Pranks and the City

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

I think we drink so we can remember what we were like, way before we were old enough to drink.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Change I'm Forced to Believe In

My post-graduation plans are solidified, but it seems like they've just raised even more questions. I'll be in Chicago next year, teaching Early Childhood Education. Who am I going to live with? Where am I going to live? Where am I going to teach?

My feelings towards the situation are complex. As I just moved out of my childhood house in North Carolina (and more than likely will never see it again) I'm starting to feel nostalgic about my home state. The facts that my mom is moving to Bangalore for six months and my father is going to Virginia do not help.

While it would be great to be near Dad, I don't really want to live in DC. I would feel strange about living at "home" (since my home was and always will be in North Carolina.) I'm also not particularly attached to the DC area.

New York is another matter. To quote "Sports Night," I kinda had a New York Renaissance. Three of the tv shows my friends and I are watching are focused on the city, and I remember my time last summer there really fondly. It's hard to watch "Mad Men" or "30 Rock" or even "Gossip Girl" without feeling wistful about the Town So Nice They Named It Twice. I know I'd love to live there again in a heartbeat.

That being said, Columbia Law seems really interested in me, so who knows?

Perhaps I'm being unfair to Chicago. It is, after all, a comfort location to me now that I've lost NC. I'll be near people I know (and may even live with some of them.) It just feels weird that I'll be "researching" Chicago all over again. Apartments, neighborhoods, even how to feed myself without Bartlett's loving embrace. And then there's the people. Lest I get sentimental, it's time to pop in another Mad Men.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Pranks For America

Well, I'm back where I belong. The commute back was hell, but that's a story for another day. Welcome to Pranks and the (Second) City!

After finding out I got into Teach For America, I had something of a personal crisis. I got my LSAT scores shortly before finding out my TFA acceptance, and all indications point towards me being a relatively strong candidate (gasp!) for law school admissions.

This serves as a counterpoint towards my own opinion of my professional worth. Why would anyone trust someone who can name upwards of 120 Pokémon without thinking about it with any real professional responsibility?

On a side note, the other day, poor Josh Knox walked in on me and Pelks reading Pokémon comics aloud in an incredibly obnoxious, loud fashion. We were pretty 'spirited,' but that's not really an excuse. As I declared aloud the other day in a somewhat surprised fashion, "I spend a lot of time thinking about Pokémon."

I suppose it's good to revel in these sorts of things now, since I probably won't be able to do them when I have some sort of professional life. It's why I'm grateful for people like William and Grider and the rest of the S5Babies, because they more often than not indulge me. Even people like Emblies or Marlena, who might not have all the same nerdy interests as me, allow me to behave like an absolute spoiled child most of the time without batting an eyelash.

So when I found out that all of my hard work from last quarter paid off, I was kind of at a crossroads. Getting into Teach For America meant that I didn't have to think about law school in its immediacy, since I wouldn't be going next year. The net result of this was that I suddenly had (and have) much less to do than I am used to. While there's still classes, I'm used to having those, the LSAT, TFA, and an India trip hanging over my head now. None of those are a factor.

So I'll be filling my time with other things. I'm going to see a lot more of the Rome folks and try to get out of the dorm more. Marlena gave me the delightful suggestion of trying to be Batman this quarter, which I took semi-seriously. I'll go to the gym five times a week, join a martial arts club, and try to engage in some amateur detective work on the side.

Because, you know, why not?

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Auld Acquaintance

Well, at least we can say I tried. There's still so much more left to blog, like Ross and I wearing turbans and engaging in a traditional Rajasthani dance ceremony, or riding camels in the desert, or discovering a giant outdoor observatory, but I'll leave it alone. My Internet's still spotty, and I only have 24 hours left in this country. Maybe I'll get it all down later. At any rate, it might be more fun to ask me (us) about it in person.

See you in the states,
Pranks

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Thinner than water?

One of the things that's shocked me has been how well Ross is getting along with my family. Since I really only see my extended family every four years or so, it's kinda a given that they'd treat me like a king. Ross has been getting the same treatment. But ionly took my grandfather a week to scare him. After a few too many Royal Challenges, he started challenging Ross on when he'd called his parents last. When Ross said he'd e-mailed them, Grandpa exploded that "voice and e-mail are not the same thing!" Then he made Ross dial them up in front of him.

"I am a father too, you see."
"I know, I uh, know your grandson quite well."

Monday, December 29, 2008

Don't believe the hype. Cleanliness is not next to Godliness.

I'd been putting off writing about this for some time, but since I'm pretty miserable with a stomach flu, Ross is gone, and there's nothing else to do, I guess it's time to write about Salim Chisti and Fatepur Sikri.

Do not believe what the Wikipedia article tells you. These are the worst places on earth.

Because being maintained by the Indian tourism board guarantees a certain minimum level of cleanliness and comfort, we'd been mostly insulated from the worst India had to offer. Unfortunately, these areas were maintained by a religious organization. Consequently, there was cow dung, beggars, peddlers, and filth absolutely everywhere. Ross and I spent the entire goddamn time being terrified.

The Sheikh Salim was supposed to be one of the first advocates of secularism in India, making his memorial's takeover all the more ironic.

We were all a little down after the Salim Chisti debacle, so the rest of the ride passed in mostly silence, except for when my mom's glasses were broken by our collision with a large rock.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Picture Post

And now, in a stunning turn of events, some pictures, because I actually have some time to kill.