La Vie En Rose for 2004

On the good news front, there is some, but I don't want to jinx myself so I'll leave it at that.

Christina is coming for lunch tomorrow! I must think of somewhere exciting to take her. Mom, where was that Italian place you were talking about?

*waits patiently for the next thing to go wrong...*

$70 reader, which I refuse to buy, is not on reserve. We'll see how this works out. Maybe I will pay someone in the discussion to lemme borrow and make photocopies. Or email Professor and ask him to put on reserve.

So far no one has commented on my new hair, which I find a bit odd since it really is a lot redder. But I haven't see that many people who see me on a regular basis, so that must be it.

Rachel: maybe I'll come see you! I'm ravished!

Chris: I think the word you are looking for is famished.

Rachel: er... yeah *blushes*

A very bad new habit

Rachel: we'll only buy the essentials

Christina: define essential...

Rachel: define "essential"

Christina: it's scary enough for me to think like me never mind other people...

For work I'm reading a book about this woman who was a doctor in Serbia and Macedonia during WWI, it's quite intresting.

I had oceanography lab today for the first time, and thats pretty interesting too. We drew lines around ocean depths, called contours. Like on maps. And in lecture we learned all about the structure of the earth and the solar system.

Poli Sci is intresting too. The first paper is due next week, about American society's role in diplomacy. Trouble is, the two articles are in the reader, which I refuse to buy. I asked him to put a copy on reserve in class today. Perhaps will email him, too. It's the same professor as last quarter. Some don't, but I like him. I think he's a good lecturer.

The ES course should be good, too. I'm going to read all kinds of interesting things like Kafka and Woolfe and Proust. I can almost feel my cultural literacy expanding.

Celtic Mythology is going to be great, too. Even though I just found out I have to petetion to get it to count; its not automatic. And remembering how well my last petition went... but still, there's no reason why this one shouldn't go through. It's actually a Lit class!

I keep thinking about the leather jacket in BeBe I saw in Saturday... it was on sale... but I MUST resist. I have to be extra careful if I want to go backpacking in Europe this summer. Oh--that's another thing that may not have gott(en?) mentioned about the trip. I had a little mini-revelation while staring at 800 miles of Texas. I'd been reading Niether here nor there, by Bill Bryson. He goes to a lot of intresting places, and he has some interesting things to say, but he doesn't actually do anything interesting. The whole time I was thinking I could write a book like this, much more... interesting. Now, some people say stuff like that all the time (mom) but never do anything about it. I'm usually in that category, but I'm only young once! And I've got nothing else to do the month in between my lease being up and grad school (hopefully) starting.

So I put my Christmas money in a special seperate savings account I opened just for this purpose, and I'm going to put the remainder of my STRS money (all 1 1/2 months worth of it) there, too. That should put me at about 1,000. I'd planned to save 2,000, but Stacey of the IISA board returns recently from abroad, bring horror stories of the exchange rate, so I think I might need more than that. Still, I have 7 months to save, and with a Real Job it just might be possible!

Maybe I'll just stay in LA and do research next year, instead of going to school. I bet that would help me get in somewhere really good. And I'll be all rested and ready to tackle... might even go for the PhD. Who knows?

leonardr4clark (8:06:49 PM): you make a good point about reaching hp fans

To all who commented about the eclairs: I can check and see if they ship.

Later she says: but of course few die in our hospital, they nearly all get well!

Had my second lab in Oceanography. We're doing all this lame math stuff... when are we going to talk about sea turtles? I may P/NP it, so as to make the most beneficial use of my limited time this quarter.

Now must go clean my room and unpack (from yesterday!) and FIND my letters to NH. Also: read Proust and locate generous guy from PS who is letting me copy his reader.

Adventures were had in Westwood with Kathy, and later, over IM with Christina, UCLA parking permits were likened unto good-looking, nice boys. GiGi's cats like me lots, which is fabby, but right now there's not enough space on my bed for *me*.

Have decided to not be lazy and do Shakespeare this quarter. Good news. Richard III (nice change from all the tragedy, eh?). Queen Elizabeth. With Queen Margaret. "OH, my POOR BABES!" *SOBS* (may not be actual line).

Then yesterday Nat and Chris came over and I introduced them to Indian food. Yum. And now I am going to UNsocial and do work all day. Whee.

Harry Potter poster

Eurail pass

Norah Jones CD

Gift Certificates to Target, LUSH, or Trader Joes

Something from my Amazon wish list (OK, so there's only one item right now, and it's not released yet--and NO, it's not book 6--but I'll maybe add some more.

An HTML lesson

If you wish to donate money to a charity in my name, I hear that the Send Rachel to Europe Fund does v good work.

Tonight's Proust adventures were briefly interuppted by the appearance of a mouse, which, after a labourous transfer from the living room to the front lawn by Nikkie and myself, unfortunately died of battle wounds inflicted by Poncette.

Also: some new pictures are up.

Nikkie: If I'm ever in danger of that I'll send my kids to boarding school.

YES

or

No?

For the correct answer, please see my collected works, to be published sometime tomorrow before 11 am.

And I SWEAR, one of these days, I'm finish a paper AHEAD of time.

Today in class, the randomest thing: a guy walks up to me and says, "Were you in a commercial with a singing hot dog?" Um, no.

Got paid today. Woot.

Perhaps I will shop around online to find one I like, but for now.... Kafka!

Oh, and can someone give me advice for cooking rice. No, scratch, can someone tell me HOW to cook rice? The traditional way? Thanks.

Last night I had a dream I was packing for Europe. I have that dream a lot. I wonder if it means something?

Also, I keep forgetting to mention, but the other day I saw a bumper sticker that we used to have: Well-behaved women rarely make history. Either I'd forgotten how much I like it, or I like it more now (probably the latter). I wonder where I could get one for myself? (I have a bumper sticker place on my car, now--*sob*)

Digital camera
Well behaved women bumper sticker
Harry Potter poster
Eurail pass
Norah Jones CD
Gift Certificates to Target, LUSH, or Trader Joes
Donations to Send Rachel to Europe Fund

Thanks. Good news: I was a worker today AND got a hair cut. Bad news: I did not go to Berkley. Good news: I get to see John on Monday. Bad news: I think my computer is dying.

If this petition doesn't go through, I am going to be majorly pissed. Not to mention, majorly screwed.

I am thinking the key to keep ants away is simply eating all the food in the house.

HOWEVER

UCLA feels the need for all of its students to take pointless, uninteresting classes for the sake of "general education".

AHEM

I could discuss all of the ways in which I am already well rounded enough thankyouverymuch, but I have to study for my oceanography exam. Because I have NOTHING BETTER to do with my time.

Am thinking of seeing Prof. Knudsen, then raising hell, vs. taking another course.

Today's mental health day consisted of shopping at the Grove/ Farmer's Market with Christina, where I bought, amoung other things, cheese. Then I came home and did email and cut things from magazines and above all did not think. I even signed onto AIM for the first time in at least a week. I'll probably pay for today tomorrow, but I don't care! Bed time!

In the polling booth, as an example: "Shall Los Angeles County be declared the sun and leisure capital of the world?" Umm... And Neeki sez she voted for Clark, anyway (as I was sorely tempted to do).

Royce Hall Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 6:30 PM

Went to lunch today with Jen and she gave me a super-cute purse. I love birthdays. Then I went to Target and spent probably way too much, but I saw a cutecuteCUTE pair of shoes, so that was grandma's b-day present to me ;). Also some new notes cards on sale for thank-you notes. And a collinder, and an accordian file for school work. Oh yes, pens and a little mini set of scissors, tape, stapler to carry around with me at school. See, useful stuff! Fortunatley I was able to resist the inevitable frizz-control-hair-product-that-does-not-work, which seem to follow me home from every trip to Target.

Also I went to B&N to return a Time Out Los Angeles (10 pages of hotels and one of restaurants umnothanks) and get mommy's book, but it turned out to be hardback, $25 (umno), and they wouldn't give me a refund, only store credit, because I didn't have my card (I've taken it OUT of my wallet so as to avoid spending money I don't have), so it was actually a complete waste of time. I'm beginning to dislike going to B&N because it seems like, everywhere I turn, is a really dumb book and I can't help thinking "This got printed? *I* can do better than this!"

After class I am going to my professor's office hours to ask if I can write a story vs. a final paper. She seems the type to go for a crazy scheme like that.

As I said before, yahoophotos will be updated reguarly, so sneak a peek every now and then to see what's new. My fav so far is this one.

Coughing, but I am going to take it easy, with the books, tonight so I'm not sick for finals (or, more importantly, my birthday).

Thanks to all for the fabby pressies/ phone calls/ IMs &c &c. I've never had a better birthday, and it's not even over yet!

Took my oceanography lab final today. A friend and I ditched lecture to study, so I think it went all right. And some of the answers were just silly! Par example, one option for the reasoning behind vertical exageration is that scientists like to exagerate data to make it more exciting and get more grants.

Turned in my Bush paper, yes, that's the one. Glad to be done with it, I'm rather sick of PoliSci, actually, and wished History had a minor so I could have it instead. Oh well. Three more classes! And next quarter's is Western European Governments, and if I don't enjoy that... well, there's just no hope for the world.

Then I went to office hours to get some more guidance on the story I want to write. I had the basic plot stucture, and now I think I've got it pretty much figured out, excpet for the ending--I don't know what happens then. I guess we'll have to see when we get there! I hope I'm able to pull this story off; I'm not sure I'll be able to, but I know I want to try!

Tomorrow is the last day of Celtic Mythology, and we are celebrating St. Patrick's Day! I'm very sad about this class ending, because I loved it very much. There's another one offered next quarter: Medieval Celtic Lit, but I can't take it, my schuedule is too full already with classes I *need* to take. I'm going to ask my professor to do a Cafe Night, though.

Isn't it sad that, while there are some things about school I hate and can't wait for to be over, there are others that I LOVE and am going to miss dearly? I guess it all depends on the Professor and class subject, &c... I think I would be truly happy if I were taking all classes I really enjoyed, and maybe only three of them so I could work more, because I love my job, too. But there's no real way to do that, even if you're done with all your icky requirments, because you never know how much you are going to enjoy a particular subject or Professor until you actually get into it.

PS Sumana, I read your entry on Whole Foods... how exciting that you have one. I am also a big fan of the hot bar (mmm mac&cheese) and the yummyyummyyummy salad bar, as well as pretty much everything else in the store. But I'm on a self-imposed Whole Foods ban right now, because it is $$$$$.

After work I had to return a recalled book to the BIO MED library (SOUTH CAMPUS??? *hides*) I had no idea where it/I was and was v intimidated the entire time and wanted to hide under a rock.

I also went to my TA's office hours to make sure he got my paper, which he did, and we ending up chatting for a while about the ruckus my outline caused here, my job and future plans, colleges in London (he went to LSE), &c &c. I should really make more of an effort to go to professor's/ TA's office hours next quarter. It's always v enlightening and they seem to like it.

I am sosick of studying.

Eventually the time will come for me to buy a new computer (and this will be sooner rather than later if Spaz continues to pull tricks like she did today) and when I do, I am seriously considering buying a Mac.

Now, I don't know much about computers in general, but I do know that Macs are relatively cheap, and that smigi enjoys hers and says it is reliable. I have not by any means made up my mind about this, so if anyone had any thoughts/fact/biased opinons, I am wide open. Thanks.

Thanks to everyone for the mac/no mac advice. I am as confused as ever. Reagan? Jimmy Carter? Menahwha??

Do you think Harry Potter was a hero of the tribe? *I* think so...

I spent most of the weekend sleeping hanging out with Tonks, so it was incredibly refreshing to work on a paper without having constant urges to throw myself off of Bunche. I actually feel like I did a good job on them, & now I'm done! YES!

I get to spend the rest of today, not to mention every evening this week, doing WHATEVER I want. That is the most wonderful feeling in the world!

Smigi is a fabby roommie & going to turn my papers in for me, & to thank her I'm buring a copy of my new Corrs CD! Which I bought at Borders while shopping with Jen on Saturday night, after Major League Improv. (I won a bumper sticker for my "character traits" suggestion of "shopaholic". Hee!)

Somehow in my amazingly *cough* hectic weekend, I managed to lose my glasses. I don't understand how I could go through nearly two years of glasses ownership with no problems whatsoever, & then in the last 3 mos lose them TWICE. Fortunatley I (or rather, Dave) found them last time, so I have a spare for this time round. I'm pretty sure we have insurance so I can get them replaced for $40 or so if they don't turn up, but still! That's $40 which could be going towards something else--like a new computer or Europe--that I am paying for something I should not have lost in the first place! I need to be a more responsible belonging-owner.

AND, speaking of belongings and computers, sorry to disppoint all you PC & windows fans (the crowd is silent) but I have decided to go with a Mac. Aside from all of the logistics, &c, it just feels right, so I'm going with my insincts. Now I just have to look at the amount of my scholarship, finaid refund, &c & see if I can actually afford to buy it now, or if it will have to wait.

I bought a new folding super-neato tall bookshelf at Target on sale, so now I am re-arranging my belongs in my room. It's so nice to have ample bookshelf space (though it probably won't remain that way..). *sigh* I am happy.

Pics are up, but I am too lazy to link :P

I've got a two-hour break, bc boring econ discussion was cancelled, but I didn't think for some reason to bring stuff to do. Neeki disappeared in the textbook store in Ackerman, so I prolly won't see her til next fall--it's quite the jungle in there. I wonder where I can go to find out about my work-study $$?

Went to the UCLAStore & saw my iBook for $999, at least $100 less than at the Apple Store, so maybe I will buy it there. Need to find out about warranty, iPod mini software, &c. This is my first big purchase all on my own (tho Leonard has been on IM support), & I feel very grown up & excited. Printed my governer's scholar award withdrawl thingy, almost there! I can practically taste it!

Meeting with Berend on Thurs re: 199!

is it too early to go to bed?

Airfare roundtrip to Heathrow	 700
Travel insurance for 28 days	120
Eurail pass for 21 days		534
Misc expenses			200
$40 per day for 28 days		1120
Eddie Bauer backpack            89
Total				2,763

Summer in Europe: 		Priceless

iBook G4				999
MS Office				99
Wireless Card				89
Norton Utilities			129
AppleCare				128
Total:					1444

Having a computer that loves me back: Priceless

Scored majorly this weekend: got to spent quality time with Tonksie & see many relatives & eat yummy food at Aunt Pat's for Easter dindin. Little Joel is soo cute; I told Shannon when I have a little boy (in about eight years) I want one just like him. Also: Pat gave me a microwave & I got a bike from Ruth Davis. Whee! Am going to Target later aujourd'hui to get lock & (yes, mom) helmet.

But here's the big news: I FOUND MY GLASSES!!! YES! Ooh I missed them so much & I am wearing them right now! It's a good thing too. I went to Sears & the lady said the warranty doesn't cover loss, I'd have to pay $350 to get them replaced, v upsetting you can imagine as I am supposed to buy DtL this week, & I was so upset I just left & completely forgot to get my sunglasses tightened. Out of sheer desperation I went back to every single place I'd been two Saturdays ago, divising all sorts of horrible punishments for myself--including grounding from all non-academic events & *gasp* internet activities--and, at the very last outpost, where I was almost not going to go bc I thought there was NO WAY I could have possibley left them there, the guy behind the counter at The Book Mark produced them. I stood for maybe a minute in complete joyful shock; I felt like kissing him and crying for joy but luckily I did neither & after profusive thanking I managed to leave with (most of) my dignity in tact. AND I have my glasses. Happy Rachel.

My stupid books for my West Eur Gov't class haven't come yet. I should have ordered expidited shipping. Dunno why, tho, my dino book cam on Thurs. (Ooh! I forgot to bring trilobites for my sexy intelligent dino Prof) It's 2nd week & I'm already behind on my reading (& I've never been so upset about this).

Taking three classes, one seminar, & one 199 (indpendent research paper). Not to mention working 20 hours a week (is actually more like 17 or 18). Am coming up with crazy schemes to add another 199 if my petition doesn't go through.

Graduation is WHEN?

It's almost May. Hear that everyone? It's almost MAY!

This is my last quarter as an undergrad. Shouldn't I be enjoying it?

Oh yah, econ...

..........oooh potato is in the oven. I wonder how long it's been? Better go check!

Sad news, though: my wireless doesn't seem to work in my YRL carole, or even just outside it. Which means I have to plug into the plug outside, as the one inside doesn't work, either. Perhaps I can ask to have it fixed?

Got another email, from PoliSci, saying I could do a 199 instead of one of the lame-o summer classes. Next step: finding someone who actually knows something about the EU (though that bit may not be strictly necessary who is willing to supervise a 199 in summer. Or perhaps I should come up with a different topic all together, since the EU is apprantly not political enough *bitterness*.

Here is the reason, the REAL reason, I've started taking notes on my laptop during class:

I love showing off DtL.

I love pretending people are looking at me and thinking, "wow, that girl has an iBook. She's so cool & spunky & different." *hugs DtL*

Or maybe enough people want one to make a bulk order worthwhile. Buttons would be cool, too.

It's oodles of fun! Like Friendster, only better! Look me up if you join!

The largest ever expansion of the European Union is about to take place. Ten nations: Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyrus. The significance of his cannot be over-estimated, yet has been, in my opinion, deeply underestimated in terms of importance in American public opinion.

The members of the EU now total 25, its land mass is roughly equivalent to the United States, and its population about 150% of that of the US. On May 1, the EU will become the largest single market area in the world.

More importantly, ten Eastern European States, many of them ex-communist, three of them even once belonging to the former Soviet Union, will begin to receive the benefits of EU membership, including a freer movement of goods, capital, and labour that will encourage investment and growth, agricultural income support and structural funds to support the expansion of infrastructure, and eventual membership in the euro zone.

The expansion of the EU represents the expansion of ideals that we as Americans hold dear; the EU was initially formed as an economic integration and recovery tool, also to ensure peace and good harmony between the European nations. Since then it has taken upon the additional goals of social welfare and a better standard of living for all its citizens.

The EU is taking a big step towards bring peace and prosperity to a traditionally impoverished and conflictual area; and it is also breaking down, in a major way, the age old division between the east and the west of Europe.

Many are skeptical, just as many have been in the past; no one ever believed in 1948 that Germany and France could ever be close allies. Margaret Thatcher, one of the most notorious euro-skeptics of all, argued in a speech in Bruges, that one of the limits of the EU is it could not be defined as Europe, because it was not Europe: “The European Community is one manifestation of that European identity. But it is not the only one. We must never forget that east of the Iron Curtain people who once enjoyed a full share of European culture, freedom and identity have been cut off from their roots. We shall always look on Warsaw, Prague and Budapest as great European cities.”

Beginning Saturday, the three cities she used as examples, plus many, many more, will be a part of the EU. Gone is the iron curtain divided those who share the same rich and common “European” heritage, gone soon will be the impoverishments that have haunted these “eastern” nations in modern times.

What seems unlikely or ever impossible today (Romania, Bulgaria, the Balkans, even Turkey) is actually quite possible, if the right steps are made, slowly, in the right direction. Peace and prosperity can be obtained, even for the most antagonistic and disadvantaged nations, and ancient rivalries can be replaced by close alliance and close cooperation.

This is real progress, and we are fortunate to be watching as it unfolds.

***Disclaimer: I am not in any way associated with the European Commission, or on their payroll as a propagandist. Really. I swear. ***

Happy EU expansion day! (even though no one seems to care)

I would say I am dreary & blue, if that weren't in direct contrast to the weather.

Today: up at 6:30 to study more. Examen at 8. Class in 15 minutes, work from 11-5, or perhaps just until after I talk with my boss. May actually be the same time.

Thursday: Dino Midterm.

This weekend: home to hang out with mom & sissy & john.

Monday: PoliSci paper due.

Wednesday:Part III of thesis due.

Is it June yet? (although... I am surprisingly chipper. Perhaps is delirium :o)

My boss’ granddaughter has a GS who she brings over to play in the backyard. She acts just like Gretel, digging through planters and climbing on whatever she can to look through the window.

Of course, life has already taught me to prepare for the very worst case scenario, so if BOTH of my petitions get denied… I take four classes in summer? *dies* Or I drop the minor, and just finish up Euro St & am out of here? That sounds more like it… Problem solved.

Ran into Phil on campus; he’s going to Europe this summer for travel & study abroad, so I departed nuggets of wisdom & fun stories upon him. There’s nothing more fun than talking about Europe, and I love people who want to listen to my stories.

A fun thing to think about is all of the “what if”s. What if the train schedule HAD been right, and we’d really missed the train to Munich, and ended up in Rome like or last-minute plan was? Or what if we hadn’t woken up in time to switch cars, and had ended up in Berlin? Someday I will visit all these places, and write a “choose you own adventure exploring Europe”.

Edited: *whinewhimpermoan* its costs $$. I wonder how long I get to keep my ucla address?

Rachel: Naked. Wrestling with a bludger.

Later: I just scrolled down my DPR. EVERY SINGLE REQUIREMENT says COMPLETE! Woooohooo!!!

It begins, the downward spiral. Picking up speed now, its roots stretch back for years. Driven by madmen and propagandists, yet acted out by ordinary men and women. After this, there's no turning back.

No, it's not WWI. It's Rachel going insane and becoming crippled by neurosis as graduation approaches.

Lucky you, you get to watch the whole thing.

People's exhibit A: the absence of typing skills has always been evident, yet now grasp on English language seems to be also failing as words which have now resemblence to one another are freely exchanged somewhere in the journey from brain to fingers. Example: I foot he scarf the let. Translation: I told her I lost the frog. Yeah, I don't get it either.

People's exhibit B: repetitive process of the sudden occurrence of questions such as "What am I supposed to be doing?" and "who am I?" followed by a period of lack of conscious thought.

People's exhibit C: Laundry from this weekend is still not put away. I am dressing from the floor.

Here is how I know: I have to send in the rebate for the "free printer" in within 30 days. I am sending it in today.

Edited: And I completely unintentionally spelled two of those words the British way. Time to go back to Europe, methinks.

Mom will be glad to know that my Picture Has Been Taken.

Christina and I made plans to have an HP moviethon on Saturday. I've been feeling so ho-hum but this cheered me up considerabley. There's no reason to be blue, because tomorrow I'm going to see Marisa & I've been looking forward to that all month. But sometimes I just guess you are, no matter what.

Sunday I am getting married to my thesis. I'm banning myself from all extracurricular activities. I'm going to delete all the non-school bookmarks in Safari & see if I can uninstall yahoo messenger. So people will have to keep up with me the old-fashioned way--you know, email.

Christina came over last night, and we hot-hennaed my hair. We left it in for all of Sorceror's Stone, so it's pretty red. I like it a lot.

I also had a great time in SD. Goldfinger played 99 Red Ballons for their last song, and said, "This is an anti-war song... it's dedicated to everyone who is going to help me vote Bush out of office!" It was awesome.

Time to curl up wih Thatcher, I think. Yay.

Get yours today!

I got an A (minus) on my polisci paper, and I have an econ midterm to study for demain (bleargh).

Stupid econ midterm was at 8 this morning. I am trying to decide whether to take a nap or read for a few hours and just go to bed early. Going to bed early will allow me to get up early (theoretically) and then I can work more tomorrow, so that might win.

I'm going to try again to add my picture to yahoo photos, we shall see. Yahoo hates macs. I am beginning to hate Yahoo. If it doesn't work, and even if it does, I'g going to burn it on a CD for Leonard this weekend so he can change the picture and we won't have to look at 17-year-old me anymore!

It comes from fenestra, latin for “window,” also as in dinosaurs & birds have an antorbital fenestrae—I don’t know its that’s strictly true, a word I am getting slightly sick of, mostly because I can’t keep all the fenesrae straight.

I want a girl with a mind like a diamond,
I want a girl who knows what's best,
I want a girl with shoes that cut,
and eyes that burn like cigarettes.

I want a girl with the right allocations,
Who is fast, and thorough, and sharp as a tack.
She's playing with her jewelry,
She's putting up her hair,
She's touring the facility
and picking up slack.
I want a girl with a short skirt and a long jacket.

I want a girl who gets up early,
I want a girl who stays up late, 
I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity,
Who uses a machete, to cut through red tape.

With fingernails that shine like justice,
and a voice that is dark like tinted glass,
She is fast, and thorough, and sharp as a tack.
She's touring the facility
and picking up slack.
I want a girl with a short skirt and a long, long jacket.

More to the point, tomorrow cannot come soon enough.

But I lost the card I bought the tix with, and you have to have it to pick them up! *scared*

Christina & I loved PoA so much we're going to go see it again tonight. In the mean time, I am being a workworkingworker. HP & EU are the only two things that exisist in my universe. (Fortunatley, Gigi dragged me to Whole Foods today, so at least now there is more than abstract ideas in the fridge).

Last night was IISA end of the year dealy at BJs, which is right next to the Fox in Westwood. The line was about a mile long. You may think I'm joking; I'm not. Its so inspiring to see all unite over one thing. Perhaps Harry Potter is the answer to peace on earth? (Or is it the EU? I'm getting confused again.)

...shutting up now

But at other points in the year, I just want to kick them out. We're the smart kids, let us study! And get that awful color combination of crimson and gold out of my sight, it's incredibly distracting.

Why, yes, it is!

Whatever happened to finals care packages? Actually, I don't know if I ever got one--maybe from mom freshman year--but I sure could use one now!

<*/ shameless hint *>

I think I'm going to cry...

Can the free peoples of Europe rise to the height of these resolves of the soul and instincts of the spirit of man? If they can, the wrongs and injuries which have been inflicted will have been washed away on all sides by the miseries which have been endured. Is there any need for further floods of agony? Is the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable? Let there be justice, mercy, and freedom. The people have to will it, and all will achieve their heart’s desire.
—Winston Churchill

Behind me someone was talking about taking the 15 to the 40 somewhere, and it filled my heart with such longing that I know I must badly need a vacation. Too bad I don't get one.

The Alumni Association people are perched all over campus, like Tonks hiding under my bed (only much less cute), waiting to pounce. Go away! Leave me alone! UCLA already has enough (all) of my money!

Now must run home to take care of sick mommy. Sidenote: Becca this means I'll be in B-town, want to help me study for econ :D?

Am taking a little break from thinking.

When I accused her of spoiling Gretel, she replied "I'm teaching her a new vocabulary word. Shrimp, Gretel, shrimp!"

"He's really ruined it, hasn't he? It used to be my favorite letter"--on 'W'.

I woke up and ran to the computer, but no grades posted yet. Wah!

I think I'm getting sick. I sleep til 11:30 today, without waking up at all, and I just feel...wierd. Could be because I'm exhausted still, I dunno. Or some adverse bodily effect of spending my only summer vacation not...vacationing.

For work I am reading about the life a Gertrude Bell, a British women who couldn't find anyone she liked well enough to marry, so she keep running off the the "East" to learn Arabic. She worked with Intelligence during WWI and the F.O. in the 20s, I think living in Baghdad, but I haven't gotten that far yet. It's interesting to put these things in historical perspective.

I am thinking of adding a link to the lyrics to "La Vie en Rose" here.

I'm so sick of traffic. I'm sick of not having my grades. I'm sick of pans that never get clean and rice for dinner and being poor.

My second thought was, it was a waste of bother to take it again since I would have been ok in the first place...but then, I guess I didn't bother myself with it all that much, did I? :o)

*dies*

(and Happy Birthday to harry & JKR!)

This randomosity was brought to you by my vagabondosity. Which also applies within my own room. Osity.

I do think $1 per wear is too much. I'd rather pay, say, 20 cents. But it's handy. How many times would I have to wear a $30 jacket to make it worth buying? All that math turns me off to shopping.

Still, it's easy to see that a pair of Birkenstocks to be worn at least 1,000 times is well worth $115. And a $250 iPod mini used twice, three, four times a day for who knows how many years? It's practically free!!!

I doubt I’ll feel settled until it’s in my hands. I keep feeling as though someone is going to pop up from behind a bush (or sent me an email) and say, “Just kidding! You don’t really get a college degree! Do you think we actually give them out to silly people like you? No! It was all a joke! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…”

Paranoid, am I?

I just got an email from Amazon saying my order had been shipped. The order I places on Sunday. Grr... Isn't the whole point of Amazon to be cheap and easier than going to the story? I don't see how waitiing almost an entire business week to ship one dinky order of three CDS is in any way fulfilling this goal. *stabs amazon*

In other news, my roommate is looking for a new home for her two cats, so if you or someone you know is interested please let me know!

In other news, after the funeral Leonard, Sumana and I went to Target to buy presents for Susanna. By fate, they were sold out of OOTP paperback, so we went to Russo's books, a fun independent bookseller in Bakersfield (which is actually where I bought OOTP when it first came out). I thought to ask if they were hiring, and they are! For morning shifts. So I have my whole ideal daily schedule worked out now. I can ask for fridays off, drive to LA thursday afternoon to work, then have all day friday to work here as well. I dropped off my resume on Sat and am going to be proactive and call on Monday to hopefully schedule an interview for Tuesday or Wednesday. I really hope I get this job, it would be sooo perfect. I may not have too much retail experience, but I have a degree! and that ought to be worth something.

A lot of people have been asking when I am going to move back to Bakersfield, and a la Rick Blaine, I reply casually, "I never make plans that far ahead." Actually, Tara, the girl taking my room, has been travelling in India and her email is over quota, so every one I send her asking when she is moving in gets bounced back. I have taken matters into my own hands and decided the day is Sunday. This gives me plenty of time to tie up lose ends, take another load back to Bakersfield and get a job at Russo's, hang out with LA friends one "last" time, visit Marisa in SD on Friday for her birthday, pack up the rest of my stuff and super-clean. If Tara shows up before Sunday, I'll just have to do some rearranging.

Went to rehearsal for Major League Improv tonight. I decided to join the team when I moved back and am really glad I did, it was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow I'm going to a)call Russo's and harrass them into giving me an interview b) call Jen and see when we'll hang out c) drag msyelf somewhere condusive & get actual work done and d) make a budget, like a real adult.

I wonder how Los Angeles is faring without me.

Perhaps he is afraid I am going somewhere without him.

Also: we have had an earthquake but remain undamaged. I felt it this morning but the animals and pond water were both so calm I thought it was my imagination.

Mom & I had teh garage sale today. There is still a ton of crap. Tonks is still in my suitcase, my room is still a mess, and I think I need to get rid of more stuff. Cleanse my life. Feng Sui, or however is spelled.

Poor mommy is feeling sicky.

But I do not wish everyone to think that simply because I have been about as active as Tonks today that I have been as productive as Tonks. Far from it! Lying in bed sick is very conducive to reading about the history of the Scottish Women's Hospitals, which in turn is very conducive to garnering information for my novel! So, it's like THREE birds with one stone: being sick, working, and researching for my book. I WIN!

Bleargh.

Then we admitted to each other a guilty desire to go see Wimbledon, so we got Inn-N-Out and did just that. Now I have to admit that I really enjoyed it--mostly for glimpses of London and especially Brighton, but also because it was just the bit of fluff I needed to put me in a good mood.

My sinus-y thing still has not gone away but I went to improv practice anyway, and I was bruning up/freezing, but it was still fun. I am getting better I guess. Then I came home and got it the hot tub. And now I think I'll go to bed early, and read Wicked. Whee.

I’m not trying to start yet another political debate here, I’m just talking about what’s going on in my life. Which is what this weblog is about—my life. I really, really don’t want to deal with getting buried under an avalanche of angry or snarky comments from conservatives, and if I knew how to run comments off for the entry I would. So please, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

The only thing more fitting would be snow, as I've spent most of today (mentally) retreating from Serbia through the Albanian Alps to the Adriatic, which is quite a depressing thing to do, especially while listening to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. “Ticklish work leading a pony on a dark night down a narrowing path, with a high cliff on one side, and nothing but a dark abyss on the other, with a rushing river far below.” Only one member of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals died on the retreat, but the Serbs were not so lucky; they lost 23,000.

Do they have something like netflix for audiobooks?

It is one thing if it is someone I know and are teasing, but quite another if it is someone I don't know. Especially if it is someone I don't know parading as someone I know. For heaven's sake, get a life, you mean people, and stop trying to put me down! This weblog is not about you, it is about me. Thank you. Goodbye.

Anyway, the point of this post is that while I was in the library I picked up a random, generic (Illustrated) history of WWI to see what is says about women. I looked up Scottish Women’s Hospitals, Elsie Inglis, Women in the index and… nothing. I randomly stumbled across a two page spread that had pictures of ammunitions factories and mentioned the WAAC and the WRNS, both of which were formed rather late in the war. That was it.

This just reinforced the fact that history is the story of those that tell it, and the male view has for a long time dominated. Dr Kanner said that one of the most respected (male) British historians got up at a conference one year and said that the only thing women contributed to the war was in their capacity a camp followers… which is ridiculous. It wasn’t even the nursing and the cooking and the driving and the signaling, though that was enough in itself, and I’m beginning to see, even, hardly recognized for the worth of that alone. But these women did amazing things. Flora Sandes joined the Serbian Army and fought with them, becoming a Sergeant. The Scottish Women’s Hospital alone practically saved Serbia, certainly more than the Allied armies did to help: retreating with them, and being taken prisoner in order to stay with the wounded and care for them. Gertrude Bell was the reason for the success of T E Lawrence’s campaign—she gave him the maps to get to Baghdad! But of course she wasn’t allowed to go along because she was a woman. Most of the women’s organizations, especially the ones formed at the beginning of the war, worked for foreign armies, because they were refused by the British War Office. Most of the women in these organizations—fully trained doctors and nurses—had offered their services to help their own countrymen first, but had been told to “Go home and sit still.” Gah.

I must stop now, it just upsets me so that the contributions of these women to history have been so widely ignored by those who write it. But I guess that gives me something to change

I drove to LA enjoying the whole time because I was listening to Angela's Ashes, despite the fact that the book is very sad, it was much better than being caught up in when I was going to get 'there.' Now I am in exile with a sandwich at my library carrell becuase the power was out at Dr Kanner's house. For some reason I am really hungry today! I didn't each much for the last few days so maybe it has built up?

I finished listening to Angela’s Ashes on CD and when I got home I remembered that I had to sequel book someone gave me for Christmas ages ago, so I spent the rest of the day reading THAT instead of working or cleaning my room or putting together my new chair or taking the suitcases to the Jameson center, which I don’t even know where is, and oh crap I need to go to the library today before it closes so I have something to listen to when I drive back to LA tomorrow, which is Halloweeen, and my last day of sanity (if you can call this sanity) and then Monday I have to work and it’s Wes Clark at USC if I can get tickets and then Tuesday is voting and my first day of work and Dana’s birthday, and if that is the first two days of November it does not bode well for the rest of the month.

I need to think about applying to grad school (which means writing essays, spending millions of dollars, figuring out everywhere I want to apply so I can get the transcripts sent out all at once—from BOTH UCLA and Riverside, which also involves much money AND driving to Riverside, grrr). I have a million projects and before I know it it’ll be Christmas and how in the world am I EVER going to write 1700 words a day for thirty days while working 60 hours a week? *dies*

Or maybe I'm just prolific.

Anyways, my new one is uber-cute, with a girl and a double-decker and big ben tower on the cover. The pages alternate saying "not enough time to do everything but I can try" which I think is an apt motto for November and "prepared for anything", which.. not so much.

Mom and I went to Office Depot and got new chairs, so now my back doesn't ache after 5 minutes in front of the computer. We also went to Olive Garden for yummy food, and later, tonight, went through all the Propositions and school board people to decide what to vote for.

Tomorrow is being-Ginny-Weasley time. I'm afraid my hair is *not* weasley red, but I'm borrowing my friend Kim's broom, so if people ask me if I'm Hermione I can hit them over the head with it.

Oh, well. I had a pretty ok first day at work and last night Wes Clark's speech was awesome! I did disagree with him on a few things, such as the stupid electoral college, but he was very inspriring, and afterwards I got to shake his hand!

I saw Mr Cowles, my AP US History teacher, at the polls this morning. He patted me on the shoulder as he left and said "Vote right." "Oh I will," I reassured him. Mr Cowles is one of the Great Liberal Thinkers of BHS which make me so glad I went there, and when I did.

1. I'll get more mileage from my "american traveller apology shirt."

2. He can't run again!

3. Maybe Hillary will run in 2008.

I won't post the rest because I couldn't think of any more real ones and they got pretty sarcastic.

To top things off, my new job is Not That Fun. Maybe it's just because I'm in training and that's always boring. But I am seriously wondering why I'm going to put on a skirt and shoes and drive over there to stand on my feet for 4 hours when I could stay here in my PJs and keep working on my summary and make more than twice as much.

A lot of people talked about moving to Canada if Bush were re-elected, and apparently some of them weren't joking. It's actually had the opposite effect on me, and I am now considering more strongly than ever staying in the US for grad school--at least my MA--so I am in a prime position to do all I can during the next election. Also on BBC is a collection of emails from non-Americans, and they seem to be as divided as we are. Reading over them, I see a lot of the same arguments. but considering the global media, I guess that's not really a surprise.

Now. It just so happens that I now have two jobs (my bookstore job is becoming more enjoyable, thanks for asking) and I am also attempting to write a novel in the month of November, in addition to juggling various activities and peoples who demand my attention. I have just spent over an hour writing out responses to the comments to the entry before last. The previous entry I have not even attempted yet (though I would suggest to Kristen that she watch Outfoxed). I realize that the beginning of this entry is political in nature and, if the last two posts are anything to judge by, will prompt a spew of comments that I will feel the need to respond to.

I would like to take this time to thank Sumana, Stacy, Mom, and "President Bush" who, since I generally agree with them, have saved the effort of saying certain things, and also brought up good points that have never occurred to me.

But, as much as I enjoy(ish) having my weblog function as my family & associates political forum, it is beginning to be a strain on my precious time resources. So could you please, please just do me a teensy favor: if you have something political to say, even if it's in response to something I say (as I know I won't be able to shut up) please just post it on your own weblog (if you don't have one, see Leonard). Agreeing with me is fine :o), or expanding on what I say, but if you want to start an arguement discussion, please do it elsewhere. At least for November. And I promise to come along and join the fray in a timely manner. Besides, there's no reason why I should get all the attention! And otherwise I'll spent all of my time at crummy, and all of you people who are clamouring to read my book will never get the chance. Thanks.

But I do have all day to write, and also finish this summary for a book on the History of the Scottish Women's Hopsitals. I'm kind of close-ish to the end...

I'll post more things I'd like for Christmas as I think of them. Those of you who think you might be getting a present from me, feel free hint about what books are on your wishlist.

Also: A USB light for my computer.

Also: will I ever learn how to spell soildersoldier?

In England during the month of November they sell paper poppies to benefit veterans, and everyone everywhere is wearing one. Tony Blair appeared nightly on the news with a fresh crisp poppy on his label. Mine was pinned to my jacket and got a little crumpled because unlike Tony Blair I had the same one all through November; I still have it, in my scrapbook, along with the poem my history professor explained was the background of the poppies: In Flanders Field.

Armistice day is important because it's the day the fighting stopped. But it's not the day the war was over. To many, delirious with illness, they didn't even realize it. Isabel Hutton said, "On November 11, 1918, we heard it was Armistice Day, but nobody seemed happy about it, and we hardly seemed to realize what it meant" (With a Women's Unit, p 164). To others, going home with broken bodies or to broken homes, their troubles were far from over. And even though there's hardly any veterans from World War I left, to some, the war is still not over.

The last chapter is on the Girton and Newnham Unit, which is what--in the form of Isabel Hutton--introduced me to the SWH almost a year ago, so in a way it's like coming full circle (although I'm sure I'll be round a few more times before I'm done. One thing that struck me, near the end, was Dr McIroy retelling the story of what an officer had told her about something he'd seen on the advance: a retreating army, caught on a pass and shelled, leaving just as mass of death. "One little foal was alive and standing by its dead mother; a little dog was also whining round a dead pony it had evidently lived with. Personally I always feel worse about those poor beasts, dragged unknowingly into the war and unable to get away." I've always felt the worst for the animals, too.

I was going to leave my "Defend America, Defeat Bush" sticker on, but now that someone has scribbled "Not!" after it (which is very rude) I'll have to take it off, and I have nothing to replace it with until my "Republicans for Voldemort" stickers come.

And, hahahahaha, we've just realised that the deadline for proposals for a conference is on... Monday. It's only a half page--page abstract, which I'm sure I can manage, but I'd like to think that at some point along my academic career I'll be prepared ahead of time for these things and not doing them at the last minute.

* Minus the chapters on the Royaumont and Romanian Units, which belong to Stacy.

1. UCLA sweatshirt
2. The Corrs Live in Dublin CD
3. USB light (would probably fit in stocking)
4. Norton Systemworks (for mac)
5. Griffin iTrip for iPod mini
6. Gift membership to audio-to-go.

Also for my stocking: a small calculator. I bought one but it appears to have disappeared.

*headdesk*

Also, can anyone explain the phenominan (which anyone who has ever worked in a store will completely agree is so true) that while fifteen minutes will go by without a single customer needing help leaving you free to alphabatise to you hearts desire, all of a sudden ten people will want to check out all at once, using gift certificates and book clubs, which have to be tracked down in the master log and crossed off, and getting new book clubs that have to be recorded, or gift certificates which is just a pain, and writing checks, and joining the book club which means I have to add them right there, and wanting the complementary gift wrap and its enough to drive a person crazy! And somehow I always end up at the cash register with no credit card reader so I have to type it in by hand! But still, it's better than being non-busy and bored. And it's challenging, so I enjoy it.

Speaking of challenging, yes I am well aware that my word count hasn't moved in a while. I have written more so it's not quite as dismal as it seems.... we're all just waiting for me to make my big come-back. I hope no one was expecting me to actually pay attention to them over spring break.

PS: www.mugglenet.com reports a rumour of a June 2005 6th HP book release. Wouldn't that be exciting!!

I've decided to stop typing my novel as I go along, and I think this will be removing a major hinderance. I've figured out that each composition book page I write is about 200 words, so all I have to do is write about 200 more pages and I'll be all set! Then when it gets to be december I can go back and type and edit as I go, instead of the frantic typing I do now where I don't even spell-check. I know I could say myself a lot of trouble by just writing it one the computer, but for some reason it just comes out better on paper.

Mom made some homeade macoroni and cheese. Yum.

They would also like me to remind you that they will mock you mercilessly should you fall short of your 50,000-word goal this week. Your mother is especially looking forward to reminding you of your novel-writing shortcoming for the rest of your life.

*pant pant* After extensive counting I've figured out that I actually average above 250 words per compostiton book page, which is very good news. So I can do one page/ 15 minutes, and four pages or one hour equals one thousand words. This is a lot of math, but as long as I have four hours of writing every day left in November I should be fine. Considering I've given up pretty much all extra activities including IMing and research (which isn't really extra but it's only one week) I should be able to manage that. I'll just tell y'all (sorry, listening to Little Altars everywhere must have gotten to me) not to bother me too much this holiday. I figure have three other people in the car excepts me from driving on the way to SF :D so I'll just dope myself up on drammamine and write the entire way there.

I took my car in today. $560 to replace the radiator & other variousness. Got paid today. $194. Ho-ho-ho.

The optimist in me takes this as a wonderful excuse for not doing anything but staying in bed and writing; but the thing is I was planning on doing so anyway, except for the five and a half hours a day where I have to go to work and stand on my feet. :-{

Of course, my novel is nowhere near to being done, and if possible it's an even bigger mess than when I first started. Which could explain my lack of elation. That and the illness.

Some opinons are needed in the following:

I've got my novel up to just where they leave off on the retreat. Once the retreat (7 weeks of bad conditions) is over my love-birds are separated until the end of the war and near the end of the book, and, since it is from Emma's POV, it becomes a women-on-her-own type narrative. Who knows what path the book will take.

How long of a break I should take before I start up again?:

none at all! get cracking (or remain cracking, as the case may be)
a day, and pick it back up tomorrow
three or four days
a week

I think it's a wise idea to stop, type up what I have written, revising as I go, and filling in the things I left blank (names etc) and researching the comments and queries I wrote to myself in the margins. Then, I'll have a better idea of the novel in general, and I'll also be able to write a better, more detailed outline that will help with writing the last part. Should I do this:

Before I write the retreat (Pros: I'll have a much more clear idea of the overall picture and also the specifics ie in outline form--I've done a lot of research on this particular part already; it was, after all, the founding idea of the story.)
After I write the retreat and reach the official end of Part I (Pros: I'll still be in writewritewriteasfastasIcan mode)

I have another poll about which of Emma's close friends I should kill off, but I'll type that up later. And extra thanks to Becca who gave me the idea of having a poll.

So yes. If you need me, don't call. Email.

The only other thing I can think of to write about is the USC v. UCLA game on Saturday. It's actually the first one of those that I've watched ever, ironically after I have already graduated, even if it was only over the telly. I was expecting UCLA to get totally clobbered, so it was quite a nice surprise when we only lost by 4 points, and put up a good fight! So, la.

On the other hand, I'm famous. For today, at least.

Off to Serbia once again. When I am finished with this summary I've got to do some sort of essay-ish thing so I can send it along with my grad school applications in Jan as an example of my brilliantosity.

Hopefully the comments work this time. I don't know why they didn't on that last entry; I checked the box a dozen times.

Blast, it's broken. Leonard, help!

#1 The Bible
#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
#9 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

#11 The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
#12 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne 

#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire 
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

#31 Analects by Confucius
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Das Capital by Karl Marx
#37 Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs du Mal) by Charles Baudelaire 
#38 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
#57 Color Purple by Alice Walker
#58 Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
#60 Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais 
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau

#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
#75 Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius

#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu 
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

#91 Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
#98 Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Émile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Émile Zola
#104 Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

There are a lot of books that I've only read part of, but that is due to excerpts in classes, not just my short attention span. And I know there are a lot of basic, high school lit books I haven't read. Shame on me. (shame on Mrs Cribbs...)

The most surprising and exciting present was from Leonard--my very own book! that I have written! without even realising it! over the last two years! Yes, that's right my friends, La Vie En Rose is now available in non-serialised form. Whee.

Also, I have just sent off the email containing the finals drafts of our entries to the editor of the encyclopedia. Hurrah!