Woe is Me

I don't understand why, but the Chinese course has left me exhausted. T. offered to review the vocabulary with me yesterday, and the idea of it frankly struck stark desolation into my being. We did it today anyway; it was still tiring and much of the material had slipped out of memory. But whining can minister to a mind diseased, so here is the day encapsulated as a series ungrammatically laconic complaints:

Day began before 11 a.m. and seemed so terribly, terribly long. Also gloomy and rainy; may contribute to my present mood.

Yesterday filled out forms to get health insurance again. One form for family/other info, one bank account withdrawal authorization, one form for declaration of income. Much more straightforward than expected, especially as there were precisely 0 Euros in income to declare. Otherwise, still detest performing "duty" that has no immediate necessity to recommend it. Bank account likely to consequently diminish like snow in the Sahara.

A propos of bank, appointment coming up on Wednesday; look forward to it about as much as getting a tooth pulled. If invited to place money on the stock market, plan to decline with thanks.

Walked in park with J. Skirt splashed with rainwater by bus on the way there. Umbrella (kindly lent by T.) turned inside out. Fixed it. Broke again. Squills, daffodil buds, remnant snowdrops, tulip leaves, and J.'s cheerful chatter redeemed journey.

On Project Gutenberg, reread The Scottish Chiefs. Big mistake. First time of reading was during my gap year; was in shock for days. Literary equivalent of eating artificially flavoured icing sugar and jelly beans and drinking Sprite for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Vapoury, precious in the late 17th-century sense. Can't decide whether religious sentiments well-meant or phony. Makes Sir Walter Scott look like Tolstoy. Later read western novels; infinitely better, but overly familiar by now.

Played piano: "songs without words," movements of Haydn and Mozart sonatas, etc. Went decently through sheer force of will; at first I was in an ungenuine mood.

Later reactivated my Facebook account. All old information (which had been industriously deleted) still present in its former glory, which made me very angry. If they'd only kept my e-mail address and name it would have been all right, but they kept everything. !!!

To summarize, a horrendously tedious day.