Group and Dump

I hate the "what have I been doing" posts but this post is what it is. I am going to do most recent stuff first.

1. I have done something unknown to my shoulder that is causing me a great deal of pain. I can't use my left arm much and I can't really turn my head and I keep waiting for it to get better but unfortunately, it does not appear to be healing. I'm concerned, Tim Gunn style. It hurts a lot and I usually have a pretty high tolerance for pain (the amount of accidents and surgeries I have had does that to you) but last night, I even reached for some leftover vicodin from when I popped my jaw out of its socket at Christmas two years ago. (Yes, I am the queen of weird, freaky medical issues. Some people think it's hot.)

2. Packing, packing, packing. I leave in less than two weeks and even though all of my stuff is primarily in a POD in Pasadena, I still have quite a bit of clothes and other miscellaneous items that I have to figure out how to fit in my car. The other thing I did was order the majority of my books for this semester while I am still in Colorado and so I am transporting about 30 extra heavy volumes that I did not own until about 2 weeks ago.

3. For the first time in about 4 years, I am completely single. I was single for about a month last summer before I met someone that has been on and off for this entire year but I had the "talk" with him a couple of weeks ago and it was fine and I am not sad about it the tiniest bit although he is a great person. I think the talk went better because I am moving and it was no secret but honestly, I would have broken up with him even if there was no relocation in the mix. But, then in our off times, I dated a couple other people like The Professor and so I was really only quasi-single at best. Basically, what I am getting at is that single now is nice, I don't want to date anyone else but it's also weird, just like everything else in my life.

4. PhD reading. I have 2 out of 3 reading lists for next semester and both of those two require a couple of books to be read before school has started and so I am working on that. These books are good but packed full of information so it's a little slow going. Plus, I have devised an outlining system so that I have notes to refer back to upon studying for quals and also, for class discussion in a month. I figured I would be too stressed to read them all a couple days before class but that I wouldn't remember enough if I read them in the beginning of the summer so thus, the outlining system. (I'm trying to take this PhD thing super seriously if you can't tell.) I'm also taking a class on Carolingian Europe, the one class with no pre-reading, thankfully (my prof was so nice about this--he said he figured I had enough to to with moving that I didn't need to be pre-reading for his class.) However, I know jack about Carolingian Europe so I am reading a couple books Carol recommended to get a little caught up and not make an ass out of myself in the class.

5. Intellectually discussing The Dark Knight. So obviously, I am not the target sudience for this movie but I don't care, I loved it anyway. Mikey and I had a long talk about the philosophical statements the movie overtly made and I think we came up with a couple--a Jesus/Devil symbolic thing going on, a comparison to current foreign policy strategies and a commentary on how this movie was anti-utilitarian, meaning it was the worst for a few rather than the greatest good for the most. Also, on a last note, I thought that Heath Ledger's characterization was so thorough and amazing, which I know isn't new or profound but I was duly impressed.

6. Eating too much ice cream. I realized after having access to a working freezer, that my old freezer pretty much ruined food but specifically ice cream. Now that I can have ice cream whenever I want and it tastes so good, I have a difficult time exercising moderation. My perrenial favorite is cookies and cream but I especially love the Oreo version Breyer's puts out.

7. Gambling. I went up to Blackhawk a couple of weeks ago and for the first time ever, I actually won money! There was this random little game called "Jackpot Party" and let me tell you, party indeed. I ended up about $45 ahead which was pretty super. I love the trashy, Vegas tinged elements of Blackhawk because it's just so cheesy and geared toward the elderly. They make me feel young again!

8. Not drinking. I'm on the wagon right now basically because I don't need the calories, I will probably be drinking once I get to Cali and the booze seems to be triggering headaches for me. I am really enjoying not drinking though, especially since I have a much longer way to drive home than I did two months ago.

Blech, there's more but all this stuff was boring enough. This summer has been kind of rough and really busy considering that I am not working or doing anything else of substance. It's amazing how much there is to do for moving and grad school. My Master's program surely didn't take this much work.