Month: October 2012

Random 10 10-19-12

Last week. This week:

  1. “Madelaine” by Jonathan Coulton
    You could buy a dog to keep away the bad guys
  2. “The Curse” by Josh Ritter
    Then he talks of the Nile and the girls in bullrushes
  3. “Daybreak” by the Stone Roses
    Black bones are the original bones
  4. “Buggin” by the Flaming Lips
    And the summertime will make you itch the mosquito bites
  5. “Freddie’s Dead” by Curtis Mayfield
    We can deal with rockets and dreams
  6. “Cloudy” by Simon & Garfunkel
    Why don’t you show your face and bend my mind?
  7. “Light of Some Kind” by Ani DiFranco
    I wish I didn’t have this nervous laugh
  8. “Lonely Boy” by the Black Keys, almost guessed by Betty
    I got a love that keeps me waiting
  9. “Real Men” by Tori Amos (orig. Joe Jackson), guessed by Occupant
    You can wear the uniform and I could play along
  10. “Cocaine” by Jackson Browne, guessed by Kim
    Ladanyi come knockin’ down my hotel room door

Good luck!

They tell me it’s a Thursday

They tell me today is Thursday, although I’m not entirely convinced by the evidence before me. In some ways it felt very much like a Monday, with me just returned to the office after a five-day (including last weekend) absence, and in other ways it feels like it ought to be much, much later. After driving all day yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was get up early this morning and face my regular commute.

I drove to Maryland on Sunday afternoon, despite a GPS that thought getting there by way of midtown Manhattan and the Lincoln Tunnel was a good idea. (It wasn’t.) I had dinner with my sister and her husband, hung out with them and their pets — that’s their cat Sebastian up top — and then spent most of the next couple of days at the University of Maryland, meeting with instructors and talking to them about courses and books.

I will say this much about UMD: it is rather hilly. I don’t think it’s any more difficult to find your way around than with any other unfamiliar campus…but it also isn’t any easier. And while there appear to be any bike paths, there also doesn’t appear to be any shortage of bikes. Who says sidewalks should just be for walking?

My campus visit was kind of a mixed bag, but that’s usually the case. I spoke with some professors who were really nice, genuinely informative, and seemed to be understanding when I only had a small handful of awkward questions to ask them. (I try to understand the markets I’m working in, and I’ve been exposed to psychology topics more than I might have been otherwise, but I’m still no expert. I took Psych 101 in college and that’s it.)

On Tuesday night, I watched the Presidential debate. You can dig through my Twitter feed if you’re actually interested in what I think (or the jokes I tried to make). Sebastian watched with me, curled up at my feet, although I’m pretty sure he actually slept through most of it. I’m also pretty sure his was the way the go.

And then on Wednesday, I drove back home, stopping at Towson for one meeting — I’ve got a couple more more by phone and still hope to connect with the textbook manager, who wasn’t in when I stopped by — before heading home. The GPS really wanted me to take the Tunnel again, but weeknight rush-hour traffic in Manhattan is a whole different kettle of annoyance, and I was having none of it. Following the paper maps I’d made sure to bring as well, I made it home sometime after 5 o’clock.

It was a good trip, but it’s good to be back. That said, it would have been better if today had actually been the Saturday it felt like it really should have been. (If that makes any sense.)

I think my next campus visit will be a little closer to home. Unless I could get them to spring for somewhere much further and not have to drive. (Washington, D.C., traffic? Not a fan.)