At college in Pittsburgh, Chicago girl at heart

So, last night I didn't end up going to bed until about 4am. For some reason, it seems like all of the fun/crazy/worthwhile times I have here happen after midnight, haha. Last night I was at the library until 12:30am, working on an art piece that I am submitting for this auction. I planned on going to bed when I got back to my room, but as usual a friend of mine wanted to hang out, so I ended up chilling with him until 2am while he did his laundry. THEN I came back to my room, and just as I was about to go to sleep, I started talking to people online who I hadn't talked to in a while, and wanted to catch up with. Somehow I always feel like my day never really starts until around 7pm, so when I don't go to bed until 4am it feels fairly normal... that is until I have to get up in the morning.

schedule update

OK, so here is the updated schedule:

Hebrew 1, Urban Government, Intro to Psychology, Social Research Methods, and Sociology of Gender...

I told one of my friends about it, and he proceeded to say "sounds like a real HIPPY schedule" haha... truth, and I'm proud of it! The sociology department at my school is amazing, and I am so glad to be a part of it. The head of the department is this guy named Dr. Daniel Romesberg, but he INSISTS that everyone calls him "Dan". When I met with him about scheduling, I walked in and he had all of my information out on the table. The meeting was only supposed to be about 15 minutes 'cause I'm a freshman, but we ended up talking for almost an hour. He helped me out so much, and told me that he could even get me an internship next semester! Freshman aren't supposed to register until a week from now, but the sociology department hooked it up so I registered even BEFORE the people who are going to be seniors.

So, ok, I'm having a bit of a problem knowing what to write in this thing. I want to write in it to let everyone in the family know what I've been up to, but I don't want to be boring and stupid either, so if any of you want to hear about specific things, let me know! I could use a bit of guidance...

Honestly though

Ok, so last night at around 11pm I went with my friends Greg and Scott to my school's Union so they could get something to eat. Naturally since it was St. Patrick's Day, the drunken antics that are pretty much constant were magnified by 5, so it made for some hilarious scenes. While I was standing, waiting for Greg to buy his food, I was holding a cup of hot sauce and kind of glancing around to survey the scene. Needless to say, one of the security guards is the cafeteria started up a conversation with me almost immediately. Honestly, this is not out of the ordinary. For some reason I must have the words "tell me your life story" written on my face, because I lot of strangers feel they can do just that. This man started telling me his "secret" recipes for hot sauce and barbeque sauce and blah blah blah, so I listened politely and smiled while my 2 friends rolled their eyes and laughed behind me (Molly's gotten herself into it again). The man asked me where I was from, and when I told him Chicago he said "Oh, I knew you weren't from around here, you've get an extra little spice in you"....um ok, whatever. Then he proceeds to say, "So, where can I find an attractive, charasmatic, fun-loving girl like you to go out with?" I think I just stood there in amazement, contemplating what was actually taking place. I said, "I don't know, just keep looking". Then he said "But I don't want to keep looking, I want you". WHAT THE FUCK. At that point I made up some excuse about how my friends were leaving and ran off, but I was honestly creeped out for the rest of the night. Who in their right mind thinks it's appropriate to proposition a girl attending the college you work for???!!!

When I came back to my room, 3 of my girl friends were hanging out and watching a movie. When I recounted the story for them, they just laughed and said "How do you get yourself into these situations?" These are three intelligent, independent, progressive young women, and yet the implication of their comments was the I had brought it upon myself. I'm taking a Women's Studies class right now, so the first things that ran through my head were the phrases "compulsory heterosexuality" and "patriarchal hegemony". Alright, I realize that not ever single creepy event can be attributed to patriarchy and the oppression of women. At the same time, I have to wonder: Are we as women so used to these inappropriate and creepy encounters that all we can do is laugh? And honestly, what does that say about the bigger picture??

I'm back at school now, and getting adjusted has been a little bit harder this time. I think that, for the most part, everyone here is ready for the summer. I know that once we all leave we'll miss being at school, but right now the combination of classes, no hot water, and prison-cell dorms is taking a toll on everyone. At this point, I think that I am really ready for my freshman year to be over. I am excited to start again next year with new classes and a new, much better living situation.

Right now I'm looking forward to a few things: going to visit Isabelle in Boston next weekend (!), my roommate Adrienne's dance show, coming home for a weekend in April, and then being able to be all cheesey and nostalgic about this year with my friends before we all leave for the summer. Shittily enough, my only actual final this semester is scheduled for the morning of my 19th birthday, but that means that then I am able to make the 7 hour drive home that day with my Dad so that I can have dinner that night with my mom and Matt.

There is one thing about college that I honestly find hilarious, and that is the extreme intensity of all of it. If there is even the slightest bit of drama (which, believe me, there inevitably will be when you live in a dorm with 800 other freshman), then it is almost as if the world has ended. Everything that happens within this world is the biggest deal EVER, and I can't say that I am an exception to that mindset. I think it's important to step outside of ourselves once in a while here, especially because it is easy to believe that this campus is where the world starts and where it ends, and that all of our actions as somehow world altering...

Plans for the future

So, the time has come once again for me to register for classes, and naturally I am totally overwhelmed. There are so many classes I want to take, but I also need to worry about getting all of my requirements out of the way for the gen eds and for my major (which I just declared as Sociology/Political Science, with a minor in Women's Studies).

Here's what the courses are looking like for the fall:

Elementary Hebrew 1 (represent, right David?), Intro to Physical Anthropology, Sociology of Gender, Urban Government, Sociology of Everyday Life.

Any comments? Bring it on!

A Juggling Act

Being in Chicago never ceases to amaze me...

For some reason, my time back in Chicago seems to be a compacted, intensified version of everyday life. I've only been home for half a week now, and already two of my college friends have called me crying, I've scheduled 2 doctors appointments, and I've managed to see over 10 people I know and love who still reside in this city. It's weird... coming home (?) now all of a sudden seems like a giant excuse for obsessive micromanagement. The objective: see as many different people as possible, and try to keep the short time that you spend with them as intense and heartfelt and full of "meaning" as possible... kind of an emotional gorging that can serve as fuel for the hibernation of your relationship for the upcoming months when you are apart. Every second that isn't spent with someone I need to see is spent feeling guilty that I'm not making the most of my trip home.

... Wow, I really sound like a Gottlieb, huh?

Needless to say, this first half of vacation has been a lot of fun. I got to introduce my awesome roommate Adrienne to a lot of family, I was able to see Uncle David AND Gabie, and I got to enjoy the first beautiful weather of the year in my favorite city with my favorite people. Having Sara home for her birthday was a great present to ME, and I just knowing that the dynamic between us all hadn't changed is really reassuring. The more I think about it, the more I realize that Matt, Sara and I are all going through really similar things right now. Sara's adjusting to her life with Nate in LA, Matt's balancing school with, well, school (one as teacher, one as student), and i'm trying to build a life at Pitt while still maintain something stable in Chicago. When it comes down to it, all three of us are juggling big changes in our lives, and, if I may say so myself, I am so proud of both of my siblings.

I suck

OK, it's official, I'm a shitty niece...

Basically, in my previous post I forgot to mention one of the most important people in my life, and I feel like a royal jackass.

My Uncle David: I look forward to seeing him everytime I come home, and lo and behold, he even came out to see ME perform in The Vagina Monologues a couple of weeks ago. How cool is that? At the same time, he got to have a booksigning and videotaped reading of his fabulous new book (which I HAVE read a good portion of, thank you very much...), which though I couldn't attend due to the fascist university system, I know he did an amazing job.

Thank you for being an amazing uncle, person and friend...

All my love, Moll

P.S. I hope this doesn't generate some hate-mail from my other fabulous uncle... he knows who he is, and he is by no means overlooked.

Back to the Chi

Well, it's my last night here on Ft. Myers Beach, and with my luck, it's been raining on and off all day. It's just as well, because I got a little over-zealous with the bragging to my friends about how tan I'd get, so I didn't wear any sun screen for 2 days and now I feel like a crispy lobster who's been cooked a little too long.

I couldn't have asked for a more relaxing, fun trip, but I am also really excited to be going back to Chicago. No matter how many times I leave or how long I'm gone, I become extremely giddy and proud everytime I enter my city once again. There's something about Chicago...it sucks you and doesn't let you go. For those of you who moved away for good, I don't know how you did it. I'm having a good time in Pittsburgh, but in some ways I've come to define my time at Pitt no longer as my time "living in Pittsburgh" but as my time "away from Chicago". This trip home is going to be extremely special for the following reasons:

1) I get to bring my roommate from college, Adrienne, home with me for 5 days. She has never been west of Ohio and has only been on an airplane once (well I guess twice, 'cause she had to get back), and I am dying to show her Chicago in all its glory. Shit, I brag about my city and my family enough to her, so I figure it's about time to put my money (I paid for half of her ticket as a birthday present) where my mouth (we plan to be eating A LOT) is.

2) I get to see Isabelle, whom I haven't seen since she started her first semester at Emerson College in Boston. No matter how many new friends I make, Belle will forever be my soulmate in many ways.

3) Mom, Matt, Sephy, and Dad... enough said.

4) ...[and most importantly of all]... SARA!!! My amazing and beautiful older sister who I miss more and more every day, who recently has become one of my best friends along with having always been an amazing sibling, and who I love talking to on the phone but can't wait to give her a big ass hug!! I can't wait to sit around my mom's living room with my mama, Matt, Sara, and Belle, and just bullshit and chat in the way that I always took for granted but realize now that I can't do without.

Well, the waiting has ended... SEE YOU SOON, GIRL!!

Ok, I gave in...

Alright, alright. I finally gave in, and now I'm going to be posting on this thing for a while. I figure I'll give it a shot, especially since both Matt and Sara have jumped on the bandwagon. I'm not going to lie, I think the whole thing is kind of lame, and that a lot of times people just use these blog sites as a way to tell people how they feel about then without risking actual confrontation. On the other hand, it's not that extreme, and I realized I actually really enjoy reading posts made by my family members. It's so hard to keep in touch consistently with every single person in our massive family, so this seems like a way to bridge that gap. So, for me at least, I want to use this site to let everyone in our family know what's been going on with me...

So, for starters, I am currently in Ft. Myers Beach, almost done with my week long vacation that I took from school. I was getting more than sick of college life: the lack of hot water (which has been absent since November), the prison-like dorm rooms, the constant rain (FUN FACT: did you guys know that Pittsburgh has more rainy days than Seattle?), and the disgusting, not vegetarian-friendly cafeteria food. What better way to escape all of that than coming to Florida the week before my Spring Break?! So, I took a week off of classes, and have been spending time down here with my mom, Aunt Sara, and of course, Herm and Rengo. H+R have been so great. They just have the most amazing way of making this place so relaxing and fun. Honestly, it is so reassuring that the house never changes: from the same blue, ribbed blankets on the beds to the floral chairs in the living room to the endless supply of string cheese and wheat-thins.... it's comforting to know that some things are always dependable. On top of it all, H+R are so open-minded and accepting to whatever it is I have gotten myself into. They listened to my tales of being a part of the cast of my school's production on The Vagina Monologues, and Rengo even happily designed my newest tattoo, three fish in succession, swimming vertically up my spine. At a loss for words, all I can do is quote my extremely intelligent and perceptive sister: We are all fucking lucky...