I was inspired

The car's windows are rolled down. The smell of hot asphalt still lingers from the neutral-grounded street the car just turned off. We meander down this crumbling street, whose borders seems to plateau off into the yards of mismatched houses and their concealed life-makers. I like it when pedestrian traffic and two queues of stationary cars prescribe a “life-in-slow-motion” consciousness, moving just fast enough to be able to notice the neighbors and families congregated on their elevated porches—after work, after mail-checking, after dog-walks and dogs' poops.

Cautionary of the road, yet contemplatively focused on my human insignificance, I am hopeful about what I plan on making my life as I snuggle into adulthood. If only I could always vicariously pull up this sentimental stance.

Probably the last grad school application for Fall 2010

I just "completed" an application for UNO's Master's in Romance Languages. It seems to be a pretty low-competition program, I surmised, as indicated by the lack of application requirements (only GPA minimum, transcripts, and GRE scores; no need for letters of recommendation or essays). At UNO, you choose either a Spanish or French concentration; I am, of course, choosing Spanish. But, you may take classes in the other of the two languages. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Portuguese or Italian are offered (like they are at Tulane), but I think I'll have my hands full with my Spanish classes as well as the French electives I plan to take. Though your major is one of the two languages, you specialize even further and either focus on "literature" or "language, culture and civilization," and from what I gather upon receiving your M.A., you are qualified to teach said language from elementary school through junior college. Though the admissions standards aren't as high as some of the schools I applied to earlier this spring (and didn't get into), I think the faculty have pretty interesting research and publications. Worst case scenario, I don't like it, and I transfer to Tulane or another school. Now that I'm serious about school (or at least had been my final two years of undergrad), I am not worried about dilly dallying around and screwing up without studying and without a care for my GPA.

I hope I get in, and I think I have a good chance of doing so. I'm still waiting to hear back from the program director though because my enrollment is dependent on whether I get some kind of financial aid or a "graduate assistantship," in which I work in some capacity (e.g. teaching) for UNO while attending. That would afford me a tuition and a stipend. I'm not sure on the size of the stipend so I don't know if I can live off of it. But, even if I don't receive either of these things, I still want to consider going part time in the evenings while working at McGehee. After going to Loyola, the tuition is quite manageable. For 12 hours a semester, it's under $2,000 and for 9, it's under $1,500. Not that I want to have that kind of financial commitment so I'm hoping to get some kind of financial aid, or I'll have to pay it in installments. I am not taking out more student loans, especially now that I'm paying the ones I accrued in undergrad.

Of course, I'm still just turning ideas over in my head right now. Once I'm in UNO and if I get a contract from McGehee, I'll better know how to anticipate my fall schedule. I need to talk to people who work and attend grad school so I can really get an idea of how many hours they take. I'm thinking I'll take 6 a semester. If I do that, I believe I can finish my [first] Master's in 2 years (including summers). Jesse works full-time and and generally takes 12 hours a semester in law school. I don't know if this is normal or translates for grad schoool, too, though. I still want to get a Master's and Ph.D. in Latin American Studies or Anthropology, but I think an M.A. in Spanish will provide me a firmer foundation and a stepping stone into my future academic endeavors. And professional, which I hope are academic. Plus, I'll always be able to get a job teaching Spanish in grade school if I want it.

I know that this will be difficult, going to school and working, but I just have to weigh the pros and cons and try it out! I do need and want plenty of advice though. I'll be asking lot of more experienced people than I. At least, I'm not attempting this being married with kids, or unmarried with kids! If I had a family to take care of, I think this would be 100x more difficult. I'll keep you updated on this, but like all ideas I get, I am initially very excited and hopeful, and when things don't turn out how I hoped, I am strongly disappointed. I hope this doesn't turn out like some of the others.

Car

Just considering, but depending on where Jesse and I live and what my job situation is this summer and fall, I'm thinking about buying a [new] car. Sharing with Mia is nice, and she's so patient and understanding when it comes to letting me use what is really her car. But, I can't do this much longer, and as much as I'm dreading the financial responsibility, I think it's almost about time I make this kind of a commitment and investment. I'll need to talk to Chat (this nice Asian man who we bring all our car issues to) to see if he's selling any of the cars that he redoes and then sells. I want a hybrid though, or at least something with amazing gas mileage. Otherwise, my mom and I will probably go to Team Honda in BR. We'll see though. Any thoughts?

I'm thinking the Honda Insight.

Jazz Fest

Holli surprised me this morning with a call. I thought she'd be calling to ask me to babysit sometime (possibly for the day), which I would have happily done. But upon listening to her voicemail, I learned that she wanted to give her extra Jazz Fest tickets to me. Her husband works for Shell (which sponsors Jazz Fest). I immediately thought of Jesse, but, of course, he had to study all day for a final he has tomorrow. Then, I wondered if Mia could spare the day even though she has a calculus final tomorrow. Nope, she was unable to come. So then I asked Neill. Though he wasn't in the most awake and spritely spirit, he was excited to come with me. So after making our way to Holli's to pick up the tickets and having a Pinkberry snack, we made our way to City Park. It rained intermittently throughout the day, but overall, it was a nice experience. We listened to Trombone Shorty, Juvenile The Neville Brothers and Van Morrison, I believe. We did not get a chance to see B.B. King, however, because of how full the Blues tent was. We couldn't even hear him outside of the tent because of the crowd. The food was delicious; we ended up spending a good bit of time with Neill's friend who was working there as well as meeting up with Holli, Kevin and Adele. I also found what I want to get Dr. Garza for her wedding, but I wasn't able to buy it there because I didn't have enough cash. I'll visit a bookstore sometime this week and perhaps bring it to Scriptura for wrapping. But, probably not...I need to save money!

This week is going to be superbusy for me. I'm subbing MWF for Lindsey in the baby/toddler room (where I usually am Tuesday and Thursdays). I'll definitely have to mentally prepare myself for this stint. Additionally, Dr. Garza's wedding is this Saturday so I'll most-likely be babysitting from Thursday through Saturday. With Mia going back and forth from Baton Rouge (her semester ends tomorrow) and Jesse taking finals, my transportation issues will be interesting and difficult to negotiate. But, after the week's over, it'll be much more relaxed.

I emailed UNO this evening about their Spanish grad program so we'll see if the coordinator's response is more fruitful than Tulane's. If only I can still get a fellowship and teach while going to school. I met someone today at Jazz Fest who went to UNO for her undergrad in language instruction and then a M.A. in Arts Administration. She now works at NOMA, and listening to her talk about how much she enjoys her job just made me think hopefully, longingly a little more.

Well, I was exhausted when I got home this evening and I fell asleep soon thereafter. I woke up, but I think I should get to bed again. Til next time!

Gulf Oil Spill

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/deepwater-horizon-oil-spi_n_558736.html

I need to do more research on this; I haven't kept up with the news at all, I'm ashamed to say. Got the above link from my dad's facebook page.

Of course, there's more to marriage than a wedding, but this post is about

my wedding. I've been putting off posting because my right hand hurts at the base of my thumb and across the bottom of my palm. I believe it's a tendon and being myself, I hypochondriatically and preemptively diagnose myself with arthritis. But, putting off blogging hasn't stopped me from wasting time bouncing from facebook to email to random websites. And so, now as I begin to type a post loosely based on marriage, I wonder if this keyboard has been my hand's demise.

Yesterday, Mia picked me up from work since she had the car. I got off at 3, after a day with the Doodlebugs, a toddler class. We decided to go to Pinkberry, where we, of course, stood in line for almost 30 minutes, but then enjoyed our "regulars"--coconut/mango yogurts with various fruits and drizzled with pomegranate juice. Afterwards we went [window] shopping along one side of Magazine, and while there were plenty of articles of clothing I might enjoy, nothing struck me as a must-have. Fortunately, because I've been spending too much lately (a recent and embarrassing obsession with J. Crew). But, then, we went to Scriptura (http://www.scriptura.com/)! I'm looking for a particular present for a particular person, but after browsing and speaking with the store's proprietress, I decided to think about it and revisit in the next couple of weeks to see if they get stock of what I was thinking about buying. While there, Mia asked me in front of the proprietress if when I get married, would I have my invitations from here? The rest of the conversation went something to this effect:

Me: I'm not engaged yet.

Mia: Like you haven't thought about it.

Me (in thought): Of course I have!

Proprietress still on the phone with Metairie location to see if they have stock of what I wanted to buy. After she gets off the phone -

Proprietress: When she does get married, she will have her invitations from here.

Me (in thought): I do hope she's clairvoyant.

More talk among us.

Me: I would love to have my invitations done here, but unfortunately, my boyfriend doesn't share the same affinity for paper as I do.

Proprietress: That's okay. It just means he's a heterosexual male.

A light and enjoyable conversation. And, I ended up getting a replacement ink for my retro pen and a cute Mother's Day card for my grandma. Score! (Mia and I and Jesse and I have been shopping around for cards for all those mamas in our lives). While in Jean Therapy, by the way, I resisted the urge to pick up a New Orleans wedding magazine. I know that it's silly that I'm harping on these ideas. I even thought of Pomplamoose playing at the ceremony; I think coverbands are such the better alternative to djs. I've long-known who is going to cater the reception! But, as for my recent hypersensitivity to most things matrimonial, my excuse is that seeing Dr. Garza and Drew planning their weddings has just been too inspiring to ignore and and not think of my own. When I do have to do this though, will I loathe the pressure and the detail needed in planning? (see AnExtendedVacation's blogspot) I guess I need a different distraction. Luckily, I just started reading Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.

One last point. I love that shopowners on Magazine (and I believe, New Orleans in general) remember you and make a point to talk to you. At Scriptura, she asked me how my friend liked Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I said that she made Boeuf Bourguignon and told her how much Drew loved the paper and ribbon in which the same lady had wrapped it. The other day, I ran into Vom Fass for some more oil and Calamansi vinegar since my mom was over and I was going to attempt to cook Wild Chilean Sea Bass. Vom Fass' proprietress also asked me about the Calamansi that I had gotten for my mom. She was overly helpful (as was another worker there), and it gives me more pride on top of the growing and never-ending pride I have for this city.

Wearing this to Dr. Garza's wedding next weekend :)

Oh the baby bumps

http://www.usmagazine.com/momsbabies/photos/pregnant-models-2009218/2004

I don't know why--maybe it's because of my line of work--but I've been more and more interested in babies and pregnancy lately, much to my boyfriend's chagrin. I try not to think about these things so much because they're not in my near future, but alas, a girl can dream, right? And, just for the record, I'm honestly too selfish and self-absorbed to have a baby right now. I'm content to sit and to work at a preschool until I join the rest of the world's mothers.

Next post: marriage and such