Got all moved in to the apartment on the 19th, then Mom, Veronica (my roommate), and I went to Walmart. I think I cried about half the time I was there. I was feeling totally overwhelmed by everything -- the move, having a stranger for a roommate, PMS -- and to say I wasn't coping is putting it mildly. At one point I told Mom I was seriously tempted to put the cart to the side and go home.
Mom: "You'll just have to come back and collect it all over again."
Me: "No, Mom. You don't understand. I want to go home."
There are two reasons I didn't/haven't. (1) Dad would freaking kill me if we drove two days down just to go back. (2) I'm too damned stubborn to give up on something I have decided is important/I want to do. Recognizing #2 didn't make the following days any easier.
I spent Sunday the 20th with Mom and Dad in the Quarter, and we had a good laugh at several post-Katrina T-shirts. My favorites, in order:
1. Make levees, not war.
2. FEMA evacuation plan -- Run, motherf---er, run.
3. FEMA = fix everything, my a--.
4. Meet the Fockers (has pics of Mayor Nagin, Gov. Blanco, Sen. Landrieu, and someone else I don't remember).
Monday the 21st was the official first day of classes, but I had none. That was also the day my folks left town.
Tuesday the 22nd was my birthday and MY first day of stats class -- only I couldn't get to class because it was on the second floor and the elevator is out of commission with a BIOHAZARD sign on it. So, I emailed the instructor and asked her to move it. I wound up having no classes at all the first week because stats was cancelled on Thursday.
Tuesday night, some of my pals took me out for my birthday. Erika and I planned on going to Coyote Ugly, and when I mentioned it to another PhD student (my friend Sarah), she said, "I want to go!" Next thing I knew she had invited almost a half a dozen other people. We had a good time. The bartendress at CU was rude and couldn't dance, so Erika and I are still unsure what the big deal is. I do know that the woman is damn lucky she didn't try to hose me down when I ordered water.
The only other thing of note will have to wait. My fingers are tired from doing online research all day.
To be continued -- again . . . .
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
I'll probably have to do this in parts
August 16th -- We got on the road by 9:30 a.m. or so. Several stops to pee dogs and pee people, a rather long stop-and-go stint between Gainesville and Longview, TX, and a long search for a motel in which to sleep in Longview. At the FOURTH motel, we finally managed a ground floor wc-accessible room for me and a second floor room for the folks. We ordered pizza and crashed. I cried the hardest I've cried since my sister died and eventually crashed.
August 17th -- Got back on the road by about 8:30, made NO city limits by about 4:00. The Yahoo maps directions I got to get to our hotel were seriously screwed up and had us looking for an exit that didn't exist. We wound up on the West Bank of the Mississippi River where I have NEVER been before. We drove around a bit and then stopped at a neighborhood grocery and asked directions. We were told to follow the road we were on until we got to the ferry. $1 per car got us back across the river and dropped on Canal Street -- and I knew EXACTLY where I was. Finally. We got our stuff out of the vehicles and let the valets park them. We ordered in Chinese, I put together a Power Point for my QE the next day, and we all crashed.
August 18th -- Called Erika and arranged for her to pop by the hotel in the evening so we could reconnect and my folks could meet her. The drive to the U was depressing as hell as I got my first taste of how much NO has "progressed" in the last year. So many houses stand empty. So many businesses stand empty. The neighborhood grocery store does not stand empty -- it no longer stands at all. The whole place has been leveled.
Went to the Privateer Place office to pay the rest of what I owed to rent the entire two-bedroom apartment and have Veronica as my "special guest resident" -- a deal that saves us each $107 per month on rent. After much confusion, we got it taken care of and they actually gave me my keys early. While I went off to my QE, my folks got my stuff into the apartment.
I met with Barney and we went over my classes and the degree requirements and finalized everything for the committee meeting. I barely remember any of it. I was in shock still from the drive. Mona's is gone. Italian Pie is gone. All those houses.
The committee meeting went well, but to talk about that is a whole other entry. Suffice for now to know that I passed -- with flying colors, according to the chair's administrative assistant. Fastest deliberation she'd ever seen, she told me. Five minutes -- literally. I wasn't even aware that it was possible NOT to pass the QE. We also approved the transfer-for-credit of a couple of my WSU classes so that after my stats class and molecular bio seminar this semester, I will officially be finished with classes. I will take an additional stats class when it is offered, but I will be officially finished this semester. Hooray!
Mom picked me up (a typical LA "afternooner" storm had blown in while I was in with my committee) and we went to the apartment. New carpet, new living room furniture, new bedroom furniture, new paint, new stove, new dishwasher. Same retarded sink, same tub, less space in the bedroom, no medicine cabinet in the bathroom, no rod in the closet. Where am I supposed to hang my flannels and my sweaters?
Went back to the hotel. Met Veronica and gave her her key. We'd been talking all day about getting supper, but Dad started making noises about ordering in again. As I went to the bathroom, he looked up a barbeque place and found out they delivered to our hotel. They were just a few blocks away, and I offered to go pick up a menu so we could decide on what to order. Suddenly, he wanted to go to the restaurant. Guess he didn't like the idea of me walking in the Quarter at night -- we'll just neglect to mention I've done it before, yeah?
Erika dropped by, we visited for a bit, and she walked with us to Zydeque. When we were seated, she went off for her date and we ate. Walked back to the hotel and eventually crashed.
To be continued . . . .
August 17th -- Got back on the road by about 8:30, made NO city limits by about 4:00. The Yahoo maps directions I got to get to our hotel were seriously screwed up and had us looking for an exit that didn't exist. We wound up on the West Bank of the Mississippi River where I have NEVER been before. We drove around a bit and then stopped at a neighborhood grocery and asked directions. We were told to follow the road we were on until we got to the ferry. $1 per car got us back across the river and dropped on Canal Street -- and I knew EXACTLY where I was. Finally. We got our stuff out of the vehicles and let the valets park them. We ordered in Chinese, I put together a Power Point for my QE the next day, and we all crashed.
August 18th -- Called Erika and arranged for her to pop by the hotel in the evening so we could reconnect and my folks could meet her. The drive to the U was depressing as hell as I got my first taste of how much NO has "progressed" in the last year. So many houses stand empty. So many businesses stand empty. The neighborhood grocery store does not stand empty -- it no longer stands at all. The whole place has been leveled.
Went to the Privateer Place office to pay the rest of what I owed to rent the entire two-bedroom apartment and have Veronica as my "special guest resident" -- a deal that saves us each $107 per month on rent. After much confusion, we got it taken care of and they actually gave me my keys early. While I went off to my QE, my folks got my stuff into the apartment.
I met with Barney and we went over my classes and the degree requirements and finalized everything for the committee meeting. I barely remember any of it. I was in shock still from the drive. Mona's is gone. Italian Pie is gone. All those houses.
The committee meeting went well, but to talk about that is a whole other entry. Suffice for now to know that I passed -- with flying colors, according to the chair's administrative assistant. Fastest deliberation she'd ever seen, she told me. Five minutes -- literally. I wasn't even aware that it was possible NOT to pass the QE. We also approved the transfer-for-credit of a couple of my WSU classes so that after my stats class and molecular bio seminar this semester, I will officially be finished with classes. I will take an additional stats class when it is offered, but I will be officially finished this semester. Hooray!
Mom picked me up (a typical LA "afternooner" storm had blown in while I was in with my committee) and we went to the apartment. New carpet, new living room furniture, new bedroom furniture, new paint, new stove, new dishwasher. Same retarded sink, same tub, less space in the bedroom, no medicine cabinet in the bathroom, no rod in the closet. Where am I supposed to hang my flannels and my sweaters?
Went back to the hotel. Met Veronica and gave her her key. We'd been talking all day about getting supper, but Dad started making noises about ordering in again. As I went to the bathroom, he looked up a barbeque place and found out they delivered to our hotel. They were just a few blocks away, and I offered to go pick up a menu so we could decide on what to order. Suddenly, he wanted to go to the restaurant. Guess he didn't like the idea of me walking in the Quarter at night -- we'll just neglect to mention I've done it before, yeah?
Erika dropped by, we visited for a bit, and she walked with us to Zydeque. When we were seated, she went off for her date and we ate. Walked back to the hotel and eventually crashed.
To be continued . . . .
Monday, August 14, 2006
Quote of the Week
Walter (part of Jeff Dunham's ventriloquism act): She got out of bed, jumped on her menstrual cycle, and ran my ass over.
I think I've done that a time or two . . . .
I think I've done that a time or two . . . .
Friday, August 11, 2006
The last five months of writing -- in 172 words
Abstract for my diss chapter/review (keep in mind it's the first, VERY rough draft):
The growth of the agricultural industry means that organisms are exposed to an ever increasing variety of environmental challenges. One of the most common tools used to assess environmental stress, especially stress during fish development, is fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Despite the number of studies examining fish FA, no attempt has been made to synthesize that knowledge in an attempt to determine if FA is an appropriate tool for determining fish developmental stress. This review details a total of sixty-two studies which examine natural FA variation, FA changes in response to natural and anthropogenic stressors, and links between FA and a number of fitness parameters. In an attempt to synthesize the information in these studies, I list some of the major shortcomings of fish FA research, including a lack of considered character choice, failure to distinguish between asymmetry types, and failure to properly quantify measurement error. Finally, I present the reasons I feel that some researchers may not consider FA to be an appropriate tool for conservation biologists to use in monitoring species/habitats.
The growth of the agricultural industry means that organisms are exposed to an ever increasing variety of environmental challenges. One of the most common tools used to assess environmental stress, especially stress during fish development, is fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Despite the number of studies examining fish FA, no attempt has been made to synthesize that knowledge in an attempt to determine if FA is an appropriate tool for determining fish developmental stress. This review details a total of sixty-two studies which examine natural FA variation, FA changes in response to natural and anthropogenic stressors, and links between FA and a number of fitness parameters. In an attempt to synthesize the information in these studies, I list some of the major shortcomings of fish FA research, including a lack of considered character choice, failure to distinguish between asymmetry types, and failure to properly quantify measurement error. Finally, I present the reasons I feel that some researchers may not consider FA to be an appropriate tool for conservation biologists to use in monitoring species/habitats.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Darn Urinary Tract
Got up this morning to go my urology appointment. Neither the radiologist nor my doctor could be certain that my stone was gone, so Thursday I am going to have another scope done. If there is anything in there, hopefully they will be able to "grab it" (my doctor's words) and then remove my stint. Dr. M is also checking to see if he knows any urologists who have returned to NOLA so he can turn me over to someone and make sure I can get regular check-ups.
Oh, and last Friday I found out that I have a UTI. Doc called in Bactram and I've been taking it twice a day. Today, the doctor's office leaves a message on my cell that the culture came back, and I have a strain of bacteria that is resistant to some antibiotics, so Dr. P wants to switch me to something else. Could I please call the office? Naturally, I got the message at 5:15.
Oh, and last Friday I found out that I have a UTI. Doc called in Bactram and I've been taking it twice a day. Today, the doctor's office leaves a message on my cell that the culture came back, and I have a strain of bacteria that is resistant to some antibiotics, so Dr. P wants to switch me to something else. Could I please call the office? Naturally, I got the message at 5:15.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Look! Up in the sky! It's Super Gimp!
Boy, oh boy -- have I worked the two sides of my brain today! I wrote some on the Harry Potter story I'm composing for Nay, and I'm taking a break from the writing I'm doing on the diss. I also kept poor, recovering-from-the-flu Anita on the phone for over an hour -- hehe.
Busy, busy, busy.
Busy, busy, busy.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
V for Vendetta
When I found out that this movie was (::movie theater voice::) "from the creators of the Matrix trilogy," I was hesitant to watch it. I wasn't terribly impressed with the first Matrix movie, I thought the second one was ridiculous, and I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to see the third one. But, Dad had bought "V" and was eager to watch it. What the hell, I thought. I won't expect anything, so I shouldn't be disappointed.
Oh. My.
To say that this was one of the better movies I've seen in a long time would be the understatement of the month.
Was it the poetry?
Was it Natalie Portman pulling off bald?
Was it gay Gordon with his sexuality and a Koran hidden away in a closet?
Was it never seeing the hero's face, but seeing his horror and his soul?
Was it all this and more?
Can you fall absolutely in love with a man and never know a thing about him, not even what he looks like?
Yes, you can. Just ask me and Natalie.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November.
Oh. My.
To say that this was one of the better movies I've seen in a long time would be the understatement of the month.
Was it the poetry?
Was it Natalie Portman pulling off bald?
Was it gay Gordon with his sexuality and a Koran hidden away in a closet?
Was it never seeing the hero's face, but seeing his horror and his soul?
Was it all this and more?
Can you fall absolutely in love with a man and never know a thing about him, not even what he looks like?
Yes, you can. Just ask me and Natalie.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November.
Lilith Aelita Rowe
Here is tiny Lily, born to my friends Danielle and Mike on July 19th at 4-something in the morning. Welcome to the world, wee lass!
