Catholic Humor

I thought this was funny. I like Catholic humor as long as it's genuinely funny....

A Very Messy House

Okay, so it's an apartment and not a house, but that's just a detail. Anyway, my apartment currently looks like a cross between a disaster area and a garage sale. I did manage to get quite a bit of painting done over the weekend; I painted on Friday evening and then Saturday morning and afternoon. I got my princess vanity finished as well as all of the doors, doorframes, and baseboards in that part of the house. I haven't painted the trim in the bedroom yet, but I think that's just going to have to wait. I also need to figure out what to do with the kitchen, but I'm not ready to tackle that project yet. Also, I managed to acquire some new furniture today. I bought a new table and chairs--a fairly nice wood set, my other set was getting a bit wobbly--and the lady I got them from gave me a desk too (for free). I'd been wanting to get a desk, but I hadn't been able to find one that I liked. (This one is actually a little bigger than what I would have picked out on my own, but the price was right.) So I currently have three tables, eight chairs, a desk, and an end table that are in the middle of my living and dining rooms; I need to get rid of some stuff...or at least move it out to the garage until I can find it a permanent home.

"Practice delayed gratification."

"Practice delayed gratification." That's the quote that came up today on the '366 Ways to Better Your Life' calendar that I have in the office. (The calendar was a gift, really!) Anyway, the note started me thinking about our 'instant gratification' culture and how we always want things now. Drive-throughs give us our fast food in just a few minutes (and it's already 'fast food,' so does the drive-through make it 'faster food?'). Similarly, the internet puts information only a mouse-click away; no more going to the bank or going out shopping--you can do all of that online and then have the things you bought express-delivered directly to your house. Our culture puts so much emphasis on 'faster' that individuals don't have much of an opportunity to practice the virtue of patience....

Okay, I'm finished with my little rant for the day. I also finished with student conferences (they were just in the morning), and I'm getting ready to go home. I need to spend some time today reading and researching; I have a short paper on the war poetry of Walt Whitman due on Monday. However, I think I might paint today instead. My apartment is still a mess from the painting project I started two weeks ago, and I really want to get the project finished so my apartment can return to a normal state. (I've been patiently putting up with my own mess, but I just can't be patient any longer!)

Ummm, It's Thursday....

Yesterday was Wednesday, and today's Thursday. Yeah.... Both yesterday and today have been pretty busy. I spent most of yesterday morning reading James' Washington Square so I would be prepared for class in the afternoon. Jimmy and I went out for supper in the evening and then we went to church for the normal Wednesday night rosary and Mass. Today's been kinda crazy too. I went to a morning Mass with BK (BK2 actually, but I just call him BK), ran a few errands, and then went to the office. I've been bouncing back and forth between the office and work all day. I have a few more student conferences scheduled for today and then another eight or so scheduled for tomorrow. (I'm giving up part of my Friday so my students can get feedback on their papers.) I'm also planning on attending a lecture tonight...something on cyborgs and technology and literature, I think.

Relay for Life and Henry James (no, those two things aren't related)

Today's been a rather busy day. I've been working for most of the day, and I taught class this afternoon. (A typical Tuesday....) It's been a rather slow day at work, so I've been getting quite a few random little things accomplished. I got quite a bit of my bookkeeping tasks and random on-line chores completed. I managed to get my webpage for my class updated and my Relay For Life 2006 webpage set up. (If you would like to make a donation to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life program, please visit my webpage. I've included a link above.) I'm anticipating a rather slow evening tonight. I think I'll be curling up on my couch with a bowl of popcorn and Henry James' Washington Square.

Hot Water and a Road Trip

Wow, I survived both the weekend and a Monday....

Thursday evening proved interesting as, upon my return to my apartment after work, I discovered that I did not have any hot water. I was just getting ready to wash dishes, and all I had was cold water. I tried lighting my hot water heater, but the pilot light wouldn't stay lit. I called my landlord on Friday morning and I had hot water again on Sunday morning. (Granted, Thursday to Sunday is a long time to be without hot water, but I was out of town for much of that time....)

Anyway, Jimmy and I made a little road trip this weekend. He had a job interview in OKC on Friday. Since I don't have classes or work on Friday, I went along with him. I spent some time (while he was at his interview) reading and doing homework. After his interview, we spent some time seeing the sights in OKC. We went to Bricktown (their downtown area), the OKC bombing memorial and museum, and then to the state capitol. After OKC, we went to Wichita. We spent the evening with my friend Megan, and then on Saturday we went to a wedding. (Congrats go out to Michael and Katie!) We came back home after the wedding on Saturday.

Sunday was generally uneventful...other than the whole fixing of the hot water heater. Monday was a typical Monday--busy, busy, busy....

Working, but not working

I've been at work most of the day today, but there really hasn't been much work to do today. (It's early in the semester; the work load will pick up as the semester goes on.) Anyway, we've been keeping ourselves entertained by watching silly video clips and stuff like that on the web. The favorites so far are the SNL 'Chronic of Narnia' skit and 'The Llama Song'. They're both entertaining, but in different ways. The SNL skit is just funny whereas 'The Llama Song' is a bit addictive. (Don't watch the llama song unless you're willing to be singing 'llama, llama, cheesecake, llama; llama, llama, duck' for the next several days. You may also want to consider the well-being and general sanity of the people around you before playing the song....)

Still Standing....

Well, I gave blood today...and I didn't pass out (yet, anyway)!! My church hosted an American Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/) blood drive today, and I decided to try and give again. I'd given blood once before, but I hadn't worked up the nerve to try again since then. (Last time I got all hot and dizzy and mildly sick; it wasn't much fun.) I did okay this time; I got a little dizzy and I'm still feeling a little fuzzy, but it's not near as bad as last time. Since I gave blood today, I'm hoping the Vampires won't call me for the next two months. (The ARC people call so often trying to schedule me for appointments to donate blood that their numbers are all programmed into my cell phone under the heading of 'Vampires.') No more Vampires until March...hopefully....

Reading and Joyce -- but I'm not reading Joyce

Today's been rather uneventful. I worked in the morning, taught class over noon hour, and worked again in the afternoon. Work was rather uneventful, and class was fun (or at least I thought it was fun; I really don't know what my students thought). There's a lecture on-campus tonight over Joyce's Ulysses, and I think I'll probably go. I kinda need to spend the evening reading, but the lecture's sponsored by the department and I didn't go to the lectures held last semester because of class conflicts, so I feel like I probably should go. Hopefully I'll still be able to get in a few solid hours of reading after the lecture....

Painting Day

Today was my painting day. I've been wanting to paint my bathroom, my princess vanity, and the wood trim in my apartment for months now, but I'd just never actually taken the time to do it. I finally pulled out the paint and spent most of the day working. I managed to get the bathroom finished except for the trim (which I think I'll do in an accent color), and the vanity's finished except for a few spots that I want to go over again. I didn't do anything spectacular with my painting--just a fresh coat of white paint. (Everything that I repainted was already white, but it all looked like it hadn't had a fresh coat of paint in a very long time. Now it all looks nice and fresh and clean.) Though I did finish the bathroom and most of the vanity, I didn't get the trim and the doors all painted today. Maybe I'll try to get that all finished on Friday so I can put the paint away for a while....

TGIF!

Ahhh, Friday.... The first week of school always seems dreadfully long even though it really isn't. I think I'll be glad when I get back to a more normal schedule for the semester. I'll have more reading this semester since I have two classes that focus on novels, but I also won't have any classes or meetings or anything on Fridays.

We have a long weekend this weekend (MLKJr. Day). I'm having a Killer Bunnies party over at my apartment on Saturday night with a few of my friends/co-workers from the department. We're planning on having supper and then playing bunnies until the cows come home (maybe, I just like the way that sounds). I don't know what else I'll be doing over the weekend--some reading for sure and maybe I'll finally do some painting in my apartment. (I like the colors in my apartment, but a new coat of white paint in the bathroom and on my princess vanity would make the place look fresher and cleaner and brighter. I should use the extra day to do something productive, but who knows what will happen...

It's all about the fame and the money...

Fame and money, well, not really. I guess this is what I'm in for though.... I don't plan to be a writer, but being an academic (a professor or scholar) seems to have a similar type of 'glamour.' I guess that's what I get for choosing one of those professions that is typically underappreciated and underpaid in our capitalist society. I complain, but I wouldn't trade my job for anything....

SNOW...and Composition Class

It's snowing!! It started snowing during the night and has been snowing on and off nearly all day. Now snow's not really that unusual for this part of the country, but the shift in the weather during that past several days has been amazing. I walked to church on Sunday evening and didn't really need my jacket. When I walked home from class last night, it was raining. And then when I got up this morning it was snowing. (Yes, I realize that I started the previous sentence with a conjunction. It was intentional.) Since the wind hasn't been blowing, it's not too cold here. The snow's very pretty and we do need the moisture right now.

I taught my first class of the semester today. Even though I've been teaching for a while, I'm still always a little nervous on the first day of class. Class went well, though we didn't get through everything like I had hoped. I have a rather dynamic group of students, so I think the semester's going to be a lot of fun. I'd been teaching business and professional writing for the last few semesters, but I have a general composition class again this semester. I still need to construct the overall schedule for the semester. I think I'll go home, watch the snow fall, make a cup of tea, and work on the schedule....

Monday....

I don't think I'm going to like Mondays this semester. Today was the first day of classes for the new semester, and today was a very, very long day. I'm taking two classes that meet on Mondays: one from 2-5 and another from 6-9. I enjoy the subject matter of both courses, but my attention span just doesn't seem to be long enough to sit through two classes in one day. I was attentive during the first class, but I could feel myself fading during the second class. I know that the rest of the week should be easier to manage, but today just seemed dreadfully long....

I'm Back....

Hello, I'm back!! I returned home yesterday, and the spring semester starts tomorrow.

I spent the past week in New Orleans visiting Jimmy and his family. I had a lot of fun, and I got to see and do quite a few things while I was there. (There are lots of things to see and do there -- even after the hurricanes.) I took pictures and I'm hoping they turn out; the security people at the airport made me put my camera and film through the x-ray machine (they refused to hand search my camera--I wasn't happy), so who knows what will happen.... Anyway, here are a few general pictures of some of the things I got to see.

(St. Louis Cathedral, Bourbon Street at Night, and the Mississippi River Bridge)