a plea from a cat named Parallax

1. Like so many siblings (adopted, but still siblings), my two are complete opposites. Tonks is shy, but Parallax will make googly eyes at everyone from the pizza dude to the vet; Tonks builds remote nests from which she keeps an eye on us, while Parallax feels that the best seat is the one someone was just sitting in, even if they're returning in two seconds with a glass of water. Tonks has no interest in people food, except the occasional drip of yogurt on her nose. Parallax, however, will armwrestle you for the last lick of a curry and enjoys snagging pieces of popcorn with her practically functional "hands" (the day cats get true opposable thumbs will be a terrifying one).
So this post is dedicated to the real victim of my diet: Parallax. When you've accounted for every shred of nutrition on your plate, it's not likely that you'll remember to throw scraps to the cat, and there are no leftover on the plate for her to pounce on. Also, quite honestly, there isn't much I'm eating that she would be interested in - not much meat, no cheese, no cream, no eggs. She has been reduced to sitting next to me and purring whenever I eat and blinking big, sad eyes at me. I try to tell her it's for her health, but she is profoundly unsympathetic.

2. I had a pretty busy afternoon. I had Latin America with Christiane, which was good, and saw Will there for the first time (his first week back was pretty slow getting off the ground). We spent a while chatting and made a D&D date for Friday night, Marie's schedule permitting.
After that I had an appointment with Financial Aid to be certified as Po' Enough To Do A Work-Study (surprise: I qualify!) and caught the bus back home.
I've been avoiding two phone calls for a little while - the doctor's office, to make a checkup appointment, and the student loan people, to make sure things were moving along so I can, you know, pay tuition and all that. The doctor's office has been putting me on hold and then disconnecting after ten minutes for so long that I was shocked to actually be connected to the receptionist, but the really weird part is that I landed an appointment next week. Most times it's been "well, we can get you in seven weeks from now..."
I was so excited about my success that I dialed up the student loan people right away, and once again, actually got connected to someone right away. I asked about my application status, because I've had no word since sending in my things in late November, and she looked it up. "Oh!" she said, "You made it to the top of the queue today!" YES! YES! YES! "... and it would have gone through, but it seems you were missing some paperwork, so it'll be another six weeks after you fill out the rest."
WHAT? I'm not an idiot, I've done this before successfully, I double-checked everything because I knew I didn't have time for exactly this sort of delay. It's not catastrophic - rent's okay, for example - but now I have to do another round of paperwork tomorrow, and have one of those annoying conversations with Financial Services where they ask if there's anywhere else I could get the money from sooner ("Why yes, I'll just break open my Volkswagen-sized piggy banks, I was only applying for a loan so I could buy a second car and go to Cuba for spring break!").
I hate you, Nova Scotia Student Loans.

3. So, tonight is more Latin, though I believe my Greek is ready from Monday, because they didn't get through the whole reading, let alone the exercises that I also had ready. Luckily these letters are way less convoluted, and also shorter - both letters together are shorter than the first letter.
I haven't managed to find Megan yet, so I'm going to try to talk Sean into dying my hair for me. Hair dye adventures!