I am sorry to myself for the sparsity of updates. I was gone so long that Blogger even deleted my autologin cookie. It was like the e-rug had been pulled out from under my e-feet. Plenty of noteworthy things have happened, including something just now involving the king of cochroaches, but these have been the hardest two weeks of my hiccuping and seemingly endless undergraduate career and I therefore have not spent my usual amount of time stumbling around lost in thought. I would vow to write a full report this weekend, but I know as well as I do that when everything is over this Friday I will be so relieved and tired that I won't care to repeat it even for archival purposes. The funny thing about pain is that the sensation itself can't be remembered, only the experience. (I'm such a fucking poet.)

Actually, I think I at least gotta do the cochroach. I just went to brush my teeth and there was a cochroach on my bathroom counter, an occasional surprise I disapprove of but have nevertheless come to accept, being as I am a slothful Jewish landlord. As usual when I stepped into the bathroom it decided to seek shelter down the sink drain. So I ran hot water for a minute or two and then pushed down the stopper before I puttered around the room changing clothes. I eventually came back and brushed my teeth. When I pulled the stopper up and leant over to spit the wet cochroach came leaping out of the drain and very very narrowly missed hitting me in the face. A brief and fierce battle ensued before he met his comodal end, but I feel awful about it now. He was the first insect I've killed in years and with that kind of determination probably the most worthy of any to live.

The costume contest on Friday was a blast-- we had a lot of fun running around Tate taking pictures, and Jen won a duly-deserved second place. Afterwards Matt and I ducked by the art show and skipped the party and Kill Bill vol 2, which we saw yesterday instead. Really, really disappointing.

To quote myself from two weeks ago, "So much to do and no desire to do any of it."

While the campus bus I was riding on careened down a hill before gearing up to make a left turn, some dude wandered out into the street between several cars and straight in front of the bus. The driver slammed the brakes and luckily only hit the guy in the arm, and while everyone on the bus watched the guy apathetically wandered off the other way. I'm beginning to think that health care costs in America should be proportional to a patient's culpability. This way people wouldn't have to pay through the nose for illnesses but perhaps would be dissuaded from some of the more rampant forms of idiocy. "What's that? You wandered in front of a speeding bus while chatting on your cell phone and got your arm broken? So sorry. Your insurance will cover the cost of a hacksaw."

So maybe I'm biased. Big deal.

Tomorrow night's events include, but are not limited to:
Kill Bill vol. 2 at 7, a friend's art show opening in the Vis Arts building from 7-10, a Return of the King costume contest (as one of four hobbits) at 9:45 and another friend's tropical-themed house party. How come it's only at the end of the semester that my social life starts booming?

As for the rest of the semester, I have a 10-page Medieval Lit paper (20% of the final grade) due on the 23rd, a 5-page research paper for Folklore (10%) and a 4-page research paper for Art Hist (20%) due on the 27th, and a 10-page research paper for Political Analysis (40%) due on the 29th. Something's gotta give.

The Animation Show rolled into Athens on Monday night and when I found out about it I actually left work early to see it. Honestly, though, how often does this opportunity come up? They had a big variety of shorts-- one by Tim Burton, the original low-budget short that inspired Office Space (featuring Milton), a few new things from Don Hertzfeldt himself and several works from other countries. The ones by Hertzfeldt were the shortest and simplest and by far the funniest; he just has a gift for this stuff. It was all well worth the $1 admission.

Abby (the neighbor's cat) has been spending more time hanging out in the house, reminding me of all the reasons why I desperately want a cat but at the same time am happy that I don't have one. I know if I owned a cat I would take great care of her but right now I have the rare ability to enjoy one without any responcibility. I've already learned several important precautions with Abby, though, in case I ever do get one myself. Like that glasses of water on the desk are quite happily knocked over. And that in Catspeak, "Aaron's dried Relay for Life survivor bouquet" translates to "salad." Good to know but not fun to learn.

In any case, though, Bush is still a dick.

Last semester I happened to have a class with an organizer for Relay for Life, and she invited me to the event on Friday night as a survivor. Even though I had every right to be there I was really worried about going, for reasons I still don't fully understand. I dragged Matt with me and we got there around 6, where I met up with Katy, the one who invted me, and Sara, one of the other organizers. I had no idea just what the Relay was, even, so they explained it all to me. Basically, volunteers join up in teams and recieve donations from walking around the UGA track all night, from 7pm to 8am; at least one member of a team is walking at all times. All the teams set up tents along the inside of track to nap in when they have the time, but there's always music playing and a lot going on. Teams win prizes for Most Spirit, Best Theme, etc. but all the money goes to the American Cancer Society. There were maybe two dozen survivors who came, and of all ages (I was grateful not to be the only college-aged one there). Local companies donated dinner and desserts and flowers for us and we ate under a tent while several people spoke to the volunteers around the nearby stage. Once everything was ready, all the survivors were given white sashes and we all got onto the track with a huge banner for Relay and the ACS to start the first lap of the marathon-- the Survivors' Lap.

What shocked me was seeing up close the sheer number of people who were there to help and the passion with which they did it. Katy said there were over 90 teams, and as we walked they all lined the track, hundreds and hundreds of people, clapping and cheering for us as we walked by. I had tears in my eyes the entire lap; I'm getting misty just remembering it now. Getting that kind of support from so many people-- total strangers, even!-- was just... amazing. It made me remember how grateful I am for all the people who love me and supported me through my whole ordeal, and just thinking about how so many people can come together and put their hearts into fighting a worthy cause made me feel a little better about the world. After the Survivors' Lap was the Caregivers' Lap, when everyone's caregivers walked with them, and having Matt there walking with me made it even more special.

A lot of other things happened over the weekend but this is what I'm still thinking about, and probably will be for quite some time.