Brains are leaking out of my heeeeeeeeeaaaaaaad

I started to comment, but it was a little long for that.

Visit was good, overall. Our car is WAY too small to have that many large people in it at one time, but we handled it well, I think. We got to meet my uncle's fiancee, and she's a sweetheart. They're goofy; it's cute. I wasn't able to fit any of my work into the car, which rather bummed me out. Buster's portfolio is much smaller than most of my work, so he brought that. There's a decent chance that I'll be able to go with Da when he goes back in a month, and then I can take some work to show, as well as the Christmas present for the grands.

On a less overall upward note, last night I looked more into grad schools that I will be applying to next year. This is scary. As my wonderful friend The Flower texted me when she was sending off applications, "Don't apply to the scary grad schools!" There was more, which I believe waxed eloquent about the benefits of living in the Alaskan wilderness versus applying to grad school, but I've deleted to text since, unfortunately.

Of the ones I had looked into thus far, University of Oregon and University of Mass at Dartmouth looked the best, program-wise. I did some more picking around their sites and looked at cost of living in those respective places. People are crazy. I am not paying 600/mo. for a 1Bd/1Ba. It is something "up with which I will not put!" (A phrase from my Mum, which I believe she got from her Grandmama. Not sure.) Ugh. I need more than the two schools on my list, so I kept looking and found this and this. I've looked more at the former than the latter, but they both look promising. One of my main sticking points is that I am poor, and am not exactly going into a field that's going to make me rich anytime soon, unless I get unbelievably lucky, so I don't want to exit grad school with more debt than necessary. If I can I can get a teaching Fellowship, Assistantship, or whatever the school calls it, I would be very very happy.

Louisiana looks like a very good program, but I really don't want to stay in the South, much less enter more deeply. Edinboro has an added benefit of not being very close to any large cities, unlike U. Mass. (WAY too close to D.C. for my comfort). I want to visit these places, but I don't know if I'll be able to. I think 5 or 6 colleges on my list would be a good number. Some part of my doesn't want to go to grad school, but mostly that part is the over-analytical part that worries about money.

The rural mountain roads in NW GA are very pretty this time of year, if you are ever able to drive them. Of course, they're gorgeous pretty much any time of year.

I can't figure out how to interpret the thoughts in my head, so bye for now.

~Brill

so much to do, so little time

I go back to school Sunday. Tomorrow I will finish (read: do most of) my packing and Dad and I will pack up the truck with my new bed, stair-step bookshelves to get ON said bed, and way too many boxes, bags, and sacks. Move-in starts at 10 A.M. Sunday, and I want to be there BY 10 so that we aren't wading through lots of other people. In my experience, most of the students get there around 12 or 1, so we should get in a few hours of less-crowded work.
Monkey and I are living in the dorm RIGHT NEXT TO THE ART BUILDING! Much happy. Less hauling. Fewer hernias. That building is the one with the Jack-and-Jill style suites of rooms, with 2 girls per room, sharing the bathroom. Monkey and I will be in one room, and two of our friends who have also roomed together since freshmen will be in the next. (I will name them when I can think of suitable names. They are full of character and deserve consideration in the naming process. :) )
Because of our GPAs, Monkey and I got into the group of overachieving overachievers that gets to stand there and look pretty at the official College formal Convocation events; let's call them the Pretty Purple People. (Code name for "Long Boring Mandatory Ceremonies Where Too Many People Talk For Hours On End...Especially the President." We have to attend so many of certain types of these throughout the year, and write pledge slips stating we've attended.) Pretty Purple People also stand at every music event and hand out DIFFERENT pledge slips for the music students, who have to attend so many recitals per semester that they don't recognize any other buildings. (The music program, esp. music Ed., has so many hours that it makes my major look like a walk in the park. Eurg.)
The main thrust to the letter from Appointers of the Pretty Purple People was that I 'will be representing the College,' especially when I am 'wearing the purple and gold Pretty Purple People ribbon,' and should dress accordingly, e.g. an 'unpretentious' black dress. Unpretentious I can do. Black I do so much that my grandmother seems to think I'm a goth. Dress... not so much. The only black dress I have is VERY pretentious, purchased for Lip Sync last year and probably illegal in a few states. So I went shopping.
FOUR STORES AND TWO DAYS LATER... I have as unpretentious of a black dress as I am likely to find. I also have another black piece of spray paint masquerading as a dress. It called out to me. It said, "I am soft, and I am thin, and I will cause your parents to make very strained faces and funny whimpering sounds. Buy me."
I had to. The dress compelled me.

I got to spend time with E-chan and the Flower when they were here before I have to leave. the Flower attends school and has an apartment in Charleston, and E-chan has been in Japan for most of the summer, so getting to see them, even if not at the same time, was wonderful. The Flower and I also made plans for her to kidnap me during her fall break and return me during mine (hers is the Th/F and mine is the next M/Tu).
Monkey, E-chan, Editor Kay (another HS friend) and I all visited at the park and had lunch together a few days ago. It was lovely. We really need to spend more time together. Editor Kay and E-chan will both be at the same school (also mum and C's school) next year, and they also plan to come up to stay with us sometime after midterms. I look forward to it.

I have more things to...Oh! Buster is in college now! This is unreal, and slightly frightening, and really awesome. And lots of other adjectives! He's in art school too, for Graphic design. (but I think he'll be a bit more employable when he graduates than I will.)

I've been looking at graduate schools. Again. More seriously this time. I still need to talk to my adviser and ask about various career and grad school options, but I think I am going to go ahead and get my MFA in ceramics. I may starve, but I think I will be happier getting my MFA than I would getting an MAT. Of the schools I have looked at, I keep coming back to a program in Oregon. I don't like the thought of being farther than a few hours' drive from home/family, but I love what I've heard of the Pacific Northwest area and want to go there.
We'll see. I have another year to build up my portfolio, work towards my senior show, and decide on what grad schools and grad programs I want to pursue.

Tired. Anxious. Excited. Sleep is the best option.
Laters...hopefully sooner than later.

~Brill