I'm starting to run out of stuff to do. I mean, I have work-study stuff left -- I've only accumulated about seven hours of my target 20 to 30. But as I have to do that on my old and now a lot slower laptop (I removed the memory upgrade and installed it in my iBook), it's really an exercise in frustration. Dreamweaver crashed at least twice during the four hours I worked this evening, once just after I had saved a file I'd been working on for a long time. (Actually, that time my laptop went into one of its famous spontaneous restarts -- having saved the file just then was a great stroke of luck.) And the work I've been doing so far is really rather tedious. I've been reformatting a professor's old syllabi for his web site. It's all a matter of playing with line breaks, indents and text styles, and it's as boring as it sounds.

I'd like to play the new Sims game we got for Christmas, but unfortunately it only can run on one of our computers. (I assume it could also work on the computer upstairs, but you can't run it when someone's playing it downstairs since you need the CD.) Alas, the boys want to play it, too, and so the Dell is almost constantly occupied by one of them during the day (and spare moments are taken by my mom). Thus I can't usually play it until late at night when they've gone to bed, but oftentimes Dan or Sean have friends over late at night these days. Dan and company especially like to take over the computer while here -- they use it for their God-awful "recording sessions." There's a reason the first two letters of their "band's" name stand for "no talent."

That brings me to the NOISE that constantly pervades this house. If any of you ever wonder how I can stand to live next door to Laura, who likes to blare music through the walls all day, let me tell you that I consider that a respite. And I'm especially looking forward to it now, as the noise level has ratcheted up to levels unknown over this break. Between the new digital cable blaring from the family room, the always-running Xbox in the living room, the stupid Sims music from the Dell, that horrible new electronic drum machine Zach got for Christmas, Dan's friend playing guitar, the chatter of countless people who think they have the right to take over the house at all hours and many more annoyances, I can't believe that a) we haven't broken some noise pollution ordinance or b) I haven't gone deaf.

AHHHH!!! I just can't take it anymore!

And the worst part of the whole thing is that there's nowhere to escape to. The noise (especially from the stupid drums) penetrates the floor of my room. It's snowy and freezing outside. There's almost never a car available to me in a house of five drivers, and even if there was, there's nowhere for me to go. Even if I did feel like going downtown to the library or something, I'd not be allowed to stay for more than an hour or two, I'm sure, because I'd be roped into being chauffeur for one or more of my brothers. Getting myself away here just isn't worth the hassle.

I just want to be alone! I just want some quiet! How is one supposed to sleep in a house with 24/7 noise, anyway?

Why can't I go back now?!