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[Jun. 25th, 2009|09:57 pm] |
Brief fly-by: I'm at the University of Virginia doing a language intensive with very limited computer access until August 6th. I'll be around on weekends to work on fic, but not much more than that. Hope everyone's fic challenges and Big Bangs are going well.
Ta-ta for now. :) |
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| Out of excuses. |
[May. 28th, 2009|12:22 pm] |
Good news: ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) skinscript and I finished the choreography for John's freeskate! Now I just have to write the actual scene and I'm all out of excuses and stalling techniques.
I'm skipping class today because:
a) I've already finished my final project so I don't need another workshop,
b) my project is 22 pages long, so no one will have time to give it a read through in another workshop,
c) my project is 22 pages long, so two copies means 44 (!) pages and,
d) I am a skinflint.
WG is walking around the house naked with one sock on. That's entertainment.
(Does it qualify as naked if he's wearing one sock?) |
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| Wanna go home.... |
[May. 15th, 2009|10:59 am] |
Haven't even left for work yet and I already want to go home.
On the other hand, I have someone with a creative writing assignment for my 12:30 appointment. |
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| UW Budget cuts? Try devastation. These couldn't be worse if they used napalm. |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|01:13 am] |
Tonight has been a terrible night for no reason I can discern.
WG was happy and perky when I came home. The kitty was purring. I curled up with my homework on clean sheets.
But I had a lot of reading to do. WG turned petulant and needy, cuddling close and miserable, interrupting again and again in subtle ways -- until I snapped at him. My mood turned foul and frustrated ... and then guilty.
Monte kitty also resented my homework. He chewed my book, sat on it, did "walk-bys," and then threw up a hairball on the bed.
I stripped the sheets, found a snuggle position for the (now unhappy) WG and Monte kitty. Then finished my reading. I just picked up the email from the University president.
UW Budget cuts? Try devastation. These couldn't be worse if they used napalm.
For the University of Washington, the resulting budget decisions are dramatic. The bad news is that the Legislature decided to reduce statefunding to the six public four-year college and universities more than any other sector in state government. The University of Washington received the highest percentage cut in all of higher education - 26 percent. This is a stark and sobering number. Beginning July 1, one quarter of our funding from the state will no longer exist. It is unprecedented in state history, and as far as we know, it is by far the largest reduction in state support to a flagship university by any state in the nation. It takes our state funding level back to where it was more than a decade ago and drops the portion of the state budget dedicated to four-year higher education to an all-time low.
The somewhat better news, though it may not appear so to our students and their families, is that the budget authorizes our Regents to increase resident undergraduate tuition up to 14 percent for the 2009-11 biennium ... If approved by the Regents, tuition for resident undergraduates wouldincrease $875 next academic year and $1,000 the following year.
Sigh. I thought the stimulous bill had money for universities in it. I thought that was the priority.
I feel lost. Like school right now is a hopeless black hole. Sanskrit is a lost cause. I'll never be get funding to take the final year now.
I may be a tad depressed.
Of course, I've also been reading Toni Morrison tonight. She has a talent for leaving me in the dumps. |
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| Oh, hello economy. Have we reached bottom yet? |
[Apr. 16th, 2009|09:09 pm] |
Oh. Joy. WG received a letter that his insurance claim has been refused. The insurance company insists that he has to file with L&I.
WG's been pacing and worried all day. There has been no other topic of conversation today.
He spoke with the union trust people immediately. They were surprised at his company's insistance that you have to report injuries for L&I within a 72-hour window. The woman there said, "I had some pain in my hand that I ignored at first but it kept getting worse. I was able to report it to L&I."
Now WG has to file an L&I claim after the fact. He's going in to the shipyard to talk to human resources tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the head of my work, the tutor program, has called a meeting for 10:30 tomorrow. This will be our first ever meeting.
I have a feeling I know what it's about. I was reviewing the applications for next year's tutors this week. Today I was told to put that on hold. We won't be hiring new tutors for next year. |
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| Watchmen and Sanskrit, or the post in which Icarus abuses the lj-cut. |
[Mar. 25th, 2009|12:58 am] |
I credit all your good wishes: WG's limp is improving. My grades are not as bad as I feared. You must share your power of good wishes with the rest of the world, since clearly you could end both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
WG will learn the results of his CT and bone scan tomorrow. I failed the Sanskrit final spectacularly, but based on the numbers here I must have been running close to a 3.8 - 3.9 before WG's injuries, so I'm saved from failing the class. I need to study those missed chapters this week or I'll be in trouble next quarter. Expect some Sanskrit posts this weekend.
My Greek History professor indeed graded harshly. I'm considering whether it's worth contesting the grade.
Who watches the Watchmen? We do!
Went to see Watchmen with WG tonight. We had our usual petty squabble on the way there. WG's a backseat driver which is why I make him my chauffeur. But it's not wise to have him drive with a walking cast. I ended up running red light after he insisted I'd missed the turn into the theater --
WG: Honey, honey! It's right there to the left, to the left--!
Icarus (baffled, looking around): What? What? It can't be, it's not--
(Vroom.)
Icarus: Driving with you sucks. Also, that traffic would have hit you first.
He was very conciliatory (he hates backseat drivers). I ruefully admitted I'd written down the address for the wrong theatre. We circled the block until we found it.
( The Neptune in the U-District is old fashioned theatre, built 80 years ago, ) There were exactly three people in the theater so we... sat in the same row with them, thus proving humans are social creatures. Someone should do a doctoral study.
WG is Nite Owl. ( That was my guy up there. )
Needless to say, I loved the movie (for other reasons as well). As a side note, we both enjoyed the tasteful frontal nudity. Good to see a movie that has just as much (or more) male nudity as female. Reading reviews from you guys, I noticed that most of the people who hated the movie hadn't read the comic, while most of those who loved the movie had. So I made sure we'd both read it first. ( In case I blunder into spoilers. ) It's visually stunning, but what made it were the actors. The actors were so well cast -- and this story is about the characters. Cast the right actors and you have 90% of it right there.
WG wants to see it again on DVD, so he can pause the opening montage and study the background details.
Afterward, he made a wistful comment about ice cream, so we hunted down an ice cream shop for sundaes and sat in the shop like 1950s teenagers. I'd brought my notebook and jotted down a scene for Out Of Bounds that hit me in the ice cream shop.
( If you want to shoplift, carry Sanskrit books. )
Now WG wants to do another date tomorrow night, this time an art film at the Varsity. Ah, old theatres. |
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| Hiding. |
[Mar. 21st, 2009|04:32 pm] |
I have cocoa, cookies, and some leftover cookie batter.
I have an overdue paper I'm picking away at by proposing my zaniest theory (the theory is called "pure dumb luck" or "delimited options" -- historians, how mad am I?). It's guaranteed to get completely shot apart by my professor, but after the shitty week I've had, I don't care.
I have the next chapter of Out Of Bounds rewritten and (probably) ready for reposting. I have WG here reading the Watchman. (I figured he'd better read the novel first or he'd be bewildered and frustrated by the movie.) I'm making minor edits to the epilogue. The music for the short program is queued up.
I have two movies on hand. I am fully equipped to ignore all RL disasters for the weekend. If all this doesn't work, there is also popcorn.
And oh, look, this quiz result surprised me with a writer that I...
a) know, and
b) respect.
How unexpected.
 | I am:Ursula K. LeGuin Perhaps the most admired writing talent in the science fiction field. |
Which science fiction writer are you?
And now... dive! *The yellow Icarus submarine burbles beneath the surface of reality* |
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| The final push. |
[Mar. 17th, 2009|07:12 pm] |
Dropped off two final exams. Now the last push...
... and I crashed after being up all night. I have so much to do I don't know where to start.
- Study for Sanskrit exam at, ow, 8:30am tomorrow
- Finish the three, ow, Sanskrit assignments that I fell behind on due to WG's injuries
- Write the last four pages of my (rather fun) Asian History paper, whew
Figure skating fans
The World Championships is next week. You might be able to watch live streaming video (sorry about the Russian):
Live stream, Sportbox site, Russia (GMT +3)
http://video.sportbox.ru/schedule/2009/03/24
24/03/2009, 22:55 CD
25/03/2009, 04:55 Pairs, SP
25/03/2009, 23:55 Men, SP
26/03/2009, 04:55 Pairs, FS
26/03/2009, 22:25 OD
27/03/2009, 03:30 Men, FS
27/03/2009, 18:45 Ladies, SP
27/03/2009, 23:20 Ladies, SP
28/03/2009, 04:25 Ladies, FS
29/03/2009, 01:55 Ladies, FS
I haven't yet figured out how to register on a site I can't read. I'm figuring... babelfish. |
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| Clearing the log-jam. |
[Mar. 16th, 2009|08:20 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | school | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Taal - Ishq Bina | ] |
Rolling, rolling, rolling....
Finished: a really crappy first draft of my dreadful ten-page Greek History essay.
Written: first page of a five (or fifteen, depending) page early medieval Indian History research paper.
Written: first five pages (question one) of a four-question take-home final Indian History exam.
Noted: the papers with intelligent, open-ended prompts -- i.e. my Indian History class -- go ten times faster than the overcontrolled, restrictive and rather odd prompt for my Greek History paper. Wow, Greek History has been a terrible class. I regret ever taking it.
Rolling, rolling, rolling...
Thank you. Will respond to all comments once all my essays are done. Whew. |
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| Enjoy my distraction. |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|08:02 pm] |
Current pattern of work:
1 - Write two paragraphs of miserable Greek History essay.
2 - Two minutes of glassy-eyed internet escape.
3 - Write two more paragraphs of essay for control freak, micro-managed, poorly written essay prompt.
4 - Five minutes to eat chocolate.
5 - One paragraph of awful essay for the professor who attempts to control every word that leaks out of your pen...
I think you guys should at least enjoy some of my internet escape time.
For those of you who love Greek history... I love it, too. I just hate the fact that my professor is a terrible writer, doesn't know it, and attempts to force everyone to write like her.
My essays are good. If you give me enough rein, they can be very good, and enjoyable.
Put me on a chokechain and the professor deserves what she gets. But I don't deserve to be penalized for it -- unless I go with my whim of including a two page Socratic dialogue between "Socrates" and "Hesiod." Which I'm tempted to do, just so I can enjoy the ride my GPA sinks to the bottom of the ocean. |
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| The world's worst parallel parker. |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|04:05 pm] |
FYI, the Greek History class continues to be torture. I've yet another prompt that baby-steps the writer into writing exactly what the professor wants to hear.
But it's almost over. One 10-page essay, and it's over.
ETA: About halfway through that essay. Taking a break from it.
Enjoy the world's worst parallel parker. Hee. |
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| Get your doom right here, extra, extra! |
[Mar. 13th, 2009|08:30 pm] |
It's turning into the daily doom and gloom report around here, isn't it? |
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| Sir, could you kindly give me directions to the Euphemism? |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|10:59 am] |
Racewank is still going on. Huh.
I still crack up when someone wants to call it an "imbroglio." Ah, euphemisms.
In other news: I'm staying home to work on that essay I thought was due March 17th.
Sigh. I should have switched the grading on this class to Pass/Fail last week. Then I could focus on classes that are important to me, like Asian history and Sanskrit, rather than my absolutely dreadful Greek history class. |
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| You know, India invested in education. |
[Jan. 29th, 2009|08:34 pm] |
Amazing. The fact that Obama has included funding for schools in the stimulus plan has come under fire from the GOP.
What they don't seem to get is that in the current mortgage crisis, property values are plummeting.
What pays for schools?
Property taxes.
Yes, we need funding for schools in a stimulus bill. Otherwise this country will take a long-term hit. One of the reasons our jobs are going to India is that India invested heavily in education. Especially in science in technology. |
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| The victory celebration. |
[Dec. 17th, 2008|05:59 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | school | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough | ] |
Oh.
Oh.
I got my grades for the quarter. Since you folks shared in my finals misery, you should share in the rewards.
Sanskrit - 3.8
English Capstone paper - 3.6
Arthurian Lit - 4.0
Let's break out the punch. |
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| Sissyphus and school papers. |
[Dec. 2nd, 2008|09:09 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | school | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
Glrgh. Having such a hard time starting this paper.
*Pushes the paper cart uphill.* |
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| And the banana peel award goes to.... |
[Nov. 19th, 2008|10:11 pm] |
A banana in my backpack plus large, heavy books = not a good idea.
Who knew?
If people wrote fanfic about my life, well, these would be the sort of deep, meaningful lessons I learn. I like to think that John Sheppard does stupid things like this all the time, and only once he's with Rodney does anyone find out that, yes, John will put his shoes directly in front of the door and then trip over them.
There must be fic. Entitled "Could Have Been In Mensa."
Archive News, and my, that sounds official
In other, less squishy, news: I'm uploading my fic to the beta version of AAOOO (An Archive Of Our Own).
The tagging feature, when carefully thought out, is very, very cool. It will make finding exactly what you want so much easier.
For example, I have 18 stories uploaded so far.
If you remember a story that involves, say, sex toys, you go to my page, click Tags off to the right there, and then click the "sex toy" filter.
"Sex toy" brings up two stories, Bacchanalian Circuit (SGA) and Lost in the Temple of Law (SPN).
Now if you want to read someone else's "sex toy" centric fics, you click on the tag "sex toy." That brings up my two stories, plus two by Kass.
Nifty.
Let me know if my tags work for you. This is to save you trouble later on, make it easy for you to find what you want, and help create a base of solid, (correctly spelled!), carefully considered tags for everyone. |
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| Whut? Here comes the time warp again. |
[Oct. 31st, 2008|09:00 am] |
How did this happen?
I was up at 8:10 (thank you, meowing, hungry kitty). Got up. Put kitty's dinner bowl in the sink to rinse. Stumbled to the bathroom. Then scooped out the catbox. Yawned. Stretched. Took a shower.
Got out of the shower and checked the clock.
8:45?
I can't make my morning class. I have to be walking out the door at 8:45 and I'm dripping wet in the living room.
How did this happen? Did I read the clock wrong in the first place? Was that shower longer than I thought?
I shall assuage my guilt by studying for Sanskrit. |
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| Cutting through the police tape. |
[Oct. 30th, 2008|11:55 pm] |
Today, someone poured gasoline all over his clothes and lit himself on fire. I was late to class and walked through the police tape, not realizing what had happened. A police officer chased me out: "Don't you see the tape?"
The entire square was taped off, an area about the size of a parking lot. A student explained to me that her friend had seen and texted to her.
Students had immediately thrown their coats on the person, trying to put the fire out. (I respect this. A lot.) He'd said nothing before he did, and did nothing to help himself.
Yes, the person was alive when the ambulance arrived. I looked out at the exact center of the empty square. White fire extinguisher foam coated the ground. They'd picked a busy time of day, lunch hour. Minutes before I'd arrived the square had boiled with people.
A massage arrived from the Vice Provost this evening. The person was a former UW employee. No, he didn't make it.
Hats off -- and coats off -- to the UW students who thought fast and tried to save him. |
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| School, challenges. The current temperature is 65 degrees F. Softometer reading 8.7. |
[Oct. 5th, 2008|10:44 am] |
Ahhh... The school situation has been (mostly) resolved. Or at least I'm not doing 20 credits anymore.
Now to write some Out Of Bounds. *rubs hands together*
Decisions, decisions... oh, payday! Now. Should I sign up for sga_santa this year?
On the one hand, it gets me writing something that's finished, packed up and ready to read in one sitting. Gives me a breather from AUs and figure skating. On the other hand, the deadline for sga_santa is December 10th, the last day of finals. The only way I could finish the fic in time is if I wrote it over Thanksgiving holidays.
On the third hand, I have a plan to finish Out Of Bounds, and the Thanksgiving holiday is probably best spent working on that.
But on the fourth hand, 1,000 words isn't very much. When strapped for time (like I was last year), I'm perfectly cool with writing a shorter fic: Silent Night.
In other news. My cat is able to somehow control the softness of his fur, ranging from soft to Ultra-Impossibly-Must-Pet-Again-To-Prove-It's-Real-Soft. We call this the "softometer" and the two of us rate the fur on a scale of 1 (who rolled the cat in brambles?) to 10 (angel down).
Current softometer reading: 8.7 |
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tired
blissfully happy
thoughtful