Getting Up is Hard To Do.

Unnnnngh. Just another manic monday. I do wish it was [sic] Sunday.

Placeholder

Lots of various little things to report, but for now, I'll leave it at a brief list of what I've been up to this last week or so:

1. A visit to Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst, MA.

2. Several very nice pints at the Northampton Brewery.

3. A hectic re-entry into The City, which involved me, unfed, having to race from train to home to school to show the undergrads a video about bossa nova.

4. Shopping for our very low-key Thanksgiving, which involved a crazy trip to Whole Foods, during which I witnessed water pouring from the ceiling, a fire alarm, and people shouting at each other near the fish. I left without buying anything and had a much more civilized experience at Citarella (where I bought several lovely-looking rainbow trout for tomorrow, iconoclast that I am).

5. Witnessing Jenny make some lovely carrot soup, and giving myself a nasty blister making caramel sauce. Take it from me: when Joy of Cooking says "stand back," stand back!

Perhaps tomorrow I'll have something to report on two firsts: my first time cooking stuffed fish, and my first time making bread pudding (for which the caramel sauce is intended).

Paltry Excuses

I'd like to say that the school year has been busy so far, kicking my ass so hard I haven't got time to blog, but that wouldn't be entirely true. More accurate would be to say that yes, school has started, and I have had a surprising number of places to be this week--but more to the point, a few other things have come in the way of blogging:

1. Television. Sad but true. Our L Word marathon somehow whetted J's and my tastes for reruns of Survivorman on The Science Channel, despite the recurrent threat of poisonous spiders and snakes on screen.

2. The Train Game arrived! J is hooked,and I'm recapturing the magic. Rotors to Berlin, anyone? We welcome third or fourth players--let us know.

3. The Cloffice. I'm continuing to set up the kitchen closet as my office, and am on the final (long-put-off) task: filing. Today? Maybe....

4. Playing on the Internet. I just linked to a new blog: a friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) is now blogging about her experiences learning how to cook Asian food. Check it out here.

A Pretty Nice Girl, But She Doesn't Have a Lot to Say

The word came down from on high--or rather, from down south: Queen Elizabeth II will be visiting William & Mary on her brief visit to the US next week. Her itinerary is here.

In a weird kind of way, I wish I could go. I have no explanation for this phenomenon.

But somehow, it seems particularly appropriate to present this video of the Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield doing "What Have I Done to Deserve This."

Slow News Day

Not much going on--just more of the same, alas. So here are a couple of things I've been meaning to post for a while:

1. This site isn't news to most of you, but just for kicks, here's the South Park-esque cartoon-making site. This is me lately:



2. And I keep meaning to mention that J & I now live on the same block as the Lesbian Herstory Archives. TCMTC! They have the most fabulous book & funny old t-shirt sale during Brooklyn Pride, which alas, I think I'll miss this year (it's the second weekend in June).

Too funny.

I just took this quiz (thanks, Qwags, for sending it along):

You're Mrs. Dalloway!

by Virginia Woolf

Your life seems utterly bland and normal to the casual observer, but
inside you are churning with a million tensions and worries. The company you surround yourself with may be shallow, but their effects upon your reality are tremendously deep. To stay above water, you must try to act like nothing's wrong, but you know that the truth is catching up with you. You're not crazy, you're just a little unwell. But no doctor can help you now.

"I'll buy the flowers myself," I said.

Overworked

That says it all, doesn't it? Overworked, and the Februaries have taken hold. Makes me want to make cookies, but no time for that, alas.

In other news, I'm not allowed to write about which rapper got eliminated on The Show That Shall Not Be Named--J was at a concert at Yale and missed it and doesn't want to hear what happened until she can see it. But since I think J & I might be the only ones in this crowd watching the show I'm sure that's not much of a hardship to the rest of ye!

Off to finish reading Language Shift, and then I must write a paper about it. Maybe I'll talk about how I learned to say "thanks a million" and "grand."

Small moves, Ellie. Small moves.

(Mini-contest, no prize: who, other than Jenny, can name the source of that quotation?)

So today's small moves--so far--have been these:

1. I read and made extensive notes on Bauman & Briggs' "Genre, Intertextuality, and Social Power"--an excellent article, but long and dense! Of course, this took all day. That was not part of my grand plan.

2. I think I've managed to get Jenny obsessed with "Broadcast News." Woo hoo!

3. Giblet is starting to respond to the little "tik tik" noise I use to call cats to me. (I'm going to miss this kitty when she leaves on Friday week!)

Now--the next small move: writing a short 6 page paper about the ethnography of speaking.

The Book I'm Not Reading: a trashy mystery novel--and I won't get to read one anytime soon! (Claire, I'm SO jealous!)