Post-Arecibo
Flew in. Last flight was delayed, then cancelled; I got on a later (1am) flight to my home town and managed to get to bed at like 3 in the morning. maybe 4, I don't remember. My mom and sister completely surprised me with my guinea pig (I thought she was back in collegetown). Saw K. for part of a day (it was fun, and very relaxing), and R. for another part of a day (so much fun! I miss you! and thanks for guarding my shiny new laptop), and S. and Megs for another evening. I even stopped by and had supper with my dad and his girlfriend and my brother. It was good to see everyone. Had most of a day at my mom's hanging out and relaxing, and then left at like 11pm or so to drive back to collegetown.
The drive back was... remarkably... not that bad. I thought I would be a lot more tired. And I was tired, I won't lie. But for the most part I was able to stay well awake above the dangerous sleepy threshold, and I only had to switch with Twin a couple of times. We got back in at 4am or so and I collapsed at her place. Then I spent the day napping and seeing friends, and a week moving. Moving is hectic as always and left me injured and drained. But when it was done, it was very satisfying. My last night in my old apartment, my former roommates and I got drunk, cleaned, and watched the Olympics. I really like my new place though, especially now that my bed is assembled and my bookshelves loaded and everything is almost completely cleaned up for the new semester. I do have some stuff to work on yet, so busy with that and settling in.
Let's see... then I spent a week hanging out with the Twin and friends and our house's new kittens (squee!). Went to see Wall.E again with the Twin. Went to two birthday gatherings on Saturday. Went to the Rennaisance Faire on Sunday. That was pretty sweet. The jousting, though fake, was so much fun; we cheered for the evil guy, who promised us blood, chaos, and victory at any cost. He looked like a cross between Sting and the villain from Tank Girl (Malcolm McDowell??), and he had some pretty sweet horsemanship skills. I saw a falconer with his hawks and falcons, an owl, so many people dressed up like awesome, and a couple of freakishly entertaining shows. All in all, I enjoyed myself a fair bit too much, but it was great. Oh, and I bought a sword and pouch. Now time to figure out if I can carry my blade as a ... discouragement... on my long late-night walks home. And also, how to care for it. I think it's been handled poorly because the edge is fairly sharp but the blade is crusted with dried oil.
Today has been a busy and fairly productive day. I need to see a bunch of people and get things figured out (and I did, in some small part, though not enough); I have tons of papers to write and forms to fill out and submit and people to talk to and appointments to attend. The next few weeks are going to be crazy! I wish I could see my twin again though; I was really productive with her one day last week and I want to do it again.
I want to read more books, but already I don't have enough time for it. Barbara Hambly and Robin Hobb are going to have to wait.
I find myself gradually missing Arecibo in sharp moments--on the drive home from the Renn Faire last night, for example, I looked out the window and saw the Big Dipper, and I couldn't help but remember all the late nights on the dark drive back to the Observatory, seeing the silver sprinkles of light brilliant in the inky sky. It's good to be back, but I miss the people as well.
The drive back was... remarkably... not that bad. I thought I would be a lot more tired. And I was tired, I won't lie. But for the most part I was able to stay well awake above the dangerous sleepy threshold, and I only had to switch with Twin a couple of times. We got back in at 4am or so and I collapsed at her place. Then I spent the day napping and seeing friends, and a week moving. Moving is hectic as always and left me injured and drained. But when it was done, it was very satisfying. My last night in my old apartment, my former roommates and I got drunk, cleaned, and watched the Olympics. I really like my new place though, especially now that my bed is assembled and my bookshelves loaded and everything is almost completely cleaned up for the new semester. I do have some stuff to work on yet, so busy with that and settling in.
Let's see... then I spent a week hanging out with the Twin and friends and our house's new kittens (squee!). Went to see Wall.E again with the Twin. Went to two birthday gatherings on Saturday. Went to the Rennaisance Faire on Sunday. That was pretty sweet. The jousting, though fake, was so much fun; we cheered for the evil guy, who promised us blood, chaos, and victory at any cost. He looked like a cross between Sting and the villain from Tank Girl (Malcolm McDowell??), and he had some pretty sweet horsemanship skills. I saw a falconer with his hawks and falcons, an owl, so many people dressed up like awesome, and a couple of freakishly entertaining shows. All in all, I enjoyed myself a fair bit too much, but it was great. Oh, and I bought a sword and pouch. Now time to figure out if I can carry my blade as a ... discouragement... on my long late-night walks home. And also, how to care for it. I think it's been handled poorly because the edge is fairly sharp but the blade is crusted with dried oil.
Today has been a busy and fairly productive day. I need to see a bunch of people and get things figured out (and I did, in some small part, though not enough); I have tons of papers to write and forms to fill out and submit and people to talk to and appointments to attend. The next few weeks are going to be crazy! I wish I could see my twin again though; I was really productive with her one day last week and I want to do it again.
I want to read more books, but already I don't have enough time for it. Barbara Hambly and Robin Hobb are going to have to wait.
I find myself gradually missing Arecibo in sharp moments--on the drive home from the Renn Faire last night, for example, I looked out the window and saw the Big Dipper, and I couldn't help but remember all the late nights on the dark drive back to the Observatory, seeing the silver sprinkles of light brilliant in the inky sky. It's good to be back, but I miss the people as well.