Things to do while bored in your grad school class

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Nora

Fake smile at other students in the class. Whisper their name and when they turn to look at you, have a fake smile ready to go. They are sure to laugh.
Make guesses as to what time you will get out of class this evening. Winner gets a drink bought for them after the final.
Draw on the very 80s, very awkardly posed people in the photos on the pages of your Operations & Project Management book. Things like mustaches, word bubbles, fake smiles and etc will do. Show to the friend who is closest to you. Bonus points if one of the persons in the photos is deemed to be a classmate.
Count the number of times your professor has obvious errors in his powerpoint slides.
Debate throwing the book at the girl behind you. Sure, you may not be paying 100% attention but her unnecessary “Uh-huhs,” “I agree,” “Yes, I noticed that when reading last night,” are seriously annoying.
Marvel at how many times your handwriting can change in one night.
Ask a few questions here and there because you really are listening but seriously, you could read the book on your own.
Check your cell phone for text messages. If you don’t have one, text someone you know will respond.
Conjure up an image of what you are going to be making for dinner when you get home.
Highlight and star all important passages, page numbers and definitions for the copious amount of hours of self-study you have ahead of you before the final.

Glimmers

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Nora

There is a very slight, tiny chance that I may have a date on Friday night. Saturday night out with the girls, our younger friend who is still in college and therefore much better about approaching guys fearlessly and without care, found a group of three guys who wound up hanging out with us for the rest of the night.

Guy #1: Very much looking like a model, tan, dressed well, blue eyes that you could get lost in.

Guy #2: Supposedly has a glass eye, at least according to his friends, and is also apparently in one of those “it’s complicated,” situations and a stellar vocabulary, despite his incessant drinking.

Guy #3: Tall. Green eyes. Stockbroker. Not a great dancer but impressive that he danced with us nonetheless. Potentially shy. And potentially my date on Friday night. No clue how the dialogue between us got started but when it did start it was flirty and he suggested that we go on a few dates. Naturally, still not trusting of all men, I laughed it off and kept on dancing. But he didn’t go away. At one point I turned around when he called my name only to find his face right in front of mine, at which point he kissed me, which was the first of many that evening. (I only saw Guy #3 drink one beer while we were around him, so not sure of his mental/alcohol-influenced state.)

Regardless of the outcome of Guy # 3: date or no date, once again the Dating Gods have reaffirmed my belief in having fun with a guy who will we assume is nice. For a few moments I felt like I was back in college, not really caring whether or not he calls or texts (honest! though he has texted), relishing the moment, enjoying the randomness of it all, the hand-holding through the crowds waiting to get a tequila shot, the casual tap on the knee at Dennys, all of it being oddly intimate yet anonymous at the same time.

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There is another glimmer on the horizon: he doesn’t have a nickname yet, but he’s a friend of a friend. I expressed my interest in getting to know him, she told him and apparently the interest is mutual. He’s younger than me, in the early stages of his graduate school, from a small town and a little bit country but intelligent, liberal and he has four sisters. He’s out of town for break right now but rumor has it that when he gets back we’ll be doing a group outing.

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Do you guys remember Seattle? I met him back in January while in NOLA? Well I’ll be seeing him again in July for the next conference we are both attending and truthfully I’m really looking forward to it. We text and email on a regular basis: we both have our lives in our individual towns but yet we manage to include each other.

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I think I like the glimmers better than the “matter-of-fact,”boys. It’s what makes summertime fun, interesting and most of all, never dull.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/1C0WneFp_aY&hl=en]

Cinco De Mayo (turned Goodbye-o)

Posted on May 4, 2008 by Nora

There are moments when I’m more aware of the fact that I’m an adult than usual: the monthly car payment I receive, having to make those stupid phone calls to straighten out the insurance company, reorganizing my 401(k) and having friends who are not only married… they are moving away.

I first met Sam-Sam my sophomore year in college (six years ago) during our “rush,” for one of the more popular service & social organizations on campus. If you asked me today how or why we bonded, I honestly couldn’t tell you but we started having lunch together a few times a week which quickly translated into girls’ nights out, study breaks in each others’ dorm rooms, and the general sharing of our lives.

She’s been there for me through boyfriends & break-ups, graduations & graduate admissions, all the while being loyal (she’s the one who gives my exes the fun nicknames I still use today…), supportive, up for a party or movie night, not afraid to tell it like it is and so much more.

Tomorrow she moves to North Carolina to join her husband (who is a Marine). For good. We partied yesterday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, our friendship, her future and the ability to have fun. We refused to talk about her leaving, our past as friends, her future to avoid the tears and emotion. I can’t even talk about it now (Sam-Sam reads this blog). So with that, I leave you with a picture and the promise to myself and Sam-Sam that we won’t lose touch and that I’ll visit her sooner than later.

Last Night of Party

Viva Las Vegas

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Nora

The girls I roomed with while in Vegas, dubbed the Fabulous Four for the weekend. The one to my left is the girl who was married in St. Thomas last year and who I’ve known for 17 years!