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August 21, 2006
Obviously I spoke too fucking soon.
WARNING: old-lady-style kvetching ahead.
So one minute I was sitting at the computer, hitting "publish" on a blog post in which I whined about being sick and said I was feeling better, and the next I was flat on my back, dizzy and hallucinating. Here's a quick recap of the rest of my Sunday:
1. high, high fever
2. the sound of a train rushing through my head
3. strange hallucinations caused (I think) by the spinning blades of the ceiling fan
4. the certainty that my brain was swelling and that it would be days before my roommate thought to look in my room and find my swollen corpse
5. more sweat than you can ever imagine
6. umm, some vomit (yes, I have a COLD, what gives?)
7. the birds outside my window? They never, ever shut up.
8. a hypochondriachal freakout in which I repeatedly reassured myself (possibly aloud?) that I'm too old for meningitis, too young for a stroke (I was lying about the stroke part, but managed to convince myself at the time)
9. a blessed afternoon thunderstorm during which I opened the window and lay with my face right in it for about an hour and got soaked, because I'd become convinced I couldn't breathe in my room and that it was the fault of the central air unit
10. a Skype conversation with Peter conducted flat on my back in the sickbed while back home he was flat on his back on the couch, and I told him about my fever and vomit and he told me about messing up his back playing hockey. Because we are pathetic, and also old.
Ugh. I still had a slight fever this afternoon when I dragged my ass in to teach my class. If I hadn't told them to keep their distance the students might not have even noticed, because I'm totally fucking manic in the classroom on a good day, and apparently I'm pretty manic in the classroom with a fever, too. Some of them made some pretty decent drawings today, so I wasn't a total failure.
Okay. NO MORE WHINING.
I also wanted to say something about the sorority girls: I didn't mean to imply that I think all sorority girls are vapid and brainless, or slutty. I do think some of them are a bit silly but that could have as much to do with their youth as with anything else, and y'all ought to know by now that I don't see anything wrong with being slutty and in fact champion sluts every chance I get. What struck me about that gathering of girls, and the reason I went back to take a picture in the first place, was the sound they made: it was exactly like the thousands of starlings that gather in the girders beneath the Ambassador Bridge every evening back home, a massive chirpy rumbling that seems to hit your ears from all directions at once. In fact when we went by on our bikes Peter assumed that the sound WAS birds, and only realized it was the girls when I insisted on going back to take pictures. And yes, the sight of all those identical knee-length A-line skirts totally amazed me. When I saw some of the comments I had to go back and look at my post again to see if I'd said anything mean-spirited myself. While these girls do sometimes get on my nerves, I have to remind myself that they're just children, some of them young enough to be my daughters (although like all feminists I hope that my daughters would not be quite so girly). Perhaps when the first home football game rolls around I will feel less charitable towards them, who knows? But right now when I see them I also see my thirty-fifth birthday close on the horizon, and I remember that when my mother was the age I am now I was seventeen, and slutty, and undoubtedly an irritating little brat.
Posted by jodi at August 21, 2006 07:50 PM | categories: self-absorbtion
Comments
Well, hell. I hope you start feeling better soon.
Posted by: Sandy at August 21, 2006 09:12 PM
sorry
Posted by: caroline at August 22, 2006 08:17 AM
I hope you feel better soon. I always find hot toddies made with lots of lemon and honey and Jamieson's Irish Whisky help quite a bit. Or at least make me care less that I'm sick.
As for the sorority girls, it didn't come across as mean-spirited at all. I thought it was hysterical. And, while I purposely chose a college that had no Greek system, I went to a high school that pretty much trained you to go Greek (all-girl college prep - talk about your giggles of girls) so I know whereof I speak.
I find the older my daughter gets, the more interesting the whole female/male thing gets. She's informed me that, at the ripe old age of four, she and her friends at her new pre-school "don't talk to the boys". This is the same child who had a pirate birthday party and wanted the boys to be there not five months ago. Cracks me up.
Posted by: liz at August 22, 2006 08:33 AM
Although I'm constantly telling my oldest daughter to NOT judge the vapid airheads, I take pride in doing it myself. I had enough exposure to these giggling gaggles to develop an intense dislike for the whole "Greek system", and the attendant "buy-a-friend" mentality.
Yes, I knew some very intelligent and witty sorority girls. But I never met ONE--and I knew a lot of them--who could be considered of average or below-average looks, or who didn't have more money than God. It's a class system whose time has come and gone.
They kind of remind me of the private schools in town. There's an attitude of "we're so much better than you public-school masses." Yeah. And when I ask them who the special education teacher is in their school, they can't answer. BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ONE. I hate elitism (even though I guess I'm guilty of reverse-elitism. Or something.).
If that makes me a snob, so be it. I probably am.
Posted by: NWJR at August 22, 2006 08:45 AM
I'm not a big fan of the social Greek "Panhel" system, becuase they picka nd choose members. However, there are cool independent sororites and frats on many campuses too. I was a memeber of a community service sorority. We functioned like a regular sorority. We wore letters, had rush (but it was open- we didn't choose members, you just had to complete you requirements), and a whopping $50 a year dues. There was a co-ed Greek house with open rush on campus, too. They had the best parties.
I will say, some of the Panhel groups did work with us on a lot of really great community service projects. They could really raise some cash- one year they bought a Habitat house!
Posted by: Sherry W at August 22, 2006 10:16 AM
undoubtably. a brat that is. just kidding...you know I can't remember that 15 year period. I am sorry you are so sick and hope you feel better... is anyone taking care of you? love m
Posted by: mom at August 22, 2006 09:16 PM
I have to tell you that I've lived my whole life in Athens, and I wouldn't feel bad for adopting any less-than-positive attitudes about anyone participating in UGA's Greek system. They drive me nuts and always have - before I attended UGA, during, and after. xo MJ
Posted by: MJ at August 23, 2006 11:09 AM
Those are pink southern sorority girls being displayed in all their uniformity. I would think that using slutty in a pegorative context would be quite appropriate, even though I too am a champion of sleepers around who do it for the sheer joy of it. There's a difference.
Posted by: Snow at August 23, 2006 06:21 PM
SO sorry you are feeling so crappy!!! I have meant to email to get together, then things got crazy for me, and it looks like we are aligned. Feel better soon, then let's get lunch or something!
Posted by: Jenny at August 24, 2006 12:18 AM