Further further medical update

Why stop at 8 pills a day when you could have 9? The sales pitch was so persuasive that I just couldn't say no. Sigh.

The tortoise and the hare

Yes, yes, I know my last post about it was in December, but just in case you're wondering, I'm still reading Cryptonomicon. It's been sitting on my shelf looking at me for the past 5 months, wondering if I'd ever get back to it again. Well, I've finally been spurred into action when I found out that somebody I know had to get it from OhioLINK because I've been hogging our library's only copy. (Sure, I know dozens of people have probably gotten it from OhioLINK in that time, but I didn't know them, so it's different, ok?) So I actually made some progress with it yesterday afternoon*, and now I'm about 1/4 done with it. I plan on taking it to New Orleans with me, if it doesn't put my luggage over the weight limit!

*Full disclosure: I was really planning to watch a movie on Netflix Instant Watching yesterday, but our building's internet connection was being painfully slow, so the book was my backup plan.

Only yesterday

This song has been going through my head all night, and I think it sums up pretty well how I'm feeling at the moment.

Soon and very soon

I haven't mentioned it here before, because somehow it doesn't seem real to me yet, but I'll be attending a conference in New Orleans in about two weeks. If anybody would like to give me advice on what to see and do (besides perspire heavily), I'm open to suggestions.

Venus and Mars

I know I haven't been very cerebral here the last few weeks, but I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to think about much of anything. But now I'm trying to avoid writing a paper, so the thoughts about everything else in the world are flowing! And there's something I've been piecing together in my mind for a while, but I hadn't really made the connections until just now.

Men and women fall in love differently. Obviously, their different physiologies and hormonal complements make this true, but I don't mean just that. I mean that if you ask a typical couple to describe how they knew that they were in love, you'll probably hear variations on these stories (which I have just fabricated in my head).

Woman: Well, people had been mentioning Joe Blow to me for a while, and everyone seemed to think very highly of him. And then I met him, and I didn't think very much of him at first, but over time I learned what a hard worker he is, and how much he loved his dog Smooshie, and then I saw the way he treated his mother like a queen, and I knew he was the man for me.

Man: There I was, minding my own business at the reference desk, when I looked up and beheld the most beautiful pair of blue eyes I'd ever seen. I was too stupid to realize it at the time, but from that moment everything changed for me and there was no going back. And believe me, I tried.

I've listened to stories like this all my life, and I've just now noticed the difference. Generally speaking, for a woman, falling in love is a decision she makes once she amasses enough positive evidence of a man's worthiness. On the other hand, falling in love is something that happens to a man, and he can never adequately explain why or how, only that it changed him forever. Which do you think is more romantic? And which would you rather do?

A trip down Memory Trail

As a matter of fact, Tumbleweeds do make me nostalgic. But probably not in the way you're thinking.

My thoughts on the new fall shows

Without committing myself to anything permanently, since we all know how much the fall schedule tends to change between May and August, I thought I'd briefly tell you what my thoughts are on the new fall schedule. I'll go hour by hour through the week.

Monday

8:00-- This hour is trying to kill me! We've got Gossip Girl, Chuck, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles all at the same time. My suspicion is that someone will eventually move one of these shows to a different slot. If that doesn't happen, I'm going to watch Chuck, tape Gossip Girl, and let Sarah Connor fall by the wayside.

9:00-- Heroes all the way, baby!

10:00-- I'll try the new show following Heroes, called My Own Worst Enemy. I'm not sure if it's really my type of show (it's about a secret agent living a double life), but I'll give it a shot.

Tuesday

8:00-- I'm not promising anything, since I never watched the original, but I'll give the reboot of 90210 a whirl.

9:00-- Four new shows to choose from! At this point I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. Surviving the Filthy Rich, about a caretaker to two spoiled teenagers, could be good or it could be shallow and vapid. The Mentalist, about a fake psychic who solves crimes for the police, sounds like it's been done before. Fringe is about an FBI agent who has to work with an insane genius to solve crimes. (Can somebody say Silence of the Lambs?) My guess is that this one will be too dark for me. Kath and Kim is a sitcom about a mother and daughter who live together outrageously. Ho hum. I guess I'll just wait and see what buzz develops around each of these shows.

10:00-- Free hour. Go to bed and get a good night's sleep.

Wednesday

8:00-- Pushing Daisies by a mile!

9:00-- Do Not Disturb is a comedy about behind-the-scenes action at a ritzy hotel. I'll give it a shot because it stars the dreamy Jerry O'Connell, whom I've loved since Sliders.

10:00-- Dirty Sexy Money vs. Lipstick Jungle. If I have to pick one, I'm going with DSM. But if I can stay up late enough to watch that live, I'll tape LJ.

Thursday

8:00-- Ugly Betty without thinking twice!

9:00-- Free hour. Watch something that I've taped from up above.

10:00-- Two new shows to pick from. My gut tells me I'll go with Life on Mars, about a man who mysteriously time travels back to 1972. There's also The Eleventh Hour, about a man who solves crises for the government (Can anyone say Threshold?), but my gut tells me this one will also be too dark for me.

Friday

8:00-- Ghost Whisperer is nominally one of my shows, but it has failed to thoroughly captivate me, so I'll probably try Crusoe. Just try and guess what that one is about.

9:00-- Even though some people say they're boycotting this slot because of the Moonlight debacle, hope springs eternal and I'm going to try the new entrant in this time period, The Ex List. It's about a woman who finds out she's already met and discarded the love of her life, so she has to go back and revisit everyone she's ever met. (Can someone say My Name is Earl?)

10:00-- Life wasn't one of my regular shows this year, but I did catch it in repeats and liked it quite well. So I'm going to give this one another shot.

Saturday

Crickets chirp. Watch a movie or The Love Boat on DVD.

Sunday

I say that I watch The Simpsons at 8:00, but in actuality that happens about once every two months. So my only real show this night is Brothers and Sisters at 10:00.

So there you have it. I must say I'm not nearly as excited about this fall season as I was last year. On the plus side, I'll probably have more time to read, do homework, and watch things on DVD.

More surprising news

Ok, so I'm pretty surprised now that Moonlight has been cancelled, especially since Reaper has been renewed. Don't get me wrong. I like Reaper just fine and I'm glad it's coming back for another year. But if you'd told me I could only pick one of the two to come back, it would have been no contest. Moonlight is a steak hot off the grill, while Reaper is a sweet and fluffy Moon Pie. Also, Moonlight got at least twice and possibly three times as many viewers as Reaper does. Still, I'm glad that at least one of them will be around to entertain me next year!

Celebration and sorrow

I just saw that this is going to be my 100th post. Yay!

Ok, now on to business. I was a little sad yesterday to find out that Back to You was cancelled, but I could deal with it. It's not like I've watched every episode, but I did feel that it was finally starting to hit its stride. I'm also perplexed why Fox would cancel it when it had higher ratings than Til Death, which they've renewed for another year.

But this morning comes the news that New Amsterdam has been cancelled as well. I can't say I'm completely surprised, but it had done so much better than Fox was expecting, and it also seemed like they were just starting to hit their stride. I'll really miss this one, and I guess we'll never know if John Amsterdam finds his true love or not.

The view from the top

I don't know how to say this without sounding ridiculous or conceited or both, so I guess I'll just say it anyway. I was really surprised this week to find out that I have groupies. The occasion was the second incarnation of my watching TV online workshop, which 7 people attended. This is fewer than the 10 people that attended the first time, but still pretty good because our attendance has been very low this quarter, probably because the weather outside has been so beautiful. Would you rather spend your noon hour snogging on College Green or learning how to research newspaper articles?

At any rate, the 7 people who attended fell into two categories: people who work in the library, and those same girls who always come to my workshops. And so it dawned on me that the latter have become my, well, groupies. But I certainly don't know why. Why would you want to follow me around when you could have someone really cool like Chris or Char? The very idea of it baffles me.

Of course, I've been a groupie for several different professors during the course of my life, and I know that it's always been difficult to explain exactly what it was about them that I wanted. I know that some of the professors I've adored have been despised by the majority of students, and I also know that some professors I couldn't stand at all had their own contingent of groupies waiting in the wings. So obviously the quality we're talking about here is very subjective.

How to put this next part delicately, without sounding as conceited as Miss Piggy? If it were a bunch of young men who wanted to follow me around and hang on my every word, I guess I wouldn't be as surprised. I've always been good at getting the attention of the male sex, just not very good at keeping it in the long-term. But, as my ex-husband put it very brashly, "Other women don't like you, and you don't like them." And although I don't think he was absolutely correct, there was a grain of truth there. I tend to see other women my age as possible rivals, I guess. So to think that there's a group of young girls out there who want to be me, well, that's kind of confusing.

So now that I have groupies, what do I do with them? It was interesting to note that none of them showed the slightest interest in talking to me before or after class, so my initial idea of taking them under my wing and making them my friends isn't going to work. I guess I can start giving a series of increasingly esoteric workshops and see how far they're willing to take this thing!

RIP Men in Trees

I was so sad last night to come home from work and discover from Ausiello at TV Guide that Men in Trees has been cancelled. I'm so sad because I love that show so much, and it had so much story left to tell. Plus Jack is so hot! But at least this is only bad news, not terrible news, because we will be getting to finish out the season this summer, and apparently the last episode will be a real last episode that wraps things up in some way.

A Happy Belated May Day to You!

I know it's rather late, but the sentiment is still there. I remember singing this song when I was a freshman in high school, and when I think of it I still feel the same way I did then: love-sick and excited. Ok, so I pretty much always feel that way anyway!

The moon shines bright, the stars give a light
A little before tis day
Our Heavenly Father, he called to us
And bid us awake and pray.

Awake, awake, oh pretty, pretty maid
Out of your drowsy dream
And step into your dairy below
And fetch me a bowl of cream.

If not a bowl of thy sweet cream
A cup to bring me cheer
For the Lord knows when we shall meet again
To go Maying another year.

I have been wandering all this night
And some time of this day
And now returning home again
I’ve brought you a branch of May.

A branch of May I’ve brought you here
And at your door I stand
‘Tis nothing but a sprout, but it’s well budded out
By the work of our Lord’s hand.

My song is done and I must be gone
No longer can I stay
So it’s God bless you all, both great and small
And send you a joyful May.

If you're interested in seeing an older (and slightly more interesting) version of this May carol, try this.