a) the fact that I can take classes from two Germans, two Brits, one Iowan and one world-renowned scientist in the same day b) the fact that I will not get in trouble for walking out in the middle of famous people's lectures c) the fact that one of the Brits looked like a hobbit and speaks Middle English d) the fact that I can respond to a professor's question by using a bunch of SAT words and nod knowingly and people will think I know what I'm talking about e) the fact that I get to curse in class and then pretend it's just "part of the reading" f) the fact that I can sneak into advising hour at Mather House, make myself a free sundae, and take it back to the comfort of my cozy feng-shui'ed dorm room
doesn't get much better than that.
plus, i have met a hairy coo, so my life is complete:
This, according to one of my tutorial readings, means "We cannot all be everybody." This seems appropriate to my life today. Of course, this quote was used in the context of a pamphlet discussing cross-dressing in Reformation England, so it wasn't really talking about me per se. But whatevs.
Ugh so many great classes, so little time! Why does shopping period this year automatically mean stresstastic class choosing and running around like a chicken with it's head cut off?
So it's official: I am actually studying lesbian nuns. Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy. It's gonna be awesome.
What else am I studying? NO CLUE. Spent an hour today arguing with Scott about the fact that I've only taken one history course so far, even though I'm a Hist and Lit major. I have taken three English 90 seminars. So I suppose he may have a fair point about my courses being unbalanced. But history is so boring without stories to go with it.
In summary, this picture is a perfect description of my life right now:
hee hee
Favorite quotes of the day: "So here's my horrible fraction story." - Alison
On gchat: me:hey don't LAUGH at my lack of TALENT jenant:I am LAUGHING at your lack of SELF-AWARENESS
Today I feng shui-ed my room. Or at least we Rachel-fied my room. It looks so much better! And it looks so much bigger. It's still a work in progress. Now that all the furniture's all changed around, I need to change all the posters and stuff around, too. When I finish it, I'm going to take a picture. For posterity's sake, you know. Or maybe as a guide to help me clean it when it becomes a pit again.
Alison and Rachel were both pretty shocked at the amount of crap I have in this room. Apparently I'm a pack rat. But I feel like if it can fit in this room (which is not that big) I can't have that much stuff, right? Right...?
So Stu's speakers are still screwed up. Now, I am not a tech goddess or anything, but I know my way around a computer, and I cannot figure out how to fix it on this end. And of course, when I talk to tech support they tell me to do everything I've already done. ARGHFOERIEUOWFINSDOKF!
Don't tell him, but Stu may need to take a trip back to the mothership and get himself sorted out. Little popping noises=not a good thing for a brand-new laptop to do.
So I'm prepping for this Legally Blonde audition thing. After feng shui-ing the room, Rachel and Alison were my personal vocal coaches and we worked on my songs for the audition. Then I'm going to dance classes a bunch this week to get back into the groove of things. Not feeling terribly confident, but you know what? Whatever. I go to Harvard. As people have told me, I could do something real with my life. Like become a doctor. (Sarcastic? Me? Noooooo.....)
The moral of this story is: Alison and Rachel are hot and awesome friends.
...said by Rachel tonight when we were snuggling. Possibly the funniest/most hurtful thing ever said to me in the past few hours.
Back from NYC and it seems like everyone else is back too! All of those who were away for the semester (Eric, Jillian, Tati, Sabrina) are arriving on campus for a brand new semester of fun. Now it's time to settle down and pick classes. Le sigh. Back to work again? Oy.
I have mentioned this to a few people, but my next semester in tutorial will be spent studying "gender issues" in Early Modern England. Read: GAY PEOPLE IN TIGHTS! Super fun? I think so. We're talking explicit letters between James I and his male lovers, cross-dressing nuns, and lots of ambiguously sexual Shakespearean sonnets. In honor of this, and to tie it into my weekend, here is a selection from Legally Blonde: the Musical. Forgive the poor quality, but I figure you have to see the whole scene to really get the picture:
Now I have to make a shopping list for the classes I'll be forced to take in order to continue going to this school. If all of them were about cross-dressing nuns I would, of course, be happy to spend my days waking up at the crack of 10AM and pretending to have done the reading, but alas, I must also take classes that have more "substance" or "relevance" to "history". Ugh. Why isn't there a Home Economics department at Harvard? I'd be really good at that.
I could spend intersession re-evaluating my life and the direction I'm taking.
Or I could just focus on my new addictions for the coming semester. More fun? I think so.
#1: Kate Nash. Thanks to Rachel, I've discovered another fun sassy British singer. Not that I don't already have plenty of those on my iPod, but her songs are clever and seem to be appropriately applicable to my life. Plus her videos are super cute:
#2: My new computer, Stu. For those of you who knew Stan, I know you will be a little sad to see him replaced, but the man had seen better days, and he had to be retired. Stu is a brand-new laptop with superpowers. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. He even knows when I'm hungry and tells me when to wear a jacket.
#3: Lolcatz. I think I have to admit to myself that these were not a passing finals period craze. I find myself compulsively checking icanhascheezburger.com several times a day. Hello, my name is Olivia, and I am a cute-aholic.
#4: Self-education. It's time to get back to multitasking and learning new tricks. A new job, a new semester, new challenges with the HRDC, they all call for new skills. Time to break out the [Insert thing Olivia doesn't know how to do here] for Dummies books. Okay, so that may seem a bit like re-evaluation, but I swear it isn't. I won't be taking this anywhere near as seriously. There will be drinking involved and lots of wearing of the study tiara. Because you can't learn JavaScript without wearing a tiara.
So Rachel started a public blog. And I am jealous. So I am going to follow suit.
Currently watching Hairspray with Rachel right now. John Travolta is terrifying as a woman. However, "Without Love" is possibly my favorite song ever. Right now.
Am going to New York on Saturday to see Megan, take a voice lesson, and see a couple shows if I can. K's being sweet and letting me stay with her again while I'm there. I'm just going for one night this time though. I need to revamp and relax before the next semester begins, and New York is not really the most detoxifying place, let's be honest.
I have to get started on my thesis research grant writing, like yesterday. I realized that I probably can't spend 12 weeks researching Silence, or at least I think I may not want to. I also have no idea what exactly I'm going to write about. I just know I love the story. However, someone pointed out that the story is essentially the Alanna series, but in 13th-century French. This may be a fair point. But at least I found something that I love that's also applicable. I'll look at it that way. I'm not using my academic interests to regress to my 12-year-old self. Not at all.
