words!rambling!

I feel like I've been running on autopilot lately. The way I see it, everything I do is organized in two categories: School and Life. School is good for the most part, but I'm really stressing over this whole practicum business. I wish that SLIS gave more help in finding a practicum site. I'm trying to be very zen about the whole thing (where I find a placement is where I'll be), but my super busy schedule over the next few weeks isn't helping. I'm so determined to have a fun Halloween this year that I'm dedicating two weekends to festivities. The last two Halloweens have been so bad that I want this year to be extra fun, but unfortunately I feel like I don't have the time for extra fun. The other part with the School thing is that I feel like a lot of what I'm doing isn't helpful and is just busywork. I want to be learning more. I'm doing really well, but I don't think I'm being challenged enough. If it wasn't for my extreme procrastination, I would be bored. The only thing that's saving me from that fate is that I put off assignments for as long as possible. Even still, my one professor messed up our syllabus big time so that we have assignments due the week before we learn the contents of the lesson that relates to that assignment. Which requires me to teach myself even more than I already am in online classes. I HATE ONLINE CLASSES. Half of the websites she references in her lessons have changed or don't exist anymore, which is just plain laziness on her part. And this is supposed to be one of the top programs in the country? Disgruntled.

Life is basically good. I haven't done many fun things in a long time, at least not fun things with my friends. Luckily I have three weekends of fun coming up, so that'll be nice. I've really gotten into working out again. Starting tomorrow (technically I should have gone today, but after my day yesterday I decided that sleep was more important) I'm walking 1.25 miles and biking for half an hour, which is anywhere from 6 miles to 7 miles. I feel good after I work out, even if I'm in pain. It's never enough to stop me from pushing forward. I've also been listening to Disney podcasts, which helps keeps me focused on my goal. It's not really a solid goal, but I want to be in better shape by the time the Disney trip comes around. Not necessarily thinner, but I want to not feel so exhausted after walking around in the parks all day. I'm betting that I'll be at least a little bit thinner, but I'm not as focused on weight as I am on my happiness and how I feel.

I think I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo again this year. I didn't get very far last year, but I was also taking three classes during all of November and this year two of my classes end the second week of November, so I'll have more time. I haven't written anything fictional in a really long time now, but I have confidence that I'll get it back soon enough.

~Christine

I hate Rory Gilmore

While I've been working on homework for the past week or so, I've been watching Gilmore Girls on DVD. It's weird, but I find that it helps me want to achieve more and work harder, with the exception of the brief period of time where Rory lapses and drops out of Yale. Anyway, it's been good for my work ethic, but I'm nearing the end of the series now (booo!) and Rory is on her post-grad job hunt. Obviously, in the end she gets an awesome job, but right now I'm at the part where she's offered a job at a newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island, but she turns it down because she wants to see if she gets a fellowship that would give her a position at the New York Times. Clearly, because karma is a bitch, she doesn't the get the fellowship and has already turned down the job in Rhode Island, thereby leaving her to be screwed. And the whole time I'm watching this horrifying turn of events, I'm screaming at her in my head to TAKE THE FUCKING JOB. I realize that these episodes aired in 2007, before the economy tanked and the job market started sucking hardcore, but watching these episodes now makes me want to smack Rory in the face.

Part of my frustration is from accidentally reading a blog entry earlier about how library school is a waste of time and money unless you already have library experience and you can do it without loans. Well damn. I have no library experience and I definitely couldn't do it without loans. I already have tons of loans from undergrad, and once I graduate, I'll have loans from grad school too. I'm praying that I get some sort of scholarship, especially after I worked for two days on my applications. The fact of the matter is that the job market sucks for just about everyone. I'm also taking a risk in limiting myself geographically in my search. I know that's not a smart thing to do, but I need to be happy where I live, and I've learned that I don't do well alone. Plus, I'm going to be drowning in student loan repayments, so even if I manage to snag a decent paying full time job, I'll have to live at home with my parents anyway.

I hate that it's so easy to get into college, or even grad school, but that it's almost impossible to find a job. I also hate that finding a job you enjoy isn't the priority anymore. It's all about finding ANYTHING.

~Christine

it was just like we were flying

Howdy.

I'm back... again. As it turns out, I still have things to say. Plus I watched Julie and Julia with my boyfriend last week and that always makes me want to blog. Now I just need to figure out how to say what I want to say in a way that makes sense to all of you wonderful people.

Let's start with the boring stuff.  School! Actually, school is interesting to me, but I'm having a hard time staying focused on it this semester. It seems like so much has happened since the last time I was in school, way back in April, and I'm not quite finished with my summertime mentality. However, I'm starting to adapt back into my academic ways now that stuff is due and I haven't done the stuff and I'm freaking out all the time because of the stuff. I love books, but I'm starting to worry if this career path I've chosen won't make me hate books the way being a music major made me hate playing my flute. That would be sad.

I think mentally handicapped llamas are secretly inside my computer making it suck at working. Seriously, the lag when I type is the most irritating thing. Hello, typos.

Interesting stuff. I have a boyfriend now! He's amazing and makes me so happy. I have a fantastic feeling about him. I keep having these, "Oh, so THAT's how you should feel when you're talking with/hanging out with/laughing with your boyfriend!" I'm turning into one of THOSE people that I normally hate because they're so damn cute with their significant other. It's also doing wonders for my stress levels! I'm so much calmer now than I was a year ago. Except that I want to hang out with him all of the time instead of working on school stuff. Then I freak out. See paragraph two.

Awesome. Thinking about stress has caused me to become even more stressed. Time for a beer!

Mrs. Obama approves of my life.

~ Christine