I've been just terrible about blogging this summer. I keep starting posts, then not finishing them. Or finishing them, then deciding they are not worth posting. I never blogged about my amazing trip to GeekyCon nearly four weeks ago, and my visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the Open at the Close event-- which mostly involved drinking unlimited amounts of butterbeer in Diagon Alley at 1:00 AM. Aside from that event, the Con itself was fantastic, too! I attended some really interesting panels, met some wildly creative people, reconnected with favorite artists, and discovered new artists to admire. I fell in love with the artwork of Casey Robin (check out her etsy shop!), who was as nice as she is talented. Most excitingly, I finally got to meet Mary Kate Wiles in person-- she is one of my favorite actresses (check out her YouTube channel!). I listened to interviews with screenwriter James Moran, with the Hillywood girls, and with Anthony Rapp. I bought a Hermoine time-turner necklace in the marketplace for only $5! And on the last day, I went to Disney World. Because really, how could I be so close and not visit? A few laps around the World Showcase were just what my heart desired. The potato-wrapped snapper at Flying Fish Cafe didn't hurt either, nor did the Polynesian Pearl cocktail at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto.
In the ensuing weeks, I've taken a short jaunt to the Outer Banks for Zan's family beach week, and this past weekend Zan and I visited Natural Bridge, VA. For my birthday, my friend Kay gave me a night's stay at the Historic Natural Bridge Hotel. The package came with tickets to the bridge itself, and to the caverns nearby. Additionally, Zan and I spent an afternoon at Virginia Safari Park, feeding tons of animals and even petting a kangaroo! It was an incredible weekend.
Most of my time, of course, I've spent processing my collection at Special Collections. I will be wrapping up that project soon-- in fact, my last day of full-time employment is Friday. After that, THE WORLD! Err, no... after that, I'm a little uncertain. Change is definitely in the air: from the cooling days and the sun setting noticeably earlier, to the sudden end of the pattern of my days. I feel a bit like I'm on a ski jump, the kind that let off suddenly into mid-air, leaving the skier flying through the sky-- whoosh! I'm trying to look at it as a fun adventure, to remain calm and even a little zen, but I've always been too nervous to try skiing. I have some fun adventures lined up for the autumn (including a presentation at an academic conference in the UK), and I have some ideas for new projects that I hope take off, but I feel like I'm mostly making it up as I go along. I suppose what I need to learn is that everyone feels like they are making it up as they go along, cobbling together days and activities and hoping for the best.
Before I go, quick book list (if I can remember them): a long while back I read Jade Green by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, an old favorite from middle school. I've read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (to prepare for GeekyCon, of course). I read all of Jenny Trout's hilarious/troubling recaps of 50 Shades of Grey on her blog (she read that one so I didn't have to-- thank goodness), which prompted me to read Trout's novels The Boss and The Girlfriend (written under her pen name Abigail Barnette). I also read an incredibly sweet debut novel by Natalie Lloyd called A Snicker of Magic. It's a children's novel (think Newbery Award age) with a lot of heart. The writing is so unique; I can't even explain it. As for audiobooks, I finished listening to Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and then pretty much mainlined My Antonia by Willa Cather. Currently, I'm nearing the end of Felicia Day's audiobook You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) and I'm re-reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in order to revise my conference paper.
Until next time, which hopefully won't take another month... gonna get better at this...
Showing posts with label Future. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Future. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Sunday, April 26, 2015
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.
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.
Monday, October 20, 2014
"Breaking Glass," A Film
The Kickstarter video for an independent film, "Breaking Glass."
It needs your help to complete post-production.
These young actors are going places. Help these filmmakers go places, too.
Please donate.
It needs your help to complete post-production.
These young actors are going places. Help these filmmakers go places, too.
Please donate.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Do What You Love
Everyone says to find what you love and do it. Everyone else seems to know what it is that they love. Sometimes I feel like the only person born not knowing what they want to do. Even if they don't accomplish it, it seems like other people feel like they have a path to follow. They have something that drives them. They have a voice that they want to make heard. But what about me? What do I want to say? What do I believe in? Why am I in academia? What do I feel like I have to contribute to any discussion? What should I write my thesis on? What am I passionate about? What do I want to do after this program ends and why?
I thought recently that in a perfect world I would spend my time trying out new recipes, making thread art (i.e-- cross-stitching, needlepoint, embroidery), selling thread art, making dolls, selling dolls, and perhaps helping to develop educational programming for children and young adults in the arts. Hopefully working out of my home. But would I really enjoy that? Would I miss doing the type of research I do in grad school? As much as I complain, I really do love thinking about things like material culture, transformative speech acts, performance studies, and print history. I love historiography and methodology. But I hate the pressure. I hate working everyday, long into the evening, and every weekend and still never getting everything done. I hate that I rarely have a sense of satisfaction, a sense of having created something, or of having bettered the world in any way. I hate that I'm scrambling to find topics, instead of feeling like I really have something worth contributing. But then there are moments of great discussion, moments of enlightenment, moments that make me really love where I am and what I'm doing. Moments that make me see things differently. But, do I feel called to this? Motivated to do this every day? Will I make a difference?
Should I reignite my search for theater jobs? Whenever I stop to think about it, the theater is a place that I feel most passionate about. Theater makes a difference, if it's good. If it tries. Theater is a place to have those discussions of speech acts, gender identity, racial identity, colonialism, history-- everything I think I will miss from graduate school. I want to be a part of beautiful productions; I want to alter minds and souls with the stage. I would love to work for Disney-- a very large theatrical production spanning multiple media, continents, and theme parks. I would love to help develop programming for PBS Kids or write for Sesame Street. And I love words. Words. Does that mean I should be a writer? A playwright? A literary manager? A librarian? (I would love to work in the children's section of a library. I would love to help kids pick out books, and learn new things, and organize reading days, and reading programs.)
Another thing that I want to do-- though is it my "calling"?-- is to help implement recycling and composting programs on the East Coast, and in particular in Disney World and Disneyland (that's West Coast, I know). When I visited Disneyland a couple of years ago, while living in Seattle, I was shocked at the amount of food waste going into trash cans instead of into compost bins. It was like reverse culture shock. In Seattle, recycling and composting is the name of the game, and I want that to be a thing everywhere. The Disney Parks produce so much food waste and so many recyclable items, yet those items almost invariably end up in trash cans. And why stop with Disney? Why not expand to other theme parks, tourists sites, and cities? Some of this, of course, comes with educating the public-- I know my first couple ofdays weeks in Seattle I had trouble knowing which bin my napkins went into, which bin my food waste went into, my straw wrappers, etc. But once you learn it, it becomes very hard to readjust to the East Coast method of just throwing things away. I feel so guilty not composting or recycling everything in the proper way. Is creating composting and recycling programs at some of the major tourist destinations in America a viable career path?
What do I love?
I thought recently that in a perfect world I would spend my time trying out new recipes, making thread art (i.e-- cross-stitching, needlepoint, embroidery), selling thread art, making dolls, selling dolls, and perhaps helping to develop educational programming for children and young adults in the arts. Hopefully working out of my home. But would I really enjoy that? Would I miss doing the type of research I do in grad school? As much as I complain, I really do love thinking about things like material culture, transformative speech acts, performance studies, and print history. I love historiography and methodology. But I hate the pressure. I hate working everyday, long into the evening, and every weekend and still never getting everything done. I hate that I rarely have a sense of satisfaction, a sense of having created something, or of having bettered the world in any way. I hate that I'm scrambling to find topics, instead of feeling like I really have something worth contributing. But then there are moments of great discussion, moments of enlightenment, moments that make me really love where I am and what I'm doing. Moments that make me see things differently. But, do I feel called to this? Motivated to do this every day? Will I make a difference?
Should I reignite my search for theater jobs? Whenever I stop to think about it, the theater is a place that I feel most passionate about. Theater makes a difference, if it's good. If it tries. Theater is a place to have those discussions of speech acts, gender identity, racial identity, colonialism, history-- everything I think I will miss from graduate school. I want to be a part of beautiful productions; I want to alter minds and souls with the stage. I would love to work for Disney-- a very large theatrical production spanning multiple media, continents, and theme parks. I would love to help develop programming for PBS Kids or write for Sesame Street. And I love words. Words. Does that mean I should be a writer? A playwright? A literary manager? A librarian? (I would love to work in the children's section of a library. I would love to help kids pick out books, and learn new things, and organize reading days, and reading programs.)
Another thing that I want to do-- though is it my "calling"?-- is to help implement recycling and composting programs on the East Coast, and in particular in Disney World and Disneyland (that's West Coast, I know). When I visited Disneyland a couple of years ago, while living in Seattle, I was shocked at the amount of food waste going into trash cans instead of into compost bins. It was like reverse culture shock. In Seattle, recycling and composting is the name of the game, and I want that to be a thing everywhere. The Disney Parks produce so much food waste and so many recyclable items, yet those items almost invariably end up in trash cans. And why stop with Disney? Why not expand to other theme parks, tourists sites, and cities? Some of this, of course, comes with educating the public-- I know my first couple of
What do I love?
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2013 Wrap-Up!
It's the last day of the year! Can you even believe it? I can't. It took me until about July to feel like 2013 wasn't a brand-new baby year, and I am still having trouble realizing that it's nearly over and we're onto 2014! But, as December 31st is once again upon us, it's time to reflect on the past year.
First, books! Again, the "books" list is not a comprehensive list of everything I've read this year. You may notice that it appears that I read hardly anything at all once I started grad school (again), but of course, that's not true. It's just that in grad school we read lots of articles, chapters, and parts of books, rather than books cover to cover. And to count for my "Books, 2013" list, I needed to have read the book (or play) cover to cover. Articles, no matter how good or influential, don't count for this list. So, Books 2013!
Persuasion, Jane Austen; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente; The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, Catherynne M. Valente; Sorcery and Cecilia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer; The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson; Bringing Up Bébé, Pamela Druckerman; Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists, Gideon Defoe; Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman; A Walk with Jane Austen, Lori Smith; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon, Gideon Defoe; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, Gideon Defoe; Peter Pan, J.M Barrie; not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them, Jenny Boully; Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab, Gideon Defoe; A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway; Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain; Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg; Cold Tangerines, Shauna Niequist; Colonial Virginia Cookery, Jane Carson; On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder; By the Shores of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Divergent, Veronica Roth; Lady Susan, Jane Austen; The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith; The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera; These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The First Four Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Deathless, Catherynne M. Valente; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Romantics, Gideon Defoe; Brida, Paulo Coelho; The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, Edward Kelsey Moore; Insurgent, Veronica Roth; The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, William Doyle; Poems 1792, Anna Letitia Barbauld; Romanticism and Revolution, eds. Jon Mee and David Fallon; The Railway Children, E. Nesbit; Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Lyrical Tales, Mary Robinson; The Tempest, William Shakespeare; Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Meet Kit, Valerie Tripp; A Cat on Stage Left, Lydia Adamson
I really like keeping a "books" list, because when I look back on what I've read I can remember what the year felt like. I remember rereading my Valente "Fairyland" books early last year, and checking out Sorcery and Cecilia from the public library in Williamsburg. I remember listening to Bringing Up Bébé as I drove up to Midlothian to meet Zan for movies early last year, when we were long-distance. I remember reading my Pirates! books at the beach with my friends, and in Vegas. And, despite thinking this would be the year of Jane Austen-- so promising at the beginning, and with the subsequent addiction to the webseries The Lizzie Bennett Diaries-- it turned into the year of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read every single Little House book this year, thanks in large part to inspiration from my Foodways job. I remember late summer and crying so hard over The Supremes at Earl's All-You- Can-Eat, and starting Insurgent as I tried to pack for moving up to Arlington and Georgetown. There were early days of reading The French Revolution outside while the weather was still nice, and after October midterms from hell, relaxing on the law center bus with The Railway Children as I headed to Cabaret rehearsal. Then Thanksgiving as I formatted The Tempest script, and Foodways and Christmas again-- which always brings out The Little House in the Big Woods. Plus, this year... I got a Kit Kittredge American Girl doll for Christmas!!! She's so beautiful, with blue eyes and freckles and so of course, I just had to read the Meet Kit book that came with her. Call me crazy, but I'm definitely back into the American Girl fold, at least for a bit. Slightly obsessed. I predict that this coming year might be the year of the American Girl books... in between reading for my classes.
Next, Movies 2013! This is the first year I've done movies, and I've really enjoyed it. I think recording the films I watch has inspired me to see more films than I would have otherwise. There are always a million reasons not to watch a movie, even if I really want to, but feeling a kind of accountability on this blog motivated me to see things such as The Artist, Fargo, All About Eve, The African Queen, and Mud. It's even gotten me into the theaters a few times this year! Granted, a few of those times were meet-in-the-middle, long-distance dates with Zan in Midlothian, but it was still really fun to see the films and to add them to this list. And, as with the books, this list reminds me of times and places, like visiting Kay in Philadelphia, or watching The Incredibles on Captiva with Zan and my mom in our little beach villa.
Les Miserables (2012), The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Fargo (1996), The Artist (2011), The Princess Bride (1987), Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Chocolat (2000), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Music Man (2003), Pride and Prejudice (1995), St. Ives (1998), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), Jurassic Park (1993), The Kids Are Alright (2011), All About Eve (1950), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Life of Pi (2012), Princes et Princesses (2000), Monsters University (2013), Cars (2006), Tales of the Night (2011), 1776 (1972), Despicable Me (2010), Much Ado About Nothing (2012), Lilo and Stitch (2002), Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979), Mary Poppins (1964), The Incredibles (2004), The African Queen (1951), Mud (2012), Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), Practical Magic (1998), Halloweentown (1998), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949); Hocus Pocus (1993), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), White Christmas (1954), Brave (2012), Frozen (2013), Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999), The Santa Clause (1994), Love Actually (2003), A Muppet's Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008), The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974), Elf (2003), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), American Hustle (2013)
I think a Movies widget was a successful experiment, and I look forward to Movies 2014! I think I'll start with either the new Hobbit movie, or else Saving Mr. Banks.
To be honest, I'm ending this year on a bit of a down note. The past few days I've felt, as noted in my last post, a little blue. I don't feel like I'm where I should be with my life-- still in school (for my fourth year of grad school, and I'm not in a PhD program), apartment-less, career-less (see, "still in school"), unsure of the future. I know I'm working towards an M.A. that will be useful to me, but I can't help but feel like I'm treading water. Working and working and getting absolutely no where at all. I guess most of us feel this way in our 20s. But it doesn't help to look around at friends building successful careers, marriages, families, and lives. Or to look at Jennifer Lawrence, whom I adore, but who is younger than me and acting with Christian Bale-- a.k.a Laurie, from Little Women. I mean, he was grown-up when I was a kid. How am I old enough to play his wife, and yet, I'm not doing just that? I'm treading water. She has an Academy Award. Zan always says I shouldn't compare myself to other people (granted, Jennifer Lawrence is not who I am usually comparing to; it's usually Kate Middleton. JUST KIDDING! It's really usually all of the people in my Facebook feed buying houses and posting about engagements and landing dream jobs; I'm so happy for them, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong with my own life). He has a point, but it's hard not to compare, especially when I feel so totally unsure all of the time. It's not that I'm gunning for a ring, or that I know what city I want to settle in. I don't even want kids-- ever!-- but I can't help feeling like I'm doing something wrong. I feel so... behind. And really, I feel like all I want right now is to get in the car and drive. I want to go to the beach, to write and paint. I want to cut across Tennessee and Texas. I want to go to the other coast.
But, 2013 has been a very good year, overall. And 2014 is on its way in just a few short hours. Here's to a new year, new adventures, new books, new movies. Here's to old friends and new experiences. Here's to letting go of stress and worry. Here's to optimism. Here's to opportunity. Thanks for everything 2013! Welcome, 2014!
First, books! Again, the "books" list is not a comprehensive list of everything I've read this year. You may notice that it appears that I read hardly anything at all once I started grad school (again), but of course, that's not true. It's just that in grad school we read lots of articles, chapters, and parts of books, rather than books cover to cover. And to count for my "Books, 2013" list, I needed to have read the book (or play) cover to cover. Articles, no matter how good or influential, don't count for this list. So, Books 2013!
Persuasion, Jane Austen; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente; The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, Catherynne M. Valente; Sorcery and Cecilia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer; The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson; Bringing Up Bébé, Pamela Druckerman; Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists, Gideon Defoe; Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman; A Walk with Jane Austen, Lori Smith; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon, Gideon Defoe; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, Gideon Defoe; Peter Pan, J.M Barrie; not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them, Jenny Boully; Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab, Gideon Defoe; A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway; Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain; Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg; Cold Tangerines, Shauna Niequist; Colonial Virginia Cookery, Jane Carson; On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder; By the Shores of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Divergent, Veronica Roth; Lady Susan, Jane Austen; The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith; The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera; These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The First Four Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Deathless, Catherynne M. Valente; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Romantics, Gideon Defoe; Brida, Paulo Coelho; The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, Edward Kelsey Moore; Insurgent, Veronica Roth; The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, William Doyle; Poems 1792, Anna Letitia Barbauld; Romanticism and Revolution, eds. Jon Mee and David Fallon; The Railway Children, E. Nesbit; Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Lyrical Tales, Mary Robinson; The Tempest, William Shakespeare; Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Meet Kit, Valerie Tripp; A Cat on Stage Left, Lydia Adamson
I really like keeping a "books" list, because when I look back on what I've read I can remember what the year felt like. I remember rereading my Valente "Fairyland" books early last year, and checking out Sorcery and Cecilia from the public library in Williamsburg. I remember listening to Bringing Up Bébé as I drove up to Midlothian to meet Zan for movies early last year, when we were long-distance. I remember reading my Pirates! books at the beach with my friends, and in Vegas. And, despite thinking this would be the year of Jane Austen-- so promising at the beginning, and with the subsequent addiction to the webseries The Lizzie Bennett Diaries-- it turned into the year of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read every single Little House book this year, thanks in large part to inspiration from my Foodways job. I remember late summer and crying so hard over The Supremes at Earl's All-You- Can-Eat, and starting Insurgent as I tried to pack for moving up to Arlington and Georgetown. There were early days of reading The French Revolution outside while the weather was still nice, and after October midterms from hell, relaxing on the law center bus with The Railway Children as I headed to Cabaret rehearsal. Then Thanksgiving as I formatted The Tempest script, and Foodways and Christmas again-- which always brings out The Little House in the Big Woods. Plus, this year... I got a Kit Kittredge American Girl doll for Christmas!!! She's so beautiful, with blue eyes and freckles and so of course, I just had to read the Meet Kit book that came with her. Call me crazy, but I'm definitely back into the American Girl fold, at least for a bit. Slightly obsessed. I predict that this coming year might be the year of the American Girl books... in between reading for my classes.
Next, Movies 2013! This is the first year I've done movies, and I've really enjoyed it. I think recording the films I watch has inspired me to see more films than I would have otherwise. There are always a million reasons not to watch a movie, even if I really want to, but feeling a kind of accountability on this blog motivated me to see things such as The Artist, Fargo, All About Eve, The African Queen, and Mud. It's even gotten me into the theaters a few times this year! Granted, a few of those times were meet-in-the-middle, long-distance dates with Zan in Midlothian, but it was still really fun to see the films and to add them to this list. And, as with the books, this list reminds me of times and places, like visiting Kay in Philadelphia, or watching The Incredibles on Captiva with Zan and my mom in our little beach villa.
Les Miserables (2012), The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Fargo (1996), The Artist (2011), The Princess Bride (1987), Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Chocolat (2000), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Music Man (2003), Pride and Prejudice (1995), St. Ives (1998), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), Jurassic Park (1993), The Kids Are Alright (2011), All About Eve (1950), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Life of Pi (2012), Princes et Princesses (2000), Monsters University (2013), Cars (2006), Tales of the Night (2011), 1776 (1972), Despicable Me (2010), Much Ado About Nothing (2012), Lilo and Stitch (2002), Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979), Mary Poppins (1964), The Incredibles (2004), The African Queen (1951), Mud (2012), Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), Practical Magic (1998), Halloweentown (1998), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949); Hocus Pocus (1993), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), White Christmas (1954), Brave (2012), Frozen (2013), Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999), The Santa Clause (1994), Love Actually (2003), A Muppet's Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008), The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974), Elf (2003), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), American Hustle (2013)
I think a Movies widget was a successful experiment, and I look forward to Movies 2014! I think I'll start with either the new Hobbit movie, or else Saving Mr. Banks.
To be honest, I'm ending this year on a bit of a down note. The past few days I've felt, as noted in my last post, a little blue. I don't feel like I'm where I should be with my life-- still in school (for my fourth year of grad school, and I'm not in a PhD program), apartment-less, career-less (see, "still in school"), unsure of the future. I know I'm working towards an M.A. that will be useful to me, but I can't help but feel like I'm treading water. Working and working and getting absolutely no where at all. I guess most of us feel this way in our 20s. But it doesn't help to look around at friends building successful careers, marriages, families, and lives. Or to look at Jennifer Lawrence, whom I adore, but who is younger than me and acting with Christian Bale-- a.k.a Laurie, from Little Women. I mean, he was grown-up when I was a kid. How am I old enough to play his wife, and yet, I'm not doing just that? I'm treading water. She has an Academy Award. Zan always says I shouldn't compare myself to other people (granted, Jennifer Lawrence is not who I am usually comparing to; it's usually Kate Middleton. JUST KIDDING! It's really usually all of the people in my Facebook feed buying houses and posting about engagements and landing dream jobs; I'm so happy for them, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong with my own life). He has a point, but it's hard not to compare, especially when I feel so totally unsure all of the time. It's not that I'm gunning for a ring, or that I know what city I want to settle in. I don't even want kids-- ever!-- but I can't help feeling like I'm doing something wrong. I feel so... behind. And really, I feel like all I want right now is to get in the car and drive. I want to go to the beach, to write and paint. I want to cut across Tennessee and Texas. I want to go to the other coast.
But, 2013 has been a very good year, overall. And 2014 is on its way in just a few short hours. Here's to a new year, new adventures, new books, new movies. Here's to old friends and new experiences. Here's to letting go of stress and worry. Here's to optimism. Here's to opportunity. Thanks for everything 2013! Welcome, 2014!
Monday, May 20, 2013
News and a Wedding
So much going on I don't know where to start! First, ANNOUNCEMENT TIME! That other thing I was waiting to tell you once it
was all official? Here it is. This fall I'm going to Georgetown
University to work on an M.A. in English! I'm really happy with this
decision. I can't wait to jump back into the field, more so than
before, and to really buckle down into textual studies. Georgetown is affiliated with the Folger, too, so I'm hoping to get to really examine some of these materials up close and personal.
This past weekend I attended a beautiful wedding. My friends Mike and Morgan tied the knot! They had a gorgeous ceremony and reception at a 19th-century manor house. The weather was blessedly cool, though a bit rainy, so the instead of being married in the rose garden they were married on the porch overlooking the rose garden. Morgan rode to the wedding in a horse-drawn carriage, they had prepared readings on love from Shakespeare and Rumi, they had a unity spice ceremony that I just loved, and their officiant-- a friend from college-- gave a stunning blessing to the marriage. Then the reception! Zan and most of my other friends in attendance were in the wedding party so they spent most of the cocktail hour having pictures taken, while my friend Carrie and I partook of Mike and Morgan's signature drink. For dinner we were seated at the "Romeo and Juliet" table, and afterwards we danced! I'm sure I looked silly because I'm such a terrible dancer (my friends all make fun of my lack of rhythm) but I had so much fun. I ended up having a much larger group of friends there than I had anticipated, and I met some new friends/people I had heard of but never met, which made for some great dance-times. Then Mike and Morgan were sent off in style with sparklers! I also just realized I have no pictures... hmm...
Then, today was my first day at my new job! I'm not interpreting just yet, but today I had my costume fitting! I can't wait to get back into my shifts, petticoats, and jumps (sort of like stays). Plus, I think my shoes this summer are going to legitimately be very comfortable. I'm excited. The bulk of the day was spent reading up on materials about the kitchens and food in 18th-century Virginia, with a few sporadic duties included, such as cleaning buckets and setting up/putting away the display foods. I'm so excited for this summer. I think this will be a lot of fun. I plan to have a very large dinner party once I've mastered some of these 18th century dishes.
Things certainly are exciting around here all of a sudden! I have this stirring feeling that things are looking up. I feel like I've turned a corner, both in terms of future plans and also my general life outlook. I think/hope/wish that maybe 2013 will turn into a wonderful year, after all.
This past weekend I attended a beautiful wedding. My friends Mike and Morgan tied the knot! They had a gorgeous ceremony and reception at a 19th-century manor house. The weather was blessedly cool, though a bit rainy, so the instead of being married in the rose garden they were married on the porch overlooking the rose garden. Morgan rode to the wedding in a horse-drawn carriage, they had prepared readings on love from Shakespeare and Rumi, they had a unity spice ceremony that I just loved, and their officiant-- a friend from college-- gave a stunning blessing to the marriage. Then the reception! Zan and most of my other friends in attendance were in the wedding party so they spent most of the cocktail hour having pictures taken, while my friend Carrie and I partook of Mike and Morgan's signature drink. For dinner we were seated at the "Romeo and Juliet" table, and afterwards we danced! I'm sure I looked silly because I'm such a terrible dancer (my friends all make fun of my lack of rhythm) but I had so much fun. I ended up having a much larger group of friends there than I had anticipated, and I met some new friends/people I had heard of but never met, which made for some great dance-times. Then Mike and Morgan were sent off in style with sparklers! I also just realized I have no pictures... hmm...
Then, today was my first day at my new job! I'm not interpreting just yet, but today I had my costume fitting! I can't wait to get back into my shifts, petticoats, and jumps (sort of like stays). Plus, I think my shoes this summer are going to legitimately be very comfortable. I'm excited. The bulk of the day was spent reading up on materials about the kitchens and food in 18th-century Virginia, with a few sporadic duties included, such as cleaning buckets and setting up/putting away the display foods. I'm so excited for this summer. I think this will be a lot of fun. I plan to have a very large dinner party once I've mastered some of these 18th century dishes.
Things certainly are exciting around here all of a sudden! I have this stirring feeling that things are looking up. I feel like I've turned a corner, both in terms of future plans and also my general life outlook. I think/hope/wish that maybe 2013 will turn into a wonderful year, after all.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Other Possibilities
Well, my first grad school rejection arrived yesterday. Hopefully my only rejection, but based on Evidence and Feelings, I am fully expecting a second rejection to arrive on Monday. How am I feeling? Okay. The rejection that came was from a school I wanted to go to (obviously, I applied to schools I want to go to), but not one of my top tier choices. It would have been nice to have it as an option, though. It was my top choice in the south, and I kind of wanted to stay this side of the Mason-Dixon line. Plus, I have a friend currently working on his dissertation there, and it would have been nice to join a program that a friend has nearly completed and loved.
Ah, well. The thing is, this rejection and the one I sense is impending have made me think. What if I don't get into any schools? I've always recognized this as a possibility, but the waiting to hear back seemed to take so long I didn't really think about it. I've loosely planned-- move to Richmond or D.C., look for history-based jobs. But, I feel like maybe not. What do I want to do if I don't get into any of my top choices? I feel like so many people know what they want from life. Several of my friends know they want to be writers, some are certain they want to be filmmakers, others know they belong on the stage. Others felt certain about law school and a career in that field. Some know they belong in politics. What do I want to do? If I can't do material textuality, what then?
The possibilities are, I suppose, endless. Part of me wants to become a dollmaker. I know that sounds silly, but I think opening an etsy shop would be really fun. I like creating things, tangible things. Part of me wants to move to England-- to do what, I do not know, but the one thing I do know is that I belong in England. It might be the one thing I know for certain about myself. I've never felt that artistic drive that others talk about in terms of novel writing or theater. I wish I could. But I feel, oddly, like being in England feels as certain to me as the fine arts do to others. That's one reason I study early modern and eighteenth-century England. The place calls to me.
But what do I want to do? Besides literary theory, history/book history, and early modern England, what drives me? What do I feel passionate about? What could I see myself doing day in and day out? From what work might I derive joy? I feel now, more than ever, that I need to really confront these questions and work them out for myself. It's a daunting task.
Ah, well. The thing is, this rejection and the one I sense is impending have made me think. What if I don't get into any schools? I've always recognized this as a possibility, but the waiting to hear back seemed to take so long I didn't really think about it. I've loosely planned-- move to Richmond or D.C., look for history-based jobs. But, I feel like maybe not. What do I want to do if I don't get into any of my top choices? I feel like so many people know what they want from life. Several of my friends know they want to be writers, some are certain they want to be filmmakers, others know they belong on the stage. Others felt certain about law school and a career in that field. Some know they belong in politics. What do I want to do? If I can't do material textuality, what then?
The possibilities are, I suppose, endless. Part of me wants to become a dollmaker. I know that sounds silly, but I think opening an etsy shop would be really fun. I like creating things, tangible things. Part of me wants to move to England-- to do what, I do not know, but the one thing I do know is that I belong in England. It might be the one thing I know for certain about myself. I've never felt that artistic drive that others talk about in terms of novel writing or theater. I wish I could. But I feel, oddly, like being in England feels as certain to me as the fine arts do to others. That's one reason I study early modern and eighteenth-century England. The place calls to me.
But what do I want to do? Besides literary theory, history/book history, and early modern England, what drives me? What do I feel passionate about? What could I see myself doing day in and day out? From what work might I derive joy? I feel now, more than ever, that I need to really confront these questions and work them out for myself. It's a daunting task.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Finally February
January felt like a lot of waiting. Mostly, waiting for February, so I can wait some more. This month I should begin to hear back from grad schools, and that process may go through March. But January felt slow and wasted. I tried to read many books, see many movies, enjoy myself. I've begun working on my Beauty and the Beast cross-stitch again in earnest. But it's hard when you know that you're really waiting for your life to be decided, and that those decisions will begin to trickle in come February. So, not only did I wait, I don't feel like I properly relaxed during the down time, because I couldn't forget that I was waiting.
But now it is February. February looks a bit more active. I should hear back-- for good or ill-- from at least one school this month. I have plans for Mardi Gras with Kay, and I could not be more excited (well, actually, I will be once I get my shoes and a bolero jacket to go with my dress). I can't wait for beignets and Cajun food. I can't wait for beads and masks and costumes and parades. And after Mardi Gras, hopefully a trip up to Philly to play tourist and see some friends from my study abroad program; we have come to the five-year anniversary of that beautiful semester.
And hopefully I won't spend so much time alone this month. I like having a bit of space for myself, but January felt positively lonely at times. Such loneliness can really make a girl feel like a crazy cat lady. I hope February feels a bit more populated.
While today dawned cloudy and the temperatures keep dropping, February brings the promise of spring right around the corner, another "last" spring in Williamsburg. This is a golden time of freedom for me, so now I just need to seize it. Day trips, nights out with friends, sleeping in without guilt-- these are the things I aspire to for February.
But now it is February. February looks a bit more active. I should hear back-- for good or ill-- from at least one school this month. I have plans for Mardi Gras with Kay, and I could not be more excited (well, actually, I will be once I get my shoes and a bolero jacket to go with my dress). I can't wait for beignets and Cajun food. I can't wait for beads and masks and costumes and parades. And after Mardi Gras, hopefully a trip up to Philly to play tourist and see some friends from my study abroad program; we have come to the five-year anniversary of that beautiful semester.
And hopefully I won't spend so much time alone this month. I like having a bit of space for myself, but January felt positively lonely at times. Such loneliness can really make a girl feel like a crazy cat lady. I hope February feels a bit more populated.
While today dawned cloudy and the temperatures keep dropping, February brings the promise of spring right around the corner, another "last" spring in Williamsburg. This is a golden time of freedom for me, so now I just need to seize it. Day trips, nights out with friends, sleeping in without guilt-- these are the things I aspire to for February.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Useful and Necessary
This holiday season I reread all of Little House in the Big Woods. I usually only read the chapters about Christmas and the sugar snow, but I started it this year and wanted to read it all. So, I did. And now I long for times I never knew. Not that I necessarily want to live in 1871 in the woods of Wisconsin, but I love the idea of using everything available without waste and having no unnecessary items. I love the idea of appreciating everything, which so few of us do these days.
For Christmas, Laura got a pair of mittens, a piece of candy, and a rag doll. The rag doll was special; she was the only child who got more than mittens and candy. Ma got a baker's rack carved by Pa. Ma herself sewed a felt needle-holder for Laura's aunt, and Laura's aunt gave Ma a sweet-smelling apple full of cloves. Not much, but so appreciated. I think it really hit a cord with me this year because aside from a needlepoint ornament, I didn't make any gifts this year. My clay stayed in the closet, my paints and canvases remained in their boxes. I like making things. I did get things to make, though, like a cross-stitched sweet-bag kit for potpourri, and a book on doll-making.
And now I'm looking around my room and I see so many unnecessary things. Too many books (though those can never actually be unnecessary in my opinion), too many clothes that I've been holding onto for sentimental reasons or simply because they look "ok" and haven't totally fallen apart yet, too many brochures from places I've visited, hotel keys, and all the bric-a-brac of life that piles up until you can't see the shelves or the floor anymore. Things that I don't need. Things that are neither pretty nor useful anymore. I desperately need to organize and clean. Same thing with food-- I need to use it. I need to use my olive oils and jars of honey that came as gifts. They are good, and need eating. I shouldn't put them on a shelf, "saving" them for a "special" enough time. That turns into crystallized honey. Same with soaps and candles. They are meant to be used. I shouldn't save a soap or candle. Then they pile up. They were made for me to use. I can't enjoy them if I don't use them.
So, as far as I have a New Year's Resolution, it's to live more simply, more usefully, and more beautifully.
For Christmas, Laura got a pair of mittens, a piece of candy, and a rag doll. The rag doll was special; she was the only child who got more than mittens and candy. Ma got a baker's rack carved by Pa. Ma herself sewed a felt needle-holder for Laura's aunt, and Laura's aunt gave Ma a sweet-smelling apple full of cloves. Not much, but so appreciated. I think it really hit a cord with me this year because aside from a needlepoint ornament, I didn't make any gifts this year. My clay stayed in the closet, my paints and canvases remained in their boxes. I like making things. I did get things to make, though, like a cross-stitched sweet-bag kit for potpourri, and a book on doll-making.
And now I'm looking around my room and I see so many unnecessary things. Too many books (though those can never actually be unnecessary in my opinion), too many clothes that I've been holding onto for sentimental reasons or simply because they look "ok" and haven't totally fallen apart yet, too many brochures from places I've visited, hotel keys, and all the bric-a-brac of life that piles up until you can't see the shelves or the floor anymore. Things that I don't need. Things that are neither pretty nor useful anymore. I desperately need to organize and clean. Same thing with food-- I need to use it. I need to use my olive oils and jars of honey that came as gifts. They are good, and need eating. I shouldn't put them on a shelf, "saving" them for a "special" enough time. That turns into crystallized honey. Same with soaps and candles. They are meant to be used. I shouldn't save a soap or candle. Then they pile up. They were made for me to use. I can't enjoy them if I don't use them.
So, as far as I have a New Year's Resolution, it's to live more simply, more usefully, and more beautifully.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Today I fell asleep in a patch of sunshine
Even though I haven't been writing here much, things have still been moving apace. This past week Zan came to visit for four days. We spent time with our cats, industriously working on our grad school applications while they purred on our laps or in a chair nearby. I submitted my first application on Wednesday! My goal is to have two more submitted by the end of next week. Yay, future! It was so nice having Zan here. We made 'Spearean risotto, went to Aroma's and La Tolteca, watched The Pirates: Band of Misfits! (adorable) and an episode of Buffy, and went to trivia night at the Leafe with some of my friends from my MA program. Now that Zan has gone back home, I miss him even more. I know I will visit him next week, and so we're only apart for less than seven days, but going from living together to long-distance isn't fun.
But you know what is fun? In between writing personal statements and editing writing samples for applications, I'm learning to do needlepoint! I already love cross-stitching, but have never had a needlepoint kit before. It's so fast and easy and beautiful! And, a new shoe store is opening in Williamsburg tomorrow. I am perhaps more excited about this than I should be. I'm also planning on really concentrating on my piano music again. I'd like to be able to play carols for the holidays without too much effort. Finally, Felix the cat is currently looking up at me and purring, and I think he's trying to say "Quit typing and pet me instead!" so I think I'll oblige him. I'll try to post a bit more often now that I'm settling in here!
But you know what is fun? In between writing personal statements and editing writing samples for applications, I'm learning to do needlepoint! I already love cross-stitching, but have never had a needlepoint kit before. It's so fast and easy and beautiful! And, a new shoe store is opening in Williamsburg tomorrow. I am perhaps more excited about this than I should be. I'm also planning on really concentrating on my piano music again. I'd like to be able to play carols for the holidays without too much effort. Finally, Felix the cat is currently looking up at me and purring, and I think he's trying to say "Quit typing and pet me instead!" so I think I'll oblige him. I'll try to post a bit more often now that I'm settling in here!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
the door is so wide open
You may have noticed that it's September, that the air has gotten cooler and school buses once again populate the roadways in the mornings and afternoons. Backpacks are eagerly sold, and signs in stores proclaim "Back-to-School Sales" and "College Necessities." But, despite the fact that last year I passed first year exams and everything for the next three years of my life seemed planned, I haven't mentioned orientation, or what classes I'll be taking, or how I've stocked up on several new, blank, shiny notebooks and fresh pens. I do love that feeling of blank notebooks and new pens.
I haven't mentioned it because this year I'm not going back to school. I realized this program wasn't leading me in the direction I wanted, and chose to find a new path. If I'm lucky, perhaps next fall I'll be buying those notebooks and pens, sharpening my pencils, picking up textbooks, and looking at new messenger bags-- happily following a desired, more clearly delineated course. But this year, I'm filling out job/school applications and deciding if I should move back east now or wait or not move back east at all unless I get a job/new school there. Or should I go due south? I decided to change my fate, remember? It's scary and uncertain and exciting and wonderful and terrifying. There's so much to decide, and-- deliciously-- so much I can decide. For the first time in my life I have a whole year where I don't know what comes next and it frightens me and thrills me.
I haven't mentioned it because this year I'm not going back to school. I realized this program wasn't leading me in the direction I wanted, and chose to find a new path. If I'm lucky, perhaps next fall I'll be buying those notebooks and pens, sharpening my pencils, picking up textbooks, and looking at new messenger bags-- happily following a desired, more clearly delineated course. But this year, I'm filling out job/school applications and deciding if I should move back east now or wait or not move back east at all unless I get a job/new school there. Or should I go due south? I decided to change my fate, remember? It's scary and uncertain and exciting and wonderful and terrifying. There's so much to decide, and-- deliciously-- so much I can decide. For the first time in my life I have a whole year where I don't know what comes next and it frightens me and thrills me.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?
(Photo found here)
Big things are happening. I'm changing up the entire trajectory of what I thought my future would hold, and while it's at times terrifying and uncertain, I have to admit that I don't remember the last time I felt this excited and happy. The world is full of possibility.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
you try to move your feet
I keep wondering if I'm in the right place. Sometimes I stop and think, "If you could do anything, if you weren't bound by constraints of economy or what other people thought, what would you be doing?" And I don't know. I think I'd be traveling, reading books that really interest me, learning languages, and writing. I'd want to take an intense yoga class and maybe study world religions. I'd want to live someplace sunny and warm. At the very least, I think maybe I should be in a history program. But, given the realities, I don't know what else I would do besides be here.
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