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Krystle: Cliff's Notes on Crack, Part 3

THE SEMESTER SO FAR

I. Classes
A. Art 101
i. It's great, but WHO KNEW ART WAS HARD?? I'm a sucker for ever thinking it was going to be an easy class.
B. Self and Society in Modern Japanese Literature
i. This is where I'm very conscious of being a science major who knows nothing about analyzing texts for their literary significance.
Example:
Professor: "What did you like about this novel?"
Me: "That it was a novel-- I never get to read those!"
C. Metabolic Biochemistry
i. Is actually not that bad. I like glycolysis. It's very useful.
D. Japanese 102
i. I SUCK AT JAPANESE.
E. Research Proposal Grant Writing
i. I'm super-excited. If all goes well, I will be dissecting flies and making their insides glow all summer. Grossness in the name of science!
ii. Also super-stressful... but it's pretty awesome all the same.

II. Work
A. Genetics TA-ing
i. Difficult when you've had class and/or lab with all of your TA students. Always have to be on your toes!
ii. I find that I doubt myself a lot when it comes to genetics, but it's still fun re-learning all this stuff I learned a year ago.
B. The Link
i. Fun, but difficult. C'est la vie.

III. Life, and other things
A. Radio show
i. I have two this semester: one by myself (a) and another (b) with one of my best buds, Jenny.
a. THIS IS SCIENCE: Airs every Wednesday from 10-11 AM, PST.
b. Bespectacled Radio: Airs every Friday from 10-11 AM, PST. Someone called in last week pretending to be Jar-Jar Binks. I love college... and morning bakers.
B. I am wholly, entirely me, but not without complications.
C. No music in my life this semester, e.g piano lessons, percussion ensemble, wind ensemble, etc. Very saddening, but it's okay. Maybe senior year? Who knows.

SUCK IT BIOCHEMISTRY.

holllaaaaaa.

lately

I've gone to church about half a dozen times since I've been home, and each time, although I try to be open-minded about the whole experience, I find myself being defensive about it.

In high school, although I don't know if I would have called myself religious, I was very involved in my church. I was a third-grade Sunday school teacher for two years, right after I became confirmed in the Catholic church. I enjoyed doing volunteer activities, and would frequently go out on church-sponsored night excursions to Yokohama to pass out fresh rice balls, hot green tea, and soup to the homeless that slept in the nooks and crannies of the city. I went to mass pretty much every Sunday and acted as a service lector here and there. The rest of my family was also very involved with the church, too.

Recently, I went to the Christmas mass at the Baltimore Basilica with my family. The lecture from the priest that day raised a lot of questions, and it's been on my mind since then.

Life is not easy, the priest said. It was not meant to be, and will not get any easier as it goes on. However, we have God and the church to show us the way. He illustrated this with an anecdote about how he tried to go out during the snowstorm that recently swept the East coast: he was having a hard time walking around in the snow, but he found that if he stepped in the footprints of whoever had tried to brave the storm before him, he was okay. He ended his lecture by stating that there is only one path to help us get through life-- the path of God.

Can I believe that? What does it mean if I believe that? Is that what Christianity means-- to believe that there is only one path? What does that mean for those who don't call themselves Christians?

All-in-all, what this all comes down to is nurturing your soul. Some people choose to nurture their soul in the gardens of God, others in Allah, others in ways that I haven't even heard of. But if the outcome is the same-- we live our lives to the best of our ability, being good to one another and to ourselves-- does it really matter?

New Year's Resolutions

1. Write more.
2. Spend less.
3. Work harder.
4. Be happier.
5. Think.
6. Drink less coffee.
7. Go vegetarian... again.

Stereotyping People By Their Favorite Author

Some of my favorites:

Chuck Klosterman

Boys who don’t read.

Chuck Palahniuk

Boys who can’t read.

Leo Tolstoy

Guys I want to date.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Guys I want to sleep with. (The difference between the two Russian authors lies in the fact that I think the Underground Man is sexier than Pierre Buzukhov).

Jane Austen (or Bronte Sisters)

Girls who made out with other girls in college when they were going through a “phase”.

Haruki Murakami

People who like good music.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Men who can’t lie but will instead be silent if they know you don’t want to hear the truth.

From here.

Break-time

Krystle: Cliff's Notes on Crack, Take 2

I. Currently, It's Finals Week
A. Two Exams
i. Japanese
- Just started hard-core studying... today. It's on Wednesday.
ii. Biochemistry
- Shit.
B. Two Papers
i. Politics
- Really interested in it, but also really stuck on it
ii. Cancer Biology
- Ditto.
C. I WANT TO GO HOME ALREADY

II. In the Past Semester, I've Had...
A. Radio Show
i. AWESOME. Thanks for tuning in, guys. I'll be returning next semester: stay tuned in for times.
B. Phone-a-thon job
i. Also awesome. Also pays ridiculously well.
ii. I love my co-workers.
C. Bio 101 TA position
i. Quite a learning experience, but in the best way possible.
ii. Also pays ridiculously well.
iii. Two jobs = awesome.
D. Classes?
i. Biochem- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i'm just not chemistry-minded. JUST PASS ME PLEAAASEEE.
ii. Cancer biology- it's been boot camp, but i feel good about it at this end of things.
iii. Japanese- I think I'm pretty solid here.
iv. Politics of Corruption- I love being a politics minor.

III. Next Semester
A. Classes
i. Biochemistry II- Oh lord.
ii. Japanese 102- WHOOOO
iii. Modern Japanese Literature- Holler.
iv. Art 101- HOLLER.
v. Biology Research Proposal Seminar- Involves writing my summer research proposal for biology research... and possibly my senior thesis. JESUS CHRIST I'M OLD.
vi. Yes, this is academic overload, and I mean actual academic overload as in "too many credits."
a. BUT IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME.
B. Jobs
i. Still working at the phone-a-thon
ii. Just found out today that I have a new bio TA position, except instead of 101, they've booted me up to 311 (genetics). It's going to be a busy semester.
C. Other stuff
i. DJ-ing. :)
ii. Possibly yoga classes at the studio close to campus. See below.
iii. Due to unfortunate puddle-jumping accident, I may have to renege on my half-marathon until the next year (2011). I'm going to try running tomorrow and see how my knee feels after that.

IV. Life
A. Who Knows?
i. and it's perfectly fine.

almost there!

things in my closet i am loving right now

My navy-blue Hunter wellies I got because
1. it's amazing I've gone three years here in the PNW without rainboots;
2. i got PAID, son;
3. and i'm going on a train/walk daycation to Portland tomorrow, and it's going to rain.
4. the salesman at nordstrom was sweet.
Plaid. It is my goal in Portland tomorrow to find more plaid shirts at my favorite vintage store, buffalo. Well that, and pants... because all of mine have holes in them. Agh.

Cable-knit tights. Definitely will help me stretch out my love of shorts for a week or two into the fall.

This awesome dress I got from Gap. The silhouette is definitely not the same on me-- I got it in a larger size on accident, but I like it-- the length skims the tops of my knees, and the cut of it, while a little large, is pretty interesting and flattering. It took me a while to get used to it, though. My initial reaction was "I LOOK LIKE A GRANDMA."

Anyhow. End of my consumerist rambling. I'm on fall break right now, so I have quite a bit of extra time to shop. :)

PORTLAND TOMORROW!

tell me why

is it possible to work your ass off but still feel so frustrated?

I'm doing something wrong. Maybe I'm trying to pursue something not quite meant for me.

But how was that possible in the first place?