Books (2011)

Let's update this list.

Books I've read this year (not in exact order):

Spring:
-?
(Really? None? Sad.)

Summer:
-Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss
-Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
-The Managed Heart by Arlie Hochschild
-Elsewhere, USA by Dalton Conley
-The Pecking Order by Dalton Conley
-Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
-Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
-Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
-Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins


Fall:
-The Help by Kathryn Stockett
-Then Came You: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
-More Than Just Race by William Julius Wilson
-Divergent Social Worlds by Ruth D. Peterson And Lauren J. Krivo
-Genes and Behavior by Sir Michael Rutter

-To be updated as the year progresses... Though I don't have high hopes for the last two months.

Goals

I think it helps to send things out. Out into the abyss. The great unknown. The world of ears. The hearts of your beloved. (These aren't all the same thing.) If I don't send it out it's easier for me to push it down, justify why I don't or can't have it. Acknowledging that I want it makes it easier for me to work for it. And I think there's power in the abyss. I don't think The Secret or Laws of Attraction are at work per say but I think saying it aloud increases the power that "it" has. That then increases the effect that it has on you and your decision making.

In an effort to push myself towards these things I present to you, my goals. (Note that some are large and ambiguous. That's probably better than having only specific, little goals.)

Short term:
-Present at ASA in August. The one in Denver, to be specific.
-Get to visit Nebraska for about two weeks (at least one and a half full weeks) this Christmas break.
-Defend my thesis successfully.
-Pay back parents for loaned money.

Long term:
-PhD
-Job at a nice University.
-Lose the last 20 pounds.
-Wedding, house, child, child, child, dog.

What are you sending out?

Feelings

This semester is kicking my ass. Kind of.

I'm getting much better at managing my time. I feel like I understand more than I ever have before. I'm doing a lot, and I'm getting it done.

I could have added qualifiers to all of those statements. But I didn't. I'm working to encourage myself and talk positively about myself without contradicting my earlier statement before I've even finished a sentence.

Instead of saying "I'm getting better at managing my time, but I've cut out some things I really miss" it's just "I'm getting better at managing my time." It's not a big change but it's enough to keep me going.

I've needed a cheerleader a lot this semester. I often tell Chase "I can do it" just to hear him echo it back to me. He's started encouraging me by saying "Go go Icallo" which is a play off the phrase "Go go buffalo" from Idle Hands. It's amusing.

I'm taking ONE class next semester. I'm taking a teaching course too but it's much more like a non-intensive seminar so it doesn't really count. I've got a month and some change left with this load. Then I'll be done with this four class crap. I bet I can do it. I can get there.

I signed up for my course load and work load thinking that I'd slacked last spring when I should * have finished my thesis and wanted to prove to myself that I could do a lot, all at once. I wonder if that was a good tactic. Pushing myself to my limit to see what my limit was/is. I suppose we'll find out.

In the meantime I'm going to go read a book for class tomorrow.

*According to my standards. According to the grad department I have until this December to finish and defend it. So technically I'm not behind schedule.

Absence

I haven't posted in months. I'm trying to decide if I should ignore it or note it and apologize. But it's my blog and I shouldn't have to apologize.

Whatever. Here are a few things I like:

-Smart students

-Jackets for Georgia's winter.

-This waterfall. It's maybe my favorite set of waterfalls ever. (Chase and I visited it this weekend and I can't wait to go back.)

-Blogs that post things that make me nervous and push me as a student.

(I'm taking lots of classes this semester, working semi part time, trying to get my thesis defended, and trying to relax in between those things, please give me a break for being silent.)

(Oh hey, I guess I decided to apologize for my absence and ask for your patience and understanding!)