overgrown garden

Moving right along

2008-01-02T17:59:00.000-05:00

This blog has been static for so long, I'm just going to consign it to the archives. Time to start over with a clean slate.

Why, oh why...

2006-12-10T20:05:00.000-05:00

...am I encountering so many students who can neither spell nor construct a simple declarative sentence? On several of these papers, I cannot even comment on the content of the argument because I'm forced to clear up the following mysteries of writing:The word 'their' is the possessive of 'they,' while the word 'there' is generally either a noun or an adverb and is not the possessive form of

Thanks

2006-11-27T11:39:00.000-05:00

In honor of the recently-passed holiday, a list of things (some more mundane than others) for which I am thankful:Family and friends - Thanksgiving has, for many years now, been a much bigger deal in my family than Christmas. However, owing to my class schedule (which went into the evening on Wednesday), we have not been able to make the trip to Maryland for the last two years. Although this is

A passing

2006-11-09T14:44:00.000-05:00

RIP, Ed Bradley. A tremendously underrated journalist, and a class act.

Attention, all parties, candidates, and pollsters

2006-11-07T18:01:00.000-05:00

I have voted. You are too late. Please stop calling me.That is all.

Stop the madness

2006-11-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

Moments ago, as I was grading papers, I received a call, which turned out to be a recorded call from the Democratic party urging me to vote tomorrow. Before I had a chance to hang up, I got a call on the other line. Thinking it might be Joe calling to go to lunch, I switched lines. It was another recorded call - this one from Zack Space, the Dem candidate for Congress from our district.I was

Well that's a plus...

2006-10-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

Note: this post was originally begun on August 11, but was not posted until now for reasons that will soon become patently obvious. Also, those of you who are concerned about Too Much Information may wish to skip straight to the bottom.Many months ago, Joe and I started trying (again - long story) to have a baby.Three weeks ago, my Ob/Gyn informed me that I was only ovulating every other month (

Incognito

2006-09-06T09:41:00.000-04:00

Y'know those filters you can put over your license plate to make it harder to read? They usually come in translucent blue or black, although I have seen them in red.Yesterday I saw a car with one of those things over a vanity plate.Either he's unclear on the concept, or I am.garden progress: We sort of got a raised bed built, although it needs adjusting before it'll be ready to fill. The Brussels

Miss Ethel Williams is Still Waiting

2006-08-16T19:49:00.000-04:00

A little under a year ago, her house was demolished.About four months ago, she became a presidential photo-op.She's not angry, and she still has faith, but she's still waiting.

Lives of the Saints, Trivia Edition

2006-08-16T12:08:00.000-04:00

Mere moments ago, in the midst of work on the RIdIM project, trying to catalog a particular work by Francesco Solimena, I ran across this bit of information about St. Cecilia:Patronage: Academy of Music, Rome, Albi France, composers, martyrs, music, musicians, musical instrument makers, archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, poets, singersOmaha gets its own patron saint?garden progress: Brussels sprouts

I brought this on myself

2006-08-03T13:35:00.001-04:00

The beginning of this summer was wet. Wet, wet, wet. On July 15, significant portions of Princeton Valley Farm were under water, the Kokosing had been flirting with going over its banks for over a week, and there has been flooding all over Ohio.Then I finally got around to repairing the leak in our rain barrel, and re-routing the gutter to feed into it. Since I got everything set back up, it's

Looking Back, Looking Forward

2006-07-20T22:25:00.000-04:00

Been a long time, and the summer is flying by. What have I been doing with my time? Well you may ask. Since classes ended in mid-June, we have:Gone to the beachGone to a weddingCelebrated my 37th birthday, July 4, and our 6th wedding anniversaryHosted my mother for a weekWhat time has not been spent in these endeavors I've been using to battle groundhogs, mow, clean, and read about opera buffe,

Progress?

2006-06-09T15:51:00.000-04:00

With my last paper turned in for the quarter, I was able to return three library books last night, 3 more to Kenyon today, and another 4 to OSU. On the other hand, in preparation for the Summer of Thesis, I brought home another 5. And that doesn't count the 8-9 still waiting for me on Joe's desk.I sense that I may be losing ground.Anyhow, the meeting with the advisor is in 10 minutes, and then

Generalissimo Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Is Still Dead

2006-06-08T08:30:00.000-04:00

I can only dream that sometime later today I will hear those words actually spoken by Corey Flintoff...In other news, I'm into the home stretch. The online class is done for the quarter, and went very well. The presentation for that class was some of the best work I have done yet, which is always exciting. I haven't read comments on the final paper yet, but I am hoping it can be massaged into

Quick Straw Poll

2006-06-04T13:54:00.000-04:00

Hey all, I am looking for some help with a paper I am revising. I am holding out hope that enough of you read blogs on the weekends to let me get a few answers before tomorrow at noon.The first verse of David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" goes:It's a God-awful small affairTo the girl with the mousy hairBut her mummy is yelling “No”And her daddy has told her to goBut her friend is nowhere to be seenNow

Cycles

2006-05-15T13:01:00.000-04:00

The Kenyon academic year is at a close. The seniors graduate in less than a week, and most of my friends are scrambling to get grades turned in. Summery things are already starting up - we got our first batch of CSA produce this weekend (lettuce, spinach, asparagus, honey, and maple syrup), and folks are preparing for reunion weekend. OSU still has a few weeks left, so I am scrambling to get

Springing up in the garden

2006-04-14T12:57:00.000-04:00

Life has been exceedingly busy. Spring quarter is well underway, and the gamelan ensemble I play with has a concert (technically an "open rehearsal") on Saturday. Our former guru Henry Spiller has been in town all week, and I fear we are running him ragged.Anyhow, I decided that I needed to make sure I recorded at least some of the activity in the garden, even if I cannot spend as much time as I

Signs of Spring

2006-04-02T19:31:00.000-04:00

The daffodils started blooming on Friday, and now they are all over the woods. Forsythia are starting to bloom in a few isolated places, and the green daylily shoots have started cropping up.garden progress: Mostly just enjoying the weatherhouse progress: Finishing painting the inside of the front door this eveningwhat's for dinner? Porter-hoisin pork roast, some sort of veggie, and maybe

Big Puffy Flakes

2006-03-24T10:02:00.000-05:00

It's nearing the end of spring break (confidential to Kenyon students: you don't know how good you have it with a two-week break, but you will), and the gardening projects are falling through. I had planned on getting some garden clearing done. I actually did pretty well on getting the fallen leaves and clutter, not to mention some weeds and ersatz landscape fabric (trash bags) out of half of one

Vacation All I Ever Wanted...

2006-03-17T18:27:00.000-05:00

Hooray! As of 8 this morning, my work for the quarter was done. I got about 4 hours of sleep after getting my ethnomusicology project submitted, and spent the afternoon watching reruns of Deep Space Nine. The weekend will be spent outside with any luck.A quick assessment of the academics of Winter '06:Music in the US: Good class, really glad I took it. It was a straight lecture class, and covered

A Good Run

2006-03-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

Rest in Peace, GusHe was a good little guy, and I wish we'd had longer with him, but he died at home with his family, and he had a pretty good life while it lasted.If you have pets at home, give them some good scritching tonight.

Everyone's a Critic

2006-03-12T20:35:00.000-05:00

If I am to gauge anything from the pattern of yowling, Gus likes Jerome Kern a great deal, but does not care one bit for Gershwin. Charles Ives depends entirely on what piece it is. He loves both Duke Ellington and Edgar Varese. Milton Babitt is Right Out.Hardee is utterly indifferent to music, and is wondering why I do not spend this much time and energy feeding her.

Turning corners

2006-03-12T14:53:00.000-05:00

Paper #2 (on Carmen, Carmen Jones and depictions of ethnicity) is just about done. My editor (read: Joe) has suggested a few things that I need to implement, but otherwise I should be ready to hand it in tomorrow.I am now in the throes of studying for my Music in the US exam, which is difficult not because of hard concepts, but just because of the sheer volume of information. For the final, the

The Mysterious Case of the Cat in the Night

2006-03-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, Gus the Cat has cancer. He's been fighting it (with and without treatment) for about 18 months, which is pretty incredible. Generally, they give you about a year tops, with aggressive therapy. Combine that with the fact that his first symptoms went into remission all on their own without our doing anything (we hadn't even figured out what it was yet) and you have a story that

Anyone watch ESPN this evening?

2006-03-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

I was at our end-of-quarter musicology happy hour this evening (granted, the pain isn't over yet, but we needed to blow off a little steam). Anyhow, I looked up at the television over the bar, and two guys seemed to be debating what constitutes the "most intriguing position" - tight end or running back. If any of you happened to watch this with sound, could you please explain the following:What

Signs of Hope

2006-03-07T23:46:00.000-05:00

Little things that are keeping me happy, as I lurch toward finals:The daffodils are starting to come up in the woods. We saw the first sprouts on Sunday, and Joe even found a crocus by the driveway.My Dan Emmett paper is done and looking good, even if I would have liked to do more.I have finally made some progress on the Carmen paper - a couple solid pages of good prose, plus several more pages

Gone are the days

2006-02-26T18:53:00.000-05:00

In one of my geekier moves to date, this blog post was inspired by the Word Sleuth puzzle in a recent Columbus Dispatch. The theme was "Discontinued Olympic Sports." Some of the sports listed struck me as funny, like Jeu de Paume, a form of tennis which I had always assumed died out shortly after the French monarchy did. One sport, pelote basque, is evidently related to jai alai, which means that

Gonna be some changes made

2006-02-04T12:04:00.000-05:00

Regular readers of this site know that I tend to steer clear of dealing with touchy political and social issues here. Not that I don't like talking about them - I just tend to think that the web, for all its glories, is generally not the best forum.I am making an exception today, because in this case, I think that spreading information to as many people as possible can only help.TRW has a plant

Cover Me

2006-01-24T22:13:00.001-05:00

One of Swankette's comments on a recent post of mine got me thinking that maybe the subject of cover songs deserves its very own post. I still maintain there must be some sort of metric for what is and isn't going to be a good cover, but until I get the funding for that massive research project, I can only guess as to how it might work.Criterion #1: The song must have been good enough in the

Best Swimming Scene Ever

2006-01-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

Rest in Peace, Shelly Winters.

This is what happens when you rely on RSS

2006-01-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the lack of a headline, I managed to completely miss Joe's audio blog from New Orleans. If you haven't heard it already, give it a listen. Please.

Thoughts for a Sunny Day

2006-01-12T10:39:00.000-05:00

Y'know those days when you wake up and the birds are singing and it's sunny, but you can't figure out how you overslept until 9:00 because the alarm never went off and it turns out you set it for 6:45 PM? I'm having one of those.There is no act of love greater than cleaning the litterbox.I've spoken to Joe every night this week, and it sounds like he is having a life-changing experience down in

Never make it through committee...

2006-01-10T19:32:00.000-05:00

Potential thesis topics inspired by the radio on my drive to school today:Beyond Mere Imitation: A Performer's Guide to a Successful CoverMadonna, Train, and the Signifying Soy LatteUse of the Bitwise Sequence in "Unskinny Bop"What's in a Name? Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship on the Road to MediocrityAnybody care to volunteer as an outside reader?house progress: Other than

Home Fires

2006-01-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

About an hour ago, I put my husband on a bus for New Orleans, along with Reverend Karl, a bus driver straight out of Central Casting, and 40 Kenyon students. I really wanted to be going with him, but scheduling didn't allow for it. Instead, I'll be holding down the fort here while he makes the world a little better.

Grad School Fallacies and How to Survive Them

2006-01-05T23:23:00.000-05:00

Lots of folks attempting to prepare you for grad school talk about how much reading is involved. Although on the face of it, this seems to be a safe statement (witness the 4 chapters and two books I was assigned on Wednesday for my classes tomorrow), it is, in fact, a lie. In fact, there is so much reading assigned that it would be physically impossible for a human being to actually read it all.

Back to Blogging, Meme-Style

2005-12-28T17:47:00.000-05:00

Four jobs you've had in your life: Stage manager, webmaster, department store salesperson, technical writer/editor.Four movies you could watch over and over: Moonstruck, Real Genius, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, The Manchurian Candidate (1962).Four places you've lived: Columbia Station OH, Rockville MD, Gambier OH, Brooklyn NY.Four TV shows you love to watch: Good

The Eighth Wonder

2005-12-17T11:54:00.000-05:00

First, a caveat. I have not seen Peter Jackson's King Kong (although I have seen both the original and the 1976 remake with Jessica Lange). It may be a really good movie. I will almost undoubtedly find out, as Joe's response to the trailers has been something along the lines of "OOOOOOH! Monkeymonkeymonkeymonkeymonkeymonkeymonkey!" I think this is mostly because of the Mighty Shmoe Pong-T-Rex

Another great one gone

2005-12-10T19:28:00.000-05:00

RIP, Richard Pryor. I have to admit, my first memory of seeing him was in The Muppet Movie (not exactly typical of his work), but damn the man was funny.

01011000011011010110000101110011

2005-12-09T13:38:00.000-05:00

Geek decor at it's finest - Martha Stewart, eat yer heart out.(go here to translate the headline)house progress: Eliminating the stacks of books is a huge helpwhat's for dinner? Chicken Pot Pie with Fred Drogula and his girlfriend.

The most wonderful time of the year

2005-12-05T15:24:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year - the end of the quarter - and I feel like a great weight has been lifted from me. Most likely it's all the library books I returned. I am now officially down from 29 books checked out to 1. This of course does not include the 15-odd books I still have out on Joe's account, but it's progress nonetheless.

A decidedly frustrated rant

2005-11-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

One of my classes meets on Wednesdays and Fridays, from 4-5:30, or however late after that we are willing to stick around without getting too fidgety. It's actually scheduled to end at 5:18, but we were all told on day one that the plan was for 5:30. Usually, on Fridays when the music library closes at 5:30, we are forcibly kicked out. It's one of those classes.Anyhow, the class is also

"Superior, they said, never gives up her dead..."

2005-11-10T20:06:00.000-05:00

As you prepare for Veteran's Day (and I hope folks are doing that), spare a thought for another group of people who lost their lives just doing their jobs. Thirty years ago tonight, 29 men died when the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, en route to Detroit. If all you know about the event is the Gordon Lightfoot song (which I remember being played every year on this date on one of the

Missed Brush with Fame

2005-11-02T09:22:00.000-05:00

Well damn. It turns out that, if Joe and I had actually made it to the Circleville Pumpkin Festival a few weeks ago (we had planned to, but the weather was pretty dismal), we could have been on BBC World News this morning.Also, to judge by the people they interviewed, we would have been some of the only people who are not supporting W. Even the people who think the country is going to hell in a

Welcome to the Dahlhaus

2005-10-16T23:56:00.000-04:00

Things I have learned during my first 4 weeks of graduate school:Large portions of the graduate school process are no more than academic hazing.There are people who somehow make it through college and are accepted to graduate schools (albeit in performance and conducting and the like) who don't have the first clue how to write a simple article citation using a style manual (as of our third

In praise of fabulous women

2005-10-05T09:40:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know I have not posted in some time. Lemming actually called me last night and pointed out this very fact. At some point or another, I'll post a nice newsy update.This is not that post.This is just to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first woman to make a solo transcontinental airplane flight. The woman was Laura Ingalls.Joe kids me about my Ingalls obsession a lot, but seriously, the

Kenyon vs. OSU

2005-09-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

A comparitive analysis based on three days of exhaustive studyKenyonOSUGeographic feature: Kokosing River Olentangy RiverFrisbee: Ascension Lawn The OvalCell Phones:Little to no signal, mocked ubiquitousLocal coffee:Middle Ground, at Wiggin & Gaskin Brenen's, on High Street and in the LibraryPopulation:1600about a gazillionReligious kooks:Middle Path Preachers Crazy Salvation Army guyWireless

Blast from the past

2005-09-25T08:45:00.000-04:00

Picking up the meme from Hugh. My 23rd post didn't actually have five sentences in it, but the fact that this one ended up being closest fascinates me. It seems so long ago..."Come early June, we're moving to Ohio."Instructions:Go into your archive.Find your 23rd post (or closest to).Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these

You just wiggled your finger. That's wonderful!

2005-09-23T20:00:00.000-04:00

Things that are making me happy today:I held my own reasonably well in classI was the last person at the gas station to get the $2.59/gallon price. As I returned the pump, the numbers changed to $2.63/gallonI have lost 15 pounds since starting Weight Watchers, just in time to fit into my favorite T-Shirt for banned books week.One of my routes home from school takes me past this sign:I love the

Holy crap...

2005-09-21T14:22:00.000-04:00

Within seconds of publishing my last post, I received notification of 7 different spam comments to that page. Word Verification time, I guess.

"Please wash accurately before use"

2005-09-21T13:51:00.000-04:00

...or, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation"Between leaving my job on September 1, and starting classes today, I had three rather nice weeks to review for my diagnostic exams (over now, thank the gods), finish up a little contract work, and most importantly can things.I have noticed that many women around my age have taken on one token hobby which was probably considered a routine job by one of their

Breaking Up is Easier to Do than I Thought

2005-09-14T13:42:00.000-04:00

Effective today, I am officially broken up with the guy who cuts my hair.(I realize many of you just read that sentence and decided this post was Not For You. That's ok - I understand. Go look at some Viking Kittens or something.)It's not that there was anything wrong with Trent - he was a perfectly delightful guy. While he trimmed away, we would chat about the work on the house, his latest trip

A Very Angry Post

2005-09-02T17:11:00.000-04:00

I have seen two common responses to Katrina over the past few days. Here's what they are, and why they and the people espousing them suck:This is all W's fault for sending the National Guard to Iraq/not funding FEMA/referring to the situation as "unacceptable"Fer pete's sake get over yourselves. Some of the current mess (looting, rapes, general lawlessness, etc) would probably be mitigated

Losing the Plot

2005-08-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

This morning, on one of our weekly status conference calls, everyone was, naturally, following news of Katrina. It went something like this:Alison: So anyhow, I think that, barring some sort of disaster, Surveyor should be out of testing by the end of today.Steve: It looks like the Superdome roof is leaking.Alison: Ooh - that has to suck.Evelyn: Why would anybody want to go there instead of just

Raw data

2005-08-25T09:27:00.000-04:00

11Days since my last post.11Weeks on the W3 (Weight Watchers and Walking) diet.13Pounds lost so far on the W3 diet.3 Days in a row I have put off mowing our yard.1 Estimated days until neighbor Jim gives up and mows it himself.ThursdayHeaviest day of the week for spam.26Spam messages filtered out by the InterScan anti-spam server today.99Spam messages that made it through the filter to my

Oh hell no...

2005-08-12T20:30:00.000-04:00

I know this is going to be terribly politically incorrect of me, not to mention insensitive and callous and all that. Nonetheless:I love how completely redneck this story is. Seriously. It started in Tennessee. The victim's names were Cotton and Porky. The culprits drove as far as Kentucky, but then took a taxi the rest of the way to Columbus (about a 2 hour cab ride), where they checked into a

His mother is so proud

2005-08-03T13:54:00.000-04:00

I plan on a real full-fledged post later today, to talk about Seattle and the Wedding of Swank and whatnot. However, at the moment I am working from a Panera in Columbus (hooray, free WiFi!) and have discovered the following, based on links I have tried to follow from emails.The Victoria's Secret catalog website is blocked by Panera's childproofing site blocker.So is Basket Full of Puppies.Way to

Exactly where you were on the day...

2005-07-22T09:43:00.000-04:00

This meme (grabbed from Lemming) has been an interesting exercise in "wow - I've come further than I thought." Rather nice for a Friday morning.What I was doing 10 years ago:I was living in Rockville with Joe, and working at The Catholic University of America in their accounts payable office, mostly processing travel vouchers for people who seemed to have far more interesting lives than I did. It

Pet Peeve Du Jour

2005-07-18T15:29:00.000-04:00

Y'know how, when you call a customer service line, during the interminable hold period ("your call is important to us"), they invariably ask for such information as your phone number (starting with the area code) or account number (followed by the pound key)? They always assure you that this is so they can retrieve your account information. Presumably, the idea is to speed things up once you get

I worry about my subconscious...

2005-07-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

I am not generally one for discussing my dreams with the world, but this one was strange and funny enough to stick with me:I was attempting to rescue people from some sort of mass-lynching of child stars, taking place in a cave. It was unclear whether all child stars were being targeted, or just cast members from Stand By Me. Anyhow, I managed to rescue Wil Wheaton at the last minute, but,

Purgatory

2005-07-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

Short-timer syndrome is a strange phenomenon. I know lots of folks for whom it translates into increasing aggravation and decreasing patience with all the niggly things that annoy them about their job - a reminder of why they are leaving for (presumably) greener pastures. On the other hand, I find that I am more able to let those things slide in a way that, perhaps, I should have been doing all

Back from Chicago

2005-06-30T15:33:00.000-04:00

We ate well. Very well. Luckily for my Weight Watchers progress, I also walked all over hell and back, which seems to have offset the damage. Millenium Park is way cool, open jam night at Buddy Guy's was excellent, and I am now the proud owner of an armillary for the garden and about a zillion photos (at least one or two of which I will post, once they are uploaded). In honor of the fact that I

Greatest Movie Quotes

2005-06-22T16:21:00.000-04:00

A few thoughts on the AFI list of 100 greatest movie quotes:I love The Maltese Falcon as much as the next person, but should it really make the top 20 for quoting Shakespeare?I prefer the extended version of #41: "My name is Bonnie Parker and this is Clyde Barrow. We rob banks.A handful of these really require context to be meaningful.Although I am thrilled to bits that Moonstruck even made the

Things are looking up the big pink pig

2005-06-21T21:00:00.000-04:00

My car is home, after way too long an adventure with the mechanic. It has a new timing belt, new water pump, and most recently a new temperature sensor. Gus has a vet appointment in the morning for blood tests, plus another first thing Friday morning for a 4-day prednisone shot. The best thing about this is that it means we don't have to send him to kitty jail during the Chicago trip. Everyone is

State-by-state rundown

2005-06-21T15:50:00.000-04:00

Since TRP mentioned his state tally, I figured I'd take one of my own. To wit:States in which I have lived: IowaMaryland New York Ohio States in which I have spent significant time (regular vacations, etc): DelawareMichigan North Carolina PennsylvaniaVirginiaWashington D.C (Yes, I know. Federal Enclave. Whatever.) States I have visited: California Florida Georgia Illinois

The obligatory blog about blogging

2005-06-13T15:46:00.000-04:00

As I have been blogging more regularly (there was a 6+ month hiatus), and following other blogs (a brand new thing for me over the past month or two), I've been noticing the different ways in which people present (or obfuscate) their identities online. The inspiration for this came a week or so ago, when Tommyspoon mentioned that there wasn't anything he felt like blogging about. TeacherRefPoet

Numb3rs

2005-06-08T18:02:00.000-04:00

I just got back from the doctor's office, bearing drugs which will (gods willing) get rid of my nasty swollen glands and horrid SARS-esque chest congestion. All well and good. They weighed me.Now, I do not own a scale, owing to my compulsion to stand on one and neurotically analyze the results every time I am in the room with one. This can be as frequently as every half hour. Not a good thing.

Understanding equals very no

2005-05-23T09:44:00.000-04:00

Catching another meme, this time passed on by Lemming. This one took me forever, for some reason. List five things that people in your circle of friends or peer group are wild about, but you can't really understand the fuss over.Cell phones: I know Hugh already mentioned this one, so it feels like a bit of a cheat. Still, my hatred of cell phones borders on the pathological. The few times I have

We read, so you don't have to

2005-05-12T18:36:00.000-04:00

(apologies to Lisa de Moraes for using her title conceit)Seen in ThisisLondon:Michael Jackson used his pet chimpanzees to clean Neverland ranch, his trial heard yesterday.The creatures would help the star by dusting, cleaning windows and brushing the toilets, the jury heard. OK, the man is undoubtedly weird, but c'mon. Monkey Butlers? How cool is that?

graduation redux

2005-05-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

In about 45 minutes, I will be starting the last session of my class on Court Musical Patronage. Technically, the last class was last week, but we decided to meet one more time for a short session to tie everything together. I started taking classes again in January of 2001, and since then have taken classes on Brahms, opera, Bach, an introduction to Ethnomusicology, the history of Korean music,

Spending it All in One Place

2005-05-10T16:55:00.000-04:00

After looking through everyone's suggestions and weeding out the ones I already owned (Dear Husband has a copy of "Vertigo") or weren't available (for some reason that Del Amici album isn't on iTunes), I have downloaded my Major Award. And the winner is "You Don't Treat Me No Good," by Sonia Dada. I actually ended up getting the version from their Lay Down and Love It Live album,

I wish I were surprised

2005-05-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

Our local school bond issue has gone down in flames. I am usually really cynical about the viability of school levies and bond issues, but I'd let myself get my hopes up for this one, since this was such a one-shot deal (the matching funds from the state are now gone forever). I was hopeful that more of the students who stood in line in the fall would turn out again. Some did, but not that many.

Help me spend 99¢

2005-04-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

It's a sign of ongoing inflation that computer keyboards do not come with a ¢ key. They were standard equipment on typewriters and now you have to work out an obscure ASCII code.Anyhow.I am looking for your assistance (and by "you" I of course mean anyone who might be taking the time to read this, whether or not you know me from Adam). I was, as it happens, the lucky winner (one of gazillions) of

Books, Books, Books. (I hate it when she's the last to leave the house)

2005-04-26T18:19:00.000-04:00

Yes, the book meme has come my way. I figure I need to finish it soon, so I can send it on its merry way to the next poor victim playerYou are stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book would you be?I have not read Fahrenheit 451 either (seems a pretty common theme), but since a key component seems to be choosing something nobody else has chosen, I am going to go with Life and Adventures of Santa

Antisocial behavior and other bugaboos

2005-04-24T00:48:00.000-04:00

I've avoided weighing in on Colin Boyarski's death since it happened. Honestly, I haven't been sure how I felt about it, much less how to put things into words. First of all, I'd like to address some comments I have heard made by folks (some students, some faculty, some alumni) about the drinking environment at Kenyon:Of course people drink a lot at Kenyon - there's nothing else to do in Central

And a very good morning to you, too...

2005-04-19T11:44:00.000-04:00

There are only a very few things I still have not gotten used to since my move back to central Ohio. One of them cropped up this morning. Y'know how when you call for service on something (cable, plumbing, etc), they give you a window? In this case it was the lawnmower, which needed new blades and general servicing. The good folks at Sears were able to narrow it down to sometime between 8am and

So there's that, then.

2005-04-14T17:17:00.000-04:00

The form is in the mail, the email is sent.It looks like I'm going to grad school. *gulp*I am somewhere between really excited and scared down to my socks.garden progress: Lots to be done outside. Hopefully this weekend.house progress: Lots to be done inside. Hopefully this weekend.what's for dinner? Don't have anything planned yet, but I am having a wicked craving for seafood

A question on the nature on music

2005-04-11T14:16:00.000-04:00

It is a glorious day outside, and I am stuck on a horrific conference call, so I wreak my revenge (pronounced re-WENG-gee) by blogging.There is a curious thing I have noticed in the musicology world. There seems to be a remarkable overlap between the people who study/research/adore early music and those who study/research/adore twentieth century music. I'll grant you that "Twentieth Century Music

Dateline: Gambier

2005-04-05T13:51:00.000-04:00

Spring has arrived in Central Ohio. It had a brief visit last week too (along with Matt Lavine, evidently) but didn't stay terribly long (also like Matt Lavine). Anyhow, the weather has generally triggered lunacy among the students, home repair among the locals (two new driveways on Brooklyn Street alone), and quibbling about the fate of the Wiggin Street School.A little background on that last

Maybe I was mean, but I really don't think so

2005-03-28T19:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry to (temporarily) steal Joe's conceit of song titles, but it just seemed so appropriate. I refer, of course, to the fate of Laura K. Pahl. Go ahead. Read it, then come back. I'll wait.Done? Cool.Now, as a hopefully-soon-to-be-graduate student, and a person who spends a huge amount of time around undergrads, I have less than no sympathy for this woman, and am kind of surprised at the few

On the move

2005-03-14T20:28:00.000-05:00

Time to move off of the work servers and into my own place. It's going to be a gradual process for a bit - sort of like when you gradually start moving your stuff out of an old apartment so the roommate won't notice. What, hasn't anyone else done that?Anyhow, I am hoping the new site and new design will inspire me to get off my ass about writing. The big downside of moving to BlogSpot was that I

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

2004-08-11T14:03:00.000-04:00

Notice the "More Buying Choices"

Farewell to the Frug

2004-07-12T09:46:00.000-04:00

Cue Vivaldi: TV's Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, dies This man gets full credit for my love of cooking (lord knows I didn't get it from either of my parents). He has left a hole since leaving the public eye, and will be missed.

"Odd" News

2004-06-21T13:39:00.000-04:00

Happy Solstice, all! Although the article itself is innocuous enough, it annoys me that it gets categorized as Oddly Enough News. Just once I would love to see a News of the Weird item on the huge numbers of families (mine included) who put up trees in their living rooms each December.

I'm an aunt!

2004-06-01T13:08:00.000-04:00

Very exciting news - my brother- and sister-in-law just had their first baby this morning: Molly Rose Murphy. All are tired but happy. Yay!

Spring Break!

2004-03-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

I have not been this excited about the idea of spring break since the late 80s (the last time those words really held any meaning). With two classes, choir, and opera workshop this semester, plus work and house stuff, I cannot wait. Reducing myself to only two projects seems the height of relaxation.

Progress

2004-03-03T14:02:00.000-05:00

San Francisco, two cities in New York, and now Oregon. It's amazing and wonderful and George W. should be shaking in his shoes.

That's whatcha call on-the-job training...

2004-02-27T09:27:00.000-05:00

Overheard from the heating guys in my basement: New guy: "Ow!" Boss: "OK, now don't do that."

Morning in the Midwest

2004-02-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

I awakened this morning to the sound of dear Joe trying to thaw out our pipes with a hair dryer. It seems that when you excavate enough soil from the back of our house to make it structurally sound, you leave remarkably little for insulation.

Progress on the house, progress on the blog...

2004-01-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

The House Diaries are up, at long last. I started with this latest assault, but will be adding earlier stuff as I find the time. Unfortunately, while I love Blogger dearly, I am finding some limitations for this particular purpose. I'd really like to be able to assign categories to each of the entries, so I can single out stuff that applies to the kitchen or living room or whatever, but Blogger

Happy Holidays

2003-12-29T15:59:00.000-05:00

Here's wishing you and yours a frabjous new year.

Sacrifices in the name of science

2003-12-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

Y'know what the best thing about this is? Yup, that's right - Sanka is decaf. Parakeet.

Six States, Seven Nights

2003-12-01T18:29:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is over, and at long last I am back in my own house and sleeping in my own bed. The holiday week was lovely in many respects, in that we got to visit with scads of people, but it did have its downside. A rough itinerary of our week might have looked like this (had we bothered to write it down in advance, which we didn't): Friday, November 21 OH/WV/PA Go to class, work, meet with

Crap in the Attic

2003-11-20T15:08:00.000-05:00

It's official - a bunch of guys in tool belts will be arriving December 1st to begin destruction on our house and take away large piles of money. We have the building permit (after some minor wrangling over niggling things like roof pitch), and closing is tomorrow. In preparation, we have been clearing out furniture and boxes from upstairs. Some of this is stuff we got from Mom when she moved,

That time of year

2003-09-29T19:55:00.000-04:00

It's autumn again, and I am going through my usual bout of reverse S.A.D. Some people get depressed when the days get shorter; I get a burst of energy when the weather starts getting chilly. It makes me want to clean and paint the house, and cook hearty long-cooked meals.

End of an Era

2003-09-02T18:12:00.000-04:00

My grandmother's funeral was Saturday. Everything was really nice. Even the priest, who I was prepared to hate, gave a good homily. Meredith's eulogy was fantastic, and the whole weekend was filled with good reminiscing. Things I really admired about Marie Julia Gittings: She was a devoted teacher, and righteously indignant at being forced to retire from teaching one week before the end of the

Zeppelin

2003-08-28T13:14:00.000-04:00

The last time we had power (whenever that was - July sometime?) I heard something on The Daily Show about the feds using blimps for surveillance. Today, with the electricity finally back, and the fridge notably empty, I heard an odd noise. Sort of rumbly, like a generator, but with a put-put rhythm reminiscent of an outboard motor. Upon looking outside, I saw an Outback Steakhouse blimp flying

The students are back

2003-08-26T15:32:00.000-04:00

On the one hand, it's nice to have a bit more life in town, and the market has longer hours during the school year. On the other, my neighborhood bar has been overrun, and there have been events (loud ones) going on crazy-late. *yawn*

Wish List

2003-07-21T19:41:00.000-04:00

In no particular order: A resident groundhog who is not so fond of munching on my dahliasThe energy to finally finish some of these lingering house things, like the wainscoting in the bedroomA handyman who looks like George Clooney (thanks for the visual, Victoria)A mezzalunaA use for all these potatoes. Any suggestions?

Happy Anniversary

2003-07-11T15:59:00.000-04:00

On this date in history, Aaron Burr (or "Cousin Aaron" as I like to think of him) fatally shot Alexander Hamilton, who evidentally didn't think Burr was serious about duelling. That'll teach you not to underestimate my family, bucko.

On the move

2003-07-09T17:33:00.000-04:00

New home for the blog. Yay! Estimate from the contractor on my house. Double-Yay! Visits from friends. Yay, yay, yay!Ok, first things first: This is the new home for my site - I could no longer justify paying for two ISPs, so as of August the old one will be kaput. Blogger has also made some changes since I last wrote in May, so between that and the new server, I am still working on getting the