The Countdown Begins

I will be leaving for Cincinnati five weeks from tomorrow. One of those weeks will be spent with the boyfriend and for two I will be working at the MN state fair selling tickets. I have two weeks left of summer. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish this summer, and yet somehow I feel like I spent almost all of it thinking about how much I'd rather be at school. That's not entirely true. I [would like to think that I] have gotten a lot better at playing flute, I updated my wardrobe so that it's both more mature and more unique, (by the end of the summer) I will have made about $2000 so I won't starve, I practiced doing domestic things like cooking and cleaning, and I started blogging. There, those are almost entirely productive things.

I only wish I had read more, worked out more (although I have lost ten pounds since I left school in June, hopefully I'll be able to keep going!), seen more of the Twin Cities, and just enjoyed the summer sun. I suppose it's never too late.

I was just talking to the roommate about last-minute things we need to get before we move in (for example, we just remembered how nice it would be to have a vacum...) and I remembered how excited I am to decorate! I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures when the time comes. I am most excited for a gigantic white board that's going in. This is your invitation: come over and draw us a mural. It will be greatly appreciated. And fun. Other than that, all I'm going to say is get ready, world: here we come!

Entertainment Value

Today I was reading over the rules and conditions for competing in the MN state fair talent contest. I won my 'evening' when I was eleven in the preteen competition playing Henry Mancini's music from 'The Pink Panther'. I wore a pink sparkly dress. I was adorable. I won $20. This year in my endless quest for money, I'm thinking about entering again. The only problem is that I don't have any entertaining music on my stand right now, and a third of the judges' criteria is entertainment value. So in an effort to sell-out gracefully, I think I'm going to finally give in and order a big pile of Ian Clarke music. My top choices at the moment are The Great Train Race (not a huge fan of this guy's playing or performance, but at least you can hear all the polyphonics and rhythmic intricacies. In the case that I choose this piece, I will be wearing a Jessica McClintock Gunne Sax dress that was my mom's in the 70's with lace-up boots), and Zoomtube (once again I hope I'd sound better than this guy, but it's one of the only recordings on youtube. I'm thinking this performance would call for finally buying a pair of Apple Bottom jeans and those boots with the fur...?).

Mom finally agreed (for certain...I hope) to let me take our kitchen bar table and stools to the apartment next year so I am stoked to have that part of my place taken care of (and for free, no less)! Now all I have to worry about is a bed. Here's a list of problems with the bed sitch: 1)my room is tiny tiny tiny, so I don't know if I can fit anything bigger than a twin, 2)the parents want me to take my bed from home (oh great, first you take over my closet while I'm gone, now you want my room to be void of a bed, what's next? a pool table?), and 3)beds are expensive, but I really want a big girl bed! So I suppose we'll see. If I can find a cheap mattress at IKEA or the likes, I can hold off having a real bedframe until I find one free on craigslist. If not, things could get a little stickier. Still crossing my fingers for a full size, though!

This is the design masterpiece that is my bedroom, with the unparalleled taste of the current owners of my place! Dear Lord, I can't wait to get some color into the apartment!

In other news, D.H. Lawrence hates women, which is ironic because based on the title, I was certain 'Women in Love' would be about the women...alas, it's just another story of men thinking that no women could ever satisfy them because everyone knows that women aren't capable of rational thought! Enough of that. I'm going to finish the book anyway and update my opinion at that time.

Finally, I've been thinking a ton about cooking at the apartment next year. This was brought on because today I made my very first grilled cheese sandwich ever (don't judge, I live in a house where healthy eating trumps decadency any day) for D! Anyway I'm putting together a cookbook of all my favorite recipes that my mom makes here, including calories per serving and the cost per 'batch'. I'm really excited! I think its going to make me much more responsible for my physical and monetary well-being.

Here are the next ten books on my list! Enjoy!

31. Go Tell in on the Mountain-James Baldwin

32. Gone With the Wind-Margaret Mitchell (check!)

33. The Good Soldier-Jaroslav Hasek

34. The Grapes of Wrath-John Steinbeck (check!)

35. Gravity's Rainbow-Thomas Pynchon

36. The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald (check!)

37. Gulliver's Travels-Jonathan Swift

38. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter-Carson McCullers

39. Heart of Darkness-Joseph Conrad

40. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-Mark Twain