Miscellaneous thoughts

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few days. I've been surprised at how little I have to do now that I'm out of school, and yet, how little of what I plan to do actually gets done. I did try a new (healthy!) muffin recipe, use my Pilates Yoga DVD and exercise ball that I bought first semester (and had used twice), and get quotes on health insurance from my State Farm agent. Besides that, I picked up a few extra hours at work this week because two people needed to switch shifts or to get a sub. I think I ended up with 20 hours, and I'm scheduled for 20 next week! I'm still praying for a full-time job, though. I'm not a huge fan of working retail. (It hurts my feet, and I'm starting to lose my voice from talking to customers so much. I'm pretty sure I breathe incorrectly--that's what my horn teacher always told me, anyway, and I assume that's how I injured my lip.)

I'm ashamed to admit that I watched part of the Miss America pageant tonight (while I baked those "healthy" muffins, so it wasn't a total waste of time). I watched only because I knew one contestant, Miss South Carolina, who was a year or two behind me in high school. Personally, I'd be a bit uncomfortable parading around in a bikini, and I suspect that may be a modesty issue as well. But hey, it wasn't my decision. And I'm glad for her--I'm sure it's nice to get a bunch of scholarship money! I'm hoping for some of that myself some day, although instead of wearing a swimsuit to get it, I took the GMAT. (I qualified for a full tuition scholarship at the school I'd like to attend; now I just have to get accepted to that school!)

As much bragging as I heard about how the Miss America pageant is all about scholarships, it's the world's largest provider of scholarships for women, etc., it didn't seem to really be all about scholarships. It seemed to be a lot more about sex. (Five of the ten finalists were eliminated based on their scores in the swimsuit and evening-wear competitions. Shouldn't they base elimination on something important? Like... standardized test scores?) The choice of judges was entertaining, too--did they try to choose people who were qualified or people who were famous? And the host (an actor from Desperate Housewives) was quite annoying. In his opening remarks, he frequently paused and waited through a moment of awkward silence before the audience realized that they were supposed to be clapping. After one of those pauses, he remarked, "Wow, we'll never get through at this rate!" As if it were the rambunctious audience who just couldn't stop applauding... The host's occasional references to Desperate Housewives got on my nerves, too; they were just unnecessary.

I went bowling with some friends last night, and managed not to finish in last place (thanks to a strike in the last frame). I managed to score a 71, which isn't too bad for me. =) After the bowling game, we went to one guy's house and sat around talking (quietly, so as not to wake his parents) and nibbling on chocolate from a variety of countries for a couple hours. I left when my dad called my cell phone at 1:30 a.m. to ask when I was coming home.