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

No Problem

Today. Lots happened.

It started with me waking up at 6:20 in mom and dads bed. They're out of town, so of course I took their bed. Its like the heaven bed.

Here's what its like when I lay on my bed,

And here's what its like when I lay on mom and dads bed.

Just so you can get a mental picture of how awesome it is.

Anyway, so Tae Ream is sick so I don't have to take her to school, so I take my time getting ready, but I have nothing to do so I just go to school. I have this playlist called "strut/conquer the world" that pretty much makes me feel like a winner.

So I walk up to the school and the weather is perfect and the music is perfect, and the school museum window cleaners are speaking spanish and singing "work hard, play hard" as I pass, and then its just a perfect time to sit down and watch some Korean drama.

And then its still not time for class so its a perfect time to watch all my youtubes. Then its time to walk to class so I turn on the Crayon music video and watch that as I walk and I sit down and my teacher walks behind and was probably thinking, "the crazy things kids watch these days I just don't understand" or "omg wut.".
Then yadadadaddaaa learn about the government in class and then its another break and I turn on my playlist and strut some more,

walkin' down the halls like

Then I came home and I was so tired, but that didn't stop me from crafting like crazy! i made a nerd-hoodie for myself, and though it was hard and took way too long, it got me inspired to do more "wearable art", so next chance (money) I get, I'm going straight to hobby lobby and spending as much time as possible in their wearable art section buying all the things necessary for me to rock my wardrobe.

Ahhh, I love crafting when it involves clothes.

You know what else I love? Winter. IT'S COMING. wore a hoodie today and i'm ready to wear a hoodie for the rest of my life.

-Michelle

Sushi + Bellydancing

"Please out homies"? That's a new one.

Today I have been running around with my hair on fire, as I am often prone to doing. Even though I've been in college for quite some time, and I have also had the experience of being in college and having a job at the same time, I still freak out when a day comes where I have something going on from the early morning until the evening with only tiny breaks every now and again. I have this weird fear of being that busy, like in the midst of all the stress I will suddenly lose myself in frantic routine and no longer be capable of deep thought. 

Not that I was ever really capable of deep thought.

Today, I tried sushi for the first time since Kristin made it in her apartment in Leavenworth. I have to say that my experience with sushi has not been all good. I would say that today, while not particularly enjoyable, could be counted as a victory.

They are tuna, salmon, and shrimp. I unconsciously avoided the shrimp ones, though, and by the time the others were gone I was way too full to eat them. There was also the small problem of the food court not having any water so after I had a small accident involving wasabi I pretty much lost my appetite.

However incompletely, though, the sushi was conquered.

I went to the UCM Dance Club today because they have open dance lessons on Thursdays. It is $5 for the entire semester so I am pretty much all over it. However, this was my first day going and there was a guest teacher teaching us how to bellydance. Not only was it super freaking awesome, it was super freaking HARD. I am beginning to understand why Angela has expressed the sentiment in the past that people who are stick skinny shouldn't be hip swinging and booty dancing all over the place. What it does is accentuates our total lack of assets in ways we really can't afford (and looks pretty lame as well). So, while I thought the bellydancing lessons were super fantastic and fun, the actual result of me bellydancing in an individual sense was vaguely pitiful. I don't own a full-length mirror, so standing in front of the studio mirrors was a bit jarring to begin with, even when I wasn't sadly trying to move like an Egyptian gypsy goddess.

I can't even express how excited I am for it to be the weekend. Even though I am working some, I am absolutely determined to get some sleep starting tomorrow night and not stopping until Monday. The number of hours I slept this week is in the low teens so I am super incredibly stoked to improve the shining hours by snoring through them.

I will leave you with what I had for lunch the other day. It's been months since I had Taco Bell, and honestly I've missed horribly even though by all accounts Taco Bell is disgusting and perhaps even unethical. It's my birthday gift to me.

-Amy

I Should Probably Be Doing Homework

So Tuesday was one of those days where I was like, "So this is what having relatively hard school with deadlines is like,...hmm...it sucks."

I had to write a paper for history and a paper for government and study short essay answers for history and find and study long essay answers for history and do math homework. So I was super stressed and sad and finally I just kind of gave up and watch some Secret Garden with TaeReam which actually helped, even though most of the time I was thinking about what a un-smart loser I am.

So then the middle of the night rolls around and I get up to go to the bathroom and then I'm totally 100% awake, thinking about all the things I have to do in an hour or so when I get up.

Then I fell into fits of restless sleep where I had a dream that went like this,

We were going to california and I didn't realize it and I said, "I can't go to california, I have an 81 in math I can't miss a single question!"
just as the plane was starting up, so mom said, "What did you say? You aced every one in math? You didn't miss a single question?"

And then I woke up and I'm pretty sure I was crying or something, you know how it is in the middle of the night when dreams that are not so bad seem like 1000 times worse.

And then it get light outside and you think back and you're like, "I think I visited insanity last night."

Anyway, there were little good things that happened, like I got in the car and the tank was full (YESS) and then I got to the school and I had to buy three test books which only came out to $1.14 (YESS)

So then I went straight to the math lab and some girl helped me and pretty much made me feel like a math goddess. So I was struttin' it up till I actually got to math class where we learned some new stuff that i didn't understand either.

Thats the thing about math. You can't just, 'get it' you have to KEEP getting it.

And then I went to history class and we talked about how Booker T Washington was reasonable and Intelligent and Debois was 'wack' and 'lame'.

So thats all for today. I have to start and finish this history paper before TaeReam gets home. Please out homies.

I Get Philosophical When It Storms

They say that one of the primary influences on the longevity of the retired and elderly is having a reason to stay alive. And one of the primary reasons to stay alive is a feeling that in some way you are in control of some aspect of your life.

As a college student, my iota of control is granted by these two bad boys.

Last year my sedum came to death's door directly due to my negligence. However, having witnessed its miraculous recovery this summer, and also having received another plant from Dad, I am determined to do right by my houseplants because, really, if I don't, what am I really good for? I've come to a place where I see the houseplants as a greater metaphor, as a test to determine whether or not I'm ready for the real world. Maintaining a plant is like maintaining a job or a friendship or a relationship (in my own morbid way, I see all of these things as jobs). And if you can't keep your plant alive, what, in a broader sense, can you really do at all?

Being sleep-deprived turns me into an absolute monster. As such I have been a monster all week, and especially today after a truly horrible bout of insomnia. But eventually I got a hot drink into my system (Tea. Earl Grey. Hot) and by the time French rolled around I had caught my fifteenth wind and could even ignore the fact that I learned how to say what I did in high school back when I was still technically in high school (Quand j'avais 15 ans, je n'avais pas d'amis). This class does seem a little redundant, according to my distant memory of my other French classes.

One more thing contributing to my goodwill today:

This delicious bubbling concoction started out as Southwestern style canned soup, but when I put it in my makeshift crockpot, I added rice, more carrots, salt, and garlic flakes. What ended up happening was it was asgfhjklasdl delicious. You might have noticed that I have this thing about food. I love it, especially when I have been craving it all day long.

However, that was a couple of hours ago, and now I am craving Korean food because tonight I am going to feast on a veritable smorgasbord of that sort of thing. I can't wait.

Amy

Never Again

I ate this a little while ago. It is "chicken fajita" Rice-A-Roni. I couldn't finish it because it was so disgusting. Two hours later I still feel like throwing up. When can I go to bed??

Three-Day Weekend?

It's my conclusion that three-day weekends are a construct of the rich, not only to create a day in which they could gloat that they're rich enough to not need to work today, but also in an attempt to create for the less fortunate a day to in which to pretend to not need to work today.

Of course, the bottom of the totem pole is needed on all days, even weekends and holidays. I could take pride in being at the bottom of the totem pole, considering it is the foundation and without it the rest of the totem pole would be eating dirt, but I am too busy being resentful.

Besides the residence hall front desks, everything is closed today, even the dining halls. I'll take this as a sign to become even more creative than ever with my food choices!

That's a lie. I am not becoming much more creative. My innovation this week in the food department is that I am now adding potatoes to my diet.

That is a potato that was grown at home. I brought a bag of them with me when I moved, but until yesterday they were sitting forgotten in a plastic bag underneath my desk (there is an odd shelf there where I keep my rice cooker). However, besides work yesterday was delightfully uneventful so I decided to use my suitemates' microwave to cook up this bad boy. When it was done I put some pringles on it (potatoception) and also broke out my minced garlic, salt, and some ranch. It looks like the potato is just sitting on the wood of my desk in the picture, but in reality it is in a glass bowl.

However, I came to a dilemma soon after cooking the potato. I do not own a fork. The demographics of my utensil population are as follows: one dull serrated knife, four spoons, and two pairs of chopsticks. Does a can opener count as a utensil? If it does, it must be the king of utensils. At the time all my spoons were dirty and my potato was quickly cooling, so I just ate some of the inside with chopsticks and then picked up the rest of the potato and ate it from my hands. It was delicious and I plan to eat more in the near future. But I will use a spoon next time.

I eat this business all the time. Of course, I eat it with a spoon. I do not always have doritos, and they are a treat so I don't always put them in even if I do have them, but last night was special because my roommate wasn't there so there was no possibility of feeling like she was judging me for putting sriracha on doritos (not that she is the judging type, but I sometimes get insecure about my weird food habits).

When Michelle and Taeream came to visit me this weekend we went grocery shopping. I don't exactly know why, but grocery shopping is incredibly exciting when I'm just buying food for myself. One thing I noticed though is that they don't sell those awesome bags of mixed fruit at Parker's like they do at Wal-Mart so I got the next best thing and bought a big bag of carrots. Carrots are even more versatile a snack than fruit is. Here is what I do with carrots:

According to some, sriracha and ranch is not a combination made in heaven, but I definitely ship it.