�

i'm being sneaky again and using the "research and homework" computer at the library. well, i HAVE been researching. i've been looking up prices for essential oils for my mad-scientist-christmas-present-creations. unfortunately, a lot of stinky hippy aromotherapy types think that essential oils are "dangerous" when you "don't know what you're doing" and that i should "stop, stop, for the love of god, stop" or somesuchbullsheet. but i say hooey. patch tests are for the weak. if you can't handle it, and break out in a rash, it's your own damn fault, not mine. you've got sissy skin, is what.

anyhoo. what i've learned from my research? the hippiest of oils are the most expensive. patchouli. sandalwood. chamomile. NEROLI. oh, god, neroli. you bleed me dry.

lavender, on the other hand, is quite affordable. everyone is getting lavender-scented pot-pourri for christmas, dammit.

my bank account is deceivingly full...i've taken $500 out of a savings bond to which my dad contributes money every month...it's meant for my tuition, but i like cushions, and that's a nice fluffy cushion to have. especially when my paychecks are barely cutting $200 these days. it's nice to at least have the appearance of monetary security, even if it's just an illusion.

i won't be able to spend the money, though. *sniff* - my poor, poor university needs it more than i. poor thing.

how poor is my university? well, it's taking the fabulous building that houses fred and countless other doctors and clinics and is going to turn it into offices for academics. pooey! they are planning to evict all the medicos. i won't be pressed up in the elevator with old sickly ladies and coughing, sputtering children anymore. oh, and other covert psychiatric patients, like me. it brings a tear to mine eye.

i always hope the plans for my university's grandiosity will fall through. they rarely do, however. they tore down a wonderful graduate student residence with the most amazing windows...and they are constructing a mammoth new cold building that will act as not only a lightblocker for poor fred (his building is kitty-corner to this space) but also a windtunnel of sorts for us poor saps on the street.

meanwhile, all the higher-ups at the university are intimately connected to the conservative/republican elements of society...in my first year, i protested the awarding of an honourary degree to George Bush, Sr. part of the fun was chanting "bush bush bush! off off off!" - saying "bush" repeatedly always gets me going. "off," too.

hee hee.