one week as a non-student is equal to what was half an hour when i was a student

i really don't know where my time is going. it seems like two days ago i was in Illinois making my yearly rounds to visit Lauren and to keep my brother in check by drinking all his chocolate milk and playing all his video games. since the Secret Guild of Little Sisters would prefer the rounds to be quarter-annual, and my brother is a Busy and Important Scientist Doing Science Things, we had to pack as much chocolate milk, gaming and episodes of the Office in as we could into four days. it was so nice to be in a place that is actually settled and comfortable (ie, without bedbugs, with bedsheets and fully functioning appliances) and familiar. it follows that i kind of dreaded going back, but the past two weeks have gone by in a rush of work and alcohol. aw, crap, i think i accidentally stepped in a puddle of "What Directionless People Do Shortly After College." luckily i'm not sinking into it, i'm just wiping it off of my shoe while i reach over and turn my responsibility switch into overdrive.

why? because tomorrow Nathan and i are moving into our new apartment, but by 'move', I actually mean "quarantining all of our belongings by throwing them in plastic bags, schleping said bags the 45 minute commute from the Upper East Side to Brooklyn, living without said belongings for two weeks while all potential bedbugs are saturated by poison, sleeping on a cot and a futon until we finally have the time to purchase beds and schlep said beds from Ikea to our apartment." yeah, moving. but I suppose one can also translate it as "putting a whole lot of effort into making life feel livable and ours for the first time in three months." oh quality of life, you are a puzzle to both sociologists and 22 year old girls who lack a transient nature. yeah, so i crave stability before i feel like i can actually accomplish anything else. what of it. call me bourgeois, i don't care, i want my couch and my cat and my robot and my books, and i want them in one place and i want them uninfested.

i was supposed to go back to Charleston for Halloween weekend and then head back to Rock Hill for my mom's birthday, but for reasons (which were really never clear to me), i didn't get the time off from work. i spent most of the weekend moping and desperately missing everyone, but since i was working all weekend, i managed to be semi-productive! i was paid cash money to mope! i did manage some social activity and went out with some friends (closer acquaintances? people teetering on the cusp of becoming friends? that giant, awkward gray area between just talking about social issues to talking about personal issues?), and on Friday i went out with a different set of the same level of acquaintanceship to St. John's Cathedral to see the Procession of the Ghouls. first we watched one of those expressionist films from 1920's Deutschland (Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari, in particular), and then the portal to hell opened behind the projector screen and all of these fantastic ghoul costumes slowly slinked out into the church behind a mask of smoke. it was pretty cool, bordering occult spectacle and creepy ritual. there was even a bedbug ghoul dangling from a bungee cord along the arches, and a satanic bishop ghoul that presided above all the other creepy ghouls (which is pretty liberal considering the location).

so i guess Halloween in the city isn't so bad. today, Luigi and a Banana were breakdancing in Union Square. i would still have much rather been in Charleston, and in one day my mom is having a birthday and i'm stuck mailing her a present instead of giving her one in person. sigh, when adult responsibilities conflict with personal desires, i want to cash in my maturity card and spend the rest of my life on the couch in Rock Hill. i know my mom wouldn't want that though, and, since it's her birthday, i'll put off my Franny act for at least another year.

Happy Early Birthday, Mummy!!