PIE

I just made pie from scratch.  It was my first ever pie crust experience, and I knew to be extra careful to not overwork the dough.  It came out perfect: I baked a pie crust without the filling after brushing it with an egg glaze.  Earlier today I went to the farmer's market and bought three giant juicy peaches and a basket of fresh strawberries, so Lauren tossed those with three tablespoons of sugar.  That made them ooze and make a sweet syrup.  We also tried to make whipped cream by hand but we decided on thickened cream to pour over top instead.  So instead of baking the filling into the crust, we just put the tossed fruit in the baked pie shell and poured the thickened cream over each slice.  It was a bout of creativity and spontaneity in the kitchen.  I love baking with the girlies.  

Last weekend we made lasagna together at Dave's apartment and we did the same kind of making things up as we went.  It was also really delicious.  We have kitchen magic.  

new year

in my life as an academic, I have come to understand that the year actually starts in january and ends in december, but I refuse to change my perspective.  the year starts when school starts and ends when school ends and the rest is limbo time called summer vacation.  in any case, happy new year!  I'm back at school, all moved into my room with danielle.  this year it's east facing, which means that we get morning light instead of north facing as in no light at all, and also is on the route of the trash truck at seven a.m. on mondays, incidentally.  I assume we'll get used to that but... who knows? the room looks great and already feels kind of like home.  the city feels like home for sure, and being united with friends and the boy has been most like coming home.  saying goodbye to the parents was hard, again, but it gets better with time.  I had three classes this morning...  physics looks like it might be a little more mathematical than I anticipated, but I do have my graphing calculator, and casey's a math minor so I should be set.  I'm hoping to get started as a french tutor soon, if possible.  flexible hours and decent pay, plus material that I love: ideal. 

I just went on a walk with my dear darling wonderful friend john.  it was really wonderful.  we went to south campus and picked fresh pears and blackberries and talked about where we are in life right now and just had some simple fun. a little reunion dinner tonight at six with everyone!  and emily's coming too to meet everyone... we're going to need lots of tables pushed together.  we're always that group in the cafeteria anyway.  and we're proud of it. 

experiment

so: it's been two weeks since the summer of Arabic ended and usual summer programmes began in the life of me.  the results?  not good.  It turns out that in the last year, I've so completely devoted myself to academics that I can't really function as a normal nineteen year old.  Being unoccupied is a hazard.  Commence looking for projects.

you can talk a real big game up

looking at this next week with a lot of apprehension.  we have our final exam on thursday, and our oral exam for class (I'm doing a presentation in arabic on Qur'an recitation), and in addition to that we have two Oral Proficiency Interviews to prove our level of comprehension and ability to synthesize.  I'm pretty nervous. the downside to this programme is that there isn't really enough time to absorb words quantitatively.  we've gone through a lot of grammar concepts and patterns that I haven't had any trouble absorbing, but there are only so many words I can get in my brain at once.  that makes me nervous for the oral interviews.  but, I'll practice lots before and hope it works out well for me.  I don't expect outstanding marks, I'd just like to be able to use a positive level on transfer applications.  I think I also should probably take a French OPI at some point so that I can put that on applications, too. 

tonight the arabic programme cooked dinner for all the other programmes here.  we made kabob and shawarma and tajine and shish taouk and lybian rice and tabouli and yogurt salad and salata al-borduqal and baklava and kunafa and adeer al-afukadu.  it was really delicious.  cooking together was a lot of fun, and then sitting down to eat together felt like family.  it was really enjoyable.  

I only have five more days here, which I am pretty happy about.  I'm ready for a little bit of summer vacation before heading back to the city for fall semester.  it's going to be a very busy semester.  I can't wait to get back to it, and I especially can't wait to get back to my life and figure out what it is.  this summer school adventure has sort of shaken me up and now I can't really even tell if I have my bearings on what I want or even what I'm doing.  so in the next few weeks, I'm going to be listening to a lot of music, exercising a lot and journaling often in order to try to sort things out.  

the longer I've been here the more sure I am that I need to try to transfer colleges...  it's a sad realization;  I never thought I'd really feel this way.  it's saddest because I don't want to leave based on not liking where I am, but because I need more.  I am so happy in the city with my people.  

I have to start packing up here soon.  I'm glad to be leaving.  for once in my life, I don't think I'll have a hard time with leaving somewhere.  I will miss my friends here very much.  some of them are the most genuine people I've ever had a chance to spend time with, which is a strange sensation.  but I can feel in myself that I'm ready to move into what's coming next.  it's going to be important for me to keep attention on myself and my goals in the coming semester.  I have a lot of things to figure out and a lot of work to do in order to do that.  

David set off this morning on his poetry adventure.  he texted me this morning as he was leaving, and I got swept up in that sensation of adventure:  what an incredible one he is stepping into today.  I wish that I could be there with him...  but it reminded me that I am adventuring to, just in a more contained way.  

there are a few hours left of sunlight today.  I'm going to go sit in the fresh air and work on some crazy arabic grammar, and possibly do some figuring out of where I am these days.  

wrestles and music

Being here makes me so homesick to be back in the beautiful city with my friends and the music and streets.  And of course the Thai Food and the coffee shops and the beautiful rain clouds.  

It's been very rainy here the last few days.  We've had the most incredible thunderstorms, and I just want to spend whole afternoons in bed with Gabriel Garcia Marquez and a cup of peppermint tea.  

It's funny, when we came here they said we wouldn't be the same when we left.  It's certainly true, but I wonder if they really get the credit for that.  We're here for 8 weeks.  If we didn't change in that time, I'd be more upset.  

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Yeasayer and Antony & the Johnsons.  Also, the Bon Iver EP is stunning.  Last weekend, the Pitchfork festival was streamed live online.  I watched the Thermals and the Flaming Lips.  Not as good as being there, but a really good medium. 

I'm looking at some pretty big changes in my life in the next year.  I have a lot to look forward to: being a sophomore, a heavy academic schedule for the first semester and then a fair amount of freedom in determining what I do with the second semester, figuring out how to fit Arabic into my life, getting back into French, starting economics classes and seeing where that leads me... so much more, but those are the big things I'm really looking forward to.  

amazing indie covers of pop and rap songs

http://www.hearya.com/2007/05/25/top-10-indie-covers-of-rap-songs/

woah woah woah

They're streaming the pitchfork concert live from Chicago.  I wish I was there.  The Flaming Lips are playing tonight...  so jealous!  They're supposed to be absolutely mindblowing live. I'm watching the Thermals right now: excellent.  But... Lolla in the future is getting me by.  

Speaking of getting by, I've had to take the last few days one at a time.  It's been tough.  The parents are headed to the redwoods today.  It's a trip we take every year as a family, and for the first time, I'm not there.  It's something I look forward to every year.  I'm going to get through today one hour at a time, and probably tomorrow too.  Hopefully I'll find somethings to cheer me up.  I don't know why I've been feeling down, but it doesn't matter why so much as what I need right now.  Probably a good long run and a hard sleep.