Attack of the Cancerian Nature!

I had every intention of making my next posts a two part series of top ten lists: one of things I miss about New Jersey, another of things I love about Virginia. However, somewhere between arriving at the playhouse for tonight's performance, and unlocking my apartment door, I was pounced upon by an acute case of homesickness that went something like this:
(1) Liz is super jazzed about being here and learning stuff and awesome people and LIFE
(2) Liz is slowly overwhelmed with information and a day of forgetting stuff and being tired
(3) Liz is sad and kind of homesick and it is probably all due to sleepiness and trepidation about the work load that lies ahead but damnit, it is unpleasant and needs to go away!

And thus, it spirals and now I am sitting here eating potato chips, needing a shower, wanting to read every possible thing at once and trying really hard not to cry, which is something I am kind of proud of myself for not having done once yet.

My strange and wide variety of interests has lead me to the area of astrology and I know my sun, sparkling up there in the heavens of Cancer, has a tendancy to cause me to be a home and hearth kind of person. I hate not being comfortable. I hate not having my family (biological and otherwise) around. I hate anything unfamilliar and unknown. I don't really consider myself an adventurous person, though I tend to do ridiculous things that I am almost always thankful I did in the long run. Hopefully this experience falls into the majority.

I am trying to reassure myself that this sick-in-a-daze-close-to-tears grossness will pass by as quickly as it came, and once the work starts and I get my bearings, everything will be peachy keen.

The really good thing is the awesome folks I've met. That helps a lot.
So, if you're reading, and you're awesome, thanks for being so awesome.

The Goldfinch Has Landed

I AM FINALLY HERE!

I never thought this day would arrive, but here I am, sitting in my bedroom in the great state of Virginia blogging about being in Virginia. The trip down was mildly excruciating. Onslo's air conditioner broke down about 25 minutes into the journey. 14 hours, three mechanics and a diagnosis of a shot electrical board later, we arrived - sweaty, exhausted and disgruntled with a still busted AC. So, Onslo will have to go to the doctor tomorrow which will leave me car-less for the upcoming week. Not cool.

Poor sickly Onslo...

Now that I am here, I am getting used to the various establishments that seem to frequent Virginia. I mean, where is Shop Rite? And what do you mean the nearest Chase Bank is in WEST Virginia??? WHERE AM I????????? It is a different world down here. For starters, everybody is super polite and friendly and helpful. After four years in Jersey City I have grown accustomed to getting yelled at, honked at and potentially spit/vomited on at any given moment. Things of that nature do not seem to happen here. Also, there is NO traffic. Really. NONE. It is mind blowing.

My apartment is pretty sweet. My room is so wee, but in a way that makes it endearing. This is only because all of my furniture fit, which was touch and go for a very scary your-bed-is-NOT-going-to-fit-in-this-tiny-space moment. But it does and thus, I am pleased. Getting it all set the way I want it with all my knick knackery has helped make this place feel like home.

And finally...

The view from my bedroom window.

Another extremely important thing to note, if you ever decide to move to Virginia, is the cottage cheese. It is different. Very different. I mean, I love cottage cheese more than most people can probably understand, but any tasteless cottage cheese jokes you've ever heard are based on Virginia cottage cheese... one of the most disgusting things I have seen in a food container to date. That will take some adjusting.

So, I am settling in nicely, feeling things out. Tonight I am going to see Shakespeare-at-Winedale's performance of I Henry IV which is pretty exciting since I have a minor fictional character crush on Falstaff going on. Nothing to speak of, really. By this time next week I will have seen five shows and that makes my heart smile, all gappy toothed and dorktastic.

But now, it is time to shop for party(!) supplies for tomorrow night's housewarming fiesta hosted by yours truly + roomie aaaaaaand get ready for some sweet, sweet Falstaff lovin'.

The Count Down: ONE DAY

I cling to New Jersey. I cling like plastic wrap clings to itself when you're trying to cover a bowl of fruit salad. One day left in Jersey and I feel like the cliched headless chicken, frantically running in circles as my feathers fly everywhere and my time quickly runs out (okay, morbid).

That is all I really have to say about that. There are no fun pictures in this post mostly because I am energy and scanner-less at the moment (but also because I have no desire to draw decapitated poultry). In somewhat terrific news, though, I have purchased a printer/copier/scanner for the low, low price of $30. Muchos gracias Best Buy. So doodle spam to come in the near (gulp!) future.


In completely unrelated conclusion, I throw my hands up in the air sometimes saying, "FUCK YOU TAIO CRUZ". You've sneakily hooked me again with your catchy, dance-in-the-car jams so that I am forced to scan the radio for your latest (p.s. underplayed) song while hating myself for loving you so much. Why, Taio Cruz. WHY?

Listen. Love. Then hate yourself for loving. AUGH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUjdiDeJ0xg&feature=av2e

Being A-Scared

Everybody is afraid of things. The dark, insects, clowns, System of a Down music videos; we're all afraid of something. Me, I am afraid of a few things. Namely stickbugs, stuff that can kill me, helicopters, and failing at things.

As the expanse of my higher-higher education adventure stretches before me, I can't help but feel a little trepidatious about this undertaking. I have visions of myself buried under massive piles of books, becoming so overwhelemed with information that the only step remaining is to steam clean my ravaged brain with cheap, fermented ethanol.This, in turn, causes me to forget all of said information and from there a vicious cycle forms and I become the Ernest Hemingway of Virginia...

And I really hate Ernest Hemingway.

The point is, this impending level of academia is scary and I am not really sure why. But it is definitely scarier than stickbugs.

Side Note: The Going Away Party: It was a good time. And though I will probably see many of the attendees at least once more before I leave, there is never a bad reason to drink good beer out of mugs so large that, when filled with alcohol, they should probably be considered illegal.

My history with parties is a somewhat sordid ordeal generally best left undiscussed. Suffice it to say that I have tended to be the type of person who goes big or doesn't go at all. However, I've gotten markedly more responsible in my post-college years, to the point that when I claim "Hey. I'm taking it easy tonight," 78% of the time I am telling the truth. Last night fell into that 78% bracket and I am pretty darn pleased with myself.

So thank you my dear friends for a lovely night out and thank you self control for allowing me to remember it.

Post, The First

Hello there! Welcome to my blog! I am going to assume you know what you are doing here, so I will skip this blog's fairly obvious reason for existing and cut right to a little bit about ME!

Another thing to note is that I wish I had the super sexy bod of my Stick Figure 2.0 avatar.

In nine days I will be moving from my snuggly home in New Jersey to the scary land of Virginia to begin working on a three year master's program in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance (concentration in directing)**. Never before have the emotions "thrill" and "terror" comingled so violently within my being, but alas time ticks away and it is almost time to put on my big girl panties and deal with it (as a very wise friend often advises me).

As this space progresses, I am hoping to fill it with little illustrations to help document my journey through higher, higher education and all the hilarity that I am sure will ensue (those Elizabethans were such a gas).

However, tonight I am off to a party; a GOING AWAY PARTY. Obviously for myself. I can't think of a much sadder reason for having a party (aside from those parties they throw after funerals that are more like awkward lunches) but a good time is certainly anticipated.

Until next time...

**I have no idea what I will do with this degree so don't ask. No, I do not plan on eating properly, owning property, or feeling like a financial Rock of Gibralter any time soon.