what I've been doing when I haven't been blogging

Yeah, yeah, yeah...  I haven't blogged in awhile. I've had a good excuse; it's called life.

Work -- It's been busier than ever, but there are silver linings in that dark cloud. I've been busy because our first-year students are seeking out the help they need. That's never a bad thing. And! We're hiring another person to do academic support, which is amazing (and means I'll not be so crazybusy in the future).

So, here's what's actually interesting -- I LOVE my urban planning class, which I'm taking at University of Illinois at Chicago.  Fascinating stuff, kids! Lemme tell you what I've been up to with that:

I did an observation paper on the changing patterns of riders on the CTA's Purple Line Express trains.

I'm currently working on an economic analysis paper about a commercial block in my neighborhood. That research involves reading about my neighborhood's history and looking into info on several businesses on that block. I recently finished reading a study of the local impact of local businesses versus chain retailers, looking specifically at my neighborhood and at least 1 of the businesses I'm studying.  Both this project and my observation project are classic urban planning projects.

As a class, we have an ongoing project, doing planning in a real-life community.  We're working in North Lawndale with the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, who has an affordable housing project underway on 16th St. Our project is helping them to plan for use of vacant lots along 16th.


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Specifically, my group of 5 is looking at the neighborhood demographics and the project's stakeholders.  About a month-and-a-half ago, a handful of us went to a community meeting at the local police station and got a picture of who we're working with.  On Saturday, we're meeting with a bunch of our stakeholders to listen to what they want for 16th St.. We'll also tour the affordable housing that LCDC is constructing and take a look at the strip of 16th that we're working with.  We're working with real people in a real community in the city that I love.  This semester, we're only scratching the surface on this project, but even that is a real cool experience.

I'm so glad I'm taking this class.  It's hitting on so much of what interests me about urban studies and giving me an idea of what's out there -- academic and otherwise.  I'm also really enjoying my classmates.  There's the guy who interned with the Chicago Housing Authority, who I'm entertained by, even if I don't usually agree with him.  There's the guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's also doing his economic analysis on the neighborhood.  He and I have shared resources for the project. There's K, who, dare I say?, is my first UIC friend. She's working on the demographics project with me, and we met last weekend to talk census data, which I worked with when I took my Chicago geography class in the summer of 2009.  I got to teach her about how to get the data, and we talked about what we're looking for and what we're doing with the data.  When we digressed over coffee, she told me about the epidemiology of violence (see this project, for example) course she's taking, which was totally fascinating.

I was talking to a friend last night about her recent crush and the excitement and giddiness that comes along with that.  Honestly, I think I have some of that going on when it goes to what I'm working on. I really like it.  I'm challenged and stimulated.  I have things to say, and my opinion is relevant.  It's nice to be pushing my mind to work in these ways and to be academically engaged.  I have no idea what I'm going to take next semester, but I'm looking forward to the next challenge.

the world is lovely when you're sleeping (and I'm not)

I'm one of those people who prefers to work at night, when the world has gone quiet. Finally, then, I'm able to think, to speculate, to ponder, and to just write. My academic genius muse works third shift.

This in mind, it's no surprise that I'm not a morning person.  Not at all.  I hate mornings, in fact.  I'd love to stay up till 2am and wake up for the day at 10am.

And yet, here I am, in the office at 7am, after having not left campus last night until after 8pm.  For those playing along at home, that means I got home last night at 9:45pm, woke up at 4:30am, and boarded a train at 5:58am.

That train at nearly 6am is a beautiful thing.  Metra calls it the Sunrise Express, which is apt -- we watch the sunrise while zooming past a number of stops.  The train ride is about half an hour, which shaves at least 15 minutes off the normal commute. And, it's gets us to campus -- with a stop at Starbucks first -- just before 7am.

At 7am, all the little college kids are still sleeping. The town is quiet. The campus is very, very quiet. This is the time of day that people snap photos of deer who boldly venture with their young onto our lush, green campus.

The city, too, was quiet, both walking home last night and walking to the train this morning. At night, I usually stick to the main roads on the walk home, but train construction has lead to the opening of a new train platform, north of Lawrence Ave.. In the interest of time, which is indeed precious at 10pm, it's faster to exit at the north end of the platform and continue along Ravenswood Ave. and through the residential western part of my neighborhood.  Walking the quiet streets in the dark (though with ample street light) always makes me hear my worried mother, fretting about me waking home alone.  Sure, something bad could happen, but that could happen at any point at any time. I choose to walk home, head high and unafraid.

At day's end, I'll again travel home in the dark, having gone with members of the awesome class* I'm taking to do some fieldwork, and I'll rise even earlier than I did today to head out to do some field observations alone.  Like all the nights in grad school that I stayed up late to write, I'll enjoy the quiet that settles in as I walk to the train, the lovely silence quieting the noises in my brain, letting me enjoy simply being in the city I love.

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* I'm taking an introductory course in urban planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).  it's a mixed undergraduate/graduate class at the 400 level, so while we're discussing material that's new to many, it's still rigorous, engaging, and one of the best parts of my Mondays and Wednesdays. Everyone asks, "So, are you doing another degree?" to which I reply, "Right now, I'm just taking a class." My future is on this path...somewhere. I'm just enjoying the journey and discovery this semester.

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. ;)

friendly reminder

Note to self: The next time you think it sounds like a good idea to take a three-week course while still working full-time, THINK AGAIN.

Ah, so this is why we tell our students it's impossible to do anything well if you're working full-time and going to school full-time. At least the next time I have a conversation about that with a student, I'll be able to speak from experience.

Hey, at least it's a totally interesting class.

trains may be slow, but basketball games move quickly

Saturday was hot. Ohso hot. Miserable hot. So, of course, we ventured out. We had tickets to see the Chicago Sky vs. Washington Mystic. It was a hot trip down to the UIC Pavilion, and with a Red Lind delay, we were pretty sure we'd miss tip-off. Except we got there, and no one was there. We check and rechecked our tickets. We ended up peeking our heads into Guest Services, only to find out that the game time was 7, not 5 like was printed on our tickets. The kind folks at Guest Services pointed us toward food and drink, and we cooled down before the game.

Around 6, we headed up to our usual seats--we have a four-pack of games we're attending this season with the same seats, this game being game 3 for us. We perused our programs, blew up our inflatable noise maker thingies, and watched the drumline play down on teh court. A young man in a yellow t-shirt approached us after a few minutes. "Are you two along?" Our affirmative response was followed up with something like "Would you like to move seats down to the floor courtesy of Discover?" Dude. We went from seats midway up the upper bowl to seats on the friggin' floor.

Look at how close my toes were to the court!

We had a great view of the game. This blind kid could even read the shot clock at the other end of the court. It was easy for me to follow the game, and it was a lot of fun.

It was like a dream come true for us.

Did I mention we also got free t-shirts and a gift card from Discover? All we had to do was hold up a sign from Discover during the first time-out in the first quarter and look excited about our tickets. Duh. I think we might have been on tv.

Yesterday, I ventured by train to Bloomington to see folks I don't get to see that often. My friend Carol was scheduled to defend her dissertation at 1pm, and knowing the UNreliability of Amtrak, I opted to take the first train out, which came into Bloomington at about 9:35, twenty minutes late.

I was greeted by one familiar face and one new face--my good friend Ophelia from high school and her son, who I'd never met. (They were in Kansas City when he was born, and I was a poor grad student.) I had a fabulous morning with them. Eric taught me about Pokemon while his mom and I drank coffee. He then led us on a walk around downtown Normal before I walked us over to Avanti's for lunch. He's a pizza fiend!

I can see a lot of his father in his face, and he has his mom's creative spirit. It was so good to see both of them. She's such a good force to have in my life, and I'm so glad I got to see her. We had endless phone conversations during high school and college, and it was good to have her energy in my day.

Eric and his mom dropped me off at the dissertation defense, where Carol was trying to laugh and be cool. I'm sure was was pretty damn nervous inside, though.

She did a great job. Her work on the Exeter Book and its riddles has been interesting since we started grad school together, and it was so cool to see how it came together into a huge project that dealt with things like bringing literature to the people and changing what we think literature has to be.

She passed, of course, so I grabbed a shot of her advisor signing off on the paperwork after we all had the chance to applaud for her, my friend Dr. Smartass.

My train was two hours late into Bloomington to bring be back home yesterday, and of course, it was hot and humid in the station. Not a great wait, I tell you, but I did have a great Jimmy John's sandwich while I waited. I'll tell you what, those college towns know how to balance the flavors of the veggies with the right amount of mayo. :P

After a long trip with lots of time spent with our train just sitting (Who are they learning communication skills from, the CTA?) I finally rolled into the house at 11:30. I pooped today, but it's been a few good days. :)