A Novel Conundrum

so, my internship in madagascar will happen. it will start at the beginning of august, and it will cost between 2000 and 2500 to get there. i'll be doing various interesting things, (including fieldwork) and on the 'contract' of sorts that's been written up, i must bring: a laptop computer, a digital camera, and a tent and sleeping bag! it will be great. but, the duration will be either 4 or 6 months. so:

Pros to 6 month internship:
* I get back February 1st, having missed most of winter.
* I can't defend my thesis till the end of that semester anyway, so what's the rush?
* I get experience in 2 or 3 cities (as well with staff in those cities) instead of 1
* The more contacts I make, the more likely it is that one of them will be a networking connection for me to find a real job upon my return.
* Once I get there, it's cheap, so might as well stay another 2 months to get my money's worth.
* The longer I'm there, the more I can see and learn.

Cons to 6 month internship:
* missing Patrick another 2 months
* possibly missing out on money I could earn if I'd be able to get a job in the kzoo area.
* missing Christmas
* spending another 500-700 dollars
* not having enough time to finish theis? (doubtful)
* 2 months less of hardcore Ironman training

So
comments?

Poll #1142645 4 months or 6?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1

Should I stay in Madagascar for 4 months or 6 months?

So Mary and I decided to go cheer on the finishers during the last 2 hours of the race (that being up to hour 17). The winner finished in just under 9 hours! I have to say, that watching people coming in was SO inspiring! It was just so emotional...I was tearing up a little here and there seeing how happy and proud everyone was. The last one to finish (in the allotted time anyway) was a 78 yr old guy, and pretty much everybody during those hours was a normal person. Some even had beer guts. I came home and looked into registering for '08, but it's already full. Mad City Marathon, here I come!
I just think it's so awesome to see so many people who are pushing their bodies and having healthy habits. You could see their sense of accomplishment in their faces, and to me, competing against yourself, against the pain, and perhaps against all reason is so much more noble than competing against other people. (Obviously, the one's finishing within the first 10 hours were competing against each other...) I guess that these individual fitnessy sports are the ones I can get super enthusiastic about... :) Let's see your average baseball player or offensive lineman swim 2.4, bike 112, and run 26.2!

well, let's see. i've got 50 pgs of reading in french for 901, another 20 for my article summary, 100 pgs in english for SOC (which i haven't even had yet...), plus another 50-100 (whatever i can get to) for my independant study. and i'm working tomorrow during the day, going on a 70 mile bike ride on saturyda, and working sunday night. i'm gonna read all evening tomorrow......

also, i'm going to a "how-to cyclo-cross" meeting on monday. :)

Madison is awesome! I feel like I really fit in here. You're more of an oddball if you drive than bike, so I'm digging the commuting thing. I got some new pedals (of the non clipless variety) for an easier commute, and i have some metal baskets for my rear rack on the way.

I'm working at the Washington Hotel Coffee Room, which is in conjunction with Lakeside Fibers, a beautiful knitting store! It's easy and sort of boring, but hey, easy is what I want for a school job! It's on the bay and there's a park behind it, and there are lots of windows. :)

Classes started yesterday, and my research methods course is gonna be a monster. I think that once I get started, it will seem less overwhelming (I hope!), but for now I'm a bit intimidated. I guess I just need to start reading and see where it takes me. (I really need a rainy day to go to the library though!)

I think I've lost a couple pounds since being here (i hope so , since I gained 5-7 the last month of summer...)

I'm planning on doing the Sugar River Century (100 mile bike ride nearish here), but I would really like someone to do it with. Also need some sort of transportation to get to the ride start (it's 15-30 miles away, not quite sure).

Scherzo figured out how to climb my 7 foot high loft a few nights ago, so I had to fill a bike water bottle and squirt him every time he tried. He's not good at getting down, which is the annoying part.

Overall I think I'll be really happy here. 2 yoga studios within a mile of my apt, the grocery co-op in walking distance, bike trails everywhere, a good coffee house also in walking distance, and a dynamic academic setting with people I seem to like. The only thing I miss about MI is Patrick. Good riddance GR! :)

given that i log into to read others, i might as well just post here. the move to madison went well, other than some construction, an accident on 196, some cat pee, chicago, a tornado warning, and a few wrong turns thereabouts. i've decided that driving a big moving truck is for the birds. now the apt is looking relatively good, and i've hung up most of my pictures. patrick was here all weekend, and it was really good to spend a good chunk of time with him before the school year starts. i'm going to miss him a ton. i cried a bit when we said goodbye, and now thinking about it, i'm tearing up again...the one thing that sucks about moving to madison.
on the other hand though, i'm really digging this city. i rode my bike to kirsten's (mostly on bike paths!) and we took a ride to the arboretum and also went to the free zoo. i went to campus before riding home so that i could try out the route i've got planned to get there tomorrow morning. i got moderately lost, but now understand the route (i think). :) i'm really looking forward to orientation. will be good to meet teachers, students, and learn more about my actual program! :)
i'm pretty tired, so that's about all for now. i'm definately ready for bed. and i miss patrick already.

Why don't people ever paint CAT demolishers to look like dinosaurs?
The building across the street is being demolished, and every time the machine grabs another mouthfull of broken wood, all I can see is an paintedwoodivore T-Rex having lunch.  It even seems like it's a live thing, possibly with a personality.  Maybe a litter of little paintedwoodivores at home that it's working to feed.  I think I'll name him....  Tim?

 *I've decided that my dad has a lot in common with dementors.  he sucks the joy out of a room.  i was going through boxes in the basement (from before i moved to france when my room became my dad's office) to get anything i might want to keep out.  i no longer want any ties with my parents' house, so i got a few things out, and threw away a whole bunch.  as i was going through the boxes, my dad was just sitting in the basement watching, making snide comments and asking why i was doing any of it.  when i said that i wanted to get my stuff out of there so that he and mom had carte blanche to get rid of anything they want when they eventually sell the house, he thought it was silly that i was bothering.  i told him that this time that i'm leaving i won't be coming back, so i'm tying up loose ends.  i also mentioned that if it was a problem for me to be there, i wish he would have said so.  he of course, said it was no problem that i was at home for a few weeks, and why would i worry about that.  "well, dad, there's nowhere for me to sleep, i have a comfortable bed in the garage, and i don't feel comfortable bringing friends (or even patrick for that matter) over because i don't even feel welcome myself."  eventually he left me to go through boxes in peace.  

*He is also apparantly possibly bailing on my mom for Newfoundland.  she already bought the 2 plane tickets (and hotels etc are reserved i believe), but he's now apparantly acting like he doesn't want to go.  if he stays home my mom won't go, and that means that my parents will be home for when i move, which i really don't want.

*My dad also bought my iPod nano that i got on rebate as a way of contributing to my computer.  yesterday he asked me how to do stuff with it and iTunes, but wouldn't let me touch anything.  something was screwy about the way iTunes was set up, so i wanted to sit down and play with it a bit.  a more condescending tone i've scarcely heard directed at myself.

*meghan is engaged, so when i went for a fitness walk with mom last night, i told her since she has known meghan for quite some time.  her response was, "so what?  she should be engaged.  they've been living together for a few years anyway, and that's just the normal path she should be on."  no "good for her", or even "that's nice".  there have been a lot of weddings this summer, and everybody is always so happy and excited about it.  if it's ever me getting married, it sort of sucks to realize that my parents won't give a shit.  they'll say, "well, that's normal i guess.  hope you're happier than we are."  no parties, no excitement, no mother crying when daughter tells her of engagement.  nothing other than, "oh, ok.  good luck with that.  don't ask us for any money."

*wrap up* i feel like i'm growing farther and farther from my family.  i have fun when i do stuff with my mom, but i can honestly hardly respect either of them much any more.  my dad is an unpredictable, negative grouch with no social skills that hasn't ever been happy anywhere he's been.  he hates the traffic here and talks about the perfection of OR.  well, guess what?  i still remember him yelling in the car about hating driving me to my violin lesson in good old Medford, OR.  my mom has been complaining about my dad her whole life and spends time with nobody but her sister.  neither of them cares about personal growth, or family, or spending time with others, or trying to generally be happy in life.  they just sit in their own bubble of misery, never venturing out to see what happiness or interest could enter their lives.  i say that my parents don't care about family as i'm complaining about my own.  but truth be told, sometimes i don't feel like i even have much of a family.  and i don't really want to be more than a superficial part of theirs anymore.

*madison is going to be such a breath of fresh air.  it's going to feel amazing that for the first time, i'm actually moving away not to come back and figure more stuff out.