academics, hurricanes, baseball

I had a 12-hour school day yesterday. Monday night will consist of me saying, "Huh? What?" and generally losing my mind for the next three months.

My best friend is holed up in Lake Charles seeking refuge from that bitch Katrina. She still doesn't know how her house is. I'm just glad she got out.

And finally, WTF with Bellhorn signing with the Yankees? I am heartbroken and incensed. Those assholes in pinstripes will sign anything. Can't wait to see his first appearance at Fenway as a member of the dark side. In my other WTF baseball thoughts, how am I now sort of enchanted by David Wells? Maybe it's this shirt.

back to school

When I first read this article about how an anthropology professor conducted research by living as a freshman for a year, I rolled my eyes. It just sounds like another excuse to coddle undergrads. "Waaah, we get too much work. Life is hard."

I think I might want to read the book just because the article does not seem to answer the one glaring question in my mind. The article says that during Small's participant observation phase, the students "downplayed publicly the effort they put into assigned reading or papers," but during interviews they "were interested in coursework." There seems to be no discussion of the socially desirable answer. If a professor asks you if you're interested in your coursework, chances are you're going to say "yes." Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

I'm having my back-to-school jitters, so right now I'm annoyed at everything and slowly becoming convinced that I will never have an original academic thought. Hello, Imposter Syndrome, my old friend...

definitely bitchy

I love Oasis. Most of you know that. And I love when they shoot their mouths off about other bands. This interview with Noel features some brilliant backhanded comments about REM, U2 and the ilk. I was just telling Mike that I would totally buy a CD that consisted of nothing but Noel Gallagher talking shit about rock music. It would be as funny as anything David Cross has done standup-wise. And I say that as a fan of DC.

SFU 2001-2005

"Saying goodbye to "Six Feet Under" was, unexpectedly, an emotional wrenching experience, more memorable and invigorating and heartbreaking than I could ever have imagined it would be. It's just a TV show, after all. "

Heather Havrilesky sums it up much better than I ever could. Yay for good television!

Replace the Old Man of the Mountain with the face of Big Papi? I'm down with it. I love noting that NH is also great for buying cheap liquor. Again, I love the Soxaholix.

I was in San Antonio for a conference last weekend. Got some good feedback. I think I'll revise this paper and attempt to get it published.

I had a bunch of other random thoughts in my head the past few days, but now that I'm writing, I have forgotten them. I will say, however, that my time in the San Antonio airport has allowed me to learn that Celebrity Living is the crappiest magazine ever. I mean, seriously, this makes US look like the New Yorker. And yes, I did buy it for the plane ride home.

Apparently "Walking in Memphis" isn't nearly as dangerous as driving in Denver. I guess it's been a really crappy week for the ABC News family, as Cohn is married to reporter Elizabeth Vargas. (Points go to my dear husband for alerting me to this story. Next time you talk to him, ask him about his crackpot theory on the shuttle Discovery...)

In Ankle Saga news, I start physical therapy today. Who knows, maybe I'll be walking unassisted by the end of the week...

My family was always an ABC News family, so Peter Jennings's death is sad news.