Forty Second Post

Three posts in... two days? I think my perception of time is pretty screwed up. Anyway.
This is a for real post. No "Hey, you lot should check out this stuff that I think is cool!" nonsense.
This is a post about my bathroom.

So. My dorm is unique on campus in that people live in "pods" composed of six to twelve (thirteen this year, actually) people living normally in one to three-person rooms (possibly four, depending... I don't really know). Each pod has a main room and a bathroom. It's a pretty swank building, other than the whole hot water thing, with nice tall ceilings and, hey, your own bathroom. Except the bathroom kind of needs to be cleaned. So the price we pay for swank rooms and not enough hot water is cleaning the bathrooms. My pod just goes by room each week- pod C started because we volunteered, then pod A, then B, then C, then A...
My roommate hates sweeping and mopping, so I do that. In return for not having to sweep, mop, or take out the trash, she does the rest -- toilets, showers, counter, mirror.
The trouble with a girls' pod is that, while we're pretty good about not peeing on the seat, we leave a lot of hair on the floor.

That's a picture of the dust and hair that I swept up this week. Please note that the trash can has no liner.

But I don't really mind sweeping. It's easy enough, and the broom is okay. Actually, we have two brooms.

So you can't actually see both brooms, but there's another one hiding behind the big yellow one. You can kind of see the grey handle lurking around back there. The black handle is the next thing I'm going to cover.
That black handle belongs to a mop.


This is the mop from hell. It is the stupidest design for a mop in the history of mops. See how all the hair and dust that the broom misses can not get picked up, but rather shoved around the floor?

That handle thing is for squeezing the water out of the mop. That much works pretty well.

That's the thing that's supposed to make the mop longer. Unfortunately, it's breaking. It didn't work anyway. Any pressure applied to the elongated handle would just shove it back down into itself.

Shortest mop ever. I hate it so much. I'll blame my back problems later in life on it, since I have to bend almost double to use it efficiently. See how it's much shorter than the brooms? Yeah.
I did mention that the mop is not optimally designed for mopping up residual dust and hair, but it actually grabs a surprisingly large amount and deposits it in the mop bucket.
Sorry, roommate. Now you have to clean this out of the shower...

All that black stuff wasn't there before.
Speaking of showers, they're pretty neat.

See? Very similar to the showers that grown ups in the real world use. Unfortunately, our showers have just one curtain. I'm really not close enough friends with my podmates to be okay with them walking in on me stark naked. We all seem to feel the same way, so there is a general caution about opening the bathroom door.
Actually, I'm really not very close to any of my podmates, which makes using the sinks a bit awkward sometimes.
Here's why:

We have this giant counter, with two sinks. Two sinks is plenty for six people, make no mistake, but we only have one soap dispenser. As you can see, it's right in between the sinks, just out of reach for both.
In case you're wondering, the writing on the mirror is a note from our RA telling us to sign up for the "end-of-semester deep cleaning" involving all podmates, or else.
And that's my bathroom.

Forty First Post

This is just a quicky edit for the Fortieth Post.
I came across Alex Day (a.k.a. neriman) via "Reasoning With Vampires", a tumblr by Dana that picks apart Stephanie Meyers' grammar and relationship ideals.
Also, you should most definitely look up "charlieissocoollike" on youtube. Charlie is, interestingly enough, in a band with Alex Day, and his videos are hilarious. Also, the band, Sons of Admirals, is very good. Look 'em up on iTunes.
God, now I feel like an advert for all my favourite websites. Oh, well.

Fortieth Post

First, I have discovered a few things on the internets.
1. Records of a Mad Scientist. JW, a biochemistry graduate student from Indiana, winds up teaching (which she never wanted to do) at a state school in America's Midwest.
2. Alex Day ("nerimon") on Youtube. Just a guy with a camera and internet access who is also a skillful singer-songwriter and a hilarious dude. Also, I have to say as an American that his accent is fascinating. I sometimes suspect that I have an unnatural obsession with British accents, but I think it might just be one of those "American things". Anyway, enough about my obsessions. Look up nerimon's channel on youtube. (the people to whom he links are also pretty cool)
Oh hey, you know that I'm American now. Oh, well.
3. The Legend of the Seeker. A scifi/fantasy television series about a normal guy thrust into another life by a prophecy. It's absolutely amazing, at least thus far, with good acting and a worthy script. See if you can guess who played the Mouth of Sauron from the extended version of the Return of the King (from Lord of the Rings, and if you really didn't know... I have nothing to say to you). All the episodes are up on Hulu because it ended, but why should I care? I don't have a television, not to mention cable/satellite/whathaveyou.
You may or may not know (I can't be expected to remember all I've told you, can I?) that I'm also obsessed with two other television shows- Heroes and Sanctuary. I think Heroes might be over, so all the seasons might be up on Hulu. Sanctuary is not over, Gott sei Dank, but it's on a very weird upload schedule.

I recall saying at the beginning of this blog that I had no interest in Harry Potter or Twilight, two things that seem to drag other sites down.
That is now a lie. I have read Harry Potter, and I enjoyed them immensely. Check out Mark Reads Harry Potter if you want a chapter-by-chapter review of all seven books; it's hilarious and enjoyable if you've already read the books. I have also-

I don't really want to tell you. It's kind of embarrassing.
Actually, I've told no one. Not roommate, not best friend (who I text because he's at another school), not close girl friend. I think I might even have the library people in the dark about it.
...not that I check it out, I just lurk back to my little study cubicle with no power outlet for my laptop (the darling thing) and then leave it there when it's time to go.

Nope, not telling. If you guess, more power to ya. You can win 10 internets.

Okay. So a funny thing that happened was I was in the Target near my school looking for... I think I was looking for chocolate, socks, and shampoo. Oh, and a Christmas present for my roommate. Anyway. My best friend is a freshman in college and an overachiever. I mean, the man wants to be a surgeon, so he kind of has to be an overachiever, but I think that high school was too easy for him. Now, however, he is in college.
I was just going along, browsing through random stuff, when I got a text message that made me laugh so hard that I had to sit down under a clothes rack.
Here it is, exactly as it appeared on my dumbphone screen.
"Ohmygoodnessit'sthu
rsdayandfinalsarene
xtweekpanictimei'mgoi
ngtofailatlifeandendu
pasabumonthestreet
sellingcracktokidstos
upportmyselfuntilthe
mexicanskillme"
(character limit)
"becauseidon'tspeaks
panishandallbecausei
failedmycalculusexam
firstquarteroffreshm
anyear!"

Picture me, sitting under a clothes rack in target, laughing at a text from my friend who is worried about becoming a bum selling crack to kids until mexicans kill him, all because he failed a calculus exam.
Well, you can't picture me because you don't have my picture. Okay. Picture a 20-year-old girl, er, woman now that I'm over 18 (and have been for two years...), with long brown hair, blue jeans, a green shirt, hiking boots, and a black jacket sitting under a clothes rack in target, laughing at a text from my friend who is worried about becoming a bum selling crack to kids until Mexicans kill him, all because he failed a calculus exam.
Poor guy. I gave up worrying about finals when the kids in one of my high school classes discovered that one would need to totally fail an exam worth 10% of the grade to really affect one's grade that much. Oddly, I do much better when I'm under pressure, so I'm not too worried.
Well, I am worried about the fact that most of my finals are at 0800 next week. I am not pleased one bit.
And now it's well after 0400 -- more like 0500 anymore -- and I was trying to reset my sleep schedule so that I won't die during my 0800 finals. Oh, well... So much for that. I'm still getting up at 1000 tomorrow to study for my hell classes.
Also, if you get a chance and you're as unfamiliar with German Christmas (or "Winter Holiday Season") traditions as I am, look up "Krampus" in Google Images.
Just Do It. You will never see Santa Claus the same way (get your filthy minds out of the gutter. I didn't mean it like that).
Okay. Goodnight. I do not even remember why I was writing this. But it's awesome.

Thirty Ninth Post

Hey, gang.

Sorry. One of my professor's email style is rubbing off on me.

Anyway, guess what!

That's right, I have a measly week until finals! They are all at 0800 except for the last one, which will be at 1530 on Friday 17 December.

Naturally.

In other news, I have a nomination for "sexiest thing (not person) ever"

Ready?

German accents.

Thirty Eighth Post

It is very late here, and I'm watching Star Wars V.
I realise that I just posted. But I really have nothing better to do. And this topic didn't really fit in with my last one, not that this usually bothers me.
Thirty Sixth Post was partly about my new stalker.
Thirty Eighth Post will be about her again, but in a different sense. It will also be about privacy violations and my need to feel validated.
First, privacy.
Here's a slightly rhetorical question: when you are sitting next to someone who has his or her mobile out, do you read whatever is on the screen of the aforementioned mobile?
No. No, you do not. You quietly avert your eyes and do something else that doesn't involve furtively watching your friend text.
This reaction has been confirmed by both my liberal roommate and my conservative vegetarian friend.
Onto my stalker.
She loves to psychoanalyse things. Unfortunately for me, she has this habit of over-analysing trivial things and refusing to analyse important things. So when I wasn't feeling talkative, she assumed I was mad at her.
Thanks to her reaction to my supposed irritation, I did in fact become irritated. But since lecture was due to start in about five minutes, I deferred my irritation. We sat in stony silence until two minutes before lecture, at which point she angrily demanded to know what was wrong.
Two minutes before lecture is not the time to start a discussion that can only end by examining the deepest levels of our personalities and discovering that they do not mesh.
My mental image of "huffy" is based on her reaction to my postponement of the argument. She kind of snorts, then her shoulders roll, her chest heaves angrily, and she tosses her hair.
Fortunately for me, I've managed to convince myself that I don't care what she thinks about me.
This brings us to my final topic: my need for validation.
I don't hang out with girls that much. My best friends are usually guys. I do have a lot more female friends on campus, thanks to living with twenty of them for nine months, but none of them imposed their friendship on me.
When I hang out with girls (especially those from high school), I always feel inadequate. I'm not horribly graceful in social situations; I don't do much shopping for clothes and makeup and purses. I'm not in very good shape, and I'm not exactly a stunning beauty.
But around my male friends, none of that matters (oddly enough). They don't make me feel unfeminine and awkward, or like I'm not putting enough effort into the friendship, or like I should spend more time with them because I'm neglecting them.
I'm finding that my new friends are much better at accepting people at face value and letting them be themselves without imposing restricting expectations upon them. This is why some of my favourite people are girls from my hall last year.
My best friends respect my desire to be independent and ask nothing of me except that I be friends with them.

Thirty Seventh Post

Fun fact of the day: friction-pin watch bands are difficult to adjust.
I got a screaming deal on a fancy european-made watch (the instructions are in german first!) that is simple and still classy-looking.
It took 32 days to arrive.
The company through which I ordered it might be based in Canada, since they sent it through Canada Post with an invalid tracking number.
But, to my great joy, a little red rectangle of paper arrived in my mail slot today!
Bam! New watch!
Once I finally got the little stickers and papers off it and got the time and date set, I tried it on.
After clasping it around my left wrist, I noticed a flaw.
It slid off my hand.
Long story short, pushpins, safety pins, and my paperclip won't push the nasty little pins out of the links. And the closest store that might resize it for me will only do it for $10. Which I don't really have now.
Fortunately, Thanksgiving break is coming up. I am going home, stressing out over my meals , and conning my parents into buying things for me.
PS. Regarding meals: it ain't easy eating greens, at least not when the rest of my family eats almost exclusively meat for Thanksgiving. Fortunately, my vegetarian friend has suggested that I come over and eat his food. I felt that this could be awkward, but he assured me that random people come over for Thanksgiving dinner at his house all the time.
I was... flattered.
In any case, his mom loves me and his dad seems to be fond of me as well, so I won't feel unwelcome. Pressured to marry their son, probably, but not unwanted.

Thirty Sixth Post

I must say that this year is quite different from last year. First off, I'm passing my exams. Secondly, I live in a different dorm with different people and a different roommate. Thirdly, my stalker is someone I already knew instead of a total stranger that my roommate tried to hook me up with. With whom my roommate tried to hook me up.
It's odd. I've had at least two exams in every class, except karate which just had a midterm, and I've passed every single one of them.
I'm beginning to wonder what's wrong with me. By this time last year, I had totally and utterly failed... 2 in physics and... I want to say 1 in biology. I'm not positive about the biology one, though, since I have forgotten most of it anyway. But this year...
I got an A on the first organic chemistry exam. A on the first german exam. A on the first Core 150 exam. A on the first old testament exam. Then the second round of exams came up: B in german, B in old testament, A in core, B in organic.
I do not know what has happened, but it will probably fix itself within the next few months.

My living accommodations are quite different and none of my former hallmates live on my floor. Also, I don't talk to my podmates except for my roommate who is a very social person most of the time.

Now for my new stalker. She's probably my best girl friend from high school.
She drives me insane. She fits perfectly into all levels social terrorism drawn up by Hyperbole and a Half's Allie Brosh. (By the way, she is probably my favourite online person, so I might want to ask her if I can link to her post... Whatever. She will understand.)
This is why I don't talk to the girls I knew in high school. They drive me nuts. And now this one that tries to control my life as a matter of course is here.
At my school.
Less than seven minutes away from me at any given point. Okay, twelve at the most.
We have a class together. I regularly want to kill myself in that class. It's not that it's not interesting (which it's not), or that it's a huge, massive lecture that gets far too warm (which it is), it's that she comes in and insists upon sitting next to me.
It's not that I don't like her, it's just that I now prefer to spend time with non-her people that don't try to control me.
Those people include myself, which she takes to mean that I'm not hanging out with anyone and thus must desire her companionship.
I do not require constant company. In fact, I require that there not be constant company. "Company" here means someone actually sitting near me and trying to make conversation. I enjoy spending most of my time in the campus coffee shoppe, at a table all by myself, having a quiet "zen" moment of contemplation of the deliciousness of my coffee and/or scone.
One Wednesday after a break that extended from thursday night to monday night and on which I had spent half my waking hours in her company, she interrupted my breakfast.
Yes, it is true. I could hardly believe it myself. Add that to the fact that I was sick and had been for a good three-quarters of the weekend, and you have the recipe for eye-twitching on a massive scale.
It all came to a head when she started being snippy. She wanted to hang out (again) on a saturday night when I was enjoying some alone time with homework that I hated, and texted me three times within a five-minute period as well as calling me.
I hate phone calls and she knows it. So I rejected it.
I then rather firmly told her that I was enjoying some alone time, at which point she was very snippy indeed. But I didn't care- I was too jacked up on the coffee I shouldn't have had and adrenaline.
So I started ignoring her texts. Life is so much more peaceful when I ignore her texts.

Moral of the post- passing exams is for sophomores and mobile phones make life hell.