Short, SHORT work break

I would just like to take my momentary break from the crazy hellishness that is this Sunday night, and point out that athletes are kind of crazy. 

This is an exact quote from an Ithaca swimmer about swimming:

"Back in the day, Mark Spitz swam his fastest with a mustache, hairy chest, and a speedo. Today, at any championship swim meet, you would think that it was the pre-flight launch pad to send a couple hundred cancer patients into space. We are all shaved, focused, and wearing suits that cost as much as a new computer, but that last for the one meet. Swimming has changed, I'm sure it was originally just a mode of transport for some tribesman, but it developed and got competitive, because, like all sports, someone was faster than someone else. After generation and generations of training and techniques and technological developments, swimming has been transformed into one of the most spectacular displays of sportsmanship, athleticism, and camaraderie to ever exist." 

I kind of wish I made this up.

I go to school with crazy people. Melodramatic crazy people.

This morning I got to sleep in all the way to 8:30. It felt like I had achieved nirvana.  Normally on Wednesdays I marvel at actually waking up with the sun out, but today it looked like it was about 6:00 p.m all day, so...no sun. It actually rained for a part of the day, and finally turned into snow. 

Well, snow that felt like God was dumping his Slurpee directly into my face. 

This morning I had lovely academic writing. My professor is nice and everything, but that class is seriously mind-numbing. It's a graduation requirement but seriously, I KNOW how to write a thesis statement.  If Carballo and Krauchi did anything for me in my IB career, it was teach me how to write a thesis-driven paper. I'm obviously not perfect, and a good part of me knows that a thorough examination of my writing is necessary, but I am a whiner. I really need to know how to edit my papers. It's something I rarely do. 

The fact that these blogs often make no sense whatsoever is evidence of that. 

After that class I headed up to the Towers dining hall to submit the block housing form with the girls I'll be living with next year. I totally love them, but at this point it's eerie to think about living anywhere but the Boot, and not having Celine Dion, Jason Mraz, or some dance song wafting through the hallways at all times. 

We're a weird dorm, but it's awesome. 

This weekend will be absurd. I have TWO deadlines and tons of work to get done. How is it Thursday already? 

Slacking on Blogging, Disarmament Policy, Internships

I'm going to try to be better with this, I promise!

On one hand, my lack of consistent blogging shows that there have been no significantly traumatic and/or embarrassing events in the past couple days. 

Mainly I have just been trying to keep everything in order. I'm trying to eliminate all distractions. I stole Claire's brilliant idea and had one of my friends change my Facebook password so I'm not tempted to waste my life away on it for at least today. Maybe even tomorrow. Who knows the wonders I can possibly achieve? 

Right now I'm trying to finally apply for internships. They're pretty varied, which means I am writing tons of stupid cover letters. I am pretty sure I am just as good at writing cover letters as I am at playing tennis. 

I have physically injured others while playing tennis. 

Therefore, my futures with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Wheaton Gazette, or Washington Parent Magazine look grim. 

Tomorrow I have to get up in front of my spanish class and tell them a story about my life for five minutes. If I were to talk like I do in my blog, I would probably regale them with a tale about how I turned my canary-yellow towels into puke-colored towels. If I am actually going to keep them awake or keep them from thinking I am a crazy person, I will probably tell them about my trip to Mexico before senior year. 

I'm sure you'll all wait with baited breath to see which one I end up choosing.

I am madly in love with my Global Studies and Politics class. I realized today that I am the type of person who LOVES to argue over things like the United State's defense spending and nuclear weapon policy and whether international organizations would have the ability to implement worldwide nuclear disarmament. 

I LOVE this class and it's making me seriously considered doubling with politics. Because while other kids feel like sleeping, I'm actually trying to read more. Because I want to be right. All the time. 

I  also like that there's not always a right answer. 

Luckily doubling is a possibility because I came into college with 35 (!) credits thanks to IB and AP. What's your argument against public schools now? 

It's awesome that I found a way to procrastinate by writing about not procrastinating. 

Valentines Day, Visits

My Dad is visiting me today!

I'm quite excited, because sometimes you just need to be taken care of. Seriously. 

Yesterday was quite the day. I logged onto the AP wire yesterday at 5:50 a.m. to find out about the plane crash in Buffalo, and to report about it. A lot of students are pretty shaken up about it, because so many of them come from that area. I was nervous too, having my Amma living right in Buffalo. 

It's weird when you have to report news like that, having no idea going into it. Anyway, it should be a good, if busy, weekend. The dorm is relatively empty, because people went home for the weekend to visit loved ones or recover from a couple long weeks of non-stop work. 

Yesterday night a bunch of us went to the IC After Dark event "The Dating Game" and watched other students seriously have to act like they were on the game show itself. It was hilarious to watch. 

I just got a phone call from my Dad, so I'll have to run and edit later. 

Oh Hi There, Crazy Life

Honestly, the more work I have and the more stressed I get, the more I want to blog. 

You would think with the insane amount of writing and reading I now do on a daily basis this is the last thing I would want to do. But actually, when I'm writing this, I get to slow down. Take stock of everything. Figure out what's important, what still needs to be done. I would say to keep on schedule with my Global Studies paper I need to bang out at least 800 more words tonight. Spanish definitely needs a little more TLC. I have to free-write for my academic writing essay coming up. Even my extracurriculars have me writing, with newscasts and features taking up evenings and weekends. 

The most insane part, I think, is that having all this to do, as overwhelming as it is, I feel like what I'm working on is worthwhile. Hard. But worth it. 

I am a self-saboteur, or maybe I am just testing limits. I promised myself I wouldn't pick up a beat this semester, especially after I picked up another shift at radio to replace working on the Inquirer. 

And now, here I am, the new men's crew beat reporter. 

As a journalism student I sit through endless guest speakers and professors who make side comments about the dying industry, the debates about how to fix it, the degradation of media, and how we're all brave to pursuing such a volatile career at such a time of upheaval. 

Brave? Stubborn, maybe. 

I think I have it in my head that I can work my way out of the doom and gloom predictions. I think that if I do absolutely everything, join every type of media, I will not only find a job, but I will also find my niche. I want to double major. I can't stomach the idea of pursuing an undergraduate education that is not as fruitful or as tough as it can be. 

Well, there's your daily fill of the dramatics. 

For the record, today during the latter half of my spanish class all I could think about was my intense desire for Chipotle. Because that was far more important than learning the Spanish word for the Crusades. 

Las Cruzadas! 

Tell me when I am ever going to discuss the Crusades or the formation of the anglican church in Spanish. That's the vocab we're learning.

Seriously. Enrique VIII y todas sus esposas. 

Seriously. 

My life.

"Ouch!" Says Abby's Brain

Abby's brain can no longer absorb any information, a spokesman for the journalism major said today. 

An intense medical examination revealed that too much time spent writing a Global Studies paper and absorbing 50-page articles like "The Nation-State in the Culture of Capitalism: The Society of Perpetual Growth," sitting at a computer writing for 5 hours straight and  attempting to write a research proposal, which meant reading medical journals, rendered the student's brain absolutely useless. 

"I think she had it coming, as Godly punishment for actually enjoying her Saturday," said a source close to Abby. 

Doctor Imtired Iwanttogotobed, an expert in academic burnout, said the only cure for brain-mushiness is an over-consumption of caffeinated beverages and fake-cheese products over a short period of time. 

Abby's spokesman said she fully intends to follow all medical advice, and says that Abby had already started phasing these practices into her daily routine, approximately three years ago. 

Abby is scheduled to spend many more hours in front of the computer over the next week and Iwanttogotobed said that it is unlikely that Abby will be able to fully recover or have a full night's sleep until mid-May. 

**Oh, and I've finally joined Twitter. For those of you who don't know, Twitter just answers the question, "What are you doing?" in 140 characters. To see it, go to twitter.com/ICabby.  I can easily update it many times a day. So you can know when I, like, get locked out.

Yeah, that happened. Today is just awesome. 

An Excellent Saturday

Somehow, for the first time since arriving at college, I had a Saturday that was totally free of obligations. That is, if you ignore homework...which I pretty much did. 

It was also FORTY-FIVE DEGREES (!) out, which felt like summer paradise, so friend L and friend S and I took the bus down to the Commons and did a little thrifting. Friend L treated us with her ridiculous gift card to Starbucks, and I nearly passed out due to the sheer wonder of it all. 

I rarely leave campus, and so doing so and also getting a little taste (literally) of civilization was so refreshing and relaxing. Then all the Boot girls came together and experienced the amazingness that is One Tree Hill season one.  I probably shouldn't have introduced this addiction to my dorm, but hey. It was fun. So it was pretty much an excellent Saturday. 

Friday night friend L and I headed over to the Ben Light Gymnasium and took in half of the women's and all of the men's basketball games. It was crazy fun to cheer along with the packed house, and we really beat down on Hartwick in both cases. It was also kind of cool to see the student media in action. 

Today, I am locking myself in my room, save for meals, and working. And writing blogs. And probably distracting myself. 

But I WILL be productive! 

**EDIT

Okay, so I SAID I was only going to work today, but then I saw this SNL video and realized, I needed it on my blog.