Update

It snowed a lot more. Santa Fe has over 25 inches. I think the New Mexico governor (Bill Richardson) declared a state of disaster. And you know it's serious when all the churches cancel their Sunday morning services. I don't feel like I'm in a disaster though, don't worry. However, the snow and ice are messing up interstate travel, which means I can't get to Albuquerque in the morning to get to the airport for my flight back to Richmond. So I'm here a little longer I guess. I think we're going to try to get me out on Monday before the next snow storm comes on Tuesday.

In the meantime I'm still slaving away over this art project I started. The whole thing is taking more time and energy than I initially bargained for. It's fun though. Ryan told me it was probably my calling and I should give up on history and libraries. We'll see.

Dad: Oh the weather outside is...

Me: Frightful.
Dad: But oh, it's so...
Me: Delightful.
Dad: Let it...
Me: Snow
Dad: Let it...
Me: Snow
Dad: Let it...
Me: Snooooww!

This is the walkway to my house today.



And these are the mailboxes.

Some Pictures

Here are some pictures I took tonight with my new camera while wandering around downtown in the freezing cold.

This is the plaza. I'm sorry it's a little fuzzy. I'm still working on the whole flash/no flash/hold still thing.


This is a drinking fountain near the corner of the plaza. It's also fuzzy, but look how cool the fountain is.


These were some of the farolitos outside my house on Christmas Eve. So actually this was not taken tonight, or downtown, or even with my own camera, but at least you can see what I was talking about in that previous post.


This is St. Francis Cathedral. Except it's not a cathedral anymore because several months ago the Pope made it a basilica. Popes can do that you know.


This is the back of a cute angel sculpture outside the basilica.


That's all for now.

My Christmas

Christmas Eve:

Played the piano for the church service, since the other pianists were out of town. It has been a while since I've had to actually practice for something, but I did a little and it went fine.

Came home to do some last-minute work on one of my craft projects, help clean the house, spoon out divinity and fudge onto trays, and shape rolls.

Set up some farolitos in the front yard with dad. They are candles in brown paper bags, and are traditional New Mexican Christmas decorations.

Grandparents and Cynthia came over, and we ate posole and tamales. My mom always makes posole and tamales for Christmas Eve.

Learned that when my grandparents were newly married (about sixty years ago) my granddad said "dear, I sure wish you'd learn some of my sister's pie recipes and make me a pie," to which my grandmother responded by never making a pie for him ever again.

Also learned that the day I was born my dad went to the waiting room to tell my grandmother I had finally arrived (I was about three weeks late). She asked what my name was, and apparently he spent a long time mulling it over before deciding he wasn't really sure and would have to get back to her. He says the problem was that he couldn't remember which pronunciation they'd picked, since there are at least three common ways to say Andrea.

After the guests left I helped wrap gifts (we have a habit of wrapping everything at the very last minute) and stayed up until after 1 in the a.m. doing more last-minute work on my craft project.

Christmas Day:

Woke up, got ready, and grandparents came back over for Christmas morning. Ate a nice breakfast and drank Mexican hot chocolate.

Opened presents. Ryan gave me an ipod, and my parents gave me a digital camera. I'm pretty hi-tech now.

Drove to my aunt and uncle's house in Tesuque for Christmas Dinner (at lunch time). Delicious as always.

Tried to hang out with my cousins. They are 15 and 11-year-old girls who are beautiful, smart, and talented. I've never been close to them, and we never have much to say to each other. Ryan and I sort of invited ourselves into Meredith's room to try and chat. It was a little awkward.

Sat by the fire and opened more presents. Then we ate dessert. More deliciousness.

Came home. Very tired. Will probably watch a little tv and then go to bed.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Sports Talk...Andi Style

Today I went with my dad to the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, where San Jose State University beat the University of New Mexico 20-12. I know some of you like to take notes at games and post your thoughts. I will do the same in my own special way.

First of all, I have a problem with all these bowl games. Half of the teams get to go, which means it isn't really that big of a deal. UNM lost this game, which gave them a losing season overall, and I feel like it's ridiculous that they were in a bowl period.

Next, this was the first New Mexico Bowl, and they sure hyped up the New Mexico part. I used to go to UNM football games all the time (my dad has had the same season tickets way up high on the fifty yard line for around thirty years), but I hadn't been to one in over five years, so there were new things to see, like the fancy bathrooms near the entrance and the big video screens. Big video screens are nice, but they also make it possible to show commercials, and I hate having loud speakers blare commercials at me at a football game. A whole bunch of the commercials were advertisements for this here Land of Enchantment, with stupid lines that went something like "who knew there was golfing in New Mexico?" or "I used to think turquoise was just a color, until I visited New Mexico," or "I used to think all Native American pottery looked the same until I visited nineteen pueblos in New Mexico." Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about New Mexico pride and I think you all should come visit, because it really is a unique state, but these advertisements from the tourism people made me want to puke. Plus, almost everyone there was from New Mexico anyway, since only two sections actually had San Jose fans and half of them were with the band or the dance squad. And one other thing- the trophy for this bowl was a big Native American pottery bowl mounted on a wooden base. Maybe that's cool? Or maybe San Jose was disappointed they didn't get a real trophy like everyone else?

Next let me tell you about our seats. This was a special game, so we weren't in the usual seats. We were eleven rows up from the field, but on the ten yard line. I'd never been that close to the field before, so it was neat to actually see stuff down there without binoculars. For example, I always knew where the ESPN camera guy was. Maybe you saw me on TV? I was wearing a red hat. I also could see with my own bad eyesight two of the sports guys from the local news stations. And the cheerleaders looked much younger than they used to... Speaking of which, the cheerleaders and band were way down on the other end of our side, so we couldn't hear them at all, and instead we had the San Jose band blaring straight at us from across the field. I mean, they were pretty good I guess, but not as fun as hearing our own band with our own cheers. Twice some cheerleaders came down to our side to do the two part "Go" - "Lobos" - "Go" - "Lobos" but both parts were on the same side of the field, so we couldn't ever hear the "Lobos." "Go...Go...Go" isn't that fun of a cheer.

Well, if you've made it this far in my long post, you're probably wondering about the game itself. We (UNM) didn't do very well. We only made one touch down and that was in the last two minutes. We ran with the ball a lot, but never made it into the end zone. We also fumbled a lot. It was a big disappointment, considering this was in UNM's home stadium and everyone was making such a big deal out of the whole New Mexico thing. Plus, as I already mentioned, there weren't really that many San Jose fans (but they were sure loud and enthusiastic), which made the celebration at the end look pathetic since most of the stadium was empty except for those few blue and yellow fans down on the field.

So that's about it. Any questions?

some things

Last night for dinner my mom made chili (the beans and meat and red sauce kind, like Texas chili, not like New Mexico chili) with some of the sausage from the deer my brother killed a few weeks ago. It was pretty good, but I think it was the sauce that made it good, not necessarily the deer meat. Also, the deer skull is sitting right outside our front door, which is pretty gross. And my room has been overrun with Ryan's guns and hunting paraphernalia.

It snowed yesterday and all of last night, so everything is covered in white. And it's cold.

I just saw my grades for this past semester and I got all As.

I have taken up a new hobby and am being quite the crafty girl this Christmas. I will post pictures later, once I've given the gifts away. Get excited.

Five Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

(I've been tagged.)

1. I like to jog my memory and list things I've done or people I've known, sort of. Here are two (similar) examples: For a very long time after I was at Interlochen I would close my eyes (I was usually in bed trying to go to sleep anyway) and mentally go through my cabin, naming every girl in her bunk, her instrument/art/reason she was there, and where she was from. I did the same sort of thing with the students I studied abroad with in London- name, university, and where they were from.

2. Once when I was a kid my babysitter's daughter (she was a year older than me) and I were in her parents bedroom and she pulled out a handgun from under the bed. We looked at it, and then she put it back. I don't think I ever told anyone about that.

3. My dream car is a charcoal Jaguar.

4. The only time I ever wanted to throw up because of disgusting food was once when my parents forced me to eat canned oyster stew. I'll pretty much eat anything, and I'll even eat more canned oyster stew, but I was super angry at my parents for forcing me to eat it the one time in my life that I was trying to refuse.

5. I ditched my honors English class several times my freshman year of high school to go hang out with Becca and Erin. I still got an A. I also hated living with the constant stressful fear of my parents finding out. Now I'm letting them know.

Four Months in Review

My first semester of grad school is officially over. Here's a review of stuff that happened during those four months of my life.

I moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. Before January of this year I had never even been to North Carolina, even though I'd been to all of its border states more than once. I got an apartment, and I lived all by myself for the first time. I also had to furnish that apartment. The Love of Jesus thrift store in Richmond is pretty great. It's especially great if you have a grandpa to refinish a $25 wooden desk and make it look like a $250 desk. I also got a very comfy couch from Katy M., my aunt's favorite chair, and a foot stool that belonged to my great grandmother.

Moving alone to a brand new place where I didn't know anyone, combined with leaving friends and a relationship behind in Richmond, meant I was lonely at times. The good side of this is I have talked to my mom on the phone more in the last four months than I had probably talked to her on the phone during all four years of college combined.

I fell in love with NPR and my local public radio station (WUNC). I woke up to it, drove to it, cooked (well, made sandwiches is more like it) to it, and procrastinated around the apartment to it. In addition to staying relatively current on the news, I also discovered the simple pleasures of Car Talk, A Prairie Home Companion, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on the weekends.

I found a church that I really like.

I started running (two laps this morning!), ate a little less (little money and no grandma will do it), and lost ten pounds.

I learned (gratefully) that leading discussions and grading undergraduate papers is not as hard as I feared it would be. Next semester will take more work, but I'm not as worried.

I learned a lot about public history and archives. I also learned a lot about theory and different kinds of history, which I actually really enjoyed. While some papers and projects were a pain, I had fun researching and writing my historiography paper, and it reminded me of how I enjoyed writing my senior thesis in college, which is what inspired me to go on to grad school in the first place. So that's good.

I became a regular viewer of Grey's Anatomy on Thursday nights.

I got to visit with family. In college my family was at least a three days drive away, and now my Richmond family is less than three hours away. My dad also came to visit, which was great. Now it's my mom's turn.

I started to make new friends. This has been a big concern for me, but like most things, it takes time. I'm excited to see how these relationships develop next semester.

In sum, I think I grew a lot and had some valuable experiences. I guess you could say it was a pretty good four months.

Grad school is pretty fun...now that the semester is over

Monday night my public history class headed over to our professor's house for dinner, which was very nice. Afterwards some of us went out for drinks (well, one drink in my case) at a fun place I'd never been to with tons of good beer on tap. Then yesterday I had lunch with a friend (real friends in Raleigh, hooray!) and we tried to do some Christmas shopping at the mall. Looking back though, she bought a Christmas gift for herself, and I got nowhere. Last night four of us girls went out downtown to celebrate the end of the semester, which was lots of fun. We need to go out more next semester. Tonight I went to my homegroup Christmas party, where we had a "Dirty Santa" exchange. I took the bag I got from a similar party last year from Jennifer (which the girl who ended up with loved, by the way), as well as a pen that lights up. In exchange I got a disgusting old camouflaged army cap. Then four of us went out for drinks (again, just one in my case) afterwards. Now that I've had my fun, tomorrow will be a day of studying for my archives exam. And then I go home!

Drum Roll Please

I have completed all of my papers for the semester! Woohoo! Now all I have left is my archives exam on Thursday, but I'm not worried about it. For the midterm I only studied four hours right before I took it and still got a 99.

So, my weekend was mostly paper writing. I listed to The Marriage of Figaro about a million times. I would say I almost have it memorized, but that's not true because it's not in English, so I can't hear what they're singing very well. Except the parts I already knew from accompanying singers in college. Also, if anyone out there wants to take me to an opera some day, that would be fine with me.

Saturday night I went to a party with the other history students. Lots of mingling and drinking, and before I knew it the clock read 3:30 in the morning.

Sunday was church again, which I love, and then working on the paper. I also took (too long of) a break to watch the last episode of America's Next Top Model.

Now I must clean up my apartment, because it looks like a library exploded in here. Then I will take a nap before dinner at my professor's house.

Little Rounds

Has anyone else noticed how Grape Nuts (what I used to call Little Rounds as a kid) aren't staying very crunchy these days? They get soggy right after I add milk. I hate soggy cereal.

Mmmmm.....sigh

Once in Spain I had a bowl of hot chocolate soup for breakfast. It was delicious. I was just thinking about how nice a warm bowl would be right now. Alas my powdered chocolate (not to be confused with my breakfast powdered chocolate) and hot water will have to suffice.

My Weekend

I'm going to consider myself one of Val's friends, so I will do what she asked.

The thing is, my weekends in Raleigh can be very lonely and pathetic. I will work harder next semester to make things better. Anyway, I digress.

Friday, I procrastinated. I don't even remember what I did. I think my day involved sleeping way too late, and playing way too much Spider Solitaire, instead of writing my paper. Finally I dragged myself out of the house and through the rain to a coffee shop, where I worked on my paper from 4:45 until 10. Then I came back home and watched Love Actually, because it's the only movie I own that I haven't already seen a billion times.

Saturday was pretty similar. Slept in (which, by the way, is not always by choice. If I don't have to actually be somewhere in the morning, I have a hard time waking up.), and ran around the lake. Then to mix things up a little I drove to Foster's Market in Chapel Hill to work on my paper, which I could only do for three and a half hours until my battery ran out. Then I decided to go to the mall, because for some reason going to malls is like comfort food. I don't actually buy anything, I just feel like I'm back in New Mexico, thanks to the homogenization of America's malls. Anyway, this didn't actually work for me, and I left tired and depressed about how I have to start Christmas shopping but I don't have money or any clue what to get anyone.

Sunday I planned to wake up early and work on my paper more, which didn't happen. I went to the 11:15 service at church, but was 15 minutes late. Then I stayed for the ownership seminar and finally got home at 2. I put on sweats, made a pot of coffee, and worked on two papers from 4:15 until 1:30, with small bouts of procrastination on the internet in between.

It's 1:30 A.M.

But I've just completed (for the most part) two of my three final papers. Now I have an entire week to research and write about the historiography of Western history and Henry Nash Smith. Yeehaw.

What's in a name?

My archives professor has called me Ms. Gray, Rebecca, Becky, and Andy. He seems to think this is funny. He will call other students Ms. [insert last name here], and one girl he calls "Sarah with an H," but I don't believe he's called anyone else by their middle name. And I don't recall his ever actually calling me Andi. He tried tonight, but it came out as Andy, and I didn't feel like correcting him. I guess I don't mind though. It's more amusing than anything.

All Star

I have just spent way too much time here. If you scroll over the compass thing you'll find a link to design your own! How fun is that? Parents, you might find something here on my Christmas list...

I lied, and a story

Well duh, plaster doesn't fall from the ceiling for no reason. Of course water has dripped. I just didn't see it, or bother feeling the floor. But then I heard it. Now my trash can is under the leak and there is a lovely drip...drip...drip happening. I'll have to dampen that somehow before I go to bed.

Now for a little story. When I was a kid, I liked to imagine that I lived back in Little House on the Prairie days. During the summer I watched that tv show every day (I read some of the books too, don't worry), and I also liked reading the American Girl books. Anyway, when I would go to my grandmother's house (in Santa Fe) I would, for some unknown reason, pretend it was back in the day and there was no electricity. The way this actually played out was when I'd go to use her (pink) bathroom I would first pretend to light a pretend match for a pretend candle, and somewhere in the required motions to light said pretend match I would flip on the light switch. Then when I was done I would blow on the light switch and discretely flip it off on my way out. I remembered this fun tidbit-from-Andi's-childhood in class tonight, and thought I would share it with you all.

Update on the Soggy Ceiling

I don't think water ever actually dripped through the ceiling, but chunks of plaster fell off in a different spot, so it must have spread. This has obviously happened before, because there are large patch jobs around that area. I think from now on when it rains a lot I will have to stare at the ceiling. Fun times. At least the apartment people are good about fixing (or covering over...) problems right away.

Grandparent Games

My O'Brien grandparents are Rook players. My whole life a visit to the grandparents (which meant a vacation at the grandparents, since they always lived far away, until I moved in with them, of course) was accompanied by Rook playing. It's a fun game, and my grandparents make it more fun that usual, being the awesome and hilarious people that they are. Grandma loves to take the bid. Grandpa has fun sayings for just about everything. If a player calls out that trumps are black (or red on occasion) he replies "the color of my true love's hair." If trumps are green or yellow he might instead say "the color of my true love's teeth." Score sheets are often posted on the refrigerator (there are two up right now), and Grandma has been known to make long distance and awkwardly-timed phone calls to share a particularly good score.

My Gray grandparents, on the other hand, are Dominos and Trionimos players. As a kid they used to take my brother and I camping for several days at a time during the summers. At night we'd sit around the table in the camper with the kerosene lantern and play games. Granddad also created a game we played outside called "Washers." He had two short tubes of wide PVC pipe that he put in the ground after digging a little hole, and we would stand back and toss large flat washers that he'd painted into the holes, sort of like Horseshoes. Every time someone took a turn he'd pull out his little pad of paper from his shirt pocket and mark down the score. I think he usually won, too.

Nice

It's been raining buckets all day, and some of that rain has found its way between the apartment above me and my living room ceiling. Maybe it will dry? Maybe it will pool and cave in? I'll get to play the fun "wonder what my apartment looks like" game when I get back after the Thanksgiving weekend.

Some Numbers

I have been to thirty states. I do not count states where I was only in an airport. That's cheating.

I have been to fifteen countries on two continents. I also think it would be interesting to visit Mongolia, in case you were wondering.

I have had seven jobs, not counting my current TA position, which doesn't seem like a job.

I have lived in three capital cities, and a total of four states.

I have lived with three dogs. But not all at once.

I have been roommates with four girls. Again, not all at once.

I have kissed five boys all at once. No, just kidding.

I have broken a total of zero bones, and been in a total of zero car accidents. So far.

I have five first cousins, and I was the first grandchild on both sides.

I met four of my great grandparents. I just realized it's strange that a "great aunt" and a "great grandmother" are in two different generations. Hmmm...

I was a camper at six different summer camps, and went to some of them more than once.

I can only remember six phone numbers off the top of my head. Well, seven, but one of those isn't in use anymore since my mom left that job.

Besides living with my parents, I have lived in three other homes with families (ok, one family, one couple, and one widow).

I have voted twice.

Friends have thrown surprise birthday parties for me twice. I was surprised both times.

I did it!

This morning I ran around the lake twice without stopping. That's over four miles. This is a big day, people. A BIG DAY. Now wish me luck as I write my archives paper.

See how she runs

I have doubled my success rate of running all the way around the lake without stopping since I last posted about it. In fact, the last four times I've tried (Sat, Mon, Wed, Fri) I have succeeded. I am making great progress. The next step is to keep going after I've done a lap. Before you know it I will be running marathons. Yes, I made that plural. Oh, and I forgot to tell you all that the other day a squirrel dashed out in front of me and I almost stomped on him. That would have been a disaster.

Twice now I have made a crazy macaroni and cheese/squash/corn dish. I like it. I got the idea from my Rachel Ray book, but she makes it all fancy and I don't have lots of the things her recipe requires, so I tweaked it. Part of tweaking it means I use a box of Kraft blue box macaroni and cheese, rather than making it from scratch. Also, I think I use the wrong kind of squash, but I use what I've got! I have not been very good at cooking this semester. I mostly eat sandwiches. In fact, I've only made my Andilicious burritos once since I've lived here, and that is usually a staple for me! Other than the Rachel Ray thing, the only other time I looked in my cook books this semester (I think) was to see how long to cook hard-boiled eggs.

socks full of memories

Socks are more exciting when they spark fond memories. I have some socks like that.

First, there are my regular Interlochen socks. At Interlochen (a music and arts camp in Michigan) the color of a girl's socks signifies which age group she's in, so I came back from my summer there in 1999 with a whole bunch of light blue socks. I still wear them all the time, despite how worn the heels are (because seriously, unless you take your shoes off who will ever know?). When I put these socks on I'm not reminded of Interlochen so much as I'm reminded of my friend Allison from college, who also went to Interlochen and who used to notice my socks and think it was funny I still wore them.

Next there are two pairs of white ankle socks that are tied to bowling. In the summertime if you're wearing flip flops you run into a problem at the bowling alley, and that situation has led to two new pairs of socks for me. First there is the pair my friend Becca from Santa Fe let me borrow one summer during college. I washed them and tried to give them back (I think months later...) but she said I could keep them, so I did. I like Becca, and those socks remind me of her. Then I was at a bowling alley in Johnson City, TN, when I drove my friend Katie there so she could be in a wedding (but don't worry, the wedding wasn't actually in the bowling alley). We all went bowling, but the groom had to go buy a package of socks for most of us, due to the above-mentioned flip-flop situation. That was a fun time, which makes those fun socks.

Briefly I will mention my cell group socks. Cell group was my girls Bible study in college, and one Christmas our leader Machelle gave all of us fuzzy gray socks. I only wear them in the winter, but it's nice to remember those girls when I do.

My favorite socks full o' memories are my Swedish socks. They are not Swedish at all, they are actually a different kind of Interlochen socks. At Interlochen our formal concert wear was a light blue collared shirt, navy corduroy knickers, and knee-length light blue socks. When I got back to Santa Fe I wore (and still wear) those socks (in the winter, under pants, because it's cold in the winter and those socks keep half my legs warm) and my friend Celia said they looked Swedish. Then she made up a song about them, which we still occasionally sing when we're together. The end of the song goes, "Swedish socks, bagels and locks, la la la la la la la, Andi is a Swedish girl, yah!" I bet you are all wishing you had a fun song about your socks too, yeah?

A List of Things

Today I ran all the way around the lake without stopping. That was only the third time it has ever happened, because I usually end up getting a cramp and have to stop and walk. The path was covered in leaves, and it was a beautiful day.

I can sit in a coffee shop doing homework for over five hours and still have a sip of my latte left when I leave. This happened today.

I need to go to a fun concert soon. If I hear good music on the radio or on a cd, it sometimes makes me ache on the inside because I want to experience it live.

Driving home tonight I heard "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" on the radio, in honor of Veteran's Day, and it made me cry.

When I am sad I immediately want to call my mom.

Today I learned that a burrito is not, in fact, a sandwich. But I never thought it was.

I am reading a book for class titled Managing Historical Records Programs, and it makes me excited to be a public historian.

TA

I just got my TA assignment for next semester, and I'm doing Technology in History again, but with a different professor. Soon I will pretty much be an expert and you can ask me anything. Want to know about James Watt and the steam engine? Or how about the horseless carriage, refrigerated railcar, or the ill-fated airship? Just ask me, because I know.

Piano Lessons

I'm sitting at my desk taking notes on ethics in archives and I have the classical station playing in the other room (one of the rare moments when I'm not listening to NPR). A piano sonata by Beethoven is playing, and it's taking me back to all my years of piano lessons and practice. Right now those memories are filling me with conflicting feelings. Often when I hear piano music I miss playing, but for some reason the particular piece I just heard reminds me of waiting for my weekly lesson in college and hearing music come from the other piano professor's studio. My professor was always running fifteen minutes late, without fail, so I would sit there in the hall full of dread and anticipation over my upcoming lesson. My first couple years at college were rough when it came to piano, because I didn't practice long or well enough. I didn't have enough time to practice, and piano had become an obligatory chore (I was on scholarship for it) rather than something I enjoyed. I have this great fear of disappointing people, and every week I felt like a big disappointment for my professor.

But then I think back to high school, when I enjoyed piano more. I also played the cello, and when I look back I think it's crazy how almost every day of the week I had some music-related activity to go to. One day was my piano lesson, another was my cello lesson, Sunday evening was youth symphony, and often there was some other rehearsal for an ensemble group thrown in there as well. Plus practicing, of course.

And now I don't play any music at all. I played the piano a tiny bit at my grandparents house this last weekend, and that was the first time I'd touched a piano since August. It's kinda sad.

Teacher's Pet, sort of

I don't think "teacher's pet" is the right phrase, because I'm not getting preferential treatment or anything, but I have somehow entered a special relationship with one of my professors. "Special relationship" isn't right either- it sounds sketchy even (don't worry, he's gay), but you get the idea.

The whole process is a long story (which I just tried to explain but found too confusing and boring to write), so suffice it to say it involves him and me enjoying a play together, visiting the NC Museum of Art together, and me saying things in class like "do we really have to do all these activities in the book as part of our group tour project? Don't you know we're just going to make this stuff up at the last minute?" or retorting to his comment about looking forward to laughing at our tours with "yeah, or you'll be amazed."

This leads us to tonight's class, in which he announced to everyone how we'd criticized art at the museum together; said he was reminded of me while doing tonight's reading because "Andi hates bureaucracy and rules;" and later referenced me again as being "against The Man." I think it's funny he sees me this way, because it's pretty much the opposite of how I've been viewed most of my life. My old boss at the coffee shop once told a customer "Andi is the most conservative girl I've ever met from New Mexico." Surely I land somewhere in the middle.

What do a Bee, Space Girl, Flava Flav, Monica Lewinsky, and a 40s Movie Star all have in common?

They were all at the history grad student party last Saturday! You can't see them very well, but notice my awesome tin foil-covered hiking boots. I won a small package of Mexican macaroni for "Best Last Minute Costume."

Carry me back to old Virginny

(Let's just concentrate on the title, not the rest of the controversial song, okay?)

Get excited folks, because this weekend Andi is headed back to Richmond! Hurray! It's been so long! I'm excited to see my grandparents and Danny, and I'm excited to see friends, so anyone want to hang out?!

I Heart Raleigh

Or at least I want to. That's my plan. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I need to dive in here. So far my mind has mostly thought "I live far away from campus and downtown, I'm only here for school, I'm too busy to get involved in stuff besides school, and after school I'll probably just move away again." All of those things might be true, but I will probably miss out on good times here if I stop there. When my dad was here we went to some different parts of town I'd never been to, and ate at real live restaurants! (Being alone and poor means I don't really eat out much...) So that widened my Raleigh world a little. I'm also trying to get to know more people through church, so I've started going to a "home group." And tonight I carved pumpkins with kids at a city block fall festival, organized by the church. Let me tell you, I'm pretty masterful at scooping out pumpkins. Grey's Anatomy night is also still happening, which makes me excited because I like the girls and we are starting to be friends.

So I don't dislike Raleigh, I just don't know it enough yet. My heart is now ready to embrace the City of Oaks.

Go Archives!

Apparently October is "American Archives Month," according to the SAA website. I know you wish I'd told you sooner, but you only have six more days to celebrate it, so hop to it!

Henry Ford

Today in my TA class, the history of technology, we learned about Henry Ford and his Model T. The professor played this "music video," basically a six-minute biography set to folksy music. I thought it was hilarious. The chorus goes:

Henry Ford
He's a self-made man
Henry Ford
With a simple plan
Henry Ford
Showed us time after time how to build a better life with an assembly line.

There's also a song about Henry Ford in the musical Ragtime that I like a lot. One of the lines goes, "Even workers who ain't too clever, can learn to tighten a nut forever!" I'm not saying that's a good thing, I'm just saying it's a fun song.

Skittles Sandwich

Today in class a guy (the same guy I mentioned who used to teach in Tacoma) was eating Skittles, and it reminded me of the Skittles Sandwiches I used to make. You take one of each color and smash them all together into a flattened sandwich. I told him this, and he said he used to do it, too! And he agreed about how you couldn't make too many sandwiches because all that smashing started to hurt your fingers. So maybe I found a Skittles Sandwich soul mate? Or maybe that's something everyone does? Either way, if you haven't tried it you should, because it's the best way to "taste the rainbow."

More coffee shop conversations

Yesterday I was at another coffee shop (okay okay, it was Starbucks) when these three men sat near me. From what I could hear (and I tried hard to concentrate on my reading about the apotheosis of Captain Cook and not pay any attention to their conversation, but they were so loud...) they know each other from church, and they were trying to plan a trip to Ithaca, NY to set something up, not sure what, a conference maybe? Anyway, one of the guys was super pretentious and obnoxious and rude and patronizing, all very loudly, and it made me want to yell at him. Seriously, I really thought about saying something. Instead, I tried to bend over my article with my hair hiding the fact that my fingers were plugging my ears, but I think he noticed, because they moved. Now, I feel bad for making them move, because they have the same right I have to sit there, but the one guy made me want to curl up under the table and die, so I didn't feel toooo bad.

Then today, at a different coffee shop (I know, sounds like I go a lot, and it's true because I don't have anything better to do and caffeine is a necessary part of my graduate studies) I was sitting there, quietly reading about the myths surrounding the American West in history, when a woman and her grown son sat at the couch opposite me. He pulled out a vocab list and began quizzing his mother on her... Swahili lessons. This week she is learning the name of different foods in Swahili. This was slightly distracting, but amusing at the same time, and luckily I had to leave shortly after they arrived to go to class.

Remind me to bring headphones

I'm sitting in a coffee shop trying to write a review of several articles in The Public Historian on advocating for history. It's due tomorrow. I was supposed to work on it yesterday but I got distracted and that didn't happen, so I'm trying to do it now. Normally I work very well in coffee shops, but my lack of inspiration for this paper and the presence of nearby conversations are more distracting than usual. First two women talked about their houses and market values and kids rooms and the price of wine and how great Portland is, and just when I thought I would go mad they finally left. Then this older couple came, and my eaves dropping leads me to believe they're not really a couple but are on some sort of lunch first date. They were very nice though. The woman said I look cozy here in my booth, and I told her I am writing a paper and wished I did not have to be here, even if it is cozy. That's when the man asked "how can you write a paper on a computer? You're not writing a paper, you're writing electronics." Finally they moved on as well. It's quiet for now, and hopefully this will last. Otherwise I'll have to take my triple latte home with me and try to work there.

Some random things from tonight

As I was driving toward school I saw a girl park her car on the side of a busy road with her hazard lights on, walk several yards, and give a homeless guy on the corner a meal.

I went to a Bible study in a bowling alley. And we all prayed out loud at the same time. I liked it though, and plan to go back next week.

In the library I was looking through the journal The American Archivist for ideas on what to write my term paper on (I decided on ethics in acquisitions and collections policies...we'll see how that goes) and one of the journal covers had this really great picture of nuns making music with tambourines and triangles. It made me smile.

Make up your mind please!

Is it hot or cold? Do I need the heater or air conditioner? A sweater or sunblock? I don't like all this back and forth!

Stupid glasses

All this studious reading is making me go blind. I was already having a hard time seeing road signs, and now I can't even see people's faces as I walk through campus. I haven't worn my glasses in class yet, because my classrooms are all small, but last night I sort of wanted them. And being tired doesn't help.

Jessica Simpson has practically been to my house.

Tonight my dad and I went and saw Employee of the Month, the new movie with Jessica Simpson in which two guys who work at a Costco-like store compete for Employee of the Month in order to win the girl's (Jessica's) affections. Obviously it wasn't that great of a movie, but that's not why we went. We went because the whole thing was filmed in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, including a scene RIGHT BY MY HOUSE. If you see it, and you should if only so you can see where I grew up (and still visit my family), pay careful attention to the baseball game scene. It takes place at Ragle Park, which is about two blocks from my house. You can see the racquetball court on the corner with the mural painted on it, which is also where lots of prairie dogs live. You can also see my high school up on the hill, and the apartments across the street. You can see the corner of my neighborhood, and the fence at the back of Megan's house, who was one of my best friends all through school. Though you can't see it, my elementary school is just on the other side of the park, and I used to walk through it to and from school. You can also see the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the distance. The scenes at the store, though, were shot in Albuquerque, and the mountains you see there are the Sandias. It's pretty exciting to see your neighborhood up on the big screen, especially when it's as random as Ragle Park in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Crazy South and her liquor laws

Why are there stupid laws down here regarding places that serve alcohol? Last night I wanted to go see Tom Brosseau perform in Chapel Hill, but it turns out the place serves liquor (not just beer and wine) and that means they have to be a members-only club, and to see a show you have to become a "member" at least three days in advance. Who does that?! Yet at the same time, Saturday I'm going to be in a crowd of over 200,000 people who are all allowed to BRING THEIR OWN BEER (that's right, I'm going to the Nascar race in Charlotte with my dad). I mean, I know New Mexico is crazy, too, with her drive up liquor stores and super high rate of DUI, but at least they don't keep me from seeing a $10 show just because they can also sell me a martini.

weekend update

Yesterday I woke up to a flooded (sort of) bedroom carpet. I guess my refrigerator was leaking under the wall into the bedroom? Anyway, it smells. They came and worked on it, but the carpet won't be dry for a while, so they're coming back on Monday to put the carpet padding back.

Last night I saw 1776 the Musical!!! It is one of my favorites, even though it's not really that great as far as musicals go. But it's about the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence and I love it. I sat with one of my professors, who went up afterwards and did a little "talk back" with the actors. He guessed 85-90% of the show is fiction, but pshaw, it's the spirit that counts. Haha, I'm not a history grad student who just said that. The costumes were pretty interesting- they kept the basic shape and idea of period costumes, but really they were just normal clothes cut in crazy ways. John Adams' pants were simply cut off and stringy below the knee, Benjamin Franklin wore a trench coat cut and shaped to look like it was from the 18th century, and Thomas Jefferson wore blue galoshes. In my head I sang along to all the songs.

Tomorrow's soccer game might be a disaster (if it doesn't get rained out). We're going to be short on girls, which means we'll be down two players because of the male-female ration you have to keep, and I will have to play the entire time. It's annoying that the person who doesn't know anything (me) will have to play (and get tired) the whole time while perfectly willing and able guys who do know what they're doing have to stand on the side and watch. We'll see what happens.

Other than that? Homework, and lots of it. Plus grading papers. And my dad comes Wednesday!

Confession

I am addicted to playing Spider Solitaire. That is bad news. My freshman year of college I was addicted to it, and I eventually had to remove it from my computer. I also drew a spider with a big red X across it and taped it to my monitor. Now I have a new computer and it's back. Being addicted to a stupid game is not healthy for a girl with papers to write and articles to read! Ugh.

I guess I'm not really a beach girl

This weekend I'm hanging out with my grandparents at Sandbridge, near Virginia Beach. Beach trips with the family are always nice because they're low key and involve a lot of food and napping. My mom's family has always gone to the beach for family vacations, and a lot of them dream of having a beach house or condo of their own some day. I grew up in land-locked New Mexico though, and my family vacations were usually to the Colorado mountains. I sit here looking out at the ocean and it's nice and all, but quite frankly it's just a big body of blue topped with more blue above the horizon. Some green would be nice, in my opinion. I think my dream vacation home would be in the mountains on a lake, so you still have the water to look at, or for fishing/swimming/boating, but you also have mountains and trees and the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves.

New Friends?!

Last night six of us first year public history girls got together and watched Grey's Anatomy, then hung out for another two and half hours chatting. It was super fun. This is the first time we've hung out, and I'm so excited for some girl friends in Raleigh! It all started the other night when three of us were walking to our cars after class and I blurted out, "umm... I don't know what your lives are like but..." Immediately one of the girls jumped in with, "this is it, you're looking at it." Exactly. And thus the idea of a regular Grey's Anatomy night was born.

School Spirit

I've been a firebird, a conqueror, a demon, a logger, and now I'm in the wolf pack. What about you?

An email from Grandma

Dear Andi,

I forgot to tell you the most exciting news this morning.

Daddy came home from his walk with Danny yesterday with a red-eyed tortoise he had found in the middle of the street.

When we got home from 8:30 church, they had already found each other (Myrtle and Yertle, that is).

Anyway, I expect we will be having some very small turtles in the spring.

Danny still tries to steal turtle food, but I try to keep him in the house until they have had time to have some first.

Love, GMa

Some thoughts about school

When I first came to school I tried to do the cool thing and think, "man, I can't believe I'm back in school. It's been so long. Will I be able to handle it?" Maybe that's not the "cool" thing to think, but whatever. Then I really thought about it. I've been a full time student for something like 19 of my 23 years. This isn't a crazy back to scary school feeling, it's more like a back to normal feeling. Sort of.

New city and living alone with no friends aside, I'm enjoying school so far. I like my classes. I like reading. I like the way the content of my classes are all slightly overlapping, so I can say "right, right, I get this," or "so that's why we do things that way." Even in high school and college I loved it when subjects overlapped. All the sudden things made sense and fit together, rather than remaining isolated and theoretical. Maybe that's why I like history- it can fit everything in it.

I haven't written any papers yet, but my first one is due Tuesday. Just a short paper comparing social history methodologies in Europe and Latin America. Ha! That sounds awful. I haven't read the part about Latin America yet. I hope I understand it enough to write something comprehensible down. But other papers are slightly more practical. I get to review a museum exhibit next.

I just wrote "I get to." That's right. I'm going to try to make that my new mind set. Not "I have to," but "I get to." I've chosen to be here, and I can see more clearly how what I'm learning and doing now will relate to my future work. I guess that helps explain why lots of people seem to say they liked grad school more than college.

Team Annales Wins!

I joined the graduate history student intramural soccer team, Team Annales, and today we played our first game. We won by one point in overtime during a penalty kick showdown. I'd like to say I had a lot to do with scoring our 8 points, but I didn't. I mean, I kicked the ball a few times and played some defense, and a few times I got the "good job Andi!" I'll get better. I think I need to be more aggressive. And I need to know what the real soccer people mean when they're yelling at me to do something. I'm not down with the lingo yet.

Junior High nostalgia

I mentioned that I haven't run very far since track in junior high (this was 7th and 8th grade, not to be confused with a "middle school" that might include 6th or even 9th). Then I found out yesterday that my 8th grade Algebra teacher (Ms. Trasp) is now working temporarily for my mom, and that she remembers me (I know, I know, how could she not remember Andi?). Well this brings me to another little memory that I would like to share with you. My 8th grade American History class met in a portable (again, a portable, not a "trailer" as people out here like to call them). For a while there we had a homeless man sleeping in our class at night, and sometimes my teacher (Ms. Robertson, whom we all loved) would be greeted in the morning by a note from him saying how much he enjoyed reading our papers and looking at our projects. Now doesn't that make you feel warm and fuzzy?

I ran over TWO MILES!!!

Today I ran all the way around the lake without stopping. I don't think I've run that far since I was in track in junior high. I usually stick to walking. But not today!

Add a rabbit and ducklings

to the list of animals I saw on my walk around the lake today. A little gray rabbit ran out of the bushes right in front of me, and then I saw twelve little brown and yellow ducklings swimming around.

So many turtles!

My apartment complex is right next to a lake with a walking trail, and every time I go around it it's like going on a nature walk. There are lots of geese and ducks, including these scary ducks that look like a cross between a turkey and a buzzard. There are also squirrels and other little birds. I can't see fish, but I know they are there because there are always people out fishing, including cute old men. And today I discovered there are turtles! I saw dozens of them swimming around or sitting on logs and rocks. One even swam right up under me (I was on a bridge) and acted like it wanted me to throw it food, except I don't think turtles beg like that do they? Maybe they are domesticated by all the walkers throwing bread to the ducks? Anyway, I was excited.

UPS connections

This is a small world. Most people here have never heard of the University of Puget Sound, and they say "Whoah, that must have been a big move for you coming from Washington state." But get this...

First, a guy in my historiography (the history of history) class just moved from Tacoma, where he taught for five years at a school there. He knows about UPS, and has been there, and liked it.

Second, this other guy in my archives class went to grad school (for a different degree) with one of the history professors at UPS. I didn't have him though- he taught the history of science/technology. Too bad I didn't have him, since I'm now a TA for that class.

And lastly, tonight as I was heading toward my car in the parking garage there was a car with both a UPS sticker on the back window (the same one that used to be on my back window!) and a UPS parking sticker (which I also had on my window).

These little things make me happy.

p.s. I thought my car was parked in front of the UPS car, but when my key didn't work I discovered I was at the wrong red corolla. I felt sheepish.

Weekend Update

Thursday a hurricane was on its way, so I drove to Richmond after class and ran over many little frogs on the road.

In Richmond, my grandparents changed a few things in my room, but mostly it was the same. Except that I kept reaching for things, or looking for my clock, or wanting to throw clothes in the closet. It was kind of sad.

Uncle Richard was there, too, and we talked about NASA and astronauts, since I have to lead a discussion tomorrow about the Apollo mission and Man.Moon.Decade. Uncle Richard worked for NASA on simulators and helped train all the astronauts, which makes him pretty darn cool.

Saturday Grandpa fried a turkey. Some of us were worried it would be a disaster and we'd have to call 911, but it went just fine. We all sat around outside and watched it (or stared at the pot, rather), and it felt like sitting around a camp fire, especially since it was cool and I was wearing a sweatshirt.

Sunday I went to church, which was nice because I don't have one down here yet and I miss it. I also went to Franklin Street, this other church service at 4, and it was nice but made me a little jealous because I want it to be in Raleigh and not in Richmond. But I will find something here. I must be patient.

Today was Mexican Lunch Day. Usually Mexican Lunch Day is on Saturday, but we made an exception for the holiday.

Now I'm back in Raleigh, and it's raining.

a sign in the hall at school:

"Please don't spit your tobacco into the recycling bins. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated."

My current best friend

seems to be National Public Radio. Since I live alone and don't have much work to do yet, or a TV, or social interaction, I have a lot of empty lonely space to fill. NPR rides with me in the car, greets me when I come into my apartment, and keeps me company while I'm here. News, Car Talk, A Prairie Home Companion, a conference on the Vietnam War, Celtic music, stories from Katrina victims. I'm even hearing repeats of everything.

Feeling Old

Last night I went to a Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows concert. We sat on the grass in back and were surrounded by a sea of teenagers. I often go around still feeling like a teenager myself, until I actually mingle with them. Jumping up and down, screaming into cell phones, and flirting like there was no tomorrow, it was more than I could handle.

Then I go to school, which is swarmed with thousands of undergrands, and I again feel out of place. I often complain that my apartment is too far from school, but after a day on campus I'm more than happy to drive very far away.

Try to be like the camel

Several years ago my dad and I went to an art show in downtown Santa Fe of works by John Lennon. The piece I liked the best was a colored drawing of a camel walking past a pyramid in the desert. The handwritten caption below it read "The camel dances and having danced moves on." I cut out a black and white copy of it from the newspaper and it has hung on my bulletin board ever since, in several different places. Tonight I was hanging up a few pictures around my apartment and once again posted this in my room. Not only do I like the little camel, but I love the lesson that goes with it. He dances, lives life to its fullest, and then he's not afraid to move on. This is always hard for me. Each time I hang it on a wall I've just finished or left a great time in my life. When I hung it my senior year in Tacoma I had just come back from studying abroad in London, and that was an experience I didn't want to let go of. Then I hung it in Richmond when I had just moved away from my best friends in my beloved Tacoma and had no idea what joys or perils awaited me in Virginia. Now it is happening again. I had an amazing year in Richmond, where I spent a lot of time hanging out with my grandparents, made some great friends, and explored a fun new city. I danced in Richmond. But now it's time to move on, and discover a new dance in Raleigh.

some things

I'm in Raleigh. That's right, I live here now. I know I mention that a lot, but sometimes it blows my mind. How did Andi from New Mexico (via Tacoma and Richmond) end up down here? Anyway, I'm mostly settled in my apartment, except that the phone lines don't work and I have no food. I have milk though, and that's pretty much the most important thing so I can still drink my chocolate milk in the mornings.

Today was orientation for us history grad students. I don't really feel intellectual enough for this, since everyone's talking about how they want to study ancient Greece or Japanese fascism or US environmentalism. But not all of the public history students are like that, so that's reassuring. We all had lunch together, and then after the TA meeting some of us went out for drinks. They seem fun, and it's a pretty social program. This is good because I have zero social interaction outside of it so far.

I saw Little Miss Sunshine. It is really good, and you all should see it. Part of it takes place in Albuquerque, and there are lots of desert scenes. Ah, New Mexico, my homeland. That reminds me, today I saw a car with a decorative NM license plate in the front, though it had a normal NC plate in the back. I, too, have a NC plate now, which is sad because I loved my yellow NM plate and the way people would peer at it long and hard trying to figure out where the heck I'm from. It was also a good excuse for when I looked lost on the road.

Call me crazy

Seriously, does this not look like a man with a briefcase and a woman with a purse? Some pedestrians walking to work, right? Because that is what I've always thought- that it's a pedestrian crossing sign. Luckily I studied this morning before taking my North Carolina drivers license test and learned it's a school crossing sign. Apparently everyone knew this but me, but I've sure never seen kids who look like that on their way to school.

This is it folks

In the morning I'm moving to North Carolina. How weird is that? I've never moved someplace in a morning. It usually takes three days to get wherever I'm moving. This is new for me. I want to be excited about it, but so far I'm not. I'm sad to leave Richmond. I know it is close by, and I will come back to visit, but still. Anyway, wish me luck.

p.s. The title of this post doesn't mean no more posting. It just means further posting will be from a new North Carolinian, not whatever it is I've been the past year or so. Alas.

How cute is that?

My grandmother (in Santa Fe) recently had some dental surgery, and the first thing she said to the dentist when it was over was "how long before I can kiss my husband?"

Fun Times

I realize that many of my blog posts are about my dates with Justin, but can I help that we do fun cute things? Having said that, today we did fun stuff.

First we visited the Poe Museum. Turns out Edgar wasn't always as crazy and disheveled as is popularly believed. And he seemed to be engaged a lot.

Next we went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. There were lots of pictures of horses. For real. Even though this was sort of weird, I did go ahead and buy a postcard of a painting of a horse race.

Then we went to Ipanema, the vegetarian restaurant. Actually, we got there a little before they opened so we went on a walk first. Justin was very nice and let us walk down my favorite street (West Ave) even though he really wanted to be inside with air conditioning, and he kept being nice when our walk made me super hot and tired and thirsty and silent. Anyway, we ate, and it was really good.

Finally we headed to a cafe (Cafe Nostra I think?) in the fan. It only has one table, which is huge and covered in board games. We played checkers, backgammon, and then rummy.

Some pictures from my trip to Washington state

Here are the cute bride and groom, along with Melissa, Amy and me.

Justin and I are pretty cute, too.


Here we are hiking around Point Defiance, and sitting on the Troll under the Fremont Bridge.




This is what the Space Needle looks like when I'm trying to climb out the back window from the front passenger seat, and this is what Mt. Ranier looks like from an airplane.

I would post more, but I don't think they fit. Shoot.

Back from the Pacific Northwest

Justin and I got back today from our trip to Tacoma and Seattle. If we're lucky some pictures will follow, but for now here are some highlights of the trip:

Katie and Andrew got married! They were very cute. The wedding was laid back and beautiful, and instead of cutting cake they ate banana pudding!

Before the wedding we girls spent a few hours at the women's naked spa. I was pretty skeptical at first, but it was great.

I got to hang out with my friends Amy, Katie, and Melissa. I miss them.

At the Tacoma Art Museum Justin made me a stylish bracelet that I wore the rest of the week, and I painted him a cloud rock.

At Point Defiance I actually found (sort of) the "magic trail" and we hiked down to the water, where Justin taught me to skip rocks.

We visited two wineries up in the Olympic Peninsula and ate seafood right by the water with a view of what we think was Canada.

We also visited a tiny brewery in Port Townsend where lots of local old guys who probably work on boats hang out with their half gallon jugs of beer.

On the ferry ride to Seattle as we enjoyed the amazing night time view we also witnessed a guy propose to a girl, and she said yes.

In Fremont (a neighborhood in Seattle) we toured a new small organic and fair-trade chocolate factory that included lots of delicious samples.

We saw a Mariners game.

After the game we went to the Tractor Tavern for a show by Tom Brosseau, which I really liked.

Except for two cloudy days, the weather was amazing with blue skies and no rain.

It was a pretty good time I would say.

Hard at Work

This picture was in a presentation at work?!

"I'll take the stairs, thanks."

Today for lunch the Development Staff went to Red Robin. All six of us piled into one woman's mini van and headed across town. It was like a field trip, and I love field trips. As we got back to the office we all got into the elevator to come up two flights from the parking garage. Just as the doors closed my boss said "this thing is probably going to stall because the last time I was in here the guy told me no more than five people at a time." Sure enough, just as the words escaped her mouth, we stopped moving. We were stuck in that elevator for twenty minutes. It got pretty hot and stuffy, but nobody panicked. Our co-workers stood outside the elevator to both keep us company and to laugh at us. When we were finally released we were greeted by cameras flashing, and a video clip is currently circulating around the office of our hilarious escape.

I found Myrtle

We named Grandma's turtle Myrtle. Then she was missing for a long time and we thought she might be gone forever. But don't worry, I found her this morning on the other side of the yard. Whew.

Celia and Gris

Finally, the crazy pictures of Celia and me walking around Times Square wearing eye patches have arrived. But first let me give you some background on how she and I always end up doing ridiculous things when we're together.

Celia is a friend from high school, and pretty much the only friend from Santa Fe that I keep in touch with these days. I feel like it may be hard for some of you readers who know me here in Richmond to imagine me acting in silly ways with her, but it's true. We speak in a funny dialect that involves saying "yah" or "cha" a lot. She calls me Gris, which is Gray in Spanish. She makes up songs about me wearing Swedish socks or being in the ghetto. In high school we would switch one of our shoes and walk around all day like that. Or we would put chapstick on each other. Once I got a crazy hair cut (not much unlike the one I recently got) so she started calling me Hiawatha, and then she made me a headband out of pipe cleaners that I wore in English class. At an amusement park in Denver we wore Spongebob Square Pants temporary tattoos. We also snuck around the school parking lot leaving secret messages on cars while humming the James Bond theme.

Over the Memorial Day weekend I visited her in New York. On my last night there we planned to wander around the East Village. We honestly don't know when or why we started talking about it, but we thought it would be fun to look like pirates and search for sailors, since it was Fleet Week. Most people would laugh and say "yeah, that would be funny," but we actually went looking for eye patches. Celia happened to know from past experience that Walgreens carries them (KMart, we found, does not). Donning our patches we headed to Times Square where we knew we could find sailors at midnight, and sure enough...



We also happened upon this place, and got two men pushing baby carriages at 12:30 am to take our picture.



Good times.

10 things

As instructed by Valerie...

10 Things I Love:

1. orange currant scones
2. those plastic letter openers with advertisements on them
3. going on walks during my lunch break
4. crossword puzzles
5. Carnation Instant Breakfast, milk chocolate flavored
6. playing the piano for my Grandpa
7. Danny, the best dog ever
8. hippopotamuses when their mouths are open
9. Modigliani paintings
10.head massages

10 Things I'm Fascinated By:

1. Civil War reenactments
2. how people get real jobs
3. parents who give their kids stupid names
4. how people made maps back in the day, or even today
5. life in the Peace Corps
6. married life
7. how people swim in the ocean without worrying about sharks and jellyfish and stingrays and crabs and seaweed getting wrapped around their legs
8. rural towns, and the people who live in them
9. girls who are beautiful all the time
10.people who have never left the state they live in

Apple, Lettuce, and Hot Dog

Those are things my Grandma feeds her new turtle. Grandpa found a turtle in the front yard yesterday and they put him in the back yard, where Grandma set up a little water dish and puts out food. She hasn't named it yet but she thinks it's a girl because it has brown eyes. She's pretty excited.

Happy June

I'm a big fan of musicals. Old ones, new ones, and especially ones about US Presidents. In Carousel, by Rogers and Hammerstein, there's a number where they dance around and jump off of roofs while singing "June is busting out all over!" My dad used to sing that song when June came around, and I like doing it, too. Usually I just sing it with him, but you should have seen how excited I was two years ago when I was in Stockholm and the girl I was traveling with sang it with me! Anyway, this morning at work I got a call from my dad singing those familiar lyrics, and it made me smile. I'm sure I'll be humming it all day.

Arrrrgh!

I just walked around Times Square wearing an eye patch and searching for sailors. For fun. Pictures and details to come. Shiver me timbers.

Phil's

For the past two nights in a row I have found myself doing the exact same thing, and it is a thing that is totally out of the ordinary for me. On both Tuesday and Wednesday I went to Phillip's Continental Lounge at Grove and Libbie. I had never been there in my whole life. In fact, I worked less than a block away for over six months and yet I never even knew the place existed. And not only did I go to Phil's (I don't know if people really call it that, but I imagine they do) two nights in a row, but both nights I watched my only episodes of American Idol this whole season. The only episodes in my whole life, actually. How bizarre is that?

Phil's is a diner-type restaurant and bar in the near West End that has been there since the 30s. It's full of old black and white pictures of Richmond. The first night Justin and I walked in and there were some guys sitting at the bar staring at us who looked like small town regulars. Finally they stopped staring and let us know we could pick any table we liked and a waitress would get us some dinner. It was eight o'clock, so the TVs were both tuned into American Idol, and they even turned up the volume so the whole place could listen in. A small crowd of middle aged and gray-haired folks crowded around the bar to watch. I was a little astounded at the whole situation.

Tonight I ended up going there after potluck with Jennifer. Again, American Idol was turned up, though one of the workers had to keep turning the volume even louder to compete with the radio still playing in the background (when I googled the Lounge I found this: "More Reasons to Go: There is background music while you dine.") There wasn't quite as much of a crowd tonight, but I imagine it's because everyone was joining the millions of other Americans sitting in their living rooms and biting their nails over who would be their new Idol.

Hair Cut

Yesterday I got a hair cut. I don't really want to talk about it yet because the jury is still out on whether it's cute or not. Part of me feels like I have crazy lesbian rock star hair, and I don't really like any of those words to describe the way I look.

The hair cutting experience, however, was amazing. I went to Mango in the West End. I knew of it because I used to have to take pastries there every morning when I worked for the coffee shop, which is now closed and totally empty and depressing. Anyway, I had never been to a place like this.

First, they give you a black robe and you can go take off your shirt in a changing room, and they have lockers to put your things. I put the robe on, but didn't remove my shirt. That would have been weird. Then you're supposed to get coffee, but I think they were out, so that was a little disappointing.

Next the shampoo girl becomes your best friend ever by giving you a head massage. It's always nice to have someone else shampoo your hair because you can imagine they're giving you a head massage, but this girl really was. It was great. And she didn't ruin the whole moment by making you come up with small talk. It was silent and beautiful. After the massage she put a hot towel over my head and let me sit and relax, then she came back and did more massaging as the towel was slowly removed. She even used the towel to get the water out of my ears. How thoughtful.

From there my "designer" came and we got to the cutting part. At one point my earring came out and flew to the floor, so we stopped to look for it, and then I had three fancy salon ladies in black pants and heels on the floor searching for the stupid tiny earring I've worn for three years straight. I felt embarrassed about all the fuss, but finally one of them actually found it.

When it was time to leave I got a $10 discount because my stylist had been running late, so that was nice. And even though this place sounds super expensive it really wasn't, compared to everyone else (above the Hair Cuttery of course). They even gave me a gift bag with little bottles of fancy shampoo and conditioner.

And to top it all off my boyfriend came to meet me and tell me I look cute, even if we're not really sure it's true yet.

Weekend

I did interesting things this weekend. At least, interesting for me.

For example, Friday night I found myself being the only girl at an apartment with a bunch of tattooed dudes. This usually doesn't happen to me. We walked to a crazy college bar and played a round of bowling on an arcade game. And on the way there we passed a guy playing the banjo.

Then on Saturday I found myself at a blogging get-together. Sure I have a blog, but not like those guys. This get-together was at an old firehouse, and involved me buying a t-shirt.

Next I drank my very first (small and watered down) mint julep. I also watched my very first horse race. Who knew they only last two minutes long?!

Following the short horse race I found myself eating dinner and drinking beer at an Exxon. That's right. Hanging out at the gas station.

From the Exxon we walked to the Innsbrook Pavilion and saw the Strokes perform. I had heard of them, but never actually heard them. So that was fun.

Then came Sunday afternoon, where I found myself eating Shiwarma and stuffed grape leaves at the Lebanese Food Festival. Saw some Lebanese dancing, too.

I mean, who doesn't want to move to Richmond after reading about the awesome things one can find herself doing here?

Virginia is for History Lovers

Saturday Justin took me to Charlottesville and Lexington. After visiting with his aunt and uncle in their log house on the side of a mountain we went to Lexington and walked around the Virginia Military Institute, or VMI. I'm not used to military schools, or the military for that matter, so it was so crazy for me to see all these young guys in uniform standing around display cannons. It felt like glimpsing the Civil War, but really it's 2006 and those guys will go back to their bunk rooms and instant message online just like every other college kid. Also, VMI is where Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson once taught, and if you don't already know, he happens to be my seventh great uncle.

After VMI and Lexington we stopped by McCormick's Farm. Cyrus McCormick is the guy who "invented the first successful reaper and founded the harvesting machine industry." The buildings were closed for renovation, but it was a cute area near a stream and surrounded by sheep and cows. We even went on the Interpretive Trail along the stream and learned about the ecosystem and how McCormick liked roasted chestnuts.

Next came Charlottesville. We walked all over the University of Virginia. I liked it a lot. Justin likes to categorize the Virginia public schools pretty broadly/stereotypically, and he doesn't describe the UVA kids very nicely, but I'm not gonna lie, I feel like maybe I would have wanted to go there if I were from Virginia. Or William and Mary, which is a school I really did want to go to when I was applying.

It was so nice to get out of Richmond and into the country for a day. The weather was beautiful and I feel like we saw a lot for one day. I definitely want to go back though, since there are tons more awesome places to see. I've been to Jefferson's Monticello before, in the sixth grade I think, but I would love to go again. I also want to visit Madison's Montpelier and Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland. There's also a Frontier Culture Museum that I'm interested in, and I want to see the Natural Bridge, which I'm told was owned by Jefferson and surveyed by Washington.

As an American history lover, these sorts of things make me giggle with glee.

Observation

While orange soda is delicious, it does nothing to help one stay awake!

Today I was *that* girl...

You know, the one who brings leftover fish to work and then microwaves it to stink up the whole office? Yeah, that was me. What a disaster.

The license plate said "Fresh" and there were dice in the mirror.

Last night I had a little brush with the rich and famous at the Jefferson Hotel. I was working at the after party for A Midsummer Night's Dream, put on by the symphony, ballet, and opera. Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air were the narrators for the performance, which is hilarious, and were both at the party. Uncle Phil and I are pretty much best friends now. I mean, he did ask me where the restrooms were, after all.

Where a Kid Can Be a Kid

Last night Justin took me on a date to Chuck E. Cheese's. It was pretty exciting. After eating a whole bunch of pizza and drinking soda out of kid-sized cups we headed over to the games. Did some ski ball, knocked over some clowns, raced frogs, flipped coins at dinosaurs. Afterwards we counted up our valuable tickets and headed for the prize desk. It took a lot of deliberation, but we finally left with me wearing a purple bracelet that resembles a Koosh ball and Justin with a magnetic Chuck E. Cheese pin that lights up. The date concluded most appropriately with ice cream sundaes at Friendly's.

W. Franklin St.

During my lunch break today I took a walk down W. Franklin. It was amazing. The sun was out, trees were green, buildings were neat. A lot of it was through VCU territory, and it was nice to see the different department buildings, converted from old houses. African American studies, art history, politics and government, psychology. All kinds of neat ideas and things are being said and written and read and thought about on that street. And I saw a student wearing a black punk rock shirt and denim shorts, carrying a brief case in this left hand.

From Work

I've been listening to this. You should, too.

My lunch break was longer than usual because I couldn't stop looking at these.

Sometimes I admire my own handwriting.

I like names with the middle initial B. Especially when the last name could be an adjective. Like, Johnny B. Goode, or Freida B. Saine, or Skye B. Gray.

Ways my life isn't like movies/tv/teen magazines made me think it would be:

My high school didn't really have lockers. I feel like that knocks out whole genres right there.

I've never been to a pool party.

I haven't fallen in love at first sight.

Not one of my friends drives a convertible.

I never went to a Greek party in college.

My friends and I have never had a regular burger joint to hang out in.

Road trips never seem to live up to all the hype.

I never went in a boy's dorm room.

Friends don't climb through my bedroom window.

Reading Again

I have, for the past several months, been on a somewhat involuntary reading hiatus. When I flew home for Thanksgiving I was reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. [As an aside, I accidentally hit the paste shortcut instead of the italics shortcut, and this appeared: Cheese Ghostkersandwich.] I was enjoying the book, but the chapters are very long and I hate to stop in the middle of a chapter, so after the plane ride the book was set aside for a while. Then the while got longer. And I also hate to quit reading a book after I've started, so I was unwilling to start something else that might be a faster or easier read. So I didn't read at all, and instead stuck to crosswords and sudokus to fill my spare time. This whole time I was a little sad about how I couldn't get myself to read for fun. I even have a stack of New Yorkers I haven't looked at yet. The worst part is when I tell someone I want to go to library school. "Oh?!" they say. "You must really love to read then." "Er...um...yeah..." I respond as I shuffle my feet and look away. I mean, librarians don't stop reading for four months straight!

So, the good news is, I have ended my readers block. At least I hope so. I have, reluctantly, given up on Marquez for now, though I plan to finish the book some day. A friend gave me The Jane Austen Book Club to read on my recent plane ride, and I just finished it. It was fun and light- the perfect read to get me back in the swing of things. Now I am reading J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey. I'm pretty excited about it.

Confession

Sometimes I shave my legs just because I worry I might get into a car accident and I'm embarrassed about what the emergency medical people will think when they have to cut my pants off.

another one

I saw another awesome old man last weekend when I was in Tacoma. He was sitting at a high table in the crowded cafe of a fancy grocery store looking at a book about trains. He wore a fisherman's hat covered in various colorful pins. And best of all, he was playing with a yo-yo.

some recent things

I went to Bin 22 in Carytown and really liked it. It's Betsy's Coffee by day, but a cute wine bar by night. I tried three different wines (a sampler, not three full glasses!) and liked them all, but I'm not a wine person so I can't remember what they were to tell you. And with it I had some toast with warm cheese and apple and pear slices. You should check it out if you like wine, or cute places. Because it's good for both.

I saw the most awesome Jewish man ever. He had a cowboy hat with a Star of David on it and a novelty tie with more Judaic symbols. And he was old. This was in an actual temple.

My Grandpa didn't die of a heart attack yesterday. Turns out he didn't even have a heart attack. But when we thought he did, and when he woke up for the first time and had blue fingers, he made sure to list the songs he does not want sung at his funeral. "Don't sing 'Shall We Gather at the River' [in a sing-song heavily drugged might not live but in good humor voice]," he said.

20 Questions

On a just-for-the-heck-of-it trip to Short Pump Mall last night Justin and I found the most amazing game ever. It's a small handheld electronic version of the game we all know from road trips as Twenty Questions. You think of anything in the whole world, and then after you answer a series of twenty questions the game tells you what you were thinking. IT READS YOUR MIND.

Justin tried it first, while I was preoccupied playing Tetris. He thought of spaghetti. Twenty questions later ("Is it bigger than a duck?" "Can you put it in an envelope?") it told Justin exactly what he'd been thinking: "I can't believe you were thinking of... SPAGHETTI." How did it do that?

We tried a few more times, but we were stupid and picked easy things like suitcase, coffee mug (it guessed tea cup), and bed. Then we pulled out the big guns. Ninja. "Is it an animal?" Yes. "Does it have short fur?" No. "Is it dangerous?" Duh. Seventeen questions later: "Is it a NINJA?" Arghh!

At this point we decided the game must be cheating by listening to us say our thing out loud. We thought we could trick it. Covertly we decided our thing would be Bed (a stupid choice we quickly realized, way too easy), but we always said "telescope" out loud. "Is it soft?" "A telescope isn't soft!" we replied as I pressed Yes. But we had no luck. "You tried to trick me...but are you thinking of a BED?"

Seriously guys, this game is amazing. It turns out it comes from a web site, where you can play the exact same game without shelling out the twenty bucks. I just tried it using Cricket Bat, a thing Justin kept wishing we'd tried last night. At question 17 it guessed cork, at 20 it guessed pool cue, at 22 baseball bat, and finally after "Is it originally from Europe?" it said "I am guessing that it is a cricket bat?" So apparently the internet version goes beyond twenty questions when it's LOSING, but it still guessed cricket bat by question 25. Amazing.

Goodbyes

Tomorrow is my last day of work at the coffee shop. Here are some people I will miss:

Chris, the guy who works at UofR, always gets two bagels, a super coffee, and a newspaper, and who has been excited and supportive about my grad school plans while others seem to say "why do you want to do that?"

Gloria, the older black woman who comes in every day for a few hours before she goes to work, always gets a muffin (warmed up, please) and a small coffee, reads the paper without buying it, and loves to tell me when Hechts is having a sale.

Bob, the crazy artist who talks a lot and is honest about how he doesn't really like his wife.

Gary, who always gets a large Coke and enjoys telling me about the upcoming basket/football game he's going to attend.

Willem, the writer from New York who has never actually published anything.

Mary, the older woman who used to get a large iced cappuccino every morning until her doctor told her to cut back, so now she gets this made up drink we do just for her and that she thinks us girls make better than Jerry.

The nice lady who owns the shop next door (I don't know her name, though she's one of the only customers who actually knows mine) and always gets a small coffee but in a medium coffee cup.

And finally, Jerry. Though he could be a pain at times, maybe even most of the time, we had fun.

In my mind...

...I'm going to Carolina?

I visited NCSU (what we will call "State") and UNC-Chapel Hill (or, "Carolina") this weekend. It made me more excited about grad school. I drove the three hours to Raleigh and met with the director of the Public History program at State, then two current students showed me around and talked for a long time, which was great. I liked the school and the area seems nice. I learned that I will basically go to State for two years to get my history degree, then spend the third year over at Chapel Hill for the library degree.

I spent Friday night with my friend Allison from college. She goes to Duke. It was fun to see her apartment and get excited for one of my own in the area soon. And she took me to this amazing market/restaurant/cafe/wine store called Foster's that I will want to visit again. I had French toast with apples and walnuts.

I also went and impulsively got a haircut in Chapel Hill Saturday morning. Locks of Love is going to get all of my hair, because it's short now.

Finally, I must begin to prepare myself to be a member of the Wolf Pack and get excited about sports. Things are pretty intense down there I think, and I should probably try not to miss out on all the fun.

Southside Fun

Saturday after I got back from Raleigh Justin took me out for exciting times South of the James. First we had barbecue and beer at this random but good place off of Genito (I think?) and then we went bowling. I always like bowling. I think I am also slightly good at it for a girl. I hate to qualify it this way, but whenever I'm in mixed groups I always beat the other girls but maybe not all of the boys. This time I did beat the boy though. All four games. And once he even got four strikes in a row, which I was totally impressed by, but which was apparently not good enough to beat my amazing score.

Also, we played Ms. Packman. I love her. It brought back all of my Nintendo memories. Justin said I beat him at this, too, but he had never played it before so I will not boast.

Some Updates

First I will update you on the chocolate milk situation. I have gotten through most of the gross packets in the variety pack, so that is good. I think there is only one chocolate malt left. My parents did send some more in a nice little Valentine package. However, even though my dad went to Sam's Club and bought a whole box of 20 packets my mom forgot to actually include those and only sent the NINE packets that she found lying around the house from my last visit. I will forgive her though.

Next I will tell you about my grad school status. So far all the news has been good, but I still have a couple programs to hear from. I'm pretty sure I will end up in North Carolina. I will get a Library degree from UNC Chapel Hill and a Public History degree from NCSU. I'm going down there this weekend to meet with a professor about the program, and to simply check out the schools since I've never been there before.

And finally, I must tell you that my guinea pig at home has died. I can't tell you exactly when he died. Apparently my family let him sit dead in his cage for a while before they decided to investigate the foul odor emanating from his cold and stiff little body. Poor Bear.

A Truth About Me

I am going to let you in on a little truth about me. Some might think it embarrassing, but I quite frankly do not, or I wouldn't be posting this. I drink Carnation Instant Breakfast's chocolate milk for breakfast most days of the week, and I have done so for many, many years. I love it. You take a packet of powder, pour it in a tall glass, add some milk, stir, and drink. Growing up my parents told me I couldn't have it every day, so I had it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, usually without fail. If we were ever out of milk I was crushed, and had to scramble to find something else to eat. Even worse, if we were out of the chocolate milk it could be days before my parents got to the store and actually remembered it for me. And perhaps even worse than that, I hate to say it, was when they brought home the variety pack. I hated the variety pack. Variety packs meant drinking gross flavors like malted chocolate and vanilla, and they meant it would be a few weeks before a box of pure milk chocolate would come because a. I drank the variety packs more slowly and b. my parents said I had to finish them before they would buy any more. It was awful.

When I went to college my chocolate milk drinking days didn't end. Even in my dorm room I always had a quart of skim milk to mix myself a drink in the morning. And if I was ever out of milk I would simply take my packet down to the SUB and buy two pints of milk to go with it. I would mix it up and drink it with a straw on my way to class.

Sophomore year my girlfriends and I always made each other birthday cakes that were uniquely decorated for the honoree. For example, Amy's had a cactus on it, since she collected cactuses, or cacti. Jamie's was decorated to look like a big animal cell, with a huge jawbreaker for the nucleus, because she loved being a biology major. Well when my birthday came I was honestly a little worried that they wouldn't think of something exciting to put on my cake. I couldn't think of anything good that was unique to me. I'm sure you all know where this is going. Let me tell you how excited I was to see my cake, decorated exactly like a Carnation Instant Breakfast box. It was the perfect shade of yellow and instead of "Breakfast" running across the front it said "Birthday." I loved it. I thought it was beautiful. And technically it was because Melissa did an excellent job with it.

Now let me tell you the part I have left out of this story so far. To this day, I have my parents buy me my chocolate milk. If you don't know, they live many states away from me. They get it at Sam's Club because you can get the big box with 20 packets and it's a lot less expensive than at the grocery store. So they buy it and send it to me, or if I happen to be visiting home I will stuff two boxes worth into my luggage. "Don't we have Sam's Club here in Richmond?" you ask. And the answer is yes, we do, but I don't have a membership and neither do my grandparents. I searched high and low in Costco once, but couldn't find it. But let's be honest. Somewhere deep inside me I like relying on my parents to provide my favorite breakfast drink, as they have done for my entire life. I don't mind asking, and I think they secretly like it as well.

Well this afternoon I walked into the pantry. I looked up, and there I saw something I've never seen before. It was a box of Carnation Instant Breakfast, but it was the normal kind from the grocery store, AND they have changed the box. It's a different size. My grandparents really do love me, because they noticed I was low and went ahead and got me some. The unfortunate part, however, is they got the variety pack. And you know how I feel about those. I am still grateful though, and will try to drink the malted chocolate and vanilla with a smile.

But parents, if you're reading, please don't forget to send more! Thanks!

My Weekend

It was a pretty good weekend I would say. On Friday I learned that I got into a grad school, so I don't have to make cappuccinos for the rest of my life. Then on Friday night Justin took me to Zuppa's, where I got a delicious grilled cheese sandwich and some black bean soup. Sometimes I have trouble resisting black bean soup.
Saturday Justin and I went to DC with James and Jennifer to see Damn Yankees. It's a musical, and if you didn't already know, I really love musicals. My favorite part was at the begining when all the husbands were dancing around with colorful TVs.
After the show we headed to Chinatown to look for the restaurant my Grandpa recommended as having the best Chinese food he's had outside of China. And he's been to China. His instructions were something like "Find the big Chinese gate that goes over the street, go a block, turn on a side street, and look for the Chinese man making noodles." For some starving theater-goers who were unsure about the hazy directions, we were pretty darned excited when we really did see the affectionately named Noodle Man. We had some of his fresh noodles with seafood, which was amazing, though I'll admit I'm glad I didn't end up with one of the little whole squids on my plate. Those things scare me.
Sunday I watched the Extra Large Super Bowl. I was going for the Seahawks, out of my loyalty to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, but let's me honest, I don't really care about football and I therefore was not torn apart when they lost. I will, however, say that I hated the Full Throttle and Blockbuster commercials.