Holler.

I am back to say "I'm not dead yet!" though my journal may suggest otherwise.  Rather, I'm living the good life in Boston with Katie C., chilling with my other G-town and MHC friends often, and working hard at my job.  It's not a bad gig we have here.  We have a washer and dryer in our apartment.  I only work 35 hours a week and my office has some great people in it.  The pool near our apartment is free and clean.  My gym plays too much reality tv and arbitrary sports, but I have started to like "Charm School".

That's life, and it's awesome.  If you're in Beantown, write me a note and let's do something fun! 

2008 in Review

1) Where were you when 2008 began?
With my friends, jammed into one large bed at Chris's apartment, where we drank Sara's mom's 25-year old Andre.  Champagne does NOT age well.

2) Where will you be when 2008 ends?
At RJ's house (even if the storm continues, I'll walk there!) with Katie and Nolan, drinking something decidedly better than last year. (not hard...)

3) Did you keep your new years resolution for 2008?
The big ones, at least.

4) Do you have a new years resolution for 2009?
Yes.  Katie and I are calling it "The Boston Project".  It's all inclusive.  Also

5) Did you fall in love in 2008?
Yes, with some amazing friends who made me appreciate senior year more than I ever knew was possible.

6) Did you make any new friends in 2008?
Definitely.  It was a year of reaching out, especially on campus, and realizing what great people I had around me without even trying.

7) What was your favorite month of 2008?
May.  Nonstop good times.

8) How many different states did you travel to in 2008?
Not sure, but definitely went to two new states; California (to see Rachel and the Pacific!) and Michigan (to win a campaign)

9) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2008?
Mamma Mia is right up there... it's been a long year though, and a surprising amount of movies came to the Tower Theater, so I'm not sure.  I can tell you what it wasn't- Fool's Gold.

10) What was your favorite song from 2008?
I'm Yours- Jason Mraz.  Overplayed, so what.  Thanks Kat, for giving me the CD- Katie and I listened to it four times yesterday.

11) What was your favorite show in 2008?
Looooooost!  I loved watching it with Anju.  Now, though, I'm a "House" convert.

12) What was your proudest moment of 2008?
Having my speech get the most votes for graduation and being able to deliver it in front of Mom, Dad, and Bean.

13) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2008 and change something, what would it be?
I would sleep less and party more.  And read the book that was lying on my floor so I would actually know the word "paeans" when it came up on Text Twist so Anju and I wouldn't lose when we were at 980,000 points.

14) What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Met every single Democratic Presidential hopeful, from Obama to Gravel.

15) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Turning down a job in the hope of something better, and then having that perfect second chance land in my lap.

16) What was your biggest failure?
Hillary losing the nomination.  Love the president-elect, but it's not at all the same to me.

17) What was the best thing you bought?
A new digital camera; now I have fabulous pictures to remember the year by.

18) Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier, I think.
ii. thinner or fatter? A little less thin, but that's what the new year is for, right?
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, but now unemployed, so we'll see how long that lasts.

19) What do you wish you'd done more of?
Snuggling with my friends, writing for the paper, applying for scholarships.

20) What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying about things and following the rules.  Better to just make my own path, I think.

21)  What was the best book you read?
A lot of Agatha Christie books- I never remember the endings, so I can read them over and over.

22) What kept you sane?
Text messaging.  I don't know how I would have survived this year without my friends connected to me regardless of if we were in class, on a bus, or waiting for our laundry to finish drying.

23) What political issue stirred you the most?
The democratic primary and the role of women in this year's election.  Thanks for nothing, Sarah Palin.

24) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
Accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can, and have the wisdom to know the difference.  Easy to say, harder to accept.

Happy Independence Day, y'all.

Life is exciting and incredibly busy.  Here's my week:

Monday - paper due, commencement committee, work, make slide show and other paperwork for...
Tuesday - Meet the Candidates Night (SGA and Class Board, 8-9:30 in Blanch, come and win raffle prizes!)
Wednesday - Dems meeting and Relay meeting and ACE meeting and pie shopping expedition
Thursday - starting politics paper due Tuesday
Friday - supporting friends at Senior Symposium

... and that's not even counting classes.

I wish I had time and could tell you all everything else that's happening, but it will have to wait until a few things get ticked off my to-do list. Hope the snow is melting whereever you are, and that life is good for you as well.

It sucks that we never got to go tray-ing on the Delle hill after a big snowstorm, but it's also really nice that the snow is gone now and the green-brown earth has a chance to get some sunlight.  It actually makes me want to run again for the first time since November.

Last night was my third, and maybe final, expedition into the clock tower.  I took my friend Anju with me because we were going to pick Ron's brain about how to get into the top of the library.  It turned out that he had nothing to offer on the subject, but she still loved seeing the inside of the clock.  I love it up there too, but only on the level with the bells and the level with the lamps.  All the other ones normally bear no weight and it freaks me out to think that I could be all it takes for the hundred-year-old floor to fall through, all the way to the basement where I would land in a sink.  Still, I survived another trip up and down and have the pictures to prove it.  We'll see if I have the guts to do it once again...

My major project before break is this midterm for my civil liberties class.  The issue is this: does the state legislature have the right to deny paying for sex-change operations for transgendered prisoners, if we assume that sex identity disorder is a recognized illness for which hormone therapy and surgery may be necessary.  Based on what I've read so far and what I believe about equality and the tendency of people to discriminate against those whom they don't understand, I think the answer is a resounding NO, and that equal protection is being denied.  The interesting thing is that we're looking at this as being theoretical, but it's actually an issue that Bill O'Reilly talked about on his show a few weeks ago, prompting this assignment.  In that situation, he was making a further argument that since the prisoner was a man put in jail for murdering his wife, it would be immoral to turn him into a woman, since he clearly hates women.  The case might actually go somewhere, and I've asked my professor if we can submit our essays as amicus briefs.  God, I'm such a dork...

On that note, I'm off to play racquetball with Anju, then finishing all this work so I can go home on Thursday, go to Maine to see Kat's show on Friday, and go to Cali for spring break on Saturday.

Life is, indeed, good.

It's nice to know that it's ok to be a slacker, Hillary still won all the states she needed and then some.  It really validates what I've been saying, that I put in my hours and dollars in NH and it's time for other people to pick up the slack. 

Well done, Rhode Island, Ohio, and Texas.  Well done.

It's not sunny out, but it's also above freezing for a change.

Despite all my friends being stressed out beyond the normal limits of humanity, I am incredibly happy.  Once my cough completely goes away and I can start running again, I'll have almost everything I need (well, other than a job).

Spring break is in two weeks and I'm not even counting the days yet.  I mean, I am incredibly excited to see Rachel and to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time, but I'm also really glad to be right here, right now.

Life is, indeed, good.

I just wanted to say...

... I just bust open a locked door with my hand.

It's bleeding just a little now, but it was totally worth it.

Now, to read about the constitutional arguments against affirmative action...

The UCL Harry Potter Society is having a "Good Snape/Bad Snape" debate on the 16th.  What side would YOU be on?

This place just keeps getting better and better...

Hi there,

I've posted my London address under friends only, so let me know if you can't see that entry but want to know how to write to me.

Cheers!

-Sal

Hello hello from London!

It's been a busy last few days, with my 40-hour day of traveling and then trying to get settled in.  There are a million international students, but I am lucky not to live with just Americans.  So far, only 2 of the other 6 people in my flat are from the US (and none of them are Yankees fans, thank GOD).

We were all shocked at orientation to find out that classes don't start on Monday, as we had been told, but actually begin the following week (just before my birthday!).  Until then, we're supposed to check them out and see what we want to take.  Strange brits...

Today has been full of walking, as Miriam and Cody and I went to Portobello Road Market this morning and to the Tate Modern this afternoon, all on 5 hours of sleep.  I'm going to call it an early night, but I promise to post more about my situation and my address tomorrow, so don't fret!  More info is coming!

Hope you're all happy in the states and elsewhere! Miss you!!!

Six days and counting!

Day 5 (Thursday): See Grandma, go to dentist, hang out with Dad
Day 4 (Friday): Visit UNH buddies on my way to see sis in Maine
Day 3(Saturday): Hang out in Waterville, the most happening place north of G-town
Day 2 (Sunday): take a scary bus home from Waterville
Day 1 (Monday): run final errands
Day 0 (Tuesday): Leave this great country via a 7:05 pm flight out of Boston and land at Heathrow Wednesday morning at 6:35.

Let the adventure begin!

slim jim, hyper-caffienated coffee, and junior mints was a bad choice.

Dear Sarah,

If it's not 12:30 yet and you're reading this, then you're not working either.

Gotta love SHOCK coffee!

PS: I drank all the other sweetened creamers.

My life right now is just beyond words. It's overflowing with... life. With musicals ending and sunshine beginning and the observatory closing. With deadlines for London and letters from Italy and papers for Monday. With prospects and hinderences and mystery and sleep.

There is far too much to be able to put it all down tonight. The time to explain should appear soon, just not now.

Oy vay.

I sincerely apologize to everyone who has lost a cell phone because I should have been more sympathetic. Mine flew off the trunk of my car, where it was resting from when I was searching for my keys, and by the time I realized it was gone, it had been run over by a car. Woo-hoo. I am currently phone-less until Saturday.

IF YOU NEED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME, IM OR E-MAIL ME!!!

Time to finish cleaning my room for the prospies when they get back. One of them is from Manch-Vegas!

Have a good rainy Sunday!

We interrupt this politics paper to say:

I love the mist that comes off of a red bull when you open it. It's like the mist that appears around the people who the witches are going to suck the youth out of in Hocus Pocus. Except I'm not killing a hot man, just a thin bottle of chemicals.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled midterm week.

Unless you're on spring break, in which case... take me with you?