Fun Hating Spring Breaking-Part One

This was me last Spring Break

I had just spent two weeks exploring Italy. I was sitting at the Trevi Fountain after finishing a giant banana and biscotti gelato. Life was good. That is how you do a spring break.

This is me this spring break

I'm sitting on a cow outside the ice cream store in Bryn Mawr. 

Alright, so it was no Italy. Last year's spring break set a spring break standard. We had big plans for break this year, we were going to road trip to Colonial Williamsburg by way of Dinosaur Land. It was going to be epic. It never happened. My friends hate fun. People have come up to me on campus and asked why my friends hate having fun so much, they are KNOWN for not enjoying fun. I secretly enjoy fun and often sneak off to have some, but around them I have to pretend that I also hate fun. 

It was decided that instead of going on an epic spring break trip we would stay at school and take day trips. This would allow people to write their thesis and still feel like they're having fun.  My friends didn't think ahead and write that thing last semester. Doesn't that sound like fun?

 I didn't think so, so I went home for the first part of spring break to have some real fun of my own. Unfortunately once I came home I spent most of my break watching the football players across the street and their new puppy, rather than having that "spring break fun" I had assumed I would have. I did go to a child's birthday party, which are really underrated. Little children are hilarious! They say the first thing that comes to their minds and little four year old girls are incredibly promiscuous these days (I searched the thesaurus for a good five minutes to find that word and it's still not perfect...but you get the idea, they're flirts). Also, added bonus, "Batman" came to the party and while his face was partially covered by a mask I'm 98% sure I knew him. He got an attitude with me when I asked him if he knew Superman. 

The point of the story is I couldn't spend the week going to children's birthday parties, the authorities would get suspicious. So plans were made for me to return and day trips to happen. 

It was decided that we would go to Amish Country and somewhere else for our trips. Amish Country? Really? I say spring break day trips and you pick Amish Country? I have no answers. While I was home I shared this news with the office who reacted to the news as if I had told them that I was going to go beat kittens continuously for all of spring break. All work was dropped as Michelle started pulling up websites to find better trip plans. Andrew came out of no where with a guide book that listed day trip destinations along the East Coast. Suggestions came flying from everywhere. After careful consideration I decided on a list of factory tours to suggest to the crew. Ultimately we decided on the Herr's Potato Chip factory tour (on our way to Amish Country, they weren't yielding on that one) and (drivers choice) Yuengling Factory. I sadly decided against Eric's suggestion of throwing my friends in the car, locking the doors and driving them to Pittsburgh against their will. I'm pretty sure my friends would charge me with kidnapping if that happened...no mercy from them. 

On Tuesday night I sent detailed instructions to my friends to be ready for an 11:30 departure from Bryn Mawr. We had 1 o clock reservations at the Herr's Factory and I hate being late for anything. Everyone was ready to roll come Wednesday morning. Paige called shotgun and was given map duty. She asked for DJing duties and was denied, more on that later. The directions said it would take an hour to reach the factory. After driving for what seemed like an hour (it wasn't nearly an hour, I just have no sense of time) we were in some sort of limbo zone between suburban Philadelphia and Amish Country. Not exactly rural, but not developed. Just a strange, strange zone. I decided that we had definitely made a wrong turn and was just about to turn around when we saw a sign for the factory. We pulled into the parking lot at exactly 1 o clock and raced inside. We gave our name to the front desk who told us that our tour group was right inside the auditorium watching the opening film so we could sneak on it. We carefully opened the door to find a woman and her daughter sitting in a fairly large auditorium, apparently these tours aren't too popular. 

After being joined by two mothers and their gaggle of children our guide started the film for us. Nicky loved it. The star of the film was a chipmonk puppet named Chip Herr, but everyone called him Chipper. Here's my problem with that. That's not a nick name, that's a mispronunciation of his name.  That's like me saying "My name is Marianna, but everyone calls me Maryanna". Nicky didn't care, she loves a good puppet. The film told the story of the Herr family and their contributions to the local town, which apparently include a giant Christmas light show and a monkey. Ari thought the monkey was part of some Herr sponsored petting zoo until we all came to the agreement that if we were running a petting zoo a monkey wouldn't exactly  be an animal we'd choose to put in there. 

Our tour guide stopped the film and began the tour. Her enthusiasm level on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being me about to get on a boat and 10 being me about to see the elephants at the zoo, ranked at about 3, or me getting the motivation to leave my room when it's raining. Her life goal clearly was not to lead tours of the Herr's potato chip factory. 

The tour began on a high note for me when the little girl on our tour skipped ahead of her and she barked "Hey! Number one rule for the tour! Everyone stays behind me!" I let out a big guffaw at that one. As soon as we made our first stop Ari started asking questions. She likes to learn apparently. Our tour guide was less than pleased. She was even more peeved when we reached another stop and Ari started to grill her on the proper way to make Party Mix. The guide thought she was referring to the "party mix" that they give the area cows made up of broken chip bits. This would make sense as she had just been telling us about that. Ari was referring to her favorite snack, Party Mix, a chip based snackie that is not even made by Herr's. I'm going to have to side with the tour guide on this one. 

At the end of the tour we were all given chips fresh off the line. We all gave a heavy sigh when we realized that from that moment on chips just would never be good enough ever again. They were fantastic. Our guide tossed us a bag of free chips and let us loose in the gift shop. There we stocked up on defective bags of chips being sold for 17 cents. Win. Ari also looked for a present to give Drew's parents as she was visiting them later this week...she unfortunately decided against the potato bottle opener key chain or the chocolate covered potato chips. 

We're going to stop here for now. For some strange reason it has literally taken me all day to write this much. I also just took some Benadryl and do not want to be held responsible for anything I write for the next 4-6 hours. Come back later this weekend for parts 2, 3 and possibly 4 of Spring Break 2k9.

Spring Break, WOO!

I kept trying to write a recap of the past two days, but I'm exhausted. Until I get that recap up, enjoy this video of Nicky telling my favorite story ever.

In Which We Try To Have Fun and Fail

SPRING BREAK! WOOOOOOOOoooooooo!

Spring break began at 2:30 on Thursday for me. Yet I'm still at school (edit: I started this entry this morning. I am no longer at school). Even though I could have gone home on Thursday, I was promised that if I stayed we could go to murder mystery dinner theater at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Now come on, who can say no to that! So I puttered around my room for the next 24 hours, "cleaned", napped, watched some Netflix WatchInstantly. Life was grand. Until I was in the middle of nap number 2 when I heard a knock at my door. I mumbled come in and Nicky slinked in the door looking sad. "I have some bad news" she said. She was wearing all black, she looked distraught. I knew what she was going to tell me but secretly I hoped her bad news was that her favorite aphid had died. "Ari just got a phone call....murder mystery dinner theater at the Spaghetti Warehouse has been cancelled". I rolled over in my bed and let out a few choice curse words before rolling back over and letting out an "awwwwwwww". Nicky shuffled around before looking at me to say "how are we going to tell Paige?". 

As comfortable as I was, I knew Nicky couldn't tell Paige alone. Paige was not going to take this news well. So I got out of bed and went downstairs to deliver the bad news. We walked into her room to find her sitting in bed. "We have some bad news" Nicky started. "I should warn you, I'm not wearing pants" Paige replied. Silence. Awkward. I take a deep breath. "Murder mystery dinner theater at the Spaghetti Warehouse has been cancelled" I quickly spurt out. Paige's face goes through a variety of emotions before she screams out "NOOOOOOOOOOOO! OH GOD WHY!" We knew she was going to take it the hardest. 

After repeating the same thing over again (Why? Is it something we did? Is it because we were the only people to sign up? Will they try again later?) we realized the worst part, what the HELL are we going to do tonight? We started with the basics, dinner. We needed to eat, all of the dining halls were closed and we wanted to pay money to buy away our feelings. We agreed on the Thai restaurant in Bryn Mawr pretty fast, always a good choice. Entertainment options were bleak. Luckily it was the first Friday of the month, so Philadelphia would be hosting "First Friday". Galleries would be open and free booze would be served. It's also Beer Week in Philly, but we had no idea what that meant. All we knew was that if we went into the city we would be rewarded with alcohol. 

After a delightful dinner of Pad Thai we boarded ye olde R5 to the city. Paige got the lucky seat right by the door which meant she was almost mauled by it on more than one occasion. Since it wasn't staying open she took to holding it open for passengers to go through. People appreciated it, thanking her as they exited, however the conductor gave her a stern lecture on how it is not her job to hold the door and that it will stay open on it's own so please kindly keep your hands off the door. The conductor was ridiculous. At every stop he made sure that we knew this was NOT the stop for the flower show. I offered Nicky a dollar to stand up and yell "HE'S LYING! THIS IS THE STOP! EVERYONE OFF!". Two dollars if she hijacked the loudspeaker to do it, four dollars if she ran the length of the train yelling it. She considered it but ultimately passed. 

We were in two facing two seaters so we shared space with a very depressed looking man. As we made fun of the flower show he grabbed his ticket to show to us, it was a commemorative flower show one day pass. We nodded politely as we were sort of afraid of him, he looked like he could snap at any minute. He asked if we were returning that night and when we nodded yes he gave us the pass. "I bought a round trip but I'm not coming back..." I gulp thinking the worst, luckily he continued "tonight. This stupid pass is only a one day thing, I'm not coming back until Sunday". phewwwww. Sweet, free ticket back. I give it to Paige because I owed her 5 dollars. 

Once we reached the city we set about finding fellow Doc Night members Liz, Ari and Drew down at First Friday. It was really warm in the city last night so everyone was out and about in the galleries. Unfortunately this meant all of the wine was quickly snatched up. The art was...special. There were some cool pieces, but some really terrible stuff as well. We continued our favorite game of "Bribe Nicky" with Paige offering 20 bucks if Nicky touched a painting. She very well near took that money, I'm not going to lie, I might have taken that money. What would the consequences be? A stern "please don't do that" and a few moments of public humiliation? What would the rewards be? 20 bucks and total street cred. Nicky should have taken that one.

We were about to give up on the booze when we wandered by a hair salon. They were offering snacks so we went inside. There a bunch of hairdressers were just sitting around chatting, as we grabbed some pita chips and hummus one of them offered us vodka-mango lemonades. Well if you can't have wine, might as well take the vodka-lemoade from the hipster hairdressers. Drew scoffed as he drank his, deeming it "glorified jungle juice". Some people get pompous about the art at First Friday, Drew gets pompous about the free booze. 

We separated from Liz and her friends at that point as they were going to dinner. The rest of us went off to find out what this beer week thing was all about. The problem was that we were in a strange time that was too late for happy hour but not really late enough to go to a bar. Loyal readers of my blogs will know that I cannot stand to go to a bar at a socially incorrect moment. While I scoffed at first, we settled on Triumph Brewing Co. because it was one of those place where people are always at the bar, so we wouldn't look so much like alchies. Since it was early we also got to sit down, which was great. Good times at Triumph, I think I scared a woman sitting at the bar because I was trying to read sports scores on the TV behind her and when she turned around it looked like I was staring intently at her. Awkward. 

Around 10 or so they turned the lights down and some lights behind the bar started flashing. Pop music was pumped into the room in order to try and get a nightclub feeling going. We took this as our cue to leave. We went wandering trying to settle on another bar for the night. After no decision was made I made the executive decision to go to The Irish Pol, an Irish-Polish bar. I liked that it represented my true heritage. I've always thought that the Irish bars lack that Polish element and that the Polish bars are always in shady Trenton. This one combined them together. After we walked inside Ari muttered "dammit". "What's wrong?" I asked her "I was hoping that we would find that this bar was filled with Nigerians, thus confirming your thesis" she replied. Touche, Ari, I appreciate that you thought about that. 

Ari immediately went to go flirt with the bartender in order to try and get free booze. "TAKE CONTROL OF THE SITUATION!" Paige bellowed at Drew. Drew groaned and inched his way towards his woman. He really could care less. The bar was fine, it provided what we needed beer for a reasonable price. The graffiti on the bathroom was especially vulgar, which is always hilarious. 

Around 12 o clock it was time to hit the road. Ari and Drew peeled off to go to the subway and back to Temple while the rest of us continued to the train station. SEPTA has added a couple late night trains that run on Friday and Saturday, so we can now stay in the city past midnight. Unfortunately when we got to the station we discovered that we had just missed the train by 10 minutes and would have to wait an hour for the next one. By the time we got on the train a bunch of drunk people had joined us. Drunk people cannot navigate their way onto a train very well. Perhaps my favorite moment came when we stopped to pick up people at Ardmore and the door slammed into a drunk Nova girl wearing a tight tube top and short skirt, nearly knocking her over. Nicky and I couldn't contain ourselves and openly cracked up. And we wonder why we don't have any Nova friends. A post train trip to Wawa finished our night. 

It was not murder mystery dinner theater at the Spaghetti Warehouse, but it wasn't a half bad night. Good times to kick off spring break (wooooooo!!!!)

Doc Night-In which we all cry ourselves to sleep

Tonights feature was Dear Zachary. Dear Zachary is the story of one mans quest to create a film for the son of his dead best friend by traveling cross country and interviewing everyone who played a role in the friends life. To say it was heart wrenching would be an understatement. Let's just say there were tears. I'll warn you, there is a big plot twist that leaves you questioning Canada's right to exist as a country.

10:29-We're starting late this week. We're also starving, so in a rare (ha!) moment of weakness we order pizza from Campus Corner

10:30-Paige explains how we got the movie, not exactly legal. We will be watching Dear Zachary tonight, I'm a bit confused as to the plot line but I've been promised I'll cry. As I discussed in a previous entry, my friends feel awkward when I cry. Sucks for them.

10:32-In an epic moment Drew and Ari get here in time to get chairs. This is the first time all semester that they have claimed seats. Megan is the lucky winner who got the floor/window seat. Nicky was about to be left seatless but she performed an epic slow motion spin move-flip to claim the last chair. Emphasis on the slow motion.

10:35-C-Down is here to present.  In Dear Zachary, a mans best friend is murdered and so he makes a movie to honor him....shady things go down. Critics say the movie is 'phenomenal'...'not just a movie but a gift'.

10:38-Shannon arrives with special guest Sam! Here from California! They did not win a seat. She reveals that Paige threatened her to come tonight. I think by the end of the year we will have enough inter-group drama for our own documentary

10:39-At 12 this might be the largest crowd we've had all year. At 2 we definitely break our record for most men at Doc Night

10:40-Movie opens with people discussing the main subject, I believe his name is Andrew. Andrew was shot 5 times in a park in Latrobe, PA. I KNOW I know Latrobe but I can't think of how...

10:44-The filmmaker shows the movies he made with Andrew as a teen...they're disturbing. Those two would have been in the guidance counselors office in no time these days

10:46-'How would I describe Andrew to someone who never met him? The man never wore pants"-now that's a way to be remembered

10:51-A woman enters the scene....it sounds like she might have been the killer. She was 40, sexually inappropriate and stalkerish? And apparently Andrews girlfriend

10:53-A mention of CUSE! Nicky gets excited.

10:55-Andrew breaks up with the woman at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Little known fact, USA Today recently named it America's best place to break up with people.

11:00-I'm going to be honest, there will be very few updates in this entry because I'm very engrossed in trying to crack the mystery here. This is going to need my full attention.

11:05-Oh snap, crazy lady is arrested but it turns out she's pregnant with Andrews baby

11:08-Crazy is hiding out in Newfoundland. It sounds like an enjoyable place minus the weather. The parents of Andrew head to Newfoundland to make sure justice is taken care of.

11:11-

Megan-I can't believe you ordered Campus Corner without consulting us. 

Liz-You can have some pizza if you want. 

Megan-I don't want your charity 

Nicky-I'll take Megan's charity

11:14-Ari laughs at a poor moment

11:17-Holy wow, the baby looks just like Andrew as a baby. Identical. I think the baby might be a clone. Maybe that's the twist

11:27-Latrobe PA is famous for the Rolling Rock Beer Factory. THAT'S how I knew the name. Bottlecap collection comes in handy once again.

11:31-An argument over the legal system ensues between me and Nicky (daughter of two lawyers). Paige settle the argument by saying "It's Canada, don't try and make sense of it"

11:32-Jeez, Crazy is let out of jail...and given custody of Zachary. I think I failed to mention that the kid's name is Zachary and this whole movie is addressed to him. The filmmaker is taking a cross country trip filming everyone who had an impact on Andrews life and asking them to leave messages for Zachary. Andrews parents had brief custody of Zachary and all were happy. Then the government went all Canadian on them and gave him back to his mother....who is on trial for murder.

11:46-The baby is....dead......holy......dammit Canada!

11:48-We are all sobbing. Some poor soul just came downstairs to get a soda and found a room full of people crying. Just as she put her money in the soda machine the grandfather, who was being interviewed, shouted "YOU EVIL BITCH". She jumped, I chuckled, then returned to crying

11:53-Through tears I can tell you that Crazy took Zachary in the middle of the night and jumped into the ocean, drowning them both. The woman was on trial for murder, remember. We are all in various levels of tears. Drew is trying to cover his tears by covering his mouth in an "I'm in shock" way....the man is crying.

11:55-Also, my laptop is running out of power. This is what I get for watching Netflix in bed before Doc Night

12:00-Crime scene photos...wasn't expecting that

12:38-Should I ever be killed, I call upon someone to drive cross country interviewing all of my blog readers so that there may be record of my adoring fans. Sorry for the subpar blog entry. This was really a fantastic film that required a lot of attention. The editing was fantastic and really kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time. While I've ruined the big twist, I suggest you check it out.

Tool Update-Midterm Edition

I'm starting to look forward to my Penn class now just because it's guaranteed hilarity. 

Today was our midterm. I haven't taken an in-class midterm in years. Apparently I took some slide midterms freshman year, but I don't remember them. Ari reminded me of them when I started complaining about how I never had to take a midterm before...I still don't remember them.

It was cold today, very cold. Incredibly cold. I was DREADING the walk from 30th St to Penn. As soon as I stepped out of the station I just started focusing on reaching Penn, don't stop moving, just keep walking ahead, it's not cold, it's warm, you're hot, you're overheating, it is by no means cold. It actually worked. I was at Au Bon Pain in no time getting my delicious weekly soup. I joined Ari in class, which was surprisingly full even though we still had a half hour.We sat down and joined the group study session that had started.  Ari and I begin to cram, Ari can't handle pressure

Ari: Which president is associated with red-lining

Me: Roosevelt

Ari: I thought it was FDR?

Me: Thaaaats, the same person.

Ari: *long period of silence* I want to go to sleep

Ari's exam is probably a fun one to read, I imagine it goes something like this "FDR was far more compassionate that his predecessor Roosevelt"

 People pulled out epic study sheets and began listing off dates, laws and general information that I should know. I looked down at my notebook, scattered between my notes were notes for other classes, calendars that I wrote out detailing my every move from now until graduation and pages full of me trying to write my name in handwriting that doesn't look serial killer-esque. Balls. These people are far more prepared. As the conversation goes on, however, it becomes clear that they are not. I relax a little.

Our "professor" comes in and begins to hand out the exam. Only one of our favorite tools is there and he's not wearing a suit. Just a faded Andover t-shirt (well that answers that question). He looks concerned, and a little lonely without his buddy. "Professor" hands out the exam and goes over that we are to answer the question in section A, one of the three questions in section B, and one of the two questions in section C. He goes over this over, and over again. When he's finished going over it he starts again, just to make sure we're all clear. Once everyone get's their questions out of the way he lets us begin. Not 5 seconds into the exam does tooly guy look up and say "So wait, I'm confused, do we answer ALL of the questions". The hostility in the room at that moment was epic. Mocking, laughter, angry yelling. Even the professor joined in with the gem "I left show business for this?!?!" (another vague reference to his former career...I will crack this one day). Easily one of the top moments of my senior year. We must remember that this is the kid that freaks out under pressure, the first day of class he shouted out "FIRE TRUCK" when called upon for an answer. Turns out he was asking about a specific question that was comprised of numerous questions. With the entire class yelling at him he starts yelling back 'NO! NO! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I'M SORRY!". Pure chaos, I loved it, LOVED it. After we all calmed down I set to work filling out the cover of my blue book. Your name, date, course name.....professors name? Oh balls, I have no clue what his name is. I turn to the girl next to me "um......do you know what his name is". She chuckles and without looking up says "I have no effing clue". Alright, as long as I'm not the only one. 

Exam goes just fine and after 2 hours I bring it up to the podium to hand it in. The professor looks at it and calls after me as I'm walking away 'Oh! You're Marianna! Say, Marianna can you..." I freeze in terror as he waves my blue book at me. Oh Jesus he's going to ask me to fill it out completely. He wants me to write his name on the blue book in front of him. DAMMIT why didn't I read the syllabus. "...give me your real e-mail address, the one I have for you keeps bouncing back to me". The sigh of relief that I released was audible. I scribble down my gmail address. Ari comes up and is asked for her e-mail as well, she provides her BMC one. As we're walking out "professor" goes "OH! You're our something and something of cities students from Bryn Mawr! I was wondering who those were". Our covers are blown, oh well. On our way back we realized we missed a prime opportunity for some Bryn Mawr fun when asked for our e-mail. Instead of handing it in we should have gone with "E-mail? Oh we don't have that at Bryn Mawr, that's really more of a mans domain. If you call the steward I can send my messenger to get any information you might have for me". I really don't take advantage of Bryn Mawr's elitist asshole past enough.

Bad Weather Day 2k9

I woke up this morning to the tell tale darkness that comes with a snowday. My window was completely covered in snow, try as I might, I couldn't see anything out of it. I was so giddy I did a little dance. I did a spin move over to my computer and logged into my e-mail. THERE IT IS! MIKE HILL! AND THE SUBJECT LINE DOESN'T SAY CLASSES ARE STILL ON! I open it to discover that today has been named a bad weather day. The bus is not running, non-essential staff should not come in, everything is closed....but classes might still be held. While not officially cancelled they were putting it into the hands of the professors to decide whether they wanted to hold class or not. My heart sank, my professor would never cancel class. The woman was born and raised in Germany, she's not afraid of a little snow. Last time we had a possible snow day she brought her 3 kids to class because their school had closed. The fact that she's very pregnant with her forth child is a non-issue, the woman would drive through fire and brimstone to make sure that we learned about the architecture of oil. She would probably make us stand in the fire and brimstone and take pictures of it for use in discussion on it's effects on the oil industry later. There was only one thing to do....go back to bed and sulk for the next hour. 

The dorm was sleepy as I made my way out to class. It was 10 am but most people's classes were cancelled so they were sleeping in. I opened the door to a gust of wind and snow blowing at me. The paths looked like someone had tried to shovel them about an hour earlier but just given up. I sighed and trudged the 15 feet to my classroom building. A minor victory for the day in that I lived 15 feet away from the only building I had class in. When I got to the classroom the early discussion group was still in there. The class is divided up into an hour and a half of classtime with a discussion group before and after class, I'm in the post-class group (that's your fact about me for the day). Another person soon joined me and together we whispered our anger at each other. "WHAT THE HELL!" "SHE'S PREGNANT! SHE SHOULDN'T BE OUT IN THIS WEATHER!" "IT'S A BLIZZARD OUT THERE!" To say we were angry would be an understatement. We also knew that as she had driven through snow on unplowed roads to get here this morning....we had no right to complain. That's the worst, when you want to complain but you just have no leg to stand on. 

A member of the first group was sent out to fetch us. Even she, normally so chipper, couldn't contain her displeasure at being there. I settled in for an hour and a half of presentations. The Blue Bus wasn't running so as half the class is from Haverford we were only about half the size we usually are. I was mad because the people I like in that class all go to Haverford, so no one laughed at my jokes. About twenty minutes into the class a boy comes stumbling through the door. "Sorry I'm late" he stuttered "The bus wasn't running so I had to walk from Haverford". Wow....that's just....dedication. We had nothing to say to that. Well, I always have something to say. This time I chose "Um....make sure you get lunch before you walk back". He thanked me for being so considerate, however I did detect a hint of sarcasm, and we continued on with class. 

At 11:30 the members of the first discussion group left and our group remained. My professor sat back and said "so...lots of snow out there". She knew what she was doing, she knew she was opening up a can of anger and we took it and ran with it. Passive aggressive remarks began about how class should have been cancelled. My remarks might have even bordered on purely aggressive. Gradually it eased off and we began a discussion on what constitutes non-essential staff. I commented that it must suck to get a job here and then be told "by the way, you're non-essential to this school". My professor laughed and told me that my presence in class was always "essential". I'm still trying to figure out if this was a compliment or a firm reminder that no matter how cool I think I am, she will notice if I'm not in class and will make me pay for my sins. I'm going with the latter. 

We eventually got around to class related discussion, that went well. I tried to not make a fool out of myself as per usual, did not succeed. There is something about that class that just makes me shoot my mouth off. I don't do it in any other classes, but something about that prof eggs me on. 

After class I attempted to get lunch. It was cold, there was snow blowing at me from all angles and the paths still weren't shoveled. Cursing ensued. Since I live so close to the classroom building I didn't bring a scarf or mittens with me. Bad idea. By the time I got to the dining hall I was considering killing a squiril or something to make me some mittens and a hat. Luckily it did not come to that.

The rest of the afternoon was spent pretending to do work. It was hard because my room was cold, so I turned on the heat, then it was too hot so I opened a window and it became too cold. Repeat cycle. The 20 feet between my dorm and the library was much to far to travel too, so instead my studies failed. I'd rather fail at school that get the flu (not true, do not quote me on this). 

I had cancelled squash tonight because the Blue Bus wasn't running. Plus Mike had e-mailed me all concerned about the weather. Since he's British I'm sure he was a bit overwhelmed by the snow, as the Brits don't really do snowstorms that often. Rather than stress him out I told him we'd cancel tonight. That gave me a nice cushion of time tonight to do work that I wouldn't otherwise have. Unfortunately I found out that I had a book to read and respond to for class tomorrow and that it's only location was on reserve at the Haverford library. In the ultimate blow to my will to live I had to dig my car out, maneuver it out of the snow bank it was parked in, drive at about 10 miles per hour over to the 'ford, read the book, write down choice quotes for my response paper, and drive back at about 5 mph as it was dark and the roads were freezing. Apparently Lower Merion just said screw it this morning as those roads are terrible. 

Bad weather days suck. They sound cool and fun, but really they're just regular school days with an obstacle course thrown in there. Unless I am going to be rewarded with some kind of prize for completing the hypothetical obstacle course, I'll pass on bad weather days in the future.

Snowflakes That Stay On My Nose and Eyelashes

Two updates in one weekend? Wow, it's almost as if I don't have a social life. I'll have you know I attended not one, but TWO Princeton b-ball games with OMP this weekend. If that's not a social life then I don't know what is. 

Anyway, yes, I am aware that I am lame and update this blog far more often than coolness allows. I have an excuse to update today, though, because there's a snowstorm going down! At least that's what weather.com told me. I haven't looked out my window yet because I'm afraid to jinx it. There are two types of snow-related days here, and both end in sorrow and pain. The first is the big build up of hype the day before a so called "storm". At the last minute that storm moves ever so slightly to the east and we're left with mud. Lots and lots of mud. You race to your computer in vain and all that you get is an e-mail from head of P-Safe Mike Hill telling you that classes are still in session. Also, since everyone freaked out about the storm, there is salt everywhere. So there is mud and salt on your shoes and pant legs. Mud and salt might be that ultimate stain combination that just drives you insane. Nothing makes your feel more dirty than mud caked on your pants, the water from which is soaking through and making you cold. Add the salt to that and you watch as your pants stiffen and discolor. It's terrible and almost makes me consider wearing capri pants if it weren't so damn cold. 

The second is the "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!". This is when you wake up and you can't see out of your one, slightly horizontal (I'm not bitter) window because the snow is piled high on top. You race through the dorm until you find a window that you can see out of and discover that the world is a winter wonderland of pristine snow. 10 inches at least sit on the ground, 10 inches of beautiful fluffy joy. You run back upstairs and sit down to send out e-mails of glee to anyone who cares about you and your happiness only to find that dreaded e-mail from Mike Hill, "Classes are in session, please use caution". Facebook statuses fill your mini-feed, cursing Mike Hill, questioning why there isn't a snow day. You look out your window, remember that again, you can't see anything because your one skylight is horizontal and covered in snow, and just cry a little inside. 

Long story short, just like GS never gave snow days, Bryn Mawr does not either. I have some sort of masochistic desire to go to schools that don't give snow days or holidays. Some would say that's because I am motivated and want to use every moment to succeed. No, no it is not, I am lazy and would love any minute I could off of any form of obligation. I have one class tomorrow. It's my favorite class that I have this semester. I would not spend one minute being disappointed if I find out it's cancelled. I have squash tomorrow. I love squash, I have poured my heart and soul into it for the past four years. I will cancel it in a heartbeat if the Blue Bus stops running. 

Based off our record of snow days, I shouldn't be too hopeful. Yet the minute snow was mentioned any form of work went out the window. I sat here studying from midterms and all I could do was refresh weather.com over and over again. How much snow is expected again? (5-9 inches) Will it be enough to give us early spring break? (lord no) How much does NBC10 say we're going to get? (7-11 inches) What do the nbc10 commenters thinks? ("Oh shes thinking 7-11 inches but it's not snow she wants" What?...OH! EW!). It doesn't matter if you're in kindergarten or a senior in college, the minute the possibility of a snow day arises, books are put down and the waiting game begins. I've checked the "school closings and delays" site dozens of times just to keep track of who I should be angry at (no one close to me...yet). 

People are generally avoiding the subject here just because we've had our heart broken too many times. There is a window in the hall that you can see out of even if the rest of our windows are covered in snow and a line has formed there as people take a gander out to judge the situation. I'm not lying, there is a line to look out the window. People are pacing, I can hear them, snow makes people crazy. No one is outright asking if anyone thinks we'll have a snow day tomorrow, but you can hear them think it. 

I don't know how people can live in areas where snow days aren't a possibility. The way people's behavior changes when there is a possibility of a snow day is fascinating. People start nesting, like they're going to have a baby. My mom said that she was out buying food today, people have been doing laundry like their mother is coming to town, after I got out of the window looking line I then had to stand in the dish washing line. I never even have to wait for a shower on this hall, let alone a chance to look out a window or wash a dish. I thought we were done with night-before-a-snow day-fun for the year. I thought I was done with night-before-a-snow day-fun period for my academic career. While this entry has completely jinxed our chances of having a snow day tomorrow, I do enjoy getting one last night of "will we or won't we".