February 2012
56 posts
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Thesis Meeting, Day Two
First thing out of her mouth as I hand her my almost-completely-new introduction:
(in a harsh tone) “You know, I don’t usually meet every week and go through drafts like this. I know it helps keep you on track, but I really don’t have time to be re-reading things we’ve discussed. It would be better if you could just come in and be able to point me to the things...
“She had fallen in love so many times that she began to suspect she was not...”
– Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (via mem0rylaine)
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Progress
I’m moving along, but I continue to lose focus more frequently as the hours wear on. I specifically took an evening nap and consumed caffeine so I could work this late as I can typically focus better between 10pm and 3am, but it’s not quite going as planned.
I have six pages, three of which need some serious fine-tuning. I’ve got four or five objectives left to hit (about a...
Bill O’Reilly standing up for Ellen Degeneres and comparing blacklisting gay people from business/endorsement contracts to McCarthyism… What alternate universe are we in?!
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I just devoured a bowl of unsalted pretzels even though I’m not hungry in the least. Writing makes me snack. I wish I had some cheerios…
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Thesis. Thesis. Thesis. Must write 6 more pages. Thesis. Thesis. Thesis.
GO.
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It went something like this...
Me: I know you said you don't remember the last time you cooked/ate real, home-cooked food so you're welcome to come have some of the pork roast I made today. I'm trying to work on my thesis, though, so you should probably just come over to eat and then leave.
Cop-Friend: (four hours later) Sorry, I took cold medicine and passed out for ten hours.
Me: Are you hungry? The offer still stands, but it'll be microwaved and not fresh out of the crock pot.
Cop-Friend: Yeah, I'm starving. Be over shortly.
Cop-Friend: Do you need to stay productive or can this be a sleepover?
^^^ Why my thesis will never be finished. I. Am. Weak.
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Fact:
I often examine the results of my Biore nose and face strip endeavors for at least a minute or two after peeling them off. I like to see what was previously in my pores.
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California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban Is... →
nprfreshair:
California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled.
From last year on Fresh Air: Courting Attention: Covering Calif.’s Marriage Trial
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Today I will
-Shower
-Go the payroll office and figure out where the eff my W-2 is hiding
and subsequently file taxes immediately
-Prepare a prompt for unit two for my students
-Play with kitty
-Do laundry
-Make a roast for dinner
-Make serious headway on my Classical Rhetoric homework (Plato’s Gorgias)
-Rough draft my entire new introduction (needs to be at least 7 pages)
-And maybe still have...
Something I find fun:
Hearing about the insane things people do in this town before it hits the news.
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Leave Unsaid Unspoken
I think that music speaks to us. I believe that iTunes’ shuffle feature sometimes knows just what you didn’t even know you wanted to hear. I have had days and nights where Pandora read my mind and played just what I wanted to hear right after the song crossed my mind.
Kyle and I have this tradition of driving around aimlessly (but really, we follow the same path, more or less) and...
“But don’t forget who you really are. And I’m not talking about your so-called...”
– Louis Sachar (via danseurs)
I don’t know how I can love my thesis project so much and hate writing about it so much. It will never get written if I continue to give in to every distraction that pops into my head. UGH.
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging...”
– William James (via jacynthe-elise)
I want to share this with my students and see what they have to say.
Louisville Realization Three
I will be a long-term resident in a metropolitan area.
“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the...”
– Franz Kafka (via troubled)
It's always your favorite sins that do you in.
Facts
-My cat is now on antibiotics. It is really difficult to force-feed a kitten pills, no matter what delicious thing you coat/wrap/disguise it in. She is still stinky as ever and her poo is still not solid.
-I, too, am back on antibiotics. I’d really like to stop getting sick.
-Neither of my parents called me on my birthday, called me when they returned from Jamaica, sent me a birthday...
“If we only walk on sunny days we’ll never reach our destination.”
– Paulo Coelho (via kari-shma)
40 weirdly intriguing questions...
1. What’s a question you’re afraid to ask? To whom?
2. What’s something you hide about your personality?
3. What’s something other people think about you that you don’t agree with?
4. How do you deal with criticism?
5. What’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for you?
6. What’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for someone?
7. What’s something sweet you’d like someone to do for you?
8. Describe your favourite texture.
9. Which national or global tragedy were you closest to and how did it affect you?
10. Post a photo/draw a picture/write a poem (pick one) of a moment of personal significance.
11. Which fictional character would you most like to have lunch with and why?
12. Who would you say is your “anti” role model? Someone who serves as a warning rather than an inspiration?
13. What’s your least “politically correct” opinion?
14. What kind of underwear do you imagine Sherlock Holmes wears?
15. What’s one of the most difficult things you’ve ever had to do?
16. If you were an element on the Periodic Table, which would you be and why?
17. What’s the most infuriating thing your parents (or caregiver) do?
18. Which Disney Princess do you most identify with and why? Which is your favourite and why? And yes- ANYONE can answer this question.
19. You’re an Action Movie Hero. What’s your weapon of choice and the line you scream when defeating your arch enemy?
20. What’s the silliest fan theory you’ve ever come up with?
21. What did you think about before you fell asleep last night?
22. What’s the oddest term of endearment you’ve ever used or that someone’s used for you?
23. What motivates you in life?
24. What was something you used to enjoy, but was ruined for you? What’s the story behind that?
25. How do you think you will fare when the Zombie Apocalypse arrives?
26. Which mythological creature are you most like? Why? And if you could be any mythological creature, which would you want to be? Why?
27. Write a brief story about an actual adventure you’ve had.
28. Describe one of the most awkward experiences of your life.
29. What’s something that scares you about the future?
30. List 5 quirky things about yourself.
31. Describe your dream library.
32. What’s the weirdest item you’ve ever mourned?
33. If you could design an amusement park ride, what would it be like?
34. Do you have any “rules” about food?
35. What’s your opinion on age differences in relationships?
36. What’s something you want to do that you’d be embarrassed to tell other people about?
37. Describe a time/event in your life that you’re nostalgic for.
38. How do you approach social situations?
39. What is your ideal bed? Why?
40. Post a short excerpt of your life.
“Your 20’s are your ‘selfish’ years. It’s a decade to immerse yourself in every...”
– Kyoko Escamilla (a.k.a Brain-Food)
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Grading by candlelight
with a glass of wine and some chocolates, listening to my “Thinking Music” station on Pandora and thinking to myself, “Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to be in love?”
In time, young grasshopper. In time.
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Thesis Meeting, Day One
Me: This is a pretty rough draft, but I think it looks something like an introduction to a thesis! I know it's got problems, but I might be onto something.
Adviser: Hmm... Right idea... But... No. Try again.
Time Elapsed: 50 Minutes
Nothing like an intimate study of the utter failure of one's first draft. DE-flated.