frightening

I just got back from school and let me tell you I saw ZERO costumes on campus. Well, zero until I saw Jack Sparrow in the parking garage on my way out. This would never happen at UPS. Between no costumes on Halloween and the mostly empty coffee shop across from campus I started to wonder if something crazy was going on and I was the only one who didn't know about it. Oh, and as I complain about seeing no costumes you can bet I wasn't wearing one either. As I told a friend the other day when he asked if I was doing something for Halloween, "homework doesn't stop for holidays."

Anyway, after I got home and checked my email I saw more costume than I ever wanted to. It's times like these that I start to secretly hope my father is really the mailman.

Weekend Review

Friday: Slept until after noon, read, wasted some time around the apartment, read a lot more.

Saturday: Read, went for a run, went to a pumpkin-carving party but didn't carve a pumpkin, walked around the mall a little with Tess and Elizabeth and ate at the Cheesecake Factory, chatted a little more at Tess's apartment, home to read a little in bed.

Sunday: Read, went to church, went to my favorite coffee shop downtown to read, went to the school library and read a little more, went to Ryan and Erin's house for dinner and to hang out- played some Guitar Hero 3, home and now will read a tiny bit more in bed.

a package that says they care

I got a care package in the mail today from my parents full of exciting things. It included very practical things, like my chocolate milk and my health insurance card. It included whimsical things like The Office pencils and a stuffed turkey. It included delicious things like candy and Fig Newtons. It included nice-smelling candles, and fall-colored hand towels, and Halloween cookie cutters, and decorative silk leaves. It also included my UPS alumni magazine and news about a Santa Fe road that made it to the top ten roads in the country and an interview with the New Mexico state historian and comics my dad clips out that I never understand. It was totally unexpected and lots of fun.

Thanks parents!

homework cycle

Thursdays are my Fridays, and boy do I love the end of my Thursday. I'm on campus and working from 8:30 until 6, and then I collapse and watch TV all night and sleep way too much on Friday. And Fridays, while super exciting because I can sleep in, also ring in a new week of work. Have to start a new book for environmental history, have to read articles, have to stress over the lack of thesis work getting done. I usually don't notice the amount of work I do because I understand that I'm a student and it's not a "real" job and I only have classes three days a week and I get to read at coffee shops and write papers in bed. But the last couple weeks it's been hitting me. My weekends are relaxed but full of reading, writing, and grading; and my weekdays (minus Friday) are packed from morning until late at night.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love this work that I do, and to be honest I dread the day I'm finally done with all this graduate school and have to get a real job. I guess this rambling is just a mixture of me realizing how much work I do and reassuring myself that it really is work at the same time, if that makes any sense.

painless surgery in ten minutes or less!

Turns out my implant wasn't so bad, and so far I haven't been in much pain (though my parents and doctor-Grandpa make me worry I'm going to wake up crying and need to jump on the Vicodin bottle). I made the mistake of reading all the things that can go wrong when I signed the consent form, so I was pretty worked up and nervous when I sat in the chair, especially with the official hair net and arm band checking my blood pressure. I enjoyed what I'll call the "happy gas" and the only pain I had was when they gave me shots to numb everything, and even those weren't too bad. I hardly noticed what was going on, except when I spotted the spit sucker and said through an open and numb mouth "is that my blood?" "Well it sure isn't mine..." the doctor answered. Ten minutes later they told me I was done (except for the x-ray and stitches), and I hadn't even been sure they'd really started! The stitches weren't bad either- I tried to talk about beer on the Oregon Trail with string hanging out of my mouth and finally the doctor told me I could tell him about it later. So hurray for no-pain periodontics!

Weekend Review

Friday: Slept in late, read, slept more. Finally showered around 4 and read and graded until late.

Saturday: Went to a health store and antique store with a friend, graded, went on a walk instead of taking a nap, read, took a break to watch British comedies, and read more.

Sunday: Slept in a little too late, read, went for a run in my newly-discovered neighborhood, went downtown to my favorite coffee shop to read, visited a consignment store and read a little more, went to church, went to the grocery store, home to read more.

Coming up: at eight in the morning I'm having what my mother keeps referring to as "surgery," but is just a fancy dentist implanting a screw in my jaw bone. Good times.

it's like leaving breadcrumbs, only instead you make up stories

Today I planned to go for a run but ended up going out this morning, so instead this afternoon I decided to take a walk (since walks don't require a second shower). Rather than head to the lake, however, I decided to explore the neighborhoods around here that I never see. It was nice- full of pretty houses, tall pine trees, and silly Halloween decorations.

The thing about walking in places you've never been, however, is that you have to remember how to get back. It takes a lot longer to find your way when you're lost on foot than when you're lost in a car, especially when your car has a map.

So, in order to avoid never finding my way home, I make up stories with street signs. For example, by the time I'd walked far enough today and needed to head home, I knew that I needed to sleep by the creek, head north until I got to France, and then look for the mountain that would point me home. I have a similar story for when I go running in Richmond- Follow the ridge around the mountain, and then look for the magic stone that will point you home to the castle. I'm not making all of this stuff up, most of these words (or similar meanings) are in the street names. And my stories work, because I made it back!

"they send you off to college, try to gain a little knowledge"

This week I get to read about passenger pigeons and plastic pink flamingos for class. I will also learn about nineteenth-century sexuality, westward expansion, the War of 1812, and the subjunctive vs. indicative in Spanish subordinate clauses. Are you jealous yet?

it's raining!

Normally rain doesn't really excite me, but Raleigh is pretty thirsty right now and we need the rain. They've banned all sprinkler watering, so lawn-owners are probably doing a happy dance right now. I hope that umbrella is still in my backpack...

writin' tunes

It's important to have music playing when I write papers. Otherwise the silence combined with my sometimes tediously slow writing might be enough to drive me mad. However, I have to be careful with the music I play. It can't be too loud and crazy, and I don't want to have the urge so sing along, because that could be distracting. Other than instrumental or opera, I currently only have about three albums that do the trick.

The first is Darryl Purpose's A Crooked Line. I've been writing history papers to this since college. It includes a song about Rutherford Hayes, which is enough to put it at the top of my list.



Next is Eric Bachmann's To the Races. I heard him last year on some NPR show and immediately ordered his CD.



Finally, there is Kris Delmhorst's Strange Conversations. She took famous poems and made them songs. My favorite is the song "Sea Fever," based on John Masefield's poem. In fact, this is the CD that just helped me write a book review ten minutes ago.

weekend: fall break?

Thursday: Up early for a meeting, then meant to do lots of homework but ended up hanging out with a friend for a billion hours instead.

Friday: Read and graded most of the day. Watched a movie to celebrate all my hard work.

Saturday: Graded, then worked on a paper at a coffee shop. Home to grade a tiny bit more, then drove to Richmond. Read more.

Sunday: Read, ate lunch, and drove with the grandparents to Charlottesville. Walked around Main Street with Grandpa, then wandered off on my own to this crazy coffee place to read. Ate dinner with Grandpa, then all three of us went to a concert- Anuna, an Irish choir. Maybe you've seen them on PBS? I haven't. Read a little more before bed.

Monday: Breakfast at the hotel in Charlottesville, then drove back to Richmond. Made a sandwich and hopped back in the car to drive to Raleigh. Went straight to school for a meeting, then read. Now home to eat and finish that paper from Saturday.

an unexpected parade!

Today I went downtown to go to my favorite coffee shop and write a paper (actually I'm there now, and obviously taking a little break from that paper). I ran into some closed streets so I parked early and walked a couple blocks, and on the way there I ran into a parade! Once I ran into a parade in Charleston that wasn't very good and I was annoyed I couldn't cross the street and get away from it, but this parade was exciting because it had a great band and dancing. I deciphered that is was the Shaw University homecoming parade, and I stood there for ten minutes watching it, even though my backpack was very heavy.

a handful of heaven

Today I got a huge bag of delicious and fresh (we know they're fresh because they didn't have any until October, and trust me, we've been waiting for October) pistachios in the mail!


Thanks Grandma!

some things never go out of style

I recently read a blog entry where the author said guys should stop dressing up as presidents for Halloween. Um...are you kidding me?! Sure, more recent presidents are a little over done, especially with those stupid Nixon and Clinton masks, but I would swoon over any guy who came to a party dressed as Teddy Roosevelt or Thomas Jefferson. I'm just sayin'.

in case you missed it

It was OVER 90 degrees here, on OCTOBER 8. That's hot with only one t.

only three didn't make it

I *may* have just sat alone in the graduate lounge playing The Oregon Trail game on my laptop with professors as my fellow travelers who died of cholera and typhoid instead of writing a paper. Just maybe.

my weekend: sleeping and reading

Friday: Slept until 11am after going to bed before midnight. Did some reading and internet searching. Took a nap from 2 until 5. Read a lot more. Watched You've Got Mail (aka one of my top two favorite movies) at midnight.

Saturday: Slept until 10, read, went for a run, and read more. Took a break to eat popcorn and watch British comedies, then read again.

Sunday: Couldn't wake up to my alarm at 7:30 so slept until after 9. Got ready for church but was running late and then talked to my Santa Fe grandparents on the phone instead. Went to my new favorite coffee shop downtown to read for five hours, sat in my car and read more, then went to church at 6. Stopped by Target, and now ready to eat something and then...you guessed it...read.

I taught the kid to pop corn

I like to listen to NPR's All Songs Considered on my iPod when I run, and since I haven't been running much lately I've gotten behind. Today I listened to a show from August 9 and they played a song by the band Beirut. I'm listening to them now on their website, and I really like it. Anyway, the main guy is Zach Condon, and guess what?! I totally knew that kid back in Santa Fe. He got a job at the artsy movie theater where I worked and I trained him in concessions and tickets. He had shaggy bangs and didn't talk much. Apparently he later dropped out of high school and travelled Europe, which has a noticeable influence on his music. Now he lives in Brooklyn and is livin' the dream I guess. Good for him.

Sometimes I think this is me!

toothpastefordinner.com

i'm tired

Monday night I took a short nap around 9pm so I could keep reading. Last night I ended up taking a nap at 10:30. I had to turn that nap into going to bed early (11=early!) because my eyeballs wouldn't stay open, but that meant I had to get up early this morning to grade papers. I woke up at FIVE IN THE MORNING. I don't recall ever in my academic life having to get up that early to work. I'm tired of running on coffee. I'm tired of not getting enough sleep during the week and then not getting enough work done on the weekends because my body won't do anything but sleep. I'm tired of my heavy backpack and walking around campus in one big yawn. I'm just plain tired.

out of juice and suckin' up bugs

Today I had to cancel a meeting (well, we rescheduled it), which I never ever have to do. I'm always where I say I'll be, though I might be a couple minutes late. Anyway, not today. Why? you ask. Because I was stuck in Richmond. Stuck. My car would not go. Turns out I needed a new battery. Grandpa helped me take it and get a new one, so I was only stuck for a couple more hours. I'm sick of dealing with my car. I don't want any more problem, you hear?

When I finally got back to my apartment I heard a noise in my room. I prayed it was not scary vermin. Turns out it was a bug in my floor lamp. I could only see its scary shadow through the glass shade, and I was too afraid to stand on my bed and look more closely. I thought about smashing it with my shoe, but I decided that would be a lot of trouble since it was up there in the lamp and what if it flies? Or stings? Or explodes with babies? So instead I was a genius. I got the vacuum cleaner, attached the long hose, and without every having to look at the thing directly, sucked him up. If you have stories about how that was not a good solution because he could get out and multiply in the laundry closet where I keep the vacuum, I don't want to hear them. Thank you.