The Kit Kat Club

Another one of my cats died yesterday (Friday). Well, not really "my" cat. My sister yelena_r0ssini's. I guess I think of all of them as "my" cats since they used to all live in the same house with me, and after we moved, Yahiko, Shinji, and Christabel were all just upstairs in the other apartment.

Yahiko wasn't old or sick. He was chasing a bug, and when he caught it he tried to eat it. And he choked. I didn't even know that could happen. I didn't know cats could choke. I obviously wasn't there, but I imagine that would be such a terrifying thing to see. It's all so strange. I guess of all the cats, I was the least close to Yahiko, the dumb, oversized grey kitty. But he'd still meow incessantly at me and beg for attention whenever I visited. And it's so strange that I wasn't home when it happened. It's like it can't quite hit me, because I haven't seen him in a while anyway. I will miss him, though...poor baby.

I am sick. It is no fun at all. I have become nocturnal, which is even less fun because I missed class on Thursday and Friday, and missed OMTA today. So, blah blah blah, disappointed in myself, depressed and thus sleeping more, thus creating a vicious cycle, SAME DAMN STORY AS EVERY OTHER TIME GOD I'M SICK OF THIS.

Happy Passover! I went to a seder at Professor Magnus' house on Wednesday. It was nice, and much less overwhelming than I'm sure the Kosher-Halal co-op's seder was. All told, there were probably only 20 or so people at the one I attended. The other Oberlin students who came were very friendly and we had a great time, though we managed to knock over pretty much everything that was handed to us. There was a lot of intense discussion about various aspects of the Exodus story, and I learned so much...which I guess isn't saying much, considering the bulk of my Passover knowledge comes from The Prince of Egypt (shut up it is kind of the greatest movie ever).

Tonight I went to see DragonWolf, the Birthday Kids, and Dos Mil Dias de Fuego all play at Harkness. All 3 bands contain some of my best friends, and many of my other friends were in the audience -- so though rock concerts aren't really my thing, nor is Harkness (with the exception of Harris and Ma'ayan's room), it was a very excellent time.

( UH, OK, AWESOME DOCTOR WHO SPECIAL, OR AWESOMEST DOCTOR WHO SPECIAL? )

I'm finally, finally home.

Shauna and Sam and I had a good trip. We didn't hit the road till about 3 and a half hours after we intended to, and we got terribly lost just trying to find route 80, but after that we made good time, good music and good conversation. Shauna is very different than she seems in Piscapo's Arm -- more genuine, more joyous, and more thoughtful. Come to think of it, I suppose I'm very different as well. I guess sketch comedy is kind of a weird and not-genuine environment.

To be honest, I am very glad to get away from Oberlin. Not only because I was homesick, but I was also just so done with that place. For one thing, people there are shockingly apathetic. Oberlin has such a reputation as an "activist" school, where people care about making a difference. That's not nearly as true as the brochures would have you believe. I don't know if it's a generational thing, or if we're actually attracting more apathetic applicants, but there hasn't been a single actual protest or anything like it this whole semester. People are just so obsessed with looking cool, and "cool" apparently involves being endlessly sarcastic, ironic, and bored. So few people are ever willing to let loose and actually enjoy themselves and be joyous, and it's actually quite sickening.

More apparent and more immediately frustrating is the way people are so self-absorbed. Ugh. I think Shauna was right in saying that it stems from people feeling the need to be "alternative" at an already alternative school. It is undoubtedly full of very talented, unique, and quirky people, but I feel like a lot of students feel like whatever they're doing isn't enough, and they need to be even MORE OF A SPESHUL SNOWFLAKE OMG. So they have this disorder or that disorder or they know everything in the world about such-and-such and please, please, give it a rest! I swear, you're probably even MORE likable when you're not telling everyone everything that makes you speshul!

*sigh* Naturally, this doesn't apply to most of my friends - just the people I encounter from day to day. I think I was lucky enough to fall into a crowd of the most genuine people at Oberlin. Speaking of which, Grey found the most amazing t-shirt in a swap box today and brought it to me. It has completely incomprehensible Engrish underneath a picture of like, a centipede-cat. Best gift ever.

Anyway. It's good to be home, where people aren't ridiculously self-obsessed.