Ups and Downs and Ups Again

More end of the semester confessionals and reflections have occurred over the past few days.
One girl shared a haiku she had once written about her kneecaps, which she wrote at some restaurant called Haiku, while dining with her physical therapist. Uh-huh. You can't make this stuff up.

More potlucks and parties, and just a little more work to go.
The presentations are done and I just have one more beastly little problem set before my first year of graduate school is complete. Yes!


On a more serious note, I went to a memorial service yesterday for a librarian that passed away. I did not know him well, but he helped me out with a project last semester, and I really liked his personality. His death was very sad because he was very young, but I did feel inspired in the celebration of his life. I glimpsed some of my own dreams - having a family and a dog, sharing joy with family and friends about little things in life (the song, "Let It Snow"?), and also about the importance of pursuing intellectual passions, and embodying those ideals in some way. For this man, it was very important to share information and pursue intellectual thought and intellectual integrity. And I really admired this idea that was conveyed so strongly by his family and friends. I hope to have my intellectual passions and pursuits resonate more deeply throughout my life. I hope that my loved ones understand my sense of humor and the things that bring me joy. I hope to be the most full and effective and loving version of myself.

Why do goats like to eat pants?

I spent the day touring local farms in the area with a few girls from school. We had a great time. We saw a local goat farm, a winery, and a meat and poultry farm. We petted goats and a really pretty cow who licked my hand with his sandpaper tongue. We picked our own eggs from free-range chickens and talked to many of the people who owned the farms or worked there. The goats kept trying to chew on all my friends' pants, but my pants weren't very long so I let them chew on my sweater. We tried some local wines and some tasted not so good but there were a few dessert-type wines with North Carolina's muscadine grapes mixed in, which I really enjoyed.

It was great to get away from the school life for a bit, and do something that I really enjoyed with cool people who enjoyed it too. It was a wonderful day and it made me excited about the summer, and about the region in general. I felt really inspired by seeing the nice life that these animals have and it made me want to buy local meat and support the farms. Really, I felt in love with it! I wish I had taken some pics but if i get some from the girls I'll try to post.

Shhhh! I Gotta Tell You Somethin'

It's the end of the semester confessional! I've had three fellow students this week separately bust out a TMI session about their sex lives. How many times per week. Who has an IUD. Current lack of libido. etc. etc. That edginess that everyone feels at the end of the semester seems to manifest in funny ways, and apparently my classmates tend to unburden themselves of personal information. My technique has been less confessional, and more about getting silly. I wear my huge 70s Target sunglasses everywhere, even at night, and I think this is very funny.

Math Makes Me Laugh

Mr. D and I came up with that choice phrase to put on a t-shirt someday soon. Due to my struggle with "the math" this semester, I think when I'm done with this term I'll laugh at math the way that one would laugh at adversity. Because, really, for me it has been the same thing. To capture it, I write this formula:

The Integral of [Math*Adversity - Obscene Amounts of Time] = Laughter

Man, I'm going to miss writing those equations.

Holy Shit! I have about 10 more days of school left! It so snuck up on me! I'm kind of tired from the thought, even though it's now time to gear up and pump out the term papers and projects in the next week. The last week of classes is pretty much for presenting so the work for that mostly has to be done now. I'm glad I wasn't thinking about this earlier. In some cases, ignorance IS bliss.

My thoughts are on the summer and my upcoming visit to Chicago. I'm planning to go to a Cubs game and out to eat with Mr. D at a few restaurants that I like. I'd like to see my family and maybe go mini-golfing or something with my brother. Yessss! Only 10 days to summer bliss.

Three Magical Weeks

Mr. D is coming to visit for a few days, the first time he has been able to visit this semester. It's a whirlwind time as there are three weeks left to the semester, but I think we'll be able to squeeze in some fun. It's hard to believe that I'm almost finished with my first year of graduate school!

This semester has been kind of tough in that my classes have required a lot of time, but that has made the semester speed by. The basketball season became a bright spot in my schedule, and I kinda became a superfan.

I've decided to stay in North Carolina for the summer. I have a pretty sweet internship working with business assistance and socially-conscious investments. It's a totally new field for me, but I'm looking forward to doing something that I've never done before. I also have 4-5 weeks where I won't be working, which is a new thing for me as well. For the past five years I had a job where I had to work a lot of weekends May through October. It seems so refreshing to have more time for weekend fun this summer. I'm going to spend a week in Chicago, maybe a week at the beach, and the other few weeks - who knows?