Dissertation Defenders!!!!!
Part 3: Anarchy is defeated!

[For now]

Party time: smut and booze for all!  

Dissertation Defenders!!!!!
Part 2.1: Anarchy is actually kind of stressful.

Thank you everyone for good thoughts! Keep them coming. In a day and a half, it'll be over....
 

Dissertation Defenders!!!!!
Part 2: Anarchy Strikes Back

Even blogger is fucking with my brain today  

Dissertation Defenders!!!!!
Part 1: Keeping the world safe from anarchy

Xolo's dissertation was successfully defended! You can all call him Dr. Xolo now.

My defense, on the other hand, is Friday at 1:00 PM. So, any good thoughts that anyone may have available for me, I would infinitely appreciate them.

Thank you!  

Since the word on the net is that I'm going crazy...

I thought I'd take this moment to reassure you that there is no need to worry about little 'ol me. So, instead of an incoherent rant, today I'd like to post a slightly incoherent list of good things to come out of this very stressful period of my life [often called "finishing graduate school," as if there were actually a discernible end point]:

1. I got a great 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship at a really great place to be. There is probably not a better place to be in terms of number of opportunities in my field as well as ways to expand my work and knowledge.
2. I'm going to have a Ph.D. pretty soon.
3. I wrote something that is, basically, an entire book. Maybe eventually it will even be turned into a real book.
4. I have, in the course of my academic career, met lots of people at the top of my field, and I will probably have the chance to work with many of them in the future.
5. I have, in the course of my academic career, met lots of young people just starting in the field who will definitely be doing good work for many years to come, and I will probably also have the chance to work with many of them in the future.
6. As much as I complain, I really like doing research and writing. I like choosing topics independently based on my own interests, and I have been able to do so in the past, and I will likely be able to do so in the future as well.

So, academia isn't all bad, now is it?

Plus, my head hasn't exploded yet. It might, it might not. I'll let you know.  

Things I used to do more of before the Demon of the name Dissertation took over my life:

1. Sleep
2. Read for pleasure
3. Exercise
4. Think, speak, and write coherently
5. Listen to a variety of music: i.e. more than just really loud Marilyn Manson piped directly to my brain through headphones.
6. I forget. Oh, yeah. Remember things.

A friend of mine (who finished her Ph.D. a few years ago) said: "You know you're almost finished with your dissertation when you can no longer see the screen through your tears."

So, yay! I'm almost done!  

Corn Smut Reading List:

• Corn and Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance
  
• Corn Is Maize
  
• Corn Chowder : Poems
  
• Candy Corn : Poems
  
• Popcorn : Poems
  
• Sweet Corn : Poems
  
• Corn-Fed: Poems

 

Other Nighttime Excitements

Saturday night, I found myself drinking quite a bit. I hadn't had any alcohol for weeks since it makes me sleepy and I had too much work to do, but Saturday I made up for some of that.

In the night, as often happens, I woke up realizing I needed to go to the bathroom. I didn't turn on the light, because I didn't want to wake anyone, so I went stumbling in the dark. The way the room is set up, I need to walk all the way around the bed, past the dog's bed, and past a dresser to make it to the door. It has also become somewhat cluttered recently, and the dog often knocks his blanket off his dogbed and onto the floor and into my potential path.

As I tipsily felt my way through the dark, I tripped on something, and fell down. I almost fell on the dog, and he seemed confused as to my arrival almost in his bed. I guess I didn't make that much noise, or at least not enough to wake nearby sleeping occupants. I didn't realize that I had fallen down that hard until I saw today the huge, black-purple bruise on my hip. It's about 3 inches across, 2 inches high, and very ugly. I also have another smaller one on my back. I have no idea how I managed that one - maybe I hit the dresser?

So, my nights are excitement-filled! Such is the life of a graduate student.
 

Dissertation Defense Countdown: 1 week 3 days

I woke up in the middle of the night, between 4:30 and 5 AM, and I was sleepily miffed to discover I was somehow in the midst of a nocturnal panic attack. I could tell my blood pressure must be pretty high because I could hear a kind of ringing/hissing/static in my ears. My heart was beating very fast.

At first, I thought that I might have a stroke or something, which it became immediately obvious was not a helpful thought since it made everything worse, so I decided instead just to try to metaphorically step back and wait for it to go away.

In the semi-sleeping state, I was able to achieve some sort of detached observational relationship to the physiological panic state of my body, and I found myself thinking such things as - I'm glad I'm already lying down, that saves some trouble - and - I hope this is over soon so I can go back to sleep. I need to get up early.

So I guess eventually I went back to sleep.

At least, if all goes well, I'll have a Ph.D. before I turn 30. That's a good thing, right?

 

Quote of the Week: "North America. Pros: charming accent might attract general goodwill, free drinks. Cons: am frightened by the concept of Texas." From Belle de Jour.

Me too. Just the second part.  

Corn Smut Blessings!

Here is my Certificate of Sanctity!
[Not to be confused with a "Certificate of Sanity," not immediately forthcoming]

Also Regarding Saints: A commenter asked about a Patron Saint of the Internet, and Lo and Behold!, there really is one! It would be ISIDORE of Seville, of course! Read more here, from an old Wired News tidbit.

Religious Diversity: But I would also really recommend reading Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson. Loa in the Net.
 

Get that Bunny!

After seeing The Circus of Disemboweled Plush Toys, found at Giornale Nuovo, I wanted to show that my dog is also quite skilled at this task.

The dog had this toy for about 30 seconds when this happened. He was a puppy then, though.


.

Poking around the Hanttula web site also got me thinking maybe I should consider The Website Blessing Service as well.  

Project = Survival

Link to something that randomly appeared in a recent dream: reminding me that I like it: The medieval castle unearthed underneath the Louvre in Paris. Take a virtual tour.  

Gosh, it's the middle of the night  

Bored?

Why not try Extreme Kindapping? Customize your own kidnapping!

Link via virtual meandering about when I should have instead been working

 

An example of thinking outside of the box?
(Or just kind of creepy?)

"An Evening with Joseph Cornell"
From the "Art After Death" series

For An Evening with Joseph Cornell, ARCHIVE will conduct interviews with the spirit of Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) using slides to present his work to the mediums who are told nothing about the artist, not even his name. With only the works to guide them, the mediums offer a series of dramatic portraits.

Link via Gawker.  

The sort of inspirational I'm quitting blogging post of the month: From Smivey of "Everything Sucks". Here, I'll quote some of it since I'm so into this colored block quote thing lately:

I need to experience life. Real life. Not this artificial life I've created for myself, chatting online from within the safety of my drywall cocoon. Life isn't safe. It's scary, and tragic. But we only have one and we should cherish every day of it. And that is what I intend to do.

Even though I don't think you'll ever read this,
I'd still like to say:
it sucks that you're going away.
 

A meme from Quislibet!

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal (sic) along with these instructions

"Our obvious surprise on such occasions would be indicative of the existence of some prior expectations regarding the temporal profile of social situations and events" -- Hidden Rhythyms: Schedules and Calendars in Social Life, Eviatar Zerubavel (1981).  

Dolls tied to trees, home grown vegetables, islands in Mexico City (??)

What else could one possibly ask for?

Island of the dolls becomes museum

A small island in Mexico City where the sole inhabitant tied thousands of dolls to trees has been turned into a museum.

The Mexican government put up the money to build a museum on the island in Teshuilo Lake featuring Julian Santana's eccentric collection.

For 50 years, Mr Santana scoured Mexico City rubbish dumps for discarded dolls to hang from trees on the island where he lived alone.

And local people would take boats out to the island to exchange their old dolls for his home grown vegetables.

Mexican journalist Sebastian Flores told El Universal: "The island is impressive on full moon nights because there is no electricity and you see all the dolls hanging and some small animals coming out of their mouths. It is a bit terrifying."

Story link from go fish.  

Please excuse my absence

My dissertation defense is coming up this month, and I am very busily stressing out about it and trying to physically prevent my head from exploding using a variety of hats, velcro, duct tape, and bubble-wrap.

Use your imagination
 

Random Tidbit 2

My dad is very interested in food and nutrition. I got an email from him just now explaining Dr. Weil's opinion that certain foods (ex. mushrooms, legumes) should be cooked in order to eliminate some poisons the plant has evolved to protect themselves from predators. Though humans have also evolved to successfully process these substances for the most part, they can still cause problems if the plants are eaten raw.

The last line of my dad's email was: The plants, while they were evolving, failed to anticipate that they would be cooked.

Maybe I should just blog about things my dad says all the time.  

More from the 1970's!

When I was in kindergarten, we went on a field trip to a local disco. No, I have no idea why they chose a disco for 5-year-olds; perhaps someone's parents owned the disco. This was 1979, and I went to public elementary school.

I think it was named something like "Disco Train," but I forget. Anyone from Albuquerque out there? On Juan Tabo, between Comanche and Candelaria, in a stripmall. Then the space became, I think, a country western bar, then a gym? Maybe it's still a gym, I'm not sure anymore.

OK then, a hoarde of little kids in a disco, with all the disco necessities: mirrored revolving disco ball! Flashing multicolored lights! Disco music! A big dance floor!

Nobody would go dance. Maybe it's because we were shy. Or maybe five year olds don't belong in a disco! No matter, we all clustered in the corner, girls on one side boys on the other (that last thing was a guess).

I don't remember this all that well, so I'm adding details.

All right, so I do remember this part: I decided to go dance, even though nobody else would do it, so I went out all by myself onto the floor and started to dance. Why? I don't know. I seem to remember myself as a really shy little kid, so this doesn't make sense at all, does it?

After I went out to dance, the other kids filtered onto the floor until everyone or almost everyone was out there dancing to disco music, under the disco train mirrored ball.

These days I refuse to dance. I don't think this is a direct result of the disco experience, but then again, maybe it is. Plus, I hate bell-bottoms.

Also: why did they take a kindergarten class to a disco, anyway?
 

Random Tidbit

When my family was all together, at some point my cousin the musician was talking about his interest in the band DEVO. He explained, in his typical very serious manner, that the name stands for "devolution" and that they were at the forefront of musical innovation of the day.

My dad said: So they were the forerunners in going backward
 

Since I am, at the current point, woefully inadequate as a blogger

Rather than hoping for me to write something, go over to Shy Lux and read her Nigerian spam scam email as rendered through the Cockney Dialectizer. Because it's funny, of course.  

Yes, I'm still relatively sane

I guess. Nevertheless, grad school can sometimes be stressful

Have a good day!