Run-a-dub-dub

8.22km - 40'57"

New pace record @ 4'59" per km average!

I'm not sure about the 8.22 km though. It usually comes out as 8.14km. Not much difference, but still...

Yea me!

Told You I Live On The Edge

So the result of my not giving the 'How To Write A Paper' speech is an unending stream of emailed questions.

Yes, you have to cite.

This thesis is ok, but try this.

Try this.

Try this.

Yes, you have to follow the requirements on the prompt.

Sigh...

Also, unrelated to academic joys, there is something in the office that smells wonderfully cinnamon-y. I don't know what it is. Now that we've got five people in the same small office, there are all sorts of fun mysteries...

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I Live On The Edge

Papers are due in on Thursday (not the one I have to write - that's due on Friday - joy.) The danger is in the fact that I didn't spend my standard 30-minutes in class going over how to write a paper. We're covering a huge amount of material, so I used the time to cover content. I don't have first-years in the class (although it is a first year course - joy.), so I'm going on the idea that they've written for university classes in the past.

See how I tempt fate?

The Horror, The Horror

The problem about starting to try to count calories is learning how horribly unhealthy some of the stuff I love is.

For example - the nacho plate from a big chain restaurant is 2120 calories. Damn. I mean... damn. That's more than I need to eat for an entire f'ing day. I was eating that pretty regularly. I've also discovered that the sandwiches from Quizno's are seemingly marinated in salt, then rolled around in salt, then buttered and covered in a salt glaze. Then they still a big ol' honkin' salt lick in the middle.

Oddly enough, pizza isn't as horrible calorie-wise as I had expected. And the Subway sandwiches are quite good.

I've been tempted not to post this because I figured I'd ruin my luck, but I've lost 10 pounds since a high tide of Christmas. I'm still a bit away from a good weight for my height, but that's okay, I'm built big and I've got some muscle, so I'm not aiming for skeletal.

And I'm going to get a couple of slices of pizza.

Originally uploaded by Overread.

年年有餘

The New Year's Party was a grand success and much joy was had. We're a relatively small department, and a good percentage of us turned up at the hostess's tiny little apartment. We ended up cramming about 14 people in a room that should comfortably fit 10 - tops. The hostess was a whirlwind. She had been cooking since dawn. Two friends dropped by at about 3pm to help, so by the time everyone started arriving around 6-7ish, there were literally mounds of Chinese food. Everything from eggplant dumplings to bitter melon and the most delectable veggie delights (we've got several veggie folks in the department, including the hostess - She did make some kick-ass pork dumplings and a couple of other meat dishes though too).

Various adult beverages flowed, and soon, T was telling about his exploits as a reporter cum actor abroad. H was explaining how close she came to settling down as a vineyard caretaker before she came back to school. G, the most kindly man in the room, was explaining his long history of fistfights as a younger man. B, naturally, was trying to get all the dirt on the new and previously unknown date that R had brought.

I guess I'm not emotionally able to enjoy things completely, because I kept thinking, in the midst of all this wonderful warm friendliness, that it won't last. A good percentage of the group will be moving on after the spring, myself included. I'm a hermit by nature, and it's taken a while to get comfortable with these people - my friends. I'll have to start all over again soon.

Things eventually started to break up, of course. I was riding back with a friend who was carting home the car-less. On the ride back I built up a little more self-pity. I always feel envious when I see all the couples pair up and head home. Since I'm moving on to who knows where so soon, I feel that it would be futile to be dating right now, but maybe that's just a rationalization so I don't have to take any chances. I really don't have the time for a girlfriend right now, but wouldn't it be nice...

All in all, a great time, and a wonderful start to the year of the dog! Now, to solidify my good day, after the run, I'm diving back into my thesis goodness.

Dog Day Dash

8.15km - 41'17"

Oh, I Forgot This.

Aren't you hungry? Just look at that excitement! Look at the way the noodles are hanging to the side - he's bringing that fork to his mouth with some speed! There are more terrifying illustrations here.

More good ones:

Satanic Huckleberry Finn
Cherry-Stem Knot-Tying Kid
Gollum-Girl. "My Precious!"

Flutter Flutter

Yesterday was one of the most full Fridays I've had in a long time. I was working in the office until about 11:30pm Thursday night. Then Friday stared with a three-in-a-row class block (2 teaching, one attending) I got two hours for lunch, which naturally meant I had to eat in 20 minutes while trying to finish some classwork. Then there was lecture number two for the day and a one-on-one with advisor the second. That got postponed, so I had time to help out a postdoc with some problems she was having. Then I had another couple hours free, so I bicycled home to get a shower (did I mention I hadn't showered yet?), and got in a few minutes reading before hopping back on the bike to zoom over to advisor the first's home for a dinner with visiting scholar-whose-book-we're-using-in-class (I'm also thinking of using his book for my summer class). I got home at about 11pm.

Yowza.

The dinner was actually very nice. I'm very much a hermit, so I don't get out much (although I've got another dinner tonight - aren't I the social butterfly all of a sudden?). The most flattering part about it was that I think it's the first time I felt like I was comfortable dealing with a fairly big name in the field who wasn't from my department. Uber kudos to my advisor who brought everyone together and made me feel like I fit in. Oh, also, I was the only grad student invited. Just me and a bunch of real living breathing big-wigs. Cool.

Tonight's a Chinese New Year party, so in case I forget, I hope everyone has a great year of the dog!

Hello! Mr. Blogger!

Is anyone else still having to type the 'I'm not a robot spammer' code in the comment window twice? because I still am and it makes me sad.

I'm It!

I've been tagged! (thanks ZeroDoll!)

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.
1) shelly
2) zydeco fish
3) doris
4) zerodoll
5) Overread

Next select five people to tag (Sorry!):
1) Jayfish
2) BrightStar
3) Russian Violets
4) Luckybuzz
5) Sheepish

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Aaaaaaaaaarmy training, Sir! (That's the fact Jack!)

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Very much the same thing I'm doing now.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Tortilla Chips
2) Chocolate
3) Mandarin oranges (or any nibble-sized fruit)
4) Pita (or bagel chips) and hummus
5) all manner of candy (except for a few abhorations of nature like Circus Peanuts)

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
1) Almost every song in Rocky Horror
2) Most songs in Grease
3) I used to know all of American Pie
4) I used to be able to sing all of Piano Man by Billy Joel
5) If I've go the music, I can sing Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
(I agree with ZeroDoll - it's gotta be a multi-millionaire; these days, a million bucks buys a shack in some parts of the world)
1) Pay off my debts and the debts of my immediate family (no luck distant cousins!)
2) Buy land, losta land under starry skies above
3) Set up my own foundation so I wouldn't have to worry about funding :)
4) Travel everywhere
5) Have a home

Five bad habits:
1) Lazy
2) I always find excuses to not be social
3) I abuse my electronics
4) I don't know when to say 'this is good enough' and move on
5) I often don't finish what I start (nice paradox, no?)

Five things you like doing:
1) eating
2) reading
3) watching old movies
4) Going somewhere I've never been
5) ZeroDoll was trying to be all coy by saying 'getting intimate,' I'm blunt. I'll just say 'sex.'

Five things you would never wear again:
1) Frank-n-Furter costume
2) High Heels
3) Full body makeup
4) Cross-gartered tights (ah, my days in the theatre world...)
5) Military uniform

Five favorite toys:
1) Laptop
2) Zen Micro
3) Canon 20D w/ assorted lenses
4) Nike Triax Running system
5) My blog! (that's a toy, right?)

Conundrum

Why don't they just kill James Bond when they capture him?

Temptation

Ooo... I got this nice projector for this silly little presentation tonight. Is it wrong that I want to just stay in my office and project movies onto my wall all night? I'm supposed to give it back tomorrow, but it's too cool! I want I want I want!

Not Fed After Midnight

The gremlins in the wireless network have had sunlight shone upon them. Hoo-ray for modern technology!

I know I haven't been posting much lately, and I'm afraid it may be getting worse as the the weeks pass. The thesis work is piling up on top of the already decently size pile of classwork and TAing work.

And yet I found time to watch the NOVA special on building a trebuchet. Because... Umm.... it's trebuchet... And that's cool. And I have no ability to stay on task.

It was a trebuchet though. I mean - just say it. Cool isn't it?

Sneaky Morning Run

8.14km - 41'31"

Well, the gym is still crowded in the morning, btu the trail was great. I even got to run a little bit with what looked like the women's track team. :)

It was sneaky because I should have been prepping for a one on one after today's lecture with a very meticulous prof. I don't think I'm going to be as prepared as she would like me to be.

Not Exactly Pret-a-Porter

Oh for crying out loud.

I’ve never understood fashion.  I don’t think I ever will.

Slow On The Uptake

More proof (as if needed) of my geekiness: I love the OED. My campus has it set up where we get automatic access from our browsers. Clickity click click and whoosh I can tell you all that the first entry for ‘numinous’ is:

1647 N. WARD Simple Cobler Aggawam 66 The Will of a King is very numinous; it hath a kinde of vast universality in it. 1864 R. S. HAWKER Quest Sangraal 17 An Orient Cruse, Fulfill'd, and running o'er, with Numynous Light. 1941 G. G. SCHOLEM Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism 59 The key-word of the numinous, the Kedushah, the trishagion from Isaiah VI, 3, in which the ecstasy of the mystic culminates: holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. 1951 J. L. ADAMS tr. P. Tillich Protestant Era p. xxxix, Protestants..often are unaware of the numinous power inherent in genuine symbols. 1993 Atlantic Oct. 113/1 Calle de la Luna shows a smiling crescent moon, Calle del Cristo a numinous Christ on the cross.

The power of the OED is very numinous; it hath a kinde of vast universality in it.

Most Distressing!

The internets are not accesible from my home! The wireless gremlin says that he is connected, but he won't allow me to see webpages... Evil little gremlin...

It's Gotta Be The Shoes

8.13km - 41'53"

Originally uploaded by Overread.