RANT

A small rant: fuck those people who ignore the 30-minute time limit for the cardio equipment at the gym. Fuck them! I'll be the first to admit that the Richmond District Y does not have the greatest selection of ellipticals, that it can indeed be tempting to consider (at the end of one 30-minute stretch) hastily resetting one's machine & thereby clearing the elapsed time field, leaving no one the wiser to one's overuse of said machine. It can be tempting, yes, but I am not an asshole; once I've done my half hour on a machine, I'll move to a different type of machine (i.e., bike, treadmill, rowing machine) and if after that stretch of cardio I still feel the need to elliptical, I'll spend more time on the elliptical. OK. I won't, however, just spend a damn hour on one machine. Yes, chubby blond lady wearing a blood drive tee, this post is directed to you. It is directed to you and to anyone else who horqs the machines at my Y. Here's what I say: if you want to work out like a non-asshole, join a gym. If you want to dominate a single machine, just buy that machine for home use. The end.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES:

though, this good news is irrelevant to me, since I taught my last classes yesterday.

I cannot be totally filled with end-of-semester glee, however, because I have three days of Final Conferences with students (Mon-Wed next week) and then my FINAL GRADING. Still, though, after I'm done with those shenanigans, I'll have a good two weeks to: work on some crafts, hang out with my mom for Xmas week, and refine/finalize my creative writing syllabus. And re-read some of the books I'm teaching. Totally manageable, right?

I am becoming perhaps inordinately excited for my impending move back to the Midwest. (Warning: this may turn into a minirant about Why New England Can Never Be As Good as Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Illinois.) It's not that I dislike New England: nay, it would be foolish of me to claim hatred for an entire region. I just dislike the certain part of N.E. that I'm living in now. Having grown up in a midsized suburb of Minneapolis, and having gone to college in ueberrural Illinois, I'm no stranger to the non-city life. I do not mind driving to my favorite deli, or to a concert, or to a museum. Yes, it's nicer to be able to walk to these things - to have access unhindered by the pain-in-the-ass activity that is driving - but it's not requisite for my happiness.

That being said, I'm starting to get restless in the li'l corner of MA where I now reside. It's just really...small. Imagine it as a less cool, way smaller Peoria. Or, for Minnesota residents: a less cool Blaine or Andover. YEAH. There's nothing that's open 24 hours; the nightlife is a little meh; the restaurant scene (with a few notable exceptions) is a lot meh. Meh. Now I'm just whining. What it really comes down to is this: the Midwest is my home, and though it's not on a coast*, it is leagues better than Western Mass. The end.

*Actually, neither is my current city, despite its supposed "coastal" status. BOOYAH.