My lungs sing hallelujah

The smoking ban in public places goes into effect on July 1st. I was already really happy about that, since a major reason I don't go out for many evenings with friends is because the smoke makes me really sick. One night out can give me an upper respiratory infection for a week...

But here's the even better news: even though it didn't have to under the new law, my apartment building banned smoking in all common areas. Meaning that although people can still smoke in their individual rooms (yuck), they cannot come and smoke in the kitchen while I'm making dinner! Yay! (Yes, last year I had TWO roommates who regularly smoked in the kitchen while I was cooking. So gross.)

My lungs are over the moon with happiness. :)

Yikes!

I started my job search this week and just answered my first job ad. Wish me luck!

Achoo!

After the highly unpleasant conversation I had with John this morning, I took an hour-and-a-half-long power walk to burn off all the negative energy I was feeling. One of my friends called me when I was on a particularly busy stretch of road with lots of trucks speeding by, honking their horns. This particularly busy stretch of road was also bordered by a wall with something along the lines of lavendar or wisteria growing all over it. And since my allergies are acting up... I sneezed.

"Oh my God! Kitty? Kitty?! Are you okay??? Kitty, are you there?!"

"Um, yeah... I just sneezed. Why?"

"Oh. I thought you got hit by a car..."

Maybe I need to learn to cultivate a more delicate, ladylike sneeze.

Here's to you, John

It takes a real man to yell at a girl who's been sick for six weeks and in the hospital for a mistake that he made while she was there. For 20 solid minutes. Calling her every name under the sun. Drawing the attention of everybody else in the office (who were too lily-livered to step in and help her out).

I just stood there silently and refused to leave until I got what I needed.

Glad that's over with.

Sex and the City and Chanson de l'Année 2008

I don't get it. It comes on a couple of nights a week on the Swiss German channel, and I've watched a few episodes... and they just don't do anything for me. That's what I told my mom today on the phone when she said that she and one of her girlfriends were going to see it this afternoon. It's raunchy/uninteresting/so beneath me, I said. And my mom said that I probably felt that way because I'm "such an intellectual".

And then I remembered, guiltily, that I found this entry to last night's "Chanson de l'Année 2008" competition on TF1 highly amusing:



Yep. So intellectual. Oops.

On the other end of the song spectrum, though, I also loved this absolutely gorgeous song by Stanislas, of whom I'd never heard before last night:



There was also a very thought-provoking song by Zazie:



And my two personal favorites, one by Yael Naim:



And the other, by Christophe Willem.

Unfortunately, none of these ended up winning. But I guess I can't complain since I didn't vote...

No more exams!

No more classes. No more exams. I'm pretty sure I passed them all, despite having skipped two sentences in my legal translation exam. I had spent more time in the three days preceding that exam taking exams in the library than sleeping in my bed, plus I was sick, so I don't feel too bad about missing out a bit for the first time in my life.

(Yup. I'm sick again. Fever and all. I swear...)

Now all I have to do is finish my thesis! I should have my M.A. by the end of August. Wish me luck...