Adventures in the Making

I can't deal with this.

Why am I so upset?

Yes, shitty things have happened. But they're not world-ending. And I feel like I just can't stop crying.

I want a time out.

1) Disney Imagineering
2) IDEO
3) Pentagram
4) Continuum
5) Gensler
6) Ziba

Hopefully *someone* will want me!

Also: Turned out that Applied Minds is evil. Oh well.

My older brother was born on a Friday the 13th. Not this month, though. I've heard that in Italy Friday the 17th is the "bad luck day", but Logan might've just been confused.

Today is the Vagina Monologues. I am just glad I made it through this week..

Got home Sunday. Transition back is only mildly weird. There is some impulse to respond to people in stores in Italian. I almost feel like I'm speaking slower and less articulately in person, though it's not like I wasn't speaking in English to people throughout the semester.

I applied again to Applied Minds. Going to send a follow-up email later tonight. Hopefully I'll hear something soon, if not, I'll start in on IDEO and maybe a few others.

I bought a cookbook, "How to Cook Everything". I think it will be good.

I also found out about Bryn and Clark being married today, and what the hell? I don't anticipate marriage for probably at least 8 or so more years. I guess that is what happens when you're Christian and waiting until marriage.

I'm also excited for The Vagina Monologues. I should go practice my piece some more. I don't want to let Casey down.

Whoooooo

I am in Zurich at this moment.

Ugh I am so close. Why is it not Saturday?

Things Necessary to Leaving that are DONE:

• Accepted to my school
  
• Got my passport
  
• Got my visa
  
• Submitted housing and course stuff
  
• Approved for loans - payment plan may be worked out already?
  
• Got round trip flight
  
• Got Skype (a2wheeldtricycle, my friends)
  
• Found location of camping backpack
  
• Opened new bank account
  
• Got sexy repairs done to my laptop
  
• Replaced broken iPod and got a charger
  
• Obtained some travel guides and European outlet adapters
  
• Arranged move-out date for apartment
  
• Got traffic court date moved (Jan 28! Hermes said he'd go with me and buy me sushi after. May depend on class schedule. Still super cute.)
  
• Bought ISIC card

Things Necessary to Leaving that are NOT DONE:

• Get my course schedule
  
• Get my apartment details and roommates
  
• Learn more Italian
  
• Finish at LuxSci
  
• Get a credit card
  
• Obtain more travel guides and adapters (thanks, Amy!)
  
• Arrange travel plans with Hermes
  
• Make out with Hermes in CA
  
• Eat a lot of sushi
  
• See people for the last time
  
• Finish knitting fruit
  
• Steal Adobe CS3 from Roland
  
• PACK
  
• Have money
  
• Play with Casco
  
• Move out of my apartment

I think that's it. I will need to do some stuff upon arriving (buying a SIM card, etc.), but we'll get there when we get there. Man. I wish I were done with LuxSci and going to CA tomorrow. At the very least, I have some good books in queue (currently reading The Omnivore's Dilemna), and I have yoga to look forward to.

is that your roommate can leave the gas running and then go to bed/leave (i am not sure which is the case), letting the apartment get all full of gas.

thank god we leave most of the windows open. it still reeked.

Why am I awake now?

Well, you see, I went to take a nap at approximately 7:15, setting my alarm for 8:30, with the volume on "High"- for the record, that is really loud. I was dreaming I was back in high school, taking a vocabulary test that appeared to be for both my Spanish and English classes. I hadn't studied. (I guess I still have anxiety over this. We used to have to announce our vocab test scores out to the class, and one time I hadn't looked at the words in a week once, and got a 70.) There was also a segment on NPR about this "Bug Boy" who could jump really far because his parents had eaten burgers with this new species of bug in them prior to his conception.

Anyway, not too important. Suddenly I went from hearing about Bug Boy as I walked toward some endcap suite at Olin to in the dark, with the shades up, wearing jeans in bed. I was very confused. I don't know why I woke up, but it gave me the opportunity to take my medication, brush my teeth, and put on pajamas for the 3ish hours I have left to sleep.

This is a lot more sleep than I'm used to. I think I was just *that* sleep-deprived. But time to go back to sleep!

I am moved into my place in JP. It's pretty nice- I like my roommates. I even have curtains!

I am occasionally bad at remembering to eat, though.

I think I might go buy some flowers.

This was a pointless entry.

I'm done with ProbStat. Thank god. I still have more work to do, but at least that's one class down. I'm not sure I'll finish it all- we'll see. Blah blah blah.

In happier news, I went to my apartment for the summer today so that I could receive a mattress that was being delivered. Seeing the place with furniture in it was really reassuring. They have so many nice things in the kitchen! Lots of dishes, knives, pans... So good. There's central AC too, which is awesome.



This is my bedroom, or at least part. It has more floorspace in real life, but I was rushing to take the pictures.



I managed to pick up a free desk and chair, so my room is sort of filling out nicely. I'm looking forward to moving in, perhaps just because of the fact that that means that I'll have to be done with everything else.

Soon.

After next semester I am going to travel a bit with Hermes before his final exams (he has a few weeks off). I will be in Florence to start, he will be in Aberdeen. Suggestions on where to go? Particularly for New Year's.

I have spent way too much time tracing/making pictures for UOCD this weekend.



At least it looks nice, I think. Classes end Thursday, and I need to get my shit done. Here's to not flunking!

I got parental okays/agreement to pay for a car and an apartment for this summer. Win!

I applied to Applied Minds for this summer, but the return call was both encouraging and disappointing. They really liked me, and want me to apply next year, but they filled the intern positions in February. Zhenya similarly was a dead end- she wants me to join the gender research team once school's back in session, but she's not hiring undergrads this summer. It looks like I'll be back at LuxSci this summer.

Oh well.

On the plus side, I finally declared my major (Systems Engineering) so I should be cleared to register. I am just registering for Study Away, though I haven't gotten a confirmation that I have gotten into the program yet. Hopefully I'll hear back soon.

Also, I am twenty now, and that is strange.

Hermes and I made this recipe yesterday, and it turned out pretty delicious. I'd recommend it. We changed a few things, namely:

• We did two thin layers in 9" pans, baking for around 35-40 minutes.


• Instead of orange blossom water, we used orange juice, and about twice to thrice as much as called for, since the icing came out as almost a paste. This gave it a really strong orange flavor.

It's also worth noting that a stick of butter is roughly 110-120g, a regular box of confectioner's sugar is ~450g (read the package), and you'll need about 11-12oz of yogurt altogether. If you're Amy, you can ignore this, you Brit.

That blog has been good to us so far, with these being quite tasty as well. (Again, we used extra orange juice and chocolate chips) I'm going to try more recipes I think, especially since break is this week, which means no dining hall. Giulia and I are going to cook together, and so far we've only decided that we want some salmon and some baklava. Any suggestions? We are both pretty good at cooking, and are ready to try tasty things.

Dear stomach,

You are the worst. I'd like to not have a stomachache anymore, please? It's been about a month now.

Thanks,
Jessi

So, wait. Obama got more delegates than Hillary in New Hampshire, even though she beat him percentage-wise? Who really won?

How accurate.