"i'm alive....i'm a mess!" this kind of embodies how i'm feeling right now. i just got back from "grad student orientation" which sucked until all the oriented studnets left and i was left to kick it with the 2nd years from all the various ed PhD departments. needless to say i'm drunk after what seemed like months of sobriety. I even Biked under the influence to my house. the joy of college towns! Anyways my new friends varied by personality and department etc. There was Lori who was super bitter that she wasn't married but n ot really bitter, and i could feel her because this is what being a grad studnet is all about. wishing you were living a normal life but then obsessing about how awesome it is that you can go out on a thursday night and not give a shit. anyways she had crutches from an ACL tear thing and a handicap parking spot which we wholely took advantage of but apparently she claims she was just using her crutches to warn peopeo "stay away from me" and "to hold meup when i'm drunk" which i thought...I love you Lori. Then there was the really boring higher ed phd guy will who is apparently dating a super boring girl from stanford. lame. Then there was my jewish friend (blanking on name) who claimed he wasn't gay but kept singing me show tunes all night long. I don't believe you young gay jewish man! then there was fernando my fellow messican and we bonded on how hard it is to find latinos in academia. Then there was my black friend jamaal who kept telline me "I feel like you keep it real cris" to which i responded "i do keep it real jamall but onlly you can call me cris." anyways i played pool which apparently i am AWESOME at and i won the game singlehandedly. apparently i've seen "the color of money" one too many times. Anyways we hung out at some place called "babs" and another place known for their sangria called "dominics." also i would like to note that i am fitting on the smallest loop of my belt buckle and the guy i met in march claimed "you look thinner than when i saw you!" which is proof that the inner waif in me is clearly winning the battle. yay!! but i made "friends" ie people to drink with and i feel like i have some purpose in my life, ie drinking. so this is good. they also informed me that going to my orientation tomorrow as pointless so instead of waking up at 7 to be at school by 8 i am planning on sleeping in. i also met some awesome indians like my indian (like from india) friend Manu and my other indian american friend Ashima like Ashni. Also my corhort is decidedly FOBy or crazy. like literally. I had to tell the crazy girl in my cohort that she needed to chill. I was liek "i have masters from stanford. I know these things." That was the only time in my life when that masters has been relevant and it was very exciting for me to be liek experienced and shit.