« August 2006 | Main | November 2006 »

October 31, 2006

I bet you didn't know...

How cool is it to be tagged! Wheee!

Okay - 5 things I bet you didn't know about me:

1. The reason all things Pooh is my general theme is because when I was a little girl, my dad often called me "poohbear".

2. I really love children, especially those under the age of 5. And I am incredibly partial to those under the age of 8 months. And I've been told I'm very good with them. When I was growing up, my favorite doll wasn't any of my Barbie collection (which was significant) - it was my Madame Alexander "Pumpkin" doll. I took her everywhere for a couple of years.

3. I self-identify as (in this order): Christian, Conservative, Republican. I hate the requirement on the average standard form that requires me to identify as DWF or anything similar, especially the D part. (oh, and in case you're concerned: I didn't vote for GWB in either of his "elections". In 2000, I voted for the Libertarian candidate, I think. In 2004, I voted for Kerry/Edwards - the first time I ever voted for a Democrat for president. I'd do it again, if he/they ran again).

4. I learned to read at the age of 2. I have read voraciously ever since, until graduate school came along and damn near spoiled it for me. I love all kinds of genres, but I never got into fantasy.

5. I play the piano, the clarinet, the flute, the piccolo, and the french horn. None of them well, anymore, but the clarinet and piccolo once good enough for marching band (a favorite time in my life), piano well enough, once, to accompany the choir in the spring concert (yes, I have a recording), and the flute well enough, once, to play at a wedding.

My turn to tag: tyratae, m2h blogging, SailRunClimbRide, Red Pill Diaries, and penn (all of whom I hope are actually reading this blog).

Posted by cageyer at 07:24 PM | Comments (2)

October 20, 2006

Of poetry and wine

Cool wine find of the day: R. Stuart & Co. Big Fire wines (specifically the Pinot Noir). From Oregon, of course.

Cool poetic quote of the day:
"Only people with no imagination can't find a good reason to drink champagne."
~ Oscar Wilde

Posted by cageyer at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2006

Of disjointedness

Imagine my surprise on opening my own blog this morning and finding that my last post was over six weeks ago. Where did that time go? The semester is half over, I have a whole stack of things I've been meaning to post about, and suddenly they all seem too old to bother.

We moved, you know, over the summer, and we still aren't all moved in, and particularly not the space I now laughingly refer to as my office. The closest I am to feeling organized in any category is one shelf where the books I've read in preparation for the Major Exam are on one end and the books waiting to be read are at the other end.

I'm off next week to a conference - Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western United States (VISAWUS). Originally, I was going to be part of a panel with a former instructor/friend and a friend of hers, but now we're each on different panels, so that's a little disjointed. And frankly, even though the conference is at Pepperdine, at Malibu, I wouldn't have gone if not for the idea of this panel. So while I'm looking forward to the beach and the ocean, I'm dreading the trip in general.

The whole idea of travel by air has lost its appeal for me. It's so damn hard to get to anywhere from Syracuse, and worse to get back because of the few airlines continued insistence in overbooking flights from anywhere to here. Almost anywhere I want/need to go involves a connection and a minimum 2.5 hour layover - wasting all kinds of time in places not conducive to work or study. I became aware, since becoming a student, of just how many public places have piped in music, or television. There is almost nowhere to go that is quiet enough for concentrated study.

I used to love to travel. Loved the adventure of air travel, of seeing all parts of the country. These days, I find myself really enjoying having both feet on the ground, except when four wheels are involved.

This is a paradox for me. I'm traveling to the NCA conference in San Antonio next month, a place I love and a conference I really want to attend but another trip by air that I'm dreading. All the new restrictions, the constant overcrowding, the long lines and wasted hours around the trip have really gotten to me. So now, I find myself deciding that I don't want to apply to any conference I can't drive to, which, as you might guess, really limits my choices, which is not so great for the whole cv building game we graduate students are expected to play.

I can't decide if this is just third-year-itis, or if it's just because I can't seem to get a grip on my surroundings, or what.

Posted by cageyer at 11:21 AM | Comments (1)