I just ordered something on ebay only to realize after verifying the payment that the shipping address listed was my old apartment - AGAIN. I made this exact same mistake earlier this week, resulting in confusion and annoyance and my ending up accidentally purchasing TWO of everything I had ordered. Gah.
Paper goes on. I'm about to write the conclusion, and then it will be more or less done. Yay. I got the characteristic "fantastic!" in class today for my presentation, so here's hoping.
It's my brother's birthday. Happy birthday Ben! Hopefully this shipping nonsense will get straightened out in time for you to receive your traditional birthday/Christmas naked Frenchmen extravaganza. ;-)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
It always happens all at once, doesn't it?
So I'm in the middle of paper-writing hell, my students are overflowing my inbox with their final papers, my family is in the midst of some sort of messy reorganization of understandings, I'm gaining a nice little layer of winter fat, and it just snowed and iced for 36 hours.
Sigh.
Driving to class last night was quite an adventure. We had out first real storm last night and today, and the roads were shamefully awful. I'm not sure if it's assumed, because this is Wisconsin, that everyone is so rugged they don't need their roads plowed or if Madison just sucks at snow removal, but anything that wasn't a major road was deadly. And will be all winter, I'm sure - I remember now how bad it was last year. We ended up having to park at the bottom of the street and walk up to the house, since there's a huge hill leading up. And damn, my car was not going to do that. Nope. I'm not a bad driver in the snow, really, and it doesn't scare my in and of itself, nor have I ever gotten in a snow-related accident. But man. Last night was bad.
Also, I finally looked up how to set custom shortcut keys in Word, because every time I write a paper I wish I had a shortcut for footnotes. And I can't get the damn thing to work. It's annoying. Any helpful hints?
Since I began this entry, my paper has expanded from 10 1/2 pages to 15 1/2. Go me. Too bad I didn't craft an idea that would actually fit in 20 pages, or I'd be home free.
Sigh.
Driving to class last night was quite an adventure. We had out first real storm last night and today, and the roads were shamefully awful. I'm not sure if it's assumed, because this is Wisconsin, that everyone is so rugged they don't need their roads plowed or if Madison just sucks at snow removal, but anything that wasn't a major road was deadly. And will be all winter, I'm sure - I remember now how bad it was last year. We ended up having to park at the bottom of the street and walk up to the house, since there's a huge hill leading up. And damn, my car was not going to do that. Nope. I'm not a bad driver in the snow, really, and it doesn't scare my in and of itself, nor have I ever gotten in a snow-related accident. But man. Last night was bad.
Also, I finally looked up how to set custom shortcut keys in Word, because every time I write a paper I wish I had a shortcut for footnotes. And I can't get the damn thing to work. It's annoying. Any helpful hints?
Since I began this entry, my paper has expanded from 10 1/2 pages to 15 1/2. Go me. Too bad I didn't craft an idea that would actually fit in 20 pages, or I'd be home free.
Monday, December 8, 2008
SO to SOs
SO to finding some sweet Christmas deals on ebay.
ASO to ebay for eating way too much of my time lately.
ASO to academic paper-writing for not being like riding a bike - turns out you CAN forget.
SO to Andy for being awesome
SO to boots of beer. Always a good idea.
SO to having a camera again. Goodness I've missed it.
ASO to the fact that I'm not going to finish all my papers. Boo.
ASO to this weather costing me 125 bucks. Boo.
SO to Dominos thin-crust pizza with pineapple.
SO to being home in 11 days.
ASO to ebay for eating way too much of my time lately.
ASO to academic paper-writing for not being like riding a bike - turns out you CAN forget.
SO to Andy for being awesome
SO to boots of beer. Always a good idea.
SO to having a camera again. Goodness I've missed it.
ASO to the fact that I'm not going to finish all my papers. Boo.
ASO to this weather costing me 125 bucks. Boo.
SO to Dominos thin-crust pizza with pineapple.
SO to being home in 11 days.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Best bar convo in awhile
So last night at the Come Back, Kevin and Andy and I got into a conversation about who from the department they would like to see fight each other. It was surprisingly awesome.
So I'm opening the floor - who would you want to see fight?
So I'm opening the floor - who would you want to see fight?
Saturday, December 6, 2008
A big moment
Today, I start writing my first seminar paper since May.
I don't know about others in my cohort, but for me it's kind of a big moment. You open that new Word document, you write your name and the class and all that bullshit on the top, you pull some stupid title out of your ass and center it, and then - you are committed. This is your paper, it must be written, and here we go. It's like that part in "The Wasteland" where they're on the top of the hill in the sled: "And down we went - we went down."* You're writing this, here we go, and who knows what will come of it.
Of course, then you have to write the introduction, which sucks, and then you have to figure out how you're going to organize the paper, which is inevitably different from the outline you've meticulously crafted, which sucks, and then you discover that even though you only need 20 pages your idea is like, 30 pages at least, and that sucks. But still, it's a nice feeling - I'm ready to change my 35-odd pages of notes into 25-odd pages of questionably coherent prose.
Another integral part of the paper-writing process is wasting time. Last year around this time, as I recall, it was a lot of food blogs and shopping for the trip to LA I thought I'd be taking. This year it's mostly Christmas shopping and ebay searches for secondhand designer jeans. As anyone who's spoken to me at any length since my return from California this summer, I've developed an almost unhealthy love of my one pair of designer jeans, some battered Rock & Republics I found in a West Hollywood thrift store for 40 bucks. They are magical. Never in my life have I owned jeans that managed to be so very much better than all my other jeans that comparison is laughable. The fact that they're secondhand only makes them more wonderful, since as everyone knows, worn-in jeans are always better than brand-new ones. My Rockins, as I affectionately (and probably annoyingly) refer to them, are God's way of telling me that I belong in LA, but also that it's true what all those annoyingly smug and grown-up people say - it's better to invest in one really nice thing that a bunch of meh things.
So yes. Cue my taking a break every 30 minutes to check ebay prices, scrutinize blurry photos to verify if the coin pocket is slanted at the proper angle rather than straight, which indicates a fake, to check my bank account and see that no, I still can't afford jack shit, and to wonder if well maybe I can afford that one pair that's at 67 right now, if they don't rise much before the auction ends.
The moral of the story is that one should write papers in internet-free places. I think the wireless movement is a scam to make sure none of us ever finish our degrees.
* That's the only part of "The Wasteland" I like, and I actually really love it. I had it explained to me in a really moving and significant way to me by one of the best professors I had in college, and so while the rest of the poem remains to me a closed book that's I'd probably stomp on and burn if given the option, I do love that line.
I don't know about others in my cohort, but for me it's kind of a big moment. You open that new Word document, you write your name and the class and all that bullshit on the top, you pull some stupid title out of your ass and center it, and then - you are committed. This is your paper, it must be written, and here we go. It's like that part in "The Wasteland" where they're on the top of the hill in the sled: "And down we went - we went down."* You're writing this, here we go, and who knows what will come of it.
Of course, then you have to write the introduction, which sucks, and then you have to figure out how you're going to organize the paper, which is inevitably different from the outline you've meticulously crafted, which sucks, and then you discover that even though you only need 20 pages your idea is like, 30 pages at least, and that sucks. But still, it's a nice feeling - I'm ready to change my 35-odd pages of notes into 25-odd pages of questionably coherent prose.
Another integral part of the paper-writing process is wasting time. Last year around this time, as I recall, it was a lot of food blogs and shopping for the trip to LA I thought I'd be taking. This year it's mostly Christmas shopping and ebay searches for secondhand designer jeans. As anyone who's spoken to me at any length since my return from California this summer, I've developed an almost unhealthy love of my one pair of designer jeans, some battered Rock & Republics I found in a West Hollywood thrift store for 40 bucks. They are magical. Never in my life have I owned jeans that managed to be so very much better than all my other jeans that comparison is laughable. The fact that they're secondhand only makes them more wonderful, since as everyone knows, worn-in jeans are always better than brand-new ones. My Rockins, as I affectionately (and probably annoyingly) refer to them, are God's way of telling me that I belong in LA, but also that it's true what all those annoyingly smug and grown-up people say - it's better to invest in one really nice thing that a bunch of meh things.
So yes. Cue my taking a break every 30 minutes to check ebay prices, scrutinize blurry photos to verify if the coin pocket is slanted at the proper angle rather than straight, which indicates a fake, to check my bank account and see that no, I still can't afford jack shit, and to wonder if well maybe I can afford that one pair that's at 67 right now, if they don't rise much before the auction ends.
The moral of the story is that one should write papers in internet-free places. I think the wireless movement is a scam to make sure none of us ever finish our degrees.
* That's the only part of "The Wasteland" I like, and I actually really love it. I had it explained to me in a really moving and significant way to me by one of the best professors I had in college, and so while the rest of the poem remains to me a closed book that's I'd probably stomp on and burn if given the option, I do love that line.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
It begins
While there was snow on the ground when I came back from NC, I didn't really see it fall in earnest until this morning, when I drove to my doctor's appointment. It was real enough this time - I fishtailed at least four times there and back, though not severely, and saw two accidents, one involving a Pepsi semi and a pickup truck. Ouch. But I managed to get there and back unscathed, and I even enjoyed it. After all, it's pretty, it wasn't too cold, and it makes me feel Christmasy. I bought my students candy canes in Walgreens afterwards, and though to myself as I walked to my office that there really is something about winter that feels good for the soul.
Of course, I couldn't feel my toes by the time I got to the elevators, so my good cheer was a bit dampened. But still. I don't mind snow at all, and will be happy to sip chai in my kitchen tonight while looking out the window at it. Provided there's any left. But since it's supposed to hit 12 tonight, I'm sure there will be.
Schoolwork goes on. I'm so laughably behind at this point I've almost given up being stressed. Why freak out when I simply know I'm not going to finish in time? I suppose it could happen, and I'm going to try my darndest, but...whatever. I've never taken an incomplete in my life, this has been one of the most annoying semesters of all time, and I just can't see working myself into a frenzy about it. It would only end badly - I'd have somewhere between one and three nervous breakdowns, I'd run my phone bill way up looking to my mother for advice, Andy would grow weary of my constant panicking and extreme self-doubt, and I probably *still* wouldn't finish. This way, I'll just be normal-freaked, I'll work as hard as I can, and if it doesn't happen...it doesn't happen.
Or so I tell myself. Check back in 5 days or so and we may be in a different frame of mind.
I still have like 75% of my Christmas shopping to do. Not sure when *that's* going to happen. Online shopping, here I come! I hit the cousins while at home - little girls are so damn easy - and I am pretty sure about my parents and Andy, though I've yet to buy anything, but beyond that...I got little. I'm sure it'll come together. I'm already so excited to be home again for Christmas. My room, my family, trees, gifts, Pee-Wee's Christmas special, a genuine reason to bake ceaselessly...should be good times. Plus, Andy and my sister appear to have become lifelong BFFs, so who am I to keep the team apart?
Man. Friggin' grad school. Getting in the way of unabashed Christmas cheer.
Of course, I couldn't feel my toes by the time I got to the elevators, so my good cheer was a bit dampened. But still. I don't mind snow at all, and will be happy to sip chai in my kitchen tonight while looking out the window at it. Provided there's any left. But since it's supposed to hit 12 tonight, I'm sure there will be.
Schoolwork goes on. I'm so laughably behind at this point I've almost given up being stressed. Why freak out when I simply know I'm not going to finish in time? I suppose it could happen, and I'm going to try my darndest, but...whatever. I've never taken an incomplete in my life, this has been one of the most annoying semesters of all time, and I just can't see working myself into a frenzy about it. It would only end badly - I'd have somewhere between one and three nervous breakdowns, I'd run my phone bill way up looking to my mother for advice, Andy would grow weary of my constant panicking and extreme self-doubt, and I probably *still* wouldn't finish. This way, I'll just be normal-freaked, I'll work as hard as I can, and if it doesn't happen...it doesn't happen.
Or so I tell myself. Check back in 5 days or so and we may be in a different frame of mind.
I still have like 75% of my Christmas shopping to do. Not sure when *that's* going to happen. Online shopping, here I come! I hit the cousins while at home - little girls are so damn easy - and I am pretty sure about my parents and Andy, though I've yet to buy anything, but beyond that...I got little. I'm sure it'll come together. I'm already so excited to be home again for Christmas. My room, my family, trees, gifts, Pee-Wee's Christmas special, a genuine reason to bake ceaselessly...should be good times. Plus, Andy and my sister appear to have become lifelong BFFs, so who am I to keep the team apart?
Man. Friggin' grad school. Getting in the way of unabashed Christmas cheer.
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