the iPod is dead, long live the iPod

Although I'll write about the actual subject of the post in a sec, I just wanted to admit, here and now, that I never understood the phrase I just referenced. Obviously, if the king is dead, he cannot also be alive, so the two words don't have the same referrent, right? On the other hand, in, say, the English monarchy, if Queen Elizabeth II passed, would they say "the queen is dead, long live the king (charles)"? It's funny the way those things you hear as a kid just sort of slip through the cracks, understanding-wise, until they surface mysteriously years later.

Anyway, my iPod is dead. After it started making some mechanical noises a few weeks ago and crashed my computer when I tried to connect it, I got scared to turn it back on. Finally, the other day, I did. And I got the *unhappy iPod face*, which can be found on apple's support website. As far as I can tell, if not completely dead, I can no longer access the music on it. Much to the consternation of anyone who tried to offer sympathy, though, most of the music was from friends from last semester, and is thus not on my computer; either I have to find Toby, Peter, Bart, and Kelly and get their music again, or I have to turn to a life of clandestine copyright violation. More than the actual music itself, though, this feels like a symbolic loss. Often alone in a foreign city, I walked everywhere with my baby (the iPod); it gave me comfort, passed long hours spent travelling all over the place, reminded me (when I wanted it to) of home. At this point, though, even my playlist from last semester, "Keeping it low-key in BP," is gone forever. Scary how much of an experience you can lose in four months. First it was the big things, but now even the little things are slipping away from me. Does that devalue going? I'm sure it doesn't, but that doesn't make each little prickle of awareness at how far removed I am from Hungary sting any less.

another year gone

Looking on it now, I'm kind of glad turning 21 is a once-in-a-lifetime event. It was fun, a lot of fun, don't get me wrong. On the other hand, it was expensive, I got soaked (fountainized while leaving dinner), and I drank too much. When I say too much, I mean it both locally (I got a little bit sick by the end) and globally--when I totaled everything up on Saturday, I had eclipsed 21 drinks on the 24 hour period. And I wrote a paper Friday afternoon. Needless to say, Saturday was pretty agonizing; even though I slept in til 3 pm, I woke up feeling terrible, didn't leave my room until dinner, and even through the evening felt the weight of the birthday. Ugh. Although I enjoyed feeling classy, and although I particularly love the idea of "happy hour", this is not going to be a frequent occurrence. I do want to thank David, Hardesty, Rachel, Max, Laurel, Ty, Krys, and Steph for being there for me (as drinking buddies) in my time of need.

Also a big thanks for the birthday cards! (you know who you are) Getting mail makes me really happy, particularly when it is not either 1. a parking ticket, 2. a credit card bill, or 3. a package from home which I know contains a credit card bill.

In forward-looking news, this should be a good week to finally get my shit together. One of my history seminars was cancelled, and the other has been moved to Tuesday; although I have a ton of math to do for tomorrow, I won't have anything else for the balance of the week. Hope everyone is well! Happy daylight savings! (except for the losing sleep. I hate that.)