I sit for my qualifying exam today at 2:00. It's four hours of what I like to call "creative accountability" for the history of media and cultural theory. Sometime in the next two weeks is the oral portion.
blah blah blah
Here's what's on the iPod to get me through today. (I'll update tonight with some commentary on each album.)
I think during my third year teaching summer camp, we performed to Sin by Nine Inch Nails. It definitely kicked ass, but was from Pretty Hate Machine, not Downward Spiral. Anyway, I find this *sooper* laughable because of how squeaky-clean and Disney-esque our staff image was supposed to be.
Also laughable: every year they made a camp song that had some sort of teambuilding/USA-promoting theme to it. In the earlier years, there were two versions of the camp song: an up-tempo dance version and a ballad. Both had "USA" embedded in them somewhere, but the funniest/creepiest was the way they'd sneak it into the ballads. One year there was this eerie woman whispering "U-S-A". Priceless.
I'm pretty sure I will regret this entire post tomorrow, but here's a video someone posted on YouTube from that gives you an idea about the camp songs:
Oh, the good ol' day.
Lemme see if I can remember all the ones from when I went to camp or worked for them:
1988: Be the Best 1989: Get Into It 1990: Make it Happen 1991: Take it to the Top 1992: Dare 2 Dream 1993: Where It's At 1994: Now's the Time 1995: Unforgettable or Unstoppable (both of these were themes, one of them from before my time with them) 1996: 1997: 2001: Go 4 It 2002:
Maybe there was something about "reaching" one year...I don't friggin' know.
Wow...it looks like I stopped remembering camp themes around the same time I stopped enjoying working for them. Not their fault, I just outgrew it.
And on that note... I should call it a night.
Also, the knot in my neck has now fused with the one behind my shoulder blade.
Here is the pivotal moment when I cross over from mere caffeination into cartoonish super-caffeination. (P.S. spell checker HATED the last half of that sentence!)
I have to love this from Wikipedia: "Beavis also has an alter ego named The Great Cornholio, which usually surfaces after he consumes large quantities of caffeine and/or sugar."
In this moment, I'm reminded of my time at Cal State Northridge... I was 19, writing my first upper-division term paper. At 8pm I drank ONE cup of coffee...and was up for the next 36 hours. I wandered the halls of my dorm around 4am and wrote increasingly illegible messages on the dry-erase boards people had outside their doors.
What I wouldn't give for some strangers' dry erase boards right now...
So this is what I'm in for the rest of this night:
It can only go downhill from here, folks!
Tune in in a couple hours, when you can hear Nurse Piggy say:
Wow...they gave it to Christopher Reeve in that episode. I didn't see that coming. (But I did have a HUGE crush on him when I was 5 or 6. I distinctly remember tuning in for his episode.)
P.S. CBS Friday night lineup circa 78-80: 7:30 Muppet Show 8:00 Incredible Hulk 9:00 Dukes of Hazzard 10:00 Dallas
When they went into repeats, my dad let me watch Wonder Woman on ABC instead of the Hulk (it's the little things).
Can you believe this stuff is taking up valuable Quals space?!
I am nerding up my own spring break. I can't believe it. (Okay, I can.)
Diet Dr. Pepper and rice pudding...these are my study fuels of choice. Break is almost over, I'm almost 5 pounds heavier and still have more work to do. A LOT more.
Quals are Monday, 2pm. I've got at least two knots forming in my neck and back and I'm almost out of rice pudding. I *would* $#!t a brick, but there's just no time. Also, all these simple carbs can't be helping.
Does anyone remember that episode of Family Ties where Alex gets speed from Mallory to study? Don't worry, Mamar and Daddy...I'm not gonna go that route. I'm just sayin' that I am about to become incredibly caffeinated and sugared on soda.
...is this piddly little chicken salad is no match for the single glass of wine I decided to drink with it. Holy cow, looks like my study break will be slightly extended. Otherwise, my notes are about to get *really* interesting.
Anyway, the real reason I'm posting is because, in the course of cooking up the tasty-tasty chicken for the salad, I rediscovered an album I haven't listened to in about six years:
It's neither his best, nor my favorite, but it is still A-OK. (And what a wacky video, eh?)
P.S. Music always alwaysalways makes cooking better. P.P.S. Chris Isaak = dreamboat (been the case since I was 15). P.P.P.S. I'm not sure when this blog turned the corner from triathlon- to musicky-blog, but whattaya gonna do?
This little ditty got me home from my run this afternoon (I'm down to 10:30/mile -- down :40!). I don't have anything else to add for tonight. Just studying and getting songs stuck in my head.
So besides quals...ain't nothin' goin' on but the rent.
March is Women's History Month, so here is the requisite playlist...better late than never.
This list was all over the road. In lieu of any sort of flow, I went with "vaguely chronological" as the organizing theme. I just wanted to get it posted since it's been a while and I need to get back to studying. (I take my qualifying exam on Monday!)
Well, I'm actually Filipino and Scottish, but you can kiss me anyway.
March is Women's History Month (which means I've got two more weeks for related blog posts and music), but TODAY is St. Patty's day, so this is what you're stuck with (for now):
Tune in tomorrow when I get back to real, live blogging.
Okay, so no music this week, but I figure y'all will cut me some slack. I've got a playlist bouncing around in my head, so keep your eyes peeled next Monday.
I'm still a little raw from losing Boots. The tears come sporadically, but with intensity. We had a thunderstorm the other night that I'm sure she was happy to miss. Rocky and I both miss her -- though I think Rocky finds being the only dog a bittersweet experience. He gets all my attention when I'm home, but has to endure my class time on his own. (He is noticeably happier when I come through the door these days.)
Let's see...training. Oy. I started over again yesterday (T-minus six months). I kinda fell off the wagon when school started. It's okay so far. Nothing terribly noteworthy. Just trying to keep it all together.