As promised..
So, tons of things have happened and changed since my last regular entry. I'm sure I won't even be able to remember them all, but for posterity's sake, I'll recount what I can.
For the first couple weeks, I was looking for a place to live, doing lots of research studies, and investigating job possibilities in Pittsburgh. Then I completely changed my mind one day and decided I want to go home instead of staying, for several reasons: it will allow maximum flexibility for travel, it will provide distance from most social contacts and thereby hopefully allow (force) me to focus large amounts of energy on just-me-related interests and endeavors, it will be CHEAP, and it will give me an opportunity to catch up with family from whom I've been away for 5 years. So I didn't go to any of the interviews that suddenly lined themselves up, and I don't have to worry about furnishing an apartment while leaving all my own furniture with Jake and Alison. And I don't have to give a single shit when I finally get an email (today) from IKEA saying my skills don't match their staffing needs, or fret over my ineligibility for an awesome work study position I was just offered with the Education Program at the museum of natural history.
Aside from letting me actually RELAX and enjoy my remaining time here with friends, my decision to move home, coupled with the inflexible move-in date for Jake and Alison, has led to interesting housing dynamics for my last couple weeks here. Specifically, I moved out of my apartment on August 19, taking a bunch of stuff with me to b1uebutterf1y's. I helped Elaine move out of her apartment last Thursday and since she's paying for the lease through the end of the month, she said I could use it until then, so a friend helped me move my futon, tv, computer, and stereo in and I've been here for a few days cuz I don't wanna outstay the welcome with b1uebutterf1y, even though she assured me it'd be fine =). I have to move out by Friday and turn in the keys though, so I need to get some help moving the stuff back to my old apartment. b1uebutterf1y and Jake and Alison will all be out of town this coming weekend though, so I should be able to move the stuff back without disturbing the current occupants and to sleep somewhere without imposing before I go to Baltimore on Sunday.
Aside from moving a lot, I've been having bunches of fun. Gabe came to visit the first weekend of August and we had a great, full weekend. Friday night he came to sparring and met people there and sparred a little. Saturday we went to class late and didn't do much but then went shopping for my farewell party and had Adam over to play DDR, then went to chrismaverick's birthday party (Jammy Jam 2002), where Gabe awed everyone with his DDR skills after the main event. Sunday we made it to class but Gabe didn't do much, and we spent most free minutes of those several days cleaning and getting ready for my farewell party, which didn't wind up lasting as long as proposed because I wasn't ready on time and passed out way before 5 am. I think most people had a decent time at least, though. None of the HCI students showed except Juan and family, Ryan, and Mike, and lots of Maya-related people were unfortunately too partied out from Jammy Jam, but high school, bible study, and kungfu people were in full force. I have no pictures cuz my camera battery is completely dead and I haven't bought a new one yet.
Marcus made it back safe and sound from his Europe adventure, so I met him one Sunday to go to the Shadyside Arts Festival, but we got there as everything was closing down so I didn't get to buy any of the jewelry I returned for. But I did go to the other part of the festival Saturday and fell in love with a bunch of bonsai trees. The guy was really sweet and held them for me til Sunday morning when he said he could help me get them home, since I couldn't very well transport 7 bonsai trees on the bus. I went back and did wind up buying 7, one for Marc and 6 for me, but not the same 7 I'd picked Saturday. I have 1 cerissa, 1 gardenia, 2 juniper, 1 chinese elm, and 1 fu-kien tea (not the large, gorgeous one that cost $125 and had me utterly enamored Saturday, but the only other one he had, which is smaller but cute) tree, and I got Marc a juniper with a split trunk that's totally gorgeous. All told, they were about $425. Not an expenditure to scoff at for one with no income.. but they make me happy =). I'm taking them with me when I go home, while the other plants will stay in my apartment with Jake and Alison, who have promised to take good care of them. Anyway, when we missed the festival, Marcus and I decided to stay in Shadyside for dinner and try the new Thai restaurant, My Thai (groan). The decor was black and goldenrod, and very bumblebee-ish. But not offensive, I guess. The food was fantastic. Better than the Thai Place, but I don't know if that's just because we ordered fun stuff, or because even the same dishes would be better there. In any case, it was wonderful, we shared everything, and went home utterly stuffed.
I met Adam for lunch at Craig Street Coffee last week and we caught up for the last time before I go.. almost exactly a year after we ate at Aladdin's and he told me he was dating someone else. I couldn't have hoped for a better relationship than what we have now at that time. We stayed til long after they closed and they gave us free bread and soup that would otherwise have been tossed, so that was cool.
Other than that, I've been spending lots of time with people from kungfu, mostly going out after classes, to bars, or dancing. Unfortunately hip-hop is big with many of them so I OD'ed on that a while ago. Went back to the country club yesterday and swam a little. The pool is tremendously long and I did 1 length of butterfly with little difficulty, so that made me happy. Also dove successfully again, which was fun. One was very unsuccessful so that was lame, but then I fixed it. Spent the rest of the time play-fighting and trying to dunk one another. He said it was like suai-jiao, or however you spell that. There were still lots of kids there and one little girl who totally reminded me of me at her age.. made me feel so old, and utterly reinforced my desire to find a job working with kids, preferably in a primarily recreational setting, as opposed to educational. Day care, camp, recess.. even museum field trips or whatever.. as long as the kids are exploring and having fun, even if they are supposed to learn from it. I want my childhood back.
For the first couple weeks, I was looking for a place to live, doing lots of research studies, and investigating job possibilities in Pittsburgh. Then I completely changed my mind one day and decided I want to go home instead of staying, for several reasons: it will allow maximum flexibility for travel, it will provide distance from most social contacts and thereby hopefully allow (force) me to focus large amounts of energy on just-me-related interests and endeavors, it will be CHEAP, and it will give me an opportunity to catch up with family from whom I've been away for 5 years. So I didn't go to any of the interviews that suddenly lined themselves up, and I don't have to worry about furnishing an apartment while leaving all my own furniture with Jake and Alison. And I don't have to give a single shit when I finally get an email (today) from IKEA saying my skills don't match their staffing needs, or fret over my ineligibility for an awesome work study position I was just offered with the Education Program at the museum of natural history.
Aside from letting me actually RELAX and enjoy my remaining time here with friends, my decision to move home, coupled with the inflexible move-in date for Jake and Alison, has led to interesting housing dynamics for my last couple weeks here. Specifically, I moved out of my apartment on August 19, taking a bunch of stuff with me to b1uebutterf1y's. I helped Elaine move out of her apartment last Thursday and since she's paying for the lease through the end of the month, she said I could use it until then, so a friend helped me move my futon, tv, computer, and stereo in and I've been here for a few days cuz I don't wanna outstay the welcome with b1uebutterf1y, even though she assured me it'd be fine =). I have to move out by Friday and turn in the keys though, so I need to get some help moving the stuff back to my old apartment. b1uebutterf1y and Jake and Alison will all be out of town this coming weekend though, so I should be able to move the stuff back without disturbing the current occupants and to sleep somewhere without imposing before I go to Baltimore on Sunday.
Aside from moving a lot, I've been having bunches of fun. Gabe came to visit the first weekend of August and we had a great, full weekend. Friday night he came to sparring and met people there and sparred a little. Saturday we went to class late and didn't do much but then went shopping for my farewell party and had Adam over to play DDR, then went to chrismaverick's birthday party (Jammy Jam 2002), where Gabe awed everyone with his DDR skills after the main event. Sunday we made it to class but Gabe didn't do much, and we spent most free minutes of those several days cleaning and getting ready for my farewell party, which didn't wind up lasting as long as proposed because I wasn't ready on time and passed out way before 5 am. I think most people had a decent time at least, though. None of the HCI students showed except Juan and family, Ryan, and Mike, and lots of Maya-related people were unfortunately too partied out from Jammy Jam, but high school, bible study, and kungfu people were in full force. I have no pictures cuz my camera battery is completely dead and I haven't bought a new one yet.
Marcus made it back safe and sound from his Europe adventure, so I met him one Sunday to go to the Shadyside Arts Festival, but we got there as everything was closing down so I didn't get to buy any of the jewelry I returned for. But I did go to the other part of the festival Saturday and fell in love with a bunch of bonsai trees. The guy was really sweet and held them for me til Sunday morning when he said he could help me get them home, since I couldn't very well transport 7 bonsai trees on the bus. I went back and did wind up buying 7, one for Marc and 6 for me, but not the same 7 I'd picked Saturday. I have 1 cerissa, 1 gardenia, 2 juniper, 1 chinese elm, and 1 fu-kien tea (not the large, gorgeous one that cost $125 and had me utterly enamored Saturday, but the only other one he had, which is smaller but cute) tree, and I got Marc a juniper with a split trunk that's totally gorgeous. All told, they were about $425. Not an expenditure to scoff at for one with no income.. but they make me happy =). I'm taking them with me when I go home, while the other plants will stay in my apartment with Jake and Alison, who have promised to take good care of them. Anyway, when we missed the festival, Marcus and I decided to stay in Shadyside for dinner and try the new Thai restaurant, My Thai (groan). The decor was black and goldenrod, and very bumblebee-ish. But not offensive, I guess. The food was fantastic. Better than the Thai Place, but I don't know if that's just because we ordered fun stuff, or because even the same dishes would be better there. In any case, it was wonderful, we shared everything, and went home utterly stuffed.
I met Adam for lunch at Craig Street Coffee last week and we caught up for the last time before I go.. almost exactly a year after we ate at Aladdin's and he told me he was dating someone else. I couldn't have hoped for a better relationship than what we have now at that time. We stayed til long after they closed and they gave us free bread and soup that would otherwise have been tossed, so that was cool.
Other than that, I've been spending lots of time with people from kungfu, mostly going out after classes, to bars, or dancing. Unfortunately hip-hop is big with many of them so I OD'ed on that a while ago. Went back to the country club yesterday and swam a little. The pool is tremendously long and I did 1 length of butterfly with little difficulty, so that made me happy. Also dove successfully again, which was fun. One was very unsuccessful so that was lame, but then I fixed it. Spent the rest of the time play-fighting and trying to dunk one another. He said it was like suai-jiao, or however you spell that. There were still lots of kids there and one little girl who totally reminded me of me at her age.. made me feel so old, and utterly reinforced my desire to find a job working with kids, preferably in a primarily recreational setting, as opposed to educational. Day care, camp, recess.. even museum field trips or whatever.. as long as the kids are exploring and having fun, even if they are supposed to learn from it. I want my childhood back.