Nine more days in this apartment. I've got a lot of my packing done already and should chill out and relax, but I'm restless and can't think about anything else except getting boxes and moving things from one place to another: can't think about prelims, can't think about the course I'm teaching this summer, can't think about the blog collection, can't think about any of the longer posts I want to write here and for Kairosnews. I want to do things like go grocery shopping and wash all my bedding, but not until I'm in the new place, which is driving me nuts too. When I'm moving, I get in this zone; I'm like a machine. I want to show off how freakishly strong I can be. That huge box of books my two friends are struggling to carry up the stairs? Give me that, I say, shaking my head and smiling. And put another one on top of it. I want my arms to look like Linda Hamilton's by the time I'm done :D:

I'm still going to post about GPACW and iLaw, but other things have demanded my attention lately, specifically grading and moving. I've been traipsing all over town requesting boxes, determined not to spend any money on packing materials. I'm completely focused on the new apartment, with all its window light and how great it will look with the accent wall, how good it will smell, the amenities (pool, exercise room), and the general idea of being settled for a couple of years. I don't have a balcony, but I'd still like to buy a couple of plants, probably rosemary and basil. Not many people know this, but I used to be an avid herb gardener when I lived in Tennessee. I grew lavender, lemonbalm, rosemary, dill, thyme, mint, basil, and chives. I was really good at it; I grew some of the plants from seed, and I even kept a garden journal. :) So, although right now I have only about enough intellectual prowess to read articles about the Olsen twins' latest scandalous behavior and to watch movies like Mean Girls (by the way, Krista and Amy, that was fun! Let's do it again sometime.), better blog posts are ahead.

In other news, my tax return was a cool grand, I got a 4.0, and I'm planning on buying a laptop. People are telling me I should get a ThinkPad, but I haven't made a final decision. Recommendations are appreciated.

Edited to add: I also grew sage! How could I forget about my sage? I used to wrap it in bundles using string and hang it up to dry--like the ones you pay $5-7 for in the Wiccan stores. Boy, was I ever crunchy. :)

Although I did like this show, I wanted to be "You Can't Do That on Television," "Today's Special," or "Pinwheel." I wonder if I'm a little more old school than this quiz...

You are CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL. She is a rad
chick with absolutely no fashion sense. If you
are a guy and chose this... you are gay.


Which old school Nickelodeon show are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

For an experiment in networking and subjectivity, Johndan Johnson-Eilola has decided to go offline for a month, and he has asked me to be one of his guest bloggers. I can't imagine going offline for a month, but I await the results of his study with great interest. He says he feels happy and acknowledged when he receives email, blog comments, etc., and I agree; in fact, if a day goes by and no one calls me, emails, or leaves comments here, I'm engulfed in malaise.

Johndan said I may blog about anything I want at datacloud. It looks like about six people total will be guest blogging, and I'm curious to see what datacloud will sound like, if it will become cacophonous, if we'll talk to each other. I might try to be faithful to Johndan's interests, at least at first.

Here is the last essay of my Ph.D. coursework, a take-home final exam. I chose the following question, which allowed me to build upon a shorter piece I wrote about compelling/arbitrary. I wrote it at breakneck speed, trying to get it in before going out of town, so it should have that entertaining frenzied quality. :lol:

Blogging will be light for the next few days as I am at iLaw. I'm having a marvelous time! Much more later. :)

I've had to write one 15-page paper, one 8-page paper, and one 8-page take-home final in the space of 10 days. I had topics and outlines planned out in advance, but still ended up being rushed. Actually, I'm not done with the final exam yet; I have to turn it in tomorrow, early afternoon, before I leave to go out of town (it's due the 15th). Here's the question I've chosen out of the four options, and believe me, it was preferable to the others, since I have thought about this a little before:

Or do I not know the whole story? I ask this sincerely. It doesn't seem fair to me:

Specialist Jeremy Sivits, a member of the 372nd Military Police Company, a reserve unit, faces three charges in the court-martial, including the maltreatment of detainees at the prison, conspiracy to maltreat detainees and negligently failing to protect detainees from abuse and cruelty, the Army statement said. If convicted of all charges, Specialist Sivits could face a combination of penalties including as much as a year in prison, reduction in rank to private, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for a year, a fine and a bad conduct discharge, military officials said.

As much as a year in prison? This is the man who is thought to have taken the photographs of the tortured Iraqi prisoners. I agree that the higher-ups are equally responsible, but for the people who were right there...a year? Simply possessing 5 grams of crack would put a person in prison longer.



Edited to add, for clarity, because someone emailed and asked: I'm not saying the penalty for Sivits is too harsh. On the contrary. My point is that I think it's too lenient in light of other crimes, but I'm guessing the crack example isn't a valid comparison; is the as-much-as-a-year penalty standard for the terms they're following in the courtmartial? The Geneva conventions? See this New Yorker article for more on the torture, including the fact that the British are implicated in similar treatment of prisoners and details of John Walker Lindh's humiliation as a prisoner.