Sentimental Seadragon

SpiKe

Yesterday my rather neglected photoblog got a spike in traffic - 591 unique visitors and 1202 page views. Unfortunately, my stat counter only allows me to see the most recent 100 page views, so I really couldn't see enough of the hits to find anything consistent that was bringing visitors to my site. I am so curious though. But I guess it could be a fluke, or someone whose page views actually show up as unique visitors so it just looks like more people. One thing it can't be due to though is me posting new content. :) One day though, I'll get back to it.

Believe it or not, I don't even have my camera with me in Baltimore. I had too much to carry on the train this week, and last week I didn't even break out my camera, so I decided to leave it at home this week. Of course now every morning as I walk from where I'm staying in Remington to campus, I see a thousand things I wish I could be taking pictures of. But then I remember why I am here, and that it is not to be taking pictures. Still, I miss my camera.

SéaNCe

I just mistyped the word "sentence" so atrociously that Microsoft Word auto-corrected it thinking I meant "séance". It even added the accent for good measure.

Alas, what I am writing is not that exciting. I did actually mean the mundane word "sentence".

Confessional

I am still trudging along on this dissertation. It makes for long days, frustration, and the feeling of being a complete and utter failure. J pointed out to me last night that I wouldn't still be working on it if I didn't think I could do it and I wouldn't have even applied for this job that is miraculously still waiting for me if I didn't think I was good enough. But at the moment, my failures are much more prominent than my successes (if there are any, other than that I haven't dropped out, haven't yet completely alienated my poor husband who continues to wait for me to return to normal life and a more positive outlook, and that I haven't ended up in the loony bin due to my self-doubt and anxiety).

So if I sound depressive, that's because that's how I feel. I've started working in Baltimore again under the close supervision of my advisor, and that's helping a lot. It doesn't make me feel like a grown up, but I think it may be the only way to get through this. I worked in Baltimore all last week and I'm going back again this week. The plan is to keep working there either until I am done or until it is truly the case that working from home would actually be productive. As much as I hate writing in the office with its distractions and my embarrassment at still being there and its sleep-inducing air conditioning (unlike most people who become more alert when its cool, I think my body tries to hibernate), I will keep doing it if that's what works.

So posting to my blog will probably be sparse for a while unless I find it cathartic or unless I start doing better and want to share. Alternatively, if I'm not posting, it could just be that I'm busy.

AuTUmN

I can't wait for fall!

photo by ohad, taken 11/4/2005
at the Smithsonian National Zoo in DC
(found on Gadling as their Photo of the Day)

DeSSeRt And A CockTaiL

Last night, over a lackluster dinner at Cafe Habana, I wondered aloud whether I might be better off going to restaurants in Philly and just ordering a cocktail and dessert and skipping the main course. It seems that when I'm not blown away by the food, I'm still happy with the cocktail and dessert. Last night I had a Pisco Sour, which is fruity and fresh with lots of cinnamon sprinkled on top, and for dessert our table had caramel flan, chocolate flan (surprisingly really, really good), and natilla (a vanilla-egg-meringue custard).

According to the restaurant's own website, they are "widely known as being Philadelphia's authentic Cuban restaurant", but according to my authentic Cuban husband, the food wasn't terribly authentic. (I say this knowing nothing about who owns and cooks at the restaurant or personally, what authentic Cuban food should involve.) And in fact, in recipe, the food was Cuban. But in flavor, it just fell a little flat, and that's what we were disappointed by.

So maybe I would be better off just going for a drink and a dessert. Perhaps happy hour is my calling.

(Actually, after I wrote this post, I replied to an email to someone who's going to be in Philly for a couple of days and was looking for restaurant recommendations. Looking back through my blog I see that I actually have liked a good number of restaurants here, so I guess it would be premature to restrict myself to only drinks and dessert. My favorites so far have been Genji (sushi), Shiroi Hana (sushi), Ten Stone (bar and restaurant), Effie's (Greek), and Pico de Gallo (Mexican). I'm getting hungry just thinking about all of these places... maybe I'll go eat some of my leftover Arroz con Pollo a la Cubana from last night for lunch now...)

No SmoKinG

Yesterday I went to a talk that had one of those revival effects on me, in terms of getting excited about research. I don't know that it was the talk itself or just the atmosphere, but I cannot wait to be done with my dissertation so I can start something new! (Well, I guess the wanting to be done is nothing new. But the excitement I felt was nice.) And it's not even really new stuff that I will be starting. It will be more about continuing what I've already done, but hey, moving forward. Always a good thing.

I went out to dinner afterwards with the speaker and some of the other students, and then I came home, slowly got back to work, and worked until 3 am. (If only the rest of the world operated on my schedule!)

Dinner was at Fellini's Cafe, which was very good, but they serve huge portions. I think a family of four could have eaten well off of just my dinner. I ended up taking it home with me, had some for lunch, and I still have more to get through. Fortunately, like I said, it's pretty yummy. (I had the Tagliatelle Alprofumo di Bosco, which has wild mushrooms and fresh tomatoes in a cream sauce.)

Meanwhile, while I was out at dinner, J went out for dinner with someone he works with and came back smelling pretty horrid. Since it was raining outside and he forgot his umbrella, he was wet, and since they went to a tavern, he came back very smoky. Interestingly, that's the last time that will ever happen here in Philly now that smoking has been banned. (Or at least, I think so. Apparently, private bars and clubs that are exclusively for drinking may be able to apply for waivers.) I have to say, after seeing the smoking ban work well in New York City, I'm not all that worried about it working well here too. Some people are all upset though.

TwiSteD

Cats are amazingly flexible. This is one of my cats, sleeping just now on the futon. He's even snoring.

CarNiVaLe Of thE DoGs

I was a little surprised at myself that when I read about this Carnivale of the Dogs happening in Rittenhouse Square Park this weekend I actually wanted to go. I'm not really a dog person, so the thought of dogs parading around in costume... well, would I really go out of my way to see them? But I guess the photographer in me thought it had potential and the cook in me really wanted to stop by the Rittenhouse Square Park farmer's market.

Unbelievably I was able to drag J along, probably because he was so excited that I was actually going to leave my computer and go outside into this city he's been dying to explore with me. Not that we haven't already been to Rittenhouse Square Park. But it is truly a rare occasion when I get him to agree to come vegetable shopping with me. So it must have been the dogs that pushed him over the edge.

By the time we got to the park, we had missed the costume parade and awards ceremony that had been at noon, and in fact, most of the dogs we did see weren't in costume. There were t-shirts and bandanas here and there, and even this dog wearing a little Mexican hat around his neck, but for the most parts the dogs retained their diginity.

I discovered that it's a little hard to photograph dogs without getting down on the ground at their level. And those guys move fast. I have a lot of photos that might have been cute if they would just stand still, but instead they came out as a blur running past.

The easiest ones to take pictures of, and the most fun to watch for me, were the dogs jumping around in the fountain.

     

Then there were the dogs who were sitting for portraits. Did they know why they were sitting there? Did the ones in line know what they were in for? It's funny to me that dogs will do whatever is asked of them. Not that they care, I suppose, if someone draws a picture of them.

After a little wandering, we checked out the farmer's market. It's twice as big as the Fitler Square Park one, which isn't really saying much: six tents is really not a whole lot more than three. :)

This dog watched us on our way out.

At the farmer's market I picked up some eggplant, tomatoes, purple peppers, and apples. When we came home, we snacked on the apples, and then for dinner the eggplant went into a very yummy green curry.

Oh! And then I got an email, inviting me to review a paper for one of the biggest journals in my field. I had to reread it several times to make sure it wasn't spam or a misdirected email, because I had trouble believing anyone would really want my opinion. But it seems legit. :) I'm sure at some point peer reviewing articles will be a drag, but for now, I feel like it's the most exciting thing ever and I'm really, really flattered to have been asked. I wonder who recommended me because I highly doubt it was my reputation alone that made the journal editor think of me. Anyway, it's a potentially interesting article (I haven't read it yet), so I'm happy just to get an "advance copy" and have the chance to read it. Of course, my own advisor is out of the country right now and I have never reviewed an article before and I have no idea how to go about doing it. But she'll be back before the review is due, so I guess I can get a start on it now and then hopefully she'll help me when she gets back...

And then for the rest of the night I worked and worked and worked (and I think I came up with a way to make this project be about what it was supposed to be about even though it's not really about that, or at least, I came up with a way to make my project relevant to the larger picture kinda sorta) while J watched all kinds of football. (Thank you specifically to J, ViSuaLLy MiNDeD, Chiaroscuro, and JCM for all of the extremely helpful conversations leading up to this point. I would have spun my wheels forever if it weren't for your extremely helpful feedback and comments. Thank you most recently to J for suffering through my tearful rants and to JCM for talking with me yesterday and being (hopefully) the last in a series of people who are finally convincing me that maybe I am selling this project short, and that it also, ahem, just needs to be done.)

So now today... more work. It's going to be a long week, but one that I'm actually looking forward to. I think I can get a lot done.

The SpAm I AccidEntAllY InVitEd OvEr For a Cup Of coFfeE

I can't believe I messed this up.

I was going through my Gmail spam folder, just in case one of the 1500 spam messages I had was legit. Not surprisingly, there was nothing of interest in there except a few flight deals or something that I didn't even click on (figuring if they ended up in my spam folder, maybe they weren't even from the airlines they said they were).

Anyway, I deleted the messages 50 at a time and once, just once, instead of clicking "Delete" I must have accidentally clicked "Not Spam". So when I went back to my inbox, there were the 50 spam messages, all showing as new. Figuring I just needed to delete them again now from my inbox, I did that. But what I didn't realize until today was that when I originally marked them as "Not Spam", I had essentially told Gmail that when any of those 50 people email me again that I would like it to come straight to my inbox, pronto.

Noooooooo!

So now I'm getting emails from Nicholas offering me various ways to liven up my love life and to increase the size and stamina of anatomical parts that I do not even have.

With each one that comes in, I have to click "Report Spam", or at least, that's what I think I have to do. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

I can't wait to see how long this goes on. Sigh.

SleeP

I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I mean, today. It would be tomorrow if I had gone to bed at some point, but as I am still sitting in my chair, typing furiously AT my dissertation (I no longer feel that I am working on it, but rather that I am working AT it, and who cares really as long as it gets done), it still feels like Friday is tomorrow.

But really, it's today.

I can't wait to leave this chair.

First I'm going to go crash in bed for a few hours.

Then I'm going to get up and pack (good thing I wrote out a packing list the other day so I don't actually have to be particularly conscious while I pack).

Then I'm going to get in the car and sleep. (I am assuming J will drive, and that even if he didn't want to, it would be preferrable to having me drive in this state. State being exhausted. Not state being PA. Since I am now licensed in PA!)

And then, apparently, I'm going to wake up, hang out with Ianqui and Super G, and a few other friends in NYC.

And then... then I will get to go to bed for real and hopefully be rested well enough to actually have fun at a wedding in Long Island. Sorry, ON the island. (Just like you wait ON line in NYC. Hm, wonder whether they wait IN or ON line in Philadelphia?)

I might be crossing the line into delirium. Time to finish up so I can get some apparently much needed sleep.