Cancer Sucks Part 1,095,985

One of my very favorite relatives (she's a cousin, but more like an aunt) was diagnosed with melanoma some time ago, and had the melanoma removed, with apparent success. But since cancer sucks, it came back and is now back with a vengeance. I don't want to write the details, but I do know that she's having chemo and things aren't looking too hot. If you pray or feel like sending out good vibes into the universe, they would be greatly appreciated. She's truly one of the most amazing people I've known in my life, raising 4 children as a single parent after her mentally ill husband left her, running a nursing home and giving wonderful care to hundreds, if not thousands of people in the last stages of their lives, and always being there for our family in multiple ways. She's put out so much good in her life that she deserves some good back. Cancer sucks. It's never fair.

Language at the races

This morning Peter and I volunteered at the Boulder Backroads marathon (and half-marathon), handing out cups of water and Gatorade to the 3,000 runners. It was a lot of fun, especially since Peter dressed up as Elvis and made a lot of tired runners smile.

One thing that was really interesting to me as a linguist was the specialized way language was used. Handing cups to runners is more stressful and fast-paced than it might seem at first. Even with well over ten people at our station, when the large clumps of runners came by, it was difficult to keep up with the pace. The runners are not concentrating on who has water, or the best way to grab it, so cups get dropped, connections get missed and people get wet. Also, the entire interaction takes less than a second or two and I handed out 3-4 waters within the span of several seconds when things got busy.

Since time is at such a premium (and breath at a minimum for the runners), the "conversations" held between volunteers and runners are extremely efficient. Vocabulary consisted of two words: "water" and "Gatorade" for the vast majority of the interactions. One volunteer even remarked on this, joking that "Water" was the greeting of the race. With such a limited semantic set, pragmatics (especially prosody, or "tone" of voice) had to play a much larger role.

Here's an interaction I found especially interesting, with my interpretation in parenthesis:

Runner: Gatorade? (asking Volunteer 1 if the cups she held out contained Gatorade)
(cup contained water, Volunteer 2 had cups of Gatorade, but that volunteer was not paying attention)
Volunteer 1: Gatorade! (directed to Volunteer 2, almost as a "name" and to direct attention to the runner requesting Gatorade)
Volunteer 2: Gatorade! (attention engaged, directed to runner to indicate cup held Gatorade and possibly also to acknowledge attention to runner and her desire of Gatorade)

I wonder how most linguistic theories of meaning and conversation could deal with this?

What's left of the water vs. Gatorade debate in the end:

Guess what's coming!

Pruning

Sorry about the crazy multiple postings of the last entry. I didn't catch it until now, but hopefully the problem is fixed. I'm excited about my Moo cards, but not THAT excited!

For some reason, I've been inspired to do some organizing and de-cluttering around the apartment lately. It might be the multiple home magazines with umpteen articles on such topics that I've recently purchased, or it could just be that I feel like our apartment has the maximum amount of stuff it can have an still feel comfortable.

In that vein, I decided the bathroom cabinet (that's right, singular cabinet) needed to be gone through. Holy moly, was that ever a treasure trove! God only knows what I now smell like, since I tried several different lotions and other products to see if I still liked them. The answer, of course, is of course I still do! I am a product junkie, but the problem is that I'm an extremely low-maintenance girl day-to-day, which causes a backlog of delicious smelling and highly beautifying things that rarely get used.

Part of the reason they so seldom see the light of day (or my skin) is that if I don't see it and don't use it every day, then I don't think to use it. So the massive pile of bottles in the cabinet wasn't helping matters, with everything buried and nothing easily seen.

Happily, the cabinet is in much better shape now, with items organized by use and a tremendous number of duplicate bottles removed for longer storage until I run out of what I have. The problem with shopping at Costco is that while you save a lot on the three huge bottles of contact solution, you still have three huge bottles of contact solution. The other problem (not with Costco, but with the cabinet) was that since I couldn't see or find anything, I thought I was out of stuff when I still actually had several bottles in stockpile. Thus the FIVE huge bottles of contact solution. *Sigh*

But everything is nice and neat in orderly little rows, clearly visible to my lazy self. Now I just have to figure out where to put the hairdryer I left out! Doh!

Udder Love

As you can probably tell, I have a bit more spare time on my hands today. The stars have aligned and in an unprecedented moment, I have NO readings for any of my next classes! Of course, I still have multiple other things to work on, but I am enjoying this tiny respite.

In order to share the joy, I simply had to pass on this amazing deal-slash-product. MOO.com is a new company offering really cool little business card-ettes with photos printed on the front, with your info on the back. If you are a Flickr Pro member, you can get 10 of these beauties ABSOLUTELY FREE. No shipping, no tax, nada! I can't vouch for the quality yet, since I have to wait 10 long business days to get them, but for free, I am very willing to do so. Yay for tiny free photos!

Vestigial pinkies

Some people think lifting a pinking when drinking is an affectation, a silly show of presumed delicacy or refined breeding. For me, it's simply a biological fact. My pinkies are tiny: bizarrely stunted appendages that do little more than keep me more human than Simpson. They look more like the finger of a baby than an adults, a fact I have frequently been reminded of by my loving family.

So when I drink from a cup, mug or glass, my tiny pinky automatically extends out, not because I think I'm secretly descended from royalty (though I am a Leo, the royalty of the zodiac), but because my little finger isn't long enough to reach the cup like its brethren, nor is it strong enough to really hang on very well.

So please, mock me not. It could very well be that tiny pinkies are the mark of true blue blood, it's just that no one knows it yet.

Collector

Things I could never have enough of (of which I only need one or two):

sets of dishes
coats (esp. pea coats)
purses
tablecloths, napkins and placemats
journals (never to be written in)
couches
puppies (though I would never actually have as many as I want)
sheet sets
candle holders/candles

Tragically (or luckily), finances and the confines of space always limit the number of any of these I ever have at one time.

Collector

Things I could never have enough of (of which I only need one or two):

sets of dishes
coats (esp. pea coats)
purses
tablecloths, napkins and placemats
journals (never to be written in)
couches
puppies (though I would never actually have as many as I want)
sheet sets

Tragically (or luckily), finances and the confines of space always limit the number of any of these I ever have at one time.

And so it begins...

The long, slow descent into scholastic apathy and skating through classes.

I always try to start the semester extra-motivate: carefully reading every last assigned page, completing all the homework problems, even if they are for discussion or otherwise ungraded, trying to get ahead on readings whenever possible. I do this because I know that at some point in the semester, I will feel overwhelmed and under-enthused and will therefore start skimping on readings and anything else I don't have to actually turn in.

Luckily, this semester I really like all of my classes, and therefore actually want to read the assignments, no matter how tedious.

Problem is, this past weekend was a total rush since Peter and I flew out to CA for my cousin's wedding. It was a blast, but it was exhausting and a whirlwind with no recovery time. Our schedule now is such that we really need those three days of the weekend (Fri-Sun) to catch up because we have almost no time during the week to do anything beyond school, work and homework. That means laundry goes unwashed, dishes start to pile up and forget about "fancy" chores like cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming! Not to mention I have a need for some downtime to recuperate from the business of the week. After I came home from work today, I had the worst headache and just felt so physically tired. We ate dinner at 4 PM, I took a bath, then tried to read some homework, but fell asleep for an hour or so instead. I've been taking naps in the evening after school and work because I'm so exhausted. Hopefully I either get used to the schedule, or I'm going to need to figure something else out.

The upshot of all this travel is that I'm not actually going to finish some of my readings for tomorrow. The good thing is that I've read most of the important ones all the way (and realized the beauty of highlighters for teasing apart 40-page research chapters), skimmed most of the others and I think I should be OK for tomorrow. I just can't continue this pattern!

Best News Ever!

So Peter and I just finished Veronica Mars season 2 on DVD after some marathon Netflixing. Of course, they ended the season in a wretched cliffhanger, which prompted me to ask Peter which show he would choose: LOST or Veronica Mars. Last season, they were both on at the same time on the same night, and being sadly TiVo-less, we had to pick favorites. We chose LOST, which ended up breaking our hearts (but managed to redeem itself in the last few episodes).

But might a miracle have occurred? Could it be that one show or the other switched nights or times? Yes! There is a god and he loves Veronica Mars too. VM is now on Tuesday nights at 9/8 Central, and LOST is still on Wednesday nights. Woohoo! If you have not seen VM, I strongly urge you to check it out. But be warned, if you don't like snappy patter, interesting mysteries (that actually get solved!) and characters you actually care about, Veronica Mars might not be the show for you.

Until October!

It's, like, wow!

This is the stunningly expressive title of a song on the Shrek soundtrack and I'm using it here for no other reason that it's been stuck in my head since we talked about the "like" phenomenom in one of my classes last week.

How are my classes, you ask? Faboo, really. I think I shall enjoy all of them greatly. That is, if I can keep up with the reading.

I like to read more than your average bear, but when offered a rainy, cool afternoon like the one provided today, I am unfortunately much more likely to choose to take a nap than read any of the 200 pages or so that I have to read by Tuesday. I'm really a little concerned about how Peter and I are going to physically be able to do all the reading we both have for our classes and still find time to speak to one another. Tuesdays are already bad with our class schedules, how are we supposed to get homework done as well!

I fear what will have to happen is the total erasure of our free time, especially on the weekends. I used to be able to take a day off and not do any homework or studying that day and focus on cleaning, email or fun stuff, but I don't think I'll be able to tackle all of it if I don't do a little a day, every single day.

So if you don't hear from me in the next four months or so, it's probably because I'm trying to finish a technical book or two a week, doing research, going to class, and trying to keep the apartment from imploding, all at once! Cheers!

Owie

Tonight was the family housing annual picnic, and even though the weather was just as bad as last year (of all the lovely, sunny summer days, why must it rain for the picnic?), I think the party was more rockin' than last year, thanks in part to the great DJ.

There were a couple people playing volleyball as well, so after we ate, we joined them. Even the drizzling rain didn't stop us from our intense game and our numbers soon swelled from two teams of two adults and a kid to six adults on each side.

Sadly, I hit a ball badly on my hand and now my thumb is very sore. If it still hurts this badly on Monday, I'll go see the physical therapist person. So we had to leave early because I didn't want to keep playing and risk further injury (it also felt numb at the time, but that might have just been shock). I hope I get better soon, or else maybe I'll be able to claim it as an injury requiring exemption from homework?? Probably not, but it's a nice thought.

Hobbies are fun!

I heart JoAnn Fabric.

They are literally right across the street from us and I can amble on over there anytime I want. Normally, this is a very, very bad thing, especially since they have very alluring sales (90% off! 75% off already reduced items!), but right now, it is not. See, Peter and I have made a deal regarding money. We are allowed to spend our birthday money any way we see fit and the other person has no veto power over purchases with birthday money. Otherwise, we pretty much confer about every purchase, since we have barely enough income and God only knows how we make ends meet (I think a lot has to do with Peter's amazing coupon-abilities and my hoarding tendencies).

So I am flush with my recent birthday money, and it's a heady feeling to have any spendable money after such a dry year, and JoAnn is having a major sale on crafting supplies and other things. Put the two together, and I have taken up a new hobby: scrapbooking!

I'm not so keen on the cutesy-country stuff that seems to make up a lot of scrapbooks, but they have come out with such mod papers and keen stickers that I am willing to take a stab at it. It doesn't hurt that I have probably well over 15,000 pictures now that mainly just sit in iPhoto, unlooked at and unloved :-(

Free the photos!

Seasons

Summer is my favorite season. My birthday is in August, so of course I love it, and now our wedding anniversary is as well, so it's even more special. Even without these highlights, I think I would still love the warm weather, the lazy, relaxed feeling and the long days that slowly melt into night with the luxurious and magical summer dusk.

Of course, it can't last forever and summer's end is looming. The school year begins on Monday (my classes begin Tuesday) and I am not ready. There are many things I'm looking forward to, including some of my classes and my new job, but I still have things I want to do while my days are still free.

Primarily, I love the freedom each summer day brings (when I'm a student, of course, and have summers off!). Each morning, the possibilities of the day lie open to me and I can choose if my hours will be spent doing laundry, taking a walk or sorting through photos. Such wonderful freedom! How will you spend your remaining summer days?

Sad state of affairs

So If you've been reading this blog, you will know that I have love in my heart for Flickr. Sadly, since it is a public site, some Flickrites are not just there for the love of photography... I kept getting added as a contact to these guys whose favorite pictures were pornography (it is allowed on the site, they just have warnings on them). I finally figured out that, apparently, my teeny face from a wedding photo was enough to add me to their list of contacts, along with people who had icons of naked ladies :P Gross. So to stop the madness, I had to change my icon to a totally abstract one. I hate that perverts can destroy what is good and fine on the Internet!

Happy Times on Flickr!

So I took a picture, manipulated it a little bit with a cool program to make an HDR image, and uploaded it to Flickr a few days ago. In three short days, it has rocketed to my most viewed image by almost a hundred views (seen 276 times), been favorited 10 times and has had by far the most comments of any of my pictures, all of which have been extremely nice and very flattering.

The most humbling thing, aside from *actual* photographers commenting nicely on the image, is that my picture is in the top 100 most "interesting" on Flickr for August 11th, and the company my little photo is keeping is quite impressive. Check out the cool, cool photos sharing the page with me here.

OK, enough attention mongering for me, back to contemplating your own belly buttons!

Bleeding nipples

You read right. Bleeding nipples. This is apparently one of the many possible side effects of running, one I never could have imagined.

Peter has taken up marathon running and has joined a running club to train with. In this morning's run, the nipples of a guy running with him started to bleed from the chafing of his shirt. It was, of course, a white t-shirt. Thank God Peter took the hint and took off his shirt, because the minute his nipples start to bleed, I might just have to put an end to this nonesense. Or just rip off his shirt :-)

Running out of time!

So, um, where did the summer go? We only have a few more weeks, make that like a week and a half, before school starts and I wonder if I managed to actually do any of the projects I wanted to do over the summer. Hmm... update my websites? I have some good ideas and did some work on one of them, just need to actually POST it... make Peter's quilt? I have all the fabric and a design for it, I just need to cut the pieces, sew them together and MAKE the quilt... give the house a complete cleaning? I've done the normal cleaning, but I have great plans to wash the floors, vacuum the crevices and clear the kitchen counters next week before Peter's parents come... regularly update this blog? Well, I'm doing better than some bloggers, far worse than others, but I manage to get some new content up at least once a week, right? No promises that it's interesting or enjoyable, but it's here!

Another (ongoing) project I'd like to do is keep up on my photos. I take so many of them that I look through the batch, note to myself which ones I like, then promptly forget which ones I thought were so fab. I need to take advantage of iPhoto and mark them so I can post them later here or on Flickr. I'm also getting better at Photoshop and would love to retouch some of our wedding photos (and other pictures) to make them uber-awesome. So many projects! And now school is starting so soon, I'll be taking more classes than before and I'm trying to get a job and I just hope it all works out!

I'm feeling motivated and productive right now though, so that's very helpful as far as getting projects done. We are tackling a new project this weekend with our friend Alison: we'll be painting a mirror frame and a coffee table, both of which were dumpster resuces (the mirror from Jenny's mom's house and the coffee table for Alison on a Boulder street). Since we've made this a group effort, there's a much better chance of everyone getting their project done! Hmm... now that's an idea!

Happy project-ing to all, and to all a good night!

Pretty much the coolest site ever

If you have pictures, like pictures and/or take lots of the like yours truly, you must check out photojojo.com. It has all kinds of cool tips and ideas for things to do with your photos, and today, your short videos! What, pray tell, can you do with those 10-second snippets of video you took with your digital camera? Why, make a flip book, of course! Way cool. Now we just need $100 extra dollars (at least) for all the fun ideas and projects!

PS We actually did do one of the projects I found on there, and it was pretty fun! I would probably choose a different picture and play with it more if I was to do it again, but Peter was opposed to the "waste of ink." True, I suppose we don't really need giant pictures of ourselves or anything else, for that matter, but it's just too cool to pass up! See below for what the heck I'm talking about and visit this site to do it to your own pics!

Back into the swing

We got back from Oklahoma Monday evening, I spent Monday sleeping and catching up on little things, and today I'm even more motivated, o hopefully I can get more stuff done! The baby we watched over the summer is in daycare now, so it's nice because I actually have time to clean the bathroom, do laundry, etc., but I really miss the little bober. I still have a few days to watch him, though, so I can get my fix sporadically. It just won't be the same though!

No, all of you who think that Will-withdrawl will cause baby-making are mistaken because we still have a lot of schooling and other plans to accomplish before we add a wiggling munchkin to the equation.