"Nevermore."

How cool is this?

"A graphic anthology of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories." Completely cool. And also completely perfect for using in a classroom--when I saw this sucker in the stacks of the local Barnes & Noble, you'd better believe I snatched it right up. There are graphic adaptations of The Raven, Tell-tale Heart, Fall of the House of Usher--titles on any high school English teacher's list--each created by a different artist, and each giving a totally different take on Poe.

It lent itself really nicely to a media-literacy warm-up today, for my education methods class, and could have opened up a unit in a regular class very easily. We were starting to fall into some great conversations, but I did have to give the room back to our profs eventually. Oh well. Some freshman class is (hopefully) going to eat this up.

There's a gorgeous stretch of trail not too far from my apartment, and ever since I discovered the joys of not running around a track, I've spent a lot of time there. If I'm there at the right times in the right seasons, I can catch the sunrise from behind the trees, or watch the snow melt into the creek, or even just listen to the leaves rustle and various woodland creatures going about their days. It's fantastic. It's beautiful. It's religious, and humbling: every time I'm there, I'm stuffed to the gills with pleasure and gratitude at the perfect, little beauties of it all.

So this is where I went running today.

A few people were stretching at the trailhead when I jogged up, and we all tossed "good morning"s at each other. (Another thing I love about this place: the people are so friendly!) One man approached me after a few minutes, while I was stretching, and asked if I was training for a marathon; a fair question, as I was wearing a marathon-y training shirt and very marathon-y wraparound sunglasses. We chatted for a few minutes. His name was G., and his running partner was running an hour late. Was I heading off now?

I told him yep, and that I might not be good company (due to my panting and gasping for air around the thirty-minute mark), but that he was welcome to jog along too. Normally, this isn't the kind of thing I'd do--my stranger-danger sense is jumpy--but since it was ten a.m. on a Sunday morning, the trail was well-populated, and he wasn't giving off any creepy vibes, I figured it would be nice to have a running buddy.

Boy, was it ever.

Turned out that G. was an international marathon runner, hailing from Kenya, and training for an event in the Midwest in a few months. He gave me pointers--"Keep your hands like this, so your body does not become too loose"--and, as a running buddy will do, kept me moving quickly. At the end of a forty-five minute run, my muscles were humming and I was wiping sweat out of my eyes. He looked like he had just finished a walk around the block. (Unfair. Maybe someday, I can run like that, and just bounce around town all day long.)

We did exchange e-mails after the run ("Next Sunday, we will have a long run. Ten a.m.? We will run for an hour--or less, since you are tired!")...so now I may have the world's best running partner. Just another example: I meet the best people in this town!

"Retreat" is the right word...

Tonight, I'm heading out of town with a group of friends (the Mortar Boarders; see here for the rundown) to have a retreat. Lots of food, lots of talking, and no homework or work-work for twenty hours or so: sounds perfect. This has been a wild week! My fingers are crossed that things settle into a schedule over the next week; otherwise, this semester is going to be much rougher than anticipated.

But for now: I'm beating a hasty retreat out of town.

Getting the semester rolling...

Yesterday, I got the substitute job I interviewed for--yippee!

Today, I attended the sub orientation for said job--eek! This town is much more serious about its subs than I had guessed: after a long application, several letters of recommendation, and an interview, we had a three-hour seminar to wrap up our paperwork and get prepped for working in the schools. Whew! I'm a little nervous, but I've worked in these schools before, and I know I can handle it (and even have a great time).

Quick updates because I'm behind on work...oops.

Lunch date?

I packed a salad, an orange, and a can of Izze to take to the park today, so I could a) get out of my apartment for a while, b) enjoy the beautiful day, and c) get my thoughts in order before the school year started.

Imagine my surprise when I got to the park, settled into my blanket, and found myself barely four feet from the furry back of a woodchuck. He rumbled off into a creek bed for a few minutes before reemerging on the other side, snuffling around in the grass for food and generally being oblivious to any human presence. (I would have given him a carrot, if he'd only asked...)

There was quite a lot of human activity going on today, too: freshmen picnicking, babies laughing, jugglers and unicyclers doing their thing (really!). The entire scene highlighted so much of what I love about this town: its oddity, but also its strong community vibe. We were all outside, together, perhaps stopping to chat for a few minutes, just because it was a beautiful day and we all wanted to be there.

Mini road trip!

My teacher buddy V., her fiance M. and I trucked downstate today to visit the State Fair. It was my first time at any state fair, or anything bigger than a city carnival, so this--a real, honest-to-goodness festival--was dazzling.



In a very Midwestern sort of way. (This was just a tiny slice of the midway--the rest of the carnival stretched all around us, and the livestock, food, stages, and other parts of the fairgrounds made it seem like we were in another state!)


V. and M. are two of my favorite people, and the fact that they're getting married in a year (a year! so soon!) is the icing on the cake. They had already attended state fairs (she in South Carolina, he in Texas), but all of us agreed that this state's fair was legit. Too legit to quit.

I petted horses, ate the best pulled pork sandwich of my life (M.'s comment: "This is dangerous."), rode the Ferris wheel and bumper cars, saw all the sights, ate a funnel cake, and wrapped up the day with free chocolate and ice cream samples from a tourist trap on our way home. Exhausted, full, and happy--that's me.

"Married Life" by Michael Giacchino

Made me cry the first time I saw Up, made me cry when I saw it again tonight, makes me cry just hearing the simple piano melody. In five minutes flat, Disney had me conditioned--and I love it.

Attendance prizes?

My teacher friends reunited tonight after a long summer apart: some of us studied abroad, others worked, and all of us had stories to tell.

This in itself was fantastic; the icing on the cake was the free food I walked home with. Who begins the evening at a bar with friends and ends it at home with a free cucumber, tomato, and Thin Mint Blizzard?

I'm still not sure how it happened myself, but it was a darn fine night. (And I cannot wait for breakfast tomorrow.)

Transition period.

First night in the new apartment: many boxes, very messy. Ate Indian dinner with A., and discussed money as meme, Dark Knight as allegory for current American fears, and whether that guy in the corner was my ex or just a long-lost twin. Fell asleep early. Excellent evening.

First dinner cooked in the new apartment: rotini noodles with homemade meat sauce. Mmm. And a slice of roomie's/roomie's boyfriend's tasty HyVee pizza. Nom nom nom.

First party in the new apartment: bbq reunion of all the old journalism dorm friends. Tasty burgers and epic fruit salad, as well as a guest appearance by Samuel L. Jackson. (I have had it with these monkey fightin' snakes on this Monday through Friday plane!)

I'm still in the transition stage, but it's starting to feel a little bit like home.

Deep breath before the plunge into another semester.

The past week of "vacation" has been fantastic--lots of sleeping in, catching friends that I've missed all summer, training on a more flexible schedule, playing video games, and (currently) simply sitting and listening to the rain. When I leave in roughly an hour, the wet will be a liability--more stressful drive out of town, more uncomfortable moving of cardboard boxes--but for now: ahhh. I love the rain.

Next post will be from the new apartment in College Town...

Lots of activity the past few days.

Championship games at the family soccer fields (Mexico beat Honduras soundly, though everyone was a good sport about it), preparing a friend for the move into her first house, preparing myself to move into the apartment, and also taking a much-needed vacation.

(So what if I'm "vacationing" in my own house by watching TV and playing Warcraft? It's a chance to do what I want, and that is more valuable than gold.)

Very slim, uninformative update, I know, but I'm gathering steam for the next week. School resumes on the 24th--there's precious little summer vacation left. I plan on enjoying it!

Do mine eyes deceive me?

...how much battery life do I have?


I cannot remember the last time I had a whole number in the "hours" place. Even the "28 minutes" part is better than I'm used to--right before I bought the new battery, I was lucky to have 15 minutes of juice on a full charge! Once I pull some of my old games onto an external hard drive, the good old MBPro will be able to run longer and faster than it has in years. Almost like getting a new computer again, but without the awkward learning-about-you-and-why-you-deleted-my-iTunes-library phase. Yippee!

Finally, Friday.

Just a simple, short post for today, but also a really nice break from the craziness of this week (and next): having dinner out with my mom.

When we're both busy, we tend to snap and phrase things in unfortunate ways, which results in some tension and derails what might otherwise be good discussions. Tonight was a nice chance to relax and just talk. (Even if she makes you crazy sometimes, you've gotta love your mom.)

Bargain hunting!

What with the moving into my first apartment and all, I am in serious need of furniture. It is a furnished apartment--so things like bed, sofa, dresser, dining room table are covered--I only have to hunt for the extras: lamps, lounging chairs, bookshelves, rugs, etc.

The Unique, my favorite in-town thrift store, is just a few miles down the road from my house. Feeling a bit stir crazy, I headed out of the house and to the store in hopes of finding some small piece of furniture I could cart back to Collegetown next time I went.

Every time I walk into a consignment shop, I remember what I love about thrift shopping. There's a little bit of a thrill I just don't get at the mall--there's more to the hunt for a good item here, where there aren't racks of the same item in every size except yours. If you find something exciting here, and it fits and/or works correctly, that's a real accomplishment. At the end of the day, I always found I've gotten a lot of bags for my buck--and go home with more bucks than I would have on a mall day. Add that to the fact that I don't need brand-new stuff, and by buying used new resources are conserved, etc. etc., and everybody wins!

I won today by scoring a) a classy lamp with an ugly lampshade, b) a 95-cent lampshade, c) a new set of plates, d) a white cardigan, and e) two tea/coffee cups and plates, in a pattern I admired when I saw it in JC Penney for $40 per set, and adored when I noticed it in the thrift for 70 cents.

Victory!

I'm still looking for that comfy chair, though. And maybe some weird, vintage-y "statement" rings. But those are prey for another afternoon of bargain hunting...

Music for the day.

(Bizarre video, great song.)

<3 Joss Whedon.

Especially <3 Dollhouse. Twisted, inventive, fantastical, certainly fun--all I've come to know and love from him. Normally, I don't really watch TV series, but for Dollhouse (and for Heroes, if anyone's counting), I'll make an exception.



I've been catching up on my dolls online today--I have problems committing to one show at one timeslot for an entire season. Work seems to get in the way, or I have a headache, or homework, or one of a million other things...luckily, the Internet makes it easy for me to catch up again.

Time to get organized.

Even though I have the apartment key, there are a few more weeks at home before it's time to move back to Collegetown. Work meetings will keep me here, as well as move me back: must be in one town on the 15th, and another on the 17th. I don't get much flexibility with the dates, so I have to be ready to go soon.

Looking around today, though, I think I'm in pretty good shape. Room is clean, books are in some semblance of order, clothes are sorted out...on my list of things to buy are "lamp, underwear, curtain rod, red lipstick." Pretty low-key for back to school! It was nice to feel the steady work & busyness of the summer pay off--I hate having to rush and panic in a move, and it looks like that won't be necessary this year.

(Whew.)

It's almost like being a grownup, or something!

Despite a little confusion (and not having the rent check), today I received the keys to my very first apartment! It's just off the main campus, the oldest apartment building anywhere near it. The place looks and feels like it has history: wood floors, architectural ceilings, fireplaces that once worked (but are now bricked over, likely for the safety of modern/drunken college students). Apparently, it was raided during Prohibition, and gave up quite a stash of liquor--good to see that college students through the ages have a common thread.

(Defying authority, of course. Nothing to do with alcohol!)

Pictures will be up later; for now, I'm celebrating!