Frustrations

(1) I didn't know how to adjust my phone to the pointless phenomenon that is daylight savings time, and I kind of freaked out just now. Actually, no. I got mad at my phone. The manual tells you nothing. But I fixed it. Somehow.

(2) I need to do some spring cleaning or I am going to freak out big time. My brain is so cluttered that all I want to do is sit in a corner and rock back and forth.

(3) I don't understand Buddhism, but when asked to pinpoint what I don't get, I cannot. I don't know how to write this paper that is due tomorrow - has been assigned for a good long time now - or how to make it sound like I might know a little about what I'm trying to say. I don't think I'll succeed, although I know that's a bad stance to take, setting myself up for failure and all. But you see, I haven't had to write a real paper for a good, long time. I don't know how to write papers. They're so tedious and they don't make sense and trying to read the articles that are supposed to be references is much more tedious than all of that because I can't process all of the words because my brain is on OVERLOAD.

(4) I wish I understood relationships more.

(5) I like Halloween, or at least what it used to stand for. All this candy just gives me headaches and cavities. It is, however, a good excuse to watch RHPS with that girl I live with. The only sad part is that when I tell her that Dr. Frank-N-Furter is Tim Curry, she just smiles and nods and looks clueless.

Incredible

I got my immunizations today for my trip to Turkey and Greece in January - the second shot for Hep B and the first for Hep A, one in each arm. My right arm hurts significantly more than my left arm, although my left arm started hurting after Dustro attacked my left arm in Buddhism. But there's this one spot in the middle of my right forearm that just keeps hurting ... er, reminding me every few minutes that it's there. It's a little bit frustrating, but not terribly so. I turned in my consent/health/emergency form at 3.30 today, and I'm pretty excited. I paid the balance of what I owe for the trip yesterday. I am up-to-date and on time - quite the feat for me.

Oh, and I don't remember if I mentioned my two new yarns: two balls of Lion Brand Incredible in "Autumn Leaves" and Jo-Ann's store brand in the Angel Hair in "Forest Green." I didn't realise that I went with such an earthy theme - I got them at two different stores in two different cities. The Incredible is a ribbon yarn, and since I've been wanting to test ribbon yarns, I spentlet my mom buy it for me. And the Angel Hair was so soft that I couldn't pass it up. It's probably going to become a scarf. Maybe even a present for someone (although I may have to hoard it for myself).

Well, I'm off to dinner yet again, then speding some quality time with friends.

Fortune

In my haste to consume cafeteria food earlier, I forgot to relay something. I had lunch with my parents yesterday at the Chinese restaurant at which my brother has recently started to work. Eating egg drop soup while having a runny nose is a very odd experience, and definitely not one of my fantasies. So we're eating, and we're eating, and then it's time for the fortune cookies. I break mine and read it, after trying to persuade my parents to eat half of their cookie* before they read it so that it will come true. I read mine and started laughing - my fortune was just too perfect, considering the fact that I was eating with people who still aren't too sure about how they feel about homosexuality. It read, "You and your wife will have a happy life together." No lie. So I kept laughing, and of course, my parents asked me what was so funny. [I looked like a "grinnin' fool," to tell you the truth.] I read it, and they didn't really say much. My mom tried to persuade me that I had taken the wrong one, and that it should have gone to my dad, because she wanted a "happy life." [This is not to imply that her life is unhappy or anything - I think she's fairly content.] I just kept laughing.

It's even better when you tag "in bed" to the end.

Also, I wrote the biggest check of my life today so that I will be able to study abroad in January. I'm getting my immunizations tomorrow.


* I'm fairly certain that every time my friends and I go out for Chinese food, someone has a different rule about how to eat the cookie or read the fortune. I think we're crazy.

I am back.

Apologies to the two people who read this blog. I haven't updated in ages - I'm such a bad blogger. Also thanks to those who noticed the new threads [they're just some of the templates that Blogger has stashed away, so I don't know what the big deal is].

I realise that I haven't posted in so long that I neglected to mention that Michael Moore made a stop at Luther on his "Slacker Uprising Tour," and Roseanne Barr also stepped in for a few minutes. It was quite exciting - the least exciting bit was being in the Chips office for ages afterward, until nearly 4.15 that morning, in order to get the story on the front page. [I must interrupt myself for a moment to say that soprano sectionals must be one of the most horrible things to listen to on earth. Especially when notes requiring ledger lines happen to be frequent in the piece. Ah, back to the bit at hand.] It was a long night, but well worth it - the paper looks pretty good.


Now that I'm back from fall break, I come bearing new things - a new wool peacoat and a pair of snazzy orangey-brown pants, a copy of the BBC mini-series of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and the news that my mother will be voting for Bush. As I've told a few of my friends, my mom has always told me that she cancels out my dad's vote. That will not be the case this year, to my frustration. I spent a good deal of time trying to convince her that having a president that can properly pronounce words like "nuclear" would be a good thing, but somehow I don't think I managed to convince her. [This was not my only selling point, but she disagreed with Kerry on some frustrating levels. I can't imagine how she could think Bush did his job well enough to merit a prolonged stay in the White House, but then again, I don't understand my mother most of the time.]

That will have to be enough for now. I have to go eat dinner with my favorite people.

Last night

Remember when Dustro had "really funky dreams" from getting too much sleep? Well, it seems that those wacky wavelengths have been passed my way. [Not from getting too much sleep, mind you, but from battling a crazy-ass colds.]

Last night, I had the oddest dream - I was given quite a few very small (very cute) chubby fish by a certain blogger. We were in this random dorm that has appeared in my dreams lately [a cross between the one I live in now and the one I lived in freshman year], and there was sunlight streaming through windows. I think I might have killed one of the fish at some point, and I was sad. I don't really remember.

It's been a long-ish day.

Note from Prof K

Dear Krimson,*

When I assured you that I could lead the discussion "since I was experienced," I did not realize I'd be attempting to rouse sleeping elephants. I am embarrassed about how inert the class proved to be. I guess I had ill-prepared them to respond either to the reading or to the surprise of your presence.

All such apologies offered, I truly thank you for so generously stepping in to help me, to give two hours of you* life to helping us understand those who discover themselves to be uniquely individual within a culture wishing everyone to be predictably alike. It was definitely my pleasure to meet you, to com to know you the better I did.

Appreciatively,
Prof K


* This letter is typed as written. My name was misspelled, and he used "you" instead of "your." Despite this, I was very happy to have received the note, and will write him a return. I know how morning classes go (or maybe I only sort of know, since I'm usually mostly asleep for them).

Class

Professor: ... So who is Padma Sambhava?
Ring-ring. Professor pauses. Ring-ring.
Professor continues lecturing. Phone continues ringing.
Professor: Padma Sambhava is the founder of Tibetan Buddh- Ring-ring. Could someone answer that?
Girl, tentatively: Main 114?
Girl listens.
Girl: Is there a Robyn in here?
No answer.
Professor: Tell them this is a classroom.
Girl: This is a classroom, you know.
Click.


--

Also, I realised that I didn't relate what happened when I went into Professor K's class. The students were quiet and bleary-eyed, except for two [which I was expecting, since it was 8am]. Those two answered most of the questions that Prof K posed. He spent maybe half an hour on the article I read, mostly utilizing me as a dictionary [and I was right that he didn't really understand FTM].

For the rest of the time, he told three stories and talked about a different article, which I hadn't read. It was less than exciting, and I'm afraid I didn't help terribly much. What can I say? When someone asks me how a lesbian relation might be different from a heterosexual relationship, how do I reply? It's not like I've had experience with either.

Papaya mango

I have been sitting at this computer for about an hour and a half. My goal has been to write at least part of one of the papers I have due next week. Out of my six-page goal, I have written a whopping two paragraphs. These two paragraphs required very little thought - in fact, they were regurgitated from my presentation last Wednesday. I envy people who seem to ooze paper-writing skills through every orfice. I am not patient enough.

And as far as I know, my roommate has been sleeping all afternoon. When I walked into the room after a Wal-Mart run earlier, I expected her to be sitting at her desk, or perhaps gluing something, or [at the very least] sitting on her bed instead of lying on it. But, of course, no such luck. I walked in, and she lifted her head, looked confused, and said, "Hi." I replied, "You're still in bed!" She mentioned that her legs were tired from all the dancing last night [which she didn't do that much of, to tell you the truth], and I decided to be complacent and agree. Then, as I was getting out my new decosphere to de-stinkify the room, she fell asleep again. I know from experience that one will not get more energy or get away from tiredness by sleeping more.

And now I've just read an old entry from Margaret Cho's blog [dated a year ago tomorrow], which is not for the faint of heart, and I am very sad, because it makes me think of home, in a twisted sort of way.


I need to go knit.

Another post

I have been sitting at this computer for about an hour and a half. My goal has been to write at least part of one of the papers I have due next week. Out of my six-page goal, I have written a whopping two paragraphs. These two paragraphs required very little thought - in fact, they were regurgitated from my presentation last Wednesday. I envy people who seem to ooze paper-writing skills through every orfice. I am not patient enough.

And as far as I know, my roommate has been sleeping all afternoon. When I walked into the room after a Wal-Mart run earlier, I expected her to be sitting at her desk, or perhaps gluing something, or [at the very least] sitting on her bed instead of lying on it. But, of course, no such luck. I walked in, and she lifted her head, looked confused, and said, "Hi." I replied, "You're still in bed!" She mentioned that her legs were tired from all the dancing last night [which she didn't do that much of, to tell you the truth], and I decided to be complacent and agree. Then, as I was getting out my new decosphere to de-stinkify the room, she fell asleep again. I know from experience that one will not get more energy or get away from tiredness by sleeping more.

And now I've just read an old entry from Margaret Cho's blog [dated a year ago tomorrow], which is not for the faint of heart, and I am very sad, because it makes me think of home, in a twisted sort of way.


I need to go knit.

Unsung unseen

Friday: Receiving a call from a woman who has twenty-four cats, asking me to feed them a couple of times while she and her husband go to visit her sister. Reading Aristophanes' Frogs in Greek, complete with a sassy corpse. Getting attacked by Japanese beetles and very small gnats outside during a discussion of Chuck Gipp in Food + the Environment, but making good comments about livestock CAFOs. Writing new blog template for my biddy, which she hasn't applied yet. Going out for Chinese with D, J, and A and getting mistaken for two straight couples, to our great amusement. Listening to a rock-my-face-off concert of Rachael Yamagata [who has awe-inspiring string players and a darkness about her] and special guest Tom McRae [whose music was wonderfully depressing, and who also had a cellist and whose CD is currently providing my background music]. Watching CHO Revolution again, and nearly dying [again] when "her PUSSY EXPLODED."

Saturday: Writing a new blog template for myself, loosely based upon Wicked, both the musical and the book. Hearing the rocking-est double-bass recital ever, and eating a lot of yummy recital goodies. Feeding twenty-four cats and wishing I could take a couple with me. Dressing up as Radd Thadd [complete with "erect collars" and facial mole] for the best drag ball we've ever had [with seventy-five people attending at one point]. It was exciting, especially when I shook my groove thang to some OutKast. I must say, it is very exhausting to be a gay man, or at the very least, RT. It's a bit less exhausting being a lesbian.

But only a bit.

Inadequate

DS: "Do you want to take my band methods test tomorrow?"
Me: "Do you want to pretend to be a lesbian for Professor K tomorrow?"
DS: Confusion.

That's right - I get to go to Gender and Culture class tomorrow and help Professor K explain some things, because apparently, he doesn't feel that he's "adequate" enough for the job. I read the article that he had the class read on gender identity. The prof had commented that he didn't know some of the terminology in the article, and I couldn't really tell what "terminology" he meant. Maybe the most foreign phrase to my ears was "feminine-identifyed dyke," which I could figure out on my own without much help. Perhaps he didn't understand FTM, but that was explained later.

I seriously don't know how I get myself into such random situations.

Low places

As I was walking past Brandt about 30 minutes ago on my way to practice for my voice lesson in Jenson, I heard Garth Brooks' manly voice bellowing that he's "got friends in low places." I had to laugh, since the last time I heard the song was at the bar while drunk. And singing along in a very show choir-y fashion. Oh, those first-years*.


* This will be one of the few times I use the PC term. They're freshmen. Get over it.

Family matters

This weekend at the LC was Family Weekend. I had a wonderful time with my mom and youngest brother yesterday. My brother has, since I last saw him, gotten much taller than I. The worst part was when I put on my strap-on swagger shoes ... and made it to eye-level. I really think my brothers ought to stop growing. My mother and I are going to be dwarfed, and I'm a good four inches taller than she! Cripes, man.

Anyway, we spent some time chillin' around Decorah - eating lunch at T-Bock's, buying a whimsical book, fondling Bernat yarn at Wal-Mart [the galaxy kind, in "Saturn," is what I ended up purchasing], and going to Dunning's Spring for some photos and mellow nature time. My family's great sometimes.

"Hodie Christus natus est."