I'm Dragging.

Ugh.

Long day.

No energy to write.

I leave you with today’s tune test.

Whatever happened to Saturday night?
When you dressed up sharp and you felt alright
It don't seem the same since cosmic light
Came into my life, I thought I was divine.

It’s much more energetic than I feel right now.

I Play My Xs On Triple Letter Scores

6.01 km – 31’12”

Felt pretty good, too. I just did the quickish run-loop by where I live. Since I knew I was just going to do one loop, I tried to pick up the pace a little bit, and that seemed to work. I even had a sub-five minute kilometer and two at 5’04”. Maybe I should try to run shorter runs more often.

Proof that I’m way more geeky than is healthy:

I turned on ESPN when I got up this morning to watch a bit of the pregame shows (granted, not so geeky), but by the time I got back from my run, I turned the TV back on and they were showing the Scrabble championships. They even had Stephen Fastis, the guy who wrote Word Freak, doing the play-by-play. Play-by-play in a Scrabble game! How can you tell me that cable isn’t a wonderful curse? Rather than watch a quarter or two of football before I left the house, I sat there and watched other people play Scrabble. That’s pretty pathetic, isn’t it?

Mark Twain - IN SPACE!

I was led to believe that if I didn’t go see Serenity that my geek-cred would be in serious jeopardy. So, today after the whole readin’ & ritin’ (no ‘rithmatic, I’m afraid) thing fell apart, I checked up on Rotten Tomatoes and found out that there was a screening of it right across the street from my café in just a handful of your earth-minutes. The laptop and research gear veritably hopped into the backpack, I literally hopped on the bike, and away we all went. You, as readers of such a geeky blog, get to read my review, which is right down there. Go ahead, you can stop reading this. Just start reading the review, I’ll meet you on the other side.

Serenity

Firstly, I should say that I like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer as much as the next guy, and I’m a mite pleased that’n those that’d filmed up this here pi’cher wanted ta write thems actors sumptin’ of a funny-talking script, but I think they went a touch too far. Honestly, there are some lines in there where the dialect really does take away from the story.

Now for those of you hip to the geek-side of these internets of ours will know that some folks (including the director, it seems) have been comparing this movie with the original Star Wars series, and I think the comparison’s apt in all the good and bad ways that follow along. First, the acting isn’t the greatest, in fact, some of it’s bad. Those of who remember Mark Hammil in Star Wars will agree with me about that being a common point.

The script, aside from occasionally going Twain-ish, is good for what it should be. The movie has a nice hold of the banter that worked well in the early Star Wars films (but that evaporated altogether in the later ones). The script generally handles the love interests well – only a couple parts seemed awkward.

Obviously, Serenity is all about gallivanting heroically across the galaxy and saving the world. Errr… worlds. Anyway, that’s something that they do quite well. As a welcome surprise, they don’t dwell on the mechanics of interstellar combat. It’s there to be sure, but you’re not going to be subjected to it so much that you forget about the story, which is a nice change of pace. Our heroes are, par for the course, tragic and haunted, but again, they really only dwell on the one character whose haunting is crucial to the story.

I liked the movie quite a bit, really. Someone online somewhere mentioned that it was a kind of Flash Gordon for today, and frankly I think I’ll agree. It ain’t art, but it’s a movie of that mold that is much much better than most. (Full disclosure: I liked Flash Gordon a lot too.)

Serenity – 8/10

See, I told you I’d be back. Last notes – they made a movie out of Doom. The video game. They showed the trailer. Part of the trailer showed the camera following the main killing machine dude (the Rock - now called "Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson") from the point of view of the video game. I almost cried with joy. It may very well be the worst looking movie I’ve seen in a long long time. And remember, I watched the Fantastic Four.

Edited to add links and correct a silly typo

Soothing the Heart of the Savage Breast

Whew – just finished a photo gig and it’s time to go home, but before I do, I know you’re all aching for a Friday night (Saturday morning?) version of the silly guess the lyrics game! Tonight we’re doing a batch, but sticking to the ‘80s with one exception from 1968 because while I was editing photos, I switched my mix. Some are cruel and nasty, some easy. So without further ado:

#1
Lipstick cherry all over the lens as she's falling
In miles of sharp blue water coming in where she lies
The diving man's coming up for air cause the crowd all love pulling dolly by the hair, by the hair
And she wonders how she ever got here as she goes under again

#2
And you get in your car and you drive real far
And you drive all night and then you see a light
And it comes right down and lands on the ground
And out comes a man from Mars
And you try to run but he's got a gun
And he shoots you dead and he eats your head
And then you're in the man from Mars

#3
Zebras are reactionaries,
Antelopes are missionaries,
Pigeons plot in secrecy,
And hamsters turn on frequently.

#4
I'm never gonna dance again, guilty feet've got no rhythm.
Though it's easy to pretend, I know you're not a fool.
Should've done better than to cheat a friend,
and waste the chance that I've been given.
So I'm never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you.

#5
Tommy used to work on the docks.
Union’s been on strike.
He’s down on his luck...it’s tough, so tough.
Gina works the diner all day.
Working for her man, she brings home her pay.
For love - for love.

#6
The blonde waitresses take their trays
They spin around and they cross the floor
They’ve got the moves

You drop your drink then they bring you more Remember, no Googling allowed. We’re looking for artist and song title, half credit for one without the other. Only blue or black ink is accepted, no pencils. Take everything off your desk and open you blue books. Ready? Begin.

Like, Stuff the Stuff next to the Stuff, and Junk.

Oh, remember that I moved out of the cool place and into the tiny pit? Umm… I also left some stuff in the garage at the cool place - like a bunch of boxes of stuff. And now they’ve sold the house. Hehe. So tonight I get to stage a raid on the garage to get my stuff back. It’s all kosher – I’ve asked them if it is ok, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s another shining example of why I need some kind of personal life coach or 24 hour secretary or something. The fact is that I am a scatter-brained guy.

I have fantasies that the new owners move in and just toss the whole heap into a dumpster. Then I just wouldn’t have the stuff and I wouldn’t have to shanghai my friends and their cars to help me out to and go and pack the stuff all up and stuff the stuff in the new place.

Maybe I’m a closet Buddhist - you know, with all the renunciation of worldly goods and stuff?

/run

I forgot to bring my running gear to work today, so there’s no running for me. I was actually sad when I saw it wasn’t in my bag.

Had another meeting with my advisor. He seems to think things are moving along well, but now wants to see pages. Pages of my thesis.Writing. The sheer gall of it all.

Fun quote:

“I think I’m enrolled in x section. My class list says it meets [there] at [then]. Should I just go to that section then?”

I live in a world where this student was honestly looking for an answer to this question.

Half points for the New Kid on the Hallway who got Billy Joel, but not the title, which was “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”

Today’s Tune from the Overread randomizer:

I couldn't take it any longer, lord I was crazed.
And then the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave.
I started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave that I would love you to the end of time.
I swore I would love you to the end of time!

It's One For the Money...

Well, no winner for yesterday’s contest, but partial credit to Jayfish, because I’m sure he knew it was Bangkok, even if he didn’t know it was Murray Head singing.

I had the first three in a row discussion sections today. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle this. By the end of the third section, I was pretty shot.

Oh, yeah – the class is in a room that is heated by the very furnaces of hell. Also, there is only one big table – which is good except that it sits about 16, and the maximum for the class is 18, which means there will be 20 in each class. Hehe – that’ll be fun.

On the plus side – section numbers one and two had some feisty people in it. They actually did the readings for the most part and seemed willing to do some of the critical work that we’re trying to do here. Section #3? Well, they seemed a bit molasses-y

Bonus trivia – If the home team is losing by a crazy amount of points, perhaps what you don’t want to yell is, “Keep it up, [home team]!” It’s kind of demoralizing, actually.

Ok, lyrics for tonight!

Do you remember those days hanging out at the village green?
Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans
Oh, you drop a dime in the box and play a song about New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights, my sweet romantic teenage nights

Buh-Bye Now

Ok, it's late. I'm going home. But here's a link to hang your hat on. Or wig. That's if you don't have a hat. No Whigs please, they're endangered.

New Yorker's Intelligent Design via Bitch, PhD.

Hehe

I'm never going to get work done if I keep getting emails like this (excerpted and altered from the original to protect the guilty).

At the get-to-know you meeting, the honors students will have time to chat, and then receive line
dance lessons using a boom box (at a reasonable volume).

I almost want to go just to see what a group of incoming freshman honor students look like in a line dance.

Banned Book Week

Ok, I lied about getting back to work. I had to check blogs first, and wanted to do this really quickly. I usually don’t do memes, but I really like this pseudo-meme from the Little Professor. Which of the 100 most frequently challenged books have you read? I’m always humiliated in admitting how little I’ve read of any list (hence my oh-so-clever pseudonym), and this one’s no exception. The ones I've read are in bold.

I’m always saddened by how often Judy Blume shows up on these lists. As I recall, she was one of the only fiction authors writing realistically about pre-teen folks. I’m used to seeing Twain on there, and Angelou isn’t surprising either. I also expected all the sex education and homosexual tolerance books to be there, but James and the Giant Peach? C’mon now…

Sigh… I need to read more banned books! Any suggestions on which ones I should start with in my copious free time?

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz

2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite

3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling

8. Forever by Judy Blume

9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman

12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

14. The Giver by Lois Lowry

15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris

16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine

17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck

18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

19. Sex by Madonna

20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel [I read one of them – the first, I think]

21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard

27. The Witches by Roald Dahl

28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein

29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry

30. The Goats by Brock Cole

31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

32. Blubber by Judy Blume

33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan

34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam

35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier

36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry

37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras

41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

42. Beloved by Toni Morrison

43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel

45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard

46. Deenie by Judy Blume

47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden

49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar

50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz

51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)

54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole

55. Cujo by Stephen King

56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell

58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy

59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest

60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras

62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly

64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

65. Fade by Robert Cormier

66. Guess What? by Mem Fox

67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney

69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

71. Native Son by Richard Wright

72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday

73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen

74. Jack by A.M. Homes

75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya

76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle

77. Carrie by Stephen King

78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume

79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge

81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein

82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole

83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King

84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez

87. Private Parts by Howard Stern

88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford

89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher

93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis

94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene

95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy

96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts

98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney

100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

8.14km – 44’12”

Did a shorter run today, because I’ve been slacking for the past couple of weeks. I didn’t want to push too much, and it’s just as well, because someone over here turned on the heat and humidity today. I don’t live in a furnace of hell like I know some of you do, so, I doubt I’ll get any sympathy, but sheesh – I bet I lost a few pounds of sweat out there.

Also noted: Guy I've seen a couple of times on the treadmill (why people use a treadmill when there are so many wonderful trails around here, I'll never know, but I digress...). The gentleman's workout wardrobe is a bit exentric. He wears corderoy pants, a flannel print shirt and a vest.

Ok, no whining! Back to work! Here’s your lyric o’ the day. It’s either going to be really easy or impossible bwahaha.

I don't see you guys rating the kind of mate I'm contemplating. I'd let you watch. I would invite you, but the queens we use would not excite you.

No googling! :)

Apropos of Nothing

It'’s already 9. Where in the world did the day go? I haven'’t done much work at all? It seems like all I did was attend classes and meetings. I guess that'’s work of a sort, but I have things that need doing. I didn'’t even run today.

How in the world do you folks get anything done with all this teaching stuff?

Ok, tomorrow'’s another day. I will get up early and I will get silly admin stuff finished so that I can dig a nice little burrow in which I shall hide and do the lovely bookly stuff that loves me back.

Lyric of the evening! Name the song and artist! No Googling allowed.

"“There's no sign of life/It'’s just the power to charm/I'’m lying in the rain/But I never wave bye-bye/But I try, I try"”

On a related note, I only seem to remeber the video for 'Let's Get Physical.' It didn't seem nearly as nasty as the song does now that I'm listening to the lyrics. I thought it was exercising. Let me hear your body talk, indeed...

Shiny Happy Bloggers

How happy are the Livejournalers?

Oh, Dear.

There must be a better four letter abbreviation for 'Comparative Literature.'

Snark On!

Conference weekend here in… ummm… I guess my school needs a pseudonym.  I’ll get to that later.  Conference weekend here.  Random notes:

1. I need more casual dressy stuff.  I get the feeling I shouldn’t do jacket and tie at this one, but most of the rest of my stuff is a bit too ‘Grad Student/TA’-looking.  They say you’ve got to dress at the level you want to be promoted to, right?


2. That guy and that guy need casual dressy stuff much more than I do.  I don’t think a sweatshirt (with hood) quite cuts the image you were wanting.  And you over there… didn’t your mother tell you about black dress shoes and white socks?  I guess not.  I bet you wear white socks with sandals too.  My mom would cut off my feet.


3. Presenter #3:  Breathe.  That is all.


4. Woman with comment:  Trust me – you don’t have a helpful comment.  You don’t have a question.  It seems like you just wanted to talk about your own research.  Bringing up your own research and claiming that it is vital to the presenter’s paper when it’s not only convinces people that you are either so ignorant as to not understand how the two are not related, or so oblivious that you don’t care.  You can pick which for me.  Neither is that good.


5. Folks in the back row:  You are supposed to be professionals.  You are professors from good schools.  I really want to look up to you and your scholarship.  I don’t want to think of you as chattering insensitive twits.  When the room is small enough so that everyone can hear you, it might be best to take the giggling outside.  I had hoped we would get better behavior than we get in the undergrad survey classes.

Bikepath Anthropology

The season has truly begun. I saw my first 'walk of shame'r.

8am Saturday morning. Micro-miniskirt. high-heeled shoes in right hand. slinky something in left hand. Oversized sweatshirt on body. bare feet softly padding their way on the cold, cold path back to the dorms.

My Brother the VJ

Proof that my bro doesn’t hold it against me that I saw Corpse Bride before he did:

Movies:

Alien plant life – very very eerie.

Mischief-maker – watch or fast-forward to the end, the last bit is hilarious

The Corpse Bride

I heard my brother was going to see this tomorrow, so I had to see it first :)

Ok, first off, there really wasn’t any way that I wouldn’t like this movie.  I loved Nightmare Before Christmas, and I really enjoy the aesthetic of Tim Burton’s films anyway.  I like Johnny Depp  and Helena Bonham Carter, and I’ve always loved Tracey Ullman  (even though I’ve never recognized her voice in anything – she’s got way too many voices, don’t you know).

Alright then, that out of the way, I don’t think anyone will be surprised that I really liked the movie.  The story was fresh and the writing good – there were only a couple of things that seemed a little trite.  

The look of the film is wonderfully Burton.  It’s a difficult thing to give characters that the audience will care about when the entire premise of the land of the living is that it’s dreary and dull.  The two living leads must be dull, and they are, but there are touches of ‘life’ that help draw empathy – a blush of color on Victoria’s cheek, Victor’s attachment to a sprig of flowers.

The land of the dead is very ‘day of the dead’ish, and in a good way.  But unfortunately, that’s were some of the slightly clichéd things happen.  I imagine it’s a tip of the hat to Disney when you make a little bug/animal/dragon the inner voice of the lead, but perhaps it’s time to try something new.   Although I do have to admit that making that character a Peter Lorre-esque maggot is unique…

Although I really liked the Corpse Bride herself, I personally was more taken with Emily Watson’s character.  There seemed to be more depth there than in the Corpse Bride, and a little less of the slapstick found in Victor.

I also think that some of the songs were a bit oddly placed and written.  The Corpse Bride has a song in the middle of the film that could have been very nice, but it ended up repetitious and interrupted by clever animal/bug companions.  

I feel that most of my pics are nits and it’s obviously well worth seeing if you are even remotely interested.

9/10

We'll Always Have Paris

I just had a brief talk about this with a good friend, and I think maybe it’s time I try to put it in words up here.

Recently my girlfriend and I decided to make exes out of each other.  This was a pretty long term thing too.  We were very near the five year anniversary of our meeting.  

I don’t have a lot of breaking-up experience, but this seemed to me a pretty civil version.  Very unhappy, but not angry.  We had been doing the long-distance thing for most of the time we were together, and maybe it was just a little too long-distance, too long-term.  

That’s not to say there weren’t concrete issues.  I won’t go into them here, but near the end, when we both were feeling the relationship strain, we brought up some fundamental problems that both of us had set aside for the sake of getting along well.  These problems, when we brought them out, were honestly just too much.

It turns out that it’s easy for two very accommodating people to accommodate themselves into a relationship.  It also turns out that it’s very easy to accept and even embrace what is comfortable despite knowing quite well that it’s not what it’s hoped to be.

We both found a great deal of comfort in each other without having to deal with many of the concessions that having to live within easy distance would bring.

There was a time, not so long ago, when I was pretty sure she was the one.  She’s not – I know that, but wasn’t it nice when I didn’t know it?

There's No Such Thing As A Stupid Question

Ok, Mr. Vocal.  We all understand that you have a knowledge of the material.  We all understand that you speak that language.  We’re all awash in your wisdom of the ages.  Please please please let the lecturer speak.  

Subj: Re: Re: Re: Re: STOP IT!

Because my TAship deals with another department, I’ve been let into their emailing list.  Good god.  These people are chatty.  I really don’t need 20+ more emails/day to delete.

Smut!

The Bush Agenda – America is under siege. Not by natural disasters, not by terrorism, and certainly not by incompetent leadership at the Federal, State and Local level, but by, you guessed it: Porn.

Now, I can understand. There’s a lot of child porn as well as trafficking in humans for the sex trade and the ‘people’ involved in that area should be met with a harsh crack on the head from the hammer of law.

But that’s not what we’re going after here.

The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults. (Emphasis mine)

I think an anonymous FBI agent puts it best:

‘I guess this means we've won the war on terror… We must not need any more resources for espionage.’

The jokes come quickly:

A few of the printable samples:
‘Things I Don't Want On My Resume, Volume Four.’
‘I already gave at home.’
‘Honestly, most of the guys would have to recuse themselves.’

Funny it is, but for crying out loud, I can’t imagine this is helpful or even feasible.

I should also note, that this seems to come from “Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and, by extension, of "the Director." That would be FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III,” rather than Bush himself, but I doubt Bush disapproves.


Via Washington Post

Run Me Right Round Baby, Right Round Like a Record Player

11.17km – 1:02’33”

Very weird run today.  

Sometimes a run can make me feel so wonderful when I’m out there.  My legs just feel like they could carry me without my will to swing them forward.  The ground accepts each step softly and with forgiveness.  I truly enjoy those runs.

After some runs, I’m exhausted and my legs wobble unreliably under me.  I feel the muscle burn in my thighs and calves that invariably leads to the slow but sharp walk up stairs to my office.

Today, well, today was different.  The run started out slow, but I felt more tired than I usually do at the beginning of a run.  I just felt like I didn’t have any energy at all.  I had to consciously remember a trick I learned in the army – you can only push your legs so far, but if you imagine it as throwing your legs out in front of you, you’ll pick up your pace without burning those pushing muscles.  I have no idea if that’s good advice.  I made it all up, but it helps me.

Anyway, I pushed.  I threw.  I panted and sweated.  Every time I looked down at my watch, my pace was slower than I thought it should be.  The odd thing was, though, that I didn’t slow down.  Usually I’ll slow down at the end of the second and the third lap, but today I didn’t.  I just ran right through it.

When I got back to the gym, I found out that I ran basically the same run at about the same time, but my heart rate was 3bpm lower than last time.  So that’s a really good thing.  Lower heart rate generally means more healthy heart.  So yea!

Bonus locker room eavesdropping:

A:     Sure, I think I’ll do fine in Paris
B:     (European accent of some kind) Well, they all speak French, you know.
A:     Yeah, but… wait.  They don’t speak any English at all?

Books of a Feather

My friend rocks.  He’s become quite the big man in Far Far Away.  He just published a book over there and even included a story I wrote awhile back.  I just got a copy of it today.  I’ve only had a chance to thumb through it, but it looks great so far.  

It’s funny that I know a lot of people who publish books, but they’re generally for an academic audience.  His book is built to be sold in regular bookstores to regular people.  For some reason, that makes it seem more valuable through the difference.  

Long Haired Freaky People Need Not Apply

Um…  spooky guy lingering in the hallways,  could you please either find what you are looking for or find another place to linger.  You’re kinda wigging me out.  It’s lunchtime.  No one is in the offices except us chickens.  

By The Pricking Of My Thumbs...

Things are starting to roll now.  I’ve met with Youngish Prof, for whom I shall slave as TA this time ‘round.  I’ve seen the syllabus and the texts.  The schedules are set.  Oh, that’s ugly though.  I got three sections in the late-afternoon/early evening.  One.  After. Another. So I’ll get the folks napping after a late lunch or starving before an early dinner.  Joy.  I much prefer the early morning classes because students just sleep in – problem solved.

The especially fun thing is that the other TA is something I haven’t seen here.  She’s a 17-year veteran of the high school wars.  She just this year went back to school to get her PhD.  She said that one of the main reasons she knew she needed to get out of teaching high school was the arrival of legal teaching standards from on high.  Very interesting.

She is wonderfully full of experience and wisdom about teaching, but more interestingly, she’s got a refreshing dose of idealism and awe about getting back into the university world.  I’m afraid Youngish Prof and I kind of surprised her when talking about all of the CYA stuff we have to do – keeping detailed grade lists, attendance, percentages and ‘> x absences = F’ kinda stuff.  It sounded as if she had hoped she had left all that in the high school realm.

Youngish Prof explained that when the students come to argue, we have to be able to defend the grades they received.  She said, “So much for learning for learning’s sake, eh?” and “I thought this would be more like a community of scholars.”  I didn’t really know what to say.  Youngish Prof and I just sat there for a bit and then both tried to tell her how good her seminar classes would be.  I hope she’s not too disappointed.

Another interesting piece of the puzzle – she’s never taught or studied Gruub.  She’s got a background in the broader studies to which Gruub belongs, but she’s never dealt specifically with the topic.  She seems extraordinarily diligent, so I’m sure she’ll do fine, but it’s going to be a whole lot of work to get up to speed.  

The two of us came up with a good deal.  I’m going to rely on her expertise in teaching, and I’ll answer all the questions I can about Gruub.  

Badly written, badly written, but no time to edit, I have to get back to fixing wedding photos!

Another Fine Mess I've Gotten Me Into

Total photos taken by me at the wedding:

881

Now that should be a day or three of editing, right?

Hehe

Value Subtracted

Do I really need the USPS adding an AOL CD in my change of address packet?

No.  The answer is no.  

Does anyone use AOL anymore?

Practice Makes Perfect

The rehearsal for the wedding I’m shooting was today.  The ceremony is tomorrow.  I’m actually not sure what we can legally call it, since it’s two women getting married, and that’s still not legal here.  Unfortunately, one family isn’t coming to the ceremony because they don’t approve.  I just can’t fathom that.  

It’s fun to see people that I deal with at the university reduced to quivering masses of love and nerves in public.  They wrote their own vows, and from the way they reacted while reading them today, it may be the first time that they’ve really publicly talked about how they feel.  Very sweet.

The ceremony is in a gorgeous park with views of everything beautiful in our neighborhood.  There’s a little earthen stage with a tree growing from it.  There are flowers and butterflies and birds everywhere.  

They’re two wonderful people who really love each other.  I hope that I can do justice to the ceremony with my photographs.

I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Oh, yes.

There is good news.  Maybe.

There are good rumors. Definitely.

Rumors of employment.

There is a very sneaky little birdie who told me that another graddie and I may each get our very own class next summer after we get my MAs.  

Would I be interested in staying here in the summer to teach my own class at this world-class university?

Um.

Yes, please.

Run Singular Sensation

11.24km – 1:02’44”

Yeah!  Felt pretty good too, except for the sand (?) that got into my sock.  Grrr…

More Rambling on Application Joy

I can’t imagine the thrill that the admissions committees will feel at combing my transcript from a university I attended in 1991 for relevance.  Because let me tell you, it’s a great joy to go back and try to figure my GPA in my major from back then too…

“Hmm…  He got a less than spectacular grade in freshman Geology in ’91… perhaps let’s not admit him…”

Being on an admissions committee has got to suck the brain out of a skull, right?  Statements of Purpose are all well and good, but how can you really know what you’re dealing with?  I guess the main weight has to go with recommendations from academics you know and trust…

Remind me to butter up my recommenders…  Hmm… cookies?  Flattery?  Actually doing good work and research? Nah – that can’t be it…

Junior and Senior

Again, my brother comes through with the linkage...

(music and video)
http://www.veer.com/ideas/move/

The Walls Are Closing In

Ok – this needs its own post because, well… because.

1 – They changed from a brown trash can liner to a grey one.  Is there some deeper meaning in this?
2 – Why are have there been a circle of women chanting outside my window the past couple of days?  I mean, seriously, school hasn’t even started yet.  The last chant I watched had forty or so women playing something akin to Duck Duck Goose, but it involved dancing around in a circle when the er.. Goose goosed you.  Odd…  Ah, I just now finally understood some of the chant – “Alpha Chi Omega, we’ll always be true.”  I guess that clears that up. Although, if they're always true, that might be rough on the true/false exams.  Wikipedia tells me, “Some famous alumni include Condoleeza Rice, Dawn Wells, Agnes Nixon, and Trista Rehn Sutter.”  It’s heartening is a scary way that I could have a future Condi Rice outside my window.

I definitely need to go home.

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

Something unexpectedly cool happened today.  I got to sit down and chat with a prof that I don’t get to see much of.  He’s a fairly big wig in a field related to what I do and a mover and shaker in the department.  I’ve taken a class or three from him, but I’ve never worked with him that closely.  Anyway, he wanted to know about my summer and what I was up to generally, and we talked about all the joy of my thesis, but then the conversation changed.  
We began to talk about the department and the people that are coming and going and such.  Our department is fairly small but very much on the up (I’m biased, obviously, so cope).  We are in the process of building a PhD program and a couple other specialty fields that would make us quite literally unique in the US.  So, without me even mentioning my PhD hunt, he said that when we get the PhD program up and running (probably a year after I should get my MA), that I should definitely apply.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this.  I’ve gotten it from another ex-chair last spring.  The current chair also just happened by my office yesterday and chatted for half an hour or so too.
I don’t think that I’ll be here for my PhD, partially because I want to get into it as soon as I get my MA, but also because I’m not sure I want to spend another big chunk of my life in this area, but it’s nice to feel wanted!  

Of course, I could take a year abroad after the MA and do research and then apply… If only I could get funding…

A-Run, A-Two, A-Run Two Three Four

11.22km – 1:03’11”

Woohoo!!  Campus run rocks!  I was able to keep the pace under 6 min per lap and ended up averaging 5’37/km.  I didn’t think I’d be able to keep a good pace, but I did!  And I’ve only got a couple of places threatening to blister (newish shoes still) – no joint creaking or other frightening pains.

Yea me!

Bonjour!

Got a call at 6:30 this morning from a friend in Paris.  She just wanted to let me know that she was having a great time and remind me that I wasn’t there.  I was fourth on her list of people to call and taunt.

Cruel, I tell you, just cruel.

That Boy Ain't Right.

Yesterday was spent almost entirely in wallowing in tv.  Between football (did anyone see the Texas Ohio game?  I don’t have any allegiance to either team, I was just so happy to see a good close game.  You don’t see that in college football much anymore.) and tennis (Woohoo Go Agassi!  Very nice to see Cljsters win too.  I like Pierce too, but the injury time outs she took against Dementieva kinda bothered me a little bit), I didn’t get much else done.  It’s funny too, because I haven’t spent an entire day watching sports since… maybe since I was in the army?

What did I do between games and during commercials?  I read Pride and Prejudice.  Then after the games were over, I watched the movie Holes on the Disney Channel.  By the way – that was a really good movie.  I remember thinking that I should see it when it came out, but I never did.  Highly recommended.

Today, I’m going to a bridal shower.

Let’s see – I think I’ve become all the marketing target audiences, right? Males, females, kids… yeah – I think I’m doing good here.

Following the Rabbit

There was a very nervous looking very young woman wearing all the university-student regalia buying a pregnancy test in front of me in line at the store today.  It’s amazing how alone and skittish she looked.  The cashier, perhaps from experience, seemed to know better than to give the customary, “Hi there, did you find everything alright?”  Not that I blame her really.  I’m not sure there’s a Miss Manners approved set of talking points for either side of that conversation.  
I tried to spin it upbeat.   Maybe she’s nervous because she’s happy.  Maybe she is ready psychologically and financially for a child.  Maybe there’s a loving, caring and thoughtful partner at home anxiously awaiting the results, or unknowing and apt to be happily surprised.
The thing is though, I’m a cynical twit.  I don’t believe any of that is the case.  I wouldn’t be surprised to find that there is a much sadder story behind that purchase.  I do hope it turns out ok.

The Chosen Run

5.99 km – 31’57”

Woohoo! 5’20”/km pace!  It’s always nice to look down at your watch and see that you’re running at a faster pace than you feel you should be.  There were even a couple of times at the start when I had to pull back a little bit, ‘cause I knew I was running too fast.

Yea!

Now lets see if I can pull myself away from the Pierce – Dementieva match and go to the café to get some more work done.  

Pierce just took the second set though…

A Class Divided

Maybe some of you folks have seen this before, or even seen it when it was on TV, but it was new to me. This is a video of an experiment that was started in ’68 by a third grade teacher.

What she did was build an experiment in racism based on eye color. She divided her class into the blue-eyes and the brown-eyes, and alternately gave and revoked privileges based on eye color. It’s a bit like the Stanford Prison Experiment in that you think you understand where things will lead, but to actually see the people reacting is very moving.

There’s a second section that is even more revealing – she does a similar exercise with a group of corrections officers.

Very interesting stuff.

Well, that's nice to know.

Your past life diagnosis: I don't know how you feel about it, but you were female in your last earthly incarnation.
You were born somewhere in the territory of modern North New Zealand around the year 1350.
Your profession was that of a banker, usurer, moneylender or judge. Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
As a natural talent in psychology, you knew how to use your opportunities. Cold-blooded and calm in any situation. The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
Your task is to learn, to love and to trust the universe. You are bound to think, study, reflect, and to develop inner wisdom. Do you remember now?

---

I wonder how many Northern New Zealander bankers there were in 1350. I must have been a real trailblazer.
found here.

Hey Jack Kerouac

The Smoking Gun is a great repository of strange (usually government) records. Usually they just have mug shots of famous folks or funny mug shots of regular folks (Best in Show goes to this paint-sniffer), but they just got ahold of the military records of Jack Kerouac. He was kicked out of the navy after 10 days for mental issues. In the conclusion, they note that, equally damning, Mr. Kerouac also had a, "rambling, grandiose philosophical manner." I can see how we wouldn't want that in our navy.

So when the draft comes, ladies and gentlemen, after you listen to Alice's Restaurant again, take a look at the tale of Jack Kerouac.

US Open

Did I mention, perhaps, that Martina Navratilova is 48 years old?

She's out of the mixed doubles, but she just won a doubles match, knocking off the #2 seeds. She and her partner are into the semifinals.

She's good.

Agassi's 35 and still in the singles run, too. And his middle name is apparently 'Kirk.'

Also, I may have mentioned this before, but healthy athletic tennis women are gorgeous.

Runagain!

5.91km – 32’45”

Well, I did my first post-trip run and my first run from my new duplex-thingie.  I am really happy about the run.  I was a bit dehydrated and my breath wasn’t completely back, but my legs seemed happy enough.  I held a 5 min 33 sec /km pace, which isn’t too bad, and more importantly, my heart rate didn’t get too crazy.  

It was nice to get back out there though.  My new place is just a little further from the trail than my last place, so I’m just adding a bit onto my old run.  Now I just need to try the campus run and see if I can hold up.  

It was hot and dry and the cracked ground gave out puffs of dust with each stride.

There is some kind of hawk or other bird of prey that flies out there and they will fly really low.  You can see their shadows follow you run along, and then look up and see them above you.  

The squirrelly squirrels were out and standing dumbly in the path until you’re almost right on top of them.  Suddenly they perk up and scamper off into their little holes.  

I even found a few humans out there.  One was flying a remote controlled airplane in the open field area.  Another one was an elderly gentleman with a big floppy hat who responded with a startled ‘Yes!’ when I bade him a good afternoon.  And then there were the other runners.  Two of them.  I shouldn’t feel as good as I do about passing them, but I did.  And I was taking the long way.  They were taking the shortcuts.

It’s good to be back.

It Sure Looks Nice Outside, But...

I am sloth incarnate.

There’s football and tennis on TV and a very readable book right here next to me.  There is also a very readable journal over a little further away, but oddly, it hasn’t been opened yet…

The true test is whether or not I order out for pizza.  If that happens, I might as well give up.

By the way, Navratilova is playing mixed doubles.  How can you not love that woman?