Living in the Yuppie Dorm

You Know It's Time To Leave When...

2006-06-22T08:14:00.000-04:00

...the apartment building goes condo.

Yes, I'll be leaving the Yuppie Dorm in a few months. And, in combination with the fact that I'm not comfortable writing too much about myself in this particular blog anymore, this will be the last post for "Living in the Yuppie Dorm." I'll be starting a new blog, of course. If any of you are interested in hearing about this when it goes up, please e-mail me at yuppiedorm at gmail dot com.

I'm also still looking for titles for the new blog; feel free to e-mail me at that address with suggestions. Please don't post them in the comments, or I then cannot use them.

So - as soon as I get the new blog set up, look forward for posts from England (where I'll be spending about 6 weeks) and, after that, the trials and tribulations of a first-time homeowner. I close on the house in a few hours -- definitely the dawn of a new era in my life!

Contamination

2006-04-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

Hi, all.

One of the reasons I haven't been posting that much is because I know there is someone out there who has been/possibly still is reading this blog to get insight into how best to hurt me. I can't talk about it further, because of the aforementioned issue - but to put it into terms that make complete sense to me: I've got an Iago in my life right now.

I very much want to talk/write about a lot, but this issue is making me reluctant to do so. Any advice? I'm thinking about creating a new blog that this person doesn't know about, but that seems a bit stupid and paranoid.

In other (hopefully non-use-against-me) news: the Yuppie Dorm will soon become the Yuppie Condos. I'm still waiting to hear what the price of my unit will be, and if I can afford and want to buy it. I'm in the process of finding a good real-estate lawyer (have an excellent lead, but his home base is in Grand Haven, not GR) and trying to sort out the real estate market in my new city. Having just read about Dooce/Blurbomat's plumbing issues, I'm thinking I'm not quite ready for a house. The ones in my price range are about 80 years old (which I like from a design standpoint) but not from an upkeep standpoint. And because of ideological and relationship issues (see Matt's project), I can't go the mushroom house in the suburbs route, either. I'll keep you updated.

Ahem; (tap, tap)

2006-03-13T11:07:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid I'm probably speaking to an empty room, as I've been lax in my posting. Or rather, downright missing from the blogosphere. This semester, despite the only-teaching-Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday schedule, is being a bit demanding. I think it's mostly because I'm teaching 1.5 new classes (Shakespeare, while not a new class per se, is always a new theme, and a few new plays) and went to a long conference in the first week of February.

If you were wondering, Albuquerque in February is pretty boring. Sunny, not too warm, and one of the deadest downtowns for a city I've ever seen. If you want to go to New Mexico, spend your time and energy on Santa Fe.

Otherwise, I'm fighting the Februrary-induced depression, trying to lose a few pounds, and not letting those two things interact more than they need to. I've always had a major food issue with depression; namely, that when I'm really depressed, I don't eat. My metabolism then slows to a trickle, and thus when I start eating again, my body grabs every calorie and hold on to it. So, I'm trying this time to handle depression by not not eating, and not not eating healthy food to boot. Sometimes, I just get confused and eat oatmeal for dinner.

Yes, a New Entry

2005-09-30T19:38:00.000-04:00

I haven't been blogging since the school year really started; too much to do, and not enough time to do it. Also, I've been having problems with depression/anxiety, which, of course, has a lot to do with school starting. I love my chosen profession, but it certainly can stress me quite a bit at certain times of the year.

With so long a silence, I should have a lot to say. However, I fear people have stopped checking on the blog, so probably there's nobody to hear it.

Just thought I'd post to say hello to whatever world is out there to listen.

Off to Bloomington

2005-09-02T09:54:00.000-04:00

I'm heading to Bloomington for the Labor Day Weekend. I feel somewhat guilty about traveling--using resources, and all that. But I really think my mental health demands it; I've been watching too much CNN/MSNBC, and my empathy is making me miserable. At least in Bloomington I can be in a really supportive community for a few days. And maybe get some writing done.

Rejection, in retrospect, was a good thing

2005-08-31T18:47:00.000-04:00

While watching all the coverage of Katrina, several thoughts kept occurring to me:

Why, when the hurricane was approaching, did so many CNN reporters feel the need to stand outside and report? I would have believed them that the rain/wind was ferocious. Really, I would have.
Why were the anchorpeople so superior in attitude? They kept berating the people who didn't evacuate -- I couldn't help thinking that many of those people in New Orleans, especially, were so poor that they didn't have cars.
A year and a half ago, I had an interview for a teaching position at a New Orleans college. I have, over the past few days, been repeatedly overjoyed that they never asked me back for a follow up interview.

Just Finished Reading

2005-08-22T15:05:00.000-04:00

Freakonomics. (S. J. Leavitt) VERY GOOD. It will make you look at the world differently. I know - cliche; however, Leavitt's goal is to use economic strategies to look at what are essentially sociological issues. And it works. I especially liked the "why drug dealers live with their mothers" analysis of the corporate structure of the inner-city drug business, and his analysis of the effect of environment and parents on student success in school.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (J. K. Rowling) Quite good, and no, I'm not going to comment on the plot--you'll just have to read it. What I particularly enjoyed was Rowling's use and manipulation of your expectations of "usual" (based on her previous books' formulae) and her homage to Tolkein near the end. And that's all I'm going to say.

Yes, I did pay the rent. And the AC is back

2005-08-22T14:58:00.000-04:00

I checked with the Yuppie Dorm office this morning, and they had indeed messed up; my rent was credited to the account of someone who has the same (rather common) last name that I have. They compared check numbers to the copy of the deposited check I brought in, and lo and behold, the numbers matched. Luckily, they're so disorganized that they hadn't even made a note on my account, let alone reported it to anyone. As for the series of phone calls that were on my answering machine, I cleared up (hopefully) the last of them, and talked to a very nice woman who was profoundly glad I wasn't yelling at her, or denying that I owed money, etc. She actually had no record of my phone number, so that one was probably a wrong number.

And the air conditioning in my office is working really well, now that the weather outside is nice and cool. I've been rearranging my shelves, sorting through piles of papers and files, and generally making my office feel less like the dumping ground it was during the no-air days.

As Matt would no doubt tell me, I worry too much.

I did pay the rent...

2005-08-21T17:01:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a week and a half in Bloomington, and a note taped to my apartment door greeted me with "we never got your August rent." And about 7 messages were on my answering machine telling me to call what I think are collection agencies -- not because I haven't paid anything, but because the person who had the phone number before me didn't pay something, or someone just used my phone number (it's easy to fake, and those that call never have my name or information connected to the number, so I'm pretty sure it is not identity theft.) I'm feeling a bit unduly persecuted here -- mostly because when I called the one collection agency that had Sunday hours, they said "no, we don't want you, and sorry for bothering you" and when I checked my online bank statement, I noted that my rent check had been cashed on the 3rd of August, eight days before the "we didn't get your rent" notice was sent.

Online access to banking records is a wonderful thing; first thing tomorrow morning I'm going down there with the printout of the check (front and back) and demand that it be cleared up, with no comment in my record. Or with a comment of apology.

More Tales from the Kitchen Front

2005-08-08T21:42:00.000-04:00

Successful cooking today. I got up and went to a wonderful local market called Kingma's, got potatoes, celery, and a carton of brown eggs and a few other things to make a potato salad in the style of my mother and grandmother (a style characterized by a LOT of mustard. 1/3 of a cup, to be exact. And onion. I like my potato salad crunchy and with a bite.) I had a potluck to go to this evening, and it's August. Potato salad. It came out great, so I decided to make a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies too. The first set had the problem I've been noticing in my cookies lately -- they get all flat and runny and essentially spread out over the pan rather than puff up, cookielike. Today I finally figured out the problem: my flour was old. I have a big plastic tub of flour that I think I've just been adding flour to for the past few years. This is fine when I'm in the top portion of the tub, but I've been making way way down to the bottom and using old flour. Not good! So I dumped the whole tub, mixed some fresh flour into the rest of the batter, and had much more puffy cookies for the second two dozen. And I stuck a piece of tape on the flour tub with today's date, to remind me not to use old flour again.

I'm now looking at my spice cabinet and wondering how old some of those things are... might be time to restock.

Update Update and a Question

2005-08-07T23:19:00.000-04:00

Re: Bendy cutting mats referenced in previous entry.
OK, so I completely ruined some salmon this evening--I hate waiting for things to defrost, and I cooked too quickly. In the process, I broke in the blue mat (for fish...) and couldn't decide which side to cut on -- the rough side or the smooth side. I noticed that both sides could get marred by knife strokes (through basic testing). So - is the rougher side supposed to support your food (my first thought) or to prevent slippage on the counter by being put towards said counter? The packaging didn't say.

More testing is necessary - though I think I'll use unfrozen fish next time. I wonder how long defrosted fish keeps in the fridge?

Dinner ended up being a BL sandwich on wheat (bacon/lettuce, no tomato on hand, and I really like the tomatoless version, anyway).

Various Updates

2005-08-07T17:07:00.000-04:00

I can't think of anything significant to blog about, so I'll write short updates upon various aspects of my life.

Office Air Conditioning: Still out, and the recent spate of 90+ degree weather pretty much made my office unbearable. Luckily, some of the people who have to be in the building (such as admin. assistants) have jerry-rigged interior A/C units that (sort of) cool their offices. My office, I start sweating as soon as I sit down, and I don't want to run the computer for longer than about 1/2 an hour.

Office decor: Purchased a bent-wood-style chair for the office at Target. I've been wanting a comfy chair in which I can read when in my campus office, but I didn't want to spend that much on it. It is currently still in its box; I'm not putting it together until the AC is restored. Ditto for all my other office-cleaning projects. It will stay a mess until I can stand working there.

Current Obsession: Food Network. I've been watching a whole bunch of FoodTV, and thinking things like: "Wow, what I could do with a decent food processor..." Most recent food-related purchase--a set of bendy cutting mats that are color coded to type of food (red for meat, blue for fish, yellow for chicken, and green for veggies).

Reading: Harry Potter 5 (rereading, actually), in preparation for getting to Harry Potter 6. I meant to do this months ago, but obviously, I'm not a complete Harry Potter obsessive, as I'm being pretty slow about it. Blame Matt, who gave me two other books for my birthday that actually bumped HP6 down the list. And the whole teaching a survey class in six weeks, and prepping for fall classes thing.

Looking for (halfheartedly): a headboard for my bed. When I moved here to the Yuppie Dorm last year (re-upped the lease, by the way for at least one more year of yuppie dormness), I got a new mattress and a new dresser for my bedroom (the old mattress is now a guest bed in the treehouse, and the old dresser is with a new owner). I also was going to get a headboard/bedstead, but I got sort of freaked by how much money I was spending at that time and skipped the piece of furniture that I didn't immediately need. However, I like reading and working in bed, and not having a headboard makes the paint behind the bed get pretty messed up -- so, I'm thinking that I should look for a headboard. At some point. Maybe. (Still not liking to spend large amounts of money!)

Decided: To collect Shakespeare on DVD. Updated Amazon wish list appropriately with the ones I don't own.

The Curse of the Humanities

2005-07-27T10:11:00.000-04:00

I got to my office today and discovered that there's no air conditioning or circulation in the building. For three weeks. The e-mail that the admin. asst. sent around basically said that they're replacing the circulation machines, and they had had this project scheduled since last fall. However, they didn't get around to/forgot to tell anybody who works in the building that there would be no AC for the last week of July, and first two weeks of August.

While today's weather is blessedly non-heat-wave, I've got an interior office with no windows. It's actually not bad right now, due to the OK weather and open doors, but if it gets above 80, I doubt that I'll be able to work here that much. On the plus side, maybe they'll improve the AC so that it doesn't feel musty/damp in here when it's running.

You know, being in the oldest building on campus is annoying when that building was built in the 60s.

Happy Birthday

2005-07-24T18:34:00.000-04:00

Today, Matt is one year older. (I'll leave it to him to specify exactly which year is in play.) I think this is one of the final July birthdays... it's been a busy month of natal celebrations, including my brother early in the month, mine last week, and others.

I need to get back to blogging; maybe when I actually am living in one place longer than about 5 days at a stretch, at most.

London

2005-07-08T11:52:00.000-04:00

In 1990 I was in London as a part of a high school trip with Mr. Doerning, our Brit Lit teacher. During that time, I distinctly remember being on the Tube and having the entire system stop for about a 1/2 hour, because of bomb threats, and being in the British Museum during a lockdown, where I sat under a statue calculating its probable trajectory in case of a blast. When I heard about the bombings yesterday on my way to teach my class on Brit Lit, I was, of course, saddened about the loss of life and disruption of peace -- but I have much more confidence that Britain can handle this much better than we did. After the two incidents when I was there in 1990 (both false alarms) we all went on with the stuff of daily business, not giving into fear or panic.

Terrorism works because we give into the fear of it. My contribution to the "war on terror?" (stupid phrase) Not being terrorized, and not listening to the fear-mongering coming from so many of our country's leaders.

Back to Blogging

2005-07-06T19:31:00.000-04:00

Click on the above to do a Weblog survey, if you're a blogger. It's been so long since I updated this thing that I'm not sure I qualify, but I like taking surveys so I did it anyway.

I'm back in GR now, for a while. I'm teaching summer session, so I've got 6 weeks of intensive British Literature to do. Last week was week one; next week is the midterm. Got to love the pace... They handed in paper number 1 on Tuesday - I just finished grading them all to give back on Thursday, so they can have my comments before completing paper 2 (due next Tuesday). Quick turnaround for all of us.

Otherwise, I celebrated the fourth of July weekend with a visit from Matt, and a trip to the Lake Michigan coast on Sunday, and a migraine on Monday. I completely wasted the opportunity of living downtown, on the river with the fireworks... standing in the rain and listening to things go boom and random bright lights was exactly the wrong thing for a migraine. Besides, I had class the next morning at 8am. So I ignored the booms as best I could and stayed dry.

One more thing - happy (belated) birthday to my brother!

Pictures from Mackinac Island

2005-06-10T15:44:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back from my northland adventure; below are three pictures from the Mackinac Island portion of the trip. The first two are from a twilight walk I took with my Dad the evening we were there - it was really misty, and it made everything a bit eerie. Combine that with the carriages and bicycles, and pervasive smell of horse dung, and it made a rather odd place even odder.

The third pic is a view from Fort Mackinac; this was earlier in the day, when it was all bright and sunny.

Chairs

2005-06-10T15:43:00.000-04:00

Cliff, Mackinac Island

2005-06-10T15:40:00.000-04:00

View from Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island

Off to the Northlands

2005-06-03T08:20:00.000-04:00

My parents are here, and we're off to explore the northern reaches of my new state: Traverse City, Mackinac Island, and the eastern bit of the Upper Peninsula. So - no blogging for a few days, but hopefully lots of nice pictures when I get back!

Summer

2005-05-31T17:26:00.000-04:00

This whole summer thing is weird. For as long as I can remember, I've either been working full time, or (like last year) working and writing a dissertation. This year, I know I'm supposed to be working on my "research agenda" -- and I am, sort of. But mostly, I'm relaxing. And becoming a bit bored, really.

Therefore - I henceforth resolve to devise some summer goals to get me to actually accomplish something.

1. Go to the UP (Upper peninsula) with my parents this weekend. (Already planned! Some goals have to be easy...)

2. Formulate a Research Agenda. Essentially - what do I want to try to publish in the next 4-5 years?

3. Teach a class for six weeks, beginning at the end of June (my only real commitment this summer).

4. Review Old English. I'm going to be teaching a graduate class in OE language and literature a year from this fall. It's been quite a few years since I've actually dealt with OE on a linguistic level (not just skimming through texts for content). So, I'm going to make my way through Sweet's reader again, and force myself to really understand the declensions and the conjugations--and get my vocabulary its previously robust level.

More goals to come, when I think of them...

In reference to Goal 4: I'm going to include a tag line of "lines translated" to keep myself on track (a la Lemming...)

Lines Translated: 21

Heard Through the Wall

2005-05-28T18:25:00.000-04:00

This evening, at about 6:00 pm, on the phone:

"I spent over $300 last night...I didn't get home until 5:30 this morning; I've been crashed on the couch until about an hour ago...I've never been so drunk in my life; one receipt is for $170; I think we must have done eight or ten shots there at least..."

I am officially living next door to a Drunken Frat Boy. (No offense intended to those in or formerly in fraternities. I'm rudely stereotyping from too many years hanging around college campuses.)

Teaching Portfolio - Day 1

2005-05-23T19:09:00.000-04:00

This morning was the beginning of the "Teaching Portfolio Training." I think I'll come out of it with something good; however, I think that's because I'm in a group (of three) that had an attitude of: "OK, we've got to do this thing. So we want format! We want guidance! And we'll ask annoying questions until we get it!" I don't know if I got the impression of a lack of specific information because it wasn't forthcoming, or because we started in with the questions so quickly. And I never did get a good sense of format.

But I did get the suggestion that, for teaching portfolios at least, a good pedagogical trick is to hand out questions at the end of any given class, essentially asking "Did you learn x?" (posed more sophisticatedly, of course) Then, you compile them, count the "yes" answers, and voila: "evidence" of student learning. On the one hand, definitely more outcome based. On the other, easily rigged and somewhat hokey. Only one level of teaching is specific, outcome-based, etc. But I suppose there are other ways of proving students' abilities to think critically, write more analytically, that sort of thing.

Having to be "reflective about my teaching" always makes me cynical. Yes, I think that teachers should reflect, improve, re-evaluate technique, etc. So should most people in their given professions. But how many doctors and lawyers have to come up with original and unique "statements of philosophy" for what they do? Maybe because it's because society seems to pretty much understand what doctors and lawyers do, but never seems to understand what teachers do. Think about it--of the many television shows that highlight people working at their profession (ER, Law and Order, CSI) few show teachers. And the ones that have (Boston Public is the only one that springs to mind) rarely show teachers teaching. Wait - there's that one law school show-- Paper Chase. John Houseman (was that him?) did actually seem to teach in that show. Teachers: scary, inscrutable or just boring?

Office, Rearranged

2005-05-22T23:28:00.000-04:00

After printing off a bunch of stuff for my "Teaching Portfolio" how-to workshop that will take up most of the upcoming week, I decided to rearrange my at-work office. When I started there, I just left all the furniture pretty much where it was; the only alterations were adding more shelving when I found the shelves under the desk. In this set-up, I had a desk with drawers against the far wall, and a table with my computer set up on it against the wall by the door. Essentially, if I was working, my back was always to one of my two workspaces. I found that I was always at the (smaller) computer table, and the desk with drawers became a dumping spot for random junk. I needed an ergonomic makeover in my office. Not to mention a good dusting (as I discovered when I started moving things around).

Since I'm left-handed, I like L-shaped workspaces where my secondary workspace stretches out to the left of me, rather than to the right of me. I once rented an apartment based on being able to set up an office space this way. I also don't like working with my back to a door, or my computer screen visible from the door. Since I leave my door open when I'm in there (so as to be inviting to students and colleagues, of course...) I don't want everything I'm working on (or goofing off on) to be visible to passers-by. Therefore, I moved everything around, so it looks something like this:

New Floor Plan, Office

The bookshelves on the left are pretty much floor to ceiling, the ones on the wall over the desk and by the door are at shoulder height and up. Therefore, there's room in the corner on the door wall for a good-size reading chair and little table, I'm hoping. Shopping in second-hand furniture stores will commence; until then, I've got a stand-in school-provided chair.

The other very nice thing about this set-up is that the file cabinet, which is a five-footish high, four drawer thing, provides a nice buffer between me and the door. My computer screen is not at all visible to anyone at the door; I, however, am. While working at my desk-with-drawers still puts me with my back to the door, I'll more likely use it as a vast, left-side workspace while I'm at the computer. Now I just need a longer ethernet cord that doesn't cut across the office, a comfy chair, and a lot of book rearranging and paper filing from last semester. And more artwork/stuff on walls. Got to cover up the cinderblock any way possible!

Back Home

2005-05-22T17:01:00.000-04:00

Well, I just got back from two weeks in Bloomington, where I have a much more active social life. Or perhaps, my social life just never left Bloomington, and it gets squeezed into a much more compressed time. In any case, I didn't get to see everybody, but I very much enjoyed the time I did spend with people there.

Back at the Yuppie Dorm, I've got new neighbors to the west. The previous tenant was a middle-aged guy who lived alone; the most I ever heard from him was a coffee grinder (usually at precisely the same time every morning). The new neighbor (or neighbors; I still haven't determined if there's more than one officially living there) is much more in the young, frat-guy demographic. I have several inches of soundproofing between my office and their living room, and I could still hear practically every word they were booming before they left for the bars at about 10 o'clock last night. I'm really hoping that sort of activity/gathering is relegated to the weekends. At one point, I was on the phone, and I couldn't hear the person I was talking to because they were talking so loudly.

Or maybe I'm just really grumpy because I've got a cold in May. Colds are not fun at any point, but in May, they just make me more miserable by contrast.

In the Middle of Kalamazoo

2005-05-06T07:55:00.000-04:00

Figuratively speaking, or I should probably say chronologically speaking. "Kalamazoo" to any medievalist, is not a place. It is a concept, a "congress"; it is four days of giving and listening to papers, looking at many, many books, and generally seeing people, "networking," and so forth. This year is weird; I'm driving down each day rather than staying there (spatially speaking, Kalamazoo is only about an hour from me.)

Anyway - it's (chronologically speaking) 8 am; I'm heading down with a colleague at 10 am; which gives me roughly two hours to work on my paper this morning. I don't give it until Saturday morning, so I have tonight, too.

A happy ending? Please, no.

2005-05-01T16:09:00.000-04:00

This is so wrong. (From "Customized Classics"). My comments in (italics).

'Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's classic drama of passionate love—now released as a unique personalized romance with YOU playing the part of the famous lovers. A novel wedding, romantic or anniversary gift. Picture the thrill of classic lines personalized with you in them:
"Oh Brad, Brad.
Wherefore art thou Brad?"
"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Helen is the sun."
(Obviously, iambic pentameter is not a pressing issue for Customized Classics.)
What's more, if you choose the Happy Ending Version a new scene is added with an unexpected plot twist — the lovers live happily ever after! (Just what every tragedy needs!) A short scene is added after Act V Scene III. It turns out the apothecary's poison didn't work (OK, that's believable. Shakespeare himself used that out in Cymbeline) and Romeo survives, and Juliet's stabbing of herself merely made her pass out. (Was it just a flesh wound then? Or is Juliet now so incompetent that she missed? And fainted from her significant lack of aim?) With sincere apologies to William Shakespeare, Mercutio and Tybalt! (Well, I would hope so. After all, Mercutio and Tybalt don't get the magic 'I'm not dead yet' treatment...)

Also, if you go into the "customization" process, you'll get a little message warning you that "...the gender of characters cannot be changed." So, while CC seems unpreturbed by violating many laws of poetic scansion, they're holding firm on the gender issue.

Two Down, One To Go

2005-05-01T09:52:00.000-04:00

Two classes graded; one class left... and I have all afternoon/evening to do it, and still have a whole full day before grades are due.

That means I have exactly three days, then, to write my conference paper for Kalamazoo. Luckily, due to a spate of dissertation mining last week, the conference paper is now an editing project rather than a writing project. I never realized last year how much good research I did while working on the dissertation. I'm growing increasingly certain that the dissertation, as it stands now, will not be a good book. However, there's a lot of research in there that will make several good articles, and provide the philosophical foundation for the project I'm just starting to think about now. I think one of the things you're supposed to learn from the dissertation is how to write a book -- by doing it all wrong the first time out. Dissertation committees often help with this process, by telling you to do silly things like take out the narrative and just put in analysis (hello, Lemming!). This is great for a dissertation committee, because then they can just see the stuff that interests them, but not so great for most of the public, because they really do appreciate well-written narrative background. But then, I tend to fell academics need to reach beyond other academics in the same field. Silly me, I rather want to make my work somewhat relevant.

Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go

2005-04-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

Since I finished the book, and took it off the sidebar, I want to write about it. But the most important thing about this book is that if you ever are going to read it (and I highly recommend it), is that you shouldn't know anything about it. The whole point is the slow revealing of truth that Ishiguro manages, the feeling of "knowing but not knowing." Several reviews I just read (I knew enough NOT to read them before I finished the book) criticize Ishiguro for "drawing it out" that these readers "knew already." Well, of course they did. They were supposed to; the whole point of this book (and, I think his earlier book Remains of the Day, which I'm planning on reading soon) isn't the absence or presence of knowledge, it's the acknowledgement of what you do know, and the willingness to deal with the information versus ignoring it.

Never Let Me Go is a dystopian/parallel universe type thing. But it's commentary about knowledge and the acknowledgement of it as almost two separate things is great. The one issue I had with it I really can't mention here, as it would give away the plot too much. But if you've read this book, or do read it someday, I'd be happy to tell you...

Orchids

2005-04-26T11:47:00.000-04:00

So much to do, So little structure

2005-04-26T11:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked the beginning of exam week--one week to finish all the grading from the semester, plus three sets of exams (two essay, one short answer/essay). My bag, full of papers and exams, was so heavy last night that the walk from my car to the apartment door seemed endless. (I was also carrying groceries, because I ran out of bread and various other necessary things).

I have much to do - but I've got much less structure in which to do it, which increases the possibility of frittering away time (by doing things like writing blog entries, ahem). So, I think it's off to a bookstore/coffee shop for me. That sometimes works.

New Sidebar Category

2005-04-23T08:39:00.000-04:00

I've added a "Currently Reading" category to my sidebar, in order to both somewhat keep track of what I'm reading (research and pleasure) and to encourage me to actually finish the books I'm reading. I been noticing I tend to get sidetracked, which I never used to do. This probably has something to do with the necessity in my life to almost always be reading more than one book at a time; when I was young, I'd have a pile of books (usually my library book pile) and I'd stack them up on my dresser. When I finished the first book, I'd immediately start the next. That feeling of "in-between books" was always uncomfortable and scary.

Now, I'm seldom in-between books, but that feeling of being truly in a book is somewhat rarer.

Also, if and when I actually finish a particular book, I'll post a blog entry about it. Suggestions for futher reading are always welcome!

Countdown

2005-04-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

Well, I taught my last class of the semester today; now all that's left is a mountain of grading, and then final exams.

I'm going to Chicago briefly for Passover with Matt's family this weekend. It should be a nice break -- brief, however. I probably won't be gone for more than 24 hours, since I have so much grading to do. And I've got a paper to give at the annual round-up of medievalists, a conference affectionately known as "Kalamazoo." Luckily, this year I live close enough to that oddly-named city (a most un-medieval name) to commute to the conference rather than stay in the dorms. I'm giving a paper and presiding over two sessions; however, I won't have time to even think about that until grades are in. One nice thing - my semester ends the week before the Zoo, rather than having it occur during finals week, as it does at IU. That was always tricky.

On a more somber note - snow is forecast for the next few days. And I was thinking no April snow this year... We'll see if it really happens.

Book Questions

2005-04-19T14:44:00.000-04:00

In response to Lemming's lob of this Book Meme, I humbly submit my replies:

You are stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book would you be?
I really don't memorize well, so I'd probably pick Beowulf. In Old English, and probably also with the Seamus Heaney translation. To clarify how the two previous sentences go together: memorizing Beowulf in Old English is actually not that hard, since it was an oral poem in the first place, and has all sorts of tricks built in to help you keep the whole thing in your head (alliteration, metrical regularity, variation, etc.). And the Heaney translation is good enough to deserve preservation, but if I only got one book, I'd do it in the original. Both for the aforementioned reason, and because it's one of the coolest pieces of literature ever.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
I'm sure I have; I spent my formative romance years (teenagerhood) with my nose in a book rather than dating, so I must have formed some pretty intense attachments to fictional guys who were much more interesting than the ones that inhabited my real world. All I can think of now - Gilbert Blythe in the Anne books by L.M. Montgomery; and a character who I think was called "Nat" in a book called The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

What is the last book you bought?
I bought three last weekend (Borders was having its 25% off everything for teachers sale!):

Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let me Go (his recent one)
Kazuo Ishiguro, Remains of the Day (his Booker Prize one)
Jane Dunn, Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens (Renaissance history)

Five books you would take to a deserted island

Complete works of Shakespeare (preferably a big Arden one with ALL the notes)
Pride and Prejudice
Complete works of Chaucer (Riverside edition)
The Oxford English Dictionary
Either a detailed survival guide OR the whole Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, depending on if I wanted to thrive on the island, or completely escape into another world. I'm leaning toward the escapism choice.

Hmm - most of the people I know who blog have already done this; so I cast it into the aether for anybody to take up and do with as they please.

Taxes are Taxing

2005-04-13T16:05:00.000-04:00

I think I'm almost done with my taxes; due to my weird financial situation last year (on a no-taxes-withheld fellowship for most of the first half of it) I have to pay a lot. Which is why I kept putting off doing it. That, and having to file in two states, rather than one. And I discovered, thanks to the knowledge of TurboTax, that Grand Rapids has a city tax. I'm actually not against local taxes; often the money one pays into localities really does make a difference in one's immediate life. However, the condition of the roads up here really makes me wonder exactly what they're spending that city tax on. Hopefully museums (and roads). However - it's another check (since I work outside city limits, I don't think it's withheld...)

So I just have to write out a lot of checks, and drop them in the mail tomorrow (one whole day before they're due!). I'm hoping next year will be a bit more straightforward; though it wasn't as bad as that year I had foreign income that had already been taxed. That was interesting.

Spring!

2005-04-09T18:59:00.000-04:00

Crocuses in the Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids

Another Interesting Condition

2005-04-07T11:19:00.000-04:00

From a student paper, on Charlotte Perkins Gillman's The Yellow Wallpaper, that tale of 19th century female angst:

"It is based on her experience after the birth of her first daughter, when she suffered a severe case of post-pardon depression."

Daylight Saving Time*

2005-04-05T11:06:00.000-04:00

Well, for the first time in nine years, I "sprung ahead." Since Indiana doesn't observe DST (yet), I didn't have to deal with sudden clock changes - just remembering which parts of the country were now on "my" time and which were different. Well, Michigan's on DST, and since I'm even farther west than I was in Bloomington, the change is quite dramatic. Suddenly, we've got sunsets at 8:15 - which I have to admit, is quite nice, but it's messing with my internal clock. I've been having a horrible time waking up in the mornings these past couple days; usually by the factor of about an hour. (huh - imagine that) And I've not been getting to sleep until after midnight. I think I've lost the talent for the whole DST thing.

*Yes, it's "Saving" time, not "Savings." Follow the link for the grammar explanation.

Hamlet's Musical Lifestyle?

2005-04-04T15:11:00.000-04:00

From a paper on Hamlet:

"For a moment, he [Hamlet] came unglued, but regains his composer by the time Claudius hunts him down to ask him where Polonius' body is."

I wonder who Hamlet's composer would be? Buxteheude, maybe?

For Lemming

2005-04-01T11:16:00.000-05:00

The Grading Pen

Remembering Winter

2005-04-01T11:10:00.000-05:00

Standing on Lake Michigan

This picture was taken in January (I'm only just now getting to removing those pics from the camera memory card). The day was one of those clear, cold days you can feel every time you breathe in. Matt was up for the weekend, and we drove to Grand Haven to have lunch with a friend and to walk on water.

Sadly, this was one of the few pictures that came out; somehow, a bit of snow/ice got on the lens not soon after this, and so all my pictures from further out were quite blurry. And it's slightly too late to recreate this shot, thankfully!

2005-03-30T14:54:00.000-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Template Redo, obviously

2005-03-30T13:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I got sick of the old template, so I updated to one that perhaps reflects the spirit of yuppiedom. Or not. At least it's different. And I remembered to save the code on the old one so getting the links back, etc. was no big deal.

I just now need to remember how to get Haloscan comments back. In the meantime, I apologize for the Blogger comments that require you to sign in; they'll be gone as soon as I can manage it.

Duchess of Malfi

2005-03-29T17:33:00.000-05:00

About ready to lead a playreading of The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. I'm not sure anybody will actually show up, but it should be a fun experience nonetheless. It's a play full of blood and gore, madmen and murders, if you've not read it.

I spent the weekend in Bloomington, trying to stave off an impending feeling of burnout. It was relatively successful - Matt and I actually relaxed, ate a lot, and watched silly movies. Now I can go back to Shakespeare with a renewed sense of purpose. This is good, for Hamlet and Othello are on deck.

Otherwise, I just spent about an hour cleaning my office, trying to get rid of the stacks of paper. Mostly successful; some stack redistribution rather than stack reduction, but it looks tidier. I think.

Lemming, as soon as I get all the picture stuff in one place again (parts have been in the office, parts at home) I'll post a bunch of pictures. I promise!

Regurgitation

2005-03-08T11:32:00.000-05:00

Huh - the one that I tried to post last night (Spring Break, sort of) just appeared when I posted the one this morning.

Sometimes, just letting the computers do their thing is the best idea....

Maybe this one will post...

2005-03-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

I've been having trouble with writing posts, and then having Blogger eat them.

To summarize: thank you all for your input/support about the whole psychiatrist thing. I've got another appointment in late April with someone else, and I'm considering filing a complaint about the first guy with the state licensing board. I don't think he necessarily did anything wrong (mostly because I did my research and determined that his advice was not the best for me) or even that unethical. However, his attitude and manner were pretty awful, and he provided me with inaccurate and misleading information about this drug and its effects.

[Sidebar - found out one more inaccuracy: He told me that the drug had been approved for "about 15 years;" turns out that it's been approved for epilepsy since 1994 (11 years) and for bipolar since 2003 (1.5 years). It hasn't been FDA approved for unipolar (major) depression yet, though a few studies indicate its efficacy... but they all say "when other forms of antidepressants have proved ineffective." Effexor, while not 100% effective for me (sorry, whoever named it), has not been "ineffective." Again, the information given to me was technically somewhat accurate (off by four years for the epilepsy part), but highly misleading.]

Thank you, TRP, for the idea about filing a complaint. I'll check with my psychologist (a guy I really like) and see if he has any idea how to do that in Michigan.

Spring Break, sort of

2005-03-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

First of all, thank you to all for your suggestions - TRP, I think I will pursue filing a complaint with the State licensing/medical board. I don't think what he did was malpractice, or maybe even that unethical (in the narrow sense of the word), but it certainly felt like inadequate and misleading care. I've got an appointment with my psychologist (the good one) on Wednesday, and I'll ask him about it. The more I've thought about this, the more I think that this guy was pushing a relatively untested drug for no good reason. In any case, I've cancelled my appointment with him.

Otherwise, Spring break is upon me, and I was in Chicago for the weekend (very fun, except for Matt's middle-of-the-night dental emergency, currently resolved.) I'm heading to London, Ontario for a conference on Thursday, so I've got a few days of no teaching to try to get some work of my own done (probably mostly working on the conference paper...)

Lemming - my grading pen photo will be up when I get my camera technology in all the same location.

Tales from the Psychiatric Front

2005-03-01T22:28:00.000-05:00

I'm in the process of trying to find a psychiatrist, because I've found that occasional courses of antidepressants make me, well, less depressed. And one needs someone with an MD to obtain those. So, I got an appointment with a local psychiatrist, with the only recommendation that he accepted my insurance. My psychologist (another recent find, and I *really* like him, which is making this whole thing with a psychiatrist easier) warned me that he's heard of a lot of the MD guys like to change the meds of new patients. This had never happened to me before; usually, anybody new I went to was pretty cool with what I had been on, and receptive to when I thought change was necessary. This guy, though - he had all the qualities I've learned to distrust in psychiatrists: older, male, paternalistic, non-native English speaker. None of these qualities (aside from the paternalism, which ticks me off no matter what) are drawbacks in and of themselves. I have nothing against male psych professionals; in fact, I've found I sometimes work better with them. And the non-native speaker thing I think is just a quirk of my experience.

And he immediately decided that my current antidepressant (Effexor) was not working, and since I'd already been on Prozac and Wellbutrin, the only thing left were "mood stabilizers." He pretty much ignored my "I'm doing fine on Effexor" comments. He ignored my "I'm not sure I want to try anything that I can't go off of easily" comment (Note: Effexor has a reputation for being very rough to go off of. I'm one of the lucky people who doesn't feel any effect from stopping it.) He even suggested that, after only 10 minutes of conversation with me, and only glancing at my reported medical history, that I maybe wasn't suffering from depression at all.

He spent most of the time extolling the virtues of what he continued to call "mood stabilizers" and basically said "well, if they don't work, you can just go back to Effexor, no problem." In fact, I should keep taking the Effexor, too while taking this "for a few weeks, at least." When I asked what physical effects it had, he said that it "helped headaches" and that it would make me feel better. I then clarified my question, and asked "what neurological effects does it have? What neurotransmitters does it work on?" and he basically admitted that science doesn't quite know. (Which I actually respect; I'm fully aware that the scientific community has no idea how most antidepressants truly work in the brain.) And I was out the door with a sample pack of Lamictal (lamotrigine).

So, I did what any self-respecting academic would do: I researched it. And I found out that:

Lamictal is classified as an "anticonvulsant" and is used to basically treat epilepsy and bipolar disorders.
Its efficacy in treating chronic depression has only recently been explored; only a few studies on its use for this are out there.
It is the one anticonvulsant that has no effect on headaches, in fact, headaches are a common side effect.
It can cause a rash that can kill you. (not too worrisome, you have to let it go for weeks before it will get to the "kill you" stage. Still, killer rash. Ick.)
It is difficult to stabilize dosage; also, it can have the effect of prompting seizures if stopped quickly, even if you've never had a problem with seizures.
A quick drug interaction check indicated a moderate risk when combining Effexor and Lamictal.

This doesn't seem the best drug for someone who is pretty happy with her current therapy, and wants something that can be stopped easily. I keep thinking - maybe I complained too much about the side effects (I do tend to go on and off drugs; I don't like the "wrapped in cotton wool/I don't care about anything" feeling I get when I'm on them too long.) But then I stop blaming myself, and realize that this guy just didn't listen to me. And really, that's a cardinal sin for a psychiatrist in my book. And he gave me inaccurate and misleading information. Combining Effexor and Lamictal isn't perhaps a good idea; it will probably make my headaches worse; and there are serious issues with going off this drug. I'm not putting any bit of that sample pack in my body; in fact, I want to toss the whole thing in the trash chute.

Time for a second opinion. Problem with that, is I can't get an appointment with anyone until late April. I've really got no choice; I can't stand the thought of going back to this idiot. The next one works out of a "Christian" facility (about half the ones on the list I've got do) but the receptionist said you don't have to be a Christian to be treated there, and seemed shocked when I asked if they evangelized (which was a good thing, that she was shocked, I mean). At this point, I'm asking anything and everything that occurs to me when I make these appointments. It's still a he--the only she on their staff had openings in June. I'm not sure about the rest of my issues; but at least I have the ammunition of knowledge if he starts pushing anticonvulsants on me.

I hate the feeling of not being able to trust one's own doctors.

Random Good Day

2005-02-22T19:31:00.000-05:00

You know, sometimes I'd like to be able to blog about what I do during the day. Not because it's exciting, but because it just sometimes turns out better than what I expected. I've been traveling the past two weekends, and thus was severely short on prep time. But after I taught today, I found that I'm not only pretty well caught up, I'm pretty well set for the rest of the week. Pretty nice for a Tuesday. I'm not at a lack of "things to do" - my research life is very behind schedule, and I'm frankly a little panicked about a conference paper I have to give in early March. But this week, it's good.

It's enough that I'm going to let myself have the evening off (with the exception of finishing up A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is so fun as to barely be work) and watch TV and sew. Or whatever. Just not work.

Back from the Weekend

2005-02-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

Well, the Open House went wonderfully... I was in efficient, event-organizing mode for all of Saturday, and it really didn't wear off until today, which was a driving-north day. It really is a boring drive, especially when it is grey, snowy, and plain dreary. I was looking forward to lunch at Schlotsky's deli in Kokomo (one of the few nice things about Kokomo) and discovered that it had gone out of business. Now there is officially nothing good left about Kokomo, in my drive-through opinion.

Now I have to morph back into teaching/academic mode... I'd rather take a nap, frankly!

Still Here

2005-02-17T14:34:00.000-05:00

I haven't felt like writing lately - not depressed, just busy writing other things. Like an article, lesson plans, that sort of thing. I've just not felt that I had something to say to the world quite right now.

But I'm going to be in Bloomington this weekend, helping Matt with his open house -- the houses are going to start to be built soon! And his website's really pretty: South Dunn Street (the green logo designed by me, thank you very much!).

Writing about Work

2005-01-23T16:16:00.000-05:00

News about the blogosphere lately has been "For heaven's sake, don't write about your job." And there's no way I would write about several aspects of mine: namely the parts in which I deal with students. Or about my colleagues, even though absolutely everything I would write would be glowing (and how often do you see people in English departments write that?!). However, I think I can write about one aspect of my job with complete freedom, mostly because everything that happens with it is in my brain. I'm talking about, of course, that third prong (or do I mean rail?) of academic life: research.

I'll admit it - the dissertation wore me out. I'm a bit sick of Anglo-Saxon politics, and I think my writing style has suffered permanent damage. One reason I started this blog was to give myself another forum in which to write; it's an attempt to de-academicize my prose. But I'm tenure-track (yay!) and that means I have to continue to produce "scholarly" literature. Practically nothing got done during my first semester. This is no big surprise; two new classes plus moving plus figuring out how to live in a new town -- all added to dissertation exhaustion-- do not contribute to a profitable research agenda. However, I did get a few good paragraphs on an article done this afternoon - and I feel good about them. Confidence is a wonderful thing, and it's been a while since I've felt it.

In fact, I was working enough that my computer is low on battery power, and I must conclude this entry before my computer shuts off on its own.

Noises

2005-01-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I've written explicitly on the topic of my domicile, the Yuppie Dorm. Therefore, I will write about a topic that's intrigued me lately: noise.

As a former factory, the YD has all the wonderful qualities of loft living: exposed brick, high, beamed ceilings, huge windows. But the beamed ceilings also have another side: they do not stop any sound whatsoever. If my upstairs neighbor walks across his kitchen, I hear it. If he's talking on the phone, I hear it. I actually know too much about his life. For example, I know that he occasionally has a young child visiting, and there's often (but not always) a large dog up there. As I found out the very first night in my apartment, his bedroom is above my office, and he's an active heterosexual. (Note - I found out recently that my eastern neighbor, whose bedroom adjoins my living room, shared this quality. At 2:30 in the afternoon, no less.)

On the one hand, this could be annoying. When Visiting Small Child is on a crying jag at three in the morning, it is. However, most of the time the noises are small and not intrusive. There's no loud music for hours on end, and I seem to be the greater offender when it comes to TV. The heaters in our apartments are also quite loud, and when they turn on, I can not only hear my own, but the above one and the next door one. And oddly enough, whenever I'm in the shower, I can often hear two female voices - I think it's the girls who live across the hall, which makes me wonder how the plumbing in this place is arranged.

All in all, it's like living with a big family that I never have to actually deal with face to face.

DVD Player Woes

2005-01-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

One of the ways to handle depression is to allow oneself carefully planned periods of OKness. Not "looking forward" to something (that can backfire), but generally knowing that a potential future event might be OK. Tonight, I found I needed such an event, and as serendipity would have it, I got the big, long, 42-hour (I only exaggerate slightly) edition of Return of the King in the mail today.

So, I put it in the DVD player, and after less than 4 minutes of play time, the thing stopped. Frozen. Smeagol hadn't even finished off that other hobbit yet. Thinking that I might have gotten a bad copy, I popped in another DVD from my collection. The Philadelphia Story didn't even get so far as to show Katharine Hepburn's name on the credits.

Now, instead of an OKish event to distract me from things, I have a broken DVD player. Luckily (as I've been looking on line) they're not that expensive anymore. In fact, they're downright cheap. Small comfort right now, really. But comfort nonetheless.

UPDATE: New DVD player purchased: Magnavox, $54. The hobbits and company are now free to divest themselves of the Ring in Mount Doom. Which they're doing in small chunks as I find the time to watch LOTR:ROTK, as the cognosenti abbreviate.

Growing Things

2005-01-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

The Plant

This is the second edition of the Grad School Plant. It was made from a cutting of the first edition, which I do still own, but had to trim severely before its move to the Yuppie Dorm. It was literally as long as the room on multiple strands.

Why I call it the Grad School Plant: I first bought the plant in the fall of 1995, the same month I started grad school. I also bought a peace lily, which I killed within the year. However, this plant (whose little tag proclaimed it a Jade Pothos) grew and flourished. In fact, my forgetting to water it, or even take notice of it for weeks on end didn't seem to bother it. It just kept growing. I don't know when the idea came to me that if this plant stayed alive, I would finish grad school and get the PhD. But after a few years, that became my belief (only partially in jest; I'm not that superstitious, but I'm not that neglectful of omens, either) and it actually seemed to come true. Obviously, I hedged my bets by propagating cuttings, but the original plant does still survive, too.

The question now is - what is its purpose in life? What does its continued existence signify for me? Is it now my "Tenure Plant?"

I have been thinking about trying my hand at orchids...

Self-Googling

2004-12-30T10:54:00.000-05:00

I just Googled "Yuppie dorm" and while I got this site, I also found out that this site is listed on Yahoo! Canada. While I'm happy to be listed, I'm amused also by the fact that they don't seem to have visited the site, as they seem to think that I'm actually living in a dorm - and that my name for the building isn't laced with irony.

Oh, well. Maybe they think I'm in Canada, too.

New Year's Letter

2004-12-30T10:28:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and true to form, I realized that an academic schedule and writing Christmas Cards do not go together. I managed to actually acquire nice cards; however, the process of writing a letter (I did have some major life changes this year!) and finding addresses proved too much to do with the massive amount of grading and then the massive amount of traveling I've done since then. Therefore my goal this morning is to write the letter, and start trying to find addresses (scattered over various computer files, address books, and random pieces of paper.) If you'd like a card and a letter, e-mail me your snail mail address, and I'll happily whisk one your way! Remember, it's all about the new year, not Christmas.

To update on the holiday so far:
1. Traveled to Bloomington on the 20th. Trip uneventful, and highlighted by lunch at Shapiro's in Carmel.
2. Wednesday/Thursday morning: Bloomington gets dumped with 17 inches of snow. My mini looked like a large marshmallow with an antenna and mirrors poking out of it. There was literally no other part of the car visible. And that was after I had brushed it down once after the first 8 inches of snow.
3. Thursday morning: Matt and I had intended to travel to Iowa first thing in the morning, but the snow emergency road closures made us delay until about 2 in the afternoon. In the meantime, we shoveled. We managed to get the Subaru out of the driveway, and dug my Mini out enough to get it into the driveway. I was worried that if I left it in the street it would get snowplowed. (A rather frivolous notion, as Southern Indiana doesn't really have snowplows, which made a 17" snow particularly exciting.)
4. Thursday afternoon: Drove as far as Iowa City, where we stopped for the night. In the cold (-24 wind chill) we drove around saying things like "that wasn't there (x) years ago!" and "I used to live there - no there, in that nasty little apartment building!" (Matt and I were both undergrads at the University of Iowa, although in different decades.) Then we saw a silly movie (National Treasure).
5. Friday morning: Drove to Webster City to spend Christmas with my parents.
6. Saturday: Drove to Cherokee to spend Christmas day with my grandmother. Drove back to Webster City in the evening.
7. Sunday (Boxing Day): Did not drive anywhere. There was much rejoicing.
8. Monday: Drove back to Bloomington. In an effort to keep it interesting and avoid Peoria (because one should avoid Peoria) we took back roads through southern Iowa and mid-Illinois. While we saw some incredible examples of Midwestern small towns, we also saw two deer. On the road. That was too exciting for me, really.

On the whole - a good holiday. I'm tired of the traveling, though!

Done!

2004-12-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

Well, I just finished the grades for my first semester classes. Its amazing how fast the exams for the last class go. Light at the end of the tunnel and all that.

The feeling of completion seems somewhat unreal; it's not a usual feeling for an academic. I'm used to long, ongoing projects that never seem to end. I suppose I can look at the fact that I need to write a Christmas letter, send cards, pack, clean my apartment, wrap Christmas presents, and finish buying Christmas presents to offset that weird sense of accomplishment.

Now - what books should I read over break? So far on my list: Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi; Will in the World by Greenblatt. I'll also probably continue on my project of reading all of Shakespeare's plays. I'm in the Greek/Roman tragedies right now.

Lake Effect

2004-12-12T17:21:00.000-05:00

It's been a week since I posted, I know. I can only plead "last week of classes" and the grading of papers and the writing of exams.

And of course - with finals week (starts tomorrow!) comes severe winter weather. I remember my first finals week at Iowa - I was taking Intro Physics (for majors), Calc I, Russian I, a modern philosophy class, and a computer lab for the calc class. I think that was all - there might have been one more class in there. In any case, my Physics final was slated for 8 am on Friday morning, and the Calc I exam for 7 pm that evening. Yes - the absolute last exam spot. And when Friday dawned, the snow started falling. I distinctly remember getting up before dawn to get to my Physics final (which I had been studying for all week), taking it, and then going back to my dorm room and studying for the Calc final for literally the rest of the day until I took the thing that evening. It was so quiet- and I was exhausted, and I think by the time I took that exam I was exulting in my decision never to take another serious math or science course again in my life. Which I didn't - my math GER was completed with a very fun logic course, and my science GER by Astronomy w/out a lab. However- I did manage to get As in Intro Physics and Calc I. I think I even got an A+ in the computer lab.

So, to me finals week = snow. And when you live in Western Michigan, where the words "lake effect," I've noted, are usually accompanied by a lowering of the voice and a dimming of the lights (for effect, obviously), there's snow. Supposedly 3-5 inches by tomorrow.

I hope they all remember to bring blue books.

Panera People Watching

2004-12-05T11:07:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting at Panera, purportedly grading. I got one of the two "outlet tables" -- excellent for the plugging in of computers to take advantage of the free wi-fi. Have I ever mentioned my affinity for Panera? Free wi-fi, refillable drinks, and only slightly overpriced food. I'm not leaving until my grading's done.

In between papers, though - I people-watch. There's this couple sitting directly opposite me who where here before me. They're middle-aged, and seem to be married (the man has a wedding ring on). And he strikes me as absolutely, completely hen-pecked. His wife is a large woman with a hard face; he's small, balding, and has tiny round glasses and a rather slouched/stooped demeanor. As I sat down, I could overhear them discussing Christmas plans -- she seemed to be trying to get him to agree to not visit his family over the holidays. He kept sitting there doodling on his PDA - and sort of flinching at the tone in her voice.

I'm reading so much into this - for all I know, they could have the happiest marriage, their interaction is pleasing to both of their personalities, and their lives a model of civil interaction. It's just fun to spectate. Currently, she's working on a computer, and he's got a big giant Bible open in front of him. On a Sunday morning in Western Michigan, this choice of reading material is not that surprising. They haven't spoken in at least 1/2 an hour.

A woman with what looked like a cow-purse walked in. White with black spots and sort of furry. You know, like a Gateway box made pouch-like.

No more interesting people - so back to grading papers on Spencer's The Faerie Queene.

A Picture for Lemming

2004-12-03T08:29:00.000-05:00

Festive

Well, I'm not going to have a Christmas tree this year for several reasons -- first, mostly because I simply don't want the hassle. I don't want a real one, because I'm going to be gone from Grand Rapids at the end of the semester, and I'd have to take it down before I leave. And who wants to take down a Christmas tree before Christmas? And I have no room to store a fake one.

So - I decorated the treehouse instead. Well, I put up lights on it. No ornaments. When Matt was up here for Thanksgiving (most of which was spent at his sister's house in Chicago, actually), he mentioned that it was a bit dark in the area under the treehouse. I agreed -- and so dug out my string of Christmas lights (from that one year I did have the cutest little real tree; it was about three feet high and a perfect conical shape). I put them up with quite a few u-tacks and voila - festivity and utility.

Then and Now

2004-11-20T16:50:00.000-05:00

August View

This is the view out my window... this first one I took at about the time I moved in in August. Note the sun, the leafy trees, the blue river in the background. Below is a picture I just took a few minutes ago. Still the river, and the grass is still green -- but there's a bit of a difference in the cloud cover, the leaf situation.

It's been cloudy like this for about three days now. I'm thinking about going to see a movie tonight - just to get out for a bit. Or if not tonight, tomorrow afternoon. I think I need to see The Incredibles. I've heard good things about it... and Matt's already seen it. (By the way, Matt - don't go see Finding Neverland without me!)

2004-11-20T16:49:00.000-05:00

November View

Remembering Paris

2004-11-19T17:51:00.000-05:00

When my parents were here this past weekend, we were looking through my current coffee-table book that Chris and Amy (hello!) gave me when I graduated. It's called Above Paris, and it has amazing aerial views of (what else), Paris. Anyway - it got me looking through the pictures I had on my computer, and I wanted to share some of my favorites. All were taken with a 35-millimeter Pentax K-1000; all but the last on black-and-white. The last picture was not taken on sepia, or retouched in any way. The light was that good in a little tiny chapel.

The first picture was taken from atop the Arc de Triomphe, the next from inside the Musee d'Orsay, looking out from behind one of the facade clocks. The Orsay used to be a train station - I got lots of great pictures inside there - I'll probably post some more of those in the future.

Tour Eiffel

2004-11-19T17:50:00.000-05:00

Musee d'Orsay

2004-11-19T17:49:00.000-05:00

Sacre Coeur, Montmartre

2004-11-19T17:47:00.000-05:00

Cluny Vaulting

Coming Up For Air

2004-11-16T14:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I think I'm over the worst of it. At least for now. I've described depression as getting a cold in one's emotions, and that's really what it feels like it. Everything seems to get stuffed up and out of proportion -- and just miserable. But, I made it through the weekend with the help of some wonderful parental visits and just finished teaching two classes that went really well. Nothing like students actually discussing the texts and coming up with spot-on observations to make things a bit better. Especially at this point in the semester, when the amount and quality of students' reading tends to go down.

So, I'm keeping on taking my meds., and going about finding a good psych. professional with less urgency. Thank you to all of you who called, etc.

Is There A Doctor In?

2004-11-10T21:08:00.000-05:00

You know, finding a psych professional is not the easiest thing to do when you need one. For the first time, I don't have a nice, friendly campus health center to go to, only a huge list of names of people that accept my insurance. No other information about them except an address and a phone number. No indication of how long they've been doing this, if they have any specialties, or anything. How in the world am I going to find someone?

I've tried. I saw one woman three times - I called a place that had quite a few people on my insurance list, and they were downtown, so I knew I could find them. She's nice, but comes at things from a social worker's point of view (or so I assume, as that's her degree), and doesn't seem to deal well with my intelligence. I know that sounds snobbish, but I really don't respond well to the "just meditate and get in touch with your feelings" school of therapy. I have an actual disease, and I need to manage it. I've also been through therapy with enough different therapists to know that they usually can't get a clue as how to deal with me for a while (so maybe I should give this woman a bit more time... but I'm not getting a good vibe.). The problem is that I'm extraordinarily good at explaining all about the qualities, permutations, and my ways of coping with depression. They're all quite impressed. It takes them a long time to see that the more I talk, if I'm in the right mood, the further I'm getting from any sort of actual emotional healing.

I need someone who can keep up with my brain - and how in the world do you ask for that? Do patients have the right to ask about a doctor's philosophy? technique? specialities? I've asked people for referrals, but the only ones I've gotten are to doctors not on my insurance.

I should be getting help - but all I can think of is how much energy I'll have to put into starting this, and how little whoever I go see will probably be able to help me for quite a while.

Personal Depression

2004-11-10T13:49:00.000-05:00

I suppose I knew it would happen. The whole clinical-depression-with-stress-onset has started up, and I'm in control-mode. Which means I avoid things with high emotional content, excessive self-reflection, and try to remember to eat on a regular basis. When I find medical professionals up here, I'll also probably be doing more medication stuff, which means interesting side effects (usually). I try to reduce the stress in daily life (hard) and not pressure myself to be perfect in all areas (harder). I attempt to enjoy the things I can enjoy, and try not to trigger any boomerang effects (experiencing enjoyment/pleasure can trigger thoughts/cycles of depression - a sick twist to the disease).

So - lots of logic and crossword puzzles (low emotional content, completely left-brain activity), a reduction in the amount of stuff that I think I should/could do, and a gradual adding back in of allowing myself to think freely (I know that sounds twisted, but the trickiest part of depression is the spiraling cycle of negative thoughts; this cycle is triggered by excessive release/experience of emotion.).

Therefore - I'll try to keep up this website, but I might be doing more "observational" writing rather than introspective writing for a while. Any suggestions on handling depression are welcome; I find that each major episode is somewhat unique, and my ways of coping need constant adjustment.

Mass Depression

2004-11-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

So Kerry didn't win.
Proposition 2 failed.
And I didn't even get the Drain Commissioner's name right (turns out the one I thought I was voting for was in Ottawa County, not Kent county.)

If you're wondering, the Kent County Drain Commissioner is Roger Laninga, a 59 year old Republican who's been the Drain Commissioner since 1993. And has a degree in landscape architecture. I think we can all feel confident that he's going to make water go where it should. Considering I live less than 100 feet from the river, I'm sort of concerned about this sort of thing. However, I'm not sure I voted for him. I think I did. I'd like to have voted for a least one winner.

So, it's back to thinking about what I'm teaching tomorrow. On tap - Donne's poetry ("Death be not proud!") and Shakespeare's Hamlet ("Oh to die and go not we know where!", or something like that). Yep, tomorrow's a death day.

Voting in Grand Rapids

2004-11-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Like everyone else in the blogosphere, I voted this morning. Before I got up to go, I had yet another voting anxiety dream - in the dream I showed up at the polling place, got in line, and eventually made it to the first table, where they were testing voters' ability to read. We all had to sit down and read -out loud- a menu from an Indian restaurant. I distinctly remember being embarrassed because I couldn't remember how to pronounce the names of several dishes. Then an ex-boyfriend gave me a ballot, I voted, and when I left, my bicycle had been stolen.

Needless to say, the actual voting process was nothing like my dream, except for the fact that the man behind me actually couldn't read. However, a poll volunteer just helped him out. There were no last-minute campaigners hovering on the legal periphery of the polling place, and there were no poll watchers--which sort of surprised me because my district is essentially inner-city Grand Rapids, with a lot of minority voters. It was great being part of such a diverse group of people at 8:30 in the morning, even as we all stood outside in the drizzle because the polling place was absolutely tiny. And I had a great amount of fun with the punch card - there were a bunch of unopposed races (like Kent County Drain Commissioner!) that I wasn't going to bother voting for, but I was having so much fun poking out the little holes in the ballot that I went ahead and voted for them.

And I'm proud to say I voted for Kerry, and voted no on Proposition 2, which is Michigan's attempt to restrict marriage rights (that is, I voted to not add the whole "marriage is between one man and one woman" clause to the Michigan constitution. Because, as a part of my job, I had to sign an oath to uphold the Michigan State Constitution, you know.) And I enthusiastically voted for Paul Geerlings to continue in his post as Kent County Drain Commissioner--here's hoping he hasn't been authorizing the dumping of sewage into the Grand River!

That Point

2004-10-31T18:20:00.000-05:00

I think I've hit "that point" both in the process of relocation and in the semester (as an academic, my life is ruled by the biorhythms enforced by the academic calendar). For the relocation thing - I've been here long enough so that going most places I need to go doesn't involve a map. I'm getting to know my way around Meijer, and grocery shopping is less "I wonder where the pickles are?" and more "Why do people feel the need to just stand there staring into space in the middle of the aisle so that nobody can go around them?" I actually know several ways to get to several Meijers, depending on traffic patterns and times of day, and what else I need to do. I actually know when the interstate will be backed up, and when they'll be relatively open. In other words, I'm getting settled.

This is good - but it also takes that challenge out of daily life that had been distracting me from the fact that I really don't know that many people here yet. I'm meeting people; it just takes me a while. I'm not good at spontaneously calling people up and "doing something." And most people I know are just as busy or busier than me -- because we've all hit "that point" in the semester, too. The point where there's still enough of the semester left to require quite a bit of prep, but the papers are getting longer, the students need more help with those longer, more challenging papers, and committees, seeing the passing of midterms, realize that if anything is going to get accomplished this semester, it better happen in the next few weeks. And it's also the point where we're all tired. There's too much of the semester left to see the end, but there's not enough left for all we need to do. Daylight is disappearing, both because of the movement of the clocks and because of the heavy grey cloud cover that I've been warned is Michigan's chosen mode of being in winter.

Yes, it's almost November. The February of this end of the calendar.

Life in a Swing State

2004-10-30T20:01:00.000-04:00

Despite living the last nine years of my life in a red-tinged state (Indiana, whose electoral votes will undoubtedly go to Bush, does have a Democratic governor - for now - and a Democratic senator), I've had the experience of voting in a swing state, because I never changed my residency from Iowa. This year is no different, because Michigan is just as much a swing state as Iowa, it seems. That means, at least in this election -- candidate visits and unceasing ads. This morning, Bush was in Grand Rapids. Needless to say, I didn't go (I can't stand listening to his voice on television, where I have the power of the mute button; the mute button doesn't work in real life.) However, I did walk downtown this morning just to see how much disturbance a presidential visit causes. It turns out, quite a bit. I got to the post office, which is about 2/3 of a mile from the Yuppie Dorm, and there were "police line - do not cross" tapes strung up, and after another 1/2 block, barriers between the street and the sidewalk. The city's cadre of dumptrucks and snowplows were called into service to block intersections, and there were a bunch of loud Kerry supporters/Bush protesters on the other side of the street. And there were policepeople everywhere. They were walking along in groups, going here and there, and I think I even saw some Secret Service people.

I didn't stick around for the motorcade; I really had no wish to see a limo with tinted windows carrying a man I really have no desire to even meet. And I'm rather sad that I have to say that about the President of my country. With almost any other former President, I would have a lot I would want to ask him, given the opportunity. Not Bush. So I walked back home, glad that he would be leaving my new city soon, and letting it get back to normal.

Later today, I drove past the place where I would be going to vote on Tuesday. It's some sort of mental health clinic, which I find rather ironic. Perhaps there will be clinicians on hand to talk all of us through the "voter anxiety" that approximately 60% of voters are feeling this year. I guess I'm one of them - the reason I drove past the place was because I had a dream that I couldn't figure out where to vote, and that I would spend all day trying to find my polling place, and end up not voting. I've almost always voted absentee, in the privacy of my own home. This whole going to a place and voting via punch card (my ballot type, according to the Michigan voting website) is going to be a very new experience. I plan to vote early in the day, and spend the evening with friends, watching the returns--and hopefully Jon Stewart and the Daily Show crew.

Balance

2004-10-25T10:57:00.000-04:00

Matt just left, and I'm at work - procrastinating doing a stack of grading. However, it's finally sunny and properly autumnal, so I think I'll go to one of my favorite places on campus to grade. It's the rare-book/archives library (surprise!) and it has a quiet study area with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the ravine.

It was a good visit - Matt brought his station wagon up, so I got to go to Pier 1 and get a table for the back wall of my living room; this will allow me to get a much-needed third lamp for the room, so I can read on the couch at night. I counted, and I now have five pieces of furniture in my living room from Pier 1. We tried to eat sushi, but the one place I knew of that had sushi (or more to the point, the one place that anybody recommended to me as having decent sushi) was closed on Sunday. So we ate at a Tuscan place instead, and had salmon. It's odd to think - I'll have to go back to southern Indiana to get decent sushi. Or Chicago. Chicago probably has a decent sushi place or two!

Rainy Weekend

2004-10-23T10:46:00.000-04:00

I woke up at my normal hour this morning (6 am) and promptly turned over and fell back asleep (it's Saturday!) When I woke up again at 9, after a dream when I was making up a test for one of my classes, and noticing that it was huge, and I hadn't incorporated stuff from the rest of the year yet, the ambient light in my room had not changed noticeably. It was that overcast.

Fall is truly here, and it's not the pretty-leaves, happy cool breezes fall, but the rainy, overcast, depressing, get-ready-for-winter-rain autumn.

But Matt's driving up to visit me this weekend, so I can't be that depressed -- except I'll worry about him driving in the rain!

Libraries Need to Have Comfortable Chairs

2004-10-19T14:05:00.000-04:00

I'm in the Grand Rapids Public Library (my usual Tuesday afternoon stop-off point to renew my Books-on-CD for my commute), and I'm wandering around trying to find a place to settle in and read for about 45 minutes, since I have an appointment downtown and I don't want to go home for such a brief period. I've been through most of this building, and there are no "reading nooks" or even upholstered chairs that I've found yet. There are lots of plasticy wood table and chairs that owe a great design debt to Scandinavian influences, and lots of bright colors and fluorescent light - but no shadowy areas, inviting one to sit down and read.

Well, considering this is an urban-center library, I guess that shadowy nooks with comfy couches would possibly be misused.

That doesn't stop me from wishing they were there; and feeling like this library is somewhat lacking because it doesn't have them. The Bloomington library is quite modern and efficient - and still has plenty of chairs that make reading pleasant.

Friday

2004-10-15T09:33:00.000-04:00

One one hand, I'm glad this week is almost over. It was supposed to be my mid-semester, less-stress week, because of various things that were happening in my classes (like giving midterms). When you're the teacher, the work of the midterm comes after you've given it - but leading up to it is the vacation. But (as evidenced in the previous post) other things seemed to interfere with the less-stress idea. However, yesterday was pretty good - my classes went well, I have plans to meet up with people for lunch and dinner today, and my friend Julie and her daughter are coming to visit tomorrow.

Julie and I have been friends since our sophomore year of college, when we took Lit and Culture of the Middle Ages together. We bonded over a shared love of the Old English poem Wulf and Eadwacer (for you non-OE readers, a site with a translation, albeit in annoying red type on a black background. Scroll down for the translation). After college, she moved on to Library School in the flat parts of Illinois, and then to New York to be a glamorous corporate librarian (you have to say the "glamorous" any time somebody from the Midwest moves to New York. She would probably debate the use of this term.) I went to Bloomington, IN for grad school, and stayed there for the almost-decade it took for me to get my PhD. A little over a year ago, Julie and her husband moved back to the Midwest (Chicago - they're incurable city people now) and I moved to Grand Rapids -- thus we're now living closer together than we have in a long while.

And since she's bringing her nine-month-old daughter, who has just learned how to crawl, I really need to get a bunch of stuff off the floor before tomorrow afternoon!

Not A Good Day

2004-10-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

System Restore Window

If the above picture is any indication, this has not been a good day. I tried to update Office XP to Office 2003, and everything fell apart. Fell apart in ways that 1 and 1/2 hours on the phone to a very nice person named Shane could not fathom. I actually started crying at one point because I not only couldn't install Office 2003, but he had had me completely (or almost-completely, which in computer terms is worse) wipe Office XP from everything. My computer was without Word, and it looked very reluctant to let any Microsoft program anywhere near it.

Ergo, System Restore. It sort of worked; I at least have Word XP back - but I've been having spotty connection problems with my DSL. And I think I screwed up my virus protection stuff.

I see a re-installation of Windows in my future. And I'm not looking forward to it.

Congratulations

2004-10-12T10:50:00.000-04:00

I was just re-reading my most recent post, and realized that my bullet point about my brother might be a bit odd.

Therefore - I ALSO congratulate him about his recent engagement to my future-sister-in-law Emily, not just his bathroom renovation! He's continuing a long tradition in our family of the younger siblings going down the matrimonial path first. Since he also bought a new car before I did (though mine is much cooler), wrote a thesis before I did (though mine was a doctoral thesis, and his a masters--but with way more chemical equations), and bought a house (still a renter), I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that he's charging forth on this other major life event before his late-bloomer sister.

Nevertheless, the bathroom was really well done.

Driving

2004-10-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

I just drove back from Bloomington today... it's about 5.5 hours between B'ton and Grand Rapids, without stopping. Variance may be imposed by how horrible the stoplights at Kokomo are. I heard they're building a bypass bypass - hopefully, soon. That stretch of 31 is insane.

The trees got more and more colorful the farther north I got - they're probably at about peak here in Michigan. Though I have to say that yesterday's drive through Brown County was absolutely gorgeous.

My Bloomington accomplishments:

Spent time with Art, Ellen, Finn and Odessa; discovered that two-year-olds who are suffering from sleep deprivation are inclined to short attention spans. However, a good story may distract even the most disconsolate soul. Hurray for books.
Helped plant at least five dogwood trees and some holly bushes in a new park in Bloomington. I learned that proper mulching is done in a "bagel" rather than "volcano" style.
Went to a farm south of Bloomington and wandered through a Maize Maze (Corn Maze for those of you who don't like homophones). Pumpkins and goats were also part of the whole fall experience.
Visited my brother and his (recently affianced) girlfriend, Emily. I congratulated him on his bathroom renovation, which included things like new walls, tile, and filling in holes in the ceiling resulting from lowering a wall.
Sat in on a meeting of Green Building Enthusiasts; mostly I graded, but occasionally I looked up when I heard somebody say something like "dirt floors are great!" and "straw bales make great walls!" I'm not against reusable materials and responsible building - but I also think statements like that should be prefaced by "I know this may sound weird, but..."

All in all - a busy weekend.

Newspaper Update: Since sign, 4/4 delivered. I will see if the ones I had held while I was away for the weekend are still there tonight...

Preventive Measures

2004-10-03T22:17:00.000-04:00

Starting tomorrow, I'll be putting this sign on my door. Matt suggested this; I hope it deters my thief... This morning, he or she stole my Sunday paper. Luckily, when I called customer service, they were able to actually get another one delivered to me in the afternoon. I also talked to the security people; hopefully the combination of my sign and their alertness will enable me to get my newspaper every day, even those days that I'm not home until late.

I keep wondering, though - why my paper? I have neighbors whose papers were at their doors today until late in the afternoon. Unless my thief is one of my immediate neighbors, any person taking it would have had to pass by one of these other papers.

I fear I'm getting obsessed with this. That, and the crossword puzzles that are in the papers. I like crossword puzzles. But I wish the Grand Rapids Press would subscribe to the New York Times ones - they have the LA Times ones, and they're really quite easy. They don't allow me to procrastinate nearly as much as I'd like to.

Pretty Houses

2004-10-02T19:34:00.000-04:00

Today's activity: The annual Heritage Hill House Tour. Starting at about 12:30, I and a colleague, her husband, and her husband's mother and brother, wended our way into 8 of the 10 houses on the tour. A bit of background: Heritage Hill is Grand Rapids' oldest residential district, and located to the east and a bit south of downtown. When this place was the epicenter of America's furniture industry, the owners of the factories lived in this area. It's full of grand old houses, many dating from the late nineteenth century. Starting in the depression, and then aggravated by the housing shortage after the War, many of the houses were chopped into apartments. Of those on the tour, several had been, or were in the process of, being turned back into single-family houses.

When I was first looking for housing in Grand Rapids, I was convinced that I wanted to live in Heritage Hill. Many of the houses there still are split into apartments. However, I discovered a few things about myself: namely, I like clean cupboards, relatively modern appliances, non-scary bathrooms, and reliable air-conditioning and heating. None of the apartments I saw in the Hill had even close to that combination. Most weren't air conditioned (which isn't that unworkable in Michigan; I tend to like it in the summer more for allergy control purposes). Many had ancient appliances - one had a stove that had to be lit with a match for every use. Most had pretty scary cupboards and bathrooms; I could tell that they had been cleaned as much as possible--and they still looked dirty or mildewy. And the rents were not reflective of the condition of the place. I could tell that most landlords, logically, were renting places as long as they would rent; since the Hill was becoming more and more popular as downtown Grand Rapids became more and more vital, rents were going up. Only when a place became so bad that it wouldn't rent would they renovate--and then charge a lot more.

One landlord was in the middle of doing that when I saw his place; it was a one-bedroom that he had advertised at $750. He informed me, as I was looking at the place, that he had rethought the rent, and the place was now $850. It looked like it was going to be nice - high ceilings, a fireplace, a dining room, large windows. But it was a one bedroom (accessible only through the bathroom). When I was wondering out loud where I might set up a workspace, he pointed to an alcove area in the bedroom as perfect for a home office. When I pointed out that there were no electrical outlets within 10 feet of this space, he said "oh." Needless to say, I didn't even consider that one.

But anyway - today I was back wandering the Hill, trying to ignore all the "for rent!" signs on lawns. I think, if I ever live in that neighborhood, it will be as a homeowner who can rip out cupboards and put new ones in, sand down woodwork and refinish it, and generally clean it to the point that I'd feel like it was mine, not the accumulated sediment of generations. But I definitely don't fit the molds of a lot of the homeowners whose houses were on the tour today. Several of the houses were antique dealers' or antique collectors' showplaces - and I felt like I could barely move. There was just so much stuff! Old stuff -- little things, fussy things. I and the Victorian aesthetic do not mesh well. I did enjoy the Arts and Crafts pieces that I saw; none of the homes, however, seemed to embrace that style wholeheartedly.

When I came back home to the Yuppie Dorm, I actually felt that I could finally breathe easily; I also realized that I actually live in a home where I feel like I have a decorative style that reflects my taste--clean lines, not a whole lot of fussy details, light woods, metal and wicker. I am an adult, in a home of my own making.

I was quite proud of myself; so proud, in fact, that I vacuumed.

A Few Things

2004-09-28T18:41:00.000-04:00

Blogging in order to blog - therefore, a catch-all post.

1. I went to Holland today, and it was mostly cloudy. However, while I was teaching, the sun broke through. So - my sunny-in-Holland streak is not quite over...

2. I've been talking to the Grand Rapids Press circulation people, and they seem to think I probably am having my papers stolen. Seemingly, the Yuppie Dorm has a history of this with the Press. I'm trying to think of ways to catch a newspaper thief. Any ideas?

3. I took a "figure out where to live" quiz (Find Your Spot) and discovered that I'm supposed to be living in Worcester, Mass., Providence, Rhode Island, or about a dozen spots in Wisconsin. I guess that they don't take the academic job market into consideration with this little quiz. Very happy with Grand Rapids, thank you.

New Furniture

2004-09-25T19:16:00.000-04:00

Today, I got a new chair. I've been eyeing it for a bit; but I finally got to the point where I wanted a chair for my counter. My new kitchen has an island, which I'm trying to not pile full of generic stuff. In fact, I'm hoping it will become a good eating/newspaper reading*/work area. To that end, after I got the chair in the house, I proceeded to eat lunch and then sit down to grading (a thing I've been avoiding for a few days. And the previous year that I was on dissertation fellowship). I discovered that I didn't forget how - and that my chair worked pretty well as a grading chair. Comfortable, but not slouchy. In fact, I took a picture of it with the fancy sepia-tone setting on my camera:

Grading Chair

*Newspaper update: Thought I was doing well until this morning, when I didn't get a paper. (Saturdays and Sundays are morning delivery.) Called, and was assured that a paper would be delivered. No paper. I don't believe them when they say that now... Still haven't found a recycling center, but that's mostly becuase I put zero effort into it this week.

Red and Blue

2004-09-25T19:13:00.000-04:00

Grand Haven Lighthouse

Newspapers

2004-09-17T20:16:00.000-04:00

When I moved to Grand Rapids, I thought it would be a good idea to subscribe to the local paper, the Grand Rapids Press. And this is a fine paper, full of good, local news that helps me get to know the community, what the major issues are here, that sort of thing. For example, by reading the paper, I discovered that the two major roads that are near the Yuppie Dorm are slated for major road construction this spring. See - it's full of fun facts and interesting tidbits.

However, I now am having two problems with the newspaper:

I don't get a paper. I've now had three evenings (last night and tonight being two of them) when the paper was not on my doorstep. The first two occasions were times when I got home after nine, so I could only get an automated system and I simply asked for a credit on my account. Tonight, I got home at about 6, and it wasn't there* so when I called I was able to get a real person. She said that she'd have a paper delivered. Still not here at 8:22. So, either I have an incompetent delivery person, or a neighbor who is stealing my papers.
I have papers. Actually, I'm gathering quite a stack of them in my dining room closet right now. Sundays are especially stackable. Last week, I started to think about recycling. So I called the front desk people at the YD, and found out that there's no recycling program in the building. She suggested I give them to the Salvation Army. (Query: this sounded very silly to me - but all I know about the SA is that they a. ring bells a lot around the holidays, b. were given a lot of money by Ray Kroc's widow, and c. they actively proselytize, which annoys me (not that the ringing of the bells incessantly is high on my list). However, I don't know their stance on my newspapers.) I then looked in my trusty phone book and discovered the "Recycling Hotline" - and promptly called it. They gave me another number, for the Kent County Sanitation Department - who weren't there. I then called the newspaper (thinking that they had to have an idea of where to recycle their product) and got the information that there "maybe" a "dropoff" in the Old Kent Building. When I asked where this building might be, the woman I was talking to wasn't sure - perhaps between Alpine and Monroe (note: there's a river between Alpine and Monroe, as well as quite a few blocks!). I later was at the public library, and tried the reference librarian. She was actually the most helpful, and thought that the Kent County Sanitation people might have a dropoff, and that they were located downtown. That's as far as I've gotten. I tried Kent County Sanitation again, no answer. No wonder more people don't recycle; it's a Byzantine mystery figuring out how! (Note in Grand Rapids' favor: if you live in a house, there's curbside recycling. That may be why people seem so mystified by someone who wants to take her recycling somewhere else.)

That's where I am with the whole newspaper thing. I'll keep the blog updated--provided I don't drown in newspapers, which would mean I actually have to have more delivered.

*The GRP is an evening newspaper, when I've been home, I've noticed that I get the paper between three and four, and they say to call if it isn't at the door by five.

Good Day

2004-09-17T20:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday - not so good. (And since it has to do with my perhaps unreasonable expectations for my job performance, and my not meeting them, I can't say much more about that on the blog, since one of the rules of blogdom is the advisability of not talking about one's job, especially when that job concerns the education of lots of other people... well - let's just say that I wouldn't want my students to read this monster of a run-on sentence.)

But today, much better. I actually got work done on my article (which I can talk about, since nobody truly cares what academics write about), slept in past six, exercised, sat in Panera for a good long while (It's amazing the work I can get done in that place - they have free wifi, enough hubbub to keep me awake, but not enough to annoy me, refillable beverages, and yummy bagels. Did I mention the free wifi?), and generally relaxed.

And Matt's coming tomorrow. That helps a lot.

The Sun Always Shines in Holland

2004-09-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

Two mornings a week, I drive to Holland, MI. Maybe it's been all the media coverage of Hurricane Ivan (and its bouts of wind and rain), but this morning I was struck by the fact that every time I've been to Holland since my job started the sun has been shining. And not this sort-of-cloudy/sort-of-sunny day either - clear blue skies, lovely little wind, streams of sunlight pouring in windows and drenching the tables and chairs in the front of the building.

I've probably jinxed it - and next week it will be dank and morose. But for now, I can't think of Holland without thinking sun. And for a person so hooked on sunlight like I am - that's pretty cool.

New Feature

2004-09-15T20:29:00.000-04:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

No need to log into anything to leave a comment!

Fishing in the Rapids

2004-09-11T10:34:00.000-04:00

There's a river in my front yard. I've taken to going for walks along it; last night, before sunset, I was walking down and saw all these people fishing in the river. From what I've heard about the pollution levels in the Grand River, I'm not sure I'd ever want to eat any thing that comes out of it - but they certainly do make for photogenic subjects.

I was on the east bank of the river, so I was taking pictures into the sun; this accounts for the light on the water and the relative shadowy character of the fisherpeople. I'm sure they're very nice and not at all shadowy in real life.

Silhouette View

2004-09-11T10:33:00.000-04:00

In the water, on the rocks

2004-09-11T10:31:00.000-04:00

Fishing in the rapids

Waiting for Furniture

2004-09-11T10:18:00.000-04:00

Bridge over the Grand

This photo is from a walk I took yesterday, after being freed from my apartment by the delivery of my new bed. Yesterday and today are "waiting for furniture" days - today, I'm waiting for a chest of drawers that will enable me to actually put my clothes away for the first time in a month.

So, last night I slept in my actual bedroom for the first time. I have to say, I enjoyed not having to climb up a ladder to sleep; I'll miss the cozy nature of the treehouse, though. (If I knew how to link internally to other entries, I'd direct you to a picture of aforesaid treehouse. Alas, I do not - so if you're interested, search the archives!) My upstairs neighbor will probably appreciate the cessation of both my late-night phone conversations while in bed and the NPR on the radio that wakes me up in the morning. I tried to keep both as soft as possible, but the one thing about these apartments is that there is little to no soundproofing between floors. I can barely hear my neighbors to the side, but above and below are pretty loud. I even can hear people walk in the hallway one floor up from me. Luckily, there's a law firm below me (no night noise) and my upstairs neighbor doesn't often play music loudly.

UPDATE: I have since learned how to link: thank you Abby! The Treehouse post (and photo) is here.

Tired

2004-08-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

I'm just tired tonight. Last week was orientation, then a visit home to my parents, back to finish syllabi for my fall courses (2 done, 1 to go) by the copy deadline, and yet more meetings and convocation to attend Wednesday, yesterday, and today. In between and after all this, I've been trying to look for furniture (I'm getting really tired of having no place to put my clothes, and while I love sleeping in my treehouse, the ladder's getting a bit old.

Actually, I'm typing this as I sit in the treehouse (courtesy of my laptop and a wireless DSL connection) but I know that I'll have to go down the ladder with the computer at some future point - and going down with stuff is always a bit more interesting.

And I very much miss Matt. I'm being very social, meeting new co-workers, etc. But I miss being around someone who adds more to my energy levels rather than depletes them. Today, the combination of being social at and after convocation, and then turning right around and going to about 6-7 furniture stores in search of well-made, affordable, interesting furniture was exhausting.

I think this is a bout of new-town loneliness, brought on by too much stimulation.

The Blogger Dictionary...

2004-08-25T22:54:00.000-04:00

...does not recognize the word "blog" as a word. For some reason, this amuses me.

Posting via DSL

2004-08-25T22:36:00.000-04:00

I've finally got my DSL connection up and running. I'm usually pretty OK with installing things, getting them to work, etc., but I was stumped when it came to getting my wireless computer to actually get on the network. So I called tech support, was on hold listening to the same lame guitar song over and over and over... One would think that with the time they cause people to be on hold, they would at least invest in either a variety of songs or at least a longer song. Hearing the same melodic line come back around again in less than 5 minutes only serves to remind a listener that the on-hold situation hasn't improved any.

The problem I was having was one that required me to be bumped to a level-2 technician; on one level this made me feel justified - I wasn't one of those people who said "Oh, that's it" when told to plug the device in or some such easy thing. No, I had a real, level-2 technician problem. Of course, this meant I got back on the on-hold cycle, heard the horribly long announcement that some people in California's network were not accessing the network (poor people, they may have to go to the beach, or to the mountains, or something) and that people with the network id 1234@... have to change it to something else. I can't remember what, because I stopped listening to that announcement at that point, both times I had to sit through it.

When I finally got to the level-2 technician, we determined that he didn't know how to make my computer work because I had the temerity to have a computer that already contained a wireless card that he couldn't see. It seems that the people at SBC don't like you to already have the technology; if you have enough sense to buy a computer with a pre-installed wireless card, you're on your own. However, I did determine that the router was broadcasting properly from their end, and that all was well.

So I hung up with my level-2 technician (after thinking briefly about asking for a level-3 technician) and figured it out in about 2 minutes. Part of the problem was that their literature led me to believe that I had to install some of their software, and that was interfering with my earlier experimentation; once I got all of that off, my solution worked quite nicely.

Therefore, I have an encrypted wireless hub happily broadcasting a signal so I can sit on my couch and post to the blog, as well as from my office.

And I still haven't done the unpacking I wanted to do tonight!

Home Again

2004-08-23T23:40:00.000-04:00

For the first time, I really felt like I came home to my new apartment. I just spent the weekend visiting my parents (hi, Mom & Dad) and grandmother. It was a novel experience, this trip - mostly because I'm now living in a town that has an airport. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the airport, where a bus met me in long-term parking, wrote down where my car was, and took me directly to the terminal, where there was no line at my airline's counter. I got my boarding passes, and went through security in about 15 minutes. I love small, regional airports!

Coming soon (I hope): broadband access from the apartment. Joy!

Dorm Food

2004-08-18T22:11:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons I christened this building the "yuppie dorm" is because there's a restaurant/bar on the main floor, just inside the front door. It's really more of a bar - but I just discovered tonight that they happily serve food to go. I've been in new-job orientations for the past two days, and trying to set up an office, and doing yet more unpacking (not to mention trying to keep up with the Olympics - when else can you watch competitive white-water kayaking?) Tonight, as I was driving back, I got hungry; since I've yet to find a grocery store I like, I had very little by way of dinner ingredients.

So I walked downstairs, and discovered that if I paid the barperson $6.50, she'd give me a nice, hot sandwich after a brief wait while I got my mail. They also have pizza. And a significant amount of alcohol, which I suspect is not available for take-away.

I'm living in a building that has food service. Is it any wonder that I call this place a dorm? I have to admit - the burger was much better than anything I remember getting at Hillcrest dorm at the University of Iowa.

The Treehouse

2004-08-17T21:58:00.000-04:00

This is what makes my apartment slightly different - the treehouse (as I call it). It's a loft bed that's in my second bedroom area. The room is going to be my office and the loft my guest bed area - but I'm sleeping up there until I get a bed for the actual bedroom (now the box storage room.) This loft is one of the things that really sold me on this specific apartment. The building had the other things I was happy with (specifically the clean, nice cupboards and near-new appliances) but this loft made it unique. The previous tenant was (I think) an architect or designer; he built and installed this loft (and a desk and shelving on the other side of the room). The thing is solid--almost over-engineered. The green webbing is interwoven bungee cords supported by steel chain. It's hard to see in the above picture, but above the head of the bed is a high shelf and a light. All in all, quite cozy.