Unimportant Thoughts In the Middle of Studying

It’s that time of the year when I’m rather restless for the inevitably tremendous summer to come, and homework looks even less enticing than it usually does (enticing homework is an oxymoron in my books, unless the homework involves essay-writing or poster-making), so I‘ve decided to fritter away my designated study break by blogging rather than reading my rather dismal novel or watching home videos with Jess. I have found that perusing Spin articles about the latest Axl Rose vs. previous band mates from Guns and Roses skirmish or BBC stories about impending epidemic of avian influenza can be relatively enthralling. However, one can only take so much of Smash’s arrogance and spine-chilling images of baleful chickens with their illnesses and beady eyes. Thus, I shall write indulgently about my most recent thoughts and fixations. Sadly, the weekend is not near enough, and I shall be sitting to lectures and confined to Rutherford for studying for days to come. But for now, I plan on dismissing thoughts of textbook skimming and midterms, and instead plan to share my most recent contemplations and fixations, not that they are remotely interesting or insightful amidst all of the weekend busyness that clouds my mind. Seriously, I’m feeling extraordinarily obtuse today, so nothing thoughtful can be expected today!

Of course, some of you will have noticed that I refrained from composing my greatly awaited (that was sarcasm, folks) Oscar or blog-birthday entries, largely because I was so distraught over the unfathomable loss of Brokeback Mountain to Crash. My darling film podcast was appalled that Ang Lee’s tour de force could be so injudiciously overlooked, and spent an entire segment on Thursday on the outrage of selecting a well-done yet innocuous film over the other four truly creative contenders for Best Picture. However, the Oscars were still marvelously entertaining with the group that showed up at my house, albeit a relatively small Oscar party turnout; midterms and family events tend to be scheduled for the worst times. At least Brokeback cleaned up with Oscars for direction, adapted screenplay, and soundtrack (yay Gustavo! I’m listening to “The Wings” as I type), in addition to the fact that Larry McMurty and Ang Lee were as adorable as ever; McMurty even wore jeans to the ceremonies. I found Jon Stuart absolutely side-splitting, despite some supercilious criticism of the lack of laughs from the self-important crowd in the Kodak Theatre. He even merged the hilarity of Dick Cheney’s shooting incident with the ludicrousness of Bjork’s swan dress in, I believe, the best joke of the evening. While it may be difficult to rival the awesomeness of Billy Crystal’s hosting abilities, Stewart certainly topped Chris Rock’s predictable jokes from last year. And just for Ben, even though he won’t read this, Crash’s win is still not a certainty, as the recount process is still ongoing, and California Recount 2006 resembles Florida Recount 2000 more and more every day. Jeb Bush is alleged to have been involved in impropriety yet again, this year not in support of his brother but in support of less-edgy films, and it appears that yet again Bush’s cousin John Prescott Ellis at Fox News announced Crash’s win too early. Nepotism and cronyism must not be awarded, Academy; give Brokeback Mountain its greatly deserved Best Picture Oscar!

















On a completely unrelated digression from the previous subject, I trimmed my hair yesterday morning and am savouring how light my head feels now, and how odd brushing my hair still feels. Blow drying and shampooing feel quite different, and it’s oddly relieving to have ten less millimetres of hair. Converse to the vile experience of disappointment, relief is certainly one of my favourite emotions, not only because of the joy that comes with a welcome respite or unanticipated delight, but also because it gives one hope that similar joy will come in the future. Whenever I’m freezing my butt off with Jess on one of our night walks, or about to collapse near the end of a jog, there’s always the hope of the warm indoors and hot chocolate or a chair to rest in and big glass of iced tea that I’ve experienced before. Sometimes I think that we actually put ourselves through mild grief just to feel the reprieve afterwards. When Jess and I drive home from our grandparents’ Sunday dinner in the warmer months, we always stick our heads out the window with our mouths open as wide as possible, thus causing our mouths to dry out. This is not an especially pleasant experience besides our hair blowing around strangely, but the relief that accompanies the return of moisture to our mouths after a drink of water is something not to be missed. People love to frighten themselves with horror films, scorch their taste buds with piquant foods, and go for polar bear swims, and I suspect that at least a portion of the gratification that can be obtained from these activities is from the reprieve from pain or fear when they are concluded. I suppose that this reprieve parallels the ultimate acquittal that we’re all offered, and it’s definitely wonderful to know that even the enjoyment of milk after eating excessive amounts of salsa or a warm towel after an early morning swim in a lake can’t top heaven.

As many of you likely are aware, I am quasi-obsessed with making lists, whether they are an enumeration of all I have to do, things I love, things about people I love, plans for the future, stuff God has been teaching me, stuff requiring prayer, or pros and cons related to decisions I’m in the midst of making. As well as being highly cathartic, lists provide me with an opportunity to order the chaos that pervades my brain, and allow me to place appropriate importance on the various things in my life. Plus, I don’t have to write in the usual verbose, long-winded style that I typically use, which saves a great deal of time and energy. I’ve discovered many things through times of list-making, including the sometimes skewedness of my priorities, why I really love my family and friends, what exactly is causing my annoyances at my many concerns, what is so staggering about God’s creation, and what requires adjustment in my life. Therefore, I’ve decided to type the rest of my thoughts in list-form, because I’m facing fatigue right now and don’t think that sentences are a very practicable form of writing at this point in time. However, these points really do have deeper thoughts behind them, and I may require elaboration in future blogging endeavours, depending on my state of lethargy when writing future entries. Finally, I must advise you not to read these because they are rather meaningless inventories of some of my recent musings, and more like skeletons of things that truly do carry weight and significance. My nonsomnia has just been failing me as of late, and accordingly there is limited time to go into further detail when I'm not out of the house, studying, or reading.

Things to Be Purchased
- tickets for all of the crazy good concerts coming up
- purple Chuck Taylors
- tapered jeans (they're really cool, despite what disparaging remarks certain others make)
- outrageously breathtaking flats from Urban Outfitters
- a book on Korsakoff's syndrome for Caitlin
- a case of Jones sodas
- all of the CDs and vinyls from my list of to-buy music
- a new rubber chicken (apparently mine makes odd noises)
- a new book to replace George Orwell's desolate, yet still great, A Clergyman's Daughter
- Gala apples for snacking on before midterms
- kitschy St. Patty's Day accessories
- a British dictionary for people who almost compulsively spell like Americans
- a skating DVD for Crystal
- spring jackets, because it's almost time (yay!)
- dresses from Nokomis
- White Stripes albums for Colleen, who will learn to love them

















Entertaining Activities with Jess from this Weekend
- walking with iPods at night in the cold
- watching wonderfully indie or romantic movies
- playing card games without actually cheating
- discussing our days in my bedroom
- praising her hair's beauty
- talking about God and friend stuff
- skipping until we nearly faint
- comparing clothes wants
- watching home videos for hours on end
- commenting on how cute we are in the home vidoes for hours on end
- stirring cheese into pasta (quite fun actually!)
- kicking snow as high as possible
- convincing her that stolen taco chips are delicious

Recently Discovered Pleasures from the Weekend
- Olive Garden breadsticks
- sparking myself by listening to Philomena Guinea while she gets charged amongst all the satin lining of my purse
- having ice wars at work
- Jen's ability to stick her fist in her mouth
- not being afraid of Flight Plan, despite suspecting that I would be, and liking it regardless of the slightly lame ending
- writing notes in the snow
- reading odd e-mails written late at night
- experiencing suspense over whether or not I'll make it back by my curfew
- enjoying the Rob-pointed-out harmonica virtuoso at church
- sleeping more than I think I'd like to because of curfews
- Nicole's e-mails about NYC trip 2006
- Machiavellian tactics
- Rupert Everett's rediscovered genius as Sherlock Holmes
- rereading my Sherlock Holmes novels from elementary
- guessing how late Crystal will be (I love you Crystal!)
- skipping Sunday sleeping in and meeting friends for coffee
- Ben's reaction to hearing that I vote NDP
- resisting others' violent ways and engaging in my brand of pseudo-violence
- driving around with a toboggan on my head and navigating with a mistrusting driver

Women I Admire for Various Reasons
- Jenny Lewis
- Olivia Chow
- Shirley Douglas
- Eleanor Friedberger
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Emily Murphy
- Audrey Hepburn
- Joni Mitchell
- Emily Carr
- Meryl Streep
- Aphra Behn
- Helen Keller
- Annie Lennox
- Sylvia Browne
- Julia Child
- my grandmas
- my mom

Things to Achieve this Summer
- learn to skateboard more effectively
- watch more films than is healthy
- read a book a week
- organize and have a blast on the NYC trip
- camp more than the Lobe-typic once a year
- stay up late outside every night
- write more essays
- take lots and lots of photos
- spend entire afternoons at the art gallery
- start our genius left-wing and crazy non-left-wing friends Bible study
- make it out to every decent concert there is
- love Ricky Ray more than Jason Maas
- teach others how to adore Sean Flamingo
- have more theme parties than ever
- attend every festival except for country-related ones
- do not get severe sunburn at the Champ car races
- continue to go for IGA runs every night
- see as many parades as possible
- discover whether or not I enjoy scrapbooking
- build up my strength in ways other than tennis, biking, and running
- have more picnics in Hawrelak with Jess and friends
- learn the Napoleon Dynamite dance
- relearn swing dancing with Jess
- find a balcony chair that doesn't give me back pains
- convince Jess to read on the lawn with me more frequently so I don't have to be gawked at by pedestrians on my own
- be creative in coming up with completely mad silliness with friends