Dear Man Eating A Taquito,
What are you doing? Why are you eating a taquito like that? Stop letting the taquito linger on your tounge. It's not a penis. You do not suck on taquitos, you take bites out of them. Just take a bite already!

That was quite a bite. Why did you close your eyes when you took that bite? Why did you take that bite in slow motion? Oh great, now the taquito is just hanging there on your lips. This is distracting! This is obscene! You are no longer allowed to eat taquitos in public.

Truly Disturbed,
Ariane

ETA: It sort of feels like a problem that I leave tomorrow.

So I was eating some popcorn and I could hear my jaw squeaking. It didn't squeak earlier when I was eating breakfast. It not only sounds freaky, but I can feel it being all freaky too. I've stopped eating the popcorn, thinking perhaps this was the problem, and I'm opening and closing my mouth and still hearing/feeling the squeak. Bleh.

I leave on Sunday. This is bad. I really am no good at breaks. Things run sort of like this:

Week 1 - Get home, very happy to be home, hang out with friends nonstop, do Austin things, relax.
Week 2 - Still pretty happy to be home, hang out with friends but not as much, know I need to be more productive and do things like study Chinese (which I totally didn't do). End up sitting around a lot more reading or fiddling around on the computer, not always doing things.
Week 3 - In the beginning I am excited that this is my last week because I am really starting to miss college. Then I start realizing I am running out of time here. I still want to see friends and do Austin things, but there are things I need to do like laundry and packing and preparing for Gene Cloning. Also, I realize that I should have celebrated the moments when I was bored, because that hardly ever happens at college.

Tomorrow is my last day and I am spending it first at Lauren's house where I will wake up (I am spending the night), second at breakfast with Hannah (though between Lauren's house and breakfast I may come home for a little while to shower or something), third grocery shopping with Bubbie, fourth packing, fifth dinner with the family, sixth wide open, and seventh sleeping. Then I get on a plane, get off a plane, get on a plane, get off a plane, get in a van, get out of a van, drop my luggage off in my room and head over to the lab to set up for Monday when class begins. AH!

Dear time,
Where have you gone? It worries me that you are so fleeting.
Anxiously yours,
Ariane

ETA: Why is the anxious emoticon smiling? Anxiety is not a lovely feeling.

Dear Name,
Stop sounding like other words such as the first two syllables of "area". I remember in math class whenever Mrs. Shelley said those first two syllables my heart would beat a little bit faster as I thought she was about to call on me. It was scary. Me being called on in math is not good. You know what though? I've decided this is not my names fault. I blame the words that have at least two syllables similar to my name. Also words that are spelled with the same first three letters such as "arid" and "aria" and "Aristotle". Yeah! That's right! Back off Aristotle.
Sincerely,
Air-eeee-(uh)-anne

So when I am unsure of something I often write a scenario explaining it in my head. Usually the scenario turns out to be totally insane and oddly inspired by soap operas (which I do not watch). For example (note: this is completely fabricated in all ways), Susie (I don't know a Susie just to reiterate my completely-fabricated point) lets me borrow a book and in that book I find just the opening to a letter which says "Dear Tom". Now I become very curious about who this Tom character is and immediately my mind thinks of Susie in high school, shy, with nice eyes, and not many friends, but then there is Tom. Tom takes part in some of the after school activities she takes part in, such as theater. Tom sort of reaches out to Susie and she is very happy. He is friendly to her, and no one has ever treated her with so much regard. She sort of talks to him, more than she talks to anyone else at her high school anyway, and then she realizes she loves Tom. Really loves him. One day Tom invites her to a party. She isn't much of a party person, but it's what regular high school students do and Tom invited her so she decides to go. She goes and drinks a beer. She doesn't like the taste, but the more she sips the more fun the party seems. She decides to sit down on a couch in the less crowded room at the party. She sits and then Tom comes and flops down beside her. He looks good. His hair is slightly mussed and his shirt has two buttons undone: the top one no one buttons up and the next one which would normally be buttoned and to Susie it seems a little bit wild that it isn't.

"How are you doing?" Tom asks.
"Pretty well," Susie says taking another sip of her beer.

Suddenly the mouth of the beer bottle has been replaced with the mouth of Tom. They kiss. Her first kiss. It feels amazing. Then he pulls away.

The next day at play practice things are the same as the always were, but Susie is even more in love with Tom. She decides to tell him after practice when they are walking together to the parking lot. He does not return her affection, but lets her down nicely. After the incident Tom and her are still friendly. He acts like nothing happened, but she hurts deep inside. She will always remember Tom. The first guy who cared about her. The first guy she kissed. The first guy she loved. Then again, like many high school memories, maybe one day he too will fade from her mind.

When I return the book I ask Susie who Tom is, and she says "My brother. You know that."

TA-DAH! And that's what I do. It could have been a lot more dramatic and sappy I suppose, but you get the gist. In the words of a wise woman I know I am totes cray cray.

Also, help! How do I stop doing this because it is totally rotting my brain, and making me Miss Irrational.

Okay, so now I've officially had the weirdest dream ever. I dreamt that Josh all of the sudden decided to get married to this girl who wasn't his girlfriend (note: he had been going out with his girlfriend up until the moment he suddenly decided to marry this other girl) because he had a dream in which King Tutankhamun told him that if a girl ever said the words "replacement leather pants" in front of him he must marry her. So some girl did say that phrase, and he decided to marry her. I told him that was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard and was all, "What about your girlfriend? You love your girlfriend!" And he was all like "No, I've gotta listen to Tutankhamun." Then he got married in the double on the long side of B3, and then I was in a musical about Batman. Also there were these almond flavored snacks, but for some reason the bag said they were "tamon" flavored. Oh and the locks on the dorm doors were all new and weird. You had to insert something that looked like a dime into this slot and then turn the thing and then it would open. It was stupid because the "dime" key was so small and easy to lose and basically looked like a dime except for some minuscule difference. Also, Isa, Katie, and Joanna all went to Hampshire.

WHAT?!

Dear game of phone tag I am currently playing,
You can just stop right now. I don't enjoy this adult twist on a great kids game. It is not fun. It is awkward. I've come to the point in this game where I can't even leave messages, and I refuse, REFUSE, to leave a message in which I say, "Oh, guess we're playing phone tag." I didn't volunteer to play. I don't want to be "it". Why don't you plague someone else for awhile? Or at least not make me "it".
Regrettably yours,
Ariane

I have been having the weirdest dreams lately. Most of them I can't remember very fluidly, but here are a few:

Dream #1: I was hanging out with friends in some neighborhood and this guy wanted to kill me, so when I saw him coming, brandishing a knife, I ran home. Later my friends and I were driving around and he was in the car (why, I don't know). I was worried he was going to kill me, but then my friends started convincing him that I was really popular and he didn't want to kill a popular person so he began asking about people who were unpopular that he could kill.

Dream #2: I was hanging out with some people in Amherst (mind you it didn't look like Amherst) and we missed the last bus to Hampshire, despite the fact that it was only 7:30. We decided to look at the bus map to see if there was another bus we could take that would get us at least close to Hampshire, but there wasn't. We then found a shortcut on the map which involved walking through a cornfield. We decided to try that, and suddenly I wasn't with my friends anymore but Kermit the Frog and we were running away from the other Muppets for reasons unknown. I remember running to my house and dropping building blocks in a path from the den to the front door so they would think we left that way and then running up to my room to hide.

Dream #3: I was hanging out in Lisa G.'s dorm room (she went to Hampshire) which was on a hallway that looked exactly like the hallway on the side of the the stairs at LBJ (where the bathrooms are, and a bunch of lockers, and no classrooms really except maybe one). Not only did it look like that hallway, but every now and then a bell would ring and it would become full of people changing classes. I went to use the bathroom at some point and it was so fancy, shiny tile, decorations like masks and porcelain pots, nice smelling soaps. I returned to Lisa's room and realized I needed to work on my final essays because they all needed editing so I left. Later I was sitting in Brown's class (Shakespeare and Woolf), which was in an LBJ classroom, worrying about papers, so I decided to leave because we weren't doing anything as of yet. I headed down to this underground tunnel where Hampshire had food you could buy, and this tunnel was so nice. There was a grocery with all kinds of fresh, organic foods. I really wanted to buy some carrots, but I didn't think I had enough money left on my card. After roaming around the grocery for a bit looking at the wines they had, the sandwiches, and so on I wondered down the hall and found a bar where people were drinking and listening to live music. I was so excited that Hampshire had become so awesome, and then I woke up.

I have been sleeping so much over break. 11 hours a night for me is not unheard of. I guess I am making up for any time I didn't get the right amount of sleep during the semester.

Winter Break means journal update time. Well, maybe not if I actually start to get out of the house. Hopefully the out-of-the-house getting will start tomorrow, and will not both begin and end with my doctor's appointment at noon. Is it at noon? Whatever, my mom will wake me up. Yeah, that's right, when I'm home for break some of my usual responsibilities, like waking myself up, are placed on my mom. I'm such a good kid.

I'm really more of a tired kid though. This is why: last week was finals week so sleep went from happening to not happening (though I suppose finals aren't entirely to blame for this), stress level went from Elevated or Yellow to Severe or Red, saying goodbye become something I had to do, packing become something I had to do, eating become something I had to find time to do, tired became me. So tired. Thursday night I was up late both working and not working. Friday I woke up early to go to work, then went to class where my final paper and portfolio were do, then went to my room and studied for a Chinese final, then took said Chinese final, then upon finishing said Chinese final went to my room in utter shock of how horrible the Chinese final went, then I had to pack, then I had to be up at 3:40 a.m. so I just decided not to sleep, then I was tired!shaking, then I was cold, then I was in a van on the way to the airport, then I was cold again, then I was waiting for my plane, in a plane, waiting for a plane, in a plane, waiting for my luggage, eating a burrito, watching something, reading something, sleeping for too long but not long enough, helping my mom sell books, working on an essay, break, working on an essay, break, working on an essay, working on an essay, working on an essay. Now it's now. I'm done with said essay, but I think it might suck all the most disgusting, hairy, sweaty balls in the world.

EVERYTHING IS A SERIES OF THINGS.

I wish I hadn't of come home on Saturday at the time I did. If there had been a plane that would have gotten me home in the early evening I could have slept. If my mom hadn't needed me to sell books I could have come home later, perhaps Sunday. If I had come home on Sunday I could have decompressed after my final on Friday, slept, packed and written part of my paper on Saturday, come home refreshed on Sunday and finished my paper. I could have come home on Tuesday which would have allowed me to take my Chinese final on the actual day of my Chinese final. I could of had multiple days to study, multiple days to write my paper, multiple days to say goodbye to people. Oh well, what's done is done. I just felt like death for hours.
I hope tomorrow is full of sleep and fun.

So right now I should be packing. I know, it's 3:30 in the morning Central Standard Time, and you might be wondering why does she still have packing left to do? It's because she saves everything until the last minute, of course! I'm actually not really bothered by this packing-into-the-wee-hours-of-the-morning business. I'm not tired or stressed, and the only thing I'm sad about is that I won't get to spend this last night sleeping in my lovely, comfy bed. I'm currently sitting in my lovely, comfy bed though... I guess that counts for something. Goodbye dear bed. Until December.

Although I'm pretty chill right now (I think it was the shower that helped with that), earlier today was not chill. I can tell my Dad is really being affected by my leaving. He seriously came into my room a bajillion times today, "Ariane, how's the packing going?" "Ariane, don't you want to take the webcam that doesn't have a microphone back to school with you so we can SEE you??" "Ariane, your shoes are still downstairs, don't you need to pack them?" "Ariane, there appears to be a scrap of paper in the gameroom with an "P" written on it. I think it's yours. It seems very important. Do you want it?" I know he means well, it's just hard to not get a bit annoyed.

I can't believe I go back to Hampshire today... For so long this day has been so far away that it's weird it's finally here. When it was farther away I couldn't wait to be going back, but now that it's here I kind of wish it weren't. I am really enjoying the relaxing routine I've gotten into, but more than that I know this year is going to be very different from the last. Flora is gone. Jens is gone. Kingsley is gone. Kathryn graduated. Mike doesn't live next door to me. Devin's not on my hall. Elisheva is now in Boston. I guess I shouldn't worry about it because what's going to happen is going to happen whether I want it to or not, and these changes aren't going to ruin my year or anything outrageous like that. I'm just no good with change. Today I took down the poster next to my bed so I could bring it with me to Hampshire, and it took me a little while before I could remove it because I got all sad and nostalgic. It's a friggen poster for Christ's sake (I was going to write "for Paul Bunyan's sake" there, but Christ just has a better ring to it)! Bah!

Saturday was a good day. I enjoyed Austin as much as I could. I went to the Farmer's Market, walked around downtown, went to the capitol, lied on the ground to look up and the rotunda, rolled down a hill on the grounds, read at Book People, played with a kid in the tunnel at Book People, went to Waterloo, had Amy's Ice Cream, went to Spider House for organic apple juice and vegan pumpkin bread, wander around Toy Joy, took a picture of the "Hi, how are you?" frog, met Pipes at Sandy's for a chocolate shake, walked around South Congress, bought a stamp at Uncommon Objects, and then returned home. All the while I took pictures as well as business cards, bumper stickers, and other fare that I can put up in my dorm room.

Okay, now I'm starting to get tired. Gotta finish packing. I leave for the airport in about two hours. I shouldn't have written that down. Now the worry is setting in.

My sleep schedule is SUPAH fucked up.

Have I mentioned that I love busy days? The answer is yes. I totally have. But it is still as true as ever. Ever since my friends have started journeying back to college I have been impatiently waiting for my college return. Busy days, however, make me want these last few days I have in Austin to slow down. I love Austin. I love my friends (though quite a few of them have gone back now). I love relaxing and watching horrible movies about serial killers late at night in my PJs with all the lights turned off.

Wednesday I spent the day with my mother. We got Greek food, did a little shopping (I got a new wallet that doesn't smell funny and isn't falling apart! I also got a dress, some socks, and a new pair of shoes), and then went to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. The movie made me realize how much I love my friends. Cheesy, I know, but it did. After the movie my mom and I went to Whole Foods and walked around and got smoothies. As soon as I got home my dad told me Shami had called so I called her back and then headed down to campus where her and I went to Kerbey Lane. Oh God, the Kerbey Queso was good. I also got to see Anjali. We were sitting at a window seat and she just happened to walk by and she came in for a short chat. After dinner we got bubble tea at Tap. House, went to her dorm room to watch 10 Things I Hate About You, and then went to Kasbah for some minty minty hookah.

Thursday I woke up, had brunch with my Bubbie at Kerbey Lane (I got these delicious apple whole wheat pancakes. Oh. My. God. I am salivating just thinking about them), and then she took me shopping. That was certainly an endeavor. She wants me to buy everything I try on even if I don't like it when I take if off the hanger and put it on myself. I had to argue with her to NOT buy me things. She thinks everything I put on looks "adorable" which is sweet of her to say, but is simply not true. I liked one pair of panties and she made me get four. I liked one sweater and she made me get another one in a different color. I tried to stealthily try on this sort of expensive coat just to see what it looked like and she caught me and started raving about it. I told her that I was just seeing what it looked like and that I have three coats already and it's expensive and it's nice but I don't need it and on and on and on and she finally said, "I don't care if you never wear it, but I am buying you this coat. It looks adorable on you (there's that word again). Believe me you will regret it if you don't get it." So we got the coat. I also got two dresses.

I know this is sort of a ridiculous thing to complain about. I know I'm lucky to have a grandmother who is willing to spoil me, but the thing is I don't need any of this stuff and therefore I don't really want it. Whenever she buys stuff for me I feel like a brat. I feel guilty. I have enough clothes. I haven't done anything to deserve this. This money could have gone towards something more important. I just don't like people spending a lot of money on me. I don't even like to spend a lot of money on myself. I find that most times I really think about something before I buy it, and what I usually spend most of my money on is going out to dinner with friends (which is always a good investment).

After shopping I dropped Bubbie off at her house and went to my Uncle's office to participate in a listening experiment. After I was paid, I headed over to the Arbor Walk (oh, the strip malls of North Austin), and had dinner with Lauren M. and Kadie. After dinner Lauren and I went to Lakeline Mall (which I haven't been to in years. What a trip) because Lauren had some free pantie vouchers she needed to... vouch. One of them was at the American Eagle version of Gap Body (that's a kind of weird way to put it, but that's basically what it is) where I also ended up getting free pair of panties by simply giving them my name, address, and email address. I got a pair of gray boy shorts decorated with different colored sneakers. After that we went to Victoria's Secret where I bought these panties that say, "We have chemistry" because they have a freakin' Erlenmeyer flask on them, and they are making a science joke.

Next Lauren humored me by accompanying me to Fredericks of Hollywood, a lingerie store. No, no, I wasn't there to buy crotchless panties (which are the WEIRDEST things by the way. They do have a crotch, it's just that there is a slit so you can basically be fucked with your panties on. I personally find that a little disturbing.) or an invisible bra (so they aren't really invisible, but they may as well be because there is obviously NO support and it's just lacy and see through and flimsy and sometimes all it is is two tiny lace triangles with string connected to it. It's like a bra!thong, but thongs seem to serve more purpose in life than those lace swatches parading around as bras. I guess they are supposed to be sexy, but they just look odd). No, I was there to buy a garter belt. Why? Because garter belts and pantyhose are so much better than the pantyhose of today. There's no bunching, no awkward readjusting in public, no jumping in order to get the damned things on. Plus I think they are classy. I went with the simplest belt I could find (black lace), and I checked to make sure it could go under clothes (because that's really the point). Lauren and I also tried on corsets. Those things are crazy. It felt kind of cool cause it was all slimming and shit, but the one I tried on made my boobs look funny. Even if it had made me look like a knockout (which it didn't) I wouldn't have bought it though. I have no use for it. I was just trying it on for fun. Lauren, however, found one that looked really cute on her. It was this lovely blue, but it was expensive, so she is going to save up for it.

Today I ran errands with my dad, and am now lounging about. Tomorrow I'm planning a Super-Happy-Fun-Get-Your-Fix-Of-Austin-Cause-You-Won't-Be-Back-Until-December Bash. I'm going to go to some of my favorite places for the last time. I'm thinking Book People, Sandy's or Amy's (maybe if I'm feeling inspired in the fatty department I will go to both), Spider House, Epoch, and I don't know where else. Think I'll go start generating a list.

Bwahaha! So I've been reading lots of the comments the wee firsties have been leaving on the Hampshire Class of '12 boards/wall on Facebook, and currently there are a few fearing their tutorial class Infectious Disease. This is because it is taught by the mighty Lynn Miller who they recently looked up on ratemyprofessor.com and found out he made a kid cry during class. Oh the fear this great man evokes in people! He has gotten gruff with me only once, but it did not make me want to cry. That's the thing, he is gruff and to the point and if your an idiot he will make you feel like an idiot. If you aren't an idiot, he will only make you feel like an idiot when you do something stupid. This makes his praise all the better. PRAISE WHICH, may I remind you, I HAVE RECEIVED!

In other news, through some more... erm... research I discovered that the people living in the double in my hall next year are, drum roll please, two first year boys! HA! So it's going to be me, Lily, Maya, Jake, Steph, Ella (unless people get mods...), and these two firsties. Let the fun begin. Now. Please. No seriously, I'm ready to go back to college. I imagine it will be kind of weird for them to arrive in a hall inhabited by only one male, and then, within a few days, discover they are otherwise surrounded by females. Oh this semester is going to be fun. I can tell.

E.T.A: Ahh! Ahh! The Third Year Chinese class with Zhu Chen went through! It's on The Hub!

The past two days have been fantabulous. Although I enjoy reading, playing guitar, watching movies, and generally relaxing in my hizzie, going out with friends and keeping busy in that way is far superior. Why you ask? Because when I'm home my parents like to come check on me. ALL THE TIME. It's like, "So, daughter, what's up?" "Ariane, are you hungry?" "Ariane, try this." "Ariane, is everything okay?" "Ariane, look at me! Look at me!". I love my parents, I do, but right now they seem to love me too much. It's a BLAGH-MY-DAUGHTER-IS-HOME-FROM-A-FOREIGN-COUNTRY-BUT-SOON-WILL-BE-HEADING-BACK-TO-A-COLLEGE-FAR-FAR-AWAY-SHE'S-OUR-BABY-ARE-WE-0LD? kind of situation. Cute, but sometimes I need my space.

So yesterday I went to Corinna's house where I sipped lemon Italian soda in a polka dot dress whilst listening to Andy play cello. Lovely. Then I went out to dinner with Lily, Sarah (Lily's friend from Smith), and Pipes. We went to this Thai restaurant called Thai Kitchen. Someone said it was better and cheaper than Madame Mam's, so we decided to try it. That person? They. Were. Wrong. And the sad story is Madame Mam's was inches away. Now I'm really craving Madame Mam's green tofu curry. Oh yes. Give it to me now. Mmm.

Next we headed to Smokin' O's (hookah bar) where we met Layla, Ali (Layla's roommate), and Isa. While smoking on guava flavored tobacco the awkward moment of the evening occurred. It wasn't so much a moment, though, as it was an entire... thingie. Junior-year-newspaper-section-editors showed up, and let's just say some people in our group didn't have a very good relationship with them. Things became truly awkward octopus when two of our guy friends (who kind of dumped us as friends junior year to hang out with the girls that didn't like us) arrived. Pipes was a bit weird-ed out seein' as she frequents Smokin' O's and has never seen them there before. Plus it's kind of a small venue, and, really, of all the hookah bars and all the nights?

After smoking white peach flavored tobacco, we proceeded (sans Layla and Ali) to Weird Wednesday at Alamo Drafthouse. The movie was about a woman doctor who was way ahead of her time because she could successfully perform impossible transplants (for example, a brain transplant). She was kidnapping the fittest of all possible athletes to use for the transplants, so some red-headed douche bag of a hero got on her trail and found the island where she performs her surgeries. However, the doctor was protected by "the wonder women" (the name of the flick) who all wore ridiculously shiny shirts with matching panties. In the end the doctor cleverly disappeared using a ninja smoke trick. This was a top quality film, folks. I'm just going to say brain sex and leave it at that.

Today I made $50, bought a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that died in China, and then had a bunch of friends over for food and fun. We talked, ate, watched footage from Senior Salute of KB's ear defying rendition of some crap song, played 1,000 Blank White Cards, and played Apples to Apples. I love my friends.

Yes, so that's that. I still miss college though.

So since I got back from China my everyday routine has been the following: Wake up, fiddle about online, do crunches, eat breakfast, read and/or fiddle about online, watch a movie and/or TV, run, take a shower, read, eat dinner in or go out to dinner with a friend, if I don't go out to dinner with a friend perhaps I go get an after dinner drink with a friend, read, go to bed. Sometimes I mix things up a bit and play guitar (I've had strange urges to do this recently. It's been, let's see, four years since I've played? Very odd.) or study Chinese. I really should study Chinese more... I also need to work on my Div I portfolio. I'm not worried about it though. At first I was all like, "Retrospective essay? Ew." But I realized because I wrote relatively genuine self-evaluations I'm going to be fine. I can definitely see through my self-evals and my writing the ways in which I've grown over the past year. Exciting. So really all I need to do is sit down and write the damn thing.

I like how relaxing my days are, and although they seem semi-productive (I'm getting through books and exercising!), there is definitely something lacking. Currently I kind of feel like a know-nothing, because, honestly, I haven't done much learning this summer (except for learning a considerable amount of Chinese, and a few interesting facts about bugs). I've been keeping my brain active be reading and occasionally writing, but I want to create some new wrinkles.

Tonight my brother arrived, so hopefully things will start to get sooopaah exciting. When we got to the house I gave him a "shot" of Baijiu (it's a normal sized shot of Baijiu, but not a normal sized shot, Oh Lord God Bird no), and then my family all did a shot together. My mother's face after the shot was priceless. I've personally come to love Baijiu. The smell and taste remind me of happiness, lots of good food, kind people, and lots of fun. Oh, I could sniff Baijiu for hours sitting in a cloud of good memories, but I have a feeling that would go against my creating-new-wrinkles goal.

I'm so excited about returning to Hampshire. I've been having tons of Hampshire dreams, and I've got to say, though I do love my parents, they are making me a tad bit crazy. They are almost always in the house because they both work from home, and, although my mother is relatively good about going out, my Dad is basically here every second of the day.

Anyway, when I went to update my journal tonight this note popped up asking if I wanted to recover some past entry that I typed, but never posted. I said yes and this little tidbit, which is still quite applicable to my life, appeared: "I over think things. A lot. Especially things having to do with boys. I really wish I didn't over think those sorts of things. I need to find a way to be cool and collected at all times and not worry over every detail." True dat Ariane of the past! I seriously need to work on this. Summer kind of helps. I think a lot less about real life and a lot more about the novels I'm reading.

Also, I have a confession: I'm addicted to tweenage girl movies. If it's about high school girl who has a crush? I'm there. Especially if it has Amanda Bynes in it. She's The Man? Brilliant. Sydney White? I can't tell you how many times I squee-ed. They referenced Dr. Who for God's sake! True it was a friggen obvious reference, but the fact that they did it gave me internal joy nonetheless (I wonder if one of the Five-College Libraries has Dr. Who DVDs I could borrow... Oh the time travel! Oh the sexiness!). I also watched this HORRIBLE movie with Ashley Tisdale or whatever her name is. It was seriously, just, BLECH, but I enjoyed it in that sick way where things are way too mushy, the acting is absolutely no good, the plot is unbelievable, but you secretly sort of kind of wish your life was like that just because it's sort of kind of exciting.

Dear Flora,
If you are reading this, I sent a translation of the postcard to your Hampshire email, but I imagine you do not use that one much anymore. Am I right? What is an email address, if any, that you check more frequently? Also, if you are not much of an email person, how am I ever to get a hold of you? What am I to do?
Love,
Ariane

P.S.: I love Christian Bale and David Tenant as Dr. Who.

Ahh! Ahh! It's thundering! It's going to storm! Texas summer thunderstorm! I really am home.

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your LJ along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.

Is There A Ghost by Band of Horses
Say That You Love Me by the Cardigans (this I blame on Hot Fuzz)
My Lady Story by Antony and the Johnsons
Paper Planes by M.I.A.
Tire Swing by Kimya Dawson
The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One by Neutral Milk Hotel
Cold December by Matt Costa

Ta-dah! I'm not going to list 7 more people to do it, however, because that is not how I roll. If you want to do it, do. If not, don't.

So yeah, long absence from Live Journal. My first year of college is over (ACK!), and a lot happened. Too much to update about. I did keep a written journal so I know what happened. Some important things to know, however, are:

1. I have one more paper to finish editing before I am really, truly, actually done with my first year of college. It's due tomorrow.
2. I'm going to China this summer for a two month intensive language program.
3. Lynn Miller, my idol/professor who is really tough, liked my final report a great deal, had barely any edits despite the fact that he is a hard editor, said he enjoyed working with me this semester, and is looking forward to seeing me in his class in the fall. MY LOVE FOR HIM IS TOTALLY REQUITED.
4. I kissed a boy goodbye when I left college.
5. I like chubby animals (birds and bees especially).
6. My bathroom has become a haven for spiders.

College is awesome. I feel so at home. I feel like this is the normal progression of things. The Hampshire campus is like a summer camp with lots of trees, open spaces, corn fields, woods, reservoirs, etc. I met some awesome people and done some awesome things including:

Eating s'mores and telling scary stories in the middle of the woods. Walking through a corn field to try and find a bus stop, but ending up finding a grocery instead with the best cider doughnuts ever. Enjoying random jam sessions complete with harmonicas, banjos, and didgeridoos. Learning such dance moves as "the freak" and "the prep". Performing poetry at an open mic night. Smoking hookah for three hours. Using the basements to get into Merrill A and Merrill C and making friends with people who had their doors open. Watching people eat Chinese food at midnight and play poker. Defining enchilada (the dirty version) and bituminous. Discussing all sorts of things ranging from the vapid (ZOMG I LOVE THAT SHOW), to the disturbing (serial killer conversations), to the deep (how does one define culture in a world where cultural aspects flow out of one place and into another). Going to Amherst for a book, coffee, and a stroll through the graveyard. Trying out for a play. Learning how to fence. Attempting to get a radio show. Getting involved with the student newspaper. Enjoying the rain and the shine and just nature in general. Making people feel awkward. Talking about masturbation. Talking about peoples roommates masturbating with the piano keyboard he put on his bed. Learning that kids use "vacuums" these days. Hearing about orgies in too much detail. Being offered mini cupcakes. Running into people all the time. Reading interesting articles. Attending Global Ethnography, Human Biological Variation, Southern Writers, and Chinese. Enjoying a nice "Rosh Hashanah dinner" of corn chowder, bread, humus, Manishevitz, and cider doughnuts with strawberries and whipped cream in the 4th floor lounge at 9:00. Chilling in dorm rooms. Splashing through puddles. Holding dance parties. Getting free cookies from the Bridge Cafe. Eating because SAGA is open and not because I'm hungry. Loving soft served frozen yogurt. Learning Hippie health. Learning that some people live in a world without pants. Learning that I started both Global Warming and the AIDS epidemic. Almost eating Midnight Breakfast. Watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Futurama in FPH. Seeing a comedian. Seeing a mentalist. Talking to an intoxicated person who lives down the hall from me who I've never gotten to talk to before and who thinks I'm crazy for having my window open because it's cold enough for him to be busting out long underwear. Working on homework and being interrupted by a guy with a guitar and his friend who are going around and making up personalized songs about the people whose doors are open. Hearing people shout silly things from the Merrill Gazebo at 1 in the morning. Walking down a hallway and noticing that it reeks (and I mean REEKS) of pot. Noticing that, yes, at Hampshire some people don't choose to shower &c.

I love college.

So I'm mostly packed. Just need to get my back pack packed with books, my computer, and other small things I'm bringing to college with me that don't fit in the five designated college suitcases. It's all gathered just not packed. My biggest worry is that I'm going to forget something.

Being the last of my friends to leave is really weird. Everyone else is at their college, moving into their dorm rooms, meeting people, and doing other college stuff. I feel behind. College, to me, is still this big unknown blob. I know I'll be there soon enough, but for now I feel left out of something.

Ugh, it doesn't even seem like I'm leaving for college tomorrow. I feel more like I am going on another college visit. I'm going to Hampshire to give them my resume, sit in on a class, ask questions about financial aid and student organizations, take notes, meet with the people in the admissions office, &c. I hated doing that. It was exhausting. The only non-tiring college visit I had was the weekend I visited Smith and Hampshire for their respective Accepted Students Days. Those visits were probably so nice because I had already been accepted to the schools so I could relax and enjoy myself.

I don't really feel like writing anymore (and I am currently being distracted tremendously by Adult Swim), so yeah. I guess I will get my "college feelings" out later when I am a little more rested, a little less anxious about forgetting important things, and wondering if I experienced enough of Austin to satisfy me for four months. Blaaargh.

Watching Inuyasha makes me nostalgic for high school. I started watching it freshman year and the show ended this year. How meaningful or something. It's a pretty silly show, but it has a lot of memories associated with it and it was my first anime so I hold it dear to my heart.

Speaking of which I visited LBJ today with Shami. Saw Risinger, Kelly, Stormberg, Fennell, Alexander, Journeay, Jibladze (for, like, a second), and I think that's it. LBJ is really weird now. All the magnet teachers are upstairs (Mr. Kelly is in the creepily blank freshman center in a corner) except some of the science teachers (including Mr. Fennell who was moved down to the dungeon. I spent two years in his old classroom. It's so sad. He has no windows now. And the table Anjali and I wrote on is no longer his. Also, the prairie APES worked so hard to create last year has been overrun by ragweed. It is like a giant fucking ragweed forest. Extremely depressing). Also, they have eight periods now and blocked classes Tuesday through Friday and a short lunch and school starts 15 minutes earlier and ends 15 minutes later and half the staff is new and there are two newspaper classes with 37 students in them each. It's craziness.

I'm going to miss being a kid.

I am as powerful as the Giant Squid. I am as brave as Frodo. I am as fierce as Black Mamba for I have defeated the most frightening enemy of womankind: the cockroach.

Gather ye round and I will tell you the tale of a brave, yet naked lass who overcame this most fearful of beasts. Her hair was the color of a round and shiny oak table--the kind knights sit around with a king they call Arthur--, her eyes were as blue as the non-existent sapphires in Excalibur, and she was cleaner than everyone during the Dark Ages was dirty. As our heroine stepped out of the shower and approached the bathroom sink she felt a peculiar feeling on her right ankle. At first she thought that this was perhaps a mere towel tickling her as she brushed by it, but when the tickling did not desist she looked down to find a huge black beetle clawing its way up her leg. Although the situation looked bleak she thought quickly. If she could not save herself at least she could save the rest of the household. Without a second thought she shook her leg violently and the demon flew from it landing on the bathroom floor on its back. The creature's legs wriggled in the air as the girl proceeded with her next step of action; before the creature had a chance to retaliate the girl heavily dropped a shoe atop it and ended its miserable existence. She stepped on the shoe a couple of times to make sure the beast had truly been slain, and then, of course, cleaned up the mess.

Although there are none yet, in the future there will definitely be ballads about this.

So Shami came over last night and we watched about nine hours of movies and television, drank Starbucks' Double Shot Espressos, and had cake. It was absolutely ridiculous. First we watched four episodes of Skins and then we watched this movie called Swing Kids about a group of friends in Nazi Germany who bond over swing music, but eventually have to face the reality of what is going on around them. Post Dead Poet Society Robert Sean Leonard was in it, as well as a 19-year-old Christian Bale and Gilderoy Lockhart! The movie was alright, but the ending was absurd; Christian Bale becomes a loyal member of the Hitler Youth (beforehand he was pretending to believe the propaganda by day, but stayed true to the "swing kid" inside him at night) and his unit raids the swing club he and Robert Sean Leonard often went to. Robert Sean Leonard, realizing that the Nazi's are wrong, decides to defy them and, of course, is dancing at the club when the raid occurs. Bale and Leonard get into a huge Revenge-of-the-Sith-Obi-Wan-verse-Anikan style fight, and eventually Leonard gets taken away to a work camp. Having a short chat about loyalties immediately after the brawl Bale has a slight change of heart and salutes Leonard as the truck with him in it is leaving and shouts, "Swing heil!" Leonard returns the salute with another, "Swing heil!" and then his little brother shows up to see him being taken away and the movie ends with the littler brother holding Leonard's umbrella and shouting what I assume was "Swing heil" in unintelligible tones that made him sound more like a constipated giraffe than a little boy. Had they just ended the movie at the club being raided it would have been a lot better. "Swing heil"? Seriously?

Then we watched Disturbia which had a slow first scene, a violent second scene, a cheesy middle bit, and a thrilltastic ending. Getting over the cheesy bits ("When you look in the mirror it's not like "I'm so hot" it's like you are questioning who you really are blah blah blah faux deepness blah blah blah the person who wrote this movie does not remember what it's like to be a teenager and cannot write convincing teenage characters blah blah I'm a stalker blah") it was an enjoyable movie. I really did like the end.

After that we watched Orange County, which is undoubtedly the best movie ever, talked about serial killers, and eventually fell asleep at 7:00 a.m. Never have we stayed up so late.

Now I'm off to watch Daria as I am feeling nostalgic.

Adrenaline and endorphins are funny things. The other day I was jogging on the treadmill when an Army commercial came on TV that showed soldiers jumping out of a plane. Now I didn't have a sudden urge to join the army, but I did have an urge to jump out of the plane with them--despite the fact that I don't do so well with heights. Then I got off the treadmill and couldn't believe that thought had even crossed my mind. For just a few minutes there I do believe I was clinically insane.

These past couple of days have been absolutely brilliant. On Sunday I went to see Shami's Indian Dance Drama (which was fantastic, I might add), after which Layla, Tommy, and Isa came over to my house so we could decide what to do for Tommy's birthday. We ended up having dinner at Bonzai, then going to Dreamers where Layla, Isa, and I bought a penis cake pan. We got cake mix and candy from HEB, stopped by Jamba Juice to get Tommy a smoothie, and then proceeded to my humble abode for the Cock Cake Baking Extravaganza of 2007. We were judgmental, we laughed loads, and we watched some of 40-Year-Old Virgin.

On Monday night Anjali and I went to dinner together, but it was oh-so-much-more than that. We dressed up, and went to Luby's to pester Mark. I when I say we "dressed up" I really mean it. I'm talking handbags, pearls, gloves, and fur coats (yes, in the Texas heat). We made Mark pull out our chairs, and then in our best we-elongate-our-vowels-and-are-therefore-better-than-you accents we asked whether he was related to a family in Yorkshire with the same last name. He told us no and Anjali said that they were nice but they smelled a bit funny and I told her it was the smell of old money and we both laughed daintily. Then we asked Mark his opinion on President Bush giving "our Queen Mother (God bless her!)" a teabag instead of loose leaf tea when she came for a visit, and he apologized on behalf of the whole nation. Whenever we needed him to come over to the table we would call his name and wave our hankies. Sixties songs were playing in the background all the while and one of them kept repeating the phrase "get down on it" so I asked Mark, "What does 'getting down' mean and upon what are they getting down?" Micah was going to join us, but didn't. I, however, left a lovely message on his phone that went something like this: "Hello Micah daahling this is Ariane on Anjali's cell phone. I was just calling to see when you might be arriving at Luby's so we can prepare ourselves for your presence. Cherrio." After dinner Mark, Anjali, and I sat in my car in the parking lot and talked for two hours. It was one of the best conversations I've ever had.

Tuesday was Newspaper dinner. Tommy came round my house at 5:16 to hang out before hand and we took some stupid online quizzes and played with his iPhone. Frank and Angie's was our dinner locale and the guest list included Mrs. Elbom, Mr. Elbom, Micah, Eli, Mark, Tommy, Anjali, and me. We talked about college, where we think the newspaper is headed next year, where we think our high school is headed next year (lots of changes have been made apparently), and which newspaper editors will kill which other newspaper editors first. After dinner we got Amy's Ice Cream and then called it a night around 10:00. I am so glad I got to see these people before I leave. I am going to miss them so much, and miss working with them.

Last night Ryan had a going away party at his house, so I went to that. There were a billion people there (of whom I knew about a handful) and it was super loud; in other words I stayed by Shami's side the entire evening. It was alright, but I like being at a party made up of people I know, not just a bunch of acquaintances with whom I can have awkward conversations.

Today I went shopping with my mom and I am so exhausted. It's weird how draining shopping is. Anyway, I think I will go lounge about for a little while.