some thoughts on katrina

a few of my friends have posted on their blogs about hurricane katrina, mostly because their families and friends live in the areas that were hit. as a yankee who's never really experienced this before, and didn't experiece it this time, it's hard to imagine how scary and devastating the storm was. just a few months ago i was in new orleans for a conference and now the city is in ruin. i guess i wanted to sum up some of what my friends have been talking about and share an interesting observation that was brought to my attention by some of my sociology colleagues.

one friend pointed out that people who choose not to evacuate put themselves at risk and shouldn't complain too loudly when the government is slow to respond to their needs. i can see where she's coming from to one extent, because people do that that risk themselves. at the same time, another friend pointed out that there are some very poverty stricken areas, specifically in new orleans but i have no doubt in many places along the coast, and that these people didn't necessarily have the means to leave. and not only that, that they will return to their homes with nothing. if you can't afford insurance, you just lost everything and it won't be replaced with shiny new items. so this is a time to also think about those who are less fortunate than us and literally lost everything they own.

another friend commentated on the media coverage of this event and how newscasters seemed disappointed when the storm didn't hit new orleans as strongly as originally predicted. it's pretty damn crazy how desperate the media is to get the story and that if they don't get the one they want, it's somehow disappointing that not as many lives were ruined as they first thought. i find myself avoiding the news a lot because of crap just like that.

and speaking of media crap...a few of my fellow graduate students in sociology shared this with me today. it's pretty disturbing and i think it says a lot about how the media influences our ideas about race and crime.

1: A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

2: Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)

so, if you're white you're finding stuff...and if you're black you're looting. isn't everyone just trying to survive at this point? if you just lost everything you own and all your food...why not find some pepsi? just a thought.

my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this disaster.

nervous excitement

okay..now that i think about the title for this post it sounds a little like a line out of a seedy romance novel with thrusting and heaving things. that's actually NOT what this post is about.

the fall semester has officially begun. i taught my first classes this morning and attended my first class tonight. before i know it, it will be november and i'll be taking preliminary exams and then it will be december and i'll hopefully be ABD and moving to work on my dissertation research. i'm excited, because this should be a fun semester filled with visitors and trips and football games and friend time. i'm guessing it will go fast which means soon i'll be on a new adventure again. but i'm still a bit nervous about getting all this done successfully. i know it will be okay, but that's why i have some nervous excitement going on.

okay...time for sleep after a very very long day.

and there was much rejoicing

my loans have FINALLY posted to my student account. yay for money coming soon. now i can stop checking my student account like a maniac. *phew*

fumes are getting to me

so i had an idea earlier, when i was stopped at every single red light from my house to blinn and from blinn to snowflake donuts, about what i wanted to post today...but now i totally forgot.

they are doing some sort of painting or refinishing in the dome of the academic building and i'm getting high from the fumes. inadvertent huffing going on in my office today.

i was reading my friend dennis's weblog today and decided to check out the comments and i was really disturbed to find that people were using his comment space as a place to advertise stupid shit. i'm assuming these aren't people he knows. it just seems wrong. dennis is sharing his thoughts about faith and god and posting his homily topics for the week and people are then using that space to post about touring clay aiken's house. i have a feeling that this rant will result in a bunch of spam comments on my blog. but i just thought it was pretty shitty so i'll risk it.

let's see..other stuff. i'm in the process of writing a syllabus for the courses i'm going to teach this semester. i think that grown-up schedule that i've been trying to avoid is finally going to attack me now. guess i'm due to have one at age 29. :)

holy hot!

i went to the student rec center today and it was quite warm in the weight room as i worked out on the bikes and pumped a little iron. it was a tough workout only because it felt like the air conditioner was not on. hopefully that helped me lose a few more calories. when i went outside the thermometer on kyle field (the giant aggie football stadium for you yanks who don't know) said ONE HUNDRED AND NINE DEGREES! one of these days i wouldn't be surprised if i drove past kyle field only to see red digital numbers dripping down the concrete or exploded all over the place because of the ridiculous heat!! numbers EVERYWHERE! at any rate, the lady on the radio today said that september would be here soon so things would cool off. my comment was "yeah right!" what do you think native texans? what's fall going to look like after this summer of swamp ass?

it's not nice to lie

today is august 22nd. student financial aid claims on their website (in two places mind you) that student loans would be disbursed on august 19th. today is august 22nd. my loans are not applied to my account. their line is busy. it's not nice to lie. not. nice.

apple juice = = "icky bad"

so sara and i went to a new bar in college station called v bar. the ambiance is really cool, though the drinks did not live up to the hype or the price. many of their signatures were described by me as "icky bad." maybe they are new enough that they are still getting their shit together? no idea. all i know is that fancy martini concoctions don't need champagne or chardonnay in them and mojitos shouldn't taste like liquid wrigley's spearmint gum. OH..and mixed berry garnish doesn't mean you drop a cherry in it. fuggers.

what i do know is that sara and i both got hit on by people that were not high on drugs. as some of you know, one of the few times i've been hit on in college station involved a guy who creeped me out because he was apparentely high on drugs. (we deducted that because he wouldn't back off even after tim went 'west texas' on him and because his friend was staring at a light.) the guys tonight were nice enough. one of them though went from zero to drunk in 2.3 seconds. he later told me many times that i was sexy (doy!), but it's also possible that he's telling that to a light post on northgate right now. that's not to say that sara and i aren't sexy..because cleary we are even if that's somewhat underappreciated in this one horse town. it just speaks to how drunk that kid got so fast. it was crazier than that time phil finished the drink i got for him before i had actually paid for it. :)

anyways...i'm glad to be home now and away from the insanity. hell has officially broken loose in college station. in other words...all the people are coming back. no more driving around town without fear of losing my life or being able to sit down at a restaurant within 10 minutes of arriving. see you in january cheddars. :)

throw down in my inbox

i sent an email to tim and mike and shelley yesterday about how i was pissed that i didn't have AOL instant messenger on my computer AND that AIM changed their website around and no longer use old school AIM Quick Buddy, which was probably invented in 1984 and what i was relying on. now, i was mostly venting about this situation, but before i knew it..there was a computer nerd throw down going on in my mailbox. and let me tell you something...it was hilarious. it was like a little taste of defcon again. :)

here's a sample:

"commad line aim over ssh! or rdesktop to a spare windows box" -m

"was i supposed to be able to understand that? 1010010010101010101" -k

"i had absolutely no hope of helping with the aim problem but damn! that was
entertaining as hell to read. ;-)" -s

"She's on a windows machine. rdesktop doesn't have windows binaries.
So what she needs to do is install X-Win32 on the PC (which she
probably can't). Then ssh to a linux box and run rdesktop to connect
to a windows machine... that doesn't seem backwards, ugly, wrong, or
retarded in any way." -t

"She can use windows rdesktop or whatever the hell to connect remotely
to a windows box running terminal services.

She has hummingbird, you can do X with that (umm, i think), in which
case she just needs a linux box to run gaim off of. :)

or use naim on the command line." -m

"Am I going to get arrested for this?" -k

*insert 13 step process for getting AIM to work here. i didn't want to type it all out but thanks tim.*

"http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/tools/rdclientdl.mspx

*looks around*
*whistles*

BOOYA!!!" -m

"what in the hell is going on? *grin*" -k

"I believe this is what is referred to as a "virtual nerd throw-down"
where two nerds battle one another in knowledge of a topic." -t

"*scared on so many levels* ;)" -k

okay, so maybe that was more than a sample. but it was/is funny shit and i had to share it with the world so they too could enjoy it.

unfortunately i still didn't get it to work, but i think tim is coming over today to hook that shit up. "gaim got eaten by some...linux or something... :)" -k

hope you all have a great weekend! i'll be taking it easy in texas and getting ready for hell to in fact break loose.

"Doom doom doom da dop, Doom doom doom da dop, Da ya ya ya dop, da dop, da oh oh oh"

"Doin' a little eastcoast swang"

that was just in case you didn't catch the motownphilly reference in the title. :) i had a fun time in philly for sure. here's the run down:

friday night- got to philly a little later than expected. shelley picked me and lindsay up at the airport and we found the hotel and then went to the hard rock cafe for dinner and mudslides and the biggest brownie sundae i've ever seen in my life.

saturday- went to the conference and watched lindsay's presentation. she kicked asses. went to some other sessions. that evening after a nap lindsay and warren and i took a walk to find a cheesesteak. we had talked about going to one of the well-known places, like jim's or gino's, but we were so hungry at that point that we wanted to go some place close and not busy. the weird thing about the place we did go to was that they sold sushi and cheesesteaks. figure that one out. i dare ya! anyway, it was quite tasty.

as we exited the restaurant i could here that there was a really loud and angry argument going on outside. turns out a gay pimp was yelling at a straight prostitute about how this was "gay territory" and she should go elsewhere. of course that was all said with a LOT more swear words and references to sex acts. it was a little scary to say the least and i'm not sure that's the brotherly love that philly is known for.

later that night lindsay and i met up with shelley, her boyfriend stu, her cousin matt, and some random guy. ;) (his name was kyle but we dubbed him 'randy' after shell's reference to him as random guy.) we went to a bar called finnegan's wake and drank some drinks and listened to an AWESOME cover band. they played a bunch of really awesome songs and we all had a great time. (and drank way too much and stayed up way too late watching a hotel adult movie...it seemed like a good idea at the time. pretty sure i can't get reimbursed for that.)

sunday- slept in a bit and missed a few sessions. went to a really really great one in the afternoon though. then i went back to the room and relaxed and got ready for my presentation. lindsay also ordered room service for dinner and we had this ridiculously good chocolate cake. damn!

monday- got up early to check in for the flight and read over the presentation stuff again. my talk went pretty well i think. then lindsay and i headed right to the airport to catch our flight. we had to stop in new orleans (since southwest operates under the school bus philosophy) and we ended up being stuck there from 1:30-5:00 due to weather in houston. luckily we didn't have to stay on the plane the entire time and we were able to get lunch/dinner and some ice cream. i even bought a new orleans souveneir since we were there for so long. :) eventually we made it back to college station.

all in all this was a great trip filled with good food, good talks, good times at the conference, and fun with good (and new) friends.

"Boyz II men, abc, bbd"

you know you're on a scary road when..

you know you're in the middle of bumble-fuck texas on a scary ass road when you're excited that you're going to be in hearne soon because that's the next "big" city coming up! i went to visit my friend adam in temple, texas before he heads out to fort hood and then to iraq. on the way there, i noticed that i was on a somewhat creepy two-lane road most of the way, but at least it was not dark yet. when i headed home later that night, it was really dark. so dark that you almost expect to come upon some kind of scary "good ol' boy" event, but you're constantly grateful that you haven't. every once in a while some crazy animal would dart across the road just to make everything a bit more exciting. (saw one of the biggest frogs i'd ever seen in my life, as well as some sort of coyote type animal). i was hauling all kinds of ass to get to hearne. i couldn't get there fast enough. and for those of you who don't live deep in the heart of texas, hearne is a pretty small little town (http://www.rtis.com/reg/hearne/) about 20 minutes north of college station on highway 6 (which is also no fun at that hour but still a step up from the road i was on prior to hearne.) luckily the trip was well worth it since i had a great time with adam. and i made it home in one piece...and in record time.

i'll post again soon about my philly trip! woo!

"i like corn. i eat corn."

when i was a little kid we were at my grandparent's house eating thanksgiving dinner or something with all our relatives. people were passing food around the table and i sat watching all this in my high chair concerned about my own lack of food. (this was a real concern in those days because i was all about eating. it's a wonder that i wasn't a super pudgy kid. i ate everything!) finally, i proclaimed to my family as a bowl of corn when by that "i like corn, i eat corn." my subtle way of making it known that i was ready to eat and that corn better be on the menu.

it's funny how in some ways i still communicate with my family in that subtle way. not really saying directly "hey..this is what i want" but beating around the bush instead. i wonder if this is a family dynamic that exists for a lot of people in their families. for example, i really want my dad to stop smoking and i HATE that he still does it. it makes no sense to me, especially considering that a year ago we were learning about my mom's cancer diagnosis. but somehow i don't just come out and tell him how i feel about it. i do my passive-aggressive things, like leaving the room when he's in there smoking, instead of just telling him how i feel about it. i really think i need to figure this out, because it ends up creating some strain while i'm at home when it should just be fun. i always think when i go home that this time it will be different and there are always elements of sameness going on.

DON'T GET ME WRONG...i had a great time at home and i love spending time with my parents and my family and my friends. it was wonderful to see luke again and play with him. he's hilarious and so smart! we had a lot of laughs and great food and fun times. definitely more positive, fun times than negative ones. i'm grateful that i got to spend time with everyone and really happy that some of my college buddies were able to share in the fun too. that meant so much to me. so i don't want to seem like a crabby ingrate. i love the fam. i just don't know the best way to approach them with the things that bug me, especially the smoking thing, without making too many waves.

so yeah, iowa was great. the weather was fantastic! it was in the 70s/80s pretty much the entire weekend. luke did really well meeting a ton of relatives, especially considering that he was a little under the weather. i got to see some cousins that i haven't talked to in a while, which was great. spent a lot of time with monica and dennis and jeremy which was much needed for all of us i think. definitely a good time and i needed some home time. i'm hoping to get back up there in october (i LOVE fall in iowa) to see the family again and maybe catch part of homecoming. woo!

in the meantime, i think classes start in two and a half weeks. i'll be taking two courses and teaching two courses at the community college (i think). nervous and excited all at once.

kate's defcon journal

"friday...around noon

i'm not sure of the exact time because i forgot my watch in all the excitement of vegas and going to the conference this morning. currently i'm freezing my nuts off in a hotel suite with a half dozen computer nerds. i should be surprised, but there are seven computers in here. the guys are trying to get internet access, as it seems that someone has hacked something or other and fucked everything up. the language is cryptic and if you don't know the speak, you don't have one idea about what's going on (which is the situation for me). every once in a while someone tells a joke i undrestand and i can participate in the fun. 'i think it got rooted,' one of the guys proclaims.

we're also watching presentations on tv instead of fighting the crowds of wacky people (in the heat) to get in. i have no doubt that the current speaker, (whose glasses are way too big for his face), is sharing pertinent information about something. but he's got the monotone, middle-school science teacher speech presentation thing going on, which makes unlikely that i'll attempt to figure out what he's talking about.

thank god mike changed the channel. this presenter appears to be a computer guy with social skills and realizes that inflection is key to maintaining interest. and he's kind of cute to boot, which doesn't hurt when you don't understand the subject matter. now there are nice computers in the room and five people including me. :) everyone is typing away on their own boxes and intermittently talk to each other about...well-fuck...i have no idea! :) it's amazing that i'm a pretty well-educated person, but have no clue what is going on in this room. it's almost like i'm plopped down in the middle of mexico with a limited, at best, grasp of the spanish language. language is key in this setting-without the basics, it's possible to smile and nod your way through an entire morning.

one of mike's friends makes the statement that at defcon there are "people who know stuff and people who are trying to put linux on a laptop all weekend." it's clear i'm in the second group. :)

now the guys are super excited because they managed to hack someone. the guy eventually realized that he was 0wned which made everyone really happy. :)"

okay..so i didn't journal the whole time, but i did take some random notes since mike expects me to present at defcon next year. bring on project number three. and i have to find an appropriate defcon outfit. :)

holy balls it's august!

hi friends,

somehow it is august 3rd, which means school starts in less than one month. not going to think about that right now. *shudder*

i've been doing a lot of traveling lately. i spent a week in ABQ doing some research and stuff (probably more stuff than research) and then went to vegas this past weekend and visited mike at defcon. it was a lot of fun and i'm still feeling pretty exhausted as i sit in yet another airport on my way to iowa. the time in ABQ was great. lots of relaxation time and i got to meet some more people to talk to about my research. i hung out with some of the people i've met via mike in ABQ and had a fun time with them for sure. the weather was also really awesome. definitely didn't miss the heat and humidity when it was in the 70s/80s.

vegas was BUCK WILD. there was drinking, a little gambling, A LOT of computer nerd time, and lots of hang out time with mike and friends. i got to try in-n-out burger finally and it definitely lived up to the hype (though i'm not sure i give it the same rating that mike does.) probably my favorite part of the vegas trip was going to see ka: cirque de soleil: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/Cirquedusoleil/en/KA/main.htm?bandWidth=Hi. mike's friend jason generously gave us his tickets and it was probably the most amazing show i've ever seen. i think at one point my jaw had dropped open because i was in so much awe of what i was seeing. we also ate at this fantastic all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. mike was awesome and pretty much paid for all my meals...so the only money i really spent was on shoes, computer nerd stickers, and slot machine donations. he's cool like that. *thanks mike*

i think i'm going to end this blog for now. i do have more catching up to do but i don't want this to get too long. later skaters.

kater tater

"home" alone

so, i'm hanging out at mike's house by myself. he's in vegas for a conference and i'm here in ABQ to do research and apparently relax a lot. it's nice to be here and to get some kate time. it's also kinda lonely to be here without mike though. he's pretty fun. :) just sayin'. his house is awesome though and after this past year, i've been overdue for some serious chilling. it's kind of nice to have very little going on. i should be more productive than i have been probably. i spent most of this afternoon waiting for a plumber to come by to fix mike's shower (no i didn't break it) and looking at apartments in ABQ online. (i know, i'm not going anywhere yet...but it's fun to look). luckily i had a really great meeting today and tomorrow i'm going to type up all the notes i have so far and work on my research design and continue to pester people about meetings. the more i talk to people out here the more excited i get about my research and possible relocation. woo! :)

let's see..the rest of the week i'll be going to a birthday party, waiting for the plumber again, doing some more work, and resting up for vegas too. something tells me that a weekend in sin city is going to be wild and crazy and fun! can't wait!

cross your fingers for a cheap flight

hey people,

so, i'm a jet-setting graduate student right now which is just a little bit nutty if you think about it. i'm in new mexico again, i'll be heading to las vegas to hang out with mike next weekend. then i'll be back to texas for two days after which i'll head to iowa for an open house for my nephew and some family and friend time. i was really hoping that mike could come to iowa too, but the flights suck monkey asses right now. cross your fingers for a miracalous last minute fare! for some reason the des moines airport is an expensive one to fly into. i have no idea why since des moines is not a vacation hot spot. it's very very odd. here's hoping.

i guess i should stop being a slacker and get some work done today. i love being a slacker on sundays though. *torn*

hope you get to be a slacker today.

:)

loud neighbors

so, i asked our loud backyard neighbors to keep it down since they are having a wednesday night party..again. i know..i'm old..i don't appreciate people being loud across the fence when i have to get some sleep since i have to work tomorrow. i think the worst part is hearing the guitar players over there butchering dave matthews band. as i said to lindsay, "if you're going to be loud, at least don't butcher dave alright?"

luckily i did get to hear some really good dave matthews covers tonight. thanks keith!

and i need to clean my room soon before there are toes all over it. once again tripped! sheesh. no mercy you bitch ass toes!!

time to pop in some earplugs and get some sleep. (partying 20 year olds forget that sound travels...i know, i know..i'm sure i've forgotten that once or twice.)

i think i broke my toes...owchie

hi guys,

i just got back from NM about an hour ago. i just jammed my toes on my giant suitcase for maybe the third time in the past two weeks. yowsa. i'm sure they'll be fine though. that's what i get for bringing WAY too much stuff..as mike can attest to.

so i had an excellent july 4th weekend followed by a great week in ABQ. on june 29th, mike came to texas to visit us. we went and got mojitos on wednesday night and tim smith made us all awesome dinner on thursday night. lots of good times and i was happy that mike finally got to meet my awesome roommates. cecilia made us laugh many times. "i didn't know that ladies could be guys," she said with surprise about a very manly looking female sportscaster on tv.

then mike went to houston on friday and i went to austin to see the scabs play at antones. as most of you know, bob schneider is one of my all-time favorite musicians and he sometimes plays in a band called the scabs. (http://www.bobschneidermusic.com) this sound is very different from bob's usual stuff in some ways. it's pretty rude and crude and i love it. the best part of the night was when bob came down off the stage (the only time he did so during the show i might add) and danced with yours truly. hot damn!

the next morning i woke up bright and early (well...sorta..it was early for going to bed at 4 a.m.) and drove to galveston to hang out with mike and his family and friends of his family at the beach house. it was a perfect beach weekend. lots of time in the water, on the sand, eating good food, having fun with friends (like playing board games), and watching a grass fire caused by rogue fireworks set off by yocals (i think that was mike's favorite part of the weekend.) it was a great great weekend. couldn't have asked for a better time.

then on monday night mike and i headed to ABQ together. it was way rad to have a traveling companion. that hardly ever happens so it was especially rad to hang out with mike at the airport and on the plane rides. (i kicked his ass in our crossword puzzle race AND made a stranger laugh during a rant in the dallas love airport while we were waiting to board.) i hung out in ABQ all week and got a lot accomplished in terms of my research and in terms of relaxing and having a vacation. even helped mike with some of his house stuff. i definitely needed it and i'm not totally ready to start work tomorrow (today). on that note, i should end this very long post and get some sleep. i'll write more about how crazy the rest of my summer will be tomorrow or something.

peace out!

i'm a pain in the ass?! me?!

i have a lot to post since i've been having a fun week in ABQ, however first i have to let my reading public know that our friend mike refuses to sign up for a blogger account EVEN THOUGH he could comment on 4 different blogs now. i checked and it requires filling out 5 boxes. i even helped mike by filling out some and he still refuses and called me...the person helping him..a pain in his ass. he probably has to fill out more boxes when looking at internet porn than he would have to fill out to have a blogger account. :) i even came up with the user name SpongeMikeSooshiePants. that's good stuff kids. good good stuff.

more laters.

bold proclaimations

i've been thinking about bold proclaimations lately. i don't know why. i think it started when i heard a beatles song on the radio that was covered by some slapass band and it got me thinking about kate opinions on things. i tend to think of myself as being pretty laid-back and open minded about stuff in general. but i do have some bold proclaimations as well. for example:

- you better be some kind of super rock star who is awesome to cover a beatles song. no talent ass-clowns should not do this ever..and neither should country musicians. (some of my friends would say those two are one in the same)

- don't smoke pot right before you're coming to see your academic advisor. we're not stupid and we can tell.

- eating guacamole once a week is a good thing to do, even if you do blow all your weight watchers points for the week. life is short. eat well!

- if you're in a band and you cover pearl jam badly and i've had a few beers, i will inform you loudly that you suck. :) if you cover a bon jovi song a bit later, i will think that you've redeemed yourself somewhat.

- if you have a stuent going to college for the first time, it's okay to give them some guidance, but realize that they have to make decisions themself. they are taking the classes and negotiating the adjustments, even though you may be payin the bill. part of life is making mistakes, being held accountable for them, and learning from them. plain and simple.

- if you haven't regularly talked to someone in like 2 years, chances are you don't know them as well as you once did. allow people to grow and change. the person you knew before might not be the person that exists now.

- if you have purchased some kind of camero or mustang or whatever to feel cooler about yourself because you're middle-aged, then you should drive the speed limit at least. none of this having a fast car and driving 25 in a 45!

- the 'Insert' key on a keyboard is the dumbest thing ever invented and i don't understand it's purpose other than to piss me off.

- it's not okay to be paid a six figure salary for student affairs and then not care about student development or student well-being. ethical leadership means sometimes you have to make unpopular decisions that are what's best for the people you serve and not just to cover the ass of the organization that pays you way too much.

- family and friends are the most important things in life when it comes down to it. everything else can be quite fleeting...but that stuff..and love, is precious.

- happiness cannot be found at target, in other people, or on a weblog (or website for that matter). :) it has to be found inside first. my friend told me that a few times and he's so right.

- cheese and wine are so freakin' good. i love them. yummytastico.

- it's fun to be bold about things that don't matter too much in the big scheme of things. it's probably even fun to make bold proclaimations about important stuff too...as long as they are somewhat informed.

takin' it easy on friday night

i'm spending tonight by myself in my apartment. i haven't got the chance to spend a lot of time with my couch in quite a while and i feel bad about neglecting it. so we're catching up on some quality time together. lucky for me that sex in the city is on. i really like this show, even when carrie asks questions that cross my mind sometimes. tonight she asked, "when will waiting for the one, be done?" she asked it in terms of love, career, just all that stuff. when does waiting for the things that you think will make you happy finally end, because you have that stuff already? makes me think about the many times i've had to tell myself that i need to find happiness in where i am right now. that's hard to do sometimes, because i think i've always had my eye on the future thinking about what i want to be doing next. and i wonder sometimes if i miss out on what's going on right now though..since i sort of have one foot out the door? it's hard not to plan ahead, to have goals...and i think it's good to do that to some extent so you're not totally aimless and lost. but it's also important to really take in what's going on around you too. there's a happy medium there that i think is the answer to carrie's, and my, question. does that mean it's easy? fuck no it doesn't! but i know it'll be okay. things seem to work out the way the should. i know that deep down, even if i don't always remember it.

in the meantime samantha finds a gray hair in her nether-regions. "no one wants to f--- grandma's -----." i have to say i admire samantha a lot. she's fearless, strong, self-assured, and not afraid to do what she wants. even if that means dying her..um...area's hair...well, red. :)

this is a weird post i decided. oh well! go see batman begins. it's awesome and christian bale is a very very hot batman. woo woo!!

whirlwind summer

holy shit people! it's almost july. what in THEE hell happened to this summer? i anticipated being able to hang out with friends doing fun stuff more often and get a tan and go on trips and just relax with my texas peeps. this has not really happened. sara and i go to the rec in the mornings, which is awesome and i'm glad we are doing that (and that we can sleep in sometimes and not go when the need arises...like when air conditioners break and stuff), but i had envisioned more hanging out in the backyard, laying out, listening to music, drinking a beer kinda stuff.

i've been working a lot, especially this week when our professional staff at access are out of town so more is expected of us grad/staff types AND i had seven new freshman sociology majors that i had to create schedules for, which took about 4 hours. so today i've been home for an hour and a half, which makes it really hard to want to do anything but lay around! luckily i'm going to get some time off in july (which will be spent doing research and hanging out in ABQ), which i need desperately...but still not a lot of time with my b/cs friends.

don't worry ags...we'll figure it out. swear! :)

i had other stuff to post but i'll be damned if i can remember. later gators.

progress

i had a pretty low key weekend. got to hang out with a bunch of my friends which was rad. also got 20 mosquito bites on friday night. bastards! mosquitos suck! har har.

so i went to mass tonight. i've been kind of a fair-weather catholic for a while now, which i've wanted to change. it's funny how every time i go to mass, there is something about it that speaks to exactly how i've been feeling or helps me put some problem i have into a better perspective. tonight was no exception. the readings talked about fear and how we shouldn't stress so much and have more faith. and we got to sing the song "Be Not Afraid" which is one of my favorites and has special meaning for me. (mike would have been ranting because of all the guitars and saxophones and stuff.) i know that people reading this come from all types of different backgrounds and perspectives on religion and faith, and i'm definitely not trying to push my stuff on others. totally not my thing when it comes to religion (had my own experiences with pushiness that were icky bad..so i'm pretty open-minded about this). mostly i just wanted to share that when i went tonight, i felt safe and peaceful and just good. i think that time is something that i need for myself. i used to not go because i didn't want to go by myself, but now i think that alone time with my faith is what i need. i don't get enough quiet time in my day to day, week to week life, so i think this will be a regular thing for me. part of my self-improvement plan.

and i'm happy to say that my working out and stuff is paying off. i'm fitting into some pants that haven't fit in a while. wooo! took a three mile bike ride today and then had to come home because it was so damn hot.

happy father's day to all the dad's out there.

um...stupid texas lottery

so i buy lottery tickets every once in a while and i'm glad that the money at least helps education in texas, because i never win. every once in a blue moon i'll win a few bucks on a scratch off, but so far i have not won lotto texas one time. doesn't the lottery commission understand how much i really need to win the lottery? kate has a lot of student loan debt. kate has two jobs and is exhausted. kate wants to buy a new car. kate wants to pay back her parents for the bunches of times they've helped her out. come on texas lottery people...just pick my numbers one time. i promise i'll share it. i'll help out my friends and give some to charity. i'll still finish my Ph.D. swear!

in other news, i have had really restless sleep for a week now. it's no fun.

working out in the mornings with sara is going well, though i ditched out on wednesday but we were both tired puppies i think. i'm ready to see some results. i also signed up for weightwatchers online and i'm hating it a lot. wishing i hadn't gone with the three month subscription. hopefully i'll get used to it and it'll get easier. or i'll just figure out that i should stop snacking and eat less and not need to report it all to my daily points tracker. i lost 10 pounds using WW a few years ago, so i'm hoping that could happen again since that would get me really close to my goal. :)

also, i sent out draft four of my dissertation proposal to my committee today and hopefully i'll get some feedback and get to defend it really soon! :)

perspective

big congrats to tim and lidia! i saw the new member of their family yesterday and she is super cute! good job smiths and welcome ana to our crazy group. :)

i was talking to a friend of mine last night on AIM about something and he reminded me of a poem..sort of..that is great and i really like but lost track of...both in terms of perspective and in terms of actually know where it was in my house. so i'll share it here and then i'll be able to find it.

Life is Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before the crowd is to
risk being called naive.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But the person who risks nothing does nothing, has
nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing.

—Author unknown


i think i ran across this when i was in college long long ago and really liked it. hope you do too readers. :)

mountainlicious

hung out with mike in ABQ this past weekend. we had a bunch of fun as per usual. :) one of the highlights of this trip to the land of enchantment was on sunday afternoon. mike and i drove up to sandia peak and hung out on top of the mountain for a while. we walked around a bit and just sat and took in the view. it was really fantastic and made me miss when i did that in austria sometimes. i didn't tell him this at the time, but i was both enchanted by the view and a little scared. there's something about being way up there that is magical and beautiful and a tiny bit humbling. like one false step and i'm tumbling down a mountain...which is a bit unnerving for kate the clumsy girl who constantly has bruises just from wandering around her room in 205. but i was in good hands, so it was just a little bit of scaredness. i'm definitely ready to do some hiking and exploring sometime! w00t. on the way down the mountain, we got to smell the sweet scent of someone ruining their brakes. the dipshit ahead of us was riding his brakes the entire way, which was more than just a little ridiculous.

this is another short week for me. going to st. louie on thursday to visit my brother and sister-in-law and my new nephew luke! can't friggin' wait!

p.s.- i'm totally 80s and don't have a digital camera but i'll try to post a pic when i get mine developed. :)

shout out to my peeps

i've been a whiny bitch lately. so today, i'm allowing myself to live in the moment for a second. the last few weeks i've been hanging out a lot with some really awesome women and i'm really glad to have that. (i've been hanging out with tim too, who is also a great friend and takes care of me a lot...but he's not a woman so this message isn't about him. sorry tim. suck it up. and then update your blog for goodness sake. sheesh!) i have some really awesome women friends from college and the various places i've lived, who i unfortunately don't get to see very often but i still love dearly. and a lot of the time i hang out with guys and tell fart jokes and drink beer and swear, which i also love. but there's something to be said about have close women friends here in texas. i was hanging out with lindsay and sara and lidia the other night and we talking about girl stuff and eating cheesecake and laughing our asses off and i'm so grateful for times like that. i need them a lot. and i miss my ladies who live in other places (like shells and jen and monica and jody and jocelyn and others who know who they are even if my mind has slipped...need more coffee or more sleep). thanks for kicking ass lady friends. you rock the hizzy, fo-shizzle.

running to stand still

the title of this post is both the title from one of my all-time favorite U2 songs (it's on joshua tree) and how i've been feeling about some things lately. i've been telling you about some of the progress i'm making toward getting my degree done, which is still great and getting me closer to a few important goals of mine. but then there are other ones, that i'm working on but are still out of reach.

for example, i've been working out more and i feel like i see some more muscle tone that i didn't have before (which could just be a figment of my imagination) but i haven't really lost any weight. in fact, i gained weight this week which is quite frustrating. the good news is that i bought a cute skirt from old navy and it fit really well. i didn't have to break a sweat and worry about being able to remove it without destroying it or calling in an employee to help me. (had a goofy experience with a shirt at the gap. it was one of those moments where i realized that i did have boobs and they weren't going to fit into this particular shirt and if i tried to make the shirt fit, they would have to "jaws of life" it off me). so, i know i'm making some progress and the doing something is definitely better than doing nothing. i'm just not seeing results yet.

my other running to stand still has to do with getting over some hurts from the past. i wrote not to long ago that a couple of years ago i was facing a lot of transitions and new horizons and though that stuff all turned out really well, it was still a difficult situation at the time. and though i wouldn't change it, there's a part of me that is hanging onto all the uncertainty and doubt and confusion that i felt then. overall i think i've made a lot of progress in getting past a bunch of stuff. but at the same time, i get scared that maybe things aren't really what they seem. that i can't totally trust my judgement all the time. i find myself being a little more detached or completely involved in friendships and in the moment itself. maybe a fear of getting too comfortable only for it all to change again, like it did two years ago.

damn this is a depressing post. guess i'm in a mood. :P i did find a good quote though that i need to keep in mind. "The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it." -Arnold H Glasgow i don't know who this glasgow guy is but he makes a good point. i need to be more patient with myself...not all goals are easy to check off. sure it's a pain in the ass to fill out a degree plan...but that's a relatively easy task to finish. doesn't require too much patience unless my committee members all simulataenously leave the country. those types of things are easy to crank out. these other goals though...i gotta stop trying to smash the egg and be more patient. how freakin' many times do i have to remind myself of that? :)

so the moral is...no smashing chickens. and go to bed 3 hours sooner even if you miss who's the boss. :)

this is a f*ck

i've been posting a lot about grad school stuff lately, but shit man fuck..i'm graduate school. what the fuck else am i supposed to blog about? :) (damn..lots of f-bombs already!) i've been putting together a reading list for my preliminary exams that will happen sometime in the fall. i'm not done with it yet...still have a lot more to include for my demography section...and it's already 10 pages long. 10 pages of references and books and articles. luckily i've read a lot of it already, which is what is keeping me from dropping my computer off the fourth floor balcony in the academic building or taking a dump outside my committee members doors. (hahaha...no more poop in the hallway..that was just a joke. JOKE!) my hope is that my committee members will not be pure evil and add a ton more to my lists, but they could. this is academic hazing after all. can't they just grode me or shave my head or something? :)

going to ABQ this weekend and looking forward to it. w00t!

crazy math

so..i was thinking about what i was doing at this time last year and i remembered that i was at my 10 year high school reunion in iowa. which means that it has been 11 years since i graduated from high school...making me th oldest person ever. :)

after that i started thinking about how many years i've been in school so far. that would be 22 years. how crazy is that? and i'm not even done yet!

here's hoping it's only a year and a half more.

:)

doink doink

i'm a little bit addicted to law and order svu right now. USA isn't helping much with the marathon that they are running right now. :) luckily it's summer and my schedule is much more laid back, so i can afford to lay in bed and watch some riveting television. :) if only Kroger would deliver some guacamole ingredients so i don't have to get up.

so i haven't written in a while. this has been a busy week. lots of home improvementy things going on and a trip to IKEA with my roommate yesterday. we both hadn't been there before and we both loved it! already looking forward to go back.

met with my committee chair today and i will probably be defending my proposal sometime really soon. just have to narrow it down a bit more and will hopefully work on that tomorrow since i've been pretty unproductive today.

uh...can't write anymore. must get back to the doink doink.

most boring post yet

hi guys. i think i've done a pretty good job of posting witty and somewhat insightful thoughts on this thing. today is not one of those days. i've been working on typing up my "Things To Do: Dissertation" list and thought i'd post it here. this might be a huge mistake because then you'll all be on my ass to get this stuff done. but so far i'm doing good and should still graduate before tim. hehehehe...

Things to Do: Dissertation/Graduation


Spring 2005

- Assemble Committee (complete)
- Thesis Publication (complete)
- Southwest meeting (complete)
- Dissertation proposal (complete)
- 2 courses (complete)
- File Degree Plan (still have to turn it in to OGS)


Summer 2005

- Defend proposal
- Put together prelims list
- IRB
- Research design for NM project
- Lit review chapter
- Pre-interviews


Fall 2005
- Last two courses
- Austin interviews
- Write introduction and methods chapters
- Do some kind of OGS paperwork that I'm sure is required at this point? (exam request or something like that?)
- Take preliminary exams
- Publication?
- Move?

Spring 2006
- NM and IA interviews
- Write my ass off
- Register for 6 hours of research

there...now you all now my master plan for the next year or so. here's hoping i keep on task and get all of this done. finishing your Ph.D. has a lot to do with jumping through various hoops with a bit of academic hazing thrown in, as well as a whole lot of research and reading.

random thoughts

so yesterday i was driving to school and heard an advertisement on the radio that you could go to a brake place and they would do a visual inspection for free. correct me if i'm wrong, but a visual inspection? doesn't that just mean that they will use their eyes to look at your brakes? other places charge for that? "yep, you got brakes. saw that you stopped when you got here so they must be working since you didn't crash through the office....that'll be $29.95." weird. maybe the charge for aural break inspections?

my other random thought when i was in my car later that day was that it has been two years since my ex-boyfriend and i parted ways in the relationship realm. mind you, i was not mourning that fact...it just occurred to me that two years ago a bunch of shit went down. the crazy thing that i couldn't seen then but could see not too long after is that that event set me on an awesome path that i wouldn't be on had circumstances been different. i moved back to texas, reconnected with great friends, and met a bunch of great new people. i get to work with one of the most respected professors in my field. i'm going to get my Ph.D. soon (i hope!) and there are some other things that i won't put on here, but are still really good. i'm not the best catholic in the world (*father dennis chortles at this point*), but things like make me realize that god is at work in my life. from a really crappy time two years ago, so much great stuff ended up happening. makes me feel good about what's coming up. even if life doesn't happen like my planny brain has in mind, who knows what good things might happen anyway?

by the way, this is a great story about my roommates: http://www.theeagle.com/aandmnews/051405graduation.php

shiner bock with lunch

i went to lunch with tim smith today at a favorite local spot, fitzwilly's. pretty much everyone who reads this literary triumph knows about fitz's...but if you don't and come to college station, we'll take you there and you too will profess its glory.

anyway, we had a fun time chatting and mocking each other and mocking people we know. we shared a pitcher and some cheesefries and some banter (like when tim told me i could dunk my aggie ring in metamucil and prune juice when i get...it was harsh but he owed me one)..and it was a nice break from an otherwise very uneventful day. advising is as slow as molasses (whoa...old timey analogy...i'm sure i'll be called grandma for that one), which is actually kind of a nice break. i should use this time to be productive and read or something, but instead i update my blog and check email like a fiend. fiend i tell you!

if the rest of summer break goes like this i will get very little sleep, very little accompished, but will drink a lot of beer for lunch. i suppose there are worse things? :)

AVOCADO UPDATE

i love sara. check this out: http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/9037.html

now i don't have to feel as guilty about all the guac. avocados are still our friends. :)

avocados=very green vegetable oil

i hesitate to post this at all because i know that a lot of you probably really like avocados. as you should, they are f'in great! they taste good, they have a good texture, you can use them on a bunch of things...they rock! sure you almost always cut your thumb off trying to remove that giant seed thing in the middle. but it's worth it. you have another thumb. they are crazy little slimy green pods of deliciousness.

yesterday i went over to tim's house after work to drink shiner and eat guacamole, which he made with 4 small avocados among other things. it was an assload of guac. and between himself, me, and lidia...we polished it all off. we came up with this plan to avoid eating cheese fries at fitzwilly's. well my friends, apparently it wouldn't have mattered much. check out this scary ass nutritional information about avocados: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s00h8.html the only saving grace is that they are low in sodium, but i'm pretty sure the tortilla chips and salt added to the guac took care of that benefit for us. i'm pretty sure i'll be extending my time at the gym today!

the good news is that mcdonald's has a really good new "salad." salad gets put in quotes because it's apples, grapes, a cup of low-fat yogurt, and candied walnuts. it actually is pretty healthy, which hopefully balances out a bit of the caloric intake from yesteday. see for yourself: http://app.mcdonalds.com/bagamcmeal?process=item&itemID=10118

back to doing butt clenches at my desk. :) stupid evil avocados!

great weekend

after a very stressful school year, i got to wrap it up with a great weekend! i started thinking the other day about this year and just how crazy it has been. nuttiness with jobs, health scares with my family, friends moving on to new adventures, varying motivation to do school work, and so on and so forth. this has been a trying school year in a number of ways. so, it was nice to spend some time with a person who has helped me out so many times this year.

i found dave attell tickets a few months ago and bought them as a way to say thanks to mike for all the times he's bailed me out this year. we had a great weekend. stayed at a cool hotel in downtown houston (http://www.magnoliahotelhouston.com/) and ate at a really good restaurant that is becoming one of my all-time favorites (http://www.caferedonion.com/). we went to see dave attell on saturday night. you'll recognize dave for the show insomniac on comedy central. his humor is very crash and crude and f'in hilarious. :) (unless you're on the blue collar comedy tour..then you might not think he's so funny) it was all great! and we got to hang out with his parents a lot and eat good food and catch up with his sister who just got back from italy. all in all a very good weekend and a great way to end a somewhat insane year! sorry that i didn't win the texas lottery and couldn't take all of you out on the town to say thanks for helping me out this year. i appreciate all my friends so much. those of you who live in texas will get some beers from me next time we go to northgate (which should be soon! this weekend!!). those of you who don't live in texas, um...i love you guys. :) come visit and i'll buy you beers. ;) seriously though, thanks to everyone.

the other good news is that my brother and sister-in-law have officially brought my new nephew to the U.S. from Russia and they are all happy and healthy and catching up on sleep! this adoption process has been a long one and we all can't wait to meet luke. :) (he's the cutest baby ever!)



goofy looking kate and dave attell.  

"it's poop again"

i'm in my office in the academic building as i type this. not too long ago i was meeting with a student and changing his major to sociology. i could hear someone in the hallway outside walking around and figured they were either waiting to talk to me next or waiting for him to finish up with me so they could leave together. well, i was wrong about that.

the student leaves, happy to be switched over. i goof around on the internet checking email and to see if i won the texas lottery yet. and then a smell creeps into my office from the hallway. it smells like someone has ripped all kinds of ass. i figure it will dissipate, but it keeps lingering.

then another student pops in and says "have you been out in the hallway?" "no, i explain." and then she informs me that "there's a huge turd out here." "you're kidding, right?" i say. "no," she explains..."it's on the floor...and ew...on the wall too." reluctantly, i peek out the door and there is, in fact, a hefty poop next to one of the chairs at the end of the hall, a bit on the floor, and some smeared on the wall. "how is this possible?" i ask no one, though i'm talking out loud.

so, someone took a dump in the hallway outside (not right outside, but near) my office. it brought me back to my residence hall days (especially at marquette), where it was not uncommon to find or hear about finding bodily functions in the hall, elevator, floor, whatever. one guy in my building at marquette drunkly mistook the elevator for a urinal one night. but this is a academic building...i mean, it's called the academic building for god's sake..not the shit factory building.

i had the joy of calling the main office to inform them that there is poop up here. "poop?" "yes, poop." i shut the door and luckily can't smell it as much, but i did almost gag last time i went out in the hall way to put a yellow caution sign (you know, the wet floor ones) over the poop on the floor.

here's hoping the maintenance guys get here sometime soon. (what a thankless job that is. cleaning up some jerkoffs excrement! there's no way they get paid enough to do that!) it's icky bad and a bit incomprehisble. "i didn't do well on my final so i'm going to go take a shit on a chair?" it is friday the 13th i guess, but damn that's gross!

mantra

one of my former RAs had part of this quote as her away message the other day. i liked it a lot and thought i'd share. seems like something i need to remember more.

"i want to beg you, as much as i can, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. and the point is, to live everything. live the questions now. perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. perhaps you do carry within yourself the possibility of shaping and forming as a particularly happy and pure way of living; train yourself to it-but take whatever comes with great trust, and if only it comes out of your own will, out of some need of your inmost being, take it upon yourself and hate nothing." -rainer maria rilke

three good customer service plugs

despite my recent crabbiness i want to give props to three companies that i've received good customer service from.

first up is gomez shoe repair. back in februrary i broke one of those little hook thingys on my favorite hiking shoes that you use to keep the laces in place. (too much drinky drink that night) and gomez shoe repair (by 32 degrees or whatever) fixed it for the bargain price of $5.00!

second is redenvelope.com. they have really cool products and shipped something for me really fast and even responded quickly when i had a question.

finally, sprint actually fixed my phone this afternoon after i broke it a little last night. (whoops!) i waited for a few minutes while they took it into the back room and before i knew it, it was back in shape. and it cost nothing. :)

thanks for all the helpfulness.

love/hate relationship

so, i'm a bit behind the times (*stop snickering mike*) and only recently got into sex and the city i watched the first two seasons on dvd and catch random, edited episodes on tbs when i have time. i'm even looking forward to renting or buying more seasons so i can watch them this summer. however, as intrigued as i am by this show, it's also very frustrating sometimes. :) there are times when i think the writers for that show were stalking me to get ideas for the next episode. there are other times when it's hard to sympathize with carrie for being alone...because she's still dressed to the nines and living in paris for god's sake...and in the end, gets the guy!

then there are quotes like the following, that just make me smile, because i know i've said things like that before to my other single friends. "Carrie: Think about it. If you are single, after graduation there isn't one occasion where people celebrate you ... Hallmark doesn't make a "congratulations, you didn't marry the wrong guy" card. And where's the flatware for going on vacation alone?" one of my highschool friends that i'm still in touch with made a list of our little circle of people and crossed off everyone who was married, leaving only four of us still single. it was after reading that that i wanted to know where the list was for people who are getting a Ph.D. or living outside of iowa or whatever. :) i'm ready for a "you passed your dissertation defense" shower. (okay, i'll be ready for it when i pass...just sayin'!)

so, that's my love/hate relationship with
sex and the city. it's a very insightful, funny, and just fun show...i love watching it, even when it drives me nuts.

a mystery is suddenly more mysterious

so might have told some of you about my ancenstry before. i'm german, more german, more german, an eighth british, and an eighth mystery. the family story about the mystery was always that my grandfather's mother was an orphan and was on on something called an orphan train. this was always a unique little tidbit about the parks family. however, when i was home last time, my dad told me that the orphan train part of our history was actually fiction. evidentally someone in the family made that up because there was some sort of shame associated with her heritage. BUT, that's all we know about the truth of her background. we know that she lived with a few families, but still don't know what were ethnic ancestry is. in all actuality it doesn't matter too much. the mystery is still just that...a mystery. but i think it's even more interesting now. what's the big cover up?

in other news, i finished my last paper for the semester. i think it was decently done...but mostly it's done. i have one more semester of classes left...and then i'll be ABD if i pass prelims. (abd=all but dissertation by the way. i get asked that sometimes so i thought i'd clarify.) not sure what will happen next, but i'm looking forward to an opportunity to relax a bit this summer. w00t!

don't tell my heart...my achy breaky heart :)

no, this message is not a tribute to the king of all mullets, billy ray cyrus. :) i just couldn't do that to my reading public and i don't want to sacrifice the slim integrity that my blog has. (i said slim...i know it doesn't have much.)

so lately, my heart has been very palpitaty. i've had problems with it since 7th grade. i remember it vividly. we were running some kind of insane drill at basketball practice, which was appropriate called suicides or something (crazy sadistic gym teachers....her name was Ms. Hasenwinkle...she was mean) and my heart switched from beating fast because i was exercise to going mock 11. then i started to black out and figured i should stop running. :) that scenario has been going on randomly (not regulary) since then. i don't even want to speculate how many years that's been because it will just prove once again that i'm old. (fine...i would have been 12 or 13 in 7th grade...so freakin 17 years..). well, lately it has felt like it's on the verge of an episode pretty constantly so i went to the doctor and found out that part of what might cause it is anxiety. time for kate to cut back on stress and start doing yoga again. :) the cutting back on stress part may be difficult right now since i have two papers to finish in the next week. but if you know of other stress relieving activities, i'm all ears. (this is the part where drew makes some remark involving sex...i'm predicting it.)

anywho, i get drugs now and hopefully they will start working and i'm really looking forward to some chill time this summer. it's kind of ironic if any of you read mike's blog recently. he wrote about being really laid back and apparently i have the opposite situation going on. :) not that that makes me more decisive though. just achy breaky evidently.

okay, time to write.

my car has favorite songs

i love music...a lot. it's always been a big part of who i am. back in the old days when i would squeak on my clarinet and the more recent days when i'd sing in choir...i love music. and apparently so does my car. in fact, i'm convinced that it has favorite songs.

i recently made a mix cd with a ton of kick ass stuff on it. i usually have the cd player in my car set on random. it's my way to mix stuff up, since at times i get stuck in a rut and only listen to the same CD over and over again. but i've noticed, that my car will "randomly" play the same songs over and over again. and it's not like it goes through the entire CD before it starts repeating itself...it'll play song A, play song B, and then come back to song A. so, i've learned that my car really likes songs by N.E.R.D. and Pearl Jam (especially the song Release, which is nice since it's one of my favorites too). Sometimes I have to force it to play other stuff on the CD. like i really wanted to hear the Offspring sing Get a Job which is why I put it on the CD in the first place. But oh, no...car wants to hear REM's Stand two more times first. :) anyway, i just thought it was wacky stuff. when it gets too out of hand then i have to take away the "random" privileges. :) if my car was kit from nightrider it would totally be swearing at me right now.

speaking of awesome music, if you haven't already gone to this website (http://music.download.com/wesraine/3600-8596_32-100085438.html?tag=list) and downloaded some of my friend wes's music go do it already! it's freakin' awesome. i was just listening to the song "half my age plus seven" and it totally rocks and made my day happier. wes is super talented and will rock your socks off. do it! NOW!

:)

new shoes are evil

so, i like shoes almost as much as mike does. :) *cracked myself up...just a sec*

phew..better now. so i got some steve madden sandals on ebay that are brand new...and i wore them today and walked for maybe a total of 15 minutes in them and they have already given me blisters. why are new shoes so evil? do shoe companies own stocks in band-aid companies or something? it's crazy because they look like they should be the most comfortable shoes ever, but apparently it's a lie. maybe father dennis could fart on them or something and melt them a little. or maybe my feet are just pansies?

hope ya'll are having a good monday. i'm off to read. :P

countdown: 15 days until I'm done with stuff for this semester.

owch

i've had a headache every day for 4 days. not constant, but still at some point i have one. at what point do i decide it's not finals stress and go to the doctor? i guess if it's still happening after my papers are done? ugh.

thanks ags

so, i'm a graduate student here at a&m and historically, grad students aren't usually really into the aggie spirit stuff. i like to think i'm an exception to that norm though. i've been at a&m since 2000 (this a one year hiatus) and i've had many moments where the aggie spirit has overwhelmed me. one of them was on thursday. i've been having a bit of a crabby week...for a variety of reasons that i won't get into now or ever. but i digress. i was leaving work after a long day of advising and walking to my car and could hear the war hymn. thursday was muster and so there was music coming from the clocktower. as i walked through the academic plaza and past the ymca building, i started to think about how amazing it is that i ended up at a&m and that though it has it's problems, the community is also amazing. a&m was never on my list of grad schools originally, but i can't imagine that i would feel this connected to my school had i gone some place else. the spirit here is palpable. i had a million things to do on thursday evening but all the stress of that drifted away as i saw lots of students heading to reed arena to go to muster. to remember aggies who have passed away this year and to share in the comraderie of their fellow students, as well as alums. though i couldn't go myself, i still felt that connection to this awesome university. i can't imagine having picked another school. it's impossible to imagine not having the friends i've made at a&m right now and the great memories i've had here so far. so thanks ags...

broken brains?

wow...i had so much to do for today that i think in the preparation for that...i broke my brains. halfway through my second class today, i was totally out of it. literally had no idea what was going on in there anymore and didn't even care a little bit. it was like the time that i got a bug bite on my hand and it totally swelled up and looked scary, so i took one benedryl and it made me high. you can ask mike..i was totally out of it. he would talk to me and i'd have no idea what he was saying. i put my giant hand in an old navy bag and was waving it around. benedryl totally jacks me up. and that's how i felt today...and i swear i took no benedryl. just a vitamin! vitamins are supposed to help right?! anyway, i think it will be good for my overall health once this semester is over with. then, god willing, just one semester left. :) here's hoping. tonight was one of those nights when i felt very very old in college station...and it made me want to not live here anymore...a lot. more on that sometime, maybe.

good weekend

so, mike had his head shaved yesterday and managed to raise almost $800. he's really close to reaching his goal so if you have the inclination and some extra cash to spare, i'm sure he'd appreciate it. :) there are some pictures of his shaved head on his blog: http://sooshie.org
i was trying to grow out my hair to donate some to locks of love and then a trim turned into more than a trim, so i'm starting over. i have a ways to go so maybe the texas sun will help my locks get longer.

my new roommates lindsay and cecelia moved in this weekend. lindsay is a good friend of mine and cecelia is her three year old daughter. it is so good to have them both there. i had a few friends over for marinated steak dinner last night and so they could meet lindsay and cecelia. it was a lot of fun and i think the food went over well. i hope they enjoy living in 205. i know i'm really glad that they are living with us. there's something nice about seeing toys in the living room and hearing a cute little girl ask me if i want to see all her sparkly bracelets or watch shrek. :) now that summer is coming i hope to have people over more often, because though i still had/have a lot of reading and stuff to do this weekend, it was great having friends over and introducing new friends to old friends and just all that stuff. (tim is rolling his eyes at my cheesiness right now.)

anyhow, i should get back to writing. have a good sunday everyone.

p.s.- best question cecelia has asked so far: "so, does kate pee in the potty?" :)

ditto

my friend wes posted this on his blog and i'm posting it because i was duped by this stupid service too...so be warned friends! it's a load of poop and you shouldn't sign up.

"If you are getting requests by WesRaine@invitations.sms.ac, DO NOT ACCEPT!!!!!

I accepted a request by a friend of mine two weeks ago and this thing has apparently hijacked my address book and is trying to get everyone else to join. This thing is a spamming machine that I have no control over but it seems to be sending messages to everyone in my address book (including me!) to join this ridiculous service. I have closed my account and urge anyone who has already accepted to do the same. When they want to know why you are deleting your account, make sure to tell them that it is because their "service" is really crappy seeing as how it annoyed all of your friends. We already get enough unsolicited spam...we don't need any more."

i'm addicted

yes, another quiz. are you going to do this one too tim smith? :)


which sex in the city charactor are you? 

busy body

so advising has been really really busy lately. it's registration time so i've been helping lots of undergraduate sociology majors pick classes and decide on minors and all that fun stuff. there are some really rewarding moments (like when i talked with a student about graduate school and research for a while) and some that are very frustrating (like when i have to tell people that they can't graduate or can't substitute a class that they though they could and almost cry). sometimes it's hard to stay motivated and helpful when i have my own stresses too. i told tim that i wouldn't be surprised if people were outside of my office right now waiting to talk to me tomorrow. his response was "you're more popular than aggie football." to which i retorted "the list eater is there right now eating my schedule off my door." :)

just a few more weeks of classes...and then...more advising for the summer. :)

reading break

You are Deb and you could drink whole milk if you
wanted.




Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

brought to you by Quizilla


woo!! :)

find out who you are by clicking the link below: http://quizilla.com/users/retromex/quizzes/Which%20Napoleon%20Dynamite%20character%20are%20you%3F

have i mentioned this movie (and soundtrack) kicks so much ass?

"i'm sorry but i'm just thinking of the right words to say..i know they don't sound the way i planned them to be..." (the promise by when in rome from the ND soundtrack. boo-ya!)

shaved head for a good cause

i sent out an email about this to a lot of you but thought i'd post it here in case i missed anyone and in case my readership is larger than i think it is. :) (also, to inspire others to post this on their blogs too to get the word out). my b/f/f mike is shaving his head to help raise money to find a cure for childhood cancer. you can donate as little or as much as you want. here's link with more info. hopefully mike will grace us a of photo of himself post-head shaving.

good job mike! way to help the kids. :)

http://www.stbaldricks.org/ShaveePhoto.asp?SolNumber=15324700

the big question is...are you gonna shave your facial hair off too? :)

blogspot pooped it's pants earlier

so...i wrote a very creative post before and then blogspot pooped itself and it got lost in the void somewhere.

luckily i remember what i wrote earlier which is a christmas miracle since i seem to have no short term memory. can't even remember what hours i worked LAST WEEK.

so i was noticing on my friend wes's blog that he has a links section and i wondered how to do that. do i need to use a different template? is there some wacky computer code that i need to use that will give me a chance to post some of my favorite links. hmm...i'll try this: 686579206D6167696320696E7465726E657420676F64732E2E67697
665206D652061206C696E6B732073656374696F6E206F6E206D7920
7765627061676520736F20692063616E2074656C6C2065766572796F6
E652061626F757420687474703A2F2F736578796E6572642E6F72672F
666C6173682F7468656C6C616D61736F6E672E7377662E2E6861707069
657374207765627369746520657665722E202072656164792C207365742
C20676F2120206669676874696E27207465786173206167676965206C69
6E6B2073656374696F6E2E202077686F6F702100

hmmm...that didn't work. stupid hex. :)

any thoughts?

there was other stuff but i don't remember. yay for mike being here. fun times already.

babies don't need coffee

it's 8:00 p.m. i'm in a local coffee shop trying to study. and suddenly this place is more hoppin' than a bar at northgate. only it's hoppin' with the goth people who are loud, with sorority girls who aren't here to study though they have books, and apparently a group of mom's with their babies. what is the deal with that? why do babies and mom's need coffee right now? shouldn't babies be asleep? i'm pretty sure my bedtime was 8 p.m. until like 3rd grade or something. i have decided two things: 1. if/when i ever have a baby, i will not bring him/her to coffee places where students are trying to study and 2. i need to move to a bigger college town. there are only like 5 coffee shops in town so everybody in the free world is here. i know, i know..it's a business and people come here to drink coffee and it's not a library. i'm just sayin'...it sucks asses.

sara and i decided that we need to open a coffee/wine bar in town that is for graduate students or people over 23 only. i think it would be a huge success...and it would be quieter.

other than that, i'm having a good monday.

happy easter

happy easter everyone. easter in my family was never as big of a celebration as christmas, but it was always a fun time for the parks fam. we'd anxiously await our easter baskets and try to locate all the hidden eggs. i find myself missing that a little today. i'm appreciative of tim and lidia though for letting me invade their dinner plans. :) today i didn't get an easter basket or marshmellow peeps (though i might go to the store to get some..love those things!), but i did get to hear mike rant about mass and i get to have yummy dinner. woo!

i got home yesterday from a conference in new orleans. it was a great time and i'm really glad that i went, even though i didn't originally want to go. ate so much good food, had some good drinks (probably too many as tim can attest to from my failed attempt to drunk dial him), and the conference itself was also really great. my presentations went really well and going to the sessions gave me lots of ideas for research. ideas that i should write down so i don't forget them. met some new people, made some new friends, hung out with old friends..it was great.

now it's back to the grind.

happy easter everyone. i hope it's a blessed day.

i'm on to something

see...green tea is made of yoda juice. if you don't know what i'm talking about see my previous entry entitled: green tea is yoda juice from february 21st or something.

i could use some right now. as it turns out, 3 hours of sleep isn't enough. starbucks hasn't even helped. but i bet yoda juice would. aw yeah.

by the way, if there are three multi-colored dots by the title, you can click on them to get to the link i was referring to. or it's right here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7187847/?GT1=6305

the weather person is the devil

so i wanted to check the weather today to see if there'd be more hail like there was yesterday. i tuned into the weather channel and it appears there is something wrong with their sound. all the people sound like they have devily voices. it sounds like when someone is being interviewed and their voice is disguised. it's actually kind of funny and i wonder if people nation-wide are a bit startled when they hear demon-voices on the weather channel. :) it's especially awesome when the cute weather guy has this huge smile and his voice is just devily. good stuff.

grading stuff led to deep thoughts

i've been getting a sneak preview of my future life as a prof this week. i've been grading marriage and family exams for the past 3 days or so. someday i'll be dr. kate and i'll be paying some crazy poor grad student (or undergrad) to grade stuff for me. :) grading isn't too bad in general. these exams are especially interesting because they've been writing about how women have to choose between career and family a lot of the time, or in sociology speak...they veer towards or veer away from domesticity. some of their insights about that subject are really interesting and some of them scare the pants off me. not in the usual way that you might expect if you've graded undergraduate essays before. inevitably there is one or two that goes on a moral tirade instead of actually answering the question that's being asked of them. sort of a "wwjd" response to an exam question. so far there haven't been any of those in this set. instead, they just keep writing about how when women choose the career path, it's hard to choose the family path. the longer i'm in graduate school the more i wonder if this track really will lead me to being that crazy cat lady in the future who has a lot of publications and a lot of litter boxes. i'm not convinced that ph.d. women are destined for that path. i just hope that it's possible to have it all. sara and i have been talking about the lack of role models we find in our graduate lives of women who get to have a fulfilling career and a family life too. crazy veering. :) i'm pretty sure there's some research to be done here. don't steal it from me bastards! we can co-author it. word!

in other news, i'm kinda bummed because one of my favorite local websites has crapped itself. it was http://www.aggielandmenus.info totally rad site! you could look up pretty much any restaurant in town and they would provide a menu, as well as contact info and some places you could even order online. it was great and i hope that it will come back to us.

well, it's 2:03 a.m. and i almost reached my goal of grading 30 exams since 9 p.m. just 5 short but it's bed time. night yo!

spring break?

so, i'm glad that i was a lazy ass and didn't do a thing academic or work related this past weekend (well, mostly), because it looks like i'm going to be really really busy for the next two weeks. AND what sucks about it is that this week is supposed to be spring break. i guess i should get it out of my head that this week is any different from the rest of the year. the only change is that i don't have to go to class this week. however, i foolishly took on too much extra work for this week (though i need the money and good karma). still have two books to read, two presentations to prepare for a conference in new orleans next week, one paper proposal to write, and 70 tests to grade. and all of that has led to a bit of insomnia that will likely prevent me from going to swim with tim tomorrow since it's 2 a.m. and i'm not asleep right now. he's going to think i'm the flakiest swim friend in the world, but i bet he'll also understand since he's also in graduate student hell. i'm really really looking forward the days when i just have one thing on my plate instead of like 3022wq342. (yes, i know there's a w and a q in there...bring it.) but you know what, i bet that will never really be the case. there will always be various things to balance. (like maybe career and family and stuff like that...instead of papers and two jobs and blah blah blah..what am i talking about). i just hope that it's not so much all at once all the time. whatever, i'm rambling because it's late and i'm tired even if my brains won't let me sleep. dumb bastard brains. before i know it, it will be summer and it will be hotter and i'll still be posting stuff like this. :)

talked to mike today . he says hi to everyone from italy. i think he's enjoying his time there and i'm sure he'll be posting about all the mopeds and stuff that he's seen. here's hoping he doesn't swear at the pope tomorrow. (side note for dennis: mike was going to tell the pope hi from you and to let him know to make you a bishop).

so that's it for now. better try to sleep so i can get stuff done tomorrow...i mean today.

"i can tell that we are going to be friends"

the subject line is the title of a great song by the white stripes. if you've seen napoleon dynamite, you'll recognize it from the opening credits. if you haven't seen napoleon dynamite, stop reading right now and go watch it already. you are banned from reading my blog until you've seen one of the best films yet. i'm resisting all urges to stop writing this and watch it for the billionth time.
the soundtrack is really quite good too, though this song is strangely missing from it.

anyway, i've been blogging a lot lately and it's not like i have a lot going on that i need to write about. more like i have had a lot of stuff on my mind lately and i'm forcing you all to read it. i've been feeling really nostalgic lately and i'm not sure if that's because spring is just about here or because i just got home from a great visit or because of some other reason that i haven't thought of yet. maybe it's because i live in 205 now and the vibe here is totally different than it was when i first moved back to texas. and things have changed in a lot of good ways since then. tim got married, mike got a new opportunity in new mexico, shells gets to be closer to family, etc etc. lots of good stuff. but i still find myself missing those times past. when brett and mike would pull up outside my apartment on the way to northgate. when tim and cass and mike would smoke cigars in hammock chairs in the back. when shells and i would talk over mudslides trying to understand boys. when the boys and i would go to fox and hound and watch brett do ninja moves in the parking lot or i'd go to lunch with the computer guys and be the only girl and the only one to not get their computer jokes. and that's just the texas memories i have from last year i could go on even more about crazy undergrad adventures or fun times with dennis (like when he farted on a child once or crashed a 15 passenger van into a car), monica, jeremy, jed and jen. or bitch sessions with sociology peeps and the hell and adventure that brought me closer to people at marquette. i guess the reason i quoted that song up there was because i really just miss those close networks of friends that i was graced to spend various points in my life with. luckily tim and i can carry on the college station front and i'm so glad to get to hang out with him and lidia (except when tim makes me go swimming in the morning) :) and i have sara and sociology peeps to keep me sane with boys and classes and all that fun stuff. things have changed for all of us, but the friendships are still there. as the song says: "tonight i'll dream while i'm in bed, when silly thoughts go through my head, about the bugs and alphabet, when i wake, tomorrow i'll bet, that you and i will walk together again..i can tell that we are gonna be friends."

i know..i'm a fuckin' corn dog lately. bite it.

addendum: there are probably people that should have made it in that last paragraph but aren't there. i'm happy and grateful for all my friends. except for tim now who hates my corndogginess. bite it tim. :P just kidding. you all rock asses.

crisp texas air? *yawn*

so, i took almost a week off and relaxed my ass off in albuquerque. it was great and i had a really fun time spending time with one of my closest friends in the world, mike. we ate great food (even some that i made!) and went mini-golfing in the sunshine (i kicked his ass on one round....woo!) and i met some of his buddies in NM. it was just what i needed and i hoped that i would come home refreshed and ready to face the rest of this semester. hopefully that will set in tomorrow because it certainly hasn't today. i'm pooped and unmotivated to read 100 pages tonight, even though i really need to. lucky for me...spring break is next week and i will get some time to get work done. i have two papers to write this semester (one is my dissertation proposal..yikes!) and need to work on another project too so that i can be a superstar when i eventually graduate.

i'm probably rambling now. thanks for a fun time mike and thanks NM for being beautiful and enchanting while i was there. makes it hard to come back, but i'm so glad to have great friends in TX here to keep me sane.

okay, it's either reading time or bed time....we'll see how exciting this book ends up being.

crisp mountain air

right now i'm sitting on mike's balcony, checking out mountains, drinking a beer, and just having a relaxing afternoon. i highly recommend this activity to all my reader(s). very happy to get to take a break and get away from the stress of school and work for a while. sweet!

redemption

so, after that blog post a few days ago...the one where i was called a "republican dickhead" by mike (which is not the case by the way...still a liberal, social-democrat)...i feel that i should post something affirming to women. i sent this to a lot of the women that i know, because it's just great. my mom sent it to me and it gave me goosebumps. so read it because women are cool.

THE ONE-FLAW IN WOMEN

By the time the Lord made woman, he was into his sixth day of working overtime. An angel appeared and said, "Why are you spending so much time on this one?" And the Lord answered, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable and able to run on diet coke and leftovers, have a lap that can hold four children at one time, have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart-and she will do everything with only two hands."

The angel was astounded at the requirements. "Only two hands!? No way! And that's just on the standard model? That's too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish." But I won't," the Lord protested. "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick AND can work 18 hour days."

The angel moved closer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft, Lord." "She is soft," the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish." "Will she be able to think?" asked the angel. The Lord replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason and negotiate." The angel then noticed something, and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one." "That's not a leak," the Lord corrected, "that's a tear!" "What's the tear for?" the angel asked. The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride."

The angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything! Woman is truly amazing." And she is! Women have strengths that amaze men. They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy. They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry. They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous. They fight for what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don't take 'no' for an answer when they believe there is a better solution. They go without so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend. They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards. They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left. They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you this to show how much they care about you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love. They have compassion and ideals. They give moral support to their family and friends. Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

share this with some awesome women you know. :) do it! don't make me swear again!!

yeah, it's gone

brains have given me the finger on remembering what i was going to write about. there's a far side cartoon with the caption "Funniest cartoon ever is ruined by Larry and Dave" (i'm not sure that those are the right names now that i think about it" and in the box you see in the background a farmer and a chicken but you can't see anything else because in the foreground is an upclose shot of Larry and Dave. my brain is pulling one of these on me. i was probably about to write the funniest blog post ever seen on the sociology of kate and my brains have cockblocked it. can i say cockblock on my own blog?

comments? anyone? hello? reader? :)

total and complete brain fart

i was going to write something. i had this idea of something to post earlier and i'll be dipped-in-shit if i can remember it. that's what happens after an 11 hour day of classes and work. let me think about it and maybe i can remember....

green tea is yoda juice

so, i got a cold a little over a week ago. it was yucky and i was full of boogers. i managed to get some rest and take vitamins and various cold medicines and for the most part it went away. but...i still had some sinus pressure that just wouldn't go away. i told medicine man mike about it and he suggested that i drink some green tea. so, since i was at a coffee shop reading, might as well heed his advice. i ordered a green tea, put some honey in it to sweeten it up, and sipped away. and wouldn't you know it...sinus pressure is gone and has ben gone since. green tea has magical yoda powers. the tea is so powerful in fact that it kept me up until 3 in the morning. yes indeed, green tea is some wacky wacky stuff. created by yoda.

scary bath!

something crazy happened last night. i called mike a "f---ing lesbian feminist" and he called me a "republican dickhead."

what's going on in the universe? are pigs flying? has hell frozen over? something wacky is afoot.

one theory proposed by one of my friends is that i'm being subconsciously influenced by mike vibes now that i live in the town house (known as 205 in new vernacular) and that since i live in a room formerly occupied by mike, that i'm absorbing said vibes. osmosis of evil influence? there is positive influence though too, it's not all evil. i have been cleaning a lot and swearing a great deal and i've been more organized. that's all good stuff.

i'll keep you posted on any more out of the ordinary name-calling. this is certainly the first time i've ever been called a republican dickhead. i wonder if it will be the last?

so, today is the 14th of february. the day when florists and hallmark and plush animal makers cash in on commercializing people's love lives. it's also the day for those who are not romantically involved to hate the world and all couples. i've learned that a lot of boys hate this holiday, and even though as a girl i get a bit caught up in this stupid holiday, i can see why boys would be P.O.ed during this time of year. i've heard about some women who go nuts if they don't get exactly what they wanted on this day or such things. and corporations start telling you that if you don't buy this or that, "she won't know that you love her" or similar messages like that. if you don't pick the right thing or the right card or the right box of chocolates, then you suck in your relationship. i'm sure this holiday started out as something pure and good and now it's become commercialized and focused on material stuff and all that stuff that doesn't matter. what does matter is letting the people you love know that they are special to you, that you appreciate them, and that you are lucky and blessed to get to share your life with them and visa versa. and those kinds of sentiments are probably expressed in a million tiny ways every day...in a way that can't put money in somebody's pocket. so maybe this day is supposed to remind us that we need to appreciate those people in our lives who lift us up, make us laugh, support us, take care of us, like us for who we are, listen to us, give us a shoulder to cry on, make us smile, etc etc etc. i know that's what this day means to me. sure, it's nice to get a card and some conversation hearts or something like that and i totally appreciate the gifts that i did get. they were awesome! but it's also a time when i reflect on all my wonderful friends and my awesome family and all that they have given me over the years. and i hope that they know how dear they are to my heart, how much they brighten my day, and how grateful i am to have such special people in my life. that means more to me than any amount of flowers or chocolates or anything else...and i hope it does for others as well. in other words, don't be so hard on the guys ladies. this is a hallmark holiday after all, so don't bust their balls today...instead think of the things they do for you every single day to show you that you are cared about. and if you're like me and don't have balls to bust, think about the people in your life that totally rock ass and are there for you when you need it. let's just all put down the chocolate for a second and smile about our cool ass friends. do it, fuckers!

happy VDs. :)

*hugs*

sometimes i hate cell phones and the people using them

so, i'm addicted to coffee. it's sad, but true. i'm convinced i'll work on alleviating the addiction during lent. however, it's not lent yet i was at starbucks this morning before class. i had a tightly configured schedule and only had a few minutes to get coffee and jump back in my car (which needs a name i just realized...i wonder if coffee makes you have ADD?! look a shiny object on my desk. ooooooooooooooooooo!) and get to the academic building on time. so i'm in the very short queue (i'm british today) and some stupid ass woman decided the optimal time to call someone to chit chat about nothing was 2 seconds before it was her turn to order. this meant waiting for her dumbass to realize it was her turn to order, to pay and all of the other normal things you do in line that require at least some of your attention to the register and not to your phone. it made me mad and i blame her for all of society's ill. just kidding...i'm lacking sleep and though coffee perks me up a bit, it's no substitute for some zzz's. anyway, i ended up being 1 minute late to class and thankfully the prof did not punish us for that. anyway, i love my cell phone as much as the next guy. it has a camera. there's a little animated bear that walks around sometimes wearing a cape and a pumpkin head. i can text message people with it. it's shiny................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
sorry..got distracted by the shinyness. as much as i like my phone, there are still sometimes when i shouldn't be on it. for example: when i'm next in line at the goddamn coffee shop and coffee addicted sleep deprived grad students are behind me. or anytime i'm driving in college station. or at church. or while getting an eye exam. or while a student is telling me that they think they might drop out of school and go on a shooting spree. there are lots of times when it's just bad manners or dangerous or gross to be on your phone. any thoughts on this? i'd write more but my phone's ringing.

and so shiny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *drool*