To Symmetry

My friend, Caroline, just got back from studying abroad in India for six months. I had coffee with her last week, and I loved hearing all about her time in Hyderabad. While we were talking, she made the offhand comment that they're obsessed with symmetry in India. I don't know why, but ever since then I've been thinking a lot about that. 

I like symmetry as well, but I have come to realize that I am a very unsymmetrical person. I keep a hairband around only my right wrist. I wear one ring consistently, and it is on my right hand. I have three earrings in my left ear but only two in my right. One side of my nose is pierced. I have a cowlick only on the left side of my head. My left foot is a bit smaller than my right. My fingernails are not the same length.

Would I be shunned in India, do you think?

"I Think I See the Light" by Cat Stevens

Who is in charge of the grocery shopping here?

What's the best thing about summer? Yes, the fresh fruit. Also there's no school, but mainly the fresh fruit. Since this should be very obviously apparent to everyone, then why, may I ask, is there ZERO fresh fruit in my house?!

Meltdown

Good things that have happened in the past three days:

• I found and purchased the perfect floppy straw hat
• Hannah and I bought chocolate-covered espresso beans and mini peanut butter cups at Trader Joe's, then had coffee at Caffe Driade (I'd never been there before)
• I finished my Peace Corps Application (finally!)
• I saw Amelie for the first time
• I submitted my first non-school-related short story to an online contest

Not so good things that have happened in the past three days:

• My mini peanut butter cups melted into a soup
• It's so hot outside that I feel like I'm melting into a soup
• The Peace Corps website is under maintenance, so I can't actually submit my application yet
• Pete left for Germany yesterday, and I miss him

La cuisine française est étonnante.

Today I hung out with Amy for the first time since her wedding. We puttered around her apartment for a while, but then we went to Chapel Hill for some crepes. The place is called Crepes Veronique, and the lady who makes them is from France. She also makes her own chocolate, caramel, and vanilla sauces that go on them. It's SO amazing. The kinds of crepes that she makes change every day because she makes them out of fresh fruit from the market. Today I had an apple and cinnamon one, and Amy's had chocolate and vanilla sauces.

I don't know what the French lady's name is, but she's so cute. She was wearing a loose, flower-print dress, and her hair was in a carefree style with some kind of clip. She wore a white apron over her clothes and kept pushing her sleeves up over her elbows. Watching her made me want to go to Europe so badly.

Henry Bread

I love it when my cat, Henry, sits like this. He looks like a little loaf of bread.

let's play a . . . love game? <-- (Lady Gaga reference, whaaaat)

Recently at work, I've devised some excellent ways to pass the time.

Monday I had an eye doctor's appointment, and they dilated my eyes. This always makes me feel very sleepy and loopy for the rest of the day, and when I got to work that night, I came up with this game. The object of said game was to use as many cliche's naturally in conversation as possible -- the more the merrier (haha, chuckle chuckle). The final tally for the night was as follows: LouAnne 0 (big shocker), Cassie and Crystal 2 each, Jason 4, and I had so many I stopped counting (should I be ashamed of this talent)?

My game for work on Wednesday was not nearly as clever as Monday's game and followed along the same lines. The object was to use as many song lyrics in conversation as was naturally possible. Also, you had to imitate the original method and voice that was used in the song. For instance: a Lil Wayne rap needed to be reenacted in a high-pitched, scratchy voice and with rhythm (if possible).

Thursday night was the same game except with movie quotes. It's amazing how the little things in life can entertain people for hours on end.

"You are a Messy Messy Mess." ~Hannah's Mom

I'm in the process of watching my boss's dog, Molly, for her while she's on vacation. Molly is a greyhound, and her color pattern is brindle, so she's really quite ugly. However, she is still a dog, and I love dogs, so don't think she's lacking any affection. Plus, she's very sweet. And soft.

My boss is a 30[ish] year old woman who stands about 4'11" and is one of the most anal micro-managers I've ever met (excluding my stepmother). At work she critiques everything everyone does, and nothing is ever good enough for her. She has a raging temper, but sometimes she can be overly nice. For instance, I had to work on my birthday last year, so she brought me a cake, ice cream, and a present to work. How many bosses do that, I wonder?

Anyways, I'm staying at her house while she's away (because she didn't want Mo to get lonely at night), and it's REALLY messy. This surprised me because she's so OCD about everything at work. When Pete came over last night to watch a movie, he took one step in the door and said, "What a shithole." Too harsh?

I'm just ready to sleep in my own bed again and to feel safe without the lights on at night.