I hope I become that kind of mean teacher that students love...

I survived the first day of class at Columbia College with a splitting headache, courtesy of the sleeping pill I thought would be such a great idea last night. Thanks a lot, modern medicine.



My women's studies class won't be as much of a man bashing class as I'd hoped. Everyone seems really down to earth so I guess that means I'm going to miss out on the experiences I've heard about symbolic bra burning in higher education. Damn.



My English class is going to be as painful as expected. I'm (clearly to all reading my blog) a little rusty when it comes to writing. We wrote a practices essay and while my teacher smiled and said "Your style is good but grammar needs a little work," I took her grimace to mean "Girl, you don't know a period from a hole in your..."



Philosophy was nice. The teacher's introduction included asking students to silently answer questions such as "Do you believe in God/afterlife/evil?" Then telling the class to please leave these personal beliefs at the door when coming into classroom discussions. "We are not here to attack, defend, or promote our personal religions, just to discuss philosophy and different ways of thinking presented by different religious beliefs." I appreciated that. It had the familiar ring of Pressman's intro to biological anthropology... Those days seem so long ago...



Last but not least, history: he promised we won't have to memorize too many dates. From the syllabus and his little "please don't drop out of my class yet" shpeel, the course sounded to me more like a history/historical anthropology class. Praise heaven, because I had just been telling my boyfriend that I wished I'd picked a couple more major-specific (or at least not boring as hell) classes to keep my interests piqued during the first term. Aside from that, the teacher had a decent enough sense of humor and asked an English major what she "planned to do with (her) pre-unemployment degree?" The girl looked pissed, but I got a kick out of it. I mean seriously! You're an English major! You're going to need a sense of humor in order to not snap!



Well, I'm off to go read pages 15-27 of my Using Sources Effectively book.



I know.



You're jealous, try to contain it.

Second-First Day

Classes start tomorrow.

It's been two-ish years since I've been in school.

I'm not nervous...

*twitch*

Logo Sweatshirt: $65. Showing school spirit to the bitter, degree-lacking bitches in my office: Priceless (Add my karma for a tip).

Quick post today because I played hooky from work Friday to get all my books and such straight at school.

I would just like to voice my irritation with *checks shirt's tag* JanSport for aiding my campus book store in marketing semi-high quality collegiate sportswear at outrageous prices to dutifully passionate students, only desiring to show some damn school spirit!

I was ecstatic to spend only $400-ish on books for this term, rather than the standard $600, for which I will only receive $25-30 when sell back time rolls around. Scoring all my books used meant I was going to have some extra cash to blow on whatever impulse buys I could find between Language Arts 101's shelf and the check-out counter.

I ended up deciding on one black hoodie for my mom and a white one for my sister. Picking up the sweatshirts for Mom and Squeak, I thought how cute they'd look on me and thus, had to get two more. I didn't look at the price tag because I'd already married myself to the idea of how wonderful it would feel to attend school soccer games sporting my bright Columbia College spirit across my chest and knowing my little sister was doing the same 3k miles across the country.

Once I rang up I let it sink in that I had spend more than half of the price of my books on sweatshirts... That would have only cost me half of that at Target...

Whatever.

My hoodies are super cute. Even the one I've already managed to smudge with chocolate...

I'm feeling all grown up this morning... Hopefully I can shake it off by lunch.

Big step for yours truly this morning: I paid off my car. Completely. Farewell to forking over HALF of each paycheck every month and embracing being broke. Now that class is starting, I have a whole new reason to be broke! It's really not that bad, I'm rather looking forward to it. Having no money during college years is sort of a rite of passage like a first concert, first kiss, or first car crash.

Which brings me to!

When I re-found my blog I couldn't help laughing at the optimistic little ramble I wrote about buying the convertible vs a sensible car. To fill in the last few months blank; shortly after writing said blog, I was in a mean car accident that left me emotionally scared, on pain killers, and without my cute little cream-colored Corolla. Long story short, I had my first collision, first totaled car, first fight with an insurance company, and first car buying experience in the same two weeks. I'll skip the gruesome details of running for my life past brand new Civics, Mustangs, and Chargers, from soul consuming sharks in salesmen suites...

Eventually I decided on a private buyer; This really nice guy who's spoiled ass daughter didn't want the two year old, fully loaded, sage green, four-door, hatch-back Ford Focus he'd bought her. I can't hate the snotty little brat too much because the man ended up selling me the car at a murderously generous price. I almost felt bad... Almost.

With the money that the insurance company (finally) gave me I only had to borrow a small amount, but resolved that I WOULD have that money paid back before school started in order to avoid car payments during college. So, like I said, half of EVERY paycheck and six-ish months later, I've got my sensible car.

I love my Focus. I can't beat the gas mileage, it's cute as hell, and I love the four doors and hatch back that mean I'm never leaning too far over or around anything to get the four to five pairs of shoes I always have with me... For emergency occasions of course.

Five reasons to smile even though my co-workers are bitches

Here is my random list of things that make me happier than they should:

~New office supplies.
New pens that still have the ink showing in the quill, notebooks that have never been written in, and more specifically the new glowing pink jar of SortKwik sitting in front of me promising to save me from having to lick my fingers every time someone brings me their nasty, dirty motions to clock, and at least a million paper cuts.

~Watching my boyfriend scarf up anything that I cook.
Whether its rice crispy treats, muffins, cookies, a Jack and Coke (okay, so you don't cook a Jack and Coke, but he says I make them perfectly, so they're goin' on my list), or Campbell's everything-but-the-chicken-in-the-box Herb Chicken. Big damn deal that everything I am capable of preparing is practically pre-prepared anyway! Watching the boy wolf it down like he hasn't eaten in weeks, wiping his mouth, grinning, giving me a kiss, and saying "that was amazing, thank you Beautiful" makes me feel like a five-star sioux chef, instead of the domestically challenged disaster that I am.

~Good hair days
Enough said.

~School starting next week.
Honestly I had thought my classes didn't start until the first week of September, so naturally when I found out that my first class is next week, I almost suffered a massive heart attack. After the initial shock and making five to six frantic phone calls to my boss, doctor's office, and campus book store, I am again calm. I cannot wait to dive head first into learning historically significant dates that I will promptly forget after the first test; why women don't need men and shall someday rule the world, using out counterparts only for reproductive purposes; and last but not least, a refresher course about why I never need to be refreshed on the definition of an isosceles (is that how you spell isosceles?) triangle.

~Bad grammar.
No matter how much I improve and tune my writing skills, I will always endear the fact that I have no concrete understanding of where commas and semi-colons belong.

I LOVELOVELOVE being a nerd!!!

I just got down browsing other people's blogs (btw does anyone know how to make a subscription list on here?) and found this girl with bright pink hair, blogging about gaming.

Can I please just say that I love ladies who are openly into nerdy shit like video games, comics, Star Wars, manga, whatever your poison is. I LOVE IT. I always felt so out of place growing up because I didn't play with Barbie, but I could whip your (AND your older brother's) ass at any game you gave me the controls to. My best friend got me into comics (X-Men, I still love Gambit most) and my parents got me into Star Wars (These aren't the droids you're looking for).

Lemme tell ya, it's hard being the captain of the cheer leading squad when all you want to do is going home and ding lv 35 on that damned white mage...

It's becoming more and more socially acceptable for "hot" girls to be nerds as well, and it's about damn time! I've never thought hair twirling was cute, but guys, tell me this; how hard would your jaw hit the floor if you ever bumped into a babe that knew who Frank Castle was?

(I can see you smiling) Exactly! Geeky girls are hot.

Nerd is the new pink.



And yes, this is what my toiling over conviction letters for 8hrs a day reaps.

Waking up from a long night and I'm not straightening my hair.

I'm usually first in line to discuss my dreams with anyone who will listen but last night was one of those crazy, long strings of dreams/nightmares that I can remember if I try hard but it's exhausting to bother so I won't.
So, I woke up late and rolled out of bed looking like an electrocuted lion... And loved it!
I didn't bother to singe my hair stick-straight with a torture implement hot enough to compete with the sun. Lately I've been letting my wild hair do it's own thing. I hate/love that the less work I put into my hair, the more glamorous it looks.
Fast forward to me sitting at my desk finishing my honey-lemon green tea, because everything before that is a blur. A co-worker from another office is standing in front of me opening up about what I suddenly realize is a pretty intimate part of his life. He is telling me, very earnestly, that he is completely unhappy with his life. Start to finish: his job, his friends, where he lives, everything.
I try not to be taken aback by his random opening up session, to be honest I'm used to it. For some reason people feel they can talk to me. I have no clue why since I'm the most anti-social person I know...
Without being too cliched, I tell him that if he's bored with his job, find a new one; if he hates Columbia, move; if he can't stand his friends, ditch them. Life is what you make of it. Everything is what you truly want it to be. Even if a situation is horrible, I believe that how it effects a person is based on how that person perceives it.
While I'm attempting to give something that sounds like sage advice, I'm thinking that I cannot wait for school to start up again in Fall.
I love feeling like I'm chasing my dream even if I'm only sitting in a classroom...
"There is no spoon."

Just hang tight...

I promise I'll get around to an update about what has happened with me (and my car) over the past year but for now, I need to vent.

Does anyone ever feel the need to say something nakedly bitchy?
I'm having a totally crappy day and I'm not in the mood to be all female-fake.
I can't say I feel bad about my attitude today because I believe that everyone needs to let loose once in a while.
Just be mean and get it out of your system right?
That said. I feel the need to restore my karma for the day and since I'm unwilling to apologize to anyone's face...

This is my formal apology for telling you that I'm glad you won't be at work tomorrow.

I didn't mean to sound quite that cold when I said your new haircut made your head look uglier.

Thanks for caring, but I still don't want your opinion on my choice of majors. Cram it.

...
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I know that wasn't perfect but I feel much, much better!
Thank you for listening!