What Gives? What Helps?

When I don't post for a while I feel like I have to do one of those catch-up blogs. No way. I will mention that Thanksgiving was lovely, although Grandma did condemn us all to hell again in her Thanksgiving prayer ("...but we don't deserve your love Lord, we deserve to go to Hell"....that Grandma: not one to mince words). I worked at home the first two days back and I'm so excited to be with the magical delights that are Bisous Cat and Isabel. I think they are happy that Dan and I are back too. Working alone all day makes one a little crazy. My god, I felt so lonely. I am so paranoid too. Perhaps rightly so, but my friends are too nice to confirm my suspicions. Maybe one of the downsides to having a boyfriend is being lonely. I mean, I don't really hang out with anyone besides Dan and David and two really great friends. Well, I do have my girls. And my running. I had a presentation today at the International Center for the Center for European Studies. I was very happy with it. The next presentation, by an undergraduate, was completely wretched and shocking. When the student described watching oral sex in a bar, my jaw dropped. Ken saw this and gave me a wink. And people fund this? I'm so judgemental. But at least I had a cute outfit, which everyone knows absolves one's sins completely. I'm so utterly Catholic, no matter how may times I go to my mega-Church. Seriously. Put me in a habit. I'm drinking wine right now, which is very Catholic (big C). And now back to work.

If That's All There Is

So I'm really frustrated right now. My French is terrible and I have no idea how I can improve it. I basically burned any bridges with the French department here by dropping out of FR235. I am regretting not sticking with the class, although it met three times a week and in the morning. Anyway, I don't know how to remedy this. Should I go back to Eurocentres? I am hardly attending to my prospectus, which makes me wary to promise to review my French on my own. Any advice would be very much appreciated! So here is some good news: the cell and biology people were able to retrieve all of my information off my hard drive and for a relatively low price. Since my computer is still on warranty, I am going to get a new hard drive and all will be well in the world. By the way, I have a massive inferiority complex when I go into a biomedical research building (this was my first time, by the way, but I believe this to be generalizable). Here are real doctors doing very important research. I feel this reality check is a good thing.

Bad News Bears

Sunday, according to some random magazine article I read, is the most depressing day of the week. I agree. I am in the fishbowl, doing my RA work. And here is where I drop the bombshell...my hard drive died. Yes, on the computer that I've had since April. I know. I know! It's devastating. Luckily, it is still on warranty. The bad part is that our IT guy was unable to retrieve any of the information off of it. Instead, I have to PAY for the cell and developmental biology people to see what they can recover. All of my work from this summer...gone. Back-up your stuff. If you already have, then very good. In other news, my presentation on Friday went very well...better than expected, in fact. Now back to work.

Don't get any big ideas...

All I have to say is that I absolutely love this new Radiohead CD. I can't stop listening to it. Oh and bloody hell, I've GAINED weight, despite running every day and eating nutrition bars instead of bagels. Boo.

But Where Were the Paps?

I felt like old school Lindsay Lohan, minus the coke and the arrests. Oh, and the purported flings with Jude Law. But other than that, I felt just like her. David's birthday was Friday. It started off innocently enough. We went to Shalimar, ate some delicious Indian food and delectable cake from Zingerman's. Immediately afterward, we headed to Bar Louie, the type of place I imagine would have a strictly enforced popped-collar policy. After wrangling a table, we were met with a steady stream of people. Everyone was there: professors, old cohort members, random cohort members. Then the craziness began. It suddenly became a competition to see who could drink more. Round of shot followed round of shot. We were singing at the tops of our lungs, wishing the place had karaoke. Or maybe it was just me. If so, boy is my face red. Anyway, we all stumbled out of there when the bar owners flipped on the lights. Perhaps this seems normal. If you are undergrad, then I wouldn't dare argue with you. But for us to act like this was completely out-of-control. When I woke up the next morning, I thought how the hell do Hollywood starlets do this? I'm exhausted. And then I understood why some people cannot possibly fulfill their professional duties due to exhaustion. Heaven knows I couldn't.

Bitter Sweet

Goodness, I have the sweetest boyfriend (and cats...a shout out to Bisous Cat and Isabel!). Came home yesterday, expecting to see the messy family room I had left this morning. Opened the door and to my surprise, no lights were on, but a single candle on the kitchen table and a small Christmas tree in the corner of our family room. The entire place was picked up. Dan came out of the extra room, smiling. He had purchased the tree that afternoon especially for me. All together now: awwww. I am still smitten after a year. Sad news: there has been massive flooding in the Mexican state of Tabasco, and especially its capital, Villahermosa. My favorite aunt and my cousins are all in that same exact city. I've spent two full summers in Villahermosa as a child and I'm quite fond of the place. My aunt and my cousin, Coco, are separated due to the floods. Please keep them, and all of the inhabitants of Villahermosa, in your thoughts (if you are secular) and prayers (if you are not).

Consensus Agreement

I mentioned my anticipation for the Spice Girl reunion to Dan, Charles, and David while we were watching the Colts-Patriots game. Apparently it is wrong.

Zigazigah

Is it so wrong that I'm excited about the new Spice Girls?