I've wanted this for my future kitty for over a year! I can't wait to get one. Heck with offshore drilling or health care, people seem to be quite divided as to whether cats should be taken out for walks, jogs or other events in strollers. I wonder if the presidential candidates have an opinion on the issue? Some friends I've mentioned this to think it's crazy while others think it's cute and fun for both parent and kitty. I've read advice on how to get the cat acclimated to the stroller. It's probably not a good idea to just buy one, throw them inside and go for a spin. It's best to leave it out in the open, maybe put some toys inside and let them get used to sitting inside it in the house. I also wouldn't want to use it for vet appointments to avoid any negative conditioning effects.
Hopefully I'll be out jogging with the kitties next summer! Maybe we can even do a 5k together! Show those parents running with babies in strollers how it's done!
I had just gotten back from a conference in the spring of my second year of grad school.
Just a little Miami sunshine for the day. Not much to report for the day. I went into the office for awhile, and had a short conversation with JM. Lots of reading and other things to do - as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing more people tomorrow. With the conference craziness and spring break I feel that I haven't seen a lot of people in awhile. Desperate Housewives is on in an hour - a little treat for the day!
I did my first job application yesterday. It's for a small liberal arts school. The deadline was now and didn't require teaching, research statements, evidence of effective teaching or letters of rec. I just had to write a cover letter, send my vita and contact info for references. Why can't they all be that easy? :-)
I've scored quite a few preliminary interviews for the conference next week. one of my letter writers said that while these interviews are good, they are just preliminary so that helps me not feel too nervous.
Research is going well. I'm starting to get more back into my paper/s and a few have just gone out the door.
I got my last bday present today! From my parents: a Harry and David baby veggie basket. The basket gives off this great fresh vegetable, garden smell.
I had another sleepy day yesterday. I took a three to four hour nap but then went to bed around midnight and slept five hours. I feel very energized today so that’s good.
I’m going for my second yoga class tonight. It looks like I’ll be taking the next couple weeks off and maybe purchase a full session for mid-August through September. I didn’t go jogging today because it was so incredibly muggy and 78-degrees at 6:45. It was cloudy this morning and I was hoping it would storm - to at least take the edge off the humidity maybe. It looks like it will cool down about when I head to Big Conference next week.
My advisor is putting a lot of effort into my research right now. She’s also simplified the analyses and that makes things more doable for me.
I slept a lot - seriously - more than 12 hours yesterday. Then, last night I couldn't fall asleep until about 4am and slept until 11. I've had such a hard time sleeping regularly this summer. Maybe Purple Daisy's sleeping issues are contagious! :-)
Today was a bbq for a grad student that's leaving. I made a nacho recipe that used up my ramen noodle stash - finally, and cut up veggies with hummus. yummy.
I'm doing a power point presentation due on Friday to the discussant for my upcoming conference. I have yet to finish either of the two papers I need to read and generate commentary for my discussant sessions.
I have several interviews scheduled for the upcoming conference. I plan to submit more cover letters/vita packages tomorrow.
Similar to "From the Files Fridays" I thought I would start another feature called "Cat Crazy Caturday." As many of you know I plan to be a Mommy next year of two lovely kitties that I will adopt from a shelter. Every Saturday (or what I prefer to call it, Caturday) I will post something related to my future feline children.
Today's topic: Cat Names.
I've started to give some significant thought to what I'd like to name my children. I plan on adopting from a shelter so I'm trying not to fall in love with any specific breeds. The name will likely be dependent on what type of breeds, or mix of breeds I adopt. Here's a short list of my ideas thus far. I have these saved in a word document already.
Political-Social Names.
Political and social issues are a huge interest of mine. Why not name a cat after one of my favorite political or social change figures? Here are some ideas:
James Carville - supporter of both Clinton campaigns and I could imagine the kitty saying, "When I go to the litter box, I do it Cajun Style!" (that will only make sense to people who saw the episode of 30 Rock where he was a guest star - so funny!)
Madeline Albright (first female Secretary of State, could call her Maddy for short)
Dee Dee Myers (first female Press Secretary and author of Why Women Should Rule the World)
Abigail Adams (Abby for short, and a trail-blazer as first lady. She went to congress and insisted they give money to create a home for unmarried pregnant women and new moms - many of whom were impregnated by congressmen!)
Eleanor Roosevelt (Elley)
Sandra Day O’Conner (Sandy)
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Ruthie) I really like the idea of naming cats after the first two female Supreme Court Justices. O'Conner is a little too conservative for my tastes, so this would work if I had a little Ruthie to balance it out.
Lucy Stone - suffragette who lobbied in the mid 1800's for women not to change their last names upon marriage. Now there's a nonprofit organization, The Lucy Stone League, named after her that lobbies for that and similar issues.
Hillary - no explanation necessary on that one.
Bill Maher - Hillary made me think of Bill and although I do like Bill Clinton, I love Bill Maher's social commentary. I could then make jokes about Bill Maher and catnip, because Maher (the person) is fairly open about his recreational use of marijuana.
TV Show names
SATC characters (Charlotte, Carrie, Samantha, Miranda) - four female cats - how awesome would that be!
Sopranos characters (Tony, Carmela) - for a blondish female cat and black male cat. Get this: I could get two kitty condos and put signs on each of them one: "State of Denial" for Carmela, and "The Bada Bing" for Tony. I guess I could name a male kitty Mr. Pussy, but what if I have older, tenured professor colleagues over for dinner and have to tell them his name?
Dexter - I'm envisioning this for an orange colored tabby cat. For a cat that has a vigilante streak.
Liz Lemon - that would be neat, and then I could have a Jack Donoghy kitty too! Or I could name a cat Alec Baldwin, because I really do love me some Alec.
Maybe some names after The Office? Michael Scott, Pam Beasley....or, Angela Martin (for a well-behaved, slightly judgmental feline)!
Social Science Researcher Names
Originally I wanted to name my kitties after pioneering females in my field, or the social sciences in general. Preferably I'd like to name my kitties after those who have passed on, because I feel weird naming my cat after someone in my field, or a related field, who is still alive. Can you imagine that getting back to the person who I named the cat after? Someone sees the eminent person at a conference and says "Yeah, so did you know Dr. Meaningfulgrrrl named her cat after you?" (ooh, I really like Dr. in front of my name - even my pseudonym!)
So far all I can think of is Margaret Mead. I know a lot of psych people read this blog, so if you have any ideas let me know!
Also, if you can think of any male names of social science researchers that you think would be cute/interesting for a cat, you can post those too! I'm still undecided as to gender. Who I choose will probably depend on the dispositions of the kitties when I go to the shelter.
I'm looking at getting two cats because it's twice the fun, right? Also, I read they behave better because they have someone else to play with when I'm gone (I don't know how much time I'll spend away at work). Also, there's a social learning theory that the cats teach one another how to behave. For example, if one cat doesn't understand that clawing at the curtains is not a great way to express one's need to claw, the other cat can say, "Dude, that's not how we roll, use this cat scratcher Mom bought us, it's the bomb!"
Having seen this lovely feature on several other blogs (too many/don't feel like linking right now) I thought I'd do it too! It seems especially fitting in honor of my three year anniversary. Each post is selected randomly by the Random Post feature, so there's no rhyme or reason to each Friday's selection. This week's post was from my prelim days. Sometimes when I'm writing papers, dealing with tables and HSRB I kind of wish I could just sit, read and take notes again - well, almost wish.
Email Crazy Day
February 9th, 2007
I made specific plans for yesterday to be a reading day for prelims. However, it seems the universe conspired against me. I wasn’t in the building, only on email but things kept coming into my inbox that required my immediate attention. Here’s a short list of what happened: had to plan a client meeting, email several people articles/chapters that they requested, student emails AND confusion over what I’ll be doing/getting paid for next year. Oye.
Today has been much better. I woke up, had some yummy cinnamon toast while reading the news online and then got a couple of articles read and written up. I’m getting caught up on my notes now and have finally developed word documents that I’m happy with for notes. I’m integrating my notes with a alumnus that had the same specialty (and committee) as I have who took prelims two years ago. Initially I was taking notes in a separate document, but decided it would be best to integrate the two.
Tonight I’m having sushi - yay! I haven’t had any since the holidays and I plan to catch a little tv before going to bed.
Three years ago today I started blogging. It was the summer after my first year of grad school. I initially started blogging as a way to communicate with my parents because none of us our big "phone" people. Both of my parents' jobs require talking on the phone so calling more then once a week is just not something we do a whole lot.
Back on topic, although I started blogging just for the parents I quickly discovered all the academic blogs out there and they became a great resource. I think I've learned a lot about academic life from spending time in the academiblogosphere.
I recently downloaded Blurb's software to see if I decided to make my blog into a book how long/expensive it would be. I think I was just over their maximum of 440 pages! Wow. I'm so glad I decided to start blogging because I will have such a great record of my graduate school experience. Next year I'd like to actually get the book made. If I take out the really silly surveys and such I'm sure I can get it under 440 - or I could do 2 volumes!
I looked up what the gift is supposed to be for the three year anniversary. The traditional gift is leather, which as a vegetarian and someone who has always tried to avoid leather - I find slightly disturbing. "Hey honey, here's a dead animal skin to commemorate our time together!" The modern gift is crystal. I wouldn't mind the above for my three year anniversary if my future-DH (dear hubby) ever reads this.
C. Cake or Pie? ice cream cake or chocolate cake with fruit filling
D. Day of Choice? Saturday
E. Essential Item? laptop
F. Favorite Color? All the cool colors (blues, greens, purples) plus pink. I really love teal-ish, seafoam green in the summer.
G. Gummy Bears or Worms? neither - don’t like chewy candy - but would love some chocolate
H. Home town? all over the east and midwest - I moved about five times or so growing up so nothing really feels like a hometown
I. Favorite Indulgence? ice cream
J. January or July? I like them both actually. January is the start of the new semester, right after the holidays (re: goodies) and if it doesn’t snow and get icy too much the cold doesn’t bother me. July, although my birthday month, can be a little off because there is so little structure and so few people around because of the summer semester. Plus it’s the hottest month of the year.
K. Kids? Maybe adopt - not sure. I definitely want kitties!
L. Life isn’t complete without? Friends. Work I feel passionate about.
M. Marriage date? Marriage might not be for me.
N. Number of Brothers and Sisters? Only child
O. Oranges or Apples? Depends. I love fresh orange juice more than apple. It would depend on the quality of the orange and apple.
P. Phobias? Too many to count. My startling noise thing is probably the biggest one. Thinking about it now many of my former phobias are now just mild fears. My spider fear has diminished although that’s largely because of having a middle apartment that’s super well insulated and only having about 2 spiders in the past 4 years. I’m a slightly nervous flier now as opposed to “fearful” probably because I fly several times a year now for conferences and vacations.
Q. Quotes? Most anything Eleanor Roosevelt said. Or Hillary.
R. Reasons to Smile? Less than a year left of g-school, friends, nice career prospects (I hope!)
S. Season of Choice? Really anything but summer. I do really love fall because after summer I really appreciate the cooler weather. I like the flexibility of fall fashion. I can wear summer clothes and just add a cardigan or wear long sleeve tops and sweaters. I love that fall semester has so many breaks (labor day, Fall Break, T-day). I like being able to drink hot beverages more again, the food, and *maybe* going to one football or sports related event.
T. Tag 5 People - Student Operative/L, New Caprica, Life&TImes, Reassigned Time (although I don’t know if she’ll see this), Profgrrrl (although I think she’s way too busy to do this)
U. Unknown Fact About Me? I ran away from summer camp the summer before 6th grade (1993). I had a deranged “buddy” (i.e., buddy system the girls scouts used)
V. Vegetable? Love most of them
W. Worst Habit? I’ll go with Julie on this: worrying.
X. X-Ray or Ultrasound? Had both. Ultrasounds aren’t fun if you have to get a catheter
Z. Zodiac Sign? Cancer
Z. Which Zoo Animal is your Favorite? My Mom’s crazy for Polar Bears and I may have picked that one up. I like the giraffes (did the first big paper of my life in first grade on them) too and I’ve always had a soft spot for rhinos. I did my 8th grade term paper on them and another project in elementary school.
Today I'm having friends over for my birthday dinner. My birthday is this week, not today, but a friend is leaving for vacation soon so it had to be today.
I'm excited to make portabella mushroom pizzas with soyrizo, pasta salad with fresh veggies and pesto, and fresh mozzarella-Italian parsley-basil bites as an appetizer!
I'm making it a bit more classy and green by using actual plates and glasses instead of plastic/paper. I have about seven people coming - yay! The guest list includes Purple Daisy, Neighbor Friends, Officemate, Student Operative (can't remember if I updated her pseudonym) and one of the only remaining members of my program cohort.
*Party-planning: calling Bert and Ernie for a brunch swaray 24 years ago. I started early.*
I was about to head home from the office today when a little email from Academic Job Posting Site sent me an alert that a school has expressed interest in me and would like access to my contact info! I know this is just the beginning, but this is my first real job search so I anticipate getting excited over everything. :-) Woot! Hopefully this is the beginning of a fruitful job search!
That's my lunch for today. yum. I love Amy's Kitchen frozen entrees and especially the pesto tortellini!
It's worth the five dollars. I'd spend that much if I had a salad at the Union, or some other take out option. Why not? Especially when I have so. much. work.
That's been the theme for this week. I don't think I've gotten more than seven hours of sleep a night - usually around six, but I'm so focussed on what I need to be doing I'm not that tired. The job search has officially started. I've received a *surge* of job ads this week and plan to set up arrangements with letter of recommendation writers this week.
I met with Dr. Advisor (aka Jon Stewart) we both agreed I need to get super annoying and huge paper out as soon as I can. Add to that interviews at Big Conference next month - plus three sessions. Yikes.
I've been busy and kept putting off updating. My Mom reminded me tonight. I'll do my best to be better, but hopefully this helps to make up for things. 7.04.08 - Resourceful Veggie Loaf
A week ago while celebrating a friends birthday, for some reason, we started talking about meatloaf. My friend has never had meatloaf and that made me think that a new veggie I will never be able to have meatloaf again. It's not the meat so much that I enjoy, but the combined taste of all the other ingredients (brown sugar, bread crumbs, ketchup and we mustn't forget: swiss cheese in swiss meatloaf!).
I started looking at veggie sites online and found numerous delicious-sounding recipes for veggie meatloaf. The catch: I didn't have very much faux groundbeef on hand. I did, however, have a box of veggie burgers that had spent a bit too long in the freezer. Sometimes I'll buy veggie burgers on sale and they get lost in the freezer. They were to the point that they had some freezer burn and wouldn't of tasted very good as patties. However, if they were to be ground up and mixed with the other veggies and ingredients they might be "revived" and I wouldn't have to run to store (and spend more money). Well, I tried it and the meatloaf - or veggieloaf is quite good. Yay for resourcefulness!
This is what it looked like after baking - the only change I made to the recipe was using orange as opposed to green peppers. That's all I had on hand and I like things a bit sweeter.
7.02.08 - Don't take my Starbucks!
I don't know if you've heard in the news today (I was watching Morning Joe this morning on MSNBC - Jack Welch was on - and I love the program), but S-bucks plans to close 8%, or about 600, of it's US stores in the next year. All of them are "under-performing" and a lot are recently built (maybe S-bucks is trying to avoid sunk-cost effects, lol). I'm afraid the GradTown S-bucks may be on the list. It seems to be thriving, but there's always Murphy's law. There are three (technically) in GradTown: one at Kroger, one at the Union and one on SecondMainStreet. I'm confident the Union won't get the axe because it's heavily trafficked and GradSchool would have to totally redo that section of the building, but I'm worried about the one on SecondMainStreet. It's only a couple years old. I don't go there that much, but it's a nice short drive from my house and sometimes when I'm reading or working on the weekends, or heading home from the gym it's nice to stop there for an iced coffee or skinny latte.
7.02.08 - My iPod Top 50
I've had my iPod Nano for about a year and a half, and my iPod just a few months. I thought it would be fun to post what my iPod says are the 50 songs I play the most!
Crazy - Gnarles Barkley
Dreaming of You - The Coral
Under Pressure - David Bowie & Queen
Smile - Lily Allen
Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
Ain't that a kick in the head - Dean Martin
Multiply - James Lidell
Let's Get it Started - Black Eyed Peas
Pump it - Black Eyed Peas
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
No Sleep Tonight - The Faders
Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
Ruby Blue - Roisin Murphy
Happy Go Lucky Me - Paul Evans
Fidelity - Regina Spektor
Woke Up This Morning (Soprano Theme)
Got to be Real - Cheryl Lynn
Everybody Got Their Something - Nikka Costa
Stronger - Kanye West
Bang Bang to the Rock 'n' Roll - Gabin
Feelin' Good - Nina Simon
Holiday - Madonna
You're My Best Friend - Queen
Mack the Knife - Michael Buble
Hey Ya! - Outcast
Twentysomething - Jamie Cullum
Don't Cha - Pussycat Dolls
In da Club - 50 Cent
1234 - Feist
I Got You (I Feel Good) - James Brown
Cosy in the Rocket (Grey's Anatomy theme) - Psapp
A Beautiful Morning - The Rascals
Let's Stay Together - Al Green
There's a Girl - The Ditty Bops
Moondance - Michael Buble
2 Times - Ann Lee
Wait - Get Set Go
Float On - Modest Mouse
Here it goes again - Ok Go
Just a Ride - Jem
Love Song - Sara Bareilles
You know I'm no good - Amy Winehouse
Under the Boardwalk - The Drifters
The Dog Song - Nellie McKay
Maneater - Nelly Furtado
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
I've got you under my skin - Michael Buble
Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado
Bring on the day (first song in Sweet Home Alabama) - Charlotte Martin
Whew. That was a lot to type! I should clarify I use my iPod for jogging, exercising and driving. My listening habits for working, reading, cooking and entertaining are quite a bit softer. I like faster, bouncy music for the road and exercise. In case you haven't picked up on this from my blog, I'm very eclectic in my tastes, whether it be music, clothes, food or decorating.
7.01.08 - TV/dvd recommendations
I'm in my office at school and don't feel like working. I've made a decent amount of progress on a few things this morning/afternoon and was trying to think of something to blog about. I thought of the above. I really enjoy spending a few nights a week with tv-on-dvd or a good movie. I really haven't blogged specifically about what I watch so here are some things I've seen recently that I enjoyed.
Brothers & Sisters. This is on after Desperate Housewives and I'm usually busy on Sunday nights so I decided not to watch it when it started last year. I just started getting it through Netflix and am really enjoying it. The show does an excellent job at making Republicans loveable. j/k :-) Callista Flockhart plays a conservative commentator who just moved back to California around the time her father passes away. It's a little similar to Six Feet Under in that Dad dies, Dad had a successful family business that the kids take over, and by the way Dad had a few little secrets too! It also stars the amazing Australian, Rachel Griffiths, who starred in Six Feet Under. Although, I must say her character is not at all annoying in this show - whereas she drove me nutso in SFU. The show does a great job at alternating between each of the siblings and the mother of the adult siblings, Sally Field. I can't forget to mention that Sally Field is great in this role. It's an interesting bit of trivia that Tom Skerrit plays Field's late husband. What does that remind you of? Answer: Steel Magnolias, where he played her husband as well.
Shark. I'm really enjoying James Woods in his role as a successful "shark-like" defense attorney turned prosecutor. I may want to watch more of his work after this. It's similar to House, in that he supervises a group of young prosecutors, but better in some ways because the characters is not nearly as cantankerous. A lot of the crimes are really interesting, and the show does a good job of balancing personal stories with the crime of the week. Mom: I was reading about James Woods online and I read he's a Republican and supports Bush! I thought you would like to know that if you didn't already. :-)
Briefly, for movies that are currently in theaters, I saw Get Smart a week or so ago and really enjoyed it. The fun gadgets weren't as great as I remember from the show, but overall it was definitely worth seeing. In rentals, I saw Bobby, the movie about RFK recently. I didn't know that much about his career and assassination prior to he movie. I know I had a book on RFK and JFK as a child that I read, but that was a long time ago. I read a book about the life of JFK more recently. Anyways, the movie isn't so much about Robert Kennedy, but shows the lives of several people who were at the hotel that night for very different reasons. Lindsey Lohan plays a young girl marrying a high school friend so he won't be sent to Vietnam, Anthony Hopkins is a retired hotel bellman, and Sharon Stone is the hotel's hairdresser. I really got into the lives of the characters and got quite worried some of them were killed in the end, but thankfully found out in the credits that they all survived.
Ok. I may add more to this later on, but I should probably get back to work.
Person Rachel Griffiths
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6.30.08 - Fun and Fabulous Weekend!
I’ve been trying to increase my research productivity as of late and my lack of energy and enthusiasm about research may be waning. After I defended my dissertation I felt so spent. I had to really hustle to propose by the end of the semester. I was expecting the meeting to go a lot worse and was thrilled when they suggested I shorten and simplify the study. So far this summer I haven’t been as productive as I’d like, but have started getting a handle on my job search and, as I posted a few weeks ago, explored alternatives if the academic job search doesn’t go so well.
This weekend I had two nonacademic events for a friend’s birthday that were super fun and made me feel like I have actually have a social life and friends. I’ve been doing a lot of things with the girls that live next door to me (on either side) for most of the past year. They’re great and I’m thankful to have them so close by, but I really enjoy my other friends and sometimes find we are more similar than neighbor friends. Anyways, I had a really great, relaxing and fun time this weekend. If only all of summer could be like this.
6.24.08 - Update
Not much going on here. I'm in my building's computer lab now trying to do some work - hsrb application stuff.
Here's a short list of things I need to do in the next week. Maybe by blogging this I will be more productive. Blogging the to-do list has helped in the past.
1. Get T-data from C-lab. Start looking at T-data to begin analysis.
2. Modify HSRB application for diss with Dr. Advisor's suggestions.
3. Modify survey - decide what to do about "annoying construct where I can't find a measure that applies to all of the population I'm measuring."
4. Try to do one thing for CI paper per day.
Personal things -
5. Make the freakin' scallop risotto that I bought stuff for last week. I've been lazy! It was really good!
6. Exercise everyday. I'm trying more mild workouts so I can go out 6 days a week. took off Thursday, but really got a good workout in on Weds. - and did rebounding in the evening
7. Strength training 3xs per week
8. Make progress on needed appoints: hair, dentist, gyn
Well, that's probably enough stuff for now. Back to work!
6.21.08 - Twisted Trailer Flashback - When Harry Met Sally (1988)
I was going to post the actual trailer, but I thought this was very funny and creative.
Now I just watched another take at it and this one may be better.
Okay, here's the actual trailer. The line, "I'm going to be 40," "Yeah, in like eight years," well I actually used that a few times when I was in my early 20's around friends and family but said 30. I got some funny reactions out of it, except with my parents who may have been slightly disturbed. The fun of plagiarizing movies/tv in everyday life!
6.19.08 - A random meme. I haven't done one of these in awhile.
If I were a doll, the accessories packaged with me would be: a laptop, a book and a dvd.
I have an irrational fear of: startling noises, getting lost or in a car accident
What type of food do you eat at your grandparents house? I don’t eat there anymore (read: avoid at all costs), they come to our place to eat
What did you do yesterday? Cleaned my apartment, relaxed and had dinner with Purple Daisy
I find the thought of childbirth: makes me want to adopt children, if I decide to have any at all, which there’s a large possibility I might not
Next door to my house is: one of my two neighbor friends
Why is your number one myspace friend your number one? Because she’s Angela Kinsey and she rocks as Angela Martin on The Office and in real life, too.
Know how to cook? Yes, it’s one of my fav things to do, especially when I can cook for other people.
I am annoyed with: research. all of it.
What was the last thing to make you cry? Friend talking about his Dad who has cancer
What are the stems on wine glasses for? Putting those little circular marker stems on them that I have so people can know what glass is theirs.
My favorite shoes are? Right now flip flops or ballet flats
Can you use chopsticks? Fairly well
Do you prefer beaches or forests? Beaches
What serial killer do you find most disturbing? What about a serial killer is not disturbing?
Who knows a secret or two about you? Purple Daisy
Have you ever burned yourself? Who hasn’t?
Who is probably talking a load of crap about you right now? Probably lots of people that don’t really know me
Who is your hero? Angela Martin (The Office) Or, Kathy Griffin, I just got done watching the first episode of her show this season. I may post about that soon.
Where is your brother right now? No Brother
Do you believe in things that last forever? Yes
What are you listening to? Outdoor noises coming in from the window
What do you smell like right now? Citrus Basil Shower gel and Love Spell Body Splash from VS
If i look in your glovebox right now, what will i find? Papers for the car, napkins
What jewelry are you wearing? Nothing but a cute headband I picked up at Target when I bought the ballet flats I posted about.
What is something your friends make fun of you for: Making slightly outlandish comments about things at certain times.
When was the last time you saw the second person on your top MySpace friends? The last time I watched The Paper on MTV
What is in your pocket right now? sunshine
Where was your default MySpace picture taken? On my 26th bday last year
Who do you know that is in jail? One of my Mom’s cousins is in prison, but I don’t think I’ve ever met him.
Something irritating about your living situation: Hmmm, I really love my apartment. I've really enjoyed making it my own unique and personalized space the last 4 years, but I wish I had an extra bedroom for guests.
Where are you right now? At my desk in my bedroom
What was the most interesting thing that happened today? Watched the first episode of Kathy Griffin, My Life on the D-List
When was the last time you got blood taken and why? Can’t remember - I donated plasma regularly my last year of college.
What were you doing at midnight last night? Watching the Tim Russert Memorial service on MSNBC
What were you doing 3 hours ago? Jogging
What’s for dinner tonight? Scallop Risotto - If I can get of my a&^, find the recipe and get to the store
What was the highlight of your week? Spending the day with a friend
Are you spoiled? Probably
Do you fake bake? Does this refer to tanning? No, I don’t go to tanning salons, but I do like to use the fake tanning lotions - if I can get them not to streak
What was the first thing you thought when you woke up? I shouldn’t sleep in today
Some friends of mine came up with this survey where you have to answer all the questions using only 5-word responses. I just finished cooking for my extended family for Father’s Day and need a break, so here it goes! Feel free to do it too
Answer the Following Questions Using Only 5 words!
Summer: introspective, calm, planning time, fun
My Decorating Style: classic, contemporary, eclectic, and organized
My Favorite Meal: pasta, seafood, fresh veggies and wine
My Family: love parents; not close to rest
My Man: undecided; funny, cuddly, stubborn, courteous
Something I’m Looking Forward to: getting a job; leaving school!
Place I’d Rather Be: at a cool beach resort
A Fun Fact: I have a lazy eye
My Hobby: jogging, cooking, reading, movies, “nesting”
My Job: teach students, complete meaningful research [play on words there for those who know my main research interest!]
My Guilty Pleasure: pizza and tv-on-dvd crack
My Addiction: above, blogs, magazines, perfection
My Favorite Drink: as of late iced coffee
My Perfect Day: jog, shop, time with friends
A Wish: getting a job, being happy
6.12.08 - A few of my favorite things: resorts and spas!
’m back from the resort. It was amazing - I hope to have more resort vacations in the future. I love having so much to do in one location and not having to navigate/plan so much. The weather was also perfectly comfortable which is nothing short of remarkable given the flooding that was nearby and the generally hot temperatures for that part of the state which is typically five or so degrees warmer than up here in the north.
Tuesday night we walked around the hotel which has the most amazing atrium. They recently renovated the hotel and it’s absolutely amazing. Lots of gold plating, ornate patterns, and lush furniture!
After walking around we went to the “sister” hotel via shuttle which is where we had dinner and I got to go to a casino for the first time ever! They had many fun slot machines that I enjoyed featuring dancing pandas, exploding fireworks and singing lobsters. I think I may have an idea for a study exploring age/generational differences and slot machine preferences. Neither of my parents liked the video shot machines that I played and exclusively used the boring “old school” kind with fruits and numbers.
Wednesday we enjoyed breakfast on the veranda of the hotel and then my parents went on a tour via horseback of the area. I’m afraid of falling and semi-afraid of horses. It did not appeal to me at all - so I headed to the spa and got a late morning appointment for hydrotherapy which cost about the same as it would of if I had joined them on the horse tour. It was so relaxing! I got to spend lots of time in the “tranquility” room reading high end decor-home magazines like “Town and Country” and “Architecture Digest” that I don’t get the chance to peruse that often. After the spa I swam in the pool, had lunch with my Mom while Dad explored a lake and then we got ready for a delicious dinner at the sister hotel’s main restaurant - then on to more fun with the slots! In total I won about $50 - not bad for my first time! Our room was extremely comfy and luxurious with a two-room bathroom, wall-mounted flat screen tv and dreamy bed. Ahhhh….maybe I need to plan a resort trip for after I finish my dissertation!
6.08.08 - Safely at the parents' house
I left grad school town today around 1pm (after watching most of Hillary’s campaign suspension speech) and made a quickie stop at Target. I had done some online shopping for summer dresses and really liked several ballet flats. I really do love ballet flats. They’re cute, look good on me, and are comfy/good for me with being flats as opposed to heels. Usually for the summer if I’m in heels I wear wedges which are supposed to be the least of all evils as far as heels go and I find them to be very comfy.
Anyways, I decided I needed new ballet flats because my current pair are almost 2 years old and are starting to wear and I’d hate to be without them. The price was really good at Target but I was worried about buying them without seeing them in vivo first because it’s so easy to make shoes look good in a picture, when in actuality they don’t look so hot up close. I was very pleasantly surprised! Not only are they comfy and more stylish in person, but they were on clearance for only $7.50 a pair! I got one in a faux black patent leather and one in a rosey gold color. Score!
I’m also proud of myself for waiting to go to Target until I went on my trip because it was on the way and saved me some gas money. With gas being as expensive as it is even little things add up.
6.06.08: Job Search - the journey begins
Today I more fully explored some job-related options for the next year. This has helped to alleviate some of my ambiguity-related stress. There's a service organization that will be a good back-up if academic jobs don't pan out. I just need to decide what track to apply for and I’m leaning toward the one that would give me an offer in March. That might give me the optimum leeway for academic jobs but not put me in the last track of the year.
In other news I signed up and paid my subscription fee for Academic Organization’s online job posting site. There were a ton of jobs I hadn’t seen before already posted! I posted a brief profile and hope to add my vita next week.
This weekend I’m leaving for my parents’ place for a little over a week. Tomorrow I’m driving about 3/4 of the way home, stopping by my Uncle’s for my cousin’s high school graduation party and then heading to the ‘rents tomorrow night. This coming week we’re spending a few days at a resort in the southern part of their state. It’s a renovated old resort from back in the late 1800-early 1900’s. There’s a casino, pools, outdoor activities and shopping. I really don’t care what we do it will just be nice to get out of town for awhile! Hope ya’ll have a great weekend!
6.04.08 - Patagonia
I’ve never had the opportunity to shop here, and I’m not outdoorsy so a lot of their products don’t relate to me, but I’ve shown a short profile video about this company to my class and just saw this on a blog. Their policies at corporate are similar, and it’s good to see they carry that down to the factory workers in Mexico.
6.04.08 - Caternity/Peternity Leave?
I’ve lapsed in my postings as of late. I’ve been busy working, relaxing, watching The O.C. on dvd (I’m on Season Four now), and just doing miscellaneous tasks for school and my apartment. I’ve always felt passionately about issues affecting animals. Given my area of study, one policy I feel could make dramatic changes in the lives of many pets and owners is for organizations to offer pet health insurance as a benefit for employees. This could also help with singletons who often feel discriminated against in regards to employee benefits because married people or people with kids get more than singletons do. If the pet health insurance couldn’t be offered to all employees it might be more feasible to offer it people who aren’t having a dependent or spouse on the organizations health care plan.
Anyways, I was reading a blog about someone who had to take time off from work to take care of a sick pet and I thought of the above, or peternity leave would be the broad term for all pets. Why not give workers an allowance of a few days a year for pet emergencies or for taking some time off when acquiring a new pet?
I thought I couldn’t be the first person to think of “peternity leave” so I Googled it and a few interesting things came up. It turns out organizations in the U.K. are already initiating this policy. For some reason the U.K. seems to be a bit more on the ball regarding worker well-being issues.
Maybe when I negotiate my job next year I should request a week of caternity leave. I know academic jobs are more flexible than most making this a bit less necessary, but if people can stop the tenure clock or take a semester off for a new baby, I don’t think a week off to help my new kitties adjust is that much to ask for!
5.27.08 - Shelfari Safari
A friend told me about this site recently that’s like a Facebook for books. Everyone has a shelf and can place books they’re reading, have read or would like to read in the future. You can post reviews and give ratings and there are also groups for various interests. I joined one about Unitarian Universalism because that’s something I’ve been interested in lately. You can also friend people and I find it interesting to see what people I know are reading. If you don’t know my IRL identity, are on or plan to be on Shelfari and would like “to be my friend” just comment with your email and I’ll give you my IRL name.
I really enjoy this site and am trying to get back into reading so it’d be great to get more people on board!
5.26.08 - Trailer Flashback: Something's Gotta Give, December 2003
It’s strange to think this movie came out about four and a half years ago. I remember it came out in December and I went to see it with my parents. It was a nice break from completing grad school applications, and giving massive amounts of money to ETS and fifteen schools in the process.
I really enjoyed this movie and have since bought it on dvd as well as the soundtrack, which is one of my favorites. I’ve listened to commentary when I got the dvd and here are a few fun factoids about the film. 1.) Nancy Myers asked Diane Sawyer if it was okay to reference her in the movie as a previous conquest of Nicholson’s character, Harry. 2.) Great lengths were taken to make it clear to the audience that the daughter, Marin (played by Amanda Peet) didn’t consummate her relationship with Harry , because it would be kinda creepy to have Harry be involved sexually with the daughter and then involved with the mother, Erica (Diane Keaton). 3.) The scenes in the house were actually filmed in a Hamptons house and many people have wanted to recreate the decor for their own homes.
5.25.08 - Like Dwight
I was reading about this book applying philosophy to The Office and came up with the following through one of the reviewer comments:
Because I help professors I am an Assistant Professor instead of being an Assistant to a Professor.
5.19.08 - All set to Zoom!
I got my IZoom in the mail today. It’s one of those things that lets you go through toll booths in certain states (including my parents’ state - the reason I got it) without having to stop to pay. I had ordered it just last Wednesday because parents’ state DOUBLED it’s toll for non-IZOOM using folks - yikes. With going home six times a year or so that could result in a serious chunk of change. My trip is usually comped by the ‘rents, but still, money is money. I also heard that the lines for paying “old school” are seriously long now from people having to pay more money. Anyways, I’m excited to get to ZOOM through the toll booths now after so many years of stopping to pay. Zooming entitles me to go at at least 80mph right?
Lot's of stuff has been a-happening! At least it's the summer now - yay for nice weather!
5.19.08 Deep Thoughts on the Desperate Housewives Finale
I really enjoyed it. I love it when shows do longer finales! Gary Cole (most famous for his role as Bill Lumbergh in Office Space) was excellent as Katherine’s creepy and psycho ex-husband, Wayne Davis, but it wouldn’t it have been so neat if his dying words were, “Ahh, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in to work on Saturday, mmkay?” hehehe
I’m sure it’s been hard for Cole to live down his most famous role as Lumbergh (I know the correct spelling because I have read SO many papers on him in the last year by my students). FYI, for any college age readers out there, if you’re writing a paper for a class about a fictional character - take the extra 30 seconds to make sure you’re spelling his/her name correctly!
Anyways, I was reading some other people’s reactions to Cole’s guest-starring role online and someone made a good point that he has the ability to create a menacing presence, although in very different ways, on both DH and Office Space.
As a side note, I also think it would be neat for Orson, who played Trey in Sex and the City, to say “Alrighty” at some point in the series. Marc Cherry, if you’re reading this that would be such a neat shot out/omage to SATC fans who watch your show. I also find it interesting that Kyle MacLachlan portrays the husband of both Charlotte and Bree, who appear to be analogous characters in comparing those two shows. But then, Marc, you were inspired by SATC in creating DH. The central point of difference being that while on SATC the women shared everything - on DH the women have HUGE secrets they go to great lengths to hide.
5.17.08 Office Finale
In fun news I had a little get together for The Office finale. The last five seconds of it were especially exciting for me because I do love me some Dwangela. I’m happy for Paul Lieberstein as I had read in some articles that he works 16 hour days during the taping of The Office and he originally hadn’t planned on being in the show, but had a few lines in a couple episodes that went over well and so they further developed his character. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the greater “work-life balance” he has in his life. I’m especially strong fan of Paul because he was a lead writer for Clarissa Explains it All - the most awesomest show on Nickelodeon and by far my favorite from back in the early 1990’s.
In the strange category, there’s an ice cream truck that goes around my neighborhood way too much. Since the weather got remotely decent, we’re talking above 55 degrees or so, it passes at least 3 times a day. My neighborhood is mostly college students. I wonder if it makes any money? Maybe it’s just passing on it’s way to more child friendly areas on the northeast side of town. Also filed under annoying noise, someone in my complex has a car that definitely needs to be fixed! It sounds like a diesel engine or something - lots of rumbling. With the windows being open because of the nice weather I hear him/her all the time.
5.06.08 Dissertation Proposal - Check!!
Well, I proposed my dissertation and it went better than I had expected. It felt more like a working research group meeting than a defense. Even better than that the committee thought I had too many hypotheses and my model was larger than it needs to be for the dissertation. I cut out the dependent variables they requested I eliminate (but still include a couple in data collection for pubs/exploratory questions) and I really love that what I’m testing now is so much simpler. I went out for Italian with friends for dinner on Friday to celebrate, and also had an Irish coffee when I got home after my meeting. I pretty much took the weekend off and only finalized grades for my class. I’m meeting with Jon Stewart today to discuss research projects and the dissertation revisions.
Anyways, it was great to have the proposal go so well and I’m looking forward to a relaxing and super productive summer. I got the first job ad via email forward that applies to me (Fall 09) so that was exciting. I have the whole summer and fall to focus exclusively on research, diss. and job applications. Hopefully that will make all the other tasks much more manageable and allow me to devote as much time as I need to applications.
4.28.08 New Frames!!
These are the glasses I picked out today! I've wanted rectangular frames like these to where instead of contacts a few days a week for awhile now. I usually sleep with my contacts in and should try to get them out of my eyes for at least two nights a week according to my optometrist. This should motivate me to do that.
4.22.08
I haven’t posted in awhile, because I’ve been SO busy. I got my dissertation to committee last Friday. Now the wait begins!
My Mom came to visit last Wednesday and left Saturday. With the conference the weekend before, dissertation pressure and doing things with Mom, I was super tired this weekend. It was so nice just to chill on the couch for awhile! I watched the first disc of the first season of The OC. I’m excited that it started in 2003, because I’ll have five seasons to get caught up with.
I’m trying to be productive today. I did a bunch of non-essential tasks: made brownies for my students and did some reading. I also made a cute card for my friend who is defending her prelim tomorrow. I need to get feedback to a student asap tonight and then maybe read a paper that I’m a coauthor on with my advisor.
I’m really enjoying The Paper on MTV. I can relate to the main character (is that the right word for reality tv?). She’s not accepted by the other editors on the paper staff and is super-ambitious. I can relate to that. It’s on around The Hills (a show I can’t get into and infinitely annoys me every time I see it).
OK - off to get things done! My last class EVER as a student is tomorrow - yay!!
4.11.08 I'm going to be a discussant!!
I just went to a couple of neat conference sessions this morning and came back to my room for a break. I checked my email and had TWO messages from a conference division chair for August conference asking me to be a discussant for two paper sessions! When I volunteered to be a reviewer for said conference it asked me if I would be interested in being a discussant or chair. I thought, sure, if Conference Organization wants a GRAD STUDENT to be a discussant, why the heck not? I honestly didn’t think it would happen. I’m confident I checked my status correctly, a graduate student done with prelims but not yet proposed (although I will be proposed in just a couple weeks!).
4.11.08 In which I am SO upset to be in the Western Time Zone! It’s 10pm eastern time and I still have 1hour and 45 minutes until I can see the new Office episode! I accidentally ran into a blog post about “The Dinner Party” episode online and wondered - how the heck has this person seen it already?!?! Then I realized I’m on the west coast for a conference and it’s past 10pm everywhere else. I also happened to be on the NBC store, looking for cheap things for my upcoming Dissertation Proposal Office-themed celebration and saw this “Serenity by Jan” stuff and couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the heck it was or referring to! From what I read from the blog entry it’s something from tonight’s episode. I tried not to be tempted and only skim what I saw of the blog so I wouldn’t ruin the surprise of tonight - but I did read that they’re continuing the tension between Jan and Michael following “The Deposition” episode.
4.3.08 - A meeting of my not so itty bitty dissertation committee - I has it!
*My attempt at LOLspeak - and om age to the itty bitty kitty committee*
I will be defending my proposal May 1st or 2nd! yay! April is going to be kuh-raz-eee! I have a conference on the other side of the country next week, my Mom is visiting the week after that, and my paper is due to committee when she visits. Dr. Advisor (Jon Stewart in the Dream Committee) says I can ask for the weekend if I would like (because the meeting would likely be on Friday) and give the draft to them on Monday, but I’m not sure if I want to do that yet.
I'm officially proposing my dissertation at the beginning of May!
3.29
I just found out that Mindy Kahling (writer and Kelly Kapoor on The Office) has a blog! Her bloggy name is Mindy Ephron - how cool is that! Nora Ephron (along with her sis Delia) are THE goddesses of romantic comedy writing (e.g., Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail). Her blog, “Things I’ve Bought That I Love,” discusses fun clothes, beauty products and helpful tips (like how she reduced her mile time from 10 minutes, i.e., my time, to 8.5 minutes).
The other customer who took Neighbor’s coat by mistake with her keys/phone called today and she got her stuff back - yay! She surprised me when she came back with tea light candle holders in summery colors that just happen to go perfectly with my spring/summer decor. Unexpected, totally not needed - but fun surprise!
3.29
It’s about 4am now. I fell asleep soon after 11:30 only to wake up an hour or so ago feeling completely rested. It’s about 3.5 hours until I can go jogging. Maybe I should stay up? I can at least work on my references for the dissertation. I was a regular driving service yesterday - it was kinda fun. I drove Purple Daisy to take her car in on Thursday, and it was ready yesterday so I took her to pick it up and then we went out to lunch. I went home, got some work done and then my neighbor came over. She’s had a pretty stressful few weeks and went in for a little pampering at a local salon/spa. When she was done with her massage they gave her back her coat only for her to find out that it was a coat that looked remarkably similar to hers. They had given her coat away (with her cell phone and keys inside) to someone else! The staff was helpful in letting her make some calls to get our apartment complex owner to get her an extra set of keys and then an employee drove her back here. I then took her back to the salon with her spare car keys tow and I’m also her “contact person” for the salon to call when hopefully the person who has her coat realizes what happened. The salon has supposedly called everyone who was there for the two hours before this happened. Hopefully I’ll get a call tomorrow!
3.22
I so want to make kitty litter cake! The recipe sounds really fun and it’s cat related = win, win!
The link has various pictures of kitty litter cakes that will likely take you to recipes, if you’re (still) interested. It’s kind of ironic, but I think my Dad (allergic to cats) would really love this dessert. He loves yellow cake and that is what is ground up to make the “litter.” I also don’t think he’d mind the ground up vanilla sandwich cookies either. PLUS he loves Tootsie Rolls, and those are melted to make the poop! Maybe I’ll make this during the summer after I propose my dissertation.
Speaking of dissertation, it looks like I will be proposing in a little over a month, with my draft due to committee mid-April! Scary, I know.
I just discovered “In Treatment” this week on HBO - really good. It’s on every night for a half hour and chronicles a psychologist’s sessions with his patients. There’s one appointment each day and the Friday appointment is the psychologist going to his session with his wife to deal with their marital problems. The appointments (days) are tied together when patients from other days call before/after sessions, or the psychologist, Paul, interacts with his estranged wife (his office is in their home). Diane Weist and Blair Underwood star and I recognize the Paul but don’t know his name. Some of the elements in the sessions are very universal, making it almost like therapy for free!
My life lately has been comprised of work and the occasional movie and 4-days a week of DailyShow and the newly added Colbert Report. I hadn’t watched Colbert on a regular basis UNTIL about the 2nd month of the writer’s strike back in December. Since January all of my regular shows have been gone and I’ve had time to watch Colbert. I’m really looking forward to new Office, 30 Rock, Grey’s and House.
I’m running a string of good movies from Netflix and other sources. They include: Breech, Mr. Brooks, Enchanted, Dan In Real Life, and SNL The Best of Alec Baldwin (not a movie but very funny).
In addition to work and dvds I’ve enjoyed jogging outside a bit in the past couple weeks (finally) and
I have a meeting with my advisor tomorrow and I have close to a full proposal draft. The next couple days are busy with teaching today, office hours and a lab meeting; and tomorrow, wrapping up loose ends with the draft, possibly two meetings, plus the dissertation meeting. The weekend will be nice.
3.9.08 I got back Thursday from visiting my parents. While I was home I did my taxes, barely looked at the diss and graded papers I didn’t have to grade (my TA is taking prelims this month and I decided to be nice, plus a miss grading *a little*). I really don’t have time to post much right now as I’m trying to get back into work mode. More later.
Spring break is here and I’m at my parent's home to spend about 6 days with the fam. I have a pleasure reading book: Why women should rule the world to read. It’s written by the first female press secretary, Dee Dee Myers. I’m also hoping to finish the third Dexter book Dexter in the Dark, by Jeff Lindsey. I've gotten through the first few chapters of 'Women' and I'm really enjoying it. She's talked about how both she and other women in academe, business and politics are held to double standards and a lot of her personal experiences are both interesting and depressing at the same time.
I haven’t posted for awhile mostly because I’ve been working diligently on the dissertation. I hope to propose in a couple months. It's great to be at the stage where I can have concrete goals about my writing progress, but also a little demanding too. ;-)
Sushi Update
I’ve had my sushi kit for almost two months now (holiday gift) and for the past week I’ve started experimenting with riceless maki/rolls. Rice just has so many calories, such little nutritional value and is one of those things I have a hard time not overindulging with.
Not that I won’t sometimes treat myself, but I needed to find ways to make sushi rolls without the rice. I really love the basic ingredients of rolls without rice: fish (cooked, smoked or raw), avocados, maybe some may, prawn (shrimp), crab….and of course wasabi and soy sauce!!
So far I’ve managed to come up with some great combos. I really like omelet (scrambled egg) rolls. I’ve been using Egg Beaters. Kroger carries an organic, cage free form of “egg beaters” that I love.
I’ve also made Philly rolls, and various combinations using cucumber, steamed or salmon, mayo, and crab. Mayo is a great way to hold the rolls together without sticky rice.
In other sushi news, it’s fabulous that I also got a great Kitchen Aid knife set over the holidays. The serrated and slicing knifes are great for cutting the roles and slicing the ingredients. Without the right knife the ingredients of the roll are just pushed out when it is cut. I’m excited about how my sushi skills have developed over the past couple months. I know how to cut the cucumbers now to get really thin slices and just how much to lay out on the nori (seaweed) to make a good size roll. :-) Not that I’m an expert by any means, but if ya have any questions about roll making feel free to comment. I’ve also made a few combos not in roll form (sans nori) in case anyone isn’t into that.
The other night I tried cous cous instead of white rice - it was great and didn't fall apart! I took pictures and will try to remember to post them.
The Oscars
The bad: the night was a little montage crazy. Remember the montage to binoculars and periscopes? :-) I can understand that was necessary because of the writers strike lasting up until 2 weeks before the show. I enjoyed Jon Stewart's opening routine ("Does this town need a hug?....Thank god for teen pregnancy.") I saw most of the musical numbers before I got bored of the whole thing and really loved the numbers from August and Enchanted.
The good: I found three movies I think I want to see (The Enchanted, The Savages and La Vie en Rose). I recently saw Laura Linney in Breach and Mystic River (which I happened to see the day of The Oscars for the first time). I'm really starting to like her work.
One of my favorite movies. I just got the soundtrack today from iTunes. I don’t like all of the songs on it, but I needed a little extra inspiration for my exercise routine today. I like the song that opens up the movie, “Bring on the Day” by Charlotte Martin, and some of the other jumpier pieces throughout the film.I went jogging yesterday outside for the first time in months. Probably since around Thanksgiving time, to be exact. Or I might have been able to go a couple times at the beginning of this semester when it was warmer than average. I had a pretty good time, although I was feeling lazy yesterday morning when I got up so I had some food and chilled for awhile before going. As usual, that’s not a good idea as far as my gastrointestinal tract is concerned. I got about 3/4 of a mile away and had some yuck abdominal crams. Thankfully though, when I get cramping I can still walk comfortably back to my apartment to use the facilities - I just can’t jog.
I made German potato salad last night while watching Working Girl on WE. It’s one of those movies that I’ve seen parts of but haven’t seen start to finish. In other entertainment news I got the first disc of the last season of King of Queens this week. I lost track of that show for the last season. I had seen some of the episodes on that disc but not all of them. I think I’ll either have disc 2 (the last one) this week or “I think I love my wife” - Chris Rock’s movie. I’m on a Netflix system with the on-at-a-time program where I get one movie midweek and one for the weekend.
2.06.08 - Holiday Cards in February
A couple days ago I finished opening my holiday cards - why? Oh, because the post office lost my stopped mail for about a month. The regular mailman had the day off the day my backed mail was supposed to be delivered on January 3rd and his substitute delivered it to an apartment with the same number as mine on a nearby street. Nice. At first when I called the post office to see what the deal-e-o was a few weeks ago the person on the phone was kind of rude and not at all sympathetic to the fact that I hadn’t received my mail yet! Then, I left a VERY nice note for my mailman explaining the situation and he didn’t respond. However, when I went TO the post office the person I talked to was really nice and then later that week the mailman came to my door to deliver a package and send he had wanted to talk to me about the issue in person. So yeah, it was kind of a big mess a couple weeks ago - and then I just accepted the fact that I might not get my backed mail — or it might take a long time. So it was a really nice surprise to get it the other day! My health insurance cards were in there - which made it even better that they found it now. I thought the company hadn’t sent them out yet for my new policy and would have called about that soon.
Today I am going to focus as much as I can on the dissertation. I got up around seven, went to the gym and then decided to stop at S’bucks to try one of their new Skinny Lattes. I got the Cinnamon Dolce flavor. It’s really good and only 130 calories for a grande. That made it easy to incorporate into my 300-ish calorie budget for breakfast!
Yes, that’s right. I just finished filing claim forms for not one, but two lawsuits that will hopefully give me a nice chunk of change. One was for foreign travel credit card charges. I was abroad for a few months in the summer of 1999 when I was in high school and was sent a packet to fill out for my share of the settlement with the credit card companies. Yay! Because I met the criteria (abroad for more than a week) I decided NOT to do the easy $25 refund, but take a gamble and go for the estimated refund. All I had to do was indicate why I was traveling for that time period.
The second was for a settlement against Bed Bath and Beyond. I bought some sheets there in the fall to use this winter. FYI sateen sheets are really heavy - I definitely won’t use them this summer. It turns out the company misrepresented the thread counts on A LOT of its sheet sets, and as such I should receive A FULL REFUND! Woot! Coincidentally, I just noticed this week that the set is starting to show some wear, particulary on the fitted sheet where I sleep and move around at night. I wasn’t expecting this from the quality of sheets I purchased. *Shame, Bed Bath & Beyond, shame.*
I've started a more private blog on a different venue. Comment if you would like me to give you the address and I'll contact you personally. :-) I'll still keep this one updated with the basic goings on.
1.26.08
I have them in my order of preference. I wonder if there are any of Angela out there? I may have to look!
I’m sitting in my office at school thinking various certainly “important” scholarly thoughts when I get the idea to Google “tenured cat.” The following is what I foundfrom Female Science Professor
1.23.08
He was found dead in his NY apartment today. He’s not one of my favorite actors, but I did enjoy his roles in Brokeback Mountain and 10 Things I Hate about You. I feel sorry for Michelle Williams (of Dawson’s Creek and Brokeback fame) and their little daughter. I know they separated in September, but that still has to be devastating.
I had to lecture about a topic in my field today for the course I’m teaching that I never had to teach before in the previous course I taught. It was a little awkward. It’s a pretty straightforward topic and I had difficulty matching my own thoughts to the slides without things getting messy.
I’m on track for my meeting with Dr. Advisor on Friday. I have all of tomorrow sans grocery shopping and exercise to work on my research (diss and other for that meeting).
1.21.08
With the dissertation things are starting to take shape. A few nights ago I spent the evening researching measures in X to try and get a feel for the area. X is something that I’ve done some research on before, but I haven’t been the principal investigator, nor was I thoroughly involved in the theory involving X. I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of how my area, meaning, will relate to X and what measures I should use.
Also, I’ve been making more progress on the article I’d like to get out this semester. I’d like to try to do more of that today or tomorrow. So, in other words, I’m making good progress for my end of this week goals.
1.14.08
I took the weekend off mostly. I was really tired from some stress associated with the first week of the semester and some of the tasks I needed to get done. Now I have a lot of reading to get done today for my class tomorrow as well as preparing to teach for the week.
I have a lot of research related tasks that are piling up that need to be addressed in the next few weeks. I should try and make lists in my planner today so I can stay on track.
I’m sad about the lack of new shows. No more new episodes of The Office, 30 Rock or Desperate Housewives until the strike ends. *Wahwah* Thank goodness The Daily Show is back on - be it in a slightly dilluted form, sans writers.
1.12.08
…but I’m trying not to eat because I’ll be leaving for dinner in less than 2 hours.
Bill Maher came back on HBO last night with new episodes. Tony Snow was on the panel. It was good, but his opening monologue was very short and there were no New Rules - sadness.
I got some reading done today for my dissertation/class - and prepped for teaching on Tuesday. My French Press cracked - I noticed that yesterday - so I ordered a new one online. I thought about getting one at S’bucks but they had one at Amazon that was stainless, supposedly has a great seal with the filter and I have free shipping there. That should be it for my purchases for awhile.
I still have some numbness in my left little and ring fingers, but I only really notice it when I type or press down with those fingers. I just put my hand on my hip and bent my hand back to see if I felt pain down my arm - nothing. That’s a good sign, but I felt the doctor indicated that I should be fine after just a few days. I still have 3 more weeks of the anti-inflammatory medication. If it’s still at all present at the end of that I’ll have to head back for another check-up. Hopefully that won’t happen - I’d probably need a x-ray and/or other more time-consuming/expensive diagnostics at that point. I’m more concerned about the “time consuming” than anything else - I’m really very lazy when it comes to personal issues. I’m all about getting the research/academic stuff done, but when it comes to the annoying domestic-personal stuff that needs to be done I have very little motivation. With medical stuff I am on very aware and on top of things - I just don’t like having to take time out for appointments.
I’m behind on my Netflix. I have a disc of Heroes and the movie, Waitress sitting here. I downgraded to the 1 at a time unlimited plan. I’m trying to focus as much as I can on research, and even with the strike there’s still plenty of new tv to keep me occupied for an hour or so a day, or while I’m making dinner, exercising, or doing other miscellaneous tasks for which I like tv-entertainment in the background.
Well, back to work before dinner - Italian food, Hillary ahead - makes me happy!
I’m midway through the first week of the semester. Today I got caught up on quite a few errands. I went to the bank to deposit my holiday and reimbursement checks, Staples to get 2008 pages for my planner, pens and paper; and the grocery store. I had a hair appointment scheduled for Friday morning, but that got canceled because stylists’ grandfather passed away. :-( I was really looking forward to getting my hair cut this week, but I guess I’ll have to wait until next Tuesday. Oh, I also went to the recycling center to drop off my first load of recyclables! Hopefully I won’t have to go every week, but with new items from the holiday and moving things around, the trunk of my car was almost full.
I reorganized my bedroom/office when I got home. I put a table I was only slightly using in my office, and moved the printer that was on that table to the corner desk unit. I have a lot more negative space now. I also put out one of the end tables that came with the apartment, that I had been storing in my living room closet out by one of the chairs. That also looks nice.
My first class went really well yesterday. We watched part of the very first episode of The Office, and another video that described the employment practices and culture of Wild Oats (a healthy/natural food focused grocery store). After seeing both I got the students to discuss the effective and ineffective elements present at Dunder-Mifflin and Wild Oats (i.e., lack of training at Dunder-Mifflin, mandatory 30 day course for new employees at Wild Oats). Two of the students in the class are considering a career in my field! Tomorrow is the first day of lecture, and will be my first time filling a 75 as opposed to 50 minute class.
I’m also excited about the class I’m taking this semester. The projects for the class are interesting as there is no writing/papers/exams - just various presentations and participation. I have a meeting with Dr. Advisor on Friday in the morning to discuss the paper we’re working on, my dissertation and probably my yearly update/”performance review.”
I have no plans for the weekend and really don’t “get anything” out of MLK day this year as I have no classes that day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get more into the swing of the semester. And - because I’m kinda on a roll with the appointment/personal-errand thing - set up an eye exam to get new contacts and glasses! I’ve wanted new glasses for awhile (my current ones are from early undergrad and when I have to wear them I usually run into things for awhile!). I want rectangular, plastic frames in blue. If I have glasses I like to wear I might wear my contacts less, saving money over time. ;-) Maybe blogging about this here will get me to finally set up an appointment I’ve been putting off for about a year.
Ok, I need to go - I’m having dinner with friends in about a half an hour - Mexican - yay!
I don't know if you've heard in the news today (I was watching Morning Joe this morning on MSNBC - Jack Welch was on - and I love the program), but S-bucks plans to close 8%, or about 600, of it's US stores in the next year. All of them are "under-performing" and a lot are recently built (maybe S-bucks is trying to avoid sunk-cost effects, lol). I'm afraid the GradTown S-bucks may be on the list. It seems to be thriving, but there's always Murphy's law. There are three (technically) in GradTown: one at Kroger, one at the Union and one on SecondMainStreet. I'm confident the Union won't get the axe because it's heavily trafficked and GradSchool would have to totally redo that section of the building, but I'm worried about the one on SecondMainStreet. It's only a couple years old. I don't go there that much, but it's a nice short drive from my house and sometimes when I'm reading or working on the weekends, or heading home from the gym it's nice to stop there for an iced coffee or skinny latte.
Brothers & Sisters. This is on after Desperate Housewives and I'm usually busy on Sunday nights so I decided not to watch it when it started last year. I just started getting it through Netflix and am really enjoying it. The show does an excellent job at making Republicans loveable. j/k :-) Callista Flockhart plays a conservative commentator who just moved back to California around the time her father passes away. It's a little similar to Six Feet Under in that Dad dies, Dad had a successful family business that the kids take over, and by the way Dad had a few little secrets too! It also stars the amazing Australian, 
Shark. I'm really enjoying James Woods in his role as a successful "shark-like" defense attorney turned prosecutor. I may want to watch more of his work after this. It's similar to House, in that he supervises a group of young prosecutors, but better in some ways because the characters is not nearly as cantankerous. A lot of the crimes are really interesting, and the show does a good job of balancing personal stories with the crime of the week. Mom: I was reading about James Woods online and I read he's a Republican and supports Bush! I thought you would like to know that if you didn't already. :-)
Or, Kathy Griffin, I just got done watching the first episode of her show this season. I may post about that soon.
(most famous for his role as Bill Lumbergh in Office Space) was excellent as Katherine’s creepy and psycho ex-husband, Wayne Davis, but it wouldn’t it have been so neat if his dying words were, “Ahh, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in to work on Saturday, mmkay?” hehehe 
to read. It’s written by the first female press secretary, Dee Dee Myers. I’m also hoping to finish the third Dexter book Dexter in the Dark, by Jeff Lindsey. I've gotten through the first few chapters of 'Women' and I'm really enjoying it. She's talked about how both she and other women in academe, business and politics are held to double standards and a lot of her personal experiences are both interesting and depressing at the same time.
