Frustrated (metaphorical) orgasm

I feel like I'm on the edge of writing a really good first draft of a really good statement of purpose for grad school apps, and two things keep happening: either I get tripped up on the ideas in my head and can't quite get them on paper coherently, or I run out of time to devote to the process once I'm on a roll. It's like it's almost there, almost, aaaalllmmooossstt... and it's gone. I'm actually excited in writing this draft, and that alone is a good thing. I'm not hating every second of it nor am I dreading letting someone else read it. If only I had more time on my lunch break...

Filed in: graduate_school statement_of_purpose personal_statement writing

Two things...

First: Why haven't I bought this already?

Second: One of the universities I want to apply to for graduate school says on their application that the personal statement should discuss qualifications, educational objectives, career goals (all of which I understand) and for me to report any awards, memberships in academic, professional, or honorary societies, publications, independent studies... things that would be on my curriculum vita (which I intend to send with my application). I'm thinking about writing to someone in the department (probably the graduate advisor, since in this case that professor's research interests also coincide with my own) to ask, among other things, what information the department would like to know about me in a personal statement. What questions the department wants me to address, rather than just what the graduate school as a whole wants to know.

Is that a good idea? A good question? Does it make me seem thoughtful or unfocused? Or am I just thinking too much about this?

Filed in: lingerie corset graduate_school statement_of_purpose personal_statement writing

Distracted

I just bought American McGee's Alice for my iBook, and thus, my attention is directed at Wonderland. While I may be a few years behind in video game circles, that's ok. I'm not good at video games. I like games like the Simpson's Hit and Run. And now, I like Alice. It's delightfully twisted and I love it. Methinks I have a Halloween costume in mind... and Djinn would make a good Cheshire Cat, we've decided. Also, apparently they're making a movie of the game.

What's also great is that the game came with Clive Barker's Undying and Bloodrayne. I'm told (by Djinn) that very realistic physics went into the making of Bloodrayne's breasts. I look forward to playing the game soon and judging her jiggle for myself.

Filed in: Alice video_games Wonderland Bloodrayne Halloween

Two down, seven to go

Sunday night, my kitten unsuspectingly and narrowly avoided death twice. First, she chewed through my iBook power cord. The Grim Reaper looks the other way and she doesn't get electrocuted. She's a damned lucky cat, too. Second, I discover that she has chewed through my power cord which will cost me $80.00 to replace. Again, the Grim Reaper is feeling generous, and I manage to not strangle the beastly demonic little creature. She's down two of those nine lives, that's for sure.

Thus it begins...

..the unending litany of curses upon Microsoft Windows! Now that my computer has been brainwashed and lobotomized, it's all spiffy and spyware-free. It's also missing a shit-ton (yes, a shit-ton, it's heavier than a normal ton) of software that is specific to my department. And all the settings I've so laboriously changed over the past year to make this machine mine are back to the Windows default settings. And changing things back is KILLING ME.

Why does it have to be so hard to set an icon for a certain file type? And when I set a certain program to be the default to open a certain file type, where the hell does the "Apply" button go? Why is it gray? Why can't Windows conceive of the fact that I might want a program not created by Microsoft to be the default program for something?

My kingdom for an Apple!!

Isn't it Wednesday?

What I really want to know is this: did it suddenly become Monday when I wasn't looking today? First thing at work I realize that there's an icon in the taskbar of my PC that shouldn't be there. Huh. Kinda cute--a little teddy bear. Is it related to DeepFreeze, our security software, the icon for which is a polar bear? I hover my mouse over it. Nope. Not DeepFreeze. Something called "radmin." I right click, choose "about"--there's no "exit" option. After a few more investigations, including a google search or two, I realize that this is a remote administration tool. The Spyware guide I consult online rates it at a 7 out of 10 danger level to my system security.

FUCK.

I unplug the network cord and call the computer help desk at work. Oh, yeah, it's a nasty bit of spyware, all right, and the only way they know how to remove it is to wipe the machine and start over.

FUCK.

At least I:

1. brought my Apple iBook to work today so I do have another machine.


2. backed up my personal files before I called the help desk.

FUCK.

Isn't it Wednesday?

Back on the war path

The only other thing going on lately is that I'm still hunting around for graduate schools. I'm still determined to go into cultural resource management and public archaeology (i.e., not teaching). Currently, my mind is on a master's degree. A Ph.D. might be down the line, but it's not on the table at the moment.

I feel more confident than last time around. I'm being thorough. I know what I want, and I'm going to have everything in line well before the day of the application deadline. I'm going to talk to grad schools and talk to the people writing my recommendation letters.

I'm not sure where I'll go, but there are around six or seven places I'm probably going to apply. This is good, since last time, I just couldn't find places, for some reason, for the kind of program I want. I think part of that was my own indecision about what I want to do. But I have a better idea now. Hopefully, things will go better this time around. Why let a little thing like rejection affect me?

Pissing around

In the search for something random and interesting to blog about, I came across this article from Wired. Since I recently watched an episode of Modern Marvels on the History Channel about the history of the bathroom, including the bathtub, toilet, and brushing one's teeth, the article from Wired held a special resonance for me. The toilet designed by NASA was merely one topic of the show.

I do wonder, however, if the technology for recycling urine into drinking water would be accepted by many cultures, particularly those in which religion and purity are strong influencing factors in life.