Okay, one more that I forgot in the last post. Here is Pass being super cute as he slept a few nights ago.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
cat!
Okay, one more that I forgot in the last post. Here is Pass being super cute as he slept a few nights ago.
Pictures!
Here is some yellow and orange from my kitchen for Project Spectrum. fun fun! This month made me realize I have little yellow or orange in my life, but what I have is in the kitchen.
Here is the wrap I have been crocheting for three weeks. This was a while ago so it is wider now, although I am supposed to have it done tomorrow. I am not sure how that is going to work, especially as R and I decided it was somehow wrong for me to crochet during my students' exam on Monday.
Finally, here is a necklace I made as well, in a crafty fit. It was actually not that hard to make as I bought the pendant and then put it on some cord. whew. I love the pendant though. It is a leaf made of mother of pearl, I believe. I made two other necklaces which were presents. I gave one away but cannot post it as the other has not been sent to its new owner yet.
Otherwise, things are going. I am making daily lists now and crossing things off of them. Today I am cleaning out the dining room and buying some folders and stuff I will need to control my papers in the jungle. Last night my friend Anna had an awesome going away party for me with most of my favorite peeps and a cheesecake! And beer! It is getting more real that I am going and I am getting excited.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Diseased and end-of-semestered
I've got some pictures coming, I do I do. I had two appointments for tomorrow canceled, and my car seems to be selling, so I am using this kinda free moment for a blog update.
I got two shots today in preparation for my travels. Yellow fever vaccine went in the upper left arm, and typhoid went towards the back of the same arm. I am sore, and for awhile I was EXHAUSTED. I had to nap before the Amazing Race. It was only a 45 minute nap, but I slept hard. I was totally out. As the night want on, I recovered from both the yellow fever and typhoid, and now my arm is sore but I am good as new. It was cool to think about how my body thought it was defeating diseases, and hopefully making little memory cells which will protect me from yellow fever and typhoid in the future.
I taught my last class today. We still have class on Friday, but the students have a test so there is little work for me. I handed out the students' grades so far, so they can decide if they want to take an optional final. So many of them came up to ask how many points they needed for this or that grade, and I had the calculator out helping them do the math. It does help to be a little concerned about your grade BEFORE the last day of class, though. Some have grades they aren't happy with, and there is not much to be done about it now.
I could also tell it was the end of the semester as my little office pod which is normally like a ghost town was filled with students talking to the various professors, all figuring out how they could try to get a few more points right at the end.
I got two shots today in preparation for my travels. Yellow fever vaccine went in the upper left arm, and typhoid went towards the back of the same arm. I am sore, and for awhile I was EXHAUSTED. I had to nap before the Amazing Race. It was only a 45 minute nap, but I slept hard. I was totally out. As the night want on, I recovered from both the yellow fever and typhoid, and now my arm is sore but I am good as new. It was cool to think about how my body thought it was defeating diseases, and hopefully making little memory cells which will protect me from yellow fever and typhoid in the future.
I taught my last class today. We still have class on Friday, but the students have a test so there is little work for me. I handed out the students' grades so far, so they can decide if they want to take an optional final. So many of them came up to ask how many points they needed for this or that grade, and I had the calculator out helping them do the math. It does help to be a little concerned about your grade BEFORE the last day of class, though. Some have grades they aren't happy with, and there is not much to be done about it now.
I could also tell it was the end of the semester as my little office pod which is normally like a ghost town was filled with students talking to the various professors, all figuring out how they could try to get a few more points right at the end.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Books
31. Me and Emma by Elizabeth Flock
This book is about a girl growing up abused in the south. Now, I don't want to sound rude, but I am very tired of books about girls growing up abused in the south. Amazon compares this book to Ellen Foster, which I know I read, but I can't remember if I liked it or not. I think I liked it more than this book, which was just boring to me. Also, there is a sort of 'twist' in this book that I figured out right away, and I NEVER figure out twists in books or movies. I'm always the surprised one. This book was not good.
This book is about a girl growing up abused in the south. Now, I don't want to sound rude, but I am very tired of books about girls growing up abused in the south. Amazon compares this book to Ellen Foster, which I know I read, but I can't remember if I liked it or not. I think I liked it more than this book, which was just boring to me. Also, there is a sort of 'twist' in this book that I figured out right away, and I NEVER figure out twists in books or movies. I'm always the surprised one. This book was not good.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Movin' right along
foot loose and fancy free.
That's right! R and I have decided we are moving to NYC! Even after watching me suffer through 4 years of grad school, he has decided to start his own adventure with post-graduate education. So he will move up there in August, wrangling the two cats and dealing with the moving and the apartment hunting. I'll go right there from the field in December, and hopefully commence part-time teaching to pay the rent while I write the dissertation. woo! It is all so exciting.
In other news, I have got my to-do list to a somewhat manageable size now. I finished two projects that were taking a lot of my time (contributions to a book, and a journal article) and now am down to having to pack, send out CVs for teaching jobs, finish two more weeks of teaching and grading, and maybe get one more paper cleaned up for submission. A lot of the to-do list reduction was helped by my parents sending me so many field supplies for my birthday, and my brothers sent me some binoculars which are fog-proof and awesome.
We also watched Wallace and Grommit and the Cure of the Were-Rabbit last night. That movie rules! It was sooooo funny.
Hopefully soon to come posts will include some more books, Project Spectrum, and something else I totally forgot just now.
Happy Easter!
That's right! R and I have decided we are moving to NYC! Even after watching me suffer through 4 years of grad school, he has decided to start his own adventure with post-graduate education. So he will move up there in August, wrangling the two cats and dealing with the moving and the apartment hunting. I'll go right there from the field in December, and hopefully commence part-time teaching to pay the rent while I write the dissertation. woo! It is all so exciting.
In other news, I have got my to-do list to a somewhat manageable size now. I finished two projects that were taking a lot of my time (contributions to a book, and a journal article) and now am down to having to pack, send out CVs for teaching jobs, finish two more weeks of teaching and grading, and maybe get one more paper cleaned up for submission. A lot of the to-do list reduction was helped by my parents sending me so many field supplies for my birthday, and my brothers sent me some binoculars which are fog-proof and awesome.
We also watched Wallace and Grommit and the Cure of the Were-Rabbit last night. That movie rules! It was sooooo funny.
Hopefully soon to come posts will include some more books, Project Spectrum, and something else I totally forgot just now.
Happy Easter!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Sea World
R and I went to Sea World on Saturday. It was R's Christmas present, as he loves the fishies. At first, as we were walking around, we thought it was mostly an overpriced zoo, and not that good of one as I have seen better animal exhbits at free zoos. But then we went to see the Shamu show and it was soooo awesome. It was really just a twenty minute chunk of a rehearsal for a new show, but is was still so cool. In parts, the smaller killer whale pushes the trainer around in the water, and jumps out with her kind of standing on the whale's nose and then the whale floats on her back and the trainer lays full length on top of her. It was pretty cool. And the whales are so big! We also saw the sea lion show which was funny and involved an otter with a sword, and the dolphin show where we finally got splashed.
Generally I disapprove of the animals in captivity, and the large sea mammals are especially bad because they travel such large distances in in the wild. When they are in captivity though, I think it is good to have them do shows or performances, as long as they are trained without harmful techniques, or made to do things that could hurt them. I think it can be a very good enrichment. I also got the feeling that the killer whales were big hams. They kept coming up to the underwater viewing window and looking at all the people.
The pictures are of one of the coolest animals we saw -- a sea dragon, which is closely related to the sea horse. The other is of the shark tunnel which was one of my favorite things. I love sharks!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Monday, April 03, 2006
Books
29. Love my Rifle More than You: Young and Female in the US Army by Kayla Williams
I first read about this book here. The link goes to an excellent blog, BTW, so check it out.
Like the subtitle says, this book is by a female soldier in the army, who serves in the most recent Iraq war. More than anything I have read, this book really made me understand why a young, educated woman might join the army, and how screwed up the military is. It seems obvious now, but before reading this book I really didn't think about how the army was organization like any other, and there would obviously be bad bosses in it, just like anywhere else. One of the anecdotes in the book really brought to me that while my bad boss in my job might piss me off, or cause something small to not happen, a bad boss in the army could cost you your life. Anyway, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I felt like Williams's writing style really made me feel like she was just talking to friends about her experience, and really let me feel it with her. It was also very thought-provoking.
30. Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer
The third book of the Neanderthal parallax. I really liked some of the ways in which the characters developed in this one, and liked that the author put in a less-than rosy response to the finding of the Neanderthal world. Like the other books, this explores lots of interesting ideas about what it is to be human and I was sad it is the end of the series. I would like him to write more.
I first read about this book here. The link goes to an excellent blog, BTW, so check it out.
Like the subtitle says, this book is by a female soldier in the army, who serves in the most recent Iraq war. More than anything I have read, this book really made me understand why a young, educated woman might join the army, and how screwed up the military is. It seems obvious now, but before reading this book I really didn't think about how the army was organization like any other, and there would obviously be bad bosses in it, just like anywhere else. One of the anecdotes in the book really brought to me that while my bad boss in my job might piss me off, or cause something small to not happen, a bad boss in the army could cost you your life. Anyway, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I felt like Williams's writing style really made me feel like she was just talking to friends about her experience, and really let me feel it with her. It was also very thought-provoking.
30. Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer
The third book of the Neanderthal parallax. I really liked some of the ways in which the characters developed in this one, and liked that the author put in a less-than rosy response to the finding of the Neanderthal world. Like the other books, this explores lots of interesting ideas about what it is to be human and I was sad it is the end of the series. I would like him to write more.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
colors and catch up
Here's the last red and pink for Project Spectrum! I know it is April now and I should be on to yellow and orange, but too bad. These are red/pinks I found in the parking lot of my apartment complex. One is of the stylish red interior of my lovely Ford Tempo. It is looking like I am going to have to sell the Tempo soon -- I will miss its red interior.
As many of you may know, I am leaving in about a month for the lovely jungles of South America, where I will collect my dissertation data. I will be gone from May 5-December 11. What does this mean for you, my blog readers? I am going to try to keep updating once and awhile. Although we are in the jungle where no roads go, and can only be reached by a boat or airplane, we do have some access to the internets. I hope to be able to update from time to time and post pictures of the jungle excitement.
Because of the upcoming trip I have been soooo stressed. I have a ginormous list of things to do, vaccines to get, money to spend. I also need to pack up my stuff as it looks like R will move while I am gone, so to make it easy on him I need to pack up my clothes and books and craft stuff -- basically anything he won't use. I need to get organized and think harder about how I am going to collect my data, I have to finish up teaching my class, including grading a zillion more assignments AND I really want to get two papers submitted before I go. One I am only 4th author on, so the pressure is off me, but I am first author on the 2nd so it is all up to me to push that through. Whew. The amount of stuff I have to do mostly leaves me paralyzed, but I am determined to get a good start at crossing things off the list this week, except for the exhaustion caused by the stress.
With that, I will leave you with my new favorite infomercial product -- The Flavor Wave Deluxe!. If you see this infomercial -- stop! It is so worth it. You can cook frozen food RIGHT FROM THE FREEZER! Who has time to defrost? They even cook solid, cryogenically frozen food! It is amazing. The time lapse video of the food cooking really adds a lot to the experience as well.
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