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Thursday, November 10th, 2005
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10:34 am - Gaming in the News
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| Thursday, October 27th, 2005
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5:43 am - Happy B-Day to me!
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It's finally come. I'm officially in my "early twenties" - somehow in my twisted brain they didn't start till I was 23.
I did most of my celebrating last night - some friends and I went to Vermillion, a fancy Indian/Latino fusion restaurant downtown. It was tasty, even if i couldn't drink because i had to go home and do homework.
Plus, special thanks to Melissa (for the wonderful book) and Monica (for one of the greatest stuffed things EVER - http://www.uglydolls.com/. I have the Orange one with the apron. The invisible proletariat)
Well, i'm off to another day of work - I have a presentation in class this afternoon (which we won't get to) and i'm carving pumpkins with Kat this afternoon.
All in all, a calm but good b-day, i hope!
current mood:  cheerful
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(12 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, October 11th, 2005
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12:48 pm
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I'm sure this has probably already been mentioned by like 50 people, but since I haven't been keeping up with my livejournal reading (bad me) i thought i'd just say it again!
Princeton Review ranked Macalester as the second most accepting school for GLBTQ students in the country! Go us!
Now, if only queer mac-ers could get dates, everything would be idyllic!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, September 30th, 2005
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8:18 am
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After almost a year of hibernation. . . out of the darkess of the back of my kitchen cupboard... comes the most beloved travel mug of all time:
My crazy wavy purple thermos! YAY! *wild applause*
Seriously. I'd almost forgotten that i had it. But i've been spending EVERY morning in the library, which means i've been spending way too much money buying snacks and drinks at ex libris, the library cafe. And i saw a boy in the library with a big thermos yesterday and though... Hm. What a great idea!
And then smacked myself on the forehead and realized that I'd already HAD this idea long ago.
Here she is (I love her!)
http://www.espressoroyale.com/storeimages/ACFBD2.gif
EXCEPT - Mine is bright, shiny purple. They discontinued it. AND mine doesn't have the logo on it.
Back to worshipping the mug.
current mood:  accomplished
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, September 27th, 2005
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11:53 am - The Choral Adventure Begins
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About 3 weeks ago, I had an audition with the new director of choral activities here at UC. Now, for those of you who talked to me about choir LAST year, you'll know that my director was Satan. Literally. She was the meanest woman i've ever met in my life, and I barely stayed in choir.
This new guy was SO nice. He's gay, cute, friendly and seems to know what he's doing. Best of all, he was very positive about me and offered me a paid position in the choir after my audition was over.
I get a mass email today saying that all of us should come in to have an audition. I email back, saying that i've already DONE an audition, and should I come in again. He says yes.
So I go in. After waiting 2 hours, because he keeps blowing me off, he has me do an audition, completely unprepared, on some excerpts that all the new people got 2 weeks ago. Which I bomb, of course.
Guess who NO LONGER has a paid job? And why? Because he FORGOT that he'd auditioned me, he FORGOT that he'd offered me money and, best of all, he'd completly forgotten my earlier performance. And he said all of this with a straight face.
Looks like another fun year of choir for Anthony...
current mood:  rejected
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, September 24th, 2005
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9:39 am - Poor Oppressed Bisexuals
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Really, I shouldn't be surprised any more when I get ANOTHER piece of evidence confirming that everyone hates us -- but I still don't like it.
UC has established a series of discussion groups to better serve the queer student community. They announced this with great fanfare over EVERY queer listserve, and attached a schedule. The opening contained lots and lots of disclaimers about political correctness, and not offending anyone and serving everyone equally.
Guess what the discussion groups were?
1) Gay Men
2) Lesbians
3) Transexuals
4) Queers of Color
AARGH!
So, my friend Nassira (who's also bi, and pissed off) hit them from both sides - maybe if we have a cute boy AND a cute girl complaining, someone will listen to us.
current mood:  aggravated
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Monday, September 19th, 2005
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8:18 pm - Baking
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Wonder of wonders - I have sucessfully baked something!
Now, as many of you know, i'm a very good cook (if i do say so myself). With a few exceptions, i can cook just about anything - given a recipe, time and some decent equiptment. 50 steps? 20 garnishes? Bring it on. But baking? Forget it.
Freshman year of college, I used to try to cook on the horrid stove in my lounge in Turck. And, one evening, I decided that I felt like some fresh baked cookies. I even CHEATED - I used slice-and-bake. None of these new fangled pre-formed cookies - In my day, we formed our own cookies, god damn it!
In my own defense, the numbers were worn off of the oven dial - so I had to guess at the temperature. But, even so, you'd think I could manage to set it at SOMETHING other than maximum - 550 degrees, meant only for cleaning the oven. You can guess what happened.
White chocolate scented black smoke filled the entire lounge - and eventually, the entire hall. Since then, i've always been wary of baking, and it's been reinforced every time i try to bake anything. Apparently, i'm besiged by the Flour Curse - whenver flour gets involved, I don't.
But tonight, my friends, the curse is broken. I have made absolutely perfect chocolate chip cookies, from scratch, without a single burn or defect.
Am I bragging, you ask?
Absolutely.
current mood: Triumphant!
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005
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10:46 am - Mostly for Will and Charlotte..
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I'm going to be in Iowa City middle of next week - my parents leave for family vacation on Thursday, so i'll be around Wednesday night. IF anyone is going to be around, i'll come a day early and hang out...
Contact me, peoples!
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, June 26th, 2005
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9:22 am - Iowa
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Sigh...
I'm at home, sitting in my room watching my parents garden. This is the moment when I reveal myself as a faux-city lover - I can't decided whether i'm glad to be home or bored as fuck. Actually, I'm bored as fuck AND happy, which is a very strange situation for someone as active as I am.
However, i'd be a lot happier if there was any tea in this house. Or anything to eat. Or even to knaw on - leather straps would probably work. Or wood chips.
I get to see a boy soon! And not just any boy! Tristan! WOOHOO for hot ex-boyfriends who I love.
current mood:  bored
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, April 28th, 2005
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8:47 am - Finally done being sick!
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I woke up this morning and... no coughing! For the first time in two weeks, it looks like i might NOT be sick! Unfortunately... Kathryn is now sick. Eventually, the horrible cycle of death and pain must end - I'm just hoping it ends before i'm old and grey.
For all you Disney fans out there (who am I kidding - i'm the only person who cares about this) they're FINALLY reopening Disneyland's submarine ride - newly rethemed with Finding Nemo characters! This makes the third attraction on Disney property that is Finding Nemo-based... which means i probably should go rent the movie.
Is anyone else addicted to Enteman's Coffee Cake? Yes, this is coming from the health-obsessed organic-crazy man. But for some reason, despite its artificial flavoring and overabundance of Xantham Gum, if I buy one of those things, It's gone in a day. I suppose I can use the calories, but still.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, April 15th, 2005
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9:10 am
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I love nineteenth century literature. The mode of speech, the immense vocabulary, the descriptive vividness that goes on for pages with no end in sight... I love all of it.
But, more than anything else, I love the chapter titles.
In MelVille's The Confidence Man:
"Chapter 36. In which the Cosmopolitan is accosted by a Mystic, whereupon ensues pretty much such talk as might be expected"
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, April 1st, 2005
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11:05 pm
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I just got home from the worst evening ever. Today was prospective students day in the history department - so in addition to mingling and talking to new people, which is stressful, we had to go out to a students-only dinner. Fun! You might think so. But no.
The same person arranged the dinner last year, so we should have known it would be utterly horrible - last year we ended up driving all the way to the far north side to go to a bad mexican bar. Ick. This time, it was a bar on the mid-south side - described to be in Pilsen, which would have been cool, but really in a strange middle ground between Pilsen and Chinatown, where there was nothing but abandoned buildings and check cashing places. And this bar.
Now, i'm not a big bar person. But, there are many bars - even seedy bars - which I like. Generally, they have to have at least one of the following things. A) Good/Interesting Food. B) Good/Interesting/Cheap drinks OTHER THAN BEER or C) Something else cool - decor, music, location. This had none of the above. Not only did they not take credit cards, they had nothing but beer and bad, bad food. It was full of smoke, dark, dank and loud. And I was stuck there - since I didn't drive myself. After about 2 hours, it got bad enough that 4 of us Americanist 1st years made a break for freedom and walked a long way through the rain to the train.
At least the walk was fun.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, February 24th, 2005
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8:58 am - I'm back!
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Yay! I'm back. I spilled water on my keyboard on Saturday night, and finally went and got a new one Wednesday afternoon - It was surprisingly cheap, Apple has lowered its prices. It was fun - there was much glitter and fabulousness as I went down Michigan Ave :-)
Unfortunately, I am faced with a new moral dilemma regarding my summer job. Advice is appreciated.
I applied to work for The Center for Talented Youth (CTY) through Johns Hopkins - basically a summer camp for smart kids, which runs at 30 different universities. It's the ideal job - teaching on the resume + smart students + good pay. I applied for TA jobs, cause that's what I know how to do.
I got an email from a guy in my department whos taught at CTY before. He said that if I was willing to TEACH my own class, he could guarantee me a job right now - it's the spot he held last year, and he gets to pick the replacement - and it would be at a much higher salary. Unfortunately, it would be teaching something I know next-to-nothing about: The Russian and Chinese Revolutions.
So, here's the conundrum. Should I wait, and let my application compete to try to get the TA job, which pays less but will not be incredibly difficult and scary, or should I just bite the bullet and try to give myself a crash course in Russia and China, while teaching alone for the first time? Guaranteed, yet terrifying job vs. Not guaranteed, yet much less scary job. Sigh..
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, February 15th, 2005
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8:59 am - Annie would be peeved.
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As am I.
Today, in the NYTimes Art section, there's an article on Warhammer. Great! Gamer culture in mainstream and whatever.
The subtext of the entire article is that only Men play with minatures, and there are certain intrinsic features of the game that make it appropriate
only for men. It's the way men communicate, or the fact that men like to play at war, or the connection between boy scouting and playing with toy soldiers.
Aargh!
Can't there be an article on gaming without some subtle and nasty message!?!?
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Monday, February 14th, 2005
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8:01 pm - Language Exam.
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In order to get a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago History Department, you have to be profficient in a language.
They don't care what language, they don't care if it pertains to your course of study. You just have to know it.
I just took the exam.
The only thing worse than translating from a language you don't know very well is translating ACADEMIC garble.
I swear, it wouldn't make any sense in English even if I DID translate it correctly. Sigh.
At least it's over.
And yes, there is only ONE day per quarter you're allowed to take this exam. And the University of Chicago scheduled it for
Valentine's Day.
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, February 10th, 2005
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9:10 am
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| Saturday, January 22nd, 2005
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10:13 am - In the sprit of Sylune
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I never remember my dreams, and when I do, they tend to be wierd.. Very very wierd.
Last night, i dreamed that i was stuck in a rowboat trying to cross a very large body of water. There were several people of indeterminate identity (you know how that works in dreams? You don't wonder WHY they're there, even when you don't have a fucking clue who they are) and a wave began to come up and smash our boat.
And, Mr. Moose (our stuffed moose) flew in, using super powers, and rescued us. He had a cape, and everything.
The last thing I remember is running off (inside my appt, mind you) to frantically tell kat that Mr. Moose had superpowers....
Then i woke up.
Sigh.
But it's SNOWING!
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, January 8th, 2005
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10:18 am - I'm such a routinized person
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Ok, so i'm not sure routinized is a word - but i'm a grad student, all i do is make up words.
Charlotte's friend Ryan is visiting us for the weekend, while he applies for Nova. And even though he's a really nice guy, and is being a really good guest, it just reminds me how stuck in a routine i get when there is nothing to shake me out of it.
Like, my sleeping schedule is suddenly completely off. Which makes my appetite completely off, and tends to make me irrationally touchy. All because, even when i'm in another room, my sixth sense has this idea that SOMETHING is different.
Sigh.
On the other hand, I'm trying to just enjoy it - sometimes it's fun to sleep in (something i can't normally do) or only eat random food for a couple days. Also, I get to play tourist, which is fun - and i don't do it nearly enough.
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, January 3rd, 2005
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5:22 pm - I hate AOL
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For some reason (even though i'm actually an AOL member and pay real money) AOL isn't letting me access my SN anymore - or my account with them, because they're convinced i'm underage. Their reasoning is flawless - i was 17 when i opened the account 5 years ago, so I must still be now. Sigh.
My new name is on my info page - please add me and IM me! I don't remember most people's names, and my entire buddy list was lost.
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, December 13th, 2004
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5:49 pm - Done! And I survived - Barely
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I'm done! Except for one final paper, i have survived my first quarter of Grad School.
Except for Prof. Stanley yelling at me last week for being stupid and lazy - which i wasn't.
Eh. She's just a bitch with no social skills. Plus, i have a paper left to do for her class (not due till xmas) and i've heard that she forgives very easily if you show her that you actually aren't lazy and stupid - so all i have to do is make this paper decent. No pressure, right?
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