Journaling: Holey Time-Space Continuum, Batman; it's late September!

Current Music: the silence of the night
Current Mood: Reflective

I can't believe it's already a month into the school year. The last time I really updated anything here (apart from the Rantbling from about an hour ago) was while I was on the plane home at the end of the summer. I guess the statement that it's the school year should indicate that I did, in fact, get into the graduate program here at Pitt. I'm a little baffled by what being a grad student means, since thus far it's been just an extension of undergrad with fewer classes and no scholarship. However, the classes are more complex/interesting, and more likely to leave you to your own devices, so I suppose that's something.

Anyway, happenings since then can be placed into three categories: California, Getting Settled, and Social Activities.

California -

First, my trip back to SoCal was by far the best I've had in a while. I'd attribute it to my taking allergy medicine from day one, taking an awesome camping trip to Yosemite with Gen and Rae, and then just being so happy just to take a vacation that I was excited to do stuff with my parents; from cooking dinner to introducing them to The Big Bang Theory to golfing and kayaking with dad to just hanging around talking with mom, it was just a fun trip. I got to see a good number of my old friends, though not as many as I'd hoped. I would've liked to've seen Will, Jefe, and Nick, but time just didn't allow. Hopefully I'll be back and able to catch up sometime in the next few months (though in the meantime, I really should try calling people more often). I still would like to talk to Brian again, but he doesn't seem particularly interested. I did, however, run into Santiago while I was home. Apparently, he's been 'saved' or born again or some such; I don't really understand how intelligent adults get caught up in that sort of thing, but he does seem happy, so que sera sera. The only thing potentially preventing me from having another trip back sometime soon is that I really want to go to Europe to visit Gen sometime this winter.

Getting Settled -
I believe I announced in a previous journal that Bill had helped me move in just before I left for California, but I had only taken my things to the new place, I hadn't set them up yet. My first few weeks were spent arranging, acquiring, and rearranging furniture, all the while jumping through hoops to get my utilities going. A recent remodeling of my apartment building changed the address method, such that the utilities all had my apartment as the 2nd Floor Rear apartment, rather than just Apartment 4 - it's amazing how much trouble such a small thing caused. Bill found, took apart, and brought me a free dining table that's just about perfect for my needs. He also brought me some folding chairs, some lamps, and stackable storage crates that I'm turning into my pantry. So, needless to say, my new place is shaping up largely with his help. It's so nice feeling like I have a home after my more temporary summer residence and my previous habit of not unpacking entirely. Everything from the picture of Bill and I on the fridge to the hodgepodge furnishings to the posters/paintings on the walls are all me/mine. That sounds weird and greedy to write, but it's mostly because I feel like I have this really enjoyable obligation to entertain in my own place. I've already had a grilled cheese night and some board-gaming, but I'm looking forward to doing things a little more elaborate than that at some point in the future. At times it can feel a little lonely, but I'm not unhappy with my new circumstances.
The neighborhood's not bad at all, and I've started up running in the last week or so (I've been considering entering the Great Race next weekend, just for kicks) so I've been doing some exploring and just enjoying the good weather. A big part of the running has been to replace biking, since my bike broke down a week ago Friday. It's been in the shop since, because I didn't have the tools to fix it myself (though I wonder whether or not I'm being screwed on this, since I haven't gotten it back yet), so I've been without my preferred mode of transportation, as well as my most frequent form of exercise.

Social Activities -
My social life has been fairly one-dimensional lately, but still pretty enjoyable. I've just spent a lot of time hanging with Jake, his new roommate Boston (Emily), and her boyfriend, Steve. Jake's new girlfriend (I think?), Kate, has been in the mix pretty frequently, too, as has Chris Saylor, an old acquaintance from HvZ with whom we've recently started hanging out. The primary forms of entertainment have been board games, which sounds kinda boring (and probably is to a lot of people), but since these are the fairly complex and strategic sorts of boardgames (this ain't Milton Bradley, folks), it's still a real good time. There's also been a lot of playing Magic. Jake and I have taught quite a few people recently, and I even got Bill to try it out (he still has his training wheels on, though). Bill and I also went to Kennywood two weeks ago for some sweet rollercoastering and general merriment. Other than that, things have been halfway quiet, but once I start actually planning ahead, I'll be more capable of getting together with such less-familiar-than-I'd-like faces as Benji, Tim, Rob, Rocky, Gary, Kimmy, Tony and a few others who're slipping my mind because it's after 2 in the morning and I really need to get to sleep. :-P

Hope you've enjoyed the immense catch-up session. That's 6 weeks of my life in about as many paragraphs... weird!