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Auntie Angela has invasive lobular breast cancer. I’m getting mixed messages here. Apparently it’s been caught very early and she’ll be going in for a preventative surgery in which they will probably remove both her breasts, but then why is my family so stressed and sad? I’m so confused…and worried too.

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Happy birthday to Kevin! We had cake and balloon festivities, though tomorrow will involve more celebration because Fridays are cooler than Thursdays.

Today involved baking a cake, meeting with Benjamin, a Spanish oral exam (shudder), and lunch with Katie. And an art project.

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I played poker tonight! It was most exciting, and my first time playing, too. I think I did okay for a first-timer, so that made me happy. Of course, it helped to have tips from Kevin these past few weekends :)

I also read a senior’s thesis earlier. She wrote me the nicest email:

Dear Taly,

Thank you soooooo much for your help. I can’t tell you how much your comments helped. (I learned so much too.) You definitely have a gift. Thank you so much for your willingness to look over my thesis. I appreciate you dropping everything just to read it.

I’m beyond words at how selfless you are. Again, thank you a million times over.

L…

P.S. After this weekend, we have to go to coffee or dinner :) Let me know when you are open.

So yeh, I am quite content today. Which is just to show that in the midst of finals, and stress, and everything else, it is still possible to have a good time on a Wednesday night.

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Distractions! There is a New HPC board that I’m quite estatic about, and also iTunes has taken up some good distraction-time too. And talking to Joey on iChat…he started work and was talking about some random people, and I was like, “whoa!” It’s funny, I think with some of those people in my life, e.g. Phil, Doug, Andrew, Toni, Katheryn…I bet I’ll never remember them again at some point in my life, and yet I saw them for 40-60 hours a week certain times of the year. Funny how that is. Well, Joey, Breelee, and Rob should have fun this summer, I hope ~_~

Today was busy (nothing new there), but not horrible. I still managed an hour-long nap after class :P

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Itinerary for this summer:

May 14: Finals end! And Mandy, my best friend up here, will be visiting Tucson!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!! It’ll be so awesome–I really want all of you to meet her when she comes, because Mandy is one of the greatest people you’ve ever met, and she wants to meet all of you guys, too.

June 1: Return to Claremont to work on the Benjamin internship, full-time! Wow! That was unexpected, but I say, sweet! Southern California, here we go again, going on a good trip, zipping up a ride…okay, if any of you know what song that is, you get brownie points for tonight. I will be rooming with my lovely suitemate, Caitlin, which I am horribly excited about because Caitlin will be studying abroad next year and I won’t get to see her for an entire year thereafter :( But we’ll definitely get to do cool stuff here as well–and Arunima and Jeremy will be around too! Sweet. Should you guys want to visit or something for a long weekend, that could be fun.

July 1: Leave for Claremont, possibly to Chicago to visit Kevin! In any event, if not that early in the month, most definitely during the month of July will I be visiting Kevin…and to meet his family, and Sunah, and wow, it’ll be amazing!!

Rest of July: Chill in Tucson, finish Benjamin work online. Weee!

Aug. 10: Move back in to Claremont to start RA training and the rest of the schoolyear. Yay!

So yeh, I’m excited about this summer. Now I just need to get through finals, which entails proving the irrationality of pi (done earlier this evening, along with a lovely presentation about immigrantion and economics affecting the U.S., and the EU military), a final art project, a few Spanish quizzes and oral exams (NOW she’s letting up. Grr.), a diff eq’s take-home, deadline, finishing up voice stuff (as in, finding an editor-in-chief for next year, end of the year reports, budgeting for next year, etc.), a diff eq’s final, a Spanish final, moving out, and other random stuff along the way. It’ll be exciting.

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So, it turns out I will probably be spending a month in Claremont after all. Whoohoo! You guys should come visit me again, if you can help it.

4:30 in the morning again. I like the quiet and cold of the night…in my pajamas, wearing footsocks, that is…

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grar. ugggh.

feels like white hot poker boring into the left side of my head.

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Two midterms down, two more to go. Go, Talya, go!

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I have this waltz song from dance stuck in my head. At least it’s a pretty song.

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Here is a twist on surveys–Sunah just forwarded me an email I sent her–well, Lupin, a 17-year-old soon-to-be high school senior–sent her from back in the day. Ah, memories–

*SuRvEy*

What does your name mean? Born on Christmas…and no, I wasn’t born on Christmas

How old are you? 17

How old are you mentally (as in are you mature?)? somewhere between 1-100?
Describe yourself in 5 words~ intravert, innocent, unique, hard-working, innovative (that’s a lot of i’s…)

What are your worst qualities~ I can be selfish, air-headed, a wet-blanket, and sometimes all three

How long does it take you get get ready in the morning? usually I wake up an hour before I need to be there, dick around for a half-hour, get ready in 15 minutes, and then rush out the door 15 minutes before I need to be there…

~SLEEP~
Do you dream at night? yesh

Do you remember your dreams? yesh

Describe one: oh there was one I had the other day where, after writing that fic of mine, I dreamed that JKR did something that had to do w/something or another. I think it basically replayed what I wrote that night…strange. Usually I dream about what I write, esp. if it’s just after an important part. Like I’m starting WC2…you can bet I’m lost, but I rely on my subconscious to help w/the story and crud. I know…I’m a weird one…

What time do you go to bed usually? In the summer whenever I’m tired, though usually sometime between 1-2, in the schoolyear last year it was nine (shudder), though this year it’ll be about 11 or 12 (yay!)

What time do you wake up normally? school TBA, summer somewhere between 10-12

What time do you wake on weekends? whenever I get up. Usually I gotta work on weekends, so earlier than during the week

Do you find waking late nice or annoying? I love sleeping in, as Virginia and Jill well know by now ~_-

do you sleep with one pillow or two? two

~SCHOOL~
Do you like school? when there aren’t any tests or quizzes going on…which is never, but still…

Why/why not? well, it’s fun to learn random stuff w/o being under stress and stuff….that’s probably why I loved astronomy so much, we did mostly lectures

Whats ur fave subject? I dunno? Journalism?

Most hated subject? Spanish. I loathe Spanish.

Do you have a fave teacher? not really. I think of the teachers I had, I’ll remember most Ms Madden, Mr Sabb, Ms Minor, and Mr Minor. Oh, and Ms Close because she’s crazy

Ever had a crush one teacher? eww no

Are you a maths/science person or an english/drama person? Engilsh/science… idn its messed up

~FRIENDS~
Do you have heaps of friends? I have a lot of friends but a group of close ones I hang out with a lot

Do you have a best friend? sure

Do you have more guy friends or more girl friends? more girls…which is sad because guy friends are more fun

Do you ever get annoyed at any friend? sure who doesn’t?

Have you ever lied to a friend? yeah

~FAMILY~
Do you like your parents? I love my parents. And like them too

Ever run away from home? yes when I was in third grade I ran away from home. When I left, I was going to spend the night in our van and then the next day run away to go live in Dennis Weaver. I ended up staying in the van, clutching my child suitcase, for about 40 minutes, then Mom came out and told me to come inside or I’d catch a cold.

Ever thought about it? yeh

Do you have any siblings? yeh

If so, do you like or get annoyed with them? like (and that’s poor wording)

How old are they? 20, 15 (methinks), 13

If not, do you mind being an only child? i would hate it. Siblings are fun

Do you feel your parents spoil you? oh yes.

Do you not get along with any of your family? Jimmy and I can get on ea. other’s nerves…

Do you have big family get togethers ever? nope. Haha. The St. Clairs having a hooting-nanny. That’s hilarious. It’s time for a ho-down, fellow St. Clairs!!!

~RELATIONSHIPS~
Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? no
If so, are you in love with them? no
Do they love you? no lol
Most romantic thing theyve ever done for you? …
Do you have a crush? nope
If so, are you in love? N/A
Do they know you like them? N/A
Is it serious or playful? N/A
How long have you liked them? N/A
Ever done something stupid to impress them? N/A
Have you ever experienced unrequited love? nope
Do u find it romantic or hurtful? STOP IT WITH THAT LOVE SHEET! For heaven’s sake, I LIKE being single!!!
Even know what it is? what what is?

~Sex~
Ever had sex? no
Believe that a person shouldnt have sex before marriage? its their choice…
Believe in casual sex? nah
When do you plan/when did you lose your virginity? uh… I don’t really plan shiz like dat man…
Did you regret it? ’scuse me?

~Religion~
Do you have a religion? agnostic
Do you practice it i.e go to church? nope
Do you believe in God? agnostic
Jesus? agnostic
Satan? agnostic
Heaven? agnostic
Hell? agnostic
If you died tomorrow what do you believe will happen to you? agnostic
Does death scare you? agnostic

~Morals~
Have you ever been drunk? no
taken drugs? no
stolen? no
shoplifted? no
tried to commit suicide? no
Lied to a boyfriend or girlfriend? no
gotten into a fight? yeah! I beat up Mike Morris in sixth grade! That was awesome
Are you more innocent or guilty? of what?
Would you date a drug addict? no they most likely love their drugs more and will die young as a result…however, if they’re seeking help and are not “addicted” at the point in which I meet them, they might get a chance…
have you ever had to look after someone who was a drug addict? no
Are you racist? NEVER
is someone in your family? probably someone back east…my grandma hates Japanese and German ppl because of WWII, methinks. Even though her husband happened to be German…she’s a silly old woman
Are you discriminatory to anyone? maybe it’s because of childhood experience, but little old ladies scare me, even though I *try* not to show it when I encounter them!
Have you been a hypocrite in the past? what I just said in the past three or four slots probably makes me hypocritical…
Do you have an open or closed mind to other peoples beliefs and feelings? open minded… to each his own.

~Media~
Do you watch tons of tv? nah. I used to but then I discovered this other box in mah house… its interactive! nice
How many times have you been to the movies in the past 6 months? haha…please don’t ask…
Do you listen to the radio often? no
Do you read the newspaper? I try to…does online count?
Do you read magazines? no
Are you a couch potato? I’m a computer chair potato
Do you use the internet too much? oh yes

~Music~
Whats your fave style of music? I try to be open-minded…sometimes I’ll hear it once and won’t like it because of beat or something, but then I hear the lyrics a second time around and like it
Do you play an instrument? used to play the piano. I can read music, does that help?
Do you sing? haha you’re funny
Whats your fave band? MOBY!
Why? in the words of Bob Purvis, one can’t help but like that little vegan
Have you met them before? nope
Name 3 cds that youve bought in that last year? letzsee….seeing as I buy more DVD’s nowadays and burn my CD’s, this is an unfair question….ummmmmmm MOBY: I Like to Score, Princess Mononoke Soundtrack, Titan A.E. soundtrack…
Why did you buy them? cuz… I wanted em?

~Sport~
Whats your fave sport? horse-back riding
Whats your fave sport to watch? I despise watching sports
Do you have a fave team of any sort? N/A
Do you play a lot of sports? not really
ever won anything for sport? horse-back riding ribbons

~perosnality~
Are you funny or serious? Depends on who I’m with
Creative or not? I consider myself creative
Logical thinker or lateral thinker? eh depends. I tend to be very fact-orientated though
Are you outgoing or shy? both
Are you lazy or active? both
Have you ever been hyperactive? sure
Are you a naturally hyperactive person? idn

~Looks~

Are you happy with the way you look? yep
What would you change? I need to do more sit-ups, I have a tummy. And my nose is always red
Do you wear makeup regularly? mostly yes
Do you have a large wardrobe? pretty much

~Money~
Do you have a job? yep I work at a movie theatre
Do you like it? well, all jobs get old, of course, so I’m kinda glad school is starting. However, I think I’ll return next summer, and maybe even winter break ~_~
Are you a saver or a spender? saver
Do you work hard or slack off? work hard
Have you ever been fired? nope
In trouble at work? nope
Made a major mistake? might have, but didn’t know about it, because they’re so loose, they say, “oh, it’s okay…” to everything you do
Ever had money stolen from you? no
Are you always broke? seems like it

~embarassing moments~
Your all time most embarassing moment? oh, but how to choose?
Ever snorted drink out your nose? pizza?
Ever giggled like an idiot? oh yes just get Georgina and I paired up
Ever embarassed yourself and pretedned nothing happened? oh yes. Like fart really loud, that’s always fun
Ever tripped in front of someone you liked? probably
Ever said soemthing really stupid? yeeeah
Ever snorted while laughing? yeah
Ever fallen off a bed? haven’t done that one, but I’m sure I will one of these days
Ever sleepwalked? yep
Ever sleeptalked? yep

~Memories~
Whats your best memory? oh, but there are so many!
Worst? garr quit asking about memories
Whats the wierdest memory you have? probably some obscure dream
Do you have a good memory? when you ask me a more SPECIFIC question about memories, I think I’m all right
Whats the coolest holiday you remember having? oh but there are so many

~Thoughts~
Ever had funny thoughts and laughed and no one understood you? oh yes
Whats the first thought that comes to your head when you hear these names?
Melissa - nancy-girl
Bob - Purvis
Vanessa - williams
Alyssa - ’sup, girlfriend?
Jess - Jessie mah bud
Brian - that projectionist who thinks he’s a manager
Charlie - WEASLEY
Olivia - from Gryffindor
Drew - that little boy we used to tutor
Lily - Potter. And JKR…
Anita - Mom’s friend

Whats the first thoughts that come to your head while hearing these words?
cheese - pizza
rubber - smelly
clothes - rags
big - tall
dress - eww
jacket - red
polyester - pajamas
kite - up
washing -machine…