The Summer Before School Starts

There's something strange about summer--it always feels like time slows down, like we're lazily floating through a warm, humid river with sweat persistently running down our backs. I'm at a very strange limbo in my life right now. I'm working for myself-- bartending for events/weddings and doing some freelance public relations projects. I don't have a 9 to 5 schedule right now which is amazing but can make for some very unproductive days. I'll put off running simple errands for weeks...going to the bank, a haircut, putting real pants on...There is something to be said about the simple act of forcing yourself to wake up at 7am every day, putting on a semi-professional outfit, and sitting down at a hard cubicle desk for nine hours. Gives you some perspective on life. So I'm going to graduate school this fall. I'm pursuing a Masters Degree in Southern Studies at the most Southern of all Schools: Ole Miss, located in Faulkner-Land. Oxford, MS: a progressive but classic college town with extreme "Kentucky Derby" tailgating and plenty of good ole' boys. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. But I've got this down time this summer and it's driving me a bit batty. It's the age-old dilemma: plenty of time, but no money--whereas when you're working a lot, you've got the money but no time. All I want to do is hop on a plane and go to Tokyo and have a "Lost in Translation" moment. That's only...$3000 for a week? So here I sit in hot Austin, TX, staying with parents and working on my knitting skills. It feels exactly like the summer before I left for college...only not as fun, because when you're eighteen the world is your oyster and college is this mysterious adventureland set on a glimmering horizon, full of house parties and witty repartee. I'm hoping graduate school is more of a sophisticated dinner party.