Beware; this story is long, only the strongest will have the motivation to read all the way to the end...
Just a few weeks ago, I was trapped in the horrible world of Differentiated Pre-calculus. I HATED it. It made me cry everyday, and i was becoming desperate to do something artistic like writing or painting, but math was destroying my life. I was drowning in a sea of calculaters and textbooks, but i promised myself that if I finished all my homework and made it through the week, i'd treat myself to a day at the Benitt Martin Library. (the biggest library in Lincoln)
Thus, 2 Saturdays ago, I woke up at 8:00 in the morning, grabbed my acid-wash 80's style blue-jean book bag, and headed out. (I didn't even pause to put on make-up, which is pretty extraordinary in Natalie's world.)
I arrived at the library at precisely 8:57, got a perfect parking spot right outside the doors, plugged the meter, and attempted to walk in. At first i thought the automatic doors were broken, but then i read the sign stating "Library does not open until ten on Saturday mornings." I'd wondered why no other cars were on the street, but i just assumed it was because everyone else was still sleeping, not that everything was closed. LIBRARY PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE EARLY BIRDS FOR GOODNESS SAKES! There we have my encounter with problem number 1. (don't worry, there are many more to come.)
So, as the cheap person i am, i didn't want to waste the 2 quarters i'd already put in the meter, so instead of driving away, i put on my mittens and started walking. I told myself i'd just walk around downtown until the doors opened...i don't know what i was thinking. My ears hurt, my fingers were numb, and my nose was dripping. My original plan that morning was to go to the mill (a local coffee shop) and read my books with a nice cup of joe, but due to the circumstances, i figured it may be a better use of my time to walk to the coffee shop now instead of driving to it later. Problem number 2: the coffee shop is located on the complete opposite side of the down-town area.
I had no idea, but the streets of down town lincoln are completely desolate on Saturday mornings, and with the eerie fog that flooded the allyways, i couldn't resist imagining i was a brilliant detective. Of course i would never express such a scenerio out loud, for that would draw far too much attention, but i was playing it out in my head, just waiting for a mystery to solve.
So, my morning was beginning to cheer up as I pranced down the street in my sophisticated button up jacket.
In the middle of my adventure it occured to me "i could use some new shoes!" So i stepped into the black market, one of my favorite down town stores which is full of vintage clothes and shoes. Much to my dismay, there were bars across the inside doors; the black market was closed as well. Problem number 3. So I plowed ahead in my journey to the mill.
As i finally reached the mill i thought to myself:
"why would i go to the mill now? The whole point of going to the mill was so i could read
and drink coffee at the same time."
So then i said (in my head of course) "Oh, i'll just go there twice"
But then after some reasoning i had an aha moment:
"Aha, i'll go to scooter's coffee shop now, and i'll go to the mill later, that way the people at the mill won't think i'm a weird obsessive coffee drinker who comes to their shop twice in two hours!"
I have a unique way of thinking through my decisions.
So, upon coming to that conclusion, i entered scooters and ordered a fancy drink with a completely forgettable name. Unfortunately, that little occurence only used up 20 minutes of my hour to waste, so i stepped outside and trudged on up to the Unl Campus; i thought it'd be a pretty place to walk around.
Once i reached the campus i noticed a sign for the Shelden art gallery. I also noticed a sign stating that it was free. So i barged right in. Here i met problem number 4: art galleries are VERY
very quiet places...i was not wearing quiet pants, and with every step, the bottoms of my blue-jeans would swish against eachother and echoe off the ginormous gallery walls. I must say, the acoustics in that place were fabulous, but not ideal for my current situation.
Not having been to the gallery in a while, I'd forgotten where the exhibits were, so i had to ask one of the only two people in the WHOLE place where the exhibits were located. Problem number 5; "Where are all the exhibits?" is a stupid question to ask an art gallery worker. So with my head hung low, i swished up the stairs, echoing the whole way with the eyes of the two workers following closely following. It was pretty intense. Once i finally reached the top i realized my meter was almost out of time...problem number 6; running out of an art museum immediately after asking where all the exhibits are is even more stupid.
Okay, i realize this story is getting painfully long, so i'll try to wrap it up quickly.
I plugged my meter again, and went in the library for an hour. As i was ready to check out my books i realized my meter was about to run out of time again, so i set my books down and ran outside to plug it. I'm not very smart so i put enough change in it to last me another hour, when all i had left to do was check out my books. Problem number 7; i wasted 2 quarters after all.
After everything i'd been through...i never went to the mill.
EPILOGUE:
3 days later natalie dropped pre-cal for the rest of her life. She can eliminate math mathmetician from her list of possible future occupations.
