Moving Cross-post!
(for all 3 of you who didn't read the original?)

The following is a handy guide to DIY moving, with the wisdom of someone's who's moved out of dorms and apartments 1-2 times per year, every single damn year for the past six.

1. Encourage friends and family not to give you random things. When asked for present hints around the holidays or birthday time, think seriously about money, gift certificates, or nothing at all. Alternately, ask for an present that will replace a current item you own, but that is smaller.

2. Do not move in June, July, or August. Nevermind that Laura has broken this rule regularly.

3. Stairs are the enemy! Accept only ground floor dwellings!

4. Craigslist is your friend, but choose your Craigslist friends wisely. The girl who emails you back IN ALL CAPITALS ABOUT THAT TABLE, or the guy you call three times and finally answers in a daze saying he's just gotten done working a day and night shift back to back are never going to make it to your place. Line up another buyer.

5. Packing the car. Remember that maudlin email your aunt forwarded you about the professor who stood up in front of his class with a jar, and first he put in rocks, and then he put in pebbles, followed by sand and then water? Forget the whole life-metaphor thing, and apply this standard to packing. Place furniture and critical computer components in the car first, followed by bulky objects. Pack around with small objects, towels, blankets, etc., and finish out by doggedly cramming each individual piece of clothing you own into any available nook, cranny, or small pocket of air under the seat. (Yes, for serious. Suitcases are for wimps.) If your move has been a particularly stressful one, you may find this last step cathartic.

6. Before proceeding with any of these steps, check to make sure your vehicle is in good working order. Do not wait until 3 days before your move to turn your car's air conditioner on for the first time since September, only to find that your evaporator has cracked and leaked freon all over La Jolla. This is not recommended.

BLT

New Directions, and New Projects

1. I left graduate school. I'm moving back to Atlanta this week. And it's okay.
2. I'm playing around with the idea of doing a little freelance science writing, and as such, I have a new blog on the side.

Freezer dinners. Mmm.

Pizza, Part Whatever

Caramelized shallots, bacon, pancetta. Sauce made from whole fire roasted tomatoes, cooked down over low heat. Waste of time for mediocre result, that. Next time, just buy more good tasting pizza sauce.

Uncomfortable Realizations

Living on my own in California, I'm more petty, distracted, and irritable on an average day than I was on even the worst day in Atlanta.