things

"Dear Diary: Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. [flips page] Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever."


http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/popculture/baf9/

Surviving a Move / Falling for Firefly

I feel like my time is going to be compromised in a couple weeks time, reluctantly heading back to why I’m actually in Oregon: grad school. Classes start in just under two weeks, and I think this year is going to be busier than the one that I had before. While I’m excited for the non-class related components of my program—my research assistantship and having practicum experiences within schools—I am not excited at the prospect of 12 credits worth of work on top of those two commitments (about 32 hours a week, technically). Watch that first step of grad school, cause that second step is a doozie…

But the positive development has been moving into a new place over the past week. My first place was a solid place for the beginning of my time in the Eug. However, there were many drawbacks that I was especially tired of: I was car-dependent if I wasn’t going to school (which I could actually bus or bike to) and the surrounding area was lacking and isolating. I enjoyed living next to the football and baseball stadiums (Oregon’s football stadium, Autzen, is one of the loudest places in the country to watch a sports team play) for the sheer convenience of crossing the street. But it wasn’t really me, and it wasn’t going to fit with my longer-term needs (e.g. a “walkability” score of 49). In essence, I think I need to live with people—as you guys can probably understand, I get motivated by being around lovely individuals, and it doesn’t matter what happens to be on the agenda.*

So the new place is a three person house, where I will be living with two guys in my program. The house is a five minute bike ride to work and to school (both of which are walkable), there are parks and places to go to, I’ve got a porch with a backyard, a basement with a table (I’m hoping you are all reading that and thinking: Die and Beirut), and a wonderfully sunny room. All of these tidbits make me much happier, thus far, than living on the opposite side of the Willamette River.

*Appropriately, Isaac, my bro, and I were all at the apartment together for my last weekend there, celebrating with friends coming over for a grill as well as floating the Willamette with a pink floaty chair with two cupholders, a freshwater alligator named Gary, and a river turtle. Yes, it was awesome. Yes, you should have been there.

But the move was surprisingly not as painful as I thought it was going to be. I was all packed and ready to go on move-in day (see, Elise, I can do things before the last minute, I swear!), I had help from two of my good friends here, and Gillian was up two weekends ago to help organize and sort things. I honestly can say I couldn’t have done it without the help, so thank you very, very much. I know that I’m going to enjoy myself more as a result in my new digs.

To my Firefly loving friends (I know you are out there), I decided when during the course of the season I loved this show. In episode 3 (“Bushwacked”), the crew is boarded by an Alliance boat, and the crew is individually interviewed about their experiences on Serenity (a clever way to give some background for the crew). But it is precisely when Wash is asked about his relationship with Zoe that I fall in love with the show, after having seen Zoe’s response to the interview questions:

HARKEN: You fought with Captain Reynolds in the war?
ZOE: Fought with a lot of people in the war.
HARKEN: And your husband?
ZOE: Fight with him sometimes, too.

HARKEN: Is there any particular reason you wish to not talk about your marriage?

ZOE: Don’t see that it is any of your business is all. We’re very private people.

WASH: The legs. Oh yeah, definitely have to say it was her legs. You can put that down. Her legs, and where her legs meet her back. Actually, that whole area. That, and above it.

And a little while later…

WASH: Have you ever been with a warrior woman?

You can’t take the sky from me…