1.27.2004

i want to be just like sarah
I, too, almost ran over Mark Haim tonight. His time must be running short or something.
living up to expectations
I'm starting to realize the pressure of having done the Vox thing for 8+ months now. I'm getting the feeling that my fellow designers in the capstone class have one of two views of me: A) they think that I'm better than they are and expect me to produce near-perfect designs; B) they think they're better than me and are waiting to see me fail. Either way, both views will push me in a way I wasn't last semester. That's a good thing.

outlook for the semester:
Personal and Family Finance*: I'm going to learn how to do my taxes! Lots of number crunching, several easy assignments, a couple hard (according to rumor) tests.

History of America in the Sixties*: I'm going to learn about my parents' rebellious years! (As if my parents ever rebelled) Two tests, one paper, tons of reading, one very cool professor.

Cross Cultural Journalism: I don't get the fuss. It doesn't seem that bad, folks. It's more of an entry-level j-class, which is why they're changing it to be a pre-j course. A bunch of busywork, but at least it's not writing intensive.

Advanced Magazine Design (capstone): This is the class that's supposed to give us the most hands-on experience with designing for a magazine. I will be working with Vox way less than last semester. Hmmm... Things I'm excited about: (finally) learning how to put together a website, redesigning Global Journalist (without having to actually work for Global Journalist).

*I can take one of these two classes Pass/Fail. Any suggestions?

1.25.2004

in honor of the globes
I saw a bunch of movies in about a two-week timespan during break. Some were in theaters, some were new releases, some were classics I finally got around to seeing and some were old favorites. The list:

Shanghai Knights
Mona Lisa Smile
Secretary
Murder by Death
Pink Panther
Trainspotting
Tootsie
Steel Magnolias
The Pianist
Seabiscuit
Bruce Almighty
Roman Holiday
An American in Paris
Old School
Pirates of the Carribean
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Big Fish
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Big Brawl
Bowling for Columbine

After watching the Golden Globes tonight, I was reminded how many movies I still need to see...and those are just the movies of 2003. Thank heavens for digital television and 24-hour movie chanels.

full disclosure
I'm not actually reading A Walk in the Woods. I've become an old woman; I'm listening to the book on tape. I've become a book-on-tape junkie. It started out this summer with a library card from the Daniel Boone Regional Library. The connection between my portable discman and my car's tape player went on the fritz and I was left with two options to keep me awake for the four-hour drive home: listen to the radio (if you thought radio stations in mid-Mo were sparse, try Kansas), or pop in a tape deck (my sparse collection -- if it could be found under some pile of dust in the basement back home -- includes MC Hammer; New Kids on the Block; Ice, Ice, Baby the single and the Lion King Soundtrack, and only then if they hadn't been sold in a grage sale eight years ago). I opted to pop in a tape deck, but to expand my mind while doing so. I've "read" a lot in the past eight months, from Molly Ivans, to Bob Woodward, to Lance Armstrong, to The Brothers Karamasov. Not to mention Bill Bryson. Lots of Bill Bryson.

I planned to continue my mind expansion this semester. I figured I'd listen to a tape on the way to campus in my car, then pop the deck into my old school Walkman (It has to be from 1994 at least) for the trek from parking lot to Lee Hills Hall. That had two drawbacks. One, I'm listening to Bill Bryson, a funny man who makes me laugh. It's one thing to laugh in the car by yourself. It's a completely different thing to laugh at seemingly nothing as you're on a solitaire stroll through the busy campus. Two, my Walkman seems to have stopped working. Maybe it's just the cold freezing the gears -- it's not the batteries, the radio works just fine. So for now, Bill will remain in the car, and I can laugh as loudly as I want.

One side effect of listening to A Walk in the Woods is that it's making me want to hike and pretend I'm hiking the Appalachain Trail just like Bill. MKT, here I come. Or maybe I'll just stick with the part of the Katy Trail that runs near campus.

1.24.2004

if you forgot to get me a christmas present
You can buy a red double-decker bus in London for £2,000. I can't believe they're retiring the red coaches! That'd be like dismantling the Statue of Liberty. Sacrelige!

1.23.2004

photos updated
To your right you see a bunch of links. Now a part of that list is a link to my online photo albums, which I will update periodically. When visiting Ofoto, you can choose whether you want to sign in or not. If you sign in, I'll know you visited and you can leave comments, like telling me how stupid I look kissing a lizard sculpture. If you see yourself in any of the pictures and want a copy, you can order one, but you'll have to sign in. Now included in the online albums:
London (mostly the same pictures linked to in a previous post)
Paris
Nice
Barcelona
Dublin
Rome, Florence, Athens
New Year's Eve
Natalie's wedding (also previously linked)

Enjoy!

1.22.2004

because the klinks seem to have reached their demise:
Fiscus: You seem to have inadvertently libeled Kat(i)e by linking her to a blog about a girl giving some "good loving" via her webcam.

Kate: How about snagging a rubbing of the great and wonderful Walter Williams' Creed?

Angela: Does this countdown lead to your birthday, by chance? If so, is my arithmetic correct in leading me to conclude that such a date is April 15? And if so, I know someone else with that birthday. She's pretty swell.

Pat and Erin: Have you discovered the Aristocats house yet?

J-Dub: Shakey's this weekend?

Dan: Thanks for the tech trouble shooting. I solicit you again, oh blogger guru: please help fix me up with a new-fangled commenting feature. I promise not to call you during class, unlike some people.
i'm really bored right now
I've decided I hate the change-over that occurs at the beginning of the semester. It means no one wants to take responsibility for anything around the newsroom. And it means I'm sitting here at the MOian, waiting for someone to to the job they were supposed to do two days ago.

1.19.2004

There are times when I think Meh-gen should write my blog entries for me.
i didn't know what i was going to do with myself for the afternoon anyway
I locked myself out of my car yesterday. I was sweaty and cold in my gym clothes (I've been going at least three times a week. Yeah, you can congratulate me, but you'd better do it quick because this habit probably won't stick the rest of the year). But I didn't really have anything else to do. I'm not saying I decided to lock my keys in the car for the hell of it; I'm just glad that if it were going to happen, yesterday was a good afternoon for it. After spending an hour searching for a way to get home and another hour tearing my room apart looking for the spare key, I found it. In the bag I brought to the rec center. [Cue Alanis Morissette's Ironic.] It was an everso-Erica event.

i dislike it when students return
The parking ticket vigilantes return with them.

and thus, another semester
Vox began today.

1.18.2004

this is a test
Maybe this link will take you to pictures from Natalie's wedding. If not, I'm sorry.

1.15.2004

go me
I did something completely out of character yesterday. I'm proud of myself.

1.14.2004

Sometimes Tim reminds me of my mom.

A guy came in to interview for a student job at work today. I approve.

vampire cat
The new residence comes with a cat. After living with Cassie the psycho cat this summer (see 7.27.2003) I was a bit hesitant. But Gus and I are getting along pretty well - except for the fact that he likes to nuzzle necks. I'm not a fan of teeth near my jugular.

berg update
Sources say that the new and improved (fire-proof) Berg will not be completed until June, thus missing the graduation festivities.

1.12.2004

at this pace, i'll be writing about my college graduation when i'm thirty
I know this is quite belated, but break had a couple quality quotes that should not go unposted.

Grant, babysitting charge, age 5, brainwashed by K-State-alum parents: I'm glad you're graduating. Then you won't ever have to wear those ugly Mizzou colors.

Sterling, neighbor kid, age 5: (rings doorbell. I answer) Erica, I brought my wooly willy.
me: Excuse me?
Sterling: (raises cardboard and plastic game where you use a magnetic wand to style a man's magnetic "hair") My Wooly Willy. (the name of the game)

Moon-Hee, minister at our church, Chinese, not a long-time resident of the U.S.: (praying) Holy Cricket - uh, Creator...

1.08.2004

the obligatory look back at 2003
Because we are eight days into 2004 already, because I want to keep from being annoyingly sappy, and because most of you have read this blog throughout 2003, I'm going to make this short.

New Things:
Independent world travel
The wrong side of the road
Flats
Working for a top-selling British mag
Red pants
Brown boots
Digestives
Bailey's (in the form of the drink and the ice cream)
Bawling on an Italian train
An Italian proposal
Vox
Living with and being attacked by, cats
Composing a quote "by" Chancellor Wallace
Riding a motorcycle
Visiting the capitals of six countries as well as the "capital" of the Catholic faith
Sushi
Guster

Old Things:
The Missourian newsroom
Trying, in vain, to contact J*n C*lbert
Living in the sorority house
Frank Sinatra
Charlie (the '88 Honda Accord I drive)
Long hair
Babysitting for a summer job
PB&J
The Artisan
Parking on "meter street" often and only getting three tickets the entire semester
Semi-plastic doughnuts from the vending machine

1.06.2004

coming soon
...a belated post with the following:

- A look back on my 2003
- Highlights from break, including some great one-liners and a monstrous list of viewed movies (more than one/day, a new record, folks!)
- The best-of Christmas gift list
- An oh-so-metropolitan New Year's Eve
- An insight into the new living quarters

My apologies for my absence. Blame the flu. And the barely-kicking stone-age computer at home. And the temporary lack of Internet access at the new place. And Donald Trump. Blame anybody/thing but me, of course.