In need of a break

Bedtime

      Over the years, I have painstakingly established a bedtime routine optimized to get my brain to shut up and go to sleep as expeditiously as possible. It involves taking a shower at a certain time, singing calming songs in said shower, having a filling dessert so I don't wake up hungry at 2am, and controlling the ambient levels of sound, light, and temperature during this process to encourage restfulness. Magnesium supplements are involved on scheduled days, and the gentleman is kind enough to support all this by keeping things quiet when it's dessert time, even if he's staying up later. 

Paranoid or cautious?

      In the past, I've had my fair share of catcalls, harassment, and being followed while out in public. I've learned to deal with it and present myself as not-a-target, to the point where I feel fairly confident walking around on my own, even after dark. The neighborhood we're in now has always felt safe, so as the days grow shorter, I've just kept walking at my usual time, despite it being definitely nighttime. Three events have happened in the last couple months that make me wonder if I'm being paranoid, or justifiable cautious, and if I need to do research on what sort of personal protection items are legal in this area. 

     The first event seems fairly innocuous, and I didn't really pay it much mind at first. I saw another person walking along the sidewalk I'd turned onto, so I popped out into the street to pass them; they were in regular clothes and clearly having a nice stroll and I was in workout gear clearly getting my cardio in. Parking along the curb is very common here, so I didn't really keep an eye on the person as I passed. For safety reasons, I don't have headphones or music playing while I walk, so I clearly heard the "hey, excuse me, are you working out?" when I'd gotten about 6 feet past them. I turned my head and politely answered in the affirmative, and the guy replied something along the lines of, "I thought so, 'cause of your outfit. It's clearly doing your body well, keep it up!" 

The beginning of the end

     What? No, not the Mayan end of days thing. I'm still waiting patiently for my opportunity to be able to say I told you so on that one. The end I'm talking about is the semester. It's that time where that nice comfy schedule you've gotten used to blows up in your face. Teachers start asking for papers and projects, expecting you to remember stuff they told you 15 long weeks ago, and warning you about this massively weighted, three-hour test that's looming ahead in your schedule. Nights get longr, days get more hectic, you strt forgetting whats next in your dayy and your ealize that you're running on nothing but caffeinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

   
     Just kidding. I haven't yet pulled an all-nighter, and I refuse to. Procrastinator I may be, but I procrastinate to my 11th hour- that is, the last minute that I can do something and still get a good night's sleep afterwards. That said, this is a short post, because I've been working on memorizing lines for the musical this weekend, studying for a test on Tuesday, and trying desperately to keep some amount of fluency going in three different languages. Here's hoping the beginning of the end of the year is a good one for you. Only 27 days to go til 2013, and heavens knows I'm ready for 2012 to be over already. Cheers!

Crunch time

     Going back to reality after time off is always difficult, and this coming week is proving to be no different than usual. On the positive side, there are only three weeks left of classes before the end of the semester, so crunch time won't be too bad. On the well, not-so-positive side, these three weeks are going to be somewhat difficult.

     For starters, the French pronunciation through song class that I'm auditing/ helping out in is gearing up for it's version of a final, which is a week of 5-hour evening rehearsals and then two nights of performances. Unfortunately, the rehearsals start at the same time my Russian class does, so I either need to beg out of the first two hours (thank goodness I just have a bit part), or go to the earlier Russian classes... which would then cut into the time I am scheduled to work. So already, right off the bat, scheduling chaos.

FTP 30 - Mental health day

     Before things get to this point:

     Consider taking one of these:

     Trust me, it's worth it. 

Photo from hiren.info

FTP 24 - Beginner's gap

     This has not been the best of weeks for me, so I'm cheating and offering up someone else's words of wisdom for consideration today. This one has helped me a lot over the last few years:

Drawings will return, at some point, I promise. I'm just fighting my way through some other stuff at the moment. Cheers!

Limbo

     This is just a short post, because having gotten back from Russia and in trying to get back into the swing of things, I've decided to tear my house apart and revamp everything. Add to that the fact that classes start today, and my schedule still isn't nailed down yet for school or for work, and I'm a little bit out of sorts. I mentioned to a friend of mine this past weekend that I felt like such a slacker because I'd been back for almost a complete week, and still didn't have everything caught up, finished, and in place. She wasn't terribly sympathetic, as (according to her) that's just me being a perfectionist again.

     So rather than posting a scatterbrained dissertation on a random topic, here's something to consider:

1. Despite Todd Akin's recent comments about "legitimate rape," he still has the support of 41% of voters in his area. (Think about that, 41% of the voters polled think there is such a thing a "legitimate rape" vs. "illegitimate rape." Sad.)
2. Women who are raped and choose to keep the child have no legal recourse in 31 states, should the rapist try to get visitation or custody rights;
3. Studies have shown that about 6% of men will admit to being a rapist- even being a repeat rapist- as long as the term "rape" isn't used. 
4. "Rape culture," a term coined in the 1970s, has only recently grown in usage, and the US is recognized as being a rape culture. 
5. Police and hospitals in America still treat rape as illegitimate, either by charging the victim for a rape test, denying rape tests if they think the victim knew the accused rapist, giving the victim incorrect information, refusing to enforce their own laws, flat-out not bothering to file a report, or pressuring the victim into recanting their story. 

Comforting, no? So much for America being a beacon of shining liberty. This is kinda a sore topic for me, but I'm not going to apologize. I kept my own silence too long, time to work with others to change that.

Edit: Also, take a look at the VP candidate's view on rape as a "method of conception." I'm sure that's not quite how he meant it, but he made darn sure to dance around the topic...

FTP 20 - Controlling the self

     Ok, I do believe we are back on track now. That is not to say that I have everything put away, caught up, organized and ready to go, but I've found enough breathing room where I can marshall my thoughts into something resembling order once more. With that in mind, here goes this week's FTP:

     A number of times during the last two months, people asked me, "don't you miss being home?" or, "aren't you tired of being on the road for this long?" If you had asked me even two years ago how I thought I'd handle being away from home for two months, I'd have told you I wouldn't deal with it well. I'm a fairly domestic person, I like having things the way I left them, and I like having my down time- alone and in silence.

World's fastest update!

     Not much to say, because I haven't really done much. Today consisted of sleeping until noon, getting up, making breakfast, and then reading til 3 (while walking in circles in the kitchen). One of my roommates and I went to the store then had lunch, after which I came back here and continued watching silly videos until now (7:30). I was lazy, English (and French) speaking only, and had a fantastic day. Sadly, the bad roommate just came home, but all-in-all, fabulous day. Three more til I can get the $%^#@^$!! out of here, woot!

Blank slate

     Usually, when I sit down to write a post, I have something in mind. Either a recent event that I'd like to share for the laughs, or something I feel very strongly about for better or for worse. Despite the injunction to "make me laugh" from a friend for today's post, I find myself remarkably empty of ideas or opinions today. So instead, here's the chaos that will be my upcoming semester:

Testosterone, utilitarianism, and estrogen

     As a brief interjection, Happy New Year's! Here's hoping that 2012 brings us better news than did 2011. That being said, on to the real thoughts of the week.

     Since I moved in to this place, almost a year ago, I haven't done much in the way of decorating, aside from hanging the few pictures that I had either brought with me when I moved away from my ex's place, or clocks that I had bought out of a chronic need to know what time it is. Moreover, since I'm living off of student loans and a recently-acquired part-time job, my budget for niceties has been, well, nonexistent. So I have the bare necessities for living, and that's about it. For a variety of reasons, however, I decided to get curtains for my bedroom this week, and that's when the trouble began.

Utilitarian, but pretty plain.

Back into the swing of things

     When I was a teenager, I remember looking at the world and being offended at how most adults were such creatures of habit. Day in and day out, they had their routine and stuck to it, rarely changing anything or looking around at the amazing world around them (at least, from my perspective, that was the case). It looked like such a dreary, boring, grey life, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

Monday (that's me in the middle, watching)