woke up this morning to a dead body on the street. two people were found. I only saw the guy, lying in the street. lots of blood- so far the information leaked says stabbing. and we slept through it all- my parents were here! scary/crazy!


http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081206/NEWS/81206005

All I have left is a conclusion, but whatevs, I finished my thesis!!!!!

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT


Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

-dylan thomas

So I started the semester working for Iowa State as a graduate assistant. 20 hours a week. No more. I am quitting today. 20 hours of work, plus 6 hours of classes, plus monday celtic dance, plus tuesday belly dance, plus thurday ceramics= no thesis writing. Too much. I don't really like my work. I don't do much of anything 90% of the time. I never see students. I don't help anyone like it says on the box. I sit in my office and do data entry and make power points and handouts. Kid stuff. Way beyond my capabilities, and it's keeping me from my goal of graduating. Plus, the atmosphere is very clinical. Not a lot of great convos or friends there. Very boring. Very SAFE. Not fun at all. Dress nice- read: dress conservative and normal, wouldn't want to offend any sensibilities. How boring.

So today I am quitting. I am going to liberate myself to write. And I will WRITE. I have books, I have things prepared, I just lack time.

So look for a happier, free-er me.

I've got about 30 pages out of 80. That's pretty good, though maybe not considering I've had 2 semesters to work on it. Oh well, I think I'm happy with what I have, which is a good amount of why it's taken me so long: I'm a perfectionist.

Otherwise, I'm happy in the new apartment. I would definately stay here (if Matt gets to stay at ISU).

Not good: have gained a LOT of weight on the new meds. probably gonna stop them, because it's getting unhealthy. We've started a new diet: no sugary drinks- sugar free kool-aid!! Turkey instead of beef, granola bars, yogurt, raisins, turkey sandwiches... not junk, not tofu, just good. Lots of pasta. I love pasta. And fruit- apples, grapes, kiwis... :) And I'm walking for now, dance starts in a couple of weeks. Hopefully (crosses fingers) I don't break or hurt anything else for awhile so I can keep going!

Because I'd heard all the hype, I read the first three Twilight novels (Twilight, Eclipse, New Moon) by Stephanie Meyer. I was okay with those. Then I went to a midnight release party for the fourth, Breaking Dawn. I read about the first 20 pages, then went to sleep since we had to move. The next day, taking a break myself, I read some more. And some more. Then, I just gave up. The book preaches. . Ugh.

pro-life teen pregnancy
no sex until after marriage
women are subservient to their menfolk
a woman's job in life is to be a mother

The main character becomes a total robot. She was likable in the first three, now I just want to strangle her. And can we say redundancy? Meyer has a tendency to repeat the same 3 or 4 adjectives continually. The characters, who seemed so fleshed-out in the first novels, have become cardboard cut-outs of themselves.

This book DEFINITELY Jumped the shark with this one. A little too much deus ex-machina, and way too many filler pages. You could cut it in half and it wouldn't lose much more than some over-description (and a whole lot of typos. Editors? What were you doing??)

And can I say: 16-year old in love with a baby. Pedophilia, anyone? I didn't think Meyer was of that particular branch of Mormonism, but I began to wonder about her during this book.

SOOO DISAPPOINTED!!!

I got the bowl and the mugs today. They are phenomenal. My goal this year is to be able to make pottery that good. After I finish my thesis (which I have been working on hard-core), I am renting studio space at CASA (Creative Artists Studios of Ames www.casa.org) to work when I'm not teaching or in class.

I'm teaching one course in the fall, Spanish 1 again. I have all the materials finished already, so I'm good to go! I haven't heard from the graduate college yet. If I don't get in, I will sit in on two courses (History of Medieval Europe, and Cervantes y literatura de la Edad de Oro) and live off of Matt I suppose, until I can start selling pots, and I should be teaching more in the spring.

Good news- our landlord is letting us stay until Aug 3, so we won't be homeless for a week! It's going to cost us about $375, but the truck rental alone was 250, so that with hotel would have been very expensive indeed. And where were the cats supposed to go???

Ta ta, I'm teaching!

I just bought this bowl and these mugs, because I couldn't resist. The glazes!

From AmyEsther on Etsy.com
"This stoneware bowl reminds me of a landscape of moss on rock, and I love the red blush rim.

It is decorated in a combination of Oestrich Green and Dragon Green glazes. The reaction between the two creates changing tones and the attractive blush.

Standing 3" tall with an 8 1/2" diameter rim, it is a perfect size for a generous helping of pasta, soup, or whatever you can imagine.

This stoneware bowl is handmade on a potter's wheel and fired to over 2200 degrees F.

All of my pottery is food safe, as well as microwave and dishwasher safe."



And these:
"A match made in heaven!

Thrown on a potter's wheel with white porcelain clay, these beautiful cups are decorated in a glossy golden Tenmoku glaze.

On the inside, the glaze shows off where my fingers left imprints as I pressed out against my hand-carved pattern stamps.

Balanced and light, these mugs each stand around 4" tall with a 4" diameter mouth. They hold around 9-10 oz.

They were fired in a kiln to over 2400 degrees (Cone 10)."



I saved the descriptions here so I can return and see what glazes were used, and how they were fired.

Also purchased today from www.piercing.org were 4 nose rings (1 titanium rod with teal ball end, and 3 bevel-set gems to go with the bar as well- amethyst, sapphire, and black cubic zirconium). Anyone with a nose ring should use this threadless jewelery- it heals FAST and is so EASY! It's the best piercing experience I've ever had.

off to go look around on Etsy some more, hopefully I won't buy anything else!

tonight we're having dinner at a friend's house. they have some extra spare ribs, thus the spare-spare-ribs. :)
I've finished with work for the class I'm teaching, now and this fall. I wrote the last quiz today; all that is left is the final, which just needs editing and arranging! Now I should be able to focus better and really dig in on the thesis writing.
I have many new pages, but they're note-style, and need written out long form. Probably about 30 pages just waiting to be created. Exciting times! It's still really interesting stuff, I'm not bored yet. Every time I sit down to watch a movie or research, I find something new and exciting (to my nerdy self at least).

So that's the update. My tooth still hurts- probably a little infected. I get my crown (but not the fun kind) July 29.

off to eat some meat!

Well, pots.

Spent 4 hours (wow) in the studio today, left with 4 pots completed. Why? Because my clay was, for some unknown reason, soaking wet. I spent about 70% of my time trying to reconstitute it. I haven't thrown in a week because of my tooth, so why was my clay so WET? Boo.

Anyhow, decided on a design theme for the wedding pots (all the centerpieces will be made by hand). Now to fire them and get the first batch-the test batch- glazed with colors that will hopefully match everything else. ISU Workspace has industrial glazes, so there shouldn't be too much variation. But they don't have a lot of colors available. Hopefully I will get a decent job this fall and be able to afford space at CASA (Creative Art Studios of Ames- $400 for 4 months). I can make my own glazes at CASA, as well as have a pit-fire, raku, and both gas and electric kilns at my disposal. Crackle glazes, I desire thee! (google it, they're really nifty!)

Matt and I rollerbladed today. I can ice skate just fine, but on rollerblades, I'm a nightmare. I fell down twice in 2 miles (not bad, but the near-misses were too many to count.) Uphill=difficult. Downhill=impossible. Our house is at the bottom of a very steep hill. So headed back, I see the hill and try to slow down...

Nope! I planted myself flat on my ass not 20 feet from the front door. Bruised, both in pride and in butt, I tore off the skates and marched into the house. Matt rolled down the hill and stopped himself with the carport. Effective, but loud.

Shower, aspirin, and 1 liter of water later, I am here.

Now I need comfort food. Mmm, leftovers.

Where I've Been

visited 10 states (4.44%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Try another interesting project


Where I want to GO!

visited 51 states (22.6%)

Some pictures for you... http://www.flickr.com/photos/notengomiedo/

ah, film noir, how thee are underrated. I am watching (for the ?th time) Queen Kelly, starring Gloria Swanson, and it is a gothic fantasy of a film!!!

The old B&W Jesus movies weren't nearly this COOL!

Matt is just okay with watching them, he gets bored I think without much in the way of sound.

We have a website now for news & registry info.

mattamanda2009.blogspot.com

my teeth don't hurt that bad anymore.

that's because I sprained my ankle! off to the doctor soon for all the x-ray fun. Thing is, I didn't notice it at first because of the vicodin for the toothache! Oh, shame.

I am a disaster zone. Do I qualify for government help? FEMA???

Need rest and relaxation!

The massive toothache that I've been dealing with this week is going to end soon with a root canal. Oh goody!
Hopefully that won't hurt as bad as having half my face throb constantly.

Otherwise, I've been booked solid this week substituting two classes. Good times, good pay, but busy!

Best website/book ever: Offbeat Bride -Ariel Meadow Stallings. Freaking rocks!

Greatest new discovery: Doctor Who / Torchwood = British Sci-Fi TV. Nuff said!

The previous week was a bit of a suck. Spent it on the couch and in bed, on steroids and benadryl due to a bee sting. A shitty bee sting I got while scoping out a garden as a potential wedding site! Boo!
Add to that some cramps and general pmsing, and I was one cranky bitch. Poor Matt! He was really nice though. Made me flan, gave me sugar, cooked me grilled mozzarella bruchetta sandwiches. Seriously. How did I get this lucky? Maybe it's to counterbalance the other shit.

Wedding bit- next june/july, nighttime, outside, reiman gardens (iowa state)
that's all I can say now.

Reading: Sunshine (Robin McKinley). She makes me dizzy. It's a good book.

Love: Stardust (Neil Gaiman, also the movie!). Robert DeNiro is a flamboyant and fantastic homosexual. So so on Claire Danes, but the Tristan is so sweet, and it's funny, too.

Can't eat enough: Blueberry streudle. Yum. Carbs+berries+frosting=heaven!

Sad: tomatoes! Stores are pulling them due to salmonella scares. I can't live without my tomatoes!

I should post here as well as facebook that Matt officially 'proposed' last night (we went and bought the ring yesterday, so it was just sort of show).

So I'm engaged!

Mayo tomorrow and it will take 3-5 days. wish me luck.