| You might need to enjoy Hindi filims |
[12 Dec 2007|09:07am] |
in order to appreciate this Barack O'Bollywood movie.
But maybe not.
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| Not that I'm ungrateful, but I've got complaints |
[24 Sep 2007|08:17pm] |
And I am exhausted. I'm working for IR, which is supposed to be a 15 hour per week job, and is for the most part. It's seriously the most relaxing part of my work week. I go in, and I want to do things efficiently, but it's a set 15 hours. Whether or not I kick my own butt to get things done, I still have to be there and fill out the 15 hours. My other job is teaching composition. It's supposed to be a 10-hour per week job. Last week I spent at least 14 hours grading. Six hours planning lessons. Six hours in class and in office hours. That's 24 hours for you folks who've been adding it up. So, I'm working a bit more than a 40-hour week on my jobs. And then there are my classes, which total six hours. And then the work for those classes, for which I certainly work no fewer than six hours, probably more like 10 or so. And voila! That's 52, 54, 56 hours a week.
I know there are far worse jobs. I'm getting some great experience, learning very valuable things. But, like I said, I'm exhausted. And all I have is the experience and learning to comfort me. Not the dough, that's for sure.
It isn't that I don't want to be teaching comp, either. I just wish it were actually only a 10-hour per week job!
In other, less complaining news, my best friend from high school got married last weekend. I was maid-of-honor, and gave a little speecharoo. Of course everything about the wedding was gorgeous, and I'm not sure I've had so much fun at a wedding before, although I destroyed my body by dancing barefoot for hours.
I hope to resurface again soon. Bye!
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| Ditz |
[19 Jun 2007|07:25pm] |
I have been out of it today. In my Arabic class, I asked, "Who's Ralph Nader?"
In IR's office, I asked, "What's the IRS?"
I have excuses for my confusion, but we'll leave those aside for now. Have any of you had some ditzy moments lately?
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| Am I being a spoiled brat? |
[11 Jun 2007|10:24pm] |
Let me preface this by saying that I don't like to worry about grades. Grades are mostly stupid. I would rather just concentrate on the stuff I'm supposed to be learning. Nevertheless, I care about grades. We're made to.
( Read more... )
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| Wow. Has another month and a half already gone by? |
[04 Jun 2007|04:09pm] |
My neighbors, both sets above me, are young and inconsiderate assholes. The noise! The young woman who lives directly above me won't even answer the door when I come upstairs and knock on her door. The young men who live in the apartment next door to hers (and sometimes manage to out-blast her) at least open the door, but consistently play their music at ordinance-breaking volumes.
I've been recording those times that I've gone up to ask them all to turn their music down, but I haven't been recording every single time their music disturbs me.
How much of an old fogey am I? I don't want things to become unpleasant, but shit, I pay just as much money as they do, and they're seriously disturbing me. I've had plaster powder on the carpet.
On to something totally unrelated, ( Read more... )
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| I swear, this LJ is not turning into a cookbook. |
[25 Apr 2007|11:54pm] |
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But these were good, so I had to share. ( Read more... )
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[25 Apr 2007|09:33pm] |
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AAAAAH! I want to kill my neighbors' fucking stereo!
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| Yay, chai! |
[20 Apr 2007|04:19pm] |
I just modified a new chai recipe and it tastes very similar to my someday mother-in-law's. It has a bit too much cardamom in it, as I love cardamom and overestimated how much of its flavor I would want in my tea. Next time I'll cut it by a quarter or maybe by as much as a half.
Here's what I did, in case you wanna try it.
4 cups 2% milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup loose black tea, ground up (I used bagged Darjeeling and just cut the bags open)
1 - 1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon
8 cardamom pods (next time I'd use no more than 6, but more likely I'd use 4 or 5)
8 black peppercorns
4 packets Splenda (or about a tablespoon and a half of sugar or honey)
Pour milk and water into a medium pot (or larger, if need be). Add tea and cinnamon. Grind up the whole spices, then add to tea. Put on medium-high heat, and stir constantly for 15 minutes. The milk will turn a lovely light brown color. Stir in sweetener, if desired. Strain through a fine sieve, and drink up!
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| World's Ugliest Dog Competition |
[20 Apr 2007|02:09pm] |
Pee Wee
I'm seriously watching this. It's on animal planet. The World's Ugliest Dog Competition in Sonoma-Marin. It's only been 12 minutes, and I haven't laughed so much for a while. This is certainly a week to need it.
Maybe I'm sick for laughing. Maybe I should be terrified. But they're so hideous! And they don't care. They think they're just the best. And that makes me so happy.
Munchkin
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| In which I bitch a little bit about Lucinda Roy. |
[19 Apr 2007|01:29am] |
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This might be totally boring to you, but I had to put it down 'cause I'm irritated. ( Read more... )
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[26 Feb 2007|05:30pm] |
Pay no attention to what's below! It's only a stupid survey! But it's been so long since I've done one, I absolutely must.
( Read more... )
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[25 Feb 2007|08:58pm] |
There's a good reason I've not been around. I've been so busy! And I thought I'd let you know some more news.
( Read more... )
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[10 Jan 2007|10:19pm] |
ETA: Thank you all for your well wishes!
Just thought I'd let y'all know...
( Read more... )
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[06 Dec 2006|01:23am] |
Do I even need to say anymore that I should be doing work instead of writing in LJ?
Some Middle English words that keep coming back to me: licam/licom (fleshly body), schrimp (scaley sea creature), cracche (scratch), cloches (clutches). I'm not at all a fluent reader of Middle English, but I enjoy the class far more than I did at the beginning of the term.
Just as everyone in the ME class has warmed up to one another, the semester is coming to a close. The professor even invited everyone to his house for dinner this weekend. I really would have loved to go, but V's graduation ceremony is this weekend. It would be a huge pain in the butt for me to drive back here for the dinner.
I read that Dr. Oz book on waist management. And I've been living more healthfully (for the most part) since then. However, there are these cookies. These are the kind of cookies you just have to peel off a piece of waxed card, plop onto a cookie sheet, and pop into the oven. They're smores cookies. The cookie part has natural and delicious artificial graham cracker flavor. Then the cookies have their fair share of marshmallows and semisweet chocolate chips. Wonderful. Divine.
Today the poetry workshop met for the last time this term. The meeting was made especially cool because I walked away with five new literary magazines, for free! The workshop instructor brought in a bunch of them and let us take our pick. I hung out until everyone left (to finish my ME translation) and swept everyone else's scraps into my book bag. Wee!
Anyway, I have four major things left to do this week: 1) write my paper for the ME class, 2) do my last translation for the ME class, 3) grade my students' exams, and 4) collect my students' portfolios. Then I'm free! (-ish) for a whole month. I have committed to writing a review of a poetry book during the break, which has me a little freaked out. I'm just not feeling very smart or well read lately.
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| Not much to say, really. |
[09 Nov 2006|09:42am] |
Democrats back in control of House and Senate, as everyone has already said. So, yay. Mostly. It's a mixed blessing, of course, 'cause now they'll be blamed even more for why things aren't getting done, for any unexpected fall-out from legislation--which is maybe fair, maybe not. People didn't put Democrats in office because they thought the Democrats were going to totally make things awesome. People were just fed up with Republicans, of course. Which they should have been. But now, with Democrats having the lion's share of the responsibility again (and the lion's share of the blame), I worry that this might be bad news for the presidential election in a couple years. There's plenty of time to build up a store of ill will towards the entire Democratic party.
( Read more... )
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[02 Oct 2006|09:35pm] |
This past weekend, I gave my first poetry reading in a year. When the 1st years were signing up for the reading about a month ago, I signed up for the first poetry slot on the first night. Damn, I'm glad I did that. I was able to get it all out of the way. I hadn't anticipated how nervous I would be. I put off selecting poems for the reading until the day of the reading. After choosing a few, I'd rethink my choices, and then choose a new set. I was not in the mood to read, and I was hating all my poems.
When V arrived, he made me practice, standing up. So I went and stood behind my television, using it as a podium, and I delivered my poems. (My last reading had been at the book release party for the FlatCity anthology, and I did a terrible job. I started to read, and then people yelled out that they couldn't hear me. So I stepped closer to the mike and spoke a little louder. There was a bunch of feedback, so someone had to come out and fix the settings. So, having had to start three times, my nerves were frayed, and when I did start that third time, I read way too fast. So it was good that V made me practice.)
We arrived at the forum about a half an hour early, so we wandered around the building. We found an empty room that had similar acoustics, and he made me practice again. Shortly after that, the reading started, and most of my nerves had been soothed. Before I stood before everyone, I took a deep breath or two. And before I read, I took a deep breath. I still shook when I read, but it was less than I've shaken the previous three times that I've read. So, improvement, woopee.
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| Apologies if you already got this through creatwrite |
[26 Sep 2006|06:22am] |
but I am compelled to share my creeped-outness. I must pass this on then.
The Mother of All Car Sales
NPR, September 25
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6141010
September 25, 2006 ¡¤ You can't make this stuff up. A Columbus, Ohio, car dealership is launching a new radio ad campaign this week. From the Columbus Dispatch:
In the spot, Keith Dennis of Dennis Mitsubishi talks about "launching a jihad on the automotive market."
Sales representatives "will be wearing burqas all weekend long," the ad says. One of the vehicles on sale "can comfortably seat up to 12 jihadists in the back."
"Our prices are lower than the evildoers' every day. Just ask the pope!" the ad says. "Friday is fatwa Friday, with free rubber swords for the kiddies."
And, of course, the dealership is shocked -- shocked -- that some people might find the whole thing a bit offensive. Never crossed their minds... never, not once, honest.
Their defense?
"This is one where we feel we're taking a bull's-eye on terrorists. After all the nonsense that the terrorists put the public through, they're fair game."
That's right -- if you don't like our ad, the terrorists have won.
-- JJ Sutherland
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| Hi again. |
[07 Sep 2006|10:39pm] |
I've climbed out of obscurity once again. Though who knows for how long. I was slightly foolish, slightly ambitious, and slightly smart: I took that freelance job that I mentioned. The people who hired me have changed the dates, though, and I can't meet the new deadlines, so I've asked, and they are kindly looking for a new writer to finish what remains. At least I will have made enough money to pay off about half of my student debt! That's not too shabby.
I still have to finish the set of stuff that I'm working on. And it's been tough. I just do way more research than I need to. I can't help it.
I just finished writing the weirdest poem that I have ever written. It is completely, totally, unlike anything I've ever written. I'm scared to death to turn it in to workshop.
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