Model United Nations Pre-Show

So I'm chairing the Model UN conference that the UofC hosts this weekend. Basically that means that I've spent the last six months busting my ass preparing for four days. I'm heading the High Commission for Refguees, which honestly is kinda lame. Not that refugees are that lame, just that most refugee situations are pretty similar, there isn't much variation. So while I have two topics, the major ideas that are going to have to be addressed are the same.

I really like Model UN. People ask why I do it, because it's such a time commitment, but really I don't mind the time commitment at all. I'd rather be doing stuff like this that I've volunteered for, instead of stuff that I'm not interested in that I have to do.

This weekend should be a good time. It's an opportunity to hang out with a different group of people. That isn't to say that I hate my friends or anything, it's just that we spend SO MUCH time together, sometimes it's nice to "see other people." Maybe that doesn't make sense, I don't know.

The point is, I'm excited to get away from campus for the weekend to do something I WANT to do, not something I have to do or feel obligated to do.

That said I'm gonna be incommunicado until Sunday or something. But when I get back I'll definitely be giving you guys a blow by blow account of all the ridiculous stuff the kids did and said. Because seriously, it will be RIDICULOUS.

<3

Camp Unit Requests

So I had a really good time choosing which units I want to lead at camp this summer. I don't know why it was so fun, but it really was. I was given a list of four choices for every week, and I had to rank my top two favorites. Most of the time I chose the sports or outdoors choices, and not the inside ones. I thought this was funny because those were the groups that I counselored for the most last year. The sad thing is that if I get them, I will probably do the same thing as the guys that did them last year. Here are my top choices (with some commentary):

Summer Hoops
This is probably a bad choice, but Matt said he picked Suburban Safari and that was the only other choice that sounded like fun. I'll probably copy what Devin did last year and run the kids around like crazy in the mornings and then do nothing in the afternoons. Maybe we could get a tour of the Kohl Center like Devin did? Except he played Basketball there, so maybe not?

Ball Sports
This could be an easy week to plan because most sports require a ball. If I run this group we'll probably just go to the park and fuck around everyday. It will be superfun! My second choice was Go Fore Golf, so I hope to god I get Ball Sports. I don't want to deal with 10 8-12 year olds with golf clubs. Shit.

Sportz Morph
For this unit the specialist is supposed to take sports and like combine them. I'll probably just make up shit on the spot, or maybe make the kids make stuff up. I don't know... This unit will probably end up with me spraying the kids with a hose everyday.

Ultimate Angler
SOMEONE TELL ME WHY I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO PICK FISHING?!? Maybe I thought it would be really funny to try to teach kids how to fish? And then I remembered that fishing involves hooks, and water. And kids. Oh god. My second choice was something about flying objects. Also dangerous. I don't know, fishing could be fun?

Canoeing
I REALLY WANT THIS ONE. Teaching kids to canoe could be amazing. And its right in the middle of summer, so it will be the perfect time to be out on the lakes. I love canoeing so much!!! My second choice for this week is the County Fair. I don't really want to be in charge of a large group of bad kids at the fair, but the other two choices were lame. Plus, no matter what I will have to take kids to the fair on one day. I hope I get canoeing.

Biking
I REALLY WANT THIS ONE TOO! Last year I was the assistant on the biking unit and it was super fun. I love cycling more than anything in the world, so there is a lot of great potential for this unit. I was thinking I could try to get a tour of the Trek Factory. I've always wanted to see the place, so I hope that this will work out. My second choice is awesome too... CAMPING! I'm actually really pissed that these two are the same week.

Tennis
Yuck. There weren't any good choices for this week, so I picked the one where I have to be the least creative. Tennis is pretty easy, right? My second choice was something like Crazy Concoctions, which means lots of messes. No fun.

Construction Zone
Same as previous week. This one could be sort of fun, I guess? Make them build stuff. My other option is this lakes one, but by mid-August the lakes in Madison are usually DISGUSTING.

Photography
This one should be really fun! I hope? My second choice was football, which would be lame, but really easy. Actually they are both really easy!


Point is, I'm getting really excited for camp! Too bad its like January, and camp doesn't start till June. LOL, I hope I get the fishing unit. That would be ridiculous.

Why Doc Films is Going to Save Winter Quarter

1. After paying a flat fee of $26 I can go to any film I want.

2. With it being about 0 DEGREES outside, DOC is nice and close so we don't have to travel very far for weekend entertainment.

3. I got to see Viggo Mortensen fight naked in Eastern Promises.

4. Now I don't have to spend any money for entertainment, because I already did.

5. Beowolf is playing tenth week.

YAY NICK!

So my delinquent brother managed to get into college! I'm really excited for him! Seriously!

If you don't know my brother, he has a long history of getting into trouble, and not doing very well in school. I don't know exactly why any of this is, I'm not sure anyone does, but there is certainly something not quite right. Maybe it's pressure to be like me (I'm not trying to sound cocky or elitist), or some sort of scream for attention.

Whatever the case, he got accepted to UW-Milwaukee, which is AWESOME! I hope he goes and that he takes advantage of all of these new opportunities!

YAY NICKY!

Why I Love My Mommy.

So I called my Mom earlier today to ask her if I could apply to two abroad programs and still be financially able to deal with it. She was all like OF COURSE. She said that she figured that I would end up applying to two programs, but that she didn't want to make a big deal about it. I thought she'd shoot me down, so this is pretty amazing. Actually I cried in the bathroom when I was on the phone with her. Partly out of excitement and partly out of sheer happiness. I LOVE MY MOM. She goes to bat for me all the time, and supports me like NONE OTHER.

The financial thing will still be a problem but my Mom said that experiences like this don't come around very often and that I need to take advantage of it. We can worry about the whole money thing later. Niiiiice.


So it's official. I'm going to apply to two abroad programs.

Well, I've already applied to Civ Abroad in the fall.

And now, I'm also going to apply to the International Studies program in the winter quarter.

BECAUSE I found out that I can stay in the dorms over the holidays FOR FUCKING FREE. Yeah, free.

I love my Mommy. It will be weird to be away from her for 7 months. I'll have to save up so I can buy her a ticket to come visit me.

THUNDERCATS ARE GO.

FUCK IT.

FUCK IT.

FUCK IT.

I'm applying to two quarters abroad. Fuck money, fuck core requirements, FUCK IT ALL.

In the event that I get in I'm sure I'll figure it out, even if I have to come back to indentured servitude after Paris.

3 months just isn't long enough.

BRING IT ON.

7 months.

So I don't remember a word that was said in French class this morning. Not a thing. I do remember shouting out "l'eglise" (the church) at one point, but I don't remember what the question was. I got shot down by Professor Morrissey anyways.

Anyways, I was daydreaming the whole class about going abroad for two quarters, and trying to figure out in my head how I could make it work financially. I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to go to the abroad office in like 30 minutes and ask them if it is even possible. If it is then I'm going to apply for the winter quarter program and beg my mom to let me take out loans or something.

What got me thinking was the fact that if I only do one quarter I will be there for only 11 weeks or so. That's like 3 months. If I add a second quarter I will up it to 7 months, which I think is a bit better. Then I don't have to scramble to do all the traveling I want to do as well. I can be a bit more relaxed and really see things.

It hinges on two possibilities. One is that I am allowed to stay in the dorms over the winter vacation. I feel like this could probably work out, maybe? Or, Meredyth (I know I know I shouldn't be talking about it) is in England over the vacation and I go sleep on her floor for a few weeks... Because the one hitch in my plan is going to be a month long vacation over Christmas that I'm going to have to deal with finding a place to stay for, and I don't want to pay for like a hostel for a month or something...

I wish this would work. LIKE REALLY REALLY WISH.

Ok, I'm going to go read up on the program and see if I can figure anything out, and then run over to the abroad office to turn in my civ app.

Oh, god. PLEASE LET THIS WORK.

409 Greatest Hits Track Two

"There once was a boy who got bit by a monkey,
and then he bled out his eyes...

Ebola!!!

Ebola!!!

Eeeeeeebola!!!

And then it ended with a helicopter chase
and then a great explosion, with Dustin Hoffman...

Ebola!!!

Ebola!!!

EEEEEEEeeeebola!!!"


Track one was about adderall. I don't remember the words though.

DONE!

So I just finished my Civ Abroad App. I'm really happy that I've got that monkey off of my back. The Additional Statement was really hard, but I think what I've come up with is pretty good. I hope?

I've got a few hesitations about turning it in quite yet. I feel like I might wake up in the middle of the night and have this incredible epiphany or something. I don't know, it could happen?

So I'm going to hang onto the app for two days or so. I'll turn it in over lunch on Thursday. And then I'll go to Celine to see if she's done the rec yet?

Oh man, I'm so nervous about this. Everyone has said that I should get in no problem, but that's what I'm worried about. What if there is a problem? Or what if I don't get in? I think my heart would be broken or something. I just don't want to go into this all cocky and sure that I'm a shoe-in, because I don't want to get hurt if it doesn't work.

Wow, that was deep. I think that's how I am all of the time? Fuck Mark.

The Cycling Season Has Begun!

So I know I wrote about this like a week ago, but I'm really excited because the cycling season has OFFICIALLY BEGUN. That is, the ProTour has kicked off, and will last well through October! I love cycling like nothing else in the world, so it's AMAZING that the season is so long. November and December pretty much suck because of the absence of the sport, and school, and it being cold. But January... CYCLING! Now I can pop open my homepage (cyclingnews.com!) and there will be interesting stuff to read about! Oh YAY, I'm so happy right now!

The one downer is that the field for the Tour Down Under is kind of weak because most teams are in camp right now. Oh well! Something is better than nothing!

Water.

I'm reading this really terrible book about water for my IS class. In it the author goes on and on about how all of our major waterways are polluted. Duh? I mean don't we all know that?

The one thing I've learned from the book is that the best clay tennis courts are crafted from termite mounds.

Who would've thought that?

Stuck.

“What do you expect to gain from the experience of living abroad?”

GOOD QUESTION.

I've been thinking on this question for the last 24 hours, and I have no idea how to answer it in less than 200 words. What do I want to gain for living abroad?

Hmmm... Well, I've lived in the MidWest for 20 years, so it would be really great to learn how another culture lives. Umm... I've always lived in a pretty dependent fashion, it would be a great experience to be completely independent. Let's see... I've always lived under American laws, so it would be cool to live under the jurisdiction of another government. There's the whole French factor, meaning I would be living in another language...

Gah, I don't know how the hell to answer this question. I've got three other questions I could answer instead, but for some reason I feel like I really need to answer THIS ONE.

I guess I'll have to sleep on it another night.

June 22, 2008

ANNOUNCEMENT:

I will be racing in my second triathlon on June 22nd!

I've been toying with the idea of racing two triathlons this summer, meaning I would do one towards the front end, and another towards the back end. Well today I decided that this is going to be definite.

I've selected the Badger State Games Triathlon as my first triathlon this summer. (Provided I get registered) I will be racing on June 22nd. The race will be in Verona rather early in the morning. So basically, you all need to mark your calenders and come out and watch!

I guess I will use this blog to keep track of my training a bit. For the next two weeks I'm INSANELY BUSY with Model UN, so my ability to hit the gym is a bit limited. As such I plan on redeveloping a bit of my core strength with in-room pilates. Hopefully I can get a few runs in too, but that is questionable.

Oh, and I'm going to talk my Step-Dad into bringing my bike and trainer down so I can get some real base miles in. THAT WOULD BE AMAZING.

YAY, now I'm really excited for June 22nd!

WHAT A WEEKEND

WOW.

That's all I can really say about how amazing this weekend has been. Seriously, its been the craziest weekend of my life!

NOT.

Its just a little after midnight on a Saturday night, and I'm blogging. Yeah, sounds pretty fucking sad doesn't it? Well maybe if it wasn't 1 degree outside (feels like -17!) I wouldn't be sitting around here?!?

Last night it was fucking cold too, but I was stuck inside with a crazy upset stomach. The roomates and I watched Live Free or Die Hard. The movie was pretty awesome, not gonna lie. Bruce Willis blew up a helicopter with a cop car, and then managed to not get blown up by a F-35 while driving a semi. That's about all I remember though. Oh and some random guy I've never seen in my life was watching with us. He was just chilling out in the middle of my room, didn't say a word to us. Fucking weird.

So today, Saturday, has been lame as hell. I've watched about ten episodes of Shameless. Shameless is great. It's this BBC comedy/drama about this huge family that lives in the slums of Manchester. They get into all sorts of trouble, but somehow manage to get out of it. I especially like it because James McAvoy was in it for awhile. He played this dude who stole cars, but then he accidentally killed a guy and had to "vanish." It's entertaining enough, I guess.

Oh, I did have about an hour of genius tonight. I got almost all of my abroad application done. All I've got left is the supplementary question: "What do you expect to gain from the experience of living abroad?” I have no idea how I'm going to answer that yet, so I'll have to sleep on it. For now I'm going to keep watching Shameless, because THERE IS NOTHING BETTER TO DO.

Wow, that was rant-y. Just like my last one. Shit.

If I Look Emaciated...

If you can see my ribs or whatever, don't be worried. Basically I've come to the realization that the UofC is going to starve me over the next few weeks. Sort of.

See I can't stand the food at Bartlett (the dining hall) anymore. Its the same stuff, ALL OF THE TIME. And its not that healthy, and really heavy food. I mean no wonder there's the Freshmen 15 or whatever. Yesterday, for example, I stood up in the food area of Bartlett for like 10 minutes before a kid that lives down the hall from me told me I should get a Grilled Cheese. I couldn't decide what I wanted, BECAUSE NOTHING LOOKED GOOD. Seriously, we have so many choices, but I've had them all like 50 times, and now they don't seem appetizing.

An easy way to fix this would be to go to the grocery store and start cooking for myself, right? NOT POSSIBLE! Our looking grocery store is closing tomorrow to go out of business, and a new one isn't moving in for at least a few weeks. SERIOUSLY! So no groceries! It's a scandal!

So my options are these: 1) I suck it up and eat Bartlett food. I could do this, but seriously I can't take it anymore! 2) I buy limited groceries from Walgreen's. This is a possibility, but they don't have produce or fresh bread or anything. 3) I beg my mom to send me snacks. She did once, and if things continue I'll beg again. 4) I venture to a grocery store out of Hyde Park. I wish I could do this but I don't have the TIME! 5) Bart Mart? Yeah, my flex can't handle this. 6) I starve. This is what it looks like will be happening... I can't wait.

I Figured Out Why I Hate Biology

I'VE DONE IT ALL BEFORE.

Yeah, my bio class is like the same thing as biotech senior year of High School. Too bad the UofC doesn't take biotech credits. Then I'd be in some sweet, or not so sweet, topics class and almost done with core science. Ugh, it makes me so angry that I'm wasting my life learning the same things over and over again.

Seriously. I spent two hours reading like 40 pages of Biology and then I had to answer five questions to hand in. I get to the questions and they are like "What is gel electrophoresis and how does it work?" Are you fucking kidding me? I spent a whole semester on this stuff less than two years ago. I might seem like a slacker but I still remember how to run a gel.

So basically I just wasted two hours of my life reading something I already pretty much knew, to answer some questions that I could have answered two years ago.

WASTE OF TIME. WASTE OF MY LIFE.

Who really cares about Biology anyways? Oh wait, the UofC apparently.

Straight Long Hair

I want my old hair back. You know, that hair I had back in high school. It was long and brown and thick and board straight. I LOVED THAT HAIR. It worked on me, you know? My senior graduation pictures look really great because I had great hair.

Right now my hair is in this weird limbo state. Its mid-length, with kind of weird layers in it. Its really bushy, and can't decide if it wants to be straight or wavy. Instead it just kind of is. Like a mess of tangles and frizz and weird lengths and puff. I HATE IT.

I guess its all my fault really. I got really bored and experimental with my hair last year. In November of my first year I cut a good portion of my long, lush hair right off. Just a straight chop. I tried different hairstyles and got it cut even shorter over the holidays. And then at the beginning of last summer I got it permed. It was completely different than it used to be. I looked completely different.

Maybe because I wanted to find someone different? All of this hair experimentation started with the beginning of college. I felt my long straight hair was my high school hair, so I tried to find something different, more mature, not me.

This has happened once before, right before I started high school. The unfortunate result of that was some really gross orange highlights due to the excessive use of sun-in. NEVER AGAIN.

I guess when I start new things, like new schools, I feel like I need to start anew completely. To be someone else. It takes a year or more for me to realize that I generally like who I am, and that I don't need to change anything about myself.

That said I'm letting my hair grow out. I'm going to do everything I can to destroy whats left off my bad perm and let my hair be straight again. I'm going back to how my hair has always been, because I LOVE THAT HAIR. And I love that Nora too.

Specialist

So I did a phone interview with the Director of the day camp I worked at last summer for a bit of a promotion. Last summer I worked as a counselor. This basically meant I followed the naughty group around and yelled at the bad kids/broke up fights/consoled crying children/fixed injuries, etc. I also had to mop which sucked ass, and is something I never want to do again. EVER.

The job I interviewed for is the Specialist position. This means that I get a group of kids assigned to me. I might get the bad kids, but I might also get the good kids. I also get to plan and execute full units. This means I get to pick our field trips, games, art projects, etc. This is better than the counselor position because I'm not going to be assigned to the problem group or the shitty field trip. And I can plan three-hour sprinkler spectaculars, trips to Lakeview park, and activities like "find the needle in the haystack" which could potentially take a full day.

The Director called me half an hour late. That was annoying. I was almost late for Biology, damn.

Fortunately he gave me the promotion on the phone. I'm pretty sure I had it in the bag even before the interview, but that I had to do the interview as a formality.

22 weeks till the first day of camp. Shit. Summer is so far away. Matt has to go to Germany for a semester between now and them. Damn.

At least we have a ridiculous summer of the sweetest field trips ever to look forward to?

First Orange Day in One Week

I got this great cycling calender for Christmas. It's photography by Graham Watson, and I've had one every year for the last four years. I've posted it right in front of my desk, so that when I'm working I can look up at it. This month there is a fantastic picture of Stuart O'Grady winning Paris-Roubaix last spring. The determination on his face is incredibly, and seriously awe inspiring. I love it.

One of the best parts about my calender is that races days are highlighted in orange. So you can look up and see if there is a race that day. If its black, then there is no race. The months of November and December are completely black. No races. January is mostly black too. The black days aren't very good days in my opinion. I like being able to watch the race, or at least follow the live broadcast online. Months like April and May are almost completely orange. Those are good months.

The first orange day of the year is in exactly one week. January 20th. This day signifies a lot. It stands for the beginning of the cycling season proper. It stands for the beginning of the ProTour. It stands for, at least for me, the end of winter, the end of the off-season. I don't care that it is still January. The beginning of cycling season is the end of dreariness.

I've got mixed feelings about this season coming up. My team, US Postal/Discovery Channel, did not opt to continue after last season. So I don't really have a team to support. Most of my favorite riders switched over to Astana, the Kazakh team. I would throw my support over there wholeheartedly except for the fact that Astana used to be the enemy. It's weird changing allegiance to the enemy. I've got to wait it out and see them race a little bit. If I like what I see then I will change allegiance. I'm not sure yet.

Mostly I'm just really excited for the season to start again. The off-season, though short compared to most sports, is too long for my liking.


The top picture is of my Calender. The bottom picture illustrates the difference between an orange day and a black day. Note the 20th, its the first orange day.


A shot like this is painful to look at. The black guys are my faves, the former riders of USPS/Discovery Channel. The bright blue guys are the enemies, the former riders of Astana. What color will they make when they combine?

J'ai pas vingt ans.

TRANSLATION: I'm not twenty.

The chorus is something like this:

I don't like whats habitual
I don't like when it its hard
I'm not twenty
I don't have the attitude...
But I do have the pace
I'm not twenty
And my heels drag...
People are old at twenty
Me, I have time!

Basically I love this song because it has the best choreography ever. And because the girl is too twenty, and so am I but we can still pretend we aren't, or that we're immature or whatever. I skipped a bit, but she just sings about being on aspirine and its hard translate so I didn't want to put in the effort.

In reality, I'm excited for my twentieth birthday. We rang it in with stolen ice cream from the house fridge, and a bit of champagne. It was a good time. Oh, and we enjoyed the amazing vocal talents of Geri Haliwell and ABBA, which basically guaranteed that it was an amazing night.

Today should be fun. We've got a lot planned, and we'll see what actually happens.

Shit, I'm 20. The beginning of my third decade. Wow. It doesn't feel any different though. I thought I would have like an exorcism or a seizure or something on the second of my birthday, but it didn't happen. Or maybe it did but since I was asleep I didn't notice? Let's pretend that that's the case.

THUNDERCATS ARE GO!

Being A Teenager

So I've got about 16 hours of my teenage life. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. In a way my teenage years have been pretty amazing. I mean High School was pretty fun, and starting college has been quite the adventure. In a different way my teenage years have sort of sucked, what with the stuff involving my Dad and Stepdad, and brother to some extent.

I guess I'm sad to see my teenage years pass. I don't have as much of an excuse for being immature, irresponsible, annoying, hyperactive, mostly I don't have an excuse for acting like a twelve year old. I'm going to try to live it up a bit my last few hours. Just be real immature and stuff, for old time's sake.

On the other hand, turning 20 should be pretty cool. In all honesty this next decade will probably be the most exciting, and important of my life. This is the time where I will be shaping who I am, based on what I want to become and do with my life. There is a lot of potential for the next 10 years, and I'm looking forward to it.

But in the meantime I've got 16 hours and 50 minutes to be a teenager.

This Shouldn't Be So Bad?

So I've managed to complete a full week of classes, work, extra-curriculars, etc. and although I've been dreading this quarter with an intense passion, it's not so bad. Right?

Generally I like my classes. War and the Nation State with John Mearsheimer is absolutely amazing. Wednesday I go there and there were about ten seats left, in a lecture hall for 200, and I was early! He's really accommodating, though, and let's people sit on the floor. His lecture was amazing. He went over the differences between battle tactics of the 1700s and 1800s, giving us specific diagrams as to how battles were fought. In a way it feels like I'm sitting in on an army briefing or something. It's amazing. And, Mearsheimer is incredibly engaging as a lecturer, so I haven't had any ADD problems.

French Lit is pretty great too. The time period of our literature is the 1700s, pre-Revolution. In my opinion this was one of the best time periods for French thought, l'age des lumieres (aka the enlightenment). Professor Morrissey knows his stuff, and although the class is at 9:00 am and most people are still asleep, he manages to make it fun. For example, on Thursday we acted out the first few scenes of Turcaret by Lesage. It was engaging.

International Studies won't be as bad as last quarter. There are less idiots in my class, and we don't have to sit through Hevia's painful lectures. My lecturer this quarter is really chill, and I'm pretty sure she's making this up as she goes along, which is way better than anything Hevia ever did. It shouldn't be too much work either, just reading and a bit of writing. I can handle it.

Biology sucks. But I said that from day one. I just can't sit still for TWO FUCKING HOURS. I don't understand why they need to schedule lectures for that long. I haven't learned anything yet, and apparently the powerpoints are on-line so I don't have to take notes. Today I read the latest issue of Newsweek. It was more interesting than anything Pavlova said. The discussion/lab section should be a bit better. There are so cool kids in that section. Unfortunately mine is scheduled for Friday afternoon, which blows. Biology is going to be what ruins my quarter.

In terms of other things, I've got a lot on my plate. I'm working two Model UN Conferences, managing and officiating for two IM Sports teams, working at two sites for NSP, and I've got some Palevsky stuff to deal with. I like doing all this stuff (except maybe the Palevsky stuff) but it might take over my life a little bit. At least this stuff will distract me from hating bio?

The point is, I think I'll be able to manage this quarter all right. I hope? Winter quarter sucked last year, so I think that its good that I've got so much on my plate this time around.

Stacey

I would like you to meet my roommate, Stacey. She is not actually real, although many of the residents in Max Palevsky seem to think she is. I don't know, I figured that the fact that she was from some random place in Norway was a pretty good giveaway to the joke, but apparently not. Evan Scott asked me if she was hot, and then the RA Marie wanted to meet her, even after the whole, oh Stacey's Mom thing.

Having an invisible roommate is pretty sweet. Having an invisible roommate from Bjørnøya, aka Svalbard, aka the place where armored bears come from (at least in the Golden Compass) is pretty much the best thing ever.

Point of this post? UChicago kids need to get a life, learn a little pop culture, SOMETHING.

Vampires

So I go through phases. I don't know if it's this weird obsessive compulsive thing I've got, or what, but I go through phases. For example, I pick one thing and then I get really caught up in it for awhile. And then I either get bored of it, find something new, or run out of ways to get caught up in it. Does that make sense? Probably not. I have a weird brain. It revolves.

I'll give you an example. Last quarter I spent a lot of my time watching Survivor. There is absolutely no explanation for why I started watching it in the first place. Seriously, I think I thought it would be funny or something. And then I got hooked. And then I watched about 6 seasons worth of episodes in a month. Which is a lot of Survivor for someone who goes to the University of Chicago and has a normal course load. Eventually I got over wanting to watch Survivor all of the time.

I've had lots of other phases too. I had the typical Lord of the Rings phase a few years ago, every summer I get far too caught up in cycling than is healthy, I watched every episode of What I Like About You last spring, I've been through Harry Potter a few times, at the end of last quarter I was into period romances, I was into Orlando Bloom for awhile... Stuff like that.

My new phase is probably my weirdest one yet, and I blame it on the Teen Librarian at the libo. She asked me if I'd ever read any of Stephanie Meyer's books before, because she was going to integrate them into her anti-Valentine's day party or something. I said no, and then she recommended them to me. That night we got about eight inches of snow and I was stuck in the house because we hadn't been plowed out, so I downloaded the e-book versions of Stephanie Meyer's trilogy.

And now I kind of love those books.

The weird part is that they are about vampires. Now I think vampires are the coolest things ever, and I think I suggested to one of my roommates the other day that we should have a vampire party. Yeah. It's sick. I finished the books, and now I'm looking for other vampire outlets. I may give Buffy the Vampire Slayer a chance. Please don't judge me. I think I'm mentally unstable.

But seriously, vampires are the coolest things ever.

And I want to be one, it would make life so much better.

***UPDATE***

Here's how twisted I am.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/10/mystery.bones/index.html

The first thing I thought off when I read this was that vampires did it. Not even making that up.

Make That 21 Books

Yeah seriously.

What is wrong with professors this quarter?

Not only is my pocketbook empty, but I don't think it is humanly possible for me to read every single one of these books.

I'm pretty sure the mailroom is going to hate me by the end of this too, which is so not my fault.

God.

The new additions to my quickly growing library are:

Contemporary Global Problems 2 (Intn'l Studies 23102)
-Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict, Klare
-Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource, De Villeirs
-AIDS in the twenty-first century: disease and globalization, Barnett & Whiteside
-The Age of Migration, Castles & Miller
-Global Cvenant: The Social Democratic Alternative to the Washington Consensus, Held

And seriously, if any of these books sound interesting to you, you can totally borrow them when the quarter is over.

Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a roommate so I can use the other set of shelves?

But seriously, 21 books. You've got to be kidding me.

16 books

Can someone please explain to me why I have 16 required books this quarter? And that is only for three classes. What the hell?!?

I mean seriously, the quarter is only 10 weeks long. 16 books? That is more than a book and a half a week. And I'm not talking short books either, I'm talking 300+ pages.

So far I've spent about $120 on my books, which is double what I've spent at any other time. Holy hell.

I guess the one plus is that the books are really cool, and that I should enjoy reading them, for the most part at least.

They are:

Intro To French Lit 2-L'age des Lumieres (French 20800)
-Turcaret, Lesage
-Lettres persanes, Montesquieu
-Le jeu de l'amour et du hasard, Marivaux
-Manon Lescaut, Prevost
-Candide, Voltaire (one of my favorites!)
-Le Neveu ce Rameau, Diderot
-Reveries, Rousseau
-Le Mariage de Figaro, Beaumarchais
War and the Nation State (Poli Sci 27600)
-Imperial Germany and the Great War, Chickering
-On War, Clausewitz
-War in European History, Howard
-The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, Mearsheimer (my professor)
-Russia's War, Overy
-The Great War, Tucker
-Origins of the First World War, Turner
Core Biology (Bio 10110)
-The Making of the Fittest, Carroll

So basically, if it seems like I don't have a life, it's probably because I'm busy reading one of these.

And seriously, if I get a booklist for International Studies, I'm going to cut someone.

WQ 2008

So I've arrived back in Chicago for my Winter Quarter. This is typically the worst Quarter of them all. Partially because it's winter, the most depressing time of year. And partially because it is the middle of the year. Sort of like a Wednesday. The excitement of a new year has worn off, but its a bit too early to start thinking about summer. Like a Wednesday, its the hump of the year. Get past Winter Quarter and it's all good.

This Quarter shouldn't be too terrible in terms of course work. I've got War and the Nation State with John Mearsheimer, which should be awesome. I've also got a pretty cool sounding French Lit Class, and I'm oddly looking forward to International Studies even though last Quarter sucked. The only class I'm dreading is Core Biology. Mostly because it's Core Biology. I mean come on. Why do I have to take this shit?

Work shouldn't be too bad. I'm going to try to save up as much money as humanly possible this Quarter. That means hardcore hours for NSP, working as an official for IM Sports, and potentially working for the Dept. of Youth Services depending on how things work out. And I might do some Psych studies too. I just need lots of money.

In terms of abroad, this is it. My application is due in less than a month, so I've really got to sit down and start working on it. This Quarter sucks because it is all anticipation and anxiety. I don't find out if I get in until the very end of the Quarter. If I get in, Spring Quarter should be awesome. If not, I'm going to have to work something else out. I'm going no matter what though, but it would be better if I got Civ Credit for it.

Yuck, less than 12 hours till classes start again. It wouldn't be so bad if Biology wasn't first.




**UPDATE**

Also, it sounds like my parents aren't going to get an online divorce anymore. Apparently they worked things out? Oh, and my brother came home. He called me and I screamed at him for like twenty minutes. I think things will be ok? Hopefully.

New Year's Resolutions

So I had this great long list of New Year's Resolutions that I had composed in my head. But after the events of the last 24 hours or so, I've thrown most of them out. While I stayed up all night last night, in varying bits of anger, distress, sadness, and an odd sense of elation, I revised my resolutions. I suppose I should start, however, with what's happened recently.

At about 4:00 yesterday the attendance line from my brother's High School called to say that Nick had not been at school all day yesterday. My mother immediately freaked out, especially since Nick was a half hour late from coming home for school. And then, about ten minutes later, Nick's good friend Ian called to tell us that Nick was going away for the weekend, to "figure things out." My mom started calling all of my brother's other friends to try to find out where Nick went, and I hacked into his facebook and IM to do the same. We couldn't find him anywhere.

At about 5:30 my Mom gave up, and we drove over to Ian's house to get the full story. We figured that Ian would know, because my brother had told him to call us in the first place. Ian wasn't home, but his Mom was and she told me that Ian had told her that Nick and some "nerdy boys" went to St. Louis for a Counterstrike Tournament. She told me Nick was safe and that he would be back on Sunday night. She said that Ian was supposed to go, but that he couldn't get off work. She said that the "nerdy boys" were good kids and that everything was fine.

My mom and I realized that there was nothing we could do until Nick got home, because we didn't know where in St. Louis he was going, and that's really far anyways. So we went out and ate dinner and went to the movies, for distraction.

When we got home my Stepdad was there, and he was LIVID. He couldn't believe that Nick did this, and blah blah blah. In Brad's defense, he isn't cut out to be a parent. He likes to be alone, and doesn't like that so many people rely on him. So he yelled for a couple of hours about everything. And then he told my Mom that he can't do it anymore. Since then they've talked a lot and figured stuff out. They are going to get an online divorce, for $300. My mom is going to keep the house, and my sister can decide where she wants to be. I shouldn't be affected at all. My brother, his future is in question. Majorly.

So, with my parents splitting up, a few complications arise for my life. The first is that my Mom doesn't have a job, and she's the one I'd stay with. So that means we basically have no money. Another is that my sister is going to be in the middle of all of this, and will need a friend. Third, I may have to pack up and move out of my current house, because it is just to big. So... Here are my new New Year's Resolutions in light of everything:

1. I resolve to survive all of this. I know, melodramatic. But, its going to be really hard for everyone, and lots of crazy shit is going to happen.

2. I resolve to be there for whoever needs me. I'm not going to take sides on this. I love my Mom and my Stepdad, so I'll be there no matter what. Same for my sister, and to some extent my brother (even though I'm pissed as hell at him right now).

3. I resolve to make as much money as possible. If I have to take an extra job on the weekends, I'll do it. I just know that my Mom is going to be stretched for awhile, so I need to be able to help myself.

4. I resolve to not let any of this hurt my Academic Career and future aspirations. I'm going to try harder than I ever have in school, and I'm going to continue to pursue my extracurricular interests as much as possible. AND, I'm not going to let this hurt my desire to go abroad, not by any means.

5. I resolve to go to Europe, no matter what, and enjoy myself there as much as possible. This year has huge potential for me. I'm going to embrace that the best I can and plan the most amazing trip abroad anyone has ever planned. I'm going to live it up, and experience as much as I can.

My former resolutions were a bit more random. Like, I'm going to race another triathlon, and I'm going to do well at the Alderman's Office, and I'm going to lose 5 pounds. I'm going to try to do those things too, no doubt. But they don't necessarily carry the weight of being full on resolutions.

So here's to 2008. It's started out PRETTY SHITTY, but hopefully I can make the bets of what I've got, and really enjoy it. I mean, I turn 20 in just a few days. I'm getting old man! I can't live my life avoiding the issues, and living in some fucked up fantasy world where I think everything is going to be ok. I've got to believe that what's happened has happened for a reason, move on, and enjoy my life!

Happy 2008!