Wheeeeeeeeeeee! Spamalot is coming to San Francisco!!! Oh how I've waited for this to happen! When Las Vegas got a hold of it, the deal was that the producers wouldn't show any version of it west of that happening light-tropolis, so that we would have to go to the desert and get bamboozled just to see our silly English knnnnnnnnnnigits. But no! I did not give in to temptation! (Mostly because Vegas doesn't do much for me.) And now I, like many others, have been richly rewarded--Spamalot w
Today is a very special day in my family, as my great aunt turns 99 today.
Yes, 99. And while arthritis has slowed her to the point that tortoises move faster and farther than she does, and while her "forgetter" tends to work more than her "rememberer," this woman is amazing. Yes, there is someone who comes in 4-5 days a week for a few hours a day, and she probably needs to be put in a place where there is 24-hour care, but at the same time when she has a good day you hear about long-lost
This is just to start things off...I view this blog as a way to do a couple of things:
--As ideas come to my head for possible future research, I'll place them on here...if nothing else than to philosophize on them for a bit.
--To expound a bit on topics of the Romance languages (and perhaps others) which come up on UNRV.
Since I'm in the middle of writing my dissertation, I'm either going to have no time to write often, am going to be fried when I do it, or will be on here often bec
There are aspects to summer that everyone can count on. The sweet smell of blooms in the garden. The salty air experienced on a vacation at the coast. Watching lightning bugs flicker in the evening darkness.
For me...I can count on the fact that I'm not just mosquito fodder, but I'm a gormet meal.
Well, I must be...it doesn't matter what I do, I'm bitten. I've yet to find a product, either natural or chemical, which keeps the suckers off of me. I've been offered all sorts of remedie
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
And it's well-deserved, dammit.
Working primarily at a community college, there's nothing more satisfying than to hear that one of your students is going to go onto a 4-year degree. For the benefit of the non-Americans, our educational system here has the 4-year universities (where one earns a Bachelor's degree, or more) and 'community colleges' or 'junior colleges'. These CCs offer several types of courses, and one can get their Associate's degree so that they can either enter into the wo
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,
Lubs, by the way, are what many 'round here jokingly refer to as pounds...since we wish to somehow pronounce 'lbs'. Anyway...at yesterday's weigh-in, it was 50 lost since 1 June 2006! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :punk:
My 34th year is now completed. No, I don't want presents...although if you really wish to send me something, I'm sure as hell not gonna pass it up (that'd be dumb). No, I don't want a party thrown in my honor (unless Neph is conjuring up some wonders and delights!)...I'd rather host my own and let you in on the real reason why we're all here. I'm sneaky like that.
This year I have been blessed, much as in years past. Oh, sure, there were bumps in the road, but what the hell...honestly, l
I have no idea why, but
is my absolute favorite song by Otis Redding.
I mean, it's not really about San Francisco; it's really about him. Yes, I know, he was sitting on a pier that ran into the San Francisco Bay when he wrote the key line, but the rest of the song was written by Steve Cropper--and he purposely wrote it about Otis. Evidently, Otis hated writing about his life, but Steve found it full of inspiration.
I guess the rhythm of the song does remind me of sitting at some of
Well, folks, it's over. My career as a student has now fully come to an end. My dissertation has been accepted by UMI, the publishing group which tells us if the work is 'up to snuff' for the College of Grad Studies. I have been billed for all graduation fees ($8 for processing, $55 for uploading the dissertation (both are automatic), and $65 for having UMI register my copyright with the Library of Congress (which is a pain in the ass that I am willing to pay for)), and they have been paid.
