Most archivists are awesome.

But the guy in this news story deserves a million punches in the face.

A post in which I take an undeserved break to show you what I'm up to.

(Notice the mood-setting pictures of buffalo!)

Weekend Review

Friday: Worked on my conference paper on and off all day, then hung out with the video store gang and went out to the Jackpot.

Saturday: Read, took a nap, read more, played Scrabble.

Sunday: Went to church, looked at thesis stuff, took a nap, now trying to write thesis stuff.

If Danny were a baby he would be this cute.

Roughing It

"Nothing helps scenery like ham and eggs."

So wrote Mark Twain in the humorous account of his mail coach ride to the Wild West in Roughing It. That also happens to be a quote I include in my thesis. Just now I pulled down my paperback copy of the book to check the page number, and on that very page with the ham and eggs quote is the following handwritten note:

"I got whipped one night for just saying I was glad I was not a decendant of one of the pioneer women of California, but it did not change my mind. -HCS"

HCS was my great grandfather, and apparently he loved to read Mark Twain and take notes in the margins. In fact, his above quote is written in blue ink, but "women" is underlined in red pencil. It's neat to see how engaged he was with the book through his underlinings, scribblings, and asterisks. This is one book I'll keep for a long time.

"Open wide. A little wider."

Here is why I don't like going to the dentist: I have a small mouth. Contrary to what my father might say at this point, it really is a small mouth. And small mouths don't like to open uncomfortably wide, and they especially don't like to stay in that position for long periods of time. They especially especially don't like when you prop them open wide and fill them with lots of goo and then have a stranger's finger in there putting pressure on a tray for EIGHT WHOLE MINUTES, eight minutes that begin okay because you're grooving to the tune on the radio but then the song ends and you're left with nothing but quiet and boring commercials that leave you no other choice except to concentrate on the fact that your mouth is open very wide and you're about to drool on yourself.

This weekend I...

made pizza
walked around my lake
watched Flight of the Conchords
went for a walk in the snow
went to the Big Mammas House of Burlesque show
listened to dueling pianos at a bar
watched The Muppet Movie
made fruit smoothies
ate steak
played Scrabble

plan ahead

Last night around 7:30 my school declared a two hour delay for today. Was it snowing? No. Was there snow in the morning? No. Did my class get cancelled? No, because it started at 10:15.

But then my other class got cancelled. After I stuck around campus for 3 hours and was sitting in the room waiting for five minutes for the professor to show up.

And it still hasn't snowed.

Mimes of the Prairie

Here's that video my professor sent me. Because historians have a sense of humor, too!

I heart the West.

Sometimes I get sad that there aren't any history classes in my program on the American West. I mean, I guess it's understandable, what with the West being way over there and us being way over here on the East Coast, but still. Anyhow, I have managed to become known among some of our professors as that one student interested in the West (and unfortunately that sometimes gets confused with a student who is actually really knowledgeable about the West, which I'm not, but I guess it's all relative).

I haven't always loved the West. I'm from the Southwest, but while I have a fierce New Mexican pride I was also sure eager to get the heck out of there for college. I loved the Pacific Northwest, but even there when it came to history I always wanted to look east. In my senior thesis seminar my professor asked us to write a research paper on anything we wanted...in the West. I was not a happy camper, so I compromised by writing about easterners traveling west. And that's when I sort of got hooked. Now I'm obsessed with the Oregon Trail and I have pictures of buffalo hanging in my apartment.

Anyway, the point of this post is to tell you that I just received an email from one of my professors with a YouTube clip that was sent to him by his old advisor, who happens to be a big deal in both western and environmental history. I haven't even seen the clip yet (dial-up internet and video clips don't go together very well...) but I'm excited that he thought of me. You know, as that one student obsessed with the West.

I hear ya bro.

My brother Ryan on the phone: You know how when you go to a foreign country it's polite to eat whatever they eat? Well today I made dinner for The Foreigners [two of his friends from work, one from France and the other from Spain] and they refused to eat it!

Me: What did you make them?

Ryan: Kraft's Blue Box Macaroni and Cheese.

Me: I ate that for lunch!

Ryan: I know, right? But they wouldn't eat it! I was all, "You guys don't understand, I grew up on this stuff!"

And it's true, we did grow up on mac and cheese. I still love it. We had a babysitter once who didn't think a box of macaroni and cheese was a decent meal, so she made us cut up and stir in a hot dog. Even way back then I thought, "you really think adding a hot dog to this is making it better for us?" There was also the time Ryan and I were alone making mac and cheese for lunch but discovered we didn't have any milk to add, so he went across the street and asked our neighbor for a little glass. Because sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

weekend review

Friday: Hung out around the apartment all day unpacking and reorganizing my pantry to fit all the new food my aunt gave me, and did some reading.

Saturday: Slept in, read, went for a run, went to potluck at Tess's house and hung out with the girls afterwards.

Sunday: Slept in, read, went to church, now ready to read more.

It's been a quiet and relaxing weekend, even though that fan is still running in the bedroom and my room isn't put back together yet.

smoooooth

Check out the delicious smoothie I just made with my new blender.

Thanks parents.

just give me my cuppa joe

I think I'm addicted to caffeine. I didn't have any all day, and then I got a headache. I very rarely get headaches. Now I've just finished a cup of coffee and my headache is gone! And since I got a bigger French press and made two cups, I'm about to go drink more and finally do some reading! At nine o'clock on a Friday night. Go me!

"Don't blink!"

Are you tired of wearing glasses? Thinking about Lasik but concerned about the cost? Afraid of doctors?

Well have I got the thing for you!

For only $99 you can order a Lasik@Home kit and be your own surgeon! All it takes is four easy steps (if you don't click that link you are seriously missing out).

And when you're done you can order a stylish t-shirt or tote bag!



*thanks go to Josh for finding this hilarious site!

sloshin' through a constant noise

Aaarrgghhhhh! My leak is back. The one that makes the carpet in my bedroom wet. I just got back to Raleigh and stopped by my apartment to unload my car and run off to class, but while throwing suitcases and boxes and grocery bags all over the place I noticed the wet carpet (the odd smell clued me in). I told the office and then left for class, and when I got back the carpet guy was still in the parking lot so we chatted. There is a large and LOUD fan in my room that I'm supposed to keep running until Friday, when they suspect the carpet will be dry enough to put in new padding. This time the water spread far enough that the guy turned my bed sideways and put a bookshelf in my bathroom. They also dripped pink carpet liquid through the apartment to the front door.

Welcome back to me.

apparently I sit around thinking about this

People always talk about elevator music, but how often do you actually hear music in elevators these days? Maybe I'm not going to fancy enough places. Or tall enough places.

weekend review

I feel like I've been on one big three weeks long weekend, but in an effort to get back into the swing of things, here we go...

Friday: Slept until 10 (after falling asleep at 7pm), lounged around, ate lunch, got out my thesis stuff and thought hard about working on it, not sure what else...maybe played Rook?

Saturday: Slept in, went to Mexican Saturday, hung out with Sunni, looked at thesis stuff again, chatted with Katie, hung out more around the house with various family members.

Sunday: Ran a couple errands then helped my aunt move, home for dinner and to crash.

Sunni

For a long time there were four of us cousins on my mom's side of the family. I was the oldest, then came Leslie, Jay, and finally my brother Ryan. Even though Ryan and I lived in New Mexico and Leslie and Jay lived in Texas, we were all pretty close.

Then along came the youngest cousin, Sunni. It's been no secret around here that Sunni has a keen ability to drive me nuts. She called me her "Serious Cousin," because I had a stern face while doing crossword puzzles and never laughed. She would try to kiss me goodbye and, just as I do with anyone who kisses me goodbye and isn't a cute boy, I would squish up my nose and exclaim "gross!"

But lately we've been friends. We chill. We tell secrets about boys. We go shopping. We dance. We have "mucho awesome-o fun," as she has just informed me.

And to prove it, I've got pictures.

Here we worked on our gangsta looks.


Then we danced to Mary Poppins.


And we were all-around cute on Christmas!


*photos by Leslie, who, if she would only come out from behind the camera every once in a while, might also be in fun photos with us!

MIA from the Blogosphere

Howdy folks, long time no see. It's crazy how being busy having a good time leaves me with zero ideas for blog posts.

I can't tell you about my New Year's Resolutions, because I don't make them. I thought about giving a Year in Review, but you can just go through the archives for that. I spent a split second trying to think of a good Story from Andi's Childhood, but nothing came that quickly.

So instead I will give you a boring list of recent things, just to catch you up.

I saw Sweeney Todd. It was fun. But I won't lie, I wish their voices were better. I mean, it is a musical. I spent about a third of the movie giving my dad's arm the death grip and looking away from the screen.

I still believe Danny is the Cutest Dog Ever.

I made Martha Washington Balls, Peanut Butter Balls, and Biscochito cookies.

I've been dancin'.

I watched my cousin Jay propose to a girl on Christmas Day, and she said yes. Before that I was the Keeper of the Ring, because I'm Responsible.

I learned some chords on the ukulele.

I went to the American Civil War Center, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

I ate lucky black eyed peas on New Year's Day.

I was a Tetris champion.