Winning (at life).

So, here’s the thing about being unemployed. You’re… Unemployed. Yeah, yeah, you have a ton of free time, the city (in this case, Seattle) is your oyster, blah, blah, all of that jazz. Yes, you’re free! Recently freed from the burden of schoolwork, you have ample time to carouse with friends; you catch a Mariners game, you’re (repeatedly) out till three in the morning, you go on long runs every morning and you finally find a few hours to remind yourself of your love of art. But… Wait… Four days have passed in the blink of an eye. With nothing to structure your days, there’s nothing to get you out of bed before 10:00am, there’s no money coming in and thus, all of your supposedly “disposable” income is simply, literally, buying your time and rapidly running out. Oh, happy graduation!!

And now, for lessons recently learned outside of the classroom:

-The Angels beat the Mariners on Monday.

-The Mountain Goats are fantastic live, reaffirmed by last night’s show.

-Yay, Bruins!

-Despite its enchanting name, a night at Golden Gardens will leave your feet charcoal black for weeks.

- Skype is the best thing since sliced bread. London is consistently eight hours ahead of Seattle; I’ve heard from the future. There’s nothing to report.

-IHOP tastes best at 3:30am (and after a couple cocktails).

-I either need to move to Capitol Hill or find a permanent sleepover spot (the futon at 2111 E. John St. is, however, quite lovely).

-Mid-day six-mile runs around Greenlake are equal parts running and dodging hoards of moms with strollers and black labs.

-Logo features the gay male equivalent of the Real Housewives of New York and it’s addictive.

-Body paint and biking is acceptable only one day out of the year, and that day is this Saturday. See you there.

As it turns out, and this isn’t terribly shocking, I love school. I love the completely internalized and self-inflicted stress. I love theory and critical analysis and deep discussions; I’m all about intellectual exhaustion. PhD in the future? Eh, mayhaps, I don’t know, it’s not out of the question. But, it’s not even been a week since strolling across stage at graduation. Beginning next week - after Saturday’s cathartic and colorful bike ride - I will start sifting through my existence here in Seattle and try to sort it (you know, all that “future” business) out.