The Tao of Steven

Netflix Movies to See...Or Run Away from Screaming

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:17:17 GMT

Here's some of the one's Ive seen, and my general impressions on them. These date back to about 9 months ago

An Angel Named Billy	AWFUL! Truly Awful!
Cut Sleeve Boys	Cute! Asian take on gayness
Rock Haven	This was good, sort of sad, but good
Father Knows	Awful. My soul hurt after watching this
Amnesia: The James Brighton Enigma	Very good. A captivating indie movie
Angora Ranch	Meh. Terrible acting, bad script, cute story
Boy Culture	Actually very good. I liked this
Sexual Dependency	Not what I thought it was. Kind of bad.
Saturday Night at the Baths	For an old movie, kind of provactive. Kinda good
10 Attitudes	Really bad. Really really bad. Ugly actors.
Simon	Sad. Interesting. Not great. Not terrible. Okay.
French & Saunders: Back with a Vengeance	Love it! Fuh-nee!

The Lair: Disc 2 (2-Disc Series)	TERRIBLE acting. TERRIBLE . My soul hurt
The Lair: Disc 1 (2-Disc Series)	See above
Keillers Park	Disturbing
Get a Life	Not that great. Kind of bad.
Fun Down There	Sort of weird. Didn’t like it.
Love is the Devil	Interesting for you literary types
Galaxy Quest	So funny. Not gay at all.
The Escort	Disturbing. Throws the concept of ‘relationship’ to the winds
Heights	Kind of surprising at the end. Sort of good. Sort of cliché
A Prairie Home Companion	I guess Im just not a Keillor fan…
Twisted	Really disturbing. Really. Weird take on Oliver Twist.

Intent.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:49:39 GMT

* Okay, so I have finished, finally, selecting my courses for the fall semester, of which I have four. Okay, that's going to be awful, four graduate courses, but the upswing is that I will be done done done on December 18th, and I walk, and finish my first Master's. The Assistant Commissioner said to "come and talk to him" on December 19th; I think he has a program he wants me to run. Urgh.

* I turned in my app to UB for graduate school, and have to send them my transcripts...well...now. If all goes well, I should know if my application is accepted by the end of July. I don't think it will be a problem. I realize I will get into the Legal and Ethical Studies program, and 9 of my credits will go towards my second Master's. That means I only need to take 27 credits, or 9 courses. Think I will do 3 in the spring of '09, 1 in the summer, 3 in the fall, and 2 in the spring of '10. 2010. Yeesh.

* I've been slowly adjusting to getting back from 15 days in the wildnerness, and boy is it a change/shift/different thing. But, I'm okay, I think. I just need to stop eating like food is going out of style. Trying to walk more, and of course, applied to UB so I can use the gym. Shameless, I know, but....

* The unintented consequence of Reserves is about $1400 extra dollars, most of which went into savings, and about $400 of which is just sitting in my money market as "mad money" to spend as I see fit. I'm trying to forget about it, otherwise it will turn into something frivilous. However, there *IS* a grandfather clock I want to buy, and it is only $300, so.....

*July can be a busy month because I have my presentation at the American Sociological Association at the end of the month, and a couple of games of D&D, and work on my thesis. Try to carve out some semblance of a social life and go camping with Keith, too. Fun.

Meh, I can't think of anything else.

SD

Worst Reason to Apply to College

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:30:37 GMT

Free gym membership.

Yep I did it.

Hey, the cost benefit analysis! Application fees for the university are $30, and if I get accepted, and I have my acceptance letter, I get free gym membership until I start there (January/February).

So, yeah, it could be worse.

Other than that, life is going apace, nothing too terribly amazing is happening. Since I quit the Eagle my evenings seem empty.

I've gone on something of a buying spree since I got back from Reserves, using the money I've gotten from Reserves and the money I saved from not buying a whole bunch of stuff while on Reserves. So, in the last six days, I have purchased:

* a new monitor
* 4 USB flash drives
* a new printer
* 3 DVDs
* about $200 worth of clothes
* a few books

And I still have a crapload of money left over. AND I just found out my stimulus check got sent back because they had my wrong addy. So the bad part is that I don't have that dinero yet, the good part is in about 5 weeks I will have an extra $600.

Speaking of PdD's

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:47:26 GMT

I have decided I am not going directly back for a PhD. I am almost done this Master's, the end is totally in sight, and I will complete it on December 18th.

However, instead of getting a PhD, I've decided to go back to one of my alma maters (UB) and get a second masters in Legal and Ethical Studies. The benefit is that 9 of the credits from my first Master's will work to my 2nd, so I will only have to do 3 semesters, and then I have two Master's degrees.

Will that make me a more valuable commodity on the market? Dunno. What I do know is that the world is pretty much dead-set against 20 something and early 30 something PhDs. You might get an industry job, but to quote my buddy Jesse, you mostly end up with "postdoc after postdoc after postdoc, earning no money" until somebody FINALLY considers you for a Visiting Assistant Prof position once you're, oh I don't know, in your early 30's.

And it's not like I won't be teaching. I am going to keep on with adjunct work while I am working on the 2nd MA, and am still looking for a FT position at a community college, so alls good.

I Suppose There Are Worse Ways to Earn a PhD...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:43:19 GMT

Stripping His Way to a Ph.D.

In the 90s, a typical night for Craig Seymour included G-strings, elbow grease, and dollar bills in his socks.

Between sets at Washington, D.C.’s gay strip clubs – unique institutions while they lasted, where hands-on experiences were encouraged — he graded papers, “red pen in hand.”

“The truth was that stripping had long called out to me. It offered something different from my grad school grind of dealing with students, grading papers, and sitting through seemingly endless seminars.”

So Seymour writes in his new memoir, All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, D.C. (Atria, 2008), his tell-all tale of getting eyed and groped while an American studies Ph.D. student (and teaching assistant) at the University of Maryland at College Park. The racy book doesn’t seem to have hobbled him on the academic hiring circuit: After three years at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth’s English department, he heads to Northern Illinois University as an associate professor of journalism this fall, with credit toward tenure status. “It’s clear that he is working in defined academic traditions of ethnography and journalism, so I didn’t hear any hue and cry about it,” Jeffrey Chown, incoming journalism chair at Northern Illinois, says of faculty reaction to Seymour’s publication history.

“I actually read an excerpt,” Seymour, now 39 and with significantly more time logged as a journalist than as a stripper, says of his NIU campus visit. “I’m at the point in my career that I don’t want to be anywhere if people don’t want me exactly as I am.”

“In the same way you know how I say I don’t want my gravestone to read, ‘He never embarrassed his parents?’ I also don’t want my gravestone to read, ‘At least he got tenure.’”

Seymour’s stripping had its origins, appropriately, in academic enterprise. His master’s thesis, based on participant observation and interviews but not (at that point) practice, was entitled “Desire and Dollar Bills: An Ethnography of a Gay Male Striptease Club in Washington, D.C.” (He writes: “[B]y far the most controversial thing I did in the thesis – though it seemed like a good idea at the time – was to include an appendix with photocopies of pictures from gay porn magazines featuring models doing a full bent-over ass-cheek spread.” The appendix complemented his argument, in which he outlined “how the anus operates as a site of desire within the context of clubs.”)

Soon after turning in the thesis, a dancer named Nico challenged Seymour. Why, given his great interest, didn’t he give stripping a go?

So, Seymour did.

Seymour writes that, “far from being an anomaly — the grad student stripper — I was practically a cliché. I’d since met so many other guys, and women, who put themselves through school by taking off their clothes.” Questioned on that statement in an interview — Really? It’s that common? — Seymour laughs like someone in-the-know. “If anything, if I was writing that now, I would take out the ‘practically,’” he says. “If you think about it in terms of the schedule too, it works perfectly for a grad student.”

But for him, Seymour explains, his reasons why weren’t really about making money, other than that “as a poor grad student it was nice having that money.”

“The overall context was all about me....It was about feeling insecure about myself.”

In his memoir, Seymour chronicles the roller-coaster ride of choices that shape his life as a stripper, ending with his emergence as an entertainment journalist able to ask Janet Jackson anything and everything (including about “big dicks and masturbation”) for a VIBE cover story. After a long leave of absence, he wrote his dissertation on the construction of a pop culture icon (a topic more relevant to his first book, on Luther Vandross) and earned his doctorate in 2005. One year later, already settled in Massachusetts as a professor, he returned one final time to Washington’s clubs — before they were razed to make way for a new baseball stadium.

“The reason I did this book was because I thought it was an interesting story about a time I really did think was culturally significant,” Seymour says. Reduce the strip club scene to a bunch of old guys lusting over young ones if you will, Seymour says, but the clubs were “founded by a generation of gay men that really had no place else to go.” In his book, Seymour also describes a sense of relief that he, as a young gay man, felt upon first finding the clubs: At last able to look, really look, at other men without fear of getting beat up.

And while he didn’t want to write on stripping in dissertation or monograph form, his book is informed by academic theory, he says. Seymour hopes that people can take the book to the beach and view it as a historical document — even with its generous spattering of four-letter words and graphic slang.

So would he ever pull the old professor trick and assign this book to his students?

“Never, ever, in any circumstance in life, would I ever, ever, ever assign the book.”

— Elizabeth Redden

Demotivators

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:49:17 GMT

Here are some of my favorites:

ELITISM - It's lonely at the top, but it's comforting to look down upon everyone at the bottom.

FUTILITY- You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and, statistically speaking, 99% of the shots you do.

HUMILIATION - The harder you try, the dumber you look.

INEPTITUDE - If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.

IRRESPONSIBILITY - No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood.

MEETINGS - None of us is as dumb as all of us.

QUALITY - The race for quality has no finish line- so technically, it's more like a death march.

WORTH - Just because you're necessary doesn't mean you're important.

UNDERACHIEVMENT - The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmower.

Lines in the News that Terrify Me....

Fri, 30 May 2008 13:15:42 GMT

"Beaten-down financial stocks lifted the market following a report from MasterCard (MA, news, msgs) that showed consumers haven't curbed use of their credit cards."

Okay, this is just STUPID. People ABSOLUTELY have less money, because gas prices are ridiculous, and even I, who do not drive, can say that food prices have gone WAAAY up. In fact, the only thing that HAS gone down, it seems, are clothing prices, because nobody has the extra fundage to buy stuff "just because".

So, if people have less money, why would they continue to use credit cards? Simple. Because nobody wants to LOOK like they have less money.

Aiight...if you're like some friends of mine and me, and you've been socking money away, and you can fall back on excess cash, then GOOD, its fine to seem like there is no change. However, if....yeesh kids, you don't have money, if your mortgage is killing you, don't perpetrate...the only one who will suffer in the end is you.

"Rupert Murdoch predicts Barack Obama will win in a landslide."

I don't know what is more terrifying...me agreeing with the owner of Fox News, or the fact that he said this. I'm just shivering thinking about this story.

"The Vatican is slamming the door on attempts by women to become priests in the Roman Catholic Church. It has strongly reiterated in a decree that anyone involved in ordination ceremonies is automatically excommunicated. "

The Catholic Church is literally shooting itself in the foot, and this is yet another sign how it will crumble in the face of Darwinian science. Listen... c'mon, its HALF the population who might be so moved to serve. How dare you turn down anyone willing? Isn't that the definition of stupid?

Update

Fri, 23 May 2008 17:49:16 GMT

By the numbers -

1. I am still at the Eagle; its like a virus, I can't seem to get rid of it, and NO the paycheck is no recompense.
2. Classes are done, but I still feel tense, because there are three things I have to do still to finish up, and I have to do them this weekend.
3. It's cool hanging out with K, but it's kind of weird. I don't really see where I was "interested" because we are totally different, but he is an excellent friend.
4. Trying to get into two weeks of being something of a social butterfly before I go off and support my country for 15 days.
5. Keeping the weight off.
6. Going with K.R. to go and buy some junk tomorrow, as clock that chimes on the hour, shoes, pants, and a Wii. Yes, a Wii.
7. Interesting to see SM in a different light; wow, he's so human now.
8. I need to get to bed earlier than midnight
9. I need new sheets for my bed.
10. I need to go a lot of places.
11. Tired.

My Final Day as a Sociology Adjunct

Fri, 16 May 2008 12:34:01 GMT

Well, that kind of puts it into perspective, doesn't it? Final? Well, I mean, that is what they got today, their final. It was funny to be on the "other side of the table", to see their trepidation, to hear all of the "I studied for hours" statements, the bargaining, the worry, the confidence. Wow.

I will miss this class. The second day I walked in the class was bulging at the seams, 37 individuals. 3 of them couldn't do it because it was too late. Three additional had jobs that conflicted. Two just didn't like my method of teaching. Meaning I ended the entire scenario with 29 people, and I appreciated and respected every single one of them.

Professor. What a title. I would never have thought, as I sat working on my first bachelors, that I would be on the other side of the table. There are so many things about the last three years that amaze me. Another bachelor's degree. A degree in Spanish...wow...where'd that come from. Almost done a Master's degree. And boy do I mean "almost". I mean, c'mon, the thing is done in 6 months. I *even* know the day I graduate. My mom is already excited, and truth? So am I. And the best of the best...wow...I am applying for PhD programs. PhD!!! Oh geez.

And people call me "professor". Yeesh.

It would be a sadder event, my last day with my class, if it weren't for the fact that the chair of my dept already asked me about teaching next semester. So, yeah, one more time. And then, the semester after, a four year school wants me. Wow. This is amazing. Who would have thought?

So, being a prof? Awesome. Totally.

Sigh.

This was nice to get...

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:54:25 GMT

De ar Professor:

I would like to say I enjoyed your class, and if all my professors made class as enjoyable and easy to follow as you did, my academic career will be a much more enjoyable experience. Thanks for helping me
see the world more objectively. I really learned a lot.

No, I'm not trying to butter you up; I just wanted to tell you that.

Change.

Tue, 13 May 2008 13:56:36 GMT

"I've just had an epiphany like St. Paul on the Road to Damascus. Stop the car" - Emma Frost

It's not easy being Ephie.

I remember the moment at which I was on the road, with two long paths staring down at me, and a choice ahead of me. Smiling beside me was the Divine, waiting for my choice to be made.

I was seven. I was at a craft fair at my school, and I, dutiful child, was buying something for my mother. I grabbed the item and happily took it up to the designated salesperson, a parent of some child. I smiled as I handed her my money, and she took it. She frowned a bit, and looked at me. In a voice most incredulous, she said words that I remember to this day:

"Can you count?"

My entire world shattered. It was my first taste of being seen as something lesser, a little Black boy who obviously wasn't paying attention in school. No, she didn't try to mark it up to a simple mistake, a penny placed in a pile instead of a nickel. She immediately jumped to the conclusion that the little Negro can't count.

Tears in my eyes, I angrily turned on a path on the road, and never looked back.

I spent the next twenty six years being better. Smarter. More distinctive. I literally beat a Southern accent out of myself, watching the news to understand perfect diction and pitch, delivery. I wasn't brought up in arrogance: my parents are/were some of the most giving people one could ever meet, fair, noble, kind. But I quickly learned how to affect arrogance, an air that I am obviously better, and that everyone, everything is lesser to me. I excelled when I needed to, held back to prove quite simply I could, procrastinated on things that I could have finished, produced works of art in moments when given months.

I would prove myself better than that damnable woman would have me be.

In my working world, I became something. Not a celebrity, but easily one of the most recognizable names in Baltimore public health. People shuddered when I walked into the room, because my demeanor was knowledgable, yet dismissive. I was like the god Bane from the Forgotten Realms, people said my name to divert my attention, not attract it.

There I was - defying gravity.

And what a life it was, masking a discordant and cold personal life, a soul still cowering because of three words from a score of years prior, anger seething right under the surface, acting out in the most diabolical of ways, against people who did not deserve it (though some did).

It isn't easy being Ephie, but easier when you surround yourself with Glindas.

And that they were, good people. Not pure, because nobody is, but good people. And sometimes, not so nice to them, but they understand, or at least, it seems as they do. And all is fine, sitting atop your throne of bone, over everyone, in your own mind, until, until.... a Glinda in your life turns into Elphalba, worse than you.

And the world shatters again. Defying gravity no more. Falling to the ground....falling, crying, falling... I open my eyes..

And I am still at the road, at the crossroads.

The Divine is still there, smiling. I never moved. "It's been a while, but you still have to choose", he says as I nod. The path I took, which was not a dream, which was not a waste, was never fully taken. I let that woman, my anger for that woman, push me down an imaginary path. Hate, anger, scorn, no. No.

The other way; that is the way to go. I smile and nod at the Divine, and head down the path.

It is not the Right Path any more than the other is the Wrong Path. It is a different path. It is a path of my choosing. I let that woman choose FOR me before, and that was not how it is. I must choose for myself.

I am calmer, nobler. I appreciate my friends more. I am still a force to be reckoned with, and still intimidating, but revealing...that's not me. That's just the image; the man behind the curtain...that's who you should pay attention to. I adore those around me, and strive to keep them close. I find I am more brilliant in my own way; anger and hate take up so much brain power. I have less room for scorn and envy. I enjoy the silence of the moment. I think of when I read the Te of Piglet and how it changed me. It didn't. It simply attempted to tell me that I hadn't chosen a path yet.

Now I have. And the Tao makes much more sense.

It was an experience defying gravity, but its a much greater experience to walk with everyone else.

And after all of those years, all of the snotty, catty responses I could have said to that question of "can you count?", I finally have the perfect response.

"Yes. Yes I can. Thank you for asking."

Be at peace.

SD

A Tale of Three PhD Programs

Fri, 09 May 2008 16:33:40 GMT

COLLEGE 1: It's a very good school, probably one of the best in the country in the field of sociology. It's not too far away, so I could still live in Baltimore, and probably do some adjunct work locally. They will accept a lot of my Master's coursework, meaning I could probably get away with 1.5-2 years of additional coursework before I go into dissertation mode. The entire cohort gets financially supported, so I wouldn't have to pay a dime for school, and could get away with taking 9 credits a semester.

The bad part is that there is a possibility I couldn't live in Baltimore, since it would be a commute, every day I had class, which would be three days a week. The cohort is VERY small, and they select less than 10% of their applicants every year. Further, they don't have my sociological concentration (Communication Theory), so I would have to hunt around for a Communications professor to assist in my PhD work, unless I wanted to do something more tied to their concentrations (which really hold no interest for me).

COLLEGE 2: Ack, my alma mater. It would be easy to get in; I really don't think it would be any problem for me at all. I wouldn't have to take the GREs, and the grand majority of my coursework would would count towards my PhD. So, I would really only have to do, maybe, 2 years worth of coursework. I could probably work with someone to get a concentration very similar to Communication Theory, and I could build my committee the way I saw fit for my disseration. I wouldn't have to move, and I could keep my job, since the courses are all in the evening.

The bad part is that it isn't a Sociology program, so I would be hard pressed getting someone to hire me as a Sociology professor. It comes off as closer to a Humanities PhD, and that is one of the hardest fields to get academic work in these days. I wouldn't have any financial funding at all, so I would be subject to loans and personal debt for the next three years.

COLLEGE 3: Again, one of the best Sociology programs in the country, and I truly believe I could get in. Its mostly funded, so it's pretty guaranteed that I wouldn't have to pay a dime. There are professors there in my concentration, so I would be getting first-class education, plus the ability to teach and learn in my field and my concentration. I've heard a lot of good things about the school. Oh, and it's Ivy League.

It is 800 miles away, so I would definitely have to move, which brings its own amount of stress. Moving as as a twenty something is one thing; moving as a fossil is something else entirely. Adaptation would be part of the major drawback, and the other problem would be how much time I would be required to be on campus; I don't think they would recognize most/a lot of my coursework, so I would be pretty much screwed.

I'm leaning towards College #1, although it will be be most difficult to get into, and they don't have my concentration. The fact that it's free and will work towards my actual degree are definite pluses. College #2 is my "safe school"; Im pretty certain I can get in. College #3 I think I can get in, but that one I would only choose if (a) I got in, and (b) I didn't get into College #1.

Yeesh.

Phantasmagorica

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:28:02 GMT

Ah, a cloudy Friday. Could anything be better?

This should prove to be a most great day. My requirements at work are not that great, so I am basically bummin' around. I have an interview...whoah...now...be back.

Okay, so that interview for an intern went pretty well. Cool. Amazing talent. She should be awesome for one of the organizations.

So, yeah, today. Now the rest of the day will literally roll. I really have NOTHING else to do. I go to work at my part time job tonight for about 2.5 hours, and then it is off to my place for a cleaning bout. Keith *should* be over tonight for drinks. After that, I am pretty much free for the night.

Game tomorrow, 5.75 mile walk with Carlton first, then some shopping, then the game. Spending the night in DC, and I've got brunch Sunday morn.

Sigh.

The Horrors of Prevarication

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:55:57 GMT

Why lie?

I mean, I guess that is the main question. I have a friend who, for some reason, cannot tell the truth. His stories are NEVER consistent. One moment he will talk about his job and what he does and how his staff are, five minutes later it is something completely diffeent. He talks about how he and his boyfriend are spending $1200 on a television, couch, and bed, and they had an eviction notic posted on their door. Yeesh.

Another friend is lying about his relationship to me (not to anyone else; heck, everyone else knows). I think that's stupid; its not like I am judgemental or would say "told you so". Bah.

So, yeah, I don't get it. Why lie?

SD

Oh Wow... World of Warcraft Conference online....

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:15:56 GMT

No, not kidding.

For those of you who are interested in WoW from the sociological, communicative, or philosophical point of view, there will be a 3-day conference on World of Warcraft and its impact.

And get this...

The conference takes place ON the game!!

The conference is May 9-11, with some of the biggest names in Communcation, Sociological Communication Theory, and Developmental Pysch (related to WoW) coming to speak (and playing their characters!)

Here is the link for more information:

http://convergentsystems.pbwiki.com/

Considering Communication Theory is my main "thing", and my master's thesis work is on WoW, this totally interests me. The format of the conference is rare and funky enough to make me miss work for a day!!

Last Night? Oh Whatever.

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:55:00 GMT

So, I've pretty much decided that the entire "PhD" is a definite, so I now need to figure out WHERE and WHAT. I have three possible choices, more if I decide I am willing to travel, which I don't think I am. So, now the plan is to make sure my work is all set so I can apply for the three programs, and have all of that done by..September.

Yesterday was school, which was...meh...okay.

Today is just ol' work, then an interview I must do at Hopkins, then coffee with Keith (and probably his boyfriend). Then home to do laundry and grade papers. Tomorrow is work and getting my students ready for their final. Friday is just borin' ol' work and SHARE, Saturday is RPG, Sunday is brunch and the Eagle.

What. A. Week. Blargh.

Week Update

Mon, 05 May 2008 19:15:39 GMT

SKALE!

Okay, so I finally broke down and bought a scale. Electronic. Why? For the distinct purpose of weighing myself too damn much. I have, I realize, lost a pound in the past week or almost a week, so I am on the right track. The thing that upsets me is this; I have a friend who is also losing weight, and he is losing it rather quickly. However, he weighs LESS than me and still has a pot belly; and we are the same height. It makes me wonder; do I *also* have a pot belly? I don't think I do, and I can see how my abdomen has shrunk in size, which is most assuredly a good thing. Also, I know my waist is MUCH smaller than his (he is saying how he can now fit into a 33, and I can now put my derriere into a 31) so I don't understand how he is 8 pounds lighter than me but looks significantly heavier than me. Weird.

SKOOL

Down to the final two classes with the course that I teach; have to give them an eval, go over the final exam, and then administer the final next week. They are nervous and excited; I think they will mostly do well.

Let's just hope I do as well on my finals. I mean, dang, I got 6 more months...6 months to go...and then...boom.. I have a Master's degree. That's still hard for me to believe. Yeesh. Let's get this over with.

Was inducted into Alpha Delta Kappa on Friday (Sociology honor society); had a social event with some of my profs. Much fun.

SKETCHY

Eagle is creeping me out. Must quit. Must quit soon.

SKENECTETY?

Getting the final details set for the Atlantic City trip with Jay, Jerry, and Ryan. Should be fun. Go to DC this weekend for the game. Brunch and I finally get to see Michael's apartment. Had quality time with Sean yesterday. Bought Office Professional 2007 for my lappie today (got it at the student rate $79 for the entire program, compared to $700 which is the regular price).

There's lots of other stuff going on, I'm sure, but can't think of what to write about. Ah well. Just nuttin.

Where Am I?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:17:29 GMT

Okay, it's almost May. This year has gone at warp speed, or at least it seems that way when you have a billion things to do. Okay, let's do the update a bit differently now.

WORK (regular job)

Okay, I don't hate it, but I don't adore it. It's just kind of there. We are in a weird phase, and I *should* love it because I am really busy; I've got trainings to plan, I've got interns to recruit and place, and I've got a consumer survey to design. I mean, its a very inconsistent job in that I get to do a billion things, but sometimes it wears on the nerves (it's too many things to do). Plus the fact that we are all considered "new" again, so we can't use any leave (grrr), so I don't feel like I could just pick up and go on vacation whenever I wanted to.

But, the kickass raise I got when we were made "new" again most definitely is a plus, as I have more money to put into the bank.

SCHOOL (as a student)

Glad it is almost over. That is about it. I just found out that I am up for induction into Alpha Delta Kappa (Sociology Honor Society) and that ceremony is on Friday. Woosh. That's like a dream come true. And yeah...It's hard to believe I will have a MASTER'S DEGREE in SIX months. I feel like I just started this. Wait...I did. Last July. But still, it means I need to start looking seriously at what PhD program I want. Stop dilly dallying.

I participated in the GRC and it was...okay. My presentation ran over, so I think I probably did poorly. I didn't win my session, but it was good practice for the upcoming American Sociological Association pre-conference. That's July. Can't wait.

SCHOOL (teaching)

Wow. This class is almost over, and it's been fantastic. I will *so* miss all of my students. They are great people. Have to polish off the final exam, which they get in three weeks. Man, my Thursdays are gonna be mine again. Yeesh.

Oh, and the chair of the Dept told me I am "definitely" on board for the Fall, so that is a great thing. Woo hoo! More teaching!!

EAGLE

Okay, they are all insane. One of the store's employees now has a "problem" so he can't come into work for the "forseeable future" (got into an accident and the police found out he doesn't have a current license or insurance). So, I have to cover for him. Yeesh.

Oh, and then there is you-know-who. Okay, that's even weirder than it was. But I've resolved the way to push him away is to just find a guy. Dayam...I don't care who it is, just someone. Everyone is certain that as soon as that happens, he is going to get hella jealous. Meh. Whatever.

PERSONAL

Doing amazingly well on money. Not a problem at all. Saving up for a Memorial weekend trip that might not happen, so I may just have some extra dinero in the bank. Hanging out a *bit* more, but not really meeting anyone; hanging with people I already know, so it's getting me nowhere.

Went to the doc's yesterday; it was 6 weeks since I re-started Meridia and she wanted to see how much I lost. About ten pounds. It's good. All of the weight I put on after my ACL got repaired is gone. I also learned that when I do additional exercise (lifting) I do lose even more weight. So, I do want to get rid of about 8 more pounds, so I know I can do it. Doc gave me another month of Meridia, but I don't need it. I can do this all by myself.

Yeah, there's yer update.

SD

Soul Explosions

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:13:10 GMT

Okay, so I've decided to give my weekly updates weird names, just to empty out my head.

WIN VS LOSS: Okay, so in the last month, I've lost 6 pounds. I was going to totally beat myself up over it, and then I realized...wait...I lost 6 pounds. That's six pounds I didn't want to carry around with me. Yeah, yeah, so my goal for the month was 8-9, but I got most of the way there, and that means I am on the right track. By the time I am completed this regimen, I figure I will have lost about 10 pounds, which means I have to do the last six on my own. (*please cue, "All By Myself" by Celine Dion so I can scratch my eyes out...*)

BIG SARGE: Reserves were this past weekend, and boy, there's nothing like smelling yourself after you haven't showered for a day. Boy, that gives "grime" a new meaning. And worse that that? Try being in a small room with 11 people who haven't showered. "HEY, what the FLOCK is that smell....oh, it's us".

The military really gets on my nerves half of the time, and the other half I am...whatever. I do know that I only have 18 months left and then, that's that. I will have capped off 15 (!) years in the military...and then what? Well, a break, finish my degrees, and then go into the navy for 5 years. Then, I retire.

COMIC-FUSING: He confuses me, because he does. But I like his friendship, so he'll stick around. I'm not in the same "miss him" stage, but I just enjoy when he's around, and when he isn't, he isn't. That simple.

WELCOME BACK, KOTTER: Positive contact with Elijah and Keith. Joey's gone for good.

THIS WEEK: Easy money! Just go to work, no real part time foolishness save teaching school, and...yeah, game at the end of the week. Parfait!!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:24:35 GMT

Consumer confidence is at 29.5. The lowest it has ever been. That doesn't shock/scare/make you mad?

Think of it this way.....

Last year? April of 2007?

Consumer confidence was at 85.4.

It dropped 56 points.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

On My Nerven...

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:29:46 GMT

Bah- I am in Bethesda right now, attending a boring grantees meeting. All of the sessions have absotively nothing to do with the project I manage, so I am basically sitting around twiddling my thumbs. On the bright side, I did get a heffty per diem, so I am bringing extra money back home with me today, which will be very nice.

I figured out what I am expected to do in July - the American Sociological Association conference! Duh! How'd I forget that, considering I am doing a presentation at the pre-conference for it? So, yeah, it's at the end of July in Boston, and work and school are totally paying for it. Good stuff.

Teaching tonight, which shouldn't be too painful. I am still concerned about what fall course I could possibly teach, and honestly, now I am torn about it. Yes, I want to teach. BOY do I want to teach, but teaching takes a lot of time, and its a schlepp out to Catonsville. There are a couple of summer sessions that I would love to teach, or one of the fall sessions, but I guess that I will have to see how it goes. There's every possibility that she'll say "thanks but no thanks" and I will just have to take that. After all, don't have my Master's degree YET. Oh well. Should expect the worst, and be pleasantly surprised if the best actually happens....

This weekend is light. Hopkins Friday night. Eagle Saturday and Sunday. Need to talk to Brad to see if he is interested/willing in covering for me on Saturday since Sean is quitting, and it would literally be one of the last weekends to hang with him (and next weekend is a Reserves weekend; yucky)

Sigh. Time to go and figure out my bills. Payday tomorrow.

SD

Back to Crazy

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:32:45 GMT

So, yes, I had a semi-relaxing weekend in Reho, and now it is back to the insanity that is my life. Due dates. Projects. Exams. Conferences. You name it, it's my existence right now. Oh Lord, if I can just get through this month.....

If I listed all of the projects I have to do, I would probably cry. My best bet is just to finish them piecemeal, and pray for the best.

Sean is quitting the Eagle today. He's giving his 2-week notice. So, that's only one week I get to hang with him, on accounts of having Reserves next weekend. Well, I guess I will get to see him on his final day; maybe I should plan something special for him.

Didn't spend as much money in Reho as I thought; brought a hefty amount back. That goes right back under the mattress for Fort Lauderdale. I need to save an additional $1000 for that, I suppose.

Had jury duty yesterday and today, thank GOD I am out and done. Now I have to study for an exam I have in 8 hours.

Thought impure thoughts about someone. Bad, bad bad.

I have no idea how the weight loss is going; I haven't had a chance to weigh myself since I started this, almost 3 weeks ago. I am assuming I've lost, as of Thursday, probably somewhere around 8 lbs. I really didn't eat like a maniac while I was at the beach, so that was good.

I do need to plan another vacation, maybe something for May. See, June I have Reserves practically the entire month, and July, well, I may be teaching, and August is Fort Lauderdale, but I will need a "the semester's over and I need to get away" thing. Maybe Atlantic City during Memorial Day. Nah, too crowded. Maybe camping. Bah, we will see.

Okay, waiting for lunch, so I had best skeedaddle.

Been a Good Day...

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:46:00 GMT

So far, today has been a pretty good day:

- I woke up to find out that my proposal got accepted for the CITASA pre-conference for the American Sociological Association. My work will be critiqued by some of the biggest names in the field; the feedback will be remarkable.

- On my way to work I passed by the uber-jerk that won't give me the time of day. Instead of longing after him, I realized, dude, over it. Hah. He was supposed to have moved to the West Coast by now anyways, and he is still here in Charm City. Whatever. I've totally tried, and I give up. So, when I passed by him, didn't even try to make eye contact. Screw him.

- Sean got me Secret Invasion #1, Young X Men #1 and Young Avengers Presents #3 - good stuff

- finishing up a database that I've been screwing around with for a while; glad it is FINALLY getting done.

- All of the exams are graded for SOCL101, and the papers will be done today. Think I might scoot out of here a bit early.

So, yeah, shaping up to be a pretty good day.... Hope it doesn't get worse...

WUNDERBAR!!!!

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:12:01 GMT

Congratulations!

The pre-conference committee finished reviewing the submission and we would like to invite you to participate in the Doctoral Student Workshop. We ask you to reply within a week (by Wed, April 9) to confirm your intent to participate. If you choose to take part in the workshop, you will have an opportunity to present your work to a panel of mentors and will receive a "Microsoft CITASA Port 25 Emerging Scholars Award" in the amount of $200 to help defray travel and accommodations.

Additionally, we ask that everyone who intends to participate in the workshop sends within a week an updated abstract of NO MORE THAN 500 WORDS, formatted as PLAIN TEXT. We will use those for the program which will be put up on the CITASA website and sent out to all the participants and mentors.

The workshop will take place on Thursday, July 31, 2008, starting with breakfast at 8:00 and going until 5:30 p.m. It will be on the MIT campus in Boston, MA - see pre-conference website [1] for details. The exact schedule will be coming out shortly. Apart from the $200 award offered to all participants, you are responsible for arranging and funding your travel and accommodations. Please see the ASA website for suggestions [2]. I am including everyone who was accepted in this email so that you could perhaps arrange for sharing hotel rooms.

The current list of confirmed mentors includes:

    Paul DiMaggio, Princeton University
    Jane Fountain, University of Massachusetts Amherst
    Yu-Wei Lin, ESRC National Centre for e-Social Science
    Hiroshi Ono, Texas A&M University
    Wanda Orlikowski, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Barry Wellman, University of Toronto

We are working to recruit some additional mentors.

You are also all invited to attend the CITASA section reception on Sunday, August 3, from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Lucky Strike Lanes [3].

We are looking forward to meeting you in July!

-----------------------------------------------------

YES!

NUUZ!

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:13:15 GMT

TAKE TWO

I just got contacted by my mentor at the community college; looks like they are bringing me on for ANOTHER SEMESTER! YAY! I will find out in a few weeks if I will be brought in during the summer or the fall, but it will probably be another fall class, and no doubt be Sociology 101 again. I'm excited; I love teaching and I can't wait until I get my Master's and I can do with without a mentor (although I don't think I am going to be "mentored" that much next semester; I think I will just be treated as an adjunct).

TAKE NINE

Oh, and I decided my final semester is going to look a lot like my last couple of semesters, so I am taking 9 credits in the fall. Yup, nine. Well, 3 of them are the writing of my final paper/thesis, so it's not like that is an actual "class". I think my other two classes will be "Work and Retirement" and a Public Policy course titled "No Child Left Behind". Hopefully I won't get blown away by the classes. *Sigh*

REHO

Leave for the beach on Friday morning. It will be good to get away for 2 or so days. When I get back, I have jury duty on Monday, a three day meeting Tuesday-Thursday, and to do final stuff for two trainings on Friday. So yeah, next week is going to be a busy week.

WAIT LOSS

The weight loss is going well. I think I've lost a clear five and a half pounds in the last almost two weeks, which beats what I wanted to do (4). I am still trying to take off another 10 or so, and then put on some more upper body muscle after I hit the target weight.