1. Turned in grades. Our administrative assistant in the department is new this semester, and as I turned in grades, she exclaimed, "Well, look at your pretty bubbles!"
A discouraging semester; retention wasn't good. My final rosters had 123 names, 62 of which got W's or F's. Half. Yeah, Spring is always bad, and there will always be a certain number of students for whom I'm just not going to work; that's an inevitable part of human nature.
2. Went to assessment. We read samples of essays turned in from Comp I and Comp II classes and rated them on rubrics to ascertain whether the course outcomes are being met. This was most of the day. We always have interesting discussions as we clarify rubric issues that I think are the reason I do this rather heinous, tedious chore; I learn a lot from the other teachers and from reading other people's students (and therefore their interpretations of the various assignments).
3. Came home and took a nap. (I fell into a fitful sleep at about 5 last night, and I had to be up at 8. It was a long day.)
4. TV. We watched My Name is Earl (season finale, maybe series finale since I haven't heard whether it's been renewed), ER, and Scrubs. We primarily watch Scrubs because the first episode we ever saw of this show was last season's Wizard of Oz homage, and it was just so fresh, clever, and original that we were hooked. About once a month, though, Co-Vivant says, "Why do I know that woman?"
And I say, "That's Becky Two and Four." (She's a brilliant woman, but she doesn't waste brain cells on some items, I guess.)
Then we watched two episodes of Mad About You. We watched all the episodes we had today, and now we don't have any for the weekend. I don't think this will bode well.
5. Got my Pogo badges to at least 60%. Finished a Premium Badge. Won no prizes in the drawing from yesterday's PlayFest.
6. My Level 20 Night Elf Hunter and How She Grew: set out from Westfall with the 1- and 2-handed axes and the gun. While waiting for the Defias Messenger, I dinged 21, and then Woodsy dinged 20, so I could get him trained in everything. Got the Defias Messenger, turned it in, cooked the boars we'd killed on the way to bring the cooking over 50. Did the Defias Traitor and turned all my newly-won Defias Linen into Heavy Bandages, bringing First Aid over 50. I returned to Stormwind, got Leatherworking to 120, and exchanged my weapons for the one-handed sword, which I teamed with a dagger, and the bow. (I didn't need to level the dagger or bow, but I figured I may as well use the dual-wield, and I didn't want to use the gun anymore because I was low on shot, so I switched to the gun for the moment.)
I then returned to Redridge and turned in Return to Verner and Visit the Herbalist. I accepted and turned in Delivering Daffodils. Then I accepted and turned in Messenger to Stormwind, and then Messenger to Westfall, and then Messenger to Darkshire, picking up this flight path. I bought a crossbow and a staff; now I own one of all the weapons in which I am trained except a polearm.
Flew to Menethil because I really like the quest sequences there at around this level. Accepted the Greenwarden, Digging through the Ooze, Fiora Longears, Young Crocolisk Skins, and Searching for the Excavation Team. Then I started to have server problems, causing three deaths within about seven minutes, so I logged out. Those were the only three deaths for the night. The character is still in Rested and has not yet dropped to Normal ole purple.
7. Read the last two issues of The Week.
8. Today's BigFishGame is Coffee House Chaos. Not a bad game; a direct lift of the Diner Dash series, but not bad. However, the character moves slowly and clunkily, and it feels so similar that I felt a combination of deja vu and ennui; I think I only played the first seven or eight levels before I left the game and uninstalled it.
It really, really bugged me that, in seven or eight levels, the graphics still showed a leaky sink. That's going to attract bugs as well as being bad for the structural integrity of the building; eventually, this will lead to a series of health code violations, and I just didn't really want to keep playing in a place that didn't have the good sense to keep itself clean. I know that sounds stupid, but I just didn't want to be in that fake restaurant anymore, and it bein' a game and all, I had the option to leave and did so.
9. Hung up two loads of laundry (didn't put them away yet because there'll probably be more tomorrow).
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
5/10: What I Accomplished Today
1. Graded three sets of papers and gave a final. One student I'm waiting to get me one last crummy little paper, and then this semester's grading is done.
Tomorrow is the assessment-a-thon. Last year, we did Comp I assessment one day, and Comp II assessment another day, and had other meetings on other days, and by the time everything was done, what was supposed to be three weeks off was never more than five days in a row off. Tomorrow, we're trying to assess Comp I & Comp II at the same time so we have this sucker done and can enjoy our time off. It may not work, and it'll be a hellish day whether it works or not, but I'd rather have a hellish day and 24 days to play than hellish morning, five days, hellish morning, five days, etc. Let's just do our hell in one fell swoop and get on with it.
2. Wrote various needful e-mails, including asking the Dean Arthur's status and submitting a draft of a draft of a draft of a Placement assessment model.
3. Tonight was one of the Fellas' birthdays; I was unable to go because I was giving the final, but it was apparently very fun.
4. Our neighbor was diagnosed with breast cancer. She always refers to herself as Your Nasty Neighbor; this is funny because she's just sweet as can be, very helpful and kind; she watches our house, we watch hers. The Co-Vivant is concerned because it sounds like she may have just worked through the pain of swollen lymph nodes and a lump for several months. Fingers crossed.
5. Got Pogo badges to at least 40%. Tonight was the first Playfest; we were supposed to play 50 games of Word Whomp. Of the 50, I got the golden word 41, so I have 41 entries in the drawing tomorrow.
I wish it had a badge.
6. Television. Co-Vivant showed me a few minutes of The Colbert Report that were funny; Jane Fonda was the guest, and she basically dominatrixed the entire interview. The way Colbert is structured, it's really difficult to wrest control from him (and that's necessary, since he's playing a character in a format that isn't always conducive to that), but she did it. She planted a big open-mouth kiss on him as he sat down, carried out the whole interview while sitting in his lap, and just answered the questions she felt like answering.
Interesting character, Jane Fonda. (Yes, I know she's real, but if she weren't, I suspect someone would have to invent her.) In classical feminist terms, her behavior was reprehensible; she used sexuality as a weapon, and for classical feminists, that's a no-no; neither sexuality nor gender should be used as weapons, whether good, bad, or neutral. (While I admire the mindset behind the theory, I think this is largely why this particular aspect of feminism has always drawn fire. You know how many feminists it takes to change a light bulb? "That's not funny.")
I have a Doonesbury on my wall in which Lacy (I think; to be honest, I've never acquired the skill for distinguishing Doonesbury characters, although I do have the sense to feel guilty about this) has a dream in which she bemoans to a mentor that young women don't call themselves "feminists" anymore, and her mentor says something like, "Well of course not, dear, just as your generation didn't call themselves suffragists or abolitionists; when a battle is largely won, its language loses power." I have not yet heaved my sigh of relief that the gender gap has been closed, but I do think that many of the original arguments of feminism have lost impetus (I have some students and colleagues who are quite conservative, but very, very people in 2007 disagree that women have the right to work outside the home and, when they do, they have a right to paid equal wages for equal work).
Don't get me wrong; I still consider myself a feminist, but this is such a blobby, meaningless word that it's a little like calling yourself an vertebrate; of course you are, even if you've never considered yourself one or given it a moment's thought. Like I said, most people do not disagree with essential, original feminism: Women have the right to work outside the home, women have the right to exist as legal entities, women have the right to equal wages for equal work. (Isn't that Mary Tyler Moore episode where Mary discusses her salary with Mr. Grant hysterically quaint now? That was only about 35 years ago, folks.) Most people don't have major problems with the infrastructure that supports this (although it's created a new ghetto, one I'll call "Crayola-collared," of child-care workers who are lucky to be paid minimum wage and get much in the way of benefits).
Abortion? To be honest, back in grad school during my "Look how gay I'm not!" phase, I thought I was pregnant for a few days, and I thought about this. And here's what I came up with: I, personally, wasn't going to have an abortion. I had had friends who had abortions, and in most of those cases, I thought they had done the right thing, but I wasn't going to do it. I do not think it should be illegal; a person's body isn't the government's business. (I particularly think it's funny that most people who want abortion to be outlawed want a smaller government. You can't have both of those.) Again, we don't have enough police to catch murderers and thieves, but we should use some to arrest medical professionals and frightened teenagers? Excellent use of resources.
I think, in some ways, Americans treat rights like coupons. Whenever I go to the store, I seem to be the lucky person who gets behind the Coupon Couple; they used every blessed coupon in the newspaper, even though many of those products are of no use to them. Geriatric couples buy diapers; gay couples buy tampons; lesbians buy condoms--sure sign of Coupon Sickness. It's in the paper, available to me, so I have to use it, even if I'm actually wasting money buying something useless to me instead of saving money by using a coupon.
Some people seem to think rights work like that. "Abortion? Oh, that's a coupon I would never use, and I don't think anyone else should use it, either, so that shouldn't be in the paper." "I don't want to marry someone of the same gender; it's not natural to me. That coupon shouldn't be in the paper." (I've tried it your way, honey, and it was unnatural to me, but I guess it's your "nature" that gets to publish the paper. I think one paper these people are utterly unfamiliar with would be the Federalist Papers' discussion of Tyranny of the Majority.) "Marijuana for sick people? Well that's a coupon I'd never redeem, so nobody should get to redeem it." Dumb, dumb, dumb. You know what? I know many people will never believe me, but I've never smoked, snorted, or injected anything. I could sell my pee if I wanted; it's that squeaky-clean. Drug use is just not a coupon I've ever found at all interesting (or even comprehensible). I have also never gone to prostitutes. This is another coupon I have no interest in redeeming. But you know what? I get angry at how many policemen are being wasted on enforcing Drug War laws and Religious Taboos. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Let the coupons be in the paper, for heaven's sake. Just because a coupon is in the paper doesn't mean you, personally, have to redeem it; if you feel it does, then you're telling us you're a poor shopper.
7. Now will be my extremely fascinating account of the day's events with my Level 20 Night Elf Hunter. I started by confirming she was current on her training and pet training. I went to the Darnassus Weapons Trainer and bought Fist, Staves, and Thrown. (I hadn't trained any of her other weapons.) Flew to Auberdine, sailed to Menethil, turned in the Absent-Minded Prospector and picked up the next link in that chain, with the raptors. Flew to Ironforge, bought Axe, 2-handed Axe, Gun, and Crossbow. Picked up Speak with Shoni, took the Tram, turned in Speak with Shoni. Went to the Stormwind Weapons Trainer and bought 1- & 2-handed swords and polearms. I believe she has now purchased training in all the weapons for which she is eligible.
Then I went to Westfall and picked up the 1st Defias Brotherhood quest. Equipped darts and a two-handed sword my blacksmith had made and ran across Westfall, Elwynn, and Redridge to turn this in, picking up Encroaching Gnolls on the way. I also grinded (ground?) tarantulas and great goretusks, and when I logged off, my 2-handed sword skill was in the 80s and my thrown was in the 40's.
I turned in Encroaching Gnolls (2 free silver for going somewhere I needed to go anyway) and picked up the flight path. Accepted Price of Shoes, Hilary's Necklace, Murloc Poachers, Free Lunch. Turned in the Defias quest, Poachers, and Necklace. Cooked some boar stuff and got my cooking to 34 (I haven't focused on this, but I'm going to need to keep my owl Woodsy fed.) Meant to pick up the run-around cycle at the town hall but forgot; I'll do that tomorrow after the Messenger & Traitor.
Ran back and turned in Free Lunch, getting Visit the Herbalist. Turned in Price of Shoes; got Return to Verner. Went through the Defias chain until I got the messenger.
(This is the 8th character I've run through this part; since, when she turns 25, I expect her to do the Dead Mines, she needs to have done the backstory so she can get the right quests.)
No deaths. It's been so long since I played with this character that accomplishing all of this (which, granted, involved relatively few creatures that were at least yellow to me) didn't take me out of Rested.
I would have been perfectly happy to continue, but I have to be up 8ish tomorrow, so I had to stop playing. This was a significant pisser.
8. Doesn't look like BigFishGames has a new game up yet tonight, and now I have to go to bed even though I am not particularly tired.
9. Cleaned the trap in the shower. Put away my new packages of Bubble-Gum Foamy Soap (yes, this took me a day longer than it should have). Emptied the ice cube trays into the bin and put a new water dispenser on the counter so she can refill the trays. (For some reason I've never quite understood, things run more smoothly if I don't fill the ice cube trays. I've forgotten why; either I make the cubes too small, or I spill too much water on the floor, but one way or the other, I apparently don't make ice cubes properly.
Tomorrow is the assessment-a-thon. Last year, we did Comp I assessment one day, and Comp II assessment another day, and had other meetings on other days, and by the time everything was done, what was supposed to be three weeks off was never more than five days in a row off. Tomorrow, we're trying to assess Comp I & Comp II at the same time so we have this sucker done and can enjoy our time off. It may not work, and it'll be a hellish day whether it works or not, but I'd rather have a hellish day and 24 days to play than hellish morning, five days, hellish morning, five days, etc. Let's just do our hell in one fell swoop and get on with it.
2. Wrote various needful e-mails, including asking the Dean Arthur's status and submitting a draft of a draft of a draft of a Placement assessment model.
3. Tonight was one of the Fellas' birthdays; I was unable to go because I was giving the final, but it was apparently very fun.
4. Our neighbor was diagnosed with breast cancer. She always refers to herself as Your Nasty Neighbor; this is funny because she's just sweet as can be, very helpful and kind; she watches our house, we watch hers. The Co-Vivant is concerned because it sounds like she may have just worked through the pain of swollen lymph nodes and a lump for several months. Fingers crossed.
5. Got Pogo badges to at least 40%. Tonight was the first Playfest; we were supposed to play 50 games of Word Whomp. Of the 50, I got the golden word 41, so I have 41 entries in the drawing tomorrow.
I wish it had a badge.
6. Television. Co-Vivant showed me a few minutes of The Colbert Report that were funny; Jane Fonda was the guest, and she basically dominatrixed the entire interview. The way Colbert is structured, it's really difficult to wrest control from him (and that's necessary, since he's playing a character in a format that isn't always conducive to that), but she did it. She planted a big open-mouth kiss on him as he sat down, carried out the whole interview while sitting in his lap, and just answered the questions she felt like answering.
Interesting character, Jane Fonda. (Yes, I know she's real, but if she weren't, I suspect someone would have to invent her.) In classical feminist terms, her behavior was reprehensible; she used sexuality as a weapon, and for classical feminists, that's a no-no; neither sexuality nor gender should be used as weapons, whether good, bad, or neutral. (While I admire the mindset behind the theory, I think this is largely why this particular aspect of feminism has always drawn fire. You know how many feminists it takes to change a light bulb? "That's not funny.")
I have a Doonesbury on my wall in which Lacy (I think; to be honest, I've never acquired the skill for distinguishing Doonesbury characters, although I do have the sense to feel guilty about this) has a dream in which she bemoans to a mentor that young women don't call themselves "feminists" anymore, and her mentor says something like, "Well of course not, dear, just as your generation didn't call themselves suffragists or abolitionists; when a battle is largely won, its language loses power." I have not yet heaved my sigh of relief that the gender gap has been closed, but I do think that many of the original arguments of feminism have lost impetus (I have some students and colleagues who are quite conservative, but very, very people in 2007 disagree that women have the right to work outside the home and, when they do, they have a right to paid equal wages for equal work).
Don't get me wrong; I still consider myself a feminist, but this is such a blobby, meaningless word that it's a little like calling yourself an vertebrate; of course you are, even if you've never considered yourself one or given it a moment's thought. Like I said, most people do not disagree with essential, original feminism: Women have the right to work outside the home, women have the right to exist as legal entities, women have the right to equal wages for equal work. (Isn't that Mary Tyler Moore episode where Mary discusses her salary with Mr. Grant hysterically quaint now? That was only about 35 years ago, folks.) Most people don't have major problems with the infrastructure that supports this (although it's created a new ghetto, one I'll call "Crayola-collared," of child-care workers who are lucky to be paid minimum wage and get much in the way of benefits).
Abortion? To be honest, back in grad school during my "Look how gay I'm not!" phase, I thought I was pregnant for a few days, and I thought about this. And here's what I came up with: I, personally, wasn't going to have an abortion. I had had friends who had abortions, and in most of those cases, I thought they had done the right thing, but I wasn't going to do it. I do not think it should be illegal; a person's body isn't the government's business. (I particularly think it's funny that most people who want abortion to be outlawed want a smaller government. You can't have both of those.) Again, we don't have enough police to catch murderers and thieves, but we should use some to arrest medical professionals and frightened teenagers? Excellent use of resources.
I think, in some ways, Americans treat rights like coupons. Whenever I go to the store, I seem to be the lucky person who gets behind the Coupon Couple; they used every blessed coupon in the newspaper, even though many of those products are of no use to them. Geriatric couples buy diapers; gay couples buy tampons; lesbians buy condoms--sure sign of Coupon Sickness. It's in the paper, available to me, so I have to use it, even if I'm actually wasting money buying something useless to me instead of saving money by using a coupon.
Some people seem to think rights work like that. "Abortion? Oh, that's a coupon I would never use, and I don't think anyone else should use it, either, so that shouldn't be in the paper." "I don't want to marry someone of the same gender; it's not natural to me. That coupon shouldn't be in the paper." (I've tried it your way, honey, and it was unnatural to me, but I guess it's your "nature" that gets to publish the paper. I think one paper these people are utterly unfamiliar with would be the Federalist Papers' discussion of Tyranny of the Majority.) "Marijuana for sick people? Well that's a coupon I'd never redeem, so nobody should get to redeem it." Dumb, dumb, dumb. You know what? I know many people will never believe me, but I've never smoked, snorted, or injected anything. I could sell my pee if I wanted; it's that squeaky-clean. Drug use is just not a coupon I've ever found at all interesting (or even comprehensible). I have also never gone to prostitutes. This is another coupon I have no interest in redeeming. But you know what? I get angry at how many policemen are being wasted on enforcing Drug War laws and Religious Taboos. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Let the coupons be in the paper, for heaven's sake. Just because a coupon is in the paper doesn't mean you, personally, have to redeem it; if you feel it does, then you're telling us you're a poor shopper.
7. Now will be my extremely fascinating account of the day's events with my Level 20 Night Elf Hunter. I started by confirming she was current on her training and pet training. I went to the Darnassus Weapons Trainer and bought Fist, Staves, and Thrown. (I hadn't trained any of her other weapons.) Flew to Auberdine, sailed to Menethil, turned in the Absent-Minded Prospector and picked up the next link in that chain, with the raptors. Flew to Ironforge, bought Axe, 2-handed Axe, Gun, and Crossbow. Picked up Speak with Shoni, took the Tram, turned in Speak with Shoni. Went to the Stormwind Weapons Trainer and bought 1- & 2-handed swords and polearms. I believe she has now purchased training in all the weapons for which she is eligible.
Then I went to Westfall and picked up the 1st Defias Brotherhood quest. Equipped darts and a two-handed sword my blacksmith had made and ran across Westfall, Elwynn, and Redridge to turn this in, picking up Encroaching Gnolls on the way. I also grinded (ground?) tarantulas and great goretusks, and when I logged off, my 2-handed sword skill was in the 80s and my thrown was in the 40's.
I turned in Encroaching Gnolls (2 free silver for going somewhere I needed to go anyway) and picked up the flight path. Accepted Price of Shoes, Hilary's Necklace, Murloc Poachers, Free Lunch. Turned in the Defias quest, Poachers, and Necklace. Cooked some boar stuff and got my cooking to 34 (I haven't focused on this, but I'm going to need to keep my owl Woodsy fed.) Meant to pick up the run-around cycle at the town hall but forgot; I'll do that tomorrow after the Messenger & Traitor.
Ran back and turned in Free Lunch, getting Visit the Herbalist. Turned in Price of Shoes; got Return to Verner. Went through the Defias chain until I got the messenger.
(This is the 8th character I've run through this part; since, when she turns 25, I expect her to do the Dead Mines, she needs to have done the backstory so she can get the right quests.)
No deaths. It's been so long since I played with this character that accomplishing all of this (which, granted, involved relatively few creatures that were at least yellow to me) didn't take me out of Rested.
I would have been perfectly happy to continue, but I have to be up 8ish tomorrow, so I had to stop playing. This was a significant pisser.
8. Doesn't look like BigFishGames has a new game up yet tonight, and now I have to go to bed even though I am not particularly tired.
9. Cleaned the trap in the shower. Put away my new packages of Bubble-Gum Foamy Soap (yes, this took me a day longer than it should have). Emptied the ice cube trays into the bin and put a new water dispenser on the counter so she can refill the trays. (For some reason I've never quite understood, things run more smoothly if I don't fill the ice cube trays. I've forgotten why; either I make the cubes too small, or I spill too much water on the floor, but one way or the other, I apparently don't make ice cubes properly.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
5/9: What I Accomplished Today
1. I was awakened today by my Co-Vivant hollering, "Who'd like to take me to lunch?" This means that she has figured out I have no particular place I have to be, so I should get up so we can go to lunch. As I was sort of groggily waking up, she said, "You shouldn't start my days by dismembering me."
Hmm. I don't remember that. "Huh?" I mumbled.
"You woke me up by saying my arm was falling off."
Hmm. "Okay, lemme think. I woke you before I'd turned off your alarm, so I said, 'Your alarm is going off,' hoping you'd hear it and it would wake you up." This has never worked in ten years, but I live in a beautiful dreamworld with marshmallow somethings and marmalade skies.
"I checked to see which one, but it turned out they were both fine. I didn't think sounded very concerned for someone whose Co-Vivant had just lost an arm while sleeping."
So we went to lunch. At lunch, we discussed various gift possibilities for our May occasions (one of the Fellas has a birthday tomorrow, Mothers' Day for both our mothers and my grandmother, a friend's birthday and my grandmother's birthday next week). She was going to go shopping while I went to my office.
2. I didn't have to give a final today (My Monday-Wednesday class took theirs on Monday), but I went to my office and graded three sets of papers. If I do that again tomorrow, the grading portion of the semester is over.
3. It looks like the assessment thing is going to resolve itself. Good. I still have no idea where Arthur stands.
4. When I got home, I was looking in the fridge for food and saw that we had the kind of yogurt I like. "Oh, the Yogurt Fairy came!" I said. "Oh, and look, there are cupcakes, too!"
And then later I was reloading the soda, and I saw that we had several boxes of Shake-in-a-Can. (I don't really pay any attention to the weight-loss thing, and if you don't carefully follow the shake-well-and-drink-very-cold directions, you will be uncomfortable all evening, but this is the way I live on the edge--I sometimes drink shake-in-a-can recreationally. I think the Chocolate Royale tastes kinda good, and I like the idea of a chocolate shake in a can.) So I hollered to thank the Shake-in-a-Can Fairy.
As I opened the pantry later this evening, I saw that the Poptart Fairy had come, too.
And then as I was in the restroom, I saw that not only did I have the toothpaste I'd asked her to get me, but there was also another little dispenser of bubble-gum foamy soap. (Bubble-gum foamy soap just makes me giggle. I like the smell, and I like the texture. I am only 42.)
So then I said, "All this, and the Bubble-gum Foamy Soap Fairy to boot! You are so much nicer to me than I am!"
"What?"
"When I go to the store, or when we go together, I might get one of these little treats in a given week, but all of them at the same time? It's a veritable embarrassment of riches!" (I love that plural of "riches," like "a murder of crows.")
I guess, in our own different ways, we spoil each other. I am apparently spoiled by material goods. I should probably be embarrassed by that (hmm; I wonder if that's where that word came from), but my hands smell like bubble gum, which makes me smile, and I refuse to be embarrassed about that.
5. Television. Lemme think. We started the Ted Koppel program Living with Cancer, but frankly, we've both coped with that situation and its variants several times, and after about 15 or 20 minutes, we said to each other, "Have you learned anything new?" And neither of us had. "Are you particularly enjoying this?" So we decided not to watch anymore. Again, this probably makes us bad, non-empathetic people.
So then we watched three episodes of Mad About You.
6. New Badge Day at Pogo. I got my badges about 20% done.
7. No reading today. (Still grading finals; reading isn't fun right now.)
8. Here's how incredible self-indulgent I am. Instead of just saying, "Got Night Elf Druid to level 25," I'm going to tell you how I did it.
I started this evening about halfway through level 24 (you may recall, since I'm sure you're tracking this closely and await each day's adventures with bated breath, that I've been at level 24 for a day or two). I got Tailoring to 148. I then completed Covert Ops: Alpha and Beta and turned in Further Instructions and both Covert Ops thingies. I then finished Kaela's Update, which took about ten steps to complete, and accepted Enraged Spirits and Wounded Ancients. I worked on those until I was just about to be killed, and then I turned and ran away and went back to Ashenvale. From there, I made my way to Forest Song, where I completed Kayneth Stillwind and Helping Hand. I accepted quite a few quests, but I abandoned some because I wasn't going to get to them for awhile and I was going to need quest space; I only ended up keeping Lost Chalice and Report from the Northern Front, which I then finished. I was then close enough to 25 that I didn't want to start a whole nother quest, so I ground Thistlefur until I dinged 25. Then I hearthed to Stormwind and accepted the Dead Mines quests from the Dwarf in the Dwarven Quarter (Oh, Brother and Collecting Memories). I also swung by and picked up the Color of Blood. I then got my Tailoring to 150, so I could make Small Silk Packs, and my first aid to 21 (this is a tailor, remember, and I've just decided she's not likely to need the linen cloth anymore).
At that point, I parked this character by the Stormwind mailbox by the bank. Until it is her turn again, it will be her job to collect silk and make 10-slot bags until everyone has 10-slot bags in every bag space. When it is her turn again, she will do Dead Mines. I've decided everyone will do Dead Mines at 25, big enough to be useful in a group.
I then recorded all her stats and did a mail check of all characters so that tomorrow I can begin the Level 20 Night Elf Hunter.
(Good grief, I am the most egotistical person ever if I think that will interest a soul who doesn't live inside my head.)
9. The new BigFishGame is called Monkey Business. It's not bad; it's essentially a sorter. Not a bad sorter, but I don't know if I need a sorter.
Apparently the maintenance they performed two nights ago was to install a new interface for downloading and retrieving games from the site. I don't know yet how it's going to work or if I'm going to like it or not.
10. I saw on their site from a few weeks ago something that hadn't registered because it wasn't relevant at the time: I could become a BigFishGame affiliate and, whenever I download a game I like and say nice things about it and people read them and decide to download it, they could click my link, and I'd get a piece of whatever they pay. I also keep looking at that AdWords blurb.
It's all totally academic now, because my audience consists entirely of me; occasionally my Co-Vivant will read it, but this isn't a genre she's going to be crazy about, so she's not going to read it every day, and nobody else is ever going to find me, and that's fine. I'm sort of enjoying this; I seem to feel more productive when I can list several things at the end of the day, even though I'm perfectly aware that most of them don't count as "productivity" at all. My mood has been better since I've started doing this.
It feels a little dumb to do the whole affiliacy-and-ad thing for nobody. On the other hand, maybe someday, somebody will find me and will see that my very strange taste in games exactly dovetails with theirs, and since I tend to check several game sites regularly, maybe they'd find my little mini-blurbs useful. Maybe.
I'm a little concerned about AdWords because sometimes I use the word "lesbian." I try not to talk about it all the time because frankly, I don't think it's all that interesting--but on the other hand, I don't not talk about it. When I was in college, I found that the teachers I often learned the most from were the ones willing to give personal examples from their own lives, so I do that, and I don't wanna play Fun with Pronouns. I'm concerned that the word will appear often enough that gross ads will appear. There's probably a way to decide what rating you want to be; I'll have to check into that before I make that decision.
I really, really have tried to understand Porn. Really, I have. Back in graduate school, I dated several guys who seemed to find it important that I be interested in porn. (I spent much of graduate school trying to prove how gay I wasn't. Didn't work out that way; the primary thing I accomplished was the humiliation and emasculation of several men I cared about as much as I'm wired to love men, and I wouldn't have hurt them for the world, so I decided it's probably just better for the cosmos if I act with some integrity and love the people [well, person] I actually love and not the ones I felt like I ought to.) Anyway, the whole "naked stranger" thing is just embarrassing to me; it is pleasant (I'm being euphemistic because I'd rather be euphemistic than gross) to see a particular person we love nekkid because we love the particular person, but it's just embarrassing to see a stranger nekkid, like you opened the door to an occupied stall in a public bathroom. There's just no graceful way out of that situation.
I'll see if there's a way to specify "no adult ads" (in my opinion, porn isn't for adults anyway, but that's just my opinion. Nothing wrong with it, and it shouldn't be illegal because what a dumb thing to pay cops to do when we already don't have enough to solve violent crime and robberies, but I don't want any Porn).
11. SandlotGames has a new game, Burger Island. If you played Burger Rush recently, this is similar, but it has a little more variety; sometimes you make burgers, sometimes fries, sometimes shakes. (Actually, the game this most resembles isn't Burger Rush, but the Chef subgame on the PS2 game Play, which is an EyeToy game that's supposed to encourage movement. I found the EyeToy too tetchy for that to be a fun game, but the layout and action are similar to this one.) The straw placement on the shake levels was a little problematic, I found, but it was a fun game. I might buy it.
12. I don't think I did anything useful around the house. All the Treat Fairies came today, and this is how I repay them.
I had more to say tonight; I guess being able to see the end of Finals' Week is good for morale.
Hmm. I don't remember that. "Huh?" I mumbled.
"You woke me up by saying my arm was falling off."
Hmm. "Okay, lemme think. I woke you before I'd turned off your alarm, so I said, 'Your alarm is going off,' hoping you'd hear it and it would wake you up." This has never worked in ten years, but I live in a beautiful dreamworld with marshmallow somethings and marmalade skies.
"I checked to see which one, but it turned out they were both fine. I didn't think sounded very concerned for someone whose Co-Vivant had just lost an arm while sleeping."
So we went to lunch. At lunch, we discussed various gift possibilities for our May occasions (one of the Fellas has a birthday tomorrow, Mothers' Day for both our mothers and my grandmother, a friend's birthday and my grandmother's birthday next week). She was going to go shopping while I went to my office.
2. I didn't have to give a final today (My Monday-Wednesday class took theirs on Monday), but I went to my office and graded three sets of papers. If I do that again tomorrow, the grading portion of the semester is over.
3. It looks like the assessment thing is going to resolve itself. Good. I still have no idea where Arthur stands.
4. When I got home, I was looking in the fridge for food and saw that we had the kind of yogurt I like. "Oh, the Yogurt Fairy came!" I said. "Oh, and look, there are cupcakes, too!"
And then later I was reloading the soda, and I saw that we had several boxes of Shake-in-a-Can. (I don't really pay any attention to the weight-loss thing, and if you don't carefully follow the shake-well-and-drink-very-cold directions, you will be uncomfortable all evening, but this is the way I live on the edge--I sometimes drink shake-in-a-can recreationally. I think the Chocolate Royale tastes kinda good, and I like the idea of a chocolate shake in a can.) So I hollered to thank the Shake-in-a-Can Fairy.
As I opened the pantry later this evening, I saw that the Poptart Fairy had come, too.
And then as I was in the restroom, I saw that not only did I have the toothpaste I'd asked her to get me, but there was also another little dispenser of bubble-gum foamy soap. (Bubble-gum foamy soap just makes me giggle. I like the smell, and I like the texture. I am only 42.)
So then I said, "All this, and the Bubble-gum Foamy Soap Fairy to boot! You are so much nicer to me than I am!"
"What?"
"When I go to the store, or when we go together, I might get one of these little treats in a given week, but all of them at the same time? It's a veritable embarrassment of riches!" (I love that plural of "riches," like "a murder of crows.")
I guess, in our own different ways, we spoil each other. I am apparently spoiled by material goods. I should probably be embarrassed by that (hmm; I wonder if that's where that word came from), but my hands smell like bubble gum, which makes me smile, and I refuse to be embarrassed about that.
5. Television. Lemme think. We started the Ted Koppel program Living with Cancer, but frankly, we've both coped with that situation and its variants several times, and after about 15 or 20 minutes, we said to each other, "Have you learned anything new?" And neither of us had. "Are you particularly enjoying this?" So we decided not to watch anymore. Again, this probably makes us bad, non-empathetic people.
So then we watched three episodes of Mad About You.
6. New Badge Day at Pogo. I got my badges about 20% done.
7. No reading today. (Still grading finals; reading isn't fun right now.)
8. Here's how incredible self-indulgent I am. Instead of just saying, "Got Night Elf Druid to level 25," I'm going to tell you how I did it.
I started this evening about halfway through level 24 (you may recall, since I'm sure you're tracking this closely and await each day's adventures with bated breath, that I've been at level 24 for a day or two). I got Tailoring to 148. I then completed Covert Ops: Alpha and Beta and turned in Further Instructions and both Covert Ops thingies. I then finished Kaela's Update, which took about ten steps to complete, and accepted Enraged Spirits and Wounded Ancients. I worked on those until I was just about to be killed, and then I turned and ran away and went back to Ashenvale. From there, I made my way to Forest Song, where I completed Kayneth Stillwind and Helping Hand. I accepted quite a few quests, but I abandoned some because I wasn't going to get to them for awhile and I was going to need quest space; I only ended up keeping Lost Chalice and Report from the Northern Front, which I then finished. I was then close enough to 25 that I didn't want to start a whole nother quest, so I ground Thistlefur until I dinged 25. Then I hearthed to Stormwind and accepted the Dead Mines quests from the Dwarf in the Dwarven Quarter (Oh, Brother and Collecting Memories). I also swung by and picked up the Color of Blood. I then got my Tailoring to 150, so I could make Small Silk Packs, and my first aid to 21 (this is a tailor, remember, and I've just decided she's not likely to need the linen cloth anymore).
At that point, I parked this character by the Stormwind mailbox by the bank. Until it is her turn again, it will be her job to collect silk and make 10-slot bags until everyone has 10-slot bags in every bag space. When it is her turn again, she will do Dead Mines. I've decided everyone will do Dead Mines at 25, big enough to be useful in a group.
I then recorded all her stats and did a mail check of all characters so that tomorrow I can begin the Level 20 Night Elf Hunter.
(Good grief, I am the most egotistical person ever if I think that will interest a soul who doesn't live inside my head.)
9. The new BigFishGame is called Monkey Business. It's not bad; it's essentially a sorter. Not a bad sorter, but I don't know if I need a sorter.
Apparently the maintenance they performed two nights ago was to install a new interface for downloading and retrieving games from the site. I don't know yet how it's going to work or if I'm going to like it or not.
10. I saw on their site from a few weeks ago something that hadn't registered because it wasn't relevant at the time: I could become a BigFishGame affiliate and, whenever I download a game I like and say nice things about it and people read them and decide to download it, they could click my link, and I'd get a piece of whatever they pay. I also keep looking at that AdWords blurb.
It's all totally academic now, because my audience consists entirely of me; occasionally my Co-Vivant will read it, but this isn't a genre she's going to be crazy about, so she's not going to read it every day, and nobody else is ever going to find me, and that's fine. I'm sort of enjoying this; I seem to feel more productive when I can list several things at the end of the day, even though I'm perfectly aware that most of them don't count as "productivity" at all. My mood has been better since I've started doing this.
It feels a little dumb to do the whole affiliacy-and-ad thing for nobody. On the other hand, maybe someday, somebody will find me and will see that my very strange taste in games exactly dovetails with theirs, and since I tend to check several game sites regularly, maybe they'd find my little mini-blurbs useful. Maybe.
I'm a little concerned about AdWords because sometimes I use the word "lesbian." I try not to talk about it all the time because frankly, I don't think it's all that interesting--but on the other hand, I don't not talk about it. When I was in college, I found that the teachers I often learned the most from were the ones willing to give personal examples from their own lives, so I do that, and I don't wanna play Fun with Pronouns. I'm concerned that the word will appear often enough that gross ads will appear. There's probably a way to decide what rating you want to be; I'll have to check into that before I make that decision.
I really, really have tried to understand Porn. Really, I have. Back in graduate school, I dated several guys who seemed to find it important that I be interested in porn. (I spent much of graduate school trying to prove how gay I wasn't. Didn't work out that way; the primary thing I accomplished was the humiliation and emasculation of several men I cared about as much as I'm wired to love men, and I wouldn't have hurt them for the world, so I decided it's probably just better for the cosmos if I act with some integrity and love the people [well, person] I actually love and not the ones I felt like I ought to.) Anyway, the whole "naked stranger" thing is just embarrassing to me; it is pleasant (I'm being euphemistic because I'd rather be euphemistic than gross) to see a particular person we love nekkid because we love the particular person, but it's just embarrassing to see a stranger nekkid, like you opened the door to an occupied stall in a public bathroom. There's just no graceful way out of that situation.
I'll see if there's a way to specify "no adult ads" (in my opinion, porn isn't for adults anyway, but that's just my opinion. Nothing wrong with it, and it shouldn't be illegal because what a dumb thing to pay cops to do when we already don't have enough to solve violent crime and robberies, but I don't want any Porn).
11. SandlotGames has a new game, Burger Island. If you played Burger Rush recently, this is similar, but it has a little more variety; sometimes you make burgers, sometimes fries, sometimes shakes. (Actually, the game this most resembles isn't Burger Rush, but the Chef subgame on the PS2 game Play, which is an EyeToy game that's supposed to encourage movement. I found the EyeToy too tetchy for that to be a fun game, but the layout and action are similar to this one.) The straw placement on the shake levels was a little problematic, I found, but it was a fun game. I might buy it.
12. I don't think I did anything useful around the house. All the Treat Fairies came today, and this is how I repay them.
I had more to say tonight; I guess being able to see the end of Finals' Week is good for morale.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
5/8: What I Accomplished Today
1. Graded two sets of papers; had a class turn in its last set of stuff.
2. Let more of the day than I should have be sucked up by discussions of assessment, but it has to happen, and I don't want people to go off on this next week while I'm trying to enjoy my time off.
3. Watched some television; no recollection of what it was.
4. Finished Pogo's Solitaire Playground Premium Badge Book. Worked a little on my other premium badge.
5. Played the Level 24 Night Elf Druid awhile, but didn't level. Didn't really feel like it; couldn't get a groove.
6. Finally finished Fairy Godmother Tycoon. This is good, clean, silly fun.
Forgive me, but I'm just brain dead this evening. Maybe I'll be able to muster a thought or two tomorrow.
2. Let more of the day than I should have be sucked up by discussions of assessment, but it has to happen, and I don't want people to go off on this next week while I'm trying to enjoy my time off.
3. Watched some television; no recollection of what it was.
4. Finished Pogo's Solitaire Playground Premium Badge Book. Worked a little on my other premium badge.
5. Played the Level 24 Night Elf Druid awhile, but didn't level. Didn't really feel like it; couldn't get a groove.
6. Finally finished Fairy Godmother Tycoon. This is good, clean, silly fun.
Forgive me, but I'm just brain dead this evening. Maybe I'll be able to muster a thought or two tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
5/7: What I Accomplished Today
1. Sent apologies for being publicly wrong to people who may need same.
2. Took a look at the assessment prompt and didn't see any reason at all why it couldn't be a final as is, so I gave it as such.
3. Graded two sets of papers and gave a final. (Again I'll mention that this is just a little sentence, but this was the bulk of the day.)
4. Trying to decide whether to say anything to the head of the Lit committee about the outcomes the committee came up with, because I don't think they're assessable and I think they repeat mistakes the other two committees have overcome. However, since I wasn't at the formulation meetings, I feel a little disingenuous about bringing this up. However, since most people on this particular committee don't have a history of attending assessments, I think they're unaware of the history of what was done. I hate to see history repeating itself, but I'm not sure I should be the one to mention this. I'll ponder this tomorrow.
5. Last night, BBC America apparently ran a marathon of The World Stands Up, which is a show we like that has 6-8 minutes of four different comedians. We'd seen them all, though. We spent the evening determining that and deleting them.
We also watched the Mad About You with Paul's birthday.
6. Worked a little on my Pogo premium badges.
7. Got my Night Elf Druid to level 24.
8. Just read a little Paul today; it's Finals' week, and I seldom feel like I wanna read anything else when I'm home from the grading frenzy.
9. BigFishGames' Game Club is doing some sort of maintenance, so no new game.
Thought-free zone tonight.
2. Took a look at the assessment prompt and didn't see any reason at all why it couldn't be a final as is, so I gave it as such.
3. Graded two sets of papers and gave a final. (Again I'll mention that this is just a little sentence, but this was the bulk of the day.)
4. Trying to decide whether to say anything to the head of the Lit committee about the outcomes the committee came up with, because I don't think they're assessable and I think they repeat mistakes the other two committees have overcome. However, since I wasn't at the formulation meetings, I feel a little disingenuous about bringing this up. However, since most people on this particular committee don't have a history of attending assessments, I think they're unaware of the history of what was done. I hate to see history repeating itself, but I'm not sure I should be the one to mention this. I'll ponder this tomorrow.
5. Last night, BBC America apparently ran a marathon of The World Stands Up, which is a show we like that has 6-8 minutes of four different comedians. We'd seen them all, though. We spent the evening determining that and deleting them.
We also watched the Mad About You with Paul's birthday.
6. Worked a little on my Pogo premium badges.
7. Got my Night Elf Druid to level 24.
8. Just read a little Paul today; it's Finals' week, and I seldom feel like I wanna read anything else when I'm home from the grading frenzy.
9. BigFishGames' Game Club is doing some sort of maintenance, so no new game.
Thought-free zone tonight.
Monday, May 7, 2007
5/6: What I Accomplished Today
1. No puzzle day today. People were traveling.
2. Got Night Elf Druid to level 23; yes, that's three higher than she was yesterday. Apparently, there were lots of little dumb easy quests I thought she'd already done that she hadn't.
3. Reading. There's no mail today, so other than a little Paul, I didn't really read anything today. (Sometimes I just sit and read for hours, but I haven't felt like doing that for awhile, obviously.)
4. Television. Watched Bill Maher. Well, we don't really watch all of Bill Maher because the panel feels like homework; usually the celebrity isn't particularly well-informed and the wonks aren't going to say anything unexpected, so we usually skip that part. We always watch the monologue and New Rules; again, we don't always agree with him, but he's funny and thought-provoking.
Speaking of funny and thought-provoking, we also watched a Comedy Central show by Carlos Mencia from a few years ago. I'm not going to deny he's funny, because he is. I can't help but think he misses the point sometimes, though.
For instance, he had a part of the routine that went, "We're supposed to feel all sorry for people because their houses were hit by a tornado. They live in Tor-nay-do All-ey. I'm not going to feel sorry for them. Move! And that isn't hard for them because their houses have wheels."
Okay, I have two issues with that (and we laughed at it, don't get me wrong). I don't think we're supposed to feel all sorry for people. We're not "supposed" to do anything at all; if people see devastation and have a reaction, I think that's an admirable human trait, but I don't think it's assigned or mandatory. Many people will choose to empathize with other human beings. If he can't draw the distinction between "feeling sorry" and "empathy," that gives us important information about the man.
I have another problem with his rant. One reason we empathize is that it could be us. Maybe we don't live in Tornado Alley, but there is absolutely nowhere on Earth where nothing catastrophic can happen. If we mock people for not moving out of Tornado Alley or hurricane-ridden coastal areas or flood-prone land or blizzard territory or earthquake zones--well, where's left to live?
He also made a comment about those "stupid Middle-Easterners" who refuse to leave the desert. Now this was just dumb. You know what? I live in the desert. I won't live anywhere else. There are no tornadoes here. No hurricanes. No blizzards. It occasionally floods because the city isn't designed to get more than an inch of rain and if we do, there are no gutters to take it away; we seldom need them. It rains maybe ten days a year. Now that's kind of a problem because we're in a drought, but I like that I don't really own a coat. I don't really own an umbrella. For nostalgia's sake, I keep my ice scraper and snow brush in my car, and I've used both once in the ten years I've lived here, but I like that these things aren't my problem. It took me awhile to get used to the fact that it's not very green, but I actually now see green as sort of cheezy, even cheating. There's a beauty and dignity to the desert.
And making his desert comments specific to the Middle East--does he understand people who have lived in a place for generations, perhaps centuries?
And I know Mencia would respond, "Lady, one of the points of my act was that people shouldn't go all sensitive and get their feelings hurt all easily." And my feelings aren't hurt. I'm a big, brave girl, and people make pejorative comments about my residence all the time, most of which are funny. (Just for the record, fellas, prostitution is not legal in Clark County, for example. We laugh hysterically whenever some idiot makes it clear that he's vague on that concept.) But as I said before a few weeks ago, I get frustrated when people confuse "P.C." and "courtesy." Sometimes people shouldn't make certain statements because those statements would make people look like idiots.
We also watched The Riches and The Sopranos.
5. Finished the weekly Pogo badges and worked on my premium badges.
6. The BigFishGame is a tile-matching thing. That's not what I'm in the mood for.
7. I was ever so helpful today! I changed a role of toilet paper in the back bathroom, took out the trash and changed the bag, cut up lettuce for yet more Chinese Chicken Salad, and changed the water in the refrigerator.
8. Neither of us really woke up today.
9. We are now coming into Finals' Week.
2. Got Night Elf Druid to level 23; yes, that's three higher than she was yesterday. Apparently, there were lots of little dumb easy quests I thought she'd already done that she hadn't.
3. Reading. There's no mail today, so other than a little Paul, I didn't really read anything today. (Sometimes I just sit and read for hours, but I haven't felt like doing that for awhile, obviously.)
4. Television. Watched Bill Maher. Well, we don't really watch all of Bill Maher because the panel feels like homework; usually the celebrity isn't particularly well-informed and the wonks aren't going to say anything unexpected, so we usually skip that part. We always watch the monologue and New Rules; again, we don't always agree with him, but he's funny and thought-provoking.
Speaking of funny and thought-provoking, we also watched a Comedy Central show by Carlos Mencia from a few years ago. I'm not going to deny he's funny, because he is. I can't help but think he misses the point sometimes, though.
For instance, he had a part of the routine that went, "We're supposed to feel all sorry for people because their houses were hit by a tornado. They live in Tor-nay-do All-ey. I'm not going to feel sorry for them. Move! And that isn't hard for them because their houses have wheels."
Okay, I have two issues with that (and we laughed at it, don't get me wrong). I don't think we're supposed to feel all sorry for people. We're not "supposed" to do anything at all; if people see devastation and have a reaction, I think that's an admirable human trait, but I don't think it's assigned or mandatory. Many people will choose to empathize with other human beings. If he can't draw the distinction between "feeling sorry" and "empathy," that gives us important information about the man.
I have another problem with his rant. One reason we empathize is that it could be us. Maybe we don't live in Tornado Alley, but there is absolutely nowhere on Earth where nothing catastrophic can happen. If we mock people for not moving out of Tornado Alley or hurricane-ridden coastal areas or flood-prone land or blizzard territory or earthquake zones--well, where's left to live?
He also made a comment about those "stupid Middle-Easterners" who refuse to leave the desert. Now this was just dumb. You know what? I live in the desert. I won't live anywhere else. There are no tornadoes here. No hurricanes. No blizzards. It occasionally floods because the city isn't designed to get more than an inch of rain and if we do, there are no gutters to take it away; we seldom need them. It rains maybe ten days a year. Now that's kind of a problem because we're in a drought, but I like that I don't really own a coat. I don't really own an umbrella. For nostalgia's sake, I keep my ice scraper and snow brush in my car, and I've used both once in the ten years I've lived here, but I like that these things aren't my problem. It took me awhile to get used to the fact that it's not very green, but I actually now see green as sort of cheezy, even cheating. There's a beauty and dignity to the desert.
And making his desert comments specific to the Middle East--does he understand people who have lived in a place for generations, perhaps centuries?
And I know Mencia would respond, "Lady, one of the points of my act was that people shouldn't go all sensitive and get their feelings hurt all easily." And my feelings aren't hurt. I'm a big, brave girl, and people make pejorative comments about my residence all the time, most of which are funny. (Just for the record, fellas, prostitution is not legal in Clark County, for example. We laugh hysterically whenever some idiot makes it clear that he's vague on that concept.) But as I said before a few weeks ago, I get frustrated when people confuse "P.C." and "courtesy." Sometimes people shouldn't make certain statements because those statements would make people look like idiots.
We also watched The Riches and The Sopranos.
5. Finished the weekly Pogo badges and worked on my premium badges.
6. The BigFishGame is a tile-matching thing. That's not what I'm in the mood for.
7. I was ever so helpful today! I changed a role of toilet paper in the back bathroom, took out the trash and changed the bag, cut up lettuce for yet more Chinese Chicken Salad, and changed the water in the refrigerator.
8. Neither of us really woke up today.
9. We are now coming into Finals' Week.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
5/5: What I Accomplished Today
1. The more I think about it, I think I may have been wrong about the second set of essay prompts not being in the e-mail we got at the beginning of the term. I'll check that on Monday and, if I was wrong (and the more I think about it, the more I sort of think I was; in the context it came up today, I was led to believe it was probably was), then I'll have to send the appropriate apologetic e-mails.
When I was a kid, I thought adults were never wrong; I never saw adults lose a whole afternoon trying to clean up some mess they'd made. As I got older, though, I realized two things: 1) Adults still have to clean up messes, but they're figurative rather than the literal messes most kids make; 2) Adults make at least as many mistakes, probably more, than kids; they just know how to fix them.
I hate being wrong, and I really hate having to send "Hello, I was a loser" e-mails, especially when I've been the loser in front of the whole department, but it's what needs to happen.
2. Got my Human Mage to level 25. Pulled her statistics, did the mail check, switched to the next character, the level 20 Night Elf Druid. Didn't level, but got this one started.
3. Got two of my Pogo badges and made progress on the others.
4. Read my alumni magazine, Utne Reader, and Bottom Line. A little in Paul, but not much; he's slow going.
5. I realized I forgot to talk about television last night. Last night, we watched ER. Luka, Hope, and Morris threw Abby a surprise wedding. If she'd had a brain in her head, she'd have packed up her son and moved, never to be seen again. A wedding for which you made none of the arrangements! The arrogance and paternalism of it all! ("Don't you bother your pretty little head about it; this other woman has done everything. No, you don't know the flower girl, but that's not really going to bother you, is it?") But no, eventually she decides it's very sweet and agrees to it. The woman had an insulting wedding thrown for her by three jerks. Why are we still watching this show?
And I don't like Ray, particularly, but of the four people who keep throwing themselves at Neela, he's the least gross, so if he's dead, then it may be check-out time for us.
We also watched My Name is Earl. I've mentioned this show several times, but I haven't talked about it because I haven't been sure what to say. I think I realized last night what I, at least, like about this one: I think this is the only show on television that's talking about class in an intelligent, well-thought-out, yet funny way. You probably know the premise: asshole realizes he's been an asshole his whole life and attempts to make restitution to those he's harmed. Over the course of the show's two seasons, this one-time thug and loser has developed quite a cadre of friends he'd have just beat up before: circus freaks, a gay guy he went to school with--it's an ever-growing ensemble cast, which is just fun, and of course he "learns a valuable lesson" every week, but the show avoids the whole Afterschool Special syrupy feel by refusing to pander to expectation. In the episode where Joy is assigned Marlee Matlin as her defense lawyer for a pretty stupid crime that she absolutely did commit, we start to have a little "Ah, isn't this sweet; Joy is learning sensitivity toward the deaf" as she decides that perhaps this woman who can't hear could still be her attorney. In a moment of trust, Matlin speaks--and Joy laughs at the sound of her voice, in perhaps the most un-PC move of the season (and that's a bit of a statement).
Last week, Earl realized one of the people his previous M.O. had hurt was he himself: he had no education, and he had no prospect for a job with opportunity that would allow him to live a responsible, adult life, without which he can never have a home instead of a hotel room. This realization has started a new storyline; last week, Earl (and it looks like maybe Randy, although I don't believe it was ever explicitly stated) got his GED, and this week they both got steady jobs as dockworkers in an appliance store. He is called into the front of the store and notices the differences in working conditions for the dockworkers and the salesmen and wonders about his prospects of becoming a salesmen. His new friends on the loading dock discourage him: Look, you may have your GED, but those guys went to junior college! The dockers, even his own brother Randy, are really vicious and cruel to him; how dare this upstart aspire! Who does he think he is? This was yet another time this show reminded me of situations many of my students probably face every day.
One of my favorite aspects of the show is the arc of Randy's character. When the show started, my initial reaction was that just was just a brute--a borderline retarded (there was an article in the Utne I read today trying to reclaim the word, and I support that; it has meaning and need not be pejorative), purely-physical thug with no redeeming social value. Yes, the list is Earl's, but Randy seems to be learning at least as much (although he doesn't always have the necessary background to file the new information in a useful way). He's become such a sweet, gentle, just...nice man, and he continues to grow and develop. He started as a rather frightening, intimidating figure, a man's strength in a body with a boy's brain, and a cruel boy's brain at that. But with the developments Earl is making, there seems to be hope that both he and Randy will someday be men. I'm not sure what the show will do at that point, but it's a really fascinating premise.
Did I mention that, at least once a week, something happens that's so funny I nearly wet myself?
Tonight, we watched one of our NetFlix movies, Shoes of the Fisherman. It's an old movie that my Co-Vivant likes and I've never seen; we tried to TiVo it once, but it wasn't letterboxed, and it had commercials, and the station hadn't scheduled the right time block so we didn't even get the whole thing. (Needless to say, whenever TiVo has suggested anything else from that channel since then, we've rejected it. Any channel that can't keep track of how long its programming is doesn't need for us to watch it.) Interesting movie; not a great movie, but certainly interesting. I'd put in the category of shows with brilliant first acts and lousy second acts, like How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The payoff was lame; although I liked the idea of the Catholic Church pledging its entire wealth to feed the hungry in China, my sense is that one-quarter of the church's wealth could feed the entire world, let alone China. Since he's committed its entire wealth, what happens to the other 3/4? It made me cry at several points, and my Co-Vivant looked at me rather puzzled and said, "Why are you crying?"
"Sincerity that pure makes me cry, apparently."
While we were watching this, the film kept cutting back and forth between various world leaders, and I said to my Co-Vivant, "I've just realized there's a code in film to help us identify despots. Tyrants always stand up and watch television on looming, oversized screens; people who are bound by the law sit down, like people, and watch regular-sized televisions."
"Oh, that's good! Do you remember Seven Days in May? The President watches a really small screen, and Burt Lancaster [the general who was attempting to stage a coup] watches a really big screen while standing!" (There was apparently one May 15 or 20 years ago when A&E played this movie half a dozen times a week, and A&E was one of the very few cable stations she had at the time, so she knows Seven Days in May better than a normal person would.)
6. BigFishGames had a shoot-em-up today, so I didn't play that. I did buy and play Chocolatier, which is fun.
7. I don't appear to have done anything useful around the house today. I don't appear to have done much at all useful today.
8. My Co-Vivant wants it noted that not only did she go to Costco and buy another Chinese Chicken Salad kit for me, but she also bought more lettuce to go with it because this is clearly what I am in the mood for right now.
When I was a kid, I thought adults were never wrong; I never saw adults lose a whole afternoon trying to clean up some mess they'd made. As I got older, though, I realized two things: 1) Adults still have to clean up messes, but they're figurative rather than the literal messes most kids make; 2) Adults make at least as many mistakes, probably more, than kids; they just know how to fix them.
I hate being wrong, and I really hate having to send "Hello, I was a loser" e-mails, especially when I've been the loser in front of the whole department, but it's what needs to happen.
2. Got my Human Mage to level 25. Pulled her statistics, did the mail check, switched to the next character, the level 20 Night Elf Druid. Didn't level, but got this one started.
3. Got two of my Pogo badges and made progress on the others.
4. Read my alumni magazine, Utne Reader, and Bottom Line. A little in Paul, but not much; he's slow going.
5. I realized I forgot to talk about television last night. Last night, we watched ER. Luka, Hope, and Morris threw Abby a surprise wedding. If she'd had a brain in her head, she'd have packed up her son and moved, never to be seen again. A wedding for which you made none of the arrangements! The arrogance and paternalism of it all! ("Don't you bother your pretty little head about it; this other woman has done everything. No, you don't know the flower girl, but that's not really going to bother you, is it?") But no, eventually she decides it's very sweet and agrees to it. The woman had an insulting wedding thrown for her by three jerks. Why are we still watching this show?
And I don't like Ray, particularly, but of the four people who keep throwing themselves at Neela, he's the least gross, so if he's dead, then it may be check-out time for us.
We also watched My Name is Earl. I've mentioned this show several times, but I haven't talked about it because I haven't been sure what to say. I think I realized last night what I, at least, like about this one: I think this is the only show on television that's talking about class in an intelligent, well-thought-out, yet funny way. You probably know the premise: asshole realizes he's been an asshole his whole life and attempts to make restitution to those he's harmed. Over the course of the show's two seasons, this one-time thug and loser has developed quite a cadre of friends he'd have just beat up before: circus freaks, a gay guy he went to school with--it's an ever-growing ensemble cast, which is just fun, and of course he "learns a valuable lesson" every week, but the show avoids the whole Afterschool Special syrupy feel by refusing to pander to expectation. In the episode where Joy is assigned Marlee Matlin as her defense lawyer for a pretty stupid crime that she absolutely did commit, we start to have a little "Ah, isn't this sweet; Joy is learning sensitivity toward the deaf" as she decides that perhaps this woman who can't hear could still be her attorney. In a moment of trust, Matlin speaks--and Joy laughs at the sound of her voice, in perhaps the most un-PC move of the season (and that's a bit of a statement).
Last week, Earl realized one of the people his previous M.O. had hurt was he himself: he had no education, and he had no prospect for a job with opportunity that would allow him to live a responsible, adult life, without which he can never have a home instead of a hotel room. This realization has started a new storyline; last week, Earl (and it looks like maybe Randy, although I don't believe it was ever explicitly stated) got his GED, and this week they both got steady jobs as dockworkers in an appliance store. He is called into the front of the store and notices the differences in working conditions for the dockworkers and the salesmen and wonders about his prospects of becoming a salesmen. His new friends on the loading dock discourage him: Look, you may have your GED, but those guys went to junior college! The dockers, even his own brother Randy, are really vicious and cruel to him; how dare this upstart aspire! Who does he think he is? This was yet another time this show reminded me of situations many of my students probably face every day.
One of my favorite aspects of the show is the arc of Randy's character. When the show started, my initial reaction was that just was just a brute--a borderline retarded (there was an article in the Utne I read today trying to reclaim the word, and I support that; it has meaning and need not be pejorative), purely-physical thug with no redeeming social value. Yes, the list is Earl's, but Randy seems to be learning at least as much (although he doesn't always have the necessary background to file the new information in a useful way). He's become such a sweet, gentle, just...nice man, and he continues to grow and develop. He started as a rather frightening, intimidating figure, a man's strength in a body with a boy's brain, and a cruel boy's brain at that. But with the developments Earl is making, there seems to be hope that both he and Randy will someday be men. I'm not sure what the show will do at that point, but it's a really fascinating premise.
Did I mention that, at least once a week, something happens that's so funny I nearly wet myself?
Tonight, we watched one of our NetFlix movies, Shoes of the Fisherman. It's an old movie that my Co-Vivant likes and I've never seen; we tried to TiVo it once, but it wasn't letterboxed, and it had commercials, and the station hadn't scheduled the right time block so we didn't even get the whole thing. (Needless to say, whenever TiVo has suggested anything else from that channel since then, we've rejected it. Any channel that can't keep track of how long its programming is doesn't need for us to watch it.) Interesting movie; not a great movie, but certainly interesting. I'd put in the category of shows with brilliant first acts and lousy second acts, like How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The payoff was lame; although I liked the idea of the Catholic Church pledging its entire wealth to feed the hungry in China, my sense is that one-quarter of the church's wealth could feed the entire world, let alone China. Since he's committed its entire wealth, what happens to the other 3/4? It made me cry at several points, and my Co-Vivant looked at me rather puzzled and said, "Why are you crying?"
"Sincerity that pure makes me cry, apparently."
While we were watching this, the film kept cutting back and forth between various world leaders, and I said to my Co-Vivant, "I've just realized there's a code in film to help us identify despots. Tyrants always stand up and watch television on looming, oversized screens; people who are bound by the law sit down, like people, and watch regular-sized televisions."
"Oh, that's good! Do you remember Seven Days in May? The President watches a really small screen, and Burt Lancaster [the general who was attempting to stage a coup] watches a really big screen while standing!" (There was apparently one May 15 or 20 years ago when A&E played this movie half a dozen times a week, and A&E was one of the very few cable stations she had at the time, so she knows Seven Days in May better than a normal person would.)
6. BigFishGames had a shoot-em-up today, so I didn't play that. I did buy and play Chocolatier, which is fun.
7. I don't appear to have done anything useful around the house today. I don't appear to have done much at all useful today.
8. My Co-Vivant wants it noted that not only did she go to Costco and buy another Chinese Chicken Salad kit for me, but she also bought more lettuce to go with it because this is clearly what I am in the mood for right now.
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