ready, set...

(NOTE: my internet pooped out right as I finished this last night, so, you know, all of this stuff is still true, but minus half a day and some late-night sleep insanity. I'm only going to edit the time of departure in my first paragraph, because parents will probably be reading this, and I don't want to spark confusion)



Daniel and I are leaving in two days. --Wait, scratch that, a day and a half  ONLY A DAY. What? You don't know what I'm talking about? That's because I've barely mentioned this trip. I'm trying to tell myself it's not some unhealthy superstition, but it might be. The weirdest part is that I'm still having a hard time trying to convince myself that this trip is even real. We'll be in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning, drinking tea and catching up with my friend Catherine (look at her tumblr, Notes from Bewilderment!). Seriously, what? Scotland? On Tuesday? My brain does not comprehend.

But we are actually going. !!! We'll be in Edinburgh and Oxford for a total of one whole friggin' month. In preparation for this trip--which, like the best of high school romances, seems to be trying the whole "aloofness equals sexiness" routine with me--I've packed a fatty fat suitcase of rad clothes and made myself a new glasses case, because Watson ate my old one last time I was home.

(suitcase)

(homemade glasses case.)

In other recent news, I finished one of those short stories I've been yammering on about! By "finished", I mean "completed a first draft" but it still counts. The word "completed" is in there! This one's going into the grad school portfolio, so I'll probably spend a lot of that twelve hour flight I have ahead of me with my thoughts buried deep in revision sauce. Sounds great, right? Heh.

Actually, it has been pretty great. Shockingly. Fully expecting to have that feeling of pulling teeth at the end, I hit this point with the last few pages where I was basically in a trance; five hours passed without me looking away from my desk once. The words just rolled out until I hit the  final stretch, and then ending was magically perfect, and the last sentence was great, and Daniel read the whole thing and said I accidentally might have written in some themes. You know, the kind that just sort of sneak in, Flannery O'Connor- and J.R.R. Tolkein-style. Did I intend to draw attention to the relationship between religion and socialism in 1920's Russia? Nope! Accident! Can I shed some light on what it means? NOPE! Haha! I'm going to leave that for future high school English students to "unpack." Anyway, it was awesome. I am, in fact, proud of it. I might even shop it around, once it's cleaned up. Maaaaaybe.

I'm going to make the rest of my important updates into a list because it's 1 o'clock and I'm plum[b]* tuckered.

LIST OF OTHER STUFF:
# Daniel will be an occasional guest blogger whilst we are abroad! WE ARE LIKE A TEAM.
# If you know how to find the lost remains of Saint Columba, let me know. It would really make my quest a lot easier. And, in fact, if you know of any relics I could feasibly see--Margaret, Andew, *ahem* COLUMBA--(again, keep in mind: Edinburgh and Oxford), let me know. I have a "thing" for saints. Hagiography is kind of my middle name, if you know what I mean.**
# Oh, and, uh, we bought a camera. That way, our pictures will be nice! So, so nice.

See?

am I not cool, with my camera face??

Oh my gosh, I'm going to say goodnight before I lose my ability to write sentences, because I have already lost my marbles. Clearly.


night night.


*what is the consensus on this? is it plumb tuckered, or plum tuckered? You know what? Don't even care, I am so tuckered right now like woah.
**I mean that it is literally my middle name. Killian Hagiography Czuba. DO YOU DOUBT ME?