Friday, April 24, 2009

I have half an hour until Ali and I are walking to the going-out-of-business Camera Shop downtown. Should I nap? Or read? I realize that blogging about this will not bring about a swift solution, but the dilemma is present in my mind!

Last Friday, I successfully defended my thesis. Lasers! Horns! Sirens! Life since has been pretty sweet: I finished sorting through my schtuff and have a fresh batch of clothing to donate, made some Zucchini Pecan muffins, and went to the Sox/Twins game in Boston. The game was pretty badass: Sox fans, diverse as they are, are the rowdiest group I've ever encountered. (I realize that my past experience has not brought me into contact with many rowdy groups, but still.) The weather was a little crappy - drizzly, low 50's - but we had seats in the grandstand and were sheltered. AND, I had a Fenway Frank, the most delicious hot dog of all time. Mmmmm, stadium food. This August/September, I will also be going to some Brewers games...
We like sports!

Aside: the Zucchini Pecan muffins were no less badass than the game.

Leaning in the nap direction.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

"THE PROFESSOR"


Check out this sugary behemoth! Yes: that's a pint glass I've placed to one side for purposes of size comparison. "The Professor" is unarguably the largest chocolate rabbit - in my house, at least.

(Note also "The Professor's" creepy jaundiced eyes, jaunty yellow bow tie, and blue boutonniere. Not (very) visible is the open book he clutches to his chest.)

Best Easter ever.

We celebrated The Return of Jesus with lots of movies.

And, this diet Pepsi tastes really syrupy. Is this only because I rarely drink soda?

Saw "Adventureland" on Friday, which I enjoyed and which was not what I expected. (The unmet expectations owe to my total unfamiliarity with the movie prior to viewing it.) Overall, I dug this movie: it made me nostalgic for amusement parks (which were a verboten aspect of my childhood), summer, semi-illicit drinking, and so forth. I was psyched that "Satellite of Love" was on the soundtrack: this was my song obsession the summer before I started grad school! And the casting was really good. I did feel James was unconvincingly immature for his age - that is, he was going to grad school and he'd never had a job, ever? AND he was still a virgin? Come on, people! These quandaries seem more appropriate to a college sophomore, methinks...but, plausibility issues aside, pretty solid.

Easter, we watched "Rachel Getting Married" and "How To Lose Friends and Alienate People," both Blockbuster impulse rents. Well, I'd wanted to see "Rachel" for a while. DRAMA! Family politics! What could have been more appropriate for a family holiday? The latter was amusing-ish, though I found myself getting reallytruly annoyed @ Sidney Young. Really? I thought. This guy would have gotten his ass kicked, like, 75 times by now. Also, he would have been fired after the "disappearance" of Sophie's dog. But whatevs. Whatevs. This is a movie.

Eric got me a giant chocolate rabbit called "The Professor." It stands about 1 foot tall, and is bespectacled. I have not yet broken into it, because I'm not sure how to approach the initial breaking.
I am going to make a collage using images from "The Professor's" box, because the box incorporates awesome 70s graphics of woodland creatures.

My thesis defense is Friday, and I am starting to get freaked out in my brain. As in, what if my committee decides to surprise me - SURPRISE! - by not passing me, or something? Not that I think I will not pass, but, you know: nervousness.

E. and I are still trying to decide on an apartment. This is OK, because the application his parents sent us hasn't arrived yet. It looks like I'll be staying in the Valley at least through the end of July, which fact saddens me. I know, based on some of my former posts, that it seems like I abhor this place, but I don't really - not reallytruly, anyway. I'm just excited about my up&coming place of residence, and I want to be there now! I want to get on with my life! Plans! Newness! There's still a chance that we'll move to Madison before August - i.e., in the case that one of us gets a superawesome job that requires us to move before then - but in all likelihood, August it shall be.
I will try not to be impatient. I will instead use my time productively, applying for jobs and looking for fun IKEA furniture and reading things I've always wanted to read (because I won't be in school anymore, yo! And I will have time for fun reading) and cycling. Yes. This is the direction my actions will take.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Who will cut our hair when we're gone?

Friday, I entered a new life phase: Life After Thesis. Yes. At 3:30 pm on April 3rd, 2009, I distributed my manuscript to my committee (via campus mailboxes, of course). I guess I shouldn't put the cart before the horse: I have yet to send my committee my introduction, and I haven't done my defense yet. Still, not having to work on/think about/dream about/obsess over my thesis is the best feeling ever. True, I still have to finish an independent study and write my screenplay for the Fiction to Film class, but both of these tasks seem straight-up undaunting compared to the Behemoth. All right!

Um, I don't have much news, mostly because I've been filled with pure joy and subsequently frolicking in the fields, skipping down the lanes, etc. Sort of. Actually, I have been applying to many jobs, as I was not hired by the (previously-considered) Dream Employer. This was a major letdown, and I know I shouldn't reasonably have expected to be hired by the first company I applied to, but I made it through three rounds of interviews. I mean, they flew me out there, for chrissake. The worst part is, they would not even tell me why they hired someone else! So I've decided that this company is no longer the Dream Employer, because they obviously do not consider me the Dream Employee - which I am.

On the plus side, E and I have started apartment hunting. (Maybe this is a plus? It's a plus because we need a place to live, but apartment hunting just blows.) We've found a few cute, reasonably-priced places near the Capitol, and his dad and sis are going to check them out for us tomorrow. The bad news: most leases in Madison start August 16th, and my lease here ends July 1st. I do not understand this 8/16 lease policy! I guess it could be convenient if you're already living in the city, but it's absolutely asinine if you're living elsewhere & moving in. Plus, I don't think it would actually be that convenient - everyone in the metro moving on the same day? Doesn't that spell total pandemonium? E says people sleep in the streets??? I suppose it must work, else the policy would have been scrapped...

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

1. Best [part of an] email I've received this week:

...also did some investigative work and found that Edward Norton is turning 40 this year!! So, he may be a little beyond our age range. But, he definitely graduated from my high school. His grandfather designed our town: Columbia, Maryland.

I love the colon and the "Columbia, Maryland."

2. This scare actually pertains to me because I eat a fair amount of pistachios. First the peanut scare, and now this. American nut processors, get your act together!

3. Just listening to some Jens Lekman, drinking some tea, waiting for my laundry, and ordering my thesis. Later, I'll be having a cavity filled. Then later, drinking margaritas (to celebrate the staunched tooth decay?) and making homemade croutons.