Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Fuck American Idol!

Dammit, is anything right in the world?! They got rid of AMY ADAMS! My favorite!

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm FUMING. WHY THE HELL IS CAMILE STILL AROUND? JON PETER LEWIS? JOHN STEVENS?!!

This is the last time I invest any emotion into a reality tv show.

Also, I'm getting pissed off at the folks in 4114. Someone's smoking, and they won't open the door. And now my room smells like smoke. Idiots.

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Worst headache ever. Feel so tired. Cannot sleep but cannot stay awake.

I didn't go to English yesterday, and I couldn't make it to French today. I'm trying to go to my 2 o'clock class, but I can barely stand up without feeling kinda faint.

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!! I have too much work to do to feel so shitty.

Monday, March 29, 2004

I feel like I've been run over by a Mack truck. Several times. And then it decided to park on top of me for a while.

I slept for ten hours last night. And I'm still exhausted. But at least Reel LA and the Reel World dinner are over. I'm done with my fundraising hours for APO. And now I just have to write two research papers, prepare a French presentation, write my French paper, and prepare for the floor trip this weekend. Plus, I have to go to advisement, decide what French class I want to take next semester, got to my Dijon meeting, attend the APO bylaws meeting, prepare a funding application for Area Government, and present at the AG meeting for my Easter program.

I need a hug.

On a brighter note, I love Phillip and Matt, two of my residents. I was stressing out yesterday, but I had an hour and a half to kill. They persuaded me to go to the Grove and then we bought ice cream and coffee and talked. They're such intelligent, amazing guys. I really have a lot of respect for both of them - even though being an RA is the root of a lot of my anxiety, it's worth everything when I get to hang out with the awesome people on my floor.

One funny story from yesterday: Jon and I were put in charge of getting the Thai food from Hollywood and the Chinese food from Chinatown. This was the most disastrous outing ever; if anything could go wrong, it did. I couldn't find the entrance to the 110, I drove around skid row, I missed my exit in Hollywood because someone called me, then we couldn't find the restaurant. Finally, when we narrowly avoided an accident to enter the restaurant's parking lot, we found out that the Thai food leaks. A lot. It managed to get all over the back of my car. We went to Chinatown, couldn't find parking, and then proceeded to park a mile away from the restaurant. Well, when we got there, we found out that Yang Chow has valet parking! I paid $500.12 for the food (!!) and hiked back to my car. Jon, the valet, and I spent ten minutes trying to figure out how to put twenty containers of food into my small VW Golf, and then we squeezed out of that parking lot. Finally, as we were going home on Flower Street, we were stopped. We waited for ten minutes as all of these Chrysler vehicles were being filmed driving in a formation. I couldn't believe that they were shooting a friggin' commercial JUST as I was running insanely late. It was still kinda cool to watch all of the cars, though. Finally, we got back to campus, and I drove all around the walkways in front of Taper. That was fun, actually. I felt like I was racing through a slalom course.

The food got there with 30 minutes to spare. Whew.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

So, my family's trying to adopt this little guy...



... from a Shih Tzu Rescue society. And this is the most cumbersome process ever. Not only did we have to fill out an application, but we had to find three references who filled out a HUGE form, our veterinarian needed to type up all of Trixie's past medical records, and they needed to conduct interviews with the references, the vet, and us. Also, they need to visit our home to make sure it's dog friendly, and we have to have a formal visitation with the dog before adopting him.

I understand the necessity of all of this; obviously this organization prides itself on matching qualified familes with the right dogs. And it's actually a sad state when they NEED to do all of this background work. Animal abuse is rampant, and they have to screen out all of the sick people who WOULD abuse their dogs. Yet, I have to admit, it's frustrating for us. My parents sent me an email with Niles' picture and the title "Hello." I freaked out, thinking that we had finally adopted a dog... I burst into tears, I was so happy... and then I was disappointed when I found out he wasn't ours yet.

Why do people crave the companionship of pets so much? Why is this such an all-encompassing emotional process? I don't know. I think I like the fact that animals love you unconditionally. They're loyal. And in such a fast-paced world, spending time with a dog has a stress-relief factor. There's nothing better than a dog that follows you around and loves to be by your side. I miss that kind of devotion.

I don't know. I just don't know.

It was an insane day. I think I just need to go to sleep.

For once, I didn't feel better after a party. My drinking is so rare nowadays - normally, it's a big occasion to get a little tipsy. But tonight was not so good, despite the fact that Justin was as charming and personable as always. He's a really good guy - not seeing him is just one of the many reasons why I miss hanging out with Amy.

Maybe I'm just tired. I *have* been up for nearly 24 hours straight.

But before I go, I want to say congratulations to my favorite person in the world... Mary Louise Burchard. You're beautiful. You're inspiring. And you deserve to be amazingly happy. And Mark? He's a great guy. You two will be so happy together... I know, I know, it sounds like a romantic cliche, but I have a feeling it's true for y'all. There's nothing I want more than your happiness. And you better believe that I'll be at your wedding. No matter what, my June '05 is yours!

Thursday, March 25, 2004

I've lost weight.

Not a lot, mind you. But my jeans are a lot looser, so I tried on some of my "slightly too small" clothes from the back of the closet. And guess what? They fit me perfectly.

I'm really excited. Now I'm finally going to be able to wear that classic black suit skirt I bought from Express two years ago. And my Express denim skirt? I don't look like a hoochie squeezed into something too small! It's actually riding low on my hips!

I think it's thrilling to see some results from my Lent resolution. I might just keep the Atkins thing going after Easter. It's true, I'm having bread cravings, and I think it's kinda weird to eat a sandwich without bread... but you know, I like what it's done for my figure. I've become a boring person who thinks about carbohydrates. But at least I'm a slimmer boring person!

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

I almost thought I wouldn't be able to watch American Idol with Jess last night. I was about to be really sad. And then Laura suggest the perfect solution... I could go over to Jess's place! She's brilliant! That's why she's about to graduate.

So, that's what we did. I was insanely late to area government, but my CIA committee still loves me.

Also, my weekend is going to be CRAAAAAAAAAZY. Reel LA assignments at five on Friday, LA Flower Market at five thirty on Saturday morning, APO car wash from 10:30-3:30 on Saturday, Reel World dinner on Saturday night, and the Reel LA banquet on Sunday.

I'm freaking out slightly. But it will be fun.

Monday, March 22, 2004

So, I changed the layout.

I took the picture in February, and I got the basic layout from Martijn ten Napel. I nipped, tucked, and fixed a few things. And voila, yellow roses.

I would say I'm a "Yellow Rose of Texas"... but historically, I have very little in common with the mulatto vixen of the song. So, I'm keeping my original title. I have a sentimental attachment to it.

Wow. I've had a weblog since 2001. Freshman year. I was re-reading the archives, and they're fascinating. A lot has changed since then... but in some ways, I'm still the same Jennifer. I still make a lot of idiotic mistakes. I still fall into a lot of the same bad habits. And I still have a very similar writing style. But I'd like to think I've learned something these past three years of college.

Sunday, March 21, 2004

I updated a lot of the links on the side, so now they include all of my Alpha Phi Omega friends and a lot more RASSMers, in addition to a few more bandies.

Goddamn, I read a lot of journals. No wonder it takes me a while to get through them all.

Spring break came and went.

Houston was good. Mellow... involved a lot of television and movies... and steak. Lots of steak.

I want another dog. We went to several shelters and applied to a rescue society for Shih Tzus. Whenever I go home, I ache for Trixie. I miss having her around. She never did anything... but she was there. She would follow me around the house and sniff at me. My favorite memory of her? At the beginning of movies, she would go to the kitchen and sniff around the floor, searching for forgotten food. Her tags would always clank against the tiles, and my father would yell, "You're making too much noise!" Then I'd go and pick her up, and she'd sit on my lap and watch the movie with me. She never sat in anyone else's lap for an extended period of time... just with me. If we got another dog, I don't think I'd be as close with it as I was with Trixie - I'm not home enough. But at least there would be someone there with me during the days I spend home alone during the summer. I like having another companion in the house.

I had an amazing day yesterday with MunChul. We went to Todai and pigged out on sushi and miso soup. Then we wandered around the Grove and the Farmer's Market. We sat in Barnes and Noble and just chatted for an hour. I bought two books while I was there: Los Angeles: Then and Now and Kodak's Guide to Shooting Great Travel Pictures. I'm working on building my Los Angeles and Hollywood collections; this stems from my obsession with this city's history. Then MunChul and I went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Wow. I haven't quite processed that movie... it's possibly one of the best films I've seen in a long time. It really worked for me. Both MunChul and I loved it. As an end to our day, we watched the fountain show in front of the movie theater in the Grove. He was entranced by the water - it was pretty cool. Overall, I had a wonderful time. My littles rock! (We're not even going to get into the coolness of Stephanie - I miss her!)

Too much work today. I'm beginning to freak out about all I have to do. I had nightmares about it, actually. I woke up in a cold sweat at six this morning.

Scary.

Spring break was much too fast.

Friday, March 12, 2004

I got my hair cut yesterday... and it's very different. It's extremely short; I have a Peter Pan meets Kelly Osbourne kind of feel with it. It's all razor-cut and messy and fun. Danny styled it in a very "punk rock" kind of way yesterday... He finger-curled lots of texture into the hair and added quite a bit of curl enhancer to my very straight hair... and it was actually really cool looking. Very European; makes sense - he was trained at Toni & Guy in London. He used to do runway shows with all of those crazy hairdoes.

Today, I toned it down. I just put in a little mousse, a bit of pomade, blowdried it... voila! More conservative hair. It's still a little pixie-ish, especially because he tapered a lot of the bulk from my hair. It's unlike my last short hair cut, where Lauren left most of my hair but feathered it to create the texture.

I think it's fun to get new hair styles... I don't think I'll get this kind of haircut again, but at least I've tried it out... and hair always grows back! It's a luxury of being young and in college; I don't need to look professional all of the time. This is the perfect opportunity to put on different "roles" - and for now, I like the edgy "rock star" idea.

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Speaking of TV, this was the first week in a long time that I didn't watch American Idol with Jess. It made me sad.

I watched it with my residents, which was fun. I love Courtney, Jason, Phillip, Matt, and Alex. They're a great bunch of people... but I miss Jessica. Without a doubt, we have (mostly) the same opinions of the performances, the outfits, and the judges. My opinions varied widely with my residents... except for Jason. We were totally on the same wavelength.

Anyway, this is my public plea: Jess, come back! American Idol (and Jen) need you!

I *despise* CTCS 191.

Okay, that's not true. I like the class a lot. I just don't like the written work. I've become a lazy English major - just make all of the midterms take-home, give me a week to do it, and I'll be a happy camper.

Even better, make everything due at the very end in a portfolio. This way I'll only know the horror of doing all of the assignments during one hellish week.

By the way, I never knew Sean was in my class - the things you learn from away messages. (Hi Sean!)

And Randi hates me now because I'm a goofball and sent all of my email at 12 this afternoon to "rstanford" instead of "rstanfor"... I'm an eejit. Just kill me. Much like that dream I had last night about the neverending review sheet.... and Randi actually did shoot me then.

Migraines bring on such weird dreams. Once I got to sleep, of course.

Monday, March 08, 2004

I wish I knew what color my eyes were.

Right now, they're blue. With amber on the inside.

Yesterday, they were green with gold on the inside.

Last week, they were almost completely brown.

It makes it rather inconvenient to fill out forms.

But on the upside - I had four people in the past two days say, "Are you wearing contacts? You have beautiful eyes - I've never noticed it before." I suppose it's my one (somewhat) distinctive physical feature.

Sunday, March 07, 2004

Wow. Updates have been less than frequent here.

Lent is ... well, difficult. I had a complete lapse of judgment and drank a lot of tequila on Friday. Whoops. I was feeling it all day today.

Can I just say that I think Jess is one of the most amazing people I've ever met?

I'm slowly drowning in all the work I need to do. But on the bright side, I organized my CD collection. That's gotta count for something.

I'm not feeling particularly verbose.