I've arrived at "the zone" of studying. I produce papers in a day, read books like lightning, sometimes while on a stationary bike. This is the speed that's best for me--getting things done just quick enough that I have a touch of extra free time to do something like post on this livejournal thing. Maybe make my head organize a thought without ( Read more... )

No real inspiration, not even much time, but I felt the need to keep the momentum going on this journal, even if its just for a little bit. School and work have been going well, and I appreciate being in grad school again. I feel like I say that all the time, but in a way, I continuously feel that way. My professors are open-minded and willing to ( Read more... )

I'm reading an article on the ability of Marxism as practiced in China to mold one's mind into a kind of social status. That you work a certain job, or get 'political education' a certain way, and come out on the other end being ready to move toward the proletariat revolution. Huh ( Read more... )

4 and 5 years ago, this was the time to do my best work--a Saturday night, home alone, computer plugged into the speakers and playing some sort of drone music that I didn't have to pay any attention to. Now, some 5 years later, I'm back in the same world, a quiet, sedate time when all I have to do is shove through reading after reading. I'm ( Read more... )

The thing about the UofMN is that, for whatever reason, it doesn't have quality study space. At Parks Library in Ames, they had rows and rows of private study space along the walls of the library, perfect for hiding away and reading. The UofMN, it's all social. You might have a table, you might have a chair with a desk, but you're usually crammed ( Read more... )

The first week of Ph.D. has been a bit hectic given LeMeg's schedule and my own, but things work out, even if it takes a few dings to the old ego armor ( Read more... )

The next session of grad school starts, and suddenly I'm drawn to the things that helped my first run through. Things like the cool speakers which I just attached to our TV for explosive sound, and this thing called LIvejournal, which I've entirely neglected in the past two years in lieu of better, mroe advanced writing systems. I think, when ( Read more... )

At 4:45AM my first alarm goes off, beeping until I smash the snooze bar. Because I've gotten into a habit of over sleeping, I put on a 5AM alarm that's beyond annoying, just to jostle me out of bed and get moving. I start coffee, make a bowl of cereal, and quickly check my fantasy baseball team. When I used to work on the other side of the city, I  ( Read more... )

Once upon a time, in one of my more creative lives, this space retold countless experiences of mosquito control, as it was the job that kept me alive through the summers and paid my way through college in the winter. Thanks to my summers wandering the swamps, I've learned a lot about the world and how to handle myself, to be a reliable member of ( Read more... )

It's a habit that I'm trying not to break, to keep going like I know I should. I spent today putting together wedding invitations and writing two blog posts ( Read more... )