Two Notes

Two notes and thoughts from tonight -

Even though Clemson lost by 3 points tonight, the rush of that comeback reminded me why I love football and why I spend months pining away for it to begin again. The incredible high of watching one of your guy come down with the ball when height, weight, and physics say he'll be overmatched, the thrill of an inconceivable comeback. Even in defeat, the highs were pretty darn high. And I didn't even have to get off the couch (well, technically I did go over and watch with a bunch of friends, but I didn't personally have to face multiple 300+ pound linebackers trying to crush me for more than 3 hours).

I keep reading random stuff about sleep patterns, night owls and early birds, etc. because I seem to have the weirdest sleep schedule ever. I used to be able to nap and be a normal person and now I end up with weird insomnia at times and then occasionally survive quite happily for 2 weeks with an average of 3 hours a night. So, anyways, I saw this Scientific American article that claims that night owls actually get a nice performance/alertness boost 10ish hours after waking up, while early birds do NOT get a boost! Ha! Awesomeness. Obviously this doesn't explain my sleep patterns and who knows how much to trust it, but it's exciting, if only for the placebo effect it provides.

Final List: Movies & DVDs from the Summer

On a related note, these are the movies and TV on DVD I managed to watch this summer (sadly, this is as current as I'll be until next May)...

Final List: Books from this Summer

Now that summer's over, I figure it's time to take down the slideshow sidebars I've had up all summer with my wishlist and list of books to read as well as those detailing books I did read and movies I read. But, in order to make myself feel like I was productive, I'm keep them here for posterity's sake... this is the final list of books I read this summer -

Rude People and Below-the-Belt-Commentary

"Do you ever feel like nothing's going right?
And do you ever feel like you've got nowhere to go,
But you tell yourself you can't quite let go,
I really hope that there's something more,
'Cause I feel I don't have much to show,
Worth anything in my life, worth anything in my life...
But there is hope in the pain,
Hope in my tears,
And even my shame,
And I have hope in my doubts,
And hope in my faults,
Even in my fear."
-from Ryan Calhoun's "Hope"

So the song is a bit dramatic, but I searched for a particular quote I had in mind and couldn't find it and I had to give up on that for the time being.

Just wanted to express my frustration with certain 'friends' and classmates who continue to feel entitled to say just about whatever they want. Obviously I'm more tired than usual and it's been a very, very rough two-ish weeks for me, and most of them at least kind of know that it's been difficult. And yet, one of them, who has honestly been the closest to me for a lot of the time I've been in grad school and who is the most like me of anyone, continues to feel entitled to continue to make comments about me being single and being the only one not married, etc. It's not the same as announcing that you're married or talking to someone about that - marriage is much more of a choice than being single, at least for people living in a small town with a horrific dating track record/history with some really scary people in the rearview mirror. But regardless of my marital status and how okay I am with it (because I really am okay with it, it was NEVER my intention to get married at 22 and I do believe that individuals should date more than one person over the course of a lifetime), it's just not okay to point this out and repeatedly announce that someone is the only person not married and time is ticking.

Who are you? My mother? How do you think you have any right to say this to me? When I informed you that it was not appropriate or appreciated, was that not enough of a hint? Do you need to make yourself feel better about your decision to get married very early (because that is somewhat unusual in academia, no matter how small a town in the Deep South we live in)?

It's just really frustrating because it's so hurtful and such crappy timing... and I just needed to blog about it, to share this experience with people that potentially get it. Or just to write it and remind myself that it is ridiculous and outrageous and most definitely, not okay.