The smell of the nightmares, the roar of the stress

I promised a pic of my new glasses when they came in and here it is! I was hoping the jaunty angle would show the fact that, while the outside of the frames are black, the edges and inside are hot pink! Too cute! But it didn't really show up in the photo. And I colored my hair last night so I'm not embarrassed to be seen in these parts.



I like them. :)

Do you have anxiety dreams? You know, the kind where you realize that you've had to return to school and pass an exam, but you didn't know about it until the day of the exam and there's no way you can pass it and you run around freaking out trying to find a solution to this improbably dilemma? Or you find that you've come to work and forgotten most of your clothing so you try in vain to find some way to get home with no one seeing you? Yeah, those.

I've had many anxiety dreams over the years and they're usually something like what I described above. But now I have a new brand of anxiety dream. I've named them the "You're On!" dreams. Let me explain.

Last spring, I performed in a musical at my alma mater, Columbia College. It was a three-woman show called Honky Tonk Angels and it was great fun. We put it together in a week, though, so it was a particularly fast-paced, stressful kind of fun. We only had three performances and then it was over. After so much complete immersion, it was just gone. I like to think that maybe this is why it has begun cropping up in my nocturnal life.

Tuesday night (the day after that big exam), I had my fourth "You're On!" dream since I did the musical. They're all slightly different, but the general premise is the same: We're doing the musical again. Right now. Don't remember all your lines? Don't remember the words to all your songs? Yeah, you're totally screwed because you're going on right now. And the first lines of the entire production are mine. And I can't remember them for the life of me. And I keep hoping and praying that there's some sort of theater magic which will kick in and I will suddenly remember everything right when I need to and that it will be a bit like riding a bike or driving a stick shift. That maybe, maybe I have a deep, hidden Honky Tonk Angels Autopilot tucked away in me somewhere. So far, I haven't gotten to find out, because the dreams never get that far. They focus on the frenzy before I actually hit that stage; I wake up before I actually get there.

We could analyze these within an inch of their lives, talk about how I stress myself with procrastination and how this is my mind's way of telling me to stop it or it's way of dealing with the unnecessary anxiety I feed it with my bad habits. But let's not. Because, "Duh!" I torture my brain and it tortures me back. Let's just commiserate about how we all do this to ourselves and the fun and interesting forms these dreams take.

Wanna share?

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Exhibitionism

Yesterday, Lady Linoleum showed us her crafting places and bid us do the same. I decided I would show my stuff, even though I needed to clean first, but I didn't! I'll just let it all hang out. Although, now that I see the pictures, it's not very exciting... Oh well, here goes!

This is where most of my stash lives -- in plastic totes in my front closet which is ginormous (the closet, that is -- this picture doesn't even show half of it):

There's yarn in all those, really there is:


These bags are going to be turned into plastic yarn one of these days...

There's a little more stash in one of my clothes closets (there's mostly fabric in those totes):

My books (when they're put away) live on the bottom shelf of this bookcase in the living room:

The crafting chair with crafting end table and crafting floor:

Growing up, this was the chair that my dad always sat in and fell asleep in every night in front of the news or Johnny Carson. It used to be a really skanky green color. Now it's mine and it's warm and cozy (and no longer skanky green!) and makes a really familiar creak if it rocks and swivels at the same time. It's an awesome crafting chair. :)

Okay, I've shown you mine. Who will show me theirs?

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I made a snowflake this week, it's just that with the exam and everything, I didn't get it posted. Well, okay, I didn't even get it blocked, but I suppose that's minor. So here, utterly unblocked and perched on my awesome lime cutting board (Target Dollar Spot, baby!), is this week's flake, one day late:



Ah yes, the exam. Well, it's over! Not the best exam I've ever taken, but not the worst either. We'll see what the grading is like. Everything else is going really well this semester. Even if I do poorly on this one exam, it certainly won't be the end of the world.

Totally off topic: Have you had your Cadbury Creme Egg yet this year?? I have a long-held tradition of having one every year before Easter (I guess I just can't wait until Easter, once I see them on the shelves). One. Because one is about all I can stand in a year's time. They're good but, egads, are they sweet. Do they make anyone else's teeth hurt?

Mmmmm... Sugary fondant fake egg yolk...

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Progress, with a side of procrastination

Some things never change.

I have a big exam tomorrow and I can't quite get in the mood to study for it. I'm sure it will be a long night, but I can't say that I'm overly worried about it. I'll save that for two o'clock in the morning. Ah, well.

The two days I was home sick last week were mostly spent sleeping and coughing while trying to sleep, but I did get some crocheting in there, too. I am now happily half done with the Crazy Quilt Coverlet! The second half will probably go slower though, due to hopeful non-sickness, though I do hope to get several squares done in the van next weekend to and from a conference. We'll see.

So far, it looks like this:



Doesn't it look right at home there? Alas, that's not its final destination.

Studying. Yeah. I'll get right on that.

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On the mend

My cold is getting much better. I went to school yesterday and didn't cough very much in the morning. Then I had a seminar class in which a friend was presenting. Of course, that was when I had a horrible coughing fit. And when I excused myself to have my coughing fit out in the hall, I twisted my ankle and slammed into the wall. Yes, I'm grace personified. The rest of the day I was fine. Of course.


It is hazy and foggy today. It's burned off a bit since I took this photo and the forecast is 59 F and sunny. We'll see. I have a huge exam on Monday that I must study for, so I won't get to enjoy the weather much. This school stuff is really cramping my weather enjoyment and handcrafting style. Galdarnit anyway.

In other school-related news -- even though there is another week left of my rotation, I have gone ahead and joined Dr. Karrer's lab. So, be prepared for five years of Tetrahymena updates. You'll feel so smart by the end, you'll want a doctorate, too.

Must study -- but first, Whad'ya Know?, coffee, and crochet. Then study.

Sicky, sick, sick

It's just gotten worse around here. Yesterday was the worst -- I couldn't sleep more than an hour at a time because I would wake coughing, drowning in my own mucus. Yes, I know, it's disgusting. Thank god you didn't live it. Then I got a fever, probably because I wasn't getting enough rest, what with the drowning and all. So I stayed home, tried to rest and not hack up a lung, and am staying home most of today, too. Although, I present my findings at lab meeting tomorrow (such as they are) and I have many questions for my prof before I can do so. Argh.

It's warm and bright today. Wish I could enjoy it more.

I know. Pity party.

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Artoo Update

If you'd like to know if there's an R2D2 mailbox near you, you can check the partial list of cities that the Star Wars website posted, or look at the Frappr! Map of R2 units that is constantly updated and completely unofficial, yet probably pretty darned accurate. Happy hunting, if you're so inclined!

Still coughing, but Look!! Artoo!!

Thanks to all the well-wishers regarding my icky chest cold. Alas, I'm not better.

But! Thank god for ADD! Look at what popped up on my campus and has totally distracted me from my misery! (Okay, in the spirit of full disclosure, on my way home last night, I walked right by this and didn't notice it. Because in part of my brain, seeing a random R2 unit on the street just isn't that weird. Analyze it all you want.)


Had you heard about this? I had, and was way excited that there was one within walking distance for me to fawn over!


It's right by the engineering building on Wisconsin Avenue, which is only two buildings away from the life sciences building so, practically right by where I work!! Sorta!!


The boxes themselves bid you check this out. And there's this, too.

Happy. This just makes me so freakin' happy.

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Crochet and coughing

I seem to have taken a chest cold. Harumph.

I did not leave my apartment the entire weekend (except when I took my Saturday Sky photo). I sat around, crocheted, listened to NPR, coughed, and watched some free movies on CinemaNow. I actually wasted a bunch of time trying to crochet a Tetrahymena keychain, but I can't find a way to make cilia that don't look like crap. A common crochet conundrum, I know.

I'm not sure that this is strictly how I'm supposed to do it, but I crochet my snowflakes for Snowflake Mondays over the weekend and show them on Mondays. So, while feeling sorta crappy this weekend, I crocheted Noel Nevin's #1 (the pattern does not have a picture). When I was done, I was surprised to find it was a five-point flake, as I had been expecting a six-pointer.


I looked at the pattern again and, lo and behold, it is a six-point pattern! My cough medicine-addled brain completely malfunctioned. After a heavy sigh and a little giggle, I tried again.

Oh, much better!!


I also took a little chunk out of one of my WIPs -- the Crazy Quilt Coverlet. I started this about two years ago and have never gotten very far. But I will be finishing it soon, galdarnit!!

Here's the progress so far...


I love the colors in the afghan. I think it's going to be really stunning.

Alrighty then. Must find expectorant. ::hack, hack, cough, cough::

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St. Patrick Sky

I couldn't sleep last night and finally gave up at 3 am and got up. I remembered that Hegarty's was going to open at 6 am for St. Patrick's day, so when I went down to take my Saturday Sky photo, I popped my head in to see if anyone actually showed up that early. Oh my. Yep, people were there, drinnking green beer or Irish coffee and eating green eggs and ham. Too early for me, kids. But I took my sky photo just as the sun was breaking over the skyline:



It promises to be a bright, if chilly, day for the St. Patrick's day festivities.

I don't have anything in particular to do this weekend. I'm thrilled beyond belief. I'm sure I'll need to nap since I didn't sleep last night, but otherwise I can do whatever I want. That will involve handwork, I assure you. Also, maybe some cleaning and working out.

Maybe.

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