Hellooooooo....
I know it's bad form to update this blog before emailing people back to fill them in on what I'm up to, but this gets the point across pretty well anyways, no? So, it's been a little while (when hasn't it??). Time for the update!
Skip this part if you don't care about my love affair with all things hydrological...
I had to go talk to my advisor in order to register for the Fall semester, and since my class schedule was pretty simple (I'm taking one class and he's teaching it!), we got to talk about possibilities for my thesis a little bit. Somehow we got talking about water systems and privatization, which is sort of a pet issue of mine. Some water systems are switching to private ownership rather than ownership by a public entity. And the upshot is that that has both costs and benefits (what doesn't??) and the question of whether it's more good than bad or vice versa still is out for debate. I think my focus would be on systems that have tried it, what their experience has been, why their experience is/was the way it is/was, and maybe even a preliminary assessment of where it seems to work and why (and vice versa). It's something I would be really excited to do, he liked the idea, and I don't think by the time I get around to doing my thesis that it'll be something that's been studied to death. Also, I think that it's likely to only become a larger issue in the years to come.
Airport Hijinks (not hijacks!)
Easter weekend I flew to Phoenix to visit with my parents. As usual, it was Murphy's Law all over the airport. First there was a detour through scenic downtown Boston and the Big Dig on the way to Logan. Then I drove all the way out to the freakin' Boston Logan economy lots, and they were FULL (despite the sign at the airport entrance declaring, "All Parking Lots Open." Fat lot of help they are.) So I had to park in the super-expensive Central Parking. *sigh* I complained so much about the parking that my super-sweet Dad gave me extra money to pay for it. :) Anyways, that was the parking. Oh, and I parked at the wrong terminal. D'oh! So I had to trek down to the next one. I was still early to my gate though! After all that! The plane ride to DFW was pretty uneventful, except for the time when the drink cart came through, I asked for water, and she gave me Sprite. I was very confused. (and I definitely did not want Sprite to drink) I was wondering in what universe Sprite=water, and if perhaps it was a Texas thing?? For Murphy's law event number 4, the flight getting into DFW was slightly behind schedule. American, in their infinite wisdom, allowed me to book a connection of 40 minutes...at one of the biggest airports in America. So, I sprinted to the little train between terminals, because I knew that technically they close the doors 10 minutes before flight time, and if I got there after that, I would be SOL. Fortuntately, several people on the train were also trying to make that flight, so there must have been a lot of tight connections to it. When I got off the train, I pretty much ran to the end of the terminal to get to the gate, and in the end I was totally fine, because they let people on for about another 10 minutes after I got there. At least I got some exercise out of it.
Sun Valley
And then I finally made it to Phoenix! Phoenix was lovely. And about 35 degrees warmer than Boston. If only it wasn't the freakin' desert I would seriously consider living there. I highly doubt that I could tire of warm, dry weather and sun. mmm. So, after grad school, my two choices are NYC and Phoenix. This might be a tough choice... Anyhow, I had a nice visit in Phoenix with my parents and my mom's cousin. We did a few touristy things, like the botanical gardens and the Heard Museum (artsy-sociological museum). I also picked all of the oranges and grapefruit off my mom's cousins trees. Why don't I want to live there again?? And now, I present the two best things about Phoenix that are not available in the East or Midwest:
1) Baja Fresh
2) In-n-Out Burger
I don't suppose the availability of certain types of fast food should be a criterion for moving to one place over another, but these just might do it for me. Baja Fresh is just as good as any sit-down place (possibly better), and In-n-Out is, in a word, phenomenal. A million times better than McDonalds and its ilk. (and Fast Food Nation explains why.)
So, Phoenix was cool. Actually it was hot. heh heh. I slay myself.
Pretty Dresses
My friend Karilyn came up from New Joisey last weekend to try out bridesmaid dresses on me for her wedding. Whee! Me love pretty dresses. Anyways, I also designed her a webpage for all her wedding details, so that she can give the address to people and they can find out about airports, car rentals, their registries, hotels, and all that good stuff. I just did the whole thing in Word, and it was a breeze. I never knew I was so good at HTML! ;)
So, back to the dress part. We and her mother went to David's Bridal. Mostly we were looking at things I had tried on before, but we also browsed all around the store. I tried on a large selection of dresses, and the one that fit the criteria that we were looking for was this one. You might notice that it's technically a Mother of the Bride dress, but we couldn't imagine that anyone would have any clue that that's the case. You can see pictures of Karilyn and I in the navy version of the dress (the one that she would go with). I really like it - hopefully all the other bridesmaids will too!
Saturday we hung out and went downtown with a few other Dartmouth peeps to watch the Bruins (lose). We went out afterwards to the opening of this new bar, which was kind of fun. I had some Sierra Nevada, which was really good stuff. Might have to switch over from Sam!
Sunday Karilyn and I went for a nice leisurely bike ride and enjoyed the actual spring-like weather. Yay! I also made pancakes with strawberries for breakfast. mmm. And then we had Bertuccis for dinner (primarily for the rolls...).
The Movie Section
Amanda and I have been to see a couple movies recently - actually, it was an all-Academy Award sort of movie marathon. One week we went to go see Monster with Charlize Theron and then the following week we went to go see Mystic River with Sean Penn and Tim Robbins (I had read the book while I was in Phoenix - highly recommend it. could barely put it down it was that good). The acting in both these movies was nothing short of amazing. How could it be anything but that when one actually feels something like sympathy for a serial killer?? CT really owned the movie. And Sean Penn is a certifiable American treasure. This has got to go down as one of the best years of his career, with his roles in both 21 Grams and MR. He was awesome in both.
Naturally, as a rabid Alias fan, I am dying to see 13 Going on 30. As a straight female, I can still say that Jen Garner is too cute for words, can't I?? Because she is. And because I am a straight female, I can also say that her bf is as much too cute for words as she is. :) (that's Michael Vartan, he of the pictures in my links section...mmm.)
The TV Section
Well, apparently no one started watching Wonderfalls, because it got cancelled. :( But y'all can still watch Arrested Development! I saw it last week because Alias was on at 10, and it continued to just be incredibly hysterical. The season finale is this Sunday at 9:30/8:30c.
But speaking of Alias, it also continues to rawk. Karilyn was still around, so I kept making exclamations, not that she had any idea of what was going on, but normally it would have been an internal monologue. I kept saying, "they can't kill Sloane, they just wouldn't do that, his contract's not up, etc." but then they "did." It was insane...until Jack revived him! Holy crap! Greatest Ending Ever. :)
Also must give props to The OC for continuing to bring the Adam Brody (and *gulp* Peter Gallagher) love, Gilmore Girls for having the second Greatest Ending Ever this week, and Scrubs, just because it's my favorite. Have not been watching The Bachelor because it's on at the same time as The OC, but I have heard only that it's boring and pointless this season, so I don't even care!
And, finally, The Book Section
I have a horrible memory about these things, but these are the books I know I've read recently:
1) The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin. SM is brilliant. His books are brilliant.
2) Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding (she of Bridget Jones' Diary). I don't know why this book isn't a gigantic best-seller like the BJ's ones. I thought it was even more well written and far more interesting, as it has to do primarily with one woman's experience at a refugee camp in Africa (after having been a social butterfly in London). But it's not somber by any means. I don't even know how she got all the detail about Africa and refugee camps, because everything just seemed so realistic. Really, it's quite an amazing social satire.
3) Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Even better because I now live in Boston. He's a Boston native, so the books are incredible with the detail. And the movie captured the book perfectly.
4) Can you keep a secret? by Sophie Kinsella. Read it pretty much in one go (another one I couldn't put down...) It was, naturally, predictible, but there were a couple twists and turns that I didn't see coming. A cut above the average chick-lit.
Hum, think that takes care of it for now. Have a good weekend - hope it's warm somewhere out there...ttfn!
I know it's bad form to update this blog before emailing people back to fill them in on what I'm up to, but this gets the point across pretty well anyways, no? So, it's been a little while (when hasn't it??). Time for the update!
Skip this part if you don't care about my love affair with all things hydrological...
I had to go talk to my advisor in order to register for the Fall semester, and since my class schedule was pretty simple (I'm taking one class and he's teaching it!), we got to talk about possibilities for my thesis a little bit. Somehow we got talking about water systems and privatization, which is sort of a pet issue of mine. Some water systems are switching to private ownership rather than ownership by a public entity. And the upshot is that that has both costs and benefits (what doesn't??) and the question of whether it's more good than bad or vice versa still is out for debate. I think my focus would be on systems that have tried it, what their experience has been, why their experience is/was the way it is/was, and maybe even a preliminary assessment of where it seems to work and why (and vice versa). It's something I would be really excited to do, he liked the idea, and I don't think by the time I get around to doing my thesis that it'll be something that's been studied to death. Also, I think that it's likely to only become a larger issue in the years to come.
Airport Hijinks (not hijacks!)
Easter weekend I flew to Phoenix to visit with my parents. As usual, it was Murphy's Law all over the airport. First there was a detour through scenic downtown Boston and the Big Dig on the way to Logan. Then I drove all the way out to the freakin' Boston Logan economy lots, and they were FULL (despite the sign at the airport entrance declaring, "All Parking Lots Open." Fat lot of help they are.) So I had to park in the super-expensive Central Parking. *sigh* I complained so much about the parking that my super-sweet Dad gave me extra money to pay for it. :) Anyways, that was the parking. Oh, and I parked at the wrong terminal. D'oh! So I had to trek down to the next one. I was still early to my gate though! After all that! The plane ride to DFW was pretty uneventful, except for the time when the drink cart came through, I asked for water, and she gave me Sprite. I was very confused. (and I definitely did not want Sprite to drink) I was wondering in what universe Sprite=water, and if perhaps it was a Texas thing?? For Murphy's law event number 4, the flight getting into DFW was slightly behind schedule. American, in their infinite wisdom, allowed me to book a connection of 40 minutes...at one of the biggest airports in America. So, I sprinted to the little train between terminals, because I knew that technically they close the doors 10 minutes before flight time, and if I got there after that, I would be SOL. Fortuntately, several people on the train were also trying to make that flight, so there must have been a lot of tight connections to it. When I got off the train, I pretty much ran to the end of the terminal to get to the gate, and in the end I was totally fine, because they let people on for about another 10 minutes after I got there. At least I got some exercise out of it.
Sun Valley
And then I finally made it to Phoenix! Phoenix was lovely. And about 35 degrees warmer than Boston. If only it wasn't the freakin' desert I would seriously consider living there. I highly doubt that I could tire of warm, dry weather and sun. mmm. So, after grad school, my two choices are NYC and Phoenix. This might be a tough choice... Anyhow, I had a nice visit in Phoenix with my parents and my mom's cousin. We did a few touristy things, like the botanical gardens and the Heard Museum (artsy-sociological museum). I also picked all of the oranges and grapefruit off my mom's cousins trees. Why don't I want to live there again?? And now, I present the two best things about Phoenix that are not available in the East or Midwest:
1) Baja Fresh
2) In-n-Out Burger
I don't suppose the availability of certain types of fast food should be a criterion for moving to one place over another, but these just might do it for me. Baja Fresh is just as good as any sit-down place (possibly better), and In-n-Out is, in a word, phenomenal. A million times better than McDonalds and its ilk. (and Fast Food Nation explains why.)
So, Phoenix was cool. Actually it was hot. heh heh. I slay myself.
Pretty Dresses
My friend Karilyn came up from New Joisey last weekend to try out bridesmaid dresses on me for her wedding. Whee! Me love pretty dresses. Anyways, I also designed her a webpage for all her wedding details, so that she can give the address to people and they can find out about airports, car rentals, their registries, hotels, and all that good stuff. I just did the whole thing in Word, and it was a breeze. I never knew I was so good at HTML! ;)
So, back to the dress part. We and her mother went to David's Bridal. Mostly we were looking at things I had tried on before, but we also browsed all around the store. I tried on a large selection of dresses, and the one that fit the criteria that we were looking for was this one. You might notice that it's technically a Mother of the Bride dress, but we couldn't imagine that anyone would have any clue that that's the case. You can see pictures of Karilyn and I in the navy version of the dress (the one that she would go with). I really like it - hopefully all the other bridesmaids will too!
Saturday we hung out and went downtown with a few other Dartmouth peeps to watch the Bruins (lose). We went out afterwards to the opening of this new bar, which was kind of fun. I had some Sierra Nevada, which was really good stuff. Might have to switch over from Sam!
Sunday Karilyn and I went for a nice leisurely bike ride and enjoyed the actual spring-like weather. Yay! I also made pancakes with strawberries for breakfast. mmm. And then we had Bertuccis for dinner (primarily for the rolls...).
The Movie Section
Amanda and I have been to see a couple movies recently - actually, it was an all-Academy Award sort of movie marathon. One week we went to go see Monster with Charlize Theron and then the following week we went to go see Mystic River with Sean Penn and Tim Robbins (I had read the book while I was in Phoenix - highly recommend it. could barely put it down it was that good). The acting in both these movies was nothing short of amazing. How could it be anything but that when one actually feels something like sympathy for a serial killer?? CT really owned the movie. And Sean Penn is a certifiable American treasure. This has got to go down as one of the best years of his career, with his roles in both 21 Grams and MR. He was awesome in both.
Naturally, as a rabid Alias fan, I am dying to see 13 Going on 30. As a straight female, I can still say that Jen Garner is too cute for words, can't I?? Because she is. And because I am a straight female, I can also say that her bf is as much too cute for words as she is. :) (that's Michael Vartan, he of the pictures in my links section...mmm.)
The TV Section
Well, apparently no one started watching Wonderfalls, because it got cancelled. :( But y'all can still watch Arrested Development! I saw it last week because Alias was on at 10, and it continued to just be incredibly hysterical. The season finale is this Sunday at 9:30/8:30c.
But speaking of Alias, it also continues to rawk. Karilyn was still around, so I kept making exclamations, not that she had any idea of what was going on, but normally it would have been an internal monologue. I kept saying, "they can't kill Sloane, they just wouldn't do that, his contract's not up, etc." but then they "did." It was insane...until Jack revived him! Holy crap! Greatest Ending Ever. :)
Also must give props to The OC for continuing to bring the Adam Brody (and *gulp* Peter Gallagher) love, Gilmore Girls for having the second Greatest Ending Ever this week, and Scrubs, just because it's my favorite. Have not been watching The Bachelor because it's on at the same time as The OC, but I have heard only that it's boring and pointless this season, so I don't even care!
And, finally, The Book Section
I have a horrible memory about these things, but these are the books I know I've read recently:
1) The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin. SM is brilliant. His books are brilliant.
2) Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding (she of Bridget Jones' Diary). I don't know why this book isn't a gigantic best-seller like the BJ's ones. I thought it was even more well written and far more interesting, as it has to do primarily with one woman's experience at a refugee camp in Africa (after having been a social butterfly in London). But it's not somber by any means. I don't even know how she got all the detail about Africa and refugee camps, because everything just seemed so realistic. Really, it's quite an amazing social satire.
3) Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Even better because I now live in Boston. He's a Boston native, so the books are incredible with the detail. And the movie captured the book perfectly.
4) Can you keep a secret? by Sophie Kinsella. Read it pretty much in one go (another one I couldn't put down...) It was, naturally, predictible, but there were a couple twists and turns that I didn't see coming. A cut above the average chick-lit.
Hum, think that takes care of it for now. Have a good weekend - hope it's warm somewhere out there...ttfn!
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