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that's dr. pisces to you
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Jun. 8th, 2005 @ 10:04 pm
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the mail today brought the exciting and anxiously anticipated news that I have been selected as a CSU Pre-Doctoral Scholar. While this means absolutely nothing to most people, it means $$$ for me to make the process of getting into a Ph.D. program a bit more economically feasible.
in additional news, I've made it through another quarter both taking and teaching classes and soon mr. pisces is headed to the great state of oregon for his own schooling where i will be joining him on my first real vacation in several years, with nothing to do except sleep in, catch up on my GRE reading list, and go to the Shakespeare festival in the evenings.
I can't think of a more enjoyable way to spend my summer break - which lasts exactly two weeks and then I begin teaching again...i'm feeling:  accomplished |
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Snaking Gates
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May. 16th, 2005 @ 12:48 pm
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I'm trying to get my photos in order. This is just an experiment, not a real lj post meant to update people on anything important...
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back from san francisco...
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Mar. 20th, 2005 @ 05:52 pm
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i'm on semi-spring break. but while regular college kids go places like palm beach or cabo san lucas and get drunk and have sex with strangers and flash their breasts in hopes of being immortalized in some "girls-gone-wild"-y type video, i got to spend the first part of my vacation as an academic, attending workshops and panel discussions on comp/rhet and getting recruited to get my Ph.D. in Pennsylvania and sharing a not-quite-what-we-asked-for hotel room with four other women. fun, but at times i'd rather be doing the ggw thingie instead.
on the upside, tho...
hee!i'm feeling:  exhausted i'm listening to : goodbye pisces |
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today's entry is brought to you by the color orange
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Feb. 23rd, 2005 @ 11:38 pm
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...having just returned from seeing Christo's Gates in Central Park.
oh, and happy birthday to me.
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once i accepted that i now have farrah fawcet hair, it was a pretty good weekend...
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Jan. 18th, 2005 @ 12:15 am
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One of the serio-comedic aspects of the ebb and flow of my income of
late is the recognition that no matter how poor I am, certain things
remain sacred. For instance, a month of low cash flow will never
find me stooping to buy single-ply bathroom tissue, nor will I give up
on my cable tv (whoever said TV was free obviously never got addicted
to HBO). However, there are certain areas of my personal upkeep
that I continually remain frugal about, drilled into me by a mother who
never threw anything away if it was still usable somehow or able to be
mended/patched/reassembled/hemmed/sealed with duct tape. And
considering that she practically issued a fatwa on me when I was still
within her sphere of influence in regards to the issue of getting my
hair cut, I never considered my hair to be a huge issue. Of
course, there was the rebellious period in seventh grade, when my
waist-long wavy blonde hair was sacrificed in an "I'll show her" act of
defiance, followed by the tenth grade "ginger pizzazz" debacle.
But other than that, my relationship with my hair has been pretty
love/hate. It's too curly/frizzy - in fact, most people who know
me probably would be shocked to see just how much my hair curls when I
let it dry naturally. The hour of blowdrying and flat-ironing is
worth it, even tho the people I associate with now would never publicly
call me some of the names I got used to in elementary school.
But back to the frugality issue. Once I decided to take control
of my hair, say, oh, eight or nine years ago, and discovered John
Frieda's marvelous line of products, I haven't had many problems.
Which is why despite my need for extreme levels of personal comfort in
some areas of my life, I've never seen the benefit of spending close to
$100 simply to get my hair cut. I've been a loyal patron of the
local SuperCuts for years, and been pleasantly satisfied with their
ability to trim split ends, add subtle layers, cut in a straight line,
etc.
So imagine my surprise when, after returning home from getting my hair
cut on Saturday morning, I discovered upon blowdrying that my hair had
not been, as I had directed the stylist, "trimmed in the back, leaving
most of the length, with long layers no shorter than my chin in the
front." Instead, I was now the proud owner of what alternately
looks like the butchiest butch haircut in butch-ville (when straight)
or when styled, the most Charlie's Angel-est 'do since Jaclyn Smith
smiled and tilted her big straw hat.
Not that I'm necessarily complaining. It will grow out, and until
then, it adds a layer of realism when I sing Olivia Newton-John songs
at karaoke.
i'm feeling:  tired i'm listening to : whatever's in the shuffle on my iPod |
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on the first day of christmas, my true love gave to me . . .
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Dec. 25th, 2004 @ 07:08 pm
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a jewelry box from Bombay & Co. and Peggy Li jewelry. And a gift certificate to Anthropologie, tickets
to see Wicked during the New York trip, and last but definitely not
least, Duran Duran tickets!!
I also scored an awesome scarf and hat set from my mom, a laser
leveling measuring tape from my uncle, a stamping gift basket from my
sister, and various other items that will probably end up in the
regiftables box for next year.
I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.
Thankfully my husband knew I was joking when I told him what I really wanted was sea monkeys and a bedazzler.
merry merry, all.
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if doug ross had been my doctor, i wouldn't have complained as much...
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Dec. 21st, 2004 @ 11:11 am
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so friday night started out like every other, me and danny out to
karaoke. this particular friday, however, was slightly different, as
good friend sassy
was joining us to meet best friend chris. After slogging my way
through "christmas wrapping," mystery acheivement," and the world's
worst karaoke arrangement of "do they know it's christmas," i
settled back in my chair for a long winter's rotation.
alas, the recurring pain in my abdomen chose that moment to flare,
sending me scurrying to the ladies room where i remained for about an
hour until danny sent the waitress in to look for me. after
blacking out briefly from the pain and realizing that standing on my
own was about as likely as me getting a vespa for christmas, danny
called 911 and the nice paramedics rushed me to the ER.
which is where the real fun began. and by fun, i mean 6 hours of
excruciating pain and suffering whilst in the "care" of incompetent
doctors, lab techs, and nurses. Suffice it to say that the
combination of the CT tech attempting to place a tube where no tube
should be allowed to go and missing completely, and the nurse missing
my vein not one or two but three times, i checked myself out AMA and
went home where i slept for most of the next two days.
 (notice the use of chiaroscuro. lovely, isn't it?)
because the ER doc, asshole that he was, did suggest that my pain might
be appendicitis, i decided to follow up with my own hmo yesterday -
which entailed an even longer trip to the ER (checked in at 3:10pm,
checked out at 1:00am). this time, tho, the doctors didn't appear
to be incompetent and everyone treated me like an honored guest.
unfortunately, after having a set of x-rays taken, giving numerous
blood and urine samples, being pinched by the iv sticking out of my
hand, completing a tubeless (thank god!) CT scan, drinking about a
quart and a half of oh-so-delicious barium mixture (which the nice CT
lady finally put kool-ade in to mask the taste), having no less than 7
different doctors examining me, AND not having eaten all day, i was
pretty exhausted.
then, irony of ironies, the head of surgery came down to tell me that
my appendix didn't even show up on the CT, but that the lymph nodes
around the area seemed to be inflamed, which could indicate
infection. so....i might have appendicitis, but they're not
sure. of course, i had been running through the list of possible
things that could be wrong all day, so i was prepared for just about
anything. (appendicitis, cancer, tuberculosis, ovarian cysts, ectopic
pregnancy, real pregnancy, ulcer, colitis, stomach flu, food poisoning)
i had just worked my way down the list to 'alien probe' when the doctor
returned to inform me, finally, that my initial complaint of abdominal
pain had been diagnosed as:
wait for it...
unidentifiable abdominal pain.
after which they told me i could go home and "if the pain gets any worse, come on back."
the next time i want to waste an entire day in pain and suffering with
no pay off I'll stay at home and watch the 6th season of Dawson's
Creek.
i'm feeling:  aggravated |
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writing groups, singing canadian kids, and cobbler
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Dec. 13th, 2004 @ 08:09 am
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Sunday was the day that I'd been waiting for and which turned out to be
surprisingly un "meh." The lovely and gracious Meghan hosted our little
writing group - slash - "bitch about certain grad professors" meeting;
I'm beginning to wonder if I show up for the writing, the company, or
just the exquisite food.
After I got home, I realized that I had never actually bought the langley schools music project cd, so off to i-tunes i ran.
Then we were off to the Daily Grill, home of pisces-crack (commonly
known as apple-berry cobbler). And home again, to bed and strange
dreams about trying to schedule a massage at a mall spa with one of my
ex-coworkers and my best friend trying to get me drunk by ordering me
the one drink that will do the job quickest - Sex on the Beach.
Which led to waking-up thoughts about the only other two times I'd been
drunk from that particular libation (December '92) and last April's
night-o'-wrongness.
All this to say that I'm coming off a high of a pretty good day but in one hell of a funky mood.
Now off to work (except for the getting paid part).
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Today. Today was a day. The world got smaller, darker. I grew more afraid.
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Dec. 12th, 2004 @ 02:09 am
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...and Erika called at 11:45 to tell me that Kerr Smith was at Corbin tonight. |
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I'm still here.
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Nov. 20th, 2004 @ 04:35 pm
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but that's about all. I'm....here.i'm feeling:  blah |
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veronica mars doesn't suck.
and since it would be quicker to list the things I didn't do today, I'm going to bed.
Sep. 28th, 2004 @ 10:52 pm
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| » vacation's over... |
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and i'm going back to school. what demon possessed me and made me
register for a 9:50 am class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Dude, I'm
not even awake yet.
Sep. 23rd, 2004 @ 08:57 am
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| » sepia toned dreams... |
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saw sky captain and the world of tomorrow last night. while most
of the plot was pretty predictable, there were some things I did like. ( for example, ) warning: Spoilers for SC & WoT ahead.
Bought an excellent book on Saturday, Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones. The chapter about dealing with my internal editor made me teary...
Based on Neil's recommendation, I went to Vroman's yesterday and
splurged on Susanna Clarke's blunt object of a novel, Jonathan Strange
and Mr. Norrell. I figure since this is my last week of vacation,
I should attempt to read something weightier than the newspaper.
I can get through 782 pages by Thursday...right?
Sep. 20th, 2004 @ 11:44 am
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| » she's crafty... |
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so in spite of my excruciating tendonitis flare-up (due to
spraypainting bookshelves well beyond my pain threshhold) I decided
that this morning I would try to work on some scrapbooking
projects. I ended up making a small accordion style book.
wondering what to put in it...
also, I got my diploma in the mail yesterday. Everything was
amazingly spelled right! Unfortunately, while my husband (who graduated
in 2000) was lucky enough to have Gray Davis's signature on his diploma
(as the CA gov'nr is also the chair of the CSU board of trustees), I
get to have none other than the governator's on mine; the man who made
my life miserable for 31 days during the summer of '96 with his stinky
cigars and his bad attitude and his oh-so-frustrating tendency to waste
29 takes flubbing the same one line.
However, being marching band extras in "jingle all the way" did earn us
six grand which paid for our wedding. Who knew I would have to
return the favor by having arnold's signature as a permanent fixture on
my wall?
Sep. 16th, 2004 @ 06:18 pm
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| » her name is daisy... |
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so after charging vera for 7 hours yesterday, she refused to turn
on. after the initial 15 minutes of panic, i remembered that when
we bought her we also bought the 4 year extended service plan. so
we jumped in the car and drove to best buy.
me: this won't turn on. i charged it all day.
service guy: wow, we don't even carry these anymore. in fact, we can't replace it or repair it.
me: what are my options?
service guy: well, you paid $279. we'll credit you that amount towards whatever else you want to buy.
me: cool.
danny: how much is the iPod?
service guy: i think the 20gig is around $299.
me: *makes beeline for the iPod*
so basically after using vera for 2 years, i paid 20 extra bucks and
got an iPod (which, 2 years ago, i almost got instead of vera, but was
priced at $450.)
i'm smitten. she's so cute.
also, the grifters show last night was awesome. for some reason
only close friends and family were at mcmurphy's, and we hung out for a
while after they ended their set. and i got a free hat!
Sep. 14th, 2004 @ 10:52 am
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| » i have surrendered... |
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to the crack known as i-tunes.
not only have I purchased many many songs, I have been creating
playlists like an insane person. I also dug my digital jukebox ( I call
her Vera ) out and am currently charging her up so that I can make my
new music portable. It's so "yay" (as opposed to ho-yay, which is exclusively reserved for discussions about Smallville and the fifth season of Angel.)
Got the LJ altdis community set up, now just need people to join.
trying to find my floppy disc that has all of my old blogger entries on it before i decided to switch to LJ.
actually, I just logged on to blogger and all my posts are still
there. may archive them for posterity ( here )
Sep. 13th, 2004 @ 02:15 pm
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| » errata |
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Um, I wasn't really high when I invited people over. I've never actually been high. buffy is my anti-drug.
Sep. 10th, 2004 @ 04:40 pm
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| » 34 weeks is a long time... |
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not to post. A quick recap reveals that I've graduated magna cum laude, started my M.A., been hired to teach a Saturday writing class to middle schoolers (which starts tomorrow), and still...
no vespa.
Spent a week in NYC as my graduation present and am going back in February to see the Christo installation. Staying at the Plaza because hey, credit card.
Summer writing seminar was awesome! Starting writing group with classmates, they're coming over tomorrow. Yes, I was high when I said "Let's meet at my house!" Because you know I love to clean - not. It'll be fun, tho, 'cause anything with pizza is fun.
more comfortable writing now than before. will post more often.
Sep. 10th, 2004 @ 04:32 pm
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| » Woman, 30, Narrowly Escapes Gas Explosion |
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So I'm in bed yesterday morning, listening to the dulcit tones of the tree service people grinding out a stump in my backyard when suddenly the doorbell rings.
"We just wanted to let you know that the grinder nicked your gas line."
"Oh." "Ok."
"I called the gas company and they're sending someone to fix it."
"Ok."
I found out later the the grinder tore a huge chunk out of an uncoded gas line that the previous owners had pirated off the main to fuel a barbeque in the back yard. The pipe had about a two foot chunk missing from it and has been leaking gas for about 20 minutes before the grinder guy realized it.
thankful not to have been blowed up...
on the opposite side of the wheel, I got a promotion and a raise, so it's all good.
Jan. 14th, 2004 @ 09:47 am
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| » in which the writer laments the untimely demise of firefly |
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explain to me again why firefly got cancelled? we spent the holidays slowly savoring every moment of the dvd's and are now in mourning that there is no more to be had. curses, fox network! a pox on you and your grandchildren's grandchildren.
in other news, school's started again. I'm actually beginning (ironically in my 2nd to last quarter as an undergrad) to feel like an academic who belongs on campus. since I'll be spending my next two to three year there getting a masters and a teaching credential, I suppose that's a good thing.
more later when my brain stops leaking out of my ears from the migrane.
Jan. 7th, 2004 @ 07:59 pm
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| » My Parents are Cooler than Your Parents |
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...because in their annual Christmas letter, they predicted that I'd be Editor in Chief of New Yorker in 10 years, with a fabu apartment on the Upper East Side. Crap, not even my ambitions are that high...
So we went to see Mystic River the other night. Despite the book being a "read and forget" experience, the movie was pretty good. I've never liked Sean Penn, but he was fairly inobtrusive and actually emoted several times. Larry, excuse me, Laurence Fishburne with a Boston accent was the most annoying thing about the film.
I'm also almost done with my shopping. A few more trips to Borders and I'll be done.
So far? Vacation? Not suckin'.
Dec. 16th, 2003 @ 02:39 pm
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| » Happiness Is... |
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getting Danny the Christmas gift he really wanted. In this case, a 2004 Acura RSX.
Sometimes shopping for people can be so simple, ya know?
Dec. 15th, 2003 @ 10:11 pm
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| » The Girl Who Lived |
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(barely.)
I've written 7 papers in the last 72 hours. I think that's some kind of world record. But, yay, finals are done. I'm not sure my brain curcuits were firing rapidly enough to string a coherent set of words together in my essays last night, but at least I filled about 9 pages of blue book with my incoherent scrawl. I thank you, the blisters on my middle finger and thumb thank you, yes, we'll be here till Friday...
Wow.
I'm on vacation.
Over summer break I was sooooooo booooooored. I remember complaining that I couldn't wait for school to start because I needed something to do. Ha. Boy, did I get what I wished for or what?
Now I enter into a whole new set of problems - tearing down and rebuilding the bathroom, replacing all the windows, convincing Danny to let me buy myself a Vespa for Christmas...do you all feel my pain?
Of course not, 'cause no one's reading this...yet.
I need some LJ friends. Next project.
( Why I-Tunes failed in making me go legit )
Christmas...T minus 15 days and counting.
Dec. 10th, 2003 @ 09:40 am
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| » Dear Santa, All I Want For Christmas Is... |
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My fricking bathroom plumbing to stop overflowing. This is the second time in 2 weeks we've had to have a plumber out to snake the pipes. Ugh.
So I have final papers due tomorrow, but I'm procrastinating. All I want to do is go back to bed. It's rainy, cold, and depressing.
again, ugh.
Dec. 7th, 2003 @ 11:30 am
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| » Celebrate! |
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It's Friday, and I have many reasons to be happy. Yesterday was my 11th anniversary, I got an A on the Poe paper that I wrote during the week I was sick, my director told me that I was a natural at tutoring and wants to publish an article I wrote...
all in all, it was a good day. Plus, it was the last day of classes before finals, and I made it through 19 units, 10 hours a week working, and 5 hours a week volunteering all in one piece.
yay me!
Dec. 5th, 2003 @ 08:01 am
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