Hooray!

Just got some awesome news from Holly. [OK, so Holly is the person who got me started thinking about Hawaii in the first place, months and months ago. She has lived on Maui for like 10 years but went back to school at Northwestern, where I met her and where she convinced me Hawaii is a great place to move to. She's been a terrific help in getting ideas, contacts, and advice.] She just let me know that 1. her friend has a room in Paia, this cute little windsurfing town, that Jeanie and I can rent for our first month, so that'll buy some time for us to look for another place closer to where we'll hopefully be working (and Holly will be staying there over Christmas, as well, so we'll know people!); and 2. we can borrow Holly's car from the 9th to the 17th (she usually rents it out but will let us use it until she gets there). It feels SO good to have something concrete waiting for us. :)

It has been a crazy last week or so. I’ve been getting together with a lot of friends, saying goodbye indefinitely to some that I’m used to seeing pretty much weekly, and doing a lot of packing, sorting, tossing. I have to admit, it feels strangely satisfying to be moving—to fit a neat selection of my life into two suitcases and jump into a new life, no strings attached.

Some of the week’s highlights:
-Having Christmas morning with Martha and Cassandra and opening their awesome home-made gifts. They are so incredibly craftsy.
-Seeing Twilight (I must be a sucker for teen books that are made into movies. Plus I have a celebrity crush--is that the right word?--on the girl who plays the main character—she’s in Into the Wild, too, and she’s fascinating. I kind of want to be her.)
-Watching a gorilla pick its nose and eat its boogers at Como Zoo with Senia
-Celebrating Thanksgiving one day and Christmas the next, “Up North” in “the cabin” at “the lake” (Minnesota sarcasm, sorry) with my parents
-Getting together with Holly one last time (!) to discuss a few last details for Maui
-Hot brandy egg nog and a fire in the fireplace

Somehow I’ve managed to stay positive and excited about leaving, rather than getting pessimistic and depressed and panicked like I was sure I would. It’s a miracle, really. I’m not in denial, either, because I’m experiencing a healthy dose of devastation at the thought of leaving my friends, my parents, my dog, the city I’ve grudgingly allowed myself to love.

I watched Into the Wild last night, and there was this quote I liked: “The core of man’s spirit comes from new experiences.” I’m not so sure that’s where the core of my spirit comes from, but there’s a lot of truth to the statement. At least I’d like to think so. :)

Brand Spankin' New

It is a very strange thing to start an entirely new blog after being on xanga (www.xanga.com/tinajoy_2000) for four years. I feel like I need to change my writing style or at least write a stunning first post.... But that's not going to happen.

I switched from xanga because basically it sucks. I have high expectations for blogspot. Also, though this has nothing to do with why I switched, it is refreshing to be away from all my political ranting and raving posts. I've learned a lot about the power of blogs in dumping feelings and upsetting people.

And I'm going through a lot of transitions right now, getting ready to move to Maui in two weeks (from today!), so this is a natural time to be done with my college blog.

Oh, SAD! On xanga, you can post what you're currently reading/watching/listening to, and on here you can't. That makes me really unhappy.