Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

Boredom on a Saturday night turned into a music video massacre.

To IKEA and Beyond!

There's nothing quite like an early evening Toy Story reference. Take it in...

Ok, so today's venture was one of desperation. Unfortunately, my parents had to cancel their trip out this weekend, and with them in Arlington stayed all my furniture. SO, today it was off to Swedish/Chinese furniture giant, IKEA, to find a desk.

Now, I know what you're thinking, and don't worry, I'm still thinking a bed is more important than a desk, but the desk just happened to get ahead on the queue somehow.

Anyways, to put it mildly, IKEA was overwhelming. It was a nightmare. I mean, it was neat but it was so big and full of so many things! I don't know. I had trouble wrapping my head around the whole thing and could only focus on things like how hard it was to find the escalator and why I couldn't get from one side of the building to the other without going all the way around.

So, I went through several desk types, looked at some other things like hanging shelves (awesome) and pencil cups (awesome), went out to measure my car, looked at more desks and chairs, went out to measure again, came back to look at desks one more time then bit the bullet and bought the Expedit desk with a chair that I don't remember the name of. Needless to say, after all that deliberation I made the right choice. It is fantastic and is now sitting proudly in my living room, already adorned with books, computer stuff and a wire-mesh pencil cup (awesome).

And now for the philosophical portion. As my brother was comforting me and advising me through this IKEA journey, the subject of beds came up and he said something like "You don't have to get the most expensive bed. When you get a real job you're going to want a nicer one anyways. Trust me." This statement did not sit well with me. I love my brother to death and back and he was only trying to be helpful, but it was in that moment that I realized I'd been pushed off the edge and into the pool of American consumerism. I feel like I'm up to my neck in it, trying to figure out how to swim. Will I always desire more? Things have always been so easy because hand-me-downs have been provided. I've never had to worry about how much I want to spend on a bed, or which model I desire, or whether I should upgrade. It's always been clean-cut: I have this twin bed from home and that's it; I have this desk from home and it's great. done. But now it's like, well, will I want a better bed later? And how bout after that? Maybe a better bed. Maybe one with a fancy iron head-board or the latest in trendy platform beds. I can see this snowballing into something awful. Not just beds, either. I want to be financially responsible and I sure don't want to be spending money on myself all the time just because I might want a better bed. Thoughts? Comments?

Ready to Start

Hello!

Yes, it's quite soon after my last post but social starvation is starting to set in and blogging tends to work as an outlet. On the left is a picture I took last night of my favorite Illinois town at night. Very nice! I've been here, there, and everywhere in search of free wifi because I don't have the internets at my apartment (yet?). Last night I was here at the library for a while doing some teachery things and I'm here now doing some emaily things. Things are still going well. If we're friends on facebook, you'll know I had a nice little rant about the severe technology deficit between BSU and NIU. A lot of Ball State students don't know how great they have it. New buildings, new computers, super nice wifi, etc, etc. So. Yeah.

On a slightly unrelated note, I read an interesting article this morning (courtesy of my sister) about the rise of narcissism in our society. According to a few studies, the average college student would rather be complimented or receive a good grade than engage in their favorite sexual activity or eat their favorite food. The article went on to give more examples but the question in my head is this: Is this an age of narcissism or an age of neglect and apathy? Are we choosing compliments because we want them or because we need them? In other words, are we in fact craving excess praise and affirmation or are we scrounging for it because no one is handing it out anymore? Two very different situations in my opinion. And even further, this question in itself could encourage self-absorption. Can we trust ourselves to answer it accurately? Oh boy, so much to think about...

Sycamore: 14,900

Good Evening America!

I'm blogging to you from the Sycamore, Illinois Public Library! It's a place where community members come to read, learn, listen, and use the wifi because they don't have internet at home. It's an older building and the quiet room (where I currently find myself) is in a large turret on the corner of the building. Awfully romantic. *swoon* I'd just gotten back from a long day on campus and didn't have much of anything to do after dinner so I trotted on over here so I could update everyone on what's happening.

Last Friday I moved into my new apartment here in Sycamore and it's absolutely fabulous. No leaks in the walls, doors, or windows, a working fridge, hot water, soft, clean carpet, nice walls, and working heating and air conditioning (i.e. everything a boy could want). It's not far from campus which makes for a short car/bike trip and it's far enough that I don't have to worry about drunken bros smashing my windows on Friday nights. Beautiful.

Ever since, I've been settling in, meeting new people, learning about my responsibilities as a graduate student/teaching assistant, and soaking up my new environs. Heck, I've been tooling around so much these past few days, I know this place almost like I've lived here for at least a week!

I'm really enjoying my time here, that's for sure. Living alone certainly has its perks and...non-perks. On the upside, I get to run my own show, which is a luxury I've always treasured. I feel best when I am in control of everything from the cleaning of the dishes to the choice of bathroom scents. I know it sounds obsessive and maybe it is, but it works! On the downside, social interaction becomes a little more of a challenge. It requires more proactivity than would living with someone else(s). So sometimes I'll find myself sitting in my living room (which is still furniture-less) without that person on deck to talk to or do something with. Once school picks up and I start meeting people I don't see this being as much of an issue.

Finally, and perhaps foremost on my mind, I've started to wonder how to feel about all this. I'd say literally nothing has gone wrong in the past 5 days. On the one hand I'm petrified in fear, wondering when my good juju is going to run out. On the other hand, I'm wondering what caused all this in the first place? At one point, my mother mentioned how miraculous it was that everything was falling together so perfectly and for the first time in a while I gave some thought to miracles. I'm still not convinced they're real, but this is an awful lot of chance working out in my favor. Also, remembering back to conversations with a good friend of mine in undergrad, the immediate response is to jump to the Judeo-Christian God as the only provider of metaphyiscal/supernatural anomalies but I don't see why the Fabulous Ghost of Freddie Mercury couldn't have been responsible. Or Buddha or whatever. I don't know. Just some food for thought.

Needless to say, this post has gone on long enough and I need to get to planning for class next Tuesday. I hope this post finds everyone well and I'll be back sometime later!

*note: the building in the picture is actually the Dekalb County Courthouse. Notice the lack of "a large turret on the corner".

The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

No, this is not an homage to the late, great Smashing Pumpkins. This is my send-off entry. The beginning of this journey is the end of an era is the beginning of a new era, ya dig? In almost exactly 12 hours I plan to be getting on the interstate heading cross-country to the great state of Illinois. I've never worked so hard or so diligently to get packed, loose ends tied up, and future things in motion. It's been a whirlwind but it's finally happening. And so, with my nifty new coat, handheld robot, and incorrigible resolve, I will set off into the unknown. Thanks to everyone who's helped me get here and let's hope this car doesn't bottom out when I get to the mountains :-)