exciting happenings

A couple of notes on things that make me happy:

Heinous, one of my beloved BFFs, is leaving a meh job in a crappy town TODAY. As I type this, she and her father are getting things ready and supervising the movers as they load the truck she and her father will drive cross-country, back to the Midwest, where she'll settle into a house of her own in a town that's accessible by train (for me). This is such a positive move, and I'm so happy she's coming home.

Another of my beloved BFFs has her first book coming out on August 23rd, and the buzz is starting. University of Illinois Press has blogged about it, and it's already ranked well on Amazon, even though it's not yet out. I'm very proud of her.

One of Annabelle's BFFs just started a new blog, which makes me smile. J is a cool kid, and we don't see enough of her. I'm glad we can follow her online.

My brother is engaged in a new project called Just Aesthetics. Check out the blog and the community work they're doing.

Saturday, I'm going to meet my dear lifelong friend MBJ's little guy. He was born in February, and I've been both sick (a lot) and busy (too much). It's sad to me that I haven't met him yet, though I'll kick myself in the butt for not making it a bigger priority. That doesn't matter; what matters is that I get to hang out with her and her little guy this weekend.

Finally, go read Annabelle's blog. She's all around awesome, and I'm lucky to share my days with her. Plus, she's funny. Also, I'm excited to watch her tweet her way through Blogher in a few weeks.

so it's been awhile...

I'm afraid to look at see when last I blogged.

The summer was both full and empty. I sought intellectual exercise in the form of an undergraduate course at the nearby university, studying geography of the Chicago area. This was a blessing in that I had the chance to spend more time dabbling in the social sciences and to read about and discuss the city that I love. For the first time in awhile, I felt really enthralled by academic reading and found myself, well, pissed that I didn't have people to talk to about what I was learning. (I didn't connect with classmates, and let's face it, A. isn't into this stuff.) I also faced a reminder of how difficult it can be to manage my depression when I don't have any structure. Motivation is always a baraometer of my mood and the stability of my mood. I watched the lack of motivation rise while my mood sank into depression.

And then, I traveled.
And the South sucks.

I could tell some STORIES, boy. Just know that misogyny is alive and well.

So, I'm back at work. Classes have been in full swing for a week. I'm so incredibly busy. I have two hearing-impaired students this year, one of whom signs. Scheduling all of the interpreters for everything she needs and keeping track of that information has proven to be way more work that I could have imagined. Add that on top of the usual beginning-of-the-semester craziness. Wow. Busy. And, as I could have predicted, some of our faculty have been awesome about it while others haven't. It's 2009, people. Deaf people are people, too. Get over yourselves. Sometimes the lack of common sense thing about really smart people is funny. Other times, it's just plain ignorance, and for me, their ignorance is far from bliss.

So, what to talk about from here? Here's some things that are going on.
I joined a gym and have been swimming pretty regularly -- a quarter-mile each time. It feels good. I've lost maybe two pounds, but that's not as important, most days, as just getting the exercise.
I have a few friends having babies. I need to get going on some crochet projects for them. I'll be dyeing my own yarn.
We'll be spending Thanksgiving with Heinous this year. She moved to NC and won't be back to the midwest for an extended stay until the holidays. It'll be the first time I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my family, but then, Heinous IS family to me. Should be fun. I'm imagine lots and lots of cooking.
Oh, yeah, and they made me a Dean. Clearly, I have them all fooled. ;)

randoms from my trip to NC this week

I wanted to compile a list of things that cracked us up and/or made us happy during what was an extremely stressful trip this wee. I'm hoping that by making this list, I'll be inclined to come back and write about them.

Filter Plant Rd., also know as Fill-Her-Pants Rd.
Weiner Works
Guns Plus
Sha-Fay-Fay
Nam, or The Middle Finger followed by "the town formerly known as Nam"
the Macy's incident
blowing out a flip flop
Sean John clothes
rocking the Caddy
the leaky toilet
the Coug
Debbie Downer and the XM radio
Chick-fil-A
"Arriving at Scott"
throwing Rudy's bone out the window
leaving your house unlocked in the middle of a city
drugs, particularly klonopin, xanax, and pepto capsules
The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill
the flight attendant on the diet who smiled kindly while we ate Cinnabon
Pre-Board Authorization
landing back in Chicago

Would I be saved if I were brave?

I've got approximately umpteen-billion songs on my iPod, and Shawn Colvin's "If I Were Brave" just came on. Haven't listened to it in ages, and like so many other songs on the ol' iPod, I've forgotten about how wonderful the song is. It's one of those songs that is a pretty perfect package for me--the music and the lyrics are both simply awesome.

It was never clear what would come next,
But that's the risk and that's the test.
And you were the only one so far to follow.
No one talks about when one might stop and need to rest,
Or how long you sit alone before you stop looking back.
It's like you're waiting for Godot,
and then you pick your sorry ass up off the street,
And go.

There have been plenty of times in my life when I could't capture what I felt and put it into words. In these moments, when emotions swim and swirl--almost to the point of my drowning--I connect with music, and I find in music what I cannot find the words to say.

This song came out during my freshmen year of college, and I really connected with it then. I find myself connecting with it today, though in different ways that--no surprise to me--I cannot explain.

And, it makes me sad, knowing that there's music out there I connect with so deeply and that people I love can't always follow those connections. Or that people I love don't have that kind of relationship with music. I think this is one of the reasons Heinous and I really connected in grad school and have stayed such good friends; she gets this.

Thanks, Heinous.

your fail is my triumph

Heinous introduced me to the FAIL blog when I visited her a few weeks ago. We looked at some pretty damn hilarious ones then, but I haven't seen many lately that have had me actually cracking up. This one today was good:


see more pwn and owned pictures

I think these really are funnier when shared.

back to it

I'd like to get back in the habit of blogging again. I'm not sure why I stopped. I won't go into details other than to say that The Wife has been having a bad patch, and while that has weighed heavily on my mind, it's not something I've wanted to write about. I also had a patch of worsening depression that's now managed.

So, back to it.

We didn't actually spend Valentine's day together. We don't really care about that stuff. We exchanged cards, and she brought me home the frosted heart sugar cookie she was given at work. That was all we needed, really. She spent the evening with a friend of hers, and I went out with two of my friends. I hate to admit it, but "He's just not that into you" was rather cute (predictable, yes).

I'm on a Relay for Life team with the Stitch'n'Bitch, and we're preparing a fundraiser. We'll be selling handmade items, including hand-dyed yarn by yours truly. I bought 16 skeins of superwash wool and borrowed a crockpot from Siobhankha. This doesn't do the work justice, but you can at least get a glimpse of the dyeing so far.



The bathroom has been overrun by yarn. Seven more skeins to go, plus rewinding some of it (because the tangles just got out of control for some of them).

In other news, I started tracking Weight Watchers Points online last week. I though that afternoons were my weakness, but it looks like evenings are just as bad. I blame our inconsistency with being home at dinnertime and thusly not cooking. I will be better! I will! But not this week. I have something to do every night this week: 2 nights with friends and 2 with work. Oh well. ;)

I suppose the only other interesting thing to note is that I went to Philly with Merdie. She had a job interview out in the country, and we could fly into Philly for pretty cheap. I'm not a fan. We had a helluva time finding the public transit, and when we did, it was poorly marked (talk about carrying your bag up and down stairs till you find the right platform!) with no token sales. And I didn't see one accessible vehicle. You know it's a bad sign with the tourists (some dude) are asking other tourists (us) how to get places. The small town where she interviewed was super cute, and we scored big at the outlet mall on the way back to Philly. Also? Cheesesteaks.

I'll leave you with some pics.

two-month hiatus? ha!

I'm wondering when that two-month break I have off from work is going to start. For serious. I worked 2 days last week and 2 this week. I was supposed to be in today, too, but I'm home cleaning instead. My dad's coming to town for the first time since I've lived in Chicago, and I spent my cleaning day (read: yesterday) catching up on much(!)-needed rest. In the past couple of weeks, I've worked too often, seen the Indigo Girls and James Taylor (his show was in the rain), hung out with Merdie, bought a wedding dress, gone with Anne to buy her wedding dress, gone with Merdie to buy her attendant's dress, and probably done a bunch of other things I can't remember anymore. Upcoming events include: Dad's visit, camping with Jandyle's family, MBJ's wedding events (I'm in the wedding), a workshop at work on technology and teaching writing, Alison Krause and Robert Plant in concert, going with Merdie to get her birthday tattoo, and stuff associated with my grandfather's health. That ought to get its own paragraph, frankly.

So here goes. My grandfather (Opi, after Opa, which is German for grandfather) gets chronic pancreatitis, which you usually only see in people who are heavy drinkers. He doesn't happen to be one of those, not in the slightest. After several bouts of it that were primarily treated with antibiotics (I'm guessing) and lots of pain meds, he saw a specialist, who diagnosed a benign tumor on his pancreas, that clogs the pancreas with secretions. This is pretty serious, as the tumor could become cancerous. Serious, also, is the treatment for this condition, which is called the Whipple Procedure. It's an 8-hour surgery to remove parts of the pancreas, stomach, small intestine, and gall bladder. This is one of those get-it-right-or-your-patient-is-fucked sort of surgeries, so he's naturally going to see a top-notch doc. Consult is next week, surgery TBD. Right now, I'm just concentrating on the part where we finally know what's causing his health problems.

In other, happier news, I'm crocheting like mad. I made a cute drawstring backpack, and I'm working on a cardigan sweater. This is the first time I've crocheted into the summer months, and I'm still diggin' it.

Alrighty, back to cleaning. I've had a long enough break, and I can no longer put off the sweeping.

pics ahoy

I'm never going to get around to writing about New Orleans, at least not in the next week or so. So, if you'd like, go ahead and take a peek at my pics. Merdie had some good ones, too, but she hasn't posted them (*hint hint*). There are a LOT of pics from Graceland.

Also, saw this billboard >on the way to the train this morning.



Why do they have to put anti-choice billboards right by one of my favorite chicken places? And, why do they have to toy with our emotions in the process with pictures of cute babies? An embryo is less than 8 weeks into development--that's not a baby.

noteworthy, I suppose

1. I was in the Red Eye this morning. Ha! I submitted a comment to "Hey CTA!" in response to Kyra Kyles's article yesterday on the expansion of the bus tracker system, and she ran it. I'm so famous.

2. According to HigherEdJobs.com, it looks like I'm pretty much in line with other professionals in salary. I can't complain, especially with the raise I took to come here from Cathoicland.

3. OMG 70 degree weather! I had a WWMD?* moment when deciding whether or not to wear sandals, and then I thought that in such situations, Merdie would ALWAYS vote yes for sandals. It wasn't bad, really, being out this morning when it was still in the 40s. I can't wait till I have to walk across campus later on and can enjoy the warm sunshine. (Boy, that's not something I say very often!)

4. H is sharing the love, so we're going to a Cubs game on Sunday. Yay!

5. I booked the hotel for my conference trip to Reno this summer and saved just under 50% more than the conference rate. Ha! Winner! That means I'm totally getting internet when I'm there. I hate how the fancyschmancy hotels make you pay for freakin' everything. I do think they have a Starbucks in the hotel, which means I can have coffee, at least, and maybe some real breakfast, unlike the PopTarts I chowed on at last year's conference.

* What Would Merdie Do? In grad school, she and I actually had a moment where we were trying to get into a concert and both thought to ourselves--and then aloud--"What would [rhetoric professor] do?" That professor had talked a friend's way into a concert while we watched in awe.

we laughed until we cried

Merdie came across this when we were in the hotel in Memphis on Saturday night. It was so funny that we couldn't' stop laughing. Now, you must see it and revel in the awesomeness.

Obama '08: Look at This Fucking Candidate

back home

I'm back in Chicago[land]! Rolled up in front of my house at midnight last night after driving up with Merdie from Memphis to Bloomington and catching the train from there to Chicago. It's good to be home.

I'm proud to say that, after 5 days together, I still like Merdie as much as I did when we headed out. We had a hell of a lot of fun, even with 26 hours worth of driving (all of which she had to do). That's friendship, man. And, our presentation went pretty well.

More to come, including my thoughts on the skeezy place that is New Orleans and pictures of our shenanigans.

foiled again!

On Saturday, we made the trek down to Bloomington for about 24 hours of fun. We had lunch with my dear friend (since high school!) J, who hadn't yet met Anne. It was lovely, as always, to see her and laugh with her. We then headed over to Merdie's place, where we did a little crochet and Food Network before we headed out to dinner. Next stop, Illinois Wesleyan University for their monthly folk series Blue Moon Coffeehouse to see folkrocker Jess Klein. Ever since having a dream about serious flirting with Jess Klein (thank you, prozac dreams!), my love of her music has been amped up to an all-around love of Jess. She's in my five--you know, the list of people with whom it's not cheating. ;) Merdie's love of Jess and her music has also grown over time, so the two of us were super psyched to see Jess. (Anne, who also likes Jess's music, humored our crushes.) We arrived early at Wesleyan to camp out for good seats. I grabbed a spot by the door, Merdie sat on the steps, and Anne tossed her coat on my head while she wandered off to the bathroom. Being the odd kid I am, I sat there with her coat on my head, covering my face, Merdie laughing nearby. The place was deserted save for us... until the door behind me opened and Jess and Darcy, the Blue Moon organizer, walked past and up the stairs to the Green Room. Apparently, Jess gave Merdie a "Huh?" look about my sitting there with the coat over my face, to which Merdie just shrugged. I'm star-struck enough with musicians that I don't really need any help looking stupid in front of them. Needless to say, Jess didn't end up coming home with us. *sigh* The show was great, so we left happy anyway.

It's truly amazing that such big, soulful sound comes out of such a little woman.







My little 3.1 megapixel just isn't cutting it with video compared to some of the bigger-and-better-and-newer models. I tried anyway, and I cleaned up the sound as much as I could (funny, that my brother is a musician/producer with quite an ear, and I can barely clean up sound on a video :P ). This is Jess doing "Real Live Love."

Seriously??!!

Remember when I threw this together?

Well, today I got this email:

Dear [T]:

Congratulations!

With pleasure, we invite you to participate in the 59th annual Convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, which will be held in New Orleans, April 2-5, 2008. We are following the CCCC policy of allowing only one speaking role in the peer-reviewed concurrent sessions in order to maximize the participation of the CCCC membership.

To ensure your place on the program, you will need to do the following: click on the links for Invitation Response and Convention Registration, check your personal information and presentation title to insure accuracy, fill them out, and return them. You will also need to pay the appropriate convention registration fee by November 16th to ensure you are listed in the program.

*dies*

redeeming my morning; or, a post about my days in Iowa

I *did* try to volunteer this morning. Honest. I got up early. I showered. I put on scrubs. I sweated on the Red Line. And, they weren't open. Yeeaaah. Monthly Thursday morning staff meeting. Sipping my frappiccino, I decided it wasn't worth it to go back to bed. I've been uploading my pictures from the weekend, so I actually did something productive with my caffeinated morning.

I left Saturday afternoon to spend a few days in Iowa with Merdie and her BFF L. L lives in the town where she grew up, population roughly 1,000. That's smalltown living to this city kid, and it was nearly a 3-hour drive to the house from Omaha, which is the closest major airport. We hung out in Omaha on Saturday night, eating at Spaghetti Works and shopping in the Old Market district. Merdie was cat-sitting, so I helped a little on Saturday and Sunday nights. (And by "help," I mean I got to sleep in the tempurpedic bed in the upstairs bedroom with the upstairs cats to keep them company. It's a tough life, kids. Sunday, we drove up to the Lakes. I met L's mom on the way up when we stopped to drop off the pug-a-lug Lucy, my new BFF.



Monday, L and I dropped Merdie off at her adjunct teaching gig at one of the local community colleges and went to see "Ocean's Thirteen," which was fun. After we picked up Merdie, we headed home, sending Meride off to do her grading while L and I cooked and did stuff around the house. Tuesday, Merdie headed back out to teach while L and I were complete lazy bums, spending the day with Discovery's "Dirty Jobs." It's so awesome.



Besides that, I watched a lot of Food Network stuff, which is par for the course when you spend time with Merdie. Tuesday night's dinner was back up at the Lakes, before which I cracked my head racing into the car in the pouring rain. I didn't even get a bump, folks, as evidence of my injury. Boo. After a major Advil drugging, Merdie and I lit cheese on fire.



For her birthday, I brought her some Kaseri cheese to make saganaki, and we did a fine job of it for our first try--it tasted great! I flew back yesterday after a glutonous buffet lunch at the Ameristar casino in Council Bluffs.

Honestly, most of my pictures are of L's pug Lucy. She was my pal. We played a LOT. When we were in Omaha, L bought a door mat that says "Dog is Nuts." It's completely accurate.

And now, good people, I must go resume my obsessive watching of "Judging Amy."

it's a good thing I love her

Oh, that Heinous... She invited me to submit a proposal for a panel she and a friend are putting together for the 2008 CCCC's conference in New Orleans. She obviously forgot how long gone I am from theorizing comp/rhet! She tempted me with "medical rhetoric." What could I say? No? And let all the goods I have one Feminist for Life go to waste? Hardly. On short notice, I put the following together for her:

By examining the online communication of two feminist non-profit organizations engaged in providing educational information on abortion, [I] will consider the ethical obligations organizations have in the communication they provide to the general public, specifically to potential medical patients. Through a rhetorical analysis of two organizations' (one "pro-choice," one "pro-life") online material, [I] will discuss the rhetorical positioning of women as patients, decision-makers, and agents of change by these organizations. The implications for how these technical communications [re]construct women's realities and the reality of medical procedures could provide rich discussion material for students of technical communication exploring their ethical obligations for presenting accurate medical information and how their presentations of that information position patients.

Yeah, that took an hour to write, but I'm pleased with it. I don't have high expectations for actually being accepted to present, but I certainly appreciate Heinous's confidence in me and the chance to stretch my tired academic wings a little.

This is what happens when one of your best friends is finishing up her PhD.