the new place

Here she is, in all her glory: my own personal balcony.

More to come, but isn't all the greenery sort of promising?

back in the game

In truth, I never left. I just started Tumbling instead. Something about the ease of that medium fed my sloth. Alas, as I am headed to Texas this fall to pretend to be capable of writing creatively, perhaps I should actually put forth a bit more effort into blogging.

Not that blogging and fiction are at all synonymous, except in the way that we all make ourselves out to be better and brighter (creating, shall we say, fiction) when we blog. Certain blogs make me cringe, others make me clap regularly. I too often fear I have nothing legitimate or that hasn't otherwise been said to add to the online cacophony.

And yet. I am here.

So the news is official, and my employer knows, and I've even found a roommate. I am going to Texas State in San Marcos this fall to get an MFA in fiction. I am moving away from home for the first time in my soon-to-be 24 years. The program is three years long. I'll be an instructional assistant (read: paper grader). I'll be living with a stranger for the first time. I am leaving Lawrence for an Austin suburb, selling my coats and--God, it's time to, yes, I have to--thinning the boot collection.

Perhaps I'll start writing about this transition. New place, new me, (re)newed blogging?

Muse: Wall-E

There he is. The love of my life.

He's a mix of E.T. (big eyes, low-centered belly), R2D2, and more than a couple dashes of genius from the Pixar boys.

He's a robot, yes -- but he's intimately human. Without wanting to give too much away about Wall-E, I can safely say it is one of my new favorite movies, and possibly the best I've seen so far this year.

Wall-E is communicative, spry, dedicated, patient, and inquisitive. In a movie where humans take a more back-seat role, Wall-E and Eve (Eeee-va), through the use of no more than a handful of decipherable words, play out their own poignant and personable love story.

Through some incredible sound work, Wall-E and Eve are alive. I used to have trouble believing however-much-percentage of communication was non-verbal or not about words. No more.

In fact, I liked Wall-E so much that I'm now hungry for more amazing movies. With awards season looming, I have a sudden urge to check out any and every movie that has started popping up on nominations lists.

I have a sudden and inescapable urge to be filled with great stories, and I think that's for two reasons. One: hearing one great story always makes me want to hear more. Two: I'm in the process, the baby step stages, of starting to tell more stories, and to tell your own stories well, of course, you've just got to call on the prowess of great storytellers before and around you.

So, with all that in mind, I implore any readers to please, please offer suggestions for great new favorite movies. I've got a five-day weekend staring me in the fact, and I'd love to make good use of it.

musing #5 -- happy-ness

A few things first.



1.) apparently i just can't update this thing more than once a month. i'm working on it.



2.) running the 5k Saturday, still have yet to run more than 2.8 miles at a time. wish me luck, i'll need it.

And now:

All i want to do is share my internet happies. Here are a few:

http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ (oldie but a goodie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M-jsjLB20Y (ZOMG)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/traveltips/08/13/pandas/index.html (dream vacation)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno (also classic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yGp84i8GpQ (i've always wanted an Asian baby)

and last but definitely not least:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRH3iTQPrk

I promise to try and update more frequently (she said to no one in particular).

musing # 4 -- the interwebs

How important are the interwebs? How much do you need to understand them if you're gonna be president of this country?

This story from Salon exposed McCain for the old fogey it turns out he officially is. He's never "felt the particular need" to send an email. He relies on his wife for help. His e-campaign director insisted back in June that though he doesn't use the internet, he "understands it." I'm gonna go ahead and contend that notion.

There are ideas, jokes, and tragedies our parents just don't understand (thanks, Will Smith) because of the internet. (Check out http://www.postcardsfromyomomma.com/ for a priceless and heartworming trove documenting, basically, a generation gap.) There are yet-to-be-revealed psychological and social implications of our ceaseless communication and self-broadcasting, and I'd like to have our commander-in-chief in touch with them, at least to the point that he can. send. an. email.

I'm horrified at how plugged in, blogged out, and short-attention-spanned I am now. I can only imagine what will happen when we (us young, Gawker-cruising Facebook addicts, that is) have babies and are in various positions of power in say, 10, 20 years.

One of my work tasks today, one of the things I'm being paid to do, is explain a Blackberry to my boss. He has one, and has had one for a year, but until now has stubbornly stayed put in the last century. He regularly places news stories about Blackberry and cell phone addiction on my desk, particularly "helpful" sections highlighted in his deep yellow Sharpie. When we first tried to do this a few weeks ago, he literally did not understand that a Blackberry was an email device and a telephone too. He did not know which end of the cell phone to speak into. Now, we are headed to a national convention, where he might need to use it, and it is my task to explain it all to him from square one.

The funny thing is, despite my best efforts, it undermines his crediblity. It makes him seem slightly provincial and irrelevant. And I thought, after feeling guilty about giggling at his indeptitude, about the less-than-warm reception of a tech-illiterate president by a nation full of gigglers. Could be rough out there for him.

musing # 3 -- 5k

That's Cooper Keefer on the right there. This'll be a brief post, but I've decided to run my first 5K on Sept. 20 in Lawrence. Cooper's momma works at LAC, where I teach Zumba. He's got an altered chromosome (number 9, to be precise), and heart defects because of it. He's had multiple heart surgeries, which, of course, have lead to staggering medical bills.

So the family, in what my opinion is a show of great strength and resolve, has started a foundation called Cooper's Cause, and this will be their first 5k too. Seems like a perfect fit to me. Anyone who'll be around Lawrence and is interested in running or donating, please visit http://www.cooperscause.com/index.html.

I'll be there, 8 a.m., with bells on. Now I've just got to start training...

muse # 3 -- Obama

Never until now have I felt swept up by a presidential candidate. I just signed up for Obama's newsletter (note the adorable family pic on the site.) True to charismatic form, the email updates speak in terms of "we" and "us", and, of course -- change.

Caveat: I've heard the detractors. I know he may not be experienced enough. I'm fully prepared to be proven wrong four years down the road.

But the plain and simple truth is this: I really like Barack Obama. I said it, I mean it, and as sure as his face gazes at me from a postcard taped to my computer, I'm not afraid to explain my reasoning in the most basic of terms:

1.) The speech he gave on race made me well up like a sissy, and reminded me of one of my favorite documentaries of all time, A Time For Burning.

2.) I instinctively trust and like him. This, of course, is not the most intellectual or verifiable of reasons to vote for someone, but, hey, I'm not the only one who chooses this way. I like his policies, but I loved the fist bump. (Er, excuse me, "closed-handed high five.")

We'll see what happens come November, but my fingers are crossed and I may even prove Christian Lander right by doing this.