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Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
06:17 pm	And you know I'm gonna write you a letter. Every day like you was a cheddah. Monday was the biggest, busiest Monday I've had in a while, but I made legions of progress in life. I woke up at 7:55 (not beating stroszek2000's wake-up time, but still impressive), was attentive and asked a real question in statistics class, then dutifully sat in the front row in GIS class and took notes and did a bit of IMing during class. After a bit of time-wasting in the MUP cage and a quick lunch, I ran to Central Campus for an appointment with a writing instructor. She was extremely helpful because she asserted that rather than turning in this paper at its current length (11 pages) and writing another paper of similar length as my products for MM class, I had plenty of room to expand the arguments into a longer paper and make it one cohesive paper that has a solid chance at a good grade. So I am planning to spend Thanksgiving break adding probably 7 or 8 more pages to it, and I am excited about this. Because I am a nerd. From there I rushed back to North Campus for Planning Theory class, had that, and then rushed back down to Central Campus to meet with my advisor re: classes for next semester. Although she was unsurprisingly not amenable to my ditching one of the core classes for a random anthropology course, she had lots of other great ideas for what I should take. And her brother went to Duke! So it was a good short meeting, and I am fully prepared to register for classes tomorrow. My schedule tentatively includes: Quantitative Planning Methods, Fundamentals of Planning Practice, Economic Development Planning, and Transportation Planning. Woo. The rest of the evening was spent working on a PowerPoint and paper for Planning Theory. Everyone in the class seems super unmotivated for this assignment, but I'm cool with it. So I'll have it all ready by 5 p.m. tomorrow, and then I may be one of the people chosen to present for the class on Monday. Good times. Also fun is that the third year of my former employer's grant competition was announced yesterday, in conjunction with President Obama's science initiative; hooray for science fairs. I watched the press conference and demo while eating lunch, and probably spat chili everywhere in a fit of laughter and pointing at the embedded video player as Reggie Love and the Mythbusters guys made appearances. Randomest. White House event. Ever. But seriously, I worked on this thing for 2 years, and it's really cool to see it mentioned at the bottom of a White House press release. Now I go to the gym, because I used my exercise time yesterday to format slides instead of real physical exertion. Mood of the Moment: twitchy Music of the Moment: Bishop Allen - Don't Hideaway | Powered by Last.fm Curse at me
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
01:17 am	Sausage coma by association. Fewer calories, but also less happiness. Doctoral lounge, where the statistics happens. Technically, we should be using the master's students lounges, but we're transcending boundaries. And admiring the chair upholstery. Good weekend, overall. And I know it's not over yet, but weekends tend to ooze into the end of the week in school. On Thursday night Amanda, Dave, Jordan, John Drain and I sucked down a few pitchers and played darts at 8 Ball, then ventured over to Circus for shots and more beer. These folks are keeping me sane, I tell you. Amanda, Dave and I tried to study stats on Friday but were too sleepy and hungover to get too far into ANOVA; we did conclude that the acronym should be AOV, but I doubt our instructor is going to be impressed by that. I got a bit more homework done here and there as the evening progressed, then had a good run and some sauna time* at the gym. From there I went directly to Andrew's birthday party at Jolly Pumpkin, which was epically crowded. I randomly discovered with the smokers that they have an amazing rooftop patio, which I will certainly be visiting in the spring. And I spoke to lots of assembled folks I don't see often. But the highlight was certainly hearing about how Scott had made homemade Polish food for he, Danny, Tracy, Tara, and Maria, and the boys had eaten so much that they couldn't stop belting out extremely fragrant burps. Bodily functions are hilarious, y/n?** Watching the Michigan-Ohio State game with 110,227 of my closest friends. Saturday morning meant waking up to my neighbors playing beer pong and super loud music at 7:24 a.m. I am too old for this shit. I sort of slept until 10, then got ready and went to Spencer and Scott's tailgate, where I ate donut holes and drank strawberry Andre while yakking with folks. Spencer, Steph and I made our way down to the game and watched the team lose our last game of the season in a fit of lameness. But! It was fun to bitch with the assembled MUPs and try to dodge drunk undergrads as they fell down the bleachers. After the game I joined Abby, Katharine and Lisa for a long early dinner at Noodle Barn, then embarked on an evening of procrastination that should have been more productive. But eh, I don't have any assignments due until Wednesday, so I'm allowing myself to slack a bit. One thing I did with all this idle time is continue tagging this blog (yes, I've been working on that for a year). I'd forgotten a few interesting tidbits, like the time I met my dad's godfather. He gave me an airplane bottle of rum, an American flag, and a Bud Light poster with a bikini-clad woman on it for my college graduation. LOL smileyface. Also, I had this to say about Oprah in 2006: "Oprah needs to be stopped. Next in line in the retarded trends that she has started is hoodia: the weight-loss wonder drug. Which apparently just makes you so nauseous you don't want to eat. But it comes in lollipop form! Guh. Cyanide should come in lollipop form, and Oprah should start endorsing that. It would be kind of amusing if she endorsed Ann Coulter." ILU, Oprah, I promise! Now I'm going to bed. Good night, LJ. *I don't usually get on Medical Miracle kicks, but I'm convinced that spending 15 minutes in the sauna every day cured the awful cough I had for a month. Put on your conspiracy coats and prove me wrong, folks. :] **Actually, don't answer that. Mood of the Moment: Hanging out in Randostan Music of the Moment: Adele - Right as Rain | Powered by Last.fm 3 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Monday, November 16th, 2009
08:14 pm	I hope you like my out-of-context stock photography. Because I'm going to use it regularly to introduce posts. Old shot from the Franklin Center basement kitchen In case you were wondering about the results of the poll, I listed San Francisco as my first choice and Washington as my second. I won't find out until next semester if I'm chosen for the week. But if I do get an externship, I will inevitably be seeking couch space from those of you in the appropriate city. This application also gave me a good excuse to brush up my resume, which was still full of the wrong verb tenses in relation to HASTAC and noticeably lacking in graduate school accomplishments. I may not have a GPA yet, but there were other important items to add. I would add more, but today was boring and normal, so I don't think there is any news. And yet that makes this the best Monday I've had in a while. Mood of the Moment: thirsty Music of the Moment: Moving Units - Turn Away | Powered by Last.fm 2 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Friday, November 13th, 2009
06:16 pm	26 and not any wiser. Unwiser, if anything. That's not a word, is it? Totally unrelated. But I don't need a reason to post New York photos. I turned 26 yesterday. The first 2/3 of the day was quite unpleasant; first I was up until 4:30 a.m. writing a legal brief and working on my GIS lab. Wednesday's dinner consisted of stuff I grabbed from the convenience store across the street in a break from my marathon homework session in the computer lab. Fortunately, they had fresh strawberries, but I also had M&Ms, soft batch cookies, Diet Coke, and gum. Hooray for nutrition. In the morning, I went to Legal class* and was showered with awesome stuff from my classmates: a cranberry muffin in a personalized paper bag from Katharine, a mini-chocolate cake from Patrick, and a card from both of them and Andrew. That was a nice perk, but I still don't really get a lot of what we're talking about in class. At least I turned in my legal brief and was confident that it didn't suck as much as my first one. Then I dashed off to the computer lab to complete my GIS lab, did so and turned it in 7 minutes before the deadline. After that it was pretty clear I'd need to skip the instructional lab session for same class to make it through the rest of the day, so I went home, had soup, and opened a birthday package from Momma. She sent me random touristy stuff from her Bahamas cruise! Then I read in bed for a while before returning to school for MM class. Tall Matt and I rearranged the classroom tables to our liking and talked about everything and nothing as we'd arrived early, and then we had a somewhat uninspiring class. I think we've lost steam over the course of the semester, but we should be plenty revived by the time of our next meeting, because MM will be out of town next week and the following week is Thanksgiving, so we don't have class until December! From there, I had a quick trip to the gym and discovered the best ever way to write papers in short spurts. I took my MM paper into the sauna to do some editing, and found some inspiration for a section I had yet to flesh out. After about 10 minutes had passed, the pen was getting so hot I could barely hold it anymore, so I scrawled faster and faster and got a really decent amount penned before I burned myself. Perverse, perhaps, but it worked! And I went straight from there to the birthday dinner Abby had planned at Cottage Inn. She, Andrew, Evis, Dave, Amanda, and Angela attended, and we stuffed ourselves with beer and pizza and cheesecake, plus our waitress was amazing. The Men's Glee Club had been in to sing Happy Birthday to a random girl at another table, and she successfully deflected them after they finished and managed to convince them to sing to me too! Yes, I have now officially been serenaded by a dozen 20-year old boys. I have done literally nothing today. Well, the laundry, but that hardly counts since the washing machine did all the work. Now I'm off to the Outlaws Thanksgiving Potluck at Gautam's house. And no, I'm definitely not any wiser, if you wondered how I feel being 26. I might be shedding wisdom, actually. Finally, a shameless plug: if you haven't already, go vote in my poll asking where I should go for a spring break mentorship; the application is due Monday and I am leaning on your advice, LJ friends. * The faculty require us to take this Legal Aspects of Planning course because they want planners to be able to talk to lawyers and know when they are and aren't bullshitting. Seriously. Mood of the Moment: excited Music of the Moment: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric | Powered by Last.fm 9 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
05:58 pm	A poll with real-world applicability. Assuming I spread democracy to my blog and actually listen to you all, that is. Okay, LJ, let's talk. My department has a career mentoring program associated with Spring Break (which is in late February and not at all spring-like here). Basically it allows students to do a one-week job shadow in the city of our choice. The procedure is to submit your resume, qualifications, and two preferred cities, then we are matched with alumni in one of those cities if we're deemed good enough. I'd like to do it because I know that otherwise I'm going to spend Break sitting around and drinking, so this would at least be productive and give me a chance to see new stuff. That said ... Poll #1483637 Where should Jonathan go for Spring "Break"? Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11 What should I list as my first choice? View Answers Atlanta 1 (9.1%) Detroit 1 (9.1%) Los Angeles 0 (0.0%) Miami 0 (0.0%) New York 1 (9.1%) Raleigh/Durham 2 (18.2%) San Francisco 5 (45.5%) Washington, DC 1 (9.1%) Other; see comments 0 (0.0%) What should I list as my second choice? (must be different from the first) View Answers Atlanta 1 (9.1%) Detroit 0 (0.0%) Los Angeles 1 (9.1%) Miami 3 (27.3%) New York 1 (9.1%) Raleigh/Durham 0 (0.0%) San Francisco 1 (9.1%) Washington, DC 2 (18.2%) Other; see comments 2 (18.2%) Mood of the Moment: Ironing my briefcase Music of the Moment: Actually, I don't have a briefcase. But if I did, I would definitely iron it. 6 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Monday, November 9th, 2009
01:02 pm	Like a sponge. Absorbing for the very first time. I'm assaulting you with more autumn photos. Because I can. I'm resisting the tendency for my assignments to expand to fill all of the available time I have to complete them. It's a problem especially because I need to do the laundry, and cook food, and clean the house, but also because I'd like to have time for working out. And going to the bar. And so on. I've done better now than at the start of the semester, but I'll really be tested by the next few weeks. The problem now is that I feel like my program is doing the same, finding blank spots in our days and weeks and filling them with not mandatory, but really hard-to-justify-missing tasks. Like meetings about how to qualify to do a week-long externship over Spring Break (which I want to do), and professional prep stuff like how to maximize your submissions to conferences. I need this semester to be over soon, but a quiet Thanksgiving break will suffice. In non-boring news, my pre-birthday (and Steph's post-birthday) celebration at Cafe Habana on Friday night was great. We slowly took over the back room, told some bawdy jokes, got double cocktails without having to 1) ask or 2) pay for more than singles, and eventually Virgilio, his boyfriend (who is a yoga instructor but without a name that I can recall right now), Katharine, Lisa, and I ended up at Fleetwood Diner. Best ham and cheddar omelet ever. Mood of the Moment: Ripping up books with my eyes Music of the Moment: VHS or Beta - Night on Fire | Powered by Last.fm Curse at me
Friday, October 30th, 2009
12:55 pm	Autumn. Michigan has it. Lots of it. Outside the gym I am so obviously new to this state, because I'm going around taking photos of trees like this one. I've liked autumn here more than I expected, partially because it's difficult to be in a bad mood when nature has turned orange and red and partially because it's actually been somewhat warm (currently 60 degrees). I'm trying not to be embarrassed that I didn't really know what autumn was until this year. Four seasons ahoy! Mood of the Moment: Halloween eve 10 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
08:31 pm	Movies. I still watch them, at a rate of two every stress-induced near-freakout. While in Durham for Fall Break, I went out with a group to see Where the Wild Things Are on opening night. I loved loved loved the soundtrack, performed by Karen O, but I have to temper that comment with the fact that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs literally sang me across the country as I moved to Michigan. Anyhow, I've since also looked back at the book and I'm comfortable with how the story was fleshed out for film; however, that is such a story of loneliness, from the time when Max's family doesn't get him to when the monsters don't fully bring him into their orbit and back. And honest question: does anyone understand what was the deal with the owls? A-. I also watched my latest Netflix, Sunset Boulevard, which I am still dreaming about two weeks later. What happens when you're a formerly bright star, still with lots of money but no influence? Well, maybe not this, but I still enjoyed this immensely. Edith Head's wardrobe work and the large number of outdoor scenes gave the movie exactly the right context: tangible and glittery, but still a confusing masquerade at the end of the day. A+. Mood of the Moment: Not ready for my closeup Music of the Moment: Foo Fighters - Let It Die | Powered by Last.fm Curse at me
Monday, October 26th, 2009
08:25 am	Grad school goes on. I substitute more and more coffee for sleep. Unidentified building, Louisville Various moments I've enjoyed over the last few weeks keep me going. Because in between the apple picking and dancing a fool on Saturday nights are long days of legal analysis I don't care to understand. But I'm working on it anyway. Woo. This weekend's moment was going to Live at PJ's, a particularly sweaty version of the undergrad club experience, with Tara, Tracy, and their roommates Lee and Marissa. The DJ almost broke me in half, in a good way, and then we had sobering-up beers at Grizzly Peak with Danny and Scott. Um and Tracy's friend in town from Utah, Eric, was also there and asked me super serious questions about planning careers that I was slightly too drunk to contemplate but tried anyway. Next weekend is Halloween, in which we will likely do the same thing but with costumes and more expensive booze. Mood of the Moment: perky 2 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
12:33 am	Candlelight potluck. What every autumn power outage should include. Tonight was a planned potluck among the urban planners, to begin preparing for our large conference in the spring. I brought an enchilada casserole, and within 20 minutes of arriving the lights began to flicker. We ended up without power for most of the event, but Chelsea's candle supply meant business could continue as usual. It was a great time trying Korean and Romanian and Haitian and Brazilian and Michiganian food all in one meal and chatting with the 15 or so assembled folks. Less fun was the overworked building staff coming in to inform us that we had to leave within a few hours because the emergency power source (lighting the hallways, and thus our exit) might not last the night. Various latecomers informed us that lots of North Campus also had no power; the library even closed, which is somewhat monumental because it's the only 24 hour library we have. After I left that event, stuffed full of excellent food, I drove around North Campus and it was sooper interesting to see it dark and quiet. Not having HVAC units or street lights or anything like that running makes our built environment really quiet, and I did like it. Then I went to Espresso Royale (which had electricity) and did some homework, and now I'm home (which also does) and going to sleep in a few minutes. What a grown-up Friday night this has been. Of course I'll temper that with a Saturday full of Halloween costume shopping, some tailgating, and gay bar visiting. Mood of the Moment: still coughing Music of the Moment: Sufjan Stevens/Osso - Year of the Monkey | Powered by Last.fm 7 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
11:14 pm	GPOYW, I control the weather now edition. And all it took was hiring the Chinese government as a cloud-busting consultant. It was 69 degrees today. Despite the scarf, I sat outside for a couple of hours to read. Hooray for mild fall days. Mood of the Moment: drained Music of the Moment: The Flaming Lips - I Can Be A Frog | Powered by Last.fm 1 #$&*@ | Curse at me
Friday, October 16th, 2009
04:50 pm	A lukewarm mess, at least. Blame the multicolored LITs. I'm in North Carolina for Fall Break, notwithstanding my near-misses in getting here. Last night, after another intense MM class where each of us had to present our term paper ideas to everyone else, I went out with a bunch of classmates for cheap drinks and sketchiness. I didn't eat enough dinner, so was expecting that the alcohol would make me quite loopy. Instead, I drank really watered-down LITs that were way too sweet and got a stomach ache. But! Dancing to 10 year old songs randomly with Bree, Amy, Amanda, and other folks was a good time, as was almost crying when Amanda's boyfriend arrived at 1:00 from Pittsburgh. Then I made a quick but ill-advised trip to Aut Bar, talked to Jamie and the bartender while having a closing drink (apparently a new tradition?), and went home. Fortunately I'd already packed. My plan was to sleep on the couch to ensure I'd wake up in time to catch my 7:20 bus, but of course that didn't work. So I hustled out the house for the next bus, the girl collecting tickets didn't care that I was on the wrong one, and thus I still got to the airport in time for my flight. I mostly slept through that, then Gary picked me up and we had lunch at Hog Heaven! I'd never tried their chicken and dumplings before, but I think I will again someday. And we spent lunch talking about grad school, and I felt much more like a person after having hot food. Following that he dropped me off at stroszek2000's house, we talked for a long time, and then I took a shower to get the DC-9 smell off of me. Hah. Since then I wandered to West Campus for a chai and stopped in to see shadedlight at her office (we're also having dinner later!). And I rounded out my wandering with stopping by the Franklin Center to say hi to whoever was in the building, turned out to be Ruby and Mandy (also having lunch with them on Tuesday! Running out of meal slots here) and an extended conversation with Nancy. She also gave me a T-shirt. Soo I'm trying to avoid creepy multicolored LITs in an attempt to be alert for all of this visiting time. As for Durham, it really doesn't feel all that different because it's barely been two months to the day since I left. But I still <3 it, and the weather is pretty awesome too. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to go to Raleigh. For brunch research with ballyhoo, of course. Mood of the Moment: Almost biscuit time Music of the Moment: This is the first time I've used LJ user tags in a year+. Curse at me
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
09:03 pm	GPOYW, 24 hours to Fall Break edition. Photoblogging live from the grad lounge. Only two more assignments to complete, and then the bags under my eyes will magically disappear. I think that's how it works, anyway. Mood of the Moment: determined Music of the Moment: Karen O and the Kids - Igloo | Powered by Last.fm 10 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Monday, October 12th, 2009
01:44 am	Party in the USA. But the Nobel Prize Selection Committee isn't invited. Louisville City Hall. Name that classical order. I'm ending a very full weekend that followed a very full week with a blog. I spent most of today working on a paper proposal in the MUP lab, punctuated by an hour at the gym and a dinner break at Wendy's with Katharine and Lisa. There was also some Powerpoint work done on the presentation accompanying the Theory paper due tomorrow, and I really do hate .ppt. I just ... don't jibe with creating that kind of media; Prezi is somewhat more my style. Anyhow, my paper proposal is going well, sort of feeling like the project that proves Why I Came to Grad School. Other fun times: went out to the Irish Pub with lots of MUPs on Thursday, made plans with Tall Matt to head to Aut Bar after that, but he suddenly disappeared so I was heading up the street alone when he called to ask if I could retrieve his coat because he was not being allowed to reenter. So I did my good deed, then we spent maybe 20 minutes at the gay bar (got there after 1:45); still, like that place a lot. Saturday was a football power hour at Abby-Amanda-Billy-Danny-Maria-Nick-Scott's house, then Scott, Danny and I went out with S's sister and her friends. First to the Jolly Pumpkin, then The Arena, and I was kind of a hot mess but had tons of fun. While walking home I stopped in to BTB for a huge chimichanga, and man I had enough leftover for a full lunch today. Crazy. Maybe I should cut down on the late night burritos and Wendy's. Or not. And for 10 sentences on current events: I'm happy Obama won the Nobel Prize and think it's funny that suddenly so many people are experts on the parameters for selection. Get over it, be proud; this is an honor for our country, truly, and he does have the potential for great good. Give him a chance, and if he doesn't deliver you know what to do in 2012. The only downside is that Morgan Tsvangirai is truly awesome and was definitely deserving of the award. As for the Equality March, I really wanted to be there but couldn't have possibly broken away to DC this weekend. I'm really happy to hear how many of my NC friends were able to go, and I want to hear your stories about it (particularly the HRC paintballing, LOL). Mood of the Moment: drained Music of the Moment: But only 4 days until Fall Break! 5 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
10:05 am	Year 0.1 in effect. Time to take White Out to iCal. The bounty of the you-pick orchard, in Milan*, Michigan This blog is mostly to say that I am no longer having issues finding the grocery store! Or forgetting which books I need to bring to school! And I have officially started going to the gym regularly. I even rented a locker for the semester to make it official. Such adjustment is very necessary because I have a jillion assignments to turn in before Fall Break next Friday. A real entry is coming up soon. I'm going to post a poll about maximizing readers' experience of this blog, and how I might be able to optimize it and make it more interesting to you, as well as what kind of content you all like in general ... when I have the time to form the questions and get it posted up. Maybe on the weekend. *Pronounced My-lin. This adventure to be detailed later, also. I'm sure you just roll your eyes in disbelief whenever I say that. Mood of the Moment: wired Music of the Moment: Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody | Powered by Last.fm 9 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
10:04 pm	A flood of water, a flood of bourbon. The urban planners go to Louisville, Part Two. On the left: Matt and Peter and a bike rack; on the right: Wisteria in Central Park Beyond the superficial visitor's treatment of Louisville, our visit was meant to ask what currents in planning, architecture, and real estate were driving the scene, who was driving, and whether any of this was the wisest or best way to go, and if not, how to practically steer it around. This included speaking to folks from the planning authority, Metro Council, arena authority, and so on. (Warning: very photo-heavy post, even for my blog.) ( Suck it, Ohio River! ) Mood of the Moment: working off Hot Brown pounds Music of the Moment: Joanna Newsom - Swansea | Powered by Last.fm 2 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
05:59 pm	Kenturbucky. The urban planners go to Louisville, Part One. On the left: School on First St.; on the right: Under I-64 on the south bank of the Ohio River My classmates and I spent 5 days in Louisville, checking out what does and doesn't work there and how to fix it. Folks from the metro council, planning department, arena authority, and other gubmint bureaucrats kindly shared information about the city and how they're trying to improve it, downtowns and all. Despite our belief that we are specialized, I think the conclusions about what Louisville needs to be a safer/better/acceptable-to-yuppies-er city are the same that any visitor would come to, so I won't detail that here. In brief: more transit! people living downtown! untangling the mass of highways to get to and from Indiana! Not quite a 21st century Yankee jaunt and not quite an excuse to drink as much bourbon as possible, but something in between. BTW, if you are a Flickr friend of mine, you've likely seen all of these. ( Skyscraper porn edition ) Mood of the Moment: dorky Music of the Moment: New Order - Thieves Like Us | Powered by Last.fm 6 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
05:24 pm	GPOYW, exercising the eyes edition. Because I've been reading way too much. Update with words on the way. Mood of the Moment: M. Christine Boyer is wordy. Music of the Moment: Say Hi "Northwestern Girls" 7 #$&*@s | Curse at me
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
05:46 pm	This will never be normal. I'll adapt. Due to Labor Day and my recent field trip to Louisville, I still haven't had a full 5-day week of classes. The coming week is supposed to provide that, but H1N1 may threaten that. On our field trip, several people were sick and we were in very close quarters: a completely full charter bus, 5 people per hotel room, lots of meals and drinks together. Then when I returned home this afternoon, three of my roommates were sick. Kyle said, "2 are H1N1 and the other we think is just a cold." Still not very encouraging odds. I've been hydrating and washing my hands all the time, but I'm afraid I'm still way likely to get sick. Bah. Anyhow, blogging about the Louisville trip is coming up at some point. For now, I have homework to do. Mood of the Moment: blah Music of the Moment: My statistics book is mega-outdated. Curse at me
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
11:27 am	Not as much in limbo. But sure would like that check to come right about now. I'm in the midst of Day 2 of classes. Summary version: I'm glad to have a routine and be applying myself, and trying on classes for size is fun but tiring. This is not terribly interesting, so if you don't want to read about school, feel free to skip. ( Class shopping ) I'm so far slipping back into the classroom just fine. I've read some so far and enjoyed it, and I think the workload is manageable, at least until December. The quirks of the place are notable, too. After spending three years working across the street from a greazy Chinese restaurant, I'm across the street from a Panda Express. So ... trying to stay away from it this time. I had lunch at Quizno's, which is also over here. I need to pack more lunches, which I was doing with great success for a while. I have absolutely no cell phone service in my building; like, absolutely none. So if you try to call or text me, well I'm just gonna have to get back to ya. And in the movie column (which I have now, because I said so), I watched Revolutionary Road last night. Kate Winslet's performance floated above Leo and the other folks, by quite a bit; I was going to wonder aloud who won the Best Actress Oscar that year, and then I discovered it was ... Kate Winslet (for The Reader, which I've not yet seen). Anyhow, I was hoping to see a bit more integration with their children in the story, though perhaps that omission was just about being true to the book. And the last 60 seconds were quite good. B. Mood of the Moment: studious Music of the Moment: Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins - Melt Your Heart | Powered by Last.fm 6 #$&*@s | Curse at me