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Friday, January 07, 2005
Winter break: a recap.
Well. Much has happened this winter break, but really, nothing at all has happened. Strange that way, isn't it?
Anyway, I finished both Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies, and they were a lot of fun. I want to read the Liveship trilogy, too, but I seem to have mostly run out of vacation time. Robin Hobb rocks.
I also read a lot of comics. Alias, as I said, is awesome, and Straczynski's run of Amazing Spider-Man is pretty cool too, although I've only read through 2002 at this point.
There has been a considerable amount of cooking. For the first time since summer, I'm eating most of my meals in. Last semester, my hours (getting out after 7pm every night) pretty much guaranteed that I would eat out every night. Now, though, with a little bit of time and better hours in the upcoming semester, I get to start cooking again, which is very relaxing and enjoyable.
Also, I've made a bunch of bread over break, which has all been good, to varying degrees, and two batches of granola, which have been very good indeed. I love to make granola. It looks so impressive, when in fact it's so very very easy.
Anyway, I just lost all concentration, so I must end this post now. Damn.
Anyway, I finished both Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies, and they were a lot of fun. I want to read the Liveship trilogy, too, but I seem to have mostly run out of vacation time. Robin Hobb rocks.
I also read a lot of comics. Alias, as I said, is awesome, and Straczynski's run of Amazing Spider-Man is pretty cool too, although I've only read through 2002 at this point.
There has been a considerable amount of cooking. For the first time since summer, I'm eating most of my meals in. Last semester, my hours (getting out after 7pm every night) pretty much guaranteed that I would eat out every night. Now, though, with a little bit of time and better hours in the upcoming semester, I get to start cooking again, which is very relaxing and enjoyable.
Also, I've made a bunch of bread over break, which has all been good, to varying degrees, and two batches of granola, which have been very good indeed. I love to make granola. It looks so impressive, when in fact it's so very very easy.
Anyway, I just lost all concentration, so I must end this post now. Damn.
posted by Adam on 11:30 AM.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Sweet and bready.
O my gosh. I just made what may be the single best loaf of bread I've ever made. I was concerned and concerned because it didn't look like it was rising enough, but I put it in the oven, I took it out, and it's gorgeous. And it's sweet and it's nutty and it's everything that a wheat bread should be. The only problem that I can identify with it is that the top didn't brown adequately, but that may be a problem with the loaf pan that I used or my oven. Either way, it's no big deal.
posted by Adam on 1:28 AM.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
New Stuff... quickies.
Aight. I know that I said I wasn't going to do quickies so much anymore, but I have a lot to update and not much time:
1. Turned in my paper for my Performance Studies and Cultural Studies classes. I haven't gotten it back from either professor, but I did well in both classes, so I suppose that it went over pretty well. I still think that finding Hannah Arendt and Michael Jackson two days before the paper was due turned it from an okay paper into a really good one.
2. Went to Los Angeles and returned. I had a really good time while I was there--got to hang out with old friends, see lots of my parents, go to the beach (although I only got to go once), eat lots of seafood, bad indian food (the worst indian food), and for the most part, have a good time.
3. Got an iPod (Happy Chanukah to me!) and lots of good music to go with it. Discovered that David Byrne of Talking Heads fame is really good on his own too. Rediscovered how much I like Lenny Bruce's comedy, and the music of Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth, and Pavement. Overall, got interested in music again in a way that I haven't been in a long time.
4. Finished the four published volumes of Alias. Really good. I like Brian Michael Bendis anyway, and I like his writing in standard Marvel Comics, but this was above and beyond. So good, and he treats his characters and the adult content of the books so well, that I couldn't stop raving about them for nearly a week. I ended up giving volume one to a friend, and making my father read part of it, too. He doesn't like comics, but he liked this one.
5. There is no number five.
6. That is all.
1. Turned in my paper for my Performance Studies and Cultural Studies classes. I haven't gotten it back from either professor, but I did well in both classes, so I suppose that it went over pretty well. I still think that finding Hannah Arendt and Michael Jackson two days before the paper was due turned it from an okay paper into a really good one.
2. Went to Los Angeles and returned. I had a really good time while I was there--got to hang out with old friends, see lots of my parents, go to the beach (although I only got to go once), eat lots of seafood, bad indian food (the worst indian food), and for the most part, have a good time.
3. Got an iPod (Happy Chanukah to me!) and lots of good music to go with it. Discovered that David Byrne of Talking Heads fame is really good on his own too. Rediscovered how much I like Lenny Bruce's comedy, and the music of Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth, and Pavement. Overall, got interested in music again in a way that I haven't been in a long time.
4. Finished the four published volumes of Alias. Really good. I like Brian Michael Bendis anyway, and I like his writing in standard Marvel Comics, but this was above and beyond. So good, and he treats his characters and the adult content of the books so well, that I couldn't stop raving about them for nearly a week. I ended up giving volume one to a friend, and making my father read part of it, too. He doesn't like comics, but he liked this one.
5. There is no number five.
6. That is all.
posted by Adam on 9:40 AM.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Squelch
Thank you Heuristic Squelch for once again being simultaneously disgusting and hilarious:
Top Eleven Sapphic Star Wars Characters:
# Grand Muff Tarkin
# Jabba the Cunt
# Darth Vagina
# Lando Clitorissian
# Princess Labia
# Vulva Fett
# G-Spot 3-PO
# Chew-box-a
# That damn sand thing
# R2-Queef-U
# The E-Twats
Top Eleven Sapphic Star Wars Characters:
# Grand Muff Tarkin
# Jabba the Cunt
# Darth Vagina
# Lando Clitorissian
# Princess Labia
# Vulva Fett
# G-Spot 3-PO
# Chew-box-a
# That damn sand thing
# R2-Queef-U
# The E-Twats
posted by Adam on 11:39 AM.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Lots of lists.
I always say I never do these lists, but here we go:
2004 Restrospective:
1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Write some papers that I think I could publish; write some papers that others have offered to help me publish
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?:
I don't do resolutions. I don't like to make promises.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?:
Nope.
4. Did anyone close to you die?:
My maternal great uncle.
5. What countries did you visit?:
Uhh... none?
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?:
I would like to have some publications... and a masters degree.
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?:
Nothing particularly stands out...
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?:
Got engaged.
9. What was your biggest failure?:
Hmm... I try not to think about the failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?:
Nothing serious.
11. What was the best thing you bought?:
Perhaps a Tale-Type index. Although there are a number of books I've bought that might qualify as best.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?:
Mine and Sarah's (see question 8)
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?:
Both Bush and Kerry... and the media covering the election, and Dick Chaney, and Don Rumsfeld... I'm seeing a pattern here...
14. Where did most of your money go?:
School and comic books.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?:
First, see question 8. Second, school (I wrote two papers this year that I found really exciting and engrossing). Third, Joss Whedon writing X-men.
16. What song will always remind you of 2004?:
Can't think of one. Maybe that Maroon 5 Song...
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
* happier or sadder?: about the same.
* thinner or fatter?: about the same.
* richer or poorer?: uhh... maybe poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?:
Socializing, Writing.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?:
uhh.. maybe see question 18.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?:
Alone. Probably reading about theories of writing history.
22. Did you fall in love in 2004?:
All over again.
23. How many one-night stands?:
Countless :-D
24. What was your favorite TV program?:
In 2004? Nothing that I saw was particularly good.
Generally, Buffy, Futurama, Deep Space Nine...
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?:
Nope. I hate all the same people.
26. What was the best book you read?:
Hm. History of Sexuality vol 1, The Signifying Monkey, Farseer Trilogy, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and probably some others that I'm forgetting.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?:
Maybe God Speed You Black Emperor, but I may have gotten into them in 2003
28. What did you want and get?:
I think I got most of what I wanted.
29. What did you want and not get?:
I wanted to be done with coursework, and I didn't get it.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?:
The Incredibles, probably
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?:
I turned 23. I wrote a paper.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?:
Publishing something... finishing coursework...
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?:
I don't know what it means. Perhaps "personal fashion unconscious" would be appropriate.
34. What kept you sane?:
Sarah. Comic Books.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?:
Uhh... I don't think that I "fancy" any celebrities.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?:
Gay Marriage.
37. Who did you miss?:
Berkeley friends who I only got to see once or twice. Los Angeles friends who I didn't get to see at all.
38. Who was the best new person you met?:
uhh... most exciting new person I met (although she's not really "new," just new to me) was Ruth Finnegan. Very cool. Very friendly. Seemed genuinely interested in my research.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
Be pushy. If you don't tell people what you need, you won't get it.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
perhaps: "I'll sink with Kalifornia, as it falls into the sea." But for no good reason. Just because it makes me think of 2004.
2004 Restrospective:
1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Write some papers that I think I could publish; write some papers that others have offered to help me publish
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?:
I don't do resolutions. I don't like to make promises.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?:
Nope.
4. Did anyone close to you die?:
My maternal great uncle.
5. What countries did you visit?:
Uhh... none?
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?:
I would like to have some publications... and a masters degree.
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?:
Nothing particularly stands out...
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?:
Got engaged.
9. What was your biggest failure?:
Hmm... I try not to think about the failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?:
Nothing serious.
11. What was the best thing you bought?:
Perhaps a Tale-Type index. Although there are a number of books I've bought that might qualify as best.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?:
Mine and Sarah's (see question 8)
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?:
Both Bush and Kerry... and the media covering the election, and Dick Chaney, and Don Rumsfeld... I'm seeing a pattern here...
14. Where did most of your money go?:
School and comic books.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?:
First, see question 8. Second, school (I wrote two papers this year that I found really exciting and engrossing). Third, Joss Whedon writing X-men.
16. What song will always remind you of 2004?:
Can't think of one. Maybe that Maroon 5 Song...
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
* happier or sadder?: about the same.
* thinner or fatter?: about the same.
* richer or poorer?: uhh... maybe poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?:
Socializing, Writing.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?:
uhh.. maybe see question 18.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?:
Alone. Probably reading about theories of writing history.
22. Did you fall in love in 2004?:
All over again.
23. How many one-night stands?:
Countless :-D
24. What was your favorite TV program?:
In 2004? Nothing that I saw was particularly good.
Generally, Buffy, Futurama, Deep Space Nine...
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?:
Nope. I hate all the same people.
26. What was the best book you read?:
Hm. History of Sexuality vol 1, The Signifying Monkey, Farseer Trilogy, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and probably some others that I'm forgetting.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?:
Maybe God Speed You Black Emperor, but I may have gotten into them in 2003
28. What did you want and get?:
I think I got most of what I wanted.
29. What did you want and not get?:
I wanted to be done with coursework, and I didn't get it.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?:
The Incredibles, probably
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?:
I turned 23. I wrote a paper.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?:
Publishing something... finishing coursework...
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?:
I don't know what it means. Perhaps "personal fashion unconscious" would be appropriate.
34. What kept you sane?:
Sarah. Comic Books.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?:
Uhh... I don't think that I "fancy" any celebrities.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?:
Gay Marriage.
37. Who did you miss?:
Berkeley friends who I only got to see once or twice. Los Angeles friends who I didn't get to see at all.
38. Who was the best new person you met?:
uhh... most exciting new person I met (although she's not really "new," just new to me) was Ruth Finnegan. Very cool. Very friendly. Seemed genuinely interested in my research.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
Be pushy. If you don't tell people what you need, you won't get it.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
perhaps: "I'll sink with Kalifornia, as it falls into the sea." But for no good reason. Just because it makes me think of 2004.
posted by Adam on 9:50 AM.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Whether the Weather will block out the sun...
So you know how they say that neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night will keep a postman from his appointed rounds?
Not so of MLA indexers.
I had wanted to go into work this morning, make up some hours, but there's no where to park and the walk was so miserable that I turned back. But how can you blame me? It's 35 and freezing rain is coming down. My hands and face went numb. If it was just cold and not raining, I wouldn't mind going, but the rain was actually freezing to my jacket.
Ah well. I figure I'll just do as much as I can on monday and tuesday and then make up the rest of my hours at the beginning of next semester.
Not so of MLA indexers.
I had wanted to go into work this morning, make up some hours, but there's no where to park and the walk was so miserable that I turned back. But how can you blame me? It's 35 and freezing rain is coming down. My hands and face went numb. If it was just cold and not raining, I wouldn't mind going, but the rain was actually freezing to my jacket.
Ah well. I figure I'll just do as much as I can on monday and tuesday and then make up the rest of my hours at the beginning of next semester.
posted by Adam on 8:47 AM.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
ungh...
Too much writing make brain crusty.
On the bright side, almost finished with my big long paper. I have to do a little bit of editing and write a conclusion tomorrow morning, and then I can turn it in. AND THEN I'M DONE!
BTW - Check out The Pulse. Very cool comic.
On the bright side, almost finished with my big long paper. I have to do a little bit of editing and write a conclusion tomorrow morning, and then I can turn it in. AND THEN I'M DONE!
BTW - Check out The Pulse. Very cool comic.
posted by Adam on 9:50 PM.
Monday, December 06, 2004
A Joke, yet not a joke.
Q: What do the mellon in my refrigerator and my cat Aleister have in common?
A: They're both getting their balls cut out today.
But seriously, Aleister is getting neutered today. This means that by January, he'll be able to go outside, and all will be well with the universe. Now here's to hoping that he decides he wants to go outside...
A: They're both getting their balls cut out today.
But seriously, Aleister is getting neutered today. This means that by January, he'll be able to go outside, and all will be well with the universe. Now here's to hoping that he decides he wants to go outside...
posted by Adam on 9:11 AM.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Things I've been reading:
New Avengers #1: Pretty freaking cool. I didn't love the "Disassembled" ending of the old Avengers, but the new one looks like it's starting out with a bang. Good reasons to reform an an Avengers team, interesting potential new members, etc. The writing is good. I like the characterization of Spider-Man. The art is okay. I don't like the way Matt Murdoch is drawn, and we haven't met Wolverine yet, so I hope that he isn't like Brian Michael Bendis' Wolverine in Secret War. One odd thing: Apparently, this is all taking place before Secret War. I didn't expect that.
Ultimates 2 #1: Very cool. Everything that I thought it would be. Again, looks like there's good reason to assemble the team, good writing etc. And it looks like there are going to be a couple of really interesting conflicts that are almost the wrong kind for superheroes to handle. I'm looking forward to the next issue for sure... Plus, I love the way they treat Thor.
Avengers Disassembled: Thor: This is a collection of the last days of Asgaard. I've only read the first issue in it, but I must say, so far I'm not impressed. After Bendis' Avengers Disassembled, despite all problems I had with that, this is just sub-par. Writing's not as good, art's goofy. And I love Thor, so I'm a little bit disappointed.
Spectacular Spider-man: Disassembled: Haven't started this one yet.
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb: This is a really cool fantasy novel, which will turn into a very cool fantasy series, I think. It's strange in that it's not an epic journey kind of book, and it's told in the first person, but it's very very compelling, and very influenced, it seems, by nineteenth century French popular literature, and by historians like Ferdinand Braudel and the Mentalitee school. Very good. Highly Recommended. Plus I decided to read it after George R R Martin highly recommended it on his web site. So it's not just me saying it's good.
Ultimates 2 #1: Very cool. Everything that I thought it would be. Again, looks like there's good reason to assemble the team, good writing etc. And it looks like there are going to be a couple of really interesting conflicts that are almost the wrong kind for superheroes to handle. I'm looking forward to the next issue for sure... Plus, I love the way they treat Thor.
Avengers Disassembled: Thor: This is a collection of the last days of Asgaard. I've only read the first issue in it, but I must say, so far I'm not impressed. After Bendis' Avengers Disassembled, despite all problems I had with that, this is just sub-par. Writing's not as good, art's goofy. And I love Thor, so I'm a little bit disappointed.
Spectacular Spider-man: Disassembled: Haven't started this one yet.
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb: This is a really cool fantasy novel, which will turn into a very cool fantasy series, I think. It's strange in that it's not an epic journey kind of book, and it's told in the first person, but it's very very compelling, and very influenced, it seems, by nineteenth century French popular literature, and by historians like Ferdinand Braudel and the Mentalitee school. Very good. Highly Recommended. Plus I decided to read it after George R R Martin highly recommended it on his web site. So it's not just me saying it's good.
posted by Adam on 8:24 AM.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Two Good things and one Bad thing.
Two Good things:
1. I finished my paper for my Gypsy class yesterday--came in at about 13 pages, so not too far off from the recommended page count, which was 12. I turned it in this afternoon, so now all that's left is to give a 20 minute presentation about it next week in class. I'm thinking PowerPoint.
2. I just wrote the first three pages of an introduction to my Deep Down in the Jungle paper. It's not the best introduction in the world, but it certainly lays out the pertinent issues, and (perhaps more explicitly than I would like) what I intend to discuss in the paper. My goal before thursday, when I have to turn in a rough draft for Cultural Studies, is to have the entire introduction completed, and to be a little farther along--a page perhaps?--in my discussion of discourse. Hopefully I'll be able to get Frame Analysis back from the library in time to get it done.
One Bad thing:
1. The copy of Erving Goffman's Frame Analysis that I had out of the library was an undergraduate library book, which means that I could only have it for six weeks (two weeks with two two week renewals). So I had to turn it in on friday. The woman behind the counter promised me that it would be shelved by monday and I could check it out again. Well. Today (tuesday, not monday) I went into the undergraduate stacks to look for the book, and low and behold, not there. So I checked online: not checked out. So I went and asked at the front desk: "well, we don't have it. It must be on a cart somewhere waiting to be reshelved." Well I looked on the carts. "Then we don't know where it is.
I'm going to check again tomorrow, then see if I can't find a copy elsewhere.
1. I finished my paper for my Gypsy class yesterday--came in at about 13 pages, so not too far off from the recommended page count, which was 12. I turned it in this afternoon, so now all that's left is to give a 20 minute presentation about it next week in class. I'm thinking PowerPoint.
2. I just wrote the first three pages of an introduction to my Deep Down in the Jungle paper. It's not the best introduction in the world, but it certainly lays out the pertinent issues, and (perhaps more explicitly than I would like) what I intend to discuss in the paper. My goal before thursday, when I have to turn in a rough draft for Cultural Studies, is to have the entire introduction completed, and to be a little farther along--a page perhaps?--in my discussion of discourse. Hopefully I'll be able to get Frame Analysis back from the library in time to get it done.
One Bad thing:
1. The copy of Erving Goffman's Frame Analysis that I had out of the library was an undergraduate library book, which means that I could only have it for six weeks (two weeks with two two week renewals). So I had to turn it in on friday. The woman behind the counter promised me that it would be shelved by monday and I could check it out again. Well. Today (tuesday, not monday) I went into the undergraduate stacks to look for the book, and low and behold, not there. So I checked online: not checked out. So I went and asked at the front desk: "well, we don't have it. It must be on a cart somewhere waiting to be reshelved." Well I looked on the carts. "Then we don't know where it is.
I'm going to check again tomorrow, then see if I can't find a copy elsewhere.
