EEEWWW!

Happy Valentines Day, But Infinitely More Important: Happy Lupercalia!

I like Valentines Day but only because it is usually associated with me eating chocolate and reading seductively corny one-liners. The real deal begins on February 15th with the Ancient Roman Celebration of the Lupercalia Festival!

Although I am sure that everyone else in the whole

world knows about Lupercalia and celebrates the fertility holiday with enthusiasm and vigor, I will list the steps involved in the very special day:

1) Gather outside the birth-cave of Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome, raised by wolves)

2) Get a priest to sacrifice a dog and a goat

3) If you are a guy: slice goat into strips, dip in blood, and run around slapping women with the pieces

4) If you are a girl: go to the nearest field of crops and wait to be slapped with bloody goat pieces. Don't worry, it isn't demoralizing because each time a dirty, blood drenched piece of meat touches your skin, you become more fertile for a year!!!

Thats pretty much the gist of it. So, have a fun Valentines Day but don't forget about Lupercalia on the 15th!

Arkansas

Right now I am in Arkansas. The high today is 68! Suck it everyone in colder areas. Only for today though. I will be back in Iowa and the coldness by around 2 or 3AM. At least its still gonna be warmer than MN!

Yesterday I got to run outside in shorts and a sports bra and then do strides on the 2009 NCAA National Championship Track. It is probably the coolest track ever.

Also, the meet is indoors on a banked track. The way the track is set up, lane 6 is at about face height and you can get all up close and personal with the person starting in blocks in that lane. Last night was the 200 and me and Brittany and Nicole stood by the start and put our faces right by the edge of the outer lane. If you wanted to, you could poke your head in there when they are in there starting pose and really freak 'em out. It was interesting watching how crazy intense their eyes were while waiting for the gun to go off. Well, thats all.

Basement Maze

For Lab today I had to find a mysterious room in the basement of the engineering building. I went down there and followed a guy who I thought was probably headed to the same place. Unfortunately all the hallways look the same and he was lost too. We wandered a little and then came across a professor and I asked him where to go. His directions were extremely confusing. He said to go all the way down the hall, around a corner, take the elevator, press the button with the W on it, go up half a floor, then go around another corner and the room was over there somewhere. Three of the elevator buttons had W's on them. We pressed one and thankfully guessed right and somehow got there only about 5 minutes late. I didn't think a map would be necessary to get there but apparently there are 2 basements and they aren't really connected. Maybe engineers should have designed it.

And So It Begins

Going to the first classes in a new semester is a game. Here is how you score each class:

Number of exams scheduled for the semester (Not including finals):

None = +3pts; One = 0pts; Two = -1pt; Three = -2pts; Four or more = -4pts

Time of Day:

Starts before 8AM = -5pts; Starts from 8-9AM = -3pts; Starts after 9AM and not a night class = +4pts (unless it interferes with practice); Night class = -2pts

How interesting is the teacher?

On a scale of excruciatingly boring (-3pts) to really interesting (+3pts)

Other:

If it interferes with other important activities (work/practice/etc.) = -5pts

If something makes your attendance required (pop quizzes, taking attendance, etc.) = -4pts

If the prof has an accent = -3pts (crazy accent) or +3pts (sexy accent)

The class doesn't get curved = -4pts

No partial credit = -4pts

Lots of required reading = -2pts

I was doing pretty good today until I got to my final class and the prof said "Zee three mid terms vill not be curved and no partial credit vill be geevin." ... accent (-3), no partial credit (-4), no curve (-4), during practice (-5), 3 exams (-2). Dang.

Snowiest December in Twin Cities History = Dec 2010

Shove it 1969! On the 26th, the total snowfall in the metro area for December 2010 officially surpassed December 1969 with 33.4 inches of snow and 7 days remaining in the month. The official snow total at the end of the month is yet to be determined because another storm is coming tonight. Since the 26th the weather has actually gotten worse. Yesterday I had the pleasure of running through slushy puddles while a slight drizzle increased to a frigid downpour. Then, overnight, the rain froze and a light dusting of snow covered the ice making for extremely treacherous footing. On today's run, the sky suddenly started spitting jagged bits of ice at my face during an interval. It was fun times for sure. Maybe 2011 will bring better weather? The outlook looks COLD.

Oh yeah, and the metrodome roof collapsed.

Reading for...fun?

The past two days I have been reading for (dare I say) fun. It has been a really strange experience. The urge to pick up a book and look at the words inside it is one that I am fairly unfamiliar with.

Normally, I despise reading. I can count the number of books I have read in college on one hand...with 3 fingers. Last summer I attempted to read a book for fun and I got about a third of the way through and just couldn't take it anymore. The feeling of literary knowledge voluntarily entering my brain made me want to vomit. Also, textbooks are not for reading; they are for skimming. For Christmas, my brother gave me a book of Awkward Family Photos and my Mom commented, somewhat alarmed, "You gave her a book?!?" To this, my brother responded, "Don't worry, It is mostly pictures".

Anyways, this reading for fun all started when the internet broke. What was I to do with my time if I couldn't watch online tv??? I couldn't call a friend because it was morning still. We had given my mom a book for Christmas called "Unbroken" so, although repulsed by the principle of it, I picked up the book and opened to the first page.

As it turns out, this book is the true story of a man named Louis Zamperini, who had probably one of the most interesting lives ever lived. He qualified for the 1936 Olympics in the 5000m run, travelled there on a ship with Jesse Owens, met Hitler, was thought by many to be the guy who would first break 4 min in the mile, got drafted into the Air Force for WWII, and flew several spectacular, heroic missions before his plane went down in the ocean. Right now I am about halfway through the book and Louie and another guy have been stranded at sea for 21 days, circled by sharks, and drifting into enemy waters. I am going to go read it more now.