about – 2008, less cranky
in journal
i’m andrea hull. i started this website in late 2002 in an attempt to keep my family from worrying what i was doing with my life way out there in los angeles, while they were across the country in maryland still. also, i wanted to learn html – so i got some books, opened up a free geocities page, and sat for hours at unused computers in ucla’s research library. about three months later, i bought this domain, mellowtrouble.net – named after mellow and trouble, two of my four cats at the time – and i haven’t regretted it since.
after college in philly, i drove across the country, heading towards los angeles, and ended up staying there for almost seven years. after a few fairly amazing years, i went to graduate school, getting my master’s degree in library science at ucla, and living in the best little apartment ever in the middle of koreatown, close to downtown l.a. i really miss my life there still and i wonder if i’ll ever get anything close to that back again.
there were a few different reasonas i moved back to maryland, but largely it was because i felt that i needed to spend some real time with my family, beyond the long weekends of the holidays. i have six nieces and nephews and they all live within twenty minutes of my parent’s home, where i grew up, and i didn’t want to be that aunt. so, as much as i hated leaving l.a., i did, on halloween 2006. about a year later, my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and after a truly horrible, cruel, & difficult ten months, he died july 22, 2008, on his 41st anniversary. i think we’re all still in shock that he even got sick, much less isn’t here any more.
i give myself about a year to come to grips with all this, to vent out my anger and unhappiness about it, as much as possible, and then hopefully.. well, there’s two things i’ve learned very clearly this year: a) things can always be worse and b) who knows what the future will bring. i mean, if my dad, a marathon-runner and the healthiest and youngest-looking sixty-two year old you’d ever meet, can get sick and die in ten months of a rare and cruel disease, i mean really, that goes to show that life can just be insane and with absolutely no logic sometimes.
.. ok, so more generally, here’s who i am too: 5’2”, middle child, (mostly) vegetarian, polyglot, half-bolivian, southpaw, pisces, bookworm, thirty-one, moody, and a very good aunt. also, i love: my family, cruising around on bikes, dancing in my room, cooking, eating, being woken up well , showering, kissing, reading, laughing, knitting, spinning, making things generally, high heels and platform shoes, traveling, exploring new places, riding on the bus, old songs from the 20s-60s, chatting, twirling with or without a child in my arms, cats, the full moon, babies, watching birds soar, midwifery, politics, gardening, figuring out how to make this website even better, and diving into memories. there more i love, but it’s private.
i’m a pretty angry person right now – but don’t worry, it seems to still be fairly interesting to read. and i do vary a lot – i try to be chipper and since that’s my general personality anyhow – beyond the recent trauma – it comes out a lot.
thanks for reading ~
