Jessie

06:27 pm: Lost and Found
Today as I was cleaning and packing up my room, I found my nosering on the floor. I called it a bastard to its face. I still don't know how it came out.

At least now I have a backup in case it happens again.

01:31 pm: You know you're tired when...
This morning I woke up (I was very tired) and started getting ready for the day. Right before I had to leave for class, I checked the mirror one last time and realized my nose ring was gone. Which was really weird, cuz it was there when I woke up, and I didn't feel it fall out when I was getting ready (trust me, that's something I should have felt... it should have been sorta painful). I still don't know what happened. So I just stuck a small earing in there for now til I can buy a new one, and it looks pretty funny. I just don't want the hole to close up. The piercing place isn't open right now, so I'm just gonna have to wait til later.

11:11 am: Just keep swimming
Still alive, still smilin'.

Thought I'd let you all know.

11:19 am: Who does that?
If you found this journal (or any other for that matter) by randomly searching on the internet or some other random nerdy way, and you feel you need to leave an asshole comment in my journal, do me a favor and get a hobby.

If that is your hobby, get a new one.

If you aren't creative enough to think of one yourself, I could offer you some suggestions.

02:34 pm: About to get hit by a train
Well, the end of the semester is near, and as one of my professors said, "there is a light at the end of the tunnel... sure, it's a train headed straight for you, but it's a light nonetheless."

Here's my next few weeks in a nutshell:

Tuesday: art project due
Thursday: tech project due, 100 page history paper due
following Monday-Saturday: charette
the next Thursday: 2 tech projects due, final art project due
That Saturday exams start

On top of that, I have to do all this stuff for ASP, figure out flights and get my dressed altered for a wedding, attend a bunch of events for architecture and for my friends (trying to salvage what's left of friendships outside of studio...). My computer is almost dead and I broke my pinky toe. Not to mention my studio professor, who has been much harder on us this semester than the other professors, who told us that he expected a lot more out of us for this last studio project.

And don't get me started about the guy coming after me and my family for the accident I was in TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO. BAH.

12:00 pm: the end (of natural gas) is near
That lecture that I went to (see previous entry) was amazing. The guy's name is James Howard Kunstler and he was pretty negative, but in a way that I think some people need to be negative. Not everything is going to work out in the future, and being overly optimistic is just being dumb. He had some really scary facts and a really frightening outlook on the future of America, but it reignited my mission to save the planet (which was replaced for a while by mere environmentalism). I'm not sure to start, but I plan on reading this guy's book.

On that note, may I offer some suggestions to my friends out there: when possible, I implore you to save energy, water, and gas (that means less driving!!!) whenever possible. Turn off lights and electronics, and unplug them when you aren't using them (even if they are off, they suck in energy from the outlets). If possible, use energy-friendly appliances, light bulbs, etc. Use public transportation or ride a bike if you aren't going too far. Try using natural ventilation instead of air conditioning. In the spirit of ASP, shop at local shops and vendors, instead of big box stores. And talk to your senator or congressman (like ccohoon!!), telling them to bring back trains and other alternate forms of public transportation. Every little thing can help.

That's my plan for now.

09:57 am: NERD!
How big of a nerd am I?

This week there are 2 or 3 lecture every day at the architecture school for a Small Town Symposium. Today, I am skipping my only non-architecture class (art) to go to one of these non-mandatory lectures. Apparently the guy is really good.

12:34 pm: This weekend
Saturday was a really amazing day, overall. We all slept late, then met at the Bagel Place in CP around noon. I got an egg and cheese sandwich on a multigrain bagel, which may have been the best thing I've ever eaten. Then we walked over to the Metro station and headed downtown for the Cherry Blossoms!

I had never been to see the blossoms during their peak, so that was pretty great. I went with a bunch of my friends, and we ended up sitting along the tidal basin looking at the Jefferson memorial through some branches filled with flowers. All these ducks kept going past us, and there was also a whale in the water. I saw it. After enjoying the perfect weather and perfect flowers for a while, we walked around DC for a bit, looking at some buildings. We made an amazing discovery in the Ronald Reagan building, where we stopped for lunch. First, we had to get through security, which was terrifying to say the least. But once inside, it was like this incredible place with this giant atrium space and a spectacular food court. So we spent some time there, then got smoothies and went out on the mall for a while. At that point, it had cooled down a bit and some of us had to get back, so we headed back to campus.

That night was the Beaux Arts Ball, the architecture dance/drunkfest. I went over to my friend Liz's for dinner and to get ready for the evening, which was Superhero/Supervillian themed. Evan and Dennis were going as Rocky and Bullwinkle, so me and my friend Greg were supposed to be Boris and Natasha. But then Greg backed out at the last minute, so there was no Boris, just me. I borrowed a black wig and bought a purple dress from Value Village, and Liz did my makeup (yikes.) We went to our friend's house on Knox before heading over to the dance, which was tons of fun. By the end of the night, I had switched headwear with Bullwinkle and Quailman (antlers and a belt) and one of our professors did a keg stand. Overall, it was a really fun time.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to bed til 5 am (with the time change), so I ended up sleeping til 1:30 Sunday. Oops. I spent some time in studio, then got some dinner and ate outside and played a bit of frisbee. After that I headed over to Kevin, Mike, and Steve's to dye Easter eggs and watch the women's game. The eggs were beautiful, and the game was even better (I hope you all saw it, and if not, watch the championship game this Tuesday).

This week is going to be craziness. I have an exam, some math problems, a technology project in a computer program I don't know how to use, charette, a big paper to write, a new art project, and 2-3 lectures every day. This evening Paris Glendening is giving a lecture, which I really want to see. It's also National Nap Day, so I might have to squeeze one of them in.

12:20 am: Spring break, revised, continued.
ANOTHER UPDATE?!?!?! Just in case anyone still reads this....

Yesterday was awesome. Evan and I went hiking on the Billy Goat trail and checked out Great Falls (which he had never seen), and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!!! Once we got back, we went to Lindsey's apartment and had our Friday pasta dinner and watched some TV. Then bedtime for bonzos, and we all slept in. FAN-tastic!

Today the three of us went to D.C. and walked from Dupont Circle to the Finnish Embassy, which was a lot farther than we thought it would be. But the embassy was awesome, and they had a cool architecture exhibit that we got to check out. On the way back there was an Islamic Center (Jen, you probably know what I'm talking about...) that we started to peek into. A bunch of guys inside started waving us in, so we walked into the courtyard. They said we were more than welcome to check it out, but Lindsey and I had to cover our heads. They gave us some scarves that we wrapped over our heads, then we took off our shoes and went into the mosque. There were some guys praying and stuff in there, but we just stood in the back and looked around for a bit. It was really cool to be inside, cuz I had learned about mosques but had never been inside. Everyone there was so nice and welcoming, and we were really glad we went.

After eating some delicious wraps in Dupont, we headed back to CP, and I drove home for the evening to take care of puppykins. I've been watching TV and talking to people online all night instead of doing work, and that's ok with me. Overall, this Spring Break has been absolutely wonderful. Superb, even.

05:25 pm: Spring Break, revised.
Well, I'm still in the midst of break, but I'll let you know whats up right now anyway because I have the time.

St. Patty's day was flippin' awesome. We started off cooking a pasta dinner (that's a Friday night tradition) and drinking wine. My friend Brett showed up already wasted and broke a few glasses, and my friend Cindy got super pissed off, so we left. We went to our friend Greg's house, which was all sailing team people. There were like 10 architecture students, so of course we all clumped together on some couches and had a really fun time.

The next morning, I was supposed to go to the basketball game. I woke up early (like 9 am) but hadn't slept much. I was talking to my friend online that I was supposed to be going with, and we were both like yeah.... no. Back to bed. Didn't regret that decision when I woke up and saw we lost to Manhattan.

Then we loaded up the minivan and hit the road! We stopped first at my friend Lindsey's house in Pikesville, with a very Jewish New York mom, a silent dad, and a 13-year-old sister and her 3 shreiking friends. Dennis almost ran out of the house crying because of the overstimulation, and Evan got hit on by 13-year-olds for the full time we were there. They told Lindsey, "I like the hippie. She's cool." Her mom even made a giant meat lasagna and a cheese lasagna, which was SOOOOO good. We finally got back on the road, but there was a major accident near Philly. We didn't get to New York til around 1:30 am.

We were staying in a town called Poughkeepsie, where Evan is from (we were at his house). Lindsey and I were amazed by this little place, cuz it was really like Pleasantville, USA. Perfect, cute, little town, and his house was the all-American, perfect house with a wood-burning stove, scented bathrooms, lacy curtains, you get the idea. Adorable.

The first day we took a train into the city, and we spent a lot of time walking around. We went to the Top of the Rock, and found this incredible deli/grocery store to eat. We stopped by Trump Tower and walked a little while through Central Park. But it was cold. We walked over to Time Square, and headed over to Tickets Tickets to see what we could get, and while we were standing there, these two guys started talking to us, offering us tickets to a comedy club. Four for the price of one, at $20/ticket. We were considering it, then he was like, "tell you what. I'll give you five for the price of one." We were sold. We got the tickets, and spent some time in the stores at Time Square before heading to the show. It ended up being a two drink minimum, which is obviously how they get ya, but I didn't care. It was well worth our money. There were some HILARIOUS comedians, and a few not-so-funny ones, but like I said, it was well worth it.

The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed again and took the train back into the city. After a lunch at the same deli, we went to the Museum of Modern Art. The four of us that were architecture majors had a GREAT time, especially cuz they had a few exhibits about architecture. But Neely (genetics major) was not enjoying herself. We finally left and headed to a subway to get downtown. We went to Ground Zero and saw a few more cool buildings, and we were walking around a lot when we realized it was freezing. And I mean freezing. So we made a decision to go back to Evan's house early and just hang out there for the evening. Which is what we did. We watched 24, and Neely, Dennis, and Lindsey are some of those 24 Nazis, while Evan and I don't watch it. We got bored. But after that we watched some other stuff, then crashed.

The next morning we got a driving tour of Poughkeepsie, which was (as I said earlier) an adorable town. There were a couple of colleges that we saw, and a lot of random stuff. We said good-bye to Evan's parents and headed out back home, stopping again at Lindsey's for dinner, which was chicken and stuffed shells for me (omg they were ridiculously good). Then back to CP, where we dropped of Neely and Dennis and the other three of us hung out for a while and watched a movie.

The next day we all piled back in the car and drove to Centreville, stopping at my house on the way to get some food. It was for a project, so we walked around the city for a while, took notes, sketched, and then got really cold and left. After a nap, we got back together for dinner and more TV. You would think I would be sick of these people by now, but I'm not. I love them. :p Last night I got to bed fairly early, maybe 12:30.

I woke up early this morning and had high hopes for today that didn't happen. hahaha. I ended up scanning some stuff for an art project and for my portfolio, and watching a movie. I got a package in the mail that is all fun toys and treats for Lola so I'm excited to get those to her. I cleaned up my room a bit, and took a nap, and now it's almost dinner time. Sheesh. So I guess I'm gonna keep doing this for a while tonight... then I'll probably end up watching a movie or TV with the same people. And you know what? It's gonna be a blast.

Tomorrow I have no plans. Saturday I'm going to D.C. Sunday I'm home. There it is: Spring Break '06!!