another weekend

Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little in the last post . . . I have a pretty sweet life.

But I'm also exhausted.

hmm . . .

I use the phrase "SO much fun" a lot in this blog.

And I don't know if it's because the fun things I get to do really are that much fun, or if the rest of my life is so miserable that the regular, pleasurable parts of "normal" people's lives are events that send me into throes of ecstasy precisely because they are so infrequent and unusual.

I prefer to think it's the former.
I need to think it's the former.

oops, forgot this story

This conversation took place as H-nok and I left Libe Slope to walk back to our dorm:

Me: Traying was SO much fun! This is what Ithaca is good for! And we should do it before we're too old to do this kind of thing anymore, you know.

H: Uhm, no, we're already too old for this.

Me: That's okay, no one can tell. We're too bundled up.

see-saw

I feel like I live on a see-saw.

I feel like quitting! Writing a dissertation is too difficult. Every time I have to start over again, it's just as difficult as it was the last time. Maybe it's more difficult because my body and mind just wants to stay relaxed.

good day!

We got about 2 feet of snow in one day! That is what a Northeastern winter should look like!! Snow by the foot, not by the inch!

Afternoon classes were canceled because it was too dangerous for staff/faculty to drive in. After dinner, a bunch of us from our dorm grabbed trays and went up to the Library Slope (pretty steep!) to slide down the hill. H-nok and I stayed on the least steep student-made "slide" (basically the part where the ice is all packed down from everyone traying on it) while the others went on the steeper sections of the hill. It was very, very fun!!!

After that, we spent some time digging H-nok's car out of the snow. That was not so much fun, but still.

Also met with friends Jade and Susan in the afternoon, and they gave me feedback on the first draft. It was REALLY helpful, and I think I have a sense of how I want to work on the revisions now. Yay!

more procrastination in light of my MAJOR march 1 deadline

this is what I see when I look at my laptop screen . . .

best pork chops EVER

Our new weekend cook subbed for lunch today, and he made the BEST pork chops I've had during my entire 9 years in the US. No kidding. EVER!!

I have to work extra hard at tonight's badminton practice to work off all that pork I inhaled.

winter

Btw, the weather on the right doesn't take into account wind chill!!!

It's crazy cold over here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cool site

hey, great site for uploading/downloading/sending LARGE files!!!

http://www.sendspace.com/invite/etoemw

turned it in!

Good news: yesterday, I turned in the first (very rough) draft of the first chapter of my dissertation!

Bad news: I'm kinda feeling down in the dumps right now, and I don't know why. It has NOTHING to do with having finished the first draft because I have a ton of other work I can do for the dissertation.

. . . and it has nothing to do with monthly cycles either . . . there's absolutely nothing wrong in my life that I can think of. :) Ah well.

Okay, I should explain the elections and what was on my mind last week (besides badminton). Part of the terms of our scholarship at the dorm, T-ride, is that we work on committees to run the house. The Advisory Commitee (Adcom) is made up of 3 members elected by the House, and they assign everyone else to committees (such as House and Grounds, Employee Coordination, Outreach, Academic Affairs, Social Events, Computing, etc.).

Basically, in the past AdCom has wielded a lot of power because they aslo mediate at times of crisis and conflict. This semester, a few of us got together and drafted a legislation that would create a separate committee that would take over all kinds of mediation, and who will be the people we call on if there are cases of sexual or other kinds of harassment.

Okay, explaining everything is going to take too long. I'll just aim for semi-comprehension from here on.

Basically, I got elected to AdCom, and K-gan was made First Ad i.e. House President. This is a pretty big deal (and I won't go into why exactly that's the case), especially since K-gan and I are part of the same--rather large--faction in the house. :)

At this point, I can't even remember why I wanted to blog about this in the first place. There was a reason, but I can't remember now.

A few days into the job, and I'm already learning a TON about being a leader of sorts in a small community of VERY smart, VERY accomplished, and VERY ambitious group of people. I have a feeling that I'm going to have an interesting semester.