put out the need for guidance

today's title comes from growing old is getting old by silversun pickups. i'm going through one of my phases with them - i just can't stop listening. anyway, here it is:

well, i have officially left cheeseball. our parting was highly distressing. he's just so fluffy! and he gave me such a sad look when i left. i was basically like this the whole time:

on a happier note, while i was there cheeseball and i managed to explore the greater part of Decent Annapolis (aka all the neighborhoods which i wasn't specifically warned off of by cheeseball's mafia/spy owners, their neighbors, my parents, google maps, &c. &c.). it was pretty fun. and by fun i mean that i could get coffee whenever i wanted. in case you hadn't realized it by now, this is basically the embodiment of all my hopes/dreams/life goals. i know, i know - i aim high.

oh, and while i was there i learned how to use a dishwasher! well, okay, i had to call the other parent to get step-by-step instructions on how to use the dishwasher, but i still washed dishes all by myself. i felt so accomplished. and for any of you reading this and going:

well...we can't all be as horribly sensible as you are. this is actually quite worrying to me and ruined all of my plans of being a penniless poet and/or playwright in a french garret.


i went to the outlets today, too. i picked up a few things, but nothing really interesting. you know what was notable? the poor dead raccoon in the middle of the road on the way back home. it was so sad looking. why do people keep running animals over? and why doesn't someone remove them from the road? seeing was so traumatic. like, i was all "lalalala. i really need to take the momster's horrible beegees CDs out of the car. falalalal---DEAD ANIMAL. DEAD ANIMAL IN FRONT OF ME. IS IT LULU?" which is just not a good train of thought to have in a car. i have enough driving neuroses, okay?

in other news, i've been on a bit of a poetry-reading kick lately. here's my favorite from today:

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams. 

-- yeats

and, oh, i give up. i was trying and trying to keep this post soccer-free but...

we need more germans, okay?

the sky looks pissed

today's title comes from the chain by ingrid michaelson. just go to s-la's blog to listen to it - every time i visit it that song comes on and gets stuck in my head for the rest of the day. damn you, s.

anyway, i am officially temporarily gainfully employed. you might recognize my new boss:

that's right - it's cheeseball! i'm watching him until wednesday in annapolis. after a whole day of cheeseball-sitting i've come to a few one conclusions: best. job. ever.

if i could turn this into a full-time career i totally would. i'm being paid to sit around someone's house, play with a fluffyfluffy puppy, and go shopping (there are malls! and stores! and three starbucks in walking distance!). in my book, this totally counts as a win.

stephen colbert agrees.

oh, and unlike Some People, i am neither taking a break from the soccer posting nor supporting the oranje. nuh uh. see, i've been telling Some People frank and s-la all along that i hate watching the netherlands play because it was ugly/boring/weird. and i just thought it was a personal thing. but after reading this and this i feel totally validated. even the dutch aren't supporting their own team! so there. nevertheless you are still dead to me until monday, oh unnamed banana-souled one.

in other rachel news, i got dragged along to a super fancy restaurant - like a four-course-dinner-three-varieties-of-water-served-in-its-own-stone-holder type of place - with the momster yesterday since we got here early...except i was dressed in cheeseballing/lazy clothes. our waiter's bitchface was particularly impressive. thankfully the food was good enough to make up for it. well, almost. i was wearing flip flops after all.

i'm still dead tired, so i guess that's all for now. i've got to get my nap in before the game, after all. which all of you better be watching, even the traitorous flying dutchbanana.

my mind has changed my body's frame

today's title comes from wolf like me by tv on the radio. it's pretty old - i first heard it freshman year - but it was used on so you think you can dance last night and i fell right back in love with it. have a listen:

as you have probably guessed, that terrible immune system of mine decided to give up again last week. long story short: bacterial infection of the throat probably picked up through drink-sharing. dr. emperor-from-mulan, in true crazy doctor fashion, prescribed antibiotics, rest, and - merde - a maximum of two caffeinated drinks per day. two. apparently the caffeine + related nocturnalness (it is a word, damn it. stop lying to me, safari. it can be a word if i say it is) aren't helping my poor, beleaguered immune system.

tony from skins and i are in full agreement. also we're ecstatic that the skins movie is official!

it's actually been a pretty horrible week. the primary source of my discomfort isn't, as one might expect, the disgusting medicines i now take on a daily basis or the itchy state of my throat. no, it's much, much worse:

the momster donated all of our extended editions of lord of the rings to, like, goodwill or the salvation army or one of those. she "thought we had two copies". um, no. now i've only got the regular versions to watch! whatever am i going to do? my woe is endless.

the momster.

other than that, i'm doing pretty well. my makeup homework is, as expected, minimal. oh, and it's all done. so there's one worry off my mind. oh, and i have job interviews! one at cold stone on saturday morning and one at guess in the afternoon. i'm excited. wish me luck?

the lulus have been acting very strangely lately. first, lulu was like this:

and then cookie was like this:

and then lulu turned on her Cute Face and all was well:

until:

my dogs - they're terrifying.

i'm actually going to start in on a second post tonight. it might go up tonight or tomorrow, depending on when i finish it. it's going to be all about books and writing, which seemed too unrelated to this post for me to include it. until then, amuse yourself with one of my favorite dance-around-the-house songs:

and glozelle. who you better watch. especially you, s-la:

oh, and here's another fun video just because:

one night to be confused

today's title comes from heartbeats by the knife, as covered by jose gonzalez. it's pretty.

i've had a fairly busy two days. yesterday, as i might have mentioned (i don't know if i did or not, and i'm too lazy to go back and check), i did yoga for the first time since AP exams began. it was great at the time, but i've been feeling the effects all day. here's a helpful warning for all of you: lunges, squats, running, and leg- and thigh-targeting yoga tapes do not make for a very comfortable monday morning. i was so sore today and most of the soreness was centered in my legs so i spent the whole day convinced that i was walking strangely. paranoia: it's the new black.

this whole day was pretty weird, actually.

you totally thought this would be a gif. to which i say: suck it, predictability.

yeah, that picture basically sums up all my feelings regarding school, life, and the world in general.

my day kicked off at the wonderful hour of 2 a.m. because i had a killer migraine. still retaining hopes of getting a decent amount of sleep, i went downstairs and hit up the advil bottle, figuring that would get rid of all my headache-related troubles. and then i went back to bed and waited for my migraine to go away...for two hours. at 4:30 i finally gave up and went downstairs and took three of the closest aspirin-looking bottle i could find (i wasn't wearing my glasses), figuring that the pills looked like tylenol. and they were - tylenol p.m. needless to say i finally got back to sleep...and woke up at 8 a.m. to find the momster banging on my door. i took one of the fastest showers of my life, threw on an outfit comprised entirely of clothes i haven't worn since eighth grade or freshman year, and went to school.

i probably would have fallen right back asleep in the car if it weren't for an emergency trip to starbucks. i lucked out there. they were training a new employee and it was still raining so there was no line, and the new employee messed up my drink order the first time she tried to make it so i got a free venti sized drink instead. i also had two backup tumblers of coffee to tide me over until lunch. luckily school wasn't so bad. my a day teachers, at least, have had the decency to give up on the possibility of any of us learning anything within the lovely cinderblock walls of a high school ever again. so we're doing a completely useless project in econ (jennifer and i are already almost done), sitting around and chatting in yearbook, and watching movies and drawing pictures about our Feelings in gov (you don't know how much i wished i was british during that class so i could sit up and announce, "i'm english - we don't have feelings" and maybe thrown in a "pip pip" or a "cheerio" or something similar. i don't know, in my mind people in england are still stuck in the empire builder stage).

robert downey jr. has no purpose in this post. robert downey jr. needs no purpose.

and then came early release, where i chatted with mona while i waited for the momster to come collect me (no, i will not be driving regularly enough to take myself to school, thank you very much. i'm not that crazy). we had a good talk, involving makeup, music, and blogging. apparently she's a lurker. also, she might be joining our Nameless Band of Munchkins Except For Jenibean Who Throws the Entire Thing Off By Being a Tall Asian So I Guess We're Musketeers for our sleepover this friday. since we don't want a repeat of how s-la was introduced to the other Musketeers (it was awkward), i suggest she start commenting so that the Musketeers can get to know her. also, everyone keep in mind that our merry band of almost-munchkins is welcome to suggestions for a better name.

then came the two hour conference call of slightly dead-eyed randomness (methinks i wasn't the only one feeling a little out of it today) where we attempted to hash out our weekend plans. conclusions reached: we can't make plans. it was enlightening. at least i rediscovered a kesha song and found my 997th cover song. now to find those last three. i'm hoping they're good ones. quality control is important, you know?

and then i started blogging. oh, and catching up on my usual internet binge of current events/music news/blog reading. here's a new one i found. it's equal parts funny and sad, so be warned.

and here are the songs i've been listening to today. none of them are new or unique or anything. they've just been on loop in my head.

today's title song:

another pretty song. i first heard it on grey's anatomy years (has it really been years since that show was decent enough to watch? that's so weird) ago in the second season episode damage case. if you haven't watched the first two seasons of that show, you should, since they were actually really good...and then it got famous and the writing became awful:

oh, and this one's been on my summer sleep playlist for a while, but i thought now would be a good time to post it since i have a banana-related message anyway and i'm too lazy to get on facebook (which i hate). dear banana: s-la wants you to come on a b day like tuesday or thursday or next monday or wednesday. then you can join the early release movie club and visit the weeds in the senior courtyard with us. i half agree with this plan, but would also like to point out that i am both incapable of giving advice and am in actual classes for three fourths of every b day, whereas you could probably sneak into econ (i have williams) and yearbook on a days. but then you could visit sturtz on b days when i have her and...i have no idea. i'm highly indecisive. show up some day so we can marvel over how much you once grew and how worldly wise you are &c. &c.

give them to the night

today's title comes from sunflower by low. i've been listening to it (and the rest of the album it's from) constantly this week. it makes for good "gee, i should probably study for APs, but i won't, so i guess i'll just listen to relaxing music and not panic instead" listening.

it gets bonus points for having the first youtube result for the song be a skins video, but since e4 (the channel skins is on in the uk) disabled embedding on any video featuring its content, you'll have to make do with the boring one instead.

i've decided that i approve of the alien rat dog haircuts after all, even if they did make cookie and lulu are extra-shivery in the cold. now i have an excuse to dress them up in cute little sweaters! also their neverending search for heat has made them even more cuddly than usual (as i type this lulu is curled on top of both my feet), which is always good. best of all, it's made the daily check for ticks that much easier; i took them for a run in the rain to the canoe launch and was able to pry one off cookie in seconds. shrieky, flaily seconds, but seconds nevertheless.

besides, lulu (the one that looks like a mixture of pinky and the brain) is actually looking sort of cute with her giant head and paws and floppy ears. i'd snap a picture of her, but...well, i already mentioned the sleeping on my feet, right? because she is. and my toes are extremely toasty and reluctant to return to their normal unheated state, so you'll just have to make due with a puppy from cuteoverload.

i don't think you're complaining too much about the lack of lulu. that little dude is adorable.

other than my acceptance of hairless rat dogs my beloved pets, nothing much happened today. i went to school, got tacos and starbucks, came home, read, wrote, and blogged. i'm so interesting, i know. i guess being boring is better than having something horrible happen, though, so there's that.

besides, the national's new album high violet was officially released yesterday. and we all know what that means: i had to go on a mass deletion spree from my iTunes to make room for all the glee songs and an official studio release of high violet there are finally high quality versions of their songs on youtube (and in my iTunes library). this is one of my favorites (and is probably going to be the first single from the album, so i guess it's their favorite, too)

here's little faith, too:

i'd post another one of my favorite songs from this album, but it's not available on youtube yet. it's called england, though, if you want to get it.

anyway, it's getting late and i have to be a good little girl and actually make it to an AP exam on time for once (this is my last shot! ever!), so i guess this is where i'm going to leave off. expect lots of depression and whining about hand cramps tomorrow.

you know those rainy days ain't so bad when you're the king

today's title comes from fans by kings of leon. here, listen to it, it's one of my favorites.

i'm home now, and i'm pretty much killing time until glee comes on, so i thought i'd blog now.

nothing very interesting happened today. i woke up (late, as usual, so yesterday's straightened hair didn't get to make a reappearance), made coffee, went to school, played apples to apples in econ, sat around and talked in yearbook, went to lunch, mooched a bag of frozen strawberries off of jennifer (she brought them in to make punch for her spanish class), and went to gov to watch the world's most boring civil rights movie ever. seriously. i didn't think it was possible to make me hate thurgood marshall but that movie managed it. oh, and then i tagged along with the momster to do Mysterious Real Estate Things (organize papers and look up numbers) and possibly accidentally flashed half the cars on route 7.

gratuitous robert downey jr. gif is gratuitous

just kidding about that last one. well, sort of. basically, i wore two bras today (i felt like bean, it was fun), and then on the way to starbucks (half price frapps! i had three, so it might have cancelled out, but whatever - at least when i work for the momster she buys my coffee) i was like "hey, the momster's office has a gym attached, maybe i can work out" and blame the caffeine i've had seven cups today proceeded to do the good old sleepover/locker room wiggle to pull it off. so, really, i probably didn't actually flash anyone today, but according to the momster i got several strange looks from people on the road.

and here, have some pictures of the alien rat dogs. they have to wear sweaters when we walk them now since otherwise the cold makes them shiver.

look at my little baby aliens

doesn't she look like brain from pinky and the brain?

i like to think of this picture as cookie mourning his lost fur

glee just came on, so that's all for now. how can i resist rachel berry butchering the climb?

Alien Rat Dogs

I am sitting at the kitchen table, sipping my coffee, and lamenting the change in my dogs from these pinacles of furry glory:

To this:

My babies! They've been shaved! How could That Woman do this to us? See if I get her a Mother's Day present ever again. Look how she repaid me - by having my fluffy little munchkin dogs replaced by aliens.

I'm going to go drown my sorrows in frappucino. Excuse the capital letters, I'm blogging from my phone.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

i've been reading some texts in my dreams

today's title comes from gypsy part of town by gogol bordello. i'd post it for you, but i'm on a terrible school computer (it's a pc - blegh). travis is here printing econ free responses...again, because apparently the 600 sheets we printed thursday weren't enough. oh well, at least we recycle.

i have coffee. it's not even starbucks coffee (well, it kind of is, but the kind you grind at home, not the kind they make for you). it's even better, though. like, i'm not a big fan of going to, say, a restaurant and ordering the most complicated, picky dish on the menu with very specific cooking guidelines. doing that always makes me feel bad for the waiter, and then i overtip out of guilt, and then i see s-la and feel guilty for overtipping (she's my consumer conscience, it's great). i feel the same way about ordering something really complicated from coffee shops (except the drive-thru ones in ashburn and frederick, because we go there pretty regularly and they should be willing to suffer for our continued patronage...also, i like the word patronage. it makes me feel powerful and tyrannical and a little like kurtz in heart of darkness, all "exterminate the brutes"...only in this case the brutes would be bad coffee makers, i guess), so i actually like making it at home in the mornings, since then i could have my half teaspoon of raw, not processed thankyouverymuch, sugar and my coffee piping hot (and not left out and starting to cool) and just a splash of half and half. a splash, which indicates just tipping your hand for a second, not just dumping in milk.

...yeah, i'm a little compulsive. don't judge me. judge robert downey jr. instead.

this just in: travis doesn't like poor, abused robert downey jr. i know, i know. get the pitchforks ready. we're about to burn the witch.

they told me you missed school today

and they would be right, although i'm thinking that the stereophonics didn't write handbags and gladrags specifically for me.

in other words, the momster did something kind of crazy today. after lunch (and also after the calc exam which i sadly couldn't skip even though i should have since it, like all my exams but one, was held at an unearthly hour in what i hear is termed "the morning"), she called the school and told them we had a "family emergency" so i could get out of class. and then we went shopping and to final fittings of my prom dress since she was afraid i was getting too stressed. it was pretty awesome, even if her shopping habits manage to horrify me (don't ask how much she spent on foundation because it is not a pretty number). also, i finally got her a mother's day present, so there's one thing off my To Do list. oh, and then i went to godiva and had one of their dark chocolate raspberry drinks. it was almost as good as a frappucino.

oh, and then we went to borders and i picked up city of god, one of the books i was too broke to buy on my borders trip with s-la last week. i can't wait to start reading it. since i pretty much failed at leaving breakfast at tiffany's for after AP exams, i think it'll become my reward book, along with the tin drum, which i borrowed from sarah, even though i sort of already started reading that.

anyway, it's late and i have to be up early for the lit exam tomorrow, so i'm going to cut this short and leave you with music:

just for the sake of the storyline

the title comes from we the dreamers (scroll down a post if you still haven't listened to it).

my life doesn't usually lend itself to alliteration so you probably won't see a friday favorites post from me (but go check out gina's, they're fun). however, i can do a tuesday favorites (alas and alack, that really doesn't have the same ring to it at all) post since it's tuesday and i have...favorites.

yeah, i know. i should have named this post Unwieldy Phrases For $1000, Alec. maybe next time?

anyway, these are my favorites of the day:

cookie's been looking awfully cute lately, even if he did try to sleep on my face last night.

chocolate, new shoes, and coffee. life is good. the shoes might be my favorites. the momster surprised me with them on the way home from school. i don't feel like taking a decent picture of them (see labels: 'fatty fatty no friends' and 'i sold my soul to sbux' for a full explanation), so here they are as photographed by dsw. the link is kind of weird, so future reference i have them in black. someone else who wears a size eight get them in the other colors so we can trade because i love them all.

surprisingly i'm actually done with my homework already. mostly because i gave up on paying attention during physics and have turned the class into a giant study hall, but still - you all need to be extremely proud of me, okay? especially since no homework leaves more time to blog and write and read and drool at pictures of cute shoes on my computer screen.

so i'm fully aware that nine times out of ten you will all hate the music i post. i'm pretty okay with that since the tenth time will allow me to introduce you to kate voegele or mumford and sons (ahem, s-la). but since it's my blog i'm going to go ahead and post whatever i want to.

so first up is the new single from b.o.b. & hayley williams (from paramore) that just premiered on itunes. i held off on posting this one since the leak i had was pretty low quality and so were all the versions on youtube, but with an official studio version out the youtube videos are finally good enough to post:

oh, and s-la, this one's for you. we all know about my butch walker love, but this video's also great for it's guest stars and actual plot:

every summer is a hot token

today's title comes from beach baby by bon iver. it's good road trip music, see:

gee, i've been a horrible blogger this month. i don't even have an excuse. at least it's been a relaxing break from blogging. i've spent 25 of the last 48 hours sleeping. that's right - 25. as in, i went to sleep at 6 p.m. friday night, woke up at noon saturday, and went back to sleep at 11. it was awesome. i feel wonderful and  i finally got rid of the bags under my eyes. i'm thinking this was time well spent, even if the momster was so mystified by my being in bed before midnight that she thought i wasn't home and called poor s-la trying to figure out where i was. oh, parents. i worry about what'll happen to her while i'm at college. that woman can't function by herself. i think i need to get her a boyfriend or a nanny. i'm working on it.

besides that i went shopping, picked up some moisturizer, got some chipotle, went on a car ride with the momster, and enjoyed the sunshine. thank god for the sun today. i missed it friday.

oh, and kings of leon's episode of austin city limits was on today. i came home just in time to watch it. they were on before only by the night came out, so it's all their good music. since you're all cunty whores terrible people who missed it even after i texted you, i'll post samples:

see, don't you feel better now? cutie followill approves of this post:

besides being a faithful acolyte of kings of leon, i spent a lot of my time in the car and at lunch youtubing videos of cute things. these are my favorites:

that one just made me lol for the poor, scared, frozen cat on the left in the beginning

and this one is...pretty self-explanatory, actually.

my favorite!

boys who like cats are awesome.

oh, but the fire went wild

if you don't know the song today's title came from...well, shame on you. go fetch your ipods right now and start listening to ring of fire by johnny cash, who is awesome and deserves to be remembered by our generation for something other than that joaquin pheonix biopic and his cover of hurt (which, okay, was still pretty amazing).

i spent today in an ecstasy of hermitatude. which is another self-invented word, it's true, but there previously existed no word in the english language which could accurately convey the levels of hermitness to which i had sunk and so i was forced to invent one. also i've consumed indecent levels of sugar and caffeine today and really can't be held responsible for anything i type.

basically all i've done today is read and snack and listen to music. also i spent a lot of time playing with the internet and youtubing silly things and interviews with pretty boys serious musicians and actors. oh, and i replenished my stockpile of gifs. they mostly all feature this wonderful person:

anyway, i'm almost done rereading the return of sherlock holmes. i stopped reading towards the end of the adventure of the six napoleons mostly because i was overcome with a most undignified urge to giggle at watson and inspector lestrade spontaneously standing and applauding at holmes's explanation of the mystery.

i thought i'd let holmes robert downey jr. illustrate my expression during that story for you. phase one: the initial and proper hilarity. phase two was a little more complicated and mostly consisted of feeling guilty at sir arthur's tendencies toward theatrics and purple prose. not included in the gif is phase three, which was when i remembered that clearly arthur conan doyle had no dignity to speak of. proof? the lost world. it was a book about surprise dinosaur adventures. trust me - i reread it today and had heaps of fun with it. i mean, it is a book about surprise dinosaur adventures, but at least they're entertaining surprise dinosaur adventures and not, say, jurassic park which was an utter bastardization and if sir arthur conan doyle had some shortcomings as a writer he at least was better than that idiot film made him out to be i'm sure he rolled over in his grave when it came out and screamed british swear words at the filmmakers.

in keeping with the general boring trend of this blog, i spent the rest of my day enjoying the spoils of the momster's grocery shopping raids trips. among them: java chip and mocha starbucks ice cream. i have a horrible presentiment that i'll come out of spring break bearing a strong resemblance to a hobbit, though hopefully without hairy toes.

i'm pretty sure i've blogged about both of these songs before (and if i haven't, i've just been a horrible Rachel and will have to change my name to something awful like Lola or Afghanistan until such time as my actions have returned to a proper state of Rachelism) but i love them to itty bitty pieces i've been playing them both all day so i thought i'd share them anyway:

and:

two posts in one day? inconceivable!

don't worry, though - this is more of a drive-by post. expect the lapd to show up any second now wielding baseball bats and machetes and...who am i kidding? like i know anything about drive-bys.

anyway, i'm just stopping by to share this little picture with you:

it's a highly accurate summary of my day. also, if any of you have the great misfortune to see me first thing in the morning, i will henceforth refer you to this very post as an excuse for any half-dead grunting, snapping, or suicidal behavior you may have witnessed.

oh, and just so you all know, i just got back from a quick run to starbucks. The Drink (in venti. venti. but we were the last people there and since i'm still studying for my calc test there won't be any midnight runs to the frederick starbucks tonight) and i were highly amused to find this at the top of our tumblr dashboard.

i'm listening to i gave you all by mumford and sons. the end of this is so shivery and perfect. i'm assuming you've all been good little readers and youtubed them already, so i'm sure you all agree with me, right?

was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night?

today's title comes from mumford and sons, specifically, this song:

it's not my favorite song of theirs, though. actually, i'm not really sure i have a favorite. it could be this one:

or this one:

but this one is mark hoppus's favorite, so i guess i'll post it, too:

in case you couldn't tell, you're meant to listen to all of these. why else would i go to the trouble of posting all these videos?

i just got back from dinner and starbucks with the momster. i don't know if i've mentioned this already, but the illustrious momster has some odd taste in drinks. her two most common orders at starbucks are a "grande double shot caramel machiatto with no whipped cream, extra foam and no caramel on top" and a "caramel apple spice latte with no caramel". occasionally she likes to change things up a little and get something even more ridiculous sounding. today it was something like a triple shot bold blend latte. i accidentally grabbed her order instead of my own (a relatively tame double shot peppermint mocha) and pulled this face:

it was like drinking petroleum. i had to chug my piping hot drink just to get the taste out of my mouth. seriously, that much espresso is just unhealthy (except after an all nighter - then it's a vital component of staying awake). actually, i ended up with a venti triple shot mocha the morning of the SAT way back in - geez, sophomore year. two whole years ago. wow, i feel old. i'm mostly mentioning this as advice to gina, who's taking that oh-so-wonderful test tomorrow.

you know, it's strange. the juniors in my yearbook class are starting to brainstorm ideas for next year's yearbook theme. cory (the last third of gina's and my amazing design team) already came up with one, actually. it's a pretty good idea, but i was listening to her talk about it today and mostly going, "wow, how are you okay with coming back for another year? i'm so ready to be gone."

because i am. ready to graduate, i mean. you should all know by now that senioritis has hit me hard. i mostly just vegetate in class now except for calc because then driskill would sneak up and kill me and i really, honestly don't see the point of 99.9% of the activities we do (do an egg drop project, you say? take an open note quiz? define the same stupid seven terms on every vocabulary list this quarter. ha, i don't even think the teachers care anymore). it's just strange to take a break from wanting to move on and think, "look how long it's been." nostalgia, it's a fun word. the last four (really, six if you have a paranoid/ocd brain like mine which began chanting 'you've gotta get into a good college' the moment it entered middle school) years have been defined by a set of specific goals and challenges and plans and deadlines and they've all passed, for better or worse. sure, there's a few left - scholarships and prom and beach week and that one last field day - but for all intents and purposes school's already over.

pretty strange, huh?

anyway, this post has gotten too emo, so here's two tiny things to make you laugh. (and if you were wondering, i'm blogging from my phone and posting gifs is easier than pictures on the app i'm using since all i have to do is copy and paste a link to my photobucket instead of actually uploading a picture):

"you have flapper hair"

today's title is courtesy of s-la, in reference to the New Hair which you might remember me mentioning on friday. lately my judge of a good haircut has been based on one factor: what it looks like first thing in the morning. sadly, i was too blegh this morning to snap a picture, but i did take a nap when i got home from school today (why, yes, i am that boring) and had the presence of mind to snap a picture. in other words, here are your before and after shots. form your own opinions on The Hair.

(after school: don't i look cheery? yeah, i didn't think so either)

 (post-nap bedhead)

in other news, my ipod is on its way to the apple store, after days of waiting. i neglected to accompany it since the last time i went in there they greeted me by name. in other words, i've broken one too many gizmos and thingamees to feel comfortable setting foot in an apple store for the next two years.

today was a mixture of boring and horrible. in other words, i went to lit, calc, and physics. lit sans a teacher and calc with a quiz (thankfully it was a partner quiz, though, so thank god for stephanie) were both horrifically boring and physics was an exercise in endurance. you know those classes where you have to pinch yourself to keep from drifting off? that's physics for me.

thankfully things have started looking up. this is mostly because i'm on frappucino number two of the day, but also due to naptime, series four of skins, and fleet foxes. oh, and i finished my homework early for once.

i think i'm going to cut today's post short - i've got some reading to catch up on. top of the list? nightlight, that twilight parody i blogged about way back when.

derailment

i had all these plans for a really great post about the thinky thoughts jeni's post on high school inspired me to have. and by "really great" i mean "general bitchery about how i'm just ready to graduate and doing something i'm actually interested in". it would have been a masterpiece - i'm 99% certain that i would've managed to shoehorn in an overblown metaphor or eight. in the words of rory gilmore - alas, alack. i was distracted by the complete perfection that is proenza schouler's pre-fall collection. i want it all. i mean, it's a snow day in the middle of february and it has me wishing for the good ol' september august back-to-school frenzy.

really, though, i just want this entire outfit:

(come on get higher - matt nathanson)

oh, why must it be so crazyexpensive? i suppose i'll just have to pull on a lady gaga mask and go knock over some banks. 

i'm drinking another peppermint mocha frapp right now and feeling very lovely and dissipated for doing so. it's sort of sad that my idea of luxury is having the guys at starbucks know you well enough to reopen and make you a drink even after they've closed. then again, my idea of a glamorous late night involves sipping said drink and putting itunes on shuffle while i play on the internet, so i guess it makes sense. 

(between - vienna teng)

i just updated the bloglist to include some of the songs that i've kept on loop these past few days. i've pretty much given up on making it any sort of actual playlist - now it's more of a 'here's what i want to listen to when i post things' type of deal.

today's link roundup is mostly positive. sure, there's the stray rumor that beyonce might be collaborating with kings of leon (please, god, no), but there was also news of the strokes' new album, a collaboration i actually like in the form of gerard way on amanda palmer's next album, hilarious rock star spending stories, a free (and legal) kid cudi download on kanye west's blog. the best of all these, though?

(jolene - ray lamontagne)

j. k. rowling is now a barbie doll. no, really. where was this when i was a kid? 

and now i'll step away from the linkage to fill you in on my fun-filled snow day. hooray for emergency babysitting for the neighbors - i love that employers won't let parents off of work when their kids don't have school. now i've got shopping money (not proenza schouler shopping money, but still). i did a lot little light reading today, too. the list? the golden compass and subtle knife by philip pullman, followed by the communist book club-approved looking glass wars. i figure that i'll finish that and the sequel and then reward myself by rereading the amber spyglass. and then stealing the third looking glass book from s-la. 

(exitlude - the killers)

reasons why rachel has yet to sleep

1. the interwebs:

(climbing up the walls - radiohead)

2. coffee. and links about coffee. 

(you wanna get me high - the donnas)

3. them things with the words and the - what's it called? oh yeah, paper. 

(bell, book, & candle - eddi reader)

oh hypocrisy

dear ke$ha-with-the-unpronouncable-name (s-la has decided to call her 'k-dollar-ha', but i can't quite reconcile my conscience to that) :

i really didn't want to like you, but you're making it so hard when you give interviews like this. it doesn't hurt that you take pictures like this (please take the time to mention that midtown reunion - you know you want to):

lots of not-quite-love-or-even-complete-like-but-a-tolerable-amount-of-affection-nonetheless

rachel

to all the rest of you: 

exams are over. physics was a breeze. i'm going to reward myself by finishing my peppermint mocha, hopping on the treadmill (since my poor drink is chock full o' calories but having it made with skim milk is a travesty not to be considered), and then rereading good omens or listening to my brand new sherlock holmes audiobooks. i should probably hunt down a bag for s-la's prezzie, too. 

speaking of s-la, i'm headed over to her house for her birthday extravaganza (there are rumors of cheesecake varieties and pocahontas - i'm excited) later tonight, so maybe i'll blog again from there. if i can't be a travel blogger yet, i'll at least blog after i've traveled...three whole streets away from my house.

oh and i'm listening to steven by ke$ha. all her songs are so snickery. besides, she really is great workout music.

all my problems are solved

(i'm waiting for the man - the velvet underground)

the phone is dead (so is my brain). it's time to recharge and hop back on the ole homeworking horse, i guess. oh, i just know i'm mixing my metaphors dreadfully right now (refer back to the first sentence of this post, if you please). jane austen makes me want to be british. barbara kingsolver mostly makes me happy i'm not white, male, or a baptist preacher. thanks, babs.

s(a)tu(r)d(a)y

so my today was eventful...not. ha, sorry, i was feeling pretty nineties today.

(all the small things - blink-182)

it started with breakfast. breakfast, in this case, took place around noon and involved a quick trip to the drive-thru starbucks in ashburn. in my hot pink, hello kitty pajamas. unfortunately the drive-thru was closed and i had to get out of the car to get my caffeine fix. in my hot pink, hello kitty pajamas.

listen, kids, this is why you should just say no when someone offers you coffee. addiction is not the way, it leads to all sorts of unspeakable horrors and humiliations. also, you spend a lot of time on the treadmill working off those darn empty calories.

(a funny thing - penguin prison)

anyway, after that we went to the post office and sent some stuff off to various relatives with birthdays this month and to the momster's mysterious work-related people. while leaving the parking lot, i had time to realize my dog really is the cutest creature in existence. just look at his little face! and his smooshy little nose!

(come save - sarah reeves)

after that i got down to work. i've made a good dent in my giant AP lit exam review packet and made some calc formula flashcards. luckily we're getting a formula sheet for the physics test, so i don't have to worry about that. i finally printed out the eleventy billion and one pages of review packets my english teacher put online, too, and started reading them over. it was pretty boring, so i was pretty happy when the momster brought down the lovely bowl of chopped cherries and cookie dough ice cream pictured above as a mid-studying snack. clearly that whole 'get fit in the new year' resolution can be deferred to february.

(breakin' - the all-american rejects)

i snacked, then studied a little more, and finally gave up and started rereading the poisonwood bible again. i know, i know. it's probably not necessary. i rationalized it to myself by figuring that i'd be so familiar with this book come exam time that all the essays would be a breeze. i'll just write about nothing but poisonwood, who needs those other three books?

anyway, by now my copy of the book looks like one giant block of highlighting. see, on the first few rereads, i just highlighted the parts that made me laugh or seemed important. since then i've been highlighting the bits that talk about colonialism or adah's character, but it's all been with the same highlighter, so you get pages that look like the one in the picture. one of these days i'll learn to color code.

at least it was fun to go through and see all the things i highlighted on my first reread. here's one of my favorites:

"With all due respect," my father said, "this is not the time or the place for that kind of business. Why don't you sit down now, and announce your plans after I've finished with the sermon? Church is not the place to vote anyone in or out of public office."

"Church is the place for it," said Tata Ndu. "Ici, maintenant, we are making a vote for Jesus Christ in the office of personal God, Kilanga village."

Father did not move for several seconds. 

Tata Ndu looked at him quizzically. "Forgive me, I wonder if I have paralyzed you?"

- Leah Price, The Poisonwood Bible