Fun Stuff

One of those online quizzes. This one was What religion should you be?

You Should Follow Judaism

You believe that there is only one God, but you don't get too dogmatic about it. Instead, you simply try to live the most ethical life you can. Religious holidays and cultural identity are very important to you. You enjoy following religious traditions and find meaning in them.

What Religion Should You Be?

This 'n That

I took this morning off from work, so thought that I would post some of the thoughts I have had in the last few weeks.
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Last night for the second time, a clerk in a store talked to me in Spanish. The first time, the clerk apologized, stating she was on autopilot. I guess my blank stare was a tip off that I barely understood her. Last night, the clerk spoke to me in Spanish the entire time. I thought I greeted her in English but... Luckily, sales transactions are simple enough that I can generally follow what the clerks are saying.

I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, I am proud to be thought of as a fluent Spanish speaker. On the other hand, aren't the clerks making a snap decision based upon my physical appearance?
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Last night, I finally found a dress to wear to the wedding I will be attending this weekend.

I cannot believe it, the old gang will be together again! It has been a long time since we had one of our potluck dinners together. I miss them all, T3, Meesh, Ms. B, Ms. S, BJ & Chrispy. Now we have the addition of two partners as well. (Is the plural of spouses, spice?) Why is it as we get older, it is so hard to gather a group of people together? And we are not even that old! Between exhausting jobs, commuting, heavy school loads for three of us, and two people living out of town... it makes me sad. I use to organize these dinners because these people are important to me and I wanted to be sure that I got to see them at least once a month. I never thought that was too much to ask. But the dinners kept getting further & further apart until there were only 4 people involved.

I am super excited and glad that we are seeing each other for a happy occasion. We will have to be sure to get a picture of all of us, the original gang.
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All the media and multiple bloggers are talking about Sarah Palin. (if you missed the SNL opening skit this last weekend, you have to see it. It was great). I have only this to say and then I will post no more on this topic.

I am sick to death of all the media reports and articles that state women are flocking to the Republican party just because they have a female candidate. Hello! Where were all these reports when Hillary was running? Is our society really that backwards that we vote solely based on gender? Really? I mean, REALLY? I believe in gender equality, the same society rules that constrain women also constrain men and transgendered individuals. If we truly believe in gender equality as a nation, a candidate's gender should make no difference, we should be voting on their qualifications as a leader and on their stances on the issues. That being said, I am not happy about ANY of our choices for U.S. President or V.P. There were better choices.

Oh, By the way

The

"
that time forgot" in town now has the "clerk that time forgot".


Some of you know what I mean...

In brief

Can you limp on both legs?

Yesterday:

Awake - 22 hours
On campus working - 19 hours
On my feet walking and climbing stairs - 12 hours straight

Everything aches from the knee down and I have the feeling that it will be worse tomorrow. Dropped 2.5 pounds in 2 days; don't feel dehydrated and I know what that feels like. Went to bed at 3 but work up at 6:30 today, fully functioning. I will allow myself to nap whenever and am taking Tylenol for legs.

More later.

Stealing from Christa, Part II

Googlrific

1: Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search:
M needs... to tell him what really happened, but will he listen? ...


first picture that came up when I google image searched my name that wasn't a half naked super model

2: Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search:
M looks like she got her chin on a "buy one, get three free" deal
Strange enough, this entry came from some one describing this entry.

3: Type in "[your name] does" in Google search:
What does the name M mean? M, which is a variant of Maria, is Latin-derived and means: star of the sea.

4: Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search:
M|Hates|You|@|The|Lemonade|Diaries...and everywhere else too ...

5: Type in "[your name] goes" or "..has gone" in Google search
M goes on the date ... from Hell!

6: Type in "[your name] loves" in Google search:
MySpace profile for M Love with pictures, videos, personal blog, interests, information about me and more.

7: Type in "[your name] eats" in Google search:
M Eats Efferdent by m :] Watch it on MySpace Videos.

8: Type in "[your name] has" in Google search:
MySpace profile for M has a car. with pictures, videos, personal blog, interests, information about me and more.

9: Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search:
Jul 28, 2008 ... M's wants board to hear the music. In the eyes of M's Ristorante owner Attilio Marini, there's nothing unsuitable about a disc ...

Runner up because it is supper funny: M begging for some "chon chon" ... Choose the language ... [You Tube Video]



A: Christa has the best stuff on her blog
B: Damn MySpace... a lot of the answers came from there. Bleh!

2nd day of school

I am apparently very excited for the start of school, I woke up before my alarm, and I mean before 5 am early, both yesterday and today. I have no idea what that is really about. But since i am awake, i have been getting up and getting to school by 7 a.m. This has given me 2 hours to work on stuff before I have to start work but left me exhausted on Monday night. I went home with my legs killing me and couldn't figure out why until I realized I am not used to standing in heels for 2 hours straight anymore. I'll get use to it again soon, about two weeks I realize.

Highlights today

*Had lunch with someone from another office today. Awkward conversation but yummy salad from a new place on campus.

*Got to start a phone conversation with, "Ewww! I have chicken!" today. Sweet.

*Visited with big bro and dad today, three of us on campus at once! Awesome!

*Had a fantastic meeting with my adviser and got all jazzed to work on my thesis. Then left the book I needed to read at work and lost my motivation. Oh well, I will work on it tomorrow. 2 pages before I come home! (I'm at about 1/2 a page right now).

*Got to show my big bro my office today and skip the really long line in the bookstore to buy new books.

Got to go to bed. Nite-nite.

First Day of School

Ah, it is so easy to spot the freshmen. They are the ones who stop and ask me if a 100 room number is on the first floor...

Ah, newbies...


Survived my first class, a bit of a mess and didn't get everything done.

Hippo Birdie, Two Ewe

Tomorrow's my birthday. No party for me....

Stealing from Christa

Just for fun, Christa Shared this link and I took the test too.

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Rising Costs

Not groceries or gas but school.

I started looking into PhD programs this month, seriously looking into them and I know I shouldn't, but I keep looking at what it is going to cost me. California has one of the lowest costs to attend college and since I am a residence, I am in an even lower cost bracket.

By attending Cal State Universities for both my B.A. and M.A., I figure that each of my degrees cost about $10,000.

Now in contrast, for one year at a couple of the universities I have been looking at:

$9,481 UC Irvine
$9,670 UCLA
$10,178/$14,336 UT Austin (depends on number of units)
$11,198 UC Santa Cruz
$21,714 Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
$29,661 Northwestern University
$33,836 USC

Most PhD programs offer full funding for their students, which is part of the reason it is so competitive but still....jeez a lou!

So that is part of the reason I have been so distracted and not posting lately. I have a lot on my mind.

How I Have Been Spending My Time

I am having a blast in NV. Here is what the last few days have been like, in no particular order:Lots of Napping
A trip to Sonic
Slowly, very slowly reading for my class this summer. Should finish article #3 tonight and that means I have to/want to finish 4 tomorrow. I plan to get up at my regular time and read my heart out. It is getting a little better with each article. Now I just have to write up everything I have read as well...
An afternoon movie
Rock Band! My new obsession! For this game alone I would buy a playstation 3.
I sang, played the drums (horribly - not my strong suit) and played the bass guitar.
No actual pics from our game but the above one is a bit like our drummer, Quinn. My bass player had a bright pink Joan jet cut for the majority of the game until I mixed it up and ended up with a shag cut that was half bright teal and half moss green, very fetching. So much fun and so much harder than it looks. Especially when I realize that I don't know the majority of the songs and the ones I do know, I don't know as well as I think I did. although I have to say, this game is easier than the Magic mic that I used Wednesday night at work.

Speaking of, I better get to bed, er...read some more before I settle in for the night. One more day, que triste! I am a little nervous about the flight home but bought some less drowsy(WTF!) Dramamine to be on the safe side. Fingers Crossed!

Nevada

Well, I made it to sin city to visit with Ms S. The flight was horrible, I got sick as we were descending but they didn't have any airsickness bags so, well.... let's just say that it was an unpleasant flight. I felt like crap when I finally got off the plane but was soon cheered up by the sight of my dear friend heading towards me.

Long story short cuz it is time for me to go to bed, the last 24 hours have been filled with new friends - finally met Titan, good food, Mr S(for lack of a better name) is a fantastic cook and we hit a great Indian buffet for lunch, (and Sonic! it did not disappoint for a great drink damn it!). I also slept like a log last night, slept in this morning and took a long nap this afternoon. I think I am making up for entire past semester. I am also getting homework done, believe it or not. I am finally on page 20 of 24 for my second article. Also reading Nickle and Dimed since the author will be speaking on campus this coming semester.

Life is good. I am enjoying this trip and may even return feeling refreshed, a change from my usual out of town sojourns. Helps that I am not running between lectures like at conferences. Any who, will hopefully get some pictures to post, got to get to be so I can go out on the town manana.

Bon Noche!

WooHoo!

With 30+ days to my B-day, I got to pick out the below item. I had just put it on my Amazon wish list but on a Costco run, they had it for less. So on August 24, I get to open my very first food processor!



Counting down the days.

Soundtrack of my life

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool

1. Opening Credits: Rehab/ Amy Winehouse

2. Waking Up: mother Revolution/ Tori Amos

3.First Day At School: Then We Are Decided/ Jesus Chris Superstar Soundtrack

4.Falling In Love: Blue Skies/ BT feat. ori Amos

5.Fight Song: Bullets/ Creed

6.Breaking Up: Jarhead/ Immaculate Machine

7.Prom: Agent Orange/ Tori Amos

8.Life: Fotografia/ Juanes & Nelly Furtado

9.Mental breakdown: Both Hands/ Ani DiFranco

10.Driving: Let It Roll/ Train

11.Flashback: GirlTalk/ TLC

12.Getting back together: O Morro Nao Tem Vez/ Stan Getz

13.Wedding: Waiting for You/ Seal

14.Birth of Child: General Joy/ Tori Amos

15.Final Battle: Complication/ NIN

16.Death Scene: Scarlet’s Walk/ Tori Amos

17.Funeral Song: Break It Down Again/ Tears for Fears

18.End Credits: I Like Dirt/ Red Hot Chili Peppers

Mood buttons You Can’t Wear To Work: Part 5 (last Installment)

that's all the button fit to wear peeps. Write you in July.

Ahhh HA HA H AH AH HAHAH

I love my friends. Received in the mail from Tombstone.

Thanks Ms. B.

Craft Corner

Hey, sorry I have not been posting lately, very tired. As promised, here are the pictures from the graduation bears I made for my classmates. Before: After: (Lisa)
(Jeremy)
(Adam)
All

Will write more later. Ciao!

Swimming in Pesticides

"Swimming In The Canal"

"Tomato Pickers"

The children of the Pérez family and their pet chicken bathe daily in this irrigation canal next to where their father, Maxim, picks oranges. No signage is posted. When the parents were asked if they were concerned with the possibility of pesticides in the water, the children's mother, who works in a local packing plant, shrugged a simple, "No." Migrant workers have a 59 percent higher risk of contracting leukemia, and a 69 percent higher risk for stomach cancer than other Hispanics living in California - rates that have been directly attributed to their exposure to pesticides and other chemicals used in their work.

The photographs and text are by Rick Nahmias, from his book The Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farm Workers, published by the University of New Mexico Press. For a gallery of images and more information, see http://themigrantproject.com

This story was sent to me through one of the news groups that I subscribe to. It made me think back to when we were young and my brother, sister and I swam in the drainage ditch across from our house in Dinuba, a small farming community North of Bakersfield. It was only for three years but it makes me think. Something so small can make a difference in your life.

I Feel Good...

I feel really good. I took today and tomorrow off of work and it had been a great day so far. Let me back up.

Last week was finals week. I gave a final presentation in my Performance Studies Class on Tuesday night and took a two-hour essay exam on Thursday night, late (It was bad but it is done, so thats okay - I passed the class). On Wednesday I gave both of my finals to my classes and was able to grade the exams, finalize their semester grades and post them to the school website. I then make a copy of the posted grades, my grade book and the final exam and turned them in to both the department office and my advisor. By Friday, all I had to do was work at my other job and get really for graduation.

You see, a lot of the other TAs I teach with are graduating this year. In fact, there are only three of us returned to teach, the other 9 will be new to the program. So I went to a department graduation party on Friday night at Skinny’s in NoHo and a friend’s party on Saturday night. Monday I went back to work but only for three days. Tuesday night I spent making graduation gifts for some of my fellow students (I’ll post pictures a little later on). Wednesday was the actual graduation. After work, one the returning TAs, Nicole, picked me up from work and we went and had an early dinner. It was nice, we talked about school, both as professors and students – we have not had the chance to talk this year and it was nice to feel like we were creating a bond. Then we went to school and joined the other TA, Christa in the department library and put the finishing touches on our gifts, gift wrapped them and signed all the cards. We put the gifts in the TA office at each person’s desk and waited for them all to arrive and graduate.

There was a lot of picture taking, lots of visiting and they all loved their gifts. We walked with the graduates to the lawn where graduate was taking place, waited until they started heading towards the stage and then headed back to the department office to hang out until graduation was over and we could have fun. the three of us played around on the computers and talked until graduation was over and we all headed home since all the graduates were doing things with their families.

Today, I slept in and have been straightening up at home. It is so nice to do everything at my own pace, no rushing out the door for something or having to make sure that I left enough time for me to do my homework. I finally get to do all the things I have been wanting to do but haven’t had time for. You know, really exciting things like filing my receipts, reorganizing my sock drawer, ,my t-shirt drawer, my PJ drawer…you get the picture. I’ve also been slowly dusting my room and taking breaks whenever I want to, to read my new book.

Every semester, as I get near the end, I go on to Amazon.com and order myself a mindless novel as a reward for finishing the semester and so that I can read a new book that has nothing to do with school, I usually order 1 or 2 and make sure that they will arrive after I have finished my last assignment. This semester has been so rough that I ordered 4 books. 1 arrived Tuesday and the other 3 arrived yesterday. So I have already finished one of the short story collections and have worked my way though about half of the other one.

Ah, this is the life…I have thrown out clothes that are long past their prime, pulled stuff from my closet to donate because it is in really good shape but I’ve worn it once or never (a lot of stuff still has tags on it) and set aside a couple tops that I think a friend of mine will like. I had a good lunch that I had the time to prepare for myself and have been sure to drink enough liquids as well.

A good, good day. And I feel very good. This is the life…

Thursday

I have lost the will to live. I have a final at 8 and no desire to study for it. I have 5 questions to answer and am still on number 1. Kill me now.

Stuck

For claiming that I would be off the face of the earth for the month,I sure blogged a lot for the month of April. If I think back on it, I realize that I would post when I was taking a break from the ridiculous amount of work I had while at school.

Any who... Short post today. I published a line of a poem constructed from magnet poetry a while ago here. I have added some random lines since then but have been unable to complete the last line.

I don't claim to be a prolific poet like Christa, after all these are magnets that catch my fancy as I am staring at the metal filing cabinet that my desk faces at work. Here it is, leave your suggestions in the comment section to fill in the blank:

they wax and shine the red sky yet cannot take it with them,
raw power & beauty a thousand purple winters,
ask to use delicate fiddle behind the moment,
we think she could watch through diamond vision,
languid shadows scream of _________,

So just for fun....

Mood buttons You Can’t Wear To Work: Part 4

Mood buttons You Can’t Wear To Work: Part 3

I should be writing a paper but...



And yeah, I just returned to campus to finish writing the damn paper.

Ugh!

Isn't this semester over yet? Too much crap to do and not enough time. Especially when all I want to do is sleep.

Worked the late night program on Friday, spent Saturday making up for it. Fun times, drunk girl arrested, drunk guy got on the roof of a building and passed out..no kidding. Wonder if that will make the school newspaper....

Peace ya'll.

Stood Up

I am beginning to feel like the ugly prom date. In the last two days, I have been stood up four times by other people for set appointments. One person missed a business meeting with me, twice! The other two were both interviews I had arranged for my class project. I spoke to one of them and have still not heard from the other but am trying to reschedule all three.

So frustrating!

From Crib to Cubicle, A Familiar Voice -- Our Own -- Reassures

(This article was on the intranet at work and a co-worker pointed it out to me...one who sits shares a cubicle wall with me. I wonder why..)


When a voice rises from a nearby cubicle, a better question than "You talking to me?" may be "You talking to you?"

Susan Shapiro, a business-technology consultant, talks to herself constantly in what amounts to auditory to-do lists and step-by-step instructions. She calls herself an "idiot" at times, "brilliant" at others and occasionally says things out loud such as, "I can't believe I'm talking to myself out loud." She once discovered a colleague hovering behind her, waiting for her and her cubemate to finish their conversation. "We weren't talking to each other," she says. "We were each talking to ourselves."

Self-talking starts early, beginning as crib speech for the fun of it and becoming toddlers' repetition of rules they're learning to live by, researchers say. Late in life, you might say to yourself, "Why am I looking for my eyeglasses in the refrigerator?" only to discover -- holy cow! -- that's where you left them.

In between, in your cubicle-bound life, researchers say as many as 96% of people talk to themselves aloud, and deaf people have been observed signing to themselves while answering test questions. It's believed that people primarily blather to themselves when alone so as not to appear nuts. But those of us in the cube farm know better.


The irony is that self-chatter, like sharp objects, is both most suited and least suited to the workplace. "At work where we would most benefit from talking out loud is also the place we are least likely to do so for social reasons," says Alain Morin, a professor of psychology at the Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta.

Among the things it's useful for is what's called self-regulation: goal-setting, problem-solving, decision-making and planning ("When she says, 'You already got a raise,' I'll say, 'Which didn't keep pace with inflation' "). These conversations with one's self tend to increase, research shows, with the complexity of tasks and when someone's having a bad day.

"There's not a lot you can say when things are going really well: 'I want to keep things as they are,' " notes Tom Brinthaupt, professor of psychology at Middle Tennessee State University. Self-talk is "not that different from a thermostat. It's one of the ways we monitor ourselves, control impulses and guide actions."

The downside: "It can very much be disruptive."

Self-talk, unscientifically, also seems to be the stuff in the noisy maelstrom of the mind that slips out. It's also ensures that at least one person is listening to you.

When the pressure's on before, say, a big presentation, there's a lot of anticipatory conversation -- a stress rehearsal. Evan Steingart, former head of sales at a consumer-products company, worked with a salesman who rehearsed his entire pitch the day before he met with clients, including their objections in a different voice.

"It was an extreme distraction to the rest of the group," says Mr. Steingart. "People were so mesmerized by it."

They couldn't stop themselves from secretly dialing into the conference-room phone and listening in whenever he went there to practice. "Fortunately, he would always make the sale, and he never got into an argument with himself," adds Mr. Steingart.

For some, talking to oneself is a way to reach group consensus, sans group. Chris Weyers, who works for a financial-services company, talks himself up all day, he says, "as if someone is helping you get the day organized, urging you on to get things done faster, telling you not to check email when you hear the ping."

He's more efficient, he adds, because "two heads are better than one." The problem is his assistant, whose hearing isn't what it once was, rushes in throughout the day, asking, "Are you talking to me?"

Many of us are as used to someone's self-chatter as we are to people with invisible cellphone headsets seemingly blathering on to themselves. J.P. Tristani, a former commercial-airline pilot, flew with a DC-8 captain who, whenever faced with bad weather on radar, would "consult" aloud with an Indian chief he pretended sat in the jump seat behind him.

"I didn't care who he was talking to back there," he says, "as long as I didn't hear a voice coming out of that black void."

Self-talk can be both a cause of distraction in the office and its cure. After a while, you listen to yourself think aloud so you don't have to listen to the soliloquy next to you.

"Talking to yourself eliminates some other distractions," says J.J. Stives, who sat next to an incessant self-talker. His partner, Christine Ascherman, a commercial photographer, talks to herself about exposure and aperture before and during her shoots. "It wards off conversation," she says.

Carli Entin, an associate magazine editor, loves talking to herself whether it's "appearing" as a panelist on "Meet the Press," narrating her imaginary cooking show ("replace some of the water with coffee for a tastier cupcake"), or blogging.

At work, even when a colleague told her she stopped listening, that didn't stop Ms. Entin's side of the conversation or the fun she had engaging in it. Besides, her self-chatter can be efficient. "By acting out the conversation," she says, "I no longer need to have it."

• By JARED SANDBERG.

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120640272238360897.html

Fantastic!

I highly recommend renting this movie.

Mood buttons You Can’t Wear To Work: Part 2

Mood buttons You Can’t Wear To Work: Part 1

Umm...

Went to bed at 11:00, got up at 2:00 to work on a position paper due at 7 p.m. tonight. Taking a break right now. I have a long way to go, including finishing my research on the topic. Was very depressed at 10:30 when I realized that I left the textbook that is the basic text I was going to use for this paper at school tonight. While my brother generously offered to drive me to school since I was so tired (Really, Zipper, I can't thank you enough), I declined and went to take a nap stating that I would figure something out.

Thank goodness it is a well known text and a simple google search brought up a teaching outline of the chapter I needed from the publisher. Really a shorthand but when you have a lot to write, hey - you take what you can get. I found a couple other articles I can pull from although I have a bunch I can add to the essay once I get it completed. Three sources is a little light for a graduate paper but I have to get the dang thing written first. I have written the introduction, the conclusion and the transition paragraph between the second and third main point to the paper (boy, teaching outlining has really helped my scholarship...). Now I just have to read and write the body of the essay! The syllabus gives us a length of 4-5 pages, I am about 2 in already. My goal is to have a complete draft done by the time I have to get ready for work so that in my break from 12-2 today, I can proofread a final draft. That is my goal, fingers crossed.

During my study break, besides taking a moment to vent in this space, I also emptied and refilled the ice cub trays in the (brand new) freezer while getting myself a glass of water, repacked my backpack for tomorrow so I am not carrying a million things I don't need to, wrote a speaking outline for my 3:30 presentation in my last request for funding for my service assignment (Not to brag but I have managed to secure $3,200 of the $4,900 needed - in contrast to the $1,000 that the faculty advisor brought in). The request is for $1,000 although at this point, all we really need to fully fund the event without department funds is $700. So even if they only give us $100, I pulled it off. All I have to do is generate some publicity in the next three weeks (event is April 22), write up event reports for the sponsors and this monkey is off my back. Believe me, I am counting the days....

Everything is actually going well for me, with the exception of being a student. I am really struggling with that part of my life. And on that note, my break is over.

Ciao!

Off the Face of the

So April is going to be very busy for me. I managed to post at least three times in March but I will probably be silent all this coming month.

Countdown

Spring Break is almost here. I get off work around 5 p.m. today and am counting down the minutes. 7 hrs, 25 min and too many seconds between me and time off.

There is a bottle of vodka calling my name...

Soundtrack of my life

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool



1. Opening Credits: Makes No Sense at All/ Andre 3000

2. Waking Up: Apparently Nothin’/Young Disciplines

3.First Day At School: Espacio Sideral/Jesse & Joy

4.Falling In Love: Sexx Laws/Beck

5.Fight Song: Where’s the Love/Hanson

6.Breaking Up: Don’t Make Me Come to Vegas/Tori Amos

7.Prom: World Go ‘Round/No Doubt

8.Life: Love is Stronger Than Justice/Sting

9.Mental breakdown: La Unica/Juanes

10.Driving: Hey Jupiter/Tori Amos

11.Flashback: You Had Me, You Lost Me/Eve

12.Getting back together: Altisimo/Hector Buitrago

13.Wedding: Let Love Rule/Lenny Kravitz

14.Birth of Child: No, You Don’t/NIN

15.Final Battle: I Begin to Wonder/Danni Minogue

16.Death Scene: Glitz Rock/Felix da Housecat

17.Funeral Song: I’m Not In Love/Tori Amos

18.End Credits: Your Joy/Chrisette Michele

Ready to come home

I should probably use this time to tell you about my adventures in CO but I'm tired of sitting in the lobby of the hotel by myself to use the free wifi. Which I didn't learn about until today, the day before I leave for home. Some random thoughts regarding this trip:

Traveling alone sucks. JW got sick and stayed in LA at the last minute.

The Omni Interlocken hotel either must be the best job in the world in CO or else they drug all the employees with Prozac daily. They are way too happy. And I mean Waaaaay too happy. All the time.

I am not a fan of housekeeping trying to open my door before 8:30 on a Monday morning,

New American Cuisine is not as scary as it may sound. It's actually quite tasty.

When flying, be sure to stock up on cold meds. Especially if your hotel is in the middle of BFE.

Read the entertainment and info guide they send out before going somewhere. That way you won't pay $87 for a taxi ride instead of $22 for the super shuttle.

Going to a conference by yourself sucks.

I love my discipline. Where else can someone talk about Spiderman and 9/11 and Jem and the Holograms all in the same day. And be taken seriously. (Meesh, i wish you were here). There was also a paper titled, "What would Jesus Smoke?" about freedom of speech. And that one comes out of my department too.

Alright, thats enough for now. I am counting down the minutes until I can come home safe and sound. Fingers crossed, no delays and I land in LAX at 4:00 p.m.

Ciao bella.

Goin' to CO

Yup, that's right. My flight leaves at 4:35 for Denver, Colorado. Gonna participate in the Western State Communication Association conference. Gonna be on a panel about teachin'. Cuz its all about the teachin'.

I had a funny blog planned about my recent (and first) bout with the flu but I don't have the energy. I am hoping that my decision to go on this trip does not turn out to be a bad one.

Oh, and I got my first semester teaching evals back. One of my classes thought I was a good teacher, the other class though my lectures came across as condescending. I haven't finished reading that class' eval yet, I have to teach at 12 and I can't let it mess with my head. Ah well, win some, lose some.

Signing off, Marz.

Oh....

My stomach is making noises like


No Bueno...

Sometimes...

something just jumps out at you when it is least expected.

"What we experience is most often whatever needed to be expressed, whether through story, gossip, or humor on the one end, or poetry, novels, or films on the other"
- D. Soyini Madison, Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance

This is the book I am reading for my Performance Studies class. I really like the readings for this class, even as I am concerned about keeping up with the assignments.

Better go, more writing and grading to do. Happy Sunday night!

A House Divided

After Super Tuesday, our Democratic household is split down the middle. I'll let you guess which generation voted for which candidate.

Oh...

I'm still at school. For that damn class I assist with as my service assignment to my department. The above picture is how I feel about it all.

Either shoot me or let me gouge my eyes out. *sigh*

Sigh...

So, I guess posting once a month is the best we can hope for. Some things that have happened in the last few weeks:

*Had my first assignment for my Performance Studies Class - go to a bar and perform a ethnographic study. Gotta love graduate school.

*Got some great news, a paper I submitted for my conference in March was accepted! Yay! Another thing to my CV. Also, I think I forgot to mention that I am attending a conference in a couple weeks in which I will be on a roundtable discussion about teaching. Slowly but surely, I move towards the future.

*My new boss still rocks. We had a organizing/calendering 'party' on Friday. She loves office supplies as much as I do. I get to order more office supplies in fact. He he he. The GAs are still trying to schedule a coffee hour. We are aiming for Thursdays but we are all still creating our schedules for this semester. We moved our team meeting so things are still in flux.

*As for the student leaders I work with, the candidate we had couldn't accept the position after all and the other two stepped down before the retreat so we now have 4 open spots to fill. But everyone has been pitching in and we have some candidates to consider. The interview committee has been created (yes, I am on it) and I will be calling to set up appointments this week. We are on a roll.

*The retreat went well. A couple of rough spots and we forgot a couple things but we were able to take care of it at the last moment. Some of the young men make my blood pressure rise, part of the job.

*Things are not looking great for my girl Hillary. Super Tuesdays is this week, my fingers are crossed for her.

I have to go to bed but I will post again soon.

Oh - and if I do say so myself, I made a kick ass flier for the Barbie Chronicles. Getting it printed was another story but it looks awesome. One down, 5 flier to go.