Poll #1491219 Holiday Cards!
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I want a card from you and here is my address!

I posted a post asking about if you wanted a holiday card from me to give me your address. You should go there!

Guess how much money Lari spent posting job apps today!

( Here are pictures of the tin I am painting for my sister. )

It's supposed to look like Susan's bag on the movie Desperately Seeking Susan with Madonna. I took a white tin that I got at Hobby Lobby, made some stencils from movie stills, and spray painted them black. I think it came out pretty nifty except for the places I had to touch up. I am hoping that after I coat it with sealer those will be less noticeable.

My Twitter posts from throughout the day.

• 11:36 ♺ @e4VoIP: @mjgraves this is a good thing... FYI - the story inspired me to rescue a dog for the girls.. #
• 11:43 Oh, I got 16 Google Wave invites. If anyone wants one, I need your email address. #

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What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Originally posted on agreencat.vox.com

♥-Anyone who looks at this entry has to post this meme and their current wallpaper on their LiveJournal.
-Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper!
-Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on!

- Cos Z made it for me ♥
- Cos for once Kyo is actually sexy in a photo. To me, anyway.
- Cos whoo, IAMX lyrics~!
- Cos I like dark backgrounds, and this one fits quite nicely.
- Cos it reminds me to fucking do my tags on PK before another five months go by.

55 push-ups and 80+ sit-ups. Still no running. I recovered from that nasty cold, but now the weather sucks big time.

Thanksgiving
I am thankful for a lot of things. Here are some.

The fact that I'm able to do work that I love so much. That I can combine two things that I love so much right now -- teaching and research -- and that I'm good at both.

That I can make enough money to cover the bills every month. I have some debt but I'm not falling too far behind, despite cobbling together a variety of jobs to do this. That I can buy good food and a few extras. (Although way too much money has gone to Amazon this month.)

That all of the things that I do for money are things that I enjoy -- that I'm not putting in even ten or twenty hours a week at a job I dislike.

That I am loved by some wonderful people. Most especially captain18, who has been endlessly good to me in the past few weeks as I've threatened to go off the rails.

That I have a chinchilla who is looking at me very sweetly hoping for attention.

The time I get to spend with K., which is a terrific antidote to feeling overwhelmed by everything.

That I have a nice apartment, even if it has a bathroom desperately in need of a remodel, where eveyrthing works and where I feel warm and safe.

That I live in a world where vision correction is possible. I mean, electricity and running water and alcohol and printing presses and cars are all terrific inventions, but I could probably make do without all of them. (Although I'd have to change careers.) But how could I have a functional life without my glasses?

The medications that keep me stable. The health insurance that keeps those medications within the realm of possibility.

The wonderful and fascinating people I am friends with. For serious. Time with friends is never wasted.

Now
Going down to New Jersey. Stopping at my office to print off a few more copies of my transcript, pick up all my paper stuff and a copy of my dissertation, and going to give up on the idea of getting all of these packets out today. Friday will do. This gives me more time to write letters. I feel frustrated that I wasn't able to get this together in time, but when the heck was there time? I can't give up sleeping. I'm too old for that crap.

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

* I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
* Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
* Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions


( Answers for Kashma )

Bad Sign
Just misread "sales tax" as "same sex" and thought the county was talking about sharing revenues from gay marriage. And was all "Whaaa?"

Academia and Objectification
I was going to write a whole long post on this and then I got sidetracked (in my defense, I was in a bar at the time.) So this is going to be forthcoming. Basically an outraged rant about that article I posted the other day.

Job Search
Writing letters. Then I just have to assemble packets. This is crazy. Plus what I want is a slightly moving target.

Defense
I should really write the presentation this weekend. I should probably grab a copy of my dissertation out of my office when I stop in there.

Pie
Gotta bake it. The whole "roast the pumpkin" thing didn't happen because I was just too crazy busy this week, and if I had put the pumpkin into the oven I probably would have fallen asleep and have been left with burnt pumpkin jerky. So it's organic canned pumpkin, which I think is real pumpkin and not generic squash-in-a-can.

Music
"Nothing says Thanksgiving like Nine Inch Nails."

iTunes decided to follow that up with the Spice Girls. I'm all dancey now. Which is slightly at odds with my intended goal of letter-writing. But it got the pie in the oven!

Possible Daydreams
Last week of the Giant November Sale! (Actually it will probably go until next Thursday, because I will be too busy to de-sale everything before then.) Check it out!
http://possibledaydreams.etsy.com

Winter is coming upon us in San Francisco. That and the holidays. My winters in comparison to my husband sound terribly boring! I do get the saying that California doesn't have seasons. Well, that maybe true but it depends on what part of California you go to. I've also never had a snow day, I've never had weather so bad that I couldn't go anywhere, and I've never had a time where I had to put chains on my tires or throw litter on the ground to get traction. Then again, I've never owned a car.

Winter for me starts when we have to adjust for daylight savings time. I feel it is safe to say, at least for San Franciscans, that's when it starts. Though, some will say winter for them starts when they have to put their coats on. Whichever you prefer the COLD is coming! I do have to add, we do get spurts of warmth on certain times of the year. Also, we do get heavy rains from time to time. Eventually highways and certain areas of the city get flooded, but not to the point where we couldn't get around.

The first time I saw snow was on a trip to Tahoe. I think I was 18. It was the first time I was on skis and the first time I was outside for a long period of time. If anyone knows me, I don't do well outside unless I am forced to. To be honest, all I wanted to do was make a snow man and do all the kid-like things you do on TV for a snow day. That didn't really happen, but I enjoyed myself anyways. The second time I was around snow was with my friend Heather. We went snowboarding with her Mom. Well, her mom mostly drove us up to wherever we went and we practiced, fell, and practiced more. I think I enjoyed snowboarding more than skiing. Most definitely.

This winter we're traveling to Ohio to see Kyle's parents for Christmas. I'm told it will be cold, but not snowing. A little disappointing, but it will be nice to catch up with Kyle's family. We'll do the usual holiday exchange, dinner and family get together. Really simple, and nothing extravagant. If you've been reading my blog, you'll understand how refreshing this is for me. After the holidays we'll be in SF again enjoying the countdown to the New Year and staying warm in our little apartment. or that's the plan. hehe.

Originally posted on agreencat.vox.com

The holidays to everyone is different. My holidays I can honestly say has always been some what special. When I think of it, I cringe. I have never experienced a good Christmas till I met my husband. What made the difference? We simply did nothing.

Growing up my sister and I were required to take our yearly photo with a man dressed up as Santa Claus. Which I immediately cried the whole time. I knew it wasn't Jolly Old St. Nick. I don't even think I understood the idea of Santa. If you look back to all our photos, my sister is usually the one smiling and I'm the one that is red, puffy faced, and choking back tears. Why would my mother do this to me? Because well, she loves photos. Or is obsessed with photos to the point that my feelings didn't matter. This was the start of a pattern where I actually fear cameras.

After the photos, we would do our holiday shopping in the mall. Then on Christmas Eve/Day we would go to a hotel to celebrate my parents anniversary. My sister and I would dress up, wear things we usually wouldn't like wearing, and eat adult food. These hotel restaurants never had children sized portions, or food that children would like. My sister and I were always bored and I personally hated being there. I remember just sitting in the restaurant and just stared vacantly out the window or sat in the lobby just staring at water fixtures that bubbled across the room.

On Christmas Day we would open our presents. Now, you may say "Oh presents! There can't be anything wrong with that!" You say that till I explain further. My mom would always ask what we wanted, and she would get it and immediately wrap the presents in front of us. I always knew what I was going to get. There were never surprises. I do admit I don't regret knowing what we got, but it would've been nice to get a surprise gift. This included birthdays and other gift giving events. There weren't many surprises in my life growing up.

Holidays to me will always be "special."

Originally posted on agreencat.vox.com

Dreaming
Dreamed that I was with meganitat at some sort of evening fair and there was a Shu Uemara booth and they had a sale where a makeup kit chock-full of stuff and the size of a hardcover book was $30. I was so amazed by the deal that I was just about to buy it when the alarm went off. (For those of you who are out of the loop, an eyeliner from Shu Uemara can run $24. So this was like the most fantastical deal of all time, equivalent to getting Manhattan Island for a handful of beads.)

Today
Tutoring for another ten minutes. Off to Cortland. Finish prepping lecture (my slides look pretty good, just need to change formulas to match the book and then to put in a practice problem or two) and make a warm-up problem. Teach two classes. Head down to Kaplan. Tutor from 4:15 to 8:15. Then trivia and dinner. Then see K. Also need to roast a pumpkin so I can turn it into pie tomorrow. Also need to try to stop by my mailbox at Binghamton. Loooooong day.

Memeage
"Five Questions" from schmarian.
Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

( my five under the cut )

Guess what Pres Man got for me

They arrived today and I'm wearing them right now! :D

Wishes
If I had one wish right now it would be for duplex printing in the lab. I am using so much paper printing reprints that it's not funny. I have gone through a ream and I should have gotten two.

If I had a second wish right now it would be for an extra day between now and Thanksgiving to get all of this stuff together.

If I had a third wish right now it would be for dinner.

My fourth wish I know I'm getting.

I mean, I'm getting my third wish, too, but it involves more effort on my part.

Home
I should go there soon.

People It Sucks To Be
One of the guys in the office next to mine at Binghamton had his laptop stolen out of his office. I am sorry and I feel bad for him but at the same time these are the guys who leave the door of their office open while they are in their lab for hours at a time.

Happy
I am really happy with my research statement right now. I re-read it and it just makes me happy. Which might make me rethink the whole "ooo, I want a job at an undergrad-centered institution." I want to teach AND do research, dammit.

Are Female Students 'A Perk Of The Job'?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2009/sep/23/kealey-female-students-perk

Helllllll no. *fumes*

Home
Mmm, sleeping in my own bed. With my own husband. Who has gotten used to taking more than his share of bed over the weekend I was away. But he CLEANED. I was so impressed. I should go away more often, because I always come home to awesomeness.

Not Home
On my way back I stopped at my Babci's house for the first time since the funeral. It was pretty hard. I took a break from driving, moved some stuff out of the garage and into my trunk to go into the dumpster here, and cried a bit. It doesn't smell right anymore. I mean, everything that my family has done to the house to get it ready to sell -- taking out carpets to expose some beautiful wood floors, painting, redoing the bathroom floor -- looks great. But it doesn't make me not want her back.

Ranters
Got to hang out with some Society members yesterday! It was pretty awesome. It's been far too long. We've all grown up so much!

Wellesley Boys
It strikes me that there's a tendency for there to be something fundamentally wrong with Boys Who Go To Wellesley. Cases in point: Ross Franklin; the guy in 2007 who went on to defraud Dartmouth of $18K, and now the guy who posted on Community (the Wellesley online forum) about how Wellesley students are all entitled whores with bad judgment. And while I'll be willing to give some ground on entitled -- I think it's hard to find a traditional-age elite college student who isn't to at least a mild degree -- calling the 2300 women you live with whores is maybe the biggest act of bad judgment in this situation. We also got a kick out of his obsession with not being 5'9" and his "I'm going to tell the Internet and then you'll see!" attitude.

I wonder how long it will be until a guy goes as an exchange student to Wellesley in an attempt to pitch a reality show. Maybe it's already happened.