…and I hate laundry day because it means I have decide between taking my wet clothes to the laundromatte for a $6 dry cycle or hanging them on the clotheslines outside.

I just want to personally apologize to all of my devoted readers (read: my mom) for being so lazy about updating the blog. But, honestly, I didn’t feel I had enough to say to update this past week. I’ve just been going to school, enjoying the weather, and not going to work.

The work thing is kinda a sensitive subject because I’ve been communicating via text with my 23-year-old manager about getting some hours only to be met with the response, “Miche, it’s just hard with those half days u kno?” I think school is getting in the way of work. As if the fact that my professors record the lectures and post them online isn’t enough a reason not to go to class, now I have $17 an hour enticing me to the dark side.

And as for school…Well, we dissected a squid the other day and, as you may or may not expect by now, Alex was characteristically enthused. I let her do the slicing and dicing, up into the squid’s body cavity where there lie hundreds of worm-like gametes. We plucked the calcareous rings of teeth from the squid’s suckers and injected dye into its esophagus, turning the entire bucket of squid-water a deep shade of blue. I was further disgusted to find out the TA’s had purchased these squid at the fish market earlier that day. Let’s just say I’m not too excited about the rat dissection scheduled for tomorrow.

My ceramatry (this is not a word but it should be) has been coming along. I’ve been making some very symmetrical bowls lately of which I feel most proud. I haven’t, however, mastered the art of making cylindrical shapes, like mugs. We decorated last class and the next lesson is in glazing. It’s all very therapeutic, sitting there at the wheel, gooey clay between your fingers, determination all over your face as Imogen Heap croons somewhere in the distance. I want to bring ceramatry back to Athens.

This past weekend was a great deal of fun, beginning Thursday night as I made the epic journey to Bondi by three means of transportation: walking, bus-ing, and train-ing. I was really late to Josh’s birthday dinner at the Czechoslovakian restaurant but we ate goulash and bread dumplings and all was well. Then we all went back to Josh’s for celebrations. Fun night.

Friday night, circa 11 pm, I was waiting to use the bathroom. But upon sitting on my bed, I stole to sleep, unbrushed teeth, lights on, and sans comforter. I was exhausted.

Saturday night Jess and I succeeded in persuading nearly the entire house into coming with us to the 35th anniversary showing of Rocky Horror in Paddington. We got all “trashbagged up,” as Jess would say, and took a maxi-taxi to the theater. Most of my housemates had never seen the movie before, so it was quite entertaining to view their reactions as the costumed Transylvanians on stage time-warped and gyrated along with the movie. Then, the nine of us tramped over to The Gaff (to which I now get free entry with my VIP card) and danced to house music in our inappropriate costumes. Never again will I wear a sparkly, pink bra to The Gaff. My absurd outfit did, however, allow me the opportunity to create new and exciting personas as unassuming backpackers approached to ask “where I was from“ and “if I worked there.”

Finally, yesterday, I went to Coogee with Rebecca for the beachside Italian barbeque. By “Italian” I mean to say that everyone there was Italian and the event itself was organized to honor an official Italian summer celebration called Ferragosto. The food, though, was quintessential bbq: burgers, shish kebabs, and corn on the cob. Afterwards, I walked to this enormous beach hotel called The Coogee Palace to meet Adam Katz and sing with him in the third-story, open-air bar/eatery. He and his guitarist, Benny, covered songs like “Wonderwall” and “Billie Jean, “ throwing in some hip-hop and some freestyle rapping every now and then. I sang with them on Keri Hilson’s “Knock You Down” and George Michael’s “Faith.” I don’t want to comment on my own performance because I didn’t feel all that confident about it. I fumbled with some lyrics and couldn’t possibly match Adam in stage presence. It was fun and I hope they invite me back so I can redeem myself.

Last night Rebecca cooked pasta with shrimp and zucchini for me and Tim at my place. Rebecca and I tried Vegemite for the first time. It’s salty and smells like fish paste, but I actually enjoyed my slice of bread with Vegemite. Success! Thank you, Tim.

So I’ve now slept through my first class and I need to go to my second one. With that, farewell.