apathetic

I've been battling apathy quite a bit lately.

This time last year, I was enjoying myself in Dublin, toasting St. Patrick's Day in some pub, drinking my weight in Guinness. I must say that this, my first spring without Spring Break, has been far less inspiring. While my boss was off skiing with her family in Colorado, I was stuck in the office transcribing focus group notes and waiting for something more interesting to do.

My boss should be back at work tomorrow, and I still don't have everything transcribed and summarized as I should. I spent a lot of time websurfing and skipping out early in the afternoons instead of working. At any rate, the pressure of having to provide her with some sign of what I've been working on should entice me to get more done tomorrow.

But the weather was lovely last week, and I spent most of my days bitter that I was stuck indoors with artificial light. And I've been missing Ireland and the incredible time Claudia and I had there, backpacking and sleeping in hostels and walking everywhere...

When we were in Dublin, Claudia suggested that we get our noses pierced to mark the occasion, but after a great deal of discussion (and some difficulty finding a safe and sterile piercing place) we decided against it and bought necklaces instead. But this idea of piercing my nose has been simmering for a year now, and I still want to do it. I mentioned it to Claudia today, and she was still interested, as well. I'm a bit concerned about the implications at work, although the university isn't really corporate in the least. I don't think anyone would mind if I had a small, inconspicuous stud. (Catherine might disagree. :) I'm more concerned, actually, with my family's reaction. I don't see them handling it well. My mom got really freaked out when I showed her my navel piercing when I was a junior or senior in college. I felt pretty awful afterward. So, what to do? I'm planning to wait until after Easter at least, which is my next scheduled trip home. And then? We'll see at that point.

In other news, I spent last night at a surprise party for a team member of mine who finished his dissertation. The surprise went off without a hitch (except that some coworkers took him to Posse East when they were supposed to be bringing him home. The wife of the lead coworker said, with just a bit of chagrin, "You put Chris in charge, and then you're surprised when they wind up at the bar?" I must admit I wasn't terriply surprised.), and the coworker was properly surprised and a good sport about the whole thing. I sometimes worry about surprise parties, because a lot of people don't like being caught off-guard or the attention it would cause, but this one went well, although I suspect he might've liked to have spent his evening playing backgammon instead.

I'm always shocked when I spend 8 hours at a party. Somehow, the time flies faster there than at work.

And so forth.