out with the old, in with the new

Last night Jo and I rang in the New Year in our traditional way. We splurged on a bunch of different cheeses (an aged gouda, double gloucester with chives, blue cheese, san andres, and an incredibly yummy cheddar pub cheese) and appetizers and snacked all day and evening while watching the Twilight Zone marathon. As [...]

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The way life should be (eventually)

After a long journey I’m finally here in Maine. Even though I love traveling and airports, yesterday tried my traveling patience. First my flight out of Madison left over an hour late–they told us the flight crew got in late and needed sleep. That was alright but that assured that I’d miss my connecting flight [...]

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radically crazy news

I’ve decided not to bring my macbook with me when I go to Maine next week for Christmas.
That means I will be traveling without a computer. For a whole week. For the first time since I first got a laptop (my old clamshell) in 1999. That may not seem newsworthy, but anyone who knows me [...]

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my second handmade Christmas

Last year I stumbled onto etsy.com. My life and credit card bill haven’t been the same since.
See, generally I hate shopping. Hate. Shopping. I especially hate shopping around the holidays for trendy gifts that people usually don’t want or need, and are usually way over my measly little budget.
Then I discovered etsy. Last year 90% [...]

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everyone loves a hometown parade

Today I plan to get tons of writing done– that’s what a holiday is for, afterall, right?
But, in truth, I’d rather be sitting in Bath, Maine, watching the 4th of July parade. Not because I’m a particular fan of the 4th of July as a holiday (I associate it, unfortunately, with loud fireworks and obnoxious [...]

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out with the old, in with the new

I love New Year’s. Anything that marks a passage of time– where you’re reminded to pause for a moment and think about all that has happened, and all that could happen– is wonderful.
We also have wonderful New Year’s traditions. We never go out any place. New Year’s parties and standing outside surrounded by huge crowds [...]

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overrated and underrated: the Christmas edition

It’s the Saturday before Christmas, and as a result of some big stuff that came up this week, I am here in Madison for Christmas, instead of in Maine. While I am exactly where I need to be (and I am thankful not to be part of the Christmas traveling nightmare) I am sad that [...]

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an inadvertent pledge

I’m done with all my holiday shopping. Actually, I finished it last weekend.
And I ended up taking the Handmade Pledge. Every single present I bought (with the exception of two items from ebay) I purchased on etsy.com. And I couldn’t be more thrilled with my presents. They are more personal, more unique. And I felt [...]

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leftovers

It’s the end of thanksgiving weekend, and back to the usual tomorrow. Actually, I anticipate this week will be a little more stressful than usual because my final dissertation proposal is due Friday, and well, I sort of worked on it less this weekend than I originally intended. I did get some little bits and [...]

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happy thanksgiving

We’re heading over to my advisor’s soon for thanksgiving dinner soon. I gather the plan is to take a lot of time between courses to drag the meal out, and to eat and talk as much as possible. Sounds good to me!
I love thanksgiving– not because of the ridiculous mythological crap we learn about it [...]

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a highly recommended Halloween costume

My dad has always been slightly obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. He has countless books about Lincoln, little statue busts of Lincoln, and numerous drawings of Lincoln. Shockingly, he also drives a Lincoln, and my parents live at the corner of Lincoln and another street (although the house’s front door is not on the Lincoln street [...]

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happy 4th

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Dear Hallmark- knock it off already!

I’m not a huge fan of the overly commercialized holidays Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Actually, they drive me crazy. Not only do they seem to be around mostly to sell cards (you can read the fascinating histories of Mom’s Day here and Dad’s Day here), they seem to just perpetuate ridiculous, and I hope [...]

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hit, miss or maybe

Yesterday we had our big New Years day brunch. It lasted 7.5 hours and was tons of fun– bagels with lox and cream cheese, great company, lots of laughter, yummy mimosas etc. I’ll leave out the rest of the sorted details of my New Years’ day shenanigans. Let’s just say I’m still recovering.
Anyway, we’ve been [...]

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the obligatory New Years post

Now that I am back in Wisconsin, I know I have some work to get done. I have some goals for this month– preparing a conference submission, working on 2 articles, working on my diss proposal, and reading about data collection. Maybe I’m already biting off more than I can chew, but I feel the [...]

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2 is better than 1

I am finally off of the vicodin! So, I can actually think clearly and function like a relatively normal person. This past week has been filled with lots of vicodin which makes me a strange combination of loopy and sleepy– not able to drive, and not able to focus on any writing. So I got [...]

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happy halloween!

This is Laszlo from last year, but it is my favorite Halloween picture. He is still very kitten-like in this picture.

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happy 4th

This is my song
Oh god of all the nations
A song of peace
For lands afar and mine
This is my home
The country where my heart is
Here are my hopes
My dreams my holy shrine
But other hearts
In other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams
As true and high as mine
My countries skies
Are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams
On clover [...]

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new year

2005: the year more people began to see that the emporer wears no clothes. a year of disaster, corruption, lying, spying and torture. a year of unfortunate “we-told-you-sos.”
new year’s eve: champagne, cheese and crackers, the poseidan adventure on widescreen dvd, the ball falling (we celebrate east coast time), tearing up as 1 million people sing [...]

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thankful

Yeah, I admit it, I’ve been a bit grumpier than usual this holiday season. I’m far from my family and christmas in Maine, and I am too stressed out about the prelim to really relax and enjoy the holidays here with Jo. Today, though, while it is “macro” day for studying, I am going to [...]

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fa la la la la. bah.

[the title of this post should be read in a snarky, sarcastic way]
It is cleary the holiday season, someplace, anyway. Yes, we have our wonderful tree, and presents under it waiting to be open. My parents sent ribbon candy. There is snow on the ground and more on the way tomorrow. Solstice went by [...]

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oh yeah, happy solstice.

I am staving off panicking about the prelim as much as I possibly can. I sat down today and realized I am 2 days behind in my study schedule. And then I realized that next week is the last full week of studying that I have, and that there are only 2 weekends left. The [...]

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the tree!

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trimming our tree

So I am posting here instead of in my old blog. I guess that means I am done with it. It feels old now, whereas ~watershed~ beckons me with its shiny new-ness.
We had a wonderful thanksgiving yesterday (thanks to birdfarm and sir edwin who made a steller, impressive and very yummy meal). There were a [...]

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trick or treat

This is the 4th Halloween we have spent here. We have always purchased candy, and never have had a single trick-or-treater. We kinda felt sad and lonely about it. We have carved pumpkins and lights in the windows every year, but no one would ever come by.
So this year I gave up and didn’t even [...]

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happy 4th

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