices to make this flavorful concoction.

So, here I am, "being ethnically chic," or just resourceful sipping this cup of recycled delight. Don't even get me started on Turkish Delight!

http://media-cache0.pinterest.com/upload/64809682107730748_a1X2kbvW_f.jpg

http://liajedi.deviantart.com/art/Turkish-Coffee-160232110

http://media-cache1.pinterest.com/upload/42080577737774401_a5jhceao_f.jpg

Being Chic With Coffee

http://media-cache1.pinterest.com/upload/228276274831885249_FQAsurNE_f.jpg

that awkward moment... :printers

that awkward moment when you are in the computer lab and you attempt to print out $2.40 worth of study material and your printing job overloads the system.

and then printer shuts down.

and 17 minutes later of back and forth up and down every level of Hades to the moon and back now and forever and always, up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top, you've lost your printing investment, your time, and about an hour's worth of oxygen because one more tree was lost due to your ambitions.

and everyone else who needed to print hates you.

society shuts down when technology changes its course, when the power goes out, but only because everything else is moving, working. you wouldn't have been set back had everyone else experienced the same misfortunes.

I apologize for my lack of technological understanding and capabilities; thank goodness for the Help Desk.

The Help Desk should be renamed "All's Well," because really, all is well.

that's so rave

Props to another great DJ Roomba Rave. Although, not as well-attended as past raves, a rave is what you make of it -- well, sort of. And $147 was raised for Relay for the Cure!

I took the time to sit on a lounge chair and observe the crowd as they danced to some dubstep rendition of a song. I'd have to say that if you think that you are giving the song your all, you really are, because you look like you are Irish dancing. So there you have it, the answer to your question of "how do I dance at a rave?" You should either 1. jump, 2. Irish jig, or 3. jump and Irish jig at the same time. As for me, I will sit back and observe this human phenomenon. Revisiting our heritage through dubstep I see...

you look ridiculous. and so do I.
But at least we got our monthly exercise in one night.

I am completely amazed by how music can stir these emotions within us. The emotions turn into actions of every form, thus we have dance. As I listen to my jams when I walk, I have to resist busting out some horrendous movement of a flailing arm. I have spared humanity thus far, and apparently so has everyone else who attended the rave - the built up resisting flailing arms and hops definitely came out. We need to dance more often -- so we can cater to our emotional movements.


I'm still contemplating what emotion dubstep actually stirs...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0xL32XNOzA&ob=av2n

8,000 pieces of grilled chicken

So we are presenting our projects in class, and the Chef says this remarkable statement of, "8,000 pieces of grilled chicken each week," and there is a dramatic pause, and then the electricity goes out. As I sat there in the dark pondering my contribution to the statistic, I thought back to the good old home days when I was basically a vegetarian aside from the after school trips to QT to get a Tabasco Slim Jim fix. Oh how the tables have turned, how the chicken have been executed, how the charred protein has made its way into my stomach. Sickening thought as I remembered once driving past a truck full of Tyson chicken, their feathers trailing behind in their terrible stench. Gross. Back to the more appetizing facts...


According to the Caf Chef, students consume an average of 8,000 pieces of grilled chicken a week.

Taking into consideration that I have an average of four, that may very well be true. And what happens when the projected amount is not consumed? Well folks, we get Chicken Waldorf Salad. Apparently, the chicken is "cooled down in the right way" and is put to other uses. Sometimes it is even donated to other places.

I'm on my second piece of grilled chicken for the week, but if I don't eat my other two pieces, I'll be getting my preferred Chicken Waldorf Salad SOON, though not two pieces worth of salad.
But I'd have the Waldorf over Grill any day.

Although, I do like cutting the grilled chicken and putting it in a tortilla with spinach leaves and ranch dressing as a wrap. - just a caf creation idea for you...


The Chef promised the chicken with the bacon on top for tonight's dinner. We will see if this happens...

an awkward day...

Today's awkward activities included:

accidentally wading through a puddle
swatting around madly as a spiderweb attacked my face
tripping as I am still swatting at the spider dangling from my nose
trying to open my mailbox, and five minutes later realizing that it's not mine
jeans stretching a little too much
shorts getting soaked by the rain
having a back spasm over a rat that your sister dissected in biology
social skills down 500 points due to testing preoccupation

I'd just like to take this time to apologize for my awkward behavior today.
Everyone has one of those days where you just feel awkward in your own skin. Today was my day. The rain both added to the awkwardness and washed it away.

Talk about pathetic fallacy.

patriotism, not always lactose-free

The presentations in class were a little patriotic this morning. We were greeted with the cheerful World's Greatest Marches. Our teacher was wearing a sequin beanie and cowboy pants. Picnic tablecloths were strewn on the tables, and the banners exclaiming "Efficiency" were in the colors of red, white, and blue.

Students passed around cookies, bread, strawberries, and milk, and the teacher encouraged the class to plaster  our critique sheets with gold star stickers.

It was as if I had entered the realm of ponies, kittens, and rainbows.

1. my roommate and I are slightly lactose intolerant, and after we toasted our milk to the general camaraderie, we realized our grand mistake. too many cookies and too much milk. and gold stickers for that matter.

2. The Marches was my favorite part. When I was growing up at home, my mom would wake us up to the "World's Greatest Marches" CD. The morning music would filter through the house, starting our day with vibes of patriotism. Sometimes on Saturday mornings, we would march around the house in our pajamas. Those were the days... mornings, terribly early mornings, but we made the most of them for sure.

take it or leave it, but at least listen to a few great marches, stir up your patriotic allegiances, and drink milk in moderation.

knuckle-cracking in the library

Social Experiment #365 complete:
knuckle cracking in the library

Step 1: crack knuckles
Step 2: wait
Step 3: listen to the symphony of knuckle-cracking that you have just conducted

beautiful.

Step 4: repeat in 10 minutes if further messing with people's subconscious is desired

chaos

I am just trying to write my paper outside in the nice breeze at a random table near a fountain. I succeeded, for quite some time anyways, until two other people decided that my striking statuesque was where their proximity needed to be.

There were six tables, I at the far end one. And why did they choose to sit at the table next to mine? They had four other options! I thought the logical conclusion would have been to sit as far away from me as possible. I THOUGHT.

Even the thunderous water was not enough to drown out the terrible sounds that were coming out of their mouths; I couldn't even hear my own thoughts. It was supposed to be me, my pen, and the water.

Please, just let me be. Because your voice carries. ESPECIALLY OVER WATER.
Being discreet is the key here people, as being obvious it was for me.

Check You Out!

... and you're not being checked out from the library.

I see you checking yourself out there buddy. In fact, I check myself out too, as I breeze by any reflective surface. I'm not vain, self-absorbed, or worried about my current appearance at all. [note collective sarcasm]

Observe any doors, display windows, or pictures hanging on the walls, and you'll find yourself someone who is checking themselves out. I tried to pull the whole, "look in the left door while I open the right door" move the other day, and I ended up getting smacked in the face. Let's just say I got what I was looking for.

What is the real purpose of display windows? Let me tell you. So people can momentarily get a glimpse of their beauty.

Perfect locations for "the checkout:"

• doors from BBP to the student center - especially now that the windows don't have panels anymore
• the pictures on the walls of the basement-language department under Burns and Chapman
• outside Harry's Coffee where the curtains hang (actually, this is probably the optimum place)
• outside of the bookstore, the actual display case. Like anyone really looks at the display.
• nowhere in the library, you should be studying
• Propst, but not at a high-traffic time
• on the Quad with your laptop on a sunny day, like you can see anything on your screen besides your face. judge those people.

I'm merely pointing out one of humanity's common quirks.

It is quite fascinating - to see what people do when they think nobody is watching.

"I'm Nobody! Who are you?

Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there's a pair of us!"

-A pair of us indeed, Emily, a pair indeed.

on Bookmarks

I am not a fan of bookmarks. They are just something else to worry about holding onto. I remember the page number.

However, I am a fan of finding bookmarks in old books that I have acquired second-hand. I have quite the collection these days. My favorite so far is one that I acquired today. I love the way it smells, the way the edges are browning, and the very fact that I may be holding one of the last relics of a store that probably no longer exists. I love how it says "opposite Columbia University."

... or maybe it is just really dirty.

el poema

Este es un poema que tenía que escribir para mi clase de español:


Por eso, tengo gran frio

En mi mano, yo guardo su corazón

Aunque no guarda el mío.

Cariñosa lo guardo, una obsesión

Porque tengo gran frio.

Estas la luz en un día en el verano.

De muerto el oscuro estoy.

Mi corazón está muerto en invierno

Porque tengo gran frio.

Quiero sentir la luz en mi propia mano.

Estas como mi rosa,

La rosa de mi vida, yo necesito

Porque tengo gran frio.

---------------------------------------

Su corazón es la rosa de mi vida.

No tengo frio por eso…

the Checkmate

I am a fast walker. I am a strategic walker. I am constantly calculating the shortest, most time-efficient, and least imposing path. Walking ideology should hold the same concepts as driving. Slower people on the right, moderately fast people in the middle, a CLEAR PATH for me, and couples & groups should be shot.

For the past two days, I have not been on top of my game. I have gotten myself into this predicament I like to call "checkmate." I am walking, and then all of a sudden, a sickening couple meanders in front of me, the slower person in the slow lane is alright, but just as I am about to pass, another slow person comes in on my left side and I am boxed in. They are now in the fast lane, and I am in in theirs.

If only it were socially acceptable to switch. Of course, it could be the perfect time, if not the only time, and perhaps the destined time to befriend the people walking beside me. It could have been destiny, yet marred by my own perceptions on the checkmate.

I deny the opportunity to make acquaintances because I am consumed in my own strategy. Perhaps I should just hang back a little, and take advantage of the checkmate, and see what happens.

that awkward moment... : alphabetize

that awkward moment when the only task your employer has for you to do is to alphabetize as stack of papers... the same stack of papers you had already alphabetized two days before.

• do you give the stack back to the employer and say it's already been done?
• or do you accept the stack, go to the work room for a reasonable amount of time that is appropriate for alphabetizing, and then return graciously?

What did I do, you ask?
The latter. Because I didn't want my job to get cut under the pretense that I wasn't doing anything. So that is exactly what I did, something. I re-alphabetized the alphabetized. It just depends on the day. Sometimes every professor has task; sometimes every professor gives me the stink eye because I am hounding them to employ my creativity and ambition... ambition to alphabetize.

If I have nothing else, at least I can alphabetize.
And alphabetize.
And alphabetize.

Serenity of Silence

I, alone.

I, alone, viewed "The King's Speech" along with my fellow students. (Incredible discussion afterwards, ask me about it if you want.)
I, alone, went to the Caleb concert along with my fellow students. (Now I want to marry a hipster.)
I, alone, will die by myself. (If I were to be buried in peat, I would be perfectly preserved.)

In all of these activities aside from the dying one, I said not a word to anyone for three and a half hours, and no one said a word to me. On occasion, it is nice to be silent: to be still, even if a loner in observation. I was the shadow, the ghostly apparition, the fly on the wall. I was momentarily content. I was Amelie Poulain.

Now I am just glad to be back in the room, my humble abode, safe residence, woman cave, tea room, my place - whatever this space means to me. I am glad to be back with my roommate. Even if we do not talk. Communal silence is best, rather than a silence spent alone. [can you even spend silence?] It's those who understand you the best that can partake in silence and not feel compelled to always be saying something. It's not that we've run out of things to say for the day or that we loathe each other, quite the contrary. We have an understanding in silence.

And,
Sometimes you can better understand a person through silence.

Pressured Carrier Pigeons

1.
"Pushing the envelope."

I wondered the following:
1. What is in the envelope?
2. Why push it and not just open it?
3. What is so important that is should be in an envelope that is being pushed?

The phrase has absolutely nothing to do with the postal services, as one might presume. It is more on the lines of being enveloped.

So, I'm not offering you a letter when I push the envelope, rather, I am getting closer to being enveloped by something...

2.
The telephone game.
"Someone stole a computer from the library yesterday" turned into "I ate a hamburger, cat, and taxi driver."
Reliable sources for sure.

3.
Learning Microsoft Excel.
"You have to know this question for the test next week... and for life."
Finally, information that carries on after the test.

Mortal Registration

From us, mere mortals.

The fingers are drumming, the water is boiling, and the anticipation is unbearable.
Reviewing the numerical orders on the keyboard that we have practiced the night before, we wait. We log onto Facebook and "like" a few statuses sharing common sentiments. We even Google the current time that is calculated down to the second, along with our watches and cellphones on standby. Not a beat in the harmonious symphony of class registration can be missed, or else, a dreadful dissonance and hatred (eventual jealousy) will result.

The laptop is warming up, and your "oh so cheerful" welcome screen welcomes you to agony as you prepare for the countdown.

I will never forget the horrible sounds of anguish, thus progressively following:
15 minute warning - you hear clamor in the surrounding rooms as the fragile students fight to retain their motor skills at such an hour in the morning.

10 minute warning -  you panic because it just seems like the most logical thing, and only thing to do at the moment, taking part in a collective upraise; it is what brings people together.

5 minute warning - you've fallen into a slumber on top of your paper, the ink smudged by your drool. You've lost all ambition.

4 minute warning - head hair is torn out for those who have forgotten to retrieve their PIN number. They give up - you soldier on.

1 minute warning - you intently focus on the countdown of seconds, and then there it is... 6:00am.

You hastily enter in the class numbers, forgetting all practiced methods of typing efficiency.
Curses and shouts and papers are thrown left and right.

And Portal shuts down. You give up, carefully close your laptop, and crawl back into bed. Thirty minutes later, you hear faint shouts, and then the shouts grow louder and louder until you yourself join in the chorus of barbaric clamor. You are now free to madly set about completing your original task.

And for some, the result is positive, but only for the select few. This is not a matter of the survival of the fittest. This is a matter of technology beyond the frail student's control. We are subjected to this torture.

Class scheduling is not a matter taken lightly at all. Now a days it is all done online - it is more efficient and beats standing out in the cold for days on end. But then again, I might have liked a nice camp fire outside of the registration office along with the other thousand students.

Thus concludes the rituals of the mere mortal...

people are too trusting

And as in people, I mean me. I thought the abode of the office was enough security.

An excerpt from my thoughts:
"I am, at this very moment, very worried about what appears to be a grand theft of $8.10. I attached the receipt to the bills, the two dimes nestled on top. As I returned from my third errand of the day, I was absolutely mortified by the disappearance of the money - the proof of my job well done. Whomever swiped way my integrity, you couldn't have even left the dimes now could you!"

All is well though. Because it ended well.
And I have my proof and my integrity.

"just go read a book"

I had run all of my errands for work, and my employer had nothing left for me to do. So I asked every professor on the second floor for something, anything, any small task to complete so I would feel like I had at least accomplished something.

One suggestion was, "why don't you just go read a book." 

In fact, that is exactly what I did.

Machiavelli, always. 

-some of the best advice I've been given in a long time. Thank you, English professors.

And might I add that the Print Store is quite impressive. 

see:  http://takeitorleaveitbutatleastthinkaboutit.blogspot.com/2012/03/who-would-have-known-printing.html

on Class Registration

I almost hoped that the online portal would crash, just so I could effectively argue out my case that class registration in the wee hours of the morning should be outlawed, taxed, exiled, shot.

Class registration is one of the most effective ways to INCREASE my blood pressure.

I need my sleep and my sanity, and this entire process strips me of both. Although there is some degree of satisfaction when you actually register for the classes that you need (not even the ones that you want at your preferred times), though hardly ever the case.

I question my moral propensities by my reactions to situations like these. Must I conform to my own will...

Please feel free to cease reading; everything after this is just my rambling, it's not even a logically constructed rant.

So now I'm just sitting here, in doldrums, the middle-aged spread because I cannot go back to sleep after such a time as this; both the bookstore and library are closed so I cannot do my homework (never bought the book) (have to print out my homework from the library anyways and the library was closed yesterday too); and the Caf has not opened yet.

If I was to pursue being one of those self-starter, I'm going to go for a 5 mile run before my morning class! type of people this very morning, I might actually die. I've already memorized enough pi and poems to keep me going for a few hours, and I read all of my leisure books yesterday.

Coffee on the quad to welcome the new day with the birds chirping it is. Now, if I could only get some decent coffee, or tea. Everything is closed at this time of morning. A Wallmart run is needed, but I just can't bring myself to it. Maybe I could join an "Early Risers of Birmingham Club" or something. My employer is really going to like me when I show up for work this morning during convo hour and I'm already beat, but strung out on caffeine. Such a great start after a replenishing weekend.

My subtleties often leave people confused. Please, let me explain:


At least I'm consistent with the whole "dreading waking up" theme. I don't want to go back to bed because I dread the very fact of getting up (because Tuesdays are terrible days), going through the painstaking routine and realization that my slumbers have been stolen, again, and I can't live in my own little dream world full of Renaissance Art tours and olive grove frolicking forever.

So here I am with Joe, a cup of, that is.

Friday.

It's the waiting that kills us in the long-run - or if not what ultimately kills us, it is definitely the pathogen. Whether through anticipation or boredom, the mental capacity used is a waste and hinders our creativity. I am on the quest to find a productive use of my time, time spent waiting - a time well spent through a simple venture of a multitask. This is it. This is the time. This is your time to do something productive.

- when we are "being productive," are we really?
- so we should counter the non-productive productivity with a productive non-productivity.


Perfect productive non-productive moments include:
airplanes
car rides
basically any transportation
arriving early
waiting in line
customer care service on the phone
loitering
waiting for the kettle to boil
waiting for the microwave...

those people... :table hoggers and mindful bloggers

We've all come across a time or a hundred when we are looking for a table to sit at for our large group, and there is a perfectly round and empty table where only one person is sitting. How annoying and inconsiderate! That table would have been an excellent one indeed! we exclaim. And although there are several other available tables, we continue to scoff at the loner at that table.

Well folks, today I was the loner at my OWN BOOTH. Lunch had hardly begun, and I thought I'd treat myself to a nice high-backed chair and study while I ate at my own leisure. Yes, I overheard the condescending remarks, yes, I saw their glances.

I was perfectly happy where I was. And you know what, had a large group sat at that very booth, MY BOOTH, they probably would not have reaped the same satisfaction as I did. I was not subjected to mindless chatter, thus I was able to enjoy my own harmony, where as they would have been so consumed with themselves, that they would have paid no attention to the booth and would have forgotten the satisfaction it provided. They would have been, however, subconsciously satisfied. But, they would have thought that their satisfaction came from their constant yappiness and witless intuitions, and thus, the cycle repeats itself quite remarkably.

Sometimes, silence should be the only option. Communal silence is even better. It is not awkward, but the people aforementioned would never see it that way, would they now?

Let's just enjoy the booth, maybe we can talk - but about something of substance, please.

on Crepuscular

Crepuscular is a grotesque word indeed. Such a grotesque-sounding word for something that is rather charming!

The moon was really ethereal tonight, thanks to moderate glaze of clouds.

that moment when... :mreow

that moment when all you can respond with is a "mreow." It's not even a complete "meow;" it's a "mReow."

I would have to say that a simple cat noise is the universal language. Forget Morse Code, Love, or Leet. A simple mreow can cover the entire spectrum of feelings and expressions.

So what if I'm frustrated with the computer, and I wish to Meow. So what if I'm find something rather interesting and rather than exclaiming "cool!" I would rather exclaim "Meow." So what if I find out some disappointing news and instead of saying, "how sad" I "Meow" as my personal sentiment.

Any remaining remarks from the council?
yes, mreow.


The cats have taken over our lives.

While every girl is dressing up in cutsie skirts and summery shirts, they are secretly wanting to wear this:

What if I went around barking? Would that be socially acceptable, hunh?
Since when did meowing become socially acceptable? Ah, society reverts to it's primitive, tribal habits, and it's all happening because a few people had no friends (guys) so then they befriended cats, and then they found other friends (sans guys) who were obsessed with cats, and now we have a whole population of the modern tribal women meowing because their only friends are cats and other cat-lovers. Thanks gentlemen... but really.

that moment... :laundry

that moment when BOTH of the washers and dryers are free AT THE SAME TIME.

on Compliments

Compliments' three forms:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trivial Matters

Close friends are expected to compliment each other on what they are wearing, etc. 

But anyone outside of the close huddle of normalcy, it is strange.

We are not used to being complimented, even if only on an accessory, and we do not know how to respond. 

We are surprised by and appreciate your attention to detail, we really do, and we are flattered. So even if it seems like we are brushing you off, we just simply don't know how to respond. This is the result of having only girl friends.

Now, a change of discourse, we generally try to dress appropriately, and we spend a lot of time on making ourselves presentable. We are almost offended when, after spending an incredible amount of time on ourselves, are complimented. We recognize the fact that we did, in fact, look better than we did yesterday and will tomorrow; however, don't we look nice every day? 

It's on the days when we expect it least that it matters most. 

Excerpt:  "Personally, I believe that flowers should be given on no occasion at all. Why is there only one day allotted for this expression, why not give flowers when your counterpart least expects it, least deserves it. That is the true beauty -- Expected Unexpectedness. However, I do approve of a single day dedicated to the celebration of this beauty. It is actually an excuse to be bold and act out the actions which so deserve to be demonstrated. Not a dozen, one will do just fine, or even a small posy of pansies from the school's garden. The fountain outside of the library has rosemary too." 

See: http://www.takeitorleaveitbutatleastthinkaboutit.blogspot.com/2012/02/v-day1-roses.html

This is when we feel the most beautiful. 

So, we thank you for your compliments, and we are sorry if we do not respond appropriately, because we simply do not know how - we are overwhelmed by your graciousness to boost our confidence.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
True Humanitarian Efforts - beyond the external


And that is why compliments are so trivial, because MOST of the time they are about the physical appearance or objects to enhance what sadly attracts people. 


Which would you prefer: to be complimented on your necklace or to be complimented on your character, the real you? 


Lets face it, which would take you aback more? And maybe, character doesn't matter at all to you as much as your outfit does, which is so sad. Shame on you for pouring more time into coordinating your outfits and feeling triumph and pride over THAT than that of really investing in striving for excellency, and not being complacent, but really STRIVING. What do you value?


sure sure, compliment on the trivial things, but what will really change a person, and what is really due a person, are the compliments on them, their actions, their inner selves, their haecceity, their personality, character, integrity, their friendship, the list goes on. 


I am complimenting you on the joy you bring my life. I am complimenting you on your ambitions, that vivacious spark, to be great. Because you already are, but the fact that you haven't just settled means more. good character.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Importance of Humanity's Necessities


I've been mulling over this one for some time, and I probably will forever just because I have mixed feelings about this topic. So maybe I should clarify by leaving this as a similar concept:


Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese"


Say over again, and yet once over again,
That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated
Should seem a "cuckoo-song," as thou dost treat it,
Remember, never to the hill or plain,
Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain.
Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed.
Beloved, I, amid the darkness greeted
By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain
Cry, "Speak once more - thou lovest!" Who can fear
Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll,
Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year?
Say thou dost love me, love me, love me - toll
The silver iterance! - only minding, Dear,
To love me also in silence with thy soul.


Thank you, Barrett, for so eloquently expressing what I cannot, dare not.

popsicle pilferage

"Someone's been pilfering my popsicles at a steady rate!" exclaims my roommate as we raided the freezer.
"I thought they were communal!" I replied.

Communal popsicles. We had each bought a bag, and we have roughly around the same consumption rate, and I thought that it could only logically make sense that the popsicles would, in fact, be communal popsicles.

Although, had I presumed that our popsicle consumption rates differed significantly, then I would have put a label on mine, roommate proofed the bag, and staked my claim to a corner in the freezer.

that moment... pantry problems

that moment when you and your roommate realize that you are starving and all you really have left to eat is a bag of rice, with a spoon. two brita filters, potatoes, syrup, tofu, green onions, apple cider vinegar, applesauce, garlic, and an endless supply of oranges.

and a freezer full of popsicles.

  

yes, we have just had that moment.

flying lanterns

I had exited the grand entrance of the library, and was headed back to my room, when I saw a group of students standing in the middle of the Quad huddled around some extraordinary essence.

I ventured over, and as I approached, the students simultaneously jumped out from the circle and released several flying lanterns. It was an incredible sight to see; the lanterns rising from the ground and drifting across the Quad to an unknown place at an unknown time.

We tilted our heads to capture the simple pleasures provided.

The orange fire explosion of illuminated fusia paper floating across the university sky will be an image forever ingrained in my memory.

Just in case you would like a visual, although not of this instance in particular...

that moment when... :procrastination, hope, and duty

...that moment when you realize that your procrastination has probably never been this bad before, and yet, you have hope because of the opportunity costs of a relaxing weekend and you are now completely motivated to complete the task at hand...

...and then you look over at the person sitting at the other table in the library and realize that they had the same idea as you; however, they have no hope; they have no motivation whatsoever. 

someone always has it better than you, and someone always has it worse than you.
remember to drink more water.

that awkward moment... :locked out

locked out

that awkward moment when you've stepped out the back door of your dorm to take a moment and enjoy the warm weather and listen to a song, sans pants, and you get locked out so you have to run around the front and hope that the door buzzer will be heard by your roommate to let you back in, only because you thought the lock on that back door was broken, and then you realize that someone had fixed it and you have to not only wear pants now, but you also have to carry a key...