Time flies by....

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this thing. I suppose I should get off my lazy butt and post something. Sadly, there really isn't that much to post. The Fall semester started off with a mad rush and hasn't slowed down at all. I'm teaching two sections of an intermediate French literature and culture course. The nice thing about this class is that it's only open to Freshmen--ah, fresh minds to corrupt. Seriously, it's nice to teach students who want to take a French class, unlike the regular language courses that are filled up with students who only want to take the class to get the requirement out of the way. By the end of last Spring, I really wanted to bang my head against the wall.

What else is new? Hmmm....I quit my job at the pet store where I was working over the summer. I had wanted to stay there at minimal hours during the school year, but the bullshit quotient quickly became too high and I decided it was time to leave the drama behind me. For the record, I really hate picking up the slack and cleaning up other people's messes--not acceptable!

The thesis is going along. I'm making good progress on it and I'm happy with how it's going.

And just because I can, here are some pics of my babies:

Singe staring at the fish tank:



And Siam looking all photogenic:





One tired baby, although it does look like he's laughing hysterically:



And finally, a pic of the two boys together--I think Singe is flipping me off:



I can't get over how big Si is getting...and how fast! All the little guy does is eat and poop, eat and poop. He eats over twice as much as Singe, and the automatic litter box is working overtime.

Meet Siam

Well, since Singe is super nuts and absolutely crazy, I decided to add to his neuroses and bring home a little 10 week old seal point Siamese kitten. Singe is so emotionally needy that I figured a companion would do him some good. So far, so good. There has been some hissing and growling, but no fur has flown yet. Siam, the new kitty, hasn't quite figured out that Singe doesn't want to play with him.

I started working at a pet store last month in the fish department (3800 gallons of freshwater, 3600 gallons of saltwater). We take in abandoned kittens, and this past weekend, someone brought in this little Siamese. I immediately fell in love with his blue eyes and points, so I brought him home Saturday night.

Here are some pics:





I wish I had other exciting things to add, but I really don't. I'm plugging away on my thesis and working at the pet store.

Here Comes the Rain Again....

Good lord, I never thought I'd say I was sick and tired of the rain after all the snow we had this winter, but it's official, I'm tired of it. Constant rain and thunderstorms equals lots of flooding. In a period of one week, there were 18 confirmed tornadoes in southern Wisconsin (9 one day, nine another). Thankfully they all missed Madison. So, except for a flooded parking lot and periodic power outages, things have been ok.

I realize I haven't updated this blog in ages, but there's really not much to update. I've been working on my thesis and I finally turned in the outline and first chapter to my adviser before the end of the semester. Now I'm working on another chapter detailing magic ('merveilleux') in 12th Century Arthurian literature, and the following chapter will detail how magic in 13th Century Arthurian texts has been sanitized and Christianized. When it first appeared in 12th Century grail quests, the grail was just a mystical serving dish, it wasn't figured as the cup of Christ until Robert de Boron in the early 13th Century. I hope to get another chapter or two done this summer. I also desperately need to find a summer job or I'm going to get awfully hungry next month, haha.

Let's see, in other news, I had an awful red flatworm infestation in my reef tank--it was so disgusting, there were tens of thousands of flatworms covering everything. I tried natural methods, added predators, but they didn't make a dent. So finally, I added some chemicals and I nuked the bastards. Fortunately, I siphoned off as many flatworms as I could, so the toxins from the dying flatworms didn't kill anything. However, the flatworms did smother many of my corals, and I lost many of them. Oh well, nothing like starting out from scratch I guess.

I've been working on my camera, so I got some decent pictures. Here's a random sampling:






Well, that's all for now, I hope to do better in keeping up with this blog. Yeah right, I know, I've said that before. ;-)

I'm a Fruit!

You Are a Banana

You are mellow, easy going, and a total softie on the inside. People find it really easy to get along with you. You suit most tastes. And while you're very sweet, you're not boring or ordinary. You have an attraction to the exotic, and you could show up anywhere... doing almost anything! You are spirited, energetic, and a total kick to be around. You're also quite funny. Your sense of humor is on the goofy side, and it fits you well.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

Well, we already knew that I was a fruit!!! LMAO

Well, I suppose it's time I update my blog...after all, it's only been a month, lol. Not a whole helluva lot is going on in my life, so there's really not that much to report. I'm on Spring Break this week, which is nice because it gives me the chance to work solely on my own research this week without having to worry about teaching and grading.

I'm playing with the macro lens on camera, and I came up with this picture:



Not too bad, it's not photoshopped or anything. I'm gonna break down and try to sign up for a photography class. My last camera confused me, and it was just a point and shoot digital. I understand the basic concepts behind SLR photography, but putting those concepts into practice is an entirely different ballgame.

So, Tanya, this update is for you! :-)

Just Checking In...

Well, I figured it was time for me to check in and make an update. Can I just say that I'm so sick and fucking tired of winter? We've had record snowfall amounts here this winter. We had an ice storm late last night and early this morning before it changed over to a wet/heavy snow. I'm so not looking forward to chipping all ice off my car. I usually bus into campus, so maybe I'll just let the car sit for a few days and let the sun melt some of the ice. I've slipped and fallen a couple of times in my parking lot. I guess salt is hard to come by in these parts (or that's the excuse Maintenance has been giving me all winter).

Ugh, my birthday is next Monday (the 25th)....I'm so not looking forward to it. I know I'm still young in the grand scheme of things, but shit, I feel like I'm 65 in gay years, lol.

First Day is Over

Well, all the fun of a very uneventful break is finally over. The new semester started today and I taught my first class. Jesus Christ, the temperatures here are freezing! I thought my face was going to fall off while I was just walking to the bus stop. When I got home this afternoon, I had to check to make sure that my important bits were still intact, lol.

You just gotta love the first day of class. It doesn't matter that I've taught this class several times, I still get the jitters on the first day. I was so absent-minded today. I forgot my class roster, and I took the wrong textbook with me to class. Fortunately, I didn't need the textbook. Of course, the laptop LCD projector gave me fits, but that's typical. I'm a medievalist, we're not supposed to be gifted with technology.

Ugh, my poor reef tank looks like ass. All this time, money, and effort put into this tank, and I'm not liking what I'm seeing. The fishies are very happy and doing great, but my corals are not doing so well. I had a huge hair algae outbreak this fall that completely covered everything. I gave away a lot of my SPS corals because they weren't looking so great, but then I ended up still losing the ones that were looking great. But, the hair algae has finally subsided, and I just ordered new lightbulbs. Damn, replacing three 400 watt metal halide bulbs isn't cheap! Ouch, that hurt. I'm hoping that the new bulbs will make a difference. I'm also getting the wireless wave controller for my Vortechs, so that'll be a fun toy to play with.

On a related note, I ended up getting two pairs of glasses at the optometrist. They were just running a sale that was too good to refuse. Well, actually, I just got one pair of regular eyeglasses with all the bells and whistles (special thin material, special coatings, etc), then I got a second pair made into prescription sunglasses. Someone stole my last pair of sunglasses because they saw the Armani case. Bastards, I hope they couldn't see straight and walked out into some traffic. I'll keep a closer eye on this pair.

Fun is Over!

Well, my winter break officially ended today. I had my course meeting and I have a lot of prep work to do now before I start teaching on Tuesday. I've taught this second semester beginning French course several times (this is #7), but the format has changed a little. I'm very relieved because I was originally placed in a classroom that had no multimedia or laptop projectors, and since this course is built around using all sorts of media, it was going to be a huge PITA to drag all the equipment in every day. Fortunately, my room assignment was changed.

I'm off for an eye appointment here in a little bit. It's time I get some new glasses. I don't think my eyes have worsened any, but it's been a few years since my last exam. Also, I really want/need some new glasses. Hopefully I won't come home with anything too dorky.

Whew...the Holidays are Over!

Well, the Holidays certainly went by quickly this year. I can't really complain since I wasn't in the mood to celebrate them much this year. I guess I had the single man's Grinch attitude this year.

I didn't do much for Christmas this year. I went home to my parents' home in Indiana and stayed there through the New Year. I wanted to come home before New Year's, but I ended up catching a nasty flu, so I stayed a little longer than I had intended. My brother, sister-in-law, and their two kids came home as well, so it was mayhem for a few days. Oh well, the craziness it a part of what makes the Holidays fun. I was also able to hang out with my two best friends from high school and their two kids.

Since returning to Madison, I've done nothing much except work on my thesis (pouring through research). I've also been playing with my Christmas gift to myself: A Canon Rebel XTi digital SLR camera. I got some nice lenses, including a macro lens to get some close up shots. I've never used a SLR camera before, so everything is new to me. Here are a couple of good shots I came up with.

Singe, the psycho kitty looking all cute and demure:



And here's a macro shot of the water outlet siphon on my squamosa clam:



I still got a lot of improvement to make, but it's a start.

So, Thanksgiving turned out to be a rather nice holiday. I didn't go home this year, so I stayed here in Madison and had dinner with some friends from my department. It was a nice evening with good company and great food. The hostess requested that I make my infamous banana cream pie. It's actually my grandmother's recipe that my momma taught me to make. Here's how it turned out:



Other than that, the semester is quickly winding down, and much too fast, I might add. I want to get this damn dissertation proposal finished and get my ass in gear so I can get the hell out of here. I'm so burned out of being here in Madison, and there's no way to alleviate the situation unless I finish this damn dissertation, defend it, and get a job so I can get the hell out of here.

I'm often asked where I want to go when I finish my PhD. Honestly, I don't have much of a choice in the matter. There are so few French medievalist positions, and they are highly coveted, so I will more than likely have to settle for a generalist position. That's fine as I knew that going into the game. However, the job market is national, not regional or local, so I have to be willing to move almost anywhere. A friend of mine is applying for a job in Laramie, Wyoming, and she tells me that it's a position that would suit me well. I'm like, no way in hell babe, that's where they string up us queers on fences. So, I do have some preference as to where I'd like to go. Ideally, I'd end up in some mid-size college/university town. I really don't want to live in California, Chicago, or NYC--it's just too damn expensive and I'm just a small town farmboy at heart.

I'm also asked what type of position would I like--do I want an appointment at a large research-orientated facility, or do I want to teach at a smaller undergraduate institution where the focus is teaching. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. The large research institution is more prestigious and pays better, and there is a better change of playing the field and getting your name known in your particular academic field. The drawback is that these positions are very difficult to come by for a medievalist, highly competitive, and the focus of your work is research, and your teaching is secondary. I did my Bachelors at a smaller liberal arts college, and I always said I'd like to teach at a place like that. However, the teaching loads at these schools is absolutely crazy, and there's almost no time for research. Therefore, it's harder to make a name for yourself and break into the larger research universities if you want to leave the smaller colleges and universities. Also, the pay is just dismal. You accrue a lot of debt while pursing a PhD, and a job that only pays 35K isn't going to pay the bills.

So, where do I want to end up, and what do I want? The answer is simple: I'll take whatever I can get! Ideally, I'd like to end up at a university like Notre Dame where both research and teaching are equally important. Of course, I don't necessarily want the gay hellhole of Notre Dame with its super-conservative atmosphere, but I'd like to teach at an institution that places equal importance on academic research and teaching.

Turkey Day Blahs

Well, I'm in total denial that the Holidays are here as I don't know where the time has gone. I'm really not prepared for all the hype this year. I wanted to go home this year for Thanksgiving, but I am unable to this year. I need to get my car looked at before I make a long journey, and I can't get it into the garage and repaired until after Thursday. So, I'll be spending the day with some friends and colleagues from my department.

I suppose I ought to pull out the Christmas lights and other decorations. I wish I had room for my huge tree, but my place is just too small. So, I'll be putting up my small tree. I just hope Singe the psycho kitty doesn't rape the Christmas tree angel like he did last year. Crazy perverted cat. LOL

Speaking of my cat, he loves the taste of my flesh, and I'm starting to get nervous because he hasn't bitten me in a really long time. I don't know what he's waiting for, and I'm starting to get nervous and a little paranoid about when he's going to strike next. Ever since he jumped on top of my fish tank and fell in, he's been very sweet to me. Of course, that makes me more suspicious. I'm convinced he's waiting for me to get most comfortable and confident that he's given up his flesh-eating ways, and that's when he'll strike.

Here's a pic of the little beast:



Yes, it's hard to believe that something so cute can be so viscous, but don't let that cute kitty facade fool you.

Wow, Long Time, No Posts

Well, there's certainly been no excuse for not keeping up with my blog. Over a year has gone by since my last entry, so there's a lot to catch up on.

Well, there's grad school...that's going by painfully slow. Still working on the thesis. Last week, I went to St. Francis University in Pennsylvania to give a couple of guest lectures on the figure of Merlin in 13th Century Arthurian literature. The talks went amazingly well and rejuvenated my interest in my thesis subject. The personal life....well, that's a pathetic joke, but such are the gays of our lives.

My fish tank is doing well. I upgraded my 55 gallon reeftank to a 150 gallon tank, and I got rid of my nano reef and freshwater planted tank. Here's a random pic:


I have a lot more pics, but I'm just testing this out. This is a porcelain anemone crab that lives in my sebae anemone.

The Dildo Song!

I came across this cute little song, and I just had to share.



I really don't have that much new to add since my last post. My dear friend Casey moved yesterday. She's going to Gainesville, Florida for her first teaching job since finishing her PhD. I'm so happy for her, but I'm sad to be losing a friend. But, that's the name of the game when you're in grad school. We're all here just temporarily until we finish up and move on to greener pastures. Good luck, Casey, I know you'll be absolutely fabulous!

Argh!

Yeah, I need to vent a little. Since I'm a grad student with no money, I do what I can, short of whoring myself out, to make ends meet. So, I became the resident manager of the building I live in. It's not too much extra work, I just need to clean and mop the hallways and stairwells, unlock doors for people who forget their keys, and monitor the parking in our lot. Parking is very limited in Madison, and there isn't enough space, especially around campus.

Well, our parking lot is having extensive repairs to fix a flooding problem we have in the back. The problem is the small building next door. The tenants there are always parking in our lot, taking away spaces from the tenants in this building. I'm always calling parking enforcement, but the neighbors see me in the lot and scurry to move their cars before the police get here. Well, the problem is that the parking enforcement cops take their sweet ass time getting here. Sometimes, they just don't show up and I have to wait all night long. I've called at midnight, and they've not arrived till 4:00 a.m. Tonight, the neighbors had a huge party, and I mean huge, and they filled our lot with cars from party guests. With the construction, there aren't enough spots for our residents, let alone eight extra cars from the neighbor's visitors. So, I call parking enforcement. Guests see me in the lot and start cussing me out. Douchebags...such a sense of entitlement. By the time the cop gets here, most cars are moved. When she got here, only three cars were left, but she forgot her ticket book, so she had to leave to come back. When she got here, only two cars were left.

We've repeatedly had problems with people from the building next door. We've told them if we see their cars in our lot again, we'll tow them. I just wish the cop could shoot their tires out or something. What a major pain in the ass, and I'm sick of having to wait long periods for the cops to arrive. I should note that the cops are parking enforcement cops; Madison has a separate police staff to handle parking issues.

Well, I figure it's time for another update....I don't want to wait another six months. I'm sitting here with my damn psycho chat perched on my lap. We had another exciting thunderstorm tonight in Madison. I love a good storm--the sky filling up with lightning and the walls rattling from the thunderclaps. I used to be terrified of storms when I was a child (and yes, I'll admit it, even as a teenager). My hometown was destroyed by a F4 category tornado when I was a baby, and when I was six, a tornado ripped through the farm I grew up on. Our windows were blown in, and my older brother had to brace himself around me as I clung to the door jam. My feet actually left the floor as the power of the vacuum was so great. A truly terrifying experience, and I was left with an innate fear of storms. Now, I get an exhileration when a big storm blows through--as long as I'm safely inside. My building is all cement: walls, ceilings, floors, and there is a basement, so I feel reasonably safe here. Nature is such a powerful force, and it's always humbling to witness her raw power. Hehe, I said "raw power."

A friend posted this video on ReefMonkey, and I thought it was too funny to not share. Enjoy!

Long Week

Well, after working six days straight and nearly forty hours, I finally get a day off. I know, I know, I shouldn't whine about working so much since I do need the money, but I do really need to get working more on my thesis proposal.

But, I had a rather relaxing evening after work. My friend Marcy came by and we drank a nice French Bourdeaux that I had left over from a dinner party. I don't drink much, but I do enjoy a small glass of red wine every now and then. After Marcy left, my neighbor Hillary came by and she had some wine and we just hung out and watched the fish in my bedroom. I feed them some frozen blood worms, and we were grossed out by watching them eat.

I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to sleep in very late. I haven't slept much this week, so when I'm behind on sleep, I love to sleep a good 12 hours without interruption. Yes, I know it's very lazy, but there's no better feeling than waking up refreshed after a long sleep. After waking up, I need to mop the hallways, stairwells, and entrances to the apartment building I live in. I'm the resident manager, so it's my responsibility to keep the building clean. Ater that, I have to do a large water change on my planted discus tank.

I unfortunately thought a planted tank would be less work than a reef tank. In many cases, it's less work when it comes to figuring out the science, dosing, etc., but it's very labor intensive. I'm required to do 50% weekly water changes, and it takes a lot of time to prepare the RO/DI (reverse osmosis-deionized) water. So much for the idea of setting up an easy tank in my bedroom, although it is very peaceful and tranquil.

Well, About Damn Time!

Yeah, I'm a total slacker, what can I say? I have a coworker who meticulously works on his blog every day, so I decided to follow his example.

The sad part is, I really don't have too much to add to my blog. The spring semester was a total blur. I ended up being promoted to a Lecturer, but that also meant a significant pay cut in my salary. Sometimes, I really hate this university, but it's more motivation to get done and get the hell out.

With the pay cut, I decided it was time to find a part-time job. Since I'm now a dissertator, I don't take classes anymore, so my contact with other people has been significantly reduced. Being a scholar is solitary work, and well, there's a reason why all those medieval monks worked on their manuscripts while sequestered in some abbey tower. So, I decided to bite the bullet and get a job at the best aquarium store in town. As luck would have it, the owner was looking for some part-time help, and after talking to him, he decided to hire me. I started working only on Wednesday nights, and sometimes Sundays. After the semester ended, I picked up many more hours. I do sometimes worry that working in a LFS (local fish store) will suck my personal joy from the hobby, but so far, so good. Though, I do have to admit that the last thing I want to do is aquarium maintenance when I go home. LOL

The nice thing about working at a LFS is the employee discount. I recently redid my 55 gallon reef tank and transformed it from a primarily soft coral system to a stony coral system (predominantly SPS corals). Well, I'm not having much luck with SPS, so I've decided to slow down on new additions and wait for my tank to stabilize. But, so much for the idea of me actually making any money. Since working at the LFS, I have totally expanded my aquarium collection. I already had the 55 gallon reeftank, but since then, I added a betta bowl, a 5.5 gallon nano reef with a predatory 6" mantis shrimp, and a 20 gallon planted discus tank that I just upgraded to a 46 gallon bowfront with 4 discus, 10 neon tetras, 2 glowlight tetras, some otos, siamese algae eaters, and a shitload of live plants.

Here are some pics of my tanks:

My 55 gallon reef tank back when it looked much better.



My mantis shrimp from my nano tank. I'm sorry to report that he died early last week for unknown reasons.



My little betta bowl...now don't laugh, I know it's pathetic.



And finally, my latest endeavor: my 46 gallon bowfront planted discus tank.



I've been very active on the salwater bulletin boards. I was banned from ReefCentral when I got caught in the crossfire of the Great DSB vs BB Wars of 2006 (Deep Sand Bed and BareBottom--two methods for keeping reeftanks), but I was reinstated. However, I've long called ReefMonkey my internet home. I love that site, and I have nothing but respect for the members who post there. There is very limited moderation, and members aren't treated like children. In fact, I won a contest and received a free ticket to the IMAC (International Marine Aquarium Conference) in Chicago. I went and met a fellow ReefMonkey who also won the same contest. We had a great time hanging out with the other fish geeks. It was fun checking out all the newest gadgets for saltwater tanks. After returning, I was later made a moderator at ReefMonkey, which makes me very happy since I like everything that bulletin board stands for. I've made some great friends through RM, and I've been able to meet a few of them in person. I'm still waiting to meet Terry and Tanya. I originally met them both on RC, but we all fled RC to RM when the douche factor became unbearable. Terry and Tanya have both been so kind to me. I don't talk much with Tanya now since she's now found a job since moving to Boston, but I talk to Terry almost daily. It's funny how you can meet people over the internet and built a friendship with them, without ever meeting them face to face. I know some people are drawn to the anonymity of the internet because they can be whoever and whatever they want to be. I guess I'm just a simpleton because I am too transparent, and I don't have the time for that sort of duplicity.

Well, I think that's enough for now. Thanks for reading me.

I Passed!

I just found out on Monday that I passed my Special Topics exam. Woo hoo! This is such a relief. I only wish I felt like celebrating....I'm still getting over strep throat, a sinus infection, ear infection, and a ruptured eardrum. If I were back on the farm, they'd just take me out back behind the barn and shoot me.

Blah

Well, the exam has finally caught up to me. I woke up sick today: sore throat, fever, aches, feel like crap in general.

On a positive note, I'm getting my new Metal Halide lights today for my reef tank. I bought them off of another ReefMonkey member, so I got a really good deal on them. They're so damned expensive, so I was fortunate to find a set I could afford. I have to take apart my Compact Flourescent fixture so I can add the lights to my canopy. I also have to modify my wood canopy to make it higher to accomodate the lights. I'm not very handy, so this should be an adventure. As long as I can get the hardware store to cut and square the wood for me, I think I can do the rest.

Gotta Wait

Well, I ran into the chair of my exam committee today, and they hope to have it graded by the end of the week. Argh, that really sucks. I had hoped I would have gotten the results either today or tomorrow. Here's the thing...I was promoted from TA to Associate Lecturer, but in order for this to happen, I have to pass the exam. I'm already teaching a course that only a Lecturer can teach, so if I don't pass, I'm out of a job and funding for the semester. Not fun.

Must think happy thoughts, must think happy thoughts.