Terrible Modern is now moving. Because I no longer use my Milo in Maine e-mail address, which is what I write my blog under, it just makes sense to move my blog to my Gmail.
Unfortunately, Blogger will not let me do this unless I make a new blog at a different location. But don't worry, all of the posts I've written will move with me!
My new blog address is: www.terriblemodern.blogspot.com.
Dienstag, Juli 27, 2010
Montag, Juli 26, 2010
Kansas
Our trip to Kansas was certainly sad, but it also included a lot of fun moments and all four of us were so glad we could go. It was the first time my mom had been back in about 10 years, which I'm sure was very interesting for her. We started off the trip by arriving at the Kansas City airport and stopping in Lawrence on our way to Topeka to visit some historic houses:
My mom and dad's first apartment.
My mom's first apartment.
The house where my mom was born was in between these two houses.
Mom, Dad, and Isaac examine the GPS in the rental car.
The house where my dad was born.
In Topeka, we spent a lot of time with my grandmother, Tracy, Bill, and Jena (and of course Grandma's dog Sammy.) We attended the (very nice) service for my grandfather. We also looked through many, many wonderful old photos:
My grandmother as a girl:
Her mom and some aunts (check out their outfits!):
I stayed in this room:
My dad and Tracy:
Jena and me:
And... on the very last night... a double rainbow ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE SKY!
My mom and dad's first apartment.
My mom's first apartment.
The house where my mom was born was in between these two houses.
Mom, Dad, and Isaac examine the GPS in the rental car.
The house where my dad was born.
In Topeka, we spent a lot of time with my grandmother, Tracy, Bill, and Jena (and of course Grandma's dog Sammy.) We attended the (very nice) service for my grandfather. We also looked through many, many wonderful old photos:
My grandmother as a girl:
Her mom and some aunts (check out their outfits!):
I stayed in this room:
My dad and Tracy:
Jena and me:
And... on the very last night... a double rainbow ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE SKY!
Freitag, Juli 16, 2010
A little update on the next few days
Max left yesterday, and many tears were shed. He will come back in early December after WWOOFing in Spain on a Buddhist retreat center and then possibly in Patagonia. Now I'm waiting to hear from him and hoping that he has not gotten permanently lost on the Spanish bus system...
Other than that: I was hired yesterday at a fast food chain. I will be working 37 hours a week, which is obviously great, but the idea of having a job that I know I will learn nothing from is really scary. I really don't want to go back today to fill out paperwork, even. I am trying to think of ways to bring academia into my life.
My grandfather (my dad's dad) died yesterday. It was expected, but still really, really sad. My parents, Isaac and I are going to Kansas tomorrow for the funeral, coming back Tuesday or so.
All in all, it's been a rough couple of days and I am comforting myself with things like Mad Men, a DQ blizzard and the movie of A Streetcar Named Desire. I know I have a lot I want to accomplish before December, but first I think I just need distractions.
Other than that: I was hired yesterday at a fast food chain. I will be working 37 hours a week, which is obviously great, but the idea of having a job that I know I will learn nothing from is really scary. I really don't want to go back today to fill out paperwork, even. I am trying to think of ways to bring academia into my life.
My grandfather (my dad's dad) died yesterday. It was expected, but still really, really sad. My parents, Isaac and I are going to Kansas tomorrow for the funeral, coming back Tuesday or so.
All in all, it's been a rough couple of days and I am comforting myself with things like Mad Men, a DQ blizzard and the movie of A Streetcar Named Desire. I know I have a lot I want to accomplish before December, but first I think I just need distractions.
Sonntag, Juli 04, 2010
Independence Day
"History is a protective armor against being misled." -- Howard Zinn
I will spend this Fourth of July feeling disappointed in myself for letting another year go by without finishing this book.
I will spend this Fourth of July feeling disappointed in myself for letting another year go by without finishing this book.
Working
WWOOF Germany just re-did their website and it looks great. I am tempted to buy a one-way ticket there (which would pretty much completely deplete my bank account) and stay until they kick me out of the country. That was my plan this morning, until I remembered that I probably will find a job eventually, and until then I can babysit, and probably India will end up working out. The job search is just frustrating me at this point. I really hate applying at a bunch of crappy places and then having them not hire me.
Maybe eventually a place that's not crappy will hire me, though, after the college kids leave. I asked the nice guy at Arabica about employment and his advice was, "Just keeping hanging around! That's what I did -- and then eventually, I ended up behind the counter!"
In the meantime, I am enjoying Scrabble Sundays with David M. and my mom. We had a nice afternoon downtown at Bard, including some free scones from Standard Baking and MY VICTORY. (Maybe my first win against David M., an expert Scrabble player, EVER!!) I spelled "vibrate" for 80-something points. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that special moment. I think that means I have regained fluency in English. Then we visited the travel store down on Commercial Street, where I realized that they make quick-dry bras and water bottles with filters in them.
I am going to hold out for India.
Maybe eventually a place that's not crappy will hire me, though, after the college kids leave. I asked the nice guy at Arabica about employment and his advice was, "Just keeping hanging around! That's what I did -- and then eventually, I ended up behind the counter!"
In the meantime, I am enjoying Scrabble Sundays with David M. and my mom. We had a nice afternoon downtown at Bard, including some free scones from Standard Baking and MY VICTORY. (Maybe my first win against David M., an expert Scrabble player, EVER!!) I spelled "vibrate" for 80-something points. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that special moment. I think that means I have regained fluency in English. Then we visited the travel store down on Commercial Street, where I realized that they make quick-dry bras and water bottles with filters in them.
I am going to hold out for India.
Climbing
In preparation from my upcoming Katahdin trip (about which I'm getting increasingly nervous,) Max, my dad and I climbed Pleasant Mountain yesterday morning.
It was, well, pleasant -- not an extremely strenuous hike, but challenging (for me) towards the end. I am trying to build my endurance as a relatively out of shape city girl. I know I should just go for it, but Katahdin feels very intimidating.
It was, well, pleasant -- not an extremely strenuous hike, but challenging (for me) towards the end. I am trying to build my endurance as a relatively out of shape city girl. I know I should just go for it, but Katahdin feels very intimidating.
Sonntag, Mai 23, 2010
The prom
The prom was awesome. I really didn't want to go at first. I resisted for a long time, and then just a few days before, Max and I decided we might as well just go.
I made Max an edible boutonnière out of lemon thyme and mint.
He actually did finish eating it entirely by the end of the night.
Our parents took tons of pictures of us. I wore a dress that I bought in 9th grade, a Gunne Sax from the 70s, which I thought didn't fit anymore but magically did.
We both wore flip-flops.
Us looking prom-y.
Some of my class.
We took some great pictures of Max, his brother Oliver and me, with us posing as the charming prom couple and him as the suspicious stranger in the background:
The prom was on a boat, which to me sounded like it could either be really nice or really claustrophobic. It was, in fact, quite pleasant, and I'm truly glad I ended up going despite the banality of prom.
I made Max an edible boutonnière out of lemon thyme and mint.
He actually did finish eating it entirely by the end of the night.
Our parents took tons of pictures of us. I wore a dress that I bought in 9th grade, a Gunne Sax from the 70s, which I thought didn't fit anymore but magically did.
We both wore flip-flops.
Us looking prom-y.
Some of my class.
We took some great pictures of Max, his brother Oliver and me, with us posing as the charming prom couple and him as the suspicious stranger in the background:
The prom was on a boat, which to me sounded like it could either be really nice or really claustrophobic. It was, in fact, quite pleasant, and I'm truly glad I ended up going despite the banality of prom.
Model UN
For some reason, I was convinced I wouldn't have fun at Model UN. Social situations scare me. I worried I wouldn't do well. It turns out that not doing well is pretty difficult to do as long as you talk. I didn't say anything profound throughout the entire conference, but I talked a lot and as a result I felt really good about myself. I was a good Afghanistan, I think.
My friends laughed at me when I told them I had fun after all. They have a running joke about how I hate fun. Maggie said, "I TOLD you you would! This is exactly your idea of fun, because you hate fun!!" It's true that pretending to be the UN for five 3-4 hour sessions is pretty awesome. You get to sit in a room with a white tablecloth and a white placard in front of you and be talked to very seriously.
My friends laughed at me when I told them I had fun after all. They have a running joke about how I hate fun. Maggie said, "I TOLD you you would! This is exactly your idea of fun, because you hate fun!!" It's true that pretending to be the UN for five 3-4 hour sessions is pretty awesome. You get to sit in a room with a white tablecloth and a white placard in front of you and be talked to very seriously.
Freitag, Mai 07, 2010
Yogurt
Since I've come back from Germany and been quite un-vegan, I've been enjoying yogurt. My favorite breakfast is Greek yogurt with walnuts, oats, and maybe some dried cranberries in it. Today I started thinking about this yogurt, which I used to eat in Germany sometimes:
It's yogurt that comes in big glass jars and all kinds of obscure flavors, like mango and cookies and cream. When I live in Germany, I will buy it a lot.
That's all. Three AP exams down, one to go!!
It's yogurt that comes in big glass jars and all kinds of obscure flavors, like mango and cookies and cream. When I live in Germany, I will buy it a lot.
That's all. Three AP exams down, one to go!!
Montag, Mai 03, 2010
WWOOF
Something crazy happened to me this week: I got the NSLI. This is a full scholarship to study Hindi in India for a year. Last year only six people in America received it; I'm not sure what the numbers are this year, but in any case, it's pretty competitive. Here's the thing: I'm about to turn it down.
When I first got the letter, the thought that ran through my head was: How can I turn an opportunity like this down? This is amazing, learning a language like Hindi is perfect for me, and it's an award, affiliated with the State Department, where I (forgive me, I guess I'm "the man") may want to work someday. But I have thought about it a lot, and I think that working for a few months and WWOOFing in India from January to June is going to work better for me. I am no longer sure the exchange experience is the right thing for me to do right now, for my gap year, and I am so excited to travel somewhere as an adult, learn about farming, see everything I want to, etc. It's simply a different kind of experience, but I kind of feel I've done the exchange in Germany and I'd like to try something new -- being a worker, not a student, and an adult tourist, not a child. The other piece of this plan is that I'm going to go with Max. He has wanted to go to India for a long time as well, appreciates a good dosa, and knows an incredible amount about farming. I think we will travel together well, and without meaning to sound at all anti-feminist, I feel better knowing that I'll be traveling with a male person. I've heard that this diminishes the harassment that western women often experience in India significantly. We are beginning to plan things out a bit.
It's Sunday, my least favorite day of the week, but tomorrow there's no homework due (other than many IR readings) and I'm having lunch with my English teacher, who I love, so things are good. Also, tonight=pomegranate-ginger cupcakes. I will let you know how they turn out.
When I first got the letter, the thought that ran through my head was: How can I turn an opportunity like this down? This is amazing, learning a language like Hindi is perfect for me, and it's an award, affiliated with the State Department, where I (forgive me, I guess I'm "the man") may want to work someday. But I have thought about it a lot, and I think that working for a few months and WWOOFing in India from January to June is going to work better for me. I am no longer sure the exchange experience is the right thing for me to do right now, for my gap year, and I am so excited to travel somewhere as an adult, learn about farming, see everything I want to, etc. It's simply a different kind of experience, but I kind of feel I've done the exchange in Germany and I'd like to try something new -- being a worker, not a student, and an adult tourist, not a child. The other piece of this plan is that I'm going to go with Max. He has wanted to go to India for a long time as well, appreciates a good dosa, and knows an incredible amount about farming. I think we will travel together well, and without meaning to sound at all anti-feminist, I feel better knowing that I'll be traveling with a male person. I've heard that this diminishes the harassment that western women often experience in India significantly. We are beginning to plan things out a bit.
It's Sunday, my least favorite day of the week, but tomorrow there's no homework due (other than many IR readings) and I'm having lunch with my English teacher, who I love, so things are good. Also, tonight=pomegranate-ginger cupcakes. I will let you know how they turn out.
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