Things I Love Thursday

Hello friends!

Another long absence, my apologies. I truly regret the amount of time that passes between posts but it's because of my process. I can usually only write when I am spending a quiet evening in my room and a pensive mood strikes. Quite simply, though there is an abundance of the latter, there has been an enormous lack of the former. If I am not at work, I am in the library or the common room and my pensive moods are usually employed to working on one of my numerous research papers. Tonight marks the end of another semester and with no papers to write or finals to study for, I have a rare stretch of free time. And so, alas, here we are!

In such busy, troubling times as these, it's important that we take time to appreciate the little things that bring us comfort and joy. A blog I've recently discovered practices this, with posts entitled "Things I Love Thursdays". I'm not trying to steal her thunder or be a copy cat, but I'd like to do it too, to help myself in the daily struggle to choose happiness. So here we go.

(1) Blankets - There is nothing quite like the cozy softness of an afghan, quilt, throw, or comforter. The best are the handmade ones, the ones with history. It's one of my weirder interests but I adore blankets. There's the fleece blanket I bought for camping, the throw I got to decorate my first dorm room with, and the double-sided blanket my sister made for my birthday. They are so useful; handy for picnics, Sunday naps, extra bedding for a sleepover, constructing forts, and in a pinch, superhero capes. If there was an opening in the position of National Blanket Spokesperson, I would be first in line. If everyone conducted their daily business wrapped in a blanket, the world would be a lot more relaxed. And take more naps.

(2) Excessively long lunches with friends - This started last year with one of my very good friends whom I have no classes with and don't see very often. Every Thurday possible at 12:30 we meet at Oasis to eat lunch and catch up. She has a chicken caesar wrap and a banana. I have the Zanzibar sandwich and an apple. And then we talk and laugh for hours, or until one of us has to go class. Today was exceptional, she brought her husband and since none of us had class, we were there for three hours. It was absolutely my favorite part of this week.

(3) This blog - Whenever I find myself unduly stressed or cranky about my life, I find my way to this page and remind myself to be thankful for what I have and who I am. The experience of this girl and those close to her has been of Brobdingnagian proportions. It is a storm that none should have to weather but they are doing it with prayer and thanksgiving. The tenacity, strength, and faith that all have displayed has been both humbling and inspiring.

(4)Piano music - For all the artists and styles in the world, there is nothing quite like the beauty and simplicity of a song played well on a piano. It is so relaxing to close your eyes and drift along the stream of the melody. There are no need for lyrics or fancy production tricks. The best music is thought-provoking, rich, and full of heart. I enjoy the classics immensely (Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Schubert) but am recently favoring the stylings of modern composers. Songs to check out (can be found on Youtube or iTunes):

• "Breathe" by Greg Maroney

• "Before Dawn" by Isaac Shepherd
• The entire "December" album by George Winston. I particularly enjoy his arrangement of "Carol of the Bells"
• "Divenire" or "Fly" Ludovico Einaudi (his piano is often accompanied by strings but no less beautiful than the others)
  

(5) Blank note and thank you cards - Of all the silly things to collect, I love boxed sets of these. When I was younger, both of my grandmothers used to give me a set for what seemed like every birthday. I have entire storage bin in my closet at home, full of stationary, notecards and envelopes with my initial embossed on them, decorated with flowers, or Monet paintings. I have enough stationary to last a lifetime, yet I continue to pick up little gems like this at Marshall's, Target, or Papyrus:

Nothing quite says "thank you" as heartily as a gold embossed peacock on sturdy textured cardstock, tied with a saffron ribbon. A sentiment expressed like that deserves a card of similar quality that says "you're welcome" on the front. I have yet to find such a card, though it is not for lack of trying.

That's enough for this Thursday. What makes you happy?

Sleep chanting and other nonsense

"Greeeeetings malefactors. I am here to destroy your ship." -Spencer quote of the month

As promised, I'm writing because finals are over and I've moved back home for the summer. Finals weren't too terrible. On Sunday night before exams, there was a three to four hour period of which I have no recollection.  I was in the middle of working on a paper Sunday afternoon when a crisis at work occurred. I lost a good three hours of paper-writing time dealing with that so it threw everything off.  I remember leaving the library at 2 a.m. when it closed, going back to my dorm and writing for about two hours in the living room and then finding myself sitting in my bed around 7 a.m.  I don't remember what happened in between, I'm not even sure how I got up to my room.  I could have roamed the streets, started a fire, picked a fight with the homeless man who sits on the ivy wall, anything.  Thankfully my subconscious has some sense and none of these happened. 

Which reminds me of  a story.  I was still living with Catherine this past year but she went to the UK for the spring semester so I got a random roommate for the rest of the time.  I was nervous about living with a stranger but she ended up being really cool.  Her name is Charisse and she was a freshman but we got on quite well.  Because we both had some unfortunate experiences with roommates in the past (hers more recently), we were straight with each other about how things were going to be. She's got a great sense of humor, always showing me a funny video on Youtube or telling a story about her crazy friends.  

Anyway, no matter how smooth things are, it is always awkward (in the beginning) living in such close quarters with someone you hardly know.  Since I have a history of occasionally saying really weird things while I sleep, I was really nervous that this habit would reappear and freak Charisse out.  After a year and a half, Catherine was used to the odd things that I sometimes spouted in the night, which included (I kid you not) a shouting match in mangled French and a recipe for soup.  

Well, I was able to keep this quirk under wraps for some time because I would usually go to bed before Charisse. As the semester wore on, however, she began to stay up later and later so eventually our bedtimes reversed.  One such night I was having this vivid dream about an older woman who I was convinced was my grandmother walking alongside a busy street.  Suddenly she darted out into traffic.  In a state of panic, I shouted "GRANDMA!" because I was too far away to pull her back.  I woke with a start, not sure if I had shouted that out loud or not.  I fell back asleep and forgot about it until the next afternoon.  Charisse and I were sitting at our desks when I suddenly remembered. I said "Charisse, I may or may not have screamed in my sleep last night because I was having this dream about a grandma and, well, I think I shouted out loud because I woke myself up." Charisse started laughing and said, "YEAH you did! I woke up when you shouted something like 'ANGHMA!'. I was really nervous for awhile."  Poor Charisse.  She probably though I was either possessed or shouting some weird tribal chant.

Luckily my sleep-chants have subsided for the time being. Although, it doesn't really matter since I'm home.  I'm going to miss living with Charisse though.  We had a good time.  And Catherine too, for that matter.  Catherine is moving off campus and Charisse is staying in our old room but I'm taking a single room for next year.  I have a burning desire to NOT live on the third floor again so I'm moving to another building to live on the first.  Plus I'll be writing my thesis so it is imperative that I limit my distractions.   

So if you weren't aware before, it is now quite obvious that I start these blog posts with no specific direction in mind. Sometimes it pays off but mostly it ends in lengthy drivel (see above).  And I usually write to further procrastinate on some pressing thing I need to take care of (such as unpacking my room so I can pack for another trip).

Mission Accomplished.

Good night, moon.

oh hey there

It has come to my attention that people read this blog.

Which means I should actually update it.

Well readers, I acknowledge your silent, anonymous presence and promise I will post something of substance soon. However, it is dead week here at Purdue University and that means whenever my fingers are not devoted to furiously cranking out research papers or turning the pages of whatever academic tome a professor has assigned, they are either hastily stuffing my face with the odd rice cake or tucked under my chin while I catch a few winks. After this comes Finals week, during which my fingers are doing a nervous ratta-tat-tat on the desk while I study or gripping my pen in fear as I write essay exams. Then they will be busy packing up my room to move back home.

Only then will I have a moment to devote my fingers to update this blog. But by then I may need extensive treatment for either carpal tunnel or arthritis, so I'm not making any promises.

But rest easy, readers. Even if it means tapping out a post with cast-covered wrists and hands, it will happen.

Until then, have a day. I won't presume to know if it's good or bad, but just have one.

Ellie is...

I guess it's been awhile. again. Sorry. I'm on the Internet enough, you'd think I'd remember to update my blog. I guess I'm more at home on Facebook. I really feel it's more my scene. I don't have a darling husband or cherubic little children. I'm not a cook or how-to guru. I don't have a life-changing journey to a far-away place to chronicle. I'm pretty sure those are the top three types of people that use this particular venue. I'm part of the social networking, setting up class meetings, music and picture sharing set that thrives on Facebook. I usually sum up my days with the one-line status box and communicate with my pals by exchanging snarky comments on each other's walls.

See if you can deduce what happened this week from my status posts:

1.Ellie is not ready for monday.
2.Ellie is trying really hard not to worry about things that are out of her control.
3.Ellie is going to fail the ancient greek engineering exam.
4.Ellie is NAP!
5.Ellie would rather pull out her fingernails than watch the debate.

Here's what you get:
I had a fabulous weekend and was not ready for it to be over. But then I started reading the news, talking to professors and paying way too much attention to the current financial crisis. I had to take a step back and realize that my measly life savings are not really in danger and remember that money is not the most important thing in life! Then I realized whilst I was worrying about the impending economic doom, my ancient greek engineering exam was sneaking up behind me, ready to jump out and scare me because I had forgotten to study for it until the day before. After spending countless futile hours studying, I took the exam and did no better than if I had not studied at all. Counting it a victory that I managed to spell my name and the date right, I fell into bed exhausted. It was an epic nap, so much so that it came back for an encore this afternoon. And then the debates. I decided I am fed up with politics and pundits and people in general so I decided to forgo watching the debate tonight to update my blog.

So you see, the status is just as effective as blogging. Much more succinct. It's sad, really. People aren't interested in your story anymore, just the lesson from it. "Your life history? yeah yeah, just give me the moral of it."

You know what? That makes me angry. Just for the sake of it, I'm going to perservere. Blog on, young one, throwback to the days of old! Who cares if this isn't my scene? Take your two-second attention span to Youtube. If you want the meat of the story, you know where to find me. I'll be here with the cats who do old school things like read books instead of reviews and drink coffee instead of espresso shots. (I know I don't drink coffee but try to roll with the metaphor, alright?) Three cheers for the blogosphere!

Hello from the other end

Well summer is sadly drawing to a close. Too fast, as usual. I move back to Purdue in about 3 weeks but so much will happen between now and then. Currently I'm in Massachusetts visiting my Berwaldt cousins. I'm writing this from the internet cafe at Northeastern University in Boston. I'm hanging out here for the day while Hannah is in class. I tagged along so I could make use of the free Wi-Fi and also so I could roam the streets and take pictures of one of the coolest cities around.

The roaming will take place after I meet Hannah for lunch. Unfortunately I have spent the entire morning responding to emails, mostly school/work stuff. That is the downside of traveling: I do not get to connect to the internet very often! Anyway, it's pretty much all squared away so now I can relax.

So. This summer has turned out completely different than it was supposed to. For one thing, we never went out West, which was terribly disappointing. However, it's been fantastic. I actually got two jobs so I kept busy through May and June. I nannied for the family I've always worked for and met a new family with two little girls. Between the two families, I worked full time. I had a lot of fun though, especially with the new family. The girls and I went everywhere and did everything together. We went to the zoo, the library, the pool, the park, baseball practice, the dentist, McDonald's, mini golf, bowling, I mean EVERYWHERE. All I do for the other family is cooking, laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping so this was a great change.

Both jobs ended on July 11, however, so I had the rest of the summer off. July 12, I packed up and drove to Freedom to visit Nana and Papa and Sam, who's been out there pretty much all summer. I had a nice visit there until the 18th, when I drove to Connecticut for the wedding. IT WAS AMAZING. Everything went perfectly, the music, the speeches, the ceremony, it was all beautiful. Except the heat. It was 95 degrees and insanely humid on top of that so the rehearsal and the ceremony were nearly unbearable. The singing was fine but it was so hot, I had to completely focus on the music so I didn't pass out. Unfortunately, what wedding photos I have seen reflect my state of mind. I look so red and angry, it's amazing I was singing and not shouting at the top of my lungs. I must have furrowed my brow in an effort to concentrate but in doing so I looked like I was furious. All the picture needs is cartoon steam coming out of my ears and it's completely hilarious. For the rest of time, Ariana and Bryan will see that unfortunate pose when they flip through their wedding photos. How awkward for me.

My photogenic qualities aside, it was an amazing weekend. I stuck around until Sunday afternoon, at which point I drove to Schnectady, New York to visit Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary. Amy was at camp all week, unfortunately, so Alan and I were thick as theives. On Monday we swam across the river, nearly died, and swam back. On Tuesday we went to the mall and were chased from store to store by two giggling girls from Alan's fan club. On Wednesday we went to a museum and learned about the history of electricity and then watched the river quickly rise in the torrential rain. Thursday, I left for Massachusetts.

Which brings me to now. Yesterday was the big meeting at Milford, which was great as usual. This week is Milford Convention and then next week I'll head to Freedom. After that, home!

So this hasn't been a really exciting post, more like a catalog of my travels, for which I apologize. With a lot of downtime and no internet, I have been writing a lot more, but nothing entertaining enough to post. Mostly thoughts on the nature of change, my life story and what not. Since I'm only 20, it's not the epic it promises to be, but I'm working on it.
Well Hannah is done with class so I must go. Perhaps I can be more interesting some other time.