So who decided that once you turn 25 you will become hungover after drinking about 30-50% of what it used to take to reduce you to that state, and that the hangover in question would also be about 5 times worse?
Friggin body. Stupid aging. Annoying hangover that stole my precious Saturday. Lame lame lame.
Oh well. Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess - this reinforces further my resolution not to drink during the week. Though honestly, in this case it's more of a pewter lining at best. Silver plated, maybe.
Tomorrow I must lead two 50-minute discussions on Ezra Pound's Cantos. This will also be the second time ever I meet with my students.
So it's gonna be a busy Sunday.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
It is a truth universally acknowledged...
...that a book designated a Victorian novel should take place no early than 1730. I'm looking at you, Romola.
Also, it's pretty sweet that my boyfriend likes to cook. Right now he's fretting about how to make a sauce for our steak because his usual method won't work with a high-heat skillet. Hopefully he'll end up making his usual tasty fresh tomato improvised deliciousness.
Of course, this means *I* have to cook sometimes too, so as not to feel bad. But it's a worthwhile trade. Especially since his interest makes it so much easier to shop for his birthday and such.
Also, it's pretty sweet that my boyfriend likes to cook. Right now he's fretting about how to make a sauce for our steak because his usual method won't work with a high-heat skillet. Hopefully he'll end up making his usual tasty fresh tomato improvised deliciousness.
Of course, this means *I* have to cook sometimes too, so as not to feel bad. But it's a worthwhile trade. Especially since his interest makes it so much easier to shop for his birthday and such.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
It's nice to have an office at home
I love this apartment. The rooms are all great sizes, the wood floors make me happy, there's a garbage disposal I didn't even know about until I moved in, it's quiet...I'm just so content here. I think in a large way that's what's been missing from my life in Madison, and a reason I've had trouble settling down and being content to stay here another four years. I hated my first place, and while my apt last year was a huge step up and great in many ways, it was too small and dark to really feel like home, like somewhere worth putting roots down. But this place is different - and consequently I'm pretty good at fixing it up and keeping it that way. My friend Ravi offered to make up curtains for the front room, so we went out and bought some great fabric for them, plus some for throw pillows for the couch. I'm invested in this place...I could see myself here for three years with no trouble.
School is going pretty well. I'm shocking myself by actually doing most of my reading, which hasn't happened since...well, a long time ago. Now that I've proven I am off to a determined start, however, I'll probably prune back a little bit on the readings that seem uninteresting/irrelevant for me, and spend that time on my prelims list and on longer-term assignments. I like my classes pretty well, overall. I've really got to get going with Romola though...I'm about 50 pages in and beginning to be very passively interested, but before this I was so bored I considered skipping it. I mean, come on - I'm not Early Modern for a reason, I don't want to read about 15th century Italy. (And yes, I know it's "really" about Victorian Britain, but still.)
Teaching my first day of lit went tolerably well. As is usual, it seems, one of my sections seems like it will be easier than the other. But neither seems terrible. The first class gave me a sense of what to prepare better next time, and...yeah. Hopefully it'll work out. The idea of filling 50 minutes with discussion does fill me with some fear, since that was always the hardest thing about 100, but I'm confident I'll get better at it quickly.
If only T wasn't totally screwing me by making my next 2 weeks all about Modernist poetry...
Glossing over anything outside my own sphere, social life goes well. I've been seeing a lot of Ravi and Todd lately, which is great. Ravi's birthday, Dr. Horrible and curtain shopping are a few of the things we've been up to - and this weekend we're getting together for a Patrick Swazye tribute with Wong Fu and cocktails. I've seen Sarah and Lindsey an good amount too - though I've yet to see Lindsey's new place! And Barry comes over from time to time to chat and see the cats. Adding to that the numerous "it's still September!" department events, it's been a nice balance. It's nice to realize that I'm not lonely anymore.
The cats continue to be great. Polo's taken to surreptitiously following me around the house, which is pretty cute - though less so when he meows incessantly after I go to bed. I'm still pleased at how surprisingly low-maintenance they've proven to be, though I am a little sick of their inability to keep their litter and food in their proper recepticles and not all over my floor. But oh well...that's what my sweet new dustbuster is for, I guess.
Now if only Andy would recover from his allergies/cold, I'd be all set. :-)
School is going pretty well. I'm shocking myself by actually doing most of my reading, which hasn't happened since...well, a long time ago. Now that I've proven I am off to a determined start, however, I'll probably prune back a little bit on the readings that seem uninteresting/irrelevant for me, and spend that time on my prelims list and on longer-term assignments. I like my classes pretty well, overall. I've really got to get going with Romola though...I'm about 50 pages in and beginning to be very passively interested, but before this I was so bored I considered skipping it. I mean, come on - I'm not Early Modern for a reason, I don't want to read about 15th century Italy. (And yes, I know it's "really" about Victorian Britain, but still.)
Teaching my first day of lit went tolerably well. As is usual, it seems, one of my sections seems like it will be easier than the other. But neither seems terrible. The first class gave me a sense of what to prepare better next time, and...yeah. Hopefully it'll work out. The idea of filling 50 minutes with discussion does fill me with some fear, since that was always the hardest thing about 100, but I'm confident I'll get better at it quickly.
If only T wasn't totally screwing me by making my next 2 weeks all about Modernist poetry...
Glossing over anything outside my own sphere, social life goes well. I've been seeing a lot of Ravi and Todd lately, which is great. Ravi's birthday, Dr. Horrible and curtain shopping are a few of the things we've been up to - and this weekend we're getting together for a Patrick Swazye tribute with Wong Fu and cocktails. I've seen Sarah and Lindsey an good amount too - though I've yet to see Lindsey's new place! And Barry comes over from time to time to chat and see the cats. Adding to that the numerous "it's still September!" department events, it's been a nice balance. It's nice to realize that I'm not lonely anymore.
The cats continue to be great. Polo's taken to surreptitiously following me around the house, which is pretty cute - though less so when he meows incessantly after I go to bed. I'm still pleased at how surprisingly low-maintenance they've proven to be, though I am a little sick of their inability to keep their litter and food in their proper recepticles and not all over my floor. But oh well...that's what my sweet new dustbuster is for, I guess.
Now if only Andy would recover from his allergies/cold, I'd be all set. :-)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Not Enough Dull Moments
So school had started.
It's off to a decent start, actually. My classes seem interesting, for the most part - or at least, where they're not interesting I feel well able to ignore them. I've come back from summer with a mysterious but kind of awesome new interest/comprehension of theory and dense criticism. Not a perfect one by any stretch, or even a very good one. But a dramatic leap from where I was. It's such a nice feeling, when you feel yourself make progress at something you aren't good at. It's like a magic sign to keep doing what I'm doing, that sticking around is the right choice.
I've yet to teach, so no news there. I'll report back sometime after Monday. I'm starting with possibly my favorite book of all time, The Age of Innocence, which is both cool and kind of frightening.
I should be in bed right now since I've got to get up tomorrow morning for various things, but I'm mysteriously awake. So I've got the extras from the the UK version of The Office on, and I'm writing this aimless update. I suppose I could be doing my reading for Writing Center training tomorrow, but I'm all usefulled out for the day. Besides, why read about how to be good at my job when I could alternate between watching Polo try to balance on a chair top approximately 1/8 of his width and enjoying the antics of Ricky Gervais? After all, I can only watch these when Andy's gone, as he hates them. Got to grab these moments when I can.
...I have no idea what I'm even typing. I need to go to bed.
It's off to a decent start, actually. My classes seem interesting, for the most part - or at least, where they're not interesting I feel well able to ignore them. I've come back from summer with a mysterious but kind of awesome new interest/comprehension of theory and dense criticism. Not a perfect one by any stretch, or even a very good one. But a dramatic leap from where I was. It's such a nice feeling, when you feel yourself make progress at something you aren't good at. It's like a magic sign to keep doing what I'm doing, that sticking around is the right choice.
I've yet to teach, so no news there. I'll report back sometime after Monday. I'm starting with possibly my favorite book of all time, The Age of Innocence, which is both cool and kind of frightening.
I should be in bed right now since I've got to get up tomorrow morning for various things, but I'm mysteriously awake. So I've got the extras from the the UK version of The Office on, and I'm writing this aimless update. I suppose I could be doing my reading for Writing Center training tomorrow, but I'm all usefulled out for the day. Besides, why read about how to be good at my job when I could alternate between watching Polo try to balance on a chair top approximately 1/8 of his width and enjoying the antics of Ricky Gervais? After all, I can only watch these when Andy's gone, as he hates them. Got to grab these moments when I can.
...I have no idea what I'm even typing. I need to go to bed.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Blatant Disregard for Priorities
So school started this week, but I'm tired and the position of the cat on my lap makes it hard to type, so instead I will write briefly about my cats and my newly acquired propensity for breaking shit.
Cats. I like having them a lot. The two of them were the cats of a friend, but he has two other 14-year-old cats, and needed to clear the house a bit. I brought Penny home last Thursday, and she settled virtually instantly. A few hours of hiding, and then she was wandering all over us at 3 am wanting to be petted. (We now keep the cats out of the bedroom.) She's basically my ideal cat - very affectionate, likes to sit on your lap and be petted, but stops short of annoying. I was worried at first, but apparently only because I knew nothing about cats.
Polo, the other cat, came home on Thursday. His actions seem more typical of cats in general from what I've heard - lots of hiding and hissing. But every day he makes demonstrable progress - less hissing, less hiding. Still, his agenda from living with us reads something like this:
Day One: hiding in office closet and hissing hysterically when approached.
Day Two: hiding in closet, followed by cautious prowling around the office after his previous owner visited him.
Day Three: Hiding in closet, then an evening of slow wandering around the living room after being shut out of the office.
Day Four: Hiding behind the TV and under the bed, then some living room wandering, then hiding behind a row of books on a bottom shelf.
But every day he's out more, and I know that in general he's just a moody cat - some days as affectionate as a happy baby, other days as angry as a spinster aunt.
...oh man. I'm already a Cat Lady in the making.
As far as the breakage thing goes...I have no idea what's going on. In my first year in Madison, I think I *maybe* broke one drinking glass. Maybe. In my last apartment, that whole year, I broke two wine glasses and another drinking glass. (Give or take maybe one glass.)
Since moving into this apartment on August 15th, not even three weeks ago, I have broken *five* wine glasses. Five. For two of them I was admittedly a bit under the influence, but still...I drink no more here than at the last place, probably demonstrably less. That doesn't explain the increase. And then how do you account for the other three? The one I accidentally hit with the edge of the blanket I was wrapped in? The one that was standing in the sink and that I nudged a little with the plate I was washing, making it fall and shatter? The one I was *putting away* and accidentally bumped the edge against the shelf above just hard enough to crack it? At first I was just amusedly annoyed at myself, but it's getting to the point where it's like WTF. Three matching wine glasses is my happy minimum, and despite buying a new set two weeks ago, I am not at this stage. Why is this? No clue. I could blame shoddy American workmanship, but that seems uncharitble given the current economic climate. But I don't feel I've grown appreciably clumsier since a month ago, so...who knows. Maybe the place is haunted by a ghost who vents his pent-up anger at living women by causing them to break their own glasswork.
If you've got an alternate theory, feel free to submit it. (Except you, Andy.)
Cats. I like having them a lot. The two of them were the cats of a friend, but he has two other 14-year-old cats, and needed to clear the house a bit. I brought Penny home last Thursday, and she settled virtually instantly. A few hours of hiding, and then she was wandering all over us at 3 am wanting to be petted. (We now keep the cats out of the bedroom.) She's basically my ideal cat - very affectionate, likes to sit on your lap and be petted, but stops short of annoying. I was worried at first, but apparently only because I knew nothing about cats.
Polo, the other cat, came home on Thursday. His actions seem more typical of cats in general from what I've heard - lots of hiding and hissing. But every day he makes demonstrable progress - less hissing, less hiding. Still, his agenda from living with us reads something like this:
Day One: hiding in office closet and hissing hysterically when approached.
Day Two: hiding in closet, followed by cautious prowling around the office after his previous owner visited him.
Day Three: Hiding in closet, then an evening of slow wandering around the living room after being shut out of the office.
Day Four: Hiding behind the TV and under the bed, then some living room wandering, then hiding behind a row of books on a bottom shelf.
But every day he's out more, and I know that in general he's just a moody cat - some days as affectionate as a happy baby, other days as angry as a spinster aunt.
...oh man. I'm already a Cat Lady in the making.
As far as the breakage thing goes...I have no idea what's going on. In my first year in Madison, I think I *maybe* broke one drinking glass. Maybe. In my last apartment, that whole year, I broke two wine glasses and another drinking glass. (Give or take maybe one glass.)
Since moving into this apartment on August 15th, not even three weeks ago, I have broken *five* wine glasses. Five. For two of them I was admittedly a bit under the influence, but still...I drink no more here than at the last place, probably demonstrably less. That doesn't explain the increase. And then how do you account for the other three? The one I accidentally hit with the edge of the blanket I was wrapped in? The one that was standing in the sink and that I nudged a little with the plate I was washing, making it fall and shatter? The one I was *putting away* and accidentally bumped the edge against the shelf above just hard enough to crack it? At first I was just amusedly annoyed at myself, but it's getting to the point where it's like WTF. Three matching wine glasses is my happy minimum, and despite buying a new set two weeks ago, I am not at this stage. Why is this? No clue. I could blame shoddy American workmanship, but that seems uncharitble given the current economic climate. But I don't feel I've grown appreciably clumsier since a month ago, so...who knows. Maybe the place is haunted by a ghost who vents his pent-up anger at living women by causing them to break their own glasswork.
If you've got an alternate theory, feel free to submit it. (Except you, Andy.)
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Things (not Victorian)
So. Lots going on in the past month. Tons, really. My sister came, Andy and I went to Florida for our anniversary, we moved, I started training, and I'm in the process of getting two lovely cats from Ravi. Also a cappella drama, which will not be covered here at all.
I'm not even going to try to cover everything...while I hope to update more frequently now that we have DSL in the apartment (thought it doesn't actually work on my computer yet), it's not possible to get everything that's happened since my last post. Mostly I'm posting because Andy's been hounding me to do so ever since we got the internet working.
Things are going well. The apartment is coming together great; the only significant piece of furniture still missing is an island for the kitchen. It's much smaller than my old one, and there's virtually no counter space. We're planning to put the island against the wall and keep pots in it...thrilling, I know. The kitchen's nice though - recently refinished, two windows, a stove that's not completely crooked.
I brought the first of our two cats home tonight. Polo was a bit too distraught to make the journey; apparently bathing, brushing, having his snarls buzzed off and the sight of the pet taxi were too much for him, and so we thought it would be good to give him another night. But I brought Penny home with me, and she's doing as well as can be expected considering she's moved from a huge, well-decorated modern home into our two-bedroom. She hisses when approached too fast, but she's not hiding in a closet either. I know from my year of rehearsals at Ravi's that she's really a very sweet cat...basically self-petting if you leave any limbs hanging over your seat. She looks like a normal-sized Aiko (if you know Aiko), and it makes me happy to have a cat in the house. I've wanted one for ages.
School...well, subject for another time. But it's gonna be a big semester.
I'm not even going to try to cover everything...while I hope to update more frequently now that we have DSL in the apartment (thought it doesn't actually work on my computer yet), it's not possible to get everything that's happened since my last post. Mostly I'm posting because Andy's been hounding me to do so ever since we got the internet working.
Things are going well. The apartment is coming together great; the only significant piece of furniture still missing is an island for the kitchen. It's much smaller than my old one, and there's virtually no counter space. We're planning to put the island against the wall and keep pots in it...thrilling, I know. The kitchen's nice though - recently refinished, two windows, a stove that's not completely crooked.
I brought the first of our two cats home tonight. Polo was a bit too distraught to make the journey; apparently bathing, brushing, having his snarls buzzed off and the sight of the pet taxi were too much for him, and so we thought it would be good to give him another night. But I brought Penny home with me, and she's doing as well as can be expected considering she's moved from a huge, well-decorated modern home into our two-bedroom. She hisses when approached too fast, but she's not hiding in a closet either. I know from my year of rehearsals at Ravi's that she's really a very sweet cat...basically self-petting if you leave any limbs hanging over your seat. She looks like a normal-sized Aiko (if you know Aiko), and it makes me happy to have a cat in the house. I've wanted one for ages.
School...well, subject for another time. But it's gonna be a big semester.
Friday, July 31, 2009
"Well...what if I already did?"
My sister comes tomorrow!
In less than 12 hours, she'll be here in Madison. Though I've been too stressed and busy lately to be as excited as I should be by her visit, that doesn't mean I'm any less pumped about her coming. Now it's like a nice surprise, almost - I had forgotten how great it would make me feel to have her coming, and now I remember. We've never had time together like this. We've bonded a lot on family vacations, through email and phone and during holidays. But this is the first time we'll be together without any other members of the Tarsa clan, with our own base of operations and our own time. And I'm really excited. I miss my sister a lot. I get too preoccupied with my own anxieties and such about life here, and I have been forgetting how much comfort and support (and amusemen) my siblings can give me. Having Kitten (Kat to...well, everyone who's not me) here in my home and my city lets us catch up and fool around without the pressure we've always had before of other family around. Now, it's just me and her.
And I'm excited. We'll see the Farmer's Market, go biking, eat at some good restaurants, do karaoke, stay up late, bake things, bicker about family drama, maybe see a movie together, and rock out to the melodious sound of the Decemberists. I love Kat so much, am so proud of all she's done in the past few years, and I can't wait to spend this time with her. It's gonna be friggin' sweet.
I know all blood is thicker than water, but I can't help but feel that Tarsa blood is even thicker than that - like cold molasses. Not because we're such an upright, ancient and proper family, but the opposite - we're eccentric and dwindling and loud and passionate, and I feel lucky to be bonded to this crazy group of family members by such alternately practical and outlandish traits.
And these next five days should be *sweet*.
(Also, then I go to Florida with Andy. And that will also be incredibly sweet. The forecast for the next two weeks look great.)
(Until we come back, and then there's The Move. Which will be less than sweet. My books, my clothes and accessories, my furniture and kitchen, plus Andy's clothes, furniture, accessories, few kitchen things...and like, 1500 books. (This is a conservative estimate.) We're gonna have a busy week before the move. But I'm still completely excited to be in a new place - big enough not only for both our things, but so that we can be in the same apartment but being separate doing our own thing. It will have doors! An office that can be closed off from the house - but that also has a good set of windows to let the light in. A bedroom that is not also the living room and the study. A stove that is not the same width as my Ancient Rhetoric textbook. It's a good deal.
Common wisdom says summer is almosr over. I'm not buying it. I don't start teaching or taking classes for more than a month; that's as long from now as Rhythm and Booms was from now. Awhile. Sure I have training and Caroline's paper and Welcome Week shit and all, but...summer's not over. It's just time to begin thinking about the semester, and...really, I'm ready. Provided I finished my accursed incomplete, I'm ready. I'm happy to be beginning my last year of classes with three that I am so excited about.
So...though there's been a lot of stress, and anxiety, and various other negative feelings, overall things are going pretty well for me, and I think that, even though I'm booked solid from tomorrow through the 16th, they will continue like so. After that...well, despite an inevitably stressful move I'll have just taken a nice vacation, and I'll be living in a new place with better light and enough space for all our things. I'll get two wonderful cats, I'll be able to play decorater, and I'll love being at home. This should help me finish my paper, since I'll be reveling in being home and be pleased to make it a place of work as well as leisure. And then the semester whirl begins, and hopefully all will go well.
I don't always feel great about my life of late, but that doesn't change the fact that is *is* great. I have a real summer, a superlative boyfriend, lots of fun friends to relax with, a bike that works like new, and so many other advantages.
It's different from last summer, but it's really just as wonderful, though in different ways.
Which is good, because two good summers of fun will help balance out next summer, when I will have to fight off freakouts and meltdowns and all kinds of panic. I just hope the perspective I've gained through these summers will last into the next.
Or that I get a grant that allows me to move somewhere tropical while I study. That works too.
In less than 12 hours, she'll be here in Madison. Though I've been too stressed and busy lately to be as excited as I should be by her visit, that doesn't mean I'm any less pumped about her coming. Now it's like a nice surprise, almost - I had forgotten how great it would make me feel to have her coming, and now I remember. We've never had time together like this. We've bonded a lot on family vacations, through email and phone and during holidays. But this is the first time we'll be together without any other members of the Tarsa clan, with our own base of operations and our own time. And I'm really excited. I miss my sister a lot. I get too preoccupied with my own anxieties and such about life here, and I have been forgetting how much comfort and support (and amusemen) my siblings can give me. Having Kitten (Kat to...well, everyone who's not me) here in my home and my city lets us catch up and fool around without the pressure we've always had before of other family around. Now, it's just me and her.
And I'm excited. We'll see the Farmer's Market, go biking, eat at some good restaurants, do karaoke, stay up late, bake things, bicker about family drama, maybe see a movie together, and rock out to the melodious sound of the Decemberists. I love Kat so much, am so proud of all she's done in the past few years, and I can't wait to spend this time with her. It's gonna be friggin' sweet.
I know all blood is thicker than water, but I can't help but feel that Tarsa blood is even thicker than that - like cold molasses. Not because we're such an upright, ancient and proper family, but the opposite - we're eccentric and dwindling and loud and passionate, and I feel lucky to be bonded to this crazy group of family members by such alternately practical and outlandish traits.
And these next five days should be *sweet*.
(Also, then I go to Florida with Andy. And that will also be incredibly sweet. The forecast for the next two weeks look great.)
(Until we come back, and then there's The Move. Which will be less than sweet. My books, my clothes and accessories, my furniture and kitchen, plus Andy's clothes, furniture, accessories, few kitchen things...and like, 1500 books. (This is a conservative estimate.) We're gonna have a busy week before the move. But I'm still completely excited to be in a new place - big enough not only for both our things, but so that we can be in the same apartment but being separate doing our own thing. It will have doors! An office that can be closed off from the house - but that also has a good set of windows to let the light in. A bedroom that is not also the living room and the study. A stove that is not the same width as my Ancient Rhetoric textbook. It's a good deal.
Common wisdom says summer is almosr over. I'm not buying it. I don't start teaching or taking classes for more than a month; that's as long from now as Rhythm and Booms was from now. Awhile. Sure I have training and Caroline's paper and Welcome Week shit and all, but...summer's not over. It's just time to begin thinking about the semester, and...really, I'm ready. Provided I finished my accursed incomplete, I'm ready. I'm happy to be beginning my last year of classes with three that I am so excited about.
So...though there's been a lot of stress, and anxiety, and various other negative feelings, overall things are going pretty well for me, and I think that, even though I'm booked solid from tomorrow through the 16th, they will continue like so. After that...well, despite an inevitably stressful move I'll have just taken a nice vacation, and I'll be living in a new place with better light and enough space for all our things. I'll get two wonderful cats, I'll be able to play decorater, and I'll love being at home. This should help me finish my paper, since I'll be reveling in being home and be pleased to make it a place of work as well as leisure. And then the semester whirl begins, and hopefully all will go well.
I don't always feel great about my life of late, but that doesn't change the fact that is *is* great. I have a real summer, a superlative boyfriend, lots of fun friends to relax with, a bike that works like new, and so many other advantages.
It's different from last summer, but it's really just as wonderful, though in different ways.
Which is good, because two good summers of fun will help balance out next summer, when I will have to fight off freakouts and meltdowns and all kinds of panic. I just hope the perspective I've gained through these summers will last into the next.
Or that I get a grant that allows me to move somewhere tropical while I study. That works too.
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