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I'm Feeling: funny
Background Noise: The Longest Time by Billy Joel
(WARNING: Today's blog will be written backwards. Not letter by letter, because that's basically evil and no one would bother reading it. Plus, it would give me a headache to write it that way. Backwards word by word, which is still mildly headache-inducing, but if you suck it up/take an Advil, you'll be just fine)
Day backwards is today. Backwards things write to funny it's. Time the all this like write to had we if be would life confusing how about think. Night last DIG at fun most the had I. Time great a had and, games played, sang, screamed we. Weekend this camp to go to EXCITED so am I.
Work to back go to got. All you love! Tuesday happy a have!!
I'm Feeling: glad to be back on my game
Background Noise: Another First Kiss by TMBG
I apologize to my minute blog audience for my absence this past week - a killer rhinovirus (aka bad cold) knocked me on my ear this week, and I'm only just feeling back to my usual chipper self.
Today is supposed to be Fun at Work Day - so far, my day's been good, but I don't know if anything has happened that would make it stand out as fun in comparison to any other day at work. Any ideas for what I can do to make this Monday fun-tastic?
I recently set up a facebook profile, mostly to see what all the fuss is about. Still not completely sure I get it, but apparently it makes everyone laugh that I'M signed up for it (I guess us old fogeys aren't supposed to be that hip - it's like your mom wearing low-rise jeans and UGGs, I suppose). 
I'm Feeling: unromantic
Background Noise: Boss of Me by They Might Be Giants
Last night, Mark and I went to see Tristan and Isolde, one of those forbidden-love type movies that's out right now. I enjoyed it as much as one enjoys love stories that make you feel horrible for everyone involved. (and James Franco has this perpetual tears-in-my-eyes sad face that he's really good at - Mark's thinking he learned it from Spiderman). The funny thing is, I really wasn't moved much by the love story part of it. Movies where two attractive young people meet, spend a few days talking, then fall madly, irrevocably in love baffle me. My head says "they're not REALLY in love, they just have the hots for each other." I want the movie to give me a better reason why these two people are so connected. I think the same thing about Romeo and Juliet. I think the poetry is amazing - I'm not bashing Shakespeare at all... I just think those two kids are stupid - they saw each other at a party, decided that they couldn't live without each other, then proceed to get wrapped up in a web of deceit that gets them both dead. Goofballs.
I used to be moved by these stories - I used to resonate with the idea of that kind of passionate love where you just know about a person. I guess I'm more of a realist than I thought...
I'm Feeling: LOUSY
Background Noise: Sweet Baby James by James Taylor
Today is Opposite Day. (all my opposites will be in CAPITAL LETTERS to help you decipher today's blog).
To the RIGHT you'll find some examples of opposites, in case you need a refresher.
I'm so DEPRESSED today - I got to sleep in and come to work EARLY (in an effort to make me feel WORSE, and it's working, bit by bit). I've seen some UNFRIENDLY people today and was able to be NOT AT ALL HELPFUL, which is always a good thing. I even saw the sun shine for a LONG time this afternoon - that made my day.
Here's wishing you a DREADFUL Wednesday! :)
Bonus update for the day: I was just informed that I looked like I was seventeen years old (it can get a little tiring to hear about how young you look in a world where people are supposed to see you as having some kind of authority, but it's not a bad thing to hear), and that I look like Scarlett Johansen. I don't really see it, but hey, who am I to argue? Maybe I just need to go blonde....
I'm Feeling: leprous
Background Noise: something about the Infanta by the Decembrists (I left the song list at home, so I'm not sure what it's called...)
When I looked out my office window this morning, my view of campus was blurred by really tiny, fine snowflakes swirling all over the place. Perhaps this is what's keeping people away from my office today. Or maybe I have really strong BO or a nasty skin disease that I can't see or powerfully stinky feet. Or maybe I'm in some sort of Bermuda-triangle-y place of work - where people get lost on their way to see me. My phone JUST rang, and the person hung up before I could say anything. It's part of the conspiracy.
Bummer update: I'm getting sick. Right now, I'd like to shut my office door, lay my head down on my desk and nap the afternoon away. Actually, I'd rather go home and nap in my squishy bed, but that's a way more obvious shirking of professional responsibility. Pray that this less-than-healthy feeling goes away rather than getting stronger.
I'm Feeling: quiet
Background Noise: Better Luck Next Time by Lifehouse
Today is Measure Your Feet Day. So far, I've only measured my right foot - it came in at just over 9.5 inches. I'll try to get to my left foot later on (although my bet is that it will be pretty close to 9.5 inches) - right now, there are more important things to do.
I got to play some fabulous fun games this weekend - and the best part is that you don't have to buy a thing to play them! We played George, euchre (OK, you do have to buy something for this, but seriously - who doesn't have a deck of cards?), Telephone Pictionary, Signs, and The Mosquito Game (for lack of a better name). Lots of laughing, lots of fun.
Saturday morning, a package arrived from my little sister - she sent us (as requested) some CDs that she burned - They Might Be Giants, The Postal Service, The Decembrists, and DeathCab for Cutie. We mostly listened to TMBG this weekend, and now I have these catchy little tunes with wacked out lyrics stuck in my head. It's fun! Thanks, Moog!!
I'm Feeling: super hungry (almost lunchtime!)
Background Noise: New York, New York by Ryan Adams
Here is a very important update on my work life...
I just had my 2000th face to face student appointment - took me about 17 months to see that many people. Not too shabby, I think - but then, I have very little with which to compare those numbers...
Yesterday I got to learn about sheep, so I wanted to post a picture of one. Sheep are kinda slow, smelly, stupid, not very brave and awfully vulnerable. They're picky and easily distracted. They're designed to live in community and they need a shepherd in order to flourish and be safe. And they're REALLY valuable. We got to have an interesting discussion about sheep, and why in the Bible, sheep refer to believers. What kinds of correlations can we draw? It was interesting, thought-provoking, and funny. We agreed that sheep may be evidence AGAINST evolution. Maybe if it was "survival of the slowest"....
I'm Feeling: disengaged
Background Noise: True by Ryan Cabrera
Ever have one of those days where no matter what you're doing - you just kinda feel like you'd rather be doing something else? Something a little more comfortable or relaxing or interesting... I have a little of that feeling today. Just itchy to be somewhere else, doing something a little different. Maybe it's because of the chilly-nesss and the rain - those days always make me want to be home with a blanket and a book. (Not that I don't want that almost every day...)
Today is Penguin Awareness Day - how much do you know about our snow-loving comrades?
I'm Feeling: like I should be wearing a prom dress
Background Noise: Awaken by PWGopal
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Today has been a rather uneventful day at work - MSU has no classes today, in honor of the national holiday - but unfortunately, its employees are not relinquished from the daily grind. I had appointments scheduled for today, but apparently the students were eaten by coyotes or got stuck between 2 refrigerators or can't find their shoes - because only one person has actually showed up!! I feel like I've been massively stood up - but my exasperation is mediated by the bountiful sunshine pouring in my south-facing windows. It's so nice to have to squint to read my computer screen again! :)
I'm Feeling: pondersome
Background Noise: Noah: Right by Bill Cosby (so funny!)
Confession: I am addicted to books. I've never been clinically diagnosed, because (a) I'm not sure there is such a thing as a literary therapist and (b) I don't want to be cured!! (Subcategory to confession: I'm also addicted to bookstores - they smell like paper and ink and usually have cushy armchairs and coffee and I can wander for EVER inside them)
Yesterday, I ordered a couple of things off Amazon.com - one of them was a book called Zobmondo, which is a book full of strange, sometimes inappropriate "would you rather..." style questions. Fun conversation starters, and a great game to play, to be sure. Amazon also has this nifty thing where you can look at the front cover, back cover, and an excerpt of certain books before buying them (which is a nice substitute for actually physically being IN a bookstore). The back cover of the book posed this eternal, pervasive question:
Would you rather spend an entire day with a dead mouse in your butt or a dead frog in your mouth?
Although both options are disturbing (and dead critters = icky), I'd have to say... totally the mouse. It wouldn't be necessary that anyone else be aware of the situation, it wouldn't impede eating or talking for 24 hours (although it would get in the way of bathroom-time). Plus, I'm pretty sure live frogs don't taste that great, so dead ones are probably mildly less appetizing. Just a guess.
Give me more good "Would you rather..." questions!!
I'm Feeling: as though I've slipped into a time warp
Background Noise: Tower by ISH
Today is Clean Off Your Desk Day - luckily my desk looks nothing like the one in the picture - although there are a few things that have piled up in the past few days. Normally, I'm a little hyperactive about staying on top of things like that, but the controlled insanity of the past week has weakened my organizational superpowers. The first week of Spring Semester is my kryptonite.
Seriously - sometimes busy weeks fly right by - which is a lovely bonus - side - effect to being ridiculously consumed by the mundane emergencies of work... but this week, my busy-ness has had the opposite effect. Tuesday morning I was thinking about all the things I'd done and the students I'd seen, and thought that it could not possibly have all happened on Monday. And time has been dragging by ever since. Don't get me wrong, I've had a lot of fun this week - I hesitate to say it and jinx myself, but sometimes I like crisis-mode... you feel effective and purposeful, and it's nice to be able to help people out when they're stressed.
However, last night I was so wiped out that my husband said "you're SO tired that you're not even yourself at all." I know what that means... and yes, I probably was grumpy and minorly uncooperative... but I literally couldn't make myself have an opinion or feel strongly about anything. I slept well. Thanks to all who have been putting up with me! This too shall pass...
I'm Feeling: anticipatory
Background Noise: You and Me by Lifehouse
I found out yesterday afternoon that our department just received funds that are to be allocated for another full-time adviser! I'm excited to have another body to work with our students, but there is so much to wonder about... Who will it be? Will we get along well, or just be your average coworkers? What kind of advising style will he/she have? You never know if you're gonna get a dud or a superstar - and not knowing things makes me nervous sometimes. Oh well - there will be a little bit of time before this person could start anyway, so I should try to relax!
On a completely unrelated, but very encouraging note - the sky is currently a color that vaguely resembles blue, AND there's some sun to be seen, AND it's supposed to be 42 degrees today! I can handle this kind of winter!
I'm Feeling: ready for the week, but also ready for a nap
Background Noise: If I Stand by Rich Mullins
The first circus was on January 9, 1768 - in London. While that's totally cool, and also humorous to imagine people dressed up all in top hats and corsets and whatnot, I still think... BRRR!! What in the world? Were they SOO excited to have a circus that they couldn't wait for spring? Seriously - no furnace, not even a roof (I'm not kidding, read the article... they only added a roof two years later). That's dedication, folks.
Today is the first day of Spring (haha!) semester at MSU, and things are appropriately busy. It's fun to have students back, but I know that the next few months will breeze by in a flurry of graduation applications, checksheets and enrollment appointments (and all the students who don't get an appointment will send frantic emails and IMs). I love being busy, and I like my job - I'm just nervous this year that there isn't enough of me to go around. The department has grown (almost 800 students total now) since last year, and there is still only one adviser - moi. Hopefully I can hack it.
I had a good weekend though - Natalee and Courtney spent the night on Friday (they're my friends from Mason Middle School - both in 7th grade) and we ate cookie dough and gummy bears and watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and in the morning we had chocolate chip pancakes. Saturday night, Laura and I went to the MSU hockey game (Go State!), and yesterday Mark and I went to a bible study on Romans that's being put on by the Couples' ministry at Riverview. Pretty sweet couple of days!!
I'm Feeling: a little worn out
Background Noise: Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel
Lots of people live in Mason and work at MSU - when you drive the same route to work and back for a year and a half, you start to recognize cars, or realize you've been following the same person for 10 miles and wonder if they think you're a stalker. Yesterday as I was leaving campus, a gal in a gold sedan cut me off (which is part of the reason why I noticed her and her vehicle immediately). The bumper of her car proudly bore a "Republicans for Voldemort" sticker - maybe I spent the past year or so with blinders on, but I haven't seen this one before. I had a lot of time to ponder the intent of the sticker because I followed her from the Natural Resources Building (on campus) to the intersection of College and Columbia (a mile from my house).
Depending on how you look at it - the sticker can be ripping on almost anyone. Republicans could be ripping on Bush, saying they'd rather have Voldemort representing their interests. Democrats could be ripping on Republicans, saying that Voldemort and Bush are on the same level of desirability. Or (and by far, the most troubling) people could be making fun of Harry Potter!! Impossible and unprecedented, I know...
I'm Feeling: a little dizzy
Background Noise: The Innocent's Corner by Caedmon's Call
Today is Trivia Day - the word trivia derives from the Latin trivialis and means "unimportant matters." In the spirit of the "holiday" - here are my thoughts relating to some spectacularly unimportant matters:
* I like wearing socks that match my outfit, even when no one can see them.
* I think it's gross to blow your nose directly into your hands in the shower.
* I usually think "trendy" things are really dorky looking for about a year, then I come around right about the same time they go out of style.
* Rain is better than snow (note: not if you're a kid and there is a possibility of a snow day) although thunderstorms in January are weird.
* As you know, I don't like the number 5... I also don't care much for the number 8. No good reason.
Happy Wednesday!!
I'm Feeling: TIRED! (and cold!) Background Noise: disgruntled carpet installers milling in our hallway
Happy New Year 2006! Here is a glimpse into my dorky-ness: I'm excited about 2006 because I don't like the number 5 very much (I think it's a hard number to write in a way that looks nice) and now I don't have to write it every time I write the date. Scary that my brain takes the time to think about things like that...
As always - it's back to work and "regular" life - my office was cold this morning, my plants look neglected, students are calling with questions, my email inbox is full, and the floor in our hallway is completely torn up in anticipation of new carpeting. Should be interesting trying to work the next few days with carpet noises outside my door (actually, I'm just being negative... I have no idea how loud they'll be).
I got a bunch of new books to read over break - so far, I'm really enjoying Freakonomics - it's along the same kind of lines as The Tipping Point and The Know-It-All (if that means anything to any of you). So far, highly recommended!
I'm Feeling: funny
