Update: The Final Countdown… with a Vengeance

Here’s your earworm to suck on (to hell with keeping metaphors straight):

Greetings, fellow bloglings,

Stressed Out Student here with a final countdown at the Stressing Out College blog, my first blog baby. Let’s not get too sentimental here, but I have some fond memories of this blog, some posts that make me smile (and oftentimes cringe), and many posts that hit me with a feeling of foreigness. It’s been a lovely run, but never fear! I am not leaving the blogosphere forever (I know, you were desperately worried, but I got you).

I’ll be continuing my journey over at my brand new blog baby The Lonely Tribalist, where I’ll chronicle all that is mundane in the new and subsequent chapters of my life, focusing on the phenomenon of 7 billion tribal creatures each living surprisingly lonely lives. A world filled with tribes of one.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep it light. And snarky. I hope to see at least some of you over there. I’ve truly missed the lot of you.

Cheers and see you soon,

SOS

Update: Three Weeks into the Academic Quarter… What the Hell Am I Doing?

My eyes feel like they’ve been run over by a Mack truck carrying a trailer full of elephants covered in wet laundry. But god, life is good.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s sprinkling – not that I can really see it from my window at 1:30 in the morning. If I focus hard enough, the streetlamp in the courtyard becomes blurred behind the sheer veneer of rain. The sliding door across the room is ajar, letting the cold in just the way I like it. The summer was too hot for this Portlander. Now, we’re in the season oft symbolic for change.

The last time I posted was toward the end of June – shortly after my final exams and shortly before I flitted into the woods to rejoin a surrogate family. Since then, I’ve traveled across state lines, grappled with the usual “what the Hell am I doing” angst, moved into a new apartment, started working again, started school again… and have returned to grappling the “what the Hell am I doing angst.” Isn’t it lovely when it comes full circle?

As I said in this interview with A.A. Forringer (thanks again, A.A.), there’s only so many ways I can talk about how fun/stressful/delightful/terrible college is. Adding in a Monty Python post or reference can only last for so long *nudge nudge wink wink*. This is one of the reasons I’ve been devoting a little more effort into my other blog, The Big Blog of All the S#!t I Knowunder the name BBK with my partner Moose. It’s a different sort of outlet, where I’ve been ranting about different aspects of my worldview pertaining to subjects such as sustainability (not just recycling, but true paradigmatic attitude shift), feminism and gender, and a bit deeper emotional ruminations. So it’s the same sense of humor… just smeared with s#!t.

And as much as I have shifted my energies into that blog, I can’t bring myself to drop Stressing Out College completely. It is my first baby and as long as I’m actually still in college, I still have plenty to write about. Heck, I don’t even write about college most of the time anyway. You know I’m flat out awful with resolutions and I’m terrible with pinky swears, so there will be none of those. I’ll simply end with this:

I have missed you, Lovely Readers. And I hope to read more of y’all’s blogs as I get back into writing.

Cheers,
SOS

Seattle Center International Fountain  | Stressing Out College

Scrap Paper Poetry #9: Final Final Finally Finished

Scrap Paper Poetry #9 | Stressing Out College

Final final finally finished:
My mind is numb, all brain waves diminished.
But the year is over and I can easily breathe;
Summer is here, a much needed reprieve.
For the next three months, I’m as free as a bird
And I won’t have to be forced to etch another word
Of a god awful essay or droll presentation,
I can start on my packing for summer vacation.
My hairs are a little grayer
And I’m now relying on Bayer,
But exams have been vanquished-
Final final finally finished.


Well, another year has come to a close and another summer has approacheth’d. I don’t need any excuses for my fauxetry. My brain might now be a charred lump of coal after this past harrowing year, but that ain’t gonna stop me from trying to have a kick ass summer vacation. Fellow stressed out students – rejoice! 

Update: In Which the Student Apologizes for Falling Behind (Yet Again)

Normally, here is where I say “well golly gee, folks, long time no see” and then make a resolution against my better judgment to post more for you fine folks of the Interwebs.

(Everything except for the last six words is BS.) 

I’ve been gone awhile and, as per usual, my posting has been sporadic at best. My other blog has been receiving the majority of my attention, but I don’t even post with any regularity there either.

After this post, I’m going to disappear again. I could excuse myself because this is dead week and finals are going to follow shortly after, but you and I both know that if I really felt like updating, I’d certainly do it. Any student knows that watching paint dry can be a good enough excuse for procrastinating on homework and studying.

Can Cairn | Stressing Out College

Who says boredom can’t be productive?

So I’m not going to whisper sweet nothings in your ear and give you caressing reassurances that I’ll stop misusing you. The simple truth is that my mind is mush and I need to rediscover my motivation for writing and vomiting my ideas for you all to read. Dear Reader, you deserve better. So here’s what I’m actually going to do:

First, I’m going to find a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.

Second, I’m going to make my way through the neglected shows in my DVR (Don’t worry, Leslie Knope, I’m coming!)

Third, I’m going to sleep.

Fourth, I’m going to sleep some more.

Fifth, I’m just going to post when I’m going to post.

And that’s that. I have nothing more to say at the moment, except for I miss you guys and hope to chat with y’all more soon.

Cheers,

SOS

Midterm Music Madness! (Now That’s What I Call Music)

It’s week 6 for those of us on the funky quarter/trimester university schedule. Midterms have been and still are in full swing. Here’s a list of 5 songs and artists that have been keeping me sane(ish).

1. “Warpath” by Ingrid Michaelson

I could create a whole list composed of just Ingrid Michaelson. (Got to see her live for the first time last week. I’m in love.) She has the three essential moods of music (for me): pensive, chipper, and opening can of whoopass. “Warpath” falls under the whoop-ass category. [“You and I” makes me so happy and her “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is my favorite cover of that song].

 

2. “En T’attendant” by Melanie Laurent

Shosanna Dreyfus/Emmanuelle Mimieux/that beautiful, maniacal, laughing face of the Jew from Inglourious Basterds (still my favorite movie) – Melanie Laurent doesn’t have much of a voice, but she’s very nice to listen to and this song is so soothing, yet motivating at the same time with that driving beat in the background. And she’s nice to look at, as well. She’s got a natural beauty that’s refreshing in the midst of our airbrush madness.

 

3. “The Big Bang” by Katy Tiz

I’m a sucker for modern songs integrating older styles of music or throwing in a sweet classical instrument or two, like “Ottoman” by Vampire Weekend and Parov Stelar’s “Chambermaid Swing”. This Katy Tiz song isn’t quite Stelar [see what I did there] but it’s new and I’ve found myself listening to it a lot recently.

 

4. “Follow Me” by Uncle Kracker

Throwback! My sister and I learned every word to this song when it came out many moons ago. Almost needless to say, it was before we knew what the song was about… No matter, still catchy and we still know all the words. (Although I do find myself constantly misremembering whether the line is “swim through your bangs like a fish in the sea” or “swim through your veins”…)

 

5. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Cover)” by Band from TV

Band from TV is, well, a band composed of TV actors and actresses. Band members from TV include Hugh Laurie (“House,” duh), Teri Hatcher (“Desperate Housewives”), Greg Grunberg (“Heroes,” the actual founder of the band), and Jesse Spencer (“House”), among several others. The proceeds of their performances go to charity and they all look like they’re having an awesome time showcasing talents most of us didn’t know they had. (And bonus: the song is set to clips of “House” – god, I miss that show).

 

 Stay [mostly] sane, folks. And if you have any good song recommendations, leave them in the comments. Make ’em good!