Living Inland

I find it ironic that the last post that I made here was about having nothing to do. Because, suddenly, it seems like I have EVERYTHING to do.

What’s been going on, in list format:

1) I started class. All of my teachers are excellent, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a tough semester. Economics, Statistics, Marketing, Database Management.

2) I got a job. A work-study job, but a job that will pay me money. I am the Performance Programming Manager at Future Tenant, the gallery run by my program at CMU. What this means is that I get to book and run all of the performances that happen in the space this year. It’s a huge time commitment, but it will be great experience. And lots of fun. I had orientation yesterday, and I’m really, really excited.

3) I will be in New York City for a networking event October 20 through 23. I am currently accepting applications for both people to drink with and couches to sleep on. SO EXCITED to come back to the BK for a bit!

4) I have a new Macbook Air. Yeah. I think you’ve got a little drool on your chin there.

Alright, I promise I won’t let three weeks lapse between posts again. I’m just starting to get into the groove of my schedule, and I’ll try and be more regular about this.

Whelp, kids, math is over, I passed, and I am officially a student at CMU.

They posted my fall course schedule yesterday afternoon, and, although I have no classes on Fridays,  I have TWO Saturday morning recitations. First one starts at 8:30 AM. Yeah. Great.

The running is going fairly well. I started week 4 this week, which involves a 3 minute run, a 1 1/2 minute walk, a 5 minute run, and a 2 1/2 minute walk. Lather, rinse, repeat. It doesn’t seem like it would be particularly demanding, but god damn, it is. The five minute runs make me feel like I am going to DIE, and I’ve had to slow my pace a bit. I might repeat this week again next week so that I can get comfortable with it, because at the end of week 5 you’re supposed to run for 20 minutes solid. We’ll see how things go today.

I’ve got an interview with the CMU Drama School tomorrow afternoon. Special Projects Coordinator. If I get it, it will count as my work study for the fall. I’d been thinking about doing some theater stuff, and the drama school here is the oldest in the country. (Plus, Ethan Hawke, Ted Danson, James Cromwell and Holly Hunter all graduated from this program.) It seems like it would be a good starting point for me, as I wouldn’t have to schlep all over Pittsburgh between classes to go to work, and it would help me to diversify my resume a bit. So, hopefully that works out.

Other than that, I’ve been doing some cleaning and watching a lot of internet television.

I hope that everyone is doing well. I can’t wait to see those of you coming out next weekend. Sorry for the boring, brief post, but it’s time for a gym trek.

I couldn’t fall asleep last night (which probably had something to do with the 2-hour nap I slipped into yesterday afternoon) and hit “snooze” three times more than I should this morning.

So I throw some clothes on, tossed everything in my bag, and run out of the house looking like Little Orphan Annie. (The humidity has put my hair into less-than-optimal form.)

I stop into Starbucks and get in line behind a guy who looks and talks EXACTLY like that guy from Independence Day who gets mauled by that alien in the lab? The hippy dippy scientist one? You know? Oh, here he is:

And he won’t stop talking to the barista so it takes her like 10 times longer to get me my coffee.

I get to class, which is basically a review session, and make all sorts of stupid mistakes in my arithmetic, which pisses me off.

During class, my iPhone, which had a FULL CHARGE THIS MORNING, decides to just completely die, which means that I couldn’t use it for my run today/listen to music.

I slog through Probability and dash to the gym. Once in the locker room, I realize that, in my haste this morning, I forgot to pack a pair of socks. So I stuff my bare feet into my sneakers and head up to the treadmills.

The treadmills at the University Center gym have TV’s on them (I KNOW) which I have never used previously because I always have my music/running app going on my iPhone. So, today, I decide that I will plug my headphones in and watch the TV.

I’m running, and What Not To Wear is on (!!!CABLE!!!) and then something happens and the audio screws up and I go to adjust the headphone jack and accidentally hit the STOP button (which is a huge, red button right underneath the headphone jack) and I trip and almost fall on my face, but don’t.

And now I’m home and it’s raining and I’m staying inside for the rest of the day because I feel like my mojo is off and if I leave the house again I’ll get struck by lightning or some shit.

In other news, I got 100 on my Probability quiz, and now I just have two finals to take before I’m dunzo. I could skip both of them and still pass, so I’m feeling pretty good about that.

OK. I think it’s time for some whiskey. (Just kidding?)

UPDATES ON ME (IN LIST FORMAT)

1) I HAVE ACED EVERY SINGLE MATH TEST SO FAR.

Which makes me feel brilliant, but unfortunately, doesn’t make me so. (Probability tests are open-note. Which…thank God.)

2) I GOT LOCKED OUT OF MY HOUSE. WITH NO SHOES ON.

This one happened a couple of weeks ago. My friend, Ariel, had come over to do some homework after class, and we decided to sit on the back porch since it was a nice day. I neglected to tell Ariel that if you shut the back door, it locks automatically. And there is no key for it. So, she shut it.

I wasn’t wearing shoes, I didn’t have my phone, and I hadn’t memorized the phone numbers of anybody who could possibly help us out of this predicament.

So, we dragged the bar-style picnic table from the yard and placed it under my bedroom window. Then, we stacked two cinder blocks on top of that. Then, Ariel climbed on top of all these things, opened my window screen, and propped it up with a large, y-shaped stick. Then, I hoisted Ariel in through the window.

It was a great team-building exercise, and Ariel and I are now very good friends.

3) I HAD A BARBECUE

And I invited everyone from my math course. About 30 people showed up and it was a great party. I am so good at parties.

4) I AM RUNNING NOW

Via the Couch to 5k app on my iphone. Nearly three weeks in and I can now run for three minutes without stopping. They tell me that in 6 weeks I’m going to be able to run for 20 minutes without stopping. We’ll see how that goes, but I’m loving it so far. On the days that I run and walk to and from class, I am clocking over five miles on foot. THIGHS OF STEEL.

5) I AM DONE WITH MATH ON FRIDAY AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL I’M GOING TO DO FOR TWO WEEKS.

I haven’t slept past 8:30am in like a month. (This includes the weekends…I don’t know what’s wrong with me.) So, sleeping all day is out. I mean, I’ll go to the gym? And read? And sit on the porch? And futz around?

6) I AM DELIRIOUS

ly happy.

So, yesterday afternoon, I cheekily sent this photo out to a few of you:

That’s my ponytail. No longer attached to my head. And now, I look like this:

But I also just bought this one at Ikea:

AND I bought some drawers! My workspace is now clean, cozy, and well-lit. Howard is keeping my algebra homework warm for me.

I’ll write a real post for all of you tomorrow. I promise!

a game of Uno, apparently.

I feel like this:

I know, I know. Where have I been? In answer to that question, I give you

MY WEEKDAY SCHEDULE

7am: Rise from bed.

7:03 am: scoop cat food into Howard’s bowl while he meows at my feet.

7:07 am: brush teeth. wash face. moisturize. apply makeup. etc.

7:30 am: get dressed. pack for class.

8:15 am: Depart for class.

I have been walking to and from class every day, which involves about 1.5 miles and a huge hill each way. I like doing this because:

a) I am walking a lot less than I used to since moving here.

b) It helps to wake me up and get me focused for the day.

c) I get to listen to music for a half an hour.

d) I like to check up on the status of the dead and decaying squirrel I discovered on the sidewalk about ten blocks up last week. It’s like a weekly 15-second biology lab. Don’t worry. I won’t post pictures.

The downside to the walk (this week, anyway) is that it has been HUMID as Hell here in the mornings. And despite the assurances of the North Face employee who sold me my backpack, the part of the bag that rests against my back does NOT breathe at all. So, when I get to class, my back is all sweaty. It’s vaguely gross, but, whatever…I just walked a mile and a half while everybody else tucked in for an eight-minute bus ride.

Okay, okay.

8:45 am: arrive at Starbucks and purchase coffee on my STARBUCKS CARD. (Thanks, Aunt Patti. Excellent idea.)

9:00 am: Algebra

I realized the other day that the reason that I was even in Honors Math in high school in the first place is because I really like algebra. It makes so much sense to me, for some reason.

10:30 am: Probability

Probability is pretty hard for me.

12:00pm: Class ends. Depending on the day, I either stay in the building to do homework/attend office hours or go to the gym for about 40 minutes.

I have to say, I am definitely drinking the CMU Kool-Aid. I love both of my teachers and all of my classmates. And everybody is so freaking cool. One girl just got back from working in Afghanistan, one guy just spent two years with the Peace Corps in Ghana, another girl was working for Alvin Ailey Dance Company in New York…these people are the real deal.

I had a meeting with my program director, Jerry, today, and he is also a great guy. I’d met him a couple of times prior (on both of my other trips here before I moved) but it was really nice to sit down with him and start talking about my options for coursework and internships. I’m excited and ready to get started.

So, the rest of this week is booked pretty solid, and then on Friday night Jerry is taking all of the MAM students (that’s Master of Arts Management…my program) out for dinner so that we can all get a bit more acquainted. My program runs a gallery downtown called Future Tenant (www.futuretenant.org) and they’ve got an Open Mic on Friday that we’re all going over to afterward.

And that’s that, kids! Again, I’m sorry about the posting lag, but between class and homework and trying to set up a social life, I don’t have a ton of free time right now. I’m shooting for a post once or twice a week at this point, and I’ll put the blog url in my Gchat status when I update. I’ve been to some cool places in the last couple of weeks, and I’ve got pictures and things to post, so I’ll try to get on that this weekend.

I hope that everybody is well.

No posts this weekend! Because, I was doing things.

Today, I walked down through the Strip District and all the way to the waterfront and Point Park.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and there were tons of people out on the river with boats and kayaks (I’ve decided that I would really like to own a boat here).

The best part was that there was a Pirates game this afternoon, and I could actually see and hear into the stadium while crossing the bridge. It was awesome.

All-in-all, an incredible last weekend of freedom before MATH starts tomorrow. Oh, math.

I was picking out clothes to wear and realized that I had a mandatory accessory to take into account. My backpack.

Please excuse my brevity here, but I have to go to bed. That 6:30 am wake up call is going to be brutal.