Last night at Brothers, my roommates and I met some people. There was one guy I remember meeting. Can’t quite remember the name (I *think* it’s Luke), but he was wearing a really preppy-looking polo shirt. The conversation went something like this:

Me: What’s your name?
Guy: Luke(?). Yours?
Me: Raissa.
Guy: What?
Me: Ray-sah.
Guy: Huh?
Me: RAISSA!!!
Guy: Okay…nice to meet you, Christina?
Amanda (one of my roommates): IT’S RAISSA!!!!
Guy: Okay, okay. What’s your name?
Amanda: Amanda.
Guy: Oh!! See, that’s easier. I like you better already.

FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE. Fuck you.

I just made the most delicious drink ever.

1. ice
2. 1 shot Smirnoff “with a twist of strawberry” vodka
3. Hawaiian Punch fruit juicy red
4. splash of SunnyD orange juice

Now all I need to do is just come up with a name for it. Enjoy!

I can’t quite say I’m in the holiday spirit right now. And no, that isn’t just because I have a slew of final exams and papers breathing down my neck at the moment.

I just don’t…feel it.

And I mean, I’ve been hearing Christmas music nonstop since Halloween. Our apartment is beautifully decorated with a tree, lights, menorah, everything. But it seriously still feels like summer was only just two weeks ago. You can throw all the 14 degree weather at me, and I still feel like I should be at home doing summery things like play ball or drive to the mall with the windows down.

But then again. I do have quite the slew of final exams and papers breathing down my neck, just waiting for me to tackle them with the typical frenzy of a madwoman infected by one of those diseases you see in zombie films (think Quarantine). Three exams and two papers in one week. How the fuck do they expect us to accomplish all this and still be sane enough to come back for the next semester? More importantly, are they ever going to compensate for the loss of sleep we routinely miss at this time of the year?

And the madwoman frenzy I truly feel will be coming on soon. I tried to make Rice Krispie treats earlier tonight as a friendly parting gift for my SPAN 208 class tomorrow, but the pot I was trying to make them in apparently wasn’t as clean as I thought it was, so the marshmallows I was trying to melt ended up turning gooey brown. It doesn’t taste as disgusting as it looks, but the treats have already hardened a bit too well, and I don’t think I made enough for everyone. Epic fail #1.

Epic fail #2 came when I decided to clean up my eyebrows just a few minutes ago. After a few plucking here and there, I took my scissors out to shorten the length of some of the hairs. But I think it worked a little too well on my left eyebrow. It doesn’t look too disastrous, but my OCD is preventing me from feeling OK with it.

Today I woke up hungover.

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.

Go me.

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.

And now…the GEO have threatened to strike.

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.