Dear Fashion World,

Do stop telling impressionable youths to wear leggings. Also, shame on you for encouraging people over 22 years old to wear them. Especially under awkwardly-lengthed not-quite-a-dress shirts. I hope you are suitably upbraided. Yeah, I just used upbraided.

Kthxbai.

I just realized that I was really hot, and then noticed I was still wearing pants. What the EFF?! I hate my work pants a lot. But I do not hate my job because I make mad moniez. That's why I can visit Boston next week! Yaysicles! I figure I'll stay all week long, Monday to Monday. Oh yeah.

I don't do much at home. I've been working, hanging out with Therese and super baby, playing Zelda, and reading the Narnicles. I'm on the fourth book, and they're pretty interesting books. I'm sure I'm missing out on some of the wonderfulness because I'm a little too old, but I still like them.

I'm changing the time at which I take my birth control to 9pm as opposed to 11am, and I think that's a really good plan. Yay for birth control?

I took this personality quiz for Jungian types that Christa took so I'll share.

Now you can take it, too!

Aargh. This paper is never going to get done.

Remember this meme we all took around this time last year? I took it again.

I watched 11 episodes of House yesterday. It's crack!

I just realized that I had ramen noodles, dark chocolate, and marzipan for breakfast. I'll have diabetes in approximately 7 hours.

OH MY GOD, I AM NOT DEAD. I have no reason for this ridiculous absence. I haven't even been reading your journals so I am WOEFULLY behind on your lives. Fill me in, PLEASE.

I've got nothing for you, really. I'm liking life pretty lots, but I occase become a 15 year old sullen girl. I actually do this with a frightening frequency, especially compared to me at 15. I'm happy, don't get me wrong, but it feels forced sometimes. But I am happy so all is well.

I've just wanted to say this out loud (as much as one can "say" anything "out loud" on LJ): I have offish known Roman for one year. Admittedly, there's that wonky summer-then-study-abroad period, but this is epic for a Kirsten Manimal Crookes. It feels weird, and I'm not sure it still fits, but it works for now. It's weird, though. I'm old. Boo.

In other news, it's spring! I can't wait for the weather to warm up just that smidge more so I can wear skirts and dresses and NO PANTS IN PUBLIC!

HI, I'VE MISSED YOU! WELCOME ME BACK WITH OPEN ARMS? In order to ensure this, I offer you perhaps the dirtiest poem written by an American. Auden supposedly wrote it in 1946 and privately circulated it among his friends, and when it got published (in 1965) he denied authorship.

( The Platonic Blow (NSFL?) )

I have 10,000 icons. How can I possibly choose one? Looking through them, however, has rekindled my love for Robert Pattinson. What a beautiful boy! I can't even remember my tags!

WAH, I AM A FAILURE. I missed Mandar in Rome entirely. In my defense I had a paper due on Thursday, and then I left for Lyon early on Friday, but I still missed her. I am an utter, utter failure.

Also, I fail at updating. I am in Rome. There are so many things I could be writing about - the ridiculousness of every Italian, the power of the ruins EVERYWHERE, the lack of working clocks or common sense in anything Italian-made in perhaps the past two thousand years. Also, the quality of the people here in the Centro is stellar. I have made some really amazing friends here. In fact, I just went to Lyon with one of them, and hopefully we'll stay in touch.

I've developed a love of fine papers and calligraphy while I've been here. I've acquired so many amazing gifts for the people I love in my life. I am so full of joy, and peace, and love.

Being here has also made me realize how much I have in Feasterville and Boston. I have consistently had a strong, amazing group of people around me, encouraging me, loving me and I never realized until now. I miss everyone so much, but with no pain, I miss being with them all the time. I can't wait to live with Kate and Verity, and well have pantsless dinner parties every night and then we shall have cuddle fests. I just want to be there now, but I also want to enjoy the next (& final) three weeks in Rome.

I saw Beirut last night (in French!), and they were amazing. I've never been part of a crowd that fantastic. We got two encores. After the first encore all the Frogs kept singing the last song Zach had left off on until he came back with his seven back up musicians! Also, Hanner and I got matching tattoos on our asses. It's a beret, a moustache, and cigarette with a plume of smoke, and the word 'ennuyeux.' What a life.

And finally, Hannah and I just decorated the room Christmas style! It's so happy!

So my first two weeks in Rome have been rather wonderful. I have been some pretty awesome places already, and I know more are to come shortly. The people here are surprisingly delightful; there are some who are a little beyond hope, in terms of what I'm looking for, but c'est la vie. Most of the people here are interested in getting out into the city, both to see the history and to get shitfaced, which is me in a nutshell. I just made a flickr account today so that I can put up all the pictures I'm taking, and, believe me, it's a shit ton. I'm so stoked about this program, it's ridiculous. The workload is a little uneven, as in most of our work is due Monday through Wednesday, but I have no time management skills so it's a bit of a problem. I'm hoping to fix that, if I can, maybe, but we all know how I am.

On a non-abroad related note, I took Manda's career thinger and my top ten matches are - professor, clergy, occupational therapist, ESL teacher, foreign language teacher, corporate trainer, computer trainer, gerontologist, motivational speaker, and art/music therapist. Some of them are a little questionable, but two of these items qualify as exactly what I want to do with my life.

So, remember this post in which I ramble on about the ICCS and how even if I don't get in I'll have a good time in Boston and at the end of which I essentially convince myself it's a good thing to stay in the US? Well, I'm going to Rome anyway. I got pulled off the waitlist just last Friday and now I have a shitton of things to do so that I can get to Italy legally.

The passport is the most annoying part because even expedited it takes four weeks, which is really time I don't have. So I have to make a special appointment when I only have two weeks left so that I can get it in a few days. But then I have to get my visa. Oh my.

Who cares if it's this stressful to get ready because when it's all over, I'll be living in Rome for three and a half months. Oh my god, I'm so excited.

I am sort of sad to go though, but I can always have great times in Boston and I know that for as long as this amazing group of people I rub elbows with sticks with me I will.

My sister had a baby yesterday! Adele Maria, and she's beautiful. I'm really glad that she's not ugly because I just do no know how I'd react to an ugly niece. The weather was ridiculous: a huge thunderstorm with bold forks of lightning and deep rumblings of thunder and gumball-sized peltings of hail. I'm not sure what it says about Addy yet, but we'll see as she grows. (I drew a tarot for her, but I forget what it was. I think it was major arcana, but I can't really remember. I've been playing with tarot a lot lately so I almost can't remember what goes with what.)

I've no other pressing news. I'm working at the diner again, and I've already put $800 in the bank. Hopefully I'll save more this summer than I did last summer, but we'll see. I want to go up and visit Boston a couple of times and to get a few tattoos, maybe a new piercing, and new clothes.

The only thing that sucks about my working is that I work Thursday through Sunday and Audrey works Monday through Wednesday so we don't really get to see each other. Plus Carri is out in western PA doing clinicals and I feel like I have no one to hang out with around here. I'm secretly already looking forward to going back to school, but don't tell anyone.

I may be speaking too soon, BUT I'm rereading Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and I may actually like Joyce. He has a way with words, and, like Mike, he may have his way with words.

I have lived through finals, packing, the week at Michelle's, birthday parties, and all official 'I-haven't-seen-you-in-a-while-so-we-simply-must-hang-out-the-first-week-you-come-home' hang out sessions. The real reason I want to post is this facebook message from one, Verity Gale Salmon, and my reply:

i have to ask...

did you do coolin 0'brain?

just an observation on body language in the post-finals bender photo album that zach made :)

i am very sad i missed the debauchery.
&
Ah, my v-tas, asking the hard hitting questions.

I did not, in fact, do Coolin O'Brain. That would be weird.

I am also very sad that you missed it.

Love the lady, even though she was such a hosebeast that last month and a half. I will miss her as she's off eastern-Germany gallivanting.

I hate packing.

Today, when I looked up the Western Roman emperor Caracalla (son of Septimius Severus) on Wikipedia, this came up:

Caracalla (April 4, 186 – April 8, 217) was Roman Emperor from 211 – 217.

your hole family wears big hard coe extreme gitches you got a big poopchin
pete has a greasy bumchin
can you lick yur chilp? i can thats the spot between your chin and your lip
you stink like really big sumo reastlers under pants
bausmer is an old fart 2
your mother smells like an old greasy mokeys asre

That is why Wikipedia does not qualify as any sort of real source. Exactly that.

I have an 8 page paper due tomorrow at noon, but I've yet to start it at all. I almost have no idea what I'm going to write about. I was thinking concerns of authorship in Jonson and Martial, but I don't know where my handout from the Martial lecture at the Roman Studies Conference went. I guess I should just start with a basic intro, then some biographical information on Jonson (which would hopefully explain why he'd be so concerned with authorship and poetry), and then instances of such concerns in his poems, and how that relates back to Martial. It all sounds so easy.

It also doesn't help that at 10:50 pm I decided to take a half hour nap that I didn't wake up from until a little after 2 am. Boo, me.

I always knew this icon would be entirely appropriate at some point. I'm so looking forward to sleeping tomorrow after I study for my Roman history exam.

( Daemon as stolen from Manda and Christa )

Do it, and it will change! How exciting!

I'm in the middle of a paper right now, which if I would just write could be done very shortly, but I'm fucking around. I'm too tired for this right now.

We had a pants-less dinner party tonight, and I loved it!

Mr. Mason informed me of the linguistic conundrum brought to your attention earlier, and I give you these initial findings: You have forgotten the letter G, but retained knowledge of its representative sound. You have forgotten the orthography of the letter F. Further, you have also lost the native-sensibility of pronunciation, giving no notice to the existence of superfluous Es in your surname. Ignoring the possibility of any other, unrecorded incidents of confusion with the modern English alphabet, an 11.53% possibility of error in all things regarding English language literacy. This has occurred within solely the past semester. I prospect you shall become completely illiterate by the end of the next 3-4 years.

I love the people around me. But, to explicate: I once tried to pronounce 'gee-ess-you', our student union, but could not make any sound for gee besides guh; on Kate's birthday cake, I was cursive lettering 'funfetti chasm' but I forgot how to make a lowercase, cursive eff; and finally, my student id has said 'Kirsten L. Crookes' for over a year (I replaced it last spring), and I didn't notice until last week. It is very true that I will eventually become entirely illiterate.