Hijinx, Tomfoolery and the like

I am really really excited for England. Sure it may cause me to have a nervous breakdown about my papers, sure it may bankrupt me, and yes, it probably was not my most intelligent decision ever.

But damn it's going to be awesome. Mucking about Oxford with Jamie and Tom (and Ed and Jim), drinking, dancing, eating, writing seminar papers (ok, so not ALL hijinx)...it's going to be wonderful.

Now all I have to do is survive the next seven weeks and write about 50 pages. Simple.

I <3 the Marauders. Let's get into so much trouble when I come we'll be talking about it for years.

My Week Pt 1 - Pierced

Well.

It's been a week in the life. I don't know how else to sum it up. It wasn't particularly eventful, but some interesting things did go down.

For starters...Renee and I got pierced on Monday night. It almost didn't happen due to intense amounts of work and the apprentice who was supposed to do us being sick, but we forged ahead and made it happen. It was a fun little adenture. The place was out in Su Prairie, about 15 minutes away, and the front room was basically a huge head shop with crazy black-and-red tiling. We waited about 10 minutes for the dude behind the counter to finish chatting up some girls who looked way too young to be getting pierced or buying pipes, only to find that Doug, who was supposed to pierce us for some incredibly low price due to his apprentice status, was out sick. Hmm. Luckily for us, the normal guy agreed to do us for the same price, which worked out perfectly.

I got my nose pierced, and Renee did her neck (ouch). It went well for both of us, although Renee almost passed out afterwards...crazy endorphins. It was very bonding-experience, and the guy who did us seemed very knowledgeable, which helped Renee's fears about being paralyzed for life when he shoved a needle through her neck. My nose looks cute; although it's already got its major detractors *coughJeffcough*, I like it a lot, and someone actually said to me the next day "haven't you always had your nose pierced?" So I feel like it looks pretty natural. If a tiny diamond stud in a nostril can be deemed natural.

One step closer to resembling my Biblical namesake.

Ok, time to drink wine with Renee...well, more wine. Perhaps more later...but don't hold your breath.

Focus

And don't forget. Because you have things coming up that matter, and you need to have your shit together.

"*poof*...You Are Home."

I am happy here. Possibly happier than I have been anywhere else, in a really long time. It might still be a little soon to say, but something I haven't felt for a long time is coming back, and I think...I think I feel I belong here. Or will, at any rate.

And that's a really, really good feeling to have.

Shiny Happy MacBooks

So it's already clear what the highlight of my day was.

This computer is so shiny and fast, it blows my other one clean out of the water. I've already used the camera for videochatting with Tom, and provided we can find a time when we're all awake and at computers, it'll be sweet to talk to him and Jamie that way.

...yeah. Other things, too. Bought a DVD player, picking up a TV tomorrow. It'll be nice to have them, for movie nights and such. Hopefully Marissa will chip in an antenna if there's not one built in already, and we'll need to pick up a table or something for it, but that's easily done with a trip to St Vincent's. Marshelle made me fall in love with her all over again last night with several choice comments over our evening together. Renee and I bonded a lot this past week as well, I feel, and the three of us are basically going to be as thick as thieves. (I could make some sort of lame joke here involving the name of the coffee shop we frequent, Company of Thieves, but I'll resist.) I've been trying to snare some of Jessie's free time for awhile as well but she proves elusive...hopefully later this week we can work something out.

Classes are going well. My Holocaust class (for lack of a better description) was a little less comprehesible this week, but that might be because I could NOT wake up. Of all the faults I could have, why does "propensity to fall asleep in class" have to be one of them? It's so annoying. I'm looking forward to talking about Gulliver tomorrow, and - shockingly - I'm looking forward to theory. I was pretty into the articles for this week, so I'm excited to talk about them. And I'm itching to write something, to get that whole "ZOMG first grad paper" feeling out of the way, so I might meet with Morris and start my journal review this week. We'll see.

I just remember I'm meeting with Sarah Guyer at 11:40 tomorrow. Must not forget.

Getting pierced next weekend! Slightly anxious it will look awful, but whatever. I can always take it out. I'm pretty excited...it's stupid (and I regret saying this aloud the other day) but it makes me feel like I'm really in grad school, out of the house. I haven't told Dad and I'm not planning on it; I'm 23 and he can deal with my getting my nose pierced.

Ok, time to continue messing around with the new computer a bit and then sleep.

I Wore the Time Like a Dress That Year

You know what album is amazing, that I haven't thought about in awhile?

Tidal.

Still in Bed

So it's 10:20 and I'm still in bed. And I really don't feel like getting up, even though I KNOW I should.

I think I'll read Gulliver in bed until 11, then mosey down to Thieves for some good article-reading fun. And go to the gym at some point. After the eating that ensued last night, that's definitely an order.

Blah. Is it November yet?

Friendship, Friendship, Just the Perfect Blendship

Spent the evening with Marshelle and Renee. We are perfect for each other. I am so, so blessed to have chosen a place with people who suit me so well.

It was a good night. And tomorrow...Bagel Hour(s)!

You Never Know When It Starts Until There's Fog Inside the Glass Around Your Summer Heart

It's fall.

Not officially, of course, but...the season has turned. Night is crisp and the stars are brighter, and the air is full of nostalgia. Driving at night alone now takes on a new edge...or an old one, I suppose. It's me visiting Barger's apartment with Mike, it's driving along Wallace towards Adam's, it's turning the heat all the way up to defrost the crystal ice on Trixie's dashboard.

Why it's all high school memories is vague, but fall remains my favorite season, and one that makes me feel very connected to my life, if that makes sense. It also makes me want to wrap up in an old quilt in James Madison park and watch the stars come out until I'm so cold I can't stand it. I love the feeling of the cold air; after spending so much of the summer in NC, I realize I haven't been cold outdoors since I left France, and there it was always moist and cloying, never this crispness that feels like the air would snap if you ran through it too fast.

It's weather to dream to.

Today I wrote my presentation for 723, which was both easier and more enjoyable than I'd anticipated. In the end, I just let go all my anxieties about not using proper "grad student-y" buzzwords and just wrote like I always do, and I'm decently pleased with the results. Not going to make me famous for my sparkling wit and rhetoric, but I don't think I'll make a fool of myself either. And it's only in front of ten people, so who even cares?

I also picked Renee up on campus and drove her home, which meant I got to see her place (nice) and meet her cat (adorable). We chatted for awhile, and I continue to be excited about spending more time with her and thrilled with how lucky I've been in terms of friends. This really must be where I should be...it's too well suited to me to be a waste.

And finally, I ordered a new computer. Should be here in a week. Very, very exciting stuffs.

Haikus = Instant Hilarity

It's true, you know. Just check out Kingdom of Loathing. They're really borderline trendy these days.

Nothing to report really, just kind of moving along. Getting really excited for my trips, even though neither of them is exactly close. Had a really good class today with MBD; I'm optimistic. Didn't read as much as I should have today, but I'm pretty far ahead at the moment, so as long as I chase down the books for Friday I should be ok. Tomorrow I'll probably start my reading for next Monday. Talk about a 180 from undergrad...I *never* did all my reading, with the possible exception of my JLo and Manson classes. Although I don't think I read all of Harlot High and Low, so who knows.

Not looking forward to Tom switching time zones on me. Stupid GMT.

So yes. Generally things are going smoothly, although I'm a bit lonely. I'm sure it will pass...now if I could only be sure that *I* will pass.

I Don't Know Where the Sunbeams End or the Starlight Begins

It's all a mystery.

This was a great weekend.

Friday, to celebrate the end of our first (almost) full week of classes as grad students, we (and by "we" I mean Marshelle, Renee and myself) began drinking at 5pm and didn't go to bed until 5am. Shots were taken, drunken dance lessons were given, frozen pizza was consumed, and plenty of fun was had. Definitely a good night.

Saturday we woke up and went to the Farmer's market, after which I did a little reading at Thieves and attended the Middle Modernity kickoff meeting. Following this, on Renee's advice, I went over to the Flaming Lips show even though it was kinda late to do so, and ended up having one of the best concert experiences of my life. The show was amazing; they do a great job of making it a joy to watch, with great visuals, confetti, dancers in random outfits, huge balloons bouncing all over and general mayhem. Add to this that their music is phenomenal, plus one of the most powerful anti-war statements I've seen, and it was a concert that, more than any other I've been to, made me vow to attend more concerts.

Plus my refund check came! Good news all around. Here's hoping I survive to have another great weekend next week.

Adventures in Citation

So I probably should be posting about my first days of classes, etc, but what's really bothering me at the moment is my work study job.

I have five articles that I'm supposed to format, cleaning up the citations and making sure everything follows the guidelines for the discipline. No sweat, right?

Wrong. Totally wrong. Two of them were easy, but the rest...good Lord. There as citations with page numbers listed as "00-00," there are journals without issue or volume numbers, there's (and this is my favorite) an endnote that just says "(quoted variously, incl. Hinckley, Carpenter?)"

What am I supposed to do here? Is it MY job to track down the myriad little missing pieces of citation info for these entries? And this is not even touching on the one article that is 40 pages long, used MLA and needs to be Chicago, with a Works Cited page in a format that makes me shiver.

Anyone out there happen to be a Chicago expert?

New Blog for a New Chapter

So since I began my last online chronicle while in my first year of undergrad, I thought it'd be fitting to start a new one with the beginning of grad school. And here it is! Try to hold in your unbridled enthusiasm. I'm new to Blogger, but I'm already a fan...it seems smoother and less "omg wtf Emo!" than livejournal.

Today was the last day of calm before the storm that is classes. I woke up surprisingly collected and relaxed. Something inside me clicked walking home from Marshelle's last night, and I remembered. I remembered that I *can*. I can not fall victim to the things that bother me about myself and hold me back, both academically and personally. I can read an article and understand it (mostly), even if it takes me awhile. I can go to the gym and enjoy it for its own sake and not as a means to an end. I can do these things.

It's a very Zen kind of feeling. And now all I can think about is tracking down a copy of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. (How do you do italics? The shortcut is just not having any of it.)

I had a near-religious experience at the gym today - I used an elliptical for the first time. Now I feel like a fool for letting so long go by without trying it. It's like running only ten times easier on joints and...everything, basically. I'm not sure I entirely believe what it says about calorie consumption, but I found it a welcome change...kept me very focused. Now if I can just overcome my fear of the very manly weight room...

Also, as mentioned above, I spent 3 hours in Company of Thieves (coffee shop around the corner) reading a theory article for 723. And while it was incredibly dense and packed with terms that sailed past me, I enjoyed it. I took copious notes (beautiful ones, Tom) and actually feel like I made real progress in understanding the subject. Does this mean I will be a star in class on Thursday. Hell no. But I'm confident I'll be able to follow the discussion and perhaps interject a few thoughts that won't lead my classmates to wish I was pumping gas rather that reading de Man.

11:45...time to reread my notes and go to sleep. Tomorrow I have a meeting with Professor Begam about my work-study position, then some reading time, and then...first class. Restoration and 18th Century. Should be hot.

Here we go.