Well, Duh.

My professor finally admitted today that it was a very bad idea to assign my particular tribe to somebody. This because I am faced with yet another research project that I can not just do like everybody else. Tomorrow I will find out what she'll have me do instead. I can't wait.
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To the girl who was wearing a gray and pink hoodie with "Georgia Tech" on it while you were walking past the library around 4:30 p.m.: WTF? The bookstore is about 3 blocks north. Buy yourself something cool. You can charge it to your student ID and everything.

Don't Look, sarahk!

Dear Texas,

You suck and I hate you. Why couldn't you have stayed independent and made my research a lot easier?? Stupid Republic! Stupid Republic Archives! Next time, keep all your records intact! Never heard of a shoebox? Peh.

Love,
Me

P.S. Loved Big Bend N.P. when I was there.

Mailbag

Several moons ago, I received an e-mail from a gentleman who is of the Republican persuasion. In it was a debate about something I posted on, including whether or not my particular liberal arts major is relevant or useful to today's world. My favorite part was this line...

As a holder of a BS degree, I always look down my nose at those with only a BA.

Which was actually an excellent addition to the debate, because the person pursuing a BA was probably too angry to be terribly cogent afterwards. I don't really remember, and never again heard from the gentleman in question following my response. I saved his e-mail, but not mine.

Anyway, today I've been engaged in a slightly similar (though much less condescending) correspondence with a friend of mine, and it reminded me of the other.

So what say you? Are history, literature, and art degrees useless? Shall we all go into business, health, and engineering? Shall we never again elect a president with some "fluff" history degree?

A Little Late...

Your Candy Heart Says "First Kiss"

You're a true romantic who brings an innocent hope to each new relationship. You see the good in every person you date, and you relish each step of falling in love. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a romantic dinner your sweetie cooks for you Your flirting style: friendly and sweet What turns you off: cynics who don't believe in romance Why you're hot: you always keep the romance alive

All Over Now

Well, this week sucked. TGIF, babies. T.G.I.F.

I'll be watching Wedding Crashers if anyone needs me.

"I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you."

UPDATE: "You motorboating son of a bitch! You old sailor!"

Parenting Style

I'm going to tell you how I was able to date a guy who was in college when I was a freshman and sophomore in high school. Not how I was able to land a guy in college who wasn't creepy or socially retarded. How I was physically able to leave my house with my parents in it to date a guy in college.

My parents weren't what you would call terribly "involved." My mom worked nights as a nurse, so she slept during the day. My dad watched a lot of TV. My grades were always good, so I could pretty much come and go at will.

My parents never set foot on my college campus until the day they helped me move into my freshman dorm room. And once I was moved in, they left. They've never been inside a campus building other than my dorm.* They never set foot on campus again unless it was to pick me up or drop me off. I selected the college, toured the campus, went through orientation, etc, etc, etc, all by myself. I had to learn how to drive a stick shift so I could drive my dad's car to the orientation, because my parents were going on vacation.

I could have been drinking and doing drugs and all that kind of stuff all through high school, but I never did. That was my choice. My sister, on the other hand, went crazy as early as junior high. My dad had to go get her in the middle of the night once because she was passed out on the sidewalk in front of her friend's house. She ran away all the time and the police were familiar with her. My brother moved out when he turned 18 (he was still in high school) to get away from their "rules." I'm not sure what rules he thought were so terrible to stick to. I guess the curfew, but that was easy enough to dodge. One parent was at work at night and the other slept like the dead. Or maybe it was the hassle over his grades. He was grounded for 1987. Anyway, the police are familiar with my brother now, too. And he has since moved back into my parents' house.

As for me? The police are familiar with me, because I seem to end up dating most of them. I did become sexually active at a fairly young age, but I wasn't pressured into it by the older boyfriend. He was responsible and respectful. And I'm not a slut now, jumping into bed with every other guy I meet. I am safely in the single digits, and don't expect to reach double digits unless I never marry. A girl has needs.

The moral of the story: ignore your kids, and one of them won't give you much trouble. Another one will probably grow out of her self-destructive stage eventually. And the third will introduce you to the fun and exciting world of the court system.

* Unless you count the University Hospital, and I don't.

How I'm Like Michael Jackson

My mom's take on the Original Boyfriend situation went something like this: "Isn't college enough to recapture your youth? Now you're going back to high school, too?"

Of course, Mom was never a big fan. Original Boyfriend was non-caucasian and significantly older than me. Plus very talented at pinning people to a mat. He was a big hit with the folks. I wouldn't let a daughter in the same situation date the guy. (Not that I'd care about the racial aspect.)

Anyway...even if it's not some attempt to relive my childhood/young adulthood, but rather curiousity about the past and how it would translate to the present...isn't that self-indulgent? I do have a fairly serious boyfriend who treats me very well, and we don't have any major issues. If O.B. wanted to come for dinner, that would be a non-issue. He, the current bf, and I could go to dinner together.

Coming for a weekend is more than just a friendly meeting. It's more of a testing-the-waters kind of thing. So I have to decide if allowing that is something I would regret not doing more than I would regret doing.

Asking For Trouble

So like, let's say your first boyfriend ever, from like 100 years ago, wants to come visit you--3 hours away--for a weekend. Okay, not 100 years ago. You broke up when your family moved away when you were 16, but have stayed in touch off and on over the years. So like 15 years ago. But when you've actually seen each other since then, there have been sparks. And when you met his girlfriends, they hated your guts as soon as they heard your name, and you're pretty sure that's not just your imagination. And like all of your boyfriends since have heard his name, because it's pretty sexy sounding.

So like let's say he's never been married and you've never been married, and he's in a job where he wears a cool uniform and carries weaponry. And let's say he also coaches little kids in a particular sport for which he won the state championship back in the day. And let's just say his bod is looking as good as it did when he was 18 years old. You know, back in the day. From what you can tell in the pictures. While he's wearing clothes, because they're not those kind of pictures. And he now enters karaoke competitions, and that cracks you up, because you still can't hear "Pour Some Sugar On Me" without imagining him singing it...for reasons no one else needs to read about.

Anyway, you have a boyfriend. So telling the original boyfriend he can visit--even as a friend--would be wrong, don't you think?

What's Cooler Than Cool?

Ice cold. (Shake it like a Polaroid picture!)

Ahem.

Anyway, I'm not as stressed out as you'd expect for someone who has to do (minimal) revisions to a paper for this afternoon, has an exam tonight she hasn't really studied for, has an exam she is in no way prepared for on Thursday, has a group project due Thursday, a paper due Thursday, and a proposal for another project due Thursday.

I'm also not as stressed out as you'd expect for someone who has to do a semester-long research project on an Indian tribe with very little documentation. A big portion of the research is supposed to be on treaties, and my tribe doesn't have any. This will make my research challenging, eh? I have a feeling I'll be combing through other tribes' treaties to see if they affect my tribe one way or another.

I've already had to do more legwork than other students, because we were supposed to read two books and write a short paper on each. My tribe didn't have a second book. So I grubbed through the congressional records instead. I played with the microfiche machines that never want to freaking print properly. I followed a bill from the House to the Senate to the House to the Senate...and had to read all their bureaucratic gobbledygook.

On the plus side, I'll be a stronger researcher for all my trouble. On the down side, this one class is taking too much of my valuable time.

#$^&(*(%##%&*&!

Dear Roommate,

Please stop eating my @#$%ing Granola bars like they're popcorn. I get enough for a week, and you're throwing it all off by eating them in the first day and not replacing them. I'm happy to share, but you're not "getting" the replacement part. This is why I hide the really good snacks in my room.

Love,
Me

P.S. If you're going to clear out my internet browser's history after searching for "bisexual porn", you need to not make it obvious you're hiding something. Because I know more about computers than you do, and will find what you did. Perv. ;-)

Heaven and Hell

Daytona 500: Bon Jovi. Troy Aikman. Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon crashing. It's like my own personal heaven. Throw in a win for Junior (he didn't), and it'd be sublimely perfect.

Went to see the parents, because what's Speedweek without my dad and I making fun of "poor Jeffy" and whoever else? Plus they had an anniversary during the school week, so I had to go say hello. And my former sister-in-law has returned.
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She got back on Wednesday night after being gone for 2 years, and yet I spent more time with her kids this weekend than she did. Go figure. Mother of the Year material, let me tell you.

My nephew kept asking if he could come home with me. Said he didn't want to live with his mom or dad. He breaks my heart. Smart, cute as all heck, and totally screwed in the parental lottery.

Mother of the Year will have another kid to ruin soon enough. Forced sterilization? Not such a bad idea...

Bad Things to Hear on the Radio in the Morning

"Today's high will be 8 degrees. Right now it's 3."

Decadent

I plan to take a nice, hot, moisturizing bath as soon as I sign off here. In the middle of the day. It's good to be a college student.

Why a nice, hot bath? Because we're supposed to get around 6 inches of snow starting tonight, and the thought of it is making me cold. Plus I'm just a fan of the hot bath in general. I can't wait til I grow up and have a hot tub.

In related news, if that Weather Bug chirps at me one more time about the winter weather warning, I'm gonna squish it.
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My neighbors probably think I'm nuts. You know how some things strike you as hilariously funny, no matter how often you see/hear/think about them? I've been cackling like a loon* for the last 20 minutes over a picture I love. Unfortunately, I can't share it with you right now. It will pop up somewhere soon.

* Okay, not exactly like a loon...but if you've heard one, you probably knew that already.

Big Plans

I got out of my last class early, huzzah. My prof was anxious to check the news on the Cheney situation.

Now I have to get dolled up for the casino.

That's right, the boy and I are going to a casino for Valentine's Day. We already did the nice dinner and all that a few days ago, and now we're avoiding the crazy V-Day dinner crowds by going to a casino. We're practicing for our trip next month. He thinks I need to learn table games, even though I already know the gist. And I don't really care about table games anyway. But it'll be more fun to play table games together in LV than to have him doing that while I shove money in the one-armed bandits.

Besides, Valentine's Day is a day of romance. And nothing says true love like, "Hit me, baby!"

Or something.

Ideal

If I could live anywhere, I'd live in a house on a waterfront acreage. A lake that you can swim in would be nice. A deck where I could sit and watch the sunset while listening to the waves gently lapping would be good. And having an attractive male of the romantic variety within arm's length would make it perfect.

Where would you live?

Bzzzzz

That pop I drank at 9:00 to keep myself alert to write two papers seems so misguided now that I got them done more quickly than expected.
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So, anyone doing anything exciting for Valentine's Day?

Flawed

Don't you hate it when you get a manicure and one nail gets smudged before you even make it out to your car? Of course you do.

Most/Least Favorite Things

One of my least favorite things is to go inside a building when it's dry and sunny outside...only to leave a building some hours later to discover snow and murk.

Especially since I'm a paranoid baby about walking on ice ever since the nearly-cracking-my-head-open incident.
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One of my most favorite things is watching Sopranos DVDs (season 5) and eating popcorn with my attractive bf while it snows outside.

Bye.

Help Wanted

So. I need to write a scientific research paper on "Geology".

Nice and broad topic, that. I need to narrow it down just a tad, and I'm looking for ideas. I could do a specific volcano, something about glaciation in a particular region...something about the Ring of Fire, because it sounds cool. Something like that. But it has to be something that I'd actually be able to do research on and write about for 8 pages.

Minus the Money

It suddenly occured to me as I looked around my desk area, that this looks similar to the professors' offices I've been in. Books piled all over the place, papers everywhere...and my little collection of rock samples laid out and numbered on my work table really pushes it over the edge.

It's time to clean.

Why Me?

There is a whole campus full of young, hard-bodied, naive co-eds. Some of them even paid the $20 to attend a recent "Girls Gone Wild" party/taping thing. Paid. To flash their breasts. $20. Didn't get paid. Gave their own money. And I'm the one getting weirdos stopping their car in traffic (and nearly getting rear-ended by a city bus) to hit on me.

Even I'm not deluded enough to think I'm smokin' in my winter coat, so I'm at a complete loss. But for the record, I do *not* need a ride. In any sense of the phrase. Thank you.
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Didn't mean to concern anybody with my entry yesterday. There is a method to my madness. You just don't know what it is. :-) Thanks to everyone who showed me some love. I love you too. And to everyone who didn't show me the love, well, duly noted.

Today II

No, I am not suicidal.

Today

Today would be a good day to tell me you love me.

The Glamorous World of Geology

I have on my desk a collection of rocks and minerals with numbers on them. I need to have them memorized for my test this morning. I'm confident about the basic rocks like sandstone, limestone, breccia, marble, basalt, etc. Slate, phyllite, and shale might trip me up. I can tell them apart, but I might forget which is which. Slate rubs off if you rub your finger on it. Slate rubs off. Slate rubs off. Slate rubs off.

The minerals, I think I'll be okay. I hope I'll be okay.

Wish me luck.

"A Strong Heart and a Nerve of Steel"

Spring Break is coming.

My tax refunds are coming (poverty paid off this year).

Therefore, we have decided to take a little trip west. I haven't done a real Spring Break trip since...high school. And parents were involved, so I'm not sure that even counts.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have snacks to make. Go, umm, NFC team, I guess. Have to root for somebody. May as well be Seattle, since everyone else is taking Pittsburgh.

Babies Having Babies!

My sister's friends keep having kids. Out of wedlock, I might mention, but that's the rule rather than the exception lately, seems like. My sister is seven years younger than me, so it's sometimes hard to remember she's fully adult now.

The latest one to get knocked up is her best friend, a girl I used to babysit and drive to her dance lessons and (Catholic) confirmation classes. She's not married, and was supposed to finish her Bachelor's next December. That might be a bit hard with a baby due in September, but she says she's going to do it no matter what.

It's still just so strange to me that these girls my sister's age can be mothers...I should be used to it by now. I don't think this particular girl is ready, but she's happy, and I know her child will be loved and cared for. Besides, some people wait until they're ready and find that when they're ready, the opportunity has passed them by.