I haven't slept in too many days. I don't think it's a lack of physical activity - my current favourite activities for when I can't sleep are push-ups and sit-ups.

I'm homesick for Washington. I miss the weather, the people, the architecture, the brick sidewalks, and even the stupid tourists. I would rather be annoyed at tourists than be annoyed because I'm stuck in Houston. Not even the cool part of Houston. I miss the coffee, and I have dreams of waking up every day at eight am to get coffee before my eight fifty class. I have dreams of meeting friends in coffee shops early in the morning when the light is perfect; friends who no longer live in Washington, and who may never return.

I'm seriously considering not coming home for winter break. I think I would probably be better off if I didn't; it is possible that I might know some people I could apartment sit for, or stay with. It's not like I can even get a non stop flight anymore between Houston and DC.

I used to have several Belle & Sebastian albums on the hard drive of my previous computer. However, the hard drive of my previous computer was quite small, and I had to purge them to make room for homework. I miss those too. All of the B&S I have is what's on the Juno soundtrack.

I'm not just homesick for the Washington that is, but also the Washington that was. I always long for Washington-that-was, but I long for it more when I'm away from Washington-that-is.

In two weeks, I might have enough hair to cut. I look forward to this, and in the meantime I avoid mirrors and shiny surfaces. I keep worrying that I won't be able to find a suitable jacket next fall, or that one of my professors won't allow laptops. I don't transcribe - I take notes. And I add analysis, and analysis of the analysis. I've been told my notes are better than the lectures. As much as I like the physical act of writing with pen and paper, I'm not nearly as productive with them as I am with a computer. Also I have this tendency to draw; I end up with twenty percent notes and eighty percent streetscape.

Okay, more push ups now.

I can't believe I've been here for a semester. Since January. A little bit more than four months. That is almost as long as I've had this blog. Exactly as long as I've had this expensive view (marginally decent photo attached). Now that all of my papers are written and turned in, all that's left for me to do is purge my belongings, store most of what is left, pack some things to take home, make sure I catch my plane, and then wait on tenterhooks for grades.

That last part is the worst.

I haven't really processed all of this yet - the going back to Texas for a year (!) and the coming back here for a year, and the part where I'll probably be back here next August, but actually I don't know for sure yet. I expect I won't be able to process it for a while, especially since the class I came in with graduates in one week.

Speaking of odd things: today, because I am in the astronomy club, I rode on the back of a golf cart from Village A to Leo's to Prospect & 37th st NW to 37th st NW & O st NW to the Alumni house on O st NW. Jack the bulldog got shotgun, because he's the mascot. It was really strange, partly because the driving was questionable (but in a good way) and partly because I haven't been in a moving vehicle in a very long time and partly because it was just really strange and unplanned.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, so I'm going to go back to watching questionably legal episodes of 30 Rock. [Suck it, USA TODAY!]

PS- Mister Bones has mysteriously acquired a volleyball for his Found Ball Collection! No one knows how, when, or where he got it!

And the study break is brought to you by the aversion of academic DOOM. Yay!

So, I finally figured out why I've been more allergy-y than usual this semester. It's got to be the huge, ugly, scary, fuzzy, mold growing all over my air conditioner. Of course, because it's emitting spores, the spores are all over my room. The Southwest Quad has always had mold (since it was built) but I've never had mold this bad in my room. Lysol-ing it once or twice a day seems to keep it at bay enough so that I can mostly breathe. Sort of.

Getting out of the room helps, but only to an extent, as it's spring. I'm allergic to the indoors as well as the outdoors. I'm actually seriously considering some of the funny looking face mask things my allergist says I should be wearing. And I will definitely bring a second filter next year to attach to the air conditioning vent.

Yay plan!

Being sick makes me sleepy, which makes it hard to write papers. Coffee is good, so I'm going to go get some more. Also I apparently have to have a visual aid for my presentation of my final project for one of my classes tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to this - because I have to spend time on the aid and practicing the presentation that I should be spending on the paper (from what I understand, this presentation is not for a grade) and because it hurts to talk. Also because I hate public speaking. And people. And plants.

No, actually, I really like plants. It's too bad I'm allergic to them. Not like that stops me, though - and in the same vein, being allergic to Mister Bones certainly doesn't stop me from hugging him all the time. The photo that is supposed to be attached to this post but doesn't want to add is of some cupcakes Joe and I made at Leo's last week. Joe is now going to be Joe, because he has his own Opera blog now, and his name is public. So, Joe and J-- don't have to be confused anymore. Yay!

I'm falling asleep in my favourite class.



These are all blatantly stolen from those other LOL sites - I forgot exactly which one, though. You know, the science one.

PS - the last picture is a diagram of caffeine.

PSS - At some point I had a grand plan to post these one at a time, and write about why I like them. But today I looked up the deadlines for my final papers.

I was sitting in Epistles yesterday for the first time in at least a week and doing my very very best to stay upright and conscious (it was a struggle). I noticed that someone sitting beside me had a paper on their desk, ready to present should the opportunity arise. And in the paper, my esteemed classmate has name dropped Tertullian. All well and good - I occasionally enjoy name dropping Tertullian. Except that it was not all well and good, because she spelled it Tartulian, instead of Tertullian. After a while, when my mind started working properly again, I was baffled. At first I thought perhaps she had heard it in class and sounded out the name. That happens. But a logical sounding out of Tertullian would have to include the first 'e' - there's no way to make the jump to an 'a'. So it would have been Tertulian, unless she had heard it from someone who couldn't pronounce it. But that is unlikely, as most people who are aware of Tertullian are at least marginally aware of Latin pronunciation, and the name Tertullian is anglicized from the very similar Latin. I concluded that she must have gotten it from a written source, which also made more sense with the context of the sentence. That means that she had read Tertullian or about Tertullian - which means that she had seen, with her eyes, the name Tertullian. I am still confused about this now, while sitting in Baked & Wired a day later.

This week I have pulled at least two all nighters which were not separated by a full and sufficient night of sleep. Hence the struggle to stay upright. I say 'at least two all nighters' because I'm not actually sure - there may have been more. Wednesday to Thursday I was trying to write two essays and also fit in a research assignment my professor had assigned me and only me on Tuesday. It wasn't a large one, but it would have been extremely daunting if I hadn't run into a reference directing me to the exact page I needed. One of the papers was for the previously mentioned Epistles class. It was due a week ago (more than a week ago, now) I missed class because I was sick, although I had been researching it. The idea was to finish the research and write the paper last night - but I was up all night using two to three times the sources I normally would because I couldn't find anything that related to the topic in the places where I was supposed to be able to find material relating to the topic. And then I went to class, prepared to throw myself upon the mercy of my professor, and found out I'd completely misread the topic.

At one point in that process I was so stressed out that I knew I needed a walk. So I combined the walk with the need for breakfast and coffee and went to B&W. This was on Thursday morning. I was stressed out enough that I got there before they opened (even though I shouldn't have, based on the time it was when I left). I waited on the bench outside of Barnes & Noble on M st. At 6:59 I heard sirens, and decided to wait on the off chance that there was a fire truck. (Just go with it.) There wasn't a fire truck, but there was a presidential motorcade. Which involves many many sirens. I have filled my siren quota for probably the next two years.

Very much awake, I continued on in my quest for coffee. There was a very well executed leaf in my latte. As for the umbrella cookies I mentioned - apparently there was something wrong with the shape of them? I'm not sure - it looked fine to me. They had white frosting and blue and clear sprinkles on the umbrella part. The sprinkles were reminiscent of snow and rain, but not in a gross wintery mix way. In an adorable way. The frosting was sweet, but not too sweet. Not as sweet as the cupcakes, at any rate. They had a homemade taste with interesting undercurrents of ingredients I won't tell you about. But you should try them, and figure it out for yourself. Because they are awesome, and unique.

This morning, I woke up to the sound of fire drill. For anyone not familiar with the sound of fire drill, it is much less pleasant than the sound of sirens. I live in a dorm designated for hearing impaired students, which means our fire drill is different. It is made up of multiple sounds, one of which is very distinctive. I don't really know how to describe it except that it's a bit lower, very grating, and it makes me lose my mind a little bit. Seriously. It is very difficult to remain coherent, and doing so requires lots of focused counting. Very fast focused counting. Lots of it. The first time I heard one I found myself outside without shoes, socks, outerwear, glasses, my room key, my card to get into my building, or my phone. It was also exceedingly cold. Today, I retained enough composure to decide that going out for coffee and breakfast was better than standing around in the quad. Either way I wasn't going to get back to sleep. I only forgot my ipod (for work) and socks, which I consider a significant accomplishment.
Anyway, I had a strawberry cupcake for breakfast at B&W. Awesomely good as usual, especially mixed with latte. The latte had a spade in the foam. I read Kaddish by Leon Weiseltier, which I had to abandon at the beginning of the semester in favour of classes.

I apparently have a ticket to be in the same general location as the pope. I had a rather high fever, and I didn't actually think I would get one. But it seems that it was a ticket-request situation rather than a first-come-first-serve-limited-number-of-tickets situation. They encourage us to wear Georgetown branded clothing. I think I'm going to try to get my hands on one of the 'I [heart] Jesuits' shirts that some group has been selling though - even if the idea is stolen from elsewhere. Word on the street is that when Georgetown people go to Catholic they get treated badly. No idea why. So, that may or may not be interesting. The ticket is strange. There is a dove on it, which is nice except for the part where the dove looks decapitated. And there's a photo of Benedict on it, which is nice except for the part where he looks like he's being held at gunpoint by an unseen assailant. While smiling.

I've ended up back at B&W this afternoon, because I'm predictable. Also because J-- is here. The hibiscus mint tea is great, and so was the carrot cake cupcake. Actually, the carrot cake cupcake might be my new favourite. It isn't as sweet as the others, and because it is carrot cake the texture and flavour are more complex. The carrot is definitely fresh, and the raisins aren't overly plump or overly dry/gritty. Good stuff. J-- for some reason has a problem with carrot cake cupcakes. He thinks carrot cake should only be in cake form. Perhaps it's the 'cake cupcake' construction he takes issue with. I don't know. But I do know that he's silly for refusing to try it.

I'm going to get around to blogging about the lemon cupcake and the red velvet cupcake. And the combination of red velvet cupcake and hot mint tea. Really. I swear.