middle of the night ramblings...

Lately, life just seems so...boring. nothing really to look forward to, nothing (really) to do all day, no money to do anything with, and i'm very quickly running out of oxygen to blow glass with, and i can't, i repeat, can't put more on my credit card. although i probably will. I'm just lucky i live at haymarket, where without the constant amusement i glean from my fellow housemates i would most assuredly go completely and utterly insane. what would i do without in-home beer brewing, evolution and speak easy parties, costume kickball, apple picking and oktoberfest beer tasting? what would i do for dinner if i didn't get a home-cooked vegetarian meal every night? i'd probably forget (or not be able to afford) to eat.

had (another) nanny job interview today. this couple seemed very nice, they both work at the unversity of chicago, kids are so allergic to nuts that i can't consume them on days i care for the kids. the pay is well, and everything is within walking distance in my neighborhood. so far so good. now let's hope this family calls me back...

I think i spend more time planning life than actually living it. (but when i do live, it, boy do i!) that being said, i have a new 5 year plan. and-gasp!-it actually involves something resembling a career path. something that i have obsessively avoided since, well, forever.

i have been wanting to get a masters of fine arts in creative writing from vermont college since my senior year of undergrad. i think it's finally time. got the fellowship under my belt, some more crazy life experiences to write about, and i finally get independent financial aid status, which hopefully means more money for me (yay!). Since i've wanted that for a while, i'm applying to start summer term of '08. oh, and by the way, vermont college is a low-residency school, where i have to complete 5 ten day residencies over the course of 2 years (there is one summer and one winter session a year) in order to obtain my MFA. and i can live anywhere in the entire world. so....i think i'm moving to portland. i love portland. i've always loved portland. well, except for that time that when i was 14 and ran away to portland and, well, let's just say that was a bad situation all around.

since my dark and confused teenage years i've had many a good experience in portland. very eclectic, community-minded, and very socially and environmentally conscious. and well, it's close to friends and family. which i think this year in chicago is going to prove how important those things may really be to me.

so...portland. save money, finish my masters degree, join an artists co-op and learn from as many glass artists as possible (btw, there is like, no glass community in chicago. it's all concentrated on the west coast.) travel a bit, then, go back to school. no, not for a phd, but, yes, another masters degree.

Another school i've been very interested in for a time now is CIIS. The California Institute of Integral Studies. they are a school "that strives to embody spirit, intellect, and wisdom in service to individuals, communities and the Earth." (taken from their website) anyway, they have this MA in Expressive Arts Therapy, one of 3 programs in the US that does it, and as soon as i read it i thought, "this is perfect for me."

when i originally started college, i wanted to major in psychology. then it was sociology. (when i was younger, it was anthropology, go figure, i guess i'm really into social sciences). then, at the university when i discovered a growing interest in the greater world around me, i switched to global studies. my degree hasn't really gotten me much except a monthly student loan payment. i know that i need another. so why not 2? (for a grand total of 4 completely unrelated degrees)

the degree takes 3 years, so i can do that in san francisco, then head back to portland, where they have a really wonderful cooperative practice space for community-minded professionals, and an expressive arts therapist would fit in nicely with their community. and, when i return to portland, i would like to start a co-op.

there are a couple existing co-op's in portland already, but i think that i would like to form another. i am attending nasco institute this fall, and would like to continue to attend, learn about organizing co-ops and living in them from now until my projected Return To Portland date, summer of 2013.

yeah, yeah, i know. i think WAY too much.

;)