Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Ketchup and Coffee
I have quite a bit of catching up to do here but as usual no time for it. So: I have until I finish my cup of coffee to write what I can.
New Digs: I do not dig my new digs. I'm all moved into Shabazz, the African-American affinity house (theme dorm, in other words) for my last two months of rent-free living. Why the Residential Education office chose to put me here, I have no idea. It is quite close to the psychology building, which is nice, but its amenities pretty much end there. I'm packed into a tiny room on the third floor of an un-air-conditioned building which is very full of students. Students who do not share my sleep schedule. I do, however, share a single-user bathroom with all the men on the floor (I have no idea how many that is) and a kitchen with all the residents of the building, none of whom, apparently, were taught to clean up after themselves. There is no parking anywhere in the vicinity of the building. And I don't mean legal parking. I mean, no place where a car would fit on the ground. As much as I'm tempted to wink-nudge the racial thing for humor, being the only white guy there actually doesn't seem like an issue for me or them. On the other hand, I have to assume my AGE is a bit perplexing to these students (all sophomores), and I can't really blame them. I'm sure that if I were 20 and enjoying what is supposed to be a laid-back, fun summertime semester at college, and some old guy that nobody knew periodically appeared on the floor, I would be a bit suspicious. These little interludes of undignified misery can certainly lead one to question his choices in life. In stronger moments, they're good incentive to do what needs to be done. Speaking of which…
Let the data rain down!: The data drought is over! I have recorded several cells now for my dissertation project. Not only do I have an effect, but it is, more or less, the effect I predicted. I love being right. The only hitch is that my effect is quite a bit more pronounced than I expected, so much so that I now have to reconsider how best to analyse it to reveal what's going on. There could certainly be worse problems.
A Hard Row to Ho': I'm rowing with the Dresden group again this year and enjoying the hell out of it. I'm in a competetive program, rowing 4 days a week in the afternoons. The light on the river at 6:00 in the evening is glorious and makes the pain of exertion and stress of work melt away. Sadly, this will be my last rowing for a long time -- I won't have the opportunity in New York -- so I'm really savoring it, even though I could really use a less time-consuming recreation right about now. On the other hand, the blisters on my hands are pretty unbelievable, I've got holes in my calves from hitting the seat tracks, and the practice schedule has left me sore and creaky all over. So I won't be completely sorry to see the season end in August.
Go Ho-Ho!: Saw Howard Dean speak at the opening of the Lebanon campaign office last week. It was pretty fun, the crowd was about quadruple what was expected, and Hoho didn't disappoint. I wore my "Jeezum Jim" (referring to Jim Jeffords) t-shirt just for the occasion, and Dean referred to him in his speech. I have to admit, Dean looked a little tired, and I think he spaced out a couple of times during his speech. Didn't matter much to the crowd, though, nor to me.
The Last Brewfest: Last Saturday, I was up in Burlington for one last Vermont Brewers' Festival. Despite ominous looking clouds, it was a beautiful day, and an infectiously happy crowd. It's hard to believe that you could fill a state park with drunk people and keep everything so pleasant. But pleasant it was; this year there was a new spontaneous behaviour I haven't seen previously. Periodically, some drunken foo -- uh, happy beer appreciator -- would raise his glass to the sky and make a long, hooting, viking noise, which in turn would prompt everyone else to follow in kind. Everyone across the entire park would just stop what they were doing, hold up their glass, and bray. It was pretty funny, and added a lot to the congenial atmosphere. After the festival, the Dartmouth crowd I was with (most of the original Snergers) went to Nectars for a last round of the best gravy fries in the world (mmmmmm), and then back to the hotel, where seven of us (plus a dog) piled into one room, regressed back to our high school field trip selves, and stayed up giggling until a security guard came to the door to tell us to shut up. It's been a good while since I aroused the interest of a security guard… A hungover but delicious breakfast at Penny Cluse the next morning, and we were on the road. All in all, a grand time, and I think a needed break from too much seriousness in the lives of this particular crowd, all of us so heavy into stressful transitions. More on that subject to come, I fear (sigh).
Geraynimonaaaaaaa!: I do believe that my friend Raymona (aka Leanne) went and flung herself from an airplane this morning. As of this writing, I don't know if this desperate act ended with a splat or a squeal of exhilaration, but I will of course post an update when I hear the outcome.
Bloggered: Of course I deserve it for going so long (again) without a post, but I come back today to post this, and wtf, but Blogger is different. Can't find a damn thing. All the cool big-kid bloggers, I notice, go to Moveable Type (a move always accompanied by e-cries of pain); I am not looking forward to jumping on that bandwagon, but I am rather excited about plans for my site once I actually have some time to put into it.
Man, that was some good coffee.
I have quite a bit of catching up to do here but as usual no time for it. So: I have until I finish my cup of coffee to write what I can.
New Digs: I do not dig my new digs. I'm all moved into Shabazz, the African-American affinity house (theme dorm, in other words) for my last two months of rent-free living. Why the Residential Education office chose to put me here, I have no idea. It is quite close to the psychology building, which is nice, but its amenities pretty much end there. I'm packed into a tiny room on the third floor of an un-air-conditioned building which is very full of students. Students who do not share my sleep schedule. I do, however, share a single-user bathroom with all the men on the floor (I have no idea how many that is) and a kitchen with all the residents of the building, none of whom, apparently, were taught to clean up after themselves. There is no parking anywhere in the vicinity of the building. And I don't mean legal parking. I mean, no place where a car would fit on the ground. As much as I'm tempted to wink-nudge the racial thing for humor, being the only white guy there actually doesn't seem like an issue for me or them. On the other hand, I have to assume my AGE is a bit perplexing to these students (all sophomores), and I can't really blame them. I'm sure that if I were 20 and enjoying what is supposed to be a laid-back, fun summertime semester at college, and some old guy that nobody knew periodically appeared on the floor, I would be a bit suspicious. These little interludes of undignified misery can certainly lead one to question his choices in life. In stronger moments, they're good incentive to do what needs to be done. Speaking of which…
Let the data rain down!: The data drought is over! I have recorded several cells now for my dissertation project. Not only do I have an effect, but it is, more or less, the effect I predicted. I love being right. The only hitch is that my effect is quite a bit more pronounced than I expected, so much so that I now have to reconsider how best to analyse it to reveal what's going on. There could certainly be worse problems.
A Hard Row to Ho': I'm rowing with the Dresden group again this year and enjoying the hell out of it. I'm in a competetive program, rowing 4 days a week in the afternoons. The light on the river at 6:00 in the evening is glorious and makes the pain of exertion and stress of work melt away. Sadly, this will be my last rowing for a long time -- I won't have the opportunity in New York -- so I'm really savoring it, even though I could really use a less time-consuming recreation right about now. On the other hand, the blisters on my hands are pretty unbelievable, I've got holes in my calves from hitting the seat tracks, and the practice schedule has left me sore and creaky all over. So I won't be completely sorry to see the season end in August.
Go Ho-Ho!: Saw Howard Dean speak at the opening of the Lebanon campaign office last week. It was pretty fun, the crowd was about quadruple what was expected, and Hoho didn't disappoint. I wore my "Jeezum Jim" (referring to Jim Jeffords) t-shirt just for the occasion, and Dean referred to him in his speech. I have to admit, Dean looked a little tired, and I think he spaced out a couple of times during his speech. Didn't matter much to the crowd, though, nor to me.
The Last Brewfest: Last Saturday, I was up in Burlington for one last Vermont Brewers' Festival. Despite ominous looking clouds, it was a beautiful day, and an infectiously happy crowd. It's hard to believe that you could fill a state park with drunk people and keep everything so pleasant. But pleasant it was; this year there was a new spontaneous behaviour I haven't seen previously. Periodically, some drunken foo -- uh, happy beer appreciator -- would raise his glass to the sky and make a long, hooting, viking noise, which in turn would prompt everyone else to follow in kind. Everyone across the entire park would just stop what they were doing, hold up their glass, and bray. It was pretty funny, and added a lot to the congenial atmosphere. After the festival, the Dartmouth crowd I was with (most of the original Snergers) went to Nectars for a last round of the best gravy fries in the world (mmmmmm), and then back to the hotel, where seven of us (plus a dog) piled into one room, regressed back to our high school field trip selves, and stayed up giggling until a security guard came to the door to tell us to shut up. It's been a good while since I aroused the interest of a security guard… A hungover but delicious breakfast at Penny Cluse the next morning, and we were on the road. All in all, a grand time, and I think a needed break from too much seriousness in the lives of this particular crowd, all of us so heavy into stressful transitions. More on that subject to come, I fear (sigh).
Geraynimonaaaaaaa!: I do believe that my friend Raymona (aka Leanne) went and flung herself from an airplane this morning. As of this writing, I don't know if this desperate act ended with a splat or a squeal of exhilaration, but I will of course post an update when I hear the outcome.
Bloggered: Of course I deserve it for going so long (again) without a post, but I come back today to post this, and wtf, but Blogger is different. Can't find a damn thing. All the cool big-kid bloggers, I notice, go to Moveable Type (a move always accompanied by e-cries of pain); I am not looking forward to jumping on that bandwagon, but I am rather excited about plans for my site once I actually have some time to put into it.
Man, that was some good coffee.
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