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An Announcement -- and another meme
We're moving to Philadelphia. By the end of this month. Joel got a job there (yay!) and we'll be trying to throw our lives together in a van or car in the next week and a half. Needless to say, there's a lot to do, and not enough time to do it in. Sleep is one of them. In light of having something on this LJ, somewhere, I decided I had just enough energy to summon up a music meme, for my own enjoyment. (Actually, I stole it from <lj user=girlwithoutfear>. So here it is: The Top 100 Songs from my high school graduating year, 1995. Bold == liked it To pick your year, go to http://www.musicoutfitters.com/ and type the year you graduated in the search box. |
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Semi-seasonal post: Book meme!
So madscott had this up, and I figured, what the hell.The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed." WATCHING MOVIES DOES NOT COUNT!!! 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
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Copy Cat
Because girlwithoutfear has one up for the U.S., I had to do this again too. (If you want to go to the northern western states sometime, girlwithoutfear, let me know, and we might finagle a trip together. I've never been there either.)As this map shows: create your own visited states map Of course, I have to do the world map as well: create your own visited countries map No other substance today. I'd really like to do some more traveling, though, since I'm thinking about it. Not to the northern prairies today, though. It's cold enough here. |
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Oops. I missed November.
Well, I didn't miss the whole MONTH. Just the part in it where I have something to divulge in the super-secret or somewhat-secret-friends-only posts, or even just the ho-hum-this-is-today posts that used to be the exclusive justification for putting myself out in the blogosphere, anyway. These days, my purpose is less venting, more, well, sometimes more ranting, sometimes examining, sometimes calling-out. Just not in the way I used to do things. Generally "examining the world and calling people out (and ranting)", rather than "engaging in intense navel-gazing, calling out for support (and ranting)". My focus has shifted. I am, however, going to do something of value today. I'm cleaning out my friends list. If I don't remember you, or don't remember how I'm supposed to know you, sorry, I won't be keeping up anymore. I am probably going to unsubscribe from myriad communities as well, since I'm not really keeping up with them anyway (Sorry, Paring down for simplicity's sake: an all-too-necessary undertaking. Never pleasant, always rewarding.
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Revelation!
Yup, I'm lazy. Okay, not lazy. Busy. Working a lot does this for me: it makes me spend less time on the computer, and more time with the people around me. But this is my Friday night, for this week at least, and I'm determined to make a bit more of a connection with folks in other places than my home and town. So I've put a bit out there. The rest of the afternoon will be devoted to catching up with all of you. This return to LJ brought to you by
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Big reading week + meme!
I finally picked up fun reading about two weeks ago, and have ripped through three novels in that time (in addition to doing my homework, yet). During the heap big studying I did for my exams, the only fun reading I could manage had to have pictures, or, better yet, was only pictures. I was sufficiently brain-fried from reading literature that novels weren't even a possibility until about... well... two weeks ago. I started off with the bookstore lady's recommendation, Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne. The recommendation came on the basis that I liked (okay seriously <3 !) the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. This is a similar genre, and I thought, okay, give it a shot. What I got was a rather predictable reading experience: I knew who committed the murder within the first 80 pages, and I had seized upon this person as a suspect before the first 40 were up. After that it was all a matter of seeing 1) what happened 2) what nuances led the heroine to solve the mystery. In spite of a few brief high points (the final scene revealing all, a clear homage to Agatha Christie's parlor scenes; a couple of nice twists and turns; the incredible amount of historical detail) I was horribly disappointed by a number of things. ( What really frustrated me is under the cut. ) The next book was An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters. ( This was a more satisfying read, even if it left me with some things to ponder. ) And now for something completely different. The third book I (re-)read The Golden Compass this week, so in honor of that, here's my daemon! black_kitty reminded me of it, so I thought I'd do this again. I did this before when Kit had this in her LJ, and I had an ocelot daemon named Brynn. My 'new' daemon is...I started the second book in the series, The Subtle Knife today, and am already a full 50 pages into it, in spite of many other activities. One of which was getting a job. I was hired on today to work in Produce at The Merc which honestly tickles me pink. I've been looking for a while now and was beginning to think that everyone would consider me 'overqualified', which is, quite frankly, annoying as hell. In any case, I'm going to be learning a lot about fresh stuff, which is good, since I like to 1) cook it and 2) eat it. I plan to further my culinary education with the classes they offer there (not a bad thing, and they're free to employees!) And I'll have a few days off (once the lady on maternity leave comes back) to do what I want, which is working towards becoming a real live translator. So.
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More Memey Goodness
This via morgangallagher.
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Much, much to do.
And gratefully, I have a bit of time to do it in. For once, I've actually managed to read my friends' page, thanks to First, prettywendylady posted an.. interesting.. meme. I'm going to use it for fodder on the geek blog, since that's where all my feminism training goes.EDIT: My first post is here [scroll down, it's about the third item]. This whole deal has spawned another post, this one much more analytical than the first, which will be published as soon as I get permission from Secondly, hillarygayle posted a letter to the editor from the Jonesboro Sun, which I find particularly entertaining and, well, instructive, if you want to find out the kind of place I grew up with. Apparently, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, global warming is a joke.Also, I should clue all you, my friends and readers, into the change that has knocked my balance around somewhat. The faculty at Unnamed University where I'm getting my M.A. has decided that they are "not confident I would finish a dissertation", and therefore have declined to recommend me for the Ph.D. I found this out a week ago, and was... disappointed, hurt, and my pride was a bit wounded. I've not been deterred from doing a Ph.D. somewhere else, however. What this means is that I wouldn't fit into their program, which is a feeling I've been getting for some time now (two years or so), when I am willing to admit it to myself. The short version: There's not a faculty adviser who could help me study what I want to study, and there's not enough variety/flexibility in the program itself to allow me to do so in the first place. I'm not willing to spend my time trying to manipulate the education I want from a university that can't give it too me. No blood from a stone, so to speak. So the next little while will be spent in contemplation, deciding what I want to do, and where I need to go to get that done. My dearest one is supporting me 100%, and willing to follow, if moving is necessary to my fulfillment. More on that situation as it arises. Finally, I ran into something fun: Enjoy, all. It's good to be back.
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From my own personal Wayback Machine
So I imported ye olde blog into ye new WordPress doohickey, and presto! I had a massive amount of pointless posts all there, taking up space just like they do elsewhere on da internets. ^^ Then I was a-thinking to myself: 'Self, do you really need all that junk there? There might be embarrassing details from lives past, or at least stoopid little posts about nothing!' Seeing thereupon that my lovely self was right, I proceeded to begin a most righteous Spring Cleaning of the mess I'd just made. In the process, I found all kinds of things that I'd forgotten about, including the LJ of someone I used to read almost six years ago because she and another co-hort had a lovely li'l web comic called As If! (Warning: much 80's goodness, well drawn and stuff). Well, come to find out the co-hort has a book now, published by TokyoPop. I don't even really know these people, and I'm proud anyway. Just goes to show I've been groomed to work with web comics folks for a looooooooooong time now. ^^ Speaking of which... I should be getting back to the Gigcast soon. Four weeks left until I graduate, and, due to somewhat unforeseen circumstances* I won't be PhD-ing just yet. * of an academic nature, which will be expounded upon later. Suffice it to say, the faculty didn't agree with my decision to go on just here, just now.
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Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)
Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday at the age of 84. Most know him for his longer works like Slaughterhouse Five, but I was introduced to him in English class with Harrison Bergeron. If you haven't read HB, I suggest you do. It's a pretty good illustration of the patriarchy, for one thing, whether or not Mr. Vonnegut intended that. I posted this yesterday to the geek blog as an addendum to another post (mainly because Joel told me about it while I was still writing). I don't really think I've done justice to how much Harrison Bergeron had an effect on me. I don't even remember whose class I read it for, or what grade I was in. What I remember is the injustice of not being allowed to be oneself, of being handicapped in order to be "normal", and as a misfit smart kid in a middling size town in Arkansas, I could completely understand *that*. I don't remember reading anything truly science fiction before that, either. I may have done, but HB is the first science fiction I remember vividly. I mean, I'd read Lord of the Rings, but that's more fantasy (a genre I still enjoy to this day). I think Harrison Bergeron was the first short story I truly loved. As often happens with first loves, I find I haven't really thought about HB in quite some time. I probably haven't read it in 10 years. But now I'm thinking of it again, I might just have to go back and remember. I hope (and suspect) that it will stand up well to my grown-up, literature-analysis influenced perspective just as well as it appealed to my teenage sensibilities.
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Lea Hernandez considers new book... whatcha think?
For anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who wants to learn to draw in a Manga, I've heard that Manga Secrets (art-ed by Lea Hernandez) is pretty good. And Lea's thinking about writing a book, and self-publishing it, that would essentially be a follow-up to Manga Secrets. In her words: I want to do another book on drawing costuming. This is stuff lacking in almost all manga how-to. Not just how to draw clothes that look like clothes (instead shapes defined by elective slashes), but how to show a character at a glance with hair, clothes and attitude. Plus, a few stern lectures on what's Been Done To Death. If you're interested, let her know. If you know people who would be, let them know. Hell, let *everybody* know. x-posted to nowthis, nightgig forums, comicspace, & the geek side. |
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I mean, I like Sanrio as much as the next person*
But ... a Hello Kitty airline? Apparently it's true. If you thought Disney could douse people in pink, I think they just met their match. Although the bento lunches were 1) very much in the bento aesthetic and 2) looked a whole lot better than American airplane food. * Okay, maybe more than the next person. At this point, the person next to me is my husband, and I don't know that he would ever buy Sanrio stuff, except maybe for our niece and nephews. I'd get Keroppi for myself. :)
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The userpic today is to make me feel better.
Two things: 1) My exams are coming up (less than two weeks now) and I'm stressing out. So, since I'm stressed, I feel like looking at the pretty hydrangea close-up, instead of trying to find an icon that expresses stressed-out-edness. 2) I have really done something to my hand. The knuckles of my left hand (thankfully not my writing hand) are sore enough that certain movements are quite surprisingly painful. Typing's fine, as is picking up a book. But trying to slide a notecard from the back of a stack with my left hand *hurts*. It's been a couple of weeks now -- I'm wondering if I'm clenching my fist in my sleep or something, because I can't really think of anything I've done to my left hand specifically that would cause any kind of strain on the ligaments around the middle knuckles of all my fingers except the pinky. Since it aches to make a fist, I'm thinking that might be right. That's pretty much the state of my right now. I've been writing occasionally on differing topics, and thinking about writing more than I actually have been; it's usually tekanji's fault. I've been sewing lately too -- more for stress relief than anything else -- and I might actually get a bookbag out of it. ^_^ Okay, Tired Girl's going to quit typing and rest up until class.
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Thinking again.
I just read 1) the comment that onebrownwoman wrote in a post a while back and 2) the post I just made (well, a few days ago), and something struck me as odd. In "re-purposing" my blogs, it seems to me that I'm limiting myself somehow. Part of me neither needs nor particularly wants to have blogs for different purposes (here, the Blogger account and now a new WordPress blog). Of course, the other part argues, it might be convenient for people to have a reasonable idea of what to expect when they read... And then I hear in my head: "Do you do this for them, or for you?" So, all re-purposing aside, what you read is what you get. And that goes for me too, and most of all. -- Sixteen days until exams. There might yet be self-examination before then, but I wouldn't count on it, were I you. ;)
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Yay for purpose!
That's right, I'm re-purposing again. This is now Ye Official Personal Blog, and the ol' Blogger account is going to be my Sounding Board for Serious Stuff. Oh, and ever have a day like this? Yeah, me too.
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Motivation: or Pushing Yourself at the End of the Day
Sometimes I'm struck by a real streak of laziness -- from being tired or stressed, sure, but it's still there -- and some days I get an unexpected burst of energy, drive and focus that I make good use of. These days also usually follow each other. Sunday was definitely a lazy day -- I didn't once leave my house -- and it got me some well-deserved rest, after traveling the previous three weekends, and then the much-delayed bedtime thanks to drama at the downstairs neighbor's Saturday night. Yesterday I felt like doing more, but the fatigue set in again that afternoon, and I went home and made use of it. Today, however, was pleasantly productive. I started in on my homework about 11:00 a.m., and was finished with both that days' assigment (for 4 p.m.) and tomorrow's for the 9:00 class (although that translation is a bit rough still). Now tonight I'm trying to convince myself that more work is a good thing. :) I'm needing a bit of a rest, but I have so much studying for my exams to do that I want to get more done tonight. So what do I do? I blog about it in the hopes that this will serve as enough of a break before soldering on. At least I voted today: local primaries for City Commissioner. I actually care what happens to this place. It's my home now.
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The importance of feminism and trying to study anyway.
In the none-too-gradual countdown between now and my impending exams, I've been spending an inordinate amount of time doing... well, not nothing. Just not as much studying for my exams as perhaps would be prudent. A good chuck of my goofing off is at the hands of Civ III (I am NOT buying IV until after exams! I promise!) but some of it has been reading on feminism, especially feminist blogs. I got into this by being marginally interested in comics of the superhero variety, and being sent to Girls Read Comics by Karen Healey on GirlWonder.org. This opened up a whole can of worms, and, rather than just getting me more interested in superhero comics, this has opened my mind to many new ways of thinking, of observing, and has, most importantly, kept me reading. And thinking. And so very, very much. Thus far I have learned about privilege, and that as a heterosexual cisgendered middle-class white female, I experience a good bit of privilege. In fact, the only "strike" I have against me in the system that is our societal heritage is the female part. So I don't get into discussions/crusades for women of color, the GLBT community or the impoverished -- although I listen. When a group that is not privileged as I am gets up to talk, my job is to sit, listen, and get to know my privilege enough so that I can consciously avoid exercising it / benefiting from it. In any case, I'm out of clearly laid-out comments to make right now, and I have Latin to translate. I will be linking to read-worthy blogs on feminism as I go through this.
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For those of you who don't know...
I'm now officially taking my exams in March with everyone else. This was a good decision on my part, as I was discovering how much less I retained from my first year. Couldn't recall much at all, so now I have another 10 weeks to rectify that situation. Considering that the only classes I'm enrolled in are languages, I shouldn't burn out on reading too badly. At least, I shouldn't burn out on reading so badly that I fail a class. Mostly translations for these two (Old Norse and second semester Latin. Yes, geek.) I had been so worried about postponing the exams for the wrong reason that I neglected to consider *why* I kept thinking about postponing them. Turns out an objective look at my progress (which had been good) during the time I had been studying (not near long enough) and the amount of material I had left to cover in a week (unbelievably too much) made my decision for me very quickly. I'm not ready, and I wasn't going to be ready in a week. Made the call, sent the emails, so everybody knows and is happy. Especially me. :) I did another sensible thing, which was look at how much work I had left and try to sketch out a timeline for completing it. Come to find out, if I proceed at the average rate I've been studying at over the break, I should be able to finish everything just before the new exam date. Like hell I'd have been ready for that exam Monday. And this realization came to me only after I'd rescheduled, and I was starting to feel the temptation of laziness, of "you still have a couple days before the semester starts... take a break!" I'd had my break already though -- serious work stopped Friday afternoon, and today (Wednesday) was the first on that I've been able to really concentrate on this stuff. I also started in on the semester today (it's been a year since Latin class, so I have some brushing up to do) and tomorrow I go do paperwork to attempt to owe the FedGovt less money in student loans this semester. I had a good day of organizing things (including cleaning off my desk and getting the half a million German lit paperbacks back on the shelf in some semblance of order.) So I'm not being the slug I want to be right now, in spite of just working through Christmas break. I'm glad to be getting back to 1) a regular schedule 2) language classes!! 3) being around people generally, instead of just occasionally. I do much better when I have to schedule alone time into my day as opposed to scheduling in social time. I'm no fun if I stay home too much. :-P Okay, that's officially enough now. It's nearly tomorrow (again... 12-6 were the sleep hours last night) and I'm determined to get back to water aerobics tomorrow. I need the activity, after six weeks of sitting on my butt all day (reading, studying, driving, writing, typing, playing Civ... all paragons of aerobic activity, lemme tell you).
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So. Much. Better.
Some power in the universe is taking care of me today. I've spent the last few days being completely exhausted from intensive study for the written exam I have Monday, so much so that I couldn't stand to look at any book from Friday afternoon until last night about 8:30, and that was a graphic novel (Cathedral Child by Lea Hernandez, and much recommended). I was still in a negative funk this morning, out of which I have been gradually lifted by various people over the course of the day. It started with my husband this morning, who will support me no matter what, to a friend, to a professor in another department, to a fellow grad student who called me just now. After the shorter coffee shop chats of the morning, I talked with her for 30 minutes, mostly about how I didn't feel as worried anymore. I have a plan, and I'm putting it into action. This is the qualifying exam for the real M.A. exam, which translated into my head as: this is just to make sure you're ready to take the real test. All this is, is an assessment. Not a judgment, which is how my mind understands things when I'm in panic mode (and probably induces the panic mode, come to think of it). I'm going to be just fine. I'm going to do the best I can, and not worry about what might appear on the exam. There's no way I can know until I get it. All I can do is be smart about what I study, and let the rest be how it will be. If nothing else, a relaxed attitude will help hinder terrified blank-outs when I'm writing a week from today.
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... and I begin to plot...
... what I'm going to do with the money if I sell my car, since I've gotten a few calls today about it. I had completely forgotten that I'd put an ad in the paper this weekend (today through Saturday) and was, well, *shocked* to get a phone call today. Someone's (hopefully) coming in about half an hour too. I got two bites today, right after each other, so it felt like I was going to be deluged with offers. ;) That, of course, was not the case: those were the only two calls. Still, someone's interested, and if they can get more/better use out of my car than me, and they're willing to give me a little cashola for it, I'm fine with that. But seriously, I could do a lot with the price of a car... even a 1999.
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chilly
tired
accomplished
chillin'
cheerful
amused
determined
hopeful