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On Friday night Megan and I worked at the Crisis Center's soup and bread benefit dinner. We had to stroll around the Silent Auction table millions of times, making sure nobody stole anything (who would steal from a silent auction benefitting charity?!?) or bid in increments of less than $5 for items whose bids had to be a minimum of $20. It was very, very important. We even made little yellow signs with red ink, telling people to bid in the correct increments. The overlapping offbeat senses of humor Megan and I have tend to merge in uncontrollable laughter, so the night was a blast. Everything was funny. (I did feel bad for laughing so much at the hideous nature scenes painted on handsaws and thin-sliced pieces of tree trunk. I would feel horrible if I had put a lot of time into pieces of ahem, art and no one bidded on them.) I can't even remember why I was cracking up so much. But we ate soup! And bread! And cake! And Megan almost got sat upon by a man trying to sit on this stool adjacent to hers! And I almost imploded in an attempt to keep my laughter at this incident down to a minimum!
Mmm, soup.
Things like the soup and bread dinner make me question my desire to live in a big city. Even though one finds one's niche within the vastness of a city, I can see the benefits of a community small enough to host a benefit dinner like this. I saw many people I know there, and many people whose names I don't know but whose faces are familiar. I like the sense of feeling connected to a place within moments of arriving. It's comforting. I think I will probably live in a big city for awhile because I really want that experience, but remember that moving back to a smallish town (preferrably a small college town similar to the one I live in now but NOT the one I live in now) is always an option.
One of the benefits of living in a large city like New York is the proximity to the publishing world. But then again, I don't really want to work my way up in the publishing world through the business aspect of the career. I would rather write the best book I can in the best place I can possibly write it and then try to get it published. And I will never write a book that gets published with a hot pink cover. That idea makes me feel depressed.
After all the Silent Auction hysteria (oh, we worked with these two women and one was named Rosalind, which I think is an uncommonly rare and pretty name) I went Jubilee Christmas toy-shopping with Kristen and Molly (Megan had to study for her SAT II's). I had to buy something for a 6 year old girl. I ended up with Barbie stuff...a red Thunderbird convertible and a holiday Barbie set and three non-holiday outfit changes. Oh, they're wonderful. I have a slight moral aversion to what Barbie says (or rather, does not say) about society, but I loved my Barbies to death as a little girl and feel confident that the little girl who ends up with new Barbie stuff will be happy. I don't know; I have mixed feelings. I can look at Barbie as a fun toy to play with, but I can also look at Barbie as a contributor to the weight obsession of American culture. I don't remember ever feeling like Barbie's unattainable skinniness was a goal I longed to achieve, but I can see why Barbie bothers many people.
This weekend has been such fun. I wish the snow hadn't melted so much, and I wish I'd gotten more work done. I'll have a few good hours to work after youth group. I have tonight and then four more days to complete my 10 page term paper, two scholarship essays for Kenyon (oh please oh please oh please), my Earlham application (forms plus an essay about creativity, complete with photography), and the rest of my Northwestern application (those horrible, horrible short answer questions plus ANOTHER essay). I'll also have regular homework in Calculus, French, and English. I have to do an opinionated article summary (with fact list) for International Relations. I'll have to study for an International Relations map test (I have such a terrible time with map tests!), the Calculus "enhancement" opportunity, and an Econ quiz. Oh, and finals are December 17-19--I have five of those to study for.
I should feel lucky that I go to a good school and that I have the opportunity to take challenging, interesting classes and that I am preparing myself for college and that I have so many chances and responsibilities, but right now I really don't. I will, though. I need to get my gratefulness back.
I also need to stop messing around on the Internet.
( movie excitement!!! )
Mmm, soup.
Things like the soup and bread dinner make me question my desire to live in a big city. Even though one finds one's niche within the vastness of a city, I can see the benefits of a community small enough to host a benefit dinner like this. I saw many people I know there, and many people whose names I don't know but whose faces are familiar. I like the sense of feeling connected to a place within moments of arriving. It's comforting. I think I will probably live in a big city for awhile because I really want that experience, but remember that moving back to a smallish town (preferrably a small college town similar to the one I live in now but NOT the one I live in now) is always an option.
One of the benefits of living in a large city like New York is the proximity to the publishing world. But then again, I don't really want to work my way up in the publishing world through the business aspect of the career. I would rather write the best book I can in the best place I can possibly write it and then try to get it published. And I will never write a book that gets published with a hot pink cover. That idea makes me feel depressed.
After all the Silent Auction hysteria (oh, we worked with these two women and one was named Rosalind, which I think is an uncommonly rare and pretty name) I went Jubilee Christmas toy-shopping with Kristen and Molly (Megan had to study for her SAT II's). I had to buy something for a 6 year old girl. I ended up with Barbie stuff...a red Thunderbird convertible and a holiday Barbie set and three non-holiday outfit changes. Oh, they're wonderful. I have a slight moral aversion to what Barbie says (or rather, does not say) about society, but I loved my Barbies to death as a little girl and feel confident that the little girl who ends up with new Barbie stuff will be happy. I don't know; I have mixed feelings. I can look at Barbie as a fun toy to play with, but I can also look at Barbie as a contributor to the weight obsession of American culture. I don't remember ever feeling like Barbie's unattainable skinniness was a goal I longed to achieve, but I can see why Barbie bothers many people.
This weekend has been such fun. I wish the snow hadn't melted so much, and I wish I'd gotten more work done. I'll have a few good hours to work after youth group. I have tonight and then four more days to complete my 10 page term paper, two scholarship essays for Kenyon (oh please oh please oh please), my Earlham application (forms plus an essay about creativity, complete with photography), and the rest of my Northwestern application (those horrible, horrible short answer questions plus ANOTHER essay). I'll also have regular homework in Calculus, French, and English. I have to do an opinionated article summary (with fact list) for International Relations. I'll have to study for an International Relations map test (I have such a terrible time with map tests!), the Calculus "enhancement" opportunity, and an Econ quiz. Oh, and finals are December 17-19--I have five of those to study for.
I should feel lucky that I go to a good school and that I have the opportunity to take challenging, interesting classes and that I am preparing myself for college and that I have so many chances and responsibilities, but right now I really don't. I will, though. I need to get my gratefulness back.
I also need to stop messing around on the Internet.
( movie excitement!!! )
