Life in Recent Days

Having been away from the internet for a few weeks, I am drastically behind on reviews. This problem is compounded by the fact that Amy P-Shaw has written a particularly detailed review of the new Sherlock Holmes film, which raises the stakes and makes all my previous reviews look bad.

However, as I am lazy and not in the mood for writing about anything too deep or profound, I'm just going to give you a little update for now and save the five or six reviews I need to churn out for later.

It was really nice to be home for the holidays and get to visit with family, both in Cleveland and the 'Boro. After last semester I really needed the R&R that being home provided.

I got back in Memphis in time for New Year's Eve and had fun hanging out with Sarah and Marvin. The highlight of the evening was definitely Dick Clark counting down out of order. I cannot help but laugh, still, when I think of that.

Yes, I know. That makes me a horrible person.

But who didn't already know that?

This past weekend was also fun because John came down to Memphis and I got to spend Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday showing him the sights. Monday (you know, yesterday) morning we got up early--in the single digits--and I drove him down to Mississippi State to move into his dorm for the new semester.

And by dorm, I mean hotel suite.

Compared with what I am used to in Memphis, Mississippi State's campus was amazing. The buildings were pretty and well-kept, everything was clean, and I was not exaggerating when I compared John's dorm to a hotel. I mean, holy cow. Compared to that place, Richardson Towers was a Colombian prison. I will definitely be pickier when looking at grad schools.

Speaking of which . . . I need to get cracking on my applications.

I have given up on the MFA, in no small part because of the comments left by you on my last grad school-themed post. Instead, I'm applying to a couple different places for things that relate more closely to my undergrad fields of study.

Right now, I'm applying to Tulane and Kansas State for different things. I was also going to apply to Memphis as a back-up school, but--as I mentioned--having seen Mississippi State, I'm pretty much ready to get out of here as soon as possible.

Tulane is a good school with a decent history program. I'm applying there so I can get my Masters and possibly pursue a career as a history professor type person. Pros? I love history, I'd get summers off, and I could wear fun sweaters for the rest of my life. (Ever had a history professor who didn't wear sweaters? Didn't think so.) Cons? I would have to narrow my interest down to one particular field of history, like a specific region, and I am broad (read: fickle) enough in my historical interests that I don't know if I could spend the rest of my life delving into only one subject.

Kansas State wasn't on the plate until a couple nights ago when I was perusing the internet while Marvin and John watched football. They have a program there entitled Global Indigenous Nations Studies, which is a really long and complicated name. Pros? I love studying indigenous people and have been searching for a program like this for a while; as the name indicates, the focus is global--I don't have to narrow it down to one people group; there is a study abroad opportunity in Finland where you learn about the Saami (my favorite indigenous group); and the program is interdisciplinary, so I can combine my interests in history and anthropology. Cons? I have no idea what specifically I would do once I had earned such a degree and it's in Kansas, where I never in a million years would have imagined going.

Thoughts?

I also need to finish the application for funding to go to Paris over spring break and I have to study really hard for the GRE, which I am taking Saturday. There is also a tentative campus visit to Tulane in the works for the near future that needs to become less tentative soon or it won't happen.

*Heavy Sigh*

Growing up, blah.