greetings earthlings

song playing: bukowski by modest mouse

i’m at home now and i only have access to the 21^st century for 24 hours, so let’s make it good. t-mobile hot-spot wireless internet access is a beautiful thing if you're a damned millionaire.

1. my road trip down to L.A. with some coworkers was quite possibly the best one i’ve ever taken.

2. now my days consist of reading novels, studying for my german language placement exam at the end of september, and periodically arguing with my mom. yesterday i asked her if she could buy me a bottle of hennessey or jack daniels to give to my host family as a gift. i was half joking. the other day, annie and i were saying that there comes a time when young adults reach “maximum parent tolerance” and learn to deal with these visits home efficiently. we think this is that time. yesterday i had to listen to an hour long lecture about the evils of alcoholism at drinking age and annie stood by while her mom did stereotypical asian stretching exercises in the airport. maximum parent tolerance, baby.

3. about the changing-the-major comment in my last post; it has officially been switched to psychology... again. i’ve even gone so far as to ask four professors to be my advisor, so i think this is serious. if i want to be a psychologist i should stop tip-toeing around the issue just because i don’t want be in school until i’m 30. not to mention it’s late enough in my academic career that any other major changes will prevent me from graduating on time. why haven’t you guys chastised me on my indecisiveness?

4. houston is in complete disarray right now. people are robbing people at the shelters downtown, and evacuees are begging for food and diapers outside of every store. i’ve never seen anything like this, and we’re hours away from louisiana. it kind of pisses me off that new orleans city planners would let a disaster this critical happen when they knew all along that the city was in danger. people should not be pushed to the point that they have to steal food for their starving children in a first world country. if you’re in the practice of praying for strangers, this would be a good time. glad you're safe, jules.

love *manda