akawhiplady

♥

So, the grandparents flew in from Lebanon a few weeks ago and should be staying through February I think. My dad's sister also flew in last week. It's her first trip to America. She's leaving tomorrow cause she has like a damn job and a kid to take care of or some crazy shit like that.

Black Friday I got food poisoning, I think it was from chic fil a but I have no concrete evidence of this. At like, 4 AM I went to the bathroom and NEARLY PASSED OUT OMFG. Had to wake mom and dad up so that I wouldn't pass out and break my damn neck off or something. Then they sat up with me for a while then I VOMITED VIOLENTLY at about 5 AM. It was pretty epic, dad counted like 8 heaves and he claims most people have about 2 fewer. It was so epic that I passed out right before throwing up and woke up in middle of heaves. I had like, no senses working when I was first coming out of it but I felt myself convulsing and I was like WHAT THE CRAP. Then I felt awesome, so I went to sleep. Then I got up feeling bad again and dad said mom should take me to urgent care so they could put me on fluids or something, and I was all up for it but then I got so nervous at the thought of vomiting in the car that I vomited right then and there! But then I felt great again so we rushed to the urgent care while I was still feeling up. I felt ok, they decided I was hydrated, and got ready to send me home. I stood up from my patient's chair, took two steps and had to sit down in another chair. THEN I PASSED OUT AGAIN!

So they put me on fluids, which they apparently keep in a fucking freezer cause my whole right side was icy by the time it was done. Then I went home and slept for 22 hours (they gave me a shot of some anti-nausea stuff in my BUTT that hurt really bad and it was supposed to put me right to sleep - of course they gave me this before they decided to put me on fluids, so I was all cold and sleepy and miserable during the last hour or so there) and was just fine.

Also, dad's chemo seems to be working as of the last time they checked it out like a month ago. He says he's losing his hair but it doesn't look like he's lost any at all.

About a week ago, the new Chekov from Star Trek popped into my mind and I've been on an Anton Yelchin bender ever since.

I've watched:

Fierce People
Law and Order: CI (episode Tru Love)
Alpha Dog
Charlie Bartlett
Hearts in Atlantis

He's just got these big old puppy eyes and tiny figure that makes you want to BEAT AND/OR RAPE AND/OR SHOOT HIM TO DEATH which happens in every single one of those movies I've seen so far (except for Star Trek, but that doesn't count). Obviously this is quite agreeable to my viewer needs.

It's disconcerting, however, that in each of these movies where his character is victimized (and usually quite violently), he just happens to have a mother who is neglectful, or absent, or just "bad." It's a shame.

I still have a small list of movies left to go. I bet they will fall into this pattern.

Quite excited - not right this second, but was earlier. This semester is my theory class for Anthro (which is supposed to prepare you for senior seminar) and we have to write three papers through the semester, 8 pages each. I put the first off for longer than I should have. I spent like, 3 days holed up in the student computing center writing it. The professor, Starrett, is a really funny and nice guy (kind of stern at first glance) but apparently he doesn't like to give A's. A couple people who sit next to me in class had him for a different class and they promised me that for him, a B is an A. In fact, the syllabus basically agrees with that - the rubric says "An A is everything a B is, but goes beyond. Is a joy to read." I interpreted that to mean it is a B work but with extra smooth finesse.

There are 18 people in our class, and it was due last week, and he came into class today looking angry as fuck and at the end of class before he gave out the papers he told us more or less: "I've had a horrible few days grading these. They are not the work I'd expect from a senior. There are a few D's in there, a few C's and even some F's. There are a couple of B's. The people who came in to talk to me about their papers during the writing process did better than the rest. I don't want you to feel panicked - there is still time left to fix this - but I do want you to feel bad."

I didn't go in to get help with mine so it was quite nerve wracking up to that point even though I was super excited all day to get the grades back. He supposedly gives really long, in-depth comments in the margins, and I always love feedback, even when it's bad (cause I'm masochistic about my writing). His speech left me figuring that B's were the highest he'd given out this time. Imagine my surprise when there were barely any comments on my paper - just a few vague markings where he apparently approved of what I wrote, and then a comment at the end saying it was sophisticated, thoughtful and elegantly written. I got me an A! No where to go now but down, haha.

Unrelated but deserving of note: dad had his surgery (like a fuckin' month ago, where have I been with updating this thing?) and he's been doing the chemo for a couple weeks now. There are a couple small spots on his liver. I guess it's too soon to know how well it's working, but we remain positive.

Day before yesterday I cleverly deduced that alia sabotaged my precious christmas stocking makeup. She became mildly perturbed when I informed mother that "there is a possibility that your daughter is a retard," at which point fisticuffs occured and my glasses got mashed in the process. They're functional, but one of the lenses won't pop all the way back in and they sit crookedly on my face (moreso than usual.)

Yesterday my parents' old friend Louay came to visit; he was friends with them in college and left charlotte when I was about 3, in 1993, to live in Lebanon. I believe they hadn't seen him since then - or mom hasn't anyway - and I never really remembered him or saw pictures of us together, but it was still really fun. He was really nice and funny and talked about my maternal grandmother and how mom and dad used to make fun of him for carrying a pen around in his shirt pocket at all times.

In the evening we went to a roof party where I made friends with a nice little girl named Yasmina who is about 6, and approximately my 3rd cousin. She does a remarkable impression of a small zombie (with growls and bites.) And also a stripper (those are her moms words.)

Today we went to a brunch-lunch at the little girl's house. I didn't want to go because I've had a spectacular headache where it hurts to touch my right eyeball and look in my peripherals, but the best I got away with was a postponement while mom took Alia to the hospital for strep throat. in the end, we had fun. The little girl's mom, Julia, has a very pretty home with a great deck on the 7th floor. So, plenty of shade and breeze.

Somewhere along the way we used up all the internet. Apparently there was a download limit, but to us download means like, limewire, whereas apparently it means stuff like youtube as well. So now we're back to rudimentary internet sharing on my uncle's computer.