Wednesday, August 27, 2008

on finishing short novels whilst sitting under a tree

Today marked the official end of summer for me.

I know, I know. The semester offically began on Monday, and I have been working at least full-time hours for the last three or four weeks, but I didn't actually have a seminar until today. Granted, that seminar is with one of my favorite people here, but you know--it means that I have to officially set aside my own reading--most of which has been fun, some of which has been challenging.

I was able to take a brief moment today, before said seminar, and finish one of those books under a tree in the middle of our busy quad. Frisbees were being tossed, shirtless dudes were tightrope walking across their little tree-tied strap, sun shined, ants crawled (on my arm) and it was a moment. What a pretty place and what a pretty time to be in this place. Oh, and the book was Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat which is simply hilarious (and a bit tragic).

Without really realizing it, to conclude my first full summer in Champaign, along with reading a book about Monterey, CA (one of my favorite locals), I also happened to listen to the Beach Boys's Sounds of Summer: thirty songs of unadulterated, reverby, 3-part-harmonied, beachiness. (Which was followed, incidentally, with the Beatles White album, which is quite the lovely opposite.)

Despite the busyness, it has been a good summer. It had some amazing moments--but I hope to actually make it out of Illinois next summer.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Imaginary Band

For those who might have some interest in an exercise in my reliving the glory days (you know, Uncle Rico style: "Ohhhh, man I wish I could go back in time. I'd take state."), check out this new blog collective I have started and will be collaborating on with old band mates. 

I'm excited about it.  We will be telling stories of the illustrious Only Anything, posting old photos, providing links for you to download old songs.  The premise is: What if the band you used to be in in 1995 got famous in 2008?  Sound silly?  Then you underestimate my silliness.

Never one to pass up the chance to be academic and nerdy, I think that this project has some fun things to say about private discourse (sometimes known as bro-speak), composition (both individual and shared), and collective identity construction and maintenance.  The band Only Anything was a group way before we played any instruments... We sat around creating what we intended to become--as any teenage band might--between visits to Circle K for 64 ouncers and hot dogs and visits to the record store to pick up another Cure tape.

For this reason, I call our little team of archivists the Imaginary Band collective.  It started off imaginary, and now that it's gone, it continues to live on.  In my mind, that image is one of a near-perfect late teenage life.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

starmaster's table

Here are a few tasty dishes that have made it to our table in the last few weeks:

 
honey-glazed chicken with sauteed snap peas and onions 
  
pasta with fresh pesto, chicken breasts, and fresh tomatoes (with lotsa parmesan cheese)
(thanks J and M for the garden goods!) 

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Year One

We've been here a year--actually about a year two weeks. I am so pleased with the experiences that we have had since driving across the country with all of our earthy belongings from arid desert to humid heartland.

Here are the highlights, by category, as they come to me:

School (generally speaking)

I had no idea what to expect when we came to grad school. I mean, I had an inkling, but I didn't--couldn't--know what it was going to be like. From the moment I arrived on campus for orientation last year, I not only felt great about what I had gotten myself into, but I felt something I didn't expect: an immediate and overwhelming sense of friendship. My college experience before coming to Illinois was very much a singular experience for me. I didn't live in the dorms as a freshman; I got married in the sophomore year of my first degree; I had a few people I knew on campus, but never really had friends in my major. I was not your typical college student.

And, really, I'm not your typical grad student either. With three kids, I know my experience is a bit different than most of my fellow grad students. But, I've (I should say "we've" here--this is a team effort, right Tina?) been able to hang. The people here have really been what have made hanging a pleasure. Grad students and professors alike, I wonder if other people in other programs know what they are missing.

The Town

We have a good friend who just moved back to the mainland from Oahu where they lived for about three years. We feel a little bit like they did: on an island in the middle of the sea. Moving from the west was an adjustment for us--one that we are still getting used to, I think. When I say that we've been here for a year, I really mean it. We haven't gone anywhere (I did leave town for 48 hours to attend my Grandmother's funeral in April--but that barely counts as being away). We have been down to St. Louis, up to Chicago and over to Indianapolis (oh! and a cool trip to Nauvoo over spring break), but we haven't actually gone home. So that's been a bit hard for us and for our families. We have, though, been visited (in some cases more than once!) by most of our immediate family. We also got visits from nearly every one of my favorite friends some point during the year. Amazing.

That said, we really love it here. Really. I'm not joking. We came from the land of urban sprawl. It would take 30-45 minutes to get anywhere interesting. Here, everything is close. There are parks, events, music, farmer's market, friends--everything!!--all within 5-10 minutes from home. Amazing! We really love the town and feel like it is a great place to bring up kids. The coming year my oldest starts kindergarten, so we'll see how that works out. The humidity is a bit obnoxious from time to time, but really, weather like the stuff we've been having in the last few days, makes up for it. And I actually kind of liked the winter.

Music
Andrew Bird, Headlights, Jimmy Eat World, Bon Iver, Jeff Tweedy, Mates of State, Radiohead--and next month, Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers, and Yo La Tengo. Enough said.

Academics

It's been a challenging year for me intellectually. I repeat, it's been a challenging year for me intellectually. But I'm surrounded by support. "Learning the field"--especially a field as diverse as Writing Studies--is a challenge, but I have been met with several surprises. I love that my program allows me--encourages me, even--to take classes in several departments and subjects. I've already had several "interdisciplinary" experiences--I'm looking forward to many more.

People

I've alluded to this already as well, but we couldn't ask for a cooler community to belong to. Both Tina and I have made some great friends. And my kids? Well, both Seth and Maryn are doing just fine in the social department.

Year Two?

This next year is going to be a good one; I already know. I'm gonna take me some seminars. I'm gonna teach me some students. I'm gonna work my way through some tough scholarship. I'm gonna read me some graphic novels. I'm gonna learn me some lap slide.

Thus ends the long-form, once-a-month,(cough)boring, blog style that readers have come to expect from the guide. Expect, heretofore, a more abbreviated blog--not quite in the microblog "tweet" format, but with inspiration taken therefrom.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

too much to say... why don't we start with Radiohead and Mates of State

I could have written a post every day for the last, say, ten days and still not gotten in all of the excitement. It has truly been an amazing past few weeks.

So let's just start here at Lollapolooza .

You got that right, I was chilling backstage with Mates of State and got to watch their set standing behind them on the stage. They were super nice and Whitney from USA today's blog "Pop Candy" was super awesome to give me the opportunity. So that was that. In this cut from the set, you can actually see my friends Jon and Mat in the crowd. John has a light blue shirt, glasses and a hat on, Mat dark glasses to his right. The dude that starts waving his arms does so right in front of Mat. You can't really see me in any of the clips, but I am stage right (left side of the stage from your perspective). See the picture below.



And then, of course was the fact that I was there in Chicago with my best friends (John was in the city if not with us at the show) and we were there to see my favorite--everybody's favorite!--band Radiohead. And they were perfect. We were pretty close, so we didn't get the same vibe as others did standing 50,000 people back from the stage with the semi-fans. We were pretty close. And it was incredible--better than my wildest expectations. The band played. The rock & roll band PLAYED.



Anyway, I just saw this. This is Ed from Radiohead being interviewed by some dude... but what kills me is that the band playing behind the interview is Mates of State. So that means that just feet from where I was standing, in one of the little tents behind me was Ed from Radiohead. Wow.


I'll be back soon with more.