Posts (page 2)

well, it's hard to believe but classes are finished. now i just have to struggle through finals and it'll be all over. since my first exam is tomorrow afternoon, i've spent a good chunk of the day studying for it - probably not a big enough chunk, but whatever. this is the same class for which i had to write that ridiculous paper, and the test is going to be equally ridiculous. the tests in this class are the type where you can study and study but you won't get better than a C no matter how valiant your efforts.

on a related note, i think that múm's "yesterday was dramatic today is ok" is probably my favorite study music of all time. it's subdued enough so that it's not distracting. and it's calming, but not so drone-y as to make me sleepy - there are just enough clicks and beeps to keep me alert.

so the first half of today i spent preparing for a phone interview. this is only the second one i've ever had to do, and it was no less nerve-wracking than the first. but as it turns out it really wasn't so bad. it was a weird role-playing format, but there were very few questions to answer and it didn't last more than five minutes. all in all i think it went pretty well. i'm feeling optimistic, though at the same time trying not to get my hopes up too high. i really would love to work at this place, everything about it sounds great. the company is called Language Stars and basically they have several centers around the chicago area where they teach foreign languages to young children (12 months to 10 years old). that alone makes it interesting to me, but the pay is also pretty great and the fact that it's near chicago is really great. joyce was recently accepted to a summer internship in that area, so the prevention of a Maui Syndrome relapse has subsequently become one of my highest priorities.

so i once again find myself posting in lieu of writing a paper. i'm afraid that this blog is becoming more and more a source of procrastination. but really it's ok because by midday on tuesday, may 15, i will have officially completed all college-related obligations. well, at least those requiring any amount of thought - i guess i will still have to walk across a stage and shake the hands of some old guys who will congratulate me and tell me i did a good job even though, really, they don't know me from adam.

so this paper i'm supposed to be writing is for the most ridiculous and worthless class i've ever had to take in all my college career. the professor, friendly old man that he is, has this totally inflated view of the importance of his own ideas. so at the beginning of most classes he shares with us little bits of wisdom, and now at the end of the semester we are required to write a six-page paper on these little gems. absolutely ridiculous.

anyway, this was another fun weekend. on friday joyce and i went to visit dave, who made us some pad thai (a first for me, and a delicious one at that). then we settled down for a game of "dirty" scrabble, followed by dancing to !!! and travis morrison's version of "what's your fantasy?" and i think that was about it. i think. then on saturday joyce and i drove back to school and spent the rest of the night watching x-files, eating brownie sundaes, and wishing other people were more considerate and less LOUD. today we've both been trying to write papers and will hopefully be rewarding ourselves with spiderman 3.

other things that are new:

• no go at the FPF. my boss can only promise me a temporary part-time position. so all hopes of certain post-graduation employment have been dashed
• classes finish on wednesday! woohoo!
• grizzly bear is a great band. i'm really enjoying "yellow house"
• a new interpol song became available last night (i believe). so far i'm not too big on it, but maybe i need to give it more of a chance. i'm definitely still very excited for the album, which comes out in july
  
• sarkozy won
  

so it has now been more than a week since i started this blog and at this point all my grand aspirations about writing interesting and important things seem pretty silly. i don't even have a "fun" questionnaire to fill out (a terrible shame). i am failing in every regard here - sadly, this is something i'm finding to be true in more and more areas of my life.

anyway, here's what i've been up to lately (exciting!):

currently i am drowning in schoolwork - test last thursday, test yesterday, extremely research-intensive paper due today at 5:00pm (definitely not happening), group presentation thursday, another paper due in a week. it may not sound like much, but it's aggravating me and depriving me of sleep (and fun) and making graduation (aka done with school FOREVER) look more attractive than ever before.

schoolwork has also prevented me from continuing my job search, although i suppose it really doesn't matter since all efforts so far in this area have proved almost entirely fruitless. my only real prospect right now is that my boss at the Corbis Film Preservation Facility, where i work part-time, is considering hiring me for a full-time position once i graduate. i actually think this would be pretty great, especially since it's looking like my only other option is to move back home post-graduation - and that is the one thing i had previously decided i definitely did not want to do. but that's the way things go.

this past weekend provided a nice distraction from stress and worry. friday night was dinner with joyce at the North Country Brewery in slippery rock. and then on saturday we spent the day in pittsburgh. first we went to Ikea (is it wrong that i'm totally in love with that place? probably a little weird at least) then we made our way to the Carnegie Museums in hopes of seeing dinosaurs. the exhibit was under construction, but we still had fun. that prehistoric shark with the circular-saw-teeth, though: totally unconvinced. after that we went to the waterfront to see Hot Fuzz, which both joyce and i were greatly anticipating. and all our hopes were confirmed. it was brilliant and absolutely hilarious - so refreshing in the midst of this lowest common denominator crap they're passing off as comedies these days (read: Blades Of Glory). also, it got me listening to the kinks again, as several songs from village green preservation society were featured in the soundtrack. i am definitely grateful for that.

oh. and my birthday was last wednesday. joyce threw me a mini-party consisting of ice cream cake, champagne and x-files. best birthday ever.

alright, i now have exactly 3 hours and 18 minutes to write this paper on economic issues faced by american companies doing business in france and the effects of current exchange rates on particular companies/industries.

ha.

i don't know why exactly. or why i've chosen to start one at this point in time. maybe it's because i have a lot of work i should be doing right now, and this just serves as another means of procrastinating (but i'd like to think it's more than that).

at any rate it's happening and i think it's a good idea.

i guess i feel that there are things that need to be recorded, need to be remembered, need to be expressed. and that, given me and my many flaws, this can best be accomplished through writing. because that way i can say things the way i want to say them - the way they really are. when i talk, thoughts and feelings have a tendency to come out all wrong, out of convenience and confusion and a million other things. so i will write things and try to edit them only as much as is absolutely necessary.