nagi_schwarz | Day 384: The winter of the weekend

Yup. Weekend is over. I was incommunicado for a couple of days. I don't regret it. Friday was a fairly simple affair. I drove home fairly early in the afternoon after dispatching with some chores, such as sending a happy box to Niichan, and depositing my check. Seirra was right - I could have picked it up on Thursday instead of waiting for Friday, but it was no skin off my nose.

I got a a shiny new cellphone. To be accurate, it's my sister's old phone, but compared to the blue plastic dinosaur I previously owned, it's awesome. The only problem is that it doesn't go on silent, so I will have to turn it off the entire time I'm in class. And it only has geeky ringtones, so now I will find myself summoned my the Mario sound. Yay. Hanging out with mom was awesome. We had ice cream, watched Numbers, and had long talks. She's going to make me some nice flannel pajamas for Christmas, so there was a certain amount of measuring and whatnot.

Saturday was the uber exciting day. I'm going to start being a good Nagi (which Brad seriously doubts, now that I'm twelve chapters behind in Dickens and barely arsed to study for CJ) and going to the gym. I have a pass, so I can go while up here, and am determined to do so three times a week till I go home. I may go more often if I get stressed out. It's true - exercise is great for de-stressing. After the whole gym training thing, Mom and I set off for Las Vegas. It was fun, running around in search of Christmas presents (about which I have promptly forgotten and am unable to answer any questions about them) and then going to the International Market. I was looking for some sesame treats, but found none, and am happily supplied with Mochi instead. I also managed to get to a Barnes & Noble and am now the proud owner of a massive Latin verb dictionary. A truly geeky purchase, accompanied with the audio version of MacBeth, and Lolita as read by Jeremy Irons, since Dr. Petersen recommended it. I listened to some of it. Jeremy Irons has a great voice; both he and Alan Rickman are far too old for me (than is proper, at any rate) but they have wonderful voices.

Clearly, watching so much anime has made me more attracted to a man's voice than to his face. Maybe that's not a bad thing.

Mom and I ate out at Fazoli's, and then watched Donnie Darko. Mom didn't like it, but I love that movie. She thinks I'm nuts.

I'm home now. I had Cornish pasties, and spent the day sorting out mail. Sounds strange, doesn't it? It seems that I have been keeping mail since I was eight. I found letters from people I knew as far back as the Philippines. I also discovered that I wrote long obnoxious notes to my friend Tawny in ninth grade, and she wrote equally long ones in return, about our friend Noelle, the novels I wrote, and my crush on a boy named Spike. Mustn't have been much of a crush, if I can't remember who he is. But I'm one hell of a packrat, and can't bear to part with any letter someone has sent me. People email each other anymore, and so a genuine snail-mail letter deserves some recognition.

Think historians will trawl through archives of emails hundreds of years from now to learn about famous people, or history? So many famous people have been revealed through their correspondence. Letters are physical things. Handwriting is so personal. Not that someone comes off like a drone in an email, because people have their own voices, but still. I love writing letters as much as I love giving them. I also have prepared a stack of Christmas cards I have to send off this year. I'm excited. I love sending Christmas cards too.

I have to tackle some Dickens now. I can do it. Just watch me.

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