"You went to New Hampshire. We both did. You came and got me."

New place. New people. I have been resident of Southern California for exactly seven days, and the greatest conclusion I have reached is this: those tiny scones from Whole Foods that come in round plastic containers are completely delicious. I wish I could eat them forever. They're a little bit like the scones from Starbucks in all their unhealthy, buttery glory--only miniature. I wouldn't buy them on every grocery run, but they're bringing so much joy to my life! You need some joy when you're unemployed. I speak from personal experience.

Other thoughts include: that the weather here is sunshiny and ghastly all the time (exactly what I was expecting, but I am (and I suspect I always will be) paranoid about the development of skin cancer); that the street sweepers that roam the residential streets of this city every Wednesday morning are horrible and unnecessary (especially when there is a parking enforcement vehicle closely following every one); that the television we have in our living room, while it legitimately qualifies as a GIANT TV, actually has poor picture quality when the sun is out; and that the students at this university seem to have entirely too much time to sit around and do absolutely nothing.

In the meantime, I'm searching for jobs like it is my actual job and sporadically rewatching The West Wing when I need a break. Season 2 will forever be my favorite.

I'm still these nervous feet and heart of stone

It seems like I always pick this blog up again when I am procrastinating at the end of the quarter. This time, it's the end of my undergraduate college career! FINALLY! I'm sitting at my living room table, drinking a few cups of coffee and trying to motivate myself to finish revising my (second) thesis when my mind is actually a million miles away already. I'm not really here in Davis! It's all an illusion!

Honors Thesis: COMPLETE.

BOOM, ROASTED.

I'm good to go and I'm going nowhere fast

dear Honors Thesis, I am ON TO YOU. PREPARE TO BE OWNED.


[image via fuckyeahbrendonurie ]

Me (11:33:36 AM): idky i am finding this picture ridic hot right now, but i am
Me (11:33:43 AM): maybe it’s ‘cause i just woke up
S (11:33:49 AM): lolololol
Me (11:34:01 AM): i think it’s the ridonkulous belt buckle
S (11:34:06 AM): lmfao
Me (11:34:07 AM): like, LOL, but also, mmmm

I'm all right in bed, but I'm better with a pen/word processor (lol)

dear world,

bring it on.

And the buffalo roam to a slaughterhouse grave

Okay, I've been hedging around the UC strike issue since I first heard about the walkout at the beginning of September, and now I'm going to come right out and say what I'm thinking. It's an opinion. You can feel free to disagree with any of this.

I'm going to start by saying that don't know who this weaselofjustice person is, but I love everything he/she is saying.

I'm also kind of embarrassed to be a UC student right now, if I'm being completely honest. I'm kind of getting the impression that the rest of the country is currently laughing at all of us for being completely unreasonable and ineffective. I know, it's totally great that the students can strike and protest fee increases and get themselves arrested in the name of the cause, but I think their energy is misguided and that they're focusing on the wrong people. We're the UC closest to the state capitol. The UC regents AREN'T going to repeal the fee increases, and they sure as hell aren't going to agree to the incredibly schizophrenic list of demands being tossed around by student protesters at recent sit-ins and strikes (you can read it here). True, there are grassroots-type organizations already working toward action at the state level, but all of this energy being wasted on Mrak Hall could be put to better use in Sacramento.

I'm not protesting. I'm not GOING to protest. I do wish the regents had thought to come up with a more reasonable way of covering the shortfall, but they didn't. The student protests won't change that. I may be a cynic (along with the rest of our political science department; I find it so hilarious that so few poly sci professors are willing to support the strike), but I like to think of it as knowing when to pick my battles. And this is not my battle.

I just want to graduate and get my degree. The University of California is a good school system, but college hasn't exactly been the "best years of my life." That's not the UC system's fault. However, I do find it very, very difficult to sympathize with student (and faculty) protesters when everything they do is designed to interrupt our education for the sake of making a statement. The quarter system doesn't give a whole lot of makeup time for canceled or postponed classes.

So, no. I don't support the strike. I will write letters to my reps at the state government level and do all I can to make my voice heard, but the fact remains that California is royally fucked. I was working for a union office in summer '08 when the budget crisis was happening, and I saw a lot of the frustration with the state legislature firsthand. The problem is California's financial crisis, and while I agree that the UC regents went too far with the fee increase, I doubt that student protests are actually going to lead to its repeal.

And as my friend SMB just said in a related email: "I don't know if anything will make a difference at this point -- the state has no money and no willingness to raise taxes for any reason. It's been a disaster waiting to happen, and so now it's a disaster in the making. It sucks."

Well, in the waiting room, while waiting for news of you, I hallucinated I could read your mind

The best time to make a blog post is when you do not, in fact, have time to make a blog post.

I've been spending a lot of my time napping lately, which wouldn't be so tragic if I actually had time to nap. At random points throughout the day, I end up stumbling into my room and falling asleep without any warning (but not before blearily setting the alarm on my phone, because who wants to sleep through dinner?), and then I always wake up not knowing what time it is, or what day it is. I've actually woken up a couple times this week convinced that it's Thursday afternoon and that I have missed my POL 152 final. Putting aside the fact that I am clearly very worried about oversleeping and missing my last final (for reasons unknown), my point is that naps, which are most commonly used as some kind of de-stressing technique, should be completely banned from your life if they are only causing you more stress (read: disorientation, racing heartbeat, NIGHTMARES ABOUT MY SISTER THROWING MY COMPUTER OUT A WINDOW...the list is endless).

I think the problems I'm having with naps probably indicate that I'm just having problems with stress in general, but as long as I stay awake I feel fine. Let's not mention the fact that I haven't actually left my apartment to do anything other than make an impromptu Starbucks run since Saturday. Actually, that's a lie -- I drove to the Commons to get a sandwich from Habit burger yesterday. Could poor diet also be contributing to the frequency of my nap terrors? My dad would say yes, but there isn't a lot I can do about it right now. I've been eating a lot of cereal.

As for the people I know who are going through tough times right now, I have one thing to say:


So you've given me all these things and I don't want you to think that I don't appreciate them -- because I do -- but all I really want from you today is a smile. [via pleasefindthis]

Things I do not love: Wind

The weather yesterday was sunny and warm. In fact, it was a little too warm for a jacket or sweatshirt, but I wore one anyway and ended up regretting it when I had to walk across campus to get to class and arrived sweaty and disheveled. In high school, I wore a sweatshirt almost every day, no matter the weather, because I was supremely uncomfortable with my body and didn't want to show it in any way. I've gotten away from that habit, mostly, but every once in a while, when I'm feeling uncomfortable for whatever reason, I default to hoodie mode.

How does this in any way connect to the fact that I do not love wind? This morning, as I was getting dressed, I didn't even think to check weather.com. I left home assuming that the weather would be a lot like it was yesterday -- which turned out to be a major miscalculation on my part. There's a chilly spring wind blowing through town in true Spring Weather fashion. Weather.com tells me the wind is gusting to 37 mph. Would it be weird if I wore a scarf to my next class?