Life is a Cabaret

Also: watching more The Next Generation. Just watched the episode Data's Day.

OMG, Data and Dr. Crusher tap danced! It was a great episode in general, but that made me extremely happy. I want to dance with Data.

Though I do have to wonder why Dr. Crusher started Data off with a time step. I mean, it's not exactly advanced, but it's probably better to start with a flap or a shuffle. Which are both in a time step. XD

Now I really need an icon of Data tap dancing.

Today I cooked dinner. This is significant enough to merit a mention because it is actually the first time I have ever cooked by myself. As in, real cooking and not microwave stuff. It's not the first time I've cooked ever, because I've cooked with my mom, but she was always there to make sure it came out all right. Today it was just me. Heh.

So there are two main things I learned about cooking, things that seem obvious in hindsight:

1. Don't fill a pot practically up to the brim with water if you're going to boil things in it. Get a bigger pot, or cut the recipe in half. XD

2. I think I will remember this time what boiling water actually looks like. I've never boiled things that often, but now I will try to remember that boiling water is actually bubbling and not just steaming.

I just made tortellini, since that's pretty easy--though apparently I can come close to screwing even that up. :p The whole time I was pretty much watching my tortellini with the water spilling over the sides of my pot and steam rising and being afraid something was going to catch fire and we'd have to evactuate the dorm. But that didn't happen! :D

The tortellini was all right. It probably could have boiled a bit more, but well, I was afraid I'd set something on fire with every increasing minute. But it was fine and I ate it and I have leftovers that I'm going to make into pasta salad for lunch tomorrow.

On Wednesday I'm planning to make banana bread, since I like that more than cake. Probably my parents will send me a giant cookie, because they usually do on my birthday, but I like banana break more than cookies. Though one thing I noticed about our oven is that it...doesn't seem to keep track of temperature. I'm sure I'll figure out how to heat the thing to 350 degrees (I'm still pleased with myself for getting the stove to turn on tonight XD), but eh. Not a nice oven.

In other news, I am going to be very busy this semester. Very busy.

I got into two dances for RDG (the school dance group), each of which practices two hours a week, so there's four hours just for dance. This is good, because it will keep me active, but I don't even know when practices are yet. Also I'm a bit miffed. There are three tap numbers this year, at each of the basic levels (advanced, intermediate, beginner), and I ranked my choices in that order. I am an advanced dancer, for all that I'm not in the best shape and I can't do double or triple turns, but the dances I got were the intermediate and beginner ones. There are probably a variety of reasons I didn't make the advanced dance--there are a lot of people in that dance already, and I fumbled some of the audition piece (though the auditon piece was only jazz, lyrical, and hip hop, which are not my styles)--but I danced with the choreographers last year as an advanced dancer and I did just fine. So I'm trying not to be miffed, but I am a bit. *sigh* Well, at least I'm still dancing.

Also two jobs. Both have very limited hours (up to five a week), but still. Also various clubs. And I haven't even mentioned homework yet. XD

But I think I'm happy to be busy now. It feels good to have a lot of stuff to do.

And I'm getting along with my suitemates very well. We've already had several scattered hours where we just sat around and chatted, and tomorrow we're going to Costco to get various supplies and a pizza. This is a huge improvement from my roommates of previous years. :D

We're only two weeks into the semester and I'm already having a good one. I just hope it keeps up.

Had the first show today. It went pretty well--I don't think it's the best I've ever danced, but I didn't slip and fall like I did once in rehearsals, so that's always a plus. XD One more show tomorrow, and then dance is done for the semester.

I have a bit of a problem with the rest of my college career, though. Right now I'm scheduled to graduate Spring 2010, and for a while I worried about being able to fit in all the classes for my major in that time (since I'm not quite done with the core yet either). Today I talked with my advisor, though, and we figured that I can get everything done by spring 2010.

The thing with that, though, is that's without factoring in the semester I want to study abroad. I really want to do that, but if I do, I'm going to have to add another semester of school, and therefore be done in fall 2010 rather than spring. Personally I'm fine with that, especially since that would give me a bit more leeway and I could do a Politics and Government minor as well.

The difficulty with this is money. *sigh* I'm sure that in ordinary circumstances, my parents would encourage me to study abroad and take the extra semester, because they're all for expanding horizons and have told me more than once that going through college is not a race. But I know my mom wants to retire soon, and the economy's not in the best shape, and my school is expensive, and my younger sister's is even worse (and she just started). So I dunno if we'd be able to afford me taking another semester to finish up.

Well, I definitely need to talk to my parents first. Too bad Obama's tax credit for college won't apply to private schools, because I'd have no problem doing community service.

This Friday and Saturday is my dance show, and Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday are some very long rehearsals. I am so glad that I have class only every other day, so I have time to do all my homework.

I got an email from one of my teachers about a paper I turned in a couple weeks ago. I mentioned it here--the one where I got to rant about feminism in this movie we had to watch. Anyway, she wants to use a paragraph from my essay in class as an example of how to address counterarguments. That...made me very happy. :D

Tonight heart_of_man and I watched Love and Monsters through Doomsday. Oh, Doomsday. This is the first time I've watched it since seeing Journey's End, and it still hurts. I was just...constantly wibbling. *sigh*

Except, of course, whenever the Daleks and the Cybermen were bitching at each other, because that will never not be awesome. :D

But yeah. Doomsday. Afterwards we watched the deleted scenes and the outtakes, which are of course complete awesome, but I still need to find me some happy. Maybe I'll just end up rereading kalleah's "The Calm Before the Storm" and "Voyages of Discovery", because those always end up making me happy.

But right now I'm tired and since I've got a very long day tomorrow, definitely time to go to bed.

I am now 21. OMG.

I got the Doctor Who DVDs from my parents. I had a brief debate over what to watch first, but it was very brief. Because right now I'm watching David Tennant's Video Diaries, and at the moment he is lying in bed with stubble and glasses. Now that's a birthday present. XD

Also the accent, of course. I love the Scottish accent. And he's such a sweetheart!

Sorry, it's hard not to gush about him when I'm watching his video diaries. *g*

Anyway. Last night at midnight when it technically became my birthday, my younger sister called. And then I had a text message conversation with Twin, who, at 12:20, was already at her third bar. XD She called me lame when I told her at 12:45 that I was going to bed.

I'm going out tonight, though. Dinner and then drinking with some friends. I am so looking forward to this!

Oh! I made it into RDG as well, for the tap number I was auditioning for. :D

I am having such a good day so far. :D AND OMG I AM 21 FINALLY. How did I get so old? XD