After two and a half hours of frisbee, I now smell like grass. It reminds me of elementary school, not having homework, running around until exhaustion, soccer practice and mosquito bites.

Tomorrow is Foreign Language Day -- no class, just optional workshops on culture and such like. I'd go to one, but the only session that interests me (German hip-hop, taught by my awesome GTF) is at 9:15. That's when I normally get up, and without German class at 10, I can sleep even later. The sleep factor wins.

I caught myself narrating in my head today. Does anyone else do this? Kind of like... "It had occured to me that even though I didn't study, I kicked that test's ass. Funny how that works." Thinking in sentences that could be a journal or a book. Good sign? Incidentally, I did kick my German test's ass. And I didn't study.

It took me damn long enough, but I finally bought darkroom chemicals. I need to mix working solutions, but after I do that, the darkroom is my domain. My oyster. My BIATCH. Which reminds me of a funny picture. Here:



I love graffiti. Hip-hop biatch indeed.

Here's hoping that my browser-related problems are gone. Does this work?

Well, bronchitis was a product of my over-active inner hypochondriac, but I have a head cold that prohibits me from breathing nicely. I think it's on the way out, so it's the least of my concerns.

I went to the cultural forum (the place I'll be working for part time this summer and next year -- the art thing) today to get some basic orientation. It was very basic. Apparently, they're just going to throw me in there and say, "Good luck!" It doesn't seem like it's going to be that hard, for the most part. I'm trying to think up some interesting ideas for shows now. Maybe I'll ask the molecular bio folks if they ever do micro-photography. That would be way cool.

Funny thing happened today: It was eighty goddamn degrees. I hate the heat when I'm sick, so I sort of wasted a sunny day. My drawing class was held outside, though, so I sat next to this fountain and drew these guys doing tai chi. Tai chi is rather nifty.

I think I might have bronchitis AND Marc has to move out of our hall for reasons too stupid to explain here. Not to mention the fact that I'm buried in homework. At least it's a nice day.

I thought about raving on for a while about the asshole at the tennis courts today, but I have reconsidered because I'm suddenly feeling rantless. In fact, I don't have a whole lot to say. Bailey's letter arrived today, and the one I sent to Natalie should arrive today. Getting a letter is so exciting, and apparently now it's old fashioned. I like sending letters -- they're little word-packages. They have more thought, time and money (37 big cents, baby) put into them. All of the little scratched out words are there, all of the doodles, all of the enclosed bits of stuff. I don't draft letters (waste of time!) so the ones I write tend to be a little stream of conciousness-y. I like postcards too, and I have depleted my stash. Bah. I'm starting to get bored. I wonder if the cubs won their game...

A modicum of venting:

Ahem.

Dorms aren't fun. Wandering into a toilet-paper free bathroom at 3am isn't fun. Nor is falling asleep to the delicate honking of Iranian syth-pop. Don't get me wrong, the people (by and large) are great. I like my floor (for the most part), and the bottom two floors are (usually) quite friendly. Third floor leaves me alone, so that's cool too. But KEE-RIST! Today and last night have been microcosms of all the suckitude of "residence halls." Yeah, all of this, and it's not even a dorm. We're sub-dorm.

But we're moving on up (movin' on up!) to the outside! Soon, my pretties, soon I will be able to cook with ease and have toilet paper on call.

Today, my drawing prof said I had an excellent eye for value (thus making my face turn about seven different shades of red while I stumble-mumbled something like "thanks" and "black and white photography") -- that was the triumphant part. The more realistic part is the second half of the phrase: "...but you have a very novice hand for lines." Still, though. I'm getting a lot better at this drawring thing. I'll take pictures of the charcoal stuff later on, when he's done grading.

Here's another little sketch book clip.

Went to the Spike and Mike Animation fest -- it was both sick and twisted, though I think Tenacious D fans may enjoy the "Fuck Her Gently" video. It was a bit over the top for me in places.

Doin' better, for the record. I'm swaying around in ambivalence quite a bit, but largely things are a-okay. I'm looking into study abroad programs for my junior year, as I won't be able to go next year. I'll be taking two year-long series, and I want to complete them before I wander off. The destinations? Germany or the UK. Most likely Germany, depending on where I can go. If I could go to Heidelberg, I could die happy. It sounds like such a cool place. I want to pick my German GTF's brain about where to go sometime.

We may get thunderstorms tonight. To filch a Corey-ism, Rockin'.

First things first: My Creme Egg hunt would have been a bust were it not for Meg and her donation to the cause.

Now we get to the sticky center of the last few weeks. I don't make any secrets about the fact that I, like everyone and their sister it seems, had/have what most people call "problems with depression." It's kind of a conversation killer, so I don't wear on my sleeve. This is, lately I've been feeling more and more like garbage. When I'm alone, it's crushingly lonely and I want to be surrounded by my friends. But when I'm with my friends, I start to feel frustrated and snippy. Sometimes I can't even relax around Kyle. It's full of catch 22s like this -- I can keep it at bay when I'm having fun (hanging out with people, taking pictures, etc), but if I have a moment to breathe, it swoops in on me. The only difference between this and the episodes in Alaska is I can't always tell what's making me feel so empty.

Last night, I went with Kyle, Marie, and Megan to Shawn's room for a little bit of alcoholic fun. We watched "Igby Goes Down" -- one of my favorites -- and enjoyed Corona and Mike's. As I expected, I felt better when buzzed, but there was still internal debate. This was the first time in almost 3 years that I'd been drunk. I didn't want the buzz to go away, and that was frightening. That's kind of a substance abuse sort of attitude. I've been feeling guilty all day, and I think it's because I let myself get out of hand. I want to issue a mass apology for myself, but that's self-pitying.

It doesn't especially help that some of my online Alaskan pals are conspiring to work in a cannery together for six weeks during the summer; slime line plus overtime plus Katie, Sophie, Ness, and whoever else equals a complete blast. And I'm not going to be there. It's torture to read their plans on livejournal. I'm homesick, even though leaving Anchorage was something I looked forward to with anticipation and excitement for years. It's stupid and immature, but I feel like I'm being left behind.

The questions thing from the previous post still stands. Ask me anything.

If anyone knows what the hell I can do to get my style sheet to fucking behave and let me make another sidebar, let me know. I'm at my wits' end, and Blogger help is no help at all. So...CSS or HTML help needed here.

I'm getting hired all over the place. Starting this summer, I'll be curating two small galleries in the student union, one of which is exclusively photography. The kicker? The university PAYS me to do this. I get a small monthly stipend to take the edge off of my bills.

I searched for post-Easter candy (read: cheap Cadbury Creme Eggs) and I found NOTHING. On monday, Safeway had zilch. Dammit! I want my Creme Eggs! Hopefully, Fred Meyer will yield something, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I'm starting to have my doubts about this canvassing job. Even though it won't be as difficult as it would be in Anchorage, it's still going to be really hard. The nightly quota is $100. I'm seeking other options -- this job has a very high possibility of sucking.

Audience participation time! Ask me anything. Yes, this is an original premise, and you can ask me anything anytime anyway (whoa alliteration). So let's call it spring cleaning. Everybody GO!

Hello. My name is Erica Rothman, and I am a grammar Nazi. Der Grammatisch Polizei. In order to stave off implosion, I must vent two of my biggest pet peeves; one of them is an oral communication thing, the other is written. Though the impulse is often there, I rarely correct people when they speak. Very, very rarely. Because I'm not that kind of asshole. But it drives me fucking crazy when "there's" replaces what should be "there are." Subject-verb agreement is SIMPLE. Schoolchildren all over the planet do it everyday, some in more than one language. So be wise: pluralize! Next on the docket* is the constant fucking up of the word definitely. THERE IS NO A. I don't care how you mispronounce it, the A ain't there, honey, and ain't no bad spelling ever gonna bring it back. Cain't ever lose what you never had. Other remarks vaguely removed from country music go here.

Our ride up to Portland was police evasion-tastic. We caught a ride with a grad student that really didn't want a ticket. I think he was kind of embarrassed for blatantly breaking a couple laws, but I didn't really mind. I thought it was kind of funny.

The concert was fun, although I think having two opening acts is superfluous, no matter how much or little the band rocks. When a gig starts at 9, I want to see the band by 10. Not 11:1fucking5. But I guess the waiting around was okay too because I saw three people I knew from Anchorage there, and all of them were people I liked. Oddly, I didn't recognize a single soul from UO, but I digress. Amanda Howard, a girl I lost track of after graduation, turned up. She's been living in Portland since winter, studying at a rather pretigious cooking school. She (and Pachel) made US Government decent. If Areli actually reads this, I'll get a big OH MY GOD!!! out of this one. I saw Andrew Merrell (and Josi whatsherberry), and I'm pretty sure he recognized me. I mean, we were neighbors and all, and I interviewed his band, etc, so I'm not surprised. Strange to see him, though. Strange, strange.

Roberta gave us wine and Easter candy. I returned to find more Easter candy, a book, a sketchbook, and tax papers awaiting me. Now if only I could get them to airmail my guitar...

The girl at the far north end of our hall moved out, Ashley, and I wish I had gotten to know her better. She's gone, and I probably never had a real conversation with her. The most substantive chat was along the lines of: Did you dye your hair? Yep, about a week ago. Oh man, am I inobservant. Don't worry about it. (I finish washing my hands.) G'night. Night. There's some regret, but it stems from the fact that I'll forget she was here in a week or two, which is sadder than never getting to know her, I guess.

There are many more sketchbook pages, and some stuff that is yet unscanned. Do you want to see it, or is it boring/whiny/stupid?

*Enormous tangent: Hallmate Charlie used this phrase at the hall meeting last tuesday, making him the only person other than myself, my father, and his father to use it in my presence. Charlie also puns. Thus, I think he is awesome.

One too many falling-down halter tops. Blatant cleavage is the new subtle mystique! However, the over-abundance of skin on campus does indicate one beauteous thing: THE SUN IS OUT! God Bless temperate climates.

In a couple of hours, I'll be headed back to Portland for the Modest Mouse concert. This is tres awesome. I haven't been to a decent concert since...Matt Sheehy (of Gravity and Henry) at Sidestreet Cafe, I think. This will be awesome. So to tide all three of you over, I'll post some more scratchings. I'm assuming that since no one has complained, that's okay.

Typically, I am loath to spend my hard-earned cash impulsively. I'm not the type to walk into a store and walk out with half the rack and an empty wallet. People who know me well can tell anyjury that I'm cheap. But today was a bit exceptional because the new Ben Kweller CD came out today and the end to the Descendents' seven year dry spell is available now at a record store near you. So I bought them, and I never want to spend money again. Overall, BK's new one is good, up to the lyrical standards of Sha Sha, but a couple of the songs are a bit too love-songy for me. I like it, though, and it was worth the 13. The Descendents...they always blow me away. I get so caught up in their music -- it's direct and driving.

Now that I'm done with my CD review, I'd like to mention that the Modest Mouse concert is this saturday. There would be some sort of WOOOHOOOO! here, but we still have no ride to Portland to speak of. Hmmm.

Oh, if you can't read the writing (that makes two of us), feel free to copy and enlarge, if you're willing to expend the effort.

I'm becoming more and more Eugene. The last things I consumed were granola and green tea.

As promised...

BIG NEWS! I'm staying in Eugene for the summer -- Kyle and I found jobs! The Campaign to Save the Environment, a grassroots fundraising non-prof, hired us ON THE SPOT. We'll be canvassing in Eugene for petition signatures, memberships, and (of course) donations. The guy who hired me said that I could easily rise through the ranks to a media relations position, given my Anchorage Daily News experience. This means that I won't go home, which is mostly good for NOT living with my parents, NOT working at Europa or some similar slime pit, and NOT getting that overwhelming sense of I'm-wasting-my-time-in-the-most-god-awful-state-in-the-union. On a gigantic downside, it means I won't see a lot of people I love until Christmas. So the cry goes out: VISIT ME. Seriously, if anyone roadtrips to the lower 48, make a detour my way. I'll make it worth your while. Eugene is a cool place, and every summer during the country fair, a Slug Queen gets elected. So visit.

In other, somewhat less large news, I'm probably going to take pictures for my friend Hannah's wedding. I offered to do it for free, as a wedding present sort of thing. I'm excited. The ceremony is going to be on one of the prettiest parts of campus this summer. This is another benefit of staying in Eugene.

I have scanned the Portland papers, and I'll post them here after editing. Maybe I'll do it one at a time and serialize them. Maybe not.

away!