Crazy Times, Part II

Fall semester: day eighty-five
The last day of the semester
The last day of finals week

First of all, I have no clue who Christopher Hitchens was. I believe he was a guest on Bill Maher from time to time. That's it. I apologize; I don't get out much, and I keep up with political and/or public figures even less. What I know now is that he's dead, and that's about it.

Anyway.

The semester, at least for me, has ended. At 7PM, I took my final exam in my Middle Eastern/Asian Lit course, and finished it around 9. I wrote eight pages, doublespaced, which was longer than the drafts I'd written for my "study guide," of sorts, but I know there were still points I wanted to cover which I was missing or only briefly touching on. Regardless, I still know I did well, and am not concerned with the exam's score as much as some may be. I wasn't quite in fuck it mode, but I will say that I was ready for the semester to be over. It does impress me, however, that I could write eight pages in around two hours. Apparently, folks, I've still got it.

So the semester comes to an end, and I for one am happy about that. As you know, it was long and grueling, plagued by problems, money woes, setbacks of all sorts, and general fatigue/malaise.

For the moment, however, my money woes are at an end. My mother deposited my birthday/Christmas money into my bank account this afternoon (before I even woke up, actually), so now I have enough money to cover the bills and my car insurance over the course of the next week or so. I will be paid a week from today, and once that happens I'll be able to cover everything. The cable bill and the car insurance will be covered before then; either in the morning or on Saturday morning I'll need to go out and get stamps to mail everything off. The rent will have to wait until I get paid again next week. The money couldn't have come at a better time, to be honest, and I am eternally grateful to my parents for their generosity when I needed it the most. I'll be poor for the first week of January or so until I get paid again and my student loan drops, but I'll live, I'll deal with it. Neither I nor the cats will starve or be without heat/lights, and that's what's important.

So now starts the winter break, which should be filled with work around the house as well as on my personal projects, with a hefty helping of catching up on movies and TV shows I've collected on DVD over the course of the past several months as well. Tonight, for example, I watched Bridesmaids. It's one of the best movies I've seen this year. No, seriously, it is. I know I'll probably get some shit from some of you for saying that, but it's true. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a genuinely funny, supremely enjoyable movie. In the morning/afternoon/whenever, I plan to watch The Green Hornet, which I've heard mixed reviews about. I have a ton of movies stockpiled that I haven't seen yet: Toy Story 3, The Wrestler, The Departed, Zodiac, and a slew of DC Animated movies like Batman: Under the Red Hood and Justice League: The New Frontier.

And, of course, I have the Arrested Development box set that Andrea got me.

Yes, I'm going to enjoy my leisure time over the winter break. Perhaps it won't be as lonely and quiet as I thought it might have been.

Starting in the morning, everyone who hadn't previously left town will begin their departures to their home cities/states over the next few days. I left everything I possibly could in my office over the break; no reason to carry a bunch of stuff home needlessly when I'll just be bringing it back in a month. If I desperately need something I left there, after all, I can go back and get it at pretty much any time except when the building's closed during the week of Christmas/New Year's. And, as predicted, everything's falling into place with the car; I have another 350 miles or so before it needs an oil change (not that it really needs one, as I've put no less than three quarts of fresh oil in it since September) and I can drive at least another 50-60 miles in it before it needs gas again. This is good; it means I more than likely won't have to get gas again until well after the first of the year, depending on where I go. I plan to garage the car once I make a few more short trips for errands around town, and keep it in there for the majority of the winter break.

The cats are happy to see I'm home, at least; Sadie slept for a full two hours tonight on my lap without moving once. Suri got them a cat toy for Christmas, which is a hollow fish with one of those bell-holding balls inside it that rolls back and forth. Maggie is scared of it, Sadie is perplexed by it, and Pete pays no attention to it whatsoever, even when I make the bell jingle. Oh well. Maybe they'll warm up to it, or at least play with it somewhat over the course of the break.

Suri has a gift for me, too, but it's still being shipped here in the mail, slowly. She said she'll have to give it to me in January. Meanwhile, I gave her three different small gifts tonight. Suri's the only person I've exchanged gifts with this holiday season. No, wait, that's not true -- I gave Rae and Jay some DVDs. But that's it. I've not really been in the gift-giving or gift-receiving spirit this year, as you know. The fact that Suri got me anything at all was really surprising, let alone getting something for the cats, too. I found that incredibly thoughtful of her. She is a very good friend, and I don't have nearly enough of those anymore.

It's going to be strange not seeing anyone for the next month, that's for sure. The end of fall semester is a weird time, a time of relative limbo where some people disappear for a month, others become hermits, and still others march onward as if school is still in session, barely leaving their offices. I know that for the next few days, I'm going to be doing little more than waiting to get paid and recharging my batteries through copious amounts of sleep and relaxation.