sit down son

So, last night was my first night since arriving back in the states that I got to sleep in a bed all my own. The first night I crawled in with mum, then a night on an air mattress, then one on a couch, two more on an air mattress. However! All the furniture from the move from Georgia to North Carolina came YESTERDAY! So I got a bed and I am stupidly pleased because it's BIG. I'd spent the last year on itty bitty tiny Irish dorm bed in a cramped little room and now I have this room all my own with a ~queen sized~ bed, a desk, built in bookshelves, a dresser (which used to belong to my sister and required enormous amounts of cleaning and still needs some new hardware, but we're getting to that) and MY OWN BATHROOM. With a neatly-not-minuscule shower.

Well, things are still a bit of a mess because going from a 2-floor, 4-bedroom house to a 2-bed apartment isn't the easiest thing in the world, especially when we'd been living in that house 19 years. You accumulate a LOT OF STUFF. I just sat and laughed at my mother as she was opening the things the movers boxed up to find multiple of EVERYTHING. Like waffle irons. And then as we're trying to store away the dishes we find that we own something in the realm of FIFTY MUGS. Most of which have some sort of cutesy Christmas design on them, because my mother is a teacher and what better gift for a teacher than a mug full of candy? No, seriously, she gets at least 3-4 a year. AT LEAST.

So we packed them up, put them in storage, and she will pull them out to return the favor this year. xD

So far I like NC well enough. The weather isn't quite as out to get me as Georgia's was (oh god I was there for what, the total of two days? I was melting. MELTING. Especially in Statesboro. nnnngk!) I don't really know anyone yet, but I'll work on that eventually. For now its probably better that I don't because I have THINGS TO DO. Like that dissertation. And applying to UNC.

SPEAKING OF UNC. I got the most exciting text (on my exciting new phone) last night! My best friend from Statesboro (Steph, for you long-time readers) has finally, finally decided that she needs to get the hell out of there and wanted to know about going to school up her. !!!

Let me do that again.

!!!

So there's a program at UNC that would be PERFECT FOR HER, and I mean like, perfect, and if she decides to go to any of the schools in the area, really, we could totally get a place to live and and and.

Cue excitement over possibly the most perfect thing ever. It would be so brilliant for her and I'd have a friend here and could more easily go out and make MORE (a single girl alone in a bar =/= a good idea, but two girls out for a laugh? TOTALLY NORMAL MATE!)

So yeah. I feel pretty good right now because I have a stable place to live, even if it is back with my parents, it won't be forever and then I'll go off and do things. If I DO go to UNC, it's right near where my mum works and that's almost reason enough for them to say YES, GET A PLACE, because she drives 86 miles each way and could use a place nearer to crash if she's stuck there really late or the weather is crap.

I have big plans, guys. Just got to finish writing this beast of a dissertation and then I will be ON MY WAY (hopefully) to getting a job and you know, maybe stop moving every year.

Finals week started two days ago and I've yet to actually have a final. My first one is in 5 hours and 45 minutes. I've been reading. A lot. Some of it's been fanfiction, strangely of the Harry Potter variety for the most part, unless something on my flist catches my eye. But mostly Harry Potter and not much of that.

( This got long. Melodrama, rambling, maybe a few excuses and who know what else. )

And on a final note, The Gathering by Anne Enright is a really fantastic novel. The language is pure sex and the story is nothing but life, jumbled up and regurgitated as a combination of experiences, fantasy and hazy memory. And clearly, it's made me introspective. Go read it, folks.

I just hit that point where it's pretty pointless to go to bed. I have QUITE LITERALLY been working on a paper pretty much all night. Thankfully, I did take a nap this afternoon, so I'm not completely dying, and in fact feel pretty good considering the fact that it's about 8:15 am. Oh and Jesse's currently asleep on my couch. XD He tried so hard and I love him for it. I had Katie here too, also writing a paper. So when Jesse crashed we were still both good because hey! At least we're not sitting somewhere ALONE, making it far too easy to accidentally take a nap.

I really like my paper. It's different, controversial and strangely coherent. And isn't due for...2 hours and 45 minutes. Not bad!! Especially since I hit page 8. I'll waste time by checking the syllabus to make sure I didn't do anything stupid I need to fix because lord knows if I go to sleep now, I'm totally not waking up in time to turn it in.

I was sitting here for about two hours solid at one point STARING at a line and going WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! It was driving me crazy. Completely batshit crazy. I never REALLY got a good interpretation out of it, but I think I made it work. And it wasn't one of my two sites of focus, so I basically just glossed over it within the context of the previous stanza. But through my two hours of verbal confusion and contemplation, I got some pretty interesting ideas. So I'm happy about that. It's like, a progression. I start off with one thing, following logically to the next and then negating myself, re-working the interpretation and finally, merging the two together in a cultural context.

And apparently I'm REALLY good at never mentioning exactly what I was writing about. HAHAHAHA.

But the cool thing about it is that it's a paper for Keeley. I've been through four classes with him now. I think I managed to incorporate things I learned from all four classes into this paper. I think it's a very modern, somewhat edgy work that really illustrates what I'm taking away from the Irish studies program here.

Yeah. I'm proud of myself. It wasn't what I set out to do, but I'm damn pleased.

Time for another read-over.

So Bailey, Steph, JD and half the REST of the theatre department took off yesterday morning for ACTF and they won't be back til Sunday. Which....sort of leaves me with an interesting amount of time on my hands to do NOTHING around campus. So I've checked my mail [no plushie. D: But I got a new wallet which I REALLY NEEDED as, uh, pretty much every pocket of my old one had holes in it and any change I put in the change pouch would end up in the lining of the OTHER side of the wallet....Not good!], gone to two classes, actually braved the line at Chick fil A in the Union to get lunch, read Time Magazine, chilled out next to the pond [the weather is GORGEOUS. Like, 75 degrees, man. In Feb. It was in the 80's yesterday. XD] and now I'm in the library killing time on a MAC. It reminds me why I wanted one for so long. It's just so....STREAMLINED AND NICE AND PRETTTYYY. Though Safari clearly is not fond of my typing. >|

However I am ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHING something while I am here.

I am printing out my application for Trinity.

askjfhasfhklashf.

Except I just figured out this computer can't print.

FAIL, LIBRARY. >|

So I haven't posted in a couple of days. Probably to make up for the THREE POSTS IN TWELVE HOURS LOLOLOL. Sorry about that? It was all important stuff, yo.

So, what to say, what to say...

School starts back on Monday [NOOO, MY FREE TIME! ;_;] but it's my LAST SEMESTER HERE which means it shouldn't be so bad but yeah. I actually got re-excited about the idea of going to Ireland for school last night because we had one of our strangely frequent dinner parties and it turns out that Meagan [not me, clearly, I only have one a in mine!] is applying for Trinity too, which is what I had been thinking about doing.

Which means that if we both do it and by some stroke of luck, GET IN, that we'd be over there together. I'd know someone. I could possibly already have a ROOMMATE. And yanno, that's damn good incentive. But hey. I'll try for it, and that's what matters, right? I'll be in debt for YEARS, but I'll also have a foot in the door for a decent job doing what I love.

And if I don't get it, to the workforce on a boat I go! Either way, I have plans. And a few months ago I sure as hell didn't. So life is good and not currently trying to kill me.

I started watching the One Piece Anime a few days ago! It's much slower going because well, you're kinda set on how fast you can watch as no matter HOW fast you read, you can't speed up the video! But I completely love it and EVERY SINGLE TIME I hear Luffy laugh it just makes me grin like a maniac. He's amazing and I adore him.

As far as OP fandom goes I still don't know what the hell I want to ship. I read a good number of ZoSan a few days ago, then started reading ZoLu yesterday and I would REALLY LOVE to see some LuZo but I haven't seemed to stumble on any yet. It's been a good time though. I think I really like not shipping anything in particular because there are just SO MANY OPTIONS. I was like this with Harry Potter to an extent, but not as much as with OP. I had definite favorites. And then just liked other stuff too when I ran out of fic for my favorites to read [possible, I assure you.] But with One Piece....just. Anything goes. And yeah. LOVE IT SO MUCH.

My new glasses are great. *__*

And DDR makes my legs hurt.

Oh, and I'l the Jenga Queen and the Hungry Hungry Hippos failure. My hippo was totally bulimic. THE BALLS WOULD GO IN HIS MOUTH AND JUST POP OUT AGAIN! WTF IS THAT.

Yeah. Enough. ♥!

Done with tests for THIS week, have two essays and another test next week.

You know that rough draft? The one I wrote the morning it was due while not-feeling-my best? Yeah. The prof has totally told me like, 3 times now how great she thinks it is and how she liked it even better on a second-read through. sdakjshdajsdajhsdak WTF. XD I WIN AT LIFE, OBVIOUSLY.

In life-goals news, I keep imagining myself teaching classes and what my profs do that I would emulate and what they do that I would avoid. Hahahahahaha. I really think it's my calling in life. I just have to GET THERE. Whee.

Rode today for the first time in weeks on account of the OMG SICK AS HELL thing and now feel like rubber because lsakjdlkjasdlksdadsalkjdslk I am out of shape. Not on.

FUNNY STORY.

I'm an understudy for the play "I Hate Hamlet" this semester, so on occasion I have to go to rehearsals. Today was one of those days. And one of the actresses is apparently ADD and her meds are low so she kept stacking things from her purse in front of me like gifts, which was pretty hilarious, but the best part by far was towards the end.

She wrote me a check. Signed and everything.

For Monkey Sex and 22 cent. [memo: fur]

I laughed for over an hour and it's now on my wall.

IN OTHER NEWS. The AMAZING SNUZZ AND RIAH have been working their little fannies off for the past....oh, 48 hours or so and that Bleach AU RP I mentioned yesterday in the throws of excitement? Is totally open and ready to go and shit and we've been having some fun times already and HOI YOU LOT. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO CHECK IT OUT. I'm playing Renji and Gin. ;)

ALLOW ME A MOMENT TO SPAM YOU:

( OKay. Because I know it's up on other journals I'll be nice and cut this. BUT LOOK AT IT. IT'S PRETTY. )

YOU BETTER HAVE CLICKED THAT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET. IT'S ACE.

Moving on. I love every single tennis boy in brawl. Nuff said. I think you're all entirely brilliant and want to hug/love/molest/stalk you all. ♥ Or just make really bad puns about names. >.>

I keep telling myself "Today, I will post." And yet, inexplicably, each day goes by and I don't. Perhaps I'll begin, but quickly I'll erase it all. No point. What am I on about, why am I bothering?

Well, to prove to you lot, of at least the rather large percentage of you who I don't [alas] talk to daily on IM, that I have not, indeed, been abducted by little green aliens or eaten by some awful snow monster.

Not that there's any snow. Not that I even wore a jacket or thick sweather outside today. Oh, Georgia.

Perhaps I could also be updating to tell you that combining a southerner with incurably bad balance, ice, and narrow little blades strapped to her feet might not be the wisest course of action. Alright, alright, I exaggerate. I'm pretty decent compared to a lot of other people, but when I wipe out, I do a damn goo job of it. I ache and my left knee is all purple. Mind, I like the color purple aesthetically, just not when it's on my body as a result of internally busted blood vessles. I suppose, in the end, that's neither here nor there.

Hmm, I've not updated since afore Christmas, have I? Midnight Mass was amusing. I'm terrible, I forgot parts and fidgeted the whole time. The whole church thing just isn't something I do much anymore. And it's funny, because I've realized it's not for lack of faith, it's for want of sleeping in on Sunday mornings and the fact that Sunday evenings are spent flailing and telling myself that "In five minutes, I will start my homework," and then rarely actually getting around to it before midnight, before the next morning. That's just the way my life works, you know. But Mass was amusing. Catholics are funny. Because we have, what, some of the most strict ideas on sex and sexuality and birth control and shit, but no one actually seems to care that much. If you don't mention it, it's not an issue. Funny.

What else am I on about?

Oh, most people do a "Christmas haul" thing, don't they? I got clothes. Lots of nice, new clothes. I think I want more. I'm learning to walk in high heels. I got makeup. I got "Knitting for Dummies" and an awesome LotR calander which I have gone through and written in the birthdays of all the important people in orange sharpie. And told them who's month they were in, for the most part. I got my mum a popcorn popper and my dada a wafflemaker. Both were excellent ideas, in my opinion.

I'm starting to miss school and the hustle and bustle and constancy of activity, though not the stress load that inevitably brings. I have a 3.90. I'm content with that, I'll try and raise it a bit this semester. I want to go to Trinity, and then probably somewhere else after for a PhD. Somewhere big. Maybe in the US, maybe Oxford. I don't know. Somewhere. I still might go to Rice. I like Houston. But I want to see what it's like to live someplace that it snows.

The barrage of engagement announcements has decreased. Will it increase again for a few days after New Year's? I know Februrary will be full of them. Should I risk wearing heels to the block party tomorrow? I might die. But I can always come back and change them. It's supposed to rain.

I've hung out with my mum a lot this December. She's fun, she's seen a lot of places, done a lot of things, has a lot of ideas. Parents are funny like that, they know a lot and are really quite fun to talk to if you can get past the whole parent bit. Most adults are. Once they realize that you want to listen.

It's almost New Year's Eve, half an hour. I'll have no one to kiss at midnight tomorrow.

I'm happy. I hope this bodes well for the year ahead.

( Edit: New Years quiz thing )