| B-Day Minus One |
[Jan. 17th, 2006|09:24 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cautiously optimistic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Closer | ] |
I say this quietly, so as not to rouse the forces of the universe: I had kind of a good day today.
- The dreaded Probationary Year 1 Retention Portfolio is done and submitted. Woo hoo!
- I wrote lectures for the first two weeks of my Britain class (how I love the Anglo-Saxons!). I can't ever hear that Ethelred/baptismal font story too many times.
- I worked out the "early modern" debacle with relatively little paperwork and/or bloodshed *and* I'm getting my way. Gotta be honest -- I love when that happens.
- "Something Borrowed" has been nominated for Best Fluffy/Comedy, Best Short, and Best Plot (! Me, a plotter?! I'm blushing, already) at the VK Awards.
Here's hoping my luck holds through tomorrow's first day of classes. :)
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| Burn the witch! |
[Dec. 5th, 2005|07:45 am] |
| [ | music |
| | IWYB Big Red's Remix - it makes me happy | ] |
Teacher squee: In Friday's Ren/Ref, we created an early modern village in our classroom, assigned people various character roles (a farmer's family who believes they've lost a cow due to malefic witchcraft, the old widow they accuse, even the dearly departed cow, who repeatedly mooed in a ghostly fashion), and carried out witchcraft trials. It was quite thrilling to see how many people really got into it and to watch the accusations fly. Even more amusing was the unexpected adoption of an Appalachian accent for the villagers -- I'm not exactly sure when we crossed over from England, the supposed site of our village! LOL This witchcraft experiment followed closely on the heels of a Reformation debate featuring my students as the sixteenth-century heads of Europe in which our pope character spontaneously began handing out indulgences to his favored Catholics and papal bulls of excommunication to the Protestants. My class is just...neat.
It is frightening to me how computer unsavy I am. I spent a big chunk of time yesterday afternoon updating my site, discovering that my learning curve on FrontPage is pretty much nonexistent. It's only been a couple of weeks since ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kellicb showed me how to do updates, and yet I just had *nothing* yesterday. With a whole lot of patience and wizardry, K managed to walk me through, but geez, do I feel stupid! And while I'm talking about the site: 8 Little Words is nominated for a Readers' Choice Award at the Bedtime Stories Awards. ... Well, crap--I've been sitting here for three minutes trying to figure out a clever/witty/stealthy way to ask for votes, and I just can't do it. LOL I'll just resort to the honest approach: If you read the story and enjoyed, I'd love your vote. /embarrassing begging for votes
Making with the pimpage: Back at the end of September, I shamelessly bullied poor amybnnyc into signing up for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) seasonal_spuffy, and since then, we have been plugging away on our submissions. From brainstorming to betaing, we've been cackling over each other's funny lines and oohing and ahhing over the profound ones (well, okay, my piece didn't actually have any profound lines, so I guess that was just me doing the oohing and ahhing. LOL). I've been watching her piece grow with an increasing sense of excitement, because it is seriously good. Seriously. There are lines that leave me breathless, and her post-Dead Things installment is one of my favorite fanfic pieces ever. The 8-part set, chronicling Spuffy conversations at various points in canon, is now complete, and if you haven't had a chance to check it out, give yourself a treat by doing so: Whispers in a Dead Man's Ear Happy reading! And congratulations for a great submission, sweetie!
The apartment update: Yeah, the water situation's a mess. I have no water in the upstairs bathroom, the downstairs bathroom walls have been stripped down to the insulation, the soddin' carpet's sodden, and hanging out too much in the living room makes me dizzy. Apparently, the source of the leak has been now been discovered: the water is coming from the apartment next door. Grrr. I already loathe this neighbor for her propensity to stomp around like an elephant at all hours of the day and night -- just another reason to glare balefully in her direction, I guess. Her apt. is totally dry, and mine is molding. Where's the justice in that?!
FFL was on F/X this morning. I only half-watched it since I was getting ready (and discovering that my favorite black shirt is missing a button. Grrr), but tears actually sprang to my eyes when Spike patted Buffy on the back. OMG, what a moment that is. *sigh* |
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| Well, I feel sheepish... |
[Dec. 1st, 2005|02:04 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Bing sings Christmas classics for you | ] |
So, you can edit your LJ info to receive an email notice each time someone responds to a post?
Huh. Rather nifty, that.
*is dumbass*
ETA: This explains why I failed to write back when you responded to a post of mine. It was not a snub; it was ignorance. ;)
The daily plumbing update: The wet spot on my living room carpet is about 4 feet across now, and I have six large holes (covered in a rather amateur fashion by attractive plywood squares. Shut up - you know you're jealous. Walls tattooed with nappy plywood is the latest decorating trend. It's hot! *snort*) punched in the wall of the offending bathroom, site of the broken pipe. Apparently work is on-going (I certainly hope!), but at least the bathroom floor is now dry. The carpet is getting a bit stale-smelling *BUT* nothing was lost or ruined by the damp (even the fic dried out and is just a little curlier for the sogginess), so I'm considering myself one lucky chickie. Whew!
I woke to the sound of snow plows scraping my apartment driveway clean. We are now the proud recipients of about 4 inches of snow, the first of the season here (although I saw plenty of the white stuff at home in MI over break). Winter has finally arrived, je pense.
You know what I'm craving right now? A glass of nog. Mmmm, NOG. With a little cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on top? Damn good stuff.
I just read that Bing Crosby is TCM's December Star of the Month. Yay! Although what's up with the lack of "Holiday Inn" or "White Christmas"??? *is perplexed*
I'm strangely uneasy today. I worked like a demon to get my end of the semester paperwork finished in preparation of the paper onslaught, but that doesn't begin until Monday, so I feel like I'm waiting on pins and needles for a bomb to drop. The good news is that I did get caught up on a bit of fic reading, but geez, I'm still trying to read the stuff from summer_of_spike that I missed while completing the cross-country move. LOL I guess I've got a ways to go. ;)
Good health to all the migraine sufferers all on my list. Feel better soonest. |
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| Eep! |
[Nov. 29th, 2005|09:56 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  freaked out | ] |
Well, I've got myself a brand new water heater...as well as a re-forming puddle on the bathroom floor and a rapidly expanding patch of damp carpet already about two feet across in the living room. To go along with said dampness, I also have a ruined folder of my all-time fanfic favorite print-outs (*sob*) which had been leaning against the wall adjacent to the bathroom, and six damp Liz & Lucky tapes stored on the floor level of a shelf of videos (OMG. I am attempting to take deep breaths and stay calm here. I think the tapes were rescued in time and are really okay, but I'm still freaked out as that stuff is pretty much irreplacable). And? The dampness is advancing in the direction of my Christmas tree. :(
Guess they didn't fix the source of the trouble.
Argh. I hate household problems. I feel so powerless. |
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| Fic: Something Borrowed |
[Nov. 27th, 2005|10:00 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | anxious | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Shore | ] |
It's finally my day at seasonal_spuffy, so it's "Something Borrowed" time at last. Of course, I get the day at the end of a long holiday weekend, when people will be running around trying to get ready to resume the daily grind tomorrow, so I'm selfishly hoping it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Read it, will ya? Please? I worked all hard and stuff, and it's actually finished. ;)
Something Borrowed
I've got a million class-related things to take care of this morning, but I'll try to check in later. Hope everyone had a good weekend!
And how did I forget today is deborahw37's birthday? Hope you have a wonderful day, sweetie! Can we consider this fic a present? ;) |
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| When You Wish, 13 |
[Nov. 14th, 2005|02:16 pm] |
This little bit probably should have been stuck on the end of that last update, but I wanted an extra read-through. Here's a gratuitous Spike and Giles scenelet that completes the third big chunk of the story. :) And aside from a few make-up assignments to read over the course of the next couple of days, my pre-Thanksgiving grading is done, so I'm hoping *gasp* to finish WYW up before the December finals onslaught. *crosses fingers* Wouldn't that just be thrilling?
( When You Wish, 13 ) |
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| When You Wish, 12 |
[Nov. 11th, 2005|07:28 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | anxious | ] |
| [ | music |
| | the Spike playlist | ] |
By popular demand, I bring you the next installment. S6 Spike plus S3 Wishverse Buffy equals what, exactly? Hmmm...
( When You Wish, 12 )
Well? Let me know what you think! :D
P.S. I have the first of about four supervisory visits to my classes by the departmental personnel committee this morning. Eep. At least it's Luther day -- I'll still be in fine form for the Luther lecture, like, 5 years after I'm dead. ;) But, still, keep a good thought, will you? I'm mildly freaked... |
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| When You Wish, 11 |
[Nov. 10th, 2005|02:15 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Sway - The Perishers | ] |
As a thanks for all of the lovely responses letting me know that you're still interested, I present another update. :) A prisoner is set free, and the final piece is stuck in the Judge jigsaw. C'mon, you know you wanna check it out!
( When You Wish, 11 )
I'll hold the next part (which is *really* interesting!) hostage until you say you like this part. Just kidding! But tell me if you like it, eh? [/plaintive grab for feedback.] ;) |
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| When You Wish, 10 |
[Nov. 9th, 2005|03:20 pm] |
Let's recap: Spike + Anya + booze = bad wish-making and serious ramifications, throwing S6 Spike into the S3 Wishverse. Buffy had never showed up in Sunnydale so the Master rose, joined by Darla, Vamp!Willow, Vamp!Xander, et al., who are all planning to bring the Judge back to his state of Big Blueness. Spike finds some sympathetic allies, although attempts to reach Anya conjure up only Halfrek, and an unexpected visitor from Cleveland makes her long-awaited appearance in town. Previous parts are in Memories here on my LJ; the edited versions are at my site, to which a link was provided in the previous post. *whew*
On with the show!
( When You Wish, 10 )
Signs that anyone is even remotely interested in reading this story would be appreciated. ;) |
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| And the week just slides away from me... |
[Nov. 9th, 2005|10:53 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | calm | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Byrd | ] |
I suddenly look up to find it Wednesday. How the heck did that happen?! Saturday's RotS party was a big success, although I've realized that my apartment does have some serious deficiencies for big group entertaining: people were on the floor, in folding chairs, in laps! LOL We were rather irreverent with the movies (as one should be!), so a good time way had by all...although, geez, you make one little comment about finding Anakin's mechanical hand, especially the whirring, a bit sexy, and you're branded for life! That comment quickly mutated into "Jen wants a vibrating mechanical hand!" Huh? Sorry, folks, that's a mistranslation. What you should have gotten out of it was, "Mmm, shirtless Hayden pretty, hand shiny." ;)
I'm all a-flutter with boy-love at the news that nsync_10 met its goal of raising nearly $10,000 to post an ad in Billboard celebrating the boys' 10-year anniversary. Damn, that is so cool! I can't wait to see it and think I had a little part in making it happen. :) I'm also really excited for this weekend's scheduled boy-gasm with kellicb and babygotbass. "We Are 'NSync" is on the agenda, for cryin' out loud! I find myself delirious with joy at the prospect of seeing Baby!J grinning into the camera as he utters those immortal words, "It's like buttah, baby!" *squee!*
In news of my other favorite squee-worthy kind, I just scored a ton of noms at the Lost in Spike Awards for "Into the Light," "After After Life," and "The Best Thing Ever." I didn't even realize the latter was something of mine when I looked at the list of nominees. LOL I saw that title and the author Jen at the top of the list and actually thought, "Huh, that's gonna be confusing -- there are two Jens nominated." It wasn't until I rolled the cursor over the title that I saw my site identified and said, "Oh, zeus, that's me!" *snort*
And a special shout-out to rustybitch who continues to blow me away with her enthusiasm for my fic. I was remarkably flattered by the "Random Author Appreciation" post and touched by her admission that she puts on make-up so she can feel pretty when she reads "Rewards." That has to be one of the sweetest compliments evah!
And hold your breath - I wrote some stuff. I'm pushing forward on When You Wish and will have some chunks posted after my noon class. Woo hoo! It's been months, so note how I have helpfully provided you a link to refresh your memory. ;)
So the lunch date last week has now requested another rendezvous. *wail* I tried to be phenomenally self-involved and talk incessantly about my teaching, and still he's desperate enough to want another lunch?! I think I'll go with the stall approach until I figure out how to express my lack of interest...
The Erasmus papers did get finished, by the way; a stack of papers on the Crusades awaits. Stop the madness...of my own making! :P |
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| Oh, Sith! |
[Nov. 4th, 2005|11:09 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | panicky | ] |
I sent out an email to several people early in the week about having a Star Wars gathering on Saturday to celebrate the RotS release, immediately heard from many of them that they'd be out of town and got all set to host a very select gathering. This morning the size of said gathering has more than doubled, now throwing my menu and seating situation into utter chaos! *Of course, I'm also secretly feeling very popular in manner of famous socialite hostess. I am a Leo, after all. :)* Looks like I've got some serious party planning and cooking to do... Any suggestions for quick and easy movie party-type food? I find myself $800 richer thanks to the reimbursement for my conference trip to ATL, so money is no object! Okay, just kidding -- that money is earmarked for the regalia! LOL Cheap, fast, and easy is what I'm looking for! |
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| Hallomeme |
[Oct. 30th, 2005|01:22 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | air conditioning blowing cool air -- now that it's freezing! | ] |
Snagged from fuskeez because hers amused me so:
jen_nsync_landl's Halloween party:
adriana_is dressed as a senior button pusher.
alwaysjbj dressed as a VEY Products employee.
amybnnyc dressed as a moist traffic.
babygotbass dressed as a zombie.
ca_michelle dressed as the King of Colombia.
cornerofmadness dressed as Lindsay Lohan.
dawnie1970 dressed as a fusion.
deborahmm dressed as a 1990's grunge child.
deborahw37 dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Greasy Tofujuice".
enigmaticblues dressed as a zombie.
fadagaski dressed as Jeri Ryan.
fangfaceandrea dressed as the Governor of Pennsylvania.
fenchurche didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
fishsanwitt dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Katie.
fuskeez dressed as a bottle of Optigran.
herself_nyc dressed as someone called "Orlando Foutain", but you've never heard of them before.
iharthdarth dressed as a third baseman for the Mets.
jleddie dressed as a new superhero: White Glider.
kellicb dressed as something hungry, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
ladycat713 dressed as a Level 12 ranger.
limerickgirl dressed as a model witch.
marsterslady dressed as Daria.
megancrane dressed as Shaquille O'Neal riding a raccoon.
misslenny13 dressed as Ashley Judd's cousin.
quinara dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Mage of Will.
rustybitch dressed as a fraction.
sandy_s dressed as a fullback for the Vikings.
txgirlinia dressed as Hurricane Rolando.
Throw your own party at the Hallomeme!
Created with phpNonsense
In other news, my Friday night dinner was fab -- most I've ever spent on myself for a single meal but well worth it. I felt like such a grown up. ;) |
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| Huh. |
[Oct. 28th, 2005|04:39 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | Friday! | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Byrd | ] |
I, too, will contribute to the day o' quiz result posting (this one is snagged from dawnie1970):
Damn, that's stark, eh? I seem to have a hole there... And I vigorously protest that mediocre mind score, by the way. LOL
In other news, I think I pulled something in my shoulder during yesterday's workout -- I cannot turn my head without a seriously nasty twinge. I looked like Ms. Roboto in class, having to turn my body to look anywhere. It was dorky, I felt silly, my students were amused. ;) Now it's time for the Ben-Gay and/or heating pad (just not at the same time, right, kellicb? LOL). But first, I'm off to this town's finest dining experience (or so I'm told!) for dinner and drinks with the girls. Yay. |
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| Yes, I am still alive... |
[Oct. 26th, 2005|08:36 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  groggy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | *NSYNC - Greatest Hits | ] |
I actually got back from Atlanta on Sunday, and this is literally the first opportunity I've had to sit and write out some thoughts. To say it's been a hectic week would be an understatement. The conference was good. Draining, but good. I packed in as many sessions as I could, and actually had an audience for my talk (despite the the crappy, late-Saturday-afternoon time slot), so that was pretty gratifying. I felt guilty, as my paper got all of the audience questions during the Q&A session, but as I spent years with no one saying anything about my presentations, I figure maybe I'm just due. It's times like that I remember how much I adore my research. All the big names in the field were there -- I felt like an academic-celebrity stalker. I sat next to the greatest living Calvin scholar in one session (and managed to fight the urge to touch him to see if some of the brilliance would wear off). I freaking had dinner with Helen Nader, something that just *utterly* blows my mind. Sorry, I know -- I am *such* a geek! LOL
After the paper, my panel group went to the Shakespeare Tavern for dinner and a show. If you're in ATL, this is *so* worth doing. The street front is pretty unimpressive (how's this for brilliant? It's next to a sex club named--wait for it--INSERECTION. LOL Just a bit of Old World charm there, the 21st-century version of the stews of Elizabethan London, I guess), but it opens into a Blackfriars-esque space. I had a big plate o' Shepherd's Pie--v. tasty! The performance was of "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," which was rollicking fun.
I got no work done at all (the senior mid-terms still hanging over my head at that point) and was so exhausted when I got home, I thought I'd just blow off Sunday catching up on the lost weekend. Yeah, not so much. I came home to a dead phone, prompting a moment of genuine panic as I tried to remember if I'd paid my last bill (I had -- it was a repair problem). And thus, my one sloth window was snatched cruelly away from me! The week has been a whirlwind ever since. The phone line is working properly, at least, though no real thanks to Verizon's "helpful" service line. I give you the following exchange between me and the automated voice:
AV: Does your phone have a dial tone?
ME: No.
AV: Are you currently calling from that phone?
ME: WTF?
Now, granted, I did get my request processed, but it could have been accomplished in 1/3 the time if I'd just been able to talk to a live human being! The point, here, I guess, is that my time is of no value whatsoever. *snark*
I did finish my grading, after a marathon session yesterday (from about 8:00 am to about 9:30 pm, with an hour-long "General Hospital" break). My reward for the end of the week? Reading The Praise of Folly by Erasmus for a Friday Ren/Ref discussion. My God, I'd forgotten how tough that text is -- my students' brains have just got to be melting. Ought to make for some high quality essays next week. ;)
Today was another marathon day: on campus from 7:00 am to about 6:30 tonight, after which I ran errands (and was so stoned with hunger and fatigue that I was a danger to both myself and others! How about this? I went to get gas, went in to pay, and had never bothered to take the nozzle out of the freaking tank to end the fill up. D'oh! I didn't drive away with it or blow up the gas station, but still!); one errand involved a trip to pick up the boys Greatest Hits CD. *sigh* I'm all nostalgic and emotional about it. I ended up at KMART to grab it (hello, $9.99! Woo hoo! *youknowyouwantit*), realizing in line that it was at another KMART that I bought the boys' debut back in the day = the symmetry here pleases me (it doesn't take much! LOL). Cute purchase story: I took it up to the counter, and the girl was just finishing with another customer who apparently bought tunes as well, as she said, "Enjoy your music!" She then looks at my cd and says, "Speaking of music!" I smiled noncommittally, unsure whether this was about to be a boy diatribe and I'll be forced to break open the bottle of beat-down, and she continues, "That guy just bought the same cd." This amuses me, as this was *not* a young guy. She says, "I didn't even know this was out. I'm gonna have to pick this up tomorrow." I had a heart-swelling-with-boy-love-and-community moment. :) I got home and didn't open it right away but just kept staring at the track listing on the back -- it all just feels so *finished* to see all the songs laid out in this 'best of' format, like, oh, here's the boys' body of work, done. But then I opened the case up, slid out the book and opened straight to a picture of a grinning Justin, and I stupidly just beamed back at him. Maybe this is the key to fighting off possible resurgent depression -- re-plaster my apartment with smiling Justins so that I'm forced to go about grinning back at him all day! LOL I skimmed the booklet blurb (what's with saying that NSA came out in April 2000? 3.21.00 -- kind of a memorable date, eh?) and examined the pics a bit more closely. That JC/Justin-action pic, where they cut off the two of them from the TIPY single cover, is just so 'shippy a picture it's ridiculous! Joshtin love! JuC love! Whatever we call it! So freaking cute. And holy wow, that IWYB to "Pop" transition here is way mind-blowing. Yes, my mind is blown. Huh.
Wait, I have to ask: is anyone else watching "I Love the 80s: 3D"? I'm absolutely hysterical over the damn thing. I mean, what is this, the third monster 80s retrospective VH-1 has done? And still I'm laughing my ass off. The Dr. Ruth bit was insane! Hal Sparks with the spanking? High quality entertainment, folks. It's true -- I *do* love the 80s! I had to turn it off for fear I'd just sit here all night in a stupor and consume hours and hours of 80s-bashing/-love. Those damn things are so freaking addictive.
And with that, in the words of you-know-who, I'm checkin' out, I'm signing off. But before I do, nominations news: some mad nominator (hmmm, who could it be?) nominated "After After Life" and "Just Another Day" at the Bedtime Story Awards. Yay.
Glad to be back in touch! Talk to you soon. |
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| Ummm, help?! |
[Oct. 19th, 2005|04:48 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | working | ] |
| [ | music |
| | M*A*S*H | ] |
I've got a bit of an infestation problem in my apartment. Now, as infestations go, a room full of ladybugs is probably one of your less annoying problems, but still, I want them gone! Here's the sitch: I'm not opening the window in the room (in fact I haven't had it open in weeks), but the curtain is full of the bugs. We're talking 30-35 at the last count. Where in the heck can they be coming from?! I do have an air conditioning unit in the room -- that doesn't seem to be the source, though, as they aren't teeming around the unit itself. Any tips or ideas for getting rid of these things? Should I just inform apartment maintenance and expect them to deal with it?
I'm leaving tomorrow for my conference in Atlanta. Here's hoping I manage to find the Quad Cities Airport, as I've never been there before. I'm looking forward to the conference, but I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off to try to get ready to go. In "accomplishment" news, I did finish the undergrad papers (yay!), but they were atrocious. Plus, I doled out 8 big goose eggs to students who never bothered to write a paper. *scratches head* How do they expect to recover from a 0 on 15% of their semester grade?
Apparently I'm going to have to stay for December graduation, which means getting hold of academic regalia again, this time on my own dime. It costs $50 for every rental, and I figure I'll be in this business for a while (crosses fingers!), so I made some inquiries about purchasing regalia straight out. Are you sitting down? Robes start at $350, hoods start at over $100, and the mortar board is at least $60. Can I just let out a hearty "OH, MY GOD!!!"? Does that sound insane to anyone but me? I'll probably get it, especially since my parents said they'd kick in as my Christmas gift, but I'm utterly gobsmacked. What a racket!
I finished the seasonal_spuffy piece and am now trying to fight off my usual post-writing "does this suck" phase. It topped out at 27 pages, and in my good moments, I'm pleased with it. Now I just have to wait five weeks until my posting date! LOL In the meantime, it's back to "When You Wish." Yay!
This just in re: M*A*S*H (in other words, an observation that took, what, 25 years to come to?): I do not like B.J., especially in his post-mustache phase. All that whining over Peg and Erin. Seriously, Beege, shut up! LOL I'm *so* a Trapper gal. The show just wasn't the same without him.
Forgot to say that I got some nom notification this weekend: "8 Little Words" has been nominated as Best Fluff, Best Episode Re-write, and Best Ficlet at the _fool_for_love_ awards. Yay! kellicb, I'll get you code info when I get back from the trip -- I know you can't wait! LOL |
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| Monday, Monday |
[Oct. 17th, 2005|12:21 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | working | ] |
| [ | music |
| | If You Want It -- Soul For Real | ] |
That "busy" in the mood is actually wishful thinking -- I *should* be busy (a mountain of tests and papers awaits!), but I've been running around getting things in order in preparation for the conference trip to Atlanta at the end of the week. I'm feeling slightly frazzled about the trip, but the dominos seem to be falling in the right order this far. I made spectacular progress in Western Civ this morning, and I had Luther-tastic Ren/Ref as well. I was worried about my speed through both of those classes this week, but so far, so good. *crosses fingers*
I should have done a bunch of grading this weekend, but instead, I slept in, shopped, went to a Saturday evening shindig (at which I may have grazed to the tune of 5 pounds of weight gain!), and had to recover from my Sunday morning choir solo. LOL We sang "Hail Holy Queen" (the 'Sister Act' arrangement) this week for women's worship Sunday, and the piece was super complicated...so much so that no one seemed to be able to remember to come in at the D.S. al coda, leaving me to lead the whole choir in myself! It seems like we were short a couple of interns this week, and I had the feeling that things were going to be funky in pre-church rehearsal, but geez! I'm *not* a soloist -- I'm a freaking female tenor, for cryin' out loud ['contralto' is the proper term for my range, but dude, what you need to know is that I sing looooooow and pride myself in my singing of harmony. LOL]. Anyway, I did sing by myself until everyone else joined me, but everything went okay after that. ;) Oh, wait, I also spent part of my Friday evening downloading boy music into my computer. I had the albums on here and a couple of the singles, but I decided it was time to introduce the laptop to the full compendium of boy goodness. I listened to stuff I hadn't listened to in years...with a dopey grin on my face and occasionally laughing my ass off. What is with that jazz funk organ remix of 'I Want You Back'?! BWAH-HA-HA!
The other thing I did this weekend was hurtle along in my seasonal_spuffy fic progress. It's sitting at a cool 25 pages at present and coming down the homestretch. I've very excited to share it, as I've cracked myself up over it (and amybnnyc *swears* it's funny!). I don't post until the end of November, but I'll be glad to have it taken care of in advance.
We are having our 18th Indian summer revival here in IL. :P It was 85 on Friday and is supposed to top 80 today. Wha-huh? To beat the heat on Friday, I had a very long, very enjoyable lunch with the women of my department in a great little sandwich shop here in town. I hadn't been before, but I'll definitely be going back. I found out that one of my colleagues is a 'General Hospital' devotee (yay!), and I 'fessed up about the boy love. They think I'm insane, but that's okay, as I *am* a little insane. ;) [And since I'm talking about the boys, here's a big birthday shout-out to Chris!] Oh, wait, and while I'm on the insane theme: apparently, at a study group for my Ren/Ref exam on Friday, the students were talking about how refreshing it was to be taking a class from someone who's insane. I *guess* that's supposed to be some kind of a compliment? And I found out from the same mole that my students think I'm under 30. Cha-ching! I'm remarkably well-preserved. ;)
I also wanted to report that I signed up for Yahoo! Messenger last week, something I haven't had in about six years. If you're on and want to talk, I'd love to hear from you!
That's about all that's going on in Mudville, save the fact that I broke a nail today. Grrrr. They were all gloriously long and hard as a rock. I'm hoping this break will not result in a systematic bust up, as is usually the case...
ETA: I missed Beta Appreciation day over the weekend. *Big* thanks for those who have dealt with my haphazard ficcing over the last 3+ years (including fishsanwitt and ca_michelle). Much love to the latest resident of Jen's House of Fic Horror, amybnnyc. I've had several betas over the years, and I've really valued what they had to say and the contributions they made to my fics! Thanks, ladies! |
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| Observations |
[Oct. 12th, 2005|01:42 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | "air conditioning" circulating air not even close to cool | ] |
4.5 seconds of screen time and a whopping one line do not constitute a guest appearance by Jason Wiles on "Commander-in-Chief." *pout* Seriously, I need more Bosco. Let what's-her-name go back to the senior staff and let Jason be Press Secretary. See, I'll solve all of the administration's staffing problems right now! Jason might make a nice VP, now that I'm thinking of it... ;)
Buying a ceramic flat iron for my hair yesterday might just end up being the best $20 I've ever spent. I am absolutely amazed by the results and am actually squeeful over my hair. That's practically a first since I've moved. Woo and hoo.
Buying 'Kingdom of Heaven' on dvd yesterday might not be the best $20 I've ever spent, but I will enjoy the Orlando viewage. Yes, I know what you're going to say, but I don't care. I enjoy him and find him pretty. :)
I find myself tapped to hold a "Revenge of the Sith" release/Star Wars marathon party in a couple of weeks. At the very least, it ought to motivate me to clean up the disaster area known as my apartment. In the meantime I find myself with dinner-and-a-movie type plans this evening, which, crap, means I actually ought to straighten things up ASAP -- I don't suppose I can block the doorway when he comes to pick me up. That would be rude, wouldn't it? LOL
Can we talk for a moment about work parking? Those of you *outside* the academic world, do you pay for the privilege of parking where you work? Do you have guaranteed parking? It's an old academic tradition that we've gotta pay big bucks for parking *and* are never actually guaranteed spots, as student usurpers have a habit of flouting authority and parking wherever they feel like it. I paid $80 for my parking permit, something you would think would garner me a decent spot, but that's not automatically the case. Me, I think it's farcical to pay for parking, but I want to hold my outrage until I can be sure it's justified. LOL
I saw the first half of "The Zeppo" this morning, and now I'm just going to have to watch the whole thing. One burning question, though: what the hizznatch is wrong with Buffy's hair in that episode?! Gad zeus! |
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| This Just In... |
[Oct. 5th, 2005|08:49 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | cheering Detroiters | ] |
At the conclusion of the Shanahan/Mayers fight, this from Bernie Federko: "Just because the rules have changed doesn't mean this isn't still hockey. This isn't figure skating."
Uh, thanks, Bernie -- I was a little confused. Hee hee!
As Don Cherry would say, the boys were just having a little how do you do. ;) No harm, no foul.
Except for the penalties, that is.
And oh, wee! Since this is a home-and-home, I get to watch the boys again tomorrow. Woo hoo! |
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| The Hair Chronicles, a Happy Ending (for now) |
[Oct. 5th, 2005|06:03 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | relaxed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Chopin | ] |
Well, the hair is 4 inches shorter, about half as heavy, and layered to within an inch of its life. It's quite different, but so far I'm liking it a lot. It's so light! My shampoo and other hair products will last forever taking care of this much-reduced mop. We'll see how it behaves in non-salon circumstances, but thus far I am pleased and feeling much less Sisyphusian (yup, that's totally a word. I think I just coined it myself).
I was going to settle in for a night of drinking the addictive Barcardi Silver O3 (yes, kellicb, you have hooked me!) and writing up a storm, but I've just discovered via a little trip to Fox Sports Net that I get to see the Red Wings open in Detroit tonight. OMSqueee! Steve isn't playing (damn groin pull. Damn *pull* that is; I revere that groin...in a purely non-sexual way, of course. *snort*) and I think Brendan is out, too, but hey, I just cannot wait to hear a patented Joe Louis Arena crowd roar. My Detroit peeps, yelling for my boys (one set of them, at least!) -- sounds like fine family fun to me. Looks like the fic will be pushed back until tomorrow. I think I need a little recuperating from the hours I've been logging on "Rewards" anyway. The angst is clogging my brain. I've gotta get to something light or my brain is going to start sliding out my ears.
I found out today that I *am* going to Philadelphia over semester break to interview at the AHA. After many AHA interviews on the other side of the table, it'll be a real trip to be the inquisitor for once! |
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| Miscellanea |
[Oct. 1st, 2005|08:43 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Footballers Wives | ] |
Wow, does my flist look different without veronica_mars. No, I haven't given up on the show; I just can't take the fangirl squeeage over VD on the list. It is much too hard to have my emotions dragged all over the place by reading other people's reactions to the show when I haven't seen it yet. It's much safer in my VM-free zone at present. And? I can whip through my flist in no time flat. ;)
( Re: the GH disc )
I've been AWOL the couple of days getting a jump on my seasonal_spuffy submission. I needed to be grading papers, but the evil amybnnyc kept urging me on and I was powerless to resist her. ;) I'm having a blast with my madcap idea and can't wait to share! So far, it writes like butter which, of course, never happens, so I've been trying to take advantage of the inspiration.
Unfortunately, the grading won't wait any longer. I've been at work on the freshman exams today, and they are pretty atrocious thus far. I can't *believe* the questions they are missing. Anything that required some degree of analytical thought, forget it - huge miss. Anything factual - huge miss. What the hell is it they were studying? Or, perhaps the better question would be, why didn't anyone bother to study? I've given a few grades that shouldn't even qualify as Fs -- if I had my way, they'd be Gs! With maybe an H or two thrown in for extra snarkiness. Honest to zeus, people, when you get a study guide that tells you the subject of every single question (including the extra credit!) and provides the essay questions in advance, how do you possibly do this badly? Oy.
Oh, and I finally got my first pay. It was rather anticlimactic as it's pretty much the same amount I was making at CSU. By the time benefits, taxes, life insurance, retirement, and tax shelter were taken out, I was down by over 50% of my gross pay. I'm still a little floored by *that*. It's still plenty of coin, but I guess I just hadn't figured on such a huge chunk being diverted away before I ever had a chance to see it! :P
In news of the trivial yet annoying, I broke yet another pair of sunglasses today. This is driving me crazy! One of the damn screws fell out, the same flaw that took out my last 4 pairs of sunglasses as well. This is what I get for buying cheap shades, I suppose.
Well, damn, I've gotta get back to the exams. Can you feel my joy?
Yeah, I didn't think so. |
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