My So-Called Graduate School Life

Getting hitched!

Some of you may have already heard the news through the grapevine, but Mike, aka "Big Mike" and I are getting married!!! It's another Chiplist romance. How many does that make? 2? Do we have an official Chiplist historian who can answer this question? If not, could I be the historian? That sound like a great job!

The blessed event will take place in Lake Tahoe in early July at the lovely Cal Neva , a former "Rat Pack" hang out located on the North Shore. The California/Nevada state line runs right through the hotel and our reception site! The initial event is going to be quite small, but there will likely be another celebration closer to home at a later date.

A New Chapter

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted. After one crazy-ass stressful year of writing and job searching I have finally reached the finish line. I am now Dr. Sara Mason and I am employed. It is not the job that I imagined, but it is a job, so I'm happy. Especially given the crappy, crappy job market and economy. It is a one-year visiting position at Gainesville State College (Oconee Campus). For now I will commute from Atlanta because of Mike's work. It is also very close to Madison, so I will spend some nights there to cut down on travel. I'm hoping to see some of you Athens types a little bit more. I'm very happy. Now I need a new name for my blog. Any suggestions?

Wus up?

I'm feeling the need to blog, but I'm not really sure what to say, so I'll just tell you about my recent trip to Santa Barbara. The purpose of the trip was to meet with my co-chairs and get some paperwork signed, but I also had a chance to catch up with old friends. The weather wasn't as nice as I would have hoped, but it was certainly nicer than Georgia (at least when I left).

My meeting with my advisors went well and It seems that I am "on track" to defend my dissertation next quarter. Writing that just now was really scary and exciting. They both described my work as "peculiar," "unusual," "core," and "timely." All of which was meant, and taken, as a compliment.

Ever since I moved away, going to SB has always been bitter sweet. On the one hand it is connected to some of my happiest memories. On the other, it is connected to all the insecurities of graduate school. However, this trip was different. I'm in a good space. I'm very happy in my personal life. My work is going well. And my friends who are still in SB seem to be doing well, so all is right with the world.

I'm now thinking about getting rid of cable. I've been inspired by Chip and Beth. Big Mike's not a big fan of it anyway, and I waste so much of my life watching it. I didn't watch TV once while I was in SB and I did not miss it. We spent our time talking, working, and listening to music. If only I could find a happy medium. Stay tuned.

Why Students Shouldn't Cite the Wikipedia

So, like many of you, I have been enthralled with the Olympics. I totally resisted it, but I do enjoy the Olympics (remind me to share an article from the Nation about what a mean sum bitch Bela Karoli is), but I digress. I was watching Bob Costas and Cris Collingworth do their thang and thinking to myself that the latter seemed totally high, but also wondering who is this guy? So, I turned to the Wikipedia and found the following:

Early years

He moved to Titusville, Florida as a member of the communist youth council. He played quarterback and ran sprints at Cosmonaut High School in Titusville, where he was the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A 100 yard dash state champion in 1976. However, as a collegian at the University of Florida Collinsworth was converted to Anti-Americanism and made the Chinese Football All Anti-America Team as a senior comrade. During his career at Florida, he caught 120 passes for 1,977 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also scoring 2 rushing touchdowns.[1]

Hmmmmmmm. I'm assuming that this is a funny piece of culture-jamming, which I totally support, but it does serve to remind us that the Wikipedia is not to be completely trusted.

More Cuteness

Here are some more recent pictures of Henry. The last one was a little old, but I was having some technical difficulties myself and it was the only one that was ready.

Procrastination

This will be a quick one, as I need to write, write, write. Anyhow, I spent the weekend in Blue Ridge with the fam and had a great time. On Saturday I went tubing with my sister-in-law and nieces. Sunburn and defunct tubes aside, it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we will get some rain this summer so that I can do it again. I also got to spend some quality time with Henry. Best of all, Mike came home from Texas and he is a certified Mac Genius. Woo hoo. Okay, since Tina is blogging anymore, I feel it is my responsibility to share Henry's cuteness (as well as Molly's) with the world, so here you go:

My Name is Mike

Mike is in Austin, TX training to be a Mac Genius, but he was able to find time to send me a picture of his new mustache:

I like it more than I thought I would, but it is a little too "My Name is Earl."

Rosalyn Zinn

Social activist and artist Rosalyn Zinn, wife of Howard Zinn (one of my personal heroes), has died.

Rest in peace.

To iTouch, or not to iTouch, that is the question.

So, I'm thinking about buying an iTouch, but I keep getting stuck on the idea that I'm just buying a dumb-downed iPhone. On the other hand, I have a five year old iPod mini and I could just see it as a new glorified iPod. What do all you iPhone users out there think? You'd think that the Mac Specialist (Mike) would tell me what to do, but he won't. Jerk :). The other piece of pertinent information is that I am locked into a T-Mobile contract for at least another year and I'm not really into the idea of paying even more money each month for my phone service.

Retroactive Continuity

The concept of retroactive-continuity (aka retcon) has always both fascinated and annoyed (think George Lucas) me ever since I first learned about it from Chip, Sean and James at the Comic-con in San Diego. Now I have learned that Mike's nephew, Adam, attempted to retcon me by placing me at his birth (he was looking at pictures from the blessed event and he pointed to a picture of one of Mike's sister's friends and identified it as me). I have officially been retconned by a 4 year old. I love it!

Happy

Life is stressful, but I am happy. I've mainly been sticking close to home, working on my dissertation and hanging out with Mike (between bouts of paid labor and family dramas anyway, but more on that (maybe) later). I also have a new camera, the Canon G9. My friend Joe recommended it because I wanted a point and shoot to take on a family trip to Europe this summer. So, I did exactly what George Bush wanted me to do--I primed the pump by pouring my economic stimulus money back into the economy, rather than using it to pay off bills like a should. Oh well, here are some picture of Mike (aka Big Mike) with my new camera--

These aren't the best example of what my new camera can do, but I'm just so happy to be able to upload some photos that I had to share.

Later-

This and That

I thought I would pop in, say hello and share some randomness with y'all. It's been a busy, but lovely weekend. On Friday, Mike (that's Big Mike to most of you) and I went to Alex Ragland's 40th birthday party. We had a lot of fun, but way too much wine. Tina and I gave Alex a digital Dukes of Hazzard watch (circa 1980). I think he liked it, but I'm not totally sure. I'm checking eBay just in case.

Today I was in Roswell at Ye Olde Smith Plantation for one of our black history month events--a tea and hat show. My feet are killing me, but I think it went well. It does totally suck ass to work on a Saturday, however. At one point during the program I was forced to make up my "diva" name, so I decided that from now on, I am going to be "Dissertation Diva." We'll see how that goes. I'm on fellowship this quarter, so I really do need to adopt a "Dissertation Diva" attitude. I think. I'm not entirely sure what it means to be a "Dissertation Diva".

Okay, but here's the main reason I'm popping in this evening. I ran across a small notebook that I kept during Christmas 2003. My friend Jay used to write down all the little things that amused her and it proved to be an extremely useful, and funny, exercise, so I thought I would try it myself. Here are some of the highlights:

Chip proposed a TV show "in the vein of Rescue 911 but with the ONSTAR people."

Chip also wondered, "If you kept a baby in a boy, do you think it would learn to speak English?" Good question, Chip.

My niece Molly, then 3 ½ told me that she liked "that man in the spider hole." That man was Saddam Hussein. She also exclaimed, "I'm the Big Bad Wolf and I'm going to blow your but out."

Someone proposed that we make a poster for Chip's house which read: "If you had married me you would be home." I smell a wedding present.

Here were our plans for 2004:

Chip: Make one friend each month and invite them to a party at the end of the year. Start a tribute band.
Susan: Become more sophisticated
Sara: Learn how to play the guitar and take more photographs
Hannah: Meet more people and be more social. Don't waste time with people I don't like.

There was also something about Project Awesome, which I believe involved a robot.

We also pondered some deeply philosophical questions, such as--things worth waiting four hours in line:

Heaven
Dinner with Lord of the Rings Cast
Making out with Mandy Moore
To be an extra in LOTR
To hang out with the cast of the OC
To make out with Eliza Dushku

Happy Birthday Chip!!!!!

I know, it's been ages. What better reason is there to break my silence other than to wish Chip a happy birthday? I'm sorry I'll miss the party.

Unbelievable Cuteness

Here are some pictures of Henry for all of you to enjoy:

We like to call this one "Cassanova":

In other news, my friends Darin and Otto have some photographs in a group show--Plastic Makes Perfect--at the Beep Beep Gallery in Atlanta as part of Atlanta Celebrates Photography. The opening is this Saturday. If any of your are in town you should check it out.

In related news, when I heard about this, I just couldn't resist. I ordered mine last night!

Color Me Amused

I received the following message from a fellow Hampshire Alum on my My Space page. I find it amusing that he suggests that we might have been friends, but he just can't remember me--some friend:

I don't know if we know each other, but I was browsing Hampshire students this morning and I see that we both graduated at the same time. And I live in Atlanta, which it looks like you do too. Anyway, on the chance we were friends, I thought I'd say Hi. David