The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

I submitted an abstract to a conference the other day.

I mean, I don’t know if I’ll get in, but goodness… that was not on a list of things I expected myself to be doing… going to scholarly conferences… reading papers I wrote in front of strangers and trying to sound important. That is just… not something I was going to do!

I’ve always thought of myself as a smart enough person, but never so much as an “intellectual” or someone who does this kind of shit. Someone who would, potentially, be making their way in life as an academic. That was never even vaguely in the game plan. I never really felt comfortable writing papers. It never felt like I was doing good work, even though I always got good grades on them. To think that creating these papers could be a marketable skill for me seemed… pretty crazy.
The main reason I’m drawn to that kind of life at all is a want to teach, and the main reason I’m repelled from it is getting into the supposed “Publish or Perish” mindset of actual academic life, you know? I don’t need this vague deadline over my head that I’m needing to get another article out there. Ugh.

And yet here I am. I submitted a paper.
I dunno. It’s odd.

I am so fucking sick.
Ugh.
Agh.

I don’t think it’s a flu or anything, it’s just one mean motherfucker (I learned in class last night that, yes, motherfucker is one word, keep that in mind) of a head cold that is taking advantage of the fact that I haven’t really got a good night’s sleep since school started.

So I’m kind of knocked on my ass right now, and trying not to fall behind. I had to call in to the press today and not work in order to nap for three hours… I hope I don’t get too behind. At some point I have to do some homework. Write another paper. I need to do that.
I also need to try Crash Course and play RE5 on the PC with Brer. And beat Mario and Luigi. And stuff.

Ugh, I feel awful.

Your game runs in an operating system called MICROSOFT WINDOWS.

Therefore, your game should run in a window.

Your game is meant as a form of entertainment. Therefore, I should be free to consume your game content ANY WAY I DAMN WELL PLEASE. If this means I want to watch twitter while I play, and have your game in a window so I can, then you need to fucking deal with that and make it happen, instead of gimping your game and making it so it only runs full screen, in the wrong resolution, so I can’t even fucking play it.

Ubisoft, stop making PC games. Just stop it. Stop making PC games until you are serious about this bullshit.
Just stop making PC games.
Stop it.

Why do I even buy PC games anymore? Bleh. It is literally throwing my money away. THROWN AWAY. Because only little indie companies actually give a shit about programming their games in a way that works, apparently.

So here’s how my Wednesday went.

I got up early, and went to school to prepare. I was getting everything all semi-perfect, since Dr. Phegley was observing my class. It all went as well as could be expected, I think, but nonetheless, it was pretty stressful. I don’t know. It’s hard not to feel that way when you’re being evaluated. But I just did my normal thing. That’s the best way to actually get something out of it, right?

So it started out with some stress. Then I worked at the press, huzzah, and then I went home, because I deserved a break, and I was going to have it that evening. I got some Chinese with Spaeth and Jonathan, where I got a fortune telling me to be frugal. Which is funny for the In Bed game, I suppose. Then I headed home. However, I was too tired, due to all the waking up early, so I had to pretty well immediately fall into bed.

A few hours later, I got back up and started playing Mario and Luigi. I buy some fancy gamer mice during the Woot off just because I can. I get the call for dinner, so I save, and close my DS… and then this happens.

Fuck.

I’m not going without a DS, so I immediately call up Essner and Spaeth to give me a hand purchasing a DSi with their Wal-Mart powers. I head to the bank to pick up some cash, and while I’m driving there, my car is making some really weird noises.

Fuck.

I go back to the house, and yes, apparently my brakes are fucked up. So I get to get those repaired. Fucking awesome.

When it rains, it fucking pours, you know?

All of this has left me pretty completely drained. I stayed up later than I should have because I was all moody. I still feel pretty shitty. And I’m complaining about it on my blog.
So there. I suppose.

I keep waking up earlier and earlier.

This is kind of distressing, as I’m probably not getting enough sleep as it is. Scratch that, I know I’m not getting enough sleep. So its probably a bad thing that my get up time is slowly creeping farther and farther into the morning. When I went to the office, the sun used to be out. Not so much anymore.

The bad thing is, I keep taking advantage of it. I keep going to the office and working, trying to get things done. This is good, in that I’m getting stuff done. Exciting! However, it’s bad, because it’s programming my internal clock to go ahead and keep waking me up earlier and earlier.

Today I got up at 5 AM. The day before it was 5:30. Soon, I’ll be getting up before I actually go to bed. That’ll be exciting, surely.

I don’t know. At some point I’ll just kind of collapse and sleep, I’m sure. Catch up. But man, it’s so weird being up so early. There is so much fucking time in a day you just don’t know about, you know? Or at least you don’t know about when your day starts at noon. So strange to get home, having done all my work for the day, and in the past, I wouldn’t even have been awake by that time.

I don’t know. I think I’m taking to this morning person stuff kind of well, but I don’t know.
Dunno.
Don’t know.
Yeah.

No, seriously.

I mean, it’s no secret that I enjoy my fruit-flavored candies. Because I do enjoy them. Very much so. It’s also no secret that I enjoy things that are sour, as well as things that are citrus-y. I mean, you’re reading a post by someone who used to eat lemonade mix as a snack. Just pour some into a cup and eat it. That’s the kind of person I am.

Mike and Ike Lemonade Stand Mix is the BEST CANDY. Oh my god.

Mike and Ike already has a sour variant. They’re called Zours, and they are passable, but not great. The Lemonade ones are everything those should have been. They are so good. Each has a sour kick that walks the line perfectly between making you pucker and being too weak. The various flavors are all citrus-y, but not same-y. Each flavor is distinct. They are so good.

Every time I go to Walgreens, as is a post-Fazoli’s requirement, I have to buy multiple boxes of these things, and I eat them all way too quickly. I am eating a box of them right now, and even though there are countless other things I should be writing about, all I can manage to write on this blog is a poor explanation of how great they are.

I just ate another one. So. Fucking. Good.

I remember, way back at the beginning of the semester, when I was told that “You should really look ahead to see where major assignments are, and not schedule papers due around that time!”

Man, that’s some advice, huh? That I didn’t follow?

Yeah, I’ve got the first big paper for my class now, and it needs to be graded. On top of that, I also have my first big paper for my Linguistics course, and I need to finish up a short story, among other basic homework.

This is going to be a real busy weekend! Aren’t we just excited?
Of course we are. Of course.
I mean, technically, I hope I’m done with most of it at this point, when this actually gets posted. That would be totally cool and super sweet. But, you know, I’m realistic. If nothing else, I’m sure I still have that Linguistics project to work on. Yay yay.

Anyway, I’ll stop complaining and get back to work now, I suppose.

Arr and avast, matey! Happy talk like a pirate day to ye!
Avast.
Um… scurvy dog…?

Yeah, that’s about it.

I was sad, though, that my class wasn’t on Talk Like a Pirate day… oh the activities I could have done… granted, I still did a little bit, but, you know, it’s kind of lame to say it’s in honor of tomorrow, unlike when I tied in the NEVAR FORGET of 9/11 because I’m half-funny.

Oh well. I salute you, all you Buccaneer-Americans out there! Keep doing what you’re doing.

So I remember when I wanted to get a phone with data. “Man, I need something with a good browser!” I said. “Something that will really do all kinds of internet-ing.”

I’m still completely glad that I have a phone with data now, but man, I rarely, if ever, use the browser. And not because it’s not so great on the Blackberry, either. It’s because that’s just not what I do on my phone. I twitter. I chat with people. That’s about it. Sure, a better browser for being able to see what people are twittering would be nice, but I rarely feel like I’m being held back by my choice of phone. If anything, it’s clear that I backed the right horse. I would hate doing all the texting, tweeting, and chatting on an iPhone. The Blackberry Bold’s keyboard is so, so, so great for that. It works wonderfully.

I also get my school e-mail on there now, so my students can pester me 24/7. So that’s exciting, too. I am totally professional, and totally using data. Totally.

Just, you know, not in the ways I expected. But that’s okay.

So the parents continue to get braver and braver in the more and more empty-nested world they find themselves in, and are actually, now, taking a pretty big trip in October. This is going to leave me alone in the house with the puppy dog for like, a week. This has me worried.

I mean, it’s not like I don’t like the dog. I like Molly very much! She is very cute and affectionate. We play all the time. I’m very glad she’s around.
At the same time, she is also a very needy dog. Whenever my parents leave, and I’m still at home, she’s constantly coming up to me, trying to get me to go and look for them for her. She whines until I take her outside to see where they are, or she’ll constantly pat my leg, and want me to come with her to an “approved” spot to spend time with her so she will not be alone.

It’s as adorable as all get out, don’t get me wrong. But I’m glad that, whenever I’m not in the mood for it, I can “turn that off” and not worry about it, and know she’ll get the attention she wants a little later when the parents come home. Molly is there when I want such things, and I can turn it off when I don’t.

During that week my parents are gone, however, I can’t. She doesn’t like being in here, in the room with the computer, and thus is going to be constantly trying to get me away to spend time with her. She’s also likely not to eat much without me forcing it on her, a little. She doesn’t eat when she’s nervous, and without the parents there for days, she won’t be. She’s also scared to death of the doggy door, and we simply cannot teach her to go out the door to use the bathroom when she needs to, which means I’m going to have to take her outside like clockwork fairly often. I’m going to have my hands full, to some extent.

At the same time, the “test run” I’ve had so far when my parents were gone for one night went surprisingly well. She eventually realized the parents weren’t coming back, and came in and slept with me very nicely. I didn’t have a whole lot of trouble with her. And I mean, we have over a month to teach her to use the doggy door. It should be alright.

Still, you know. Potential Stressor. Yay.