BTFO or 4 endless days

I'm BTFO'ed out. For those unaware of this particular acronym, it's Before the Fall Orientation. Just, you know, a religion joke about original sin. It's awesome. When I was in Rome with Kari last summer, I desperately looked all over for a Sistine Chapel ceiling magnet of the Fall of Man and Expulsion from the Garden. Sure, they had plenty of Creation of Adam and Creation of Sun, Moon and Earth, but none of the Temptation and Expulsion. I just thought it'd be neat to have original sin depicted on a refrigerator magnet. However, no magnet makers agree with me.

Anyway, BTFO ended this afternoon with food, as usual. There's a BBQ and movie tonight on Sterling Quad so I'll probably make an appearance at that as well. I realized that I'm at a point in my adult life that if something doesn't interest me, I don't have to go. Needless to say, I missed a lot of morning orientation sessions. Always made it in time for lunch, though.

I seemed to have forgotten that while my St. Paul friends are indeed awesome beyond words, there are also others out there just as awesome. I've met tons of nice people here. Assholes seem to be the exception rather than the rule, which is pretty sweet. Is it a requirement that everyone has to be nice at divinity school? Maybe. Or maybe only nice people are attracted to divinity school. I bet all the assholes are in Yale Law School or the School of Management. I bet Forestry has tons of douchebags, too. Ok, I take that back. I've actually heard the Div school and Forestry school have the nicest reputations among the graduate schools. I really enjoy the fact that all of the post-graduate students are under the umbrella of "Yale Graduate and Professional Students." I'd like to think that I'm a professional student. Like a professional spy. I've been a student for 16+ years, I should be a professional at it by now!

Ok, that was a bit of a tangent. But seriously, the people I've met are super cool and fun. While none of them can take the place of the MOK team, they're all awesome in their own right. So no complaints, yet. Except... dear lord, when are classes starting? I'm ready. Seriously.

Ok, I'm going to go sign up for the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion. I don't know if you know this yet, but I'm a nerd. Super nerd.

New Apartment

I figured this was probably the easiest way to keep in touch with all the people who I feel like keeping in touch with, so if you want info or news on my life, call or check here. I try to avoid talking to people on the phone, so ... take that as you will.

I'm all moved in, thanks to the help of Mom, Dad and Kari. It's beginning to feel like home, or at least a place that reeks of me. Not smell-wise, but characteristically wise. Here's some pictures so you can get a feel for it yourself:

Living room and my wall to ceiling bookcase! Whoo!

My living room. One day, you may have the chance to sleep on this futon! All you have to do is visit me!

In case you can't tell, that's the West Wing, Season 3 on top of the TV.

My adult bed. I figured it's about time. Orange sheets optional.
P.S. The table on the right, with its beautiful marble top, cost $15 from the Salvation Army. It's awesome.

The ugliest bathroom ever, covered by the most calming shower curtain ever.

My kitchen. There's Ling on the right, Gracie and Ali over the sink, and some Dali pictures. Drew's cell phone picture from the white board is up there too, along with some pictures from ESOP 2003.

My work space - but note the Family Crest facing west - that's for you, ex-roommates.

Orientation starts tomorrow, and it should be fun. When I say "fun," I mean long and possibly boring. Amy won't be there, so I have no one to make snarky and sarcastic comments to. I want to have friends so I have people to hang out with here, but it's a pain in the ass getting to know people and do the whole "I'm Lindsay, MAR in Feminist Studies, originally from Wisconsin but I went to school in Minnesota, I want to get my PhD and teach about culture, religion and feminism" 50 times in a row. It's just tiring, especially when I know that I have great friends and a great boyfriend at home. I kind of felt the same way about camp. That WAS different, because I had Andrew, Amy, Drew, KG, Anna, ect to hang out with after work - I didn't need to become best friends with everyone there because I already had best friends. Here, it's not like I can head over to chillax with Amy and Drew... it would be lonely hanging out by myself. I'm sure everyone I meet will be nice - the ones I have so far are - but it's a lot of effort.

Classes should be good; they start Sept. 5. I checked out some of syllabi for classes I'm hoping to take, and the one on Gender, Sex and Power in Ruth and Esther looks really good. Within the first few weeks we have a class period on Genesis 34, which is the chapter I wrote a paper about two years ago (which also happened to win an award... true, a Hamline writing award, but still an award). So I'm looking forward to that.

Ok. I'm going to do something else now.