The Misspent Life

Back at Home Only to Leave Again

Well, I have returned from my sojourn in the woods with POPS and MOTHER only to find myself preparing for another journey, one that will take me far away to the heart of the Black Forest for the summer.  Maybe I'll post a few things from my adventures, or maybe I won't.  I can't promise you anything.  But for now I need to clean house, run errands, and start to gather my belongings in preparation for my departure midweek.

Is is that Time of Year Again?

Wow, this came up fast.  Next week it is down to the final two.  Who do you think it will be?  I really don't know--all three are very good and deserve to be there.  My picks are Melinda and Blake, but only because I like them the best.  I thought they did by far the best, although Jordin did end really well last night no matter what Simon said.  I really hope that Blake makes it to the final, although then it will be tough for me to pick who I would want to see win, since I like both him and Melinda.  Ahh, choices!  If it is Melinda and Jordin, then I pick Melinda as my favorite.  I still think Melinda takes it all--she is the best singer I think they have ever had.  She kicked up her personality and bit this week, which is good.  I think Blake is one of the most interesting people they've ever had on the show, and while I don't really like Maroon 5, he made me like their song.  I really like the last song he did, both the original and his version (which wasn't that different, honestly).  If only Paula had chosen a better song for the first one.  I mean, Roxanne?

It was a hot one last night America.

Oh, and I am done with my school work and it is wheels up for Europe in a fortnight.  Still no word on which city I'll be in, which is fun.  Lots of social functions this week, my bday, and the lady's graduation and family.  Then it is wheels up for Wisconsin (where we don't get Fox, so I will not see the final!).  No rest for the wicked! 

Go Blake!  We'll see tonight.

Happy Mother's Day

Obligatory post, obligatory video.

So Close

I only have two more papers left, having churned out two rather slapdash attempts at intellectual insight in the past week (the last of which is a really shoddy pile of words and thoughts that have no business being together).  Have to do a conference thingy on Monday.  But this morning/afternoon I was able to travel a little bit.  I went to Europe. 

Wow, That was not a good night for America

First off, I'm pumped about France.  We'll see if anything actually changes over there--I have my doubts.

Second, I finished my conference and I wasn't too pleased with the whole experience--not sure these are the people I want to spend the rest of my life interacting with.

Third, I'm almost done with a massive paper.

Fourth, American Idol was just so disappointing tonight.  I actually think Melinda did great on both songs, and preferred her first one.  LaKisha just wasn't strong tonight--I think she goes home tomorrow.  Jordin did really well on the first one but not so hot on the second.  Blake?  He is my favorite, especially after his Bon Jovi night.  The BeeGees were his thang, though, dog.  I should have knocked it out of the part.  Instead he chose terrible songs and did them poorly.  I wouldn't be that surprised if he goes tomorrow, but since I think he probably has a stronger fan base than LaKisha, he might be safe.  But MAN was he disappointing.

Happy May Day, Genossen!

Comrades, we raise our glasses to the international brotherhood of man!

Excuses, Excuses

Let me tell you just how busy I am.  Not only am I not posting anything on this blog (what else is new?) but I have also had television shows piling up on my TiVo and DVDs from Netflix sitting on top of my TV, Toby, for several weeks.  I also haven't been able to find any good videos on YouTube.  In fact, I haven't even looked for any.  That is how busy I am.  But I am steadily working through the papers I need to complete. Two weeks from now it should be done.

I'm giving a talk this weekend at an Ivy and sent in my final copy in the middle of my recent troubles and was saddened to see several errors in the text (extra words, missing words, that kind of thing) at around one per three/four pages of text.  I guess this means there were only about five of them, but still it was frustrating that I wasn't able to catch them.  Of course, I haven't been able to prepare for my presentation so I will end up just reading the damn thing out loud.  Usually I try to be more extemporaneous and be a little fun--but scheduling a conference in the middle of finals isn't conducive to getting strong performances out of your student participants.

So I will be seeing you around.

Still no word on where I'll be in Germany this summer.