For Those of You Who Think I Am No Longer:

I'm still here, at least I'm still breathing and as far as I can tell my heart and brain are still working. I'm in this half-asleep/half-awake but still walking around and doing work mode. We got back from Georgia the other day, and I didn't sleep much Sunday night, and last night I didn't even go to bed, so I'm a little tired. I'm on my 34th hour now, the last few compounds of caffeine still floating around my blood stream, latching onto my dendrites in the wonderful way that foreign chemicals do, keeping me from falling face first into my keyboaq034444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 HUH, what? I kinda like staying up really long, I just don't want to fall asleep because I know I'll go home tonight after work, lay down at 6:30 and wake up tomorrow morning at 7. I will have had no evening in which to do anything. But at least I'm done for the semester, aside from my Algebra final which will no doubt be a monster. I did a presentation in class today, I did pretty well except I said "um" about 2.46e^234 times and I was half asleep when I did it, so the clapping at the end of it woke me up. And also, we have a research paper due that is supposed to be 2000 words, but my prof. told me I could hand in what I had done so far (approx. 900 words) and that would be fine, because my "work has been very good, and normally twice as long as anyone else's anyway". So, I don't have to sit down tonight and tomorrow night and drill out another 1000 words.

ALWAYS ... no, wait ... NEVER Drive On The Interstate On The Sunday After Thanksgiving

To all of the people in Florida who decided to go North for Thanksgiving, don't ever, EVER do that again. You turned my 8-hour drive home from Atlanta on Sunday into a dizzying 13-hour trek which, might I add, robbed me of the peace and relaxation accumulated from my week-long vacation. My knee is actually in pain from the constant stop-and-go switching from the brake to gas pedal and back again. Awesome vacation, lousy 500-mile long traffic jam on the way home. Later, I shall regale you with more tales from my trip, but for now, I have a week's worth of catching up to do at work. Oh and I'm also kind of lazy and unmotivated and a bit of a procrastinator so it's harder than it seems. But that's all going to change, because I am setting out on a mission to be a better, faster and more motivated employee (right after I finish my blog entry for the day.).

New Year Resolution Numero Uno

Must remember to more regularly attend class. It's 2AM (not now - last night, this is one of those oooo-ey, spinny-soft-focus-recollection moments from memories past; just go with it for a minute). I have an exam the next morning. My brain hurts, my eyes held open with packing tape, and I can feel the rest of my body sound asleep because it's numb. The only life I have in me is struggling to make my hand write logarithmic functions and give my brain enough juice to keep me from falling face first into my notes. At this point I decide I've had enough and it's time for bed. Morning comes, I go to class, ALMOST on time except I get stuck behind traffic on my way to the interstate (it's true, I don't make this stuff up): A five minute drive from my house to the interstate turns into a 15-minute drive, half of which I am stuck behind a slow-moving truck with a trailer full of drywall, the other half behind a bus that decides it's going to stop every five feet to pick up millions of children who just take waaaay too long to climb aboard. I like kids, I love kids in fact, just have more of a preference for the ones that don't spin around and pretend they are airplanes, holding up the bus and making me late. I walk into class, listen to the lecture, and then, AND THEN, find out that the exam has been postponed for a week - a unanimous decision made by the class on one of the days that I was not there. Wonderful. Ah well, at least I'm ready for the test.

First Time For Everything

I just sneezed, and you know how your body tenses up when you sneeze? Well, I just accidentally punched myself in the lip when I did, and it kinda hurt.

Some Things You May Not Know About Me

I'd like to tell you some things about me that you probably don't know, and would have otherwise been afraid (perhaps deathly) to ask. Please enjoy reading from this list:

• We have this toilet at work, and well, sometimes it doesn't flush properly; if you even so much as blow your nose and put the tissue in the toilet and press the flush lever, it makes noise, and the water spins around in circles (counter-clockwise as we are situated North of the equator). And then, after all that, it just keeps spinning and spinning and never goes anywhere - sometimes it takes 3 or 4 attempts. Also, our water pressure for the toilet is really low, so it takes about five minutes for the tank to refill and collectively, it's not unheard of to spend 15 minutes in there. So, while I am waiting, I make stupid faces and sexy-me GQ poses in the mirror, or I practice karate, or I stare at myself in the mirror, annoyed, wishing the toilet was a pet so I could scold it.
• When I'm driving on the interstate, I'm one of those annoying individuals that will sometimes cut in front of people who I think are "driving too fast". It's not so much that they are driving fast actually, but more so that they're driving recklessly, and well, stupidly - even I have been known to hit the 90mph mark. So, I cut in front of them as if to say "Hey, I'm the law, and it's MY road, if you want to drive like a buffoon, go get your own interstate". And when people do that to me, oooooh I tell you what, watch it crazies.
• As long as I can remember, ever since I was probably 0 years old, I have had this recurring song in my head which I am sure I have never once heard. The interesting thing about this song is that the words are just "baby, baby baby baby, baby ... etc." and there are no other lyrics. And often I find that when I am singing another song in my head, I replace many of the words with the word "baby". I don't know why I do it, but I would be willing to bet I have said that word more than anyone has ever said any other word in the history of words. I should call Guinness Book about this, get me a spot on the back page somewhere.
• I am late for school, every day, every single day, but it's only because I get stuck behind slow drivers all the time. I have an hour-long, 50-mile drive to work, and if I get stuck behind a slow driver for 10 minutes, I literally lose about 20 minutes; there's a lot of margin for error and I seem to be well within that.
• I tend to fall victim to the "scope/feature creep" wrench far, far too often at work. If you don't know what scope creep is, please look it up. If you also are susceptible to this, drop me a comment and let me know, because I feel like I'm the only one.
• I can go to bed at 5AM and wake up at 10AM with no problems (five hours of sleep). However, even if I go to bed at 9PM it is nearly impossible for me to wake up and get out of bed at 6 or 7AM. I don't know why, I get lots of sleep, and I sleep well, but getting up that early, forget it. It's like, painful, and my body feels like I took a bath in novocaine.
• In the winter time, when I'm very cold, loud noises freak me out. They make me shivery and they just seem thousands of times louder.
• I will probably keep going to school until I'm too old to get to class, at which point I will likely take internet courses. By the time that happens I estimate I will have probably 30 degrees in every area imaginable (and some not imaginable, really!).
• I'm very hungry right now and I want a bowl of cereal.
• I have actually eaten chocolate until I was sick, literally.
• I have actually drank coffee until I was sick, literally.
• I'm working on eating mellowcreme pumpkins until I am sick, literally.

So, there you have it. Me, in some sort of shell.