oh, <3

I'm rereading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay for the first time since I first discovered it my senior year of high school, and suddenly I remember why this is the only LJ icon I have used consistently (and never even temporarily retired, even back when there was no option of buying extra userpics) for the past four years. Because this is the greatest book ever.

Oh, Joe Kavalier. Oh, Sammy Clay. Oh, the Escapist. So much love.

um?

So I totally just got criticized by a couple of police officers. I was walking back to my apartment from campus, and I was calling my boyfriend as I walked. A cop car pulls up alongside of me, and honks. At first, I didn't even realize they were honking at me, because, um, I was on the sidewalk, not trying to cross the street or anything, and not doing anything worthy of being honked at. Then they honked again, and I looked over, and they beckoned to me, so I walked over. And got reamed out because I was walking alone in a dangerous area at night on my cell phone not paying any attention to the world around me.

Um, thanks for caring? I live here. I know it's not the safest neighborhood ever, but it's not exactly the slums. I'm still technically on campus, on a large, very well-lit street, at twilight. I know this route very well. I'm aware of my surroundings. I'm always aware. I grew up in fucking Manhattan, where I made a habit of wandering around downtown alone at night. I'm not saying I could never be mugged, because of course it could happen, and I'm always aware of that possibility, and I pay attention to the world around me because of that constant mild anxiety. Yes, I was on my cell, because I get shitty reception in my apartment and it's easier to make calls outside, but that doesn't mean I'm completely oblivious. I wasn't even crossing a street! And again, this is a wide, well-lit avenue, still on campus, with emergency phones every half block. This is not some dark alleyway. It's very much out in the open. There aren't even bushes for ruthless sex offenders to be hiding behind.

I know they meant well, but they made me feel stupid and incompetent just for walking home, and that puts me in a really shitty mood.

Also, I had made plans to go out to dinner with the boyfriend tonight, and said I'd call him when I was done with theater stuff. (Suzan-Lori Parks just did a Q&A on our campus, it was awesome.) So of course, I call him, and he's like: "Did we make plans? I already ate. I'm watching a movie with my roommate and his friends. See ya later." So I kinda want to kill him now, because the whole reason I was holding off on dinner until after the show was because we were going out, and I'm hungry and pissed and suddenly bereft of evening plans and cops just yelled at me. BAH I say.