Thursday, September 16, 2010

Awake


I had a seventeen hour day today. I left my house at seven this morning, and I got back into it at midnight. I have to be awake in five and a half hours. 

And yet I'm here.

Because I'm wired. Awake. Exhausted - but full of energy.

Don't you just hate that?

So my day today? It started in Social Work, then moved to Russian (I got 100 on my first exam!), then into Lit discussion, where we talked about Chinese philosophy. 

Just in case I haven't been clear about this, I'm not a huge fan of philosophy. Particularly this piece we read, which I believe was the ancient forerunner to modern-day double speak. This man would fare well in politics - he used a huge number of words to say that nobody knows anything.

For example:

"There is a beginning. There is not yet beginning to be a beginning. There is a not yet beginning to be a not yet beginning to be a beginning. There is a being. There is a non-being. There is a not yet beginning to be nonbeing.There is a not yet beginning to be a not yet beginning to be a non-being. Suddenly there is a non-being." - From Chang Chou

Now, I realize that this is deep, ancient philosophy and all that. But honestly, when I'm reading it, it brings to mind another great text. One that we all know and love, written by an author who touched millions of lives.

I am, of course, talking about Dr. Seuss.

"When tweetle beetles fight, it’s called a tweetle beetle battle. And when they battle in a puddle, it’s a tweetle beetle puddle battle. And when tweetle beetles battle with paddles in a puddle, they call it a tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle. And when beetles battle beetles in a puddle paddle battle and the beetle battle puddle is a puddle in a bottle…They call this a tweetle beetle bottle puddle paddle battle muddle," - From Fox in Socks

And okay, granted, Dr. Seuss wasn't an ancient philosopher. But the two passages make about equal sense. And when it comes right down to it - I'll take the philosophy of Seuss. At least he comes with colorful pictures.

But, I digress. 

After Lit, I did not go to psych, because I was busy fielding four thousand e-mails for a meeting that I'm running in a month. We're doing bio in psych right now anyway. It's redundant. You KNOW how I feel about learning redundancy.

Then I went to Russian Practice where I was reminded once again of how difficult it is to understand a native speaker.

My neighbors were wonderful enough to take care of The Super Duper Cooper Pooper Puppy for me today, so I stayed on campus and spent more time answering e-mails. Then, at 7, I went to my first Improv class.

I'm not a huge fan of improv as an activity. It's fun to watch, but I'm more of a calculated risk taker than a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. This is great for things like paper writing and business deals, but it makes improv mostly awkward and uncomfortable.

But of course, I was told that I would be taking improv. So improv I will be taking. Perhaps it will get less awkward and uncomfortable over time. That, or I'm going to have to start drinking heavily before class.

They tried to convince me to stay and drink after class, but I turned them down. After all... I needed to come home. And sleep.

And yet, I'm awake. Rambling about Chinese philosophy and lamenting the fact that I'm not fluent in Russian after only three weeks of classes. 

Now - bed. If not sleep, I can lay awake and conjugate verbs. Or contemplate the beginning. Of the nonbeginning of the nonbeginning of the beginning of the beginning of the nonbeginning of the tweedle beetle puddle muddle battle.

That'll keep me busy for hours.

*Bobs

*Edited to add: Seems like the blogger spacing issues are back. I think I know why though. Stay tuned for more appropriately spaced posts.


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