randimosity from the road, 14.1

greetings from denver, colorado!

i'm chillin up in this (LOVELY) hyatt hotel working again. i like hyatt's and renaissances. they have such wonderful bedding and great bath products- many of which i am going to take and hide every time my room is cleaned. maan, when i worked this job in the spring and summer i did not buy soap or lotion, because i would take it from every hotel. well not every hotel, some hotel products are janky and mess my skin up. but renaissance hotels use aveda products (aveda = AWESOME) and hyatt hotels use pontico products. i've never seen it in a store, which is why i grab so much of it!

the kids here are good. chatty, but good. i hope they're learning something. i don't have super quiet ones like i did in columbus, but they are good kids. tons of fun. my co-facilitator worked together once in the spring, and we trained together in january. she's kinda sick of the job so she's not that enthused about this session. its kinda feeding on me, so i'm feeding off the kids sillyness. ironically she's applying to be a program coordinator for the same program (this program we work now). program coordinator is slightly better than faculty advisor, still crazy travel and crazy hours.

i'ma keep on being a guest FA. i like it. i just can't do the demading schedule where i'm on the road 3 and 4 weeks in a row. i did that in the summer and i almost LOST MY MIND. i seriously criss-crossed the country. i had no concept of time zones.

...kinda like i don't have a concept for time zones now. i'm from central, but two weeks ago i was in eastern and now i'm in mountain. i went to bed last night at 10p and woke up at 3a for NO REASON.   i do know one reason, my dumb self had the heat on high fan on 77 or 78. i don't sleep in heat, but i will hibernate really good in the cold. but ironically i don't like being cold. well, i don't like being cold when i'm supposed to be awake.

oh yes, i have a room to myself! first time EVER. they picked a great hotel to give me my own room. i can control the tv, the heat, and the bathroom. awesome combination!   i'm staying over an extra day here in denver, but i don't know if i will be able to do much because its supposed to SNOW on sundai.

SNOW?!   what's that!??!?!?!?!?

ya'll know i don't do snow.

the food here is aight. not as awesome as other cities, but edible enough to get me full. and they had chocolate covered apples as snacks. i'm not a fan of chocolate covered anything, but chocolate covered apple slices = YUMMY! i ate a good 4 of them. and we told the kids they could only have one. haha. we don't follow our own rules.

i texted BP this morning. of course he is working another conference in princeton. i miss my yt boy. he got soul though, and awesome hair. can you tell i like guys with awesome hair? its definitely a qualification for my interest, along with a college degree, interest in knowledge, fun-loving/adventurous and smart-mouthed. i got a smart-snarky mouth so he need to be able to keep up with me.

i do need to keep my attitude and snide comments in check though. not everybody should be the recepient of my attitude, like my professors.  i know better, i'm just so used to talking shit that i keep it up.

okay, somehow the air is on in my room and it is getting ready to hit me with the sleepy stick.

until next time...

TOODLES!

randimosity from the road, 13

greetings from.... dallas, texas!

well i was in columbus, ohio, but i'm just now getting around to typing this. lazy, i know.

anywhoo...

i was in columbus from wednesdai to mondai working a conference. i'm not full time like i was in the spring and summer. i'm what they call a guest, so they only call me when they need extra people. which is cool, cause i get to rack up more frequent flier miles (i'm sad that northwest got bought out by delta so they are all on delta now ) and i make a quick 500 bucks for working with some kids. and i will say, these kids were awesome. two thumbs up for ohio kids. i thought they were gonna be like the indiana kids, and i didn't quite like them. but these were good. i will honestly miss them. i will never forget them, because half of them have added me on facebook already.

but i had a fun time. i worked with a basically new staff. i only knew two of the people. oh, and there was three people with my name. but people were able to tell me apart because i was the only black one. hell i was the only black person on staff. hey, it happens, but it's all good.

the hotel was awesome, the ride there? not so much. i was a lil forgetful and i didn't make a shuttle reservation ahead of time, so i kinda just hopped in and told the guy where i was tryna go. he had to use GPS. columbus didn't seem that big, so if you are a shuttle driver, why are you using GPS? that puzzles me everytime i see it. not only that, they just wanted to start some construction right in the front of the hotel, so he had to drop me off in the ALLEY next to it. are you serious? me no likey that.

of course with coming to a new city, xanga meet-ups are bound to happen. so who's home is in columbus? thebigshowatud. on sundai, after i finished up with the kids, we talked on the phone and we talked about him hypothetically bringing me chipotle because all the restaurants around me were fancy smancy and i didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for food. so he shows up at my hotel (with the hypothetical chipotle in hand) and i eat my (AWESOME) food and we watch football. damn ohio didn't show the cowboys game (HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS!) so i watched the san fran vs indy game and the minnesota vs green bay game. that brett farve is a BEAST. and he 40? damn. he is going to have some serious arthritis when he get older though...

after the food, we went on a nighttime walking tour of downtown (during which i FROZE). and they have this huge ass statue of christopher columbus. the dude gets LOST and he gets a city AND a statue? can i go get lost real quick?! what ya'll gonna give me????!!!?!?!

i felt like i was at home for two seconds when we were at a light waiting to cross the street and this early 90's monte carlo rolls up with a nice paint job and huge chrome rims. the south has escaped to the midwest!!! and really, i don't think ohio should be considered midwest. its next to pennsylvania, which is next to the ocean. but its not quite northeast either. i don't know what to call it.

so after that, i returned to my hotel and worked on my prelims some more (i failed to mention i'm taking prelims didn't i?) then i went to bed. the next day i woke up (late for a change. FINALLY!), repacked, and got ready to go to the airport. i had to take a cab, which i don't like to do (damn bone collector movie!) and i had fairly good flights to back dallas.

onto other random stuff being that i have been MIA for a month...

my dissertation proposal was accepted. i defend it NEXT MONDAI.  i also defend my prelim exam answers on mondai as well. they call that a 2 for 1. why schedule two meetings when you can knock these out at one time? i'm going to have to study really hard because everything that i didn't write in the paper, i will need to be able to say in the meeting. i don't know what to expect. my prof is supposed to be calling me later to tell me what to do about mondai.

ummm... i'm supposed to be researching but i'm not, and i'm using prelims as my excuse! i will get to it, trust me, i just need to handle my business first before i go working on somebody else's stuff.

hmm... that's about it. i don't do much.

next stop... DENVER! where it will be even MORE cold than columbus!

until next time,

TOODLES!

why you irk me

helloooooooooo again!

i've swooped in again for a quick minute. just to let something off my chest before i return to my normal program of reading and studying for my prelim exam and dissertation proposal defense.

here's my question: why must you irk me?

no no no, this isn't directed to any of you all, this is dedicated to my annoying classmate who's antics are driving me crazy and she doesn't even know it. i've blogged about her before, but i'm too lazy to provide links. anywhoo...

we have this lil research consortium in my doctoral program. i'd provide the name of it, but i'm afraid my blog will show up in a google search of it, and i certainly don't want THAT to happen. anyway, my committee chair oversees one half of the students, while the other prof oversees the other. they each have a doc student that's their go-to person, or 'student leader', as they call them that we're supposed to answer to (mainly to keep the doc students from pestering the professors so much.) but that doesn't stop me. she sends out these lil emails telling us what to do and when to do it. they seem friendly, and i know she's taking direction from our prof, but boo boo, don't get it twisted. don't let that lil position of pseudo power go to your head...

for example, we have to turn in weekly progress reports to document our progress on our research reports. (i think its BS that we have to do this. it doesn't really show progress, because my reports report progress when i haven't done SHIT). we have to submit them to her and she 'approves' them before she sends them to our professor. apparently, she didn't like that role or either he didn't like her in that role, so either she (TRIED to) put that on me or he told her to give that responsibility to me, and at the end of her email, she said if i had any questions about this responsibility to contact her.

i went straight over her head and contacted the professor myself.

and got out of doing it.

it may seem like a win, but i still ended up losing, which sucks. the sucky part is really stupid. he said i didn't have to approve them, but i have to compile them before they are approved. now tell me, does this make sense:

1. everyone sends their reports to her.
2. she sends them to me.
3. i put them in one file.
4. i send them back to her.
5. she 'approves' them.
6. she sends them to the prof.

now, if it were up to ME, steps 2-4 are unnecessary. is she uncapable of copy and pasting documents into one microsoft word file?! i mean, how hard is that?! then, she has the nerve to email me talking about i altered the formatting when i copied the reports into the file, and that i didn't have to do that. um, how about you do it your damn self if you don't like my copying and pasting. so stupid. any sane person would see that those are unnecessary steps. any person with a backbone would speak up about it. i think she has submission issues, meaning she doesn't speak up for herself when it comes to males giving direction, so i see i'm going to have to do it myself. i have NO PROBLEM telling my prof what i'm going to do, what i'm not going to do, what i think is stupid, and what i think is a good idea.

here's another reason why i don't like this girl. we work on a grant together for the same prof. she runs the stats, because i don't know how to do it, and i type up the report. she hoards all the information regarding the report and gives it to me pieces at a time to make me contact her. then she sends me this email talking about send her the report. um no, i sent it to my prof, because he's the one that needs to see it. so i didn't send it to her. this heffa emails me again, cc-ing our prof saying she wants the report for her records. i roll my eyes and send it. she emails me back talking about i did great on it and that she wants to put her name on it since she did the stats and typed up the template, and that we make a great team.

no we do not make a great team. i don't like working with you. i stopped liking working with you ever since that group project we had last fall. i know its bad to harp on old stuff, but lemme tell you what happened. we're working on a presentation, and she invites me to her house to discuss ideas (because her husband keeps her shut in the house all day, while he drives around in HER CAR. but i digress...) i have my ideas, she had hers. they did not go together. so we agreed to both use our ideas, and just have two presentations in one. she volunteered to make the video presentation. i'm like cool, i'll send you my stuff for the video. why when i see the video in class, HALF OF MY INFORMATION IS NOT IN IT?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?

can we say PISSED?!

we were actually a group of 5, so me and her were partners and the other three were partners. we had to analyze a state education policy while the other 3 did a federal education policy. the fed policy presentation SUCKED ASS. when it came for question and answer time, i was gratified on the inside because all of the questions and comments concerned MY PART of the presentation, mainly because her half was irrelevant, and the fed policy, well, sucked ass.

so yes, that's another reason why i don't like working with her. she wants everything done her way, because she's a lil suck up that wants to be perfect at everything. i don't like kiss asses. so uptight about everything. you can be successful without obsessing and pestering people. you can be a leader without flaunting it in people's face. you can obey rules and direction and still be considerate and sensible.

i pray every night for patience and persistence, and for a decrease in my attitude, because ya'll know my mouth and words get me in trouble!

aight, i'm out. until next time...

TOODLES!

spooked, but okay

hello all!

been MIA haven't i?

i've been doing work, and being lazy, and living life, just without blogging about it. i got so many things to off-load on here, but this has to be the most important and significant one:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h1RmoAdL2bVeN0og5-nOV7sXy_Qw

just in case you're too lazy to read, i'll give you a synopsis.

a guy planned to blow up a skyscraper in downtown dallas.

i live in downtown dallas.

as a matter of fact, i live TWO BLOCKS AWAY from where the targeted skyscraper is.

thank GOD the FBI is on their job. they gave him the fake bomb, the car the bomb was in, and the cell phone that was supposed to 'detonate' the fake bomb. they got the guy. but how many more guys are out there?

spooky stuff.

in other non-scary news...

i recently celebrated a birthdai. i am now 26 years old.

mojito's are my new best friend. they taste like sprite to me.

i had a photoshoot for a natural hair calendar on my birthdai. photos coming soon!

my ex-traveling job invited me back for two sessions later this fall. the potential for more xanga meet-ups are in order!

and those are about the most exciting things i have going on right now. damn dissertation taking my life away!

take care!

TOODLES!

one battle won, a whole lot more to fight

greetings xanga family!

the first update from the past week that i'm soooooooooooooooooooo proud to announce is that...

I COMPLETED MY DISSERTATION PROPOSAL!!!! 

its only the draft, but i think its a damn good draft and my prof shouldn't tear it up too too bad. i say its pretty damn good. i should know what he thinks by the end of the week. i tried to make it as solid as i could, but i will admit there are some shady spots. i already pointed them out to him, so it won't be that he's telling me something new, he'll just (finally) give me some more definite instruction as to what i should be writing.

and i shouldn't look over my glasses as i type. my eyes are already bad enough as it is.

tomorrow is september, which is one of the GREATEST month of the year (outside of december of course). but i can't believe its gonna be less than 18 days until my 26th birthdai. i don't feel like i'm getting ready to be 26. hell i don't feel 25 now. and i sure as hell don't look 25 or 26. i need to work on that, but being that i'm still unemployed, i'm having to do that on a budget.

i did apply for a job last week as an upward bound counselor at one of the community colleges here. i sorta didn't qualify because they wanted someone with a math background and clearly mine is in english, but i can do basic math. you lose me when you get to algebra II and calculus. but algebra I and geometry? oh i GOT THAT. well see what they think.

after being on hold with TAMU's financial aid office, they finally gave me my financial aid back. i was overconfident that i'd have a job by now. since i don't, my emergency fund was running low and so i went and got that good ol financial aid back. granted, i now have enough student loans to buy a NICE mercedes benz with, but being that a person with a phd in my field automatically starts out making $50k a year, i'm not sweating it. sallie mae will get her money back.

back to the job hunt though. i don't really need to work, i mean, i do have a disseration to write. hell it took me a month to write the proposal for it and that was only 20 pages. but i want to work because a) this sitting around the house all day reading and writing is for the birds and b) i sorta have taken to a lifestyle that i need an income to upkeep!

for instance, maxwell is coming to dallas for a concert in october. i set my alarm early the day the tickets went on sale and bought 4 floor seats. cost? $664. i know the people i bought the seats for are good for it (well all of them except my sister, she be on that "i got a mortgage" excuse for everything now) but i wanted to be upclose and personal for the show! chrisette michele, common and maxwell?! yep that's worth 166 a ticket. i want to go to a dallas cowboys game in the new stadium too. first level cost about $175... A SEAT. hell i almost want to just go on the third level and watch that big ass screen that's in there.

and another reason i need a job is that me and my friends want to do more socialite stuff. we spend too many weekends sitting around the house doing nothing. we need to get out on the town! and that costs money. they (well most of them) have jobs, there are two of us that are looking for jobs. we gotta make it do what it do. we gotta live our lives to the fullest before marriage and kids become our #1 priority. right now, that's not anywhere on my top 10 things to do list. hell its not even on my top 20.

hmmm other non-interesting stuff that i feel like mentioning...

my truck hit 100,000 miles last week. need to go get an oil change, like yesterdai
i finally bought into the gladiator phase and bought some gladiator heels. cost? $85 (see this is why i need a JOB!)
i need to get some of these random boxes out of here
i need to eat breakfast too, because my tummy is starting to curse me out. and yes it is noon and i said breakfast. i got up at 10 something. what's the purpose of getting up early if i have nowhere to go?

and on that note, i'm out! in under 800 words.

TOODLES!