Well it's the 27th but family obligations continue to take up a lot of my time...Here's a recap:
Christmas Eve was at my Uncle's per usual. Food highlights included Polish mushroom-leek tarts as one of the appetizers, always-outstanding mushroom soup, the perfectly cooked salmon with Sorrel sauce, and my aunt's kołaćki. There was a break in tradition in that meat pierogi were served after years of request by my one uncle and cousin (Christmas Eve meal is meatless in the Polish tradition), but they were the only two that ate them.
Christmas morning is just my immediate family at our house - we had an Eggs Benedict Strata, which was good, and then just snacked on cookies and whatnot. Gift highlights from my family included spending money for my San Francisco Trip, a new external hard drive, cologne, clothing, and some fun knick-knacks like shot glasses with Polish sayings on them, gay-themed coasters, and some gift cards.
Christmas day was on my Mom's side at my aunt's. The new "tradition" is for my one cousin to bring some trashy friend with nowhere to go on Christmas, etc. to all of our events. Last year she brought her recently-divorced Jewish friend...Now correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are Jewish is it NORMAL to not have any place to go on Christmas nor have any qualms about it. This year we had not only the Jewish friend but some other woman. Much to everyone's surprise she was somewhat normal. We had the usual smorgasbord of ham, naleśniki, potato salad, kiełbasa, kapusta, etc. Since it was the first year that I was in the grab bag and not a regular gift-receiving child, I only got one set of gifts. I got Volver and The Orphanage DVDs, and then a small French Press coffee maker. I wanted all 3, so that was obviously good.
Last night we went to more relatives on my Dad's side. They alternate seeing us every Christmas Eve because of the usual Christmas Eve struggle between Polish families on both sides. It is always somewhat awkward seeing my two cousins (20 and 22) because we used to be like best friends and just kept drifting apart, but a steady flow of beer helped keep things light and fairly non-awkward. My one cousin who now actually has a job bought all the cousins gifts, which was surprising. I got a handle of Belvedere! Hopefully everyone realizes I live on loans and have no money.
That's about it so far. To add to my list of movies watched on account of not having anything to do I've now seen Zodiac, HellBoy, The Mummy IV, Funny Games, P2, and Goya's Ghosts. Today we are going to more family friends - they are known for always having delicious Old World European delights, so I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm ducking out around 8 to go out downtown (finally!) with some friends, so that should be fun.
TTFN!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
שלום
well i've been at home since thursday and i must say i am already bored. shocking. i love my friends but most of the time they are either working or just inaccessible since i'm still in the 'burbs without my own car. i am more or less trapped in this house with nothing to do other than watch movies and learn languages. so far i've watched - 5ive (a heinous horror film) Girls, Sex & The City, Borat, and countless hours of television...I've also been working on my Catalan and have decided to learn Hebrew.
i've managed to avoid getting sick all season, but lucky me, basically everyone in my house is dying of some ailment. i'm still popping my vitamin c and whatnot, so all i've had is a mild sore throat upon waking up. i hope to keep it this way.
one new thing i've gotten into are telenovelas thanks to Andy. we've watched maybe 3 hours of the late 90s soap opera 'La Usurpadora' which is actually quite entertaining. I can't wait to finish and move onto my next one. meanwhile i've started on the Spanish civil war soap 'amar en tiempos revueltos' which is apparently critically acclaimed in Spain. basically i am turning into a cat lady minus the cats.
i went out with my cousin karen the other night, along with kasia and ben, and a bunch of karen's friends. it was somewhat awkward being at least 10 years younger than everyone else, but whatever. i naturally managed to get shitfaced, so who knows what things i may have been saying. kasia and ben, who had left a few hours earlier, had chicken wings waiting for me which was glorious.
my christmas shopping is like half done, though i at least know almost everything else i need to pick up. i went old orchard with my parents the other day but didn't get anything. i can't take the 10% sales tax here. i had a mild trama with respect to a winter jacket - i finally found a coat i really liked, which my parents were going to get me as one of my xmas gifts, but of course A/X is out of my size company-wide. fuck me.
maybe i'll bake or cook something today, not that i can go buy groceries.
i've managed to avoid getting sick all season, but lucky me, basically everyone in my house is dying of some ailment. i'm still popping my vitamin c and whatnot, so all i've had is a mild sore throat upon waking up. i hope to keep it this way.
one new thing i've gotten into are telenovelas thanks to Andy. we've watched maybe 3 hours of the late 90s soap opera 'La Usurpadora' which is actually quite entertaining. I can't wait to finish and move onto my next one. meanwhile i've started on the Spanish civil war soap 'amar en tiempos revueltos' which is apparently critically acclaimed in Spain. basically i am turning into a cat lady minus the cats.
i went out with my cousin karen the other night, along with kasia and ben, and a bunch of karen's friends. it was somewhat awkward being at least 10 years younger than everyone else, but whatever. i naturally managed to get shitfaced, so who knows what things i may have been saying. kasia and ben, who had left a few hours earlier, had chicken wings waiting for me which was glorious.
my christmas shopping is like half done, though i at least know almost everything else i need to pick up. i went old orchard with my parents the other day but didn't get anything. i can't take the 10% sales tax here. i had a mild trama with respect to a winter jacket - i finally found a coat i really liked, which my parents were going to get me as one of my xmas gifts, but of course A/X is out of my size company-wide. fuck me.
maybe i'll bake or cook something today, not that i can go buy groceries.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
things i hate
scratch that blurb about not ranting. i feel compelled to make a list of all the things i currently hate
-the T and its workers
-Logan International Airport
-the fact that there is always miserable weather whenever i fly between chicago and boston
-that i haven't gone to the gym since thursday
-that i am getting fatter by the minute and once again ran out of time today
-the shirts i ordered from AE
-that i am giving everyone shitty xmas gifts
-that i am not in Europe
-professors that can't put up grades in any timely fashion
-that i have no money
-that i have no prospects for a job after getting my MA
-that so many of my friends have left
-that i will probably spend half of break forced to see people i could give a shit about
-that i went straight into grad school after undergrad
-that i stayed at the same university
-FLD
-religion and religion-driven bigots
-how many cookies i ate at work today
-that the fucking dining hall lied and didn't have my favorite wrap
-that i will probably be drunk tonight, then binge eat, then wake up and want to slit my wrists
FUCK ME
-the T and its workers
-Logan International Airport
-the fact that there is always miserable weather whenever i fly between chicago and boston
-that i haven't gone to the gym since thursday
-that i am getting fatter by the minute and once again ran out of time today
-the shirts i ordered from AE
-that i am giving everyone shitty xmas gifts
-that i am not in Europe
-professors that can't put up grades in any timely fashion
-that i have no money
-that i have no prospects for a job after getting my MA
-that so many of my friends have left
-that i will probably spend half of break forced to see people i could give a shit about
-that i went straight into grad school after undergrad
-that i stayed at the same university
-FLD
-religion and religion-driven bigots
-how many cookies i ate at work today
-that the fucking dining hall lied and didn't have my favorite wrap
-that i will probably be drunk tonight, then binge eat, then wake up and want to slit my wrists
FUCK ME
hi it's me
so apparently i subconsciously want to cut myself, because three times since thanksgiving have i sliced open the tips of my fingers...
1) at the airport i stuck my hand into my toiletry bag to get chapstick, instead finding my razor blade. blood started gushing, i had to get napkins at starbucks to wrap it, had to buy band-aids and neosporin, etc.
2) last week i was cleaning out my kitchen drain, and managed to rip open i think the same fingertip on the "jagged" edge of one of the drainage holes.
3) yesterday as i opened god-forsaken application materials from China, i managed to slice upon yet another fingertip on the letter opener.
classes/exams have been completed as of monday afternoon, and it feels kind of awkward not having anything hanging over my head. I've come into work the past few days, but i don't have any responsibilities tomorrow or friday other than eating and imbibing, i guess. i should go christmas shopping, but doing that yesterday only resulted in me buying myself two pairs of jeans and more socks. wunderbar.
with christopher all of the sudden in a bad mood about life, something rather atypical, i'm back to wanting to rant about hating life, hating boston, dropping out of grad school, etc. out of the kindness of my heart, however, i will spare you reader(s).
tonight we are going to white horse to celebrate lauren's bday (which happens over winter break when she is at home with no one to celebrate with), though not before going to some kind of holiday play at christopher's school he teaches at. i just CANNOT wait. i'm hoping one of the nun teachers asks me how i know him. "we are partners in sodomy" shall be my reply.
other than that i suppose i am looking forward to being home for xmas. minus the fact that my gifts to give suck on account of my being poor and i also will probably have too many structured days to see blah blah and so-and-so. VOM.
i just want to go to sleep. 45 minutes longer...
1) at the airport i stuck my hand into my toiletry bag to get chapstick, instead finding my razor blade. blood started gushing, i had to get napkins at starbucks to wrap it, had to buy band-aids and neosporin, etc.
2) last week i was cleaning out my kitchen drain, and managed to rip open i think the same fingertip on the "jagged" edge of one of the drainage holes.
3) yesterday as i opened god-forsaken application materials from China, i managed to slice upon yet another fingertip on the letter opener.
classes/exams have been completed as of monday afternoon, and it feels kind of awkward not having anything hanging over my head. I've come into work the past few days, but i don't have any responsibilities tomorrow or friday other than eating and imbibing, i guess. i should go christmas shopping, but doing that yesterday only resulted in me buying myself two pairs of jeans and more socks. wunderbar.
with christopher all of the sudden in a bad mood about life, something rather atypical, i'm back to wanting to rant about hating life, hating boston, dropping out of grad school, etc. out of the kindness of my heart, however, i will spare you reader(s).
tonight we are going to white horse to celebrate lauren's bday (which happens over winter break when she is at home with no one to celebrate with), though not before going to some kind of holiday play at christopher's school he teaches at. i just CANNOT wait. i'm hoping one of the nun teachers asks me how i know him. "we are partners in sodomy" shall be my reply.
other than that i suppose i am looking forward to being home for xmas. minus the fact that my gifts to give suck on account of my being poor and i also will probably have too many structured days to see blah blah and so-and-so. VOM.
i just want to go to sleep. 45 minutes longer...
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
hello hello
what a day what a day...chris drove me home circa 7:30 this morning, and i proceeded to sleep until noon. lucky for me i had not a single obligation for the rest of the day since yesterday was the last day of classes. i did, however, have a shitload of studying to do.
i had lox and bagels for breakfast along with a fried egg. it seems as though i've consumed seafood at every meal since i had (imitation) crab salad for lunch, then stir fry with shrimp and chicken for dinner. hopefully i won't die from mercury poisoning.
i transcribed some old church slavonic for my project (yes i have a fucking project even though classes are over), went to the gym, did some cleaning, studied for my thursday final, made dinner for me and mel, and now i am transcribing a glagolitic manuscript that i need to have prepared for my oral final exam next monday...
last night christopher and i saw 'milk' and i thought it was excellent. i had heard it was a bit too politically-oriented, but if i of all people didn't find it at all too overbearing, i think it is just fine for the masses. the theatre was surprisingly full for a monday night in brookline - a mix between old people and gays, basically. it was over two hours long, but it went by fairly quickly and had me crying at the very end. i would be interested to read a light history of the gay rights movement - perhaps kasia has something for me in her queer literature collection. i am particularly excited to be going to san francisco next month and being able to see the castro, etc. where all the shit went down.
another good gay-oriented film i have seen recently is 'were the world mine' - an interesting take on 'a midsummer's night's dream.' basically an all boy's high school is putting on a production of the play, the lone gay boy finds the potion to make everyone fall in love with whoever they first lay eyes upon, and as a result half the town turns homosexually-oriented. though it sounds cheesy, it was really cute and far superior to most gay films i have seen. the music was excellent (it was a quasi-musical) and i bought the soundtrack immediately upon returning home. hurray for gays!
the rest of the week is looking ok. tomorrow i again have nothing to do but study - bryan and i are going over some OCS during lunch, then perhaps coffee with chris beforehand. thursday i have to turn in a take-home final, then take my linguistic structure of english final before working a few hours at gsas. later that night i'll be dining with the bowens since they are in town. friday and saturday i have holiday parties, though with plenty of studying in between. gross.
i had lox and bagels for breakfast along with a fried egg. it seems as though i've consumed seafood at every meal since i had (imitation) crab salad for lunch, then stir fry with shrimp and chicken for dinner. hopefully i won't die from mercury poisoning.
i transcribed some old church slavonic for my project (yes i have a fucking project even though classes are over), went to the gym, did some cleaning, studied for my thursday final, made dinner for me and mel, and now i am transcribing a glagolitic manuscript that i need to have prepared for my oral final exam next monday...
last night christopher and i saw 'milk' and i thought it was excellent. i had heard it was a bit too politically-oriented, but if i of all people didn't find it at all too overbearing, i think it is just fine for the masses. the theatre was surprisingly full for a monday night in brookline - a mix between old people and gays, basically. it was over two hours long, but it went by fairly quickly and had me crying at the very end. i would be interested to read a light history of the gay rights movement - perhaps kasia has something for me in her queer literature collection. i am particularly excited to be going to san francisco next month and being able to see the castro, etc. where all the shit went down.
another good gay-oriented film i have seen recently is 'were the world mine' - an interesting take on 'a midsummer's night's dream.' basically an all boy's high school is putting on a production of the play, the lone gay boy finds the potion to make everyone fall in love with whoever they first lay eyes upon, and as a result half the town turns homosexually-oriented. though it sounds cheesy, it was really cute and far superior to most gay films i have seen. the music was excellent (it was a quasi-musical) and i bought the soundtrack immediately upon returning home. hurray for gays!
the rest of the week is looking ok. tomorrow i again have nothing to do but study - bryan and i are going over some OCS during lunch, then perhaps coffee with chris beforehand. thursday i have to turn in a take-home final, then take my linguistic structure of english final before working a few hours at gsas. later that night i'll be dining with the bowens since they are in town. friday and saturday i have holiday parties, though with plenty of studying in between. gross.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
hump day
'tis a glorious wednesday morning as i sit alone in christopher's apartment sipping my chai tea. normally on wednesday mornings he drives me home wicked early but today i stayed and slept in since i don't have class until 1. hopefully he will be here soon because i really wanted to make myself an omelet chez moi.
this week from hell has surprisingly been somewhat pleasant. i finished that book review on time for yesterday, i already had done my early romance project due tomorrow, connolly was clearly out of his mind in not really giving us an assignment, and i've written 6 out of the 8 pages of my paper for tomorrow! that means all i have left assignment-wise is the old church slavonic project-y thing due on monday. then finals and i'm home free!
i'm looking forward to a fun weekend. possibly going out thursday night with matt, then dinner at Tasca for erin's birthday on friday followed by going out somewhere. saturday i'm skipping LAG thanksgiving dinner (*tear*) to go spend the afternoon on the Cape with Chris, my mom, and some family friends. outlet mall on the way home followed by jillian's party.
ehh i think i'm going to have to walk home since i haven't heard from chris and he works on campus in half an hour. BLEHHHHHH.
this week from hell has surprisingly been somewhat pleasant. i finished that book review on time for yesterday, i already had done my early romance project due tomorrow, connolly was clearly out of his mind in not really giving us an assignment, and i've written 6 out of the 8 pages of my paper for tomorrow! that means all i have left assignment-wise is the old church slavonic project-y thing due on monday. then finals and i'm home free!
i'm looking forward to a fun weekend. possibly going out thursday night with matt, then dinner at Tasca for erin's birthday on friday followed by going out somewhere. saturday i'm skipping LAG thanksgiving dinner (*tear*) to go spend the afternoon on the Cape with Chris, my mom, and some family friends. outlet mall on the way home followed by jillian's party.
ehh i think i'm going to have to walk home since i haven't heard from chris and he works on campus in half an hour. BLEHHHHHH.
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