D and D gets more entertaining every week, so I've decided to start keeping track of choice quotes, and perhaps a running account of the tale. Not quite finished with the summary of this one yet, but will be once I get some more time... say, this weekend.
---
"No healing spells memorized?!? Are you a healer or not?" -Toes, after Lyra's first skirmish... with only 1 healing spell memorized. Oy.

"I have to tell you: you died and we buried you" -Melvin, to the resurrected Ethan. (Ethan and several other soldiers were killed by poisoned water in Alesandrus' camp)

"Awfully excited over a piece of cheese..." - Toes, on wolf-Lyra's disgusted discovery of a strong-smelling piece of cheese (she thought it was the poison used to kill Ethan)

"Come on now, what do you think you're doing?" - wizard, on recognizing Lacha as a shapeshifter in mountain lion form, prowling the camp and scaring the guards, with a sign around her neck: "On Official Business"

"A wolf this time?? -aggravated sigh-" -the same wizard, on seeing Lyra as a wolf, with the same sign around her neck, and mistaking her for Lacha ;) Shape-shifting is the best... I love that wolf form.

"I hope your wolf chokes on a bone!" -Camille, the irritating, obstinate enlistee who had to be forced to aid the investigation, to wolf-Lyra. Lyra turns, shifts to druid: "I HEARD THAT." Camille: -shock and fright-
Again, I love wolf form... so entertaining to scare the bejeebers out of people, and to be so *useful* in tracking. :)

---
Summary so far:
After Ethan was poisoned in the mess hall, Lyra and Lacha attempted to heal him with first aid, but failed (as did Toes' foul-smelling cabbage). Other healers were able to save 3 poisoned soldiers, though 2 others died. The party carried Ethan's body to the grove of trees outside the camp and buried him with his equipment. Upon returning to the camp, Alesandrus accosted Richard and Toes with a new mission: discover the assassin and bring him to Alesandrus. The two began their search with the cook and his help, and found a shunt driven into the water cask - presumably to introduce poison into the water. An extensive investigation of the people in the mess hall at the time, including a thorough search of their personal items (with a later search by wolf-Lyra's skilled nose) and a dental check turned up no assassins.
Melvin identified the sample of the poisoned water and a vial of Snaketongue assassin poison (found at a previous hideout) as the same poison, derived from rankweed, a rare, deadly plant native to Solnaria. He then took the samples to an apothecary, who confirmed his ID and began work on an antidote.

-more to come later, if I ever get around to it-

Quick bites ('cause I'm just not thinking in long prose... attention span's nil today, and the typical ADD free flight of ideas is really kicking in. For the amateur psychologist: can you spot the connections? ;):

Yaay! Got back into Pasadena late last night with no problems.

Currently working on the h 161 paper with an E... ergh. Should've started it earlier last term, but oh well. Gotta plow through these 6 books and write most/all of it up before Monday, or there'll be hell to pay.

Dad's still in town, staying in a hotel in Monrovia - planning on doing something fun with him today and tomorrow before he goes back to Longview Sunday morning.

Sunday night? D&D! Hope that Ethan survives that poison... thanks Toes, Lyra will definitely memorize neutralize poison from here on out. -sigh- AND it looks like it's time to start foraging for food again... better ditch those rations from our packs.

Have invested in hiking boots for field school this summer (was planning on using sneakers, but no such luck - lots of off-trail hiking around the island) - hopefully I'll get to try them out sometime this term. After they're broken in, of course.

Will ride at 3D Farms again this afternoon, assuming Davee got my email. Otherwise, seeing a couple of the horses I'm quite fond of (Gambit and Boo), then going to dinner with Dad.

Hm. I should do laundry tonight. I'm clean out of jeans.

Oh yeah - if I get enough done on my paper to warrant a reward tonight, I'm considering watching part of Pride and Prejudice. If you care to see it, let me know.

I think this must be the first caltech grade report where I've received all A-. :) Well, except for that E, and a P from h 97a... but the E'll be taken care of soon enough. This calls for celebration!

Or working on that E. Take care, and later. :)

"On the road again...", or "Travels with Charley... er, Jack"

3/25 - Got into El Paso late last night. Everything's gone well so far, apart from the fact that both dad and I are suffering from sinus infections, and thus a little irritable and short-tempered. However, after dropping off the truck this morning, we rented a car and found a walk-in clinic (The Doctors In. Cute name, no?). Took several hours, but at the end of it, we had a prescription for antibiotics for me (hooray!). Plus, dad called his doc in longview for an identical prescription, which was filled at a local walgreen's. So both of us should be on the mend shortly (and thank god for that, or it'd be a difficult trip back to pasadena). However, I think this rules out the possible side trip to the Grand Canyon... I'd like to get back to pasadena so I can sleep and not drive 8 hours per day... and perhaps actually have time to work on my paper on my laptop. I'd forgotten how difficult it was to construct a paper with pen and paper in a bumpy truck. Plus there's the whole 'motion-sickness' factor - for some reason, involved reading and note-taking over bumpy roads brings on a headache within thirty minutes, though I can easily read light material for hours without nausea. Hmm. Oh well.
Also, the truck has now passed muster on El Paso smog checks two years running. -grins- No worries about my truck polluting Pasadena more than its fair share... on the contrary, it's way below both the high and low speed standard marks. Gosh, but it's a great truck. And the only thing that's gone out so far has been the door lock on my side (just the switch and not the actuator - a solenoid - thank goodness), and that was easily enough replaced today.
Moral of this story? Remember, when looking for a new or used truck, buy Chevy, kids. ;)
What else... paper's coming along, I suppose. Currently I'm still plowing through the reading as best I can on the roads and in the evening when we've stopped for the night, but I think I can finish this over spring break. I think the final topic will be along the lines of "Emergence and Evolution of the Sonata", tracing this musical form from its conception in the Baroque period through the internal changes it sustained in the Romantic and Classical periods. I figured it was somewhat shameful that I've played flute for 9 years, yet I don't know that much about music history and forms... so this is a good way to learn more and fill in a few of the gaps in my education. Yaay for Brewer's class, and yaay for open-season paper topics.

I think that's about all for now... right now, I believe we'll be back in Pasadena on Thursday night, barring any unforeseen delays. To all of you on break and at home, I hope you're having fun, seeing old friends and relaxing. Same goes to all twelve (?) of you staying at tech - can't wait to see you guys again. Especially Sam (although I'll wager you've been doing nothing but sleeping till 12 -or later!- and playing Baldur's Gate and Magic:the Gathering the whole time I've been gone. Just like before I left. :) love you).

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream..."
-Mark Twain

Along the lines of the saying, "Do one thing that really scares you every day." But a bit more optimistic. I wanted it somewhere I could find it quickly again... so here's the logical place.

Hooray! Done with almost all of my finals and essays!

All that's left is one paper from h 161... it's due friday, but so so tempting to take an E and work on it for more than 1.5 days. I've gotta have more time to do the reading and write a decent paper, because I really enjoyed that class, and I want to do well... Brewer's a cool prof, and I don't want to disappoint him. Child of the 70's or not, I doubt he'd be thrilled to read something poorly written from a history major.

My god, but I'm glad that ec final's over. I think I managed to answer all of the questions for at least partial credit, but some of 'em were just tough. Hoping for a decent grade in that class... and I don't want to think about the fact that Clayton, Sean, Grace, and a bunch of other really brilliant people are in that class as well. I have a sneaking feeling I'll be on the low end of the curve. But we'll see.

H 97's taking an interesting turn. I've gotten somewhat burnt out on the Spanish side of things... there are only so many Spanish, Catholic sources you can read before tearing your hair and shrieking. The bias leaps out at me, and it's awfully, well, strong. You don't see this kind of thing quite so often today, but I'm just tired of it. So I'm switching gears to look at English colonization strategies for a while, then writing a comparative paper from what I've digested. This should spark my interest in colonization again, I hope.

Core - thank god it's over. To be honest, I'm actually fairly pleased with the end paper, even though working on it did feel like pulling teeth towards the end. -sigh-

Onwards to spring break! (and some good D&D tonight :)

Life's a funny thing right now. War's on the horizon, and I don't know what to think. I fear the tremendous loss of life that war will bring, and I think this move will only bring us more trouble. Granted, I don't like Saddam or his regime, but I strongly feel this is NOT the way to approach the situation, especially as there's almost no support for these recent actions in the UN. Thumbing our collective nose at the world's UN ambassadors and being so goddamned 'American' in the worst sense (enforcing our views, style of gov't, and culture while ignoring the opinions of the rest of the world) goes against all that I've learned through interactions with people from different cultures. (Really, why bother having cultural exchange programs if we don't care about other cultures in world politics? Seems like waste of money...) I don't like being in another country and having people look shocked when I tell them I'm an American, and a Texan to boot - "But you don't ACT like an American! Most Americans are ill-mannered, opinionated, ethnocentric, egocentric loudmouths!" (add 'illiterate, uncultured cowboys' to that list if you substitute 'Texan' for American) There's a reason why citizens of other countries don't care for Americans. We have to quit acting like our culture/government/opinions/etc are the best around, as if there's no other viable perspective. We need to stop throwing our military around, cease our constant (undesired) intervention in other countries' affairs. I'm not a fan of the isolationist foreign policy, but for as long as I can remember we've had troops in other countries, and I remember losing servicemen on several of these 'peace-keeping missions', usually to those whom we were trying to help, but who resented our intervention. I'm certainly not advocating an absolute withdrawal from world politics, but a good dose of common sense, tact and diplomacy would do a damn lot for the white house right now. And maybe a good kick in the seat of the pants.

-sigh- Anyway, enough agonizing over world politics. Time to move on to more pleasant topics on the home front.

The good news:

1) Finals week isn't scaring me like it used to. This is probably due to the lack of phys and math exams ;), but I'm not complaining. Still a little worried about the h 161 paper and ec 130 final, though.

2) I'm happy. It's finals week, and I'm happy - I'm not fearing for my life or sanity. I'm in a relationship with a guy that I love, and I'm happy - I don't feel overwhelmed, or used, or in pain. I can still think clearly; I don't feel like I'm drowning in emotion. I don't feel like walls are closing in on me, or that I'm in danger of losing my independence.
I don't understand these things... I hadn't thought any of this was possible. Sure is nice to be proven wrong, though. :)

3) It'll be good to see Dad on Friday. Here's to the annual 'El Paso and back' road trip to register the truck. Hooray!

Ok, enough fun, back to the core paper. Whyever is it so difficult to write for that class, when it's so easy to write here and in other classes?

Current tally MtG wins/losses: 8-3. The red/black deck finally played out after I played against Dan a few times tonight... ah well. Played some with Andrea Mc's elvish deck against Sam LL - smashed him the first time, then was completely annihilated the second time. Switched to Dan's 5 colors deck - that one's really fun to play - and lost one, then won. :) Dan's convinced I should enter the tourney, and Sam tells me I'm really good for a beginner... but oy, it hurts to get whaled on so much. I can sympathize with Dan... though it sure is fun to win with something like a 35 point advantage over your opponent. (thanks Sam ;)

And now, I think I'd better go to sleep, as I've got to edit that damned core paper tomorrow afternoon after I sleep. And study some german. Oy. But at least I had fun today! :)

Update time!

Riding: Rode Boo again tonight - he's really begun to calm down over the past month. Still really frisky, still a baby (uses the rail to lean against, and clocks my foot every time on the rail unless I'm paying attention), but absolutely awesome. Just gotta learn to relax and trust him and myself... "You just gotta get your head to line up with your emotions, and then mesh that with your body, and you're set. You're strong enough to do this, it's just the confidence," saith Davee. Speaking of Davee, she wasn't in such good shape today - not only did she break up with her boyfriend last night, but one of her welsh ponies at the other stable nearly broke her arm earlier today. So her arm's in a sling, she can't ride, and she can't type or write for a while... talk about a tough break. :( But she should be back up to speed in a week or so, barring some unforeseen tendon damage.

Games: D&D session later tonight... and I've begun playing Magic:the Gathering. Quite entertaining card game, really. I missed out on a lot growing up... Anyway, I managed to whale on Dan, shutting him out in 4 games, even though he originally said, "Don't be upset if you lose the first several games... it's normal to lose a lot as a beginning Magic player." Poor Dan. He was a good sport about it, though, and he did say that he wasn't playing quite as tightly as he would against another seasoned player. And if the last one had lasted any longer, I think I would've lost - he had some good cards right at the top when I finally finished him off. Yaay for the black/red 'Deck of Destruction'. -grins-
The only downside? Lots of people around here are Magic players, and so they watch the game, and often want to give advice. This is fine with me, as long as it's not "*I* would do this, because ---", but that's usually the most common form. I was on the verge on quitting a game in progress and leaving at least once because I felt like I wasn't playing - everyone else was playing it for me and not allowing me to learn. There's nothing more frustrating than that to me... I'm not an idiot, I can see the possibilities, and I'm thinking them out while you're telling me what to do. Maybe I'm slower and less experienced than you, but I'm not stupid, and I learn best by trying my own strategy and seeing what works, and I feel like it's an insult to my intelligence to have people constantly telling me what they would do if they were playing. They aren't. I am. I know perfectly well they mean no harm, and I welcome advice or possibilities for strategy when I ask for it but the other is extremely irritating to me. And I try to tolerate it, but sometimes I will crack and lose my patience.
Moral: Don't tell people how to play their games. Ask if they want advice or help with strategy, but if you want to play, find another deck of cards and do so!

Yaay! German oral final went off without a hitch. I was so nervous... but once I relaxed, it came so easily. I didn't understand everything the first time, but I did get over 70% and the gist of what she said. And after the second recitation, the questions on paper about the story were pretty easy. One final down, 2 to go and 3 essays to write or revise. Hooray!

Numbness and grey mood are gone, thanks to some downtime with friends and Sam in the lounge last night (albeit a bit longer than I'd planned to spend). I'm still stressed, but at least I'm happy. Unfortunately, that MtG game that Sam and Dan were playing last night looks awfully entertaining... help, I'm getting sucked into the gaming world! First FF6, and now Magic the Gathering... I don't have the time for this now!!

On the plate for today? German oral (and aural?) final at 1, chamber music at 2, submit h 97 essay by 7ish to deverell, read h 161 for tomorrow.

I've finally hit the stage in second term when numbness sets in. I've been tired all day (5-6 hours sleep last night, as I drove mom to the airport early this morning), and I've read 300 pages in 5 hours for ec discussion tomorrow. Tomorrow's reading forecast? 500 pages (or more!) for h 97, plus studying german and the language lab tapes for the oral final wednesday. It scares me, because I've already lost so much motivation. I don't want to take any Is, but I may end up doing so for h 161, simply because I waited too long to begin research on a topic, and so much other stuff is hitting me right now.

At least the grey mood's mostly gone - now I just feel hollow and emotionless. I think that's better. Better to feel nothing than to want to cry, right?

I just hope this term ends quickly. I want out of here now.

Time for a quick update:
The orchestra concerts are over, so the pressure from Les Preludes and the Beethoven Eroica Symphony is off, and I don't have to worry over that 'flute concerto part' in the 4th mvmt of the Eroica anymore. Mom was here over the weekend, so I spent a lot of time with her (when I wasn't in rehearsal, that is).

Unfortunately, I let my history reading slide last week, in favor of FF6 (I blame the lethargy and apathy on the flu-like bug I had a couple weeks ago... the reason why I'm still hacking occasionally, and why I looked 'dehydrated' to so many at the concert). AND there's a german oral final today. And immediately after German, I'll be reading most of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel for the final ec/ss 130 discussion tomorrow. And then, more h 97 reading and writing more of an essay. And then, h 161 reading and research for that paper I haven't even started yet, that's due next wednesday. Oh, and the core final paper too. Stupid core.

Oy. Please someone shoot me. I don't want to do all of this... I just want to sleep and have spring break here when I wake up. And be completely over this dry, hacking cough. -sigh- I don't want to be sick or stressed anymore.

Another dream has come true. After a nerve-wracking interview this morning, I received an email from Lauren Stolper around 3:30 - I've won one of the two Bishop Prizes for summer study abroad. I'll be spending 6 weeks in the Achill Archaeological Field School in northwest Ireland, and another 2-3 weeks traveling around Ireland before and after that. Roughly 8 weeks of Ireland, several of them traveling alone. Good god. o.O

I still can't believe it. Someone pinch me, please? I expect to wake up any minute... this is unreal. In terms of dreams becoming reality, this term seems to be making up for last year: first Sam, and now Ireland. My god, this is incredible. I think it's time to break out the Ella Fitzgerald and celebrate. :) Consider me ecstatic.

"Life's great, life's grand
Future, all planned
No more, clouds in the sky
How'm I ridin'? I'm ridin' high

Someone, I love
Mad for, my love
So long, Jonah, goodbye
How'm I ridin'? I'm ridin' high

Floating, on a starlit ceiling
Doting, on the cards I'm dealing
Gloating, because I'm feeling so hap-hap-happy, I'm slap-happy"
-Ridin' High, Ella Fitzgerald

Oy, I've been neglecting this blog. My apologies, and I'll get around to posting more after I get some work done (perhaps after this term's over)... or at least after the Bishop interview at 11:30 on Tuesday. I haven't worried this much for ages... I'm scared that I'm going to completely screw it up, and lose all hope of getting the Bishop. Or that I'll do really well, and end up getting it. I don't know. I'm just nervous, and I don't like having things hanging in the balance for so long. I just want to know one way or the other, or at least have all the application process done so I don't have to worry about it anymore. -sigh- Ah well. After Tuesday... no more worries on that, I hope.

In the meantime, some lyrics:

"I think I should be laughing
Yet I forget
Forget how to begin
I'm feeling something inside
And yet I still can't decide
If I should hide
Or make a wide open grin"
-RENT