Sunday, sleepy Sunday...

So I just fell asleep. Yes, me. The girl who cannot nap to save her own life was pleasantly unconscious in the middle of the day. Granted, it was only for ten minutes, but still, the point is I was asleep. Personally I blame Charles Dickens. I'm currently reading Hard Times (which despite the observations of half of my oh-so-mature friends who know who they are) is not an exciting porn. Instead its a novel about the effects of modernity on the individual in 19th century England. Its actually pretty good- the bad thing is that I need to have it read by tomorrow, along with all my other reading for other classes (which include no less than a 400 page book about the Civil War and my favorite philosopher Walter Benjamin's writings), etc etc. On the plus side, I managed to get my papers done (and by done, I mean I met the page requirements, if not the academic ones) and turned in on time. So that's out of my hair for a bit-until I get them back and have to rewrite them into a state of coherency. Can you write things into states of coherency? I have no idea. I think I'll ponder that and post some pictures of the Halloween adventures of this weekend:

So here's me and Tina, I think I thought this would be funny picture.

This is my favorite picture, ever!

This is the pumpkin I carved! How much ass does it kick? Its the CGU Flame, because we're flamers at this school.

That's my bathrobe Chris is wearing.

Oh, and here's me, Michael and a dinosaur.

I'm so over this paper.

fun with sleep deprivation

During the course of yesterday I had:
a cup of tea (English Breakfast, with some honey, yum!),
a Vanilla Latte,
two (yes, two!) cups of coffee, excessively sweetened with creamer and sugar.

Remember when I used to shun coffee and caffeine related items? Yeah, me neither.

This is the effects of having too many papers to write/books to read and too little motivation to get any of it done in a reasonable amount of time. I've known about all these projects for some time now, but did I prepare, like a good student? No, of course not. I procrastinated and procrastinated until I literally couldn't procrastinate any longer. It doesn't help that I currently loathe my topics (the dreaded Matthew Arnold is rearing his ugly head yet again) and therefore find just about anything more exciting and fun. I mean anything. On Friday night, for example, I went to Borders to study (quite the happening place, by the by- the entire store was crammed with people reading and studying), but was way more entertained by Tara's dancing feet and forcing Brett to climb the ladders expressly forbidden to non-store employees. Very little reading was done.
Saturday was spent trying to force myself to read, but instead cleaning my room, planning Halloween costumes, and going to a club in LA. (yes that's right, I willingly went to a Hollywood club freely of my own choice- along with the massive consumption of caffeine, I also apparently now like to dance) Which actually turned out to be quite fun. The sleep deprivation part really helped when we all ended up at IHOP at four in the morning, completely and obnoxiously amusing ourselves. I'm not exactly certain if it was the lack of sleep, or just to absurdity of it all, but I don't remember being that amused for some time... Of course the two hours of sleep that I ended up getting that night really didn't help matters in the academic fields- a fact I sadly became aware of in the library the next morning.
So now its Tuesday morning, I'm vaguely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel- the very long tunnel- of my paper writing, and have actually finished the book that one could beat a man to death with, so things are looking up. Well, until next week, that is.
Ah, graduate school- I never knew how much I appreciated sleep before you.

Stay Classy Inland Empire

Liz tagged me, so here you go:

List five things people may not know about you and tag five other people to do the same.

1. Sometimes I still eat ice cream for breakfast.
2. Everytime my roommate isn't home, I turn up music really loud and dance around like a spaz
3. I've read entire books at Borders (once in one sitting)
4. I watch really bad tv sometimes- like MTV bad.
5. The other night I drank beer and played darts.

Beer. Copious amounts of beer was had. Okay, so for me pretty much any amount of beer seems copious, so it wasn't really that much, but still- I was slightly shocked with myself. I rarely drink beer (usually beer consumption occurs in other states or countries- a true fact) In my continuing quest to find the classiest spots of the 909 I and some friends have found some interesting locales. Last night we ended up at Don Jose's (my favorite of the Dons- Francisco is a bastard, and nobody likes to talk about Rodrigo's drinking problems) for some quality karaoke. Don't worry, I didn't sing. But I did dance. Horribly. As I'm want to do. A few of my friends are all about the karaoke, so being the responsible grad students that we are, we had to go out and find a place to sing the night away. And that place was Don Jose's- Mexican restaurant by day, hopping bar scene by night. Or not so much. There was one other large group of people, and then just some couples etc. My friends and I were by far the largest and loudest people there. (I mean largest in number, not in size, by the way) I'm sure we were quite entertaining for the other patrons as we danced, sang, and generally made merry. Oh, and we drew on yours truly. Again. The night before, we also decided to make ourselves the leading entertainment at yet another excessively classy place- the Blackwatch Pub. I'm not sure why, but there's a boatload of "British Pubs" in the Inland Empire. It really makes very little sense- as far as I know, there's never been any sort of British historical significance in the area "My peeps" (as Lawrence would say) never got around the conquering, etc. this part of the continent. And yet, there's an ubiquitous amount of pub-like establishments. And they're not even that accurate. But I digress... well, not so much, as there really isn't any sense of narrative or direction to this post (honestly, is there ever?) But I think I was going to talk, er, write about our new favorite past-time, which is tattooing me. This morning, I woke up with Tina's name on my chest. Yesterday, I woke up with a dinosaur on my arm. I'm not sure why anybody thought that this was a good idea in any shape or form, but there you have it. And I meanwhile have ink remnants up and down my arms. I think we're regressing back to childlike states. Being an adult is just too much work and trouble. Being silly and immature is way more fun. Unfortunately, this strategy is not going to get me my degree. But how awesome would it be if I could?

I totally forgot the best part of the AIDS Walk experience.

David Hasselhoff, yes the David Hasselhoff of NightRider, Baywatch, and beloved by Germans everywhere was one of the celebrity well wishers. It was awesome!

Sadly, he did not sing.

the weekend, part deux

Okay, so the last time I posted, I was all about learning and getting my studying on. Um, that didn't happen. (seriously, though, are you surprised?) That night, I hung out at a friend's house and watched a documentary called "Inside Deep Throat." No, not the Watergate Deep Throat, the other one. It was pretty funny to watch people's reactions as they realized just what they were watching. Actually the documentary was pretty good; an interesting take on the seventies culture. After that cinematic experience, we headed down to the Press; everyone's (okay, no one's) favorite bar in Claremont. For those of you who don't know- Claremont has one bar. Its called the Press (it used to be a printing press- and that's how it got it's creative name... go Claremont!), and usually I try to stay as far away from it as possible. But Saturday night was pretty cool- they had an Irish band playing. The band was called Craic Haus, pronounced (yes, you guessed it) "crack house," and they did a lot of covers, especially of Flogging Molly. So a good time was had by all. The only downside was the fact that I stayed out til past 1 am, and had to get up at 6:30 the next morning, because I went to the AIDS Walk in LA. So much fun! My friends and I dressed up as pirates (we put the arrrr! in finding a cure). Want to see some pictures?

Okay, so here's me, Chris, Tara and Seth. We are so pirated out.


At the end of the walk, the Sister of Perpetual Indulgence greeted and cheered people. They were awesome, and they were also majorly loving on Chris.


This is me and Chris, rocking the fake tooth and pirate tat. We're so hardcore.


Tara's pirate flag ROCKED!


This was just a weird picture. It totally looks like that dude was dragging a wagon full of legs. Sadly, we saw even weirder things in West Hollywood.


Like this sign.


Final picture of our team. Seriously, how cute are we?


Okay, and this picture had nothing to do with AIDS Walk, but I told Vanessa that I'd put it up.

So there you have it. My weekend in its entirety. It was full of adventures, random experiences, and pictures! Now its back to the drudgery and reality of reading, writing, and learning. I liked being a pirate better.

Where in the world was Al?

Its been one hell of a week. Here's what happened. I went swimming, had a presentation, read a lot, hung out with friends, worked, saw my parents, went to an extremely ghetto nightclub, went to a wine tasting, went to a pilates class, carved a pumpkin, drank a lot of coffee, and did I mention that I did some reading? Hence my lack of posting.

Somehow on Saturday night, I wore a rubber ducky floaty-both in and out of a pool and did the running man. I didn't even know that I knew how to do the running man, but apparently its a hidden talent. Oh, and I might have consumed some wine. Just a smidge. You know how some things you find really funny one day, and the next you have no idea why? Yeah, that was all of Saturday night. Suffice to say, at one point, I thought it would be a good idea to trade pants with my friend Brad. No, actually, it wasn't the best idea, as Brad is like 6'5" and my pants aren't. But hey, I'm in school. I'm supposed to be learning. I learned that Brad and I shouldn't trade clothes. My hard earned (via loan applications) dollars at work.

The rest of the weekend was spent trying to finish the 400 page book I had to read for Tuesday's class (as well my other reading for other classes) as well as prepare for my presentation in the same class. Lots of stress was accrued. I'm not sure if you can accrue stress, but that's probably the least of my worries. Stress was had, and plenty of it. After class on Tuesday, I had a bit of a breather, as my Thursday class was cancelled (thank you Yom Kippur) and this upcoming Monday and Tuesday classes are also cancelled (because the undergrads get a fall break, and they had the balls to complain that it was only two days. Whatev! At Davis we got no such thing! Little bastards, don't know how good they have it. But I'm not bitter...) Of course I still have my CGU class, and research and writing to do, so its not like I'm going on vacation or anything. But still, I'll take whatever break I can get. Okay, so where was I? So Tuesday, and the day of extreme stress was over, which meant I could start de-stressifying.

I destressed at Tina's where I had an excellent dinner with a really good group of friends. So many random conversations were had- Lawrence asking about my "peeps" in England and arguments about what makes a city a city. I also tried my hand at some boy talk, ie. talked about sports. If there's one thing I take from my last relationship, its definitely a good appreciation for sports talk. Just not about baseball, which still sucks (and I'm still bitter I had to sit through 5 hours and 2 minutes of that damn Red Sox game last year).

The next night was infamous Twin's Nightclub experience. One I don't really recommend. On Friday, I was super tired, but went to John's for some wine tasting. The highlight of the evening would definitely have to be the wine I bought: Ted the Mule wine. Come on, how can you not buy wine called that? It kind of wasn't very good though. So I probably don't recommend it after all. Maybe there's something to be said for not buying wine based solely on its label after all.

Um, now its Saturday evening. I've been carving pumpkins for the past number of hours- I made a non-threatening cat. Later I plan on carving the CGU flame. Yes, that's right, at CGU we're the flamers. We have a flame of knowledge. They sent me a shirt once that said that. I didn't make it up.

This post has lost all sense of direction or motivation. I'm going to post some pictures now. Ready? Okay.


This is what happens when you leave your house unlocked on your birthday.


And this.


This is me and Tara at Seth's birthday dinner (the one he didn't attend) How cute are we? I'm wearing my mother's dress. Very low cut, but I like it :)


Tina really got into the tp action.


This was after we went swimming at Jon's house. Wine + pool = not my smartest idea. But look how happy I am.

There are more pictures from that night, but you're just going to have to visit me to see them. Or offer me some awesome presents. This week has been a total bust as studying is concerned, and its probably not going to get any better any time soon. But I'm operating in a state of disbelief about my studies. Its getting me through the day. Is that so bad?

a cautionary tale of muffins and the ghetto...

Okay, so I actually have a post that's in the middle of being written, all about why I haven't written in a week, etc etc... but as I'm at work, and sometimes work gets in the way of things, I had it saved while I went to lunch and attempted to be a productive employee actually earning my paycheck. But now I have to write about my lunch experiences as a moral cautionary tale. Because you guys need to learn (from my mistakes apparently). Oh, and I'll post that earlier post later- its my attempt at postmodern posting.

So anyway, I walked (illegally because there is no convenient crosswalk anywhere near my campus nor my place of employment, a constant frustration in the town of Claremont) across the street to Wolfe's- the local, fancy grocery store to get my usual Friday meal- a salad, some sort of desert and sometimes a drink. I picked out my purchases (and discovered the joy that is the lemon poppyseed muffin. Lemon poppyseed muffins mere yards away?! This has dangerous consequences), and made my way to counter to pay (as I'm a responsible person). Or attempt to pay, I should say. My credit card was declined. And (this is where the cautionary morals start to appear) I didn't have my debit card, nor any cash, because I had left them in the jeans I was wearing when I went out to Twins- a nightclub in Rancho Cucamonga. The jeans were not work appropriate (recall if you will, the Ed Norton and my ass story), so I'm obviously not wearing them at the moment. And as it was after 2 am (yes, 2 am!) when I got home last night, I wasn't thinking too straight about preparing for work later that morning. So my card was declined, and I had no other recourse to pay for my lunch items. I looked like a complete fool in front of the respectably citizens of Claremont, and a moron to the workers at Wolfe's. All because I went to a ghetto nightclub in the IE.

Oh, I did get my lunch though- I have to go back later to pay. And that's why its wonderful to live in a small town, where things like that can happen. And my card wasn't declined, just expired. I rarely use the card, so I hadn't noticed that it hasn't been good for over a month now. But I still felt very silly.

Let this be a warning...

If it's your birthday, and I am in the area, I am going to want to celebrate. Even if I don't specifically state my plans, something is probably going to happen. Sooo, you most likely don't want to leave your house unlocked, with all means of communication in said house, while you go to a lecture (who goes to a lecture on their birthday?!), because I will exact retribution. In the form of toilet paper.


Last night was my friend Seth's birthday (and my friend Paige, and 800 other people as well apparently... but I digress), so we concocted a plan to kidnap him and surprise him with dinner at a local restaurant with a bunch of our friends. We also wanted to confuse/scare him, so the plan included Tara and armed with "weapons" -my pirate sword, eye patch and a whip (why a whip? I dunno, but it seemed to work), and Tara had her lightsaber (which kicks ass!). So we walk up to Seth's place- he lives by himself behind a family in a converted garage (this is important information for later in the story), all prepared to accost him with said weapons, blindfold him, and surprise him. We knock on his door. Nothing. The lights are off, but the computer is on. We open the door (because, yes, its unlocked), and wander inside. Still no sign of Seth. We write notes to him. We call our friend Tina, who has put this evening together. She hasn't seen/heard from Seth. Seth has left his cell phone at his place, so there's no way of contacting him. Where could he be? Tara and I search the library for him (not, mind dressed in any fashion for the library, as we were heading to a fancy place, and therefore had on our fancy clothes). Finally, we decide to just meet our friends at the restaurant to curse Seth collectively for foiling our plans so thoroughly. We figure that someone got to him first to surprise him or something, hence the leaving of the phone, the unlocked door, the computer on... Dinner was nice and silliness abounded (as usual with these people).

Two hours later, Seth calls. He had been at a lecture this evening. Of course, a lecture! (I ask, is this how you would choose to spend your birthday? Okay, so maybe) So we hang out for a bit longer, merriment is made, etc etc. Good times people. Tina, Tara and I still want to do something to Seth, so we decide to tp his place. Like I said, Seth lives in a converted garage, so the exposed beams are just crying out for some sweet toilet paper action. One would think that after leaving Seth notes about how we obviously walked into his house, he might lock it the second time he goes out? No, of course not. Madness ensues as toilet paper is flung in every direction. We also moved things out of place and put random items all throughout his house. It looked amazing. Needless to say, we were incredibly proud and pleased with ourselves.


So, the moral of the story? If its your birthday, somethings going to happen. Whether you want it to or not :)

(and, yes, I will be posting pictures as soon as I upload them to my computer!)

I have no will power

Its 11:18, am I studying? No, of course not. I've talked to friends, written emails, messed around on the computer, but nowhere do I state that I've studied. Is it too early in the semester to be burnt out?
Okay, really, I'm going to read now.

Word diarrhea

There's so much to say, and so little ability to get it all out in any sort of cohesive/readable fashion. Bear with me. Please?
So let me start off by saying that I'm currently listening to Kid A (if you don't know by who (whom?), I'm not telling, go look it up, or better yet, just buy the album and listen to its goodness), and I've completely forgotten just how excellent it is. Of course its also making me think about when I got the album and remember all sorts of things. Interesting. Some songs can just put you back in an exact place and time.
But I was talking about the present place and time (wasn't I? Lately I haven't been too sure of my dates and times, or where I am). Currently, I should be finishing up typing my notes for the research project I've been working off and on for, but there's only so much one can type about the flood of 1862 and the drought of 1865. Yes, it truly is thrilling work. But hey, I'm getting paid for it, so I really can't complain. The other job however (working at the School of Theology, a place rife with hooligans and crime), has been interesting as of late. Last week, we held our annual Science and Theology conference; this year's topic was "Quantum Physics, Process Philosophy and Matter's of Religion." I couldn't even begin to explain the connections, but it was really interesting (the parts-and they were few- that I understood). The best of the entire conference came from one of the panelists, who when he wasn't quantifying physics or something, moonlighted as He-Man. In hot pants. Just imagine He-Man, with gray hair and short shorts. That's what I got to see all weekend. Yes, I know, my mind has problems sometimes, but still it was pretty awesome. It was also a good thing I was in the back. Oh, and another panelist gave me some helpful hints on how to get ahead within my field (I don't want to give anything away, but if you hear that I "discovered" some new, yet shocking historical documents questioning the heterosexuality of Benjamin Franklin, forget you ever read this post, okay?)...
So that was my weekend. Other exciting events? I joined a gym. Yes, that's right, a gym. Its a first for me, as I'm usually pretty against all things corporate. But I've been wanting to take some yoga classes (another first for me, I am now a yoga person), and this gym offers some good ones. So yes, I am now one of "those people." So far, its been really good for my back, so I'm happy.
This weekend, I also saw a play on campus, "The Waltz of the Toreadors," (which was really fun. It was an absurd farce- personally my favorite kind of farce) and visited the classier hotspots of Pomona; the (ironically named) HighBrow, which is anything but, and everyone's favorite Friar Tucks (the place of knivery and good times). While I realized that once again, I completely suck at pool, it was a pretty fun time. I got to hang out with some good friends, meet some new interesting people, and have some questionable discusions. Let just say, grad students + beer = conversations one would never hear in a classroom. Of course, I also stayed out way too late, which made my productivity level, er, not so good. But what can you do?
I think there were other random thoughts buzzing around in my head, but that's all I can type for now. Sorry for the lack of structure/coherence, I'll be better next time, okay?