holy goodness, I leave for just one weekend, I come back and the quad is beautiful. The trees decided that it was time to become amazingly stunning and they are full with blossoms. Does this mean it's spring? Or, in the words of Jeff, "that's the way it always is. You go away for a little while, and suddenly everything becomes beautiful."

Also, I'm a bad procrastinator today, and it's all due to Penny Arcade. Thanks a bunch, my good web comic friend. (these two strips together are the best, btw, first this and then this. high-larious.)

And that's all I got. On to the homework.

This weekend was very pleasantly spent at home in Olympia. Of course, I got no homework done, but that was okay because I didn't really have any. Just a few lab reports that I have to make sure are in tip-top shape by the time I have to turn them in because it's nearing the end of the quarter and I have to make sure I salvage my chem lab grade properly. And they're not due until later in the week.

Last night was weird. I decided that my headache and my lethargy were enough to merit a nap after dinner, around 8 o'clock. Well, that nap ended up lasting until 3 AM - my fault for not setting an alarm, but what can you do? So I got up to do all my bedtime things - wash face, brush teeth, get into PJs, set alarm - and then I couldn't go back to sleep. Stupid birds outside were already making distracting noises, and my nose was stuffy because I'm still not over this ridiculous cold. So I finally listened to my "soothing mix" on my iPod, which consists of "Cocoon" by Jack Johnson, and "Those to Come" by The Shins, and then a few classical songs. That ended up doing the trick, and I think I fell asleep by 5 again. That amounted to about 9 1/2 hours of sleep by the time I decided to get up at 7:45, even though class doesn't start for me until 9:30. The idea was to work on some math homework, but instead I edited Jeff's German paper and then blogged for a bit. Hmm, I still have ~15 minutes before I have to leave - maybe I'll do a little math and then go to class. Here's a little morning Shins for the road:

called to see if your back
was still aligned and your sheets
were growing grass
all on the corners of your bed
but you've got to much to wear on your sleeves
it's too much to do with me
and secretly I want to bury in the yard
the grey remains of a friendship scarred

The Shins - Kissing the Lipless

weirdest thing today... I got back a math quiz that I hadn't done the homework for, or in any other way had studied for, other than attending quiz section and listening to the TA talk about the homework for 40 minutes before the quiz. I thought I had done horribly, which would have made sense, because I didn't actually know anything for it, and that was okay because I already had 9's and 10's on every quiz except for one, and I can drop two, and this quiz was the last, so I could drop it. But lo and behold, I get the quiz back today and I have full credit on it! 10 points! So my grade was brought up one more point and I didn't put any time or effort into it. I don't remember the last time that happened.

In other news, the chem midterm went okay today. Now I get the rest of the week off from any real homework, and I can hopefully use my free time to beat this cold that has got me down. Also, this weekend I'm going to outline exactly what I need to do next week so that I can study efficiently for finals. Then it's off to LA with me!

Oh, and if you read this by 7 PM tonight and you go to UW, please come to Off The Ave's first public performance tonight. Ian's Domain @ 7 PM. It will be some fabulous a cappella...

I love it when a not-so-good week is turned into a rather nice one by the mere postponment of a due date for a lab report.

SCORE.

Perhaps I should use this time to clean my room. Maybe shower? Or, I could work on the scarf. Hmm yes, let's go with the scarf.

Oh wait, chem midterm tomorrow. WHY ARE THERE MIDTERMS IN THE 9TH WEEK OF A 10 WEEK QUARTER?!?!?!?!

hoo boy. This week will surely be a long one. I keep thinking that the next week won't be so bad, and then it turns out that there are multitudes of things to be done, and I can only get through it by just trying to convince myself that it will all be better soon, and that i can rest on the weekend. But that doesn't happen either, and then it's full-throttle on to the next week.

Since I'm on a break right now from work, I should probably do something more constructive than blog. Say, maybe write up a regrade request for my o-chem exam in a futile effort to get more points. I feel like Cher from Clueless, bartering for a better grade. But hey, everyone in my class does it. So why not me?

If you must play, win. If you can't win, avoid the machines and instead try dumping a Utah-family-size whole laundry detergent box in the fountains at Paris Las Vegas. This is as exciting as craps, I guarantee it. Have your driver waiting in the middle lane -- not the taxi line, at left -- and synchronize your dump with the stop signal out on the Strip. When it's green, do it, get your ass back in the car, and go. Security is stationed a ways over toward the garage but they'll run if they have to; so step on it. Allow 30 minutes for bubbles to reach peak flow. Plan ahead, send me the snapshot, and as always, good luck.

Who is this guy?

I'm at Mary Gates Hall, where I just finished studying for tomorrow's math midterm. I guess the word "finished" isn't quite accurate: I get to go home and do a few more practice midterms. Oh well - it's nice to have a blogging break because I am tired of leaning over my books. Before coming to CLUE, I had a chem lab, which went pretty well - I wasn't heating my thing right for the first half of the heating time but it didn't matter because I ended up with a nice bunch of solid that smelled like almonds. Of course, it's not good to breath benzoin, so I tried to refrain. But man, it smelled yummy, and i was quite hungry.

After lab I grabbed dinner with Ashley, and we got roped into playing Drug Jeopardy. It was kinda dumb, but there were only 4 or 5 people vying for 3 prizes. Ash and I ended up winning a 20 dollar gift certificate to Best Buy, so we get to go there and figure out what we're going to buy with it. It's not gonna make a whole lotta sense, because what can you get two of at Best Buy that totals less than 20 bucks? we'll probably get some cool movie, watch it, and then wrestle or something to determine who gets to keep it for ever and ever. :)

The other thing that Ash and I have to do relatively soon is go to the spa - we bought these VIP passes to a spa downtown for a really good price. We just have to make sure to get all 3 visits in before the vouchers expire in 4 months.

Hmm, come to think of it, I'll probably go to the spa on Saturday after I get off work. I don't really want to go to the game, but I'd like to see my dad while he's up here. And then afterwards, I have a cappella rehearsal at 4. Let's see: how does this work out? Al spends the night on Friday, I move the car shortly before 7AM Saturday to E-1. OR I buy a $9.oo pass, park in the physics lot, and get a partial refund when I go to work again at 10:15. OR I drive to the IMA, work out for a while, and go to work at 10... Then, at 1, Al goes to the game with Dad. If we get our 2:00 appointment, I pick up Ashley and we go to the spa and get our stuff done, and then at 4 I drop off Ash, pick up Dad and/or Al and drive to a cappella rehearsal. If there's time, we can get food. Isn't that just PERfect?

I've been getting less sleep than I should. Time to go study some more and then crash for a while.

I have an essay for a scholarship that I have to do by tonight so I can put it in the mail bin downstairs and send it on its merry way to get postmarked by the Feb. 20th postmark date and then on to New York, where a panel will review my application along with 300 others to see if I am worthy of the 650 Euro monthly stipend that they will grant to 20% of the applicant pool. Unfortunately, this means I have to write a good essay. AND they want it to be about academic goals and projects - they clearly state that they don't want to see three pages about "personal develpment" or "the broadening of horizons". But now that I start to think about it, doesn't mail get postmarked the day they send it out? so, if I put it in the mail tonight, will it get stamped tomorrow? I have no answer to this. But what I DO know, is that I am hopelessly idea-less when it comes to exactly what my academic goals are for Germany. What do I want to do there? I want to immerse myself in the German culture and make friends. I want to get away from Seattle for awhile and have the college experience in a college town. I don't even know if I want to take biology classes there, though that's my major and it makes sense that I would want to learn about biology in the context of another culture and another language. What, maybe the organic chemistry link can have something to do with it... I'm not terribly in love with o-chem but Germany *did* start the whole thing... and they were quite the innovators...

The reason I post rambling crap like this right now is because sometimes just writing without stop can be the way to unleash the creative juices. At the moment, I thnk the spigot's rusted over, because I don't even remember the last paper I had to write. This quarter has been all math and science. Last quarter, too, was mainly math and chem, with a German class thrown in here and there.

Ooh, I think I have ideas for my paper now. I'll probably be back on here in a bit.

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE # 486:

My father has begun to READ MY BLOG. Is nothing sacred? I guess I should have seen it coming, though, since he's online all the time on his new screen name.

Choose a band or artist and answer only in their song titles:

Billy Joel

Are you male or female?: She's Always a Woman to Me

Describe yourself: Movin' Out

How do some people feel about you?: Don't Ask Me Why
How do you feel about yourself?: A Minor Variation

Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Piano Man
Describe where you want to be: The Downeaster Alexa

Describe what you want to be: An Innocent Man

Describe how you live: And So It Goes

Describe how you love: Keeping the Faith

Share a few words of wisdom: We Didn't Start the Fire

Dad just got an AIM screen name, and has put it to immediate good use:

Linnenwill67: Hey, go to bed you late night zombie you.
KillahKyla: haha I am going right now!! I am trying to convince this girl that she can write her own German paper without my help
Linnenwill67: You
Linnenwill67: are worse than Brett
KillahKyla: haha, Brett gets offers from people to have him write their papers?
Linnenwill67: Yeah, ussually in German.
KillahKyla: there must be a side to Brett that I have never before seen...
KillahKyla: ... the German-speaking, paper-writing side.
Linnenwill67: THE DARK CHOCOLATE SIDE

the new album of the week is Purity Guaranteed by Reverse Osmosis. I can't stop listening to "Lighted up" (lyrics in last post) or "Impermanent" or "Tattoo on her Heart"... man I love a cappella.

Speaking of which, I'm transcribing a song that needs to be done by Tuesday. This week also includes 3 midterms, 2 lab write-ups, and then all the regular stuff: 9 hours of labs, 10 hours of work, 13 hours of class. So, you might say that I need to get moving. And I'd agree. Time to go take a shower and then get to work.

What comes to mind today
is where I was before
sitting lonely trying to stay so drunk
waiting for somebody to leave open some door
Tuesday came and left as quickly as expected
I didn't notice that I needed it to stay
you know sometimes I need to be neglected
sometimes love looks good in gray
but
I believe
somewhere there's a vision in the dark
and I can't say
unless there's someone there with a spark
to keep me lighted up

oh Gabriel Mann, how I love you.

the OC was good tonight, you should watch it.

I went on a hike to the Olympic National Rainforest this weekend. It was really, really cool and I can't think of a better way I could have spent my time. (Except I prolly shoulda done some homework.) many valuable things were learned this weekend:
- UW owns random things you wouldn't necessarily know about. For example, a Olympic Natural Resource Center which is a really nice facility with both dorms and apartments out in Forks, Washington, which is quite underused. Yet it is still connected to UW ethernet and satellite, and is much nicer than the actual dorms on campus. If I could only find a nice summer job over there...
- It is hard to buy breakfast materials for 7 people, get everyone to equally contribute, and find food that everyone will eat. But yet people don't seem to mind giving money to a beer fund. Go figure.
- Asian Santas are rare, but if you find one, he gives you a dollar bill.
- Hand warmers are AWESOME.
- There is life without iPod.
- Four species of tree live on the peninsula: Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Western Cedar, and Western Hemlock (our state tree).
- Girls have a 2nd dessert stomach that allow them to eat 2 dessert mints and possibly a bite of fried ice cream while leaving one tiny bite of burrito on the plate because it "won't fit".
- When attempting to watch a movie on a computer, it would help if said computer had speakers.
- The kindness of fellow human beings is not to be overlooked. Often, it may go unreciprocated, but by all means it must be passed on to the next generations...
- Steve Trudell is my new hero.

That's all I got for now. It really was a great trip. It's always nice to do this sort of thing; it makes me really ambitious to go on more trips this summer, and it opens my eyes to possibilities in life that I never I think about while I'm immersed in my school work at the UW.

Well, one thing I didn't get around to this weekend was a shower, and it's about high time, I believe. Then dinner, and homework. Back to the daily grind...