Coldpocalypse

The Northeast may be going through Snowmageddon... Well, Texas is going through the Coldpocalypse. It may or may not become the Ice or Snowpocalypse... It's supposed to snow on Thursday night. Fingers crossed?

Yesterday, I finally turned on my heat, considering the temperatures hovered around the high 20s and the low 30s, with the windchill as low as the high teens. This is weather that not many Texans know how to deal with, especially considering most of us were in shorts and tshirts over the weekend. Today is even colder (the temperature was 18 degrees outside with a windchill of 4!) and when I woke up, expecting to feel cozy and warm, happy to have waved my white flag and conceded to central heat (I have been telling myself that I, too, have been participating in a sort of "Furnace Wars", a competition that one of my favorite knitter celebrities, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot) created years ago with her family. It's a competition to see who can last the longest each winter without turning on their heat. This is a much harder war to win up in Canada where she lives though!) when, to my surprise and immediate chagrin, I noticed my nose was cold. If my heat was on, why was my nose cold? The answer came quickly: my heat wasn't on. Actually, nothing was on. I had no power. (Also, it was 48 degrees in my room. BRR.)

Hooray, Coldpocalypse!

The entirety of Texas has turned their heat on and so the entirety of Texas has been exepriencing rolling blackouts. I still had school this morning, though, because my fancy university has its own fancy power plant and so it generates all it's own electricity.

The funniest part of the Coldpocalypse has been my friends' Facebook statuses. They are things like:

"18 degrees with rolling blackouts in Austin? Ladies and gentlemen, hell is freezing over."

"I can't feel my face! I can't feel my hands or feet AND I can't feel my body! OMG I DON'T EXIST! WAIT... 'I think, therefore I am.' Thank you, Descartes for the only affirmation of my existence today."

"I really think weather forecasters shouldn't give the temperatures like they do. 'Oh, it's 31 degrees... But it's gonna feel like 19 because of wind and no sunlight.' Really? Which one of those is more important?"

"I totally woke up this morning hoping for a barely lukewarm shower by a single dim candle followed by the inability to charge my phone. FALSE. I wished for none of these and would like a refund please."

"I would like to thank the rolling blackouts for my day off work and the roaring fire that I have every excuse to have. Huzzah!"

Everyone stay warm! I'm going to burrow under another blanket and revel in the power I temporarily have!

Country Night

Last semester, my friend Ally was lamenting to me that she never got to go out and take advantage of the fabulous live music scene here in Austin. Deciding it was a good idea to climb out of our dark little university holes, Ally found us a show and out we went!

We went to Antone's, which is a venue on 5th street, and somewhere I had never been before. It was pretty much everything a music venue could be - stage, dance floor, and two very long bars with booze aplenty.

The Turnpike Troubadours opened, and had some really fun, catchy songs. Ally knew some of them, I just pretended I did.

While we were dancing and enjoying the music, my love of fiddlers was rekindled. String instruments fascinate me... violins and fiddles are so expressive and I wish I knew how to play. Anyway, any man with a fiddle is my new best friend, (since it's not exactly cool to be a groupie of the fiddler in the band...)

After the Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Boland took the stage with the only song I knew of his ("Blowing through the hills", which is super catchy and highlights my new favorite instrument!) and the rest of the night was filled with more dancing and singing.

I think my new favorite thing about going to live shows is the way that people raise their drinks more frequently toward the end of the show. The more they drink, the more they toast.

(FYI the Lone Star wasn't mine. I was "classy" and drank Dos Equis instead.)

(Also, let the record stand that for the first time in my life I was bought a drink by someone who was neither related to me NOR my friend prior to the concert. Momentous moments, indeed.)

An update long overdue

Hello, darling readers!

This update has been long overdue. I haven't been interested in blogging recently because I guess I've been more interested in living my life than writing about it. It's not to say that I haven't thought about it, just that I haven't been able to draw the words up out of me and pour them onto the page. I've long been considering what I want this blog to be, but every time I try and change it, it does not happen. Perhaps because of my readers, perhaps because of me.

The fall semester ended catastrophically, (to be a little dramatic - in reality, it only ended catastrophically to me, having began with high hopes). I didn't fail anything, but I sure didn't get the grades I wanted to get. I could have done better, perhaps if I had sacrificed sleep and entirely replaced my blood supply with coffee. I'm pretty sure I was running on caffeine by the time finals ended.

My friend Danny (from Las Vegas) came to visit after finals ended. It was the first time we'd met face to face ever... in the nine years that we've been speaking on the phone and on the internet, I never expected things to head south so fast. We haven't talked in more than a month; I don't think our friendship is going to ever be the same again. He, as a person, disappointed me, but that was bound to happen, as we had both built the other up over so many years of communication. The odd thing was that the things I found endearing and interesting about him over the internet (like that he is incredibly creative and inquisitive about anything and everything) I found annoying and abrasive when he was here. He hurt me and I hurt him. C'est la vie, I suppose. I hope he is doing well.

Christmas was awesome. Super awesome. Beyond awesome. I loved everything about it: being home with my family, the gifts I received, being away from the city... It was exactly the reset button I needed.

I went with Mom and Duncan to visit Gramma for her birthday on the 14th. We came back the 17th, and I found it ironic (and a little disappointing) that it began to snow as we were literally getting on the plane. Mom was glad that it didn't snow... I was hoping that I could dance around in it at least a little bit. Seeing Gramma was awesome - I didn't realize how much I missed her in the last three or four years since I was last in Maryland.

School resumed on the 18th (so, a week ago) and is already in full swing. No easing in for my professors, it would seem. I'm taking twelve hours this semester (Shakespeare, Children's Literature, English Grammar, and a theology course called "The Bible and its Interpreters") and so far I am really enjoying the classes and staying on top of everything. At the moment, I'm taking a break from reading the Bible to write this blog. I figured I'd take advantage of the desire to blog while I could.

On a completely different note (and one I just have to write down to sort out my thoughts on the subject... So sorry if none of this makes no sense at all), Ally and I have been anticipating the release of the latest Karen Marie Moning book for quite some time now. Moning is a fantasy/romance author who wrote one of my favorite series of romance novels (about Scottish highlanders... cliche, I know.) The thing that drew me to her books was the way that all seven of those books were interconnected. There was a larger reigning plot to those books that had to do with some Irish mythology about the Tuatha De Danann, supposed faeries and settlers of Ireland long ago. Each book layered upon the other the framework for this second series, the Fever series. Instead of what I expected (more romance), it turned out to be so much better. In these books, the darker race of Tuatha De Danann faeries (the Unseelie) had escaped their prisons when the magical wall (erected by the Seelie, to protect mankind) between man and faerie fell, and had designs on ruling the world. The main character, MacKayla (Mac) began the series as this sweet young woman from Georgia, all rainbows and sunshine, and finishes the series as the complete opposite, getting progressively darker and more jaded as the books go on.

So Ally and I have been hypothesizing and guessing and attempting to figure out the fifth book, Shadowfever, for ages. Last Friday, we finally got to sit down and read the darned book (in one sitting - 600 pages took us 8 1/2 hours to read), and I have to say it was simultaneously one of the most enjoyable and frustrating experiences of my life to read this book with her. We both had our own copy of it and read it on opposite ends of my couch. We read at about the same speed (very fast), so it wasn't so hard to keep up with each other. Moning blew me away with the plot twists and reveals. I, usually a quiet reader, exclaimed aloud, screamed profanities, and nearly threw it across the room a few times (Mac made some really dumb decisions throughout the book, to put it mildly). In the end, I think it ended exactly as it should have - although I spent the entire book wondering how it could not end in disaster. It certainly looked like there would not be anything good for her ever again. It kept me guessing until (quite literally) the last few chapters, when everything - or most things - were revealed and explained.

I can't wait to see what Moning has up her sleeves next. In the meantime, I'm going to dream of the day when I can reread the books and go back to catch everything that I didn't get the first time around. (A lot, I would imagine!)

For now, I will leave you to return to my studies. I have the book of Deuteronomy, two acts of Midsummer Night's Dream, and a book called Sign of the Beaver to read tonight.

I promise another update soon. Possibly with more specifics about my classes.

Review Schedule Time!

It's that time again! The last three weeks of school! My goal is (quite literally) to survive this week, and then it's pretty much smooth sailing from here on out. I have a ridiculous amount of reading to catch up on, 3 papers to write and 7 exams to sit (including one this afternoon. Boo.)

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! I had a great time with my family - we had a small lunch on Thursday and then a larger shindig on Friday. A 24.5 pound turkey for 14 people and dinner out in the barn was a lot of fun!

Last night when Lizz and I were both home at the same time (shock!) we cleaned and started to decorate for Christmas. She brought a bunch of lights from her house, which we spent some time hanging last night.

Wish I had time to blog in more detail. Instead I should probably go make myself lunch and get reading.

Birthday the 21st, Part 1

I had the BEST birthday yesterday! I wore a crown, I had my first legal drink at NXNW at dinner with my family and best friends, and I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1!) at midnight with about thirty of my friends in APO.

I had a wonderful birthday, and I can't wait to celebrate again on Sunday afternoon! :D

Just 5 more hours...

I'm 21 in England right now, does that count?

(Just 5 more hours to go...)

Shuffling, Shuffling

Bonjour, November!

November is a much better month than October. I have a lot of beef with it as a month in the school year, not so much as a month in the calendar year. I love the way October feels, what with finally experiencing fall weather and the delicious, spicy, squash-filled cooking opportunities, but as far as a month in school, it's pretty much abysmal. October doesn't have any breaks, it doesn't have any reprieve from merciless exams and coursework. I'd venture to say the best thing about October is when it ends... Thanks, Halloween!

I had a BLAST this last weekend. I went to a few parties and slept past noon on Saturday AND Sunday. (Some of you may be wondering what my costume was this year... I wore camo this weekend, Ally went as a low budget pirate - it's free if it comes from your closet!)

Dragging my sorry arse out of bed this morning at 9am was a struggle, but I made it to class. I'm experiencing a (completely non-alcohol-related) Halloween Weekend hangover at the moment. I've changed all my calendars (the bunny suicide calendar looks like this, this month!

I do love the Bunny Suicides!)

I've been dreading this week for a while now - This week I have four exams, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Now, Monday's and Wednesday's exams need a bit of clarification, because they're both not REALLY exams, they just look like them in my planner. My French "oral exam" is today, but it's more of a project that I have to turn in this afternoon in class (it involved me working with a classmate, writing a script, and recording ourselves speaking in French, which I did last week.) and Wednesday's exam is a French "Redactión", which is an in-class essay writing exercise. (The other two exams are actually exams in the more traditional sense. French Chapter 5 exam, and a geography exam covering the most recent three chapters.) I may need a few strong drinks at the end of the week, but I've already made myself an hourly study schedule and it feels like I can not only tackle but also conquer the week at this point.

(Changing the subject a little, but not really as it has to do with my upcoming week...) Those of you who know me even a little bit know my tendencies for obsessive behavior... recent examples of this include my obsession with Maroon 5 (um, I may have spent the last 3 months listening to their albums on loop) and the show Psych, which is about a man who pretends to be psychic and aids a police department as a psychic detective. It is hilarious. Not only that, but all four complete seasons are on Netflix, and the first five episodes of the fifth season are on Hulu. So, um, I may have spent the last few weeks catching myself up with all the episodes I've been missing over the last few years. The fifth season resumes on TV next week after a brief break, but they're showing a preview of it at the Union on Wednesday night! I'm super pumped. It'll be a nice break in the middle of the week!

After I went to my History class, I went back to my apartment to do some cleaning (I resolutely ignored EVERYTHING this weekend and laid around in my pajamas all day yesterday) and drink a lot of coffee, so I'm off back to campus to turn in my Oral Exam. If you need me this week, you can find me in the library... It looks like Ally and I will be closing it every night!