Avonlea Apples's Blog

As the school year draws ever nearer to its close, I realize I haven’t written here in almost four months. Yikes. On the other hand, I did write a twenty two page script for a video on Elizabeth I of England. Writing has been a large part of this semester. Sixteen pages for one class, ten pages for another, and eighteen pages for a third. Not to mention my comprehensive examinations, which were composed of five essays (written in less than four hours). If anyone is curious, I got an A- on my exams.

So, those four months… let me try and summarize the major events. I spent most of January in a very happy and very confused state of mind. For this I blame one of my best friends, who, to my complete surprise (but apparently no one else’s) became my boyfriend. I call him Ninja. He calls me Kitty Cat. We are very weird. For the sake of irony, I must quote an entry from March of last year.

“Men are still thin on the ground here, the most contact I’ve gotten was decidedly (thank goodness) platonic. During martial arts we were sparring, and when the guy knocked me over I kicked him in the groin. Didn’t really help much; must learn to kick harder.”

“The guy” would be Ninja. We still spar (is it weird? We think it’s fun. Our friends find it a little odd). I no longer try to kick him in the groin. Now I aim for his shins.

In February I turned 21. It doesn’t feel much different than being 20, except for the obvious ability to buy alcohol. I don’t really drink though, so that’s not a big deal. I did have loads of fun on my birthday though. Chinese food with friends, then a raspberry daiquiri. Very delicious. Although, I don’t think a regular daiquiri tastes any better than a virgin one. Both are delicious, and frankly, I think alcohol is a bit overrated on flavor.

Pi day (March 14, or 3/14) was celebrated with a blackberry peach pie, and blackberry mini-pies. They were yummy. My roommate got me into Merlin. It’s a BBC series that re-imagines the Arthur legend with Merlin as Arthur’s put-upon servant boy who must hide his magic. Uther Pendragon is King (and Arthur’s magic-hating father). The plot is formulaic, yet it works. The characters are so lovable (or, in Uther’s case, despicable). Merlin and Arthur are hilarious as they bicker and Merlin saves the day with magic (and without Arthur noticing).

I also rediscovered my love of Casablanca. That movie is… I mean, for pete’s sake. Bergman and Bogart have such tension and chemistry. Claude Rains is absolutely delightfully corrupt. The cinematography is gorgeous (all that light and shadow only black and white can capture).

March also saw plenty of biking with my friends. During one ride we found a stray dog, a young beagle. The animal shelter was already closed for the evening, but fortunately we were able to leave him in a professor’s garage. My friends had class in the morning, so I drove him to the shelter. On my lap. And he fidgeted. A lot. I never want to repeat the experience. Ever.

At the end of March, it snowed. I don’t think I will ever be ok with snow on March 29. That should not happen. It just isn’t allowed. Especially if the end result is sparring in the snow (Ninja was visiting, so of course we worked out. It was fun). Sparring is fun. Sparring in the snow is slippery. My hand-eye coordination is bad enough without slipping and sliding.

There were a couple of choir concerts, and they went well. I had a duet, which was very fun. I’ve wandered around Madison, carted my friends to Wal-Mart, and tried a burget at the local sports bar (it was tasty, but the sliders were even better. Om nom nom). I’ve been job-hunting and reading and goofing off.  That’s about it. Thursday is the Honors Convocation. I’m up for two essay prizes, and I really hope I’ll get one.