This is way more interesting than couch potatoing is normally.
Right now I'm in the computer lab with Boy. (A note about him: It bothers me that I'm using terminology that is usually only applied to significant others, so from now on, he will be called I-Swear-We're-Just-Friends, or ISWJF for short.) He has a super-huge final project due tomorrow for his stats class, so I am keeping him company by watching White Collar while he writes up his data or whatever it is real academic types do--I have a bullshit interdisciplinary program so I have no idea how all this works. Anyway, DON'T TELL HIM that's why I'm here. As far as he knows, I'm working on a Very Important Thing, like applying for jobs or something.
I just got back from a munchies run at the grocery store. This grocery store is about eight minutes away, but I was gone for about an hour, because I was busy having an extremely exciting night. Here is what has happened in it (so far):
1) A major intersection on the way there was all blocked off with police tape strung between all the lamp-posts. There were at least five cop cars, and in the middle of the intersection, surrounded by tape, was a long, white, Jeep stretch limo. There was no blood or screaming as far as I could tell; the cops were just standing there, quite calm--it would have been boring, even, if not for the flashing lights. As I approached it, some people walking in the other direction were talking about a man lying on the ground, but I got there only a couple of minutes later and didn't see anything.
2) A homeless man struck up a conversation with me about my t-shirt. It's my third most commented-upon shirt (after one that says "Start a Revolution... Stop Hating Your Body" and one that says "VOTE KERRY"). This one says "No Teacher Left Behind", and I always get asked about it, and the story is, for a long time the teachers in my hometown were working without a contract, and the city kept rolling back their health insurance and other benefits, so a bunch of students took up the cause to help out the union, so that's that, and I'm getting kind of sick of people asking me if I'm a teacher. Seriously, how old do I look, anyway?
3) I passed two people I know--one from class and one from theatre--in the space of about three blocks, which is pretty cool given that it happened off-campus, and it made me feel like I've gotten stuff accomplished with my social life--this is a huge improvement from when I started here, when I literally could go days at a time without seeing any of the, oh, six people I knew. There are 34,000 students at this school, but it doesn't feel too big to me anymore at all.
4) I saw a flash of black and white creeping around the Arts building, and at first I thought it was a cat, but then I got a better look and saw that it was a skunk! It just waddled around for awhile, pondering its skunk-ness and probably looking for food or something. Skunks get such a bad rap; not enough people realize how incredibly cute they are.
5) I ran into a third friend, Ram. I always love seeing him because we talk about philosophy and he makes me feel so smart because HE'S so smart, but also, unfortunately, he's never around because he visits his mother quite often and he has tons of work because he's doing Honours Philosophy, which sounds grueling. He's going to write his thesis next year and he'd just been talking with some potential advisors, and the topics he's considering all sound so exciting, and then I got so jealous thinking about him and Pebbles and all the other people at my school who are writing their theses and learning SO MUCH, which I know is silly because everybody HATES it and was going crazy, but... still. I kind of wish I got to do something exciting like that.
Then again, I also really like hanging around on LJ and watching White Collar, so really I shouldn't complain. Anyway, now I'm back in the computer lab with my carrot cake and some feta-oregano-olive potato chips. This is the height of classiness, let me tell you. Ahh.
***
Edited to add: I forgot to say, I've been friending a bunch of you DCers on facebook this week. But I realized I don't actually know everyone's name. Some of you are very secretive! Brainie, Katie, Tassie, Chris... you know who you are. I'll add you if you like; just comment to let me know how to track you down.
I just got back from a munchies run at the grocery store. This grocery store is about eight minutes away, but I was gone for about an hour, because I was busy having an extremely exciting night. Here is what has happened in it (so far):
1) A major intersection on the way there was all blocked off with police tape strung between all the lamp-posts. There were at least five cop cars, and in the middle of the intersection, surrounded by tape, was a long, white, Jeep stretch limo. There was no blood or screaming as far as I could tell; the cops were just standing there, quite calm--it would have been boring, even, if not for the flashing lights. As I approached it, some people walking in the other direction were talking about a man lying on the ground, but I got there only a couple of minutes later and didn't see anything.
2) A homeless man struck up a conversation with me about my t-shirt. It's my third most commented-upon shirt (after one that says "Start a Revolution... Stop Hating Your Body" and one that says "VOTE KERRY"). This one says "No Teacher Left Behind", and I always get asked about it, and the story is, for a long time the teachers in my hometown were working without a contract, and the city kept rolling back their health insurance and other benefits, so a bunch of students took up the cause to help out the union, so that's that, and I'm getting kind of sick of people asking me if I'm a teacher. Seriously, how old do I look, anyway?
3) I passed two people I know--one from class and one from theatre--in the space of about three blocks, which is pretty cool given that it happened off-campus, and it made me feel like I've gotten stuff accomplished with my social life--this is a huge improvement from when I started here, when I literally could go days at a time without seeing any of the, oh, six people I knew. There are 34,000 students at this school, but it doesn't feel too big to me anymore at all.
4) I saw a flash of black and white creeping around the Arts building, and at first I thought it was a cat, but then I got a better look and saw that it was a skunk! It just waddled around for awhile, pondering its skunk-ness and probably looking for food or something. Skunks get such a bad rap; not enough people realize how incredibly cute they are.
5) I ran into a third friend, Ram. I always love seeing him because we talk about philosophy and he makes me feel so smart because HE'S so smart, but also, unfortunately, he's never around because he visits his mother quite often and he has tons of work because he's doing Honours Philosophy, which sounds grueling. He's going to write his thesis next year and he'd just been talking with some potential advisors, and the topics he's considering all sound so exciting, and then I got so jealous thinking about him and Pebbles and all the other people at my school who are writing their theses and learning SO MUCH, which I know is silly because everybody HATES it and was going crazy, but... still. I kind of wish I got to do something exciting like that.
Then again, I also really like hanging around on LJ and watching White Collar, so really I shouldn't complain. Anyway, now I'm back in the computer lab with my carrot cake and some feta-oregano-olive potato chips. This is the height of classiness, let me tell you. Ahh.
***
Edited to add: I forgot to say, I've been friending a bunch of you DCers on facebook this week. But I realized I don't actually know everyone's name. Some of you are very secretive! Brainie, Katie, Tassie, Chris... you know who you are. I'll add you if you like; just comment to let me know how to track you down.