Thursday, January 31, 2008
snow day!
We got probably a foot of snow last night, judging by the birdfeeder in my yard which had no snow on the top yesterday but does now. It's still coming down and probably will keep snowing for at least 24-48 more hours.
Classes are cancelled, but the basketball game against Cal is still on. Feel free to draw your own conclusions from that, but I'll be at the game. It's only a ten-minute walk. Then again, so are my classrooms. Go on, keep drawing your own conclusions.
But I am thrilled to have a snow day. I need to catch up on a lot of things (like BLOGGING).
Funny IM this morning from my California friends when I told them there was a snow day:
CA friend: [partner] asked if you're now running around the house in your jammies (as apparently that's what you do when you hear it's a snow day)
To which I replied, honestly, "why yes, actually I did just do that."
You'll all be pleased to know that I now have actual pants on and even took a shower. But I still have that snow day euphoria that's making me wander around going "what should I do now?" even though I have a zillion things to do.
Labels: grad school, misc life
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
multilingual
Yesterday I came home to a box of books on my doorstep. Not unusual, because Amazon.com loves me, but this package was from my publisher. They do a good job of filling my closet with books I can't read but I keep because they make me look cool. Or geeky. Can't decide which.
You see, these books are in Lithuanian.
I thought it was Polish when I looked at it the first time (there goes my gig with the UN) but it was slightly, um, not-Polish-looking-enough that I looked in the front matter and found the publisher's URL: a dot-lt, which is Lithuania. So there you go: a new language to add to the list.
So far, I've had books published in the following languages (not all books in all languages): Arabic, Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish.
I've been doing this (writing books thing) for eight years now and still this whole translation thing makes me laugh. I mean really, I still can't get over that people read this stuff in English, let alone Lithuanian. Cracks me up.
You see, these books are in Lithuanian.
I thought it was Polish when I looked at it the first time (there goes my gig with the UN) but it was slightly, um, not-Polish-looking-enough that I looked in the front matter and found the publisher's URL: a dot-lt, which is Lithuania. So there you go: a new language to add to the list.
So far, I've had books published in the following languages (not all books in all languages): Arabic, Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish.
I've been doing this (writing books thing) for eight years now and still this whole translation thing makes me laugh. I mean really, I still can't get over that people read this stuff in English, let alone Lithuanian. Cracks me up.
Labels: misc life, technical interlude
Sunday, January 20, 2008
I have a terrible secret (which I will share with you)
I am a sucker for marching bands. Or pep bands (the ones at, say, basketball games), or whatever they're called. I am especially fond of band arrangements of Green Day songs. I think it's cool.
That is all.
[More later. I actually have a zillion things to blog about but haven't because I'm lame.]
That is all.
[More later. I actually have a zillion things to blog about but haven't because I'm lame.]
Labels: misc life
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
and then just like that it was the middle of week 2
Um...busy. Not doing so well with the theme for the year. But will post soon.
In fact, now that I've said this, I'll probably post later today. But who knows.
Bonus fact: it is 7 degrees right now. Brrr.
In fact, now that I've said this, I'll probably post later today. But who knows.
Bonus fact: it is 7 degrees right now. Brrr.
Labels: grad school, misc life
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
wait...it's day THREE already?
So today is the third day of school. I completely missed talking about days 1 and 2. I will do that at some point, but not right this moment. Busy now!
I do wish the gaiters I bought at REI the other day weren't the wrong size. Not only do I have to haul myself back up to Spokane (the horror!) but, more importantly, I can't wear them today as I trudge to school in the snow. Lots of snow.
I do wish the gaiters I bought at REI the other day weren't the wrong size. Not only do I have to haul myself back up to Spokane (the horror!) but, more importantly, I can't wear them today as I trudge to school in the snow. Lots of snow.
Labels: grad school, misc life
Saturday, January 5, 2008
victory!
This is the first time Mini and Max have ever sat next to each other! Usually, Max gets within a foot of her and she starts growling at him. But they've begun to bond over their mutual love of drinking out of the bathroom faucet, so they've been tolerating each other much more.
Today I was sitting on the couch and Mini just hopped up and snuggled right next to Max (Deuce had been there for the previous few hours). The snuggling only lasted a few minutes before Mini decided that sitting in front of the sliding glass door and watching the squirrels chew on their corncobs was much more interesting. But still, this is a breakthrough!
Labels: misc life
Friday, January 4, 2008
classes start on monday
Okey doke. I'm ready. Let's get this party started!
* Syllabus...check.
* Set up a core amount of stuff in eLearning/Blackboard/WebCT/whatever the hell it's called now...check.
* E-mailed students with link to above...check.
* Checked out the classroom, got a set of the correct type of A/V cables to carry around with me, reserved days for class in the computer lab...check.
* Gave syllabus to the office folks to copy...check.
* Got all the books for my own seminars...check.
* Set up my master "seminar assignments" document with all the stuff I have to do for each class for each week...check-ish (I only have 2 of the 4 syllabi).
* Got a new bag even though I don't need one and I can only use it on non-computer-carrying days but I love bags and it was on sale...check.
* Got new shoes, for all the reasons listed above except the one about carrying my computer...check.
* Got a haircut.
See? All ready!
******************************
When I read New Kid's post the other day, I read the opening lines and thought "yes! that's so true!"
When I stopped for half a second and thought about it, I realized that while it is true that I hate walking into a room full of strangers [In college, I ate alone in the dining hall exactly once in three years. I would have rather gone hungry than walk in alone. I've gotten over that extreme position.], I do not mind walking into a room full of students (who are strangers). I don't find it the least bit intimidating. I wondered why that is, for just a moment, and then moved onto other things like trying to figure out what the hell to wear on the first day of school.
* Syllabus...check.
* Set up a core amount of stuff in eLearning/Blackboard/WebCT/whatever the hell it's called now...check.
* E-mailed students with link to above...check.
* Checked out the classroom, got a set of the correct type of A/V cables to carry around with me, reserved days for class in the computer lab...check.
* Gave syllabus to the office folks to copy...check.
* Got all the books for my own seminars...check.
* Set up my master "seminar assignments" document with all the stuff I have to do for each class for each week...check-ish (I only have 2 of the 4 syllabi).
* Got a new bag even though I don't need one and I can only use it on non-computer-carrying days but I love bags and it was on sale...check.
* Got new shoes, for all the reasons listed above except the one about carrying my computer...check.
* Got a haircut.
See? All ready!
******************************
When I read New Kid's post the other day, I read the opening lines and thought "yes! that's so true!"
"There are things I hate about the first day of class. I hate walking into a room full of strangers; I find students in the anonymous collective kind of intimidating"Then I immediately said, "Wait, that's not true at all." I focused on the phrase that is true for me: "I hate walking into a room full of strangers."
When I stopped for half a second and thought about it, I realized that while it is true that I hate walking into a room full of strangers [In college, I ate alone in the dining hall exactly once in three years. I would have rather gone hungry than walk in alone. I've gotten over that extreme position.], I do not mind walking into a room full of students (who are strangers). I don't find it the least bit intimidating. I wondered why that is, for just a moment, and then moved onto other things like trying to figure out what the hell to wear on the first day of school.
Labels: teacher-like
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
happy new year!
I'm not a resolution-maker (I said the same thing last year), but I am all about wishing people a happy day.
When I did a search for "resolution" on this site, to ensure that indeed I did not make any resolutions last year, I was reminded of the theme for 2007. I had forgotten. Then I chuckled (out loud, even).
The theme for 2007, per Dr. Shellie, was "embrace uncertainty." In last year's post I said:
Since last year's borrowing-a-theme-from-someone-else worked out so well, I'm going to do it again this year. I'm adopting undine's 4th academic resolution as a theme (not a resolution!):
It's easier to stay caught up than to get caught up.
Yep. That's going to be my theme. Or guiding principle. Something like that.
......................................................
Totally unrelated, but funny: "You know you live in a sparsely populated region when..." you're driving back from Spokane (72 miles, looks like this only with snow) and you get a phone call. The call goes like this:
"Dude, are you driving back from Spokane?"
"Uh, yes..."
"I just passed you!"
[cell reception drops out]
......................................................
cracked me up.
Happy New Year!
When I did a search for "resolution" on this site, to ensure that indeed I did not make any resolutions last year, I was reminded of the theme for 2007. I had forgotten. Then I chuckled (out loud, even).
The theme for 2007, per Dr. Shellie, was "embrace uncertainty." In last year's post I said:
I'm a planner. I like things to be orderly. I do not enjoy not knowing where I'll be in eight months. But what can I really do about it? Nothing. So, I should embrace uncertainty. I'm not sure I can go that far, so maybe my theme for 2007 (at least the first 3/4 of it) should be "ignore uncertainty."Why the chuckling? Because (almost) everything worked out just fine. I love it here. [The not-selling-the-condo-yet thing keeps me from saying "everything worked out".]
Since last year's borrowing-a-theme-from-someone-else worked out so well, I'm going to do it again this year. I'm adopting undine's 4th academic resolution as a theme (not a resolution!):
It's easier to stay caught up than to get caught up.
Yep. That's going to be my theme. Or guiding principle. Something like that.
......................................................
Totally unrelated, but funny: "You know you live in a sparsely populated region when..." you're driving back from Spokane (72 miles, looks like this only with snow) and you get a phone call. The call goes like this:
"Dude, are you driving back from Spokane?"
"Uh, yes..."
"I just passed you!"
[cell reception drops out]
......................................................
cracked me up.
Happy New Year!
Labels: misc life