please.... no more snow...

I've found a new annoyance about being in the UK (you'd be surprised at how many I have at this point). It's actually a pretty big one when the weather is bad and one has a trip planned.... there's no accurate weather forecasting!

I know, I know. Most news stations have bad weather forecasting, they get it wrong a lot of time when you'd wish they didn't. But here, they take it to a new level. I mean, take the BBC for instance: On their main live news program they talk about the weather, hardly mention Edinburgh, and only give a same day to next day forecast... ALL THE TIME. What's worse, you can actually watch a BBC weather broadcast for Scotland, but for some bizarre reason they two NEVER EVER match. So you go to the the uk weather channel website, they have a completely different forecast to both of them. It seems like the only way to figure out what the weather is going to be is to stare out the window!

Normally this wouldn't bother me. But I'm a bit annoyed to wake up in the morning, having been forecasted either to have sleet or sunny skies (an example of how the BBC can't even keep up with it's own weather forecasts) and what do I see? SNOW! Not light snow, but heavy freaking snow. The airport is closed. This is so frustrating that I'm praying to Chuck Norris and the powers of Grey Skull to come and intervene (I'll take a round house kick or evil anti-thundercat maneuver to the face of this snow any day!).

I must get to Amsterdam. It's the new place I've decided I must visit. After it I can move on to Prague, Lisbon, anywhere in Morocco or the south of France. Please.... let me go snow, ppllllleeaaassse.
-----------

On a side note, we have a mouse problem. It's gotten pretty ridiculous at this point, to the level that I, a vegetarian, have suggested cruel and unusual punishment for these rodents that dare enter our domain! Well, not exactly, but I'm getting to the point that I'd sticky pad the whole kitchen to get rid out them. We've killed seven at this point and K has finally decided/accepted that we're fighting a one sided battled-- we can kill them as much as we want but because we live in an flat complex they're going to keep coming. So, he emailed the landlady to tell her to have her 'builders' come fix this blasted gap under the oven where they've been coming in. It's a good thing too because we got up this morning to find one of our fancy two pound plastic mouse traps vanished. It's more than unsettling to think what it caught last night, obviously something big enough to get caught and then walk away with it.. Arghhh!

I had not realized how long ago my last post was so here's a new one!

I am, of course, in Edinburgh which is a lovely city. The cold, I hope, has taken a way some of its excitement, so I'm looking forward to the Spring already. Anyway, what I've been up to since my last post (from LA or on my way to Dubby? can't remember):
I went to Spain, Barcelona was soo beautiful and warm and cheap. Had a good four days there and then headed down to Malaga for K's sister's wedding in the mountains. To be honest, Malaga or Gaucin or whatever was not, in any way shape or form a southern copy of Barcelona, it was more like an evil opposite to it whose mission was to dampened my fun as much as possible during the wedding (with the help of the literal assholes that were invited, you would not even believe... -_- ).

But anyway, after that we came back to Edinburgh and here we have stayed. Classes have been fairly easy, actually exceptionally easy, with only two essays due at the end of the semester (one done, now I've only got half of the other to write). The semester ends on December 3rd, soo early I know!

The most exciting thing though is K and I will be going for a wonderful three days and four nights in Amsterdam and Brussels a week after the semester ends. I'm so excited, so happy to finally make it to Amsterdam. I'm hoping to see my friend who's in Brussels at the moment as well, and maybe I'll be able to smuggle some magical Dutch chocolate over the border for later enjoyment. Haha! HOORAY FOR THE END OF THE SEMESTER, TRAVEL, AND THE NEW YEAR (I know, getting ahead of myself there but it's only a little more than a month away) !

I come to thee from my handy iPod touch, two hours before departure.

Getting to this point has been one hell of a struggle and has thoroughly pinched my wallet. I got the letter I've been bitching about super late, decided to fly to LA to do an in-person appointment, got the visa after walking around santa Monica for six hours, came home, was charged again for a second bag by United airlines because no one in IAH 1) has heard of airline that actually flies into their air port 2) has common sense. I had to endure a two hour flight next to two jittery parents and their out of control obese child.

Aside from that crap, my feet hurt, my purse that I attempted to repair with electrical tape is about to die( no supprise there), and and and! Most importantly, I will have finally, after all the ridiculous obstacles, have made it to europe in less than ten hours.

Unlike the rest of my entry the last one is defo not a complaint!

A french post...

Alors, j'ai pense que maintenant j’aurais été ravie pour la fin de la semaine, et mon stage, et pour mon voyage qui est en moins que dix jours. Mais non, car je n'ai ni mon visa ni la lettre de crédit (?), je suis plus angoissée et énervée que je suis enthousiaste. J'aimerais si je pourrais rêver d'être en Irlande une semaine avec mon copain, puis en Edimbourg la semaine prochaine, et ensuite en Barcelone et puis à Malaga. C'est surtout ce problème avec le visa qui s'éternise dans ma tête. Je suis attriste à penser que peut-être j'aurais besoin de changer mon billet. Bon, je sais, ce ne sera pas la fin du monde si cela se passer, mais je suis une anxieuse je n'ai rien à faire mais penser de cela.

foiled again! but happy either way...

I just got an email from Edinburgh saying the letter was sent today, not last week. Oh those scoundrels!

Well, at least I have confirmation I suppose. Now I'm just wondering if I should change my biometric appointment from tomorrow to later next week or just go ahead and do it now? Next week is going to be so busy that I'd prefer to get it done tomorrow...

but what if the letter does not come next week?

Can I truly TRUST Edinburgh *queue music of incertainty*. I hope I can now that I've actually gotten emails from two people saying it was sent out. Please don't make me regret not changing if I decide not to!

So, aside from that halfway good news, I have full good news: We have an apartment! K went to Edinburgh on Tuesday and Wednesday to look at places. At first things were looking bleak (places that are dumps, too small, no light, etc.). By the time the day was nearly over yesterday he had found NOTHING! But, of course, the last place he looked at happened to be a gem: completely and newly refurbished, new furniture, appliances, the works; a twenty minute walk to the city center (and my department!), right next to free theaters. Only downside is that it's next to a football stadium. All of this for just 25 sterling more than what we'd hoped (a total of 475, which I can deal with for all the new stuff we get!). So K did good, real good. :)

Where oh where can my loan letter be....

Yes, I am still waiting for that blasted loan letter. It's been a month of "it'll be out in a few weeks," says one guy, "it'll be out next week," says a woman a few days later, "we're sending letters out today and tomorrow," says the same woman to K when he called, "I can't give you a specific date as to when they'll be out," says the same woman to me a day later.

So, I figured I'd give them a week before I started berating them. K insisted I start immediately pestering them nonstop. Thursday I cracked. I called and got the first guy on the phone who was way more helpful than the woman I talked to. I think that conversation is a pure and simple example of how USELESS financial aid departments are/can be (this is me paraphasing):
him: Ok, so let me look at your information on our system and I'll see where we are with your application.
me: ok.
him: um... alright so we have all your information and it looks like we're waiting to hear back from the states for verifying your MPN. I can't tell you when we'll hear back from them.
me: ah, alright but the problem is, I've got a flight booked for mid-August...and I can't apply for my visa until I get that letter.
him: ummm... mid-August, eh? hmmm... hold on, I'm going to talk to my colleague and get back to you.
me: alright.
I sat for about two minutes listening to that horrible hold sound... it's just as irritating and disconcerting as the sound French phones make when you call someone.
him: ok, we'll it looks like we can go ahead and use that MPN we have for you and get your letter out today or tomorrow with the next batch [of letters].
me: !! oh great! Does that mean I'll get it by next week?
him: yeah, it usually takes 5 to 7 days or so (blah blah blah lightly accented scottish mummbles).

Now, why did I have to lie about the date of my flight (I just said I was leaving a few days earlier) to get some fucking progress? It's ridiculous. I'm assuming I'll get it in the mail by Thursday at the latest. FINALLY I won't have to move my biometrics back again!

Now, on to work related shananagins.

Everytime I talk to an artist (today I telephoned M. Sontheimer about a work he did for the museum, so nice!) I have remorse for not taking more art classes. Now I know me and I know I am NOT an art class person (at least at this point). I couldn't stand taking classes where I'm told what to draw and how to think about art. Now I've got no with being taught the things all artists should know (different types of composition, color, lighting, values, or how to best use certain mediums). I understand the importance of the basics. BUT! Beyond that, I'm a all about experimentation, which is why I did not apply to MFA programs. I like the idea of opening up a students mind to artists, to concepts, requiring reading, requiring we look at different artists. I know that's too personal an approach for a class of something like twenty+ students. That's the stuff that inspired me to make art, gives me ideas, and helps me move forward in my art production. I mean, I made a huge leap in making art when I went to Paris, started reading tons of French literature and art criticism/theory, went to museums and galleries, and sketched, a lot. That's when it hit me what I wanted to do artistically. Obviously, for me, studio classes weren't going to do that for me.

So why do I feel so guilty for not taking more of them??

K's sister C just graduated from Central St. Martins (she did her final show, a live art piece, and had two galleries approach her about doing it again for them). She now HATES arts schools, mainly because of the number of rich wankers that go there. I can imagine I would feel the same. To me the most obvious benefit is the number of contacts one gets when doing a degree and the experience (whether in museums or exhibiting on campus). Now THAT I wish I'd not missed out on. I did enter exhibitions (and got into one) my first semester of college and then stopped, as I was researching where I wanted my work to go and what I wanted it to say for about two years. I mainly stopped because I didn't like the work I had.

I think now I just worry about whether people take me seriously when I say "I'm getting masters in Modern Art history but I'm also a studio artist/painter?" I think I'm afriad there's a biased in the eyes of artists for those who don't do art history instead of studying art route. There's a method to my madness... I promise!

My artistic goals for this year (Sept-Sept):
Rebuild my portfolio (I'm leaving my recent and most beloved paintings here in Texas because it's too expensive to ship them, so I've got to make a new portfolio of work) with at least fifteen paintings and drawings-- maybe less if I do some more big paintings
-participate in local art shows and become familiar with art scene (i.e. GO to gallery opens and stay on top of what's going on in the art world).
-keep exploring the use of pastels/ink on paper
-experiament with unprimed canvas and ink/staining (I've always used primed canvans, now I'm switching over)
-STRETCH MY OWN FUCKING CANVAS DAMNIT! It'll save me tons... maybe.

I'm moving in a month!

I can't wrap my head around this... I'm literally moving away, forever, from this god aweful land of heat and rain and sweat (I'm angry with the Texas heat at the moment as I have no air conditioning)! It's unbelievable. I'm not going to study and then return, not going to visit, but going to live abroad...crazy!

I've been thinking about this as of late (mainly because everyone keeps asking me silly questions like "why would you want to live in Europe? What if you don't like it? What makes you think it's great?"). I've always wanted to live abroad. As early as middle school I was planning my escape to Europe thinking maybe I could convince my parents to let me switch places with an European student for a semester, or, maybe I could just go and take language courses. When I graduated high school I thought about being an au pair. In college I worked hard on learning French with dreams of transfering to a French university somewhere (I grossly underestimated 1) the difficulty in mastering pronunciation 2) how high of a level was required to get in, something I would have never attained without studying abroad first). Luckily, I finally did get to France, not for as long as I wanted, but I made it and gained so much from the experience ( a boyfriend, a much better level of French, confidence and love in/for myself). People sure don't lie about studying abroad being an invaluable experience.

Now, I'm off again, in a month, to make Edinburgh my home (at least for a year). Then maybe London, then Spain, then then then! Who knows where I'll end up, but hopefully not back in Texas (no offense to Texans, it's just not the place I want to be)!

On a more beautiful, but kind of sad note, here's a lovely poem by my favorite Surrealist poet Mallarme.

Apparition

La lune s'attristait. Des séraphins en pleurs
Rêvant, l'archet aux doigts, dans le calme des fleurs
Vaporeuses, tiraient de mourantes violes
De blancs sanglots glissant sur l'azur des corolles.
C'était le jour béni de ton premier baiser.
Ma songerie aimant à me martyriser
s'enivrait savamment du parfum de tristesse
Que même sans regret et sans déboire laisse
La cueillaison d'un Rêve au coeur qui l'a cueilli.
J'errais donc, l'oeil rivé sur le pavé vieilli
Quand avec du soleil aux cheveux, dans la rue
Et dans le soir, tu m'es en riant apparue
Et j'ai cru voir la fée au chapeau de clarté
Qui jadis sur mes beaux sommeils d'enfant gâté
Passait, laissant toujours de ses mains mal fermées
Neiger de blancs bouquets d'étoiles parfumées.

Might as well....

I figured I might as well update...

No news really, or well, I guess there's a bit to talk about. Firstly, the internship has gotten more than a bit boring, but is almost over so I'll survive. I did get to meet an artist though. A local, but internationally known artist with the initials of TDH (he's living in Houston at the moment, did a show at a gallery in Edinburgh, is from Paris Texas). If you can guess it I'll give you a prize (well, not really, but you can feel gooey inside for being so learned)! He was really nice, I got to see his studio. He's been added to my list of people who don't think I'm from the Texas... or I guess the US. He said I had an aura that wasn't very Texas-like. Yay I have a unique aura! Haha.

Another reason why the job has reached it a point of annoyance with me is that for the past week or so I had one of the maintenance guys opening doors for me, being overly nice in a suspicious way, and then he followed me up stairs from the first floor (my office is on the third floor, he was coming out of the first floor door leading to the front of the museum to the elevators/stairs). He held the door for me, which is fine. Then, after I'd been at my desk for about 10 minutes he came down the hallway... I think he followed me up? I think this because he came in and asked me when I was leaving (my manager stopped to have a conversation with him a few weeks ago when we were coming in from lunch, which I think started this whole thing) and if I wanted to get lunch some time. Aside from the fact that I have a boyfriend, which makes going to lunch with some strange man who obviously isn't just interested in being friends with me awkward, the fact that he "stalked" me upstairs is just unsettling. So, obviously I told him no. I tried to do it in a nice way. I think it worked because I haven't seen him since. I know asking someone out and being turned down can be so embarrassing, so I kind of feel bad. I always have weird individuals asking me out.... why I don't know.

I'm currently battling the dreaded UK visa stuff. Actually, I'm mostly battling Edinburgh's slowness in regard to the loan award letters. It's not their fault, really. I mean, the program did just change. However, US schools just switched over too and the process isn't take NEARLY as long. Maybe it's the time difference.

I applied to a ton of charities and trusts in the UK for grants. I really hope I get at least one of the seven or so I applied to. I've gotten no goes from two so far. One doesn't give grants for arts degrees and the other is broke (also known as "uninterested-in-giving money-to-me" broke).

I still haven't heard about the Saltire scholarships. I think each university gets 200 scholarships to give out? Maybe that's what's taking so long, that is a lot of people. You'd think that since I got the more competitive scholarship for more money that I'd be in a shoe in for this one (that's based entirely on merit as well), but maybe they'll decide to spread the wealth?

PLEASE SPREAD MORE MY WAY, I'M STILL BROKE!

A sigh of relief....

So with all the changes to the financial aide process for US students, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to apply for a loan until July and then, not be able to apply for my visa until late July/early August. BUT NOW I've found out that Edinburgh is able to process loan applications before July 1st, I'll be able to do my MPN and Entrance counseling as soon as the uni is put on the system (none of the foreign universities are on there yet, but they're doing a website update so I presume they'll be put on there by next week). Then, I'll be able to get my award letter and apply for my visa by early July, late June to have it by the start of August. Yay!


This means that I'll likely be moving to Scotland in mid-August, that is if K doesn't change his mind and decide he wants to move Sept. 1st to save on rent (which means I'll be in Ireland for two weeks before going to Edinburgh). It makes sense to do that, but I REALLY want to move to Edinburgh two months. The Fringe festival is going on, for one, and it'll be nice to get acquainted with the city. Aside from that, I don't really want to stay with K's 'rents again. There's been so much drama and negativity that I don't think I would be able to manage to bite my tongue again like last time.

As for work at my new fancy job, it's been great. I really like the MFAH and I'll love learning about all the contemporary artists.

Now, it is time for... US v. Britain!

And the boredom begins...

So it's been a week since K left, and both of us are suffering already! He went home to have to deal with the death cloud that is his sister and I'm home dealing with the complete and utter boredom that is... Houston.

Luckily for me, I start work on Monday. I'm still trying to find suitable retainers for my piercings (the ones I bought are way to obvious and would fall out repeated). I bought some push-in biofit retainers that should arrive tomorrow, so hopefully they work.

And it seems that, finally, I will be going to Barcelona! Yes yes, in September K's sister has a her wedding in Spain (a town close to Malaga) and we've decided to do a bit of traveling before then. Soooo, we will leave a week ahead of time, fly from Edinburgh to Barcelona and stay for four days, then head down to Malaga and then fly back to Edinburgh on Sunday. I was trying to find a way for use to go to Tangier, but it's too expensive to go at the moment. Maybe we'll just plan to go to Morocco for three months or so at some point after my masters *mouth waters*.

ugh.......

10 days

My graduation was Saturday and I am so happy it's all over. I can't say it was that great (with my rather annoying family being around, rearranging plans that had been rearranged specifically for them, and then the dreaded barbecue), but after all the shenanigans it was alright. Me and K have been enjoying all the extensive (and expensive) remodeling my parents have done to their place and we'll finally be back in Denton tomorrow to sadly away K's departure in ten days. I'm already so sad! Maybe the volcano will kick off again and he'll be stuck here for another week (that is, if he doesn't find out he's stuck in the US after he's in Chicago, where he's flying out... :/).

Aside from that, I found out today I got a scholarship from Edinburgh, 3000 pounds (about $4300) off my tuition! So happy! Hopefully I'll get the Scottish Satire scholarship as well, which would give me a total of 5000 pounds off my tuition (nearly half!).

I'm kind of ready for summer to start, although I've still got some loose ends to tie up (sending my transcript to Edinburgh after my degree is posted, packing crap, buying clear piercing retainers for work, reading K's 2nd book draft before he leaves). As soon as summer starts it will end, then I'll be flying off to Europe again! YIPPEEE!

"this is the trip, the best part, that i really like..."

(Two weekends ago) was literally too much of everything after K and I finished helping a friend shoot a short film for his class. Too much alcohol, too much partying, and way too much of "the doors" blaring in my ears from around 1 am to 10 am, when K conked out and left me jittering about the apartment unable to sleep. I was literally wide awake until 11pm sunday night... TOO MUCH PARTYING! I'm still recovering... and so is K; this is by far the most sedate both of us has been for a while. Hahah.

Today (last week, actually) we're treating ourselves to a nice meal at the local Thai restaurant after we finish filming (hopefully the place will still be open when we're done).

With graduation in two weeks, I am officially starting my summer diet. I've somehow managed to gain 5 pounds since coming back from Paris that will not stay off (I've lost 5 and then some, then gained it back and then some, repeatedly). I'm sure it's partially got to do with the fact that my boyfriend 1) likes to party 2) can eat whatever he wants and not gain weight 3) thinks i can eat whatever i want and not gain weight, and therefore is always offering me the junk food he's eating and, finally 4) i have little willpower.

All of the above was written last week but I never got around to posting it. Aside from the above, nothing's happened aside from having taken my finals and, impatiently, waiting for graduation on Saturday, final transcripts on Monday, and my official acceptance letter from Edinburgh... whenever it comes.

Now, apparently, my dad's side of the family is coming to my graduation barbecue this weekend. I actually don't want them to come, unless they bring money (I've got credit cards to pay off!). It's sad, but true. For some reason people from the past always leave bad tastes in my mouth. It'll be worse because it's a class between my future (K, grad school) and the past (opinionated, uninteresting relatives I've not seen nor have wanted to see in years). Returning to Houston in less than a month, and K leaving is worse enough, but to have a taste of the repression that is my family is borderline too much. AH!

On a lighter note, I'm dying my hair again. I've decided on a lighter version of what I have now (essentially, touching up my roots and lightening the rest do i have highlights). You'd think it wouldn't work out well, but it does. I might go and buy dye today, out of pure boredom with my hair.

18 + 30 + 107 = SCOTLAND

I have 18 days until graduation and I'm so ready for this degree... I'm ready to move on. UNT has become the most agitating place now and the fact that I'm in Denton makes it worse. So, 18 days until graduation, 30 days until K goes back to Ireland :(, and 107 days until my internship at the MFAH - yes I got it, yippee! - ends and I'm on my way to Europe. I haven't decided if I'll go to Dublin or London, depending on where K is, the last two weeks of August, then move into the apartment in Edinburgh. My other option is to wait until September and fly straight to Edinburgh. I think I'll do the former but... we shall see. What's funny is that I'll have a week before classes start to get use to the city, then the weekend before classes start K and I will be going to Spain for his sister's wedding! It's going to be insane. Dublin or London for two weeks, Edinburgh for one week, and then Spain for the weekend. Fabulous.

I haven't posted in a really long time so I need to make a decent update. So, as mentioned above I got the internship at the MFAH, which will be great. During the interview I was told what we'd be working on and I'm so excited for it. I'll just say it has to do modern art from a specific country in central europe. I'm really excited to be working there, actually going to the interview and walking around Houston with K was so much fun, made me realize how beautiful the downtown area is. It's really great that I'll get the experience of working there in my field of study, with a staff that seems really nice and laid back. Plus the fact that it's paid makes it even better.

On a less exciting note, for some reason K and I have been arguing over the most asinine things, mainly because he's so overly sensitive and... I just don't get it. I'm very understanding of him and his issues, but the overreacting and then not seeing it as overreacting and ONLY as my fault is a bit unnerving for me... and, quite frankly, it pisses me off. Yesterday we had a 4 hour "argument" about the top of a pint of ice cream. Yes, an ice cream top. We were getting a movie from the redbox machine at 7/11 after buying a pint of ice cream, he looks at it and says "has this been open? there's no seal on it.." and I look back at him, probably with a "are you serious?"- look, but definitely in a playful manner, and say "there's never a seal on it." He laughs and says "ignorant," which I laughed about too. Now, he made that comment, not me! Anyway, so meanwhile the redbox disc has come out and grab for it but it gets sucked back in. After I finally get it he makes a comment about me pushing the red box disk in and my reply is "i didn't push it in, it took it back because i took too long to take it because of your ice cream top question." And thus begins the four hour ordeal, which includes us getting back to the apartment and him storming out again in a huff. Then, when I'm on my way to the library, him stopping me from going so he could proceed to preach to me about how degrading and belittling what I said was, all the while changing his argument to include the fact that he was the one who made the comment about his question being ignorant...

Of course I felt bad about hurting his feelings, but I just, even now, can't understand how something like that-- a dispute that in my book did not require that amount of theatrics-- lasted for four hours and resulting in him running out and smoking two cigarettes after being off them for three months. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see this has being overly sensitive. I'd hate to see his reaction if I actually tried to belittle him, which I have never and will never do. I even tried to explain to him why I was pissed off and he wouldn't listen... I apologized over and over and he dragged it out for four hours, which made me even more angry. This is something so minute... I can't even understand why it's still bothering me. I'd like to attempt to clear it up in a way that it doesn't happen again, because his overreacting actually turned a frog into a snake. I mean, explode and bitch about something that's actually offensive... he's had people do much worse things than criticize his knowledge of ice cream tops and not acted anywhere near to how he acted last night... how can something like that really piss someone off that much? How? He's had people physically disrespect him (his sisters, for instance) and not reacted like that.... Although I will actively try to not do it again (whatever it was o_O?), I don't think my attempts will be much help if he doesn't tone down the overdramatic reaction and misinterpretation of my actions.

Aside from those shenanigans, I've actually greatly enjoyed K being here. We've been goofing around and saw the flaming lips a while ago. There's been, by far, much more fun than arguing.

Flaming Lips in Denton

Edinburgh wins the game!

I accepted the Edinburgh offer on Sunday. After giving it some thought, I realized their program would be more suitable to my career and academic goals.

So, now that that is out of the way, I'm left with the task of applying to scholarships. For once in my life, funding isn't really the obstacle for me since I'll eligible for credit and non-credit based federal loans. Depending on which scholarships I get, it's the difference between no debt, some debt, or a lot of debt. I hoping for the first or second, but even if I get the latter "a lot" would still not be as much debt I would accumulate if I went to school in the U.S.

Dublin, Grad. School Acceptance and graduation.

So, I got my conditional offer of acceptance from the University of Edinburgh, I am awaiting the same from Glasgow, which I should get sometime next week. I have until Feb. to accept Edinburgh's offer. I'm weighing my options, but I think I'll probably go with Edinburgh. I'm so insanely excited for the new year-- three months with K, graduation, a summer internship (hopefully), then graduate school in Scotland and K living there with me (if he doesn't find a job somewhere else). I'm so excited. I had a really good 2009 and I know that 2010 going to be even better.

The only problem I have is that my study abroad credits still have not gone onto my transcript. I don't know why it's taking so long being that I physically gave the study abroad office my ICP transcript in September of last year. I called last semester and was told the credits would be on there by December... obviously that didn't happen. Now I have to apply for graduation in February and my audit says I need 6 hours to meet the minimum credit hour requirement. Technically, being that I've already squared away my study abroad credit with the art history department and they have on file that I took six hours of art history credit in France, when I submit my graduation application to my department/college, I shouldn't have a problem... right? I can't get anymore info from the SA office until Tuesday or Wednesday. I just hope that they've processed it already... my god how my uni is annoying.


Anyway, I had a blast in Ireland. We did a lot of walking in the mountains, a bit of pubbing, some arguing that resulted in relationship epiphanies and planning on both our parts, and walking around Dublin. 'Twas fun.

Now the semester starts next week, which I'm excited for as well. I just hope that all goes well with the credits/graduation.