Week 4 Concert etc

I said last week that I was hoping to be able to start posting weekly photos. Unfortunately, I currently have no way to charge my camera (am going to look into ordering a new charger). I miss being able to take photos quite a bit, particularly during my first couple of months in Missouri! I am afraid that by the time I get it charged the novelty of a new town will have worn off and it won't be as fun to photograph mundane things like frat houses. And I have to take pictures of Fall! The leaves are already changing here, and it is absolutely gorgeous. My favorite time of year.

That being said, I refuse to fail my weekly photo goal (at least for this week)! Thus I stole a photo (shhh) from Lindsey Stirling!

During the concert on Monday she got her band members to take this photo for her Instagram:

Do you see us?! If you do you should probably get your eyes checked. We are there- towards the back all the way to the left. There were a lot of tall people up front so we were standing on the side where the floor is slightly tilted. I had hoped that would help me see. It didn't. One bone I have to pick with almost every concert I've ever been to (with the exception of those where everyone sits nicely) is that I just can't see. This was an even more disappointing issue during Lindsey's concert because she dances a lot and I really couldn't see her. On the plus side, they had a big screen above the stage where they showed videos of various things, so I could look at that if I got tired of looking at the back of people's heads. The music was fantastic and the opening act was decent and short (normally I hate opening acts). Unfortunately the main show was also pretty short; Lindsey only played for about an hour. It was still a great show though! And I liked the venue- small with a unique look inside (this was at The Blue Note).

Other than that, the main event this week was waking up yesterday morning to a dog with a face swollen to almost twice its normal size! She acted like nothing was wrong at all, but she looked...well, hilarious really. But I took her to the vet to make sure the reaction wasn't worse than it looked. She is doing a-okay, just allergic to some bitin' bug around here.

So it seems as if Missouri isn't agreeing with our animals quite as well as it's agreeing with us (or me at least, I guess I shouldn't speak for the both of us!). Hopefully no vet trip next Tuesday!

Week 3- FLUTD etc

Let me share something this week that I've learned. No, it doesn't have to do with anthropology. It has to do with cats. Mr. Kitty started acting out of character yesterday. Dominic and I both noticed that he was in the litter box a lot on Monday. Yesterday, Dominic caught him trying to pee on the bed- which he has never done before- but instead of urine drops of blood were coming out. I took him to the litter box and he struggled for minutes to pee. I did some quick searches and decided that it was urgent enough to take him to the vet.

I took him to the University of Missouri veterinary teaching hospital. They are excellent there, extremely friendly, and were willing to keep him for testing (instead of making me wait) while I went to class.

It turns out that he probably (unless he doesn't improve, but I think he is) has Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. This is relatively common in male cats and can be serious if full blockage of the urinary tract occurs. This can be caused by diet (we are switching him to a wet food), age (middle kitty age), obesity (he is just big-boned!), and stress. And we all thought Mr. Kitty was chill! But the move has been generally stressful for him.

Right now though, he is a super happy kitty. He's on some pretty awesome pain meds along with his anti-inflammatory pills. AND he gets fancy wet food. He seems like a much happier kitty.

Okay, well, maybe that wasn't all that interesting to anyone else, but cat owners be on the lookout! The symptoms are easy to see and if left unchecked it could be pretty serious. I had no idea this was something I should be looking for or how common it is, so just an FYI for cat owners.

Other than that, it's been a pretty typical week in grad school life. I had a great time Friday night hanging out with some of the other first year anthropology graduate students. Today I went to Student Health to try and fix my weird sinus problem again and will be back to see her in a week. She was a great doctor and very friendly. But everyone here has been friendly so far!

I've also tried two new restaurants this week- both Vietnamese restaurants. Both were excellent, though one was more of a take-out place and the other a very nice sit-down restaurant. It had very attractive furniture.

Oh ho, and the doctor said that I should cut back on CAFFEINE to help my indigestion. That's gonna be a preeetttty tough one, considering coffee is one of my favorite things, period. Plus I'm tired all the time! I will have to find another way to get that kick. One of which I am hoping will be exercise (I've been thinking about this lately, but Anna mentioned it again tonight). I finally got my bike fixed so I think I'm going to start biking! Yeah, I haven't really done it much since childhood, but I enjoyed it then, and this is a super bike friendly town. I will just have to work on getting confident in it again. Perhaps if I mention my hope to start biking here, I will follow through...besides my car hasn't been doing so hot lately...there may be a day when I will have to rely on my bike to get across town!

I am super excited for the Lindsey Stirling concert on Monday (here comes Ripley crawling in my lap- done with playing with Dominic) and so I need to get tons done in the next four days to make myself feel like I deserve a night out.

So, paragraphs later, we realize there is nothing much interesting to report this week. But I did it! My weekly blog. If I figure out a way to charge my camera I will start uploading weekly photos too.

Until next Hump Day...have a great week!

Week 6 of Classes Week 2 of Blogging

Here I am. I've placed myself in from of my laptop, finally, to blog as I said I would. And I find it difficult not because I don't want to write (I always enjoy writing) and not because I don't have things that might be interesting to talk about, or because I don't want to share. Rather, I find it difficult deciding what to share and what to leave out. A lot does and does not happen in one week, and if you sit down and attempt to write about it you find that you have both too much and too little to say.

I think I've decided that the primary thing I would like to share this week is a photograph. I could talk about the TV show research project I'm working on that is both very exciting and very time consuming. Or I could share the news I've had from home, or the dream I had last night. I could talk about some of the professors Dr. Shenk, my adviser, introduced me to last week (most interesting of all the emeritus professor who immediately began telling us about when he was in India and drank what I understood to be a hallucinogenic drink...he then peed in the street). I could mention the Neanderball game or the pretty awesome candle (from Miss Morgan) I have burning right now or the tea I'm about to brew. I could discuss traffic or weather or readings etc etc. 

But what I really want to share is this photo:

Yes. Yes that is a class photo! How exciting is that? It was taken yesterday on the steps of Swallow Hall, the anthropology building. I should frame it next to my kindergarten class. And in twenty more years frame one of myself and my (knock on wood/don't jinx things) students. Fun little snapshots in time.

The fellow in the middle with the yellow shirt and vest is Napoleon Chagnon. If you are interested in anthropology at all you should give him a Google. Also Google William Irons. He is to the upper right of Chagnon. Directly behind Chagnon is Dr. Lyman, the department chair. And to the far right bottom is Dr. Shenk, who you should also of course Google (and by Google, I mean click the links!).

Everyone else pictured is in this semester's theory/history of anthropology graduate seminar. It is a photo filled with all sorts of awesome.

To top off all of this awesome, and wish you all a good night, I would like to share one of my new favorite people, Lindsey Stirling. Her music is fantastic and if you watch her, she is guaranteed to make you smile (if this video doesn't given you a grin, check out her Skyrim or Zelda videos). What's even more exciting is that I just found out she's coming to Columbia October 8 and tickets are only $12! We are absolutely going. It is going to be an incredible show!

Grad School in Missouri: Week 5

Last night I was Skyping with Anna, and she suggested I keep a blog of my grad school experiences. It sounds like a good idea, both to keep in touch with the folks back home and to make myself articulate and wrap my head around everything that has being going on. Obviously, I'm not great at keeping up blogs...I will try to keep it up at least once a week but I recommend that if anyone actually reads them, and I get to running late (I will probably post every Wednesday) they should give me a poke. 

A lot has happened in a very short amount of time, and it still feels a bit surreal. It is hard to believe that the much anticipated move from Virginia to Missouri is over, our movers have left, Dominic has found a job and started working, and I am already into week five of classes. Week five! I think part of it is that there is always something to do, and so there has not really been much time to sit and think about the fact that I'm 16 hours from home and have started the five year journey that I have been wanting to delve into for so long. Five years seems like a long time, but I know it will go quickly (especially when I think about how fast my time at George Mason went, or the two years in between Mason and the University of Missouri) and I try not to think about everything that is going to or might happen in those five years, and then what the hell I'm going to do after it's all over. Right now I am taking one step at a time- stat class, theory reading, comparative methods research, and getting to know people in our new town.

Which is a great town by the way. Dominic refuses to pass opinion until he has been here at least six months, which is fair, because it still seems almost like a vacation, and it's hard to imagine that we will be LIVING here for five years or more. However, I don't really have the same inhibitions he does, and am willing to say that I really, really like it so far. There is a certain Midwest friendliness here which is fantastic (though Dominic says this is why there are so many serial killers in the Midwest...people are too open, trusting, and friendly....interesting theory). It is very easy to talk to people, and even after meeting people once (particularly neighbors) they remember you and will comment on your last conversation. Ripley has gotten a ton of compliments ("I like your little dog!") even though she is a maniac, and embarrasses me on a daily basis. If she sees a dog, or a runner, or a biker, or even a BUS when walking she loses it, can't contain herself, and does the dog equivalent of "Holdmeback!Holdmeback!" She obviously has no idea that she weighs 8 pounds. 

I'm trying to get out of the East coast mentality and into the Midwest mindset. It's been going well in terms of road rage (I've mostly gotten rid of it) but I still haven't gotten used to how open everyone is. It is as if everyone you meet here has the potential to be a good friend. Two of our neighbors invited us to dinner tonight. They are super sweet. 

In other areas...Mr. Kitty has gained weight. Yes, I realize he was already a massive cat, weighing in at 16 pounds. I don't even want to know what he is up to now. Since he can't go outside he seems to have some pretty massive cabin fever, and he eats EVERYTHING. I cut his food back to a high protein, low calorie food, which he likes, but then he eats Ripley's food, anything that is left on the counter, chews through bread bags, and eats out of the trash. He's worse than a dog! And I know he has gained weight mostly because he wipes out ALL THE TIME when trying to jump on things. He sulks for about a minute then tries again. Any suggestions on helping kitties drop the pounds would be great.

I spend a lot of time reading...I am going to keep track this week of how many hours I spend reading per week, just out of curiosity, and so I can share here. I LOVE to read, so I don't mind it, though sometimes my eyes do cross a little. My favorite time-waster when I'm not reading: watching Supernatural. That is my show of choice right now. Dominic even had a dream about it, which is hilarious because he thinks it is way too cheesy (secretly, I think he really enjoys the bro-mance in it, and he just doesn't want to admit it). 

Now that I've started this, I realize I could go on forever, but I need to get ready for class, correct some Stat homework, and snag a late breakfast. Until next time- happy hump day!

Procrastination and Final List

Recently, I have felt the extraordinary burn of procrastination in an entirely new and crippling way. Not related to  blogging- in fact I have thought about blogging many times since my last post. Rather, about what I had intended to blog about. I had decided that I would not post another blog until I officially decided my final list of graduate schools. THAT was what I have been procrastinating on in such an extreme, uncharacteristic way. I have always been pretty good at pacing myself and getting things done. In college, I never once stayed up all night to finish a paper. Not once. There was never a time I missed turning something in. But this deadline...is such a life-changing big deal that it really does cripple me at times...it, as a good friend recently pointed out, is a very daunting task. 

Anyway, I do have my final list, for better or for worse...

(University of Missouri)

Deadlines are in January. Just gotta power through and then it's out of my hands!

I'm gonna go do something productive now...like read a book...

Graduate Schools

I'm still blogging! There are, of course, plenty of other things I could be doing right now. But for the moment, I am thinking about Michigan:

That's Michigan State. Or maybe:

That's University of Michigan. There are others...of course...

University of Alabama

The University of Missouri, circa 1910.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm thinking about graduate school! I have narrowed it down to 13 possible schools (a somewhat fluid list). I intend on applying to 6. I will have those 6 narrowed down by this Saturday. Whew! I hate having to give myself deadlines- I stink at meeting them! But I can do this one, despite how difficult a decision it is. Anyway, here is the full list, in no particular order:

Michigan State University

University of Minnesota

University of Kentucky

University of Alabama

University of Missouri

Kent State

University of Michigan

Brandeis University

East Carolina University

Boston University

McGill University

University of Alberta

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

You don't even want to see the list of notes I have on these...or how many college websites I've visited! It's super hard narrowing it down...and I can't shake the feeling that I've missed the one. Though perhaps I'm not looking at it quite right. The one has to be on that list, right? 

Yes. Yes it does.

Short Change Hero

Discovered the song Short Change Hero by The Heavy today. One of those songs that makes you feel like you are listening the soundtrack to something...makes you want to do something profound to go along with it. Like film your feet walking down the sidewalk.