Rain, Rain Go Away

Apparently the rainy season is upon us in New Orleans. However, I live close to the levee, so it shouldn't flood there, right? I am, after all, a whole foot above sea level. Not the case. I left for a party on Saturday night and got four blocks from my house when I got stuck in flood waters. I had to pull my car up onto the neutral ground (translation: median) and call for help. Luckily one of my friends came and saved me in her boyfriend's truck and took me to the party.

It's raining again right now, and I can see that there's water up to the bottom rim of my tire. At least now I know not to go driving in this business. Here's crossing my fingers I can drive to work tomorrow!

Exams

Oh man.
I am really officially a graduate student. I know this for two reasons.
1. I had a dream wherein a professor came to visit me and chastized me for being a shame to the department and that I had better not do anything else to associate myself with the department and make their reputation even worse.
2. I took the hardest exam ever. We're all convinced that we actually failed, despite studying for a million bajillion hours, and memorizing the heights of practically every obelisk erected in Egypt before the 20th dynasty.

This was our photo ID. It makes so little sense...

SNOW DAY/Damn, I live in the Midwest Now

So, I thought I was through with Snow Days when I went to Yale and classes stopped for almost nothing, even a couple inches of snow. But, I woke up this morning with the image to the left outside my window, and blizzard warnings. Consequently, the Chancellor cancelled all UW Madison classes. Yay!

So, I'm psyched, no classes, I can maybe catch up on reading, maybe even research related stuff? Hehe, sure. And it looks all nice and wintry, BUT, we're gonna have to shovel all that white crap...damn.

They don't make snow days like they used to back home in Memphis, when you could just stay at home play in the snow, and then it melts or more likely freezes over during night. No shoveling, no worries...

On a completely unrelated note, I totally had a dream about being with you guys somewhere (not Vegas, but maybe Vegas on New Years/Memorial Day/Flag Day/Columbus Day/Boxing Day/i dunno one year...if we plan far in advance?). Anyway I remember most prominently Alex, who was being inappropriate. I called him on it saying we only have a few more years until that sort of stuff is frowned upon. And then, listening to what I was saying, I promptly began being inappropriate myself. Ah, the brevity of youth.

Yikes!

I just assigned an alumni interview. I'm kind of excited, but also nervous - it's a lot of pressure!

Did y'all sign up to do alumni interviews in your area?

Season's Greetings

People wait for it the whole year. No one believes it will actually happen. But when the winter arrives and it finally starts falling from the sky, everything comes to a standstill. Kids go out and play in it. Complete chaos takes over on the roads, because no one knows how to drive in it. And the view from my office window is completely transformed into a wonderland...

...of water. Yes, it's raining in San Diego. It only happens about five days a year, but when it rains it POURS. Not to mention the wind that makes the whole building shake...a storm that would do any native Northeasterner proud.

But ignore everything I just said. To echo Monica, it really is warm and sunny ALL the time in SoCal--so come visit!

In other news, it's finals week, which means I should be studying right now instead of typing this. Oh well. There are certain aspects of Yale's academic calendar that you can't quite fully appreciate (such as shopping period and reading week) until you have to register for courses a month before they even start, and are studying for finals before your classes have even ended. Grrr. At least there's the consolation of being out of finals a week earlier! :-)

Over the next month I will be hitting up (at various times) San Fran, NJ, NYC (and maybe CT?), and Florida. Maybe I will see some of you (particularly if anyone's near NYC the week before Christmas...'09 does NYC?) In any event happy holidays, and stay warm!

December

So far, I find myself glancing at my MOB calendar more than usual this month...

This is mostly just to say: wtf, it's December! Also, I'd like to point out that Los Angeles is still:

a) warm

b) sunny

so you should all come visit.

Love,

Monica