Wow, it has been a minute or two since I've posted. The reason being that I totally fell off of the face of the Earth. Seriously, it was straight Pirates of the Caribbean style. Just floating along in my gigante wooden ship and all of a sudden holy crap, there was this waterfall thing that took me deep into the bowels of...finals week.

And while finals week is not, in fact the face of the Earth, it is-as I learned-the gaping mouth of hell. Complete with all nighters, gratuitous alcohol coffee consumption, books I hadn't touched since the beginning of the semester, and the random late night sobering mind clearing jogs.

But I have come out on the other side of finals week, miraculously victorious! And much more than that, it was my last finals week ever! That's because more than books and coffee and alcohol jogging; I graduated this week! I am now an official diploma wielding alum of the University of Tulsa! (Go c/o 2009!)

And you know what graduation means...
No not tacky polyester caps and gowns and tassels
It means shopping!
Which I have done lots of lately on the tab of all the family members who sent me money! (Thanks you guys! My summer shoes collection is now complete....ish)

It also means reading which I've done a lot of. Just cracked open Kiss the Sky by Farai Chideya. Who doesn't love books about wannabe rock stars? Harvard bound wannabe rock stars? Right... Plus there's a playlist for the book in the very back. What else could you want?

Other things that happened during crazy time:
-Broke camera...again
-Lied to mom for a good reason that made her cry tears of happiness on Mother's Day
-rung the Graduate bell in Sharp Plaza four times even though tradition only calls for it once
-Made a lot of cake
-Ate a taco salad and chipped my tooth so bad I have to go to the dentist on Wednesday (shudders)
-Thought I had Swine Flu
-Revised manuscript twice because I realized the first time I was more reading than revising...
-Watched 17 Again and had the earth shattering realization that Zac Efron is, in fact, a hottie
-Read 4 books instead of study
-Got 5 A's (still waiting to hear from last class) to round out my college GPA out to a yummy 3.5!!!
-Meet new baby cousin
-Rocked a fabulous yellow dress

So far the summer has started out pretty good and with the summer goal of getting hired abroad and hopefully getting a lit agent (and not going completely broke in Vegas...), I'm hoping this shall be the best one yet! Wish me luck.

H.A.K.A.S.

Casey

What was your best summer memory?

I picked up a new book at work the other day. College Girl by Patricia Weitz and I've got to admit...the whole thing is like a massive case of deja vu! Because while I may be in the mid/southwest and not the northeast, or still living in the dorms at TU (thank god) this is totally my life! The story follows senior history major Natalie Bloom through her trials of love, confusion about still growing up when you're supposed to already be grown, and facing the harsh reality of graduating from college and not really feeling like you've gained much of anything (other than copious amounts of alcohol in your system and student loans). I'm only about a third of the way through but it's definitely good already. A Face Out in my opinion.

Okay, so I totally left the house this morning intending to just get my paycheck from work...and I kinda came back with a new laptop. Which, you know, happens sometimes. I still have my old one but it was on its last legs. Okay, it was down to nubs by now but she was trying. Like the little search engine that could. I'm thinking about holding a funeral service for it. Maybe a wake, really short, intimate. Only a couple of friends to properly celebrate the life and times of a good little soldier. However, this new laptop also meant that I got the full Vista experience for the first time...not much more that needs to be said about that...

After playing around with my laptop for a while I went to the zoo today with my best friend in search of hippos (come on, big bodies and cute little bear ears it doesn't get much better than that...okay I obviously watched Fantasia one too many times as a child) but no such luck. We did see the flamingos though, and as everyone knows, pink trumps all.

Naturally after a day on safari, and generally walking around in the Oklahoma sun, we decided to hit up McNeille's (awesome bar with about a million different kinds of beer) afterwards but it only made me sadder because I had been there only a few days earlier for another friend's going away dinner party.

He and his girlfriend-who totally hooked up at my 21st birthday party, you know, in between all the Cuervo shots they made me do-are moving to Palo Alto,CA because he got a job at Facebook. Which, the last I checked, was supposed to BRING friends together and not TEAR them apart. Haha, but alas, it's an awesome opportunity and I'm just sour grapes because I'd love to move to Cali.

Talked a bit about next year and now my friend and I are thinking about teaching in South Korea instead of Japan depending on the job market. We both have lots of love for both cultures-and their foods-so it's really a win-win. I just can't wait to get back to Asia. Night markets are an amazing trend that America really needs to pick up on.

So are 24 hour karaoke rooms/norebang.

And Soju.

Listening to the new Wonder Girls trilogy album. So cute! I could listen to the song Nobody forever. Or until it made my most played list on my iPod. Whichever came first...
Love,
Casey