Oh, Brother.

So apparently I did read The Odyssey in high school. Today in my backgrounds class we watched a clip from Oh, Brother Where Art Thou, the one with George Clooney. It's a movie that is based around Homer's story, but set in the South during the 1930s. At the beginning of class I completely blurted out that I had scene the movie in high school because it was a modern telling of The Odyssey, which meant that I had been reading the book even though I am convinced that this is the first time I'm reading it. I guess that I completely blocked that experience out of my head from freshman year. Of course as Taylor will agree I didn't do much in freshman English and have mostly blocked the experience from my mind. Besides Taylor, I'm probably the only person in the history of Stowe to hate their freshman English class if they had it with a certain young teacher. No really, people are in love with this teacher. I didn't develop a love for English classes until senior year with a certain older gentleman who performed epic poetry on desks and took us to see bad movies. He encouraged my dark sarcastic wit that has unfortunately crawled back under the turtle shell. Though I do sometimes bring it out with my Hebrew Friend.

The sirens scene that we watched in class today. 

Today is the first day of Monday classes and I have decided that I don't like having more than two classes a day and therefore I am not cut out for Mondays. I have four classes that go from 10am until 5:30pm and I have to work for a few hours in between. Two of the classes are also seventy-five minutes which means my attention span will wane as it normally does after twenty minutes and I will have to sit there in a silent stupor while I check my watch every three minutes. I do this even if I love the class, it's just the way I am. It doesn't help that I'm feeling lethargic and unmotivated to move. I slept through my alarm and got too much sleep so all I want to do is get back in bed, or do my laundry. Either one will suffice as long as I'm not sitting in class doodling or picking at my nails, I do that too sometimes. 

Last night I got an unfortunate email from the club field hockey team saying that there are going to be tryouts and cuts on the team. I do not go games and do not care about getting serious playing time. I just want to go running and go to practices so that I can exercise with people and have a good time playing a sport that I like. I don't need to deal with the competitive edge, especially when I am already busy with so many other activities and work. I am going to go to tryouts tonight and see if I can work something out. I think that it's a little hasty of our captain to call for tryout since there has only been one game and by the end of the fall season and the spring, the team is usually screaming for players. It's the captain's choice though and I respect that. I just want to play. 

Well if you're uncomfortable you should take off your pants.

Last night while I was driving home I came across a deer standing in the middle of the road. I've seen a lot of deer in the park an they are a more than common occurrence  in Vermont, but this one was standing in the middle of the road in the commercial park across from where my apartment. I saw it in time to stop and it stood still looking at me for a minute and then became confused, circled about and ran off across a parking lot. Luckily for the deer another car wasn't coming along because the deer easily could have slammed into another car while it turned about getting oriented. A few minutes earlier a fox ran past my car while I was sitting at a red light. It was a total zoo on the streets of Philadelphia last night.

This morning I had my first Wimba meeting for my nonfiction class. I can finally say that I have complete empathy for the graduate students that bitch about it in the office. Wimba is a pain and everything we did easily could have been accomplished over Skype or a conference call. It was kind of fun getting up at 6:30am and having a workshop about a concise literary essay that I had recently written. I have to rework parts of it and then let my writing partner look it over and work on it with me. My professor was very encouraging about having a writing partner since I can't get into see her because of summer hours. Good thing Yonni knows what he's doing. The piece is for my final portfolio, but it's something that I want to polish and consider submitting to a literary magazine such as Brevity once it's finished. I also have to send a copy to my dad since it's about him. I just need Thursday to be over so I can finally commit myself to my writing. I've also opened up my log book again. I had a four year plan to fill it up and I probably would have finished it last year if I had actually written in it on a regular basis. The book was a graduation gift from a close friend and the format is designed after the log books that Ms. Knapp has us keep while in Greece. If she hadn't passed away I think I would have sent it to her after it was filled.

I also found out this morning that Samantha experienced death up close recently. She and I are no stranger to death, she especially during her middle years of high school, but nothing quite like this. I would have thought that of the two of us to see it happen, she would not have been the first. I still have a wholesome milk and cookies Amish attitude of my  sister because of the more sheltered life she led and her extremely boring life choices that she's made up until these past few months. It's funny the places that life takes you and it's curious that only a few days ago I wrote about death and drowning in my journal for class after reading CLE in Brevity.

I'm going to Jersey tomorrow, weather be damned. I also have my history final Thursday night so this may very well be the last post before my Hebrew Friend returns from the Holy Land (unless something super exciting comes up). 

I can't believe that he paid for everyone, who ever heard of a rich nurse?

So I just read the syllabus for my next class that begins in two weeks and I am unbelievably excited about it. The class is on writing non-fiction shorts and is being taught by Spinner. I've never had her, but we've interacted quite frequently over this past semester, first when I tried to see if I could go on her Chile study tour and we discussed our love of Allende and South American literature and Norberg I couldn't go because of time and cost, but it turned out that the trip had to be canceled and now she's teaching this online course that I'm in. The other times that we've spoken were about course registrations and where to find a stapler in the English department (a lot harder than it should be, but also how I've become friendly with Fr. Brennan). Spinner also runs the Writing Center and is really enthusiastic about what she does, so I'm pretty excited to be taking her even if it is an online class. I've never taken one before, but Marge swears by them and I am looking forwards to not having to be chained to a classroom for eight weeks.

I got to go outside today during work to run errands and it ended up being a struggle for me to want to come back into the building. It is so nice and hot and sunny outside right now, that I am practically counting down the seconds to Monday when I can be back on the beach. I did run into Tom while I was running errands and he informed me that I can pick up my portfolio at anytime, so I'm going to email him about it next week. I can't wait to get it and see what he had to say about my final pieces. I did really well in the class (better than I thought I would) and I want to see what he had to say about everything. Running errands also gave me a chance to see the construction that is going on around campus. There is a lot of it all over the place, most of it away from where I work and have class so I don't see the progress so regularly. It is crazy how torn up everything is right now and how many trees and green spaces have been torn up to make way for all of the construction, I'm really hoping that these buildings turn out nice because all I want is a turn field on Maguire and a few more trees, not the Learning Center, which will just be a glorified computer lab and and place for students to nap in between classes.

My parents have taken off for Lancaster and I have three days of Bucca, starting tonight. Samantha is in Florida slowing burning the layers of skin off of her body and no one has been out in the boat yet this summer.




The title is a shout out to my mom. It's from Nurse Jackie.

Yellow model chick, yellow bottle sippin', yellow Lamborghini, yellow top missin'.

One day I will be able to have a nine to five job, today is not that day. Someday I will also only have to have one job to comfortably survive and today is also not that day. Soon hopefully (next five years maybe). I covered for someone at my server job last night and I completely forgot that she had the closing shift when I agreed to do it, and it was around 7pm when I realized that all of the people that I was working with had been there since the early afternoon and that I was going to be the one that would be closing tonight. I did have help last night though. I had to train one of the trainees in the closing procedures which was a terrible idea on my manager's part because I myself have only closed two or three times and we were working with skeleton crew and the Ecolab guy was coming into super clean the place. Everything was kind of mixed up and rushed because we had to get out of there and people had to do multiple tasks. I'm not going to lie, it kind of made me miss the closing shift at Borders. I was actually pleased with last night though because I ended up making double what I made on Friday, plus I didn't have to tip out as much as usual, plus I didn't have nearly as many tables to work with. I will say that I do think it's harder to work when it's slower because I get distracted easily and miss stuff. When it's busy I have to be on my game and not miss a beat and still go 100 mph.I developed this intense work ethic from my Dad to always have a sense of urgency and it comes out even more in the kitchen, which is our element so when I'm at work I can look pretty intense.

Last night was also very odd in that sense when you have been thinking about something and then for some reason, completely unintentionally or out of your control, they happen. Last night an old boyfriend of mine texted me at work. I hadn't spoken to him in a very long time and then out of the blue he started talking to me last night. It was light conversation about his graduating and living back at home (no surprise there) and how he occasionally sees my mother. It was fine, something to do while I stood around at work, but I really thought it was funny because tonight I have a pseudo-date with a guy who is almost exactly like him. It's really creepy that I've met someone almost exactly like him. Don't get me wrong the guy I'm going to see is very nice and pleasant looking, but the fact that he could potentially be exactly like an old boyfriend of mine makes me want to vomit just a tiny bit. I really am trying to go into this with an open mind and not let any pre-judgments mess this up, but I am going to take this unbearably slow to the point where if he is like the person I think he might be like I'm just not going to bother and hope that he gets bored with me. No maybe not, I'll be polite and honest and just tell him I'm not interested. He's already planning a million dates in the future and he keeps texting me about them which is already a huge turnoff and I am really struggling right now not to call him and just cancel, ugh.

I am going to use tonight to work on my speaking skills. It's this ridiculous thing about me where I can't speak unless spoken to first and even then I'm a terrible conversationalist, but I have recently discovered that this is only in social settings for me. At work I can talk my table up no problem at all. I can approach large and small groups of people that I have never even met and talk to them about just about anything to the point where they love me and will order anything off of the menu that I tell them to, but when it comes to being out at a party I tank miserably. I'm going to start practicing tonight with the guy who sits next to me in class. He always comes to class in a suit and I'm curious about what kind of job he does because I feel like he is way to young to be having a suit job. Maybe he won't be exactly like my ex-boyfriend.

I like Ike: The Canadian Orphan.

What a day or at least what a day to be on it! Or well actually what a day to check what time I have to register: 8am tomorrow morning. Thank God I looked because I was thinking that I was supposed to register sometime next week. I think this is going to be the second time that I will have been able register on time and I actually got an amazing registration time. Only priority is ahead of me so all of my classes are still open. In fact the biggest decision I've had to make is whether or not to take four or five English classes next semester. If I take four I can go after a Religious Studies minor, but if I take five, well then I'm taking five English courses. So I don't really know, but I have to reserve my place in at least four classes tomorrow morning.

Is that what five courses looks like?

I put my mirror on today. Yay! No more extensive head turning for Sidney. For those of you who don't know (my parents) I broke the driver's side mirror off of the side of my car a few weeks ago and have finally been able to put a new one back on. I'm a poor college student who can't afford to send her car to get fixed in a garage so I ordered a cheap mirror off of eBay and put it on myself. Unfortunately what was supposed to have been a ten minute job turned into an hour and a half ordeal that required my Uncle Pete to help me drill out a couple of rusted and stripped screws and take a hack saw to the old mirror. Is was quite the task, but I now know how to take inside panel off of my door, do some basic rewiring and how to replace a side view mirror. Screw college, I should just become an over priced mechanic.

On the ride home from Norristown while I was enjoying my new mirror I heard the new song from A Silent Film Driven By Their Beating Hearts. I am in love with this song. It's even better than their last single You Will Leave a Mark and it's on the radio a lot so I will soon be sick of it, but I am enjoying every minute of it until I am. MGMT is also making a radio comeback. Yay! I've been hearing Kids and Time to Pretend a lot lately and it's giving me freshman year throwbacks when Dan, Matt and I would watch youtube videos and pick the best music video. I always picked Kids and they always let me win! Though I think it that that had more to do with Dan wanting to get in my pants and Matt no wanting Dan to win. Either way. And if you haven't heard Arcade Fire's We Used to Wait you HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT. It is the greatest song of the season, I mean it.

Ode to Fusco

I got up, I didn't want to.
I have a cold, a sore, throat, my muscles still hurt,
But I still got up.
And you weren't there.
We waited and waited, some sitting, some standing.
I knelt on my knees, praying to be cancelled.
You came and the door was locked.
I swear I saw some people walk away, but I stayed.
Not for you, but for:
Chopin
Robinson
Howells
James....the list continues

And of course the Manet you couldn't hang because the tape wouldn't unravel for you.
We're not eight anymore, standing between a poster is no longer fun.
But now neither is listening to you and your self-proclaimed boring lectures.
You stare at me, right into my sleepy eyes.
Why do I always have to sit in the front row?
Mick speaks and I can see the boredom in even your eyes.
I'm quick to answer the trivia:
en plein air
Ten Little Indians
Shot by his own men.

My only class of the day and I still got up.
The abandoned perfect paragraph you forgot about is still in my notebook,
And your indecipherable writing is all over my paper.
I'm nodding, I'm gone, my glasses are on my desk.
The clock hand continue their path and I am out of there.
See you on Thursday.

Today.

Blogging live from my journalism class. We're previewing the sound and video footage that we had to edit for an assignment and I've seen everything a billion times for the past couple of weeks and now I'm moving on to writing about something completely different. In fact I've just been freed from the class with a bunch of time left to go. Most people are leaving but I'm staying to write a little. It's still early in the day and this could easily be the high light of it, so I figure it's best to get something down now. It's like a writing prompt for later.

Big news! There is a very furry dog in class. It's part of a project for another section and it has been hanging out in the communications lab all morning. Nico the dog has been very calm and extremely fluffy, but there is still one girl who is veyr frightened of him. She's worries that the 8 month old dig with hip displasia is going to jump up and bite her. Silly girl.

Later in the day:
I burnt my wrist. Right on inside where the skin is soft. I've had a terrible time with burns lately, and this one is particularly excruciating. It's very sharp and rough but still has a dull achy undertone that will last a while. I'm out of anything to put on it too. I took an Advil but I'm going to have to tough it out for the rest of the day and I won't be home until later this evening. I almost don't want to have to go to other work and theology and just stay home with my burn, but there's nothing I can do in the apartment so I'm trudging back to school for other work and class. I have had some rather unfortunate luck with burns. A few months ago I had a giant square burn on my arm from when I slammed the oven door on my arm at work and then I got a long lesion looking burn on my stomach from dumping boiling water when I slipped my grip on a pot. I kept showing The Ballerina that one to cheer her up at work. It grosses us out but the fact that someone else's life sucks a little bit more than her's does at the moment made her a little bit happier. Poor Ballerina.

Update: Blister on my wrist ruptured. Painful and n'est bien pas.

I have to clean the kitchen when I get home tonight. I kind of wish I lived in a hole where I didn't have a kitchen and the rent is free. I've found that if I clean a room every other day or so I can keep the apartment relatively clean and by Friday I don't have to do as much as I usually do.

Later later in the day:
Oh Ginger Viking! How boring you are, but what an impeccable dresser. Seriously it bogles my mind how a divinity student can afford to dress like a J. Crew model. Must become a Princeton divinity student immediately. It's probably just the clothes,...and the beard,...and his height, but this guy can do no wrong in the looks and clothing departments. He only wears J. Crew, Banana, and Ralph and he wears them well. I love when guys dress like that. They look so dreamy and handsome.

Homework time! And I'm wearing a t-shirt!

It's dark out now:
Oh I've been struck by the stomach plague. Ugh, very draining and uncomfortable. I need someone to bring me Triscuts and ginger ale and a cool washcloth.

Double fuck! My computer charger broke!
Good news: Physics taught me how to get it to work again.
Bad news: I still have to buy a new one and my tummy still feels icky. 

So this is cool.

February has certainly been my writing month. I think I'm trying to get it all in before I decide to go on hiatus. Usually happens in the summer months when I get super busy with work. Last summer I sat in front of a computer screen inputing course numbers into a spread sheet all day. By the time I was finished I couldn't write even if I had wanted to. This summer I may just power through, especially if I end up with a job that keeps be away from a computer. I should just go home and work for a landscaping company or a gardening service. If I did that I could waitress at the Hob Knob a few nights a week and spend the rest of the time on the boat. By then Kate and Batman will have had their mocha baby and I can play with it in the kitchen when the dining room is slow. I'm super excited for this kid to be born and I can stop having sympathy food cravings when I work with Kate. Though let's face it, I have the tastebuds of a pregnant woman all of the time. I'll probably end up with a normal palet when I pop my own out. Shames. Of course I would have to share the boat with Samantha, but we all know who Lance's favorite is. Get your boating license bitch.

Right now I am slated to spend the summer in Philadelphia agian. Hopefully my last. I have to take Western Civ II before it goes extinct and maybe a theorlogy or English class. Maybe both. I haven't decided if I want to go after a theology minor yet, but if I do I have to start it this summer. It only means three more religion courses above a certain level which is no problem, I just need to make sure I have enough room with my new major requirements. I do enjoy the summer in the city. It is much more warmer and sunnier than in Vermont and now that I have Twila I can make the trip out to Sea Side and Toms River. A weekend in the park sounds nice with all of the cold weather I have been experiencing in Philadelphia. Of course it's nothing like Vermont right now. I swear Lance is counting down to the seconds when we can leave for the Keys.

I had hockey this morning and Norberg was there. Love Norberg. Apparently so does every other female on campus. I mentioned my love of him in my Sophomore Seminar class and the professor said that the department had been hoping that the Norberg craze had died down. Apparently she hasn't been seeing the long line of girls that are outside of his office during every single one of his office hours. Anyways hockey has been improving. The girls have gotten the hang of skating and holding their sticks. Puck handling has been improving for everyone. Captain has been trying to get the girls to go to an open hockey time at the Skatium and if it's during a night when I'm not at Borders or if I can go afterwards, I'll join them. I also want to get in some freestyle time before Penn closes for the season. Their website and the skate board at the rink say conflicting things so I'm going to have to call down there when I get a chance. Hopefully it's the website that's right because I can only go Tuesday mornings before classes.

Food and Moses.

I get paid this week. I'm so excited because it's been a while since I've had any sort of extra money in my pocket and with my bills paid, that's what I'm going to have. I don't really have a burning need for anything right now but I am going to get a few things for Marg's birthday and maybe keep some cash to go out with some friends this weekend. Maybe even do some extravagant grocery shopping and cook something different. I still have a lot of chicken in my freezer that I need to use up so I'll have to look up some creative recipes. I may even have some friends over to cook with. Cooking with/for people is way better than cooking alone and for one.

I made lunch at home today. Burt my stomach. Weird, but painful. I was making pasta because I needed something quick and when I was draining the pot I moved it in the wrong direction and the water splashed on me and now it looks like I have a strip of sunburn on my stomach.

Other than my lunch burn, today has been rather unexciting. I have other work in a little while and then my Israelite Religion class. It's taught by  doctorate student from Princeton. He's a seven foot ginger viking how dresses impeccably. I took a stealthy picture of him once with my phone and sent it to Marg and if he didn't live in New Jersey I'm sure I would have gotten a late night call to go stalk his house. Marg as a problem that I have not problem fueling usually because it leads me to a Wawa sandwich. After class I'll hit the gym and then head back home to finish homework and make dinner. I have hockey in the morning down at Penn and I told Lauren I'd pick her up.

A bunch of the blogs that I follow are written by girls that are months away from being married and every week there is something new that they post about their wedding plans. It made me think about how I want cake and how much cake I could eat cake during a cake tasting and so I think that I am going to ask my friend Prada to come along as my fiance and help me eat cake.