Secret Adult Behaviors
First of all, I changed my crappy counter, so the grand tally is somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,000 hits, not 5. That's cool, I am comfortable with my status and popularity in life, even if my counter reports otherwise.
I don't know why I decided to call this post secret adult behaviors, aside from saying that there are definitely perks to living alone and embracing grown-up-ness. There is something very grown up about reading the paper and drinking coffee in your own kitchen. Since there isn't as much involvement with others on a daily basis, I really need to sharpen my self-discipline. Case and point, I brought my computer and books to my office tonight to have a productive spell of reading. Since I've been here, I've taken some calls, blogged, used instant messenger and email and haven't read a page (although my intentions are still optimistic for the night as a whole). But it's nice to have the place to myself. I also enjoyed walking down here today because the Madison Ironman race was in full effect and it was a cheery scene, even though it was hot and crowded.
My new favorite part of being a grad student are hands down, the weekends. I just had one of the best weekends I've had in recent memory. It all started with a beer and nacho hour thrown by the teaching assistant union. Granted, it was free beer with an earful of Marxist propaganda, but it was free beer nonetheless. Jeremy and Jodi ended up coming for dinner, but due to my poor planning and low grocery reserves, we opted for the "someone else cooking dinner" route. We had a fantastic time and had much to celebrate. J&J were both accepted into a reputable AmeriCorps program in La Crosse, WI. Although it's still a distance from Madison, it's still in Wisconsin (which gives Jeremy in-state tuition next year) and it's still a lot closer to me than other places So in a day, they got the job, found an apartment, and then made it to my place for beer and catching up. It was a nice visit and they came bearing gifts of organic cilantro and garlic which I later used to make homemade salsa.
Following dinner at the famed "authentic ethnic"
Duniya Cafe around the corner from my house, I went to my first film student party. It was a lively night with gin, lots of different conversations with lots of different characters, and then my introduction to a good party game called "Catch Phrase." I embarrassed myself horribly upon giving a clue for the word "Seminary," and well, that's why three gin and tonics and several beers is generally a bad thing for one's eloquence.
Yesterday was a fairly busy day and ended with dinner and drinks with my new friend, Dr. Brian. We explored another restaurant close to my apartment, a busy Italian restaurant called
Tutto Pasta with really remarkable food - and a setting that almost made me think I was still in New York or Boston. I think I am still surprised when I have a good meal in this town, but this was a great little place with wonderful risotto and a fancy cucumber-infused gin I'd never tasted. After dinner I finally got to visit the dark and wood-paneled
Cafe Momantre, on the other side of the Capitol building. We stumbled into a dwindling wedding reception, but it holds promising potential to be my favorite neighborhood bar. We had fun with the waitress, felt more like locals instead of strangers in this nre town, and finished the night off with a glass of port. I really enjoyed the night, laughed a lot, and really loved not seeing a movie and instead having great company.
The weekend almost makes me regret being in school. It seems like it would be a much easier route to side-step the demanding and impoverished student life and instead just be a young professional out on the town. Ah, the lures and distractions from the books! Today I found a little grocery store and replenished my bread and milk supplies. I am still overdue for big food shopping and a trip to the laundromat, but I've made little adjustments to make life livable until then. Now it's time to settle in for a disciplined Sunday night of reading and gearing up for the week. I am not going to worry about my lesson plan (for tomorrow) until tomorrow, tonight is all about Seymour Chatman and Structuralist film theory and trying not to be distracted by the offerings of a temptingly light-hearted, non-academic path.
posted by lmjasinski at 7:00 PM
