Crystal has returned from her interview at Tufts. They apparently loved her, as they made her an offer last week - full tuition/expenses paid, plus a $28,000 a year stipend. She’s 95% certain that she will accept. I’m 100% certain that I am excited, as I will now have a viable reason to travel East more frequently.

Speaking of traveling East, my boys just announced that they will be playing a string of reunion shows in the NYC/DC area at the beginning of August!!! As this just happens to coincide with Crystal’s planned move to Boston, I will be accompanying her to the coast to help her settle in, then the two of us will hop a train to NYC and party like the Champions we are. These are, of course, only tentative plans at this point, but I promised the gods a cheese sandwich if it happened, so I expect that it will. (What deity could turn down a cheese sandwich, honestly?!)

I will be doing some traveling before that, as my job has decided that they like me enough to send me to San Francisco for a conference in July. I have no idea why they would think this is a good idea. They’ve seen the way I act - let me loose with no supervision in a party town like SF and they’re bound to be paying bail by the end of it. Melissa and Mary will be accompanying me (yayz!), so I’m hoping they will keep me in line. And make sure that I don’t take any pills that will be freely offered to me whilst walking down the street. (The green ones with the smiley face are particularly tasty, I hear.)

Speaking of drugz, this Psyc class is turning me into the most gigantic dork ever. The last chapter I studied was about the inner workings of the brain: parts of the brain, neurons, hormones, neurotransmitters, etc. Crystal and I were discussing the subject one evening, and she pointed me to this website, where I proceeded to spend an entire hour in a knowledge-induced trance. (Most of that hour, however, I spent watching the mouse on Ecstasy dancing. He was mesmerizing. Perhaps he was the cause of my trance, even.) I put all those mice into the machine several times to see how the drugz were affecting their brainz, and I squeed every single time just because I knew what “synaptic vesicles” and “dopamine receptors” were. The next day I showed it to everyone at work, which prompted Melissa to declare, “No one ever give her a textbook again, ever.” Probably for the best, tbh.

I dunno what happened to me. Six months ago, I would’ve never thought that a month into the new year, I would’ve ended up keeping all of my resolutions. Especially when said resolutions included a) not smoking, and b) going to the gym. Yet - amazingly - I haven’t had a cigarette in 4 weeks, and I’ve gone to the rec four times every week for the past month. I’ve also cut my social circle in half, which has only served to make me feel more stable and comfortable with myself. I’ve decided that I’m taking this entire year to sort of… be me. I feel like I’m really starting to discover who I really am, and it’s awesome. I feel really good about myself right now, which is the exact opposite of how I felt six months ago.

Dude, I don’t even need drugs! This is all natural, yo. Rad.

I’ve been super-amazingly-busy lately. I’m taking a class this semester (Intro to Psychology) to kinda get me back into “academic-mode.” I know that it’s an introductory Psych course and really super simple, but it’s also incredibly interesting (I’m starting to take a bunch of classes that I had always been interested in but could never fit into my schedule when I was still an undergrad; this is the first of a few ’social science’ classes I plan to take). It reminds me of something I was once told about Psychology majors: “They only major in Psych because they’re completely mental and want to figure out why.” I’m beginning to think that’s true. o_O

Crystal is going to Boston next weekend for a grad school interview at Tufts University, then later this month she’ll be spending a week in Seattle and Washington D.C. for interviews at University of Washington and Johns Hopkins. Between her grad school preparations and working at Grad Studies at UNL, I’ve been feeling the itch to get back into it. I’d love to get my Master’s Degree right now, especially since, as a University employee, I don’t have to pay for tuition. I’ve been thinking that I might get an MA in History (Modern Europe), just because I can get it for free if I do it now, but I’d really just like to pack up and move somewhere that has a program in East European/Russian Studies and not waste my time on a degree that I don’t really want. I wish UNL had a program that I was remotely interested in… maybe my newfound love of the social sciences will prompt me to get a degree in Psychology, Sociology, or Anthropology. I dunno. Too early to tell, I guess. Really, I just want a change of scenery. I’m suffering from ‘wanderlust’ at the moment.

B requested political commentary. I haven’t been following the race just yet (I’m registered as an Independent, so I can’t vote in the primaries), but I’ll most definitely end up voting Democrat. I’d love to see Hillary in office because she’s a woman, but I like Obama - he just seems like an awesome dude. I know for certain we need to get away from these crazy Republicans who keep trying to turn us into a nation of Jesus-freaks. (Bush and Huckabee, I’m talking to you.) Andlettehgheysmarryandhavebabiezplzkthnx.

Working on a new layout. I need inspiration. Think I may have found it in this clip from Torchwood. Jack/Ianto snog FTW!!

So very glad that the holidays have come and gone. Christmas and New Year’s always stress me out and make me super-anxious. Won’t complain about the time off, though - it’s been so lovely not having to go to work for the past week and a half. Back tomorrow, to piles of files and mail and emails. Seems we may be quite busy at work for some time to come.

All day, I’ve felt like I had a thousand things to do, but I couldn’t really bring myself to do anything but sit on the couch and watch tv. Not a very productive start to the new year, really.

I’ve made quite a list of resolutions this year, more than I’ve ever had before. They include the usual (quit smoking, lose weight, etc.) and the slightly unusual (start using coupons when I shop… yeah, seriously). All of them are basically just a way for me to become more responsible. (Oh, the horror. That word has always scared me.) Encourage myself to make better decisions and take care of me, both physically and emotionally. I guess I’m trying to become a more well-rounded, independent person at this point. Something I feel that I haven’t been for quite a while (if ever, really).

I know that it’s gonna take some time, and as much as I would like to just like to snap my fingers and be a grown up, it won’t happen that way. So, I’ve created my own 12-Step Program to Adulthood. Step 1 has been accomplished, as I have effectively managed to cut out all the “friends” in my life who really don’t give a shit about me. While I thought I would be lonelier without them, I’ve actually found that I now have more time to do the kind of things that I enjoy doing and hang out with the people who actually matter. It’s kinda wonderful.

Step 2 shall commence this weekend… when I start to organize my finances and plan a budget for the next couple months. I’ve started a savings account in hopes of possibly buying a new car at the end of the year (barring a complete breakdown of the car I currently own, I should be able to do this). I’m going to stop over-indulging and making frivolous purchases - basically, I’ll just avoid going into Best Buy for the next year, and that should take care of that little problem entirely. And, I think I will try my hand at a Finance class and attempt to find out where I put those few thousand dollars of my 401k last year. They’re in a bank somewhere… I think. o_O

This post has been kind of cathartic, in a way. And pretty… heavy. (Sorry. Blame my hangover.)

Have I mentioned that I love working for the University? ‘Cause I have the next ten days off. No work for ten glorious days. It is fan-fucking-tastic.

The downside to ten glorious days off - we’re gonna be swamped by applications and transcripts and purpose statements and recommendation letters when we go back on the 2nd. But I’m trying not to think that far ahead.

Crystal gradumatated this morning. She’s all edumacated, and stuff. Watching her get her diplomas kinda made me wish I had walked when I graduated. (Couldn’t be bothered - 9am is too early to be awake on a Saturday morning after you’ve just taken the last final of your undergraduate college career and gotten trashed the night before. Honestly.) I was so proud of her, though. Two bachelor’s degrees in two very hard disciplines (Biochemistry and Biomedical Systems Engineering - she’s totally nuts), cum laude, and all. I think I was most upset because it means that she’s actually leaving. Next fall she’ll be moving halfway across the country to go to grad school, and she’ll end up being all successful and stuff and I’ll still be here being lazy and unproductive. The thought made me tear up a bit. I’m also PMS-ing, which prolly had something to do with the unexpected waterworks.

Mila is really pushing me to study the Russian and go back to school. And I really, very muchly want to, but not so soon. I’ve always thought it would be something that would happen a couple years down the line, but Mila wants me to start sitting in on her grad level courses in Methodology and registering for independent study Russian courses… I planned to take it slowly, but she wants me to do it now. And I’d really like to do it now, too, because I feel like I’ve been resting on my laurels for far too long. I’m scared. Mostly of failure, I suppose. I got a way to go. A long way to go. But I just wanna stroll there, not sprint, y’know?

Randomosity: I have totally become addicted to Facebook as of late. I have succumbed!!! WTF is wrong with me?!?!?

OMG. Done with the GRE, and it feels fantastic. All that studying paid off - I did really well. Better than I wanted to do, even. Now, I have to find programs and apply. And figure out a timetable. At some point I need to come up with a plan. I’m thinking either Toronto or Edinburgh. Even though they don’t have the program that I want at Edinburgh… I could still fulfill my lifelong dream of living in a country full of men in skirts.

Also need to practice my Russian. It’s sucking pretty hard right now. Five years of not using the language has taken it’s toll, unfortunately. And I’m never going to make it into a grad program unless my Russian is up to par. Must get to work on that.

Work is going unbelievably well. I really enjoy it, which is amazing - I haven’t woken up in the morning actually wanting to go to work for a few years, at least. My co-workers are fantastic and fun and lovely people who really make me feel so great. It’s such an amazing environment. It’s going to be really hard to leave, when I finally go. </work-relatedwank>

I’ve had such an urge to get out of here (read: my current situation) lately. Especially with Crystal graduating and applying to grad school and stuff. She’s so focused. It kinda amazes me. I wish I could get off my lazy ass and do the same. I think that teaching the Russian 101 kids every once in awhile has been a fantastic experience for me, because it motivates me to get the ball rolling on grad school. I want to learn more Russian, and I want to teach it at university level. I want to get my PhD. And most of all - I want to get the fuck out of Lincoln. I’m bored with it. Need a change of scenery. Perhaps a change of country, even.

B, just for you, there will be new pictures coming soon. And a new layout. Once I find the time… maybe in a month? I dunno, I feel so busy right now, but when I actually sit down to do something, there’s really nothing to do. Or else I’m just too lazy to start something. One of my character flaws - I have issues with resolution. I can’t start anything unless I can finish it in one sitting, or within a short amount of time. ADD, maybe? I dunno. I’m strange. O_o

Tomorrow (barring any travel difficulties due to the impending “winter storm” the crazy weathermens are predicting) is Who Saturday. I gave myself an early Christmas pressie (Doctor Who: The Complete Series 2!!), so Erin and I will spend close to 10 hours camped out on the couch in our jimjams watching the lovely Mr. Tennant all day. It will be glorious.