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Thinking it's time to move on...
Sep 21, 2009

Ya'll have been great. And I like the vast majority of you. And I hate the idea that the BBC doesn't know how to categorize this site, but at the same time, I'm really over the trolls that seem to be everywhere here. I'm tired of being insulted by people who don't know me, and who have no interest in anything but arguing and being jerks.

Not to mention that with two classes to teach and grade, a dissertation to finish revising, a job to find, and worrying about where to live after December...well, I don't know.

If I don't leave entirely, I'm going to have to reduce my time here. I don't think I can keep this up.

(12 replies, Latest reply: Sep 23, 2009)

The drive there...
Oct 11, 2005

So, Courtesy and I meet up about 7, go have dinner, and head off down the freeway. At dinner, we began talking about politics, and the excellent conversation continued. Even with our opposing views, no one was maimed, and we are still friends.

The driving is smooth, and I don't meep once (at least, I don't think I did). We drive through the night, getting stopped by the Border Patrol 3 times (or was it 4). One had a drug dog, another asked "are you US citizens?" and didn't seem to care what our answer was. We saw a brush fire off in the distance, and I fell asleep quite a few times, often mid-conversation. What can I say? I was tired!

We arrived in Alamagordo and had breakfast at a local dive right next to a chain restaurant. I can guarantee it was better than a chain would have ever been. White Sands, the missile testing range, was quiet. And the number of boys in uniforms (and my goodness but they were boys) made me somewhat sad, really.

Fed and ready to roll, we continued on to Carizozo. Great houses, great character, and an aching sadness for a town that had seen much, much better days. I could buy a 4 bedroom, 3 bath house there for not much more than two years of rent in Irvine...we stopped at the local cafe, had a soda, and moved on.

Driving into Lincoln, we realized that neither of us had any signal on our phones. How were we to let Lil know we were there? How to find her house. Courtesy went into the post office and asked. They called her, and she came and stood outside.

Yes, Lincoln is that small.

Part II: The rest of the party arrives.

(No replies)

What the Heck was I Thinking?!
Sep 4, 2005

Okay, so I was thinking the other day about all the things I've committed to for the next, oh, year or so...

1. Pedagogical Fellowship: write 15 hours worth of workshops and run them over 3 days.

2. Graduate Program Committee: help decide who is gets into the program next year in my department. Oh, and throw the beginning of the year picnic the day after the 3 days of workshops.

3. Grad Council: one of only 3 grad students on a standing committee of the Academic Senate.

4. TA: this fall, thank the goddess, I'm teaching intro to monotheism. Pretty much a no-brainer for me, although I have to admit to a weakness in the area of Judaism.

5. part time job: 20 hours a week in a bookstore, so that D has health insurance.

6. single parenting: yes, D's father is back from Afghanistan, but he's living an hour away, and may or may not be staying here. As of November, it's quite possible he will be returning to one of the two sandy places our current president likes to send the military types.

7. AGS: I am the only representative from the School of Humanities on the Graduate Student Senate. And a main member of the Internal committee.

8. Dissertation Proposal: My advisor wants my dissertation proposal done by the first part of December. Somehow, I'm thinking it's not going to happen.

Okay, so then I realized...um, when am I going to have time to have a life outside of this? And I realized...never. And I can't exactly give any of these things up. I wanted to do all of these things over the course of my graduate career, not all at once. But when opportunity knocks...

(11 replies, Latest reply: Sep 7, 2005)

ABD
May 21, 2005

All I have to do now is write a book.

I can do that, right?

(19 replies, Latest reply: May 29, 2005)

Can I read French? Apparently so.
May 6, 2005

Last week, I took my French translation test. I passed. Which means that now all I have left is my orals (oh god) and my latin test.

I think I'll have better luck with the former than the latter. Latin endings always throw me.

(3 replies, Latest reply: May 6, 2005)