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Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
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I meant to do this a few days ago when Amy posted it, but got sidetracked.
The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?
Instructions:
Copy this into your NOTES. Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read. Tag other book nerds.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman X
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X
Total: 8
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy X
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier X
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger X
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
Total: 13
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams X
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky X
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Total: 16
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma-Jane Austen X
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen X
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini X
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X
Total: 22
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving X
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood X
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
Total: 26
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley X
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez X
Total: 30
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov X
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold X
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding X
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Total: 34
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
Total: 35
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert X
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
Total: 37
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad X
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Total: 40
I wonder what the criteria were for this list, though...I might have to look it up. I'm always somewhat skeptical of things that get passed around like this. Don't get me wrong, I love Bridget Jones's Diary, but I can't imagine it having been voted as the 68th best book out of all the books ever written by any credible group.
ETA: Ah, reader-nominated favorites. Makes sense to me.
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Thursday, July 30th, 2009
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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
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Banal details that are probably only interesting to me: - I have major PMS today. Something relatively trivial this morning made me so angry that I started crying. I feel like I should have stayed in bed this morning. I had a headache, but caffeine is helping.
- My Advanced Developmental counseling psych class ends tomorrow, but I'm effectively done with everything now. My group's final presentation and paper went really well. I'm going to miss being in a class -- I miss discussing and learning new things on a daily basis. Grad school applications sooooon.
- I start working full-time for Valley CSB August 10th. I'm going to be working with kids at Shelburne Middle School in Staunton, which should be challenging, but a lot of fun. I subbed a lot in their program last year while Lara (the lead clinician) was out of town for conferences, and I love the way their program runs. One of the TBSs is being reassigned and I'm taking her place...I'm kind of wondering what happened there, since I got the impression when subbing that there was some tension. I'm sad to leave the people at CCCA, and also a little bummed that my next job doesn't take me somewhere new and exciting, but it's a really great opportunity. And non-vampire hours will be a nice change.
- The new hours will mean that I have to rethink some of the things I'm doing now (writing for Dr. Grayson's newsletter, work for Dr. Kaplan). Kaplan was pissing me off for a while, but then he offered to let me co-present a poster. Unfortunately, the conference is in Vegas and I can't afford to go/don't have funding, but it was still a nice offer. I'm going to propose a smaller paper/poster with some of the data we collected last semester and work on it in my spare time.
- I've been eating so badly and not exercising enough the past couple of weeks. I'm writing this down to guilt myself into doing something about it. Food tracking restarts today.
Things that might, maybe be interesting to other people:
- NYC in two weeks!! I can't wait!
- Speaking of NYC, why in god's name did I let myself start watching NYC Prep? It's ridiculous. And yet I kind of love it -- shrewd little Taylor; pretentious, sexually-confused PC; poor, lovelorn Jessie. The things that make the show interesting to watch aren't the things the kids on the show WANT you to see...they're the things the characters don't see that are clear as day to the viewers. But that's being a teenager, isn't it?
- I am so, so happy that Ragtime is transferring to Broadway. This next season is shaping up to be pretty amazing for musicals. Because I'm obsessed with it, you all should watch this clip of Leigh Ann Larkin being awesome and singing a cut song from the show with Tyler Haines. How is it that even the songs that didn't make it into the show are so fantastic? I like that significantly better than "The Show Biz," although it doesn't fit at all into the continuity of the show.
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince FINALLY opens next week. I'm rereading the book in preparation. I think it's funny that, after all these years, I'm still just excited about Harry Potter as when I was 13.
- I hope that yesterday's memorial puts Michael Jackson to rest, so to speak, as a news topic. I think Colbert said it best that the past two weeks were the ideal times to commit unspeakable acts of depravity without anyone noticing a thing. I do think it's sad that he's dead and that he had a pretty tragic life, but I don't think that one man's death should eclipse ALL OF THE OTHER NEWS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD for weeks.
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Saturday, September 13th, 2008
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I'll preface this by saying that the following isn't politically correct. Yesterday I had the most messed up thought that added to the list of zillion reasons that Sarah Palin is a freak show who shouldn't be allowed anywhere our the most powerful office. They're constantly patting her on the back for choosing to have her son with Downs (forget that if she were really in the conservative mindset, she wouldn't think of it as a "choice"), but why the hell would you name a child with inevitable intellectual difficulties Trig? That's just mean, on several levels. I know -- leave her family out of it. But these things coupled together do call her judgment into question.
Anyway, I had a really nice birthday. :) And now I'm off to learn how to save abused children at CASA training.
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Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
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I'm currently reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, and I have largely conflicting feelings about it. As an atheist, I agree with many -- or even most, I daresay -- of Dawkins' philosophical and scientific arguments. Where I'm having trouble with the book is the tone, which is unrelentingly derisive towards supernatural religious beliefs and anyone who holds or ever has held them. The title alone is insulting enough to turn off any believer, and probably some fence-sitters as well. Thus, the book is the definitive example of someone preaching to the choir (pun somewhat intentional).
I am so tired of being characterized as an amoral, radical, puppy-kicking person because of my lack of religious faith. How is it that agnosticism has a much more PC, less negative connotation? In terms of my personal beliefs, while I can't be sure, I don't feel that there is any higher power in the universe. Why is that so much worse than being noncommittal by asserting that no one can know for sure what's out there? I'd feel uncomfortable with that, because there are plenty of people who do believe that they do know. I believe in society and human potential, and I don't need the threat of Hell to steer me in the right direction because I believe that this time on earth is all we have, so it's imperative to make the best of it. To each her own, I think.
It's a fact that many awful things have been done in the name of God. It's frightening to me how fanatical people can be about something so subjective, even if it's concrete and real to them. On the other hand, I don't know that history would show the world to be so much better absent somehow of religious influence. The idea of God has inspired people to do many great things. In the extreme, it's dangerous, but I can't agree with Dawkins that religion has no worth other than its now-obsolete natural selection influence. I'll finish the book, but to say I'm taking it with a grain of salt is a massive understatement.
I hope this post doesn't offend anyone, but I get tired of tiptoeing around religious issues sometimes. I had hoped to be better able to articulate my feelings on the subject, but that's more or less it.
Anyway, with that out of the way, here's a bit about life at present. I'm still working at CCCA, and although I'm going to sound like an idiot, I turned down having Friday and Saturday nights off in favor of staying on the same unit with Theresa, Paula and Alexis. We just have a great team and I love them all. Alexis's grandfather died this week, and the other three of us went to the memorial service to support him and sent flowers to his house. No one else has that sort of supportive, team mentality. I know if I ever need a night off, one of them will be willing to work for me, and vice versa. I will, however, have Sunday and Monday nights off now, so that's at least closer to a normal weekend than Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm applying for jobs here and there, but I was just so discouraged by the last round that I might take a break for a while. Oh, right, I didn't write about that -- well, I was offered the Therapeutic Behavioral Specialist position but had to turn it down because all of the schools were in Waynesboro, and that's pretty unmanageable. Which sucks, because it was an amazing job opportunity.
I got into a fight with my mom this past weekend that's been bothering me ever since. I was in a bad mood and mentioned to Margaret how badly I need to get out of this area, and then she told my mom that I'm miserable and will only be happy when I can move. That isn't true at all -- I'm NOT miserable, even if this isn't my ideal situation. So Mom was hurt and feels that I don't appreciate what she does for me, which couldn't be any further from the truth. I know how lucky I am to have her...I mean, I don't know what I'd even do otherwise. So I've been making an effort to make it up to her.
I guess that's it, mainly. Hannah's internship in DC ends today, so she'll be home the rest of this week before going back to Kentucky. That should be fun. I have an interview this afternoon to be a volunteer court-appointed advocate for abused children -- I do wonder why they don't pay people to do that, since it seems to be a pretty important job, but that's neither here nor there. I might walk downtown and read at my favorite coffee shop this afternoon. I also need to go to the gym, but I also want to go to the Rockingham County fair, and I probably won't have time to do both. Hey, fair = walking, I guess.
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Thursday, June 26th, 2008
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Stolen from Margarita and Deb.
Name a fandom and I'll tell you:
1. The first character I fell in love with:
2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:
3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t:
4. The character I love that everyone else hates:
5. The character I would shag anytime:
6. The character I'd want to be like:
7. The character I'd slap:
8. A pairing that I love:
9. A pairing that I despise:
10. Favorite character:
11. What are your five favorite things about your fandom?
12. What are your five least favorite things about your fandom?
13. Who are your five favorite characters?
14. Who are your five least favorite characters?
15. What are your five favorite pairings?
16. What are your five least favorite pairings?
17. Which character are you most like?
18. What is your deep, dark fandom secret?
Most of you probably know my fandoms. Generally speaking... Harry Potter, Vampire Chronicles (don't judge me!), Jane Austen, X-Files, The Office, Veronica Mars, Dexter, Lost, Pushing Daisies, general Broadway...I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
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Stolen from Deborah:
#1. Open your current playlist and put it on shuffle.
#2. Write down the first line from 20 songs.
#3. Let your friends list guess the song title and artist without looking it up anywhere.
I had to skip a few that would've been good ones because the first line gave away the title.
1. How the world can change, it can change like that...
2. I know this grocery clerk, unprepossessing
3. My first crush on an Irish girl, I was ten years old and her name was Elaine
4. Now we're out of time, I said it's my fault
5. September '75, I was 47 inches high
6. 'Cross the street from your storefront cemetery
7. Mademoiselles. You and me, pal.
8. It was great when it all began
9. Knowing I want you, knowing I love you
10. Johnny, my love, get out of the business
11. He means to marry me Monday
12. These things take my time and energy. Don't stand too close without apology.
13. Yesterday is done. See the pretty countryside
14. Have you seen the little piggies crawling in the dirt
15. When the clouds have crowded round and covered up the sun
16. I would say I'm sorry if I thought it would change your mind
17. We know we're special, it won't be long before the universe catches on.
18. I see his face. I hear his heartbeat
19. It's only doubts that we're counting on fingers broken long ago
20. Talk to me now I'm older
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I'm not sure if there's any feeling better than getting swept up in a good book, or even any medium of expression that affects me even half as much. It's times like these where I wish I had it in me to write a novel, if only for the chance to make even one person feel the way I do when I'm hopelessly emotionally involved in one.
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Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
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| Time: | 3:07 pm. |
| Mood: |  accomplished. | | Music: | Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo Vol. 2. |
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I haven't updated in a while because there hasn't really seemed to be anything to update about. I missed out on reporting about graduation, but it was sort of...anticlimactic (but I walk to get my degrees in the spring). Since then, I've just been obsessively looking and applying for jobs.
I got a call a few hours ago with an offer for my first real-world job, and after considering it for all of half an hour, called back and accepted. I'm employed! I'll be working as a Direct Services Associate (Bachelors-level counselor, basically) at the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents. It's a residential treatment facility that gets children and adolescents from all across the state with various disorders, from autism to conduct disorders, that are too severe to be handled in their communities or school systems. It sounds like potentially such a rewarding job, and I'm thrilled to have a chance at it. The interview and reference checks were pretty intense (I know I owe Dr. Ollendick for a nice reference even though I haven't spoken to him in a shamefully long time)(. It's also something that would look really great on grad school applications. I start training and orientation on Monday.
The catch, and the reason that I had to think it over, is that I'll be starting out third shift -- 11pm-7am. Yuck. But it's such a good opportunity and so relevant to my career goals that it seemed crazy to turn it down, and knowing my preferences, the HR lady assured me that they'd try to switch me to the day shift as soon as possible.
So now, I'm kind of, like....what do I do with myself? I have almost a week where I don't need to be scouring job postings, or sending out applications, or awaiting calls for interviews, or anything. It's nice, but strange. But I'm really, really happy that I don't need to stress anymore. Maybe I'll update LiveJournal more often.
But while I have you, I'm going to plug the new Coheed and Cambria video. Even if you don't think you'd like them, watch it if you're a fan of '80s music or insanely catchy pop. They may be the geekiest band in the history of the universe, but they can write a great pop song.
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Saturday, July 28th, 2007
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I'm uploading a bunch of stuff so that I won't feel guilty requesting uploads on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) mp3_share. Plus...I just felt like uploading things. Take anything you please -- lots of it's obscure stuff I was listening to three years ago or more, before I sort of got sidetracked by musical theater. ;-)
( Music! )
Posting now, editing later to add disc 3 of that compilation and random songs.
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In general (and please, try to contain your shock at hearing this), I do a really miserable job at documenting important life events here. But the fact remains that I've been keeping this journal for years, and there are some things that are too important not to merit mention. So, I'll be the millionth person to weigh in with some thoughts on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I've found myself sitting on for a few days.
( SPOILERS!! )
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| Time: | 1:43 am. |
| Mood: |  sad. |
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I hate it when you try so hard to be a good friend, and still you manage to screw up. Like, say, forgetting your best friend's birthday. I wish I could just explain that I've been so busy and wiped out that I'm behind on everything in my life, but I know that's no excuse, so I won't. And it was the weekend, so I don't even have that to fall back on. So now I'm crying, I'm not really sure why... I guess because I thoughtlessly hurt someone I care about, and if there's anything I pride myself on it's being there for people when they need me. So it feels bad to fail at that.
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Tonight I saw my first fireflies of the summer, and the air outside everywhere smells like flowers. I'm not exaggerating -- does, in that perfect way that only really happens in rural southern summers. It was beautiful. It's also one of the first nights it's stayed hot outside after sundown. I will declare it officially summer, even if the real official start isn't for a few more days.
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| Time: | 12:35 pm. |
| Mood: |  aggravated. |
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I'm at work, so I totally shouldn't be here posting, but it's been dreadfully slow the past week. And on one hand, that's good, 'cause hey, less work for me! The flip side is, you guessed it, less PAY for me, since I get paid hourly and despite my not-so-subtle hints, nobody wants to give me anything to do after I finish, so I have to leave.
Anyway, I plan to update for real tonight when I get home, but I would just like to inform you of two groups of people who are at the top of my shit-list currently. They are:
1) People who TAPE Jiffy mailers. This utter lapse in judgement and compassion can only end in tragedy, in the form of painful paper cuts and fiber packing material EVERYWHERE. These people are the only ones I loathe more than UVa. with their godforesaken packing peanuts.
2) Verizon Wireless, and all of its employees, for literally not selling cell phones for less than $250 unless your plan is up for renewal, which mine is not for another TWO MONTHS. I have no idea what I'm going to do.
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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It is so, so hot in my apartment, but I'm procrastinating on cutting on the AC because I like my $20/month electric bill.
Anyway, I've been thinking about this summer and the things I'd like to accomplish, because, hey, it's summer. It's not stressful even though I have a lot of things that I need to get done, and since I'm basically living alone at the moment and only working part-time (though I'm looking for a second job), I have a lot of time for self-improvement. In that spirit, goals!
1. Only #1 because it's pressing: find a place to live for next semester. Cassandra decided that she wasn't ready to give up her studio, and I don't blame her although I'm a bit bummed about it not working out. So yeah, this needs to be accomplished or come July I'll be homeless.
2. Find another job, especially since I'm going to have to pay Margaret back for a loan she's going to give me for the Summer II class I have to take to graduate.
3. Make and stick to a diet/exercise routine. I took the plunge and signed up for Weight Watchers this week since they have a meeting site in Blacksburg now. It's something I can really see myself sticking with.
4. Career-oriented stuff. Find a lab related to some sort of neuroscience thing, and study for the GREs.
5. Make an effort to move what have been friendly acquaintances (from classes, clubs, etc.) into the actual friend category by staying in touch and hanging out over the summer. My shyness usually gets in the way of this, but with one semester left, what's really left to lose in calling someone up out of the blue to do something?
6. Read a lot more than I have been. When I was at home, I went to the Green Valley book fair with Margaret, and I picked up a few things to start me off for the summer. The only thing that I knew for sure was that I was SO not in the mood for fluffy chick-lit, so I tried to keep that stuff to a minimum. So I have the following:
- City of God by E.L. Doctorow (I've been reading this for a while, but not quickly as the multinarrative format makes it interesting but not particularly fast reading -- it's my bus/lunch book.)
- Reunion by Alan Lightman
- Our Town by Thornton Wilder (I saw a bad production of this in high school, so I'd like to judge it on its own merit.)
- Arafat's Elephant by Jonathan Tel
- A few psych-related books: Freud's Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria, and two brain/cognitive neuroscience ones: The New Brain: How the Modern Age is Rewiring Your Mind by Richard Restak and Searching for Memory: The Brain, the mind and the past. by Daniel Schacter.
- And two just for fun ones: The Daring Female's Guide to Ecstatic Living: 30 Dares for a More Gutsy and Fulfilling Life by Natasha Kogen, which could be annoying but seems based on the first few pages to be refreshing, and The X List: The National Society of Film Critics' Guide to the Movies that Turn Us On, because we all know how much I love provocative movies.
...The list is fairly random because it's not a very hard decision on whether or not to buy a book that's only $3.50 and looks at least mildly interesting. There were a few things that I was disappointed that they didn't have, namely Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. I couldn't get into All the Pretty Horses, but I was so enamored with his prose style in The Road.
7. Stop neglecting my Netflix account. I'm also hoping to catch up on a few TV series over the summer (Weeds, 30 Rock, and Battlestar Galactica to name a few) and movies that I've been meaning to see (so many, but definitely 8 1/2 and I'm sure the "movies that turn us on" book will provide some ideas).
8. Get organized enough to make the above possible/enjoyable. My Memorial Day plan is to spend the day cleaning and organizing, because at the moment I still feel very scattered from the end of the semester.
So, I guess that's a lot on my plate. But most if it should be fun. :)
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Stolen from Margarita. This took a lot of time and I'm sure I'm forgetting so many things, but here it is for right now. :)
( Meme! )
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1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
You have no idea how tempted I am to temporarily skip this one because it requires getting up.
"foreigners or some such, thas my word to you."
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What's there?
A lamp.
3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Actually on TV, that annoying chick on Food Network who sexualizes cooking to capitalize on her good looks. Otherwise, I spent the last few days watching all of Heroes up until now.
4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
10:30
5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
10:27
6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The clock ticking and birds chirping outside.
7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Last night I was on the balcony talking to people.
8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
BroadwayWorld
9. What are you wearing?
A grey VT sweatshirt and jeans.
10. Did you dream last night?
Nope.
11. When did you last laugh?
Last night, but I don't remember at what.
12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A clock, strings of lights, a painting that's way too formal for a college apartment (it was a gift) and a painting of Audrey Hepburn in the famous Breakfast at Tiffany's pose.
13. Seen anything weird lately?
I broke 100 in bowling recently. That's pretty weird for me.
14. What do you think of this quiz?
I'm glad it's not very long.
15. What is the last film you saw?
I actually can't remember the last film I saw on TV, so I assume it wasn't very exciting. In theaters, either Children of Men or Dreamgirls.
16.If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I'd find a relatively nice apartment in Manhattan. And revive Chess.
17. Tell me something about you that I don't know:
My favorite sandwich is banana and mayonnaise (but only a little). Yes, seriously.
18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I'd require that to be elected President of the U.S., one's intelligence must be in at least the top 75% of the population.
19. Do you like to dance?
I lack the necessary coordination.
20. George Bush:
Would be cited when defending a proposal for 18.
21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
I don't know. Names I like: Adrienne, Chloe, Adele, Zoe...
22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Andrew. It's funny, I like unusual names for girls, but I'm very traditional when it comes to boys.
23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
I would consider it, definitely, although I don't see that in my future at present.
24. What do you want to say to God when you reach the pearly gates?
I don't want to say it, but finding myself in that situation, the only thing that would be appropriate to say is: "Oops. Sorry?"
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I'm back at my apartment now. Today was... a good day. Not a happy day, but a very validating one, and being back I realize that's what I've been missing. I know that the internet is my primary mode of communication with everyone, and obviously I can't imagine my life without many of the people I've met through that medium, but there's absolutely something to be said for seeing people and connecting with them that way. It was also important that today I saw close friends who go here, too, so they know exactly the way I'm feeling. And, you know what? As cheesy as it might be, sometimes what you really need is a hug and physical reassurance from someone who understands.
Jacob gave me a ride back to Blacksburg, and he made me laugh a lot along the way, so that's good. We stopped for lunch at Olive Garden. When I got home, I settled in for a bit then took the bus to campus to go to the memorials that have been set up. It's a beautiful day outside, and there were a lot of people there, so that was nice to see. When I got home, Hannah called and asked if I wanted to grab dinner. I love her for feeling exactly the same way as I do. She had been fine most of the week, and then yesterday it all sort of hit her, and today we were sort of at the same place. It was the perfect mixture of comfort and be comforted between us. She found out that one of the people who was injured was her roommate, Hanna, from freshman year's best friend Lilly, who always seemed really nice. She's apparently still in pretty serious condition in Northern Virginia. I hope that Hanna is doing okay and that Lilly will be fine. We had some of the same apprehensions about going back to class tomorrow and things not being what they were. We also talked about our plans for this summer and next year. Hannah and Kara are my two current friends who've known me the longest, and it's especially comforting to talk to either of them just because there's so much history there.
I got home and IMed Sylvia to see how she was doing, and she hadn't eaten yet so we decided to go grab her something and get ice cream. She's been here all week and consequently, I'm assuming, has had more time to process everything -- so mainly it was just really nice to have good company and sprawl out on the couch watching the Simpsons and Family Guy. I know you read this, Sylvia, so I've totally missed you and owe you a birthday dinner whenever you're free to go. :)
I've taken Lexi's advice yesterday and been listening to some favorite music, which has been helping my mood a lot. Current case in point is Weezer's Pinkerton. But now I'm listening to Chess, and we all know how much I love Chess.
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sweetestsiren's journal
cranky.
happy.
energetic.
contemplative.