Long Time, No Post

Yeah, I know, it's been like, two and a half months.

There's lots of news to report, I suppose. It's been an interesting few months. I lost internet connection for awhile, which drove me nuts. I don't have TV so I rely on the internet for my fix. It drove me crazy to miss House and The Office, but what drove me even crazier was not being able to be really connected around election time. I like to keep up on those things, and it was like being totally disconnected from the world. And that's not to mention all the people I fell out of touch with. It sucked. I spent hours and hours on the phone with CenturyTel, trying to figure out what was wrong. They were telling me I'd have to take my computer to an Apple store (not easy to do, since I live on an island). Then my friend Rachel visited, and fixed it in about two seconds. Now I'm trying to catch up.

In other news, I quit my job. It was a pretty big deal. There were some major management changes in the department I worked in, and my new boss was pretty downright weird about my visual impairment and it made me really uncomfortable working there. It was a difficult month, from mid-September to mid-October. After working the same job, this came out of the blue. I was already a little unhappy there, but for other reasons, I wanted to do something that was more mentally engaging and less physically demanding, my body was exhausted, and with the commute (I walked about 45 minutes each way), it took up a lot of time and I just hadn't found the space to write. But this was totally unexpected and I just couldn't stay under the circumstances. So I gave my notice, and worked another two and a half weeks.

The last day was, ummm, classic. My co-worker who usually leads the shift called in sick and there were three of us, and 450 guests. We had to work late. Just a classic last day. After though, wow was that a night to remember...except I don't remember most of it. I went to the bar to celebrate and everyone came out that night. It really blew my mind, that was the most people I'd seen from work (and all different departments of work) come out in one night. It was wildly fun. I was very lovey. I remember hugging lots of people and telling them I loved them. It was all true, what a great group of people. I was probably the drunkest I've ever been, which was not fun the next day. I haven't been able to drink cranberry & vodka since. I continued to hang out with the fall staff for the next few weeks (which was even more fun after I wasn't working there). And in the next few weeks, said goodbye to a lot of awesome people. It was a season to remember in many respects.

Before all that leaving, I went to Bellingham with some camp friends, and checked out Fairhaven College, part of Western Washington University. I've written about it before on here somewhere. I really liked it, though I will have more to elaborate on that later. We came back on the 4th, and upon getting off the ferry, a freind got a call that Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio, so we knew we were in for a good night. We drove to the bar and watched the results, definitely the quickest since I've been eligible to vote. I have more to say on that too.

Though I was no longer a kitchen employee, I did work a Women's Wellness Weekend at camp reading tarot cards, always my biggest event, $-wise, of the year. I made more in that weekend than I did in some two-week paychecks.

My friends from New Jersey, Rachel and Vito, came to visit. It was their first time out this way. I think it was a bit of culture shock. Another friend, Tara, is coming for a visit in December.

I'm planning to go to India for three months, starting in February. I wrote about all those plans in the "Adventures, Quests and Foreign Sands" post, and narrowed it down a few months ago, to the Latitudes program, which would consist of the India semester, and then a solo internship (also international), to be determined before departure for India. I've been working full-force on that. Had my interviews and got into the program and paid my deposit (which was pretty scary). Applied for scholarships and financial aid all over the place. Now I'm just waiting to find out about all that.

I've been reading a lot. I think the last time I posted about books, I was reading Dave Eggers' What is the What? which is basically the true-life story of a Sudanese refugee. Very good. I highly recommend it. After that, I went back and read Reading Lolita in Tehran, also excellent. It made me actually want to go back and reread a lot of the books I was assigned but never read in high school (there were lots of those), because Azar Nafisi's class discussions on those classics were so engaging. And I am sure that at least one of my friends (Leo, this means you), will be proud to know I actually, finally, convinced by so many people, picked up a copy of Wuthering Heights, which I found totally boring in high school (but that might be somewhat affected by the fact that I skimmed and skipped and generally didn't really read), but am willing to give another try as an adult. I also read the book recommended by Silver Lining in my last blog post, Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose - another great read. It invigorated my writing, for sure, and give me a whole host of other books and stories I want to read. Now, partly because of a discussion with Kali Durga, I picked up A Natural History of the Senses, which I started earlier this year and then abandoned. I'm loving it.

I've been loving this fifth season of House. I realized I wanted to post more about my reactions to that show (if I don't, I'll be in danger of falling into another online forum, and I don't need that, but I do need an outlet). So, maybe no one cares or wants to read that (except Mr. Luke Chastain, of course), but I don't care.

I've been listening to a lot of the music from House lately. It's really different than the music I usually gravitate towards, but I'm liking it. Some of the songs from the show that top my playlists are "Colors" by Amos Lee, In the Waiting Line by Zero 7, In the Deep by Bird York, On Saturday Afternoon in 1963 by Ricky Lee Jones, Baba O'Reily by The Who (who I love), and lots more. I'm trying to find the unofficial soundtrack for season 4, so if anyone's got any tips on how a girl could find such a thing, I'm all ears. Other music currently topping my charts include "Electric Feel" by MGMT (for sure THE song of this past summer), "Forget Her" by Jeff Buckley, everything Damien Rice - I'm still obsessing on him, "Beast of Burden" by the Stones (this song always reminds me Emily C, Forest and Gigi), "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman and again, many more.

Speaking of music, I don't even really want to talk about the new Chris Cornell stuff, too disappointing to stomach. In fact I started a whole post about it well over a month ago, but it was too depressing to finish.

And the great news is, I've been writing! I'm taking some classes and that's been helping me stay on track. I've been setting aside about three hours a day. It's been soul-satisfying and heart-wrenching at the same time, and it's good. Real good. Feels good to be back into it again. I want to get tons more done before I go to India. I've been digging into some tough stuff though!

Well, that's all for now. I've got to go bake pumpkin bread!


Currently Listening:
"Colors" - Amos Lee - I am really obsessed with this song, can't stop playing it over and over. For any other House fanatics, this song can be found in Season 2, episode 7 "Hunting" (what a GREAT title, on at least three different levels, for that episode), at the end, when Stacey turns House away after realizing that he stole and read her therapist's files on her. Here's the words:

Yesterday I got lost in the circus
Felling like such a mess
Now I'm down I'm just hanging on the corner
I can't help but reminisce

When you're gone, all the colors fade
When you're gone, no New Year's Day parade
You're gone
Colors seem to fade

Your mama called she said that you're downstairs crying
Feeling like such a mess
Yeah I hear you you're in the background bawling
What happened to your sweet summertime dress

I know we all, we all got our faults
We get locked in our vaults and we stay

But when you're gone, all the colors fade
When you're gone, no New Year's Day parade
You're gone
Colors seem to fade
Colors seem to fade
Yeah