New Blog!

Hello family and friends and other people that might happen to care about what I do,

I started a new blog! Like yesterday. Its JUST mine, so its going to be a lot more bad drawings and teenagery drama things and less thoughtful well worded dissertations, since it will lack Amy.

Anyway, here is the link. the URL is outhousekraken and I give all the credit to Amy. She came up with it to pay tribute to the last drawing that I made on this blog.

I shall hopefully be posting more drawings of my totally incredible life, soon.

-Michelle

By Michelle

I went back and read some of the posts that we wrote before, and I realized that I never even told about this semester at school.

I only have three classes, but one of them is biology with a lab.

But, on the upside, it's "Biology for non-majors" so, in other words, we don't have to remember anything we learn after this class, and she doesn't expect us to. She's a really amazing teacher, and recently we've been learning about genetics and I've gotten a lot out of it.

I also have math with a Taiwanese teacher who is really invested in my grades getting better, and a comp 1 teacher who is....a comp 1 teacher.

I find it hard for comp 1 teachers to be incredible because comp 1 is such a low level class. It saddens me that it's required. Or more, it saddens me that it NEEDS to be required.

More on that later, because my lap top is about to die

On a last note,

The head of the Global English Institute emailed me back after another one of the lower professors in the Institute that I emailed replied saying they would forward it to the, excuse me, stupid-head of the department.

he emailed me back shortly after and said, "If you're interested in participating in the Conversation Partner program, let me know."

....

-Michelle

Oh... hay.. Michelle Here

Hello blogsphere.

Family, friends, passersby. Its been quite some time.

I feel the need to update you all because since the last time I posted a lot has gone on and changed. As I probably said I'm going to a Community College now, and its really great. I tell you, going to a college that is TOTALLY LOADED is definitely one of the perks of my life.

The campus is really pretty and they seem to work very efficiently to get necessary things done. Recently we had two big snow storms in quick succession and the area is not the best with snow, since it is somewhat of a rarity now.

The school is huge but they very effectively informed all the students appropriately before hand when school would be cancelled; taking into account that many of the students are not from close by.

By the time there was school again, (two days later) the campus was beyond clean. Apparently the grounds crew had worked all night to make sure that there was zero ice on any one of the roads or sidewalks. The top level of the parking garage had been roped off as it was not safe, and had not been plowed.

The snow had been quite heavy, so it weighed down a lot of trees. I realized that in the courtyard one of the trees was gone. It must have broken from the weight of snow and they just took it out.

I was very impressed by it, and it made me really appreciate how lucky I am to go to such a good school that cares so much about the welfare of their students.

BUT ON ANOTHER NOTE.

Recently I have become more involved with the international students at my school. I signed up for their "Conversation Partner" program (a program where one american student and one international student are paired together to help the conversational English of the International student) and got myself a convo partner.

Its really a great program but the awareness for it is at like a 0.2%.

So I went to the Global English Institute(GEI) who were the people I gave my convo partner application to.
I told him of my concerns and interests in maybe a slightly accusatory tone. It was a long email that had lots of thoughts, and he just said,
"Maybe you should contact the International Education Office"

I emailed the Internation Education Office and they said "Gosh we're so happy that you care, but we don't deal with them please contact the International and Immigration Student Office"

And by this time I was quite the mad. I sent a long email to them as well, but by this time I was almost sure they couldn't help me. All of a sudden something that wasn't a big deal in the beginning had become a big deal to me. Obviously, no one really knew who was in charge of this.

They emailed me back and said, "thats interesting darling why don't you go play with the children your age." JUST KIDDING, but thats close enough. They said, "talk to So and So, she's in charge of the International Club, which is what you're looking for."

Well, I'd heard of the international club. I knew about this club. My conversation partner said it was "totally not his style" well, knowing that he his sometimes a little stuck-up, I emailed her.

She apologized for me getting the run around and invited me to their club meeting, which was the next day.

I went to the meeting and was not surprised to see that it was not exactly what I was looking for. It was inviting and fun, but it wasn't so much an international club as a "Hispanic and African club" which excludes all of the less-outgoing Asian and Middle-Eastern students.

I realized that, though it was a fun deal, it was not at all what I was looking for. I'm glad my school has at least SOMETHING for international students, but it wasn't quite enough.

All of the students there had very good English, so they interacted well with one another. What about the students with English that is not as good? Who want to learn in a less-stressful environment? Who have class during the club meeting times, or who aren't outgoing enough to even try going there? Or who get turned off because they are the only one from their country showing up?

Conversation partners are an incredible program, and the school already has it so all they need to do is advertise a little!

So I realized, at the club, that the people who probably really knew what was going on were the first people I emailed. The GEI. The people who set me up with my conversation partner. I emailed the head of the department again, this time pinning the blame on him. I said that I knew his department was the one in charge of the conversation partner program, and that I had been gone all over the place because he had told me that he was not that.

Two weeks later, and he hasn't emailed me back. I go onto the school website and get the faculty list. I emailed one of the other professors in charge of the program. Almost a week later and they still didn't respond.

So I went through, alphabetical order, and emailed half of the department, saying that their department head was not responding and I was very cross with him. I explained my predicament and told how I wanted to help.

Three days later, I get one response. "Hello, I'm sorry to hear what this school has put you through. I'm happy you care about the international students. However...."

There it is. There's that word. "You seem like a caring student, but..." "I'm glad you take an interest, but..."

I continued to read. "However, I am not the person in charge. I forwarded your email to the person I believe can help" CHA-CHING" and they should send you an email soon. If they do not, contact me soon and I will see what I can do. I'm happy to help you in any way that I can."

The most courteous, and promising thing that I've heard so far. So I shall wait patiently and, in the meantime, go to the international club again. I know its not exactly what I was looking for but its fun, haha.


In other news.


I started Alice and Wonderland at my studio, and I got the Queen of Hearts. Only part I auditioned for and I got it!!! So happy!

halla, peace!

-Michelle

Library

I didn't discover libraries until this year.

It's really bad, I know. Truthfully, I always had kind of a mindset against libraries, because I am the type of person who thinks one thing for some reason and then won't unthink it until the world ends or I reach a revelation.

I even worked in a library for a year without once taking advantage of it.

Eventually, though, my revelation was that the library is more than a place to get books to read. And the reason I went there was because I absolutely had to, for class, and I had a really bad attitude about it. But honestly, isn't it the coolest idea ever that there is a place where I can check out any book I want for any length of time? Also there are rolling bookshelves and laptops you can rent for free and incredibly snazzy armchairs and an Einstein Bros. There are international students who practically live here. Since I am currently in a state commonly known as "strapped for cash", I have almost completely gotten over my "I don't want to read it unless it's mine" mentality. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome to have a book that's unquestionably mine, and I can read it at any pace I want and however many times I want, and I can put it in my bookshelf with a sense of pride, but being able to borrow books for free opens up a whole new vista of possibility. The other day I checked out Watchmen, a book I would never buy but which is so far awesome and eye-opening (I don't have a lot of experience with graphic novels).

I came here today to work on a paper I have to write that was absolutely not getting done in my room. I can't really get homework done in my room because my own space is a productivity black hole. I can't work if the space is messy, and cleaning up leads to all sorts of other distractions, all of which are a futile attempt to escape the fact that I have imminent deadlines to meet. Today I was so intent on distracting myself that I cut my hair. It's all right though. It wasn't completely rash, I mean I'd been thinking about it for a while, so I have no immediate regrets. I came to the library to do my work, because the feeling of being just one panicked student in a building filled with panicked students somehow helps me focus.

The rolling bookshelves did kind of freak me out though.

NaNoWriMo and Movember: no-gos.

We went all of October without writing a single blog post.

Any this is supposed to the blogging season for us! I guess that's just a testament to all the other stuff we have going on in our lives these days. Being busy is lame sometimes. You know what's even lamer? Being so busy that I don't have time to think, eat, or sleep. That is what my Spring 2013 is looking like right now. I enrolled for classes yesterday and I'm already starting to freak out a little bit. I had to decide on the spot that I'm dropping my French minor because if I don't, I won't be able to graduate in 2014, and honestly I can't imagine many things more depressing than that. I am not even that much of a fan of French - at this point it is both boring me and stressing me out, and I don't want that. When I want is to be able to meet a language on my own terms, and since French is only serving to intensify my school-elated stress, I'm not very sad to see it go.

That said, I don't for one second intend to abandon it. But right now my priority is to graduate so I can get on with my life already.

Yesterday my roommate put up a Wallflower, and within an hour our room smelled like Christmas. After I made coffee this morning, it smelled like the inside of a Starbucks. I would bet real money that when I go to my French test tomorrow, the girl who sits next to me will say, "Now you even smell like a hipster" (though it could be argued that hipsters, depending on your definition, are more likely to smell of patchouli and body odor). The other day she proposed that we go to Westport and "do whatever you hipsters do." There was never a more telling testament to the atmosphere at UCM than that people here see me  as a hipster. I've since gotten over it. I should try discussing my obscure yet trendy music taste with anyone who will listen, and see what happens.

The next step is pairing garters with shorts. It's the final fashion frontier.



Suit jacket underneath overalls? Professional-meets-earthy-farmboy. Risky, yet with a dash of untouchable class.

Michelle The Diplomat

Yes, thats what they call me.

no, they don't call me that, but I call me that and thats all that really matters here. This will was a series or really horrible and really great things. I actually like those weeks because I think they test my ability to be level headed and steady through anything.

I think I did pretty well, as far as level headedness goes.

This week I got a really horrible (and I mean really horrible) grade for a take home essay test that I worked really hard on, and then I got some other people mad about it and that gave me the confidence to go to the dean. Tomorrow I'm gonna go back to my teacher and see what he has to say for himself!

A lot of other things happened including me finding out that there IS a conversation partner program at my school, and I'm gonna go check that out tomorrow. Super stoked!

The whole eventfulness and interestingness of the week inspired me to do a video auto-biography. I'm scared of dying, and I'm scared of growing up, but most of all I'm scared of forgetting meaningful/funny/life changing things just because I didn't document them. And I WILL forget things if I don't document them. I mean, I'm a Sullivan! We're not exactly known for our great memory!

In other news, I've recently spent a lot of time on Taereams birthday present, and it is going to be 109% awesome!

Amy, I think awesome pens are really important. Or an awesome medium of some sort. i don't like writing in pencil, and I too am one to pay attention while doodling, so good pens are even MORE important.

But i'm irked by the fact that Taeream got in on the 'birthday package' but I didn't. I mean, mom said, 'You can send it in the package' and then she sent the package without telling me! Blasphemy! or something...

Anyway, if you're coming tomorrow, I'll give you your present. I'll even wrap it!

-Michelle:)

I Get Parental Anxiety

Feeding Bach has become such a routine lately that a lot of days the drudgery of the activity leads me to forget whether or not I've actually fed him yet that day. It's one of my greatest fears that I will overfeed him and come home to find him floating belly up because of my negligence. Is this what it's like to be a mother?? If so, it is too stressful for me.

I'm a little stressed out about my Writing Fiction for Publication class because it has become clear that everyone there took Creative Writing together and therefore are adhering to unspoken rules that I am unaware of. Like, for instance, last class they all got out critical responses they'd written up to give to the person who had handed out their short story the week before, and when I asked if that was a requirement, they all looked at me like I hadn't listened to anything that had gone on in class thus far when I know for a fact that no one mentioned writing response letters at any time during the class, least of all the teacher.

Another thing that makes me unsure about that class is that so far every short story I have read is about some who is crazy or is going crazy. I wrote my short story about a twelve-year-old boy. Next week when we go over it I'm afraid they're going to tear it apart for being too boring. I'm ridiculously nervous. I love reading other people's stories but I am not sure about other people reading my stuff. I still have the feeling that my writing is a part of my private self that I never show to anyone. It seems indecent to put it in the light. In fact, the more I think about the story that I handed out, the more uneasy I get. Maybe its because I'm afraid that since I so rarely share my writing that my thoughts won't be transferable at all.

Or it could just be that I have this bad habit of selectively remembering only the negative parts of a given memory (maybe that's why I can never recommend dramas/movies to you because I'm remember everything I didn't like about them and nothing I did like).

Speaking of movies I didn't like, though, the other day I went to see Seeking a Friend for the End of the World because it was playing for free in the Union and it looked interesting. Well it wasn't interesting. It was stupid and everything that happened was predictable and sad. Steve Carrell and Keira Knightly actually made for a pretty cool couple, even though their roles were very specific cliches, but the screenplay was written in such an awkward way that I couldn't even like them.

After I did that, I needed a pick-me-up so I went and checked out a small pot to make an unnamed dish involving the Basmati rice Mom sent me for my birthday, carrots, and a potato. It was around midnight when I finished it, but that made it no less delicious.

I also had crackers and gouda cheese, also courtesy of Mom. Thanks. :D

I was reading Elise's blog today and she mentioned having new pens and it being awesome. The problem with pens is that there is never enough ink in them. I take all my notes in pen and I doodle a lot in the margins and in my journal, so basically I run through a good pen about one every month. And good pens aren't always easy to come by. Taeream gave me a set that I loved so much that I've used one up already doing things like drawing octopi,

 

or the logos of whoever I happen to be listening to at the time:

You know, important things.

-Amy