Rationalizing

I have a new hobby: watching movies on TV. It's one of my less useful hobbies, way behind cooking and knitting, and probably even behind crossword puzzles. But I love the fact that I end up watching movies I would never pick out for myself, even though some of them are kind of not that great. (Ahem, Center Stage.) But Moonstruck holds up even the zillionth time, and Beetlejuice is charming and funnier than I thought. And it's not like I wouldn't otherwise be watching the same episodes of CSI I've already seen at least twice.

I really love Moonstruck a lot.

Tastebuds

My doctor is making me drink Slim-Fast to fill in the gaps when I don't feel good enough to eat anything. I just tried it for the first time. I popped open the can, took a sip, and thought, man, what does that taste like? Chocolate soy milk? Brown rice syrup? Scalded milk?

Close, but no cigar. Then it came to me. What it tastes like is the milk left over from a bowl of Cocoa Puffs.

I think this is moderately disgusting, but I'll drink the darn stuff. Doctor's orders and all that.

Spring semester started today. The two classes I had today were fantastic. I'm a big nerd, but I'm sure that comes as no surprise to anyone.

Jiggety Jog

I had a good break. I did a lot of stuff: I knitted three sweaters, played a lot of Final Fantasy XII, spent time with my family and with James, had a tooth pulled, read some books, baked two cakes and a pan of brownies, and slept a whole lot, among other things. I also could practically feel myself relaxing, not so much physically as emotionally. I don't know how to extend my vacation mental state into the semester. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to carefully choose which friendships to put energy into maintaining, because I think a lot of my emotional energy goes into relationships that maybe don't give me as much as I put into them.

I'm exhausted from the drive, but it's really nice to be home. Surprisingly nice. I'd forgotten how much I love this apartment, and this city.

Brisk

While I'm here, one more thing I love about Pittsburgh: people actually pull over to the side of the road when an emergency vehicle flips on its siren. Maybe this should go instead in the category of Things I Hate About Charlottesville.

I just got back from running a few errands. I had to go out to my car and fetch my coat (it's 19 degrees outside and windy), mail my rent, deposit some checks and pick up a few things at the grocery store. Doing all of these things took me maybe forty minutes, in the snow. This includes the time it took to get a price check on a can of sweetened condensed milk (who knew that stuff cost $3.19!) and to chat about the weather with the crossing guard at Murray and Beacon.

I may not ever want to move back to Squirrel Hill, but man, this place sure is efficiently laid out. And I love not having to get in my car for every little thing.

19 degrees is cold, though, when you're not used to it. I think I like it, though. I just have to get back in the rhythm of winter again.