new places

Hey there! Here I am!

I moved on Sunday! Contrary to my expectations, it was actually a very chill and easy-going day. Darling BETH came over promptly at 10:00 and helped me move a bunch of stuff from my room down to the front porch. Over the previous week I managed to get all of my belongings confined to my bedroom and the porch (with just a few items in the garage), and BOY did that make a difference! Around noon, Jughead joined in to help with the furniture, and between the three of us, we managed to be totally finished by 4:00 PM. Bone-tired, we enjoyed a celebratory meal of Kobe beef burgers, tater-tots, delicious beers and a huge German chocolate cupcake at the Bulldog NE.

The only dark spot to mention is that when I woke up on Sunday morning, I knew I had a cold. I managed to work through it during the actual move, but by the end of dinner, I was really hurting. I got back to the new place alone (Beth went home and Jughead will be moving in next weekend), and spent about an hour stumbling from room to room, not accomplishing much. Seeing all of my stuff in a place that I'd only visited twice before was really disorienting, and I couldn't get my head into it. I decided to call it a draw-- I took a fabulous bath in my brand-new tub, and went to sleep at 8:00.

I used the move as an excuse yesterday and didn't go in to my internship. Today, still feeling sickly and sore, I didn't go to class. I feel a touch of guilt, but I know that I really need these two days to recuperate and get a grip on my new surroundings. The first meal I made in the new kitchen (which is big and clean and bright, by the way) was a slow-cooker batch of lentil-vegetable stew with a ham hock. Jughead came home from work last night and ate some, and he said that more than almost anything else, it made him really excited to come home again.

I'm currently in a coffee shop just 4 blocks away from the new house. It's small and inexpensive (coffee-- $1 a cup), and feels quite Madison-ish. We won't have internet at home for a week or two, but I'm using this as an opportunity to see some people and places in my neighborhood.

I'll share some photos once everything is placed a little more permanently. If you'd like our new address (send cards and letters and drawings!), let me know.

life is like...

Today would be Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s 87th birthday. Although I have a bzillion other things to do today, I'm going to take some time to re-read a couple of his short stories from "Bagombo Snuffbox".

I don't think I ever showed anyone, but I made this piece in a ceramics class that I took in the fall of 2007.

I modeled it after THIS self portrait.

In other news: Jughead gave me a Whitman's Sampler last night... "You know, for when you need a fix." He is so wonderful.

THIS inspires me...

I can't get enough of this.

Man Photographs His Life Every Day for 18 Years

Jamie Livingston's Photos

save me from myself

"Between the great things we cannot do, and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing."
- Adolph Monod

I am learning so much everyday, about great causes, great movements, events and situations that incite anger, passion and action. The hope is that it will motivate me to work for social change, be the change I want to see in the world, fire me up... but it's just making me tired.

I'm tired. Too tired to do homework, or even read. I'm desperate for a craft day, or a creative outlet. I tell myself that that's what I really need to re-charge and de-stress myself.

But I think I'm just looking for more distractions. I don't want to work hard. I'm not hungry for success. I don't want to be in school. I am a lazy person.

packaging idiocy

I love getting mail. Who doesn't love getting mail? Especially a package! How fun! Well, when I got home today, I found this box waiting for me:

And you know what was inside this box? This Micro SD card for my new phone. (Shown with battery for scale.)

Yes, for some reason unknown to me, someone shipped an item that could easily fit into an envelope, in a box that could hold a pair of large boots. So unnecessary.

But it is a nice box. I can use it. I shouldn't complain.

Arguably, the ONLY acceptable use of auto-tune.

Katie Cadwell shared this video with me...

It's really beautiful.

I can't tell if I've been ripped off or not.

I stopped at Target just before I got home from Wisconsin this evening, to buy some shampoo and a package of nail files.
I went through the checkout, swiped my card, carried the two items out to my car, and went home.
After I parked, I looked at the receipt and saw that my total was $2.84. Evidently, the shampoo wasn't properly scanned, and I didn't pay for it! Free shampoo!

A few hours later, as I was getting ready to take a shower, I took the lid off the shampoo and smelled it. As I did so, I realized that the bottle is only about 2/3 full.
Had I PAID for the product, I would have had to decide if it was worth going back to Target to complain about, but because of an associate's mistake, I got 2/3 of a bottle of shampoo for free.
How weird.

Oh yeah-- my Atlas's 1st birthday party was a blast!!! Check out the photos HERE.