because of this day

I have a house littered with paraphernalia from The Ohio State University.  Can't believe it's already been a year...  Way to graduate with honors and get a job!  

(And I'd like to think my going to said graduation in a red dress even though as a Michigan native living in Columbus, Ohio you just don't wear red is a mark of true love. Making it through the ceremony with only a few squeamish remarks and the amount of buckeyeness surrounding me is nothing short of miraculous.)

studying for the GRE? hah!

Question: What is the distance formula?

Answer: d=engquist(coke+number of McDonald's within five miles)-need of caffeine


Question: What are the properties of a 30-60-90 triangle?

Answer: Oooo! Fun shapes! My notes would make a really great art piece!


Question: Use "metamorphosis" in a sentence.

Answer: In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker undergoes a metamorphosis into Darth Vader.*


Question: How do you calculate percent increases and percent decreases?

Answer: Wait, does this involve fractions? Crap! I'm screwed...


Pray for me. The GRE is on Tuesday morning.

*This answer was actually not of my doing. It is to the merit of my study flashcards. If only they could have been so funny and useful with all the words, not just the ones I actually know..

reason number 472 why I can't bring myself to cheer for OSU

Scene: Ohio State versus Bowling Green hockey game at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. By the middle of the second period, the score stands three to two, OSU in the lead. The game is getting more heated, tension is building. One lowly Michigan fan sits in the stands considering whether she she should cheer for OSU or not, since Bowling Green really doesn't matter, when...

Announcer: One minute left in the second period-
Entire crowd (sans one lowly Michigan fan): AND MICHIGAN STILL SUCKS!!


I rest my case.

duck out of water

On Friday, 2 January 2010, the Rose Bowl was held in Pasadena, California. The teams competing? University of Oregon and The Ohio State University.

Now, as we all know, I have issues with Ohio State. So it was a fortunate happenstance that they were playing a team I've been rooting for for years. A team that was favored to win by three points.

So it was that I went to a party hosted by some friends here in Columbus to watch the game. I was decked out in green and yellow. Everyone else was in red..lots of red. Blech... The overall effect was something like this.

Except for by the end of the game, I was the blue ball crying in a corner surrounded by at least a dozen happy, smiling, yellow balls. I'm now considering going to therapy for the off-chance that I am somehow a good luck charm for OSU. Let's face it, I move to Columbus and they win their first BCS bowl game in how long? This can't be good news for me.

recipe: saturday extraordinaire

Ingredients:
1 pair of new friends
1 car
3 festivals
6 NCAA football teams
zest of sun, to taste
1 cupcake
2 cookies
2 apples
1 street vendor
1 fantastic restaurant
drizzle of starlight

Take the pair of new acquaintances, inject them with fresh fruit and place in the car. Begin in Grandview Heights for farmer's market. May be best to feed here after procuring fresh fruit. Results vary, but tend to be positive. Local bakers may also be present. Utilize.

Return to car, head in a westerly direction until reaching Hilliard. Roam the streets basking in classic cars, Sweet Adeline performers, and local artists. Street vendor optional at this point.

Return to car, and start driving. Helps if one of the pair of friends is new to the area and has no idea where any of these places are. Take a southern course to Lithopolis. There, surprise the unassuming newbie with a smörgåsbord of antique stores, a small art fair, honey festival, and bratwurst. Allow adequate time for roaming, shopping, and general silliness. Proper monetary considerations also need to be reckoned with as willpower tends to diminish in the presence of watercolor paintings, a National Geographic book from 1926, and a wide variety of honey. Prepare accordingly.

When sustained by bratwurst, return to car and veer north back into Columbus for another festival. Far more amusing if it is composed of hippies and their wares. Festival should not be left until joining in the process of creating a mural with a local artisan. A preferred medium is handmade paper, especially with the raw material. Such a medium leads to fingers stained blue from "non-toxic" dye. After sufficiently dyed, a break is necessary. Return the unassuming newbie home for a few hours to relax and catch football scores.

For this concoction to really be successful, BYU needs to give Tulane a thorough trashing, raising them even further in the rankings. (No. 7 on the AP poll is preferred.) This can only be catapaulted by a last-moment win by Michigan over Notre Dame, giving the former a 2-0 record before conference play.

To round off the day, select an absolutely amazing menu from the the selection for Restaurant Week. Dress appropriately, head to restaurant (in this case G. Michael's in German Village), and let the chef do all the work. Be prepared for a sensory overload as the most incredible meal ever created is placed before you. Three desserts are optional, but definitely preferred. Good conversation and good company are a must.

Follow this off with a stroll through the park, walking off the inordinate amount of food that has been consumed. Add a crystaline sky, the twinkle of starlight, and the slightest of breezes to taste.

Wake up the next morning to find out that USC beat Ohio State in the last minutes of play, and the day will be complete.


Serving sizes vary.

muse-ing

My computer died last year.

It was a tragic affair heavy laden with unfortunate events, the help of dear friends, spilled cake, movies, three hard drives, and a new operating system. My brave little laptop met its end just as my undergraduate career wrapped up, thank heavens! There was no last minute scrambling to rewrite papers, find lost research, or any such chaos. I just lost everything and have mourned it ever since.

Due to this, I have been spending the past week working on transcribing my final paper at BYU to be reused as my writing sample for my OSU application. I love this paper, really I do. It's written with the best I have. It encompasses my passions neatly and makes me sound a great deal more intelligent and well-rounded than I feel I am in reality. This paper, it's called Språk: A look at language usage in the European Union, may be reused time and time again. I have been collecting more research for it over the past year and have plans to add on to it, potentially even use it for the basis for my graduate thesis.

My problem? I want to add on to it now as I prepare to send it in. Why is this a problem? Well, while I have been collecting research, I don't have access to all of the resources I need right now to cite my findings properly without all of my musing coming across as totally speculative. That, and I'm afraid of losing more time in this process. I need to get this application in, the sooner, the better. I still have to rework my resume, write my personal statement (AHHH!!), take the GRE (AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!), move, not freak out. That's a lot to handle! I just don't know if adding on to my already fantastic -I'm not biased, what are you talking about?- paper would be prudent right now. Then again, this is also coming from the girl who keeps passing up getting work done for the sake of a new book.

oh, the fates

This past weekend was my test run with Columbus. Register at the DMV, set up a new bank account, try out a concert in the park. It was going to be totally productive, set my nerves at ease, and convince me once and for all that I was ultimately fine with applying to OSU.

None of those things happened the way they were supposed to. Not one.

I am still happily a resident of Michigan for the time being because I inadvertently forgot all the necessary paperwork to meet the requirements at the DMV. Completely negates the purpose of going down to Columbus, but somehow, I'm just fine with my perpetuated status as a Michigander.

The concert in the park was a lot of fun, really, it was. The Columbus Symphony Orchestra puts on a series every summer called Picnic With the Pops. Every weekend for about two months, a guest artist appears with the orchestra for an outdoors extravaganza. What no one mentioned to me before arriving at last weekend's concert was that the freaking Ohio State Marching Band was the guest artist. How did I find out? The blazing sea of scarlet and grey surrounding me. I was wearing a solid blue shirt. Cobalt. Freaking. Blue.

As the concert began, I dove deep into the familiar world of the performing arts as the orchestra played pieces I've studied for several years now and a few I'd gladly hear again. (Concerto for Cellphone, bound to be a classic.) Then it was time for, and I quote, "The Best Damn Band in the Land" to play. Gag me now...the best damn band in the land? Seriously?

I'm sad to report, they were pretty damn good. Feathered hats off to them as they are incredible group of musicians. But they totally lost me when they started up on a rousing rendition of "I Don't Give a Damn About the Whole State of Michigan." Catchy tune that it is, I have no recollection of any of the music played after that. We weren't ten minutes into the set and I had heard more Michigan jokes than I'd ever like to hear again.

Despite that, I'm really grateful for this past weekend. I refamiliarized myself with parts of Columbus, found a fantastic market, discovered that the Ann Arbor based bookstore Borders DOES exist in OSU territory, and that I really will be fine.

Even if no one else there gives a damn about the whole state of Michigan.

Personals

One SWF looking to attend OSU to receive MA in APAA. Has BA in H-H and minor in SS. Speaks Sw. Worked in the EP with the Greens/EFA party. Background in marketing. Not so good with math, will try hard. Loves to read, go on long walks, can tolerate animals, but not Buckeyes.

And this, folks, is the problem I am running into when preparing my personal statement for my graduate school application. And always, ALWAYS, I end up thinking, I bleed blue, maize and blue! They're never even going to let me in! (Note: Dear Admissions Board, On the off chance that you see this, I really am excited about this opportunity to go to OSU! It's just taking a lot more mental preparation than I realized. I'm sure you understand.) Hopefully I'll be able to hammer something out that doesn't sound as lame as a personal ad and doesn't offend the school I'm applying to.  Oh, help..