So...


I'm done.


Like. Forever.



All of my papers have been turned in. All of my exams have been taken.


And in super cool news, before the exam today, my professor was talking about how he'd finished grading all of the extra credit papers from all of his classes and said that the best papers were from our class (go History of Prints). Then, he singled me out as having the best paper of them all. Wow. Flattering. He also mentioned how I hadn't missed a single class and proceeded to "bow down to me."

A little embarrassing, but I'm not going to lie, I love getting recognition like that.

Then after I took the exam and was handing it in, he asked me to send him a copy of my paper by email so he could use it as an example for the future. Sweet. He also lamented the fact that I'm not going to grad school (as my other art history professor had), but said I should keep in touch.

So, nice.


I am having a bit of trouble with determining when I "graduate." I'm not walking or attending the ceremony, but do I still consider May 3rd to be my "graduation?" Or, since I'm done with all the work I'll ever have to do for my undergraduate degree, have I graduated already? Certainly, it can't be when I receive my diploma in the mail...that could take months.

Eh, fuck it. I'm done, I've graduated.

I have my new cell phone!!


Alright, let me back up.

When last we met, I was contemplating getting a new phone and had a few I was kicking around. Last week, I went to the AT&T Store with my mom (because she's the account holder) and I looked around and fell in love with the pink Sony Ericsson W580i slider (as pictured in my icon). It was beautiful and amazing and I loved it.

Alas, they were out of stock. Boo.

And now that I had my heart set on that one, I couldn't go back to my other options.

So I had my mom add me as an "authorized user" on the account so I could attempt to find said phone in Orlando. This morning, I prepared myself with a list of the closest 7 AT&T stores and set out on my quest.

It wasn't much of a quest...the first store I visited had one in stock. It was a quick, painless transition, thank you AT&T.

So I am the proud new owner of the best cell phone in the history of cell phones. Granted, I haven't really used it practically yet. I sent my sister a text message, just to test it out.

But it's so slick and pretty. And I'm currently listening to the radio on it. That's right...it has an FM tuner. And even cooler? It has that Track ID program that will identify music playing either on it's tuner, or anywhere in speaker range. So if an awesome song is playing somewhere and I don't know what it is, my cell phone can tell me.

Hot.

It's also a "Walkman" so if I get a memory stick for it, I can load music and play it using the headphones (included), or connect it to my car. (I could load music now, but not as much.)

Double hot.

I've also already connected it via Bluetooth to my laptop to load some pictures I had from my old phone (there were some I really liked using as backgrounds). And of course, it has a 2MP camera built in.


Oh, and I assume it can also make telephone calls.


So yes. I've only had it for 2 and a half hours but I'm LOVING it.

And after the $50 rebate, it will have only cost me $56.


By the way, I really love AT&T. I have never had any problems, they have always been very accommodating and helpful, and even the semi-difficult things have been relatively easy and pain-free. I highly recommend them to anyone.


-------

In other news, Spring Break went far too quickly. I slacked off for the most part, though I did watch a few movies (not nearly as many as I had hoped). I got a lot of sleep, though, and did not a stitch of work.

Friday, I got back to Orlando, but left almost immediately (after a quick shower) and went down to Miami Beach to meet up with Jenny Melton. We did some shopping, a lot of eating and drinking, and hung out for the night and following morning. It was fun, but alas, I had to leave yesterday because I needed today to study for an exam I have tomorrow morning (needless to say, I haven't started studying yet).

Good times. It's so hard to motivate yourself to study when the class is so wretched.

Oh man. The past two days have been cah-ray-zee.

FIrst off, I did a little more procrastinating yesterday than I had anticipated. Remember, I had been working on finishing my History of Prints extra credit paper comparing Rembrandt to Whistler in terms of printmaking.

After my nap between classes, I later spent time chatting with Colleen and TiVo'ing through the American Idol results show (cutting it down from an hour to 10 minutes).

All in all, not a ton of procrastinating, but I still found the paper to be far more difficult to get out than I had originally anticipated. When I began writing, things were going pretty smoothy, but it went a little downhill. Anyway, long story short (too late), I didn't get it finished until 4:15am. OUCH.

And so I set my alarm for 6:30am, giving myself a full hour to proofread and edit the entire thing before printing off a final draft (and boy did it need it). I still managed to get to my 8:30 class on time and I wasn't falling asleep as I had foreseen.


In fact, I was really quite productive.
- I got to campus a little early and returned a few books to the library (I'm down from 10 to 7!)
- After class, I picked up my graded outline outside my theory and criticism professor's office, so I can use it to work on my term paper over Spring Break
- On my way home, I got gas (because the angry little light came on)
- At my apartment complex, I checked my mail and in addition to my two new Netflixes (Dedication with Mandy Moore and Billy Crudup and Silk with Keira Knightley and fuck all else) I got a postcard from the lovely Laura, who was in Portugal at the time
- Then, I went into the office to pay for electric overages ($0.57...yes, you read that right. I had to write out a check for fifty-seven CENTS).

So it was all little stuff, but still. Quite impressive, and on 2 hours of sleep as well.


Needless to say, I then napped, but only for an hour and a half. I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, so I have since feasted on a Hot Pocket for lunch and have plans to make this a "movie day." I'll be hitting up Be Kind, Rewind in Winter Park before meandering over to the Enzian for Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. Tomorrow morning, I'll be catching The Bank Job for $5, thanks to AMC's A.M.Cinema program, before heading to Spring Hill. Saturday is a mexican fiesta and poker night at my sister's, so awesomeness is bound to ensue!!

Oh, and did I mention?

I'M ON SPRING BREAK!!!


Other plans include getting a new cell phone, taking advantage of Bath & Body Works' $3 hand soap sale (and JUST as I was running out! Literally...my last soap just started to sputter), and using a coupon at Yankee Candle for a reed diffuser. The stupid wall plug-in things are total shite, so I'm thinking diffuser might be the best way to give a fresh, lasting scent to my humble abode. I might get it all done today...who knows?

I am taking a short break in my hectic schedule for lunch and a little "Daily Show" (from last Thursday).

---------

While, I'm fairly confident about the half of my Thesis that I have done, it's becoming clear that I will not finish it entirely by tomorrow.

On the upside, I'm done with my Geography homework, and I reedited my Film paper, so that's better. Which means the only thing I have left for tomorrow is my Thesis.


Moreover, last night after I was getting a little overworked on the thesis (and it was 1:15am and I was down to getting 6 hours of sleep anyway), I started to sift through the research I've collected for my History of Prints paper (comparing Rembrandt's "The Three Trees" etching to Whistler's "[something] Landscape"). So I kinda got a head start on that (reminder: the 8-page paper is due Friday).

And in the end, I managed about 4 and a half hours of sleep. I'm actually very awake today (so far). I probably won't feel the effects of all that until tomorrow (which is going to *suck*).


Alas, I've finished my lunch and this episode of "The Daily Show," so it's back to work I go.

I figure that I have a good 12 hours to get more work done today, plus still get 6 hours of sleep.

Ready, go.

---------

PS - Brian Williams is not only one of my favorite reporters (possibly pulling ahead of Anderson Cooper because while he lacks those beautiful blue eyes, he's not as much of a pawn and still really attractive), but one of my favorite guest on "The Daily Show." He and Jon have such a good rapport.

My watch says the date is the 31st.

Clearly it doesn't know that February only has 29 days (or, rather, it expected me to actually change the date at the appropriate time. Silly).


I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now because I have too much work and not enough time to do it in. But I figured that if I made a list, I might be able to more successfully compartmentalize and it will seem less impossible:
- Thesis (I'm aiming for 16-20 pages for Tuesday, but really I'm not worried about the length, just about getting everything I want to say in there and support all of my conclusions satisfactorily)
- Geography webwork assignment (due before class on Tuesday, so I'll have to do it by Monday night...I think it's a long one, though, so it will take about 2 hours)
- Theory and Criticism term paper outline (definitely waiting until after my thesis appointment with my advisor. I should be able to take a lot of it out of my thesis if I go about it right. It's due Thursday)
- History of Prints extra credit paper (it's extra credit, but I need the 10 points, so I'll have to write a kick-ass, 8-page comparison of Rembrandt's "The Three Trees" and Whistler's "[something] Landscape" etchings. Time consuming...and time I don't really have. I guess that's what I'll be doing all-day Wednesday and Thursday morning and evening)

All I can say is thank god I wrote my Film paper (also due Tuesday) last week.


But I guess if I compartmentalize it, I only have my thesis and Geography webwork to do before 9am on Tuesday. The outline and Prints paper can wait until Wednesday. Assuming, of course, I can write an 8-page paper in a day and a half.

I foresee no sleep in my future.

The good news? Spring Break begins immediately after that extra-credit paper is due on Friday.


Oh, and at some point I should let you all in on the drama of the apartment. Everything is currently imploding, but I'm ignoring it all until I have time to worry about it.

I hate prints.

More specifically, I hate my History of Prints class.

I'm going to fail tomorrow's test, and then the class, then have to take summer school in order to graduate. I don't know if they even offer upper-level art history classes during the summer...so I'm going to fail and have to wait until fall to finish my requirements to graduate.

Ugh.

----

In other news, for those that I gave scantily lacking details, Katy Walsh (Ballard) had a baby boy named Charlie, most likely on February 1st (that's when I was informed of it).

So yes.