Green is Good

I freed Tim, Tum, and One-Eyed Bill today. Now there is just Tom left. Tom was the last tadpole and was still water-bound when I went to bed last night. This morning, he wasn't in the water but I managed to find the froglet hiding under a crate but alive and happy to see me. I also finally found the remnants of the one that escaped a couple days ago ...

I've been writing responses and thoughts for the book I'm reading (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) as well as the exciting things I'm trying out such as homemade laundry detergent and composting. It is too much to put here - basically, my mind is continually exploding with Kingsolver's amazing writing ability and the knowledge I'm gaining. I'm not completely naive and ignorant of the harm caused by our society, I even knew that eating food grown closer to home was a good idea. Yet somehow knowing more of the details and the timing in my life of reading this book really makes it powerful.

While I had planned to work on my last assignment and get some important errands done, I ended up wandering in the ravine after freeing the frogs instead. It was very therapeutic is one way to put it. I emerged a couple hours later with feet still drying from wading, a potful of dirt and worms, spiderweb and mosquito bites in various places, mud on my knees and hands, and, most importantly, a huge grin on my face. I didn't realize how much I have been craving true greenery. I have not been sleeping well most of this week but I can't tell if it's just from my allergies and some strange stress or what.

Now, quite a bit rejuvenated in spirit and mind, I will tackle the homework and chores I should get done before Colin arrives in roughly six hours.

Hair and Hoppers

(Photos posted at LiveJournal this time.)

I figured it was about time to upload those highly demanded hair photos. It's been about a month so the obnoxiously too short hairs are much better and I've had to trim my bangs, faux side burns (not sure what else to call them), and the hair on my neck, which was starting to bother me in this heat. The one above, is the before picture, if you haven't figured it out already. The following are the after shot (oh so short! scandalous!), a shot inspired by Whitney, and the last is an unrelated picture of Happy and Grumpy, before they are set free in the ravine behind my building. I am raising treefrogs who climb anything as high as they can. Aren't they cute?! We set Doc free Friday and Dopey today. Hungry will be next. Nemo aka Bashful escaped in Colin's kitchen and successfully evaded recapture. The last dwarf, Sleepy aka One-Eyed Bill, may remain in captivity because of his impediments which make us suspicious of his ability to survive in the wild. Next up - the four Tiny T's (Tim, Tom, Tam, and Tum) which all have their backlegs now. My, how fast they grow up and hop away.

Today was not my day.

You know those days when all the little things go wrong and it seems like evidence to support an overwhelming feeling that the world is constantly spiting you?
I woke up to find the two tadpoles that had all four legs had died overnight. One had been hopping and climbing over everything when I went to bed. I was so excited, so finding that they had drowned (I suspect) even though they could have easily sat on the dry part of the incline (stupid animals) was not a way I wanted to start my day. My computer froze up on me twice while I was trying to get the internet to work. I didn't have time to make coffee. Then my shoe broke in the heel on the way to school. The rubber part just split in half. We had a guest speaker (we get a lot of them) who works at the law library. First of all, it was very dry and I wasn't certain I'd ever even really want to know what she told us. But the worse was that she SHOUTED the whole lecture for an hour. Then I didn't have enough change or any one-dollar bills to get the chocolate or a drink from the vending machine so I got cheez-its which probably didn't help my thirst. Between the thirst, heat, and shouting librarian, I inevitably got a headache. I couldn't get a CD to burn or find a crucial piece of information for my homework while on the computer in the gov't info library. The heat really got to me on the walk home. Watching "Hearts in Atlantis" didn't really cheer me up at all. Things only got better after staring at the live tadpoles and giving into the urge to get some root beer and ended up trying a new kind that is actually kind of awesome. And the fact that Colin was finally available to chat tonight is not to be overlooked. Please, please, please let tomorrow be better!

My Fourth of July

I got my haircut last Wednesday. Super short too! Possibly Lenya short, or, if you don't know Lenya, it's the same length as a many boy haircuts. I sent pictures to Becca and Colin's sisters that night. All, including Colin's mom, thought it was cute. My new friends down here didn't think I was ugly; "ooo look at you!" Then Colin came to visit Thursday night. I was excited and really missed him, so much that I had to run out to the road a couple of times. Then I saw his car turn all the way down at the intersection and just watched as I could tell he tried to figure out if it was me or not. "Who are you?" I asked if he liked it and he said something about it being different. Still shocked, I guess. But not terribly, since we'd decided not to tell the other when we were getting our haircuts and just surprise each other whenever it might be. I'm pretty sure he likes it now; he can actually play with it and play with it he does. Plus, more kissing spots available. I kind of miss my long hair but I sure love how easy it is to wash now.

Friday (the fourth) we went hiking. It rained some but it was a nice place. There were a
gazillion sinkholes in the park and we went into a cave too. I didn't want to go very far in, but Colin managed to coax me quite a ways before I scurried back to the safely daylighted opening. We hiked more than the listed miles because the trails all loop into one another and run into roads and stuff. We saw a lot of cute little toads and a couple of this weird insect that closely resembled a rose chafer but bigger with a fatter butt.

Friday night we stopped at a movie theatre that I'd spotted on the way to the trail. If it was less than $8 (roughly the price of the theatre in Lisle), we were going to see Wall-E. Well, it was and the movie is AWESOME. Hands down one of the best movies I've seen in awhile. And, with me getting like 3 or 4 movies a week, watching something about 2 out of 3 nights, I've been watching quite a lot. I don't think I have anything to complain about when it comes to Wall-E.

Saturday we went hiking in another park nearby (Yellowwood Lake). We were going to do a trail but the actual parking area was on a road that was blocked off. At the ranger station, they told us the trail was do-able; the road was closed because they did construction on the dam during the week but it was fine to go back there on the weekend. We went back and attempted to hike but found it too overgrown and watching our every step for poison ivy for over six miles didn't appeal to us. It was well-traveled, but we were wearing shorts. We did do some hiking on the "shore" of the lake (the water level was really low, the opposite of most Hoosier lakes right now) near the campground where people were continuing or wrapping up their holiday festivities.

Day-hiking was a Plan C for us; we were going to backpack, but it takes more prepping and equipment than we had and we were both pretty busy (yes, I was, for once - I had a fairly large assignment, reading, and a presentation to put together that week). So I was like "Let's just try to focus on having a good weekend and not make it stressful." Plan B was car-camping. That fell through mainly because of the quick switching of gears and the impossibility of finding a site even less than an hour of check-in at one of like two campgrounds that supposedly had spots that weekend. It was first-come-first-serve. Then it was Colin's time to say "Let's make it simpler." Anyway, just walking near the campground on Saturday made us thankful we dumped Plan B; people were cranky and noisy and, well, just plain annoying.

When we got back to the car, we decided to catch tadpoles and put them in an empty tupperware. We caught fifteen, four which already had back legs, and then researched online how to keep them alive while we kept squealing about how cute they were. The two most advanced died within 24 hours but the others have been wiggling happily around. One sprouted its front legs today so it got to go to the teenager tadpole pool and have it all to itself. I can see where its lungs are developing. Even if most, or any, don't make it, I won't be too sad; I know there's a high mortality rate for tadpoles in the wild. That's why there's so many that grow at the same time. It would be great to help the amphibious population though (they're probably toads, but they could be any kind of frog, newt, salamander, who-knows-what).

Sunday we just bummed out around my apartment. There were many reasons, such as me not feeling so great, it be really hot, and we being tired of chasing stupid trails.

Sunday night we hung out with Matt Vazquez and his brother Tim. Matt, or Skez as he is usually known, is helping with some research project at IU for his SIP a few weeks this summer. Something to do with verbs, children's lit, and psychology. It's neat that he's in town. We watched "Nosferatu" which is a German silent movie about Dracula. The boys kept adding their own subtitles. I enjoyed it, even if I can't tell where the historical intrigue ended and simple fun (if any) began.

Monday (yesterday) I was still not feeling great when I woke up. Mostly fatigue and some dizziness, and I suspect it's probably allergies. Then Colin left. Then I watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and did some homework. Today was hot. I had class. The guest speaker was boring. I doodled a LOT. Then I did some homework in the library. It was still hot when I walked home. I changed the tadpoles' water again and ate dinner while watching "Hang Up." Now I'm tired of typing. I hope you all enjoyed this update.

I will NOT walk 500 hundred miles

Today has not been my day. In fact, it hasn't been my week. Which double sucks because my birthday was on Tuesday and it should have been an AWESOME week. My typical week (if there is such a thing - maybe I should say "on average") usually starts out kind of crappy and sludges through the middle okay and then about Thursday or Friday - or Saturday, things start looking cheerful and bright and sunny. The "sunny" part is literal for the last couple of weeks actually. It's been raining for days and nights on end most of the time I've actually been here. Cold for May, too. I would trek home, arrive in soaked pants, then relieve my misery by taking a hot shower, putting on warm fuzzies, and drinking hot cocoa.

Anyway, enough about the weather. Back to me. So I'd been really needing an oil change and my brakes have been acting funky. I could stop okay, it was just with lots of complaints - squeaking and shuddering. I don't know much about cars (they get me from point a to point b) but I was pretty sure that brakes weren't supposed to act like that. Colin and Dad had differing opinions of what might have been the problem, which I found slightly confusing ("there's more than one brake thingy?") but it turned out it was a brake thingy. Deciphering the Midas check sheets, the brake fluid was low, and rotors (I think the front ones) were very rusty and brake pads (again, front ones) needed to be replaced too. I was holding my breath when they rattled off what was going to be fixed, praying it didn't cost as much as my dad said it might. It didn't - less than half of that. Still, having a car is one of the easiest ways to burn money.

So all was dandy. I even got a ride to the library to work. A couple hours later, they called and said it was ready, so I walked back. My plan was to drive it back to my apartment then take the bus or walk back to campus and work the rest of the day. Things never go according to plan. I got to Midas and when I was trying to pay, I found out that neither of my cards would work. Well, that was annoying, but then again I've never paid such a high sum at once before. I called one of the banks which required an account number I didn't have with me and I didn't have the number for the other bank. So I said I'd try to go work it out and I'd be back later.

I went and checked the balance at bank #1. It was lower than what I was trying to pay Midas. So then I walked back to campus and decided I would work until the 3:15 bus to my apartment. Back home, I tried to transfer money into the account so that it would be enough (and more). I did it online and even called to double-check that it would work before walking back to Midas. They said it would after 4 so I hung out for a few minutes, finally squeezing some time in to talk to Colin, then headed back out the door. Midas tried the card again. Declined again. I was ready to scream. So I called the bank - again - and after them being catty with me, they said it should work in another 20 minutes. I sat for twenty minutes and stared with glazed eyes at the TV that was tuned into "My First House." In addition to the payment mess, I had gotten up and out the door earlier than I had in months, walked in circles, and hadn't had a moment to relax (I even ate lunch while I edited and manned the phone - I was bribed by a cupcake while everyone else went to lunch at once). 21 minutes later (just to make sure it would work), we tried it again. I was honestly more surprised than anything else when it actually worked. I left weary but relieved, in a car that was very happy.

In all, I worked 4.5 hours today and walked probably no less than 8 miles. On the plus side, I finished "The Gospel According to Luke" which was ... entertaining, but I'm excited to be able to move onto "The Book Thief" which was a birthday present to myself. And I can't think how miserable it would have been to do this in cold wind and rain like we had yesterday. And now my car has normal brakes! I still find myself coasting and being real gentle to them though. Probably a good habit, both for gas and brakes, but it's nice to know that I can slam on them if I need to without them slipping like they did just this morning.

Colin is coming down tomorrow! Yay! And he's not bringing his laptop or going to do any work while he's here! Yay! Next weekend, we go North to see people we love and have an amazing time! Yay!

Stupid mornings.

In the morning, one must be allowed to put the syrup in the refrigerator, it must be physically impossible to spill coffee in your bag and on the carpet, and the bus must be timed so that it reaches your stop whenever you show up.

And I had made a nine o'clock appointment for an oil change and brake check tomorrow. I must be insane.

Pour Becca

Social cookie

http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/080408.html
This I can relate to - especially when my most promising friendship in town goes on a cross-country road trip starting next week. *sigh* I love webcomics.

Other news: it rained today. Or rather, yesterday, since it's after 1 a.m. I've got a good grip on my final, after a hours or so of agony and confusion trying to understand what appears to be the level between theory and practice - like, pre-practice with categories etc etc.

I can't wait to see Colin tomorrow night. And to be done with this semester in less than a week.

I baked cookies tonight. Originally, they were going to be chocolate chip cookies, following this recipe "Award-winning soft chocolate chip cookies". I had to pare down the quantity, limited by "only" 1.5 sticks of butter ... well, it turned out that I didn't have vanilla pudding but "Devil's food" (really chocolatey) pudding mix. They are soft and slightly like cake because they don't spread at all (I recommend squashing them). It's a little too much chocolate for me (I also used dark chocolate chips). They are better than a couple other attempts but I still can't figure out what recipe I used at home in Charlevoix - I loved those cookies. They were the best. Maybe I can find the recipe somewhere when I visit the family next time. I gave some to Celeste and Grant tonight when Celeste came over to discuss the big ideas behind the final. (Grant is her husband. He sat and crocheted, occasionally commenting.) I felt especially socially awkward even though I'm normally comfortable with them. Other than a brief visit from Rachel in January, and Colin of course, I haven't had anyone come visit me. I am afraid I'm losing my ability to carry on a coherent verbal conversation. Eek.

Tech update: (more for personal record keeping than informing people)
I tried to reinsert my older memory stick. The new one works fine but I need more memory for HandBrake. I know it clicked in on both sides and it seemed to be all good. Then I tried turning on my computer. And all it did was beep. Once. Thrice. Thrice. Once. Whir a bit like it was thinking. Then just sat there absolutely still. I tried again. Same results. So either the slot is bad, I put it in wrong, or the stick is seriously screwed up. One last possible solution was that I was supposed to repartition (read: backup, do the resizing, then put all my files back on) before I stuck the stick in. I'll ask Colin tomorrow or whenever. I was hoping to be able to return "Hairspray" to the library since it's due tomorrow but looks like I'll have to renew it. Oh well - I've got more time on my hands next week, especially after Wednesday, if I do indeed take that whole time to do the final.

Alright, my eyes are scratchy. I'm going to head for bed now.

A people photoblog of the last four months

I thought I'd attempt to post a blog with some photos. More will be put on facebook, but but this entry is people-themed with some narration. I'm pretty sure the transition between blogger and livejournal's gonna flunk out and I don't want to post it all over again (I hate LJ picture blogging) so to make life a little easier for most of you, try going here for the fancy picture stuff.

I'm putting these in chronological order, starting with this first picture taken at the aquarium cafeteria in Chicago on January 21, Martin Luther King, Jr. day. I met up with Amanda, Tom, and Sessily and we toured the aquarium and science museum which were open for free that day.

















This is one of me and Colin the following weekend in Bloomington. He was trying to get me to make a face.

















We went to Kalamazoo late February where Colin gave a talk about his company, most of which over my head but I got to sit in the back and make fun of him with his parents, especially when he was being a smartass. While he was talking to people afterwards, I met up with Kelsay and we made our way back to her apartment where this picture was taken of her and Kiki. We ate dinner with the Alworth family and Ashley at the Saffron. Later that night, we played Scrabble and watched Xena with Lenya and Kelsay (and Kiki, of course).

































This is a picture of Rachel, Colin, and Emily in the back of their family van. Emily was visiting K College as a prospective student. Funny thing is, she told me that she was just there to make her parents happy - in the end, she decided that's where she was going. She's also doing LandSea like her big brother and her parents.

















A couple weeks later, I had my spring break, so Colin and I headed north to Charlevoix and had a lot of fun, especially with William but also with the rest of my family. This picture shows Laura and William standing inside the local grocery store next to a sign that promises that some weird porcupine cartoon dude is sold there. William had run into the store and waved from inside, not realizing the advertisement right next to him.

















Later, some of us were a bit wild in the library; William is sitting in the children's section, pretending to be scared and not know where Colin is. I love both of these silly boys so much.

And that's my awesome blog slideshow of the pictures I took of people the last four months! I think I should go get some work done now ...

Spring ANEW is the motto of the season

I have actually tried to post a few times in the last five months. Really. I even logged in and wrote a few sentences before (a) I got distracted and/or overwhelmed or (b) my browser crashed.


I'll try to avoid either of these pitfalls this time and maybe, just maybe, you'll get a real post from me. Oh, the weird "boing" post was to test the linking between blogger and livejournal. I thought I'd type over here where livejournal wouldn't be able to cause problems. So even if it did, I wouldn't have lost the production of my efforts. It may not be an LJ problem ... I might just be paranoid; my browser tends to crash every once in awhile, but not enough to propel me into taking action against it. Here's to me being tech-savvy.


I occasionally read people's posts but not lately. Last night, Becca asked me to read a particular post, so I went to LJ.com, wrested my password from some obscure, dusty corner of my mind, and signed on. Then I read and enjoyed the wild, quirky amazing-ness that is all of you and wondered why the heck I don't do that more often. It's exactly what I have needed, especially some of those dark, dark days I've had this winter and don't want to think about too hard.


Let's see - short and sweet version:

I chose IU. So now I live in Bloomington in a studio apartment with a view of trees. I am almost done with the semester. I have a couple assignments and a take-home final left to do. I think my brain's already on vacation, which doesn't help things. School's all right and quite a bit different than K. Have had classes only Mondays and Tuesdays, but each session is three hours long. Very few social connections, but now have three new phone numbers. Spend as many weekends as I can with Colin the boyfriend. That'd be the comp sci major who's tall and skinny, also graduated from K last spring, and does his code monkey thing in Chicago area. It's his birthday on Saturday. It reached 80 degrees F here today and I'm sticking around for the summer (yes, I have a/c), taking a class during the second session.


Other near-future plans you all might be interested in keeping tabs on: visiting K-zoo early May, spending Memorial Day weekend at Colin's family cabin in northern Wisconsin, seeing Becca in South Range, attending my sister's HS graduation stuff, and distracting Becca during the weekend of June 7th by being all touristy at the Pictured Rocks. I think that's it. Besides the projects and such that I plan to occupy my time with this summer, like hiking and running and artsy stuff and reading.


I think that's a good enough re-entry...


Oh if any of you need an excuse to procrastinate, I've made a website for class. url: http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~kjlarsen/home.html Nothing real cool (although I do like the format). There's a link to a pathfinder (kind of like a pre-project, exploratory bibliography - librarians apparently make them) that I made for another class about how global warming is affecting the Arctic's geopolitical situation.

boing

toasting
tasting
pasting
posting

Crane poem

fold           with
press      deceptive
  wings  crane   grace        for    
  flightless      stumble  hope
    fury     bird    shaping