I am a Master!

Unofficially, of course.

I'm mildly surprised that I have only now gotten around to blogging this. Partially because I wanted a little bit of distance from the thesis. Partially because the whole thing was surprisingly anticlimactic.

After a week fighting with my thesis, racing around, getting it all finished, I finally I submitted my thesis to my committee two Fridays ago. Pulled an all-nighter, raced around Kantner getting it printed, punched and submitted with Lil Sis. I wish I could say I went out and celebrated, but really, I just crashed until I had to ush.

The following Tuesday was my defense. Call me arrogant, but I can't say it caused me much concern. The hard part is the writing. I can bullshit and charm much more readily. Lil Sis and I had lunch and coffee together. Sat in on her defense. Had a brief moment of panic when I realised that I didn't have a hard copy of my thesis in my bag. So between defenses, I made a quick copy. The defense went pretty well. I was able to elaborate on my research. And now I have a list of even more things I want to do with it. But I will leave that for the dissertation.

There were congratulations, and some nice compliments (people didn't expect 1-year MAs to be able to compose such good theses).

Now, I just have to finish the rest of my classes. I get to go back to reading theory and loafing around with way less guilt.

Sleep study

This sleep study is definitely one of the strangest things I have ever done. I had more test anxiety about the evening sleep test than about my SATs.

This is how it works: Arrive at the study center at 8.30 (it’s about an hour away from Athens). Fill out paperwork. Then the tech spends an hour gluing 25 sensors all over me. Literally. I counted. And the glue is the consistency of Crisco, and all up in my hair and face. All of the sensors are plugged into this box I can wear around my neck. Basically, I look like Frankenstein’s monster in jammies, and I feel like a human bomb. Add this to the fact that I can’t wash my face, which feels like an oil slick, probably from hanging out with the Crisco glue.

So they shove this thing up my nose and turn out the lights and expect me to fall asleep at 11PM. Given that I am a vampire, I am just getting started. But I can’t sit up, or wear my glasses, which seriously limits my options. And despite getting all excited about being able to watch Mystery Diagnosis, they’re all repeats.

In case being put to bed at 11PM wasn’t rough enough, they woke up me up at 5.30AM. I don’t even remember the last time I woke up that early. Stayed up that late, perhaps. It didn’t help that I spent most of the night worrying about ungluing one of the electrodes, or gluing my face to the pillow, or strangling myself with my wires. Oh, and knowing that someone was watching me “sleep,” albeit remotely and infrared.

Day study: Every 2 hours they let you take a 30 minute nap. One paper, this sounds awesome. In reality, it blows. Partially because I am so disoriented from the odd sleep schedule and no windows. Partially because I don’t take catnaps—I take lion naps. And partially because by the time the nap rolls around I am either finally awake or so stupid sleepy that 30 minutes won’t do. Oh, and it’s always less than 30 minutes. Grr.

It’s super frustrating because the room is really small, and I am still hooked up to my circuit box. Making most physical activity kinda impossible. Like I tried a bit of yoga but nearly gave myself a face-concussion with the box. So I am pretty much limited to the bed for movies/TV/book. Except for the fact that my Pavlovian response to reading is sleep. And because I don’t have a table or different, non-sleep space to read, it is pretty much impossible. Did I mention the total lack of internet?! So much for getting work done. Because I look like a messy freak, I don’t want to walk around outside the little blue room. The sleep center is attached to the normal offices, and shares a bathroom. And nothing says socially-awkward like padding into the bathroom in your jammies with your doctor and a new patient walking by. And sharing a wall with a coffee maker is such a tease.

I had made this deal with myself that after this I got to go to Target (it’s the closest one to Athens), but looking and feeling as gross as I do, I think I will ask for a paper bag, cut eye-holes out, and dash to my car to drive back to my shower in Athens. On the plus side, I think I figured out how to pay for a Wii.

Nice weather+free time = Productive

At first I thought it was the holiday weekend, but that wouldn't make any sense, since the point of holidays is to chill. I have my first tan/burn lines from reading outside. It's a bit tricky when you don't have someone to slime you, but Spamber recommends the spray slime. With all this gorgeous weather, I have all the windows open. My apartment smells fresh, with the airflow and all the laundry and dishes done.

Yesterday, I was burning through my to-do list, today I headed back out to the river trail for some intervals. I heart my iPod. The only bummer is that part of the pretty weather is the pollen count. So as I am busting into a run, I basically am inhaling/swallowing lots of pollen. So most of my sprints end in some hacking/choking as I catch my breath and cope with the infusion off crap in my lungs. But it's too damn gorgeous to think twice about it!

on the Tube: Dodgers @ Cubs in the top of the 6th.

Downtime with the Designers

The past week has been largely populated with dinners and playtime with the designers. And designers are more fun to play with anyways. It's the end of the quarter, and most of the designers are shipping out early for various summer gigs around the country (Colorado Shakes was this weekend's exodus).

Tuesday night was the weekly BBQ out with the horses. I think Tuesdays are the new Fridays, because Fives were dwindling, largely because everyone was in the theatre or totally wiped out. So there were a dozen people eating tacos and having appropriately inappropriate dinner conversation. And I was rendered speechless, which amused Smokin' Fairy to no end.

Wednesday we all headed out to Dash-M's gorgeous house for some jumbalaya and Rock Band. Smokin' Fairy set up the equipment, while the rest of us assembled the most amazing fresh fruit salad! 3 kinds of berries, kiwi, pineapple, watermelon. A veritable rainbow of fruit goodness. The jumbalaya was damn tasty too. Nothing overdressed. Just perfectly spiced rice, chicken and sausage. And Rock Band with all 5 players until our fingers fell off. Basically, we just determined if the volume or rock-out enthusiasm was too high if it freaked out the dog. And then I got to try MarioKart for Wii. Which is so going to be my graduation present to myself.

Thursday was the season finale of Grey's, so Smokin' Fairy and Ms. Smokin' Fairy headed over with pizza. And when the Honda commercial involving a guy encased in cement came on, she and I totally lost it.

Friday was a small Fives out near Albany. Which basically involved Riff's "extra crispy" hot dogs and Trivial Pursuit - Pop Culture edition. Riff, "Doug," G.Style and me coming from behind, once we really had the pie hunger. Oh, and there was this amazing chipotle hummus. We adjourned, and I headed out to the Gator to meet up with some different faces.

And last night, to avoid the speakers as big as me that were perched across the driveway, I got to have BW3 with Lil Sis and G.Style before heading out to see the new Indiana Jones. Which I was willing to let slide until the monkey scene. Oy!

But now that our numbers are dwindling, things will probably quiet down, letting me go back to work, the library and my loser evenings in front of the tube. It was a nice week after finishing an intense week of thesis.

on the Toob: SVU marathon!

TPRC - Telepresence Research Collaboration

Tonight the @Lab staged their telepresence event. The idea is to merge live performances in 2 different locations into a single web-broadcast, using Skype, AIM, webcams, etc. Combining video and audio components. We had tap dancers in one place reacting to a beat from a DJ in another place. With other synthesizers, keyboards, guitars.

OK. In theory, this was really cool. In reality, it was kind of a cluster&^$%. Lots of cable run, electrical cacophony, disorganization. The Union Arts location reeked of boy funk. The @Lab was crowded with a bunch of people who wanted to participate or spectate. Too many musicians, not enough organization.

Originally, I was supposed to be in on the artistic team. I suggested contact improvisation (the whole point is to adapt to a constantly changing environment. And then you could motion-capture if you wanted). But I never heard of anything else. Then I found out they needed a stage manager (from Smokin' Fairy who was doing most of the engineering for it). I'm still not sure what my duties are/were beyond moral support and pizza pickup, but hey. If nothing else, this project was nothing like anything I have ever done - theatre and dance are different animals.

Now I do some dishes and prep for my defense.

on the Toob: SVU

Poetry

2 shots of espresso and 2 refills of coffee
no place open at 5.15AM when i finally realise that i'm hungry
birds are chirping, but the steady rain is oddly zen and focusing
1 conclusion and infinite finesses left to do
T minus 8 hours and counting
oh gloria, i will survive
in one piece or many
but hopefully showered

on iTunes: "Lovely Head" - Goldfrapp

Mad thing

The fact that I slept through Theater History today should have been a clue that I should just stay in bed all day. And even on my worse vampire night, I have never missed class. So much so that my MA "Little Sister" actually came to my house and called to make sure I was ok. Not even the bright green pants could save that one.

For a few hours, I pretty much was in constant motion. When I got up at noon, I was shuffling around. Spent an hour at the Convo Center dealing with the Research & Creative Expo. First I didn't have a display board to use. Then when I got the board, it was too damn big to fit into the car. So in the end, I used a whole hour and accomplished nothing. Raced over to my thesis meeting, which of course was positive, but I still have alot of work to do in less than two days. Ran up to the CAD lab to print stuff for my Deathtrap presentation. Ran back downstairs to give my advisor a title for my thesis (so hate titles). Ran up to the lobby to meet my actors, then find space, take photos for my thesis. Actually, this part was fun. My two actors were really easygoing and ready to try anything. I just wish I had more time to actually teach them some tango. Then assemble Deathtrap packets. This was 4.30 when I was done.


My judging time at the Expo was 5.45 with nothing printed. I totally forgot that judging was tonight. I have also been so damn preoccupied with my thesis, I wasn't as on top of things as I would have liked. By the end of the run-around, I was pretty much ready to let things slide, but the only thing that would drive me more crazy than winging-it would be blowing it off entirely.

Blew home, inhaled a slice of pizza and half a beer, photoshopped some images. Dashed over to Kinkos, where a very nice lady helped me. Waited for some stoner to finish with the paper cutter. Rush to Kantner to print text off a Mac. Then fly over to the Convo as I frantically post my stuff, throw up my display as my judges politely stall.


I guess I really wanted to do this because I am really proud of the quality, quantity and breadth of work I did on Macbett. And the images are awesome.

But actually, my day was pretty much saved by the weekly BBQ out with the cows. Yummy (free) food, snarking with people, and having my favorite beer. On one hand, I could have used those 3 hours stressing about my thesis, but somehow, I think this was a better use of time actually. Now I just make a pot of coffee and wait for the thesis to slow down enough for me to get at it.

Stalking my thesis

My relationship with my thesis has turned adversarial. I am trying to sneak up on it to tackle it, wrestle it into submission, then make it pretty. I have discovered that Thesis tends to let its guard down around 2AM. My weapon of choice is my new green pen and heavy objects to hold down said thesis, lest it try to escape.

Currently, I am on hold with the Annex, being subjected to the Muzak version of Phantom, which I don't particularly love in the original. I am trying to track down a back issue of a periodical, because the original request got lost. And the library doesn't understand why I am miffed that it takes a week to be told they can't find what is a primary source that needs to be included in my thesis, which has to be printed and in the hands of my committee by 1PM Friday. I am about to put on the bitch boots and find the damn thing myself.

Also, let me tell you what I think of MLA right about now. Inconsistent, trivial and generally a pain in my ass. The Writing Center and I looked up how to cite non-text media, and found about 3 different variations. There's no point in buying the MLA style guide, because they keep changing it, or contradicting themselves. Reminiscent of my uniquely Classical problem of who to cite - the original Greek author, the translator, or the editor of the anthology.

Currently trying to schedule a photoshoot for my thesis, and sweet talk TAD into letting me include the images as "figures" within the body of the text, because I hate appendices.

OK. I think they found my book. Now I need to find shoes and get over there before they lose it again.

All dressed up

After spending weeks in paint-spatter, blacks or jammies, opening night provides the perfect opportunity to prove that you are capable of looking like a stylin' adult. We're talking laundry, mandated-showers, ties and heels. It's quite the sight to behold.

Friday night, I was very sad I forgot my camera, because the students of the School of Theater were looking pretty damn hot. I saw a pimp suit (on the most unlikely person), a guy with better legs than me in a mini-sweater dress, shoes I covet. And I busted out the nice jewelry and makeup. And apparently shocked the hell out of people by wearing a skirt.

I saw the first act of Knock Me a Kiss, which I thought was pretty good. I was more excited at the turn out of people, particularly students, admittedly most of whom were SOT. There were a couple of moments I liked, and the actor playing DuBois has a gorgeous voice. Maybe this week in my ushing adventures, I will see the second half! Before it's big NY transfer!

on Pandora: "An Honest Mistake" - The Bravery

A walk on the wildside

or Palmer/Mill.
Sometime around 11AM the ambient street noise started. Not unlike the Amnesty festival last Saturday. And I suspect it won't die down until tomorrow.



Palmerfest has vomited all over my neighborhood. There are cheap beer cans, drunk hoochies and red frat cups everywhere. The stench of Natty Light and boy funk wafts up the street with a good breeze. And as a diversion from my thesis, I decided to take a walk, and my camera. It was pretty damn amazing. People on houses, dueling cover bands, and the street the cops have pretty much given up on. All of the houses are overflowing with people, and are all clearly marked with their token "You must be 21 to drink" signs. And some other klassy signs as well. Best guess - either the beginning or the end of Greek week. All I know is that it is a big enough party that the Burrito Buggy has relocated from the corner of University/Court to Stimson/Palmer.

But it does make me miss all the street fests in Chicago during the summer. Every weekend was another event, which forced you to be outside and social. But they all had much better beer options.

But it's a good day. Sunny. My Cubbies won again. And hopefully I will get back to Chicago in a couple of weeks.

on Pandora: "Pieces of the People We Love" - the Rapture

Overreacting

Some things really shouldn't bother me as much as they do. Especially when they aren't my problem.

Situation #1. Sitting outside on the Virgin blanket with my Said primer. Nothing like some light reading while sunning/photosynthesizing. Overhear fight between girl and boy. Basically, she does alot of nice girlfriendly things for him, and he doesn't acknowledge it because (and this is a direct quote) "I'm just not that kind of guy." There was a fight. And what I really wanted was to go up to this girl, calmly explain that she was being completely reasonable, and PS, this guy is a turd who should be flushed promptly.

OK. I don't know why exactly this bothered me as much as it did. It's not my problem. Maybe it's all my feminist theory. Or the fact I have a few years on her. But fundamentally, I hate the idea that this guy thinks his behavior is acceptable, and that this girl will continue to let other people treat her like crap. But since I have a hard enough time not being inappropriate, I decided not to make it worse than it already was. Although when I saw the punk in the library it took every ounce of self-restraint not to share some of my views with him.

Situation #2. Apparently Blockbuster thinks I have profoundly bad taste in movies and that I am too irresponsible to return my stuff on time. I noticed two charges on my Visa from a Blockbuster store that I have not been to in YEARS. Call them. They said they initially charged me a late fee for Apocalypto. Do I LOOK like someone who would give my money to Mel Gibson to watch some racist epic? Then they realised their error and refunded MOST of the money. The guy didn't understand why I was so upset about $1.32 that I was out for a non-refundable "restocking fee." Here's a thought - I never rented the damn movie in the first place? At a store that is hundreds of miles away? It's $1.32 to you, but coffee/life blood to me. I have since canceled my membership; encouraged others to do so as well (and take a careful look at their credit card statements); and I will be writing a marissa-special letter to them when I am done with the thesis.

But I have set up my UCSB account, found some great new sources for the thesis, which I hate less now.

Drunk mommies

This weekend featured not one, but two big OU traditions/events - Palmerfest and Mom's Weekend. Palmerfest is pretty much a ginormous block party. Living in the middle of party central, I was really afraid of the possibilities Palmerfest presented. I had visions of all day-night parties, loud/bad music and evidence of puking. Fortunately, this was less of an issue since I spent most of the weekend in Nelsonville working on the dance show.

What I was not prepared for - Mom's weekend. I didn't realise what a huge event this was. I expected lots of brunches and such. But driving the stage manager, I saw a peek of Court Street, which was mobbed. So Smokin' Fairy, one of the LDs and I headed there for some spectating. The boys got felt up. I took my camera. It was hilarious. Drunk mommies everywhere! All the alcoholic apples falling not too far from their trees. Drunk mommies and daughters shuffling. Drunk mommies being taken home by frat boys. Girls so hooched out and smokerly they are mistaken for moms. Oh the frivolities.

(frat boy with SOMEONE'S mom)