Grad School In!

I’ve got an “in” to grad school! Sue Rankin from Penn State led the research on our LBGTQ Climate Survey. She came in to present the findings today. GenCen was a host, so I got to play with screens and mics. Guess I did a good job…she told me to call her when I get out. I probably won’t go into anything she focuses on, but it might be an interesting summer research project at some point.

Econ Quiz

Oh, dear. Becca fail. I got the right answer, using a formula at the end. When I tried to do the actual work, though, I utterly failed...fascinating. Oh, well. Exam is next week. The quizzes won't kill me, if I do well on the exams. Which I should, given that I seriously understand everything...perhaps, though, Becca will actually study for a test now.

Teacher's Pet!

A fantastic high moment, just now - my thesis professor signed an email with his first name. Heehee. (Previously, it was with his initials.)
I'm such a dork...

Redecorating

We are redecorating the condo! When I say "we," I really mean "Kelsey with Becca's money." Yesterday, Kels and I went to Home Depot and picked out paint colors. It has been fun to watch the wallpaper come down. (How old is that stuff, Granna?)
We're also exploring getting a new stove - gas. They are a bit nicer to cook with.
If anyone has decorating ideas, let us know. Current colors are "eggshell white" for cabinets and doors and a lovely darkish green (but not too dark) for main walls. The bedrooms will probably be done in the eggshell rather than colored.

Sunday

We sang a very fun number in church Sunday morning by Gilbert Martin. Lots of fun (read: challenging) rhythms. We pulled it off decently well.
Then went to brunch at Bravo! with Ian, and then headed over with him to help train the new LBGT panelists. Always fun.
Then the significantly less happy but very lovely memorial service for Joan Kelsey at church. The choir sang. The service was lovely.

Baden-Powell

I think I may have just read something for my food and water security thesis that cites an ancestor of the founder of scouting...it was quite exciting.

Fashion...?

Will someone please explain to me how this qualifies as "fashionable?"

(Photos by Giuseppe Aresu for the Associated Press)

Friday

Get up, shower, repair dress via sewing.
Bike to GenCen. Staff meeting with muffins.
Hannah Administration Building for MLK Weekend Celebration Committee Meeting. I've been named the student chair...(How do these things happen? I said "no" last spring...but they looked at me with those eyes...)
Back to GenCen. Bits of personal work, bits of GenCen work. I'm trying to redo the Gender, Justice, and Environmental Justice Graduate Specialization logo...with limited computer programs. It's quite exciting.
Arts and Letters Donor Appreciation Dinner. They asked me to speak; I agreed. And promptly managed to tell such a sap story I managed to make myself cry...good golly. (I spoke about a friend in Israel who could not have been there without the scholarship, is the first in her family to go to college, etc.)
And home to clean the house (both roommates are at their parents' for the weekend, so it'll actually get clean...), work on the independent study some more, and another round of "1776."

Thursday Night

Consisted of staying up entirely too late making muffins for my staff meeting (which turned out beautifully; thank you, Mother) while Kelsey studied for her microbiology exam. Watched and mocked "1776" (I utterly adore that musical) while working on my Madison independent study on food and water security as the muffins were in the over. We only have one six-muffin tin, so it took a while...but it was fun. Just a bit sleepy today...

Pathways to Peace

The program last night went gloriously well. All our speakers except the one out of town with a funeral showed up (more of a question than you'd like, since we're often working with people we haven't met before, etc.). Attendance was good and varied, including a bunch of students. (Thank you, Garrett, for dragging a group of Wesley students there. Yay!) I was quite moved myself - always a sign that the program's good, if it grabs the organizer away from the details. Huzzah!
Go, Penny Zago and the Shalom Center.

I have been administratively assistive!

I performed my first act of administrative assistance today in the office...at least, the first one I was specifically asked to do. Generally the secretary is here when I am, but she's out today, so our director asked me to look up a phone number. It was oh so exciting.
And I cut off there mid-sentence to go into her office...and was once again helpful!
Haha. I rule the world. Or, a very tiny portion of it for about five seconds. But hey, you know. I'll take what I can get.

International Day of Peace

What is today (Tuesday, not Monday) is International Day of Peace. WOOHOO! UN-declared day where celebrations are held around the world to commemorate, strive toward, etc. The Shalom Center for Justice and Peace in downtown Lansing (ministry of the United Methodist Church) and the Campus Interfaith Council are co-sponsoring an interfaith celebration. We'll have Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Humanist, Jewish, and Muslim speakers, along with dances, songs, etc. I am very excited; it should be a great program.

Happy Monday!

Hey All -
Sorry I've been rather quiet lately; I had a rather lazy weekend. Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent on the couch watching "Pushing Daisies" (thoroughly adorable) while slowly getting some bits of work done.
Friday night was rather thrilling. I got a call from Mum while I was working at GenCen that a friend from Lansing was driving up to see "Sweeney Todd," the community theater musical Mum was in. So I suddenly and without warning found myself in a car driving towards Mount Pleasant to see my mother as a crazy lady in a show about a crazy guy. It was...thrilling. Literally. Haha.
Anyways, massive kudos to the cast and crew; it was a blast. A bunch of friends from high school were in it or came to see it, so it was fun to see everyone.
Monday all I had (I just realized it's actually Tuesday...so Happy Tuesday!) was an 8:30. Today really feels like Monday because I was barely on campus at all.

Take that, Economics!

Professor called on me for something and I fudged it...and then I later redeemed myself with the (his words) "$64000 question." And I answered a question correctly later too.
So there, economics! Don't play smart with me, buster.

Good Morning

Welcome to a wet and gray day. It's not really that yucky out; I was able to bike in without much trouble.
Yesterday was busy but not too thrilling. Today:
Economics (yay for partial credit on the quiz)
Work! (YAY!)
Anthropology Capstone (we have a draft of our CV/Resume and Personal Statement do next week for a job or grad school...I'm hoping she'll let me do mine for the Truman instead; though I suppose I could do White House - that's a "job")
Women and Power (we're talking about equality in feminisms today)
And then home decently early. I have a movie date with my roomies - dinner and "Killers" (a "Mr. and Mrs. Smith-esque movie with Ashton Kutcher (Mum, don't groan) and Katherine Heigl).

Another Wonderful Day!

Today's list of glorious things:
8:30 am - Economics Class. (Becca failed at quiz, but got the basic concepts, and it won't really affect my grade.)
10 am - Work. It was the last day for our temp secretary; it will be sad without her - she was wonderful. But our new administrative professional is apparently awesome, so hopefully she'll be fun.
2:40 - Anthropology Capstone Course. We talked about writing...not my favorite, but probably useful to have in the back of my head.
4:20 - Binge eat at Panda Express.
5 - Women and Power class.
6:30 (I was an hour late) - ADS/UDS (Scholarship people) Gathering. Gavin didn't order enough cookies, so we went to Insomnia Cookies afterwards. (I've never been; I got a brownie topped with Andes mint.)
Arrived home to the Instant Watch Disc from Netflix to play through the Wii on our TV! Now have nearly unlimited viewing pleasure.

Wonderful Day!

Had a great Monday. Had Ethics and Development class, then hung around Kedzie getting some work done until I met Dick re: peace and justice independent study. Then followed ice cream from the Dairy Store with Spencer. And, finally on campus, a meeting with Mark re: thesis independent study. Came home and left to shop with Kelsey - grocery sundries and whatnot, and then the really fun stuff: toys for the kitchen, a new medicine cabinet for the bathroom, etc. And then I took her to her first time at Bravo!
'Twas a glorious day.

My mother is a total creep

This post is mainly for Granna, who probably won't see the pictures on Facebook...
Mum in Sweeney Todd as the insane woman:



My weekend seems so boring in comparison...

Honors College Picnic

Today is the Honors College Picnic! Woohoo for a ton of geeks, all in one little garden! Fantastic life I've got.

Derek and Katie

Friends from Battle Creek visited last night...we watched "Serenity" and ate entirely more popcorn and fries than were necessary. Good night.

WACP

Woohoo! Becca gets to hobsnob. : )

For those of you worried about the class I'll be missing a bit, the reply from my professor:
"Argh - don't worry - for one thing, I'll presumably leave most RP's (assignments due) on Monday. But this will add to the list of things about which I'll have to have a word with the Provost.
Fred"
I'll have to tell him not to scold too much.

Medical Anthropology Class

Just got done with my first graduate course. Won’t be any problem at all; just lots of fun discussion. Favorite professor quotation for the day: “Brace yourself! We like Obama in this room.”

More GenCen Hours

I just got scheduled to work every other Friday 1-5 in GenCen.
Good news: more hours! I really, really like working in the office. (Let's be honest, I would totally be happy in a cubicle.)
Bad news: Fridays are totally not free. They were, technically speaking, unscheduled. Haha. Knew that wasn't going to keep up...

Drat

I was hoping to do an Honors Option in my Madison: Women and Power course, focusing on gendered access to food. But Jamal says "no H Options offered." Shipoopi. (The biggest issue this raises is with getting three honors options in my Madison core; otherwise, I don't earn Madison Honors, even with my thesis. I know Zierler will offer one in his International Security course. And so hopefully I'll be able to get one in my 320 as well...)

Successful Transfered Call

Not a big deal, you say, that I successfully completed my first transfer of an office phone call? Think again.
Okay, not really a big deal. But it was nice not to screw up immediately.

First "Real" Tuesday

Today is our first full Tuesday of class. The schedule:
8:30 - Honors Economics (He thought it was funny that someone from California came to Michigan State "Why would you come here?")
10-2 - Work at GenCen
2:40 - Anthropology Capstone
5 - Women and Power (Madison course)
7:30 - First Interfaith Council Meeting

Should be a lovely day.
: )

The Anthropology of YouTube

Watched this for a class...it's long, but it's really interesting. And it gets more fun the farther you go...(and, of course, I cried at the end).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU

No Finals!

In looking over my syllabi...I shouldn't have any finals! The only final exam scheduled is econ. But my professor takes only the top two exams - so if I do well in the semester, I will be final exam-free and have an extra week of Christmas break!

Cedar Point!

Turns out the Friday before Labor Day is actually a fantastic day to be at Cedar Point; the crowds were minimal. Lines were generally only 10-15 minutes long. Rode every major ride in the park (except for Top Thrill Dragster - the boys did, but I didn't much feel like it). Had a lovely time seeing my boys.

GenCen Project

Fun developments at work today! I'm going to be working on the following issue:

A current need on campus revolves around the need to make study abroad more accessible to LBGTQ students. The GenCen would be a great avenue through which to create momentum for enhancing the study abroad program at Michigan State University.
The following are concrete steps I could complete this year:
1. Creation of an informational flyer for students to be distributed at the 2010 Study Abroad Fair listing countries and currently-existing programs friendly to LBGT students.
2. Creation of a more detailed database including country profiles for each of our existing programs, including travel tips, warning, and student testimonials regarding climate
3. Creation of a developmental framework for a Queer Studies Program. This would include a look at:
a. Model programs run by other universities,
b. Ideal countries and contacts/centers in those locations,
c. Faculty list of professors who might be interested in leading/resources, and
d. Sample syllabi

EC 340H

I had my first session of International Economics this morning! No textbook or regular reading assigned - that means cheap and no time outside of class reading. No homework, either. Small, unannounced quizzes throughout the semester will be 10%; class participation will be another 10%. Three exams will be given; the top two will be worth 40% each. Meaning that if I do decently on October 7 and November 23, no final for Becca in economics! That means I have to do well, though...and I have no idea whether or not I'll do well. Professor Matusz seems fun, so hopefully the semester will be a good one.

A Marxist Analysis of the Itsy Bitsy Spider

A friend has this as her Facebook profile pic; I was entertained. Done by natalielee.

Hey World!

Apologies for not chatting with you...
Today is the first day of classes! Becca=happy.
Monday and Tuesday were consumed with helping people move in and introducing the freshpersons to their university and student organizations.
Today, I have my 8:30 Philosophy 452: Ethics and Development course (with the same prof I had for last semester's Ethics of Global Public Health; love him). And then a couple of hours, during which I need to run errands, mainly setting up my independent study with Dick in philosophy. And then I work in GenCen for a couple of hours, have a few meetings, and the church choir kick-off potluck and rehearsal/Wesley worship and kick-off. Should be a grand day.