Thursday, May 22, 2008

Back in the USA

I'm back in the US now. The trip was good...the Balkans are absolutely gorgeous, and I learned tons. But I'm glad to be back. I missed Rick terribly, and hated the fact that I missed Blaine's 2nd birthday. Oh well. When else would I get to go to Bosnia and Croatia and Montenegro? Had some stomach issues there that ended up with me in a Croatian hospital getting an IV, but I'm better now so no worries. And I wasn't terrible then, it's just that after 7 days of every thing you eat and drink passing through your system one's intestines start to revolt. But anyway...I'm back, and now packing up the apartment to move into storage on Monday. but first...WESTIES!

So I'll type more sometime next week once I'm in Worcester and more settled down. Just wanted you all to know that I'm back safely.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Hmm.

Well, the semester is over. Phew. Now it's off to Southeastern Europe for another random European adventure. I had one hell of a day. Had to leave Rick this morning to come back to New Haven, which is always a crappy experience. Then I've been busy all day. I'm just now getting to my laundry and its 11:30. On top of it all the cold I had moved into my chest, so I had to go to the doctor again. They gave me another breathing treatment and put me on the prednisone for another 5 days. They also gave me the highest dose of advair but I think I'm just going to stick with my low dose, but take the high one with me. I read the info and it just seems like too much...I don't know why they didn't just give me the middle dosage. Whatever. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Oh and I got some Zyrtec (Walmart brand of course) so that should help some as well. Then I just had another busy night with a mix up with some friends that hurt a little at first (I'm fine now).

All of this, and what I really want to do is hang out with Rick and start my vacation. I'm learning that for me, taking random trips right after the semester ends with a group of people none of whom are super close to me is a bad idea. I've found that at the end of tough semesters (this one was just a lot of work and trying to get this asthma sorted out--which I feel it still isn't!) I just want to be with the people I love and relax. It may be just me, but that's that. But we will be seeing the other YDS group who's going to Bosnia one day while we're there, and a friend of mine is in that group. It's not that I'm not friends with anyone in my group, there's just no one there that I feel super close to. And intense experiences--like seeing a new culture--are better, for me, with people I know and care about. London was different--that was England. I felt somewhat at home there. But here I won't even speak the language!

Anyway my laundry is about ready to switch. Feel free to send me an email over the next two weeks. There should be internet cafes and I can email you back! I'll put up some pics, etc. when I get back...although once I get back Rick and I have Westies in the Woods and then moving my apt. and then WSI certification and then visiting in Louisville, so I may not upload pics until June sometime. We'll see.

Hope you are all having a good May!

Monday, May 05, 2008

Two down, one to go.

My exams are done for the semester. Whew. I wish I could feel more relieved, but I have this paper still hanging over my head. Thus far I've written two pages...but I just got done going through Revelation (the NRSV) to find applicable passages. Now I need to go back through the Geneva Bible version, type up the verses I need (there's unfortunately no good online Geneva translation that I could just cut and paste) and take a look at the margin notes. The Geneva Bible is a pretty interesting thing, actually. It's from the 16th century, and the margin notes are full of Calivinist doctrine...It's like a Calvinist Talmud (I think the Talmud...the one with the text in the middle and the commentary on the edges...my brain isn't all with it right now so I can't remember which it is...or maybe it's Midrash. And that's in the Talmud. Oh hell. Forget it.). Anyway this and the KJV would have been what Milton knew, and at the stage in his writing I'm talking about I would be surprised if he mostly used the Geneva, but I can't prove that. Anyway the marginalia give some interesting theological insights into how people were taught to read the Bible at that time. So it's turning out to be helpful. Unfortunately the copy I'm using is a facsimile, so the spelling and type face is old...thus f's and s's look the same. And the type is tiny and not that clear. But I'm happy I was able to get a hold of this copy--my professor had said they're really hard to get a hand on here at Yale. This one was just on the shelf in the div school library. Go figure.

Went to dinner at HGS tonight with a bunch of people. We thought they would have some great Mexican food, but it was Asian. WTF? IT'S CINCO DE MAYO PEOPLE. Oh well. The rye toast and the soup I had weren't bad though (mostly because they weren't pseudo-Asian).

Anyway I should get back to working on this paper. My allergies have gone crazy and I feel like total crap. Started taking some Sudafed so I hope that clears this all up before Friday. I don't want to go on a transatlantic flight with my sinuses clogged up before we even leave! Talk about awful.

Hope you all are doing well.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Exams

Exams are upon me. I'm currently studying for the OT final tomorrow morning, then I'll have some Ramen, and then I'll work on history studying some more. I just got back my exegesis paper, and my TF called it "marvelous!" I think that's the best comment I've gotten on a paper since Stephanie Paulsell told me one of my papers was "beautiful," but somehow marvelous, as related to an exegesis, seems more exciting. And he said it would be hard to argue with my presentation. He gave me a 97! That's amazing, and something I've never achieved as a grad student. Woohoo!

Now, on to studying. Oh and it's 11:10 PM. I'm not usually one for staying up late the night before a final, but I'm not really sleepy for some reason, so I'm going to make use of the time for studying. Woowoo.

Papers won't be done by tomorrow though. Thursday at the latest, Wednesday hopefully. We'll see. Either way they'll be done before I leave for Europe.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Duh.

So I think I've figured out what may be the most annoying questions I get at the library. In no particular order...

1. Do you have change?
Answer: we are a library. We don't sell things. And I don't personally have change because I'm a poor grad student too.
-I've actually had 2 people get really upset with me when I told them we didn't have change and that they should try the refectory. Seriously. Why would I have change? It's a library! We don't take in that many fines. Sheesh.

2. Is the copy machine working?
Answer: Did you try turning it on?
Response: Yes, but nothing happened.
-So then I go and follow the person to the copy machine (this usually happens when I'm working alone and have to leave the desk unattended or when I'm already busy with someone else). Then I either press the start button to turn off the power saver, or I turn the copier on. Like they said they already did.

3. Can you fix the printer?
Answer: No. Try the one in the student computer lab.
-I'm not a tech person, nor do I really have the urge to go upstairs and try to break the printer. In an attempt to fix it.

4. And this is the worst (because it's a Friday question)...you all close at 5 today? Wow. That's early.
Answer: Yep. We close at 5. Just like we do every Friday.
Response: You all should stay open later.
Answer: No we shouldn't. Get a life. Shut your face. I don't really say any of those things but that's what I'm thinking.

5. (This one I get on Thursdays when I open and then work a few hours in the afternoon). Wow. You're still here. Do you work all day?
Answer: No, I decided living in the library was cheaper than renting an apartment. So now I just shower in the bathroom and sleep on one of the bean bag chairs in the MRC.
-This has gotten more frustrating as the days get nicer and I'm stuck sitting inside from 3-6 in the afternoons, when everyone else is outside talking/playing frisbee/having a nice time and I'm inside getting asked goofy questions. Please don't make it worse by pointing out to me that I am working all of the time.

So, folks. What's the lesson to all of this? Be nice to your library staff, and don't ask stupid questions.