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...

The windiest month.

I'm, uh, back from Madison, though if I'd stayed, would anyone have found it surprising? Wisconsin remains as awesome as in my memory: rolling green and wide, faintly cow-smelling, the September sky muted. Sunday, Eric and I bummed for a few hours in Madison, getting lunch at State Street Brats (cheese curds!), browsing the bookstore, just walking. Janesville, too made me homesick: for apple picking, Sunday dinners, backyards.

Nostalgiafest 2008, it's true. This week, I even browsed Madison real estate...

In other news, Darren and Sara are coming over for dinner tonight, and here's what's on the menu:

Roast pork loin (with carrots and onions)
Mashed sweet potatoes
Salad with apple-walnut dressing
Bread (to be purchased from the Hungry Ghost)
Sweet potato pie (not homemade, admittedly...)

A little sweet potato heavy, I admit, but I'd already planned to make the mashed 'taters when I saw the pie and I thought, "What the hell! I love sweet potatoes!" And therefore, so must everyone else. I may have misplaced the recipe for the dressing, but I should be able to find it before dinnertime. Fingers crossed.
But, I'm pretty excited to cook this roast: roasts are the perfect indicator of fall and all the excellent cold-weather cooking to come.