Let's Get Rich and Buy Our Parents Homes in the South of France

Yesterday, I took the bus to school, as usual. When K and I got off at our stop, I heard Barack Obama's voice. It was surprising, because it sounded like it was just coming out of the sky, a la the voice of God or something. I quickly remembered that he was having a rally at the arena and then everything made sense. It was so awesome. I was really sad that I had to go to class and could not attend. I did find some photos online from the rally, so I can pretend that I was there.



I can't wait for next week.

Cross Your Fingers, Hold Your Toes

Um... I am currently obsessed with the extreme levels of adorableness happening in the following photograph:


Seriously. Is that not one of the cutest pictures you have ever seen? Apparently, they were in a GAP campaign last winter, but I missed that memo. I saw the photo yesterday when I read that Amy had the baby. A baby! Hooray!

City Sidewalks, Busy Sidewalks

It is almost November! This means that Thanksgiving is a month away, and Christmas is right on its heels. The weather today is making me hungry for holiday cheer. I am presently listening to a holiday compilation, though I am told that that is not allowed until after Thanksgiving. Poppycock. I will do it now. In moderation, though. I swear. Things I love about the Christmas season include:

-finding the perfect gift for everyone
-mittens
-cookies
-Christmas trees
-decorations
-rosy cheeks
-ice skating
-egg nog
-Christmas music
-spending time with my family and friends
-snuggling in pajamas
-snowflakes
-sliding on streets
-snowmen
-fire in the fireplace
-baking my dad a birthday cake

I could probably go on and on about this, but I will refrain. I don't generally love the coldness and sometimes grossness about winter, but the season is not without its charms. I try to be optimistic. This Christmas will be exciting, because the parental units and Jack are driving from Idaho to Michigan, Jenna will be home, and I will get to see everyone I love. And get a tattoo. Huzzah. I just have to work on being successful, yet frugal, in my gift shopping. I already have a little something for Pooks and an idea of what to get my mom, but I am clueless about everyone else. Hmmmmmm.

This weekend has been fairly consumed with homework. I have, as always, a lot to do and not very much motivation. I have been impressed with my work ethic, though, so here's hoping that I can finish the semester without too much stress in my life. *sigh*

I've been thinking about marriage and children a lot lately. Not necessarily because I want to get married or have children right now, but because there is a lot of it happening around me. Elle's cousin is having a baby soon, and I am excited for her. My uncle confirmed my aunt's pregnancy to me on the phone the other day. They couldn't stop by, but I hope to see them at Christmas. Anyway, there have been lots of cute babies and small children coming to the Factory lately. I generally don't think babies are cute when they are very tiny, but these ones have been. And... I really like shopping for baby clothes. I can't help it. I think probably the reason I have been thinking of marriage is that when you get married, you get a ton of sweet things. I want to register at excellent stores and get things that I want. It would be awesome, no? Maybe.

The Only Steps That Matter...

I feel like I keep letting him down.

Meg White, You're Alright

I am at school right now, hunkered down in the 'Brary with K, attempting to research for a paper I have due in a few weeks. This library seems impressive to me. I was nervous about studying here, but I actually like it now. We traveled on one of the most packed buses I have ever been on and trekked from the bus stop to campus in the rain. Thankfully, we rewarded ourselves with chai lattes, blueberry coffeecake and a fudge brownie. The thing that I like about libraries is that they all have a similar feeling about them. I feel the same quiet atmosphere here as I did at Albion. There are the same kind of people scattered on these designated quiet floors, studying and trying not to laugh at each other. K and I have been IMing one another from across the table and it reminds me of that one time, the all-nighter, in the Ferguson computer lab. I guess the kid at the table behind me smacked his face on his table and I am really sad to have missed it. In any case, some days I am really glad that I am in grad school, still a student, still writing what I want to write about, having assignments to keep me structured, and other days I just wish that I was back in Idaho, working at a job that kept me from 8-5 and allowed me to mostly forget about it when I was at home. I'm not sure how I will feel when it's 2010 and I really have to figure out my life. For real this time. Oh man.

My aunt and uncle and baby cousin might be stopping by this week sometime. They called me on Saturday to say that they were going to Hershey and could they come on Sunday to see me? I said that I would prefer them to come on their way back, because I was pretty consumed with that presentation until last night. I think they might call me tomorrow or Thursday. I hope they do. I've only seen my cousin once ever, during my grandma's surprise birthday party this summer. He's super cute and apparently just got his hair cut, so I will be the first to see that. He had massive, wild curls when I saw him but he turned one this month, so I suppose that it is time to get rid of that. Lame, I think. There is a chance that my aunt is pregnant, which would be really exciting, but both my mom and grandma told me and then instructed me to act surprised when the aunt and uncle actually tell me. I hope I am good at acting surprised. I also hope that they're having a girl.

Reason Why

This weekend, I made my triumphant (okay, maybe not quite triumphant) return to the great state of Michigan. I arrived at Chuck's house on Friday and spent the evening hanging out with he, Pookie, Claudio, and RJ. We carved pumpkins, I made applesauce, we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, ate some pizza. It was a glorious evening. Saturday, Chuck and I went to the wedding of his uncle's stepson. It was held in a beautiful Catholic church, and they had a full Mass. I was kind of excited, because I haven't been to church in a while and it was nice to go. The bride was gorgeous and they looked so happy together, which made me smile. The reception was a lot of fun. The food was amazing. I want to eat it every day. Every. Day. Sunday, I did some homework and then came back to the Burgh in the evening. All in all, it was a good weekend.

I gave a presentation last night in my Intro class and it went 600 times better than I was expecting it to go. I did not sing any of my words, I did not throw my notes across the room and I didn't shake until after I was finished. I'm glad it is over, though. That's just one more thing off the list. Thank goodness. I just marked off the first weeks of October on the calendar that is taped to the wall in front of me. I figured that it would help me to visualize the end of the semester. And, um, it made me realize that there are like 7 weeks (not including this one) until finals week. Awesome?

All We Can Do Is Keep Breathing

Oh my word. Today I felt like crying pretty much all day. I hate that I let it get this bad, but the stress I am feeling about getting all of my work done, getting it done on time, and doing it well is seriously crushing me. I will be very grateful to see December, let me just tell you that.

In happier news, Elle and I went to Boston Market today for the first time. It was delightful. I had a pot pie and a side of macaroni and cheese and I loved it. Mmm. It was a good kind of meal to have on a gloomy, rainy, sad day like this one. We went to the Factory afterward, since they are practically next door to one another, to chat with our people.

This weekend, I am going to the Detroit area for the weekend. I am going to a wedding with Chuck on Saturday, so Pookie and Claudio and maybe some unconfirmed others are rendezvousing (can that word become a gerund, even though it is French? I've always wondered) with me at his house. It will be fabulous, I am sure, despite the feeling of anxiety I currently have concerning the meeting of the parents of Chuck. Yikes. It won't be that bad. I will not make a fool of myself. I will not make a fool of myself. I will not make a fool of myself. (Does saying it three times help?) I will become the bearer of gifts upon my arrival, which makes me happy. I bought, as requested, twelve bottles of beer for Claudio that he can not get in Michigan. I have a few other things, including one very silly, pointless item, and some sweet things that should not be named, for fear that Pooks reads this and discovers my plan.

I feel like this post is not making very much sense. I am losing my thoughts before I can type them. That is always a problem. It wasn't always that way. So sad. I need to go to bed so I can wake up at a reasonable time and do homework before my shift at the Factory at 11am. Joy of joys.

All We Are, We Are

It's getting to the point in the semester that I hate most. The point where everything is suddenly due very soon and I have very little time to get it done without stringing myself out on caffeine and little sleep. I didn't want to have to do that, but I guess I should prepare myself, just in case things come to it.

Also, I haven't really found that one good place to do my work here yet. At Albion, senior year, I would sometimes spend a long time in the conference room on the second floor of Robinson. I would lurk in the library at our table, marked with Black Feminist Theory and Ralph Nader books, for days at a time. I don't have that place here yet. I can get stuff done in my bedroom, but it takes a little while. I have no idea where I would even begin looking for the place, either.

I thought I lost my bus pass today, but it was, thankfully, hidden under some clothes on my floor. I would have been very, very sad to have to buy a new one.

Do You Wanna Be My Sidedish Friend?

Factory bowling last night was sooo much fun. There were more people there than I have ever seen before. I think there were 10 of us present. I don't even remember my scores, because it was more fun to just hang out and talk to people, especially BFF 4-E! I can't wait for friendship bracelets, boxed wine pong and pancakes with he and Elle. Good times, good times.

I spent most of the day on campus yesterday. K and I went there to find "The Grapes of Wrath" video that was supposed to be on reserve in the library. Our intro class is supposed to have it watched by Monday. When we got there, though, we couldn't get the video drawers open (we felt kind of stupid) and even when we did, the video was not there. The reserve librarian could not find it anywhere. So, we invoked the aid of Laura, the department secretary. She called our professor at home and he called the library and the video was soon relocated. We spent two hours watching it in the viewing room. Then, we went to Subway for some food before going back to Laura's office. We ended up talking to her for an hour before going to the library again to get ready for class. I was so prepared for class yesterday, in terms of dealing with the frigid temperature of the archives, but then we got there and found out that the archivist had turned up the heat for us. Huzzah!

Today, I have a HUGE to-do list, but it is after 11 and I haven't really done that much. I wanted to get up earlier than I did (at, like, 8am) but I couldn't wake up. Ah, well. Now I will just have to work harder and faster to get everything done when I want it to be done. Story of my life, really. Now, I must remember to breathe. And eat. Those are probably important. Yikes.

Crazy Is The Forecast All Week

It's funny how things can go back to the way they were so quickly. When I started grad school, I was worried about whether or not I would be able to get back into scholar mode. Now here I am, procrastinating just as I was before. Excellent. It turns out I don't have to be in Albion to want to put all of my reading and writing off until the last minute. The difference this time is that I actually chose to be here. I didn't have to go to grad school, but I worked hard for it and now I'm taking classes in subjects that actually interest me. And I am, even though it doesn't seem that way, a little more dedicated and organized than I was during undergrad. I swear.

Anyway, back to real life. Last week Wednesday, Buddy, Elle and I went to see Matt Nathanson in concert. It was, in a word, amazing. I had high hopes for the show, given the number of live albums and concerts I have listened to, and was worried that he wouldn't be as dynamic in person as he seems in my ipod. I was proven wrong. I had soooo much fun. I can't wait to see him again. I had a big stupid happy face when we left and didn't even care that we had to wait for a bus in the cold rain for half an hour to get home.

Chuck came to visit this weekend. We didn't do anything too exciting. Mostly just did homework together when I was not at the Factory. It was very nice to see him. We watched SNL last night and I was laughing so hard. I really loved the Laurence Welk Show sketch. And, after watching the Digital Short for this week, he and I decided to have an Extreme Activities Challenge. He thinks he can beat me in the hat balance, which may be true, but I will definitely school him in the walking. Ha!

Buddy and I are going together to get Elle from the airport tonight. I'm sure it will be quite interesting.