An end and a beginning

Today was my last day at Rust Consulting, the place I've been working since the end of October. I started as a temp, and then a couple of months ago they decided they liked me enough to hire me on as a regular employee. It was a nice job-I got to work downtown, which meant I got to walk around the skyway system everyday and familiarize myself with a part of Minneapolis I didn't know that well. But the best part was the people-I don't know that I met anyone at Rust that I didn't like-coworker or superior. So it was a little sad to leave. Not really sad, mind you, since I'm incredibly excited for my program to start and psyched to be returning to England, but I am going to miss the people I worked with.

So that was today. Since getting home my time has been entirely dedicated to getting my new laptop up and running. It's a Dell Studio XPS, and it's shiny and very cool. I haven't transfered any of my personal files yet, but I have downloaded several of the programs I use every day (chrome, itunes, skype) and started to configure things to my liking. So in the space of one day I've left my job and received what's going to become my link to the rest of the world. Exciting stuff.

Damn Damn Damn

I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith's movies. Hell, I even thought Jersey Girl was ok. And I also love the Evening with Kevin Smith dvds that have come out over the last few years. Not only do they contain some absolutely hilarious stories (the Superman story and the Prince story from the first dvd are classic), but Smith is also more open and honest about himself and his relationships than pretty much anyone I've ever seen in a similar senario. Intimate details about his sex life with his wife? Done. Horriffic personal health details? No problem. And of course he lampoons himself left and right (albeit in front of an adoring audience). He's always funny, always intelligent and almost always interesting.

So naturally when I saw his name on the marquee of the State Theater, I was psyched. Until, that is, I noticed the date that he'll be here: September 17th, a week after I leave for England. Suck.

Although I did just discover he'll be in London on the 10th of October. Hmmm...

One Short Post on Farvemas

In case you've been knocked by rampaging beavers for the last 12 hours or so, you know that Brett Farve is a Viking. As someone who has long wanted him to make up his damn mind already, I'm glad it's over, in the sense that he's now playing for the team. Honestly I don't know how things will work out (or how much of it I'll get to see in England), but I thought this was particularly insightful, from Souhan's column in the Strib:

Favre is a football Elvis. We just don't know yet whether he's going to be like young, dynamic Elvis or old, decrepit Elvis.

One thing's for sure-the Vikes will not have a boring season. Nor will they lack national media attention, as ESPN will most likely be doing its evening reports from Farve's locker from now until February.

A New Beginning

As you may or may not have heard, in September I'll be starting a graduate program at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England. The program will last a year, and I'll come out with an MA in Publishing. I'm extremely excited about returning to England, where I studied for four months during my junior year at Carleton. While I'm over there, I'm going to start blogging again and use it as a forum for people to keep up with what I'm doing. I'll still get in my thoughts about issues, but many posts will be more like short updates on my life in general.

So while I'm still in the states I'm going to try and get back on the blogging horse (soon to be aided by the purchase of my very first laptop). So I thought I'd start by linking to this article in the Star Tribune, which takes a shot at one of the craziest politicians in the country, MN's own Michelle Bachmann, who's been working overtime since the election to establish her insanity bona fides. Now it seems her own family is out to get her. I'd love to see a comment on this, but somehow I don't think it's going to happen.