Ikea/Graduation

The Ikea trip was unplanned and wildly successful. Maddie wanted to go for a drive and I never turn down an opportunity to get into the car, so we drove. We also forgot to look at the exits and ended up in Wisconsin. We crossed the border, took a picture (because Madeline has never been to WI) and then headed back. Ha, I thought, as we got back on the highway, we should just use my GPS.
You have a GPS? Maddie asks in exasperation.
I forgot, I lamely explained.
We named the GPS Gretchen (because she sounds mean) and then followed her directions all over Illinois, taking the back roads. We finally arrived at Ikea, which is actually only about a half hour from my house.
The place is a wonderland. I encourage you to Google it. It's like the Target of home furnishings, but on steroids. Amazing.
Also, they have 50 cent hot dogs. I mean, I would drive nearly anywhere for a 50 cent hot dog.

I got a desk, a chair and a bookshelf, as well as a new thermos for tea, some candles and wall pictures. My room is turning into a floral/impressionist/scenery sanctuary. It's colorful, but full of blues and greens. Comfortable.

Graduation news: Commencement will be held on the Lake Shore campus (sorry, not downtown) on Friday May 14, 2010 at 7pm. You should come. I'm assuming someone will buy me a sweet cake. I'll probably do that myself. It won't be chocolate. It will have chocolate frosting. It will not be in Loyola colors. Maybe I can get them to put my name and the year, obviously, but then superimpose a map of the Chicago transit system onto the cake. Or I could do that myself. Oooh, that isn't actually a bad idea. Anyway, Maddie and I were thinking of having a joint graduation party, but I think that idea has long since flown out the window. Maybe we'll have an open house? The only problem is my apartment is on the third floor of a walk-up. And old people (not anyone you know, of course) wouldn't be able to make it up and down those stairs. Trust me, I sometimes have a hard time.

So tired for some reason. Need to make it to the gym but I won't have time before night class.

I had a dream last night that I'm not going to get into DU. Back up preparations must begin. Apparently, MSCD is getting an MSW program, but not until fall 2011. Could go then? Maybe will get a PR job or do freelancing or something lame for awhile.
DPS is still a possibility.
So is that romance novel. Everyone who's read by BDSM paper thinks I have the chops for prose writing. That was a weird sentence and I understand that very little should be based off of a paper I wrote less than twelve hours before it was due.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. So much theory packed into six hours is nearly overwhelming. I've lost the ability to look at anything without thinking about the feminist perspective. It's killing my reality tv, my rap music, my social life. The other day, I stopped a conversation about something to discuss the linguistic connotations that the words we were using had. While it's not a bad thing to be more aware of the hidden gender messages and ideas in society (blah, blah), it's annoying to have your mind constantly inundated with ideas about it.
Sometimes the Beastie Boys are just the Beastie Boys.

The weekend was fun. I'll put up some pictures.