Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Emma on the brain- a long day

Falling asleep on the first of February, I dreamed about Jane Austen and her time period. I have been watching the new Masterpiece production of "Emma" with Romola Garai and Johnny Lee Miller. It's a mini series and I've been able to see bits and pieces on YouTube. Every time I see a version of any Jane Austen book, I wish I were there for that time period, just for a day, and watch everyone act so proper, dancing and socializing. And I love the way they talked. It's soft, but there's an intensity in it that I love. I should have been brought up in England. Anyway, I woke up around 6 with merry thoughts and then went back to sleep to dream about it some more. It was like a taste in my mouth, present when I finally did get out of bed, and it lingered with me all day. I only had one class that day, so I read a book for a little while and ate some cereal, Koala Crisp- it's my favorite, and watched some more Emma- my internet can only take so much, it's so slow. I walked down to the bus and listened to some Modest Mouse and some Safe & Easy (my boyfriend's ska band from back home). It reminds me of home and the people we know from our hometown. My sole class was Origins, and it was basically a two hour debate over a theory of everything, if science had limits and where God was. I walked back with my friend, Derek, and we actually talked about Groundhog's Day, and whether or not we thought we might have already lived every day and just didn't remember or if we might have died at the end of each day. It made me think of Jane Austen again, because we were walking and talking. I walk so much more in Bozeman than anywhere else I've been, and it is so pleasant and refreshing sometimes, walking under the Big Sky with lots of fresh air. It's much better than where I am right now, anyway. Someone must have been wearing Axe or something. It smells so bad, it makes my stomach churn.
I bussed home, me and my ipod. I was in a cooking mood, so I baked some french fries- I love potatoes- must be my Idaho upbringing or my family's Irish background- George Foremaned some fish and baked some flourless peanut butter cookies, which were delicious. I just had to make sure I didn't eat too many. It's a fairly dense dessert. Last time I made them, I ate seven and was sick for a day. It was totally worth it though. If I could do it over again, I would've done the same thing, they were so good. It's just because I'm a really good cookie maker. So long as it's peanut butter or chocolate chips. I make the best chocolate chip cookies, because I make them the way my mom does. I don't actually eat those cookies anymore, because I developed a gluten intolerance a few years back, but they make the house smell so good and baking is really soothing, especially when you're frustrated with your to-do list for the day.
I worked on an article for the Exponent, a cultural autobiography, lit readings, journal stuff and felt terrible, because none of them seemed to get finished. My head was going to die by the end of the afternoon, when I abandoned everything to go to the gym. On my way there I bumped into a friend, who is getting married later this spring. I hadn't seen her in awhile, so I was pretty stoked. We talked about classes and her wedding, and the best part of the conversation was her reception plans, because the settings are literary themed. Each table would be a different literary couple from Shakespeare and other classics, with quotes on the table and sticky notes with literary figures. And she mentioned Edward Ferrars and Elinor, and I could have danced, I was so excited. I cannot wait to go to her wedding; it will be awesome.
So Jane Austen and stories were fresh on my mind while I went running. Usually, I try to blank out and think of nothing when I work out, but I couldn't help it, I was so darn excited about my friend's wedding.
I had a meeting for ALD after my workout, so I walked down to the SUB, was supremely tempted by the candy stand in the shop by the bookstore- I picked something up, and thought in my head that eating sweets after running, would probably make me ill and put it back down- and made it to my meeting. We went through applications and financial info, planned for future meetings, and then something kind of cool happened. The president of our club had to write down something he needed to do and pulled out three tiny notebooks. Two notebooks are lists of things he needs to do for different clubs he's in and the third notebook was a list of things he had done, so he could remember them all for resumes or applications. And he keeps them all in his pocket. I wondered if he actually managed to do everything on those lists, or if he made them so the objects wouldn't be on his mind. With our talking about lists and inventories, I just thought it was neat. I talked with him after the meeting (walking and talking) about his lists and the things he did during the day, and I thought that he must do everything on his list, because there isn't a time during the day when he's not doing something. But it sounded so exhausting, to do everything. I'm glad I take breaks and zone out, watching movies or BBC mini-series.
My head was hurting again, I figured food would be good, but after a bowl of cereal- it was a Koala Krispies kind of a day- and some cookies, my headache didn't go away and I was turning into blind grumpiness. Luckily, I figured out I was fighting a migraine and took some drugs, which made me feel super good. My boyfriend and I worked on some homework for awhile, and then we watched some of the Masterpiece Emma, and then he went home. I had some valuable girl talk with my roommate, about Jane Austen books, my friend's wedding, boys and school and then I went to bed with merry, tired thoughts in my head.

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