After a few days of warmish weather, winter has returned with a vengeance. It's currently about 19 degrees outside with a windchill of 1. My roommate warned me to wear long underwear, but I just wasn't ready. Why didn't I listen? Oh God, why didn't I listen?!

On the plus side, my apartment is nice and cozy and decorated for Christmas. I can listen to Christmas music out in public now, instead of hiding away with my headphones, my Rat Pack Christmas album, and my shame. This would be a lot more enjoyable if I didn't have end-of-semester exams and projects hanging over my head. I initially came back from Thanksgiving break feeling recharged by my fabulous family and ready to tackle the last few weeks of school.

But then last night I spent two soul-crushing hours with a stastical analysis software program called STATA. Remember DOS? Remember trying in frustration to remember all the DOS commands and their proper syntax? STATA is a lot like that, except instead of trying to run a sweet monochromatic text-based role-playing game, you're analyzing wage data from 1987, and instead of feeling pride that you're able to work a computer, you feel the vague sense that you might rather be in prison. Two hours and I only got through one problem.

Thank god this semester is almost over.

WWTAL: Yellow.

Random Randomness:

1. There was a guy standing on the Library Mall the other day holding a sign that said "Free Hugs." I almost took him up on it because he was cute, and then I remembered about stranger danger. (I guess that would make him Weird Library Mall Person #4?)

2. My framed Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack LP flung itself off the wall and broke on the floor. I have no idea why this happened. Julie thinks God's trying to warn me to turn back to the Catholic Church (maybe when its bishops stop forcing churches to play taped messages about how good Catholics will support gay marriage bans), but I prefer to think my room is possessed, Amityville-style.

3. This happened a few weeks ago, but it still bears mentioning. As I was walking to meet my friend at the coffeeshop, I suddenly found myself in a Legalize Marijuana rally. I was walking down from the Capital as the marchers were walking up and all of a sudden, there I was. My friend calls, asking where I am. "Um, I'm in a pro-pot rally," I say. "It was an accident!"

4. Today the bus driver on the #9 handed me a packet with a recipe for Sweet Potato Souffle and some tips on winterizing my home. I don't know why, either.

Winter Weather Terror Alert Level: Blue (downgraded from a Yellow last week)

To the 59% of Wisconsinians who are assholes: Way to enshrine discrimination in the state's Constitution. At least you can sleep easier now knowing that the Big Evil Gays aren't going to get married and impugn the sanctity of straight marriages for people like Rush Limbaugh and his four different wives. Way to be assholes, assholes.

To Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee: Thank you for making it even harder for me to say the South isn't a bunch of bigoted, homophobic rednecks. The ban passed with 80% in Tennessee! Are you kidding me?! Yes, you're completely entitled to your misguided religious beliefs that God hates gay people, but here's a news flash: THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT YOUR PLACE OF WORSHIP. When Jerry Falwell finally gets caught in some kind of meth-fueled orgy with male transvestite prostitutes (because no one that virulently homophobic is not actually gay), I'm going to have a freaking party.

When history passes judgement on you, I hope it's really, really harsh.

PS. Arizona, way to rock it out. At least SOME people understand the separation between Church and State!

YELLOW ALERT! YELLOW ALERT!

I wake up this morning, go out to the living room, pour myself a cup of coffee Roommate Kate had oh-so-generously already prepared. I'm sitting and chatting with her and her boyfriend, when Kate says, "Is that snow?!" I turn, fear in my heart, to see this:Oh yes, it may look pretty but the 28-degree temperature and 18mph winds aren't quite so charming when you have to get to class. It's NOVEMBER 2, PEOPLE. It is TOO EARLY FOR THIS! I actually wore the puffy coat today, that's how bad it was.

Luckily Halloween was not so cold, and a whole lot of fun. My friend Julie and I dressed up as Newsies:
Our costumes were a big hit, and we ran into a group of Newsie guys out on State Street, which was completely great. Plus, the night didn't end in pepper-spray and tear gas, so that was a nice bonus.

In other news, I am no longer barely suppressing the urge to drop out of school now that I'm done with my paper on the World's Most Boring Report in the History of Ever. (Regulatory Reforms in OECD Countries: From Interventionism to Regulatory Governance. Still awake? Imagine reading 120 pages about it.) It was a really poorly-written paper, but I just couldn't do anything with it. And my reign of mediocrity continues. I have a few days' breather till I have to start studying for my Stats and Econ tests.

Is it Thanksgiving yet?