Where's Fall?

Oh. My. Hell. It's super-cold outside, and I'm talking like February cold with the cutting wind and the eerie screaming wind. Meaning I need to bundle up to walk from class to class. And guess what. When I decided on what winter stuff I needed down here with me, I decided that since it was only October (what was I thinking...this is Blacksburg we're talking about here), I would just bring down a coat and not any other cold-weather accouterments. Needless to say, I need to do some shopping at Target tomorrow. Like I don't totally already have all the cute, matchy stuff sitting in the Winter bin back in York. I know, I know. Totally my fault. But what would my blog be without a sufficient dose of complaining about the cold throughout the whole winter. And the old thing where "if it's going to be cold, it may as well snow," I take that back. Coldness sucks, regardless of snow status. Sucks hardcore I say.

Ew. Updated

So, that cold was indeed a cold, a nice, lingering, crappy cold with all the aches and coughing and up-all-night that comes with it. I finally think tonight might be my last with nighttime cold medicine (knock on wood), and I've gone most of the day without any doses of cold medicine. I don't feel great, probably not even feeling good...but I'll live. And I couldn't have said that Monday or Tuesday.

But one of the only good things about being sick when you have roommates is that it's a total excuse to close yourself into your room and read fun stuff all weekend. Now, remember, my idea of fun stuff right now involves 1,001 Books that You Must Read Before You Die books, which means most of them are pretty serious, even bordering on "dark" reads. I finished Brave New World -- yes, I totally realize that I should have read this one long ago, but, forgive me for I just haven't had the time -- and it is really some fantastic stuff. I thought it was going to be boring like some social commentary stuff, but it really is like reading Orwell. It was really fun comparing Huxley's false utopia with Orwell's in 1964...especially since my edition of Brave New World included a letter from Huxley to Orwell during what seems to be a lengthy correspondence between the two about just how screwed up the world was and what the root causes of the screw-ups were.

I also started and finished a required book for my Issues in World History class: Grain of Wheat by Ngugi. I don't quite know how to put into words just how fantastic this book is. Ngugi weaves his own criticisms of colonial and non-colonial African governing systems with a beautifully tragic story about how one small rural town deals with the Mau Mau uprising and the more politically driven Independence movements. I completely recognize that I'm a total nerd when it comes to these kind of books, but it really is worth the time to work through the sometimes difficult (Ngugi weaves Swahili and Kikuyu words into his writing...in my opinion, it helps the tone of the book, but some people in my class seem to find it distracting. To each his own.) writing to get to the bottom of some of the issues that still stick around in Kenya and other African nations today. Ngugi lived through it and has a first-hand knowledge of this era of Kenyan history, and he weaves his knowledge, experiences, and social commentary into a beautiful book.

I've also started Middlesex by Jeffrey Euginides. I'm definitely having a little bit more trouble getting into this one. It's written as a memoir of a transexual, who was raised a girl but was chemically and hormonally (just not anatomically) a male. To tell you the truth, this is far from my usual reading fare. I like me some traditional literature and historically related novels. But part of my goal in working through the 1,001 books is to stretch myself. I also picked up Crime and Punishment, Casino Royale, Lady Chatterley's Lover, and Trainspotting this weekend. I know, I'm terrible. But there was totally sales happening at the new Books-A-Million in Blacksburg, and I had a coupon, and they're pretty stocked on the cheap 7.99 editions of some of the books on the list. Once I'm back in York, I'll stick to the ones I can get from the library and/or ask for books/gift cards for Christmas so my goal won't be too much of a financial burden. But it really has become a sort of obsession.

Fall into Cold Season

Happy first cold, yucky-thing of the season to me! You know that lingering grossness that happens after the first cold front after the first "warm-up" of the fall? Yup, that's where I am right about now. I've been kinda iffy the past few days, and I was hoping, nay praying, that it was just allergies, but by about 8:30 tonight, I knew it wasn't anything that nice. Full blown cold, I do declare. I'm already prepared with lots of tea, Advil Cold & Sinus, and a surprisingly calm week coming up...perfect for slowly getting work done this weekend and then beginning an intensive recuperation day on Monday (aka. sitting on my ass, eating leftovers from any cooking that I may manage over the weekend, watching crappy tv, and trying not to let myself get sicker). As miserable as I am, it could be worse, I guess. If a cold is going to mess with my stomach hardcore, it usually starts when I'm at that "oh, it's just allergies" stage of the cold process. And I seem to be doing pretty well. The medicine for that is here, too, waiting just in case. Going to sleep early and probably deciding that shopping tomorrow isn't a good idea, for me or the people who probably don't want to contact my germs...but we'll see how I'm feeling. I may get a little stir-crazy.

Overwhelmed, As Usual

Yet again, it seems as if everything that could possibly be on my plate is this week. I haven't had a Tuesday or a Thursday without a test/paper/huge assignment due in something ridiculous...probably around three weeks. And I know how I can get when I get stressed. I either a. shut down or b. freak the hell out. Funny thing: I'm doing both this week. I'm pissed at a professor...like really, really pissed. She's super-unclear with her expectations and allows creativity, no thinking outside of her little box...and it's a lit class for God's sake. One of the best classes to let our creativity out. If this class effing messes with my GPA, I will flip shit...like hardcore. Nothing like being told that I have some of the clearest writing in the class but still seeing a whole fucking letter grade taken off of my paper because I connected the topic with something outside of the stories we were reading. Last time I checked, they let non-majors into a class to get other perspectives, not to force them into a singular way of thinking. Sure, I'll write down to her expectations in the next paper, but I'll be damned if I let her affect my writing in any negative way. And I volunteered to compile a paper for a group project and, holy hell, if I have to write a paragraph tomorrow morning before class I will be pissed.
My stomach has not been reacting well to any of this stress. I had let myself take a break off of the expensive over-the-counter stuff that the doctor has encouraged me to take for my stomach. It works, but for some reason, it makes me super-tired and just...weird. It's better than being sick for weeks in a row, but I have to seriously think about taking it again...mostly because it is uber-expensive and I only want to take it when I absolutely need it. I don't feel sick, just a little uncomfortable (like I feel gross, but not like anything I was feeling last year) after I eat anything, healthy or otherwise. I should probably call the doctor and schedule the test for over Thanksgiving or Christmas break, but I want to have a vacation and not have to spend a whole day in the hospital getting the test done and then at home recuperating from the anesthesia (which takes me forever...I mean, I was seriously out of it for like 24-48 hours after my wisdom teeth). Plus, I want to spend Christmas break with the baby...
Ugh, it's just so much at once...school, stomach stuff, pondering working over Christmas break (and really wondering if anyone can really afford to hire me even temporarily), grad school applications and constantly putting off asking profs to write recommendations, driving home as many weekends as possible (two weekends in a row made for two very very long weeks), and everything else that's going on. I don't handle stress very well.