I'm going on retreat this weekend with the Catholic Student Center. We leave after dinner tomorrow night, so I'm going to blog tonight.
Saturday night was actually fun. I invited Dan over to join Sarah and Laura, my floormates, in watching PoA. We talked until about midnight. I enjoyed myself. I like being happy.
I read again at Mass on Sunday. I hadn't had a chance to look over the readings beforehand, but I managed to wing it well enough. I met Maura's dad; he thought I did a good job reading, so that was lovely. I spent the rest of the day studying, but I did finally get to watch another episode of
Joan, "Bringeth It On."
On Monday morning, the Commons Shop didn't have any Honey Nut Cheerios, so I had to get a bagel and orange juice to bring back instead. It was a disproportionately long trip for something so simple. I do love bagels, though. I felt this odd urge to go to church that afternoon. I think the readings made me want to hear a homily. Fr. Bill wasn't celebrating; I don't think I've ever met the guy who was. And I didn't get to hear the sort of homily I'd wanted, but I got Jesus, so that made it worthwhile. Also, I got to the South Campus Diner at just the right time to get my quesadilla, eat it, and get to Spanish class on time. We watched an episode of
Sports Night in Comm -- does anyone else remember that show? I could vaguely remember it, but I knew I liked it.
Tuesday was a day. It was cloudy, so I didn't want to sit in front of Taliaferro to read for ARHU like usual. I decided instead to walk farther with Anne M. on my way to the study carrels in McKeldin. On my way, this guy brushed past me, and when I turned to apologize for my wild gesturing, who should I see but Greg. He was moving pretty fast, so at first I didn't think he'd noticed me. Then he turned around and said hi. I said hi back, he went on his way, and I went on mine. It was awkward, but well-handled, I think. (His LJ post, predictably, was only half-true, and he called me "
her.") I'd intended to go to church again after my study hour, but the Chapel was all quiet with the signs for Rosh Hashanah services. I didn't want to bother any celebrating Jews who might have been there, so I just went on to lunch.
Yesterday, when I went to the Commons Shop, they finally had Honey Nut Cheerios, yay. I got some other things, but managed to forget my snack for the retreat, so I'll have to go back tomorrow. We discussed syntax in 280. Why didn't anyone ever go over this stuff in high school? One of the guys in my class started singing "Conjunction Junction," which made me very happy, though that does seem to be the only Grammar Rock song anyone ever knows. A little "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly (Get Your Adverbs Here)" never hurt anyone. In Comm, we listened to Liz Phair. We were discussing feminism, though I don't know why. (Our reading for the day was on interpersonal communication.) My Comm TA, as I've mentioned before, likes to make his class fun. Therefore, we listened to not only "Why Can't I?" (which was revealed to us, though I already knew it, as a song about cheating), "Extraordinary," "Rock Me," and her new song, but also "H.W.C." Liz Phair has some... very explicit lyrics. It was an odd class.
I was up late last night working on another analysis paper for 301. This time, we had two articles on the problem of defining literature. I wrote the essay and turned it in this morning, but I think it was bad. I can summarize well, but I have trouble getting enough analysis in there. Years and years of being given things to read and told they were the final authority have conditioned me. How am I supposed to rip apart someone's argument? How do I find the flaws? It takes enough time to understand the readings and summarize them without commenting on them. They got published; obviously someone thought they had good stuff to say.
After class, I went to Mass, then came back to gather up my stuff before I caught the shuttle. I'd scheduled the interview for my Comm project today, since I have the gap on Thursdays. I nearly missed the shuttle at Art/Soc, then I only got off at the right stop because someone was getting off there. When I got to the school, I was a little bit late, and then no one in the office could understand who I was there to see. She got married recently, so she just changed her name. Anyway, she found me after I signed in, and we did the interview in the library. It went really well. I knew I wouldn't get through all the questions, but I asked the ones I thought were most important. I took notes instead of taping it, but I think I got some good stuff for our presentation in two weeks.
ARHU was okay. I didn't feel as hopelessly lost as I used to, though I wasn't totally with it either. I went to dinner with Maura, Andy, Dan, Anne P., Emily, and Tom afterward. I fasted for Darfur today, so it was a nice way to break the fast. (Sarah, if you see this, I didn't make it to the STAND table, so I registered online.)
Tonight's TV night, so I'm watching
Smallville now. I'll try to squeeze in some real work tonight and tomorrow morning, since we're not allowed to take homework on retreat. Sunday will have lots of studying for my two tests on Monday.
It's nice to not be depressed.
