A Great Day

Today was a really good day, even though nothing terribly exciting happened.

I woke up early, spent the morning starting my paper for my independent study, and then went to work at 10:00. At work, I got to play around on Facebook because it is legitimately part of my job to do so (I update the Study Abroad and Reves Center Fan Pages, plus invite people to fan us, and update listservs), and then continued to transcribe evaluations. I only have half of a program left though! I should finish up these evaluations tomorrow, which is really exciting, considering that I have been working on them since last semester.

After work, I spent a little time on Gmail e-mailing with Emily and Dana about Disney World, in what proved to be a very long, very humorous e-mail thread. I really miss those two, so getting to have a "conversation" with them today for an hour or so made me incredibly happy. Meanwhile, I finished my paper. It was a paper which essentially wrote itself, but it wasn't a very good paper, necessarily. That is, the information was right, and it flows, but because this week was an introduction, I had some difficulty deciding which themes to pick up on.

As it so happens, many themes which I could comment on, and many "dialogues" among the authors, were illuminated during my meeting with Professor Popper. I love my indepedent study. Besides the fact that the reading is great, interesting, and that I actually want to sit down and learn, the meeting with Professor Popper really helped me to pull things out of the text that I hadn't consciously thought of before. He also helped me to place the authors historical arguments as I hadn't before. I did feel smart though, because I picked up on something in Gurr that struck me as false, and he picked up on it, too. It has to do with land, ready cash, and their relative importance; if you really want the details I can tell you, but if I explained it all here it would simply be nerding out on Renaissance and eighteenth-century history. He also posed the question "If you were Queen Anne of Denmark, why would you pay for a masque?" and we discussed James I and his historical reputation. James fun facts: in addition to practicing homosexuality, which obviously scandalized early historians, James practically led the witch-hunts in Scotland pre-becoming King of England; he even wrote his own Daemonology!

Anyways, the point is that, without a doubt, my independent study was the right choice for my third class this semester. As I mentioned, I find Race Relations more interesting than I anticipated, and on Tuesday I had "Field School in Material Culture" and I think it will be really fun, but there's no third class I could want to take more this independent study.

Then, to top the day off, I went to Trader Joe's! Grocery shopping CAN be fun. I got some amazing food, and for dinner had fettuccine, naan bread, and a baby spinach salad with dried cherries and balsamic vinigrette. Best meal I've made in this house in ages (Stephen made some great flank steak the other day with pasta and bell peppers, and that would be the best meal I've had in this house lately, but I didn't make it). And my food tonight only took about 10 minutes to prepare! I can eat well every day without ever going out for a meal again!

A good class, a good meal, and a productive day certainly make me happy.

Also, I'm learning Spanish on Muzzy and I'm making great progress! Although, it is Spain Spanish, not Latin American. Oh well, I want to live in England anyways, so the Spain Spanish will come in handy, and the basics will help in the USA.

And it was your heart on the line...

This is just a post to say: Mumford and Sons.

I discovered this band about a week ago while listening to BBC Radio 1 on XM in my car. Someone called in and requested "Little Lion Man." Fell in love with the song immediately, looked the band up, and found that they have an album (already out in the UK, coming out in North America on February 16th) called Sigh No More as a reference to Shakespeare's Much Ado.

Go. Listen. Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJf9qJHR3E

Je suis Muzzy, Le Grand Muzzy!

Muzzy arrived yesterday!!! I'm so excited! I could hardly contain my excitement as my plush Muzzy toy came tumbling out of the package with a collector's tin full of Muzzy DVDs, and CDs, and CD-Roms. Hooray for Muzzy! I can't decide which language to concentrate on, so I'm bouncing around a little, although I probably shouldn't. The French Muzzy makes me feel smart, because I understand just about everything they are saying, no problem. The other languages make me feel rather slow. I think I'll concentrate on French (improving listening comprehension, mostly, and getting some basic vocab that I missed out on in French 1, due to my teacher, though Lac du Bois admirably made up for most any gaps), and perhaps also work a bit with Spanish, as it's an important language in the USA today. Although, I really want to learn German. And Italian is pretty, plus I already have a foundation in it. I wish there were more languages! Except then I really wouldn't know which to choose, and I only have a limited amount of Muzzy time each day.

I finished all of my reading for Comparative Race Relations yesterday, but I got a migraine for most of the afternoon today, so I haven't written the two-page paper yet. Oh well, it's not due until Tuesday, so I can work on it tonight and tomorrow. At least the reading is done. And then I have to finish my Shakespeare reading and write that two-page paper, but that's at least pretty fun and feels like I'm building towards something career-related. Although, in a way, I like Comparative Race Relations, as much as I've complained about it to friends and family. I don't usually like... how to say it... problematic? history. History that makes me feel queasy inside. And honestly, that's most of history. I like English political history until 1832, but mostly domestic, not foreign policy. I like the history of the Amerindians in the pre-Columbian period. I like theater history. "Safe" history, in a sense. Older history, without much relevance to the present moment, beyond the basic fact that everything in history reverberates to the future. But this class is forcing me to examine problems that face us today, which is something that I should really be educated about, things that mean something to the world, to humankind. Something that helps me as a global citizen to understand others and the way our perception of the world and its peoples is constructed by society. So, in a sense, I think as much as I will complain about it, it will help me grow as a person more than my other courses. Perhaps it will be a bit like how reading Middle Passages last semester opened my eyes to contemporary problems in Africa and the USA through an examination of the tumultuous history of both the continent and people of African origin, although obviously the class will be more indepth than a single book.

I'm a little tired of being safe all the time. Maybe branching out is good.

In other news, saw Sinfonicron's Gondoliers last night and it was really cute, and tonight is a wine and cheese party at Zan, Mike, Thomas, and Annie's because Allison is visiting. And then papering and more Muzzy!!! Hooray for language acquisition!

The Last First Day of Classes

Yesterday was the last first day of classes for a long while, if not forever. And honestly, it wasn't so bad. No panic attacks, no sinking feelings of dread. Even the syllabus for Comparative Race Relations didn't look as terrible as I had feared. It almost looks, dare I say it, interesting. Trying to print the reading has been a bit of a challenge, as it's in e-book form and angrily unprintable, but the topics seem reasonably alluring and my professor is so nice and enthusiastic.

Plus, I got homemade chocolate chip cookies from Mike M.!

February will be hellishly difficult though, what with two 2-3 page papers due every week, plus whatever I'm assigned for Field School in Material Culture, and my 20 page thesis chunk due March 1st. And March... well, with my oral exams perhaps not better. But I have not forgotten my goals of fun! I WILL WiiActive and Muzzy! I WILL travel and do weekend trips! This is the only time I will ever be this young again! Life is not a dress rehearsal! Sometimes I think I'm guilty of taking everything too seriously, but in the end, what's there to be taken so seriously? We have here and now and I intend not to look back and feel like I wasted this Spring.

Flashes of Light

Williamsburg this past week hasn't been as bad as I feared. Granted classes start tomorrow, so I haven't had to deal with school much yet, but in general life has had mostly good moments. It's as if the past week were a series of tableaus, snapshots thrown on the kitchen table, sifted through, remembered. The week in my mind consists of a series of images.

I've been playing Wii Active nearly everyday with Zan, Annie, Thomas, and Mike. We dance and lunge and inline skate and box and burn calories all while the game says "I like the competition you have going" and "Player 2, step up your game!" We watched Death at a Funeral last night, and the night before that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Death at a Funeral was ten times better, and Alan Tudyk gives a great performance. The whole script felt very British. I love hanging out at the apartment. I ordered Muzzy: Multilingual Edition, so next semester Zan, Annie, and I want to take time everyday for WiiActive and Muzzy.

Sphinx-cat came home, and so I've been spending lots of time with him. He's so excited to have his little multi-colored plush ball again. He keeps bringing it into my room around 6:00 AM and expecting me to play.

There have been lunches at the Cheese Shop, once with my friend Will, then with my friends Elijah and Pretlow, with a little too much wine. There was seeing Leap Year at New Town with my mom and my dad, and going to the townhouse for homemade stew. There was a dinner at Tequila Rose with Mike. There have been mornings of Ellen and tea, or coffee at Aroma's and a walk through CW. I ran into Megan and CJ and Macs yesterday before my dentist appointment (clean teeth!).

Last night there was a trip to Newport News to see Shea for a new episode of iCarly, and to catch up on all the news of Winter Break, before some WiiMario with the crew at the apartment.

I feel like I've actually had things to do. More importantly, I feel like I've actually had friends around. No matter how bleak things seem on the outside, they can be made better simply by spending an hour or so with friends. :)

Here We Go Again...

Well, I'm now back in Williamsburg, gearing up for my second AND last semester of graduate school. I am so ready for this to be over. I'm trying to keep a super positive attitude right now, though. I mean, attitude is like, what 80% of any endeavor? So I keep telling myself that this is it! My last four months of school for at least a few years, my last Spring in Williamsburg probably ever, and my last chance to study things that I really want to study-- especially my independent study. So I should really do my best to enjoy the hell out of it!!!

I know it's going to be lots of hard work, but at least this semester there is no Hoffman class, and one of the courses I designed. Then it's just a summer to finish my thesis! Plus, Carter Hailey sent me two wonderful, wonderful Shakespeare books-- one for my independent study and one just for fun. I love him so much! So see, good things.

But still... it's a little difficult to stay positive. Especially right now, since pretty much no one is back from break yet, except me and my roommate. Thank goodness Stephen IS here, though. We watched Ellen together this morning, and tomorrow night we are doing a roommate dinner. I am so incredibly happy that Stephen is my roommate. No idea how I would have survived this year without him around.

So far, I've unpacked my clothes and realized that I have way too many. I should probably sort through them and throw out the things that I will most likely never wear again. I also bought Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" on iTunes and have been listening to it compulsively. It's such an addictive song. I saw Zan for a bit last night to give him his Christmas present, and today I need to run to the grocery store, Target, and perhaps Swem. Yep, this is Williamsburg.

Goals for the semester:
1) Do things I've never done before in Williamsburg, or haven't done very much, such as a wine-tasting at the vineyards and a few days at Busch Gardens.
2) Do everything I love in Williamsburg for a "last" time.
3) Try to take a few weekends away, such as in D.C., VA Beach, or Richmond.
4) Have an hour of fun each day.
5) Enjoy life, come rain or sun.

Chilling in the Big Easy

I just got back yesterday afternoon from a fantastic trip to New Orleans. I'm already dreaming of going back-- more beignets, more shopping, more admiring the architecture, more museums, more ghost tours. We didn't even get to see the bayou, which I think is perfect reason to head down south again soon.

Thursday morning Kacey, my mom, and I were at the airport for our very uneventful flight, and we got into New Orleans around 2:00 that afternoon, central time. When we landed it was still about 50 degrees outside, but very rainy. We walked around the French Quarter for a bit, and then about an hour and a half later or so Kay arrived! That night we had dinner at Ralph and Kacoo's-- great food, amazing service. The waiters were so funny! We had gator bites for an appetizer (a bit like chicken, but chewier), and one of the best bowls of she-crab soup ever, and grouper, and then a brownie sundae that Kay and I shared. Fantastic.

After dinner we went on a ghost tour, which left from Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop. Our tour guide was named Midian, and he dressed a bit like a cowboy. It was interesting. The beginning of the tour was a lot of fun. We heard some great ghost stories about some hotels in the area, and about Jackson Square, and Midian knew his stuff. The temperature was plummetting, however, so we were beginning to freeze. That might have been ok, especially since there was a bar break in the middle to warm up, but we also had a drunk stupid girl on the tour, and we're pretty sure that Midian thought he was going to get laid so he started paying attention only to her. Seriously, this girl was ridiculously stupid-- stupider as she sobered up, actually, which led us to believe she had spent her whole life studying drunk, so could only be smart under the influence. She asked if New Orleans was involved at all with the Civil War; when Midian explained that General Butler, a Union General who held New Orleans while it was occupied by northern troups, had suggested turning all of the women of New Orleans into "women of the night" and killing any man who tried to defend them, the girl said, "There must be more to that story." When Midian said, "Yes, it was if anyone made fun of the Northern troops," she shrugged and said, "See?" as if making fun of someone was reason enough for rape. Terrible. Also at the Lalaurie House, which had been recently owned by Nick Cage and still had some decorations on it from Halloween, the girl started talking about decorating that house for Halloween was "the utmost of disrespect." There were other things, but mostly she was stupid and annoying.

At the end of the tour we stopped at a different bar, though, and it was amazing. It had once been the Spanish prison, according to the bartender, and William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Alastair Crowley had all been there to drink. We got warming and wonderful cups of hot buttered rum. :)

The next day, we woke up and headed for Cafe du Monde to get some "man-grabbin'" beignets. It wasn't rainy at all anymore, but it was frigidly cold-- in the 30s. We got our beignets, then stopped into some boutiques, and then headed to a museum about Mardi Gras. I had no idea how much goes into each Mardi Gras! The museum was very cool and comprehensive, with rooms about the history of Mardi Gras, Krewes, Costumes, and Balls (which we have decided we need to be invited to). We were there for easily two hours. The strangest part was in the section devoted exclusively to costume design they had a picture of the 2005 Queen and Court of the Krewe of Endymion, and one of my high school friends was on the Court!!! She was a year older than I was and played Titania when my high school did Midsummer. I was Peaseblossom, her head fairy. :) So that was exciting.

After the Mardi Gras museum we got lunch at a place called Cafe Maspero, which had dollar strawberry daiquiris! So cheap!!! Also, really good French Onion Soup and Red Beans and Rice. All under 10 bucks. Great place. After lunch we headed to the Voodoo Museum... it felt kind of... cheap. But interesting! They had lots of Voodoo masks and "gris-gris" and a mummified cat and turtle, and a nice little sheet with facts about Voodoo. They never explained the difference betweeen Voodoo and Hoodoo, though, which kind of irked me, and really never explained the origins of Voodoo-- I know it is a mix of Catholicism and African religions, but seriously they could have tried harder to let me know what exactly the Voodoo beliefs are. However, they also explained certain methods of obtaining what you want using Voodoo. All noted. I'm still a little confused about what it all means, but I guess I have a better grasp of it now than I did before I went to New Orleans.

That night we went to Brennan's for dinner, which was amazing. I tried Turtle Soup, which I discovered is a bit like Maryland Clam Chowder (the turtle is a lot like clam), and Kacey and I had the BEST Bananas Foster. So good. We were also sitting in the "Rex" room, which further led us to believe that we need to be involved with Mardi Gras Krewes :). After dinner, Kacey, Kay, and I headed to St. Peter's Street once more, to Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop. We wanted to get tarot readings. Unfortunately, only two people were allowed back at a time, so we took turns with who got to hear who's reading. I sat out the first session, while Kay got her reading and Kacey listened. There was a really nice guy working at the Voodoo shop, though, named Joey, so it was ok. We got along pretty well, and then while I listened as Kacey was getting her cards read, Kay talked to him, and so on.

The tarot readings themselves were quite interesting: mine had parts that were accurate for the present, such as "nothing much is going on right now, you're in a bit of an average time." Truth. Basically, I had control over my work and my emotional life, but nothing major was going on in either. I had him then read for the next six months and the next year. Apparently, the next year is going to be way more intense than my present or than my past year. Some of this seemed ok, as I always was in control emotionally, but he said to be wary of something in my work life in the next nine months to a year, as something that seems great won't be as great as I thought. There was some other accurate stuff, too. :)

After tarot reading, Kacey, Kay, and I went over to Pat O'Brien's for their famous drink called "A Hurricane." SO GOOD. We then went over to an Irish bar next to the Voodoo shop. We tried to go find Joey to see if he wanted to get a drink with us, but he was off of work already, so we just kept it a girls night. Kacey ordered a mai-tai at the bar and they looked at her as if she was crazy, and she ended up with a rum and pineapple juice :). Good fun.

The next day we went once more to Cafe du Monde for beignets. This time we sat indoors (hooray!) and the beignets were even better!!! Guh, I love them. It's a good thing I don't live there, perhaps, as I would be so fat off of beignets. We went next to a lovely little lingerie shop that had Renaissance Faire styled corsets, and Kay bought one to go with the red skirt we both bought at Maxazria at Potomac Mills. We then went to the Wax Museum... it was different. It wasn't a wax museum with famous people, rather, it gave us the history of New Orleans in what I believe was an extremely historically inaccurate and amusing way. Every plaque with Andrew Jackson called him General Andy Jackson, and one plaque showed a dueller named Pepe, who was saving a fair damsel in distress... who had had her husband shot. Was odd. There was also Michaela someone or other who had "a luxurious but loveless marriage, and was shot in the breast four times by her father-in-law. She then moved back to New Orleans..." WHAT??? Yeah, that was the gist of it. Fun, crazy, etc. The end was "The Haunted Dungeon" which depicted scenes from creepy stories, such as Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Vampire Meets the Wolf-Man, which sounded to me a lot like New Moon.

After the Wax Museum, we grabbed a quick lunch at a place called Muriel's and then Kay got a cab to the airport. Kacey and I went out shopping for a bit after that, then took an afternoon nap at the hotel, which proved necessary. We had dinner that night at Commander's Palace, and I swear it was the best food I've ever had ever. They had amazing garlic bread, I had a great cocktail called Tequila Mockingbird, we got a Honey Satsuma salad, and then I had a pecan crusted white fish topped with champagne poached crab meat that was to die for. Kacey's meal, too, looked excellent and her mashed potatoes were some of the best I've tasted. My mom got shrimp, of which I'm not a huge fan, but I tried a bite and the spices on it were perfect. We then got homemade ice cream parfait for dessert... guh. Fantastical.

Once we had digested a bit, Kacey and I headed back to Reverend Zombie's to see if Joey was working and if he wanted to get a drink with us. He was, and he did. We headed back to Pat O'Brien's for another Hurricane, and shortly Joey was off of work and joined us. He invited one of his friends, Ryan, to join us. What a fantastic night. After spending time at Pat O'Brien's, they took us to a more local bar where we had whiskey and soda, and a frozen Irish coffee, and played songs off of the juke-box. Ryan and I got along really well, and had tons of fun talking about tv shows, Neil Gaiman, my thesis, his adventures as a paramedic, and honestly I forget because I had had so much to drink by that point :). But it was great. We didn't get back to the hotel until about 7:00 AM. And our flight was at 12:45. But it was worth every minute. Best night out in New Orleans that I could have dreamed of. And now... I want to go back. Preferably when it's somewhat warmer, but soon!!! Kacey, Kay, and I have decided that without a doubt we need to get invited to a Mardi Gras ball, and I would totally skip class for that. So... New Orleans, here I come! I hope...

And now I'm back in Virginia, thinking of heading down to school again tomorrow, and needing desperately to make arrangements for my books for my independent study. Le sigh.

Dainty and Magical

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope the first two and a half-ish days of 2010 have been good! So far my 2010 feels much the same as my 2009. :)

New Year's Eve was quite wonderful-- Kay had a party at her house with plenty of rum and champagne. I went over with Kacey and my cousin, Josh. We all went to The Lost Dog Cafe for dinner, then we dressed for the party. I've missed dressing for parties with Kay. It makes me feel all Betsy-Tacy-like, putting on make-up together and having her do my hair. I wore my new silky shirt from Maxazria, which I got on sale at Potomac Mills just after Christmas. Kay and I went there and met up with Callie around December 27th-- we had a very nice time of shopping and lunching, and bought lovely outlet mall items.

After dressing, we played Apples to Apples before everyone arrived (thus, 'dainty,' and 'magical,' two adjectives that I won), and prepared trays of cheese, meats, crackers, and fruits. The party itself was great! We all watched the ball drop in Times Square at midnight, of course. I met some new people, which is always fun, and got to speak French with my cousin. We have joked about how when I get a little drunk I speak French much better than when I'm sober, and Josh speaks French fluently, so this was the first time we have spoken it together. All in all, a lovely time.

The next morning I woke up early (around 8:45), like I always do, and read some more of Kushiel's Chosen. Seriously, this book has me in its thrall, which has meant that very little work has gotten done on my thesis. Part of me wants to continue to power through the narrative, but part of me wants to savour it, because once I'm done with the book-- it's over. I mean, there's another book in the series, but when will I have time to start another 650 page novel for fun? And I need the escape, a bit in the way I did a few summer's ago. Hopefully New Orleans will be a more perfect escape :). With Kay and Kacey! Hmmm... maybe the airplane ride to New Orleans is the perfect time to start the final book of this trilogy... No! Bad Abigail! Must read for thesis!

Anyway, here we are now in 2010. Thus far, I have almost completed my History of Renaissance Performance syllabus with the generous help of Carter, Callie, and Katie, and with the "Look Inside-- Table of Contents" feature available on Amazon. I swear, trying to piece together a syllabus without that would have been impossible. Swem doesn't reopen until January 4th, and I don't have time to get there until the 12th, so I am eternally grateful to whoever put Tables of Contents online. I'm pretty proud of the syllabus; it's challenging levels of reading, but also fun, I hope. I know I have great book suggestions thanks to my friends at MBC and Carter, so we can't fault my historiography!

I have also watched tons of The Tudors with Kay and Brian, usually while working on my syllabus, which I'll just put down to doing background work. I mean, Shakespeare lived shortly after Henry VIII... yeah. So, obviously, I need Hollywood's rendering of Tudor England to inform me about conditions just prior to the Elizabethan Golden Age... right? Mm-hmm.

And finally, I have gotten to spend tons of time with my mom in the past few days, which I have loved. We are becoming pros at Wii Bowling (although she does better than I do, typical) and we're both still novices at Wii MarioKart. We've also nearly completed a jigsaw puzzle of Cinderella's Castle; we usually work on it while my dad watches NCIS in the same room, so it's almost like he's helping, too. Certainly, this means I've done very little on my thesis, but... well, I think family time is pretty important, too. :)

Happy New Year!!!!! God-willing 2010 will be better than the past few years!