Ms. Gardzalla reviews a book, pt. 3

Okay, readers, it's time to finally finish up reviewing The Hunger Games Series.  This week, I bring you Mockingjay.  Warning: this entire post is probably spoilers.

THE BASICS:

Mockingjay, released in 2010, is the third and final installment of Suzanne Collins' young adult triology, The Hunger Games.  It picks up almost immediately where Catching Fire left off.

After learning that her home, District 12, has been destroyed, Katniss is taken to the mysterious District 13 where she is convinced to become "The Mockingjay," or basically the symbol of the new revolution.  Being a student of literature (God, that sounded pretentious.  It doesn't help that I'm writing this in a Starbucks, either...) becoming the "symbol" of anything is rarely ever good.  Look at Gatsby from The Great Gatsby.  Jack from Lord of the Flies.  Kurtz from Heart of Darkness.  Did anything end well for any of these characters?  If you don't know CRACK A BOOK FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE.

Anyway, Katniss reluctantly agrees to become the Mockingjay, mostly at the behest of her best friend/pseudo love interest, Gale.  Gale, by the way, has become like that guy you knew in high school or college who was angry about everything the government did and constantly quoted Orwell.  I have a theory that if Gale lived in today's America, he'd be one of those guys that believes Ron Paul will fix everything about America despite the fact he is pretty loony (cue a thousand emails from a thousand stoned, angry teens-and-twentysomethings telling me how wrong I am).

I digress.  Anyway, in this book, we also see Peeta, everyone's favorite good guy, go completely insane.  Seriously.  He's been brainwashed by The Capitol and attempt to kill Katniss on more than one occasion.  He also yells some pretty terrible things at her at some point.  But nothing too terrible because this is a young adult book after all.

The entire book is pretty much Katniss and her crew engaging in urban warfare of some sort of another.  And while this is cool, after a while I found myself struggling to finish.  Out of the three books, this one was definitely my least favorite.  I felt like all the fighting, despite the fact it's near constant action, does little to actually move the plot forward.  However, I was satisfied by the end of the book, and I have no complaints about the way the series was resolved.

Which is rare.  Like just about everyone else on the planet, I read the Harry Potter series.  Multiple times. And my mother, who is a very smart lady, pointed something out to me.  JK Rowling kills off everyone you love.  Seriously.  Few characters were spared.  And in a sense I can understand that.  She wanted to hit us right in the gut so we'd feel the utter devastation Voldemort caused.  I get that, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck.  Rowling killed off everyone from pretty major characters to characters you didn't even know you liked until they were gone.  By the end of Deathly Hallows I found myself wondering if all these deaths were really necessary or if she was just picking characters because you knew their names.

This is something Collins doesn't really do.  Yes, there are deaths in the trilogy.  And they are deaths you wish didn't happen.  I would say that the handful of deaths that occur in The Hunger Games hit you harder than the armies of people that die in Harry Potter.  Or at least they did for me.  I'm going to bring up Fred Weasley's death here.  Rowling has said herself in interviews that she really didn't know why Fred would be the one to die.  But he does.  And we cry because this is Fred Weasley.  We grew up with this guy making us laugh.  And now he's gone, and so are our childhoods.

But I was completely devastated when Prim died. This is one of the few books I've read as an adult that has drawn actual tears from me.  I really love how this book treats the relationship between Katniss and Prim, and how in the end, even though Katniss has done literally everything she could to save her, she can't.  Maybe it's because I'm very close to my own sister and would do everything Katniss did for Prim without giving it a second thought, but you can really see how this breaks Katniss by the end of the book.  Katniss never fought against The Capitol.  Every action Katniss has taken has been to keep Prim safe.  Katniss did everything she possibly could, and in a cruel, twisted accident (and it's implied Gale was responsible for it, though he denies it) Prim is still taken from her.  And that lack of reason, that suddenness, is what makes it truly tragic.

I also think that in Mockingjay is the only time the readers really see Katniss's romantic conflict in choosing one boy over the other.  Now that Peeta hates her and she isn't having to put on a show to save her own life (and the lives of everyone she loves) she can really explore her feelings more deeply.  And it isn't without conflict.  It's implied throughout the entire series that Katniss has always had some sort of feelings for Gale.  He's really sort of her first crush.  And he is like her in many ways-- they both grew up in The Seam and have a level of understanding that most other couples can only dream of.  But that's the thing.  Katniss and Gale are too similar.  Katniss even admits that she and Gale "have the same fire."  Also he is kind of responsible for the death of her sister.  Which is a giant buzzkill.

We learn that Katniss falling in love with Peeta was "inevitable."  He's always symbolized the hope for a better future.  He's been the good in everyone.  And he eventually recovers from his brainwashing.  And while Gale probably understands what Katniss grew up in, Peeta is the only one who can ever really understand who Katniss has become.  The Games change you, and not always in a good way.  Look at Haymitch.  Katniss has always managed to find everything she needs to survive.  She's one of the most self-reliant, independent heroines I've ever read about.  The only thing she's never had is hope.  And that's what Peeta gives her.

Also, am I the only one who loved the little exchange between Katniss and Peeta at the end of the book before the epilogue?  There was something so innocent about it.  It reminded me of something I would have read in one of the books in Madeline L'engle's "Austins"  series.  Very cute.

So now that I've ruined multiple book series for you, dear reader, let me just say some final things.

CLOSING REMARKS:

When I come to the end of a book series, I sometimes delay finishing it.  Like I'm not going to know what to do with myself after.  And sometimes because I'm afraid I'm going to hate the way it ends.  Even though Mockingjay moved incredibly slowly sometimes, I am really satisfied with the way Collins ended the series.  It felt firmly and absolutely resolved.  Especially coming from a woman who ended practically every chapter of every book with a friggin' cliffhanger.  Yes, the epilogue goes to ruin that a little bit, but I have a tendency to take epilogues with a grain of salt.  Don't believe me?  Go read Crime and Punishment.  Go on.  I'll wait.

OVERALL:

Three and a half, maybe four, out of five.

Back in the District Again

So after what will probably come to be known as the most disastrous trip back to DC in history, I'm finally here again, if temporarily.  I'm here in Saxby's Coffee, feeling a little bit like a pretentious douche for writing in a coffeeshop.  Perhaps I overanalyze. 

On this venture to DC, I'll be meeting my roommates (HI ROOMMATES!) and hopefully getting a job.  Prepare to see a post on here eventually about the soul-crushing state of unemployment.  The market is pretty dismal for millennials right now, but I'm not letting that stop me.

Ms. Gardzalla reviews a book, pt. 2

A while back, I had a discussion with a friend of mine about why second books in trilogies always seem to be the best.  Characters are well developed, so there's more room for plot. The action builds the entire way through. No rush towards a happy ending.  Catching Fire fits this model perfectly.

WARNING:  THIS POST IS FULL OF SPOILERS.

BASICS:

Catching Fire is the 2009 sequel to the 2008 young adult novel The Hunger Games.  It takes place almost immediately after the first book, with Katniss and Peeta embarking on a victory tour after winning the 74th Hunger Games. 

Katniss and Peeta haven't really spoken since the victory, since Peeta has found out that Katniss exaggerated her feelings towards him for the show of things.  You know, so they wouldn't die.  Katniss is struggling to understand her feelings not only towards Peeta, but towards Gale, with whom she has shared a kiss with at this point.  But in the post-apocalyptic, futuristic nation of Panem, Katniss has little time for typical, self-indulgent, teenage dillydallying.  She has several asses (including her own) to save.

The 75th Hunger Games is special.  It's what's known in the book as a "Quarter Quell," meaning the fabulously sadistic gamemakers decide to really rip the rug out from under everyone.  The past two Quarter Quells have involved such horrors as twice the number of tributes and I don't even remember what the other one was, but I'm sure it was equally cruel. 

This Quarter Quell, tributes are reaped from past victors.  Being the only female victor from District 12, Katniss is lucky enough to go back.  Peeta volunteers for Haymitch.  One of the things I enjoyed about this book is Katniss realizing the importance of interdependence.  At least since her father died, Katniss has been pretty much self-reliant.  It isn't easy for her to accept help from anyone.  It doesn't even really dawn on her in the first book how much Peeta is helping her.  Now she literally has an entire country on her side. 

Anyway, I'm not going to give the entire plot away this time.  Mostly because the plot of this one is really good, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it yet.  And if you haven't, you should get on that immediately.

I really only have a few complaints about this book.  Collins seems to backtrack a lot and go back over stuff she already covered in the first book (like what muttations are), and that slows the action down  A LOT.  I also hate how the other tributes are kind of glossed over, but I understand that Collins probably had to do this for the sake of moving the story forward.  She continues with her "ending every chapter on a cliffhanger" angle, and AUGH THE ENDING OF THIS ONE.  Very Empire Strikes back. 

I mentioned in my last review that one of the things I like most about Katniss as a protagonist is the fact she doesn't get wrapped up in that romantic triangle crap that made Twilight so popular.  Her self-esteem isn't wrapped up in Peeta's feelings for her, nor Gale's, and while she is obviously conflicted about the two, it doesn't run the story by any means.  In fact, there are many scenes where she seems downright annoyed that two very attractive men are vying for her affections.  Refreshing.

I sped through Catching Fire, unable to get enough and hungry to find out what would happen next.  The last page will leave you ready for Mockingjay.

OVERALL:

Four and a half.  

Amendment One in NC

As many of you may know, I have lived in North Carolina for most of my life.  I have not, in technical terms "liked" most of it.  Not until I moved to Boone, anyway.  I was hesitant to write anything about Amendment One.  I was pretty sure it wasn't going to pass.  I don't think I knew of a single person who was voting for it.

All I want to say now is "damn."

There is a lot that I could say about Amendment One, but it's all pretty much already been said.  For those of you that don't know, Amendment One was an amendment to the North Carolina constitution that not only defined marriage as being between one man and one woman, but also banned any other sort of domestic partnerships.  Same-sex marriage is already illegal in NC, by the way.

In the words of the proposed amendment:

"Sec. 6. Marriage. Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts." Doesn't something about that seem fishy to you?  Take a look at that second sentence.  Notice the first sentence does nothing but prohibit a private party from entering into a contract with another private party? I almost don't even want to criticize the legislators on this one.  I really don't.  It's a well-established fact we've apparently got nothing but idiots running the government.  This is one of the few issues the left and the right can seem to agree on.  Let's take a second and focus on the big bag of dicks that actually voted this into law.  As much as I wanted to believe that Amendment One wouldn't pass, a few people have brought up a good point-- did we really expect more than that out of the South?  Yes, I had higher hopes that this state wasn't as ass-backwards as people make it out to be.  There are a lot of great things about North Carolina-- the first public university, the Appalachian Mountains, the outer banks, Krispy Kreme, and of course, Appalachian State University.  This just shows that there's still a lot of work to be done. While part of me is very angry that this passed, part of me knows that I will live to see it overturned.  And I feel confident that one day, my children will look at this chapter in history the same way people my age look at our elders about the civil rights movement.

Mad Men: On Betty Draper

I'm working my way through Mad Men, and so far, I really like what I see.  The setting is awesome, but what's really kept me watching are the characters.  I think they're very deep, complex, well-written, and flawed.  And there are characters I love, like Joan and Megan.  There are ones I loathe, but does anyone actually LIKE Pete Campbell?  And there are some I find myself oddly indifferent towards (Peggy).  I told myself I would get completely caught up on the series before I wrote anything about any of the characters.  I mean, I at least like to get to know someone before I completely assassinate their character in the written word.  Just ask my ex-boyfriends! (GUYS THIS IS A JOKE)

I think Betty Draper (or Francis, whatever) is exempt from this rule.  Her role in the series diminishes significantly, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's completely written out by the end of this current season.  Betty is interesting and complex, she just isn't very likeable.  At all.

In the first season, Don comments that being married to Betty is "being married to a little girl."  It isn't a very nice thing to say, but Don isn't exactly known for saying nice things, and he has a point.  Betty isn't at all mature emotionally.  I really don't want to call her a bad mother, because I say this with decades of progress in parenting influencing my call, but slapping your daughter in the face, locking her in the closet, and letting her play around with a bag over her head seems like a series of bad calls that sort of defines Betty's character.

Betty's emotional immaturity stems from her having been taken care of her whole life.  First by her parents, then by Don, then by Henry.  When she did work, she was a model. Her job was to stand around and look pretty.  Betty has spent her whole life being told what to do and never really having to make a decision for herself. There's part of me that feels sorry for her.  After all, she's a housewife in the 1960s.  She's stuck in a marriage with a man who cheats on her, and at first I found her almost Feminine-Mystique-esque.  Now... now not so much.

We see a HUGE transformation in Betty by season 2.  She's gone from bored, tragic housewife to insufferable bitch.  The other characters, all of whom are hugely flawed, at least have some redeeming qualities.  Betty loses these.  I mean, if there was a gun to my head and I had to try to figure out one of Pete's good qualities, I'm sure I could. 

Betty is what I expected upper-middle-class, white women to be in her time.  The model wife for a man like Don Draper.  The definition of a trophy wife.  And we start to see how unfulfilled she is.  She was obviously raised with the mindset that if you can land a good (or at least rich) man, your life will be easy.  Nowhere in there did it say you'd be happy.  And in this sense, I feel sorry for Betty.  Yes, she's emotionally stunted, but she's also treated like a child by pretty much everyone around her. 

One thing I find particularly fascinating is the relationship with Betty and her mother, and then the relationship between Betty and Sally.  At the beginning of season 1, we learn that Betty's mother died three months prior to the first episode.  We never really see her grieving, but we get some insight into how Betty was raised.  Her entire self-worth is placed on her image.  Her mother says and does downright cruel things to her, and Betty is the good daughter and lets it happen.  Her mother was probably just like her.  And when we see her try to apply the same treatment to Sally, Sally rebels.  This isn't something Betty is prepared to handle.

I think we're already beginning to see the beginning of the Betty Breakdown.  We've established that the one thing Betty values most in the world is the way she looks.  And how do you break a WASPy, ice-queen down?  Make her fat.

Betty's dissatisfaction with herself and everything is starting to manifest, and I'm anxious to see what the writers are going to do with her.

Early thoughts on law school...

THERE IS A MAD MEN POST COMING SOON I PROMISE.

How I Want My Classmates to See Me:

How They Will Probably See Me:

Ms. Gardzalla reviews a book, pt. 1

In college, I majored in English.  I loved it, even if it isn't making my current job search any easier.  Since one of my few marketable skills is reading the shit out of some books, I figured I'd give reviewing them a try.

Several weeks ago, I was stuck in Union Station for eight hours waiting on a train.  Luckily, there was a Barnes and Nobles there, meaning I could keep myself entertained.  My Facebook news feed had recently been devoured by posts about The Hunger Games movie, so I thought there wouldn't be any harm in giving the book a go.

BASICS:

The Hunger Games is a 2008 young adult novel by Suzanne Collins.  Many hipster douches are quick to point out that the novel/movie is a "ripoff" of the 2000 Japanese film "Battle Royale."  They do this in hopes of sounding cultured and smart, but since they didn't point this out four years ago, I'm forced to conclude these people just don't read books.

Anyway, the basic plot of The Hunger Games is that in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic nation known as "Panem," children are annually selected to compete in  The Hunger Games, which is a televised fight to the death.  The protagonist, a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss, volunteers in place of her younger sister Prim, surely sealing her own fate.  *SPOILERS* OKAY LET'S IGNORE THAT FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK IT'S PRETTY MUCH IMPLIED KATNISS WINS *END SPOILERS*

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  It was an entertaining, captivating read, and it certainly made the eight hour wait and seven hour train ride go by much quicker.  A lot of people out there are (wrongfully) comparing the book to Twilight.  Having read both series, I really don't see that.  The main focus of Twilight was the romance between Bella and Edward, and eventually the series came to focus on the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob.  While there is romantic tension in The Hunger Games, it's hardly the focus, and the triangle between Gale, Peeta, and Katniss has been seriously overplayed by idiots.  In fact, one of the reasons why I liked Katniss so much as a protagonist is that she doesn't seem to get bogged down by typical teenage crap.  Given if I were in an arena with twenty-some-odd people who were trying to kill me, I probably wouldn't be worried what the cute guy in my science class was doing either, but then again, that's just me.

It's a sizeable length book-- three hundred some pages, split into three parts.  But it doesn't feel nearly that long.  Every chapter ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, so I found myself stopping in the middle of chapters when I needed to take a break, go to work, or go to sleep.  After I finished the first book, I decided I liked it enough to read the two sequels.  I bought the sequels, even though they're only available in hardcover, which is something I almost never do.  And while it might not be a grand literary masterpiece, it's certainly entertaining as hell, and that counts for something.  I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.

OVERALL I'd give it four out of five. 

On Mad Men...

It's taken long enough, but I've finally started watching Mad Men.  I was hesitant to get into it, but I'm a huge fan of Christina Hendricks, and it's popular enough to be a good small-talk piece.  There's a lot of small-talk in Washington.  Sometimes it's nice not to have it be about politics.

If you haven't seen last Sunday's episode, I'm not going to spoil it for you.  It was the first Mad Men episode I'd seen in a long time, and I remember thinking through most of the episode "Man, Don Draper is kind of a douche."  But here's the thing.  I think that's the appeal of Don Draper.

There's been a phenomenon that I've observed recently.  I'm going to call it the Rise of the Man Child.  I think everyone's encountered one.  They're portrayed in films such as Knocked Up as being kind of heroes.  I think Judd Apatow has pretty much made a career off this genre. I mean who wouldn't want to be these guys?  They get to sit around all day, smoke pot, play video games, and they always end up somehow getting a girl that's way too hot for them.  And she is totally into them.

Sounds like the life, right?  Being in a state of perpetual adolescence means you get to cleverly avoid all the responsibilities of going to college, graduating, getting a job, and contributing anything to society.  You can be a twenty-four-year old male with a weird obsession with My Little Pony and this is considered normal...ish, anyway.  Want to stay up until four in the morning playing video games with your bros?  Go right ahead!  Keep count of how many beers you can shotgun while you're at it.  That's really appealing.

So I got to thinking about Don Draper, and I remembered reading an article that named him the most influential man of 2009.  Don Draper is a hugely flawed character-- he's a chain-smoking, overworked, alcoholic who is constantly cheating on his wife.  A lot of times on the show, he comes across as being (technical term here) "kind of a douche."

Yet so many men out there want to be him. 

Why?  And why do so many women want him?

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool feminist, and I will freely admit that I find the Don Draper character pretty damn appealing.  And I will tell you why:

Don Draper is a man.

I understand the appeal of wanting a man who will share his feelings with you.  I do.  And there is a lot to be said about emotional openness in a relationship.  Yes, Don Draper is an island that is totally sealed off.  But he is in control.  He ACTS like a man.  He's not obsessed with comic books.  He doesn't piss time away on stupid shit.  Don Draper exists to contrast the Man Child.

My friend Rich summed it up pretty well.  "Men want to act like boys, then get mad when women don't treat them like men."

And this PostSecret makes a good point too:

DC, Day 4

I have been having a blast here in DC, but tonight I want to post a little blog of reflection.

I consider myself very lucky to be visiting during the Cherry Blossom Festival, especially the 100th Anniversary. Being of part Japanese ancestry, it fills me with a sense of pride to see my culture and my favorite city coming together.

And the cherry blossoms are beautiful:



But today... Today was different.

I finally caved and said that Joey and I could go to the Postal Museum. We decided to walk there form the National Museum of American History, where we had spent most of our morning/afternoon. Several blocks from the museum, this caught my eye:



I was intrigued. We moved closer.

I had no idea the Japanese WWII memorial even existed. I mentioned before that the monuments here really move me, more than I think they do other people.

This one is completely different. Mike M Nasaoka pretty much summed up the way I feel about my heritage:


I'm not related to anyone who was in an internment camp. The Japanese side of my family didn't come to this country until after the war. But this memorial was so moving to me on a personal level. I think talking about WWII in school is an awkward experience for anyone of Japanese ancestry. Maybe it just was for me. I learned to put my head down during discussions of Pearl Harbor, and learned to bite my tongue when people say that Hiroshima was completely justified. I don't want to say it causes an identity crisis, but it's certainly an experience.

And it's nice to see those who sacrificed in the name of their country remembered.







I had to sit down after seeing all this. It was... A lot to take in. I am not used to seeing things like this. And thank God Joey just sat there with me and let me experience this.

I am proud of who I am, where I come from, and most of all the country that has allowed me this wonderfully lucky life.

DC, Day 3

Hello readers.

I have few words to describe my night and how amazing it was. But I am going to try.

I will get into how Joey and I spent our day today in tomorrow's entry. What I want to say about tonight is far more important.

Tonight, Joey and I met my good friend Chad at the GWU metro stop. I have not seen Chad since graduation, which was nearly a year ago. Chad and I met when I was doing SGA my sophomore year of college, and he's been one of my best friends ever since.

Tonight we went to Georgetown.

I realize that I have fallen in love hard with most places in DC that I've seen. I become more and more convinced that I want to live here and that I could belong here every day.

Readers, nothing I've seen so far compares to Georgetown.

Chad explained to me tonight that Georgetown itself doesn't have a metro line. The area felt pretty much local. And I loved it. The sidewalks are narrow, and everything looks like it belongs. It has a lot of the comforts of home that I know, and many more places I want to explore. It... it is amazing.

We had a nice dinner of Vietnamese food, and Chad and Joey discussed their respective graduate programs. After dinner, Chad explained to us that DC has two big things-- brunch and cupcakes. I'll let you figure out which one we had tonight.

Time's up. We had cupcakes. We went to the actual Georgetown Cupcake, of TLC fame. I had the red velvet and the chocolate3 cupcake. After we ordered, we headed out to go enjoy our cupcakes with a nice glass of wine.

The cupcakes were good. Great, even. The red velvet had a nice, velvety texture-- it wasn't just chocolate cake with red food dye. The cream cheese icing was also of a good consistency. Light, with a distinct cream cheese flavor, which wasn't at all overpowering, and complemented the cake perfectly. The fondant heart was also a nice touch. The chocolate3 was also delicious. It wasn't too rich, which was perfect. The chocolate flavor was powerful, but still light. It was topped with a chocolate ganache and chocolate sprinkles. This may seem like a lot of chocolate, but the ratio was perfect, and I didn't struggle to choke down that much sugar. The glass of wine also probably helped balance everything out.

Around 8 PM, we started to head back to the metro station, but made a quick stop at Trader Joe's. There was a moment when the slightly chilly air of Georgetown hit my arms, and I was overcome with a joy that I haven't felt in a while.

I wanted to scream "I FUCKING LIVE HERE!!!!!"

Because it's hard for me to believe that. That in as little as a month or two, I could be living here, in my own apartment, starting my life. I could live in Georgetown. Or Penn Quarter. Or on Massachusetts Avenue. I could work at the ice cream shop or the bookstore or the Senate. SOMEWHERE. ANYTHING.

Maybe I'm foolish, but the world feels completely open and new to me now. I am going to start law school. LAW SCHOOL. If you would have asked me five years ago if I thought I'd see myself in DC, going to law school, I probably would have laughed at you. But now this is happening, and it is very real and exciting. Terrifying, but exciting.

Tonight I am happy to be alive. Tonight I am a million miles tall.

DC, Day 2

Oh... my legs.

Today Joey and I got up at the crack of dawn and enjoyed "breakfast" at the Days Inn Arlington, our wonderful "hotel." We left soon after to see the two big memorials we didn't get to last night, due to the overabundance of douchebags.

The last time I was in DC was several years ago. Since then, I have had a story rolling around in my head about the monuments and memorials, but I will post this later when it has been paid the attention it needs and deserves.

By the way, they drained the Reflecting Pool, and the Washington Monument is broken. HEARTBREAK:

Moving on.

We moved on then to the Air and Space Museum. If you're thinking about going to DC, you better be thinking about going to the Air and Space Museum. Here, you'll see planes, rocket ships, and in general a bunch of really cool shit.

IF YOU'RE ME. I should mention right now that Joey is getting ready to start a PhD program in physics. I am an English major who is getting ready to start law school. Our time in the Air and Space Museum was spent with me marveling at how science works, and Joey being amused at my elementary understanding of it. We still had a pretty good time, though.

After Air and Space, we got lunch, and I noticed signs pointing towards an open house at a nearby apartment complex. After running around in the rain for several minutes, we finally found the complex.

Holy crap, it was beautiful.

Maybe it's a sign that I'm from a smaller town and a smaller world than I want to admit, but there are areas of DC that make me swear I could be in Paris. This was one of those places. When I looked at the apartment, I was a little in shock. Hardwood floors, quartz countertops, a friggin' patio... And unfortunately, not for rent. For sale. For more money than I have seen in my life.

Luckily, the real estate agent was very nice and helpful, and was able to point me in the direction of an apartment I may end up renting. Given, it is a lot more than I had originally intended to spend per month in rent, but it's close to the law schools (not to mention the metros I would need to take to get there), it's in a safe area, and perfect for a young, single woman living in DC. I'm not wed to the idea yet (I've really only looked at two apartments), but I get the feeling I'm on the right track.

After viewing the gorgeous, unattainable apartment, Joey and I headed to the National Archives. Now, I have kind of a thing for the Constitution. When I say "kind of," I mean I love that document. It's hard to pin down exactly what about it I love so much, but I've been fascinated by it since I've started learning about it. As much as I would like to say that's the reason why I'm becoming a lawyer, it isn't. I just love what it stands for, how many times it's been interpreted.

TANGENT:

My last boyfriend and I started dating the last time I went to DC. I expressed regret that I didn't get to see the Constitution while I was there. Maybe a month later, he went on a roadtrip, bringing me back a pocket copy of the Constitution (which I still use today) as a souvenir. When I asked him how he knew, he said "because it's like your favorite thing ever." We had barely been dating two months. It must have been pretty obvious.


ANYWAY

Joey had to deal with my Constitutional Fan-girl-ness before we went and looked at another apartment, then went and visited The National Gallery of Art. For one reason.

Video games.


That's right, readers, from now until late September, the National Gallery is running a special exhibit on the Art of Video Games. It's a bit of a nostalgia trip, but not unpleasantly so. It was also easily the most crowded exhibit there. It gave me a big ol' lump in my throat when I realized how much it made me miss my little brother, since video games are what he and I really used to bond over. THERE ARE SO MANY PICTURES but my wifi here sucks so I'll post them at a later date.

After the National Archives and a quick dinner, Joey and I spent some time in the Natural History Museum, which we'll be returning to tomorrow. For now, I'm going to be poring over some more apartment listings, trying to get the feeling back in my feet, and reflecting on how the cherry blossoms are truly beautiful this time of year.

I can't wait to call myself a resident of this place.

DC, Day 1

The first time I ever went to Washington, I went by Amtrak train. Today I did the same thing!

Joey and I left my house around 6:30 this morning. After one major SNAFU (my dog Lance pooping by my suitcase) and one minor (Joey forgetting his hat), we were on our way to the Greensboro train station.

For those of you that have never spent eight hours on a train, let me tell you... They're long. I don't know what exactly it is about trains, but they are friggin' nap factories. I slept maybe an hour or two of the way there. Joey made friends with the old man sitting behind us who was obsessed with trains and trolleycars. So basically Joey met future Joey.

When I figure out how to post pictures on here, I will, because good lord... There is nothing like being in DC this time of year. We timed it just right too-- it's supposed to rain tomorrow so we won't get to see many cherry blossoms. But I got a few good shots for mom, and I'm hoping to update tomorrow with an actual post of substance, provided I'm not so tired.

What, you say? Smithsonian tomorrow? And apartment hunting? Oh, well... PICTURES EVENTUALLY I PROMISE.

DC DC DC DC DC

Tomorrow I am taking the 8:30 AM train to Washington with one of my best friends so I can try to start my life over.

And really, that's all that needs to be said about that.

9 Days and Counting!

I have some exciting news, dear readers. Or dear reader. There may be only one of you. In which case, hi Mom!

I am going to DC... in less than a week and a half.

It gets better... One of my best friends is coming with me!

It gets EVEN better... We will be there during the Cherry Blossom Festival!

The last time I was in Washington, it was July 2009. There were leftovers from the Cherry Blossom festival everywhere, and I kicked myself mentally for missing it. Being of partial Japanese descent, it was something I really wanted to experience firsthand. And now I get to!

This trip to Washington unfortunately isn't THE trip-- the one where I move and start my life. But this will be the start. In addition to taking in some sweet cherry blossoms, I'm going to be searching for apartments, interviewing for (and hopefully finding) jobs, and maybe having a little fun.

First!

So maybe I'm not actually in Washington yet.

But I'm going to be. Soon. I can feel it.

Maybe not feel so much as "know." I've already been accepted to law school there. I'm lining up a series of job interviews (well, phone interviews, anyway). And thanks to advice from friends (and the ever-useful www.padmapper.com) I've just about got an apartment lined up.

Really, the last thing I have to do is move.

I'm reluctant to call this a "blawg" for several reasons. First, I will only be going to law school part-time, so I'm sure my experience is going to be different than everyone's, although I have it on good authority that 1L sucks for everyone no matter what. Second, I'm still in that fear-ridden state of mind and I have doubts that I'll even make it through that first year. Hopefully this is not the case.

Right now, I'm doing my best to remain optimistic about the move to Washington and my journey into law school and becoming a lawyer. After all, it's been a pretty interesting year. 2011 was the year I graduated college, the year I got into law school, the year I (finally) got my driver's license, the year I watched the man I used to love turn into a Seth Rogan-esque caricature of himself, the year of the tsunami, and perhaps most importantly, the year I decided to write again.

Maybe it's March 2012 before I've really taken any major steps towards that last one. But I think it's time for a fresh start in a new city.

Yours always,

Ms. Gardzalla