pictures! finally!

some PICTURES for you!










the first picture is me a couple days ago with my new glasses (and shorter bangs that i cut myself). what do you think?

second picture is on my walk to school. i get to pass those gorgeous morning glories every day.

third picture is my office in my house.

yay!

an apology and an explanation, of sorts

greetings and salutations, dear friends. i want you all to know that i think of you often, each one of you (cheryl, chandra, nessa, holly, etc etc etc) and hope that you're well. if i'm lucky, i may have a second to read your blogs to see how you're doing (esp. after the hurricane! btw my parents still dont have power and they said it might not be until MID OCT! very uncool).
however.

grad school is awesome, and i love every second of it. but I. AM. SO. BUSY. OMG.
i have so much reading to do, and writing, and even when i have "free time" it's not free b/c i have to organize this or fix that or maybe even nap? because for some reason i AM SO TIRED ALL THE TIME (i think it's the reading) so i sleep a lot. and i wanted to say i'm sorry to those of you i dont get to talk to often-- it's not that i dont want to, or dont care at ALL! it's because holyshitiamsoBUSY!
i also got a job at Great Harvest Bread Company here (harv #3!) and i only work 10 hours a week but it makes me busier. but i love working there SO much! it's really fun. and i love every minute of grad school.
i just prob. wont get to talk to you all until christmas. but FEAR NOT!
i shall be home (most likely) from like Dec 19th to Jan 20th! A WHOLE MONTH! JOY!
so that's the update. gotta go read read read
xo!

ps- but i do want to reiterate that i am SO SO happy and i LOVE grad school and my life here! LOVE it!

writing a blog because i'm avoiding homework

it's funny how the old habits come back, isn't it? back in the day i'd avoid homework by talking incessantly on aim, or writing in my livejournal, or watching random videos people had forwarded me (sadly there was no youtube at that time) (saying that makes me feel oddly old). now i'm blogging-- not that i'm totally avoiding reading, but i would like to give you, dear readers, something to read and an update on my life. k? now, onto a handy bullet proof format b/c i really don't have much time (i have like 300 pages to read of random, dry articles for american studies intro class tomorrow, and Wharton's entire House of Mirth to read by Thursday, so I have to get cracking).

-- grad school is awesome. i love my classes, my profs are awesome, i already have a little posse of friends, williamsburg is fucking great, virginia beach is really close so i'm going to the beach with some friends this wkend, going to colonial williamsburg (students get in for free) next week, seeing Hamlet 2 this week with the posse (all aforementioned activities are with the posse). oh and my cottage is AWESOME. i ADORE it. pictures forthcoming, i swear-- my lame computer doesn't want to accept pictures from my camera for no apparent reason, so i'm going to have to figure out another way to do it. (i need to just get a card reader). you guys will swoon-- the office, where i am now, is awesome and pink and pretty and i LOVE it!

-- my posse is great. it consists (so far) of Maggy, who graduated Rhodes College in '06 and is fron NC/Dallas, is very outdoorsy, says awesomely smart stuff in class and is interested i
african american culture in appalachia (sp). Nikki just grad. UNC this May and is a cheerleader type (she was a cheerleader, actually) and is interested in material culture and has this adorable and fun boyfriend that lives in DC and comes here most wkends. Shaun is 26, our only boy so far, and has a master's from one of the SUNYs and and undergrad from...university of rochester? he's from rochester, NY and has the most insane accent. it's like a cross between michigan and jersey-- very odd. he's into literature and when we were watching the House of Mirth movie with Gillian Anderson for class the other day i cried at the end (it's so sad! she kills herself and eric stoltz sobs "I LOVE YOU LILY") he was like "i LOVE this shit! i love misery!" he's a sweet pea.

that's pretty much it so far but we're a very inclusive posse-- anytime we see anyone from our department and especially our class, we invite them to hang but everyone's so crazy shy! there's a few married people and people that live in Richmond/Newport News/VA beach so they commute and dont really hang but thats ok. we're trying to expand our group so i'll keep you posted.

-- my classes are: intro to amer studies for grad students (we all have to take this), 20th century women writers (there's a lot of undergrads in this class! and its VERy heavy on the reading), and an independent study i'm taking with my advisor on African American Religion. that's the one i'm most excited about b/c i have never studied it and it's fascinating. today in class my advisor, Maureen, said, "can you think of a single black leader now that is not involved in religion in some way?" (she said obama, but other than him, who else? and i couldnt think of anyone. can you?). fascinating! maggy's in that class with me and then 3 other girls that are af. american so i'm very interested to hear some of their personal history with the subject. it's going to be effing amazing! hooray!

-- for some reason i'm REALLY into studying to secular music. like in latin, old school choir in a cathedral music that was written in the 1200s. i have always loved it (it sounds so ethereal, and it's so soothing, esp. when they sing "deus" which means god) and it's marvelous study music.

-- virginia is gorgeous. just the other day i was driving around and i saw this beautiful sunset over the trees and thought, this is SO beautiful! there are little public gardens all over town that you can go sit in (one has these HUGE passion flowers and morning glories, it cheers me up so much everytime i walk by) and the weather, while slightly hot (people keep bitching about the 90 degree weather-- im like are you SERIOUS), is lovely. it's actually cold at night! so amazing.

-- williamsburg is really cool. my classes meet right at the front of the campus, where it hits the school (it actually hits Merchant Square, if you know anything about wmsbrg). there's tons of little cafes and shops and stuff right nearby. it's so great! the parking is a nightmare, but luckily i got the insider's tip from Wendy on parking down the street in this parking garage where they never ticket so you can park for free. weee!

-- clearly i'm happy as 800 clams right now. everything is going really well so far (despite the fact that i havent gotten my student loan check...grrr) and i just LOVE it here. hooray!!! :D

Quick update

ok everyone, i don't have a lot of time b/c my dad's still here and we have a lot of work to finish (he leaves tomorrow and we're still putting up new blinds, outside lights, hanging stuff, etc etc etc etc ad nauseum) . here's the reader's digest version of the past week (has it only been 1 week?)
last sat: picked up liesl and we drove out. driving with a trailer is intense (but i got EVERything in there, thank god). the cats meowed (mainly thessie) a ton so we let them out and viola! they were so happy. they spent the entire trip sleeping in the backseat on liesl's duffel bag.

last monday: got to the cottage. hooray! unpacked, it was so hot in here. we couldnt figure out how to turn on the AC. sucky. we wander the area, get stuff situated, etc.
tuesday: got paint, found the target, found the lowe's, drove around, etc. painted the office pink (where i am now-- so cute!). painted bedroom light gray but its really lavender (grrr) so whatever.
wed- ran into my grad student, wendy, at the ams building totally by accident! crazy. got the AC to work (had a guy come out only to tell me there's a ON switch. yeah i feel dumb. and he charged my landlady $110, but she seems ok with it). also learned my Sprint service doesnt really work in the house. Verizon, however, does, so i may be switching.

thurs- went to the outlet malls nearby (FUN)! took wendy out to dinner!
fri- went to the norfolk mall, h&m was a letdown. picked up my dad, went out to dinner.
sat.-- dad and i spent a ton of $ at lowes, etc. and started fixing up the house
sun- same as yesterday
tomorrow-- orientation!!
wed-- CLASSES START
ahhhHHHhhHHHHHhh!!

my brain still doesnt get the fact that i live in Virginia. so weird. i will be writing more later but have to go now!! xoxo my dears

Feminist Musings on lady gymnasts

hello hello, good morning, salutations, etc etc. i leave texas for virginia this saturday; i am (mostly) packed and hope to god i can fit all my crap in a 5'x8' trailer and my car. including 2 cats in an AMAZING kennel AMAZINGLY and KINDLY donated by miss Cheryl! (i'm psyched about the kennel, not so psyched about seeing how my cats react to driving 22 hours).

in the meantime, i would like to discuss something: Olympic Gymnast's Fashion. (as seen on China and USA last night). mainly, the scrunchies. WHY, dear god WHY do we have scrunchies?! you dont need all that elastic fabric nonsense, you need a tight ass rubber band to hold your hair back! and why pony tails? why not elegant buns like ballerinas? i feel like the messy pony tails and 800 huge metal clips in the girls from China's hair made them look even younger than their 10 years (i swear they cannOT be at least 16!). They had simple red, long sleeved leotards (can that be comfortable? aren't they hot? why long sleeves?) and some wore a little glitter on their eyelids (again, reinforcing the 6 yr old look). maybe they all love to watch Hannah Montana in their spare time?
USA was better (thankfully not so much glitter on the eyes) in long sleeved (wtf with the long sleeves?) leotards with some sort of stylized starfish/star on the left boob/side (or was it right?). anyway, their hair was much cuter-- a lot of them looked like typical 16 yr old teenagers, with bangs poufed a little in the front held by a bobby pin (a look i rock all the time and actually am rocking right now) and that pony tail thing that you do when you dont care how you look so instead of pulling the hair all the way through the elastic you let it loop. does that have a name? i used to do that crap all the time-- who wants an annoying pony tail flying around your face unless you're going for a cute, sporty '50s era look? not me, thank you (plus i dont have enough hair for a pony tail anyway...). the only scrunchie i noticed was on the girl whose dad was an Olympic gymnast from what, Russia or something? so i figured he made her wear it (and her fall from the uneven bars-- OUCH! that sucked. but she's pretty and kicked so much ass on the balance beam)

their make up looked more natural (china, you can def. wear mascara like USA) and i thought overall they were cute and pretty. HOWEVER
i wonder what makes me think of judging/noticing their make up? do i notice make up on the male gymnasts? no! (and also, i havent seen their event yet). but i think it's more noticable because women gymnasts often have very childish, square bodies-- hardly any boobs, they are short, small, and have powerful (yet small) muscles. when they have make up on, they look older-- almost more like teenagers, since teenagers (in america, at least) tend to almost always wear make up. everyone i spoke to about the gymnasts said "good lord, the chinese girls were BABIES" (and it doesnt help that theyve been accused of lying about girls ages and the girls really are under 16).
the male gymnasts, however, definitely look like "mature" guys-- hugely powerful shoulders, very muscular, etc. i have no idea if it's preferred that they be short or tall, but either way they don't look like children like the girls/women do.
why do we idolize this sport so much? why is it more fun to watch/is so popular than almost any other olympic summer sport? what about it do you love so much? please comment, i'd love to hear your opinions!

ps- can we bring back that ribbon thing on the floor excercise? you know what i'm talking about-- that shit is amazing!

back from Aspen!

hello everyone, i'm back. all my summer trips have passed, been awesome, and left me more awesome but infinitely more tired (and with less money) in their wake. i got back from my aspen trip last night and realized that i have 18 more days of work until i move. insane! i am also really not into long drives in the car after driving 12 hours yesterday, but i'm sure by aug 15th i'll just be ready to go. i've been getting that stressed/omg is everything done/ahh i'm moving feeling for a while but it just got kicked up to 11 and im not even going for a few weeks! insane. i know that i can never go back to things the way they are right now (living at home, working for my dad, hanging out in spring, etc) so i'm trying to enjoy things but i'm also so ready to have my own, new life...

but enough musing, onto my aspen trip! what really can i say? it was gorgeous and incredible, my cousin jen looked radiant and had a wonderful wedding, i enjoyed seeing my entire extended family (there's only 15 of us, plus 2 new cousins) all together, aspen is incredible and incredibly gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and as i was wandering around the restaurant on top of aspen mountain i literally bumped into Antonio Banderas.

yes, yes i did. no pictures, but he stared at me for a while (the hair must have thrown him off) and his wife, Melanie, was nearby but looked totally busted with too much plastic surgery compared to the gorgeous, perfect Antonio. he was walking with his mother, and as they were trying to pick a table (the restaurant is cafeteria style) he asked her where they should sit, and she didnt answer so he started singing in this operatic voice, "it's a myyyysteryyyy!" SO CUTE. omg.

here are some pictures, for your enjoyment (the rest can be seen on facebook and myspace):

my sisters on their hike around Maroon Bells in aspen

womb buddy and myself at our "romantic" vegan dinner in aspen that was SO EXPENSIVE OMG.

note: drinking at such a high altitude such as aspen means 1 drink= druuunk.

this picture was obviously staged.

on top of aspen mountain

family photo before the wedding!

most gorgeous wedding EVER- the altar was aspen logs that the groom cut himself. so lovely!

a little drunk, very happy at the reception

on the beach in North Carolina

hello faithful readers, im blogging from a beach house on the coast of north carolina. i just ate like 2 lbs of crab legs and im in a total food coma so this is not going to be super long. but the beach is great, im exhausted, the seafood is fucking amazing and thank god we have internet because i love just sitting here and reading apartmenttherapy.com

so ive been on the road for a long time, blahnblah, and a couple days ago i went to Williamsburg, VA to check out the town adn my cottage. holy shit people! the cottage is more awesome than i thought (pictures forthcoming) and my landlady is getting more awesome! yay! also the town: super great. there's a ton of amazing stores, its wonderful to walk around, the school is gorgeous and i got a ton of W&M paraphanalia (a w&m tote bag, t shirt, sweat pants, decal for my car, decals for my parents, t shirt for my mom, polo shirt for my dad....yeah i went totally overboard). the school bookstore is literally a barnes and noble, which is ridiculous, but whatevs. super cute town

ok im fading here so let's get to the cottage. it's a lot more lodge-y than i realized, mainly b/c you walk into the wood panelled room. i have a bunch of furniture that she already has there; the office is tiny tiny and not the "guest room" i thought at all (which is totes fine) and the bedroom is huge and i have this crazy weird shaped walk in closet with a pretty window. i also have a porch swing! yay! onto the pictures: