_dissertation

talekyn @ 1:53am: feeling better
Today's class went better than yesterday at least insofar as spreading germs is concerned.  I was still congested, still light-headed and achey, but not sneezing anywhere near as much.  Was able to get a class that was almost 45 minutes behind schedule to end on time, without skimping on anything important.

Of course, by the time 5pm rolled around and I made it back to my hotel room, I was complete toast.  Physically, and mentally.  And so I've spent the evening in the hotel room, reading real books as well as checking email and hitting all the usual sites and all that.  Ordered room service for dinner (AMAZING chicken tortilla soup; so-so burger).  Had a great phone conversation, when the service wasn't cutting out, with richtyrrell commiserating over our mutual illnesses and how we can't meet up tomorrow.  He's fighting some nasty flu.  I think I'll probably call it a night shortly.

A few posts ago, I commented on some of the less-than-positive comments we hear about at www.comicfencing.com. Comments left about us on other forums.  Another incident tonight has me seriously reconsidering bothering with commenting on webcomics at all anymore.  I've touted www.allencomic.com on here fairly often.  It's so secret that I find the comic to be funny, realistic, and just enjoyable.  I've chatted with the creator in forums, email, and over AIM.  I've offered usually goofy comments on the Allan comic itself, but I've also shared more constructive criticism with him on his www.ourfutureisred.com webcomic as well.  Every now and then, someone on Allan's comic (it happened when he was primarily hosted on DrunkDuck.com, and has happened now twice on his own site) will post a comment along the lines of TALEKYN IS A FOURTY YEAR OLD MAN WITH NO FRIGGIN LIFE OTHER THAN THESE FREAKING WEBCOMICS THAT HE WASTES HIS LIFE ON, HES PATHETIC AND A COMPLETE FAGGOT.  Yes, that's a direct quote.  Now, I know comments like that shouldn't get to me -- this is obviously somebody trying to get me comment back, to defend myself.  It is quite possibly the same person who made similar comments a year ago, at which point I stopped commenting on Allan's comics for a while.   One thing Allan (or ANY webcomic creator, of any age) should not have to deal with is someone starting/maintaining a flamewar in the comment boxes, or forums, on his site.  So I usually just keep my mouth shut, let Allan defend me if he wants, and go on my way.   I know that there are plenty of other people reading / commenting on Allan's comic who are in my age range -- I'm not the only adult in the English-speaking world reading his comic.

Still, every now and then I can't help but wonder ... maybe it's not worth it to even bother commenting.  Maybe I should just continue to post my book reviews and travel pieces and occasional webcomics reviews right here, and stop commenting on the comics themselves (I almost never take part in the associated forums, so that's not an issue.).  That would certainly reduce some of the stress in my life.

Or I could just be a really cranky bitch who is tired of being sick.

thistwistedfate @ 7:11pm: Different Eric, same words.
I hate it when people say I'm sorry excessively, apologizing over and over. All empty. Said only because it seems like the appropriate line at the moment.

I don't want I'm sorrys. I want you to fucking DO something about it. Or at least make an attempt to make it up to me. Otherwise, what are your apologies worth?

Absolutely nothing.

revenge_of_jc @ 2:33am: Missing in action.
I think it's about three weeks without a computer. Windows refused to boot and I'm trying to get it up and running.

I'll post as soon as I get it back. I doubt my thumbs will survive, posting a chapter entry. At least Windows Mobile hasn't failed me yet!

Til then, I'm back in the kitchen, prepping every kind of shrimp species there is.

talekyn @ 11:35pm: Berkeley
I did make it from Vegas to Berkeley okay yesterday.  The hotel is nice, the DoubleTree right on the marina.  I can hear the harbor bell every 15 seconds or so if I don't have the tv or music or the fan on.  The weather has been nice, but of course my headcold has worsened.  I think I was feverish this morning, although that's hard to tell without a thermometer.  I've been taking various cold and flu meds since Monday night, so hopefully this will all be over soon.  My nose is running a marathon, it seems, and my head is cloudy.  The class was supportive today, good natured about it (we joked about them all being able to take Monday off as a sick day and blaming it on my germs in the cramped room the hotel has put us in.  Yes, it's big enough for 22 people and has comfy chairs ... but it's still tight).

I'm now four books behind in my reviews here -- Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book," Hamid's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," "The Ghost Quartet" edited by Marvin Kaye (with stories by Kay, Card, Lumley and Lee), and "Perry Rhodan 105: Wonderflower of Utik," bu Kurt Mahr.  Which means I'm also several short stories behind.

And I missed tonight's deadline for the next review at comicfencing ... and I'm just not together enough brainwise to even worry about it tonight.  I've been reading the comic for the past several nights -- it has a long archive dating back to 2004 -- but I'm just not mentally there enough to write a cogent review.  And since even our most well-thought-out reviews seem to be getting knocked apart (the comment on outside forums is that most of us are not web-comics creators, therefore we have no right to review such things because we don't know what we're talking about), I'd rather post a late and cogent review than one that will draw even more flames from people who don't agree with me.

jason_michael @ 3:10am: My room is a mess. Things are a mess. I've got it all figured out now. I'm going to put it all back together. This room is a metaphor for the subconscious. These words are a dream. They are the realization of the desires I want out of real life. There is no waking up.

This weekend is almost here. I am so close. I will put this all back together. Everything will go back into its place, but it will not be the same. I will be free. I have to study like mad. Chemistry midterm needs to be accompanied by a Japanese midterm to make my life adversely interesting; or some shit. I am letting myself go come Friday. Saturday will be spent under dim fluorescent lights, in between numbers and symbols. All of which don't make sense in English.

Post-Monday: I have a choice. It's Terry's birthday. I'm obligated as a friend to stay, however, I was also planning on going to Chicago, and won't have another chance until after Halloween. Which would be a repeat of last year and no big, but it was rather cold.

All of this pressure to succeed in the future is baring down on me.

Now is one of those times where I need to dig down deep. Deep inner strength. Soon this will all fade like so much else that was cast to the wind of history and dreams. Now all that remains is me repeating those five words over and over. Luckily if my conscious makes my thought process back slide. There's an empty space. It'll never be beautiful again, and that's not my fault, so it's time to start planting pieces of hope and promise elsewhere. Nothing stops growing, unless you stop watering it or it dies. It wasn't the latter. So nature will take pace, and something new will grow in its place.

Breathe. Sleep. Goodnight.

peppyhappyloser @ 8:50am: Writer's Block: Personal Holidays


Adoption Celebration Day!

I would love to have a day where I'm able to celebrate being adopted. It would be a day to spend with your family, whether adopted or not. No presents, no big feasts, just being with your family. It would be a day for adoptees to remember their birth parents, and to thank them for giving you a better life than they could have ever given you and it would be a day for adoptees to tell their adoptive parents/foster parents how much they love them, and for those parents to tell their adopted kids the same thing.

Maybe I'll start that tradition... lol

talekyn @ 2:17am: Heroes (October 6, 2008)
As usual, behind the cut to save space AND in deference to those who tivo'ed it and have not watched it yet ...

( Grim Future )

byekitty @ 11:11am: -I feel fierce when wearing pantyhose and makeup. I must do it more often.  ;)

-John Mccain walks weird o_O; The debate was icky and I didn't pay much attention to it =(

-Also, I'm going to play tag in battery park tommorow with Stevie~ :D

-ALSO ALSO: RADIO CLASS TOMMOROW =BOO HOO FOR LINDSAY ;-;

-FREEZEPOP THURSDAY!

-THEN LONG WEEKEND, THEN 2 DAYS OF CLASSES AND THEN FLORIDA~<3

thistwistedfate @ 4:34pm: Basic plant science makes me MAD.
Damn you, herbaceous dicot stem!! IT WAS THE PITH AND CORTEX. Mother-eff. Not the parenchyma. Rargghhh.

That diagram totally screwed me up on the exam today.

I hate science.

And no, I don't expect this to make sense.

talekyn @ 2:50am: late entry
I've spent that last hour or so gazing adoringly at the proofs for the front and back cover of The Firflake.  I still need to actually proof the suckers and send any corrections back to iUniverse, but for tonight  I just wanted to bask in the concept that it's a real cover.  Don's front cover art, my back-cover text, Ben's black and white author photo of me, and the ISBN number.  The only thing I don't see set off on its own is a cover price, but if I'm reading the barcode box correctly, it could be a very inexpensive 6"x9" paperback.

Earlier this evening I went with the boss and her gf to Cahunaville, in the Treasure Island (excuse me ... it's TI now) casino for dinner.  Great meal, great conversation.  Then I came back to the hotel, watched Heroes, answered bunches o' email.  Sent off the chapter illustrations as individual image files per the request of the publisher.

Now I'm going to take some more cold medication and try to get some sleep before tomorrow's class.  We're running ahead of schedule, which I'm sure will not bother the 9 students.  This is a nice, but rough, crowd.  I get the feeling they don't really think I'm funny.  We'll see if tomorrow improves things at all.

It looks like I will be meeting Roxie somewhere on the strip in the evening and treating her to dinner.  Not sure if we'll end up seeing a show or not.  Possibly not, but either way we will enjoy discussing Heroes and eating food somewhere.

This trip to Vegas has had a different feel from last year, partly because I didn't book show tickets in advance, partially because I haven't done any gambling (I'm a little tighter on money than I intended to be ... bills needed to be paid), partially because of the headcold.

Sleep well, all.

jason_michael @ 11:55pm: and so it begins, again. I went over a lot of written words from this time last year. It should be easier this time though.

Anatomy, anatomy. Neurons, Cranial nerves, Spinal nerves. Check. Eyes and Ears, partial check. Upper Limb anatomy? Fuck. 4am here I come. This is a Karin Nixon inspired moment. Here I come second wind.

talekyn @ 2:25am: contest
Some of you wittier folk out there may enjoy this.  It's reminiscent of the captioning contest run at the back of each week's issue of The New Yorker.

http://rampagenetwork.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=335

It's being run on the Rampage Network forums by the usual gang over there.  Yes, you have to "join" the forums to post a caption as far as I can tell.  But it's free, and you don't ever need to go near the forums again if you don't want to, although they are a largely good bunch of people over there with a love of comics in general and webcomics in particular.

talekyn @ 1:52am: Japanese banking
Just saw this on jsboehm79 's LJ and had to spread the word:

Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan.

In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.

Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.

While Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.

Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

talekyn @ 1:41am: the one thing I don't like ....
The one thing I don't like about this hotel in Vegas is that none of the staff seem to know what the other departments are up to.  My FedEx class prep box comes to my name, and I need to get that from the bellmen.  The course material boxes for the students go to the Sales and/or catering departments, and guess who isn't in until 9am?  The front desk staff can't manage to tell me even where my workshop is going to be ("well, it looks like there's something going on in the Fountainblue B room ...")

I did get it sorted out, thanks to a very helpful Security supervisor.  The course materials are in the room, I know where the room is.  Still, it's frustrating that sales goes home on Friday and doesn't let the other departments know what they need to.  And that the weekend banquets people don't seem to have a clue where anything is.

I like my guest room, I like the hotel restaurants.  I like how close to the Strip we are.  I just don't like the lack of communication.

talekyn @ 5:26pm: Vegas plans that aren't really plans
I've had a lazy morning, because the head cold doesn't seem to be going away.  So I just laid low, took cold medicine, relaxed.

Plans for the after/evening are still up in the air.  Roxie is in town visiting her  mother, and it looks like perhaps we'll meet at the Flamingo in a couple of hours and hang out for a bit.  My boss and her girlfriend are still trying to figure out if they can get Cher tickets for tonight, or if we're going to go see something else instead.  I told them the only show I've seen in Vegas is "O" at the Bellagio, and I'm up for anything tonight. 

So I have plans, but they're not really plans.  Reminds me of the old "The class schedule is more of a guideline" thing that used to happen at the old job, but not as frustrating because --- hey, it's Vegas, baby!  What will happen will happen, right?

I'm going to get some lunch so I'm not tromping around the Flamingo later on starving.

talekyn @ 12:13am: arrived safely
Yes, I made it to Vegas.  For some reason, the flights exhausted me, not to mention the very long shuttle ride to the hotel.  I think I need to just hang in the hotel room and relax tonight, since I'm meeting the boss to see a show tomorrow.  And on the plane, I started sneezing.

GO AWAY GERMS!!!!

talekyn @ 2:42pm: haunted
I'm in the Eastern Iowa Airport, waiting for the flight to Minneapolis, and they have free wireless!

This airport is a little odd.  First of all, it is virtually empty.  Even Stewart Airport in Beacon NY, or the Roanoke VA airport, were never this empty.

Second, I keep seeing people I know.  Or people who look like people I know.  One of the TSA guys at security was absolutely a dead ringer for my friend Allan Tumolillo.  Same height, same shape to the face, same gray hair and moustache.  Not at all the same voice, but otherwise a dead ringer.

Then there was the girl in the restaurant up by the C gates.  More than a dead ringer for my friend Jill, who I have not seen since I left the "old" job in December 2006.    Same body type (although I'm told Jill has recently lost a lot of weight), same face down to the eyebrow ring Jill used to have (I'm told she no longer has it), same dark hair that almost shines, down past her ears.  Same personality and voice as well.  I noticed it most with the way she did Jill's little "pause but not a pause" before adjectives.  I can't quite but it into words, but there's always this slight moment between the rest of the sentence that puts stress on the adjective without making it super-obvious.  "That root beer is awesome," not with a long dramatic pause and then verbal emphasis on the word but just a slight pause and no extra emphasis.

I'm not explaining that well at all.

Add to that seeing a guy in the mall near the hotel who could have been Joel Michalchuk's identical twin .... and it's been an odd week.

Battery running low and I don't see any outlets nearby at this gate, so I think I'm going to shut down and go back to reading.  I'm about halfway through both "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" and "Perry Rhodan 105: Wonderflower of Utik."

And yes, I also have my journal here and am continuing to write.
 

talekyn @ 1:49am: quick update
Gotta love it.

Out of the hotel for dinner tonight, found a Half-Price Books store, and in their "nostalgia" section found two Perry Rhodan books.  I haven't read a Rhodan book in ages.  For those not familiar, it's a German space opera that was translated into English in the 60s (and 70s?  Anonymous IP Translator will correct me ....).  I read a bunch of them in high school but had long since sold them off.  The ones I found tonight were volumes 105 and 106, and I've already read half of the first one tonight.

Got back to the hotel, came up to the room ... and my key wouldn't work in the door.  So I trudged back downstairs, put the key on the counter and politely said, "My key's not working anymore, it may have been too close to my cellphone or whatever."  The guy looks at me and says "actually, that's not a key to our hotel."  Somehow, I still had a Holiday Inn key from the last trip in my wallet ...

So I'm a complete airhead.

Tomorrow, have to be at the airport by about 1.  Three pm flight to Minneapolis, short layover, three hour flight to Vegas ....

talekyn @ 12:06am: Picture Me
Yoinked from fizzyland 

Post a picture in my comments of what you think describes me when you think about what/who I am.

Give no written explanation though. Just an image.

Copy and paste into your own journal and see what others think about you in pictures!

talekyn @ 9:57pm: The nearest book
Yoinked from doodlethoughts , tinawiesen , caseystratton  and about twelve other LJ friends of mine:

* Grab the nearest book.

* Open the book to page 56.

* Find the fifth sentence.

* Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions if you want to.

* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

The closest book happens to be the one I am reading currently: "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by Mohsin Hamid.

The 5th sentence:  "You're never rude," she said, smiling, "and I think it's good to be touchy sometimes.  It shows you care."

talekyn @ 9:49pm: say what now?
Seriously ... the woman can pronounce Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but she can't say "nuclear?"

Our leaders should be able to pronounce words (not slang) that have been in the lexicon for what ... 50 years now?

jason_michael @ 1:54am: I've been half writing down anatomy notes, half talking to a distant Karin Nixon, off in the far away land of Brazil. I really miss her. I miss laying on her giant bean bag bed. She is what got me through last fall semester. She helped me escape some of the similar internal problems I'm having now. Maybe I should just medicate. That way my insides will feel fine again, I'll stop breaking out, and my lack of complaining and having a problem studying will make up for my lack of personality.

Today was such a mix and jumble. If roller coasters had elevators?

I keep getting every spoken sentence wrong in Japanese. I really am just so unpracticed. I don't know how to think in or speak in the language. I would just go to office hours and have her help, but I just don't have time and there's so much dedication with that. I can't do that yet. Not til next semester when all I have is Japanese/Chinese and the grammar classes all day long. Then I'll care, I'll care a lot; I'll even make sure I'm prepared for when I get to Japan and I won't sound ridiculous or have to repeat any classes.
My brain sleeps through Chinese class. She's stopped calling on me for reading aloud. Do I read too quickly with correct tones or something? Shit, I wish I had time to actually study at all for that class.

I got a lot of new music that I downloaded today.

Barack Obama is coming to campus tomorrow. I'm so stoked. Then the VP debate is on Friday. Sarah Palin drinking games will ensue.

I went out for sushi. We made conversations about our trips to Asia. He's articulate and conscious and polite. He really likes me or is attracted to me at least. I don't know how to take it. He moved in for the kiss kind of? I smoothly avoided the situation. I'm not ready for that. Not with everything going on in my head. Not until some other things get settled.

Elyse luckily was with me. I still forgot some things at Meijer I needed to get. I like milk and cereal though.

Otherwise, I am anticipating Friday. There is so much to say. It's like my entire being needs to somehow be molded into words. I'm fucking terrified about how it's going to turn out.
I don't even know why it's turned out like this or why things are the way they are now, so who even knows what is in store for us. I can only hope and wish and dream and wish for more.

talekyn @ 12:47am: Cedar Rapids
Both flights left on time and were nice and smooth.  I was a bit out of it, tired, but stayed awake and read for the majority of both flights.  Which means I accomplished something I haven't managed in a long time:  I read an entire book in one day.  Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book," which I will review in a day or two when I've had a chance to let it soak in.

Different hotel from my visit to Cedar Rapids last year at this time.  Bittersweet memories, too, as it was upon landing at Cedar Rapids airport on that trip that I got the phone call from fizzyland  that Karen, kij66 , had passed away.  The hotel that we used last year is in the center of town, right next to the Quaker Oats factory, and was in fact underwater during the June flooding -- the shuttle driver told me the first three floors were underwater.  This hotel is further away from the river, not that flooding is a danger in the next few days.

I tried something different as far as packing goes.  Usually, I have two checked bags:  my large garment bag that has all my clothes, then a carryon-sized wheeled bag in which go my teaching supplies (course books and markers and such if it's the hazardous waste course; books, markers and the projector in its smaller case if it's the environmental overview course).  That leaves me with my backpack (my laptop, itinerary, blackberry, reading materials, meds, journal, camera, chargers) alone for the HW swings, or backpack and company computer in a small case if its the EO class.  This time, I decided to put the company computer, my shoes, and extra reading materials and such in my other carryon-sized rolling bag, thinking that except for at security when both laptops would have to come out, it would just make everything more manageable.  And in Newark, it worked like a charm.  Carryon up in the overhead bin, less crowded backpack under the seat in front of me.

I didn't recon with the much smaller plane I'd be on from Detroit to Cedar Rapids, though.  They announced right before boarding that the bins were not large enough to hold "normal sized" carryon bags and so they needed to be gate-checked.  Fine, except that there's no way in hell I'm gate-checking the company laptop, nor my own.  So I had to do some hasty rearranging that put both laptops in my backpack and most of my books in the carryon that got gate-checked.  I'll have to do the same thing flying out on Saturday to Vegas, since the first leg of the flight is Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis on a similarly small plane.  Then I'll probably shift things back when I see the size of the plane going from Minneapolis to Las Vegas.

And so, I'm off to sleep.  I was sleepy all day, and now I seem to have gotten a second wind ... but I must sleep!

byekitty @ 11:03am: AMIRITE?!
[10:15] Mr.G: But just think about how proud you feel when you finally get to pull that lever for John McCain.
[10:16] Lindsbs007: pull that lever? you mean use the defribulator?
[10:17] Mr.G: If it's an old fashioned defribulator....y'know, like the one they used on Frankenstein.
[10:18] Lindsbs007: yes!
[10:18] Lindsbs007: oh McCain
[10:18] Lindsbs007: Oh, Sarah
[10:18] Lindsbs007: I can't see Russia from my state
[10:19] Lindsbs007: Or name any newspapers that I read either
[10:22] Lindsbs007: I mean its totally cool for women to have to pay for rape kits
[10:22] Mr.G: Well, I can tell where you get your news.
[10:22] Lindsbs007: THE LIBERAL MEDIA
[10:24] Lindsbs007: actually, come on
[10:24] Lindsbs007: the newspaper thing was on CBS
[10:24] Mr.G: What did she say?
[10:25] Lindsbs007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quhbzGoOaX0
[10:26] Lindsbs007: haha oops didn't no there was a no mccain at the end
[10:26] Lindsbs007: I just googled for that
[10:27] Mr.G: Yeah...seems unbiased
[10:27] Lindsbs007: like they could've faked the interview
[10:33] Lindsbs007: so why McCain?
[10:35] Mr.G: Because he's pro-life, for low taxes, and strong military.
[10:35] Mr.G: Other then that, I'm not really a fan.
[10:35] Mr.G: He wasn't my first choice
[10:35] Mr.G: Or second
[10:36] Lindsbs007: but he even flip flopped on his pro life status
[10:36] Mr.G: He was never pro-abortion.
[10:37] Mr.G: And anyway, there, I'm just assuming that he'll nominate conservative judges...who he does tend to support.
[10:38] Mr.G: Obama voted against a bill saying that if a baby is born after a botched abortion, the doctors then have to save the baby's life.
[10:38] Mr.G: Because "it could possibly cause the woman to second guess her decision"
[10:40] Mr.G: And these babies would be thrown into dumpsters...some nurses would hold them and wait till they died in their arms...and would have to wait for up to 3 hours while the baby struggled to breath before he or she would finally die.
[10:40] Mr.G: I can't think of anything more vile, disgusting, or evil then that...and Obama doesn't see anything wrong with that.
[10:44] Lindsbs007: he voted "present"
[10:44] Mr.G: When the identical bill came up in the U.S. Senate, he voted present...which he has a habit of doing any time he knows the vote will come back and bite him in the ass.
[10:45] Mr.G: In illinoise, he voted no.
[10:53] Mr.G: And even when he didn't vote on it....HOW COULD YOU NOT VOTE ON THAT?!?!
[10:53] Mr.G: What could be more obviously wrong then letting babies die?
[10:56] Lindsbs007: None of those who voted against SB-1082 favored infanticide. Rather their zeal for pro-choice dogma was clearly the overriding force behind their negative votes rather than concern that my bill would protect babies who are born alive.
[10:57] Lindsbs007: So, in other words there was stuff in there they could've used to attempt to over turn Roe v. Wade
[10:58] Lindsbs007: In 2005, I joined 116 state representatives and 54 senators in voting for HB-984, which contained the same born-alive definition and neutrality language as Senate Bill 1082, plus some extra language to satisfy the most zealous pro-choice legislators, yet harmless to the bill's purpose. No one voted against it. We had finally accomplished what we had set out to do—protect a newborn baby's life.
 —Rick Winkel
 Former state senator
[10:58] Lindsbs007: ^So, when that stuff was added he voted for it
[10:59] Mr.G: So killing unborn babies is so important that they won't even consider voting against a bill that protects babies who have actually been born?
[11:00] Mr.G: That's even more repulsive
[11:02] Lindsbs007: I eat aborted babies
[11:02] Mr.G: Ok, goodnight.

unachicabenita @ 3:18pm: The first of every month is supposed to be a happy one.
Now it's depressing.