verstehen libre.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
status
Since September I have...
1. Learned more Arrr and statistical modeling than I ever dreamed possible, but fear that it is still not enough.
2. Written twelve longish papers, 2 major project proposals, 10 gnarly-ass problem sets, and read approximately 19,250 pages (a conservative estimate, and there's one more week to go).
3. Gained approximately 200 pounds thanks to all-too-frequent hot chocolate runs, and endless entire weekends spent in the graduate bunker with no sight of the sun.
4. Watched my research agenda be utterly hijacked, which has had the strange effect of sending me back to the FSU and far, far away from Latin America interest-wise.
5. Learned calculus. Sort of. Basic idiot's calculus, anyway.
6. Discovered that African politics is probably not my bag, but have committed to giving it another chance beyond this one absurd and poorly-administered class.
7. Left the spooky, soulless, creepily Potemkin village of Cambridge a grand total of seven times. Four to Boston, once to Amherst, and twice to the airport and Seattle. I kind of can't believe that shit. Next semester at least I have four different conferences (Seattle, Vegas, Chicago, and New York), but why the hell haven't I been to see Bakon or my peeps in DC? Gaaah.
8. Not had one single yoga session, stopped jogging entirely, and experienced many, many days when my only time outside was the walk from my dorm to the department.
9. Increased caffeine intake dramatically. Like, way too dramatically. Embraced reality as shitty-espresso-dependent life form.
10. Not read any fiction whatsoever. Shauna's copy of "The Dispossessed" is totally going with me on the plane back home.
11. Have had both my laptop and my cell phone cease to function in some important way.
I'm not thinking too much of this is terribly sustainable in the long-term. ¶ 10:24 AM
1. Learned more Arrr and statistical modeling than I ever dreamed possible, but fear that it is still not enough.
2. Written twelve longish papers, 2 major project proposals, 10 gnarly-ass problem sets, and read approximately 19,250 pages (a conservative estimate, and there's one more week to go).
3. Gained approximately 200 pounds thanks to all-too-frequent hot chocolate runs, and endless entire weekends spent in the graduate bunker with no sight of the sun.
4. Watched my research agenda be utterly hijacked, which has had the strange effect of sending me back to the FSU and far, far away from Latin America interest-wise.
5. Learned calculus. Sort of. Basic idiot's calculus, anyway.
6. Discovered that African politics is probably not my bag, but have committed to giving it another chance beyond this one absurd and poorly-administered class.
7. Left the spooky, soulless, creepily Potemkin village of Cambridge a grand total of seven times. Four to Boston, once to Amherst, and twice to the airport and Seattle. I kind of can't believe that shit. Next semester at least I have four different conferences (Seattle, Vegas, Chicago, and New York), but why the hell haven't I been to see Bakon or my peeps in DC? Gaaah.
8. Not had one single yoga session, stopped jogging entirely, and experienced many, many days when my only time outside was the walk from my dorm to the department.
9. Increased caffeine intake dramatically. Like, way too dramatically. Embraced reality as shitty-espresso-dependent life form.
10. Not read any fiction whatsoever. Shauna's copy of "The Dispossessed" is totally going with me on the plane back home.
11. Have had both my laptop and my cell phone cease to function in some important way.
I'm not thinking too much of this is terribly sustainable in the long-term. ¶ 10:24 AM
Monday, December 11, 2006
oh my
Not much bloggin' happening around here, is there?
Until then, I just want to point out that "Speenhamland" is a damn funny word.
More in a week or so, my friends. I so dearly hope. ¶ 6:52 PM
Until then, I just want to point out that "Speenhamland" is a damn funny word.
More in a week or so, my friends. I so dearly hope. ¶ 6:52 PM
Saturday, December 02, 2006
diversion
How excited am I about this? Oh so very excited. Tonight's feature is called "Zero City," which I have wanted to see for a very long time indeed. Here's the description:
One of the key films of the Perestroika era, Zero City tells the story of a Moscow engineer named Varakin who arrives in a small town with instructions to change the size of a locally manufactured air-conditioner part. At the company office he is welcomed by a naked secretary and then finds himself sitting down to a lunch where dessert is a cake that strongly resembles his own head, baked by a chef who soon shoots himself. With its images of a burdensome past and an indeterminate future based on both folk tales and more modern forms of absurdism, Shakhnazarov's very funny and poignant film is a true historical touchstone.
Word. I am totally psyched. ¶ 10:42 AM
One of the key films of the Perestroika era, Zero City tells the story of a Moscow engineer named Varakin who arrives in a small town with instructions to change the size of a locally manufactured air-conditioner part. At the company office he is welcomed by a naked secretary and then finds himself sitting down to a lunch where dessert is a cake that strongly resembles his own head, baked by a chef who soon shoots himself. With its images of a burdensome past and an indeterminate future based on both folk tales and more modern forms of absurdism, Shakhnazarov's very funny and poignant film is a true historical touchstone.
Word. I am totally psyched. ¶ 10:42 AM
Friday, December 01, 2006
and now there's this:
"Key ministers sacked in Ukraine."
Two years ago, this country was talking about joining the EU. Not good, Maverick. Not good. ¶ 7:35 AM
Two years ago, this country was talking about joining the EU. Not good, Maverick. Not good. ¶ 7:35 AM
