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So I've been meaning to do a lot of academic reading/summary-writing this break to prepare myself for grad school (and to my defense, I downloaded a bunch of really delicious articles that I can't wait to get started on!), but instead I find that I've been rereading my childhood classics. Last night's batch included: A Little Princess, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and Ballet Shoes. Tonight: Heidi. It's pretty sick, but I just get so damned happy when I read that stuff, even though now, with a more critical lens in place, I realize that there's quite a few problematic areas in these old favorites. Ah well, I guess I just have to contextualize and forgive.

Speaking of contextualizing and forgiving, I finally saw the Sex and the City movie this afternoon. While I very much enjoyed it (the tv show got me through a rough breakup my freshmen year, so I'll always have a soft spot for the girls), I was also horrified by quite a few moments (especially the incredibly size-ist moment near the end with Samantha ,who, lets not shit ourselves, is totally fine and fit even with her so-called "pooch"). And don't even get me started on Don't Mess with the Zohan, which some of my friends unfortunately dragged me to a couple of days ago. I think my problem is that college has completely sapped me of my sense of "humor" (if that's what you want to call it) and heightened my sensitivity/critical response to certain jokes. Ah well, I suppose it's worth giving up a few cheap laughs if I'm more aware/sensitive to the assumptions/plays of power that are going on beneath the surface of particular "humorous" stereotypes. (Wow, that last statement sounded horribly elitist/pretentious. Forgive me as I stroke my beard sagaciously.)

Moving on, my days have mainly been filled with trying to relax and de-stress. I have started calling up some old friends to hang out (which I generally find stressful because I only go home twice a year, and generally for short periods of time, so there's a lot of people to see). We'll see how it goes. It's strange, most of us graduated this year, and so many people that I remember from way back in the day are going to grad school, getting jobs...gasp, growing up! It feels so strange...I still feel like a kid sometimes, like I'm play-acting this whole maturity business when all I want to do is hide in my bed and read Puffin/Apple classics all day. On the upside, though, I have three more weeks at home (where my mother will always make me feel like a kid...hah!) and then I move to my one-bedroom apartment near the university and start living completely by myself for the first time in my life.

...It feels so strange to type that. To even think that. Cue the old Toys R Us theme (I don't wanna grow up!) and the angst. Boohoohoo. Life goes on.