Daily Newsie

It was a fight. Two fights, actually, but neither one involved weapons … unless, I suppose, you count these. *flexes* After a few press conferences and more than enough rumors, life has returned to normal at the college on the hill. We communication folk looove to analyze, so my crisis communication class has been picking apart the university’s response and debating whether Wednesday’s events are, definitionally speaking, eligible for classification as a bona fide crisis. Nerds, all of us.

Speaking of nerds, it’s my morning off and I’m working on my methodology section. It’s thisclose to being done, having gotten a major boost from my discovery earlier this week that grounded theory and the constant-comparative method are the same thing. That doesn’t mean much to most people, but to me it meant that I could quit trying to decide between the two. Frustration over, the words practically flew out of my head and onto the paper, prompting DNC to proclaim this effort “much, much better” than the previous one. I just have a few more sentences to write and then it’s time to defend my proposal to my committee. After that, only a few more steps remain before I’m actually interviewing people. I’m not ready to think about that yet.

I only need one more gold star before I get to buy myself a present. I’m leaning toward a laptop, but given the state of my finances lately I should probably scale back a bit. Ideas?

Just in case any of you have heard the ruckus surrounding my university and a potential shooter — I am on campus, but I am safe. I’m locked in my office with a coworker, where we shall remain until given the all-clear. I am hungry, though, so if anyone has perfected the art of telepathic food delivery please let me know!

EDIT: The lockdown is over! All is well. More updates when they figure out what actually happened.

I don’t know which is sadder: the fact that I routinely spend hours watching infomercials, or the fact that Mr. T. is now shilling for the FlavorWave oven and just said, while knocking a frozen steak against the countertop, “I pity the fool that tries to get this down. I want to eat right now!”

Oh … apparently he also pities the fool who would turn down a piece of chocolate cake baked in the FlavorWave. And now, sweet mother of pearl, he’s putting on a gold chain with a FlavorWave logo medallion. I think my question has just been answered.

So far today, I played the Sims, finished up some work for one of my GA professors, cleaned the house a little bit and started dinner in the Crockpot. I have about a half-hour left before I have to go into work this afternoon, so I’m whiling away the minutes on the couch, watching “The People’s Court.” It’s glorious, especially after the crap week I’ve had so far. I slumped into DNC’s office feeling miserable yesterday and left with a much better outlook, a gold star, and a stack of books he’s letting me borrow to build up my methodology section where it needs it; last night the happiness continued as a forum I organized for the mayor went off without a hitch and Beloved made dinner while I got some schoolwork done.

Needless to say, I woke up this morning feeling much better and more motivated than I have in the past three days. The mums on the balcony are blooming nicely, the living room is (mostly) clear of school-related debris, and the bookcase I’ve been meaning to fill with my textbooks is finally full. I may stop to get myself some sort of ice cream treat on the way into work to make sure I come home in the same good mood, especially since I have to get back to schoolwork tonight after having ignored it all day.

I know this entry isn’t very interesting, but it pleases me to be in such a good mood after feeling as though my own personal stormcloud was following me around for the past few days. DNC made me laugh yesterday, too — as I was getting ready to leave his office, he told me he’d be out of town this weekend. I couldn’t figure out why I should care until he said he was letting me know so if I sent him a panic-stricken e-mail (as I am wont to do) over the weekend, he wouldn’t be able to return the message until Sunday and I shouldn’t think he’s ignoring me. I’m happy to know he’s picked up on my neuroses and has decided to humor them rather than ditch me and my thesis like a bad habit.

I hope everyone is having a good week! It’s supposed to get rainy and chilly tomorrow in southcentral Kentucky. I’m already trying to decide which cozy sweater I’ll be wearing.

Work on my thesis reached an aggravating sort of peak today, until I finally called it quits, closed down the file, and wrote an e-mail to DNC warning him of my impending mental breakdown. If he’s up for talking me off this ledge, I’ll be visiting his Tuesday office hours and hopefully will not cry. And it’s the stupidest thing, too — it’s the methodology section, which basically explains how the study will go. DNC asked for more reasons why qualitative research is the best way to go, which is easy, really, except I let it stymie me. So now I’m frustrated because I’m having trouble figuring out what to say, and aggravated on top of that because this is the dumbest thing to have trouble with. Also, I may have promised DNC he would have it today … after having promised him he would have it last week.

I did find out the other day that my department requires me to have my thesis bound — as in, hardback-cover-with-embossed-lettering bound. I am beyond thrilled at this information, especially since students are encouraged to get as many copies as they want to distribute like Halloween candy. (I’m thinking I’ll need at least 20.) It pleases me as well that I get to write an acknowledgments section, which I’ve already started and will likely revise more times than my thesis itself.

I’m trying not to go into panic mode, but it’s not really working. I need some ice cream and some sleep, and maybe tomorrow will look a little brighter. I would promise my next post will be more cheerful — but DNC can tell you all about just how much water my promises hold.

What day is this besides the day you left me?
What day is this besides the day you went?

Stay or leave, I want you not to go
But you did.

Rocktoberfest started out strong in the DailyNewsie household — after Friday’s Hanson concert, which rocked, Beloved and I spent yesterday shopping for new clothes and last night screaming ourselves hoarse at a drag show here in town. (We do love a good drag show.) As promised, I purchased several wholly impractical items, including a super-cute blue vinyl purse that’s not big enough to carry my day planner or my textbooks, and a pair of purple moccasin-looking shoes that don’t match a single thing I own. I still need to buy one more impractical item, but I have a few weeks left to get there. Also as promised, I took the entire day off yesterday — no schoolwork or work-work, just plain old hanging out with the husband while swilling vodka-and-cranberries and cheering on female impersonators.

It figures it would all be ruined by a stupid toilet. The cursed contraption broke late last night, so we spent today frantically trying to hunt down the emergency maintenance number — no luck, which is earning our apartment complex a sharp complaint tomorrow morning — until Beloved finally bumped into someone this afternoon who knew someone who knew someone who had the emergency number. Still, it was a rather vexing 24 hours, especially since you all know how I feel about toilets. I may have spent the afternoon crying in my office up at the university.

But all is well now — the toilet is fixed, I bought Papa John’s for dinner, and “The Amazing Race” will be on as soon as Andy Rooney is done talking about money. Hopefully today was only a slight hiccup in the awesomeness that is Rocktoberfest. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!

Edit: I forgot to mention that I also exploded a bottle of champagne all over the kitchen this afternoon, absolutely drenching everything — walls, stovetop, counters, myself — with bubbly. Honestly, though, what was there to do but laugh, grab a bath towel (yes, that much champagne), and start cleaning? Hopefully DNC accepts the tardiness of my prospectus once he gets the e-mail about “plumbing- and champagne-related mini-catastrophes.”

Courtney’s blogfriend The Modern Gal made Rocktoberfest sound so appetizing that I’m going to go ahead and make some pledges for this month. It’s not so much about improve-yourself resolutions — which is good, because I suck at those — as it is about doing things that make you happy, so here goes! In October I will:

1. Host an amazing Halloween party as a precursor to our annual midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show festivities (they show it at the theater downtown and everyone yells at the screen and dances the Time Warp);

2. Use my first GA paycheck to buy a new winter wardrobe, including at least three cute but wholly impractical items such as neon tights, purple pants that don’t match anything, or a jaunty plaid cap;

3.  Research and purchase a new laptop so Beloved and I can quit trading his back and forth; and

4. Choose one day in which to do absolutely nothing related to schoolwork, GA work, or chiropractor’s office work.

I like the looks of this list. You should make one, too!