Six More Weeks...

...until I get somewhat of a break (somewhat being the operative term here). I'm surviving, but barely. Last week was technically my midterm week, and it was awful. I stayed up on two nights past 5:30 a.m. writing papers. Procrastination was not the cause of these late nights, believe it or not! I encountered some terrible writer's block while typing the first one; the second one is a work that I'm considering sending to graduate schools as a writing sample, so I naturally wanted it to be very good. When it came to this latter paper, I spent what probably amounted to entirely too much time revising and editing it while also despairing over what I think is my slim chance of getting into a Master's program. Anyway, other than completing the two papers, I took a Greek exam and a written exam for CLA 450G. Lots of reading as well as Sanskrit and Greek homework were somehow fitted into my schedule too.

Anyway, enough of that. I'm certainly not under the impression that I'm the only college student who had a crazy midterm week. Plus, I'm fairly certain that graduate students would want to beat me for complaining. I still don't think I can fully comprehend the utter chaos that seems to surround the poor graduate students. That's something for me to look forward to, no?

What other new, interesting, and fascinating things are happening in my life? Thanks for asking.

• My midterm paper for CLA 450G (The Art of Ancient Warfare) covered unconventional elements--specifically warfare tactics--of the Peloponnesian War. The ideal length of the paper was only five pages, and I realized rather quickly that I'd have to narrow down my topic a little more. I ended up focusing on those unconventional tactics used in the Archidamian phase of the war (431 B.C.-421 B.C.). I was satisfied with the final paper, although I feel that it still needs some serious revision before sending it off to graduate schools! Scary!
  
  
• Speaking of this whole graduate school application process, I actually chanced upon a recommendation the other week. This couldn't have come at a more opportune time because I was looking for one additional professor whom I could ask to write a letter on my behalf. I happened to be wandering around the 17th floor rather aimlessly while waiting for a certain instructor to return to his office. I walked past the office of my medieval law professor, and she invited me in. She actually assumed that I came to ask her for a recommendation, which caught me completely off guard. We chatted for awhile about some general things, including her confusion regarding what, if anything, students learn in ENG 104 at UK. This is something I've always pondered myself. Before I left her office, she told me to come back to her whenever I needed the recommendation letter. This is awesome for two reasons: (1) she's a tenured professor with strong credentials and (2) the fact that she was very willing to help made me feel a bit more confident. I would not have thought about asking her before our random encounter simply because I felt that I could have made a better showing in her class last spring. Although I received an A for a final grade, I missed more classes than was reasonable and didn't participate too much. I suppose professors can still think highly of a student's abilities regardless of signs that may point to the contrary. I'm glad that this particular instructor respects me enough to voluntarily be a part of my graduate school application process.
  
  
• I had all A's and one B for my midterm grades. The B was in Sanskrit; I was expecting it, too. Our midterm grade in that class was based solely on 13 or 14 homework grades and, while I received nothing lower than an A on the ones I turned in, I let two of them slip through the cracks completely. Sometimes I just don't to my homework. I usually end up paying for it. Anyway, we're moving at a very quick pace--about one chapter per class meeting--so I'm a little behind. It helps that the professor is great and is very understanding. Having had only half a semester of this language, I have the utmost respect for anyone who has learned Sanskrit incredibly well. It's fascinating and sometimes even fun, but it's incredibly difficult. The fact that I've learned a good amount of Greek and Latin has helped me immensely in terms of learning cases, declensions, conjugations and syntax, but some of the linguistic concepts involved in Sanskrit have given me a lot of difficulty. If you ever want to give yourself a migraine, study Sanskrit and learn internal and external sandi rules, then try to transliterate and deconstruct a huge Sanskrit sentence. I'm still debating whether or not I'm going to stay in Sanskrit next semester or replace it with a Latin or Greek class.
  
  
• I encountered a new breed of social deviant last night at my favorite/least favorite coffee shop in Lexington. (This in itself is crazy, considering that I have previously had interactions here with the gamut of weirdos.) Intending to work on a presentation, I wandered into one of the upstairs rooms, in which there was a younger guy and girl couple at one table and two young women at another table. While unpacking my things, I noticed that the couple was looking in my direction and kind of snickering. Okay, so I established quickly that those two enjoyed acting like high schoolers. Great. After I had been typing for a few minutes, the guy turned in my direction and gave me the most irritated look. I asked him if there was a problem, and he told me that I was typing too loudly. WOW. Really, asshole? I'll try not to breathe while I'm at it too. The two other women in the room were conversing in Spanish at a pretty reasonable voice level. All of a sudden, the jerk turned to them and demanded that they "take their useless conversation elsewhere." The girls lowered their voices but didn't leave, so he proceeded to become angry yet again. I ended up moving into a different room because I couldn't handle his utter douchebaggery. I understand that going to any coffee shop is somewhat of a gamble if one requires silence to be able to focus. If the idiot absolutely needed complete noiselessness, he should have gone to the damn library. It didn't help that he spoke to me as if I were sixteen years old. In reality, I am probably much older than he. Maybe I should have pulled out the age card. Oh well. Ridiculous!
  
  
• Despite the fact that I'm very stressed with school, life is going very well in general. I do wish that I had more time to spend with a few particular individuals, but I'll survive! Laetissima femina sum!
  

Valete, amici et amicae!

The Pre-Facebook Dark Age of Hotmail Correspondence

I often forget that I have a fully functional Hotmail account because I hardly ever use it. I've had the account since sixth or seventh grade, long before the days of MyBook or FaceSpace. Aside from ICQ, which was mostly nothing other than a means of killing time and/or starting drama, the Hotmail account was my way of staying in touch with my friends. Looking back through my e-mails from years ago (the earliest was from 1999, ha!) was highly entertaining. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that 90% (or more) of people in high school and middle school are idiots. I guess you can't really blame them, particularly when they live in a town like Pikeville where there are so few things to to keep one busy. And, obviously, maturity during the teen years is usually lacking. Things that seemed so important during high school are just hilarious in retrospect when you finally graduate and get the hell away from (most of) the stupidity.

Anyway, although I definitely discovered some drama-laden e-mails from friends, a lot of the e-mails were those surveys and quizzes that were wildly popular with the young'uns during the pre-MySpace days. Most of the surveys tended to ask the same questions, but every now and then I would encounter one that was slightly different from the rest and thus not nearly as mind-numbingly boring to complete. I myself rarely get creative but I do remember making my very own type of survey: it was a fake "will" that listed a bunch of my random personal possessions and the people to whom I wished to give them. Hey, I didn't want to die intestate; I also wanted to make sure that my enemies would receive the crappy stuff. Of course, after sending this e-mail to my friend Katy, she made one of her own to ensure that the following belongings of hers wouldn't give rise to any disputes amongst friends and foes if she died: window opener crank; used soap; broken towel racks; shower "poofs" that smell like ass; broken weedeater; toilet scrub brush; and her lawn mower, which she herself wanted to keep so she could mow around her own grave. Bravo, Katy. See--Pikeville really is that boring, people.

At any rate, I think I'll fill out one of these time-killing surveys for fun. My homework for the night has been completed, and tomorrow I will be up to my neck in Greek and Sanskrit and will not have the pleasure of wasting time. Stalkers, get your pen and paper ready...

1. What time is it? 12:42 AM.

2. Name: Shelby Layne Friend. It's not the name I was given at birth, but it's my legal name now.

3. Nicknames: Shebby, Shelbster, etc. Any stupid variations of my name, basically.

4. Number of candles that appeared on your last birthday cake: If I had been given a birthday cake, there would have been 23 candles on it. I had birthday booze instead.

5. Date that you regularly blow them out: December 3rd.

6. Pets: One cat named Chewy.

7. Height: 5'3''

8. Eye color: Blue-green.

9. Hair Color: It's naturally light brown. I sometimes color it dark brown, but for some reason this always fades into a lighter, red-tinted color. I was called a ginger a few months ago and was not happy about that.

10. Piercing: Ears.

11. Tattoos: None.

12. How much do you love your job? I don't have a job. I guess school is technically my job. I love so many things about college, despite the occasional aggravations.

13. Past Residence(s): Pikeville, KY; Waterbury, VT; Atlanta, GA.

14. Hometown: Pikeville, I guess.

15. Current Residence: Georgetown, KY.

16. Had the drink Calypso Breeze? Ah, the mandatory alcohol-related question. No, I haven't.

17. Been in love before? Once.

18. Been to Africa? No.

19. Been toilet-papering? No, although I've had plenty of evil thoughts in terms of doing bad things to my enemies. I never act on my urges, though.

20. Been drunk? Yes, but I rarely drink. My metabolism and the fact that I'm an incredible light-weight make for interesting post-alchohol consumption incidents. Oops.

21. Been toilet-papered? Nope, fortunately I have not.

22. Loved somebody so much it made you cry? I've cried over idiots in whom I misplaced my trust and feelings. I don't think I would call that "love". But I've had many wonderful experiences that have compensated for the bad ones.

23. Been in a car crash? Not a bad one, no. I have been hit from the rear three times since I began driving, but these were all tiny "wrecks" that did negligible damage to my vehicle.

24. Croutons or Bacon Bits? Croutons, in a chicken caesar salad. Yum.

25. 2 doors or 4? Quattuor ianuae!

26. Sprite or 7 Up? Sprite.

27. Blanket or Stuffed Animal? Blankie.

28. Dumper or Dumpee? Now that's just gross.

29. Salad Dressing: Italian, and that delicious ginger dressing on salads at hibachi grills.

30. Color of socks: White. I refuse to be a sock snob.

31. Lucky Number: 17.

32. Why? It was my soccer number in high school, and I was on the first ever varsity soccer team at Pikeville. For some reason I think this is slightly important, but it's probably not.

33. Place to be kissed: The lips. Unfortunately, there is a lack of good kissers, and I don't understand this.

34. Movie? There are so many great movies. Christmas Vacation has to be one of my favorites comedies, and Amadeus is great. Gran Torino and Boondock Saints are good vigilante justice picks for assholes like myself.

35. Quote from a movie? : "Merry Christmas! Shitter's full!"

36. Favorite Holiday: Christmas is wonderful. It's the one time of the year when I can truly relax, and by that I mean sit around and play my Nintendo DS, my Xbox 360 and virtual console games from the Wii. I get to reminisce, too.

37. Foods: Red beans and rice from Bourbon N' Toulouse makes my day about six days a week.

38. Day of the Week: Saturday.

39. Song at the moment: That's a secret.

40. Word or Phrase: I've been very frequently using the term "douche bag", not really because I like it, but because it's so applicable to certain individuals, particularly my overly-eager classmates whose single wish is to let others know how intelligent they are. Please, stop. I am from Eastern KY and can still compete with you on every level. How does that make you feel, rich kids?

41. Toothpaste: Crest Total Care in clean cinnamon flavor. Best. Toothpaste. Ever.

42. Restaurant: Bourbon N' Toulouse, Ramsey's, Joe Bologna's... The list could go on for quite awhile.

43. Flower: I don't have a favorite flower. This has become slightly problematic as of late.

44. Least Favorite Subject: Mathematics, particularly Calculus. Physics was okay, as was Geometry, but I'm not at all mathematically inclined. Why do you think I'm a Classics major?

45. Alcoholic Drink: Any mixed drink containing vodka, especially cosmopolitans.

46. Sport to Watch: Soccer.

47. Type of Ice Cream: Chocolate.

48. Sesame Street Character: Cookie Monster.

49. Disney/Warner Bros? I liked that talking blanket from The Brave Little Toaster.

50. Fast Food Restaurant: Fazoli's, Cane's, Zaxby's.

51. When was your last hospital visit: Aside from accompanying family members to the hospital, it was my senior year of high school. Having mono is not fun.

52. Favorite drink: Sweet tea.

53. What color is your bedroom carpet?: Cream.

54. What was the name of your childhood blanket? Blankie.

55. How many times did you fail your Permit and/or Drivers License? Zero.

56. Where do you see yourself in 10 yrs? Either practicing law or teaching at a university.

57. Which store would you choose to max your credit card? Probably Banana Republic, since I need to start buying some nicer clothes. Hooray.

58. What do you do most often when you are bored? Take surveys gotten from my rarely-used Hotmail account. Ha.

59. What words or phrases do you overuse? I overuse a wide variety of obscenities. I'm trying to cut back. Do they make something comparable to a nicotine patch for potty-mouthed individuals like myself?

60. Name the person that you are friends with that lives the farthest away from you: Kala.

61. Best thing(s): Being productive and successful.

62. Who will respond to this fastest? Nemo.

63. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? This isn't really applicable.

64. What time is it now? 1:56 AM. I've taken some iPod breaks and completed some reading.

65. Favorite song/group of old times: The Village People? "Macho, macho man..."

66. The people who u can tell anything to: ...probably do not want me to list their names.

67. Vacation spot you want to go to someday: I'd like to go back to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It was beautiful.

68. Something you hate: Only one thing? Wow, that's too restricted for me. I hate this question.

69. 5 friends you enjoy hanging with: Dicaeopolis, Philip, Horatia, Quintus and Scintilla.

70. Favorite body part on the opposite sex: Eyes and arms.

71. Something you have always wanted to tell but haven't? I'm actually 18.

Oh, that's a picture of downtown Pikeville made from the infamous overlook. I'd love to figure out how to make captions and do some more things with these posts. I have a book about HTML but I doubt I'll get to read it anytime soon. Boo. dormire debeo! Valete, amici!