Finally

Finally done with finals! My goodness this week has been crazy. As some of you know, Frankie got very sick last weekend, and I've been charged to watch him like a hawk for the first week or two after they fixed his blocked urethra problem (which is common in male cats in particular, and can be lethal). So this morning I'm chilling at my computer, doing what I do, and I turn around to see this:

"'Sup, bro?"

He's been doing a lot better lately.

And to continue my most excellent week, my xbox 360 finally kicked the bucket. Wasn't worth sending in to fix, either, so I just swapped some Christmas presents and got myself a new one. Let's see how the new models hold up, eh? (I am not impressed with it's 'slim' design--that is not 'slim,' Microsoft. If you need an example of what 'slim' is, I suggest you ask Sony).

Then I got stuck in a Toys R Us parking lot at quarter to 11 the night before my 8 am final. The next day the lids were being screwy at my school's diner-type place and I got smoothie all over my coat and had to walk back to my dorm sans a coat and gripping a new smoothie. Friggin. Cold. (And if you are asking, "But--why the hell would you order a smoothie in winter? BECAUSE IT IS FRIGGIN DELICIOUS THAT IS WHY. Seriously. Chocolate and Irish cream? Yes please!)

Honestly, by the end of this week I was equal parts bemused and amused. When that much crap happens in quick succession, there's really not much you can do but laugh a little and shake your head. Besides, you guys are en route, so everything's worth it in the end, right?


Here's my song. I don't know what it is about this one, either. There is a fifty-fifty chance that when I play it I will either find it annoying or find it adorable. What's up with that?

I don't even know. This is not my usual music at all.

And then I emerged.

You know what's worse than finals week?  The week before finals week.
The one where all of your portfolios and databases and papers and presentations are due.  The one where you figure out what your grade is so far, and you calculate just how well you need to do on your finals to maintain your grade.
The one where you hole yourself up in your room and alienate your friends and family, just to emerge from it a week later exhausted, starving, lost, and confused.  You may or may not feel a little like this:

Beard included.



It is a scary time.  You have a weekend of peace, just to be plunged back into studying and worry, as you realize, 'Hey, this test is cumulative!  Time to catch up on a semester of stuff I've completely blocked from my memory!'

But hope is on the horizon!  Break will start soon!  A break with no homework or papers or anything!  Just rest, relaxation, and maybe some parties with people I haven't seen in ages.


That means you guys.


Until then, cheer up with this classy song:

Counting the Days

Is it just me, or did this semester go by incredibly fast? This is my last full week of classes before finals (which isn't saying much since I only have two tests--yay lit major!) and I find myself wondering...where on earth did the time go!?
Even more mind-boggling is the fact that I still have a ton of work to do. Is it sad when the best early Christmas present you can get is a one-day extension on a term paper? Seriously, when my media law teacher announced that he'd be accepting the paper on Friday instead of Thursday, he was like frickin' Santa Claus.

Where are the rest of you in your end-of-the-semester shenanigans? I know at least one of you is already in finals week. Are you super relieved to be done with it? Are you even more super excited for the fun we're going to have this break? I know a few of us already posted our breaks on Rachel's post, but post 'em here so we can see them all at once, eh? Because most of us are juniors--that means one more year before we *really* get out and about in the world. We need to spend as much time together as possible or else resign ourselves to renting a giant house somewhere and living together. Which might not be a terrible idea, as I'm fairly certain none of us can actually afford to live on our own...

Speaking of future plans, we need those break dates so we can coordinate that Plans for the Future business meeting. Fun times ahead!

Warning: the following song has a tendency to creep into people's heads, and you might find yourself muttering the chorus under your breath at inappropriate times--during a test, say, or in the library. Also, Tiny Toons!

Brings back memories. I miss the good cartoons.

Plans every party, gives not a single damn

Good news everyone! (And for those of you who read that in the Professor's voice from Futurama, just know that this is actual good news and not the kind of good news that results in you being assigned to deliver a parcel of questionable importance to a planet of definite danger.)

Today I finally got my paperwork mailed! That's right. All the scary, important documents are now in the capable(?) hands of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. I'm on my way to being a legit adult. With a career. How fucking weird is that?

When it actually arrives, I plan on drinking champagne. I hope anyone who is home at the time will come and join me!

Other, less life changing news:
1.) Very soon, I'll be painting my room an obnoxious yellow-orange color because dark blue is depressing in the winter.
2.) My mom got a diffuser and a set of essential oils and hnnngh guys you have to come over and smell my house. They're so uplifting and the health benefits are phenomenal. Eucalyptus and myrrh cleared my mom's sinuses up in a snap.

Also: Chumbawumba. No regrets.

SOON.

So my day has pretty much gone like this: homework, homework, class, class, homework, homework, class, more homework with me frequently looking over at my newly obtained Doctor Who David Tennant Specials box set, leaning over it rather creepily, and muttering "SOON." Good thing my roommate and I have our own rooms, eh?

But seriously, it seems rather unfair that there has to be SO MUCH TO DO before finals. Does anyone else have a ridiculous amount of things that have be turned in like, a scant few days before finals even begin? Craziness. And my finals won't even be that bad! It's all this other crap due next week that kind of suck. Maybe it wouldn't suck so bad if I didn't have that box set, or an increasingly long list of things I want to read that are not even remotely school-related...

Ah well. It'll all be over soon and then the joys of winter break and all the Dread/RPG type games, theme parties, and informal gatherings will be upon us and all will be right again. And we have that business/meeting of the minds thing to look forward to!

Here's a music video Mouse showed me over the weekend, based on a song I showed her a few months ago. Still makin' me giggle.

That face! Too good.

Harry Potter in College

SO, in just one day, SARAH RETURNS!

In the meantime, I am kept busy by doing the crap ton of homework I have left before break! But because I took awesome classes this year, this means that my projects consist of comparing the Ministry of Magic's actions in Order and Half-Blood to those undertaken by fascists governments; and sketching out scenes for my group project for Victorian Art and Culture where we are making a steampunk graphic novel on child labor in the 1800s.

I just started sketching the scene where the child laborer falls into the giant machine and, in essence, into the rabbit hole to talk to other child laborers. He'll wake up after the Reform Laws are passed ;)

My desk looks pretty crazy right now, covered in pop cans and article -- this is a good time to mention that mom and dad have officially turned "Aaron's old room" into an office, and mom is ever busy turning it into "the antique travel room". Yup, maps, old photos of trains, old travel brochures, old suitcases -- she's just SO CREATIVE! She even bought an old record player and we've been traipsing around to scratchy renditions of the My Fair Lady "soundtrack" -- I can't wait to see the room when it's done!

So this is crunch time folks, right before two weeks preparing for finals! Yikes!

So tell me, what is driving everyone else nuts about finals? And for those with out finals, what is the driving concern for you for the next two weeks?

In the meantime, please enjoy this stellar video. Yes, yes it's dubstep, but the reason I put it up is because I enjoy this song AND because you MUST watch the video!!! Also, for those of you who don't like dubstep, you might feel like this man when you watch it so you can at least sympathize

Enjoy!

Dreams: Broken Promises

So last night I had a really weird dream. I feel like in a different context it could have easily crossed into nightmare territory. It did not for two very important reasons.

1. I was with you guys. Like. All of you. A huge crowd. A herd. A murder. A school. Of you guys. And shit just isn't scary when we're together. ZOMBIE INVASION? NBD NBD.

2. Kinect for seXbox.

So here's how it went down: All of us were together in some combination of Amy's house/Rachel's basement in front of a big ass tv. We had just picked up a new game-- and this shit was supposed to be intensely scary. Here's why I should have known it was a dream: the platform was Xbox but it involved the Kinect. lolwut. So this is like a survival horror game that involves you flailing around in terror (not unlike a few of us while playing with a controller...) Next thing I know, the dream shifts so that we're like IN THE GAME instead of just flailing Kinect style.

I can't really remember much about the game itself other than it being a combination of... pretty much every horror movie/game out there. The freakiest part was that I messed something up and ended up having to do this minigame where I was told to pick up two red balls as they rolled past (deeeefinitely getting an American Horror Story vibe from this one?) and because it was the FUCKING KINECT I couldn't get it to be responsive enough to grab the balls in time. This ended up with me losing the game and getting dragged toward a pool by this horrifying humanesque monster that looked like it's skin had all melted off. It was bright red and sinewy and it wanted to eat my goddamn soul.

Then you guys were like LOL U DIED LETS MAKE CUPCAKES and we did. This cool story brought to you by the Stool Quarry Bros.