Friday Five
1. If you had all the money in the world and could choose to own anything, what you would get and why? My first thought was to build a church. I mean, I’m sure there’s somewhere that could use a church or a new one, and it’d be cool to sponsor a church like that.
2. If you were to do something that scares you, what would it be? My fears are either material or abstract. Not really actions.
3. What was your first pet? We had a bird when I was very little. We kept it in my playroom, which later became Courtney’s room. It died… I think my mom buried it in her flower garden out front. I know that’s where she buried the goldfish I had after the bird died.
4. What’s the farthest you’ve traveled? From here to Japan, and there and back twice more.
5. If you were a season, which one would you be and why? I like winter best. It’s cool and mellow, but can be a lot of fun if you make it. And it smells the nicest.
Extra one: If you were a song, which one would you be and why? Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Beautiful and classic, but quite whimsical.
And so we commence the Weekly Roundup.
I never did get around to my homework on Saturday. Maura was running behind for Mass on Sunday, so I waited and we walked together. The hymnal cart wasn’t by the side door, where we usually come in, so I went to the back to get them while Maura went to find Michelle to volunteer her EMHC (Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion) skills. I followed Maura out the front door so we could find seats. She was talking to Fr. Bill when I stuck my head out the door. “Oh, Lindsay,” he said. “I found another Harry Potter fan; I want you to meet her.” So I followed him up the aisle.
If you can, imagine me, already late and just wanting to go pray a bit before the procession starts, trailing behind Fr. Bill wearing his green chasuble, with Maura right behind me. I was mortified. Then, he passed the girl he was looking for and had to backtrack. We awkwardly introduced ourselves, and I finally got to sit down. I hate it when people are watching me. I hate it more that I was probably acknowledged solely as “that girl following Fr. Bill.” But he made up for it by making a Hogwarts reference in the announcements that was unmistakably directed at me. I love Fr. Bill.
After fighting with Greg a lot (or maybe that was Saturday), I finally managed to get to work on Sunday night. We’ve been broken up for ten months. I have almost completely moved on. I even have new guy friends (hi, Dan). I don’t think he’ll ever let me be (especially concerning my faith), which is disappointing. I knew he hated Catholicism, but I didn’t expect such a backlash when I finally made my way back to the Church. Anti-Catholicism has been called the last acceptable prejudice. I’m kind of taking it as my cross to bear, if you will. When I didn’t have answers to his angry questions, I had to go find them, and in doing that, I learned a lot.
It’s going to be impossible to move on until he does, though. That seems unfair.
I don’t remember much about Monday. We reviewed in Spanish class. The last two Comm presentations were okay. I spent the night studying and trying to fix my computer.
On Tuesday, I had two classes and two tests. It sucked. I was almost late to 301, which added to the uneasiness about my midterm. My essay came fairly easily, though I did have to restart the second paragraph because I wandered away from my organization. He (my teacher) made comments about my apparent lack of organization on my papers, so I was determined to get it right. He’d specifically suggested some formats on the instruction sheet, so I knew it was super-important. My watch stopped last week, so I couldn’t gauge the time like I usually do, but I finished within the limit. (It’s an 85-minute class, so that’s a big deal. I learned to knock out AP essays in 40 minutes.)
I spent lunch mostly alone until Nick (from my astro lab last semester) showed up. I hadn’t really had a chance to talk to him yet this semester, so that was nice. Then I took my Spanish test. I think I tried to get too fancy while doing the writing section, but I think I did well on that one, too. The next test is the one my TA wrote, and she says it’s much harder. Joy.
Tuesday night, I went to Adele’s with Andrew, Sara, Rebecca, Hana, and Megha. I had some of their yummy fries, and helped Megha eat her Ice Cream Spectacular, which was also yummy. We got there early, but I had still feared a wait, since it was a focus date today. It was only medium-full, though. I guess people didn’t realize three weeks had passed again. We got out in a very reasonably amount of time.
Wednesday’s fuzzy, too. My Comm TA talked a little about giving speeches, since that’s what we’ll be doing for the rest of the semester. He told the story of how he wound up where he is, instead of being a professional baseball player. I kind of resented it, because I plan to be a teacher by choice. He made it seem like his consolation prize. I had lunch with Adrienne and Nick again. The lunch conversation resulted in the new Facebook group Students for Campus-Wide Laser Tag. Good times.
I came back and tried to start the day’s work. The first actual part of our Keystone was due Thursday, so I seriously had to get going. I managed to put it off until fairly late. I went to Mass and dinner. A group of brothers served us; I’ve never seen so many Roman collars at the same time before. Their food was pretty good, though. The bread was really cheesy, and the spaghetti was not greasy (that that, Dining Services!), so it was worth going back for more. Michelle had described a small person-sized bucket of pasta, and I hate wasting food.
After dinner, I high-tailed it over to the Armory for a Primannum meeting. I’m beginning to see now how useless that particular Greek-lettered organization is to me. They don’t seem to do anything substantial. Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like NHS. I suppose that happens when our common interest is, like, school. It’s hard to come together and do school, the way the pumpkin-launching club comes together to make pumpkin-launchers. Dan walked in after I did, so we sat together while we badly decorated Halloween cards for hospitalized children. I saw a bunch of other people there, too. The activity was badly organized, and the meeting was terribly boring.
I had to detour on my way back to the dorm. My necklace charm had been loose all day, so it flew off during my mad dash from the CSC to the Armory. I thought I’d seen something fly past me when I passed the Commons Shop, so once I realized the charm was gone, I knew I would probably find it there. I looked around, and sure enough, I found it.
I spent the rest of the night writing a short story for Keystone. I was actually really pleased with the result. It needs editing, of course, but it’s a good foundation for revision. I don’t know if I’ve explained my project here, but I’ve been doing it a lot lately, so once more won’t hurt. I have created a fanfiction-style challenge for myself. I’ve committed to write six short stories that share common elements, but not a theme. The elements are:
- a character named Anne.
- an anonymous letter
- the dialogue line “Throw it on the table and see if it bounces.”
- the clause “It was a dark and stormy night.”
- someone standing on a table and shouting.
I have two stories so far. I’m going to have to get really creative with that dialogue line. I’m already running out of ideas. I also have to find new reasons for people to be shouting on tables. I think I can do it, though.
ARHU was cancelled Thursday afternoon, so it was that much harder to get up for my one class (301) at 9:30am. I made it, though. Of course. I’m glad I went, because we got our midterms back. Hana has my 301 teacher for another class, so she knows he doesn’t like to give A’s. Imagine my shock and extreme happiness to get an A- on my exam! I’m still happy, because there are so few assignments in that class, I have to do well on every one of them to do well overall. We discussed Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” I had never read it, so I loved it. You can read it here; it’s not long, and it’s amazing.
After class, I came back to the dorm. I’d intended to start my second Keystone story before Mass, but I could tell that wasn’t going to happen, so I just left early for the Rosary. I met up with Sara, Hana, and Rebecca afterwards. Rebecca had to leave, but Hana, Sara, and I sat around talking for a long time about our Keystone projects. I’m glad I stayed, though, because my originality was spent, and Hana came up with the springboard idea for my second story. She read it after I posted, and she loved the character I built from her idea. In retrospect, I think she’s a rather Hana character.
Right after I got back upstairs, I had to go out again. They’d randomly shut off the water to our building, so I went across the street to Benjamin. I needed to make an advising appointment, anyway, so it worked out. When I came back, I started writing and kept going steady until just after 5pm. I posted a bit late, but I wasn’t done when 5 rolled around.
I went to dinner with Dan and Hana, and Annie, Maggie, and Jimmy showed up a bit later. I explained my stories to all of them. It was weird because Annie’s real name is Anne, and my second story had a Jimmy as well. I’d intended to go to Bible study after dinner, but I managed to completely miss Tim, so I just came back up and watched tv.
Yesterday morning, I packed to come home. Classes weren’t that great. We had an assignment in 280 that everyone else thought was really confusing, but I found relatively easy. I’m sensing a bad grade coming at me. Lunch with Andrew was nice, as always. Spanish class just wore on. We’re doing emotions this chapter, so there’s a ton of vocabulary to learn. We watched a West Wing special feature on speeches. I’m giving mine on the experience of Harry Potter. There’s the potential of leaning too much into fangirl territory, but I think I can manage it.
My dad picked me up right after I got back from Comm. My parents had the laundry room finished, so the appliances were only moved back in from my room a few days ago. I went to see Tops in Blue with my mom last night. The Air Force has a service-wide talent show every year, and the winners (vocalists, instrumentalists, and one time, a magician) get to take a year off from their jobs to perform at bases around the world. It’s a pretty good show. It was very cold out, but I enjoyed it. When we got home, I convinced her to watch the pilot of Joan of Arcadia with me. She liked it, but not enough to watch a second episode, boo.
When I sat down to blog last night, I debated whether to discuss my latest entanglement with Greg. He IMed me with something about Halloween. Inevitably (in the truest sense of the word), we got to arguing about religion.
Then he posted part of our conversation to his LJ.
After he’d posted it, he asked me if it was okay. By that time, he and his friend Rachael had already started making fun of me in the comments. So I responded to defend myself.
The argument went on for almost two hours, until I was absolutely spent. Rajni actually got involved, but she managed to make her point without making fun of me. I totally get what she was saying, and have absolutely no negative feelings toward her. The sheer exhaustion of fending off both Rachael and Greg, combined with my hiccuping wireless connection, sent me crawling into bed, having cried until I could barely breathe. I wasn’t sad, though I was disappointed that I hadn’t done very well in the argument. I just didn’t have the emotional strength left.
Even today, when I turned on my computer, they were still on me. For people who seem to think everyone should be allowed to do what they want, as long it doesn’t hurt themselves or others, they don’t seem keen to let me be. (At least, that’s what Greg thinks. I don’t really know Rachael.) I didn’t start the fight, but they won’t let me end it.
My mom asked me last night why I’d broken up with Greg. I told her my feelings had changed. She replied, “Well, you never know, you two might end up hooking up in the future,” which made me decide she is no longer allowed to use the term “hooking up.” But it’s incidents like these that make me more and more certain we’ll never be together again.
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