So Monday was my one-year with Jill. Crazy huh. It flew by. This is, by far, the longest I've ever been in a relationship. The longer I'm in this relationship the harder it is to describe it without sounding cliche. It feels like we've been together forever. I don't know where I'd be without her. She is the ying to my yang. Etc, etc. I guess that's why they've become cliche, because people have been saying them everytime they've fallen in love for thousands of years. To celebrate we took a walk, read for a while, then cooked a really delicious dinner of pasta, steamed carrots, and corn on the cob.

We leave for Kansas on Monday. It's a grab bag, that's for sure. I don't want to go back to seeing Jill once a week. I've grown pretty fond of getting to see her morning noon and night. But I'm also excited to get back to Emporia, see my brother, get classes started, etc. (Ha, I guess it doesn't matter how excited or not excited I am, it's going to come anyway isn't it?)

Tomorrow our mutual friend Lizzy comes to visit. She's flying in and then driving home with us. We are going to the Aquarium, the beach, and maybe the WWII museum.

Do you think there's a beach museum somewhere? Or even just a museum located on a beach? I think that'd be a good idea. People would pay money for a museum on a beach.

Another brilliant thought I had last week: You know how in cartoons they have those light bulbs turn on above their heads when they get good ideas? Do you think in the future they will replace them with CFLS? Will kids even know what old light bulbs looked like?

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday.

I got her:

1. A Beatles album

2. The book A Guide to Civilized Conversation

3. A nice picture frame with a photo of Jill and myself

4. I chipped in on some kind of glorified hotplate contraption that's supposed to make baking easier.

5. A bouquet of flowers, delivered to her office.

Will work for internet

The internet has been down at our apartment the last few days.  They might has well just turned off our electricity. I feel like I'm living on the Little House on the Prairie. We have to walk 2 whole blocks everyday just to check our facebooks and emails.  It's terrible. It's amazing how internet-dependent I've become. Especially google.  I probably google three new things a day. Now I'm reduced to writing them down on scraps of paper till I can get near a computer.  

I've also recently become addicted to watching tv shows online. Had you told me two years ago I would be not only using a computer to watch tv, but wouldn't even own a set, I'd call you crazy. As a staunch television advocate, I was one of the last people in the world to believe that computers could ever replace a tv. But now I'm not so sure.  Luckily there's still one thing that computers have yet to replicate; the joy of finding a mediocre movie when there's nothing better on.  It's late at night, you're bored and ready to shut off your brain for a few hours, and what do you happen to come across? Clueless. Or The Eraser. Or Big Daddy. Until computers can reproduce the joy of channel surfing, I think tv is going to be ok.  

One upside is that without the computer around to distract me, I've spent more time reading. One of the obvious perks about working at a library is you get to be around books all day.  Combine that with a measly 4 hour workday, and you have a recipe for reading. 

Books I've Read this Summer

Widow for a Year by John Irving 

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy 

Perfume by Patrick Suskind

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin 

When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn 

Books I am Currently Reading

How to be Funny by Steve Allen

Rise of the Creative Class by Dr. Richard Florida

Freakonomics by Steven Levitt

Crimes Against Nature by RFK, Jr. 

Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey

Earth First- Story of the Earth Liberation Front by Dave Foreman

Of these, I highly recommend Perfume, Born Standing Up, and Crimes Against Nature.  All 3 are fantastic.