Where did February go? 

In general, things are going well. I have an adorable new car. I took the Greyhound to Dallas to pick her up yesterday. My dad surprised me with a copy of the new Radiohead and a Starbucks card when he picked me up at the bus station in my new car! I drove back to Austin last night. All in all an incredible day. 

I've been staying on top of my exercise so far. Of course, I've not lost a pound, but I feel better, which I've decided is good enough for the moment. I really love my new friends in grad school. It's great to have friends with similar goals and schedules and interesting ideas and love for reading and life at the same time. I'm trying my hardest to stay connected to my old friends too. I think I'm doing okay, but I always feel as though I'm failing someone. 

I'm looking forward to spring break, because I've decided to stay in Austin and actually attend parts of SXSW for once. I've actually never done so before! An old high school friend may come visit for part of the week too, with promises of going to shows and possibly dancing. Plus, many of my new grad school friends will stick around as well. So I'm excited! 

I'm also looking forward to the time to begin a short research paper on Darwinism in Texas. I've yet to write a historical research paper for grad school, and this one seems particularly interesting to me with my growing interest in the history of religion and science in the US. I'll get to try my hand at real archival research, which will help me to be sure that this is the right kind of work for me. After all, writing about Kierkegaard from the comfort of JP's Java is not the same as hiding from the sun for hours at the HRC. 

Generally, life is good.