End of the Summer…
I’ve been so terrible at updating this this summer – tsk tsk! So here’s a quick overview of my life in the past few weeks:
- Had a fabulous lunch and a wonderful little restaurant the next town over with a woman from church – it was wonderful! Love chatting with her, really reaffirms my faith!
- Been attending Photoshop Elements workshops at the library, and having a blast! Now, if only I had a computer with enough room for Photoshop and Dreamweaver… Scratch that – if only I had a computer that started up in less than 15 minutes…
- Had a surprise party for my mom’s 50th this past weekend. My whole mom’s side of the family came into town, without her knowing, and surprised her (she cried)! It was a really nice weekend with everyone – super busy, though, and thus exhausting
- Finished my research for the summer, sent in a 16 page outline to my advisor, and returned all of my books to the library! Such a sense of accomplishment!
- Sorta, kinda, maybe haven’t really started packing for school, despite the fact that I leave on Friday…
- Found a scholar that I think I would absolutely adore working with in grad school (as in, got a book of his out from the library on a whim, and am thinking of actually buying that one to have forever and ever and a few others from a store as soon as possible), except he doesn’t teach at any one school, and appears to do a lecture circuit in Europe and Canada… Story of my life…
- Meanwhile, on the mundane side, I’ve been watching the new series ‘Merlin‘ on NBC, and, as long as you don’t ask it to actually stick to the legends in any way, shape, or form, except for the names and the most BASIC plot points, is actually pretty good escapist fun!
- Got my hair cut – trying out layers for the first time…
- Just beat my brother and two of his friends at Settlers – I don’t think they were very happy…
And that, ladies and gentlemen of the blogosphere, is that. Probably a heck of a lot more to report, but I fear I can’t think of a thing at the moment, so this shall have to suffice.
How is your summer winding down?
Recent Happinesses
Since I posted about recent irritations, I figured I needed to show y’all that life is not all bad. Despite the massive amounts of reading I need to do for Friday in addition to the massive art history test I have on Friday. But enough of that! Here are some recent happinesses:
- I watched the Lifetime biopic on Coco Chanel and it was happy. I mean, it was kinda depressing, but good. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have a new appreciation for fashion. I still think that ‘fashion’ is absolutely ridiculous what with everyone being obsessed with brand names and such, but at least I can partially appreciate it. And Coco Chanel had amazing taste, nothing like the ugly stuff pretending to be “clothes” today. We need another Coco Chanel to redefine fashion as pretty.
- El boyo and I started watching West Wing again! Of course, we couldn’t continue where we left off last semester in Season 2, since he left that particular season at home, so instead we started on Season 3. That show is so amazing. I wish I marathon it all in like a week of doing nothing else, instead of only being able to watch one or two on the nights when el boyo is free. :sigh:
- Lunch today was my absolute favorite d-hall meal of all time: Mandarin orange chicken! YUM!!! One of the few times I wish that they served the same thing for both lunch and dinner. Dinner was very sad indeed. But lunch was fantastic!!! (Except for the continual lack of chocolate offerings at Dolce Vita…)
- Ran into my Vienna professor from last semester. I’ve stopped by her office on a few occasions while in the vicinity, but she hasn’t been there, so I had not had the chance to tell her I was back on campus. Today, however, we ran into each other twice! The first time, I was late to class and could only say, “I’ll talk to you later!” in response to her stunned “what are you doing here?”. The second time, however, we were able to talk for about 15 minutes. And she was so supportive! I was kinda worried about what she’d say about my returning, but she was actually one of the more understanding people I’ve talked to about this. Much happiness. And she wants my help for technology-stuffings. Yey!
Busy, Busy, Busy
So my goal of writing once every day (or so) is totally and completely down the drain, so here’s a little recap of everything that has happened in my life since I last posted:
- Went down to Baltimore again for my grandparents’ 50th anniversary and a family reunion to celebrate it. Got to see my grandparents’ new condo which is fabulous and beautiful and simply amazing! I also got to go out and find toys to fill the basement for all my little cousins (5 under the age of 5).
- Caught cold from one of the aforementioned cousins. Took an extra day and a half off of work because of it. Still felt miserable for about a week. But am all better now!
- Went to the doctor’s office for an annual check-up. Got 2 vaccines, on in each arm, which hurt for about 2 days (in addition to my cold of course!). Had a lovely discussion about how even though my boyfriend and I have been dating for about a year and a half, I have no need for the pill. To quote my doctor, we are “happy being *pause* companions”. Shocking, I know!
- Speaking of el boyo, he is in town visiting for 2 whole weeks (plus a few days!)!!! So much happiness. 😀
- Discovered a fairly interesting and not too overbearing feminist site/blog: www.feministing.com thanks to my lovely friend J.
- Went to my first housewarming (well, apartment-warming, but still…) party for a friend of mine. Had a blast. Happy that el boyo, who escorted me, thinks that I have really cool friends. Watched Fight Club for the first time in forever and still remembered most of it.
- Spent all of Saturday with el boyo in Boston walking the Freedom Trail, which is very long. Saw some pretty cool acrobatic street-performers at Faneuil Hall. Got an awesome hat and wore it around for the rest of the day. Made mental note to start purchasing and wearing more hats.
- After walking for 4.5 hours, returned to the Boston Common and joined some friends to watch As You Like It under the stars. Pretty good performance. Orlando was played by the male semi-lead in USA’s In Plain Sight. Didn’t much like him on TV, but he was great on stage! Didn’t like the beginning or end of the play, but the middle was good fun! Shocked by the massive amount of people who attended, most of whom probably couldn’t even see the stage (we got there 3 hours before curtain and so got good seats, though inconsiderate idiots in really tall chairs blocked our view of a good portion of the stage since we were sitting on picnic blankets). Partook of a delightful European-esque picnic for dinner of bread and butter and grapes – yum! Definitely an experience that should become an annual event.
- Arranged with my work to take the next two weeks part-time and work at home to maximize my time with el boyo. Also was offered a job for next summer – and the school year if I so desire, though my being abroad for the first semester will hinder that slightly… But still, happy day! The work is occasionally mind-numbingly dull, but the people at work are so wonderful and nice that I can’t gush enough about them!
- Rediscovered my love of the sound of keys on a keyboard tapping. Like as I write this. And this. And this. Ok, stopping now.
- Discovered that I think that I would love to get my Masters in Library Science and work in a library some day since I love working at my local one this summer, both in processing and at the Children’s desk (even though as I rule I generally don’t like children very much…). Tonight I even helped two people find books (last week I shelved the whole time)! My memory of my beloved children’s books isn’t as bad as I thought it was.
- On that note, I discovered that the University of Hawaii offers a program for library science, so I may kill 2 birds with one stone and move down there to get my master’s 😀
There’s probably more that has happened, and there will be more to come. But for now, ta-ta and au revoir!
- OOO- I saw Dark Knight!!! And it was amazing!!!
My New Guilty Pleasure
My sister and I just spent 2 hours watching America’s Got Talent clips on Hulu and YouTube. That show is seriously addicting. My favorite ones, of course are the dance crews, and there are some amazing ones out there, but unfortunately too few for my entertainment purposes.
Then there were the kids that were being shamelessly exploited by their parents. I mean, c’mon, if you’ve got a 4-year-old who knows how to change her voice with the music, that’s great and cute and sweet and all, but seriously people. This is just ridiculous. And of course the judges can’t say things like, “Sorry honey, but learn how to pronounce words properly and in a few years you can try to come back and show us your ‘talent’ then, but for now buh-bye” or they’d be lynch by the crowd. Ugh. /rant
Any way, I’m not usually a fan of reality shows, but I may actual keep an eye on this one (though not religiously)… I’ll keep y’all posted!
Pushing Daisies
Finding myself with a bit of free time on my hands, I decided to go to abc.com and check out their new show Pushing Daisies. I was vaguely familiar with the premise, having seen a promo ad or two this summer, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
All I can say is that it. was. fantastic! I was laughing so hard at certain parts, el boyo (who was watching it with me) told me he hadn’t ever heard me laugh like that. Maybe I was just in a weird, really good mood, but whatever it was, I really enjoyed this show.
The premise is simply that Ned has the power to touch a dead person once, which brings them back to life, but if he doesn’t touch them again within a minute, killing them again, someone in the immediate vicinity dies. Kinda morbid, right? Not really.
I’m not sure what else to say about it, except that I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something really different. Plus, Kristin Chenoweth is in it!
Save Me From the Cold 