NYU!

Hey I'm officially moved in to NYU! We started at around 9 this morning after spending some time at my aunt's house which was fun. Had a lot of bonding time with my extended family.

My dorm is actually really big - with two walk in closets. Its kind of old looking - with crummy carpet and my roommate's mom said it reminded her of a mental asylum but I LOVE IT. So poetic.

Laura is cool - different than I expected, but good. Its been sooo weird seeing people from facebook in real life - there's this weird moment of like "is that...oh weird do i wave??"

Its been nice to see Julie too - its weird having her be the closest person I know.

My dorm looks okay but Laura's side is like epicly decorated with lights and stuff. She has so much stuff - pretty jealous.

Our suite mate Yun came later - she seemed kind of awkward around us but I'm sure its nerves. Our RA is really nice and really cute but everytime I run into him I've been suuuuper sweaty from moving stuff around. Also his interests are "dancing, reality tv and theater." Probably not my type. O.o

Laura's out with her family for dinner and I'm basically just killing time before our floor meeting - also our floor theme is Toy Story 3. We have pictures of the toys (I'm slink) on our doors and its says "You've Got a Friend in Laura, Mary, and Yun!"

Sooo I'm going to scavenge something to eat...

BYE!

I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

Current Song: I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You by Colin Hay

So I'm in Ohio...officially on my way. Its been an interesting day - lots of driving and stressful interactions with an automated toll booth.

My last day in Indianola was interesting too - I saw Carole (Molly's mom) which was very, very nice. She gave my parents some mini bottles of wine for the road. Made me lol. Max met my mom and I at Walmart and brought us Corner Sundry and than we went to Ahquabi and goofed around. And than we went home and packed and Max goofed around with my webcam. He fixed my headphones for me too. And than...I started crying and could not stop. We went out into my driveway and talked for a really long time. And cried. A lot. I guess there's a lot to say, it just makes me cry writing about it...so maybe I'll post more later.

For now I'm trying to focus on the positives. Talk to you guys when I'm in New York.

Nothing Get's Crossed Out by Bright Eyes

This is sort of cheesy but whatever. I was listening to music in the car and this song is exactly how I feel right now:

Well the future's got me worried such awful thoughts
My head's a carousel of pictures, the spinning never stops
I just want someone to walk in front
And I'll follow the leader
Like when I fell under the weight of a schoolboy crush
Started carrying her books and doing lots of drugs
I almost forgot who I was
But came to my senses

Now I'm trying to be assertive, I'm making plans
Want to rise to the occasion, yeah meet all their demands
But all I do is just lay in bed
And hide under the covers

Yeah I know I should be brave
But I'm just too afraid of all this change

And it's too hard to focus through all this doubt
I keep making this to-do list but nothing gets crossed out
Working on the record seems pointless now
When the world ends who's gonna hear it?

But I'm trying to take some comfort in written words
Yeah Tim, I heard your album and it's better than good
When you get off tour I think we should
Hang and black out together

Cause I've been feeling sentimental for days gone by
All those summers singing, drinking, laughin', wasting our time
Remember all those songs and the way we smiled
In those basements made of music?

But now I've got to crawl to get anywhere at all
I'm not as strong as I thought

So when I'm lost in a crowd, I hope that you'll pick me out
I long to be found, the grass grew high, I laid down
Now I'll wait for a hand to lift me up, help me stand
I've been laying so long, don't wanna lay here no more
Don't wanna lay here no more, don't wanna lay here no more

Everything that happens is supposed to be
And it's all pre-determined, can't change your destiny
Guess I'll just keep moving, someday maybe
I'll get to where I'm going

Postcards from Rubin

Current song - Postcards from Italy by Beirut

So I am officially in Rubin (with a swanky 5th avenue address) rooming with Laura Brown of California. We are in a divided suite thing with a girl from Korea named Yun Jae Lee. Its been hard to lurk her because most of her facebook is in Korean but hopefully she'll be very cool. We share a bathroom and what looks like a little hallway space in between our rooms. We're officially room 6B on the 7th floor! Its going to be crazy living on the 7th floor after living in a one story house my whole life. Also we're on the edge so we'll hopefully have a really great view.

I bought a lot of dorm stuff - its really pretty. It is purplish and blue with birds and flowers and matches what Laura is buying for her bedding. I also just invested in my first college textbook (Introduction to Philosophy) and an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster. I'm hoping the poster will be an inspiration (that sounds uberly cliche) - looking up at something that was brilliantly written about how the brain works and what we value in life - and whether love is always present or can be erased or ended. I can read my giant textbook under my poster and write something half as brilliant as that.

My thoughts are somewhat all over the place so this might be a bit jumpy. I keep alternating from really excited to scared to nervous to curious to worried. Its been nice talking to people I will be seeing in school and hopefully making somewhat of "pre-friends." But what happens if I get to NYU and all the prefriends I've made realize I'm not that cool? Eeeeeeek. :\

I feel really connected to my home right now too which is making it harder to think about leaving. Traveling to Chicago was amazing - bonding even more with people I really, really care about and talking a lot about what's changing in our lives. It's starting to give me closure on 18 years of friendship and life in the same place - but I'm still terrified. I've met such amazing people here that it scares me to think I'll never meet people I care about as much.

And things are amazing with Max. We had a Sopranos marathon last night and ate lots of pasta. It was ridiculously fun being insanely lazy.

I want to leave - I don't want to leave.

Limbo

Current Song: The Seer's Tower by Sufjan Stevens



Hey there! I was scheduled to work today from 4 to 9 but it was really slow so I didn't get called in for any hours - so I decided to post a few pictures of my future dorm. I found out Rubin used to be a hotel - which is why the lobby is so snazzy looking.

And here's another photo -



The room looks sorta messy - which is true to how my room will be. Also the girl I requested to room with (Laura Brown) also got Rubin as her dorm so we will probably be roommates!

Here's another picture - this one's of the view from one of Rubin's windows. Note that you can see the Empire States Building. :D




And finally the most important part - THE DINING ROOM! I'm so excited - it looks so cozy and delicious.



Its weird how close college is really beginning to feel. Its about a month away - at least for me - which is a long time...but at the same time very, very close, This summer has been a really odd limbo - to close to leaving to create anything new or lasting, but a lot of waiting for the inevitable. Its kind of freaking me out.

Hmmm....what do I do with my time?

A Garden That's Bursted Into Life

Current song - Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. I really need some good old fashioned comfort music. I've been sorta freaking out about everything recently. Way too much stuff going on for me right now. I recently got home from Portland - which was fun - but oddly really stressful. We had a ton of stuff happening in our family (cousin getting married, other cousin have a major surgery, aunt got engaged, etc, etc, etc) and I spent a lot of time with my cousin who is also attending NYU. She's a really...intense person so it made me even more worried about next year which was about the last thing I needed right now. Also on our way back we got delayed in Denver for a long time and I returned home exhausted and irritated - and I've always felt when I come home from vacation I feel really cut out of everything. I saw Max the next day which made me feel better though. :)

But now I'm exhausted from work last night after little sleep the night before and a long night of fighting with my computer and need to drive my dad up to Des Moines for a minor surgery - which I'm also freaking out about. Eek. :(

In more exciting news - I also have some unofficial housing stuff - according to my ebill thing I'll be in the dorm Rubin. It was my first choice - technically - but I was sort of hoping for my second choice (Hayden). Hayden has a vegan cafeteria with local grown food - and a really good reputation, but Rubin was cheaper. C'est la vie.

Here's some info about Rubin -

"Welcome to Rubin! Located at a swanky address on 5th Avenue , Rubin is a bustling community comprised of approximately 680 first-year students. We have several great amenities for residents to take advantage of including: a large air conditioned second floor lounge, a black box theatre, a study lounge, a dance room, a piano room, a ping pong room, a darkroom, a billiards room and a great dining hall."

I'm most excited for the billards room.

All Day and All of the Night

Current Song: All Day and All of the Night - The Kinks

Hey - I figured I should make some sort of official first (well, second) post about my plans for next year - even though you all already know! Next year I'm attending Tisch School of the Performing Arts at New York University and majoring in Film and Television Production. It seems sorta crazy that I'm going to a performing arts school (technically, sorta) because I've never really been a performer - just an artist, but I like it. That was one of the biggest reasons I like NYU - because they approached film as an art, not as a commercial business.

Anyway - next year I am taking Freshman Colloquium: Performance Strategies (the class description said it would discuss how to direct actors, etc), Storytelling Strategies (which I am SOOO excited for :D), Sound Image (a technical class about how to produce good sound and stuff - sounds very dull), Writing the Essay: Art and the World (everyone at NYU takes Writing the Essay and everyone at Tisch takes Writing the Essay: Art and the World), and my gen ed class is Central Problems in Philosophy. I wanted to take Metaphysics (the TA was very attractive...) but it filled up before I could sign up. :( So in total I'm taking 18 credit hours - which seems like a lot for the first semester, but I'm sure I will live.

Whenever I think about college I'm either really excited or really sad and nervous. Its so exciting when I talk to people that I'm going to school with next year or when I look at my classes, but I always seem to come back to sad - especially when I hang out with Max. Leaving him scares me the most. I mean, I love my friends, but when I leave you will still be my friends and, hopefully, will be forever. And when I leave my family they're still my family - but when I leave Max he won't be my boyfriend anymore. And he's someone that makes me feel better no matter what stupid situation I'm upset about - and once I go to college its not ever going to be the same.

:(

Damn.

ANYWAY - less sad topic. I'm going to Portland next week for my cousin Matt's wedding. I'm really excited - I loooove seeing my family and I'll be seeing Julie (my cousin who is also going to NYU). Its going to be really weird 'cause I haven't seen her forever - but I'm really glad we'll have some time to hang out before we're thrown into the craziness of college. Hopefully we can reconnect a little so it won't be crazy awkward in August. I'm also gonna check out some vintage stores and hopefully visit Reed!

Well that's all I can think of right now - sorry my thoughts were somewhat jumbled. Talk to you all later. :)