Rags to Riches to Rags

Got paid today, then paid rent, the phone bill, filled up my gas tank, and bought groceries.

$33.51 to fill the tank.

I think I need to save more than usual for my trip to Wisconsin.

And I need to get to Chicago at some point this summer.

On Books

Ahem, make that "literature" in place of "books" so we can be as snooty as possible.

I don't consider myself badly read. I had parents who indulged my affection for books by purchasing a couple sets of classics for me when I was pretty young. I was a big fan of Great Expectations (Dickens), for example, before I was in 6th grade. When we had to read A Tale of Two Cities (also Dickens) in 9th grade English, I already knew it from having read it several times and didn't understand why some of my classmates were so lost.

My classics favored male authors and male characters. I had nice hardback copies of Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) and Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte), but could never really get into them--I never did finish Jane Eyre, but seem to remember not totally hating Wuthering Heights eventually. I read somewhere that the Bronte sisters were snobbish about Jane Austen, which if true I find interesting considering my enjoyment of Jane's work. However, I didn't even try Jane Austen until the last few years. Helen Fielding must take the credit for awakening that interest.

Anyway, I was familiar with Twain, Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexandre Dumas, and even Jules Verne before I entered junior high. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have a pretentious bookshelf. Laura Ingalls Wilder and Judy Blume and Trixie Belden (Julie Campbell) and Sweet Valley High (Francine Pascal) and Stephen King all figured prominently during my school years.

I can go through a list of "Classics" and not feel too uncultured. But there are some books that just seem like ones I should have read and haven't. Trying to correct this deficiency isn't a new undertaking...it is a work in progress for many years now. I'm just lucky enough to have a little more free time on my hands at this moment than I've had in the past.

Neverending

Thinking about camping has reminded me of something that I guarantee will happen at some point while I'm in Wisconsin in July. Guarantee.

At some point, there will be some of us sitting around the campfire. Let's say there will be 8 of us. And it will be quiet for a moment. Then one of the guys will say, "Eight men sitting around a campfire."

Which will prompt me to say "Oh, Lord" and roll my eyes.

Which will not keep the speaker from finishing, "On a dark and stormy night. One of the men said, 'Cap'n, tell us a story.' And this is the story he told."

Everyone will laugh or shake their heads at this point. There will be another moment of quiet.

Then the person sitting next to the original speaker will say, "Eight men sitting around a campfire on a dark and stormy night. One of the men said, 'Cap'n, tell us a story. And this is the story he told."

Then the person sitting next to him or her will say, "Eight men sitting around a campfire on a dark and stormy night. One of the men said, 'Cap'n, tell us a story. And this is the story he told."

And so on.

Guarantee it.

Naturally

I've noticed that whenever someone is tan at work, a few other co-workers will ask if that person has been tanning (salon-style). I can see that question in February, but at the end of May? It's been sunny and warm here long enough that you don't need a tanning bed to have a little color. Going outside occasionally without SPF92 will do it. Today it was my turn to be quizzed on my nonexistent tanning habits.

Is this a generational thing? To think that all suntans come from a bed of lights? I realize it is passe to slather on the oil and bake yourself in the actual sun, but if you go outside you're bound to get some color.

One of the girls asked the hsbf if he'd been tanning, and he impressed me with his response. He said nothing, but lifted his sleeve to show his paler upper arm. I mean, really. Do 17-year-old boys even go to tanning salons anyway?

Kids today.

Follow Along

I've added a little section in the lower right column that will give the details of my summer reading progress. I have a list of books I'd like to finish before school starts up again, and most of them are part of the Western Canon that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. I'll only put the ones in the "Batter's Box" that I actually have a copy of and actually intend to start reading in the next week or two (or three if I'm on something particularly lengthy and tedious).

I don't guarantee that the occasional modern "chick-lit" novel won't find its way onto the list as the mood appears, but I can pretty well assure you that no Harlequin romance novels will be there.

I probably won't blog much (if at all) about the books, unless there is some encouragement in that direction.

UPDATE: I put a little tagboard below the list, which can function as a sort of open comments area. I'd be curious to have any recommendations, as well. If you could recommend one book to the world, which would it be?

Bummer

Thought one: "I'm off work tomorrow. I could go camping at the lake!"

Thought two: "My tent's in storage two hours away."

Bleh.

Defending SuperTwit

You know what? Britney Spears tripping and almost dropping her son is not news. Britney tripping and dropping her son while saving the drink she was also carrying would be news.

The press is going to give the poor girl a nervous breakdown. I can't begin to imagine what I would do if every move I made was documented and dissected. I'm thinking "become a hermit" sounds about right.

UPDATE: For those of you coming here via search engines, go here to see more details. I'm no fan, but even I pity her, looking at that picture. What a horrible way to live, to have vultures with flashbulbs following you everywhere.

Less Destructive, One Hopes

I think we've had enough tornadoes in downtown for one year, but there will be more next Friday.
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I did get my errands done today...got a radio I think will work for Dad. He wanted one for his office at work, with even a small CD boombox being deemed acceptable, but needing a digital AM/FM tuner. That was his only requirement. I ended up getting a little shelf system the same size as a boombox, but nicer-looking and with a remote control.

As for my shorts, I only found one pair in the style I wanted. I had hoped to get two, but the colors I wanted weren't available in the necessary size. They were on clearance, so pickings were slim, and I just came away with a red pair. I could have gotten a pair of white ones, but I'm taking these camping, and they wouldn't be white for long. I'm really not a fan of dirt marks on my butt. Call me crazy. I could have gotten lime green, but I don't have a lot of shirts to match that sort of thing. I have a lot of white shirts, but did I mention the camping thing? Yes, I did.
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I'm rambling. The Boy is out of town and I must bore someone. You're it.
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I haven't worn socks more than once in the last month. Maybe two. Yay, sandals! Yay, not having a real job that requires professional footwear!

Up Too Early To Get Anything Done

The problem with Sunday morning is everything is closed and everyone is asleep. I was up with the sun this morning, and the only thing I've been able to accomplish is taking a shower and eating breakfast (Perkins carryout, I've been wanting the Deli Ham and Lots-of-Cheese omelette for weeks and treated myself).

Can't go to the store to get the shorts I want because it's not open until noon. Can't go to the other store to look at radios for Father's Day because it's not open until ten. Can't run the vacuum because it's too loud. Can't do laundry because it's too early (too loud).

This is why the Sunday paper has so many ads...so you can spend hours looking at things you can buy when the stores finally open. That's my theory.

If I wasn't a heathen, I could kill a few hours by going to church, but let's be serious. I'm not going to church. Should just take a nap until the world wakes up.

Sudden Interest

I signed up for a fall class required by one of my majors, an Issues class that had no course description at the time but fit nicely into my schedule.

Today I noticed it had a course description...it is now a course on forensics.

It's also suddenly full. The CSI effect, I presume. The other two Issues classes are about technology and homosexuality, respectively. They're both half full. Slap a warning on a class about graphic images, and it'll fill right up.

Suddenly, a class I thought would be boring has potentially become the most interesting in the schedule. And it is right before lunch, too.

Eh. Either Way

It's either Air Guard week here or the USAF is planning to bomb I-80. There are criss-crosses all over the sky for the second day in a row.

Worth the Aggravation, I Guess

Aha, my grades are now showing up in ISIS. See? All it took was a little bitching and moaning.

I got an "A" in that pita-class where I've been researching an American Indian tribe. I'm sure you'll remember, unless you're new here. (In which case, welcome!)

So all the annoyances over that class were worth it in the end. I would have been really irritated if I'd gotten less than an "A". Livid, even. Suicidal, maybe, after the anger wore off.
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I forgot to tell you people that a good friend of mine, my main roommate in college (The First Time), got divorced. This upsets me greatly as she got married only a couple years ago after waiting until she was really sure she was ready. Much like I am waiting. And then she was divorced after just two years.

She's a wonderful and brilliant person, and I really thought she was one who would make it. (Truly, she is brilliant, she will be a professor at a very prestigious university this fall, teaching a subject uncommon for women.) There was no huge problem like infidelity or violence, they just decided they weren't compatible. Better to end it in such a case before children become involved, but it still upsets me.

If waiting doesn't matter, what am I waiting for?

Lazy Bastages

None, that's none of my teachers submitted their grades before the last freaking minute. Therefore, I still don't know any of my final grades, whereas most people know all of theirs.

Given my tendency towards impatience, you can imagine this is not good. Lucky for them we don't do teacher evaluations after we get our grades. In more ways than one, I imagine.
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My mom gave me a bunch of her freebies from Nurses' Day, and one of the better items was a Starbucks gift card. That's a good gift. Everyone should send me one.
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I can't wait to go camping this year for a whole week (two weekends!). Can't. Wait. I've been talking about going up to the cabin to everyone since around January. That not getting to take summer classes thing turned out really well.

Prejudiced Movie Review

I finally saw the most recent version of Pride and Prejudice. I really never intended to see it, mostly because I am sick to death of Keira Knightley, but also because the trailers looked suspect to me.

I'm a big fan of the book, and of two prior mini-series versions of it. I really didn't think a 2-hourish movie could do the story justice.

I still don't think it can. The Keira version is not exactly ambitious. A lot of characters are cut out, and a lot of scenes are blended with one another to shorten the film. Visually, it is a departure, because the filmmaker seems to be aiming for realism in his depiction of the era. The problem with such an approach is that Jane Austen wasn't about clotheslines or pigs and chickens in the Bennet yard. She was about the relationships and manners going on inside the Bennet house.

Now for a little pettiness. Another visual departure is the physical appearance of Elizabeth. Keira's figure is as distracting to me for its lack of curves as Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth was distracting for her overabundance (she's, shall we say, blessed). Plus I find Keira's grinning to be weird-looking. Her smile looks like a dog growling and showing its teeth. You know. To me.

I think many of the characters were robbed of their interesting qualities by the time constraints. Mrs. Bennet in particular is not fully fleshed out, and that's a shame because her character is rather amusing. I'm not sure someone unfamiliar with the story could follow this version very well, but I'd have to find out from someone unfamiliar with the story.

In this version, Mr. Darcy is played by Matthew Macfadyen, who does a wonderful job. He makes Mr. Darcy much more sympathetic a character early on than he is in the previous versions I linked to. He comes off more obviously shy than rude. To compliment his portrayal is high praise, since I absolutely love Colin Firth--another Mr. Darcy.

Beyond my comparisons to the prior versions, and looking at the movie in its own right, I did find myself drawn in towards the end. A girl always loves a love story, and this is a love story that has been adored for nearly two centuries. Our heroine gets her man, and we even get a (very) little look at their life after the wedding...something denied us by the mini-series versions. It's going to have to rank below those two versions for me, however. But that doesn't mean I won't watch it again or don't recommend it.

I'd be curious to know what someone who didn't know the story thinks of the movie. So all you boys go rent it and let me know. I'd use my own little guinea pig, but he's been forced to watch the Colin Firth version already.

And The Beat Goes On

This weekend is graduation weekend, but I keep sort of forgetting it. I'm not graduating, and since I am the center of my universe, what's it to me?

I worked today (almost 90 minutes longer than expected, as it turned out, thanks to a security system hickup...since I was the closer, I couldn't just leave until it was resolved). I will work tomorrow...then leave straightaway for my parents' house and a late dinner there. It's Mother's Day, after all. Gotsta see Mother.

Not doing anything graduation-related with anyone else, either. The Dental College doesn't have commencement for another month, and to be honest I try to avoid downtown when there are a lot of extra people (i.e., everyone and their parents/grandparents/siblings/dogs*) around.

Whenever I do graduate, I'd like to skip the ceremony. It sounds like a lot of hassle to me. You sit around for hours while everyone gets their name called (they do call individual names here), and it will be fairly anti-climactic, I'm sure. The ceremony is really for the parents, and I'm going to try to eliminate my parents' interest in it...I'm in my thirties, they should be over it. Not like they've footed the bill. Plus you have to find a parking space, and who can be bothered?

So basically, to sum up, it's Mother's Day weekend. Yay, mothers! Especially mine. (I'll refer you to the second sentence of my opening paragraph.)

* Some lady came in, asking for a "graduation gift for a dog" the other day, so naturally I asked if the dog was graduating from obedience school. Nope. The dog's master is graduating from college. So the dog needs a graduation gift. Huh?

Shake That

I had to close up the store tonight, and as my boss was getting ready to leave he said something to the effect of, "I'm leaving, you can turn off the sports and put the music on like you always do when I'm not here."

I answered with something to the effect of, "That's right. It's Dance Party time when you go home. We put a little Eminem 'Shake That' on, and get down." (I demonstrated a little shaking of that at this point in the convo.) "We make the customers dance too, and if they won't they have to leave." I nodded at the nearest customer in the store, a guy who looked like he'd opt to leave.

A good laugh was had by all, and my boss left anyway. We proceeded to keep watching the sad post-game Cubs (and Mike Piazza!) coverage and didn't shake anything. Pity.
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A little follow-up on the hsbf/lanyard situation...I worked with him again this week, and either the lanyard made an impression on him or he has found this blog. (Hi, M!) He randomly mentioned how lanyards were good, and I wasn't even wearing one.
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Mike Piazza. Mmm. 'Night.
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UPDATE: Saturday...Mikey, you break my heart.

I'masplain

Re: PowerPoint vs. Low-Tech Overhead Pages

The overhead is attached to the same technology island as the computer, DVD player, VCR, and whatever else is crammed on there. Everything beams out of the same ceiling projector. When you have a presentation with 57 PP slides, you get to hide behind the technoisland and click the mouse. I say "get to" because a lot of people don't like public speaking and would happily hide in a projection booth and broadcast their slides from there if they could.

If you have just a few sheets of pertinent information, you are freed from the technoisland. You can watch your audience for signs of confusion and tailor your presentation accordingly. I could have put the same information on PP slides, yes. But with the overhead, I can zoom in and out as necessary, and as far as I know, this is not possible with PP. If it is possible, it's probably not as easy. Plus, PP tends to keep you boxed into a particular outline, and doesn't lend itself very well to that tailoring I mentioned.

When you are freed from the technoisland, your speech is audibly more interesting, because you're probably not reading your presentation. When you are freed from the technoisland, your speech is visibly more interesting because you are (hopefully) moving around and being physically expressive.

Another reason to be free of the technoisland is smoothness. Unless you are someone who uses the technology on a regular basis, you will have awkward pauses while you get your presentation going. I went low-tech to make my speech go smoothly and avoid making myself flustered or losing my train of thought while monkeying around with an unfamiliar console.

Using the overhead did not "date" me in this situation, as my professor uses the overhead almost exclusively. It is a class about language. When I give a presentation in a class about technology, I'll be sure to use something more modern. For this particular situation, however, I really do believe low-tech was the most effective way to go. And judging by the reaction to my presentation, I was right.

One Last Class

I am not completely done for the semester. I have to attend class this afternoon and watch other people do their language presentations (I did mine last week).

Part of the instructions for the presentation included a requirement to bring paper copies of any PowerPoint slides or other visual aids to turn in. Everyone else who presented last week took that as a cue to do a PowerPoint presentation. I wasn't having it, however, because PowerPoint is evil. I don't even have it installed on my computer(s).

Instead, I made some nice overhead projector pages with examples of my main information. Page one had a list of dialect features, page two had a list of lexicon examples, and page three had some samples of speech "mistakes". I gave my presentation from my outline notes, referring to the overhead pages as necessary.

This freed me up to move around and make eye contact and otherwise engage my audience while I was speaking. It also gave my audience a chance to read the information on the pages, because the pages stayed up for a few minutes at a time.

The worst class I ever endured involved a TA who made PP slides crammed so full of information that the small fonts she was forced to use couldn't even be read half the time. The slides summarized our readings, and she regurgitated the slides to us. It was the laziest, most passive instructional technique I've ever had the misfortune to sit through.

The presentations last week were fairly similar. I'm not saying I'm the most dynamic speaker in the world--and to be fair, I've had actual real-world experience giving presentations and putting on training seminars--but I think my presentation was the best of the day. Freeing myself from pressing the "next" button every 30 seconds was a big help.

I hope the classmates who present this afternoon noticed the difference, but I'm not sure it will override the fun of creating pretty slides with cool graphics. At the very least, I hope they noticed that it's hard to read a PP slide featuring blue text with a green background.

Speaking of Camping...

Someone (I'm guessing my boss) "recognized [my] leadership skills" and nominated me to go on some weekend camping retreat/conference for the university. I suppose I should suck it up and network and all that crap I hate. It's free and something I can throw onto a resume.
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The tornado sirens went off shortly after 7 p.m. This did not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling, considering what happened last time the tornado sirens went off around here. Instead of looking outside and ignoring it when I determined the sky didn't look so bad, I actually checked the weather. It was 8 miles north and nothing ever touched down. So no worries.

Out of My Hands

Remember when I was debating whether or not to take classes this summer, or be a total slacking, camping fool? And did I even share that debate with you people in the first place?

Anyway, my decision has been made for me by the Financial Aid office.

Camping it is.

The Opposite of Help

You'd think that having the answers to the matching section printed on the test would be helpful, but you'd be wrong.

See, I already knew those particular answers, and now all the idiots who didn't know them got them right, too. Since the exam is graded on a curve, this brings the curve up.

Anyway, note to any TAs in the audience...proofread the exam and try not to have the answers on it. Thank you and have a nice day.
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I'm on my second large coffee of the day already...about this time every semester, I consider becoming a full-fledged coffee drinker. It usually passes after about a week.

Cue Howard Dean

Yeeeaaarrrrggggh!

Okay, I feel better now.

Yay, studying for finals.

It's almost over, it's almost over, it's almost over it's almost over it'salmostover it'salmostover itsalmostover itsalmostoveritsalmostoveritsalmostover

Boobies

My hsbf was fixated on my chestal region at work today. It's not my imagination, either, because the other girls at work noticed and commented on it.

Must have been the extra inch of flesh I was flashing today beyond my normal work t-shirt neckline. Scandalous.

Actually, now that I think about it, it was probably the lanyard I was wearing. He kept asking about my keys. Ah, the lanyard. So flirty. So daring. So sex-ay.
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I really, really wish I could go camping this weekend. But no, I must buckle down and study. It will all be over soon enough. Buckle, buckle.

Buckle.

Ta Da.

The presentation is given. It was rockin'.

The paper is written and submitted via e-mail. It is semi-rockin'.

The research binder--a portfolio of all the papers and research I've done for the class for the semester--is done and ready to be turned in tomorrow. It is a thing of beauty. And rockin'.

The hard work is over. All that's left is a 2-page response to someone else's presentation and a couple of exams that should pose no significant difficulties.

Suhweet.
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In other news, I'd like to announce that I have a gambling problem. It's all the rage these days. Last year I lost about $82 on the lottery. That constitutes my entire gambling losses for the year. Buy my book.

I'd also like to announce that I am not friends with Denise Richards. She's shady. And older than me. Not sure why I wanted to point that out. Oh yeah. It's because I am younger than her. Nyah.

Well, Crap

Don't you hate it when you have to write a 7-page paper and you barely eke it out to 7 pages, only to realize you forgot your first page is a title page with no content?

Of course you do.

Then you have to decide if you want to throw in a paragraph expanding on a barely-related topic or just turn in a short paper.

So I'm off to expand now...

P.S. I never thought I'd know so much about the intricacies of Indian gaming laws. I never wanted to, either, but that's neither here nor there.

Sticker Shock

When I graduate, I will have what I consider to be significant debt. You people aren't giving me enough grant money, so I'm also taking out loans to help pay for my education.

My debt, however, will be dwarfed by The Boy's. He'll owe over $100,000. It would be even more if his parents and the gummint weren't paying a significant portion of his dental school costs. The estimated cost of attendance for a non-resident (of the state) is over $160,000, and he tells me that's better than most schools. Especially considering we have one of the top dental programs.

I think I figured out why they're suicidal.

One Down, One To Go

Finished my presentation/project that is due tomorrow. Now I have a 7-page paper to write by Friday...which will be placed into a presentation binder along with the rest of the semester's work for that class.

After that, I just have to review for the finals I have Monday.

Going to take a little break, then dive into that paper.

Sign No Llama

That was the subject line on a spam mail today.

Almost bizarre enough to raise my interest.
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I am wearing the first shorts of the season. (And a tank top, but not the first tank top of the season.)

Therefore, it is officially summer. No matter what anybody tries to tell you about June 22.
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I have never thought scrubs were at all attractive. Quite bland, actually. But I have changed my mind.

I shall not explain myself.
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I paid $30 for gas for the first time ever today. And I paid $32. I remember not so long ago--with the same car and same president--when I never paid even $20 to fill up. If bombing Iran will get me back under $20, I'm all for it.

I kid.
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I found out today that my presentation that was hopefully going to be next week is this week because everyone else in my class sucks and needs to wait until next week.

So.

Panicking a little.

Bye now.

Preaching to the Choir

Amen.
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Bob: I'm so sick of life. I'm going to kill myself.
Fred: How're you going to do it?
Bob: I'm going to go to Iowa and die of boredom.
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"A recent police study found that you're much more likely to get shot by a fat
cop if you run."

-Dennis Miller