Domesticity and dance parties.

I must tell the story of my Saturday. I don't know what it was, maybe something in the air, but I just felt domestic.

My first act, after breakfast at Anne's and seeing the quadding party off, was to buy laundry detergent and get a little exercise in by walking home from the store. Since I didn't have a car and I'd been dropped off by the aforementioned quadding party, it was really my only choice. But I didn't mind. In fact, I'd asked for it.

Back at Dad's house I did my darks, which is quite a huge load of laundry. I don't know how it happened, but somewhere along the way most of my wardrobe became black and navy. I can remember a time when I didn't own a single black shirt, and now I think I would have to dig to find a white one. Once the washer was done, I went outside and hung it all up to dry. I hate dryers. Sure, warm laundry fresh out of the dryer is awesome, but they're rough on the clothes. I always hang dry now. Plus, it gives my clothes that fresh air smell.

Around lunchtime I was looking through my dad's bleak, desolate pantry and I spied a box of Kraft mac and cheese. I don't know what came over me, but I got the sudden urge to cook. It was quite the ordeal, actually. I searched for ten minutes for a pan that would be the right size, and then I ended up over-cooking the noodles so they were way too soft. A little Tabasco, though, and all was well.

Dinner...not so much. The next thing I found in the pantry was a box of pancake mix. I found a cast iron skillet and went to work. Since I couldn't find a 1 cup measuring cup (it turns out my dad doesn't have one) I ended up using the little tablespoon fridge magnet and counting out sixteen of the little buggers full of pancake powder. Everything was going along just dandy, but when I went to cook them...I learned quick after the first one. As soon as I was done pouring a pancake, it was ready to be flipped, so I had to work quick. Apparently I'm not very good at flipping pancakes. The first one had to be thrown out, as it tasted too much like charcoal. I salvaged what I could of the rest. None of them were really pancake-shaped. They'd fallen apart in the flipping and transferring to plate processes. Apparently my dad doesn 't have syrup, either, so I drowned the things in strawberry jam. They weren't the best, but they weren't awful. I found out what the problem was when Dad got home (other than the questionable age of the mix). The directions said to heat the skilled on medium to high, so I set the burner right in between. Dad says I should've had it on three or four. Halfway between medium and high is seven. That explains some things.

That was Saturday. Today was Monday. Monday means FHE.

Tonight was a stake singles barbeque...thing. Which meant it was way too crowded for my tastes, but there were swings so I was happy. I didn't spend much time on them, though. I did dance around with my awesome YouTube video cohost some, but I'm not much of a dancer, so mostly the night dragged on. I still had fun. Best of all was the ride there and back. We were rocking out! The guy driving was hilarious. I didn't know it was possible to rock out that hard to Michael Buble. And I've never seen someone use their phone like a microphone. Especially not nonstop.

Tonight was a good night. I think I really strengthened some friendships, and I got to laugh myself silly. What more can a girl ask for?

The last song we listened to really made me miss Missouri, though. Oh, lightning bugs. I can't get back to you too soon.

Listening to: "Fireflies" by Owl City
Reading: Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Chuck.

Goodbye, Fuddruckers. I have found a new love in my quest for my hamburger soulmate. It's name is The Chuckbox.

First, the ambience is killer. There was a lovely Old West theme. It's all made out of logs with flour sacks covering the ceiling and copies of famous wanted posters hanging on the walls. The seats are boxes and there are patios with tables on two side of the building.

Second and most importantly, the food. The burgers are cooked over wood coals and the buns are nicely toasted. I was rather amused by their style of ordertaking. Insteading of writing things down, they stick various toothpicks and bitsy plastic swords in the top bun as a sort of code so the griller knows what cheeses, bacon, and peppers to put on the meat. I got a 1/4 lb. burger with Swiss cheese and bacon. For my side I got deep-fried mushrooms. Everything was so delicious! It's also one of those places where you put your own condiments on, so that was awesome. Awesomely awesome on the palate, that is.

So tasty...

Listening to: Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars
Reading: Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Airy.

Monday afternoon I went shopping with Anne and Meagan. I was going to wait to post until I had taken pictures of all of my loot, but meh. If I wait for that, it will never get done.

I was picked up around 3:45 and we went down to Mill Avenue. Meagan drove in circles for a while trying to find a free parking lot she used to use, but it turns out that someone went and built a thing of condos there, so we ended up parking at her work. Once Anne arrived, we forayed onto Mill itself. Some of the areas there make me sad because they're absolutely gorgeous and serene, but utterly deserted because no shops lease the space. The empty fountains are the most tragic. And there was what looked like an ubercool fancy restaurant with the sweetest chandeliers. It didn't even have a name over the door and it was all shut up, but the tables were still set. Hopefully it's open at night or something.

Our first stop was The Hippie Gypsy. It's an awesome place that sells things like incense and Led Zeppelin posters and Grateful Dead paraphernalia. And the grooviest clothes. I've never enjoyed clothes shopping before, but I spent a solid hour trying on stuff in there. All of their fabrics are so lightweight! I love it! And I'm rather fond of their apparent abhorrence of zippers. My favorite haul was a green dress with gauzy layers that makes me feel like a fairy princess. I won't be able to wear it for while, though. It's a halter top and because of the way the hem is cut it'll need some sort of underskirt. I'm going to hold off until I find just the right undershirt, too. I can't wear just anything with an article that awesome! I'm lucky it fit. It was the only one in the store. Oddly, it was also missing its price tag. I think the cashier just ended up making up a price for it.

For dinner we went to a little Greek restaurant around the corner. I think gyros are some of my favorite food! I want to eat them every chance I get. Also, baklava is epic.

After dinner we headed across town to a store called Rainbow to buy some extra long camisoles. Mission successful.

Then Walmart to get a belt, the only thing I'd really been looking for all night, and so Anne could go wild in the pajama section. I'm not a fan of Walmart, so I burned out on that really quick. I might've been able to stand just hanging around, but the TVs, I kid you not, were playing the same exact ad for the New Moon DVD literally every other commercial. I counted.

Though all in all an awesome night.

Listening to: "Pepper"
Reading: Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Ashes, part 2.

PART 1

Alexander was flying, or maybe it was that the earth was rushing by beneath him as he stood perfectly still in the air above it. Soon the forests and grasslands he was familiar with were left behind as he skimmed over the distant mountains, or they skimmed under him. An undeniable force pulled him forward past any place he had ever heard of even in tales. Lakes and rivers and strange dry, barren places passed him by, but no people. There was never any sign of people, or of anything else that lived and breathed. It was only him and the strange lands scrolling by before he could really take them in.

He felt impatient and hurried, like he was trying to stop something. No, it was more like he had to stop something, but he was racing against time and space.

After what seemed both a brief moment and an eternity, his pace slowed. He was now over a wide, misty plane. The ground seemed wet and the straight, green stalks of some foreign crop spread out around him. In front of him was a red mountain, the peak gone. Smoke and fire billowed from the broken top.

Suddenly he was there above the jagged crater. He saw now that part of the mountain was hollow. In the emptied space roiled something molten and forbidding. Impossible and unbearable heat rolled over him in waves and steam coated his lungs.

A harsh laughter filled his head and threatened to consume him. He curled up, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his hands over his ears, trying to shut it out. It seemed to be forever before it was bearable enough for him to open his eyes.

An impressive figure hovered in the air across from him. The man was tall and well-built, his body swathed in rich black fabrics. His looked like a king, or a powerful heathen god. His hair was wild and his handsome features cruelly twisted. His strange eyes were dark and danced with reflected flame.

The man laughed darkly again and thrust his hand out in front of him. Something hot and sharp slammed through Xander’s chest. His heart shuddered as he was thrown back and he sank into unconsciousness.

Listening to: "Slow Me Down" by Emmy Rossum
Reading: Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Doble.

On Friday I turned in the form to double major. I should hear about my acceptance in a few weeks.

I was perfectly content with my one major, but I have to take a lot of a single foreign language, so I figure why not. Let's just throw in a few extra classes and get a bonus degree. Two for the price of one, right? I wish I could just take all linguistics classes with the occasional goofy elective, but alas. They don't hand out diplomas for not meeting all of their requirements. I think I made an awesome choice with my first major. I absolutely love it. Sometimes I catch myself mumbling about how words would be transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

But I suppose this double major will be a good thing. It will give me incentive to practice my Spanish and maybe even one day achieve bilingualism. That would be so cool!

As a sidenote, we were talking about the Great Depression today in history. It made me miss my grandma. I don't feel like I ever really got to know her as a person. Sadness.

Listening to: "It's About Time" by Barcelona
Reading: Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Possibilites.

I'm not in a funk. I don't think. But the little cogs up in my cerebellum are definitely whirring.

I'm 19. I'm grown up. This is my life. I'm free to live it however I want, wherever I want. Once I graduate and have a job, I can take a vacation and travel...anywhere. I can take a roadtrip or backpack across Europe or go get lost in Australia. Last night I had this strange urge to see Pennsylvania. I've never really been to the East coast. I could go see the Appalachians and experience New England in the fall. Or I could go to New Orleans. Or Greece. Or Turkey.

Some little kids always dream about travelling. I did. Now that I've had a taste of it, I think I'm addicted. I can see the world. I can do what I want. I can have the fairy tale of wonder and adventure.

Why does Pennsylvania sound so appealing?

The world is so big. I can go discover it all on my own. Wow...

Listening to: Will & Grace
Reading: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Filmography.

In celebration of the first day of spring break, I did absolutely nothing today except play online and watch movies. Since this doesn't really make for a thrilling tale, I'll instead list all of the movies I watched today:

1. The Princess Diaries
2. What a Girl Wants (about 15 minutes)
3. Star Wars, episode IV
4. Step Up (most of it)
5. Miss Congeniality (now playing)

After this, Practical Magic comes on. I love that movie, even if I have only seen it twice. One channel is doing a Sandra Bullock double feature, which I'm totally happy about. She's amazing. I didn't even see The Blind Side, but I totally concur with her deserving an Oscar.

As a sidenote, check my tumblr for some random thoughts about Star Wars. The link is to the side. I know I said I would use my tumblr for book stuff, but my webcam software has been messed up since the virus so I can't make a YouTube video about it as I would prefer.

Listening to: Miss Congeniality
Reading: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Glowing.

I suppose I should finally get around to blogging about my week. The four tests are not at all the exciting part, though they sort of dictated my frame of mind. I kept thinking I should study...I should study...like some weird college-kid mantra, though very little studying actually took place. It kept losing out to three-hour naps and episodes of One Tree Hill. And that concert.

Forget talking about the rest of my week. CONCERT! Okay, so I'm actually not a big fan of concerts. They're too loud and I get bored really fast since there's nothing to do but listen to music, which is not multitasking enough for me. My brain either wants to do three things at once or do nothing.

Despite all of my issues with the concept, the concert I went to Thursday night was awesome. I'm so glad my friends talked me into it.

We got there when the opening band, a local group called Raining and OK, was almost done, so I don't really have an opinion about them. I don't really remember anything more about them.

The second band was Gold Motel. They're from Chicago. Perhaps the thing that about them that sticks out to me the most is that they looked like five really random people from very different walks of life who just happened to walk onto the same stage. The drummer was wearing a blue button up shirt and a tie with sneakers. One of the guitarists was wearing a tee shirt, jeans, and bright red converse. He probably had longish bangs, but kept them tucked behind his ear. Another guy would've looked kind of like a regular old farm kid from the Midwest were it not for his hair. I didn't know you could pair bangs with a buzz cut. O.o The lead singer, also the only female, looked normal enough. She was wearing a black dress and grey tights. Then there was the guy my roommate rather aptly described as reminding her of a rooster. He was dressed in all black, including a leather jacket and boots that were somewhere between being cowboy and biker. There he was with his blond bangs hanging in his face. That guy was all over the place! Needless to say, I can't really remember much about their music. I think I liked it?

The headliner band was a group from New Jersey named Steel Train. They were so cool! Since there were probably only forty people in the audience, they joked with us in between songs and eventually just threw out their setlist and took requests. Those guys are hilarious! And very versatile. There were five of them: three guitarists, a keyboardist, and a drummer. They could all sing and every once in a while they would play musical instruments, so to speak, and switch positions. At one point there were three playing the drums at the same time. "Clean cup, clean cup, moooove down!" It was epic. For their last song they just completely rearranged and each sang a verse. It was a cover of something. There was also a song where all five got around the same mic and only one was playing guitar while they all harmonized. So. Cool.

But I saved the best for last! My absolute favorite band of the night was Barcelona, a group from Seattle. They also talked to the crowd in between songs, including asking one kid about his hat. It was an abominable snow cap. :D Roomie and I got our picture taken with them after the show. They were so tall! And they all had good handshakes. I regret that we didn't stay and talk to them more, but it was late and there was sleeping to be done. Check out their music: Click! My favorite songs are "It's About Time" and "Colors." It's oversaid, but they were so much better live. Not to say that their recordings aren't awesome, but the difference is still mind-blowing. They're so cool! They're one of my new favorite bands, probably influenced by the fact that I got to meet them.

My not studying paid off. I feel like I did awesome on all of my midterms. I practically skipped everywhere today after I was done with my last one. I have never felt so good about a Spanish test. Speaking of which, I bought 2,000 Spanish flashcards today to help with my vocabulary. I figure since I'm going to major in it now, I should try harder.

Listening to: Barcelona
Reading: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Marsh_____.

Ah...the sweet clacketing of a keyboard. Oh, how I love it! While it was fun and novel to blog from my phone, it took forever and generally ate up a third of my battery charge in the process. A nice computer keyboard is much more comfortable and efficient.

...Lost my train of thought. Too many tabs open. Well, since I'm loving on my keyboard it might be apparent (for those who didn't know already) that I got my computer back! Or Sofia, as she shall henceforth be known. Much shorter to say. The virus she got was ugly. Grandpa says it's one of the worst he's seen. It blocked everything else from opening, including the AVG, and pretended to be an antivirus itself. It kept wanting me to install a firewall. Who knows what saying yes would've done.

But Grandpa the Magnificent got it all cleaned up and Sofia is running as fast as ever, with a few slightly irritating side effects relating to HP MediaSmart. I may have to reinstall the webcam software, or maybe even the whole MediaSmart suite. Bleh.

Other than that, though, we're rocking! ...That may sound a bit more chipper than I feel. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy and such, but not...perky.

I'm mellow. :)

Which is interesting, considering the four tests and the Spanish paper due this week. Ah...it must be the looming prospect of spring break.

I can tell I'm all Zen-y by my excessive use of ellipses.

I signed up for classes today for next semester:
Latin 101
Spanish 412 (Advanced Conversation and Composition)
Spanish 325 (Intro to Hispanic Literature)
English 222 (British Literature since 1798)
English 312 (English in Its Social Setting)

I'm excited for next semester. If I survive all the reading, it'll be an exciting romp through my favorite things: language and literature.

O! it feels so good to be back online. I loved my computer-free week, and I got a lot of personal reading done, but...hm...I dunno where that sentence was going.

Listening to: "Do You Wanna Date My Avatar"
Reading: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Pastoral.

Today my roommate showed me a place she calls the Secret Garden. It was gorgeous. It felt like a natural chapel. All the people there spoke in hushed tones, as though they felt it, too. It's one of my new favorite places. Old Main still holds sway on my heart, but I think there's room for this secluded Eden.

Bonus, there was a guy there just chilling in a hammock! How cool is that?! I don't even know who he is, but he's one of the coolest people I've ever seen.

About to watch The Philadelphia Story with my roomie.

Listening to: "Seven Bridges Road"
Reading: Steinbeck

Utopia.

I don't like shopping. It makes me antsy, especially if I'm with someone else. The longer it drags on, the more irritated and reclusive I get. I've never understood the point of it. If I'm by myself, I can spend as little or as much time in a place as I want, but with other people I feel trapped and terminally bored.

With one exception.

When I'm in a bookstore, it doesn't matter whether I'm the only soul in the building or whether I'm there with a posse of friends. The world drops away and time slows. I feel like I have forever to lazily run my fingers across the bumping rows of spines. I can gently pick up and read the cover of anything that strikes my fancy, whether it be a solitary title or a continuous stream of them all stacked conveniently side by side, as though they knew I was coming and wanted to make access to themselves easy. In a bookstore, my steps are slow and luxurious. Really, I barely get on at all. It's as though I have an eternity to bask in their musky scent and listen to the rustle of pages, to feel their wonderful weight in my hands.

I hope there are bookstores in Heaven.

Listening to: "Out of My League"
Reading: Steinbeck

Virus.

I think it was karma. This is what I get for watching The IT Crowd on a Sunday on a shady/possibly illegal website. My poor, innocent 'puter has a virus. Which is why I'm blogging this from my epic phone, whom I've decided to name Iris after the Greek goddess of rainbows and such. In case you were wondering, my computer's name is Sofia.

So anyway, this virus. It's horrendous. It pretends to be Vista AntiVirus 2010 and wants me to turn on a firewall which would probably spell the end of my hard drive. It also acts like AIDS in that it blocks my real AntiVirus/computer immune system from opening.

Luckily, my grandpa is here to save the day. I took Sofia to him last night and he's going to make her all better. I was kind of worried last night when he started dismantling things and broke apart my external hard drive, but there's a method to his madness. Hopefully any software damage is repairable. Man, I love that computer. I think I'm doing just fine sans internet, but I worry about her just the same.

Listening to: "My Life Would Suck Without You"
Reading: Steinbeck