Notes from the café

Blonde: I haven’t gone to class at all!
Blonder: But I haven’t done any of the readings!
Blonde: But at least you went to lecture. I don’t even have notes!
Blonder: But I’ll bet you you’ll do better on the test
Blonde: No way
Blonder: No – I’ll bet you $100
Brunette: no – you should bet alcohol
Blonder: Ok – I’ll bet you a handle*
Blonde: Ok

[There was also talk of the reason for missing classes being the most excellent sales at a certain store. Later they came to the conclusion that they would both drink the handle*]

* a handle? How much is that?

Funny or Sad - You be the Judge

Stuff on My Cat

I have to admit, I spent a little too much time there.

Where are the Burning Bras?

Only one missed yesterday, and I’m sad to say it with all the kick-ass female bloggers out there, that the missed tune was Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots are Made For Walking! Alas! Alack! and Tsk tsk tsk! :)

Oh, my… I changed stations today, so there might be a couple odd tunes tonight!

#1

And Harry doesn’t mind if he doesn’t make the scene
He’s got a daytime job he’s doing alright
He can play honky tonk just like anything
Saving it up for Friday night

#2

Beauty I’d always missed
With these eyes before
Just what the truth is
I can’t say anymore.

#3

Now being without you
Takes a lot of getting used to
Should learn to live with it
But I don’t want to

#4

But what’s confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints

#5

Lie to me
I promise I’ll believe
Lie to me
But please don’t leave

#6 - Just 'cause it fits so well with #5 :)

Do me wrong, do me right,
Tell me lies but hold me tight,
Save your goodbyes for the morning light

#7

I love the colorful clothes she wears
And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair
I hear the sound of a gentle word
On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air

#8 – bonus if you know the songwriter

Seems the more I gave the less I got.
What's the use in tryin'?
All you get is pain.
When I needed sunshine I got rain.

#9

Skip the air strip to the sunset
Ride the arrow to the target-one
Take it hip to hip rock it through the wilderness
Around the world the trip begins with a kiss

#10

City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

Bonus wackiness!

Though I respect that a lot
I’d be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts

Oh, jeeze I’m useless – This one just came on and I have to add it in….

This is a place where eternally
Fire is applied to the body
Teeth are extruded and bones are ground
Then baked into cakes which are passed around.

Life's Little Questions on A Walk to the Store

Question #1:     Why would you knowingly wear a pair of pants that had ‘Juicy’ printed on the butt?  

Question #2:     Why would the cashier act miffed when I pointed out that she forgot to charge me for the candy I bought?

Hermit-ically sealed

Otherdepartment Friend and I had a brief grief session yesterday.  She and I have both been spending a lot of time working and feeling like we aren’t really progressing.  She did come up with an idea that I like though.  We both have stacks of essays to grade, so we are going to have a grading get-together tomorrow at a local café.  We’ve even invited another person we know who is also neck-deep in grading.  We figure this way we can at least pretend we’re being social (‘demented and sad, but social’) and still get things done.  Hopefully.

Quiz 2: Electric Boogaloo

Maybe yesterday’s was a bit too nasty, eh? I know everybody googles after they guess, but just for the record, here are the unguessed ones:

#3 You Belong To the City – The Eagles
#4 I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight – Cutting Crew (and some others?)
#6 Englishman in New York – Sting (hehe – tricky me)
Bonus – Cabaret from the musical Cabaret!

#1 – In checking the lyrics, I found out there is a new version of this one. Ick.

It's love it's love love get busy
Everybody's talking all this stuff about me
Now now why don't they just let me live

#2 –

Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me

#3 – Ugh. It looks like this one was remade too…

I saw him dancing there by the record machine
I knew he must a been about seventeen
The beat was going strong
Playing my favorite song

#4 –

How can I explain
When there are few words
I can choose
How can I explain
When words get broken

#5 –

Put on a little makeup makeup
Make sure they get your good side good side

#6 –

You’ve been thinking
And I’ve been drinking
We both know that it’s just not right

#7 –

Even while we sleep
We will find you
Acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on mother nature

#8 –

I've packed my bags
I've cleaned the floor.
Watch me walking.
Walking out the door.

#9 –

I just found me a brand new box of matches yeah
and what he know you ain't had time to learn.

#10 –

It was a beautiful song
But it ran too long
If you're gonna have a hit
You gotta make it fit
So they cut it down to 3:05

Bonus – One of my favoritest songs ever

Tonight I’ll sing my songs again
I’ll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity

Where Do You Really Live?

Go here and find out!

Also:

Kung-Fu Chimp (video)

Voice Actors in the Flesh (video)

Thanks to Jayfish and Boing Boing

Morpheus Calling

Very odd.  I called off one meeting tonight and the other meeting got called off on me.  I guess this is the gods’ way of telling me to get a full night’s sleep tonight.  

A Tragedy in One Act

I can’t remember faces.  I can’t remember names.  Or rather, I don’t.  This is horrifically embarrassing.  Often.  Last night I went to the library, and while I was at the counter, I saw a guy I recognized.  He worked there, and I even recognized that I had seen him and talked to him before.  But that wasn’t where I knew him from.  Bolstered by my being able to remember that I had forgotten who he was (a success, generally), I ventured to speak.

Overread:     Hey, I’m sure I know you.  Where have we met?
Counter
Dude:          Oh, I took X class.  (I TAed it last year)
OR:     Oh, cool, yeah.  I’m sorry I’m so awful with names and faces.  I’ve even seen you here at the library before, right?     
CD:     Yeah.
OR:     So how’s it going?
CD:     I failed that class.
[Smile fades from OR’s face.  Uncomfortable Pinter-esque pause.  Exit CD stage left.]

When will I learn?  

Songs Sung Blue

I can't say that this one is harder for sure, but it might be a bit weirder. (Bonus points for the title reference)

#1

Oh - thinking about all our younger years
There was only you and me
We were young and wild and free

#2 – one of the best band names ever

Let them say we're crazy, what do they know?
Put your hands in my hand baby, don't ever let go
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby we can make it if we're heart to heart

#3

The sun goes down, the night rolls in
You can feel it starting all over again
The moon comes up and the music calls
You're getting tired of staring at the same four walls

#4

I keep looking for something I can't get
Broken hearts lie all around me
And I don't see an easy way to get out of this

#5

I poured it on and I poured it out
I tried to show you just how much I care
I’m tired of words and I’m too hoarse to shout

#6

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say

#7 – One of the best songs the Fish gave me

And in my room against the wall
there is picture very small
a photograph I took some years ago
it shows a picture of the room I know

#8 – I don’t cry listening to this song. I’ve just got something in my eye.

Give me these moments back.
Give them back to me.
Give me that little kiss.
Give me your hand.

#9 – this one is so well-known you only get one line :)

Cow is giving kerosene, kid can’t read at seventeen

#10 – hehe

chicken in the bread pan picking out dough
Granny does your dog bite no-child-no

#11 – Bonus! Several choices for singers here – oddly, I’ve liked them all about the same

The day she died the neighbors
came to snicker:
"Well, thats what comes
from to much pills and liquor."

Fertile Fields

Sections went ok – I think we’ve got some issues, though.  Knowitall is still a problem, but he talked to me a little between my sections, and I think he understands the problems he’s causing, and he is getting better.  I’ve still got a handful of budding flowers. They do the reading - I can tell that, but they’ve only just started to talk.  Hopefully they will not need err… fertilizer… to blossom.  Not that there’s any lack of that around…  

The Quiz of Doom( that came down today was a most sad awakening for some.  “We have to do the reading and write the paper on the same week?”  “Well, yes.  Yes, you do.”  Some did pretty well on the quiz though, and I’m happy to reward their hard work, so that’s all good.  

Zoom Zoom Zoom-a Zoom

Whooosh! Thus goes my day. I think I may have blinked and lost a few hours.

Meeting with Prof and colleague to discuss how evil to be on grading essays and before that (immediately before – meaning jog across campus before):

a lunch meeting with professor visiting from Far Far Away and another Prof. Before that:

was the grading so that I could have samples to show Prof #1 (boy, I need pseudonyms, don’t I) before that:

was lesson planning for tonight’s classes. Now:

I have a couple of minutes before running off to said classes to enlighten the minds of tomorrow’s America. Either that or we’ll review for the upcoming test, I haven’t figured out which.

Good thing there was free food in there somewhere. What did I eat? Oh, yes – we went to the ‘take prospective profs to lunch’ restaurant, so I ate well – artichoke ravioli. Quite yummy. I think. I didn’t have much time to do any tasting, really…

Welcome Pixies!

I’m so happy that there are more folks filtered in from Phantom Scribbler to tackle the lyrics quiz! (Seriously, PS, you should see my statcounter spike :) ) Anyhoo – Welcome to one and all! To celebrate the linkage, there are 10! Count ‘em 10! questions tonight. Hopefully there’ll be a couple toughies for you.

First, there is only one clarification to make because you guys kicked far too much ass and got all the questions right yesterday. The clarification is about ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’. Now, the John Denver version is the one I was thinking of when I wrote the question. It’s absolutely one of the most wonderfully sad renditions that ever there was, and personally has a very bittersweet romantic memory for me. That being said, I listened to the PPM version today, and I can’t say that those PPM fans were misguided in saying that that was their favorite version. So, alas, it’s just such a sad song, I imagine if Pee-Wee Herman sang it, I’d still be touched.

ong story short: full points and back-patting all around!

Now, for the new, improved and devious-er version of the lyrics quiz!

#1 – A fairly easy one to warm up

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

#2 – An easier one to cool down

Slipped me notes under the desk
While I was thinkin' about her dress
I was shy I turned away
Before she caught my eye

#3 – Hmmm today’s songs seem easier than I was hoping – but do you know the artist?

Look at what’s happened to me.
I can’t believe it myself.
Suddenly I’m up on top of the world.
It should’ve been somebody else.

#4 – Had to make this one a little shorter

The insecurity is the thing that won’t get lost
And you want her and she wants you

#5 – And suddenly with no warning, a really hard one!

The wind blows hard against this mountainside
Across the sea into my soul.
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road.
My heart is old it holds my memories

#6 –

I used to have a lover with a Midas touch
I turned to gold but he turned to dust
Left me for another, I turned to stone

#7 – I used to intentionally mishear the title of this one – Oh, good times…

Crying on the corner, waiting in the rain
I swear I'll never, ever wait again
You gave me your word – but words for you are lies

#8 –

And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

#9 – Ouch. I never would get this one, even though I thought I knew the song alright…

She turns herself round
And she smiles and she says
'This is it - That's the end of the joke'
And loses herself
In her dreaming and sleep
And her lovers walk
Through in their coats

#10 – Last one!

Meet me in the crowd
People people
Throw your love around
Love me love me

10/19 edited to fix a goof.

Quiz OF DOOM!

There is a quiz written for tomorrow’s discussion session.  I don’t have a lot of hope that people actually did the reading though.  Will anyone be shamed by their performance on the quiz?

I should also be building a discussion plan, but that ain’t happening today.  Tomorrowman will handle that one.  

On the plus side, I did get pizza tonight.  Which, I guess from a calorie, carb or cholesterol point of view is a negative, but it was yummy and that’s what I needed, so nyah nyah.

Five for Quizzing

First off, eternal shame for those of you who didn’t get Thriller. I know, I know, it was an odd patch of lyrics, but it’s Thriller! Hehe, ok, no more teasing the quizzed… the quizzical?

#4 was indeed Wild, Wild West, but it was by The Escape Club

Bonus wacky question was another sop to the hippies (or musical theatre) folks out there – it’s the title song to the musical Hair. Good stuff, there.

On to tonight’s extravaganza! Due to musical rain (not purple, unfortunately), I may have to dig a bit deeper into the recently played lists, but rest assured, each tune was played on my laptop in the recent past. Because I know that’s important to you all. :)

#1

I've got to get closer but I don't know how.
She makes me nervous and makes me scared
But I feel so good if I just say the word

#2 – several artists recorded this one, but there’s only one real version :)

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go

#3

Once there was a boy
Who woke up with blue hair
To him it was a joy
Until he ran out into the warm air
He thought of how his friend would come to see;
And would they laugh, or had he got some strange disease?

#4

Last night I tried to leave
She cried so much I just
could not believe
she was the same girl I
fell in love with long ago

#5

I met my old lover
On the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me
I just smiled
And we talked about some old times
And we drank ourselves some beers

The Count is Here!

Two!  Two students came to office hours!  Wonderful students who care about their future!  Remember, I’m only happy because it means that riding the bike through the monsoon is now justifiable. So, I’ve labeled them the Concerned Two.  They care.  Either that or I scared them enough that they wanted to come in and confirm that they did indeed have a thesis statement.  If fact, both of them already did.  Well, more or less, anyway.  Good chats were had, in any case.

In fact, I think I did do a good deal at scaring folks this time around (it is nearly All Hallow’s Eve, ya know).  I’ve had many emails asking me to look at thesis statements and outlines and all sorts of good stuff.  That bodes well for the papers, I hope – you can’t see me, but I’m knocking on wood right now.  

On top of that, both Phantom Scribbler and Mendi-la have admitted to being addicted to the little lyrics quiz, and that makes me happy.  And, I actually was marginally productive today to boot.  Hazzah!

It's A-Raining... er.. Rain. Halelujah.

Earlier, I said that, due to students not doing the readings, quizzes would fall upon their heads like the curse of a malevolent rain god.  Well, actually I didn’t say it like that, but perhaps I should’ve.  In any case, the quiz hasn’t been written, but the rain god gods were listening, I think.  Never taunt the rain gods, for they know who rides bicycles, oh, yes they do.

So anyway, it’s monsoon season over here in the land of the woefully underread, and I’m biking through it all.  I was cozily housed in my café, avec buttered cinnamon raisin bagel in my belly, happily trundling through data and papers and readings, but I had to come in to the office for my scheduled office hours.  I bet no one will show up.  

I should add that I love the rain.  I love puddles and little streams the run through campus where they ought not to run.  I love that when I got off my bike to come inside there was a peal of thunder so sudden and loud that it set off car alarms.  I don’t even really mind the clothes that get soaked even under the nice rain-gear I’ve got.  

So for now, the tunes are off, and I’m listening to the rain and thunder while I try to get back to work.

I'm in Love

The past couple of nights I've been watching portions of this. I've come to accept that I'm hopelessly in love with Jennifer Ehle. Pity she's married and all, but she could make me her slave with the little arching eyebrow thing she does.

Drat that I'll never have a chance with that Mr. Darcy around. I hear he has ten thousand a year.

The Sound of Quizzes

The only one you musical maniacs didn’t get…
Bonus #6

So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But that's me stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is OK.
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry

Take On Me – A-ha

A-ha! Great video, though, right?

I’m so happy to hear that I’ve been able to addict people too the little quizzettes! You folks should know that the reason I do this is because I couldn’t answer the questions myself. You know how it goes – those who can, do; those who can’t, give quizzes. :)

Oh, yeah, these are all from the songs that come up in the radio rotation (with a rare tune from my collection), so you can imagine how important it is that I listen to music with headphones.

#1 – You may know the song, but do you know the title?

Every time I think of you
I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue
It's no problem of mine but it's a problem I find
Living a life that I can't leave behind

#2 – This one is long, ‘cause it’s a very silly song

Who's that lady
Coming down the road
Who's that lady
Who's that woman
Walking through my door
What's the score
I'll be the sun
Shining on you
Hey Cinderella
Step in your shoe
I'll be your non-stop lover
Get it while you can
Your non-stop miracle
I'm your man

#3 – Should be easy, but essential.

Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together
all through the night I’ll save you from the terror on the screen,
I’ll make you see

#4 – Might be tough, but not too bad

Forty seven dead beats living in the back street
north east west south all in the same house
sitting in a back room waiting for the big boom
I'm in a bedroom waiting for my baby

#5 – Not too bad…

Music can be such a revelation
Dancing around you feel the sweet sensation
We might be lovers if the rhythm's right
I hope this feeling never ends tonight

And finally, a bonus wacky question!

I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy
Shining, gleaming, streaming
Flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted
Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied!

I _Am_ Working.

Your Monster Profile

Death Slayer You Feast On: Fried Twinkies You Lurk Around In: The Empire State Building You Especially Like to Torment: Your Exes

What's Your Monster Name?

Of course I'm working. What would make you think I'm not hard at work.

because I am.

Hard at work, that is.

I blame Cheeky Prof.

The Road to Hell is Paved With 'To-Do' Lists. And Concrete.

Photo gigs are done for the weekend, and now I realize that my weekend is already pretty much gone. I can put in another 3 or 4 hours of work here, but I’ve probably got to eat sometime too. Luckily, Monday’s meeting that I need to do a lot of prep for got moved to Wednesday, so I can procrastinate a bit on that stuff.

I like the public accountability of the ‘to do’ lists that people are putting up, so maybe I’ll try one too.

• Readings and response paper for Tuesday seminar
• Select material for final project for seminar
• Write quiz for evil students who aren’t doing the reading for Wednesday section
• Read readings for Wednesday section
• Rework data for Thursday meeting with advisor
• Return overdue books to library and check out giant palate of books they’ve put on hold for me
• Revise Miniland paper and send it off to wherever it’s going
• Begin to flesh out outline or maybe even start a content chunk of thesis
• Edit photos for Mr. X

Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. Now I’m depressed.

edited 10/17 - Well, it does feel good to cross stuff off though, that is true...