voncookie | September 30, 2007
vonCookie version 2007 = recently converted Giants fan. vonCookie Classic = long-suffering Philadelphia Phillies fan. (And when the two face off, Giants v. Phils, the Phils get my support.) Not that they really need it, since the Giants are in last place, and the Phils just took the NL East because the Mets royally blew [...]
voncookie | September 30, 2007
Finally it is here: Chapter 2. Which is not to say that Chapter 1 is complete—there is still some major editorial work to be done there, plus another few pages to tack on about… something… I remember talking about it with Dissertation Overlord #1 a few weeks ago… and now I have no idea what [...]
voncookie | September 29, 2007
Having all the Halloween stuff out in the aisles of Walgreens in late September is one thing, and by my standards is entirely acceptable. I mean, some people take Halloween so seriously that they actually do spend a good month planning the decorations for the Feast of Fools. Around here, some homes hang orange Halloween [...]
voncookie | September 28, 2007
A French press, paper cups, blue-and-yellow-school-spirit mugs, green tea, French Roast coffee. 8 partially filled bottles of water that have been here since Summer of ’06 when I taught Spanish 2 for the second time. The following text books: “Dímelo tú” 3rd Edition (including “Cuaderno de Actividades”, “Instructors Resource Manual” and “Tapescript” (TAPEscript!!! Shows you [...]
voncookie | September 27, 2007
That little blurry figure hovering over home plate is actually Barry Bonds going in for his last at-bat in the 6th inning of the Giant’s-Padres game last night at AT&T Park in San Francisco. (I apologize for the grainy picture, taken with a camera phone, as my batteries to my digi-cam died right as we [...]
voncookie | September 26, 2007
In spite of a two-day long migraine that started during a Buffy-fest, I am here at Miscellaneous Phone Company Park watching batting practice at what will be Barry Bonds’ last game. We have sweet seats, and I’m hoping (actually not) that a fly ball will head this way. More later as the balls begin to [...]
voncookie | September 26, 2007
We all know that my academic interests are, to put it mildly, specific. Some would go as far as to say they are even arcane. And some scholars would probably think it is nigh on academic suicide to pursue them, considering the animosity between the sciences and the humanities that has existed since Cain took [...]
voncookie | September 24, 2007
A little boy, not so little, wearing glasses, maybe 10, buying a Snapple ™ Pink Lemonade, wearing a Cal baseball cap and a T-shirt that says “Beat Stanford”. Diagnosis: With a pair of contacts, Future Frat Boy. With the Glasses: Nondescript Athletic Supporter who majors in Cell Bio. The Samba King looks over a cheesecake [...]
voncookie | September 21, 2007
Considering the week I’ve had, and considering my contractual obligation (as a translator) to attend a wedding to which I wasn’t directly invited tomorrow morning at 9:30, I’ve decided to move up my Saturday morning by18 hours or so. This shift has been made possible gracias a iTunes, which is allowing me to listen to [...]
voncookie | September 21, 2007
I’d like to take this moment to express my sheer glee at being introduced to a TV series that has me completely enthralled. Hooray for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”!!! Now, I know what many of you are thinking—any series whose protagonist is named “Buffy” cannot (by default) be any good. But you would be wrong. [...]
voncookie | September 20, 2007
I have 4 weeks. 4 weeks before I leave for Spain. 4 weeks to get myself mentally prepared for a month of intense work, intense personal interaction, countered by intense isolation… I’m having mixed feelings (cold feet, even) about the trip, even though I know it will be worth it. It’s just that I have [...]
voncookie | September 18, 2007
This morning I saw this headline on Yahoo!: “Dole Recalls Salad Mix” It’s about an e. coli outbreak, of course. But my sleepy head did not register that. Instead, I read it as (if we were to paraphrase the thought) “Bob Dole Remembers Fondly The Salad Mix of His Youth“. Now THAT’S tired.
voncookie | September 17, 2007
I’m sitting outside with 20 more minutes to go before the Lit Mag meeting, and I’ve got all this food… I have no idea what I’ll do with it if no one shows up. There will be bagels for weeks. Fruit for days. Coffee for millennia because, well, it’s not that there’s a lot of [...]
voncookie | September 17, 2007
Yesterday I tied up all the loose ends on Major National Fellowship Application, with the exception of one very important element: my transcripts. It’s pretty standard that fellowship applications request transcripts from all post-secondary institutions. And that’s fine. But the actual process for obtaining these transcripts is, for lack of a more graceful term, fucking [...]
voncookie | September 16, 2007
My ankle still isn’t perfectly healed yet, and I tweaked it yesterday crawling around on the floor putting together furniture. So it’s swollen today, but I’ll just spend the day with my ankle in the air, not building furniture. The furniture that I built—a *beautiful* drafting table that will allow me to work with these [...]
