:: Searching for Puck... ::

:: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 ::

Today was actually a great day.

In composition class this morning, I got paired with Valentina, this girl in my class with a hearing disability. I've always wanted to talk with her, but I wasn't exactly sure how to start doing it, you know? I know it's stupid, there's no difference between her and me, but I felt a little bad - I tend to bite my nails when I'm talking, so I'm hard to lip-read, and I also don't know anything in sign language. But we got paired up, so that's very cool...we got the point across through each other's assigned essays and scribbling back and forth on a piece of paper - she's got a wonderful soul, and is an amazing person. I can't wait to talk to her more...I got her AIM name. Oh! And I also got a B+ on my "On the Death of Doves" essay...the teacher really liked it, but now it's all marked up with red ink. Blegh.

Then, I went to forensics (speech and debate) club - no chance of making it into the Vancouver meet, but there's one right at Brookdale in April or so that I'm going to compete in. I talked with Shelly for awhile, then scooted to get to english club.

English club was amazing. There had to have been over 20 people there, and about ten read some of their stuff, including me. I read "In the Silence of the Snow" from my website....it was well-liked. Even more happily, I met a fellow gothish person named Rick and got his AIM name, and I also talked for awhile with Brian, a fellow pagan from my composition class that I had spoken to briefly on the first day, but not much after. We chatted for a bit, and he wants to get a pagan group together, outside of school, so that's exciting. He's a really neat guy and it turns out we have a lot in common, including the infamous Jess of the Dave (2) tragedy. Oddity.

Dave (3) came and hung out with me for a bit last night and graded some tests his students took. It was kind of cool to have a teacher sitting on my bed, grading stuff. Got the whole red pen thing goin for him...hehe. I'm glad he did come over...I wanted company, and the fact he had to do work kind of spurred me into finally tidying my room - I can actually move around and open my door and stuff now, as well as see my dresser top. It's fantastic. :) I'm probably going to go hang out with him this friday. Jeff Burdges called David's cell while he was here and tried to unload a rooster on him, then me. No, a literal rooster. Turns out that his across-the-way neighbor had bought a rooster to keep as a pet, and realized in retrospect that the third floor of a rutgers dorm probably isn't the best place for said rooster.

.::just...shakes her head..:::

I went to math later on today, where I found out I got an 88 on the test...not too bad, but I would have gotten higher if I didn't make a few kind of elementary mistakes, like dividing instead of multiplying in the pursuit of x. Ah well...better than most. Prof said that there were some people in the class who had gotten 16s. And two didn't even show up for class or offer any excuses, which automatically makes their score a 0. Crazy.

After class, Brian Joseph and I walked over to the student center together and grabbed coffee, food, and a couch...it's becoming a kind of custom with us, and I really like it. I have intense and interesting discussions with him, and talking with him even these short few weeks has broadened so many of my mental horizons. He's also very quickly become a dear friend. We talked at length about the societal values placed on the simple act of a hug, and I said it distressed me because I felt people didn't hug enough, that it was something that was shied away from in today's worries about sexual harrassment and inferiority. I had hugged Brian Joseph goodbye twice before, and I hug Chris and Dre goodbye too, and sometimes I feel like I'm the only girl left who doesn't have a problem keeping mostly male friends and giving them meaningful hugs on a regular basis. When I went to leave, Brian Joseph gave me a solid hug goodbye and a kiss on the cheek....and I know it's silly to say, but it was something of a life-shifting moment. It gave me hope that people will learn that affection - good solid and honest affection - isn't a perversion or something to be shunned. It cements friendships and builds bonds of trust, and it has nothing to do with lust or base instincts. His simple act moved me enough to start writing an essay, which will undoubtably turn into an assignment for a class at some point, entitiled "The Lost Art of the Hug".

Right now, I'm sleepy, and I'm going to turn in early so I can get up early and try and finish up some work for communications tomorrow. Sweet dreams, all.

~Fox


Penny for your thoughts?


:: Fox 3/04/2003 10:34:00 PM [Say what?] ::
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