Morbid Romantic

bringing you quality randomness since 1981

Yes, it is official. I am officially a university graduate.

I checked my graduation/degree status just five minutes ago. I can’t apply for my teacher’s license until my degree information is posted, so I have been monitoring it like crazy so that I can order my transcripts as soon as possible. I want to get that application in! I want to get that pretty piece of paper that says I am qualified to be a teacher. I want SOME proof that I didn’t waste the past five years.

It still feels strange for me to think about. This is, by far, my greatest accomplishment. There were truly times, like when I pulled all nighters or rested on the brink of a nervous breakdown as I stared down a list of things I had to do in time that seemed too short, that I thought I would never, ever be a success. Despite every A (and four A-), I never felt like I was good enough to do it. I always waited and wondered when I’d mess it all up and everything that I had worked so hard for would disappear.

But, according to the school, I did it! And they wouldn’t lie about something like this.

I even have proof!

The Newport News Greek Festival starts today! Alfee is going to take me this weekend. It will be something fun to do for an hour or so. I like to walk around the shopping area because they usually have a lot of Byzantine and Ancient Greek themed stuff. Some Russian, too. I can never really afford to buy anything, but I still like to look.

And the food is good.

Popularity: 25% [?]

A manga character needs a strong name, a name that expresses something about them. The name can have something to do with a hidden quality, a sign of potential or obvious strength, the source of strength or a hint to the personality of a person. If I were a manga character, I would want my name to speak of my strengths and what I feel to be my purpose in life. Since I feel that my intelligence is my greatest strength and I love to educate about history, I would make my manga name to be… TIME ENFORCER.

I know you love it. I know it sounds like a really high tech watch or something, but I think it expresses my interest in history and my desire to embed it in the minds of others. I enforce knowledge of history, in other wards time and the events that happen through time.

Still, it’s not as cool a name as Ichigo Kurosaki.

Speaking of which, Fathom Events is presenting a two day showing of Bleach the Movie. On June 11th and 12th, Bleach the Movie is showing in select theaters. To see if Bleach the Movie is showing in a theater near you, view the theater listings.

For tickets, you can visit the Fathom Events website and buy them in advance by selecting the date you’d like to see the movie and entering your zip code. You can also buy them at the box office of a theater showing the film, but keep in mind that this movie is super awesome and might be sold out pretty quick! It might behoove you to buy the tickets in advance to make sure that you have a seat for the big screen showing.

Popularity: 17% [?]

I hope that everyone has super fun plans or cook outs to go to or something to do to celebrate Memorial Day 2008! Ours will be a small get together of me, my mother and my sister. I don’t know if my sister’s boyfriend will be there. Hopefully my nephew will!

I am very disappointed that Alfee didn’t want to come. I didn’t want to push him or make him feel guilty. I figure he must have something else he’d rather do; maybe he is hoping that his friends will invite him over or something and he didn’t want to get into an obligation with me just in case they did. If his friends are having a cook out, I’d rather him do what is going to be the most fun for him. He barely hangs out with his friends that I know of.

Oh well. I wanted him here. It’ll still be great, though! I made cupcakes and a parmesan pasta salad! Yuuuum. My cupcakes are especially awesome because I found some totally relevant red, white and blue sugar token things to sprinkle on. I made a yellow butter cake because I know that is what my sister likes and I made them for others more than for me.

In the spirit of celebration, as always, I made a little something for everyone to take. People just don’t make fansigns and holiday graphics like they used to anymore, do they? Or maybe people just don’t send them to me anymore?! Should I feel that the internet secretly hates me!?

Go ahead and take this. It’s from me to you!

Popularity: 26% [?]

LA Police Gears 5.11 Tactical Shirts are the perfect replacement for uniforms, providing for the same functionality in a more casual fashion. The shirts come in short sleeved, long sleeved and polo so that you can choose just how professional you want to look. The pockets are roomy and two are concealed for items you don’t want to just flash around. Heavily stressed seams are triple reinforced, elbows are reinforced for strength and buttons are melt-proof. If you want to wear your badge, tabs are included to attach them to.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Alright, my Life has been drastically altered these past few days. Yet, my life still is and still feels very much the same. It doesn’t feel like anything has really changed and I am waiting for something to happen to make it feel that way. So, I sort of feel dynamic, like I will feel finalized at any moment. I just don’t… yet. Not at this moment.

May 9th, 2008

A few months ago, in February or March (I don’t remember which), I got an invitation from the University for an Outstanding Graduate Luncheon. I know that this has something to do with my GPA and the fact that I am graduating Summa Cum Laude.

What I figure, with my obviously big brain (that’s sarcasm, not arrogance), is that the lunch is being held as general recognition to every graduating senior with a high GPA. Maybe, like, the top 5% of the class, or something. And yes, even with my supposedly big brain, it still doesn’t strike me as odd when the History Department itself calls me while I’m teaching (and leaves a voice mail) asking if I am going to be attending this lunch.

No, this doesn’t strike me as odd. I don’t feel even so much a twinge at the oddness of the History Department itself calling me personally to ask me if I am going to be attending some lunch that they’re not even sponsoring.

Well, apparently, I was winning an award that no one notified me of. I didn’t find out until I get to the lunch and my sister opens up the program and sees my name listed under Academic Achievement in History.

WUT!

No shit. See:

I won an award. Rather, me and a guy tied since we both had the same GPA. NO ONE TOLD ME THIS! No one told me that I was (tied) the number one student in the department. Professors sure as hell never let on. And they sure as hell didn’t treat me like I was special (which, for the record, I wouldn’t have wanted anyway). It’s just that at no time did any one say anything of that nature to me. I really, honestly was NOT aware of this.

While I was at the lunch, the chair of the History Department put the bug into my ear that I need to get a Master’s Degree. To be honest with you, I hadn’t really been considering it. But, she was really encouraging and really pushing it on me (she mentioned it more than once), and she made it seem like she had confidence in me. Hell, she even gave me a note offering to be a reference for me, which is pretty awesome. You know you have a good application when the CHAIR of the department wants to give you a reference.

So, now I want to go to Grad school. I just have to work out the details. I mean, since I hadn’t been considering it, I never took the GREs. I have to take them in order to get into Grad school. I also have to figure out where my finances will come from since all assistantship positions are full. Maybe I can get scholarships or something. I don’t know. It’s either do that or wait for the next full school year so that I can apply for an assistantship.

But, for right now, step one is to take and get a good score on the GREs. I am still getting my teaching license and I can substitute or something while I’m preparing for Grad school. If I get an assistantship, they will give me a living stipend, so I won’t have to sub while I go to school.

It’s just all so much! Before that lunch I had my path all mapped out for myself. Now I have a whole new path, a new door. My path isn’t a straight line anymore, it forks and I need to decide which road to take. A part of me is really, REALLY liking the sound of a Master’s Degree, though. I mean, I want it now. I have my hopes up.

I sooooooooooooo want this.

May 10th, 2008

I was dreading graduation day. I did not want to walk; I didn’t not want to participate in the services. But, I did because I knew that my mother wanted to see it; my mother wanted me to. I would have done anything not to get up that day, participating in a stupid ritual. I hate being the center of attention in those sorts of things; I don’t want eyes on me.

I wanted nothing more than to go home.

First, I had to stand around and wait, like, two hours for the stupid thing to even begin. I was so bored and my feet were already starting to hurt. It was also hot as all fuck. I was happy when it was time for the ceremony to begin because it meant doing something. Unfortunately for me, my feet and my very short legs, we had to walk from the Webb Center to the Ted Center. A LONG walk… in the wind and rain. My hair was frizzing up fast, which is always does when it touches the wind and rain. I was so, so tempted to turn around and go wait in the parking lot for everything to be over.

Yes, wanting it to all be over… the feeling of this only grew stronger, more intense as time went on. I must have read the program ten times. All the speeches, all the names, all the awards and people clapping, it was boring.

Chris Matthews (of Hardball) was the guest speaker. All he did the whole time was talk about politics. And when I say talked about politics, I mean talked about John McCain. He also made the absolutely absurd and laughable claim that Ronald Regan is going to go down as one of the ten best presidents… what!? He really said that. I snorted out loud, but fortunately, no one heard me. It was almost as funny as Chris Matthews verbally sucking John McCain’s old dick. He spent about 30 seconds on Obama and Clinton, but made sure we intimately knew how special McCain is. Really. He’s on a college campus and he thinks he is going to find widespread Republican support? What a doof.

When it was time for me to have my name called, I was relieved. It was the moment of truth for me, which came complete with pictures and people all over the place wanting to shake my hand. I hate those sorts of moments because I always feel out of sync with them.

Now, they said that the ceremony would be two hours at most. Two and a half hours later, it shows no signs of stopping. Fortunately, Alfee, my mom and my sister come up with a plan… well, it was only Alfee. He tells security that there is an emergency with my mother that I have to leave immediately for, so they let me go.

Thank GOD.

Granted, when they first drop this bombshell on me, I am in the dark about the ‘lie’ behind it. I think that there really IS something wrong with my mother and I am freaking out! But, she was okay and outside waiting for me so that we could go to dinner.

On a good note, I was mentioned five times in the program. I think, from what I can tell, I have the most frequently mentioned name. HA!

See?

Now… gotta go about grad school…

Popularity: 31% [?]

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Popularity: 14% [?]

I knew that my mother would do this.

She has already started to guilt trip me into wanting to keep all of the useless, broken, silly shit that she is not taking with her when she moves and doesn’t want to throw away. She wants me to keep the bookshelf with NO SHELVES because, oh my god, it was $70 when she bought it 15 years ago.

It has no shelves and therefore cannot hold my books. I’m trying to get rid of useless shit that I can’t use, not just shift it to a new space. I don’t want it, but she goes through her whole speech of ‘You need a bookshelf!’ Um, yeah, one with shelves. ‘You can buy shelves.’ I can also just buy a whole new bookshelf that’s new.

Christ.

Popularity: 14% [?]

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Well, it has been loosely decided that when my mom moves away this summer, I will move in with Alfred. That means a lot of throwing away old stuff, or getting rid of stuff I don’t absolutely cherish. I don’t dread that kind of stuff, though, so it’s no biggie. I’m just not looking forward to the work. It’s not like I own that much stuff, anyway. All the stuff I own fits into one room, so if I get rid of half that stuff, I’ll more than fit.

I just need some place to be while I get my Masters. I won’t be able to hold a full time job or pay all the bills, especially if I get an assistantship (I’ll be teaching and living off of a stipend). This seems the most workable solution for me. I think Alfred wants it, too.

I have no qualms against living with Alfred, thus spending all of my time with him. It’s my privacy issue that I worry about. Hopefully he will realize and respect this and know me enough to be aware of the fact that I need a lot of alone time. This has nothing at all to do with how much I love him, it just has to do with the kind of person I am. I LIKE being alone in a room with the door closed for hours and hours on end. This isn’t a bad thing for me and it doesn’t at all indicate any unhappiness in me. I just need to be alone the majority of my time. I don’t like having people around me, over my shoulder or even not.

I guess it will somehow work out.

Popularity: 16% [?]

My favorite pair of pants is a very sturdy and sophisticated billowing black. They’re part of my ‘teaching attire.’ So, what is a day in the life of this pair of pants like?

Well, my pants day begins around 6:30am when they are pulled from the hanger in my closet and slipped on. At this point, they are fresh and clean and smell of detergent and dryer sheet. The REAL day starts around 7:30am when I arrive at the high school. From that point on, my pants find that they become very dirty and covered in white chalk dust. My pants are very intelligent, you see, because they spend the day on me in history classes, soaking up the knowledge that I give my students. They also have a very strong spirit because they stay strong as I handle behavior issues. And just like me, they have to be serious, firm, and consistent. Our images blend together, after all. They also don’t mind that I tend to wipe my chalk covered hands on them and even now and then accidentally scrape an eraser or piece of raw chalk across them.

Around 3:30pm, my pants get to go home with me. There, we are able to relax together. We kick back and enjoy a few hours of relaxation.

So, what’s a day in the life of YOUR pants like? Submit it in video form to the Dockers contest for TV commercials. Tell Dockers what your pants would say if your pants could talk.

Popularity: 14% [?]