Distractions

I have to confess that I am addicted to only one reality show right now (crosses fingers that this doesn't change when the new fall line up comes out). It is Rock Star INXS. VOTE FOR SUZIE! There. Now my loserdom has been revealed to all. I will hang my head in shame just as soon as the season is over.

Anyhow, while browsing for spoilers on Television Without Pity I came across another fasinating musical distraction The Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall Of Shame. Here is their description of what this musical device is and does:

Many writers and arrangers feel that when their song is in risk of getting a bit tired, it can be given a fresh lease of life by shifting the whole song up a key, usually in between choruses, towards the beginning of a "repeat-till-fade" section. You may have heard this technique informally referred to as "modulation", but the correct ethnomusicological term for the phenomenon is the truck driver's gear change. This reflects the utterly predictable and laboured nature of the transition, evoking a tired and over-worked trucker ramming the gearstick into the new position with his – or, to be fair, her – fist.

Contrary to what many people seem to think, the truck driver's gear change is in no way inventive, interesting or acceptable: it is in fact an utterly appalling and unimaginative admission that you've run out of inspiration and the song should have ended one minute ago; but you're under pressure to make something which can be stretched out to the length of a single.


I find this site and the sample snipets hilarious, but I think I may find myself unconciously listening for the gear shift in all music. I may have ruined some of my favourite cheesy tunes forever.

New Pants!

I lurve the lady who does my nails! She was cleaning out her closets and because I am one of her favourite clients and about the same size, she gave me 4 pairs of jeans, a pair of PINK cords, and a cute skirt and shirt outfit. They are so comfy and in great condition. I can't wait to wear them all. Hooray for cheap as free clothes!!

This just seems like a strange result

Woody Allen Your film will be 74% romantic, 37% comedy, 26% complex plot, and a $ 30 million budget.

Be prepared to have your life story shot entirely in New York City -- though lately Woody's been loving shooting in London. Also, your music soundtrack is all jazz from before 1949. Filmography: Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Everyone Says I Love You, etc. Woody has released one film per year consistently for the past 35 years. For the past 15 years he's been trying to make films like his older, funnier ones, just like characters in his Stardust Memories film suggest throughout. Regardless of his personal life (btw, his current wife was never *his* daughter), his films are American classics.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on action-romance You scored higher than 99% on humor You scored higher than 99% on complexity You scored higher than 99% on budget

Link: The Director Who Films Your Life Test written by bingomosquito on Ok Cupid

More photos

I put pictures up on my Photo page from some of the things that have been going on a while back like my birthday dinner...



And a luxurious evening at home...

I love audiobooks

I just finished listening to Stephen King's The Green Mile on audiobook tonight. I have always loved audiobooks since my Dad introduced me to them when I was in my midteens. He would go away on business trips and always had a good mystery or two to pass the time on the same stretch of highway he often travelled. When he would get back, I would snag the tapes and listen to them in my room for hours while I did mindless chores like folding clothes and organizing papers. I still like to do that. I like to read a good book now and then, but sometimes nothing beats having someone else read you a story :o)

A lovely evening...

It has been a rough week for me already and it is now only a half hour into Wednesday. Tonight, though, was a nice excursion to take a break from the ongoing stress of thesis writing. I went for a belated birthday dinner which was absolutely amazing (salmon, pesto and pepper linguini, mixed green salad, asparagus, and kaluha chocolate cake... YUM), complete with an anti-stress bath package which was just what I needed. When I came home I still felt a wee bit down, and within 5 minutes of setting down my purse, a great friend of mine called to see if I wanted to go for a glass of wine at the best new restaurant in Saskatoon, Gracie's Off Broadway. It was lovely. We are going there for dinner on Saturday and I already know what I am having, in fact, the chef is saving some ingredients especially for my risotto that night. It should be wonderful. I am going to curl up in bed with Myrah for a peaceful night's sleep.

By popular demand

More pictures are on my photo site, including my birthday toes :o) Thanks for the pedicure, Brennan!

Still working

Well the deadline has come and gone and I am still working on my thesis. I had grandiose plans of getting work done today and they went out the window when the building that houses my office was evacuated before I got there. It would make for a nice quiet work day except for the poisonous gasses wafting through the halls.

My kitchen looks lovely right now. All my dishes are done and I installed a couple of little lights underneath my cupboards to shine on my counter. It really makes my kitchen more inviting.

Well, back to work I suppose...

No internet and no phone make Laura something something...

Go crazy! Don't mind if I do!

The summer of construction outside my window has had a more immediate effect on my life other than the 6 days a week of noise... they cut my phone line! So if anyone is trying to get ahold of me, I am using my cell... that I never ever use. If you don't have my number, email me (which I check from the U) and I will send it to you.

It is t-14 days until the deadline, but I am having my doubts. My supervisor has been MIA most of the month and I am feeling off track in some of my chapters. I am working constantly, but the end isn't clear yet. Oh well, back to work!

All By Myself...

All my colleagues have been away at a conference for the past week, so my office has been dead quiet that whole time. There is no one to go for lunch with, no one to chat and commiserate with, no one at all. I have been fairly productive, but the quiet is starting to drive me batty. I just hammered out a brand new outline of the whole thesis, but I need some face-to-face time with my supervisor to confirm that this is the direction I should be heading. I don't know when she is back in town. Oh well, I will just keep working and hope I am not regressing... again ;o)

Good news!

I am getting enough money for the car that I should be able to replace it with a fairly decent model. Yay!

In other news, I went on my annual Mud Run last night. My Mud Run is where I go out running with the purpose of getting dirty, so I can come home and have a super hot shower and clean up. It was so rainy and dreary most of yesterday that I thought it would be the perfect day, but by the time I got a chance to go running, it had turned into a sunny evening. I had to be happy with splashing in the remaining puddles rather than getting DIRTY. I guess I can suffer...though, I might just have to take advantage of the next time it is nasty out :o)

Car update

The car is a total loss. Now I have to wait for SGI to determine the market value and cut me a cheque. I was really hoping that the car was fixable. This is turning into a pretty big hassle.

Feeling better

It is funny how a day of mellowing out can really make me feel better. I didn't do a heck of a lot on the thesis yesterday, but I really wasn't in any sort of mindset to do much of anything. I am still waiting on insurance to get back to me so we can get that stuff moving.

Today I feel raring to go on it, which is nice. I think I might try out the campus gym today to work up a sweat. And tonight, I am gonna try and make some light changes while watching the season finale of The Apprentice. Oh, someone cure me of my addiction to certain reality TV shows!

Well, back to work :o)

2 cars and counting...

I got into a car accident yesterday evening. I am okay and they are okay, but the cars are not okay. It looks like I will be back with SGI again. I am just hoping that my car can be fixed, rather than having yet another write off. Well, I had better get back to work.

T-51 days and counting...

I handed in a draft of ch 3 to my supervisor today. She seemed pleased. I was pleased to quit working on the sucker. My brain is now dragging to get to ch 4, the Connie chapter. I could really use a boost on that one. I think I will tackle the overall structure first, to make it parallel with ch 3, then start looking where I need to fill-in-the-blanks in my argument. If I make some of these global changes to the draft today, then tomorrow can be an intensive editing day. Hmmmm... maybe I should watch my Connie tape tonight, so I am still working on my thesis a bit, but it is really light work. That will help prevent that nasty brain fog I had last week. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Back to work!

T-52 days and counting

It is funny how when you have an intensive writing project, so many other fun things come up that you want to do. Alas, "no" is now a regular staple in my vocabulary, but only to the fun stuff. I am beginning to wonder if the countdown is for when the thesis should be done or if it is the day I will finally be rid of this massively annoying project. I am quite excited for the day when I can say, "I have no thesis work to do!" I think 52 days might be a bit short though, that doesn't count the committee revisions, the defence, the binding, or all the paperwork that needs to go to grad studies (well, not that much, but it is there).

At least I will have half a summer :o)

Well, back to work!

T-56 days and counting

I woke up yesterday with a fog over my brain. I didn't feel like I could be productive at all. It think that was a sign to change my work habits a bit. Thirteen hour days of intensive editing give me hangovers, so I am going to balance the intensive nose-to-the-page editing with some lighter tasks so that I don't get sidetracked.

I wrapped up my work at SIAST yesterday as well, though there may still be some more marking trickling in by Friday. Teaching at that college was a great learning experience, and I might even consider doing it again if I have time in my workload next year. I am a little freaked at the prospect of next year, but I will worry about that after the defence.

Back to work!

All by myself

The university is one lonely place once May hits. I am here working on the thesis (t-58 days and counting) and there is barely a soul around. Not a single colleague to commiserate with. I guess that means I will just have to work.

Speaking of work... here is a little article I found quite inspiring for some strange reason:

Lucas forced himself to write Episode III

Hollywood mogul George Lucas struggled so much with writing the screenplay for final Star Wars installment Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, he had to force himself to stick to a rigid working day as he sought inspiration. The hugely successful movie-maker, 60, took on the persona of a normal office worker as he sat at his desk for nine hours a day, five days a week - and he still only managed to produce five pages everyday. He says: "I am very diligent about writing. I go to work at 8.30am and leave at 6pm. I sit there with that page in front of me but I still can't write it. "I do get it done, I actually write five pages a day. But I force myself - otherwise I would probably write a page a day."

I am not a big George Lucas fan, but it is nice to know that some of the most successful people in the world have similar writing struggles.

Conspicuous absence

Well, after a month of heavy marking and thesis writing, I had my committee meeting yesterday. I have a firm and fast deadline for the completion of my thesis... July 1st. The defence is anticipated for sometime in the last half of July, because one of my committee members will be in town then anyhow. It looks like I have my work cut out for me in the next 2 months. This is both exciting and terrifying to me right now. Back to work.

Car update

Well, SGI declared my car a write off and has decided it is worth $800, subtract the $700 deductible and I get a whopping $100 for my inconvenience. They get to sell the car off for parts and my $700 deductible. I feel absolutely ripped off now, more ripped off when the damn thing was stolen. The police are closing the case because there were no prints recovered and I am left to get another vehicle.

Thank goodness my parents are willing to help me out finding another junker until I am done school and making a bit of money and not paying tuition.