Never insult seven men when all you have is a six-shooter.

[walkingshadow]

meinnim, I think I missed your birthday yesterday. *facepalm* Happy belated birthday! I hope it was fantastic.

Finally put malelia_honu's scarf in the mail today, and then looked over my notes on the bench around the rock outside Turlington in the forty minutes I had before class. Not a bad test. The essay question was the one I'd been hoping-against-all-hope he wasn't going to pick, but this is what I get for not reading Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali.

I'm fighting with one of the roommates over the thermostat, but I'm not sure which one. Today it suddenly got horrifically cold in my room, and I went to investigate: it was 62 degrees outside and the air was on, set to something like 65. Does the air ever need to be set to that? Ever? And while we're on the roommates, T. fights with her boyfriend all the time (all the damn time, and loudly; it's both irritating and hilarious), no one bothers to keep the kitchen clean, and they still don't like taking the garbage out. I think of myself as incredibly laid-back when it comes to housekeeping, but I look around the kitchen and think you're a bunch of SLOBS omg.

I ran into N. and T. the other week as I got off the bus with groceries, and later N. asked if I usually went to Publix on the bus; I said, sometimes. And she offered to go with me any time (which was very nice) because nobody should have to go shopping alone—which was where she lost me. It's okay to do things alone. Really. I'm introverted to the point of avoidance, and I operate in a different paradigm than people who like being around people. It's not that I like going shopping alone or that I don't like going shopping with other people, but I don't need it. If I can't hang out with the very few people I like hanging out with, I don't mind not hanging out with anyone at all. I don't mind being alone. I like being alone. People exhaust me. When I first came up here in the fall of my freshman year, my brother told me to try to never eat alone. In social psych, we learned that it's distance that was the most relevant factor in determining who in a freshman dorm ended up being friends; literally the distance between their rooms. My dad was always asking whether I ever went out with K., my roommate in Murphree, and the answer was always no, and of course it was, because we had absolutely nothing in common. We got along fine—we said hey and goodnight and how was your weekend—but we weren't friends, and that's okay. Almost every time my dad asks about England, he mentions how proud he is of me for going alone. He's a people-person. I knew I'd be perfectly fine, and so did my mother; she's like me. I met up with Jules and we had a damn good time for a week, but I had a damn good time on my own before and after. I'm a loner. I think of city life, thousands and thousands of people around me but distant from me and a quiet place of my own in the center of it, away from all of them, and that sounds like heaven.

There's also the part where I don't like asking for help and I don't like asking for favors, but that's for another day.

Night game across the street. It's chilly out there; going down to the 30s tonight. I have . . . no plans. Must do laundry this weekend, work on the bibliography, and order a cap and gown. Because the family will be sad if they don't get to sit in the O'Dome for hours (starting at nine a.m.!) while someone calls out the names of everyone graduating with a bachelors degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Can one bring a book to one's own graduation?

I want to know why I'm expected to show up for class on President's Day. Or if I'm not expected to, but the AFH prof thinks I am.

Comments

[meinnim.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, I had a good birthday. It was low key, quiet and best of all, I vegged all day.

I think of city life, thousands and thousands of people around me but distant from me and a quiet place of my own in the center of it, away from all of them, and that sounds like heaven.

It sure does. I can hang out with my friends for a while but then wind up wanting to be alone in a place away from everyone else. I can do anything in that space -- rest, recharge or whatever.

Almost every time my dad asks about England, he mentions how proud he is of me for going alone. I knew I'd be perfectly fine, and so did my mother; she's like me.

That sounds so familiar. I love going places by myself too. It's easier for me to just pick up and go without consulting others. I don't have a problem wandering around by myself. I discover a lot of new things about myself that way.

[walkingshadow.livejournal.com]

It was low key, quiet and best of all, I vegged all day.

Man, those are the BEST!

I can hang out with my friends for a while but then wind up wanting to be alone in a place away from everyone else. I can do anything in that space -- rest, recharge or whatever.

I know girls who are horrified at the idea of a dorm and communal bathrooms, but I've never minded sharing a bathroom with six or forty girls, as long as I have my own bedroom. That's the key, because resting and recharging are essential. However many people outside, but just me in here.

I love going places by myself too. It's easier for me to just pick up and go without consulting others. I don't have a problem wandering around by myself. I discover a lot of new things about myself that way.

That's so true. And I'm sure everyone's noticed that the more people in a group, the slower the group is to come to a decision; you never have to play I don't know, what do YOU wanna do? when it's just you you're asking. ;)