I love the song "The Origin of Love" from the Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack. Check it!
Yesterday, I learned that Syracuse has not offered me any financial aid. Even though I filed my taxes this year (and the FAFSA) as an independent, Syracuse expects my family contribution to be $38 grand plus which is equal to the total tuition and estimated living expenses and all that jazz. Nice. I just don't understand why UW expects me to only pay over one thousand dollars and has therefore offered me over $40 grand in various loans while Syracuse offered me zip. I sent their financial aid department a little email posing this question, but I'm not sure when I'll receive a response. I was leaning towards Syracuse, but as of now it looks like I will be attending the University of Washington. It's a little disappointing because Syracuse has guaranteed all of their incoming library master's students a $10/hr 10hr/ week job working with the faculty. They also have a program that pays for half of one's tuition by writing blogs and creating videos and whatnot for the MLIS program. I didn't turn in my application in time for that this year, but there was always next year. And besides being a little bit cheaper in terms of tuition and living expenses, I've always wanted to live on the East Coast and this was a golden chance. So, it looks like Seattle instead, and I'm trying to get myself pumped for that. I have to accept by Thursday. Anyway, I'm putting my faith in these lyrics:
and i never cared too much for the money
but i know right now
that it's in god's hands
but i don't know who the father is
Yesterday, I was listening to the Splendid Table on NPR and they were talking about bulgur. Janet Fletcher who wrote this article for the San Francisco Chronicle came on the program, and told us that bulgur is a type of prepared whole grain wheat that is popular from Greece and Turkey and the Levant region. Bulgur came about because it was a way to preserve wheat which can quickly go rancid once harvested. Traditionally whole grains are boiled until soft and then laid out on flat roofs to sun dry. Today, much of that process takes place in factories. Bulgur is used in everything from stew to dumplings to salads to lamb tartare to pilaf. Anyway, I was in the grocery store buying chocolate to make brownies (they just came out of the oven and smell delicious), and I decided to buy some bulgur too. Anyway, the aforementioned article includes several Turkish recipes that utilize bulgur which I am eager to try out.
Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV proclaimed April 3rd (clearly I am behind on my podcasts) to be Good People Day or something like that and encouraged people to give shout-outs (e.g. blog posts) about important people in their lives. While there are many people near and dear to me who have profoundly influenced my life, I wanted to give a special shout-out to my good friend and former roommate Melissa. I would be lost without her. I cannot tell you how many times she helped me out with my dearly departed Buick (I miss you!) when it broke down--which was a regular occurrence. Or how often she helped me clean my college apartments as I was moving out. She is fiercely loyal to her friends and a great empathizer. She has the largest heart of anyone I know, and I enjoy being around her. I consider myself lucky and blessed to know such a friend, and I just wanted to say, "Melissa, I love you."
This past weekend I went to Lagoon with Melissa and Ellen and her husband Justin. We decided to splurge and buy season passports which I have never had before, and I figured this might be the last summer I live in Utah (or not; we'll see). Anyway, we got there around six thirty and didn't know that the park was scheduled to close at seven--it is still April after all. However, it ended up being perfect. We didn't have to pay for parking as it was so late in the day, and we managed to get in four rides before the park closed which made for a perfect little outing. We started with the Tidal Wave and then moved onto the Turn of the Century, or swings, which is one of my favorites as it features art of women in Victorian costume. Plus, who doesn't love a good swings ride? We then rode on the original "White" Roller Coaster which just gets ricketier and ricketier every year, and is no longer even close to white in color any longer. We ended the evening on the Carousel which still features hand carved figures. There was a scene in Adventureland which takes place on a warm, summer's night and the park is all lit up and it really made me want to go to Lagoon. Anyway, I look forward to many more lovely adventures there this summer. Also, I just saw Lagoon's new commercial on TV and it was actually quite nice and not obnoxious at all as many of their commercials have been in years past.
As I've mentioned before, I'm currently reading Little, Big by John Crowley for book club. While it is wonderful and superb, I am unconvinced it was the right choice for our group. It is a wondrous fantasy of epic dimensions, but I already have the acute sensation that this book is not meant to be read only once--it needs multiple readings, and it's quite a long book at that too. The writing is fantastic but also dense and frequently abstruse. There are five generations of interrelated characters and the novel switches from different generations with seeming abandon. The plot is a bit difficult to describe as I'm not sure there really is one (yet)--certainly not in the traditional terms of conflict and rising action. I just read this sentence from the novel which perfectly describes how I feel about it: "The long, long ambiguity of Edgewood, the stifling sense of mysteries continually propounded, never solved, the endless waiting for purposes to be made clear and directions pointed out--all over." Except, in the case of the reader it is far from over, and I am still waiting for the denouement where everything will be made clear--and I expect it to be amazing. Currently, it's still all a-muddle. And so I fear whether or not our group will valiantly persevere through. It's been awhile since we've read/finished a good book and had a rousing discussion.
On a final note, these few quotes have been running through my mind lately, and I leave them to you to do with as you will.
"I think . . . that I would rather recollect a life mis-spent on fragile things than spent avoiding moral debt."
--Neil Gaiman Fragile Things
"You said that humanity was a flawed creation, and that people still kill one another for petty jealousy and greed. You said that humanity never asked itself why it deserved to survive. Maybe you don't."
--Sharon Agathon "Resurrection Ship, Part II" Battlestar Galactica
"The things that make us happy make us wise."
--John Crowley Little, Big
We should start a Facebook group. "Wanna-be East Coasters jilted by unreasonable tuition expenses" or something. I want to tell you that everything happens for a reason and that there is some universal purpose in your attending UW rather than Syracuse, but over the years I have come to believe that we are often left to our own devices to create/discover the reason. Perhaps this process is enough of a reason for the omniscient, but I possess only marginal intelligence. Find something to love about UW, or learn how to start something you love at UW. You have so many talents that I know you'll shine no matter where you are.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the no financial aid thing. Higher education is ridiculously expensive and we'll all be slaves to our student loans in the end. And I love the song "The Origin of Love." And the movie "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," though I can only watch the film while I have emotion to invest in it - watching that film while drained is dangerous. Good luck with grad school!
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