I heart authenticity

I snatched the chance to get my surf on this afternoon, and stumbled across a list of things to do if you are a small, inconsequential blogger looking for ideas, or if you are generally down and out about being a small, inconsequential blogger. Or if your name's Alyse and you have been out of the country for a month watching Australian soap operas with your boyfriend's parents all day. Funny how they know these things.
I actually didn't avail of most of the tips, one of which was to write yourself a little note saying "I Heart Authenticity". If you care to interpret that bit of e-poetry, leave a comment, or do what I did and don't bother. Though I haven't written myself a hoo-rah hellraiser of a pep talk as suggested, I decided to take the time and blog, so as to not lose my 5 readers.
I have just over a week left here (back Sunday the 19th) and the responsibilities of home life are beginning to stretch their gangly little tentacles across the Atlantic to tap me on the shoulder. I spent a couple of nights this week putting together a resume in the hopes of getting a newspaper job when I get back. I also had to check my tuition balance, wire a car payment, and begin to buy gifts for my family: locally made honey and strawberry preserves. I couldn't resist, having just finished Barbara Kingsolver's book (linked under "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" on the left) about local and organic eating. What with the homesickness, I was actually looking forward to the time when I could get back into the swing of things at home, but it's hard straddling an ocean that way.
Edmund calls it "getting broody" when a biological clock is ticking somewhere, and I suspect I am falling prey to the Quarter-Century Syndrome as well. Friends of ours here are fixing up their house for a barbeque this weekend, and I haven't made any attempt to disguise my jealousy when Aine (say an-ya)goes to pick out new deck furniture, lighting fixtures, and landscaping. Maybe I'm ready to nest, maybe I just like shopping for pretty things. A little from Column A, a little from Column B. I've linked a few of the apartments we've looked at online under Link-o-matic if anyone's interested in seeing the real estate equivalent of spending your life savings on a lifetime supply of Dubble Bubble.