Mere moments after I posted the first installment of Seven Stories, there was a knock at the door of my dorm room. I inquired rudely as to who dared to disturb me during my impromptu screening of the Carnivale pilot, but I was met with nothing more than a quizzical stare. The owner of said stare was a Japanese foreign exchange student, who like a college-aged, Asian Elian Gonzalez, had fled his former domicile due to the incessant snoring of his previous bunkmate. Knowing I lacked the financial wherewithal to officially turn my double into a single and guessing that exposure to a different culture might help me grow in some small way, I sighed and swung the door the rest of the way open.
That was last Thursday. Since then, I�ve grown sort of attached to my new roomie. He�s quiet and respectful most of the time. I smile secretly when he watches Gundam Wing with English subtitles and he pointedly ignores the various and sundry disparaging comments I direct toward my television set on a regular basis. We make small talk about our majors (his is Business) and he inquires about my pop culture tastes because I�m obviously an accurate barometer of American taste, what with my inexplicable affection for Dolly Parton and my, you know, gayness. He asked me what magazine I was reading the other day. It was Out, which I�m sure meant absolutely nothing to him. That�s the other advantage to a non-English speaking roommate: he�s not going to beat my faggot ass because he doesn�t understand the concept. At least not yet.
He�s a nice guy. I came home at 1:00AM the other night to grab a notebook or my toothbrush or something and his friend, who had been sitting on my bed, jumped right up and apologized, which�seemed amazingly polite at the time, but in retrospect I�m wondering if he and his friends just use my stuff with wild abandon when I�m not there and he was just ashamed to have been �caught� in the brazen act of sitting on my neatly made bed. Maybe I�m crazy and I need more sleep.
That�s the more likely scenario, as I spent almost all of yesterday ACTUALLY STUDYING. It�s amazing what one can accomplish if one turns away from the conveniences of modern technology and holes up in the library with a few incredibly dry historical and/or geographical texts. All in all, I probably put in a good six hours studying (not including those evil, evil computer breaks and my waterlogged trek across campus to the cafeteria for dinner), which, considering that when I got up it was almost not morning anymore and that the library doesn�t open until 2:00PM and that I�m a notoriously terrible studier, was quite an accomplishment. My performance on the tests today has yet to be measured in terms of a letter grade, but that�s probably the most prep I�ve done for any one (okay, two) test(s) in my life (with the obvious exception of government team, which is exactly what I was reminded of yesterday afternoon as I did chapter outlines and watched water fall violently from the sky).
I�m keeping my fingers crossed that it�ll pay off. I�m mostly worried about the essay portions of the World Civ test because I�m not sure how my prof grades. The first test is always the hardest. Or is it the easiest? Hell if I know. The first test is usually the one that gives me a certain level of false confidence, like maybe if the test on the review chapter was easy as pie, the entire course will be a walk. I�ve promised myself that there will be no self-delusion of this type for the remainder of my educational career. Whether this is a promise I�ll actually keep remains to be seen. I mean, freshman year is the easiest, right? I don�t really have to study at all this year. I know this. It�s like, just review or something. The high school after high school. I�ll just wing it and�no, see that�s exactly how I ended up with a D in ninth grade biology. I�m for real going to work, I swear, and six hours yesterday was a start. During the next go-around, I might actually start studying prior to the night before the test. I wouldn�t want to rush into anything, though. Baby steps, that�s what it�s all about.
Someone got here by searching for: speeches of the candidates for head girl elections And: interesting class officer speeches And: COLLEGE + STUDENT ELECTION + SPEECHES + CLASS PRESIDENT I guess it must be that time of year. Reading: Still working through Lucky You. Listening to: The Straight Talk soundtrack, which Protein Bran so sweetly offered to burn for me the other night. Watching: The Law & Order-a-thon that is basic cable. So many reruns, so little time. And what is up with Mariska Hargitay�s hair in season one of Special Victims Unit? Ew. And this weekend I saw: The Decalogue, part one. This is a truly admirable concept. They�re very dark films, but I know I�m going to love each one of them. And while we�re talking about hair: I happened to catch the ER pilot over the weekend, and those kids look adorable in 1994. Where did it all go wrong? Eating: I love taco night so, so much. Now if you'll excuse me: I have to go vote in the election for head girl.
