Blah blah blah

1. Yesterday, I applied to the graduate school at ASU for non-degree status. I'm considering taking a class in the spring--Phonetics & Phonology. I don't know if I'm ready or have the right motivations or want to have the energy at all, but the thought of getting a PhD in linguistics has always piqued my interest. I'm thinking oral traditions or regional dialect--something like that. Anyhoo, I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet, but I at least took the first step and registered with ASU.

2. I am wicked excited for basketball to start this season. Coming from Pittsburgh, we maintained a strict regimen of Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers, but no b-ball. Since I moved down here, I've become quite the Suns fan. In fact, I am seriously contemplating taking the ultimate dive into fandom and buying a Steve Nash jersey--that Neanderthal white boy can definitely play ball.

3. Although I am once again deeply engrained in living paycheck-to-paycheck, my bills are paid through the next two weeks and my oh so lovely recent houseguests filled my coffers with greenbacks. So, I have a list of things I don’t need that I’ve wanted for a while and now I have some extra cash. But, oh no—the universal prefers that I do something useful with my money. As such, my TV, surround sound stereo, and DVD player are all on the fritz. Do I go put some electronics on layaway or do I blow my wad on a Suns jersey, new music, and other assorted novelties…?

4. My apartment is on the brink of officially feeling like home. After two months of opposite schedules and admittedly lazy weekends, Chara and I hung all of my art. My bedroom remains a blank canvas for now (wow, that’s quite a metaphor for my personal life). Also, my recent houseguests inspired me to take a trip to Mecca—I mean, IKEA—and invest a very small amount of money into a nice dining room table and four chairs…which I built totally solo. I rock. When I walk through the door after class or wandering around sleep-eyed in the morning, my apartment makes me smile. I am finally surrounded by the art I’ve collected, the smiling faces of friends and family, and the little knickknacks and whatnot that remind me of so many fabulous days of the past. YAY!

5. All in all, August to November has been a truly strange, partially enlightening, ridiculously fucking hot, beautiful journey. You know, a 110+ summer down here really is exactly like a 2 feet of snow winter up north—the isolation and melancholy that comes from being trapped by the elements throws everyone into a weird funk. But, summer is nearly over here. October is gone. Thanksgiving is on the horizon—a new tradition of my own that I look forward to with much anticipation. Things are changing for me. I realized that I was thinking SO big picture that I forgot to appreciate the little things that make me happy. Certain dramas of mine are over. I am getting into the groove of ASU. I still don’t know exactly where I am, but I do know that I’ve finally arrived.

6. I do so love lists, don’t you?!