I'm thinking it might be time for a hot glistening smack to my blog, a new layout. Something mayhap a little hipper, a little fresher. In 134 or so posts I've had the same old layout-from a template, no less!-even while setting up other people's blogs with new awesome layouts (note: when I set it up it had an awesome cowboy theme, she has since made it, well, less cool, let's face it).

Anyway if anyone has any suggestions I'd be happy to take them into consideration and let you know just what I think of them. Right now my model is Samia's arabic class website.

ebullience!!
5:36 PM

Who among you is clever enough to help ALEX in his quest to get his archives to work? Blogger was using this file to do it, which is old and out-dated, but sadly I could not convince it to update it, so I sighed and made my own. Now though I've set it up to use mine, and it refuses to work. Is it just jealous, or what?
3:02 AM

they live in my fucking room. I was all kumbai-yah live and let live when the rats were just in the kitchen and Argy's room, but now they're in my room. My room. Where I sleep. On the floor. It's bad enough that a decent citizen of these United States of America can't sleep without being woken up by masticating mice, but when this god-fearing man of good standing can't even procrastinate free from rodents and their lovers the time has come to do something. Anything. Rat traps, gassing the place, a python, I don't care, so long as at the end of the day I'm the only one living in my room.


in the meantime I blocked something they might be going in and out of with a sock. Who knows if that'll be enough to stem the tide of illegals, but it's a beginning.
2:48 AM

"To see the penguin out at sea
And watch how he behaves,
Would prove that penguins cannot be
And never shall be slaves.
You haven't got a notion
How penguins barve the ocean,
And laugh with scorn at waves.

"To see the penguin at his ease
Performing fearful larks
With stingarees of all degrees,
As well as whales asd nharks;
The sight would quickly let you know
The great contempt that penguins show
For stingarees and sharks.

"O see the penguin as he goes
A-turning Catherine wheels,
Without repose upon the nose
Of walruses and seals.
But bless your heart, a penguin feels
Supreme contempt for foolish seals,
While he never fails, where'er he goes,
To turn back-flaps on a walrus nose"


'Penguin Bold', by Sam Sawnoff, found in "The Magic Puddin'" (author Norman Lindsay), an incredibly excellent Australian childrens book. I only wish I could include the illustrations, which have penguins performing fearful larks atop resigned looking seals and walruses. I checked this book out from the library, I'm sure you can too, do so.
2:34 AM

Many people have wondered how exactly I managed to cut my finger in such a way that I would need eight stitches. Almost as many people have wondered at the fact that one could even fit eight stitches on one finger. Sadly, I have no photo taking machines to help out the latter group with a picture of my "finger", but the former have caused me to repeat the tale so many times that it has reached absolute perfection:

The internet was dead, so we had nothing to do. Dave and Argy were playing Scrabble, and I was juggling a knife, as is my way. I accidentally fumbled the knife, which landed next to Argy, who, apparently, is a wuss, and got all upset about it. He grabbed the knife, and wasn't gonna relinquish it, so naturally I grabbed the other end, the, um, sharp end, in such a way that it wouldn't hurt me unless he were to pull away sharply and suddenly, which he promptly did, causing blood to splatter everywhere, on my face, my chest, on his precious rug about which I have heard no end of whining.

I of course played it cool and went to wash it off, which is what I figured one should do (interestingly, I said "why'd you have to do that?" for the second time in my life, bonus points to anyone who can name the first). My body did not play it so cool. As soon as Dave asked if I was feeling okay my body realised that why no it didn't feel ok, it felt quite faint, and I had to sit down. Dave and Argy helped me up, and I managed to get to the door and fall down the steps (impressively, in such a way that I neither dropped my water nor further hurt my finger).

My body meanwhile only got more treacherous: upset at having to see so much blood on itself, it decided to stop seeing. For a minute I was blind, and even when I got my vision back in the car it was all pixelated. This was the last mutiny of my body, but I have already been paying it back by drinking lots of cherry coke and not working out.

When we got to the Urgent Care centre at UT (Dave drove the wrong way down a one-way street, a true friend), Argy and I went in while Dave parked the car. Dave is a good guy to have around in a situation like that, he keeps a cool calm head and knows what to do. Argy is a fucking liability. I led him to the building ("which building?", he asked), opened the door for him, led him to the Urgent Care centre ("I think it's over here," he said, "no," I said, "the sign says this way", "hey let's go ask her" "I'm going to the sign" "hey here's a quarter! imagine that, a quarter on the ground!"), talked to the people at the desk (all while he kept telling me this was where you make appointments, and let's go ask that lady), and finally I collapsed in a seat, while he got distracted by a computer screen.

It wasn't long before they saw me, since, you know, I was bleeding all over their room, and they cleaned me up, and stitched me, and everyone was super nice. I love situations like that because the bar is so low for being social. Basically if you can maintain a cheery disposition you're instantly loved. Oh and this entire time I had no shirt and no shoes, since I'd been at home when it happened, and god it was great. I wish I could always go thusly. I walked home shirtless and shoeless, knowing I would be denied service at any store I went to, and Dave and Argy were playing Scrabble again. And I picked up the knife...

So here we are today. I'm slowly regaining use of that finger, though half the top is numb, though whether that's permament or from the stitches I don't know. I can move it all around, though, so that's good. Argy's room has permament blood stains on the floor and wall, which is pretty awesome.

And speaking of awesome, our living situation continues to be. The only human tenants of the (6 bedroom) house are me and Argy downstairs and Brandon upstairs. We're paying 320 a piece, which is incredible, especially considering my huge room, and the fact that we have free run of the house. Since Rufus the upstairs cat left there has been a marked increase in the number of non-human tenants, with whom we've reached a sort of symbiotic relationship. If we leave food outside the possums eat it, if we leave food on the ground inside the rats eat it. Even the grime in our shower is being taken care of by a slug I have named Edward.

I've always been one for innovative and ungodly sleeping schedules, and this year is no exception. Right now MWF I'm sleeping from 5-8am and 2-8pm, TTh 5-11am and 2-5pm, and on the weekends simply from 5-2pm. This might sound complex but it works really well with my classes and all. So since it's nearing 2, and me and Samia are (hopefully) going to a ballet thingy tonight, and I have a test which I really gotta study for tomorrow, I better sign off.

Love,
Alex
1:20 PM

Hey, just to keep the kids up to date my internet is dead, my phone is broken, and Argy's phone is dead too. Furthermore, I sliced my finger open yesterday and can barely type, what with the eight stiches and all.

Love, Alex
10:36 PM