Shhh...

IMG_2220
Originally uploaded by Overread.

Don't tell anyone I snuck out to shoot a baseball game yesterday. I may even do it again.

Mental health vacation, doncha know?

Cinqo de Quizo

Oh Sadness!!  A9.com was my search engine o' choice for lots of reasons - You could set it up where you got regular website results and images on the same page for every search, and, which is more pertinent to this post, they would tell you when you've already been to a site.  So... That was the only way I knew if I had already used a lyric!  Now they've switched over to using Windows Live instead of Google, and alas, all is sad and not as good as it was. 

Long story short - expect to start seeing duplicates on ye olde lyrics quiz :(  I'll try to keep it to a minimum though.

So last time all went well except for no one knowing 'You Sexy Thing' by Hot Chocolate.  Maybe that's all for the good anyway.  Oh and there was mild disagreement on #10.  Sorry, New Kid, 'Babe' was indeed by Styx, not Air Supply.  See!  That why you don't have to be embarrassed about recognizing them! :)

Also, a special 'howdy' to Gary.  Good to see you 'round.

Alrighty then - now that all that's out of the way, let's get quzzin'!


1.

The music dance and sing
They make the children really ring
I'll spend the day your way
Call it morning driving thru the sound and in and out the valley

2.

It's not in the words that you told me
It's not in the way you say you're mine
It's not in the way that you came back to me
It's not in the way that your love set me free

3. This one should be worth 2 points. :)

But we can love oh yes we can love
And my brother’s back at home with his beatles and his stones
We never got it off on that revolution stuff
What a drag too many snags

4.

And the county judge, who held a grudge
Will search for evermore

5.

But I ain’t forgetting that you were once mine
But I blew it without even tryin’
Now I’m eatin’ my heart out
Tryin’ to get a letter through

6.

I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed
Someone’s taken my place

7.

Then your innocent distractions
Hit me so hard
My emotional reaction
Caught me off guard

8.

Wherever you go, I’ll be with you.
Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone to lay your heart and head upon.

9.

At night, the people come and go
They talk too fast, and walk too slow

10.

and now we're six months older
And everything you want and everything you see
Is out of reach
not good enough.

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Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by Overread.

8.14km - 38'40

under 39 minutes!  Woot woot!  (personal record for this trail is 38'30" - ugh!  I'm... al...most... there...)

Multimedia message

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by Overread.

Genius

80 random people + blue polo shirts and khakis + plans to politely hang out at the local Best Buy = Hilarious

8.22km - 39'08"

Almost under 39' again! :)

I Have Not I Have Not I Have NOT!

I have not wasted most of today already!  Why do I feel like I haven't done anything

• I did that stupid survey that explained how no one earning what I earn can afford to live here. 
• I answered all of those emails (including the student who had a really good question, but wasn't my student). 
• I read a nasty (but useful) article in a language that I read really slowly.
• I mapped out a bunch of things I'll need to get corralled for the summer class. (scary scary scary)
  
• I did a bit of hunting around for materials for the summer class (I think this is where I feel like I didn't get anything done because most of what I did was discover that all those sources just wont work).
• I even blogged

and the day isn't done yet.  I'm breaking for a run, then I get back to work.  Maybe I'll feel like I've accomplished something later.

Oh, and the Black Adder DVD that Netflix sent me was cracked.  Poo.

Because I Know You Were Worried,

Now the sneezing.  So.  Allergies it is. 

I've taken the antihistamine, but the true question is:  Will the cafe people throw me out because of me sneezing every 30 seconds before the medicine kicks in, or will I pound my head open on the metal table first?

Why does my body not work right!?

Sniffle

Grrr...  This is absolutely no fair.  I've been surrounded by people hacking and coughing up their individual plagues for weeks now, and I've survived.  Now, just as most everyone else is recovering (except for one colleague who I seriously think is ill on a serious scale - naturally she refuses to go to the clinic: 'They'll only give me medicine, and I won't take it.'), I start to sniffle.  I hope it's only allergies.  If this is a real illness, I'm going to... um... drink fluids and rest?  Feh...  Even my threats are pretty sickly.

A Stitch in Time Saves a Quiz

Weird stuff afoot!

I thought I was going to get Camera Obscura on the #1 question, but Bozz Skaggs and Rita Coolidge use the exact same phrase:

Outside the rain begins and it may never end
So cry no more, on the shore dream
Will take us out to the sea
Forever more, forever more

Same basic song, but different titles and the endings are different! So, I doff my hat to you Oh, most obscura of cameras!

The only one that caused grief was #10. It was Get Out the Map, by the Indigo Girls, but then you knew that already, didn’t you, you naughty googlers :)

Oh, yes, #9 – it was the Mamas and the Papas, Creeque Alley – “ain’t no body getting fat, but Mama Cass,” dontcha know?

So, on to the new tunes! um... I got carried away. There's 15 this time around. I know I should have saved some for next time, but, um... I'm an 'instant gratification' kind of guy. So... 15. Enjoy. :)

1

But you know
I'm never really sure
If you're just kissing to be clever

2

Nine a.m. on the hour hand
and she's waiting for the bell
and she's looking real pretty
just wait for her clientele

3

How I dearly wish I was not here
In the seaside town
that they forgot to bomb

4.

He got a Custom Continental
He got an El Dorado too
He got a 32 gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe

5

Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin’ glass,
Seven years of bad luck, good things in your past

6

Trying to make some sense of it all,
But I can see that it makes no sense at all,
Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor,
'Cause I don't think that I can take anymore

7

See the smile a-waitin' in the kitchen,
food cookin' and the plates for two.
See the arms that reach out to hold me,
in the evening when the day is through.

8

With a little push, we could set it off.
We can send it rocketing skywards.
With a little love, we could shake it up.
Don’t you feel the comet exploding?

9

Only yesterday I was on my own
Just another day later my mind was blown
You sexy thing come into my life
Forever and a day it feels so right

10

But I’ll be lonely without you
And I’ll need your love to see me through
Please believe me, my heart is in your hands
And I’ll be missing you

11

Sit down, take a look at yourself
Don't you want to be somebody
Someday somebody's gonna see inside
You have to face up, you can't run and hide

12

’cause the free wind is blowin’ through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air

13

She gets up and pours herself a strong one
And stares out at the stars up in the sky
Another night, it's gonna be a long one
She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry

14

Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen
Prettiest girl I ever seen
See her shake on the movie screen, Jimmy Dean

15

Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun,
And the first one said to the second one there I hope you’re having fun.

Good News, Too

There was a post here
A naughty leak of secrets
even comments gone

Sorry to deletees corndog and zerodoll :)

Lecture Hall Cop

So the professor is ending the lecture, but there's still time left and he's still giving out information.  He's not just chatting or anything.  There are ~100 students in the class and once they figure class is wrapping up, a whole lot of students rumble around packing up and talk amongst themselves.  I look back (I'm the TA), and see one of my students in particular joking loudly to the person next to him.  Grrr... Overread gets ticked.  The professor has been having a hard time holding their interest throughout the class anyway, but we're not even halfway through the term, and I'm afraid it's only going to get worse.

So.  After class is over, I go over to the students that I saw talking and tell them that they need to be quiet while the professor is speaking.  They protested their innocence.  I was probably a bit forceful, but I don't think I was particularly nasty.  I made it clear that they were disrupting the class, and this was unacceptable. 

I know this seems minor, but it was a pretty big thing for me.  I really don't like doing that sort of thing, especially with a big audience (all of their classmates were around).

Maybe I'm just too paranoid, but I'm wondering:

• Did I see it wrong?  Were they the ones that were talking? (I'm 99% sure they were, but the 1% is killing me)
• Am I placing my frustrations with the way the class is being taught on the students? (The professor doesn't have the most powerful stage presence, and many students were rumbling and chatting.  Both of these things frustrate me.)
• Do I need to make an announcement in my sections (Yes, I do.  But what exactly will I say?)

8.28km - 39'36"

For Weak Women

Mother's Little Helper?

Wait a Minute Mr Postman

Well, joy.  I've found out that I do need my thesis committee chair's signature physically on a special piece o' paper (no faxing allowed) contrary to previous assumptions.  He's in...  Well, let's just say he's far away in a place where reliable mail service is a little less than the standard (it was suggested that I mail off three copies so that one might make it there).  The practical effect is that I'll need to have that thesis done about a week or two earlier than I had thought.  Poop.

On the plus side, just for kicks, I put all of my thesis files into one big one to see where I'm standing length wise, 'cause - hey, it beats actually writing, and it looks like, if things go well, I'll hit right around the length that I was aiming for.  It's a bit weird to see it all together though.  It's almost as if it's a single thing now.  Spooky.

On a topic-related note, a few of the amazon packages are arriving today.  What are the odds that I won't go home early and giddily rip open boxes?

Found card

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Originally uploaded by Overread.

Amazonian Conquest

I feel like I need to confess.  When I went to the conference a couple weeks ago, I promised myself that I wouldn't buy any books that I absolutely didn't need.  So I didn't.  I waited til I got home and I bought them all on Amazon.  Why! Oh cruel cruel dark mistress Amazon! Why must you taunt me with your universal purchasing options. 

Seriously.  So far they've broken it up into five packages.

Easy as 1-2-3

Accent: Hmmm… Well, I grew up in an accent heavy place (a bit southern-ish), and I spent a lot of time in theatre classes trying to keep a ‘mid-American standard,’ but truth be told, my accent depends on who I’m talking to. I think this happens with a lot of folks in my family. Oh, you should hear my mom talk to my grandpa – fun fun fun :)

Booze: Not much, really. I had my drinking phase (theatre world, again), but it never was that big a deal. That being said I was dragged off to two parties last weekend, which is unheard of for a hermit like myself. I took advantage of the two for one happy hour special and had way too many margaritas. Frankly though, I don’t like tequila unless it’s in a margarita or another froo froo drink. I usually go for vodka.

Chore I Hate: Um… anything! I’m a lazy lazy guy, doncha know? I did just do massive amounts of laundry and get a haircut, all in the same week, so maybe I’m getting better.

Dog or Cat: Cat cat cat cat and cat and then cat. See the thing is that I love all sorts of pets, and I grew up with a menagerie befitting my living in the countryside (seriously, at one point, we had a sheep. Lamb? Sheep. Maybe. We also had multicolored ducks and I spraypainted chicken poop fluorescent orange once, but those are other stories for other days). So the thing is I love dogs and cats, but I really really want a cat. A furry little purr-ball like the ones of Cute Overload. Yes. Of course I realize this doesn’t jibe well with my chore hating, but hey - I am large, I contain multitudes. Thanks Walt.

Essential Electronics: Yes. All of them. I should also say though, that it is refreshing to go screenless for brief stretches.

Favorite Cologne(s): I’m another in the anti-cologne camp. In junior high (?), I once saved up a huge amount of money to buy a bottle of White Linen for a birthday present the ultimate-love-of-my-life-who-I-couldn’t-be-without-and-my world-would-come crashing-down-if-she-ever-left-me-even-though-she-was-dating-that-other-guy-and-routinely-crushed-my-spirit. I was so proud of myself for casually finding out what she wore early enough that it wouldn’t seem obvious. So I gave it to her, she seemed happy and while we were talking in her bedroom (in her bedroom! Oh bliss upon bliss), I saw that she had received another bottle of the perfume from her grandmother. “She gives me a bottle every year.” Thank you. And I don’t like perfume.

Gold or Silver: Eh… Silver? I’m not really passionate either way

Hometown: Small city near a bigger city in a state that is unassuming enough that I have to regularly explain it’s location to foreigners. And some Americans, too.

Insomnia: Nope (knock wood)

Job Title: Teaching Assistant (“Lecturer” come this summer!) – Oh yeah, and all that ‘grad student’ stuff, too.

Kids: I hope so, but it seems I’m a little behind the game on that one.

Living arrangements: Uck. Small room in an awkward house under the flight path of low-flying airplanes and the rumbling tracks of the railway. It is a good biking distance from campus though.

Most admirable trait: I think my most admirable trait is to not answer certain questions.

Number of sexual partners: See above :)

Overnight hospital stays: None (still knocking on that wood. Plywood counts, right?)

Phobias: I do get vertigo, but it’s kind of attractive vertigo. I’m a bit like those little yappy dogs who run up to the bigger dog, bark and then run away, only to do it again. Each time I’ve been on the Eiffel Tower I force myself to go to the edge and then I run back and try not to notice the swaying of the whole friggin’ tower. Then I go look again.

Quote: What? I just quoted Whitman, for crying out loud! Aren’t you even paying attention?

Religion: None, although I do like the FSM

Siblings: One sister, one brother, both older. You guys probably know ‘em too :)

Time I wake up: Not as consistently as I should. Recently it’s been about 7 or so.

Unusual talent or skill: I can juggle, but only 3 items. I actually had to learn for a part in a play in college (Major Barbara). I had to juggle on stage as part of a sight-gag. Fun, but nerve-wracking.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: None! Gimme veggies! Gimme veggies! I even love brussel Sprouts and beets and oh… I’m ok with mushrooms, but it’s taken me a while to get on good terms with them...

Worst habit: Not finishing what I start. Finishing the MA while applying and negotiating the PhD thing has been a huge test of that.

X-rays: No, but I always wanted to buy the eyeglasses.

Yummy foods I make: (first of all, that was a stretch to get something that started with a 'Y') I used to make a kick-ass turkey chili, but I haven’t cooked in so long…

Zodiac sign: Leo, Ox

8.13km 39'29"