You've got the teeth of the hydra upon you...

For those of you who haven't heard this Old 97's song, or haven't heard me quote it at some point this month (my other favorite quote is, "Talking to you girl, is like long division"), you really should check it out. My ex-roommate burned it for me on a mix CD he made for my birthday... jeez. Way back in 2002. And it's still that rockin of a CD. Kudos to you, roomie. But I would definitely say that this week, every time I've tried to fix something, or tried to sort something out (granted it might not need fixing), it seems like two other things have popped up to complicate everything. It's like facing the mythological creature the hydra. You cut off one head, and two more grow back to replace it. For more on the hydra and why it has anything to do with what's going on this week, check out the wikipedia definition for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_%28mythology%29

Busy busy week. My bike schedule got jacked up due to a combination of homework, exhaustion from the ride, and other more pleasant factors that just took the time away from me. I'm afraid things will have to change by next week though. I will once again rise and shine, at 6 AM on Monday morning (the rain should be through, and if not, I have a raincoat), and I will get my ride in. I'm starting to realize that I need it to calm me down, to focus my mind, to relieve stress, and give me an hour or two where I can go over a few things in my head.

My first midterm is coming up. From what I've heard, the midterms are the tests that determine how well you do. If you can pass your first midterms, you can pass the qualifying exams. If you don't, you'd really better hit that grindstone. I'm becoming frustrated with statistics though, because I feel like I should know the formulas, and know the problems (I did cover this entire book a year or two ago in Theory of Probability and Math Theory of Statistics), but I'm still hitting roadblocks, especially with integration and sums. The equations become too ugly, and too complicated, and math is not like that at all. It's clean, simple, and expressive. I would compare how I feel now to how I feel when I try to speak Spanish or play the bass now. There are things that I could do just a few months ago, that suddenly I'm struggling with. I can't remember certain Spanish words, or keep noun and verb agreements. I can't hold my bass bow with a relaxed hand anymore, or control the speed of my stroke on the string. I can't even play pizz (just fingers, no bow) without my fingers starting to blister! All these things I had no trouble with last January, and now I have to work to get them back. This is how it is with Math.

So apparently SOME people, think I haven't posted in a while :). And I suspect that there are SOME people who might be wondering why I haven't posted certain things, certain adventures, or even certain conversations. There is a good reason for that. Writer's block. For the adventures that I have had since Friday with my amiga, I'm finding it hard to find the right words to describe them. I could write about how we walked to Burger King, and pestered the poor guy at the drive-through by walking up to the window and knocking (something which my Tulsa friends might find familiar, but it was apparently a first for her). I could say we had a strange breakfast at 1 AM (2 AM?) on the open patio of a closed cafe, and saw some weird guy trying to get through the fence of a construction area across the street. I could talk about getting lost on the SMU campus (how do you get lost on a campus this small?) with her suitemate (roommate?), trying to find a midnight study group. Or how everyone at the study group had different majors, different classes, and really just sat in a room and enjoyed the company while reading. And I could tell you that tonight we got to see "The Corpse Bride" for free at the student union (for those of you who know me... let's just keep my deep rooted fear of claymation a secret for now) and watched the "night traffic" of students on campus. And of course the poor janitor in the bathroom... I was very tired, and didn't realize it was a girl. That's still my story. So good to know I can still make a complete idiot of myself and laugh at it. Oh yes, and my amiga's entertainment at me pulling my hair out over math problems. This is an attempt to describe it all, but its inadequate in capturing the attitude, the air, the friendliness, and yes... most importantly... the insanity of the past week. This isn't a Turk stealing a soccer ball from Brazilians, or an incomprehensibly fast old man on a bike. This isn't three very bored Highland Park cops pulling over a cyclist. My apologies amiga. :) I don't have the time in just this week to weave all of this insanity into just one, compact, easy-to-read, blog post for all to enjoy. Although rest assured... you rank very highly on the list of "most fascinating" of these characters, and to be sure, the most fun. In order to properly describe this week I might even have to dabble in magical realism. Marquez would be proud.
I look forward to our cook-off. Spaghetti vs. fish... this should be very interesting. But as you told your mom on the phone (Recuerda chica, que yo puedo comprender espanol tambien!) "the worst that can happen is, [you'll] get sick." Oh yes... highly entertaining.

Hurricane Rita is on her way. Hope that everyone is out of south Texas and well. My car is full of gas, my fridge is full of food, and I have five Fat Tire's left to enjoy my "long ride"-less weekend with. I would rather be taking the long ride... but Fat Tire is compensation enough. That and Dead Like Me season 2 disc 2.

Listening to:
"Becoming More Like ------" Mix CD by the ex-roommate 2002

Reading: Siddartha, by Herman Hesse.

I suppose I should at some point make a glossary, or an explanation of all the "characters" I've met since December 2004. I don't think everyone understands my references to, "the Turk", "the other Turk", "the Colombian", "el hombre guapo", "Papa Yella", "the Brazilians", etc.