Monday, February 28, 2005

new haven: geographical ideal

distance from...
nyc- 80 mi.
boston- 137 mi.
martha's vineyard (I am not even sure what that is)- 186 mi.
burlington, vt- 273 mi.
montreal- 368 mi.

and, sadly, chicago- 867 mi. I will miss you, windy city to the north, but our love has endured even further separations.

also, Kristin (my match buddy) got a competitive site in the bird paradise that is texas!! woo-hoo!!

my inbox this morning

This message provides you with your Match result for the
APPIC Internship Matching Program for internship positions
beginning in 2005.

Congratulations!  You have been matched to:

Training Site: YALE UNIVERSITY - CHILD STUDY

Program: AUTISM

Program Code: 118415


wooohooooo!

Sunday, February 27, 2005

dictator hostess


8923869
Originally uploaded by loftindupuis.
well, according to ms. draper, my hostessing efforts fall in the dictator category. apparently, she does not approve of goading one's guests into board games.

Paul sent me this book, and it's a very fun read. I'm hoping to have a blowout dinner party before we leave bloomington, and I plan to put some of the tips to good use! Hugsband has a dean & deluca gift certificate from x-mas, which should allow us to serve some treats that are not normally available in this region.

well, fewer than 24 hours to wait for placement. I realized yesterday that there is no bad place on my list. I complain about cincinnati and the other lower-ranked places, but they'd offer great training too.

I started getting odd/funny workout videos from the library. yesterday I did mtv's 'the grind workout featuring eric nies'. I did about half of it before switching to DDR. eric nies is horrible. he kept interrupting the real instructor and offering unhelpful advice ('reach for the sky!'). also, I felt like a clumsy, white, 30-year old Midwesterner. those traits are all fine on their own. collectively, however, they seriously limit my hip-hop dance ability.

Friday, February 25, 2005

self-indulgence

I took this idea from a blog I found off of Ilona's site.

song that reminds you of being a little kid: donna summer- macarthur’s park
song that reminds you of school : the girl is mine- michael jackson & paul mccartney
song that reminds you of being an angsty teenager: anything from pretty hate machine
song that reminds you of summer: summertime rolls- jane’s addiction
song that reminds you of winter: ave maria- stevie's version
song that remind you of a road trip: man next door- massive attack
song that embarrasses you to remember: that techno speed racer song
song that reminds you of being in love: ma cherie amour- stevie wonder
song that reminds you of breaking up: noah’s dove- 10,000 maniacs
song that you will never ever forget the words to: promises- fugazi
song that makes you cry: do you realize?- flaming lips
song that makes you dance around the kitchen: anything from buena vista social club
song that you always put on mix tapes/cds: love cats- the cure
song that reminds you of your best drunken moments: stop me...- the smiths

I got one and further ranting about collegiate footwear

for what it's worth- I have an internship. I received the official e-mail at 7:30 this morning. I expect to know some specifics by 7:30 on Monday, though it may be later in the morning before I have any answers.

it snowed yesterday, and the temperature hovered around freezing this morning. and yet, on my way to work, I saw more than one undergrad wearing flip flops. one especially bright young woman wore hers with those rockabilly-looking jeans with an enormous cuff that end up the length of capris (you know the ones that you usually see with knee high boots?). it was a summer outfit. I am as ready for spring and all its warmth as the next person, but come on! why is it that the very same people who wear those hideous, furry tundra ugg boots are in flip flops the next day? does frat party beer render a young woman impervious to the elements?

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

and the days stretch on

I am waiting for monday, when I will receive my internship placement. until then, I am trying to stay very busy. time has ground to a stop.

luckily, Hugsband and I have a lot of catching up on popular culture to do. (hence, the hours of tv watching that lead to that last post.) poverty, a demanding schedule, and a scarcity of film offerings in Bloomington have left us out of the loop. my coursework, my qualifying exams, and most of my dissertation are finished, and it's time to rejoin our fellow entertainment consumers. I am now reading novels that are already in paperback and watching films that are on video. for example, the last book we both read was 'life of pi', which I think came out in 2002. last night we watched 'the bourne identity'. we may be caught up by late summer- right when schedules will pick up again. it feels weird and a little guilt-provoking to spend so much time not working, but I think I can eventually get used to it.

so, until monday, I will immerse myself in dissertation writing, novel reading, film watching, bird watching, exercise, coffee drinking, pet cuddling, Hugsband loving, and anything else that will keep me from counting the minutes.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

rules for the rule-bound

Rules when Hugsband has the remote and I'm the unwitting co-pilot
1. No crocodile hunter
2. No people eating bugs
3. Stop if they're showing our forecast on the weather channel
4. Stop for Stevie Wonder
5. No wrestling, unless it's just an interstitial skit
6. No animal shows when we're eating

Rules we both follow
1. When feature films are on tv, watch them only as long as it takes to identify them
2. Jeopardy! beats sitcom reruns
3. Stop for any bird footage
4. No cooking shows that focus on processed, packaged food
5. Turn that wacky stuff on community access channel as soon as someone complains
6. Watch the O.C. upstairs, to free-up the playstation tv

Friday, February 18, 2005

pas de yogi

I have enough trouble paying attention in yoga and staying in the moment. I tend to think of what I need to do and to make mental lists. so, when a juvenile cooper's hawk caught a pigeon and dismembered it right outside the giant skylight/window in the yoga studio this morning, I was quite distracted. By the end of class, when I walked over to get a closer look, the hawk had only one the pigeon's claws and part of a leg in his talons. it's not like yoga class is in BFE or anything either- it's right in the middle of downtown bloomington (which, I suppose, is BFE to people living in one of those cities that fancies itself to be the center of the universe). if only there were some way to attract hawks to my back porch without sacrificing the little guys who eat every meal there.


p.s. this is what an immature cooper's hawk looks like. (I didn't take this picture; I stole it from Cornell's website.) Posted by Hello

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

this does not make us hippies

tonight we made our own granola to replace the awesome granola Hugsband's mom sent last month. it's not too shabby, though the edges burned a little. we also watched project runway, which I could do without but Hugsband LOVES. it's his the O.C. if I tried to predict which shows he would love and which he would hate, I would be grossly inaccurate.

I hate those stupid ugg (ughhh!) boots. I hate it when people wear them with shorts; I hate it when people wear them in warm climates; I hate them on everyone but the Inuit.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

at white mountain ice creamery last night


Hugsband thinks that valentine's day is called thanksgiving because he's so thankful to have a holiday so strongly associated with chocolate.
 Posted by Hello

Sunday, February 13, 2005

yet another reason why Simon is awesome

when there are squirrels eating my birdseed, he yells to alert me, and I can open the back door and scare them off.

30 + month

we went to visit friends last night for a belated birthday celebration. Kara & Paul entertained us with an evening of pizza, ice cream and board games. and not just any pizza- they ordered a black bean and cilantro pesto one I love. hopefully, they will have us over for an every month birthday bash until we move this summer.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

the same thing we do every thursday night

each thursday, there's a point in the day when I suddenly realize that it's thursday, and I can watch the O.C. later that evening. today, however, when the realization struck, I thought to myself, "oh yeah, 90210 is on tonight". I guess that demonstrates how cyclical life is. I may be 13 years older, but I am sucked in by the same guilty pleasures. also, Hugsband and I watched a 90210 rerun last night, so it was fresh on my mind. even if the development of my t.v. enjoyment is stuck on perpetual teenager, at least my taste in chocolate and clothes has become more refined. you won't catch me eating a hershey's in contempo casuals these days!

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

squash soup


squah-soup
Originally uploaded by loftindupuis.
tonight's dinner! squash puree garnished with fried sage and triple cream blue cheese, walnuts, and cognac crostini.

my memories of Hugsband subsisting on hot dogs, pizza, and pop tarts are growing dim.

obligatory work gripe/brag

I don't think any of my friends has a clue how I earn my teensy paycheck. admit it! it's very tedious and quite exhausting for the eyes. a grad student, an undergrad and I watch 20 minute samples of video taken in preschools around the country. using a coding system I developed, we code every social behavior that occurs in said footage. then, I compare my codes with my co-workers' and calculate reliability data. isn't that fascinating? the samples are collected in classrooms where a new academic and social skills curriculum will be applied. it's important work that will improve the lives of preschool-aged children, especially those who are at-risk of academic and behavioral problems due to poverty or disability. why, then, does it have to be so damn boring??

the job's single redeeming grace, besides helping poor kids and all that, is watching the hilarious things the kids do. I don't want to sound like Bill Cosby, but they say and do some entertaining stuff. my favorite is a kid who appears to have Downs Syndrome. he's tormented by another student, who steals his toys and says mean things. finally, after 20 minutes of bullying, our champion sneaks up behind his harasser and whacks him on the back of the head with a book. the teacher, when she finally comes to investigate the crying peer, can't figure out what happened, so the hero escapes unpunished!

Friday, February 04, 2005

corrector

Hugsband got a spam today, the subject of which was "ROLEX- IT'S TIME YOU GOT ONE, CHUBBY".

his not-so-secret identity as the Corrector resurfaced today. apparently, I say "ast" for ask. He rid me of "woof" for wolf and "instid" for instead. for such a good natured man, he's a big word jerk. that's a lot of flack from a guy who brushes his teeth twice a week. when I first got to college, I said "tin" for ten and "pin" for pen. luckily, I didn't pick up Mom's "warsh" or Gram's "pneumonney". you'd think I grew up in the sticks the way we talk.

also, anyone who wants a shot-out in my dissertation acknowledgements better start kissing up now.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

I should market this and get rich

Hugsband and I invented a new game. it requires at least 2 people to play: a requester and a singer. the requester asks the singer to perform a piece, specifying the title of the song, and the style in which it should be sung. some of our favorites were that titanic song in the style of titanica, 'ma cherie amour' in the style of the cure, and 'eye of the tiger' in the style of braid. part of the game’s appeal is that it's as fun to think of the songs as it is to perform them (or as excruciating, depending on your perspective). we're kind of limited by the singers we can actually imitate. I haven't worked out a points system or anything, but I am pretty sure I won the first game.

guests to our home, don't fear. we will never expect anyone besides us to play!

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