I finally have a free moment to update! The past few weeks have been a toss up between being busy, exhausted, or house hunting. Luckily I seem to have solved one of these problems!
I'm nearing the end of my first year in graduate school --- holy cow that went fast! I have a lot of stuff to do before then end of the year still. I'm almost done with the big project (analyzing the weaving tools). I have one more big paper, and then a short 5 pager. I think I'm going to make it :)
Teaching is going well. Only one more lab this semester and I am done teaching for a few months!
I bought my ticket to Turkey for the summer. I'm leaving June 20th and will spend a few days in Antalya (be sure to click the link and see the Wiki page for photos) before going to my excavation site. The site I'll be at is called Alalakh. I'm getting pretty excited. I'll be there for over two months.
On to the good news. Don't want to get ahead of myself like I did last time, but it looks like I've got a house. I should explain, my offer and such was accepted, I'm just waiting for a good inspection. I thought I was going to have a house a month or so ago, but the inspection went poorly and I withdrew my offer. I've taken photos of the house already, but I'll wait to post them until I'm 100% sure. Keep your fingers crossed! Its a pretty big house in need of a good deal of work, luckily its mostly just aesthetics --- no major structural issues that I'm aware of!
Other than that, I've been trying to have some fun when I can. I planned on going to the zoo today, but it was much colder than the rest of the week has been and it was supposed to rain, so I decided to postpone it. I did manage to get a late breakfast instead which was really yummy! I get random cravings for biscuits and gravy some days. I'm not from the South as far as I'm aware... Tomorrow my friend Linda and I are going to the Minneapolis-St. Paul annual home tour. I figured it would be a good way to see what some of the other houses around here look like so I know what my competition will be when I go to sell mine in 5+ years and also it will be good for getting some ideas about how I want to decorate! I'll try to take pictures of the good ones!
Mmmmk...nothing else too exciting to report other than my strange eating habits: I've almost eaten an entire package of Oreos in two days (only one row left), chips with canned cheese, and some other strange things. That's the thing about eating natural foods/mostly organic, when you get cravings to processed stuff, you end up binging on it and then you feel like crap later, but you just can't stop eating. I think that illustrates some major food altering/added chemicals to make you addicted to the food! Yikes!
25 April 2009
09 April 2009
Stress.
Classes are busy. Super stressed.
Now addicted to coffee. Non-voluntarily awake-ness late at night. Tired. Need more coffee. Vicious cycle.
Important revelation had. Grad school is like joining the military. Breaks your spirit and re-trains you how to think. Don't like the former of these. Similar to domesticating animals.
Trying to find a house to buy. Stressful. Two fell through already. Still looking. More stress with a touch of constant nervousness.
Teaching is good. Didn't get the fellowship I applied for. Sadness. Will be teaching next fall. Lame.
Leave for Turkey around June 20th. Very nice.
Figured out my tentative committee. This is good. Narrowed down possible dissertation topic. Also good.
Weather is improving. Definitely good.
Finally updated blog. Very good. Will write more later. Satisfactory.
Now addicted to coffee. Non-voluntarily awake-ness late at night. Tired. Need more coffee. Vicious cycle.
Important revelation had. Grad school is like joining the military. Breaks your spirit and re-trains you how to think. Don't like the former of these. Similar to domesticating animals.
Trying to find a house to buy. Stressful. Two fell through already. Still looking. More stress with a touch of constant nervousness.
Teaching is good. Didn't get the fellowship I applied for. Sadness. Will be teaching next fall. Lame.
Leave for Turkey around June 20th. Very nice.
Figured out my tentative committee. This is good. Narrowed down possible dissertation topic. Also good.
Weather is improving. Definitely good.
Finally updated blog. Very good. Will write more later. Satisfactory.
12 March 2009
Ello, ello!
I have not been updating because frankly I am exhausted! It is the beginning of the "bad part" of the semester and it is going to be pretty crazy. I will try to share a few things though...
My classes are fine. I am working my ass off in my artifact course. I was up twice this week til 3:30AM and haven't gone to sleep before 12:30 for the others. Its pretty time consuming, but seems to be going well. I got over my own insecurities and trusted my judgment enough to name/label my bone tools that I am responsible for based on my own opinions and reasoning. It may sound like a ridiculous fear, but everyone in archaeology has an opinion and I had to really think about why I was making the decisions I was. I had to consider whether this would make sense to others and if it was logical. My assessment was going against previous work done on this topic and I feared I may receive strong criticisms for it. The work we are doing on these artifacts will be published eventually, so I want it to be thorough and good.
I have a wonderful bunch of students this year. I've received several compliments from a few recently telling me that I'm doing a great job as a TA, that my enthusiasm has not gone unnoticed, and that they appreciate the extra effort I'm putting in making sure they are doing well and that I care. It has really lifted my spirits and confidence. I tried really hard with my kids last semester, but most were so bitter toward the course that they didn't care how hard I tried/cared. I honestly do want to see them do well and I'm glad when they do. These kids are also doing much better in the course which also works well for me because I can start using up my vintage sticker collection. Haha! I tell them to look at the copyright dates on some of the stickers and they laugh because they are definitely from the late 1980s or early 1990s. I knew I didn't use them for a reason! :)
Let's see, what else, what else... We have spring break next week which I cannot wait for! Mom and Greg are coming for a visit so I will finally see some of the cities, haha! I will be sure to update about what we did/saw/went. I also have a lot of work to do, so it wont be all fun and games.
My undergraduate professor, Mark, that I went to Turkey with has a new series on the History Channel. The show is called Battles BC and airs Monday nights 9PM E, 8 PM C. It started this week. It was fun to see Mark on TV again (he previously was on the show Bible Battles). The new one is neat because it is filmed in the style of movies like 300 or Sin City. The budget is obviously significantly less, so the quality isn't as good, but it is still fun.
Mea is well. She has started sleeping on my side of the bed now (her big monthly move of the favorite spot). She is stubborn as stubborn can be though. I got into bed last night and kept nudging her out of the way and ended up with my feet under her. She couldn't have been comfortable, but she didn't move... Are children like this??? If so...ugh.
Anywho... I'll leave all you Michiganders with an interesting link. It is a photo-story from Time magazine called Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline. It was pretty incredible to see these photos. I've always thought Detroit was an absolute shithole, but it really was something back in the day. I didn't even know half of these buildings existed. It is sad to see their current state because many are lovely, but broken and dirty now. Another strange experience I had looking at these was the feeling that I was at an archaeological site. Quite similar actually because the only things present are the structures and trash, no people or signs of life. Very eerie and apocalyptic.
Alright, on that cheery note, off to do work (hopefully).
My classes are fine. I am working my ass off in my artifact course. I was up twice this week til 3:30AM and haven't gone to sleep before 12:30 for the others. Its pretty time consuming, but seems to be going well. I got over my own insecurities and trusted my judgment enough to name/label my bone tools that I am responsible for based on my own opinions and reasoning. It may sound like a ridiculous fear, but everyone in archaeology has an opinion and I had to really think about why I was making the decisions I was. I had to consider whether this would make sense to others and if it was logical. My assessment was going against previous work done on this topic and I feared I may receive strong criticisms for it. The work we are doing on these artifacts will be published eventually, so I want it to be thorough and good.
I have a wonderful bunch of students this year. I've received several compliments from a few recently telling me that I'm doing a great job as a TA, that my enthusiasm has not gone unnoticed, and that they appreciate the extra effort I'm putting in making sure they are doing well and that I care. It has really lifted my spirits and confidence. I tried really hard with my kids last semester, but most were so bitter toward the course that they didn't care how hard I tried/cared. I honestly do want to see them do well and I'm glad when they do. These kids are also doing much better in the course which also works well for me because I can start using up my vintage sticker collection. Haha! I tell them to look at the copyright dates on some of the stickers and they laugh because they are definitely from the late 1980s or early 1990s. I knew I didn't use them for a reason! :)
Let's see, what else, what else... We have spring break next week which I cannot wait for! Mom and Greg are coming for a visit so I will finally see some of the cities, haha! I will be sure to update about what we did/saw/went. I also have a lot of work to do, so it wont be all fun and games.
My undergraduate professor, Mark, that I went to Turkey with has a new series on the History Channel. The show is called Battles BC and airs Monday nights 9PM E, 8 PM C. It started this week. It was fun to see Mark on TV again (he previously was on the show Bible Battles). The new one is neat because it is filmed in the style of movies like 300 or Sin City. The budget is obviously significantly less, so the quality isn't as good, but it is still fun.
Mea is well. She has started sleeping on my side of the bed now (her big monthly move of the favorite spot). She is stubborn as stubborn can be though. I got into bed last night and kept nudging her out of the way and ended up with my feet under her. She couldn't have been comfortable, but she didn't move... Are children like this??? If so...ugh.
Anywho... I'll leave all you Michiganders with an interesting link. It is a photo-story from Time magazine called Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline. It was pretty incredible to see these photos. I've always thought Detroit was an absolute shithole, but it really was something back in the day. I didn't even know half of these buildings existed. It is sad to see their current state because many are lovely, but broken and dirty now. Another strange experience I had looking at these was the feeling that I was at an archaeological site. Quite similar actually because the only things present are the structures and trash, no people or signs of life. Very eerie and apocalyptic.
Alright, on that cheery note, off to do work (hopefully).
25 February 2009
Who Doesn't Like a Good Cat Video?
Its been a yucky week so far, mostly because I'm sick again and am starting to feel the crunch of the semester. I somehow got on to YouTube and ended up watching cat videos after a while. These are some of the highlights sure to bring a smile to your face. Enjoy!
Treadmill Kitty
Mea's Long Lost Cousin?
Talking Kitties (an oldie, but still funny, also see the translated version!)
Piano Playing Cat
The Funniest By Far...
And just to provide a brief update... Classes are fine, I'm quite tired though (probably just from being sick). My kids that I'm teaching this semester are pretty awesome...very smart and quick with labs which I think is VERY nice. Outside of school, nothing too exciting going on in my life...its pretty much all school all the time...school and Netflix, haha! Sad to think I'm wasting all of my "good years" in front of a computer or in a book... I'm sure grad school will be worth it in the end...
I don't think I posted anything of substance last week either, but it wasn't a very good week either. Another of my dogs, Chip-Chip, as I called him, had to be put to sleep. I was pretty sad, but he was Rook's best friend, so at least he will have company up in little doggie heaven. Its crazy for me to think that Rook died a year ago already...also crazy to think I was in Europe this time last year too...it went by so fast! Yikes! Speaking of Europe, I will try to get some pictures up eventually or a video. Maybe I'll do that over spring break when I'll have a moment or two for an actual life... Haha! Don't keep your fingers crossed, but I will do my best!
Treadmill Kitty
Mea's Long Lost Cousin?
Talking Kitties (an oldie, but still funny, also see the translated version!)
Piano Playing Cat
The Funniest By Far...
And just to provide a brief update... Classes are fine, I'm quite tired though (probably just from being sick). My kids that I'm teaching this semester are pretty awesome...very smart and quick with labs which I think is VERY nice. Outside of school, nothing too exciting going on in my life...its pretty much all school all the time...school and Netflix, haha! Sad to think I'm wasting all of my "good years" in front of a computer or in a book... I'm sure grad school will be worth it in the end...
I don't think I posted anything of substance last week either, but it wasn't a very good week either. Another of my dogs, Chip-Chip, as I called him, had to be put to sleep. I was pretty sad, but he was Rook's best friend, so at least he will have company up in little doggie heaven. Its crazy for me to think that Rook died a year ago already...also crazy to think I was in Europe this time last year too...it went by so fast! Yikes! Speaking of Europe, I will try to get some pictures up eventually or a video. Maybe I'll do that over spring break when I'll have a moment or two for an actual life... Haha! Don't keep your fingers crossed, but I will do my best!
14 February 2009
What Would Charles Darwin Think?
Hello, hello! Happy Valentine's Day all! It has been an eventful week in history! Some of you may know that it was Abe Lincoln's birthday on Thursday, but it was Charles Darwin's 200th Birthday as well!
Since the first month of 1001 (the Human Evolution course I TA for) covers nothing but evolution and natural selection, compliments of Darwin, I figured it was only appropriate to throw him a birthday party :) Linda and I teamed up to throw an across-the-hall party Thursday evening chalk-full of Darwinian fun. We named each of our apartments after an island in the Galapagos where Darwin visited (I was Daphne Major and she was Genovesa). Our food was all themed around the Galapagos or Darwin as well, including: fruit, nuts, seeds of various sizes (tied to how Darwin figured out natural selection), a birthday cake with a Darwin fish on it, and seaweed salad, which was quite good I assure you. We also had Darwin-themed games such as "Pin the Beak on Darwin's Finch" and "Darwinian Pictionary." (Click the link to see the results of the game and the cake!) It was all quite clever and dorky overall, but it was a really great time :)
In general, that was the highlight of my week. Pretty uneventful other than the party, but good overall! Here is a link so you can have some Darwinian fun yourself! DEVOLVE YOURSELF!
Since the first month of 1001 (the Human Evolution course I TA for) covers nothing but evolution and natural selection, compliments of Darwin, I figured it was only appropriate to throw him a birthday party :) Linda and I teamed up to throw an across-the-hall party Thursday evening chalk-full of Darwinian fun. We named each of our apartments after an island in the Galapagos where Darwin visited (I was Daphne Major and she was Genovesa). Our food was all themed around the Galapagos or Darwin as well, including: fruit, nuts, seeds of various sizes (tied to how Darwin figured out natural selection), a birthday cake with a Darwin fish on it, and seaweed salad, which was quite good I assure you. We also had Darwin-themed games such as "Pin the Beak on Darwin's Finch" and "Darwinian Pictionary." (Click the link to see the results of the game and the cake!) It was all quite clever and dorky overall, but it was a really great time :)In general, that was the highlight of my week. Pretty uneventful other than the party, but good overall! Here is a link so you can have some Darwinian fun yourself! DEVOLVE YOURSELF!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)