So, somehow in the last week I managed to discover Season 1 of "24" in my aunt and uncle's stash and I am now addicted. Classes are done but for two fairly involved final research projects due at the end of next week--so suffice it to say, this is bad timing. I started watching it on Tue. night and I'm about 2/3 through the season already. With any luck, I'll just finish the season before the weekend's out and I'll be forced to spend more time on my papers. Not that I've been a complete slacker or anything--just maybe a bit more distracted than I should.
For one of my papers (for my Media in the Middle East class) I'm analyzing "Paradise Now," an independent, Palestinian film that came out in 2005 (I believe) that follows two young men in the West Bank through the 48 hours leading up to their role in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. It's intense but extremely well done, it doesn't condone violence or anything like that. You can get it at any Blockbuster. I would highly recommend it. My interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is growing in light of my recent courses and I will most likely be taking a history course on the Arab-Israeli conflict next quarter. I can't wait!
P.S. I'll be home in just over 1 week! Yay!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thanksgiving!
Ok, so it's late and I have to get up early but I wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know how I'm doing. I was home for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. More relaxing than I anticipated with the usual class schedule and load frequently preoccupying my thoughts and "free time." I decided to not let school stress me out and just get done what I could while enjoying my family and Courtney. It worked. Home felt like home and Courtney and I had some good chances to connect face to face for a change. It was different, but really good. Thank God for home!
I'm now back in Chicago, in my last week of classes! I have a final paper due tomorrow which is nearly done and two research projects and a re-write of my thesis proposal due by the end of next week. Then, my first quarter at the University of Chicago is behind me! These next two weeks will fly by I'm sure. Well, I need to get some sleep for my long, second-to-last day of class tomorrow! Cheers!
I'm now back in Chicago, in my last week of classes! I have a final paper due tomorrow which is nearly done and two research projects and a re-write of my thesis proposal due by the end of next week. Then, my first quarter at the University of Chicago is behind me! These next two weeks will fly by I'm sure. Well, I need to get some sleep for my long, second-to-last day of class tomorrow! Cheers!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Further Proof
Having read Aaron's blog, I felt it my responsibility to provide further evidence for the greatness of this new album. Admittedly, it is a bit "over-produced" and "poppy." I feel almost guilty admitting to the fact that I thoroughly enjoy--but really I do! I have been following this band for about five years now. If nothing else, the song makes you want to move and it's fun--though not completely devoid of originality, talent, and that particular, jimmy-eat-world sound. I think it's great and I hope you do too.
Well, I should get back to my seemingly endless hours of reading and writing, haha. I hope this finds you all experiencing an amazing weekend!
Well, I should get back to my seemingly endless hours of reading and writing, haha. I hope this finds you all experiencing an amazing weekend!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Successful Firsts... err Seconds
Having developed an emotional, and subsequently expensive, attachment to my hair stylist/barber (can a woman be a barber?, is anyone called a barber anymore?) in Lincoln, I have avoided pursuing other means of a haircut since having moved to Chicago. And, there's no foreseeable change to that in sight understanding that I'll be able to go home periodically. Still, it's approaching 8 weeks since my last haircut and that presents problems. While my daily presentability is no longer contingent upon the inspection of an employer and a strict dress code, I'm in graduate school, not prison (though the feeling has to be remarkably similar from time to time). So, in my stubborn insistence to maintain the Lincoln 'stylist's' status as my own, I today ventured upon a personal endeavor to deal with the hair-on-ears problem--I took a trimmer to my own head. This being my first attempt since an early, elementary school blunder that completely removed a portion of my own bangs, I felt a remarkable sense of accomplishment at removing said problem without having to resort to a complete shaving of my head. Now, while the untrained observer may think the amount of hair actually removed in the process was at most negligible, I feel the problem was solved beautifully!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Epiphanies of Circumstance
Today I think I had a sort of epiphany while running the usual trail by my house. Both running and epiphanies are luxuries I seldom experience on Wednesdays. (Thursdays are another story). No, I don't know what my thesis is going to be yet... Shoot, that would have been helpful! It is simply this: graduate school is a continued search for purpose. That's it. It's all about taking classes, attempting to look or sound smart, learning how to critically analyze and communicate in a certain context or field of emphasis so that you can begin searching for that one thing about which you think you have something to say--that one idea that gets you fired up enough that you think you can contribute. And, in the process, somehow, whether by the rarity of brilliance or sheer dumb luck, discover a way to legitimize or immortalize yourself in the grand discourse of academia and knowledge. OK, maybe that tastes a bit of hopeless cynicism. But that's how I feel about graduate school today.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Long Overdue...
So... yeah... my bad. It's been a while. Things have been really busy. But still, no excuse. School has been definitely keeping me on my toes. I'm adjusting to the constant feeling that I should be working on something and the idea that I couldn't possibly get everything done. That said, things are going pretty well. I got an A on my first grad. school paper! I was really worried about that one.
I'm getting better connected to the people in my program as well. We all went out to a Tapas place downtown, drinks and food paid for by the CIR program (Committee on International Relations). It was a lot of fun; however, I was left to my own devices to find my way back to the train station--everyone else took a bus back to Hyde Park (where campus is). I thought I knew where I was, or at least a good idea, but it turns out I underestimated how far north I was. I walked 6 blocks or so and realized I wasn't as sure as I thought. I eventually asked someone and discovered I had about a mile-and-a-half to go--in 14 minutes to catch my 10:40 train. Either that or wait another hour. Keep in mind that I hadn't been home since before 7 AM and it was now about 10:26 PM. I was dressed up and had my computer and books all with me. I had just had about 3 glasses of Sangria and a four course meal. I was wearing a fleece but it was about 65 to 70 degrees out still. I was talking to Court and explained the situation. She said, "Well, you could make it if you ran." I paused for a second and then responded, "You're right. I call you back." I proceeded then to book it for the train station. People are yelling, "Run, Forrest!" as I push my pace while nervously eyeing my wrist-watch every minute or so. I reached the train station and run up the escalator, glancing at the departure/arrival board as i make my way through the revolving doors and to the platform with my train. It was 10:38. I made it. At this point I realize that I am sopping in my own sweat, so I decide to remain by the doors and strip down to my undershirt, hoping to cool down. By the time I reached my stop, an hour later, I felt pretty disgusting.
Courtney and two of her friends, Sarah and Andrea, were here last weekend for their fall break. We were in Michigan over part of Sat. and Sun. for Jay and Liz's wedding. It was a quick, semi-stressful trip, but it was good to see people there. I still had class on Mon. and Tue. while the girls were here, so they went shopping downtown all day Monday while I was at class. It was good to have someone to commute with. The four of us had a lot of fun. Courtney and I had some good alone time as well. Needless to say, I got a bit behind on my school work. But, it was worth it.
Yesterday, I took a study break and met Josi and Heather downtown for coffee. It was a quick trip, but good to see them and connect with some good friends. Most of my life is studying, otherwise. I spend three days commuting to class (Mon.-Wed.)--pretty much an all day event--then I have four days to constantly prepare for the next week. But, I have 5 weeks left of the quarter I think. It'll be increasingly intense, but I'm hanging in there. I'm beginning the process of the thesis. I'm at the developing my idea stage. I have most of December and the first few days of Jan. off to work on my thesis. So I plan to do most of that from Nebraska. i look forward to seeing as many of you during that time as I can! I'm sure I'm leaving out details and events from the last few weeks but this essentially catches you up. I'll try to be more intentional with postings. I didn't realize people read this, haha. Hope this finds you well and feeling blessed!
I'm getting better connected to the people in my program as well. We all went out to a Tapas place downtown, drinks and food paid for by the CIR program (Committee on International Relations). It was a lot of fun; however, I was left to my own devices to find my way back to the train station--everyone else took a bus back to Hyde Park (where campus is). I thought I knew where I was, or at least a good idea, but it turns out I underestimated how far north I was. I walked 6 blocks or so and realized I wasn't as sure as I thought. I eventually asked someone and discovered I had about a mile-and-a-half to go--in 14 minutes to catch my 10:40 train. Either that or wait another hour. Keep in mind that I hadn't been home since before 7 AM and it was now about 10:26 PM. I was dressed up and had my computer and books all with me. I had just had about 3 glasses of Sangria and a four course meal. I was wearing a fleece but it was about 65 to 70 degrees out still. I was talking to Court and explained the situation. She said, "Well, you could make it if you ran." I paused for a second and then responded, "You're right. I call you back." I proceeded then to book it for the train station. People are yelling, "Run, Forrest!" as I push my pace while nervously eyeing my wrist-watch every minute or so. I reached the train station and run up the escalator, glancing at the departure/arrival board as i make my way through the revolving doors and to the platform with my train. It was 10:38. I made it. At this point I realize that I am sopping in my own sweat, so I decide to remain by the doors and strip down to my undershirt, hoping to cool down. By the time I reached my stop, an hour later, I felt pretty disgusting.
Courtney and two of her friends, Sarah and Andrea, were here last weekend for their fall break. We were in Michigan over part of Sat. and Sun. for Jay and Liz's wedding. It was a quick, semi-stressful trip, but it was good to see people there. I still had class on Mon. and Tue. while the girls were here, so they went shopping downtown all day Monday while I was at class. It was good to have someone to commute with. The four of us had a lot of fun. Courtney and I had some good alone time as well. Needless to say, I got a bit behind on my school work. But, it was worth it.
Yesterday, I took a study break and met Josi and Heather downtown for coffee. It was a quick trip, but good to see them and connect with some good friends. Most of my life is studying, otherwise. I spend three days commuting to class (Mon.-Wed.)--pretty much an all day event--then I have four days to constantly prepare for the next week. But, I have 5 weeks left of the quarter I think. It'll be increasingly intense, but I'm hanging in there. I'm beginning the process of the thesis. I'm at the developing my idea stage. I have most of December and the first few days of Jan. off to work on my thesis. So I plan to do most of that from Nebraska. i look forward to seeing as many of you during that time as I can! I'm sure I'm leaving out details and events from the last few weeks but this essentially catches you up. I'll try to be more intentional with postings. I didn't realize people read this, haha. Hope this finds you well and feeling blessed!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Troublesome Transition Turned Triumphant Tale
So this week has been an adventure. We left early, shortly after five, on Friday morning after about 4 hours of sleep. My parents met me at the Lund house to pack the last few bits of laundry and the cooler into our two jam-packed cars before heading across town to pick up Courtney and head out on I-80 for Chicago. We did stop briefly at the Sapp Bros. truck stop for a big breakfast and about a gallon of coffee each. By Des Moines we stopped for gas. Funny story, my car decided to lock itself while we were getting gas after Courtney got out and we were locked out of my car until I was able to finagle a wire hanger to unlock the driver's side door. Crisis averted... or so we thought. About ten minutes later, as my parents followed us on the interstate, my mother called to ask about the steam I hadn't noticed flowing from under the right side of the hood of the car. I immediately glanced at the gauges on my dash indicating that my engine was over heating. In my ignorance I only slowed down(I didn't stop), attempting to exit the interstate as quickly as possible. We got to a gas station in Pleasant Hill, East Des Moines, and discovered a "Performance Plus" auto repair across the street. The engine had cooled a bit so I managed to get it to the mechanic there. He indicated in a matter of minutes that the head gasket was done for--the car was totaled. Now I knew it was cracked and the car had obvious problems, but I hadn't really anticipated this so soon. The four of us prayed, rearranged things so we could all fit in the van, and promptly headed back to central Des Moines in search of car dealerships and a new car! Over the course of the next eight hours, we would endure seemingly countless dealerships and salesmen. They weren't all bad, a few were remarkably ridiculous, but I... we were all... getting to the point where we didn't know if we could handle another over-zealous salesmen, dangling his bait in hopes that we might bite. Facing an amazingly expensive year, we had a bit of a tight budget to work with--our options were limited.
I think it was at what must have been our seventh dealership when things began to take a turn for the better. We were helped by a young salesman, Brandon, just out of college at Iowa State. He informed us of a car just dropped off that day, a 1995 Toyota Avalon. It was black, nearly flawless, spacious, tan leather interior, 91K miles. Almost too good to be true. My dad and I took it for a test drive. It handled amazingly. It felt almost like new! It turns out an old lady who had bought it at that very dealership new in 1995, had just traded it in that morning for a new Corolla. The service dept. hadn't even inspected it yet. I was getting excited to say the least. We gave the Service guys an hour to check it over and we came back to find out the damage. Incredibly, nothing super serious was found wrong. A few minor things would need to attended to but we needed to drive it away that day--we were still trying to get to Chicago remember. God be praised, we were able to negotiate a great deal, exactly within our budget!! As I said, eight hours later, I drove away in my new car. The girls had rushed back to empty my old Acura--it had served me well for nearly six years, now with almost 200K miles, it was ready to be done. We quickly transferred the rest of our things into the new car and made it to Winfield (where I'm now living, west of Chicago) by 11:30 or so Friday night. We got everything moved in right away and were able to enjoy the rest of the weekend as I got settled into my new home for the next year!
Today was the first day of orientation. It took me 2-and-1/2 hours to get to campus, about exactly two to get back home. It's a bit daunting but manageable. Things will get better as I get my classes figured out this week and get a routine established. All in all, I'm doing very well. It's great to be living with my aunt, uncle, and two little cousins (3 & 2). Thank you all for your prayers!! This will prove to be a challenging year I'm sure, but I'm so excited to see what I learn and where it takes me!!
p.s. I'll post pictures when I get a chance!
I think it was at what must have been our seventh dealership when things began to take a turn for the better. We were helped by a young salesman, Brandon, just out of college at Iowa State. He informed us of a car just dropped off that day, a 1995 Toyota Avalon. It was black, nearly flawless, spacious, tan leather interior, 91K miles. Almost too good to be true. My dad and I took it for a test drive. It handled amazingly. It felt almost like new! It turns out an old lady who had bought it at that very dealership new in 1995, had just traded it in that morning for a new Corolla. The service dept. hadn't even inspected it yet. I was getting excited to say the least. We gave the Service guys an hour to check it over and we came back to find out the damage. Incredibly, nothing super serious was found wrong. A few minor things would need to attended to but we needed to drive it away that day--we were still trying to get to Chicago remember. God be praised, we were able to negotiate a great deal, exactly within our budget!! As I said, eight hours later, I drove away in my new car. The girls had rushed back to empty my old Acura--it had served me well for nearly six years, now with almost 200K miles, it was ready to be done. We quickly transferred the rest of our things into the new car and made it to Winfield (where I'm now living, west of Chicago) by 11:30 or so Friday night. We got everything moved in right away and were able to enjoy the rest of the weekend as I got settled into my new home for the next year!
Today was the first day of orientation. It took me 2-and-1/2 hours to get to campus, about exactly two to get back home. It's a bit daunting but manageable. Things will get better as I get my classes figured out this week and get a routine established. All in all, I'm doing very well. It's great to be living with my aunt, uncle, and two little cousins (3 & 2). Thank you all for your prayers!! This will prove to be a challenging year I'm sure, but I'm so excited to see what I learn and where it takes me!!
p.s. I'll post pictures when I get a chance!
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