I'm "That Friend"

I'm not the person people go to when they want to have fun. (Unless your idea of fun is watching Hitchcock movies, trying to dance to "CATS," singing along to Broadway, or doing organic chemistry. Which fortunately is a few people's idea of fun, so I lucked out there.) I'm normally the friend you go to when you need to talk about something. Mostly your relationships.

I would be the last person I would go to for relationship advice. If you want relationship advice, go to someone that's actually been in a relationship. But most people looking for relationship advice don't want or need actual advice, they want someone to listen to them. And I listen really well. And I'm not many people's best friend or the one they tell everything, but I'm always the one that's there when you're feeling upset or depressed about yourself. I'm the one who builds up your self esteem and sense of empowerment and makes you feel like everything's going to be ok, really. I just inadvertently talked a friend I haven't seen for 8 months out of losing her virginity to a random guy because she was so depressed. 

I'm ok with being that friend. 

College (the university type) can be really cool.

Today I didn't go out of my way to do anything.

-For my first class, I spent an hour skyping a French engineering student and talking about feminism in our respective countries. We alternated between French and English.

-For organic chemistry we had a project where we had to come up with three steps to synthesize a useful organic molecule, and they had to be things we could do/buy for our weekly labs. My group's procedure was selected as one that the rest of the groups are going to have to perform. We figured out how to make melatonin in 3 steps, and the starting material is just $15 a gram, and now we're going to actually carry out a lab based on what we've figured out. This is the real deal as far as chemistry goes. I actually had to find  a book published in 1930 on our library's shelf and translate it from the original German to figure out part of the procedure. It's such a rewarding experience.

-On a sidenote, I also found chemistry journals from the early 1800s just sitting on the shelf in our library. The actual original 200 year old books. And lots of them were in different languages or from countries that don't exist anymore. This is very cool.

-My crazy idea about not studying for my archaeology exam was a surprising success. (I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. I rarely studied in high school, and I have to study for everything in college. This class is a rare exception where I can just pay attention to the lecture and the readings and be set. Unfortunately, I was not able to work pygmy mammoths into my essay, but you can't win 'em all.) 

-I'm taking a seminar class along with the research program here, and today our class was going around the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. We looked at mummies for a class. 

-I spent an hour acting like a fool dancing ridiculously cute dances and singing ridiculously happy songs for a charity/singing club.

-I have run out of clean underwear and had to ALL the laundry at 1 am. Where I ended up having a conversation about evolutionarily static gastropods of the east coast of the U.S. and the amazing complexity of life and metabolic pathways and this chart. This episode caught me quite a bit off guard, but occasionally honors housing can do that to you. 

That was just today. I've also:

-Gotten free tickets to see the Hamburg Symphony.

-Been taken to the basement of the natural history museum where they keep all their fossils for a class.

-Allowed to handle several famous fake Michigan artifacts in said museum for an entirely different class.

-Seen Starkid live at the place where they all started.

-Played Mafia for 5 hours with a bunch of strangers.

-Watched classic Doctor Who with the TARDIS club in a classroom for hours on end.

-Picketed and protested puppy mills for the Michigan Animal Rights Society.

-Studied for hours in the 123 acre arboretum.

-Been present at 2 of the most thrilling football games in Michigan history. I don't even like football, and I've rarely been that excited in my life. 

...and several other things I can't think of at the moment. And I haven't taken advantage of anywhere close to everything that's available to me. Any one of these things would be incredible, but in context it's just part of normal college life. I love it.

On that note, I have 2 days left until spring break and I couldn't be more relieved. (Do all Europeans think of "Spring Break" when they think of American university life? The French students seem to. They all want to party in Panama City when they eventually visit the states.) I'm really excited to go home and be crazy with my sister and be with my dog and eat really good food all the time. 

Brilliant Ideas at 2 am

What if...I just don't study for this midterm tomorrow? Wouldn't that be fun, to see if I can do well without studying at all? 


Yep. I needed to write that down just so I could prove to myself how stupid that sounds.

I'm still probably going to go to sleep now anyway.

I have lost the ability to stay on topic and make separate posts for separate ideas. I'm sick. That's an excuse, right? But really, this is an abomination and I'm sorry. Except not really.

So you know that last post about my roommate? Well next year I am going to be living in an all girls dorm in a double with someone I don't know. I do know that they were not the person listed in the box I checked that said, "I want this person to be my roommate," or something to that effect. My roommate now has a room on North campus.

There's a really long and complicated story behind all this, but even I don't know parts of it and I feel like I would just be listing a series of complaints that no one really cares about (Hey, don't you do that anyw--oh be quiet). So, after a stressful Thursday and Friday I am now alone for the weekend because my roommate is in Wisconsin visiting her boyfriend. Only the phrase "visiting her boyfriend" doesn't fit at all.  Those two are more like a boy and a girl who live in different cities and keep trying to break up because they don't have time to be in a long distance relationship but still promise to be exclusive because they couldn't imagine being with anybody else. They're very silly and adorable. And I introduced the boyfriend to Sherlock and he talks about it more than I do. Friends will come up to my roommate and say, "Hey, I just saw Matt!" "Did he want you to watch Sherlock?" "Um, yeah, what is that about?"

So anyway, I'm alone this weekend and sicker than I've ever been without a fever or flu, and this was the first time I felt genuinely homesick. I've missed people and things from home before, but I never felt this sort of longing. This was the first time I bought my own kleenex and cough drops and took my own temperature and made my own tea, which is more complicated because it involved microwaving the water in my room and going down to the dining hall to get the honey. I felt very sad just because I'm so sick.

In other news, we have SNOW and it is 13 º outside! Yes, that is Fahrenheit!! AND my brother is on Facebook! This is big news because he has been keeping with an anti-Facebook mantra for 8 years now. I'm not a huge Facebook fan or anything, but my brother gets very stubborn about certain random issues and it's really funny when has to cave. He says he's doing it because it will help him find an apartment in Wisconsin where his new job is going to be, but I think he might have to stick with it, seeing as he's working for a technology company and everything, and eventually he'll have to friend me and then I can post really annoying stuff on his wall all the time! Unfortunately he won't help me find him yet, and we don't exactly have the most unique surname on the planet. It's one of those English names that evolved from professions, like Smith.

I go to college with all of these diverse people with interesting names, so it's almost embarrassing when we're working on a school project and we have to find each other on Facebook. On the bright side, I never have to spell my name. On the dark side (this phrase does not have the exact connotation I was aiming for, but you get the idea), you can never find me. Do you know how many Molly Smiths are out there? My name's not actually Smith, but you get the idea.

Everything above this point was written a few days ago and then I got distracted. So now I'm back, after getting a lot sicker and then better, having watched an unhealthy amount of Veronica Mars, and getting so behind on work that if I actually sat down and thought about all I have to do I would probably hyperventilate and pass out. So we're just going to live in denial a little while and take things as they come to get through the next 2 weeks.

BRFs!!! (Best Roommates Forever!!!)

My roommate and I were randomly assigned to each other at the beginning of the year. She's from Lincolnshire, Illinois, and I'm from Peachtree City, Georgia, and neither of us had any idea what to expect. I thought she might be Jewish, she thought I was going to have a southern accent, and we found out later that we were both a little disappointed when we met.

The first few weeks I thought we were really different people, even though she was perfect roommate material, nice, giving, perfectly accommodating. But she mostly hanged out with her high school friends and went to parties in the evenings, so I socialized mostly with other people on my hall.

Now, we are kind of like best friends. Except not all best friends can actually live together compatibly. Everyone warns you going into college that your roommate's probably not going to be your best friend, or even necessarily a friend, so I was totally prepared to tolerate a roommate. But we completely lucked out. Not only are we fantastic roommates and friends, we cannot live on our own. We will go insane. We need each other when one of us comes home late at night after various clubs and is so hyper and stressed that she starts somersaulting instead of walking (ok, that was me). So of course, we're going to room together next year.

At least, that was what we thought until we got assigned one of the later housing signup times. The doubles in our first choice dorm filled up. And then our second. And third. And then all of the doubles on central campus, where our classes are, were filled. So now, we have a plan. We sign up tomorrow at 3:10. There are still plenty of singles available in our 2nd choice dorm that are next to or across from each other. So we shall get 2 single rooms, but there is no way we're going to live in different rooms. Some of these single rooms are bigger than some double rooms, so why not have a sort of bedroom and separate "living" room sort of situation? It may be crazy. It may be technically against the rules. But we are going to try, gosh darn it!

In other news, I am jealous of Europe right now (shout out to my 1 follower). In my French class, we Skype with students in Bordeaux once a week, and ma partenaire said it was -8 ºC! In southern France! Which is apparently around 18 ºF, and it was in the 40s (5-10 ºC) here at the time. This is the opposite of what's supposed to happen! I chose this school because of the cold weather and snow, and we haven't had snow stay on the ground for more than 3 days this entire semester! I am sick of sunshine, and even more sick of this semi-freezing rain thing we've got going on. If this keeps up, I'm going to have to look into grad schools in Canada and Iceland.

Adventures in Sickness

I haven't been really sick in a very long time. And it is not fun. Especially in college when you can't just take the day off and have your mom take care of everything and the dorm you live in gives you asthma on top of your virus.

When I'm in weird moods or I'm just bored, I tend to editorialize my notes. So yesterday's archaeology notes looked a bit like:

I feel like death.

This is weird. I feel like my uvula’s been scratched with sandpaper.

Oh dear. I’m that annoying person who won’t stop coughing in lecture.

I just coughed so hard I cried a little bit. Ouch.

Ouch ouch ouch.

Pygmy mammoths. I would like a pygmy mammoth of my own please.

My saliva tastes a little bit like blood.

Maybe I have Ebola.

That would be mostly bad.

But also a bit exciting.

Then I did did nothing but organic chemistry and drink tea and smoothies for the rest of the day. I went to bed early, because 1 am is early, right? Or at least I tried to, but my Residence Advisor next door was playing music. I don't know what's worse, that she plays music all night long and I can't sleep or that she has really wonderful taste in music and I want to join in and can't sleep.

My alarm went off this morning, and my dream versions of Benedict Cumberbatch and Lara Pulver told me I was too sick to get up and go to orgo lecture, so I listened to them. I then rationalized to everyone all day long that I would do better on the exam if I got enough sleep instead of going to lecture, which would just be review. And I just now remembered that I don't have orgo lecture on Tuesdays. I missed my archaeology discussion. Whoops.

By the way, I don't remember what happened, but my dream version of series 3 of Sherlock was fantastic.

After Recess-Change the World

Reading this made me really really happy. I almost cried at the end, but that was mostly because I’m so exhausted. But still, it’s heartening to hear about important changes actually happening because people tried, and Change.org is a very good organization and I highly recommend it. 

I hate being one of these people.

I'm really trying to not feel sorry for myself. It's just so annoying and frustrating to have chronic health issues when I've got better things to be worried about.

I had asthma when I was little and then, when I was older, only around cats. A combo of allergy shots and antihistamines make me fine around cats now, so I thought I was set. Then I started college in Michigan and when it first started getting around 30 ºF and lower, my asthma came back. So I got an inhaler and things seemed fine.

Then someone played rugby down the hall and set off the sprinklers a few weeks ago. Since then, my asthma has been persistent 24-7 even though the weather has been relatively warm. Apparently, all that water could have released a lot of the allergens that have been collecting in the carpets for years.    It's very frustrating to be out of breath walking to class or not be able to sing and dance at the same time in my singing and dancing club. On top of that, getting a migraine and a sore throat the weekend before a major French presentation and my first organic chemistry II exam has not made things better. Thank goodness next year I'll be living in a newly renovated dorm with air conditioning. 

This sort of thing is also indicative of my life.

I just went to fill my Brita filter water holding thing up in the laundry room sink down the hall. I could see my reflection very clearly in the windows, and while I was waiting for the water to trickle down I started mouthing "It's a Brand New Day" from Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog to myself. The door was propped wide open and people in the hallway could clearly see my reflection just as well. One guy walking by and I definitely made reflection eye contact and then looked away super quickly.

My handheld vacuum cleaner is covered in dust. This is very indicative of my life right now.

This might turn into a sort of twitter/facebook status feed where I don't have to worry about annoying anyone.

Because no one is reading this but me. About which this website  is very good at informing me. I'm not sure I like that so much...

Hello, World;

I'm one of those people on tumblr who actually blogs. You know, writing about one's life and thoughts and things like that. And since that doesn't seem to be the best place for all that, I'm trying this. We'll see how it goes.

I mostly just need a place to write things down every once in a while, and I never keep up with journals. Both in the sense that I don't keep writing in them and I can't find them later. So hopefully this solves at least one of those problems.

So, shall I say little bit about myself? Yes, let's do that.

• I like to propose rhetorical questions and then answer them.
• Cheerios are my life force. 
• I am a vegetarian for ethical reasons.
• I can explain my ethical reasons at great depth if you get me started.
• I'm a 2nd semester freshman at the wonderful University of Michigan.
• Until now, I've lived my whole life in Georgia (the state) (not like anyone really thought I was eastern European anyway).
• I am a redhead.
• I am allergic to sunscreen.
• Life is difficult.
• I love all animals, nature, trees, all that stuff.
• I'm allergic to most animals, trees, all that stuff.
• Again, it's rough being me.
• I am a stereotypically rebellious (by comparison) middle child.
• I seem to be in a parentheses mood today. Occasionally I have asterisks moods, though. Sometimes I'm spontaneous like that.
• I LOVE cold weather. I yearn for snow and frigidness and all things cold and frosty. 
• I have Raynaud's disease which basically means poor circulation to my extremities in cold weather.
• We don't need to go through this again.
• I absolutely detest warm weather, especially humidity. Let's just say I was not the most cheerful metro Atlantan.
• There are many television shows/books/movies/musicians I enjoy, and I will probably bring them up many times in the future.
• I'm best friends with my little sister and we have grand times together, mostly doing things that no one else would ever find fun, so it's a good thing we have each other.
• My sister is very strange.
• My brother is also worth mentioning. So that's done.
• My randomly-assigned roommate here is wonderful and I spend most of my time with her, so you'll probably be hearing a lot about her. 
• 66.6 inches tall. According to my pediatrician, I am 66.5 inches tall, but they only ever list height in intervals of .25, so whose to say that I'm not 66.6 inches tall?
• I'm taking a Faust class and I've been reading a lot about the devil, ok?
• Contrary to what you may think after reading the title of this post, I hate computer programming more than I hate physics and humidity and nails on a chalkboard combined. 

Nothing else comes to mind right now, so I'll stop there. So...let's hope this works out!