I know what you're thinking, most students refer to it as the "back to school blues." Anguish over the drudgery of due dates and 10 page essays.  Nervousness about grades and getting into the right classes. Forlorness for the passing of summer break, and all the hot, sex, swimming suit times.

But I really enjoy going back to school. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy swimming suit times as much as the next girl, but all-in-all I think I'd rather be improving my mind.

Most of my classes are already set for this semester, which is a real relief. I did hate freshman year with the crazy scramble to get into the better courses and failing most the time. But now that my major is locked down and I've got most of the basic requisites behind me, I get the better classes with the better professors, and I can't wait.

I've also signed up for a few new clubs this year. I'm going to try out the performing arts for at least a semester, starting with an experimental drama group. Who knows what will happen? Anyway, I'll make the best of it, no matter how cheeky, goth, or sexually ambiguous it gets. Until then, I'll take my my damage control, my best antioxidant, and my birth control. That's right, I said it.

Last weekend was the 4th of July. I've been trying to "eat Primal" recently which is all about high proteins and fats, and low carbs.

4th of July barbecue actually works pretty well with this diet. You can have the Bratwurst, just as long as you don't put it on a bun. Lamb kabobs, grilled shrimp, and barbecued pork loin all work well with the caveman diet. In fact, barbecuing is more-or-less how the cavemen cooked, let alone how they ate. Put some meat over a fire and let it sit there until it's hot enough to be tasty.

Unfortunately, the other main ingredient for any fourth of July barbecue is beer. And beer has carbs. I limited myself to one beer over the weekend, and I ended up having two, though on different days, so I guess I stuck to a "per diem" limit of sorts.

The good of limiting my alcohol consumption was the beer tasted much better since I was picky about which one beer I got to drink. Also, I actually remembered the bulk of the festivities this year, which is a first.

The bad of limiting my alcohol consumption was that I became the designated driver. And as kind and chivalrous and heroic as being a designated driver is, the truth of the matter is it sucks. You're tired, you want to go home and sleep, but you have to wait around for two more hours for the drunks to get done with their lollies. Then, right about the time the lose interest in partying and gain interest in holding in all the sausages they stuffed down, you have to scoop them up and spend another hour and $20 in gas dropping them off around town.

I think next year I'll just pretend to be drunk.

Also, I stumbled through these websites on the caveman diet and damage control. I also found some interesting stuff about the vitamin shop and how to relieve stress. Happy hunting, co-eds!

I have a friend named Raman and everyone calls him Noodles. I wander if he takes offense to that. I don't know that's it's directly derogatory, it's not like "four eyes" or "beefcake" or "limp dick," but it doesn't seem exactly complimentary either. Anyway, he's got washboard abs, and people think he's a pretty cool guy, so I guess the weird nickname is fine.

But enough about nicknames. This post is really about breakfast.

How did we come about designating certain foods for breakfast but not other foods. Cereal, waffles, eggs and bacon. It just doesn't feel right to have any of these for dinner. Consequently steak, chicken curry, and lasagna are never eaten for breakfast.

Except at college.

One great and somewhat awful thing about college is the leniency of breakfast norms. You can eat whatever you want when you want; it feels right, good, and everybody thinks you all the better for it.  Most of my friends hit up the cafeteria around 11pm every night and gorge themselves on cereal before climbing back into their study holes. My roommates wakes up every morning and eats taquitos while watching Spongebob. Yeah, taquitos and Spongebob in the morning. Or at least usually in the morning, he often wakes up after noon.

So, why can't I bring myself to eat Raman for breakfast. It's cheap. It's filling. It's (sort of) tasty. But I still feel like I have to do a breakfast bar instead. Or a Starbucks and a muffin. Admittedly, none of this is healthy. I should be eating eggs, getting my protein, and avoiding the carbs. I should be doing some benefits of vitamins from the vitamin world instead of contemplating the possibility of Raman. But hey, at least I'm not downloading cereal into my stomach.

I watched that old movie Dazed and Confused. It's the one about high school kids with Matthew McConnoughy just as he was starting out as a total douchebag.

I have to be totally honest, I don't remember high school being like this (and it was only 3 years ago for me). In fact, now that I think about it, I don't remember high school as being like any of the high school movies I've seen. Our school didn't have the typical rundown of cliques, the jocks, the nerds, the preppies, etc. One of the smartest kids in our school was also running back on the football team, and one of the richest was also into Dungeons and Dragons. And they were friends. I don't remember too many queen bees spreading gossip and getting abortions. I never went to that "crazy party" that some kid threw while his "parents were out of town." It seemed like parents never were out of town while I was in high school. What I'm saying is, I believe most high school movies have been perpetuated by...well.....previous high school movies.

As I wean my way toward the end of college (I'm almost a senior!), I get the feeling the same will be true of college movies as well. The crazy sluts, and dumb pranks, I don't know if that's the norm either, or just something people are used to believing.

Anyway, about health: I found this hilarious and awesome post by a former triathlete talking about his abs on a high fat diet. I also have a couple links, namely omega 3 vitamins and the vitamin shop, so check 'em out and be jolly.

Is there a difference between college humor and regular humor? When I was five, grown-ups acting silly was about as funny as anything. Stubbing a toe and going googly eyed, or doing a funny dance, this was high ball humor to a five year old. That sort of thing is still amusing as a 21 year old, but not AS amusing.

I wonder of college humor is similar to five year old humor. Gross out jokes, and frat boy sarcarm. Right now I find it very funny. In ten years will I find it mildly funny in the same way I find goofy dancing mildly funny today?

Certainly there are exceptions. Charlie Chaplin makes all ages laugh, and he has for almost a full century. And Woody Allen can be appreciated from high school on up. But I'm not sure that the jokes in a Will Farrel sports comedy will last beyond a generation.

So, the thing that worries me, is how do I tell the difference between true "funny" and "college funny." Will the joke I tell at dinner be as laughable in a few years? I don't know.

In other news, I was browsing the internet, and I ran across some people records that mentioned orthorexia, who would have thunk!

I titled this blog 'How to relieve stress in college' and there's a reason for that. College can throw some ridiculously stressful situations on you!

Last weekend I went out partying with my friends. At some point we ended up at this weird guy's house in the burbs. I think it was actually his parents' house, though I didn't see any parents there, maybe they were gone for the weekend or something.

Anyway, we go into his basement, and he breaks out the drugs. I've smoked marijuana before, I got no qualms with the reefer. But this guy brought out the big guns. He and my 'friends' all started with the ecstasy. But before the night was over, there were mushrooms, LSD, and some weird designer drugs from China that were tagged as 'sort of like meth but cleaner and non addictive.'

I was the only one not doing drugs.

Needless to say, I was in some serious need of some Damage Control. Here's how I handled the situation:

I told my friends I start taking drugs a little after them, I wasn't feeling so well. Then once everyone was good and baked, I simply whipped out my multivitamins and popped a few natural supplements while everyone else was popping E. Tada! I'm still part of the cool gang, and all the healthier for it!

Super Bowl parties are fun good times, partially for the commercials and mostly for the food. The super bowl party I went to yesterday had some truly amazing eats.

First off, I'm the lazy one, so I brought a couple buckets of KFC popcorn chicken.
My good friend brought a quiche.
Some guy named Hal brought a bunch of beer.
And a newly married couple brought a full size Fondu pot, complete with broccoli, bread, carrots, and apples.

The Fondu made the party. We dipped everything in that Fondu pot. Never underestimate the power of cheese.
So now I've got to be extra healthy for the rest of the week to work off all that KFC transfat and all that glorious Fondu cheese.
So, the first thing I'm doing is posting my health blog lineup.
Orac value is a blog about measuring the quality of particular vitamins
Life extension is a comprehensive look at the anti-aging process.

And, by the way...Best Super Bowl EVAAARRR!!!!

I consider myself an "amatuer" "struggling" "aspiring" writer, which is an offensive thing to call somebody, but what the hell. That's why I feel obliged to applaud or condemn other aspiring writers as they rise to success or become public darlings. One such author was Mark Wiengardner, the man assigned to write a sequel to the Godfather novel.

"He'll bastardize such a great work!" I thought, ready to scowl at his success. Then I read the sequel and it was even better than the original. The man earned his success the hard way, writing a solid, intricate mafia story. It just happened to be a sequel to help it sell, but it would have been solid regardless.

Then there are people like Diablo Cody. Ex ad-exec, ex-stripper, ex-blogger turned Hollywood screenwriting darling. She was a splash when she released a book detailing her exotic life as an exotic dancer. Then she became a poster girl for the writers strike, holding a big red sign and wearing big, red, heart-shaped sunglasses.

Then her first film came out. Juno. Admittedly, I went in with a sour face (just like when I opened The Godfather Returns). The film was very indie, laced with sappie indie chic music, and constantly making references to movies, bands, and 80's pop culture I'd never heard of. There were certainly funny moments, and Michael Cera is a true comic gem, I can't wait until he grows into a leading straight man.

But, aside from the wonderful casting, Juno wasn't much of a film. It was 20% too snarky, which is bearable for half an hour, but 100 minutes is just too much. The sass was in front of everything. Plot, character, and emotional connection were all thrust aside for the sake of the self-assured punch wit of the writer. The classic John Hughes premise (pregnant high schooler) is a great start to do a modern interpretation, but the premise was almost thrown aside entirely. It's almost as if Juno became pregnant just so the main character could throw out sharp lines like, "The kids at school call me the cautionary whale." The character growth was almost nil, and I just didn't care about Juno, because she didn't seem to care much about anything.

Remember Dane Cook? He was super hot for two months. He had some funny behind him, but no talent. He made couple awful movies, and now I'd be surprised if he could headline another comedy tour. This is what I make of Diablo Cody. She's got snark, but no substance. People point at Quinton Tarantino or Kevin Smith for film makers with thick styles. But the reason these guys keep making movies is because the style is only present to serve the plot and characters of their stories. You date a girl with style, and you marry a girl with substance. Juno may have sass, but she's not wife material.

And on that note, time for some healthy, healthy, go-go bang.  Omega 3 benefits and damage control are two good sites for all your health needs. Good luck!

Oh. My. God. Three and a half hours.

When I was in high school, I used to drive from my hometown in the middle of the swamp all the way up to Saint Louis to watch a Cardinals game with my boyfriend. We crossed an entire state and the trip took three hours.

Yesterday I left my dorm at 4:30pm to visit my friend in Silver Lake (about 15 miles away). And the trip took THREE HOURS!!!!! Just when I think I'm finally managing my stress, traffic sneaks up and drops an S-Ball right on my temporal lobe.

Screw this, I'm selling my car and riding a bike. I'll let people drive through three hours of traffic to get to ME.

Okay, now it's health craze time. These two sites, Best antioxidant and how to relieve stress provide some links to other useful sites that link up to other sites. Hope all these links help in some way. I swear there's a few gems out there, you just have to look for them.

Short Post this week. Why? Because I'm just too stressed out to wright!

No, just kidding. But I am stressed out. I was having problems with a term paper I was writing a few days ago, so I took a break to play minesweeper. I played it for a couple minutes, then gave up. That game is just awful! I believe maybe three brain cells are actually necessary to play minesweeper.

So I downloaded a flash game from the web called Ngame. Oh. My. God. The game is so addictive You control a little ninja guy who runs and jumps around on platforms. If you can get your ninja guy through the special pink door, you win. It's that simple.

I played Ngame for like an hour and didn't get my paper done. So much for stress relief. Anyway, the game's a real button mashes, and I mashed my keyboard so hard that today two of my fingers are numb! Oh boy, I really need to figure this stress thing out!

And now for a couple other blogs you can check out if you're getting bored and you don't want to fall prey to the Ngame madness. Vitamins online is a basic guide for vitamins and what not and the best antioxidant blog gives some more health info, but from a more personal point of view. Hope these help!

I'm in an english class. It's literature of the late 18th to early 19th century. The class is a primary course credit, but the teacher has decided to focus on women in literature, so all our books are written by women. I was excited by this idea.....then I got the book list.

The woman has us reading a 500 page novel every single week! That's 100 pages a weekday for an entire semester! This class was supposed to be FUN! A sort of stress reliever. Women in the 1800's must have been crazy to write such long novels. What were they thinking?!

I was disgruntled the first few weeks. Then we got to Adam Beede. Adam Beede, by all accounts should be a boring...BORING...novel. It's written by George Elliot, the same woman who wrote one sentence in Silas Marner that went on for a page and a half. But Beede was different. I just couldn't put it down. Then we read Pride and Prejudice the next week. Even better! Why did I skip this in high school?! Suddenly a book a week isn't so bad anymore.

The grading system is simple. We take a quiz and then write a one page paper on each book. The quiz is just a check to make sure we've read the book, but my teacher is clever (her name is Azelda, how cool is that?). She makes quiz questions that no cliff's notes would have the answer to, so you really have to read the book to nail the quiz. The papers are all opinion papers which are so much easier to write than research papers. Azelda believes it's better for us to come up with our own thoughts on what we've read, rather than wasting time trying to understand someone else's. I agree, and it keeps the class discussions interesting as well, since we come to class with an opinion already in our heads.

So, 19th century women's lit might actually be my new stress relief.

Also, I found a few health blogs. Not the best in the world, but certainly worth a glance or a skim or whatever it is you do when your mind isn't really doing much, but you need something to keep you interested on the net. Check out either the benefits of vitamins or best antioxidant blog and you'll know what I'm talking about.

I took up inter mural ultimate frisbee this week. I thought it would CALM ME DOWN some how. Boy, was I wrong.

The first day was great. I got to meet a bunch of new people, some cute guys (though short, why are frisbee players short?!) and we did a bunch of stretching and drills which pumped up my endorphins and left me feeling refreshed.

The next day was not quite as fun. There are a couple of girls on the team and they are uber good looking and uber competitive. And they NEVER PASSED ME THE FRISBEE. Suddenly the game wasn't a team as much as a sporty flirt contest. I didn't even realize that these two girls were wearing matching sexy sporty clothes the first day, but now it became very apparent as they pranced around, showing off their lovely sprinting legs to the boys, who had no qualms starring their eyes out. There are a few other girls on the team, and I could tell they knew exactly what was going on, but were playing along anyway, the same way you keep coming home to an alcoholic in the hopes that he'll be a fun drunk or something come dinner time.

Then there was the third day. I sprained my ankle, and let me tell you, there was no sort of damage control on the Frisbee field. The other players just stood around me for a moment until one of the chubbier guys said, "Why don't you just stand up, walk around, see if it gets better." No way mister halflete, I believe I'll get someone to carry me to the sidelines and then help me home. But for some reason, ultimate frisbee players aren't the sort who think carrying a girl is cool. Anyway, one of the less gazelle-like girls on the team helped me hobble back to my dorm. I'm done with that form of stress relief.