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May. 3rd, 2014 09:19 am- Had a meeting with my committee chair yesterday, which went well! She really likes my new headnote and wants me to revise the last paragraph--I took my friend's advice a bit too seriously, she thought, and rather than look at the fields I'm studying, I should look at the fields I'm researching (which in this case is steampunk and Malaysian studies) (she really liked the parallel I drew between the formation of whiteness and the discourse of "bangsa Malaysia").
- Joe came over last night and I made fried pork chops and mashed potatoes. They were still bloody on the inside but Joe didn't mind and liked it anyway (said they were better than the fried pork he normally gets at our favourite cafe, even, whee). I'll have to nuke the pieces next time before frying, so they're cooked on the inside too.
We talked about professors, his potential committee (he's in first year) and the fact that he gets three years to work for his quals (compared to my two). Which sounds great at first? But then we compared funding packages and he has to pay NRT, which, uh, yikes. He has to pay $17/k per year! And this despite the fact that he receives less than $8k total than I do. Compared to him, I practically get a free ride! What on earth.
But then, I was told very early on, a school that gives you a great deal of funding is a school that clearly values you, and I guess I did the right thing in sticking to Comp Lit, rather than trying for English. There're a LOT of grads in English which could be a good thing in getting some things done, but I think there's something to be said about a smaller dept that thus has more money to spread around.
Then we talked a bit about where we want to move to. Preferrably, I'd like to stay close to the university, but he wants to move further away. Canyon Crest, which is kind of the next neighbourhood over, is kind of a good compromise. There's a "towne center" with quaint shops and cafes and restaurants, even a bar with the occasional concert which is cool. We also have similar tastes in apartment choices, and we'll probably go over there to check out potential places to live in a bit. We initially picked a place that seemed out of the way, but it is kind of... far from any bus stop and the grocery store.
Our priorities seem to have worked together really well. He's been warned that I bake at irregular hours, expect him to help me eat stuff, and I will most likely have earthworms. (Earthworms are a pretty important part of my life, these days. I'm thinking a small wastebasket lined with a mesh bag this time; food goes into the mesh bag, worm castings will fall out into the wastebasket proper, and at some point, I can temporarily lift the bag into a different basket and clear out the castings.) He's gone most of June and I'll be gone mid-July to mid-August, so... we'll have to figure out how to coordinate moving around. I'll probably start putting my stuff in storage after quals and move out when I go home, and then when I get back I can bum off living with someone else for a couple of weeks until the lease starts. But who knows? Maybe we'll find a landlord who will let us move in a bit earlier for no extra charge.
- As we ate, I said, "oh, if your parents ask, I'm the lesbian." And he laughed and laughed. But he's the one who's not out to his parents, whereas I think my parents have an inkling that I'm queer and they should therefore not be surprised if I shack up with a woman instead (as long as I get kids, anyway).
- I'm gonna finish reading a section of my Cultural Studies list and finish off the last of my PoCo readings, and write a reading report for Dr. G. Also revise the last paragraph of my headnote. Once I'm done the PoCo list, really, I can move onto the SF list, which I've read half of but need to re-read and also get started on the non-fiction. (In retrospect, I should have put the SF non-fiction reading onto my PoCo list in lieu of the queer and women's studies section, since they are far more relevant. I might still be able to do this.)
- I'm not too keen on moving but I would really like to save money. This will be the first time in almost ten years that I've lived with a roommate, and a roommate who's a friend, too. Fortunately we're not as close as MF and I were, and I think J has a lot fewer hangups about tidiness and clealiness. Probably helps that we're not both in our early 20's (I think he's a couple years younger). It'll probably be a lot of fun? It'll be like living with a younger brother, except I've never had a younger brother and I've never even lived just me and my own actual elder brother.
- I'm going to till the soil of my current patio a bit more and bury the organic material that's been dropping in and hopefully that will help the next occupant plant better. Maybe. It's a lot of clay soil. From the threads I've been reading it takes at least two years of amendment before results happen. I've definitely been working on and off on this patch for two years now so maybe it will help.
- Also, something is sprouting at the corner of my garden. I'm not sure what, but it looks suspiciously like the squash plant I planted last year, but in a different place. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the squash has come back to liiiiiiiiiiife! (It grew to be a real monster last year, taking over half my patio! We'll see what this one does!!)
- Joe came over last night and I made fried pork chops and mashed potatoes. They were still bloody on the inside but Joe didn't mind and liked it anyway (said they were better than the fried pork he normally gets at our favourite cafe, even, whee). I'll have to nuke the pieces next time before frying, so they're cooked on the inside too.
We talked about professors, his potential committee (he's in first year) and the fact that he gets three years to work for his quals (compared to my two). Which sounds great at first? But then we compared funding packages and he has to pay NRT, which, uh, yikes. He has to pay $17/k per year! And this despite the fact that he receives less than $8k total than I do. Compared to him, I practically get a free ride! What on earth.
But then, I was told very early on, a school that gives you a great deal of funding is a school that clearly values you, and I guess I did the right thing in sticking to Comp Lit, rather than trying for English. There're a LOT of grads in English which could be a good thing in getting some things done, but I think there's something to be said about a smaller dept that thus has more money to spread around.
Then we talked a bit about where we want to move to. Preferrably, I'd like to stay close to the university, but he wants to move further away. Canyon Crest, which is kind of the next neighbourhood over, is kind of a good compromise. There's a "towne center" with quaint shops and cafes and restaurants, even a bar with the occasional concert which is cool. We also have similar tastes in apartment choices, and we'll probably go over there to check out potential places to live in a bit. We initially picked a place that seemed out of the way, but it is kind of... far from any bus stop and the grocery store.
Our priorities seem to have worked together really well. He's been warned that I bake at irregular hours, expect him to help me eat stuff, and I will most likely have earthworms. (Earthworms are a pretty important part of my life, these days. I'm thinking a small wastebasket lined with a mesh bag this time; food goes into the mesh bag, worm castings will fall out into the wastebasket proper, and at some point, I can temporarily lift the bag into a different basket and clear out the castings.) He's gone most of June and I'll be gone mid-July to mid-August, so... we'll have to figure out how to coordinate moving around. I'll probably start putting my stuff in storage after quals and move out when I go home, and then when I get back I can bum off living with someone else for a couple of weeks until the lease starts. But who knows? Maybe we'll find a landlord who will let us move in a bit earlier for no extra charge.
- As we ate, I said, "oh, if your parents ask, I'm the lesbian." And he laughed and laughed. But he's the one who's not out to his parents, whereas I think my parents have an inkling that I'm queer and they should therefore not be surprised if I shack up with a woman instead (as long as I get kids, anyway).
- I'm gonna finish reading a section of my Cultural Studies list and finish off the last of my PoCo readings, and write a reading report for Dr. G. Also revise the last paragraph of my headnote. Once I'm done the PoCo list, really, I can move onto the SF list, which I've read half of but need to re-read and also get started on the non-fiction. (In retrospect, I should have put the SF non-fiction reading onto my PoCo list in lieu of the queer and women's studies section, since they are far more relevant. I might still be able to do this.)
- I'm not too keen on moving but I would really like to save money. This will be the first time in almost ten years that I've lived with a roommate, and a roommate who's a friend, too. Fortunately we're not as close as MF and I were, and I think J has a lot fewer hangups about tidiness and clealiness. Probably helps that we're not both in our early 20's (I think he's a couple years younger). It'll probably be a lot of fun? It'll be like living with a younger brother, except I've never had a younger brother and I've never even lived just me and my own actual elder brother.
- I'm going to till the soil of my current patio a bit more and bury the organic material that's been dropping in and hopefully that will help the next occupant plant better. Maybe. It's a lot of clay soil. From the threads I've been reading it takes at least two years of amendment before results happen. I've definitely been working on and off on this patch for two years now so maybe it will help.
- Also, something is sprouting at the corner of my garden. I'm not sure what, but it looks suspiciously like the squash plant I planted last year, but in a different place. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the squash has come back to liiiiiiiiiiife! (It grew to be a real monster last year, taking over half my patio! We'll see what this one does!!)