In other news, Yancy is no longer staring down the barrel of unemployment: he was offered another position at AT&T today! Thanks to everyone for all your positive thoughts and well wishes! Phew.
Today is my mom's 61st b-day. I know she doesn't read this, but Happy Birthday, Mom! We went swimming yesterday together before I went over to my sister's salon to get my hair did, and it was entirely pleasant so I guess the moral of the story is to be grateful for the little things. After visiting with Tracy at the salon, I once again met up with my fellow "So You Think You Can Dance" junkie, Sarah, to drink wine, eat cupcakes, and indulge in our favorite summer show, after which I swung over to Tracy and Anthony's to hang out with them and, more importantly, visit Ozzie (their Maltese puppy), whose adorableness I still can't get over. Can I just say that I fucking love summer? When a typical Wednesday involves working for about four hours and then having the rest of the day to do whatever you please, what's not to love?
Aaaannnd...books: Working on a book called Sunnyside by Glen David Gold (who is married to Alice Sebold), which was recommended to me by my endearingly grumpy with-a-heart-of-gold bookstore boss, Don. It's cleverly written and intriguing and is ostensibly about America in the time of Charlie Chaplin, thus far. I'm not that far in so that's all I'll say. Waiting for me at the library is The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.
Since I griped in my last entry about not biking to work, I'll just mention that this week I finally biked to work 2 days in a row, so I'm gonna try to maintain the trend from this day forward of biking to campus at least half of the remaining days of the semester. I still weigh more than I did five years ago, despite my best workout efforts (hello homicidal maniac Jillian Michaels). I think I may just have to accept that I'm no longer 18 and that's just the way it is. *sigh* I'll live, I suppose.
Over and out.
Yancy has an interview for a senior analyst position tomorrow at his current place of employment (his team was basically disbanded, but there are other areas of the company that are growing and that he is pretty well qualified for). It's a senior analyst position, when he is currently just a plain ol' analyst (he tests the company's software, and more recently has been involved in the planning/design of the testing of the software), but I think he has a good shot. He had an interview for a position downtown a couple weeks ago (also with the same company), and he nailed it and the interviewer was extremely complimentary and almost tried to hint that they wished they had more than one position open and would think of him if they did, but then the interviewer stopped himself since it's no use getting one's hopes up about job availability with the current state of the economy. Ultimately he did not get that job and it most likely went to someone who was already a senior analyst or something like that. But we're still thinking positive and I'm hoping this interview tomorrow goes well. In addition, not to jinx Yancy or anything, but he has been playing a lot of charity poker games on the side and has been making decent cash to put aside in case of emergency (in short, this month he made about as much playing poker during his free time as he did at his real job), so things are not as bad as they could be. Anyway, I'm thinking good thoughts.
My sister and I were talking on the phone the other day about our mom. Lately she has been in the habit of repeating the stories she tells, forgetting that she has already told them to us. It's been happening with more and more frequency, and she also likes to fixate on certain things that bug her and complain about them tirelessly to anyone who will listen (I really don't want to get into specifics here). We partly suspect that this is just because Mom hasn't had a job, even a part-time one, in a long time since she has been battling cancer. She goes for weekly chemo treatments and even before she got sick she just worked retail part-time and was a former beautician/hair stylist who let her license expire after years of child-rearing. So she doesn't have a lot of marketable skills or self-confidence about getting back into the workforce, and she therefore finds herself with a lot of time on her hands with which to obsess about things (especially since she's alone a lot since Dad still works). That's the only possibility we can think of for why she has been so insufferable lately, other than a scarier possibility, which is dementia. :( We're wondering if the years of chemo have been affecting her brain. I'm not saying this in a derogatory way; we're both genuinely concerned. She's just...different lately. I think maybe I've already said too much. I'm gonna get going and just hope for the best, and try not to fuel any fires whenever my mom and I get to talking about, well, anything.
Wow, that was quite an uplifting post. Sorry.
p.s. This, my friends, is how strawberry shortcake is done in my house.
Although I beat my old time and I'm really happy with how today went, these are always humbling experiences and make me admire the people around me. For example, I came in *just* behind a guy who had to be at least 65, lol. He nearly collapsed after the finish line so I accidentally passed him before they could take our tags, so I had to backtrack and usher him past me in the lane. During the race, I was also passed by a dude running while pushing his kid in a stroller. LOL Got some free junk in a goody bag, like a t-shirt, pedometer, and huge Butterfinger candy bar (mmmmm). Also enjoyed a free full-body massage after the race. Woot! These 5K's are addictive, even if you don't have anyone running with you or specifically cheering you on. Once you do one, you keep wanting to do more. And I just realized there was a ton of free food I could have taken but I totally forgot, which is sooooo unlike me. Oh well.
I put off making the butterscotch blondies last night and instead just had dinner (eggplant stuffed w/ ricotta and covered in red sauce, garlic toast, and some white wine) and watched 30 Rock DVD's while doing laundry, because that's how I roll (I'm pretty bad at doing multiple projects at one time, especially when said projects take place in a kitchen). So I've gotta shower now and then get crackin' on the blondies before I drive out to see Yancypants. Have an awesome day!
Tomorrow is my first official 5K of the summer. Wish me luck! I'll probably need it. Initially during the summer I was running a little over 3 miles about 4 times a week, but I quickly decreased that because I began to suspect I had at least one stress fracture in my right ankle. So lately I've been laying off the impactful exercise and just riding my bike to keep up the endurance (they say that's ok to do when you have a stress fracture, because they heal themselves as long as you don't stress the bones too badly; swimming and biking are ok, running isn't). I think it has been getting better, so I'm still gonna run tomorrow; then I'll lay off again. To motivate myself, I pledge to post my official time here, whether I beat last year's time or not. The pressure's on, lol.
Just survived the first week of summer school; I can't believe how much we have to cram into a short time though. The students might be a little shell-shocked after the first quiz, which was Wednesday, and end up reprioritizing in order to do well. But otherwise it's going fine.
Tomorrow evening, Yancy and I are probably going to the Taste of Randolph Street in the city, so that should be fun, weather permitting (damn it has been rainy lately!). Then on Sunday we're gathering at Tracy and Anthony's for Father's Day and Tracy's b-day, which I'm really looking forward to. It'll be awesome getting to see everyone, including Tracy's new Maltese puppy, Ozzie! He is adorable. Well, I should scram--I've gotta do a little laundry and bake some butterscotch blondies for my Grandpa Warren for Father's Day. Have a great weekend everybody!
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
sway_paperdoll) for the black apple notebooks--they are adorable and will certainly come in handy! What a sweet surprise, :). Thank you so much! ♥Haha, maybe I can use one of the notebooks to track the trials and tribulations of my furniture purchase. I just bought real custom furniture for the first time ever (a living room sectional from Walter E. Smithe). I can't believe how costly real furniture is. I am poor now. And a few days after I ordered it from one lady who helped me pick everything out and oversaw the sale, I got a phone call from a different lady telling me it was her job to keep me updated on my order and that she would be calling me to give me the latest on the status of my order approximately every two weeks until delivery. They called again a few days later to tell me that the wood finish I ordered for the legs was not available so I picked out a different, similar finish. I feel like I'm in the process of adopting a child from Romania. It's expensive, lengthy, and fraught with complications.
Tonight was really fun--I went out to Schaumburg w/ Laura and met up with Katie, an old friend from junior high whom I just reconnected w/ on FB, and we all saw Judah Friedlander from "30 Rock" perform a stand-up set at Chicago Improv. Laura actually bantered with him (told him she had caught a 3-foot shark before, and when he asked her what she does, she told him she's getting her PhD in math and he asked her if she wanted a trophy. He later referred to her as the girl getting her PhD in long division, LOL). After the show we got to meet him and got pictures and an autograph! He asked me what I do too, so I told him I teach math at the same place where Laura's getting the PhD, and he was like, "wow, you girls know what you're doin'." LOL On Laura's postcard (of his lovely artwork of the mermaid with Bigfoot, which made an appearance on the episode of "30 Rock" called 'Cougars'), he wrote "Tutor me."
(Mr. Friedlander also approved of my shirt.) Woohoo! Fun times!
I'm reading a really interesting book right now called The Age of the Unthinkable. It's about how our world is constantly in flux, with everything from environmental concerns to terrorism to the economy, and how to process it all and think in ways that will help us adapt. The author, Joshua Cooper Ramo, brings in lots of diverse ideas and it will be interesting to see how he ultimately ties it all together. Although I can't promise anything since I haven't finished it, it's really good so far and I highly recommend it!
Tomorrow I work a short shift at B&N, then it's off to my cuz's graduation party, and then Yancy and I are finally seeing Phoenix at their sold out show at Park West in the city! Yaaaaaay! Summer school starts up on Monday so this was a nice way to end the break. Hope all is well w/ everyone!
Am I right to start feeling like I'm being jerked around? This is somewhat of a pattern. She declares her dedication to being a good student and thanks me for being understanding and expresses a strong desire to come in and make up some missed work or go over an assessment she feels she should have done better on, I respond immediately, and then she doesn't get back to me for several weeks, and once she does, it's another tragedy or sickness. I should also add that on the rare occasions that I did see her, she seemed in perfect health and in good spirits, with the exception of the one time I saw her in crutches (she may have come to one or two classes in this condition, so I didn't see her this way for long).
I guess ultimately it doesn't matter, because her grade is her grade. I used the same standards to grade her tests and quizzes that I used to grade the other students', so if not being able to attend class caused her grade to drop that much, I guess that's why they say you need to attend class regularly to succeed. And I certainly would have helped her outside of class if that were possible. But do you think I'm being overly suspicious or lacking in sympathy?
I'll tell you what humanity ISN'T, though. Humanity is not pigeon-holing a large group of people and making a gross, unfavorable generalization about them which, if it fulfilled its purpose, would affect others' behavior toward this unfortunately-labeled group in a negative way. You know who did stuff like that? HITLER. Oh and also, to less disastrous and thankfully ineffective results, some idiot named Carol Sarler who inexplicably has a job with The Daily Mail (although I hear that the Daily Mail isn't exactly considered a source of stellar journalism in the UK).
( Read more... )
I have to admit that as a woman who has not yet had children (and possibly never will), I often feel "out of the club," but it's not enough to make me suddenly start trying to get pregnant, because that's a huge decision that would affect not only me, but at least one other human being (and actually at least two--holy schnikes let's not forget the father). But if the mothers out there will promise not to generalize me and think of me as more selfish, less responsible, etc., then I promise to not use ridiculously demeaning and unfair words and phrases like "baby factory," which I sometimes see people using, and I also promise not to assume that once you have kids, you will become a less dependable worker or more boring and pedestrian on a social level, because I KNOW that's not true. Women need to stick together and respect one another as individuals who all have something to offer the world, and if we think we're being disrespected or pigeonholed, we need to call out the men and women who are making us feel this way, in a way that is constructive rather than fueling the fire. So I have some advice for Ms. Sarler: the next time you see someone, be it mom or non-mom, dad or non-dad, acting irresponsibly in the workplace, how about just addressing the issue with that individual instead of airing your frustrations in a newspaper and taking it out on everyone? Oh wait, I forgot--you're not the boss anymore, and you have to make a living somehow. Well, this was a very disappointing and irresponsible way for you to do so. I hope you think harder the next time you have to crank out 500 words or so for a paycheck.
( So. Much. Rambling. )
Oh, and I just got off the phone w/ the on-line editor of my local paper, and he's going to look into removing that page or changing its format so that the information doesn't come up in a Google search of just a person's name--that's how it is now (newer transactions don't come up with a Google search of just a person's name), but they overlooked the fact that it was coming up for older transactions.
Ok, I guess I'm done yakking--I'm sure there was more I meant to talk about, but I don't really remember. Hope all is well with everyone. Have a nice weekend!
This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of Tracy. This was after her hair was done but before she put her wedding dress on.
More pictures ( under the cut. )
Ok, that's all, I promise. Unless anyone has requests, lol.
I haven't seen many comparisons in the music press of Lykke Li to a young, mid-to-late 70's-era Stevie Nicks, but I can't be the first or only person to notice. Her movements, her outfit, her platform boots, her distinctive voice. I mean, c'mon. Who's with me here?
In other news, a trip to Spain in August is slowly taking shape. I'm really hoping it actually happens this time.
In my quest to be a good little time-waster during my month off between my spring and summer teaching assignments, I'm reading two books about sex concurrently: How Sex Works by Dr. Sharon Moalem, which covers the whole gamut of sexual reproduction in humans, and Bonk by Mary Roach, which is mainly about arousal. If you're looking to read exactly one interesting book about sex just for fun, go with Bonk. As books go, it's better-written and better-researched. You're welcome, although you could probably discern that just from the titles. I finished reading The Sociopath Next Door a little earlier this week, and it's a bit disconcerting, positing that 1 in 25 people in the U.S. (not sure about the whole world) has no conscience and can do absolutely anything without a pang of guilt, so it's only a question of what they want out of life and what they think they can get away with. There are some very interesting anecdotes and hypothetical situations given by the author, who is also a practicing psychiatrist, as well as a checklist for how to identify a sociopath and how to protect yourself.
I'm back into my 3-mile run/walks, which coincide nicely with being back into sitting on my couch with Ben & Jerry's watching Jeopardy on a daily basis. It's all about balance. Tomorrow morning I'm meeting up with my office-mate Tim and his wife Jill for another round of volunteering for a few hours at a food bank, which is kind of like taking your soul through a car wash. Then tomorrow night I actually get to see Yancy--good times! Also, just a bit of advice if you're both bored and not-made-of-money: the local library is your friend. I've always wanted to see Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (the one with Kirsten Dunst) and the highly-rated Half Nelson, and I just rented both of them on DVD for a whole week for a grand total of $1.00.
So how is everyone's summer going?
Lisa:
I was a student in your Math 201 class on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday at 11:00. The registration office has no record of me ever being enrolled in your class and has proven problematic for insurance purposes. In order to correct this, could you please contact the department chairman of the math office and verify that I was, in fact, enrolled. The chairman would then need to contact records and registration. Your prompt attention would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
Sincerely,
A**M**** C*****
( My response. )
( Read more... )
All-in-all, things went really well and it was all over crazy fast! Even though the day felt long (late during the reception, Tracy remarked that it felt like four days rather than just one day, because the time at the salon felt like forever ago even though it was just that morning, and the church ceremony felt like a different day too, etc.), it was still hard to believe it was over come midnight. I was nervous since I had to give a speech at the reception, but it went fine. The food and drinks were great, the DJ was cool and fun was had by all.
( Bachelorette party pics all up in hurrrr. )
Sorry for all the rambling, but I hope you enjoyed the pics, etc. In other news, I am 90% sure that 90% of whatever points clueless calculus boy has actually managed to get on tests and quizzes are because he was able to see the paper of the student next to him, and I 90% want to stab him. Luckily, I don't really have to prove my suspicions of him cheating, because he's terrible at cheating and is going to fail anyway. The wedding is this Saturday, finals are next week, I just got back from my last extra study session of the semester with the Rockford folks, and soon all of this craziness will be over and I'll be bored out of my fucking mind.
Oy. Between all of my sister's wedding stuff and the craziness of some of my classes, I'm gonna be very glad when this semester is over. But at least now I understand why this guy's so clueless in calculus. In order to understand calculus being taught in English, it helps to understand English. Although, math is so universal that if a person has a certain minimum competence in mathematics (at least, enough to have passed pre-calc/trig and be taking calculus), they can usually understand some equations even if they speak a different language.
Also, I really don't know if I should answer or even acknowledge that e-mail. If I did answer it, I'd be tempted to just admit to him that I don't think his not being fast enough is the reason he failed the exam. I've only graded the first page, and he didn't earn a single point. On one problem, I provided a function, its derivative, and its second derivative, so that I could assess how well the students could use that information to graph the function. All he wrote was the function f(x) = etc., its derivative f'(x) = etc., and its second derivative, f"(x) = etc., --only he wrote them wrong. He did something to the information I provided to make it false, like he thought he was supposed to somehow manipulate the given information, but give it the same name. That was his sole contribution. It was as if someone said, "interpret the sentence 'roses are red, violets are blue,'" and the student wrote, "roses are blue." I feel like just writing WTF all over his test. I told Yancy about this, and he suggested I give the guy negative points, lol.
I'm too tired/pissed off to write about much else. Oh, I did find out that one of the teachers taking the master's program that I'm a supplemental instructor for is married to an African diplomat, and her father-in-law is a king in Ghana. Random. Those Rockford folks are full of surprises.
In other news, I want Peeps. Didn't get any over Easter, which is probably a good thing. I should hit up the post-Easter sales at the grocery/discount stores though, and score me some old Peeps, which are even better than new Peeps.
Oh and how was everyone's Easter anyway? Mine was very relaxing and pretty rad. Yancy and I went back up to Wisconsin to again hang with Aunt Sue and Uncle Jack (and my parents and a bunch of cousins were there). A gang of us decided to go for a walk out in the country after a really good Easter dinner, and we probably walked a couple miles, up to a convent at the top of a hill (called Schoenstatt, which is German for "beautiful city/place"), where we could see for miles and where there was an outdoor Stations of the Cross. Back at the house we also got a taste of the crazy surround-sound system which was in full effect for some cartoons/movies the kids were watching as well as some music that was playing (not all at once, of course). One thing you never expect to hear at Easter: "I can't see the subwoofer, but I can feel it." Later the little kids went down to a barn where they could watch cows getting milked, and when they returned you could smell the hay and manure in their hair. We asked Jordyn (she's about 3 now I'm guessing) if the farm smelled good, and she replied in the negative. "Well, what did it smell like?" "Like butts!" lol
Ok, I need to get some crap done. Hope you all enjoyed your Easter and are having a good week. Over and out.
- Mood:
calm
http://www.wearephoenix.com/
Edit: Ok, not joking. I'm officially, staunchly in favor of Cocoa Puffs over this song. I'm reloading the page over and over again while I run around the condo dancing, playing with Juneau, putting laundry away, etc. Thank you Phoenix for making my life more enjoyable than it probably should be.
Also, food pic of the day:
Chicken parmigiana sliders from Tapalaluna, a tapas bar in downtown DeKalb, where Tim, Jill and I went and ate/drank before checking out the Second City touring company at the Egyptian. Good times!
Firstly, I'm happy because I got a pleasant surprise on Thursday: my NIU contract is already renewed for next year! Totally didn't see that coming, but I guess since I have a little seniority behind me now, things aren't gonna be *quite* as tense as they have been in the past, in terms of having to wait to hear about possible budget cuts, etc. Phew!
Also, I suddenly can't get enough of "Blue Ridge Mountains" by Fleet Foxes.
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a
Everyone's probably heard it already, but if you haven't, give it a listen. And don't be fooled that it starts out a little slow and uneventful. It quickly burgeons into something beautiful (well, imho).
Also, I realize I'm pretty late to the party with regards to this as well, but I'm really liking Kings of Leon lately. They sometimes vaguely remind me of U2 back when they were young whippersnappers, not necessarily in every song but just sometimes, during fleeting moments. My favorite tracks from their latest are "Sex on Fire," "Use Somebody," "Crawl," and "Be Somebody." If anyone wants to hear any or all of the above, let me know. Then again, everyone uses lastfm and other music sites except me, so I'm probably not offering anything new.
Ok, have a great week and let's hope everyone has been more productive today than I have!
A couple of people reading this may have already heard this story, but Yancy has some bad luck. On Friday he was eagerly anticipating a call from a friend about possibly lending some backing vocals to a Jarvis Cocker track (Jarvis Cocker is from the British pop band Pulp and he's making an album in Chicago--Yancy has been a fan for years), but the call never came. He figured maybe the recording session didn't happen because Cocker decided to extend his stay at SXSW, or that things didn't work out or whatever. Then on Saturday morning, Yancy and I were stuck in traffic on the way to the Midwest Gaming Classic when his phone starts buzzing at him, indicating that he suddenly has some voice mails. Turns out these voicemails are from the day before--the phone apparently decided to fuck him over and not ring, not indicate any missed calls, and not indicate any voice mails until Saturday morning. Two of his three missing-in-action voice mails were his friend saying, "hey, you coming to the studio? We're laying down the vocals tonight." Fuck Yancy's phone. Please send good vibes to Yancy and his phone so that their delicate relationship may one day heal.
Ok, time for ( bridal shower pics. )
And now for some ( other miscellaneous pictures. )
Let's see, what else? Oh, I *finally* read a whole book recently, which was a first for me since like, Christmas break. Has anyone here read The Kite Runner? I loved it--don't want to give anything away in case anyone's planning on reading it, but I highly recommend it. Beautiful language and beautiful, captivating story. Doesn't necessarily have a nice, neat, happy ending either. It's hopeful but realistic.
Ok, I think it's probably time for beddy-bye for me. Enjoy your week, and thanks for reading!
So I guess this is the post wherein I put up a bunch of recent pics. The above is of my sister at her bridal shower, which was on Sunday (and if she looks like she had been recently crying, it's for a sweet reason).
But first, ( a few updates. )
Ok, this is already getting super long, and I haven't even posted the rest of the bridal shower pics (different party from the couple's shower), which I planned to do. I'm gonna break this up into two entries. You're gonna wish I had quit LJ altogether by the time I'm done here.
