Where the Story Ends

One day, I will tell my granddaughters stories from my youth and advise them on how to survive the male-repellent gene that they will undoubtedly inherit from me.

One piece of advice that I will tell them is to never break up with someone who simultaneously lives one block and 376  miles away from you.

10 Lessons Learned

Let’s go old school on this one:  What I Did On My Summer Vacation

First of all, this has been a short summer. I know that anyone with a “real” job would say that 10 weeks is by no stretch of the imagination a short amount of time, but I have gotten used to being done in May and returning in September.  Teaching Summer Session I has made it seem like summer has been flying by. August is going to be busy with traveling to the west coast and then jumping back in to course prep and starting the Fall semester.

Thus, for all intents and purposes, I am going to say that July = my summer and now it’s time for a summer wrap up. I had certain expectations for Madison:

(1)  Break my rut.

(2)  Do Research.

(3)  Find out if I want to leave Bloomington in a year or two.

The first two objectives were met with resounding success. I still don’t know about #3 but I will see what happens over the next year. I just hate the idea of not living somewhere else in my 20s before I am at the behest of the job market. But then again, Bloomington has been more like home to me than any other place I’ve ever lived. So we’ll see what happens.

Here is a list of lessons learned:

Misery loves alone time?

Ok, I’m over it.

Over the summer romance. Over the living simply. And most definitely over the pink eye that I somehow contracted in the last 48 hours.

I’m A Terrible Person (Reason #1)

As I have mentioned before, I have been drinking a lot of coffee this summer because I have been frequenting lots of local, independent cafes that serve fair trade coffee and help orphans in Africa and use recycled materials, etc.

So while this might be scoring me points in heaven, I secretly like the taste of Starbucks WAY better, and if given the choice, I would probably go to the chain, McCrapolized version of a coffee shop. There I said it.

Shhh, I’m a terrible person!

My New Favorite Lady

One of the reasons that I came to Madison was academic in nature. I am writing a paper on the way that extraordinary bodies have been socially constructed from freak shows through present day, and there is a library/archive that is close to Madison that I thought would be helpful for my research. So, in addition to dating a near-giant ( a complete coincidence, btw), I have been using this time to collect data on the most extreme variations in bodies.

The best part about the archives is the archivist. She is so upbeat and helpful. It is amazing to have someone who wants to talk about my research project for 3 hours at a time and knows pretty much everyone and everything associated with my topic. I swear, if I could have someone like her to hold my hand through every paper I write, I would be one happy researcher!

I have considered kidnapping her.  More than once. I think I could provide her a nice life, living out of my home office, free room and board. Full access to Whiskers. What archivist wouldn’t want to be held captive by a PhD student?

I live in my blind spot.

We can file this entry under:  Conversations I Don’t Want to Have

Time is running out for my summer romance, and I hate when things have to end for no apparent other than it would be a fool’s errand to try to make some type of long distance relationship work. Being on this side of 25, we both know that it is doomed to fail and would probably turn a good thing into something terrible. That still doesn’t make it easy to walk away.

I think that we both knew right away that we clicked and we would be good together. So we took that leap and went full force into a really intense dynamic, knowing full well that this relationship would be untenable. I don’t think that we were deluded, but it was one thing to think you are eventually going to have to deal with these feelings and quite another to actually feel those feelings.

We have definitely entered the stage of dealing with it, the fact that I am leaving and that my departure will effectively end everything. I was hoping that we wouldn’t be having these conversations until next week but these things have a way of needing to be dealt with. The spontaneous, all consuming, live in the moment fantasy meets the measured, pulling away, face the facts of the rest of our lives reality. Now comes the winding down phase, and next week, closure.

I think we had a good run, and I don’t regret going whole hog into it. I always live in my blind spot so it’s no surprise that I would get emotionally involved and attached in such a precarious situation. I thrive on things that are doomed which is something that I would like to change. But I think that I will be able to walk away from this relatively unscathed and with lots of good memories.

Writer’s World

Going back to my earliest years, I wanted to be a writer. A professional writer. As soon as I learned how to write, I began composing stories about magic rings and mice who were in love and I even wrote a short story featuring the incomparable Nancy Drew. Over the past quarter century of life, I have filled dozens of journals, written countless papers, and yes, even taken up a blog or two.

Summer Lovin’ Happened So Fast

So I will give you an update on The Guy who has been taking up some (ok, lots) of my time lately.

Cruel Summer

I have passed the mid-point of my stay in Madison. While I am still having fun, there are certain things that are wearing thin.

Miss Bliss

No, I have not turned into Hayley Mills in the middle school years of Saved By The Bell.

But I am feeling pretty darn happy.