The Numbers Are In!

hours studied (avg./day): 4.75
trips to Starbucks: 4
books finished this week: 4
brain power: 85% capacity
stress level: low
reading: The Strangeness of Beauty by Lydia Minatoya
mood: unmotivated
learning: to complain less
sad realizations: I haven't seen Jake's face in a long time!
looking forward to: hanging out with my freshmen girls on Saturday! 
highlight of the week: Receiving postcards from Maike, Jake's public declaration of love and adoration for me on Facebook.

Weekly Update:

We thread our way through throngs of people. A running stitch of white tents and food trucks embroider the streets of downtown Tucson and strange smells mingle with one another in the air. Somewhere a mariachi symphony plays traditional Mexican music. The annual 3-day cultural festival Tucson Meet Yourself is truly a beautiful, overwhelming, sensory affair. This year was my first time going and I loved it! I invited a friend from college group and we had a blast dancing to strange tunes and trying strange foods. Bruce and Stacey introduced us to Iranian food and we tried O'odham fry-bread tacos--both of which were delicious. We visited all the main areas, but we barely scratched the surface of what they have to offer. Next year, I will go back with a little more time on my hands to try more food and actually enjoy some of the performances they have stationed around the festival.

Last year, over 100,000 people visited Tucson Meet Yourself. I'm so glad I got to be one of them this year! By now, you've probably noticed that I have a thing for numbers and stats, so here are more stats for last year's TMY. Warning: they're impressive.

Also this week, I have been working hard at my conference paper which I promised to work on during my first Inksanity video. And I decided to make a compromise with Kristin and Sabina. They have been urging me to do NaNoWriMo which I'd originally planned not to do considering my heavy course load this semester. But, I told them I would set a small word goal (probably a short story spanning 10,000 words or so) if I can finish my American Novel class and drop my Shakespeare class before November. For my AN class I only have a few assignments left, including one of the conference papers. I'm trying to drop Shakespeare from my degree template because I had a few unexpected credits transfer in (I did the work, but I didn't expect the transfer to go through or count toward my degree) and I might be able to drop a class. No offense to Mr. Shakespeare, but it would be a huge weight off my shoulders if I didn't have to pick up another class between now and January. Four classes is enough. I know my mood says "unmotivated," but I did some figuring and once again, the end of my degree is tangible. I just need to get through these next few months.