Sex and the City in the Middle of Nowhere

Because this week is the easiest week of school I've ever had, I just spent the past few hours watching Sex and the City and painting my nails. It sounds silly and girly, and it was, but it was also relaxing, which is just what I needed after last week and all of the silly angsting I've been doing. I've just been in a really strange mood lately, and the asthma is definitely not helping.

Despite the strange mood, I've been having some really great times living with M. Last night, we spent at least an hour watching various Disney songs in Swedish. We've noticed that we are slowly morphing into a single entity and becoming the same person. We've even started speaking simultaneously and finishing each other's sentences. No lie. I'm so glad we're living together; M and I really bring out each other's silliness. We think it's because I'm an ENFP and she's and INFJ, which are complementary types. Apparently, INFJs become ENFPs when spending time with ENFPs, and that's part of why they get along so well. This is absolutely true; I almost never see M so hyper and silly as when we're hanging out, just the two of us.

I really should go to bed now. My stomach hurts from eating too much popcorn (do I ever learn my lesson?), and my bedtime has shifted from 2am to 11am, and it's now way past my bedtime. It's strange, but it feels like when I turned 20, I left my teenage sleeping habits behind, and I now go to bed earlier and get up earlier. I'm turning into an adult. Strange.

I Don't Want to Go to the Conservatory!

We had our first party at our house this weekend, and it was an epic one. It was originally going to be a light-drinking party, but everyone ended up getting pretty drunk, even though our alcohol stash wasn't very large, and it was a board-game party, with Apples to Apples, Taboo, and Clue. It turns out that wasted Clue is hilarious. The highlight of the night was when T, M, and I were sitting on the couch, and we hear Karl yell out "I don't want to go to the conservatory!" a very disgusted voice. It kind of went downhill after that, with someone throwing up in my room, and a couple of guests staying unexpectedly overnight because they couldn't walk home. They were really close friends, so it was alright, but I did end up on the couch instead of in my bed. The next morning, T, M, and I made brunch together and hung out until T had to go back to his dorm for a staff meeting.

Last night was less epic, although there were several things going on. I was tired and emotionally hungover from the night before, and wasn't really in the mood to party. I did end up going over to the Lighthouse for awhile and played a hilarious game of King's Cup. I really can't believe that I wasn't friends with these people until this year, because I really enjoy spending time with them. Aside from Matt #2, who keeps following me around and insinuating that he's interested in hooking up with me. After that, M and her brother (who spent the night with us) went home and stayed up talking for a really long time. It was a good night, if not a particularly exciting one.

AN UPDATE ON THE SUNBURN
My back is now blistering and peeling. I'm pretty sure I've never had a sunburn this bad before. Earlier this week, someone told M and I that we should rub vinegar onto our sunburns because it reduces redness and the pain. Mostly, we just smelled like vinegar.

The School Year Has Begun

M and I are having our first paper writing party of the year, which means the school year has officially begun! We're currently sitting in my room, snacking on random foods because we didn't eat dinner, and trying to write about Huck Finn. Here's the thing about Huckleberry Finn; it's very interesting to discuss, and there's a lot there to talk about, but it's very difficult to turn it into a four page argument. Three pages, yes, but no longer than that. I'm trying to argue that Tom and Huck are foils, which serves to highlight Huck's emotional growth into adulthood as well as underlying tensions between social customs and common sense. In other words, my thesis goes like this: Someone needs to smack Tom Sawyer so hard that he never speaks again.

Tonight was Bid Night, and we got our new girls! It's always exciting to meet the new members and find out if your "rush crushes" are among them. One of mine accepted her bid, and I hung out with her all night, even after Bid Night ended. It's meeting people like this that remind me of why I joined a sorority in the first place. Two of my good friends (D and N) also accepted their bids, which made me really happy. I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with them.

ANOTHER DOT STORY
I realize that I haven't been keeping you fully updated on the funny stories that Dot tells me. The other day, I heard this story for the first time, even though it took place freshman year. So, freshman year, Dot shared a room with two other girls, so she wore these bright orange squishy earplugs to bed. One night, she had a strangely realistic dream in which she was eating gummy bears, and when she woke up, her earplugs were nowhere to be found.

In Which The Sun Gods Become Wrathful

My entire back is bright red, except for a line down my back from the tie on my halter dress. M and I have spent the evening reapplying vaseline to our sunburns and asking ourselves why we didn't use more sunscreen. Today was Tea Day, the last day of recruitment, and we spent at least five hours in the sun because our tea was held outside. Last year was cold and cloudy, but I'm beginning to wish that this year's weather was more like last year's. Tea Day itself went really well. It's our strongest recruitment event. We had a pretty small group of girls attend, but I wouldn't be surprised if most of them preferenced us. I have to admit, I've been in an antisocial mood lately, so I spent most of recruitment talking to girls I already know (like the twins D and N, who are finally rushing as juniors).

M and I finally caught up on True Blood, watching two seasons in about three weeks. I'm not sure what it is about vampires that's so sexy, but Eric and Bill have definitely stolen my heart. A part of me likes the books better, but the show is still pretty fantastic. Consider it recommended.

The other day I was reading articles on the NY Times website, and I came across an article about a Carl Jung book that is being published for the first time ever. It's called the Red Book, and it details and analyzes his own descent into psychosis and schizophrenic episodes. Apparently, he went through a breakdown in his late 30s and then decided to embrace his madness in order to analyze it and better understand it. He kept the book locked in a drawer for most of his life, and his descendants have kept it in a Swiss bank vault since his death. I'm fascinated by psychosis and hallucinations, so I cannot wait for this book to come out. The editor spent over five years trying to understand the book and adding footnotes.

Who's Breaking Up With Whom Here?

I got back to my house tonight and found an interesting voicemail on my phone. It was from TM, of course, and he said that he hasn't called because he's been busy, and he's not sure he has time for a relationship right now. He ended by saying that I should call him so we can make plans to hang out. Basically, what I'm getting out of it is that he wants to be friends with benefits, but without a relationship. I'm going for friends without benefits. It's actually kind of a relief to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't want to really get involved. I was a little worried that I'd have to break his heart when I told him that I didn't want to hook up or date anymore. Anyways, I still have to return his phone call, and I'm not really sure what I'm going to say.

Anyways, I really am going to take a break from dating for a while. I honestly don't have the time to focus on a significant other unless I'm really interested in the person, or unless they're Josh Groban*. I want to focus on my poetry, singing, and school for a while. And it wouldn't hurt for me to start reading all the books on my personal reading list. The Magus by John Fowles is at the top, followed closely by the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I've, sadly, never read.



*People I'd Date Right Now, Despite My Break From Dating:
1. Josh Groban
2. Summer Glau
3. The waiter at the Mediterranean restaurant downtown

Homes and Conversations

I am officially breaking my latest tradition of titling my posts with song lyrics. I didn't actually mean it to happen every time, but I always somehow had a song stuck in my head.

Last night was officially the best night I've had since moving into my new house. My two housemates and I were having off-days, so we pulled out a bottle of wine with dinner and moved on to rum and cokes for dessert. The night progressed into a Disney singalong, which turned into a movie marathon, switching between Shakespeare in Love and True Blood. Every time we had to stop True Blood to let it load, we would pull up another computer with Shakespeare in Love on it, and watch until everything was loaded. It was both relaxing and entertaining, and reminded me of why I love my housemates.



A phone conversation I had last night:

E: Hello?
TM: Hey, what you up to?
E: Watching a movie.
TM: What are you doing afterwards?
E: Finishing my homework. And sleeping.
TM: Oh. What are you doing tomorrow night?
E: Going to a friend's birthday party.
TM: We should hang out this weekend.
E: My friends are waiting for me. Bye!

Firstly, this was at 10:00 pm, so it was clearly a booty call. Secondly, he was most definitely drunk. I didn't want to tell him that I didn't want to hook up anymore because I was afraid he wouldn't remember, so now I have to find a good time and place to let him know that he will not be getting any booty from me. Hopefully before this weekend.

Hey, Love, This Is The Fate You've Carved On Me

Today's the first day of classes, and I definitely have a case of the first-day jitters. I always obsessively worry that I'm going to the wrong class or that I have the time wrong, no matter how many times I double check. I'm actually very excited about all my classes this semester. I started reading one of my French books, Aucassin et Nicolette, already because I saw a new musical (in workshop form) based on the story. Then, I realized how nerdy that was, but I didn't really care because I was enjoying it too much.

I had a really awkward experience yesterday, where I was in a close vicinity to both S and TM for a prolonged period of time. I was working at the Theta booth at the Activities Fair, and both TM and S were wandering around the fair. I managed to avoid both of them until the very end, when TM spotted me and came over to the booth, but I made a quick escape because I had to go to work. I really just don't know how to tell him that I don't want to hook up again. Actually, I just want to avoid the male gender for awhile. I haven't really taken enough time for just myself lately. It's time to focus on school, voice, writing, and my friends.

After TM and I hooked up (for clarification, I would like to say that there was no sex, but there was a lot of nudity), I really wanted to talk to my sister, and then I realized that she's in Europe, and I can't call her. It made me really sad, so I went to the park, called Caitlin, and cried to her over the phone for awhile. I didn't realize how much I would miss Jules until that day, and I'm so glad that I have friends (both at home and at school) that can make me feel so much better about everything. I'm so grateful to have friends like these; not every girl is so lucky as to have friends that are understanding, loving, and accepting, not to mention hilarious.

A note on casual sex:
For a long time, I thought that only promiscuous and morally unstable people would ever consider having casual sex, but lately my views have been changing. I believe that sex outside of a relationship is fine, even healthy sometimes, if you have a really strong sexual connection or chemistry with someone. When you're just having sex with the next available person, though, I think that it can cause a lot of emotional damage on both sides, especially if the sexual relationship isn't based around mutual respect.