When I was done with class, I cleaned the kitchen and then the family room. You can actually see the floor now. It’s glorious. And I put up some Christmas lights hanging off the kitchen balcony, so the room has a little more light in it now.
Now I’m drinking some Sprite with vodka and I’m getting ready to go to the kitchen to watch the Bulls game. I’m also going to be attempting to get some homework and studying in done at the same time.
I think it’s safe to say that this has been one of the craziest semesters I have ever had here at the University of Illinois.
Professors in the beginning of the year actually had provisions for H1N1 flu absences in their syllabi. We have already had several waves of soybean aphids and Asian beetles invading campus – I’m pretty sure I have a healthy supply of dead “ladybugs” lying around my room at the moment. Two high-ranking officials in our administration resigned, all to much fanfare, leaving my school without significant leadership and with a tainted reputation, no less.
Imagine if they did. Well, actually, all signs seem to point to it being a definite possibility. At any rate. Imagine if it actually held out for a long period of time – more than a couple of days. The entire campus would essentially shut down, with no teaching assistants there to teach us lowly undergraduates. The three papers I have due for next week would be useless, because I’m not allowed to turn them in while my teachers are on strike. This is ridiculous. While I am all in favor of the graduate student employees earning a living wage, I am not fond of the idea that my studies are going to be disrupted. I don’t know. Who knows.
I seriously couldn’t. I lifted my head and tried to shift my body, turning to face the left side of my bed instead of the right, but the ensuing pain was excruciating. I couldn’t even move my legs. I was paralyzed.
Now, hours later, I’ve managed to get up and move about in the apartment, but my body still feels at odds. It is as if the entire back side of my body (my back, my butt, my legs) is sore, while the front side (I don’t know, is this sensation even possible?) is completely functional. I can’t even walk properly without enduring some sort of pain, I basically waddle around like an old cripple.
And the worst part of all, I can’t think of a single reason as to why my body is acting this way. Yesterday, I had played in a Capture the Flag tournament, got a few scrapes and bumps, but nothing I haven’t handled before. Then later on that night I went out to a couple of bars, danced, did the usual. Nothing whatsoever that could possibly lead to me waking up at 7:41 in the morning completely paralyzed.
Sadly enough, the weather today was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny, warm, and beautiful. But the closest I could get to fully enjoying it was opening my window and basking in the warmth that would breeze through playfully. I feared that I would not even make it down the stairs to the outside world (going down a flight of stairs isn’t the problem, I’ve discovered – it’s going up the damn stairs), so I was left to bum around in the apartment all day. Hmph.
This seriously just made my night. Manu Ginobili, mad mad props to you.
Apparently the bat was circling around the arena, much to the annoyance of everyone. So my second-favorite Argentinean ever (Andrés Nocioni will always be my first ) decided to swat the thing down and escort it out. And the season’s not even a full week old yet!
) decided to swat the thing down and escort it out. And the season’s not even a full week old yet!
