B

i need to stop watching dr. oz

2009-11-10T18:57:15Z

because now every time someone flushes the toilet without the lid down, i want to buy a new toothbrush. :/

go now; go

2009-04-16T04:48:18Z

it's getting kind of cacophonous in my head lately. that time in the semester, i suppose. i am effing sick of school already and can't waitt to be over. my semester has been insanely busy: three classes, working in the marc office and the writing center, as well as tutoring online, and presenting at *three* conferences. what a relief to know that it soon will be over, the summer will be here, and i'll finally have time to write my thesis. i've been thinking about it all year and think i've finally gotten narrow enough. it does have to do with blogs, which i'm kind of sick of at this point after studying them so much the past few years, but also incorporates other online media (flickr, twitter, and all sorts of goodies), and rhetorical construction of gendered and sexual identities blahblahblah. i will be posting more here as it becomes more refined and tangible. anyway, i'm so glad to finally get to this process, because i'm so over this semester and it's become increasingly hard for me to focus, to care, to put forth my best efforts. so, glad to say i'm nearly done with coursework.

also: sarah and i are moving to austin, finally, into a super cute house in cherrywood! we've been so incredibly lucky about the whole thing: we didn't have to look at all for our place-- it was literally the first place we saw. it will be insanely stressful to move during finals (papers + presentations for me), but a) i've finished all my work for one class already, and b) i've started packing a few days ago. of course! i'm still a little nervous about getting a job in austin, but i'll be working on campus through august, so i do have some time to look.

ha, i kind of can't believe sarah is watching the real world/road rules challenge. okay, i kind of can. silly girl.

you're a rock with a heart like a socket

2009-02-20T05:09:09Z

damn. three months, really?

i really wish i would actually be more regular with my LJ updates. i'll never give up, jack!

oh my, has it been a busy last few months. i spent most of my winter break with my family--almost three weeks, i think. it's hard when your parents are divorced. i always feel like i have to give them equal time. plus, my dad is a stroke patient and that makes me feel like i should spend even *more* time over there than i already do. this is nothing new, friends, i know you know already. it's just hard to reconcile. still.

anyway, after winter break, i was lucky to have gone camping with my friends. i so love camping with them-- it's a burgeoning tradition that i hope will last a lot longer. it's so relaxing. we went to inks lake, a whole bunch of us, and camped through freezing weather! of course, there was lots of beer/whiskey to help us keep warm, but the first morning that we woke up, we found our water and food partially frozen. it warmed up saturday afternoon, and we hiked during the afternoon, made delicious campfire dinners and had an unusually loud sing-along at night.

that weekend was my one respite before the storm of my spring semester. i have been pretty constantly busy since then. i hate to say it, but it's almost like i was burned out from the beginning. political rhetoric isn't what i thought it'd be at all, but tonight's class was a lot more promising. we had some good discussions and actually talked about the material, so maybe we just needed to find our groove. the tav's class does not seem to be coherent or well thought-out. i'm lucky that i have one class i love-- digital literacies with deb. it's totally as cool as i thought it'd be, even though it can get sorta "luddite vs. cyborg"-y. so that on top of being a GA and writing center tutor has not allowed much free time. i'm also doing online tutoring at the writing center this semester, which is pretty cool. it can be frustrating at times, but still pleasurable in terms of being able to utilize new technologies (and tutor at home).

geez, what a generic update. this shitty entry should be the motivation to write here more. i'm totally happy that i'm finally home--finally-- after being on campus for 12 hours. time for sierra nevada and 30 rock.

it's all happening

2008-12-15T07:42:10Z

i finished my papers for the semester today.   feels damn good.   i'm halfway done! next semester is my last semester of regular coursework, and then it's thesis time. oh yes, i can do this--- i am doing it! also, i found out that i won a scholarship to attend the CCCC conference next semester! (i found out earlier this semester that i'd been accepted to present already.) i'm so super stoked that i actually won something, and that it's money that will go toward my trip. it's not a usual feeling that i am this proud of myself, so i'm just going to go with it while it lasts. i'm already excited about next semester, both course-wise (digital literacies! political rhetoric! oh my!) and about the conferences.   i got into two other conferences for next semester, but those are regional, not national. so, very exciting upcoming semester, but also a busy one.   hopefuly i will allow myself to take it easy over the break, but sarah and i are already committed to a family trip to CO *and* christy will be visiting from sweden and will likely want a lot of my time. you know i'm already practicing how to say no to her. :)

more good news: we just heard back that my little sister was accepted to american university! she's continuing the trait of our family to go east for school (although i clearly bucked that trend, spending only my first year at hollins).   can't believe she is going to be a college student in less than a year. omg what a cheesy mom-like thing to say. end embarraassing moment.

it's weird to be writing an LJ and not complain about something.   even though i'm exhausted, my brain's still going and i haven't fallen asleep yet. i watched a movie in bed which sometimes works, but not tonight. i finished it and came out to the living room to click and look at our pretty christmas tree. gonna try and sleep, though. there's lots more to be done this week still, just not school stuff, but errands: clean house, affix new headboard to bed, take recycling, laundry, clean car, etc. these seem like the usual errands; the ones that we keep performing over and over. blah. i'm sure there's more, but i'm too tired and frazzled still to think properly. gonna try that sleep thing again. wish me luck.

wah

2008-11-19T00:43:02Z

i'm sick. it's just a cold, but gosh, those can be so intense! so i stayed home today, and i'm trying to get some work done anyway, but i keep falling asleep. however, tortilla soup is being delivered to my doorstep right now, and sarah went out and got some lozenges and tea for me last night, so i'm good. well, as good as can be expected.

i want to write about the prop 8 protest, the work i'm doing, the conference i just applied to, etc. i don't have the energy, though. i'm trying to write a viewing response for mckinney right now and it's taken me WAY too long to get it done. i finished one earlier for she must be seeing things; now i'm trying to get one done for vampire lovers. no movie with so many gratuitous boob shots has ever taken me so long to finish. seriously, i need to get it done soon because i have to finish a book for tomorrow that i'm only halfway through with. ugh.

ooh, soup's here. i promise i'll write more soon!

to make you feel loved, to make you feel safe

2008-11-02T21:46:44Z

yay! a good weekend, finally.

i'm still busy as hell, but it really helps to have some time to unwind and relax. i feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle this week's work. and hoo boy, is there a lot of it. i need to get started on my lit review, mapping activity (stupid creative responses--argh, i hate them), and a presentation this week on feminist compositionists. i really hate that the last month of school is so frenetic, but it feels good to know that i'm almost done. almost done, almost done, almost done with the semester.

so we stayed home this halloween, save for happy hour on friday with some friends. it's been wonderful. i feel rested, i used up the last of the produce in the fridge (yay for not being wasteful!), and spent lots of quality time with the lady. we haven't had any tension-filled discussions in a few weeks, and i'm really happy that we seem to have been restored to our usual happy and in love selves. i was able this weekend to clean house, make yummy foodstuffs, be social, have time with the lady, *and* get some reading done. it feels pretty good to have accomplished so much and still feel so energetic.

i've been thinking about my thesis a lot lately. i'm not taking thesis A until the summer, so don't have to have a proposal ready until the end of spring at least, but i'm concerned that i haven't been able to narrow my focus yet. i'm ready to start preparing for it and i wish i could just have that kind of "aha!" moment when it clicks and i just know what it is i mean to say. i'm not worried though, just ready for the next step. also i am glad that deb agreed to be my thesis chair. stlll havent asked dr. mckinney if she will be my third reader, because i feel it's a little premature, but we have been having lots of productive meetings and she seems really interested and willing to help, so... at least i have a rad thesis committee?

gah! i'm supposed to be writing a reading response. i was only a few paragraphs in and i'm already updating my LJ. yes, i'm very predictable. have a wonderful week, all.

i've got a ring that my grandmother gave to me

2008-10-21T17:36:48Z

um. yeah. i am not reading right now. i should be reading RIGHT NOW and i can't seem to get the fuck off the internet.

oh the internet. my biggest distraction.

devitt's writing genres is not my favorite book this semester. it is a pretty dull read. mind-numbing, actually.

the most horrific thing of all, though, is that even though i am bored to tears by this book, and perhaps genre theory in general, i'm now thinking about writing about blogs as genre for my thesis. that's some kind of masochism, eh?

i used to have a life once

2008-10-04T00:46:32Z

well my, my, how easy it is to spot PMS in hindsight!

yes, last week's crankiness was predictably due to raging premenstrual hormones. but it was fun i wanted, and fun i had at ACL. by the third day, though, i was completely spent. sarah and i spent a large portion of the day just standing at the front of the at & t blue room stage (where, ironically, no at & t service was to be had) to ensure a spot in the very front rows for tegan and sara. i still wish they'd played an actual show in austin instead of just doing the festival, but those 45 minutes were a.m.a.z.i.n.g. no matter than i am probably a full 5 years older, at least, than most of the kids surrounding me. dammit, t and s didn't used to be such a teenybopper band, but now they are, and i still like them just as much. oh well.   plus i got to see david byrne! omg david bryne! he put on a really awesome show, too. mostly all the shows i saw i liked, but i'm so glad it's over-- it took a lot out of me.

i made a yummy and easy vegetable curry recipe yesterday from america's test kitchen. cauliflower, potato, and chickpeas. it was delicous, and if curry looked a fraction as good as it tasted, there'd be a photo. i also made the recipes for the basmati rice pilaf and cilantro mint chutney.   it was all good stuff, and there's a ton leftover, which is oh so convenient.

my composition theory class last wednesday was so good! omg! neither of those two annoying people were in class that day (i don't really understand the frequent absences either), and everyone else read and we had a wonderful discussion. we even stayed a little later past the end of class talking about funny things like triangulation.   also, i got my first grades of the semester back, and they were all pretty high, so i'm just peachy at the moment. i've got a ton of work to do this weekend, and i'm going to try and get it done at my dad's. i'm leaving tomorrow to spend the day/night with him. i hope i don't worry too much during my stay or feel guilty when it's time to leave. that tends to happen when i realize how depressing it is to sit in a wheelchair alone all day, every day, with nary a visitor. i can't imagine how lonely and frustrated he must be. i wish i could make it better.

i participated in the twitter/current hack the debate last night. (gah, i'm such a nerd!) it was actually really fun for me; also two of my tweets made it to the big screen. kinda cool that i had a teensy bit of agency for that one micromoment. on a related note, i know i'm probably preaching to the choir here, but if any of you guys aren't registered to vote yet, please do so by the 6th!   please please please.

okay, it's time for the madd (this is what sarah and i now call the rachel maddow show). enjoy your weekend, friends.

i can do the real bang bang

2008-09-10T22:43:48Z

one quick thing before off to class: is it too soon to be thinking about braised pot roast? fall officially starts sometime soon-ish (the googles tell me the autumnal equinox is on september 22), but it's still in the nineties here most days... but, oh, doesn't a pot roast, molly stevens style, sound heavenly?

on that end, summer passed and i hardly took any food photos. i'm not meant to be a food blogger, i 'spose; i'm such a mediocre photographer anyway. drinks, on the other hand, hoo boy. i went through almost three bottles of campari this summer. my love of jasmines needs curbed, stat.

singed hair and rose champagne (sparkling wine, rather)

2008-09-10T01:50:47Z

i've been meaning to write an LJ update for months now, months! and i've just literally burned my hair and eyelashes, so i can think of no better time for said update than right now. because, really, what is my LJ besides a sounding board for my self-pity and navel gazing?

my second semester of grad school is going well, i think. i feel a lot better prepared for the readings, discussions, and overall rigor. i'm taking an independent study on queer theory with mckinney (be still, my heart! my favorite professor ever) , which is nice for the reasons that 1) we don't have official meetings, so it seems like i have one less class than i actually do, and 2) some of the texts are ones i've already read, so i don't feel like i'm jumping in headfirst into a subject about which i know nothing (thus feeling inferior, with little to no insight, etc).   although i did love my research gig at MCGS (multicultural and gender studies), i didn't love my boss so much, so i've moved on. i'm now TA-ing for the director of my program. that, in itself, has been a refreshing change. also, i found out recently that i've been accepted to present at my first conference--the biggest in my field-- in march in san fran. that's so! exciting!   i'm applying for a few other ones, but the 4Cs (formally known as the conference on college composition and communication) is the biggie, so i'm really pleased that i made it in.   i'm also doing a little grant-writing with the director of the writing center on campus-- she is looking to develop one at the local high school-- so that's also (somewhat) exciting, and definitely good for the resume/cv.

so my stepbrother's wedding is this weekend.   it's supposed to be a big formal to do, which has thus far involved sarah and i spending a lot more money than we can afford on new clothes, alterations, shoes, etc. i finally picked my dress up this afternoon, and was felt so good about getting it all done in time. i even got some contacts today to wear instead of my glasses. the contacts were still in when i got home; sarah and i were in the middle of prepping dinner when i leaned down to turn the oven on (we have an old gas model that requires the pilot light to be lit manually). as soon as i opened the oven door, flames literally came bursting out of the oven and ONTO MY HAIR AND FACE. yes. i got burned. literally.

i know that i should just be happy that i wasn't seriously injured, which obviously would've been a lot worse, but, well, vanity's a bitch. my hairline looks so wonky now, because all the hairs around it got burned.  and my eyelashes? half-length little stubs. this happened the only day in years that i wasn't wearing my glasses, which would have protected my poor little lashes. i don't know what i am going to do about the wedding. i am going to visit my stylist tomorrow to ask her for suggestions about the hairline. i am hoping that bangs will remedy or disguise this. i am contemplating wearing false lashes to the wedding (though i really don't want to look like a drag queen)... i know it's not a big deal, but i'm upset over it anyway.

i've got to finish up my readings for tomorrow, so that's all for now. i do plan to update more frequently, though. we'll see about that...

yadda yadda

2007-07-31T16:21:59Z

currently eating kashi instant oatmeal with a generous handful of blueberries thrown in for good measure.

i'm still working on that paper, that paper that's taken me forever to complete. my writing skills have really gone out the window over the summer, what with the extreme divergence in focus, from school/ academia to caregiving, moving, etc etc. graduation is looming ever near, but it still hasn't hit me. she got me an awesome awesome awesome graduation present: sarah and i are boarding the rhapsody of the seas the day after graduation for a seven day vacay to the yucatan!!! woot!!! i cannot wait. honestly, i'm just floored by my mama's generosity sometimes.

i've been quite lazy about food blogging lately, i know-- between eating out a lot last week and being out of town (went to visit my papa) and lots of social outings, there weren't too many meals of the healthy variety. i've continued to eat whole fruits and veggies; i've been eating peaches almost daily, and watermelons, and tomatoes, etc. but very few actual prepared meals, hardly anything original, or photogenic for that matter.

and my dad's, well, he's the same. i'm getting used to the fact, finally, that his recovery just isn't happening, finally really recognizing that he never will be the same person. he still can't walk, and hasn't really regained all that much motion on his right side. he still suffers from aphasia pretty badly; he can say some words, but mostly he doesn't try because he's gotten so adept at communicating non-verbally. i'm not there often enough to try and initiate conversations with him, and i don't know what happens when i'm not there because my relationship with my brother is so strained that we don't really talk unless we're both visiting my father. it's been hard not feeling guilty about all this, especially with my siblings breathing down my neck, but my life is here, and although i do visit him frequently, i can't be his nursemaid. i don't think i have the emotional capacity to do it. i do what i can (namely visiting him, going to rehab with him, eating dinners together, etc.). it used to be enough, these weekly or bi-weekly visits, when he was well, but now it feels like so little.

anyway.

i s'pose i'll get back to work, as i'd really like to get this paper thing out of the way as soon as possible, so i can actually have time to work out and make something for dinner. i've got all the stuff for salade nicoise, so i may fix one up later. in the meantime, here are a few photos i did manage to take recently. nothing special, obviously.

my camera's not nice enough to get any great detailing out of these, but that's what i was going for.

ignore my badly bitten nails (told you i've been anxious).

my current obsession: pegu club cocktail. (3 oz bombay sapphire, 1 oz cointreau, 1 oz fresh lime juice, 4 dashes angostura bitters)

salud

2007-07-22T00:51:29Z

i very much needed to cleanse my body after the fried chicken and macaroni experience. it's not very easy to plan to eat healthfully when you're financially down to the wires, though, so i've been sticking to fruits and veggies from the grocery, or the fruit stand down the road. last week, i bought a bag of bing cherries and a watermelon from them. i thought very seriously about making a cherry claofouti, as i've been reading about them in some food blogs and on e-gullet recently. but i promised i myself a very spare week, so i just ate them out of the bowl and gave myself fuschia fingers and a dark red tongue.

this morning, i ate one of my favorite summertime treats: a perfectly ripe peach. after i took the photo, i added a handful or two of raspberries and ate a piece of buttered wheat toast with it.

an afternoon outing for errands made me irritable, as seemingly all of san marcos was out, and it took us over an hour just to return a movie (full disclosure-- it was stomp the yard) and stop for a few items at the store. so for dinner, we used the grill for the first time since our move-in. (you know me-- anything with a smoky, charred exterior perks me right up.) unfortunately, it started raining mid-grill, so our food was hurriedly finished with the grill lid on. outside, sarah grilled up some corn tortillas to form tostadas, and after a very light brushing of olive oil, salt and pepper, some tilapia fillets went on as well. inside, i sliced up some red onion and radishes with my handy-dandy mandoline. a tomato, an avocado, some key limes, and some cilantro were also cut. i made a simple side salad composed of butter lettuce, more radishes (i am obsessed), and a lemon vinaigrette. no pretty pictures here, because i was hungry and began eating as soon as everything was ready.

we're hoping to relax a little bit before going to alison's birthday party. good saturday, everyone!

oh no she didn't!!

2007-07-17T21:16:57Z

the lady has failed me!

ina garten/aka the barefoot contessa/aka my personal hero just butchered the word "paella." not pai-eh-ya, but pai-ella. as in fitzgerald.

i think i just fell out of love with her.

le poulet!

2007-07-17T21:14:16Z

the idea first struck me well over a year ago-- fried chicken, home fried in a cast iron skillet, until the exterior is perfectly browned and crispy, while maintaining (naturally) a moist and flavorful interior. what could be simpler?

yet again, i am unable to grasp the difference between simple and easy.

my fanciful thoughts came to fruition yesterday, when i found myself buying a whole chicken at the store, along with all the accoutrements for the task (splatter screen, instant read thermometer, CRISCO, for god's sake!). i'd already watched a few demos on cutting whole chickens, and though i've had some experience roasting whole chickens, i'd yet to try to cut my own. needless to say, the task proved much more difficult than i'd imagined. i found myself cursing alton brown for his oversimplified instructions, and i'm sure i mangled at least a thigh (the chicken's, not mine) in the process. no oyster to speak of, unfortunately-- not this time. suffice it to say i shed a few tears of frustration in the kitchen yesterday. still, whatever chicken parts i was left with went into the buttermilk bath overnight, with some tabasco and kosher salt. i had sort of a difficult time regulating the heat while frying, so some of my skin was a little darker than i'd like, but i found this of little consequence, as the chicken was damn good anyway.

of course, the fried chicken alone just isn't decadent enough-- martha's macaroni and cheese is the perfect accompaniment. i'm the kind of person that will go to the grocery, list in hand, and still forget something. this time, i had to go back twice-- once because i ran out of milk, and again because i forgot that when we moved, i threw out the cayenne pepper because it was too old. oh, but it's sooo worth it, as any of you who've had the pleasure of eating macaroni made from this particular recipe know. it's incredibly rich due to the combination of gruyere, white cheddar, and buttered breadcrumbs. i sometimes think that adding tomato slices would benefit this dish, but i never do it because it really is perfect as is.

and voila! fried chicken, with macaroni and southern style green beans. beer to drink, of course!