Merp Gets an A

Cet automne, j’étais très occupée.  J’ai assisté à mes cours et j’ai fait presque tous mes devoirs.  Vers la fin du semestre—non, je plaisante, c’était malheureusement le milieu—je commençais à m’ennuyer pendant l’un de mes cours de psychologie.  J’ai décidé alors d’arrêter la façade de taper des notes avec un air sérieux et assidu.  À partir de cet instant, je passais les cours en dessinant avec Microsoft Paint.  (Le crayon mâché des logiciels pour dessiner.)  Mais je gardais l’air sérieux et assidu.
This fall, I was very busy.  I went to my classes and did almost all of my homework.  Near the end of the semester—just kidding, it was unfortunately the middle of the semester—I started to get bored during one of my psychology classes.  I decided to stop the façade of typing up notes with a serious, diligent look on my face.  From then on, I spent these classes drawing in Microsoft Paint.  (The chewed pencil of drawing programs.)  But I held on to the air of seriousness and diligence.

Aujourd’hui, c’était Halloween.  Une fille s’est déguisée comme Andy Warhol.  On a appris que dépenser de l’argent pour les autres nous donne plus de bonheur que dépenser pour nous-mêmes.  J’avais eu trop de caféine.  On a parlé des femmes qui vendent leurs ovules.
Today was Halloween.  Someone dressed up as Andy Warhol.  We learned that spending money on others makes you happier than spending money on yourself.  I had had too much caffeine.  We talked about women selling their eggs.

J’avais vraiment eu trop de caféine.  Le professeur a erré hors sujet.  On a parlé de donner son sang et la hiérarchie de Maslow.
I had really had too much caffeine.  The professor lurched off-topic.  We talked about donating blood and Maslow’s hierarchy.

Beaucoup d'aspects du comportement des humains sont irrationnels, surtout nos moyens de chercher le bonheur.  L’argent.  Personne ne lit de livres académiques.
Many things about human behavior are irrational, especially the way we seek happiness.  Money.  No one reads academic books.

La technologie n’est pas bonne pour les cerveaux et les rapports, mais on l’aime comme un fou quand même.
Technology isn’t good for our brains or our relationships, but we are crazy in love with it anyway.

On a un moi privé et un moi public.  Les « millennials » ne savent quoi faire avec des tas de papier.  On traite les autres des machines « sur demande. »  Rectangles.
We have a private self and a public self.  Millennials don’t know what to do with heaps of paper.  We treat others like on-demand machines.  Rectangles.

Je suis distraite.  On n’entend pas ce qu’on ne veut pas entendre.  Le prof a une question pour nous.
I am daydreaming.  We don’t hear what we don’t want to hear.  The professor has a question for us.

Graduation Ceremony Awards That Won't Put You to Sleep

FRANÇAIS

(English version after)

Recemment, j’ai eu l’honneur d’assister à la remise des diplômes du lycée de mon frère.  Les cérémonies et les sottises ont duré presqu’une semaine.  Il me faut dire que si jamais j’écoute un autre discours qui commence en définissant une idée comme « la justice » ou « le temps », ou qui inclue une citation de Dr. Seuss, je me lèverais et je vomirais en direction de l’orateur.  Un autre effet secondaire de la semaine passée est que maintenant je suis vaccinée de la musique classique.

Pendant la Cérémonie Traditionnelle de la Remise des Prix Supplémentaires aux Mêmes Cinq Personnes, ce qui avait l’audace de retarder encore le Renoncement Final des Diplômes, je rêvais un peu et j’ai inventé par accident un tas de nouveaux prix.

Bourse de Sneed H. Bargleworth

Pour ce/cette terminale dont le nom gagnerait le plus des points dans un jeu de Scrabble.

Coupe de Calvina B. Nerble

Pour ce/cette terminale qui a changé de coiffure le plus de fois pendant le lycée.

Bourse de Hamlet E. Bickering

Pour ce/cette terminale notoire pour être le/la plus grand(e) geignard(e).

Prix de Merp Merpson

Pour ce/cette terminale qui étudia dans ce lycée pendant au moins deux ans, sans jamais réussir à se distinguer d'une quelconque façon.

Coupe de Borfling T. Tinderson

Pour ce/cette étudiant(e) que les professeurs ont reconnu(e) comme l’auteur des compositions les plus ennuyeuses dans toute la promotion.

Coupe commémorative de Pol Kwoi Tai Chu

Pour ce/cette terminale d’extraction asiatique dont les parents refusent de lui permettre de retourner chez eux sans gagner de récompense.

Prix de Frère de Merpson

Pour ce/cette terminale qui arrive aux cours en retard le plus souvent sans être expulsé(e).

Prix de Herbert C. Biscuit

Pour ce/cette terminale qui a commandé à emporter le plus souvent au lieu d’aller à la cantine.

Bourse de Bradford N. Bobblehead

Pour ce/cette terminale qui a déjà plus de prix qu’il/elle ne peut en porter dans les bras.

Bourse de Hermania Suupkachalutt Vogh-Everson di Cioccolati

Pour ce/cette terminale qui porte le nom le plus long et/ou le plus « ethnique ».

Coupe de Barbara Kleinglass

Pour ce/cette terminale qui n’arrivait pas à « montrer » au lieu de « dire » dans ses compositions.  Venez me voir à la fin du cours.

Prix de Bob “M’sieur Peufiable” Olmsted

Pour ce/cette terminale ou ce groupe de terminales jugé(e) le/la plus responsable pour le pire scandale de l’alcool ou de drogue de l’année.

Comme toujours, n’hésites pas à me laisser un commentaire si j’ai fait une faute en français, ou si, par coïncidence, j’ai nommé la bourse fondée par ton arrière-grand-père.

...

ENGLISH

I recently had the honor of attending Sibling's graduation from high school.  The ceremonies and bluster lasted nearly a week.  I have to say, if I ever hear another speech that begins by defining a concept like "justice" or "time", or that includes a Dr. Seuss quote, I will stand up and projectile-vomit at the speaker.  Another side effect of this past week is that I am now immune to classical music.

During the Customary Awarding of Supplementary Prizes to the Same Five People, which had the audacity to further delay the final Relinquishing of the Diplomas, my mind wandered and I accidentally invented a slew of new awards. 

Sneed H. Bargleworth Scholarship

To be awarded to that member of the graduating class whose name would get the highest score in Scrabble.

Calvina B. Nerble Cup

To be awarded to that four-year senior who has changed his or hairstyle the most times during high school.

Hamlet E. Bickering Scholarship

For that senior widely recognized as the most whiny member of the graduating class.

Merp Merpson Award

Awarded to that senior who, having attended this high school for two or more years, has completely failed to distinguish him- or herself in any way.

Borfling T. Tinderson Cup

To be awarded to that student whom the faculty have recognized as the author of the most boring essays in the graduating class.

Wai Yu Fe-Il Memorial Cup

To be awarded to that senior of Asian descent whose parents will not let him or her return home without an award.

Sibling de Merpson Award

For that senior who has arrived late to class the most times without being suspended.

Herbert C. Biscuit Award

To be awarded to that senior who has ordered takeout instead of going to the dining hall the most times.

Bradford N. Bobblehead Scholarship

Awarded to that senior who already has more prizes than he or she can carry.

Hermania Suupkachalutt Vogh-Everson di Cioccolati Scholarship

To be awarded to that senior with the longest and/or most “ethnic” name.

Barbara Kleinglass Cup

For that member of the graduating class who most consistently “told” and did not “show” in his or her written assignments.  See me after class.

Bob “Ol’ Unreliable” Olmsted Award

For that senior or group of seniors deemed most responsible for the worst alcohol or drug scandal of the year.

As always, don’t hesitate to comment if I’ve made a mistake in French or if I’ve coincidentally named the scholarship that your great-grandfather founded.

Is there life after Nutella?

Je suis enfin revenue de la France.  Le semestre était bien passé en général, grâce aux Français et Américains qui ont accepté de devenir amis avec moi.  C’était une expérience singulière.  Heureusement, la plupart de mes blagues se traduisaient assez bien. 

Je ne voulais pas retourner aux Etats-Unis.  Mais dans l’avion, coincé entre un type qui inclinait son siège à 3 cm de mon nez et un petit garçon qui utilisait le dos de mon siège comme un punching ball, je me suis mise à penser aux choses heureuses qui m’attendaient au Pays de la Liberté Débordante.  Voilà le fruit de mes efforts.  Et comme d’habitude, laissez-moi un commentaire si vous trouvez une faute dans mon français.

I’ve finally returned from France.  The semester was generally well spent, thanks to the French and Americans who agreed to be friends with me.  It was a singular experience.  Fortunately, most of my jokes translated rather well.

I didn’t want to return to the States.  But on the plane, stuck between a guy who’d reclined his seat to within 3 cm of my nose and a small boy who was using the back of my seat as a punching bag, I started thinking about the happy things that awaited me in the Country of Overflowing Freedom.  Here are the fruits of my efforts.

Qu'est-ce que j'anticipe le plus aux Etats-Unis?
Porter des pantalons de survêt.  Ouaiiis.

Effrayer mes parents avec mon anneau de nez

LE BEURRE DE CACAHUÈTES

Courir sans subir des regards comme ça

"Bonjour.  Je n'ai aucune idée de comment il faut faire les choses comme adulte dans ce pays, mais je viens de les faire toutes dans ma deuxième langue dans un pays étranger, donc je crois que je peux me débrouiller.  Capische?”

“Je ne voulais que vérifier si vous aviez besoin de plus de temps pour choisir.”

“en fait oui s’il vous plaît”

"Ce caca va être...”
“RAMASSÉ.”

“Non, merci, je ne bois pas d’alcool.”

“Ce phrase n’est pas seulement grammatiquement correcte, il a aussi du sens dans cette culture.  Tu veux du jus?”

"Fang!  Fangy!  TU ME MAAAAANQUAIS!  FAIS BISOUS!"
"bof"

“Excusez-moi, avez-vous des toilettes?”

“Bien sûr!  Au bout du couloir à gauche, et là-bas à côté de la machine à Coke, et en bas, et en haut, et juste derrière vous, et en fait je suis assise sur une toilette maintenant!  Vivent les toilettes!”

Awooo! The Hunt is On.

The past three weeks have seen an unprecedented level of pandemonium, procrastination, and hospital visits.  Let it suffice for me to say that I appear to be in good working order and that no one should be alarmed.  I even made a good series of drawings when I had to stay up all night before the EEG--every neurological exam has a silver lining, right?  Those will go up soon.

The big project now is finding meself a job for the ol' summer.  I tackled my college's career office website for the first time tonight.  That was a mistake.

I fumbled through the labyrinthine website and found a job search engine.  After lightly restricting the search results to "during the summer" and "in the United States," I scrolled through 132 consulting jobs with increasing rage.  I think the problem is that I'm not interested in grown-up things like "implementing media campaigns" or "providing financial advisory services".  My interests are a bit more elemental, like "eating" and "not dropping crumbs on myself while eating".

I tried to prod the search engine into giving me something that wasn't consulting by putting in keywords related to my interests.  The formerly infinite job list erased itself.  "Share and Enjoy!" smiled the career counselors from their homepage.   After another twenty minutes of fiddling with the Advanced Search Options, I ended up with a handful of things that didn't sound awful--but none of them were paid.  I let out a velociraptor screech and dragon-kicked my computer across the room.

What am I looking for?  Well, my IDEAL job would probably be Humor Filter, if housing was included.

To help myself out, I decided to brainstorm a list of my skills:
--I can read really fast
--I can walk on my hands
--I can run long distances without getting bored
--I can speak French proficiently (and I hope to be fluent by this summer)
--I can curl my tongue and make a lot of startling faces
--I can draw cartoons in response to realtime stimuli (and I've got more coming soon)
--I can make people laugh
--I can write and edit very well under pressure (according to my parents, it isn't really good that I've discovered this about myself)
--I can beat almost anyone in Bananagrams
--I can organize and take responsibility like nobody's business
--I can wake up early, no problem
--I can hang out in the woods at night without getting scared
--I can cook really good fried eggs
--I can bellydance a little bit

Huh, that's not so bad.  What I'm NOT good at is managing my time and finishing things by their due dates.  Sixteen and a half years of schooling have gradually numbed my reaction to deadlines to the point where I have basically become immune to them.

"I lose 1 out of 10 points if this is late?  Ehh, that's not so bad," mumbles my complacent brain.  And another night of frivolous time-wasting slides by.  I think the part of me that used to be afraid of academic consequences up and died sometime during my freshman year.  That would explain the smell, anyway.

Unfortunately, potential employers think the ability to complete tasks is really important for some reason.  So I'll have to try attacking the job hunt from a different angle.  I'll do that later.

I'm Thinking of a Number

Sometimes writing essays is like a game.  The professor says, “I’m thinking of a number between 1 and a billion.  Guess.”  But the number is an essay and if you don’t write the one the professor’s thinking of, you fail.

"Now I'm thinking of a letter between E and G..."

Professor Bingo

Have fun, kids.

I realized that this isn't the traditional bingo board size--ehh, deal with it.

How to stop procrastinating

Still Cool, Brah?

I have noticed that I frequently zone out during class, and tune back in ten or fifteen minutes later to find that our discussion on computational theories of cognition has turned into an argument about whether babies are really people or not.  I have also noticed that I pay better attention when I take notes in pictures instead of words.  This could be an interesting semester.

EEEEEEE! Back to School!

...when you realize that you were too excited about school to pay attention to homework, professors, or biological needs.

Hitting Restart on the Funny Machine

Hello again!

This is Merp, broadcasting live from Merpsville.  This fall semester is going to be a busy one, but I intend to post weekly because that's the least often I can do it while still feeling proud of myself.  Summer vacation gave me tons of new material!  Especially the part that I spent in England with my family, which supplied a tonne and a half by itself.  All of this material is still in mad scribble form ("bagel cafe in forest reached by elevator") but I feel confident about Future Merp's work ethic.

So, have a safe trip back to school, young'uns.  Enjoy the peace and quiet, old'uns.  Nibble & Spew will be with you every step of the way.  Expect a new post within the week.