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FYI, for those of you who might not know I have a "regular" blog.... I've started personal-blogging a bit again at my web site: http://pylduck.com/ssqd. I don't know what to do with all these sites. I'd like to try to do some more public-like blogging, reserving lj/dreamwidth for the more angsty, gripey, don't-want-work-colleagues-to-read type of posts. Feel free to swing by the regular blog if you're bored! Lately, since I've been packing and sorting through belongings for my move, I've been reminiscing a lot about things past.
left coasted
Mar. 10th, 2011 11:37 amArrived in Southern California late last night just after 11 pm. Witnessed a lot of grumpiness at the airport. Taxi dispatcher was surly and had a phone to his ear the entire time so I was never sure when he was talking to me or to the person on the line. He kept mumbling that he has no taxis. Across the way, a driver for Supershuttle angrily unloaded some bags from his van. A guy, I guess the would-be passenger, shouted at the driver. The driver shouted back, something about not deserving to be talked at in a certain way. I thought you SoCal people were supposed to be chill?
I shared a taxi to the airport with a random stranger. The hotel kindly paid the fare in lieu of sending their shuttle (the driver had just retired for the night).
Even though my hotel is less than a mile from campus, I may not be able to walk there because of the freeway. It didn't look like there were sidewalks along the underpass of the freeway. Maybe I could just chance it and hurry through anyways. :P
The sneezing has subsided, only to be replaced now by massive congestion. Even on a heavy dose of Sudafed, I can just barely breathe through my nose.
I shared a taxi to the airport with a random stranger. The hotel kindly paid the fare in lieu of sending their shuttle (the driver had just retired for the night).
Even though my hotel is less than a mile from campus, I may not be able to walk there because of the freeway. It didn't look like there were sidewalks along the underpass of the freeway. Maybe I could just chance it and hurry through anyways. :P
The sneezing has subsided, only to be replaced now by massive congestion. Even on a heavy dose of Sudafed, I can just barely breathe through my nose.
three things
Apr. 17th, 2009 05:19 pm1) Yesterday, I saw standing next to my Catholic university's sign two Mormon missionaries in their standard white-shirt with tie and dark slacks. They appeared to be proselytizing (talking to another young man).
2) Mr. Giles got to go into the Wine Thief this afternoon and proceeded to spazz out with the guy who worked there. He got two treat snacks and a small rawhide chew stick (that he was too excited to chew so we left behind). If I had known the store was dog-friendly, I would've stopped in long before.
3) Squirrels are everywhere now that we have temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
2) Mr. Giles got to go into the Wine Thief this afternoon and proceeded to spazz out with the guy who worked there. He got two treat snacks and a small rawhide chew stick (that he was too excited to chew so we left behind). If I had known the store was dog-friendly, I would've stopped in long before.
3) Squirrels are everywhere now that we have temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
dog says no
Mar. 27th, 2009 04:07 pmThis morning, Mr. Giles and I walked through the convenience store parking lot. Usually when we do so, it means I'm going to tie him up outside and leave him to go inside the store for a few minutes. He does not like being tied up and left alone. Today, as soon as we entered the parking lot, he pulled back and gave me that look that says, "I am not going any farther!" At that moment, a man had just gotten out of his car to go into the store, and he saw Giles's expression and laughed.
i have arrived
Mar. 21st, 2009 09:50 amIn my email inbox today is a message saying that I have been approved for inclusion in the Who's Who in Canada publication.
morning exchange
Mar. 19th, 2009 09:02 amAt the cash register of the diner:
Waitress: (Looking at credit card with beagle photo on it.) Do you guys have a beagle?
Me: (Shows her a photo of Giles.) Beaglish.
We eat there often enough that she knows our regular order. It's also nice that her question acknowledged that we are "together."
Waitress: (Looking at credit card with beagle photo on it.) Do you guys have a beagle?
Me: (Shows her a photo of Giles.) Beaglish.
We eat there often enough that she knows our regular order. It's also nice that her question acknowledged that we are "together."
1. I got a third unsolicited essay from one "Manisha Shekhar" who wishes me to publish it in my "prestigious journal." I seriously don't know if this is spam or from someone who believes I run such a journal! (After I replied to the first request, I immediately got the second submission.)
2. On Monday, Misters Frog and Giles ganged up on me and gave me a flurry of kisses. I giggled and screamed. It was like this:
see more dog and puppy pictures
3. Three more classes to teach until spring break! :D
2. On Monday, Misters Frog and Giles ganged up on me and gave me a flurry of kisses. I giggled and screamed. It was like this:
see more dog and puppy pictures
3. Three more classes to teach until spring break! :D
The fog this morning was kinda cool, but it lifted and left a rather dreary and overcast day. I bought a new stainless (natch) steel travel mug to replace the one I lost last week and was dismayed to notice that the inside of the mug is not supposed to be brown as the last one had turned. I need to do laundry and iron some clothes today. Oh, the quotidian chores that wear away our days!
I also missed out on a chance to meet and hang out with a handful of local Asian American writers on Friday. I don't regret spending the day with Mr. Frog instead to celebrate his birthday, but it is also the case that I have skipped out on everything that's been happening in town this year. I just can't seem to get my act together to do stuff. Bother!
I also missed out on a chance to meet and hang out with a handful of local Asian American writers on Friday. I don't regret spending the day with Mr. Frog instead to celebrate his birthday, but it is also the case that I have skipped out on everything that's been happening in town this year. I just can't seem to get my act together to do stuff. Bother!
paper non-submissions
Mar. 8th, 2009 10:32 amAlso, there's something in the water this semester. I only received 11 out of 18 papers for this class.... It happened with the other classes a week ago, too!
my atomic clock is fail
Mar. 8th, 2009 10:24 amWe have this "atomic clock" that is supposed to tap into a radio signal that broadcasts the time, allowing it to re-set itself during time changes and also to keep itself accurate. However, our apartment, as filled with windows as it is, seems to be a bunker as far as the clock is concerned, and it doesn't really seem able to pick up the radio signal easily. Every daylight savings change, we have to take the clock off the wall and leave it on the window ledge for a few hours before it picks up the signal and re-sets itself. WEAKSAUCE.
pleasantly almost-tired
Feb. 16th, 2009 10:24 amI got back in the pool again this morning for the first time in about four months. It was nice to get a little panty. I didn't do much, though, in part because the elastic strap on the googles goggles I left in the locker was so dried out that it broke when I tried to stretch it so I couldn't really open my eyes while swimming. I liked the feeling of a kind of all-over muscle exhaustion even though I only swam for about fifteen minutes. I liked the feeling, when I got out of the pool, of the heavy weight of my body (in contrast to the buoyancy of being in the water). I am going to try to get in the pool three times a week.... Mr. Frog also thinks my mood is much better when I exercise (regularly).
thinking in chinese
Feb. 13th, 2009 03:25 pmIt's weird to realize that my parents are going through their days surrounded by Chinese language (again), and they likely don't encounter English very much anymore. I can't imagine at this point in my life moving to another country and existing in another language (which is sort of what my parents did when they were my age)...
three students
Feb. 11th, 2009 02:00 pm1) A couple times this past week, I've run into a student I had last semester while getting coffee between classes. She works at the campus eatery, and when I go up to the counter, her face totally lights up, and she says, "Hi professor!" When I leave the counter, she turns to her co-workers or to friends hanging around and says, "That was my English teacher from last semester!" It is lols and cute. I like her a lot. She asked me to write some sort of recommendation letter for her yesterday when I saw her, too.
2) I e-mailed a graduate student I taught a couple years ago to ask her how she's doing--how her conference presentation last month went, how she's finding teaching in the program for the first time this semester, and what progress she's making on her master's essay. I really just wanted to catch up and see how she's doing. She sent back a blank e-mail with her master's essay proposal attached. I guess she thought I wanted the proposal? But didn't respond to anything in my e-mail itself? (I didn't ask for the proposal....)
3) After the literatures of American imprisonment class today, a student came up after everyone had left and asked if we would be reading pretty much the same kind of stuff we've read this past week for the rest of the semester. I ran through the syllabus with her again, explaining the different kinds of writing we would cover. Then I asked her what she REALLY meant and what concerns she had with the reading. She said she was worried the readings might include graphic descriptions of sexual assault. I told her I'd warn her in advance if any of the readings had such depictions. I suppose this means I should read the assigned material in advance....
2) I e-mailed a graduate student I taught a couple years ago to ask her how she's doing--how her conference presentation last month went, how she's finding teaching in the program for the first time this semester, and what progress she's making on her master's essay. I really just wanted to catch up and see how she's doing. She sent back a blank e-mail with her master's essay proposal attached. I guess she thought I wanted the proposal? But didn't respond to anything in my e-mail itself? (I didn't ask for the proposal....)
3) After the literatures of American imprisonment class today, a student came up after everyone had left and asked if we would be reading pretty much the same kind of stuff we've read this past week for the rest of the semester. I ran through the syllabus with her again, explaining the different kinds of writing we would cover. Then I asked her what she REALLY meant and what concerns she had with the reading. She said she was worried the readings might include graphic descriptions of sexual assault. I told her I'd warn her in advance if any of the readings had such depictions. I suppose this means I should read the assigned material in advance....
postage fail and miscellany
Jan. 31st, 2009 08:37 pmOh, how the postal service fails me! I dropped off applications on Friday for a couple of postdocs that were postmark-due on the 30th. I got back home today to find the envelopes at my doorstep. Apparently the postage rate for priority mail has gone up since the fall when I bought stamps for the flat-rate envelopes. Sigh. I guess I just have to hope the postdoc people will still consider my applications if I drop them off on Monday. I really should've had them postmarked in front of me at the service windows, but the line, unsurprisingly, was out the door when I went by the post office. At least these were the last two applications I plan on sending out this year. Thank goodness that whole rigamarole is over.
It is a bit icy on the sidewalks this evening. The daytime high reached something outrageous like 45 degrees, and the world looked quite wet and melty. I hope I don't fall when I take the dog out in a bit.
The semester starts for me on Monday.
I got two new tires for my car yesterday evening (after stopping at the post office). One tire had a slow leak that lead to some sidewall damage. I've been dropping a lot of money on the car lately.
I got a small ICEE just now, and it is wonderful.
It is a bit icy on the sidewalks this evening. The daytime high reached something outrageous like 45 degrees, and the world looked quite wet and melty. I hope I don't fall when I take the dog out in a bit.
The semester starts for me on Monday.
I got two new tires for my car yesterday evening (after stopping at the post office). One tire had a slow leak that lead to some sidewall damage. I've been dropping a lot of money on the car lately.
I got a small ICEE just now, and it is wonderful.
cognitive dissonance
Jan. 4th, 2009 05:22 pmWhy is someone mowing a lawn outside during winter? Oh. That's a snow blower. :P
