In general, a good radio show tonight:

* Of Montreal - Requiem for o.m.m.2
* The Holy Ghost - Commercial
Minus the Bear - Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo
Interpol - Obstacle 2 (A real phoned-in request! *gasp*)
* # Thunderbirds are Now! - Better Safe Than Safari
* Sloan - The Lines You Armed
* Holopaw - 3-shy-cubs
* Wolf Parade - Shine a Light
* The Winter Pageant - Waxing Incomplete
Sufjan Stevens - Jacksonville
The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
* Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die (Parts 1-4)
* Doves - One of These Days
TV on the Radio - Ambulance
Wilco - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Beth Orton - Sweetest Decline
Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Beast for Thee
Iron and Wine - On Your Wings
* John Vanderslice - Dear Sarah Shu
* Destroyer - New Ways of Living
Criteria - Self Help
Lennon - Trying to Make Me
OK Go - Hello, My Treacherous Friends
Menomena - The Late Great Libido
* Halloween, Alaska - Bad News Sticks
13 and God - Men of Station
Enon - UTZ
* Styrofoam - Your Eyes Only
A.C. Newman - Come Crash
* Les Georges Leningrad - Nebraska’s Valentine
* The Evens - Mt. Pleasant Isn’t
* Stars - Calendar Girl

I'm making full use of the playlist, getting to listen to new stuff. Wolf Parade, The Winter Pageant, and The Holy Ghost are particularly good.

Drama on my hall has been basically resolved, which is a huge relief to me. Now I can focus my worry on the Halloween party...

The WSRN webcast is up and running, as far as I can tell. My show is from 8-10 pm tonight. You should listen.

Just got done watching the last episode of Firefly. Very awesome stuff; I'm looking forward to the movie, which I will hopefully be seeing on Friday...

Time for sleep now, whee.

I really need two weekends -- one for fun, one for work. As it is, there just isn't enough time. I want to catch up on my sleep, I want to hang out, yet I also need to get stuff done. Blah.

Friday night there was a party for Joy, who was back in town for a bit. There was also a concert at Olde Club. I went to both, had a great time, and then crawled home around 2 am. Saturday there was work to be done, laundry to do, and then festivities to dress up for. Saturday night was desserts (Greg+Jeff+chocolate+kitchen=heaven) and hanging out. The food was awesome, the company was good, and seeing an 11 or 12 year old Emily on Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego"was simply amazing. Then today was brunch and Firefly, then some work and a much needed nap. This evening was 3 hours of Angels in America for PoR, which was good, but immensely time-consuming.

Right now I'm working on stuff for Lyric Encounters, and then I should get sleep. I also need to do a lot of stuff for costume design, as our final design sketches and such are due on Friday. So that's the project for tomorrow after class. It will consume the rest of the afternoon and evening, I think, with breaks for dinner and possibly swing dance.

Busy busy...

So. Today. Lots of tiredness (really not fun); worry about people, about work, about balancing people and work this weekend; crappy radio show; rejection letter; blarg.

The radio show was bad because there were issues with bad transitions, me screwing up when I tried to use the phone hybrid, and me making some stupid mistakes. I will chalk it up to the fact that all my first radio shows, each semester, have seemed to suck at least a little. Hopefully next week will be better. The music was good, at least.

Playlist:

Autolux - Here Comes Everybody
#* Mary Timony - On the Floor
#* The Minus Five - Hotel Senator
Sleater-Kinney - Entertain
* Bloc Party - Banquet
Enon - Sold!
* Hot Hot Heat - Goodnight, Goodnight
Pretty Girls Make Graves - Speakers Pulse the Air
* Yo La Tengo - You Can Have It All
Blonde Redhead - Equus
* Minus the Bear - Spritz!!! Spritz!!!
* The Sames - Downtown
* Stars - Ageless Beauty
Rainer Maria - Long Knives
#* Mates of State - Invitation Inn (off the House Full of Friends comp)
Tori Amos - Take to the Sky
Elf Power - Evil Eye
Sufjan Stevens - Say Yes! To M!ch!gan
* Of Montreal - Forecast Fascist Future
* The Winter Pageant - Identical
* Spoon - The Beast and Dragon, Adored
* Kinski - The Wives of Artie Shaw
* The Holy Ghost - Genghis Khan
* Destroyer - An Actor's Revenge
* Minus the Bear - Let's Play Guitar in a Five Guitar Band
#* Vox Vermillion - Arrivals/Departures
* Low - Silver Rider
The Eels - Woman Driving, Man Sleeping
Pavement - Summer Babe
* Ticonderago - Kim + Kelly

Whee music. Minus the Bear got 2 songs because they're playing here tomorrow night. Should be a good show.

In the middle of my show, I checked my email. I read the message from one of the lit mags. I am now officially 0 for 3 with my applications to become an editor for the mag. I've tried every year, and each time I've been rejected. Depressing. Very, very depressing. Especially when you consider that that is what I want to do with my life, most likely. So yeah. I see myself at an interview, with them reading over my resume, being all "Well, this is nice and all, but why don't you have any more editing experience? Weren't there opportunities at your school?" And then I'll get to hem and haw and admit that they didn't want me. Oh man, won't that be fun?

Time to pour over the tomes I checked out the library and try to get some work done on my costume designs for class.

The WSRN studio is functional but not entirely finished. One thing that's still missing, I believe, is the auxiliary cable, which is used to play from laptops, etc. This means, that for the first time in quite a while, I will be doing a show with just CDs - my own and the ones in the rock library. So tonight's show will end up being some of my older favorite music (I don't buy as many CDs now, more often get them in MP3 form) and random stuff that seems appealing from the library. Should be fun.

The web broadcast is not up and running yet; this week is only being aired over real radio. Hopefully the webcast will be up and running next week.

Purposely vague, and no, I will not elaborate:

I know I shouldn't take sides in this case, but I can't help wanting to slap him across the face for what he's doing.

And now back to our regularly scheduled paper writing.

This evening has been an interesting one... It has very much been a reminder that hey, I'm an RA. I've gotten updated on some issues on the hall, talked to someone about a study break, responded to various RA emails, and have just chatted with some of my hall mates. It's nice, except for the fact that my PoR paper is still not done, nor is a chunk of my costume design stuff finished. Grr.

Kierkegaard portion of the paper is done... Now for Nietzsche, then Zen comparison, then conclusion. Then maybe pretty colors for costume design sketches -- it may depend on what time it is then, and whether or not I've procured caffeine. I'm not too tired now, as I took a nap after dinner for a bit. Yay naps.

Back to work.

Compiling a packet of everyone's poems for Lyric Encounters tomorrow... It's a bit depressing, as it makes me feel like my work sucks. Which may be true, but it's not a great feeling either way. I feel like my work is rather juvenile, at least in part. Perhaps it is because I wrote the most poetry back in 9th grade, and have never really gotten over that subject matter? Tapping into that angst let the creative juices flow back then, but is it holding me back now?

Note to self: drinking coffee at dinner, then going to the library and sitting at an actually table may result in getting actual work done.

Being lame but productive and trying to get a bunch of work done tonight. Perhaps next weekend I can do more fun things - at the very least I will go to the Minus the Bear show at Olde Club. This weekend, however...

I had every intention of being super-productive today. I finished my reading for Lyric Encounters, then started to work on my poems for this week. I couldn't think of anything, really. I ended up taking a nap. So much for a super productive afternoon...

I am, however, planning on a productive evening. I'm going to sequester myself away, either in my room or maybe in the design room of LPAC, and work. Same goes for tomorrow, except for a bit of time for a showing of Firefly and WSRN training.

Oh, I have bluish streaks in my hair at the moment. I didn't bleach my hair before I did it, so it's more of a hint than an all-out blue. Still fun.

My closet just died. The bar decided that it no longer liked the wall, and the decided on a trial separation at the right wall. Said separation, plus the weight of my clothing, was too much for the bar. It fell, hard, taking bits of its support system with it. The center of the bar is connected to a strip of wood running across the back wall of the closet. It is still connected to this piece of wood; the piece of wood is no longer completely connected to the wall. This strip of wood, along with its side wall brethren, supports the shelf. For now, that seems to be stable, but god knows how long that will last.

This feels like a not-so-subtle hint that I have far too many t-shirts. Which is perhaps true. As I have been drifting away from my emo kid phase, there are various band t-shirts that I no longer wear on a regular basis. I foresee an extra suitcase full o' goodies on the way home at October break.

I have not done all the reading for PoR tomorrow. By the time I get the time to read, I'm so exhausted that focusing is very hard. Rar. This weekend is going to be bad -- I have a short paper due for PoR on Tuesday, so all the reading that got pushed to the side will be seeking its revenge. Or something like that. There will be frustration and grumpiness as I attempt to write a paper comparing Kierkegaard and Nietzsche without all the details fully ingrained in my mind. I've got the concepts down, but that doesn't translate into citations and quotes for papers. Rar.

I am becoming a master of the 15 minute breakdown. Due to high stress and little sleep, I'm a wee bit on edge. Therefore, mood swings? Fairly common at the moment - hopefully this trend will not last.

But I freak out, cry, whatever, for a bit. And then I'm better. I get stressed, then I get distracted - often by class. I'm fine in class. I'm practically giddy in class. I love my classes - I'm awake, paying attention, interested in the material. Once I'm out of class, things sometimes begin to fall apart again. But there's usually a bit of an overflow of energy from class, so that for awhile, I keep on going on the momentum.

I have 2 scenes to write for play-writing tonight. One is more of a revision/expansion, so hopefully that won't take too long. And the other I've sort of mapped out, so that's helpful.

I'm on the Housing Committee this year, whee. Not sure exactly what that will require me to do, other than show up for meetings on some Monday nights from 7-8 pm.

Various emails about externships and internships are coming now - things I need to start thinking about. I have CDs to finish reviewing for WSRN. Training is most likely this weekend - I think broadcasting will start Monday. So I should be on air next Thursday, from 8-10 pm. You should listen to me babble on idiotically between songs. Maybe I'll remember to turn on the right mic this semester.

Swing makes me happy, even though mess up a lot. Facing quite a bit of reading in addition to doing work for costume design? Less happiness. Somewhat balanced by tasty popsicles, courtesy of my neighbor, and the fact that she has like 15 people in her room. Social life in the basement rocks my socks!

Shower, then work work work. Caffeine may be needed.

I've been thinking about tattoos a fair amount lately, thinking of whether or not I'd want to add to mine. Such things happen when you look at pictures of tattoos... I didn't expect it, but I feel a bit of an itching. If I do any more tattoos, they will be text. Given how much I love writing and reading, how predominately text has featured in my life, it seems only fitting.

I was thinking about some lines from a Sylvia Plath poem: "The sky's far dome is sane and clear." This ties directly to the tattoo I already have; I read the poem the day before I got my tattoo, and it resonated with me and my reasons for getting a celestial design. And then today, in class, I came across another line: "My body / writes into your flesh / the poem / you make of me" It's from the poem Recreation, by Audre Lorde. She's not a poet I'm familar with, but I really enjoyed the poem, and I loved that particular part. It calls to mind this sort of interconnectedness between the lovers in the poem, this infinite loop of creation through love, and the image is just amazingly powerful to me. And the "writes into your flesh" line just makes it scream to be used in a tattoo.

I haven't convinced myself to get either of them done, and it's quite likely I won't. But the idea is there, floating around, wanting to be fleshed out.

Time for a nap now, then reading, then swing, then more work. Whee...

Someone just put a quote on the quote board. I am so very happy - its emptiness was sad.

I'm on my second page of a one page response paper, and I've only made my first point. Hmm. I think single spacing (or at least 1.5) will be happening.

I am currently feeling rather geeky, as I have no more desk space to put my study materials. I have my laptop in front of me, a book with various important info/terms off to the side, my notebook with my notes on the poem balanced on an open desk drawer, and the book with the poem that I'm writing about in my lap. Go me.

Reading love poetry for Lyric Encounters makes me really want to be in love or at least have a crush. I've got nothing right now - there are a few guys I think are cute, but not compatible enough or anything to actually persue. I want to like someone, because even though it's frustrating, it's also wonderful. But there's no one around that's caught my eye.

My friends, however, I love dearly. They cheered me up on Friday when I was feeling down randomly. Last night we were bored and were silly, and it was a great deal of fun. Today I watched the pilot episode of Firefly, and it was awesome. More episodes will be watched every Sunday at 12 in the New Dorm lounge, for anyone on campus who is interested. And Colin makes cookies and other goodies. Mmm.

Does anyone want to help me enslave/hire Jeff, Greg, and Colin for their amazingly awesome baking skills? We'd get fat and die young due to the amount of heavy cream in our bodies, but oh god, what a way to go.

Time for more love poetry now, and then some Nietzsche, which will balance it out nicely.

I just got my time slot for WSRN this semester: 8-10 pm, Thursday nights. Exactly what I wanted, woot!

Bush nominated Roberts for the chief justice position. It seems weird to me that someone not currently part of the Supreme Court could get that position - I would think that an existing SC justice should kind of get dibs, due to seniority and all that.

Can O'Connor rescind her resignation? That would make me happy. I understand the reasons she's retiring - her husband's failing health, etc - but... Pretty please? She's technically a conservative though, so it makes sense to retire under a Republican president. But grr...

Just got back from swing dance. It was fun, but a bit hard - mostly because I have trouble just following. Especially when my partner is someone I just met and they don't know how to dance any better than I do. So for half of the lesson, I was managing, but not really getting it. Then I had a string of partners that knew what they were doing and led confidently, and I just followed. As Emily demonstrated by dancing with me while we were talking, the key seems to be being distracted. If I'm distracted or relaxed or both, I forget to overanalyze what I'm doing.

I have been very unfocused lately. Work is hanging over me like an evil specter, and I'm just kind of running from it. I think my PoR reading will suffer tonight, but hopefully that will give me the time to get everything else on track and kind of start anew. We'll see.

This morning went not so well, but then I went to Lyric Encounters and was happy. I've never been in a 3 hour class that has felt that short. I love this class. :)

Off to work now...

Much of the French Quarter survived with little damage. One bar is even still open - the subject of this article.

Key quote, to me: "While it may seem, at first appearance, that all of New Orleans is either under water or ruinously trashed — palms and cypress trees uprooted, brick buildings crumbled, power lines downed — there are areas of the city that have survived with minimal structural damage. The French Quarter, or the vieux carré, must have been watched over by the gods and goddesses of Bacchanalia, who would not allow such an elegant and historical district — a place devoted to pleasure — to be wiped off the face of the earth."

Take that, Repent America, and everyone else who says it was a punishment for New Orleans' immorality - the heart of Mardi Gras hedonism is still standing.

Rehnquist died. Bush gets 2 Supreme Court appointees. Whee.

Dave & Buster's really needs to advertise their age policy better. I looked at their website this afternoon, and saw no mention of it. It's only under "House Policies," one of those little links at the bottom that no one usually clicks on. We took the train to Philly for Charlie's birthday, intending to spend the evening hanging out and playing games. Instead, we were turned away because 3 of the 14 of us are 20. The policy, apparently, is that anyone under 21 has to be with someone 25 or older. We ranged from 20 to 22. So we left, wandered for a bit, got some tasty dessert at a little pastry shop, then headed home.

It was fun, but I'm tired and have quite a bit of a headache, so I think it's time to crash. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.

So I'm not doing so hot with the staying motivated/being productive thing. Thursday evening I basically just slacked off, except for the root beer float study break. Yesterday I reveled in a Friday without classes, and I did do some work - met with my philosophy of religion professor, figured out the direction to take my 1 page paper for English, and then met with my partner and rewrote about half the lyrics to The Dresden Dolls "Girl Anachronism." That last bit was tough and time-consuming, and it continued into dinner. When I came back to ML after dinner, I was ordered to take a nap by my RA, Jawaad, who is at Swat for the weekend.

So I napped. I had planned on going to see the comedian on campus, and even woke up in time, but then didn't go. I instead watched the old version of Lolita (and now I will have to watch the new version). I haven't read the book, so I didn't know the details of the story... The moving was interesting, but Lolita was such a brat. Sure, she was pretty, but so damn annoying - the attraction made very little sense.

And today I slept in and have therefore wasted much of the day, at least in regards to work. I will have a great time tonight, however, as I'm going to be hanging out with my friends. I'll just have to get up at a reasonable time tomorrow and work, work, work - just like every Sunday at Swat.

Oh - the meeting with my prof went really well. I explained my concerns, he asked what else I was doing, I told him, he said that was quite a lot. He emphasized that the time spent didn't matter as much as just doing something, and that I should find something that works in my schedule, not make my schedule work to fit the service stuff. So I may look into the Humane Society, but I'm probably going to work on making sandwiches for SHIP (Serving Homeless in Philly) on Friday after lunch.

Stories about New Orleans and the other areas hit by the hurricane keep getting my attention - usually in the form of LJ posts, sometimes news headlines. I haven't been reading the New York Times lately, which I usually at least skim the headlines of. It's gotten way too depressing. The lack of timely, effective response by the government is frustrating, but what's even worse is the lack of better precautionary actions. It didn't have to happen like this.

Pissing me off are the people who are saying those still stuck in the city stayed by choice - when really they had no place to go, no money/resources to use to leave, no real choice. Really, really pissing me off is the group of religious zealots, Repent America, who are claiming that the city's sin brought about the destruction. Namely, the "Souther Decadence" gay-pride festival that was scheduled for this weekend. Read this article for more on that, if you don't mind spending the next few hours utterly enraged.

Stupid people casting judgement when they should be showing caring, compassion, and mercy. They're damning people to hell and smirking with vindication when they should be forgiving sins and aiding those in need. These bastards are the supposed models of morality while a guy who saved 100 people by loading them up on an abandoned bus and driving them out of the city may get arrested for stealing the bus. I'm serious. This 18-year-old guy saved about 100 strangers, and he may get punished for it. Read it here.

I could scream.

First all-dorm study break of the year was tonight: root beer (and other types of soda) floats. It was quite a success. A good number of people showed up, as well as our dorm's dean liason, Bob Gross, who brought his dog, Happy. So yay about that.

I didn't get a chance to talk to my Philosophy of Religion prof after class, but I did set up a meeting with him for tomorrow afternoon. (Random note: I keep on typing Philosophy OR Religion... Freudian slip or no?)

Fun stuff should be happening this weekend, as well as plenty of work. WSRN meeting is on Sunday (I should really finish reviewing CDs...), first swing dance lesson is on Monday, and more choir is happening on Wednesday. Whee.