Octuplet lady

I was going to post a rant earlier on how nuts this woman is, but now I think the whole thing has been entirely too discussed already. She's crazy and irresponsible; let's all move on now.

In other news, I am no longer (as) sick. The flu is gone, which is fabulous, but it has left a sinus infection and an asthma flare-up in its wake. TMI? Oh well. I am quite used to this stuff as it happens every time I have a cold, so I'm just submitting to the antibiotics and steroids as usual. No biggie.

I am trying to do massive amounts of laundry this week in preparation for New York on Thursday with the orchestra and Napa Valley next Friday for spring break. I am not sure how much of it I will get done between rehearsals, working and my wind ensemble concert on Wednesday, but we'll see. It must be said that I HATE doing laundry. I am really not sure why this is, but anyone who knows me even marginally can probably tell you that I often go WAY longer than I should between loads. It just seems like such a hassle, and I put it off and put it off until it becomes an emergency situation where I have no pants and am forced to wear dresses for a week. Not that dresses are a bad thing, but still. It seems that underwear is really the limiting factor for my laundry, but luckily that is easily purchased in a pinch. Or you can go the Sarika route and just wear bikini bottoms as undies. :)

I am really excited about all the upcoming trips, and I only hope I have enough money to really enjoy them. I'm a poor lady these days! I think I will be picking up another job in the evenings soon, so that is promising. I need to make bank this summer, but somehow I foresee that not really happening. Ah, the trials and tribulations of college students.

I went to an Oscar party at Casey and Natalie's apartment tonight. It was fun to watch the ceremony and try to predict who would win. I came in second place with 14 correct predictions (the winners were Sharon and Lizzie, tied at 15 each). I am glad Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture -- I really did think it was a lovely film. I do still want to see Milk and possibly Frost-Nixon, so I guess I can't really speak for the quality of those movies. I am just always glad to see Indian-themed movies do well here in the States. The best part of the Oscars ceremony by far was the video with James Franco (yum) and Seth Rogen. Hilarious, and a great way to showcase some of the comedies of the past year. Overall, though, the ceremony was a little draggy in parts, although that's kind of inevitable with an awards show of this length. I like Hugh Jackman, but I was not a huge fan of him hosting. Bring back John Stewart! Who can forget Gaydolf Titler from last year, now apparently the middle name of my cat according to the ladies with whom I watched.

Now it is time for me to go shower and get ready for today. Catch you cats on the flip side.

The fluuuuuuu

I'm pretty sure I have it. Bleah. The worst part is that I am super tired but can't sleep -- not sure if that's because of the meds, the symptoms or what, but it's annoying. I thought I was doing so well avoiding all the winter viruses, too. The other excellent part is that I have gotten a flu shot every year for the past 10 years, but this one year I did not get one. Damn.

Cats

There is a large black and white cat named Nightlight that keeps sleeping on my bed/pillow. She does not belong to me, nor does she particularly like me, but she insists on sleeping on my bed. Every time I kick her out, she somehow sneaks back in. She's like a cute, fat, furry fungus.

Here goes removal attempt #3.

Ratatouille

What a great movie. It makes me want to eat food. And be in Paris. Good times.

In other news, I will be playing in a wind ensemble concert and then packing to leave for NYC with the orchestra in TWO weeks. Crazytown.

Brace yourself: you're about to be hit with three in one day.*

I was just re-reading some of my earlier entries. It was nice to actually have readers back in the day. Thanks, Diana, for reppin' this blog. I think you're the only one!

I do enjoy, however, not having to preface every entry with apologies about how long it's been since I've posted.

*That's what she said.**

**I'm not going to keep doing this. I just figured I had started a motif with the last post.

A meditation on goat cheese

That's right, goat cheese.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but I'm seriously lame. Like, really lame. Like, have nothing better to write about on my blog than my personal feelings on goat cheese lame. I quote John McCain when I say: my friends, if you can't handle the lame, get out of the blog.*

On to the cheese.

I am slowly coming to (and stubbornly resisting) the realization that I don't really like goat cheese. I keep trying to like it; I often order things with it in restaurants with the idea that if I just keep eating it, I will somehow grow to love it. However, this does not seem to be the case. My taste buds could morph into goatherds, and I still would not like this cheese. It just tastes so ... goat-y. I think some delusional part of my brain thinks that because I like being cultured** in general and eating fancy cheese in particular, I should like this specific type of cheese, and I only have to try harder next time to make it work.

I am ashamed of this confession. If you were ever to ask me about this in public, I would say you made it all up; that's how deep my denial is. So the next time we are eating together in a restaurant or at a fancy dinner party, and you see me eating goat cheese (which will happen with more frequency than you probably even realize right now -- that shiznit is everywhere), you can smile with the sweet Schadenfreude of knowing my internal conflict.

Weird, right?

*That may be more of an approximation than an actual quote.

**Ha! Cultured! Cheese! Get it? See, LAME.

Hot damn ... here comes five.

I can't sleep, as usual, and therefore I am up surfing Facebook and the Interweb. Everybody's doing this 25 Facts thing, and as much as I like reading other peoples' notes even if they didn't tag me -- I'm really nosy and also kind of a creeper -- I am not sure if I want to publish my own. Maybe I'll do it here so I don't have to force my facts on unsuspecting passersby on Facebook. It's way better to force my facts on the empty silence of the Internet (and Diana).

Today was a fail of a day -- forgot a meeting, got chewed out by someone I respect a great deal, called out in rehearsal for being out of tune (twice) ... just bad news all around. I tend to lose my mojo when something really bothers me, and I think the stuff in orchestra all stemmed from me feeling deflated after this chewing out (which was completely deserved, by the way, so don't feel bad for me). I was later able to eat my feelings in the form of creme brulee, so that was nice.

I've also been poking around on Facebook, as previously mentioned, and I am in a bit of a funk about how things went down this summer. To recap: I was a teacher for a middle school enrichment program, and although I loved the program and the experience, I never dove into the program headfirst like I should have. Thus, I did not get to know many of the teachers very well, and I sincerely regret that. I know it was my own doing, and it stemmed from a lot of personal issues I was trying to work through. However, it still bothers me that A) there are these awesome people with whom I spent an entire summer who are practically strangers to me; B) they are all close to each other, and I'm kind of out of the loop; and C) they have this terrible impression of me I don't think I'll ever be able to erase. There is no way to show them the person they met this summer is not the real me -- or at least, is a part of me, but not the whole picture. I know I shouldn't care what these people think, considering I will probably never see most of them again, but I genuinely respected all of them (well ... most) and would love to have their good opinion. Needy? Self-absorbed? Maybe, but it's the truth. I am thinking of teaching in the program again this summer, and the idea of a do-over is very appealing.

Sorry to go all introspective on you. I'm not always angsty, I swear. Here's to tomorrow being a better day, starting with me trying to go to sleep for real.

Four!

I made a delicious dinner tonight. It's a little weird to cook for one, but I do enjoy cooking. I should do it much more often. I think I have been inspired by Top Chef.

Hey, look, three in a row.

I don't really have anything to say today, except for the fact that I am in need of some major cash monies. If you owe me money and forgot about it, now would be a good time to remind me.

LOLz

I just realized I wrote one post in all of 2008 ... best blogger ever. I'll take my Webby award via mail, thanks.

Damn, I suck at this blogging thing.

Yep, didn't happen. Again. Oh well. I'll just say don't hold your breath for updates, and we'll see where things go from here.

I just got back from Savannah, where I have been for the past few days playing in the GMEA All-College ensemble. It was equal parts fun, awkwardness, gossip and slight boredom, but all in all a good trip. It was nice to get to know some of my fellow wind ensemblers better.

So I guess an update is in order about other things that are going on chez MK. I am taking a fifth year to finish a French major in order to do Teach for America after graduation. I thought I would be OK without an official French major because I am already fluent, but apparently I need the major for certification to teach high school French. I don't want to teach high school forever, but for the 2 years of TFA I would prefer high or maybe middle school to elementary. Thus, I had to switch from a music major with a minor in French to a French major with a minor in music. I still feel like I am class of '09 even though I am now officially graduating in '10 (that doesn't even look right -- no zero in front?!). If I get a class ring, it will definitely say '09. I just consider 2010 to be my victory lap.

It's weird to be a second-semester senior, even though I know I will be here for another year. All my friends are deciding where to go and what to do for the next chapter of their lives, and it's very strange to think about all of us being scattered across the country and potentially even internationally next year. It's the kind of thing that hits you in certain moments when you're least expecting it -- you forget about it until some little thing jars the thought, and WHAM. Finality. Of course, I know I will keep in touch with my close friends, but it's obviously going to be quite different than it has been. Forgive me for this little nostalgia trip, but I couldn't sleep last night and got to looking through photos on Facebook. College has had some majorly fun times, and I'm sure there are many fun times still to come.

To wrap up this post, I will show a photo of another thing that has happened since I last wrote: Mowgli the cat. I know, I know, it's really lame to post pictures of my cat, but A) I'm lame, so deal with it, and B) ... well, that's it, really. Just deal. He mostly looks like he's stoned all the time, but I have managed to catch him actually alert once or twice.

Stoned:



Marginally less stoned:



Somewhat alert: