fin de semana

Viernes: See my last post.

Sabado: Got up and headed out to work on my paper. I tried two coffee shops in the same shopping center, but they were crazy full with Saturday morning suburbanites. I stopped by Michael's while I was there to look at frames, but didn't buy anything. Then I decided to drive to Chapel Hill and go to a coffee shop there to write the paper, but that turned out to be full, too. So I found a new one in Chapel Hill and hung out there for about four hours. When I got back I went for a run, took a shower, ate, and read for two hours. Saturday night I went out with the girls to see The Breakfast Club ("the most well respected, well traveled and longest established 80's music tribute band in the USA" according to their myspace page) downtown. I didn't really know what we were going to, but it turned out to be a jam-packed concert (apparently they're really popular around here) and was lots of fun to sing and dance around to. It also made me wish I could get up and play Guitar Hero on stage.

Domingo: Went to church, then came home to eat lunch and read all day. Reading (and staying out late the night before) made me tired, so I had to take a nap. But then I read more.

oh dear

I'm having some serious procrastination issues today. And yesterday. The plan was to write my book review yesterday and fix it up today, leaving the rest of the weekend to read for next week's classes. No paper was written yesterday. Neither was anything read. And today? As of now I have two paragraphs down. Two paragraphs. It was very hard to get started. First I slept in, then I went for a run, then I ate lunch, then I got an email that indicated I needed to drive all the way to school just to pick up a photocopied article, then I got back and decided I needed to eat some chips and salsa, which meant I had to fight with the salsa jar for five minutes before it would open. Then I put sweats on and made a salad to eat in front of the tv, and from there I gravitated to the internet and Homestar Runner. Finally, finally at about 7:30 I decided it was time to start this paper. I did some stretches, jumped around on the furniture, made some crazy noises, and started drinking coffee. After this little pre-paper-writing workout I was about to get started when I instead decided to call my brother. Unfortunately he couldn't chat long. So I knuckled-down-buckled-down and started typing. Like I said, two paragraphs. Then it was time to check my email, and go through old saved emails to get rid of things I didn't need anymore, and then I thought I should probably reply to an email from a college friend I got back in August. Then I needed to eat some pistachios and get another cup of coffee. It's 11:20 now, and I still plan on writing more of this paper. I'm ridiculous.

a new place for caffeine with character

I'm at a new coffee shop. Ok, it's not new at all, just new to me. It's the kind of place that makes me wonder what I've been doing this whole time going to those other places. This place is cozy, has fun art, good music, interesting people, and is in a cute neighborhood. Plus they have really good drinks. Well, I've just had one drink, but it's good. I also had a muffin. That was only because they don't have scones. I guess that's a minus 1 for this place- no scones. Anyway, I'm supposed to be reading, but instead I'm doing the crossword puzzle in Independent Weekly. And surfing the ol' interweb, obviously. Ok, that's all.

surprise pocket!

Tonight while eating dinner and doing homework at Panera I found a brand new zipper pocket on my backpack. I had never seen the thing before in my whole life. I used this backpack at UPS, in London, at UPS again, and all of last semester. Yet it wasn't until today that I found the elusive pocket! What compartmental convenience have I been missing out on?! You know what's even better than finding a brand new pocket? Finding money in that pocket. Alas, tonight I was not so lucky.

geese tales

Today I went for a run around the lake and took a short break after the first lap to stretch. I tried to touch my toes, because I read somewhere that if you are really fit you should be able to touch your toes, but I couldn't. I actually don't remember ever being able to touch my toes without bending my knees. Anyway, as I came up from reaching down I looked over and saw two large white geese high-tailing it straight for me.

"Egad," I thought, "those geese are gonna get me."

So I took off running again.

***

Once when I was very young I was in Lubbock, Texas, visiting my grandparents. Grandma took my cousin Leslie and I to feed the ducks at a nearby lake. I don't remember how it all played out, because like I said, I was very young, but some geese came over and one bit Leslie on the finger and another one pecked me on the head. To fill in the rest of the story I'm going to imagine Grandma bravely shooing them away and swatting at them with the bag of bread crumbs.

***

I believe it was the summer of '97 when my Aunt Judy took me to visit Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. While there we rented a canoe and paddled our way down a river and ended up at Lake Michigan. Somewhere along the way we floated in a wide calm section of the river, to rest out weary arms. We didn't rest too long though, because a whole line of geese started swimming straight for us. Only now that I think of it, those might have been swans.

***

One summer day I was in Albuquerque visiting friends from high school. Becca had just gotten a new puppy, so we went to a park to let him run around. Walking down the sidewalk at the edge of the park was a couple with a pet goose on a red leash. It was pretty awesome.

My Weekend

Friday: Woke up early and drove to Richmond. On the way there I came upon a long line of slow cars in the right lane on I85. Knowing this could only mean one thing- a cop was ahead- I went ahead and decided to pass them all, including the Sheriff in front. The rest of the scaredy pants soon followed because seriously, 70mph is too slow. Ate lunch, lazed about, and tried to read for school/watch tv with Grandma. Watched There's Something About Mary with both grandparents. That's right, you think about it. Amusingly awkward.

Saturday: Slept in, then tried to go for Mexican lunch. Our favorite place, Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Cafe at Stony Point, is closed forever. We tried Mexico on Forest Hill but it wasn't open yet, so we settled for Moe's. Went to a fun coffee shop I just discovered on the south side, where I read history for over five hours. First I got a latte, then a couple hours later I went back for a cookie, and a couple hours after that when I wanted to throw my book about the Indian slave trade in South Carolina out the window, I went back for a glass of wine. I think that was the first time I've mixed alcohol and homework, but it was necessary.

Sunday: Read for school and waited (for what seemed like forever) for Uncle Richard to arrive. Finally ate lunch, then ran out the door to meet Allison. Went to FSC for church, ate a monster cookie, and then went with Allison for a delicious beer at the incredibly empty Capital Ale House in the west end. Went to aunt's house to watch the second half of the Super Bowl, which I didn't pay any attention to or care a thing about. Also played some Wii Sports.

Monday: Woke up early for a big breakfast with Uncle Richard. Finished my laundry and headed back to Raleigh. Sang along to Broadway showtunes the whole way, and decided the 1970s is my least favorite decade for musicals.

Early Bird

Guess what. I got up to my alarm this morning at 7:30. I knew I could do it if I had a reason. Now I'm off to catch some lunch in Richmond!

silly over some snow

I woke up (and slept through for almost two hours) the news on the radio saying schools were closed because it was going to snow. They cancelled school before it even started snowing. By the time I was out of bed looking through the window there was a cover of white on the grass and cars, but not much. Nothing to warrant all this commotion. By about noon it switched to raining and now all the snow is gone.

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.

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.