Post by brittanydyan
May 25, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Will and I are enjoying an incredibly relaxing Memorial Day in Thomaston. We arrived here yesterday afternoon after a morning trip to Athens where we dined at the Grit and swung by Winterville to chat it up with Will’s Mama Marge. Upon our arrival in T-town (as they like to call it), we headed over to little Hayden Salley’s first birthday party.
To our satisfaction, we found her elbow-deep in cake when we walked through the door. Apparently she hesitated at first but soon discovered her love for the good stuff. We also had the pleasure of meeting Sydney for the first time. She was sweet and let Will and I both hold her for a while. Besides the birthday celebration, it was also a great time for us to catch up with friends who we don’t get to see nearly enough.
Prior to our Thomaston visit, we spent a few days in Lawrenceville preparing for Monica’s wedding. I arrived in Atlanta Thursday morning after a very long train ride from Washington DC. Many people have asked if I liked the trip, and I’d have to give it a grade of B- . While it was nice to travel with zero anxiety, I did have trouble getting comfortable and staying asleep. I expected to be much more sore the day after considering all of the many positions I fit my body in order to “lay down” across two seats. I would gladly take the train again if I were traveling a shorter distance, but I’m may just have to suck it up and submit to the 2 hours of anxiety for a plane ride. Why can’t I get over it?! Perhaps a trip to Zambia in the spring will cure me of that annoying tendency.
I spent much of Thursday, Friday and Saturday with Monica and friends getting ready for the wedding. Will flew in on Friday afternoon and met up with me for the rehearsal dinner and wedding but did his own thing in between. We had a nice time celebrating with Monica and Jim and know they are having a fantastic time in St. Lucia.
That’s the report from Part 1 of the trip home. We will spend another day in Thomaston before Will flies out tomorrow night. Sadly (but fortunately), he has a real job where he must put in some time. I will then enjoy some time with my parents and round out the trip with Heather’s wedding festivities in Atlanta. Updates to come. For now, here are some pictures.
Post by Will
May 19, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Reading is not fun. At least, it has not been for me in the past couple of years. But, I already wrote about that a few months ago.
To summarize, I got caught up in reading a little Michael Pollan and David Sedaris. From there, after years of begging and pleading, I gave in and polished off the entire Harry Potter Series in a mere month and a half. Mind you, I did not do any of this on the commute to work (yes, it was a matter of pride).
So what next? I saw that there was an iPod app called Classics which offers a large assortment of first-rate, traditional literature – some I have already read (some in simplified, reinterpreted children’s form). So, I figured, what better way to pass the time than to catch up on time-honored tomes I should have read yesterday.
Thus far, I have traversed through four books and I wanted to share my opinions on them here in 15 words.
20,ooo Leagues Under the Sea
Author: Jules Verne
Published: 1870
Submarine hijinks. Monotonous fish lists. Had to skip some pages. Can’t believe there’s a sequel.
The Jungle Book
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Published: 1894
Where’s the singing and dancing? Rikki-Tikki-Tavi shares the bill. Way too much verse.
Alice in Wonderland
Author: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Published: 1865
Am I too serious to enjoy the humor and good nature of the tale? Yes.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Author: Samuel Clemons
Published: 1884
Everyone is a moron. Liberal use of “N” word on the train made me uncomfortable.
In conclusion, I have yet to completely enjoy any of the books through and through. I am currently reading H.G. Well’s The Time Machine which has started out strong (I’m skeptical though on how long it will hold my attention). I think I have found many of the books to be too descriptive or full of asides that tend to make me lose interest in a hurry. I guess this could be profound commentary on how our society has placed its attention on 140 characters or less, where we prefer constant, brief updates on really, the mundane things about our day rather than highly detailed, well written tales. So, instead of a classic piece of work appreciating value, it really ends up losing its worth as we (the potential audience) try to meet the demands of our break-neck culture.
Another point I think is true is that the breadth of our “reality” has expanded to where these stories are not unbelievable to the point where they completely capture our imagination and interest. There is so much out there on television, the intertubes, in music, and the silverscreen where you really have to create something so incredible and even a tad incredulous for it to deserve attention (not to mention the execution has to be flawless).
Post by brittanydyan
May 16, 2009 at 7:20 pm
As of yesterday at 9am, I completed class requirements for spring 2009. With an unassuming start, this semester turned into one terribly busy time. Juggling class stuff with the lead up to the conference was tough, and the last two weeks were particularly unnerving.
There’s always a point when I wonder if I will get everything done. Am I willing to put in the time to get it all done? I am not a very fast-paced person. I love to pace myself when possible. I pace myself when I run. I paced myself when I swam. I’m not usually in a hurry. I like to be very prepared and get things done well-ahead of time. Graduate school has challenged this side of me and pushed me to uncomfortable places, like working up to deadlines.
People might say: well, you knew what you were getting into. With two years down, I can confidently say that I had no idea what I was getting into. I’m glad I’m here, and on the whole, it’s fun. But, there are those two-week periods during a semester when other careers seem plausible.
Well, the two-week horrendous period is over–and I’m sure Will is just as happy as I am. I salute him as the best husband for the graduate student spouse job. He has been very patient and let me work in the evenings with little complaint (much Wii playing was accomplished). AND, he cleaned the entire apartment all by himself last weekend. We usually split up the work, but he offered to do it all, knowing that it would take a load off my mind.
So, we have been enjoying a relatively stress free weekend. Last night, we watched “Vote for Me,” a documentary on Chinese third graders who learn about democracy through the election of their class monitor. It’s a short film, but it’s really quite good. Some of these kids have never heard of democracy, but it’s uncanny how many aspects of their class election look very much like our own American elections.
Today I went shopping for the first time in many months. I still had birthday money to spend. Remember when a couple hundred dollars used to go a lot further? Well, despite my lack of funds, I found some nice summer items. Then Will and I picked up our pre-racing dinner at Chipotle. We are running the Capitol Hill Classis 10K tomorrow morning and probably in the rain. This is our first race since December, and we’ve only be actively training since March. I think we’re both hoping to finish with times similar to those in December. No bests expected.
Looking forward to Thomas Sweet again tomorrow! It’s the best ice cream I’ve found in the city. I’m in love.
