Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire...

With all that's been going on around here, I haven't gotten much of a chance to update. Luckily, I have a few spare minutes to give all the juicy details of my thrilling existence.

On Friday, I finally flew home. It was a 6:00 flight, which was good because I needed time to finish up some yearbook spreads. I got on the train at around 3:30 and got to the airport at around four. It was a good thing that I left myself enough time, though, since it took me 40 minutes just to check my luggage. I later found out that I could only take one carry on, and I had to check my backpack before getting on the plane. Fortunately, most of my things were already in my other bag anyway. The plane ended up leaving 45 minutes late, as one of the passengers couldn't find their insulin and had to be escorted off. After landing in LA, I found my dad and sister, picked up my luggage, and went back home.

On Saturday, I met Marina and Sherilyn to see The Lion King at the Pantages theater in Hollywood. First, we went to a new mall that had opened in the area which my sister had told me about. After wandering around there, we made our way to the theater and saw the show. It was pretty well-done; many of the designs and dances were really wonderful. I'm glad that we got to see it.

After seeing Marina and Sherilyn off the next morning, I went with Chrissie to do some pre-Christmas shopping. It wasn't too bad at first, but as the day dragged on, the lines got pretty long and I was tired out. After dinner, we started wrapping the presents we had gotten. I had to stop once it had gotten late, but I was able to work on part 2 of my comic, which I'll try to put up soon.

Today has been uneventful so far, though my family is planning on seeing a movie later today.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Laziness

Today was nice and laid back... it's nice not to have schoolwork! The only productive thing I did today was some layout work for yearbook, which isn't that strenuous.

Some of my journal friends' comics inspired me to make a (bad) comic of my own when I was up late last night. Blame them.

Hurray!

It's good to be done with my work! ...well, until January at least.

I started late this morning (surprise surprise) and did a bit of routine slacking before getting to business. First, I finished packing my boxes of things that needed to be shipped. it wasn't too bad, since Denbigh is pretty close to the campus center and I didn't have to walk very far. After more slacking, I finished my prospectus second draft (it ended up being a page longer than the original) and dropped it off. So I will be able to relax for the rest of tomorrow without any pesky assignments hanging over my head. I can't wait to get back home for break so I can visit family and friends; there are a lot of fun things planned and I'm looking forward to them!

As a side note, I've been having some weird problems with my printer recently. For some reason, it won't print yellow at all. I replaced the cartridge soon after I noticed the problem, so it's not an issue of the ink running out. Does anyone have an idea of what the problem might be?

And Another One Bites the Dust...

Today was my film class final. I did an hour or two of studying, which basically consisted of reviewing the films we screened as well as skimming through the textbook. I felt relatively confident about it, and I'm glad that it's finally out of the way. So all I have to do is edit my prospectus and I'm DONE!

This Journal Entry Has Been Brought To You By The Letter B

Today mostly consisted of slacking, though I was able to pack some things to be shipped and do a tiny bit of studying for my exam tomorrow. Hopefully the exam won't be too difficult, but you never know.

In other news, for some reason the 'b' key in my computer seems to be acting up; I have to pound the keyboard extra hard for it to work. It's really annoying, but I do have to say that I never realized how many words contain the letter 'b' until now.

Three Down, Two to Go

The good news for today: I was able to get my chaos mini-portfolio done! It only took about an hour, so I feel silly for having put it off a bit. I have completed the work for three of my classes; now all I have to do is take an exam on Tuesday and edit my prospectus. I don't think that's unmanageable at all, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. It's nice that this semester ended without a huge crunch for once.

I later got a call from my sister, who had gotten back from college the other day. She seems to be doing well, and I'll be looking forward to seeing her and everyone else in a few days.

Parties and Stuff

Well, I finally finished my paper. The topic the professor gave was incredibly broad, encompassing the entire semester, so it's not surprising that my paper ended up being much longer than intended (nearly 2000 words rather than 1000). I played with the fonts, spacing, and margins a bit, and the paper magically shrunk from eight to five pages. I got on the Haverford bus to turn it in, and just missed the bus back. Fortunately, a student who was going that way saw me and offered to drive me to campus. When I got back, I was able to tidy up my room. It's nice to have my room not looking like a pig sty and I like being able to walk about my room without having to tiptoe around books and papers.

Later this evening, I went to the end of semester 'senior dinner'. Sadly, I hadn't been able to RSVP, since I rarely check my campus email and didn't know about it until the last minute; I had to be on the waiting list for a while. It was fun; the food was good and it was nice to chat with a bunch of friends.

Right now it's really loud in the hallways; a lot of people are partying and drinking, which is not fun if all you're doing is listening to it. I also found out why co-ed bathrooms can be a hassle, at least when there are several drunk guys around. Fortunately, I had learned something from previous experiences and bought earplugs; wearing them helps make the noise more bearable.

Wrapping Up

I spent some of my productive time today finishing up my Chaos paper (it's not due for a while, unlike the poster). When I was not procrastinating or working on that, I went to class. My presentation went pretty well; people seemed impressed that I would go to all the trouble of constructing the first 5 iterations of a Koch snowflake by hand.

Later that evening, I had my last Senior Seminar class for the semester. We didn't have a discussion; instead, the professor brought food and wine and we just sort of hung out and talked about, among other things, Main Line drivers, Xena: Warrior Princess, and another professor's (he came for the free food) Darien adventure movie project.

Tonight and tomorrow morning I will work on my 20th Century Russia paper. The problem is that the subject she gave is sort of vague, so I'll probably end up fudging it a bit.

Shame on Me

I was both productive and unproductive today. Since I knew I wouldn't have enough time to do my (self-scheduled) Real Analysis exam later, I studied and took it this afternoon. I felt more confident about it than I thought I would, and, though we were given a maximum of three hours in which to take the test, I was able to finish it in half the time. I hope that my finishing early doesn't simply reflect carelessness. I felt able to answer the questions, despite my impression that one of the questions came 'out of left field' and confused me at first.

After a bit (perhaps a bit too much) of celebratory slacking, I went to the final film class movie night; the featured film was Spike Lee's Bamboozled. It was, well, pretty disturbing.

I had hoped to finish my Chaos write-up tonight, but I suddenly got very into computer games and was unable to force myself to work for a long time. I have now finished about half of the paper, and I'm a little ashamed that I had such trouble starting something that's pretty straightforward. It seems like my primary motivation for doing many things is simply to avoid facing unpleasant but simple tasks; while I know I would have a more rewarding life if less of it was consumed by avoidance tactics, I can never quite bite the bullet when it comes to getting work done.

So Sleepy...

Well, I have just about finished with my poster. It took me long enough, but I wanted to do it now so that I would have time to take an exam tomorrow (today, technically). I spent much of my non-class time working on it, but at least I have a handle on it, and I doubt I'll have much trouble on the write up, since the poster forced me to organize my thoughts. I will have to present the poster on Thursday, but the paper isn't due until the exam period.

Well, I guess this is good night (er, morning)!

Doing Work

I had another late start today, but I managed to pick up my film, finish my reading, and do some work on my math project.

I got a gift basket from home today. It's nice that they think of me, but half of the things in the baskets are things I don't eat and end up giving away anyways. And it's kind of funny that my mom will harp on my weight and then give me a basket with lots of food in it. Ah, hypocrisy...

Most of the Rosencrantz... photos didn't come out very well, but I have enough good shots to work with. Shooting photos of productions is difficult, since there's limited light and a lot of action, and it's not really appropriate to use flash. Even though I was using relatively high speed 800 film, it's difficult to take good pictures. On the bright side, the photos of the production I was in came out well; they were taken after the production and were posed, plus there was more light.

It was difficult for me to get down to doing my reading at first. I sometimes have trouble finding a good place, where I won't be distracted or uncomfortable. My room's a bad place to study, since I often get tempted to use the computer or rest. Libraries aren't always the best place to study either. Dorm lounges and the space immediately outside my room are better, but there's the noise problem.

Anyway, after finishing with my reading, I did some math project work... the bulk of which consisted of counting lots and lots of little blue squares. I'd be hard pressed to think of something that could be more of a threat to one's sanity.

I was also able to order the plane tickets for my Seattle trip this evening. I can't wait until school's out!

Chilly Sundays

I started late again this morning. Oh well.

This afternoon, I walked to the local pharmacy to develop the rolls of film I had used the other night. I was hoping to spend the hour it took to do some reading in a nearby coffee shop. However, they were running late, and the photos wouldn't be ready until 5 o'clock. I went to the coffee shop for a little reading, but I wasn't about to stay until five, and the weather's starting to get cold, so I didn't want to walk all the way back later. I'll get the film tomorrow.

After getting back and doing a little slacking, I did some more reading. Once I finish this book, I'll be done with all the reading for the semester, which is a relief but a bit scary as well. I can't believe that I only have two weeks before I go back to California.

Stark Raving Sane

Last night, as I was about to turn off the computer and go to bed, I got a call from my sister. She was a little down and in need of reassurance, and her friends at school didn't cut it. We joked around, and she seemed a bit happier when we ended the conversation. I ended up getting to bed really late, though.

Unsurprisingly, I woke up rather late the next morning. Once I had finished with my usual procrastination routines, I did some work on my Chaos project. I worked on the poster, which contains 5 iterations of a Koch Snowflake. So I basically spent the bulk of my day drawing lots and lots of tiny triangles.

This evening, I went to take Yearbook photographs of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It was pretty good, especially for a student production. More importantly, at least for my purposes, I was able to get nearly three rolls of pictures, so I should have at least a few good shots to use for the Yearbook.

After I got back, I called my sister (she had asked me to call back last night). Unfortunately, we didn't get much of a chance to talk, since she was about to meet a friend for a movie.

Math and Stuff

Yesterday I went to classes, which were thankfully pretty laid back. Chaos was particularly relaxed; it basically consisted of meeting about our final projects and playing catch-up while everyone else was meeting. That evening, I went to chat, which was unusually lively. More people there than I think I've ever seen before.

This morning, I got up, did my math homework, and went to class. The professor wasn't there (she went to the hospital... she's pregnant and was due about this time) and another professor came in her place. It was basically review, so it wasn't anything important. After a bit of slacking, I went to Staples and got some materials for my Chaos project. I pretty much spent the remainder of the day working on it.

Inaction

I didn't do much today, other than read a few xeroxes that I got yesterday. Later, I went to the weekly movie (John Cassavetes' Shadows) and went to chat. Tonight I'll be reading a short recap paper for class; hopefully it won't be meaningless rambling because I'm so tired.

Sleepy

On Monday morning I was up very late doing work (ineffectively, I might add) and I only got three hours of sleep. I was sort of out of it for the rest of the day, and it didn't help that I didn't get an opportunity to nap until about five in the evening. I took a quick nap before getting something to eat; after eating, I surfed the web, chatted, finished doing the laundry, did some reading, and took a quiz for class. I then went to chat, but nobody was there, so I decided to take a quick nap. Next thing I knew, it was 8'o clock the next day. Oh well. I did need the extra sleep anyways, so perhaps it's better that I took a 'night off'.

On a side note, I had to throw my cactus out today. It was never quite the same after part of it got cut off, and yesterday morning I found it sort of slumped over. I always knew I had a 'brown thumb' but one would think that I could at least take care of a cactus. Maybe things will turn out better the next time I get a plant.

La de da...

Today I got up just in time to get to class. After finishing class, I tried to get work done; however, I didn't do all that much. I was able to buckle down and get the Yale app in, though. After dinner, there was a Yearbook party, which basically consisted of watching Legally Blonde. I was also able to get some photos for my section. Later, I did some reading, and I hope to finish it up later tonight. Well, that's it.

I Did Reading! Stay Tuned for More News!

Today was more productive than yesterday. Though the bulk of my morning and afternoon was dedicated to slacking, I was still able to get a decent amount of work done. I completed my reading for film class (though it was admittedly a short assignment) and senior sem (this week's readings focused on the history of sex and the body) as well as making some inroads into my 20th century Russia reading. I only have a bit of reading to do tonight and tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll be able to dedicate more time to math tomorrow.

In other news, I am pretty hungry tonight. I ran out of clementines (several of them were rotten and had to be thrown away, so they didn't last as long as they should have), and I skipped lunch, since there's only brunch here on sundays. Sunday dinners are usually pretty filling, and I had a good meal, but, since I ate early, I'm now hungry again. Oh well.

Blah

Today I had my usual late start, getting out of bed around noon. Most of the day I slacked, surfing the web and watching DVDs. I was able to get a little bit of reading done at the end of the day, though.

So, that's my day. I'm afraid is was not terribly interesting, even by my standards.

Meetings

I put off my homework until the last minute again; luckily it was easy enough that I could finish it fairly quickly. I then went to class and lunch, after which I relaxed a bit. At around 3, I met with the Yearbook editors and turned in some pictures. One of the editors liked some computer graphics stuff that I did for the book last year, so she asked me to do something similar for the color section. I was also able to turn in some photos; they particularly seemed to appreciate the Halloween photos I took.

Later that evening, I went over to meet some of my fellow history majors; we had previously arranged to meet as a group to go out to a bar. Unfortunately, only two other people showed up. However, they were people I knew pretty well and got along with, and we had a fun time gossiping and talking about our lives. It might have been harder to handle with a large group anyway. In any case, it was enjoyable and I'm glad I went.