bored

so, i still really like teaching...especially the intro class. but i find myself dreading office hours. i've been trying to pinpoint why i lack enthusiasm for them, especially since it's only 2 hours on monday and wednesday (which is minimal office time compared to what i've had for the past three years). i think the issue is that i share an office, so i can't really make this one mine. or at least i hesitate too because i share this space with 5 other people. we're not here at the same time, but i'm not sure it would be appreciated if i had my shit all over the place. :) i did co-opt one desk drawer to put some lunchy/snacky things in. and i have a folder on the desktop of this computer, but otherwise, i'm like a nomadic office person and take all my stuff with me (except the radio i bought..that stays.) i can suck it up though and deal, because jeez..it's two hours. maybe the real issue is that i miss when friends would stop by academic and say hi and eat candy and shoot the shit. and i sort of miss the regular student interaction i had as an advisor (though there were times that i needed a break from that.) now students just stop by when they have questions or problems, so i've only really seen one person so far. so if you're around and are bored, come by my office. :)

in other news, my apartment is really starting to look good. i almost have everything put away so that i can do some serious cleaning. then it will be fit for guests!

later skaters.

i'm copying shelley

my good buddy shells posted her responses on her blog and i'm copying her. you can find shelley's responses on her blog which is linked from mine (Bean Around the World.)


10 Firsts:
Real Best Friend - Laurel Smeins
Screenname - I think the first one was on something called ISCA and I was known as HappyMarmot
Pet dog name - No dogs, but our first cat was Sylvester
Piercing - Ears only
Crush - Justin T. was always my crush in elementary school and in high school my first crush was definitely John C. College...definitely Father Dennis (this was pre-priest status)
Car - The first car I drove was a hot ass Ford Ranchero. The first car I attempted to buy was a Plymouth Neon
School - Woodbury Elementary (WOLVERINES!!)
House location - 1103 East State in M'town
Favorite Toy - my doll Martha (who I still have)
Name - Katie (shut up Mike) :)

9 Lasts:
Time you smoked - too many cigars at Mike's a few weeks ago
Food you ate - meatball sandwich
Car ride - home from dinner with a friend
Movie you watched - Sliding Doors
Phone call - Jared
Song you listened to - Hebrew songs
Bubble Bath - can't remember...probably finals week last semester

8 Have you evers:
Dated a best friend - for the most part
Been arrested - no way
Danced with no music - sure
Been on tv - most recently I was interviewed on the news because of this high school program i was working with one summer. it was awesome because the caption under me just said "kate" as if the people in b/cs would like "whoa..hey! it's kate!!" :)
Kissed someone & regretted it - without a doubt
Cheated on your bf/gf - no
Been on a blind date - ugh..yes
Been out of the country - yes i have and can't wait to go again

7 Things you're wearing: pj bottoms, white tank top, bra, hoody, glasses, underwears, a smile

6 Things you've done today: taught people, went to k-mart, mailed a box, unpacked boxes, dinner with a friend, went to synagogue with same friend

5 Favorite things: hanging with friends, watching movies, coffee drinks, good music, laughter

4 People you most trust: only 4?! Mom, Dad, Mike, Dennis (and many others...you know who you are.)

3 Choices:
Vanilla or Chocolate - Vanilla
Hugs or Kisses - yes please...i mean hugs
Pens or Pencils - Pencils

2 Things you want to do before you die:
Have a family
Write a book

1 Famous Person to meet: I wanna say Jon Stewart off the top of my head.

Your turn!!

toot my own horn

on wednesday a few students came up to me after the lecture and let me know that they were really trying to get into my class, because their own section of intro was "horrid." in between classes i always get some lackluster coffee at the student union and while i was in line a girl told me that she really enjoyed the lecture and that her boyfriend was actually disappointed that time was already up. all of that was very nice to hear and leads me to believe that i'm doing a pretty good job with that class anyway. it's kind of funny because i was intimidated by that course since it's huge compared to the others. but the students seem to be interested and engaged in the lecture for the most part. i know i'm not reaching everyone but i'm reaching a lot and they seem to really enjoy the class. they participate, they take notes, and they ask questions. it's totally awesome and a pretty big change from my experience last semester at the community college. the other two courses are going alright too. the subject matter is less interesting and since i've not taught it before it's more challenging. but overall, i dig this teaching thing. i don't want to be a bragger, but i think i have some skill in this area and it's something i really like. woo!

all else is well in ABQ. making friends. enjoying the view. can't wait for my new camera so i can show ya'll some pictures of my new digs.

moon rise

on saturday night i got to watch the full moon rise from behind the mountains. it was absolutely beautiful and amazing. i saw it happen once when i lived in austria and i was mesmerized. it's nice when nature makes you stop thinking about all the stressors of life. honestly that was part of the reason i was so excited about moving here. moments of awe to break up the day. i haven't been disappointed so far.

i have to say though that it's taking a while for it to hit me that i live here now. maybe the move was so fast and furious that my brain didn't really process it. still seems like at some point mike will be taking me back to the airport and i'll be on my way to texas again. i'll meet up with tim and sara for guac and shiner and we'll bitch about stuff and laugh our asses off. (miss that). i think it just takes me some settling in time and once i get that accomplished...this will feel more like home. once all the boxes are unpacked and safely shoved under my bed, pictures are on the wall (need your help with that mike), and i have people over for the first time (which will hopefully be soon), i suspect it will all sink in. this is not to be read that i'm not happy to be here. i definitely am (though i miss my texas peeps something fierce). it's just hard to get out of the "what's coming up next" mode. i've been anticipating moving and finding a job for so long, i have to break my old habits and realize that i've done it. :) anyone else have this problem or is this specifically and idiosyncratically kate?

in other news, i start teaching tomorrow. i was/am really nervous about it, but i think it will go well. i finally got my syllabus done for the methods course and feel much better about that now. gotta go copy it this afternoon, check out my classrooms, get a parking pass, and submit a paper or two to the american sociological association meeting. busy busy busy.

in a quil daze

somehow in the land of enchantment i managed to catch a cold. it's better than the flu that was going around, that's for sure. but it's still no fun to be sick and sniffly. luckily i'm well-stocked on vitamins and orange juice so hopefully i'll be able to kick this cold's ass before classes start next week.

things are going pretty well so far. i finally have cable, internet, and utilities set up after the apartment switcheroo mix-up when i moved in. and i have access to mail too. basically i'm connected to the outside world again. still have some unpacking and settling in to do. AND i have to get my syllabi together for my classes. gotta say that i'm sort of nervous about teaching. my intro class is going to be giant and the other two courses are new ones for me. i will have two TAs though which will help a lot. it's just a matter of figuring everything out at this point. and figuring it out fast.

okay friends, now that i have interweb in my house i will try to be in better communicato. :) peace out.

i'm now on the 30 side of 30

hi friends,

today's my birthday and i'm officially old. 20s no more. i've heard that the 30s are way better than the 20s, so here's hoping that's true. though i have to admit that the 20s weren't so bad. now though...30.

i always had this vision that i'd be like jennifer garner in that movie 13 going on 30. successful career, skinny, cool clothes, cute boyfriend. not quite there yet. i'm on my way to a successful career and have some cool clothes i think (including some i bought today.) i DEFINATELY need to start going to the gym soon. thank god i live on the 3rd floor of my apartment building. :) stupid holiday weight.

it occurs to me that i'm rambling. :) so the news is this: i got all moved in, bought a new bed, and turned 30 today. i'm going out to dinner tonight in ABQ which should be a good time. wooo!! and i got two massage gift certificates from mike which i can't wait to uses. moving hurts your muscles.

hope you all have a great weekend. miss my peeps.

UPDATE:

i had a wonderful birthday! lunch at pei wei, birthday coffee and cookie from satellite coffee (it's an awesome coffee place), dinner with lots of people at chama river brewery, and then drnks at spectators. AND i found a pair of jeans that fit despite my christmas weight gain. looks to be a beautiful day today!

bring on 2006

happy new year's eve everyone. so...i'm ready for 2006. the end of 2005 has been very bittersweet. had a great weekend with some of my closest friends, but also spent time with my grandmother for probably the last time ever. that was hard. tomorrow though, i start a new adventure. dennis and i will be driving to texas and then preparing to move to abq. i'm ready for this new chapter in a lot of ways, though the realization of saying good-bye to texas friends has not yet hit me. (look out guys...i'm pms-y).

quick run-down of 2005

january- moved into 205 with some crazy ass roommates, turned 29, met sara! :)

february- found out my mom was cancer-free,

march- wild and crazy times in new orleans for a conference

april- got new roommates and old roomie moved out

may- finished dissertation proposal, had to start taking heart medicine, fun dave attell weekend with mike

june- advised my ass off, got to meet my new nephew luke, ana (a.k.a.-june bug) was born, defended my dissertation proposal

july- traveled around like a fiend (especially to new mexico), found out i'm going to get published

august- busy month of advising, started teaching, began last semester of clasess, hurricane katrina (*:(*)

september- dad recovered from a brain aneurysm and surgery, hurricane rita, hung out with mike for his b'day.

october- went to the abq balloon fiesta for the second time, parents came to visit in TX

november- took and passed prelims...that's enough for november

december- new niece was born, finished up my last semester of classes, started packing, hung out at home, found out grandma is sick (*sad*), gained 10 pounds probably (*grin*), and got ready for the next year of fun!

okay..so i'm sure i missed some things. don't hate me if i did. don't!! congrats to everyone who had cool stuff happen in 2005. here's to lots of good things in 2006. love you guys!

ho hum

Lethargy: 1. Abnormal drowsiness, stupor. 2. A state of indifference.
From the Greek lethargia, drowsiness.

so apparently being in my hometown brings on a bad case of lethargy. i managed to do a few things today, which is more than i've done on most days. but in general, i just have no desire or energy or whatever to do much more than sleep in, watch tv, eat, and hang out with my parents and occassionally some iowa friends. i have emails to respond to, news to celebrate (congrats sara!), bags to pack, advising tips to write, CDs to make, books to read (for fun for a change). and yet...i have not worked up the ergs to do any of that. maybe it's being in iowa. it's cold, gray, kinda dreary...makes you want to just curl up by the heater and relax. it might also be that i'm recooperating after this semester. who can tell? all i know is that in about a week i'll be on my way to albuquerque and once i get back to texas on monday i will have a fuck ton to do.

sidenote: grandma is still in the hospital, doing a bit better, but will be moving to a nursing home after she leaves the hospital. :(

happy holidays

hi friends,

i haven't updated in a while. my immediate family always does christmas on some day other than christmas, so we did all our gifts and food and everything on monday night. it's weird to be over with christmas before it even starts. it was fun to spend time with everyone though. i got to meet my new niece and play with my nephew a bunch! luke is talking a lot which is a bunch of fun.

i've been sleeping a lot this week and getting little things done for the move. and i got my hair done. gotta love free cuts and colors from my aunt. i'm now much closer to my natural color, which is very dark.

the sad news is that my grandmother went to the hospital yesterday. she has pneumonia, which is not a good thing for an 83 year old woman with 1 and 1/3 lungs. she had TB when she was a young woman which resulted in diminished lung capacity long ago. she's hanging in there through high blood pressure, a fast pulse (about 90 resting), and very labored breathing. i'm off to see her now. say a prayer for her continued health.

hope this post finds all of you happy, health, and enjoying this special time.

i am batman

today we had our departmental holiday lunch. i stopped in, ate a few bites, and then attempted to run out to finish my last class paper. i realized though, in my attempted haste, that i'm going to be moving soon and that i should take some time to say a "auf wiedersehen" to people. (quick aside: i'm sticking with "auf wiedersehen" instead of good-bye...there's something so final about good-bye and who knows when i might be wandering back this way. so, i will be true to my german heritage and say 'until we see each other again.' much less permanent and scary.) i wandered around the rotunda and interrupted people's turkey eating. one of my friends announced to other friends that i, kate parks, am a superhero. he told them about my feats of strength of taking two classes, teaching two classes, taking prelims, and advising. he was duly impressed and further proclaimed that: "Kate does more before 6 a.m. than most people do all day." of course, its more like "Kate does more after 10 p.m. than most people do all day." i'm not sure that's actually true, but it was still nice to hear. and if you're a graduate student who had not yet experienced the fun of faculty hazing...i mean prelims...i don't recommend the superwoman approach. be nicer to yourself. because the superhero methodology means you have to make sacrifices, like not getting to spend enough time with your friends, having a crazy schedule that rarely allows for spontaneous fun, not getting enough sleep, not eating healthy food all the time, increased levels of stress that lead to heart problems. you get the idea. maybe if i was more gadgety like batman (i took a "which superhero would you be quiz" and it said i was batman) i could have made less sacrifces. who can tell.

regardless, i will be relieved to finally turn in my last paper tomorrow and to start a new adventure that should pull me in fewer directions. at the same time though, its starting to hit me that i'm going to be gone soon and that "auf wiedersehen" is just around the corner.

so much for productivity

so, i was planning on getting a lot accomplished this weekend, but i wasn't as productive as i had anticipated. i did get some boxes packed and some clothes packed. i have a lot more to pack though and i dread getting the attic down stuff later this week. maybe i can twist the arms of friends to help me get that done. stupid being a pack rat. :)

i also didn't get much done on my paper. i'm hoping to get some of it done tomorrow during the day. would it distract my students too much if i worked on fine tuning data on my laptop? i can type quietly. :) here's hoping they get done early so i can get a few more things done.

chances are this is going to be a busy week. hope i get a lot of friend time in since it's the last full week in texas. weird.

more later. must sleep.

imal ove mach ine

i love that mad gab commercial, hence the title of this post. "i'm an olive machine?" classic. for some reason that one is sort of related to this rambly blog post.

so i was composing my next blog post in my head while shopping in HEB for mulled wine ingredients. i was thinking about the notion of soul mates and how it used to be something i believed in...but the more i think about it, the more i'm convinced that it's a hollywood version of what love is about. and weirdly, sara posted about the same thing on her blog, but i swear i didn't read hers until just now. sara and i have this weird sister thing. we're frequently finding ourselves wearing the same colored shirt or something without any prior planning. it's downright eery sometimes. it was nice to read her blog today and realize that we're on the same page because we're either a. both PMSing or b. both unconvinced about this restricted version of relationships, love, and fate. anyone else agree with this?

there are a few reasons i'm unconvinced of this soul mate thing. one is that i've met a few men in my limited time on this earth that i wonder if i could have shared my life with and these men are pretty different from each other...not a just different versions of the same guy. i think different people bring out different aspects of ourselves and there is not one formula for happiness and completeness where this is concerned. sure there are some people that are better fits than others, but to narrow it down to just one person makes finding that person seem almost impossible. can you say needle in the g-d haystack?

the other reason the soul mate thing seems unreasonable is because it seems like a cop out. instead of coming to terms with the fact that people are not perfect and will have idiosincracies and picadillos and, let's face it, make mistakes sometimes...the idea of a soul mate sets this expectation like there's someone out there that will never let you down...never disappoint...never hurt you...never make you cry...never piss you off. i'm not sure that's realistic. some of my closest friends have pissed me off sometimes. not one of us are perfect. and yet i don't stop loving them and caring about them. they continue to be important in my life. they mean the world to me. why should it be different for our significant others?

i'm not sure what sparked this post exactly. maybe its all the christmas movies on or something. i just think that there are many versions of our soul mate out in the big world. in fact, sometimes it feels like this love thing is about being in the right place at the right time or something. because what if your soul mate lives in guam and you live in swaziland? you're just destined to never be together? not sure i want to by that.

what i do want to do is go soak in the bathtub. since texas was covered in ice yesterday i flew off our front steps and now my shoulders and arms are sore. not sure if they are related but i think bath time will help..as well as bed time.

impression management at its worst...yet again

so, i was reading my friend sara's blog (which is linked on this blog so you should read it because it's rad) and she posted an article about my former employer. i'm writing this in the hopes that i won't somehow get retroactively in trouble from them, but i'm pretty sure that won't happen. and i've been talking about writing an exposé for a while now so i might as well get started.

the gist of the article that sara posted was that a student at said university was suspended for posting some negative things on his blog about his classmates and professors. for some reason, the university decided this was a violation of some sort of code of ethics and that his post was unprofessional. i share sara's political concerns about this...especially because we're supposed to have that whole freedom of speech thing that's..i dunno..protected by some crazy document that we hold very dear. however, having worked at said institution for a year...i'm concerned on a different level.

i was a resident hall director in what was considered a party hall. literally from day one i was dealing with disciplinary problems. almost every weekend there were issues. by the end of the semester...almost half of the people in the hall had a file in my office for breaking some kind of policy (both serious and not so serious.) i dealt with vandalism, intoxication, drugs, racial harassment, a fire....the list goes on and on. i even heard a case for another building that involved a student being in trouble for his fifth..count 'em FIVE...drug violation. were any of these students suspended for their conduct? the answer is no. so why is it that some fiesty blog posts are worse than students endangering their lives and disrespecting other students and their community every damn weekend?

the only logical answer that i could come up is that this particular university was able to keep negatively publicity away from the constant misconduct of their students. that's the nice thing about being located in an economically-deprived part of town...you don't have to worry about pissing off the neighbors too much. BUT...if someone posts something negative about you on the interweb there's a good chance that the impression management will fail. so that student has to be punished. maybe i'm missing part of the story...but it really doesn't make any sense. we saw students in fights, who had severe drinking problems, who destroyed property, who broke state law...and yet these student's actions were not considered a poor reflection on the university?

the end of the article makes an important point about how this action by the university will have a big impact on student bloggers in the future. i have no doubt that it will. it just makes me sad that a university would make this stand and ultimately censor their students. but who gives two shits if they are bribing homeless people to buy them beer. no need to make a stand about that.

thank you captain obvious..i mean pei wei fortune

it's almost 1 a.m. when i ate at pei wei the other day i cunningly took an extra fortune cookie so i would have one to enjoy after eating the left overs. so the fortune said: "the night life is for you." um...doy!

i'll take the mountain view please

so...i would say it's official. i am moving to new mexico in early january. i'm going to be teaching and researching and taking in the enchantment....oh..and i'll be freezing my texas-converted ass off for a while.

the weird thing is that this is coming up very fast. next week is finals. then i go to iowa for a while. then i come back with dennis and head west. fearing that i won't have enough time to play with all my texans before i leave. stupid paper let to do.

mmm...kaluha cigars

so...i totally love sara and tim. those two crazy kids are freakin' awesome and i don't know what i'd do without them.

in other news, this week went really fast. i found out on wednesday that not only did i pass my prelim, but i passed it with distinction. that doesn't officially mean much...but unofficially means that i did a really good job and my committee was really really happy. if anyone wants to read the actually answers, i'd be happy to put you to sleep with them. the typos are impressive though.

it's amazing that the semester will soon be over. i have to shit a research paper, wrap up my classes at blinn...oh, and move 800 miles away. though the job situation is not 150% guaranteed..it's looking good. good enough that i need to just say "yes, i'm going." it's actually really exciting to be heading off to a new place. that is not to say that i won't miss my friends here dearly. i certainly will and i think i haven't made moving real in my head yet because doing that means facing tough "auf wiedersehen"s. but there's something to be said about getting to teach, getting to try on a new city, and just getting to do some new stuff. i'm relatively young, so this is a great time to try new things like this, right?

anyway, i had two cigars and two beers and i'm sufficiently buzzy (not drunk mind you...just buzzy). i should shower and go to bed. actually, i should pack first since i'm going to ABQ to find an apartment.

have good happies kids.

tight pants

hi kids,

so...it took a few drinks for me to feel that the test was actually over. thanks to everyone who came to play on tuesday night. i have wonderful friends...so amazing. :)

i had a great weekend. definitely needed a break and really didn't get ANYTHING done for classes. so..this week will be a bit busy. i finish one class this week and have to write a short paper (which does not seem like a big deal after the prelim ordeal) and my other class meets a few times and i have to write a research paper for that one. tricky, but doable.

i'm also heading to ABQ this weekend to find an apartment. still not feeling like anything is official, but hopefully more clarity will come this week.

as far as thanksgiving, ate a lot of great food (thanks 2nd family!), had a lot of fun with friends (thanks people!!), watched some great football (thanks ags!), and got to relax and laugh and just take it easy (thanks mike!) it was all much needed.

so now friends, we enter this countdown to the end of the semester and possibly of my time in texas. totally wacky stuff.

love you friends and fam! love love love love love!

(and hugs to sara especially)

and the verdict is...

I PASSED!!!! WOO HOO!!! :)

knot in my back

um...oral exam is tomorrow. no, not an oral exam at the dentist..though i would prefer it at this point and i HATE the dentist.

talked to my good friend karen who took hers today and she said it was quite mellow. so, hopefully it will be okay and all my nervous energy will be for nothing.

luckily nervous energy helped me get more done in a half hour than i accomplished all day saturday.

better go put my sheets in the dryer, make nachos, read stuff, drink more wine, and hopefully get some sleep.

make my money

what's the deal with adsense? does anyone know? i contemplate how cool it would be to get paid to write my silly blog...so is this the way to do it. or will it just annoy and alienate my readers? thoughts?