I'm on my second week of 'summer'! I finished my last neuroscience test on Thursday, May1st, and I can't believe it's already the 12th. It hasn't really felt like anything special, because I've still been working at the library on a lot of nights.

Good things that have happened:
1. I passed Neuro w/ a B
2. Aaron and I started playing GTA 4. (We preordered it, got it on Tuesday, and Aaron opened it up on Thursday while I was in my test.) I have yet to get as addicted to it as I was to San Andreas. But I think we figured out why--I watched Aaron play San Andreas for a while in college before I ever started playing. And then, when I started playing, Aaron watched me play a lot. Or slept on the futon next to me as I played. I seem to remember an 8 hour San Andreas day...I went over to his and Jimmy's apartment around noon, we had lunch, Jimmy left, and I started playing the game. Aaron falls asleep next to me, and somewhere in that time Jimmy comes home to take a nap, and the next thing I know, it's 9 pm and we're wondering where to go for dinner. I think I was on the "learning to fly and airplane" mission by then.
Anyways, I've been playing GTA 4 alone a lot, so that's probably why it doesn't feel as fun.
3. I don't think I've mentioned the three black cats in the back of our complex that were abandoned by a family that moved. Me and Aaron got them neutered and their rabies shots from a free clinic, but were very worried that they would be taken away by Management (eek! Carnivale). We thought about giving them up on Craigslist to be barn cats, but were worried about how they would be treated, and whether they would be any good at catching rats, since they're sorta small, though full-grown. Well, about 2 1/2 weeks ago, the mom cat got sick, and this couple who had also been feeding them, had to take her in to be euthanized. And then they started worrying about the other two, and so took them in! And they are now living in the lap of luxury in their perfectly decorated home. (We went to visit the cats, and I was jealous of the peoples' interior decorator skills. Our house is just too haphazard.) So everything turned out really well, though the mom cat sacrificed her life to improve her offspring's.

Bad things that have happened
1. My laptop's harddrive went out. Like a couple weeks after my sister's went out. Thankfully, I had all my pics backed up, but other than that, it was a total loss.
2. Aaron's keyboard on his laptop has been messing up.
So we spent two days switching out computers at the Genius Bar (I use that term lightly) and they replaced both my harddrive and Aaron's keyboard totally. Still a hassle, but I got two Wild About Harry's meals out of it. yum.

Well, looking back on it, this was a pretty boring post. I think Dallas may be rubbing off on me.

A girl just can't win. If I go to a auto mechanic's with a male, everyone ends up talking to the guy, whether or not the guy knows anything about cars at all. This even applies to buying skateboards, bikes, basically anything other than a Special Edition Teen Pregnancy Barbie. That is the world of straight men--a patriarchal society.
But I live in a world of gay men. You'd think they'd be more willing to dust off societal boundaries, and share some "man talk" with me...you'd think. But no, Aaron still gets all the love. (Not surprising, I know, given the extreme interest gay men seem to have for his young, nubile body.) But even the ones that know he's married and--what's more--straight!, end up talking to him. Oh, I get a hello here and there, but Aaron gets stopped on the way out to have 45 minute conversations with people. Where are my lesbian compadres?!
What do I have to do to get some attention around here, strip down? Oh wait, that won't work either. Damn.

My sister's boyfriend singing in chinese, holding their bunny...I'm thinking youtube sensation.



I'm not sure what the original song sounds like, but I know I can understand some of the words just based on his rendition. I'll post a sound clip or video of the original if I can find it.

I must have one! I plan on zipping one up in my hoodie and taking it to the movies.

In other news, the hermit crab has reemerged from molting, and succeeded in regrowing his large claw. This is a hermit crab that we've had since I was in 6th or 7th grade. For its first 9 years, it lived in a 5in x 12in plastic container in our bathroom. My mom cleaned it religiously, since it basically became her pet after the first few weeks. Actually, back then there were 2, and then my dad bought another 2 to keep it company, but this one was the only one who survived. Then, my senior year of college, after my poor fish died, I brought the hermit crab to Austin and put him/her (I always think of him as male for some reason...) in the 5 gallon tank. Then, once we got to Dallas, it lost its large claw in a molt. I ended up doing some research on crabs (like, research that should've been done 11 years ago) and figured out that he should have salt and fresh water in his cage, that sand is important for molting, and what kind of food he should have. He's always lived on gravel, and apparently they're supposed to burrow in sand to molt, so now he's in a 10 gallon tank with sand and gravel and all the amenities that a spoiled hermit should have...even a bubbler pool, which I am jealous of, because I want a pool inside my house! Anyways, about a week and a half after he got his new cage, he buried himself in the sand and didn't come out for two months. But now he's back : )

Today me and Aaron went walking around the ghetto with Dwight. On one corner, a guy started asking Aaron for change--"33 cents, man, I gotta get some food."
Aaron replies, "Sorry, I don't have any change."
Guy: "What you talkin 'bout? It's right there." (pointing to Dwight's full poop bag)
Aaron: "That's dog crap."
Guy: "That ain't no boo-boo."

Oh and this weekend, we went to the Rio Grande supermarket down the street to get 6 for $1 avocados and 4 for $1 paper towels, as advertised. At the checkout lane, we found out that that's with a minimum $10 purchase. Lame.
But then on the way out we had some corn in a cup (+sour cream, butter, lime juice, salt and parmesan cheese) that was heavenly.

Currently working at the library, trying to study Neuroscience. Not only is it boring, but futile as well. No matter how much I outline, read, and print out pictures, I will never remember or even care where the f-ing thalamus is.

So bored...
I just got back from Austin, where Elissa had her wedding--it was definitively the most fun I've had in years. Two, to be exact, ever since I moved to this pit of boredom called Dallas. I can't even talk about what we did, because it will just depress me to think about how much fun it was, and how, for a very short weekend, I had friends and fun. : ( The world's smallest violin is playing for me.

Anyways, here's some things that are preventing me from total catatonia:
--Miss Guided: this show that comes on right before lost on abc. really hilarious, and is getting me through the weeks until new lost episodes come back on.
--The Mist: Aaron and I started watching it before I left for work, and the only thing keeping me studying now (except for this short blogging break) is so that I can finish it without guilt when I get home.
--books! I shouldn't be, but I am. I can't help it. They are definitely messing up my studytime.
--Aaron. One of the great things about being married is having a constant companion, that no one can prevent you from having--going home for Christmas? No more separate beds and bedrooms. Stay up as late as you want, whispering and giggling with your spouse! Very freeing.

p.s.
Why are all the terms for marriage partners lame?
1. husband--sounds so forbidding, like he may start deducting from your monthly allowance and bitch slapping you at any moment. Try it. Tell any telemarketer, "Well, I need to talk to my husband about this before I make a decision." See if they don't give you an awkward pause while they imagine what an ogre you must be married to.
2. spouse--rhymes with "louse." Need I say more?

Anyways, I think we should work hard and come up with some new ones. My favorites so far:
1. partner in crime
2. compatriot
..."Well sir, I must speak to my partner in crime/compatriot about this before I make any final decisions."
Much less intimidating, don't you think?

I just reread The Giver, which I first read as a kid in elementary school, and then multiple times after that. I didn't remember it very well, and wanted to read it again because Aaron has been listening to audiobooks sometimes at work, so we went to the library and happened to find The Giver as an audiobook.
The funny thing is, I remember feeling that the ending was hopeful--that Jonah and Gabe find "Elsewhere" and survive. But no matter how many times I read the ending now, I can't help but believe that they died. Despite the fact that Lois Lowry insists that the ending is "optimistic" and ended up writing a loose trilogy mentioning the fact that they did survive. I don't know if it matters what the author thinks the actual ending is, but rather what is true to the reality of the book itself. And I think they die.

It's sort of disturbing though, to know that I was such an optimist then, and such a pessimist now. Is this what puberty did to me? I still desperately want them to survive, but just can't make myself believe it.