Day 259 - Learning my A, B, C's.

A
is for Anna. I wrote her a letter yesterday, but today is her birthday, and I really hope she had a great one. Though I know she had lots of class today, and then challenges for her band performance, and her sister went to the hospital, I hope we made it a memorable birthday.

Sometimes I worry about my ginger friend. She's cheery on the outside, but I know she has insecurities, and I just wish I could do something for her, to make her see how wonderful she really is. The letter was one thing, but I want to do something more. I mean, look at her: she's gorgeous, and seems happy. I want to see that beautiful smile more often.

B
is for birthday bash: We went out to dinner to a wonderful restaurant (it's called Sava's, for whoever is in the Ann Arbor area, I thoroughly suggest it).And then went to get milkshakes at Potbelly's. Yummmm. Then we came back to the dorm for presents and other shenanigans. And photos. Always lots of photos. Some of my favorites from the night:

 Brighid couldn't open the Nyquil. Anna took it as a photo opportunity.

 Roommate picture. Anna and Brighid: a.k.a. the Birthday Girls

 Julia and Anna look at the gift: dinosaur cupcake molds!

 The requisite "family" photo.

Julia and I matched. Unintentionally.

C

is for country music. I got a lot from Nicolette earlier, and have been listening to it non-stop. As in, I have my iPod tuned to the country genre and it's just going on shuffle. On a continuous loop.

I love country music, can you tell?

I also love my friends.

Oh so very much.

Day 258 - A letter to someone who needs it.

Dear Anna,

Yes, this is to you. It's to the petite ginger girl who is currently sitting on my futon working on French homework. It's to the girl with the pink pen and her feet in fourth position, with the cozy sweatshirt and the heart that is filled with gold.

Tomorrow is your birthday. And I read your posts on Tumblr. All of them. And I must say, my dear, that I'm worried about you. I'm worried that you don't realize how truly wonderful you really are, and how lucky we all are to be able to call you a friend. I'm especially lucky to be able to call your a best friend.

Sometimes I don't think you see yourself clearly at all. You are talented: you are a flag girl with ambition and enthusiasm. You're smart: eighteen credits, Bio, P-Chem, French. You're a wonderful friend: giving hugs, giggling, and making time for everyone when they need it. You're a wonderful sister: making sure your siblings are doing okay, and having fun when all of you need it. You are a wonderful person, Anna. And I really wish you could see yourself from my point of view. You'd be amazed.

For your birthday, I want you to be happy. Truly happy. Happy with a capital H. The kind when you smile for no reason, and walk on air. I only wish that this gift could be wrapped in a box with a pretty pink bow. But you know what else I want for you? I want you to have a day without worries, or fears. One where you can see how much of an amazing person you are, and one where all of the self-doubts and second guessings just fly away into the setting sun, never to be seen again.

That's my wish for you. And as you enter another year of your life, I hope that you'll continue your search for happiness.

And Anna? I want you to find your destination. And I want you to send me a postcard when you get there, wherever it may be, because no matter what, it'll be the best place on earth.

You are an amazing and beautiful person, Anna, both inside and out.

Lots of love,
Claire

Day 256 - Hello there

Hey you,

I like you.

There, I said it.

Too bad it's not in person, and too bad I probably won't ever say this in person.

We have two classes together this year, and I must admit, I look forward to both of them eversomuch, not because I love the subjects, but because you make them fun. We have side conversations, and crack jokes. Make plans, talk about clubs, classes, weekends, and life.

It's so easy to be around you. And it feels so natural. When we're walking from one class to the next, I smile whenever you get excited over something, like what you did at work the other day, or the exciting plans you have for the weekend.

I also must admit, my heart sped up when you grabbed my shoulders with enthusiasm, and when you lightly touched my arm to get me to slow down from leaving class. I like the way you always want me to help you with homework, when there are at least four other people at the table who are easily as capable. But you know I'll come.

I'm sorry this is disjoint, and I really hope you don't see this. But I just thought I should put it out there. And since I'm definitely not going to say this to you in real life, at least I can know that it's not just inside me. I wish you could just intuitively know this, and let me know how you feel too. Maybe not outright, but in some way. Something that will show me that I'm not falling for someone who has other girls always on his mind, like I did last year. Something that will show me (or not show me) if you feel the same way.

It's okay if you don't. I've dealt with that before. But the curiosity really is killing me.

C

Day 250 - Back to School, Back to Craziness.

Sorry for no post in a while - I've been kind of busy with the beginning of school. But here's what's been going on:

Sunday everyone just hung out - we had a "family" reunion dinner, and just went all over the place for food, hanging out, and desserts. Monday was a blast: a group of us dressed up in our favorite sundresses, coats, and boots and treked over to the Law Quad in a misty rain and the cold to take some amazing "family" photos. It was a blast, except for the fact that I had goosebumps for hours afterward. The pictures turned out really well, and I've already gotten some of them printed at CVS to put on my photo wall.

Tuesday was the beginning of classes, and boy, did I have to hit the ground running. I had class from 11-4, with no breaks in between. But here's a recap:

11-12: Linear Algebra. Overall, the class went well; the material we're learning right now is painfully boring, but the teacher is decent. It seems as if he isn't comfortable speaking in front of people, because his hand kept shaking, and he wouldn't look anyone in the eye. Though he's not a bad teacher, the class seemed to drag on - I'm not sure whether it was the slow progress of the material, or whether it was just because it was the first class of the year. Anyway, I checked my watch (or, rather, Henry's watch) about every 2 minutes beginning 20 minutes into class (it's a 50 minute class).

12-1: Honors Calculus 3. This. Class. Is. Amazing. I love love love the professor, and the material isn't going too quickly. I mean, it probably helps that I have seen the material before (I took a Calc 3 online course in high school), but still. The professor said we could call him Alejandro, as long as we didn't sing the Lady Gaga song when we said it. He's pretty funny. He also said that the quintessential image we need ingrained in our mind to picture 3-D space is a cereal box. Preferably Lucky Charms. Yes, he is that amazing.

1-2:30: Literary Theory. The professor is British, so I don't mind listening to her talk, though the classroom was unbearably stuffy and there seemed to be way too many people in a tiny little room. I had a friend in this class, so it was great to have a familiar face (I have groups of friends in both math classes) ,and I also saw some people from my English classes from last semester, which was great as well. Unfortunately, I sat right next to a guy who I wanted to punch in the face whenever he raised his hand. Really, though, this guy was a major prick: name-dropping who he had read, acting all snobby, throwing out fancy words just to raise himself up. We had to write our own definition of "literature" and he made his all complex and everything, then scoffed when I gave mine. I was like, "Hey dude, I understand that I don't use hoity-toity words in my definition, but that doesn't mean that my opinion on what literature is is any less valuable than yours." But I didn't. I wish I had the guts to.

2:30-4: Asian-American Literature. This was the class I was most hesitant about. It was the last one I chose, and was the class that put me at 18 credits (the maximum allowed in one semester). Overall, it was really fun. Our teacher spent the first half hour or so having us pass our Chi around the room - she wanted the "good energy" to flow through us. Then we decided that what we learned from the exercise was that she was Crazy. With a capital C. The syllabus doesn't look too bad - lots of online readings and such, until the end of the semester, where she wants us to read two books a week. That might be a problem.

After class, I went to the Cupcake Station with some friends to pick up cupcakes (did you guess that?) for a friend's birthday. She turned 20. It's crazy how old we're all getting.

We had dinner at a nice dorm, and then had a hall meeting at 9:00. Pretty standard. Don't smoke pot, don't drink copious amounts of alcohol, be respectful, clean the bathrooms, etc.. We went up and had cupcakes for the birthday celebration, and then I did homework and went to bed.

Today I had both math classes and another English course: Shakespeare's Early Plays. I've had the professor before (for Intro to Poetry last semester), and that was the reason I took the course. I think it's going to go well - yes, I have to read a play each week, and yes, it will be demanding. But he's such an amazing professor, I really don't mind.

What will be a problem is the fact that I intentionally made my schedule thinking that math homework would be due on Fridays, so I made my Thursday classes light (I only have two English classes tomorrow). But nope. In both of the math classes, the homework will be due on a Wednesday. And yes, I have 5 hours of class on Tuesdays.

This'll certainly be an interesting semester. But surprisingly, I really can't wait to see how it all turns out.

I have a feeling things will be great.

Day 246(?) - Cheering from the North

So much has happened in the last couple of days.

Thursday was full of packing, because Friday I moved into my dorm (the same dormitory as last year, same roommate, but different room). It was so humid yesterday - it felt like Louisiana right before the afternoon storm, but it stayed like that the entire day. It was amazing to see all of my friends again: Nicolette, Brighid, and Leah came later, but it was great to see Julia, Elizabeth, and Michelle before the day ended. I went to dinner with Julia and Anna, whi was dressed as Madonna for spirit practice for color guard (the flags on the field during the pre-game and half-time show).

Today I woke up early and a group of 11 of us went to the local Farmer's Market. I snapped some nice shots, and got a great loaf of bread to make sandwiches.

We came back to the dorm for brunch (I missed the vanilla cinnamon bagels oh so much) and then split up to just hang out for a bit. I worked on room decorations and finally finished putting all of my photos up. It's crazy how quickly school has become to feel like home. After that, I went to Espresso Royale to read with a friend (we were using it for the air conditioning) and then followed it up with a visit to Starbucks to meet with a girl I met last year in my poetry class. It was so nice to see her again, and we definitely still have a lot to talk about.

I came back to my dorm and just putzed around for a bit - hung out with other people, and ended up going back to the Farmer's Market to pick up some extra virgin olive oil to dip the bread in (I didn't realize when I bought it that it was the type of bread for oil, not margarine). They didn't have any normal containers to put it in (it was a co-op grocery store, and the oil was in a tub with a spigot), so I grabbed the next best thing: a bear people usually put honey in. His name is Giuseppe, the Italian honey bear. We figured Italian bears would like oil better than honey anyway.

I had an amazing dinner date with one of my friends, and then a bunch of people came to hang out in our room. Oh, and the power went out. For an hour and a half. It was great. Really.
I bonded with my hall mates by bringing them cookies, and we actually got to know each other, all while playing Catch Phrase and Taboo. It was really fun, until someone told us the power was back on. Then everyone dispersed. Then people came over.

I went to take a shower (about a half hour ago) and because it's a bit of a walk to the bathroom, I brought a bathrobe this year. It's pretty. But pretty short. Still decent, but short (not one of the ones that goes down to your ankles). Anyway, I was coming back from the shower and there were two guys trying to hide a beer box in the recycling, and they let me through without too much trouble. They were honestly kind of embarrassed (they're freshman, and I was a sophomore girl standing with dripping hair while they struggled with folding a box ... I'd be embarrassed too). I passed their room, and a guy comes out holding an unopened beer bottle. I pass him, and the next thing I know, I hear a low whistle.

It's clear that they're keeping it classy.

As strange as it was ... I do have to admit that it's nice to know that I'm somewhat decent looking even after I've stepped out of the shower. :)

Day 244 - Thank You.

Wow. It's been crazy, this past week or so. We've not had Internet, but I just fixed it yesterday. Now I'm trying to get organized during packing, but it's not going too well. Oh well. At least I have a nice sign for my roommate for when she gets to school.

Yesterday I helped my mom in her classroom, and saw an old mentor. And I thought it would be a good occasion for a letter.

Dear Mr. P,

Thank you. I know those aren't words enough to express my gratitude to you, but it's the only thing I can think to say.

You've helped me. More so than you can even imagine. Our before-school chats would always start the day off right, and you were one of the few adults who I could talk freely to about anything and everything: school stresses, plans for the future, worries about what is to come. Boys. Clubs. Friends. Non-friends. Everything. And as strange as it sounds, you've turned into the confident that I wish I shared with my dad. Leo is so lucky to grow up with you.

Last November, I came in to talk to you during my Thanksgiving Break. I was stressed, and wondering whether I would every truly love Michigan. And I must admit, your words spoke wonders. You gave me the advice everyone else was giving: follow your heart. But when you said it, you also told me your opinion: I needed to do English. And maybe it's because of you that I am an English major today. You've inspired me, and have showed me that an English major really can be successful.

I went to visit you yesterday, and it was even better. We talked about school, my trepidations (you called me crazy), as well as what's been going on with you. I didn't realize how much of a big deal you are :P.