Today was a day of Whores.

Whore 1. My alarm clock - which somehow got set to "loud" this morning and thus woke me in a very uncouth manner (making me sit bolt upright in bed in fear that it was a fire alarm (note to self: get better alarm clock)).

Whore 2. My car for making a scraping noise this morning that made me stop and check to see if the tire was deflated (which, of course, went away as soon as I got out of the damn car to look).

Whore 3. The cat on the stoop that stared blankly at me and then turned away when I said hello, although every other day it walks over to say hi.

Whore 4. The University Bookstore for:
     a. not having any fucking clue as to what classes are going on this summer
     b. returning books to the publisher
     c. STILL not having in the books for my German class until *possibly* tomorrow.
     d. so I'll have to drive back to HP (not their fault, but I'm on a roll)

Whore 5. The weather: I don't know what's up with you, weather - but you're pissing me off. Clearly the humidity is over 100% and apparently you are trying to fill my apartment with enough haze to form entire weather patterns on my ceiling. This is unacceptable. Fucking rain already, or get hot, or cold, but no more of this bullshit.

Whore 6. German: because you are too long, and in a hot room, and I don't want to learn you in the first place, and you have compound nouns that almost qualify as a whore on their very own.

Big Fucking Whore 7. The Field Museum: Who is clearly the most annoying whore on this list as it CLEARLY STATES that their free day is Thursdays (ALL Thursdays) IN THE GUIDE BOOK AND ON THE WEBSITE, but inexplicably, after taking the bus all the way to the loop Kerri and I found out that it was not indeed a free day and in fact there are only free days on Mondays and Tuesdays in September. Oh bitchy bitchy bastards.

Whore 8. The actual whore about which Kerri and I had a small argument as to if he was a she or not which was decided as soon as he spoke. The wig is very fake, dear - and those thigh-high boots must be killer in this heat.

Whore 9. The doorknob of my apartment upon which I smacked my hand this morning causing lots of pain that has persisted well into the afternoon and is, in fact, making this painful to type.

Whore 10. The CTA for not running more #6 on weekdays at rush hour (which meant that I had to stand pressed to the front door, unable to move all the way down Lakeshore.

rrrrrr.

anyone else disturbed by the oddly religious nature of our first German translation... "In the beginning was the Word" eeep.

Good evening - Bad Movie.

So I saw the movie Catwoman tonight about - er... 3 hours ago, and I have to say that on the KT rating scale it was extra-special crappy (not to be confused with the extra-special crappy with crappy sprinkles on top that is reserved for the atrocity "Phone Booth" - I can only hope that the entire existence of that movie was the result of my being part of someone else's very bad LSD trip in the back seat of a Volkswagen bus in 1992 - very very bad).

Catwoman has only one thing working in its favor - i.e. the ever-enticing Halle Berry in skin-tight slashed leather. This, my friends, although a fine reason to create a 2-hour porn movie, is not a good reason to create a 2-hour sin against the cinematic arts. With such zippy one-liners as "it’s overtime" and "cat got your tongue?" Catwoman doesn't so much prowl as back sheepishly into a plot with all the density of extra-fluffy cotton candy. And, as an open note to producers and scriptwriters everywhere: although I know that superhero origins are always extremely contrived - I refuse to accept the moment in this movie where the talking cat from the scoopable cat-litter commercial turned centuries-old temple cat of Bast walks up onto the chest of the sewage-encrusted and newly deceased Halle Berry and gives the mystic green halitosis of life - thereby imbuing the newly revived Berry with the mystic catlike skills of (among other things): playing kickass basketball, a cosmetology degree in hair design, and goldsmithing abilities that allow her to turn one UNHOLY ugly necklace into a full set of diamond-tipped claws in the space of an evening (while simultaneously buying a great deal of bondage gear). This, producers, seemed slightly implausible to me.

Suggestions for the movie:
1) Porn Flick - clearly the best option (and really why people are seeing the movie anyway)
2) Actual Plot? - perhaps something better than "Catwoman stops a company from releasing beauty cream that makes people *gasp* ugly"
3) Have Uma Thurman come in with a Hanzo blade to kick the ass of everyone in the film and then demand the leftover body parts as her own.

All of this despite the fact that I went in to the movie with the lowest of expectations. I mean low. And I was still disappointed - even bored. Bored? With Halle Berry in leather? Yes. Bored.

Do not, however, think that the badness of the movie was an indicator of the quality of the evening. You see, I went up to Gurnee to hang out with the elusive Becky (who knew?) after receiving her very long comment on my blog earlier. Things are great, we caught up on everything and hopefully will be getting rather drunk together this weekend. Ah the power of the blog. We shopped for and she bought the pinkest shoes that I have ever seen (bordering on radioactive - If I can't have children in 5 years, I'll know why) and we wandered around Gurnee Mills: also known as "a mile of eighties pastel nightmare", "the mall that time forgot", and "spaciotemporally distorted in such a way as the outside of the building cannot in any way contain the inside of the building" (you know the "wrong geometry" in “Call of Cthulhu”? THAT kind of geometric distortion. I really expect that someday the ones from beyond the stars will rise up from their watery sepulchers in the Rainforest Cafe pond and bring havoc and chaos in its raw form to the good citizens of Gurnee).
 Oh my. Clearly I am on a roll tonight. Let it end here. Becky - it was good to see you and I had a blast. Catwoman is extra bad. Gurnee Mills is strangely attractive. I like shiny objects. Goodnight.

Massive Update

That's right. I have to stop being lazy about this updating thing. People have started to wonder if I'm alive. This is not good.

So let's work backwards, shall we?

Today - First day of German for Research Purposes - the class that I am taking solely to fill my language requirement. It was surprisingly good and a stunning number of people that I know are soberly nodding their heads and repeating umlauts with me in the class: Jett, Mollie, Kerri, Karin, Amber, and Vaughn - just to name a few. Looks like good way to get rid of a language requirement and a barrel full of conjugation at the moment (looks can be deceiving - see previous happy hopes for my Space, Place, Landscape class). Met with Kerri and Jett this morning for breakfast at Einstein and attempted to buy course books (haha - as if they are EVER in on time - who am I kidding? This is the U of C). Slightly disturbed by the fact that our prof was not disturbed by the fact that there are no books ordered for our 5 week long course. huh.

Yesterday - Morrowinding with the boyfriend in the morning as well as working up his CV (mostly by pretending that we could remember important things like awards and dates and employment) - drove him back to Racine, visited briefly with mom, and then took off back to Chicago for dinner with Ben - at which we inhabited a charming Mexican cafe (that really, I have to say, was good but overpriced), and were served our food alarmingly quickly. Really. We ordered and POOF it was at the table, in the kind of eerie way that makes you think "did they just microwave this?" "did they give us someone else's order?" "is this meat cooked?" Perhaps I am the only one with this kind of paranoia, but Ben and I agreed that few other people are going to order chicken tacos with no cheese so it was probably our order. In any case - very entertaing. He then politely sat through my endless explanation of the mechanics of Morrowind and the different virtues of the White Wolf Mage: The Ascension 2nd vs. 3rd ed. system. He is really too kind - but I had a lot of fun.

Saturday - Morrowind - all freaking day - like, 16 hours - and pizza, lots of pizza. Oh, and the construction of a crown / tiara inspired by Arwen's crown in LOTR III out of sheet aluminum. Blisters.

Friday - Started out so normal - I was going to just sit in my apartment until the boyfriend showed, but then I called Salina and said - do you want to go to Wisconsin?  (Background - she has ALWAYS wanted to go to Wisconsin - I don't know why, but there you go) This led to a fun-filled romp through the countryside of WI, stopping at the Mars Cheese Castle, collecting beach glass, drinking the best root beer on the face of the planet at Pinocchios, experiencing corn dogs, collecting flowers in my backyard, Anais yelling YAYAYAYAYAYA as she ran down the beach through puddles of water, and dinner at Chili’s with the boyfriend (who we picked up on the way back to Chicago). This day was an incredible amount of fun. Seriously fun. I really got to see Wisconsin in a totally new way by looking at it through the eyes of a city girl. It actually made me appreciate the wild strawberries in my backyard. Good day - totally awesome day. And then the boyfriend and I went down to a birthday party for Heidi (from Northwestern) on Bryn Mawr. Really full day.

Thursday - Dinner. Oh dinner. For some reason Noelle and I decided that it would be a good thing for us to have dinner (and really - it is a good thing). And I invited Kerri - who was happy to come. And then Karin ended up being free, so I suggested that she join us. And while attempting to arrange all of this, we ran into Michelle in the library and coerced her to come too. Suddenly 5 girls are at Pizza Capri: gabbing, eating (oh the bread and the olive oil - I can still hardly move), gossiping, and having a blast. It was a really cool evening of good food and great company followed by a silent film "IT" at the DOC that (although I attended with trepidation) turned out to be surprisingly funny. In all a charming evening with charming people which must be repeated often.

er --- I don't really remember what happened before that - the sheer hectic fun-ness of this past weekend has made everything rather muzzy and blurry in my head.

But now things will be back to as normal as they get - punctuated by moments of sheer Germanic Terror.

And Becky - I miss you terribly, and I have left you a message - do call back!

Oh yes I have been so lax about posting... Hummm I can change fonts and colors now - interesting.

I know, I know - but my life has been ultra-hectic recently.
 
For example - the previous week was spent in Madison working on orals and hanging out with my boyfriend.
 
Friday I picked up my sister and we made a late night drive back to Evanston and crashed at my place upon arrival here at 2am.
 
Saturday morning up at 6am to get to a FANTASTIC estate sale in HP by 8am where we hooked up with the ever-charming Kerri.
 
- I bought a pink chiffon beaded dress that makes me look like a fairy princess - really - it is just the most charming thing ever. I understand that I have purchased an entirely useless object, as I will never have anywhere to wear it (and even if I did, the proposition of being surrounded by 15 yards of pink tulle would probably make me opt for the little black dress instead - and - people would laugh at me) however, it had to be bought. I believe that somewhere inside of me is a Barbie-loving 6 year old that really really wants to be a fairy princess, and dammit, if I have to buy the cast-off clothing of the recently deceased elderly to make that happen - well - there you go.
 
- I also spent way too much money on a charming art nouveau statuette holding a mirror. She was, however, painted a really hideous shade of green - so I've spent the last day and a half gold-leafing her. I know you're all rolling your eyes right now "gold leaf?! How TACKY!" but she looks stunning - just wait and see for yourself.
 
Then we took off for a day of thrifting at the Salvation Army, the tiny store at Harlem and Touhy, The Junior League, Viva Vintage, and um... other places that I can't recall at the moment.
 
The hightlight of the afternoon was a jaunt to Chinatown where we stuffed ourselves with dim sum (to the general delight of all) and then raided the grocery for dried fruit and chocolate covered sunflower seeds (extra tasty crispy).
 
Then: The Container Store, Cost Plus World Market, and Loehmans. After which, Molly and I retired to my apartment for pizza and wine, passing into blissful unconsciousness at around 2am.  
let's just say that it was 15 hours of solid fun punctuated by moments of culinary bliss. Days really don't get more perfect than this. We laughed, we smirked, we got incredible deals, we even ate white rabbits. Ahhhhh Perfection.
 
Sunday Molly and I went for tea, cheese and dessert at my favorite teahouse, did a small photo-safari of the cemetery on Sheridan (amazing 19th century funerary architecture), went to a bead store, and generally wandered around the city until I dropped her on the train for Madison (yay Molly on your first train ride!) .
 
Today - Back in HP, working on orals, department meetings, lunch with Richard, dinner / picnic with Salinda & Co. and playing in the park until late in the evening topped off with hunting for fireflies, running through a garden maze and eating crab rangoons.
 
So - I am back in Evanston for awhile, and attempting to recuperate from nonstop travel for the past month or so. Laundry must be done, finances must be attended to, websites must be designed, things must be neatly bound, books to read, lists to write, etc. etc. etc.
 
Damn fine week, though. Damn fine week.

Life Choices? To eat in or out tonight?

So here I am at the University of Wisconsin Medical School library (they just built a new one and really, it's quite nice). Quiet, peaceful, internet access, food, there are few things that one could expect from a library that are not here. That is, of course, except any books on anything that I'm working on whatsoever. But it's nice to sit here in the air conditioning, being surrounded by people that are doing more to benefit society than I ever will.

For fun I brought along the boyfriend's UW Trauma Manual - I'm just waiting for the day when I see someone with a tension pneumothorax.

In any case - Currently working on my orals. The list for Gothic is charming, the list for American is, er, interesting - but the final list - oh man. Today is the day when I sit down and try to make sense out of the brilliant but incomprehensible idea for this orals list that I hastily scrawled out on a Chipotle napkin one afternoon after far far too much studying. It sounded so good at the time and I know that there is something there, but I just have to hash it out.

Ahhh inspiration.

Other than that it's the rewrite for professor X, a brief but interesting foray into the world of web design and bothering that one really nice professor about the grade for the paper I handed in on time a month ago.

Perhaps tonight there will be dancing. More likely it will be me reading through the Morrowind Strategy Guide and UW Trauma Manual "Hey look honey! I know how to reduce a dislocaed finger!" and watching The Simpsons while the boyfriend studies. We are but simple creatures.

Speaking of.. oh damn, there isn't really a good segue here.... I have been thinking seriously about going to medical school post-doctorate. Seriously. I know that you're all snickering so stop it. I'm becomig utterly fascinated with surgery in a disturbing and utterly irrational way.

We'll see how that goes.

And another thing...

Are bits of me flaking off? Are little tiny tears in the fabric of my personality fraying in the wash? Am I fading in the sunlight? Do you notice a bit of a patina on my otherwise shiny demeanor?

Is it the summer blues? Is it a loss of interest? Is it depression? Is it paranoia?

Probably all of the above.

I guess I'm just becoming worried about the effect I seem to have on people - i.e. the one that makes them want to flee me or fight me (and sometimes both).

I am apparently very unsettling. I have been told this before (note the quotes from friends below - and this is when they're being nice), but the past few months have just confirmed my suspicions. I guess it has something to do with my inability to interact with others. I'm quite shy. I'm quite nervous. I'm quite paranoid. I have the tendency to look a peoples' left ear when they're talking (direct quote). I hide in my apartment. I can't spell and my grammar is unforgivable. I need to learn how to introduce quotations (direct quote). I try too hard (direct quote). I have no tact (direct quote). I repeat myself over and over because I have nothing to say. I make sarcastic comments that aren't really funny because I don't know what else to do (direct quote). I don't make time for people (direct quote). I tell people what I really think when they ask me. I pick fights (direct quote). I gossip. I am an intellectual snob (direct quote). And most people I meet don't like me (I have numbers to back this one up). Even people who love me would label me as "abrasive" (direct quote).

Is this a confession? Is this a public notice? I don't know. I guess I'm just feeling like a bull in a china shop these days. It happens to me occasionally - I'll get over it. One thing is clear - I will never be a politician.

The sad thing is that I really WANT to be one of the nice kids. Maybe I can take classes or something...

Please don't comment - it will only make me feel like I'm fishing for compliments and I'm not. I just want you to know: I know I'm like this; I'm working on it.

Which Rock Chick Are You?

I would like to indicate: Rock.

So I'm in the Regenstein...

It is currently 4:36 by this computer, which makes me think that I probably should be somewhere else.

Today was a day of thrifting, of food, and of hanging-outness which I hope will continue well into the evening (assuming my random plans for dinner go off without too many hitches).

Items purchased:

(1) $1.50 red button-down shirt: I was assured by both Kerri and Stephanie that is was not a sin against fashion. Generally my sense of style as far as clothing is concerned is sub-par. I tend to gravitate towards things with laces, leather, and shiny objects - all of which are far more appropriate for street whore than grad student. Thus, I need help. Thus, I go shopping with others who are kind enough to say "Katie - Put that DOWN" and frown severely at me. When shopping by myself I tend to come home with silly things such as my snakeskin pleather pants, my pair of leather pants, my red snakeskin knee-high pleather boots, leather jackets, 50's double-knit dresses, corsets, and party gloves. Clearly I could outfit an entire theatrical production of "Cabaret" simply from my ill-advised thrift store mishaps.

(2) $5.00 hard side pleather suitcase with orange/peach lining: Really, it is a lot more cute than it sounds. This was recommended to me by Stephanie, who has a clear understanding of the need to store things and cute ways of doing so. I have a newfound respect for the humble suitcase as a decorative item. In any case, it needs a little windex and love and will soon become part of the happy jumble that is my living room (which, for anyone who is interested, I rearranged last night in a fit of random Martha Stewart-esque enthusiasm that is now utterly spent).

(3) $1.50 neck scarf with ladybugs and bees printed on it: I generally have a personal issue with insects being used as a decorative motif, but something about this piece spoke to me. I think it was the fact that the innocent and non-dangerous little ladybugs are twice the size of the dangerous and zippy little bumblebees. I like to see peace winning out in our world, no matter if it is only on my neckwear.

(4) There is no 4! This is unheard of in my universe. I don't know if the gods were smiling on me or what, but I got out of this adventure spending less than $20 (my usual minimum for a day of thrifting). This indicates to me that I wasn't trying hard enough - perhaps I need more cornflakes in my diet or something.

And a side note, to the man who kept walking up to me smiling and asking me if I liked random items of jewelry that he was trying on: the yellow earring really looks better with your outfit and you could probably clean it up because it has a silver setting, but rhinestones just aren't you, honey. I wanted to tell you this in the store, but you were a little scary and I was slightly put off by the fact that you seemed to be moving closer and closer to me when you talked. Also, you seemed to be upset by the fact that there was only one earring of the pair when you clearly have only one ear pierced. This is confusing to me: do you want to be able to change them when one gets - er - funky? If so, why are you buying them at a thrift shop? Do you want to share one with a friend? Then why don't you ask the friend what they would like instead of questioning a random girl looking at some silverware? Do you feel like you're getting cheated? But you only have one pierced ear!

Ah well.

Back In Action

For the day anyway...

So I haven't been posting because I have been all over the place this week. Boyfriend went home yesterday - which means that I spent the evening in Racine hanging out with my parents. Tomorrow, thrifting - Wednesday and Thursday, refinishing furniture (the aforementioned dentist cabinet for jewelry) - Friday, Dim sum with parents and switching of furniture (my family does this all the time) - Saturday and Sunday, hanging out with my Boyfriend again, and Next week? Working on my orals.

So today is cleaning my apartment. Bleah.

Yesterday while driving home, however, some interesting things happened. First - My boyfriend and I witnessed an accident on the toll way heading out of Evanston. I have to say, it was chilling. He, being the med student - practically leapt out of my still-moving car in order to run over and offer assistance. I called 911 and was transferred 3 times before police agreed to come out and have a look.

Everyone was ok, although I have to say - standing in the middle of the freeway during rush hour waiting to give a statement to police is a little interesting. Looking around, my boyfriend noticed various pieces of siding, cups, glass, insulating foam, etc. and commented “ah… this is where foam comes to die”. It’s these kind of moments that really stick with you.

Then, after dropping my boyfriend off I headed home only to have a couple of irritating youngsters on the side of the road shoot fireworks at my car. Little fuckers! As I was contemplating pulling over to give them the rough side of my tongue, they aimed at a passing truck, and the driver did the deed for me. Never have I seen a truck stop so fast.

Personally I hope that he gave them at least a 2 second head start, after all - they're just kids.

I would also like to indicate that this is the first 4th of July in 10 years that I didn't have to go watch the crappy Sturtevant fireworks display with a bunch of belligerent drunken people including (usually) my ex-boyfriend. It's amazing what a change of friends will do for your sanity.

Ok, enough of this for now - I'll just be on my way then.