little brother in the paper

Ryan tried to leave a comment for my last post, but his comment was really a pasted copy of a newspaper article from January 3 that mentioned him. I rejected his comment, because it was long and awkward, but I'll give him a shout-out about it anyway. It was in the Santa Fe Reporter, which is a free weekly paper sort of like Style Weekly in Richmond. The article is about all the snow Santa Fe got and whether or not the city was doing a good job taking care of the streets. The best part is the very end:

But more resources won’t necessarily mean better results. At least according to Ryan Gray, a native Santa Fean who works as a valet at the Inn of the Anasazi and remains skeptical about the city’s efforts.

“I don’t think the city is doing a very good job,” Gray says, peering across Washington Avenue. “I shoveled this sidewalk in less time than it took four city workers to do the sidewalk on the other side of the street.”



This is what Ryan looks like at work. He has to wear all black, a cowboy hat, and a bolo tie. That's what I look like visiting Ryan at work. The hotel is across the street behind us. It's fancy shmancy, and there are famous people there all the time. Also, as you can see there is snow on the ground but this picture was taken before the storm the article was written about.

Miscellaneous Updates

Yesterday my carpet was damp again, and I thought the refrigerator might be leaking (which has happened at least twice), so I called the apartment office and they sent my friend Jim over, who seems to come a lot because something's always leaking. He said the fridge wasn't the culprit, and felt under the carpet in my room and thinks there's red mud/clay under there, so he looked outside and thinks there might be a little leak in the foundation that is allowing rain and mud to seep into my apartment. Sweet.

Last night I led my first TA discussion of the semester. The topic was "How did China become Chinese?" It was awkward as usual, and when they didn't have much to say and I couldn't think of any more questions (by the way, I can never think of questions on the spot. I have to have them written out ahead of time) I let them go ten minutes early. Don't tell anyone.

Also, before the discussion we were all in class together and instead of sitting in the front row like I did last semester, where you can concentrate on the lecture and not be distracted by the hundred kids behind you, I sat in the back. It really is distracting to see them all IM-ing each other on their laptops and doing crossword puzzles and sleeping, not to mention the room started to smell like a bunch of boys who need to shower.

Today I tried to listen to my iPod for the second time ever as I ran around the lake, but it totally froze and I couldn't make it do anything. Is this a common problem? I had to leave it all day and wait for the drained battery to finally turn the thing off. I think it's working now. And in case you were wondering, with the windchill it was something like 27 degrees outside, but I ran anyway. I'm hard core like that.

In case you thought I was kidding about my interest in the Oregon Trail and westward migration, I'm not. Right now I'm reading a 400 page book by John Unruh titled The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60, and I will write a book review of it next week for my historical writing class.

Weekend Recap

Friday: Hung out around the apartment and did a lot of reading. Made scones.

Saturday: More reading. After lunch went to a coffee shop and read again. Stopped by the library for some books, then went to Target. Made butternut squash soup for dinner. Went to a small party where I won two games of darts and rocked out with Guitar Hero.

Sunday: Church at 11:15. Read all afternoon and into the evening with some internet breaks.

I'm eligible.

I learned today that I'm eligible for the Daughters of the Revolution. I must also be eligible for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, what with being related to Stonewall Jackson and all. You should check out the UDC web site. The whole idea is kinda crazy to me. Read the main page with "Why I am a Daughter of the Confederacy." It says things like "I came into this world with the blood of a soldier in my veins," and "Like the man in the Bible, I was given a talent and it is my duty to do something about it." Also, for UDC membership you have to be descended by blood from someone who served honorably in bold.

Anyway, I don't think I will be joining either, and especially not the UDC. And here's another thing-- these days about 95% of the people who visit and use archives are genealogists. This doesn't sound exciting to me at all, which could be a problem because archives are where I'm currently headed with my career.

Exciting happenings in the Kitchen

Way back in May my parents visited me in Richmond and we hit the clearance sales at Hechts for tons of kitchen things for my new apartment. It was exciting.

When I moved into my apartment in August I went to the grocery store and bought lots of stuff, including "staples."

Until last night, that was the end of the story. Then I decided to make scones. I love scones.

I opened a box and used my cookie sheet for the first time. I took down a mixing bowl from the cabinet and used it for the first time. I opened the flour for the first time, and the oatmeal for the first time, and the baking powder for the first time. Also, I turned on my oven for the first time. Ever.

I'm not gonna pretend they were the best scones ever (oatmeal, with no heavy cream, and slightly burned on the bottom), but they were decent and it was a pretty exciting evening. I made coffee to go with them. But I've done that before.

Not sleeping on the wrong side of the bed, just sleeping during the wrong hours of the morning.

This is my weekly schedule so far:

Monday- TA class at 6pm.
Tuesday- Class at 6pm.
Wednesday- Class at 3pm and 6pm.
Thursday- The Office and Grey's Anatomy at 8:30pm.
Friday- Whatever the heck I want.
Saturday- More of whatever I want.
Sunday- Church at 9:30am OR 11:15am.

That's it. Do you notice how Sundays are the only days I have to get up "early"? Can you begin to imagine the problem this is becoming for me? I can sleep in every day. Now yes, of course I'm grateful, but my body is contorting itself into this twisted thing that must sleep in every day. I can't wake up early, unless I have to be somewhere, and we've already covered how I never have to be anywhere. In addition, because I never have to wake up early I can never get myself to go to sleep early. In fact, the last few nights I've tried to go to bed around midnight but I just lay there and don't actually fall asleep until after 1am. Then the alarm goes off at 8am but I can't open my eyelids or move my arms, so I sleep another hour and a half through NPR on my radio alarm. Last night was the worst. I was out later than usual, and finally got in bed around 12:45 but decided to do a tiny bit of history reading, and then I tried to work on a crossword puzzle, and then it was 1:30 or so and I tried to sleep, but I can remember looking at the clock at 2:58, still awake (obviously). Which means there's no way I'll wake up with my alarm at 8. I didn't even bother listening to the radio, I just turned the thing off this morning and slept until 10:30. This is no good people. Maybe it would be ok if I were really diligent about getting all my reading and work done, but I wake up and get on the internet, and eat some breakfast, and maybe go for a run, and shower, and get on the internet again, and then it's time to eat some more, and before you know it it's 3 in the afternoon and I feel like I've shot the day. I'm in a terrible cycle. Oh, the other problem is that I get home from class at 9 but feel like it's almost bed time so I don't do much homework, and then it's 1:30am and I think back on all those hours I could have read if only I'd realized I'd be awake for so long. UGH.

I hate seagulls.

Seagulls and pigeons are the rats of the air. Just so you know.

Weekend: nice and relaxing.

Friday: Ran almost all the way around the lake (I hadn't been running since the middle of December), went to Foster's Market in Chapel Hill to read and eat one of their delicious monster scones, watched a couple As Time Goes By episodes.

Saturday: Ran all the way around the lake, read, played The Oregon Trail, read some more, watched more As Time Goes By.

Sunday: Went to church (and actually dragged myself out of bed to get to the 9:30 service), saw Stomp the Yard (I admitted to the girls I was with that I didn't even know about stepping before I saw previews for the movie, which they couldn't believe, but then I learned they have never had Indian food, which I couldn't believe.), ate at a place that looked like a cross between Paneras and Caribou Coffee, went grocery shopping, did more reading, watched more As Time Goes By.

The Oregon Trail

You all remember the old "edutainment" computer game right? Well I don't. I missed the whole thing apparently. It wasn't until I got to college and heard people talking about The Oregon Trail game that I even had a clue it existed. But I was sure interested in learning about it. Just the other day I was talking to a friend who teaches seventh grade history. She said she liked getting to teach the more exciting twentieth century history because, as she said, "that westward migration stuff is boring." Ahem. I happen to be quite interested in that westward migration stuff. I might even elect to switch programs and write a thesis about some aspect of it. I'm also a fan of old school computer games, so this Oregon Trail thing is right up my alley.

Before today I could only listen to the stories about how great the game was and imagine myself fording rivers and hunting for deer to feed my typhoidal family. But now I get to play it for real! I finally see what all the excitement is about! A friend sent it to me and I've played two games so far. First we all died near Boise, and I got to write my own epitaph, but in my second game I made it to Oregon City with only one death! We didn't really need that fifth person anyway. I do, however, need to get better at hunting. So I won by reaching the West weak and half starved, but I didn't have nearly enough points to make it into the top ten. It seems the number one player will remain, for a while, Sambo Flojo.

I'm pretty tempted

I've never had a dog before. I mean, Ryan has Jackson but got him after I left for college, and the grandparents have Danny, but I never had one as a kid. Maybe I should get one? I think I want a Boston Terrier. How could anyone not want one of these? But now is maybe not a good time? I have a lot of work to do, but I'm home a lot. I do go away a lot though, so it would have to be welcome in Richmond. And if I'm in Richmond for the summer, maybe that won't work? Or maybe Danny wants a friend? Or maybe I should wait until after the summer? Or maybe I should forget the whole idea? Some of you are dog people- how much does having a dog even cost? BTs aren't big, so they probably don't eat too much. And how much are average vet visits? I've never been to a vet. Ok, maybe I went on a field trip to the vet's office with my Girl Scout troop in the third grade. And I already have the perfect lake to take a dog to. Hmmm. I'm open for advice and/or suggestions. I mean, I probably won't get one any time soon. I'm just daydreaming.

Weekend Review

Wednesday: Drove from Richmond to Raleigh after breakfast in time for two classes.

Thursday: Walked around the lake, cleaned my apartment, ran some errands, and had my first non-relative guests over to watch Grey's Anatomy.

Friday: Drove back to Richmond in time for lunch, hung out with my brother Ryan, ate dinner, drove (well, Ryan drove) back to Raleigh.

Saturday: Drove thirty miles to Deep River something or another to watch Ryan shoot clay pigeons, kept score, ate hamburgers there, gave Ryan a short driving tour of Raleigh that he didn't appreciate nearly enough, drove back to Richmond in time to drink tea and play Rook with the grandparents.

Sunday: Took Danny on a walk along the James River, ate a big lunch, watched tv and wrestled, went to church at Franklin Street with Ryan, dinner with grandparents, over to aunt's house to hang out with cousins.

Monday: Ate big breakfast, watched Little Miss Sunshine again, ate crabcakes for lunch, took Ryan to Carytown, played more Rook with grandparents, went to different aunt's house for delicious Indian dinner, back to hang out with cousins and dominate at Wii boxing.

Tuesday: Up early for Grandpa's pancakes, drove with Ryan back to Raleigh, ate gyros for lunch, took Ryan to airport, back to apartment to read two articles, and then off to class.

Just like young George...

...I cannot tell a lie. So in the Rook game tonight when Grandpa miscounted the score in Grandma's and my favor, I spoke up.

"Er, uh, we didn't make seventy [the minimum we needed], we made sixty."

Sixty means we didn't make our bid. Sixty means we're actually seventy in the hole. Sixty means we're still losing this bloody game.

"Andi! Why do you have to be so blamed honest?!" yelled Grandma.

"Sorry," I said, "but that would have weighed too heavily on my conscience."

Of course I may be honest, but that doesn't mean I don't give the evil eye and punch Ryan for being on the winning team. I can't be entirely good.

The Cutest Dog Ever.

Back in Home # 3

Today I drove back to Raleigh. It was kind of nice coming back to my own apartment. They re-patched my ceiling and it looks much better.

I had two classes today. First was Colonial and Revolutionary US History, which will involve mountains of reading every week but sounds like it should be good. And we're going on a field trip!!! An alumnus is paying for the whole class to go to Jamestown and Williamsburg for two nights, including the hotel, admission, dinner at one of those taverns, and who knows what else. I'm so excited!

My second class was Archives again, only this time we're going to be sent around to work actual collections and create finding aids. I had a hilarious and awkward experience trying to tell the professor what sort of a collection I would like to work.

I downloaded iTunes to go with my new iPod Nano, so now I get to see what all the excitement is about. Do they automatically give you random music and pretend they found it on your computer? Or did Dell automatically give me random music I don't know about? I already have a list of 64 songs but have no idea where they came from.

After class I went to the grocery store, because my refrigerator was empty. A few people will be happy to hear that I bought four little pork chops, and ate one tonight. I used my grill pan, and grilled some apple slices to go with it, just for fun.

books for fun

A long time ago I posted that I was finally reading again. That was back in April. Well, I read that book that Katie had given me, and then I read Franny and Zooey (though I didn't actually remember that until I re-read my old post), and then I started but never finished The Luck of the Bodkins by P.G. Wodehouse. The only other book I recall reading was another one Katie gave me in July, and that was The Bowl is Already Broken, by Mary Kay Zuravleff, which I enjoyed. I may have read something else, but I don't remember it. Then school started, and though I read thousands of pages and wrote dozens, for-fun reading definitely stopped. But now I am proud to announce that I read three whole books during my break. Count them: one. two. three. First I read Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn. I really liked it, though it's quite strange and has to do with a circus family that tries to breed unique "freaks" for their traveling show. Next I read Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down. Hornby is always fun, and I love British books that remind me of London. Then I read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, and learned more than I ever wanted to know about the Appalachian Trail, but of course Bryson makes things like that interesting and humorous.

I'm not sure if much more fun reading will happen any time soon. Part of me wants to start another book, but I fear I won't finish it because of school. Then again, I used to do a Sudoku puzzle almost every night before bed, and I ran out of those, so either way I need something to fill my winding-down time before I sleep. New book or Sudoku...if only all life's choices were this trivial.

Gma and Gpa

I know you all know this already, but I lived with my grandparents for over a year, and I still visit them often and pretend I'm still living with them. Now, since the few people who actually read this thing already know me, and are used to the fact that I live(d) with my grandparents, this is nothing exciting to think about. But come on, how many of you would volunteer to live with your grandparents? Once when I was in a bar being hit on by some guy in a baseball cap the fact that I lived with them came up, and he gave me a strange look and said, "I'm not gonna lie, that doesn't sound too fun." But that just shows what he knows.

Last night Grandma and I stayed up to watch six episodes of As Time Goes By, the old British comedy with Dame Judi Dench. Grandma loves that show, and she got the whole series on DVD for Christmas. I enjoy it quite a bit myself, and laughed out loud several times. Maybe watching old British tv shows with your grandmother on a Friday night sounds lame, and maybe it even is lame, but I had a great time.

Today the fun only continued. Generally Saturdays are Mexican lunch days, but I am a little Mexican-ed out, (while at home in Santa Fe I had posole, tamales, multiple burritos, enchiladas, a quesadilla, and an Indian taco) especially when the Mexican here in Richmond isn't that great. So instead we decided to try out a new restaurant in the City. The first place we attempted is only open for dinner, so we drove on to Tarrants, at 1 West Broad. It was a fun place, kind of like Perly's. First we had nachos as an appetizer, in honor of Mexican Saturday, and then I had a delicious Tarragon chicken salad sandwich. And the waiter was really nice. Grandpa especially liked it because it used to be a pharmacy and right next to our table was a prescription written in the 1930s for a gallon of beer, and above that was a black and white picture of students around a cadaver. Of course that means I was looking at a shriveled dead guy while eating.

Next we headed over to the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. My grandparents started to act a little silly, probably because it was supposed to be nap time and we were all tired, but it made the excursion fun. For example, while looking at the renaissance art with all the Madonnas and icons Grandpa was inspired by a particular painting to sing the original song (to the tune of "Oh my Darlin") "Lost his head, lost his head, John the Baptist lost his head..." And later when looking at a statue of a naked woman dancing with her small child Grandpa said to Grandma, "I never saw you do that when our kids were young." "Oh?" she replied. "You must have been at work." I wasn't the only person in the room who thought this was funny; I saw others listening in, too.

In conclusion, I would like to say that living with my grandparents and having the opportunity to hang out with them so much is pretty darn awesome.

The Secret Art Project, Finally Revealed

Here is what I did over my Christmas break. I made tile mosaics in wooden tea trays. That means I cut tons of glass tiles with my "nippers" (wearing latex gloves and eye protection, of course), I painstakingly glued every piece of glass down and tried to make all the little shapes fit, I grouted the tiles at least twice for each tray, I polished them, and I painted or stained the trays themselves.

And now for my portfolio:

This is the first mosaic I did. That means the first ever in my whole life. I gave it to my grandparents in Richmond.



This is the second one. I gave it to my grandparents in Santa Fe.



This is the last one, and my best work I think. I gave it to Aunt Caryn. Also, she made me sign the back "AB 2006," so some day when I'm famous and people are spending the big bucks to get their hands on one of my tile mosaics, hers will be extra special because it was signed "AB" and no one will realize that is me, but it is.

Happy Birthday Shades of Gray

I just realized there are only eighteen minutes left in the one year birthday of this here blog. Everyone say "Happy Birthday Andi's Blog." Thanks.

Homes Sweet Homes

I have three homes right now.

I just left what we will call Home Number One. That's the home I grew up in, where my family still lives, and where I can show up and still find old pants that fit buried in the dresser. Not a lot has changed inside that home. It's outside the home that things are different. I don't have any friends in Santa Fe anymore, and I don't have a school or a job. So Home Number One is all about my parents and brother. I had a great time with them over Christmas. It was good to be home.

Now I am back in Home Number Two. It's in Richmond. Every once in a while when I'm in Raleigh and I haven't been up here for a few weeks Grandpa will email me and tell me to "come home." I lived here for over a year, and when I come back things are mostly the same, except my room isn't decorated with my art postcards anymore. I usually have all the clothes I need though, because every time I come up here I bring all my laundry to clean. Home is where you want to do your laundry, right? Of course it's also home because my grandparents and Danny live here. Last night Grandma and I watched TV for a while, and then I fell asleep at 7. Home is a place where you can do that- feel comfortable falling asleep at 7 in front of your family.

Lastly, and quite frankly leastly, is Home Number Three, aka my apartment in Raleigh. Sometimes it's less "home" and more "my place." That's where I can make messes and no one will ever know, or where I can stay out as late as I want and no one cares when I get in. It's where I sleep, and do homework, and listen to NPR. But it's not really "home."

One of the nice things about having two real homes where you don't actually live is that you get spoiled when you're there. When I'm in Santa Fe my parents want to make me whatever food I want, or take me out to concerts, or have special movie and game nights (well, that was just New Years Eve). And in Richmond my grandparents always make sure they have skim milk for me (to go with my chocolate milk for breakfast, which they also have for me), and that my bathroom has my clean yellow towels hanging before I get home. I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty nice.