More Information Than You Require*

Alright, so the seminar of doom this time around is a theory class in another department. Now, I'm trying to be open-minded about all this theory nonsense, but this sentence probably tells you how effective that 'trying' is. The thing is that I really do see the use of the theory, I really do. I even - heaven forfend!- use it in some of my work! But here's the rub, theory is not what I do. I do Gruub Studies, and theory is a tool - and only one tool - that I use to study, er... Gruubs.

So anyway, I'm trying to address my fear of theory by tackling it head on with this class, and actually, it's going well. I'm learning heaps and gaining a lot of respect for the prof that teaches the class (less so for some of the students). He actually seems to be alright with the idea that I'm only wanting to cherry-pick the stuff that I think is useful to me. All to the good, even though I still have to do all the work for all the theories.

What this means in practical terms is that I'm reading a metric boatload of reeeally dense stuff. This weekend was one of the roughest for reading, but I made it through, took notes, wrote a handfull of thoughtful questions to ask and dutifully headed to class.

It was cancelled.

I now feel like a piece of furniture with a coat of stain but no sealant. How am I possibly going to remember all this junk well enough to be coherant next week. Luckily, I'm not sure I'm ever cohearant. Maybe no one will notice. I'm exhausted and disappointed and happy all at once.

I'm adrift.

Also, tomorrow's a holiday.

I've got more work I could/should be doing, but I'm going to go home and maybe watch some football.

*title is from John Hodgman's book of the same name. I haven't read this one, but I read the last one, or well, listened to it on audiobook and loved it immensely. That is all.

The Bruces Know

Have I mentioned that theory gives me a headache?

Question:

Do I attract consumptives? There is a woman in front of me in the starbucks who is seriously coughing up a lung. Yeesh. Maybe that means it's time to go home to read.

Library Notes

• Note to the person who is coughing loudly and obviously with illness: Dude. At least I hope you are a dude. If you are a dudette, then you've got to be the rockingest sub-contralto that ever contralto'ed. So, anyway, seriously. Go home. You need to be resting and watching home improvement shows and taking in soup or something. If you really have to, check out your books and then go home and read in bed. You are getting your nasty germs all over the place. Also you scare the ever-living bajezus out of me every time you cough. Thanks.
• Note to the person who wrote in the book I'm reading. First off, I'm fairly anti-library book in writing. You are less evil because you wrote in pencil, so thanks for that. But the thing that's killing me is that you wrote really really tiny with a big blunt pencil. Was it like a carpenter's pencil that you sharpened months ago with a rasp? The result is that I can't read your notes and that's distracting. What's this? "issue garble garble and also not true?" is that what you wrote? Rather than blame myself for being easily distracted, I'll blame you for not writing more clearly. Thanks.
  

Big Mouth Bass, Without the Guitar

I think I mentioned a long time ago that we've got a Gruub Studies Colloquium. The way it works is that every week we invite a professor from a related field - sometimes only tangentially related - to come and present some state of the field stuff. We get to find out what the hot issues are in a whole lot of areas that ordinarily we would have to dig through a heap of 'other' people's journals to get to. So yea! All for the good.

So, I've got a bit of a problem. Those of you who know me already know about this. No, it's not that my hair sticks up all the time. That is a problem but it's not the one I'm thinking of right now. Keep on topic!

I've got a big mouth.

I love talk about all sorts of anything. Especially if it's something someone else is really passionate about. Especially if I know nothing about it. You can see how this colloquium works well for me. Even though I don't always finish all the readings, I'm almost always game to ask questions.

So, since we've got a new clutch of gradfolk this fall, we're trying to get them interested in the colloquium and the whole community that we're trying to nurture. Having a big blabbermouth at the table doesn't really help in getting them involved in the discussion, so last week I decided to sit away from the big table against the wall and force the newer folks to sit up at the adult's table.

I tried so hard to not talk as much, but... but... the topic was really cool! and there were serious problems. Problems that oooonly I could bring up (insert Underdog theme here). Well, obviously that isn't true, but the effect was as one might expect. I talked nearly as much as I always did, but I had to talk over the shoulder of one of the new folks.

Karma bit me in the tuckus, too because they assigned me to lead the discussion this week. Our visiting scholar just happens to be a certifiable gen-i-us (that's better than a regular genius). He's also very exacting. And he's from a field that I know even less than usual about.

I just finished reading all but a couple of pages of the reading.

I've got about maybe 20-30 minutes of questions.

I need to fill two hours.

Here's hoping for a rousing rowdy colloquium! (and a few more questions before we meet tomorrow)

Cooking With A Little BAM!

You know what's appetizing? What's appetizing is when you are making a nice big mug o' smoothie goodness - ya know? With a nice vanilla yogurt base, and yummy farmer's market strawberries, blueberries, grapes and some pineapple for a bit of zing - Oh, it was going to be delicious.

Was going to be, see. 'Cause when I started the blending on with my little smoothie blender, everything was fine, but a couple of minutes into it, I tried to shake it around a bit to chop up that last clump of recalcitrant strawberry, something started to smell, well, electrical-y. And as my dear personal friend Alton Brown might say, that ain't good eats.

Zap pop! and a quick unpluging later, I had a partially smooth smoothie and a mildly aromatic mini-blender. I guess that's what I get for buying cheap, eh?

I have to admit though, it was still pretty yummy. The smoothie, not the blender.

Abs Workout

Hiccups suck.

They suck so bad I want to spell it hiccough like back in the old-timey days.

Also, why isn't my oed subscription letting me sign in so I can see if there are any other cool spellings of hiccup?

That is all.

Should I Go With The Princess and the Pea Reference, or the Bedbugs Biting One?

Just a quick note to say that I really hate mattress salesfolk. They're pretty much of the same ilk as car salesfolk.

But even more of my ire is reserved for the mattress retailers on a larger scale. Why? Well, I didn't know, until I really looked into buying a nice mattress, that there is a different name for each mattress at each mattress store. How evil is that?

Grr... No real reason for it but to make it harder for me to comparison shop. And the sad thing is that it's not that I didn't comparison shop, it just made me angry at the people selling the product.

I seriously considered building a chart to make sense of the equivalent mattresses because I couldn't really find one online.

Oh, I'm going the latex one. It sounds weird, right? a latex bed? But it's not the kind of latex that you see on those websites you visit at night (I know you go there, don't claim you don't). It's more of a foam thing. Weird, I know, but it's supposed to breathe well and not be as warm, and it certainly seemed comfy enough.

Only time will tell.

Thanks Tivo, Thivo

Alright, So I got a Tivo not so long ago, and let me just say that yes, I love it. Yes, it's wonderful, and yes, I don't think I'll ever had a TV without one. Right? Right. Ok. Now then.

What is the hell are all these ads doing all over my Tivo? Most of them are just menu items like the stupid Land Rover one that's been there on my main menu forever (If Tivo knows so much about me that it can record things I like, it should not that there's no way in the world I'd buy a Land Rover even if I could afford one).

Then there's the 'would you like to participate in marketing surveys for our commercial partners' one. Well, no. no, I wouldn't.

But those, as awful as they are, are pretty ignorable. Nothing too egregious. This morning, I wake up and look through to see if any of the AFI top 100 movies were added overnight (very cool service that), and the little antanaed black box decided that I needed to watch an infomercial. I thought for sure it was a mistake. Maybe I accidently hit the record button before I went to bed. Nope, there was even a title to the infomercial saying that this infomercial was specially prepared for Tivo watchers.

Thanks Tivo, Thivo. (You really need to watch that clip, and perhaps many more from the "Look Around You" series, like I did, wasting an entire morning.)

Tivo forums info

Maximum Odd

What's weird?

No... I mean... that is weird, but it's not the weird thing I was thinking of... dang, that was really weird. How do you think of those things?

Ok, so the weird thing is that I just got a copy of Maxim in the mail. Like addressed to me personally. They got the apartment number slightly wrong, but still. Maybe I accidentally signed up for it by not checking a box somewhere online? Is there going to be a payment due card sometime soon.

I don't even like Maxim. The photos are like soft-core porn for those who are afraid to buy Playboy, and it's all wrapped up with a 'hipper-than-thou' tone that's just condescending and really annoying.

Let's look at it in more detail:

62/141 - advertisements (not counting halfpages or quarterpage ads)per page. Now I know that's standard or maybe even a bit low for a glossy magazine with lots of photographers and models and writers to pay, but still, at that rate, you need to be paying me to read it. I won't wear your trademark on my shirts, and I'm sure as heck not going to suffer through Calvin Klein emo-with-a-trust-fund overload to get to what content may lurk inside.

That being said, let's look at the 'content.'

Editor's letter:
First paragraph -17 lines, gist: Maxim editors leave the office during lunch to eat. Look at all the big words I use! It reads like the blog of an unemployed English grad student. Hmmm...

First 'Article:'
(starts on page 20)
5 paragraphs on Autumn Reeser. She was apparently on the O.C. and now she's doing the sequel to the Lost Boys? Are there supposed to be stars here? She's pretty hot and all, but not very bright or interesting. Sample quote, "Sleeping or coma scenes are always great."

Sex article:
How to tell she's into you. Here's a good cut from that. It's a woman talking about how she let a guy she was attracted to know she was interested. "I once told a group of people at a bar that I was turned on by anal sex." Wonder of all wonders, it worked. "When I got up to leave, he ran after me and started making out with me in the street." Ah, young love. Firstly, holy crap. Secondly, maybe that's one of those things that's sexier when it actually happens than in print, but I'm pretty sure if I were either of those people, I'd be running to the clinic after that. And finally, this is the cue that we need to know about? I've been hearing about eye dilation and different body language, and hair brushing, when apparently all I needed to do was wait until the woman I'm into announces her fondness for anal sex?

Yeah. I'm not going to read this anymore.

Well, Crap

Root Canal.

There is a Point, but It's at the Very End

There's something really frustrating about begging for the opportunity to spend money. I listen to a podcast called Buzz Out Loud, and one of the hosts is always talking about how this is working with electronic media and internet services.

Examples - I needed a piece of software, but it's published elsewhere in the world and not sold on our shores. It's a really common program, but the only way to buy it is either to pay some random person on eBay for a most assuredly pirated copy, pirate a copy myself, or - oh holy of holies - the company's website has a pay for download service. But, it only works if you use a bank card from the country of origin. No international cards are allowed. I wonder if they ever considered that if I their customers had such a card, They might probably be living there and wouldn't need to buy online. Here, I want to give you my money. I want you to have my money. Please please pretty please let me give you my money. I want to make sure you are compensated for the good work you have done, and you are making it very difficult.

I really liked that Chelsea Dagger song and one or two of the others on that album. Pretty fun, but I don't buy DRMed music anymore. I'm not sure I want the whole CD though. Picky picky, I know. (Insert old codger here saying, "In my day, you couldn't even listen to the music beforehand. You bought your stack of victrolla records, and you listened to them all, and you liked it! Uphill! Both ways!) Anyway, I've been checking Amazon every month or so since it was popular (on an iTunes commercial? Maybe I should reinstall iTunes and check there. They do DRM-free now, too, right?) to see when it'll be available for download. Nope. Still not there. It would be really easy to get a pirated copy, but I really do want them to have my money. Really. Please let me pay you!

So, the point of all this is that I've been worried all weekend about whether or not I would be so graced by the credit score gods and the whims of the management company that I might be selected for the great honor and privilidge of paying an metric dumpster-load of cash every month to live in their apartment. There's a little more reason behind this, I know. Buying a CD ain't exactly the same as signing a contract to pay all that money every month for a year.

Still, I got the apartment. I sign the lease tomorrow. I'll get some pictures for you guys.

Anyone want to help me move? :)

What a Cruel Cruel World!

Ok, seriously. I'm melting. I haven't put on the pointy hat yet though. There's also a sad lack of flying monkeys here, but that's probably much further than that poor joke was ever meant to be ridden.

So. It's well over 90 degrees at 5pm. That's just wrong. It got into the upper 90s today. I don't know how in the world I survived growing up where it was often over 100 during the summer. Well, I do remember hating life a lot. I also remember lying in a pool of my own sweat on the floor (floor's cooler, still way too hot, but cooler) at 3 in the morning trying to sleep. I do remember that.

It is really embarrassing in a way. I'm sure it sounds awfully pathetic and all, but I'm ok with that. I'm a wuss when it comes to heat.

On the plus side, I went to a festival ("the kings festival?" err... no) today, and I'll probably go back. It's pretty place-specific, so no real details, but it's very very cool (and by that I mean freakin' hot). I also ran into an old professor that I had no idea would be there. Chatted for a bit and even got his new book, signed and everythin' Hooray!

Oh, also, I'm back in my dungeon office. It has AC, but only in the way that Fox News has credibility - that is, there are people who claim it to be true, but I'm dubious.

Good thing I'm underground.

Be It Resolved

• "Mid-Term" Exams
• You can not have more than one per term, otherwise it is not a mid-term.
  
• If you want to use the phrase to scare students, it doesn't work. And your loyal TAs are the ones that take the brunt of the anger.
  
• Unless it takes place in the middle(ish) of the term, and there is only one, just call it a 'test.'
  
• Advertising on campus
• Litering /= marketing.
• You cannot convince me in any more effective way that your product is not worth my time than by covering the campus with your pathetic 'guerrilla' marketing.

That is all.

What is This Weekend Of Which You Speak?

I'm not really sure how to cope with this new information. I think that I may not have to work through the entire weekend in my office. I may very well be able to squeeze out a whole day without working on any specific projects.

So... It's been a while. What do people do when they aren't working?

Those Mannings Are Going to be Insufferable at their Reunion

Right, it'll be a blow-out. I can catch the commercials on Youtube. No problem. I've got to get that paper, that recommendation, and those grades (oh, and get that Japanese speech written, too) all in on Monday, so go in to the office. You won't be missing much.

Only what looks like one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory.

Crap.

Thanks a whole lot, little ESPN flash updater thingie. It would have been better if I hadn't found out until I got home.

Ah, well, back to work.

Cross-Town Traffic

There is simply too much to do this weekend.

• The paper presentation - luckily postponed slightly, but still looming.
• The Japanese presentation - to create
• The Japanese skit (why do they always make you do a skit? I hate skits) - to memorize
• The huge Japanese final exam and the oral interview - to cry about
• The massive seminar test (test? in a seminar?)- to prepare for and all the info is new to me :(
• The gigantic stack of grading that will. not. die. - to be marked

And I've got a half-marathon tomorrow morning - natch.

Oh yeah, a note to people who put together big events like, say, half-marathons?

Go ahead and don't piss off the people taking part in your event. So, for example, don't force them to travel all over all over creation the day before the event for hours and hours just to pick up the packet they need to take part in the run. Every other run either mails this stuff to the runners or they make it available the day of the run. And don't try and pretend that it's going to be at so health and fitness expo or something when it's not. A handful (like, maybe 6) of wholesalers hawking shoes that no one else would buy at their stores does not an expo make.

I do, as mentioned, have other things I need to do this weekend (like writing blog posts).

PS - Some of you may have the gall to mention that I should have gotten some of this out of the way earlier, and to you I have only one thing to say - pppppphhhhhttttttttt

Zeros For Everyone!

It is so hard to feel any sense of accomplishment after finishing a marathon session of grading. Why? Because there are another two big stacks over there to get through, oh, yeah, that there's more on the way.

grrr.

Can I Try Today Again?

Wednesdays suck.

I'm teaching a 10am and 11am class. Then I've got a 12pm Japanese class followed by a 3 hour seminar at 1pm. So, you read that right, 6 hours straight of class. Today was even better because I had a presentation in the seminar on a topic that I don't really grok. In the seminar of course, we spent more time on other material that I not only don't grok, but also didn't prepare. When we got around to my presentation, there wasn't enough time, so I had to rush through it.

To recap: I'm tired. I didn't teach well, I wasn't able to turn in some homework for Japanese, I looked like a complete idiot on the seminar material we covered and I didn't have enough time to even try to make up my ignorance with a mediocre presentation.

I might also add that there is a Japanese test tomorrow, too.

Guh. Feh. and Bah.

No Cheese with this Whine

I've been told that I need to get off my tush and write more here. Well, not in so many words, but there it is. Frankly I wan't too sure I had any readers left but if you are there still... umm... Hi there! Thanks for keeping me in your reader. I shall endeavor to write more.

Unfortunately today's happenings aren't the stuff of much joy or entertainment.

I did get to go to meet up with the nieces (how is it that I still have trouble spelling that word?) and their hangers-on (that's sis and bro-in-law along with a couple of other tykes and parentals). And I know I've said this before, but it is simply undeniable that these are the two most wonderful children that ever there were. I'd go into detail, but I'm sure you would gag with the fawning and such.

Also, it turns out that my sister and her hubby did a real good job deciding to be parents. They happen to be very good at it.

Of course it could be all different when I'm not around :)

Anyway, the frustration of the post is that I'm sick. It's a cold/flu thing, and I blame Bro-in-law. Actually, he got it from his friend who got it from his wife, so maybe I should blame them. Anyway, the upshot is that I've got a departmental reception (snacks and food and schmoozing) and a dinner (food and booze and schmoozing) invite from a prof that I'm not going to be able to go to because I'm just snotting the place up and nobody needs to see that. (seriously, you guys don't know how close you are to seeing my wadded up kleenex on my 365 photo page)

That wouldn't be so bad, but I'm just awful at being social anyway that I bet nobody even knows I'm in the department. Ick. And my advisor is there. If he remembers me, he'll probably think I'm ducking him. Gah.

Sniff.

I want soup.