Beer Coat

I'm beginning to understand why people in colder climates have a reputation for being heavy drinkers. Last night I went over to Nicole's house to have dinner (she made a curry and it was delicious!) and then Nicole, Stacy, Shawn and I went bar hopping in City A. Shawn, by the way, is a guy that I originally met in my undergrad department, so it's kind of funny that we both ended up way on the other side of the country in the same department again two years later. For whatever reason, Nicole and Stacy have it in their heads that Shawn and I should date. There are dozens of reasons why I don't want to date Shawn, but mostly it's just because I don't find him that exciting. In college he used to date one of my friends, and I always used to wonder what she saw in him. I also used to make jokes about how his hair was the exact same color as his ski: even his complexion and tone was just pale and dull. I'll admit that, two years later, he has changed a lot for the better. His hair is no longer the same color as his skin, for one thing (I think it helps that he's not tan anymore, the tan was what made it all the same color). He also talks a lot more now, and he has lightened up a lot. When he was dating my friend they didn't really drink and they didn't have sex at all even though they dated for over two years (that's willpower...or a pointless waste of time). Now that he's out of that relationship it turns out he's just a normal twenty-something guy, and now that he's not on his best behavior all the time, it turns out he's more interesting than I thought. To be honest, though, even though I like him a lot as a friend these days, there are no romantic sparks there at all whatsoever, and I think the only reason people want us to date each other is because we are pretty much the only single people in the department right now. I don't understand the compulsion people feel to push single people together, even when its clear that neither party is particularly interested. I guess they just figure it would be convenient if the two single people in the group could date each other. The same thing used to happen in my last grad program where there was me and one other single guy and everyone else was coupled up. Eventually there people realized I truly wasn't interested in the guy, and I imagine the same thing will happen here after awhile. It's just annoying, though, that everyone thinks that convenience is a good reason for dating somebody.
Anyway, we had a fun night last night. I just like having an excuse to get dressed up and go out, so I was happy before we even got downtown. We ended up going to three different bars, and they were all fun, relatively low-key places with good music. I ended up drinking too much, and I'm blaming it on the fact that it was really cold. Nicole kept talking about how we needed our beer coats to keep us warm, and obviously it's true that the more you drink the less you feel (or care about) how cold it is, so I was definitely drinking for the warmth. The other problem is that when I'm out with this particular group of friends, everyone takes turns buying rounds. I realize this is probably the norm with a lot of groups of friends, but before moving up here I was always in more fend-for-yourself groups. Occasionally someone would buy a round of shots, sure, and usually when I'm out with only one other person we take turns buying rounds. But here we've fallen into a pattern of taking turns buying rounds for the whole group, and that's just not working as well for me. Sure, it's easier, but I find that I'm drinking way more on the nights we go out. I have a reputation for being able to really hold my liquor, but part of my trick is that I actually drink way slower than most other people, so even though we've all been drinking all night, I'm generally in better shape because I drink slower and therefore have had less drinks overall. With this whole everyone-take-turns-buying-a-round thing, I feel like I have to drink faster and keep pace with everyone else because everyone's drinks are empty and they're like, "Ready for another round?" and I still have half of my drink sitting in front of me. But it seems silly to turn down a drink if someone else is paying, so I try to keep pace. And then when it's my turn to buy, I feel like if I'm buying for the whole group I ought to buy something for myself, too, so...I guess I'm just going to have to start turning down some of the rounds, it just annoys the frugal side of me that I'm then technically paying for more drinks than I actually drink. Still, I probably should have had one less vodka than I did. I never felt that drunk last night; I drove myself home from the subway station and I definitely never drive when I feel like I've had too much to drink. Still, I was definitely a little hungover when I woke up this morning. I haven't had a hangover in a long time, so I'd sort of forgotten how much they suck.

My dad got back from his fishing trip to the Amazon today, disappointed with his discovery that water does not in fact drain in the opposite direction when you're in the southern hemisphere. He did catch about a hundred fish while he was there, including a 17 and a half pounder, so I think he was pretty satisfied with the trip. I'm just glad he didn't get pulled into the water and devoured by a cayman, since my father loves all things boating and fishing but he has lived his entire life in the desert and really doesn't know what he's doing (when I was home at Christmas he would go out and practice casting in the dirt schoolyard near my house and it made me sad that he doesn't have a little lake to go practice in). He told me all about the animals he saw: 12-foot-long caymen, a river otter he swears was the size of a golden retriever (but you know fishermen and their exaggerations), big monkeys, parrots, toucans. It sounds really cool. I'm glad he's back because I haven't been able to talk to him in almost two weeks, but I'm going to miss the opportunity to say things like, "I don't know, I'll have to ask my dad but he's in the Amazon right now." Talk about a conversation starter.

Speaking of family, my grandfather has decided I should go back to my hometown during spring break to do a follow up on those test results I got back recently. He was supposed to be looking for a doctor for me up here. He's a doctor himself and taught med students in my hometown for years, so he trained a lot of doctors and likes all of us in the family to see people he approves of, which is very nice because I've always ended up with doctors I like and trust. This time, though, I don't quite understand his logic. He actually did find me a doctor here, a friend of his that works with a well-known and respected hospital in the area, but he called and told me all this and then said, "But since you're coming down here at spring break anyway, you can just see the doctor here." The thing is, I wasn't planning on going to my hometown at spring break. Yes, I'm going to go to that wedding in my home state, but the wedding is taking place near where I went to graduate school, which is not exactly close to my hometown. My plan was to hang out with Maddi and my other grad school friends there for a few days after the wedding and then fly to Las Vegas for my brother's birthday celebration. Now, though, grandpa wants me to fly back to my hometown so that I can go to my doctor and get the tests repeated. Mainly its that my grandfather really likes the pathologist there, I think. So okay, no big deal, grandpa will pay for the plane ticket so I'll fly home and get the testing done there. If it will make him feel better, I'll do it. I feel bad because even though he keeps telling me not to worry, he's obviously worrying a little anyway and I hate that I'm worrying him. I know its not my fault and there's nothing I can do about it, but if it will make him feel better if I come home for a couple of days, then I'll do it. It does mean a lot of time on planes during that week, though: a flight from here to the wedding city, then another flight to my hometown, then a flight to Las Vegas, and then a flight back here. I basically have to get four one-way tickets. I bet airport security is going to love me.
The other thing that's sort of silly is that if this test once again comes back showing a problem, then I'm going to have to get some kind of treatment I guess, and I can't be flying back to my hometown every time I need to see a doctor. So Grandpa is going to have to trust me to the care of someone up here eventually, which makes the whole trip home sort of pointless. But hey, like I said, if it will make him feel better then I'll do it. Besides, I can get my hometown food fix while I'm there, and I can't complain about that!

School starts again the day after tomorrow. I have to admit that I'm actually a little bit excited to go back. I've loved having all this time off, but I feel fully rested, relaxed, and ready for another crazy four months. Everything is all organized. I finally got in touch with one of my professors about doing a one-hour independent study and I registered for that yesterday, so now I'm registered for ten hours, which is what I did last semester. I think this semester will be more difficult, though. I'm taking a course that is one of the four fundamental courses in my department that all PhD students have to take, and it's supposed to be a real bear of a class. Apparently it involves doing presentations every single week, so there will definitely be no way to slack. Then I'm taking another theory class. I actually really enjoyed the last one and did well in it, but the professor is definitely a bit of a loose cannon so there's no way of knowing whether or not this will be the semester she suddenly arbitrarily decides not to like me anymore. Then I'm taking a course in another department (we have to do three from other departments, I guess to prove that we're well-rounded). It's just a Readings In [Subject] class so I'm hoping that means it mostly just involves reading and discussion and not a ton of writing or projects. If it's also a work-heavy class, it's going to be one hell of a semester. I feel ready, though. Here's hoping my positive energy and momentum lasts for a while.