summer priorities

You might have noticed my absence these past few months (Or not. You know, whatever.) This was a really hard semester: class (data structures and algorithms), picking a lab (don’t even get me started), home life (roommate issues, hating my apartment). All of these things have tidily resolved themselves. I got a B in my comp sci class (ok maybe it was a minus but my GPA is still a 3.7 and no one cares about GPA anymore anyway and the point is I SURVIVED), I chose a lab(!!!) that most importantly, also wanted me (!!!!), and I moved into the sweetest most perfect house with Lena, and there will be a bajillion pictures and writings to come, because I have already written a lot about my Little House, which we call the Little House.

Summer is here, well, my summer is here, and with that all the things I said I was going to do after the semester is over, in list form:

1. Science
2. Be with friends
3. Be with family
4. Read books
5. Write fiction
6. Write nonfiction
7. Work on online presence (sort of goes with nonfiction.)
8. Take more photographs with my real camera
9. Tend houseplants, herb garden
10. Make things (knitting, cooking, baking, for some reason I REALLY want to try needlepoint.)
11. Exercise. (like, for real, with the intent to lose weight, predominantly.) (Also I am incapable of ever spelling “exercise” on the first try, ever.)

It’s become apparent to me that I am only going to be ever capable of accomplishing three of these things at a time. Class has been over for a week and a half two weeks, and I have done science, seen my family, and have been devouring books like its my job. (I am Charlotte Simmons, and The Descendants). I haven't even made the time to hit publish on this blog post.

So how to deal with this problem? Have a monthly rotation of three out of these eleven things that I want to do? Which even then is misleading, because science and family are mandatory. So I am allowed one other summer activity.

I think I've figured out a solution though. It looks something like this.

Revised summer to do list:

1. ScienceFriendsFamily
2. ReadBooksWriteThings
3. MakeStuffExerciseTakePictures

Solved it! Now I have only three things to accomplish! It’s going to be a great summer. I'm neglecting my houseplants, but you know, I had to make some sacrifices.

Lena on a summer adventure without me. Don't worry, I already yelled at my parents about not wearing a life jacket. It's like I'm the only adult around here sometimes. 

Can't wait

Time seems to be moving to slow and I need to keep reminding myself to live in the moment blah blah blah, but here are the things I absolutely cannot wait for:

• My hair to grow out
• Grad school applications to be due
• hearing back from grad schools!!!
• Pool/beach season--more day trips!
• I really want my hair to grow out. 
• I also really really want to go to grad school.

Up a storm

These past few months I have been reading up a storm.

I think I've read more books this year already then I read last year combined. And they're not even all YAF!

Books I've read this year, assorted by brow-ness

Literary Fiction:
The Marriage Plot--Jeffery Eugenides (I liked it because it was angsty English majors but was nowhere on par with Middlesex which I now want to reread)
Once Upon a River--Bonnie Jo Campbell (Highly recommend, amazing characters. I want Lena to read this.)
Never Let Me Go--Kazuo Ishiguro (Surprising in it's simplicity.)

Fiction that may or may not contain zombies and the adult version of twilight and Beijing crime novels:
Patient Zero--Jonathan Maberry (Non-post apocalyptic zombies!)
Discovery of Witches--Deborah Harkness (Twilight-esque, but with Genetics!!)
Rock Paper Tiger--Lisa Brackmann (Beijing!)

Young Adult Fiction (AKA the best genre in the world):
Divergent--Veronica Roth (Dystopian Chicago.)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks--E. Lockhart (Boarding school and awesome girl)
(Not included, every novel by Sarah Dessen that I pretty much reread weekly.)

On my to-be-read list, and the books I'm hopefully going to get from the library today:
I, Claudius--Robert Graves
The Submission--Amy Waldman
Train Dreams--Denis Johnston
Paper Towns--John Green (who I have never read! and there are a bajillion holds on The Fault in Our Stars)
Gone--Michael Grant


Oh and I should probably pick up some books for Lena too.


And then I got a paper cut at work yesterday. And I powered through it and was like, Katniss Everdeen!!!


And scene.