can i graduate?

so in about a month's time, i will graduate from hunter college with honors in english. this is kind of huge, a little scary, but mostly exciting. there are many pros and cons, all of which cannot be contained in a list, but i will make a modest attempt:

PROS
1) no homework!! (a point emphasized by jen)
2) a great increase in free time
3) i can read and write what i want
4) i can volunteer for the willie mae rock camp for girls (if they accept me)
5) i can go on tour with my band
6) i will have more time to write music
7) more time to work and make more $$

8) more time to travel
9) i've been toying with the idea of starting a more serious, regularly updated, collaborative blog and i can finally bring this to fruition

10) maybe i can do one of those teach english abroad things

11) i can take classes i've always wanted to but never could because i didn't have the time and they didn't apply to my major. lately i've been thinking it may be wise to take a web design class because the internet is still the future after all these years.

12) i want to finally learn another language. although i took language classes in college, college still kind of always got in the way of my actually learning a language, if that makes any sense.

13) i can take up yoga (again)

14) graduation party!

CONS
1) i will have to get a "real job" soon. i haven't begun to search for one yet, and i am postponing this until the end of the summer so i can tour and travel and chill for a bit before i have to work for the rest of my life. i guess part of this con is also the larger question of figuring out something meaningful i would like to work on for the rest of my life, but a wise woman once told me that there is nothing wrong with changing careers when one gets boring and devoting one's life to a number of careers. so i'll keep that in mind as i just roll with it.
2) i think i will kind of miss school, but only kind of and only certain parts of it, such as stimulating class discussions (when they don't enter the realm of academic circle jerk), reading great things i would have never read on my own, and my fav profs. fortunately though, the bad parts of going to school are worse than the good are good. so this isn't much of a con. plus, i can go back, but this leads to my next con...

3) dealing with questions of grad school. i really don't feel like taking the gre, so i won't for now, but should i ever decide to, i imagine it will suck. and i'll have to ask for letters of recommendation from profs i haven't spoken to in a while. that will prob be weird, especially if they don't remember me. but whatever, i guess it will be necessary should i decide to ever go down that road.

4) this con ties into the first one. i will have to face the harsh reality of the job market at some point. yeah, it sucks these days, and it may take me a long time to get the kind of job i am looking for, but as long as i can pay my bills in the meantime i guess that is all i can ask for in the present. i am not too worried for the long term though. i am content with thinking that things usually fall into place. even if they don't, it comforts me to think so.

5) at my graduation party and probably for a while, family members and everyone else probably will ask me what i plan to do with the rest of my life. i hate these questions. i get them already. i don't fucking know, what are you planning on doing for the rest of your life?

all in all, i think the pros outweigh the cons, with the #1 pro being i can pretty much do whatever i want. i can do all of the things on that list. i can do none of them. i will have to earn money to support myself in the process, but i have a decent job now that i actually enjoy and they're not kicking me out. i admit it's not completely comforting to know that i really have no idea what is next, i am excited to move forward and see what post-grad life will bring.

notes from new orleans

- never drink sippin' syrup
- i saw steve zahn
- chivalry is not dead (and it makes me feel weird)
- larry flint is a racist

also, pan-african food is delicious. here is a recipe for something called jama jama. the restaurant i had it at, benachin, served it with fried plantains and coconut rice on the side. delishhhh.

What you need:

a few tablespoons of oil
two or three cloves of garlic, minced
one onion, finely chopped
one-half teaspoon cayenne pepper or red pepper (more or less to taste)
two or more pounds of greens (collards, kale, mustard greens, swiss chard, or similar); stems removed, cleaned, torn or shredded, drained
one cup water, or chicken broth or chicken stock
salt to taste

What you do:

Heat oil in a large skillet or pot. Over high heat, sauté onions and garlic for a few minutes. Add cayenne pepper and stir for a minute. Reduce heat.
Add greens to pot. Cook over medium heat for several minutes. Stir greens often, but otherwise keep the pot covered.
Add water or broth. Cover. Cook over low heat until greens are tender -- ten to twenty minutes or longer. Add salt if necessary. Serve hot.

recipe courtesy of congocookbook.com

i get around

i am going to new orleans in 2 weeks!!!!!! i can't wait. i'm gonna eat like a cajun queen and listen to some bounce. it will be nice to hang in a warmer clime.

so far this year, i've gone to israel (tel aviv, jerusalem, tiberius, haifa, golan heights, negev, more i am probably forgetting), philly, and boston. i hope to go to many more places in the 2010. i guess i'll have to wait and see what the future holds.

x-mas

the life aquatic is my favorite x-mas movie and shake the sheets by ted leo/pharmacists is my favorite x-mas album.

blogging about blogging

i've come to realize that the only time i blog (or remember that i have a blog) is when i am putting something off. if this were the case all of the time, i would have a lot more entries. but for some reason, a unique blend of boredom and procrastination only inspires me to blog a few times a year. today is (obviously) one of these times. i'm at school and thought it would be a great idea to stay here all day before the pixies even though i only have one class because i have a frightening amount of work due in the next two weeks. i did not factor in the restlessness that i may feel before a holiday weekend/seeing one of the best bands/ hanging out later with my palz. so here i am.

the end of the summer always comes so quickly but this time i don't mind it 'cause i'm ready for a change.

strawberry jamz

sooooo yesterday some friends and i went strawberry picking and it was kind of lovely. deanna, nick, rachel and christopher accompanied me and we enjoyed hand selecting individual harvests of the fresh/locally grown produce. i ate one in the field immediately after i picked it because i knew it would taste better there than at home and it did.