Stress Management

I need to readjust my skills for coping with stress this semester. The classes I'm taking are organized much differently from the classes I've been taking for the last year and a half, and they are taking their toll on me. For one thing, I now have lots of tests and quizzes, when I used to have 1-2 a semester. The level of preparation and stress that goes into a final exam is much more than semi-weekly tests, but I don't think my fight-or-flight reflex has figured that out (little tangent: for the longest time, I heard that phrase as "fighter pilot" reflex, so I thought fighter pilots had the most stressful job ever, so this thing relating to stress got named after them).

Right now, I'm in a bad place, where every little thing I need to remember to do, from studying for an exam, to watching a videotape for a class, even writing a thank you note, the memory of all of these obligations sends the little thrill of stress through my blood stream, and make my head throb a tiny bit. I need to calm down. Yoga, anyone?

You know it's too cold when...

There is a quarter inch of ice on the window... inside the bedroom.

See you on the flip side

It's 6:40 AM on Monday, and I have another frighteningly long week ahead of me. Test today, quiz, and presentation on Thursday, and lots of meetings and whatnot in between. Wish me luck. I may not be seeing you for a while :-)

I wanna talk to the manager

OK, who gave the go-ahead on this new round of snow? Seriously. This wasn't supposed to be a big storm (in my head), but we already have 2-3 inches and it isn't even 11 AM yet. It's only allowed to snow today, but at this rate, that's all it will need.

At least they are pretty, fluffy flakes. They are so light and fluffy that some of them are literally going *up*! I tried to encourage them on that path, but none of them seemed to listen.

Peter says they look like coconut shavings. There was an episode of Studio 60 that had them running out of fake snow for the Christmas show, so they used coconut shavings instead. I decided that God's run out of snow in Colorado and is now using coconut shavings. Mmm... coconuts... Now when I look out the window, sigh, and say, "It's snowing," Peter says, "No, it's coconutting." It sounds much warmer that way.

In happier news, we bought a new RAM chip for the iMac, doubling its RAM, which makes it (and us) much happier. Everything is twice as fast, so I can keep twice as many programs open and it now runs at a normal speed! As long as Peter's laptop doesn't die, we should be able to make it until June or whenever Leopard, iLife 07 and (fingers crossed) an upgraded iMac line is available.

We also got a weather station with a remote outdoor sensor. Now we can know if we need a sweater or a parka *before* we are halfway to class and already getting frostbite! Here it is valiantly standing up the the relentless forces of nature:

Phew!

Well, I made it! First full week with all my classes, transcription job and Writing Center hours. Basically, I was on campus for a really long time (11 hours one day) for most of this week, and I have many days where I hardly have time to eat. A few things were this week only, though, so I have hopes that things will improve. I think we'll be making a little bit more money this semester, since I'm working three jobs (one of which is extremely sporadic) and getting paid a little better for one of them. Still not enough to actually make ends meet, but thank God for loans!

Ipso Facto

I'm not sure what that really means, but we'll pretend it relates to this post.

It's the weekend, therefore it's snowing. Again. Not so much this time, but enough to make me sick of the snow. Again. But it's supposed to get up to 40 and 45 in a few days! Yay! Come onnnnnnn..... MELT! Really, I woudn't mind it so much if it just melted before it snowed again, as is the Colorado (and Reno) way. Stupid El Nino. How do people live in Minnesota or Michigan or, God forbid, Alaska? Clearly, I am not a snow person. Growing up in Cali will do that to you, I guess (and yet I will never claim to be a Californian).

Off to have some hot chocolate!

Fun with Photoshop

I've had a wee bit of downtime, time when I was too tired to work, but too awake to sleep, and I've been playing with some effects in Photoshop. I can't decide if I love these effects, or if they look too silly, so please let me know your opinions. (Sample pics are our wedding photos by the wonderful Monique Sady)

Original:

Photoshopped:

Comments? Suggestions? Which do you like better?

Today's Random Thoughts

I had a blog post about me making an edible multi-course that included steak ALL WITHOUT A RECIPE, which was truly groundbreaking, but I hadn't saved it when Peter closed the browser window. Hazards of sharing a computer.

My classes are going well, but it is a bit of a transition to go back to undergrad classes. A girl in my ASL class flipped when she found out I was married and 25. I forget they are babies and in a very different stage of their lives. On the plus side, I have about 1/100th the reading of last semester (granted, I don't have my textbooks yet), so my brain is happier for the moment.

I am applying to the MA program in Speech Pathology here. Didn't I just do this? Two years is not a very long time to recover from grad school apps. It's not fair.

We watched GoodFellas and Sleepers from Netflix this week. Both were excellent. My brother is apparently big into the "illegal movie blogs" and we watched the first five minutes of a horrible tape of Happy Feet. None of us could stand the ridiculousness so we all agreed to turn it off. I've heard such good things, I can only hope it gets 1000% times better after the first 5 minutes ripped straight from a dumb version of March of the Penguins. Stheriously. Plus, I really realized that I would rather pay $18 a month for Netflix to get movies I can actually see *clearly* than free bootleg interwebs versions.

I spend too much time reading blogs. Google is wonderful (I just discovered Calendar), but their Google Reader RSS feed is getting to be too much. I need to unsubscribe from the really prolific blogs. I just can't keep up.

OK , I better finish this bad boy up before Peter comes along and closes my window. See you all soon!

Things just may work out

I've gotten my work schedule for this semester, classes are pretty set (one is still up in the air) and I think I may just survive this thing. I've only had one class so far, so a lot will depend on the workload of the unknown classes, but so far so good. If I don't have as much reading as I did last semester, things could go well. My ASL class (the one class I've had so far) looks like it will be a lot of fun and it will be great to sign almost every day again. Luckily, the emphasis of this class is on expression and production, and unlike many of the other students, I've already had some experience with that. Even though I already have a paper and a presentation due next week, compared to the assignments I've had for my MA classes, this one should be a lot more fun and less stressful.

Even the job I was afraid I might have to quit looks do-able now. We've worked out a schedule that should work really well, and having the extra money will be nice too. Of course, I haven't started working at the Writing Center yet, since they don't open until the second week of school, so I may seriously be changing my tune shortly. Stay tuned.

My brother's in town, so we're going to try to go to our favorite restaurant in town here for happy hour tapas. I'm very excited because we only go out to eat if we have company in town, even if The Med does have my favorite kind of pizza for only 3.50 per entire pizza. And it's so good too. But yeah, homecooked food is so much cheaper, why waste money on restaurants, even if they are really tasty? And we can control the healthy-factor of food we make ourselves better too.

Speaking of which, Peter and I are doing the Discovery Channel Health Challenge with his parents. It's pretty cool if you haven't heard about it. They have a great website (I'll update this blog with a link when I get home) that allows you to track your weight, exercise, provides meal plans and allows you to join "teams."So far, I've lost several pounds and have been working out a lot more than usual (though still not enough), which is my goal. I'm not all about New Year's resolutions, as such, but I do like trying to improve myself in various ways, and getting healthier has been a big one lately. Let me know if you decide to join the health challenge and here's to good health for all!

The end is near

Tomorrow we go back to school. D'oh! What happened to all the amazing free time of vacation? How did it just evaporate with me getting only a fraction of what I wanted to do done? For starters, I think I was sick all break, plus I traveled to CA, Reno and Vegas, and I was also amazingly lazy. Even today, I didn't get up until 8:30, which is better than 10, like the rest of the break. But all this will seriously bite me in the ass when I have to get up for my 8AM class this semester. Yuck! And of course, I cannot forget that I found out that Glider Pro is now freeware and available to play in OS X! I thought it wouldn't be as fun as when I was a kid, since computer games have gotten so much more sophisticated, but of course, I was tragically wrong.

In other news, we decided to wait to buy the new computer until June, or whenever they release Leopard and iLife '07 and all the other stuff that would make our computer quickly outdated. So now we are going to buy an extra RAM card for the iMac, hope that Peter's computer doesn't completely crash, and take whatever precautions we can to extend the lives of our machines. I'm a little sad, but I also know that it is probably a smart move, since there is no truly pressing need for a new computer right now (and if we get it over the summer, maybe that will give me more time to play?)

Hope everyone is warm!

Snow?

My brudda's coming tomorrow (yay!) and we're supposed to get snow tonight/tomorrow (boo). I keep looking out the window to see if it's started snowing yet, but all I've seen all day are the ominous low foggy clouds covering almost all of the mountains. Those clouds always mean snow. Since I've missed the past three snowfalls, ahem, blizzards, I'm excited to be here for one, even if it isn't supposed to be ginormous. I could have done without it, though, if only out of sympathy for all the people who have been stuck here for the past month in the snow. Oh well! The snowboarding should be good for my brother!

Cure for sore throats

I don't seem to get sick too often, maybe once or twice a year, if that, but when I do and when I have a sore throat, only one thing works to help it. Throat Coat. My miracle. When we were in Vegas and in the 2-3 days of our respective colds, Peter and I got some Throat Coat tea at Whole Foods and it saved us. I would wake up literally unable to talk, but after a cup, I was fine. Between the two of us, I think we went through at least half the box in just a few days! It also tastes really goo (IMHO). I've heard some famous singers swear by it too, but I feel like it's still my little secret, since I've been using this since I was in elementary school or at least junior high, and it's possible we could have gotten it before it hit the really big time, since the company that makes the tea was just a few towns away from us. Mmm, Throat Coat!

Where does the time go?

This week is my only time at home on vacation before school starts next week and I have so very much I want to get done. First and foremost, I have a huge research project I need to finish for the incomplete I had to take thanks to my injured arm at the end of last semester. So I'm working on that as much as I can stand it every day, staying up way too late and waking up much later than I will be able to with my 8 AM class (ick). I really want to do a major overhaul of my website, but I know that's going to take a lot of time and passion that I need to keep in reserve for my project.

Instead, I've been tearing through A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket. I'd read the first two in the children's library across from where I used to work in little chunks while I had breaks. They were amazing and I loved them, but unfortunately, Books the Third through Sixth or so were checked out, so I had to stop. This Christmas, Costco had the entire series (13 books) as a set for much less than normal (each book is usually $12.99), so we used some Christmas money to get them. I've literally read 1-2 books a day in the past few days, and I'm now on Book the Tenth. I just can't read them fast enough! I have the same problem with Harry Potter, but those I at least got them one at a time, so I could re- and re-read several times until the next came out. The Lemony Snicket books are (obviously) pretty quick reads, though the books are getting much longer. If you have a wicked sense of humor and/or were an English major, you should give them a try. Most of the references and hidden jokes I highly doubt any child would get, but they never distract from the story.

In other news, the new computer looms larger on the horizon. We went to buy it last night at our friendly local Apple Store, but learned that one or two of the upgrades we really wanted were only available online. So we're going to wait another day or two, just to see if any major software updates come out at Macworld (who needs an iPhone? Give me iLife 07!), but I don't think they are likely and we simply can't wait long enough for the new OS to come out (supposedly in June).

Since weather seems to be the hot topic in these parts these days, here ya go: today and yesterday were sunny and warm enough to melt a lot of the snow, but we are supposed to get another (smaller?) storm this weekend, just in time for my brother's flight here to likely be delayed. And it's supposed to be butt-ass cold. Highs in the teens. Yay. We'll see if we make it up to the mountains like we were planning.

OK, that's it for now, better get back to the project. A parting picture as a memory of Vegas:

From 65 degrees to two feet of snow

So we are back in Boulder. Happy to be home, but happy to have had a break and a nice time with our families. The snow here isn't that bad overall anymore, but there are definitely places where the piles are huge. We took this picture of Jessie at the airport in Ft. Collins, when she and Chris came to pick us up (such nice friends!). You definitely need a person for some perspective on things like this. Luckily, the drifts and piles aren't this bad in most places, but it seems like the roads are still fairly dangerous with ice and slush and compacted snow (though the big ones are mostly plowed). I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to school and back to the grind just yet, but I have a week to get accustomed to the idea.

We should be getting a new computer in the next week or so as well, so that's very exciting news. My little iMac is just too swamped with the 19.9 gigs of pictures and movies I've taken (and I took out all of 2003, when we went on our USA trip and took several thousand pictures). I do too much with pictures and video and DVD burning for this computer, with iPhoto taking at least 5 minutes to boot up and freezing everything else when I run it, and my DVD burner conking out, so an upgrade is in order. Also, Peter's trusty little laptop that got us through our USA trip is dying. The main battery no longer holds a charge, so having a laptop that always needs to be plugged in (and that crashes at critical points in writing final papers) is not exactly a good thing. Since the iMac still is a fine computer when it isn't trying to process 20,000 photos, we'll transfer all the pictures, wipe the slate clean and Peter will use this one for his stuff. I just want Macworld to come so we know if they are coming out with new and improved iMacs so we don't buy an insta-obsolete model! Must...wait...three...more...days!

Joyeux Noel

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday. I'm in Reno now, with my family, but away from the Hubband. I'll see him tomorrow, which is good because I miss him! Lots has happened in the past week, but I haven't had much time or desire to blog about much of it.

My cousin passed away earlier this month, but her memorial was planned for a little later, so I was able to fly out for it. It was truly lovely, but very sad because she was honestly an angel on earth. Because of that unexpected trip out to CA, our Christmas plans were changed. As it turns out, it really worked out for the best. Had we gone with our original plan, we would have been driving (or not) on the day the blizzard hit Denver. As it is, both of us were able to make it out of Colorado days before we would have otherwise, and with relatively little difficulty.

I've been busier than I expected, but I've been able to sneak in some "vacation" time. I had a bunch of papers I had to finish while we were in CA for the memorial, so I basically worked, cried, visited or was otherwise occupied for the first four days of my "break." It's gotten a little better now, but I still have a huge paper hanging over my head that I must finish before the end of winter break. That's the "mixed" part of the mixed blessing that is taking an incomplete. You don't have to finish it in time for the end of the semester, but you do have to finish it!

And the picture at the beginning of the post is from the night my brother PJ when expressed his need to give me the college experience I never had (because I was lame and never went to a party, but instead read the dictionary for fun. Seriously.). Beer pong at Sig Ep with a bunch of his old friends (many of whom are mine too), then we headed over to the Wal to close the bad boy down (where this pic was taken of one of PJ's brothers, I think), then a cold walk back to the Sig Ep house, which was enough to complete my sobering up. It was a lovely night and very fun. We managed to get over 20 people in PJ's room, which is so big that we still definitely could have fit at least 5-10 more if the stood in the closet and the bathroom. Fun times!

Best mail day ever

Last night was very nice. I was working when I normally don't, in order to make up some hours I'm going to have to miss next week (I'll write about that later), and Peter got out of class early, so we got to walk home together. We never get to do this because our schedules are so different, and it just felt really nice. He was also in a good mood because his semester ended yesterday and I think it went really well.

We got the mail on the way home, and O! what a mail day! I have been doing some fun online shopping lately (mostly for Christmas, with a few presents for us included), and have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my purchases (the downside to online shopping). First, my Moo cards came! I had gotten ten free ones a while ago and realized they would make a great thing to give to friends and family (ideally in an upcoming Christmas or New Year's card, coming soon to a mailbox near you!). I have my email, my Flickr
, and another (secret to strangers!) photo site, as well as this blog address, all on the back of a cute little card with one of my wonderful pictures. I even had some made that have me and the Hubband on them, since I know there are some family members who are infinitely more likely to keep a picture of us (taken by someone else, obv.) than a weird-o picture I took of someone's feet. But I have to say, I kind of love the card with the feet. Heck, I love them all! Leave me a comment if you want one!

Not only did I get my Moo cards, but I also got a Christmas present I ordered from Etsy. I had it gift wrapped, so I don't even know what it'll look like, but I'm excited! I kind of wanted to open it myself to see what it looked like, esp. since we are now flying to Christmas and TSA drones will likely open it anyway. Why should they get the fun? But Peter restrained me, thinking they wouldn't open such a tiny package (I think they will, but there's always a chance!).

I so love getting good mail!

Video to make you happy

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

If time is a finite resource, and things we "save" with the 3 R's (see post title) are also finite resources, why can't we reduce our use of time like we reduce use of plastic bags? Reuse our hours like we can reuse tin cans? Recycle crappy days into better ones, like plastic soda bottles into warm fuzzy fleece?

I just made out my schedule for this week. Holy nut. I honestly barely have time to breathe. I was working from 7 AM to 7 PM for three different jobs with only an hour between about 5 and 6 to eat a little dinner. At least I was making money! But still. And the rest of the week goes similarly. When, O when will I have time to write all of my papers? And I'm definitely bringin' back the solo "O!" It's hard core. I'm going to sleep now, even though I should write a few more pages of one of my papers, but I'm just too tired. I hope I'm awake and inspired enough to bang out at least two pages before I go to class at 11. Yeah, that'll be my goal. 2-3 pages. And then I'll only have... a lot more to go!

Nuh-nigh, everyone...

The Real Reason I Blog

I blog because I like to read other people's blogs. Huh? Yeah, I read through my subscription list on Google Reader, notice that there's no new updates for various blogs I love, get sad, wish they would post something, anything, then get inspired to write an entry. Because maybe there's someone out there wishing that I would post something too! Even if I have nothing to say. Which is exactly why you are getting this post right now!

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

So here are some pictures of my arm a week after The Fall. The big, purply bruise didn't show up until about Tuesday or Wednesday, while the one that's more yellow showed up earlier. The best part of these bruises is that the doctor couldn't really explain why they were there, since her diagnosis was that I strained the muscles in my forearm. Apparently, bruising can "track" to related areas, even if they weren't the affected part. An alternate explanation, offered by some of the football players I tutor who have been through the same thing, is that I had my arm hyperextended when I fell, which would explain the elbow bruising a bit more. Either way, I'm getting more mobility back, though my elbow is still pretty sore and there are still certain movements I can't make without a lot of pain. I can type better than before, though I still don't have the stamina to do it for very long. I hope you all think these bruises are as pretty as I do. Now that I can move my arm more, I like to check out Big Blue in the mirror (it's on the underside of my elbow). I hope you all are proud of me for taking such fine self portraits as well. It was pretty tricky, considering I had to take the pics with my left hand and hold the camera at an awkward angle. PS I think "awkward" is the most perfect word because it looks and sounds exactly like what it is, without being iconic (for any Lingies hanging around). OK, I'm past rambling now, so I need to harness this rambling energy for something productive, like one of my many, many papers.

Joy oh joy oh!

I went to the doc for my arm, I'm not broken, but I did strain it, so I just need to take it easy for the next few weeks. Of course, this is perfect timing, since I have all my papers due in the next few weeks, so I'm not really sure how much I'll be able to get done. I think I'll be able to complete my two 10 pagers, but I might have to take an incomplete in order to get my huge 20 page original research paper done over the break. Only crappy part about that is that I won't really have much of a break then, but If I am miraculously much better, maybe I can get it done really quick before I'm out of school mode again.

The best part is that since I now know it's not as serious as the first doc had feared, I don't need to be so overly careful. I'll still be careful, but man, I was being SUPER careful because if it had been fractured, I really didn't want to make it worse.

Other good news: last night, Peter and I did some Christmas/personal shopping online at Threadless and got some very cool stuff! They are having a sale now (and for 5 more days, I think) where all the shirts are only $10! Here are the ones we got:

For The Hubband:
"Nothing Rhymes with Orange"

For my Brudda (he'll like it, though I would never wear it in public):
"The Morning After"



















And for me:
"B.F.F. (Best Friends Forever)"




















"Get Some Fresh Air"














I am so excited! I think mine are the cutest, but there were so many others I wanted too. They have such fun, funny and cool designs! Eeek! I can't wait f0r them to come :-)

Typing is hard

Therefore, I've been doing more surfing than writing. In addition to Etsy, I found another fun new site: Threadless. They have awesome, reader-designed, limited quantity shirts, and they are having a sale! $10 each. Amazing. I think I'm going to get me one. Maybe this one:



Or maybe this one:

Posting Freeze

I may have fractured my arm over the weekend (stupid ice), so this will be a very abbreviated post. I likely will not post much for a while, though I may put up some pictures, since those are easier to do with one hand. It had to be the right arm, didn't it? Yeah, def. gonna have to get an extension on some papers. It'll take me eons to write even a page at this rate.

See ya later! Post some comments if you like to keep me entertained in my convalescence (words too long! Left hand... failing!)

New Obsession

So this is completely the wrong time of the semester to find a new website to explore for hours and hours, but I've found one. Etsy. I'd visited this site before, but I wasn't in Christmas shopping mode then or something because I glanced, thought it was cute and moved on. But now! Oh, but now I keep exploring, keep finding more new and adorable (and affordable) stuff that I simply must have! Or give!

For those who are completely lost right now, Etsy is like an online marketplace for people who make handmade crafts and items to sell to other people. It's super cool because it's like eBay in that you get a much wider audience than you could ever have on your own, but yet you still get to sell individual things. But WAY better than eBay because all the stuff is handmade, not Chanel knockoff stuff. So even though your cute little purse only cost $18, it's still a one-of-a-kind! Or at least, one-of-a-very-few! Plus, thought I haven't decided if I like all these features, Etsy has some very high-tech ways for you to "surf" other people's favorites, find products that are certain colors, "handpicked" things, and many others. Those search functions are fun, and yield some unexpected coolness, but probably won't help you if you are really looking for something specific. Luckily, they have regular search functions too, which aren't as fun, but find you pretty much what you want.

Enough talk, go over there now! (PS You'll probably like this better if you are a girl, though there are a few things for boys. Just not much.)

Daily Photo(s)

Taken November 29, 2006

Music, music, music!

I am utterly obsessed with Regina Spektor, whose music video I posted last. I've found as many of her songs as I could for legal free download (bless those amazing music blogs) and I've been listening to them constantly for the past week. I definitely need to buy "Begin to Hope." I'm thinking I might download it from iTunes, since it looks like you can get 6-7 more songs there than you get on the regular CD, but I think my dad might like her too. He likes "real" CDs with covers and artwork and everything, so if I wanted to give him her CD too, he would want the full package.

In other music news, the Hubband woke up at 5 AM to go wait in the snow and single digit temps to get the new KBCO Studio C CD. Studio C is a thing KBCO (a local radio station) does where they invite musicians in town for concerts to their studio and they do a live session of some of their music. Over the years, KBCO has gotten some amazing musicians in for this (Melissa Etheridge was the one who started it in the late '80s, I think), and each year, in late November or early December, they release a CD with some of the best of the best. Since there are limited quantites and it's become quite popular, people camp out overnight or get there extremely early to get one.

We are listening to it now, and I think some of my favorites are Seal's version of "Crazy," BNL's "One Week" (I think it's much better and way funnier than the original) and KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." It's fun at least to be more of a part of the local culture now :-)

Casino Royale

Go see this movie. It's fabu. I don't think I was ever really into Bond movies before, but this one was amazing. Daniel Craig's 007 is such a bad-ass, it's crazy. Plus, you get to see him pretty much naked (which is not a bad thing).

Still snowing

It's probably been snowing for the last 18 hours or more. I haven't been outside since I came to work, but I'm guessing we have at least 6-8" and it's COLD. The busses are all way behind schedule, everyone is late, roads are messy and yet, school is still wide open. Apparently, they've only closed the university twice in the last 20 years. Does not bode well for us :-(

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

Vineyards in Sonoma I
Originally uploaded by shanbrite2.

So last week, this is what I was enjoying. Sunny, clear days, a balmy 70 degrees, nights dipping almost to a frigid 40. Ah, California. There's a reason why so fricking many people move there (thus destroying the wonderful quality of life they came for).

Today, however, Colorado wanted to remind us that we were back and definitely NOT in California. We're supposed to have a high of 17 and there's at least 6 inches of snow on the ground now, with more falling and snow to continue through the day. The best part is that this is probably the fourth or fifth decent snow storm we've had this fall already. It's pretty, but I hate having to go outside in it. I would have been very happy to stay at home this morning, snuggled under the down comforter with Peter, waking up to some hot chocolate and the prospect of a warm, sleepy day interrupted only by the occasional peek out the window to see how high the drifts had grown. That would have been nice. Oh well!

Turkey Time!

I know what you're thinking, "Wasn't that last week? Does this mean we are going to get a juicy, blow-by-blow of the trip now?" Sadly, no. And I'm realizing that may never happen, given my schoolwork schedule for the next few weeks, by which time it will be Christmas.

No, last night, Peter and I made our first turkey. Costco had fresh turkeys for $.49 a pound, and since my baby loves turkey (and traveling for Thanksgiving means no leftovers), we decided to get one.

After shopping for all the ingredients needed, getting home from school and pulling the bird out of the fridge, we realized none of our pans would be suitable for roasting this bad boy (we got the smallest one Costco had--20 pounds). So, off to Bed Bath & Beyond and Marshall's to see what we could get. After much deliberation, we got a very nice, heavy duty pan for $25 (after rebate and our many coo-pins).

Finally, we got the 20-pound beast (we named him Freddie) into the browning bag, into the pan and into the oven at about 6 PM. For those of you who are math and turkey wizards, you realize that this means that our turkey would not be done until 9 or 10 PM. Right you are! But when it was done, the stuffing baked and the mashed potatoes made, oh, the deliciousness! We also had gravy and corn, and for dinner tonight, we'll have it all again with the addition of cranberry sauce (from a can) and crescent rolls.

And with a 20-pound turkey, we will be eating it for a LONG time! I'm also going to make turkey frame soup, probably tomorrow for dinner. That should also give us some nice leftovers. All this is fabulous because we are going to be poor December and January, so cheap food is great!

Requiem

One of my newfound heroes passed away last week. I discovered Robert Altman when I watched Gosford Park sometime earlier this summer. I was in love with the subtle plot, the beautiful and intricate characters and how deftly he was able to weave together so many storylines so beautifully. After that one, I went on to watch Nashville and The Player and I have several others on my queue. I also realized one of my favorite weird little movies, Cookie's Fortune, was directed by him as well. Losing him is truly a loss to the art of filmmaking. I can't think of many other directors who are so beloved by so many actors that their films can be made into a parlor game of name-that-actor with multiple cameos by actors of every strata.

I think I'm especially sad because I had just fallen in love. It's not like my love for Hitchcock or Orson Wells. They were long dead and safely ensconced as geniuses by the time I came around to them, and the new directors I love (Sofia Coppola, Zach Braff) are still so young and untested that their careers can't be judged yet. But Altman was such a force, was still working, and yet was somewhat proven as an artist. It's just not fair he was taken from us at the tender age of 81. I wasn't ready :-(

For a lovely eulogy, see this Slate article.

Jiggety-Jig

Home again, home again. We went to Reno and California for Thanksgiving, but since I am paranoid about posting things on the all-knowing Internet, I didn't want to write about it until we were home again so we could protect our enormously valuable personal belongings from any wandering marauders. 'Cuz even though I only have three readers, I'm still weird like that.

Anyway, we got to see lots of friends and family, have some amazing experiences and ate a lot at Thanksgiving. Only problem, I pretty much got zero homework done. Last year, we stayed here for Thanksgiving because we had such a short break and I wasn't sure how overwhelmed I would be with my first year of school. Now, I'm medium-worried about catching up, but I'm also not overly concerned, which might be a byproduct of my lovely week of relaxation.

I took a ton of pictures, some of which I'm rather pleased with, though I'm not done going through all of them yet. I'll try to get them uploaded to my Flickr page and to my Shutterfly page. Here's a sneak peek for those who might be interested (taken in Sonoma, where my uncle lives):

I need to take more pictures

I haven't been taking as many pictures as I would like to, since school and work are stealing time from my precious hobbies. Also, my iMac is almost 3 years old now and it's rebelling against the 15,000 pictures I already have on there, so it makes me reluctant to take even more. I was able to take a lot over the summer and so I got a lot more practice then, and I feel like those pictures were much better than the ones I'm taking now. I don't know if I just need some distance, some more inspiration, or simply more time to really compose and seek out good shots, but I'm just not satisfied with the few pictures I have been able to take. It's also hard when every day is so routine and I rarely ever go someplace out of the ordinary during the semester, so it's hard to see unique perspectives when I walk by the same creek ten times a week. I think I also feel like I'm hitting the limits of what my camera will do, since many of the shots I would like to take require a different set up than what I have now. I think I could probably achieve some of the effects I want in Photoshop, but that requires even more time post processing, and I'm not very skilled with that yet anyway. *sigh* Maybe winter break will allow me a little freedom to play. Something to look forward to!

Method Deliciousness

I just bought some stuff in Method's new holdiay "flavors." Spiced pear, frosted cranberry, and (my favorite so far) peppermint vanilla. Oh, the deliciousness! I got the first two in dishsoap (in fun little bottles that look like old-fashioned christmas light bulbs) and the last in a countertop spray. Our counters are going to be so clean!

Happiness Runs

We are obsessed with this song. I just downloaded two versions of it from iTunes. Isn't it freaking catchy?

I may die next semester

I've been trying to figure out my classes and schedule for next semester. Thanks to the perfect storm of a complete lack of classes in my department (due to a separate perfect storm of retirements, sabbaticals and positions not yet filled), and my attempt to take some classes to do double duty for this degree and for the next, I just might go insane next semester. I haven't yet talked to all the right people, but if my current plan stands, I will be taking 11 credits (I'm taking 9 this semester and ready to die, bear in mind these are "grad school" credits and therefore take up five times the normal amount of time). On top of those 11 credits (9 of which come from just two classes), I think I'll be working three jobs, if I'm offered the one I just applied for. One of them is fun and pays the bills (and takes 10 hours a week), one doesn't pay enough but is related to my future career, and the third is just a few hours a week sporadically and I would hardly consider it work at all. But all the hours add up and then I don't have any time left to blog! Boo!

Double Take

A few years ago, I started to notice a general pattern in my life. Whenever it came to big decisions, big life steps, other other important changes, I usually did them twice. The first time, I'm not quite ready for whatever it is, but I either am forced to do it or force myself to do it. After that first attempt (often aborted or failed), I usually wait a while, a month or a year, then I find myself truly ready for taking that step and I successfully take it. Sound weird? Wait till you see how often it's happened:

High school-chose to go to private Catholic school, not totally my cup of tea, but the lesser of two evils. Didn't do as well as I should have. We moved before my junior year, I got to start over and excelled. Not a "choice," but I did do better on my second chance.

Driver's License-I was putting it off anyway, getting my permit at 16 (at least a year late). I kept putting off the test itself, until my dad surprised me after school to take me down to take the test. I failed miserably (though a street was a one-way, when it definitely wasn't). A few months and a lot of practice later, nerves recovered, I took the test again and did very well.

Haircut-sounds minor, but it wasn't. I had had long hair (waist length or longer) since early elementary school, and I felt like I needed a change. Sophomore year of college, I got it chopped just below the shoulders and HATED it. I cried and cried and cried. A few years later, I decided to try again and I was really *ready*. I cut it shorter and loved it. Last year, I cut it even shorter (above the shoulders) and loved it even more.

MA program-I'm planning on doing two because I didn't really know what I wanted with the first one, but now I'm pretty sure I do, so I'm applying for a second one when I finish this one. Luckily they are related!

Proposal-OK, so I didn't have to choose to do this, but I did have to say yes! A year before Peter really proposed, he got inspired and started to do it (no ring, no planning, spur of the moment). I freaked a little bit, wasn't sure if I was ready (even though I had thought I was up to that point), and delayed until other people came and the moment was gone. A year later, I was *really* ready and he proposed and I really said yes!

For a little while, I was freaked out that my marriage was going to be a failure because I would have to have a "practice" marriage like I've had to have a "practice" everything (see above). I then realized I was being a total dork because I've had other long-term relationships, and therefore those were really my practice ones, so this one is fine. Also, if I need to quell my superstitious side, I just look at the double proposal and consider that the double take.

Yes, I am crazy. And I probably have weird commitment issues (weird because I don't have them in relationships).

Daily Photo

One of my favorite pictures from the football game last Saturday.

Kris's Clarinet Recital

One of our friends is a Ph.D. student in music, and one of the many things she has to do is complete 4 recitals. Last night was her first and it was amay-may! You know people who are getting flipping Ph.D.s in an instrument have to be good, but damn! We had never heard her play before and we were totally blown away. Here are some of the random clippages I took last night made into "movie" form:

Election Day!

So the results are slowly coming in from across the country. Yay for "regime change"! The only thing I'm a little sad about is that it doesn't look like the Dems will take the Senate. I'm sad for this because I heart Harry Reid, my former senator from Nevada, who we got to meet when we were in DC several years ago. He was so intelligent, well spoken and clearly important and busy, yet unassuming, that he made me proud he was my senator. He's currently the minority leader, so if the Dems took the senate, he would be majority leader and that would be so cool!

Other things of note: on the TV scrolling info, they have several races where one candidate got 0 votes. As Peter said, they would have at least voted for themselves! How can it be 19,000 to o? Plus, it's sketchy because they claim 0% of precincts are reporting. 19,000 people is 0%? Weird.

Also: Possibly super sad, the current votes are showing that Ref. I is down (but not by much). I really hope it passes; it would give same-sex couples the same legal rights as married couples. Gay marriage would still be illegal, but at least with I, partners would be able to visit each other in the hospital and have the same legal rights they deserve. The campaign tagline was "It's not marriage, it's just basic legal rights." I will be very sad if this doesn't pass, esp since it's looking like the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages will pass. Yeah, that SO needs to be in the constitution when we already have a law against it.

(PS Our new [Democratic!] governor just called us "Coloradoans." I thought we were Coloradans?)

Are you ready for some football?

I'm working for the athletic department now as a tutor in sign language, and as an employee, one of the perks is free tickets to the game for me and one other (very restricted, not even all immediate family members qualify) person. So Peter and I are going to our very first, and possibly last, big time university football game. I medium-enjoy sporting events, though I always have much more fun cheering and groaning with the crowds than actually really following the game (since I usually have no idea what's going on). The real reason I really really wanted to go to game is because our mascot is a real live buffalo and the tradition is to run her into the field with the entire football team behind her to start the game. Doesn't that sound cool? Plus, one of Peter's classmates is one of the selected few Ralphie handlers, which means he gets to lead her onto the field and help care for her (it's a her because female buffalo are smaller and slightly easier to handle, which is rather important).

It's also fun that we are finally going to a game because we live so close to the stadium that we can track the success (or not, this season) of the team by the noise of the crowd. When I hear a really long, extended cheer, I usually run upstairs to the bedroom window, get out the binoculars and check the scoreboard to see if we scored. The picture on the left is of the scoreboard the only time we've won this season. I'm hoping we'll be a good luck charm today! We're so close that they sell spaces in our parking lot for tailgaters, so it's fun to walk around and see how crazy people get, but it's also annoying because we feel like we can't leave on game days because we're never sure if they'll sell all the spots, leaving us with no where to park. But after being on the outside so many times, it'll be fun to be on the inside for once!

Why I don't know why I don't own ten of these at this very moment

These are Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppies and I *will* have one one day! Here are two images from cuteoverload.com. If you've never been there before, you must go immediately for vast quantities of the cutest animals ever to walk the face of the planet (animals of all kinds, they don't 'scriminate!). Without further ado:





And the killer:





Aackk!!!! How can you resist??? (AOUS????)

Reno hotel burns

Very sad story, about a fire in a historic hotel in downtown Reno that killed at least 6 people. Not only are the deaths very, very sad, but so is the gutting of a landmark. The Mizpah wasn't on the sight-seer's to-see list, nor was it a cherished landmark in a city that earns its living from the newer, flashier casinos, but it had a quiet dignity that can only be found in those grand old buildings just a few blocks off neon-lit Virginia Street.

I love Reno and its old buildings, partly because they are generally so unloved. Here in Boulder, old downtown is celebrated and has been gentrified. The old buildings are occupied and still very much alive in the heart of downtown, overlooking the parade of street performers, vagrants and vagabonds, shoppers, restaurant diners and tourists. Everything is generally clean and happy.

But Reno's historic buildings have been pushed aside from the hub of activity, sometimes physically (several historic buildings have been moved, several times) and sometimes metaphorically. As newcomers stream into town, different areas become hotspots for new activity and building, and the town's collective history quickly dims in the memories of the shrinking percentage of natives. Most of the historic buildings are now in less than great areas of town, occupied by tiny businesses and the less-than wealthy. They are the kinds of places you don't want to linger after dark, they are haunted by their own pasts and by people with their own haunted pasts. They are unnoticed, unremarkable, merely average... until you look up. Most of them might be plain brick or stone at street level, but at roofline, their Art Deco roots show in the ornate tiles and other detailing. It's this hidden surprise in plain sight I love so dearly. That so many can pass by them day after day and never notice what a gem sits glowing under that slight film of grime.

My own personal temple is the Art Deco post office next to the river, the "main" post office for the city, though no longer truly the hub. I can go in there and feel my soul relax in its vaulted ceilings and gorgeous "silver" detailing present everywhere. Even the tall tables for sorting mail were designed to live in this building, echoing the "futuristic" style of the 1930s seen in the window casings, the service windows, the mailboxes themselves. At one point, there was some talk of tearing it down to accommodate the flood plan, but if such a thing ever comes to pass, I will chain myself to its glorious walls before I ever let them tear down such a beauty. And yet no one says anything about its architecture, its decoration... no one even talks about it at all! If I ever mention to anyone how beautiful it is, the most I'll get is an odd glance and possibly a remark about the length of the lines there.

But if everyone loved it, I would not feel so passionately about my "secret" bit of beauty.

**Edit: Someone else loves my post office too! See some pictures of it here and read about its history here.

Also, I was looking for pictures of the Mizpah to show you, and came across this:


This is funny because this is a different Mizpah hotel located in Tonopah, NV, one which looks nothing at all like Reno, let alone the actual Mizpah (pre-fire):

Those silly Canadians...

Thoughts on learning

My favorite class (the one I just had the midterm for) is child language acquisition. There's more we don't know about this than what we do know at this time, but research is making leaps and bounds.

What's interesting is that there are primarily two camp: one believes that languages is innate and doesn't have to be "learned," the other believes that there's nothing in the brain pre-wired just for language and that kids are more active in the process in figuring language out.

Our teacher is strongly in the latter camp, which of course influences the class. Of course I am also on that side now, not only because of the structure of the class, but really because the research strongly supports that theory (IMHO).

The main problem I see between these two theoretical viewpoints is the claims they are making. The innate people say that language is far too complex and variable a thing for very young children to learn as quickly as they do, therefore there must be something inborn in them to facilitate this. Kids can't pick up algebra by 5, and yet they can produce incredibly complex grammar by that age. The cognitive people say that kids have lots of abilities that help them learn and it isn't too hard a task, given the skills and other non-language specific aptitudes they have.

The issue is that it seems like the burden of proof is on the cognitive side, since it seems difficult to prove that something is impossible (like "learning" a language). Happily, it seems like there are many great researchers up to the task who have discovered some surprising things about "facts" linguists have taken for granted for quite some time. This field is still relatively in its infancy (no pun intended, I swear!) and with technological advances, I think we'll be learning a great deal about this in the future.

We need to institute siesta time

I cannot live without naps. I know I used to, I used to be able to get through days of work and school without any kind of catnap, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to that. Even if I get home at 6 PM, I still enjoy a quick little nap before dinner if I can get it. As much as I love any nap, I have a few favorite kinds:

Sunny afternoon nap: This nap usually takes place in the summer. The sunlight is filtered through our blinds to make a warm, diffused light, everything is warm and sleepy, the pace of life is slow. Lay down to read a book and the quiet warmth steals over you until sleep is inevitable. This may be a shallow nap, but still lovely.

Winter afternoon nap: It may be sunny, or it may be snowing (this IS Colorado!). It's chilly outside, but the down comforter (or knit blanket) is warm and inviting. Snuggle in whenever possible, maybe with a bellyful of delicious hot chocolate in you, and escape the cold world outside for an hour or two.

Snuggle nap: May take place in any season, only requirement is a co-snuggler. This may be the best nap of all. Snuggle with the one you love on a lazy day with no obligations (thus its comparative rarity) and sleep in each other's arms (or comparable mutually comfortable position). Truly something to be treasured.

*Yawn* Now I want a nap! Luckily, I'm done working in half an hour, and I might be able to sneak home for a little sleep after this.

This week has been quite stressful, but it all ended yesterday. I handed in my midterm for my hardest (and most favorite) class, I performed my belly dance at the drag show and now I have a TEENY break until I have to tackle all my other projects (like a book review for a book I received last night due on Friday, all my other projects I ought to be working on all semester, etc.). I think everyone who like naps ought to try to catch one soon!

Triple Mimesis

Thursday night, I performed in a drag show. I was a female performing female and I did a belly dance. I'd been preparing for this for about three weeks, and it was the first performance I've ever done that was almost completely improv, but I think it went pretty well. I got a lot of compliments and people seemed to like it, but the whole thing was kind of a blur for me. I was more concerned about feeling like I was coming out of my costume, not being able to hear the important parts of my music (the balance in the audio was off) and I was extremely thirsty, so the reality of performing didn't really hit me. As always, I feel like I could have done better, but such is life! My dearest husband also dressed in drag as a female and looked fetching. I know some of our friends took pictures, so when I get those, I will try to post some!

Why I should always listen to my husband (because he's pretty much always right)

Yesterday, he put out the last Yoplait yogurts we hadn't eaten, because he was going to throw them out (after taking and washing the breast cancer prevention lids, of course, because that's the kind of good person he is). I saw them, saw that it wasn't an "expiration date," but a "sell by" date, and commenced eating one.

Apparently, that was a really bad idea.

Almost exactly 12 hours later, at 3 AM this morning, my stomach began really, really hurting. Obvs, I was asleep prior to this, so I drifted in and out of consciousness while my body did it's thing. This is where the fun happened.

I had just finished reading Into Thin Air for the first time yesterday, so I had these weird, half-waking dreams about my pain and being on Everest. I'm also clearly going to have multiple personalities someday when I completely lose it, because in my dream, if I was laying on my left side, I was somehow a woman named Laura who was being dragged down Everest to safety. If I lay on my right side, I was man (can't remember the name), and if I was laying on my back (the only position that didn't really make my stomach go nuts), I think I was helping other people. So weird!

I'll spare you the details of the rest of the night and morning, but suffice it to say, I didn't really sleep much, and it says a lot about our bed (and my husband's sleeping) that Peter didn't even know I was sick until he woke up and I told him. I'm feeling a lot better now, but still weak. I didn't go to work, and I'm mighty glad I didn't because I can't imagine how uncomfortable I would have felt (and looked) sitting at the front desk with a still-tender stomach and no food in me. In fact, I'm 99% sure I wouldn't have made it up the hill between here and work; someone would have found me collapsed in the last remaining snowdrift :-)

Post 100!

I just wanted to say that. Real post to follow. Commence the celebration :-)

Bordieuan Condescension

I think this is my new favorite phrase. To be used when describing frat boys wearing trucker hats, models dressing as refugees and the Olsen twins dressing like hobos. I can't tell you what it means, exactly, since it took us a three-hour class and three incredibly dense papers (by Bordieu) to talk about. Not recommended.

Triadica

Supposedly, good things and bad things come in threes. I've never experienced this before, but I've never really paid attention, either. I'm officially over my limit as of now, though. So much bad stuff has happened to people I love in the past month that I've decided that this October (one of the very few containing a Friday the 13th) is cursed. I'm at 4 bad things within a few weeks, and not just little bad things. Big, major, life changing, life ending bad things. The upside of all of this is that (sadly) I'm no longer shocked to my core when I get an unexpected phone call with unexpectedly awful news. I just add it to the well of sadness and love I feel for these people who have been so devastated. Amazingly, I only feel brief periods of deep sadness, probably because none of these events have happened to me, and therefore I can not think about the badness for longer periods of time and therefore be my normal happy self. I've heard that many deaths and other sorrows happen around the holidays, presumed to be due to the sadness and feelings of loss older people have, therefore making them less willing to fight for life. I think the sad season is starting early this year, and I blame it all on Friday the 13th, which ironically enough, was not one of the worst days of the month for me!

Incomprehensible

So unfortunately, TV has put on a fair number of decent shows (so far), forcing me to watch far more television than i ever have before (it didn't take much, really). One of the shows we watch comes on right after Deal or No Deal, so we usually end up watching the last few minutes of that show, which probably could be in Swahili or Urdu or Czech for all I know what's going on. I've never seen it before, and have no idea what the rules are, so every action seems totally random and meaningless. I actually quite enjoy not knowing what the hell is happening. I don't get stressed out like I usually do watching those kind of shows because I don't know what's a "good" thing and what's bad. Plus, they always leave the last person hanging, so I don't even know how one would win anyway!

Not cool! (not literally)

We're supposed to get snow tonight and/or tomorrow. Le sigh.

Method is the best!

A little while ago (maybe last week?), I came home to a package by our door. There is nothing I love better than a package! I wasn't sure what it was, though, since I hadn't ordered anything.

It was a present from Method! They make home cleaning products that are environmentally safe and very chic. Some time ago, I had signed up to be a Method Advocate, and as such, they sent me a free (awesome) t-shirt that I wear all the time, plus free samples to tell my friends about Method.

But what was this package? It was heaven in a box, I tell you.

Inside this clever little package was Method's new lineup of microfiber rags, along with sample bottles of each of the cleaners.

Each flap of the square had
one of the towels (wood, granite, window + glass, stainless steel) and the center square had all the cleaners. I immediately went into the kitchen (where all our stainless steel lives) and started cleaning so I could actually get to our SS appliances to clean them. By the time I was done cleaning, I only had the energy to use the towel and cleaner on a few things, but it worked beautifully on those! We have a SS tea kettle we leave on the stove at all times, which means it gets very dirty from oil splatters and other little food bits. It had lost its glory :-( But the combo of the towel and the cleaner gave it a new lease on life!

Next up was the window/glass cleaner. I cleaned our teeny little mirror in the bathroom, and it seemed to do well on that. No streaks and it only took a little elbow grease to get the toothpaste spots off. The real test, though, was going to be our giant sliding glass door.

Previously, we only had $.99 generic window cleaner on sale from Target to clean the windows. It was fine, but streaked like mad no matter what I did. I could never get the sliding glass door clean. Unfortunately, it was night time when I wanted to try out the Method cleaner, but I went at it anyway, blindly, since I couldn't see where if there were spots that needed extra attention. The next morning, I came down and it looked like the door was open, it was so clean! The towel was filthy with the dirt from the window, but the best part about the towels is that they are fully washable and reusable! Less waste for the environment!

I haven't cleaned off enough wood surface to try that one out, and unfortunately we don't have any granite in our luxury family housing apartment, but I do have a glorious little color-coded towel I can use if we ever do get granite countertops.

In sum, if you have a lot of a specific surface you clean often (esp. SS or glass), it's quite worth the $5 for the rag and about the same for the cleaner because these do their job quite well and they are lovely little products. Thanks, Method!

OK, I guess I like Autumn...

Last week, Jena and I went up to Rocky Mountain National Park. I really wanted to get up the the mountains before all the color was gone, and since Peter wasn't too keen on going, I decided to ask a friend to go instead. Luckily, Jena is a fellow shutterbug, so I knew I could wander around taking close-ups of leaves and bugs and things and she would be just as happy doing the same, whereas saner friends might get a bit impatient and want to keep walking or something.

We only had the afternoon, but we certainly made the best of it. We got to see some incredible golden aspen on the drive up (no pictures, sorry. My windows were too dirty.), we found a stand of the most perfect, brilliant gold aspen in the park, and we saw a bunch of wildlife to boot! Jena got to see her first elk up close and in person, and we got as close as you really want to get to a bull elk in mating season to get some great pictures. We also saw a herd of bighorn sheep, as well as a mama deer and her two babies grazing by the side of the road. I haven't seen her pictures yet, but I can't wait!

Here are some of my favorites:

Jena's first "close" elk:


















See more on my Flickr page.

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!