Grand Adventure In The Alps

Please tell me that an adventure involving these places would not be awesome. I dare you.

Paris-Nice-Rome-Zurich-(somewhere in germany)-Paris

Um yeah. Awesome.

My Ruminations On WQ Paris

Ok, so I wrote earlier that I am torn between two Study Abroad Programs for Winter Quarter next year. My options are International Studies or Social Sciences, both in Paris. I've thought on it a lot over the last 12 or whatever hours, talked it through with some people I trust a lot, and I think I've decided. But I'll still share my ruminations just to reassure myself or whatever.

The Courses

IS-Three required courses: Lecture Series on International Organizations (which sounds AMAZING), Intro to European Issues 2 (not sure why its a 2?) and French in Paris. Plus one elective.

SS-Two required courses: Introduction to the European Union (which also sounds amazing), and French in Paris. Plus two electives.

HOWEVER, I probably won't have to take French in Paris because I'm so far along in French that it would be pointless, which means I would get another elective.

For sure one of the electives I would take would be History of Paris, the others are unknown because they won't actually know until next fall what is being offered. They did assure me that History of Paris would be available.

So the decision is do I want the EU class + 3 electives? Or the Organizations class + the Europe Issues class (which sounds so-so) + 2 electives?

The people

I shouldn't really care about this, because by the time this program rolls around I will have been in Paris for at least 4 months. This means I will hopefully be independent, and I will hopefully have some friends in Paris? But the people situation could affect my decision? Maybe?

Here's the sitch: I know several people who are considering applying for the IS program. One of these people (no names) is one that I don't really want to do the program with. I know that this person will not appreciate the city like I will, and I don't want to deal with someone putting down my city (because its already been decided that I love Paris). Also, I am fairly good friends with this person, and I know that they will want to hang out, and I know that the kinds of things I will want to do and they will want to do will be very different. Basically I feel like if I do this program with this person it could very well be the end of whatever friendship we have. Is it worth that? Otherwise I know that the majority of the kids applying for the SS program are going to be econ majors. Can I deal with that?

THE DECISION

So here is what I came up with.

First, in regards to courses. I'm going to go for the IS. I think having to take three electives and only one set course isn't really worth it. The IS program has at least one interesting class, and the European Issues one could be cool. Depends. AND I've come up with a plan. I'm going to try to take the EU class as one of my electives. That will only really work if they have room for me in the class, which could hinge on the SS program being full, but still, I'm going to try to weasel my way in as best I can.

In regards to people. Since course-wise the IS program is a much better fit, I'm going to bite the bullet with this person that could potentially be there. I'm going to hope that by the time they get to Paris I will have already created a routine, and hopefully found a niche, so I will let them make what they want of the program, but I won't really interact with them. One thing that could help me with this is if I can keep my same room over the Winter Break. Meaning, I don't change my room to be closer to my program. This way I keep myself isolated, and hopefully I have fun friends by where my room is anyways!

So yeah, IS Program, I AM APPLYING FOR YOU. Hopefully I'll get in and these ruminations will be worthwhile?

Split Decision

I went to the Study Abroad Office today to try to figure out which Winter Quarter Paris Program I should apply to, and I came out of it more split than when I went in.

I'm going to ruminate about this during IS and then I'll give you my pros and cons.

But seriously, just based on the names... which should I do? International Studies or Social Sciences?

I Feel The Need To Blog

Wow. My life has been really uneventful lately. Seriously, my blog sucks. I need something cool to write about or something. (*crosses fingers for a good paris decision*)

Tonight I feel like I need to blog, but I don't have anything that great to write about, so this is a definite random edition. My apologies.

First off. I got my first flask today. I know I know. I don't drink at all, so I have absolutely no legitimate use for it (ok I could put like water or kool-aid in it... but seriously). It was gift though, so I have to accept it. I got it for chairing at MUNUC, and it has this cute inscription of MUNUC XX on it. I'll probably just put it on display by my MUNUC gavel and then it will end up in a box. And then when I'm thirty I'll come across it and laugh my ass off.

My biology class is fucking ridiculous. I only actually go maybe once a week (something I'm trying to fix, sort of) and when I do I usually want to leave early because it makes me feel so stupid or something. Or like I'm in High School... that's it. So today we had a discussion, and after the discussion we had to fill out a worksheet (yeah a worksheet). One of the questions on the worksheet was: What is the perfect human being? I KNOW. A kid in the group next to mine was definitely talking about wizards. But one of my partners had a better answer... WOLVERINE. Seriously. That guy is THE PERFECT human. Well, he's not really human, but thats why he's perfect. My group essentially put that as our answer, and I'm looking forward to seeing how are professor grades it.

Also, my reality TV sort of sucks right now. Wow, I'm not even going to elaborate on that. Wow.

Ok, I think I need to stop writing before my blog gets shut down for sucking. I've got a meeting in Study Abroad tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have something great to blog about tomorrow.

----------------------------

*UPDATE*

When I tried to post this blog the website wouldn't let me for the first three tries. AHAHAHA. They must have known that it was going to suck ass. So funny.

Pool

I've forgotten how nice it is to go swimming. This is probably a result of the fact that I don't really have the time to go to the pool very often, even though its like a block away. The open swim hours aren't that great, as they fall between 6-9, which is usually when I have meetings or am eating dinner. BUT NOT ANYMORE. Now that MUNUC is past, I've got Tuesdays and Thursdays open from about 8 on, so I've decided that I'm going to swim! I've been twice already, and my muscles sort of hate me for it. I'm more out of shape than I thought I was, which means going to the pool has been a good idea. In honor of my triathlon plans I'm going to try to keep going twice a week until spring break, where a major overhaul of my training will most certainly be occurring. Mostly because I'll have access to a bike again. Oh my bike. I seriously need spring or a trainer FAST or my mind might explode. I miss riding more than just about anything, and its driving me mad. And the pool can't really step in for that. Darn.

Victory Pizza

My IM Indoor Soccer Team got to order a victory pizza today. Why? Oh, because we are CHAMPIONS. Yeah, so we won the Independent Co-Ed Division. Sort of. It's a funny story. There were only two teams in our division. We played the regular season in a Residence Division. We went 0-3 and we definitely thought our season was over. Then Tamsen, the head of IMs, e-mails me about tournament play, and I was like "what the hell?" Then I figured out that we got to play because we were oneof two Independent teams. So we automatically proceeded to the finals. And then we won. So we are officially champions.

Next week (or the week after, not sure) we get to play the winners of the Residence division, which pretty much means we are going to get our asses handed to us. BUT WHO CARES, we are still champions.

AND WE GET FREE IM CHAMPION T-SHIRTS, AND I'M GOING TO WEAR MINE EVERYDAY.

Cheers (holding up victory pizza)!

Pictures

I've been really ADD today, and have been having a hell of a time getting my homework done, so I've been putting my pictures on a photo-sharing website. Below are two of the albums I've put together. I haven't put any comments on the pictures or anything, something I'm sure I'll do soon. Anyways, I thought I would put these up because they were pretty cool adventures I've had in the last year.

So yeah, enjoy?

San Francisco 2007

Photobucket Album

Tour of Missouri 07

Photobucket Album

Field Museum

I went to the Field Museum for Biology, and I sort of forgot how much I love it. It's one of those places that is almost better to go to alone (which I did) because you can seriously wander around for hours. I had to go see the Evolving Planet exhibit, which is this really cool exhibit about the evolution of life. It starts with like prokaryotes, passes through dinosaurs and everything, and ends with humans. The have this great gallery that is old dinosaur bones, with some seriously amazing fossils. They also have a lot of other great bones, and some cool displays as well. I also wandered through the Ancient Egypt exhibit, looked at some mummies, you know. At one point I found myself in the Plants of the World exhibit, examining the differences between South American and African coffee beans. It was actually kind of fun. A lot of fun.

I feel like this museum thing should happen more often. It's a constructive thing to do on a Saturday afternoon, when I would probably be sleeping anyways. Maybe I'll try to go once a month or something. I'd like to see the Museum of Science and Industry again, and the Shedd Aquarium too.

Oh, and then after the Field Museum today I went to Target and bought all this great food. I'm seriously stockpiled until at least Spring Quarter. Good thing, Bartlett sucks.

Other than that I've just been chilling. I'm kind of in a weird slump right now. I think I've got a lot of great stuff to look forward to in the coming months, but it all seem so far away, and that's bringing me down a bit. I mean I've got New York in May, camp this summer, and then (hopefully) Paris in the fall. So the here and now doesn't seem that exciting, and its got me in a funk or something. Who'd have thought that?

I've got ChoMUN in like a week and a half. That's what I've got to keep telling myself. And then Spring Break is right around the corner. Then new classes, and before I know it it's May and I'm off to New York. Cool.

New York

So last night Meredyth and I hung out in the dorms and watched I Am Legend and The Interpreter. I'm pretty sure the world didn't really like either of these movies thaaat much, but Meredyth and I both like them. Although I was ridiculously jumpy for I Am Legend, and whenever the zombie people came out I nearly lost it. Not really sure why. Usually I can handle shit like that.

Anyways, both of these films take place in New York City, somewhere I GET TO GO TO in a few months! I am so incredibly excited it's unbelievable.

I don't know if people really get how excited about travel I am. First off, my family doesn't travel all that much. A family vacation to us is driving three hours north and pitching a tent for a week. It's fun, but it's what we always do. I have been fortunate enough to see a few places, mostly in the past few years, but a family vacation to somewhere like Colorado is going to be centered on hiking and camping, you know. Mostly it's because my step-dad loves to camp and he loves nature. And, since he is pretty much the sole supporter of my family, he sort of gets to pick what we do when we are on vacation.

Not anymore.

Now I'm old enough, and I'm starting to have enough money, that I can take myself places. Like when I went to Missouri for the Tour of Missouri last fall. I did that all on my own, and I had a blast. This New York thing is similar. I found a program that I wanted to do, that allows me to see a new part of the world. No parental intervention.

So I guess the reason I am so excited for this trip is that I got to pick it, not my step-dad. The trips he picked were fun, I'm not gonna lie, but they weren't really what I want to do.

God I hope I get into Paris.

Drug-Sniffing Cats, Poodles, etc...

So I had this really vivid dream a few nights ago, and for some reason I think it is absolutely hilarious. In the dream I was hanging out in the Max P hallway with all of my friends from the House. We were just talking, and all of a sudden the lights go out. Like, pitch-black out. And then this really bright spotlight comes on from the other end of the hallway, illuminating us. We all look and we see a bunch of cops with dogs. They start coming down the hallway towards us. The first dog in the line is like a normal drug-sniffing dog, but after that follows a wide range of dogs. There is a poodle with the worst haircut ever, a small maybe beagle or something, one of those dogs that is so small you can hold it in your hand, an ugly furry thing that is probably meaner than it looks, and at the very end of the line is an orange and white stripped cat. All of these animals are being lead down the Max P hallway dog show style, with their tails in the air. But they are all obviously sniffing for drugs too. They pass us, and then stop at the very last door at the end of the hallway. Then the police knock...

That's when I woke up.

But seriously, what the hell? I laughed my ass off. And now whenever I go to that part of the hallway I picture a cat sniffing for drugs. I don't think I can ever take the Max P hallways seriously again. Well I never did anyways, but still.

NEW YORK CITYYYY!!!

I'M GOING.

IN MAY.

TO NEW YORK CITY.

AND I AM SO FUCKING EXCITED ITS RIDICULOUS.

Yeah, so in May I'm going to be the Director of UNICEF at UNA-USA in New York City. The trip is comped by the program, and I'll be there for like SIX DAYS.


YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAYAAYA!!

Faculty Roundtables

The Class of 2010 Faculty Roundtables were tonight. Basically this was just a fancy dinner where second years got free food and had to sit at a table with a member of the faculty (from the department of our choice). It was pretty awkward because I didn't really know anyone at my table, but here are some highlights.

-The faculty member assigned to my table was Dean Merritt, head of Study Abroad (niiiice).

-Dean Merritt talked about Russia the WHOLE time, and I don't actually know much about Russia so I just nodded my head a lot.

-Also, we were all talking before about how we were nervous about table manners, and I'm pretty sure Dean Merritt's were the worst.

-I made an ass of myself in front of John Mearsheimer (aka really important poli sci prof).

-Charles Lipson (another poli sci prof) told me the chances of Obama winning the democratic nomination were 74/26... I'm pretty sure he was basing this off of the odds in Vegas.

-Lipson also told me I had to watch the movie Badass, which after he described it (because I had no idea what he was talking about) I figured out he actually meant Superbad. It was funny because he kept cackling about McLovin, and I've seen the film, but I didn't want to say anything to avoid a potentially awkward situation.

-I did not like whatever the fuck we were served. It was like chicken with something sweet inside, but I didn't like the inside so I tried to eat the chicken... lol.

It was a good experience. I think I hit it off well with Dean Merritt and Lipson, so those will be good connections to have. Heh, I'm such a networker.

So I just want to share this AMAZING website with you because I have seriously spent all night looking at it. Its sooo cool.

Anyways, go here:

http://www.earthalbum.com/

How did I find this website? Well my friend Matt told me I needed to add the "Stumble Upon" add-on to my firefox. So I did, and I've been "stumbling" all evening, and then I found this and I've been in awe of it since. So yeah, go check it out!

Show and Tell Time!

So I've been talking about ridiculous snow, and pictures of it... and now I'm going to share!

This first picture is my house. Check out the ridiculous snow banks that line our driveway.

This is looking up the side of the hill we live on. This was taken before the extra foot we got on Saturday, and thus the hill is relatively clear. Saturday it was covered with two inches of ice, and no cars could get up it. Look how deep our mailbox is.

This is superfunny. It our neighbors mailbox. They continually have to dig it out so they can get mail. The snow mound is about six feet high.

To put this snow mound in perspective... its bigger than I am. And I'm 5'7''.


Looking down the hill. Our mailbox is barely exposed.

Can you see the CAR that is hidden behind that snow mound. Yeah, the mound is bigger than a fucking car.


Dicey Maidson roadways on Monday morning. Super slippery, our bus almost hit a car at one point.
Ahhh... Madison, WI. The huge expanse of white in the foreground is actually Lake Monona. Its completely iced over, and then covered in several feet of snow.

Cute huh? We had quite the weekend. Also, apparently the snow isn't going to melt until like June. Goody!

Why Uof C Rocks Pt. 2

Reason #2 Why the UofC Rocks: IGLIKA
-----------------------------------------------------

So I got trapped in Wisconsin and missed my bio midterm this morning. I sent this kinda sketchy e-mail to my professor explaining my predicament, and essentially telling her that I would come when I could. Well I got there at 3:30... about five hours late for my test. At first Iglika was a bit pissed off that I was late, but she let me take the test. Then I pulled a little bit of old school "Nora the Teacher's Pet" magic and busted out my Biotech Lab Manual from High School, which I brought from home specifically to share with Iglika so I could win some brownie points. SHE TOTALLY BOUGHT IT! By the time I was done with a test she not only offered me cinnamon rolls, for making it to the test, but she also called me an amazing student. AHAHAHAHA! I don't know how she went from hating me to loving me, but I did it somehow. I've got another little brownie up my sleeve for her too... my stepdad knows the guy who wrote the book we are reading for her class. I'll probably pull that one out around finals...

So reason #2 Why UofC rocks... IGLIKA makes core bio supereasy!

At Home Pt. 4

I'M TRAPPED IN MY HOUSE!!!

So secretly I knew that this was probably going to happen, and I decided not to take the bus back yesterday when I probably should have. OH WELL. I woke up at 8 this morning and we had gotten two inches of ice, and the whole town is SHUT DOWN. Like no cars are out, nothing is open... my bus for today was canceled (not that I would have taken it). So yeah, I'm not going to even be able to leave my house until the snow stops (which is supposed to be like midnight I think), and I won't catch a bus till tomorrow morning.

This complicates things slightly, as I have a midterm at 1030 tomorrow with a professor that doesn't really like me because I skip her class a lot (because 1030-1230 is seriously the worst time to schedule a class...). So now I've got to sound convincing that I'm actually trapped in Wisconsin and not trying to give her an excuse to skip her test. Funny.

My stepdad is also mad at me because I was "irresponsible" and didn't take the bus back yesterday. Mostly he just wants me out of the house, because dealing with kids is "such a burden." Whatever, he can suck it. I'll eat his food and take up too much time in the bathroom.

So the plan is to study all day today (aka play on my computer) so that it looks like I'm this amazing responsible person, and so the family won't bug me. And then hopefully Iglika will e-mail me and be all nice about me missing her test tomorrow, and give me an extension or something, because seriously I don't know any of this shit.

Oh Wisconsin + snow. Greatest duo ever.

At Home Pt. 3

So within 30 min of me posting my last post, Greg calls and I'm off downtown with him and Schachte to watch the Badger game at the Kohl Center. Man, blogging must be like magic. The three of us had a good time. The Badgers weren't that great, but they pulled it off in the end, somehow managing to beat Minnesota by 9. Not really sure when and how that happened, but we'll take it. Afterwards we went to Panchero's for what I think is the worst fake-mexican food ever (the boys worship the place for some reason) and we ended up talking a lot of shit about this and that. Mostly sports and politics as per usual. We also laughed at how dumb our other friends are, which is always fun.

When I got home I got to witness a stellar screaming match between my mom and my brother. My mom is convinced my brother got fired from his job, and is now "fake-working" if you will. Honestly its a bit of a stretch, but whatever. I got to tell my brothers friends to leave when they showed up at one point, and I wrestled my brother down into a snow bank when he was trying to escape too. He can be such an idiot. Mom and I won the battle though, and she is seriously going to drive him to work and talk to his manager tomorrow just to make sure he has a real job. Funny.

OH, and my maybe-stepmom (not really sure about this?) Roxanne keeps calling on behalf of my estranged father who wants to see me and my brother (because he's maybe dying?). Kinda sketchy, but seriously, can shit get any weirder?

This evening my mom, Kate, and I layed around the living room and listened to the Beatles. Love it. We were going to rent a movie, but it's so fucking cold outside none of us could really bother to get dressed up to go outside. It has been decided that summer, or spring at least, can not come soon enough. Seriously, Madison is forecasted to get like a foot of snow tomorrow. Bitch please.

Now my whole family is asleep, and I'm wide awake and not really sure what to do with myself. Watch TV? Read a book? Dare I say it, homework? Fuck no, I'll probably go sleep soon. I'm just hoping I can make it back tomorrow. Mostly because I have a bio test on Monday morning and I'm pretty sure Iglika already hates me. I don't know if she'd buy the whole, I'm trapped in Wisconsin e-mail as an excuse to get out of it. My parents said they'd call her if I get stuck here, but seriously, that is SO high school. And I can't let my soccer team down in our last game tomorrow night. Here's to hoping that this snowstorm isn't all that its cracked up to be...

----------------------------------------

*ALSO*

I took pictures of the snow, but my cable to put them on the computer is at school, so I'll share them tomorrow/whenever I make it back (hopefully tomorrow?). They are pretty ridiculous, but I guess if I get stuck I can put up even more ridiculous pictures?

At Home Pt. 2

Let's see... it's 11:30 on a Saturday morning and I'm actually awake. There is something strangely bizarre in that. Maybe because I went to bed oddly early again last night? I wasn't planning on going to bed early. I was actually planning on going downtown to visit some of the guys who go to UW-Madison. But my parents failed to tell me ahead of time that I wouldn't have access to a car all weekend. So I was stuck at home, where I wrestled/fought with my sister all evening.

After my last post I did a little laundry (ok, A LOT of laundry) and watched TV. It's a hard life, I know. My mom made this really fucked up pizza for dinner. She felt bad that I couldn't go to Brick's last weekend, so she tried to recreate my favorite spicy chicken pizza. Yeah, didn't work so well. I mean it tasted good, but yeah, it was like slop.

Then last night my mom told my sister and I the "Fucks sisters" story. Apparently she went to school (all the way from kindergarten through high school) with a set of twins called Karen and Sharon Fuchs. Now my Mom went to Catholic school, and in Wisconsin catholic school means all of the nuns are German or Polish. So apparently they always called these sisters the "fucks" sisters, and apparently it was really funny. Now that story isn't THAT funny, but the way my mom was absolutely dying when she told it to me was funny. Oh the fucks sisters.

Other than that nothing much has happened. I'm watching MADE right now? Oh, and I still need to take pictures of the snow! SPEAKING OF... apparently its supposed to shit snow out of the sky tonight and tomorrow, so HOPEFULLY I will be able to make it back to school.


-------------------------

*ALSO*

Apparently this is my 50th post. Holy Damn!

At Home Pt. 1

So I've decided to regale you with a multi-part series about me being at home for the weekend. Thrilling, I know. So, it's Suicide Prevention Weekend, which mostly means we get a day off of school on Friday (today) because it's like the exact middle of the school year or something. I came home last year, and I decided to come home this year as well. Mostly because I like getting away from Chicago for a few days, and because Wisconsin is seriously one of the best places in the world.

So I took the bus up yesterday morning. It was pretty uneventful minus the really hot Spanish guy I sat by between Rockford and Janesville. He was on his phone the whole time and had a very sexy accent. And he smelled good. It made the shitty bus just a little better.

When I got into Madison I noticed one thing. THERE IS A SHITLOAD OF SNOW HERE. Seriously, I have no idea where it came from, but they have like three feet of snow on the ground. My mom told me that some of the big piles from shoveling aren't expected to melt until like June. Sucks. I'll go try to take some cute pictures of it later so you guys can see. It's seriously ridiculous.

Last night I didn't do much. Well, I watched Survivor which is always a good time. I think later this week I'll put up my analysis of the season so far or something. Just for kicks. I also talked politics with my Step-Dad for awhile. He's not too bad to talk to, except he reads LOTS of opinion pieces and seems kinda ill-informed or biased. Like whenever I would throw out a crazy hypothetical he would shot it down by saying that whatever columnist said this, blah blah blah, it can't happen. Like yeah, that's what the columnist thinks, BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK? That's whats ultimately the most important.

So then I went to bed early (aka 9:30pm) and slept till 11:00 which was super nice, because my bed here is seriously amazing. My mom took me to target this morning to buy some treats and some cleaning stuff for the suite back at school, and then I raided Old Navy (as per usual). I think someone needs to cut my debit card in half, because whenever I go to that damn store I spend TOO MUCH money. But I buy cute things so I guess it's ok. I got a new winter coat for $7, and some hoodies, and I spent my annual $5 on two pairs of flip-flops (because Old Navy's are the best, duh). So I don't really know how I'm going to get everything back to Chicago, but I'll, as Tim Gunn says, MAKE IT WORK.

Ok, that's all for now. More later, promise.

Let's Talk About Cycling

Some people have recently told me they think I should run for political office and help fix the world, or whatever. While I think this is valid, and that I am quite obviously the person necessary to fix our world, I feel like I have another calling. That is, I feel like I am going to be the one that swoops in and fixes cycling.

Cycling is broken? Yeah, it is really broken. As terrible as it sounds, since Lance Armstrong retired the sport has been plagued with too much drama. I'm not saying that Lance was what held the sport together in the first place, just that it's pretty convenient that since he's left the sport has gone to shit. I guess there are several key problems the sport has right now:

1. Drug Usage -- This is the most obvious. The last two Tours de France have been ruined because of drug drama. In 2006 it was Operacion Puerto that took out all of the favorites, and then Floyd Landis tested positive for testosterone after he won the race. Last year several high profile riders were thrown out of the race for various drug-related reasons, scaring the race a little bit.

2. Reputations -- If a riders name comes up ONCE then they are blacklisted for life. This wouldn't be so bad, but I feel like at this point a lot of people are just shouting names out to get the attention away from them. Thus, riders are being forced into early retirement because they can't find a contract or aren't allowed to race.

3. Disharmony in the Main Governing Bodies -- It's like the fucking Cold War or something right now. The UCI (cycling's main governing body), the rider's union, the team sponsors, the race organizers, WADA (world anti-doping agency), NO ONE CAN GET ALONG. For the most part they won't even talk to one another, let alone make any decisions. What happens, then, is that race organizers make decisions contrary to the governing body, which screws teams over.

Take today for example. Astana was not invited to the Tour de France this year. They have ABSOLUTELY nothing going against them accept for a bad rep, from what Vino (who is retired now) did last year. The only thing similar between last year's Astana and this year's Astana is a half dozen young Kazakh boys and the team name. So why isn't Astana being included? I have no idea.

I guess my calling is to come in and completely reorganize this sport. There needs to be discussion between the different parties involved, and past problems need to be forgotten in order to have a better future. I guess my role will be the voice of reason in bringing these groups together. I'll be like a Jesus or something. And then I guess I'll run for President of the World.

-------------------------------------------------------

*UPDATE*

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/feb08/feb14news1

Please note the article about Contador. The kid has had nothing but bad luck. Seriously, he deserves the honor of being able to defend his title. Get over it ASO.

Why I'm Glad the Writer's Strike Is Finally Over

1. THE OFFICE! -- Seriously, I'm so glad that they can get back to making episodes of this... THE BEST SHOW EVER.

2. GOSSIP GIRL! -- I'm kind of lost without my Blair/Serena Drama.

3. ONE TREE HILL! -- They were running out of episodes, but never fear!

4. BETTER LATE NIGHT TV -- So I don't watch late night that often, but it will be good for John Stewart and Company to have their writers back.

5. SOMETHING TO WATCH! -- Just in general, I was starting to get a little bored with reruns. Seriously, even the Disney Channel had to go to reruns.

Although I will still have to wait probably a month for good TV to return, I do see some Jim and Pam in my future!!!

Why Uof C Rocks Pt. 1

So I hear myself say a lot: I HATE THIS SCHOOL. Which is really untrue, because secretly I love it. But still, with as much work as I've got tonight, and as much snow as is currently on the ground, you'd understand.

So, here is a series of explanations as to why I love this school. Maybe it's just for self-justification, or maybe not. Who cares?

REASON #1
-------------------------------------------
My French professor had a party for us tonight. Nothing fancy, I mean he held it in a classroom of Cobb, but still. He told us in class this morning that he would bring us a movie to watch, and he'd supply food and drinks. So he shows up tonight with this HUGE shopping bag and says rather impishly, "du vin!" And then he proceeds to pull about a half dozen bottles of wine out of the bag. That's it. Just wine. He then realizes that we need cups to drink the wine, he left the film in his office, and the food hasn't arrived. So he rushes to get cups so we can all have our wine while he sorts the rest out. He did sort it all out, and the film turned out to equate roughly to an American porno, about Voltaire and his mistress.

So Reason #1 why I love this school? Shit like this is NORMAL!

O-Zone - Numa Numa (original)

So I imagine that all of Eastern Europe is as ridiculous and amazing as this. Am I right?

God, I hope I am.

Travel/Abroad Blogging

While I'm posting-

I've been reading a lot of people's travel or abroad blogs lately which a) makes me jealous that I am not currently abroad right now and b) makes me really excited at the prospects of going abroad. I thought I'd post the links to these travel/abroad blogs here so that I could immortalize them for all eternity in my personal blog:

End of The Line: It's Katie Solberg's super sweet blog for her adventure in Morocco!
http://ksollie.blogspot.com

Fun In Frieburg, Euphoria in Europe: Matt's travels and studies in Germany!
http://friedrichrocks.blogspot.com/

Catherine In Toledo: Catherine's stories from Spain!
http://catherineintoledo.blogspot.com/

Katie in BA: Katie Gabor's semester abroad in Buenos Aries, Argentina!
http://katieinba.blogspot.com/

The Land Down Under: Tyler's tales of the land down under!
http://tylertownsville.blogspot.com/

Chinasaurus Rex: Meredyth's currently pre-abroad blog, documenting everything between now and actually going abroad (wherever that may be). I consider her blog my blog's BFF because we made them together on the same cold night in her room instead of studying. They are kind of like twins but from different mommies, or something... woah.
http://thechinasaur.blogspot.com/

So yeah, I don't know why I just posted all of those except maybe to show off the fact that I have friends in a bunch of different exotic places. But maybe by posting this it will increase the viewership of my friends blogs too?

Public Service Announcement

This is just a friendly PSA:

NEVER TAKE NYQUIL BEFORE DOING YOUR HOMEWORK.

It's probably a pretty obvious idea. But seriously, if you have any visions of even getting a little bit of work done... don't take Nyquil beforehand. I made this terrible mistake earlier today, and ended up passing out for more than two hours. Not to say that falling asleep was a bad thing, just that I didn't get any homework done (and I have A LOT).

Other than that I'm feeling loads better. I picked up my favorite perscription of all-time today, so that should destroy whatever is left in the next few days. Hopefully.

Cough From Hell

OK I NEED TO VENT/RANT ABOUT THIS.

I HAVE THE WORST, MOST DISGUSTING, COUGH EVER.

Seriously.

I got about an hour of sleep last night. Which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't been in bed from 1200am to 1200pm. Which is 12 hours. What was I doing the other 1/12 of the time? COUGHING.

Oh my god.

I can not take this anymore. Anytime I try to lay down I can't breathe, so I just start coughing. I've tried everything I can, including some creepy-ass online voodoo magic that probably wasn't the best idea.

And, I feel bad because I live in a suite with 3 other people, and I know for sure my roommate didn't sleep in here last night.

GAH, I HATE THIS.

In A Haze

So I've been walking around in a haze lately. I'm not really sure why. Maybe because I've got this terrible cough/cold/fever/fatigue combination? Or maybe because I'm letting my mind wander to things I really shouldn't be thinking about it?

All I know is that I've been really out of body lately. And I really hate that feeling. Like a lot.

So starting right now, the haze is over. I'm not thinking about the bad stuff anymore. I'm not letting this disease that I have take over. I'M THINKING POSITIVE. I'M THINKING AHEAD.

Mostly my problem is that I'm scared to death of the future. Now that I've got friends who are at that decisive point where they figure out what's next, I realize that I AM NOT READY FOR THAT. I may seem daring, or whatever, but I'm comfortable with what is safe, what is known.

NOT ANYMORE.

So, starting right now, I am going to embrace everything I've got for what it's worth, and start looking ahead. I'm not going to start finding a job right now or whatever, I'm just going to start thinking more about what's next for me. Not what's last, but what's next. If that makes any sense at all. I've got so many opportunities ahead of me. I'm going to embrace them, and then look towards the next thing.

I mean I'm only 20 years old. I have so much ahead of me. Meredyth told me today that I should run for president. I have to be 35 to even start entertaining that notion. That's 15 years from now, a long time. So even if I want to run for office or something ridiculous like that, I've got 15 years until then! I've got so much to do!

Now the thing is, I have to figure out what I'm going to do, and LOVE DOING IT.

I guess this post is more of a reassurance to myself, a way for me to voice what I've been thinking, and to tell myself to get over thinking the bad things, and start thinking about the good things!

Here's to the here and now, and the direct future, whatever that might be.




-------------

Wow, what a tweaked out post. I blame it on the concoction of cold meds I'm on right now.

I'm Such a Smart Ass

So I went to the SCC to get my death cough looked at by a real doctor, instead of wikipedia. I went on this long rant about how antibiotics don't usually work on me, and then the doctor said to me:

"Well antibiotics are more for bacteria than viruses... Do you know the difference between bacteria and viruses?"

To which I responded:

"No, I've been sick so I haven't been able to go to Biology."

How I managed that in a deadpan, I will never know.

Survivor, Applications, Home-MDing, Uncle's, etc...

So I really wanted to blog today, but I couldn't think of anything good to blog about. So then I was taking a shower and trying to think of something to blog about, and I came up with too many ideas. So this blog will hereby be known as this week's "random edition." I thought that was kinda cute.

So first thing. I am UNBELIEVABLY excited for Survivor to start again tomorrow. I kind of love that show. Like, a lot. And although I'm trying to be a cool roommate and let Meredyth use my TV for Lost, I will secretly be wanting to fight her and turn it to CBS. I've just got to keep telling myself that I can't get a very good CBS signal in my room and that it would be better to watch it online at 11 anyways. But seriously, Jonny Fairplay is back. And Yau-Man. And James. OH MY GOD.

Ok, next thing. I just got an e-mail from UNAUSA New York saying they will let us know in two weeks if we got picked. Ugh. Why did they have to do that? Why couldn't they just not say anything? Now I'm going to be willing away the next two weeks until the day when I find off if I got picked for New York. So annoying. Same thing happened with Study Abroad, although there's was a bit more legit. Apparently they added a winter quarter French Civ (in english, boo) program and fucked up the applications. But in the e-mail it put a time frame on the decisions... BY SPRING BREAK. That is like 5+ weeks away. Ack.

Also, I did a bit of home MDing on wikipedia because I have this terrible sore throat. I keep telling myself that it's from telling kids at the MUNUC dance not to go in the exit. Ok, screaming that at them. But I'm pretty sure I'm getting that token hell cough I get every year or two. The last time I legitimately had one was senior year and that turned into pneumonia, so I'm hoping that this isn't that bad. At least I'm not going to Montreal like this? I guess I'll have to hit up the doctor in the next day or two to fix things. But seriously, this sucks ASS.

What else? Well, I'm going to Uncle Chip's this weekend to watch some Badger Basketball... that should be a good time. I like going there because they feed me real food, and the bed in the guest room is amazing.

Oh, and I've got a few pictures to share with you:

This is what my room looked like when I got back from MUNUC. I'm pretty sure this was two days later. Note the fact that I had yet to unpack.

LOOK LOOK LOOK!!! I voted!! And guess what I voted for?? CHANGE!!!


CHECK OUT MY NEW UCVC JERSEY!!! ISN'T IT COOL??? I heart the flaming phoenix (which is our school's mascot... yeah, that's right... a phoenix).


Ok, I need to sleep before the cancer cough turns into consumption or something.

Super Tuesday

YES WE CAN.

YES WE CAN.

YES WE CAN.

Yes We Can

I sort of love this.

Although I've been decided on supporting Barack Obama for awhile, I've been hesitant to write about it, because I don't want this blog to be marred by politics and political jargon and the idea of picking a side.

But this man, this man could bring so much to our nation. He has a vision, he has ideas, and he inspires.

So while I step away from letting this blog deviate into something I don't really want it to be, I want you to look at this man and think about what our world, or nation could be.

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. 22 states will be deciding which candidate should be given the nomination for the General Election in November. The democrats are loaded, not gonna lie. We've got the potential to really turn around everything that George Bush has done to our nation, our economy, and to the international system.

So who do we pick?

Well look at this man... I think he is a pretty good candidate don't you? A few years ago I thought our nation was lost, I thought it would be very difficult to fix. But with this man, we CAN fix it.



BARACK OBAMA FTW 08!

MUNUC XX

So I got back to Hyde Park about an hour or two ago from the Palmer House Hilton downtown, where I've been stationed the last four days for MUNUC XX (Model United Nations of the University of Chicago 20).

First off, IT WAS SUCH A FUN WEEKEND!

This is mostly because I LOVE MODEL UN. I know it sounds really nerdy, but I seriously love doing Model UNs. I guess I like staffing them more than actually competing in them, but seriously, I find them so much fun. I told my roommate Mayon that if Model UN could be my job I would be the happiest person ever.

Now that it's over I'm a little bit (ok, a lot a bit) sad. Mayon and I were discussing this over coffee at Dunkin Donuts. Both of us chaired committees this year, which is a lot of work. We wrote extensive background guides on the topics (http://munuc.org/committees/UNHCR), memorized a book full of rules of procedure, coordinated the efforts of our assistant staff members as well as our moderators, and generally became an expert on everything relating to our committees. Now we are sad, because, after endless months of hard work, it is all of a sudden over.

LIKE SERIOUSLY, THERE IS A VOID IN MY BRAIN WHERE MUNUC SHOULD BE.

I began my work as a chair later than most, early June, but I still worked just as hard as they did. So to see eight months of hard work culminate in only four days is a bit of a shocker. This weekend FLEW by. Partly because I was awake for most of it, but also partly because four days compared to eight months is nothing.

I had a lot of fun though. My delegates were awesome, they understood the issues, and they proposed REAL, VIABLE solutions (for the most part). There wasn't a THAT kid in the room, which was refreshing, and more delegates were involved in debate than were involved in note passing at the back of the room!

My staff was great too. They made the committee session fun, and although I am a control freak and wanted to do everything, I felt comfortable giving them jobs to do. It is seriously hard for me to delegate work off to people, but with the staff I had, I didn't have such a hard time doing that!

SO WHAT'S NEXT?!?

Well, there are a few options on the table.

I know FOR SURE that I will be staffing ChoMUN this spring. Thats the college conference, and it is in 4.5 weeks. Yeah. We are going to squash what was essentially 8 months of preperation for MUNUC into 4.5 weeks for ChoMUN. Luckily ChoMUN is a lot of doing it on the fly. Thank GOD!

I've also applied to staff two conferences for UNAUSA. The first is a one day event in Chicago in early May. I should be picked for that no problem. The second is a long weekend conference in New York City in mid-May. I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to get selected to staff that conference. Like A LOT. I think my chances are good. Not great. But good. I don't really know how competitive it is, but I know I've got two years of MUNUC on my application so that helps me a bit (ok, probably a lot, most other conferences SUCK).

For now I'm just going to have to deal with my MUNUC withdrawl. It's going to be a rough few days (mostly because I'm working off of 9 hours of sleep for the last 72 hours with the prospect of 12+ hours of homework looming ahead). I think I can handle it though. It's these first few days that are the roughest. DAMN.