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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Another busy night...

  • Worked on two projects until almost 6:00 a.m. I did finish and both look good!!! :)
  • Had a 40-minute nap
  • Went through the morning routine, mostly on auto-pilot.
  • Arrived at my office by 8:00 a.m.
  • Made copies, created two booklets (copies for my instructor), finished some paperwork, etc.
  • Was on the road by 9:00 a.m.
  • Miraculaously snagged a parking spot after circling only twice -- wow, what a blessing!
  • Ran (wearing high heels today for a presentation) across campus, feeling bad that I would be about 10 mins late for class.
  • Arrived, panting, trying to catch my breath... only to find out that class has been cancelled but our instructor didn't post the announcement until about an hour before -- I know for sure, checked announcements before I left, nothing was there.
  • Now here I am, too tired and sleepy to accomplish any meaningful mental tasks...
  • Have a meeting with a group member at 1:00 p.m.
  • Then a long wait until 5:15 p.m., the evening class
  • We are presenting today, assignment is worth a huge chunk so need to be prepared, just hoping to stay awake...

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The evil project is done!

  • at 3:30 a.m.
  • 25 pages and a huge pile of printouts
  • up at 5:30 a.m. for 8:00 a.m. class

Friday, March 21, 2008

Yes, I must be insane but who cares???

I took off on another adventure on Wednesday morning, slamming the door in the face of two projects. All because of one little but important forgotten object... It was an unexpected but a delightful surprise and I had a great time on Wed and Thurs -- shopping, playing with two adorable little girls, running barefoot on the beach, splashing through the water, admiring the full moon, laughing; yes, enjoying life.

Of course, those two projects are still there, waiting to be taken care of but it's OK, they will be completed. I have always been so consumed by school and work so doing something crazy like this is totally new and somewhat unnerving but I enjoyed every moment, have no regrets, and would do it again, anytime.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Back to work!

It was a fun week but now back to work -- and lots of it. Oh well, nothing new; I am used to the never-ending stream (and often torrents) of things to do. Last week was amazing, though. We attended many interesting sessions, met new people, went to The Health Museum, and had fun at the rodeo. And I have a new beautiful necklace, thoughtfully chosen just for me! ;)

Friday, March 14, 2008

Ah, crazy -- but fun -- week!

Attending a conference this week and having lots of fun, even though I am exhausted and two projects are due on Tuesday. I am doing a little each night so should be done by Tuesday, hopefully.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Smart or disoriented?

My university features profiles of students and faculty members on the home page, showcasing various accomplishments. This afternoon, there was a picture of a serious-looking young man, with this note: Two Honor's Degrees, Four Majors

I rarely pay attention to these things and already clicked on the link but went back and checked, just to make sure I am not having a double vision. Sure thing, two honor's degrees and, indeed, four majors. Now, I don't want to sound negative, but can't help but wonder... Is this guy a genius or just disoriented, taking in everything because he can't make up his mind about what his true academic interests? Hmmm... just curious... I am sure he is a hard-working type, though; can't imagine being able to do something like that.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Confession...

I had a banana split for lunch... Yeah, a tough week, a tough day...

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Wearing two hats and thinking...

Since I am both a graduate student and a full-time faculty member, I have a privelege of observing classroom practices from both perspectives. Often, when I encounter situations that raise my blood pressure as a student, I look closely at my own behavior as a teacher. One of my pet peeves, I guess, is disorganization. As teachers, we usually know (I hope so!) what we expect from students. However, communication is a two-way interactive process; therefore, just knowing what you want does not help your students. Common sense, right? Alas, not for all instructors, it seems. This semester, two of my instructors are clueless about this basic requirement. If you tell students to write a paper, you have to provide general guidelines. Otherwise, you will get hit-and-miss results. No, I am not saying that we should spoonfeed students -- not at all. However, we should communicate our basic expectations. Brainstorming and creative thinking are awesome but teachers should provide the basic outline of what is expected.

Monday, March 03, 2008

West Palm Beach Shooting

Another senseless shooting... Imagine, returning to get your child's toy and never coming back... losing your Daddy... losing your husband... just like that, in a moment of insanity...

My heartfelt prayers for the families affected by this tragedy...

Check the Prayer Wall

Spring Break!

Ah, today is nice... slept in... enjoyed breakfast instead of grabbing something and running to the car... didn't have to go anywhere... what a bliss...

Unfortunately, spring break at my college does not coincide with my university so I still have to drive to the university on Tuesday and Thursday. Fortunately, the spring break at the university does coincide with Houston conference; it would have been more difficult to make arrangements. So, everything worked out just fine. This week, I will have time to catch up on projects I have been pushing aside and next week I get to play! :)

It's so nice outside, even though a very severe weather system is expected late tonight/early tomorrow. Ah, what a bliss to sit outside; yeah, I am working but soaking the sun, too.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

It all makes sense now... ;)

One of my friends shared this "summary." Enjoy! :)

A simple way to understand the political science differences:
DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?
SOCIALIST
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
COMMUNIST
You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows. Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours milk down the drain.
AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses. Your stock goes up.
FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch and drink good wine. Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You have some vodka. You count them and learn you actually have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows!!! The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts. You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.
IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows. They go into hiding. They send radio tapes of their mooing.
BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow. The cow is schizophrenic. Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish. The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow. The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk. The cow asks permission to be cut in half. The cow dies happy.
FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.
CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows. Only five speak English. Most are illegals.

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