lonely in a crowded room

The library is full of undergrads tonight and I wish I had a study buddy to keep me motivated.

Here’s a fun diversion.

I’m an addict, but there’s no time for it right now.  Play a round for me.

conclusion, or not?

Despite my early draft, it looks like the editing stage is going to be rough. I’m glad I have so much time left to work on it because I’m going to need every second. It looks like there are a few more statistics left to calculate. Consider this a heads up for everyone’s favorite stats TA – your services may be needed in the near future.

wasting time again

As of this very moment, I am about four pages away from completing an entire draft of my thesis.

I cannot tell you how excited this makes me.

There’s a lot of editing to be done and a presentation to be given, but still.  I’m two weeks away from the presentation and almost in the editing stage.

home for the holidays

Everyone except me has gone home for the holidays. The offices here at the university have closed early and all the other students are on their way home. All my friends have gone home too. Dweebcentric, 65 Maple Ave., and the Loud Girl have all wandered off to wherever it is they come from and I’m left here to clean.

For the first time ever The Russell and I are hosting Thanksgiving. He’s doing most of the cooking and I’m finding ways to atone for eating the apples that were being saved for the stuffing. Oops.

Some family will be joining us tomorrow to help us eat the 14 lbs. of turkey The Russell has procured. It should be delicious. I, of course, am bringing some noodles to the table. There are some things I just can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without, and egg noodles are one of those things. The other is a giant container of Cool Whip.

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels my friends.

O.H…I.O

Ack! Now I remember why I took the other blog down. I don’t always have time to post. I haven’t had time to watch TV either, so there are no additions to the boycott list. Not that people haven’t given me good suggestions though.

I would like to point out that Russell recently visited one of the food establishments on my list. He wasn’t impressed. I think that’s just proof that annoying commercials are a good indicator of how satisfied you’ll be with the products advertised.

We’re off again for the weekend, this time to Ohio for an early Thanksgiving dinner with my family. It’s also the weekend for both the Ohio State/Michigan game and the Browns/Steelers match-up. I can safely say that everyone is going to be a little nuts and that I will be forced to watch and/or listen to both the games. There’s just no way to avoid it.

*Image from <http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~collegiate4h/index2.htm>.

to the plains of indiana

We’re headed off to Indiana tomorrow for a wedding. I’m pretty excited. I’m going to wear this great dress I bought earlier in the year (when we were attending wedding number 2 – now we’re on number 5). This dress may or may not be cursed.

Or, rather, I may or may not be cursed. I bought the dress in DC to wear to a wedding in Atlanta. I try to be rather selective about where I buy clothes because I tend to end up in situations where other people are wearing similar outfits.* I figured if the site of purchase and the site of the occasion were separated by hundreds of miles, the chances of this happening were slim. Slim, but not none.

When we showed up at the wedding, I was literally seated in the same row as a woman wearing the exact same dress. We were practically seated next to each other!** Tell me, please, who does this happen to?

So please, keep your fingers crossed. I mean, what are the chances of it happening twice? Slim, but not none.

*Once in high school I showed up wearing the same sweater as my calculus teacher. Another time I showed up to the school basketball game wearing the same sweater vest as someone’s mom. I always blamed it on them for shopping in the juniors department, but I’m starting to think it might just be me.

**Special thanks to Steph for the long distance sympathy during this traumatic moment.

from the lakes of Minnesota

I love election day. The excitement, the possibility for change, the waiting (and waiting). It makes me proud.

First, I’m proud to be a resident of state where, with a closely contested Senate race to be decided, people actually got out and voted. Even the young people voted. Even the bloggers voted. It looks like we’re in for a long wait now with the counting, the 10 day waiting period to certify the elections, and the likely recount, but it still makes me proud.

Second, I am also proud of the Ohio 18th district. This is a district that in the 2004 election vote to re-elect the incumbent Republican representative with over 66% of the vote. But through the power of scandal, this district totally turned it around and voted in a Democrat with more than 61% of the vote. Sure, the scandal played a huge part in shift, but it’s nice to know that people are paying attention and not continuously voting along party lines. It’s just good to see that people can change their minds when change needs to happen.

Let me say it again – I’m proud. So don’t be surprised if when you pass by me on the street (or in the mall) you catch me belting out a few bars of Proud to be an American. That happens sometimes, I swear.

rage with me

If you haven’t visited my boycott page yet, please do.  It turns out that it’s much easier to link to YouTube and point out things I really hate than to actually think of something interesting to write about.

Honestly, I haven’t found much time to write lately, but a quick sentence or two on the boycott page helps release a little anger.  It’s like therapy for the media weary.  Check it out and throw in your own two cents.

Special thanks to Dweebcentric for finding my newest link.

minutemen unite

From a yahoo news article

“Texas has started broadcasting live images of the U.S. border on the Internet in a security program that asks the public to report signs of illegal immigration or drug crimes.

A test Web site went live Thursday at texasborderwatch.com with views from eight cameras and ways for viewers to e-mail reports of suspicious activity. Previously, the images had only been available to law enforcement and landowners where the cameras are located.”

Seriously? Immigration isn’t reality tv and it isn’t a video game.

I wonder what all those old guys with lawn chairs have to say about this.

My real question is this though: When are they going to start combining virtual border patrol with the virtual hunting websites that allow you to fire weapons from the privacy of your living room? Then you have a real solution, right?
(Actually, as I write I’m trying and failing to find a site like that to link to this post. Maybe people have come to their senses and the sites have all been shut down.)

“Some civil rights groups have criticized the “virtual border watch,” saying it will instill fear in border communities and could lead to fraudulent crime reports and racial profiling.”

Yeah.  That just might be a problem.

Shouldn’t we be working on the wall instead?

wwhd

Reading about the history of religion in the U.S. made me think of this.

I’m so happy to be going to Catholic heaven.