Mirror, Mirror

Who is the loneliest fool of them all? You can judge for yourself. I skipped the coffee and three cigarettes, just to let you know (if anybody even understands my reference). Yeah, Tom called me last night and I got sad. We really needed to talk though. He wasn't mean or anything. And I talked to Kevin too. Kevin made me feel a lot better. I had a good time at school today though, and I didn't have to work, plus I went to Taco Bell. Taco Bell led me straight to the bathroom though (sorry for the junior high-ish humor, folks). Anyway, I don't have much that I have to do, so I think I'll get ahead on some homework and try to take my mind off last night. To those of you who pray, please remember me in your prayers. I'd like to keep the request unspoken though.

And on to other matters. Guess who got Justin's email? Sunshine did. So I might write to him or something, but I don't know. I mean he sat by me yesterday in church and looked at me some, but I don't know if he really wants to talk or not. Oh well, I've had enough problems with guys not liking me that I really shouldn't worry. May as well add another to the list. I'll make a mosaic of letters I've written to people. It will be a work of art.

To Amanda: Are you going to the STD meeting this week? I might, if it's not too long. This week they're supposed to be signing up for T-shirts, and I really want one, so I may go just to make sure I'm signed up to get one. Even though they'll probably have the list around at most of the meetings. They're still doing business stuff, so I'll probably go. I doubt I'll stay up there for the social meetings though (man that sounded real good, didn't it? Social STD meetings???) I think I better get off here before I say anything even dumber. Although I am 48% abnormal and it is very likely that I have no soul... or so the quiz says.

Pleasant Day Today

Today was a pretty good day. A nice guy came to church today to teach our class. He's about a year and a half younger than me. I'm really too old to go to class. Then we had to play this stupid game called "Honey, I love you but I just can't smile." I guess I'm really good at that game. And I always thought I smiled very easily. Oh well. Then afterwards, we went to town and I had a Subway. I like it, but it kind of makes me sick. And basically, besides shopping, that's been my day. I don't have much for words of wisdom today, so I guess I'll tell you all to be cool and stay safe.

I Turned 21 in Prison Doing Life Without Parole

Saturday. The day I've waited for all week. I can't account for the morning, but then in the early afternoon I visited my grandma and crocheted a little, read some Shakespeare (for class... I don't make a habit of reading Shakespeare for the fun of it). Anyhow, then I bought GAS for the second time this week (the first time was yesterday). This gasoline habit needs to go. I can't keep spending like this. Then I came home and didn't do a heck of a lot of anything, until Mom and Dad came home from The Chronicals of Narnia, at which point I visited the IGA with them (my day gets wilder every minute!) And then I came home, ate, and crocheted a little more while listening to Lucinda Williams (ever heard of her). And now I'm talking to my buddy on IM and updating this puppy. Nothing else to talk about ya'll. Sorry for wasting your time on this post...

Couldn't Resist Posting This One...

You Are 48% Abnormal

You are at high risk for being a psychopath. It is very likely that you have no soul. You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at medium risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is somewhat likely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at medium risk for having a social phobia. It is somewhat likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

And in My Hour of Darkness

I'm having another of my bipolar moments... no biggie. However, I'm playing "All Along the Watchtower" on LAUNCHcast or whatever. It was one of the first songs I learned to play on my guitar. I have had something of a chip on my shoulder lately and I'm getting to the point where I speak my mind (like at school today) and basically say whatever the "heck" I want to say. Although I didn't want to say "heck" just now...

I did an article review in my first class and read three poems in my second. I love talking in front of class! I'll just admit up front that I like the attention. I got an email from Jeff, who thinks McSweeney's is stupid for not publishing my list. He says when he starts his own humor book, I'll be in it. Where's the contract, Jeff? Still haven't heard back from the DEN about the potential column thing, so who knows.

Sarah, your food was really good tonight. And thanks for agreeing to take me to dinner. I'll choose a place sometime. I'm not sure where I want to go yet.

What do you all think of profanity? Is it all it is cracked up to be? What makes a word "bad"? I mean, I think the "S" word was kosher in middle English as referring to actual fecal material. What is so "clean" about saying "crap" or "poop" or "doo-doo"? Isn't it all the same? I'm listening to an unedited version of the Who's "Who Are You" which has the dreaded, infamous "f" word in it (twice!), but for some reason nobody ever catches it. I personally think this is hilarious, because people tend to never believe me when I say it's there. But whatever.

Well I have spent altogether too much time rambling tonight. Peace out all. In the words of John and Paul: "There will be an answer, Let It Be."

STD: Our Love of Literature is Contagious... or something like that

Well I only had one class today because my American Lit prof's dad is in the hospital and not doing well, so he took the day off. I feel sorry for the guy. Anyway, I didn't get to school until around noon. I did a little homework and then joined Amanda, Jeanine, and crew for another lovely therapy session... er... booksale. I love these booksales; we really don't have to do anything except be present and accounted for. Amanda and I spent the hour telling tales of our childhoods (including some silly/stupid anecdotes provided by yours truly) and being somewhat daring (Bow-chicka-bow-wow) and laughing like crazy people the whole time. It was wonderful. I really enjoy moments like that. Anyhow, after that, I went to my fiction class and wrote a letter to my future son, Jasper Hyacinth, apologizing to him for giving him an embarrassing name. The prof loved it. Then I went to Brandy's house for a while and (friends, forgive my weakness) I exercised. I know exercising is contrary to my usual code of ethical behavior, but I just couldn't help it. Tom has this ab machine thingy that I love because it makes my stomach smaller and my hips larger at the same time! I'm in it for the smaller tummy though. And then I had to lift some weights so my arms won't get flabbier, and I can't let Val's calf muscles get larger than mine, so I also did some walking exercises. By the time I was done with that, I needed to head back to school for the weekly STD meeting. And Amanda, you didn't miss much. Literally. It was a 30 minute meeting (awesome) and Jeff should have emailed you the minutes, so I won't go into great depth about the meeting on here. I'm moderately excited about the poetry reading thing though.

In other news, I found a $5 bill lying in Klehm yesterday and did not pick it up. I thought if it was still there after my class, then it was probably a sign that I should have it, but it was gone, so no harm, no foul. I coulda used five extra bucks though.

My stay with Jenni was a lot of fun. Their house is about 2x the size of ours. And there were only 3 people staying there, which made it seem huge. We considered throwing a fairly wild party for the three of us, but nobody had enough money to get in trouble. Which is probably a good thing :) By the way, JUST KIDDING. I don't want to get Jenni in trouble or anything.

I guess this means I'll be doing an encore next week, which I'm looking forward to. I need to get to bed soon, but I'll leave you all with a closing note. This is mainly addressed to the ladies, but men can read it too: I accidentally picked up a guy's campus pack at the beginning of last semester in the union. Inside, I found a 4 bladed razor (I want to say it was Schick Quatro or however you spell it, but I'm not positive, as I'm currently doing research for my PhD in men's razors through the University of Nowhere) Regardless, it works wonders. I never liked my razors before, and I think it was because they were wimpy little women's razors with only one blade. But this new one has FOUR. For an incredibly close shave. So girls, next time your razor craps out on you, consider a men's razor. You might be surprised.

Wednesday

Hello all. I stayed with Jenni last night. Had a lot of fun. I hadn't seen her in a while so I spent a long time just chilling on the couch and chatting with her. Brandy fell asleep in a chair. Anyway, I'm not sure how often I'll get to post with school and all. My cameo last night went well, so I may do the encore thing next week, depending on my schedule, etc. I kept having nightmares last night. Weird ones too. But I don't remember them, so that's cool.

Does anyone know why I keep having these dreams where I'm smoking?

By the way, I got through The Butcher (still protesting, so no italics) today in Tech and Society. It was pretty disgusting. The worst part is, that most of the gruesome parts didn't bother me. The worst parts for me were just seeing the meat packaged like it is in the store. Yeah I'm weird, just say it...

I haven't had to do much homework lately (awesome) but I do have things like Sigma Tau Delta and stuff. I think I joined the English Club yesterday. I don't plan on doing much though. I will try to get a T-shirt if they'll let me. I don't know if Amanda enjoyed the booksale much yesterday (I hope she did-- I know I sure as heck did). Jeanine is hilarious. I had so much fun that I even started getting hyper--didn't think that was possible for me. I read something that I wrote in my fiction class and I had a hard time controlling my laughter. It was a letter I wrote to myself about not getting a toy when I was little. It was an in-class writing assignment. I guess the excitement of the booksale just made me giddy.

This section is dedicated to EJ Water (you know who you are): I told you how to post several times already, but I will tell you again.

1) Go to your blog
2) At the top of the page, click on "Get Your Own Blog"
3) When the new page comes up, type in your username and password (you might need to make sure caps lock is off)
4) When that page comes up, click the green "+" sign to add a new post.

Have a great Wednesday everyone~

If You're Not a Vegetarian Yet, You Will Be...

Well, I just found out today that on Wednesday I'm supposed to watch a movie in Senior Seminar called The Butcher. I'm not italicizing the title because I'm protesting against it. As a lifelong vegetarian, I don't see the necessity in my viewing various types of farm animals being slaughtered and turned from happy living creatures into a bloody mess and then into the pretty little packages we see in the grocery store. I mean seriously, if other people want to eat meat that's fine with me. I'm not in PETA yet, so don't worry. Emphasis on the YET. Anyhow, I can see why it is important for meat-eaters to understand where their meat comes from, but do I need to see it? Just looking at ground chuck makes me woozy.

And this is after I had to watch the cattle ranching video, complete with slaughtering, on Friday.

Really, is this guy a sadist? He surely can't enjoy making us all sick. And right at lunchtime. Ah screw it. I don't care--I just won't watch it.

I worked a whole THREE hours today, a lot for Sunshine. AND I am supposed to come back Friday (this is a long week). Actually, it is a busy one. Tomorrow and Thursday, AG and I are doing our community service at the STD booksale (by this point, I don't mind using the initials) and then Thursday, I'm doing prison time at the STD meeting. Wednesday is my long day at school, and of course I work Friday.

I am technologically living in 1975, so I was thrilled to realize that I can play CDs while writing papers on my laptop. No, I knew I could long ago. I just finally got around to digging through my CDs the other day.

Did I mention I'm staying with Jenni some this week? It should be a lot of fun. Her parents went on a trip, and Brandy is staying with her to keep her company, and then I'm making a cameo there tomorrow and Wednesday for comic relief. If I go over well enough, I may even be asked to do an encore next week. We'll just have to see about that. Today I feel about 80 years old, so I think I'll get a drink (of WATER... before I get any questionable comments) and head to bed early. If I can't sleep, I can always do homework. And to AG, I read your post and I'm remembering you. The key is not to stress out in life... if you can help it. Good night all.

Gosh, I'm Tired

Well we had Dad's birthday dinner with Grandma today. It was nice. That was after church, of course. Then after that I finished my Shakespeare paper (why didn't you write it for me, AG?) No it was okay except it was all about love crap in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is a pretty funny play unless you are ME and really feel for Helena because your Demetrius has run off with Hermia. But enough of my problems. All I can say is, I'm jaded and this whole love thing sounds like a crock of you know what to me.

Now, on to lighter subjects. My uncle came over this evening while I was finishing up my paper/talking on my cell phone/playing CCR. I am the queen of multi-tasking. I also made some granny squares for my afghan and worked on my devotional I got from Tom for Christmas. Well, as you can see, though I've been busy, it's more important to me than to any of you. Oh also I wrote some poetry today. Anyhow, I need to get off here for tonight. Gotta go to school and work tomorrow. Buh bye!

Oh Great, Another Addiction...

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been busy and not much to talk about anyway. Yesterday was my dad's 39th birthday... or something like that. I am starting a new project--a granny-square afghan. We'll see how it goes. Still haven't started the scrapbook yet. Maybe sometime. I should be working on a paper for Shakespeare, actually. Well, not for old Bill, but I mean for a class dedicated to his works.

Back to the title of this post, I have discovered a new game. New to me anyway. Chuzzle or something. Makes me think of Martin Chuzzlewit--probably butchered the spelling there-- by Charles Dickens. It's a little like Bejeweled, so Be-ware Valerie. I wasted a bunch of time playing it this morning.

Anyhow, I think I'll get back to my granny square stuff. I had to call MY granny (the one who goes in for surgery next month) and she helped me, via cell phone, to remember how to make a granny square. So hopefully I'm doing it right. They look okay anyway. And to Amanda, I think I'll go to the next "STD" meeting, but doubt I'll make it to all of them. How 'bout you? For everyone else, does anyone know if there is rehab for online gamers?

Graduate Program? Work? Be a Bum? Oh the Choices...

Okay guys, I guess Grandma has to have surgery for her gall bladder after all. I thought she was okay, but I don't think it's anything major. I mean surgery is an important thing, but it's a good thing she went to the doctor so they could catch it. I had to email the head of grad studies at school today to say I don't think I'm going into the English program but might do creative writing, which involves applying to another school, and either way, I think I'm going to take some time off from school to work before going back. I'm just about burned out on school already--definitely going to need a break. I hated to break the news to the guy, because I think he was really wanting me to join the program, but like my mom says, I should go into something I want to do and something I enjoy.

But enough of that. I spent a significant portion of the evening shelling out pecans again. I am thankful that we have so many though. Very good crop this year. We went to see Brandy's grandparents for an hour or so. Gave them some pecans too. I feel like I've been eating, breathing, and utterly LIVING pecans for the past few days. Tomorrow is a long day, and I'm getting worn out just thinking about it. Then Thursday I have a wonderful Sigma Tau Delta meeting, and Friday I will probably have to work. Well, I can't think of anything else to say because my brain is melting! melting! and I need to get to bed soon. Later.

Happy MLK Day, Everyone!

Well, today ended up being a rather good day, especially considering it started out with me waking up at 7:00 to find that Mom had to take Grandma to the doctor, and then me stepping in crap. Well, apparently Grandma is okay, but the dr. wrote her a prescription because she was in a lot of pain last night and couldn't sleep. Glad she's okay as of today's checkup. She goes back tomorrow for a gall bladder test. Hopefully that will come back okay too. I'll clean my shoes later.

So I've spent most of the day cracking pecans. Yes, I know this is a job for old people who are retired and have nothing better to do. But look at it this way--I'm a young person who is partially unemployed and has nothing better to do. So there. I also baked some hamburger buns that turned out much better than expected, and I knitted some more on the scarf. Next I'm going to start crocheting an afghan. Hopefully I have the patience for such a project. It was a nice day, so I went outside to do pecans. Made me feel old-fashioned, but that's okay.

I guess I have to go back to school tomorrow. I'm trying not only to concentrate on school this semester, but also to do things I enjoy as well. Most of the time I spend the majority of a year involved in school school school and it's a wonder I'm not burned out yet. I may be poor since I'm not working much, but I'm definitely enjoying my freedom.

Smile! This One Isn't As Funny...

I got two devotionals from a Christian bookstore yesterday, partially with a gift certificate I got from Tom for Christmas (thank you Tom) and it is one of those once a day things. So it's going to take me a while to catch up. I read Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 last night, and Jan. 2 spoke to me, so I thought I'd share with you all. The context is the story of Jehu (I'd never heard of him until last night) and Baal worship. Baal being an idol--for those who didn't know. "Thousands of people in Isreal worshipped Baal, and Jehu wanted then to worship the one true God--Jehovah. So he decided to force them." That's just a short exerpt from the longer reading. It goes on to mention bloodshed and all sorts of mayhem and how Jehu eliminated Baal worship all right, but he did it the wrong way.

Made me stop and think. How many times do we do stuff like this? Not with bloodshed but with other things. We try to force our ideas onto others all the time. And usually in the name of some higher good. Really, we're doing it for ourselves. It's something that we all do. Some of us are like Jehu and do it for religion, some do it for the environment, some for education. The list goes on. I know I do it all the time anyway. Just made me stop and think.

Okay. The deep stuff is over folks. Sorry that this wasn't quite as entertaining as usual, but I think it is an important thing to keep in mind, regardless of whether or not you are religious or read the Bible. Trust me, I'm no scholar. But it is a valid analogy to everyone regardless of what the weakness is. Keeps us all on our toes. One last thought: check out Jehu's story in 2 Kings 9 (King James Version) to see the word "piss" in the Bible. That's my rationale for using the word. Hope you find it as entertaining as I did. Later ya'll...

I Just Have One Word For You All...

Happy Saturday to all. And to all a good night. No seriously, today has been a fairly good day--minus my temper flare-ups thanks to "Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close." To send or not to send (error report), that is the question. And my answer is NO. Why send an error report? Surely this problem has happened to other people besides just me. I mean really, there are roughly 6 billion people in the world and the population is growing substantially as I speak (or rather, type). Many of these people--though certainly not all--are slaves to MS Word. Right? So, the odds of this "problem" that has been "encountered" only happening to me, of all these users? Not likely. If this has happened to others, surely at least one person has sent an error report, and it appears that nothing has happened thus far. And what would happen if I did send a report? Would they send me a fresh new copy of Word for free? Doubtful. So anyway, I save my work, say a prayer, and hope the program doesn't commit suicide.

That being said, I'm caught up on my homework, in a way. Most syllabi map out the semester's schedule fairly well, so I can keep ahead in many classes. This is a plus (and hopefully an A+ if things go as planned) because there is a slight possibility that I might start working more regularly again this spring. I'm going to need to--I got a paycheck yesterday and a credit card bill today. And the amount of the bill was about double the check amount. Granted, the card's balance was from a 30 day +/- period, but the paycheck is on a 15-day period. Think about that a moment. Living a little beyond means perhaps?

Mom, Grandma, Vickie, Brandy, and I went shopping today. We had to use up the gift certs we got for Christmas. I used up most of mine. I don't know why, but I was craving a milkshake today, so Mom and I shared this double chocolate peanut butter thing at Steak and Shake. Pretty good. So good in fact, that I'm considering purchasing stock in the company (SNS I believe are the initials) because if I buy a shake every time I crave it, profits will go up 15%. The way I see it, I'll be breaking even and getting a milkshake for my returns.

TGIF!!!

Alright peoples, it is Friday! WOO HOO! Sunshine is as psyched as she gets. Not only is it a weekend, my friends, but a 3 day weekend to boot. My senior seminar class was canceled today and on Wednesday the prof said he'd see us Friday if he was still alive... hopefully he's still alive. I like him. Then in poetry, my prof (not naming any names) started making fun of my hometown, asking if there were phone lines and running water there. Ha ha ha. I got the last laugh--I told him there were phone lines and running water in town, but not in the country. Travis said in the country we write our messages, tape them to a cow and give it a smack, hoping the message reaches the right person. But enough of that...

So I went to work afterwards for an hour and 15 minutes (felt like a Tuesday/Thursday class at school) and got to come home and cook. I made potatoes on the stove and they were moderately nasty. Not much flavor for some reason. But I was hungry, so it worked. Not much to say tonight. I need to write three pages of autobiographical memories for my fiction class (this writing exercise is nonfiction material) and read some Hemingway (the book is actually better than I anticipated) and do internet research on Langston Hughes. All this so I can enjoy the long weekend guilt-free. Until next time, toodles!

About to Fall Asleep at the Keyboard...

Man, my Shakespeare class just about wore me out last night. I'm not used to staying up much past 9 or 10 these days because I'm getting quite old. However, since I rode to school with Brandy, I had to wait until her class got out. LOL--it got out before mine did. And mine was only supposed to go to 8:30, whereas hers was to go to 9:30. Anyway, I read The Comedy of Errors, which was just that--a comedy of errors. And it was pretty funny too. Glad to be done with a week's worth of homework. Now I'm working on Edna St. Vincent Millay poetry for my modern American lit class. I just took a break from it to update here. Also, I need to print out several poems for my poetry class tomorrow. I keep thinking today is Friday for some reason. Hopefully I don't forget to go to work tomorrow. By the way, to Amanda, I saw lots of signs that said STDelta/English Club booksale... do you think we'll get drafted again??? Not much else I can think of to talk about today, so until next time, keep on truckin'!

Okay Folks, I Somewhat Understand "Tagging" Now, So Here Goes...

Four jobs you've had in your life: Amoco Food Shop (pizza kitchen), bank (one of the people that made sure you got all your checks with a checking account statement before the bank went to check imaging), CK (Candy Kitchen, not Calvin Klein), CIA... well, Cutts Insurance Agency, that is :)
Four movies you could watch over and over: The Wizard of Oz (I have seen this many times), Alice in Wonderland (same with this one), The Bourne Identity, and The Bourne Supremacy. Original, eh?
Four places you've lived: small-town USA and that is all. Although it's rumored I was born in M. Does that count?
Four TV shows you love to watch: I don't watch much TV anymore, but I USED to watch the following (when I had time)The Family Guy... all-time fav, American Dad, The Simpsons, and CSI I think. Can't you tell they're all related?
Four places you've been on vacation: Branson MO, Panama City Beach FL (Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Harris), South Dakota (so my dad and his bro could hunt prairie dogs), and this last one is as cheap as the one directly preceding it, but we never took vacations much... James Dean museum in Indiana.
Four websites you visit daily: hotmail.com, Amanda's blog, Derrick's blog, and www.blondechampagne.blogspot.com... this one is somebody my dad found from a review she published online for MSN... she's hilarious. I recommend anyone to read her.
Four of your favorite foods: PIZZA! YAY! The awesome new bean, cheese, and rice burrito from Taco Bell (they really should be paying me for all my endorsements and free advertising), the infamous one foot in the grave potatoes, and soy hot dogs cooked in JD BBQ sauce.
Four places you'd rather be: Somewhere in the south (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, somewhere in Faulkner's neck of the woods), somewhere in the plains (Iowa or Nebraska for the serenity and grains), New Orleans (post-reconstructionist), and for the European aspect of it, Italy. Anywhere in Italy.
Four albums you can't live without: Now you can't honestly expect me to pick just 4? Okay, how about Abbey Road (Beatles), Led Zeppelin Early Days Vol. 1, The Grateful Dead CD I own but I never really knew the title of it that has a skeleton wearing a crown of roses or something whacked out like that, and Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronical Vol. 1.
Four magazines you read: Writer's Digest, I used to read MAD and The Official Xbox magazine before I became too poor to subscribe, despite MAD's insistence that their price was Cheap!, and I'm gonna have to cheat on the last one... but I have read 1 New Yorker. There are a few nice poems and short stories nestled snugly between vodka ads and shoe models in the New Yorker...
Four cars you've owned: only owned 2... the good old '66 Stang, and Amanda's twin, the tealish Mercury Mistake, er, Mystique
Four people I'm tagging: Derrick, Val, Shawna, and Megan (if any of them are even reading this--lol)

Anyone Want to Purchase a Book of Sunshine's Original Poetry?

Yay! I'm the first person on Amanda's list of tagged individuals. Whatever that means. I'll find out soon enough though. Anyway, this is my first looooooong Wednesday (again). Did the same thing last semester. Brandy and I ride to school together to conserve gas (and it's easier to find one parking place than two, although my car's twin occasionally helps me out there :)) and between both of our schedules today, we're here from 8:30 AM to 9:30 PM. And my first class was only 5 minutes long because my prof was sick. I hope he gets better soon--he's a cool guy. So I read my goofy poem in poetry class today (profound statement?). Didn't get booed or hissed and luckily no rotten veggies were thrown either. I got a few suggestions, which I will probably not heed, because I'm a little jerky when it comes to criticism of my own work. The poem was something about land ownership in rural areas. Some people liked it though. I need to write 30 pages of poetry and make a book for that class. I think it will be fun though, especially the bookmaking part.

Brandy and I went to Taco Bell today--awesome. Then when we got back, there were no parking places. And when one WOULD open up? Somebody else got it. Brandy was mad. Well, I dealt with this last semester some, so I guess we're even now. I have most of my homework done now, but I am getting a head start on a Hemingway novel. Feel like I've already read it for some reason... life in a foreign city... various types of alcoholic beverages flowing freely... women. Oh wait, that's every Hemingway novel! What was I thinking??? And this one is supposed to be an autobiography. Hmmm...

Surprised I haven't gotten kicked out of Booth library yet. Brandy and I combined have the maturity level of an 8-year-old. Combined. And for some reason, it is really fun to act stupid in the quietest rooms of the library. Don't ask me why. Just try it for yourself sometime. But make sure you don't get in trouble--that takes the fun out of it. Like the time I got in trouble at Lake Land for eating in the East building... not a cool day in history.

Well, I guess I better get back to Hemingway now. I know the basic background of the plot, but I don't know how it will end, as I have never been able to finish a Hemingway book yet. Adios.

I Love Parking at EIU

Well, not a whole lot today after all. Thanks to Amanda for leaving at just the right time for me to get a good parking place--awesome. I got to class early too. I think I'm going to like my classes this semester. By the way, I almost got hit rushing toward Amanda's rapidly vacating spot this morning, but I didn't, so it's all good. I really can't think of a whole lot else to say, and I'm hungry, and I need to start reading Hemingway. Sorry for the short post today, folks.

1/9/2006

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, to all you who set your clocks by my postings (which might not be a good idea anyway because I usually post at various times, whenever is most convenient for me). Today, a little after 12:00 is most convenient because I'm on a break and I think all I have to do is email a poem to my poetry classmates. I'm not really digging the idea of attaching files to emails today, so instead I'll send you a synopsis of yesterday's events:

First day of classes = awesome. I like both classes I had and they're both laid-back, so that takes away a lot of stress. Came home and gathered a load of sheets, went to Granny's and washed them. Visited with her while the laundry was washing. Came home and dried said laundry and began cooking large dinner. Well, I thought it was large anyway. It consisted of the infamous au gratin potatoes, biscuits, peas, soy veggie chicken (for those who were unaware, I'm a vegetarian) and cranberry sauce. Yums!

Drama began when Sunshine realized the necessity of Father installing a Pet Net in the southeast corner of Sunshine's room. Sunshine has done a great job of cleaning her room and wanted a place to store her stuffed animals. Father came armed with drill, various sized drill bits, and short temper. After much measuring, we determined where to drill holes and father drilled, then inserted plastic stabilizers in which to place hook screws (used to hold up Pet Net) since Sunshine's room is made of drywall. Father successfully mounted 2 hooks into wall and successfully broke third hook. Sunshine understands Father's frustration, as she also has a short fuse, and decided to leave the room. A few moments later, Father emerged, satisfied, with Pet Net hanging from southeast corner of room. Good job, Daddy!

Sunshine became horribly fatigued and passed out without attempting to do any homework or post updates on blog. Sunshine will try to keep blog updated, but makes no promises as she will be slightly busier now that school has started. I'm tired of talking in 3rd person. I gotta get to my homework now. Might update for today if there's anything worth talking about. Later...

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Well friends and foes, it has been a lovely day. Wouldn't know it was January if you didn't look at the calendar. Or if you're me, you still wouldn't know. After church today we went shopping and Mom bought me a rolling cart to put my TV, etc. on. We spent a good part of the afternoon putting it together. I felt like one of the Monroe brothers from Green Acres, which, incidentally, is one of the best shows television has ever given us. With my mother's help, I got it together remarkably well. Personally, I think she should change her career to carpenter.

Also in the funny pages... my anti-New Year's Resolutions scheme is proving to be a success. My room is the cleanest it has ever been since I was in 4th grade, I have been eating better, and I've done a good job at keeping my temper. So once again, my twin Amanda and I have separately devised ingenious plans. I hope A.G.'s anti-resolution endeavors are going as well as mine seem to be. For anyone who DID make resolutions, I encourage you to try our new method next time.

The Annual Room Cleaning Event

Not much to talk about today, as I've spent most of the day cleaning my room. Why, you may ask? Well, because I start school on Monday and it's become a tradition that I ignore the filthiness of my room during any break until the Saturday before I start back to school. Not that having a clean room will help me in school. And who says it is actually getting clean? It's just less messy.

It is insane, the things one can find while cleaning one's room. I found 4 clothes pins for one thing. Who keeps clothes pins in their room? Guilty as charged. Anyway I talked to Brandy until my cell phone died. Figured I may as well take advantage of the free weekend minutes. I didn't really have anything to say to her, but ya know. I did cook those potatoes again, though they weren't as dangerous as before. I cut back on the cheese to make them less fattening.

Most of the other stuff I found is either too embarrassing to talk about or stuff I have had since I was a small child. Which is also embarrassing when you consider I'm a senior in college and still keeping some of it.

Well, sorry this wasn't a very eventful post. But at least I'm by no means catatonic today...

Shout-Out to Amanda for Teaching Me the Word "Catatonic"--I can't think of a title either

Can't believe it's almost time for school to start again. I mean, it seems like I had a long break, but I'm just not ready to go back yet. I got a little too used to going to bed at various times and sleeping in most days. I finally got around to looking at my schedule today. I'm getting such a case of senioritis that I don't think these things through 5 weeks in advance and stress over memorizing my schedule anymore. Although, I once had a reason for this obsession...

When I was in 6th grade, just starting junior high, I brilliantly left my schedule at home or lost it or something. Wasn't used to the setup of the junior high (though it was the exact same floorplan as the other wings of the grade school). Anyway, second hour, I was to have reading with Mrs. Shepherd, which I remembered as being at the end of the hall. Yes, I went to the end of the OTHER hall, and a slightly disgruntled Mrs. Plummer asked me who I was and why I was late for class. I learned that I had her 5th hour. She seemed pretty angry with my ignorance.

Enough of that story. In a nutshell, I'm going back to the same mindset I had in my arrogant junior high days. So hopefully on Monday I will remember my schedule, because I don't want any English professors thinking I am completely inept. Despite my senioritis, I really do take college pretty seriously.

I worked a couple hours today and had lunch with my party-hardy granny. She's still talking about what a good time she had on New Year's Eve. I can't much account for the space between 1:30 and 5:00, although I think I was on IM for a while and reading/knitting/etc. Quentin Compson = my man. Unfortunately, he's fictional. And dead. And even had he not committed suicide at 19, he would be dead of old age by now probably... he'd only be 115 years old. But yes, I can't help but fall in love with the kid. Only Sunshine would fall in love with a fictional suicide. One last note, totally unrelated to anything else I've mentioned: I love this outfit I'm wearing today. Nice warm sweater and the jeans make me look thin. Plus, the platforms add approximately 1.5 inches to my height. Gotta love clothes that lie about your figure... I know I do.

The Continuing Saga of TRS...

Well... I went to Textbook Rental today to pick up my books. Miraculously, I found a great place to park (even in a student lot) and walked over to the rental building to find that there was NO LINE. What? Maybe I should pinch myself to make sure I actually woke up this morning, I mean, I was pretty tired last night.

Ouch.

Yeah I'm awake. Anyway, so I go in the building wondering what is up and why everything actually seems to be working well. Show 'em my ID card, get my book list... NOT THREE PAGES LONG like last semester. Whoa... something's not right here. "Station 3!" Yes ma'am.

At Station 3, I find only two other people in line. And I went to high school with them. Weird. And also, they had already been waited on and were just waiting for their books to come, so the lady at Station 3 asked me to step up, etc.

Still pretty shocked that I only had 15 books. For most people this is a lot of books, but (and I'm sure Amanda can vouch for this) for English majors, 15 books is child's play. I had 35 last semester. I waited what seemed like forever to get those 15 books. Oddly enough, one person left for them and two came back with them. The real drama started when the lady checked off each of my books to make sure they weren't damaged. Prior to this semester, Sunshine has always gotten the books that were thrown in the river, run over by a train, and chewed over a couple of times by a dog. And that's before the previous renter decided to mark them all up with ink and highlighter. I was always afraid I'd get charged for it too. But this lady was concerned about me and tried to make sure I got good books, so she called up Head Honcho to check out my American Lit anthology.

"Can you mark this USED?"
"What happened to this?! Oh! What is this? Is that WRITTEN in?! Oh how dreadful! That shouldn't have gotten through."
Sunshine: Am I ever going to leave TRS?
"I tell you what. We'll get a new person to get a better book for her."
This was all well and good except that Brandy had gone through checkout years ago and was waiting outside for me. Then came Shakespeare.
"Look at this one." pointing to Post-It notes on consecutive pages
"Oh my. Let me see what year... yep. That's an '04. I can't believe these people don't check these better."
I'm glad they don't check them better, because if they did, I'd be charged for someone else's vandalism. But thankfully, these women wanted to be sure that I didn't get improperly charged.
"You do realize it's your responsibility to check these all when you get home."

Yeah I went home and checked them all. Dang near took the whole evening, but it would take more than an a whole week's worth of work to pay for one of those suckers.

Meanwhile back at Station 3...

"You're all ready for checkout. Have a great semester."

All was going fine, really, until the checkout lady came to my next to last book. A poetry anthology. The man at checkout (who, keep in mind, was NOT my TRS helper) happened to see it:

sarcastic voice "Poems for the Millenium, eh? How 'bout you go over to Iraq and read some to the soldiers."

Maybe I'm crazy, but what just happened here? I don't know what this guy was thinking, except perhaps that I was a protester. I don't know. But whatever it was, it kinda made me mad. But I didn't tell him where to go...

Then there was the Taco Bell drama. All I have to say about that is, Sunshine is totally unable to back a car into a parking space. And why do they have to be right next to the building?

Later this afternoon I went to visit my friend Sarah. We had a pretty good time. She gave me a couple of late Christmas presents and we discussed her transfer plans and what the crap I'm going to do after I graduate. If I graduate. So all in all, it has been a pretty good day. Looking forward to most of my classes, gonna take a field trip and read some poetry, and just in case I chicken out on the second idea, at least Taco Bell is only a few blocks from campus, and they have a new vegetarian burrito. Peace out.

My Mind Has Turned to Mush Because this Cat Won't Shut Up...

I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm pretty tired today. I had lunch with Mom and Brandy at Subway. Tomorrow I have to get up bright and early and get to school to pick up my books. Ugh. I had 35 books in the fall '05 semester, so who knows how many I'll pick up tomorrow.

I've been reading the same book and working on the same knitting project. I'm reading Quentin Compson's narrative in The Sound and the Fury, also known to Brandy as The Sound and the Furry... I don't plan on ever letting her forget that little slip of speech. However, if it were ME making the mistake, things would be a little different... :)

I made some awesome scalloped/au gratin potatoes for supper tonight. I'm still recuperating. You know you've cooked a successful dish when you feel like you have one foot in the grave after eating it. Hence the expressions "mean" and "killer" foods.

My mom talked to her cousin, who I suppose would be my second cousin or my first cousin once removed or something like that. Round these parts, we just calls em all kinfolk. Anyhow, this kinfolk of mine is interested in writing, as am I. We're going to try to get together sometime and compare notes, swap ideas, and quite possibly commit various degrees of plagiarism with one another's work. It's guaranteed to be fun for the whole family.

Well, I need to get to bed for three reasons:
1) I didn't get a whole heck of a lotta sleep last night and I'm pretty pooped today
2) I need to get up at an unholy hour tomorrow morning so I can collect an equally unholy number of textbooks
3) I need to recover from the potatoes.

A Whole Lotta Not Much...

Well folks, today has been pretty slow. Spent most of the day working on the scarf again and finishing the first chapter of The Sound and the Fury. Yeah yeah--I know I'm boring... you guys don't need to remind me of that. But hey, I'm on break, so I'm trying to take it easy. Anyway, the cat that caught her tail on fire a while back is now, oddly enough, in heat. It's really annoying. I'm tired, so hopefully the cat doesn't keep me up all night. See you all later.

Last Week of Break, Friends and Neighbors...

I stayed home today and played Xbox this morning. Then I started knitting again. I'm proud to announce that the scarf no longer looks like roadkill. It actually kind of looks like a scarf now. In other news, I FINALLY finished Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and have started The Sound and the Fury for the 3rd time. My mom finally admitted that she's freaked out by the starfish I put in the bathroom. This is one of the starfish I got from the dollar store in Panama City. I can't remember if it is the one I bought or the one I got for free because I bought something. Can you believe I got 2 starfish for the price of 1? I wasn't even sure I wanted the first one, but that's okay. The perfect one lives in a curio cabinet now, and I thought it would be nice to display the broken one on our bathroom lavatory. But Mom wanted me to move it because "it would be hard to clean around." Now, if memory serves me correctly, there are several other things that need to be moved in order for her to clean the lavatory. And those things are smaller and harder to move. But I got a basket and moved the crippled starfish from the lavatory to its new home on the toilet. That didn't last long. Now it's on the floor. Speaking of Panama City, I think I'll help clean up my room by getting all the free Panama City junk I picked up together and create a scrapbook. Just what I need... another project. But as with all of my other unfinished projects, I'm really looking forward to it, and probably will enjoy it until I take the notion to start yet another project, and abandon the scrapbooking idea for at least 6 years.

Welcome to 2006

Happy New Year, everyone! Granny and I had a good time last night. I made sure she didn't get drunk. Anybody who knows my grandma knows she can be quite the party animal. Anyway, we baked some cookies (Russian teacakes) and ate a ton more junk food, then we played a game of Sorry! and two games of dominoes. Grandma (accidentally?) cheated at Sorry! and won. She was Sorry! when she woke up this morning and apologized for screwing me over. Just a game, Grandma.

The two of us stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop in NYC. Something just doesn't sound right about that... New York hits puberty at precisely 12:00 A.M. Jan. 1st every year? I'm no biologist, so I have no right to question it.

I was about to pass out at 11:00 (that woman can wear you out playing dominoes) but by midnight I couldn't sleep. So I listened to the Glenn Miller Orchestra's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (quite possibly the best big band song ever) and when I still couldn't sleep, I turned on the radio and heard "Boondocks" twice. Not a bad song. I'm not completely won over to country yet, but 2005 saw a broadening of my musical tastes. But enough about that.

So I didn't have any nightmares last night, but I did this morning. Man, did I ever have a bad sugar hangover again. Whew. The best cure for a sugar hangover, of course, is more sugar... so I helped myself to a couple more of the teacakes and some Honey Nut Chex party mix. I'm jonesing for some more sugar about now.

We went to church and my pastor asked me if Grandma got drunk last night. I guess her reputation has reached the parsonage now. I mean, he only lives two blocks from her. I guess they partied hardy at the church last night and some people stayed until after 2:00. I think my pastor stayed up that late... and he HAD to come to church this morning. Afterwards, I went to my other grandma's house and had lunch. Then I made a beaded Christmas ornament. I almost made it too late--gotta make sure it gets made just in time that I can't use it this season and that it will get lost before next Christmas.

New Year's Resolution #1: Stop making new year's resolutions. They are pointless. I always resolve to clean my room. My room hasn't been clean since 1994. And that was because we painted it. And I don't remember much about it because I was constantly stoned from the paint fumes. But I digress.

Anyway, once again I have started rambling on here. What? I'm not getting paid by the word? I'm not getting paid at ALL? Then why am I still writing? Oh yeah... because I'm a boring person who has nothing better to do than inform others about my boring life. Glad I remembered. Alright--start the new year out right by leaving me a comment and/or babysitting Jasper. I gotta get some sugar now. Later~