Wednesday, December 23, 2009

theme song


What do you do with a B.A. in English?
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge
Have earned me this useless degree.

I can't pay the bills yet,
'cus I have no skills yet.
The world is a big scary place.
Yet somehow I can't shake
The feeling I might make
A difference to the human race.

-Avenue Q

Thursday, December 17, 2009

moment of zen

Here it is, your moment of zen:

Monday, December 7, 2009

fracked

Dear Writing Resource Center Gods,

Every Monday I drive all the way out to Forest Grove to tutor at the Writing Resource Center. Monday, 12-3. That's my shift. And every week the distinct lack of visitors to the WRC has allowed me to get an awful lot of stuff done. Every. Week.

So why, writing center gods, did you choose today of all days to send me six (bad) essays? Why? I drove out here for weeks to help no one. But now that my deadline for my December graduate school applications is next Tuesday, of course, you would send me six of your needy. This is the week! The week of productivity, of go-getter-ness. Of research and writing and the oh-so-diligent application of the self! Why, oh why, must you choose today of all days to foil my best laid plans?

This is my angry WRC face.


Love,

Haylie

Friday, December 4, 2009

exactly

This has been my morning; how was yours?
Comic courtesy of PhD comics, my favorite thing ever and the happiest part of my email.


Thursday, December 3, 2009

honeymooners, part 2: versailles

On our second day in Paris Rosco and I hopped on a train to Versailles, glitzy, rococo home of this famously ill-fated lady:


I had never been to Versailles, and it turned out to be one of the most interesting places we visited in France. Not so much because of the glitzy palace:


But because of the exquisite (and gigantic) gardens.


In fact, this canal runs for an entire mile. An entire freaking mile of man-made lake-thing, dug well before the advent of anything even resembling your Caterpillars or John Deeres or Bobcats what have you (side note: why is heavy machinery always named after small and delicate animals?).


After visiting the gardens proper we walked to Marie Antoinette's corner of the world, the Petit Trianon:


...and her hamlet. Basically, this woman designed and commissioned an entire working farm and village, just so she'd have somewhere picturesque to visit. But that sounds harsh: actually, if our trip convinced me of anything, it's that Marie Antoinette was mostly just an extremely unfortunate scapegoat. Towards that end I highly recommend this book and this film.


Apparently, in addition to her pastoral influences Marie was also into the classical.


Thus ends "honeymooners, part 2." Next week (at some vague and unspecified time/date) we return for "honeymooners, part 3: the loire valley."




Tuesday, December 1, 2009

new day's resolutions

Lovely Photo found here

Tomorrow I will:
*Leave the house before 3pm
*Clean the kitty's litter box
*Edit my C.V. and Personal Statement
*Go for a walk while it's still light outside
*Write and send yet another begging email to my professors
*Play more proactively with the cat
*Read scriptures
*Drink water

Tomorrow I will not:
*Spend more than half an hour watching "The Daily Show"
*Spend more than fifteen minutes reading blogs
*Read any movie reviews. Not a one
*Nap for longer than I intend

*Sigh*

"New Day's Resolutions: Because Sometimes We All Suck at Life"