I enjoyed tagging along with Sassy's 'livesnarking' on Friday night with the Veep Debates on television as I followed along and then joined in on Twitter. So, Sassy asked me and a few others to join together for an in-house livesnark on Tuesday night during the Presidential Debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. It should be a ton of fun! 

Follow along on one of the tweets:

vulcan's|muse twitter

SassyBlonde's twitter

If you'like to join in on the livesnark, follow and friend the tweets and post your link in the comment section!

Olsson's Books closed for good! I can't tell you how many autographed books I've picked up there. PLUS, 2 years ago, Project Runway's Tim Gunn dropped in for a visit while he was in the area to the Chinatown/Penn Quarter location. Apparently they went bankrupt.

I'm SO gonna miss that store. Total bummer. 

Read more about it at the DCist or Olsson's website.

Yes, I do realize that it was a sad and completely empty September. But, you know what, I think you'll get over it. I really have nothing of substance to tell you… with the exception of a few points that may or may not be offensive to some.

1. Alabama won their season opener against Clemson, and completely melted the minds of all sports commentators alive… then, 'Bama was ranked. Hallelujah!

2. Alabama won Tulane and Western Kentucky, both out of conference teams, with ease, making us a wonderful 3-0.

3. 'Bama rulled over the Hogs of Arkansas in the SEC opener with a BIG win AT Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, AR. It was a lovely beginning to a wonderful year. 'Bama 4-0.

4. Well, 'Bama answered to UGA's Blackout with a Whiteout of our own, and let the 'Dawgs wear black to their own funeral, as we buried the 'Dawgs 41-30 (the score does not actually resemble the game) between the hedges IN ATHENS! AND we broke the GameDay Curse, as Lee Corso PICKED Alabama when GameDay was in town. It was a lovely day, and 'Bama cruises to 5-0.

Now, the University of Alabama rises to #2 in the AP polls, and we take on an undefeated Kentucky this week, and we have an off-week next week, and then we take on Ole Miss (who knocked off Florida last week). It has been a joyous year this year in SEC football.

So, other than work, which has bogged me down like no other, at least I have a few hours on Saturday to escape and live vicariously through football and scream my lungs out and enjoy the wonderful bliss of vicious hits, sacks, and blocks that is none other than SEC football. S-E-C! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

I got an email from CareerBuilder.com a few days ago (I can't figure out how to get off the list… I've tried like 15 times! ahhh!). However, I struck gold with the following article that came through this past week. It listed ten of the wackiest excuses that people had used for work. Ready? Here they are:

1. While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog.
2. Someone stole all my daffodils.
3. I had to go audition for American Idol.
4. My ex-husband stole my car so I couldn't drive to work.
5. My route to work was shut down by a presidential motorcade.
6. I have transient amnesia and couldn't remember my job.
7. I was indicted for securities fraud this morning.
8. The line was too long at Starbucks.
9. I was trying to get my gun back from the police.
10. I didn't have money for gas because all of the pawnshops were closed.

Seriously… If you live in Washington, D.C., you could have used half of these. I've personally been late for something because of excuse 5. It wasn't a presidential motorcade, but it was a vice-presidential motorcade. When I was at my first job in D.C., I was on the route that the VP took from the Senate to his home at the Naval Observatory down K Street. And while there are 15,000 (or it seems) Starbucks in D.C., there is ALWAYS a line (which is why I just always said no to $5 coffee, and just took my own soda from home).

And if you had to go to court, you might really need to get your gun back from the police. I mean, hello, the Supreme Court just gave D.C. it's right back to handguns. There might be a lot more people calling in late to work now…

Source: PhD Comics 

Oh, it's SOOOO true, in every aspect of studying versus life outside of school. It is a constant battle, one which I continually choose school, and lose out on life. And, that's exactly why I have no life at all… One day, I'll pay for it. But, oh the guilt of feeling horrible for not studying like I should. Why do they do this to you? It's absolute torture.

Shopping at Ikea is like returning to therapy:     

It feels like the right thing to to do, but then you get there and realize you aren’t adequately emotionally prepared.

So, despite having Hootie and the Blowfish's tune rolling through my mind as I'm desperately wishing for more hours in the day, I am trying to figure out how to consolidate the things that I'm currently doing to make time for what I need to be doing. There are must-do items, such as studying, which is sort of required for class… Well, not sort of, it is. I'm just really not motivated right now. I remember feeling like this last summer. There is something about summer that is very ill-motivating about studying and schoolwork. One of the main problems is that my first week of work fell right at the beginning of the semester, which means I'm double-studying. 

I could be a complete recluse. However, I've done that for the past year. Since I returned for graduate school, all I have done is work for graduate school. And the time I spend NOT on graduate school isn't necessarily out and about amidst the city… it's usually spent chatting with out-of-town friends through various mediums of internet or phone. I have intentionally not spent time out and about, because I knew that my time here would most likely be temporary (or to my hope at least). I did not want to vest myself into anything that would be painful to leave behind. It was hard to leave before… even more heart-wrenching to leave D.C. when I did… and I just don't want to experience that again. I yearn for a more peaceful move next time I leave: one in which I only have to say goodbye to a few people. Besides, the other day, I actually had someone still think I was in D.C. Oh, if only… and maybe soon.

The Spielmaster loves the South and wrote the most amazing post about the South… because most of you can't read her blog because it is protected, I'm stealing her Whitman quote… She wrote:  

O magnet-South! O glistening perfumed South! my South!
O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse and love! good and evil! O all dear to me!
—Walt Whitman

The South. My South. What is it about the southeasterly reaches of this country that puts such an irresistible call on the people who call it home, either by address, or history, or both?

While I can't necessarily say that I feel at home here, it is my home in some regard… It is home, because it is my family. It is home, because it is history. However, it conflicts with the desires of my heart, with the character of my being. It's at battle with my mind, and at war with my fighting spirit. I feel like I can't be who I truly want to be here. But, is it all about location, location, location? Or is it something else that is holding me back?

I feel like a lack of plans continue to hold me back. And, that for the sake of the argument continue to make me feel like I have no time to make good and wise decisions. These decisions can impact the future. Or a lack of decision or poor decision can destroy my future, or make a negative impact on my future. It's such a give or take. And without a plan, or anything kindly resembling a plan, I feel completely lost. I feel like a traveler on the interstate headed north without a destination, with no map, on a highway without signs. Who knows when I'll be able to stop for a rest? Or better yet, to fuel up for the next leg of the trip (that is, if I'll can afford it… haha). I'm in limbo. And in limbo, time feels eternal.