Are we really happy with who we are right now?

So I’ll admit that I’ve been listening to Moneen again. Sorry. I can’t really help it too much. I just like them so much live. And it seems that they’re in that category of bands that I seem to never outgrow.

The answer to the question is yes, by the way.

Kyle and I are both starting to recover from our colds. I feel a lot better every day and he’s starting to feel a bit better everyday though he is taking longer to get back to fully functional than I did. I basically annihilated this cold with sinus rinse and zicam. I’m convinced this cocktail is one of the best for knocking out a cold. I’m also pretty impressed that I managed to keep the cold from moving into my sinuses cos that would have made for a bad time while we wait for my new health insurance to kick in. Kyle’s still asleep this morning and I’m hoping that a really long sleep will knock all of the sick out of him before we have to start a new week of classes tomorrow. He doesn’t have class until tomorrow afternoon though so he can probably be sick for much longer.

We’ve been keeping house pretty well, despite our sickness, and I really really enjoy being married, at least after the first week. One of our wedding gifts from the Bearman’s was placemats. I think Shelley will be surprised that such a simple part of their gift has made such a huge impact on our apartment, but basically, the table that Kyle painted (which I think is beautiful, by the way) suffered a bit of damage on the way down here. The damage that’s really bad is limited mostly to the leaf, however, so we were using the table in the center of our dining area as a square. Now that we have placemats, combined with a table runner, we can cover up all the damage so our table looks even better. I’ll have pictures up in the gallery later. I took a bunch last night.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 7:30 which seems to be my body’s new preferred time to rise. I’m not complaining though, it’s nice to have a whole day at my command instead of just part of it like when I sleep in. I started thinking about the few things we still needed to do around the apartment to have it exactly to my liking and decided that a trip to Home Depot was in order to get things to build the bench we had our wedding party sign at the wedding. It’s the bench that was a section of the bleacher on which we got engaged that Dr. Wynn bought us. It looks great now with it’s white legs and can hold a person but will more likely hold my purse and his wallet and cd faces or whatever in our entry way where it sets under my other project of yesterday. I made, in honor of Nicky’s coffee table chalkboard on her wall, a chalkboard out of a 2×2 piece of plywood. It hangs above the table and suits the living room well, I think. I like the graininess of the plywood and I’m hoping that it catches a little bit of chalk so it really starts to look interesting. As it is, I do not yet have chalk so I need to get going on that. I’m anxious to see how it works! Since it’s so close to the door, I included some key hooks on it so we have a place to always find out keys. Haha. I feel like such a grown-up these days.

Alright, I have a lot more to say about last weeks social engagements but I will save that for my next entry when I’m a little farther in to my reading for the week. I still need to straighten up the house and get to the museum library at one so I can get back here quickly. I’ll post pictures and journal again this evening or this time tomorrow.

(Sun)burned.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I have a wretched, wretched sunburn from forgetting to lotion up at the pool. Agh. I also spent a lot of Wednesday getting stuff sorted around and packed for the trip to Lubbock so that I’ll be ready when we leave August 15. That meant my back was in the sun, priming it to get burnt like crazy on Thursday when I was at the pool. But oh well, I learned my lesson about sun screen and it looks like I’m just going to end with a nice tan, not peeling. So that would be good even if the tradeoff is not worth the sun exposure and skin damage.

I guess that is all.

Another slow week, waiting for the arrival of July

I am in the worst mood for some unknown reason.  I even have reasons to be glad like Kyle is in town tonight and I have a clean room to go home to because I spent all afternoon working on it.  For some reason, there is not enough time in the day and there is too much time until the summer is over and I get to move into an apartment with Kyle who will then become my husband.  Maybe I’ll cheer up soon.

My mom and I are still getting along really well so I hope that keeps happening.  It’s nice.  Every evening when she gets home we sit outside and chat until it’s time for me to go to work.  It’s this sort of getting along that I’m really going to miss when I move away, but I’m sure we’ll keep in touch on the phone and things.

On the brightside, I no longer think that staying at home would bring on bouts of depression which is a big plus because I’ve mostly felt that way for my entire life.  There is a chance that three days without a whole lot of structured things to do is like my critical point where I feel like I have a lot to do without feeling like I have too much time to do it.  We will see, I suppose.

Kyle and I officially move on August 15.  We even have an apartment number already! Yay! 203B!  For some reason, I’ve gotten impossibly excited after figuring out what apartment will be ours.  Maybe it’s related to being able to finish the wedding programs, hah.  I still need to discuss it with him, but I think the plan is for his parents to go with us when we first head down and help us move in the furniture and basic things and then for my mom to accompany us, Logan and the wedding gifts when we head back on Labor Day after the wedding.  It should be a good time.  And I’m excited to get there.

Also, this past week I have been very good with money which is good because I am on a budget.  Go me.

Losing my chomps

I had a pretty nice weekend in Independence, Kansas and then getting caught up on things before I got my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday.  I’m pretty well on track with everything, or at least caught up with a usual tuesday.  I just need to spend a chunk of time working on f&f stuff on thursday and the apeiron is friday.  when i got home from surgery yesterday i found out that Kyle’s grandmother passed away which makes me sad.  I never knew her but it’s just hard and I hate that I can’t be there for him.  I think distance at times like these is really when distance is the hardest because we could both really use each others physical presence, what with my recovering from surgery where one of the instructions is not to talk much and with him not really liking to talk about what’s going on.  I just really wish that we were closer, I guess.  And I can’t wait until that happens.  I applied for three museum internships today so hopefully one of those comes through.  And I’m applying for an actual job with the pitch but i haven’t been able to do that yet even though I now have a professional resume ready to go.  I should probably show around for more places to start putting in an application.  I’m very excited about kind of knowing what we’re doing and having some time before the move to put in applications and look for jobs.

Several Accomplishments

So, last night I got home from work and saw mom for the first time since Kyle and I got engaged.  This went poorly, as expected.  For one, she’d alreaedy taken her pain medicine for her hip which was broken in December so she was pretty out of it and more irritable than usual.  We talked for a little while and she got very upset that I want to get married so soon because she didn’t think that would be the case at all and said as much.  Then she tried to talk me out of because of some rational reasons like health insurance.  Eventually we just went to bed in disagreement and I called Kyle.   Mostly, I think, I appreciated her opinions but I was just really stressed out because I want to be planning my wedding and getting excited about being engaged to the person i want to spend the rest of my life with, and its hard to do that when someone keeps telling you you’re an idiot for getting the wedding part over with and moving on to the marriage part.  Also, I want to share this excitement with my mom! I only get one proposal, one ring, and one engagement and I’d be much more satisifed if mom was as excited as I am about all three… and waited a few days to get upset about the date (rather than the 18 hours or so that it took her to express concern). So last night I was pretty upset, but then today things got better.

For one, I talked to my professors about it and they all seem to be in agreement that a shorter engagement is better.  Or at the very least they expressed no concern about my getting married to Kyle so soon.  This was comforting because I think they know me well enough to judge whether or not this engagement will tear me away from my plans for studies in the future, which is another of my mom’s major concerns, and it’s good to have their backing that I’m dedicated enough to get it done.

Also, I called the church so that I could figure out what needs to be done to start setting a date.  They said I’d need to be a registered member so I went there and got that taken care of so we can get on to the date-setting part.  Hooray!  When I got there a group of high schoolers followed me in.  I figured they were like a church youth choir or something getting back from a day of singing valentines.  But then when I told Dolores that I was there to register, she asked if it were a joke.  I said no… and then i was like “oh… they’re not with me.” so she asked what they were there efor and they said they had a singing Valentine.  We all went into the back room where the Father Jon was meeting with some women.  They sang “earth angel” and there was a cute dog who is apparently named Joseph.  Father said “Joseph knew that one cos I sing it to him every night.” which made me smile and know that this is the right church and the right priest for our wedding.  Dolores then told him that I had just shown up to register to be a member and so he stood up and shook my hand and said hi and I explained that I’d been attending for a few years but hadn’t really thought to register but I just got engaged and they told me that I’d need to be registered.  And he said “oh so I’ll be seeing more of you, then?”  It made me super happy.  I’m excited to sit down with Kyle and Father Jon and figure out all the ins and outs of the sacrament I am about to embark upon!

Mysteries of your passing luck

i was talking to tim the other day about really obvious signs that i’m probably about to hit another cycle of depression.  here’s two: 1) i delete all the information on my facebook; 2) i stop blogging.  for those of you who have picked up on the second, i figured i should toss an update your way.

i’ve been emersed in the joys of thanksgiving, finishing my one term paper of the semester (one?! i’ve only written 10 constructive pages this semester?! brilliant.  i spoil myself sometimes.), and getting my application ready to send off to minnesota.  this semester has really reaffirmed my desire to be an historian for the rest of my life.  specifically, it’s knocked out my desire to go to grad school in art history and my sneaking suspicion that i might really like anthropology.  the truth is, i don’t.  and here’s why.  i’ve always referred to art history as the mistress to my wife that is my history degree.  i love it, i get excited to go see it, and sometimes i  imagine how my life would be if i’d chosen it from the beginning instead of history.  but this semester i’ve been spending more time in art history than history and it’s turn out as expected… i really love history not art history.  the upsides are that i really like cari, and erin and sarah, and the other girls in my art history class who i see regularly.  i’ve met new people who are intelligent and help me have conversations that aren’t nearly as abrasive as the ones i have with historians.  the downsides are that it turns out i don’t like to write art history term papers.  it’s like you read description after description after description and then you write a description.  not exactly my cup of tea.  i’m sure it would be more exciting if it were a primary interpretation of a work of art and not a secondary one.  but we’re left with what we’re assigned…. and that’s basically meant i’ve been staring down Sowei masks for the last three weeks and all i can seem to say about them is “those rings around their neck are just indentations which are thought to be pretty.”  The paper’s good though, and I’m proud of it.  So that matters.

Anthropology is a whole other set of problems.  I think I’ve struggled with the difference between anthropology and history in terms of African history because so much of African history is based on ethnographies and both building on the work of anthropologists and trying to correct errors they made when they asked the wrong questions or looked at the world the wrong way.  So I’m finally in an anthro class this semester (well it’s my second go at it, I withdrew last year because the professor was so dumb that she was sucking the life out of my brain).  It has a lot of similar experiences as art history.  I discuss things a little differently… I’ve met new people on campus.  It also has the added benefit of helping me to remember the ideals I had when I started college.  I’m much more rallied for the fight against irrational constructions of gender, race, and class.  I feel like it’s a good idea to speak up against sweatshops and those sorts of things.  I really appreciate anthropology for that reason.  But I can now put my finger on why I want to go into African history and not African anthropology.  You ready?  It’s one word: context.  I feel like anthropology just ignores the context of culture.  Like what it means to be Ju/wasi is what it meant to be Ju/wasi in 1954.  So even though being Ju/wasi now means an entirely different set of circumstances which aren’t nomadic… anthropology just looks at modern Ju/wasi as victims of apartheid.  and it ignores all the changes and adaptations of those cultures.  Often, I feel like the lone historian in the room who has to contextualize subjects we talk about.  Today, we talked about foot binding and one guy compared it to bulimia.  Which is a misclassification of bulimia which generally arises from a psychological desire to control which emerges in part but not exclusively from social expectations to be thin.  But also.  It ignores all of the class elements of foot binding, the trauma of maoist cultural reforms, et cetera.

So I don’t want to be an art historian because I don’t like to describe things and I don’t want to be an anthropologist so I can contextualize things.  And that makes me more excited to be an historian.

In other news, I’m surprised by how quickly diet soda became a normal taste for me and how the aspertame just neutralizes out of the flavor very quickly.

Also, Sunday I’m watching all of season six of 24.  start to finish at my parents house.  not getting out of bed except for food.  I’m so damn excited.

An ear for baby if you need it

So I’ve had like five migraines in six weeks and I’m not even sure why.  The thing about it all is that a year ago I was far, far more stressed out than I am now.  And right now I actually feel pretty relaxed about everything, classes are going well.  Interpersonal relationships are good.  I’m getting along with my parents, seeing more of my brother than before and better than all of that they’re all getting along with each other.  So why, then, does that spot behind my eye feel like it’s going to explode 1/7th of the time.  I’m not sure, but I have a hunch that it could be distant stressors.  Things like grad school coming, a relationship being taken to the next level for the first time.  Weird stuff.  I’m not sure what it is but it’s something different.  At least I finally have a decentish medicine that works 75% of the time to keep me functioning.

Kyle’s been in town all weekend which is nice.  He’s been right that it’s fixed things.  I just wish that he was around like all the time.  Because I’ve never really had a boyfriend that I’ve just liked this much.  And I’m glad that I finally do.  I wish I had someone around for lunch dates or back rubs or movie nights or even just someone to curl up next to when the day is over.  But I don’t, and I think that’s probably okay too.  I remember last semester I really appreciated having the time to get to know myself.  I’d write about how even though Kyle was far away when I wanted him here, it was nice to get to spend time with friends and not have that daunting issue of boys and girls and dating kind of looming over every conversation.  I should just try to look at it that way still.  Cos it’s nice to have this life that’s just full of friends and good times without much concern about dating.

let's pretend we're in antartica

ah, so i’m finally going to update my blog. and i have so much to say that i’ve actually felt the need to outline this entry so that I don’t forget anything because I’ve had a really pretty stellar few weeks since I last updated and I would hate to leave something out.

First, the last time I really posted I mentioned that I was going to spend Labor Day with Kyle in carbondale, or more that I was going to spend Labor Day Weekend with Kyle and then drive home to work on actual labor day. I had an awesome time. The drive in went by really slowly, in part because I was anxious, in part because I had a long long long lunch, and in part because there was a wreck on i70 that slowed traffic to 20 miles per hour average. Oi. I stopped in Columbia and had lunch with Duker at Moe’s in part cos you’ve gotta start knocking out delicious carbondale food on route to Carbondale or you just won’t have time for everything you want to eat by the time you get to Illinois for just a few days. Also, it’s always nice to have some conversations with Duker. Lunch was delicious and a little bit long but I finished my whole burrito and eventually made it back on the road. When I got to Carbondale, late, Kyle grilled and then we went to the liquor store. I wanted to go to the bar cos I was in the mood for shots but instead I was talked into drinkin at the house so I bought all the stuff needed to make washington apples. That night we learned the following: Jess of right now:Apple Pucker::Jess of three years ago:Vodka. We woke up the next day and had a pretty relaxing time around the apartment until we went to his friend Brandon’s place and hung out with them while they grilled. We got Don Taco and went to the bars at about 10 or so and we were in by one a.m. I’ve apparently civilized Kyle. He seemed kind of bitter about it that night, but in a good way. Sunday, we went to a winery with Duran and Neely. That was an adventure. I had a really awesome time, but Kyle was so silly cos we got like 5 tastes for a dollar. So Duran and Neely got a pitcher of Sangria that was so amazingly delicious. And Kyle and I got our tastes. Kyle tastes one thing. Then gets another taste of the same thing. Then buys a bottle of it and gives me his other tastes. That kid is so nervous about wine. I had fun with my 8 samples and had some of the sangria… yummy. They have this porte called Framboise (strawberry obviously) that was delicious. The rest of it varied between being very good and moderately good and bad. I’m kind of picky about my wine though. All-in-all it was a really awesome weekend. I’m glad that Kyle and I just pick up where we left off after we spend time apart.

The following week I started to get a little sick. Mostly I just had lots of sinus headaches and a bad migraine on Tuesday. Wednesday, Colby was in town so we went out cos he was sleeping at my place. This resulted in the best night ever, esp for a Wednesday. First of all, I love having weeknights off. An evening that I can spend doing whatever makes me so happy. So I was super excited about that night. Colby came over for a bit in the evening (This is where my last pseudopost occured.) and then I met him later at the Cowboy where fun insued. First of all, I was so nervous about the Cowboy because it’s terribly white trash and gangster at the same time. I’m also unsure about clubs because I don’t like dance floors where people don’t dance… or do i? it turns out that the cowboy dance floor is like a live-action reality tv show. The floor is only full, but not crowded, when there is a slow country song. The rest of the time there are at max four clusters of people (or people going solo) dancing. You get to watch blue-shirt guy try to hook up with white-shirt girl. You get to see plaid-shirt-guy making a fool of himself trying to dance. You get to see two girls trying to dance together in an attempt to bait some unsuspecting male on the dance floor. Oh my. You even get hit on by sixty year olds because Colby’s an ass and is way late so you sit alone playing with your phone. Who could avoid that much fun? Mostly i was just excited because Bud Select was cheap. Not that Bud Select is ever expensive. But it’s better when it’s cheap. After the Cowboy we decided we should make it to the Trap where we ran into Justin and Dave. I run into Justin everytime I go to the Apple store which for whatever reason has made us slightly better friends. So i was very excited to get to interact socially with him. I was swindled into being a davette during baby got back. :sigh: I was also swindled into karaoke with Colby, which was mostly awesome. You all really know how i adore situations that are seemingly unexpected. I live for those moments that end movies: where you find yourself dancing with the girl you’ve been pissed about all summer cos she’s fucking your exboyfriend and you gain a sense of closure, where someone apologizes for something they’ve done years ago that you’re not mad about but marks a new chapter in your friendship, where you hallucinate with a boy whose floor you’re crashing on in a city you’re visiting and you met the boy three years ago when you were straight edge and he was a huge fan of chomsky’s media critiques. I’m always filled with a sense of nostalgia and a realization that everything is always changing. And even if you don’t believe in progress, sometimes you can believe that it really is always getting better. So by the end of the night Colby and I were singing Santa Monica by Everclear together and I realized that he’s now one of my better friends, way beyond elevated out of the exboyfriend category in my life, and that it’s really sweet how relationships grow and change and transcend. After that, we headed to James’s so that I could get a little bit sober before we went back to my place. That’s where the night went south for Colby. As for me, I had a wonderful conversation with James’s roommate Ben.

Last weekend, Kyle came into town. He got in Thursday and we partied with the debaters. Friday was much of the same, but at BWW not Joe Allen’s. And I got to hang out with Nate that night and we ended up at the former Goose Too which was having a sucky night, but we had enough fun. The next day I took Nate back to his place and then hung out with Kyle until I went to work. We ended up at Pigskins that night with the Tech crowd which was fun. Then we got all kinds of fucked up at Joe Allens (well, I got all kinds of fucked up.) and later there was IHOP. I was underimpressed with the crepes, ps. They did not give me enough sour creme. I like the desert menu crepe best, it turns out.

I’ve pretty much been immobile and sick since Kyle left. I’m better as of sometime yesterday morning in terms of pressure but Monday-Thursday i was a mess. This all culminated with me having a breakdown in the history department because too many people were making too many demands of me. And I’m having a terrible conflict of interest about what I want to do with the next year. I feel like history makes me jaded and cynical. I’m not nearly as involved or idealistic as I once was. I now view things like feminism and enviornentalism or animal rights or all those things I used to get really fired up about as some sort of 2D description of an historical reality. I feel unconvinced of beauty. I might take the LSAT. I’m definitely going to cut some things out of my life, in attempt to have evenings every now and then, or maybe just to have some time to be still. The radio was talking about Psalm 46:10 which says “Be Still and Know that I am God.” I want time to do that. I’m so excited for next year when I don’t have so many things floating around. I want to spend time with Kyle. I want to have evenings to do homework or watch tv or movies or anything. I want to make dinner with my boyfriend/fiance/husband and eat it together. It’s nice that I don’t have to wait until 9 p.m., realistically midnight, to call my boyfriend cos I’m on sprint now. But I’m so excited for us to be a family. And for my life to get started.

I feel like the Topeka chapter of my life has ended and I’m just stuck on the last page which will be written in an uneventful flourish by the author. That’s depressing. To liberate myself from this feeling I’m trying to spend more time with James, Emily, and the other people that I’ll miss when I’m gone next year. My family.

I take the GRE on Monday. I’m excited to have it be done. I’m confident that I’ll do well. I’ll keep you updated.
I think that I’m going to change the style of jeans I wear. From Low-rise to Mid-rise. At least as long as long shirts are in, jeans will have to be higher to meet fashion standards. Plus, I kind of like how they look. Oh, and there is new ani. AND they have released a game called Worms 2 for the DS. Ohfuckyes. We will fight the battle of Worms on my DS. I am so excited I cannot handle it.

Productivity in two simple steps

Wait for me another year or two/I will graduate and marry you/You roll the number and I??ll buy the lumber/To build a house up on an Oregon hill//There??s a mountain/There??s a time to/They were put up there to keep us apart/So I watch you making plans and I make plans
– Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, from “Oregon Girl”

Kyle came into town cos he didn’t want me to spend a night alone when things were crazy.  I’ll explain what was crazy later, probably in a private entry.  But it seems alright now.  It’s just a whole lot of stress… but what would the last week of summer be without stress? Really.  So I got to spend an unexpected day with him.  It was much fun.

I woke up late for the dentist which is good cos I really didn’t want to go.  I considered calling in with some bad excuse but I already did that last month so I showed up for the appointment and got my teeths cleaned.  They did a good job.  There was lots of whining at me cos I don’t floss but I don’t lie about it.  I just hate doing it and I don’t have the time and I’m not leaving floss and hand sanitizer out by the tv so I’ll do it there cos that won’t happen.  I want to watch 24 while I’m watching 24… not be concerned about my teeth.  So fuck it.  I might actually take up flossing as a regular habit though, mostly because I hate the dentist so much that I try to keep them from whining at me.  They gave me two different kinds of floss cos I prefer the non-waxed kind for most of my teeth and i require a very waxed kind for my front teeth cos they’re half fake and not very well sanded.  This is too much talk about my teeth.

After adventures with the dentist I had to break into James house to return the PS2 so that David could play Spyro and didn’t have to keep calling me about the PS2.  He’d be the best debt collector ever, I believe.  I left it on the couch and continued to plot how I will tackle the issue of cleaning that place in the next few days.  I’ll do it, I will.

Then it was off to meet with Bearman or more particularly Prasch.  We talked about Grad School.  My list has changed.  I’m gonna do this in tiers like my buddy list on aim.  (bet you didn’t know i tiered my friends there, but i do.  it makes a difference too.)

Tier 1: Schools I Really Want to Attend

  1. Minnesota
  2. Wisconsin

Tier 2: Schools I Would Like to Attend

  1. Northwestern
  2. UCLA

Tier 3: Schools Which will possibly be elevated to tier 1 or 2

  1. Boston
  2. Michigan

I’m currently looking for a movie about something in African History on which I can write a conference paper! Do leave suggestions! I’m going to post this on my suicidegirls account too… cos they are much more academic than my wordpress readership.  Not kidding. But that’s because I have way more wordpress readers.