Well, my computer is being recalcitrant again and not
connecting to this coffeeshop’s internet. I find this vaguely funny,
considering I set up the router in my new apartment not three hours ago. However,
I do not possess the appliances (or skill set) to whip up a mocha in
my apartment, so the trip was worth it.*
As you might have gathered, I just moved. I’m starting grad
school this fall in Dallas, which is the only major city in Texas in which I
have not previously lived. It’s been a crazy summer. So far, I’ve put 5,000
miles on my car, played two Ultimate tournaments, shot a lot of .9, had a record number of good conversations, survived a near-miss with electrocution,** and fished a segment of
utility knife out of my disposal.***
Ha! There you are, internet!****
I did have a point behind all that rambling. It's been a rollercoaster summer with all kinds of terrific days and stupid mishaps. Some days were so unexpectedly terrific I felt like I had an aureole of happiness sort of emanating from my person.***** Other days involved things going wrong that were so simple I didn't think they could have gone wrong.******
It was a lot easier to trust God on those good days, the days where the sun shone and I all but skipped along with Disney bluebirds chirping around my head. I felt like trusting and believing. Those other days with headaches and sleep deprivation entailed a lot more choice. I may not have felt like trusting or believing, but faith has no purchase in feeling. Sometimes we just have to suck it up and plow through and know things will turn out how they're supposed to, even if we don't exactly understand the end game.
I realize this is something that's been said/shared/written about a million times over, but that's been my last week. How has yours been?
Edit: I'm not sure about the clientele here. The barista is currently explaining the very basics of Lord of the Rings to a vacantly giggling customer, because she's heard of The Hobbit movie and has no idea what it's about. Not to mention the chick wearing a transparent lace top over nothing but a bra or the other girl in gratuitously short shorts and heels. I realize I drift toward intellectual snobbery at times, but where do these people come from, and will you join me in a period of collective mourning for society?
Then again, this chair is really comfortable, the mocha was superb, and cute-guy-in-the-button-up looks a bit like Tahmoh Penikett, so I'm okay with that. I would come back here.
Oh, good, I did get a nice nerd reference in there. I was worried for a moment I was slacking off.
Then again, this chair is really comfortable, the mocha was superb, and cute-guy-in-the-button-up looks a bit like Tahmoh Penikett, so I'm okay with that. I would come back here.
Oh, good, I did get a nice nerd reference in there. I was worried for a moment I was slacking off.
*What cracks me up is the magazine clipping by the register. It was clearly written by someone older with little grasp of popular technology, because the article mentions "a lot of twenty-somethings absorbed in their Dells." I see a lot of glowing half-bitten apples. I feel like a PC pariah.
**This occurring five minutes after I signed my lease, of
course. Sadly, as things popped, and sparks flew from the dryer cord, and I backpedaled away, all I
could think of was this: http://xkcd.com/616/.
***Seriously, who with three firing neurons drops crap like
that down someone’s disposal?
****Thank you, cute guy in the button-up for providing the
password. You win.
*****It's a sort of warm, peach-colored light.
******I'm looking at you, dryer cord, you wretch.
For me, it's actually easier to have faith when everything is just so wrong because then I have to believe that things will get better. When things are great? They can only go downhill, you know? (Don't ask me what exactly I have faith in. I'm not really sure at the moment.)
ReplyDeleteMy last week...I've been procrastinating on researching grad schools and reaching out to professors to get opinions on grad schools. I've done a whole lot of journalling and realized that I need to worldbuild for my novel. But definitely nothing very exciting. Oh, and I spilled water on my computer, and now the track pad is dead, and it's terrible because guess where I use my computer the most? On my bed. Guess what likes a really flat surface to work properly? The wireless mouse. Oh, and I got a new cellphone. Her name is Marion, and she's supposedly smart (although sometimes I have doubts). But I never came in danger of death, so that's a plus. At least, I don't think I ever came in danger of death....I can't remember.
I will join you in your mourning. I mourn society on a daily - and sometimes hourly - basis. Although I don't think my grandmother really knows what The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit is about either. Or even my parents, to some extent. Have I lately bemoaned the lack of geeks in my real life? I mean, I guess my family's geeky - we've got the love of science and whatnot - but I question their understanding of pop culture, which seems to be a necessity to be a geek in today's internet-centered world, you know? (Not that I'm a pop culture genius or anything, but I'm not ignorant.)
Three cheers for nerd references. They keep me sane.
I have a PC. Will probably never get a Mac. The only Apple product in our house is my father's iPad, but then, it's probably the best tablet to get.
I actually agree with Anilee a re: faith. Although, I guess it's just any extreme. Extreme highs and extreme lows. The in between phases are when it gets harder, somehow.
ReplyDeleteMy past week has been...company (a first-time meet up with my oldest internet friend, which was...interesting), play rehearsals, and...that's about it. Oh, but I'm seeing The Dark Knight Rises today, finally! I'm excited about that.
And I've been reading a lot of Joan Didion, and writing, with a dusting of meditating.
I hope your move went smoothly, and that you like your new place, and everything.
Long. Really long. So long I don't have energy to write more here.
ReplyDeleteBut good. :)
@Erin: I think it's because with the in-between moments, you don't feel much of anything. Everything just kind of happens, and it's not bad (so you don't need to believe that things will get better) and it's not good (so you're not needing to marvel or be thankful). It's just bleh, and blehness does not inspire faith.
ReplyDeleteBlehness inspires complacency, I think. That's dangerous because complacency doesn't hit you like being intensely joyful or depressed. It sings a siren song until you're drowsy and unaware. (I'm running on sleep deprivation and a bad weekend, so I'm just hoping all this makes sense).
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen TDKR yet. I was loading a U-haul the day it came out, and had to turn down invitations from three different groups of people (good groups, too) to go see it. I've heard good things. Notably, haven't heard bad things about Anne Hathaway, which is terrific. I was skeptical.
Have I mentioned how appreciative I am of you people? You're pretty awesome.
It makes sense. I pretty much hate complacency. Maybe because I'm too complacent too often, and it's just too ordinary, you know? Like everyone else is complacent - because it's easy - but I don't want to be like everyone else. And I'm just going to go make myself go crazy thinking about this, so I won't.
ReplyDeleteYou're pretty awesome too, and I'm glad that you're back to blogging.
Me? Spend too much time on the internet? too quickly Never!