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February 28, 2006
Counting the days (weeks, months) until my lease ends...
There are some benefits to my current apartment. It's cheap, it's close to town, and (for not much longer) we have very nice neighbors upstairs. The down side is definitely the fact that the heat shuts off on the coldest days of the year, without fail. It went off three times last night and this morning.
Do you know how my landlord "fixes the heat?" He comes in the apartment, puts his hand on the baseboard, affirms that "the pipes are getting warmer" (when, in reality, they're getting colder), and basically talks to me like I don't know anything about the temperature of my apartment. He, on the other hand, who has been here all of thirty seconds, knows all.
In the hour and 1/2 since the landlord left, the heat has come back on, probably becaused I turned the dial on the thermostat, which is how I generally am able to get it back on. I just called over to his place of business to say that he shouldn't bother coming back over, since he would just notice the heat was on and leave again, and his wife said to me, "well, it's because he went over there and fixed it that it's back on." It was said in a really pleasant, "let's fight about this" kind of way, that I love to hear in the morning, especially when it's only 59 degrees in my house. I am never calling them about the heat again. It can only be cold for a few more weeks, right?
Posted by kelseyfrost at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2006
Knit post!
Yep, I made something. Actually, two nearly identical somethings- one for myself and one for my sister. I also posted a photo from my new cell phone for the first time, which is sort of exciting. It's kind of an oddly-lit photo, but it shows of the knitting pretty well.
Posted by kelseyfrost at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2006
Oh my.
I don't know that I've ever seen anything cuter.
Posted by kelseyfrost at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2006
Music that my students don't like:
(a running tally of failed musical experiences while teaching college Spanish)
Los Planetas (one of my favorites)
Ojos de Brujo
I'm sure I'll be able to add more names to this list before too long as my students don't seem to enjoy anything at all if it's remotely related to sitting in a classroom with me. Maybe it's because they requested Shakira and, before I could stop myself, I said, "I don't have Shakira- I'm not that kind of girl."
Posted by kelseyfrost at 08:21 PM | Comments (1)
February 16, 2006
Only one more day to get through, right?
Today was a long day for me. I didn't have to be at UMass until 1:00 for Hebrew class, but something happened last weekend where I didn't really do any of the work I needed to do, so I had to spend all morning reading for my class this evening. Not that I minded the reading- I really like the novels we've had so far in my classes. But to go from reading all morning, to Hebrew, come out with my eyes all swimmy and confused, and then finish up some more reading before my 4:00-6:30 class, makes for a long day. Plus I didn't really eat well today, so I came out at the end wanting to cry. Ah, school. It's fun.
I missed my first class this year yesterday, as I was with Eliza at the hospital getting her arm checked out. I had promised my professor that I would only be late because of the appointment, but she was in there for over two hours and I only would have been able to make the last half hour of a 2 1/2 hour class, so I didn't bother. At least it looks like Eliza won't need surgery for her broken arm after all, which is a very good thing. And our mom is here taking care of her for a few days, so that should help too.
Since I got home today, I haven't been able to do anything but lie on the couch with the internet. I keep thinking I should motivate myself to read, or use my new rowing machine (a very exciting purchase for my overall well-being, if I use it), but I just stay here. Sooner or later the cats will get cranky enough to drive me away, though. They tricked Dave into feeding them this afternoon after they had already eaten, so they feel like they can get whatever they want right about now.
Posted by kelseyfrost at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2006
Okay, I really need to be working right now.
These 3-D optical illusion-painted rooms are freaky. But I kind of like them. (via Boing Boing)
Posted by kelseyfrost at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2006
Sister update
Well, Eliza will be flying to Burlington, VT from Colorado tomorrow. The only catch seems to be that she has left her car in Burlington and needs to get home, but doesn't want to be a one-armed driver. So far, Dave has volunteered to meet her in White River Junction, where her other nice friends will leave her and the car, but Dave needs a second driver so that someone can drive Eliza's car home. During all this time, I will be at school. Hopefully we'll get that girl back to Easthampton tomorrow night! And then abandon her so that we can do some Valentine-like thing.
Posted by kelseyfrost at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2006
Bad vacation.
My sister called me from Colorado last night, on the first day of her vacation. The poor girl went on her first snowboarding trip of the season, and on the first run of the first day she broke her wrist! Another first: her first broken bone.
She was very sad about the whole thing, obviously, and trying to choose between the opinions of our stepfather (a doctor) on the one hand, and Dave on the other hand, about what combination of Vicodin and alcohol was appropriate for the situation. Oddly, our stepfather's recommendation of two Vicodins and a scotch was up against Dave's proposal of one Vicodin and two beers. I wonder which way she went on that...
Posted by kelseyfrost at 09:20 AM | Comments (2)
February 07, 2006
Well, it's better than no post at all, I guess.
Sorry, I'm feeling a little boring lately, so I haven't blogged anything. I read some interesting stuff for my classes this weekend, which took up a lot of time. As of today, I can almost, maybe say a couple of things in Hebrew... if I can remember... I'll have to check my notes.
I'm also slowly coming to terms with how much Aristotle I'm going to have to read tomorrow for my contemporary literature class. I was kind of in denial about it and read only a little, and now I see it is a reality. At least I have about four hours free after I finish teaching tomorrow before that class begins. I don't know why I had no problem with Plato and Ovid last week, but Aristotle is giving me trouble. Maybe it's because I'm reading it in Spanish instead of English...
Posted by kelseyfrost at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2006
Dosty.com
I can't explain why I love this store so much. I guess I like their socks... well, I do. They're having a 50% off sale plus free shipping on all orders for the month of February.
Posted by kelseyfrost at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2006
I will not spoil the OC for you.
But if you watched it, did you notice that the featured band was Rock Kills Kid? Isn't that funny? If you don't know why it's funny, wait until they recap the episode at TWoP and skip to the last page.
Posted by kelseyfrost at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
Does that mean Tim is included in the price?
I have a good friend who is in the Peace Corps on the island of Tonga. Now, Boing Boing says that the island is for sale. Interesting...
Posted by kelseyfrost at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
Now, back to Plato's Symposium, which is oddly appropriate after watching that video.
I am so glad I just started my day with this: a trailer mashup of Brokeback Mountain and Back to the Future called... well, guess what it's called. (via Boing Boing)
Posted by kelseyfrost at 08:40 AM | Comments (1)
February 01, 2006
The cats are totally out to get me right now and I don't know what I did.
The good news I learned today: one of my classes does not involve a final paper. It still means a crapload of reading, but now I'll only have two 15-20 page papers to write, instead of three. Of course, all three courses require two-page reaction papers every week... I still might die. At least I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with the Hebrew alphabet after a couple of days studying it. I still can't say anything of course, except one very slow consonant/vowel combination at a time. I'm definitely sounding it out.
The bad news is that I seem to be coming down with something again. I got a sore throat halfway through yesterday, which made me really mad. Wasn't I just sick like two weeks ago? It seems like it. I hope my vitamin regimen works for me-- although I'm kind of slacking on it right now.
I scared a couple of students out of my class today by speaking Spanish the whole time. I don't know what they were expecting... Having finished the Hampshire Jan Term, where I taught two hour and forty-five minute classes a day, my 50 minute class period seems way too short. It will be a challenge figuring out how to get stuff done again... I just hope my students are into class enough to show up consistently, so we can maybe spread activities out over a couple of class periods. I'm not going to hold my breath.
Posted by kelseyfrost at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)