A wonderful weekend

Hi, readers. I meant to post a short entry on Friday saying that I’d be busy over the weekend and wouldn’t be able to write, but Friday was pretty busy, too. So, here I am now to tell you about the weekend.

I know I promised to write about other things besides daily occurrences, but I simply must talk about this weekend. It was perfect and there is a lot to tell.

So on Friday afternoon around 4:45 Eddie got here. I picked him up at the station and we checked into our hotel room. There he opened his Valentine’s Day gift (2 Hollister shirts and a bottle of cologne) and then we freshened up and went to visit Kaylee (my roommate) at my dorm. Eddie and Kaylee had never met, so we hung out in my dorm for a little while, then headed out to dinner. We went to a great burger place on Penn Ave. called Burger Tap and Shake (BTS) which features amazing burgers and delicious milkshakes in all different flavors. I got a basic burger and a cookies and cream milkshake, while Ed got some fancy burger with toppings and a BTS shake (complete with Twix and other crunchy chocolate candy in the mix). After dinner we picked up some snacks at CVS and chilled in the room for a while. We went out again later and walked to the Lincoln Memorial for a late night visit. After taking in the view for a little while, we returned to our room, got sufficiently drunk, and passed out. It was a successful first night, if you ask me.

Saturday was absolutely perfect. We dragged our asses out of bed in the late morning, showered, and grabbed breakfast at none other than Carvings, the go-to deli in my dorm building. After breakfast we went back to the room for a quick nap (of course), then headed out for an absolutely gorgeous day in the city. The weather could not have been more perfect–it actually felt like summer. The sun was shining, it was warm as could be–we actually felt ourselves getting too warm! We ventured down Penn to the Capitol building, stopping for sightseeing throughout, then took the Metro over to the Jefferson Memorial. The sun beat down on us as we dangled our feet over the Potomac River and watched the ducks swim happily below us. All the walking was worth it for such a beautiful view, even more beautiful weather, and lots of laughs along the way.

We left Jefferson after a little while and went back to the hotel room, where we changed and got ready for dinner. We then walked half way and bussed halfway to Georgetown, where we eventually got a table at Clyde’s, an awesome American cuisine restaurant. We started out with a plate of warm pita and delicious hummus, and then Ed got a burger and I got a pastrami sandwich on marble pumpernickel bread with fries. The meal was delicious, but the night was far from over! After Clyde’s I really wanted to take Eddie to one of Georgetown’s famous cupcake places, but all of them closed at 9, so we were a tad out of luck. We found ourselves puffing away mango-flavored clouds of smoke in a hookah bar a few blocks from the restaurant, where we listened to loud techno and rap music and got very lightheaded. After about an hour we went back to the hotel room, drank a bit more, and drifted off blissfully to sleep.

And then came Sunday. Again we got up in the late morning and had a yummy brunch at Tonic, a great restaurant right around the corner that specializes in tater tots. We both got an amazing plate of french toast, doused in sweet maple butter and thick syrup, and of course a side of tots. We took a walk over to Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee after breakfast (Eddie was in desperate need of his Dunkin’, a daily beverage for him at home), and then went back to the room to gather our things and relax for our last few hours together. Around 3 we left for the train station, where Eddie’s bus was to take him back home at 4. We made it there early with plenty of time to sit outside the station and enjoy another day of sunshine–but before we knew we were hugging and kissing goodbye.

Saying goodbye to Eddie is always tough. This time I managed not to cry, considering I’ll be back home for Spring break in less than two weeks (10 days to be exact), but it’s always bittersweet. There’s something about seeing someone you love turn away and get on a bus that hits the heart harder than you’d expect. I kept my cool though, knowing that I’d be back home to see him (as well as my mommy, my kitty, and everything else that makes home special) in no time. I took the Metro back to Foggy Bottom (GWU’s city campus) and enjoyed the remainder of the warm, sunny weather on a bench in Kogan, then returned to reality–hitting the books in my dorm. With midterms coming up (and a research paper in the works), I’ve been studying a lot lately.

Alright, back to the grind. I’m glad I found time to write this post. This weekend was so incredibly special and I really wanted to share it with you. I also wanted to write it all down so I’d be able to remember it better in the future. I’ll write again tomorrow (hopefully) on a new, interesting topic. Something I’ve never written about before maybe. Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned.

-Joslyn

Pebeau

I have been so forgetful lately, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

Yes, I forgot to write again yesterday, and to the loyal readers I do sincerely apologize. However, yesterday I did come to a realization: I need to stop talking about my day so much. I mean, writing about my day is okay, but it gets repetitive quickly. And yes, there are more eventful days that are worth talking about, but I have so much to say and I’m barely saying any of it. I consulted my friend Caroline, who has read (and been a part of) my writing for years, about what I should write about. She and I came up with a lot of really great ideas, so I’m going to tackle one of them today, and in later posts tackle the other ideas–which will hopefully give way to even more ideas. It’s an idea party.

Alright, so today I’m going to write about my cat. I know, it’s a pretty basic, not very intellectually stimulating topic, but there is so much I can say about my little baby. So that’s where I’m going to start.

My sister, Robyn, used to foster kittens and cats for the ASPCA, a national animal rescue group with shelters all over the country–she volunteered for the shelter in midtown Manhattan. Every few weeks Robyn would bring home anywhere one or more newborn or young kittens and occasionally adult cats. She would have them at her house for several weeks at a time, would section off certain areas of her apartment for their eating, playing, sleeping, and pooping needs. Sometimes the kittens and cats were sick and needed to be nursed back to health, while other times the newborn kittens needed to be socialized to prepare them for adoption. Robyn had tons of kittens and cats in her home over the couple years that she fostered, but one particular kitten that she fostered captured my heart and became the center of my world.

No, literally.

So one day a couple of years ago, my sister responded to an email from the shelter regarding an 8-month old kitten named Bonnie, a special kitten with special needs. Bonnie had been brought to the shelter with multiple unexplained injuries–two broken front paws and injuries to her jaw and hip. Nobody knew where or how she had gotten so hurt, but the shelter assumed that she was most likely feral. Robyn immediately jumped at the chance to foster little Bonnie, and the next day went into the city to pick her up. Bonnie was a skinny, sad little thing. She had brightly-colored casts on her front paws that had to be attended to daily and changed weekly. The casts made her trot around awkwardly like a pony–which only made her more adorable than she already was. Her dark, uniquely patterned fur and round, vibrant green eyes made her a truly beautiful cat. I personally find any cat to be beautiful, but Bonnie in particular was a real one-of-a-kind creature.

In the few weeks that Robyn fostered Bonnie, Robyn would bring Bonnie to my house or I would go to her apartment to visit. Bonnie and I had an instant connection. Pitying her broken paws, I coddled her and loved her up endlessly. Her super sweet temperament and affection made me love her even more. I was desperately in need of a new little friend as I dealt with my father’s sudden lung cancer diagnosis, and after a few visits with Bonnie, I knew she was perfect for me. We already had a cat in the house, my mom’s cat Princess, but I convinced my mom that we should adopt Bonnie–simply because I would not even think of letting anyone adopt her but me.

And sure enough, just a week or two later, my mom and I were at the ASPCA in the city filling out the forms to adopt Bonnie. Over the few weeks that I had gotten to know Bonnie, I began to call her Princess Bonnie, Dabonnie, and other cute little nicknames. I then thought that Pebo (a combination of Princess and Bonnie) would be a great name for me. I changed the spelling from ‘Pebo’ to ‘Pebeau’, and that was the name that ended up on her adoption form. Little Pebeau was officially mine. Oh, and since then she has earned a variety of other names–Peebs, Peebis, Peebles, Little P, Baby P, Crazy, etc.

Okay, so I’m not gonna lie. The first few months after we adopted Pebeau were very rough. Pebeau got her casts off, realized she could run wild and jump on everything and be nuts, and promptly did so. She quickly became fond of scratching every possible surface–and absolutely LOVED crawling under my bed in the middle of the night and viciously scratching the underside of my mattress. The sound was absolutely unbearable, and she would not stop unless she got a treat–or I would physically pry her out from underneath my bed and toss her out of my room. That didn’t stop her from squeezing her nimble little paws under my door and scratching, though. Oh, no. It did not.

As patient as I tried to be with Pebeau, I found myself in tears at 3 am trying to get this silly little cat to quit scratching and go to sleep. I got to the point that I wanted to give her up for adoption. As much as I loved Pebeau and wanted to keep her, I felt overwhelmed and had tried just about everything to get her to stop. Robyn helped me line the bottom of my bed with cardboard so Pebeau couldn’t get underneath. When Pebeau tore through the first cardboard wall, we reassembled it and put plastic covers on her nails. When nothing worked, I gave Pebeau to my sister temporarily to care for her until I could come to a decision.

After about a month of basically good behavior at Robyn’s apartment, we brought Pebeau back to my house to try again. She continued to scratch here and there, but not nearly as much as she had before. I partially understood why she scratched as much as she did–she was still a crazy little kitten with a lot of energy and new use of her front paws, and she was just having fun. She didn’t scratch during the night intentionally to upset me, I knew that. I decided to try a new method: I allowed her to crawl under my bed and scratch for as long as she wanted without reacting to her, and found that after a few minutes she stopped on her own. She seemed to scratch to get a response from me, whether it was a treat or just a little attention, but I knew it wasn’t mean-spirited. Pebeau was a sweet, friendly cat and didn’t do things spitefully, I knew that for sure. So each time she would scratch I would just ignore her and with time she finally stopped scratching.

She still does scratch occasionally, but it’s really a non-issue now. I love her too much to care about a shredded mattress or a little noise at night. She’s my baby, and babies do dumb stuff. It’s all good.

So, anyway, fast forward a couple years to the present. Pebeau is my whole entire life. I really do consider her my child. I know every pet owner is obsessed with their pet and thinks that their pet is the most superior animal on the planet–and yes, I am one of those people. Pebeau and I have such an incredible bond. We have our rituals and routines that only reinforce how well-behaved and affectionate she is. When I come home on breaks from college, she sleeps by my legs every night and wakes me up by sitting on my back or chest every morning. She licks my hands and face in the evenings when we’re in bed cuddling. She walks up to the side of my bed in front of my nightstand and makes tiny little squeaking sounds to indicate that she wants kibbles (that I keep in one of my nightstand drawers).

“Hi Pebeau!” I say.

“Mrow!” she replies.

“What’s up?” I ask her.

“Mrow-ow!” she replies.

“You want kibbles?” I ask her.

“Mrow!” She replies eagerly.

And kibbles she receives.

I know this really isn’t “conversation”, but rather a psychological process of her understanding certain verbal and physical cues–but I like to think it’s conversation. She always loves to play, and has one favorite toy that she drags around the house and drops at the feet of anyone who will play with her. It’s a fishing rod toy with a little green mouse tied to the end of the string. Basically, you swing the rod around and she’ll run and jump trying to catch the little mouse in her teeth or paws. She gets hours (literally HOURS) of enjoyment out go the game, and she can jump impressively high, so the activity is just as fun for me as it is for her.

When I’m at school I miss Pebeau terribly, and my mom sends me pictures of her sleeping or playing almost daily. Sometimes I’ll FaceTime with my mom and she’ll find Pebeau so I can see her. Seeing that adorable little face with those bright green eyes nearly brings me to tears every time, and reuniting with her is one of my favorite things about going home. So yeah, it’s safe to say that I love my cat more than life itself.

Alright, I think I’ve said about enough about Pebeau. I’ve been wanting to tell her story for a long time, and now I finally have! If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting Little P, you realized immediately how special she really is. Whenever I have friends over, they absolutely fall in love with Pebeau. Even those of my friends that are “dog people” say that they love her. My one friend even asserted that Pebeau was the only cat she’d ever met that she liked. Now, I don’t know what sorts of cats she’s met and if they were particularly unpleasant, but that’s a pretty big honor to bestow on my little girl.

Pebeau is warm, playful, loyal–everything you could ask for in a pet. She’s in tune with my emotions and, in her own way, knows how to comfort me when I’m sad. I really feel blessed to have such an amazing little animal to call my own, and hopefully sometime soon I’ll be able to bring her to DC to live with me! I simply cannot be away from her all the time like I am now.

Okay, NOW I’m done. Two paragraphs ago I said I had written enough, but clearly I could write an entire novel about this cat. I hope you guys liked this post, and I look forward to writing more freely about other topics.

Oh, on a separate note (if you were wondering), I had a good day–but we won’t get into that. 🙂

Thanks for reading, guys. Stay tuned.

-Joslyn

P.S. Here’s a photo of my little baby. Isn’t she the cutest?!

Slipped my mind

Hey, readers. I’m sorry about not posting yesterday like I said I would. Honestly it just slipped my mind. Here I am now though!

Today was a really good day. First off, it was sunny! And warm! The fact that I could actually go out without a jacket on had to be the best part of my day. I forgot what it felt like to have the sun beat down on my back. I forgot what a blue sky looked like. The weather really impacts my mood, I’ve come to find. 

Other than the weather though, it was still a good day. I got my three classes over with by 2 p.m. so I had the rest of the afternoon and evening to chill and do work. My classes were alright. We watched a movie on child language development in Anthropology, did some grammar stuff as always in Italian, and started a new chapter in Psychology. Psychology was a bit annoying though, because Rose and I were ready to hand in our 8-page paper that was originally due today, but the professor randomly decided to move the due date back to March 6th. I mean, it’s good that we got it done and don’t have to worry about it–and we gave her our paper to look at so she can give us feedback–but it was just annoying that we took the time to do an assignment, and then the teacher spontaneously decides it’s due on another day. Like okay.

My afternoon after class was relaxing. I took a couple little naps (although I’m not really sure why I was tired enough to take a nap, considering I went to bed early last night and slept through the whole night for once), and watched Arrested Development on Netflix. I’m switching between AR and House of Cards. They’re both too good to only watch one. I normally like to only watch one show at a time, but for these shows I make an exception.

I do have some Anthropology reading to do, and upon just looking at my UW syllabus, I also have three chapters from our textbook to read–by tomorrow. So that’s fun. Sorry this post isn’t as lengthy as I promised the other day, but I at least remembered to write today–which sounds pretty pathetic now that I’ve written it out.

On a side note, Eddie will be here in 3 days! I’m SO excited. Alright, that’s all. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned!

-Joslyn

Short and sweet

Hey, y’all!

I’m not feeling like writing a super long post tonight, but I don’t want to neglect my blog another day, so here’s a quick rundown of my day today. I woke up pretty late as usual and had some fresh fruit for “breakfast” (if breakfast normally happens at 1:30 pm), along with a couple episodes of House of Cards (which, yes, I’m now hooked on). At 3 I went over to the library to meet up with Rose, my friend who I’m working with on a Psychology assignment, and came back to my room around 5. As usual, I grabbed a sandwich at Carvings and wrote a yearbook story while–of course–intermittently watching House of Cards.  Now I’m finishing up my yearbook story and figuring out what I’m going to do tomorrow. I don’t have class tomorrow because of President’s Day, but I don’t think I can stand another day of doing absolutely nothing. It’s still a bit too cold to walk anywhere far away, but I just can’t handle the confinement of my dorm room much longer. Sure, my bed is cozy and Netflix is always there, but I NEED TO BREATHE.

Eddie’s coming on Friday, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, and I cannot wait. I’ve got everything all ready, hotel reservation confirmed, gifts wrapped, and now he’s just got to get here! Knowing that I’ll have the weekend with him will power me through this coming week, which is sure to be jam-packed with work. Except for a few final revisions, I’m done with my UW paper, but I know that I’ll be drowning in Anthropology reading this week as always, and God knows what else from Italian and Psych. So, I suppose I should try to enjoy my last day of freedom tomorrow. Hmph.

Alright, guys, I said I’d keep this short–but apparently “short” doesn’t really work for me. Never has. That’s all for now though. I promise a lengthier post tomorrow. I feel like I need to talk about my past and stuff more, not just what I do each day, so I’ll work on that. Maybe I’ll share stories from my childhood, or more facts about me. I could also talk about my music taste or some of my other interests. If you have any requests for what I could/should talk about, please don’t be shy to leave a comment, even if you want to remain anonymous. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned!

-Joslyn

A day late

Hey, guys 🙂

Sorry for not posting yesterday. Despite the fact that yesterday was Valentine’s Day (everyone’s favorite holiday, of course), I really didn’t have much to say. Just another day in February if you ask me, except everyone’s a tad more obnoxious than usual. And don’t get me wrong, I have a valentine–but being that he’s far away, it’s not much fun on a day like yesterday. But Eddie and I are having our own belated Valentine’s weekend when he gets here on Friday. Anyway, I hope you’ll forgive me for the missed post.

So today was a far better day than yesterday. I slept until around noon, as I have every day since Thursday (and will continue to do until Monday), and got myself some breakfast/lunch at Carvings. After scarfing down my bagel with a side of Arrested Development, I got dressed and headed out to Georgetown with my friends Makiya, Alexis, and Ambar. We went to this awesome thrift shop in Georgetown called Buffalo Exchange. Normally I’m a bit skeptical about thrift shops in general, but not only did this place have a TON of great clothing, but it was clean and organized and fairly busy. I had also heard good things about Buffalo Exchange from my roommate, Kaylee, so I had high hopes coming in. 

In my usual fashion, I picked out about 10-15 items and dragged them into the dressing room. After eliminating the majority of what I picked out, I decided on a cute light pink knit sweater for $22, a patterned knit vest for $19 (very similar to a cardigan at Urban Outfitters), and (BEST DEAL OF ALL TIME) a black North Face fleece for only $30. Like wow. I had this exact fleece a couple years ago and lost it, and when I bought it back then it was $100. Score!

And in typical thrift store fashion, when I went to check out, the woman at the register informed me that Buffalo Exchange was a “green company”, and didn’t have plastic bags. So, I either could carry everything I had bought in my arms through Georgetown, or purchase a Buffalo Exchange tote for $2. Reluctantly I bought a tote, but left feeling satisfied with my “new” threads.

After Buffalo we made our way to TJ Maxx to shop around a bit, and then stopped at Pinkberry for a snack. I had a refreshing cup of cookies and cream yogurt with strawberries and chocolate chips, a much needed pick-me-up after a successful shopping venture. After Pinkberry it looked like a storm was about to hit, so we took the bus back to campus and fought through the wind back to our respective buildings. 

With my purchases neatly hung up in my closet, Kaylee and I grabbed dinner from Carvings and enjoyed our sandwiches in front of our computers–as always sucked in by the almighty Netflix. Now, it is 10:00 and I am cozy in bed, propped up by far too many pillows, and I am about to start a show called House of Cards. Everyone on the face of the planet has been raving about this show lately, so I’m giving it a shot. The entire second season was just released onto Netflix yesterday, so I have a bit of catching up to do if I want to be a part of hysteria. 

I still have all of tomorrow and Monday to be a bum, but I’m not entirely sure I’m loving all the free time I’ve had (and still have remaining). I mean, of course it’s been nice to sleep late and do as I please, but that much free time just turns into boredom and mindless eating. But hey, at least it’s not brutally cold anymore and I can actually bear going outside and doing things. I get cabin fever very quickly, so being able to walk to the White House or stroll over to Starbucks without freezing to death is absolutely necessary.

Alright, I think that’s about all I have to say. I have another plans-free today tomorrow, so expect a post. Now back to House of Cards. I’ll let you know tomorrow what I think about it. If it’s anything like what I’ve been hearing lately, it’s sure to be amazing. Stay tuned!

-Joslyn

 

Snow day!

I almost forgot to post today! How could I?

Today was a snow day! I love a good snow day now and then, but there are definitely downsides. The fact that I had today off, and I also have the next four days off as well, is making me worry that I’m going to die of cabin fever. Or at least suffocate in my own boredom.

But despite not getting up until almost 2 p.m. today, I was pretty productive. My friend who I’m doing Psych project asked me to get together and get started on work, so that occupied me for a few hours. I also did some more revising on my UW essay and did a bunch of online Italian exercises. I still have a ton of yearbook writing to do (that I’ve been shamelessly putting off all week), but I’ll probably get started on it after I’m done writing this–or maybe not. Who knows. Netflix calls!

I literally avoided looking outside this morning for as long as I could. I just didn’t want to face the cold, wet, white misery that was the foot of snow dropped on the city. And it is STILL snowing. It mostly stopped during the day but now it’s back and due to drop about three to five more inches on us. Like haven’t we had enough? I won’t be surprised if we have another snow day tomorrow. It wouldn’t really matter to me because I don’t have any classes tomorrow anyway, but still.

Yeah, I’m kind of listlessly rambling tonight. I’ve noticed that most of my posts lately don’t have much order, even if I’m describing my day. You’d think that would be the sort of thing I should describe in order, but honestly I’m just writing exactly what’s on my mind, chronological or otherwise. And that works for me.

Days like these really make me miss home. I don’t mind seeing a ton of snow when I wake up in the morning if I’m in New Jersey, at home, in the comfort of my own bed. I love being cooped up at Eddie’s house on days like these, drinking hot chocolate and helping him shovel and cuddling. Eddie’s mom texted me pictures of their backyard today. The snow really hit Jersey hard, but Jersey probably got just as much as we did in DC–only we get plowed out, so you can’t tell how much snow there really is when the roads are cleared and all the snow is heaped into intermittent piles along the streets.  Either way, snow=unpleasant.

Anyway, my essay is coming along nicely–By the way, I’m sorry if I’m constantly talking about academic stuff, but it’s just sorta always on my mind so I can’t help but talk about it. And now back to my essay–So yeah, it’s coming along well. I keep rereading it and finding little details that I tweak slightly just to make the sentences sound better. I totally reworked my conclusion with the help of my professor. I emailed my original conclusion to her with questions and she gave me a lot of suggestions on how to improve it. The essay is a narrative, so ultimately I should be doing more descriptive writing than just “telling”. Like instead of simply restating my thesis at the end, I can create an image to show what I mean. Specifically, I talked about my tattoo of my dad’s signature and what it will mean to me in years to come when I look at in the mirror. I create a scene of me describing my tattoo’s meaning to my own children. So, instead of just saying “This is what I learned from this experience”, I draw a picture and make the essay more like a story–hence, a narrative.

That was a lengthy description for a simple concept–but that’s me. Always taking the long way around things.

I’m back to rambling now, which probably means I’ve run out of things to say. No matter how much I write, I never feel that I’ve written enough. But I guess writing a little is better than not writing at all. I guess I’ll wrap it up now, but before I go, here are 5 facts that you may or may not know about me:

1. I want to work with kids when I’m older. I want to be either a teacher, guidance counselor, social worker, or psychologist.

2. My cat is my whole life. Her name is Pebeau and she is perfection in feline form.

3. I was born on 9-5-1995 and I weighed 9 lbs. 5 oz. when I was born. Talk about freaky.

4. I am one of those annoying people who is addicted to Flappy Bird. My high score is 182. BAM.

5. If I could eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be anything Italian. Preferably pasta. Definitely pasta.

Thanks for reading! More tomorrow.

The calm before the storm

And another snowstorm.

Alright, to be fair, D.C. has gotten far less snow than most other places this winter–but any snow is too much snow, the way I see it.

I just went on a Whole Foods spree to prepare for a more-than-likely snow day tomorrow, so you know this storm is going to be legit. Forecasts say we’re supposed to get up to a foot of snow beginning at 9 tonight, all the way through late tomorrow. As much as I love the anticipation of a huge snowstorm, I hate the snow itself. It’s fun to wake up in the morning to see a fresh white blanket covering the world, but it’s only fun when you’re cozy in bed and not trudging through a cold, icy mess after it’s all over.

I suppose buying gelato for an impending snowstorm doesn’t make much sense–but hey, sue me.

Today was uneventful, for a change. I had Italian at 11:10 like I do every day but Friday, but that was my only class today. Normally I’d have UW today but this is a workshopping week and I already had my essay meeting on Monday (see Monday’s post). So, after Italian I got lunch at J. Street and came back to my room. I don’t really have much work to do either, so since then I’ve kinda just been sitting around watching Arrested Development on Netflix and being unproductive. I should probably starting writing my three yearbook stories that are due Friday, but that can always be left for the more-than-likely snow day.

I think I’m hyping myself up for this snow day too much. If by some crazy chance we don’t have one, I’m going to be so pissed. I really should stop assuming we’re going to have one, but if the city declares a damn snow emergency then I can’t see how we wouldn’t have one. But anyway.

I cannot wait for next weekend. On Thursday night my boyfriend, Eddie, is coming to D.C. to visit me. He came to visit back in October but it rained the whole weekend and the government was shut down at the time, so we really didn’t do much. This time though we’re staying in a hotel and I’m going to show him all the monuments, go to Georgetown, and other fun things. These next eight day are bound to drag on endlessly, but soon enough he’ll be here. Long distance is tough, but weekends like these to look forward to make it all worthwhile. 🙂

I think that’s about all I have to say for now. I have an Anthropology assignment to do, lots of Arrested Development to watch, a panini to eat, and a mega blizzard to wait for. Thanks for reading, stay tuned!

Cold February Air

It is too damn cold out.

Yesterday was brutal, but today was even worse. I literally cannot step foot outside unless I’m fully bundled up in a scarf, hat, and gloves. I’ve always hated winter, and I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with as severe cold in DC as I did living in New Jersey all my life, but I’d say the cold here lately has been just as bad, if not worse, than any winter I’ve had back at home. I yearn for the days when my fingers won’t become icicles after being out since for a mere two minutes. I yearn for a jacket-less day. Something other than cloudy skies and fluorescent lighting sure would be nice. But hey, now I’m just complaining like your average college student.

Today has been alright so far. I was eager to come back and write this entry though, I’m really excited to be writing again. I would’ve had Anthropology this morning at 9:30, but I woke up with a massive headache and decided to skip class. My roommate is also in the class and took notes for me, but of course on the only day so far this semester that I’ve skipped, the professor took attendance. Just my luck.

I got up around 10:30 for Italian, during which we got back our quizzes from last week (I didn’t do as well on as I thought I had), and learned a new topic of grammar. Having already learned a lot of Spanish grammar in high school, learning some of the same grammar in Italian has been pretty easy. We learned about comparatives today, so saying things like, “He is as good a driver as her,” or, “The dog is as obedient as he is friendly”. It was a simple pattern to follow grammatically, made even more simple because it’s similar to the Spanish construction of comparatives. So yeah, good class overall.

After Italian I grabbed lunch quickly at J Street, my school’s mediocre dining hall, and crammed all the last minute information I could into my head for my Psych quiz. Given that this quiz was our first, I didn’t really know what to expect. I made a brief study guide of my notes last night and a list of mnemonics to help me remember the various theories, theorists, and types of development. It was a lot of information to take in at once, but walking out of the room after the exam, I felt confident that I had done well overall.

Knowing my track record though, thinking that I did well most likely means that I didn’t do as well as I thought. We’ll see.

Now I’m back in my room, killing time before I have to go participate in a psych research study. For my Psych class, we’re required to participate in three separate studies conducted by GW students and professors as part of our grade. I’m not really sure what I’m going to be doing, but it will most likely be some mundane task with a computer screen and various shapes and words.

Later on I’ve got a lot of work to do, as always. I’m working on an 8-page essay for my UW class, as I mentioned yesterday, and I’m really happy with how it’s coming along. It’s not due until next Wednesday, but I’m already pretty satisfied with it, aside from some grammatical corrections I have to make. I’m really proud of the essay, and I wanted to share a portion of it with you guys. The essay is basically about the connections between my fascination as a little girl with my father’s signature, my brother-in-law’s suicide last May, and my two tattoos. I discussed themes of life, death, and permanence. Here’s my introduction:

A million was the number of times I watched my father sign a check at our favorite Italian restaurant. Though I had watched him sign his name on countless checks over the years, each time my dad picked up a pen at the end of our meal, he always left me in total awe. The process of signing the check was brief and thoughtless for my dad, but to me his signature was truly something special. It always looked as though my father had put the utmost care into every mark he made. Every ‘i’ was boldly dotted, every ‘t’ was dashingly crossed, and each curve of each letter was rounded and elegant. The signature was graceful, but strong. It was simply his name, yet I knew that a bottomless pool of meaning and history lay beneath it. In the few fleeting moments between receiving the check and leaving the restaurant, regardless of how many times I had seen my dad sign his name over the years, I always watched closely.

It’s still a work in progress, but I like how it’s coming along and I’m actually excited to keep working on it.

Alright, I think I’ve written just about enough. I’m still in such a writing mode though, maybe I’ll post something else later. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to follow my blog, leave comments, or just keep reading if you’re enjoying my posts. Stay tuned!

-Joslyn

P.S. Here are photos of my two tattoos, in case you were wondering what they look like.

Starting fresh.

I’m not really sure how to begin a post like this. It’s been so long since I’ve used my blog. Well, here it goes.

Hi, I’m Joslyn. I’m an 18 year old freshmen at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. I’m studying Psychology as a major, and in my spare time I like to write (as you can see), watch shows on Netflix, sing, explore the city, go for lengthy runs around the national monuments, and spend time with my friends, my family, and my boyfriend.

I suppose there’s no better place to start than talking about my day.

Today was very, very busy. I woke up around 10:30 for my 11:10 Italian class. I really enjoy Italian. I always took a foreign language in school, so coming to college, even though I wasn’t required to take one, I decided to take Italian. I always took Spanish in high school, but I wanted to switch things up and try Italian, and my background in Spanish has been really helpful . Plus, I’ve just always wanted to speak Italian because it’s the language of my paternal ancestors. It’s a beautiful language and I’m enjoying learning it a lot.

Anyway, after Italian I had a meeting with my advisor. She helps me with academic problems, answers any questions I may have, and helps me organize my schedule for each semester. Even though I’m only about a month into my Spring semester, we already selected new classes for my Fall 2014 schedule. It was a bit nerve-wracking to already be thinking about next semester, but at the same time it was comforting to already have everything planned out. This semester I’m taking Italian, Developmental Psychology, University Writing (UW), and Linguistic Anthropology. Next semester I’ll most likely be taking Biology of Nutrition and Health, an American Studies course, Italian 3, Abnormal Psychology, and a Music course. It sounds like a lot, I know, and it will be, but I’m excited and more than ready for the challenge.

After meeting with my advisor, I headed over to my school’s Mount Vernon campus. Mount Vernon, commonly referred to as the Vern, is a short 10-minute shuttle ride outside our city campus, called Foggy Bottom. The Vern is where I have my University Writing class three days a week. Normally on Monday afternoons I have my regular UW class, but this week we’re doing peer editing on our first major essay, so I met with my two peer editing partners and my professor to discuss our papers. I got a lot of really helpful feedback on my essay and I can’t wait to see how the final product turns out. It’s a narrative paper that I wrote about my dad, my brother-in-law, Curtis, and my tattoos. I’ll talk more about all of those things later.

After my meeting I came back to Foggy Bottom, relaxed in my room for a little while, then had dinner with another freshman girl here to talk about possibly rooming together next year. It was good getting to know her. I can’t believe I already have to start thinking about housing for my sophomore year of college. How is time flying by so quickly?

And now here I am, back in my cave of a dorm room, typing away furiously in my first blog post. This is pretty exciting, I gotta say. I’m looking forward to writing every day again. It really is therapeutic, and it’ll help me chronicle my time here at GW and see how I’ve changed and grown. I definitely should be studying right now for my first Psych exam tomorrow, but hey, I’ll get around to that eventually. I have had so much work this semester so far and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon, but no matter what I will always try my best to write a post daily, even if they’re short posts just to stay active with my writing.

So thanks for reading, whoever you are. Stay tuned for more.

-Joslyn