Ugh, holy unscheduled Tumblr hiatus, Batman. It’s been a horrible last couple of weeks as I’ve worked until my brains came out of my ears and yet I 　still remain behind, somehow. The good news is that right now I am 2/3 finished with my last take-home final exam which, when I turn it in tomorrow, will officially mark my last obligation of the spring semester. The bad (?) news is, I’m leaving on Monday to do a month-long internship in Raleigh. I have no idea if I’m going to have a ton of free time or no free time at all, but if I had to guess, I’d say it will probably be the latter. 

In other words, I may be on all the time in the next month, or I may be MIA until June, but if you need me you know where to find me.

I miss you, Tumblr.

Love,

Laura

…to me! I’m 24.5 today (no April Fools about it, although the fact that my 1/2 is on April 1 is the only reason I ever remember it).

I made it through Hell Week #2! Only four weeks left until finals, THANK GOD.

Also, Hunger Games tomorrow!

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention that I plan on winning the Mega Millions tonight. So, that’s a significant development (and is really the only thing making me feel better about all the bills I just paid).

I have a paper and the draft of a grant due this week and a whole ton of reading to do and I just

can’t

seem

to care.

Hi Tumblr, have you missed me? I’m hanging out on Capitol Hill today bumping elbows with the highest in the land. John McCain even tried to hold the Senators-only elevator for us this morning.

Elegy for the Best Pair of Black Flats Ever

I don’t think anyone thought you would last as long as you did.
I don’t remember how much my mom paid for you
Or when I got you, or where.
(I think it was 5 years ago,
at Off Broadway or DSW
so I’m sure my hopes weren’t high.)

But since then
You’ve been everywhere I have been
London
Chicago
New York
You were with me in Washington D.C.
on that amazing weekend in January
(I remember because my feet were cold).

We’ve covered so much ground together
You and I
That one day I looked down
And I had walked a hole right through you.
I’m a little ashamed to say I kept wearing you for months even after that
Because as hard as I looked for a replacement pair of black ballet flats
Not patent, but not too matte either
No heel, no buckles, no bows
And just the right amount of toe coverage
I was really just looking for another you
And you are one of a kind
(Not that I didn’t try to track down a clone of you
But my walking wore away your brand name years ago).

When I couldn’t put it off anymore,
I settled for the least offensive replacement pair
I tried them on
I put them in your old spot on the shelf
And I threw you away.
(I threw some old moldy bread on top of you so I couldn’t change my mind and dig you out again.)
And maybe it’s weird that I’m writing a poem for my worn-out old shoes
But I just wanted you to know
That although there will be many more pairs of black flats in my future
You will always be my favorite.

So when my Comcast bill came a few days ago, it was $35.00 higher than last month. So I called to ask what was going on. Apparently when I moved they gave me some kind of promotional rate that was good for six months and it just expired. When I asked if there was any kind of new promotion, the Comcast representative said no. Then she looked at my bill.

“How do you use the Internet?” she asked me.

“Oh, uh…the usual?” I wasn’t really sure what she was getting at.

“Oh, well they’ve got you on the super fancy high speed Internet that only online gamers pay for, you could save $25.00 just by switching to our Normal People package!” (I may be paraphrasing here)

What a stroke of luck! I’m a Regular Person who likes Regular Things, and I certainly could use $25.00. 

Long story short now my Internet feels like it’s running on Web TV over here. I don’t know how you Regular People have been doing it all this time.

I knew those things would come in useful someday!

I hadn’t planned on getting one, but there was no way I was going to actually carry around Lonesome Dove or any of the Song of Ice and Fire books for any length of time. Paper books are great, but not when they weigh 8 pounds and won’t fit in a carry-on.

Tornadoes in January, who ever heard of such a thing.