When You're Losing Your Voice During the Summer?

What a silly occassion to dress for! But out of pure spite, it had to be done. A couple of days ago I was startled to find that I was a wee bit hoarse. And then it continued. And continued. And got worse. When R left for work this morning I could only whisper a pathetic "Have a nice day." And I cough every now and then, but not excessively. My throat doesn't hurt. My nose is not stuffy. I do not generally feel ill, other than a strange ability to go for long periods without getting hungry. Not that I'm complaining about that one.






shirt: thrifted
skirt: American Apparel
belt: thrifted
tights: Sock Dreams
boots: gifted
locket: street vendor, Notting Hill

I finished the second volume of Anais Nin's diary and have since moved onto Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, in which I must admit I am rather disappointed. For one thing, I think it takes some weird liberties that aren't even entertaining--for example, Charlotte Lucas's being stricken and slowly turning into a zombie. I am not amused. Why is it that nobody likes Charlotte Lucas? But I was somewhat decided in my opinion of the book when in the first few chapters I realized that the characters of Mr. Bennet and Mary Bennet were being misrepresented. Mr. Bennet! One of my favorite characters in all of literature! Former members of my Jane Austen seminar at Hendrix College will remember how ardently I defended him. In the zombie version of the narrative, he lacks the dry wit so beloved by myself. Unforgivable. Capital offense. And Mary--Mary Bennet actually dances at a ball. Way to ruin one of the most hilarious characters in all of Austendom.

But, I digress. Perhaps it is better to get worked up over a novel, but let me list a few recent ISSUES that have presented themselves in the past several days.

1. Summer Employment
Loft did not hire me. I was about two seconds away from applying to walk someone's dog all summer for two hours a day when I received information from one of R's friends that she was leaving one of her three part-time jobs, this as a personal assistant to a realtor, and was giving the realtor my name and resume as a potential replacement. The job pays $12 an hour, with about 15-20 flexible hours a week available. I would be doing things like answering emails and putting data into spreadhseets. That seemed pleasant enough. But this entire week has been spent in a neverending game of phone/text/email tag with the realtor, who calls hours after she says she would, and texts me hours after I've gone to bed. She doesn't answer her cell or office phone and when I give her a convenient time to contact me she ignores it. However, it seems that we will FINALLY be meeting late this afternoon. We'll see how that goes.

2. Summer Classes
As you may or may not be aware, I have to learn a foreign language as part of my degree. I've been informed before that it's easy to pass the requirement, but I feel that I actually want to know French and be able to speak it, rather than merely read it. So I decided to go the long route and signed up for First Year French Review for the summer. Two days ago I received information that not enough students had enrolled and thus it was being cancelled. This was especially problematic because in order to receive my summer stipend I must be registered for a class at the University. This morning in a fit of desperation I signed up for the advanced reading course in French designed especially for doctoral students who need to be able to read the language rather than speak it. A a result, I ought to be able to read French quite well by the end of the summer. So I suppose I will be that far ahead in my requirements, and I will just have to learn to speak French on my own time. Bloody ridiculous.

So actually, summer could be going a little bit more smoothly at the moment.