Through the Looking Glass and What I Found There

Just arrived back from an amazing journey to England where I presented a paper as part of the Alice Through the Ages conference at Homerton College, University of Cambridge.

The conference was absolutely amazing.  I heard so many good papers, and so many of them left my mind ruminating over the ideas and ready to explore more.  The three plenary sessions inspired me, especially.  All three were incredible, but the last-- on Alice and Fashion from 1865-1901-- helped me to view Tenniel's illustrations and the popular culture surrounding Alice in entirely new ways.  In addition to the academics, the conference-organizers put together a beautiful "Looking Glass Banquet" in the Great Hall at Homerton on Wednesday night.  The Great Hall was lit entirely by candlelight, huge Alice-inspired props decorated the main dias (including a giant chess board and a huge blue caterpillar with light-up eyes and a hookah), and we ate "Mock Mock Turtle Soup" (French onion), pork chops with vanilla-apple sauce, and a lovely chocolate-strawberry-mousse heart-shaped dessert.

By the time of the banquet, I had also met three incredible women from three different countries, and, summer-camp-like, within three days we were inseparable.  We supported each other in our paper sessions, we took tea together during the breaks, and we marveled at the beauty of the banquet side-by-side.  I fondly hope that these friendships will continue to grow and develop-- and perhaps lead to new intellectual pursuits and travels. 

Cambridge itself was lovely, too.  After the conference officially ended, we spent a few more days exploring the city.  We attended a "Fantastical Victorians" exhibit in the reading room at the Fitzwilliam Museum, and concluded the week with a lovely Mad Tea Party at Homerton College.


Here are a few more pictures of Cambridge and my adventures there!

The Cheshire Cat in a tree at Homerton College. This was just one of the many beautiful decorations spread throughout the grounds and halls of Homerton during the conference.

 A view of punters on the River Cam. We did not go punting, but I must say, I quite envied the people on the boats with their Saturday morning bottles of champagne.

 Mathematician's Bridge. I thought this was an appropriate picture to take, given that Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) was a mathematician.

 Cakes and scones at the Mad Tea Party finale to Wonderland Week and the conference.

Last of the Last Hurrahs

I thought that graduation would give me a sense of finality about this program.  When that didn't happen, I thought for sure that after our fancy-dress party I would suddenly realize how everything had ended.  Surprisingly, that didn't happen either.  In fact, I think it first hit me last Wednesday.  I drove down to Williamsburg mid-week last week for a day-long embroidery class with the Royal School of Needlework.  As I sat there, working on my embroidered teacup with my British tutor, I realized that Amanda was flying home.  She was gone.  I had said my final goodbye to her on Monday night, and now she had left.  And something about that made it feel very, very real.

But then I came home and a round of parties started up again, and that sort of negated my impression of everything ending.  On Saturday, Zan and I attended a Nats baseball game with a few of his high school friends, and we stayed out late talking in Crystal City, despite a wide-spread power outage in the area.  The next morning, we had brunch near Dupont Circle with a few people from Zan's cohort, then went to the zoo with Zan's high school friends to see the panda bears.  Later that night we attended a dinner party with the people from my cohort who have not yet left.  It was an amazing dinner party-- Alex made turkey, roasted potatoes, almond green beans, fantastic carrot cake and gluten-free chocolate granola bars.  We had fun imitating each other, telling jokes, talking about the future.  I got Alex to sign my copy of the book that he wrote-- something I'd been meaning to do for over a year.

Then on Monday, my dad made me and Zan his famous grilled hamburgers for lunch.  Later, Cara and Emmett came over to spend an afternoon at the pool with margaritas, and that evening a group of us got together to watch St. Elmo's Fire (and now we say that everything is "out of hand" and feel grateful that our lives are more together than those of the characters, despite some existential similarities).  And last night we all gathered at Penn Commons for a goodbye round of drinks for Emmett and Emily.  And now... now it feels real.  Emmett leaves today.  Emily leaves tomorrow.  Thomas leaves in a week.  We're all really splitting apart and going our own ways-- teaching in Germany, biking to Portland, starting grad programs in California and New York.  This little bubble of time is over.

Book Update / Dinner Party

Since April, when last I wrote about what I've been reading, I've finished both Sense and Sensibility and Shades of Milk and Honey.  I've also completed the sixth and final book in the Rebecca series, Changes for Rebecca.  It definitely elevated my opinion of the whole series.  Additionally, I've read two of the books that I brought home in my library haul: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly and Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman.  Plus, I've listened to two shorter stories: Clockwork by Philip Pullman and Porch Lies by Patricia McKissack.  I've also gotten started on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (audiobook) and I'm still working on Discoverers of the Universe by Michael Hoskin (print book).  Also, I finished another season of the BBC Radio series Cabin Pressure.  Also also, I forgot to mention that long, long ago (in February) I listened to Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. And, I finished the first four episodes/interviews in Michael Ian Black's podcast, "How To Be Amazing."  As predicted, Lin-Manuel Miranda's interview was my favorite of the four.  I admire Miranda's work so much and I really hope to see Hamilton when it hits Broadway. 

In other news, I forgot to mention that last Wednesday, I held a dinner party!  It was so much fun to actually take the time to cook and to have the food appreciated by my friends.  I made an herb tart and a chicken-plum pie, a loaf of cheddar-thyme bread, a lemon-basil pasta salad, a caprese salad, stewed cherries, buttered crab with tortilla chips, Thug Kitchen cauliflower, and syllabub.  In addition to my friends from graduate school, a couple of friends from college dropped by!  I was so excited to see Mel, since she lives in L.A., but we didn't get to talk a lot (we will have coffee when next I am in L.A. to really catch up).  We all gathered round the kitchen island and ate and drank and watched a Bollywood film on Netflix and at the end of the night there were no leftovers, which I say is the sign of a dinner party well done.

Leaving the Hilltop

 
The commencement ceremony for the class of 2015 happened on Friday morning.  For the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, it was an early morning.  We met at our line-up locations at 7:30 AM, and finally processed out onto Healy Lawn at 9:00.  Luckily, the morning was bright and clear, low humidity, and almost a little cold.  For May in D.C., we couldn't have asked for more.  

The ceremony was much as any graduation ceremony, I suppose.  We donned our caps and gowns, and had our degrees conferred upon us, and put on our Masters Hoods.  We walked across the stage when our name was called, and had a photo taken with the dean.  After the ceremony, friends rushed to congratulate each other, and we parted to have lunch with our families.  My family, Zan, and I went to Good Stuff Eatery on M Street.  Burgers, fries, and milkshakes!  Perfect!  We ran into several of my co-workers from Special Collections also eating lunch there, which was an added bonus.  

After lunch, Zan and I returned to campus to await the English Department Reception.  We visited the library to pick up a DVD I had requested (St. Elmo's Fire, of course), browsed through the DVD section for awhile, then crashed in the grad lounge for a bit.  After that early morning wake up call, I felt exhausted.  Emmett came in to work on a thank you note for his adviser, and then we descended upon Dahlgren Quad for a nice little party.  We spent the afternoon outdoors in the perfect weather

catching up with people who hadn't come to the ceremony, and meeting parents and friends.  After I got home, my parents took me out to a nice dinner and then gave me a lovely Hot Air Balloon Clock for my graduation present-- it's beautiful, and will go nicely with the many other Hot Air Balloon objects I have acquired over the course of this year of thesis-writing.



Still, it doesn't feel quite over yet.  Tonight my cohort is holding our fancy dress party-- the last of the last hurrahs-- and maybe then it will hit me.  Everyone keeps asking, "What's next?", as they will.  I don't know.  Last time 'round I had plans, but the ground kept shifting under my feet.  Maybe it's best to just go with the flow this time, to see where I land, and to trust it will be right where I belong.

Endings and Beginnings

On Thursday, as I usually do, I took my lunch to the graduate lounge to eat before going into work.  Most Thursdays the lounge is teeming with people getting ready for their afternoon class, or-- more recently-- finishing up final papers.  When I opened the door yesterday, the room was empty and still.  A few minutes later a first-year showed up-- finishing a final paper-- and we chatted for a bit as I ate.  Then, as I packed up my bags to walk over to the library, I realized that I had just eaten what would probably be my last lunch in the graduate lounge.  No more will I grab a quick bite before work, or before class.  I have no need to spend hours in the English Department, and no need to stock my shelf in the graduate lounge with tea and popcorn and granola bars.  In fact, my shelf looks rather bare these days, devoid even of my theory reader which has occupied the space for the past two years.

Yesterday marked another momentous 'last.'  My last day of work in Special Collections, at least for the foreseeable future.  For the last time as a graduate student assistant, I pulled open the glass doors into the center and helped researchers at the reception desk.  I cleaned up my space in the workroom and bid adieu to the processing room and the stacks.  One of my co-workers made me brownies from scratch, and we watched the WWII planes fly over DC from the library window.

After work, summer really began.  I met Cara and Amanda by the John Carroll statue and we stretched out in the sun on Healy lawn.  After awhile, we walked to Amanda's to pick up a bottle of Pimms, then headed across the river to sit outside on the balcony at my place.  We met up with Zan, Amanda made Pimms Cup, and we soaked up the warmth of the afternoon.  Around seven, we met up with Harry and Charlotte for a sushi dinner and split bottles of sake, then afterwards we all returned to the balcony to sit out in the warm night talking about the past and the future.  It seems magnificent that the weather is warm enough to sit outside at night.  Not long ago the idea of summer seemed impossible.  Yet, in less than a week we will all have graduated, onto new adventures.  A summer stretches before us, full of possibilities.      
  
Even though I finished all of my requirements for my M.A. a few weeks ago, and received word that my thesis was officially accepted by the graduate school a little over a week ago, the routine of work kept me coming to campus and feeling like this graduate student life would never actually end.  But somehow, it has.  My thesis was difficult, and this year was trying in many ways, but I absolutely could not have asked for a better M.A. cohort than the class of 2015. 

Another Last Hurrah

The best moment of this weekend was clasping hands with two of my best friends and walking across the Crim Dell bridge.  Other good parts included spending a very long time in the print shop learning about eighteenth-century printing techniques, walking up and down DoG Street, going to the farmer's market with Amanda, seeing old friends, getting a new skirt, eating so much good food, visiting Wawa, helping Cara get started on Instagram, laying out in the grass enjoying the sunshine and then having a lazy dinner on the back porch, and the feel that for the first time in years I was enjoying an extended slumber party.

Last Hurrahs

This weekend signaled the beginning of the end.  Suddenly, everything feels like the last time.  My last official day of classes.  My last frustrating attempt to print in the grad lounge.  The last time I double-click to open my document entitled "English Masters Thesis" (at least for awhile).  

We had our English MA end-of-the-year party on Saturday, at the same place that we had one of our first beginning-of-the-year parties back in late August.  As we piled BBQ pork, burgers, macaroni salad, and more onto the small table in the dining area, I couldn't help but remember just eight months ago when we set it with home-made lasagna, garlic bread, and salad.  Then, Thomas did all of the cooking as we second-years greeted each other after a long summer apart and began to get to know the first-years.  Then, we all still brimmed with the excitement that comes with the first week of classes, and we gave each other knowing, exasperated sighs as we contemplated the months of thesis-writing ahead of us.  Now, we ask each other about our after-graduation plans, speaking of the far-flung places we'll land, the jobs we want and the jobs we got, and excitedly talk about the moment that we officially submitted our theses and capstones.  I submitted mine on Thursday. 

In three weeks, we will graduate and my cohort will disperse to Germany, England, Michigan, and Massachusetts.  Still others have plans in California, New Hampshire, and Ohio.  Our close-knit little community is breaking apart and once again I feel like Jo March, saddened by all of the change, by a chapter closing.  But now, like Jo, it's time to start realizing some of my own life-long goals.  It's also time to banish fear of failure (or, perhaps, to learn to work with that fear), and to learn to accept that not every path to fulfillment has clear-cut mile markers.  But that's a post for another time.

At the moment, I think there's nothing wrong with reveling in a few more weeks of last hurrahs.

Eat, Drink, and Be Married

On Saturday my beautiful friend Emily got married!  Emily and I have known each other for more than half of our lives, and the wedding ended up being a sort of reunion of some of my best and oldest friends.  At one point the make-up artists asked if the bridesmaids knew each other, and we realized that seven of us ten girls in the bridal party have known each other for going on fifteen years or more!  The make-up artist commented that it was rare to see a bridal party that included so many friends made in middle school or high school.  But, we've always been a pretty close group.  These are the friends with whom I don't miss a beat.  I hadn't actually seen Dana for nearly five years, but literally within the first thirty seconds of our reunion she was offering to let me use her berry lip gloss, since the lipstick I had picked up earlier that day was absolutely not a good color on me.  It's a silly anecdote, but it really just felt like I'd come home.  These people, wherever they may be (and since high school we have become a very geographically diverse bunch) feel like home to me.

Enough rambling, though.  I think I'll tell the story through some photos.  Granted, my photo taking was... uneven, at best.  I totally missed getting a photo with Maggie, who I stayed with in St. Louis on Thursday night, or with Christina and her twins.  Still, I hope you enjoy what I did remember to photograph!

First sign I saw at the airport.  Welcome to the Midwest!

 Culver's Double Cheddar Butterburger with onion rings and fries.  I have been a Culver's fan since driving across the country to Seattle in 2011, so when I realized that I had landed in Culver's country on Thursday--and that I had no lunch plans-- I immediately visited their store locator.  I went a little crazy with my ordering.  I got a the Double Cheddar Butterburger combo with fries and a drink AND onion rings AND a chocolate malt.  The guy taking my order seemed a little shocked at all I ordered.

The Missouri River at historic St. Charles.  I forgot to get any photos of the quaint streets of the town where I met Maggie for dinner, but I didn't forget to take a picture of the river.  I grew up on this river, and when I saw it my heart surged a bit and I longed to return to those days.

This trip was jam-packed.  On Thursday I stayed in St. Louis to see friends, and on Friday morning I got up bright and early to drive down to Jefferson City to spend time with the bride-to-be!  I arrived a little early though, so I got to take some time to briefly revisit the old haunts.  Here's Whaley's East End Drug Store, where my mom and I bought innumerable vanilla cokes at the soda fountain.  I also had a chance to drive by the high school, my middle school, and my old house.  But the best part was the few minutes that I spent at Downtown Book and Toy before meeting up with Emily and her fiancee.  I loved that shop as a child, and going in on Friday felt so comforting.  I even bought a few books-- which, no, I do not need-- but that I'm so excited to read.  I got the first in the new Lemony Snicket Series All the Wrong Questions and a paperback mystery called Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones, by Kaitlynn Dunnett, which promises to be perfect for Halloween.

At Shakespeare's Pizza for Emily's rehearsal dinner!  Why am I in jeans and a ratty looking sweater?  Well, because due to a mix-up my hotel reservations for the weekend got cancelled, and I didn't have a chance to check in to my room or change clothes before driving Emily over to the rehearsal!  Don't worry, it all worked out in the end, though it did cause a lot of consternation for me on Friday-- combined with Zan's delayed flight, forgetting my contact lens case and solution in St. Louis, and a million other small 'snafus' that befuddled my Friday.  But look at all of our smiling faces!  Who can be sad when eating Shakespeare's Pizza?  Especially with the Cardinal's winning a play-off game in the background!!!

 The campus at the University of Missouri, Columbia.  When I was little I used to say that the columns had eyes, because their curled tops make them look a bit like E.T.  This picture was snapped quickly with one hand as I ran to our 8:30 AM meet-up spot on Saturday morning, so forgive its poor composition and lighting.

 On Friday night, Emily gave each of us mimosa fixin's as part of our bridesmaid's gift, specifying that we were to use them on Saturday morning.  Things got a bit rushed early on, but once we had made it to the church, gotten our hair and make-up done, and eaten a bite of lunch, we broke into our mimosas!  Such a glorious moment!

 Our bridesmaids dresses all hanging in a row!

 A recreation of a photo from 2005.  Yes, I've known and been close friends with these girls since 2005.  Actually, make that 1999.  And for one of them, 1992.

 Middle School/High school friends all grown up!!!

 Emily and me the next morning at the 'good-bye' brunch at Panera.  She's MARRIED!

There are a few other pictures that I wish I had, but that I didn't take with my phone, like Emily and Chad at the rehearsal, with Emily wearing her bridal Minnie Mouse ears, and a photo of all of us toasting with our mimosa glasses in the make-up room.  I also don't have any photos of the actual ceremony since I was, understandably, occupied with being a bridesmaid.  But I hope you can tell from what I do have to share that it was a wonderful weekend.  

Christina, the maid-of-honor, ended her toast with "To taking care of each other," and Jake, the best man, ended his toast with "To new friends."  I think this encapsulates the weekend: it was nostalgic, full of places and people from my past, and I need to take care of these memories and these people.  I want them in my life forever.  But it's also about new friends, new people, new places, and new events to make into memories.  We're all grown up, and we're still growing, but we're doing it together. 

The First Young Love Baby Shower

On Saturday, the girls of Nunes House Flat 5, Spring 2008 reunited at Shea's baby shower.  Yes, one of our own is pregnant!  She's set to have a baby boy in October.  We haven't all four of us been together at the same time since Shea's wedding in 2010.

Shea's mother hosted a lovely shower.  We played three games.  First, we had to identify by feel ten baby items in sealed bags.  The first three items were easy-- a bottle, a pacifier, and a rattle-- but that pretty much exhausted my knowledge of baby items.  In the second game, we taste-tested baby food, trying to guess the flavor by the smell, color, and taste.  I only missed banana; for whatever reason, the banana one tasted too tart to me.  The third game took place as Shea opened her gifts: it was a BINGO game, and we put a sticker on each time she opened an item on our card (such as teddy bear, changing mat, onesie, monitor, bath items, etc.).  I got the last BINGO prize!  Ten dollars to Dunkin Donuts!  So excited.  Shea's mother also put out a lovely lunch for all of the guests, with tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, homemade meatballs, coleslaw, deviled eggs, chicken nuggets, chips with a homemade layer dip, potato salad, and more!  For dessert we had sheet cake and homemade chocolate-covered strawberries.  My favorite touch was the rubber duckies floating in blue punch.

After the shower itself ended and most of the guests took their leave, Shea, Ali, Danielle and I sat out by the pool catching up on life.  We reminisced about England, and about other get-togethers we've had since 2008-- the wedding, a trip to NYC, last year's housewarming party, etc.  We planned for a Christmas get-together after Shea's baby is born, so we can meet him.  The sun set, and more food came out for dinner, then we broke out a board game called Moods.  We played out on the screened in porch, in the warm summer night air.  There was much laughter, and instead of finishing the game at one round, we decided that to win we needed to get around the board two, no three, times.  Danielle and I tied and had a 'tie-breaker' round that elicited even more laughter.

Now, we're all again many miles apart... looking forward to a December reunion.  Young Love!

At The Beach

At the beach, you're allowed to have peanut pie and tea for breakfast.

At the beach, you're allowed to have eggs, bacon, and toast at lunch.

At the beach, you're allowed to wake up late.  You can read for hours on the front porch, or in the sunroom, or on a couch.  You can work on your language skills; you can play silly iPad games.  You can start a new cross-stitch pattern, or you can play a Mario game on the Wii U.  You can play card games at night, or watch movies during the day. 

At the beach, you can get ice cream in the afternoon, or buy a new book from a local bookstore.  Even though you know that the last thing you need is a new book.  You can also get Classic Literature-themed MadLibs.  Because when was the last time you played MadLibs?

At the beach, you can start the day in the hot tub.  You can also end the day in the hot tub.

At the beach, you can actually go to the beach.  You can also run into the ocean and play with the waves, and there's a long sandbar.  You can lounge on the sand or swim or wade.

At the beach, you can do whatever you please.


But the best part is that peanut pie for breakfast.

Beginning of Summer Closing

Soon it will be my birthday, and that's always signaled the beginning of the end of summer.  Growing up, I was one of those lucky kids that got to have pool parties and never had to go to class on my birthday.  But a bittersweetness hung over it all, because my birthday fell on one of the last real days of summer, before classes started up seemingly earlier and earlier every August.  Since I've taken the grad school route, my birthday still signals the beginning of the end-- I'm already deep into planning for Orientation for the new first years, and I'm scrambling to read all those books I thought I'd read for my thesis.  These twilight days of summer are both lovely and terrible.

But this past weekend was all loveliness.  We drove up to Pennsylvania for the wedding of our friends S and T.  They got married in a gorgeous early 20th-century theater.  The theme was 1920s, and the space definitely fit the bill with its art deco lobby and antiquity-fad frescoes.  Google maps lied to us, and what we thought would be a three and a half hour drive turned into a five hour drive with traffic and heavy rain.  We missed the rehearsal, but made the rehearsal dinner, and I drank a little too much wine and had a wonderful time meeting the wedding party.  The next morning, I went to the salon with the bridal party, and had my hair done in a vintage-style side chignon, then I helped carry things for the photos in the afternoon, and the bride's six-year-old half-sister took a liking to me primarily because I had a Disney's Frozen game on my iPad.  The ceremony itself was beautiful, and T wore an actual 1930s wedding gown that fit her perfectly.  She looked radiant, and S looked handsome.  We had hors d'oeurves and cocktails in the lobby, and dinner and dancing on the stage, and saw old friends and met new. 

But all weekend--all of August really, and even moments at the end of July-- the weather hinted at the coming fall, and on the drive home Zan asked, "When do we get pumpkin ale?"  Laughingly, I said, "Soon," before really realizing just how soon we would find pumpkin ales on menus and at the grocery store, and apple cider and all manner of other autumnal goodies.  I love autumn, but this summer took so long to arrive I can't quite get excited just yet for its imminent departure.  Here's to a few more muggy nights and glasses of sweet tea and tank tops and flip flops.

A Weekend of Friends

June ends in a whirlwind of friends.  On Thursday night, we hosted the incomparable Rick, after his return from an epic trip to Ireland.  On Friday, after a really great tutorial for my class, and a lovely walk home across the bridge (the weather has been unusually nice this June), our old friends S and T (and a new friend, I) arrived for the weekend, to edit a film that they shot with Zan last winter.  Editing and Indian food occurred.  On Saturday, they headed down to Williamsburg, while Zan and I headed to Staunton for his ten year high school reunion-- which abounded with old friends for him, and new friends for me.  We watched his senior class video, won a Kelly Clarkson CD (from 2004) in the door prize raffle, and afterwards we went out with his friend J to get liquid cheese at the Baja.  Then today, after returning to DC, I met up with my friend L for lunch at Matchbox in Chinatown and an afternoon at Ford's Theater!  Though we could have wished for more time in the museum portion of the tour, it was a really excellent experience.  The museum had some great artifacts, and our costumed-interpreter speech was very well done.  Chilling.  Tragic.  Sometimes it takes having an out-of-towner in town to actually go out and explore the city you live in.  I'm sure you all know what I mean.  I'm hoping to get a few more "touristy" experiences in before L heads back West for the fall.  Now, I'm concentrating on finishing my last novel for my Satire class, and starting work on the final paper!  I knew this month would fly, but I still can't quite believe that I only have a week left of my summer class.  Then, writing, then-- relaxation!

The Letdown

The other night a group of us got together at Epi to celebrate the end of our first year.  I said to my friend Danielle, "I'm just feeling kind of... depressed, oddly.  Like, I'm done and I should be happy but..." and she replied, "I think we all feel that way.  We're going going going with all this adrenaline for weeks and then it's over and we need purpose in life again."  I'm glad it's not just me.

Since last Thursday I've felt oddly under- and overwhelmed.  I'm back to my old habits of wanting to read every single book on my 'for fun' list in just two days, while also wanting to devote loads of time to Rosetta Stone, while also wanting to just veg on the couch with a stupid iPad game and Netflix.  Plus, I know that I have a summer course starting soon, so I want to get a jump for the reading on that, I need to solidify a thesis topic, and I want to work on a conference abstract.  I want to go to the grocery store and spend hours on homemade meals and cakes, I want to clean every inch of the apartment, and I also just want to sleep for days.  I have a bit of travel coming up, and I think getting out of this area for a few days will help me to settle, and to recharge for my summer course.  And I'm really grateful to my summer course: I feel like it's already giving me direction and that elusive feeling of 'purpose.' 

One bright thing about summer, though, is feeling like I can go see friends again.  Last night, Mike and I re-inaugurated Twilight Zone Tuesday, known fondly as TZT.  In our undergraduate days, Mike and I were 'co-presidents' of TZT, and never missed a single Tuesday during our senior year. 

 (Co-Presidents and Best Friends!)

 (Twilight Zone on the telly!)

Last night, with some old and new faces, we again sat down to pizza, desserts, and a relaxing evening of some familiar episodes (such as "Two") and some that we had never seen.  So, while my days are spent in existential angst over what book will make me happiest, and if I should just learn Spanish instead, I know that on (most) Tuesdays I'll always know exactly where I should be.   

Graduate Write-In

Yesterday, our Academic Chair organized a "write-in" for those of us working on final papers.  It was a really nice time.  We had bagels and coffee from Panera; we spread out our books, articles, notebooks, and laptops across the Lannon Center.  We actually worked quietly and diligently.  It was a little like working in a really concentrated coffee shop.  I have about seven pages of this final paper written, not counting the bits that I wrote for the 'conference day' that will still fit with my new approach to the topic.  I think I can get this done by tomorrow night.  Looking forward to summer.

Two Down, One To Go

As of this morning, I have finished two of my final papers/projects, and I am gearing up to throw myself wholeheartedly into the third.  I plan to finish by Thursday night, at the latest.

Last Thursday night, Zan's uncle was in town, so Zan's dad got us all Indian food and we had a feast in our apartment.  Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of it, but we had a wonderful evening.  I also got packages of new clothing that I had ordered that day, and I'm super excited about a floral dropwaist dress and dainty Oxford shoes that arrived.  I used opening the package as my motivation to complete the introduction to my project.

On Friday, my mom and I got crepes at a little crepe-stand, then ate our crepes as we walked across the bridge into Georgetown.  I showed my mom around campus (but I forgot to show her the courtyard, so next time I'll need to remedy that), and we walked around the streets of Georgetown swooning over the adorable townhouses.  We stopped at Pizza Paradiso on M Street for their carbonated lemonade and bruschetta.  That evening, my parents, Zan and I went to see Eddie Izzard!  We had an excellent dinner together beforehand, then spent an evening in stitches over his routine.  After the show, Zan headed off to participate in a 48-hour film festival, and I stayed up until the very wee hours working on my project for Approaches to teaching literature.

On Saturday, I woke up early (around 7:00 AM) and worked on my pedagogical framework until about noon.  Then, I met my friend Shea for lunch.  I again forgot to take pictures, but we had a great time catching up over all the big news in her life!  After lunch, I returned home and continued to work on my pedagogical framework for a few more hours, then watched "Frasier" and ate an artichoke with garlic butter.  Yum!!!  Late that night, my friend Alicia arrived!

Yesterday morning, I again woke early and began to write up my literature review portion of the final.  Around 10:30, Alicia and I headed out for a few hours.  I got a caramel frappiccino and lemon poundcake, and we made our way across the bridge, again to walk around the winding streets of Georgetown, and I picked up a book from the library.  After a couple of hours, we grabbed a quick lunch, and then she headed off for her ten-hour drive up the coast!

I spent the rest of the afternoon writing up my literature review, then put on a few episodes of "Frasier" while I made dinner (cornbread, blue-cheese-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates, some pre-made Trader Joe's beef brisket, seasoned cauliflower, yum!). Zan arrived home, triumphant in the 48-hour film fest (that is, they made the film and turned it in on time).  We ate dinner, then I finished up the bibliography of additional resources during Game of Thrones.

The best part?  My study buddy.

Classes, Colloquium, and 'Prom'

The past two days have been full of EGSA (English Graduate Student Association) events.  I finished up classes for the semester on Thursday, but the last day of classes felt very anti-climactic after such a long, tiring semester.  I still have so much to do before the semester really ends that I didn't feel able to celebrate, despite the bottle of wine and the cheese plate set up in the seminar room.  Two papers and a large final project stand between me and that feeling of sweet relief.  Eeesh.

On Friday morning I presented what I have so far of my Tudor Theater paper at the Graduate Student Colloquium, did a little work in the grad lounge, attended the last colloquium panel, then made 'Paper Plate Awards' for our second-years--with the help of my wonderful EGSA 'prom committee'-- which we handed out at 'prom.'  Yesterday was all about 'prom.'  I struggled with what dress to wear, fretted over who would pick up the paper plates from the grad lounge, and stressed over everything going perfectly.  Very little academic work got done as I tried to put on the best prom ever.  Luckily, the EGSA board is wonderful, and I got a lot of support.  I felt like in the end, I had to do very little, and everyone else helped to make the party go off without a hitch.  I hope the second-years had fun!

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the 'photo-booth' that we set up (my camera on a tripod; bags of costume pieces to make the pictures more fun).

Prom was really fun, but I'm so glad that my EGSA duties are over for a few days so that I can concentrate on finishing up this semester strong!

Pushing Through

I suppose it's time for another April catch-up post, in the midst of the busy-ness.

On Friday, Kay and Brian were in town!  They came over and made dinner-- wonderful salmon quinoa cakes, sweet potato fries, and a mayo-sriracha sauce.  Zan and I provided salad and wine.  Yum!  After dinner, we headed into the city to see Mike and Josh in their operetta, Iolanthe.  I really enjoyed it-- Mike and Josh both stole scenes (so luckily, they were hardly ever in the same scene!).  It was really great to see a lot of people from GGSS, too, since I haven't been around much since February.  I guess that's what comes of not working on the spring show AND not being a law student!

I spent the weekend in Williamsburg.  My mom and I drove down on Saturday.  We hit heavy traffic, but we made it fun with a before 11:00 AM stop at a Dairy Queen for onion rings and an M&M blizzard.  Upon arriving, I visited the Shoe Attic to use the gift certificate that my dad gave me for Christmas.  I got a really fun pair of see-through Oxfords, a pair of basket-weave heels, and a new dress.  I'm very excited to wear them, now that spring has arrived!  After the shopping spree, my mom and I ate an early dinner at La Tolteca, stopped at Wawa for a vanilla coke, then returned home so I could write...and write... and attempt to write some more.  This paper for Tudor's has proven very difficult and demanding.  I really feel the labor involved in putting together paragraphs, constructing something from nothing.  I write a lot of papers, but for whatever reason, this one feels a million times more challenging than any paper I've written recently.  By midnight, I had finally churned out a solid page.  I tried to go to sleep, but my mind was churning with thoughts, brainstorms, worries... I got up, wrote a bit more, then finally fell asleep sometime after 2:00 AM.  Sunday was more devoted to writing.  For a break, my mom and I took a walk down DoG Street, got Cheese Shop sandwiches for lunch, and another vanilla coke.  Then I wrote some more.  I took a short late afternoon break, and we ran some errands, then I settled in for more writing.  I took my computer out to the screened porch to enjoy the warm air.  I drank sweet tea as I wrote.  I completed nine good, solid pages, and I managed to get direction for the rest of it. 

Sunday night and Monday I felt confident, but that confidence-- and my motivation--waned upon returning north.  The dreary weather today hurts, too, along with the added pressure to begin my paper for medieval literature in earnest.  Tomorrow I present what I've written so far for Tudors, then hopefully my mind will concentrate on medieval lit for a while without feeling guilty for not working more on my Tudor paper.  I know that once I finish it all, once I return home next Wednesday night, I'll feel a million times better.  But this is perhaps the toughest week I've had in this program so far.  I just need to find the will-power to push through, because a brilliant summer-- and a class I'm really looking forward to taking-- wait just around the corner!
 

Magical

Spring Break, besides the tooth thing (which now might only be "a very serious sinus infection"?), was really nice.  I went to Disney World!  Disney World was warm.  I could wear shorts and swimsuits.  I didn't have to put on layer after layer plus fuzzy aviator cap to go outside.  Ahhh... Did I mention that it snowed here again on Monday, and that we're supposed to get a chance of snow this coming Tuesday?  This is so unseasonably cold!  COME ON WINTER, END ALREADY!

Anyway, Disney was lovely.  We soaked in the hot tub, we lazed about the Lazy River.  We ate lots of good food from the Flower & Garden Outdoor Kitchens in Epcot, including frushi, candied strawberries, and Pineapple Dole Whips with rum.  We had lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater and enjoyed amazing spinach-artichoke dip, Orbiting Oreos milkshakes (with Godiva Chocolate liquor), and trailers for 1950/60s Sci-Fi B-movies.  We saw "Wishes" and "Illuminations" fireworks.  We rode "Soarin'", as beautiful as ever.  We rode Dinosaur.  Kay, Brian, and Kelsey were traumatized on their first time seeing "It's Tough to be a Bug:; Mike, Zan, and I were more prepared.  Kelsey, in an attempt to do one thing each day that scared her, went on "Twilight Zone Hollywood Tower of Terror,"despite her better judgment.  We rode "Peter Pan's Flight" and Zan claims it was his first time on that ride (I'm doubtful).  Kay made me tea in the mornings when I got sick.  We wore fake mustaches and played "Gloom."  We got ice cream sundaes.  We sat out on our balcony enjoying mixed drinks and the sunshine and reminiscing about old times.

 (Me: on Jewel-Bluebell, my favorite Carousel horse)

(Turkey Leg Madness!)

And now, I want to go back.  I want the warmth again.  I want the relaxation again.  I want to hang out with my friends everyday again.  I want to go and not even worry about going to the parks, but just walk around the Boardwalk, play Fantasia Gardens mini-golf, maybe hit up some new spots at Downtown Disney (Splitsville Bowling, anyone?).  Mostly I want the warmth, though. 

Valentine's, Friends, and a Reprise

Valentine's: We don't go all out for Valentine's Day.  Our anniversary is coming up soon, so we usually save our "big date night" for that, and stay in on the all-important holiday of love.  But we do manage to make the day special in some way!  Last year we saw Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters; in Seattle we had a fancy candle-lit homemade dinner.  This year, we dressed up (I even put on make-up!), Zan made me a wonderful pasta dinner, and we marathoned the last few episodes of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.  Plus, Zan got me flowers while at the grocery store buying the dinner supplies. :)!  I love our low-key Valentine's Days.  I also can't believe we're done with Buffy!  Zan insists that now we need to finish Angel (we're at the beginning of season 4, but I got so depressed watching it that we quit and switched to Parks and Rec... which we've totally caught up on), but I'm thinking it's time to make Zan watch all of Veronica Mars, seeing as how the movie is coming out soon and all.

Friends: On Saturday night, we went out for dinner with two of our/my friends.  It's odd, because I've known C&H since I was a child-- C and I went to the same church, and were friends in high school, and H and I worked on school projects together when I was in third grade.  Now H is in my M.A. program!  Crazy!  We had a really great time together, and they were our first guests to the apartment!  It's so strange, like two worlds clashing, but I love having C&H in the area.  It's so nice to have old friends around, who have known you your whole life.  The apartment is really coming together, by the way: we have now, in addition to our rug, coffee table, breakfast bar stools, and couch (!), a regular chair, a make-shift television stand, two end tables, and a dresser!  Whoo-hoo!  Now all we need is a real bed and we'll be in business!  It's beginning to look and feel like a home.

And the reprise: last night Zan and I saw Peter and the Starcatcher at the Kennedy Center!  I saw this show on Broadway a couple of years ago and fell in love with it.  I really, really, really wanted Zan to see it, too.  And, as last time, it was wonderful!  It wasn't quite as magical as it was when I saw it on Broadway, but it still retained plenty of its charm.  And Molly and Boy had great chemistry, and it still got me right in the feels when she said, "It's supposed to hurt, that's how you know it meant something!"  Sigh... I wish I were more like Molly.  Or, since I doubt I'll ever be a Starcatcher (drat the luck!), I wish at least that I could play Molly in a production someday (alas, I have an inkling that I'm too tall).  It's so much fun going to the theater.  It makes me feel like a real human, rather than a "student" human.  It opens up the possibilities of life.  I'm so glad I went ahead and got the tickets for this show.

A Theatrical Weekend

Saturday and Sunday night were both spectacular this week, in theatrical, yet different, ways.

On Saturday night, we had our final performance of The Tempest.  I'm very sorry to see it go, but the last performance was excellent.  I'm really going to miss the cast, crew, and seeing some of my favorite scenes night after night.  After the final performance, we had our GGSS Potluck Party.  I ordered a Wise Guys pizza for my potluck entree and Mike and Kelsey were nice enough to pick it up for me.  I think the pizza was a hit!  And I was happy to have it, since now that I won't be frequenting the law center as often, I'll have no reason to go to Wise Guys... no more sushi or Wise Guys.  Sad day.  But the potluck was lots of fun!  There was mac & cheese with chevre, chili and cornbread, mini-cupcakes, fried rice, cheeses and meats and crackers... amazing!  Then we had directors speeches, crew 'awards', and I received a personalized poster signed by the cast!  I was very moved by it.  I'm so, so grateful that Ben and Sara let me work on this show.  It's been a blast.

Then on Sunday night, I saw Mother Courage and Her Children at Arena Stage starring Kathleen Turner!  I bought the tickets awhile ago, thinking Zan and I could see it, but Zan spent the weekend in NYC (making movies!), so I invited my friend Cara to go with me instead.  We had such a good time!  We ate at Jenny's Asian Fusion by the waterfront; it was very tasty, and-- by ordering only small plates-- very inexpensive.  Then, the theater!  I'd never been to Arena Stage, but the space is beautiful.  It has several theaters within it, and multiple levels.  Mother Courage was presented in the round, but even so I venture to say we had very good tickets.  I really enjoyed the show.  There were a few things about the interpretation with which I slightly disagreed, and the translation was slightly different from the ones I've read before, but overall I give it two thumbs up.  The staging was entrancing, the acting was quite good-- the girl playing Kattrin, especially, was wonderful.  It was also nice to feel like a real human, taking advantage of some of the things that D.C. has to offer. 

Hope everyone else had a good weekend, too!