First, if you've never heard of the Blues Brothers, educate yourself.
Well, for many years now I've been convinced that I'm a/the lost long Blues Sister. Yes, true, I never was an orphan growing up in a convent; true enough, Curtis and the Penguin were never my mentors in life. But the blues live within me. As does Rhythm and Blues. It moves my soul, makes me sway to the beat, and makes me want dress in black suit, white shirt, black tie, and Raybans. Ok, so I was born in the year that
Yes, folks, I am now reunited with the virtual world and the television world, and damn does it feel good. Even better, I got my couches today. So in all honesty, I can actually start having people over. What a concept!
In all seriousness, I haven't had a place that I could entertain in since I left Austin in 2005. Living with my parents didn't exactly espouse positive feelings in that aspect. In theory the last apartment could have been wonderful, what with the unit leading to the back
First, an eye-opener for all you men out there: we women talk a ton of trash. About our significant others (both temporary and permanent). About others. And honestly, I can't tell you who's worse, men or women.
The scene:
I'm in the changing room of my gym, getting dressed to go home, and I overhear a conversation in the next row of benches. It's two women, both lesbians, talking about their conquests from the previous night, and the hopes for the weekend. On and on for quite a few min
Some people read the daily comics in the morning to start their day. I read the horoscopes. 4 of them, mind you...the fact that 4 different 'readers of the stars' have 4 wildly different 'interpretations' of the same stars is hilarious to me. Not to mention what they mention will happen to me today.
The last 4 days one in particular has been predicting that a 'windfall of money' is coming my way. Um, it's been 4 days now, and I haven't exactly seen an extra red cent come my way. Sure,
Well, folks, the word of this week has been: culmination. I uploaded my finalized dissertation to UMI, which is the publisher that UT (and many, many other universities) uses, and it's currently under review. I mailed my final papers to the Grad School, and they were received today. All that's left is for them to finalize everything, bill me for my processing fee...and that's it.
I woke up this morning, and i felt...calm. In my mind, when I pay that final fee, then I'll be really done,
In watching the news today, one couldn't help but notice that the Holy See visited Scotland, met with Her Royal Highness, and held mass in a park in Glasgow, all before heading off to Londontown. The head of the Catholic Church made stronger remarks on the molestation scandal than he has in the past, he made a reference to the strength of the British will in the face of the Nazis, and in general played diplomat.
And somehow, I couldn't care less.
I mean nothing. Dude, the Vatican has n
...if you wait long enough, the latest installment of your favorite Brit show will be on BBC America. But it might take a while.
That's right, folks, series 11 starts showing here in the States on Monday...except that I'll be teaching, getting home just in time to watch the very very last episode of "Boston Legal," my absolute favorite show on TV right now. 2 hour finale, starts as I get out of class, so I'll be missing the first half hour or so.
Only a couple more weeks, and then I'
Today I printed off the dissertation. All 150 pages of it. Oh, there's plenty left, since this is the first time that my committee will have the entire work at their disposal. And I've done quite a bit of re-arranging of previous work, to go along with more editing than I care to do. This is all in anticipation of a 'meeting of the minds' for the first week of November, when I must fly back to Austin. I'm mentally exhausted.
But, oh, wait! In the last month, I've put off so many chores
Well, after more than 3 years of waiting, plus another year of paperwork SNAFUs, it's now official. I am both an Italian and an American, as are my brothers and my mom. I can proudly wear the red-white-and-blue and the tri-colori and not get ripped for it. I can go in the short line when travelling through European customs; I can stay in Italy and other EU countries for longer periods of time (watch out, European UNRV members!), and grant-funded trips to EU countries, from what I hear, will n
Today I have been at a 4-year public university, having a second interview for an Assistant Professor position. I'm not tired; I'm not fatigued. I'm...wilted. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you the schedule for the day. Note that I got **location censured to protect my chances** yesterday afternoon, and rested up well last night.
7:30am--picked up by the department chair
8:00am--meeting with dean--all talk by her, whilst I sat and nodded and listened
9:00am--meeting with selection co
I decided that, due to my relative endpoint in my dissertation process, I could afford time to work a part-time job in the department stores around here during the Holiday Rush...meaning I'd make meager wages, but quite a few hours, and would get the nice employee discount.
Now, just as a background: I'm the daughter of a very successful salesman, and I can schmooze with the best. I know how to work a crowd, juggle stuff, and take care of business. I've done 'hotel front desk' types of job
I love it when my friends say that California doesn't have winter weather. Of course it does...it's just not as extreme as it is in most places in the world. What they don't understand are the geography, the climate and the population spread in this great Golden State o'mine.
California is long...very long...with at least 3 mountain ranges running along it. In fact, it's so big and long that, according to Wikipedia, if it were a country it'd be the 59th largest country in the world (for what
Yes, it's time to say...seeyas later. Yes, of course, I'm flying out here on the 24th, but I won't be back for sightseeing purposes for a while. The extremely small taste of this Eternal City has forever changed me...I'm in awe of the mix of modern, slightly modern, kinda old, really old, and ancient.
Yesterday's giratina saw me start at the Pantheon. When outside, I marvelled at how it has stood up over time, especially compared to the Area Sacra--where my bus dropped me off. The Area
I decided last night to go see "No Country For Old Men," seeing as how it was about to be in a double feature with "There Will Be Blood" (which I don't care to see right now). So, 9:35pm showing...and it was so worth it.
Admittedly, I'm a big Coen Bros. fan. I love their work--"The Big Lebowski" is in permanent residence in my DVD collection, and "Fargo" is about to join it. I love how they can work the dark side of humanity into a central question of society: what is justice? At least,
So, in the humanities and social sciences, most of 'us' are well-entrenched in the academic hiring process. Letters and dossiers have been sent, and the first round of interviews are about to commence. The usual process is to interview either by phone or at a convention (which tends to occur right after Christmas, or perhaps the first week of January), followed by an on-campus interview which lasts 2ish days; this second interview is usually done in January or February, so that decisions can b
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
So, at 8:04pm PDT, there was about a 5.0 earthquake centered approximately 6 miles from my place. It were funnnn!!!
Ok, it wasn't fun...well, not 'not fun'...kinda thrilling. See, if you're born in 'earthquake country,' you know what to do in an instant: find a place to take cover (under a desk, in a doorway), make sure you have something on your feet, and ride it out...it doesn't last long. But this was the first one in my life that I really, real
If you are a baseball fan, you are about to be immediately jealous of my vacation trip this year. If you're any kind of sports fan, you also might turn a bit green. For the rest of you, I will explain. My mother, my brother Matt and I are about to embark on a trip to the Shrine and two of the Temples of Major League Baseball.
Tuesday night: we take the red-eye to New York, get in Wednesday morning.
Wednesday: afternoon game at Yankee Stadium (vs. the Baltimore Orioles)
Thursday: night g
Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the return to waking up at the butt-crack of dawn after 5 days to the contrary, but today I'm beat. I can't seem to stay awake. When driving up to work this morning, I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Once I pulled into the parking lot, I had an extra 20 minutes, so I took a quick nap in the car. It did me well for quite a while, but now I'm in office hours having the same problem. However, unlike earlier, I don't have time for a nap, as
Well, it's official. I just sent off my first paper, with the hopes that it will get published.
Ok, let's not get our egos pumped up hugely here. It's a working paper, meaning that it's not posing a 'novel' idea per se, rather it's going to lead to a bigger, better paper. Also, the chances of it getting published are slim...you just can't expect everything you send off to be published. But still...there's a sense of accomplishment associated with this. I have officially taken the next
Imagine this: you're a kitty, one who loves to play and spazz out while chasing anything, including your own tail. The first year or so of your life you have a big house in which you can run around, not to mention free reign of the gardens and the wild field behind the house. It's fun! (Well, when you're not being chased by the big bad bruiser Peanut, the older female feline who runs the place.) Life's pretty good. Then your owners decide to move, and they can't take you with them. But the
So...California, that fair state o'mine, has a new governor. Although, it should be pointed out, he's also a former governor; Edmund Gerald 'Jerry' Brown, Jr. was governor for two terms in the 70s, and overall wasn't bad. He also wasn't exactly good, either. His father was governor here for 8 years, too, in the 50s and early 60s.
The Jr. Brown, also known in his previous stint in Sacramento as "Governor Moonbeam," has some legendary characteristics. He's considered a bit of a free spir
In the figurative sense:
Tuesdays are my long days at one campus: 11am class, follwed by office hours in the afternoon, followed by a 6pm class...get home about 9:30ish. Anyway, I usually eat at the school canteen for lunch, since it's easier to bring one meal instead of two, and after 3pm the pickings are rather slim. Anyway, I'm at a table in the common area, really only paying attention to my Turkey Ciabatta sandwich, when I hear the following conversation:
Dude: Wow, I could murder
I decided that I'd go out for sushi tonight...and being that I live in Japantown, well, I knew it'd be good. Oh boy...I oopsed big time.
I'm allergic to shellfish. It's an interesting food allergy...comes in a variety of forms. Usually, the afflicted person is more affected by either crustaceans, mollusks or cephalopods; for me, crustaceans are evil. It also afflicts the poor soul in a variety of ways: the worst being apoplectic shock, others are covered in hives, and those like me are
To all the Europeans who frequent the board and who occasionally read this blog, I ask for an explanation.
What the bloody hell is all the fuss about Eurovision?
First, there are countries in the contest that are not even part of Europe (Armenia? Azerbaijan? Georgia?). Now, I realize that there are many out there who would consider Europe and Asia as one continent, but even if we accept the fact that the word 'Europe' has a geographical connotation to it, much like the words 'Centra
