This is the way the world ends...
I already miss Greensboro. I was sitting in the living room watching How to Deal on television when I realized that I never climbed out of my window onto the roof of Guilford parlor, because I was always too afraid of getting caught, what with the police station being in view. But that's okay. I can sit on some other roof someday. Seeing as how I don't think I've ever sat on a roof before, now that I think about it.
Wednesday night, I went to April's graduation party. Tim and Bekki were the first to arrive, and I was there shortly thereafter, but they had to leave due to prior engagements. I hung out until about midnight. I felt like an outsider, since I didn't know a lot of people there, and it seemed everyone knew everyone. I tried to make some efforts though. This guy Cameron was a pretty outgoing guy and made conversation with me. When I was feeling like I needed some water to dilute the PJs April had made (which were AWESOME! So fruity, and I couldn't even taste the vodka), he gave me some water. I realized I knew this one girl Melissa from the McIver lab, because she was doing a Speaking Center workshop for a class that reserved my lab, and she had asked me if I wanted to participate. It was cool that we both remembered that. Neubia, a girl from my Black Crim class, was there, and we talked about our final grades for a bit. Anyway, I didn't feel too buzzed at the party, but I felt I should go an hour without drinking to see how I felt (maybe it needed time to kick in), and if I felt fine, then I'd drive back to my dorm. I was feeling socially awkward, and it's silly, but I wanted to get cozy in my bed and sleep. I had fun at the party though, when I was making efforts to talk to people. And I made a few new Facebook friends. Bonus.
Thursday was kind of a laid-back day. Did I mention I hurt my foot Wednesday? *checks* Yah, I did. Anyway, it hurt like a mofo yesterday morning, and I thought that maybe I had hurt it more than I realized, so I went to the worst website for these things - WebMD.com - and it said I should see a doctor. But... I didn't. And it got better throughout the day. It felt worse again this morning and got much better throughout the day. So I think it's fine. Anyway, so yesterday was laid-back. I went to lunch at the Caf and saw Bobby there, who I went most of the school year without seeing. He's working at the library again, so I reminisced about my year there and didn't really realize how much I missed working there until eating with him. I met up with Emily Sheffield (from the picture in the last entry), and we signed our timesheets over in Kerry's office in McNutt. I saw Glenn over there, and we gave a good-bye hug. In retrospect, I guess I should have made that a bigger thing than it was. I've just been so disconnected by it all and haven't really wanted to make a big fuss out of my leaving. I guess I didn't want to feel it. Anyway, Emily and I parted ways, and we hugged, even though we've only spoken a few times this semester (like when she'd come to the lab to clock in, since the Macs on the third floor don't have TimeClock, and then we'd have little conversations). Then I went to meet Amanda at the atrium, because she had a package. And then we chilled at the EUC, since she hadn't eaten. And then later, we had dinner at the Caf with Greg and his friend Marcus. Then Amanda escorted me back to Guilford, and we had our good-bye hug. And then I loaded some stuff in my car and chilled until AJ came at 10ish. And then I had AJ time.
We decided we'd pull my mattress from the loft onto the floor, since the non-loft bed I was using was still kinda high, and AJ has a thing with heights. He wouldn't care if it were just one of us in the bed, but the idea of two of us in a high bed increases the chances of falling, so we slept on the floor. It was difficult for me to fall asleep, because I had been looking forward to him coming over all week, but he was all tuckered out from his six-hour drive (traffic was a mess with him hitting rush-hour, and then there being tornado watches or warnings or whatever through a lot of his trip). I eventually fell asleep though.
Oh, I found out yesterday that Nana couldn't come. While that was a bummer, it was good, because Fuji wanted to come and asked if I had an extra seat. So wonderful! We hadn't seen each other since August when I visited her in Raleigh and had that king-sized whatever it was that kept me wired for hours. So we made plans to have lunch for today. So this morning, AJ and I had showers before getting ready to move me out. So funny... I had taken home all my shampoo the other week (along with most other toiletries), leaving me with a bottle each of shampoo and conditioner for a week, and then I had my little travel bag withs ome shampoo, conditioner, soap, and some other stuff. Anyway, I threw away my shampoo and conditioner, since they were about out, and I used the stuff in my travel bag yesterday when I showered. Then AJ was asking for shampoo this morning, and I directed him to my travel bag. "No, this is foam bath." "Really? What about the other one?" "Body lotion." So I used foam bath as shampoo and body lotion as conditioner. Ah, well. They did the trick. Anyway, after getting clean as squeaks, we emptied out my room by filling up our vehicles, mainly AJ's. Fuji (who shall be called "Samantha" from now on) called at about 11:45 to let us know she was in Greensboro, which was right after Daniel had called to say that they were leaving for Greensboro. So AJ and I met Samantha outside the dorm, and we finished moving me out, and then we went to El Carreton for lunch, which was cool, because I met Samantha and her boyfriend there for lunch last year... so she got to meet me and AJ there this year. Anyway, we ate there, and then we met my family between the EUC and the Walker deck just before 1:30. Robbie couldn't make it, but my mom, Tim, Daniel, Phillip, Wade, and Vava made it, so all of us went to the EUC and sat and goofed around until it was time to head to Cone Ballroom. I was the sixth name called. Wade was sick, and everyone else had to head back anyway, because they had contorted their schedules and everything to get time to see me, so they left after my name was called. I didn't even hear my name called, because I was too busy trying to plot how I'd walk by. AJ and Samantha and to tell me that my name was called for me to walk out, so I did. I shook Dr Guttentag's hand, meeting him for the first and last time, and AJ got a picture of me pointing in his direction when Dr Guttentag asked, "Is someone taking a picture for you?" AJ, Samantha, and I stayed a little after the ceremony. There were some silly pictures. I spoke to Paul briefly. He forgot I was graduating. I asked if I could list him as a reference, and he was totally cool with it. Awesome! So on my Monster resume, I have AJ, Travis, Samantha, Marion (boss from library), and Veronica and Stacey. And when I edit it, Paul too. Why aren't employers on Monster falling all over each other to hire me? I'm awesome!!
So for graduation gifts: Samantha wrote me a cute letter and drew Homestar on it. My mom gave me a "Get out of debt free" card (she's been helping me out here and there for many, many moons, adding up to the sum of $3912 or so, so it's like I just earned four grand) and a sapphire bracelet, which I'll keep around as a family heirloom to give to my daughter... "But what if I only have a son?" "Then give it to your daughter-in-law." "What if my son is gay?" "Maybe they'll want kids." Vava gave me a card with $100. AJ's parents sent me a card.
After unloading AJ's truck, we nuked hotpockets and watched a bit of Seinfeld before AJ left to Durham with Daniel to dork at a Magic tournament. He won. Such a dork. I miss him already. I missed him before he left.
Oh, on my drive home, I wanted to make a voice post, but the number I have programmed on my phone must not work anymore. Instead of it being the nice, automated lady welcoming me to the LiveJournal Voice Post Message System, she simply says, "Good-bye," in that cheery tone she uses when the entry has been posted. The post was simply going to be an unintelligible scream, which I would have later transcribed as, "I graduated!!!!"
The title of the entry comes from T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men, which I only heard (as opposed to read- although I suppose I did read it too, which I shall explain) for the first time Wednesday evening when Megan posted her video of Eliot's 1947(?) reading of it while synchronized to her and Jeremiah's photographs. The last line stuck in my head, partially because it's such a powerful line, and partially because my friend Kristen had it in her profile for so long, and I had no idea where it came from. But it's been reverberating in my head for a couple of days. And then Daniel randomly said it this evening, saying someone said that earlier. Anyway, I liked the video.
Wednesday night, I went to April's graduation party. Tim and Bekki were the first to arrive, and I was there shortly thereafter, but they had to leave due to prior engagements. I hung out until about midnight. I felt like an outsider, since I didn't know a lot of people there, and it seemed everyone knew everyone. I tried to make some efforts though. This guy Cameron was a pretty outgoing guy and made conversation with me. When I was feeling like I needed some water to dilute the PJs April had made (which were AWESOME! So fruity, and I couldn't even taste the vodka), he gave me some water. I realized I knew this one girl Melissa from the McIver lab, because she was doing a Speaking Center workshop for a class that reserved my lab, and she had asked me if I wanted to participate. It was cool that we both remembered that. Neubia, a girl from my Black Crim class, was there, and we talked about our final grades for a bit. Anyway, I didn't feel too buzzed at the party, but I felt I should go an hour without drinking to see how I felt (maybe it needed time to kick in), and if I felt fine, then I'd drive back to my dorm. I was feeling socially awkward, and it's silly, but I wanted to get cozy in my bed and sleep. I had fun at the party though, when I was making efforts to talk to people. And I made a few new Facebook friends. Bonus.
Thursday was kind of a laid-back day. Did I mention I hurt my foot Wednesday? *checks* Yah, I did. Anyway, it hurt like a mofo yesterday morning, and I thought that maybe I had hurt it more than I realized, so I went to the worst website for these things - WebMD.com - and it said I should see a doctor. But... I didn't. And it got better throughout the day. It felt worse again this morning and got much better throughout the day. So I think it's fine. Anyway, so yesterday was laid-back. I went to lunch at the Caf and saw Bobby there, who I went most of the school year without seeing. He's working at the library again, so I reminisced about my year there and didn't really realize how much I missed working there until eating with him. I met up with Emily Sheffield (from the picture in the last entry), and we signed our timesheets over in Kerry's office in McNutt. I saw Glenn over there, and we gave a good-bye hug. In retrospect, I guess I should have made that a bigger thing than it was. I've just been so disconnected by it all and haven't really wanted to make a big fuss out of my leaving. I guess I didn't want to feel it. Anyway, Emily and I parted ways, and we hugged, even though we've only spoken a few times this semester (like when she'd come to the lab to clock in, since the Macs on the third floor don't have TimeClock, and then we'd have little conversations). Then I went to meet Amanda at the atrium, because she had a package. And then we chilled at the EUC, since she hadn't eaten. And then later, we had dinner at the Caf with Greg and his friend Marcus. Then Amanda escorted me back to Guilford, and we had our good-bye hug. And then I loaded some stuff in my car and chilled until AJ came at 10ish. And then I had AJ time.
We decided we'd pull my mattress from the loft onto the floor, since the non-loft bed I was using was still kinda high, and AJ has a thing with heights. He wouldn't care if it were just one of us in the bed, but the idea of two of us in a high bed increases the chances of falling, so we slept on the floor. It was difficult for me to fall asleep, because I had been looking forward to him coming over all week, but he was all tuckered out from his six-hour drive (traffic was a mess with him hitting rush-hour, and then there being tornado watches or warnings or whatever through a lot of his trip). I eventually fell asleep though.
Oh, I found out yesterday that Nana couldn't come. While that was a bummer, it was good, because Fuji wanted to come and asked if I had an extra seat. So wonderful! We hadn't seen each other since August when I visited her in Raleigh and had that king-sized whatever it was that kept me wired for hours. So we made plans to have lunch for today. So this morning, AJ and I had showers before getting ready to move me out. So funny... I had taken home all my shampoo the other week (along with most other toiletries), leaving me with a bottle each of shampoo and conditioner for a week, and then I had my little travel bag withs ome shampoo, conditioner, soap, and some other stuff. Anyway, I threw away my shampoo and conditioner, since they were about out, and I used the stuff in my travel bag yesterday when I showered. Then AJ was asking for shampoo this morning, and I directed him to my travel bag. "No, this is foam bath." "Really? What about the other one?" "Body lotion." So I used foam bath as shampoo and body lotion as conditioner. Ah, well. They did the trick. Anyway, after getting clean as squeaks, we emptied out my room by filling up our vehicles, mainly AJ's. Fuji (who shall be called "Samantha" from now on) called at about 11:45 to let us know she was in Greensboro, which was right after Daniel had called to say that they were leaving for Greensboro. So AJ and I met Samantha outside the dorm, and we finished moving me out, and then we went to El Carreton for lunch, which was cool, because I met Samantha and her boyfriend there for lunch last year... so she got to meet me and AJ there this year. Anyway, we ate there, and then we met my family between the EUC and the Walker deck just before 1:30. Robbie couldn't make it, but my mom, Tim, Daniel, Phillip, Wade, and Vava made it, so all of us went to the EUC and sat and goofed around until it was time to head to Cone Ballroom. I was the sixth name called. Wade was sick, and everyone else had to head back anyway, because they had contorted their schedules and everything to get time to see me, so they left after my name was called. I didn't even hear my name called, because I was too busy trying to plot how I'd walk by. AJ and Samantha and to tell me that my name was called for me to walk out, so I did. I shook Dr Guttentag's hand, meeting him for the first and last time, and AJ got a picture of me pointing in his direction when Dr Guttentag asked, "Is someone taking a picture for you?" AJ, Samantha, and I stayed a little after the ceremony. There were some silly pictures. I spoke to Paul briefly. He forgot I was graduating. I asked if I could list him as a reference, and he was totally cool with it. Awesome! So on my Monster resume, I have AJ, Travis, Samantha, Marion (boss from library), and Veronica and Stacey. And when I edit it, Paul too. Why aren't employers on Monster falling all over each other to hire me? I'm awesome!!
So for graduation gifts: Samantha wrote me a cute letter and drew Homestar on it. My mom gave me a "Get out of debt free" card (she's been helping me out here and there for many, many moons, adding up to the sum of $3912 or so, so it's like I just earned four grand) and a sapphire bracelet, which I'll keep around as a family heirloom to give to my daughter... "But what if I only have a son?" "Then give it to your daughter-in-law." "What if my son is gay?" "Maybe they'll want kids." Vava gave me a card with $100. AJ's parents sent me a card.
After unloading AJ's truck, we nuked hotpockets and watched a bit of Seinfeld before AJ left to Durham with Daniel to dork at a Magic tournament. He won. Such a dork. I miss him already. I missed him before he left.
Oh, on my drive home, I wanted to make a voice post, but the number I have programmed on my phone must not work anymore. Instead of it being the nice, automated lady welcoming me to the LiveJournal Voice Post Message System, she simply says, "Good-bye," in that cheery tone she uses when the entry has been posted. The post was simply going to be an unintelligible scream, which I would have later transcribed as, "I graduated!!!!"
The title of the entry comes from T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men, which I only heard (as opposed to read- although I suppose I did read it too, which I shall explain) for the first time Wednesday evening when Megan posted her video of Eliot's 1947(?) reading of it while synchronized to her and Jeremiah's photographs. The last line stuck in my head, partially because it's such a powerful line, and partially because my friend Kristen had it in her profile for so long, and I had no idea where it came from. But it's been reverberating in my head for a couple of days. And then Daniel randomly said it this evening, saying someone said that earlier. Anyway, I liked the video.