I (still) hate having a weak constitution.

So I went back to work today. "Back" in the sense of cramming in three hours of productivity before an early lunch, after which I went to meet with a professor for whom I'm doing entirely different work, and then... um... went home, because it was Friday and I wanted a nap. Go team.

My Thursday absence was more legitimate, as I woke up very early feeling like I wanted to vomit and also lobster-hued. The lobster-huedness I had already noticed Wednesday night, after having spent four straight hours outside in 95-to-100-degree heat in service of the same job I blew off today. But as far as the nausea went, apparently my symptoms of heat exhaustion were on time delay. Everything's a-okay now, aside from what I imagine to be a marginally increased likelihood of getting skin cancer.

Also in the realm of things I hate: supervisors/coworkers who believe you are stupid. Especially when said supervisors/coworkers are themselves stupid. Three days ago this woman actually felt the need to explain to me the difference between "pins" and "pens." AND THE TWO WORDS WERE WRITTEN ON THE INVENTORY LIST SHE HAD JUST GIVEN ME. gah. This is the same person who, when instructing me on which information sheets to print out for some press packets, told me, "Get the FAQs--that's 'Frequently Asked Questions'..." Mother of God woman shut up before I hit you with my project folder.

That's enough happiness for one day. Off to ready myself to spend two and a half hours inside a large magnetic tube tomorrow. (I love participating in paid experiments.)

Erratic

Not that my posting on here was ever anything but erratic, but, having been inspired by David, I am putting up a token hello. Given that now I've graduated and have officially lost all of my friends to the ether, maybe that'll inspire me to post here more often for the purposes of keeping up with people and such. But let's not kid ourselves--I have the attention span of a caffeinated flea.

In other news, I can't believe I didn't know about this until a few days ago.

I just discovered RSS feeds

...so clearly, no work on my senior essay is getting done. I have, however, managed to drink over a liter of diet Coke and chew through two packs of Orbit, and it's not even 2:00 yet.

Ooh, gotta go, two new posts on Lifehacker...

Oh, my head.

In the pursuit of knowledge and graduation, I just spent a good hour of my life subjecting myself to articles from the dread bile that is the National Review. For my senior essay I'm writing about Nancy Pelosi's accession to the speakership and women as civilly legitimate actors, and oh, the sheer gendered venom is astounding. (Really, how much bearing does one's jewelry or clothes or hairstyle have on your ability to lead?) And for good measure they usually throw in some non sequitur comment about how feminists are trying to push women away from their natural roles as feminine pretty things blah blah blah. Lexis-Nexis, thou hast forsaken me.

In order to cheer (?) myself up, I went and reread Katha Pollitt's great blog post on International Women's Day here. Not cheer, exactly, as more than anything it articulates just how much women's issues around the world demand more than one day a year of deliberate attention, but at least it's well written, in contrast with the other stuff I've spent time on today.

And here's a non sequitur of my own: how much do I love that there's a board game that's actually called "Fact or Crap"? They could have just called it "True or False," but lord knows the entertainment value would have been diminished to almost nothing.

Suburban consumerism, ahoy.

I went to a mall today for the first time since maybe last May; in terms of mockery potential, it was all I dreamed it could be, but I suppose that was facilitated by the company I was with as much as by any innate ridiculousness of things seen.

The clear zenith of the experience was in front of a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise (has anyone ever heard of these before? I sure hadn't), where shoppers were confronted with a massive, despondent-looking stuffed bear slumped over on its side such that it nearly blocked the store entrance. Yes, I did take a picture with it. Yes, in it we both look like we're sleeping off a bender.

Boy, if that don't put you in the mood for some milk chocolate pecan Bears (™, apparently), I don't know what will...

Spring Break (?)

Two sweet weeks of senior-essay-writing, although the "writing" part remains an abstraction at this point. I have, however, made extensive use of Preview's oval annotation tool on the three essays on the politics of recognition that I've managed to read so far. I finished the second and third ones today, and gave myself a not-entirely-intentional two and a half hour nap as a reward. I guess the semester has worn me out more than I'd imagined.

I've been more productive on non-academic fronts, if "productive" is understood to mean doing something, ANYTHING, that does not consist of my constantly refreshing my e-mail and then not responding to things I really should respond to. Example: I spent much of yesterday downloading a bunch of Mac software recommended by this guy. No particular reason, save that I am extremely suggestible. Oh, and I finally made use of the Adobe Photoshop and InDesign that a friend burned for me awhile ago. Photoshop scared me away pretty quick, but in InDesign I made text type out onto a curvy line! It was exhilarating.

I hate having a weak constitution.

On the plus side, I don't have pneumonia, and the fact that the doctor from SOS Médecins wrote "bronchitis" (or rather, "bronchite") on my housecall receipt should with any luck secure a 66-euro reimbursement from my university's health services. On the minus side, from my room's open window I can hear the cheering and thumping bass and intermittent airhorn blast waft in from Parisian gay pride while I'm stuck here with my fatigue and wheezing and trash bag full of used tea sachets and phlegm (tasty!). Also on the minus side: the housekeeper that my renters employ seems today to be taking great pleasure in rattling around and being as thorough as fucking possible in his weekly visit, thereby disallowing me the opportunity to slink unnoticed into the kitchen to microwave myself some more water. Scrub the goddamn bathroom tile a little more meticulously, why don't you buddy? I have to pee, and I wants my hot water.

As far as the tea goes, at least having to decide between vanilla, caramel and peach-blackcurrant makes my life a little more interesting. Until I can get back in there I suppose I'll have another dose of Advil. Mmm, coating.

...Ooo, they're playing a dance remix of What a Feeling! Irene Cara always cheers me up...