Summer adventures have already begun, but most have been in and around Tall-ay so I haven’t written about them. That being said:
Tomorrow begins the first of many Great Summer Adventures.
If you would like to check out my adventures, join me over at my travel blog
HERE.
Love, B
The semester is over, and as such I feel like I’m just a hop, skip, and a jump from 2013. I’m so excited to be spending my new year with some of my favourite people — vacation can’t come soon enough!
I’ve had a hell of a year. I realized this when I mentioned it to someone a couple of days ago: I have been waiting for the year 2012 since about elementary school. My idealistic 9-year old self mathematically figured out that I’d be done with college in 2012 and that that would be the greatest accomplishment of my life (no, my 9-year old self didn’t even have an inkling of the notion of grad school).
So I decided, why not take a look at the last year (mostly in pictures) and relish in what an amazing roller coaster of a year this has been?
Join me?
The year got off to a great start. In January I got back to school, auditioned for grad school, danced in a flash mob, baked like crazy, and had some rough times that the best friends I’ve ever known got me through. The year continued on this fantastic path with February and my birthday being perfect (dancing, Twyla, sangria). This month I rode in my first ambulance, which was terrifying and traumatic, but I can look back on the awkward medic who showed me and Emily his mouth tattoo fondly. Also, doing downward dog in the ER.
My foxy lady sisters received their rings in February. It doesn’t matter how many other red classes or blue classes there are, you guys will always be first in my heart ❤
March rolled around and spring break was an adventure in Atlanta, with making pizza, exploring the city, and doing photo shoots in the park. The last weekend of March, Studio Dance Theatre travelled to the illustrious city of Albany, Georgia for some good ole dancing and horse metaphors. (Sugar cubes, anyone?)
In April I celebrated Bertha’s birthday with some furious scrap booking and I performed in my last ever concert at my undergrad. It was bittersweet. I was so privileged and blessed to have had four years of performing with such dedicated and artistically vital people. This month FLEW by.
May was probably one of the hardest months for me. Not only did I get myself into ridiculous situations that I should have had better sense than to have done, but I graduated from the place I’d known as home for four years.
Graduation always seemed like this elusive far-off dream until it actually happened. I couldn’t have been more joyed than to spend this day with my family, friends, and Agnes Community. The morning of graduation someone told me they’d light some fireworks in my honor, I couldn’t have been happier.
The whole summer was a whirlwind of travelling and exploring the world and figuring out who I am! I wrote about this last month I think so I don’t really need to indulge you anymore on that. I made some mistakes, I did some awesome things, I grew up. (Even though there’s still a lot of that to be done…) If you missed it, check it out in my thanksgiving post!
The final leg of my summer was August — the month to challenge all months. I was in four different time zones, and six different airports over the course of the month. My sisterbear got engaged, I visited Seattle, I bought a car, and I started graduate school. Seriously, I don’t remember being still for more than a few hours over the course of this whole month, and I absolutely loved it.
Lucky for me, September was a month of recuperating and readjusting to the workload of grad school. I spent most of my free time in the library.
October and November blend together in my brain. I was in Atlanta, I was in Orlando, I was at school, and I was at J’s apartment.
I got to see both of my sisterbears this month and Sandy ruined the family reunion that was meant to happen. I voted for the second time in November and had severe anxiety the entire week before the election, and I was moved and proud of all of the people that got out there and rocked the vote. It was a beautiful display of nationalism for the democracy in which we live.
In Atlanta I was graced with beautiful dancing, in Orlando I was checking out wedding venues for my sisterbear! In any other time I had free I was writing papers and doing all the research in the world. (and hanging out with my BFF Evie)
And now we’re here. December. We’re twelve days in and every day is a new adventure. I’m growing to love the bhum-thai that I am becoming, and I am learning more and more about dance, about the world, about politics, and about the connectedness of human beings.
This blog is a means to connect to human beings. Of course it doesn’t make up for getting out there and talking to people (which, let’s be real, if I get started, I never stop) but it’s a means to share and communicate with those around us (geographically, or on the internet).
Thank you, all: the ones who are here, the ones who have gone, the ones I’ve just met, and the ones that have stuck by my side through everything.
You all have made this year beautiful, and amazing, and sometimes heartbreaking, and most of the time absolutely joyous.
I’m looking forward to the next year of adventuring and seeing the world!
Love, B
or, Adventures in Grad School.
Other than talking about research topics, of which there are many, I haven’t said much about what an amazing experience grad school has been so far. It’s easy to focus on the work, or sometimes the negative (sore, tired, too much work) and so I want to take this time to share, mostly in photos, how awesome my experience has been so far.
there are goldfish swimming across my desk. what isn’t awesome about that?
This is in no way, shape, or form a reason for me to not finish annotating sources tonight. It’s not. I swear.
First things first, however. In my life I’ve had a few nicknames. No more or less than anyone else, I’d say, but typically they’re pretty easy to deduce or to come up with. Some of those include: bhums, kabhums, k-a-bhumi, boomshakalaka, b, and ethel (but really only one person in the world is privy to that one).
Since beginning school I’ve acquired some new nicknames, and I’ve got to say that they might be the most creative I’ve had yet.
bhum-tie
blume sauce
Do either of these make any sense? No, not really. But I absolutely love them. The first came from k-dawg, and basically was just something that came out of his mouth and stuck. The second actually has a story.
On the second week of classes there was a meeting for all the first year students with one of the faculty members. She was really, really having trouble with my name, even after I repeated it thrice and gave the example of a cannon goes boom.
For the duration of the meeting she referred to me as “blum-ey.” After the meeting one of the girls in my class said that just to confuse this person for the rest of the semester she’d be referring to me as “blumes.” I don’t know when sauce got added on, but now it’s just funny. And weirdly catching on in the department.
So now we’re going to move on to the photo portion of this post.
some activities include getting things stuck in trees and then climbing on each other to get them down.
the most delicious pumpkin nutella muffins. I, apparently, have time to bake these days?
I also study! this is probably a third of the books I’ve checked out from the library
but girlfrannnn do grad students know how to have fun. yes, it’s a light up glass. yes, rupaul’s is on behind it. perfect evenings are perfect.
That concludes this edition of what’s been going on on my side of the world. I am so, so excited to see my family so soon. ESPECIALLY my sisterbears.
love, B
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
I just thought that that was something lovely, and wanted to share. Today marks the end of the first full week of classes. I am sore, but the end of the week, my “Friday” persay, was concluded by an amazing concert with Matt Nathanson, Maroon 5, and Train. You can imagine the overwhelming awe that I was feeling all. evening. long. Matt was hilarious, Maroon 5 was great, and Train was…a whole other show in itself. After the show, Ankush and I got to meet Matt, and it was uh-mazing. He was absolutely adorable.
On another note, the first full week of classes was interesting. It was overwhelming, definitely, but I’m excited for the year. And now I’ve kind of got my work cut out for me. I’ve got to keep myself on top of my shit or it will be a disaster, and I’m okay with that.
I’m lucky and don’t have any Friday classes, so today I want to work work work so that I can enjoy this weekend!
love, B
Traveling Light
by Linda PastanI’m only leaving you
for a handful of days,
but it feels as though
I’ll be gone forever—
the way the door closesbehind me with such solidity,
the way my suitcase
carries everything
I’d need for an eternity
of traveling light.I’ve left my hotel number
on your desk, instructions
about the dog
and heating dinner. But
like the weather frontthey warn is on its way
with its switchblades
of wind and ice,
our lives have minds
of their own.
The last 24 hours have probably been the longest in my entire life. I had classes yesterday and around 7pm I left the ATL, New Jersey bound for my cousins wedding. So many strange things happened along the way.
First of all, we crossed Georgia horizontally and took like 4 hours, which was way too long for me, then we stopped just past Greenville, SC to get a bite to eat around 11. We went to Burger King – a, because it was open and b, because my niece would actually eat something from there. The people that worked there were ridiculous. The woman who took my order rang up half the wrong things, charged 8 dollars too much on my debit card then yelled for her manager that she screwed something up and walked away from the counter while I waited there for five minutes just standing like an idiot. I like my veggie burger the way I like my veggie burger and the girl who was making them for my mom and I asked the girl who screwed up the charge if what she had was correct and the girl goes “I UNNO JUST MAKE IT” Oh, okay.
After that fiasco things were quite calm for a bit. As the night wore on, my contacts grew drier, and my patience wore thin. By 3am I was gripping the wheel, willing myself to stay awake and singing anything and everything upbeat on my mp3 player. All the trucks kind of piled themselves into the right lane so I drove in the left. I kept my brights on because I couldn’t see a damn thing because we were driving through mountain valley’s in North Carolina and Virigina and semi’s kept honking at me and trying to cut me off.
That’s not even the worse part. We finally pull into Virginia (the LONGEST STATE EVER) and THERE ARE MOUNTAINS. We literally drive up and down mountains for something like 3 hours. During this time I kept my brights on because I DIDN’T WANT TO PLUNGE HEAD FIRST OFF THE ALUMINUM RAILING INTO THE BLACK ABYSS OF NIGHT. So a truck driver cuts me off with his semi, then switches lanes, then gets behind me, and follows me all the way up a mountain, at least fifteen minutes, flashing his brights at me the whole time.
I HATE truck drivers. Seriously? I’m in a Civic, I’m like a tenth of your size and I’m trying to SEE going up a fucking mountain. Chill.
By 4:30 I need a powernap. We pull off to a rest stop and my niece and the dog (who have been snoozing this whole time) wake up and start harassing my mom and I as we try to get some shut eye so we can stay awake the rest of the night. I finally get so pissed at the dog stepping all over me that I just drive off after about 15 minutes. I chug coffee and Monster and keep my hands on the wheel.
By 5:30 we finally enter West Virginia, and charge through to Pennsylvania. Here we make good timing up until we pass Harrisburg. The ENTIRITY of I78 is CLOSED OFF for about 8 miles and there are all these signs for detours that in essence led nowhere. We went around in circles trying to follow detour signs for four hours. FOUR HOURS. At this point I was TANGRY as hell. After we found I78 and crossed into New Jersey it was smooth sailing all the way to my aunt’s house. And now I am here. And I need a nap.
Does anyone remember The Wallflowers? Apparently my subconscious decided this morning would be a throw back to the 90’s. Kid Cruz from Orlando’s XL 106.7 was holding a contest for whoever could “finish those lyrics” and I decided to enter it. All of a sudden I was sitting in a field of vegetables growing. The contest called for you to meet around a pool with a whiteboard that you were supposed to write the lyrics on. I kept writing words that weren’t the lyrics and I kept singing the words but I couldn’t make myself write them down. Then I stared drawing pictures on my board but still couldn’t get the lyrics out.
Hey, hey, heyyyyyy
Come on try a little,
Nothing is forever,
There’s got to be something better than
In the middle
But me and cinderella
put it all together
And we can drive it home
with one headlight.
Now this song is echoing endlessly in my head. I need some rice crispies. NOMNOMNOM LOL If you happen to feel like listening to this song because it reminds you of the 90’s, look at my Vod thing on the sidebar – I posted the video!
Today I’ll be taking the six year old and Ankush to a trampoline warehouse so I’ll have to take a photo to let you know how that goes.
Disney. Yes, we hit up disney today. Of course I’ve been to Disney at least once a year, if not more, since infancy. Of course I’ve been on all the rides and know where every ride camera is. But the six year old loves it and my boyfran (okay, I’m so tired of calling him that, Ankush) had never been.
I woke up pretty early, had my cereal and hung around the house waiting for everyone else to wake up. By 12:45 everyone was ready to go. We entered Epcot and the heat overwhelmed me. We went on all the rides, experienced Nemo and then finally went to the one thing I was looking forward to: Soarin’. For those who have never been – you’re missing out. I don’t know if I could ever actually go hang gliding without having a serious panic attack midair but this ride is fantastic. You feel like you’re flying and you can smell all the things you’re flying over. My personal favourites are flying over the beach and the orange groves.
The day ended with fireworks at Disney, then we came home and I took a cold shower and had a bowl of cereal.
Every time someone comes to visit me here I feel obligated to take them to Disney and Universal and the beach because well…what else IS there to do that is amusing and special? I haven’t figured it out yet and my brain hurts from being in the sun so I’m going to stop trying to be insightful and go to bed.
So one of the great things about Central Florida is that there are a few State Parks quite close. Today we attempted to conquer Wekiwa State Park. The morning started out beautifully. I woke, ate pancakes, packed a cooler full of a delicious lunch and half a watermelon. Of course, there were cans of La Croix in there as well (shameless advertising – I for reals can’t live without this water). Anyway, thirty minute ride down the highway and 8 miles into the woods, we drove into the state park. We inhaled the swampy, damp air and were on our way.
We decided to begin the morning with a canoe ride. I hadn’t been in a canoe in over ten years and no one else had been canoeing. Note: the people involved were my mom, the six year old, and “the boyfran”. We excitedly approached the woman at the canoe rental. She promptly told us that it was three people to a canoe so we’d have to get two. After some argument, and convincing my mom that it was safe and she wasn’t going to drown or get eaten by an alligator or algae we rented two canoes.
The unhelpful attendant at the place where we picked up the canoes sent us on our way and we were in the water. My mom and I were in one boat, the boyfran and the six year old were in the other. At first it was easy. I was sitting in the back and in charge of steering and we only ran into….five…or maybe ten trees. We spotted an alligator and my mom freaked out. Awesome.
So we spent about an hour on the river and after that we were tired, sweaty and starving. (okay, I was starving.) We decided to go for a refreshing dip in the spring. Yeah….refreshing. 70 degrees in the sun is refreshing.
As an older man and his son exited from the ramp that we were blocking he said, “just go for it.” So I did. I came to the surface, heart racing, blurred vision and scared for my life. After that it got better. My mom refused to come in because it was so cold but after a while we got used to it. Then it was lunch time. NOMNOMNOMNOMNOM
We had a lovely picnic and stuffed to satisfaction we retreated to the sunny hill overlooking the spring. I thought I was going to die, I ate so much. My mom napped in the shade, the six year old ran around and harassed the boyfran and I laid on my bright pink towel.
I went for another refreshing swim in the spring. But this time the six year old was shivering and her teeth were chattering, so we decided to call it a day.
My arms hurt, so much, and yes: I would like some cheese with that whine.
wanderlust. 