Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Tangled up in blue

Tonight I started learning French. I've always talked about taking a foreign language class and I finally signed up for one through the Royal Oak continuing education program -- the sort of place that is designed for people with nothing better to do than learn how to cross stitch or to cook Indian food or, in my case, learn to speak French with a haughty American accent.

The class starts at 6:30, and is taught in a classroom at one of the local high-schools. I never thought I would ever take another high-school class but here I am, stuck with a group of mostly middle-aged women, perched on an uncomfortable chair, surrounded by crappy lockers and pictures of winning football teams, learning to be a student again.

As I was leaving the building, I was hit by a wave of smells that I can only describe as high-school. The slightly waxed floors combined with stale cafeteria food and the cool air of the autumn evening, and I was suddenly 14 again, learning to kiss behind the bleachers after football practice and going to my first Homecoming Dance.

I always thought that high-school was crap compared to college, but tonight I'm feeling nostalgic for those first few years on my journey to adulthood. There's something about figuring out who you are that's so painful, yet so incredibly enchanting .

Friday, September 16, 2005

Burr, and shit

You know fall has arrived when:
  • you get up for work and actually have to turn the light on in order not to run into furniture
  • the rain actually gives you the shivers rather than that whole thank god it's raining feeling of summer
  • you reached into the back of your closet to pull out and dust off your black leather boots to wear to work instead of black heels
  • the only thing you want for breakfast is donuts and cider

Friday, September 02, 2005

Footloose and fancy free

Tomorrow I leave to go up north with my family, high gas prices and all. At times like these I really realize that, as much as my family makes me want to pull me teeth out one by one, I'm really lucky that we can take this holiday weekend and trek up to the cabin with them. With everything that's going on down in Mississippi and Louisiana right now, we're lucky to just have solid ground under our feet and foot to eat, let alone be able to head off for a family vacation together.

I'm going to try to hang on to this good cheer when my mom and aunt start yelling at each other over who's washing the dishes, or when my cousin starts in on how he NEEDS to have a car even though he JUST got his license and doesn't have a job with which to pay for the gas for said car, or when my mom says something so utterly ridiculous that blood starts to shoot out of my nose and I reach for the pliers to work on that teeth thing I mentioned earlier.

Right. Now I'm going to go pack.