Category Archives: me!

Still no power

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I’m working today…my classes at the university aren’t so bad, as I have individual conferences scheduled this week.

The community college, on the other hand…I’m feeling woefully underprepared, and I’m being observed at 4:30. Sigh.

I am glad, though, to be in a place with lights and heat.

This sucks so much. But at the same time, I know it’s stupid to be all “wah wah wah poor me” with so many others in worse situations than I am.

But I want to blow dry my hair. And do laundry. And cook food. (oh lord, how I wish I had a gas stove…) I want to watch TV.  And all those millions of other things that I take for granted every single day.

I’m tired of going out and hoping the power will be back on when I come home.

God, I’m crabby.

Hope the rest of you are doing better!

October is breast cancer awareness month

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Here are just a few things you can do:

Visit the Blogger Boobiethon page to donate financially, or photographically. 😉

Support my friend Jen, who’s walking in the Race for the Cure.

Buy one of these nifty lunchbags:

(hat tip to Lady Turpentine)

Or visit the official site of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for more.

Funk

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I am in one, big time.

I’m feeling without direction. I’m feeling torn.

I’m feeling like I don’t want to choose a career path so much as I want one to be chosen for me.

I’m feeling less and less optimistic about my hopes of ever getting a full-time teaching job in Western New York.

I’m feeling envious of people who are having success in writing.

I’m feeling lethargic about my own writing. I’m feeling void of ideas…good ideas, anyway. I can’t convince myself that I have anything to say that’s worth saying.

I’m feeling tired. Tired of working so hard and just scraping by.

Wah.

ETA: Chatting with a friend, and beginning to feel much less funk-y. Thanks!

Saturday photo

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I didn’t post a photo yesterday, because flickr was being stupid. And earlier today, when I checked again, it still was.

Anyway, this is the photo I would have posted yesterday:

Some of you may have already seen it at flickr, but this is one of my very favorite old photos of my grandma. I don’t know who took it, or why, but it’s such a fabulous shot.

Enjoy!

Wednesday things

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Looks like I’m going to be teaching a full course load this semester. My classes at one of the schools started this week. I stopped by the other school (the community college) to pick up some things yesterday, and the department chair asked me if I’d be interested in another class.

It was tentatively given to me, pending enrollment. As of 5 minutes ago, it looks like it’s almost full. This means I’ll be teaching a total of four classes. Yes, I’m aware that’s a full course load for full-time professors.

This means Tuesdays will be hell for me. Class at one school from 12:40-3:30. Class at the other school from 4:30-8:30. Oh, and I have to have office hours too, of course. Thursdays are not quite so bad, as my evening class only meets on Tuesdays.

My classes at the new school are slightly smaller, which I like. They are also heavily populated by girls. I understand the ratio is 7-1. Those poor girls. 😉 OH! And in one of my classes? Four of them (out of 17) are named Christina. FOUR. Like I don’t have a hard enough time remembering their names…

I’ve been spending a lot of time the past couple of days taking care of little random things like setting up Blackboard for my classes and getting my email to download on my computer.

I’m still working on my syllabus for the other class.

Other than that…I attended a Save the Internet rally this afternoon. More at WNYmedia.net.

Posts on other blogs

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I’ve got a post on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep over at the places I go.

And a link that Kelly posted inspired me to muse a bit over at Educating Erin.

🙂

Stuff I want

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Someone might have a birthday coming up soon… 😉

I know there are at least one or two people reading who might want to commemorate this occasion with the traditional giving of gifts. Heehee…
There’s always, of course, my wish list. (although the thing I really want is the Alias seasons 1-5 gift set…going for a VERY reasonable price, given the cost of the single-season DVD sets…and it isn’t available yet. so that’s more of a Christmas gift, I think.)

I need to spend some time on the wish list…it’s been seriously diminished.

Apple just released this very cool mouse. But it’s kind of expensive. And I still don’t have an iPod. But those are really expensive.

And there’s always fun Toasted Cheese merchandise.

I’ve been thinking of looking for new calligraphy pens, but I don’t know what I want/need. I’d probably have to shop for them myself, unfortunately.

I can’t think of anything else right now…

Friday things

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Went to see Brian’s Subversations at Squeaky Wheel last night. It was most excellent.

Here’s a review posted at Infringe THIS!

And wait! There’s more! Brian’s got another entry in the festival, this one a musical venture. He’ll be performing again tonight at Squeaky Wheel.  Read more about it here.

David at Fix Buffalo sends a heads up about the Pine Grill Jazz Reunion, taking place this Sunday and next in MLK Park…4-9pm… Read more.

In personal news, I’ve just been offered some adjunct work at another college. I also had an interview with a local school district earlier this week, which I should hear about either way by Monday.

Someone is weed-whacking outside the apartment window, and it’s driving me insane.

Ummm….tomorrow, Lowest of the Low plays the Canal Concert Series in North Tonawanda. It starts at 5:30, but there are *three* bands playing before the Low.

I’m gonna go try and be productive or something. Happy Friday! 🙂

Attention Buffalonians…

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Last week, I posted my resume at I am Buffalo Niagara Jobs.

Today, I got a call from someone who said he saw my resume on the site and wanted to invite me to an information session tomorrow evening. He said the company was doing some expanding in the area and had some opportunities that might be right for me. I took the information and said I would try to attend.

He told me the company name was Primerica. I first searched the website for any job postings from them. I didn’t find anything. Then I did a google search. The first thing I turned up was their official website, which let me know that Citigroup is their parent company. I poked around a bit to see if they had anything remotely resembling a job that I would ever want to do. I found nothing.

I went back to the google search page and clicked on a few of the other links. I found this page, with a bunch of links to various people’s experiences with Primerica. Basically, I learned that some people argue that it’s a scam or pyramid scheme…others make a case for it being a legitimate business. But regardless of which is true, I found this “recruiting” technique to be dishonest and shady. They get people to come to these meetings and try to get them to agree to become representatives for the company and fork over money for training. If I hadn’t been savvy enough to find something out about the company first, I would have wasted my time. I certainly wouldn’t have signed on, but I’m sure I would have been subject to an extremely aggressive and annoying sales pitch. No, thanks.

Friday photos–pottery

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bloomquistjar.jpg

This is a piece of pottery by artist John Bloomquist. He’s from Kane, PA, and he was my elementary school art teacher. (he was, by the way, the world’s coolest elementary school art teacher.)

I learned a lot from Mr. B. Like using thin dabs of glue, and Roy G. Biv, and how to tell a killer ghost story. He retired a few years ago and has been dedicating himself to his art. I wonder who they hired to fill his amazingly large shoes.

I own a lot of his pottery. My family became regular customers, so much so that we got a family discount. I’ve given his pieces as gifts to many friends as well. Mr. B used to have a website, but it doesn’t seem to be in existence any longer.

bloomquistbowl.jpg

For the past few years, I’ve been able to visit Mr. B at his booth at the Allentown Art Festival. This year, though, he wasn’t able to come. You see, this spring, he suffered a stroke. From what I understand, he’s recovering well, and I continue to think of him often, hoping that he’s able to get back to his art…it must be a horrible thing for an artist, to be unable to create.