Escape from erudition: Please subpoena this post

November has proved to be an exciting month. I'll go somewhat chronologically.

I participated in my first skating exhibition, performing in the adult synchronized skating team Champaign on Ice. Things were a little rocky in our performance, but we pulled through and ended together with smiles on our faces. My parents and some friends (Mica, Chris and Jessica) came to see me, which was awesome! It was great to have their support and see their beautiful faces afterward!

One new thing I learned that I love about skating? The built-in velveteen panties in case someone accidentally sees up your short flippy skating dress:

The night before the skating exhibition, I decided not to go "crazy" (that is, not to drink vast quantities of liquor and stay out late dancing), and ended up going to the Neko Case concert with Jenelle and Tricia:

I look so much more photogenic in this picture than in all the GEO pictures that got taken at the protest:

Of course, I'm posing in this, I'm wearing more makeup than just foundation and chapstick, and it's not 7:45 am :) My narcissistic self thought that it would look as if I'd cared too much about my appearance if I'd worn too much makeup to the protest. Just how bad does that make me?

I tried taking pictures of Neko Case, but didn't want to use a flash, which was a good idea, because the pompous hipsters surrounding us were mad enough (although not very verbally; they just sort of snorted their noses in our general direction-sorry hipsters, you know I love you!!!) that we were taking pictures of each other with the flash at intermission. It was my first Canopy Club concert, as it was for Jenelle and Tricia, and we thought the venue was really cool. The inside is reminiscent of other buildings' interiors on Oregon, like Red Herring and Espresso Royale Café at Oregon and Goodwin.

Here is one attempt:

Unfortunately, the only picture that doesn't have trippy "moving" people in it due to my zooming in while in "Night" mode has a random head in it (presumably attached to a body).

I've also decided to participate in this year's National Novel Writing Month.

This project consists of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, from 12:00:01 am on November 1st until November 30th. I started 10 days late, and I only have 10,845 words so far, but it's exciting to be able to write a work of fiction with such abandon; the reason that there is a word count goal is so that participants don't get bogged down in the details and don't worry about going over and editing everything. All you do is submit your 50,000+ words to be counted and verified between Nov. 25 and Nov. 30; quality doesn't matter, as the people who run NaNoWriMo do not read your novel, which is automatically deleted after your words are counted.

I usually have trouble writing fiction, but since I don't have to worry about having every detail be perfect, the words are flowing pretty well, and I'm constantly having ideas as to where the plot(s) could go. I don't know if I'll have time to finish, but trying to create something is rewarding in and of itself.

One thing I hate when I've been writing so much in word documents on my computer is that I try to Command + S everything: emails, notebooks, orders on line at Subway.... It's unsettling.

Last weekend was a busy, and sort of represents all the events of this month: I went to freestyle Saturday morning to practice my freestyle 1 material, then I got a ride from Liz, another grad student in the French department, to go to Willard Airport for a GEO negotiation in the afternoon, and we stayed there about 3.5-4 hours! The entire negotiation lasted about 6 hours, but the GEO and the administration weren't able to come to agreeable terms regarding language in the contract protecting tuition waivers for out of state and international students, so a strike was authorized! Then I went to dinner with Jessica, Sean and Dan to meet Chris and his mom, but left early to meet Mica for Le mariage de Figaro (the opera, not a discussion of our reading list!). Her neighbor played Cherubino and was awesome!

Sunday was kind of awash as I anticipated the strike, did some homework, and attended a Picket Captain meeting, while developing an ulcer and several panic attacks.

On Monday and Tuesday, I went on strike and protested at the FLB. It was a very unique experience, and I'll never look at any of the buildings on the quad, especially not FLB, where I spent most of my picketing hours, or Foellinger Hall, where the final rally took place at the end of the second and final day of the strike and we were told that an agreement had finally been made. I have tons of photos which I'm not going to put up here. The whole thing was surreal, and I met a lot of people from my building through the protest that I probably wouldn't have met otherwise. It was rewarding to fight for my union and to get what we wanted in the end. The ratification process is ongoing, and once everyone's voted, we'll find out if the strike is "officially" over (although we're all back in the classrooms).

One last news item:

I now am the proud owner of a new pair of ghetto-fabulous designer glasses: