Best Day Ever

Today at my place of employment, I was asked to help clean-up after the previous evening's donor meet-n-greet. Washing wine glasses in the gallery's kitchen amidst stainless steel sinks and walk in fridges brought me back to my days at the Three Village Inn; four years of waiting tables that I despised. And yet, I was oddly nostalgic. Concurrently, I had the opportunity to speak with a few folks from my old job (tear, sniff, sniff). And again, nostalgia. I think I'm seriously afflicted.

The most difficult part about being on the left coast for graduate school is quite simply the time difference. It's not so much the 3,000 miles, or even the cost of the flight. It's absolutely the fact that I can't just pick up the phone and call any friends, family, or the like back in Boston or on Long Island without first computing the 3 hour difference and realizing that the folks I want to speak with are inevitably at work or, conversely, asleep. It stinks. I'm officially heading to LI and/or Boston from Dec. 14 - the New Year. I'm thrilled; as much as I'm loving it here, it's going to be fabulous to see some familiar faces and just chill out for three weeks.

Tonight it's off to a "whiskey and wine tasting" at the home of the lovely married couple from class. I'm not so sure the two beverages necessarily go together (aside from common consonants) but I'm willing to bet it will make for an interesting evening.

Note: Please disregard this post's title unless you went to Hamilton, of course. In that case, consider this a not so subtle shout out, LMV. Just making a difference, one day at a time.

Random Seattle Star Sighting

Today, I bumped into Dave Matthews. He was heading out of the PCC (the only grocery store in my neighborhood and thus, despite its inflated prices and my apathy towards the organic, the one I'm forced to shop at every now and again). Now, it's arguable whether or not this is even worth reporting; I know this. I'm not what one would call a "Dave" fan (in fact, I abhor the fact that certain people feel that they are on a first name basis with him). However, when I first arrived in the sunny city of Seattle, my wonderful mother was simply overjoyed to know that he lives in the adjacent town of Wallingford. Now I can happily report to her that I did in fact see him, he's just as lovely in person as in his music videos, and his daughter(s?) are adorable.

What else... Oh, right, schoolwork. I've got a lot of it and no matter how much I do, there's always more - not that I'm actually complaining about it. My feminist theory course is as amazing as I had hoped and the other courses aren't too shabby either. Despite its seeming futility, education policy is pretty interesting and I now have a complete understanding of how formalized education not only started but also evolved in the United States. Of course, I've been neglecting a bit of work on the weekends, due to a steady stream of - you guessed it - Saturday night binge drinking. Halloween, house party, what can I say? When in college... And yes, it feels just like I'm in college again, except I have a better concept of the almighty dollar (and how little of it I actually have) and how my coursework might apply to the "real world".

Yeah, just picture this walking out of your average over-priced organic grocery store... Sans guitar, of course...