Something Bigger, Something Brighter by Pretty Girls Make Graves

Well, I have been slacking off in the updating department. Ever since I finished thesis, all I want to do is sleep and not be on my computer. Unfortunately, life goes on and I can't just lie in bed all day eating bon-bons as I would like. I am wrapping up a bunch of RA stuff this week as well as finishing the last of my last school work. Yay!

Last weekend Nat, Blake and I went to Portland for Nat's birthday and to see her brother as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. It was a great trip all in all, but Nat and I were dead women walking the whole weekend. We literally turned in our theses on Friday and got on a plane to Portland a few hours later. I would love to go back soon and be able to really appreciate the town when I am not exhausted. It is such a beautiful city. Nat's brother, Grant, was incredible as Henry Higgins. He was by far the best one in the show. He could sing and act the pants off of pretty much everyone else. As good if not better than Rex Harrison himself. :) There was a dessert reception at Nat's family's house afterwards so I got to meet Nat's entire family and some of her friends from high school. Good times. The next morning, we drove out to meet Blake's uncles who both live in or near Porrtland. They were nice and interesting. One of Blake's uncles and his wife work a few doors down the hall from my father's doctor, Dr. Blankee, and Dr. Druker, the inventor of Gleevec (the miracle chemo that my father's on) at OHSU. Small world. Our last night, Nat's parents (who are amazing) took us to dinner at this fantastic Thai place and then Nat, Blake, and I went down the street to this posh little bar and had the best sparkling red wine. I didn't even know there existed such a thing, but there does and it's awesome.

Anyway, the week coming back from Portland was all about playing catch up from the things I had been putting off since thesis. I am still not all the way caught up. If anyone has read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, let me know what you think. I am writing a 10 page paper about it and I know nothing. Help!

This past weekend was Nat's official last weekend of college, and it was amazing. Friday, Nat, Blake and I went to the 7 Deadly Sins party at HMC, but it was lame, so we left. Then Blake's sister (who is a Scripps alum and in town for reunion weekend) called me on my cell and wanted to party. So, we picked her up from the lovely Claremont Inn and she and I went back to the 7 Deadly Sins party. We told everyone that Sarah was a junior at Scripps recently back from abroad. She's 26, but gorgeous, so no one questioned it. It was a blast, but when I was sufficiently drenched with gin and juice and other various alcoholic drinks, we decided to walk all the way over to the apartments to see if there was anything interesting going on. There was not. So, we decided to call a cab but 411 kept giving me a disconnected number, so we eventually just started walking back toward Scripps. Before I knew what was going on, Sarah was running up to a guy on the street getting into a car. She asked him for a ride. I was about to opt out of this, but I realized he was one of the only CMCers I actually know and who is a great guy, so I went along with it. The sweet guy that he is, he drove us to the Hibrow (the name says it all!) then, upon discovering it was closed) drove Sarah back to the Claremont Inn and me back to Scripps. It was so sweet of him. I totally owe him a coffee.

Nat was shooting for the TV show at Pomona all day yesterday and last night they had to film a party scene so she brought me along as an extra. It was a blast. I wore this new mini skirt (so not me, but so much fun!) and actually got a line. I got to hit on a girl, which was cool. I was just happy to have some screen time. Afterwards, there was a really small wrap party with the cast and crew and it was a blast. Made a couple new friends and had a great time all around. Can't wait to see what this project is going to look like...

Anyway, RA duty calls. Hall meeting tonight at 10. The last one of the year. Yay! Hope everyone is having a great week.

~J

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE! I'M DONE!

~J

Goodnight and Go by Imogen Heap

For those of you who are sick to death of reading about my thesis, good news: only three (3!) days left of the horrid beast! It's unbelievable.

Quick update about what's new in my life (besides the dreaded T-word, of course): Last Thursday marked my triumphant return to LindyGroove, as I had been absent the previous few weeks. Uncomfortable conversations aside, it was a nice night. Chris celebrated his 23rd birthday and I attempted the birthday dance for the first time since Eric's birthday. I got out there, felt like I was doing all right, and was abruptly whisked away by some guy who thought I was the birthday person. Chris said something to the effect of, "Hey! It's my birthday!" and the guy, looking rather embarrassed, ran off. By this time, Nat had already jumped in, so I slinked off the floor, red-faced. Otherwise, the evening was good.

Saturday I went home so I could celebrate Easter with my parents. It was very nice being home. I bummed around, watched 8 hours of TV straight, and did laundry. Sunday morning my parents and I went to church and I got to sing the Hallelujah Chorus with the choir for the first time since high school. It was nice and I had no idea I could still hit all those high notes. After a delicious, if simple, brunch at Lorene's, I drove home and resumed working.

Sunday night was interesting. I was on duty, pager 2 (which rarely ever gets pages unless it is a super busy night) and I got a page from Campus Safety about 9. Annoyed, thinking "damn lock outs," I grumbled my way over to our neighboring dorm where I discovered a student had just been robbed at gun point in the same parking lot where I park my car. Freaky. In about an hour and a half, Nat, Kirstin, Paige, Jaime, Chelsea and I are hosting a community meeting in the Dorsey living room to address this issue. Gotta love Scripps!

Anyway, I should get back to the proverbial grind, as it were. My next post will be about Portland the beauty that is life after thesis. Hope you all have a great week! And to those other struggling seniors out there, keep your chin up! The end is near!

Peace out!

~J

Monday Monday by Tegan and Sara

T-minus 10 days until thesis is due. I cannot believe it. Which means that pretty much every night between now and then (with the exception of Thursday because it is Chris' birthday in Pasadena and Saturday when I will be home for Easter) is going to be dedicated to finishing this God forsaken project. I am getting very close to being done, however, which is uber-exciting!

I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamt that I was on duty as RA, but I was at home (in Bako) and was fighting with my mom. Then the pager went off and exploded, blowing up my mom and my house, but not me (who was in just as close proximity to the pager as everything else). Then, there was something about a mall and then I was in a swimming pool. So weird. What do you think it means?

This past weekend was interesting, to say the least. Natalie and I drove down to Long Beach to attend the Grand Prix. Well, actually, we really went to attend a dock party. I didn't see one race car (palindrome!) while I was there. It was crazy. There really isn't much I can elaborate on here other than we met some pretty interesting people. It's amazing the turnout these kinds of events have. All kinds of people from different walks of life all coming together over a love of cheap beer and fast cars.

Well, I should probably get back to writing... Something. In addition to thesis, I have a midterm for Philosophy of Science due this week. Good times. I hope everyone else is having a good week and I will either see you this week (or weekend in Bako) or after I emerge from the cave that is my room after thesis is turned in.

~J

Sex Bomb by Tom Jones

Russian ice skaters are sexy! You have to check out this video. Well worth it! Especially the commentary.

~J

What a Wonderful World by IZ

Last night was my first foray into the world of Hollywood. Okay, not my first, but definitely my first not being the lowest on the totem pole. Let me explain.

Yesterday afternoon, I get this urgent sounding IM from Galen. It seems that he got tickets to an awards banquet hosted by Global Green USA, an organization that honors businesses and people who have made a positive impact on the environment. Galen's company, Ethos Water, was being honored and because Galen is an amazing asset to their company, his boss gave him two tickets. At the last minute, his date dropped out, so he called me to fill in. Sometimes, being second choice is just fine by me!

Anyway, so I went out and bought a new outfit (hey, sometimes a girl needs to treat herself!) and headed out to Beverly Hills to the ceremony. It seems that not only did Galen's boss hook him up with tickets, he also hooked him up with passes to the VIP cocktail reception and killer seats at the front table. At our table was a bunch of bigwigs from Starbucks and Ethos (Ethos is owned by Starbucks) as well as Kevin Richardson, of Backstreet Boy fame, and his wife Kristin. They were so sweet and genuinely concerned about the environment. Kristin and I got somewhat chummy, and Galen regaled them with tales of lawn bowling and taco trucks. It was awesome.

Oh, oh, oh the celebrity sightings did not stop there. Our esteemed hostess for the event was none other than Judith Light better known as Angela from Who's the Boss? She was really sweet, and meeting her confirmed my suspicion that in real life she looks A LOT like my mom with blonde hair. It's kinda creepy... Other presenters included: Julie Delpy (who seemed like she had a massive case of stage fright and almost cried), Ed Begley Jr. (he played Hiram on Six Feet Under and Mr. Sitwell on Arrested Development-- amazing and really nice), and Bahar Soomehk (was in Crash and had a horrible dress on, but was otherwise gorgeous and friendly). By the by, Galen was at his best and managed to give his card to almost everyone of these people, in addition to the president of Global Green USA (which is how I got to talk to all of them). It was such a great night. Not to even mention the delicious food and Murphy Goode wine (my aunt and uncle's winery)! All in all, a fan-freaking-tastic night.

I am in such debt to Galen for taking me, it was so much fun. Although I must say, the whole time I was afriad someone would discover that I wasn't supposed to be there and ask me to leave. Of course, I had a cheese-tastic wrist band, so no one bothered me and I think I looked like a fit in, except for the fact that I was a head taller than any of the other women and some of the men. I was also sitting right dead center next to the stage, which was a little unnerving. Funniest thing I saw all night: when we pulled into the valet there was a stretch Hummer parked out front. Mind you, this was the Global Green Awards. It was beautifully ironic.

Okay, since that took up all of yesterday, I am frightfully behind in thesis (ha! what else is new?), so I had better get back to it. Hope everyone's weekend is going well!

~J

P.S. I didn't even mention the wedding Nat and I attended on Friday night. Oh, even more good stories there, but this post is already too long so that will come later! :)