as part of my research into higher education in Iran, as part of my job (evaluating the foregin credentials of our internationalstudents) i went to the website of the Islamic Azad University (wwww.azad.ac.ir) and when the page loads up, it automatically begins playing music. the really bizarre thing is, the music in question is Kenny G. let me ( Read more... )

so today is my birthday. i've already contacted some of you about this, but my plans are in flux; liz may not be free this weekend, and i'm travelling to Miami for work next weekend, so i'm not sure when any festivities might take place. rest assured, all my valued minions, that you will be informed when i know what's going on ( Read more... )

i recevied an email from the head of the East Asian Languages and Cultures deparment at the University of Illinois the other day, and she told me that they will be able to offer me a Fellowship rather than an assistantship, which means that i'll be making the same amount of money, but i won't have to teach. not only do i get to concentrate on my ( Read more... )

so, in light of my back-in-townness, the fact that Liz-will-be-goneness, end-of -the-semesterness, and my general appreciation of that finest of Dutch inventions, who's into some drinking/going out/shenanigans etc this weekend with me?

now, normally i wouldn't go in for this kind of thing, but while listening to The Stone Roses' "I Wanna Be Adored", it occcured that this would be an appropriate song to have played at my funeral. this will be more meaningful to some readers than others.

for a nice chuckle at MacDonald's expense:

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000357.php

so i'm back in town, and it was a mixed bag, as some of yo already know. one day on my trip it occurred to me (in an exceptionally cynical moment) that the entire reason for vacations was to make you want to be home. but the last 2 days redeemed what was otherwise a generally difficult experience. i ended up not exactly accomplishing what i had set ( Read more... )

so, things have been going a bit better these last few days. i've gotten some things accomplished and met some nice folks ( Read more... )

today sucks. in the sense that it is the culmination of a lot of other suck. a brief rundown ( Read more... )

so, for those of you who may not already know, i am on my way to Urbana-Champaign for my second visit, this one post-acceptance. i'm mainly going up to try to arrange for a place to live (i'm very very picky about that) and kind of try to get a feel for the town, the social scene, etc. i don't want to be totalyl blank when i get there; the ( Read more... )