In which your humble narrator stares down the gaping maw of a test with no parameters and the beginning of another lousy semester.
Today is the first day of a new term, bringing with it new classes to teach, fresh undergraduate faces, an impending preliminary exam for my doctoral degree and a big old-fashioned bucket of glum. The enterprise of completing a Ph.D. seems less and less appealing since it seems apparent that it will result, not in a wood-paneled faculty office complete with tweed jacket and pipe, but rather a somewhat less glamorous job in the food service industry. "Would you like a thesis on the application of psycholinguistic research to reading comprehension tests with your burger and fries, sir? No?"
At least I'll be Dr. Impoverished Unemployed Person, Ph.D.
Friday brings with it my preliminary oral examination in which I will go into a room with my committee, give a 20 minute presentation and then hope and pray that I have actually learned something in my (too long) graduate career. I scheduled in for 9:30 in the morning, thinking that at least there won't be much of the day preceding the exam to spend agonizing over my impending doom. The lack of any set expectations for this exam is what sends my anxiety into full-on catastrophic mode: "What's that, simple boy? You're not ready for the physical challenge in which you wrestle with Jean Piaget's reanimated corpse?"
This may be the last post until after Friday as I plan to spend the next 60+ hours pulling the hair from my head strand by strand.
Showing posts with label fried food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fried food. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Snow Fail
In which your humble narrator climbs on ladders, scrapes ice off of things, and wonder where the hell the "warmer than average" El Niño winter forecasted by the National Weather Service is.
The Snowpocalypse was a bust. We got about 5 hours of cold rain on top of 12+ inches of snow on Christmas, soaking the snow, turning the bottom 2 inches to slush. Then it snowed another 3-4 inches on top of that. Then it melted some more and then hard froze turning every horizontal, and most sloped surfaces to ice. Needless to say, the slush/ice removal has been a real pain.
So I've been up and down a ladder unfreezing all the downspouts so that the ice doesn't push our new gutters right off of the house. Too much fun.
On a more positive note, I got a new cookbook from the in-laws for my birthday. My birthday was more than a month ago, but I just got the package from New Hampshire. Apparently the shipping label came off and it got sent to the dead letter office in Atlanta. (Which is funny because the only other dead letter office is in St. Paul... about 10 minutes from our house.) It's the Veselka Cookbook. So I made pierogies since they're exactly the sort of bad-for-you, fatty, fiddly food you should eat in the middle of winter to keep your coat shiny. They we quite tasty. Child #1 even ate a couple of bites the first night we had them. Of course, on the second night he declared that he didn't like them any more and would not eat them. He's still on a weird jag.
On a second, also positive note, Child #2 has decided to sleep through the night regularly. Thus, my power of cogitation and command of the lexicon have returned with vigor. Huzzah!
The Snowpocalypse was a bust. We got about 5 hours of cold rain on top of 12+ inches of snow on Christmas, soaking the snow, turning the bottom 2 inches to slush. Then it snowed another 3-4 inches on top of that. Then it melted some more and then hard froze turning every horizontal, and most sloped surfaces to ice. Needless to say, the slush/ice removal has been a real pain.
So I've been up and down a ladder unfreezing all the downspouts so that the ice doesn't push our new gutters right off of the house. Too much fun.
On a more positive note, I got a new cookbook from the in-laws for my birthday. My birthday was more than a month ago, but I just got the package from New Hampshire. Apparently the shipping label came off and it got sent to the dead letter office in Atlanta. (Which is funny because the only other dead letter office is in St. Paul... about 10 minutes from our house.) It's the Veselka Cookbook. So I made pierogies since they're exactly the sort of bad-for-you, fatty, fiddly food you should eat in the middle of winter to keep your coat shiny. They we quite tasty. Child #1 even ate a couple of bites the first night we had them. Of course, on the second night he declared that he didn't like them any more and would not eat them. He's still on a weird jag.
On a second, also positive note, Child #2 has decided to sleep through the night regularly. Thus, my power of cogitation and command of the lexicon have returned with vigor. Huzzah!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Minnesota State Fair Redux
In which your humble narrator reflects on the panoply of weirdness at the Great Minnesota Get Together.
Today, Wife and Sister and I returned to the Minnesota State Fair sans children which provided the twin opportunities to both look at things that were not necessarily bright and shiny and to drink beer. The following are a set of lessons learned from this year's fair.
1. Fried cheese curd quality varies within and between purveyors. I should say that when I moved to the frozen tundra in 1997 I thought the very idea of deep-fried cheese was repellent. I was wrong, and you were right, Minnesota, and I'm sorry.
2. The strollers are out of control. I say this even as someone who owns three strollers. One regular stroller that you can also pop the carseat into if desired, one giant double stroller that's only used for walking trips from the house to our neighborhood shopping district, and one ratty old umbrella stroller that Wife bought at a yard sale that's been hanging in the garage unused for many moons. At the Fair, people have giant strollers with 12-18 wheels, seating for 8, shock absorbers (!), storage compartments and windscreens. These tend to be piloted be the same people that drive Lincoln Navigators in a hazardous fashion. I saw two evil Mommies push strollers full of their vile progeny into hapless senior citizens today. Something must be done.
3. The Art at the art show was way more nature-oriented this year. Lots of dull landscape paintings. I assume it has something to do with the economy and President Obama's Punitive "Interesting Art Tax" which has forced all of our best Minnesota artists to flee to the Cayman Islands.
4. Many of the people at the Minnesota Public Radio Pavilion are obviously not public radio listeners. I think they should limit access to the benches to public radio members. Let the great unwashed eat their french fries while standing. If they want to sit down, they can buy a tote bag.
5. I like ducks, but only normal ones. Those freak-ducks with the weird plumage that think they're better than me can go to hell.
6. Manning the "Marty Seifert for Governor" booth appears to be a boring, lonely job.
7. The giant butter heads all look sort of the same this year. I had a Princess Kay of the Milky Way in my class last year. She brought her scrapbook in so I could see her year as a dairy princess. It was very cool. I know the whole "Dairy Princess" thing seems very weird, but you shouldn't be so judgmental.
8. The grass at the fairgrounds does not survive the first 7 days of the Fair.
9. People in Minnesota seem pretty mean and stand-offish until you force them to make eye-contact. Then they're really pretty decent.
10. Pronto Pups are delicious. I still don't understand how they're different than corn dogs.
Today, Wife and Sister and I returned to the Minnesota State Fair sans children which provided the twin opportunities to both look at things that were not necessarily bright and shiny and to drink beer. The following are a set of lessons learned from this year's fair.
1. Fried cheese curd quality varies within and between purveyors. I should say that when I moved to the frozen tundra in 1997 I thought the very idea of deep-fried cheese was repellent. I was wrong, and you were right, Minnesota, and I'm sorry.
2. The strollers are out of control. I say this even as someone who owns three strollers. One regular stroller that you can also pop the carseat into if desired, one giant double stroller that's only used for walking trips from the house to our neighborhood shopping district, and one ratty old umbrella stroller that Wife bought at a yard sale that's been hanging in the garage unused for many moons. At the Fair, people have giant strollers with 12-18 wheels, seating for 8, shock absorbers (!), storage compartments and windscreens. These tend to be piloted be the same people that drive Lincoln Navigators in a hazardous fashion. I saw two evil Mommies push strollers full of their vile progeny into hapless senior citizens today. Something must be done.
3. The Art at the art show was way more nature-oriented this year. Lots of dull landscape paintings. I assume it has something to do with the economy and President Obama's Punitive "Interesting Art Tax" which has forced all of our best Minnesota artists to flee to the Cayman Islands.
4. Many of the people at the Minnesota Public Radio Pavilion are obviously not public radio listeners. I think they should limit access to the benches to public radio members. Let the great unwashed eat their french fries while standing. If they want to sit down, they can buy a tote bag.
5. I like ducks, but only normal ones. Those freak-ducks with the weird plumage that think they're better than me can go to hell.
6. Manning the "Marty Seifert for Governor" booth appears to be a boring, lonely job.
7. The giant butter heads all look sort of the same this year. I had a Princess Kay of the Milky Way in my class last year. She brought her scrapbook in so I could see her year as a dairy princess. It was very cool. I know the whole "Dairy Princess" thing seems very weird, but you shouldn't be so judgmental.
8. The grass at the fairgrounds does not survive the first 7 days of the Fair.
9. People in Minnesota seem pretty mean and stand-offish until you force them to make eye-contact. Then they're really pretty decent.
10. Pronto Pups are delicious. I still don't understand how they're different than corn dogs.
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