Elevator Etiquette
March 10, 2009 § 1 Comment
For the past two years, I’ve lived on the top floor of my building of residence. This gave me the right to take the elevator, although stairs would probably be more beneficial to my physical health. Somehow, going up four flights of stairs this year leaves me just as winded as going up seven last year.
The elevators in my apartment building this year are even older than the ones from last year’s dorm, which is quite an unhappy statement, since the elevators in my dorm were notorious for breaking. Although I’ve never been stuck in the elevators, I do still have some complaints.
The “up” and “down” buttons are such that they do not light up when pressed, although they look like they’re supposed to light up [the above photo is the actual button. Totally misleading]. Perhaps they illuminated at one point, but not anymore. This led me to an interesting experience.
Oh Nasty
March 8, 2009 § Leave a comment
I woke up early this morning [9AM is early if you sleep at 4AM!] to attend the last day of the Missourian multimedia workshop that I’ve been working on this whole weekend. My partner and I worked in the editing lab from 10AM-1:25, then headed upstairs to the large room to watch other people’s projects as well as our own. It was 3PM by the time the workshop ended, and I was starving from not having eaten all day.
I was supposed to meet another partner for another class at Memorial Union at 3:30, so I ran back to the apartment, grabbed a hoodie and my Starbucks gift card, and headed over to Mem U.
I got there early so that I could buy something from Starbucks to munch on. It was a toss-up between food or hot chocolate, but in the end the need for solid food won. I ordered a plain bagel and a butter croissant – mmm, carbs. The crossant was delightfully huge, so I tackled that first. When I opened the paper sleeve containing my bagel, I discovered that I had actually been given a glazed donut instead.
Some people might have been pleased, since I’m pretty sure that a donut would cost more than a plain bagel, but I was slightly upset. Although I have an enormous appetite for sweets of many kinds, I do not eat donuts. They just don’t taste good to me; it’s probably because I don’t like deep-fried food. I thought about returning to Starbucks to exchange my pastry, but then my partner appeared and so I decided to just eat the darn thing.
Bad idea.
It was disgusting. I mean, I kind of wolfed it down without noticing because I was so hungry, but then I realized that it was just horrible. And now I have a stomachache, which is really no wonder because I discovered that a Starbucks glazed donut has 410 calories. What the freak?! Gross. But a plain bagel has 430 calories, apparently [but much less fat, obviously]. Um what?
Ugh. Anyway. Lesson learned. I will never go near another donut again. Not worth it. And next time I will SHOUT MY ORDER so they don’t get it wrong. Jeez!
Breathing Gets Harder
March 5, 2009 § Leave a comment
Every few years, usually during the winter season, my respiratory system starts acting up. It starts with a sore throat and a general ill feeling throughout my body, then progresses to an uncontrollable cough and loss of voice.
The last time this happened was during my senior year of high school. I coughed so hard at night that I couldn’t sleep for hours, just lying there coughing my guts out. I remember having to sing at Winter Camp and not being able to hit all the notes because my throat simply refused. I even coughed up a bit of blood during English class and J got so worried. I reluctantly took the Chinese cough medicine my mom gave me but didn’t believe it could be cured so easily. After a few weeks, the problem went away.
Mouth Like A Toilet
March 4, 2009 § Leave a comment
This year I was really quite surprised when Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday came around. Usually I’m aware of the beginning of Lent before it begins, but this time I completely missed free pancakes at IHOP and did not have any idea of what to give up until Easter.
Although I’m not Catholic, I’ve committed to the Lenten tradition of sacrificing something for the past few years. They usually go pretty well; the first year, I gave up salty junk foods, and after Easter I had pretty much lost most of my desire to eat chips [although I still love popcorn]. Last year I gave up cookies, which was pretty difficult considering how prevalent [and delicious!] they are in the dining halls.
I think I’ve given up something food-related every year. Well, it’s usually easier to eschew something than to take on something [10 more minutes of prayer a day, for example]. Since moving to an apartment, however, my eating habits have changed so that I don’t even eat anything consistently enough to eradicate it from my diet. I really don’t do anything these days except eat, sleep, and browse the Internet.
It came to me a few days ago. Ever since coming to college, my closet pottymouth status has become a more deeply entrenched problem, and I frequently don’t even feel the need to filter my language anymore except in more respectable settings. Thus, I decided to give up swearing for Lent.
So far, I’ve failed miserably. I really curse quite often when I’m alone. Internet being slow? %@*$ you! Did I just swear again? #&!%. But I’m making a more conscious effort to clean up the language with which I think and speak. Does swearing in other languages count? I’ve taken a liking to vie de merde.
auradis 