Crisis of identity

You may have noticed, if you bother to check here anymore, that I am not playing in this particular sandbox very often. Partly, it's because I wanted to blog under my real name somewhere else. But it's also due to the fact that I am not sure what I'm doing anymore. I got the MA. I am not officially a grad student hack anymore. Now I'm doubting whether I will go on to a PhD. Do I even want to be a prof?

At this point, I'm not even sure if I want to go back to my home town. All I know is that a) the only job I see myself doing (and feel happy about pursuing) is features writing, which is a tough freaking row to hoe as a freelancer and b) EC is treating me well.

To sum up: I'm in a total state of gah! Can't promise that I'll write any more here (but hey, who knows), but feel free to drop me a line:

gradstudenthack(at)gmail(dot)com

I'll send you a link to my new blog, as long as you promise to keep the connection between the two on the QT.

Big kisses,

GSH

a postscript for all you little rotters who continue to stumble onto this blog by googling "free essays" (and who, at this point, pretty much account for all my traffic, lol): I hope you enjoy the letter "F", because you're going to be getting well acquainted with each other this term.

Aw, man...long time no update. I guess I was pouting a little that no one responded in the comments when I said I had a new "secret" blog under my real name. Yes, it's irrational to pout since I did get requests for the URL in person and by email. But that's how I roll.

So, hmm, news. I'm now in Eastern European Capital, have a nice place very close to the old town, school starts monday, food/wine/life is all great here. It's so much more affordable than my former city, I'm not actually sure I want to go back home.

More soon,

GSH

I'm. in. London.

I strained my wrists a little while hauling my baggage from Heathrow to my friend's flat, so I'll have to keep this relatively short. So far I've been to Greenwich, the British Museum, Chinatown and Covent Garden. Last night involved wickedly good Malaysian food followed by a packed pub called the Wh1te Hare, and a sprint for the last tube home. Today: walking around the palace, Hyde park and then off to a football match. I'm a little nervous about sitting in a spot surrounded by 20,000 lads, but looking forward to it nonetheless. Saw my first hooligan last night, but it was mostly just a dude with too much alcohol in his system wanting to have a bit of a shout in the tube.

Officially, it is done. I received my damage deposit in the mail from my landlord (less $61 for "cleaning", which I'm pretty sure is bogus, but I need to just let it go for the sake of my sanity). I have moved. I no longer live in a dilapidated heritage house infested with cannibal zombie squirrels, and I can already feel the difference in my health. Despite my love for the neighbourhood and my fondness for my unique and historic home, under the surface it was a very sick building and made my asthma and general state of health immeasurably worse.

I never want to move, ever again. The last days of 2006 were all about delerium, getting 5 hours sleep within the span of 50 hours of packing, eating junk food and cleaning. It was bad, and painful. On the upside, I got rid of two car loads of old clothes, shoes and tchotkes (to the thrift store), and gave away a writing table, a chair, a bed and a dresser. Craigslist's "free" section rocks my world, hardcore. You put up an ad, you get a bunch of emails, you put the stuff outside and someone else takes it away. Everything I advertised was gone within a day. The dresser and bed were both somewhat damaged (repairable), but I mentioned that in the ad, and they were taken away just as quickly as the mint stuff.

And now, it's final days until I leave for Eastern European Capital city (EEC). Wednesday I take off for four days in the UK, and then on to my new home city. I've got a meeting set up with the housing coordinator, a fabulous hostel booked and some contacts who will show me around and put me up (after a few nights of hostelling) in return for some crunchy peanut butter smuggled from home. I am excited and somewhat worried that I am forgetting something important.

Apparently my visa documents are on their way as we speak, and will be sent on to meet me in a neighbouring European country once I arrive in EEC. I will enter as a tourist, leave the country for the afternoon, pick up my documents and return as a temporary resident. I freaking love the fact that I can travel in any directions for less than 6 hours and arrive in a new country. I hope to do a lot of travelling.

I will be updating, posting photos and checking comments here while I'm away, and I've got a seperate blog under my real name that I'll be working on. I decided to have a non-anonymous blog so that I can post details about my travels. If you'd like to read the other one, leave me a note in the comments and I'll send you the url (point me towards your email address if you don't think I have it already). I'm happy to give out the other url to people I don't know IRL, but no anonymous requests please.

Why is the phone company so slow to connect service and so fast to disconnect it? Historical Me thought, in her pre-xmas daze, that it'd be a good idea to transfer our phone line as of the 27th. Present Me is angry, because now I have no phone service except for my expensive cell phone. D'oh.

If you are trying to reach me, call the cell. I may not pick up right away if I don't recognize the number, but leave a message and I'll get back to you. If it's urgent, call back once or twice. Hopefully the voicemail at the old (home) number will be re-connected soon, and you'll be able to leave messages there.

The tree is up (as of 5:00 this afternoon), the nog has been drunk while listening to The Shepherd and the tourtiere consumed. The wee beasty is cozy on his special pillow, the presents are wrapped and under the tree and everyone has just gone to bed. Merry Christmas to you all.

Liberation from stuff

I am moving. My stuff is going into storage, and then I go to the airport and don't come back for 6-7 months. So, like an airplane, I'm actively jettisoning stuff (okay, not 70 tonnes of fuel over Frankfurt, but it feels as weighty a project)*.

Today, someone came to my house to pick up my old, serviceable yet ugly (in that "perfectly fine, just not my style" kinda way) dresser. I popped an ad on craigslist, and another on freecycle, got a ton of emails, put the sucker on the porch and voila, one item less to pack away! I feel 50 pounds lighter. Now I'm looking around for other stuff I can advertise. Free classifieds are awesome. Getting rid of stuff without having to do anything is, uh, awesomer. I particularly like not having to struggle to get a large item into a small car, or having to find bungee cords to strap the sucker to the roof.

Am I finished xmas shopping or am I kidding myself? Two and a half days until the big reveal.


*Yes, it's an inside joke related to massive delays in holiday travel schedules. Welcome back from K-town, Ms. J!