Today I am listening to an unlikely mix of Skinny Puppy, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Romanian techno songs. It's quite pleasant, and is keeping me motivated (working on design projects). I just added Visqueen to the mix, good stuff. "Crush on the Radio" makes me sing really loud and out-of-tune in a completely endearing way...really.

My new apt. is almost set up. I have way too much cooking stuff & t-shirts, two things I dearly love. I think I'll be shuffling stuff around for another week or two, and someone with more hand strength than I have needs to help me build a cabinet I bought, but otherwise most everything is put away.

I love being in Eugene in the summer. I want to go rafting and throw big the type of party where people wake up the next morning with salt in their belly button and their neck reeking of saliva and tequila...we'll see if I can accomplish that goal before summer's end. I think I need to borrow a house to do it, my neighbor is not so into partying. Any offers?

Must get back to work. Party on.

I take my final final tomorrow, physics. I've got electromagneticdensityequalsrogv coming out of my ears. I am in no way prepared, mostly due to the fact that I've spent the last 3 days packing and snipping off loose ends (no tying for me!).

I leave for Eugene on Saturday at about 8am, hopefully to arrive by 3. R & his parents will be escorting me, mostly to serve as manual labor since I am a lady of leisure.

I think my stitches are coming loose from my graft early, which makes me nervous. Stay! Behave!

Grad school starts Monday. This is some crazy shit. But not batshit crazy (see comments).

Word. See ya'll in a few days.

Nick Hornby's voice reminded me of Mos Def's in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie. Odd, eh? I listed to a lengthy interview with him yesterday on NPR.

His new book sounds really interesting, it's about 4 people who all go to the same place to commit suicide, and end up talking each other out of it, and then about their relationships afterwards. He described the different situations the people were in that they felt like suicide was their only option, about his own depression, and such.

There is an American in the book (it takes place in London), and he's a chipper, fix-it-all kind of guy. The interviewer asked him if he generally found Americans to be this way, and he said that he didn't, but he thought that the media portrayed them that way, and that made a lot of people feel alienated because they weren't like that. I guess he went along with that stereotype because it was useful for this book, in order books he certainly hasn't, so I guess we can forgive him.

Anyhow, he's an interesting man, I'm disappointed I had to miss the book reading last night.

I was thinking to myself that it's been a long time since I've been emotionally moved by music.

On further thought, I do recall a few drives to and from school singing along with The Long Winters, but that may just be due to the fact that I can understand the words (not that they don't rock, they do, but you know what I mean).

Do you think you need to be in a funk to be really moved by sad, emotional, depressed, discouraging, crestfallen, woebegone music?

I enjoy Cake because their songs sound happy, but when you listen to the words sometimes the situation is really terrible.

I enjoy my recently developed talent to *not* listen to the words. I used to be words, words, words...

Physics is calling me; "Julie! Calculate this magnetic force, or I'll chain your ass to a desk where you can file paperwork and repair staplers until you develop bladder cancer at 43 1/2...." I'd like to smash it before it completes it's threat.

Last night I had a very fun birthday party!

There was enough alcohol consumed that everyone had fun and was loosened up, but not enough so that there was any vomitting, confessions of love, or crying.

I received some very sweet presents, ate 3 kinds of desserts (flour-free cake, cupcakes, and mini bananas foster), and finally tried some "brutal juice" alcoholic beverage (tastes like strawberry punch). There was a small amount of dancing along with a strobe light, and the discovery that you can create the illusion of a "stopped" fan by shining a strobe light on it at the right speed. Very cool. No one was drunk enough to stick their finger in, thank goodness.

I asked people to bring "mini" foods, and they were very creative: aforementioned mini bananas foster, mini cream puffs, mini chips, mini crackers & cookies, mini veggie corndogs, mini "pigs in a blanket", mini pizzas, mini candies.... I provided mini cakes (cupcakes) & mini vegetables, along with a rockin' bowl of red pepper hummus that wasn't so mini. It's always good to have a theme. ♥

The best part was getting to hang out with my friends before I move...hopefully everyone upholds their promise to visit this summer. Eugene in the summer makes you fall in love and want to stay!

I don't have much to say right now, nothing profound, but it was a good time and I feel very loved.

Yesterday I had gum surgery, my gums are angrily recessing away, so we cut them and packed them full of happy flesh from the roof of my mouth. The happiness hasn't quite taken over yet, and I now understand why my peridontist said I'll loose 10 pounds, it's nearly impossible to avoid the incision in the top. I had a big bowl of mashed potatoes, 1 bottle of vanilla Ensure, and some pudding last night. I'm starving now, but I don't really want to eat because I am worried about the stitches...when I get done writing this I'll suck it up and go get something to eat.

My face is really swollen, it's kind of freakish. I swear it's worse than when I had my wisdom teeth out, but that might just be selective memory. Less painful, so far, but I've been keeping up with my dose of pain meds.

Whee!

When I was in first grade I wrote a lovely poem, and it was published in the Young Writer's anthology at my school (K-8). I'd like to share it with you.

I had a cat
He was very fat
He caught a bat
and laid it on the doormat
And that, was that