Blank Jane

It's a Bittersweet Symphony...wait, no, just sweet right now.

This weekend, I went to the symphony two nights in a row. I'm so very cultured ; )

The first night, I was helping a friend who works for an advertising agency hand out some stuff, and we listened to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra play music by Led Zeppelin in the background.

The next night, that same friend and I (+ 1) went to hear the same symphony, but this time at Connor Prairie for Symphony on the Prairie. Basically everyone who attends brings a picnic dinner, and it is a fantastic time.  I brought Korbel, a nice pinot noir, tabouli and hummus in pita, cheese and crackers, and strawberries and Nutella.  And that's just what came in my basket- my friends brought along lots of goodies as well!

For this particular evening, the orchestra was playing the music from Harry Potter, making it all the more magical as the sun set over the field.  Children were running around everywhere with wands, dueling, and we picked out all the characters from among them.  Here's Harry:

And OMG isn't he the cutest? There was a squirrelly little blonde boy (who kept trying to pick fights with him) that was clearly Malfoy, but it was hard to get a picture of him.

The music was no less magical than when in the theatre, and I still got goosebumps, as if I was starting on a grand adventure. In all, it was a lovely evening.  The rest of my weekend consisted of lying around the pool and generally being lazy, which was also obviously lovely, but I don't have pictures of that. Also? I don't have pictures of my hair yet. But probably I'll get some before it grows out again, so fear not.

Ooh, I almost forgot, I asked the universe for a sign last week that I'm still supposed to move to Chicago, and the next day, a man gave me a free bicycle (which would be one of my main modes of transportation there). And it's a pretty good bike, too.

Sometimes, I win at life.

Top 25 Most Played

I got my hair cut. Really short. And I'm totally in love with it. But because I live in a house full of bad photographers, I do not yet have a picture to share.  So for now, you get a list of the 25 songs my iPod tells me I play most often.

1. Chicago Bound - Jimmy Rogers
2. Fever - Peggy Lee
3. Back to Chicago - Styx
4. Whenever, Wherever - Shakira
5. Roxie - from the Chicago soundtrack
6. Happy - Lit
7. Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
8. Never Let You Go - Third Eye Blind
9. Criminal - Fiona Apple
10. Honey I Been Thinking About You - Jackie Greene
11. Sweet Home Chicago - Johnny Shines
12. Beat It - Michael Jackson
13. Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones
14. Lovin' in My Baby's Eyes - Taj Mahal
15. Good Riddance (The Time of Your Life) - Green Day
16. Blue Alert - Madeleine Peyroux
17. Hayley - Roderick Watt
18. Com On-A My House - Rosemary Clooney
19. Lovin' In My Baby's Eyes - Taj Mahal (a different version)
20. Top of the World - The Carpenters
21. Addicted - Lit
22. Shake It - Metro Station
23. Deep Inside of You - Third Eye Blind
24. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
25. Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest

From this, you might say that clearly I'm obsessed with moving to my new city, except that I almost always listen to my iPod on shuffle (I find it's more like a radio station where you like all the songs), so that's not a logical conclusion.  Even though I am. The only songs on this list I take the time to seek out and play are 10, 13, 16, 24, and 25.  And there's a glitch on my iPod that prevents a few of those songs from playing for more than a couple of second.  But I absolutely love about 20 of the songs, which sort of makes me think that my iPod must be plugged into my brain waves somehow.  I'm joking, of course (mostly). 

So tell me, if you have an mp3 player or music player on your computer that tells you which songs you listen to most often, how accurate is that in regards to your favorites?  Do you listen to shuffle all the time like me?

Taking Care of Business (And working overtime!)

As I'm sure you've noticed if you check my blog with any frequency (say, once a month) that my posting has become more and more sporadic.  The thing is, I've seriously had nothing going on, outside of working and looking for a new job. 

I've thought numerous times about just scrapping this site and blog and saying to hell with it all.

Yet I know that someday something will happen, and when that day comes, I will want to share it with my friends and family and complete strangers on the interwebs.  These things might include: A) getting a job B) moving to Chicago C) adjusting to life in a new city and/or D) developing powers of telekinesis.

But until one of these things occurs, this will probably be a pretty quiet place.

Things I have (and haven't) done lately:

• Submitted resumes and cover letters to approximately 23,465 places.  On the plus side I have only officially been turned down by two of them.  On the downside, I learned recently that probably most of the jobs I've been applying for had applicants numbering well into the triple digits.  So there's that.
• Went to Goenpalooza, which is apparently a large redneck festival out in the middle of fields where I live.  I faintly recall hearing something of it in the past, but had never been until this year.  I only went for one day of the three-day festival of booze and bands, but that did me just fine.  Believe me, I was still feeling the effects well into the next day.  I was invited by a friend, Luke, whom I consider to be a good friend.  Granted, we haven't hung out too often, but we just "get" each other.
• Found out my favorite SLIS professor was denied tenure.  I am absolutely heartbroken about this.  I need to remember to write her a super recommendation on LinkedIn.
• Exercising (at least at the gym) has fallen by the wayside, as my gym buddy now has a good boyfriend and so has become ze flake.  I don't really blame her, but it would be nice to still have that time together.  And I guess I could go by myself, but that's sooo not as much fun, and requires me to charge my iPod more often.

There isn't much more to say for now.  I've got a relatively busy week ahead, though, so I might have more to write about soon. But just in case, don't hold your breath.

It's the Good Life

This past weekend my father took me out to eat to celebrate my graduation.  We went to The Oceanaire, which is this super-swanky restaurant in Indy.  You know a place is fancy when they break out the crumb scrapers.  And since he was paying, well...I lived it up.

The restaurant is modeled after what I would imagine to be a  1920's ocean liner/yacht. They've got some pretty nice big band music constantly playing in the background, as well.  And the restrooms! They have everything one could possibly need, including mouthwash (which I had to use just for the simple fact that it was there).  This is the kind of restaurant that has real, plush towels in the restroom.  But on to other aspects of the place...

The waitstaff all called me by name, and had signed a card for me which was on the table.  I didn't notice until after I had ordered, but they also printed out special menus that looked just like the regular ones, but had "Congratulations, Hayley" printed on the top.  And what did I order, you might ask?  Or maybe you're not asking, but I'm going to tell you anyway (I don't have the menu in front of me at the moment, so this will rely on my questionable memory).

Wine: A pinot noir.  I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was $17 a glass and delicious.

Appetizer: Escargot en Croute. I quite like escargot, and it has been 8 years since I've had any, so I was all about it.

Salad: The Good Life - mixed greens, balsamic, pine nuts, Roquefort, cherry tomatoes, glazed walnuts, and strawberries.  I don't know what made it so good, but it was the best salad I've ever had in my entire life.

Main Course: Ecuadorean Mahi Mahi Black and Bleu - Blackened Mahi Mahi with bleu cheese and carmelized onions.

Dessert: I ordered a chocolate mousse, not realizing that because it was a special occasion, they give you a Baked Alaska for free.  So we all shared a Baked Alaska and I took home the mousse for another time.  As an aside, isn't food always better when they catch it on fire first? It's such a little thing, but it amuses me to no end, every single time.

And so came the end of my fantastic meal. I'll definitely have to go back there sometime perhaps once I get a full-time job.  And the manager said they had been scoping out locations in Chicago, so that is good news, indeed.

Up to No Good

Since my working like a mad woman finishing up my graduate studies is now over, I present to you my most recent adventures (in outline form).

 1. Graduated with my Master of Library Science degree. I'm officially a librarian! Now to find a job...

Don't I look just like I've stepped out of an HP book?  Seriously, all I needed was a wand. 

At the school ceremony after the big university one, they made us give thank you speeches, though neglected to tell us we were doing them until 5 minutes before. I didn't have time to prepare, and didn't want to do it anyway.  It's all quite a blur as to what I actually said up there, but I do know that I finished by saying, "You guys are awesome."  Which is so very academic.

2.  Went to Louisville to visit a friend.
    A. The brakes locked up on my car, and I broke down 70 miles north of Louisville. I was convinced I was going to die on the side of the highway...since I was inches away from the line on the side of the road, and couldn't pull over any farther because my wheel absolutely wasn't going to budge, I was obviously going to be clipped by a semi and yanked into more oncoming traffic (it was rush hour, to top it all off).  After an hour, a stranger stopped, took my wheel off and told me the problem, went to buy a bolt to replace the one that had fallen off and caused the whole mess, went and bought another bolt because that had been the wrong one, and put it on for me just as the sky opened up.  And he wanted nothing in return, since someone helped him and his wife for nothing when they were broke down once in Tennessee.  I am ever so grateful! Now I have to help someone else (though obviously not with my mechanical abilities).
    B. Went cycling in Southern Indiana. Where "pretty flat" actually means "lots of small hills."  Surprisingly, my legs and butt were not sore the next day, but my arms were.  Explain that.  And, since it was like the first time I'd ridden a bike in about 10 years...well, let's just say I was way more wobbly than I remember being.  That old adage may not necessarily be true, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to try again.  Also, got an amazing (and by amazing, I mean horrible) farmer's tan while riding.
    C. Went to prom.  Okay, it wasn't a real prom, but we all dressed fancy and danced and drank and a good time was had by all.
    D. Bought a chair.  This has become a pattern when I visit Joyce, because I have two other chairs from previous trips.  But I just had to have this one, since it's the chair I see in my daydreams when I think of my bedroom in my next apartment.
    E. Went to a black southern Baptist church.  It was kind of awesome, and by kind of, I mean COMPLETELY.  Imagine Blues Brothers, without the actual Blues Brothers or James Brown. Lots of Hallelujahs, Amens, "Can I get a witness?", spontaneous fits of dancing and sprinting, and the occasional parishioner who just had to break out their own tambourine.  The only part I didn't like was that it was about two hours too long.

3.  Still applying to jobs in Chicago.  Except now I have to also get another part-time job here in town to save up for moving when I do get a job in Chicago.  I'm slightly discouraged, even though I knew it probably wouldn't happen right away.  I think I just need to become independently wealthy, then I won't have to worry about this job business at all...just move and travel wherever my heart desires!

In Case You Didn't Realize It...

...I am taking an unofficial hiatus from this blog until the semester is over and I have graduated.  Though I guess my writing this makes it official, now.  I just have too much stuff to do to finish up my masters, and even though I spend a lot of time procrastinating, it makes me feel guilty to be working on this instead.

I'm still micro-blogging on Twitter, though, and fairly often.

So until May 10th, adieu!

This is how I roll.

A discourse on vagabond-ry for your reading pleasure:


Friend: seriously this desk job is just getting in the way

Me: stupid work.

Friend: I know!

Me: let's quit our jobs and become vagabonds.  You can sing and tell tales while I pickpocket

Friend: haha!

Friend: pickpocket eh?

Me: yeah, sure.  I've never done it before, but I've seen the gypsy children do it.  Shouldn't be too hard.

Friend: if you get arrested should I try to bust you out of the slammer or just write a song about it?

Me: Ooh, that's a tough one. Write a song about it, then bust me out.

Me: Then write another song about busting me out of jail.

Friend: then I'll write a song while I'm in jail for busting you out of jail

Me: You'll have to write it on the toilet paper.

Friend: hm

Friend: could be messy

Me: in pencil.  I don't think they let you have pens, too shiv-like

Friend: I assume this will all take place in Europe somewhere

Me: certainly. But we'll have to pick a place where there aren't as many gypsies, to cut down on the competition.

Friend: right, makes sense.

With all this free time, you'd think I'd blog.

It was Spring break where I go to school was last week, but I still had to work, so no break for me.  What I did do, however, was find a way around my Lenten abstinence of buying clothes.  I went shopping with my mom and found a jacket I love so very, very much that I just had to have it.  I didn't bring my money or cards with me just in case I was tempted, but this jacket was ON SALE and also FIT PERFECTLY.  It was also the last one, and that doesn't come along every day.  So I worked it out with my mom that she would buy it for me and I would start paying it back after Lent, that way I won't really be buying anything during that time.  Some say that is cheating, but I just call it crafty.  Pictures to come, because it's that lovely.

Over the weekend I went camping with my brother, and though we had a major argument on the way home, it was a good time in all.  I learned two major things during this trip: 1) It is illegal to catch frogs in Indiana without a hunting permit, something I noticed on a sign in the park ranger's office (though apparently the park ranger himself was unaware of this law that was posted directly next to his head) and 2) it is entirely possible to heat water over a fire using a used pop can (that was my MacGyver-like idea...it made the best tea ever!).

This week it is Spring break where I work, though the library is still open, so I'm still here.  On the plus side, I get to wear jeans all week and basically do nothing (except for the homework I have now that school is back in session for me).

And since there's really no good way to segue into this, I got stuck in an elevator last night in the law school after my law librarianship class.  I would normally take the stairs (since it's only 3 floors), but I was talking to two classmates who were taking the elevator.  We got in and it took us to the first floor (or so it said), but then refused to open the doors, no matter how many buttons we pushed.  We stood there for a moment (and I mentally noted that it was a positive that we all had just come from the restroom if we were going to be stuck in there a long time) then pressed the emergency button.  While we were talking on that little speaker to an operator, the elevator started moving again (of course, after you've alerted the authorities) and let us out.

Good thing I'm not claustrophobic.  Are you?

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I am Irish, you know.  Well, also Welsh and Scottish (and if you want something not Celtic, Cherokee)...more of a mutt...but I still think the Irish entitles me to really celebrate this holiday.  I'll be drinking Guinness at home (Yay rah! Exciting!).

School has been crazy busy, and I think we established long ago that I'm a bad blogger, so I won't keep apologizing for it.  But this week, my pretties, is my Spring Break (though just where I go to school, not the school at which I work).  I'm still working this week (just sans homework), so I figured why not throw a post out there, eh?

My Lenten pledge to not buy any clothing, shoes, or books has been going fairly well, though yea I have been tempted mightily.  I sort of extended the ban to dvds as well--the other night I bought two online, went to bed, then lied awake thinking about how I shouldn't have done that and didn't really need them, only to get up, log back on, and cancel my order.  I was both proud of myself and a little sad inside.

But I have been planning for Easter, when I can once again go out and buy everything in sight make a small, discretionary purchase.  My bank gives out these reward points for everything you buy, and I have finally claimed a good number of them in the form of two gift cards to American Eagle. They'll be good for renewing the basics come warm weather (which has been creeping around lately).  I don't really even know what I'm going to buy, but that does really matter, does it?  It's the fact that I will be buying something that thrills me so(that should be sad, shouldn't it? And yet it's not...).

I'll leave you this day with a completely unrelated thing my mom said to me last night, about a guy I never dated and she has only met once:

"He was The One, and you blew it."

Thanks, Mom.  Thanks for the encouragement.

Writing To Reach You

It's time for what has become my weekly blog post. I looked over my most recent blog posts and realized that 90% of them (I'm making up that number) are concerned with things I have bought or want to buy. Which segues nicely into one of the topics for this post, which is,

Things I am giving up or at least thought about giving up for Lent.

1. Buying clothes, shoes, and books.  This is going to be crazy difficult for me.  I've already been tempted multiple times, and I'm only a week in.  I can do it, though.
2. Not eating meat.  This one I've already messed up a few times, but that's because there's nothing to eat at my house that doesn't have meat mixed in with it.  If I lived alone/when I live alone it would/will be different.
3. I briefly entertained the idea of doing a sort of "40 Days and Nights" type of thing, but then I realized that I don't really want to limit myself in that way.

So at least I've got one thing there that I'm sticking to, and frankly it will probably be the most difficult for me.  Not that I'm terribly religious, but I do think it's important every now and then to sort of purge the vice from one's life (though there are a number of other vices I'm not even touching with this).

In other news, I've been to the gym for three. days. in. a. row.  It won't last too long though, as I have to fill in for my boss for the next two days, and therefore have to be at work at an hour no human being should be awake.  And anyway I'm only going to the gym because I now have a friend to motivate me, and she's kicking my ass.

Also?  Got tickets in the mail to see one of my favorite bands, Travis, in Chicago on April 18th.  They've been my favs for at least 10 years, and this is the first time I've been able to see them.  So excited.

The question this week, dear reader, is this:  Are there any bands you would absolutely love to see?  Or any concerts you've been to that were magical?  If so, I'd love to hear about it--I'm always looking for good shows to watch!

P.S. Submitted third post-grad resume and cover letter today, this one to Northwestern Uni.  67 days until graduation!