aamcnamara: (Default)
So I'm leaving tomorrow.

...goodness, it looks terribly official typed out like that.

I am mostly packed. At one point in the past couple of days I was tempted toward "I have so many THINGS!" but managed to lure myself back into "I don't have that many things, it just looks like a lot because they are all on the floor of my not-so-large room at the same time", which was good and also true.

It makes me slightly wistful to realize that I know precisely how much room my life takes up: the suitcase, the duffel bags, the box of books-and-tea, the box of teaset. (And the huge wall of bookshelves, but that's not quite a part of my-life so much as something I've put down for a while and will pick up again later.)

I've been doing the Farewells thing recently. I got to know more people this summer than I'd realized--the janitor I greeted every morning on my way into the archives, the woman I said good morning to at the bus stop, my co-workers and "boss"es at my library-volunteering positions... Apart from that, I've been biking around the lake or walking through the Nicollet Mall farmers' market thinking, "This might be the last time I do this for quite a while--"

Part of it, of course, is that ideally next summer I'll have some kind of job/internship/research and won't necessarily be in Minnesota for the whole time. I won't have time to see new bits of the city like I have been this summer, casually set up hanging-out times and bike or bus over to them... so I'm not really just saying goodbye to the city until winter break; I might be saying goodbye to spending long stretches of time here in general.

Unless I move back here after college. Which is always possible.

In the meantime, I have plenty of little tasks to occupy my attention. One of this afternoon's was getting a new tiny notebook ready to be carried in my purse. I transferred all the Important Information from the old one; I engaged in a brief moment of detective work to figure out when I started carrying the last one; and I put, "Fall 2010 - " on the inside cover of the new one.

In many areas of my life, I am not this organized, because I don't need to be. In my errata-notebooks, the to-do lists, directions I scribbled off google maps, and random phone numbers without names are interspersed with panel notes from a con are interspersed with story ideas. If I don't put dates inside the cover, I would never find anything.

Tomorrow. It's starting to seem real. Tomorrow.
aamcnamara: (Default)
Through the magic of Bradley airport's free wifi (which usually is terrible and today is less terrible, yay!) I am posting.

Basically: Maple syrup got poured on glasses of ice and eaten. I packed everything ever. My roommate-to-be made me watch The Avengers. I said goodbye to some people. I forgot to say goodbye to others. My room looked very empty when I left it for the last time.

Or, in shorter form, hooray, I am on my way back to Minnesota!

(Also boo, I won't see college people for three months. But I am trying to be positive.)

And now I will attempt to pretend the internet does not exist and get some writing done.
aamcnamara: (Default)
The last part of my winter break was wholly unproductive--I alternated sitting around reading books and hanging out with friends. Only being back for two weeks means that I definitely failed at seeing everyone, but I got to see quite a few people, which was good. Hit most of my Twin Cities highlights, too: Como Park Conservatory, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center, three or four different libraries...

Kinds of cookies devoured: 4 (sugar cookie cut-outs, pumpkin with cranberries, molasses, oatmeal-raisin)
Kinds of bread devoured: 2 (Stollen, cornbread)
Candy canes devoured: 12?
Books read: a bunch
Tiny oranges devoured: too many to count

Soon I will be headed back to campus for J-term. My writing goals for the next few weeks include:
- write some more solstice stories
- keep working on the first draft of The Urban Fantasy Novel
- print out "As Large As Alone" and go over the beginning with a fine-toothed comb
- for my J-term class (GLBT content in children's and YA lit), write a final project--possibly the first chapter of a YA GLBT novel.

Other activities will include Having fun and Working at my awesome job.
aamcnamara: (Default)
Survived the flight! I love airplanes--the takeoff especially, but also what you can see out the window. The sun had set by the time we got off the ground, and the sky was clear, so for most of the trip the little glittering galaxies of lights were strung out below us. Minnesota was overcast. We dove through layer after layer of clouds, plunging through with the winglights flashing alarmingly bright white and red. And then we were down, and through, and the Cities lay beneath us, smooth white fields of lakes and the dark shapes of trees, and the soft glow of Christmas lights under snow.

I wrote about 1400 words while in airports and en route, despite the plethora of children. ("Minute 32. They have me surrounded on all sides. I am trapped against this window. Flight attendants' offers of pretzels to placate children not stopping the screams. But who will placate me?") So that's 11.4k, and eventually I really will get a wordcount meter.

Minnesota has snow, real snow. It looks like winter here. Today I'm going out present-shopping, and hopefully will return laden with all sorts of things to hide in my wardrobe and wrap in newspapers.

If I can swing it, I also want to go by the library or a bookstore--I'm taking a J-term class on GLBT content in children's and YA literature, and they've given us the list of readings, which basically reads like a list of things I've vaguely wanted to buy for the past few years except with more picture books. (Which is why library. As cool as Heather Has Two Mommies is, I don't think I need to own it.) A couple of things might be difficult to find, but I can always order them online; I just want to get a head start.
aamcnamara: (Default)
Finals: over with! And I am going back for winter break tomorrow. So I think it's merited to look back on my first semester of college. Verdict: pretty sweet, considered as a whole. Some things could have been different, but I'm not sure which way they would have been better.

I have printed out my boarding pass, I have started packing, I have surrounded my plant with enough water to keep it damp for months. (Hopefully. Well, hopefully at least two weeks.) On the audiobook theory of plane travel, I have downloaded Pratchett's Thief of Time and put it on my iPod.

Goals for winter break: read some books and novel excerpts and things, write bits of novels and/or stories, hang out with friends I haven't seen since I started college. Give people presents.

They say it's going to snow in Minnesota for Christmas. I can't wait.

(Also: "The Shortest Day". Happy solstice.)

May 2017

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