as taken from http://www.kateinglis.com/blog/2009/10/13/the-dread-crew-meme-stories-that-stick.html

1)  You are facing an epic journey. You may choose one companion, one tool and one vehicle from any book or film to accompany you. Or just one of the three. It's up to you. What do you choose?

Obviously I'd be taking Don Quixote, the Mithril shirt that Bilbo gave to Frodo, and the Batmobile.

2)  You can escape to the insides of any book. Where do you go, and why?

Okay, I know it makes me unoriginal, but I would go to Hogwarts. Must I really answer why? Isn't it obvious? Um, it's Hogwarts. The end.

3)  You can bring one literary character into your current life. Who do you choose, and why?

Ooh. This one's difficult. Probably one of the creatures from Narnia. I'm not sure which, though. Mr. Tumnus? Beaver? Reepicheep? It's a tough one. They're all valiant, and animals (okay Mr. Tumnus is part-animal but you get my drift), and can talk.

4)  _________________ is my go-to book. I could read that book fifty-seven times in a row without a break for food or a pee and not be remotely bored. In fact I’ve already done that but it wasn’t fifty-seven times. It was sixty-four.

The Harry Potter series. Again, I know, it's unoriginal. But it's my favorite. Also on my list: the Protector of the Small series, and His Dark Materials. But I've read each Harry Potter book more times than I can count.

5)  Of all the literary or film characters that made an impression on you as a kid, who was the most enviable?

Aladdin. He got the cutest princess in the end, and he got to make friends with a genie and have that whole rags-to-riches improbability. Definitely enviable.

6)  Of all the literary or film characters that made an impression on you as a kid, who was the most frightening?

Jesus. Can we count him as a literary character? He's in the Bible...he terrified me as a child. My parents didn't teach me exactly who he was, so I wasn't really sure, but pictures of him really scared me. Plus I think my parents frowned on Christianity in general. Anyway, yeah. He seemed scary to me.

7)  Every time I read _________________, I see something in it that I haven’t seen before.

His Dark Materials. The symbolism! Oh! It's beautiful.

8)  It is imperative that _________________ be made into a movie. Now. I am already picketing Hollywood for this—but if they cast _________________ as _________________, I will not be happy. I will, however, be appeased if they cast _________________.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies/Angelina Jolie/Elizabeth Bennet/Keira Knightley
 

9)  _________________ is a book that should never be made (or should have never been made) into a film.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I have a feeling that they're going to try to movieafy it, and this will disappoint me, because there is no way you can take the beauty that is this novel and shove it into a 2-hour movie. The beauty is in the words!

10)  After all these years, the _________________ scene in the book/movie _________________ still manages to give me the queebs.

scene where Harry buries Dobby/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. as long as "give me the queebs" means "make me sob like a small child." seriously.

11)  After all these years, the _________________ scene in the book/movie _________________ still manages to give me a thrill.

tilting/Protector of the Small-Squire

12)  If I could corner the author _________________, here’s what I’d say to them one minute or less about their book, _________________:

Stephanie Myers/Twilight Series: WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!

13)  The coolest non-fiction book I’ve ever read is _________________. Every time I flip through it, it makes me want to _________________.

Amazing Grace by Kozol/cry. It's not so much cool as deeply depressing, but I feel that it's a very important read.

I've realized recently that I have a pattern. Whenever I intensely dislike a musical artist, but know someone particularly cool or knowledgable about music who likes this musical artist, I will spend a very long time listening to this music and trying to figure out what the appeal is.  Generally after spending this large amount of time listening to it, I'll end up liking it very much.  I'm not certain if this is because of the people I like who like the music or if it's that I've invested so much time listening to it that I have to like it, or if I just end up going to appreciate it, but for some reason, this is my patter.  Awhile ago, the musician was Joanna Newsom.  Her voice seemed grating to me; it was almost painful to listen to her sing. Now I really enjoy her.  More recently, it was Wolf Parade. I've heard the song I'll Believe in Anything a lot.  It was actually introduced to me by an American girl who I lived with in Ghana, but I had only heard her singing it.  Maybe it was the shock of hearing the actual recording for the first time, and it being so vastly different than what I had imagined that I can't even describe it...and maybe it's the way that I feel like they're almost chanting rather than singing, but I couldn't STAND the song for the longest time.  Today I listened to it, like, ten times in a row, though.  Aaaand then I downloaded it on Itunes.  Because I've decided that it rocks.

...that is all.

No idea where that expression comes from, but I am one. On an unrelated note, where on earth does the expression "bully for you" come from? I've tried googling it to no end, which vexes me so...

Anyway, the whole point of my subject line...as August draws nearer and nearer I'm getting more and more anxious for it to arrive. I've started work at Via...week numero tres started today, and today was the first day of the real camp, aka my first day of not training, and already I kinda feel like I just want it to be over. The job's actually a lot of fun...I'm just not satisfied. Most jobs that I've had have been, like, this big deal, until I actually start them, and then half-way in they've felt small-time. Like I wanna do bigger things. Not better things...the CVC was amazing, and I felt useful there and like I was doing a lot of good...but bigger.  Which is why I'm going into policy practice rather than clinical work: you just can't affect as much change working with people one-on-one.

I've veered off-track of what I meant to talk about. Which is that I just wanna get going.  I want my program to start. I want to officially be able to call myself a graduate student and to know how difficult Columbia is going to be, because I'm a bit scared, and I want to see my crappy, expensive dorm room and eat ramen and know that if I were a bit richer I'd be able to get freaking awesome sushi a block from my place.  And I want to be in New York. I'm not especially looking forward to not seeing my parents for months on end, and I'm definitely not looking forward to being far from Boy, but I just feel like I'm ready to move on. But I'm stuck. For another month and a half. Working. Blahhhh.

I think another big part of it is that I'm feeling kind of friendless.  I don't suffer from a lack of friends...but I certainly have a lack of friends whose schedules mesh with mine and who want to hang out with me at random times and who will actually pick up a freaking phone to do so. And, oh yeah, I definitely have a lack of friends who want to be bored by my complete lack of cash and therefore unwillingness to do anything cool.  Of course Boy is around all the time and such, and don't get me wrong; I wouldn't have it any other way, but I just need some friend time sometimes. Ya know? You know.

Well, lj people, I graduated exactly one week ago, which feels very nice. I start Columbia August 3, which is an early start because I'm going through a one-month bridge program thingy to get me up to speed with the second years (even though they've only been doing this stuff for one year and I've been doing it for four. whatevz). Apparently the bridge program is mostly learning the DSM IV, which I don't really think will be that necessary for me, seeing as how I'm going into policy rather than clinical, but my Cedar Crest professors all seemed to think that learning the DSM would be a good idea, even for policy students, so perhaps it'll be good. At least I'll be spending an entire month with just advanced standing students...hopefully I'll meet some people that I'll like. It's very odd, to be getting a Master's in one year, in a new city. I don't feel like I'll have the time to meet new people in just a year, but that'd make for a pretty lonely year. Heh.

Anyway, so there's New York in August, and I start my new job on Tuesday! It's with Via of the Lehigh Valley. Should be a good time. It's technically a part-time job, at 35 hours a week (M-F, 8:30-3:30). I should have plenty of time to chill out and I'll have full weekends available. I just hope that the job itself doesn't tire me out too much. Via's located in Bethlehem, so that means I'll be driving out to there every day, which has its good and bad. Good because I absolutely love Bethlehem...bad because it's a pretty long drive to be making daily with a car whose gas milage has been getting worse, I fear...

Now comes my final part of my post: the one where I inquire...why the fuck are there so many Russians subscribing to my journal? Could you, like, stop? I know you're spamming, although I don't know how or why, and I really doubt that you can even read what I'm posting. Has anyone else had this problem? It's a little silly.

I really wanted to post in Costa Rica, but I didn't have too much to say. Christmas passed interestingly...it was lonely, but I gave my Nintendo DS and 3 games (one of which I bought in San Jose) to my family, which was quite well-received. Went to Las Fiestas two times...rode some pretty awesome carnival rides which surely would be illegal in the US because they were PAINFUL...went camping with my family on a GORGEOUS beach for 4 days, and did a lot of volunteering and learning. That's pretty much it.

Anyway, that's not the reason I had for posting today. I am posting now in order to pay tribute to my beautiful car, Shane, who I feel needs this tribute, because she's been bruised, battered and beaten more than any other car I know this past year. Last February, a tree branch fell on her and crushed her hood. Her alternator broke and needed repair, which we confused with her battery being dead, which we replaced. Her check engine and check oil lights have flashed, requiring new parts. And yesterday, she experienced her first hit and run. Yes, that's right, she was just sitting there innocently in the Farr Lot in Allentown while I was at work, and when I broght her home, her hood was smashed in (my mother noticed, not me, because it was on the passenger side). It looked like a kind of reverse dent, so I brought it to my mechanic, who noticed that the front lights were also smashed in, and told me that Shane had been backed into. There was no note. There are no cameras in the lot. Some asshole has cost me $200.

So, to the butthead who HIT MY CAR AND DIDN'T LEAVE A NOTE, here is a big screw you. I hope your car is new and shiny and that you're not paying for insurance and that you experience Carma and that you end up with a much larger hit and run that totals your car and that you can't end up paying for it and that you'll have to walk for the rest of your days. And that you'll still have to make payments on it for 10 years, because it's just THAT expensive. Course, normal Karma might suffice. May you be a maggot in your next life. Jerk.
 

I leave for Costa Rica in less than a week. In like 5 days and 12 hours, actually. A little less. And I'm getting pretty terrified. I have all this shit I have to do until then...I've got my internship, and I may have to work at Valley Youth House at some point, I need to pack, I need to make a LIST of things to pack, I need to buy a journal, I probably have to buy mosquito repellant and empregnate all of my clothes, I'm going to want a few more books in Spanish to take along so I don't get the urge to read in English while I'm there, I need to call my doctor about my stupid shoes, I need to email InterExchange and find out if I need professional clothing in Costa Rica, I need to pick up like 3 different perscriptions ahead of time, so I need to call 3 different pharmacies, I've got a commitment to hang out with a friend on Wednesday, all of Thursday is being taken up by my internship, my DOG is being put down on Thursday night so I have to wrap my brain around that before I leave because otherwise I'll cry the whole time...

That's what I'm most afraid of...being homesick the whole time I'm in CR. It's why I'm putting off doing all of my packing and shit, because I want to pretend I'm not going, because it's a fantastic idea to go and everything, and I might have a really great time, but I'm going to be missing Christmas and Hanukkah with my family, and I'm going to miss out on Dan's favorite season and spending time with him, and the culture shock when I was in Africa was so huge that I shut myself in my room and read the whole time there, and I CAN'T do that this time. I just can't. How will I learn the language if I shut myself away?

I keep repeating to myself my reasons for doing this. It's going to make me incredibly marketable; not only have I been to Africa for 6 weeks, now I'll have been in Costa Rica for 4. Two different countries, two different world views. One new language. I want to become fluent in Spanish, and the only way it's going to happen is if I immerse myself in the language. And it'll be an incredible adventure.

But deep in my heart I just have this nagging fear that I'm not going to enjoy any of it. I hope so much that my fears are wrong.
 

So, I'm going on a grad school visit on Friday with my parents. Where to? Columbia.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't always want to go to an Ivy. I think it comes from both my parents getting complete scholarships to Yale. Where was I supposed to go from there? Geez. The drawback is that even if I get in...which, to be honest, I'm not entirely worried about, as everyone from Cedar Crest who has applied has supposedly gotten in and my GPA is a 3.71...I'm not sure my parents would be all about it, because of the cost. It's like 38,000 to go there for a year. Now, granted, I'm coming out of college 100% DEBT FREE! So what's $38,000, really? I can pay that off in like 15 years. And meanwhile I'll have so many more opportunities open to me that I wouldn't have at a no-name school like Marywood or even a decent name like West Chester. But an Ivy. *sigh* And an Ivy in New York, where social work is a much-needed profession. Columbia has an Immigrants and Refugees program. Can you work with refugees in Allentown? No. You cannot. It just seems like life is really pulling me in that direction.

There are other things to consider, however. Like the fact that Dan is very wishy-washy about the whole thing. When I first told him that I want to go there, he was all WEEEEE! NEW YORK! And now that I'm pushing Columbia a little more he's seeing that it's not just a fantasy for me, and I think he's scared. And he shouldn't be, because we have so many options...I could go to Columbia and he could stay here and keep working where he's working now, he could move to New York with me and get a social work-related job, he could move in with any number of cousins that he has who live in Brooklyn and try to get into the arts scene there, which is, after all, what he really wants to do--write. I think that he's scared of my going to a big college like that in general, though. He keeps saying that I'm going to have a Master's and he'll have nothing, yaddah yaddah. Dude, if his education mattered to me, I never would've started dating him. Guys are so funny.

On the other hand...I'm not sure if I would change my grad school plans just for him. Why should I? If I want to go to Columbia, I'm probably going to go to Columbia. I'm only 21 years old, for goodness sake. How much of my life can be planned out for a guy, regardless of my plans with him? And what's one year, anyway? I'll probably be too busy going to my internship and freaking out over exams to have any social life in New York.

Anyway, that's what's going on with me. I'm still writing my admissions essay. It's a doozie.

I'm tired of having no time to relax. It's only a little over a month into the first semester of my senior year, and I already feel like hitting my head on a particularly hard tree. Over and over. It's a little fantasy I've been concocting. It's kind of cute and Charlie Brown-esque in my mind, but then when I reeeeally think about it I end up having to stop because I think of my brains kind of oozing out and really, that's not what I want at all, I'd just like a little mind numbness. Or to pass out for a few days and spend them sleeping.

My list of activities has shot through the roof. I feel like I have 3 jobs, because I kind of do. I have my 16-hour-per-week internship, which is NOT NOT NOT NOT easy, I have my 4-hour-per-week child mentoring job, which is okay, but still a time suck because I'm doing that whenever I can squeeze in time for it which means that 2 days a week I have 2 hours less than I normally would for myself, not to mention the time between classes and that job in which all I can think about is the fact that I have to work later so it's not enjoyable, and I have 3 people so far that I'm tutoring. Not to mention the people whose papers I'm looking over for free because I'm too nice to demand that they get their butts over to Academic Services and sign up for sessions just because they wanna make sure that they're not fucking up on their Problem Statements so far. And not only am I tutoring for Reserach, I'm also tutoring for Biology, which I SUCKED at, but apparently I'm their only tutor for this subject and how can I help someone learn this stuff when I could've easily failed her tests except for the fact that I'm a rocking context clue looker, a pretty good bullshitter, and I'm a master of eliminating answers on matching sections? I can't teach people how to read context clues! It's very frustrating.

Not only do I have my 3 job things, I also have all of my classes. Granted, I'm only taking 4 right now, but I'm going to REQUIRED supplemental classes at Muhlenberg once or twice a week. My professor's like hmmm, not only do you have to go to class, but we're going to screen movies for the class on sundays, and you have to go to 4 grammar workshops which are on wednesdays, and you have to go to a writing workshop (for FRESHMAN students where they teach you what an ESSAY is!) on a sunday, and you have to go to 2 tertulias which are on thursdays...she does NOT take commuter students into mind here. I live half an hour away and I'm WORKING THREE STINKING JOBS, ALL FOR 8.50 AN HOUR OR LESS, AND ONE OF THEM I'M NOT GETTING PAID FOR AT ALL!!!!

Last night, I got home from 7 hours at my internship, 2 and a half hours of class, and an hour and a half of tutoring, and almost immediately became pissed off at Daniel because both of the lightbulbs in the living room were burned out and I was on the defensive because I felt like he was trying to tell me how to do my internship, and I just got into bed. 

I need a break...