classes are over.
finals are over.
the wait for lord of the rings is almost over.

yay!

it's times like lately that nothing feels so good as to listen to paul simon/simon and garfunkel. it's just that kind of winter. it's just that kind of year. we're looking back to our folk heroes and realizing they weren't infallible; we're fearing for our general sanity. we're afraid everything is going to hell and there's not a goddamn thing we can do, but we're still worrying about silly things like parties and christmas presents and excessive dinners out, anyway. sometimes that's all you can do.

no, i would not give you false hope
on this strange and mournful day
but the mother and child reunion
is only a motion away...

evidence of college student laziness #512: eating cold leftover mac&cheese with peas from the pot that was refrigerated after yesterday's lunch while procrastinating writing a final paper due at 5pm this evening.

my mind is pacing; the stress of finals looms near. i've already taken my math class and am quickly forgetting everything about that class--showed up 15 minutes late for the test (oops), finished in an hour, ogled the cute TAs, and shook anton's (my TA) hand, saying, "thanks for making it bearable." he didn't seem to know what to say to that, so he kind of muttered, suddenly remembering to call out, "happy holidays!"

i've written two paragraphs of my english paper that's due tomorrow night at five, though i will probably finish it around 4:30 and turn it in at 5:15, after work and running all the way across campus. tuesday afternoon is my psych final, for which i really need to study. i probably won't do exceedingly well, but well enough, because i really enjoyed the class.

my capsaicin tshirt (from think geek, courtesy of kk) was actually something of a conversation piece this evening. i had four people of mixed genders all staring at my chest, counting Cs, Hs, Ns, and Os to determine the technical name of the molecule and debating the relative importance of organic chem and biochem. then jesse and anna's friend stevie (er, i think that was her name) started talking about their tolerance for spicy food, and josie whispered to me something about the machismo rising with the level of spiciness. now, all i can think is, my cat can eat a whole watermelon!, for whatever reason...

this morning was the harem's first annual family christmas. really, it felt like a family. reid and chris and chris made a big breakfast for everyone. we listened to my record that had selected songs from the nutcracker suite and all of peter and wolf, narrated by leonard bernstein. then we opened presents--josie gave me a really nice china bowl set and chopsticks and graylan, my gift exchange giver, gave me the beatles' white album on vinyl, god love him; adam really liked his ninjaburger rpg combination--and took insane amounts of group pictures with four cameras' timers set. we decided that at least one of them we're going to have to give to the boys downstairs and sign it, "from our harem to yours." we also think we need to print up some tshirts that say "I (heart) the Harem," after christine gave adam and graylan manly beaded jewelry bearing that expression.

and now, i am very sleepy from all this name-dropping, so i must retire.