The Grand Finale

That's it folks, we're at the end of the Blogathoning month.

The occasion was marked by a glorious 65 F day that has somehow now turned dark and windy.
We've had some rough news in the last few weeks, my family and I. And today started off with some more tumult.

But, the day also came scattered reminders of kindness and love. And the affection of strangers.
And so I'm ending this last post with another prayer; one this time for grace, strength and enduring support.

I'll be off here for a bit now. But, I'll see ya when I see ya.
Gifts are being planned for y'all who were on board. Expect emails from me in two, three weeks.

Blogging Out.

A Question, this time and a comment

How is it that despite a cancelled class today has been the longest bloody day of the semester so far?
I spent nearly half the day in school - no literally half a twenty-four-hour-day. This is not good for anyone's sanity. It is not, at any rate, good for mine.

I'm glad tomorrow is the end of the month. Blogathon aside, this has been one.long.month.
And, I'm glad of course that it's payday. Whoopdeedoo.

Two things

1. I can't wait for the end of the week.
2. Note to self (and a note-that-I-wish-a-few-other-people-would-remember): You're not an integral part of everyone's universe.

End of Day Post (also, make-up post)

So, I finally know what I want to do for my BtVs presentation as well as for my paper in the pop culture class. This is a relief. I'm not yet certain what I want to say about these things, and this is a relief, because it is one thing out of the way.

I'm horrified at how little I've gotten done over the weekend. But, this shall be remedied soon.

On a happier note, I have spent some time in nonsense conversation with The Gaul (which is always a source of great joy).

Also, I'm four days behind on Lent and doing lent-y things. Along with the awesometastic Xhelsea, my goal is to give up what she articulately calls "the self-destructive pleasures of laziness" for the next two-ish months, at the very least. You, dear reader, will get to keep up with the progress of this new attempt.

That's as far as that goes.
More tomorrow and the next three days.

And for a parting thought, here's Alice Walker from her piece "Womanism": Womanism is to feminism as purple is to lavender.
I shall be thinking of this for the rest of the week.

XoXo.
FD

Sunday Morning, So Close to End-of-Blogathon

No, seriously. Where did this month go?
My to-do list from Wednesday still has 12 things for me to get done.

Added to that, on my agenda today:
- BtVs "Once More, With Feeling" through Silverman, Lacan and Butler.
- finishing Gilda Stories
- Figuring out what I'm going to write about this semester

More on this later in the day.
In the meanwhile, we're getting so close to end of blogathon. Only three more days.
Keep Calm, folks and Blog On.

Placeholder, again

I could have sworn that I posted yesterday. But apparently, all I did was turn on the computer.
There are things I want to say about things I'm reading - but, now's the time to get ready and get to class. Ergo, until later, be well. 

Excuses for Yesterday, Plans for today

I got home from a late class last night and intended to crash out. And that's why I didn't post.
What I ended up doing, however, was cooking for today (yay! home food) and watching some TV before finally getting to bed.

On another note, I can't wait for spring. It's a pretty 50-ish here today, but I'm not brave enough yet to bring out the dresses and skirts. Sighs.

Anyhow, for today I have 18 items on my things-to-do-list. (And I sheepishly admit blogging was not one of them. But then, now it is and I get to check it off. Whee?) I need to go check them off one-by-one. And while I get started on that ridiculously daunting task, here are some squee-ables: http://con-or-bust.livejournal.com/132181.html via Practically Marzipan.
(I agree with her, these are shiny nommies that people would like to own). 

Onwards and forwards, then.

Creepiness to round off a Perfectly Decent Monday

After a rather pleasant Monday of teaching, reading, good company, and some fulfilling snack-buying at the south asian store, I walk into the elevator at the garage where my car was parked. Just as I hit the button for the fifth floor, creepy breath on my ear says "Hit five for me, will ya". On my ear, moist creepy breath.

I shudder invisbly and consider getting off the elevator, but decide against it.
"How're you then?" says creepy man.
The small space fills up with the unmistakable smell of alcohol.
"Oh joy" says my inner voice "Fine thanks" says my outer voice.

I stare pointedly at the floor indicator, secretly plotting to break the Maggi Hot & Sweet Tomato Chilli Sauce bottle on his head, if anything*.

"Fifth too?" he asks.
"Yeah" I say, in my most curt voice, trying not to inhale too deeply.
The door opens, I leap out and walk as briskly as possible to my car.
The man stays in the lift, setting off more alarms in my head.

I get to my car, throw my stuff in and glance behind me. Man-from-the-elevator is strolling about staring at the cars around him and looks at me.
"Fifth floor," I think.
"Where's my phone?" I think.
"Damnit, where are my keys" I think.
Man-from-elevator is still strolling about apparently aimlessly.

I dig around in my bag till I grip the comforting, jangling cold metal. 
Two beeps later, I leap into my car, slightly panicked. I skip my routine of connecting the ipod, adjusting the temperature, shuffling things around in favor of leaving the garage as quickly as possible.
On my way out, I see the man fiddling to get the door of his** car open.

I don't stop.
I drive on out as soon as possible.

Should I have notified someone? What would I have said? "Excuse me, I think there was this creepy sort of guy. He might have been drunk. I'm not sure. He was in the garage. Some twenty minutes ago. I can't really describe him except to say he was portly, clean shaven and had light eyes. Maybe a cap? He had an orange jacket on. Would you check him out?"

Most of all, though, I don't like how threatening this situation was (is?). I don't like that I will now, even in Cornfield town, have to be alert as hell while walking about in broad daylight.
Bugger.

* This is possibly both my dramatic self and my self-defense instinct kicking in.
**presumably his

Squee

New Feministy Doctor Who Blog here: http://doctorher.com/

Déjà vu, mes enfants, Déjà vu

After two weeks of plodding through this, I somehow still have four papers to grade.
In the meanwhile, my next set to-be-graded is also in.
And three hundred and fifty pages of reading to finish by Tuesday.
And classes to plan.
How is it already Sunday?

*****
I was driving back home from chez-un friend who lives very close to Downtown Cornfield town and lost my way.* And thus by lucky accident I discovered that Cornfield Town has an exclusive SF/F bookstore. Filing this away in my mental Evernote under "Must Explore".

***
In other news, I'd forgotten that I absolutely heart Roberto Benigni.
And, for other reasons, I think I might like Jay Baruchel as well.
(I'm thinking of him in The Trotsky, which is a film that I quite liked. On second thoughts, Baruchel might also be one of those actors / people whom I want to like. And  this opinion therefore is subject to revision at some point.)

*****
I'm thinking of Darshana, The Gaul and the rest of my family back home. As ridiculously inadequate as this is, hang in there.

Aight, forgive me my rambling. I'm off to polish off more grades, hopefully.

*In an entirely uneventful, usual manner.

A short list of indicators

That you're watching too much Doctor Who:

• Overheard, muffled conversations seem to include the word "Dalek" and "invasion"
• You describe something as being Tardis Blue
• The words Tardis, Sonic Screwdriver, Sontaarin, Racnoss actually make sense
• You describe someone as an Ood.

Contributions to the list, anyone?

Because that's what we do (And an inarticulate prayer)

DONNAWe're just... tiny.

THE DOCTORNo, but that's what you do. The Human Race. Making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed.

(From here)

We mark time. 

We defiantly hoard memories of moments. 

And we don't always quite know the answer to the "Why"s of life. 

Today's post is such a marker. 

It is both a shout-out and a hug - to my dear friends and family (specifically to RDP, The Gaul, Darshana, and Ducky Daisy), who have in the last year or so had to deal with seemingly interminable loss, infinite sadness and the frustration of not knowing. 

And as we search for answers

And be buggered by life's obscurity

May we always find some peace, strength and grace. 

Secret Confessions of a Spineless Chicken

Sometimes I want to have horribly frank conversations with a few people I know.
In my mind, these conversations usually involve me demonstrating impatience.
I don't always say the things that are on my mind. And among the things I want to say out loud (more often than I care to admit) are:
"Omfg. I'm Not Like You."
"Seriously? I don't see it. But then, I'm not blinded by your privilege.";
"Stop talking. I mean, really stop talking." (I'd also settle for "Shut your big bazoo")
and "Omfg. Are you serious?" (I admit, I've used this one)

But, as The Gaul knows, what I usually end up saying is:
"Umhmm".

Twitter Stories and other awesome things to read

Reading: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/short-stories-twitter_n_1205208.html
And http://www.practicallymarzipan.com/blog (the latest post)

Trying:
Got nine hours of sleep. Had tea and cereal. Watched Doctor Who. Showered. Stepped into a sunny day. Woke up. Four A.M. Bugger.

Nearly got killed by a yellow-eyed eagle. Ran into apartment to find people hanging from the ceiling. Screamed. Woke Up. Too much Doctor Who.

More on Teaching, cellphones and students

I've just come out of a tiring, tiring* teaching session.

Teaching, as I've been telling Allison and another friend, is the one thing I've enjoyed and loved about Large Cornfield School. The students are usually on top of their game, they don't hesitate to put in work for their grades and come to class at least 40% prepared**. They make me want to keep teaching and to keep teaching writing courses.

Today however, I walked out of class feeling like it was an unmitigated disaster.
My students kept yawning and one even fell asleep only waking up intermittently to check his phone. (One of the first things I tell my students is that my only real strict rule is "No Using Cellphones/Ipods/Other Fancy Devices In Class". "It is a pet peeve", I tell my them on the first day, "It derails my thought and bothers me to see cellphones or fancy electronic gadgets being fiddled with in my classroom.") Upon being called out, of course, he mouthed "I am not using my phone" to his buddy. This behavior bothers me. Yeah, I know it is just one student and just one class. And it might never happen again.
But, it bothers me to call a student out. And what's buggering me right now is that I might now have to deal with resistance and general button-pushing from said student.
And this is a scenario that I'd much rather avoid.

Bleh. Now onto 100 pages of reading in an hour.


*And not the good kind of tiring where you give thanks for a few minutes of meager fulfillment in hours of slave labor being a Freshman Composition TA.
**To an English Composition class, 40% prepared is awesomesauce in my book.

What a Long, Strange Day it has been

My day started with water showers at -6degrees C (20F), included the horrors of fox news' commentary on how women in the army should expect to be raped and has finally come to this: 

I'm off to recover.
Night, y'all.

Day 12: Reflections, A Conclusion, A question and Old Telugu Film

So, I've been re-reading posts filed away under the "28 Days" label.
The keen reader would have observed by now that this year's February Blogathon posts get filed under both "28 Days" and "29 Days".

My grand conclusion is: I sound different.* 
Over just the space of a year, my voice seems to have changed.
My issues, however remain the same (whee! yeah?) even if I'm less on the brink of total breakdown.

On an unrelated note, wtf is going on  with The Office? That show seem's to have jumped the shark, throttled the poor beast and is now dancing on the carcass. Seriously? They're bringing in marital infidelity drama into the mix? The show needs to be re-classified as "soppy, waste-of-time drama".

On a final note, I heart Spotify. Especially since Australo sends me the most heartwarming old Telugu film songs (including this one).

*I also discovered that I somehow did more in my Old, Small Uni than I'm doing in Large Cornfield School.

Beaten-to-death lament about work

Seriously. How are we at this again?
How again, despite my planning and best intentions, do I still have 15 papers to grade, two presentations to work on, two papers to finish and 200 pages of reading to do? How?*

Aight, I'm off for a bit now to try and breathe and in the process, to remember that there's a lot outside my control. And there's fat little I can do about it.

*All rhetorical. I know how. Or, see title of post.

New: Genre Links Page Up

In place of a real post, I've decided to devote today's blog time to housekeeping.
My first addition is the Genre Links Page: http://www.frozendry.blogspot.com/p/genre-links-go-read.html - A whole page because it is just.that.important.

My next project for the day is to work on the hugely unwieldy labels. What on earth is that list of labels! Horrors.

Also, just in case you were wondering, Yes, I do have grading to do. Twenty papers of it. Which should explain the enthusiasm-turned-into-action on my blog. Whee!*

*To be read in a Sarcastic Tone Of Voice

Doctor Who

This is also true. I'm now a Doctor Who fangirl-in-the-making.
Purists would probably dismiss this claim, seeing as I have almost no inclination to watching any Doctor Who before the 2005 reprisal, and haven't read any Doctor Who. But, my time and viewing space vehemently declare otherwise and indignantly stick their tongue out at said purists.

I've inhaled Series 1 through 5 and now, I'm waiting for Season 6 - which is not yet available in America.*
My favorite Doctor in this set is Christopher Eccleston, although it took me a little while to get used to him. And my love of the Ninth Doctor is only possibly followed by my love of the the Eleventh, played by Matt Smith (for totally different reasons). My absolutely favorite companion is Donna and my least favorite companion is Martha Jones. I'm still thinking through my reasons for these somewhat polarized, strong sentiments towards um, fictional characters. But I keep thinking that I'd have loved the show if I'd watched it as a child.

It makes me feel the same way that Stone Boy did. (And here's where I tag The Gaul again - remember Stone Boy?)


*Grr. Argh.