sigmastolen | Recent Entries

well this is hilarious: i left this place in a shambles after porting everything over in a hurry, plus i completely forgot how to use this kind of interface

also it is very lonely

welp

You Scored as HOUSE TULLY

You hail from House Tully. Your house seat is Riverrun in the Riverlands. As your motto says, you are all about your family and honor. You confide in friends and family first, and keep strangers at a distance. You cant always stand up for yourself, but you would never betray your friends to get ahead. A true good guy in this world. Your house motto: Family, Duty, and Honor.

Picture is Copyright © RMB

HOUSE TULLY

85%

HOUSE STARK

80%

HOUSE TYRELL

75%

HOUSE LANNISTER

65%

HOUSE GREYJOY

50%

HOUSE MARTELL

50%

HOUSE ARRYN

50%

HOUSE TARGARYEN

35%

HOUSE BARATHEON

35%

HOUSE FREY

25%

I've taken this quiz twice now, once before reading the books, and both times it's called me a Tully. Lysa is cray and Edmure's a total failboat, but Cat and Brynden are pretty cool?

One thing (of many) that I really miss about living in Davis is the Yellow-Billed Magpie:

I think I've seen a couple around my neighborhood in LB, but nothing close to the tidings of magpies I'd see in Davis daily -- and, of course, none in Pittsburgh, because the Yellow-Billed Magpie is found only in California. Anyway, I was reading about magpies on Wikipedia and it says:

This bird is extremely susceptible to West Nile virus. Between 2004 and 2006 it is estimated that 50% of all Yellow-billed Magpies died of the virus.

… And it just made me incredibly sad, that's all.

I am at my parents' house with the kitties and the fish and we're all quite happy, even though Ducky is nervous & doing quite a lot of hiding under tables. OH SO yesterday morning Baxter knocked over the fishbowl... but I was at home, thank god, and was able to scoop Huw up into a cup of water and he seems quite fine now, so that's okay. But now I have to get a new fishbowl. Possibly a covered one? Do they make covered fishbowls, or would that just be a fish tank?

We'll be going to my auntie's house for Binge-Eating, and prior to that I ~~have to~~ get to make pumpkin pies! I love making pumpkin pie.

Also, I got sweet potatoes at the grocery store this week and I'll probably try one of the spiced sweet potatoes recipies I found last Thanksgiving and didn't make yet.

Next week, I will be baking two (2!) vegan chocolate cakes for Friday (and maybe Thursday) -- one for my music ed class because I promised, and one for the reception for the Contempo Flux concert. Also I have a bunch of projects to do, which are due beginning next Thurs. and staggered through the next week or so.

Oh, resolution of massive orchestra angst: I'm off the hook for Messiah, New Master's Student will be playing. It took an awkward ran-into-Maestro-in-the-hallway conversation to get the decision, but at least now I don't have Big-Ass Conflicts? Oooh, I need to get a book about the Constitution and figure out when I'm going to take that test. Perhaps Monday the 7th, I think I have time then.

And, of course, what I'm really supposed to be doing right now, instead of lying in bed with Ducky (Baxter is exploring and being social) and livejournalling, is working on apps -- I've finished the easy bits, now all that's left are resumes and personal statements and work experience and applications for graduate assistantships. These are also the parts I have the least desire to do, naturally. The deadline is 11:59 pm Tuesday for everything, I think, but I want to try to finish before then. *shrug* Honestly, I'm far more concerned with the kitties. ENDLESS ENTERTAINMENT!

So, this quarter, and the past month in particular, has made me realise that I'm okay with being single right now, because honestly? I have no room in my life to try to accommodate another person. I ~~barely~~ don't have time to take care of all my own shit, and I've already had to miss a ton of orchestra and that makes me sad and guilty.

That said, I finally have a crush on someone that I don't immediately dismiss when I think about it, like I did the various people I took interest in last spring. And despite not being able to act on it because I have no time (see above), I'm pleased that it is happening, for two main reasons:
- it means I'm not ruined for life
- it's my first crush on a girl who isn't a celebrity, so it's new and exciting. Saxophone, first year masters (or DMA maybe? i'm not actually sure), v. butch, v. laid-back, orch manager, adorable faux-hawk. She might have a gf? I don't know. But that's okay because I have no time.

So yeah. *shrug*

In other news, new orchestra angst! SO MUCH ORCHESTRA ANGST.
1) I am on the roster for the Messiah orchestra (extravaganza with choirs)
2) I have a concert of contemporary chamber music during one of the dress rehearsals, which I feel it is important to note was not on the original schedule. Actually, we weren't even given a schedule for the whole quarter, just concert dates and a schedule for the first rotation, and even though this is the way the concerts with choir have worked out every other time, if it wasn't on the schedule they can't really punish us for not making the assumption that it would be the same this year
3) I was not expecting to be in the Messiah orchestra, because I thought we might be doing the smaller orchestration AND I assumed that Maestro would pick New Masters Student over me SO I figured that either way the chamber concert wouldn't present a conflict for me personally and if the various string players weren't going to make a stink, neither would I (plus I did mention it but Chamber Coach scheduled it anyway)
4) I feel guilty about playing in approx. twice as much orchestra stuff as New Masters Student, because Maestro isn't warming up to her very much at all
5) I asked Maestro via e-mail this afternoon if maybe it wouldn't be better for New Masters Student to be in Messiah, since she is available for all the rehearsals, and he hasn't gotten back to me, which freaks me out because he is usually a prompt e-mailer
6) I just registered for the CBEST, which I have been meaning to do for ages, and it is a 4-hour test on the day of the other dress rehearsal, which is scheduled to begin an hour before the test will end, not to mention that my testing center is far the fuck away because I registered so late, so essentially I will miss some or all of both dress rehearsals
7) I don't want Maestro to hate me
8) I don't want New Masters Student to resent me
9) I like large-scale choral works in general and Messiah in particular, but I honestly just don't want to deal with being in it right now
10) I also don't want Orch Manager to hate me for having so many conflicts and making life difficult because she has a cute fauxhawk.

So I guess what I have to do now is e-mail again and be like, I'M SO SORRY BUT I REALLY REALLY CAN'T BE IN THIS CONCERT BECAUSE I HAVE TOO MUCH OTHER SHIT GOING ON, UNLESS YOU HONESTLY HAVE ENOUGH BLIND FAITH IN ME TO EXCUSE ME FROM BOTH DRESS REHEARSALS WHICH YOU SHOULDN'T DO BECAUSE I AM, IN FACT, NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL IN THIS SITUATION. Which gives me anxiety in and of itself.

Communication is hard, guys.

UPDATE!! Before I sent the CBEST e-mail, Maestro e-mailed back and says, "I'd still rather have you play. How much of the [Friday night] rehearsal would you need to miss?" So now I'm explaining about the CBEST and I'm so nervous about this, why? is this irrational nervousness? I just want him to liiiiiiiike meeeeeee. Which he apparently does or he wouldn't be so adamant about me playing this concert? SO WHY AM I SO NERVOUS AAAAAAAHHHHHH

OH AND ALSO! I got a haircut on Saturday and everyone keeps telling me it's cute but I am Not In Love With It. *pout* Am having a v. hard time making my peace with this one. ALSO!!! The lady was all, "IT'LL LOOK GREAT IF YOU FLAT-IRON IT :D" right after I said I don't have a flat iron and that I don't like them, and I wanted to say, "GEE, THANKS, I DON'T HAVE A FLAT IRON AND I DON'T WANT TO FLAT IRON MY HAIR AND I DON'T FUCKING HAVE TIME TO FLAT IRON MY HAIR EVERY DAY ANYWAY WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST MAKE IT SO IT LOOKS GREAT WITHOUT ME DOING ANYTHING TO IT?" Plus, she made everything too short. I'm not that bothered about the overall length, but I definitely wanted my bangs cheekbone-length and not eyebrow-length. Amelie haircut: DID NOT WANT, KTHX BUT NO THX. I don't think it suits my face. >:C

Bassoonist R: Oh, I have a concert Saturday! The Early Music Ensemble.
Me: What are you playing?
R: I'm playing... well, I'm dressing up as a cow.

Yes, this actually happened. And is actually going to happen. In four days.

1. Grad school: I have Very Kind Professors who have agreed to write letters of rec for me! Now I just need to figure out where to send them. *FREAKING OUT OMG* Also, am I aiming too high? Too low? (probably not the second one.) I still don't even know which programs are good. But anyway, I am making my list (last night, one of my HS teachers suggested another school to me which means I have to find information on another school and then make a decision about it oh god), and I'm gonna try to get forms and addressed & stamped envelopes to my Very Kind Professors... by tomorrow? oh god.

2. Current school: So I thought that after finally doing the last part of my Busywork Choral Methods Class midterm, which I have been sitting on for three weeks, I would be caught up. Except then when I was e-mailing it to Busywork Teacher, I saw an e-mail from Sociopoliticultural Teacher, reminding the class that we have a project due. Tomorrow. He couldn't have reminded us in class last week? Or maybe sent the e-mail before the weekend? And then I didn't even have my folder for that class with me so I couldn't check and see what the requirements are but I know we're supposed to have interviewed a child at the school we're observing at (which is structured very differently for the actual School of Ed students than it is for us -- the way we've been doing things is not conducive to doing these assignments at all, which, ARGH)... And then there are at least two more Big Projects looming in my future, one more for Sociopoliticultural Class and one for Music Ed Seminar, plus a smaller one due Thursday at 11:59 pm for Instrumental Methods Class, and while I've been "boycotting" the actual busywork (primarily summaries of all of the chapters in the book and all of the 90 BAZILLION ARTICLES she gives us weekly and expects us to read) for Busywork Class, I should probably do it at some point because I'm pretty sure it's supposed to go in the Binder Of Everything She Has Assigned Us, Ever, as part of our Totally Bogus Final Grade. AND ALSO!! I'm supposed to have passed the CBEST and a US Constitution test by 15 December, for the credential program. I guess I should maybe register for those things.

3. Bassoon: I just... feel like I am not learning the music I am working on fast enough. And since all the other parts of my life started exploding all over everything, I have not been practising as much as I was, or as much as I would like to. And when I do practise, I keep having weird brain problems -- spontaneously switching clefs, notes translating to the next line or space over, accidentals becoming switched... and it's all in my head, and I can hear how it goes and I can sing it, but whenever I try to play it Something Goes Wrong. And it's incredibly frustrating.

4. Cats: I'm kind of a bad mom. They're about a month overdue for their final vaccination... I don't know if they'll have to start the series over? They can be fixed at the beginning of December, so I need to make an appointment for that, too. And I'm not sure what's going to happen with them over winter break -- if I should get someone to cat-sit for me at my apartment, or if I should just stay at the apartment (no, i want to go home), or if I can/should bring them home with me? I fret.

5. Care and Keeping of Self: I need to make an appointment with the optometrist. I need to make an appointment with the dentist. And I need to start running again, but I am always Too Tired -- in the mornings, too sleepy to haul my ass out of bed, and in the evenings, too worn out from the day (also, it's dark when I get home, which... well, I'm not in the greatest neighbourhood, yeah?) -- and I don't know how to break this cycle of doing things last-minute and not getting enough sleep and being a lazy bum and freaking out. I also don't know how to be less angry, but it would be nice. No, I don't have an hour to go see someone at Student Psychological Services. I really don't.

I've wanted to cry since 7:45 last night but it keeps not happening, and I can't decide if that's good or bad.

Current Mood: anxious

Flatmate is going home for the weekend, but before she left, we had to have this conversation (paraphrased, of course):

Flatmate: I'm sorry I didn't run the garbage disposal the other day, but please don't write me an angry note. I have to read angry notes and e-mails all day at work, and having to sit down to that at breakfast while I'm trying to get ready made me have a terrible day. I would really rather just talk it out.

Sigma: Sorry, it was a knee-jerk reaction, because I communicate better in writing than in speech. And we've talked about this several times before, but it clearly didn't sink in then, so I thought maybe seeing it in writing would do the trick.
(also i was angry and in general don't want to talk to you.) (no, that part did not happen out loud.)

Flatmate: [Dither dither] I know I am not consistent about the garbage disposal, but I do some things that you haven't done, like mopping the kitchen floor, or cleaning up the cats' vomit on the carpet. I want to know that it's alright for me to ask you to do things, as well. I would really feel better if we could just talk about these things, I think we're better friends than that.
blah blah blah [I can't remember what else I might have said here, I think I just made neutrally polite noises]
I know you're really busy and stressed out about grad school and stuff, but if you want to hang out, just tell me. I'm never sure if you're working on something or just surfing the web, so I've been going to Boyfriend's a lot, but I'd really like to do more stuff with you.
blah blah blah
Anyway.... [in a small voice] can i have a hug?

We hug

Flatmate: [begins to leave] [turns back to tell me gossip about her co-workers/former supervisor that i don't actually give a damn about since I'm trying to go back to my homework] [finally leaves]

Ugh. See, I want to live alone so I don't have to have these kinds of conversation. I have to screw up a lot of nerve to talk about stuff that bothers me, and usually addressing it just makes me more uncomfortable and bothered (not to mention really spooked and shaky afterward) (especially if confrontation is sprung on me like this), but if I'm the only person living there, stuff that bothers me will presumably be my own damn fault and I can either suck it up or fix it. This business of diplomacy and compromise? Not so much. At least, not in my own home. I don't want to have to be diplomatic in my own home, I am diplomatic and polite out in the world all fucking day.

Also, Helpful Hint: If I am taking refuge in my room and being uncommunicative, it's because I don't want to chit-chat about your day, or watch The Simpsons, or whatever. I want to be by myself in my room and unwind, or space out, or (god forbid) do homework. The door is open so the cats can roam freely about the house -- not because I want company.

And finally, thank you for skipping town while the cutting board, which is covered in parmesan cheese from your dinner two nights ago, is still sitting on the counter monopolizing the largest and most useful cooking surface.

No, you guys, I know I'm a bitch. I know.

Dear Flatmate,

The plates don't get clean if you load them so that the biggest plate is right in front of the smallest plate and touching it and blocking it from getting any of the spray. They also don't get clean if they are caked with food when you load them.

I hope the dishwasher that I just reloaded and started running keeps you awake tonight.

kthx.

So, wooden cookware doesn't go in the dishwasher, right? Because the long time in the water, and then the heated dry cycle, are bad for the wood -- it makes the grain split and dry out. Are we in agreement?

Flatmate, apparently, is not.

I have a set of pretty nice bamboo cooking implements -- a spatula, a solid spoon, a slotted spoon. I used the slotted spoon the other day (yesterday? really, it's only been a day?) to make fried rice, and I washed it by hand and left it in the drying rack. More fried rice today (because I need to finish both the rice and the broccoli before they go off, yeah? it is of mild urgency), and I went to grab the slotted spoon from the drying rack, but it wasn't there. Nor was it in the drawer where it lives when it's clean.

Where was it? In the dishwasher, slathered in spaghetti sauce. And you know, I had wondered the other day why the grain was fraying.

See, last year we didn't have a dishwasher, and while I was bothered then by not-clean clean dishes and trash in the sink, it's worse this year, because not only is Roomie not here to be a buffer and to commiserate with, the dishwasher has always been my chore. There is a right way and a wrong way to use your dishwasher, and my way is The Right Way. Period.

Flatmate's is Not.

(we've had the conversation about Rinsing Things For The Love Of God before, too, but, like the Run The Goddamn Garbage Disposal conversation, it apparently DOES NOT SINK IN.)

I CAN HAS MOVE OUT NAO PLS?

So I just spent the last three? 3.5? hours lying on my bedroom floor, poking around websites of music schools around the country (though mostly on the other side of the Rockies, if not the Appalachians) and trying to decide where I want to apply. I made a chart detailing the location, bassoon faculty, admissions deadlines, audition dates, and repertoire requirements for ten schools, on a sheet of butcher paper that's about three feet by three feet. Jesus.

Schools: Northwestern, Manhattan SoM, Carnegie Mellon, Juilliard, Roosevelt, Peabody (Johns Hopkins), Mannes, San Francisco Conservatory, Yale, Cleveland Institute of Music.

I also had tabs open at various points for UCLA, That Other School, Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, De Paul, Curtis, Eastman, Oberlin, Rice, and Indiana (@ Bloomingdale), but they didn't make the chart for various reasons... wrong location, teachers I've never heard of, teachers I doubt will be a good fit, lack of MM programs, unappealing gossip from friends...

I'm sort of overwhelmed. At least my preliminary research in September paid off -- the TRICERATOPS ASSLOAD of music I'm preparing puts me in good stead for... well, everywhere, pretty much.

Still, I feel I should whittle down this list, if for no other reason than to save my parents money on application fees and travel arrangements (and, you know, so I don't have a paperwork-related breakdown, and so fewer professors will hate me for giving them inadequate letter-of-recommendation-writing time). Right?

SO. ( my thought process, let me show you it. )

In other news: today's frustrations.
Remember that panic attack I almost had yesterday, which happened mainly because suddenly my day of Rest And Big Decisions got hijacked by a rehearsal and a busywork class group project meeting?
Neither thing happened. No, I'm not kidding. I hauled my ass out of bed and drove to campus on a holiday, and I couldn't get hold of three of the four people I was trying to schedule-on-the-fly with, and I sat around texting/e-mailing/on the phone for about an hour that I could have used for other things, like staying home and sleeping or doing grad school legwork. And then it became clear that the rehearsal couldn't happen, and the project guys were still incommunicado, and I figured, hell, I'm here in the music building, I can at least practise. So I did, for about two hours, and it wasn't great. My hands were not working today, and the left one kept having worrisome numbness.

But damn, that was all morning that I could have spent sleeping or charting, but no.

Things still to do today:
- read article on race and music school admissions
- write lesson plan for busywork class's midterm two weeks ago
- look over piece for busywork class group project, think on lesson plan (to be hastily written tomorrow between 11 and 12, extending to 2 if necessary. There goes my chance at getting lunch.)

And I was hoping for an opportunity to go shopping, because I am out of chips and cheese and crackers, but that's probably no longer on the table, either.

Percent of my shit that I currently have together: ZERO.

1. FUCK CHRYSLERS. No, seriously. People who drive Chryslers CAN'T DRIVE. I can't decide if they're dicks, like Escalade drivers, or if they're just FUCKING IDIOTS. Tonight, getting onto the 405, I got stuck behind a Town & Country that was going, like, 20mph on the onramp. THE ONRAMP WHICH HAD NO ONE ELSE IN FRONT OF HIM BECAUSE HE WAS GOING SO DAMN SLOW. And, as icing on the cake, he signalled during the curve. WHERE THE FUCK ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO GO? THERE ARE NO INTERSECTIONS AND NO OTHER LANES YET. (As a side note, I'm getting into a habit of revving my engine to express my displeasure, and it's really bad for my gas mileage.) And then. AND THEN!! I was getting OFF the 405 and I was behind a Chrysler 300. AND IT ALSO SIGNALLED ON THE CURVE. And the worst part? The 300 DID NOT SIGNAL at the ACTUAL FUCKING INTERSECTION, where it turned right, and it DIDN'T EVEN TURN INTO THE CORRECT GODDAMN LANE. FUCK CHRYSLERS. Also, PT Cruisers are BUTTFUCK UGLY, even when they're not that HIDEOUS burnt orange colour, and IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE PAST.

2. So I almost had a panic attack at the beginning of orchestra today. It was awesome. I got spontaneously overwhelmed by the amount of shit that I don't have together: long-overdue midterm stuff, project due by the end of today (mostly done now), group project for busywork class FOR WHICH SHE DID NOT EVEN TELL US WHAT TO DO THEN DECLARED THAT SINCE SHE WAS ABSENT YESTERDAY WE HAVE TO E-MAIL THE ASSIGNMENT TO HER BY 5PM THURS AND SHE STILL HASN'T ACTUALLY TOLD US WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO, short orchestra lesson probably Thurs am, two "first lessons" duedate unknown, reading for tonight and for Thurs am that I am not done with, scheduling group project meeting, scheduling chamber rehearsals, scheduling a coaching with a (grown-up!) composer whose bassoon-bass duo we are giving a west coast premiere!!, trying to find time to practise because i have OMG SO MUCH MUSIC TO LEARN, continuously back-burnering things that I Need To Do for the credential program, and OH YEAH GRAD SCHOOL. I was seriously fidgety and twitchy and hyperventilating and I almost cried or screamed or ran away, for about the first 20 minutes of orchestra and the 20 minutes beforehand... Except then I had to breathe deeply so that I could play contrabassoon, and eventually I got a grip. FUN TIMES, THOUGH.

3. Funny story actually, but I am a bitch: There's this asian chick in the socio-politi-cultural education class who Fails At Eyeshadow. No, I'm serious. She uses a really pale silvery-blue on her lids, then she puts this super-heavy black line in the crease of her eyelids that connects to both corners, and she doesn't make any effort to blend it whatsoever. She does this EVERY WEEK, presumably EVERY DAY, and it looks HIDEOUS. We've (the music contingent) muttered about wanting to fix her eye makeup on numerous occasions. Anyway, one of the other guys made a comment about sororities and how the greek system is really homogeneous and really white, and she piped up something like, "I just want to correct you on that generalization, because I was the face of [her college sorority]. We're not all white and blonde and identical." And all I could think was, "Really? You were in a sorority -- the 'face of your sorority,' (whatever that means) no less, and NOBODY taught you how to do eye shadow for grows-ups?" See, I told you I'm a bitch.

4. OMG BUT THEN as I was leaving the education class, just outside the building I saw this green thing on the ground and I stopped and looked and it was a PRAYING MANTIS and I took PHOTOS of it and it was in the middle of EATING A CRICKET!!!! So I'll put those up probably tomorrow because it was WAY COOL.

Okay, off I go for dinner and homework.

Bitchly Little Girl #3! Comes in to return a laptop. Appears to be in a rush, but spends a full minute adjusting her clothing before she logs on to the laptop lending station, so we can go through the actual process of returning her laptop. Which, I notice, has not been shut down. In the future, I mention casually, make sure you give it enough time to shut down all the way. Why do you have the default on 'restart,' then? she counters. You know, I say, I couldn't tell you. You should take it up with CLICC. I don't have the time to, she informs me. She also apparently does not have two fucking seconds to switch the setting from 'restart' to 'shut down.' But she does have the time to make my life unpleasant, apparently. Jesus.

Also, I am hungry.

oh so the passive-aggressive note

was about kitchen stuff, natch. i was rinsing my dishes from breakfast when i realised the sink wasn't draining properly. so i looked down the drain and, lo and behold, there is an eggshell (seriously, the shell of an entire egg) and a sticker from some kind of fruit sitting in the garbage disposal. (add to this, if you will, the fact that i picked some soggy spinach and about four fruit stickers off of one of the filters in the dishwasher this weekend.)

so i growled and ran the dishwasher and then wrote a note about (1) running the dishwasher when you put stuff down it, and i'm so tired of having that conversation, and (2) eggshells and fruit stickers do not belong in the dishwasher, the trash can is really not that far away. on her notepad which she had left out on the table (along with FIFTY MILLION OTHER THINGS INCLUDING LIKE 6 CDS AND 2 PURSES WTF).

I got home late last night and she was working on something and I had stuff to work on and we were alternately on the phone (mostly her, but I talked to my mum briefly) and I was listening to music with headphones on, so we didn't really interact and she didn't say anything about the note.

I really don't know if I can do this until June. Mum says that I should live in LB and commute to summer school (which I'll have to do for the first time ever for a couple school of ed classes), and I don't really want to because that's a hell of a commute, and I like my apartment (though it'll be damn hot in the summer), but I also don't want to keep living with Flatmate for that long.

and then, after i wrote the note, i was all, 'shit, the internet mocks people like me.' sigh.

BLG #1 demanded to know why it isn't possible to create new documents in MS Word on the computers in the media room. I helpfully told her that she can create and edit in Word on any of the six computers in the main reading room, four of which are on a bar, intended to be used while standing, and two of which are on a normal-height table by the window, with chairs and everything. She huffed at me that she didn't want to type an entire paper standing up, and I indicated to her that one of the sitting computers was, in fact, available for use. She again asked why that option wasn't on all the computers, and told me that it was "stupid." That's nice, honey, you can pass that complaint on to the computing commons people -- because I just work circulation, I am certainly not in charge of what you can and can't do on our public workstations.

BLG #2 rushed up to the desk and asked whether, if she gave me her student ID number, I could "type it in" to some nebulous device so that she could print a document without having to physically swipe her ID card. No, I told her, that's not how it works. She said, she's in a hurry and her card is down the hall and isn't there any way? If she really can't be bothered to go get her card from wherever it is inside the building, she can buy a visitor card for $0.57 and swipe that to print her document, I inform her. She huffs and begins to run out the door, and stops just outside the security gate to say, "I don't see why I can't just give it my number." I tell her that it's accessing a monetary account and so the magnetic strip must be read, just like at the vending machines or any of the campus stores. She asks if I would pass on her complaint to her. No, I say, you can take it up with the reprographics department yourself.

AAAAUUUUUGH.

And then at 7:00 all the public workstations were Not Working -- any function we tried to access from the Start menu, which is the only thing you can access on the public workstations, presented us with an error message saying that the function was restricted. They seem to be up and running now, though, and I have no idea what happened or how it got fixed, especially since the Help Desk person I called on the phone said the person who deals with it got off at five and the soonest they could send someone to help was tomorrow morning. I suspect Irish Tech Boss sweet-talked the computers into working.

And now that I've spent 15 minutes on LJ, and 20 minutes before that organizing my 50 zillion open windows into 50 zillion open tabs in a handful of windows, sorted by subject, instead of working on my "Teaching Materials Project" (in which I have to make two lists of pieces to hypothetically use in my first year of teaching, one for middle school and one for high school), I'm gonna go see the Undergrad Composers Concert! Yaaaaaaaay not doing homework. Also, I have not played bassoon at all today. And I also still have not decided where I want to go to grad school. ffffffffffuuuuuckkkkkkk. Actually Wednesday is a holiday, and I have Big Plans to devote it to (1) Grad School and (2) Sleep, so I'm pretty excited. Being able to see that on the horizon gives me hope for surviving today and tomorrow. Especially since, this weekend, I put sleep as my highest priority, and thus got nothing done.

It upsets me that I so egregiously don't have my shit together right now.

Also! I wrote Flatmate a passive-aggressive note this morning. More later.

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire.

-Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

So today I, um, watched Star Trek. Again.

Hey, Campus Events was showing it for two dollars. TWO. That is the same price as a cookie from the organic vending machine. Only twice as much as a bag of chips from the regular vending machine. And about 1/5 of what my dinner from Rubio's cost today.

I almost decided not to go, because, damn, I have so much shit to do. And I promised myself I would decide where to apply to grad school by the end of today -- which is looking unlikely. (I did have a good talk with Dan about grad school and other things today, though.)

But today kind of sucked -- tired the moment I woke up, frustrating practise, scratchy throat (o hai post-nasal drip), angry at work, dozed off in the stacks at work, didn't play well in a coaching -- and I decided that no, I needed to go to this movie. Because I need the future to be bright and shiny and beautiful and full of lens flares and french horn solos.

Seriously, this film has a great score. I hope the horn soloist got paid really well. And I love that they used the original theme for the end credits.

Honestly, Star Trek just gets better and better, possibly because now I've seen about 20 times as much TOS as I had when I first watched it. ( potential spoilers? )

BUT OMG I WANT SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS THAT ARE SPACESHIPS. MOST ADORABLE PROP EVER. I CAN HAS?

Current Mood: :D

Lately, when I tell patrons that something is due, say, "tomorrow at 8," they double-check that I mean 8 p.m. and not 8 a.m. Guys, we're not even open at 8 a.m. How would we know whether you turned it in on time? We aren't there to check it in for you.

*sigh*

But I kind of get it. Everyone has been confused about the new hours, people who don't have class in the mornings probably forget that now we open at ten instead of eight.

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December 2018

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shroud ourselves in the cosmos; let the music play

sigma: nerdy bassoonist in an ill-fitting human suit

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No, I mean 8 in the morning, while we are still closed.