Thursday, May 29, 2008

the dingo ate my baby!

Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be hustling to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport - heading on a 2 week trip for to Australia. Normally, I'm very ahead of the game for things like this. This time, I am not.

Here are the things I have done:
* booked a flight from here to Melbourne
* booked a flight from Melbourne to Cairns
* booked a flight from Cairns to Brisbane
* booked a flight from Brisbane back to Austin
* booked a hotel in Melbourne, Cairns, and Brisbane
* gotten an Australian visa
* found friends to watch Mia

Here are the things I have not done:
* looked at a map
* know the climate
* get appropriate converters for the outlets
* make the poster about the work I am supposed to present
* consolidate all my flight/hotel information so I know where I'm going when
* bought a carry-on bag
* gotten an oil change, haircut, bought food for Mia, stopped the mail, finished some work for school
* this list is so much longer that I'm overwhelmed and have to stop now.

Monday, May 19, 2008

The Kickball Diaries, volume 4.

Week 5. Kitshickers vs Sandy Clams.
Game time: 5/8/2008, 8:10pm
Game Conditions: day after the tornado, dryer than you'd have though.
Result: T 3-3
Record: 1-1-2

Let me start of this week's Kickball Diaries with an excerpt from the Austin Sports and Social Clubs webpage:
Good news for the Sandy Clams, who look to make it four wins in a row versus the Kitschickers (1-1-1).
The Sandy Clams are the only undefeated team, with a 3-0 record, and apparently we are the underdogs who are assumed to lie down and let them walk right into 4-0. Well, I wasn't having it. We tried some positive thinking before the game, just because they are undefeated does not mean they are perfect, it simply means that they haven't lost yet. They also haven't played us yet.

The game was unremarkable. We were up, we were down, we were tied, we were back up, we were tied. The ump was a dipshit, he was grumpy and yelling and he tried to end our game early. We nearly had a two-team bench clearing brawl versus the ump just to get him to let us play one more inning - the FIFTH inning.

I contributed next to nothing, and I honestly don't remember many plays of the game. I remember that I played a variety of positions and hardly knew what I was doing out there. I also know that now, thanks to us, the Sandy Clams will not have a perfect season.

I also know that our team is in trouble. Here is our latest injury report:
one player is out with a busted knee, likely needing surgery
one player went home with an ankle three times the size it was when he arrived
one player recently had surgery on her kicking-toe
one player is going to play through her injured hip, for the sake of the team

We're in some sore shape, but damn it if we aren't playing a perfect .500 ballgame, kids!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

another one bites the dust...

Somehow I find myself celebrating the end of yet another semester. It seems surreal to me that two semesters here are over. But that rush of feeling DONE, it's escaped me this semester. I find that people who are unused to a life in academia don't really understand what I do all day. Do I "go to class", "work in an office", "sleep on the couch and watch soaps"? I mean, it's a valid question. I, in fact, do two of the three. When there are classes, I go. Otherwise I'm getting "work" done in my office. In fact, my life this semester has been very similar to my life the last 3 years. Data analysis, data collection, subject scheduling, answering questions, hiding behind my door. (Oh, the door, that's actually a welcome new addition!) And now that I'm done, in the sense that all the work has been turned in for all of my classes, what's left right? I'm faced with the never ending question "What are you doing for the summer?"

Summer starts today, and I'm sitting in my office, waiting for a subject to arrive. I'll test them, then I'll hope to modify one of my experiments, because I have another subject coming at 2:30pm. After that I hope to be able to make some changes to a paper I'm writing and send out another draft for comments. I've also got to call the subjects we've got lined up for tomorrow - and a few new subjects who need to be scheduled. So, in the end, I'm not really "done", I'll never really be "done".

But the semester is over, and hell if that doesn't deserve some celebratin'.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Kickball Diaries, volume 3.

Week 4. Kitshickers vs Kick Cheney.
Game time: 5/8/2008, 9:00pm
Game Conditions: dark, but still hot.
Result: T 1-1
Record: 1-1-1

Did you think I forgot? Dropped out? Got kicked off? No! Last week, week 3, was our bye week - but we were back in action on Thursday. The game started off slow, it was a pitchers duel, 3-up 3-down save for the very first inning where Kick Cheney scored a run. It was essentially a fielder's choice, a choice CH probably would remake if he had the chance - throw home, NOT to first!

The most exciting part of the middle of the game were the round-offs that were happening in right field. Yours truly started the trend, RO'D joined in at first. I even managed one Round-off out of the CF, and the LF.

My highlight came sometime in the middle, amongst the round-offs, when RO'D moved closer to home from first, because a girl was at bat (we know how I feel about this mentality - as I said loudly, 'She could be a powerhouse!') She wasn't. RO'D ran up to get the ball, and I slid in to first base, yelling "I'm here!" RO'D grabbed the ball and lobbed it back to the bag, where I was waiting, arms open. I caught the ball and made the inning ending out! It was AWESOME! I felt like hero. I had no idea what to do with the ball that was still in my hands.

It was the ninth inning (ok, really the 7th, we only play 7 - so it's the same sentiment as the 9th) and we were down 1-0. 2 outs. CH, who has pitched a tight tight game, but also responsible for the only run scored so far, is up. He wails one - and we all start jumping. RO'D runs over to be third base coach, I run up the first base line along side CH screaming, GO GO GO! RO'D is yelling, we're all jumping. CH rounds second, rounds third. He seemed to stop and hesitate - but we were all just yelling. So, he turned it up. Play at the plate....SAFE! It's a 1-1 ball game kids. Our stand-in ringer DL was up next, and he made it on base, to 3rd I think. It was within reach, it was doable. One of our lovely ladies was the next up, and no one had the heart to remind her that if she did NOT get out we might win right here. We just let her be. Sadly, she was thrown out at 1st, and the inning was over.

But, we forced an extra inning. We took the field, and kept them off base. Round-offs ensued. And then, the last inning, we almost had it, another heroic dash for home, play at the plate....OUT! Game over, all tied up. But, what a rush. I've never been so excited to not win. Best of all, in the end, CH told me "Dude, your enthusiasm, it's just about as great as Papi coming out of his slump!" Right back atcha CH, right back atcha!

Friday, May 09, 2008

wanna be starting something

It's my blog. It's my prerogative to not disclose everything. But know this - something's starting right now. You don't even need to know what it is, the fact that it's starting is certainly enough.

So here's to something! Starting now....

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

geography lesson

I was watching the weather yesterday morning as I was getting ready for school - trying to decide what to wear. There are some weather patterns I still haven't figured out what to do with, like when it's dark and stormy but 85 degrees...what IS the appropriate outfit?

I had caught the tail end of the map of the entire country's temperatures and was looking for the one I wanted. But, the map went by too quickly for me to see. It was seconds later that I realized I had focused my search in the upper right corner of the map. Stupid, I live in Texas, down on the 3rd coast! Thank God for TiVO, I was able to simply rewind the weather and try again!