Just a little over a year later and my thoughts keep coming back to blogging again. Maybe? Last June, I was looking forward to spending some time overseas for school and vacation. Keaton was still alive. I had the security of knowing there was at least another year of school ahead of me.

Now, everything is about getting ready to move to DC. The cupboards are getting bare, food in the fridge is dwindling. I am done with school! I need a job! I bought a typewriter! The Netherlands was wonderful!

I've been trying to capture these last Tucson days in photo form, but have met with only partial success.

If I do start up again, it will have to be on a new page. There is too much history here.

not here

evening, originally uploaded by arahsae.

It is obvious this blog is neglected, but so are most of my online accounts. I'm kindof feeling tired of everything and stuck in browse mode instead of create mode.

I am considering different ways to record my upcoming study abroad trip -- the camera is coming but not my computer, although I will have access to computers. Perhaps a designated blog or Tumblr or I don't know. Maybe I'll just stick to postcards.

All the news here is about the wildfires, and that's made for some interesting air quality and hazes. The mountains in the above photo were invisible yesterday. Hazy days.

finally

Today it finally sunk in that the quarter is over. I did my taxes (except stupid Nebraska) made real food for dinner, and am enjoying a G&T. SIGH.

Nine done, one to go

elapsationary, originally uploaded by arahsae.

I really miss semesters. Quarters mean everything happens too fast.

I've been doing a good job of maintaining my personal reading schedule, a necessary offset for assigned articles of varying levels of interest, but the house is a mess. And as attractive as cleaning appears in the face of assignment deadlines, it never gets quite done, so I'll have to dedicate some amount of break to tidying up.

My vocabulary is suffering, "thing" is the word of the hour, every hour, and I've gone boring. We have been eating real food, however, so that is good.

Winter in Arizona is awesome.

2011

keaton + fire = love, originally uploaded by arahsae.

I'm still struggling with 2010 being over and done. What?!

Hopefully I can get to my Year in Books post this week and take stock of everything. Bruce and I sat down at the turn of the year to talk about Things and there are some very exciting Things coming up.

It's been cold in the evenings, to the point that a bunch of plants in the backyard froze and are now blackened. The afternoons are gorgeous gorgeous, perfect for sitting outside and reading articles for school.

to the top

from the bottom, originally uploaded by arahsae.

This time next week, I will be done with my first quarter of library school. My final website for my HTML/CSS class incorporates some of my photos, so I had to process a bunch more. FROM EDDIE'S VISIT BACK IN JULY. Quite the backlog.

I'm not a warmonger or anything, but the trip to to missile silo was fascinating. Scientifically and mechanically, I'm amazed at how it works.

Today I made pizza doughs; they are fermenting in the fridge for a couple days before popping into the freezer. AND I baked two loaves of white bread! I haven't done that since August.

Bread is a good thing.

I bake, therefore ...

bacon and chive and goat cheese loaf - savoury cake, originally uploaded by arahsae.

I've been an okay student this quarter, but I've been a horrible photographer and a worse baker/cook. This weekend I remedied both flaws by baking and then taking a photo of the baked good.

I also turned the leftover turkey into a faux bolognese dish that will give a day or two of good eating.

I don't remember being this tired at Simmons. Maybe time has faded those memories or I don't know, but the group project I worked on last weekend stole all my vital juices. (NOTE: Group projects between people in four time zones are not easy.) This is the last week of classes and I'm working really hard at sticking it until the end. There is a week of posting on the discussion boards, a bunch of group presentations to watch and evaluate, and two papers remaining. And my final website, which maybe I will post here.

PS: I've also been a bad blogger and a rather embarrassing correspondent; I will get caught up on emails and phone calls. (The only thing I've been good at is non-school reading.) (Okay, I've also been a very good pet owner, what with all the emergency vet trips and drugs and special treatments. Both cats are doing very well and are almost normal.) (What am I saying; neither of them are "normal" in any sense, but you know what I mean.)

i cannot tell you how much i love these mountains

view from the couch, originally uploaded by arahsae.

School is good but it makes me feel crazy. I still don't know what kind of librarian I want to be. I am being brave and assertive in my online interactions.

Bruce got me cowboy boots for my birthday. I need to photograph them.

Fall is creeping in.

I am working at the library I volunteer at, on a real project making actual money. It is only a handful of hours a week, but it is very good.

The kitchen is a mess.

I drive by several schools on my way into work and feel a sense of happiness and relief that I am not one of the teachers leading a line of students inside.

grad school part deux

Almost two years ago I was subbing in a middle school library near Omaha, Nebraska and I thought, "Hmm. This might be a good job move. Hmmmmmmm."

Fast forward to yesterday: me stumbling into the house after a week in Seattle, brain overflowing with information concerning everything it takes to do an online MLIS program. There were icebreakers, lots and lots of software intros (LOTS), notes notes notes, a trip to financial aid and introductions to fellow students. Meeting new people is not my favorite thing. It stresses me out. But I stepped outside my comfort zone and invited people to lunch and asked if I could sit here and tagged along and took photos. There is one other Arizona person and she lives in the Phoenix area, within driving distance, and she is fun and nice and interesting.

I also had a LOT of espresso, which fit in perfectly with the traditional NW fall weather (I was lucky -- there was sun and rain and fog and breeze and it was all lovely).

NOTE: I had lunch in a ramen restaurant and ate my entire bowl of noodles with chopsticks! My hands hurt a little bit afterwards, but still! Yay! (Chopstick dexterity is a Goal for 2010.)

So here I am, gearing up for the day the discussion boards open on my first class. Because I filled out some forms, wrote a couple essays (thank you my editors!), and made certain papers appear in Seattle, Washington, this is happening. It is so great to have a title again: I am a grad student. Not a substitute teacher or an unemployed lazy-ass. That Grad Student-ness comes with a community of other students and university support staff and passwords. Oooh, the passwords -- the access.

INDEED: I want to push at the boundaries of my comfort zone during this program. This is mostly not being so reserved, instead actively making connections, networking (gag). I didn't talk a lot in class (Simmons people can verify this) but maybe the online bulletin board format will be better for me.

Regardless, this also seems kindof weird.

FYI: One of my classes is website design and I foresee a new website or two in the future.

Please wish me luck!

100/100: last one

100/100: last one, originally uploaded by arahsae.

I finished my 100 Days in Arizona photo project last week!

The whole set is here. I have some grandiose closing statements to make at some point, but I'm still gathering my thoughts.

I'm also gathering my brain cells together because orientation for my MLIS program is next week. I'll have to pretend to be social, too.

Summer is still not over here but there have not been any 105° days for a week or so. I am very happy about that.