Swine Flu

I'm sick. I've caught the swine flu. I'm achy, my throat hurts, I'm freezing cold in Leahy (even though its been hotter than hell in here) and I'm just all around sick. Clearly, it is swine flu. It has nothing to do with the end of the semester and the fact that I haven't gotten a really good night's sleep in two weeks. With my luck, I will now be the first confirmed case of swine flu in the DC Metro area. Great. I always wanted to be in the news. Not!
Despite feeling like crap, I'm in Leahy and have been here for over three hours. I'm working on my annotated bibliography for my research presentation for tomorrow. Although Walt O'Donnel and another guy from my class are both sitting by me and they dont really have any idea what we're supposed to do for this presentation. Walt is making his paper outline, the other kid already wrote his paper (overachiever!) and I'm doing the bibliography. But I'm not too concerned about whether or not I get all of my sources written about. I'n fact, I think tomorrow before class I may work on an outline so that I'm not sitting there for five minutes talking about the different depositions of people who argue about where the Captain was standing and who he was talking to when the order to fire was given. Its really not that interesting.
On a side note, Brian Neimic just walked into Leahy and started giving cookies to everyone! That's friggin awesome!
Ok, I'm getting back to work because I need a decent night's sleep to fight off this deadly virus.

ps: for those who dont appreciate my sarcasm and exageration, I don't have swinne flu. I've probably just got a bad cold

SARs part deux

We're in day four of the heat wave and I'm beginning to get used to/enjoy it. Warm weather is always better than cold. I sat outside today and read through my history documents for my research presentation that I have to give on Wednesday. I think I'm looking at a long night tomorrow and all afternoon on Wednesday. Fun! Well, 2.5 hours sitting in the sun both paid off and had its consequences. The good news is I've got my first flip-clop tan of the summer. The bad news is that I'm now sunburned on my legs and arms. Really. Not cool.
Top this off with the Swine Flu pandemic. There have now been confirmed cases in New Jersey and the largest outbreak in the country (about half the cases) have been at one high school in Queens. Fantastic. I've got the immune system of an AIDs patient!!! Don't you people get this!! I just had a terrible coughing fit. Clearly i'm infected. The first confirmed case in DC. My coughing has nothing to do with the soda I was drinking moments before.
Ok, I need to get back to making my annotated bibliography. I actually hate making these things but somehow I got it in my head that it would help me be able to give my presentation on my research. So I'm making one. And I've got a looooong way to go.

Heat Wave

Right now (and for the past two days) the DC-Philly coridore is the hottest place in the country. Hotter than Miami, Las Vegas, California, Texas, everywhere. The average temperature has been between 87 and 92. It's hot. And it is definitely a welcome change from the rain and misery that had taken up residence in the district since the day before my birthday.
Friday we went to Loriol Plaza to get dinner and drinks. Unfortunately we went at an ungodly early hour and caught the happy hour, postt-work crew. It also meant we were done eating by like 9:30 and that we were home by midnight. In all, while the margaritas were good, the night was a bit of a bust.
Yesterday we lounged around and did nothing. I helped set up for the APO banquet in the afternoon and then showered so that pre-gaming could be done before the event started. We got there a little after 7 and immediately bought our tickets for the cash bar. I'm pretty sure Fr. Andy thinks I'm an alcoholic because he knew we had some drinks before hand, saw Andy and me walk over to the bar as soon as the bartender showed up and then (when he was deciding whether or not to have a drink) I tried to convince him that he should. Maybe not the best idea. Oh well. After the banquet, Marian and I went to Times and met up with John, who was there for his friend's 21st birthday. We closed the bar down at 3:00. It was good times (no pun intended).
Today was, quite possibly, hotter than yesterday. It was ungodly. Erin Kilroy and I went and got smoothies at PG Plaza and they were fantastic. then I came back and procrastinated before goign to the APO meeting at 5:30, where we had nominations for next year's exec board. It was interesting and pretty predictable, which led to no drama (no fun!). Although, I think the drama that unfolded at the banquet with certain alums was more than enough.
So I may have a new opening on the job front. I'm still not giving up on hte departments and agencies (they'll be getting phone calls tomorrow) but there could be another opportunity. I was checking the CUA Career Services' website today and they had some jobs listed for the summer. One was as an office assistant in the Physics Department. I hate physics but I can suck it up for a summer, because it pays $13/hour and is 9-5 everyday. That's pretty sweet money. I emailed the contact person today and attached my resume. Basically it was like "hi, i'm not a physics major, but i can file and type. will you hire me?" Maybe it will work out. Fingers crossed on something presenting itself soon because I know if I go home in two weeks and dont have any potential things, then I'm not getting back down here. I'll be commuting into NYC everyday and that is not something I want to do, at all.
Ok, I'm in Leahy procrastinating working on my media paper and then beginning my history research that is due on Wednesday. I need to get to work.

Midnight McFlurries

Another late night. I didn't get to bed until 3:30 last night and was actually in Leahy for a good amount of time because Megan and Stacie were there working on the philosophy papers. I was about ready to have a nervous breakdown about it because I had no clue what I was even supposed to be writing about.
Around midnight I had an epiphany as to what the paper was supposed to be about and, suddenly it all made sense. The three of us then decided that we were hungry and we really wanted McDonalds. So we took a drive to the McDonalds, which is like 15 minutes from campus. It was a project because the first intercom didnt work but it didn''t say it wasn't working and it was lit up like it was fine. The working intercom was around the corner. So the three of us, like fucking idiots, sat there for like 7 minutes waiting for someone to come take our order. We finally realized what dumb asses we are and got our orders before heading back to school and buckling down for another 2 hours of writing.
Tonight I think I'm heading back to Leahy to finish up my philosophy paper. Its due tomorrow morning. After that class, I can relax, call all the places I've applies to for jobs, give a tour and shower to go out. Because tomorrow night we're going to Loriol Plaza for margaritas and then I think we will be going out to other places.
Ok, I'm giving myself until 9 to relax and rest because I'm exhausted and freezing cold (I think I'm getting sick). Then it's off to Leahy. To write a philosophy paper. On Aristotle and Rousseau.
Fantastic. I've got 2 giant redbull to get me through it all.

The Berlin Wall

If anyone ever needs to know anything about the Berlin Wall or Ronald Reagan's famous "tear down this wall" speech, I'm your person. After the past 2 and a half days, I'm pretty sure I could tell you anything there is to know about that topic. I thought it would be interesting and whatnot, especially since I'm a Reagan fan (really, who isnt?) but I was sorely mistaken. If I never write/type the guy's name again, I'd die happy. The same goes for the Brandenburg Gate. Really, I think the US should have just nuked the shit out of Moscow in the 50's and just been done with it. I mean, they didn't even have toilet paper. There is no way they would have been able to detect a nuclear weapon. Damn communists.
At least the paper is done. I just have to proof it, which will only take me a few minutes. Right now, I'm moving on to my philosophy essay which is due on Friday. Prove why Rousseau disagrees with Aristotle's claim that all men have a natural desire for knowledge. Joy. I think tonight is going to be mainly the research end of it and tomorrow will be the bulk of the writing. I'm just kind of burnt out tonight from writing all day. God I hate the end of the semester. On top of the paper I finished today and the philosophy paper due Friday, I have the following:
-3 pages on the film "Capturing the Friedmans"
-10-15 pages on how the Boston Massacre was the cause of the American Revolution
-8 pages of analysis on documents pertaining to a 17th century murder trial in New England
-3 pages on the film "this film is not yet rated"
-and a media paper of undetermined length on an undetermined topic
FML

On top of all this, on Friday afternoon I have to call all the different agencies that I applied to and folow up with them. Find out when or if I will be hearing from them. Hopefully that will help to give me a better perspective on where things stand. If it doesn't sound to promising after that, then Saturday and Sunday are going to be spent looking up temp agencies to register with and maybe checking out some places in Georgetown or Dupont to get a job.
Perhaps a good note though, I've decided I'm going to do Jumpstart in the fall. I have 2 days off and need to do something with my time, other than try and get a part time on-campus gig and write my thesis. Plus, if you do Jumpstart and apply for Teach for America, you are automatically pushed through to the second round of interviews. And there are only two rounds. So it definitely can't hurt my chances if I'm participating in that program while applying to T4A. Its areally good reume builder too. And, I mean, lets not forget that it actually does help young, disadvantaged kids who don't necessarily have the strongest role models in their lives. Its a win-win all around.

Sleep Deprivation

The final weeks of the semester are hell. I hate them. Really, I do. I have 7 papers to write in the next 2 weeks. Approximately 60 pages (and that's a conservative estimate). I haven't gotten to bed before 2:30 in the past few days and I have a feeling that this pattern is going to continue until classes are over and the finals have been taken. I'm going to start living on Redbull pretty soon. I've already started resorting to it. But I'll elaborate more on that later. Right now, its 2:55 and I'm going to go to bed so that I can catch 5 hours of sleep, get up and go to philosophy and then come back and continue writing. ALL. DAY.

It really will be a miracle if I survive the next 2 weeks.

It Got a Little Crazy Last Night

It has been an interesting weekend. Thursday I went to the baseball game with Erin. The Nationals won, which was nice considering they hadn't won a game yet this year. The terrible downside of the night though? I tripped on the steps at the stadium and fell (I'm such a fucking klutz). At the time, I had a beer in one hand and a hot dog in the other, so I couldn't even brace myself for the fall. I just completely wiped out. My blackberry, which was in my pocket, was totally cracked. I now have a huge series of cracks on the screen. But at least the beer and hot dog were saved. I have insurance on my phone. I didn't have insurance on the $12.50 I had just spent on my beer and hot dog. I would have just been shit out of luck. So I look at it as an acceptable loss. I'll get a new phone and all will be good. After the game, Erin and I went to Brooks' for a drink. We ran into Alec, who was there with two of his friends from the Basilica choir. We ended up drinking with them for a while and one of Alec's friends bought us all a round of rum and coke's.
Friday was Odyssey Day. And it was very hot. I gave tours for three straight hours and got a little sunburned. Which was nice. I need to get some kind of tan going. I'm way too pale. I've decided that I'm spending the month of May laying in the sun in my backyard. I refuse to come back here in June and be pale. That is, if I do come back here. Although, I don't really have a job at home. Other than the liquor store. So I'd be no worse off hanging out here than hanging out at home. Minus the money it would cost to live here. But we'll ignore that fact for now. That's my new philosophy.
On Friday night, Erin, Erin and I went to Irish Times. It was good. Erin's bf showed up after the baseball game, slightly trashed. So he was kind of funny. And we met this guy from CUA Law who looked exactly like Green Bean. It was really weird. He was nice, but just the fact that he looked like Green Bean was kind of creepy and strange. Overall, it was a good night though. Not too epic, but still pretty fun.
Yesterday I helped Erin move some of her bulky stuff since she's moving into our trailer for the final 3 weeks of school. It's crazy. Then I had to go to the APO Girl Scouts on Campus Day event. But none of the kids showed up. So it was just the brothers all sitting around doing arts and crafts and talking. It wasn't terrible because we turned it into a de-facto fellowship event but it was kind of a bust as a service project. The afternoon was spent relaxing and doing absolutely nothing. It was glorious.
Last night, Erin and I went back to Irish Times. It was all Catholic people. I mean, you could barely move the place was so crowded. The rugby team was having their formal in the downstairs area from 8-11, with an open bar. That meant that by the time we got there at 10:45, they were all trashed. I mean, there was a freshman sitting outside waiting for an ambulance to show up so that he could have his stomach pumped. After that, all the underage kids fled because they were afraid they would get re-carded. There was a girl from the formal sitting on her bf's lap outside, passed out. When he got her up to move her, she started projectile vomiting all over the place. Half hour later, we're standing outside talking to 2 kids from school who we know, and two Times workers start dragging this guy outside (and he was putting up a hell of a fight). Next second, half the rugby team is outside trying to calm this guy down. Well, I guess they didnt do a very good job, because the next thing you know, he's been wrestled to the ground by 4 workers and another junior is up against a car with his hands behind his back. I don't get why the junior was arrested though. I had seen him and he was calm and fine. When the cops showed up, they handcuffed him and then stood there and talked to him for like 5 minutes. He never seemed to freak out of anything. So I don't get it. Well, the drunk guy ended up getting carried into a squad car by four cops. So that was the rugby team. I don't think they'll be invited back.
About fifteen minutes after we got there, I ran into my friend Kevin, who is on the rugby team. He's from Bayonne, I went to high school with his sister, I graduated with his girfriend Alyssa and he's bff's with my cousin Nick, who lives down the block from me. He tell me that Alyssa is actually there because she came down for the dance. So I spent the next half hour catching up with her and talking about everything that's been going on with the people we went to school with. After talking with Alyssa, Erin went home because she was tired and not drinking. I ended up going downstairs where rugby had been having their party, but at that point it was open to everyone and there were tons of people. I ran into Kenny and this kid Connor, who is in my history class. We hung out at the downstairs bar and talked for a while. Then we ended up going upstairs to the regular bar and getting some more drinks. The next thing I know, Kenny said he had to go to the bathroom or something. But then he's by the front door, with a bloody nose, trying to get a towel. And in the next instant, he was gone. Like, he'd left. Very weird. So it was like 1:30 at that point and I went home not long after that. T'was an epic night.
So that was my crazy weekend. Now this afternoon I have to help Erin move the rest of her stuff and then write two small papers for history and media. That way I can spend the rest of my week working on my politics and philosophy papers, which will not be fun.