Below are the most recent 4 friends' journal entries.

Saturday, March 13th, 2010
aerothorn	6:34p	Some Folks Call it a Break Days of Freedom are upon us! Okay, not really. I have more Spring Break work than I'm comfortable with, certainly more than I've ever had before, but I'm not sweating it. I need a break not so much from work itself as the mindset and breakneck pace of the normal schoolweek - so I'll do my work, but damned if I won't be lackadaisical about it. On the upside, it's not particularly unpleasant work. I have to finish reading a novel I enjoy (Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely - I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed The Big Sleep, and this is probably the better book). I have to write a short paper on a section of that novel - a paper I already have heavilly outlined, so it's just a matter of putting in the hours. The rest of the work is less interesting and not worth recounting here, but (assuming Banjo: A Story Without a Plot doesn't suck) shouldn't be particularly unpleasant. Really, it's about schedule disruption. As so poignantly illustrated by the likes of Every Day The Same Dream, routine can be deadly. I get up in the morning, and I don't go to the dining commons, because it's closed! Obnoxious? Yes! But the solitude, and the need to hike over to Atkins Farms Country Market, does me good. As does their hot mulled apple cider. Mmmm. So what's the plan? I spend the rest of today and tomorrow doing the Chandler stuff, and Monday-Wednesday reading massive amounts of Banjo and working on a research paper proposal (preliminary idea: examining the portrayal of nostalgia in films about Americans abroad. Think Local Hero, Barcelona, Lost in Translation.) Wednesday afternoon I head down to Bradley International Airport and jet off to Chicago to visit Joanna for a few days. Ideally I'd have all my work done before then, but that's pretty unlikely, so I probably end up doing work on Thursday/Friday during the day as well. No specific Chicago plans yet, but I'm optimistic about the visit. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. I have some other, non-school related stuff to report, but I have to head out soon (movie screening, hooray!) so I'll cover that in a future entry. Probably tomorrow, when I'm procrastinating on finishing my paper. (Comment on this)
Friday, March 5th, 2010
aerothorn	9:18p	rest So I did a combination of getting things done early and getting a paper extension for the sole purpose of having a free evening for the first time in two weeks/not having a nervous breakdown. Which is awesome. I don't have anything worthwhile to do with it, but it's really healthy to just not think about schedules for a bit. I'm a little worried that it will be hard to get back into the swing of things tomorrow (on the schedule: finish The Maltese Falcon, complete an intern/orientation leader application, conduct research for Americans Abroad paper, do laundry), but it was strictly necessary as I was starting to become severely unchill in relation to workload - I've been sleeping poorly lately and one can only run on adrenaline for so long. I am SO SO SO excited for Spring Break - the downside is that I have a paper to do at the very beginning (due to the deferment) and a fair bit of reading (due to at least one professor failing to comprehend the definition of "break") but overall should be fun. Hopefully won't get evicted from my lodging this time round. Sorry for dull journal entries - life is pretty blase right now and the only moderately interesting story right now needs a bit more research (i.e. ascertain exactly whether someone just told me a bald-faced lie) before posting. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
aerothorn	9:24a	I KNEW IT So the "10 pages of reading for anime/manga" was totally an error of omission - we have to read the 354 page first volume of Akira in addition to that. And I was totally looking forward to it... (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
aerothorn	6:45p	pain Woke up this morning feeling like I'd been hit by a train. Aching all over (headache, stomachache, ankle-ache, foot-ache) and generally grogginess. Still haven't recovered. It's not the flu, but I don't know what it is. I don't really have time to be sick - this upcoming weekend will be difficult. A drop in reading load (Americans Abroad is down to "only" 150 pages or so, and Anime/Manga has bizarrely assigned only 10 pages, though frankly I think this is an error with the course website..) is counterbalanced by a need to do extensive research for my Americans Abroad paper and the need to complete my intern application. Maybe I'm blowing things out of proportion, I dunno - can't really think straight right now. The grind is really getting to me. It's starting to become all work and no play, a series of assignments with little to break them up...spring break will (hopefully) do me good. (Comment on this)