I'm attracted to Tom Felton with blood on his face

You read that right. 

But SERIOUSLY.  How is this NOT the greatest thing you've ever seen?  Also, it's a little hot.  And by a little, I mean a lot.

Don't judge me.

September (so far) in pictures

I'm in love with leg warmers.  I have a charcoal pair and an ivory pair. So far...

My Metro Transit pass holder. Now that I have unlimited rides on the Twin Cities' light rail/bus system (a card like this is $150/semester at Augsburg), I take public transportation evvvverrrywhuuurr.  I didn't have to pay for a parking permit at Augsburg, and I rarely have to buy gas (it takes about $45 to fill up my tank).  I've gotten in shape from all the walking, too.  Win-win, yo.  From Made of Aloha, on Etsy.

I rocked this sweet Vulpix temporary tattoo the other day.  Have I told you my plan? If I get into grad school, I'm buying myself a tattoo. Probably of a Deku Scrub. Bomb-diggity.

Duh, Per is still adorable.

I went downtown to tell my friend (Phil Kollar, in da house) "happy birthday," and stopped by a small flower shop, Urban Garden, on the way back to the light rail.  Who woulda thunk that the owner is an Augsburg weekend college grad?  Small world.

My sister, Cherish, and I went out to Little T's for a late dinner (vegetarian tacos not pictured, as they were in my belly).

Little T's sets out crayons on each table so people can color on the huge white paper tablecloths they use.  I drew me and my seeeeeeester.

My grandma.

My sister called me just as HIS 323 was starting Wednesday night, to tell me my grandma, who'd been in a nursing home for several months had died a few hours earlier.  I sat through class anyway, figuring it'd at least keep my mind off things.  

THEN, on Thursday, my mom emailed me to tell me my step-dad was in the hospital (with his billionth kidney stone).  He's fine now, but it was just one more thing on a long list of stressful things to happen last week.

Kristen, my friend (and faculty adviser), took me out to lunch at St. Martin's Table to cheer me up.  She's the best. 

Other than what's pictured here, most of my September's been spent working on the massive amounts of homework I already have.  I somehow have to find time to apply for grad school, the Critical Language Scholarship, and this year's Central States Communication Association conference.  Yiiiikkkessssss.

COM 352 - Looking for sex in all the wrong places

This is a bit late, but enjoy the quotes I furtively recorded during last semester's COM 352 (Persuasion) class:

• "Part of my job is to grow people." -Professor (whose name I'm omitting to spare him the shame of some of these quotes).
• "Who's that handsome man at the front of the room?" -Student
• "This woman was so darn friendly - she just kept touching us." -Professor
• "Men are impulsive.  Liz knows." -Student    "WHAT?" -Other student
• "Our competitors are testing red slimy pops." -Stupid guy in supermarket video
• "Some people even used the word 'horny.'" -Professor
• "Since you're the birthday girl, we'll let you look at the orgy first." -Professor
• "My lapel says, 'Jump off the Lake Street Bridge!'" -Professor
• "You've got a pickle thing going on there...I'll let you be." -Professor
• "We'll be studying Josh's body language." -Professor
• "Love that word - 'arouse.'" -Professor
• "There's just songs in my heart today...trying to get them out.  Maybe there's a drug I can take." -Professor
• "Heaven forbid we be dependent on anything, like those A-rabs." -Professor
• What's Marxism? -Student
• "That's an excellent choice of food." -Student
• "Waitron." -Professor
• "If you don't show up to class on Wednesday, you'll contract AIDS and die." -Professor
• "I want POWER!" -Professor
• "We need to have our egos stroked." -Professor
• "We all need someone to love.  The Snuggle Bear, Ronald McDonald..." -Professor
• "Sex doesn't always sell.  It depends on how you do it." -Professor
• "I hope I get a lingering illness." -Professor
• "No one looks at that and says, 'Oh jeez, I can have sex with all those girls?'" -Professor
• "Do I need help?" -Student    "You need many help." -Other student
• "We need to be independent of those A-rabs." -Professor
• "It's death day here.  I'm having a theme." -Professor
• "I love windpants! Swish swish swish..." -Student
• "Who just got airbagged?" -Professor
• "You can drive to Japan and back." -Professor   "Nooooo..." -Student
• "Groups can make riskier decisions than individuals." -Professor   "So individuals don't feel responsible for their decisions when they're in a group?" -Student    "So we should just have dictators?" -Other student    "That's the lesson learned from [Professor]." -Other student
• "I was going to say 'erect,' but that's the wrong word." -Professor
• "I want my ear pierced.  I want my...something else pierced." -Professor
• "None of you have kids, right?" -Professor   "Not that I know of." -Student
• "It brought out the best of us, and blah blah blah." -Professor
• "What would I do without you? I'd manage." -Professor, to a student
• "There was a crusty old guy sitting across the way." -Professor
• "I think I'm having a stroke." -Professor
• "Give her an Amish smock or something." -Professor
• "You should sit around and contemplate your navel sometimes." -Professor
• "Climax sounds good for reasons...well...let's not go there." -Professor
• "Auggies are...anorexic." -Professor, on Augsburg's marketing campaign
• "What you hope to get is penetration...[giggle]." -Professor
• "In the penetration stage...what happens in the penetration stage?" -Professor
• "How would you measure happiness?" -Professor    "Smiles-per-hour." -Student
• "Throw some puppies at 'em." -Student
• "Get outta my head, Garth!" -Professor
• "I don't want you to be premature." -Professor
• "I just got the sudden urge to take off my shirt." -Student
• "Seattle? Oregon's a pretty progressive state!" -Student   "Except Seattle's in Washington." -Other student
• "Look at your 'p' and you'll be fine." -Professor
• "I do all kinds of inappropriate things all the time." -Professor
• "I tried waffling, but I didn't enjoy it." -Professor
• "You can check him out, too, if you want." -Professor, about an adjunct applicant
• "What I was a wee lad..." -Professor
• "If I had a screwdriver, I could build you a beautiful cabinet, or I could gouge your eyes out." -Professor
• "When you get old, you put your feet up and reminisce about the past...'I'm ready to go now.'" -Professor
• "It's really hard to rip off an ATM nowadays." -Student
• "Maybe you could play strip ethics." -Professor
• "If you get rid of that stutter and get a little plastic surgery..." -Professor
• "Let Kristen use her PowerPoints...Just wait a minute, I have to go out and feed my horse." -Professor
• "I've been talking to myself a lot lately." -Professor
• "I was a little more interested in [this girl] because we shared the same birthday." -Student
• "Low-balling...that sounds awful." -Professor
• "I have my first roadside sobriety test this summer...more on that later." -Professor
• "All Jews should know this." -Professor
• "WhatEVER." -Professor, with serious attitude
• "We gotta find a way to make this guy's ball part of our marketing strategy." -Professor
• "Adopt the ball." -Marketing video
• "Laundry detergent is pretty much laundry detergent." -Professor    "Wellll..." -Student
• "HUGO! Hehehe." -Professor
• "Heather, you're looking for sex in all the wrong places." -Professor
• "I'm not here to offend you." -Professor

10 things I've learned over the summer

• It's fun to talk about sexuality and porn.
• Braces can do impressive things.
• I'm terrible at math (wait, I already knew that).
• The word "rhubarb" is hard for Japanese to say.
• I miss Uptown.
• The world is full of extremely generous and selfless people.
• I love fashion.
• Fruits Basket is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
• Onigiri is awesomely convenient and filling.
• I'm very, very lucky.

Truth.

New purchase: Coyote fur mittens

I bought these mittens from a Minnesota trapper who makes his own fur mittens (and other accessories, like handbags and iPod/cellphone holders).  He's got a shop on Etsy, and what, with his great story (he's really in-tune with nature, and is concerned with helping the animal populations in his area stay healthy), and great prices (not to mention, fur mittens are much more affordable than fur coats, which often cost several thousand dollars), what's not to love?

Note: I do not endorse inhumanely hunting for sport, and neither does the trapper I bought my mittens from.  Just as I'm not against eating meat (though I choose to eat vegetarian meals most of the time), I'm also not against the use of fur or leather in clothing, etc.  My family has always eaten meat and worn fur and leather, and yet respect nature absolutely.  I'm a bit more liberal than my parents on these issues (that is, my parents hunt and eat a lot of meat, whereas I do not hunt, and I encourage people to reduce their meat intake), but I believe one can be a meat-eater and a fur/leather-wearer and still be an environmentalist and an advocate for animal rights. The two positions are not mutually exclusive.  

Aren't they beautiful?  I can't wait.  My hands are going to be sooo waarrm this winter!