zzzPenchant

Yawn. I am so tired. I'm exhausted! It is not even 9am and I've already been up at least 2hrs (after having slept at most 5hrs). I ate breakfast and biked the 30min distance from my friends' house (I've been staying there this week until my place is ready to move into-- THANK YOU!) to work here at Augsburg, and now here I am struggling to keep my lids lifted as I do data entry. C'mon, Chris: just one more day!

Today, besides working all day, I have my first meeting for my summer research! I'm stoked to find out some more of the details about this. Also- can't beat free lunch. I'll keep you posted.

So this weekend is quite an exciting one- it signals the beginning of my independent study/research grant, the end of these weeks of long long work days, I move into my new place TOMORROW, and my little brother's graduation open house is on Sunday. A lot to be happy about- now lets just get today done with so that the weekend can get going!

Memorial Day

Well- that was unexpected (based on the tone of my last entry, anyway).

This was a great weekend. I worked a bit, but mostly I spent time with friends and dealt with/worked to resolve some things that needed to be dealt with. Parts of it were really hard, but it was one of the most rewarding weekends on record. I'm not about to make any big predictions for the future or any proclamations about anything, but I'm feeling relatively confident about the state of things. And, if nothing more, I learned a great deal about myself.

Today is Memorial Day. I'm working a short shift right now at my job after a fun afternoon with my family. After work, I may go bike along the river road (it is incredible outside), after which I will do some clean up and other jobs that need doing. All in all I feel fine, and am pretty excited for the week ahead (for reasons I'll detail in another entry). Happy holiday, all!

Sleeeepy

Well, my work week is nearly over (excepting tomorrow's 9am-1pm short shift). I feel like I should do something fun tonight, but right now I'm just really tired.

Maybe tomorrow night. Sometime this weekend, anyway.

For now, I've got a little more work ahead of me, after which I will go run and take care of a scattered responsibility or two. Then? Several friends I know are doing different things tonight, so I'm sure I'll find something to do if I want to. Or maybe I'll just go to sleep.

Ah, the excitement of summer...

All Wet

I made my self-righteous bed and now I must lay in it. Well- bike in it.

This morning, I stepped out my door into still another day of pouring rain. To my left: a car, offering protection from the precip. To my right: my bicycle, representing the idealistic lifestyle of a bicycle commuter.

As I pondered my options, I reflected on recent history. It has rained steadily for a number of days, and still I have continued to use my bike as transportation. When will I "wise up" and remember that every day I have been underdressed and wound up soaking wet as I bike to and fro. Would today be the day to cave and rely on my manual transmission? I was feeling pretty ill (I had eaten red meat--among other things--the night previous) and the idea of driving sounded immensly appealing.

But I refused-- many people live without cars. right? I could do this.

Well, those people also have raincoats, ponchos, waterproof bags, and other such protective gear. Two blocks into my ride I almost turned around, but I persevered instead. I arrived at work soaking wet, but accomplished (though admittedly feeling a bit foolish). What did I learn? Nothing. There was no moral (after all, not everything has meaning- the mundane often overpopulates the meaningful); I don't feel better about myself on some self-righteous kick for biking in spite of the weather, nor do I feel I should have been practical and saved myself the trouble of drying my pants in front of a fan at work (don't worry- I had extra shorts in my bag).

And there you have it- my totally pointless story for the day.

Mhm.

Fine weekend, good day- what more can I say?

One highlight: After work on Saturday, I hopped on my bike and just took off into the city. Following the Mississippi south, I ended up in St. Paul, then crossed back over the Mississippi/Minnesota rivers several times and ended up in Eagan. Finally, after crossing over one final sidewalk on a long bridge alongside rushing cars, I ended up at the Mall of America of all places! I managed to find what I imagine is the mall's only bike rack and parked my trusty transport and headed in. Fate would have it that my timing was perfect- a friend got off work at the mall just as I arrived. We spent the rest of the evening together, eventually meeting up with another friend.

Ok- so there is your random story from my weekend. I'm off- back to work! Another day, another dollar, eh?

I am not defined by material things, but-

I love my... New. MacBook. Yep, that was the purchase- I now have a brand new black MacBook! I'm using it even as I type... It is so wonderful. My good friend works at the Apple store so he hooked me up with a very good deal. I've been saving for a laptop for such a long time and the day has finally come. The convenience will be indispensable as I begin my independent study this summer. I've already fallen for it, and can't wait to continue to get to know it better, ha.


(At my job the other day, taken with the Photobooth feature. Despite how that sounds, I was working hard- I swear! Oh wait... I'm at that job right now, heh)

Summ-err

I started this blog on Monday, but was interrupted. Here is what I had: "So- my summer got off to a rocky start in many regards, but I'm feeling better now. I was a bit thrown off by a lot happening at once, but I feel a lot more balanced now. Today was really great, for many reasons."

Well, since the time, something shook that up a bit. I can say with certainty that it has been a week of highs and lows. I won't explicate certain events any further because of the public nature of this blog; I will only say something happened that significantly affected me.

But, outside of my long-long-long work days, I've spent time with friends and have had an otherwise stellar couple days. I really do have great friends- another one of my closest left today to go home for the summer, but I'm excited by the promise of a fun summer with a lot of my friends. And yesterday I made the largest single-item purchase I've ever made in my life--something I've been saving up for, so that is exciting as well. To find out what it is, however, you will have to wait until my next entry! So... yeah. Material things can be a positive, I suppose.

I guess the two emotions (fun-happy summer, big bummer) balanced one another out and I'm mostly feeling neutral, with the beautiful weather and a forced sense of optimism tipping my mood in the positive favor most of the time.

New Look

I just changed around the colors, the picture, and the structure of my blog, as well as added content to my profile. Check it out!

Skip the freeway; take the greenway...

I biked the Midtown Greenway this past Saturday for what I am ashamed to admit was my very first time. I've passed it by many times and always wanted to check it out but hadn't for lack of time/need to head to Uptown. Well- Saturday I had time and need, so the opportunity presented itself and I greedily grabbed it.

For those who don't know- the greenway is like a highway for cyclists, a mostly uninterrupted bike trail with exits (on/offramps like freeways). I got from Minnehaha Ave. (right near Augsburg) to Uptown in no time flat (even though it started pouring, drenching me and my friend's bike in the process). I was immediately enamored and plan to make it a regular part of my transportive thoroughfares! And now that I am officially a 'bicycle commuter,' all the better that I finally introduced myself to this.

ps. Its 9:42am on Friday... is it the weekend yet?! Oh wait- I work all day, and then again tomorrow morning. Sigh. But then... not again until Monday morning!

Moving (on)

Tuesday night I moved from my dorm to a house in Dinkytown with friends. I spent all night packing and moving, and got about an hour of sleep. I'm excited to get settled, although I have to wait a couple weeks as the former occupant transitions out. Soon enough, though, I will paint my room, get a new desk, and set everything up- certainly something to look forward to. Yesterday I went home for a doctor's appointment, after which I recovered from the hectic move by spending time with the family, doing some laundry and of course catching up on sleep. It was a nice day off, but now I'm back in the grind- been working since 8 with hours ahead of me still. Ah well.

On a more positive note: summer has finally arrived, weather-wise! Even though I'm stuck indoors all day, my brief moments outside have been wonderful. I also got to do a Campus Kitchen volunteer shift over lunch and began my exciting life as a bicycle commuter (ha), biking from my house in Dinkytown to work (more on biking in my next entry, as promised). Yes, it is the small wonders that keep me level.

Looking beneath the floorboards...

It has been an interesting span of days. Last week I clocked more hours on the job than I had in ages, and by Thursday night I was feeling the strain. I had a bad night, but it ended up being a catalyst for some good self-reflection. I didn't see it coming, but I should've anticipated I'd crash sometime after the semester ended, especially considering I didn't even pause between classes ending and (over) full-time work.

I took a "mental health day" off on Friday and caught up on my reading and napping (I did only sleep three hours Thursday). I also watched Jesus Camp -probably not the greatest idea on a day of mental rest, for it stirred great mental unrest among my friends and I, ha. Friday night was a friend's going-away party- he is leaving for Europe for the summer. Saturday I ran some errands on bike (I'll detail this a bit in another entry), then went to see a Jake's dance performance, which was great. Sunday was a lazy day in anticipation of the week to come.

Today I'm back in work-all-day mode. Still at work (have been since 8am), but not for too much longer. Then I'm meeting a friend to run and eat Taco Bell and plan for a summer camp we're working this summer. I work all day every day this week, Wednesday aside- I have a doctor's appointment and so will only work a half day. My evenings are looking pretty full as well; meetings, errands, running and a little time with friends (including one last time with that friend before he relocates to another continent for three months). It will be busy, but I'm ok with that right now. I'm still processing some things I began to address on Thursday night, but my head is slightly clearer and I a bit more rested.