best thing
watching the sunrise (don't think about the implications, just think about the pink and gold behind the trees. that's what i do.)
getting the spanish presentation over with
stalking dave (not really, i promise. i've just seen him as many times in the last two days as in all of last semester, i swear.)

worst thing
aesthetics notes: start out neat, become illegible. angry scribbles and rewritten lines where i woke up suddenly, one part where i started writing in spanish.
trying to write a history paper: only 1:30 am, but still... every few lines i nod off and begin writing in spanish.
giving up and going to bed after forty hours of awakeness

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

26 . march . 2001

best thing
lecture about u.s. policies in colombia (coca farmers, spraying fields, etc. interesting stuff, and i felt competent because i didn't need a little electronic translator in my ear.)
dave's fanged paper-cup horse of distraction
caffeine + chocolate + conversation
earthlust meeting (i have volunteered to do the webpage. someone kick me. it'll be fun, though. the page, not getting kicked.)
lenny!

worst thing
roving unproductiveness (well, i roved, the unproductiveness stuck to me rather consistently.)
too much work
too much food

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

25 . march . 2001

best thing
church (despite maypole practice)
scarlet letters meeting (there was a cat. and lots of poems on the floor.)
running

worst thing
missing half of church
looking for a mistral article... for a long time...rrrr...
kicked out of the language lab after watching most of a movie for class

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

24 . march . 2001

best thing
maypole practice (with a maypole)
sixteen feet and the stanford fleet street singers concert
sager preparation (rivals the actual event in terms of entertainment. david, to richard: "i don't have to tell you every time some guy pats my ass!")
sager (less sketchy than last year, empty at first, then people came and i danced some and left before it got really scary.)

worst thing
half.com, where i bought two cds today. rargh! no more!
the strange mood i am in, where everything is perfect, no, not perfect, but wonderful comparatively and i can't begin to articulate the enormity... it does not make me happy because i can't quite make myself understand, but i am still incredulous at the things that lurk where i can almost see them. i cannot complain, no, i mean literally. i prefer it this way.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

23 . march . 2001

best thing
first outside lunch of the season (long and in the warm sun and lots of random people, and a baby.)
going to the mall and getting stuff i needed to get
dan's meet-my-sister party
watching mansfield park (i haven't read the book, so i wasn't as offended at the movie's inaccuracy as some people were, but there were a few ridiculous parts anyway.)

worst thing
spending money ($21 for 4 tiny pictures?? grr.)
smell of tempting buttery pretzels (i guess i could have bought one without butter, but it's not like i really needed to eat a pretzel, or spend more money.)
too much food -- fried-ness. sharples and tarble and ml. bleah.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

22 . march . 2001

best thing
package from dad and susie (new yorkers, cds, sunflower seeds, huckleberry tea, cards, lovely things!)
no aesthetics exam. apparently it's next thursday. all righty then.
a philosophy lecture during which i managed to remain attentive, for a change (on fiction, mimesis and make-believe)
running (3 days in a week! i am being so good. i will keep this up.)

worst thing
having to carry around the heavy package from 11 am to 10 pm, more or less
exam anxiety (before i found it was not for another week, of course)
maypole practice with no maypole (it's ten feet tall, it shouldn't be that hard to find...)
missing dance class for a spanish movie (although the movie was a billion times better than the last one we had to watch)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

21 . march . 2001

it rained on me today.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

20 . march . 2001

best thing
prof. e. recovering well after surgery (weird story, too. i'd sue for... something.)
dance? sort of.
running
entertaining email from my mom's friend susi: a california artist is requesting donations of old bras to build a giant bra-ball. another artist has apparently stolen her idea, so she needs them quickly!

worst thing
occasional necessity of reacquainting myself with sensation

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

19 . march . 2001

best thing
bright shiny blue weather
pictures (someday i will scan... really...)
paycheck! oooh money!
galway kinnell reading (poems about bears and oatmeal and pigs and parkinson's disease. everything. what must it be like to be able to captivate an audience like that? incredible.)

worst thing
computer: now drop-down menus make it freeze
random food (i don't know what this means, i wrote it down three days ago.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

18 . march . 2001

best thing
sharples (what does that mean? when i'm glad to head back to sharples... i think it means i'm lazy, cheap, and, more significantly, that i miss all the people i usually see only at meals.)
running (short and pathetic, but good anyway.)
summer wishes -- sarah and i should get an apartment in philadelphia. i looked for low rent places. *sigh*
more concrete plans -- next year i will block for roberts, one way or another. we have several options.

worst thing
kant (it's frustrating because i think the professor likes kant, and agrees with him on several points, and i think the material might even be interesting if i could wade through the language to the actual point.)
lungs that don't want to fill all the way up, and ache, and don't want me to run or breathe much
money. money. i am sick of it, i am determined to spend no more of it this semester, i have to find a way to earn it, i dislike it very much. we want soft airy well-paying wonderful things to fall into our laps, yes we do.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

17 . march . 2001

best thing
people getting back (jesse, tiffany, franzi, rebecca...)
dinner with jesse (most successful pasta of the week award... and i've eaten a lot of pasta this week.)
playing cards, etc.
to bed earlyish

worst thing
no photos ready at the bookstore
no appointments available at the hair salon place
buying and eating vegan candy

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

16 . march . 2001

best thing
more oatmeal, all full of interesting things
goodwill with eileen and kyla (the other goodwill -- it's better. we spent nearly three hours there. i think i exercised some restraint: only two pairs of pants, a shirt, and a shawl.)
potluckish dinner (eileen, kyla, stefan, me, yen ting, jenn...)
watching roxanne with kyla and eileen
peach sorbet

worst thing
"working" (100+ pages of kant left, and spanish poems, and memorization, and history... damn...)
no luck with ebay: i searched for competence, but there was only one listing, and it wasn't what i wanted.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

15 . march . 2001

best thing
making dinner (salad and cabbage thing and potatoes) with eileen
sitting around with david bing, eileen, hollis, katie s., rae and stefan near the stairwell by the freshman end of the hall, where we hardly ever hang out anymore, and talking and asking riddles and things (ask me about the abalone when you've got some time to spare.)
mint chocolate chip tofutti cuties (mmmm vegan goodness...)

worst thing
my computer choosing to disconnect from all things internet while i was trying to update my page, thus deleting everything i'd typed (but i was so calm, i did not say a single thing, nothing, i just started over again. what a patient girl.)
checking account... i think i have finally figured out where all my money went (to HELL! says david...). no -- but away. i think the bookstore charged me twice for something. dammit.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

14 . march . 2001

best thing
fire island (this time another beach on a clouds and blue incredibly windy day. crashing breakers, more pictures and shells, sand in my hair. fat striped lighthouse. i wanted very much to be a bird, but couldn't quite manage. the gulls wheeled and fell straight down into the high waves, then shot up again when they broke. one stayed just in place over the shore, the wind strong enough to hold it there as it beat its wings. i couldn't always manage to run fast enough, and one time the atlantic swallowed my right foot up to the ankle, doc marten and corduroy and all.)
back to swat, where we had stone salad (like stone soup, you know) and pasta and such for dinner
watching breakfast at tiffany's (there, i've finally seen it!)
talking with sarah and taking strange online tests

worst thing
andrew's baby-sitter's carpool's van was stolen -- eileen had to drive them places
more tolls! seven freaking dollars to cross the verrazano bridge! agh!
taking a "shortcut" in an attempt to avoid the nj pike

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

13 . march . 2001

best thing
successful driving (brave eileen!) and navigation (not so brave me!)
jones beach (i remember that place from all those summers when we visited family in queens and would drive out to the crowded beaches in the sun and build sand-things and splash around. it was different this time, in march, at dusk, misty and cold and empty but still jones beach. we took pictures and shells.)
arriving at cathy and andrew's house on long island
the smaller andrew: their 2 1/2 year old son. after dinner, we were required to join in dancing along with the "step in time" scene from mary poppins, complete with plastic kitchen utensils for chimney sweeps. we kicked and danced and sang and waved spatulas while we jumped around and onto and off of the furniture. what did you do on your spring break...?

worst thing
tolls! good thing dc was more or less free, we made up for it with all those bridges and such.
slight detours... into brooklyn and out and the long way to jones beach and confusion with the directions to cathy and andrew's house

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

12 . march . 2001

best thing
spending the day in washington, dc, where everything was free

it was cold and early when we got there
but we saw the washington monument (closed for renovations)
the vietnam veterans memorial (the simplest and most... something... i don't know. it was warm to touch from the sun and i was surprised.)
the lincoln memorial (a bit much.)
and sort of picnicked on benches in sculpture gardens
also lounged outside the capitol building and went up the steps but not inside
outside there was a group called acorn marching on capitol "hill." they seemed to have trouble remembering who they were, what they wanted, and when they wanted it. they kept on asking themselves and replying, loudly.
saw the library of congress, which is ornate and impressive and overdone in a good way. too bad we couldn't see the actual books.

worst thing
getting up early -- 6:15 for me. agh.
we are spoiled! hope bringing us warm apple crisp while we watch the movie, offering snacks and food for the road...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

11 . march . 2001

best thing
making oatmeal for breakfast with eileen, hollis and stefan (nice oatmeal with apples and raisins and brown sugar and spices and molasses!)
arriving at hope and david's house in maryland without trouble -- we didn't get lost even a little
nice dinner (making vegan everything for me! thank you!)
reading and to bed earlyish

worst thing
tolls
no contact with cathy, whose house is our theoretical destination for tuesday

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

10 . march . 2001

best thing
sleeping in
to goodwill with eileen and hollis, where i exercised willpower (only 1 shirt!)
making dinner
watching gattaca with e & h
cards and scrabble with imported wharton frosh (but... ebony's a wood!)

worst thing
too much food
eating antiquated chips from the (sadly abandoned, this year) ML second lounge
confusion and complications about transporting visitors back to wharton

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

9 . march . 2001

best thing
finished! break! finally!
things that sound wonderful but that i can't do right now.
quick trip to genuardi's -- fruit stickers
watching shawshank redemption, finally

worst thing
history exam
only two months left??? no... this is not all right at all.
submitting to scw
grandmother continuing to fall apart... she's back from the hospital, recovering from pneumonia. now she has torn her bicep and contracted shingles.
sharples last meal

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

8 . march . 2001

best thing
mailing my application for study abroad. an entire week early. the earliest i have ever done anything in my life, i think. be impressed.
english dance
bell tower mixed company pseudo-concert
RA selections: amelia and jesse and molly and susan in ML! tiffany in roberts! now where will i live... argh....

worst thing
spanish exam
missing jesse (miscommunication, whoops.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

7 . march . 2001

best thing
lovely blue bright weather
cancelled poetry workshop (it is a worst thing that we did not get to meet and that betsy was sick, but it was definitely a good day to have a suddenly free afternoon. i filled out forms.)
mail from mutti (crossword etc.)

worst thing
panic! panic! ohmygod i have to fill out a billion things to go to ecuador and where the hell's my passport and where can i get pictures taken and ohmygod!
pointy desk in mccabe. ow.
eating at odd hours = no one to sit with at either meal. all alone.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

6 . march . 2001

best thing
first floor procrastination (partial solution to apathy.)
to bed early, oooh

worst thing
more puny snow
paralyzing apathy. i hate it when that happens. everything is heavy. i sleep in odd places. it is not worth the effort to convince myself of anything.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

5 . march . 2001

best thing
watching the big lebowski with jesse

worst thing
the narrowing margin between the time i go to bed now and the time i used to get up in high school
pathetic snow
another school shooting (i forget about these things, high school and everything is distant. welcome to the swarthmore bubble. i'm glad i'm leaving soon.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

4 . march . 2001

best thing
church
long brunch
re-reading my ecuador information (pink river dolphins, lava lizards, frigates!)
parrish desk: painting nails, talking to franzi

worst thing
indecisive rainysnowy stuff
the inevitable sappy horrible trite nonsense i produce for essays about why i want to do something
sophomore paper. let us not discuss this any further.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3 . march . 2001

best thing
zero population growth talk/workshop/thing
sharples dinner, night of screw (ohhh there will be pictures. there will be pictures.)
sixteen feet 20th anniversary reunion concert (oh! they are so adorable! they are such boys!)
vertigo-go pre-screw show (scary crowded, though. they were pretty funny.)
screw (i went! i was not screwed, but i went, and had a good time, might i add. even danced in my ridiculously large clunky shoes.)

worst thing
up early... 9 on a saturday... bleh.
losing the purple beaded loopy necklace i made myself in 11th grade (i forgot that the clasp unscrews itself, and wore it to screw. stupid.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2 . march . 2001

best thing
warm-unzipped-lightest-jacket weather
goodwill (a pair of pants and a sweater for me, a pair of sparkly toe socks for tiffany.)
parrish desk: painting nails (they kick ass, see the pictures.)
seeing the mexican with jesse and marta and eben

worst thing
spending money (i am stopping that right now. i will have to spend lots of money over spring break. dammit.)
cashews: 28 grams of fat. (and no, i'm not frightened of foods with fat in them, as the pamphlet in the entryway downstairs asks, but 28 grams all at once is just gross. you have to agree.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1 . march . 2001

best thing
sean's advice about the sophomore paper ("The sophomore paper is one of the least relevant documents there is. It is set in sand, most people have already changed their minds by the time the printer has finished printing it.")
dance (only i didn't dance... i talked with franzi... whoops. heh.)
talking to more people (what a conversational evening. 2 1/2 hours not even pretending to do work, and you know what, i don't care. hah!)

worst thing
to bed after 3 again
general apathy and disinterest

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

28 . february . 2001

best thing
first vegan day
poetry workshop (didn't like my poem much, though. see new quotes, as always.)
quaker matchbox survey (entertaining. hm... apparently nori is the love of my life. who knew?)
church (ashes and brightness.)

worst thing
lunch rush: scary sharples swarming with people (i filled my earthlust mug with tea, grabbed an orange and a piece of bread and ran away.)
coldwindiness
all the places people shouldn't pierce, but do
shifting sleep habits... i remember fall freshman year, when late was after 12. now it is not late until after 3. eep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

27 . february . 2001

best thing
finishing all the nonsense that had to be finished
arguing about bullfights in spanish convo class
a cat wandering into aesthetics (i am going to leave this ambiguous; i enjoy the possibilities.)
english dance

worst thing
four hours of sleep
no lunch (well, a milky way bar.)
a philosophy lecture that i suspect would have been really interesting had i been able to focus my sleepless little brain at all
subsisting nearly entirely on chocolate and coffee