busy, busy, busy...

I have somehow been keeping myself exceedingly busy during my two free weeks. Who would have thought? I volunteered at the art park's pottery fair last weekend, for one thing. Granted, all I did was cook hot dogs, but they were super tasty, especially since it was chilly and rainy most of the time. I bought a ceramic fish for my parents to put in the cabin and couldn't resist buying myself this really pretty vase. It's about eight inches high, more narrow at the base, and flairs out a bit at the top. It's a light teal color with vaguely Japanese-esque scribbly leaves on it. I'm very pleased with the purchase, I must say.

Then what did I do for the rest of this week? A lot of puttering around, I guess, and preparing for classes. I attempted to buy books online, but the used prices were no cheaper than the bookstore's used prices, so I opted for the store, since I would get them much sooner that way. Alas, the store did not have a single of my books. Some of them they apparently got in the day after I tried to buy, but the store didn't even have a section for Magazine classes, even though I know there are required books for the class. This was very confusing.

I went to Binghamton for the night Wednesday, and hung out there a bit on Thursday. I saw Johanna, Meghan, Coworker Dan, and Teht. I expected to feel all nostalgiac about Bingo since I just graduated, but instead I felt decidedly disconnected. After living in Binghamton for four years, I've developed a newfound respect for Syracuse (there is way more to do here, and there are actual jobs). So my return to Bingo really solidified my opinion that it's a horribly depressing city. There are so few oppurtunities there. Lockheed Martin is getting a bigger presence there as we speak, though, so assuming they don't outsource everything, hopefully it will help. Of course, it may also follow IBM's shitty example, and after helping the economy recover, just up and leave for cheaper labor, etc. elsewhere.

I watched the movie "Scotland, Pa." with Jon and Dave Thursday night. At first we tried to rent this random John Cusack movie, but it was so obscure that Blockbuster didn't actually carry it, which I find rather amusing. The DVD case was on the shelf by mistake. "Scotland" was an interpretation of "Macbeth" set in the 1970s. I have yet to read "Macbeth," but Dave claimed the movie was genius, so apparently it was pretty faithful to the original motifs and such. Then I made them watch the anime movie "Millenium Actress," which is one of my absolute favorite anime films. It's about an aging actress whose films paralleled parts of her life. So you get scenes of her life interspersed with scenes from her movies. Sometimes it's hard to tell the two apart, which I REALLY like. Plus it's by one of my favorite directors, Satoshi Kon. It's a really beautiful film.

Let's see... Yesterday I took my dog to the vet and on the way home he shit on the seat and then sat in it, so I spent the better part of the day cleaning it. Gross. In the evening Bec and I went to Dinosaur BBQ since this is her last week before leaving for grad school at Dartmouth. It was super delicious, as always. I wish they would quit trying to put Dinosaur in other cities, though. The one in Rochester is hardly the same. It's more like a family restaurant. It's supposed to be a dirty biker bar-type place. And Bec said the one in Harlem got bad reviews. Now, how many aging, fat bikers with long beards and ponytails in leather do you see riding around on their Harleys in Harlem? Not too many, I would wager. I just don't think it works.

Today I went to the first annual Clinton art and music festival (in Clinton, N.Y.). It was pretty good, actually. There were tons of bands of all different styles. I watched a sort of folksy rock band for a while that had an upright bass, drums, and a ukelele. Now there's something you don't see every day. Most of the art was pretty amateur other than the potters and this one painter. But even that one painter had really sweet, country style. Why is that the only painting style you ever see at things like this? Don't people have any different tastes? Oh well. I discovered the festival through Mike's band's (Sinister Yu) website, because they were among the bands playing. But then he wasn't even there with the rest of the band. Maybe he quit? At that point I'd been there by myself for almost three hours anyways, so I decided I was bored and came back home.

Tomorrow night there is an opening at the art park, but I don't know if I'm going to go. I want to, but I've been driving so much lately that I don't really feel like going anywhere for a while. Plus the Emmys are tomorrow and I want to see if "Arrested Development" will win again. I certainly hope so.

My parents left for France this morning, so I have the house to myself for the next two weeks. But since classes start Monday, I'm sure schoolwork will keep me pretty occupied and I won't feel lonely in the big house. Plus I have the dog.

Whew. That is enough writing for tonight.