Get money money, take money money, get paid mommy, come on, come on

Went (right) to the mailroom after classes to pick up a package full of kitchen essentials--pumpkin carving kit!--and my new nose ring courtesy of my mom, then (left) to get back up in that scanning lab for my first day back to work where I hope to whaaat get money, get paid, haay.

Quick recap of today: Dandy Warhols singing about how we used to be friends while thinking about senior year and sighing, but good news is I made it through Dan Deacon if only by deleting a few of the more annoying albums, and found out that I'm gonna have a pretty breezy quarter for once in a Chemistry class with a high pass rate instead of a high fail rate, even if it is "cutthroat Chemistry" said the guy behind me in section today while Rosa Nguyen heartlessly and super-fashionably cut the class down to just those that can fit before the fire marshall has a fit, more sighing, but relief replaced nostalgia, because I didn't have to fight my way in and so lucky I got enrolled when all over I hear freshmen complaining about not being able to crash 1A and worrying for Pup while he tries desperately to crash 1A oh no!, but he's gotta get it Mr. Sophomore standing, and I stood in a cramped triple freshman dorm, so weird to see the way you've become, so happy that the way I've become feels better than it feels to hang out with you, even for half an hour, and so glad to have a single and no annoying roommates, just five sweet apartmentmates who were miraculously all in the same room last night, so how about those jack o 'lanterns?

Thinking about duets, now leaving to pick up Pup for our first dining hall meal of the year.

Also, I love this

Goodnight!

CASFS Harvest Festival

Today was corn, cows, secret passageways, and beautiful bunches of dried safflower, wheat, and millet hanging from the ceiling of the seed house--the Harvest Festival at the farm. Pup and I got there a little late, so we missed the apple pie bake-off and the tea garden tour, but we got to explore on our own anyway and end with a chocolate chip cookie each sitting on a hay bale listening to a mandolin rendition of "Red Clay Halo." Best of all was the discovery of a customizable, year-round, organic, farm fresh produce service that delivers once a week, once every two weeks, once every three weeks, once every four weeks to the farm for $31 a box that two roommates have already wanted to pitch in for, and veggie-hating Pup would even be willing to try out if we switched out a few leafy greens for corn, carrots, and asparagus. I'm very very excited!

Week one of classes, a total of two day's worth, were not quite as subversive as the anarchy-promoting sit-in students occupying the balcony above Joe's in the Quarry may have hoped, but just as fascinating as I had hoped. Between Bogo, Baldo, and Zavanelli, I'm looking forward to a quarter of geeky science and no laughing even when we're being lectured about the speed of ejaculate, and nice to know the sophomores around me are less sophomoric this year than when they were finally-free freshman who cared more about tequila than textbooks.

And apartment living is just as nice as I had hoped.

Boardwalk Frolic

Cosmos, day one

Planted flowers today in my new apartment dorm room, in a purple cup nested in the plastic take-out container emptied of its leftover tom kha from Sabieng to keep water from spilling out all over my third-story window ledge. I am not so much type-talkative now; suffice it to say, it's nice to be here despite how not used to apartment living I suddenly feel. (Getting acquainted with the idea of grocery shopping without my mom, mostly, but nice to go grocery shopping five minutes to closing time at Costco with Pup and Chelsea and Jared and very much enjoying the company even if the only flour and baking soda we can find weighs more than the four of us combined and even if our purchases ended up being twenty pound of tortillas, five mountains of shredded cheese, sixteen tons of triple chocolate brownie mix, thirteen miles of tin foil, Pup's pizza pockets, and the type of beer you sip, not chug.)

More later, when the not-so-instant cosmos sprout, when my Viva Pinata garden has more carrots and bunnycombs, when my walls are covered in more flowers, when my cast iron pan is overflowing with dino kale, when these friendships keep sprouting after nights of Indian food and brownies and sitting in our cozy little living room together on squeaky plastic armchairs around a spotty woodgrain coffee table scheming cat art and crocheted blankets to decorate and match our ambered-glass lamp and our fat and beautiful plate and our tomato salt and pepper shakers and everywhere little jars of sugar and salt and flour.

For now, falling asleep next to Pup (finally!) while he sings Beatles songs in the babiest voice while he dreams about Halo ODST.

Another thing to check off the best friend's list

Spanakopita pizza from Symposium, and more spending time together every day (which, I think, now that I'm sitting alone in my room hearing distant shrieks and laughs and recess bells from the elementary school on our block, and Eloise curled up behind me purring, it is so nice to have someone to just be with sometimes and especially if that someone is Courtney). I almost don't want to be able to check everything off of the list of what we want to do together now that I'm back home and she hasn't run off towards a promising future in San Francisco just quite yet, because it would make going back to Santa Cruz feel so final (I know I don't even need to worry about that, but as ready as I am to rush off to the happy apartment brimming with new people to know, I've liked this time spent being known with my best friend).

These past few days have been luck and unluck, and lots of packages in the mail, drawing, sewing, taking a dress in four inches with back darts and I never never thought that was possible, for me, and really good food, and still not finished sewing, but hopefully today, with more good food, and green awnings, and warm hugs, and so bittersweet when you can and can't handle a distance between your heart beating just right in time with the people you love.

I think we're all trying to figure out how to not be so far away from each other. Because "every where I go, everyone I know comes with. Wonder how many more I can fit inside this crowded, crazy heart."

Falling asleep tonight

Summer rain outside while Pup's learning "Peach, Plum, Pear" on his ukulele, and I'm waking up in seven and a half hours to get my teeth cleaned. Looking forward to so much.

Small accomplishments

Persephone's web spun a fit of inspiration--buttercream khaki, tiny white buttons, 7" polyester zipper, floral lace, ribbon roses. Switching between Project Runway, LA Ink, Policewomen of Broward County last night, Courtney and I switched between black and white thread on her industrial strength sewing machine gathering, stitching, basting, hemming, attaching fabric to fabric. While I'm not about to unleash anything (I've still got work to do), I am amazed that I was suddenly willful enough to sit down and not stop until I had a skirt. Mostly, I am amazed I remembered how to sew after only having used my machine these past few years to mend tears and make hip-skirts waist-skirts.

In the wake of a mad, maybe on and off, ten-hour sewing adventure, today was sluggish and hot and mostly non-functional. A shower, a trip to the Davis cemetery (more on that later!), one million dragonflies and strictly business at the bank, Courtney, anticipation, the future, and chirashi.

Less arachnid, more attractive

I want to be so good about blogging, but in the weeks of neglect:

Macarons in midtown with Poopie (chocolate, pistachio, lavender apricot!)

Very much missing Beardy and definitely going for a ride to the dentist tomorrow

Gooey perfect chewy corner brownie from this recipe

Eloise glamor shots

Homemade jungle curry with mom

Pins clumped on a tote bag

Stunned Baby from the orange light of the camera

Sebastian and Yuka at the 6%dokidoki fan party in San Francisco

Perfect little swirly zucchini slice on my pizza

Very lucky new glasses!

Here's to being better.

Persephone's cricket

"It is actually--a cricket!"

As sick as this is, tonight felt like a turning point (like hunger, or nourishment, or voracity, or suddenly springing back to life after a long dormancy). I guess the morbidity was lost on me, because instead of death I watched a life sustained and leap like spindly eight legs across a sun tea jug to the start of something new. Feeling so stuck, waiting for something new, and a new inspiration strikes like chelicerae.