It smells like gasoline outside my house and all down my street. Not a subtle smell of gasoline either. It reeks.
A friend and I walked down the road a bit to see if we could find where the smell was originating, but the smell became overpowering and my head began to hurt so I went back and so did he.
I don't know what is causing this, but I do know that I cannot go outside for a while.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Gonna kill me some Facebook
Facebook recently outdid itself on renovations. I could deal with the other changes..you know, the ones where the basic look of the site was changed, but with this one, they have gone to catering so much to the Twitter crowd and people who are obsessed with liking 400 different pages.
The sections of the profile that contained my likes, interests, activities, music, movies, television shows, etc. were insisting on being linked to different kinds of pages throughout the Internet because I guess we're all too lazy now to Google them for ourselves. I didn't know what this actual transition was so when the page telling me to "Like" all of these pages for them to appear in my profile popped up, I was like "No, thank you. I don't want to have my name attached to the actual pages on here." But in doing that I erased all of the information from my page.
Fuck this shit.
I honestly am pissed about this. I had constantly been updating my information and everything in order to keep it with my current likes, dislikes, and whatever. But because of the way I had typed in certain things (using brackets to emphasize things I liked more) Facebook could not recognize them as real things and therefore deleted them from my page. So, my most favorite things were erased and the marginal things were left as my main likes.
Rather than fight with Facebook again over this, I just deleted everything from those sections. If they decide to change something I will put them back, but not now. No. I don't feel like being someone on Twitter.
Because I don't like Twitter.
And speaking of that fucking bull shit piece of fucking shit website, the fucking Library of Congress is going to be archiving the fucking tweets from now on. So two hundred years from now people will be able to go back and see things like "RT @cocksucker102 lolz i hav 2 go 2 da stor now. l8r im getin sum tim wit da gurl"
Very promising for our society.
The sections of the profile that contained my likes, interests, activities, music, movies, television shows, etc. were insisting on being linked to different kinds of pages throughout the Internet because I guess we're all too lazy now to Google them for ourselves. I didn't know what this actual transition was so when the page telling me to "Like" all of these pages for them to appear in my profile popped up, I was like "No, thank you. I don't want to have my name attached to the actual pages on here." But in doing that I erased all of the information from my page.
Fuck this shit.
I honestly am pissed about this. I had constantly been updating my information and everything in order to keep it with my current likes, dislikes, and whatever. But because of the way I had typed in certain things (using brackets to emphasize things I liked more) Facebook could not recognize them as real things and therefore deleted them from my page. So, my most favorite things were erased and the marginal things were left as my main likes.
Rather than fight with Facebook again over this, I just deleted everything from those sections. If they decide to change something I will put them back, but not now. No. I don't feel like being someone on Twitter.
Because I don't like Twitter.
And speaking of that fucking bull shit piece of fucking shit website, the fucking Library of Congress is going to be archiving the fucking tweets from now on. So two hundred years from now people will be able to go back and see things like "RT @cocksucker102 lolz i hav 2 go 2 da stor now. l8r im getin sum tim wit da gurl"
Very promising for our society.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Elections
I just spent a good deal of time reading up on the Austrian presidential election. The top vote-getter was a candidate for the Independents -- a feat I never see being accomplished here with the massive party machines we have organized over the centuries. Of the next two candidates, one was a far right political group, and the other was a far right Christian group. It made me kind of glad, I guess, that these two groups only amounted to around 20 percent of the vote when combined and that people would rather vote for someone of no political affiliation than one of these groups filled with hate and malice (at least according to their platforms). Maybe there is still hope...at least in Europe.
I then switched into looking back at our own 2008 election. The New York Times has a great page where you can see county votes, changes in voter ideology, etc....and it's all shaded in either blue or red.
It was very nice to see so much blue that last time.
I then switched into looking back at our own 2008 election. The New York Times has a great page where you can see county votes, changes in voter ideology, etc....and it's all shaded in either blue or red.
It was very nice to see so much blue that last time.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Continuity
One of the usual major difficulties of filming a no-budget, extremely amateur production is having issues with your actors. The actors either 1) have not studied their lines sufficiently or 2) are terrible.
The most difficult problem we encountered while filming, however, was keeping continuity between takes. People would be in slightly different positions, holding their bodies in different ways, or holding objects in different ways. I found myself about to switch hands while carrying a piece of luggage.
Either way, this film is going to be hilariously bad. And I'm excited for it.
The most difficult problem we encountered while filming, however, was keeping continuity between takes. People would be in slightly different positions, holding their bodies in different ways, or holding objects in different ways. I found myself about to switch hands while carrying a piece of luggage.
Either way, this film is going to be hilariously bad. And I'm excited for it.
Lazy Sunday
It's sunny days like this after a large rain storm that make me want to actually do something outside. But at the same time, the ground is wet so I'm probably just going to stay in and do nothing. I rather like being done with all pertinent work so i can just sit around and watch a movie with a glass of wine.
This is my kind of day-- A lazy Sunday.
Beginning to see the Light
At 1 p.m. today I will be submitting my portion of the final project for EDIS 560, my social studies methods class. The final project is not due until May 5, but we want to get it out of the way.
In the end, I threw together two unit tests for our project in about two hours. This was the culmination of weeks and weeks of work on the parts of the three members of my group. I guess it's a good thing we are finished now because it means we won't be struggling to finish at the end like many others in the class are inevitably going to be.
It also helped me notice what else I have to do before I finish the semester...and it's not much. I have one more lesson plan to make, one more journal to submit, a final for Polish, 2 more online surveys to partake in, and final revisions on my seminar paper. That's it.
I've almost made it through everything for the semester, the semester that I figure (besides student teaching which is completely different than actual college) will be my most difficult. There was a casualty along the way in that I had to drop a history class that would have been the last one for my major.
If I had been able to finish that class this semester and take another graduate education class in any of the other semesters I was here I would be essentially finished after next semester-- 3 and a half years to finish a five year program. Unfortunately I was not able to do those other things so I will be here for four years.
Four years to get a masters degree is not too bad though.....I guess I'm just disappointed because if I had tried harder I would be done next fall. But it's the "trying" part where I tended to mess up.
And I'm fine with having to stay here for one more semester....I think..
In the end, I threw together two unit tests for our project in about two hours. This was the culmination of weeks and weeks of work on the parts of the three members of my group. I guess it's a good thing we are finished now because it means we won't be struggling to finish at the end like many others in the class are inevitably going to be.
It also helped me notice what else I have to do before I finish the semester...and it's not much. I have one more lesson plan to make, one more journal to submit, a final for Polish, 2 more online surveys to partake in, and final revisions on my seminar paper. That's it.
I've almost made it through everything for the semester, the semester that I figure (besides student teaching which is completely different than actual college) will be my most difficult. There was a casualty along the way in that I had to drop a history class that would have been the last one for my major.
If I had been able to finish that class this semester and take another graduate education class in any of the other semesters I was here I would be essentially finished after next semester-- 3 and a half years to finish a five year program. Unfortunately I was not able to do those other things so I will be here for four years.
Four years to get a masters degree is not too bad though.....I guess I'm just disappointed because if I had tried harder I would be done next fall. But it's the "trying" part where I tended to mess up.
And I'm fine with having to stay here for one more semester....I think..
Sleep
Sleep is a strange thing. I had realized this for some time but it only fully hit me last night when I went to visit Matt at a sleep study where he works sometimes. He had taped over the names so I couldn't see them whenever I looked at the computer monitor where he was keeping track of so many different kinds of things: eye movements, leg movements, EKG, multiple types of brain waves, breathing, etc.
Matt explained what everything was and what the different kinds of lines meant and I could see the patterns of sleep emerging in the first patient by around 11 p.m. The second patient, on the other hand, was still awake by the time I left at 2 a.m. Patient 1 was complaining about sleep apnea and Patient 2 said he had insomnia, a fact he essentially proved to us in the time I was there as he laid awake in bed with the lights off for about an hour and a half before turning the light back on and reading.
I thought it was interesting to actually be able to trace things such as the onset of sleep (something that has always eluded my own half-assed investigations), how your breathing changes, how your heart rate slows and stabilizes, so many things like that.
It was fascinating. As was the company.
Matt explained what everything was and what the different kinds of lines meant and I could see the patterns of sleep emerging in the first patient by around 11 p.m. The second patient, on the other hand, was still awake by the time I left at 2 a.m. Patient 1 was complaining about sleep apnea and Patient 2 said he had insomnia, a fact he essentially proved to us in the time I was there as he laid awake in bed with the lights off for about an hour and a half before turning the light back on and reading.
I thought it was interesting to actually be able to trace things such as the onset of sleep (something that has always eluded my own half-assed investigations), how your breathing changes, how your heart rate slows and stabilizes, so many things like that.
It was fascinating. As was the company.
Mega Fail
One of my friends had suggested that I change the name of this blog. I said that I was fine with the title I gave it in class almost two years ago.
Upon noticing how much I suck at posting regularly, I thought about changing it to Fail Blog. I thought it was a pretty creative, but oddly familiar name. Later I remembered that Fail Blog was on my mind because I was browsing it last night.
I guess the new name still has to be thought up.
Upon noticing how much I suck at posting regularly, I thought about changing it to Fail Blog. I thought it was a pretty creative, but oddly familiar name. Later I remembered that Fail Blog was on my mind because I was browsing it last night.
I guess the new name still has to be thought up.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Lying
It's not that I had initially intended for my placement at CHS to be going so badly. I actually went as soon as I got the placement notification last semester. Then I noticed how bad the actual school is and, at about the same time, my desire to be a teacher waned considerably.
One of the last requirements I have to fulfill by the end of this semester is to simply be observed teaching by my Curry graduate assistant. Originally I was supposed to get this done a while ago, but it kept being pushed back until we settled on Thursday, April 15....the same day the rough draft of my seminar paper was due. I moved it again to Monday, April 19, today, but my lesson plan was so shitty that I was really nervous about going in there and teaching it.
This morning my nerves got the best of me and made me vomit. I used this as an excuse to get out of teaching today, find out where the teacher actually is and re-plan my lesson for Wednesday.
Put together, all of this made me realize how good I am at lying. I always tell people that I am a bad liar in order to establish myself as that...with this, I believe, when I do lie, they'll think it's the truth because I am soo bad at lying. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, I guess it depends on how I use it. I could assume that the way I am able to put myself out there and fake my way through things (much as how I have done through college) could help me fake my way through things in the future. Sure, it would be easier, but I kind of want to have the experiences of actually doing the work sometimes.
I guess I'll find out how good I am at lying through massive compositions when I get my rough draft back on Thursday. It could be the end of this path for me.
One of the last requirements I have to fulfill by the end of this semester is to simply be observed teaching by my Curry graduate assistant. Originally I was supposed to get this done a while ago, but it kept being pushed back until we settled on Thursday, April 15....the same day the rough draft of my seminar paper was due. I moved it again to Monday, April 19, today, but my lesson plan was so shitty that I was really nervous about going in there and teaching it.
This morning my nerves got the best of me and made me vomit. I used this as an excuse to get out of teaching today, find out where the teacher actually is and re-plan my lesson for Wednesday.
Put together, all of this made me realize how good I am at lying. I always tell people that I am a bad liar in order to establish myself as that...with this, I believe, when I do lie, they'll think it's the truth because I am soo bad at lying. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, I guess it depends on how I use it. I could assume that the way I am able to put myself out there and fake my way through things (much as how I have done through college) could help me fake my way through things in the future. Sure, it would be easier, but I kind of want to have the experiences of actually doing the work sometimes.
I guess I'll find out how good I am at lying through massive compositions when I get my rough draft back on Thursday. It could be the end of this path for me.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Storyboarding
Every year my Polish teacher (i.e., teacher of Polish) makes a video with her class. This year we decided to do a soap opera based on the story in our podręcznik (textbook). I play the lead male, Michel, a guy from France who decides to learn Polish and study in Kraków in order to help trace his family heritage. I'm also a ladies man -- a role quite different than the one I'm used to playing.
For this weekend's homework we were paired up and given at least 1 scene to storyboard, write dialogue for, etc. One of the scenes my pair was given was the awkward dinner between Agnieszka, the girl who likes me, and Robert, her essentially cuckolded boyfriend. And, boy, do I know how to write about awkward dinners, having had quite a few myself. Agnieszka is supposed to receive a text from Michel during dinner asking her to come over later, she lies about it, and then runs to Michel's place. This will, no doubt, be one of the better scenes in the production.
I'm just wondering who's going to end up playing Agnieszka because I think there's supposed to be a scene where we kiss and I don't want to make that awkward.
For this weekend's homework we were paired up and given at least 1 scene to storyboard, write dialogue for, etc. One of the scenes my pair was given was the awkward dinner between Agnieszka, the girl who likes me, and Robert, her essentially cuckolded boyfriend. And, boy, do I know how to write about awkward dinners, having had quite a few myself. Agnieszka is supposed to receive a text from Michel during dinner asking her to come over later, she lies about it, and then runs to Michel's place. This will, no doubt, be one of the better scenes in the production.
I'm just wondering who's going to end up playing Agnieszka because I think there's supposed to be a scene where we kiss and I don't want to make that awkward.
Looking at Prospectives
I'm terrible at posting on time.
Anyway, I got up at 5:15 on Friday morning after going to bed at 11 in order to volunteer at UVa's Days on the Lawn program. These days offer prospective students and their parents opportunities to become familiar with Central Grounds, learn about various programs and financial aid, visit a class, and meet other people from the entering class and from UVa in general. I never had the opportunity to do this as a transfer student so I was glad I at least got to see what it was like before I graduated.
My first shift started at 7:30 and I was tasked with escorting students and their guests up from one of the parking garages up the massive hill to the Rotunda. Our job was to answer any questions and show them the way up to the Academical Village, and to not let them get discouraged from the march up the hill. I put on my happy and smiling face and answered and asked various questions the students or parents had. Apparently I was able to answer a lot of what they were wondering about and may have steered some people into coming up here for school next year.
At 8:15 I shifted to working the tables where students signed up to visit a class. Some of the students had preregistered and they were easy to take care of. Most, however, had not and it was sometimes difficult to find something that interested them and fit the schedule for their day. This shift really consisted of me running back and forth between various tables checking schedules, class openings, numerous alphabetically ordered lists of students, and really struggling to reconcile the sticker sheet of classes that had course names versus the alphabetical sheet of classes that had the course mnemonics. They were not often the same, or even closely related.
The class signup table had become overstaffed by 8:45 so I went to the registration table where people who were arriving signed in for the day and received a UVa bag, information folder, and guidebook. I was immediately given one of about 12 seats at the table and began crossing off students' names as they came up from the massive line that was forming in front of Old Cabell Hall. I signed in about 15 people by 9 a.m. when the information session began. After the session had started I signed in about another 30 people or so until we started breaking down tables around 9:30. I felt bad for the people who got there after 9 (mainly because of Charlottesville's heinous traffic situations) because they essentially missed the information session, but there were other, smaller ones throughout the day so I'm hoping they got to go to something.
I was then asked to move two tables, big tables, from the South Lawn up to the admissions building, not a short walk. I was given a tiny dolly and because of its size I could not put the tables on in any non-awkward way. I eventually laid them down so it looked like the dolly had wings and grabbed another volunteer to help guide me up the various pathways to the admissions building. UVa does not make it easy to transport wide loads around.
After multiple blockades had been overcome we made it up to the building and moved the tables inside. I then worked from about 10 to 10:45 signing in late people and again going through the terribly organized class lists. We also found out that one of the classes we had sent 7 people to had been canceled that Friday, a fact the professor was supposed to notify us about. Only three of the 7 came back and I worked personally with 2 of them to find them a different one. We decided on the History of the English Language, a class that one of my roommates had taken last year. I escorted them down to the classroom building and, after being briefly lost because of poorly numbered rooms, we found the correct one and I watched as they nervously took some seats towards the back of the class.
I then walked home in order to get the stuff for my class at 12. As I walked back up to Central Grounds to go to Polish I saw a lonely little prospective staring blankly at a map at the bottom of the stairs that are the furthest away from anywhere you want to be going around the grounds. I walked down to him and asked if he needed help. I told him how to get back to the Lawn, which is where he said he could find his way from and then I headed off to my class.
When I entered the room I didn't have any thoughts of "what would it be like if this were the first class I was going to at UVa" or anything like that. I was simply greeted with a few cześć's and some compliments on how my black eye was healing.
Anyway, I got up at 5:15 on Friday morning after going to bed at 11 in order to volunteer at UVa's Days on the Lawn program. These days offer prospective students and their parents opportunities to become familiar with Central Grounds, learn about various programs and financial aid, visit a class, and meet other people from the entering class and from UVa in general. I never had the opportunity to do this as a transfer student so I was glad I at least got to see what it was like before I graduated.
My first shift started at 7:30 and I was tasked with escorting students and their guests up from one of the parking garages up the massive hill to the Rotunda. Our job was to answer any questions and show them the way up to the Academical Village, and to not let them get discouraged from the march up the hill. I put on my happy and smiling face and answered and asked various questions the students or parents had. Apparently I was able to answer a lot of what they were wondering about and may have steered some people into coming up here for school next year.
At 8:15 I shifted to working the tables where students signed up to visit a class. Some of the students had preregistered and they were easy to take care of. Most, however, had not and it was sometimes difficult to find something that interested them and fit the schedule for their day. This shift really consisted of me running back and forth between various tables checking schedules, class openings, numerous alphabetically ordered lists of students, and really struggling to reconcile the sticker sheet of classes that had course names versus the alphabetical sheet of classes that had the course mnemonics. They were not often the same, or even closely related.
The class signup table had become overstaffed by 8:45 so I went to the registration table where people who were arriving signed in for the day and received a UVa bag, information folder, and guidebook. I was immediately given one of about 12 seats at the table and began crossing off students' names as they came up from the massive line that was forming in front of Old Cabell Hall. I signed in about 15 people by 9 a.m. when the information session began. After the session had started I signed in about another 30 people or so until we started breaking down tables around 9:30. I felt bad for the people who got there after 9 (mainly because of Charlottesville's heinous traffic situations) because they essentially missed the information session, but there were other, smaller ones throughout the day so I'm hoping they got to go to something.
I was then asked to move two tables, big tables, from the South Lawn up to the admissions building, not a short walk. I was given a tiny dolly and because of its size I could not put the tables on in any non-awkward way. I eventually laid them down so it looked like the dolly had wings and grabbed another volunteer to help guide me up the various pathways to the admissions building. UVa does not make it easy to transport wide loads around.
After multiple blockades had been overcome we made it up to the building and moved the tables inside. I then worked from about 10 to 10:45 signing in late people and again going through the terribly organized class lists. We also found out that one of the classes we had sent 7 people to had been canceled that Friday, a fact the professor was supposed to notify us about. Only three of the 7 came back and I worked personally with 2 of them to find them a different one. We decided on the History of the English Language, a class that one of my roommates had taken last year. I escorted them down to the classroom building and, after being briefly lost because of poorly numbered rooms, we found the correct one and I watched as they nervously took some seats towards the back of the class.
I then walked home in order to get the stuff for my class at 12. As I walked back up to Central Grounds to go to Polish I saw a lonely little prospective staring blankly at a map at the bottom of the stairs that are the furthest away from anywhere you want to be going around the grounds. I walked down to him and asked if he needed help. I told him how to get back to the Lawn, which is where he said he could find his way from and then I headed off to my class.
When I entered the room I didn't have any thoughts of "what would it be like if this were the first class I was going to at UVa" or anything like that. I was simply greeted with a few cześć's and some compliments on how my black eye was healing.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Sorry about that...
To the one, maybe two people who actually read this:
I'm sorry I have not posted more frequently lately. With teaching at CHS and writing my thesis I have not had the time or energy to get on here and type up how things have been. I'm going to try to rectify that situation and get back into the habit of posting daily because it really is a good outlet for stress and emotions.
So, yes, I will be putting more stuff on here from now on because I always have things to ramble about.
I'm sorry I have not posted more frequently lately. With teaching at CHS and writing my thesis I have not had the time or energy to get on here and type up how things have been. I'm going to try to rectify that situation and get back into the habit of posting daily because it really is a good outlet for stress and emotions.
So, yes, I will be putting more stuff on here from now on because I always have things to ramble about.
Free Time
I submitted my seminar paper to my teacher and the other students in my class at 11 p.m. sharp last night. 19 hours ahead of the deadline. I don't think I have ever submitted an essay that early. It's not that I'm totally satisfied with it though and I will probably have to do a lot of work on it by the final submission day, May 6.
I'm taking the day off today to clean my room and maybe my bathroom. I also have a bottle of cabernet sauvignon that will most likely be gone by the end of today. I just won't be able to drink it while I'm cleaning.
I don't need drunk me putting things away where sober me can't find them.
I'm taking the day off today to clean my room and maybe my bathroom. I also have a bottle of cabernet sauvignon that will most likely be gone by the end of today. I just won't be able to drink it while I'm cleaning.
I don't need drunk me putting things away where sober me can't find them.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ow
I'm falling behind again.
So this week has essentially been a failure in terms of getting work accomplished. There are too many other things that were distracting me...good things, but distracting things nonetheless.
I have been able to divide my seminar paper up into about 5 topics. I plan on writing roughly four pages per each one, which is not an impossible task I believe. If I can knock one section out every day leading up to Thursday then I will be able to successfully complete this assignment.
My face is also pretty ridiculous looking right now. We had a get together here on Friday night and a party foul occurred which ended up with me being dropped face-first roughly 5 feet directly the ground in front of a crowd of people. Somehow I managed to kind of roll when I hit the ground and was able to get up within a second or two. Just as I was able to stand up, my nose began pouring out blood. Some of the people cleared away thinking I had broken my nose or some other part of my face, while others followed me up to my bathroom.
The steady stream of blood had formed a pool in my cupped hands by the time I got upstairs. Nearly 15 people crowded in and around my tiny bathroom as I applied pressure to my nose to try to stop the bleeding. After each of the wads of toilet paper became soaked with blood I would remove it from my face, only to have blood continue to pour from my nose like a running faucet. Eventually the bleeding stopped. I lost quite a bit of blood and was out of commission for the rest of the night. I now have deep scratches on either side of my nose and my right cheek is bruised and has a pattern of scratches going all the way across it. I have a bruise on my forearm and bicep and my neck still hurts from the impact. Within the last 12 hours I have also developed a black eye because of the blow to my nose. I look like a wreck. On the plus side, my nose is not broken, my cheek is not broken, AND I had a white shirt on when it happened and didn't get any blood on it.
The bad part is that I have to be teaching again this week. On Thursday I will be judged by my Graduate Assistant. I'm not looking forward to this.
Hopefully this week will start off decently and I can get some stuff done today.
So this week has essentially been a failure in terms of getting work accomplished. There are too many other things that were distracting me...good things, but distracting things nonetheless.
I have been able to divide my seminar paper up into about 5 topics. I plan on writing roughly four pages per each one, which is not an impossible task I believe. If I can knock one section out every day leading up to Thursday then I will be able to successfully complete this assignment.
My face is also pretty ridiculous looking right now. We had a get together here on Friday night and a party foul occurred which ended up with me being dropped face-first roughly 5 feet directly the ground in front of a crowd of people. Somehow I managed to kind of roll when I hit the ground and was able to get up within a second or two. Just as I was able to stand up, my nose began pouring out blood. Some of the people cleared away thinking I had broken my nose or some other part of my face, while others followed me up to my bathroom.
The steady stream of blood had formed a pool in my cupped hands by the time I got upstairs. Nearly 15 people crowded in and around my tiny bathroom as I applied pressure to my nose to try to stop the bleeding. After each of the wads of toilet paper became soaked with blood I would remove it from my face, only to have blood continue to pour from my nose like a running faucet. Eventually the bleeding stopped. I lost quite a bit of blood and was out of commission for the rest of the night. I now have deep scratches on either side of my nose and my right cheek is bruised and has a pattern of scratches going all the way across it. I have a bruise on my forearm and bicep and my neck still hurts from the impact. Within the last 12 hours I have also developed a black eye because of the blow to my nose. I look like a wreck. On the plus side, my nose is not broken, my cheek is not broken, AND I had a white shirt on when it happened and didn't get any blood on it.
The bad part is that I have to be teaching again this week. On Thursday I will be judged by my Graduate Assistant. I'm not looking forward to this.
Hopefully this week will start off decently and I can get some stuff done today.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Heat Wave
It's consistently been around 85 to 90 degrees over the last few days with minimal breeze. There really was no transition into this temperature range either. One day it was in the low 70s and the next it was almost 20 degrees hotter. Even with walking to class or anywhere I'm soaked in sweat leaving me feeling nasty for the whole time I'm out until I can come home and take another shower and change my clothes. Because of this weather my room is no longer my refuge. Our house has no AC and my room is upstairs so much of the heat is funneled up here. I don't do well in the heat.
The temperature is supposed to break tonight with an incoming cold front and a thunderstorm. But in the meantime, my brain is melting.
The temperature is supposed to break tonight with an incoming cold front and a thunderstorm. But in the meantime, my brain is melting.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Times are Changing
I'm glad this happened. I really needed it.
I met someone. He is extremely nice, smart, cute, and we have a lot of similar interests. It's like after all of the other stuff I went through recently, I finally found someone good. Someone who wants to spend time with me. Someone who likes talking to me. Someone I, honestly, could see myself with. I don't know for sure yet, but if I had a Magic 8 Ball to shake, I'm sure it'd say "All signs point to Yes."
We had our first date at a restaurant/bar near downtown Charlottesville. Other than the fact that he was sitting in the corner and I couldn't find him (he found me looking totally lost and probably afraid) everything went well. We had a light dinner and a couple of beers and the conversation was good.
I don't want to write too much about this because nothing is set in stone yet. But we have another date planned for Thursday night and he texts me whenever he gets a chance at the hospital where he works.
And I never thought I wanted to date a doctor.
I met someone. He is extremely nice, smart, cute, and we have a lot of similar interests. It's like after all of the other stuff I went through recently, I finally found someone good. Someone who wants to spend time with me. Someone who likes talking to me. Someone I, honestly, could see myself with. I don't know for sure yet, but if I had a Magic 8 Ball to shake, I'm sure it'd say "All signs point to Yes."
We had our first date at a restaurant/bar near downtown Charlottesville. Other than the fact that he was sitting in the corner and I couldn't find him (he found me looking totally lost and probably afraid) everything went well. We had a light dinner and a couple of beers and the conversation was good.
I don't want to write too much about this because nothing is set in stone yet. But we have another date planned for Thursday night and he texts me whenever he gets a chance at the hospital where he works.
And I never thought I wanted to date a doctor.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter Time
One of my first thoughts upon waking up this morning was one of my favorite Sedaris quotes: "The Rabbit of Easter....HE bring of the chocolate."
The Rabbit of Easter had indeed brought of the chocolate. And of twenty eggs which each contained of one dollar.
I think it's nice that my parents still do this for us at the ages that we are.
We went to church and had a decent service. After we took a tour of the newly-renovated basement of the church, we ran home, threw our church clothes on the ground, put on shorts, and then went to Williamsburg where my first of 2 Easter meals is beginning right now.
The Rabbit of Easter had indeed brought of the chocolate. And of twenty eggs which each contained of one dollar.
I think it's nice that my parents still do this for us at the ages that we are.
We went to church and had a decent service. After we took a tour of the newly-renovated basement of the church, we ran home, threw our church clothes on the ground, put on shorts, and then went to Williamsburg where my first of 2 Easter meals is beginning right now.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Unconditional
I hate falling behind in my posting.
I have to clean my room again before I go home for Easter tomorrow. I hate leaving the house when my room looks disheveled.
But I guess the more important thing is that I'm going home for Easter. My faith has kind of collapsed upon itself within the last few months and so it surprised me when the words came out of my own mouth suggesting that I come home for the holiday. Regardless of whether or not it's because my parents miss me or because I miss being at home, I think the real reason is because I miss church. The church I had started going to right before everything fell apart is everything I was looking for for so many years. I just stuck with going to my old one because it's where my 'friends' went. After we went to college I discovered that these people never really liked me for me and I had essentially been free of them for years.
It's not that I miss God, or my faith, or much else about Christianity....I just miss the people I went to church with. My preacher (a woman) was extremely nice and caring and her southern accent was so calming after a week of stress. She's like this mother/grandmother figure in the church that everybody looks up to for support, love, encouragement....and she gives it out in doses that are bigger than those people had originally expected.
I think that's what I miss most about that church....it's the feeling of unconditional love that I never got from my old church. And I think that's what Christianity, or any faith like that, should really be about.
I have to clean my room again before I go home for Easter tomorrow. I hate leaving the house when my room looks disheveled.
But I guess the more important thing is that I'm going home for Easter. My faith has kind of collapsed upon itself within the last few months and so it surprised me when the words came out of my own mouth suggesting that I come home for the holiday. Regardless of whether or not it's because my parents miss me or because I miss being at home, I think the real reason is because I miss church. The church I had started going to right before everything fell apart is everything I was looking for for so many years. I just stuck with going to my old one because it's where my 'friends' went. After we went to college I discovered that these people never really liked me for me and I had essentially been free of them for years.
It's not that I miss God, or my faith, or much else about Christianity....I just miss the people I went to church with. My preacher (a woman) was extremely nice and caring and her southern accent was so calming after a week of stress. She's like this mother/grandmother figure in the church that everybody looks up to for support, love, encouragement....and she gives it out in doses that are bigger than those people had originally expected.
I think that's what I miss most about that church....it's the feeling of unconditional love that I never got from my old church. And I think that's what Christianity, or any faith like that, should really be about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
