2002-02-14 - 23:52
busy, busy, busy

Happy Arizona Statehood Day, everybody. I'm in a really good mood. Second time lately that I started out grumpy and tired and had a better day than I expected. (Last Friday/Saturday were very nice in a low-key way, and I was going to write on that but Diaryland ate the entry, which happens a lot.) In this case, I'd stayed up pretty late not finishing a fairly short assignment for U.S. Congress, so I knew I'd have to do it in the morning or on lunch break. Also, I've been sick as a dog and eight times as mean this week--I woke up at 7:30 Monday morning all achin' and feverish and sore-throaty, and that kind of set the tone for the week.

So I woke up grumpy this morning.[1] First thing that happened was that I checked my mail and found a Hershey's Hug, a condom, and a sex trivia question in my mailbox, all compliments of the campus Safer Sex Society. Amused, I then ran into Tristan, who showed me the same items from his own mailbox, and Jay, who handed us both handmade Valentines, which finally clued Tristan in: "It's Valentine's Day?"

"Yes," I replied, "that's why there's a condom in your mailbox."

"Oh. Oh well. They make great water balloons..."

"Yeah, and you never know when you'll need to tape-record something underwater." (It's fun to crack Tristan up. When Tristan finds something funny, everyone in a five-mile radius knows.)

I don't know what was in the Valentine that Tristan got, but mine was very touching, and it lifted my spirits considerably. I hope y'all will excuse me for giving that tidbit without recording the actual inscription here. It would take much too long to explain anyway.

After Latin class (in which I actually got things right, yay!) I learned that Shays-Meehan had passed the House, and I believe I actually did a little dance in my chair--I know I did later in U.S. Congress class when the prof brought it up. Then I got to watch two or three other people get the news, and I tell you, before today I don't think I've ever seen a student here get a piece of political news and show a surprised grin and go, "Really? Wow, that's cool." Yeah. So that was the topic of much discussion in U.S. Congress class the next period.

Then my Hum 210 conference nearly descended into chaos, something that seems more imminent every week, but I mean that in a good and generally educational way. Conference gets really exciting sometimes because we have people with such, ah, different outlooks. I love it. It's beginning to feel like a low-key, intellectual Muppet Show, with our conference leader as Kermit trying to keep the whole thing from going to hell, and wondering if he'll fail this time isn't the *only* reason you tune in, but it's a fun side benefit.

After that I totally forgot to go audition for the student production of the Vagina Monologues, which is apparently looking pretty interesting, from the people who did try out, so I'm sorry I missed that. When I got to dinner they were doing karaoke in Commons, and that made me decidedly happy. All my friends (the few of them who were there at that moment, anyway) were holed up in the next room over from the "performers." I don't know why people get their knickers in such a twist about karaoke. When it's good, it's good, and when it's bad, oh, it's so much better. If they're butchering your favorite song, OK, I get it, but dude, otherwise it's so entertaining. And a lot of it *was* genuinely good, because about half the theatre majors got up there, and basically all the theatre people here except me can sing really well.

So anyway, I went to the main dining area in Commons to watch the fun while all those other Grumpy Gusses and Gussies hid out. I think my favorite act was the girl with a quite nice singing voice who decided to sing "Like a Virgin" despite the nontrivial handicap of not knowing the tune. You have to give chutzpah points for that, at least. Tristan and Jason joined me eventually, and Tristan told me another thing that made me happy, which you'll already have seen if you've been to Slashdot today. (If not, go there and check out "Kathleen Fent Read This Story." This really is the cutest thing ever. By now things seem to have calmed down and Slashdot's server is responding, but Slashdot got seriously Slashdotted earlier today as the news got around.)

Unfortunately, I capped off the day by slacking rather more than I should, so I'm going to be a busy girl, but I've got a weekend coming up, so that's OK. I made some Hed-way on my "Tear Me Down" number for the Drag Ball, which I count as productivity, grades or no grades.

(By the way, you all know about Wil Wheaton Dot Net, right? Just checking.)

[1] "Some days I wake up grumpy, other times I just let her sleep."

[edited 1/1/03]

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