Tennessee it is!

So I just filled out my acceptance form for UT-K. And I'm getting excited. I have a feeling the program is going to be different than my ideas and expectations, but I'm open to change. Also, I originally wanted to do a more library-focused program, but the more I think about it, the more a digital library/database focused program seems completely practical. More opportunities in the real world, and I may have the opportunity to intern at Oak Ridge national lab (think Manhattan project and enriching Uranium). I'm not sure though; I may end up doing something that combines the two and gives me maximum choices. But I'm really getting excited. Mostly to be done and on the other side, but also to be in school again. Not that it's been that long since I got out...but yeah. And the campus is beautiful! In downtown Knoxville on the banks of the Tennessee river, lots of deep red brick classical gothic style buildings, a nice effort of matching new construction to the old (not like BYU...however much I love it, none of the buildings really...well, go). and I'll be attending a school that has 1) an awesome football team (which will be a big change...sorry cougars, you haven't really cut it since the mid-80s.), and 2) a spring break! Me...on spring-break? Crazy, right?

My biggest concern right now is whether they will classify me as a resident for tuition purposes. Because right now they haven't. Which could be expensive. I'm sending in my appeal tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

Don't get me wrong, this movie does look entertaining. But have any of you actually ever read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories? Because this movie is the complete opposite of everything that Doyle created Homes to be. And I'm offended for his sake. But I'll still watch it. But know that I'll be wincing inwardly throughout. I always used to have a fictional character crush on Sherlock Holmes. The old Holmes. Not the RD, Jr. version.

And Jude Law as Watson? At least he found a part that works with his receding hairline and allows him to continue his recent trend of not bathing.

American Idol

I know this is ridiculous, because there's no way on earth that this would ever be an issue; nevertheless, I will say it. Everytime I watch American Idol, I'm so glad that I'm not a contestant for the simple reason that I could NEVER (EVER) keep a straight face while listening to Paula Abdul comment on my performance. I am so grateful. She is a nutcase and a half.



On a side note, I've been admitted to three grad schools now- Pratt, Catholic, and Tennessee. I'll probably end up going to TN even though I haven't heard back from two schools yet because I wont hear back until January and the more I think about it, the more I fancy the idea of going to TN, paying cheap tuition, living at home for free (however loserly and lonesome it might be, it's cheap), attending a school that's ranked higher than both Pratt and Catholic, and starting now instead of deferring for a year to earn money and finishing more quickly. There are so many things about it that recommend that plan to me over any other. I'm still not 100% percent sure that's what I want to do (the lure of Maryland is pretty strong, but it's still an unkown. An expensive one.) but I'll pray about it and let y'all know. That's right. I said it. Y'all. What can I say, I'm in Tennessee right now and it's getting to me.

Ode to Stairs

7
10
20
17
10

11
15


The sequences of steps behind the RB.
Yes I have been running up them, late every day for much too long.

Sometimes two at a time,

Sometimes singly,

Sometimes not running at all but carefully,

wearily,

plodding my way to class.

But that only when I was on time.

Which was rarely.
Today we met for maybe the last time.

And I won.

Goodbye suffocating steps.
I will miss you.

Maybe.

What I'm about to complain about well probably seem trivial to you. But I don't care. I. Am. Livid. Tonight I got home after waliking around in the rain and after putting on some clean warm clothes, I thought, "now I'll watch a movie and whiten my teeth and it will be awesome." Exactly those words. To myself. In my head. So I go, pull out my whitening trays, and go to look for the rest of my tooth whitening system that I got from my dentist that cost several hundred dollars. Where was it? NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. Not after I pulled everything out of the fridge (where it had been stored). And every other cabinet (even if I had found it in one of them it would have been useless to me. Because it needs to be refrigerated. Obviously). And this means that the last person who cleaned out the fridge threw it away. Now, a tooth whitening system is not that important. I am the first and firmest person to admit that. But the cost IS important. Do I have that much money to throw down on a replacement? NO. OF COURSE I DON'T. The other, and the main reason this upsets me so much is that it is indicative of a blatant disrespect for anything that does not belong to YOU. If it isn't yours, don't touch it. That was simple. Wasn't it? If you have to touch it, put it back exactly where you found. Or in the general vicinity. Or at least on the same floor, I'm not really that picky. Don't leave other people's things laying around on the floor. SHOW RESPECT. I could not be more angry right now. I basically just lost control in front of Melanie about this because she was sitting downstairs while I was looking and witnessed my anger.

Oh hey [un-named roomate], sorry I took your insulin out of the fridge and stepped on it on accident because it was sitting on the floor. Because that's where I left it. Because it's not mine, so what do I really care what happens to it? So you're out now. Oh what, that was all you had? Oh sorry, you shouldn't have left it sitting in the fridge for so long.

A quick update

In reference to my last post, said sweet polish woman took the family's baby and told th nanny she would take care of it because nanny girl was freaking out. So poland buried the baby in her backyard, but some men came to install some piping in her yard and she tried to stop them but couldn't so they found the baby and arrested her and sentenced her to DEATH! And they wouldn't believe the nanny when she told them the truth, they just thought se was crazed with grief. So that wonderful old lady who only ever wanted to help people DIED because the nanny was to frightened to do the right thing. RIDICULOUS.

A Word of Advice

Lets say you're a nanny in a rich family in London in 1902. Actually, you're not a nanny, you're the nanny's assistant. And the head nanny is crazy go nuts. Lock the kids in their rooms all day, drugs the baby so he won't cry, etc... One night, you wake up and the baby is dead. Really sad. But the head nanny freaks out because she's already had one of the kids die on her watch. So when she goes to tell the family, she doesn't actually tell them, she just babbles a lot of random nonsense, runs back to her room, grabs her stuff and bolts. So you're left with a dead baby, the family doesn't know, and actually the parents are in India, the only family at home is the niece of the parents. So the little boy comes to you and tells you you should bring your baby (because you have one, and he's staying with this Polish lady on the other side of town and your family can't know that you have a baby because...scandal!) and substitute it for the other baby who has now passed on. NOW. That was complicated. But if a 6 year old boy suggested this crazy scheme to you, would you actually do it? NO! Of course not! What in the world was this girl thinking? Ok, now watch Berkeley Square, a British miniseries about nannies in turn of the century London.

And when the really sweet old polish lady tries to talk some sense into you and tells you that you can't just substitute one baby for another, LISTEN TO HER!!!!!! Please.