home! YAY!
i'm sure the novelty will wear off, but for now i'm very happy to be here. especially since my sister made me a sign that says "WELCOME HOME KYLA!" and put it on the front door. man, I love my family.
stayed up way too late last night writing a paper, so I think i'm going to hit the sack. but since i now have a computer on which I can play, I just had to do this:

US states that I have been to:


create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

rah.

oy gewalt! such a lack of motivation i've never seen.

At least I have a little motivation to blog... so I can give you that update of my weekend that i've been promising. Let's see, what did I do...

On Friday we decided that it would be fun to hit up the movie theatres, so we headed towards the Convention Center to see Starsky and Hutch. It was well worth it, I assure you - very funny. "Do it!" "This is going to involve two dragons..." Nice. On Saturday, my father decided to pay a little visit and catch the Stanford vs. UW game. I must have earned the title of "Favorite Daughter" for the day, because I was able to snag him a free ticket to the game, as well as free parking. He was a little bit embarrassing, cheering with my friends/coworkers from parking, but it was hilarious, and so it was acceptable. The game itself was crazy amazing - we won by 13 points. We got to rush the floor (had to leave our very-top-row seats with 30 seconds left in the game in order to achieve this), and we jumped around amidst the rabid purple-clad fans and the cameramen. (Dad had left already by this time. In case you were wondering.) Then, that evening, after a dinner of Teriyaki on the Ave (second night in a row - ugh to repetition) and endless walking around the U District, Troo and I finally settled in with Manzanita and LilHusky to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show (the first time for Troo and I). It was exactly what it was supposed to be - a send-up of bad B movies. And it was hilarious. Too bad we watched it at Ian's, where there was too much background noise to catch anything but the musical numbers. At least it was big screen so we could see Dr. Frank-n-Furter in his full glory... We are going to get a big group of us together and see it sometime next quarter - me and Troo and LilHusky and Fizzle. Hopefully we can convince the Episcapalian to come along too, and make him dress up. Yay!
Sunday was a whole lot of resting, then some homework, then acapella rehearsal (which went fantastically. we're sounding great. yay for small group!), then a free concert in the music building with Fizzle (some violin and viola soloists, they were good) which only lasted half an hour. Monday night, went to bed tres early again (this could become a weekly habit), Tuesday, spent some unproductive time at the library. And here we are at the present, a sunny Wednesday afternoon, and I need to go do some work before I leave later for cheap food at TCaf (it's closing! *sob*) and "Goodbye, Lenin", a German film. A theatre on Broadway is providing a free sneak preview today at 7, also natuerlich gehen Troo und ich hin, weil wir deutsche Filme gern haben, und Geld auch. :P

kk, i'm gone. have a fantastic day. and enjoy the weather.

plus, listen to Dvorak. he is entirely the man.

HFS. Stands for Housing and Food Services. I can think of a few more things that this could stand for...

Long weekend. Will update later; now it's lunchtime.

also Alexander Borodin: Symphony #2 in B. Guess what, CHS orchestra and band kids? This song sounds AMAZING when played right... could never have surmised that from our rendition of it led by the one, the only, Mr. Armadillo. :P

lost the championship game last night. went late to acapella and only about a 1/3 of the group showed up. got to ian's an hour before closing, thinking I could finish my lab, and they closed 10 minutes early. didn't feel like going to the library at 11, so went home and stayed up for 2 more hours instead talking to/watching TV with Troo. planned to get up at 7 to get ready and go to the library to finish lab writeup before 8:30 chem quiz section, but woke up at 7:45 instead. had to rush to finish and probably made errors with my calculations. all in all, the last 24 hours haven't looked especially bright. and today is the longest day of the week, with 5 hours of class to attend, and the next one starts in 5 minutes. blah.

i'll list the more positive aspects of the last few days when i'm feeling more optimistic. (probably tonight after work)

ooh, ooh! This song just came up on CPR, and we played it last season for SOGO. I never knew the name - I just knew it was Mendelssohn. How beautiful... oh man, classical music is the best.

Felix Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture "Fingal's Cave" Op 26

Check out CPR - it's all I listen to in the library nowadays.

oh my goodness, Aaron Copland, how I love you.

i really need to go see the Seattle Symphony. How did I miss Bolero? arrrrgh.

in other news: we won our IM basketball game last night, and championships are tonight at 6:50 at the IMA. too bad everybody has other things going on and can't come cheer us on. ah well, if we win, i'll have a nifty t-shirt to show for it. wednesdays are busy, man.

for today's lyrics: go find Aaron Copland's Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes and listen. you'll love it.

what a scholarly day today.

woke at 5 AM to shower and get to the library by 5:45 so I could set up my computer and get everything ready for registration at 6. (mental note for the future: set insurance options a day prior to registration - those few minutes you spend in advance are worth their weight in gold when 6 AM comes and you know some poor fool is sitting at his/her computer, staring at the screen, waiting for the page to load so they can get the insurance shizzle out of the way - that's 2x as much waiting as you, the planner, have to do. a few extra minutes make all the difference...) yeah, so anyway, went and studied after that, and then got starbucks (ordered the correct scone this time), studied some more... just basically went over things until 9:15 rolled around and I headed to Kane for my chem midterm. i'm optimistic about it - I think it went well. Then there was a German quiz, which turned out to be a lot less work than I expected - no essay or anything, so I was done in 20. Just enough time to grab a sandwich before chem lab, and that was also an hour shorter than usual... so yay! this means I am almost done with about three days' worth of steady, nonstop work. all I have to do in the next 24 hours are the rest of a paper, a chem lab writeup and a presentation, and then I can rest again. woot.

not that i didn't rest this weekend - actually was it quite relaxing. saw some old chs friends from up north and one from plu, so that was fun. went to casino night at mccarty and gambled all my (fake) money away. can't say I didn't come out on top, though... Troo and I won a raffle and got a small pile of CD's. I got a sampler CD and Bering Strait (who are they? dunno) and Troo took the Fabulous CD. we'd rather we had won the movie tickets, but it was fun overall. the sampler CD is actually pretty decent. sunday was a lot of coffee, random solo bus riding, shoe shopping, phone conversing, and lying out in the quad in the sun doing homework. oh, and acapella rehearsal, and the Passion of the Christ, which was... well done. I'll save my criticisms for another post.

had the most annoying experience yesterday in the library. was on a computer at the end of the "silent study area" bank, and the people next to me finished and vacated their spot. A girl from the computer bank behind me immediately came over to the computer - without logging off her own computer - and began downloading AOL instant messenger. she would yell something over to the boy at the other table whenever she felt like it, completely disregarding the concepts of "silent study" and "library". Then she and the boy were flirting, and he dragged her off across the room in her chair. At least they were away from me... not for long though, because the girl's cell phone started ringing, and everyone turned and looked at me as if it were mine. she ran over, laughing, and answered it. argh. THEN she started telling her friend how her roommate didn't like her (wonder why?) and had taken some of her stuff and done something with it (don't know what, but I"m sure if I were her roommate, i'd burn all her possessions). anyway, she kept talking about not getting her towel back, and try as I did to block her out with my headphones, I could still hear her whining about her stupid towel. Finally, the girl loudly proclaimed that she would call her roommate's parents and get her frickin' towel back, so she ran off down the stairs, thankfully. her computer was still logged on, but Troo needed a computer too, and since the girl didn't seem to be doing anything of academic merit, I logged her off and handed it over to him, telling him the story. troo didn't use the computer though - the good boy was trying to avoid confrontation. i'm not as good... i would gladly have yelled at her. stupid ho.

basketball playoffs - we play tomorrow at 7:40. IMs are fun, although I must admit, I get a little too competitive. doesn't bother me, but i'm sure some girls would have something to say about it (the ones who we're up against, for instance...)

am currently trying to figure out how to make amends to a friend. I didn't mean to make him mad, and i'm not used to guy friends being annoyed with me (it's usually girls). and in this case, I don't know if he'll take it the wrong way if I bring him flowers or bake him cookies, or something. anyway. i'll work on it.

alright, i'd better see to that paper now... then I can go take a nap, possibly, maybe get up in time to go to Swing Kids, or maybe just get up and go work on the lab writeup. schweet.

so long ago I don't remember when
that's when they say I lost my only friend
they said she died easy of a broken heart disease
as I listened through the cemetery trees
i've seen the sun coming up at the funeral at dawn
the long broken arm of human law
it always seems such a waste
(she always had a pretty face)
i wondered why she hung around this place
hey
c'mon try a little
nothing is forever
there's got to be something better than in-the-middle
me and cinderella put it all together
we can drive it home with one headlight

the wallflowers - one headlight (FINALLY bought "bringing down the horse" - it was only 4 bucks! woot woot.)

man, i love abusing technology. Here I am in the library, where I probably should be working, since i have a paper due tomorrow and I'm going to the Howie Day concert tonight, but instead here I am, headphones on, listening to MIDIs for my acapella group (trying not to sing along though - it IS a library), blogging, and cleaning out my school email inbox. But I certainly am getting things done... it's not like i'm sitting playing online games or anything. It's just not real work.

I don't know if I ever posted this, but this was an email from last quarter from my Chem TA, who repeatedly stated her belief that our chem prof was a moron. Names changed to protect the innocent, of course:

hello all

CHEM 142U EXAM 2 IS WEDNESDAY NOV 19 AT 5:30PM!!!
make sure you know where your assigned
seat is. be on time.

the syllabus says the exam is on chapters 4-6. i asked professor M what the deal
was, since the review was over chap 3-5. this was his reply...

"Karen,
I will inform you when the plan for the term is changed! We
hadn't covered chapter 6 by last Thursday, how could we review it?
Professor M

At 04:33 PM 11/14/2003 -0800, you wrote:
>will chapter 6 be on the test? the review sheet is from chapters 3-5.
>however the syllabus says exam 2 is on chapters 4-6. thanks.
>
>karen"

what a tard. that's all i have to say about that.

Gahahaaha. Good stuff. Now I can delete that... I really have a lot of useless junk in there.
Whoa, 104 messages deleted. Yikes.

Okay, it's definitely two o'clock now, and i've just been sitting here listening to my MIDIs and deleting email for an hour. Got stuff to do! Do it man!!!

Alright, i'm outies.

so you think
you can hold the world up by a string
with all that you are
so you feel
anything is everything
is all that you are
and I'm on, and I'm on again
brace yourself
with all that you are

Howie Day - Brace Yourself (I think I'm butchering the lyrics some, but oh well)

The end to another week. Good to have the weekend here, but bad that finals are fast approaching. classes are same old, same old... just plugging along, as per usual. i've taken to writing letters to people while i'm in class on Thursdays because Thursdays are my longest days and they really can drag on. so if you get something in the mail from me, don't be too surprised. This last Thursday (yesterday) was the worst one yet... I had a chem quiz at 8:30, as usual, and then homework due for my next class which I hadn't yet finished, and then a German test at 10:30 with 2 assignments due as well. Then, since I didn't have my German essay finished, I went and worked through lunch to get it typed up in all of its 3-page glory, and was successful in convincing my professor that I had to email it to her because my printer had broken that morning. Then I was 15 minutes late to my two hour class, a class that's crazy hard to stay awake in. Plus, I had to work last night, and do the chemistry homework in time for its midnight due date. But that's all over, and I skipped chemistry today, so, doing good.

Next week promises to be busy again, with a paper and a project due in one class, plus IM basketball playoffs, a knitting class, the Howie Day concert, more work (of course)... das Leben geht weiter.

So this weekend. I'm thinking today I'll chill out, maybe review the lecture I missed today and prep for Monday's. Tomorrow I'll get up relatively early, go get a cup of coffee somewhere, and do some reading for African American studies. Hopefully Sunday will prove to be a good day to get up, get on a bus, and go visit a part of Seattle I haven't explored yet - maybe Broadway, or Freemont, or Capitol Hill. Just some time to myself to chill out, regroup and such.

Lunchtime with JFrey. Subway time since today marks the end of his meat hiatus. Celebration ensues!

sweet is the sight of a room
window open by candlelight
how would you know
cold winter on the shore
as the dress she wore, it's on the floor
feels so warm today
that's why i'm wondering why you had to tell me
"what's going on in your head
what's wrong"
come around to another time
when you don't have to run
and when she says she wants somebody else
i hope you know that she doesn't mean you
and when she breaks down and makes a sound
you'll never hear her the way that I do

Howie Day - She Says

dar to the chatterbox. may it die a slow and painful death out in cyberspace somewhere. bleh.

yes. well....

at home for less than 24 hours. nice to see the sibs and visit father darling. I feel bad though... for the evening's entertainment I picked out the winner movie "About Schmidt", and by "winner movie" I mean "horrible, horrible example of an utter cinematic failure". Actually, I didn't mind it - I thought it was poignant and accurately portrayed some of life's insecurities and realities. But it was a little too real for Dad, I think... an old man whose wife passes away, and he grows increasingly lost and bitter. Plus, at the daughter's wedding in the film, they played "Longer Than", a song that my parents sang to each other at their own wedding. Just a little too close to home, I think.

Tomorrow is a busy day, full of working out with Manzinita, followed by haircuts for both of us, and then visiting Herr J before heading back to Seattle for acapella rehearsal. Fantastic. So why am I still up at 2 when I need to be up at 8 tomorrow? Good question. Going to bed now.

Spend your nights here
We'll always be up late
Keep each other on
Chemicals can make us stay
I meant you're outta line
With your friends and all your jokes
Moving out tonight
Making phones that hot to hold

And you really didn't know
And you really didn't know

Spend your days here
And never give up now
You keep the children down
You're down for one more hour
Imagine I would feel
If your friends were all your dates
I'm moving out with her
Do you shake? you'll be ok

And if you really didn't know
I swear I really didn't know
So I'm sorry, so sorry

Howie Day - Sorry, So Sorry

Warm and fuzzy. I suppose that's not unlike Jack's colon.

Chem midterm turned out to be unsurprisingly miserable. Luckily it was that way for everybody except the one genius that got a 95%, and whom we should all throw into Lake Washington. Repeatedly. Without clothing. At least my mediocre score has renewed my interest in the daily studying I need to do to succeed... probably won't last very long, but needs to happen.

Recently received headphones as a gracious gift from Manzinita (they were her backup pair). It's been great- I can go to the library, and while I'm sitting and doing whatever (emailing, reviewing chem lectures, etc.) I can listen to classical on www.cpr.org. I recommend this for anyone who studies well with classical music - it's almost nonstop except for an short hourly news update and occasional snippets of background info, from what I've heard so far, and it's fantastic music. the little history summaries are actually quite amusing. good stuff. makes me miss being in orchestra.

Loving it here in good ol' Seattle. People say that Winter quarter is the worst, but so far it's flying by, and I'm having a good time (not counting the chem midterm). Haven't been off-campus as much as I was last quarter, but there are some concerts coming up (Maroon 5 and Howie Day) which will certainly be adventerous. I also may be going shopping today at Bell Square for shoes and potentially a much-needed hair cut, so that will get me out of the dorms. Computer is still broken - they're telling me now that something was spilled on it? I most certainly did not do that. At least I think I didn't. I'd know, wouldn't I? You'd think so.

How do people manage to not call my cell phone for days, and then everybody calls it at once? kinda weird. had a fun conversation triangle with 3 other people (i guess that would elevate its geometric status to a rectangle), where Jihad called while I was talking online to his roommate, and as they needed to discuss plans, they conversed vicariously through me for a bit. and then as he was walking across campus, he passed Samir, to whom he immediately gave his phone. Nice to talk to Samir - it's been quite a while (since winter break), and although our phone convo was short, it spurred an email from me, so that's good.

alright, it's a Friday, and I've been studying chem for the last hour, plus I have a friend coming over soon. Time to go out and have some fun.

but with you I belong
would you help me be strong
there's been a change in my life
since you came along

I think it's funny that I can make stupid, pointless little comments like the post I made last night, and unlike real life, people care. Or at least I pretend they do. That's the fun thing about this blog business - it makes me feel like I am the warm little center of the universe. Doesn't matter what the reality might be.

I have a paper due and a chem midterm in the next 24 hours. gotta run.

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.