12/9/99

I feel like the laziest person on earth. I actually finished writing my exams midday yesterday. Of course, because they're essay questions, you can never really be "finished"--there's always tweaking to be done. So, I was finished with the writing, but I figured I'd probably go back and refine some of the language later.

But first, I had some errands to do, so I headed downtown. There were a few things I needed, and it only took me 20 minutes or so to find them, so I figured that since I was downtown anyway, I might as well do some other shopping. At first, I had it in my head that I was going to do Christmas shopping (which I haven't started yet). But then I realized that I had no idea what anybody wanted (I hate shopping, so I'm not one of those people who just looks around for presents. I always come up with an idea ahead of time and then seek that item out.) So, I figured I'd stop in at Urban Outfitters and buy myself a present for working so hard on my finals. I wound up buying a cheap pair of earrings (until yesterday, I only had 3 pairs of earrings! Diamond studs, which I rarely wear because I'm terrified of losing one, pearl studs, which I never wear, and a pair of $5 fake-silver hoops which I wear every day). And, I also indulged in a completely impractical impulse buy: I bought one of those backless sweaters.

You may have seen them: it looks like a normal sweater in the front, but in the back, it just has a few little straps holding it in place, like an apron. I rarely buy such trendy things (a year from now, I'm sure it will be totally embarrassing), but I really liked it and it fit well, so I decided to indulge.

Then I got home. I thought about reading through my exams again, but I was really tired, so I decided to take a nap, instead. I slept until 6 or so, and then I got dressed and headed over to this party one of my professors threw for us to celebrate the end of the quarter.

He lives in a gorgeous house at the top of a really big hill. I ran into two of my classmates along the way, and we were all wheezing by the time we got to the door.

The party was fun, if a bit subdued--most of my other classmates still had a lot of work left to do on their exams, and were thus not up for much wild partying. But I brought my digital camera and took lots of pictures. I also wore my new backless sweater (with a tank top underneath...it was a bit cold to go truly backless). Several of my classmates seemed to be fascinated by the backless sweater concept...especially the guys, one of whom asked me if I was sure that I didn't have it on backwards (I can kind of see why he thought that...it sort of looks like a backwards cardigan without the buttons). Another male classmate pronounced it "sexy," but I'm pretty sure he was kidding.

The party ended early, at 9 p.m., and I headed home while everyone else trudged off to the library. Again, I felt that I should recheck my exams, but instead I made a webpage with pictures of my classmates taken at the party as well as some taken the week before at this pizza place where we all go to drink beer every Thursday night. And then I went to bed.

So, I slacked off a bit yesterday, but today was going to be different. I was going to recheck my exams and pass them in, head over to the lab, work there for a while, maybe go to the gym, clean my apartment, answer all that e-mail in my inbox, you know...

And, as you may have guessed, it didn't exactly happen that way. I woke up early, ate breakfast, took a shower. I was off to a good start. But then I sat down in front of the computer, made a couple of posts to diary-L, watched TV, checked webpages. I was having a hard time getting out the door. After all, I didn't really need to go in today. I'd told everyone I wouldn't be back working until tomorrow. And it was raining! (Here in SF, rain is basically the most severe weather we ever get, so it's actually considered a semi-legitimate excuse for not doing stuff).

I had journal club at noon, so I revised my plans: I would spend the rest of the morning revising my exam and filling out my course evaluations, then I would hand the exams in before journal club. Afterwards, I would go to the lab and spend the rest of the afternoon there.

I actually did follow that plan up to a point. I filled out my course evaluation, and I looked over my exams again, although I didn't actually change anything. I got dressed, handed in my exams and went to journal club. Hardly anybody was there--most people were still finishing working on their exams.

After journal club, I'd planned to go straight to the lab, but I decided to stop in at home on the way and check my e-mail. This somehow evolved into spending two hours online and then taking a nap. I suck.

I went to another talk this evening, and then I was done for the day with my school obligations. I suppose I could go into the lab now, but I can't do any of the mouse stuff because the lights are out in the mouse room, and I don't really feel like doing any of the other stuff. Plus, I'm going out tonight...all of our exams were due today, so everyone's going to be out celebrating.

But tomorrow, everything is going back to normal! I'm getting up early, going to the lab, working all day, going to the gym. Really. I mean it.