Awkward and Awesome Thursday!

Awkward

The above photo.  Wh…what?  I think we were playing charades.

Going into the Mac store to get Lion OS discs and pushing past the six or so Mac guys at the front of the store.  When they asked if they could help me, I said no, because I knew where the discs would be.  “On a mission?” one guy asked.  “Yup,” I said, “I need to get a new OS!”  Then reaching the back of the store only to find that there aren’t any OS discs.  When another guy asks if I need help, I tell him what I’m looking for.  He then looks at me like I’m crazy and says, “We’ve never had OS discs.  Everything’s online.”  Oh, great.  So now the guys at the front of the store think I’m crazy.  And then—going to skip over the reason because it’s tedious—having to go back into the same Mac store an hour later and facing the same guys again!  And then leaving only to discover that my hair looked liked bed head/wind tunnel/camping without showering for a week hair.  Fan-frickin’-tastic.

My bangs after I wear a riding helmet.  My bangs when I wear masks.  Basically my bangs always and forever.

Seeing a rather unfortunate production of one of my all-time favorite plays.  Out of nearly two dozen characters, only two managed to speak their lines a.) with the right projection (unlike one who only ever shouted or whispered) b.) at another character (as opposed to just monologing dialogue) c.) with the proper emotion associated with the words.  The only plus-side of the piece was that one of the characters—a rather strapping young lad—spent 2/3 of the play shirtless.  Why, thank you, sir.

Dancing with a guy friend and a girl friend in a club.  Creeper approaches, as they are wont to do.  Guy friend dances between us girls in an attempt to make creeper go away.  Creeper asks if guy friend is interested in us two girls.  Guy friend says “yes” but really means “back off, creeper.”  Creeper does not back off and instead asks us if we’re interested in a foursome.  “BACK OFF, CREEPER!”  Guy friend politely declined.  Creeper finally backed off.

Making the same mistakes while horseback riding.  I swear, if my instructor has to tell me to lift up my head one more time, she’s going to kill herself.  I feel like such an idiot; why are the simplest things so difficult?  Guess this isn’t a sport you learn after one go around.

Awesome

My pirate costume.  Made entirely from items in my closet.  Why, might you ask, do I own so much clothing that put together makes a pretty snazzy pirate costume?  No idea.  Will talk about the Pirate Swap in another post.  Above is the sneak peak.

Meeting some hilarious and awesome people at Trinity.  Even if they’re our rival, I’m allowed to make frenemies, right?

Garlic bread dipped in mayo.  So unhealthy, but so amazing.

It’s Week 5!  Only a few more weeks before the end of term.  (Okay, wait, that’s kind of scary.)

Anise mint tea.  Sooooo good I want to bathe in it.

If you guys haven’t seen on Facebook or heard through word of mouth, a short story of mine titled “Sagittarius” was accepted for publication by the Wisconsin Review! This is my first real publication and I’m super excited.  More details later.

Getting my laptop back tomorrow!  Finally!  Hopefully this weekend will be full of blog posts on all those topics that I’ve been meaning to write about.  Be prepared for amazingness!

Awkward and Awesome Thursday (On a Thursday! Imagine That!)

Guess what happened.  Just guess.  Well, that computer I was using since my laptop died...yes, the German one...well, yesterday morning it…also…died.  NOT MY FAULT!  I swear, it was not my fault.  We won’t go into the details of it, but needless to say I am now without a computer again.  Still, I love my readers so much I’m still uploading an Awkward and Awesome Thursday post.  This paragraph will be my first Awkward entry.

Awkward

• Saying nothing intelligent or coherent in my supervision yesterday.  NOTHING.
• Also telling said supervisor that I put a smiley face next to all of the parts of Tristram Shandy that I thought were funny so I could find them again, only to have her laugh sadly and give me a look of pity that seemed to say, “Oh, you poor, simple girl, how did you get into this university?”
• Making a pirate joke at a pirate party and having pretty much no one laugh.
• Being in a loud, crowded bar.  Saying hello to a guy.  He guesses my accent as American. He tells me to guess his accent. I can barely hear a word he says.  I guess American, because it kind of sounded American. “Uh…no.”  British?  “Uh…no.”  So what is it?  “German.”  Oh, right, because that’s not a subtle accent at all, Deanie.  So then, when our group finally moves outside where it’s quite, I can clearly hear he has a German accent.  *facepalm*
• Sitting directly across from a English girl at a table.  She says something.  I say “what?” three times and each time I have no idea what she’s saying.
• It being so icy outside I have to shuffle about like I’m 95 years old and have a bad hip.  Combined with my big coat, puffy scarf, and chic little-old-lady bag, it’s remarkable if anyone guesses my age as under 70.

Awesome

• Getting mail from my friend, Michael, my aunt, Josie, and my pen pal, William.  You guys brightened my day!
• Getting an awesome package of goodies from my mom.  Highlights included: a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates, a T-shirt from my favourite café back home, new cozy sweater tights, Clue and Mirrormask, and a tin of cappuccino mix!
• Snow!  Yes, we got snow!  I have fantastic pictures of it, but they will have to wait until my laptop comes home.  Another awesome moment: tackling my friend into said snow.
• Dinners with my college family.  They’re the best fake-family a girl could ask for.  Also, the veggie platter and bread platter at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant were delicious.
• How funny Tristram Shandy actually is.  I never wanted to read it and was dreading starting it, but it’s actually quite hilarious.
• Tricking our supervisor into going off on tangents in the middle of the supervision.  Fun topics for said tangents: hair, (especially red-heads), talking as a substitute for sex, cartoons, how cute Daniel Radcliffe was as a child, her childhood, biking, “The Little Mermaid” (Hans Christian Anderson story), Hans Christian Anderson himself and how he creeped out Charles Dickens so much that Charles Dickens based a villain in David Copperfield off of him.  Yes, it’s remarkable we get any work done.

It's Awkward and Awesome Thurs...Oh, Well, Whatever

Whoo boy!   Has it been a long time since my last post!  Sorry for the excruciating gap, my dear readers.  He’s the lowdown on my absence: basically, my hard drive died a slow and painful death.  My Mac is currently at the laptop hospital, awaiting surgery.  I can still access the internet (thanks to a loaned German computer), but I don’t have iPhoto, which makes uploading cool pics rather difficult (hence why I haven’t done my Travel Bloopers post yet).  I’ve also been putting off A&A Thursday, but even I can only go without it for so long.  So here it is.  And I know what you're thinking, "But it's Friday!"  To that I say, "Stop complaining! You should be glad I'm even putting up a post!"  Anywa, please enjoy the following A&As and this complimentary photograph courtesy of my friend Angela.  I think it equal parts awkward and awesome.  (For more awkwardness, click on the photo to enlarge it and see my fantastic facial expression.)

Awkward

·         Sitting in a cafe, reading at a two-person table. A couple sits at the two-person table next to me, which is very very close by.  They’re chatting loudly, but whatever, I knew it would be loud in a café. But then another friend shows up.  And he says to me, “Is anyone sitting here?” I say no, because no one was, but then, since the tables were quite close, he sits at my table and just turns his chair sideways to talk to the other two people.  Ummm…okay.  If you knew you had three people in your group, why did you choose a two-person table?  So then I just sat there awkwardly, trying to read, while these three people literally had a conversation around me.  Finally, when I was done with the poem I was reading, I just left.

·         Walking directly into sunlight so I’m sunblinded and can’t see my friend who’s been walking in my direction for about five minutes.  So then I walk by them without saying hi and they say hello in a confused way and I have to turn around and apologize like an idiot.

·         My older, very proper English professor trying to make our small supervision group of all girls understand the hidden innuendos in a poem.  None of us are getting it.  Finally after some nudging and hinting he finally says, “Well, it’s sex rearing its ugly head again isn’t it?” Awkward silence while we girls stare at the poem going, “Yeah…yeah…sure we see it now.”

·         The outrageous amount of gravy I put on my turkey and potatoes at lunch.  My friend tried joking, saying, “Oh, don’t worry, gravy’s a vegetable.”  When I gave her a look she said, “Yeah, if gravy was a vegetable, the English would be a lot thinner than they are now.”

·         Being underdressed at an event.  And by underdressed I mean: wearing a summer dress with birds on it when all the other girls are in satin and high heels.  (I didn’t worry too much, though.  I got to show off my stuff when it came time to dance (see below).)

·         Being completely unable to cook rice.  Ever.  Really, it shouldn’t be this difficult, should it?

Awesome

·         Despite the high winds, my hair has been unusually manageable and definitely working the wind-swept look to its advantage.

·         Swing dancing, tangoing, and waltzing with my friend through the halls of another College while a handful of Caius boys stood by looking jealous.  Oh yes, boys, be jealous.  Also reaffirmed my love for ballroom dancing.

·         Free champagne.  This would also be put under the dangerous category if this was “Awkward, Awesome, and Dangerous” (but it’s not because there’s not alliteration there).

·         Game of Thrones (the TV show version). Yup, I’m addicted.

·         Going to see the Corpus Playroom’s production of The Dumb Waiter.  If you ever have a chance to see this play, please do yourself a favor and go.  It was the best £5 and 45 minutes I’ve spent in a long time.

·         St. John’s College’s Brunch.  £2.  All-you-can eat food.  They know how college kids think.