filler.

Today is an amazing day outside. Such a fantastic day that I rode my bike to my favorite coffee shop.

I am sitting on the patio. In fact, I come here just to get a chance to sit on this deck and stare at the way the light comes through the banana leaves and also to catch a glimpse of the evergreen wisteria in bloom, which makes an eggplant colored flower that reminds me of dramatic smoky eye makeup on a woman with stunning eyes – the way it is in fashion spreads.

This deck is what makes this my favorite coffee shop (it’s not the coffee, trust me.). There are also bamboo and some succulents around the deck. It’s an odd mix. I love to see the variety that can grow in south Louisiana. –None of it really goes together; a strange mix and match, which is quintessentially southern for me.

A guy next to me is on his computer and seems to not know the etiquette about music – that you listen to it through headphones. That you are not blessing strangers with your incredible music taste when you let your Itunes play aloud through your computer. How can he not know this? Will Emily Post please write a book: re: blackberries, cell phones, text messaging, ipods, etc? Maybe I'll submit something to Wikipedia.

I am obsessed lately with Andrew Bird, particularly with an album called Weather Systems, and more particularly with a song called Lull.

Some of the lyrics: Being alone/it can be quite romantic/Like Jacques Costeau/underneath the Atlantic/A fantastic voyage/to parts unknown/going to depths/where the sun’s never shown/And I fascinate myself/When I'm all alone.

And more: “I’m all for moderation/but sometimes it seems/moderation itself/can be kind of extreme.

Yesterday, I finally began studying for the GRE. Finally. I felt infuriated as I took the diagnostic test, infuriated that a university uses this information to decipher intelligence. When I came to the math part, I wanted to throw my pen in the air and toss my book out of the window. Why not ask if a person can balance a checkbook? Or figure out a grade percentage in case the person should become a T.A.? Things people use math for.

According to my diagnostic, I might make a total of 1070 at this point. It was almost enough to make me decide I’d just forgo studying and take what I could get. 1070’s not bad, right? But my reading comprehension score was pretty terrible, so I thought it could hurt me as potential English/writing MFA…I should comprehend what I read, shouldn’t I?

I won’t go into how I did on the math portion. But, based upon this reading, what can you infer about the author’s test-taking ability in the math portion of the Graduate Record Examination?

a. The author did so well she does not need to study.
b. The author scored below average when measured against other test takers.
c. The author would be happy if she did not have to take the GRE.
d. The author could not comprehend the equations she was reading.

Did anyone understand this post?? Do you comprehend?