Day 76 | Monday, March 16 | 2009

Lamp of Roses...

To make up for my creative negligence lately, I figured I would try to put a little more effort into today's picture.  Rem and Amanda have this very lovely little table in their dining room which also has a beautiful lamp with roses inside of it.  It's a very nice soft light that shines through the front windows and down through the porch and from the street it is comforting to see the soft glow of the dining room. 

I am going to miss living here at 3 Ring Street.  It's had its ups and downs but I think that the positives have far outweighed the negatives of living here.  Rem and Amanda are truly great people and are among the kindest I have ever met in my life.  

In other news, I really shouldn't be writing in here for too much longer -- I ought to be spending my time on writing my final paper for tomorrow.  I will be so glad when all of these exams will be over on Friday.

Day 29 | Thursday, January 29 | 2009

Blurry Diner...

Today I had an pretty frustrating Spanish class.  I was talking with Leslie about it on the phone and it made me feel better.  I don't want to get into it because it's not really worth spending the time to explain it nor is it worth remembering (in detail at least).

I was thinking about what I have said in the past few days about my house mates and I felt a little guilty.  I spend too much time critically thinking about it and less time being thankful for how amazing they are.

One amazing thing about Adam and Amanda is that they probably two of the most intellectually curious people I have ever met.  I believe that I have probably tried (at great length) to learn from them in terms of how to approach learning -- and I am not just talking about what happens in the classroom.  In fact, I am talking about everything else that happens in the classroom.  Rem and Amanda are very good at perceiving the world around them, they are very good in showing and communicating how they feel and they serve as a big influence on me on how to approach a relationship, adulthood, life.  One thing I think that keeps all of this going for them is that they are very good listeners.  Or, at least, they are really good at hearing what I have to say and lending an ear for support.

I have really come to admire and respect Amanda even more while living at 3 Ring Street.  I suppose that the reason why I say that (instead of focusing on Rem) is that I had come to know and revere Adam from all of the time we spent on the road and working construction together.  I'll never forget those numerous early mornings when Rem and I would throw our tools and sling our lunches into the old work truck, put on With the Beatles or The Ghost of Tom Joad and drive to the job site before the sunrise.  But with Amanda, it took more time to get to know her.  I would later come to find out that this was because she is a very tough person -- that is to say that she is mentally tough.  I don't think I have ever seen Amanda truly back down from a challenge.  This was an important observation for me, say, back in February of 2008.  Then, I was jobless, out of school, and out of answers in terms of what life had in store for me.  There were days I would just literally stay in bed from when I woke up at 12 or 1 in the afternoon until 2 or 3 in the morning.  However, I remember having a mental picture in my head about how Amanda would balance everything that was going on -- her grad school work, taking care of the dogs, keeping an impeccably clean and efficient living space, monitoring and treating her diabetes, and also being a loving and supportive wife.  To me, this vision of Amanda has always stuck.  Even when I felt somewhat down in the dumps, Amanda made me feel better just by witnessing how focused she was not only knowing her responsibilities but also doing them.   

Maybe I am rambling into some sort of soapy tangent about how much I appreciate my friends and house mates but I really believe these things.  

Day 28 | Wednesday, January 28 | 2009

Frozen Berries...

Today has been altogether wonderful.  I unofficially found out that I was accepted into the Cuenca program for this spring.  That means that I'll be studying in Ecuador from March until June!!  I am so excited about this opportunity in my life.  I have so many questions about what it will be like to live there I am overwhelmed with joy.  It will indeed be a wonderful time.

Also, everything worked out in a very kind, understanding, and loving way concerning the situation between me, Rem, and Amanda.  We had all felt so stressed out that I believe we had taken it out on each other.  Rem and Amanda remain to be very very good friends of mine.  I am so happy to have them in my life and to have had the chance to live with them for the amount of time I have.  Who knows what life will bring in the future but it is looking as though I will be moving out in June to live somewhere else in Athens for the remainder of my time here.  I am really excited about this too -- I've already looked into a couple of places that might work for me. 

This time around I am thinking about finding a single apartment for me to live.  I know that it will be a little more money but I think that having my own place, even just for a little bit, could prove to be a very essential thing to me to have in my life right now.  I feel like for the past 3 years I have been very adaptive to my living environments.  I have spent a lot of time traveling with the band (in which we would spend our nights sleeping on hard wooden floors), I had lived with Leo and Box, I had lived with Rem, Amanda, and Jesse (Rem's younger brother), and I had also lived with Rem and Amanda.  So, after three years of sharing space with at least 2 other people (and in some situations 4 or five) I feel like it is my time to have my own space for once.  I think I will try to get a job this summer (even if it is transient) to save money to help pay for the rent.  I am lucky to be in a situation where my parents will aid me in paying the rent but someday I will pay all of the debt that I owe my mother and father.

In other news, today has been pretty odd -- Athens county had declared a level three snow emergency and Ohio University closed all of its halls and offices which meant no school for today.  This is the first time this has happened since 2003 when there was a blizzard in January (or February) in which 19'' of snow fell on the ground.  I am slightly shocked that OU called off of school just because the weather conditions now at 3:00pm are not too severe.

I am feeling pretty happy right now -- time to get some school work done.

April & May 2008

Attending lectures is really enjoyable to me.  This past spring I took two Spanish classes -- Advanced Composition and Conversation III and Poetic Images of the Hispanic World.  Both courses dazzled me but I especially enjoyed the poetry course.  My instructor, José Delgado-Casta is perhaps the best teacher I have ever had.  I think I also worked nearly as hard or harder in that class than I ever have worked in a Spanish course.  We covered a broad range of materials -- beginning with the medieval peninsular writers and slowly following the course of expansion to South and Central America and further to the Antilles poets like Guillén.  My favorite poet was Federico García Lorca for sure.  

The spring went by very fast like a steep water slide ride at a water park.  Here are some of the memories:

*****The Avett Brothers at Nelsonville Music Festival*****
Nostra Nova played its last show at the Nelsonville Music Festival on May 18th.  One of the headliners for the festival and for that night were the Avett Brothers.  Truthfully, I was not impressed a whole lot by what they were doing musically.  It seemed a little grandiose but to their defense they had great energy behind their stage presence.  And they were all very handsome, too.

*****We are Here and Glad first meeting @ China Panda -- Sushi!*****
I don't know if I can talk about our secret club too much but this was our first meeting.  Our club is called We are Here and Glad (up to reconsideration).  It primarily consists of Caitlin, Me, and Larry but Jamie was at this dinner and so was Julia.  

*****Matthew Emmons*****
Matt is a good friend of mine and he composes wondrous waves (as in sine, saw tooth, square etc.) and sometimes plays them for Us All.  I love you Matt.

*****Morky Magic*****
She looks like a pirate trying to steal some treasure. 

*****Rem and Amanda in front of their house*****
Great news for Adam and Amanda Remnant -- they are buying 3 Ring Street!  They made an offer to the current owner (who had just bought the house) and it has all panned out.  They close on the house on July 30th.  The house itself, I think, is one of the most interesting houses in all of Athens.  It has so much character, whether in plain daylight or in the dark shadows at night.  I remember Rem listening to Bonnie "Prince" Billy's song A Knight at Night one morning at home -- the lyrics

this is how I start another day in my kingdom

always stood out when I think of Rem and Amanda and this house.  I am so happy for them and I am lucky to have such great friends and even (technically) landlords.

*****The salmon, tornado warning, and twilight sky*****
Weird Spring weather.

*****Morki*****
I took this a couple days after school was over and before I left for the summer.  It was somewhat of a candid shot in my car.  She is so beautiful!

*****House*****
Another shot of 3 Ring Street.

*****James*****
Jamie is probably my best friend in the world.  We communicate in our own wavelength -- perhaps the wavelength between green and blue.  It is not indigo, however,...there is just no way that it is indigo.  Jamie has written some songs that speak to me.  One day, when he records these songs, look out for the one's called Blue Skies or American Chesnutt Tree.

*****Caitlin*****

This was immediately before the winking shot (from above).