Animals!

today, a(roommate) and i headed off to the zoo for a little animal viewing.  i love having a zoo right here in dc.  apparently there was one in boston, but in all my time there i was never able to find it.  its probably not actually in boston.  so much there is actually outside the city limits. however, the national zoo is such a great opportunity, so long as you don't mind being swarmed by children intent on screaming at the poor animals.

 

 

being at the zoo always makes me think about it from a museum perspective.  because, zoos are technially museums (you may not be aware of that fact).  however, there are clearly some fundamental differences.  from a collections standpoint, because i am always thinking of objects and how to care for them, the "objects" in a zoo aren't your normal, run-of-the-mill wood/metal/bone/plastic objects.  they live, they breathe, they feel, they get sick.  therefore extra care needs to be taken care of them.  not only do they need to be treated like objects, but one has to remember that as living animals, they need certain fundamental things like food, as well as being cared for to preserve them for visitors.  its so interesting and not something that was covered all that well in my classes at school.  all we talked about were butterflies and they are short-lived and i feel like caring for them is not as intensive as caring for, say, an elephant.

i wish the zoo would do more to promote how it cares for its animals.  they are building a new elephant habitat that seems, from what the very few signs at the zoo, to be one of the only of its kind.  however, i know absolutely nothing about it! i wish they'd tell us more.

after the zoo, a and i walked around and then got dinner at lauriol plaza (if you're ever in dc, you should probably go there).  while there we got into a giant discussion about being single, living in the city, and exploring and expanding our horizons.  it got me to thinking about the changes i want to make in my life.  i've gotten much better about some things.  i've begun to live under the mentality of "own it."  even if i have insecurities, i am going to make it look like i don't.  its working, so far.  it also helps when very nice individuals at the next table at dinner tell me that "damn girl, you look good!"  

i need to explore dc more, however, especially because i have no more excuses (like homework).  i'm making that my slightly early new year's resolution.  i am going to explore, push my boundaries, expand my comfort zones.  i want it to manifest itself in all aspects of my life, from fashion, to lifestyle to activities. hopefully it works!  i feel like i need a plan of attack or a list.  something.  but lord knows i'm not good at following lists.  or making them.  or planning anything.  i used to be so anal.  and now i've taken a more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants mentality.  i'm not sure if its a good thing, but i'm trying to be less stressed about my life!

and now, since it is sunday night and i have to head into work tomorrow (boo real world), i will say good night!

i should probably update this more.  i started it with the intention of allowing my family and friends to keep track of me while i pursued my master's degree in dc.  but clearly i am terrible at that, so now i'm not really sure what it is supposed to be.

perhaps it can reflect the same uncertainty that i feel permeates my life in general, at the moment.  i'm employed (hooray!), living in a new part of dc, but just trying to figure out my life.  there are so many things i still want to change, and i think i'm going to be a work in progress.  i'm not sure if i am 100% happy with that.  i want my life to be secure and settled, but i'm only 24 and so it's ok if it isn't.

Futures

If you had asked me 3-4 weeks ago where I wanted to be after graduation, I'd have said DC.  Hands down.  Or really anywhere I could get a job. 

Ask me now.  I won't be able to tell you.  Do I want to be here?  Do I want to go back to Boston? NY? Chicago?  Will I be able to even get a job anywhere?

I don't know, and its starting to freak me out!

One year and counting people.  Have to make some decisions about my future, here!

To Catch Up

One day, just maybe, I'll update this thing with some sort of frequency.  Unfortunately, since my life shows absolutely no signs of slowing down in the near future, it is doubtful. 

Anyways, where to even begin?  So much has happened between that cold day in mid-January and this mugg-tastic day in mid-July.  Firstly, I lived through two blizzards (read that, TWO) in the space of a week.  That's more than I've seen since 1998, and I'm from New England.  Where blizzards are supposed to happen.  I got to experience first-hand exactly how poorly equipped the DC metro region is to deal with snow, and just how long you have to sit in your 650 sq ft apartment before you go absolutely stir crazy.  Even now, six months later, I still never want to see snow again.  Please, gods of winter, hear my plea:  NO SNOW THIS WINTER.

That pretty much wraps up February...with the exception of the snow, it was boring and uneventful.  As was March.  Except in March I went home and had a bit of a BUHS reunion.  Which was excellent, as was the food at Sunset Cantina.  Dear Owners of Sunset:  If you ever read this, please become a chain and build a Cantina next to my house in DC.  I miss the nachos.  K, thanks.  March was a good month. 

Then came April, where for a second an oil rig blew up and there was a huge mess in the Gulf of Mexico.  Oh wait.  Thats still an issue.  BP is just the best company out there, aren't they?  I fail to see how precautionary measure weren't inherent in the building/use of off-shore oil rigs.  For what else don't we have a contingency plan?  I'm not sure I want an answer to that question!  Other than the oil explosion of doom, April was also uneventful.  I finished up my internship and then proceeded to go through NMAH withdrawal (it still hasn't ended) and successfully finished class.  I didn't die either.  I think thats an accomplishment in and of itself.  I was sure Frank's class might bring about my demise.

May was also low key.  I wrote papers, had a week to fake relax, because it wasn't a break at all, and then started my first summer class.  In true GW fashion, it was absolutely interesting, riveting, the best class I could ever imagine!  Right...not so much.  It was actually pedantic, theory-based, and utterly unimpressive.  Hi, if we are going to talk about the development of culture in early America, shouldn't we study examples of the culture developing instead of, or at least concurrent with, studying how or why culture develops?  Apparently not in the world of GW american studies.  Or at least that class. 

Then, at the end of May my parents showed up AND Amelia moved in.  Hooray!  She's out of HOVA.  She can cook!  We can sit on the couch and watch hockey games together!  Hooray!  We had an awkward week of dance-around-the-extra-person-in-the-apartment and then Jenna mosied her way to CA for her internship and life.  I miss Jenna :(  Then it was my birthday and I worked, worked, worked, and then all of a sudden, June ended.

And July came.  And quite honestly, July has been hot as balls.  Please, let me repeat myself:  hot as balls.  It's been nasty.  There's nothing like getting up, showering, and getting dressed, only to walk to the metro and realize you are in need of yet another shower because you stink to high heavens and are soaking through your clothes.  Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad.  Oh wait, it was.  Last time I checked, DC, you weren't Florida nor are you situated near the Equator.  SO STOP.  At least its cooled down some, even though it is now muggy and gross.  I'm not sure which I dislike more.  IS THERE ANY WEATHER I ACTUALLY AM COMFORTABLE IN?  I'm starting to think the answer to that is no.  I miss spring/fall, even though my allergies are beastly.  But, I've started my second class which is, in typical Martha fashion, a lot of busy work and fairly easy/interesting.  I think I like this online thing.  Or at least living under the illusion that I don't actually have class (except I do).

I'm going home next week.  And then to a beach.  Where I can get a tan (read: sunburn).  I cannot wait.  DC is too far inland for me.  And sorry, people, the Potomac does NOT count as a waterfront, even if they have crab shacks.  Yum.

Haaackey, Bra

I'm sitting alone on my couch in my BU sweatshirt watching BU play BC at Fenway Stadium and I feel like crying.  Not really, but this isn't cool.

I didn't think I'd miss a school I complained about constantly for four years so much.

I'm jealous of my friends who are there.  Boston, you are too far away.

Who cares if its cold.  ITS THE BATTLE OF COMM AVE AT FENWAY.