exams are upon me again. although luckily for me my exam week is not too hectic. one paper: done! yes! and one more (spanish, blegh) left to do. oh well, one has to do what one requires.

i am soo glad that spring break is finally next week. i'm excited to finally go west of illinois (pathetic, i know). and really, that's all that's going on in my life.

Really, that's pretty much it. Felix is shiny (yet sadly ugly) and makes me happy.

I am quite horrified to realize that the high for the next week is at most 26 degrees. I'm sure that I will become an icicle.

I think the city actually looks like this:



The idea of Lake Michigan actually freezing over is kind of amusing. (On an unrelated note, I keep forgetting that Lake Michigan is not tidal - this concept shouldn't tax my mind as much as it does. But for some reason, this confounds me.)







Anyway, this weekend will be lots of reading for me. Plus some tv probably. I think I'm most looking forward to having a computer that actually plays ALL the discs I might want to watch. An amazing thought really.

And now, out into the cold windy-ness. Ack.

Especially when you're a poor student. But alas, needs must, and a new computer will be bought.




Papers suck!

tomorrow! is very exciting!

And then I can wear proper winter clothing without feeling foolish. How exciting.

Tomorrow: snow! starbucks, nomads, nap! god-awful movies, tv, food.

And then comes monday. But tomorrow will be nice.

I forget how much fun it is to watch something entirely new. I have watched 9 of 12 existing episodes of Brothers & Sisters since yesterday. It's a lot of fun; I highly recommend it!

i'm hoping that there is no snow/ice storm in chicago that closes down the airport. that would really suck quite a bit. so much to do back in chicago btwn reading and job-finding. plus tomorrow is the golden globes which should be fun to watch.

meantime, it's nice to spend time w/ali in the city. i miss being here when i don't visit for long periods of time.

now thinking about moving off campus makes me re-evaluate what it is exactly that i want for the future and where i want to live in life-after-college. maybe nyc is where i do want to be. not sure, obviously, but bears thinking about.

I think it must be true that a proclivity for shopping is part of my genetic code. Or maybe it's one of those nurture-things. Either way, me and my family, we like to shop. And I enjoy having grown-up pants. Pants from banana that I can wear with my supercute brown crocodile pumps. Because I was lacking winter outfits that I can wear with those. I still want the banana pencil suit skirt, but I currently lack a spare $78 for a skirt. Maybe soon. That would be happy.

Plus I got shoes which is good. Shoes with support is good and makes for less painful feet, something I am in favor of.

Really looking forward to studio 60 being back on the 22nd. That should give me incentive to have all my reading done by Monday evening. In the meantime, I have to go pick out outfits for fancy going out to dinner in New Haven. Yay for having old friends and enjoying socializing!

It's nice to be home, even if I was only away for two weeks. But still, good food is a plus. As is having one's own bedroom and dog to play with.

Tomorrow, shoe shopping (because why not), dinner in New Haven avec mon amie, and maybe a bit of reading about chinngis khan (i am totally amused by the way his name has been transliterated).

Also nice to be in Manhattan since I haven't spent any time there since August (which seems incredibly long ago). Had a delicious breakfast at Balthazar, did a bit of window shopping down in Soho and spent time with my sister which is always fun. Should be a good weekend when she comes to visit in a couple weeks (plus all the good food we'll be eating).

Also, Golden Globe watching on Monday should be highly entertaining, even if there will have to be some coverletter writing going on at the same time (boo for the need to be gainfully employed).

And now I am going to bed at a delightfully early hour! Ah, to be home!

After much thought and consideration, Turkic tribes win out over Japanese art and consumption theory this quarter. And so hopefully three classes will keep me decently busy, plus work. I think that should make for a decent transition from being abroad and being excessively lazy abroad.

That plus finding a summer job should keep me fairly occupied, I think!

On another note, I am really looking forward to tv coming back. Especially Grey's (Thursday, which I will miss because of the stupid flight home) and Studio 60 (Jan 22 seems so far!). But now maybe House will be calling my attention... who knows?

I have four day weekends!

And I've arrived at this point after having to get my things from four different locations to another location far across Hyde Park. Definitely not a pleasant process. And now still have stuff to unpack.

I think this weekend will be fairly low key - reading, unpacking, finishing west wing season 7,maybe watching house season 1; things of that ilk.

I am absurdly looking forward to going home next weekend. I know I was just there, but I am still looking forward to it. Personal space being the priority it is for me.

And now I should really get back to that unpacking, right?

...and I feel like the next ten weeks are hanging over my head like a cloud (a rain cloud, to be specific). But at least today we went to Target and now I have many exciting comestibles to keep me from starving in the foreseeable future. AND! I have a new blanket, which, while I don't really need it since it's really hot here, still is making me exceedingly happy right now.

And since I have no work yet to do, I am happy to have season 7 of west wing to watch as well as the first season of House (actually quite excited about that). So those should keep me entertained in between pondering my unfortunate being in school.

I think going home weekend after next will be fun. I'm being pressured into spending the weekend up in VT but I really don't know that I want to have to drive three hours from CT after flying in and out of Laguardia. But we'll see... I might be tempted by the offer of outlet shopping. That is always quite a strong incentive. Other than that, I guess I have nothing in particular that I'm looking forward to. That's a pathetic statement, isn't it? Oh well, I guess that sometimes we all have slumps.

And now time for me to go see about ordering books on line...

it's kind of odd being back in chicago. odd, mostly i guess,
because it feels like i never really left. but anyway, i am
glad to be back, but there are things i'll miss about vienna.
especially: cheese-filled sausage, rice pudding ready made,
red curry beef in a cute take out container, and walking
around. apparently i'm really only going to miss food... hmm,
what does that say? yeah, i think it's pretty clear where my
attention is focused.

i've actually seen some interesting places and i'm really glad
i got to do as much traveling as i did. i certainly don't know
when the next time i'll be in eastern europe is. in fact, i
think i might be done with europe for a while. i think next i
might want to see some other part of the world. although when
i'll have the money to travel next is also up for speculation.

( pictures of random places )

So in keeping with the whole new year thing, I think it might be a good idea to actually make and try to keep some resolutions for 2007. Obviously not all of them will succeed, but hopefully not all will fall miserably by the wayside, either.

And so to begin my list:
1-less procrastination. Hopefully with four day weekends I should be able to have no problem getting all of my work done without too much complaining and in a timely manner. Not sure if it'll happen, but I might as well try, right?
2-eating less junk. Maybe if I make a concerted effort I might (maybe) try to eat more at least quasi-balanced meals. It didn't work so much in Austria with the whole lack of kitchen thing, but maybe now it'll be a bit easier.
3-keep myself busy. I think that between taking four classes and working close to the maximum hours and hopefully doing my school work, I should have less pointless time on my hands. Otherwise I shall have to find things to do with myself and that never comes to any good.
4-update livejournal! As in actually take time to update, if for nothing else than I can have some sort of record of what was going on in my life at various points in time.

so yeah, hopefully some of this will actually happen. in the meantime, tomorrow will be a day full of errands, including but not limited to: harassing the housing office into putting me at the top of the list for a single, book-shopping and hopefully buying some of the books, figuring out how to log into the stupid monstertrak thing, and moving all of my stuff into the shoreland. at least i should be busy tomorrow, right?

and now, because i am pathetic, time for bed at like ten.

i have thoroughly enjoyed the past week and reading vapid novels and going to bed early. work is so far interesting and i'm being kept busy, which is a good thing. based on how quickly this week went by, i predict that the summer will be gone before i know it and i'll be sitting in vienna reading my piles (and piles) of books. in the meantime... i should start kafka's "the castle" which i'm supposed to read for civ. but god, i really don't want to.

sometimes having nothing intelligent in your can be very nice. and this period in my life is definitely one of them. in the meantime, i will continue to plan trips in eastern europe, most of which i won't take, and make packing lists for trips that won't happen for another two weeks. but the planning is the fun part, no?

i've always hated transitions and i'm not looking forward to the one approaching. and so i make a list.

things i'm looking forward to:
-being out of chicago and away from homework
-moving back home. having my own room, kitchen, bathroom, space and car.
-having (hopefully) an interesting and (definitely) paid job - associated, consistent cash flow
-commuting and spending time in the city
-reading on the aforementioned commuting trains
-seeing friends more frequently - associated, long walks on the beach at night
-eating good food, cooking good food

things i'm not looking forward to:
-being potentially under any parental thumb
-being out of chicago and away from my friends and complete independence
-being closer to certain friends
-having to deal with my life shifting away from ct (ack!)

so yes, good things and not so good things.

also, hating studying and paper-writing at the moment... writing (yet another) paper about fascism isn't what i would choose to do with my time. but really, i'm not qualified to do anything else with my life, so... at least after monday i will be basically done with the year. then comes packing up my life and moving it lock/stock/barrel to somewhere else to sit for six months whilst i am gone.

one plus about getting away from chicago this year is getting away from this nastily awkward little situation i've gotten myself into. i suppose it was doomed from the beginning, but i really did manage to fuck it up rather well. but this summer will put a good 1000 (plus!) miles between me and my mistakes - always a lovely feeling. (really, here the lyrics "I'm not sorry I met you/I'm not sorry it's over/I'm not sorry there's nothing to say" couldn't be more appropriate.)

anyway, time to stop procrastinating and go do that reading...

and now for something completely different: random pictures of natalie and laura in canada.










we didn't actually go to the zoo, but since we meant to, i figure i would've taken this picture of the tiger.



(the first of many botched attempts to go to wineries in march... what did we know?)

i really don't know what it is that one does with a livejournal, but here i have one. another distraction is exactly what i need a week before finals, right? of course! well, procrastination is what i do best, so why not. here's to a new hobby, waste of time, etc etc.


completely inappropriate for the weather, but pretty.