Craptastic

So, right when I finally get the 1,001 Books book, they come out with another freaking edition with like 200 some odd (yes, I'm from York County, we say such things) additions and deletions. And most of the deletions are the ones that I read already.

So I'm totally keeping myself from going insane and am just sticking with the 2005 edition of the damn book. If I ever get through those, then I'll work on whatever the latest edition of the 1,001 Books happens to be.

Interested?

Check out this site, with the updated list as an Excel document with super-cool links and easy shopping.

I just need to save my sanity at this point, that's all. Especially since I've taken a bit of a break from the list. Harry Potter and I have been forming a lifelong friendship over break. I love him and the fact that I barely need to think when I'm reading them. Real page-turners, they are.

Nyquil = Godsend

I mean seriously, I don't think I'd have gotten even this far through finals week without it. No, I'm not addicted (I promise), I'm just sick...like always. I got hit with the York bugs like two days after I came back from Thanksgiving break, and they're making it really, really hard to do necessary things like study for finals and put together presentations. It's kind of annoying, but it's soon over (4 days until break!!).

On a better note, my grad school applications are done, transcripts ordered, GRE scores heading to (mostly) the right places. Now I just need to put together the applications for assistantships for Mville and UMBC. One's due Feb 1, so I'll get to it over break, I hope. I'm just ready for the whole process to be over--when I know if I got in, where I got in, and how much money I have to/don't have to pay to go. Basically, I need hardcore funding if I actually want to go. I'm already in student debt up to my eyeballs and have no desire to go in further (funny thing: AIG owns pretty much all of my student loans, and they've been hounding me to pay some interest on my student loans. Think they need capital right now?). So, until April rolls around and I get my aid packages and such, I'm keeping an eye out for anything job-wise that I might be remotely interested in. Oddly, despite what everyone is calling a depression in York, there's actually some pretty interesting entry level jobs available in fun things like school publicity & media relations. Too bad they're looking for people to start right away or I would have applied.

I'm just so over school. I'm not gonna lie, 2 more years of this seems pretty daunting.

I Thought the Election was Over

Okay, so stupid me. I figured that since, you know, the votes are cast, the numbers counted, Barack Obama named the 44th president of the U.S. (I totally got 10 cents off of my Starbucks for knowing the number...yay for me being a crazy trivia nut) we would be done with all the mudslinging. I'm gonna say this now, and I have a terrible feeling that I'll be saying this over and over until I'm blue in the face. People cannot be labelled "stupid," "smart," "idiotic," "ignorant," "racist," "naive," etc. because they voted for one candidate or another. Yes, some people voted based on race, some people voted based on appearance, some people voted based on some pretty outlandish assertions. But, just because someone voted one way does not make them stupid! There still is an ideological difference regarding the role of government in people's lives and the role of government in advocating a certain morality. And, gasp, some people vote based on issues and philosophical beliefs and generally who they feel would be the best leader for our country over the next 4 years.

I'm not gonna lie, I voted McCain, but that doesn't mean that I think Obama's supporters are stupid or vapid or following celebrity. And I buy into some of what he says regarding the role of government in things like same-sex marriages and so on. Generally, I'm conservative based on the classical definition of conservatism, basically get the government the hell out of my business. Do what the Constitution says you can do; nothing more, nothing less. (Yes, I recognize this leaves a lot of power to the states, and I'm not very pleased with how my state might legislate these issues either....but I digress.)

So basically what I'm saying is that the yucky, attack-dog partisanship that has come up in the past year needs to end. Regardless of voting, we're all still Americans. And I think we need to start acting like it.

New President

Welp, it looks like it's Obama for at least the next 4 years. I thought I'd be more disappointed, but I've been kinda over the presidential stuff for a long time. I was a lot more concerned about complete single-party rule, and it looks like the Republicans in the Senate will be able to filibuster on at least some legislation. We'll see how it all plays out.

It looks like the PA House is going to keep the same corrupt leadership yet again. I was really watching the 5oth House district in PA due to corruption and such, and it seems that the people of the 50th district remain more concerned about the $$ and special projects a certain Dem. House Leader gives to them than with any of his ethics (or lack thereof).

But Todd won, so I'm a happy person.

Congratulations to the new president of the United States. May you make decisions according to the happy medium between being a good representative of your constituents and doing what you believe is best for them. Understand that cooperation and concession is the way to get things done. And may you recognize the importance of ethical decisions in your everyday administrative and policy tasks. Best of luck, president-elect Obama.

Oooo, I finished another book!

Okay, so I read two and a half books this weekend. I'm proud of me. I finished Middlesex, and it did finally get pretty good. Still not something that I'd pick up on my own, but it was a good read. I like Eugenides. I'm excited to read his Virgin Suicides, but since it's at the York library, it'll have to wait until Summer.

And I read Alice in Wonderland to get ahead for children's literature. Mostly so I could do some really in-depth editing and revising on my personal statement for grad school. (Yes, the first draft is totally done, and I'm super excited. I just need to mess around a little with length for the various schools I'm applying to.) But holy cow, don't ever, ever read that book by choice unless you are drunk, high, or tripping...or preferably, all three. Because it hurt my sober brain. Hell, it still kinda hurts if I think too hard about some of the chapters, and I'm not kidding.

Better: The Quiet American by Graham Greene was so much better than anything else I've read recently (well, except Ngugi, but it may be hard to get close to that one for a loooong time). It really made me think about what the role of the U.S. should be in international affairs. I, personally (and Greene may disagree with me on this), don't think that isolationism it a viable foreign policy for the U.S. right now. But I totally get Greene's message that Americans' idealism overseas oversimplifies some very complicated problems in other countries. The Quiet American is set in Vietnam right as the U.S. is getting involved and France's involvement was petering out. The main character basically personifies the stereotypical American: extraordinarily idealistic and totally unwilling to consider anything that could disrupt his simple picture of how the world works. It's a beautiful book...one of those that you totally can't really pick a "good guy" or a "bad guy," but you can totally recognize some of the crappy things that were happening all over Indochina under the guise of avoiding a trigger for the domino effect in the area. It was a required book for my Issues in World History class, and it's also on the 1,001 books list.

I'm really enjoying the 1,001 Books list. I totally recognize that it shouldn't be used as a complete list of any fiction I should read in my life, but I've come across a lot of good books that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten the chance to enjoy reading. It's also pushing my reading envelope, which is always good.

Am I Weird...

or even a little shallow? Sometimes when I'm having a crappy day, having a pretty tissue box on my desk just makes my day.

It also makes colds suck just a little (like a minuscule) less.

Where's Fall?

Oh. My. Hell. It's super-cold outside, and I'm talking like February cold with the cutting wind and the eerie screaming wind. Meaning I need to bundle up to walk from class to class. And guess what. When I decided on what winter stuff I needed down here with me, I decided that since it was only October (what was I thinking...this is Blacksburg we're talking about here), I would just bring down a coat and not any other cold-weather accouterments. Needless to say, I need to do some shopping at Target tomorrow. Like I don't totally already have all the cute, matchy stuff sitting in the Winter bin back in York. I know, I know. Totally my fault. But what would my blog be without a sufficient dose of complaining about the cold throughout the whole winter. And the old thing where "if it's going to be cold, it may as well snow," I take that back. Coldness sucks, regardless of snow status. Sucks hardcore I say.

Ew. Updated

So, that cold was indeed a cold, a nice, lingering, crappy cold with all the aches and coughing and up-all-night that comes with it. I finally think tonight might be my last with nighttime cold medicine (knock on wood), and I've gone most of the day without any doses of cold medicine. I don't feel great, probably not even feeling good...but I'll live. And I couldn't have said that Monday or Tuesday.

But one of the only good things about being sick when you have roommates is that it's a total excuse to close yourself into your room and read fun stuff all weekend. Now, remember, my idea of fun stuff right now involves 1,001 Books that You Must Read Before You Die books, which means most of them are pretty serious, even bordering on "dark" reads. I finished Brave New World -- yes, I totally realize that I should have read this one long ago, but, forgive me for I just haven't had the time -- and it is really some fantastic stuff. I thought it was going to be boring like some social commentary stuff, but it really is like reading Orwell. It was really fun comparing Huxley's false utopia with Orwell's in 1964...especially since my edition of Brave New World included a letter from Huxley to Orwell during what seems to be a lengthy correspondence between the two about just how screwed up the world was and what the root causes of the screw-ups were.

I also started and finished a required book for my Issues in World History class: Grain of Wheat by Ngugi. I don't quite know how to put into words just how fantastic this book is. Ngugi weaves his own criticisms of colonial and non-colonial African governing systems with a beautifully tragic story about how one small rural town deals with the Mau Mau uprising and the more politically driven Independence movements. I completely recognize that I'm a total nerd when it comes to these kind of books, but it really is worth the time to work through the sometimes difficult (Ngugi weaves Swahili and Kikuyu words into his writing...in my opinion, it helps the tone of the book, but some people in my class seem to find it distracting. To each his own.) writing to get to the bottom of some of the issues that still stick around in Kenya and other African nations today. Ngugi lived through it and has a first-hand knowledge of this era of Kenyan history, and he weaves his knowledge, experiences, and social commentary into a beautiful book.

I've also started Middlesex by Jeffrey Euginides. I'm definitely having a little bit more trouble getting into this one. It's written as a memoir of a transexual, who was raised a girl but was chemically and hormonally (just not anatomically) a male. To tell you the truth, this is far from my usual reading fare. I like me some traditional literature and historically related novels. But part of my goal in working through the 1,001 books is to stretch myself. I also picked up Crime and Punishment, Casino Royale, Lady Chatterley's Lover, and Trainspotting this weekend. I know, I'm terrible. But there was totally sales happening at the new Books-A-Million in Blacksburg, and I had a coupon, and they're pretty stocked on the cheap 7.99 editions of some of the books on the list. Once I'm back in York, I'll stick to the ones I can get from the library and/or ask for books/gift cards for Christmas so my goal won't be too much of a financial burden. But it really has become a sort of obsession.

Fall into Cold Season

Happy first cold, yucky-thing of the season to me! You know that lingering grossness that happens after the first cold front after the first "warm-up" of the fall? Yup, that's where I am right about now. I've been kinda iffy the past few days, and I was hoping, nay praying, that it was just allergies, but by about 8:30 tonight, I knew it wasn't anything that nice. Full blown cold, I do declare. I'm already prepared with lots of tea, Advil Cold & Sinus, and a surprisingly calm week coming up...perfect for slowly getting work done this weekend and then beginning an intensive recuperation day on Monday (aka. sitting on my ass, eating leftovers from any cooking that I may manage over the weekend, watching crappy tv, and trying not to let myself get sicker). As miserable as I am, it could be worse, I guess. If a cold is going to mess with my stomach hardcore, it usually starts when I'm at that "oh, it's just allergies" stage of the cold process. And I seem to be doing pretty well. The medicine for that is here, too, waiting just in case. Going to sleep early and probably deciding that shopping tomorrow isn't a good idea, for me or the people who probably don't want to contact my germs...but we'll see how I'm feeling. I may get a little stir-crazy.

Overwhelmed, As Usual

Yet again, it seems as if everything that could possibly be on my plate is this week. I haven't had a Tuesday or a Thursday without a test/paper/huge assignment due in something ridiculous...probably around three weeks. And I know how I can get when I get stressed. I either a. shut down or b. freak the hell out. Funny thing: I'm doing both this week. I'm pissed at a professor...like really, really pissed. She's super-unclear with her expectations and allows creativity, no thinking outside of her little box...and it's a lit class for God's sake. One of the best classes to let our creativity out. If this class effing messes with my GPA, I will flip shit...like hardcore. Nothing like being told that I have some of the clearest writing in the class but still seeing a whole fucking letter grade taken off of my paper because I connected the topic with something outside of the stories we were reading. Last time I checked, they let non-majors into a class to get other perspectives, not to force them into a singular way of thinking. Sure, I'll write down to her expectations in the next paper, but I'll be damned if I let her affect my writing in any negative way. And I volunteered to compile a paper for a group project and, holy hell, if I have to write a paragraph tomorrow morning before class I will be pissed.
My stomach has not been reacting well to any of this stress. I had let myself take a break off of the expensive over-the-counter stuff that the doctor has encouraged me to take for my stomach. It works, but for some reason, it makes me super-tired and just...weird. It's better than being sick for weeks in a row, but I have to seriously think about taking it again...mostly because it is uber-expensive and I only want to take it when I absolutely need it. I don't feel sick, just a little uncomfortable (like I feel gross, but not like anything I was feeling last year) after I eat anything, healthy or otherwise. I should probably call the doctor and schedule the test for over Thanksgiving or Christmas break, but I want to have a vacation and not have to spend a whole day in the hospital getting the test done and then at home recuperating from the anesthesia (which takes me forever...I mean, I was seriously out of it for like 24-48 hours after my wisdom teeth). Plus, I want to spend Christmas break with the baby...
Ugh, it's just so much at once...school, stomach stuff, pondering working over Christmas break (and really wondering if anyone can really afford to hire me even temporarily), grad school applications and constantly putting off asking profs to write recommendations, driving home as many weekends as possible (two weekends in a row made for two very very long weeks), and everything else that's going on. I don't handle stress very well.

Grad School

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So I have all my due dates in my planner (usually a huge stress reducer) and it just made it worse. I know that it's ultimately worth the effort and the work and the stress, but I'm not dealing with it well right now.

The PAT grad. school discussion stuff is happening a week from today, so we'll see how it goes with my stress level. I really just need to sit down and figure out who I want to write my recommendation letters and let them know...and figure out which schools need 2 and which need 3 and whose letters go to what school. And then I need to do the applications and statements of purpose and update my resume and fill out funding applications. Gross.

Busy, Busy, Busy

So, it's been a while...but that's mostly because life just hasn't stopped since school started. It's a lovely whirlwind of schoolwork, family obligations, and various responsibilities for extra-curriculars. But it's good stuff. The kind of stuff I thrive on. I missed it this summer.

The only problem is not reading as much fun stuff...and being treated like I'm in high school in my Children's Lit class. But other than that, life's a peach (especially since I haven't even started thinking about grad school apps).

Game One - Giants v. Skins

So, I'm beginning to realize just how much people doubt the New York Giants. The spread for the game tonight was something like 3 1/2 points, which is ridiculous considering the game was the defending national champs against a team that got all but obliterated in every pre-season game this year. Seriously, only 3 1/2 points? In a way, I guess I'm pleased. The G-Men do a fantastic job as the "underdogs." We were discounted from play one last season, and each playoff game of 07 was just another one that we were going to lost. 11 straight on the road is certainly not something to laugh at.

All in all, I thought they did a fairly good job. It would have been nice to see another touchdown or two; the iffy red zone offense has me a little concerned for when we face teams like the Cowboys. Our defense looked fantastic, especially considering our key personnel losses in the off-season and during the preseason games (the former: Wilson, Strahan; the latter: Osi). I have some concerns about the secondary, but I think that should open up a little as everyone gets used to the job shifting that happened since we played the Jets (crossing my fingers here). More pressing to me right now is to see exactly what happened to Kiwi in the last play of the game...it looked like he twisted his ankle underneath a very large Redskin player (don't even get me started on that...) and I'm hoping it wasn't anything too, too serious (but then again the tape from Osi's injury didn't look all that bad either). The biggest concern is the special teams. R.W., at least to me, isn't the best choice on the team to be returning punts and kickoffs. Wasn't it Hixon who ran one back for a td in the preseason? Maybe I'm a little partial, but I really think he should have seen some more return work. Just like Kenny Philips should have been on the field more too (especially during those last few plays where it was almost certain we were going to win).

I'm definitely excited to see what the G-Men pull out of their hats as the season goes on (hopefully, I'll see quite a few games down here -- ESPN Gamecast just doesn't cut it). I'm hoping for a successful, injury-less (or as close as possible) regular season and a long jaunt through the playoffs. Oh, and beating the Cowboys a few times might be lovely too.

Call Me Crazy

I fully recognize that I'm too nice to most people, even those I don't know. I tend to be polite to a fault and, more and more recently, I've been more than willing to give people the benefit of the doubt with a lot of things. But is it really too much to ask to expect common courtesy in return. Just the basic rules of etiquette people...I mean really isn't this supposed to be a school full of southern hospitality and charm. Y'all are getting beat by a crazy northern Yankee.

Dealing

One of my best friends ever will be leaving in about 2 months for a year in Korea with the army, and even though I've known this was happening since May, I'm still very much not okay with it. Greg is honestly like the big brother that I never had. He can call me out when I'm being stupid and can be one of the greatest supporters in the world. With his training and stuff, we haven't seen a whole lot of each other since Fall semester of '07, but I've always known that he was a phone call away...or at the very least, I'd be seeing him within a few months. But this is totally different.

I don't know...I feel selfish. I'm tired of people telling me that it could be worse (which it can be in the future...something I can't even get my mind around right now), but really, I know they're right. But I still know that I'm going to suck at this. I'm trying to get myself ready for this...I know it's coming, and there's no guarantees that he'll be back stateside for very long at all before he gets orders to go someplace else. I know that he is happier where he is than where he'd be if he hadn't gone active duty. But, damn, couldn't he have been stationed someplace closer...someplace where I can afford to visit him. I know I'm whining...he's the one that needs to go and leave his family, and his gf and family will probably be more affected by this... But I also know for sure that I am not ready...and may never be.

McCain/Palin 2008

From the beginning of the election this year, I've been a nominal supporter of McCain. Like many, I've mostly planned to vote against Obama, mostly due to policy differences and his impossible promises (like, you know, balancing the budget but yet having everyone under the Congressional-style health care plan). But holy hell, did McCain's VP pick change all of that. I know that he could completely cast her aside Kennedy-style if he gets to the White House, but I really, really like her from what I've seen so far. As a fiscal conservative, some of the stuff that she did to cut spending in Alaska really intrigues me. I also find it pretty comical that the Obama camp is already questioning her experience (one-term executive office vs. one-term sometimes-there legislator...hm?).

I recognize that I tend to be an emotional voter. I vote because I like somebody as a person. I like McCain as a person, but I do have some concerns about whether he can be a successful administrator...having someone there that has administrative experience really tempers my concerns. And as a conservative woman, it makes me proud to see such a strong, family-oriented, anti-corruption woman as McCain's running mate. It seems I won't be voting for Ron Paul after all.

Georgia?

So I consider myself at least somewhat well-informed when it comes to international news and stuff...even more so after spending most of my summer on Google News in one way or another. But I still do not get what happened in Georgia...mostly because I am damn sure that the media is over-simplifying everything like they always do. My gut reaction (just from what I know about Russia's leadership) is that Russia overstepped its bounds in getting involved, or were just following through on a plan to get heavily involved at the slightest provocation. That opinion was kinda solidified when Russia claimed to have "pulled out" of Georgia, yet they still maintain presence in some of the big areas of the country. I just don't really know what this means...is Russia trying to reclaim parts of its sphere of influence (I personally wouldn't put it past Putin to do something like that), does it want more power in certain regions, or is it trying to quiet some of the problem areas in Russia itself (Chechnya, for example)? In my mind (which is probably over-simplifying too), I think the U.S. would have been pretty pissed to see Britain coming in during our Civil War and offering the South the ability to rejoin their "Mother Country." So following that logic, I think Georgia, at the very least, has a right to be pissed off as hell at Russia. Just my two cents into a conflict that, seriously, I don't understand all that well.

New Puppy on the Block

Well, at least some of the time. Beard got a new puppy since Samantha would let him take the chubster (aka Destiny) with him to his new apartment. So they picked up this little baby...She is absolutely the cutest, sweetest little thing I've ever seen. She's a pit bull, but her tail's not docked (which I adore...its so skinny and cute), and she's as lazy as can be. I really think Miss Destiny is going to be a poor influence in the diet/exercise departments, but my goodness is she a little sweetie. The name they were thinking of (as of the last I've talked to Ryan, she was just "Dog" until they solidify her name) most recently is Kaya from the Bob Marley song. I dig it. It's pretty and if it does refer to pot in the song, it works for her; she's so chill, she may as well be high.

Is It Football Season Yet?

So, an odd little thing happened last year: the Giants won the mother effing Super Bowl, and because of it, the 2008 NFL season cannot come fast enough. Giants games are in my planner already so now I just need to count down the days. Crazy Big Blue fan coming through!

Crazy Harrisburg Happenings & Books Galore!

So, funny thing happened to me on Wednesday; funny, you know, in a scary-as-shit kind of a way. So I was walking into work, minding my own business with my hands full of yummy pepperjack tomato soup intended for Archives room B-21's tomato soup party (excuse us for doing anything possible to lighten the somber tones of the effing basement of the Irvis Office Building), and I came across this woman. We did the whole move back and forth thing to get out of each other's way...but I soon realized that she was moving to stay in my way. When I said excuse me (as nicely as possible, btw), she leaned over and tried to like head-butt me. Needless to say, I ran like a little girl, all the while trying not to make it too obvious that I was scared shitless. Yeah, so now I'm all nervous and stuff walking through the city alone. Hopefully it'll wear off by Monday...but it was just so weird. I mean seriously, gotta love the "city" of Harrisburg. "All-America City" my ass.

On a totally different note, as the summer's winding down (3 more weeks until school starts...INSANITY!!!), I've been looking back over my reading this summer. I started out trying to be a good little history student and read some history books, mostly focusing on York history, especially the race riots in 1968 and 1969, which have become peculiarly interesting to me lately. But I gave up as lovely literature started calling my name. I "do" history all day, research, reading, etc. Atonement was awesome. I read it before I saw the movie...adored the book, not so much for the movie. I completely changed gears away from "literature" and read The Other Boleyn Girl, again before watching the movie. I was pleasantly pleased with both...I read the book in like 3 days, soaking it up, and the movie was fantastic too, especially since it gave no pretense of trying to be exactly like the book. Natalie Portman is fantastic in it too. I got into a huge library kick, too; I got about 3 books on a Saturday and read them all by the time they were due 2 weeks later. The Devil and Miss Prym had to have been my favorite from those...just so simple. I really haven't found a Latin American novelist that I haven't adored (esp. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende). But trying to get through Kerouac's On the Road completely ruined library books for me...I just absolutely hated it. Fiction for me is all about pretty language and a fantastic story and On the Road had neither. But I just finished Snow Falling On Cedars, which is a fantastic story about a trial in a small town off the Washington coast...it's absolutely breath-taking (yes, many books really do take my breath away, they're so good). And now I need to finish my current book House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton by Monday when Jessica is bringing the first of the insanely popular "Twilight Series" so we'll see how that goes. I've been trying to resist these (almost as much as my nearly failing resistance to reading the entire Harry Potter series...which will probably happen sometime this semester when I least have the time to do it), but I gotta see what they're all about. Plus, I need a break from "real" literature again so we'll see how it goes. I'm just really proud of myself for the amount and the quality of the books I've been reading this summer. And my bookshelf is starting to look more "read" which, to me, is a much better look anyways.

My New Vocabulary

If you hear me say things like calling someone a "good egg" or describe something as being "lovely," please excuse me. It's not my fault, it's all Holly's.

And if I hear something scandalous and I giggle like a little girl, don't blame me; it's Holly's fault.

I officially adore my supervisor in this internship...so much so that I've picked up her mannerisms...all three of us interns have. It's creepy, but in a good way.


So, this internship has definitely made me kinda question my career paths. I've been seriously considering going into archives just because I love playing with really old stuff, but the PA House archives is not as in-depth, and it's a lot more of just simply keeping political stuff safe in case a lawyer needs to figure out legislative intent and so forth. Not very exciting, in my opinion. We've been working on processing some political papers from one of the recently-retired reps for the past few weeks...and even that's not very exciting. It's mostly weeding through crap-tons of form letters that he sent out in response to constituent letters to him. So, mostly it's organizing and preserving a bunch of crap for posterity. I've pretty much gotten pretty disillusioned with the whole archives experience -- kinda agreeing with all the people that respond "that sounds boring" to me when I explain what I've been doing this summer. The oral history research was boring; processing Calendar & Amendment room records was boring; and reps personal papers isn't much better.

All of this disillusionment has kinda changed after today; we went on a "field trip" to the Archives and Special Collections room at Dickinson College...and holy hell have they done so much cool stuff with what they have. First of all, they have some super-cool rare books in their rare books collection -- beautiful bindings, completely awesome stuff. Second, they have Dickinson's personal library that was donated soon after Dickinson was founded in the 1780's. And when I say this collection is awesome, I mean it's one of the coolest things I've seen in a LONG time. It includes books from the 1500's that had been in Dickinson's family for a few generations. The coolest part: they actually let students, faculty, and visiting researchers actually touch those books in the collection that haven't been digitized yet. The archives also has some other cool stuff: fraternity yearbooks from the 70's (think Animal House on speed), House of Commons Debates from during the time of the American Revolution, James Buchanan's papers (he's a Dickinson alum). And they're doing such awesome things with it...a lot of stuff is searchable online...and what's not, at least has a finding aid online. It's an archive that's actually used by researchers. Unless I work in one that is actually used, I think I'll go nuts.

Nader and Shockey

Silly post, but there are two major happenings this week that I haven't talked about.

1.

Ralph Nader was in the Rotunda today in a speech about how Bonus-gate affected his campaign in 2004 (Democratic staffers on taxpayers' time worked to keep him off the ballot) and how he's gonna sue Veon and DeWeese and all those fun people for all his court costs. But yeah, first time I was ever this close to a presidential candidate so I'm pretty excited. We also got to play in the Speaker's library today -- he has one hell of an office.

2.

Jeremy Shockey finally got traded to the New Orleans Saints (2nd and a 5th rnd. draft pick). Super disappointed that the three-way deal where we would have gotten Jason Taylor feel through, but I'm happy for the salary cap room and ecstatic that he won't be dragging down the team after his off-season hysterics.

Ocean City, MD 2008

It was and it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Major blow-up occurred on Saturday & avoiding happened the rest of the weekend. But the little one was adorable, and it was awesome hanging out with my cousins and uncles and aunts.


All the cousins, girlfriends, friends, potential step-siblings -- pretty much all those at the beach that were 21 and under. Yes, we did all eat dinner together. And yes, there was a total of 22 of us including adults. Indeed, it was good fun.

Back: Matt, Shawn, and Stephen holding Brian, Kory, Ryan, Brian
Front: Angela, my cousin Alyssa, Me, Brooke, Nicole, Jess, Alysia







Some super-fly cats. My cousin Matt, his gf Angela, me, cousin Steve, and my brother Ryan.









Here's the little man, cheesin' like always. This is the kid who just three short years ago would scream bloody murder the second his toes hit the sand. Now you can't keep him out of it and the water...the little daredevil.

Yeah, and I carried him the whole way up to the car so he didn't burn his feet...and the whole time he told me he missed Stephen and that Shawn was the best cousin...but yet I <3 this kid to death.





Pissed cause he didn't want me to take his picture (and he has sand all in his ass). The little genius made himself a slide in the sand by scootching his ass down with his feet. It got even better when he made people pull him down by his feet. Poor kid was so sandy in so many places he just stood outside the bathroom crying for me to hurry up and get out of the shower.




Some good things definitely came out of the weekend. I saw Stephen for the first time in like a year and got to make fun of him for everything possible...that's just how we do. I hung out with Angela a lot, and she's super-awesome. I had a LOT of people tell me that it's okay to feel what I'm feeling about my mom/parents divorcing/school stress/etc. and that made me feel better. And I've developed a borderline obsession with Baringer's sparkling White Zinfandel. This coming from a hearty red wine girl. But it's so girly and yummy and delicious (even though driving home with the remnants of a 3-glasses-of-wine headache is no fun at all).

Family shit again

This whole beach thing is getting to be more of a headache than it's really worth. All my mom's begging that I should go down for a weekend and stay through Monday seems to have been completely self-serving. I gave in, kinda as a favor to her...thinking a little that quite possibly this may be the last vacation I will take with just my mom. Really, she just didn't want to have to get Ryan back up to York for summer school stuff. Plus, her boyfriends going, as are two of his daughters and their friends. It may be petty, but I'm really beginning to think that she'd rather them be there than me. I have yet to spend time with just my mom this summer...she's always with her boyfriend or at least one of his daughters is over. I'm really not dealing with this well, especially since it was just kinda thrown at me tonight...and she wasn't even going to tell me. Ryan told me, not her...and I'm not happy about it. I can't stand that I'm expected to make sure they're entertained, and as selfish as this may seem, I don't want to have to share my family with them. I see my cousins once, maybe twice a year, since we've mostly all headed off to college and stuff...and I really just want to spend some time with the baby of the family (I guess a 4-year-old isn't much of baby though...he's growing up too, too fast) by myself. And I know I'm going to end up being the only one without a friend/significant other along.

Just another vacation that is going to require another vacation when I get back. I'm frustrated, and I know I can't talk to my mom about it. Sometimes I just want to print out all the shit I've written about this whole situation and just give it to her because she doesn't make time to listen. I'm tired of being told to "check in" on Ryan, etc. etc. when she's not going to make herself available to hear what I think. I'm tired of being the adult, I'm tired of worrying about my brother and how's he's dealing with all of this...I'm just sick and tired of it all.

Harrisburg Senators Game

Here's a few pictures from our outing on Thursday evening. Saw an exciting (not) Senators game...in addition to watching two 5-year-old boys (brothers?) open-mouth kissing on the bleachers. Gotta love Harrisburg. And Jami was asked (twice!) to try and win a date with one of the Senators entertainment employees. It just made me more excited for the Revs game where I'm actually going to have money for (way-too-expensive) beer, and there's fireworks...and I'm a sucker for fireworks.





Me, Kate, and Jami at the Senators game


















Sunset over the top of the "stadium" on City Island. Beautiful, thanks to the super-cool settings on my new Nikon CoolPix S210. New camera = awesome promotion pictures from PAT's D.C. trip this year!


And the archives is getting a new boy employee on Monday...crazy! Poor guy's gonna be alone in an office with a bunch of women. He'll get tired of hearing "Here, lift this to that shelf" really fast.

Shit Hit the Fan Today in Harrisburg

I'll talk more about this later...but meanwhile, check this out. Indictments were handed down today around noon...and one's a current legislator! It'll be interesting (and disheartening, and sickening, especially as a PA taxpayer) to see what else comes out as this (hopefully) far-reaching investigation continues. Needless to say, there's a LOT of tension in Harrisburg right now. A total of $1,285,250 spent on these bonuses. It just makes me sick to my stomach to think that people could do this...especially since they were elected to be representatives for the people. I know I may have been really naive about politics until this point, but I really feel like I've been slapped in the face.

Political musings

So, I have become totally and completely politically cynical during this internship. As interns in the PA House Archives, we got to sneak up on the House Floor and watch session a few times, including right around budget time. For those of you not experienced in PA politics, the state budget hasn't been completed on time in forever as a result of many things...sometimes because someone is unwilling to negotiate on some element of the budget (which sometimes threatens school operation, leading several school districts to think about shutting down schools until the budget was actually completed) but this time, it was because leadership in the House had waaaay too much control over what went on in the budget. The rank-and-files didn't even see the budget until after the due date this year...even though the Governor and the leadership had reached an "agreement" on the budget long before that. And they say the US Congress is even worse! It just makes me wonder how "important" these elected figures are. Even if they want to "reform" the process, they have something like 200 other members who want things to stay the same, especially when it comes to retaining their perks -- tax-free per diems, car lease reimbursement, 3 session days each week, summers pretty much off. It's cushy, there's no question about it, and they make a hell of a lot of money.

Even worse, I've been keeping up with the election news for the president...and I have to admit, it's getting more and more ridiculous. No one's talking "how's"...both Obama and McCain have a lot of things they'd like to do, but it seems like each plan they come out with either gets changed within a week due to media criticism or at the very least, a majority of "experts" say that said plans are just not feasible--especially in what I see to be the most important issue in this election: the economy. McCain wants to balance the budget...but he doesn't quite have the means to do so (and has a ton of people who feel 'entitled' to programs that might need to be cut). Obama, in my opinion, has no freaking clue. I don't know...hopefully, come November, something remotely relating to real policy will come out, be it in debates or speeches, whatever. I just don't feel comfortable voting for someone that is extremely talented in attacking the other candidate but unwilling (or unable) to articulate their plans to solve problems in this country.

Various Pictures from the Weekend that Went to Hell Fast.

This past weekend was the lighthouse weekend. It should have been fun, but what it turned out to be was 4 very crabby people in a car at once. At least I got some good pics!




Middle Ground Lighthouse in all its Independence Day glory. It really is like the sweetest party house on the face of the Earth.












Redneck Yacht Club?













My personal favorite of my fireworks pictures and I don't even think these were the ones we were actually setting off from the pontoon boat. I kinda dig the railing in the foreground and the lights from (maybe) Norfolk. Taken about 20 min. before they all lost power (suckers!)

The Bane of My Existence:

This (Thanks Google Maps!!) is the absolute worst thing in the entire state of Pennsylvania: the I-83 N/581 W? split. Notice in the northbound lanes that only one lane bears to the right (or as I say, gets off of 83 to stay on 83). I can just imagine some stupid PennDOT person thinking "hm, what's the best way to piss off a lot of people that need to commute from York to Harrisburg on a daily basis." And if there's an accident, holy hell, forget about it. On Tuesday, I sat in traffic for 45 freaking minutes to go 6 miles because some stupid truck decided to break down in the lane right where it meets up with the Harrisburg expressway. I curse PennDOT's name on a daily basis.

My State Capitol is Prettier than Your State Capitol Pt. 1

Here's all sorts of fun pictures from around the main capitol building. Pictures from the House floor are in the works (I just need to wait until they're out of session).









The dome inside the Capitol Rotunda...absolutely freaking beautiful. And sometime before the end of the summer, the other interns and I are going to get to climb to the top and look out over Harrisburg!














The Rotunda Steps...all sorts of fun photo op shit happens here. Monday, there was some labor organization...and sometimes high school bands.











The view of the Susquehanna from the bridge I cross over every day walking into the city from the parking lot. Absolutely gorgeous on nice days like today.



You know you're jealous. I talk as if my office isn't actually in the Capitol complex's bomb shelter...exposed pipes and all. Eh, at least if there's a nuclear bomb or something, I'll be safe!

Life is a Roller Coaster Ride

Just when I was thinking that this summer might be relaxing and involve lots of relaxing, being by the pool, and hanging out with family, I sat down to plan out the rest of the summer. Holy hell, I'm gonna be a busy girl. Weekends were pretty empty in the beginning of the summer...I guess to get a rest from a pretty rough semester and letting myself get settled into work (plus, there was that whole passing out at work thing -- not fun -- that kinda prompted me to make sure I get some "me" time and lots and lots of sleep on a regular basis). But the weekends are pretty damn booked for the rest of the summer...here's a rundown:
June 28, 29 -- Sat: Hershey Park with my mom's boyfriend's company, first car payment due (ahh!!!); Sun: Samantha's grad party (and I really need to remember to stop and pick up her gift this week...or else)
July 4, 5, 6 -- Friday: Lighthousing with Carrie's fam (and making Greg the allergic-to-shellfish crazy kid leave so we can have fresh yummy crabs straight from the boat) and ideally creating another good traffic-causing accident on the bridge with fireworks like we did the last time -- all of this after driving through DC the night before the 4th of July...are we nuts or something??; Sat: Staunton with the Greggers' family and getting to see Marley who's not so much of a puppy anymore; Sun: Driving all day and probably hanging out with Greggers in Aberdeen on the Army base before he needs to officially report for duty or whatever.
July 12, 13 -- GRE...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (and that doesn't even begin to describe it)
July 19, 20 -- OC, MD with the fam...and telling all sorts of fun stories to my cousin Stephen's new gf (shake-up anyone?) and hopefully enjoying the first weekend at the beach when I can drink legally and hopefully Stephen and I can take advantage of this. Plus, my youngest cousin will be there who is absolutely the sweetest little hell-raising four-year-old there is.
July 26, 27 -- empty, for now
August 2, 3 -- packing stuff up to head down to school
August 9, 10 -- Blacksburg to move my crap into my apartment
August 16, 17 -- empty, for now, but I'll need to start packing up clothes and stuff to head back down to school.
August 21 -- down to Blacksburg for SJC training and all that jolly-good stuff...and then school starts.

Somewhere in there I want to sneak up to East Stroudsburg to see my grandma for a weekend and I should start doing some serious research into grad school and print out applications and shit. You're talking to the girl that had all her undergrad applications in to the guidance office and sent by the end of November. Plus I just want to hang out by the pool. Yet, I've been home exactly 4 hours of this weekend and I'm already bored. So maybe busy is good.

Work, Work, Work All Day Long

Work is definitely started to drudge along a little. This past weekend marked about the 1/3 of the way through point (holy hell, where's my summer going??!!), but the guy that I'm researching for the oral history project is, well, kinda boring. One of those people that should have left the House before they did, but stayed because they kinda dug knowing everything and holding people to the "rules" even when they were a detriment to progress. I only have a few more years of Legislative Journals to work through and then I'm done...and then we're soon going to be moving on to processing collections and all that fun stuff, which was the whole point in actually getting this job. I'm excited to go through people's papers, in a slightly nosey and voyeuristic manner, and see what actually happens in the House, behind the scenes. I've seen the House floor, but that's all for show...for getting up at the podium and getting your 15 minutes with the hope of being re-elected. I'm hoping to sneak out to a committee meeting before session is over...but once the budget talks start (don't even get me started...that's a topic for another day--aka the budget talks should have started weeks ago!!), that kind of stuff will be at an end. I just need a change, I guess. I've been doing pretty much the same thing for like 3 1/2 weeks and I need something different. I have the attention span of a small ant, you know.

Books, Book, and More Books (and a Little Bit of Work Mixed in)

It seems like all I've been doing since I've been home is reading. I've finished nearly 3 books since I've gotten home from Tech and that's in addition to the 3-4 books I read in the week/week and a half in between my last final and coming home. It's getting ridiculous. So Saturday morning I'm heading into Martin Memorial Library in town and borrowing about 3 books to get me through the 3-week circulation period they have. I have some planned, but I won't share yet because the fact that I already have my library trip all planned out is just a little too nerdy for me.

Atonement was absolutely amazing. The movie's been added to my list at Netflix, but I've been warned that if you read the book first, the movie is sorely disappointing. Eh, we'll see. But the book is beautifully written...just a wonderful mixture of beautiful language, intelligent and related literary elements, and just a wonderful story. I'm not a spoiler so I won't say how it ended, but when I finished it (after staying up until 3:30 am because I could NOT bear going to sleep without reading the end) I laid there for a while letting it all sink in. I think this is one of those that stays with you for a while, being re-read every so often.

I'm currently working on (and almost finished with) The Other Boleyn Girl, a totally different kind of book. Historical fiction (with lots of sex) relating to the Boleyn sisters. Word on the street is that the movie has even more sex than the book, which I can't even imagine. But it really is a good story and a wonderful book for summertime. It seems long when you first look at it but it really is a fast read...about a week for me. I'm excited to see how it ends.

All of this reading is mixed in with work stuff. We've been doing research for oral histories and I think the man that I'm researching is one of the most dreadfully dull people...he's one of those that you just roll your eyes at. He's a crazy stickler for the rules and almost every time he speaks on the House floor it has something to do with a Parliamentary Inquiry or something about "how things should be." He never really introduces any fun legislation or anything (although he did suggest that right turns on red should be legal...fun stuff, eh?).

We went to the House floor on Tuesday to sit in on session with Wally, the head page. He made it fun; he knew everything about everybody...and he's working on me, trying to get me to vote for Obama. I don't see it happening, but it's sure as hell funny watching him try. But really...being a State Legislator is about the cushiest job there is...make a whole bunch of money, have other people push your button for the roll call votes, and stand around in little circles and gossip all day. It would be insanely amusing if my tax money wasn't going to their insanely high salaries.

Amazing, Amazing Book

I'm sure I'll write a longer review once I finish it...but right now, I'm just busy drinking in the beautiful language, intricate storytelling, and in-depth characterization in Ian McEwan's Atonement. It really is just a beautiful book.

Summer, Unofficially

Fresh York County strawberries, a wonderful thunderstorm with the sky turning a lovely shade of green, the crisp breeze after the storm, a sunny (yet muggy) walk across the Walnut Street bridge in Harrisburg, Memorial Day grilling, a fantastic book (Atonement)...yes, indeed, it's summer. Enjoy.

New Life Goal

As if I don't have enough already. So, as usual, I was bored & playing around on Amazon and I came across this wonderful loveliness. So I read through them and it generally seems like a much better list than the one that the College Board put out a long time ago (I think it was like 100 Best Books of All Time, but it was all academic literary baloney). I want the overall book so I can see what some of them are about before reading them, but they seem like a good mix of great literature with a few books to ready for fun and/or the message they include. So, this is my new goal: I want to finish them all before I die...just like the book suggests. I totally understand this is a totally unreachable goal unless I commit myself to reading only the books on here, and I'm not one to be able to read a whole lot of novels in a row...I need to intersperse it with some good history non-fiction. If you're interested, here's the list of books from listology. In the message boards on that site, I came across a link to the most wonderful thing ever: an Excel worksheet where you just type in a little "r" next to the ones you read and it keeps track of percentages and how many you need to read each year assuming average life expectancy...super cool stuff. Here's the link to that page (and the document is reliable & virus-free). 3.2% done, mostly thanks to a fantastic senior year high school English Seminar class and some interesting history classes where I got to read novels and apply it to the history...good stuff there. I've read very few by myself...I have such a hard time picking out good fiction for me to read.

I just picked up The Other Boleyn Girl because I have this personal preference to always read the associated book (as much as possible) before seeing the movie, and I really want to see this movie. So that's next on my reading list in addition to a few books from the Russells' bookshelf that are either on the official list or just look amazing. And I really want to buy and read this book before I begin going through the official list, because it looks funny & if Amazon thinks it's one of the top books of May, I'm not going to argue. And then I'll slowly intersperse reading from my new lifelong goal with some of the books I already had planned for the summer and stuff. What I really need is to renew my MM library card because we'll go broke really fast trying to buy books to keep up with my seemingly voracious reading habits this summer. I really have just been a reading machine so far. I've really gotta finish this 250 year history of York race relations so I can move on to the fun stuff. After a full day of work, I need a break from history (ha, I never thought I'd ever say that) and once we move into the new apartment, we'll have a pool. Good book + summertime + poolside = AMAZING!

Home Sweet Home

So, I'm finally back in York after a looooooooong semester at Tech. But I'm a senior & by this time next spring I'll be a graduate (scary eh?). But I think this post is going to be geared towards everything, good and bad, that I've missed about York.

1. Mack's Ice Cream -- not the best ice cream in the world, but it just brings back memories...it's a lot more fun getting ice cream there when you're not the one scooping it :) I go in there with my (way too many) years of experience and giggle as they train new people. It's good fun...and the ice cream is sweet. We had some today & I got my fav. flavor combo since I was a little kid, mint chocolate chip and raspberry -- and of course, Jasper licked the bottom of my bowl as usual.
2. Jasper -- my puppy dog. He's getting pretty blind, and it took more than a couple calls of his name to get him to come say hi. He's getting old, and it's sad. Yet, he's still that little chipper bichon who just gives the best welcome home ever.
3. The smell of Stauffer's cookies baking -- Stauffers isn't too far from my house & when the wind blows right you can smell cookies baking...it's yummy. And as I was driving up my street with the windows open, the wind was blowing just right...it was wonderful (even if mixed with a little bit of the paper mill in Spring Grove mixed in there)
4. Cities!! -- Blacksburg is in the middle of freaking nowhere and Roanoke can hardly be called a city, at least where night life is concerned. I love having downtown York (the nice parts) just a couple minutes away and Baltimore, Phili, and D.C. each within a reasonable distance for a day-long trip. I'm thinking I need to hit up the inner harbor and soon.
5. Baseball games -- yeah, I know that there are a few local teams down in Bburg (and I can always go watch the Hokies lose), but there's nothing like a York Revolution game. Actually, I have no idea, but I am totally going to a game this year. Gotta cheer on my ridiculously named local team :)
6. No classes -- Nuf said.
7. Family (last but the most important) -- I miss my brother like crazy when I'm down at Tech...he has this insane sense of humor that can get me laughing for days. Even when he was blasting his highly-inappropriate music after school today, I didn't have a problem with it. And of course, mom is mom...and I love her for it. And in addition to my immediate family, my neighbors around here are like this awesome extended family. I've lived in this house my entire life and my neighbors and I pretty much grew up together. So it's awesome being able to see them again...and I got to see Miss Mackenzie too. She's so freaking adorable.

This Summer's Creative Outlets

I have a tendency to be a "go, go, go" kind of person. I plan out entire weekends filled with errands and stuff like that, and it usually makes me overly stressed. I've been doing my best to incorporate something creative into my summer. The weekends are just slowly being taken away by family, work, etc. obligations, and with commuting, I'm becoming more concerned that any time for a break is disappearing.

My ultimate goal in life is to have my own stained glass studio. I learned how to do it in high school, and it's generally not all that expensive to get started. There are starter kits online for like $130 which really isn't too bad. And the glass really isn't that expensive either. I got really good at using the glass efficiently and could get a few projects out of one sheet of glass. The big problem is that the actual workshop itself, with needed ventilation for soldering and stuff, is expensive and takes up a lot of room. Unfortunately, I pick stuff that you can't just do in your living room. And it doesn't look like Don't Throw Stones in York is offering any classes or time in their workshop over the summer. So I'm majorly pissed about that. So it looks like in this case, I'll be stuck designing projects for the future, which is fun...but it's just not as good as getting your hands on some pretty glass and making something out of it.

Right now, I'm looking for a place in Harrisburg that offers intermediate ballet or jazz classes for adults. I really miss taking class on a regular basis and my studio in York only offers summer classes at 5 and I'd never make it home in time to get there in time. I took classes for 13 years in York. Tuesday nights were my favorite time in the week...especially when guard wasn't in season. The only problem with finding classes in Harrisburg is that it's a relatively big city and most studios cater to the serious dancer, which I most certainly am not. I like it because it's a fun way to stay in shape and I feel pretty when I'm dancing. Sometimes, I watch old recital videos and I just miss it...almost as much as I miss color guard. I keep hinting about having someone buy me the NYCB workout tapes and once I get them, at least I'll be able to work on some flexibility and technique stuff.

But most of all I miss color guard. I never ever thought I'd say this, but I actually miss the practices too. I mean, I knew the second I stepped out onto the field for Championships senior year that I would miss performing so bad it hurt...but I never thought I'd miss practices. But I do...I miss learning new work, teaching work, and playing with the routines. I miss learning sets. I miss band camp. I miss being a section leader...and the section leader meetings. I miss everything about it. I figure eventually I'll help out at YS or whatever high school is most nearby, hopefully writing some work and eventually moving up to have my own guard. But most of all this thing is killing me. I want to play with it, I want to see if it's everything it's supposed to be...because it looks freaking sweet. Tape that baby up with some sweet color electrical tape and it would be sweet on the field. Next step: talking my high school into getting them (it only took them like 5 years to accept sabres back into the lineup). So for this summer, my plan is to buy some sweet China silk and make myself a pretty flag to spin at my leisure...we'll work on the rest later.

Packing, Moving, the Like

I absolutely hate packing and moving and all that stuff. I get distracted so easily (just like when I'm doing other things I hate). The silly psychologist in me thinks that it has something to do with my so-called fear of change. But it's not that I'm afraid of changing; generally, I accept that things change...c'est la vie. I do admit, though, that I'm gonna miss this apartment. It was the first one that my name was on the lease and I had some responsibility for (however well I took on that responsibility...but that's a different story). I'm just really not cool with the fact that I'm packing all this stuff up, unpacking it on Thursday, packing it up again in two weeks, and moving into a new apartment. And this will all be repeated in 3 months or so when I head back to the Burg for classes in the fall. No wonder I have no desire to pack. Even after I graduate from Tech, we'll be moving around in the PA/MD area depending upon what grad school I end up going to...and then after that depending upon if/where I get a job (although retail at B.Moss is sounding more and more appealing...discount anyone?). I'm not used to not having life all planned out; I need to get used to it though. But all this packing and mind racing and lack of mental exercise is making it really hard to get to sleep.

Plus, I think there's a little part of me that's starting to get nervous about work this summer. It's my first internship, and I'm scared that I'm so excited for it. I really really was looking forward to my job last summer, thinking it would be cool to be working with kids on a regular basis and to get some recreation experience on my resume...but the job turned out to be a pain in my ass. Twenty-five 3-5 year olds in one place (inside most of the time) is never a good idea. And to add glue and sand art and TYE-DYE to the mix...horror. Plus, bop me on the head (shoulda had a V-8 style) if I ever consider supervising high school students ever again. They have a tendency to be miserable. But really, I'm looking forward to spending a summer playing in the archives and working with researchers and stuff. It all sounds super-cool. Plus, I may be doing some oral history stuff too, which I personally really dig. BUT I'm not looking forward to the lovely York-to-Harrisburg commute... Hopefully, it doesn't completely ruin the experience for me. Although I'd better get used to commuting if I wanna work in Phili or Bmore. Eh, we shall see.

The Gap, The Catch, My Loves

So, big news on the Giants front other than a thoroughly wonderful showing in the NFL draft. This, of course, is the yearly discussion of "will he, won't he," meaning the lovely ESPN harping on whether or not Michael Strahan (lovingly referred to as "the Gap" in my family) will be back again this season. I, for one, thought he was looking amazing at the end of the season, and the Giants would love to keep his leadership in the locker room. Personally, I think he's holding out so he doesn't need to go through the beating that is Coach Coughlin's training camp. Plus, he's been with the team for a ridiculously long time (did I hear 16 years somewhere???) and he's kinda deserved a nice long break. I hope he's back...and I hope he's working out on his own time so he's in shape come Sept. 4.

"The Catch" - Tyree/Eli play that made the Super Bowl (yes, I was jumping up and down throughout the last drive and literally screamed when I saw that he made that catch...and Belichek called his wife to tell her to put the babies on the stove for when he gets home), but the WR position seems so up in the air for next season, I'm wondering if Tyree's gonna get a spot. I'm afraid that if he does, then Hixon's out (but I really don't want to give up his kick returner amazingness) for the 08 season. Of course, Plax is in...as is Toomer, whose time will be spent mentoring the troubled, but amazing Mario Manningham through the NYC craziness.

Basically, I'm just excited for the 08 season and am going through some serious NFL withdrawal. 9/04/08 can't come soon enough!!!

Why I'm a history major...

This is the essay that I wrote for the Gallagher Scholarship here at Tech. I know it's nerdy, but every word of it is true (including the fact that I annotate history books that I read for fun...). I like this essay; I'm really really proud of it. I think it may be rewritten just a little for some grad. application essays. Some of the word choice is suspect, but it won me the scholarship, so I'm happy.

"My high school history teachers tried to ingrain in all of their students the often-mentioned George Santayana quote: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Although this easily describes why every student should have a general knowledge of world and U.S. history, it does not adequately describe why I have chosen history as my academic focus and eventual career. History has always been my favorite subject; my friends and relatives commonly tease me about reading and annotating history books for fun. Studying history allows me to understand the events of the past and how they affect the present, yet it goes even further than that. The study of history allows me to examine how people work; for example, by studying the personalities involved in writing and ratifying the Declaration of Independence, I can see how people react to economic and political pressures and extend that to the current push for independence in Kosovo. Also, history, more so than other subjects, forces me to think critically. It is a very rewarding experience to sift through sources, closely examining the language of the document and its impact on my research. Yet, despite the seeming finality of finishing a paper, I love that any historical study is never really complete. There is always an element of any topic that has not been completely uncovered. I can always find something in my subject that I would like to explore further. Because of this I am certain that I will never become bored in historical research and presentation. For this reason, I chose to major in history, knowing that the discipline will challenge me to think and innovate throughout my career.

I have definite plans for using my history major. Once I graduate from Virginia Tech, I plan to continue to graduate school to study Public History. I am particularly interested in incorporating technology into history museums to help educate more people more efficiently. My topics course, Virginia Indians with Dr. Crandall Shifflett, allowed me to see just how important computer technology is to teaching history. In that class, we incorporated our research on an Indian town in Virginia into a class-wide Google Earth file which may be added to Virtual Jamestown in the future. I realized that history education must incorporate technology in order to maintain interest in the future. I hope to dedicate my career to finding new ways, including touch-screen technology and digital media, to share my historical knowledge with people of all ages. A career in public history will allow me to combine my constant curiosity about all things history with my desire to help the community, for even though George Santayana’s quote is not the only reason I decided to dedicate my career to history; his sentiment is the main reason why I want to pursue a public history career. I truly believe that making sure that the community has a clear understanding of their history is one of the best ways for me to use my passion to effect society."

pre·co·cious·ness

So, I love books & I love dictionaries. I couldn't remember how to spell precociousness, and the loveliness that is dictionary.com really helped me out, so I kept the fun little dictionary syllable notation (yes, I am a nerd; yes, I am a little OCD sometimes).

But the real topic of this post is one of those memories from when you were little that just always stick around. Like I said before, I always had trouble sleeping on nights before big events...like 1st day of school, getting to go see my cousins, the BEACH! And my little obviously precocious mind would think about some crazy things. One of my favorites, which keeps coming back over and over again, was this crazy philosophy about life. I used to wonder (a lot) about life and what it was...and the best guess I came up with when I was little was that at least your first time through life was just like a dream when you're a baby where you go through your whole life, make decisions, and see what the consequences are...and then you get to go through it again, make different decisions when you want to, and ultimately you get to control your whole life based upon what happened in this one dream when you're a baby. And then I would always wonder if I was living the dream or if I was on my second time through. Yeah, I know, I was a weird kid growing up. But I always think its funny when I read about these things for philosophy classes. Because some adults seem to continually wonder about the same thing.

By the way, I need to update my reading list...I've added new books (and have already finished two) and plan to add more. Another amazon.com order is in my future. Woot!

The Times They Are A'Changing

...and I pretty much suck at dealing with it. I remember laying awake in bed every year before school started, thinking about the fact that I'll never be able to be in "n" grade anymore, or I won't be able to relive this summer. I always hated not being able to make time stop so I could deal with things that come up. I mean seriously, the the night before freshman year of high school I was freaking out...don't even get me into how I dealt with the night before heading off to college. I think it all comes down to the fact that I've never been good at living in the moment -- there's always something to look forward to in the future, but when the future comes, I spend a lot of time looking back at what I missed out on.

All this is coming up because another semester is coming to a close. I still have to finish my take home final and I have another in-class final on Monday (along with a reflection paper, a concept map, and my E-Portfolio for English), but time-wise, I'm pretty much done...and I'll be a senior next year...and then grad school for like 2 years, but then I have to be an adult or something. I don't want to grow up; I'm bad at taking responsibility for anyone but myself. I know I'm not ready to face the possibility of moving away from my family, buying a house, having kids. I know it's still like 3 years away before the "real world" even starts knocking, but seriously. I don't even want to think about having to face the need to pick a job that I expect to go to (and hopefully at least enjoy a little bit). I mean, I've spent the last 16 years going to school to learn the skills to get a job. What happens if I hate working in a museum, what happens if I don't find a job, what happens if all of this was for nothing? Gr, can't I just stay an undergrad forever?

"Happy Ending" Sugarland

It's why we sit in the movies
All the way to the closing scenes

From the beginning
We're all looking for a happy ending
Every dream of winning
Every love we've been in
Right from the beginning
We're all looking for a happy ending

I absolutely love Sugarland. I've seen them in concert twice, both times when they were opening for Kenny Chesney, and to tell you the truth, I prefer their show over his any day. That girl can sing! This is a recently new favorite of mine...I really like what it says about just life in general. It's pretty cynical of the whole notion of having a happy ending sometimes, and that's a message I need to take to heart sometimes. I can be sarcastic, cynical myself, but ultimately, I believe that everything will work out in the end -- and then when it doesn't I'm extraordinarily disappointed. I can't handle the constant up and down of hoping and then having that crushed by something not working out. So maybe I need lower expectations; pleasant surprises are always better than gross disappointments.

Reaching out

Reaching out, or reaching around?
Progress, or just another go 'round?
Sameness, deja vu.
No matter what I try and do


It's little, it's not very good, but I promised myself I'd write more creative stuff too...poetry, short stories, stuff like that. Sometimes it's really hard to find the time and a lot of my stuff becomes really cynical really fast. I'm beginning to question the whole idea that anything can get any better because once I think it is, something else comes crashing down. I don't know, I've just been soooo stressed out lately, it's been hard to handle. Between school, family stuff, extra curriculars...I don't know...I've just been running around in circles. Greg says I take on too much responsibility; Eric says I take the world on my shoulders. Everything I do needs to be perfect; there's no in between there. And when I know it can't be done perfectly, I have a tendency to not do it or put it off, which then adds more stress. Plus, there are just some responsibilities that I don't feel comfortable casting aside. I realize I'm becoming like an extra parent to my brother, making sure he's doing okay, school-wise, but mostly in dealing with my parents. And it's not fair; I'm 21 years old and it feels like all of a sudden, I have a 16-year-old kid that I'm at least partially responsible for. And I owe it to him; he's one of the most awesome kids I know, and he deserves the world. But he's just a kid...he needs help to get the world, and sometimes I think that I'm the only one who can help him get it. My parents, I guess, have other things to worry about. And he sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. Hopefully, this summer will be a good time to work all of this out. At the very least, he's got a place to stay that's away from both parents if he needs it. He's always welcome, and he knows it.

Frustrating

It seems like some things just keep going around and around in circles, never actually getting settled, even when you think they just might be. Case in point: dealing with my parents' recent divorce and all the jolly good stuff that comes out of it. So my mom recently started seeing a new guy, within about 4-5 months of the divorce. And now the whole thing is coming to a screeching crashing unbelievable problem with Eric's graduation. It's really the first big event (outside of the wedding...that's another whole story that I'm not really in the mood to get into right now) that everyone should really be at at the same time. There's been Christmas and Easter, but those have been cases where we just stuff ourselves silly with two big holiday meals, deal with it, and it's over...but graduation is becoming a much bigger thing.

Everyone's coming: Eric's family, my parents (hopefully...that's the whole point of this post), my brother...and so on. And we're kinda making a big thing out of it; Eric's not going on to grad school or anything so this is that last big event of its kind for him. We're going to have a big barbecue at a friend's apartment and basically everyone's invited and everyone brings food. But here's the problem: my mom's been planning to bring her boyfriend since the beginning. I knew this; I expected her to be the one to tell my dad...that's not my job, that's not my brother's job, that's HER job. Granted, I should have figured this was happening; communication has never been my family's strong suit, but I figured she would at least go the extra mile in this case to avoid awkwardness. But she just told him this past Friday -- and hotels are booked, plans made, etc. And I really think my dad should be able to be comfortable enough to come...and he won't be. The whole situation with my mom dating has been difficult; she wasn't exactly straight with anyone at the beginning and I know that I felt awkward, like ultimately I was going to be the one to break it to my dad...and that's not fair.

If this is what Ryan has been dealing with since the beginning, I feel even worse for him now. I can't deal with this, I won't deal with this. It's not my job...it's theirs. I may be 21 freaking years old but I should not have to be in the middle of my parents divorce.

Living and Pups

So it looks like we definitely have living at least partially set up for over the summer & through the year. I've had a lease in the Burg since like February, but we keep putting off figuring out stuff in York because it's ridiculously expensive, at least when compared to here. We just started making phone calls and there's at least one apartment open, which we can move into in June, which is good. We'll just have to stay in the inlaws' house until the place opens.

Getting our own place means just one thing: we're getting a puppy before the end of summer. So pretty much, I've been more and more addicted to petfinder.com, picking out which dog we're gonna get. There's just so many options! We're definitely going the shelter route...because that seems to be the right thing to do with all the puppy mill horror stories and the relatively high rate of euthanization in York. So, good thing's happening this summer, especially considering my concerns about living in someone else's house again through the summer.

VAWA and Politics

Yesterday was my first meeting for the Violence Against Women Act Student Advisory Board. Basically, the role of our group is to review the ideas of the grant coordinator as they apply to the university community as well as suggesting some options that they may or may not have come up with themselves. It's a really fun group where we just hang out and it's really low-key. I was expecting it to be kinda stressful, mostly because of the subject matter, but it really really isn't, and I'm glad. I really don't need to add any stress to my life right now. Between Student Judicial Committee, Phi Alpha Theta rep. stuff, and this, I think I'll be a pretty busy gal next year (and I'll be doing grad school applications too, but that's a different story for a different time). Plus, they already have a ton of neat ideas. Since everything that happened at VT on 4/16 reporting of sexual assaults, etc. have gone down drastically. Generally, people seem to be either comparing their pain with others and thinking it's not bad enough to report, or there's some issue where they're afraid of what might happen if they get someone else into trouble. So the Women's Center, through the VAWA grant, is using poster campaigns and presentations and other programming to make sure that people know that they can report things that happen on campus and no one will get angry with them. It's hard to reach out about things like that.

On a completely different note, the 2008 presidential election is getting really heated and the primaries aren't even over yet. The DNC recently released a commercial in (I believe) North Carolina calling John McCain's candidacy into question because of his age...in addition to all the bashing that's going on between the Democratic candidates. I'm pretty clearly a McCain supporter, but I'm getting frustrated with the whole process...it seems like election after election is just a "lesser of two evils" kinda deal. I liked McCain when he was running against Bush and I often wonder how things would be different had Bush not won through the primaries. Of course, it's a fruitless mind game, but intriguing nonetheless. But I really really wish that Obama was a Republican. I mean, right now, his ideology scares me, and I'm concerned over his seeming overabundance of "Present" votes on the Senate floor. I think there's a lot that we, as voters, don't know about his beliefs. However, I really think we need a fresh face in politics, someone who hasn't been jaded by decades in national politics. It might be interesting to see what happens during the Democratic Convention because if the DNC ultimately chooses Hilary, I think we might see the partial implosion of the party...and I don't see Obama winning either -- he hasn't held the majority primary vote in any of the big states and a lot of Democrats have said that they will not vote for the other Democratic candidate if his/her choice doesn't get the nomination. No matter who wins, they'll need to spend precious time recollecting the Democrats into their fold before they can even start trying to catch the swing voters. It'll be interesting...it's my first presidential election that I'm eligible to vote in so I'm excited.

I'm also really looking forward to catching up on PA state politics. I'll be working in the Capitol complex this summer and will get to sit in on committee hearings and such. I used to be really into it, mostly because I am a HUGE supporter of Congressman Todd Platts, who started out in the PA state House of Representatives. I'm just excited to catch back up; this way, I can feel like I'm making an educated vote on our state elections too.

Summer Reading 2008

My summer reading plans are one of my favorite parts of summer because a. I'm a nerd and b. it's really nice to be able to read something without having a specific due date or anything. So anyway, here's what's on my list so far for 2008:

1. Finishing Tom Clancy's The Cardinal and the Kremlin - I've always been a big Clancy fan just because of the way he puts a story line together and because every single time the characters speak I picture Harrison Ford and Sean Connery which just makes me happy.

2. Finishing John Keegan's The First World War - My daddy got this for me for Christmas (yes, I do ask for books for Christmas thank you very much) and I've been reading it off and on during the semester as things kinda taper and then table it when other, more pressing stuff comes up. I've been realizing just how much I don't know about World War I. It seems like my high school history just kinda skimmed over it briefly and there's not really any classes here at Tech that look at it closely. So I have his history and Martin Gilbert's to read through just to get more information - Keegan's is much more military based than the other one my dad picked up for me.

3. William C. Costopoulos and Brad Bumstead's Murder is the Charge: The True Story of Mayor Charlie Robertson and the York, Pennsylvania, Race Riots - This is officially the only book for sale on Amazon about the York race riots and it's definitely not a "history" book per say. It's written by Robertson's defense attorney and a Pittsburgh journalist and it focuses more on the trial in the 90s, but I figured it's a good start for learning more about it. There just isn't much out there. I am still trying to get my hands on the master's thesis in William and Mary's library about how it's affected York's culture since the 60s. It's also a topic I'm looking into researching for a possible master's thesis (as a public historian, I'd like to look into the decision making process that led the Historical Society of York to largely avoid including exhibits about the race riots).

4. Robert V. Remini's The House: A History of the House of Representatives - I picked this beast up at a used bookstore in Eagles Mere, PA, and it looks super interesting. We'll see how it goes...this one may need to be broken up into chunks & separated by other books, but it's definitely a topic I want to know more about.

5. Jean M. Twenge's Generation Me - Suggested to me by one of the people in the Office of Judicial Affairs, it looks at how my generation has adopted this notion of being "special" and how it plays out in education, the work force, and in how we live our lives. I think it will be an interesting read, probably leading to some self-reflection too.

6. Susan J. Douglas' Where the Girls Are: Growing up Female with the Mass Media - This book is admittedly pretty feminist in scope, examining how girls and women are depicted in movies and television shows. Typically this isn't my kind of read, but I think it may be an interesting study.

Admittedly, this may be only about half of my summer reading that I actually get done. With having a pool and generally no life, I typically go through a lot of books over the summer. Somewhere before the start of the NFL season (9/4 can't come soon enough) I'll probably re-read Roger Director's I Dream in Blue: Life, Death, and the New York Giants mostly because I'm superstitious and think that continuing this practice may lead to a repeat. I'm open to suggestions for books to read this summer, especially non-history books. I do like my fair share of dirty romance novels (and I can't seem to find any good ones at the moment), and I've run out of Michael Connelly books to read since I've pretty much read them all.