ode to my roommates

As this semester careens crazily toward its ultimate demise, suddenly I'm struck by how much I'm going to miss living with my roommates from this semester. I think that I have had the fortune to have great roommates every year but this year marks the end of my on-campus era, so maybe I feel like these roommates are nearer and dearer right now. Here's why:

Rachel and I have been together since the very beginning. Of college, that is. We're like an old married couple, except that she will never marry me because she's going to marry Chris (I assisted in their getting together!). She is an artist and isn't afraid to dress like one (hehe). Her canvasses hung on our walls and her sculpture filled the empty spaces in our apartment and I think my living space will be so empty without her vibrant works. When we shared a room last year, we used to crank the music up and participate in a little bit o' bed jumping. She isn't afraid to speak her mind and she makes real food. Sometimes, she will stare at me until I look at her and then she will start gnawing on her hand.

Amanda is strangely obsessed with chicken and seasoned salt. She makes eau claire (eclaire) cake like nobody's business. One time, she ate both potatos and rice for dinner. Okay, that was all about food but Amanda does stuff other than eat. Not only does she have a unicycle, she knows how to ride it! Without falling down all the time! Amanda is also a very good writer, even though she doesn't think she is, and that's another reason I like her - there is not a pretentious bone in her body. We talk about pretty dumb stuff a lot of the time that makes us laugh hysterically and we're sure everyone thinks we're obnoxious, but we don't really care. She sings a lot and doesn't care if anyone is listening.

Cassi came to me, Kelly and Rachel as an innocent transfer student this fall, and we probably couldn't have created a better roommate. She's a sweet sweet girl but don't be fooled - beneath her engaging exterior, she's pretty tough and not always the most angelic of people. We corrupted her in some ways but she took in stride, always so open-minded and open-hearted. She apologizes for talking "too much." She loves to dance and can do the paintbrush (hehe). She's also an alto (like me!) and sings which makes me happy because her voice is awesome. Cassi is also an artist and we're never quite sure if we should throw stuff away because Cassi just might be using it for a project. She usually hits the snooze on her alarm clock at least two times before actually getting up. Sometimes she comes and sits on my lap when I'm watching tv.

Kelly left us after last fall for Australia (which she is loving, I know). Kelly, like Rachel, has also been there from the beginning. She talks with her hands a lot and likes to dance around like a crazy fool. She'll probably get mad at me for writing about this, but sometimes when she drinks, she blacks out some things, and it seems like it's usually crazy stuff that she does - like having a water fight or using a bottle of glitter glue as a prop. ("Here's the situation!") She has a deep respect and love for nature. When we had classes together, we would make up silly stories about our professors. This girl loves to shop. I miss her a lot.

These aren't the only reasons I like my roommates, of course, but some of my favorite things. They are all caring and loyal and easy to get along with. A lot of what makes my roommates so great to live with is that they are all so calm and easy-going. There is no not getting along in this apartment.

We are all moving on to better things (at least that's what we're all hoping). The Mizzes Rachel, Cassi and Amanda will be heading across campus to live in Stadium apartments, where they will have a new random roommate, most likely from the sea of freshmen anxious to get out of the dorms. Hopefully they will get lucky (wink wink!) like Rachel, Kelly, and I did when Cassi arrived in our little world. I'm excited that they're in Stadium where they'll all have their own rooms, and they're probably all excited to be getting rid of me.

Starting May 14th, I will be living in the first house on this site. I love this house, as has been established. My new roommates will be Chelsea, Aurora, and Aurora's sister Regan and two other random people. Though I'm sad I won't be living with my 327C girlies in Stadium, I'm excited that I get to live with a whole new set of people (well, I have lived with Chelsea before and even if I hadn't, she wouldn't count but just the same, I'm glad we'll be together again and we're going to have so much fun... decorating!). I've never lived with Aurora but I think it will be a good time, because Aurora is a fun, easygoing and free-spirited girl. Living with random strangers is kind of scary and makes me nervous but whatever. Hopefully my luck will hold out and I will have a good experience next year, as well, and then I can write another ridiculously long ode to my roommates. And you know, if it's not fun at all, I'm not going to be there in the fall* so mwahaha!

*Yeah, okay, so I still don't know about Argentina but I will go, by God!

my ridiculous impatience

Dear UMTC Learning Abroad Center,

Usually I'm a patient person. I have the composure to withstand a lot of crap that flies at me. I'm especially good at being patient with people. But I don't think I can restrain myself much longer.

My fabled patience is wearing thin, much like the blankie I used to drag around behind me when I was but a wee lass. Okay, I don't know where the "wee lass" came from but I do know why I am so impatient.

I licked the envelope and dropped my application for Argentina into the depths of the mailbox in Kirby Student Center what seems like an eternity ago. So that doesn't necessarily mean you got it on that day, yadda yadda, but you got it shortly thereafter. I mean, it doesn't take weeks for mail to get from Duluth to the Twin Cities.

I have received no word yet about whether I have been accepted, nor no sign that you have even received said application. I have been monitoring my checking account online rather obsessively (me? obsess? never!) to see if you have deposited the check for the application fee thingy, which, by the way, I see as just another excuse by the Regents to get even more money out of destitute college students. Yeah, you haven't even done that yet, which doesn't make sense since I thought you were probably just going to pocket that money and throw my application away.

In some of the information you sent me previously, you stated that my application would be reviewed by a committee and then I "will be notified in a timely manner of its decision." Ha! Ha ha ha. Timely? I don't think so. According to my calendar, I sent the application on... Oh. Oh wait. Ummm. Well, never mind that. I, uh, yeah. How you doin'?

I understand that in the um, like, week and a half since I mailed my application, you've probably been pretty busy doing other Learning Abroad-y stuff. So, ya know, whenever you get to it, I hope you have fun reviewing my application. Just let me know whenever you get a chance! Go Gophers!

Sincerely,
Alexis M. Stapp

haphazard

For the first time in four months (maybe more), I have over $200 in my checking account and damn if it don't feel like I won the powerball. Woot!

My nephews are two of the cutest little boys in the whole world. I wish I could show you just how cute they are, but believe me, they are damn cute. So cute I just want to steal them from my brother and sister-in-law and bring them here, where they would destroy my apartment in mere minutes. But I'm sure that my roommates would fall in love with them anyway, even after seeing how the little tyrants had laid waste to everything in sight. That's how cute they are.

I might get to see them at the end of May if I venture to Reno with my parents when they go there. Yeah, another roadtrip through Nevada.

Maybe when I'm there I'll get to see my dad. If he ever decides to come back from Macedonia. (That link is for those of you unknowledegable fiends who don't know where Macedonia is.)

My parents came to Duluth on Sunday (parents being my mom and step-dad) and we went house shopping for hours upon hours and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, even in the rain and hail and even after getting up at 8 to go take care of babies and toddlers. The parents made an offer on a house but there are two other offers on it, so we have yet to see what will happen. I also wish I could show you how cute the house they made the offer for is, but I can't, alas. But, if they end up getting it, then ya'll are welcome to come visit!

This, however, is the house I fell in love with. It may not look like much on the outside but it stole my heart.

Amanda may want this semester to end because "it's the semester from the fiery pits of hell," but I want this semester to end because I'm bored with it. Yeah, that's right. I'm bored. Sorry to everyone who is stressed out by the semester-end papers and projects, I hate to brag but... wait, why am I apologizing? BITE ME. After last semester's hellishness, this semester has been nearly effortless and I think I deserve a little break. I'm sure I'll be sweating it in a couple weeks, but right now I have nothing that really needs to be done. Ahhhh.

Last weekend was really one of the best weekends I've had in a while. There were friends and good talks, a bit o' intoximacation, some intermittent shoe purchases for $8.50 (including a pair like these), some Spanish babbling in the car, School of Rock-watching, a late night H(ouse) O(f) D(onuts) run, the house shopping, of course, some baby-holding, and the karaoke stylings of yours truly.

Last night, in a fit of silliness, Rachel and I short-sheeted Cassi's bed. I have never pulled a prank on anyone in my life and my god, it was fun. Fear the childish prankishness that is to come.

That's enough out of me, missy. My work here is done.

For those of you who didn't catch on yet, I changed my template. Shhh... I realize I'm rather uncreative, choosing the template that both Amanda and Sara have, but I like it so darn much that I decided to adopt it. Mostly, I was very sick of my template. I kept trying to modify that one and I just never liked anything I did to it, so I decided to give up. This new template is temporary, an interim template, if you will, until I either:

1. Learn how to design one and then make my own template


2. Give up on that in frustration and find another nifty looking "pre-fabricated" template

Let's face it, it's probably going to end up being the second... writing my own template? That sounds complicated. But I guess I'll see. Either way, I will have a new template at some point, but for now, enjoy this one!

I have to register in a few hours! Actually, as I am counting on studying in Argentina next fall, I'm not really registering. I'm just picking up some classes, that way, in the event that I do not go abroad, I will not have to worry about trying to get into classes.

It's another day where I only had one class and no work! Why did I ever think I wanted another job? Not working is so much better than working - it's fantastic! It gives me so much more time to be slothful. On days like these, I will eat anywhere from 4-9 small meals. Not to mention the television I watch, or should I say the VH1 I watch, specifically.

I'm positive that VH1 is one of the most addictive things on the planet. It's like whenever the tv is on VH1, clouds of crack pour out of the speakers. The viewer is trapped - they can't move because the crack is very addicting, obviously. Or else, maybe the channel emits a high-frequency signal that switches off some essential part of the human brain... the part that enables me to get up and walk away from the tv, the part that controls Cassi's verbal functions, the part that keeps track of the passing of time. Whatever it is that VH1 is doing, they should probably keep it up, because no other channel can keep me glued to it for hours on end, even if the shows are complete crap.

Well, it's about time for me to get the most out of this day off. I'm going to slip into something more comfortable... my bed!

es casi como si fuera la primavera!

Ahh, a Tuesday afternoon stretching out before me and absolutely no orientation in sight. Oh, how I have missed these days of being done with class at 10 am and then having the whole day left to me to do whatever. With the obvious exception of spring break, I've orientated every Tuesday since the end of February. Today I don't have to, and what a lovely day to be work-less. It's a nice feeling.

I left my toothbrush at my parents' house when I left on Sunday. I'm lost without it. Well, my teeth are lost without it, as they are rather dingy. I apologize to anyone I may encounter before I can buy a new one. Sorry for the stinkiness. Of all the silly things for me to leave behind.

Other than abandoning my toothbrush, I saw Master and Commander on Saturday, which was a good movie that I liked a lot, surprisingly. I mean, it wasn't surprising that it was a good movie but I was rather surprised that I liked it as much as I did. Normally I'm not a big fan of war or battle-type movies and when I saw the trailers for it I was like, "They're just ships..." But the ships were cool! And so are the Galapagos Islands. And man, do I love the Hopkins Theater; you just can't beat $2 for a movie! Easter brunch with the parents was also good; you can't beat free mimosas. Actually, you can't beat free brunch either. Yeah, here's my new theory: in general, free stuff is good and greatly appreciated!

My parents are coming up this weekend, possibly staying the night on Saturday. They love me so much that they miss me already! No, that's not really why, although I hope that they do love me. They're coming up to go house-shopping! Craziness! Mike (my step-dad) has an eclectic range of interests, and one of the more recent additions to his odd hobbies and whatnot is real estate. The house shopping is not for them, however... he's looking for something that could be a rental and I could live there (along with Chelsea, Aurora, Aurora's sister and who knows who else...). This is a potential solution to my housing problems, as I was having a hard time figuring out what I was going to do, what with being gone in the fall and everything. Hopefully, this will work. This also marks the first time my parents have been up to visit me this school year, so I'm looking forward to hanging out with them in Duluth.

Anyway, I'm going to go enjoy this mahvelous day.

P.S. I realize I ended yesterday's post rather abruptly but I sort of lost track of where I was going with all that, partly because certain people persisted in talking to me online, people who probably should have thought back to previous demands they have made for new posts and also should have known that I am easily distracted. But I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Adios!

Being a student advisor for orientation over the past few weeks has made me realize just how young 18-year olds really are. I know I'm only 21 and all, but there must be some sort of crazy developmental leap everyone (well, I shouldn't say everyone but most people) take when they begin college. Obviously, there's going to be some difference between being an 18-year old senior in high school and an 18 or 19-year old college freshman - seniors are at the top of the ladder, in terms of where they are in the school and compared to their peers, whereas freshmen are just thrown into this whole new life. I remember feeling much younger at 19 (as a freshman) than I did at 18. If high school seniors are kind of at the peak of their experience as far as high school goes, and I'm nearing the end of my college experience, shouldn't I have more in common with a high school senior, at least in some respects of maturity level, than I do with a college freshman? This doesn't really seem to be the case, which makes sense, for the most part - hell, I'm not even a teenager anymore, which is a really nice thought, now, isn't it? I'm not a teenager anymore! Anyway, I guess I just didn't realize there would be quite the gap between 20-year olds and 18-or-so-year olds.

The funny thing is that when I was that age, I thought that I would know what I wanted to do with my life by this age. Oh, I knew it was unreasonable for me to think that I would have it completely figured out, but I thought that by this point, something would have clicked, something would've happened that made me think, "I could do this for the rest of my life."... I didn't need to be completely sure of it but I definitely thought I'd have narrowed my options. It's just -- I'm interested in too many damn things, what am I supposed to do! And some of the kids I advise seem to know, with such certainty, that they want to be biochemists or journalists or onion graders, and I'm more than just a little bit jealous. How do they know? How are they so sure and how are they not torn, like me, between an immense range of potential callings? I know that they're likely to change their minds at some point during college, and if they don't, they'll probably change careers later on in life, but I was never that confident, that set on any one job. Unless of course you look back to when I was a little kiddle and I wanted to be an archaeologist for the longest time. But that changed too, eventually (obviously, otherwise what the hell am I doing majoring in Communications and Spanish?). It's just frustrating that when I'm nearing the end of my college education, I still have very little idea of where I want to go with my life. Everyone keeps telling me that it's okay, I don't need to know, really, I have time and I'm still young... and I tell myself these same things all the time and for the most part it works. But every now and then, and it seems to happen mostly in spring (probably in anticipation of next spring when I graduate), this concern I have that always lurks at the back of my mind works its way to the front, and then decides to crawl down my throat into my stomach, where it turns into quiet desperation, until it eventually just goes away because I realize that, hey, it's not the end of the world if I can't figure it out... and there's not really a deadline for making these sorts of decisions.

Sorry for the rambling, once again. How was everyone's Easter weekend? Mine was lovely.

So, I finally FINALLY finished my study abroad application and deposited it in the nearest mail receptacle to be sent off to Minneapolis, where they will review it and hopefully send me back an envelope with a note that says, "Hey, we like you... we think you're pretty smart and stuff, and we want you to go to Argentina!" And then there will be all sorts o' forms for me to fill out and read! And then at the end of August I will get on a plane and zoom off to Buenos Aires! Weeeee!

Some of you may have thought that I had already sent in my application due to the way I talk about going to Argentina... like it's a fact, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, I'm full of brazen bravado but it's all a sham. I'm just so determined that I will go that I've already convinced myself I'm there. Now my application is sent off and it's only a matter of time until I hear back. I don't know if I can really contain myself until then!

Now that I have that out of my system, I would just like to thank the person who thought it would be a neat idea to mix ground cacao beans with sugar and milk to create a substance the whole world longs for: chocolate. Oh god, how I love chocolate. It's so... tasty. And look, women who eat chocolate when pregnant give birth to happy babies! I'd also like to thank Cassi for supplying me with gobs of Reese's peanut butter cups, especially because I'm sick and I feel I deserve to eat more sugar when I'm sick.

Hey, I have a new job! I'm working at a church nursery, 3 hours every Sunday. I get to take care of babies and little kids! I must be insane. This weekend, however, I will be making my way to the Twin Cities to stay with my parents and enjoy Easter weekend at home. I hope that everyone has a good Easter weekend but don't put all your eggs in one basket!

Spring might be on its way! Well, it sure is trying.

Today I added a link for Fundacion Ortega y Gasset, which is where I will be studying when I go to Buenos Aires in the fall. I was so excited to find a link for the Insitute, because there is a much more detailed program description than the one offered at the U of M's study abroad page. Apparently, the program fees include seven excursions during the few months... including a trip to the Pampas and to Uruguay! If you click on the link for the Fundacion, don't be scared by all the Spanish on the page - you can go to "Spanish for Foreigners" (that's me, I'll be a foreigner!) and then click on "Program 2004" to read about my program and where I'll be living and what I'll be doing!

Aurora, Brian and I had quite the adventure out on the town last night. We made our way to Grandma's around midnight to help Karen (a girl from me and Aurora's Analysis class) celebrate her 21st birthday. We didn't really do much celebrating as we decided to leave kind of early on. Being there made me feel pretty old, 'cause all I could think was that I'd rather go to bed than deal with that kind of crowd. We headed to the Reef around 1, which was a much more mellow place to just sit and talk and then on to Perkin's where we all ordered delicious peanut butter chocolate chip muffins. It was fantastic!

Apparently on Thursday afternoons, Mount Royal grocery store is the hip place to be if you drive a burgundy Oldsmobile with burgundy interior and you have completely white hair. Or if you, like me, had to pick up some milk on your way home because a gallon of milk only lasts four days in your household. I pulled into the Mount Royal parking lot, thinking it was going to be a quick in and out procedure, a grab the milk and get out one-two punch. Oh, how wrong I was.

It turns out that old ladies love me. Maybe it's like the vibe that some people send off to babies and animals that makes them feel instantly safe and comfortable... that sort of good-natured gentle kind spirit that just rolls of some people. Sometimes I have that effect on babies and animals, but lately, I've been getting showered with attention from senior women. The night of the wedding in Las Vegas, after I enjoyed the lovely facilities of one of the many fine restrooms at the Bellagio, I was approached by three absolutely tiny grey-haired ladies who accosted me with questions and comments: "Oh, don't you look beautiful! Why are you so dressed up? What are you doing? Oh, a wedding, how nice! Are you the bride? Oh, look at you!" I had to escape; it was too much flattery and though these women were tiny and very sweet, I'm sure that underneath their delightful veneers there lay the souls of muggers or ninjas. One or the other, I'm not too sure.

While I was trying to make a run for the dairy aisle at Mount Royal, I was blocked several times in the aisles by some more of my fan club. They didn't purposely block me, they just were meandering down the aisles at their own pace, and I had no choice but to pace myself behind them until I could squeeze by. Twice, however, some of the women would stop walking entirely to have a little chat with me. "Oh, you're so polite; you don't need to walk behind me... I'll stop and let you by so you can do what you need to do. Are you a student? You're such a nice girl! Oh, look at your hair!" And so on. So far, I don't seem to have this effect on older men, and I'm not too sure if I'm hurt by this or not. Old men can be funny, but sometimes they're just dirty old men.

In other news, a cute little girl just came to our apartment selling candy bars, and of course, Cassi, Rachel and I were all perfectly willing to help her in her mission to go to some camp in Sturgeon Lake. Actually, all we really wanted was the chocolate.