Feather by Feather

This summer is amazingly similar to last summer, better in a few regards, but worse in others. Like most of my life in the past, I have no internet, so I do miss you all passionately. I do despise summer. Like last summer, I have not found a job. I have sincerely been trying though. I have gone to over twenty places and spent three hours yesterday walking around. On the plus side, I know this city now.

I have been passing my days in writing, reading, wandering about, and playing Exile. As soon as I get some money, I can add cooking and saving kittens to the list.

So, I probably will not have time to type up everything right now, but I'll try to get the highlights.

Friday--I spent almost 20 hours on the greyhound bus. I'm going to start looking into planes. It can't cost too much more.

Saturday--I got home. I hate it. My room is so gross and pungent that my eyes watered when I went in there.I washed my hair overhe  the toilet becaue the tub is ful of black water. Nick turns 18 in September. If my parents do nothing, I'll have to do something.

Vacation--It was beautiful. I swam in the Carribean Sea and got a bit of a sun burn. I bartered with the merchants and got some cute stuff including silver strawberry earrings. My poem about strawberries is nearly done now, among others. We went deep-sea fishing; I caught a red snapper, a rainbow trout, a tuna (?) and a few smaller things. I didn't get to help reel it in, but our party caught a huge white marlin. It took over an hour. I was somewhat sad because the woman who hooked it did not understand how important it is. I spent hours reading by the ocean and finished "Of Human Bondage." It's a lovely, accurate book. My copy is from 1915, so I ought to check if it has any particular worth.

Thursday--I got back pretty late. Sadly, I slept through the lightning storm on the fight back. Since I had no place else, I slept in the car, but the weather's nice so it was kind of like camping. The roses aren't in bloom yet and the lightning bugs aren't out yet. My dad got paid today so I won't have to fret over money for another couple of months.

Today--I've been hanging out with Kathryn and Derek (<3!). I tried fondue for the first time and it was yummy. I miss Virginia a lot. It's definitely home now.

More later.

The other day I went by the bookstore in Harrisonburg. There are always free books outside and I have a penchant for antique books so I picked one called "Silverwood." It was published in 1856!

Turns out, the author is Margaret Junkin Preston, "the Poetess Laureate of the South." She was married to Major John T. L. Preston and she was Stonewall Jackson's sister-in-law.

Epic win.

In less than 48 hours, I'll be on my way to Mexico.

When she wanted me to pet her more, she tapped me twice on the nose with her paw. It was the cutest ever.

In other news, I will briefly appear in Lynchburg on Friday before I take the Greyhound bus (for 15 hours) to Ohio. I am kinda of concerned because I had to pay for it. This means that my parents owe me $600, assuming we split the price of the ticket and if I insist on them paying for my passport. I think I will. $100 is food for the month and maybe a dentist visit. I am flying to Houston at 4:30 am Sunday morning for a layover. It will be my first time on a plane.

I feel sort of guilty for going on this trip. If i had the money that the company is spending on it, I'd use it for far better things.

My grades went up to a 3.6. It is probably too late to get the 3.75 I wanted, but I'm still pretty happy with this.

Oprah's hosting Dane Cook today. My first thought?

"BrOprah"

I just made you cringe, didn't I?

Good job Katie!

Good job J. J. Abrams!

I think I've got this summer hammered out, minus a few crucial details.

Emily, Cabbie, Tree, Natalie, and I just ate a giant cupcake.

I'm pretty damn happy. All my love to all of you.

It must be weird dating Kanye West, considering that the radio is still playing the songs he wrote about his ex-fiancée.

(I actually really like all of his songs.)

I have sort of decided to go to Staunton for the summer since I can't get a job here in Lynchburg, it costs just as much as an apartment to stay at LC in a dorm room, and I can't get around well on foot. Also, Lynchburg bores me.

If my parents pay me back, I should have close to $1000, enough to get me by for, say, two months. It's bizzarre how this suddenly seems much less impossible than it did before, and I wish I'd felt this way sooner. It helps to know that I've got good friends who won't let me die.

Not sure yet if ths is really going to pan out, but I'm going to apply tonight to a job online. It's some sort of health service position...I'd be feeding old or disabled people and cleaning? The job sounds painful--they warn you ahead of time that you'll have to deal with difficult people and circumstances (you can imagine, I'm sure), but considering that, the pay shoud be good and it could be an interesting experience. When I work up my courage, I'll call about apartments.

The advertisement I just heard said "Don't wait any longer! Get the body art you've always wanted! Sport a new look for summer!"

I guess "Sport a new look for the next sixty+ years of your life!" would be less convincing.

I'm so glad! ^_^

The Mysterious Eternal Illness (hereafter "MEI") sucks. I don't want to do anything but sleep (Because it hurts. I don't think it's mono).

Here are my symptoms:
--body aches
--constant headache (on and off since Saturday)
--nausea
--slight sore throat
--slight congestion in throat
--slight runny nose
--slight sneezing and coughing
--hot flashes
--chills
--fever (Teresa said I had one Monday night and I think it broke while I slept, so it wasn't there when I saw the nurses).
--swollen lymph nodes

Health Center diagnoses: Allergies

Allergy symptoms:

• Sneezing, the most common symptom, may be accompanied by a runny or clogged nose
• Itching eyes, nose, and throat
• Allergic shiners (dark circles under the eyes caused by restricted blood flow near the sinuses)
• Watering eyes
• Conjunctivitis (an inflammation of the membrane that lines the eyelids, causing red-rimmed eyes).

Notice how two (I'll grant that allergies can give a person a headache) symptoms match and they completely ignored everything else I told them. Their half-ass explanation for the rest of my symptoms was "Whenever something is different with your body, these things might happen." But then they admitted that the rest of the symptoms might be from a virus--you know, something contagious--but whatever. Have some allergy meds.

I've never really had a problem with allergies, besides a little sneezing. I understand pollen levels vary, but I shouldn't suddenly have a huge reaction. I usually get allergies in June. The nurse told me that things bloom here earlier (by two full months?) despite the fact that I got sick in Manasses, three hours north, where things were not blooming yet.

May I point out that it's thirty-odd degrees today and I'm burning up? Yeah.

Pah.

http://birdandmoon.com/birdandmoon/complete.html

I love getting something exactly the way I want it, even if it's at two in the morning, even if I have an exam the next day. Earlier tonight I was trying to describe why I am an English major. It's because I just spent 45 minutes vacillating between the words "dust" and "powder" and had to choose from five adjectives that mean "like a star."

I chose the phrase "sidereal dust." It sounds a bit silly out of context, but, trust me, it's right.

Watchmen = (Mostly) Awesome

Sushi = Awesome (No roe, however. *sad*)

Weather = Awesome

PB&J = Raspberry seeds = Awesome

Free time = Awesome

Occasional bouts of loneliness/nostalgia/regret = Not awesome

Checking Account = ?

Future plans = Awesome and/or scary (Peace Corps???)

Summer plans = Awesome

Hipster bitches = Not awesome

Cats = Awesome <3

As it turns out, the ancients totally suck.


http://listverse.com/miscellaneous/top-10-color-classical-reproductions/

I just told Dr.Cowden that I am not a bio major anymore, after she just said what an awesome combination English and Biology are and how I'll write great science papers. She looked so sad.

If I had the money, I really would do both. But I don't, so I can't afford an extra semester or two and two unrelated Ph.D's. I am not a good enough student to take 23 or 24 credits per semester, which I also cannot afford.

But then I ran into Dr. Mayer and we spoke some French, so I feel a little better.

I want to be a Rennaissance woman. Can we bring back that concept?

http://thecurrentaffairs.com/index.php/new-games-powered-by-brain-waves/

I want this so bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2BEhk1fqZo

Wow. You mean everything is (might) be okay? Well, alright then.