the bright side of the road

good parts of the past week: 

warm weather

Blind Pilot concert

found an Australia bakery near my house

finally got a hair cut

so many parties

worked at the atlanta marathon

bad parts of last week:

getting fired*

*and by "fired" i mean, the grant that funds my job ends in December so my job ends in December. i might try to find a new one. or i might be a really poor PhD student with more free time. 

A Real Text Message My Mother Just Sent Me

"oh, and Dad "loved" the music, too... NOT. Food was very good. now, we're on our way to 'hillsboro, N C'. love you, M"


*i love how she signs all her text, "M" or "Mom", just in case i wasn't sure who they were from

Dispatches from East Tennessee

I took this picture on my drive home last week. (Sam's Gap, TN)

Anyone who knows me at all knows I love the town where I grew up. I love the mountains, the accents, and the local food. I love that everyone wears orange on fall Saturdays and that the cashier at the grocery store always calls me honey. I love that people don't lock their doors* and wave to each other on the street. Most of all, I love how predictable it is. No matter how long I've been gone, everything is familiar. Somehow growing up in a place lets one intuitively understand how life there works. That sense of place becomes such a significant part of how we identify ourselves. I am grateful that my place turned out to be such a pleasant one.

*I have so many stories about unlocked doors in k-town. People leave their cars unlocked (sometimes with the keys inside!) on a daily basis all the time. I never locked my car in high school. Why? Because I didn't need to.

Political Protest Packing List

Surprising almost no one, I decided to check out Atlanta's version of the Occupy Wall Street protest this past Friday. I am not really the "sleeping in a park to send a political message" type, but I always enjoy a good march. And, let's be honest, any opportunity to make self-righteous/overly idealist signs. The ATL movement is just getting going so my co-worker and I didn't really know what to expect. I brought supplies for a variety of situations. 

This stuff:

went into this bag:

In the end we just sat around the park for 2 hours listening to idealists blather on about "the process", got bored, and left. I'm fairly certain they will eventually plan a march down the street to the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta. Hopefully that will be more exciting.

best time of the year

i have lots of real life things i should blog about, but instead, can we talk about how it is autumn? this is the best time of the year. nice weather, pretty, halloween candy, blah blah blah:

GOOD TELEVISION IS BACK.

jet lag

i got back from Australia exactly one week ago. since then i have not woken up of my own volition before noon (most days i'm dragging myself out of bed by the early hour of 1pm). last night i decided to go to bed really early (ie, at midnight) to convince my body to get up earlier. i woke up at 5:30am and slept fitfully till 7:30am. Around 8am (10pm in Australia), I fell blissfully asleep until noon. Proof that my body just wants to stay up till 3am and sleep till noon. if only school & work were cool with that schedule.

bathroom etiquette

i hate public restrooms but unless you are agoraphobic they are unavoidable. sadly, some people do not seem to understand how to behave in them. here are some general guidelines:

1. no talking. it is just awkward. if it is just you & your mom, i'll let it slide. but if anyone else enters the facilities, cease conversation immediately. no one wants to hear it.

2. no talking to me. even/especially if you are my mom, i will refuse to speak to you if i am in a stall.

3. the no talking rule goes double for cell phones. what is the person on the other end thinking?

4. if there are more than 2 stalls and 1 is occupied, use the one that does not border the occupied one. i do not understand how when there are 5 empty stalls, you are going to pick the only one that borders mine. (i always use the 1st stall b/c a) lower chance of someone being next to you and b) i read an article about how it was the cleanest b.c fewer people use it - stall 2 is the most used. fyi.)

5. if you are a male, being gay is not a valid reason for using the women's restroom. (i'm looking at you, Midtown)

6. if you are my male co-worker who keeps using the women's restroom & leaving the seat up - SERIOUSLY? the only person with a penis allowed in there is the transgendered girl & i'm pretty sure she's not putting the seat up. unless you are ready to fully commit to the life of a woman the way she has, walk the 15 feet around the corner and use the men's room.