Friday, November 20, 2009

Roommate Blues

My roommate, a fellow AE and a grad student, received a job offer from Boeing this week. The job would start in January, and it's pretty much her dream job. She's probably going to take it. Which is nice. I mean in this economy she'll have not just a job but the job she wants. The problem?

That leaves me without a roommate.

I'm a little disgruntled to say the least. Not considering at all the fact that I love my roommate and don't want her to leave me I'm still let with other problems. Everything in the kitchen is hers. The microwave. The pots. The pans. The dishes. The glasses. It's all hers. So unless I find a roommate with a kitchen's worth of stuff I'm going to have to buy myself a kitchen's worth of stuff. The TV is hers. Maybe for you, not having a TV would not be a big problem. But I can't live without TV. Seriously, it's like my oxygen. Not to mention, that if I were living alone because I can't find a new roommate, I would need the TV even more. Something has got to add noise to the background. So I'm going to have to buy a TV, unless new theoretical roommate has one. You can also add a dining table to the list while you're at it. And a bookshelf. My three bookshelves aren't enough for all my books, and half of her bookshelf is currently filled with mine. And these are just my material worries.

What if I can't find a roommate? What if I have to live by myself and pay full price for all utilities? (My roommate has kindly agreed to continue paying her half of the rent if I can't find a roommate, but I can't ask her to pay for the water I'm using, you know?). I am also incredibly paranoid. Living by myself would mean checking the locks twelve times every night before I go to bed. There is simply reassurance and calmness of mind in the idea that someone else is there, though my roommate probably wouldn't be able to protect me from an intruder. She's awesome, but not a ninja.

What if I do find a roommate but they're insane? I don't mean Norman Bates insane. I'm assuming that someone would pass the basic psycho test. But what if they just have habits I can't stand. I know me and my current roommate can live together. What if they like to watch TV a lot too and that conflicts with my TV watching? What if they also want to use the dining table as a desk, even though its in the living room? What if they leave a mess in the kitchen? What if they don't do dishes? So many questions, and no way to answer them.

This was all stress I didn't think I would have, because I knew my roommate would not graduate from grad school until August. I was secure in the fact that I would have a roommate until my lease is up. But now all that has changed.

Not to mention I'm losing a friend. Her job offer is in Seattle. That's far away. My roommate and I have been friends since Freshman year. She is undoubtedly the female friend I've had the longest at Tech.

This has put me into a state of roommate blues that I just can't fight. I really don't know what to do. Anyone out there need a roommate in the Midtown area? May I specify that my roommate needs to be tidy, not a crazy party-er, a Christian, and nice? A love of scifi is a nice addition but not a requirement.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Halfway Through, A Wheel of Time Update

So as my oh so faithful readers should know, I have been rereading the Wheel of Time, the most epic modern fantasy series. (I might contend ever, but let's not put the Lord of the Ring's people in an uproar). I just finished reading Lord of Chaos, which means I'm officially halfway through my reread. So I figured this was a good time to write about my thoughts and feelings, since this is my first read through the series as a "grown-up" shall we say.

In order to write about my reactions to what I've read I'm going to divide it up by characters and talk about my reactions to them. Here I will only discuss the Emond's Field 5. Later I might discuss others.

Rand al'Thor - The Dragon Reborn
When I first read the Wheel of Time series, I hated Rand. In the first book I liked him, but once he knew the truth, once he knew he was the Dragon Reborn, my feelings for him plummeted into loathing. As an adult reading, I don't hate Rand. I understand him better. He's a young man, younger than me now, who has been thrust into a terribly powerful and burdened position. The fate of the world is literally in his hands and as if that wasn't enough, he is slowly going mad. I think I initially didn't like Rand because he stopped trusting people, and the few people he did trust weren't the right ones. Now I understand why he doesn't trust the people who try to influence him. Rand is responsible for the entire world and if he lets himself trust the wrong person, he is letting the world fall into the Dark One's hands. I still don't agree with everything that Rand does. He still frustrates me, but right now I don't hate him. I appreciate his battle and I hope beyond hope that he can hold out to fight the Dark One.

Perrin Aybara - The Lord of Manatheren
When I first read through the WoT, I did not think much of Perrin. One of my friends recently described Perrin as "flavorless", and I think in many ways that is very apt. When compared to a character like Rand, Perrin just simply seems less. Why? Because to me Perrin represents the average, good man. Now in many ways that's why I like Perrin. If my future husband could only be like one of the three characters, in many ways I would want him to be the most like Perrin: faithful and true. Perrin is the character who in my opinion, changes the least. But his qualities are generally good. He's generally a good guy. I like Perrin, but he is a little bit "flavorless".

Mat Cauthon - the Blower of the Horn of Valere, the General
Mat is my favorite of the three male leads. He was my favorite the first time and he is my favorite again. The first, oh, four books I was a little iffy about Mat on my reread. I kept thinking "why do I like this guy again? He's such a player". But then he gets the ancient memories. Suddenly he finds himself unable to simply shrug responsibility. Suddenly he has hundreds of men willing to follow him to the ends of the Earth. I love Mat because he wins the most improved award. With each book he becomes a better person. With each book, he grows and changes into a better man, a man I like more and more. I love it when Mat takes Olver, the orphan boy, under his wing. I love it when Mat refuses to let Elayne go off by himself because he promised Rand. I love seeing a boy grow into a man.

Egwene al'Vere - the Amylrin Seat
Egwene was a girl with hopes of becoming an Aes Sedai who grew into so much more. She followed Rand to the Aiel Waste and spent a year training with the Aiel Wise Ones. She could have the love of the most handsome man in the world, Galad. Instead she choose to love the man who serves the other group of Aes Sedai and hates Rand, the man Egwene would do anything to protect. She is chosen to be the puppet of the Rebel Aes Sedai, but instead she rises to the challenge and bends the world to her. She will be the most powerful Amylrin, without a doubt. And yet, somehow she retains her normalness, her innocent farmgirl-ness. Sometimes I see myself in Egwene and that's why I love her.

Nynaeve al'Meara - Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah
Nynaeve started this all as the woman who wanted to rescue the innocent children of her village. Instead of "saving them", she falls in love with a man who refuses to have her, thinking he will only leave her a widow. Instead, she learns to respect and obey the girl she once clothed in diapers. Instead she learns to step lightly around the boy she once paddled for stealing. She learns the world is a much larger place than she originally knew, but she grows and adapts, becoming a person in that larger world. Oh, Nynaeve fights it the entire way - refusing to admit that those around her have grown beyond the children she chased after and everything she says to them is colored by the knowledge that she used to be their Wisdom. But Nynaeve slowly learns her place in the larger world, while keeping those around her from growing too arrogant in their power. Nynave is in many ways the humbler and I love her for it.

As I'm sure you can tell from my recounting of the characters, I have greatly enjoyed my reread of the WoT. I love the WoT. I enjoyed reading it as a kid, and now I enjoy reading it even more as an adult.

If I haven't convinced you yet, read the Wheel of Time. :)


Monday, November 9, 2009

A Case of the Monday's

Today has been a bad day from the start. I had to wake up an hour early to get together with my friends early to do some homework that was due today. Before I even left the house, my roommate and I had a little....altercation. Then in my first class we got our second test back. I made less than the average. In my second class, our presentations were canceled, which was not a good thing. And I'm only halfway through the day.

I'll probably talk about this more later when I have time, more specifically the roommate altercation, but for now it's not even noon and I have a headache. I have another homework due today and I have to make a presentation at three.

It's Monday.