Finals

Why is it that the last two weeks of school are always the most stressful? Sure we have finals, papers, poster presentations, and all kinds of other fun little things to do but shouldn't it be less stressful? I mean, theoretically, we've learned all that we are going to learn already so we should know all of the material. So why do we worry so much at the end? If the information is in our heads then we should be confident that we will do well. Yet, I find myself wishing that it was next Friday so that everything would be done. Finals? Aced. Poster presentation? Done. Huge proposal paper? Submitted.

Sigh. Until next Friday at 6pm I'll just be eating, drinking, sleeping, dreaming, thinking psychology. Oh, and if anyone has a good idea for my proposal paper just let me know. I have no idea. Oh well, I have eight papers that I have to review so I can discuss previous research, maybe something will inspire me. Not that it'd kill me if my paper isn't perfect...my grade is already so far ahead of the majority of the class that I could submit a decent paper, nearly bomb the final, and still earn an 'A' once the grades are curved. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised. I've gotten a 93% and 84% on the two big tests (not that surprised about that) and still have managed to outscore nearly everyone else by 25-40 points per test (hello surprise). No wonder people voted to have half of our final be a group final. Little do they know, I'm not going to answer in the group--group brainstorming is fine but I'm not going to answer the questions for them like they've basically said they're counting on. I'm earning my A and they can earn their own grade, I'm not responsible for their achievements.
Loves.

Date Night

Friday night is traditionally date night and tonight I had a date. Kind of. I went to dinner and a movie with Scott and his wife, my friend from school, Dina. So my date wasn't romantic, that's fine, I had a really good time. After finally deciding where we'd go to dinner (seriously took us a long time) I met Dina and Scott at Me 'n Ed's Pizza over at The Marketplace. Ok, so when we were deciding we kind of were not thinking about how it's Friday night and all the teens hang out at The Marketplace...seriously, not exaggerating, all of them. Oh well.

After a few loops up and down the parking lot, we finally found spaces and went to dinner. I hadn't met Scott before but had heard a lot about him so it was nice to finally have a face to go with the name and stories. We all chatted quite a bit and did a lot of laughing. It was pretty warm in the pizzeria so we decided to continue our conversation outside. Not quite sure why since it's been really hot during the day. Guess we thought it would have cooled down more by 8:30. It hadn't. This fact, and that we had nothing else we had to do that night, lead to the decision to go to a movie. After all, we were standing in front of the theater. So the next big decision of the night was made: go see Night at the Museum 2, or Up? They both started at the same time so we only had to decide which promising film we were in the mood for. Now I know what you're thinking, how ever did they decide on a movie if they couldn't decide what they wanted to eat? Easy. Up was being shown in 3-D!!



Sure we had to pay an extra $3.50 for the 3-D glasses, but to see this movie in 3-D it's totally worth it. Plus I got a student discount so that helped. It's a good thing that I turned in my recyclables for cash Thursday because that money went straight to the movie. This was my first 3-D movie and I can't believe they aren't doing more movies in 3-D considering the new technology for it. The glasses don't look silly (they look just like Ray Bans) and you can still easily watch the film without them. The details and quality of the effect were outstanding. I vote for more 3-D, especially since I kept my glasses so I won't have to buy additional pairs.

As I'm sure you know, Pixar movies had a short film immediately before the feature presentation starts and this one was very cool. Don't worry, I won't give anything away. Consider this a non-spoiler alert, everything here is safe to read. Once the movie started we knew we were in for a treat. I hope to see it a second time (even in regular old 2-D) because I missed quite a few lines because everyone in the theater was laughing so hard, plus the movie was just that good.



My only complaint is regarding fellow movie-goers. Don't take your young kids to a 9:40 showing. Especially when you have to give them soda to stay awake long enough to see the film. That just makes them squirmy and more likely to behave like a parrot. I heard that line already, I don't need to hear it 20 more times thanks. I know, I am such a grump. Ha.

Tomorrow I'm going to a party at Dina and Scott's place. It's Scott's birthday and they are having a BBQ/pool party to celebrate so I'll be spending my afternoon hanging out by the pool. Don't worry, I'll wear sunscreen.
Loves.

I Want I Want I Want!

I just got an email from Ticketmaster letting me know that "one of my favorites is coming to a venue near me." I normally just delete their emails but decided I'd open it to see if it's anyone I care about. Turns out it totally is!

The Killers will be at the Santa Barbara Bowl September 13th and tickets go on sale starting this Friday. I was lucky enough to see them at UCSB when they were touring for their album Sam's Town. The show sold out as soon as the tickets went on sale and it took a lot of hard work to track down tickets (finally finding some a week before the show). It was totally worth it though because they put on a great show once they hit the stage. I am not even going to get into one of the opening acts...ugh.



As excited as I am at the fact that The Killers are going to be at a venue I could go to, I am bummed that I probably won't get to go. I would be able to attend the show in regards to when it is, but buying a ticket just is not something that I can afford to do right now. I just commented to Dad the other day that since I've moved out here to a place with a large enough venue to get good shows, I have not attended any. I missed my favorite comedian ever, Gabriel Iglesies, Jeff Dunham, and most recently, No Doubt. Now I'll miss another. I miss the size of my paychecks from the bank. Oh well, there is always next tour.
Loves.

Memorial Day Contest

At work we had a contest over Memorial Day weekend to reward our efforts in making sure that we were creating the best customer experience for our shoppers. Each day was a new opportunity to get our name entered into a drawing to win one of three prizes, a new foaming body wash of our choice. Now I try to do my best everyday so earning an entry into this contest would be a bonus. Of course I wanted to earn an entry (or three) but that was not the deciding factor of how I was going to behave at work.



This morning when I called work to check if they were using my call-in shift I was informed that my name was drawn as one of the three winners! Totally made me not care that they were not going to use my call-in. Excited to pick up my prize and it will totally be the Coconut Lime Verbena.
Loves.

Lies I Tell You

I'm going to tell you a secret: sometimes my blog lies. For example, you may have noticed in the past that blog updates have posted around ten in the morning. That's a lie. I'm not on the computer that early in the day. Heck, most of the time I'm not even up yet! Shortly after, sure, but if I get up "early" then I'm going to work or adjusting an AM with light while reclining on the couch. Now don't worry, those are still written by me (as if anyone else could ramble with my style), I just write them 24-48 hours earlier and tell my blog when to post them. It's my method for trying to give you regular(ish) updates and spare you from essays. I'll break up my thoughts into a few different posts and then post them every few days. So when you look back at some of my close together entries just be thankful that I do that and spare you from reading all those ridiculous words in one humongo post.

Loves.

P.S. I wrote this at 11:41PM and decided to post it at 9:41AM for giggles. You all now know I delay posted this one!

A Complex Within The Complex

I like where I live. My apartment is cute, I still love it as much as when I first moved here. And honestly, I'm fairly surprised that it's as quiet here as it is. I know that some fellow Roadrunners live here because they've followed me to campus and visa versa a few times but people tend to really follow the "quiet time" rule. According to the "renter handbook" we're expected to lower volumes to neighbor friendly levels at 10pm. And it's funny how on a Friday night any music that has escaped on the wind will suddenly stop at 9:59pm. After that the main noises that'll be heard are people softly chatting while walking to or from their car.

Until about 2am that is. That's when one of my neighbors (I'm not sure who yet but I plan to find out and take action) gets home from work/kazoo practice/drive-thru duty/clubbing/whatever and feels the need to satisfy his complex of locking his car with the fob thingy. Now, I'm a big fan of the fob thingy with the cool buttons that make your car obey you from up to 50 feet away (I have the power!) but sometimes the old fashion buttons on the car door are pretty dandy too. Like, for instance, when you are parked by someone's bedroom window at 2am and your car fob thingy causes your car to not only lock your doors but to also flash its lights and honk! Now that, my friend, is not cool. Especially not cool when you can't remember 30 seconds ago and re-fob-lock just to make sure that everyone hears the car honk a second time.

Maybe I'll post this sign...



...along with a box for him to deposit my cash into. Next to a tip jar for putting up with him for this long. I think it's fair.
Loves.

Look Out Below!

Sometimes I am afraid that my upstairs neighbor is going to drop a heavy object one too many times and it's going to come crashing down on my head. I really hope that there is a lot of buffer between her falling hammer and my side of the ceiling. The noise alone can be especially startling when it's been fairly quiet up above. I guess I'll take the occasional THUD to the noise made when she's training elephants to dance. Some may say that it's simply a dog running across the apartment but I am pretty sure they're working on the quickstep or lindy hop.



Loves.