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Life reboot.

Summer has ended. Fall is nearly over. Winter will be upon us shortly.

My brain is permanently wired to the academic calendar. I was a student until I was 30 and now I work at an academic institution, so September always feels more like the start of a new year than January ever does.

Every fall I get a burst of energy and I have to constantly carry around a note pad because I can’t turn off my brain. (Alas, this renewed zest does nothing for the powers of my memory, hence the note pad.) The cooler temperatures allow my brain to actually engage in thought other than “Dear God, could it get any hotter and could I feel any more disgusting?” I’m finally able to accomplish things that had previously only been vague plans. The summer is always so busy what with parties and derby business and such, that I never get the time to work on any of my other fun projects.

The fall is actually even busier for me, but somehow everything seems easier than it does any other time of year. Fresh perspective, ideas, adventures, parties… it all seems to fit together so much better than in the spring or summer. I usually just feel overwhelmed with all of my obligations, but during the fall, I feel like I can accomplish it all and still maintain my sanity.

I have a zillion and one things going on as per usual, but I think it can still be managed. All it takes is planning. And stamina.

The last year has been very busy and still managed to have a flavor of stagnation about it. It’s been a very disorganized year, to the point where I have felt disconcertingly out of control at times – as if I were treading mud – wearing myself out and not really getting anywhere. It’s been an especially non-crafty year, too. I’ve had the odd project here and there, but I haven’t spent this long away from craftiness… ever, I think. I’m finally getting my crafty mojo back, about which I’m very happy, indeed. The same with reading.

Actually, it’s been more than just this past year. Maybe the last two years. I’ve been out of grad school, and playing roller derby. Two major events (one ending, and one starting), never mind the grueling (and seemingly never-ending) job search, so it’s no wonder it’s taken me a long while to figure out a good rhythm for my life. I use my commuting time to catch up on sleep, instead of reading and crafting as I had done before. Oh, and the place is a wreck, so nothing I need for various projects is within easy grasp. My default is to just zone out on the computer rather than to actually accomplish anything useful at home.

But I’m beginning to (slowly) get my life resembling some sort of slightly organized mess. Anyway, here’s a list of what’s been going on in the recent past, and what’s planned for the near future:

1. Rollah Derby, Hey! It was a great season. The Old Money Honeys made it to the home championship, but lost to the Rats. No worries, though, because I won MVP for my team. It was a pretty sweet moment. I wasn’t able to play in the last two Bees bouts (against Rochester and Pioneer Valley), so my season ended a wee bit earlier than everyone else. We’re in the off season now, tidying up the loose ends for this season and planning for the next. We’re in the height of recruiting at the moment, and I’m on the recruiting committee. It’s been crazy. I’m answering derby-related emails at least two or more hours each day. We’ve got over 100 people on our recruiting list, and at least 40 of them have been coming to our recruiting events, and will most likely stick around for tryouts in January. Yes, we’re having tryouts this year! We’ve got so may people interested that we can’t possibly take everyone. That means that only the most motivated will stick around, which is pretty sweet. I’m definitely looking forward to the 2010 season. I’m also going to Philadelphia for the National Championships. It’s going to be so much fun!

2. Work – MIT has hired me nearly full-time (still a no-benefits part-timer, but it’s WAY better than before and I’m breathing a little easier for having the extra hours). I’m now doing more collections-type work, in addition to the reference assisting (which consists mostly of photocopying for researchers). I get to help with new accessions and some processing. So far the learning curve hasn’t been that steep, but it’s been a little wonky due to shifting work-flows and what not. The short version is that I’m really enjoying it and get to use my brain. I’m also there five days a week, and I’ve got my own desk in a cube with a big window. In other work-related news, I survived my first SeptOber working King Richard’s Faire. It was tremendously fun. I met some really great people and made a few new friends. I’ve even been invited to work at a few Cons next year (steampunk and sci-fi), which is probably one of the coolest and geekiest things ever. I plan on documenting those adventures in a photoblog of sorts.

3. Craftiness – After ages and ages of non-knitting, I’ve finally got projects on the needles (on which I’m actively working) and I’m finally back at the wheel. I ordered a bunch of fiber from Cranberry Moon Farm (a few different wools as well as a wool/alpaca blend) and have been getting back into the groove. I’ve been invited to do a spinning demo at AHA Night next week. On Thursday, November 12, from 6-9pm I’ll be at TL6 The Gallery (100 William Street, New Bedford, MA). If I get enough spun I’ll have a few skeins to sell (though I doubt I will). Maybe I’ll have some other things done up to sell (gnomes and mushrooms, perhaps?) The details are still loose at this time, but I’ve been invited to sell my stuff there, and I’ve got to put myself on a production schedule, because I’m absolutely useless without deadlines. I also borrowed a sewing machine and can therefore get caught up on some of the derby-related clothes I’ve been trying to make these last few months. I still haven’t gotten my screen printing stuff together, though, so they won’t be ready for sale until I get that all set up. Soon, though, especially now that I’m getting my work space a bit more useable. I sense an intense house-purge very soon. We have too much crap. We also have a ton of awesome stuff, which tends to get lost among the clutter. And Christmas will be upon us very soon. Luckily I’m only knitting for a few people, so it shouldn’t be too terribly taxing (she says with much trepidation).

4. Currently reading – Andromeda Klein (Frank Portman), Juliet, Naked (Nick Hornby), as well as a few others that I’ve picked up and put down in recent weeks. The first two, though, are ones that I’m actively reading. So far I love both. Portman is responsible for one of the best books about high school kids ever, King Dork. While KD was told from a teen boy’s perspective, AK has a girl protagonist, and I love her. It’s also got tarot cards, ghosts, and other spooky things. Plus it’s wicked funny. Juliet is great, too. Hornby does what he does very well, with the music and the characters and what not. I just have to remember to actually one of them on the train with me so I can actually finish reading them. I’m also starting a book club with a friend, so that’ll keep me reading. The first pick is Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles. It looks like an interesting read. And if I hate it, at least I’ll have something to talk about at book club. (We’re also most likely going to be a rather boosey club, seeing as how the members thus far are fellow derby gals. Perhaps I should use one of the clever names I had on reserve for my non-existent booze blog? How about the Literale Society?)

5. Socialite – I have no unplanned weekends from here until after the New Year. It’s been that way since Labor Day. It’s insane. But I love it. I am much better about keeping my calendar and planner up to date these days to keep up with all the parties and stuff. Halloween was a blast! I’m so glad so many people made it to our party. I didn’t really know how many to expect, since there were birthday parties and other Halloween parties going on the same night. The next event Chez Nous will be a game night. I want to play Arkham Horror, but if there are more people coming than can play that game, we have a bunch of other games to have several going on at once. Plus, we have darts, too. Mark your calendars for Friday, November 20, 7:30 pm. Potluck. I’ll make a Facebook event invite thingie. I also have plans to travel to Maryland for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I was terribly homesick last year on my birthday and Christmas, so I’m planning ahead this year.

Whew. That’s the news for now. As usual, I have a bunch of pictures from this Fall but have not uploaded any of them to any sort of photo sharing site. I’m lame. I might get to it. Maybe. Pretty sure I need a functioning Time Turner to get all this done, but we’ll see how I do. Oh, and I could use an airship. Some jerk stole mine, and I haven’t gotten it back yet.

Chrononauts AWAY!

waving, not drowning

I’m not dead. I’m still here. Things have been rather overwhelming these last few months, but I’m still alive and kicking. As per my usual modus operandi, what follows is a list of what I’ve been up to, and what I have planned:

1. Roller Derby – Keeping me relatively sane since 2008! I’m on the Old Money Honeys again this season (hurrah!) and we’ve started off rather well, having recently beaten our old nemesis, The Mob Squad, at the Providence Roller Derby home season opener. The final score was 98 – 75. Go TEAM!

   I also play for the Killah Bees, and we’ll be heading off to Canada again in July to play in Montreal. We’re playing a 30 minute exhibition mini-scrimmage and the Riveters get to play a regular 1-hour bout. Alas, we’re just the opening entertainment, but oh well. We got to play a full bout in Ottowa in May, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. It’s going to be a great time anyway.

   I’m a bit behind in the behind-the-scenes derby business for which I am responsible: archives and rookie wranglin’. The rest of my life has been dragging me down, and I’m finding it difficult to force myself to do the things I need to do in my spare time. But things are coming together, slowly but surely.We’ve got a recruiting event coming up on the 18th. It’s an informal meet-and-greet type thing at an open skate, where we get to chat with potential recruits in a low-key, hopefully non-intimidating setting. It’s our first one of these, so we want to make a good impression.

2. Jobs, etc. – This part of my life is saturated with uncertainty at the moment, and I’m doing my best to not be overwhelmed. I’m losing one job at the end of June, and I’m losing the other job at the end of August. Meanwhile, my hours at the latter job have been cut from three days to two. I’m still applying for jobs, though. Nose to the grindstone, chin up and all that. I’ve expanded my job search to include the Washington, DC area. If we have to move to find work, it might as well be where I have friends and family, right? On the bright side, JeT just got word this week that he’ll definitely have a job in his restructured company. Depending on where I find work, we may have to live apart for a while. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.The impending unemployment has actually gotten me to think more creatively about how I spend my time, which leads me to:
3. Ahts and Crayafts – I’ve been looking into setting up a home screen printing studio and finding outlets in which to sell some home made things. I have had an Etsy account for several years and have never gotten around to listing and selling anything in it. Which is a shame, because I’ve got some pretty good ideas. Potential items to sell firstly would include upcycled t-shirt dresses, calico-print summer wrap dresses, note cards, stationery kits, homespun yarn, etc. Oh, and I’ve also been thinking about resurrecting “J-Star Skateboards,” which was a little business I had way back in the day doing custom painted and screen printed skate decks. So, the creative juices are flowing, indeed.
4. Books – I’ve barely read anything this year. Seriously. It seems that reading functions as a happiness barometer. The more I read, you know I’m functioning fairly well. (The same can be said about knitting, really.) I used to read on the train all the time, now I just sleep or zone out to music. An easy way to break out of this rut (which I feel like I’ve been in FOREVER, even though I know it hasn’t really been that long…) is to start reading again. I’m too lazy to go look up things to read, so I’ll just take recommendations here. Tell me what I should read, and I’ll get right on it. I’m participating in the “Infinite Summer” read-along, so that should be fun, but I’ll be wanting to read other stuff as well. Hook me up!
5. PURGE! – Not to sound all emo or whatever, but I’m feeling rather existentially claustrophobic. I’m absolutely smothered by my stuff. I have so much crap, I can’t get to the stuff that I’d actually use. I think getting rid of a bunch of things, and seriously organizing the house would do me a world of good. A happy me is an organized and productive me. Right now, I’m neither happy nor productive, but I’m really looking to change that. I think some selective purging is definitely in order. It’ll give me a bit more breathing room.

That’s it, I suppose. Life moves along at its ridiculously fast pace as I struggle to keep up. Been treading mud for a while, but doing my best to break out of bad patterns, which do not serve anyone’s best interest, and find a niche in which to thrive. Really, things could be a whole lot worse, and most days I can function as a proper adult. Though I’d rather just eat popsicles and go play outside. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to be an adult and still find a way to have fun. I’m still determined, however, to find a way to combine it all.

Other things on the perifery: tattoos! Yes, yes! Been planning them for years, and I’m finally going to get around to it. Though they’ll have to wait for when I actually have proper income, but still. There it is. I’ll post a picture of some sketches shortly. The first one will be a stylized version of my initials, and it’s rather small. (So, who knows, I might get that one sooner rather than later.)

I’ve also been meaning to update my Flickr account, and keep more up to date with that. It’s just one of the general organizational things that I’ve let slip. I’m still doing stuff and photos are still being taken, but it’s mostly been my friends taking the pictures instead of me. I’ve been around on Facebook and Twitter, though, so you can still keep track of what I’m up to, even if this blah blah blahg is woefully neglected.

Hearts and Stars, friends. Hopefully I’ll see you around.

/hibernation

I have been extremely lax in my blogging these last several months. You know how it goes: Busy doing fun things. Not organized enough to put photos on Flickr. No photos = no writing about fun things. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. I shall attempt to remedy that this weekend by doing a massive upload of photos. I’ll be doing them in installments, starting with last August.

It’s March. Pretty soon we will have ploughed through a quarter of the year. What have I been up to this year? What’s coming up? Hey, look! A list!

1. Coming up on Friday, I have a phone interview for a Project Archivist position at an area library. The lovely folks at MIT have offered to do a mock interview with me on Thursday to help me prep. I’ve also expanded my job search to include positions back in the DC/Baltimore area.
2. I had a whirlwind trip to Maryland and Florida last week. I left Boston for Baltimore on the 20th, caught the Riveters/CCRG bout, spent several days among friends and family in Maryland (met the BFF’s girlfriend, she’s rad), left for Florida on the 24th, spent a few days on the Gulf Coast with my seester and JeT’s dad enjoying the 80 degree weather, caught a Red Sox spring training game, then landed in Boston just as the snow began to fall Sunday morning. It was a bit of a wild week: one morning I woke up to broken glasses and raw patches on my hands and face. I try to tell people that the raw skin was due to extremely dry skin, and the glasses were on their way out anyway. There are some, however, who refuse to believe this and assert that I must have been in a bar fight.
3. I now have new glasses. They are red. And shaped rather like my pair-before-last, slightly cat-eye. Did I mention they are red? And awesome? Yes.
4. PRD is gearing up for the 2009 season. Our last batch of newbies joined in January, and there are only a couple left who haven’t yet passed their assessments to claim their name. This is really exciting! It’s going to be a fantastic season! I shall be continuing as the Rookie Wrangler, and I’ll also be taking on the job of League Archivist. I’m also going to be playing in two away games. In Canada! Also, PRD is playing host to several travel teams this year. The first Riveters home bout is against Harrisburg Area Roller Derby (HARD) on April 11 at the RICC. The Killah Bees are hosting the Skate Free or Die girls at a scrimmage next weekend, and then we play them at a NH bout in April. I’m not going to be playing in that one, though, as I’ll be playing in Ottowa the following week. It’s going to be a derby-filled summer, indeed. (Check www.providencerollerderby.com regularly for the most recent updates.)
5. I haven’t been very crafty though. I did finally finish my SIL’s hat and scarf, delivered only two months late. The BFF has a birthday coming up and I’m working on something for him. I started a hyperbolic plane in blue and white cotton, which was supposed to be a bath pouf. I ran out of the white, half way through the last round. I might just knot it off and call it done, though, since the whole reason for making it was to do a bit of stash busting. I also have to make another Jayne hat for myself, since I lost the one I made last Fall. Once I actually get going on something, I’ll feel better.
6. I have severely neglected my pen pals these last several months. The end of the derby season in September ate up all my time, and then it was fall, and then winter, and now here it is nearly spring and some of them haven’t heard from me in ages. It’s not due to lack of caring, but rather to severe lack of organization. I just need to cart around my little notebook of writing supplies, then I can write while I commute, just like old times.
7. Saw They Might Be Giants a while ago. They were super great, as usual. They played so many songs! And many many were ones I’d never heard them play before, or hadn’t heard in a long while. We made some concert friends, which was fun.
8. We have a new car: a 2008 Kia Sportage, silvery grey. It’s awesome. We can accelerate. Uphill! And it’s big enough to fit my legs! And passengers!
9. Though I have been bringing my lunch to work nearly every day (thanks to JeT who actually prepares and packs the food), I miss bringing super fun bentos. I shall endeavor to remedy this. We’ve been making some new foods, though, so we’re slowly edging out of our food rut, which I’m very happy about. More new foods to come, and of course bento photos!
10. I’ve recently discovered Wild Turkey’s American Honey. If you’re a fan of whiskey or bourbon, you need to try this. Even if you normally hate the stuff, you need to try this. It’s golden awesomeness in a bottle. Highly recommended.
11. Speaking of imbibing, my librarian friends and I came up with a blog idea to help us broaden our beer horizons. We plan to sample a different kind of beer each month, and report our findings on the blog. We’re still thinking of a name, though. I was all ready to go in January, and then I sort of just forgot about it. This should be quite fun, once we get going!
12. I would like to go bowling. And ice skating. And just go out more often. Maybe stay in town for a bit on Fridays or something. I just need to get my act together and play cruise director, I think. I’ve just been so disorganized; I haven’t felt like myself for months and months. I think I’m finally coming out of my stupor, though. I think the sunshine did me some good. I’ll work on my schedule this weekend, and will start planning some outings. I wonder where my planner is… probably under the laundry somewhere.
13. First outing: This Friday, March 6th! Watchmen! Who’s in? JeT and I are going to see it in Boston (on the Common). We’re buying our tix tonight, if anyone’s interested.
14. And then there are a couple of concerts coming up: OK Go! and The Pogues! So excited!

The year of the [fill in the blank]

I hadn’t planned on making resolutions for the year. But I’ve recently had a few thoughts of things that I might want to focus on this year. Two thousand eight was a very busy year. Well, most of it was very busy. The last few months of the year were not very eventful, but that was most likely due to the insanity of the rest of the year. I have been in serious hibernation mode. Much of what I’d like to accomplish this year is based upon my desire to break out of my patterns, my circle of comfort, my self-imposed rut, whatever you want to call it.

Joining roller derby last year (coming up on my “derbyversary” in February) was pretty huge. I’ve never been a part of an organized sport before, and certainly never considered myself athletic by any stretch of the imagination. I definitely plan to continue with the sport, but it did overwhelm much of my life last year. This year, I want to make sure I also incorporate all the other things that make me happy: reading, knitting, taking photos, cooking, general craftiness,* making and listening to music, gathering with friends, etc.

I barely knit anything last year, I hardly took any photos, picked up the accordion only a couple of times, the house has been a disorganized mess (as opposed to its usual organized mess), I’ve barely touched any craft supplies, I can’t remember how many books I read (other than the Stephenie Meyer ones), and I ate the same things every week. When I wasn’t playing derby, I was sleeping or hiding trying to recover from the stress of the busy schedule and the physical stress of sore muscles and bruises. It’s worth all the stress, but I also think that tending to the other facets of my life would help dealing with the stress.

As a result of neglecting all those things, I didn’t end the year on a very good note. I became really homesick and sort of crawled into a cave, and have just been generally bummed out. I’ve started to re-emerge, though.

Today we flipped through a couple of cookbooks to figure out what we could make this weekend that would begin to break our food rut. I cast on for a blanket that I’ve been meaning to make for ages, using all that leftover and hand-me-down yarn in my acrylic stash. I went through the knitting basket to unearth hibernating projects. I’ve been keeping the accordion out so that I’ll be tempted to pick it up every few days. I have a whole list of books I’ve been meaning to read, but haven’t bothered to pick up, as well as a list of bands/albums that I’ve been wanting to download.

Change is in the air, and through it all I hope to hang on to the things that make me happy. I guess in 2008 I learned that all those eclectic things combined make me who I am, and when I neglect them, I become unrecognizable and unhappy. So, here’s looking forward to a year of renewal and growth!

* Every time I use the phrase “general ____” I have to add “reporting for duty” afterwards. General Craftiness reporting for duty, sir! Makes me laugh every time.

“running just to keep the pace…”

Feeling a little behind on nearly everything lately. Here are a few tidbits:

1. Job search: I check the RSS feeds and message boards daily. Right now I have two (possibly three) open applications. The rest I’ve given up on, or have been notified of a rejection (I’d rather know than not know, you know?)… but at least this is one area where I’m actually on top of things.
2. Roller derby: Being the newbie wrangler isn’t that difficult, but I’ve got a new batch of potential skaters coming in, and I’ve only just realized today that I probably won’t have enough gear for them to borrow. I’ve put out a call to arms on the forum, but we’ll see. I’m trying not to think about what will happen if it turns out I cannot scrounge enough gear for them to use. It makes me not able to breathe when I think about it, so I’ll pretend it doesn’t exist and maybe the problem will go away. Generally, I love this job, because I get to meet the new people and interact with them, and make sure they have a smooth entry into the league. But at clinic time, I get a little stressed out. I have to remember to breathe.
3. Oh, and we also had the PRD awards banquet Friday night! I got the OMH “up and comer” award! YAY!!! I didn’t expect that one, and I’m very happy! It’s on my bookshelf in front of my fake mantle. (Ok, so it’s a real mantle, but there’s no fireplace, so I wonder if that counts.)
4. Work in general: I spent two days this past week working on a part of a collection, only to realize an hour before leaving at the end of the week that I was using the wrong list. *sigh* The proper list has been found, but I feel really lame for not noticing sooner. Also, I was very distracted at work this week. I didn’t get enough sleep, and kept getting distracted by the news websites all week. I’ll do better this week, promise. Wouldn’t want anyone to think I was a slacker. (Because at work, I’m totally not. At home… well, that’s another story.)
5. Home: I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I figure if I put it out into the public eye, my shame may be great enough to motivate me to fix the problem. So here goes: we’ve been sleeping on the futon in the living room for the last week or so because our bed is completely covered in laundry. We just keep washing it and adding it to the pile. See? Embarrassing! Ok, so it’s not really earth shattering, but still. Wicked domestic slackers.
6. Craftiness: I cleaned out my WIP basket and finally frogged several projects and re-wound the yarn. I also chopped up that felt bag and giant disaster of a felt bowl into coasters. Now I have a ton of coasters that I don’t know what to do with, but at least I don’t have those dumb projects taking up space. And by frogging a bunch of stuff that was still on needles, I’ve discovered that I have three pairs of size 10 circulars, two pairs of size 8s, and a pair of size 4s that I didn’t remember having at all. Amazing! It’s like shopping without spending money! I also organized my megre yarn stash. Hat boxes and baggies. I think it will work fine. And actual WIPs now occupy the aforementioned basket.
7. Finally got around to joining Facebook. Friend me if you wanna!

I think that’s the news for now. I just feel all sorts of scattered. I think once the newbie clinic is over this week, things will settle down a bit and I won’t feel so freaked out.

This and that

I’ll start with the not-so-good so we can end on a positive note, yes?

1. Friday was hell: I was running late for work. They don’t plow the road into the train station very well, and I slid down the hill and crashed into the curb on the turn into the parking lot. I did manage to pull into a space and still make my train, because there was no way I was going to deal with that mess while it was still snowing. We borrowed JeT’s mom’s car on Saturday and went back to get our car towed to the shop. Not good news: $1500 worth of damage. Pretty much everything but the axle was busted. We’re waiting on the insurance appraisal, because there’s no way we can pay for that out of pocket. Not after this summer’s transmission debacle (which was also my fault, by the way). Feeling pretty lame. Oh, and during the adventures (see point #2 below) I slipped on the ice and fell on my giant bruise again. Double lame.
2. Friday continued: On the train ride home, JeT realizes that we have to go back into Boston because he has the only set of keys to the med room in his pocket. Luckily, we hadn’t passed Quincy yet, and were able to make the U-turn without incident. I was starving, so we decided to pretend to be tourists in the snow and go get food at Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. We got Indian food. It was delicious. So, full bellied, we headed home in better spirits. Of course, we didn’t yet know the full damage of the car at this point. Alas.
3. I think I stayed in my jammies all day on Saturday. I can’t really remember.
4. Skipping to Monday, because I want to keep all the crappy stuff together: I did not have a very good practice last night. My knee took forever to warm up, so I only did half of the falling drills (which are actually quite fun). Then, during this one drill where we were practicing being jammers and blockers (alternating, of course) I was having a really hard time keeping up. Turns out it wasn’t just because my legs were aching. Apparently I stopped being able to breathe properly. I pulled over and skated around the outside of the track for a while trying to catch my breath. I could breathe out just fine, but it felt really constricted breathing in. Like in a bad panic attack when it feels like there’s a cave troll sitting on your chest. Well this was as if it was gripping my breathy tubes every time I tried to inhale. It was really freaky, and started to scare me a bit, but I was too angry to really be that scared. I mean, how dare my lungs freak out when I’m trying to learn something new and keep up with the rest of the girls. I hate feeling weak and I hate having to sit out a drill because of weakness. Oh, and while the other girls were learning jammer starts (you know, where you run on your toes for a bit to get up speed) I was still trying to recover my ability to breathe. They got to learn something cool while I had to gimp around the track like a big ball of weakness on wheels. /rant.
5. And I don’t feel at all well today, so I’m home sick.
6. Sunday was pretty awesome though: PRD had a scrimmage against Pioneer Valley Roller Derby. It was the Riveters against their travel team. We won by something like 158 to 21 or something crazy. It was still a really competitive bout, and was tons of fun to watch. Afterwards we went out to a local bar in Naragansett (or something). I rode with Hysterica and her boyfriend Jeff, aka, the Reverend Al Mighty. They were super nice and gave me a ride down to the scrimmage. I shall have to bake them cookies. At the bar, I felt pretty awkward at first. I never do well in crowded situations. Especially at bars. By nature I’m geeky and awkward. Like all of a sudden I’ve grown two extra feet, have eight arms, nine legs, and can’t seem to stand anywhere without being in someone’s way. But after a couple of beers I felt normal again and was able to talk to people like I wasn’t some sort of space alien. In the end, it was quite fun, and I’m glad I went. We didn’t get home until 1:30 in the morning though, so I was a bit of a zombie at work yesterday.
7. We got some great news on Monday: JeT got the job he interviewed for last week! Yay! It’s a step up the ladder at the place where he currently works. He’s very excited to start in two weeks. It’ll be more paperwork and less work with the clients, but it pays more. So, hooray for that. And hooray for JeT! I think we’re going to the Garden Grille before the Battle of the Bands, so if anyone wants to come help us celebrate, you’re more than welcome.
8. Saturday is the Battle of the Bands (see post below) and we need to bring a ton of people. This is a fundraiser for PRD, and you know you want to support your local derby girls, right? It starts early enough that if you wanted to come for a bit but leave before the wee hours of the morning, that would be cool, too!

Everything is miscellaneous

(No, I haven’t read that book, yet. It’s on my “to read” list, though.) Here’s a list of what’s up:

• Four weeks until the end of the semester. Word. Things are a bit crazy. By things, I mean, of course, yours truly. I’ve got myself set up to finish just fine, though. I’ve been having a bit of trouble with migraines of late, however. (I was forced to come home early on Tuesday, spent the whole day yesterday in a state of migraine hangover, and today I couldn’t do anything until about 1 pm, when I should have been at class.) They’re really throwing me off my pace. It’s maddening, really.
• Please help me with the following: I have created a few sample banner/header/graphic thingies for our class digital Library. The woman whose scrapbook we’re digitizing was Olive Ruby Henty, and the images used in the banners are from her scrapbook. If any of you have any helpful comments regarding its overall design or whatever, please feel free to comment here. I’d really appreciate any feedback from outside the class. (I have, of course, solicited comments from my classmates, but it’s good to have outside perspective, too.) Here’s the link to the sample page: Olive Ruby Henty digital library.
• The Revs take on the Huston Dynamo this weekend for the MLS Cup title. Woo! The game’s on Sunday, so I’ll be blah-blah-blahgging it, of course.
• The spinning wheel looks great in her new home. (I haven’t come up with a name for her yet, but she’s definitely a she.) I’ve been spinning some lovely green/yellow/blue yarn from roving I picked up at the Apple Peach Festival this September. I think I’m getting the hang of it, and my yarn is way more consistent than I would have expected for my first time at the wheel. Photos forthcoming. Eventually.
• Birthiversary party is coming up this Saturday. That should be wicked fun. Bookmark this link for more information and updates as they arise. I still don’t have a dress. I’ll pop over to the (shudder) mall on Friday night and Saturday morning to see what I can find. I’m not really stressed about it. I can always throw something together if I can’t find anything at the mall. “Fancy Schmancy” is a state of mind, yes? I’ll figure something out.

Firsts of the Last

We’ve had the first sessions of both of my classes this semester. I had the privilege of being among those to raise their hand when asked, “Who is graduating at the end of this semester?” I am taking the following courses:

• Records Management – the last of my archives core classes. The instructor is all “Woo hoo records! Awesome!” And I’m all, “Yes, important, but not that woo-hoo.” Still, records make the world go round, especially in an archives, therefore, it must be learned. It’s a very structured course, which complements the looseness of the other course (see below), and should provide that needed balance. It’s an evening course (6 – 9pm), so I’m stretching my boundaries a bit. My brain usually clocks out around 4 pm, so this might be a struggle. Though I may do well and get a second wind, so we’ll see.
• Digital Libraries – this is where it’s at this semester. I failed to register early enough to get into this class originally, but the series of scary emails that the instructor sent out must have been sufficiently frightening so as to make the wait list people drop like flies. I was number twelve on the list in the beginning, and I was able to get in two days before the class began. We’ll be working as a committee to launch a website for the Notable Women of Simmons collection. I’ve already volunteered for the position of documentarian/historian/project archivist. There was a bit of competition for this position, but I had my camera at the ready and as soon as class was over, took photos of our brainstorming activities. I really wanted this position, and so (even though the instructor asked us to let her know our preferences after class) I just sort of stepped up. Not my usual classroom behavior, to say the least, but I’m excited about it. I’ll be managing that section of the class wiki, most likely. And I’ll be setting up a Flickr page for that aspect of the project.

I’m feeling pretty energized about the semester. It’s going to be a TON of work, but well worth it. In Digital Libraries, I will have been part of a collaborative effort, and will have something tangible to show at the end of the semester. And in Records Management I’ll be gaining skills appropriate for the academic archival environment, so that’s good, too (though not as exciting).

Organization nation…

I’m trying to get my brain in gear for school, which starts next week. Yikes.

Last semester I discovered that I don’t depend as much on my hand-written to-do lists and calendars as I had in years past. I had a tried and true system that evolved during my undergrad years, and that I adapted for grad school. Somehow, this past semester, I rarely used it. I still enjoy my little note pad, which comes in handy whenever I have an idea that needs jotting down. But the system as a whole just doesn’t fit me anymore.

Hence, a new tool: Netvibes!

I was made aware of this tool by the Spinstah ages ago, and never really got around to figuring out if it’ll be useful for me. Well, today I spent some way too much time playing with all the widgets, creating tabs, etc. It’s quite fun, if you like organizational tools. I can have access to it pretty much wherever I go, without carrying around my large notebook. I have a lot of things to keep track of, and each area of my life has its own tab and sets of to do lists.

It rules.

Set your phasers on stun!

I go through these phases, right? Where apparently I’m an adolescent. I’m not even talking about my penchant for toilet humor. No, this is more of the “I have these specific things to do, but I’d rather go out, or maybe make some food, because I don’t feel like dealing with the things I have to do” kind of thing. Aren’t we supposed to outgrow that shit? I mean, really. If I had to live with me, I’d be really annoyed. Not only do I not get what I need to get done, but I whine about it, too. Ugh.

So, anyway, I’ve made a list of all the things I need to get done, when I need to do them, etc, between now and Tuesday. Much of it is just stuff that I’ve ignored forever, and now I have to deal with it. Some of it is actually fun, crafty things, like making a couple of skirts. See? I’m even avoiding the fun stuff. Annoying.

Right, so, I’ve got my list. I’ve cleaned off the crafty table upstairs (you know, the thing that’s been impersonating a mountain for the last several months), and I’m ready to go. Well, first I need to excavate the sewing machine. I have three; you’d think at least one of them would be accessible, right? Um, not so much. Now that I’m on a roll, though, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Crafty items on the list for this weekend:

• Finish M’s book (belated shower present, that she already knows about). Finally picked out the fabric for the covers. My fabric stash is big enough, you’d think this would have been easier. Hopefully it’ll be ready to hand over tomorrow evening.
• Two skirts. I have the fabric picked out for those. One green, one yellow. I think I’m going to make a slip to wear under them as well. The yellow one is a bit see through, and I don’t really want to line it, so a slip would be great. Plus, I have that really big lace that M gave me when she was cleaning out her craft supplies before she moved. I think I have zippers for these somewhere in my notions stash. Otherwise, I’m doing them with buttons, or hell, elastic, just to get them made.
• One apron. I have this great fabric with little folk dancers on it. It’s awesome! It’s white with little people in multi-colored outfits, so it’ll go great with many of my skirts.

There’s other, less fun, stuff to do, of course, but who wants to hear about paying the bills and organizing the household files. Whee! I’m going to post photos of the craftiness as I work on them, so there’s something to look forward to.