More about moving.

Don't worry, my plane didn't crash. In fact, I sat next to the nicest people I've ever sat next to on a plane. It was quite refreshing, and ruined the flight home by raising my hopes that this, THIS! could be meeting new people, all sunshine and rainbows and happiness. Instead, the guy next to me was an armrest hog and a man across the aisle from me started to hyperventilate or something and the flight attendants were considering taking our plane off the runway and back to the gate to get him some help. Luckily, he was okay. But still, not the flight I had optimistically looked forward to all weekend.

Not that I was looking forward to leaving. We found a nice apartment, which reduced my general anxiety level by about 40%. There's still 50% left nagging at me about finding a job (and 10% that just never goes away, because I am a worrier), so I may not have anything to do once I get out there, but at least I have someplace to do nothing in. And it has a walk-in closet. I'm pretty sure I looked like a crazy person at every apartment we looked at, because I'd say something about the size of the closets. And everyone would be all, yes, this is what grown ups have, they have closets. Did you miss the gas fireplace, or the tennis court, or the indoor/outdoor pool? Because those are generally the things that excite people.

Oh, moving to a city is going to be quite the experience.

You might say I'm overreacting, and you might be right

I'm sitting in the airport terminal waiting to board my flight to Denver, where I'll be spending the weekend looking for an apartment. All morning I was panicking, wondering if the luggage I checked (most of my winter clothes, which I'll be leaving with a friend) would meet the weight requirements. Or if my carry-on luggage was small enough. Or if the shoes I brought would be comfortable, or would I make it to the airport on time? Also? Every single time I fly, I am sure that I will somehow pack something inexcusably WRONG (tweezers, knitting needles*, hand grenades, etc) in my carry-on and be forced to go through some kind of terrible security screening.

In an attempt to calm myself down, I was telling people all about these worries this morning. And I'd always finish the thought with, "But I'm DEFINITELY not the kind of person who worries about the plane crashing. Not at all. I just worry about getting there and them letting me get on."

But now, after I've said that to half a dozen people today? I'm pretty sure I've jinxed myself. And I'll give you three guesses what I'm worrying about now that I've made it all the way through security.


*Both of these are apparently legal to bring on a plane, but I don't even like to be in a moving vehicle with a pair of metal knitting needles. So I'm suspicious.

Road Trips

A week from tomorrow, I am flying out to Denver for the weekend to go apartment hunting.

Because people? I have a big month ahead of me.

First of all, I'm quitting my job. My last day of work is June 10th, which is approximately 26 days away. I really like what I'm doing right now, and I'll be sad to leave, but I think it's going to be worth it.

The next day, I'm heading to Tennessee with a few friends for Bonnaroo. I even bought a cowboy hat, because I wanted something that would actually shade my whole face and Bonnaroo seems to be the kind of place where you can pull off a cowboy hat (or, um, anything, really).

When I get back from Bonnaroo, I'll be something 6 days and a 20-hour drive away from residence in Denver, Colorado.

This is how it all started:
In December, I got it in my head that I'd make a pretty good librarian. I started looking at Library and Information Science graduate programs, and the University of Denver happened to have one. What luck! As it was a school I'd looked at during my senior year of college for a different program. I'd liked the school a lot, but the program wasn't what I was looking for.

Although I'd missed the application deadline, I thought I'd look back into it in a year and apply to start taking courses in the fall of 2009. I figured I'd move to Colorado as soon as I found out if I was accepted into the program and take it from there.

But in March, between my trip to Colorado Springs and a trip to Cincinnati two weeks later, I somehow came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to just go NOW. And then I had this conversation with my friend Adam:

"I think I'm moving to Denver."

"That sounds awesome. I should go too."

"Okay, well, I think I want to leave in June, so you can come then too."

"Sweet. We can be roommates."

"Yeah, ha ha, okay well I am serious. Let's talk about how much fun Bonnaroo is going to be now."

And then suddenly the two of us were quitting our jobs and buying plane tickets to go look for apartments. I'm still not sure I believe we're doing it. But I'm feeling like June can't get here soon enough.

Novel Ideas #2

We all have such fateful objects--it may be a recurrent landscape in one case, a number in another--carefully chosen by the gods to attract events of special significance for us: here shall John always stumble; there shall Jane's heart always break. - Vladmir Nabokov, Lolita

still here, i promise

Well, the five of you (is five being generous?) who visit on a regular basis, I just think that you are all wonderful people. Dedicated, really. Because how many times in 2008 have I rewarded you with new material? Not very often. I apologize.

I think maybe I just can't write anymore because the writing I do at work is bare-bones, state-the-facts writing. It's not insightful, or funny, or entertaining. It's informative. And no one wants to be informed about my boring life: "Today," I would write, "I had an orange for breakfast." And it was a good orange, but no one really cares. Or perhaps it is because my family would get bored of having me write about them. "Today [this is a true story, btw] my sister confused the word smug with the word smog. I was talking about a person, and she thought I was talking about the weather. Hilarity ensued!" It would probably embarrass her if I told that story, and besides that, it's not even a very good story.

Anyway. There are much, much better things for you to read on the great wide internet, so let me point you to some of them.

• My Twitter feed. I update it way more often than I do here, and I am far more succinct. And, if you use Twitter, please tell me because I have no one to follow, as of yet.
  
• My Google shared items page. I've posted this link before, but I thought I'd remind you about it. I add something new nearly every day. There is good stuff online! Seriously! And I made it easy and found it for you.
• And don't forget, my del.icio.us feed is right over there on the left.
  

I'll have more to talk about soon. Big changes are on the horizon at AEFD headquarters, which will hopefully lead to something more interesting than another lame post of links. Hopefully.