let's stumble towards success and pack some snacks for little breaks

I walked to the Penngrove Motorcycle Company today to pick up the gloves I'd ordered (isn't it awesome that there's a motorcycle accessories store a mile away from my house?). On the way, I passed a herd of nanny goats in a field by the road. When they heard me coming, their ears pricked up. A couple of them started to walk toward me, and soon all ~20 of them were trotting next to me on the other side of the fence, as if I'd told them to heel. When I came back home, the exact same thing happened.

On the one hand, they obviously expected something from me, presumably food. I feel a little rotten for leading them on, so to speak. I'm still working out my views on animal ownership, and the incident made me a bit uncomfortable.

On the other hand, I feel sorta badass. I have a gang of goat minions at my command. What do you have, huh?

Apparently, I left the following items at my dad's house in California:

1. A stapler.
2. A bag of taffy.
3. My camera battery charger.
4. Several uncracked nuts, on the printer.

I still have a throat so sore I can barely talk and my nose is running like a faucet, but staying home from school and work for a third day was not an option, so here I am at Penn Valley.

On the plus side, I did get quite a bit done this weekend, and so my to-do list for the week (which had me cringing yesterday) looks a bit more manageable. And my camera works, which makes up for quite a bit of shittiness.

Off to history class I go.

The Savage Love podcast makes me happy.

Also, for the yarn-inclined among you, a knitter who will make you swoon from the pure testosterone.

By the way, has everyone noticed my new default icon? *points*

Me: *wearing the sparkly purple hat Mom knitted for me*
Dude who works the Atrium: Soy latte, right? Nice hat.
Sawnia: I like your hat.
Maureen: Great hat!
Karen: I love that hat.
Tutee: Is that your hat over there? I like it.

Sharai: I have nacho pasta and no fork, but I don't want to-
The dude who has a cat: *walks into the Spectrum newsroom*
Me: O.o
Sharai: o.O
Cat dude: *uses stapler, wanders back out*
Me: Um, do you...?
Cat dude: *is gone*
Sharai: ...?
Me: Was he... do you... did he...
Sharai: Nope. I've never seen him in here before.
Me: ...okay then.

Political science teacher: Y'all know about this habeus corpus thing?
Entire class except me and Sharai: ...Habeus what now?
Me: *explains*
Entire class except me and Sharai: Hey! They can't do that!
Teacher: They already did. You people need to be more informed.

Me: Hi, I'd like-
Taco Bell dude: Two seven-layers, no sour cream or cheese.
Me: Uh, yeah. So do I get a frequent customer discount?
Taco Bell dude: You like cinnamon twists?
Me: Sure.
Taco Bell dude (to other Taco Bell dude): Hey, give her some twists.
Other Taco Bell dude: Okay, boss.
Me: Muahahaha.

Sifu: Okay, everyone, defang the snake, two knives. Angle one! Angle three! Christa, pass, don't brush! Angle two! Good, Julia. Angle five! Angle three! Good, Julia, good!
...
Sifu: Hey, little tip for you all, it'll make things easier- odd numbers scissor in, even numbers scissor out. Remember that.
Me: *grinning madly because I'd figured that out when we first learned the moves*
...
Sifu: All right, Julia, your turn. Stay close to the ground, don't raise up, keep those knees bent... good job. Perfect.

Me: *on phone* Hey Sharai, are you and Josie still at Penn Valley?
Sharai: Yeah.
Me: I am way too tired to take the bus. Is Josie giving you a lift home?
Sharai: Dunno, but I ain't taking the bus.
Me: Could he give me-
Sharai: He says yeah.

Overall, it was an excellent day.

EDIT: Washington (AP) - Using grammar rules alongside test tubes, biologists may have found a promising new way to fight nasty bacteria, including drug-resistant microbes and anthrax. That is SO FREAKING COOL.

EDIT LE DEUXIÉME: Oh, and I did manage to finish a crossword puzzle today, too. These things are seriously addictive.

The first was a tube of toothpaste at the bus stop. It was almost full. I opened it and sniffed- it was definitely toothpaste. If I wasn't still more than 3,000 words behind on sweaty_nano, I would consider writing a story about why it was there.

The second was a dying firefly I found on the sidewalk on 59th. Its light was flickering on and off. I picked it up and took it home, and the light became bright and steady while it was in my hand. After I showed it to Bill and Clayton, I put it outside in one of the flowerpots, and the light immediately dimmed again.

( The rest of my day, which was slightly more boring. )

Now I'm off to watch the second disc of "Veronica Mars" with my little brother. Fun fact: did you know that PETA voted Kristin Bell and Prince the "world's sexiest vegetarians"?

A political spam message just addressed me as "personal friend #160."

I'm honored.

I don't understand myself.

I spent about fifteen minutes making that. Why? Let me know if you figure it out, because I have no idea.

Orange is in fact just as Irish as green is. Green represents the Catholic Irish, while orange is the Protestant Irish. I am definitely wearing orange next St. Patty's Day.

Yesterday:
-"Good Night and Good Luck" at church. It was... wow. I need to watch it about four more times in a row, and then reread "Inherit the Wind."
-Baskin Robbins and random Brookside stores with slightly_wrong.
-NaNoWriMo followup group at the Roasterie with kat_nano. I really need to set aside more time to write.
-"Pirates of the Caribbean" for the umpteen-hundredth time. It never, ever gets old.
-French homework, which I hadn't done at all over spring break. It wasn't hard to catch up, though- there wasn't really anything new in this chapter except some past tense stuff that I'd mostly figured out for myself.

Today:
-Jogging in the rain to the Chihuahua Song at 8 AM. That made me very happy.
-Spring break is officially over.
-Karen's appointed an interim writing center supervisor until they can hire a real one. This means I should probably start doing more working on handouts and reading the Writing Center Journal and less catching up on Achewood archives during work hours.
-Spectrum Joe cut his hair. He was a lot prettier with the long hair.
-Jefferson College kept cutting out during French, so Ms. Brandt pushed the quiz back to Friday, to give them enough class time to prepare. Yay.
-I saw the funniest, most horrible video EVER, and now I can't find it again. Some guy making fun of Cheney for hunting quail that were bred to be shot, and going to try it for himself. It had the quote, "It's like an Easter egg hunt. Of death." Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Ergh, my brain is trying to switch to French mode. I've almost started talking to my family in French twice today, and I keep muttering things in French under my breath without even realizing it.

EDIT: Oh, and the Best Grudging Compliment By A Slightly Homophobic Person award goes to Stephen, who admitted today that Kyle is, "um, symmetrical."