The End, only it's The Beginning

Well, that's over.

I took my GRE today. I did okay. I did how I thought I would do. I got at 570 on the verbal and a 710 on the quantitative. I have to wait 2 weeks to get my writing scores back, but so far I'm around the 75th percentile, which isn't bad. I needed to get above the 55th percentile to be above the average score for the Humphrey Institute. Glad my school of choice isn't that competitive in terms of GRE.

Instead, I get to worry about my lack of experience. Goody. : )

If I don't get in, I'll join the Peace Corps or Americorps for a couple years, then try to find a real job. Or just try to find a real job. Or find a crappy job and an internship that might turn into a real job.

The nice thing about my potential degree program is that most people go mid-career, or after a few years of working, so I am more likely to go back to get my degree than someone who wants to go to med school or something. Med students need to know a lot of information, and if you're out of school for 10 years, you've probably forgotten most of it.

In any case, I at Chipotle, my favorite fast food restaurants. Someone wearing a burqa just walked in. Like, a full burqa, not just hijab. I haven't seen one of those in person before. That's cool. Props to her for having the courage to wear that, you know?

Sorry, tangent. Anyway, the future is far away and doesn't need a lot of detailed thought right now. Next week, I'll start working on my personal statement. : )

My best Chana Masala yet!

Hokso. I LOVE Indian food. However, both of the Indian restaurants in town here sell their cheapest entrees at $7-15, and of course I have to buy samosas and naan, which add another $8. And I enjoy buying two entrees, to diversify my meal and to get as much deliciousness as I can.

So... I've been trying to learn to cook my own Indian food, so I can control what goes into it, and to save money. So far, they haven't been very successful. Mostly kind of watery and while I put a lot of spices in, I can't really taste them.

But! This time I tried a new recipe, with a bit more work involved.

You need:

1 cup uncooked rice (I made brown, but basmati would probably be more authentic)

1 onion

2 cans of diced tomatoes, drained

4 cloves of garlic

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Plenty of Canola Oil

some of the following spices: curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, chili powder (I just put in a few to several dashes if I wanted that spice to be more present)(also, why do they all start with C?)

Anyway, make the rice at some point. I made brown rice, so I did that first because it takes forever.

Then, finely finely chop the onion and garlic (or chop not so fine and just put it in the blender or food processor)(I need a blender if you want to buy me something). Then, drain the tomatoes, and actually, squeeze them out too. You're going to want a rather thick paste. Mix your squeezed out tomatoes with your super fine onion and garlic. Like, really mix it. I smooshed it together in my makeshift mortar and pestle (aka a bowl and a glass) to mash the tomatoes in a bit more.

Anyway, heat your oil on med-low into a pan (I put a lot in. Just because I like it that way. You could go crazy and use clarified butter too if'n you want). Then put your tomato mixture in the pan, and let it cook for a while. I added the cinnamon, ginger and cardamom here, but really, I have no reason why I did that.

After letting that fry for about 5-10 minutes (stirring it occasionally), I added the other spices, and let that sit for about 10 more minutes (this is a good time to do some dishes). Add the chickpeas, mix it together. Put the cover on, and let it stew for 10 minutes.

Serve over rice. Maybe a dollop of yogurt on it. I thought it was pretty good, but the leftovers were a little dry.

I've made a decision

I have decided that I will, in fact, have a graduation party next year. It's terribly far off, I know, but I like to plan ahead. I don't care how pretentious it may seem. I have worked hard (harder than I did in high school!), and next year, I deserve a party.

Why are college grad parties so unpopular? I don't get it. I deserve and need a party way more than I did when I graduated high school.

My only problem is where to have it. Should it be in the cities, so it's more central so more people can come? Or should it near home? Or school?

I do not know. Any opinions?

Will work for French Toast

A friend of mine on campus called me tonight, as I sat on the couch, recovering from an intense walk earlier in the day (and by recovering, I mean eating chocolate Malt-o-meal!). She was moving her stuff from the 9th floor of Larson Hall to the 8th floor of Mohn Hall and had to move by tomorrow morning, and would I help her?

Well, considering I was just sitting on the couch, and she's a good friend, I said "Sure!"

Ohmaigawd she has soooo much stuff. We probably moved 20 storage bins and 10 giant garbage bags and several boxes and 2 mini fridges and other stuff. Luckily, she has no furniture, there are elevators, she has an SUV and found a dolly somewhere. Plus, she took me to Perkins afterwards.

Totally worth it. : )

5 cups of coffee and 3 french toast for a couple hours of going up and down an elevator? Not bad at all!

By the way, I will not be going to bed anytime soon. Why did I drink 5 cups of coffee at 11pm again? hahahaha. Good times.

Anyway, about the intense walk... I went to the grocery store to pick up some things (remembered everything but malt-o-meal and wild rice!), thinking it wouldn't rain until 3 or 4. Nope, it thundered and started raining at 12:30, right when I left the store.

"Oh no!" I thought, "I left the window open right by the power strip and my laptop!" (dumb, I know). I started rushing home, with a backpack full of canned goods, and two tote bags full of food. Easier said than done. Luckily, it didn't rain all that much until the end of my walk, when I had given up rushing, and was trying to cool down. No water reached the power strip or my laptop. Thank the wind currents!

Also, I realized that I've only eaten breakfast food for the past couple days. I had eggs, hash browns, facon, green beans and yogurt for lunch yesterday, French toast for dinner, a PB sandwich for breakfast, Malt-o-Meal for lunch today, and French toast for dinner again tonight. Goodness. I should really stop typing this now, but I HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY!!!!!

You know where this energy could be productive? Studying for my GRE. Or playing Pokemon. Hmmm........... I'm starting to get nervous for my GRE. I take the test on Monday. Luckily I'm taking it early enough where I can take it again if I suck ass. But I am trying not to suck ass because the test costs $160, which is ridiculous, but less so than the test prep classes, which cost $500. I think I'll skip the classes and study on my own. I'll just read the dictionary, or maybe learn Latin and Greek this week. That'll help with the vocabulary.

OOH! I bought my ticket to go see the Village People today. They're playing at the Twin Cities Pride festival this year, and tickets are only $10! And one of my favorite singers is playing too, Ellis. She's an Ole alum who is awesome and funny! She's also gluten intolerant, in case you were wondering. And she has the best laugh ever. Her music is pretty kickass too.

By the way, all of this was written in like, 10 minutes.

The End

Well, the end of the year is finally here. No more finals or anything. I feel like it hasn't quite sunk in yet. Normally at the end of the year, I pack everything up and move. This year I'm staying in Northfield, so finals week wasn't paired with a mass scramble to move everything.

Instead, I went home for a couple days. It was nice and summery. I came back to Northfield. So far, its felt like a weekend, only less stressful. I've played some Pokemon. I'm caught up on Farmville and such. Now what do I do? Tomorrow I work for 10 hours, and 6 more on Saturday. But after this weekend, I have to find a real summer job, not just a weekend job. Le sigh.

Hopefully Target hires me. Otherwise I'm going to apply at Subway and the Co-op, and maybe wherever else I happen to stop by. Bother. I need to have money for a rent, groceries, bills, and a new computer, and a month in Thailand and a week in Japan. Haha. Yay money. Bleh.

Ah well, If I don't have a job, I have many hours to spend on Amazon working for pennies. Or babysitting or pet sitting.

LOST! contains spoilers.

So, a major chapter in my life closes tomorrow. For the past 6 years, I've followed LOST. Or rather, for the past 3 years, I've followed LOST obsessively, and the three before that I watched it occasionally (last summer I rewatched the first three seasons to make sure I didn't miss any!).

I love the show mostly because it makes me actually think about what I'm watching and what I have watched. Most shows just tell you what's going on. LOST makes me analyze. Take, for example, the character of Libby. We know that she was in a mental institution after her husband, David, died. We also know that a character named Dave, who is dead, visits Hurley, who can talk to dead people, and who talked to him a lot while Hurley was in the same mental institution as Libby at the same time. Ergo, Dave is Libby's dead husband. Do they ever make that connection in the show? No.

My theory is reinforced when early in the series, Dave shows up on the island and tries to get Hurley to kill himself. Coincidentally, the Smoke Monster can take the form of dead people and is trying to kill the candidates, but cannot directly kill them. Hurley is a candidate. Pretty sure Dave on the island is the smoke monster.

Also, Desmond's boat is called the Elizabeth, given to him by David. So many connections! I love this show!

A lot of my energy goes in to thinking about this show, if you can't tell.

What am I going to do after tomorrow? Well, I'll probably spend a lot of time in the next week or two on LOST forums. After that? I'll have to find a new show to obsess over.

The Sun is Gone but its Warmth Remains

I just looked out the window. It became cloudy at some point since I got home.

I've had a pretty awesome week. Classes are finally over. I turned in one of my finals yesterday, so now I only have to finish a paper and then take two tests next Tuesday. Almost done and today is the first day of finals! The final countdown?

In any case, I've been working a lot because of my super relaxed finals week. Last night I worked a double shift in the caf, and got home around 12:15am. Every reading day, they have the Late Night Breakfast which is free for pretty much anyone who comes in, and a lot of professors and staff serve the food instead of us caf grunts. I got to count the number of people coming in. Cheney and I got counters where you hit the button and it adds one to the number. I have to say, it's the funniest shift to work. People don't need to swipe their meal plan cards, and everyone just gets really confused. Some people say "Omg, I don't need my card? Why did I bring it? Omg I'm so dumb!" or something along those lines. Others get really confused and spin in circles until they finally get that they can just go in. Others get really excited and shout with glee and enthusiasm. In any case, I laughed so hard at people last night.

Then I had to clean. Not so fun.

Anyway, today was my last day working at the elementary school. Sad day. Although Sr. Siedl gave me a nice gift, and Sra. Amundson will be sending me a package I guess. That's so touching. I love all those kids. My 5th graders and I talked about bullying today. It was so cute because the tough latino boys were talking about how they keep people from bullying each other at school and how when they go to middle school, all the bullies are going to start up again at the elementary school. The latina girls are actually dealing with bullying, too. One of the girls is feuding with the other girls. I'm not sure why, but they won't talk or sit near each other, and will actually do everything they can do avoid sitting by each other. It's sad...

At least they're not making fun of the two in the class who are so going to be gay in a few years. : )