Things are going. As they always are.
My working situation is still kind of crazy, and I am anxious for the summer to be done (never thought I'd say that) so that I can start classes in the fall. I have been recently enrolled in my classes, and have discovered that there is a week-long orientation immediately prior to the beginning of classes. My advisor claims it is most likely that I will be teaching my first classes on the first day of classes, so that should prove interesting indeed!
Something I've been doing a lot of lately is reading, which is fine by me, and I understand (again) why I love it so much and why I am unperturbed when I read instead of doing important things like laundry. My husband does not find this terribly useful though, and since the third book in the series I'm reading is being read by someone else currently, then I suppose I shall have to spend this week catching up on all those household chores that I've let fall behind.
Speaking of fiction, the same person who has book three also had a discussion with me last night into the wee hours of the morning regarding a story she had thought up a long time ago and seems to have extensive notes on but has never tried to really write. She has also not shared the plot or ideas with anyone except myself, and for this I feel quite honored. As we discussed her ideas, I became more and more excited for her story, and I have offered my assistance as she feels it is needed. I told her we could aim for getting our stories published around the same time. *Because that would be awesome!* And if you're wondering anything about the story she passed along to me last night, then I am very sorry to say that I cannot and will not reveal anything, as it is not my story to share. But I will tell you that it is quite compelling, and should she happen to get the work published, then I will divulge the title/author/isbn number with you, and you shall all have to take my word for it that it is awesome and go out to purchase and read the book.
In other exciting news, my mother has agreed to get me a Kindle or iPad, whichever I choose, so that I may put my textbooks on the device and thus save much money as I go into graduate school. This has led to some barrels full of research on my part. I seem to know a lot of people with Kindles, and they all love the Kindle, and I know one or two people with an iPad, and they like it just as much as another person likes their Kindle. I have a lot of stipulations for the device, things that I need it to be able to do so that I may make the best use of it for graduate school. I have taken all of these into consideration and received some important feedback from peers and professors regarding the particular devices. I think I have decided to go with the iPad, as it has the ability to do more, and I can get the Kindle app on the iPad and still have the HUGE selection of books that I feel I need access to. :)
Back to my friend's fictional adventure--this has re-inspired me to pick up the story I was working on long ago (No, not Angela's Story, as some of you may have read/seen on my other blog page). This story is one that I am attempting to hand-write first. You may call me crazy as a result, but I am okay with that. I feel that writing it out by hand gives me a stronger connection to the storyline, the characters, and helps me care a little more about how well I have crafted the story. I am sad that I have not worked on it since February (which wasn't THAT long ago, but it feels like it has been ages), but at the same time, I am glad to have it finally unpacked and to be thinking about it again. My first goal was to try to have the first draft done by the end of 2011, but I really don't think that is going to happen (but that doesn't mean that it won't!).
Since the laundry machine just buzzed at me, I shall have to go take care of that.
Until next time...
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
#47--This Crazy Heat
And tornadoes and floods and wildfires and...
Every crazy weather phenomenon that *could* happen seems to actually *be* happening across the country. Between the weather and the economy, I'm surprised we're managing to survive (not entirely surprised, but you get my drift).
I know I'm not the only one with money problems, not the only person who can't afford the things I need in order to live comfortably--and I'm not asking for a handout either. I'm just expressing that it is hard financially to come out even, but we're scraping by.
My workplace presents a continuous (and unnecessary) level of stress that I could really do without. It doesn't look like things are going to be getting better any time soon either, at least not until we have a meeting with the manager's boss, but who knows when that will actually happen. I'm looking forward to it though, so I can voice my concerns and so that we as a staff can come to some conclusions and work on making our work situation better and make it more safe overall, for guests and employees alike. But all these things going on with this make me look forward to teaching in the fall, and starting my graduate career as well.
Which reminds me, I need to get my bookshelf organized! Which means that I need to unpack all my books. Which means that I need some bookshelves to put them on. Whew. We'll get that worked out too I suppose. But I do fully intend to brush up on some knowledge and skills prior to starting everything in the fall, just so that I can get into a good groove again by the time school starts, and so I can be practiced in the same things that I'll be teaching.
My sister is about to have her baby (they are inducing her today) or have already induced her, I'm not sure which. We are all very excited for little Drake to get here, but we will have to hope that the internet does him justice when she gets around to putting pics up, since she's in Hawaii and we're all on the mainland. On another note, Peter is doing better after his surgery (if you don't know and are family you can email me privately for the full scoop). He is attending physical therapy three times a week and is going through a cardio rehab program as well. My mom has hurt her back by sleeping wrong, which tore a muscle and now she is having quite a hard time getting around. She has been to the doctor and received some medication and has also been excused from work as well, so all that we can do is wait for her torn muscle to heal so she can get around again. One of my aunts had surgery on her hand last week, and will have surgery on the other one in July, so that is a whole different adventure, one my younger sister has been helping out with.
Besides all of that we've had some issues with the house we rent and our landlord but nothing terribly extreme. I had a chance to talk to him today and he will come by to fix the broken things tomorrow whenever I give him a call to let him know we are awake and ready.
The summer so far has been kind of hectic but not in the bad way. It is tough though to get together with everyone that I want to hang out with, since we tend to have vastly different schedules. I did get some quality time in the other day with my gals Tina and Emily, and we went to see X Men First Class, which I'm pretty sure we all thought was awesome. If you haven't seen it, you should. I'm supposed to go swimming with some friends on Friday for more girl time (if it doesn't rain). But the weatherman has been talking about rain off and on for all week this week and it hasn't happened yet. Also we're going to our friends' wedding on Saturday, so we're all hoping that the rain holds off for that day too. They're getting married in the newly renovated "old" theater, that was built in the 1920s. It's really going to be beautiful.
And talking about weddings reminds me of pretty dresses and how I intend to make myself some. Also, I keep meaning to follow more fashion-oriented things and then I forget, which reflects badly upon me. What I really need (or feel the need to do) is start designing some things. Even if I never make them (even though I do hope to make them) then it will at least make me feel better. Maybe I can snag my roommate into helping me make them--that would be quite the series of projects.
Regardless of what I decide to do with my summer, be it reading or designing and sewing, I'm sure you'll be hearing much more about it in the near future. So until next time, goodnight.
Every crazy weather phenomenon that *could* happen seems to actually *be* happening across the country. Between the weather and the economy, I'm surprised we're managing to survive (not entirely surprised, but you get my drift).
I know I'm not the only one with money problems, not the only person who can't afford the things I need in order to live comfortably--and I'm not asking for a handout either. I'm just expressing that it is hard financially to come out even, but we're scraping by.
My workplace presents a continuous (and unnecessary) level of stress that I could really do without. It doesn't look like things are going to be getting better any time soon either, at least not until we have a meeting with the manager's boss, but who knows when that will actually happen. I'm looking forward to it though, so I can voice my concerns and so that we as a staff can come to some conclusions and work on making our work situation better and make it more safe overall, for guests and employees alike. But all these things going on with this make me look forward to teaching in the fall, and starting my graduate career as well.
Which reminds me, I need to get my bookshelf organized! Which means that I need to unpack all my books. Which means that I need some bookshelves to put them on. Whew. We'll get that worked out too I suppose. But I do fully intend to brush up on some knowledge and skills prior to starting everything in the fall, just so that I can get into a good groove again by the time school starts, and so I can be practiced in the same things that I'll be teaching.
My sister is about to have her baby (they are inducing her today) or have already induced her, I'm not sure which. We are all very excited for little Drake to get here, but we will have to hope that the internet does him justice when she gets around to putting pics up, since she's in Hawaii and we're all on the mainland. On another note, Peter is doing better after his surgery (if you don't know and are family you can email me privately for the full scoop). He is attending physical therapy three times a week and is going through a cardio rehab program as well. My mom has hurt her back by sleeping wrong, which tore a muscle and now she is having quite a hard time getting around. She has been to the doctor and received some medication and has also been excused from work as well, so all that we can do is wait for her torn muscle to heal so she can get around again. One of my aunts had surgery on her hand last week, and will have surgery on the other one in July, so that is a whole different adventure, one my younger sister has been helping out with.
Besides all of that we've had some issues with the house we rent and our landlord but nothing terribly extreme. I had a chance to talk to him today and he will come by to fix the broken things tomorrow whenever I give him a call to let him know we are awake and ready.
The summer so far has been kind of hectic but not in the bad way. It is tough though to get together with everyone that I want to hang out with, since we tend to have vastly different schedules. I did get some quality time in the other day with my gals Tina and Emily, and we went to see X Men First Class, which I'm pretty sure we all thought was awesome. If you haven't seen it, you should. I'm supposed to go swimming with some friends on Friday for more girl time (if it doesn't rain). But the weatherman has been talking about rain off and on for all week this week and it hasn't happened yet. Also we're going to our friends' wedding on Saturday, so we're all hoping that the rain holds off for that day too. They're getting married in the newly renovated "old" theater, that was built in the 1920s. It's really going to be beautiful.
And talking about weddings reminds me of pretty dresses and how I intend to make myself some. Also, I keep meaning to follow more fashion-oriented things and then I forget, which reflects badly upon me. What I really need (or feel the need to do) is start designing some things. Even if I never make them (even though I do hope to make them) then it will at least make me feel better. Maybe I can snag my roommate into helping me make them--that would be quite the series of projects.
Regardless of what I decide to do with my summer, be it reading or designing and sewing, I'm sure you'll be hearing much more about it in the near future. So until next time, goodnight.
Friday, June 3, 2011
#46--Acceptance
I did receive word that I have been chosen for the graduate teaching position I mentioned, which makes me very excited indeed for this fall. I am already giving thought to what areas I would like to study. Literature and Linguistics stand out the most to me I think, but I will have to see what my advisor says as well in regard to what his recommendations are for me.
We are finally getting things unpacked around the house too, and with our random and various work schedules, its hard to really see one another (or to see everyone) all at the same time.
I'm sure that whoever is reading this (besides my four or five loyalist readers) is probably pretty bored with what I've got going on. Because really, who wants to hear about someone else's day-to-day life, when they have their own (perhaps slightly dull) life to live and hear about a million times over from their families and friends?
So, we may be able to paint upstairs. If so, then I have a few swatches picked out. The main color would be "Sun Poppy" or something like that, with teal and dark brown accents. The brown would be used almost minimally, since we wouldn't want the room to become "heavy." I am also excited for the construction of new bookshelves, which may not happen for several months. But I am quite eager to get my books out of their boxes so they can "breathe" on the shelf. They will feel better which will make me feel better. And then of course I can read them all, all over again. :-)
And then I spent about an hour between that paragraph and this one, roaming facebook and checking various emails, and even discovering some new blogs (which I now follow). I do wonder sometimes if the whole concept of "following" someone on any of the various sites with the follow option is healthy or if it should be considered a form of stalking... Not to say that I seek out any other information from these blogs other than what is posted routinely (or not) by the blog operator. But isn't it weird how we creep on people and their lives, secretly peeking in at them and their personal moments? Whether we intend to be a more advanced form of a peeping-tom or if we're just looking to not be alone in the recesses of the internet, there is a level of mysticism to the whole act, and I feel that after a certain point, "following" gets to be too much. At what point do we become too wrapped up in someone else's life that we do not realize that we have our own? That perhaps we are not living our own life as we would want to because we are so caught up with making sure that some random person and otherwise a stranger made it through a particularly rough Tuesday afternoon, post-breakup, post-car wreck, post-raining for three days straight and now their flowerbeds have all gone to muddy awfulness. These details are not wrong to share, and probably not wrong to witness, but a flowerbed does not influence how I live my life, or the choices I make after I log off and go to bed. (On the same note, I do not necessarily mean that these details are entirely irrelevant either, just that there is a lot of mixup between what we do and what we wish we were doing, but instead we read about someone else doing those things we wish we would/could do, rather than seeking out a method to actually accomplish the goal ourselves.)
This seems like the kind of conversation that needs more studying, and more in-depth analysis, so for now, I really will go to bed and remember that I am me, and that no one else can be me.
We are finally getting things unpacked around the house too, and with our random and various work schedules, its hard to really see one another (or to see everyone) all at the same time.
I'm sure that whoever is reading this (besides my four or five loyalist readers) is probably pretty bored with what I've got going on. Because really, who wants to hear about someone else's day-to-day life, when they have their own (perhaps slightly dull) life to live and hear about a million times over from their families and friends?
So, we may be able to paint upstairs. If so, then I have a few swatches picked out. The main color would be "Sun Poppy" or something like that, with teal and dark brown accents. The brown would be used almost minimally, since we wouldn't want the room to become "heavy." I am also excited for the construction of new bookshelves, which may not happen for several months. But I am quite eager to get my books out of their boxes so they can "breathe" on the shelf. They will feel better which will make me feel better. And then of course I can read them all, all over again. :-)
And then I spent about an hour between that paragraph and this one, roaming facebook and checking various emails, and even discovering some new blogs (which I now follow). I do wonder sometimes if the whole concept of "following" someone on any of the various sites with the follow option is healthy or if it should be considered a form of stalking... Not to say that I seek out any other information from these blogs other than what is posted routinely (or not) by the blog operator. But isn't it weird how we creep on people and their lives, secretly peeking in at them and their personal moments? Whether we intend to be a more advanced form of a peeping-tom or if we're just looking to not be alone in the recesses of the internet, there is a level of mysticism to the whole act, and I feel that after a certain point, "following" gets to be too much. At what point do we become too wrapped up in someone else's life that we do not realize that we have our own? That perhaps we are not living our own life as we would want to because we are so caught up with making sure that some random person and otherwise a stranger made it through a particularly rough Tuesday afternoon, post-breakup, post-car wreck, post-raining for three days straight and now their flowerbeds have all gone to muddy awfulness. These details are not wrong to share, and probably not wrong to witness, but a flowerbed does not influence how I live my life, or the choices I make after I log off and go to bed. (On the same note, I do not necessarily mean that these details are entirely irrelevant either, just that there is a lot of mixup between what we do and what we wish we were doing, but instead we read about someone else doing those things we wish we would/could do, rather than seeking out a method to actually accomplish the goal ourselves.)
This seems like the kind of conversation that needs more studying, and more in-depth analysis, so for now, I really will go to bed and remember that I am me, and that no one else can be me.
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