You know you're a grown up when...

Last night I made myself some stir fry for dinner. It had three different types of vegetables in it. That I chopped up and willingly put in. And way more vegetables than meat. I even made an effort to grab extra vegetables when I was dishing myself up. This never used to happen. When I was little, I always used to make sure to get tons of meat and barely enough vegetables so my mom wouldn't dish me up more. Who knew life could change so fast.

Overheard at BYU

The other day I was taking a break from studying and was eating a sandwich outside on a bench. It was wonderful. The weather, not the sandwich. The sandwich was merely good. About 15 feet away from me, a guy and girl were chilling on the steps. As I was mid bite, I heard the girl say this:

"I mean, they asked me what my interests are. I have no idea what my interests are! That's why I hate filling out forms like that. What are my interests? I don't know. What do they want me to say? Candy. I'm interested in candy. And eating. KFC, chicken burritos, those are my interests. What are my hobbies? Ha, I don't know."

Now the girl was eating a burrito at the time, but I don't know if it was chicken. I also don't know what the boy was thinking - he could have been enthralled with this speech or bored out of his mind for all I know. But I DO know what I was thinking. I almost choked on my sandwich. And it wasn't chicken. It was turkey.

Are you kidding me?!?! You have no pursuits? No passions? No interests? Nothing that gets you excited and makes you feel alive? Nothing with which you connect with society and with this world? Honestly?! Nothing that gets the gears in your head moving? That makes your heart start beating faster? Nothing that brings little gasps of joy or pleasure when you happen upon it? Nothing that makes you stay up really late or get up really early in the morning? No goals? Dreams? Aspirations? Are you so alienated and disconnect from life around you as all that?

It baffled me. It made me angry and belligerent. It made me sad.

It seems like the longer I am alive, the more things I find to interest me. The more things I have to stop in wonder over. I almost have too many passions, and it gets hard to manage all of them. Life constantly blows my mind with the variety, the possibilities, the scope for imagination out there. She is interested in none of it?! Well, besides chicken (Chicken?! The blandest of all meat?!). I wanted to grab her by the arm and drag her around and open her eyes to everything this world has to offer.

Later, I was walking to go take a final and a little boy in a stroller roared like a lion at me. His dad pushing him didn't notice, but I almost roared back. I think I fell in love. I walked to class with the lightest heart and the biggest grin and a sincere hope that there will forever be little boys in the world who will roar at girls passing on the sidewalk.

The Follow-up Check-up

Well, folks, I did it. I wrote my paper. All 19 pages plus title page plus two pages of bibliography. Not bad for one night's work. I should say one night and one morning's work since I finished at 8 am. (Funny story about the custodian coming in at 4:30 in the morning. I sure surprised him.) Yep, I hit save, went and put up my poster for the Mary Lou Fulton Poster Competition, went home and showered, ate some Cheerios, and went to class.

Still without sleeping.

And I felt oddly well rested. Which concerned me. But the universe righted itself when I fell asleep in class. Afterward I went back to the ballroom where all of the posters were hanging, ran into my friend Kristen, bummed around with the other cool anthro majors, got free delicious lunch and free delicious chocolate cake, and WON the competition in my department. Surprise.

I of course ditched out before the luncheon was over to go to class and turn in that thrice-blasted paper, so I have no idea where to pick up my winnings. And I fell asleep in class again so it wasn't really worth it. And I forgot to take down my poster. Oops. I hope they saved it. It was pretty.

See? Pretty.

I came home after class and called my family because my sister had her baby! His name is Will. He is bright pink. I love him.

And then I slept. And slept. Finally. Until 7:30. I'm going to go back right now. Yes.

On Beyond Zebra

While being the title of a beloved Dr. Seuss book, it is also an appropriate expression of how I feel right now. I have moved beyond the library.

I am currently sitting locked in my TA office on the first floor of the SWKT. Alone. The rest of the building is abandoned, unless there is some professor experiencing marital problems and is sleeping on the couch in his office. So many professors have couches...

But I digress. Anyway, I am here because I can stay here longer than I can in the library. The library closes at 2 during the week before finals. I need longer than 2. I've needed longer than 2 for the past month. I hit upon this brilliant strategy today. All I needed to do was close the blinds, close the door, and hole myself up before the building closed at 10. The plan went off with nary a hitch. I even had time to stop at the vending machines to grab sustenance to sustain this all-night writing marathon. I eat way too many of my meals from vending machines these days...

And it is going to be a marathon. I have a 15 page paper due tomorrow at 1:30 for my International Organizations class. I'm writing an constructivist analysis of how the globe has organized itself to combat female genital mutilation. I would. It's not the happiest topic ever, but it is interesting. And you can tell I'm an anthropologist by it. No Poli Sci major would write this.

Anyway, I had better get back to work. I have miles to go before I sleep. If I sleep. I've never pulled a true all-nighter so this could be interesting. I have to attend a poster competition in the morning since I submitted an entry so I may just fall asleep on the floor, go put up my poster, and then go home and shower for the day.

I wish I had a couch.