Happy New Year, everybody. This is where I wish you a "Great 2008," not because it rhymes, or in any case not only because it rhymes, but because I think this year has incredible potential.
Good luck to you!
Announcements:
Some of you have apparently either lost my phone number or are having a steamy winter affair with a foreign super-model. If it's the latter, I congratulate you. If it's the former (or if you just want to give me all the kinky details about the super-model), my digits are (502) 287-3511. You should dial them.
Happy New Year, everybody! Here's to new beginnings, closure, and an even better year than the last. For those of you who are far away from me (shoutout to Visakhapatnam!), I miss you like crazy and can't wait to see you again. Folks in da Ville, it's wonderful to be with you again! Thanks for the big Southern welcome, and for making me feel so loved. Everybody, give yourselves big hugs from me, and hopefully I'll see you soon to give you yours in person!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Home.
In my dorm room it will be dark now, very quiet, and cleaner than it ever was when I lived there. Under the window, the streetlight is probably shining on my 3' plastic Christmas tree. At the top of the tree is a star made of Popsicle sticks and covered in glitter. Nestled in the artificial foliage are crochet angels, a shiny plane with a sunglass-wearing rabbit which says "#1 sister," a wooden rocking horse ("baby's first Chrsitmas, 1989"), a blue glass globe that asks for "PEACE," and Princess Leia in her Jedi garb. The lights hang off the branches, dead and limp.
Right now, as I sit and picture this lonely little shrine, I imagine one obvious bare spot, on the front left center of the tree. The previous occupant of this spot is a beautiful, fragile, winged woman, looking to the sky with outstretched wings and arms. As I made my final go-around through my room for forgotten necessities, it seemed right to reach out and hold this sad little woman in the palm of my hand. It seemed even more fitting to cradle her to my chest, and then nothing would do but to tuck her safely away in my travel bag of wool sweaters, and, with a final salute to Oberlin, we headed home.
The first thing I did when I got home yesterday-well actually, no, the first thing I did was hug my Daddy and Squirt, and wrestle with Riley (my dog!), so this was the third thing. Ok, so the third thing I did when I got home yesterday was to carefully remove the tiny ceramic angel from her sweater nest and place her at eye level on the left side of our Christmas tree. It felt so right to have the angel here, and the longer I stood there the more convinced I was that this is where she needs to be. I've decided that she's healing. That's what that little figure says to me; she's a woman, alone, overcoming and rallying herself to face new challenges. Her eyes are closed, but her face is lifted; she's no longer naive, but still warm and full of hope. I think she's going to be just fine. She's content to be home, surrounded by tinsel and lights and people who know and love her. And she's going to be Just Fine.
A lot's happened this semester. Since returning to the 'Ville, I've noticed that:
-I've changed.
-I'm exactly the same.
-Louisville's a different city.
-This town is just what it always was.
-Daniel's tall, and far too poised (and cheeky!).
-He's still five years old, in his heart of hearts.
-So am I.
Louisville, I've missed you so much. It's good to be back. Tomorrow I will cook in my own kitchen, with my own obnoxiously loud music, in my own obnoxiously childish pajamas. There will be Spatula Solos, and long hugs, and twirling. Yes, twirling!
COMING SOON: Highlights From Semester One, "Erin E. Goes to Obieland"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Tonight Daniel and I got Chinese take-out. My fortune begins and ends with little smiley faces, the way Emperor of China fortunes do. It says:
"A carrot a day,may keep cancer away."
No joke, that's what it says. Also, my lucky lotto six #s are: 7 5 4 20 23 22)
The Lobb Family Tree of Nerdom! (Space Ornaments on the Lobb Tree, "talking"):
NASA:
-Lunar Rover
-Freedom 7
-Space Shuttle
-Lunar Module -“Incredible. It’s really a wild place up here..”
-Gemini- John Glenn –“Roger. Zero G and I feel fine. The view is tremendous.”
Star Trek-
-Captain Kirk
-Warf
-Commander Sisko
-Captain Picard
-Spock
-Enterprise II,III,IV
-Vulcan Battle Cruiser
-Romulan Warbird
-Commander Riker
-Dr. Leonard McCoy
-Borg Cube -“We are the borg. Enjoy your holiday. Resistance is futile.”
-USS Voyager
-Shuttlecraft Galileo- “Shuttlecraft to Enterprise. Shuttlecraft to Enterprise. Spock here.
Happy Holidays. Live long and prosper.”
-Captain Janeway
-USS Runabout
-USS defiant –DS9
-USS Voyager
-Klingon Bird of Prey
Star Wars-
-Boba Fet
-Han Solo Darth Maul
-Qui Gon Jinn
-Millenium Falcon
-x-wing starfighter
-Nabo starfighter
-Darth Vader -“The force is with you, young Skywalker ….but you are not a Jedi yet.”
-Queen Amadila
-R2D2
-C3PO
-Ewoks
-Obiwan Kenobi
-Princess Leia
-Luke Skywalker
-Imperial Stormtrooper
-Gungan submarine
-Darth Vader’s tie fighter
----------------------------------------------
Christmas Cider
mix:
2 qt cider or apple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
a dash of nutmeg
4 cinnamon sticks (or more)
slow boil in a slow cooker or large pot and leave in open air. Entire house will smell like spiced cider.
Right now, as I sit and picture this lonely little shrine, I imagine one obvious bare spot, on the front left center of the tree. The previous occupant of this spot is a beautiful, fragile, winged woman, looking to the sky with outstretched wings and arms. As I made my final go-around through my room for forgotten necessities, it seemed right to reach out and hold this sad little woman in the palm of my hand. It seemed even more fitting to cradle her to my chest, and then nothing would do but to tuck her safely away in my travel bag of wool sweaters, and, with a final salute to Oberlin, we headed home.
The first thing I did when I got home yesterday-well actually, no, the first thing I did was hug my Daddy and Squirt, and wrestle with Riley (my dog!), so this was the third thing. Ok, so the third thing I did when I got home yesterday was to carefully remove the tiny ceramic angel from her sweater nest and place her at eye level on the left side of our Christmas tree. It felt so right to have the angel here, and the longer I stood there the more convinced I was that this is where she needs to be. I've decided that she's healing. That's what that little figure says to me; she's a woman, alone, overcoming and rallying herself to face new challenges. Her eyes are closed, but her face is lifted; she's no longer naive, but still warm and full of hope. I think she's going to be just fine. She's content to be home, surrounded by tinsel and lights and people who know and love her. And she's going to be Just Fine.
A lot's happened this semester. Since returning to the 'Ville, I've noticed that:
-I've changed.
-I'm exactly the same.
-Louisville's a different city.
-This town is just what it always was.
-Daniel's tall, and far too poised (and cheeky!).
-He's still five years old, in his heart of hearts.
-So am I.
Louisville, I've missed you so much. It's good to be back. Tomorrow I will cook in my own kitchen, with my own obnoxiously loud music, in my own obnoxiously childish pajamas. There will be Spatula Solos, and long hugs, and twirling. Yes, twirling!
COMING SOON: Highlights From Semester One, "Erin E. Goes to Obieland"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Tonight Daniel and I got Chinese take-out. My fortune begins and ends with little smiley faces, the way Emperor of China fortunes do. It says:
"A carrot a day,may keep cancer away."
No joke, that's what it says. Also, my lucky lotto six #s are: 7 5 4 20 23 22)
The Lobb Family Tree of Nerdom! (Space Ornaments on the Lobb Tree, "talking"):
NASA:
-Lunar Rover
-Freedom 7
-Space Shuttle
-Lunar Module -“Incredible. It’s really a wild place up here..”
-Gemini- John Glenn –“Roger. Zero G and I feel fine. The view is tremendous.”
Star Trek-
-Captain Kirk
-Warf
-Commander Sisko
-Captain Picard
-Spock
-Enterprise II,III,IV
-Vulcan Battle Cruiser
-Romulan Warbird
-Commander Riker
-Dr. Leonard McCoy
-Borg Cube -“We are the borg. Enjoy your holiday. Resistance is futile.”
-USS Voyager
-Shuttlecraft Galileo- “Shuttlecraft to Enterprise. Shuttlecraft to Enterprise. Spock here.
Happy Holidays. Live long and prosper.”
-Captain Janeway
-USS Runabout
-USS defiant –DS9
-USS Voyager
-Klingon Bird of Prey
Star Wars-
-Boba Fet
-Han Solo Darth Maul
-Qui Gon Jinn
-Millenium Falcon
-x-wing starfighter
-Nabo starfighter
-Darth Vader -“The force is with you, young Skywalker ….but you are not a Jedi yet.”
-Queen Amadila
-R2D2
-C3PO
-Ewoks
-Obiwan Kenobi
-Princess Leia
-Luke Skywalker
-Imperial Stormtrooper
-Gungan submarine
-Darth Vader’s tie fighter
----------------------------------------------
Christmas Cider
mix:
2 qt cider or apple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
a dash of nutmeg
4 cinnamon sticks (or more)
slow boil in a slow cooker or large pot and leave in open air. Entire house will smell like spiced cider.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
I am awake. WHY?
It's 4:07 AM.
I am awake.
This does not please me.
If it was not, in fact, 4:07 AM, I would come up with something clever that began with the letters A and M and stood for "time to be asleep." Except it would be more vehement than that because it would be in ALL CAPS and probably end in a few choice curse words.
Why am I awake at 4:10 AM?
I wish I knew.
The immediate answer to that question is:
1.) The fire alarm (which hurts my ears and sounds like demon indigestion/squeels of pain from the pits of hell) went off.
2.) When I failed to notice this (becuase it is 4:12 Atimetobe Masleep), and did not move, my roommate opened the connecting door and began shouting my name. At least that's what happened from my perspective. From her doorside view, she calls into the darkness over the demon sounds, and this body slams bolt-upright in bed with a horrified gasp, and begins looking at her with wide staring eyes.
At that point I looked at my roommate (who by this time had gathered her precious belongings in a teetering pile in her arms and was practically running out the door), and inquired as to what, pray tell, might be going on... ("ACK! uhhgu? Wablooo ell? whazzit? Whatime? ubluguh nuh." which, roughly translated, means: "Huh? What the (curse)? What is that awful sound, and why? What time is it? (curse) ok, I'm up") But by the time I articulate this, my roommate is gone. So's my mind. Apparently waking me up from a deep sleep with screaming and demon sounds, then running away in a panic does bad things to my brain. I run out the door. Half way out, I run back in for my robe. I run back out. The front of my body is hunched over, my eyes are still squinted closed. I get outside.
It is very cold.
If I had not taken to wearing socks to bed, I would have been barefoot. As it was, I was in sock feet, a tank top pj top and (luckily) fleece pj pants. To quote a great mind: "my toes are froze. And my noze is froze too!" I also did not have my glasses, which meant I did not recognize any of the mulling angsty muttering figures around me. I began calling my roommates name in a panic. At least, I think that's what I said. I didn't find her. As far as my sleep-crazed mind was concerned, she was dead, and so was I. I did find Rachel. Her body was warm. I love her now. We are going to elope in the sunrise tomorrow. Yes.
So Rachel hugged me and let me stand on her feet. I found Jeff, also. He was in a t-shirt, like it was no big thang. I grunted at him. His response, "nice hair," did not cheer me. (My breath is just tasty too. MmmmMmm good!)
So what, you might wonder, did my roommate deem valuable enough to gather at life's peril and deliver safely from the (not) burning dorm?
-BabyDog (a wellworn stuffed dog, not a real one, that wears a pink dress)
-the Boyfriend Box, containing all ticket stubs, dried flowers, cards, napkins, and other memerabilia
-a china ballerina and Lock Ness Monster (both of which belonged to a favorite grandma)
Heck, I didn't even remember my glasses. Or shoes.
Again I ask you, why am I awake at 4:32 AM?
The other potential answers to that question, which the perpetrator better be (cursing) thankful I don't know include:
1.) incense (the dominant explaination, which I find unsatisfying)
2.) hot-boxing, or smoke-boxing, or whatever it's called, which, as it was explained to me in a shocked how-do-you-not-know-how-to-do-this voice, is when you smoke up some mary-jane in an enclosed space to trap the smoke, so you get higher and higher.
3.) Fire Poi Club was firedancing in Starlight lounge. (this is false. If it were true, it would almost be forgivable because that is so (cursing) bad(curse). And by that I mean awesome).
4.) late night grilled cheese cravings gone horribly horribly wrong.
4.) OPAN was performing sexy candle wax cleansing rituals.
5.) people are dumb (yes)
6.) it's a plot to make sure Erin doesn't sleep. The government is involved, especially The Man. Yes, that Man. And it's so convoluted and complicated and well orchestrated and blobulated that I have not yet figured it out and/or come to suspect anything.
It's 4:39 AM. I am awake. I see this as a problem I would like to correct.
I am awake.
This does not please me.
If it was not, in fact, 4:07 AM, I would come up with something clever that began with the letters A and M and stood for "time to be asleep." Except it would be more vehement than that because it would be in ALL CAPS and probably end in a few choice curse words.
Why am I awake at 4:10 AM?
I wish I knew.
The immediate answer to that question is:
1.) The fire alarm (which hurts my ears and sounds like demon indigestion/squeels of pain from the pits of hell) went off.
2.) When I failed to notice this (becuase it is 4:12 Atimetobe Masleep), and did not move, my roommate opened the connecting door and began shouting my name. At least that's what happened from my perspective. From her doorside view, she calls into the darkness over the demon sounds, and this body slams bolt-upright in bed with a horrified gasp, and begins looking at her with wide staring eyes.
At that point I looked at my roommate (who by this time had gathered her precious belongings in a teetering pile in her arms and was practically running out the door), and inquired as to what, pray tell, might be going on... ("ACK! uhhgu? Wablooo ell? whazzit? Whatime? ubluguh nuh." which, roughly translated, means: "Huh? What the (curse)? What is that awful sound, and why? What time is it? (curse) ok, I'm up") But by the time I articulate this, my roommate is gone. So's my mind. Apparently waking me up from a deep sleep with screaming and demon sounds, then running away in a panic does bad things to my brain. I run out the door. Half way out, I run back in for my robe. I run back out. The front of my body is hunched over, my eyes are still squinted closed. I get outside.
It is very cold.
If I had not taken to wearing socks to bed, I would have been barefoot. As it was, I was in sock feet, a tank top pj top and (luckily) fleece pj pants. To quote a great mind: "my toes are froze. And my noze is froze too!" I also did not have my glasses, which meant I did not recognize any of the mulling angsty muttering figures around me. I began calling my roommates name in a panic. At least, I think that's what I said. I didn't find her. As far as my sleep-crazed mind was concerned, she was dead, and so was I. I did find Rachel. Her body was warm. I love her now. We are going to elope in the sunrise tomorrow. Yes.
So Rachel hugged me and let me stand on her feet. I found Jeff, also. He was in a t-shirt, like it was no big thang. I grunted at him. His response, "nice hair," did not cheer me. (My breath is just tasty too. MmmmMmm good!)
So what, you might wonder, did my roommate deem valuable enough to gather at life's peril and deliver safely from the (not) burning dorm?
-BabyDog (a wellworn stuffed dog, not a real one, that wears a pink dress)
-the Boyfriend Box, containing all ticket stubs, dried flowers, cards, napkins, and other memerabilia
-a china ballerina and Lock Ness Monster (both of which belonged to a favorite grandma)
Heck, I didn't even remember my glasses. Or shoes.
Again I ask you, why am I awake at 4:32 AM?
The other potential answers to that question, which the perpetrator better be (cursing) thankful I don't know include:
1.) incense (the dominant explaination, which I find unsatisfying)
2.) hot-boxing, or smoke-boxing, or whatever it's called, which, as it was explained to me in a shocked how-do-you-not-know-how-to-do-this voice, is when you smoke up some mary-jane in an enclosed space to trap the smoke, so you get higher and higher.
3.) Fire Poi Club was firedancing in Starlight lounge. (this is false. If it were true, it would almost be forgivable because that is so (cursing) bad(curse). And by that I mean awesome).
4.) late night grilled cheese cravings gone horribly horribly wrong.
4.) OPAN was performing sexy candle wax cleansing rituals.
5.) people are dumb (yes)
6.) it's a plot to make sure Erin doesn't sleep. The government is involved, especially The Man. Yes, that Man. And it's so convoluted and complicated and well orchestrated and blobulated that I have not yet figured it out and/or come to suspect anything.
It's 4:39 AM. I am awake. I see this as a problem I would like to correct.
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