To Steb or Not to Steb

It's starting to come down to the wire. Now I have a month to decide whether or not I want to live in Stebbins, and if the answer is no, to subsequently find a place.

I guess one of the things I need to look into is the makeup of the house. I feel moderately towards the fall managers. The house manager is someone I really dislike, but aside from that the managers seem adequate. It really makes a difference if the house is run by incompetent people. But in all honesty, it's run by incompetent people every semester. I was a pretty good workshift manager, but I had my shaky moments too during my first semester. It's hard getting used to a job like that. It has a lot of nuances and a lot of turnover. You always lose a little with new managers. Sure they can learn over the course of the semester, but there's no guarantee that they will. We have a lot of new managers next semester. I don't know how they'll preform. I think it'll be fine, but you never do know. All in all, I think the supply of managers is fine. They mean well if nothing else, and I think there aren't that many of them who are just trying to weasel out of workshift. Some of them certainly are, but there's a few who I think are actually interested in the jobs. Also we still need to find a social manager and a maintenance manager. Those two managers could sway things somewhat. There's a lot of uncertainty.

But the house is made up of more than just managers. The managers may have more of a say in things than the average Stebbinite, but the average Stebbinites outnumber the managers by quite a bit. Their makeup makes a big difference. One of the best things to happen to Stebbins is the number of people from CZ who are moving out. Just about all of them are picking up roots and moving back, and they took at least one annoying Stebbinite with them. I never really got to know any of them. Some of them seemed pretty nice, but I didn't have the highest opinion of that many of them. I really dislike the attitude that "everything's fine if it's fine for me," and I definitely got the feeling that some of them felt that way. They didn't seem to notice, or to care sometimes, if something they did pissed off other people. But there's no use dwelling on it too much. They're gone now and I don't foresee them returning any too frequently. I suppose they'll come around from time to time when Stebbins is having a party, but I doubt they'd bother to walk down the street for any other occasion. Even the parties I don't think they'll crash too often unless they're out of house parties. They might show up to a few in house parties, especially something like the room to room (nevermind that it's expensive and someone else is paying), but I'd hope they'd stop coming when they realize how few people they actually know. So many moved out for the fall. It's a stark contrast. I feel glad that so many people I disliked moved out, but I'm also a little apprehensive of who will move in. It could be anybody. Oh well. I guess I'll get a little bit of a preview when I scout out the new summer people. If they're not my speed, then maybe I'll look for new housing just a little harder.

Another factor is going to be what kind of housing we can find. If there's nothing worthwhile, then maybe it would be a good idea to say no and look again in 6 months. Sigh. There are so many unknowns. Perhaps it's not worth thinking about right now. Oh well.

A writing mood

I'm in a definite mood to write. Unfortunately I have no topic in mind. That means whatever I write about can't be all that pressing. It couldn't be actually on my mind, since I have no ideas at the moment. I just want to write is all. Now I think I could come up with a topic easily enough, but would it really be justice for that poor little topic? It's like it's not being discussed for its own sake, but rather for the sake of my mood to be writing. Ahh well. Poor little topic. Maybe I'll make it up to the poor thing at some point. Of course I say maybe. I'm not about to be roped into talking about whatever topic it will be simply out of a feeling of guilt towards it, mainly because I don't feel that guilty or care particularly strongly for it. Well I suppose that goes without saying. But anyway... onto a topic.

Well damn. Having some difficulty here. I guess I could write about the mystery I read yesterday. It was kinda interesting, though unfortunately I'd read it already and remembered the ending halfway through. Mysteries have no reread value. I like to reread books, but you just can't do it with mysteries. It's quite frustrating. I had forgotten all the details (which were quite clever and interesting), but I remembered the actual culprit. Thus, all the winding that lead itself to culprit didn't have me nearly as much in its sway. The book lost a lot of emotion from me knowing the ending, but I still wanted to read it because I had forgotten how we got there. Masterfully done really. I never saw it coming. I remember when I was younger I always wanted to predict the murderer in a mystery novel. It would have given me no end of satisfaction. But Agatha Christie is too good. There's no predicting her. 9 times out of 10, it turns out to be the one person you were sure it wasn't. I thought maybe things would be different now that I'm older. I predict the endings to things with some frequency now. I see some of the literary techniques the authors use to keep us guessing and then I can tell what they're trying to hide from how they're trying to hide it. Unfortunately, all my guessing skills lead to nothing. Of course, it's hard to tell when you already know who did it. I couldn't exactly guess. I'm going to need to find an Agatha Christie I haven't read before. But I want to stop reading for a bit and get back to my busy lifestyle in Berkeley as well. Sigh. Perhaps another summer I will be able to give my deductive skills another run.

I was expecting to write about mysteries for only a line or two, but I've made a respectable blog entry out of it. I think that satisfies my immediate craving for writing. Until next time, faithful blog readers.

Reading

I've been a voracious little reader lately. I set down the Wii for a bit because I think I was getting a smidge too obsessed (lovely though the Wii is). I had several books on my pleasure reading list and I've finally gotten around to them. It's funny. I've been intending to read them for so long. I remember before last semester started, I made a list for myself of all the potential things I could do. I expected to have a lot of free time, what with taking only two classes pass/no pass. Pleasure reading was on that list. But I didn't get around to it. I didn't get around to most of the things on my list. I was surprised by how busy I was kept. There was always stuff to do. I was rarely bored. Relaxing here in Roseville, I finally started on that pleasure reading and berated myself a little for taking so long about it. It felt like such a chore to get started and such a time commitment, but it didn't really take so long at all and it was really enjoyable. But now that I think about it, college really does not lend itself to pleasure reading. Especially the coops do not lend themselves to pleasure reading. I was always so easy to head out into the common rooms for a quick snack and stick around talking to people for a few hours. Back in high school, I watched hours of tv and downloaded hours more of anime to watch. I didn't have much better to do. Here in Roseville, there aren't a whole lot of distractions. College, on the other hand, is a pretty exciting time. There is a lot going on. I think I had forgotten how dull high school (and the time after college, I suspect) can be. You come home, not to a house full of people, but to the same old routines. In high school, the extent of my after school activities involved clubs or the occasional sport. Then after that were long evenings, all pretty much the same. In grade school, the height of my pleasure reading days, I didn't even have the after school clubs.

Reading's really fun when you don't have a lot going on, but it's not entirely feasible for someone living a busy lifestyle. I'd hardly call myself that busy, but I can occupy myself fairly well. For a while, I lamented how long it's been since I was bored. Boredom can really spur you on to do better when the time comes for action. It can make those times a lot more interesting by contrast. It also reminds you what life would be like if you didn't have the hardships of school ahead of you. Boredom leaves you time for pleasure reading, and other things I've been meaning to do. But I think I shouldn't be eager for boredom quite yet. It seems boredom is the way of things. College (and perhaps grad school will be as well) has been a bit of an aberration. I'm not the sort who will go on to live and exciting life after school, mingling with friends and attending parties. Every so often, I will get together with a friend I infrequently talk to and the will be the only event of note for the month.

I personally find that sort of lifestyle preferable. I look forward to it in a way, but I'm not going to look forward to it too eagerly. That will be the bulk of my life. This busy time will swiftly fade away. The time of socializing at all hours, the time of many activities at my fingertips at any moment, the time of not getting around to pleasure reading is not going to last. I should enjoy it while it is here and not wish for the boredom that allows me to explore other options. That will come in time. There's no point in looking forward to it when I know it inevitably stands in my not-so-distant future (5 years, perhaps?). Part of me hates to put down the pleasure reading, especially since I see it as beneficial and entertaining, but I know there will be lots of pleasure reading in my future. Now I think it is time to head back to Berkeley and savor being busy while it lasts. I've stayed in Roseville a little too long. I think I would have left today or tomorrow if not for Justine. The urge to leave is really starting to give me a mental itch. Well I'll see her at the next possible opportunity and hope that opportunity is sooner than Saturday (I fear it may not be). Sigh... seeing Justine is worth it, but I do wish I could be on my way.

I would be a horrible ultimate fighter

So I dreamed that I was on The Ultimate Fighter in the 130lb weight class. I don't think that weight class exists, but I was in it. And I was the only female. As such, I was not one of the first picked. I made it past the first round though. I think... dreams tend to get a little hazier after you wake up. No, maybe I didn't... maybe this was my first fight... Whatever. Anyway, Dana White was declaring who the next fighters would be. He chose this one asian guy who was perceived as one of the best fighters and before he said who the second fighter would be, I volunteered loudly and incessantly like a 3rd grader (ooo ooo choose me! pick me!). I wanted to prove that I was tough even though I was one of the last picked. So he chose me.

I don't recall training at all. In fact, I remember decidedly not training. A part of my mind was telling me "you're going to get the shit beaten out of you if you don't train," but I just seemed sluggish and time seemed to be moving faster than me. Suddenly it was a few hours before the fight and I weighed myself. I weighed in at 143. I knew it was hopeless and that I'd never make weight. I tried getting on a stationary bicycle in sweats, but the fight was at 1 and looking at my watch it was already 12:59. Everything about me felt very slow. I kept bicycling for a bit longer and when next I looked at my watch, it was 2:30. I felt very slow indeed. I had never shown up for my fight. Not only had I not made weight, I was over by more than 10 pounds. I was pretty nervous about Dana. Then I woke up.

Now that is a horrible ultimate fighter. I think I'll stick to watching.

Facebook is my buddy

I wanted to tell people I was engaged, but I felt really weird calling up people I haven't spoken to in forever just to tell them that my life is awesome. It feels a little like bragging- like the only reason I bothered to contact them was so that I could tell them the good news. Well that would be true. And it seemed a little sleazy. So I didn't end up telling many people even though I did want them to know.

Enter facebook, my shining knight. I changed our status to engaged, but a lot of people were dubious. Since facebook was only college students for so long, most of the people who tag themselves as engaged are joking and I think a lot of people thought that about me as well. A few people got the message though. And when I finally figured out how to make notes, a lot more people got the message. Now there will be pockets of people who will be surprised by me being engaged way into the future, but for anyone who stays at least a little connected, it should be relatively common knowledge in a month or two. Thank you facebook! You're a lifesaver!

So poor...

So as I'm playing through the extras of Super Paper Mario, I come across an item that I MUST have... for 999 coins. That's the maximum amount I can hold. I have 67 right now bc I blew all my cash on maps. Gah! I'm gonna work Mario's little ass to the bone for money, and I'm STILL going to be poor! I wonder if I could get Peach to prostitute herself...

Some cheeriness

Truth be told, I don't have a lot of cheeriness to relate, but I was tired of all the complaining. Yes my jaw still hurts, but I think it's a little better than it was. I beat Super Paper Mario and I've been working on the little extras. I'm starting to wish I'd done some of these extras before the final boss though. I'm getting a lot of powerups, good items, and the like. I guess they'll be helpful when I do the optional dungeon. Well... one of the optional dungeons. I'm starting to notice just how much extra stuff there is in this game. It's a little ludicrous. Unless I'm much mistaken, there are three optional dungeons with 100 levels each, 48 maps to hidden items, 96 recipes to cook, 256 cards to collect, and an arcade with several minigames to play. It's taken me 4 hours or to do 17 maps (with a little time taken out for those minigames). I thought the maps would be a good place to start. It's a little tiring sometimes hunting through all the worlds I've already been to so I can find all the treasures though. I wish I'd had the maps handy on my first time through so I could have been picking things up as I went. Unfortunately, I had nowhere near enough cash at that point to buy the maps, and at early stages of the game I didn't even have access to them. Cash in this game is surprisingly scarce. I seem to make plenty of money, but then I just return to town and spend it all. It's easy to throw all your money away buying those maps. Some cost as much as 100 coins. Robbery is what it is!

I must say I'm pleased with all the extras Super Paper Mario has. Sure, they're not as fun as the actual game, but it gives me something to do that doesn't require use of my mouth. If I actually attempted to finish everything, I'd be long healed before I was done. But I do think it's time Super Paper Mario went onto the back burner. I looked at my math book earlier today and felt quite guilty. I haven't so much as opened it for the past few days. Yeah, I've felt pretty crappy, but that's not really a great excuse. I have a lot of preparation to do before my classes actually start. I want to get the first couple chapters of 54 down before I start prepping for 113, which is the class I'm really worried about. I don't really feel comfortable studying the 113 before I have a more solid grasp on matrices. Sigh. I think today's the day I get back to work. Bah. But for now I think I'm going to laze just a bit more.