Adventures In Academia’s blog

Hiding from myself

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:57:33 -0700

I have a story to write - a story that needs to be written. But I'm afraid to write it. I have serious block going on, and every time I sit down to write anything on it or even work on it at all, I just can't do it. I'm just... scared.

The story stems from actual events that happened when I was younger. I was going to sleep one night and it struck me that it would make for a wonderful story, even possibly a book. But, it was a rocky time in my life, and I just seem to be stuck when I try to put anything into words.

What am I going to do? How do I get past this point?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: Oh Sorry, Did I Offend You?

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:10:20 -0700

Who was the last person you offended?
Submitted by May.

I think the last person I offended was my youngest daughter. She's almost a teenager. I told her she couldn't have a piece of cake before breakfast, so she stormed off and ignored me for about half an hour.

Before that, I think it was her too, when I was joking around with her. She heard me tell her she was two years old, yet, those words never passed my lips.

*shrug* Can't win for losing with her.

She's irritating one of the animals right now and I'm going to have to tell her to leave it alone, like I do about - no exaggeration - 15 times a day. That will offend her, and she will storm off and ignore me for a while.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Retirement Plans

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:33:47 -0700

I'm going to retire to the Irish countryside, and when I do, I'll have a little cottage with pane-glass windows and a wooden door. The cottage will be filled with books, and there will be a fireplace in which a real fire will crackle many months of the year. I will have three dogs and one cat; the cottage will be surrounded by a low stone wall, and there will be many fat and fuzzy white sheep, and one black one. I will write books, and walk through the countryside, and read, and throw sticks to my dogs, and pet my cat, and tend my sheep.

These are the things to which I look forward.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: Sensitivity Chip

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:38:07 -0700

What are you most sensitive about?

This was a hard one for me to answer and I don't know that I have the full answer still but at the moment, I'd have to say I'm most sensitive about my children and my writing.

Obviously, I would say most mothers are sensitive about and protective of their children, and mother-bear-ish too, so I don't think that's out of the ordinary.

I've just started writing creatively again and I'm very selective about who I show my work to because ... I guess I fear being judged (?). I haven't done a lot of poetry, but (most of) what I have done has been well received, so that's heartening. And the short fiction got good reviews as well. So I suppose I don't need to be as sensitive about it as I am, but I think it comes with the territory a little bit.

So that's what I can think of at the moment.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Official Grade Report

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:13:41 -0700

Last night I logged onto the university website to check my grades on the off-chance that they were posted. (They weren't supposed to post until today.) They were, and here's how I did:

Oral Communications (A)
PreCalculus/College Algebra (A)
Anatomy & Physiology II (A)
Keyboarding (A)
Contemporary American Lit (A)

I'm really pleased with my grades this semester! I had a really heavy load, on top of all the other commitments I have and I'm pleased that I was able to keep my grades up. Now I need to try to repair the relationships that were shoved to the back burner so that the grades could be top priority.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Library Visit

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:05:04 -0700

I went to the local library recently to see if they had Blood Meridian and Modern Baptists from my summer reading list. While both of those books were checked out, I did find some other good ones to tide me over until they are returned.

I got:

Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy (while I wait for Blood Meridian)

The Dying Animal by Phillip Roth (not on the original list, but I liked "The Conversion of the Jews" in class, so...)

Plain and Normal by James Wilcox (while I wait for Modern Baptists)

I abandoned Fear of Flying for the moment. I just can't get into it. I'm about to do the same with the Kushiel book, because it's way more flowery than is to my taste right now. I didn't remember them being that way, but I guess they were. I have plenty of other stuff to read anyway, so it's no loss.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: Step into My Closet

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:51:07 -0700

How many pair of shoes do you have? Out of those pairs, how many do you wear more than a few times a year?
Submitted by fightinggale.

I had to go count, not because I have *that* many pair of shoes, but because I don't have very many and actually couldn't remember if I'd gotten rid of some of them.

I have 7 pair of dress shoes, 3 pair of running shoes, 1 pair of sandals, and 1 pair of shoes that don't really fit into any of those categories.

Of the dress shoes, I have one pair that I wear most often, one pair that I've had since 1996, one pair that is creme colored for springtime, and the rest, I don't wear (so I should get rid of them).

Of the running shoes, one pair is worn out so now I use them for yard work. Of the other two, one is the newest pair and gets the most use. The third pair is backup. I could probably get rid of them.

I wear my sandals fairly regularly. I wear the shoes that defy labels pretty regularly as well, though now that we're moving into shorts season, I'm thinking they won't coordinate as well and may need to go in the shoe holder until autumn.

I do also have two pair of house shoes. Do those count?

This was another good QotD because it helped me identify clutter to get rid of. Four pair of shoes down, I don't know how much stuff left to go. But it's a good start.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Blah Blah Blah

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:44:23 -0700

Ever had a day where your brain felt fried for no reason? That's me, today. No reason. I don't like it.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Driftwood

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:49:14 -0700

I've been drifting since the day of my last final. This past semester was very heavy for me, with 16 hours. I carried five courses thinking that two of them would be 'crip' courses, but much to my chagrin, one definitely was not. I was talking to TC the other day (when I got my wild on, at the poetry reading and Literary Society meeting) and mentioned that I had expected two of the courses to be 'crip' courses and he said he wasn't familiar with that term. I was shocked. What did you call them when you were in school, TC? According to Urban Dictionary, a crip course is a course you take because it's easy. A word of warning, that link will take you to the exact definition at Urban Dictionary. If you've never been to Urban Dictionary before, before you start looking around, be aware that some of the definitions are... decidedly... raw. It's a very interesting site, nonetheless. So, you've been warned.

So, back to my tale of crip courses that weren't. The two I expected to be fairly easy were Keyboarding (which of course, was) and Oral Communications, which required more work sometimes than my 4 credit hour course. I have to say, that sucked. I always try to pad my course load so that I'm getting the courses I need but also so I won't have any super hard *or* super easy semesters. I certainly don't want to be bored. Well, this semester turned out to be difficult to balance with the kids and M and the house and my volunteer work. Forget having any friends. I haven't talked to ML since before Christmas, and I haven't talked to S since early February. I've only had sporadic contact with Girlie, even. Needless to say, I did a poor job of balancing my priorities this semester, and I have to clean up behind myself because of it. However, I'm proud of my marks, if nothing else.

I keep getting off track. I've been drifting since the end of classes. I don't know what to do with myself. I've made a book list, and started on it. I started reading Fear of Flying first, but I'm finding it very uninteresting, apart from a juicy quote I wrote down and will probably (maybe) share with TC (if I can get him to share an observation about people). I may abandon it for Spite Fences or Blood Meridian or Modern Baptists. I actually have another book to read, called Kushiel's Chosen. It's part of a series, and full of sexual tension and situations, so a good, light read. Maybe I will read that one first to kind of decompress the folds of my mind. I've also made a list of things that need doing in the house and need to get busy on that if we're ever going to move. And I've really missed being in the kitchen baking and cooking so I want to do a lot of that. I found a delicious (looking) recipe for 'grip and rip' cheese bread that I really want to try making. I bet it would be scrumptious with a good red wine. And that's another thing, I would love a glass of good wine. *sigh*

Obviously, tonight is a night for tangents. My bed is calling.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: My First Car

nobody@vox.com(Adventures In Academia) — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:10:48 -0700

What was your first car?

My first car was actually a pick-up truck. I bought it for $1100. It was a 1970 Dodge D100, and 22 years old when I bought it. That was the year I turned 18, and it gave me a great deal of freedom. It was near the end of my first year of college; the year I'd spent hoofing it everywhere I went.

When I got that truck, I went to Nashville, Memphis, Paducah, Murray, Ripley, and many points in between. Then my aunt decided when I moved in with her that I needed a curfew and to be babied. That, let me tell you, was a real slap in the face. It didn't last long either. I started sleeping out and finding reasons not to come home. I already knew by the time school ended that I wouldn't be returning. My GPA was dismally low and I couldn't get financial aid from the university (because it was all allotted and my GPA was too low anyway). I wish I had known then that the state will pay for minors in state's custody to attend university. However, I have to admit, I wasn't ready for college at that time in my life. I'm doing so much better now. Wouldn't it be nice if the state would pay my tuition now, kind of as a retroactive thing? Dream on, I know.

I had the truck about 7.5 months before it started having more problems than I could deal with. I traded with a mechanic for a (more) vintage car with fewer problems. I loved that car.

These questions of the day are great writing exercises.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend