I can't believe it. Fucked in the ass TWICE by The Other School on the Hill. On Wednesday I was unceremoniously told that the potential part time position that was suggested on my behalf was given to one of the tenure track profs who needed some service credits in his portfolio. The idea to open this part time position didn't even fucking EXIST until I came along. Another professor made the suggestion for ME to do this work, and instead they gave it to someone else = part time faculty are expendable and ultimately not important.
NOW the grant money that was offered to my executive producer for the Korea doc. has been yanked because the committee thought it was for HIS travel expenses, not mine. As soon as they found out it was MY reimbursement, they cried foul and have pulled that funding. WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE? I FUCKING BEND OVER BACKWARDS FOR THIS INSTITUTION AND THE STUDENTS AND NO ONE GIVES A SHIT? Once again, part time faculty are a dime a dozen, apparently, and need to be shat upon to be put in their place.
I am really ready to quit academia altogether and just get a fucking secretary job to make money. These people are FUCKED IN THE HEAD.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Quick Update
I have a crapload of work to do, but just wanted to update my employment siteeation:
1. I'll be teaching 1 section of freshman comp next semester at the Other School on the Hill (where I've been teaching screenwriting)
2. I didn't get the job teaching screenwriting at The School on the Hill.
It's okay that I didn't get it because I don't think I could handle teaching two 4-credit courses at 2 different places. I have been thinking a lot lately about how I want to identify myself, and although I enjoy teaching, I am primarily a writer. As such, I have to allow more time and focus to writing. I will have to do something else to make money (one section won't pay enough for my billz), but I am already trying to get my freelance writing off the ground, and there's also tutoring, and of course, temping. The most important thing is that I focus on MY writing as the #1 priority.
In other good news - I have a number of buds on my Christmas cactus this year, for the first time ever (because I actually watered it this year). Yay!
1. I'll be teaching 1 section of freshman comp next semester at the Other School on the Hill (where I've been teaching screenwriting)
2. I didn't get the job teaching screenwriting at The School on the Hill.
It's okay that I didn't get it because I don't think I could handle teaching two 4-credit courses at 2 different places. I have been thinking a lot lately about how I want to identify myself, and although I enjoy teaching, I am primarily a writer. As such, I have to allow more time and focus to writing. I will have to do something else to make money (one section won't pay enough for my billz), but I am already trying to get my freelance writing off the ground, and there's also tutoring, and of course, temping. The most important thing is that I focus on MY writing as the #1 priority.
In other good news - I have a number of buds on my Christmas cactus this year, for the first time ever (because I actually watered it this year). Yay!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
More Computer Frazzle
Does anyone recall the absolute nightmare I went through at the beginning of the semester to get the goddamned McAfee software onto my computer so that Out-of-Town University's security protocols would be satisfied? Well guess what - I'm having just as much difficulty getting the fucking thing OFF my computer now. The Mac guy at OOTU keeps sending me to websites that are supposed to have image disk links and I can't get to any of them. The page either comes up blank or I get an error message. And the worst part is I only used my computer on campus ONCE this entire semester. What a complete pain in the ass. That place is so behind the times re: technology I can hardly believe they actually function in the 21st century.
The Mac guy is a nice person and I feel bad talking smack about him but goddammit this is ridiculous!
The Mac guy is a nice person and I feel bad talking smack about him but goddammit this is ridiculous!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Kraftwerk
I'd put up the embedded code but it's not available. You absolutely MUST check it out:
The Robots
Here ya go - another fave:
The Robots
Here ya go - another fave:
Nog
Tis the season for drinking egg nog and rum. I picked up both items yesterday while I was grocery shopping. They are necessary elements to the tree trimmin' which I will be doing this weekend, hopefully with Salty Miss Jill. If PMP were around I'd have her over too, but I know she'll be in New Yawk in a swanky pair of new shooz and a pahty dress.
Only 3 days left at Out of Town University. Actually 1 day of actual class, then game-day, then wrap-up and evaluations. I found out yesterday that I am expected to hand-deliver my grades to the registrar, which has got to be the most back-assward, stone-age thing I've heard in awhile. Helllooooo there's this thing called the IN-TER-NET and you can use it to POST GRADES. Jeezus. So I made it clear that I am not driving an extra 2.5 hours the week before Christmas just to walk the grades into the registrar's office (I was told that I can't send them in via certified mail). That means that when I get my students' papers next Tuesday, I will grade them in a flurry of caffeine and up-all-night activity, and hand the papers back on Thursday, and my grades to the registrar that very day. D-U-N, DONE!
And speaking of grading, I have a crapload of that to do for my other class...
Only 3 days left at Out of Town University. Actually 1 day of actual class, then game-day, then wrap-up and evaluations. I found out yesterday that I am expected to hand-deliver my grades to the registrar, which has got to be the most back-assward, stone-age thing I've heard in awhile. Helllooooo there's this thing called the IN-TER-NET and you can use it to POST GRADES. Jeezus. So I made it clear that I am not driving an extra 2.5 hours the week before Christmas just to walk the grades into the registrar's office (I was told that I can't send them in via certified mail). That means that when I get my students' papers next Tuesday, I will grade them in a flurry of caffeine and up-all-night activity, and hand the papers back on Thursday, and my grades to the registrar that very day. D-U-N, DONE!
And speaking of grading, I have a crapload of that to do for my other class...
Monday, November 26, 2007
I need more Lust, apparently.
I'm rather surprised that my Wrath isn't off the scale.
Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz
| Greed: | Medium | |
| Gluttony: | Low | |
| Wrath: | Medium | |
| Sloth: | Low | |
| Envy: | Very Low | |
| Lust: | Very Low | |
| Pride: | Medium |
Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz
Sunday, November 25, 2007
VIsion of tomorrow (or, where's my flying car?)
People everywhere are asking, now that we’re firmly entrenched in the 21st century, “Dude, where’s my flying car?” There are places online where you can read about the obsession with this query, and re-experience (or for many of us, experience for the first time) the vision of the future that never was, from fifty years ago.
On one such blog, which is of course, is Paleo-Future.com, I discovered this link to a wonderful Disney animation about futuristic transportation, “The Road Ahead,” from the idealistic and optimistic eyes of 1958. Despite the flippant tone of the title to my post, I find it sad to see the futuristic visions of that era and realize that not only have we not lived up to those visions, we’ve actually made things worse in our attempts to make them reality. A lot of that, I believe, is due to the naiveté of those dreams. For instance, when you watch the clip you’ll see a section on the cars of the future - and how they will be fueled by petroleum products including jet fuel (yet no mention of the solutions to the problems that pollution will cause), followed by being powered by the atom (with no mention of how to create safe atomic energy vehicles), and finally the “sun-powered electro-suspension car.” What they didn’t know was that by the time we got to the flying solar car, we’d have already begun poisoning the planet with the petrol and atomic energy!
Another thing that strikes me about this futuristic vision is that the prediction for what would happen to our cities has actually come to pass. “Decentraliz[ing] our population centers into vast, urban areas” would be the result of miles and miles of super-highways criss-crossing the U.S. And look what we now have: urban sprawl that in some places has decimated downtown areas, producing isolated cul-de-sacs instead of neighborhoods, and self-enclosed gated communities at least twenty minutes by car from the nearest grocery store. Shopping centers now stand where farmland once existed, surrounded by acres of parking lots, congested access roads, and not a pedestrian in sight. Notice on the graphics for that section in the film that there are no sidewalks present. No one is walking! Everyone’s riding a pod car through tubes or sliding along on enclosed moving sidewalks. It looks damn cool, but, again, the prediction didn’t take into account how obese Americans would become with the lack of necessary everyday exercise (and the exorbitant cost of health care that would result). I can speak from personal experience on this: when I lived near Boston and took the train in every day, I was on my feet walking to and from the T and work and bus or parking lot. Two years later, after moving to Columbus, Ohio, a notorious sprawl-ridden metro area, I had gained 10 pounds because I DROVE EVERYWHERE - there is little option for walking to the store, bank, etc. because many of those suburbs don’t even have sidewalks for pedestrians. It’s all about the car and the super-highway, as “The Road Ahead” had predicted.
Apparently in the world of the future, the gender roles and racism of the 1950s don’t change. The man does the driving and works at the office; the woman is a housewife who goes shopping and cares for the kids. Apparently, in the idyllic world of the future, one-income families can afford all the luxuries described in the film. Oh, if only it were true! Not that I’m advocating the strict gender roles of the ’50s, but it would be nice to have some options for one parent to take care of the home while one goes out to earn the Almighty Dollar and still afford to live in the lap of such luxury. And of course, it goes without saying that all the people in this film (and others like it) are white; apparently the vision of the future didn’t include people of color. So, while maintaining an almost manic level of optimism, this vision was far from realistic. No one could foresee the societal upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, and how they would change our national consciousness forever.
I suppose I am fascinated (read: obsessed) with this paleo-future stuff because I feel let down that we didn’t do a better job of managing all this optimism and futuristic planning. Although I was born in 1968, the optimism for the future was still alive for me as a child during the 70s, and these kinds of images were still available and somehow seeded into my consciousness. My parents were from the WWII generation, as well, so I suppose that’s another influence. Even the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons from the ’50s I watched as a kid helped to cultivate this futuristic vision, albeit from a comical perspective (remember the giant electro-magnet which was supposed to capture Bugs Bunny who had eaten the iron carrot? The Coyote instead got a cave full of tractors, satellites, rockets, radio towers, and ocean liners, with air raid sirens screaming in the background). Somewhere in my little head I was branded with this idealistic vision of what the future would be, combined with a more modern sense of values and mores. Ironic that 1968 was also the year “2001: A Space Odyssey” was released – a film about the dehumanized future we were building up to, entirely dependent upon computers and machines for our survival.
I am disappointed that our society has become dirtier, uglier, and people seem more disconnected than ever. To some degree, we have fulfilled the vision of the future – it’s just that we’ve fulfilled the darker, seedier outcomes of the technology proposed at that time. We just didn’t realize all of the negative consequences of pursuing those dreams. In a word, it was short-sightedness that ultimately destroyed that optimistic dream of the future. We’ve started to catch up with those predictions, technologically speaking, and looking back, we can see how blind we were to the consequences and limitations of the technology. In a way, ignorance was bliss; without concerns for the environment or our own health, there were no limits to the imagination. But in other ways, we were extremely limited, because the future only belonged to a select few.
I don’t mean to be completely bleak and depressing, or to come down on technology as a force of evil in the world. On the contrary, I have hope that we will turn things around, still, through more conscientious applications of science and technology. Who knows, we may yet have our flying solar cars. In the meantime, we have these artifacts from our past of the future that never was. Perhaps they will inspire other generations to achieve a more humane and technologically viable vision, in the spirit of “new hopes, new dreams, and a better way of life for the future.”
Sources:
www.2719 Hyperion.com
On one such blog, which is of course, is Paleo-Future.com, I discovered this link to a wonderful Disney animation about futuristic transportation, “The Road Ahead,” from the idealistic and optimistic eyes of 1958. Despite the flippant tone of the title to my post, I find it sad to see the futuristic visions of that era and realize that not only have we not lived up to those visions, we’ve actually made things worse in our attempts to make them reality. A lot of that, I believe, is due to the naiveté of those dreams. For instance, when you watch the clip you’ll see a section on the cars of the future - and how they will be fueled by petroleum products including jet fuel (yet no mention of the solutions to the problems that pollution will cause), followed by being powered by the atom (with no mention of how to create safe atomic energy vehicles), and finally the “sun-powered electro-suspension car.” What they didn’t know was that by the time we got to the flying solar car, we’d have already begun poisoning the planet with the petrol and atomic energy!
Another thing that strikes me about this futuristic vision is that the prediction for what would happen to our cities has actually come to pass. “Decentraliz[ing] our population centers into vast, urban areas” would be the result of miles and miles of super-highways criss-crossing the U.S. And look what we now have: urban sprawl that in some places has decimated downtown areas, producing isolated cul-de-sacs instead of neighborhoods, and self-enclosed gated communities at least twenty minutes by car from the nearest grocery store. Shopping centers now stand where farmland once existed, surrounded by acres of parking lots, congested access roads, and not a pedestrian in sight. Notice on the graphics for that section in the film that there are no sidewalks present. No one is walking! Everyone’s riding a pod car through tubes or sliding along on enclosed moving sidewalks. It looks damn cool, but, again, the prediction didn’t take into account how obese Americans would become with the lack of necessary everyday exercise (and the exorbitant cost of health care that would result). I can speak from personal experience on this: when I lived near Boston and took the train in every day, I was on my feet walking to and from the T and work and bus or parking lot. Two years later, after moving to Columbus, Ohio, a notorious sprawl-ridden metro area, I had gained 10 pounds because I DROVE EVERYWHERE - there is little option for walking to the store, bank, etc. because many of those suburbs don’t even have sidewalks for pedestrians. It’s all about the car and the super-highway, as “The Road Ahead” had predicted.
Apparently in the world of the future, the gender roles and racism of the 1950s don’t change. The man does the driving and works at the office; the woman is a housewife who goes shopping and cares for the kids. Apparently, in the idyllic world of the future, one-income families can afford all the luxuries described in the film. Oh, if only it were true! Not that I’m advocating the strict gender roles of the ’50s, but it would be nice to have some options for one parent to take care of the home while one goes out to earn the Almighty Dollar and still afford to live in the lap of such luxury. And of course, it goes without saying that all the people in this film (and others like it) are white; apparently the vision of the future didn’t include people of color. So, while maintaining an almost manic level of optimism, this vision was far from realistic. No one could foresee the societal upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, and how they would change our national consciousness forever.
I suppose I am fascinated (read: obsessed) with this paleo-future stuff because I feel let down that we didn’t do a better job of managing all this optimism and futuristic planning. Although I was born in 1968, the optimism for the future was still alive for me as a child during the 70s, and these kinds of images were still available and somehow seeded into my consciousness. My parents were from the WWII generation, as well, so I suppose that’s another influence. Even the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons from the ’50s I watched as a kid helped to cultivate this futuristic vision, albeit from a comical perspective (remember the giant electro-magnet which was supposed to capture Bugs Bunny who had eaten the iron carrot? The Coyote instead got a cave full of tractors, satellites, rockets, radio towers, and ocean liners, with air raid sirens screaming in the background). Somewhere in my little head I was branded with this idealistic vision of what the future would be, combined with a more modern sense of values and mores. Ironic that 1968 was also the year “2001: A Space Odyssey” was released – a film about the dehumanized future we were building up to, entirely dependent upon computers and machines for our survival.
I am disappointed that our society has become dirtier, uglier, and people seem more disconnected than ever. To some degree, we have fulfilled the vision of the future – it’s just that we’ve fulfilled the darker, seedier outcomes of the technology proposed at that time. We just didn’t realize all of the negative consequences of pursuing those dreams. In a word, it was short-sightedness that ultimately destroyed that optimistic dream of the future. We’ve started to catch up with those predictions, technologically speaking, and looking back, we can see how blind we were to the consequences and limitations of the technology. In a way, ignorance was bliss; without concerns for the environment or our own health, there were no limits to the imagination. But in other ways, we were extremely limited, because the future only belonged to a select few.
I don’t mean to be completely bleak and depressing, or to come down on technology as a force of evil in the world. On the contrary, I have hope that we will turn things around, still, through more conscientious applications of science and technology. Who knows, we may yet have our flying solar cars. In the meantime, we have these artifacts from our past of the future that never was. Perhaps they will inspire other generations to achieve a more humane and technologically viable vision, in the spirit of “new hopes, new dreams, and a better way of life for the future.”
Sources:
www.2719 Hyperion.com
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Speaking of Birds...
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you've all enjoyed consumption of turkey carcass, smashed potats, yyyyyamz, etc. and of course, Pumpkin Pah.
We're lounging in Cleveland at the Bizarro family house for a few days. I did a lot of cookin' today, then I insisted we go for a walk after dinner, before Pah. We've been watching the marathon of Ghost Hunters since the morning (after the Macy's Parade).
I keep thinking about those guys - their whole lives have been transformed by the popularity of the show. Just regular guys who have pursued their interests and now have their own TV show. Such an inspirational success story.
I'd love to put together a ghost hunting team for our area. Of course I'll probably never get around to it, but it would be cool.
We're lounging in Cleveland at the Bizarro family house for a few days. I did a lot of cookin' today, then I insisted we go for a walk after dinner, before Pah. We've been watching the marathon of Ghost Hunters since the morning (after the Macy's Parade).
I keep thinking about those guys - their whole lives have been transformed by the popularity of the show. Just regular guys who have pursued their interests and now have their own TV show. Such an inspirational success story.
I'd love to put together a ghost hunting team for our area. Of course I'll probably never get around to it, but it would be cool.
Monday, November 19, 2007
The Bird is the Word
Lately I've become very curious about the birds that I see feasting on our patio. I throw out seeds every morning, and birds and squirrels come by for breakfast.
We live close to a bird sanctuary, and our apartment complex is very wooded and park-like, so we have a lot of fauna here. I've seen Blue Jays and Red-breasted Robins, which of course are easy to spot. In the last two days I've identified the Dark-eyed Junco (both male and female) and the Black-capped Chickadee (males and females have the same plumage, so I don't know which I'm looking at).
It's funny - I grew up near what was once a bird sanctuary, with a few acres behind my house (which are now office parks, hotels, and shopping strips) and for years I've associated the song of the Black-capped Chicadee with my childhood - but never knew what the bird looked like or what its name was.
I love the site that I found with pictures, facts, songs and migration patterns for birds: Wild Bird Guide. It's not comprehensive, but it has photos that link to the details, and those are common birds in N.A. so it's easy to spot them. I'm trying to learn more about the "proper" way to identify birds, but for me it's easiest to just look at a picture.
We live close to a bird sanctuary, and our apartment complex is very wooded and park-like, so we have a lot of fauna here. I've seen Blue Jays and Red-breasted Robins, which of course are easy to spot. In the last two days I've identified the Dark-eyed Junco (both male and female) and the Black-capped Chickadee (males and females have the same plumage, so I don't know which I'm looking at).
It's funny - I grew up near what was once a bird sanctuary, with a few acres behind my house (which are now office parks, hotels, and shopping strips) and for years I've associated the song of the Black-capped Chicadee with my childhood - but never knew what the bird looked like or what its name was.
I love the site that I found with pictures, facts, songs and migration patterns for birds: Wild Bird Guide. It's not comprehensive, but it has photos that link to the details, and those are common birds in N.A. so it's easy to spot them. I'm trying to learn more about the "proper" way to identify birds, but for me it's easiest to just look at a picture.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Its Hurts My Face
$1000 to whomever can name that quote (make me proud, B.).
My burn is much better than I'd expected it would be by this time. The dead skin is gone, but it's still pretty damned sore.
Tomorrow I have an interview to teach a screenwriting class at the Big School on the Hill. Good thing, too, since my section for next semester at the Other School on the Other Hill has been canceled. Same shit as last year. "Low enrollment." Registration had only been up for a week before they decided. I don't get these people.
I have some other irons in the fire. I've been through this so many times that I'm not even worried. The Universe always provides. And I always make it work. I just have to remember not to take any sour deals like I did in the summer when I accepted Out of Town University's offer against my better judgment, and lived to regret it all semester.
We're off to Cleveland next week for T'giving. I'm looking forward to it. It'll be good to see my in-laws and visit some of our favorite little spots. I will cook most of dinner, as last year, which is fine by me.
Tomorrow I'm taking mom to dinner. Knowing that she doesn't have cancer makes it a lot easier and happier to just hang out.
Only 3 vicaden left in the bottle!
My burn is much better than I'd expected it would be by this time. The dead skin is gone, but it's still pretty damned sore.
Tomorrow I have an interview to teach a screenwriting class at the Big School on the Hill. Good thing, too, since my section for next semester at the Other School on the Other Hill has been canceled. Same shit as last year. "Low enrollment." Registration had only been up for a week before they decided. I don't get these people.
I have some other irons in the fire. I've been through this so many times that I'm not even worried. The Universe always provides. And I always make it work. I just have to remember not to take any sour deals like I did in the summer when I accepted Out of Town University's offer against my better judgment, and lived to regret it all semester.
We're off to Cleveland next week for T'giving. I'm looking forward to it. It'll be good to see my in-laws and visit some of our favorite little spots. I will cook most of dinner, as last year, which is fine by me.
Tomorrow I'm taking mom to dinner. Knowing that she doesn't have cancer makes it a lot easier and happier to just hang out.
Only 3 vicaden left in the bottle!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Finally, Some Good News
After four phone calls this afternoon, I was able to confirm with two of my mom's doctors that her rib x-ray came back negative for a fracture, and the bones look healthy. This means that the multiple myeloma (bone cancer) scare was a false alarm. Although she does have some abnormal cells in her bone marrow, they are, as one doctor put it "clinically insignificant." Whatever she heard go "crack" two weekends ago and the subsequent pain in her rib must have been muscular or something else (the two doctors I spoke to had varying suggestions but no absolute causes in mind). If the docs aren't concerned, then neither are we.
So Hallelujia! Momazoo is only struggling with the same set of diseases, which are manageable with her current treatment program. The Big C. is not on the table, and I can't express what a relief this is for all of us. I've been on pins and needles, unable to focus and concentrate (hence the Four of Bacon Grease Incident).
Salty Miss Jill and I need to write up a treatment on the Evil Pork Tarot. So far we've identified the Four of Bacon, Three of Pork Chops, and the Two of Sausage. More investigation is necessary.
The plastic surgeon told me the same things the ER doc had said. Shouldn't be any scarring since the burns aren't deep, but there may be some discoloration, either light or dark or mottled, which should fade in time. So hopefully my usual pale skin will just look a little paler in those areas. I'm supposed to avoid sun on those areas for the next 6-8 months, which, being in Upstate New York in the winter, shouldn't be much of a problem.
Although the sun is out today and it's a good thing - lifting my mood. Higher and higher. Like I've never been lifted before. So keep it up.
So Hallelujia! Momazoo is only struggling with the same set of diseases, which are manageable with her current treatment program. The Big C. is not on the table, and I can't express what a relief this is for all of us. I've been on pins and needles, unable to focus and concentrate (hence the Four of Bacon Grease Incident).
Salty Miss Jill and I need to write up a treatment on the Evil Pork Tarot. So far we've identified the Four of Bacon, Three of Pork Chops, and the Two of Sausage. More investigation is necessary.
The plastic surgeon told me the same things the ER doc had said. Shouldn't be any scarring since the burns aren't deep, but there may be some discoloration, either light or dark or mottled, which should fade in time. So hopefully my usual pale skin will just look a little paler in those areas. I'm supposed to avoid sun on those areas for the next 6-8 months, which, being in Upstate New York in the winter, shouldn't be much of a problem.
Although the sun is out today and it's a good thing - lifting my mood. Higher and higher. Like I've never been lifted before. So keep it up.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Recovery
I'm home today, of course, on pain meds and just staying quiet. I sleep a lot. Bizarro is being a wonderful nurse-maid and I am very grateful. Everyone at both of my jobs is also being very supportive and I don't have to worry about my classes for a couple days. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the plastic surgeon - which makes things sound worse than they are, I think. He's just going to make sure I'm healing normally.
In between doped up naps, I'm eating and doing a bit of reading, though nothing urgent like grading. That will have to wait until I'm off meds. Salty Miss Jill has an Crazy 8 Meme posting on her blog, so I will follow suit, with nothing else to do right now.
8 things I'm passionate about (in no particular order)
1. My family
2. Writing
3. Science Fiction
4. Sunlight (esp. in winter)
5. Teaching
6. My friends
7. Travel
8. Film (watching and making)
Things I want to do before I die
1. Travel to England and Ireland (again)
2. Travel to Italy
3. Travel to China (again)
4. Travel to India
5. Travel to Brazil
6. Travel to Australia
7. Sell a few screenplays
8. Have a baby
Things I say often
1. Son of a bitch
2. Hot damn
3. Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick
4. Um, sweetie...?
5. I need the proper care and feeding!
6. I love you
7. ahhhhhh here it is, never mind
8. I'm insinuating myself.
Books I've read / am reading recently
1. The Bastard of Istanbul
2. Hunger (collection of novella and short stories)
3. Things They Never Told You in Film School
4. Empress Orchid
5. The Fire Dragon Mystery (Nancy Drew)
6. Singin' In the Rain (AFI film studies series installment)
7. Creating Affluence
8. It's Up to You
Things that attract me to my best friends
1. Sense of adventure
2. Bizarre and silly sense of humor
3. Open mindedness
4. Spirituality
5. Awareness
6. Honesty
7. Artistry/Creativity
8. Vivaciousness (I think that's a word)
Songs I could listen to over and over
1. Girl from Ipanema
2. Shining Star (EWF)
3. Jumpin' at the Woodside (Count Basie)
4. Anything by my Dad
5. Dancing Queen (Abba)
6. Anything by Mozart
7. Romeo and Juliet Suite (Tchaikovsky)
8. Black Milk (Massive Attack)
(the list is much longer, but alas, this is the list of Crazy 8 so I must stop here.)
In between doped up naps, I'm eating and doing a bit of reading, though nothing urgent like grading. That will have to wait until I'm off meds. Salty Miss Jill has an Crazy 8 Meme posting on her blog, so I will follow suit, with nothing else to do right now.
8 things I'm passionate about (in no particular order)
1. My family
2. Writing
3. Science Fiction
4. Sunlight (esp. in winter)
5. Teaching
6. My friends
7. Travel
8. Film (watching and making)
Things I want to do before I die
1. Travel to England and Ireland (again)
2. Travel to Italy
3. Travel to China (again)
4. Travel to India
5. Travel to Brazil
6. Travel to Australia
7. Sell a few screenplays
8. Have a baby
Things I say often
1. Son of a bitch
2. Hot damn
3. Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick
4. Um, sweetie...?
5. I need the proper care and feeding!
6. I love you
7. ahhhhhh here it is, never mind
8. I'm insinuating myself.
Books I've read / am reading recently
1. The Bastard of Istanbul
2. Hunger (collection of novella and short stories)
3. Things They Never Told You in Film School
4. Empress Orchid
5. The Fire Dragon Mystery (Nancy Drew)
6. Singin' In the Rain (AFI film studies series installment)
7. Creating Affluence
8. It's Up to You
Things that attract me to my best friends
1. Sense of adventure
2. Bizarre and silly sense of humor
3. Open mindedness
4. Spirituality
5. Awareness
6. Honesty
7. Artistry/Creativity
8. Vivaciousness (I think that's a word)
Songs I could listen to over and over
1. Girl from Ipanema
2. Shining Star (EWF)
3. Jumpin' at the Woodside (Count Basie)
4. Anything by my Dad
5. Dancing Queen (Abba)
6. Anything by Mozart
7. Romeo and Juliet Suite (Tchaikovsky)
8. Black Milk (Massive Attack)
(the list is much longer, but alas, this is the list of Crazy 8 so I must stop here.)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
This weekend: down the shitter
Yesterday I had a severe case of ennui. I was unable to focus, concentrate, create, think or do anything. I just went to bed and figured things would get better today.
They didn't.
The hot bacon grease I was pouring into the can slipped out of my hand and splashed up onto my neck and face this morning, giving me first and second degree burns. Bizarro drove me to the ER, where I got perkisette and a painful shot of anti-inflammatory (in my bum, woudn't you know).
I'm doped up on vicadin now, and will be so for a few days to come. I have to get an appointment with the plastic surgeon "just in case" although the ER doc said it probably wouldn't scar because it's pretty superficial. I'm hoping. Hoping.
I can verify that hot bacon grease and human skin don't go well together. It's like introducing anti-matter into the matter universe. Not a good mix.
This was all on top of a very stressful week - waiting to hear whether Mom's doctors are diagnosing her with bone cancer.
This is a definite do-over weekend.
They didn't.
The hot bacon grease I was pouring into the can slipped out of my hand and splashed up onto my neck and face this morning, giving me first and second degree burns. Bizarro drove me to the ER, where I got perkisette and a painful shot of anti-inflammatory (in my bum, woudn't you know).
I'm doped up on vicadin now, and will be so for a few days to come. I have to get an appointment with the plastic surgeon "just in case" although the ER doc said it probably wouldn't scar because it's pretty superficial. I'm hoping. Hoping.
I can verify that hot bacon grease and human skin don't go well together. It's like introducing anti-matter into the matter universe. Not a good mix.
This was all on top of a very stressful week - waiting to hear whether Mom's doctors are diagnosing her with bone cancer.
This is a definite do-over weekend.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Saturday, November 03, 2007
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