9/16/06 - How I spent game day, or, GO DAWGS!!!

September 16, 2006 - Saturday

4:04 PM - How I spent game day, or, GO DAWGS!!! This morning I awoke at the ungodly hour of 7:39 AM, feeling somewhat lively and moderately refreshed. I had fallen asleep around 1 and, for one of the only times in the last few months, didn't wake up again at any point during the night. No text messages, no phone calls, no parties next door to bug me, etc., etc. This is not to say that I am bothered by the fact that my sleep schedule is usually very, um, nontraditional. It's just of interest--to me, at the very least--that I slept somewhat normally. Of course I didn't stay awake. I thought to myself, "Wow, self. You could get out of bed, walk to Big City Bread, get a biscuit and coffee, and read your book. Or you could just take a long walk. Or you could just get up and see how the other half lives, the half that wakes up around this time instead of going to bed at this time." But instead, ol' Self fell back asleep to a not-so-pleasant treat of restless dreams. The dreams were thinly masked messages or representations of already-present fears and situations, though, so perhaps they were useful: they, in fact, reminded me that I needed to call back my sister. That I had to be a little more proactive on the money-making front. That, of all things, I had to do the dishes (ick). Unfortunately, the dream that most stuck was, not surprisingly, the one I had right as I was waking up again around 11 AM: my sister's ex, recently diagnosed with terminal cancer (in the DREAM, folks!!), was wandering around a big country house and merely glanced at me before turning and walking away. It was, perhaps, one of the saddest moments I've encountered in a dream of late: seeing someone I love very much but can't find it in my heart to forgive, someone who was a part of my family who, at least in this dream world, had very little time left to live but couldn't find the words to even greet me, nor I her. The feeling I was left with is one I've not been able to completely shake all day. Luckily, other emotions have taken over, for the most part. I finished one really wonderful book last night, Anna Quindlen's newest novel (as purchased for me by Liz Lawson): _Rise & Shine_ comes highly recommended. Now I'm reading Adam Langer's _Crossing California_. Only fifty pages in but am already quite pleased. Onto some letter writing and locust-listening. I've been blasting my newest emusic.com purchases (bought another album by The National!) and only just realized that the outdoor sounds are much more fitting to my mood. Goodbye for now. Go Dawgs. I shall continue avoiding the downtown area until the red & black parade clears out. If that makes me a bad dawg (grosssss--cue a groan from Liz & giggle from J. Hart, if all goes well), then so be it. 1 Comment

Joe

Game days in Athens...make me think of the throw-up spot on a sidewalk near the UGA dorms. It appeared one September morning...and then NEVER LEFT. A perfect circle seared permanently into the pavement. You can go see it even now, I guarantee it. As for headaches...Janet, I love ya, but the color scheme on your blog gives me one. Posted by Joe on September 17, 2006 - Sunday at 7:42 AM

2/13/06 - sweet relief

February 13, 2006 - Monday

2:13 PM - sweet relief For the first time in a long while, I made myself finish a book that wasn't all too thrilling for me. Usually I feel a slight sense of regret when I realize I'm on the last chapter of a novel--I'm caught in between the desire to quickly find out how the story will wrap up and the poor attempts I make to read more slowly than usual to make it all last a bit longer. I read Jane Smiley's Good Faith, a novel about early 80s financial ventures and real estate goings-on, complete with a smattering of illicit affairs and funny little moments. Unfortunately, I don't much care for financial talk. For some reason, I stubbornly made myself finish this book, which resulted in my spending many more nights reading it than I usually take to read a book. I need a really, really great book next to make me feel better about my time management. Maybe I'll set my sites on school work and get back to the novels later... Or not.

1/23/06 - book club? no thanks.

January 23, 2006 - Monday

5:47 PM - book club? no thanks. My eyes can't help but widen in anticipation when I see an ad for a book club in spite of two key things: 1. I don't want to be in a book club. 2. Being in a book club consisting of anything more than talking with key friends (Brooke, Nancy,my sister, & Tamara, for instance) about recommendations sounds like too much to handle. All the same, I perked up and, within 2 milliseconds, knew this book club wasn't for me. Here's the key excerpt from the ad: "Our club don't have any sort of theme." The end. Currently reading : Mother of Pearl (Oprah's Book Club) By Melinda Haynes Release date: 01 June, 2000

12/13/05 - "The Crying Game," or, "Tears for Fears"

December 13, 2005 - Tuesday

2:46 PM - "The Crying Game," or, "Tears for Fears" Those of you who know me well are aware of the fact that I have days when everything makes me cry, or at least react in some overly emotional way. Siobhan might remember the time we watched the TBS Earth to America special ("Tickle your balls for an anti-inflammatory..."), which made me cry from laughing so hard--then, 10 minutes later, I started crying for an hour solid during the weekly showing of Grey's Anatomy. Anyway, today is another one of those days. I thought I'd make a list of... Things That Have Made Me Cry Today, and it's Only 2:45 P.M. 1. Talib Kweli's "Black Girl Pain" 2. Two cute older ladies having a conversationless but sweet meal together at Chick-fil-A. After not talking for about 20 minutes, one said, "Well, I reckon we should go." The other lady replied, "This was nice." Then they left. 3. Many, many sections of Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune, most notably the description of the reunion of two old friends and a long narrative about the lives of young Chinese prostitutes during the California gold rush days. Sounds nearly comical written like that, but it made me shed a tear into my waffle fries. 4. A bumper sticker on a banged-up white Accord that had the all-too-common "MARRIAGE = Man + Woman," except instead of the words for "man" and "woman" there were stick figures. Hateful bumper stickers really do top the list of Unnecessarily Cruel Statements that Make Me Sad. 5. An outline of the church steeple on Pope St. against the blue sky. 6. Thinking of how great my life is right now. 7. Just reminiscing about how much I cried during the aforementioned Grey's Anatomy episode, to the amusement and thinly veiled concern of dear Siobhan. 8. Wondering what Perry will do if I kick him out of my bed in order to entertain others during holiday break was enough to make me consider celibacy for the rest of my life. Having a few days of spooning with Perry might be worth giving up action from hot boys. That is, hot boys who are straight (or who can at least put on a good act when they're with me...) Well, I guess I've not cried as much as I thought, only 8 times in 5 hours. Nevermind, I'm not overly emotional AT ALL. Currently watching : Big Fish Release date: By 27 April, 2004 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

carter

Things that made me cry today: 1. An 8 minute skit of Mulan performed by some of the students at the school where I teach. No kidding, I had to fight back the tears. 2. The freezing cold wind as it hit my unprepared eyeballs this morning on my walk to the taxi stand. 3. How I felt when I told my students that my little sister could probably go to MIT because she scored so well on the SAT, but that she wants to go to UGA where the rest of her family went to college. 4. How I feel about neglecting myspace, and seeing that I only have 3 friends: Janet, the guy who works at myspace, and Knut who never posted a picture and probably only signed on just to see if I am alive in China. 5. Looking at the time and realizing that if I fell asleep this instant I would get 8 hours of sleep, but I still have a 15 minute walk through sub zero weather to get to my apartment, then I have to floss, brush my teeth, listen to my Mandarin Chinese c.d. before I can go to sleep. 6. What the hell is give 2 Kudos!? Posted by carter on December 14, 2005 - Wednesday at 9:29 AM

words, words, words

Lately I've really been wanting to write. I've had the feeling that if I wrote more frequently (or at all, really--I must admit that my writing habits have screeched to a grinding halt) I'd feel less antsy, less stressed, less aggravated with myself and those around me (sorry, boyfriend).

I'm not claiming to have amazing things to say or prolific thoughts to pour forth from my fingertips. Rather, I need some sort of prettily designed dumping ground for my words and the charming but now-antiquated journal doesn't let me write fast enough. And, let's face it, the writer's cramp sets in faster than ever since I'm so out of practice.


When I was younger and kept a daily (or at least weekly) journal, I became so addicted to writing in it that things felt off-kilter if I missed a chance to write in it. Even if I wrote only a few sentences as I was fighting off sleep, I felt a sense of closure as I ended the day. I miss the feeling of depending on words that way. I do depend on books to get me through. Most recently--as in, a few hours ago--I finished Julia Glass's The Whole World Over, a beautiful and mesmerizing novel I highly recommend to each and every one of you, whoever you may be.

In the later years of high school and first few years of college, I was so caught up with assigned readings for school and my social life that I didn't make time for pleasure reading. At first I actively missed my novel-reading time, wondering what adventures were being had that I wasn't a part of now that I had to read for school. Granted, I was an English major at school and therefore got to read many things I would've wanted to read anyhow. In January of 2001, I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina with a group of relative strangers for one of my university's study abroad programs. NYU in Buenos Aires had around fifty students that semester, and I knew maybe two kids by name. Within a week or so, I became casual friends with a few. After a month, we were very close and had begun trading around our most precious commodity, something very hard to find in Buenos Aires--something that, if found, would cost a fortune: English-language books. I read Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series, enjoying every moment of the soap operatic adventures of the crazily intertwined characters. I read Tom Wolfe and guide books to Brazil and anything I could get my hands on. A combination of a light class load and books suddenly becoming a rare treasure restored unto me a sense of wonder. Books were amazing!!

When I returned to New York the next semester, I vowed to myself that I would no longer forgo the pleasures of reading. Each evening I would complete my homework so that I could reward myself with free reading. And the plan worked! Since then, I've returned to my pre-high school status of bookworm. I can't get enough. For those of you unfamiliar with the newest social networking sites centered around literature, I encourage you to visit my favorite, www.goodreads.com. Shelfari.com is another good one, I hear, but goodreads.com seems to me better organized and prettier.

I want to write. Or at least I think I do. But I need to get in gear. I need to become more disciplined. At this point--and at almost any point--in my life, it takes a deadline to force me into doing something. I'm hoping that I will be able to keep up with my goal of writing by first making a habit of writing a blog entry every day. Think I can do it?

Do you dare me?

I just hope someone tells me I can't do it. Maybe then I'll have someone to prove wrong.

I'm going to post a bunch of blog entries from my other, infrequently maintained myspace blog. Since my myspace page is listed as private, friends who don't have a myspace account don't get to look at it.

Wish me luck.
-Janet