Better Living Through Television

Okay, could Will & Grace get a worse plotline? I mean, c'mon, just kill off Leo already and get on with it. I hate him. Maybe he'll get some fancy disease in Cambodia and die and then I can stop watching the show with a scowl. Harry Connick Jr. should most definitely not quit his day job.
I'm having a similar problem with Scrubs, in which I'd like Scott Foley to die, too. I wouldn't mind that his character is with Elliott so much if it meant that I could jump through the television screen and give JD a big hug, because he's just so damn cute, but evidently I can't do that. So damn you, Scott Foley. Perhaps he'll get gobbled up by a dolphin or something. That would be pleasant.
Friends was great tonight, though!
I wish I had something more interesting to report, but what's there to do when on break in Alpharetta other than watch inordinate amounts of television and sleep a lot? Not that I'd have it any other way. I need the sleep, and while I don't need the TV, I certainly appreciate it. Besides, if there was tons of fun stuff to do here at home, why would anyone go to college at all?
I went out to dinner tonight with my parents, and as I got out of the car I thought, "Okay, everything will be fine if we just restrict the conversation to college football for the entire evening." This, of course, only worked for the first ten minutes or so, at which point we got into the requisite political debate. This time I was accused of being a closet Republican and was told that G-Dubya is a "very smart man." It ended when I almost threw my salmon at my mother, and we discussed celebrities or some other low-key topic for the rest of the meal. At least we know where my penchant for arguing with brick walls comes from.
So that's Fall Break for you. But tomorrow I'm going to do some shopping (I'm going to get a pea coat! Because, you know, it's so freezing in Athens), and get a haircut and such, so it's a big day for me. I look forward to it.

Anger

The Butch Walker Athens show has been postponed again. Until next year.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

College kills your dreams, kids; don't go.
Every seminar or meeting I've attended since I got here has been attempting to convince me that really, I don't want to go to law school. Well, maybe I don't. Maybe they're right when they say that all of my notions of lawyering as a cross between Ally McBeal and a John Grisham novel are incorrect. Maybe I should at least consider the fact that come junior or senior year, I may not want to go to law school anymore. So where does this leave me, if I do decide not to go? It leaves me with an English major.
An English major? Wha? Worthless, right?
Yeah, so basically I'm considering switching. Remember that other thing I used to want to do, work for a magazine? Yeah, that dream. I'm probably going to be switching from English with Pre-Law intentions to Pre-Journalism, Magazines. I don't know what I'm going to have to do to get into the Journalism school, and I don't know how my current schedule is going to fit into this newfound career goal, and I certainly don't know why I'm changing to a major that actually requires me to take Economics (yech), but I do believe that I'm liking this idea.
Fall Break starts tomorrow! Yeah, Fall Break! Home (real shower! real food! real sleep!) and then the first Georgia-Florida game that Georgia will win in six years (six? five?). Because we will win. Oh trust me. And then Sunday is more flyer-hanging with Bain Mattox, this time not in the Atl but in the...Ath? Sure. So good weekend. G'bye!

Let's Kill Saturday Night

The Bain Mattox show Saturday night at Eddie's Attic was really, really amazing. It had to be to make up for the forty-five minutes of getting lost in Decatur, driving back and forth past Fernbank, talking on the phone to my mom who was looking at the wrong page of the map trying to help us find West Trinity. When we finally got to the venue, it was significantly later than I'd wanted to arrive, but as luck would have it everything was running late and they didn't even open the doors until a while after we got there. The show was acoustic--if you've never been to the venue (I hadn't), it's a small room with a bar and a whole bunch of round tables crammed in a big group, so you can sit and eat and listen to music all at once. Not a great set up, as there was a big curly head in my face the whole time, gnawing on french fries and pouring beer. I definitely prefer stand-up concerts. But the acoustic versions of all the songs were really great, and the audience really seemed to like it. It was a pretty decent sized crowd, too--bigger than I'd expected. And as all good things go, it was far too short, and then it was over and we waited around a little while so we could talk to the band (except the elusive drummer Andy, who we've somehow still not met), and then we were off. It was getting late--almost 9:30. Certainly past my bedtime. So I and Sara and Kelly and Tom and Gideon climbed in my car and naviagated back out of Decatur. Instead of straight back to the dorms, though, we stopped for ice cream at a place called Jake's that Gideon and Kelly claimed had the "greatest ice cream ever," but I beg to differ, and I had more fun than I'd had in quite some time just sitting on a couch at Jake's, fooling around with Harry Potter trivia and flying cows and children's books and dripping not-the-greatest-ice-cream-in-the-world all over everything.
Back to the dorms, drop off Kelly and Gideon at Tech, park, and we're walking towards the Georgia State Village when it's discovered that Tom can't say the word "peripheral." Sound it out, we say. Per-i-pher-al. Peri-pheral. Peripheral. Eventually it's decided that he can only pronouce it when Sara's not around. Back up to Sara's dorm, a rousing game of insulting darts (I won), the discovery that the cookies we'd made earlier are covered in ants, an abandoned game of Harry Potter Clue, and more relevations of things Tom can only do when Sara isn't in the room later, he leaves and Sara and I go to sleep. Daylight savings! Gotta love that extra hour.
And now I'm sad because there isn't another Bain show until November 20th (here in Athens--who's coming?), and I have an Anthropology test on Tuesday that needs studying for, and it's been rainy all day and my pillow got soaked running from the Village to the car. But a three day week! Hallelujah. Thank God for Fall Break.

Limited Time

I'm in quite the mood to make a mix tonight. But I don't want to make another one for myself, because I know I'll just listen to it on repeat for three days and then get sick of it and never hear it again. And I want all of my mixes to have good homes, and mine is a less than good home for a mix. So the first person who responds to this offer gets a mix (mailed to them if they're not Athens or Alpharetta or Atlanta), and maybe the second if I'm feeling especially productive. Commence responding.

As It Stands

Brynnlee can't go to Atlanta this weekend for the Bain Mattox concert because her roommate dropped out of school and said roommate's dad is coming to pick up her stuff while we'd be in Atlanta. Brynnlee is also going to abandon me by transferring to Tech next year. She is just chock full of disappointment today!
The state of Georgia sucks--if you find yourself at a school that you don't quite want to be at, and that school happens to be UGA, and you are an English major, there is absolutely nowhere you can transfer that wouldn't be a step down. In another state with more good schools this would not be so. It's just too bad when you can't afford to pay the out-of-state tuition you'd have to pay if you transferred somewhere not in Georgia.
Sorry to whine, it's just that I am so jealous of people who are at schools that make them happy. I don't know, maybe you're not supposed to be happy at college. Maybe it's just the way things are.

Hooray! Hurrah!

The Athens Butch Walker show has been rescheduled! It is now December 6th at the 40Watt. So excited! So who wants to go now?

Excitement!

Me and Joe are going to work at the radio station together!!

Well, no, not together.

Me and Joe are going to work at the radio station apart!!
I'm excited. I was even more excited when there was somebody I knew at the New Members Meeting tonight so I wouldn't have to be by myself. So I am now on the Local Music staff! First task: review the Bain Mattox CD. Hey, it wasn't like I went out of my way to do it! It was just sitting there in the CD's-To-Be-Reviewed cabinet looking lost and lonely and I just happened to be just the girl to give it a good home for the night and a good review before returning it to the station. Really.

Spring Semester 2004

So I'm all registered and ready for next semester. I think. Maybe. As it stands right now, here is my schedule for the spring:

Honors Intro to Sociology: TR 8:00-9:15 am
--Yes, I know it's an 8 AM class. Yes, I know I'm not a morning person. But I really want to take it because I couldn't get in for this semester, and this was my only option to take it this year at all.

Intro to Creative Writing: W 9:05 am-12:05 pm
--Yes, you read that right. It's three straight hours of creative writing, which could be kind of fun and could also be sheer hell. We'll just have to see.

Logic and Critical Thinking: MW 1:25-2:40 pm
--I need a Philosophy class and Brynnlee said that everyone she knows who's taken this has loved it. Eh, it'll look good for law school.

Intro to Acting: TR 3:30-4:45 pm
--As I said before, I sort of miss it.

Italian: MF 11:15 am-12:05 pm, TR 12:30 pm-1:45 pm
--I like Italian, but the class I'm in right now is really easy. I'm hoping that I'm not going to get in a class with a different teacher and be in completely over my head, but you never know.

Every single one of my classes is on North Campus, which is quite pleasing to me. I love North Campus; it's so pretty. And I didn't even plan it that way, it just worked out. So at least I won't be rushing all over campus to get from class to class. I don't know. We'll see.

Go Go Group Firehouse!!!

Well today was great fun. I made the drive down (up?) to Atlanta to pick up Pennington and Kelly at their respective dorms, and then we spent far too long getting almost-lost in Atlanta before reaching Fellini's, where we were to meet Bain Mattox (the band, not just the one guy) and a few other street team members for our flyer-hanging par-tay. There was that awkward "should I make eye-contact with that person in case she is here for the same reason as me?" feeling at the beginning because the three of us were the first people there, but soon enough the others showed up. So we ate and chatted and developed a plan of attack, and then split up into groups. Kelly and Sara were required because they know the Tech and State campuses well, so the three of us and Ash (the supercool bassist of Bain Mattox) piled into my Jetta and drove all over creation searching for places to staple Bain Mattox flyers and to stick Bain Mattox stickers. If you're walking around Tech and see a Bain Mattox sticker on a bike rack, a mailbox, an elevator door, et cetera, you know who was there. Yeah. Us. So after putting our last two posters in the Men's and Women's bathrooms at the Tech Barnes & Noble, we were done for the day. Good, good times. And a week from yesterday I'm going back to the ATL for the show that we were putting up flyers for, which will be wonderful. And then the next weekend is Fall Break, which is less than a month from Thanksgiving break, which is less than a month from Christmas break! ("I'm 23 which is almost 25 which is almost mid-twenties!") So things are going well. It's a little sad that everything I get excited about involves leaving Athens, but...what can you do? Now off to pack my head with Italian vocabulary words. G'bye.

I Think A Little Blood-Letting Is In Order

There's a competitive blood drive going on this week between UGA and Tech, and today I went to Memorial Hall to do my part and give a little blood. I decided I'd stop by after Italian and do it then, but I didn't anticipate it taking three whole hours to go through the whole process. But alas, it did. A lot of people left before it was their turn because they just didn't want to wait any longer, but the promise of free stuff kept me there: everyone who gave got a free XXL t-shirt and a coupon for a free Chik-Fil-A sandwich. And who am I kidding? T-shirts and Chik-Fil-A are my two favorite things. So I sat it out, and finally it was my turn to go behind that flimsy gray screen to answer "No" to thousands of personal questions. The lady who was at my station said a few interesting things: The minute I sat down, she said, "I'm sure you hear this all the time, but you look just like that little girl from Saturday Night Live." Yes, I told her, I've heard that before. It amused me because she had to be at least sixty years old, and you don't imagine many sixty-year-olds to be familiar with Mary Katherine Gallagher. And she just wouldn't let it go, either. She pretended to write "Shannon, Molly" on my form, and then laughed hysterically. Then came time to take my blood pressure, and turns out I have freakishly low blood pressure. "It's okay," she said, "because you're just so tiny." So not only do I apparently have crazy blood pressure, but I evidently shrunk at some point between going in to give blood and sitting down for my screening. And the funny thing is, the lady who actually took my blood also told me I was "so tiny." I think that either the Red Cross ladies are on serious hallucinogenics, or there's some kind of optical illusion going on down at Memorial Hall. So after the blood-giving itself, they handed me the "What To Do After You've Given Blood" sheet. One of the last items on it said to call the Red Cross if you contract SARS anytime within the next 14 days. What?! I can't get SARS for a whole two weeks?! Damn. There goes my weekend.
So now I'm off to go drink twelve glasses of water, eat my body weight in Cheerios, and regrow me some blood. Must-See TV tonight! Yay!

Books and Bones

So yesterday I was in a very truant mood, and since I've known for weeks that my Freshman Seminar (the one on Measure For Measure) is completely useless save for the cute guy in it, I decided to skip it. It was nice to have so much of my day free. I went and cashed a check, and then drove over to the Barnes and Noble on Atlanta Highway. As I was pulling into the parking lot, I thought jokingly to myself, "Hmm, I wonder if Brynnlee is here." Out of my car, into the store, past the New In Paperbacks and the Staff Recommendations. I reach the Knitting table, and who should I see but--yes, Brynnlee. My God! The middle of the day on a Wednesday and I just happen to run into her in Barnes and Noble. Brynnlee, are you living there now? I guess Creswell got to be too much for you.
I also had advising yesterday, and I get to register on Monday at two. Ah, the only perk of being in the Honors program finally arrives.
In about fifteen minutes I will leave for Anthropology to slowly die a painful death of boredom. Never take this class. Never.

White Hot

The minute I dredge up all my warm clothes, go digging through my closet at home that's quite a bit cleaner than it was the last time I saw it, and sifting through drawers of long sleeves and knit, I bring them back here and the chill stops. It was bordering on cold and now it's just hot again, because every time I prepare for something it's over and it's too late and all the preparation winds up to be useless. At least this time I know that more than likely it will get chilly here and I will have places to wear my old sweaters and new hoodie and they won't be just sitting in my closet that's really more like a giant metal box, taking up space. I can't wait until I can be comfortable curling up in bed with all the covers up to my ears, and until we don't have to keep the fan on high in order to go to sleep. I didn't even bother bringing my scarf and matching mittens, though I wanted to, because I know it'll be months before I can even think about mittens. (kittens wearing mittens) But I wish that time would come. And I'm afraid we're going to miss fall again, just like we did last year, just like we do every year down here, because the leaves don't seem to change and it doesn't seem to gradually get cold, we just wake up one morning and all the leaves are on the ground and it's sweater weather. As Lewis Black says, the leaves just get so hot and tired they fall off the trees. That's what it's like here. It's all heat. I miss the cold that I never even had.

In Reverie

Driving back to Athens from Alpharetta is such a weird experience. Every time I do it now--all twice so far--I have to prepare for it. You know, pick out specific music that won't depress me, or worse, remind me of years past. This time I was under the assumption the Brynnlee would be riding back with me, as she rode to Alpharetta with me, but while we were there she decided that she just couldn't live one more minute without having a car here. So we picked up her mammoth SUV and drove back separately. Lewis Black's The End Of The Universe brought me most of the way, and the new Saves The Day (In Reverie) coupled with some live Butch Walker from last week's LA show took me the rest of the way. It's still always so weird, and I wonder if it'll always be that way from now on. And if it feels strange when I come home for a weekend, how will it feel when I'm home for the few weeks of Winter Break? And what about next summer? It feels as if there are two lives existing simultaneously--the one here, and the one back in Alpharetta--and I've split in two, because whenever I'm here I want to be there and whenever I'm there I want to be here. So I don't know what to feel.

Oh No!

Aaagggghh! The Athens Butch Walker show scheduled for November 19th has been postponed! For later this year! And I don't know when!

I'm distraught.

"Do You Want To Shine?"

Aaaaggghhh! Bain Mattox!
The show was amazing...and we played the roles of the lameass kids who come to a show for the opener and then leave before the headliner comes out...and then we saw Bain and Count and Ash packing up the van outside...and then we went over and chatted with them...and we got some autographs...and we chatted some more...and Bain said they might play with Butch Walker when he comes...and it was fun...and we chatted s'more...and then we left...and I'm really wired. Whew. Too much excitement for a Wednesday night.
All that and home before the end of Hugfest!

Oh, and I'm sory that every entry I write now is about Bain Mattox, or occasionally Butch Walker, but that's all that happens! If something else worth writing about would happen, believe me, I'd be writing it.

Man...

I miss my friends.

Have Mercy.

A Full House marathon on Nick At Nite...a cute new Gap purse...Bain Mattox at the Georgia Theater tomorrow evening...things just seem to be going well lately. With the exception of some...um...(cough, cough...long silence)...issues...everything is nice.
The Study Abroad fair was today in Tate, which I attended as a good little conscientious student, and I picked up some information about the UGA At Oxford program that I'm dying to do. I believe I've written about the program here before, but not in much detail: I want to do it spring semester (Trinity Term, as they call it in England) of sophomore year, and basically it's twenty seven UGA students living in a "Victorian mansion" in North Oxford, being taught by Oxford dons with the other UGA students, but doing everything else with genuine British kids (I know! Real ones!). I'm so excited, which means that this better work out. My parents are cool with it, though--they're even excited. Mainly because it means that they'll have an excuse to travel to England, as they want to meet me there after the program ends and do a little traveling. Considering I'll be getting a semester in England out of the deal, I think I can handle spending a week or so in another country with only my parents for company.
At the fair this morning, there were at least a hundred, possibly more, booths set up for different Study Abroad programs in different countries. It was called the Study Abroad fair. I reiterate this because I was asked repeatedly by the people sitting at the booths, "Are you at all interested in studying abroad?" No. No, I'm not. I just came for the free flyers. I wanted to decorate my room with them. I thought it'd be cute.
And yay, Bain Mattox is tomorrow night! This'll be the third Bain Mattox show I've seen in a month. So excited!
Okay, back to the Hugfest on Nick At Nite. Does anybody else feel dated by the fact that Nick At Nite, which used to show only TV shows from ages and ages ago, now shows things like The Cosby Show and Roseanne? These aren't old shows! I feel ancient.

How UGA Are You?
I'm only 75%, but then again, I don't own anything Northface or Chaco.

And while you're at it, How Alpharetta Are You?
I scored 54%. And I'm a little offended at the eighth question!

Then for some of the others of you, there's How Georgia Tech Are You? I'm only 26% Georgia Tech, thank God.

The Top Nine

That's it. Kelly convinced me, so you're just going to have to suffer through an extremely self-indulgent, extremely squealy-teenybopper blog. Oh, c'mon, admit it, you've gotten used to them from me, anyway. It's no big shock.

And as Kelly's list went, these are just actors. No musicians, no UGA students. So it's not the exact Top Nine, but it's close enough.

9.
ERIC McCORMACK - What, did you think I watched Will And Grace for the laughs?

8.
LUKE WILSON - My roommate hates The Royal Tenenbaums. I don't know how she sleeps at night.

7.
JAKE GYLLENHAAL - No, it has nothing to do with all the Holden Caulfied comparisons. I swear. Really.

6.
JOHN CUSACK - No, it has nothing to do with Lloyd Dobler. Really.

5.
JUDE LAW - As I'm sure I've told you all before, Ewan McGregor and Jude Law used to be roommates. It wouldn't really surprise me to hear that the apartment had caught on fire because the two of them are so damn hot.

4.
EDWARD NORTON - I have to agree with Kelly on the whole unidentified sex appeal issue.

3.
MATT DAMON - So he's a teensy bit overrated. He's still really, really hot.

2.
JIMMY FALLON - He's just so darn cute! I just can't help myself.

1.
EWAN McGREGOR - To quote Kelly, "Ewan is all sex. Sometimes gay sex." Oh yum. Oh God, yum.

Aaagh, all my guys look alike! Several of them do, at least. Does this mean I have a type?

You Might Just Let It Go

Everyone turns into such a flake in college. Maybe it's just recently, or maybe it's just the people that I know, or maybe it's a common occurence, but it seems to me that nobody is reliable anymore. You know, nobody calls when they say they will, and nobody keeps the plans they make. Everybody is constantly changing their minds and forgetting and ignoring. Nobody's dependable. It's like college is just one big broken promise.
But beyond that, things are good. My grades are mildly amusing: I never made grades this good on tests in high school. I haven't gotten below a 95 on any of the four tests I've had so far, and so all this business about high school not preparing you for college seems to be shaping up to be bullshit. Although, I suppose it could just be that UGA tests aren't as hard as "real college" tests. So I'd rather like to avoid any of you who are in "real colleges" commenting and telling me that it's just because I go to UGA, and if I went to a "real college," then I'd be getting C's or lower. As much fun as it is to be made felt like I am here because I couldn't do any better, I'm also sort of over it. But thanks anyway!
Right now Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is on HBO2 so I'm just going to go over into the living room (you know, so I'll shift three inches to the right) and watch it for the hundredth time. Sounds like a good afternoon, eh?
Oh, and by the way: my roommate is my mother. She watches Oprah, tennis, and Braves games, goes to bed at 10:30 at night, and loves Celine Dion. I don't think I can ever escape!