Three finals down, three to go. That is, if you count seminar--I guess there are really only two more to go... Lab and philosophy. Which, considering the fact that the Math final is out of the way and it was fairly painless (And, to be perfectly honest, despite the fact that at numerous points last night I referred to our good friend Johannes Kepler as a son-of-a-bitch it was really awesome to see the progression from Ptolemy to Copernicus to Tycho Brahe to Kepler and his elliptical orbits. Sometimes it does all come together.) and the fact that I've been getting a reasonable amount of sleep (8 hrs. total for the past two nights), might just go okay. Actually, as finals weeks go this one has been pretty nice--lots of Disney songs (and quotes from The Emperor's New Groove), late night Angel's Donuts runs, cigarettes in abundance, some damn good review guides, and low on the drama. Hey, I might make it through in one piece.

Song of the Week: Vaka -- Sigur Ros (because I can study to it, and it puts me to sleep, and it's just flat-out beautiful)

good memory: swimming in the first pond on a sunny Friday afternoon after class, with H. We went swimming in skirts (and t-shirts, too!), just for the hell of it. White skirts. So, not only was the water numbingly cold, but we definitely had to do some damage-control with our towels once we were done swimming. We walked dripping wet and towel-swathed all the way across campus to our dorm, singing loudly the whole time.

Oh gosh: I leave this infernal place in thirteen days! Less than two weeks left, dammit, and life is a bowl of cherries. More or less. I'm going to be so thrilled to be done with this semester, done with this year. Not that the year has sucked completely, but it has been fairly rough and I just want to go home where I can sleep, cook, go to the beach, catch up with friends, spend time with my family and just recuperate from all the drama. Once I start to feel a little more together I have some plans to follow up on, namely: look for a second job (Because my regular job won't have any hours for me until the beginning of June, and as far as making financial aid payments and having spending money left over goes, that's just not going to cut it.), read a lot--I would go into how excited I am that I'll be able to spend quality time at the library, but it would just make me look like a total nerd--especially literature, which this curriculum really lacks (And man did I feel the lack this year, even in seminar which, as arrogant as this sounds, consisted largely of people who had no idea how to read literature, had no idea how to analyze the text... I don't remember how many times it was suggested that Chaucer's Canterbury Tales be censored, because, you know, it's just so, well, pointlessly gross! Ugh. ), spend some quality time in NYC soaking up art and culture and, yes, good food, and last but not least, work on spiritual growth while I'm not so distracted by drama that I hardly know my own name anymore (the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak). Those are just the basic plans, and they probably sound boring to most people, but right now I want to be back home so badly I can almost taste it. (Not to say that everything will be complete bliss once I'm there--the whole second-job situation is hanging over my head and probably will be for a while.) Of course there will be things that I'll miss, and by "things" I mean my friends. And maybe Theology class with the Mac-daddy. And fresh oranges a short walk away. Bottom line: Right now finals week is looming over me and I don't remember a damn bit of lab or philosophy. Okay, maybe a little, but not enough for a final. It's taking all of my self-control to not hyperventilate and pull all of my hair out. I probably won't end up failing out, but I'm being paranoid right now. Good thing: tomorrow night I'm making dinner at my math tutor's house for my section. (menu: fettucine alfredo, grilled chicken, green salad, garlic bread, and strawberry shortcake) There might be some finals week updates, there might not be.

One Market

Posted at 10:35 AM
"I was hoping the new Pope would take the name Jesus II. Or, Leroy."
"Leroy would be awesome. That would scare the wrath of God into people." (courtesy of The Dialog Blog)

Habemus papam!

& his name isn't Leroy, either. Viva il Papa -- Papa Benedictus Sextus Decimus, Episcopus Romanus. (Formerly known as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.)

Don't you know how sweet and wonderful life can be?

I haven't posted a real post in forever, and I still don't feel particularly moved to do so, due to a (continued) derth of interesting material. But here's what I will do, I'm will post some sweet links to some of the best recent food-related finds on the internet.

The blog of an itinerant chef, for all the nitty-gritty details.

Recipes! (From The Splendid Table)

And lastly, a blog about farming at small farms in California.

Oh, also: this guy has resumed blogging.

If you want to hear new music and participate in a sociological study, then check out Columbia University's Music Lab website.

Listen to: The Decemberist's newest album, Picaresque. Its story-songs are stunningly beautiful (Of Angels and Angles, The Engine Driver, and We Both Go Down Together are especially good. Breathtaking, actually.), not as cloying as I've found them in the past, with lyrics that will make your heart ache with recognition. Music this good is not made every day--if you want something that really lives up to the fuss made about it BUY THIS ALBUM! (It's the kind of album that when you first hear it--in the car at night, with the darkness smelling of orange blossoms through the open windows--you immediately start trying to sing along with it and impress the lyrics in your memory, so that you can have something that beautiful with you all the time.)

"Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible to himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it."

Redemptor Hominis, Vatican City 1979