SubscribeShe said yes
I’m engaged. *tickled*
For Allison
Happy Valentine’s Day.
I would do anything *four* love
On the 28th of October, my girlfriend, Allison, and I celebrated our fourth year together (see writeups for our third and second; the first predates this blog). What began sixth months ago as the vague intentions of going to see something on Broadway eventually morphed into a weekend-long celebration that involved a lot of driving.
Go Western, young man!
Disclosure • This blog entry deals with a lot of people and a lot of places. Although nothing I could divulge has any reasonable expectation of privacy, I am still hesitant to include too much identifying information about parties who may not wish to be associated with this blog or its content. I am largely eschewing the use of any names beyond mine and Allison’s, including any relevant fraternities or sororities.
The Rising Action
I spent the past weekend in Macomb, Illinois, a little bucolic ‘burb in the middle of a vast stretch of corn and grass. In any other circumstance, this sleepy little town of about 20′000 people would be entirely unexceptional—it is quintessentially Midwestern, by which I mean that it is quintessentially dull. Officially founded in 1830, it didn’t gain its famous feature—Western Illinois University—until 1899. It enjoyed a brief relationship with the St. Louis Rams, who used WIU’s athletic facilities for summer training from 1996-2004.
I made the 3-hour drive west to see my girlfriend, Allison, who began her undergraduate studies there this fall, as you may recall if you read this rag regularly. We’d planned it for close to a month—I knew that visiting was a categorical imperative for me, but it was just difficult enough to remain an occasional thing. Sadly, no surprise visits or unexpected trips. Read the full article »
Friday Random Ten LXXXIII
The “Going to see Allison!” edition
- Calexico • Yours and Mine
- Sufjan Stevens • Decatur
- The Grand Silent System • Did
- Elend • Leçon de Ténèbres
- Leaves • Good Enough
- Low • Monkey
- Fiona Apple • The Way Things Are
- New Trolls • Concerto Grosso N. 1: I. Allegro
- The Dresden Dolls • Modern Moonlight
- Finger Eleven • Suffocate
Others spinning today (as of 12:30, when I leave work to head to Macomb to see my girlfriend at WIU):
This one’s for you
One week ago, I helped Allison move into her dorm at WIU. It’s been an interesting week since then for the both of us—she’s getting used to college and dorm life, I’m suddenly faced with an abundance that’s both nice and horrible, and we’ve both had to adjust to the long distance relationship paradigm.
I don’t know how people did it before cell phones and digital photos. For all the asking people did about how we were going to manage, I admit that we seem to be doing just swimmingly so far. Long distances change the dynamics of a relationship, but it’s not always a deficiency: when she comes home for a family reunion on Labor Day weekend, or when I go down to visit her in late September, or when we celebrate our 4-year anniversary in October, the meetings will be that much sweeter. What’s more, Allison isn’t the sort of person who goes to college to drink and wash out her first year, so instead I get the supreme pleasure of seeing her grow as a person, and it makes me love her even more.
I know you’re out there reading this, Allison: I love you. You mean the world to me.
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