plans

Friday this and that

~ brixton ~ Leave a comment

In no particular order, a list of things I am very much looking forward to:

  1. Taco Tuesday, which I have missed for lo these many weeks since the semester started on January 18.  I will eat hella al pastor tacos and all will be right with the world.
  2. Visiting Champaign and seeing GSLIS peeps this weekend, even though I have a full day of teaching on Saturday. Related: the Esquire! Cheap beer and free bowls of peanuts! Drinks at Boltini! Working at Kopi! Sam’s French toast! Beer at the Pig or Mike & Molly’s!  Champaign, my love, I haven’t forgotten you!
  3. Springtime is coming, right?
  4. Two of our best dudebros coming up from DC next weekend for beer and shenanigans!  Hopefully we will NOT watch The Room this time.
  5. Hanging with Baby Sipes at ACRL, then going down to DC for the weekend to see many friendos, eat many things, and run many miles.  OMG I CANNOT WAIT.  Related: everything about the Galaxy Hut! Baked & Wired cupcakes!  Running with Team Astronaut Mike Dexter!
  6. Springtime running.  Late spring running.  Early summer running.  Any running other than heavy winter running.
  7. The arrival of a delightful assortment of energy gels that I ordered from Hammer Nutrition earlier in the week.
  8. Possibly driving to Toronto in April to see Sarah.  Visiting a formerly Canadian friend while she is in Canada just seems appropriate, you know?
  9. Shane’s birthday and our first anniversary!  Can’t believe it’s been almost a year, omg hearts.
  10. Another long weekend with my ladies from grad school.  This year we’re going to Peoria instead of Carbondale, and we’ll also have two babies in tow.  I’m hoping for lots of girl talk and wine coolers and laughter.
  11. The end of the semester will be here before you even know it!  Seriously, we’re half done, and I canNOT believe it.
  12. Ordering stuff for the garden.  Planting stuff for the garden.  The garden.
  13. Using that spa gift certificate that Shane got me for my birthday just as soon as I have a half weekend day free.
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Things to see and do

~ brixton ~ Leave a comment

Things I have to do between today and 5 May (aka in the next 10 days):

  • 5,000-8,000 word seminar paper
  • ~50 minute teaching session
  • grant proposal

Things I’m going to do between 6 May and 9 June, when I start my summer courses:

  • Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde in Chicago, 10 May
  • Commencement, 13 May, where my family is going to meet SB’s
  • Morrissey in Chicago, 15 May
  • Riding bikes in Brooklyn with Carrie, 24-29 May
  • lots of yoga, trains, reading for pleasure, Boltini bingo, movies, and Oberon on the porch

What are you doing with your summer?

thoughts on stuff

~ brixton ~ Leave a comment

A handful of things I’ve been meaning to post about:

  • The HPV vaccine: I’m pissed that I can’t get it. I’m encouraging my sister to get it. Illinois, among other states, is considering making the vaccine mandatory for school-aged girls. If you’re under 26 and your insurance will cover it, get it. If you’re under 26 and you don’t have insurance, public aid will cover it in some places. HPV (a group of virii, not just one virus) is the leading cause of cervical cancer, but it can also cause all kinds of gross things, like warts and lesions that have to be frozen off. The only sure fire way to avoid HPV is by never having sex with anyone. Aside from that, well, the vaccine certainly can’t hurt.
  • Lent: Last year I gave up chocolate. This year I decided to use the 40 days to take better care of myself. That was the plan, anyway, but I got into another bike accident a few hours ago, and am pretty banged up. On the bright side, I already have an arm brace!
  • Food: On a somewhat related note, a woman in the UK is giving up supermarkets for Lent. I think it’s a really interesting idea. I just finished reading Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, which is full of information about the food industry, as well as recommendations (and meals) for things you can do to make your own habits more sustainable. This week we made mofongo with wild mushroom sauce, along with rosemary-chile mashed potatoes, using as many organic products as possible. It was good, but mainly made me long for the farmers’ market, where we’ll be able to get organic AND locally-grown things every week.
  • Plans: SB and I decided to renew our lease today. An online friend and her partner take each end-of-lease time as an opportunity to reevaluate their relationship, deciding whether to stay together while they decide whether to stay in their apartment in Brooklyn. (They renewed for two years, by the way.) I think that’s a reasonable, if not entirely romantic, way to approach relationships – as a work in process, an ongoing evaluation. It’s scary to think about what’s going to happen in the next few months – graduation, selling my/our car(s), new jobs and potential moves – but it’s good to know that we’re facing these challenges together!

Now, off to ice my arm. UHgain.

lolla-oh

~ brixton ~ Leave a comment

Not going to Lollapalooza after all. We both have work to do, and it’s not going to do itself while we’re saving the environment. I guess we’ll just have to ride bikes and not contribute to global warming instead.

Free and Fun

~ brixton ~ Leave a comment

A couple of brief notes while I’m thinking about it:

Aroma now has free wireless. Not sure if it will always be free, but it is right now. So more reasons to come visit me at work!

We’re thinking about going to Jupiter’s Saturday night for pizza and pool. If you’d like to join us, gmail me.

I have a giant pile of novels and graphic novels on my table for my June reading frenzy. Any other suggestions of free fun things to do to keep my mind off the blues?