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luciabI've been remiss, I know. Bad scribe. No biscuit. All I can say is, depression sucks. And having said, "All I can say is..." I'll leave it at that.
My Siamese, Niccolo, died a year ago in December. He's the first cat I've ever really missed for a long time after he died. In about October I got to thinking about him, and I've thought about him frequently since. It hasn't made the "holidays" any easier. (So much for the "leave it at that" part. Oops. I'll try harder. )
Christmas itself wasn't bad. In fact, seeing Amy and Raymond was wonderful. This was the first time R and I have really had much chance to talk and relax, and I enjoyed it. It was fun seeing Kentucky and thinking about how a newcomer would see it. A and I had some difficulty conveying the importance of horses (read "thoroughbreds") in central KY. That has actually changed a lot since we've been gone, with at least one of the major historic farms having been sold and replaced by a mall named after what used to be there. Still, there are plenty of horse farms around and, socially speaking, I have no doubt that the "horse people" are still at the top of the heap. And thoroughbreds have never been just another segment of what happens there; they are central to the whole psychology of the place.
We joked about hillbillies a lot, and Raymond actually got to go to the all-you-can-eat buffet called Hillbillies. (He told Amy afterwards that he was sorry that she'd had to eat there more than once. Heh. I should get a medal.) I did think a lot, though, about what the general perception of Kentucky seems to be, versus what my own experience is.
The Kentucky I know is all about gentility. Horse farms, bounded by double rows of fencing; rolling hills of pastures with trees in the fence lines. Visually, it's gracious and civilized. When I first moved down here I felt like I was in the wilderness, with all these trees everywhere. It made me a little claustrophobic, too.
Education is important in the KY I know-- lots of universities around. Some would say that the most important thing about the University of Kentucky is basketball, and god knows it's the most visible thing. When I was home this time I felt like every third person I saw had on a UK sweatshirt. Down here, it's basketball that's adored, with a wide range of teams to choose from. There, it's UKBasketball. Like it's one word. In Lexington, you don't even have to pay attention to know how the team is doing; it's such a general topic of conversation you just know, sort of the way you don’t have to concentrate on whether you’re getting oxygen when you breathe.
Basketball aside, (what a heretic! In Kentucky, a pervert is someone who prefers sex to UKBasketball) what makes it Kentucky specifically is Thoroughbreds, Bourbon, and Burley. Not just any whiskey, mind you, but Bourbon whiskey; not just any tobacco, but Burley, which adds that depth to the flavor of your cancer stick. I gotta admit, I do like the smell of burley curing in the barn. It smells all warm and toasty. And since we did a tour of the Woodford Reserve distillery I appreciate Bourbon more than I used to. Yep, the sample at the end was miiiiighty fine. I mean, lots of places have hillbillies (Tennessee and W VA spring immediately to mind) but nobody else has that combination of UKBasketball, Thoroughbreds, Bourbon, and Burley. That’s us, baby.
The wonders of Kentucky notwithstanding, I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to be home, with no 8-hour trips in sight. Daddy asked if I'd "have weekends off" and I had to say that all my classes are nights and weekends (which also means little if any SCA for the foreseeable future. Sigh.) So then he asked about holidays, and I do get major holidays off. Of course, with weekend classes, holiday schedules can get skewed sometimes, so I dunno how that will go. Probably by the time I will have time to go to KY again, I'll not dread it so much.
My cats don't make any pretense about being pissed at me when I get home (I have had cats do that, in the past, but not these gals.) They were all over me the minute I walked in the door, I'm happy to say. After ten days in someone else's house, I'm damn glad to get back to the kitties. I mean, Mother and Daddy make a point of telling me how much they appreciate my help and all, but sometimes I just need kitty love.
New Year’s Eve I went to the foam store with Nia and Brigida to get a new mattress. Of course, nothing is ever that simple, so we wound up “stopping by” a gallery, which just happened to be in a huge mall that Nia and I had never been to, despite the fact that it’s been open for a couple of years now. I had a migraine all day, so when I saw a Caribou Coffee I decided I needed some caffeine. (I might have made it past a S’bux, so I wonder about the whole caffeine rationale....) One cappuccino with a double shot later and Aaaaah yes, the headache is much better, thank you. AndZzzzzt! Zzzzzt! said I, the normally decaffeinated.
New Year’s Eve night I went to Their Excellencies’ bash, and it was a fine party. Most everyone was dressed to the nines. Tres spiff. I wore my jeans, but at least I had the excuse that the only really nice dress I own is now too big. Yea, team! And there were others there in jeans, which were acceptable per the stated dress code in the invitation. If there hadn’t been, I might have had to slink out the door, “too big” excuse or no.
One question I fielded several times was, “What classes are you taking?” Since I’ve mostly looked at the schedule in terms of class numbers instead of titles, all I could think of were “4000, 4220, and 4400.” Fine classes, those. Very helpful. I did look them up later, and I can now say with confidence that the titles are “Foundations of Librarianship,” “Selection and Use of Information Sources,” and “Organization of Information.” At NCCU, 9 hours of grad school is not only considered a “full load” but the online registration won’t let you sign up for more than 9 hours. I’m going to have to talk to them about this. I figured on 12 hours a semester, and have occasionally even wondered if more might be possible. I understand that grad school is not like undergrad, but I figure that UK Architecture School is not like typical undergrad either, so I’m betting I can do 12 hours, anyway.
I have somehow managed to get two undergrad degrees with no college level language courses, so now I have to take two semesters of language. I’m thinking that taking anything but Spanish would just be silly. I mean, I’m interested in Sign Language, but I’m betting that I’ll see a lot more people who speak Spanish than Sign Language.
I had an entertaining Cat Sociology moment this morning. I tossed Miss Molly a tear strip from a milk jug (always a favorite cat toy) when there were no other cats in the room. She picked It up with one paw and tossed it around and started to play with it. Of course, the supersensitive cat hearing came into play and one of the kittens (nearly grown now, but still) zoomed into the room. Molly instantly stopped playing and looked dignified. When the kitten went for the toy, Molly batted at her and sent her on her way. As soon as the kitten was properly dispatched, Molly picked up the toy again and started playing. Can’t let those little whippersnappers know how much fun us old ladies can have!
I need to take a shower now and do some errands, like paying the rent. I’m going to have to talk to the management again about the neighbor’s alarm clock- this getting up at 6 AM on holidays is for the birds, I tell you. Makes me harbor fantasies of guerilla warfare with me setting my alarm next to her wall and letting it go off at oh, say, 2 AM while I sleep peacefully somewhere else. Wonder how many times it would take for her to get a clue?
Well, I think that’s it for the moment. I’ll try not to wait so long next time.
My Siamese, Niccolo, died a year ago in December. He's the first cat I've ever really missed for a long time after he died. In about October I got to thinking about him, and I've thought about him frequently since. It hasn't made the "holidays" any easier. (So much for the "leave it at that" part. Oops. I'll try harder. )
Christmas itself wasn't bad. In fact, seeing Amy and Raymond was wonderful. This was the first time R and I have really had much chance to talk and relax, and I enjoyed it. It was fun seeing Kentucky and thinking about how a newcomer would see it. A and I had some difficulty conveying the importance of horses (read "thoroughbreds") in central KY. That has actually changed a lot since we've been gone, with at least one of the major historic farms having been sold and replaced by a mall named after what used to be there. Still, there are plenty of horse farms around and, socially speaking, I have no doubt that the "horse people" are still at the top of the heap. And thoroughbreds have never been just another segment of what happens there; they are central to the whole psychology of the place.
We joked about hillbillies a lot, and Raymond actually got to go to the all-you-can-eat buffet called Hillbillies. (He told Amy afterwards that he was sorry that she'd had to eat there more than once. Heh. I should get a medal.) I did think a lot, though, about what the general perception of Kentucky seems to be, versus what my own experience is.
The Kentucky I know is all about gentility. Horse farms, bounded by double rows of fencing; rolling hills of pastures with trees in the fence lines. Visually, it's gracious and civilized. When I first moved down here I felt like I was in the wilderness, with all these trees everywhere. It made me a little claustrophobic, too.
Education is important in the KY I know-- lots of universities around. Some would say that the most important thing about the University of Kentucky is basketball, and god knows it's the most visible thing. When I was home this time I felt like every third person I saw had on a UK sweatshirt. Down here, it's basketball that's adored, with a wide range of teams to choose from. There, it's UKBasketball. Like it's one word. In Lexington, you don't even have to pay attention to know how the team is doing; it's such a general topic of conversation you just know, sort of the way you don’t have to concentrate on whether you’re getting oxygen when you breathe.
Basketball aside, (what a heretic! In Kentucky, a pervert is someone who prefers sex to UKBasketball) what makes it Kentucky specifically is Thoroughbreds, Bourbon, and Burley. Not just any whiskey, mind you, but Bourbon whiskey; not just any tobacco, but Burley, which adds that depth to the flavor of your cancer stick. I gotta admit, I do like the smell of burley curing in the barn. It smells all warm and toasty. And since we did a tour of the Woodford Reserve distillery I appreciate Bourbon more than I used to. Yep, the sample at the end was miiiiighty fine. I mean, lots of places have hillbillies (Tennessee and W VA spring immediately to mind) but nobody else has that combination of UKBasketball, Thoroughbreds, Bourbon, and Burley. That’s us, baby.
The wonders of Kentucky notwithstanding, I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to be home, with no 8-hour trips in sight. Daddy asked if I'd "have weekends off" and I had to say that all my classes are nights and weekends (which also means little if any SCA for the foreseeable future. Sigh.) So then he asked about holidays, and I do get major holidays off. Of course, with weekend classes, holiday schedules can get skewed sometimes, so I dunno how that will go. Probably by the time I will have time to go to KY again, I'll not dread it so much.
My cats don't make any pretense about being pissed at me when I get home (I have had cats do that, in the past, but not these gals.) They were all over me the minute I walked in the door, I'm happy to say. After ten days in someone else's house, I'm damn glad to get back to the kitties. I mean, Mother and Daddy make a point of telling me how much they appreciate my help and all, but sometimes I just need kitty love.
New Year’s Eve I went to the foam store with Nia and Brigida to get a new mattress. Of course, nothing is ever that simple, so we wound up “stopping by” a gallery, which just happened to be in a huge mall that Nia and I had never been to, despite the fact that it’s been open for a couple of years now. I had a migraine all day, so when I saw a Caribou Coffee I decided I needed some caffeine. (I might have made it past a S’bux, so I wonder about the whole caffeine rationale....) One cappuccino with a double shot later and Aaaaah yes, the headache is much better, thank you. AndZzzzzt! Zzzzzt! said I, the normally decaffeinated.
New Year’s Eve night I went to Their Excellencies’ bash, and it was a fine party. Most everyone was dressed to the nines. Tres spiff. I wore my jeans, but at least I had the excuse that the only really nice dress I own is now too big. Yea, team! And there were others there in jeans, which were acceptable per the stated dress code in the invitation. If there hadn’t been, I might have had to slink out the door, “too big” excuse or no.
One question I fielded several times was, “What classes are you taking?” Since I’ve mostly looked at the schedule in terms of class numbers instead of titles, all I could think of were “4000, 4220, and 4400.” Fine classes, those. Very helpful. I did look them up later, and I can now say with confidence that the titles are “Foundations of Librarianship,” “Selection and Use of Information Sources,” and “Organization of Information.” At NCCU, 9 hours of grad school is not only considered a “full load” but the online registration won’t let you sign up for more than 9 hours. I’m going to have to talk to them about this. I figured on 12 hours a semester, and have occasionally even wondered if more might be possible. I understand that grad school is not like undergrad, but I figure that UK Architecture School is not like typical undergrad either, so I’m betting I can do 12 hours, anyway.
I have somehow managed to get two undergrad degrees with no college level language courses, so now I have to take two semesters of language. I’m thinking that taking anything but Spanish would just be silly. I mean, I’m interested in Sign Language, but I’m betting that I’ll see a lot more people who speak Spanish than Sign Language.
I had an entertaining Cat Sociology moment this morning. I tossed Miss Molly a tear strip from a milk jug (always a favorite cat toy) when there were no other cats in the room. She picked It up with one paw and tossed it around and started to play with it. Of course, the supersensitive cat hearing came into play and one of the kittens (nearly grown now, but still) zoomed into the room. Molly instantly stopped playing and looked dignified. When the kitten went for the toy, Molly batted at her and sent her on her way. As soon as the kitten was properly dispatched, Molly picked up the toy again and started playing. Can’t let those little whippersnappers know how much fun us old ladies can have!
I need to take a shower now and do some errands, like paying the rent. I’m going to have to talk to the management again about the neighbor’s alarm clock- this getting up at 6 AM on holidays is for the birds, I tell you. Makes me harbor fantasies of guerilla warfare with me setting my alarm next to her wall and letting it go off at oh, say, 2 AM while I sleep peacefully somewhere else. Wonder how many times it would take for her to get a clue?
Well, I think that’s it for the moment. I’ll try not to wait so long next time.
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As for the alarm clocks...
Date: 2006-01-03 03:02 pm (UTC)Re: As for the alarm clocks...
Date: 2006-01-03 04:32 pm (UTC)