New Kid on the Hallway

Another stream-of-consciousness post, as a placeholder till I can write more coherently

The following things are making me ridiculously happy right now:

• Location: I snagged a great seat in the coffeeshop - not in direct sun (it gets too hot), but in the front of the building, by the nice big sunny windows. Light! Air! My own marble-topped table! An outlet for my laptop!
     
• Open windows: sorry, everyone above the Mason Dixon line, and some below it, but it's in the mid-60s here today, with the sun beaming down in the wonderful bright clear air of the desert. (Some days, the sun feels harsh and oppressive, and I kind of miss the softness of the light in the south. But most of the time, the incredibly bright sun buoys me.)
    
• Good dogs: There's a guy here in the coffeeshop (a regular) who tools around in a mechanized chair/scooter, and he has the greatest little black terrier dog, with long-haired ears sticking out from his head af 45 degree angles, who sits all good and quiet on the scooter, behind the man's feet. I love that this guy is able to tool around accompanied by his dog at all times.
     
• Happy cats: One of my classmates, knowing that I am a cat person, showed me pictures of the kitten she is adopting this afternoon. She was SO excited, it was just lovely (and another shelter cat is getting a home! yay!).
      
• Freedom: Today was a short day, with only two classes. On short days I get to rise a little bit later, and head back to Home City significantly earlier. It even makes me feel like I have a little bit of control over my schedule.
      
• Potential: I'm writing an essay for an application for a summer thing, and I actually think it's kind of good. (This probably means it's crap, and I don't really know what they want, anyway, but it's nice at least to enjoy the process.)
     
• Accuracy: The barista let me know when my "panino" was ready. Panino! Grammatical correctness! (For the non-Italianate: panino is the singular, panini is the plural. Means "little bread," I think. And it was yummy.)
     
• Gluttony: I just ate the most amazing peanut-butter chocolate chip cookie - this place makes the absolute best. They're probably a gazillion calories, but the weather is so nice, I can take a nice long walk outside later today. (Which may require ignoring a little bit of my work, but hey, don't harsh my mellow.)
      
• Anticipation: Friday is another short day, so it feels like all I have to do is get prepped for tomorrow and survive tomorrow, and then it's the weekend! (Never mind that I have a gazillion commitments this weekend...)

What good things are going on in your day?

Bwahahahaha! Well, THAT was funny

I think this quiz has aspirations confused with reality...

Your Word is "Fearless"

You see life as your one chance to experience everything, and you just go for it! You believe the biggest risk is being afraid and missing out on something amazing. Sometimes your fearlessness means you're daring. You enjoy risky activities. And sometimes your fearlessness means you're courageous. You're brave enough to do the right thing, even when it's scary.

What's Your Word?

(And I know I owe some people thank-yous for awards... thank you! will post something more soon!)

Studying is a great time to do a meme

Stolen from Dr. Virago at Quod She (too lazy to link, see links to left!)

Things I’ve done are in bold.
Things I am indifferent towards or actively would like to avoid are crossed out.
Things in normal type face are things I’d like to do (or at least, that I'd rather do than not).

Comments in parentheses are my additions.

Start my own blog
Sleep under the stars
Play in a band (if marching band counts??)
Own a cell phone
Visit Hawaii
Watch a meteor shower
Give more than I can afford to charity
Visit Disneyland / Disneyworld (both!)
Climb a mountain (in a car!)
Sing a solo
Bungee jump
Participate in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony
Teach myself an art from scratch
Adopt a child
Purchase real estate
Had food poisoning
Visit Parliament / Capital Hill
Grow my own vegetables
See the Mona Lisa in France
Sleep on an overnight train
Have a pillow fight
Hitchhike
Take a sick day when you’re not ill (depends, of course, how you define ill...)
Build a snow fort
Hold a lamb
Go skinny dipping
Run a Marathon
Been on television (I was a "person on the street" on the news once...)
Ride in a gondola in Venice (but I did ride the water bus there!)
See a total eclipse
Watch a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run (me? please!)
Go on a cruise (except maybe a very cool eco-friendly one to Alaska
See Niagara Falls in person
Visit the birthplace of my ancestors
See an Amish community
Teach myself a new language (can I count Law French?)
Have enough money to be truly satisfied
See the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Go rock climbing
See Michelangelo’s David
Sing karaoke
See Old Faithful erupt
Buy a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visit Africa
Walk on a beach by moonlight
Be transported in an ambulance
Have my portrait painted
Be arrested
Go deep sea fishing
See the Sistine Chapel in person
Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (I'm bolding this even though I only made it 2/3 up, because I was too cheap to pay for elevator to the very top.)
Go scuba diving or snorkeling (not good things for the claustrophobic, I'm thinking)
Kiss in the rain
Play in the mud
Go to a drive-in theatre
Be in a movie
Visit the Great Wall of China
Start a business
Take a martial arts class
Visit Russia
Serve at a soup kitchen (I know I shouldn't cross this one out, but if I'm being honest? It's something I wish I wanted to do, but I don't)
Sell Girl Scout Cookies (selling things is my HELL)
Go whale watching
Get flowers for no reason
Donate blood, platelets or plasma (I've spent too much time in England while there was Mad Cow Disease to do this, I believe, but I'm not averse.)
Go sky diving (hell NO)
Visit a Nazi Concentration Camp (were I in the vicinity of one, I think I'd feel obligated to visit, but it's not something I really WANT to do)
Bounce a check (sadly)
Fly in a helicopter
Save a favorite childhood toy
Visit Quebec City
Eat Caviar
Piece a quilt
Stand in Times Square
Tour the Everglades
Been fired from a job
See the Changing of the Guards in London
Been on a speeding motorcycle
See the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visit the Vatican
Buy a brand new car
Walk in Jerusalem
Have my picture in the newspaper (I've lived in some smalllll towns...)
Read the entire Bible
Visit the White House
Kill and prepared an animal for eating
Had chickenpox
Save someone’s life
Sit on a jury (I have no objections, but I suspect they don't like people earning J.D.s as jurors!)
Meet someone famous
Join a book club
Lose a loved one
Have a baby
See the Alamo in person (sorry, Amy!)
Swim in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit that is, if I have to be one of the parties. Presumably I will be otherwise involved in the future, but I still don't want to sue/be sued myself!
Been stung by a bee
Ride an elephant

Totals:
43
33
23

And another ready-made blog post!

I've seen this at a bunch of places, too, most recently at Professing Mama. The idea is that this site will analyze your blog to tell you your personality type (it seems to be straightforward Myers-Briggs). My result?

ISTP - The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

(There's a nifty little chart showing which bits of my brain I use, too, but I can't get it to copy/paste here.)

There are elements of this that are absolutely correct - independent, preferring to think things out for themselves, avoiding interpersonal conflicts - and elements that are less so - adventure and risk (firefighter?? ha!).

But mostly I'm posting this because whenever I take a Myers-Briggs, I always turn out ISTJ. That last J is "judging," and I'm usually about as far on the judging spectrum as you can be. Which is why I find it interesting that this blog doesn't reflect that. Perhaps here I try harder to be balanced and non-judgmental* than I do in the privacy of my own head? It's interesting to consider the difference between my own uncensored thoughts and what I say when I know I have an audience.

*Except, of course, about Chronicle First Person columns.

Look! A meme!

Ready-made blog post! As seen at a bunch of places.

LAYER ONE:
* Name: Redacted to protect the guilty
* Birthday: June 30. I've always liked that it marks the half-way point of the year. That, and it's close to 6 months after/before Christmas, so my gifts are distributed evenly throughout the year. ;-)
* Birthplace: a suburb of London
* Current location: a cool city with mountains
* Eye color: green
* Hair color: brown (with some variations)
* Height: 5'6"
* Righty or lefty: righty
* Zodiac sign: Cancer the crabby crab

LAYER TWO:
* Your heritage: half English, half Slovak
* The shoes you wore today: black L.L.Bean comfort slides (very comfy, and very cheap!)
* Your weakness: sugar. judgmentalness. self-doubt.
* Your fears: getting Parkinson's or ALS or the like, where my brain stays sharp and my body crumbles around me
* Your perfect pizza: you know, I like a classic margharita - tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella. But really, any pizza actually eaten in Italy will do. I also make a pretty amazing caramelized onion pizza.
* Goals you’d like to achieve: good grades on my exams, finishing law school, owning our own home

LAYER THREE:
* Your most overused phrase on AIM: what is this AIM of which you speak??
* Your first waking thoughts: what day is it? do I have to get up yet?
* Your best physical feature: smile?
* Your most missed memory: Pekoe coming to thump himself down on my legs in bed at night

LAYER FOUR:
* Pepsi or Coke: caffeine-free diet Pepsi (the entirely chemical undrink)
* McDonald’s or Burger King: McDonald's, though I try to avoid both these days
* Single or group dates: single. Um, I don't think I've done a group date since high school...(somehow going over to dinner to another couple's house doesn't seem quite like a group date!)
* Adidas or Nike: neither
* Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Tazo or Celestial Seasonings herbal tea, iced, please
* Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla, actually
* Cappuccino or coffee: iced decaf Americano or iced decaf mocha - I never drink hot coffee (will drink hot tea, though)

LAYER FIVE:
* Smoke: no, but because my mom and dad smoked all my life, the smell of it can make me a little nostalgic.
* Cuss: fuck, yes
* Sing: used to; I miss it. In groups, as alto II; on my own, aspiring mezzo soprano
* Take a shower everyday: Yes, in the mornings; I'm not awake till I shower. If I don't make myself do it the moment I roll out of bed, it'll be 1:30-2:00 before I get around to it, and I won't accomplish anything before that.
* Do you think you’ve been in love: Know so!
* Want to go to college: So much that after 14 years of higher ed, I still went back.
* Liked high school: By senior year, yes; freshman year was miserable, but each year got better.
* Want to get married: Apparently so.
* Believe in yourself: Not always, but enough so that I get pissed when other people don't.
* Get motion sickness: Ugh. Yes, sometimes. My family always let me ride in the front seat on car trips.
* Think you’re attractive: Sometimes yes, sometimes no; my mantra is, "I am what I am, I look like what I look like." Not to say there aren't things I'd like to do to look better *cough*loseweight*cough*, but this is the mantra that gets me out the door in the morning and stops me angsting about myself at any given moment. It's me reminding myself that even if I am unhappy with certain things about myself, I'm not going to change that instantly, so angst doesn't do me much good (e.g. if, some morning, I'm hating all my clothes on me, I remind myself that hating how I look can't change it immediately, for that day - so the hate accomplishes nothing beyond making me miserable, so it's not worth it).
* Think you’re a health freak: that would be NO.
* Get along with your parent(s): Yes. My mom is awesome.
* Like thunderstorms: Used to, but after I moved to places that actually get tornadoes, I've turned into a coward about them.
* Play an instrument: Have played the piano, clarinet, and flute, but nothing at the moment.

LAYER SIX: In the past month…
* Drank alcohol: No
* Smoked: No
* Done a drug: Just the legal kind.
* Made out: Yes
* Gone on a date: If going out with your husband counts.
* Gone to the mall: Yes. I think it was to get my computer fixed at the Apple store, though.
* Eaten an entire box of Oreos: I've come close! (But they were organic faux-Oreos from Whole Paycheck, which CLEARLY means it's okay.)
* Eaten sushi: Well, a little of the grocery store kind...
* Been on stage: No
* Been dumped: No
* Gone skating: No
* Made homemade cookies: Yes
* Gone skinny dipping: No. (Am determined to do this some day!)
* Dyed your hair: No, last time was in August. :-)
* Stolen Anything: No.

LAYER SEVEN: Ever…
* Played a game that required removal of clothing: I don't think so, though possibly sometime in college...
* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: oh, yes. It was kind of required at my undergrad.
* Been caught “doing something”: Yes. That's all I'll say.
* Been called a tease: Actually, yes. Big high school drama. Ew.
* Gotten beaten up: No
* Shoplifted: I stole something from a drugstore in college, totally by accident - I was carrying books in my arms, and stuck something on top of the stack to take to the cash register (along with other things), and totally forgot about it until I'd walked out. The funny thing was that the woman at the register gave me really weird looks and asked me like 3 times if that was it, and because I didn't know the item was there, I was completely convinced of my honesty when I said yes, and she totally didn't bust me. I feel bad because she probably didn't feel comfortable busting one of the college students because she needed our business. It's also evidence of how my best lies come when I'm completely mistaken and think I'm telling the truth.
* Changed who you were to fit in: I have tried to do this all my life. Not sure how much change was ever really accomplished, though. Does it count if I only want to fit in with people who I think are interesting and cool and fun and smart? Which are by definition people who don't even want other people to be anything other than themselves?

LAYER EIGHT:
* Age you hope to be married: Already happened. (I never planned on this, actually, and had no "I must be married by age ---" plans; I was 29, FWIW.)
* Numbers and names of children: can I count the furry ones? no? zero.
* Describe your dream wedding: I never, ever did that. Couldn't care less. We got married by a judge, in his office, with the assistant DA for narcotics as our witness (I think he found it a nice change from busting teenagers for pot).
* How do you want to die: In my sleep, at the end of a long, healthy life, with nothing important left unsaid to my nearest and dearest.
* Where you want to go to college: For undergrad, grad school, or law school? :-P
* What do you want to be when you grow up: Smart. Respected. Happy.
* What country would you most like to visit: I want to go back to Italy or Turkey, with NLLDH this time.

LAYER NINE:
* Number of drugs taken illegally: 0, unless you count underage alcohol. (Seriously. I'm lame.)
* Number of people I could trust with my life: 12
* Number of CDs that I own: Sold most of them, sorry.
* Number of piercings: 2 (ears)
* Number of tattoos: 0, but I keep wanting to get one. Possibilities: a koi (for perseverance), a lotus (for new beginnings), a little orange cat (for obvious reasons), a British lion, "odvaha" (which is Slovak for "courage"). Probably won't because I just picture how blurry and shapeless it will probably be 30 years from now, but am still tempted.
* Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: No idea. Not a lot, but it probably got in the local paper when I was in high school. I think my mom sent in a wedding announcement to my hometown paper, maybe.

* Number of scars on my body: lots of little old ones (cat scratches and things like that); four wee lines on my stomach from gall bladder surgery
* Number of things in my past that I regret: mostly things I didn't do, rather than anything I did.

RBOC: So much for NaBloPoMo

• It's true, I gave up on NaBloPoMo. I was rewriting a paper (due yesterday) and had no brain cells to devote to the blog, and couldn't bear to post another "I have nothing to say but have to say something for NaBloPoMo" post. I feel much better now!
     
• I spent Friday night, post-rewrite, painting my nails sparkly red. I've never been much of a polish maven, but I'm beginning to wear it more, because a) for some reason when I started school again, I also started breaking a nail at least once a week, so I'm hoping the polish will protect them, and b) I have read somewhere that to look "professional," women lawyers should get regular manicures. I kind of think that's bullshit, but if I want an excuse to play around with polish, it gives me one. Anyway, I usually wear only deep burgundy or pale pink/buff, but sparkly red seemed festively fitting, given that I'm now on break till the Monday after Thanksgiving - woohoo!
     
• Lest you become too jealous of my extended time off, I should point out that I have to spend most of break preparing for my final exams. Which determine my final grade in all classes but Legal Writing. So they're kind of a big deal. Bleah.
     
• So far, I'm going with the traditional outlining, since it's as good a method as any for reviewing all my notes. And so far, this seems to work best for me if I do it by hand, with lots of different colored pens. And office supplies were purchased. (Office supplies make everything better.)
      
• Finally, I dreamed last night that it was halfway through the semester, and I found out for the first time that I was enrolled for a physics class I'd never attended. Yes, I'm having THOSE dreams again. I am truly a student again. (Though it was a bit weird because instead of running around freaking out and not being able to find the classroom - which is what usually happens in such dreams - I actually started attending class, and was trying to work out some kind of solution with the professor/the other students. Am not at all sure what that signifies.)

NaBloPoMo #15: Ridiculousness

Watching (an old repeat of) Amy Winehouse on some cable channel. They're muting every expletive, and it sounds like the cable is on the fritz or something, there's so much dead air.

(I want her backup singers, though. Wouldn't it be awesome to have those guys follow around behind you all day? I think it would cheer me up immensely.)

NaBloPoMo #8: A bleg

Hey, folks, the people at CollegeScholarships.org want to give a $10,000 scholarship to a student blogger. AND they have chosen a blogging medievalist as one of their finalists! Per Omnia Saecula is an excellent medieval blog by NYU student Jennifer Lynn Jordan, and really really deserves to win. So if you feel so inclined, how about heading over there to vote? I would suggest for Per Omnia Saecula (go medieval!), but if you must, you could vote for one of the other choices. I suppose. 

(If you need more encouragement, the current leader is a blog about the Seattle Mariners. Now, baseball is nice and everything, I GUESS, but wouldn't you like to see a scholarship go to a blog with some scholarly content???*)

(*Meaning no disrespect to baseball fans. All the finalists look like excellent blogs, actually. I just have to plug the Middle Ages whenever I can.)

NaBloPoMo #7: Thank God for memes!

Okay, in honor of day 7, I'm going to do the Seven Random Things Meme, which has been circulating for a while, and which someone somewhere tagged me for, but I forget who now.

1.    In high school, I was in a production of Once Upon a Mattress. Whenever I walk past the fancy butter from Normandy in the supermarket, a little voice in my head starts singing,

Normandy
Is fine and fair
So Normandy
Is where we'll go
I can show you a beach
Where the peach blossom blows
And I know how to reach
A man who knows a man who knows
A cozy inn
A friendly place
With rows of windows facing the sea!

2.     Yes, I did actually remember those lyrics. I can also still perform the opening bars from the first flag team routine I learned in high school marching band.

3.    I have to put on lip balm before I go to bed, or I won't be able to sleep. (I'm a little OCD about getting ready for bed.)

4.    In a world divided between flip-flop fans and flip-flop haters, I'm a fan. I'm not hugely fond of the cheap plastic/rubber ones, but that's because sweat + plastic gives me a rash. But the basic form works for me.

5.    I wash my face at night with oil.

6.    I drive a stick, and I taught NLLDH to drive a stick, and we didn't kill each other, which was pretty impressive. Both our cars are stick-shifts. I hate driving an automatic, although sometimes when I'm traveling and have no idea where I'm going, it's a little easier. Until I step on the brake when I think I'm putting in the clutch.

7.    I'm allergic to cats, dogs, horses, pigs, and cockroaches.

If you're looking for something to post about for NaBloPoMo, consider yourself tagged! (But I think pretty much EVERYONE has done this one already.)

NaBloPoMo #5: Hunting the belated snark

I'm behind the times, but for the record (because I know you all cared), I really disagree with this piece from Inside Higher Ed. My snarky summary: "John Smith," tenured prof, rants and raves about how students are lazy slackers, administrators pander to their every whim, and no one appreciates his efforts.

Yawn.

I'd have more sympathy if he didn't target teaching outside on sunny days, using videos, sitting in circles, and assigning group projects as signs of the pedagogical apocalypse. Yeah, there are a lot of problems in higher education. The use of new teaching methods is not one of them. I mean, he complains that those who teach outside don't "car[e] if there is no blackboard." What??!? No blackboard????? The. Horror.

I'm not knocking traditional lecturing. It works well for certain things, and I'd rather see someone do the traditional lecture really well, than adopt active learning strategies really badly. But that said, the methods he picks on do NOT require his colleagues to "abandon classroom rigor," as he suggests. So when he identifies these practices as leading to his decision to leave academia? Well, you go, dude.

Now, I'm not saying he has no legitimate grievances. The school at which Smith teaches may indeed be a hotbed of precious snowflakes. It may indeed be a miserable place to teach.

But. One school does not a trend make.

And even if his experience is utterly representative of all of higher ed (despite not being representative of my experience), I just want to say: people, GET OVER IT.

I guess it's just that I get so tired of all the variants on "kids these days!!!!" People, it is inherent to the profession that college professors are of different generations than their students. And generations CHANGE. I did not learn in the same way as my professors; they did not learn in the same way as theirs. And students today are different again. Students today live in an entirely different informational world than even I inhabited (okay, I should probably strike the "even," since I am old enough to be traditional college students' mother, in a perfectly respectable way). I mean, no one had e-mail when I went to school. The web was just something you cleaned out of the corners. Access to information was on a completely different scale.

And yes, I realize that it is the recreation of older generations to deplore the younger ones. But honestly, people: today's students are DIFFERENT. Not better, not worse - just DIFFERENT. 

That doesn't mean you have to enjoy teaching them, and if you don't, then finding a new career is a good idea. But people, stop putting so much energy into bemoaning the inevitable, and figure out how to work with reality instead.