O'Mahen Fail.

Patrick O'Mahen ruins lives. Plain and simple.

PO'M happens to be my COMM211 Lab GSI (Graduate Student Instructor...what some might call a TA) and boy oh boy did I get the worst luck of THAT draw.

First off, he is the most fidgety human being I have had the pleasure to observe in a very long time. So many awkward weird movements, he can't stand or sit still, and he just seems to have skin that is crawling with energy at every second of every day.

Second, the number of times he brings up his "girlfriend" in the two hours that we are forced to sit and listen slash watch this man is too many to count. It's slightly ridiculous and leads me to hypothesize that in fact, no girlfriend actually exists, but rather it's his attempt to feign normalcy in front of a group of college undergrads.

Third, he has been known to frolic. I kid you not. Frolicking has occurred across the length of the classroom. On more than one occasion.

Fourth, he is the most off-task GSI in the history of Off-Task GSIs. The productivity levels up in that classroom are dangerously close to zero and it drives me crazy to no end. The things we end up accomplishing could easily be completed within an hour or less, yet we often have to stay over the TWO HOUR block of time that the class is scheduled for. Un-freaking-believable.

Fifth, he murmurs to himself up near the dry-erase board and often trails off sentences so one can no longer decipher the string of words coming out of his mouth.

Sixth, even I don't laugh at his jokes. And I laugh at everyone's jokes. Including my own!

Perhaps my irritation levels skyrocket at this time of the day because I have six straight hours of class on Thursdays...and my name is Andrea Gregorka. Or perhaps it's because I have been hit by the curse of PO'M.

High Rollin' in the Camry

Just jetted home on foot due to my denial of the fact that the poor Loser Cruiser that is near and dear to my heart is currently a patient at Dusty's Automotive getting his dent fixed from the bullying incident. The poor dear. Either way, I'm an idiot. But I did get some a nice mile and a half walk in...as well as some quality time with my iPod! Twas a win-win situation. Thank goodness it wasn't a lazy day...otherwise I might have been in a bit of a pickle...

I'm currently wasting time before I have to get all the flipping way over to Domino's Farms for a stupid appointment. I'm wondering if this one will solve my blindness problem! Perhaps. I have high hopes.

Today marks the official one year anniversary of Stalk Fest '09. Get excited.

MLK Day saved lives this week. A four day school week is just so much more bearable! It's almost amazing what a difference one day makes...now if only I could get my schedule to work out so I didn't have class on Fridays...I shall keep dreaming.

I suppose I should get going...in case I happen to get lost. Slash I have to park Faj's car out in the boonies of the parking lot so it doesn't get nicked. Or dented. Or harmed in any way, shape, or form. He loves this car more than he loves me, folks. It's kind of a big deal.

Into the Arctic!

I attempted to begin reading the 1,070 page coursepack for my SOC212 class...since I'm supposed to be 70 pages in by Tuesday...yeah, it wasn't entirely successful. Considering it's by Weber...and is translated...and is titled "The Theory of Social and Economic Organization: The Types of Authority and Imperative Co-ordination" makes it difficult to get through. I don't know what it's saying...nor am I quite certain how it connects to Sports and Society (the title of the class). Probably about governing bodies in the sporting world or something...who knows. I suppose we'll find out eventually! Eeeek. All these classes I think will be so fun...first astro, now this. 1,070 page course pack and three 300 page books. So fantastic.

Upon exiting Noodles & Co. this evening with an enthusiastic "Into the Arctic!" we opened the door and lo and behold, walking along was a couple of Eskimos! In other words, two people wearing those giant puffy coats with the fur around the hood happened to be walking by the Noods Establishment while we were leaving...bahaha. Comical. Slightly inappropriate. I suppose the correct term would be Inuit, would it not?

Ended the night with a healthy dose of The World's Strongest Man Competition on ESPN. I personally was rooting for the man from Poland, Sir Mariusz Pudzianowski. Sans the 'Sir' of course, it just sounds a bit more professional in my expert opinion. He completed the Giant Farmer Carry (or something) like a CHAMP. Blew the competition out of the water. Whew. Pulled that plane like it was nobody's business...and even yanked a rather heavy boat out of the water onto a very steep ramp. So entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although I'm wondering where the rest of the world was...very few countries were represented, and I'm well aware that this was the finals, but about half of the dudes were from the US, then there was a Pole, a Lithuanian, annnd a few others maybe...I don't know. Oh someone from England...annnd...eh, not important. Oh well.

Some Lists

Some Punny Statements from Winter Break 09-10

1. Alison referring to Match Day for residency programs in March: "March Matchness!" Bahaha unreal.
2. Me (sorry, I was proud of this one) referring to the 300+ Canadian geese chillin' in the cornfield on the side of the highway: "That's FOWL!" Ahhh I kill me.
3. Mmmmk sorry. That's all I've got right now...failure to document...

New Years Resolutions

1. Drink more water (and thanks to my handy dandy Bite and Suck Water Bottle [otherwise known as the Camelback Better Bottle] that Santa so graciously delivered on XMas I'm thinking that this one is easily attainable)
2. Be nicer (it's the same every single year...I suppose I could let up on the sarcastic asshole thing on occasion...)
3. Figure out some form of exercise that I am A) allowed to do, B) like to do, and C) that doesn't hurt my whacked out ankle...too much (at least until March 1st...)

Random

1. U of M will forever be better than "The" Ohio State University. That basketball game was chill-worthy on more than one occasion this afternoon...and I can't remember the last time my throat hurt afterward from cheering. Whew. GO BLUE!
2. A supremely awkward man wearing a Huron hat and I had a fantastically uncomfortable encounter in Dibellas today. And for the record, no, I am not participating in whatever tennis tournament he was inquiring about...just let me be nice and allow you to go in front of me to refill your flipping drink.
3. This cold is causing my face bones to ache after very brief encounters. Not cool. Can't wait to walk across campus....NOT.
4. I'm wondering if anyone else in this world sleeps on the floor when they just simply cannot fall asleep in their bed...I'm continually being told that it's weird. Which is fine, cuz it works for me!
5. http://www.textsfromlastnight.com/ makes me wonder how many people fabricate funny and often highly disturbing textual conversation snippets...
6. Two more days of freedom until classes begin again. I'm slightly terrified I might lose my sanity this semester what with all it entails. Be prepared for some interesting blog posts...

And with that I shall leave you! Hello helter skelter posting as of late. I haven't had enough time away from school to fix my severe case of Skatter Brain. Perhaps this next day of babysitting followed up by a day of doctors appointments and errand running shall prove to be enough relaxation to postpone an outbreak of crazy...

Ya'll better hope so!

Home for the Holidays

Now keep in mind that everyone else in the family has a significant other. Maj obviously has the Faj, Brad has Brett, Alison has Erik, and Brain has Julia. Andrea is equipped with, oh I don't know, a messed up perception of a relationship and zero prospects on the horizon...along with the fact that she has been single for over a year. Totally fine. No big deal. No big deal until people have to vocalize these sad facts and I literally have zero ammo to return the favor.

Now, Maj and Faj...psh. Whatever, that has been there forever. They're married. It has been a lot of years, blah blah blah. Brad and Brett on the other hand make it very known to the general public that they are together. They are the most touchy-feely couple I have witnessed thus far in my time here on earth and paired with that, they seem to only be able to speak in baby talk to each other. It's not annoying at all. Nor does it make me slightly sick to my stomach. Bah. Alison and Erik, I appreciate. They're cool. They don't rub the whole being together thing in everyone's faces, they're appropriate around the family, they're hilarious, they speak in normal voices, all in all the one coupling I could deal with. Brain and Julia...well, Brain was off in her land most of the time, so whatever.

XMas 2009 was successful! I'm super excited about my new backpack from Santa cuz the one I was using was Brad's from 1990-something and tended to split open randomly while walking around campus making life slightly more annoying. I'm thinking this one won't have the tendency to resort to such shenanigans. I've already loaded it with all of my new school supplies (pens and highlighters!) and I'm pretty sure he can't wait to be loaded up with binders and notebooks. Oooh this is sad.

Also, pretty sure I've secretly won the Favorite Grandchild Award from Granny cuz I was donned with the Celtic Quilt that she has been slaving away at for hours and hours over a period of many many years. It's pretty darn sweet...slash an honor to get that quilt of all quilts. Holy moly! Gotta love the White Tornado. Hahaha

What else...classes start on Wednesday which is slightly sickening. I'm not entirely pleased...slash what happened to those two weeks!? They flew by. Heck, it's already 2010 for crying out loud.

Oh yeah!! I'm going blind! Hahahaha I forgot about that wonderful fact. Faj's horrid vision has finally struck my eyeballs...and Alison's too. I am headed to the eye doctor on Tuesday, hopefully to fix that wonderful issue. That would explain the daily headaches and issues reading the words on the screen on occasion in class all semester. Hmmm...perhaps I was just in denial for a bit? We'll go with that.

Alright, this is large and all over the place, so I shall wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and we'll visit the topic of New Year's Resolutions in the next post. Happy Saturday. :)