Happy Christmas (School is Over)

Take that, John Lennon. If only you were so smart. At least school being over is realistic...

Anyhow.

I just finished school yesterday! Hooray! I'm pondering all the possibilities of what I can do with my time before I leave for vacation. Today I've decided I will devote to laundry and scrapbooking.

Yes, scrapbooking. No, I am not an old lady--at least not in the traditional sense of the title--or a SAHM with toddlers biting at my ankles. I am 21, and I like to think I have at least an ounce or so of coolness (and it just dripped out of me once I said "coolness"). Cool kids can scrapbook too.

It's my way of pretending I'm creative. I am most certainly not a rational/logical thinker--I'm much more inclined to creativity--but I have like nothing to show for it. Scrapbooking is the stuff I have to show for it.

Anyhow, I would stay and chat more, but I am for real excited to get cracking. I haven't worked on scrapbook stuff since like last summer, I've been so busy. Toodles, friends!

The Ever Useful Ellipsis...

So I'm waiting for my obligatory holiday mix cd to burn, and decided to check things out here, you know, the whole excitement part of it has not quite worn off yet. But so I was looking at my little archive-y list of posts, and I realized... I used an ellipsis... in every title.

And I wonder, is that going to be my thing, or is that really annoying. I'm leaning towards the obnoxious side. It drives me crazy when people have things. For example, I read one blog the other day where the lady numbered every point she was writing about. 1. I went to the store today. 2. I really like spinach. And so on.

But now that I've started the ellipsis thing, even if subconsciously ("believe me, sir, it was most unconsciously done," I just watched that the other day and now I'm word-vomiting P & P everywhere), can I stop? I would like to stop, but then it's going to bug me that my first five--make that six--posts had an ellipsis in the title. Oh, how obsessive compulsive tendencies plague my existence.

On the plus side, my cd is almost done burning, then I must run off to meeting. I'm kind of weirdly excited because I get to wear these crazy socks I got in Madison over the summer--they're really high, and they look warm, so we shall see! Until next time, viewers, readers, whatever you are.

So this is christmas...

The holidays have arrived. Officially. Because I say so.

Every year I get crankier and crankier about how early we prepare for Christmas--music and decorations up before Thanksgiving, parties before the first week of December is even over. Actually, every year I get crankier and crankier about everything. Ha. But it is in winter that I am at my most cranky. I'm not a fan of winter in general, all the snow, and the bad weather, and the snow...it's something the Lord and I are working on. He made the season after all, why should I hate it? But really, I do. He wouldn't want me to lie either. I like to see winter in pictures, touch it and catch it on my tongue maybe once a year. Do I like to walk around in it? Slosh through it in my supposedly-but-not-really-water-proof boots? Skid around on it in my traction-challenged motor vehicles? No. No, I do not.

And Christmas, while it helps slightly, mostly makes me even crankier. All the fake cheer, ugly decorations, blech. Just the outright cheesiness of it all makes me want to be aloof and mean just to balance things out. I just hate that everyone thinks it has to be Christmas to be nice to each other. See? At the heart of my grouchiness is really love for all that is good and holy. If we were all nice and lovey to each other every day of the year, in a quiet, humble way, we wouldn't feel the need to spew all this "grown-up Christmas wish" crap at each other every December.

And really, that's what gets me. That even though we paste sappy grins on our faces and hold hands like the old Coke commercials, all that good will to men isn't really genuine anyway. We aren't even sincerely nice and lovey to each other at Christmas. In December, people still gesture in not so nice ways when they're cut off. People still cut in line at the McDonald's double drive-thru (not bitter, I promise haha). People are still kind of mean. And for goodness sake, what about that guy that died in Walmart on black Friday? How Christmas spirit was that?

Now I know for all this craziness, there's plenty of happy stories going around too. It's not that I'm such a huge pessimist. I just dislike that there's such a fakey sanction on December that you have to pretend to be all loving and kind, even when you're not. Let people be who they are and that's the end of it. Mean people aren't going to cease being mean just because it's Christmas. Let's not make believe they will.

BUT... but.

As much as I'm not a huge Christmas fan, I can set aside my opinions and appreciate the holiday when I deem it appropriate. The week or two before Christmas is when I deem it appropriate. It's getting to be just that time. For example, just yesterday I busted out my Christmas playlist on iTunes. Yes, I have a Christmas playlist. I like Christmas music for two weeks out of the year. The two before Christmas day, and wouldn't you know, that day is today. I stop after the 25th.

There are some other things I like about Christmas. Tasteful decorations, spritz cookies, White Elephant on Christmas Eve even though I've missed it since 2005. In general, I'm not as much of a scrooge as I let on. I'm just a little more private about my enjoyment of the holiday. I enjoy it, but I don't OMG LOOOOVE it like a lot of people do. That being said, I wish you all very happy holidays, Christmas included. And now, I bid thee, good night.

Oh, Chi-city...

Who doesn't know about Chicago's, and thus Illinois', penchant for corruption? Vote early, vote often and the whole bit. I'm at work, watching children and watching internet news, and what is the first story to pop up? Rod Blagojevich has been arrested! Hahah... I mean, er, what a shock...

Apparently he tried to sell Obama's old Senate seat. : ) Good one, Rod. What a great idea. He also refused to help Tribune Co. with some crazy deal involving Wrigley Field unless they fired people who wrote bad stuff about him in the Trib. : ) The FBI tapped all his phone lines and stuff, and uncovered a majorly huge bunch of corruption. Would it be unnecessary for me to say, I saw this coming a mile away? I suppose so, so I won't say it.

I don't know anything about politics, and my gut feelings are not famous for being right, but once in a while, I guess about stuff. When I heard Rod Blagojevich's name and saw his face, I decided then and there I didn't like him. I could be all psychic-y and say this was why, that I knew he was bad news, but really I just thought he looked and sounded smarmy--well, smarmier than most politicians. So even if I didn't have a reason for not liking him--now I do! Haha. This is not a very Christ-like attitude, so... I really do feel sorry for him that he's been outed in such a big way, but really, you reap what you sow...so...sorry Rod. Sorry you were so greedy. Join the ranks of all the other corrupt Illinois elected officials. You're in...infamous company?

Whatever. Chicago will always be my favorite city ever, in spite of its corruption. Or maybe because of it? It does give the city a certain amount of color it wouldn't have otherwise. The corruption seems kind of like a legacy that tells of its scrappy beginnings. I liken Chicago to a little orphan child who realized it would have to do some dirty work to make it in the world, one who became a saavy little street urchin. Now, it's just a slightly older, wiser street urchin, who has gotten his hands on some nice duds. Ha. I'm too harsh. Chicago really is a great place, in spite of its failings. The city of Big Shoulders may have a bit of a rotten side, but it's still my favorite.

I foresee much discussion of sleep...

It's 12:30 and instead of working on my sociology schoolwork that's due in like eleven hours, I spent the last like hour and a half trying to write up my whole profile. I've never done it on Facebook or any kind of thing where I had a profile, and I always wanted to do it. So I decided to do it here, and my stupid--oh wait, i mean *sub-par--internet decided it was a great time to arbitrarily kick me off every time I clicked save. I typed the same "interests" like five different times. This is how it went mostly.

Me: Victorious! I have finished again!
Internet: Wait, watch this! Ha, think again my friend! See if you can win this time! (it was slightly reminiscent of a how a dog plays tug of war--stupid)
Me: I will finish this, internet! Just you wait!
Internet: Oh really? Okay, sure--oh wait. Nope, gotcha. Try again.
Me: This game is not fun.

It continued on like this for like forty five minutes until I finally rediscovered the clipboard. Thank you, Copy and Paste. You're much less treacherous of friends than Internet.

*fun fact: when I was in high school (I sound ancient but I'm just old enough to be out of fashion and decrepit, not cool and antique), my AP US history teacher told us he had deleted the word stupid from our vocabularies, and we were from then on to substitute in sub-par, or something like unsatisfactory or something. We ended up sounding like little historians, who apparently don't call Nixon or the War of 1812 stupid, but just sub-par.

Speaking of sub-par, I'm going to get my sub-par self to bed so that I can get up early to do my soc work. The best thing about December is it equals only half school. Oh, for the end...

Oh but first, holla back (please beat me) to R and J (I've decided I'm going to be all bloggy and cool a/b this) for getting friendly blogs with me! Cheers to many (like three) days of blogging to come! And maybe I'll come up with more fun nicknames for you. Hmm.

Pillow, meet face.

Sunday Siestas...

How I long for it. But instead I have company. And I have forced them into making blogs too. Yay for bloggy friends. I am still ridiculous. Blah, back to school.

In the beginning...

Oh goodness. What have I done? Well, friends, here we are. Reading my blog. You are reading my blog; I am writing it however. How do I even have a blog? I'm not sure. All I know is, it's quarter after one in the morning, and somehow it looked fun.

So here we are. I guess I really just missed writing--though, pardon the interruption, I have never missed the reading of my writing, so this is an odd way of getting back into things. I mean, why not just write in my journal? I don't know. Some of you end up reading my journal anyway, so hey, why not just cut out the middle man? And this way maybe I won't feel so bad about my lack of promptness and thoroughness when it comes to emailing.

Yes, that's it.

So I'm not going to introduce myself or anything like people do in blogs (? I guess?), because if you have this link, it must be because I gave it to you, and if I gave it to you, then you likely already know me. And if you just stumbled upon me somehow, then I apologize in advance for the agonizing months you spend wondering where I graduated from high school, what my hobbies are, and what my friends call me. (They call me by my given name, by the way. Nicknames apparently don't suit me.)

I'm ridiculous, no one is going to read this outside of my friendish people anyway. No need for all the mystery. The real mystery is why I'm still awake when tea meeting is tomorrow! Yay! But I have to get up early to buy something for everyone to eat. Yes, I'm going to be that girl.

Until the next time I lose my better judgment, au revoir, it's off to lala land I go...