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.

Took a brief hiatus from updating: last week was spring break, and I wasn't feeling especially internet-y. Also, though I was technically on "break," I was actually frantically revising my thesis, which has to be done and distributed to my committee by April 3rd. I spent a few long days at the public library (which is a lot louder than you might expect a library to be)/Neilson library (which is the perfect library volume)/Starbucks. Am feeling better about my thesis now - though, make no mistake, I am still working frantically - but will feel better when it's totally done.

To half-assedly make up for lost time, here is a list of updates from spring break(!):

1) Bike riding! It was semi-warm out this week (high 40s/50s), and I finally got my bike out of storage and road-ready. The trails were mostly clear, minus a few snowy patches; I took three nice rides. It's colder this week...might wait until the springlike weather returns before taking more rides. Yes: I am wussy in this regard.

2) BASKETBALL. Watched both Wisconsin games while drinking promotion ally-priced Miller Lite and enjoying deep-fried snacks. Midwestern, right? Sadly, Wisconsin was out of the tournament after round two, and Marquette is also out. Who(m) will I cheer for? Not sadly, I won a basketball and a hat through the beer promotion. Huzzah!

I have no idea what I'll do with a Miller Lite hat, but this is not my point.

3) I Love You, Man. Saw it on opening night (a real feat for me, the cinephobe...or however you would classify a person who is lazy about seeing newly-released movies) & it was excellent. Paul Rudd was perfectly cast, and Jason Segel's UGGs were perfectly cast. I'm now also calling everyone "Jobin."

There were other highlights, too, but they kind of blur together with my memories of [blissfully] sleeping past 5:00 am and just bumming around [albeit, with guilt in my heart re: thesis]. Ah, spring break.

Sunday night, and I am thoroughly relaxed. I should be mildly panicking - I hardly made a dent in the pile of work I set aside for myself this weekend, and instead made several costly, arguably frivolous purchases, and am suffering from the Cold of Death - but I am not. Nope. I am kicked back in my Executive Chair, drinking a cup of Tazo Passion tea, wearing some fleece pants, and inhaling the fragrant vapors of a Vicks-infused tissue. These Vicks-infused tissues are the best invention since the Swiffer Mop (which, in a previous post, I claimed was the best invention ever.) (Seriously, though: these tissues give you all the perks of Vapo-Rub with none of the greasy unpleasantness.) I have roughly two.five months left of my master's program, about three (four?) months left in Western Mass, and a calm is setting in. I know, realistically, that I'll get my thesis/Independent Study/screenplay done, even if "Gettin' R' Done" means pulling all-nighters at the library. Which it may. If I continue at this pace. Back to the calm: my goal is to maximize my productivity by allowing myself a little latitude with when/where I complete my work. For example, I was freaking out a little this morning because I had not yet started working on a certain story I'd wanted to edit, but instead of continuing the freakout I calmed myself down, did some laundry, watched some Arrested Development, and cooked a delicious dinner with E. After dinner, I sat down and wrote four pages. Lesson: freaking out does not help a situation, so why bother? (I hope I can maintain this level of calm closer to my defense date.) The end.

Wrap Up

At once an eventful and seemingly slow-paced weekend. Saturday, A., J., and I went to lunch at a Greek restaurant in South Hadley. (A. has been craving Greek food and so we decided to make a trip.) The restaurant was the best sort of horrible: dining room was dead silent, but for the low-volume lite rock soundtrack; decor was a cross between a strip club and a funeral parlor (highlights: mirrored Venetian blinds, wallpaper border that alternated images of the Parthenon and the Bud Lite logo, white/gold Naugahyde booths). Our waitress was helpful, the food was terrible, and the immediately recognizable scent of resin wafted from the kitchen at uneven intervals. After we left, A. told us that she'd read that the place had roaches. Niiiice.

Our Superbowl gathering was low-key: just four of us with Midwestern delicacies aplenty. I wasn't rooting for one team or the other, especially, though my sympathies lay with the Cardinals (based on their supposed underdog status). It's strange: I never used to enjoy watching sports - pro or otherwise - but this trend has reversed itself in the past two years. I do appreciate the social aspect of spectation, but also the knowledge of the athletes' skill: how much training has led to each performance. Yes, I feel (strongly) that pro athletes are paid waaaaay too much, but thinking of the physical perseverance required of said athletes is kind of awesome. (Instant replay only increases my appreciation - seeing some of those collisions in slow-mo makes me cringe, and makes me glad that I'm not a pro football player.) Perhaps my own rekindled interest in physical fitness has inspired this more abstract appreciation of athleticism? Who knows.

A crazy week ahead/in progress. Meetings, appointments, thesis work (the end is near). Last week, fueled by nostalgia and consistent doses of Tylenol Cold, started writing a story I've been thinking about for years. I'm not sure if I'm pleased with the partial draft or not: pleased with the voice, not necessarily with the mvmt. Will keep at it.

Last night, I dreamed that I was in college again, this time at UMass. I kept taking on responsibilities - working at the circulation desk at the library, helping clean the horse barns (for free?), joining flag team. And I was really stressed out because I'd obviously overcommitted myself, and then I woke up.

It is time:

That's right: I am going to see Bride Wars tonight. Not without a modicum of shame, mind you, but not so much shame that I won't publicly divulge my activity. Something about women in wedding dresses beating on each other amuses me endlessly! Well, I hope there will be beating...or at least swatting. Girl fighting.

In other news: I am freaking out in my brain about my thesis. I realized - at about 4:45 this morning, inconveniently - that I have only 2.5 to 3 months to finish all my editing. Yikes. Fortunately, I won't be teaching after winter break, and fortunately too my spring course load won't be terrible. But still: who can blame me for seeking respite in Anne Hathaway movies?