Construction noise follows me wherever I go. I have almost no motivation to study for finals (in 7 days!), but when I do put forth a good faith effort to do so, someone starts hammering or sawing something within 25 feet of me. There's constant construction at the law library, which is coupled with an inability to regulate the climate- its either freezing or muggy and hot. Prompted by semi-productive memories of fall finals, I made my way to the undergraduate library last week. Right when I got settled in, a loud hammering noise assaulted my eardrums. Yesterday it was cold, grey, and snowy, so I attempted studying from home. Right as I got settled in with my giant penguin tea mug, the people above us decided to remodel their kitchen (I'm guessing) and use a very loud saw to cut through something metal and squeaky. It was awful. Even the cat was totally freaked out. JP looked like he might kill someone. We decided to call it a day and go to Trader Joe's (a place I will miss sorely when we move back down south) and buy lots of delicious food.
We microwaved ourselves a delicious TJ's meal of mandarin orange chicken, vegetable fried rice, and chicken shu mai and watched "Shut Up & Sing", the documentary on the Dixie Chicks, and then "Hollywoodland". SU&S was excellent and Hollywoodland was mildly entertaining (but definitely better than studying for finals). I highly recommend the Dixie Chicks movie- even if you're not a country music fan. If you're hard-core-Bill-O'Reilly-conservative, you may not like it, but its about so much more than politics.
I was embarassed on behalf of the South while watching it- I remember the whole public outcry after Natalie Maines said, jokingly, at a London concert in 2003, "... and we're ashamed President Bush is from Texas" and thought it was all ridiculous. Every country radio station below the Mason-Dixon line banned their music- they went from having the #1 single ("Traveling Soldier") to not even being on the top 200. One guy interviewed said he supported freedom of speech, "but they don't have to do it in public!" They got death threats, people protested at their tour stops, radio stations organized burning barrels for people to burn their CDs- all this in AMERICA. It was remniscient of a dictatorship- voice dissent and your life is ruined. Ugh. I got re-frustrated watching the movie, but I still really enjoyed it. Its fun to look inside their lives, see them tour, be with their families, struggle and triumph over infertility, etc. I also happen to love their music so it was fun seeing them go through the steps of writing and recording a song. I wish the movie had an epilogue telling viewers the Chicks went on to win FIVE grammy's even though the majority of country stations still refuse to play their songs. It was also interesting seeing the headlines and Bush's approval ratings back in '03. The Chick's manager was telling them "the war couldn't going better" and "Bush's approval ratings are sky high." So much has happened in 4 years. We're still there, its going horribly, and Bush's approval ratings are the lowest in presidential history. Anyway... this started out about construction and turned into a post about politics- and I really have to go study. Or do something that looks more like studying than blog posting.
My sympathies! During my second and part of my third year of law school, our subdivision was being completed. It was awful, because I would study at home. The dog would bark whenever a diesel powered truck drove nearby (which was frequent). I learned to take naps during lunch hour. We bought in early to get the extra equity, but sometimes I wonder if it was really worth it.
ReplyDeleteI hope the kitchen remodel is extremely shortlived.