This is how I do.

Have you ever been sitting in a meeting and thrilled yourself with the thought that there is absolutely nothing stopping you from jumping up on the table and dancing the macarena? Nothing besides your own sense of propriety, of course. I often find myself entertaining the thought of doing the wildly spontaneous or the uncharacteristically bold.
Sometimes the idea of doing something I would never do is too attractive to resist. So I do it.
Last week, on my way home from anatomy lab, I was on top of the world. Brimming with joy, I itched to skip my way home like a giddy school girl. But of course, I wouldn't do that, for fear of being scorned by my fellow students.
So I skipped home.
I have a reputation for being a straight-laced, picture-straightener type of person. And until recently, spontaneity hasn't been my thing. This is a change of recent years. This is quite outside my comfort zone. This is how I got over my fear of donating blood. It's how I ran for Risa. It's how I got my hair cut today.
Maybe a hair cut doesn't seem like a big deal to most people. But after a long history of playing it safe, spontaneous haircuts are a first for me. After running an errand at the mall, I was passing a salon on the way out and thought, "I could cut my hair right now. But I wouldn't." So I did.

Here ya go mom, because you asked so nicely:

On on unrelated, totally related note, do you know how hard it is for me to take a picture of myself and post it on the internet? It's like this:

I hope you're happy.

Real Life and the Descending Order of Getup

Let's talk real life. Real life is me sitting at my desk, sipping hot chocolate from a Coke bottle with a bendy straw. Real life is the stubborn cold that's settled in my chest and refuses to relent. Real life is the fact that all of my food has recently adopted the flavor and aroma of kimchi. Real life has me thinking about people and impressions and the fact that we rarely see each other in the midst of 'real life'.

Have you ever noticed that first, second, and subsequent impressions often have the potential for abysmal failure? Something about the nature of formal introductions seems to permanently distance people. In fact, it seems too often that the divisions driven between people are simply the result of unfamiliarity. In my experience, the most successful and enduring of friendships are born from accidental impressions. I think this is because the further from formality you get, the more accessible people become. A person's quirks and foibles are what make them loveable and relatable. Real life is endearing. [Chest-colds are endearing, right?]

I woke up in my real life today feeling proper ill.
[Since you and I are separated by two computer screens and the World Wide Web, I could easily glaze over the truth of it and write another post about cake. Instead, I thought it best to square with you. Because, as discussed above, it's important to let people into your real life sometimes. ]
 So, after drinking half my weight in chamomile tea and thanking the Lord that I only have one class on Friday, I composed myself (somewhat) and started the walk to campus. Anyone who knows me well will know that my daily ensemble is a pretty good indicator of how much effort I'm putting in to life. And today was no exception.
I present to you the Descending Order of Getup:
Lots of effort: lots of effort.
Wearing pants, hair done, general normalcy: effort.
Wearing at least one article of men's clothing: lazy.
Men's clothing, hair up: business.
Spandex, hair up: running.
Bun: ballet.
Bun, thermal long johns [janes?]: sleeping, finals.
Bun, sweatpants, orthodontist t-shirt: hit by a bus.

Right now, we're hovering somewhere around 'hit by a bus'. I was able to maintain 'effort' for the amount of time I spent in public, but lost my gumption soon thereafter. I have high hopes for achieving 'business' status tomorrow.

At this point, I should probably mention that I might be real-life tripping on cold meds and a fever. So I apologize for any incoherent thoughts, sloppy structure, and/or possible misuse of the plural possessive of 'man'.

More cake soon.