The Bliss of Ms. Blossom

My parents gave me a card with a twenty in it. I saw Vagina Monologues with an old friend and a new one. I gave advice even though I never take advice. A group of us went to Pei Wei then a movie made for humans. Some friends came over and ate red velvet cake with frosting and sprinkles. I got to talk to both Steph and Ryan on the phone. Mandy gave us her *pop-up Valentine with a bloody knife*! We set a pinecone on fire and unsuccessfuly tried to steam open a letter. A Scotsman and I disagreed about the British monarchy. Jess gave me a candy Valentine outside of the English building. I heard some good school-related news, ranging from graduate programs to the commencement ceremony. I was creepy and brilliant and funny. Our professor threw conversation hearts at the class. A man with big earrings gave me a red condom and brochures about STDs. I lost a few bets.

Seeing Stephen Colbert go off on the Australian Prime Minsiter? Absolutely fuckin' priceless.

There was another Ulysses quote I was trying to remember that was about a Goddamned Idiot, but it escapes me now. Boylan is a character in the book who made a pun when he was waiting on someone, and I love puns. My plans of staying the whole 24 hours (I'm sure the Marathon lasted a lot longer than that judging by how far behind we were getting as the night progressed) did not even come close to being realized. I stayed approximately 10.5 hours, which is still an impressive amount of Joyce. Granted, there were many breaks scattered throughout the evening: Celtic music (which was really enjoyable, and I almost regret not waking up on time this morning to see them perform again - 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 none - 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 5 3 and 1!), smoke breaks, coffee runs. It was great when, at midnight, it was announced that the English Dept had a $75 tab at the front, so we were encouraged to go help ourselves. By the time I left, I drank a lot more tea than coffee, but finally got the Oreos I had been craving since about 7pm. And I got to see some really hideous Prom-esque dress/tops on three girls who walked in but didn't stay long. They must have been cold, but, anything for fashion, right?

The actual readings were semi-good. I was really hardcore about paying attention at the beginning, so now I don't have to read for class for the next week or so. And even though it was impossible to stay mentally focussed for that long, I was able to get used to the way Joyce wrote. Something kind of clicked, and I don't think it's going to be as much of a struggle anymore. He's not intimidating anymore, but a friend with whom I just spent 10.5 hours. I don't really feel the need to see him tomorrow, but the next time I do see him, it will be better because we are comfortable with each other now. And our class seems more comfortable with each other. We've run (part of) the Ulysses gauntlet together, and some of these people are pretty awesome. I'm glad I went (despite the uncomfortable church pews which are one more of the many reasons that makes me grateful I never went to church), and I'm also glad I left when I did so I could get something done today instead of sleeping through it.

The painful part of the readings was listening to people who, umm... suck at reading. And I don't just mean some of the phrases in foreign languges. Although I think that, since we knew our lines beforehand, it would make sense to try and work on the pronunciation. But there were some people who don't even seem to know their native language. Or who take half an hour to pronounce "Grafton Street" or "moustache." These people, we should softly take by the hand, and lead them somewhere else where I don't have to listen to them for ten minutes straight. Melanie messed up on a French phrase, and actually started laughing toward the end of it, because she heard just how bad it sounded. I forgive Melanie because I like her. Bias? Of course. Besides, us unpopular people have to stick together. We were sitting out in the front taking a break, and an acquaintance asked to join our table. We graciously welcomed her, only to have her excuse herself five minutes later and ask the people on the couch behind us if she could sit with them.

Later a drunk friend with a drawn-on moustache deliberately grabbed my head and entoned that he loved me, so maybe that makes up for it. Popularity comes and goes. Ulysses, on the other hand, will be here for the rest of the semester.

Snow really makes me aware of the depth of the air around me. When I was driving in it earlier, I kept on getting distracted by the way it seems to hang in the air and flesh it out. Especially when, later, the streetlamps came on and I could see beams of snow in the darkness. It was really beautiful snow, too. Huge flakes that actually do "stay on your nose and eyelashes" (I really do love the Sound of Music for all it's corniness, except for the part about the one girl who is "going on 16" and has to depend on Rolfe the Nazi-Bastard). Furthermore, I'm going to take snow today as a really good sign (not that I necessarily feel one way or the other about "signs," but I watch for them out of habit). Maybe I'm somewhere snowy next year? As long as I don't dress like the crazy person I am, I could take the cold weather. And maybe my footprints will be warm.