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This month I deal not with the past, but with the present. I turn my eye from the annals of years gone by and to the story being written as we watch. Last week, I did something I’d never done before. For the first time in my life, I became truly independent. I have a real-person job, a real-person apartment, real-person bills, and all the other boons and beestings that come with being a real person. And boy, has it been a week. TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY: On Tuesday I drove the 10-hour trek back to Grinnell. My life is still in boxes. I don’t have too many (they fit snugly but comfortably in my small real-person car, another new thing in my life), but my apartment isn’t all that large and until I figure out an organization system I’ll be stepping over and around piles of cardboard. I put my real-person menu on the fridge and began real-person cooking for myself. I think I like my apartment but really wish it had internet.
THURSDAY: My first day of work was thoroughly nondescript. I should probably tell you what my job is: I was selected as the Post-Baccalaureate Fellow for Grinnell’s Theatre department (a fancy way of saying scene shop intern), and as I’d been working there for three years, there wasn’t too much to do in the way of orientation. And we don’t have designs for our shows yet, so Erik (our TD; my boss) and I just did housekeeping stuff and continued preparing for a couple upcoming events scheduled in our spaces. Thursday evening my friend Scott, who’s going to grad school at the University of Iowa an hour away, came down and visited. It was reeeeally great to see him. One of the reasons I’m so pleased with my job is that Scott is an hour away and Abby, the third member of our teetotaling triumvirate, is going to be back in Grinnell for spring semester. It’ll be just like senior year, except that we won’t have homework! (Well, Abby and I won’t…) He brought veggies, we baked some salmon, and ate dinner off of my coffee table, sitting on the floor. Afterwards we went out to Dari Barn for dessert—an essential Grinnell establishment, the best ice cream joint this side of anywhere—and watched a couple episodes of Sense8 (so good). It was an amazing evening and I can’t wait to visit his mansion of an apartment in Iowa City. FRIDAY: Half day at work; we’re doing student staff orientation on Saturday, so Erik took the morning off. Exciting news, though: my bedframe arrived! Since I got here I’ve been sleeping on couch cushions on the floor because, well, I had no bed. Now I’m one step closer to comfy nights with real-person sheets. The second step is to suck it up and drop money I don’t want to spend on a mattress. I wouldn’t be so hesitant if I were going to be in Grinnell for more than nine months… but so it goes, I s’pose. WEEKEND: Slow. Easy-going. Spending more money than I should have on food, desperately trying to get my kitchen well-stocked. Finally getting my chore chart up. Realizing that most recipes, if made for only one person, leave way more leftovers than I have Tupperware space. Really wishing my first paycheck wasn't three whole weeks out. MONDAY: Back to work, except this time with an exhilarating new twist! This time my legs hurt! Sunday was leg day and I think I’d be better off pulling myself along with my arms. And of course today is the day we do all the work in the catwalk. But, for every patch of darkness there’s a swatch of light: now I really appreciate elevators and all the ways they help my legs us. So that’s my life this week! I think I’ve settled into a routine. We’ll see how long I can keep it up. I hit the gym in the morning and afternoon, have time to go for walks after dinner, and curl up with my favorite fantasy series (Terry Brooks’ Shannara books) before dozing off on my floor cushions. I like my boss, I like my coworkers, my friends are close by, and I’ll have plenty of opportunity to be on stage. I don’t think the transition to real-personhood is finished, but I’d say it’s begun with a resounding success. Signing off, Ian, Certified Real Person
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