esprit de l'escalier

Can't wait hardly wait

I am currently obsessed with this song. I blame Justin Townes Earle and his excellent cover of it on his excellent album (Midnight at the Movies) and Heather Browne of Fuel for Friends. (I *love* and *adore* this blog. Thank you to my friend Stacey for turning me onto it. Heather is one of my current music gurus - I love her taste in music.)

But back to the Replacements' cover. I'm listening to it a lot right now, both the original and Earles' cover. I thought the cover was just a one off, but then I heard him on World Cafe one night and I was a goner. I needed to have his album immediately. (His interview with David Dye is also great - Earle is personable and open - definitely check it out.)

I've been trying to pick a favorite song, but truly I love the first eight songs and just can't. Back in the days before you could buy single songs, I would have purchased the cd for any of them. There is something about the songs on this album that harks back to the past without being nostalgic. Here's the title track from the album. I'm so mad I missed his pass through my area on his tour. Enjoy!

Weekend fun

This weekend, my dear friend Natasha hopped a megabus to come visit. She came ostensibly to attend a little graduation barbeque my parents and I hosted on Saturday. Her visit was much needed and much, much too short. I'm so happy she squeezed in a trip in her extremely busy summer.

The party was a success. I wasn't sure who was actually going to show up, since we live a little far from town, but it was a nice mix of old, older, and school friends. A couple of my musically-inclined friends were finally able to get together and play. (I've been wanting to throw these ladies with their instruments together forever.)

I hope you all had excellent weekends/Father's Days/summer solstices.

Oh dear.

I forgot my blog's birthday. Again. Last year I was in Ireland for my dear friends' wedding (which I was in), which I thought gave me a pass. This year I really don't have the same excuse. I mean, I've been a little distracted and out of touch with this space, but I should have remembered.

I have been absent from this space, as grad school kept me otherwise occupied. I hope to get back into blogging, though. I miss this place and writing. I want to thank (again, and because I can't hug you all and I would) all my blog friends and readers. I know I don't know all of you, but thanks for continuing to read. Say hi.

Oh, and I hope you like the agrarian photos - I took them today on my drive home from work. They are so summer to me. Click them to see them bigger.

Brief recaps and some links

Sunday I graduated. I did not attend the ceremony, though, much to the chagrin of pretty much everyone I told. Sitting in the heat with several thousand people for several hours did not sound as appealing as brunch with my parents at Spagio (even if we were too early for booze in our bloody marys). We did attend a little do at my school within OSU, which was nice, if poorly organized. It gave me the finality I needed.

Later that day I attended a high school graduation party for a girl I used to sit for. Back in the day, you see, I was a babysitter extraordinaire. I'll have to write about it sometime. I haven't seen her or her family since I left for college, ten years ago. It was really great to see her and her brother and parents. I do enjoy reconnections.

I also talked to my dear friend Bertie, which was fabulous. She lives far away and I miss her. I promised her to blog more regularly now. So here I am, trying to get back into this thing.

A couple of links: The odd link: I can only say, wtf? I've discussed weirdo squirrels in the past, but this takes the cake. (Hat tip to Shea'la at Tiny Showcase.)

The interesting link: As a reaction the ubiquity to the Disney princesses, Dina Goldstein has created a series of photographs depicting them in more modern day scenarios/problems. (Hat tip to Jezebel.)

To tide us over

After today I'll be done with school. I have a couple of posts brewing, so please stay tuned. To tide us til then, here's a donut and some fruit. Please enjoy.

In the thick of it

I am in the thick of it friends. The "I can't see the end, even if it's only a couple days away" thick, the "I was in an empty computer lab until 9pm while the world was enjoying the sunshine" thick of it. But I'm almost there. I've actually reached a somewhat zen place and I'm focused and ready to get this stuff done. But group work? Oh, I am so over group work. Next time I work in a group, we better all have salaries on the line, because I'm over this scrambling mess that I'm currently in.

I hate to leave this place hanging, so I'll share some photos (my go-to blog save). Thursday night I met up with a Flickr friend and we went on a photo walk of German Village, one of Columbus's beautiful, historic neighborhoods.

The walk was exactly what I needed to clear my head and get ready for all that I've been dealing with this weekend. Plus it was fun to chat and take photos. I love a good photo walk. See all the photos here, and click on the ones below to see them larger.

I heart Prezi

I'm in the midst of writing a lot of papers, but I wanted to post *something* since I've been MIA for a bit too long.

Last week I had a debate in my planning theory class.  We had to argue that there were universal ethic rules for planners. We had the hard side of the debate because all of our readings said that ethics were situational. To make our argument we had to go back to Kant and stretch some things a bit.

Anyways, why am I telling you this? Because I gave the initial argument and used this cool program to do so and wanted to share. Instead of using Powerpoint, I used this free, flash-based presentation program called Prezi. It's super easy to use and it's nonlinear, which makes it (at least) seem more dynamic than Powerpoint.

Basically, you have this blank sheet and you start adding text and images, and then start grouping them into sections or subsections. You create paths to different sections or objects and which sets up the route of your presentation. It sounds a little complicated, but once you start in at it, you realize it's pretty simple. You can see my presentation here. Click the right arrow to proceed through the slides. (You miss my explanation, of course, but you can get the gist of our argument. Really, I just want to show you how cool this program is!)

Long, busy weekend ahead

Hello blog. I'm still busy with school, even though I passed my comprehensive exam. My "to-do" list is long with papers and group projects. I'm in my dear friend's wedding tomorrow, too, which is fun, but adds an extra layer of complexity to my time line.

It's suddenly hot and summer-like here. The temps have been in the high 80s and I remember what Memorial Day weekend used to mean to me: a parade in my grandparents' town and the opening of swimming pools. We grew up in a house a block from a neighborhood pool, which is where you found us kids every day of summer. I stopped going in high school, resulting from combination of feeling too cool and feeling bad about my body, I'm sure. I miss those easy days though and the smell of chlorine. I hope you all have an excellent weekend.

It's official

I passed my comprehensive exams! Barring any unforeseen problems, I will be graduating with my master's degree in a few short weeks. Soon I too will have a mix of letters after my name. I will also soon be "funemployed" as I'm looking for work. Please think good thoughts for me (and pass any tips my way).

I celebrated with some Presecco and bench-standing.

Oh, and go see how freaking cute Blue Kid is, ready for prom. Sniff!

Jello for Mom

When we were kids, my Mom used to make us "Monster Jello" for our birthday parties. Monster Jello consisted of a giant vat of jello full small plastic toys (which she would clean beforehand). It was pretty much the greatest thing ever. Our birthday cakes always had sparklers and our jello was full of fun.

Anyhow, I don't have any Monster Jello to share (although my sister did make a righteous batch with tiny Jesus toys for her birthday this year), but I did make a batch of jello for my Mom today. She had a terrible time at the dentist today and I thought some jello was in order. Poor Mom.

Crumble, anyone?

I've had rhubarb on the brain this week and was excited to see some at the Clintonville Co-Op yesterday. I figured a crumble was in order for Mother's Day. (Apparently Jennifer had a similar idea.)

I turned to Smitten Kitchen, as she had a rhubarb cobbler recipe up this week that contributed to my rhubarb craving. I wanted a crunchy topping, though, and luckily she had crumble recipe in her arsenal as well. I followed her recipe more or less to the tee, except that I threw in some blackberries too. Recipe again, here.

More pink

I never considered myself a pink girl. Then my mother and I painted my sister and my room pink (much to my sister's protests) when we were in middle school. I think I might be more of a pink girl than I thought, because this just makes me giddy.

I'm happy this week is over. Midterms: done. Comprehensive exams: taken. School left: about a month. Mind: blown.

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day!

'Roid Week 2009 - Tuesday

Blargh. That's how I'm feeling. More polaroids to share, though. These are from Minneapolis, where I recently visited.

Happy 'Roid Week 2009!

'Roid Week 2009 - Monday

It's 'Roid Week 2009. I'm still up to my eyeballs in school, but I have to take a break to join in the fun. My contributions for today are below. See the fun here. Oh, and Happy Bench Monday too!

Brief hiatus

Hello neglected blog and friends - I have to take a break. School projects and exams are taking up my time. Hope you are all well.