Ode to Sidewalks in Winter

sidewalks.
venerable cement pedestrian footpaths, ribbons if you will, of meandering architectural planning.
essential to our safety.
our lives, if i may be so bold.
but not according to
andy wells
and the city of
st. john's.

~fin

[disclaimer: yes. i know what an ode is. what kind of graduate student in english would i be if i didn't? please allow for (non)artistic license.]

that venerable speech from the leader of the free world: state of the union

the state of the union is this evening.
pundits expect that the focus will be shifted away from iraq on onto iran.
quelle shock.
there are also whisperings that dubya MAY even address the environment and alternative energy sources, like ethanol fuel etc.
get on board, georgie.
why not take a position that won't alienate you from, say, everybody? :P

What have they done to you??

After a morning of intellectual fun (auditing Chris' American Teleology class--been in fits of gladness about it since seeing syllabus--I think I really DO belong in academia), I spent the afternoon hanging out in the grad room, revising my thesis proposal, and waiting for various school chums to be ready for yet another sushi-extravaganza. (Note: I think I have a "problem" with sushi. About halfway through my meal, I became sad--nay, BLUE--that the meal is about to be over. My friend Vicki tells me that since it is such an inoffensive addiction, I shouldn't worry about it). At any rate, Andrea G decided to show me a video on YouTube--which often leads me to seeing things my life could really have been just fine without.

I am a child of the 90s.
I like Oasis.
Yeah, I went there.
I think "Champagne Supernova" is a perfectly lovely song.
As is "Wonderwall."
Unless this happens:


let's open door #1!

You don't even want to KNOW what they did to "Light My Fire."
Guh.

Here are My Watermelons!

I think it should be fairly obvious that the answer is watermelon.
But that's just me...

How to Draw a Watermelon. Or: Discombobulation

What happens when you put a bunch of over-tired graduate students in a confined space and make them play Cranium?

Complete chaos, that's what.

I ask you, how would YOU draw a watermelon? I had to do it blind.
I drew an oval with striped lines. AND I drew a slice of watermelon (looking vaguely, I'll admit, like a pizza slice). It had seeds and everything. Since my confused partner, Andrea L (www.lettersfromtherock.blogspot.com) , had NO idea what I was doing, I decided to start drawing random pieces of fruit. I drew in an apple (which, what with my closed eyes and all, I drew INSIDE the watermelon slice) and a banana. The other Andrea (Andrea G) took a picture of us while we were trying to do the Sensosketch. The only appropriate words to define our expressions are "smug" (me) and "perplexed" (Andrea L). I feel this sums up our entire relationship.

I won't even go INTO detail on when I had to get Andrea to guess "delivery room" using only charades methods. Let's just say that Andrea G has a rather embarrassing video that she is EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN from ever posting on ANY internet site.

Also, I have learned that trying to hum Olivia Newton John's "Let's Get Physical" is confusing, as the "physical, physical" part sounds just like "Gloria, Gloria."

Watermelon photo to come...

top picks of oh-six

the top news (or "news") stories that shattered my world in 2006 (or at least got me giggling), and the headlines i would give them:

PARIS, ON BRITNEY: "To call out her parenting skills on behalf of her partying ethics is appalling"--grammarians cringe!

TOMKAT TIES THE KNOT: Unneutered male felines hide from paparazzi in a "string" of mistaken identity cases.

16-YEAR OLD "MARY" PREGNANT: Argues immaculate conception to distressed parents.

OF AIR AND BEARS: Rona and Dubya to save the World! [disclaimer: i did not giggle at either of these climate change stories. though i did smirk at the idea that w might finally be getting onto the right side of the "debate" about global warming. DEBATE. mwaha!]

PLUTO NO LONGER A PLANET: Plutonians cry foul!

feel free to add some more. i'm tired, and am thus not at my witty best... :)

features are fun

i could be working on my thesis.
or my sshrc proposal.
or my THESIS proposal, which needs a couple of minor tweaks.
i could be cleaning my apartment.
instead, i am blogging.
and playing with features--i'm inputting html code! who would have thought that i could do that!
i, who got a 79 in introductory computer science that merely comes down to my ability to memorize.
daniel must be very proud.

blogging bandwagon, here i come!

i figure, it's not fair to spy on everybody else's blog without having one of my own.
i can't promise intellectual debate, or even entertainment.
i can promise the occasional ridiculous random ramblings of an english graduate student (who can use alliteration, apparently, but cannot see fit to use capital letters!)
so here goes nothing!