Enrollment time

I'm constructing my Spring semester schedule, and it is looking quite wonderful! I met with my advisor today and found out that I only need to complete 12 more hours and I will have my degree! I only need one more Art History class and three upper-division non-major classes. I spent the last hour looking at which classes I'm interested in and what would work with a schedule I want... I'm about 90% set on the one I have so far, which means that I will NOT have any classes on Friday, only one on Monday/Wednesday in the AFTERNOON, and the rest on Tuesday/Thursday, starting at 9:30 and ending 2:15.

This will be my first 12 hour semester since my sophomore year, a nice end to my career at Washburn. It's perfect. :)

El carro

I really hate having car trouble. I'm so frustrated at my own lack of knowledge of basic car maintenance, or just knowing what to do in a simple situation. I usually rely on my dad for car issues, and of course nothing major happens while he's here, but as soon as he goes out of town, I've managed to leave my dome light on overnight, draining the battery, and leave my headlights on for ten minutes at a Sonic drive-in. I'm so absent-minded when it comes to my car! It is nice though to have friends available to help you out when the support of your parents is temporarily gone.

At 22, I still feel very much like a child. I'm frustrated at feeling like this, and just want to cry for feeling so helpless. The next time I'm at the library, I'm getting a car maintenance book for dummies. Totally serious!

On the positive side of this situation, I have learned some things:

1. Maybe I should take a break from Sonic.
2. Make visible little signs in my car, instructing myself to turn off all lights and take keys out of ignition before exiting the vehicle.
3. How to hook up jumper cables (thank you worker at Sonic!)

Quoteables

"They're so idealistic, those veterinarians."
-Mom

"I don't want to look ghetto-fabulous, just fabulous."
-Emily K.

"I don't have time for facebook AND eBay. Facebook is fun, but frankly I don't care what John had for dinner."
-Marty Lagae

"I love you. You're a catch. Everyone loves you. You've got a nice chin."
-Tricia

"Is it okay if instead of having Bible study tonight, we work on party decorations?"
-me
"Yes, okay, as long as we promise to talk about Jesus and pray. ;) haha."
-Rachel Martin

"I could always snap better with my right hand than with my left."
*snaps with left hand* "Nothing."
*snaps with right hand* "Everything!"
-Tricia

*Editor's note: There IS a context with all of these, but some of them are just more funny without it. :)

It's getting all serious up in here!

Some grownup issues I must write about:

I registered for the GRE yesterday, and in the words of Mr. Williams and Mika: "Ka-ching!" It's a pretty big commitment now, and I feel like it has really initiated me into the process of applying to grad schools. This whole process is pricey! The cost of the GRE (you have to pay $150 EACH time you take it), the cost of applying to each graduate school, plus any additional travel expenses. It was really nice talking to Kate yesterday for a while about the GRE and other application questions I had. It is great having a friend who just recently went through the whole process. I'm taking the GRE on November 16th, which gives me a little less than three weeks to study for this 3-4 hour long test!

Yesterday I drove to Lawrence to talk with the Director of Graduate Studies in the Art History department at KU. I asked him about some questions I had about the application process, and he also gave me an overview of the program. I had originally thought that obtaining a GTA position (graduate teaching assistant) would be nearly impossible as a first year student, but he said they are now actively looking at first-years. It sounds like a very ideal situation! Not only do they pay for your tuition, but give you an additional $14,000 salary. When I told Kate about that, she laughed and said that it was sad that's how much I'd be making after getting a college degree. But honestly it's better than nothing and sadly enough, about four times as much as my current "salary." The GTA's in the Art History department usually work in the slide room, preparing slides for classes, give tours at the museum, and assist professors in grading undergraduate papers and tests. I would love that! The more I look into graduate school, the more I want to go! At this point I'm thinking about just getting a Master's, and possibly finding work in a museum, not necessarily as a curator, but more in the background part of things.

I also asked the director about what kind of qualities he looks for in a student applying to the program. He said that a lot of emphasis is on knowing how to write well (why they ask for a writing sample) and having good verbal skills. For my reference letters, I'm going to ask Janzen to write one for me of course, and I even thought of my English 300 professor, Raylene. She would provide a good report on my writing skills, and she really liked me. ;) haha, so that helps! I asked Dr. Janzen after class today if she would help me write my professional statement and with other various parts of the application, and she told me she would be happy to do so. I love her!

When I got to my Art of Africa class, we were originally going to review the images in our chapter for today, but I ran into Janzen just before I got to Garvey. She was bending over, trying to get a white hair off of her black skirt; I don't think she even noticed the dog running loose on campus as he brushed up against her. She's adorable! She said she was heading over to the Union to pick up a copy of the New York Times for news in Africa. When she got to class, Reinhild said that she had been handed a copy of Invisible Children in the Union, calling it a "serendipitous meeting," and announced that we would be watching that instead of having a lecture. I saw Invisible Children four years ago here at Washburn, and honestly I feel like I was a much different person then. It was more powerful and moving for me to watch it this time.

The Incredibles' tiny designer lady

Edna Mode-- my Halloween inspiration. :)



I love her little proverbs... "I never look back, dahling, it distracts from the now."

Oh, Julia

I know that Julia Child is getting a lot of buzz right now, and maybe it's cliche now to write a blog about her, but I don't care. I am enchanted by her! I'm reading her My Life in France and have fallen in love with her and with the idea of France. Julia's husband Paul captured some really lovely photos-- I really love the ones she included. Reading a book like this is bittersweet-- I love the way Julia describes the sights, smells and tastes of Paris, but my envious side yearns to go and experience it all for myself. This is how she describes her first meal in Paris:

"I closed my eyes and inhaled the rising perfume. Then I lifted a forkful of fish to my mouth, took a bite, and chewed slowly. The flesh of the sole was delicate, with a light but distinct taste of the ocean that blended marvelously with the browned butter. I chewed slowly and swallowed. It was a morsel of perfection."

I first wanted to read My Life in France after seeing Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams with my dear friend Tricia. We both loved Meryl Streep's character in this movie, and you could see Julia perfectly through her. Julia was fascinating-- a perfect blend of compassion, joy, chatter, honesty and robust laughter. She is one of the most well-known chefs and she began by barely knowing anything about cooking. I left the theater enchanted by Julia Child, her photographer husband Paul, and by lovely 1950's France. The book is better. Not only do I love Julia's descriptions that create vivid mental pictures of Paris, my mouth never stops watering!

Houses in Trees

When I was eight, I asked my dad to build me a tree house. I went to the library, looking for books that would give me the best ideas for a design of my very own. I always thought they were such magical sources of wonder and mystery. I think having a tree house growing up definitely helped me develop a better sense of imagination, imagining other magical fantasy worlds. I only had to climb up the rope ladder and suddenly I had a place in the air, sitting on my platform that separated me from the tops of little bushes and trees. Here are some other ones I LOVE, the last of which is a well-known building project in New Zealand: