Semester is Over

If you can believe it (and I cannot), my last project was just submitted nigh one minute ago. I wasn't stressed or anything about it, unlike my classmates, because the professor pretty much told us on the first day of class that it was impossible to fail, and if we did terribly on our final project she would just let us do it again. That kind of relieved some tension.

In addition, I presented my author study (go E.L. Konigsburg!) last night, so that's finished as well. No class until January 20! Yay!

Since I had no idea how long this would take today, I don't work until 6:00 tonight. I may go up to 125th street and get some groceries - oh, get this: I have no food in the apartment. Well, there's lame stuff like tomato sauce and condensed milk, but it's hard to construct meals from that. I'm down to eating condiments. This morning, I ate a bowl of microwaved green beans from a bag in the freezer with tuna (thanks Aunt Bonnie) and alfredo sauce. Creative! It seems like I only have half-meals, like I have oatmeal but ran out of jam to mix in with it. I have frozen veggies, but no rice. Frozen fries, but no cookie sheet to bake them on. Graham cracker crust with no pie filling. You get the idea.

Yesterday was full of research studies; I had my preliminary interview for this brainwave study which includes me wearing the dorkiest-looking bathing cap thing. Oh, and there's all of these rules that I have to obey in the 12 hours before I go in, like no alcohol or caffeine or nicotine; hair must be clean and dry, without any styling product, no braids; no makeup or earrings, etc. Apparently they put all of this gel goop in your hair, so I have to bring shampoo and conditioner with me because there's no way I would leave the building with that nasty stuff on my head.

Then came the olfactory one at Rockefeller University, and I really wish that the coordinator would have told me that they had to attach electrodes to my right foot because I was wearing tights and socks. I just sat in a chair and watched this nature film about fish (I was supposed to be calm) and there were prompts on the screen that told me when I needed to sniff a particular vial. Good lord, I had to sniff like a hundred times. I don't have any brain cells left.

Work is going to be pretty regular this week; tonight's shift is 6-10, then tomorrow 10-6, Thursday and Friday 9-5, and Saturday 10-6. After that I don't work for awhile because, hooray, I'm flying home on Sunday.

Oh! Things went down at the 67th street library yesterday! Oh man! First, this woman's toddler was being really irritating and getting into everything and crying and stuff, then finally he pulls down all of these books from the counter and I think one hit him in the face. Yeah, that shouldn't be funny, except that it is. Anyways, he starts freaking out and crying louder, and the girl working the check-out desk makes some snarky comment about how the mom should have watched him better (ooh!) and the mom FREAKS OUT and is all like, "who are you to say that? What's your name?! I'm gonna report you!" and the clerk is not having any of it and starts yelling back (yelling! in the library) until FINALLY, this nine-month-pregnant lady starts getting into it on the mom's side and threatens the clerk and then EVERYBODY freaks out and it was so, so fun. Public disturbances are my natural high.