"Why are there Greenpeace signs pointed at your face?"*

It's the Feralia again, the a feast to honor Jupiter Feretrius-- Jupiter/Zeus in his role as guaranteer of oaths.

It's also Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. I know this because a girl in our hall came to say hi and I was about to say, "Do you know you have a bit of smudge right there, on your forehead" and then I saw her Jesus fish necklace and remembered.

Plus in Bio lab Incredibly Hot Guy learned it was Lent and said, much too loudly, "It's Ash Wednesday? F***! What am I going to give up?"

Now, he doesn't curse that much, as far as I can tell, but at the same time, after he said that, oh, how I wanted to suggest swearing.

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Today was the day that we found out who will be an RA next year. Closer will be; Mistake's an alternate, which means that she'd make a perfectly good RA but they don't have enough spaces, so she'll be an RA if someone decides that they don't want to.

Loquatia also got an acceptance letter. This is kinda surprising for her, because she wasn't expecting it. She keeps telling me that she's not sure if she wants to do it, but I'm gonna assume that she will. I think it's a good opportunity and she'll like it.

My letter was smaller than theirs, in true college-acceptance style. Yeah, no luck. I'm not RA material. I guess I shouldn't care so much about yet another job rejection, I get them all the time. At least it's not like they're rejecting my personali-- oh, wait. That's right. The whole point of the RA interviews was that they accept you based on your personality. So my personality was totally rejected.

Or, at least, the fact that the hall director was a communications major, and while I can be quite eloquent on paper/computer screen and in speech, when I don't stammer or lisp, my body language is saying something entirely different from my mouth.

Lovely.

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I went to yoga today, since my knee's feeling better. It was fine (though I am very out of shape). I'll try dance next week.

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So I actually had an intellectual conversation over AIM today, and it wasn't either for a class or as a joke (the latter happens more than you'd think). See, this guy I "met" (quotations on account of never meeting him face-to-face) on Facebook asked me if I'd like to swap novels with him, so they can be critically analyzed prior to publication (which is a lot more likely for his than mine, but yeah). He sent me one of his novels, The Ballad of Red Layla, and I sent him some short stories on account of not having checked over my first novel well enough and not wanting to send it if it contained elements that I know I don't want to keep.

First thing I noticed, just from looking over his work: He's a really good writer. It reads like the sort of thing one picks up at Barnes and Nobles. Second thing I noticed: Were I to pick this work up at Barnes and Nobles, I'd probably buy it, on account of it being a cool story in a genre I like (sci-fi). This makes reading it critically a lot more interesting.

Anyway, so the conversation. At first we were just talking about our writing styles and the pieces we're working on, and a little bit about publication (He's attempting to get his first work published). We kinda switched over to complaining about anime versus the merits of superpowered chicks in skimpy costumes... The interesting part was after a break to call Mistake and lament over the unfairness of Closer getting the RA job and us not because they need more guys but mostly girls apply (though she can't really complain, they didn't actually reject her).

We talked about literary analysis, and literary value versus value to the reader. We talked about books that we have. We even talked about religion for a while. It was kind of neat to have a serious, interesting conversation with someone whose opinions I don't already know. As fascinating as conversations with Mistake can get, I can usually guess what she'll say, because I know her so well. It's kinda cool to talk with someone I don't know and whose answers I can't predict.

Especially if they actually use full sentences on AIM.

But it's really rare, and kind of cool, to talk with an almost complete stranger about religion and have them not get all high-horse and huffy, and have them genuinely be curious as to what I believe.

I mentioned this to Loquatia, and how cool it was that I actually got to have an intellectual conversation with someone I've never met in person (even if it did mean I didn't get that English assignment done). She asked me what he looked like (...yeah, I didn't get it either). I told her honestly that I didn't know. And I must say, I'm oddly pleased that I really don't care.

I Am Jean Grey

Although my fate is often unknown, I always seem to survive (even after death). Except that at this point in both the comics and the movies, Jean's definitely dead. And her boyfriend in the comics is sleeping with a really hot, rich blond. My mind is my greatest weapon, literally! Second greatest weapon would be my abnormally colored hair, or my smokin' hot modeling body despite grueling workouts that should make me look like She-Hulk. Powers: telepathy and telekinesis, the ability to project thoughts into the mind of others, communication with animals

Which of the X-Men Are You?

*...don't ask.

"Romance comes into your life this year in a very unusual sort of way."

Felix Lupercalia!

This awesome Roman holiday was what we celebrated in Latin class to have an excuse to celebrate Valentine's Day, despite the fact that it's the 15th, not the 14th, and the fact that Lupercalia is NOTHING like Valentine's Day except that it's a potential excuse to get laid.

What's Lupercalia? It was a purification rite that was older than the city of Rome itself. By purifying the land, they ushered in new crops. Now, how to celebrate:

Get a bunch of Luperci, "brothers of the wolf," who are priests of Faunus. Dress them only in goatskins. Then have them sacrifice two male goats and a dog. Get two young, upper-class Luperci and lead them to the altar. Smear the blood of the victims on the foreheads of the kids and then wipe it off with wool dipped in milk. They then smile and laugh. This is required. Then have a grand ol' sacrificial feast.

Cut strips of skin from the animal skins and make them into whips. Then send all your Luperci about running through the city, sans clothes, hitting the women-- this guaranteed the woman fertility, prevented sterility and eased childbirth (They weren't hitting hard, it was more like a tap. Well, at least in later years).

...It's a holiday devoted to naked guys running around hitting chicks with whips. It's like nudism and S&M all at once. I find this hilarious.

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I had my RA interview today, with, oddly enough, Mistake's hall director. The first half was with a current RA, who seemed to think I would be an okay candidate; the second part with the hall director was about the same idea, though the questions were different. I think it went well, I just hope that they realize that just because my answers sounded a little cliché doesn't mean they're insincere. I just tried to be as honest as possible, not be nervous, and smile a lot.

Meh. Either I get it, or I don't. My only worry is that I won't get it and Loquatia will, because then I'll have to find someone to room with or enter the lottery.

I don't find out until next Friday, and I wouldn't know what hall I'd be in until after I took the RA class. I think I'd get the job if it was solely based on my personality and other qualifications, but they had a LOT of applicants this year so I wouldn't be surprised if I got rejected just because there's so many people to choose from.

I Am 20 Years Old

I am a twenty-something at heart. I feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. Apparently I act my age, give or take a year.

What Age Do You Act?

"You Cannot Manage Men In Battle. You Manage Things, You Lead People"

Today is the Kalends Februarius, the first of the month of February. The entire month is sacred to Juno/Hera, and today was specifically the feast of Junoni Sospitae Matri Reginae, the first part of which means "Juno the Savior" and the second part refers to mothers and queens, but I don't feel like actually figuring out the exact wording of a translation. Suffice it to say it's a day honoring Juno.

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Now, kids, it's time for...

THE ADVENTURES OF MARCUS
our grammatical friend

It was shaping up to be a bad week for Marcus, the hero of my weekly grammar exercises, as we're studying the Imperative. He was thus hopelessly bossed about. First he had to stay, not go; then there was the issue with not listening, and he had to be reprimanded; finally he was told a secret, but he couldn't tell the consul. Frustrating!

Then I figured out that I'd been translating the wrong set of sentances, and Marcus wasn't even in the set of incomplete phrases that I had to finish. I was rather frustrated-- I'd finished the whole thing! but Marcus gets the week off, at least.

Tune in next Thursday for more ADVENTURES OF MARCUS!

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I ate dinner with Mistake and another girl on her floor, who has the prettiest long, red hair you could imagine. Loquatia was going to eat with us, but she didn't realize that I was planning on walking over like... twenty minutes early... so she missed us. Oh well. Loquatia has actual social skills (they aren't fabulous, but they're there), so she's known for wandering around and asking people from Christian Impact, tennis, or her classes to go eat with her.

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Oh, and I finally got the counselor who leads the communication group to agree to be my reference, so the RA application's done and will be submitted tomorrow, as soon as Mistake shows me where the heck I'm supposed to bring it. Hopefully I get the job.

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Part of my Chemistry grade this semester involves "PLTL," "Peer-Led Team Learning." This is basically an excuse to make us think about chemistry when he's not around. We meet once a week for an hour and a half (like I have room in my schedule at this point-- it was so clear, then I added yoga, group therapy, regular therapy, three to four hours of dance and that health care seminar group...) and review the classwork with a student who did well in the class last year.

I know more than the leader.

And I sleep through the class.

Well, technically the problem is that I think faster than the other girls in the group, and come to the conclusion and want to move on in the review, and don't want to have to wait for them to catch up and come to the conclusion for themselves. I'm not allowed to just tell them the answer, which is what I always want to do, because I want to move on.

I am what they call "not a team player." Of course, it didn't help that I was completely unable to sit still for the session, so I probably looked like I was about ready to spaz out and kill them all. Makes it hard to concentrate, fearing for your life.

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Speaking of spazzing out and killing them all, that's what I believe I will do to the guys next door if I hear them say "lol" one more time, or "brb," "lmao," or "ttyl." I honestly prefer the swearing to the internet jargon. It sounds so stupid!

Though I admit, I'd like to be able to study without hearing, "F--- that, b----, no way that h- wouldn't get blasted by that f------ grenade, it f------ went off right in front of her!"

Heck, I'd like them to say one sentence I don't have to bleep out...

"Be on the Alert For New Oppourtunities"

Today is the second day of the Paganalia. Don't forget to pray to Ceres/Demeter, goddess of harvest, and Tellus/Gaia, goddess of the earth, that the birds don't eat your seeds. Or something.

It's also a Feast of Bacchus, which means you have justification for getting drunk. Have fun.

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So there are 2,191 people with my first and last name together. My first name is the 36th most popular name, and my last name ranks #25.

There's 1,048 people named James Bond and 113 Harry Potters; 503 George Bushes and 31 Emily Dickinsons. Absolutely no one in the US today is named Hermione.

Mistake's name is really uncommon. She's one of the only people with it, though both her first and last name is common. My sister shares her name with 769 people, and Closer's one of 305. Only 49 KTMacks, though. I totally win for the most boring name.

There are seven Clark Kents and nineteen Charles Xaviers. Yes, I looked it up...

How many people share your name?

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It seems that my plans to become an RA are already helping me socially. At least, they're offering me a bit of practice. First my RA and the 2nd floor female RA (it took me WAY too long to figure out that they've set it up so there's one girl and one guy per floor) talked to me and Loquatia about it, and then tonight the 2nd floor male RA stopped by on his rounds. I was sort of impressed that he not only remembered that I was at the RA meeting, but that I seemed apprehensive about it and that I used to read poetry at the coffeehouses (he mentioned this because he thought I was an English major).

It's nice that they're so interested (though none of them are continuing as RAs so I guess it's entirely possible that I would wind up as one of their RAs, therefore making it in their best interest to get people who aren't crazy or power-hungry... little do they know), but at the same time, you can only say "I'm going to apply and hopefully things work out" so many times.

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I was translating from English to Latin as a part of a grammar exercise, and may I say, grammar exercises always have the weirdest sentences to translate. Honestly, "Incenderunt pontem in quo pugnamus"? "Agricola cui dedi pecuniam factus est socium meum?" "Sagittae delectaverunt Marcum?"* I don't know who Marcus is, but he needs to stop playing with his arrows, and I have never paid a farmer to be my friend. I have nothing against farmers. I have lots of stuff against paying people to be my friends. They charge too much.

And this Marcus, through the course of the assignment, was established to be a foot soldier, got paid, saw a girl, got a gift from the king, and was delighted by his arrows. An excellent day for him. I wish these people would remember that Caius and Cassius and Brutus are also excellent names and Marcus doesn't have to do everything, and they should stop before they have to pay him overtime.

You can tell I'm sick of translating when the grammar exercises get personalities.

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I finally got the rug vacuumed today. It looked very nice until about five seconds afterwards when I walked on it. Oh well. Nice while it lasted.

Today was better.


*"They have set fire to the bridge on which we are fighting," "The farmer to whom I gave the money became my friend," and "The arrows delighted Marcus," respectively.

"You will be fortunate in everything you put your hands to."

Last night was the Future RA Information Meeting, as in, they gave us information and answered questions about being an RA. I went mostly because Loquatia went; I don't need the money particularly (it's not like the money that my dad's saved to cover room and board that I don't spend will go to me directly, it'll just be saved for med school later- nice, but not crucial), and I figured I was going to be too shy to be an effective RA. But my RA was talking, and he explained that he's shy too- maybe not as cripplingly as I am but certainly shy, and he did fine.

Then the RA from the fourth floor was talking about how she was really introverted, and how being an RA kinda forced her to put herself out there and learn to interact with people and be friendly. At which point I'm quite sure my ears, despite not having the necessary muscles to perform this function, pricked up.

Because honestly, I can handle the responsibility- I don't drink or use drugs anyway, so I have no moral issues with slamming the kids who do. I can follow instructions as to how to handle situations, and I can be a good listener, when I want to be. And the time commitment-- you have to be in the hall 20 hours a week, even if it's just in your room with the door open-- is also a non-issue, since I counted how much of my time was spent in the dorm this week and it was like 30 hours during the week alone, not counting the weekends. None of that is an issue for me. But with my social anxiety I figured it wasn't worth it, I'd be too nervous all the time, and I wasn't in such desperate need of the money that I'd do it for that reason. However, if I can learn from it, and learn to be more confident in social situations, and make some friends out of it... It would be worth it, most definitely.

So I intend to apply, as does Loquatia, and hopefully we'll both get to be RAs next year- maybe even in the same zone, so we could still spend time together. And if neither of us makes it, we've basically decided we want to be roommates again, rather than go into the lottery and risk getting a roommate who parties/uses drugs/goes to bed at 2 AM on weeknights/needs a TV in the room (this would be UNBELIEVABLY distracting for me, at least). The trouble will be if one of us becomes an RA and the other does not. I don't want to go with luck of the draw, because among college students, even the geeky sort you find here at Hubbard, luck of the draw tends to mean someone with habits you can't stand when you're a goody-goody like me...