I’m getting ready to embark on quite the tumultuous adventure for the next 24 hours. I honestly have no idea how I’m going to physically and mentally survive it all. I have an exam on Tuesday morning for my International Relations class, which I seriously need to ace if I want a chance at an A in that class. But I also have to read The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie for Tuesday, because my English professor basically warned us beforehand of a pop quiz. He wasn’t too happy that the discussion last Thursday was basically mute, so if I don’t want him to be giving me death stares on Tuesday, then I had better read the book (which is amazing so far, but also quite lengthy). And on top of it all, I’m working tomorrow night.

No sleep for me for the next couple of days, I suppose.

I went home over the weekend, which was not quite the most amazing fantastical weekend I thought it would be. I felt like I basically popped in for 48 hours, then left. It was not enough. I feel like I need to be home right now. Things are not too happy around the house, and I want to know that everything’s OK. I’ve always been the caretaker, the mediator, and I just want to be home so I can take care of things that need to be taken care of. Moreover, I just want everyone to be bloody happy for once. And I can’t do that if I’m all the way over here, stressing over stupid exams and reading loads.

Aaacccckkkk.

I’ve just spent the past 3 hours of my life fervently working away to give this blog a much needed facelift. The result you see before you is all due to the fact that I have been promptly ignoring my schoolwork for several days now, but I don’t care, because I am for once happily and absolutely satisfied with what I have churned out. The layout is aptly titled “Homecoming,” after the Kanye West song, and makes me miss the city of Chicago so much. I haven’t ventured downtown since the summer (early July, to be exact), and it’s rather depressing. But now that fall and winter are coming upon us, hopefully that situation will be rectified. I’m excited for some ice skating and Mag Mile shopping. At any rate, I hope you all enjoy the new theme, because it may have just cost me a few of my grades.

We received our papers back in ENGL 300 today, an event that sent my heart into frenzied palpitations. My first major paper of the semester, I remember getting only 4.5 hours of sleep over it. Although I had done the research and vaguely figured out what I wanted to write about, I just couldn’t get the damn thing started. I had one page left to do when I came back from work at 11 p.m., and instead of quickly finishing it off, I ended up procrastinating hardcore (like I’m doing now) and didn’t finish that one page until 4 in the morning. You’d think I would have learned my lesson, but here I am now, it’s 1:22 a.m. and I have another paper due on Friday for that very same class, not to mention hundreds upon hundreds of pages to read for all my other classes, and I have not done anything whatsoever related to schoolwork.

Oh, but I did get an A though for that first paper. Surprisingly. Miraculously.

I finally got around to watching a Bulls preseason game today. Totally didn’t recognized any of the players on the floor, at least not until Joakim Noah (who I have a serious new crush on, for the reasons seen below) checked in. I’m not too fussed about the fact that we no longer have the services of Ben Gordon (even though he was a ball hog, the guy can get on FIRE…sometimes…), but Derrick and Tyrus better get better (ack, I couldn’t think of another way to say it) soon in time for the season opener.

In light of the approaching of my favorite time of the year (NBA SEASON!!!!), I decided to reminisce the glorious, epic balooza that was the first round series against the Celtics last season (was that seriously only just a few months ago?) and YouTube’d what was, in my opinion, the greatest and most badass moment of that series:

I can seriously watch that over and over again and get a high off it. I remember exactly where I was at that moment. I was at Firehaus, one of the bars here at school, standing on a table and just going insane. When Noah made that block, I could scarcely believe it. When that punk ass fool (I absolutely DETEST the Celtics) Pierce couldn’t outrun him, I laughed. And when Joakim posterized him, I almost fainted.

Alright, that’s enough Joakim love for now. Time to get back to schoolwork!

If it wasn’t so damn dangerous to be walking around campus at night by yourself, I would do it all the time.

I had to walk to the English building today for the usual Montage meeting, and it was at that time when the sun had already set but the sky was still a light sort of blue. The street lights were on, and it was chilly as hell, but it made for a nice brisk walk around campus. I had to walk through the Quad at one point, and needless to say, it is absolutely gorgeous at night. When the stars are out and the trees are swaying to the breeze… it put me in a good mood.

I also watched Cinderella today, the version with Brandy and Whitney Houston. I sang along to every song, every single word, as is my usual custom. It’s truly my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ever. So glad I bought the DVD, but alas! I can’t seem to find the soundtrack online anywhere. Which is such a total shame, because I’d like to fall asleep listening to it tonight. Paolo Montalban’s voice is so entrancing.

So I actually bitched people out at work today. It was amazing.

One of my part-time jobs here at school is working the concessions stands at the home football games. Basically, we sell overpriced burgers and hot dogs to rich people who paid $130+ for their seats. One of the new items this season is chicken tenders, which for today’s game against Michigan State seemed to be extremely popular.

Now, our “policy” is basically that we always have to stock up beforehand on burgers and such before halftime begins, because halftime rushes come and go in like 2 minutes, and they are notoriously crazy. We’re supposed to stock all our warmers full of food, so that we can get as much business in as we can and so that customers don’t have to wait awkwardly for their food. Now, today that somehow didn’t happen. I worked cashier, and every time a customer ordered some chicken fingers, I would have to tell them that it would be about a 10 minute wait. At which point either they chose something else, waited, or just left without buying any food.

At this point, I was furious. Why didn’t the kitchen cook enough chicken fingers beforehand for halftime? Didn’t they fucking realize that things were getting very busy and that, as the direct link to the customer, it was seriously getting awkward for me to have to tell everyone they’re going to have to wait for their food?

So I went back into the kitchen, and basically bitched the four people (3 students and 1 middle-aged worker) out for not having cooked any chicken fingers ahead of time for the halftime rush. Now, I am not the most confrontational person in the world; this was seriously one of the rarest experiences I feel like I could ever have. Then they told me to calm down, that they weren’t supposed to cook chicken fingers ahead of time, and that the chicken fingers are supposed to be cooked to order. Basically, they were saying, “Fuck off.”

Word got around that I was being “sassy.” And apparently, the older woman was so shocked that I, this “short little Asian girl who seemed so quiet,” would have such an outburst.

Why is it that people always assume that I’m quiet and innocent?