not at all what i meant

so i've been having this happen to me a lot lately: i'll say something to someone and get a strange response, only to realize later that they thought i meant what i said in a totally different way from how i did mean it. and then i feel like an ass.
case in point: i've been anxiously waiting for an order from amazon (master and margarita books for my book club, seriously my favorite book in the entire world, hands down, and i'm practically pissing my pants to get my students to read it) and it was supposed to arrive tuesday. so i go in to check my mailbox at school after mail-delivery time, and nothing is there. i ask the secretary, did the mail already come? yeah, it came an hour ago. no big deal, i leave the office. i come back later, though, to make copies, and there sitting in a chair by the door is the box i've been waiting for. me being the distracted being that i am, i figure i probably didn't even notice it before when i was checking on my mail, and make an offhand comment to the secretary: has this been here all along? no, it just arrived. i leave the office, thinking nothing of it, and realize later that she thinks i was implying she lied to me earlier when i asked about the mail the first time. <here's where i feel like an ass>
this might not be the best example, but this has been happening to me on a weekly, if not daily, basis for the past month. and i'm left wondering, how much gets lost in translation? how many things that i've said have been misconstrued, and more importantly, how many conversations have i misconstrued to someone's detriment? i should give people the benefit of the doubt more often.

so i'm up late. ten o'clock is late for me on a school night, considering i have to get up at half six. i cannot sleep, though, despite the fact that i shared a pitcher of sunshine with my buddy before turning in. so i thought i'd give my ipod a little attention. loading: best of prince, cocteau twins, my bloody valentine, and broken social scene. i'm into the latter, and you should check them out if you haven't already. they had to grow on me, but damn am i impressed.
i'm so glad, so freaking glad that spring break is in two weeks. i just have to try and not anticipate it so much or those weeks will turn into months.