Publish or Perish

Three weeks till my summer break; two and a half days till Loki breaks for the summer and about five weeks till we head to Seattle. I can't wait. It feels like a very long time till then and I know that I shouldn't wish my time away but really...I need a break. :)

In other news, I have 9 mm kidney stone that's just dying to come out. That was not fun. I felt like someone was trying to dig my kidneys our with a rusty spoon. Not fun. Plus, I scared Loki to death. He does not deal well win something he can't see. He's much like Wolverine in that way. :).

Anyway, the staff over at Shadyside Hospital were great. They treated me quickly and informed (and calmed) Loki. Very important. I still have the kidney stone and I am scheduled to have them blasted with lithotripsy either next Tuesday morning or Thursday morning...at either Shadyside, Presby or St. Margaret.

So... other than that nothing else is going on. Sorry for the long delays on in between posts.

First, thanks to those at Shadyside Hospital for taking care of me.

I have no stories right now. Figuratively or literally. I'm a busy girl with her head filled with thoughts of school, work or Loki. I don't have an original thought in my head to string a lovely sentence together, let alone a lovely paragraph.

Does it make me sad? No, not really. I know the stories are still there. I just don't have the time to commit them to cyberspace. :)

Labels: life, me, school, work

My brain hurts. Which, really isn't hard, if you think about it. I have a total of ten more weeks before I am on summer break at Carlow (two more weeks of Communication and then Learning and Diversity in the Adult Population..or something like it).

And during this time away from reading for pleasure I've been complining a tall stack of books on my nightstand.

So, what's on my night stand that's begging to be read?

I'm so glad you asked.

God-Shape Hole by Tiffanie Debartolo
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindquvist
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Wild Nights by Joyce Carol Oats
Cracked by Dr. Drew Pinsky
Cringe
Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
And possibly The Stand by Stephen King or the Dark Tower Series...if I'm feeling ambitious of course.

:)

I look over at my stack of books nightly and think wistfully: "Soon. Soon, I will devour you. And then I will have no books to read. And then I'll be sad."

Truly, that's my train of thought.

And no, I didn't add books like the three travel books I have (Chicago, DC and the Southern US); a writing book; a book about reading; two books about time management; a book about writing; two books about yoga and meditation; and two other books about what to read depending on your mood.

I should take a a picture of it.

Labels: books, geeks, me, school, time

Really? I haven't updated since when? Oh, right. Last month. Sheesh. You'd think that after hitting almost four years, that I would set aside time for me to do some bloggin...but hey, real non-internet life takes precedence. ;) Anyway, I posted this on facebook (I know!) and thought that I really should repost it here. So, last Friday Loki and I travel over to Greensburg for the Ray LaMontagne show at the Palace Theatre. And I have to say, Ray sounds exactly like he does on his album. And I got a few pretty good pictures of him. ;) Julie mentioned that he must have used the same lighting set up and I'm pretty sure that he did. He doesn't strike me as a guy who would venture out and try something new in the middle of a tour. Not only did I get a few good shots of the man and his band, I was able to tape my current favorite song by him, I Still Care For You. A very good show. Even if we were sitting in the nosebleed section. Seriously, we were in the next to last row. And I have to remember to get aisle seats least Loki's poor knees give out him. Being only three apples high, I have no problem sitting in cramped spaces. They don't feel cramped to me. But my poor baby, being considerably taller than me did not enjoy the crampness of the seats. Oh, well. Anyway, the following Tuesday was the Andrew Bird show at the Oakland Carnegie Music Hall. Someone forgot to tell Mystery's Most Wanted that he needed that night off (*ahem*) and so after fruitlessly trying to get someone to come with me I went myself. Which, was really cool...in a weird sort of way. The first band (and my apologies, I don't remember their name) was a cool sort of band, with an accordian, violin and a brass section. The next to last song they did, the lead singer asked if anyone wanted to dance on stage, they could. Well, people did. A lot of people. Seriously, a roadie had to hold one of the light towers so it wouldn't fall over and hurt someone. The leader singer was shocked that so many people had come up to dance. And feeling guilty, he asked people to step away from "Mr. Bird's things, lest this be their last show with him." The crowed agreed so they crowded the top of the stage. A very surreal moment. And really, it was only going to get a bit more surreal... Now, I don't know about you, but when I think Andrew Bird, I don't think dancing. Really, I don't. Maybe it's because I'm 32. But really? Dancing at an Andrew Bird concert? Okay. Near the end of his set, there was a very enthusiastic group of people dancing (flailing their arms really, but dancing, nonetheless) to his music. It got to be so much that security was called in to shepard the group of dancing people off to the side. Like I said, surreal. But of Andrew's performance? Superb. I was so very glad to have gone...because you know, I was thinking of not going because Steve couldn't come with me. But I'm glad I did. Andrew Bird seemed to be enjoying himself and was actully interacting with the audience. So, I'm not sure if it was the crowd or his eventual emerging from his shell, but whatever it was, I was pleased. *** It's been almost a week and I've realized that my musical crushes have taken a dramatic shift. (I know! Shocking!) Duncan and David are still up there, but they have been dethroned by Andrew Bird and Ray. More Andrew than Ray. And yes, I understand that I have posted two Andrew Bird sites and that the second one's header is a little freaky looking...but that being said, the second site has lyrics. Always a bonus. Oh, here's my video that I taped (badly) at the Andrew Bird show. I seriously, had really, really good seats. I told Loki that I had new (well, old) musical crushes and he said that he didn't mind. And really, understood. That's love for you. ;)

Anyway, enjoy.

Labels: crushes, hotness, music

Tonight was class night. Ususally when I come home, I've very tired. I did just work an eight hour day and then go to class for three hours before even thinking about coming home. But tonight was different and I'm not quite sure why.

Anyway, tonight we talked about our DiSC profiles, which is a personality profile. I'm a perfectionist, by the way, but I knew this going in. But the dominiate trait in the DiSC for me was the C which means Conscientious. Which, of course, doesn't really surprise me. But the professor, Martha, then equated each letter with a bird. Here's the breakdown:

D (dominant) = eagle with these qualities: control specialist, listen for results, fast paced, impatient, quick decision maker, high ego needs, competitive, winning in central, risk taker, fear of loss of cntrols, tells (vs asks), forceful, firm handshake, emphatic gestures, blunt, fighter

i (influencing) = peacocks with these qualitites: interaction specialist, people oriented, subjective, loves variety, enjoys change, needs focus, wants recognition, flight rather than fight, poor listener, tells stories, listen for approval, fears rejection, shares feelings, animated

S (steady) = dove with these qualities: stability specialists, excellent team member, wants cooperation, supportive, slow paced, high concern for others, systematic, warm, reserved, asks, listens for understanding, flight, fears change

C (conscientious) = owl with these qualitites: accuracy specialist, interested in the task, precise, very objective, needs a lot of info, indirectly controlling, private, sensitive, not social, listens for data, asks why, focused, quiet

Soooo....guess which one I am? :)

Labels: class, life, me

(I will be cribbing heavily from past journal assignments from my first class...just thought I'd be fair.)

So, at the beginning of this whole crazy process my boss (my fearless leader and let's be honest, my mentor) asked me why I was taking this particular program in leadership since I was so very shy and quiet. I told her that not all leaders have to be this larger than life persona that carries a big stick and a bigger voice. It's all in how you communicate your vision, your message; whether it is loudly or quietly. As long as your message and vision are firm then it does not matter how loudly (or not) you speak; whether you are outgoing or impossibly shy. This was the particular underlying theme my last presentation in the last class (Leadership and Ethics). The others in my cohort (as they are called at Carlow said that even though I am quiet it doesn't necessarily mean that I don't have anything to say. I just happen to speak when it counts.

Which, really makes sense to me.

Throughout my life, my opinion has always been asked. I'm not particularly sure why, but I think I might be starting to figure it out. I may not be the first to respond (or at all), but I do respond it's pretty much to say something that no one else has thought. In writing, this sure does sound (and look) pretty egotistical. But if you have met me (and a large portion of you have) then you know that I'm not really.

So...what's my vision? It's something that I'm still working on and requires a lot of self-reflection on my part...and something that I'm not quite comfortable divulging online...yet. I don't want to be vague, but currently, my vision is pretty much cloudy. I have to do a lot more self-reflection before I feel anywhere ready to hit anyone with my astounding vision. ;)

By the way, now that I've said all this I should have remembered that I was front and center in this photo. :)

Wow! Two posts in as many days?! What's the world coming to? Fear not, I'm sure the next time I pop up will be another seven to eight weeks from now (and if you're keeping track that will be when my current class is over).

Labels: doubt, life, me, school