My last post was my 100th. I feel kinda special.
The clocks got turned back Sunday night. I had a wicked headache during work on Saturday, and my back felt like it was on fire. Even the copyeditor asked me if I was okay-- "You look like you feel pretty bad." It was also pouring like a hurricane, and so it made my normally 20-minute drive into a 45-minute ordeal due to an accident. So I thought I could get an extra hour of sleep and was excited, but couldn't fall asleep because my back hurt so badly.
I ended up crawling out of bed and digging up the bottle of Vicodin from the summer's sprained elbow. I took a third of one and finally fell asleep. I'm beginning to realize that when Topper and I had that fall and when my back got screwed, it was permanent. The DO and the specialists haven't done anything, so I don't know why I'm surprised that every once in a while I can't sleep,
I'm glad I horde my prescription painkillers. The summer after my freshman year--four years ago--my arm got shattered and an infection nearly rotted it off. I rationed those pills until almost the end of my junior year.
Liz, Molly, Karen and I went to see Marie Antoinette on Friday. It was beautiful. The dresses kept making me wish I had one, or could go back then for just a few weeks. I know it was miserable--disease, filth, uncomfortable, horrible class distinctions, on and on, but how pretty and sumptuous those clothes of the upper class.
The time change has me kind of on edge. I can't explain it, except to say it's a good time to be writing. Last night was the kind of night where if I were at home I'd pull out my notes and do some review and work on my novel. Novella. Novela? One hundred pages still isn't really a novel.
My mother called on Thursday and I was telling her how I can't sleep regularly or well and hardly anything sounds appetizing except pizza and fruit. No wonder my sleep schedule is all screwy, I guess.
The bright side of Saturday is Erin is finally wired to the world again. I'd missed her since she got married. I don't know how to explain my relationship with her . . . she's about the perfect friend: you can drink with her, shop with her, dance with her, cuddle with her, talk about anything with her, and copyedit with her. And even though we've seen each other only a few times over a few years, but nothing ever changes. In some ways, she knows me better than almost everybody. She knows the deep, integral stuff about me, not the obvious stuff from day-to-day life. It's refreshing. I absolutely adore her, and it was exciting to know I can find her online again.
Dan wants to buy his bike by about Thanksgiving. He certainly has enough money saved. It's almost intimidating. I've almost got my credit card paid off--only $600 left to go.
The end is so close and so far away.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Falling
It's fall again. I wore my long wool coat for the first time since May (ha!) yesterday. That coat and I are perfect together, and we've seen a lot. We went to London, trekked through England and Wales and Scotland, saw DC and Texas and now Boston. The trees are quite pretty right now, and the air is perpetually crisp and the sky is prettier lately. It's not too cold or too rainy yet, and daylight savings is still a week away, so my crankiness from the dark hasn't rolled around yet.
In approximately six/seven weeks the semester will be over. My school assignments will be done. I can go home. I will (cross fingers) have a job lined up for January. I will be done with the Globe with a couple of bylines under my belt--even if most of them are from the sports section. I will go to Florida for a bit with my sister, and then Dan and I will move my unshippables back to Texas.
I'm in a mild state of disbelief because it all happened so quickly, the end is approaching rapidly, and yet from day to day things seem to take forever, and part of me wants everything to finish up, already. Being in school is great, but there's a static that you hit. Nothing changes, seemingly. It's the same assignments, the same school stress, the same cycling of semi-clean clothes and five things to eat. I guess I'm finally ready for the real world. I'm ready for some change.
That's not to say that things are bad or anything. My life feels so good and so right--the way it was last school year, just minus some of the school anxiety, now, I guess since I'm accustomed to it here now. I'm just looking forward to some new challenges.
Work is good. It's gratifying. And there's not a ton of places to go with it--I'll get the one or two bylines from the health section if I can, and a few more from sports--but it's like a new hobby right now. It's something that I'll be done with rather quickly, but it'll be fun while it lasts, and it will help me out later. If I can hurry up and get this one article done, I may have a really good clip for future job applications.
I want the last Harry Potter book to come out. Last summer--not the one that just ended, but the one of more than a year ago--I drove to a bookstore in Austin with Dan the day it came out because I had to have a copy. He was skeptical that there would be any copies left, but there were. Even the drug store was selling them.
The prospect of being back in Texas is exciting. I sent clips and a resume out to two papers not too far from Austin last week--close enough to spend the weekends in Fort Worth and still hang out in some new cities.
At Goodwill yesterday I found a pair of unworn designer German shoes in my size. They cost me $5. Things are good.
In approximately six/seven weeks the semester will be over. My school assignments will be done. I can go home. I will (cross fingers) have a job lined up for January. I will be done with the Globe with a couple of bylines under my belt--even if most of them are from the sports section. I will go to Florida for a bit with my sister, and then Dan and I will move my unshippables back to Texas.
I'm in a mild state of disbelief because it all happened so quickly, the end is approaching rapidly, and yet from day to day things seem to take forever, and part of me wants everything to finish up, already. Being in school is great, but there's a static that you hit. Nothing changes, seemingly. It's the same assignments, the same school stress, the same cycling of semi-clean clothes and five things to eat. I guess I'm finally ready for the real world. I'm ready for some change.
That's not to say that things are bad or anything. My life feels so good and so right--the way it was last school year, just minus some of the school anxiety, now, I guess since I'm accustomed to it here now. I'm just looking forward to some new challenges.
Work is good. It's gratifying. And there's not a ton of places to go with it--I'll get the one or two bylines from the health section if I can, and a few more from sports--but it's like a new hobby right now. It's something that I'll be done with rather quickly, but it'll be fun while it lasts, and it will help me out later. If I can hurry up and get this one article done, I may have a really good clip for future job applications.
I want the last Harry Potter book to come out. Last summer--not the one that just ended, but the one of more than a year ago--I drove to a bookstore in Austin with Dan the day it came out because I had to have a copy. He was skeptical that there would be any copies left, but there were. Even the drug store was selling them.
The prospect of being back in Texas is exciting. I sent clips and a resume out to two papers not too far from Austin last week--close enough to spend the weekends in Fort Worth and still hang out in some new cities.
At Goodwill yesterday I found a pair of unworn designer German shoes in my size. They cost me $5. Things are good.
Friday, October 13, 2006
The Departed
I went to go see the movie The Departed on Friday night with my friend Andrew while I was at home. Technically, we went with my friend John Ashley, too, because I hadn't seen him since sometime in the winter, but he showed up after previews had already started, and then left about 5 minutes after the movie was done. It was sort of lame, but he had friends (who also came to the movie with him) who needed rides home.
The movie was definitely worth the $6.50. Heck, I would have even paid $10 or whatever it costs up here. It was gritty and yet funny, and as always, it was weird to see something set in Boston. I feel like I live in a giant movie set. Except for NYC and maybe LA, I don't think any American cities get into movies quite the same way. (DC doesn't count because people always show the posh, political/military aspect of it, not the seedy, disgusting side where crimes are horrific, the way the city can change from an acceptable music venue on one street to the ghetto one block over.) But I go to see it (I think the guy lives on Elm Street, which would be hilarious, because it's probably one of the scary Elm Streets, like the one I first thought I lived on and was disappointed before I found the right Elm up a few miles north.)
It was good to be home, as always. I arrived Wednesday afternoon, and my sister and I hung out (and also spent time at the barn because we thought Topper was colicking, but he wasn't, the dork). Dan was supposed to pick me up around 11, when he got off work, but he ended up getting called out to a standoff in Forest Hill (a Fort Worth suburb) around the time I landed. He didn't get done with it until 7 the next morning, when the guy surrendered. So we got to spend Thursday doing nothing but sleeping and then napping.
The rest of the week was the norm, except Tuesday night I got to go to a dinner at the chancellor's house with all the deans and chairs of departments and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. That was cool. I got to wear nice clothes and see my dean half-drunk (he's from Cambridge, near where I live) and get Dr. Pepper cake, which was served for dessert. I didn't get to actually meet Dr. Gupta, much to my professor's dismay, but it was nice to have the faculty reassure me about my job prospects and everything. They're so great.
Tonight at work I was sitting eating Sour Patch kids (you can buy them in the little cafeteria) and joking with another guy across from me. There was a total moment of flashback to my newsroom, editing, snacking, giggling, yelling to see what files were open or done, whatever. I'm glad to have that back. And I'm going to get it back again for good with a job. If I survive that long.
There's a lot of stuff with school right now. I need to remember to breathe deeply. I also may buy a trainer so I don't have to kit up and leave my house for hours to get a good ride.
The leaves are changing. Summer is gone, completely, and I think the warm weather is gone too. Well, the warm according to my standards. It's still nice. It's just not hot.
London never felt like a movie set to me, although I'm sure it ranks even higher than Boston as setting. I wonder why it never had that certain surreal feeling? It was surreal in some ways, sure, but not in the same way. And I know that when I leave here, it will all be even stranger.
The movie was definitely worth the $6.50. Heck, I would have even paid $10 or whatever it costs up here. It was gritty and yet funny, and as always, it was weird to see something set in Boston. I feel like I live in a giant movie set. Except for NYC and maybe LA, I don't think any American cities get into movies quite the same way. (DC doesn't count because people always show the posh, political/military aspect of it, not the seedy, disgusting side where crimes are horrific, the way the city can change from an acceptable music venue on one street to the ghetto one block over.) But I go to see it (I think the guy lives on Elm Street, which would be hilarious, because it's probably one of the scary Elm Streets, like the one I first thought I lived on and was disappointed before I found the right Elm up a few miles north.)
It was good to be home, as always. I arrived Wednesday afternoon, and my sister and I hung out (and also spent time at the barn because we thought Topper was colicking, but he wasn't, the dork). Dan was supposed to pick me up around 11, when he got off work, but he ended up getting called out to a standoff in Forest Hill (a Fort Worth suburb) around the time I landed. He didn't get done with it until 7 the next morning, when the guy surrendered. So we got to spend Thursday doing nothing but sleeping and then napping.
The rest of the week was the norm, except Tuesday night I got to go to a dinner at the chancellor's house with all the deans and chairs of departments and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. That was cool. I got to wear nice clothes and see my dean half-drunk (he's from Cambridge, near where I live) and get Dr. Pepper cake, which was served for dessert. I didn't get to actually meet Dr. Gupta, much to my professor's dismay, but it was nice to have the faculty reassure me about my job prospects and everything. They're so great.
Tonight at work I was sitting eating Sour Patch kids (you can buy them in the little cafeteria) and joking with another guy across from me. There was a total moment of flashback to my newsroom, editing, snacking, giggling, yelling to see what files were open or done, whatever. I'm glad to have that back. And I'm going to get it back again for good with a job. If I survive that long.
There's a lot of stuff with school right now. I need to remember to breathe deeply. I also may buy a trainer so I don't have to kit up and leave my house for hours to get a good ride.
The leaves are changing. Summer is gone, completely, and I think the warm weather is gone too. Well, the warm according to my standards. It's still nice. It's just not hot.
London never felt like a movie set to me, although I'm sure it ranks even higher than Boston as setting. I wonder why it never had that certain surreal feeling? It was surreal in some ways, sure, but not in the same way. And I know that when I leave here, it will all be even stranger.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Scary Serious
I'm in the middle of stories right now, and there's two in particular that are surprising me. They've suddenly exploded into "real" stories--something I give a shit about and could actually publish, unlike most of what I've done in this program. Ellen's class last semester wasn't too bad; I largely wrote about stuff I was interested in. But almost everything for either of Doug's classes was crap. It was the pitch he liked the most, usually, and I was always largely ambivalent about them.
But the first one I'm doing now is one I've actually been doing for a week and a half or so for sports writing. It started off about whether blood doping is becoming more easily accessible to rising cyclists, and now it's turned into what's wrong with testing for blood doping, because the agencies who prosecute aren't really being scientific. I got in touch with doctors, I'm getting in touch with Tyler Hamilton, and it's all turning into something professional. I mean, Hamilton is probably one of the biggest names in cycling.
And the other story is for Ellen's class, the narrative we have to do. I think I got the okay today from Parlee cycles (incidentally, they made Hamilton's bikes) to come crash the place for a while and follow people around, etc, for my story about new materials for bikes. I could probably pitch and sell either or both of these to a magazine and actually get published, which is a nice feeling.
My parents were in town this weekend too, which made me happy even though it rained Sunday. I was still working, so they did a lot of stuff on their own, but I think that's good. They do well together like that. And then I'm on my way home on Wednesday for a week. Last night I was driving home from work in the middle of the night and felt genuinely joyous. (It's easy to be happy; being joyous is a little harder to come by.) I was on I-93 and coming out of the tunnel and could see Boston all around me, lit up in the cloudy dark, and I felt content.
Things are going so fast. I'm glad. Dan goes out almost every night with friends and I want to be back to that--going out with him and my sister and people I've known for years. You can sit out on patios and drink beer and margaritas in the warmth.
Just a few more days.
But the first one I'm doing now is one I've actually been doing for a week and a half or so for sports writing. It started off about whether blood doping is becoming more easily accessible to rising cyclists, and now it's turned into what's wrong with testing for blood doping, because the agencies who prosecute aren't really being scientific. I got in touch with doctors, I'm getting in touch with Tyler Hamilton, and it's all turning into something professional. I mean, Hamilton is probably one of the biggest names in cycling.
And the other story is for Ellen's class, the narrative we have to do. I think I got the okay today from Parlee cycles (incidentally, they made Hamilton's bikes) to come crash the place for a while and follow people around, etc, for my story about new materials for bikes. I could probably pitch and sell either or both of these to a magazine and actually get published, which is a nice feeling.
My parents were in town this weekend too, which made me happy even though it rained Sunday. I was still working, so they did a lot of stuff on their own, but I think that's good. They do well together like that. And then I'm on my way home on Wednesday for a week. Last night I was driving home from work in the middle of the night and felt genuinely joyous. (It's easy to be happy; being joyous is a little harder to come by.) I was on I-93 and coming out of the tunnel and could see Boston all around me, lit up in the cloudy dark, and I felt content.
Things are going so fast. I'm glad. Dan goes out almost every night with friends and I want to be back to that--going out with him and my sister and people I've known for years. You can sit out on patios and drink beer and margaritas in the warmth.
Just a few more days.
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