But It's a CAT Quiz

Your Score: Sad Cookie Cat

58% Affectionate, 39% Excitable, 51% Hungry

You are the classic Shakespearian tragedy of the lolcat universe. The sad story of a baking a cookie, succumbing to gluttony, and in turn consuming the very cookie that was to be offered. Bad grammar ensues.



To see all possible results, checka dis.

Defended!

So I defended yesterday. I'm a doctah! Dr. English!

So the defense went very smoothly and was actually a pretty good and enjoyable conversation about my work. I didn't have answers for all the different things they brought up -- and there was even some amount of cross-discussion between two members of my committee about decisions and ideas -- which was weird because I didn't have an answer for the different options they were discussing. So there'll be a lot to think about as I go forward to Adventure U and my countless other adventures.

How's this for an absurdist life? So I defend, I'm a doctah and all that, and I come home to find my internet shut off by a company that thinks -- jeez -- that I should like pay for their service. Ridiculous! And money is so tight I can't call them to turn it back on. In fact, I can't even pay for my own dinner and a movie and a nightcap when I went out with Similarly Self-Reflective and Fabulous Friend! OY! Only in my life would higher education's accolades bring such instant poverty. But oh well.

So I only need to finish up some details on my dissertation and then jump through all the paperwork hoops to file it. I worked on some of those details this morning. Now I'm in the library (hence my connectedness to the blogosphere) and need to find a book to quickly reference in my intro. Of course, really, I'm going to spend some time catching up on some blogs, which is at least as important.

I have some editing jobs to do this weekend, thank goodness, which might keep from totally stewing about the fact that OPL is going to arrive back at -- oh I can't even write about it. Suffice it to say, I'm having a hard time. I hope he'll be back with me late next week, but I'm not holding my breath. It's very hard for such a determined pessimist to not overdo -- instead of preparing for the worst, I'm liable to expect and even goad the worst into being. Beat him to the punch. Must.stay.positive. My new mantra. In any case, I should be able to get some things done in the near future. Here are some of the things I think need to be done pretty immediately: some in-preparation-for-packing weeding out of papers, books, clothes, junk; some marathon movie-watching sessions; relaxing baths; relaxing yoga; reading of Review Book; editing jobs; more movie-watching with cross-stitch. In fact, movie-watching with cross-stitch sounds the best right now. I figure I'll watch Sense and Sensibility a few hundred times. There, Elinor's waiting was rewarded by her man on one knee. Sigh. Of course, Emma Thompson, that real rascal, married Greg Wise, who played Willoughby, who must not be such a rascal if someone so smart snapped him up. Also, I think a viewing of Stranger than Fiction is in order. Maybe I can figure out whether my own story is a comedy (ending in a wedding) or a tragedy (we all know where that leads). As they say in Grand Canyon, my fave movie ever: all of life's riddles are answered in the movies.

Up for Air Out of My Bloggy Silence

My recent bloggy silence is due both to the trip from Urban Home City to Grad City with OPL and the fact that I am totally lazy and given half a chance to do nothing, I will happily do just that. I've been lazing around and taking naps and staying up till all hours and generally not behaving like a person who needs to prepare for a defense and pack her whole apartment in boxes. I've basically ignored the dissertation and the job and everything for -- oh, the whole of July. I totally suck. How is one to have a balanced life of work and the love stuff? I just don't know.

But now the oncoming train of the defense is bearing down on me. I'm supposed to present some opening remarks about my work. I have no idea what to say that I haven't said to these people a hundred times before. I think they want some kind of statement about what writing the dissertation meant to me or something. Waaaaa. Any of you readers who have done this want to pipe in? Please?! (Poor Peppy Advisor. The first time we went over it, I think I was in the first blush of loveydoveyness.)

There is an admittedly short list of things remaining on my diss: some citations to be unearthed from the deep, filling in the work cited, reformatting. Have I done these? No. I figure that my committee will give me some feedback at defense time, and I'll have to go ahead and revise anyway. But really, it's just that it's been hard to connect back into my work. I love it and reference it, but trying to get my head clear to do the work that would make me feel so much better and less desperate and clingy about OPL has been very difficult. All the same, he is very supportive. But mostly I just want to follow him around like a puppy dog. Why is that??? I'm a strong capable independent feminist! Darn it!

Anyway, he has to go back to Urban Home State to do some family and organizational stuff soon, so I'm sure I'll be trying to work through the fog of missing him. Sigh. Here's something that my great Similarly Self-Reflective and Fabulous Friend said to me early on: being happy is really hard because you're so afraid you're going to lose it. Wise woman. I think I should get back to work. Some small tune-ups to the diss and maybe some freewriting on the diss so I have some kind of something to work from for the defense opening remarks. OY!

Finis, Finished, Finito

I just pounded out a very short conclusion, sent it to my committee, and now I refuse to deal with (ha! notice I just wrote the dreaded and deadly "deal with" that is verboten in academic discourse -- I'm already deprogramming!) the dissertation for a week. So there! So what if my defense is a mere week after that. How much does one need to prepare? Some opening remarks? Preparing for certain questions? I'm guessing I only need a week. Dear blogfriends, please tell me if I'm underpreparing for that moment.

Of course, my need for a break and tendency to space out and think of OPL (and my need for naps) is not at all supported by the fact that Adventure U just sent me my teaching schedule (8am -- wtf???) and a bunch of orientation materials, stuff about the program, blah-ti-blah. I can't deal with it, I tell you! Just no. I'm taking time off for good behavior. And to prevent myself from getting sick.

OPL and I are taking a road trip from Urban City to Grad City. That should be fun -- and provoke many many pictures! Now I'm going to emerge triumphant from my littlest sister's bedroom that I've held hostage for a while now. No doubt everyone else will be doing their own thing and not understand at all that turning in these diss revisions is the kind of thing you toast. TOAST! After all, I've addressed all the big things my readers wanted me to address. There are still some things I have to cite properly that I didn't have access to Urban Home City and some formatting. But I think I can safely say (knock on wood quick!), the diss is nearly done.

Post-Sibling Sushi Slump

So today is the day that I have to get the dissertation revisions to my committee. I have everything but the concluding chapter. So I thought I would get something done this morning, but instead I spent the morning chatting about -- what else? -- OPL. Then I had to go to Sibling Sushi so I sent on all the revised chapters with the promise that I would get them the conclusion later today. But now I am in a post-Sibling Sushi slump. Despite my designer coffee's proximity to my hand, I really just want to lay my head down and nap. Which I might just do in spite of the fact that with the time zone differences, the day is definitely passing quickly.

Sigh.

The concluding chapter is all in notes and vomited-out blech at this point. And I have to get it organized and somewhat academic and formatted. Oh! It just makes me want to sleep. Maybe I'll sleep/digest and then wake up refreshed.

Yes, I Am a Geek

So I'm sitting here on my family's couch happily typing. I've been invited to countless events and decided not to go to any of them, in favor of finishing up my draft revisions for tomorrow. Keep your hotdogs, your parades, your fireworks. Earnest English is working!

Beauty Blogging

I've just had the most magical weekend of my life where everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Scary what-the-hell-is-going-on and what-did-we-ever-do-to-deserve-so-much-happiness perfect. One of the things that OPL has reminded me of is how much I used to love to take pictures. It turns out he saved all these pictures from the Dark Ages when we were together the first time -- not only pictures of places we went, but beautiful pictures of him showing him so young and very much in love. Now I have two of them in my purse. And I look so soft and vulnerable and young. So different from the cynical absurdist I put on like armor.

Anyway, we went traveling all around this weekend and went to some beautiful places and took many pictures. I've decided all y'all need more beauty, so here are a few shots of flowers and other beautiful stuff.