unfocused

not only today, but yesterday as well. i forgot to post something i discovered during class that intrigued me.

a couple of us spent about three hours discussing seminars* and reading shakespeare to while away the time until the lecture half the campus has been waiting for with bated breath began. wow - worst event organization ever. disappointing. we all came to see umberto eco; they knew up to an hour before (because when *we* arrived the foyer was completely packed) that there wasn't so much as a quarter of the space required, and instead of setting up for the foyer or moving out to the grass they simply cut us off from the auditorium. wonderful. the ordeal was a bit too intimate. and we were there for so long that we began singing monty python songs :P

according to one of my classmates: "apparently we had been outsmarted - most people that attended the lecture actually went to the lecture before that and refused to make room for the crowd". why didn't i... no, wait. ASSHOLES. to make things more interesting: i just got a message back from one of the organizers - well, sort of back, she forwarded on my mail to one of my professors and cc'ed me. she claimed that the faculty does "not have the woman-power to register people".

really? want me to show you how to use an excel spreadsheet, and how to send out an email saying "sorry, no space for you"?

good thing i introduced myself to the professor this morning - even better that i began by describing myself as "an unintentional trouble-maker". although that might have been offset by her standing right beside me (just outside of my peripheral vision) when i told a girl in our class that one doesn't need an excuse to drink on campus, and that the rest of us were off for free** beer...

* so i discovered today that not only did we suffer the italian's inanity and a crushing semester of boring, high-density 19th century literature, but he kinda forgot to teach us the basics of how to write a seminar and what to write it on. i thought i had a topic. now i've got nothing. this greatly upsets me.

** yes! free! as in beer! and then we got to the designated spot, and not only was i accused of faking being a native english-speaker by some arshat [couldn't resist] but they charged us NIS 6 for a glass. it's cheap, but not cheap enough.

not only did i have to inform the head of the department and the italian that they weren't getting in either, but pg's mom had come to hear him speak as well. at least i got a ride home :)

i wasted a couple of hours on hawthorne - maybe i'll find something to say - then went to pg's parents' for dinner. i'd been warned that everything would be cheese, but there was enough salad and fennel to keep me satisfied. i was surprised by pg's brother's girlfriend's interest in economics (forgot that she studied that) and philosophy, and i pushed re-visioning psychology and in praise of doubt while discussing the wonders of freakonomics and their relation to misguided statistics in the wired article on the definitions of mental illness.

i need to go on a diet. my belly's a little out there of late, and controlling my constant urge to eat with tea is offset by polishing off a bag of marshmallows while my inner voice of reason screamed and shouted at me.