Tally Ho Etc

A few posts back (if you click on the link, it's the second half of the post) I mentioned the summer London program at school. Well, this is just a quick update on that. I totally got accepted! There's still one potential obstacle, but hopefully it will prove not insurmountable. 5 weeks in London = Much Joy!

Checkin' In

After a long absence from the bloggosphere, I've decided that today conditions are perfect for a triumphant return. I'm playing hooky from school today because my brain is all clogged up with mucus and I can't breathe. I have a terrible cold. It started Friday in my chest and has expanded up into my head. I've spent the last two days sitting around in misery doing more or less nothing. I was hoping I would feel well enough today to go to class, but I got to the end of the driveway (on my way to the bus stop) and felt like I was going to pass out. So I turned around and went back home.

These conditions are perfect for blogging because a I'm super bored, b my brain functions are under the influence of awful cold virus which makes for some really interesting ramblings, c it's been a long-ass time since I blogged. (he he he long ass-time....this will make sense of it all)

When was the last time I wrote anyway? Damn! January 11th. That means I totally missed ULX, the start of classes, a revelation about my personal relationship to the whole dating thing, London excitement, and various other random bits of fun that I'm sure would have made an awesome blog. Sorry guys. I'll try to be more responsible with my updates.

Funny thing: a lot of the blogs I follow have been just as slack-tastic lately about updating. But in the last week or two they've also brought out their typing fingers and jumped back on the wagon.

I guess I'll start out with catching you up on all the stuff I just mentioned. Starting with ULX. Since I have posted about it in years past I'm not going to go into what it is here. Funny enough, I was just recovering from a cold when it rolled around this year. So I skipped out on the Friday dances and just rested with the hope that I could rally for Saturday and Sunday. My method worked. I wasn't able to do too much fast dancing, but I got in my fair share.

Highlight of the weekend: I totally danced with The Doctor. Ok, so he wasn't the real Doctor, nor was he David Tennant. This kid was dressed exactly like The Doctor though, even had the long coat. I found out later (because I had to talk to him... he's The Doctor) that he had it custom made for him. So, yes, the doctor look was totally intentional. Bonus: he is a great dancer. I was geeking out the entire weekend. He indulged my geekery, as did all my friends. Wasn't that nice of them?

I really wish I could go to more exchanges and lindy events. There are so many great opportunities for great dancing, most of the outside of Utah so you get the added bonus of great opportunities to travel and see new places. *sigh* Maybe some day I'll be able to run around the country dancing with fabulous people. In the mean time, there are a handful of fabulous dancers here, and I can be quite content dancing with them.

Speaking of travel... I might go to London this summer for a study abroad thing. Every year the English Department at the U does a summer trip to London. It's 6 credits for 5 weeks in Freaking London. Every year's trip has a special theme - for example, a few years ago, they did a London underground/ghost story sort of theme. They read Doyle and Poe and such and visited places those authors wrote and the setting for many of the stories. This year the theme is Early Modern Performance and Post-Modern Spectacle. That means pretty much Elizabeathan Theater (read Shakespeare!), and then how the city itself acts as a sort of "performer" and is a spectacle itself. But more important... Shakespeare!

I honestly didn't think there was any way I could possibly go on this trip. It's not exactly cheap, and 5 weeks would (will) be difficult to take off work. I didn't want to ask my parent's to pay for it. They've been hit hard by the shitty economy (who hasn't) and I certainly can't afford to send myself. About 2 weeks before the application was due, I mentioned it to my Mom. I brought it up just as something interesting, not as something I expected her to do anything about. When I finished telling her about it, she pretty much told me I should apply. They will find a way to pay for it. I guess these once in a lifetime opportunities should really be taken advantage of.

So anyway, I applied and am now waiting to hear if I got accepted into the program. Cross your fingers for me! There are a handful of things that could still pop up and stop me from going, but hopefully they can be worked around. I'm kind of afraid to get too excited about it until I know for certain I can actually go. It's hard though because, well, London!

My finger nail just broke. I'm going to go take a break now. I'll be back though, just like Arnold. Maybe even later today. Wouldn't that be fun? Two blog posts in one day! It shouldn't be possible! Oh, but I assure you, it is.

2009: Year in Review

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men! I had great intentions to bring you a great blog post looking back at the decade. I also meant to get to this post earlier. It's my traditional look back a the year that is best done on New Year's Day or close to. Well, it's almost a week later and I'm just now getting to it.

I guess I just haven't been motivated to blog.

Anyway, 2009 was not my favorite year. Like anything, it wasn't all bad nor all good. I do feel like this year the bad may have outweighed the good. But I may change my mind. Let's look at the good, the bad, the ugly and the pretty of 2009, shall we?

The Bad (I like to start with the negative and then end on a high note):

• I moved back in with my parents. Yes, I did it for good reasons, and it's not really a bad place to be. Still, it feels like a complete step backwards.
• Rather than completely getting out of debt and saving money, I ran out of money and then some. That's a big part of why I'm back with my parents. I'd like to blame it on the lack of available hours at work or any number of other things. Don't worry, as a human being, I've very good at deflecting blame away from myself. Ultimately there are a lot of things I could have done differently. I'm working on improving the situation, but I'm so broke right now it's not even funny. And I've been that way for a good chunk of the year.
• I'm still subbing. I need a merit job at one library. This one is really not my fault.
• I had to kill my kitty. She was old an sick, and it was the humane thing to do. But she was my baby. That was a very, very sad day.
• My social life kind of fell apart. I think between being broke (which really limits my ability to go out and do things with people) and being busy with school, I managed to neglect some very important friendships. It's kind of hard to put my finger on it exactly. I just feel somewhat dissatisfied with the way things have gone with some of my friends.

The Ugly:

The Pretty:

The Good:

• Obama was elected. Sure, this isn't particularly personal, but I think it's a great thing. Granted, he hasn't fixed everything, in fact, he hasn't really fixed much at all. I'm still optimistic about his presidency.
• I got my head back in the game as far as school goes. Last semester, going full time, I actually did quite well. I feel a new confidence about school. More than that, graduation is in sight! That's a little scary, but also a lot awesome.
• This March marked the 5 year aniversary of my Wegener's being in full remission. I wanted to have a big celebratory party, but didn't. I don't see why I can't do it any time. Even without a party, 5 years is nothing to sneeze at. Here's hoping I can go another 5!
• I learned to tango
• Seattle. MLS Cup Game. Real Salt Lake. 'nough said.

So I guess they're really about even. Maybe 2009 was just disappointing because I expected a lot of it. 2008 was pretty fab, and I wanted the trend to continue. Let's take a look at the goals (not resolutions) I had for the year:

Things to do in 2009:
1. Get a merit position at one of the libraries
2. Get back into hardcore biking shape, and stay there!
3. Improve my lindy. I'd like to get to the point where I feel comfortable seriously entering a contest.
4. Put my monies in order enough that I can afford a place by myself
5. Write regularly and often. Not blog writing or journal writing but Writing writing.
6. Get swing club running and fabulous.

Things to NOT do in 2009:
1. Drink soda
2. Date douchewads (it was a good goal)
3. Go on a mass murdering tour de world (also a good goal, might as well carry it over)
4. Fail at school

Well, the things I meant to do, I didn't really get done. I didn't get a merit position (there haven't been any to get). I totally dropped the ball on biking. The biggest ride I did was 60-some-odd miles. For most people, that wouldn't be too bad, but compared to the epic rides I've done in the past, it's pretty pathetic. I think my lindy has improved, and in August I did enter a Jack and Jill contest. I didn't do very well, but I was way out of my league. I feel pretty good about that one. My monies are far from in order. I haven't written much at all. I did write some for my poetry class, but found it so completely un-inspiring that I hardly did any writing besides assignments. More than that, I didn't blog much or write in my journal. Swing club is... somewhat improved. I have my frustrations about it. There's still a lot that could be done, but I haven't really had the time to do much with it.

I did much better with the things I wanted to Not do. I didn't completely give up soda, but I cut back a lot. I didn't date any douchewads. Of course, I didn't really date anyone at all. I think maybe I should work on that. I didn't murder anyone. I didn't fail at school. So... not bad on that front.

All in all, I guess last year wasn't bad. Nor was it great. It was just a year. Really, what more can you expect? Not every year can be fabulous and at least it wasn't terrible. Maybe it had to be mediocre so that 2010 can be really neat by comparison.

The only thing left for me to do with this post is to set new goals (still not resolutions, because no one ever keeps their resolutions) for this year. Sort of an unofficial goal, I think, will be to actually try to accomplish my goals. I think last year I sort of considered just setting the goals as good enough. I didn't really make a huge effort to keep any of them. This year I want to actually take these seriously and get things done.

Things to DO in 2010:
1. Train for and ride the ULCER
2. Pay off my debt and start saving money
3. Get a merit position at one of the libraries (this year it might actually be possible) OR get another job with benefits
4. Strengthen those friendship that are most important to me.
5. Date someone in a somewhat serious sort of way*

Things to NOT DO in 2010:
1. Fail at school
2. Commit vehicular homocide
3. Build a giant lazer and use it to attempt a global takeover.

*I acknowledge that this may be a difficult goal to acheive. I've been single for a long time. I think I'm ready to try the relationship thing again... emotionally anyway. I grant that living at home with debt up to my eyeballs is not an ideal scenario for starting any romantic endeavor. On the other hand, there's never really a perfect time to start a relationship and if I keep waiting for it I'm going to stay single forever. I don't want to go out with someone just for the sake of dating someone. If I'm going to have a relationship, I want it to be worthwile. I'm not going to force anything, but I also don't want to be completely passive about my love life anymore. Why not go out and try to meet someone? I'm just going to change my tactics a little and see what happens.

End of Things

I have one week left of school. Life is crazy. Finals may kill me. Blogging is going way on the back burner until it's all over. See you in a week or so!

Helter Skelter

Hi Bloggophites! Did you miss me? I sure missed you.

I don't actually have anything particularly in mind to write about today, but I am taking a break from homework to blog anyway.

I guess because I haven't written in so long, I should really have a lot to say. Shall I tell you about my classes? Ok.

I am finally back in school full time. I moved back in with my parents back in July (not the most awesome thing I've ever done, but it's not really bad) for monetary reasons. Plus, if I don't have to worry about paying rent, I have time to focus on academics. I really just want to get school over and done with at this point. So I'm trying to focus - now that the semester is half-way over I'm kind of getting into the swing of things. I'm taking 4 classes, which doesn't seem like a lot, but their all upper-level and the work load is not insignificant.

My favorite (and hardest) class is a Critical Literary Theory course. The professor is fantastic. The reading is nearly impossible to understand, but once I do get it, it's fascinating. In a few weeks we are applying all the crap we've read (and presumably understood) to such things as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica. If that doesn't make an awesome class, I don't know what does.

I'm also taking another generic English class (Literary History blah blah blah). It's not bad. Not great.

I'm taking Communication and Gender because I thought it looked interesting and wanted to take something that was strictly English. It's an interesting class. I've discovered that Communications is sort of English Lite, so that class is fairly easy. Any of the writing we have to do I can pretty much handle with my eyes closed. The topic is really interesting though, and the discussions we have in class are quite stimulating.

Finally, I taking a Poetry Writing class. This is the great disappointment of my semester. I love writing, as those who know me or have been reading this blog for a while know. I expected this to be my favorite class of the semester. I wanted (and expected) it to be inspiring, to open new levels of creativity and intrigue in my poetry and the way I write in general. As it turns out, the class it strongly mediocre, bordering on blasé. I'm not sure the teacher (who is a grad student, not a professor) had any real sort of plan for the class. Everything seems sort of unorganized and incongruous. Plus she's kind of dippy and has a penchant for wearing mis-matched, neon fabrics plucked right out of the 70s. Tragically, the class has not only NOT inspired me to write much of anything at all, it's almost turning me against poetry. I say almost because there's probably not a force on earth that could really make me stop writing completely. Still, this class is disheartening and uninspiring.

I should really get back to my serious reading for class now. Good talk, bloggates. I'll try to visit you more often. I think I'll try NaBloPoMo again in November. I didn't much like doing it last year because I felt like the quality of my posts declined pretty drastically. This year, though, I don't think they could really be much worse. I might add in the additional goal of posting something of quality every day. If nothing else, maybe it will get me into the habit of blogging more often again. I really love this silly little project, and I hate to think I'm coming close to abandoning it.

Have You Missed Me?

I've been spending all my free time outside the last few days. The weather here has been completely perfect and so, of course, I had to take advantage. Not that I've really had a lot of free time. The breif respite between spring and summer classes is over so I'm back in teh skules and I'm working as much as I can.

The job is going really well, actually. I'm not quite up to as many hours as I would ultimately like, but I'm pretty close. I really like what I'm doing. As I've mentioned before, I'm kind of floating from library branch to library branch as needed. I have a few branches already that are my favourites, and at some point I would like to get a permanent gig at one of those. The nice thing about that is, even if I'm only working 20hrs a week there, I would get benefits. Benefits are good.

Class also started up again this week. I'm taking two Lit History classes this summer, one at a time. They each go about a month and a half. So there's a lot to cover and not much time in which to cover it. So far I'm pretty impressed with the Prof of class #1. He's really easy to listen to and keeps my attention. That's important because the class is 3 hours long.

Like I said in the beginning, I've been spending all my time outside. Despite that, I haven't really found a lot of time to go biking. I've gone on two really short rides this week - both on my fixed-gear. Yesterday I rode Frankenbike about 6 miles and walked probably 3 or 4 miles. Plus I went dancing last night. By the time I went to bed, I thought my legs were going to fall off, and this morning I woke up to a painful cramp in my calf. It was a good day.

I'm sure you're all very concerned with my exercise routine... I only mention it because it's really nice that I've actually been outside DOING something. I feel like I'm accomplishing something, I guess. Or maybe I'm just writing about it so you who check this blog often will understand why it hasn't been updated in a while.

Quick Update

Because blogging is more fun than studying...

It's the end of the semester, and that means finals. The weekend and a good portion of today found me with my nose in a book (not always the same book) and have some more to do before I will feel really confident about the test I have tomorrow. But my brain needs a break right now.

I think I'm about due to give a State of the Universe (... that is, me) Address.

Thanks to a massive tax return and a decent cushion in my savings account, I managed to get by for an awfully long time after quitting Job-O'-Death. That money is now almost gone though, so it's a good thing that I have a new job. The job is for the county library... all of them. It's like temping, but just at libraries. Or, it's like being a substitute teacher, except I don't teach, I just work at libraries. When I've told people, they seem to feel sorry for me, like working at a library is something that no one would ever want to do. I don't care what people say though, I dig it. As you all know, I'm a book sort of gal. I love the library. So the way I see it, this job is just about as perfect for me as it gets.

Unfortunately, the training for this job goes on forever so I'm not going to get any kind of decent hours for another couple weeks. That means I wont get any kind of decent paycheck for a while. Oh well, somehow I'll manage to get by.

On the school front, classes are almost over, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I would be a lot more excited about that if I weren't taking classes through the summer too. But I will have a few weeks off, which will be very nice. Now that I mention it, I think I can register for Fall classes now... I should probably get on that.

On the romantic front.... Oh man, you don't want to know. Anyway, blogging about that kind of thing is dangerous. My love life is certainly not boring at the moment, and I'm enjoying myself. I guess that's all you really need to know.

I'm excited about the summer. I'm totally ready to go swimming, and eat peaches, and go biking, and dance outside, and go to the farmer's market, and go hiking, and drink iced tea. I'm hoping to get in a camping trip or two before it gets too hot. Speaking of hot, my apartment (which I still absolutely adore) does not have air conditioning. I'm not looking forward to inescapable hotness of the summer. But I guess it's a reasonable trade off for everything else that I am going to thoroughly enjoy.

I suppose I've wasted enough time by now. I must get back to academia. Wish me luck on finals!

The Meat Factory

School has started again.

I like my classes.

My French class is in a classroom with no AC. This is bad

My Astrophysics prof never blinks. This is weird

I'm also taking an English class and an anthropology class.

End Report

Yippee Skippee

I just finished my last final! YAY! Now all I have to stress about are my grades, which will be posted sometime between now and next semester. I already know my French grade (B+, not bad) but all the rest are still to come. I think I will not worry about them. After all, at this point there's nothing I can do about it.

I feel really good right now. Finals are done, I don't have to buy anything more for christmas presents, I don't have to work until 3 so I can go back to bed. Life is good.

PAUSE

It's getting to be that time of year. I know that the radio started playing Christmas music as soon as halloween was over (WTF is up with that anyway?) and most stores had their red and greed decorations up around the same time. I've been wrapping presents in paper covered in santas and snowmen for a few weeks now too. But I refuse to aknowlege Christamas anytime before Thanksgiving. Now I'm down to my last Turkey Sandwich and there's only one piece of pie left over, I can say it's begining to feel a lot like Christmas. But it's still freakin' early!

It's also nearing the end of the term. This means, burnout, finals and cramming in everything that has been put off till the last minute. The last minute is NOW! Last week I went to three Jazz concerts for my Jazz class. I've had all semester to do this, I had to have it done by Wed. I went to the first one the Sunday prior. So school has gotten crazy. The Toystore has started Holiday hours so I'm workin until 9:30 now instead of 7:30 and I also have a shift on Sunday. Shoppers are getting more needy too. Everyone needs stuff wrapped, they want certain items that we might be out of and they want them NOW. The store is making something like $3,000 a day. Life is hectic. And I have to shop for presents to give people. Thanks to Amazon.com I'm mostly done with that. I just have a couple more people to buy for and I think I'll probably do that at work.

The point of this blog (in as much as it has a point at all) is to say that my life has gone insane. And Christmas is still a month away. It's only going to get worse and then in January it's going to come to a screeching halt. That is, until classes start again.

Homecoming

This week is homecoming week at the U. Nobody knew about it. I read all about it in the Cronicle (the campus paper) yesterday and that was the first time I've heard of it. According to the article, in the past homecoming was a week that really brought current students and alumni together for on campus events and the U suddenly became less of a commuter campus. This year, poor planning has left many students totally ignorant of the events, half of which (including homecoming dance) are off campus. There are no banners around campus. I think I remember seeing a flyer on a bulletin board covered in flyers. The only reason I know that it's homecoming week is because I read the article in the Cronicle about how much is being overlooked this year. I myself am not going to any events. The only thing I'd be remotely interested in is the homecoming dance on Friday. It's being held at Trolley Square, $10 a head. I'm going camping instead. Darn. I'm thinking it's probably ok though, because not many people are likely to go so I shouldn't miss much.

That's all for now. I'll have the next installment of Joanna the Worm as soon as I am bored enough.

Back in the System

It was back to school for me Wednesday. I'm taking a whole bunch of general ed classes. By a whole bunch, I mean four. I'm taking Begining French, American Civilizations, Absurd Theater and Survey of Jazz. All of them are pretty neat except American Civ has the potential to be extrememly boring. It's a basic history class that more or less everyone has to take. History is not my strongest subject, but sometimes I find it interesting. The Professor explained that we would be focusing on politics and economics. Not excited.

Working on my French homework last night I discovered that speaking it makes my head ache. It's like trying to speak out of my frontal lobe. I may be doing something wrong but that's the only way I can make myself say things correctly. I'm excited to be learning French though, it's something I've kinda wanted to do for a while.

In other news, I worked all day today. The owner's 9 yr old daughter came in with a bunch of her friends about an hour and a half before we closed. She tried to fire Derek, the assistant manager. She failed miserably, it was a little funny. She is an absolute demon though. Don't like her one little bit.

Moving On

After days of theapy, I've recovered from the sidewalk sale. Actually all it took was a nice 14 hours of sleep and I was fine. Now I have time to get everything in order for school. Granted, I've been accepted since, like, February, I've had lots of time to get things done. Unfortunately for me, I love to procrastinate. So I registered for classes yesterday. (School starts in three weeks to give you an idea of the time line). My schedule isn't as bad as it should be for registering so late. I'm taking American Civilizations (blah), Survey of Jazz (should be interesting), Absurd Theater (why not?), Begining French and maybe Writing 2010 - I have to talk to the writing dept and see if I cant wave it cuz I basically took it at the Fort.
So that's what's new with me.