Currently Listening The Sunset Tree By The Mountain Goats, Mountain Goats see related

Our campus radio station has recently undergone some really cool new programming.  We get the BBC every weekday morning, so I get a chipper British person reading the news to me on my way to work.  Then there's the usual classical and jazz time slots that most college stations have.  Then back we go to the BBC at the end of the day, followed by student DJs in the evening.  The students are cool because every day I get introduced to some new band I didn't know existed.

The album above is an example.  The Mountain Goats.  This album has a song on it called, "This Year."  I first heard it on Saturday morning and then again Saturday evening.  Both times, it made me laugh!  The chorus goes, "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me..."

Ten days until my final grad school presentation, kids.  Ten days.  Ten.

My goal is to also have my paper finished by then too.  I'm about 1/3 finished as of today, so it might just happen.  Especially if I can squeeze in a day sometime this week to camp out at a Panera with my laptop!

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Lest you think the last month has been all work and no play, fear not! 

Took a brief trip to NYC for Easter.  Went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the top of the Empire State Building...none of which I had done during previous visits to the city.  Also at at some amazing restaurants.  Korean, Afghani, and Chinese along with some really terrific delis.  Hooray for food, hooray for a change in scenery.

I've also gone on a few fun excursions down to Pittsburgh - grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, introducing my friend Mandy to sushi, and taking a couple trips to the beloved LuLu's Noodles. 

I heard my friend Ben at a concert on campus on Saturday night.  He's releasing his solo album in 2 weeks and is also feeling a similar crunch to my grad school pressures.  Want to hear his suggestion for minimizing puffy bags under your eyes?  Preparation H.  No joke.

So while most of my time has been spent staring at a massive stack of research and trying to assemble it into some kind of readable form, this last month has definitely had its delightful moments.  Every couple days, a student will peek their head in my door, asking to take a walk or go out for lunch.  That's what I love best about my job.  These students are so special.  It's exciting to watch them grow up and mature while they're here.  It's sad watching them go, but exciting to think about what new students will begin stopping by my office next year. 

Pittsburgh

Not long ago, I wrote about my love of Pittsburgh.  It still catches me off guard how much I enjoy living in this area!  I can't claim to be a local just yet, but I think I'm getting close.  I recently ran across a "You know you're from Pittsburgh when..." list.  Here are the ones I could especially relate to...

• You have a taste bud for Smiley Cookies
• You know what is meant by "The Point"
• You can find Zelienople on a map
• You know the time and location of every "Wing Night" in a 10 mile radius
• You own a Terrible Towel
• You've ridden the two oldest surviving "inclines" in the world
• You walk carefully when it's "slippy" outside
• You know the "Strip District" is not at all what you might think
• You'd rather have a pierogie night over a pizza night
• A mushroom on Mt. Washington is not referring to a fungi
• You can't get anywhere without going over a bridge
• You get your money from a "mac machine"
• You've seen Mr. Roger's trolley
• You stop noticing when people add "N at" at the end of every sentence
• You know exactly why Squirrel Hill has its name
• You've saved a parking spot with a folding chair
• You know that "Jeetjet?" is a complete sentence
• You've been to Mars and Moon
• You've been on a bridge named for a baseball player

But even though I love this city, I won't be celebrating Easter here.  Spontaneously, I decided to fly to New York City with a friend for the weekend.  We're flying after work tonight and coming back Monday evening.  I'm feeling slightly guilty about 4 days away from homework.  But I'm choosing not to think about that right now...

Scandelous Thursday afternoon...

I think you've heard enough stories about my co-worker Charlene to have a pretty good idea of what she's like.  So hopefully you'll find this story amusing...

So...imagine you are Charlene.  You need to grab something out of the storage room in the basement (our incredibly messy and cluttered storage room, by the way).  Down the stairs you go and find the door to the room closed.  Hmm...odd.  That door is never closed...ah well.  You go to open the door.  As it opens, you notice the lights are off and you hear some rustling.  Suddenly, you hear a man's voice inside yell, "Don't open the door!" and somebody moving to push the door closed.  You hear more rustling and noise.  Still, you continue to open the door and move to turn on the light.  Now you hear Caroline's voice from inside urgently telling you to go away.  What in the world?!?  You stand in the hallway, stunned.  Finally, Caroline opens the door for you and turns on the light.  You find both Caroline and a male student standing (rather flustered-like) in the middle of the room.

Now what could they be doing in the storage room with the door closed and all the lights turned off???

If you are Charlene, you would immediately draw any number of conclusions (which was quickly very evident on her face).  In her mind, she had just walked in on the biggest scandal in recent GCC history!!

But the TRUE story is that our new student worker was teaching me how to use a time exposure feature on my camera.  We were using the light from his cell phone to draw the name "Linda" with a heart around it for our secretary (she's having a hard day). 

So here's the photo Charlene ruined...see Linda's name and Matt in the background...

And here's the one we took next...

But despite photographic evidence, Charlene is still telling her own (and admittedly much funnier) version of the story...

Currently Reading Professing in the Postmodern Academy: Faculty and the Future of Church-Related Colleges (Issues in Religion and Higher Education Series, 1) see related

Butterfield's

My chiropracter asked today if he could set me up with one of his buddies.  He says this guy and I have a lot in common.  Dr. Steve has met me twice.  His only example of "things in common" is our mutual love of wings at a particular little establishment called Butterfield's.  A couple friends and I go to Butterfield's every now and again (meaning every couple months) because it's a frightening little bar on the outskirts of a town about 10 miles away.  No typical Grove City student would EVER find us there (as a rule, staff are not supposed to drink in front of students).  So when I want my Mike's Hard Lemonade fix (translation:  ONE), I go to Butterfield's.  I don't care that the crusty old men snicker when I order my girly drink and politely nibble on my "Tart and Tangy" wings.  I always crack up because instead of giving you a packet of "Wet Ones" like the upstanding wings places do, they give you a stack of paper towels and a spray bottle of water. 

When you live in Western PA for any amount of time, you have to have an opinion of your favorite place to get wings.  It's seriously one of the first questions you could potentially be asked when you're meeting someone.  Apparently my affinity for Butterfield's has won the approval of Dr. Steve. 

Don't think it'll ever get on my list of "things to see when visitng Caroline" but it serves its purpose well.

Fisher.