hello. i am at work. i have approximately 0 things on my mind. i have things i should be doing, but the vast majority of them are not really things i can do at work. or they are reading, and, hah! reading. that's that thing that requires my long-lost attention span and eyes that aren't stunned by the frequency of fluorescent lighting. i guess i could be looking at the lecture slides from my stupid online course or deciding whether to do my esc110 project so it overlaps with the com418 project and writing my project plan for the latter class accordingly. that sounds just thrilling.

so. it's probably an hour later. i'm still at work, of course. had a long conversation with boss and coworker about geeks, or something. they said geek boys (card players and freaky gamers) have a stench, much like lower-echelon dogs or something, which stakes out their territory and lingers in the air. i have never noticed anything beyond the usual antisocial young male b.o., but they were both vehement that such an odor exists. it was an amusing conversation, but i can't remember anything enough to, say, quote it here for your reading pleasure.

also, irc is funny. i love irc!

here are some websites with mp3s i have recently enjoyed:

glasstown
petracovich

yes. music is neat.

today i had to explain "shagging" to my mom. it was hilarious. it all started when she was telling me what she'd read about the new radiohead album...

mom: "most of the new songs are definitely for shagging --- if you like to shag very, very slowly."
me: hahahah.
mom: what...is shagging??
me: hahsahdhl!
me: umm.
me: british version of fucking.
mom: it appears that I have missed something significant....
me: oh?
mom: I have never heard of such thing
me: heh!
mom: must you be eating tea and crumpets at the same time?
me: the first austin powers movie had that in the title, and it wasn't very um.. acceptable in the uk.
mom: or kidney pie?
me: hahah.
mom: oh well.
me: well, now you know. ;)
mom: not really. I know the term...but not what is actually means
mom: please don't make me watch an austin powers movie
me: it actually means "to copulate" in a rough sense. you'd use it the same way you use "fuck"
me: except without all the non-sex-related variations.
me: which would mean you'd never use it. ;)
me: nono, i wouldn't dare make you watch that movie.
mom: thank you. And...when you said "the british version of fucking"...I assumed...that meant some specific posture/toy/method
me: oh. ;)
mom: not just another word
me: sorry i was not more specific!
mom: ok.
mom: glad we had this chat
me: hahahah.
me: yeah.
mom: I am so much more worldly now
me: i feel like the slang dictionary.
mom: you ARE

* screen names have been changed to protect the innocent.

in other news, christine emailed everyone from russia this morning to let us know she got there and everything is just dandy. hurrah! she has also started a blog (see namelink) but hasn't put anything there yet.

today is most definitely a jimi hendrix kinda day. i don't know why, but i was walking home for lunch and the sun and the sky and the general ambience of the day made me long for that acid-drenched guitar wailing.

i put on "electric ladyland" as soon as i got home and went about my business. my copy is vinyl, and it's 2 lps.

side A, i ate cold leftover mac&cheese and browsed swappingtons. side B, I did dishes. and oh, what a pile of dishes there was. some still remain that i hadn't brought into the kitchen. dishes are a pain. side C has just finished and i have been...i dunno, wasting my time as usual. side D will bring us to the conclusion of this fine midday and i will leave for class. this is a lovely record.

christine left for russia yesterday. we spent my tuesday midday break together, which was nice but surreal. it's bizarre that i won't see her again until june, at least. she has set up a blog but not yet divulged its location, though i could try a few guesses. we had a good lunch at the continental, then ran around in the rain doing some vague errands and shopping-type things.

i have projects piling up in every class and i feel my time being crunched. sleep can be difficult, especially when someone's fucking car alarm goes off at 4am and keeps going for a good five minutes, all the while sounding not unlike an alarm clock sent through a bullhorn.

i was going to say something more, but i don't know what. i just haven't updated in a few days and christine just left and things and stuff are occurring at a rate i'm not sure i can really process? only nothing much is actually happening at all, i guess. days flow into weeks and into months and i lose track of time and people and thoughts, culminating in not much of anything.

listening: jimi hendrix - house burning down

picking apples for the kings and queens
of things i've never seen...

i felt positively *drunk* tonight, all without a drop of anything remotely alcoholic.

i arrived at christine's goodbye party, bag of sparkling lemonade and "tacky american gifts" in hand, feeling the effects of a mild headache. several hours, two slices of pizza, some brie and bread, and entirely too many sugary compulsive snacks later, my headache had blossomed to full-on pain, accompanied by overheating and general stupidity. chris told me at one point i was acting like i'd already had six drinks. "how would you know?" i accused, "you've only ever seen me drunk on four!"

we had wanted to go to a bar for something both caffeinated and alcoholic (i kind of wanted to try kahlua), but no one else was game, so we ended up hanging around the harem and watching last week's gilmore girls. my friends conferred on the subject of my headache and drinking, and after offering me wine, quickly rescinded the offer in favor of some aleve, which jana was all too excited to release from their convenient little single packs for me. "there's a trick to it!" she exclaimed. "can you figure it out? you just fold on the line and tear at the dot!" which was exactly what the package said.

so many people came tonight. nearly everyone i've known and loved over the past two and a half years, in fact. even adam showed, and he has been all but completely absent from harem life for about a year now. i got to talk to a lot of them. christine clearly felt loved, which was the point. i'm hoping to see her again tuesday morning between classes. she leaves wednesday evening.

josie told me she's planning to graduate at the end of summer and join the peace corps. jesse will be done about the same time. jana, lindsay, and lauren are all done this spring, and reid's already done. i should be able to finish by the end of fall term, if scheduling permits. this phase of life is so rushed and packed and crazy, but real life awaits. whatever that means.

listening: wilco - ashes of american flags