So, when I got home for Christmas about a month ago (seriously, it was like December 9th...) I got a new haircut. She gave me Aeon Flux hair which is far superior to the "avant garde" disaster I recieved this summer. Unfortunately, I don't have a hair tool that plugs into a molten volcano so I can't really replicate this look but it's curl-friendly as well. This is our Florida backyard. Jungletastic, isn't it?

Christmas was peaceful, it's strange being back here after establishing a life in Soda City. But I've had some good adventures and saw my friends (the 2, well now 3 that still live here). I even went ice skating! Check out how lame I am: Stef, who I was skating with, said that she saw someone break their arm last year and I freaked out about my grad student insurance and the possiblity of bone fractures and got the hell off the rink. Where's my sense of adventure? But seriously- you should have seen the way some of those kids just caromed off the wall and into people causing these massive domino pile-ups...

I have also recently re-acquainted myself with a crochet hook. Long time, no see. Surprise, surprise-- there were 2 large bags of high end yarn waiting for me to dig in that I forgot to bring with me when I moved. Talk about motivation, I had totally forgotten about a crazy stash of cashmere. Guess who's getting handmade presents next year? EVERYONE!

Been reading a lot of books, seeing a lot of movies, honing my pool skills and eating. A lot. I am ready to get back to the gym and into my flow of classes and sort of the prison. It's been a good holiday, very good. My parents continue to blow my mind with their generosity and how we always manage to have a hilarious time together. Even when we take the long way places.

I head back tomorrow to ring in the New Year, Soda City style. I have no idea what that could entail...

what?

There is a place on campus called "The Horseshoe," it's a well manicured part of campus with a u-shaped sidewalk where various college admin buildings are located. There are tons of old oak trees, newly planted maples and some fairly well aged maples too-- one in particular was a brilliant orange for most of November.

But the oak trees. Anyone from the south or who has visited it will remember the oak trees- they are huge sprawling things that are great to sit under on sunny days and apparently good for other things. Something I learned recently upon a discussion with a professor about some recent racist behavior by some frat kids:

Professor: You know, a few of those trees on the Horsehoe have some history.

Me: History?

Professor: Hangin' history...

Sometimes, living in the 1st state to secede from the union is a little too creepy for me.

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my standard break from life

So I went home for Thanksgiving and let me say this: if you ever think that taking Amtrak is a good idea, I would like you to know that it is the antithesis of a good idea. It is a very, very bad idea, a doubleplus ungood idea, if you will. Because the train will be 3 and half hours late arriving to the station so you will have been sitting in a train station with lots of tired families and a troup of 14 year old girls who are performing at a dance competition in Orlando for 5 hours and it is 2:30 in the morning. Then when you get on the train, the nice lady you were sitting with will get off at the next stop and they will put a man who smells like formaldehyde in the seat next to you. Mr. Formaldehyde will so fully disrupt your nasal passages and hog the seat that it will be impossible to sleep so at 4 in the morning you go and sit in lounge car that is weirdly lit and frequented by strange people and cranky conductors who don't tell you when your stop is.

6 hours later, you have not slept at all and will finally get off after wrangling your things away from the formaldehyde guy because he is sprawled out all over the place and basically leap off the train while it is still moving. Then your mom will take you shopping at Target and out to lunch and your train trauma will drain away as you eat shrimp penne and try on sweaters and jackets.

However, Sunday night, you will have to get BACK on the train to go home. It will be 3 hours late AGAIN but this time the guy who sits next to you books to the lounge area so you can hog the seat. However, you can't sleep very well on anything is not a bed so you only manage about 2 hours after you study for awhile for your final that is on Tuesday. You will wake up totally dehydrated and wander down to the lounge where there will a creepy guy with a bald head and a long dangly earring who wants people to play poker with him. He has a roll of hundreds and looks like he has put heroin in his scrambled eggs since he was 12. You get your bottled water and get the heck out of there. You will finally roll into Soda City at 5 a.m. where your very awesome friend will come and pick you up and you will go home and sleep for 2 hours before your 9 o'clock class. You will feel train funky all day and your neck will hurt for the next two.

But, the fact that you had an awesome Thanksgiving where you ate a lot and laid around a howle lot and saw Prentiss, Rob and Drew and had a good time will totally and completely make up for it. Also the fact that you saw 3 movies in 5 days, all of which were freaking great, will help.

In your train hang over you will agree to go to a 2 hour jazz technique class with your friend Carter who used to dance in high school and college. You have not taken a dance class since you were maybe 9. You will make it through the first hour of warm up but upon having to complete a string of 6 turns; the names of which you can't pronounce, the teacher will freak out on the rest of the class for being slack and start crying and you and Carter will get out of there and agree to come to the hip hop class Saturday. But this will be a wash because there was only one little girl and you decide eating lunch at the Indian buffet is a far superior idea to learning hip hop moves today.

So yeah, don't take the train.

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