So We Lie Here In The Dark

The weather is very tricky lately. Last week, it suddenly became more fall-like than ever and now leaves are falling (CLRG says that that's to do with the huge amounts of snowfall we had in the winter) and temperatures are lower. I am looking forward to autumn, but I will miss the warmth when it's 35 degrees out in a few months. Blah.

The weekend was a good one. CLRG and I went to a delicious pizza place nearby, watched college football at a bar down the street, and napped on Saturday. On Sunday, I worked and then watched the Steelers game. In the evening, Howie (if that is a nickname already, I probably don't have to give him another on the blog, right?) came over and I made spaghetti and then he, CLRG and I walked up to the Regent Square Theatre to see Repo Man. It was crazy and awesome. You should see it sometime.

Tonight, I am meeting K for dinner. Tomorrow, I am going to a movie with A. I'm excited for both things.

Oh! Last night I was telling CLRG about my plans to go to the Italian for Beginners class at the library and he indicated that he would like to go also. I registered us for the class today. It starts next week, I think. I'm very excited. I miss being in a classroom, even though I haven't studied a language in years. Oops.

Dancing Out On Seventh Street

May. What a month.

School is done. I have mastered public history.

I still don't have a career type job, but about that we are not surprised.

My sister graduated from college last weekend.

She is getting married this weekend.

I think somewhere along the way we stopped being children and are now something like adults. I don't know when that happened.

Yikes.

I Am Assured Peace Will Come to Me

You know how I always say that I don't know that I am going to make it through this final or that? And how I always go on and on about how much these finals are killing me? I think it's funny because, no matter how much I complain and whine and get all angry about it, I always do everything I am supposed to. Of course, things are not generally as awesome as they could be, but they are alright and I turn them in on time and then it's over. Silly me. I turned in my final exam essay for my British Empire class this afternoon. All that remains is my art history final, which is stressing me out. After I handed in my paper, I took books back to the library with CK. He had two bags. I had three. We looked ridiculous.

The new Josh Ritter album comes out tomorrow. I have been listening to it on NPR for the past two weeks or so. Amaaaaaaazing. I seriously can't wait to own it and listen to it on repeat for sixteen days. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but come on. It's fabulous. He is playing a show here on the 18th and I really really want to go. Elle said she was interested, K said she had to think about it. It will be great. GREAT. AHHHH. If you want to have a listen, go here and feast your ears on something delicious. For real.

Haven't I Been Sweet To You?

This picture is from our last day of classes, our last big Red Ring outing. Look at all of those historians! It really was a grand time. I think that some of us that have the art history final on Wednesday will go out after that, but it will be a bit different. I think we will probably all need to have a drink. That final is going to be rough. I haven't started studying for it yet because I am trying (TRYING) to write my British Empire final essay, which is annoying and impossible right now. It's due tomorrow... Yikes!

Pookie's bachelorette party was last night. I wasn't able to attend, which was and is very depressing, but she said that it was a lot of fun. She went out with several of her girlfriends from school. I think they showed her a good time.

I was able to talk to my fair Raj yesterday on the phone for about an hour. It was amazing. It had been so long since we actually conversed that I could not remember the last time. We just chatted about life and things and it was really excellent. I talked to my dear Kins today, also, which was so great! We didn't talk for too long, but it was really nice to talk with her also. I am looking forward to being able to call people a little bit more often once I am done with these finals. :oD

This coming weekend is Pookie's (and my) graduation! And then the weekend after that is the wedding! CRAAAAAAZY!!

Roll On, Roll On

Well, I am finished with my graduate school classes. I had my last on Tuesday night and I don't think I have fully grasped it just yet. We were all pretty crazed before class even started, so by the time it was over, we were bouncing off the walls. A huge group of us went to the Red Ring after, per usual, and this time the department chair and our historic preservation prof came along. We had a good time.

I finished my British Empire paper tonight. All that is left now is my British Empire final and my Art History final. After Wednesday, I will be a free woman. Can you believe it?! I really can't. What will I blog about? I pretty much only talk about school lately. Haha.

Now... I need to find a job. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

You Don't Make It Easy, Babe

It is seriously crunch time, folks. I am starting to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow is one of the most intense days in terms of handing things in and presenting research and the like, but then it's one thing for each due date and I can totally handle that. Totally. Right. Yes.

I pretty much spent the entire weekend doing homework. It was Elle's birthday on Saturday and her parents came to visit. I felt really bad that my presence in birthday activities was minimal, but I hope we can make up for it with a roommate date when all of this nonsense is complete and I have real life again. I did get to spend some time with CLRG on Friday night. We had a few drinks and watched tv and it was really nice. I think we stayed up too late, but we made up for it by sleeping in late on Saturday. Not ideal for the homework, but very nice for cuddling purposes.

My Pookie is getting married really, really soon. Like, in three weeks. I think. The fifteenth! YIKES!!! I am very excited about it, but it is still crazy. CRAZY. She's too young to be getting married, I think. Isn't she like five years old or something? Gosh. When did she get to be almost 22? I feel so old.

Okay, back to homework. Yay.

Dreary Birds Parade Across the Dreary Sky

My dad sent me this link today in an email. I was very interested to read it. I would probably pee my pants if I made a discovery like this. Just sayin'.

Art history final essay has been handed in. Next on the agenda: historic preservation and british empire papers. Yay. I am so ridiculously excited. You really have no idea.

Madly, Madly, Madly

Ughhhhhh. I am trying to write my art history essay and it is NOT going well.

Also, I am to the point in my stress level that I must make myself an itinerary of sorts to get stuff done. It never totally works, but it helps.

I just feel very uncertain that I will make it through all of this. Boo.

It's Firefight and I Won't Run

Lately, I've been feeling like I don't want to be as involved with technology as I am. I don't mean that I don't want to have a phone or an ipod or a computer, but I really sometimes just wish I could delete my facebook profile or something and not feel totally guilty. I know that that is silly. I shouldn't be worrying about how that would make other people feel. *sigh* I think I'm just getting restless. I want this semester to be over and it feels like it will be over too soon and, at the same time, not over soon enough. I don't really understand how that works, but it totally does. Here is what I have left to do:

-art history final exam essay (4/21)
-historic preservation final paper (4/27)
-british empire research presentation (4/27)
-british empire final paper (4/30)
-british empire final exam essay (5/3)
-art history in class final exam (5/5)

Soooooo yeah. I am really excited. I spent the weekend reading art history so I can attempt to write something for this final. My professor knows what she wants the essay to be like (though we are not supposed to call it an essay) but she can't really articulate it, which concerns me.

Wake Me Up, I've Been Dreaming

Well, it is close enough that I can tell you that there is less than a month until I am a Master of Public History. Starting next week, I have final type things due. And then it continues until the 5th, when everything will be handed in and I can breathe.

And then there is Pookie wedding stuff. I am not going to be able to be present for her bachelorette party, though I will organize it. I will be taking care of inviting people and all of that. I so wish I could go, but it really isn't realistic to think that I could spend time, especially now that it is crunch time, driving to Mt. P. Boo and Hiss. Rawr. In other news, my madre told me last night that Al's mom got them a limo for the wedding. And them basically means the wedding party, so heyyyyyy. Limo time!

I have to work at noon. I don't really want to go. I never really want to go. Blah.

All The Other Girls Here Are Stars, You Are The Northern Lights

I am writing a paper about this painting for art history. Well, I am supposed to be writing a paper about this. I will write it tomorrow, I do believe. I was talking with Wifers tonight and she offered to write it for me. Here is her composition:

"In this painting, T. Jefferson looks slightly like Christopher Lloyd. His hair looks electrocuted, which is fitting because he was a contemporary of Ben Franklin. His gaze is to the right, proving that he was, indeed, a Republican... and therefore must die. His kerchief hearkens back to olden days of old, when people wore kerchiefs. Not like today when kerchiefs are only worn by Ren Faire nerds and Cub Scouts. Please note the popped collar, indicating that Jefferson launched hipster culture for the 1700s. And his influence is still felt in fashion, culture and politics today!"

A+, if I do say so myself.

You Will Shelter Me, My Love, and I Will Shelter You

Have I mentioned that I really, really cannot wait until this semester is over? I mean it. I can't wait. I wake up every day feeling just as tired as I felt when I went to bed. I am feeling stretched impossibly thin. Blah.

CLRG and I went to the very last Johnstown Chiefs game ever on Saturday. It was a sad time. We hung out with his parents, though, which was nice. It was a pretty good time. :o) Easter was low-key this year. CLRG and I just hung out at his place, watching Kitchen Nightmares and eating pizza. It was nice to just relax together.

Okay, back to reading and writing. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

I Only Know That I Am Better Where You Are

Yesterday, one of my professors gave me a piece of paper. On it, was this:

The Cult of Done Manifesto

1. There are three stages of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.

Right on. I'm going to go read for class.

Maybe Memphis, Tennessee, Maybe Not

My emotions have been sort of all over the place the past few weeks. I've gone from happy to sad, from miserable to okay, from stressed to... slightly less stressed. This week has been actually pretty good. I have only cried like once, and that was because I watched the episode of Sex & the City where Charlotte goes to a singles mixer thing after she and Harry break up and he's there and he proposes and it's perfect and sweet. I cried then.

School has been trying to put me under ground lately. I have more work to do than time in which to do it (like you've never heard me say that before) and sometimes I just want to hide. A friend asked me yesterday how many weeks I had left and I just kind of stared at her before I realized she was asking how much longer I had in the semester. I replied with, "I'm just taking it one day at a time." I feel like, normally, I would have some kind of countdown, but this semester is more than that. I can't really hide from real life in school anymore. I need to get a real job and start actually doing the things I've been thinking about. YIKES.

The weather in Pittsburgh has been pretty lovely this week, which is helpful in being in a good mood. I walked home today without my cardigan on, and that was lovely. I think it was 65 degrees or something! The sun has been really happy. And especially happy because, last weekend when it was rainy, I went shopping with K and we felt compelled to buy mini greenhouses at Lowe's. Mine has three types of herbs in it. The cat nip is the only one making any progress. I'm glad it's working. I promised CLRG's cats I would share.

Relax

I really, really feel like I am drowning. There is more schoolwork to be done than I have time and motivation for. Seriously. This is the most ridiculous semester I've had in a while.

In other news, Valentine's Day is soon. I don't know what CLRG and I are doing, but I'm sure it will be something nice. Last year, we made dinner together and hung out. I suspect we will do something similar this year.

Pookie's bridal shower is in a month! I have to get cracking.

Breathe In, Breathe Out

Oh boy. So much reading, so little time. I guess I need to consider cutting back on the sleeping?

Meh. :o(

I Comb the Crowd and Pick You Out

I think I will consider buying these boots:



Do you support that decision? I mean, I think I really just want some boots that are mostly flat and pretty cute. I haven't found any others that I like that are not $600 or something ridiculous yet, so I might get these. I found them online, of course. Woohoo. They come in black as well, but I think I prefer the brown. We shall seeeeeeeeee. I have to check out the monies.

I think I am writing a historiographical paper about Egypt for my British Empire class. But... um... do I have to narrow that down? I don't know and my professor did not really say. I feel overwhelmed, but you knew that.

No Amount of Coffee, No Amount of Crying, No Amount of Whiskey, No Amount of Wine...

Oh ho ho. Art History is going to be iiiiiinteresting. Not necessarily in a good way. I had my first class last night and came out of it feeling more overwhelmed and confused than I have felt about a class in a long, long time. I hope I get a better understanding pretty soon. Historic Preservation is going to be interesting in probably a good way. There's a lot of reading to do, but it's more of what I am interested in. [Aside: should I be eating sour gummy worms before 10am?]

It is sunny and warmer here than it has been. Like 30 degrees! MAYBE EVEN UP TO 40!!!!! I'm breaking out the flip flops.

Yesterday, I submitted my resume for a job. Yikes!

Okay. Homework and laundry await. Woo.

Sugar Blue

I can't believe the holidays are gone. And the semester has begun! Where did the break go? Seriously.

The holidays were good this year, but very different from holidays past. My family was mostly separated and it was really hard, but everyone survived. I liked being lazy over break. I had wanted to do some job-search type stuff, but that didn't really happen. I read a lot, and hung out with CLRG a lot, and worked as usual. Nice times.

I had my first class of my last semester of graduate school today. History of the British Empire. It was okay. I took the bus and got there in record time (Yay for the 67H!). Class lasted only half an hour, but that was fine because I need to ease back into this. Next week, I have my first classes of Historic Preservation as well as American Painting and Sculpture. I don't have an internship for the first time in a year and it will be very strange to go back to having three courses. Yikes!!

I need to be better about updating this. I'll work on it.

I Wonder if You're Still Defending

I should be writing my last take-home final right now, but my level of motivation is at an all-time lowwwwww. For real. It's bad. Thankfully, come Thursday, I will be on a break.

I guess there is a big storm somewhere in the Midwest? My dad told me today that it might affect Pookie's holiday travel plans and I really hope that it does not. I was surprised when he said something about it at all because it really doesn't feel like winter here yet. It doesn't really feel Christmas-y and I would be really shocked if any snow came and stayed. You know?

Okay... maybe I should write.